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Short, Sweet and Silly (Hey, kinda like Sherri!)

December 17, 2008 in ADD,chicken pot pie,me being silly,other blogs with 21 Comments

Last night I checked in on my friend Stacey. She writes a blog about her struggles with infertility, and even though that’s not a topic I’m personally familiar with, that’s not all she writes about. Plus, she’s just a really cool gal and I dig her. Anyway, her latest post talked about the fact that she has a) already finished decorating for Christmas, and b) she and her husband are in the midst of a kitchen remodel. (Considering that my Christmas tree is still in the attic and I have yard art strewn about my front lawn like a bad scene out of some “B” movie Christmas horror flick, that just kinda makes my head swim!) She’s very organized and neat. Sort of like me only completely different. Where was I going with this? Oh yeah — she also mentioned that she and her husband eat lunch together every day. They’re so sweet on each other it literally makes my molars ache. Yesterday, her DH brought home some chicken pot pie for lunch. (Which, BTW Helen – do you have any CPP recipes? Cause I love me some chicken pot pie!) Her hubby left a sweet comment to her with a follow up that had a link to this video:

And because I have been singing this little ditty for roughly the past 4 hours, I just wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!

My Slacktacular Day

December 11, 2008 in ADD,blogging,counseling,other blogs,technology with 26 Comments

I had high hopes for yesterday. Really, I did. I completed my last painting gig of the year on Monday, with the exception of a couple of at home projects that don’t need to be finished until the first of the year. Heck, I’ve got weeks to procrastinate those! (If you’re reading this Roberta, I’m only kidding – kind of.) My schedule was clear. My DH worked from 7:00 am to well after 10:00 pm the day before so that he could devote time yesterday to help me install the base moulding over the new laminate floors in my studio. We’ve been meaning to get this finished for weeks, but we’ve both been super busy with work.

I woke up resolved to finish the task at hand. I got the kids to the bus stop and walked back home. By the time I got back, he was already on the phone. I should give you a little background here. My husband works for a company that owns and builds natural gas storage facilities, pipelines, etc. He has been managing a pretty big project for the better part of two years. They are in drilling mode right now. This means drilling several natural gas wells to supply the facilities. Having worked in the operations (drilling/production) segment of the oil and gas industry for several years (that’s how we met), I have a true appreciation for Murphy’s Law. Once you get a drilling rig (especially a horizontal drilling rig) on location, every time something goes wrong (which is often), it is costing the company money — big money — $100,000 a day for the rig alone not to mention the numerous subcontractors involved money. This project has been kind of, as he puts it, “snake bit from the get go”. Adding to the frustration is the fact that he is trying to manage the location from home and communications with all the players involved has been less than awesome. (That’s my terminology, not his.)

Still, I waited patiently for a break in the phone action to ask how I could help with our little project. It’s not that I can’t do home improvement projects by myself — I’ve done my fair share. But when it comes to figuring out angles to miter woodwork and running a compound miter saw, I have to pass. WAY too much multi-step action going on for my little ADD brain. To occupy myself while I waited, I started a load of laundry, plopped down at my laptop and checked my email, my blog, and everyone else’s blogs. Eight o’clock passed; then 10, then 11. By noon, he was still on the phone and I could tell by snippets of overheard conversation that things were not going well. He reluctantly made the decision that he needed to be on location — the sooner the better. He was extremely apologetic and I totally understood. While we have very different personalities, we do share a common work ethic. You do what you need to do to insure the best possible outcome – whether it’s painting a metallic gold and orange dining room for a guy who doesn’t know what he wants but knows what he “doesn’t want”, or managing a multi-million dollar gas storage project. I was disappointed, but not upset. I helped him get his things together and he was out the door within an hour.

So…what to do? It’s been so long since I’ve not had anything scheduled and I was relishing the fact that I didn’t have to be anywhere until 3:30 in the afternoon. Can you guess what I did? Yah, huh…I spent almost the entire day glued to my computer. I did manage to get a few loads of laundry done, empty the dishwasher, briefly visit with some friends (live and in person) and take the dog out occasionally. I am, after all, a multi-tasker. But for the most part, I sat on my butt and surfed the blogosphere. If it wasn’t for the fact that I have carpool duty this week, I might have never pulled myself away. I gotta admit, it was a guilty pleasure being so completely unproductive. And it’s not as if I got nothing accomplished. I was able to help Helen with some technical issues and provide Sherri with some much needed spiritual counseling. Plus, thanks to the lovely and talented Jamie, I found out that my profile view was blocked so nobody could access this site from other sites. (If you’ve tried before and failed — sorry about that! Hopefully, I won’t accidentally block my profile view again.) And while it’s not something I would feel good about doing on a regular basis, I’m feeling relatively guilt-free about my self-indulgent, slacktacular day. However, if by chance I ever do decide to become a full time, lap top couch potato, I really gotta get me a slanket!

Here’s how I looked at yesterday at 6:00 AM, noon and 2:00 PM:

(Please don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.)
(and as a matter of fact I DID wear this to the bus stop!)

Dear Lurker: A love letter

November 17, 2008 in but I digress,cluster map,Crocodile Dundee,gratitude,hobbits,hyperlink codes,other blogs with 10 Comments

“Lurker” has such a negative connotation to it. I prefer the term “Friends without Comments”, or FWOCs. As is often the case, yesterday I started out at a blog that I read on a regular basis, found a comment that peaked my curiosity, which lead me to numerous other sites. One of the blogs I went to was called Blog Around the World. It’s a really cool site where fellow bloggers can get tips and share ideas. There’s even a little button widget that you can paste on your sidebar. I considered putting it on here, but it seems that the target audience is female. And while I am a female and most certainly write from that perspective, I don’t consider this a “women’s blog”. I hope it’s not, anyway. Okay, that last post was not something many men could relate to, but I don’t write too many of those. That post has, however, inspired me to re-write the lyrics to Kelly Clarkson’s song “Beautiful Disaster” and devote my version to my new friend Beth. I’m calling it “Muffintop Disaster”. (That STILL cracks me up!) But once again, I digress…
Anyhoo, here’s where I was going with this: In researching this post, I found some blog articles that were centered around why people should comment on other people’s blogs, how to get people to comment on your blog, yadda, yadda, yadda. If I’m being honest, I WOULD like more people to comment. Partly because it is a boost to my ego (a bad thing), and partly because I’m really curious who is reading and why. (Well, maybe not so much why. I’m not even sure why I WRITE some of the things here.) If you scroll waaaaay down to the bottom of HLAC, you will find a site hit counter and a cluster map. Now, the counter updates each time someone views my blog – even me – every time they check my blog. But, according to the FAQs on the cluster map feature, it only counts the hits from any particular html (or whatever it’s called) in one 24 hour period. And while I think cluster map has some kinks in it (for instance, I know Mare checks in on a regular basis, but there’s no dot in Nigeria), using my daft math skills, I figure even with my chatty girl blogger pals going back and forth on each other’s blogs, there’s still quite a few others reading and not commenting. Besides, with the exception of Mare, we’re all here in the states. I have friends that have told me they read this blog, and I can see their dots on the map, but that doesn’t explain all the dots in states where I don’t know anyone or the dots in South America, Africa, Western Europe, Indonesia, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, et. al. Incidentally, Australia and New Zealand are the two places I most want to visit before I go to heaven. Although I’m sure Aussies probably want to kill us when we go over there sporting horrible Crocodile Dundee accents and saying things like, “Gooday mate!” Just as I’m sure Kiwis probably roll their eyes when a bunch of silly Americans come over there looking for Hobbits. I promise if I have the privilege of visiting “down under” I won’t do that…..much. Yet again, I digress.
The point I was trying to make about 100 words ago is this: Whether you comment or not, I’m incredibly humbled and grateful that you would take the time to check in on me and my ramblings and rantings. I hope that I have provided a giggle or two; maybe even challenged you in one way or another. So, again — thank you so very much. If you have any suggestions or ideas about the content of this blog, feel free to leave me a comment…(Hey, it was worth a shot.)

And speaking of being grateful, I am incredibly grateful to my blogger pal Angela, without whose help I would not be able insert hyperlink codes with such annoying frequency.

Yet another lousy excuse for a blog post: The Holiday Edition!

November 13, 2008 in blog posts,Christine,Christmas,other blogs,re-gifting with 16 Comments

While I am a firm believer that quality always supersedes quantity, I also tend to be kinda lazy, so when I come across something I can pass off as a post, I tend to gravitate towards it. So when my friend Christine sent me one of those “fill in the blank” emails, I figured, what the heck? So here goes:

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here’s what you’re supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just Copy (not forward) this entire email blogpost and paste into a new e-mail blogpost that you can send post to your own blog. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to You……Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Whatever — My mom usually brings gifts to my house in the bags they gave her at the store. So really, I don’t have high expectations when it comes to packaging.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
Artificial. Again, this stems from laziness. My friend Desiree had a “Christmas tree closet” put in her house. She just rolls it out, plugs it in and presto! Instant Christmas! (I’m more than a little jealous.)

3. When do you put up the tree?

Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving, but not always.

4. When do you take the tree down?
Ah, well. I take a cue from my Catholic friends here: Epiphany (Jan 9?). Gives me a little extra time to procrastinate. (My original answer was “Advent”, but my friend Dee set me straight on that one.)

5. Do you like eggnog?

Yes, in small quantities. One year my mom had a big punchbowl full of eggnog spiked with rum. Our cats got into it. Not pretty. We were all hoping not to draw the short straw when it came time to decide who was going to change the litter box. (I know, I know — TMI.)

6. Favorite gift received as a child?A battery operated pink poodle on a leash that walked and barked. I walked that thing up and down the street until it died. Good times.

7. Hardest person to buy for?

My husband, who says “Don’t buy me anything”, and actually means it. Conversely, when I say, “Don’t buy me anything, just pray for peace on earth and good will towards men”, what I actually mean is “Buy me that tricked-out zoom lens for my Canon EOS.”

8. Easiest person to buy for?

My 7 year old daughter who wants all things “American Girl”. (I said easy, not cheap!)

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

I have several. Or, as my friend Kara’s old boss is fond of saying, “They got 4 or 5 of them barn sets!”

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

Are you kidding me? I can barely get my bills to the mailbox.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

When my dad walked out on my mom on Christmas Day. That was pretty sucktacular. The good news is that I gave him (and myself) the gift of forgiveness. Something that some other family members have yet to do. So, for them, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?

Movie? Elf. But I’m a sucker for the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, Little Drummer Boy, Santa Claus is coming to Town, Rudolf and the like.

13. When do you start shopping?

Oh, right about now.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

Does a bear (rhymes with) sit in the woods?

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Everything except the obligatory fruitcake. Like funny man Jim Gaffigan says: “Fruit? Good. Cake? Great! Fruitcake? Nasty crap.”

16. Lights on the tree?

Yes – my tree is pre-lit. But I miss the days of the big, multi-color lights. I think they’re making a come back, though.

17. Favorite Christmas song?

“The Gift” (from Garth Brook’s “Beyond the Season” Christmas Album):

A poor orphan girl named Maria was walking to market one day
She stopped for a rest by the roadside where a bird with a broken wing lay
A few moments passed till she saw it for it’s feathers were covered with sand
But soon clean and wrapped it was travelling in the warmth of Maria’s small hand

She happily gave her last peso on a cage made of rushes and twine
She fed it loose corn from the market and watched it grow stronger with time

Now the Christmas Eve service was coming and the church shone with tinsel and light
And all of the town folks brought presents to lay by the manager that night
There were diamonds and incense and perfumes in packages fit for a king
But for one ragged bird in a small cage, Maria had nothing to bring

She waited till just before midnight so no one would see her go in
And crying she knelt by the manger for her gift was unworthy of Him

Then a voice spoke to her through the darkness “Maria, what brings you to Me?
If the bird in the cage is your offering, open the door let Me see”
Though she trembled she did as He asked her and out of the cage bird flew
Soaring up into the rafters on a wing that had healed good as new

Just then the midnight bells rang out and the little bird started to sing
A song that no words could recapture whose beauty was fit for a king
Now Maria felt blessed just to listen to that cascade of notes sweet and long
As her offering was lifted to heaven by the very first nightingale’s song.

That song gets me EVERY TIME!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

Stay home.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer’s?

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner & Blitzen, and Rudolf

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?

Star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?

One on Christmas eve, the rest Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

Too much money spent on things people won’t even remember come February. (Do you remember what you got last year?) Also, people who ignore the Salvation Army guy. He’s ringing a bell for goodness sake! You don’t have to give him anything, but at least acknowledge that he’s standing out there in the cold. (Well, unless he’s in Houston, then he might be sweating.)

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?

Fred Flintstone Santa from my childhood. (I actually stole it from my brother Fred. Shhhhh!)

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?,

Turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing sandwich the next day. Yes, I know that technically I’m eating a meat, jelly and bread sandwich, but dang! It’s good!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?

For someone to read my blog in Antarctica. Then I’ll have dots on every continent. Incredibly self-absorbed — I know.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this?

Helen, Beth, Mare, Sherri, Angela, Kris

27. Who is least likely to respond to this?

Antarctica

28. What was your most memorable magical memory from your adulthood?

Coming home from Christmas eve services in the SNOW (in Katy, Texas). Amazing!

29. Have you ever been involved in a Christmas gift prank?

If by “prank” you mean, after hearing the 21 year old fill in pastor begin his sermon (2 weeks before Christmas) by saying, “Do you remember when you found out there was no Santa Claus?”, then secretly placing a Grinch doll in his office chair, then yes. Yes I have. Funny thing is, in a church with over 400 members, everyone just assumed it was me. Am I that transparent? Dang!

30. Favorite Christmas Cartoon?

The Grinch who stole Christmas. But it used to scare me a bit when I was little.

Well, that was tons of fun. For an exquisitely beautiful post on the best Christmas gifts to give this year, check out Annie’s Blog

A Different Kind of Blog

October 15, 2008 in other blogs,painting with 0 Comments

So, I started another blog (http://stuffipainted.blogspot.com/). Not to worry, this will be my primary outlet for sharing my insightful, intelligent, and humble view of the world (tongue TOTALLY in cheek). The other one’s just a way to show off my daft craft and painting skills.

I’m sorry I haven’t blogged too much here lately. I’ve got some stuff I’m thinking through, it’s just not quite there yet. Stay tuned!

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