My Treasure!

I LOVE treasure! Actually, who DOESN'T love treasure? The real question is: What is treasure to you? What I see as treasure may be someone else's trash, or vice versa. Either way, I found something! And I'm excited about it. Of course, Jim is rolling his eyes once again at my grand ideas. But that's okay...it's what keeps me going.

The other day I was helping Jim in the barn with a calf/cow pair. My ADD kicked in and I started musing around inside. I saw something through one of the side slats of the barn and started fishing. My eyes got bigger and bigger as I pulled an old (what I assume to be) barn vent out of the slats in the wall. Woohoo, do the treasure dance!!!!! I was like a kid on Christmas morning. It was BEAUTIFUL. I immediately started thinking of what I could do with it. Within 2 minutes I had completely figured out a use for this wonderful thing. Now I have a project this weekend!!

I'm sharing the "before" photo with you because I'm so excited!

Question: will Kansas ever warm up? Eight ball says: Most Definitely

Truck Drivin' Woman

Want to know what I did last night? I was a truck drivin' momma!! Yeehaw. Well, I didn't actually DRIVE the truck...but I was the truck honey in the passenger seat.

I came straight home from work in my biz casual, hopped into the semi, set the kids up in the sleeper area with a laptop playing Sponge Bob and headed for KC. Jim had to haul a load of corn to the elevator down by the stockyards and we were his willing passengers. I mean, how many times does one have the opportunity to pretend they are talking on a cb, looking into low riding cars as they pass and laughing about the contents of their back seats, and fantasizing you're hitching a ride with a greasy driver you picked up at Flo's Truck Stop in Bucyrus. Oh, wait a minute, did I say that out loud?

It was a fun trip. No really. And it resulted in a night out for dinner at the local DQ. My man knows how to treat his woman!

Well, I'll let you all sit there in jealousy now and create your own fantasies involving truck drivers. Until next time, I leave you with a little song from Willie....On the Road Again. (Try getting that tune out of your head now!)

Question: Do truck drivers change their undies on the road?

Eight Ball says: Eeeeewwwwwww!

Show me the movies!

Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the big screen, maybe it's my sloth, but I can't get enough movies these days! (No, that is not code!) Seriously, we've been watching movies every night. Yes, I'm bragging. We recently watched Freedom Writers. I loved it! SO much that I went out and bought the actual Freedom Writers diary which the movie is based upon. I can actually say that this is the first time I think I'd recommend watching the movie before reading the book. Both are great but the movie sets the premise for the book and gives it a little girth.

What else. Well, how about service centers in India. I know this argument has been run in the ground. But after being on the phone today with yet another foreign call center, I can just say one thing...WT*? "No, I don't want to pay $14 to have my payment processed online", "No, I don't want to try a 30 day protection plan", and "NO, I DON'T LIKE CURRY!" Maybe if they could pronounce my name, my city, or even "America" correctly I wouldn't be so disgusted. My blood pressure goes up every time I hang up...then I have to focus on my "third eye" (as they say in India) in order to release my anger.

Okay, I feel better now. Grrrrrrrrr. Obviously I have nothing constructive to contribute today so I had better move on. Here, I'll take a stab at the creative side...Amy Butler. Yes, Amy Butler has a line of fabrics and patterns that are rockin. http://www.amybutlerdesign.com/mainmenu.php
Check out the free patterns.
Okay, that's enough creative for one day.
Eight ball says "Absolutely", but I forgot what the question was!

It was the Mailman!

I am ALL for lazy Sunday afternoons! Especially cold ones where you have nothing to do but flip through the satellite to see if there is a decent movie playing. Well yesterday I just so happened to hit the movie jackpot! I stumbled upon THE POSTMAN, directed by, and starring, Kevin Costner.I don't know about you. But my postman does NOT look like Kevin Costner. If he did, then yes, the postman WOULD have fathered all my children. However, MY postman looks like this:The Postman was an apocolyptic tale of a wayfaring postman. It was strange, way too long and had a tremendously poor plot. But like any train wreck, I just had to watch. Hoping that there would be a gratuitous scene with a bare Costner delivering the mail. (If you know what I mean). Nada. But it wasn't a total waste of the afternoon. I also watched Rush Hour 2. What a classic!

Well, here is to great movies, and not so great movies...okay, and really sucky movies too. Will there be a Shrek 4? 8-ball says: Hold the phone!

Wow, that was a long nap!

Whoa, hey, hello there. Where am I? I feel like Rumpelstiltskin just waking up after a 4 month nap. So what's been happening? Well, let's see. NOTHING! HA!

Actually, it's been pretty low-key. Of course we've had 4 birthday parties, a new dog, Christmas, New Years, a KU football bowl victory, and a lot of snow since I blogged last. OH, and my hair has gotten longer. Other than that, it's been bidness as usual.

So, here are fun things that gave me joy since last time...well, not EVERYTHING that gave me joy, but some of the little ones:

1. Hair bands with attached scarves. My new favorite thing!!!!!
2. The double-dipper crockpot. It's small, it's divided and I'm loving it!
3. I've taught Murdock how to sit. Now if I could just get my kids (and husband) to do that!
4. Plato's Closet. A consignment store that's hip, cheap, fun and frivolous. Much like myself.
5. My heated seat. (In my CAR you dummy.) I stilllllllll love it.
6. My son's humor. Don't even ask.
7. Oh, I know, the new Red Box at McD's! How cool is that? Except they're always out of the movie I want. But who cares....it's only a dollar! And I can get the BIG AND TASTY while I'm at it.
8. The use of both hands. Just because.
9. Old songs from high school....like "I love Rock and Roll" (put another dime in the jukebox baby!!!!) Woo!
10. And last but not least, bright colors.

Well, blogging is like exercise. You have to ease yourself into it after being inactive for a long time. So as not to strain myself, I am now logging out. Enjoy. And maybe I'll blog again soon....don't give up!

Question: Do rabbits really like carrots? Eight ball says: Only dipped in ranch.

tGif (or, OH HAPPY DAY!)

I have some things that I'm very excited about! One of them is a band I just discovered. Note the terminology there..."I" just discovered. I say this because they've apparently been around since at least the early '90s....I'm just now discovering them. They are called the NEWSBOYS. Their newest album is GO. I just downloaded it yesterday and haven't stopped listening to it. It's basically Christian rock with a dance beat. Funny thing is, it's REALLY GOOD. What I mean by that is I can be very snobbish when it comes to music classified as Christian rock because it's either mediocre in quality, OR, the message is the same in every song...not that I'm saying the message is boring, but the same message in every song just isn't fresh. Well, NEWSBOYS is fresh! And the lyrics are really good. It's a Euro beat and well, as geekish as it sounds, I'm all about the Euro. Maybe it's my skin tone and hair color, who knows.

Okay, the second thing I'm excited about is a book I'm reading. Lots of you will again scream "geek" because IRONICALLY, just as I got interested in this book, Oprah put it on her list and is discussing it on her Friday show with the author. Trust me, PURE coincidence. I'm not one to follow Oprah's book list. I can pick out books on my own thank you. But I have to agree with her on this one. It's called Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's her memoir of self discovery and it really is fun to read. It's not holier than thou by any stretch of the imagination. It's very real, very true, and very good reading.

There are lots of other things I'm excited about like starting yoga again, eating lunch with friends, the beautiful weather lately, but in particular MY MOONROOF! I have a long laundry list of dreams for my life. And oddly enough, one of them was to have a moonroof. It's the little things I guess. But it brings me lots of joy, especially lately. I don't go a minute in my car (unless it's raining) when it isn't open. And when it's raining, I still leave the cover off just so I can see the rain hit the window. It's one of the funnest things ever. I'm thankful for it every day. I know, I'm a nerd.

Speaking of dreams....here are a few that I have had since I was old enough to start writing them down:

Visiting Hawaii
Visiting Germany
Writing a book
Learning guitar
Owning a studio
Having a moonroof (check)
Living in a different culture (preferably a more simple one)
Fly in a hot air balloon
Adopt a foreign child
Dye my hair like red.
Get a tattoo
Do something worthwhile (legacy thing)
Be a lifelong student
Meet as many different people as humanly possible before I die
And the list goes on, and on, and on.....

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and even more wonderful weekend!
Question today: Will I learn something new today? 8-ball says: MOST DEFINITELY!

Hi d ho Neighbor!

Yessirree Bob. It is National Talk Like a Pirate day! It's also Sarcastic Wednesday. Of course you can combine the two as I have and make it Talk Like a Sarcastic Pirate day. Be creative.

I'm giddy because it's my Friday. Nothing puts you in a good mood like knowing you're off work the next two days. Not for any good reason either. But for all you working moms out there you'll understand...it's so I can clean my house while my kids and husband are not in it. I can crank up the music, open the windows and have at it. Feels good to be a gangsta!

Football is in full force. It's pretty fun actually. The games that is. Practice sux. Three nights a week for 1.5 hours gets pretty old fast. Travis's practice pants had blood all over them from an aggravated wart on his hand, but I didn't have time to wash them for last night's practice. It worked out just fine because it was muddy...mud covered the blood, we're all good. Tonight I'll need to wash them. Ya think?

I've been doing some more mural painting. In my "free" time. Just so you all know, time really isn't "free". Einstein was right. Time = money.

Well, I really have nothing to say today. Just thought I'd pop in for a visit. Have a great day and be as sarcastic and piratey as you want. It's your right!

Aaaargh!

Question:
Will I get my house clean tomorrow?
Eight ball says:
Yes. [probably with the help of the Cap'n!]