Katdish.net

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July is the middle of the year. Specifically, July 2 (in a non-leap year) is the exact middle of the year. And it feels like the middle, doesn’t it?

For me, June seems like a recovery month. Time to take a breath, throw away or file the piles of school papers the kids have accumulated over the past several months, sleep in a bit and be a little lazy. Or a lot lazy. But June didn’t fall into its usual rhythm this year. My son attended summer school for the first time. That, in addition to something called SAC camp (Strength and Conditioning Camp) four afternoons a week has put a wrench in the laziness of summer.

And now I find myself in the waining days of July wondering where my summer went. No beach getaway, no long drives to visit family. Just days on end having to be somewhere at a certain time. Dropping off or picking up. There’s been plenty of laziness in between, but not the kind that makes you feel rested. Just the kind that makes you feel…well, lazy.

August is just around the corner, and while the kids don’t officially go back to school until the 27th, marching band and football practice starts August 1.

I’ve felt like I’ve been in a holding pattern this summer–waiting for one thing to end and another to begin. Filling my time rather than investing it in something bigger, and generally feeling a bit useless. But as I look back on the days where it seems nothing of great importance happened, I remember the two day Psych watching marathon with my daughter. Two days filled with laughter and repeating silly lines from Shaun and Gus. I remember teaching my son how to make grilled cheese sandwiches on the griddle, and how obtaining that knowledge empowered him–even if it was only the power to make himself a hot meal. And a dozen other little things millions of moms or dads never think twice about. And I realize the little things do matter. Or maybe not so much the little things, but the little moments.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, may I present a gratuitous cat video:

This post is part of the One Word at a Time Blog Carnival: July hosted by Peter Pollock. For more summerly posts, please visit him at PeterPollock.com

So…I pretty much got nothing. Plus, I’m still reeling from the fact that my first guest blogger is more popular than me ON MY OWN BLOG. How suck is that? (Just kidding – that’s awesome.) Maybe I should spend more time carefully weaving a story that is humorous, engaging and thought provoking…Oooo! Shiny vampire!

I suppose I could write about the weather: It rained. A bunch. Rednecks swam in flood waters. For fun. There was no school. There better be school today. The end.

And now…I’m going to punt. A few members of the Magnificent Infinity posted “8 Things” posts, so I’m going with that. We used to be the Magnificent 7, but we’re a friendly bunch, and people dig us (especially Annie K). I’m changing mine up a bit because I like to be different, and they’re not the boss of me. Here ya go:

8 Things I MAY OR MAY NOT have done Yesterday:
1. Made red beans and rice for lunch.
2. Shot a man just to watch him die.
3. Sent Donald Miller* a tweet with the word frigintastic and got a response to said tweet.
4. Threatened to kick my kids out in the rain if they messed up my clean house.
5. Got rave reviews from Simon Cowell after singing “Jenny” on American Idol for Wii.
6. Alphabetized my spice rack.
7. Took an extra dose of Ginkgo Biloba for good measure.
8. Booked 2 appointments with potential new clients for next week.

*yeah, “Blue Like Jazz” Donald Miller.

8 Shows I MAY OR MAY NOT Watch
1. Best Show in the History of Television (also known as The Deadliest Catch)
2. Dancing with the Stars
3. CSI Miami
4. CSI NY
5. CSI Las Vegas
6. Dirtiest Jobs
7. Myth Busters
8. The Office

8 Things I Wish I Could Do (or might actually be able to do):
1. Paint with either hand.
2. Juggle.
3. Write song parodies a-la Weird Al Yankovitz.
4. Recite the preamble to the Constitution.
5. Play the harmonica.
6. Roller Skate backwards.
7. Make awesome chicken enchiladas.
8. Sing “American Pie” in its entirety (the long version)by memory.

8 Things I MAY OR MAY NOT be Looking Forward To:
1. Meeting some of my bloggity gal pals this summer.
2. Tomorrow.
3. Redoing my guest bathroom.
4. Old age.
5. Catching up on a season’s worth of American Idol on Tivo.
6. Going to my husband’s high school reunion.
7. Going to Japan with my mom someday soon.
8. The premiere of the movie “New Moon”.

Just to make this interesting and to lure you lurker types out of shadows, I am offering a frigintastic prize to the person who can come up with the most correct true or false answers to the aforementioned statements. In the event of a tie, I have more than one of these quality pieces of yard art:

These are not the actual birds in my possession, but seriously – close enough! I didn’t feel like taking a picture, downloading it to my computer, etc. Besides, mine are hermetically sealed in the original packaging. Sa-weet! This is a friendly competition and all results are final. Please – no wagering.

The winner will be announced on tomorrow’s post.

Bonus Question: I MAY OR MAY NOT have given out the following phone number on one or 30 occasions “back in the day”:

Now see, I don’t think this guy would have had any problems if he was in South Louisiana… (KIDDING!)

Bartle Doo? What say you?

So….

I know what you’re thinking. Is katdish just going to post links to other people’s blogs or is she actually going to write something? I’ll let you in on a little secret: I am really crazy busy doing things in the non-virtual world currently, and it’s all I can do just to spend a few minutes trying to keep up with my blog reading. I’m also working on another prosperity gospel rant that will be delightful, I’m sure.

For now, check out Marni’s post.

As my friend Ryan B. would say, it’s crazy delicious!

And speaking of Ryan (who loves Dr. Pepper), here’s a random story: A few years ago, as head of the VBS crafts mafia, I decided that I would have the kids make ships in bottles to go with the story of Jesus calming the seas. I called the Dr. Pepper bottling plant located in the great city of Houston, Texas to see if they would donate some 2 liter plastic bottles. They graciously agreed, so I drove down there to pick them up.

Question: How many empty 2 liter Dr. Pepper bottles will fit into a 2005 Chrystler mini van?

Give up?

Three hundred and fourteen. But only if you have no passengers, you don’t mind driving on major freeways in rush hour traffic looking like a recently filled gumball machine, are not so concerned about seeing traffic that is not directly in front of you, do not need to make any sharp turns that would require unrestricted movement of your arms, and have several people waiting at the church to help you pick up EVERY SINGLE BOTTLE. Because they will spill out of said minivan like water from an overfilled balloon as soon as you open the door. So, that was kind of special…

P.S. – If ya’ll haven’t read Koffi House, you’re missing out. IT IS GOOD!

Annie and Sherri posted their first posts, and since this truly appealed to the lazy slug in me, I thought I would do the same. Here are my first two posts:

Just Me here (4/30/08)

I’m not really sure what this blog is going to be about. But I’ve found myself writing really long comments on other people’s blogs, so I figured I’d start my own and not subject anyone to my rambling commentaries unless they really want to read them. (Yeah, that worked out, huh?)

Since my walk with Jesus is what’s on my heart and mind most of my waking moments, (okay, that’s what SHOULD be on my heart and mind most of my waking moments), I will probably blog about this often. But I’m also a painter and mural artist. So I’ll probably post some pictures of recent work and give some painting how to’s as well. And, oh yea, I’m also part of a core group that’s planting a church! I’m sure I’ll blog about that a bunch!

I guess my blog entries will be very much like my thoughts: A series of seemingly unrelated post-it notes of thoughts and commentaries from my overloaded ADD mind… “Hey look, a chicken!”

After some in-depth research, the results are in: (5/5/08)

I have been cruising all over the blogosphere. Wow! There are some really funny, creative, imaginitive and disturbed people out there!I have come to the conclusion that my blog sucks. I am going to be under some reconstruction for awhile…..

When I worked in retail sales MANY years ago, the saying “the customer is always right” really meant something. It meant that you did whatever you had to do to ensure a loyal, repeat customer. Today, not so much. Case in point:

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