Hodgepodge

Better late in the day than never to join Joyce with this week's hodgepodge questions.

1. As August draws to a close, share what's been your favorite weekend of the entire summer?

I hate to say it but I really don't have any exciting weekends from the summer. We didn't do a vacation or anything exciting.

2. Labor Day is marked in the US of A on Monday, September 1st. What paying job have you held that you've loved the most? Liked the least?

Love the most is my current job. Liked the least would be when I was a data entry operator entering oil and gas records into a computer...back when they only were green screens.

3. Does the new school year start before or after Labor Day where you live? When do you think it should begin? There is much discussion now about older students having later start times to their school day...your thoughts?

School starts in August here. I think that is fine. Our high school starts at 9 but you can take "zero" hour and get an extra course in early. I don't think it should start any later than that.

4. What's something you've worked at recently that could be deemed a 'labor of love'?

Not sure I have an answer to this one.

5.Which of the following work idioms can you most relate to right now...'A woman's work is never done.', 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.' 'Many hands make light work.'

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Too much work on my part and not enough fun.

6. Crab or lobster or thanks, but no thanks? Favorite way to have your choice prepared?

Like both but I would choose lobster. Lobster ravioli is really tasty.

7. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, 'Three rules of work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.' Which of the three do you consider to be the most important? Share one of your own 'rules of work'.

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. It allows you to think outside the box.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Yesterday was my birthday. I had work meetings in the morning but in the afternoon I spent time shopping all by myself. I added to the swimsuit I bought over the weekend a new pair of shorts and a pair of flip flops for the Hawaii trip that is now one month away. I'd better start working on my packing lists!

Friday Fragments

Mrs. 4444 is fighting through her recovery and still hosting our weekly wrapup. Go you!

I realized this week it had been probably 10 years since I lost bought a bathing suit. And I've lost 20 pounds since then. I did find my old suit and while the top is servicable the bottoms feel like they have about a foot of extra fabric. (Not really but they are rather large). So I will be trying to find one this weekend amidst all the clearance sales. I'm hoping I'm not too late.

Monday evening I attended an event at Whitney's sorority. They wanted moms and alums to come and help the girls practice talking to new people before they had recruitment. So I went and spent a lovely evening with her sisters. Whitney was in charge of the event and it was so nice to see her in action. Boy do I love that girl and am so proud of her.

Since it is just now two of us for dinner, I'm back to barely cooking. I had bought a Pad Thai mix a few months ago and finally made it this week. And it was so good. I'm not kidding. It was almost as good as stuff you get at restaurants. Dan even liked it. So I will be buying more of the mix.

The blind we ordered for the bedroom came and it looked horrible. Lucky for us Levolor has a 30 day no questions asked guarantee. So we went and picked out a different blind, paid the difference and hopefully it will be here next week. I'm getting tired of having a sheet covering the windows.

When did people start calling group think meetings "advances" or "futures" instead of "retreats". Semantics aside, it still is the same thing. I get to go to my second one of these next week. And because this one is with the federal government, they aren't providing lunch for a two day meetings. At least the college one did...and a wine/beer reception at the end. 

And day two of that so called "futures" meeting is my birthday. And I have to go because I'm on a panel. I'm leaving at noon and they can't stop me. I've made my stand!

Sorry no stupid criminal this week. I just didn't hear about any.

Friday Fragments

Mrs. 4444 is recovering from surgery but she felt well enough to host this week. Get well soon!

Stupid criminal this week was a guy who decided to rob a pharmacy by attaching a rope to the prescription drug safe to his truck. He was able to pull the safe out of the store but then he drove down the road with the safe dragging behind his truck. A police officer just happened to see this and pulled him over. He may have gotten away with it if he had just put the safe in the back of the truck. DUMB!

Last week I talked about car colors. This week I saw a purple car. It was obviously a home done job because no car manufacturer would have marketed this color of purple. Think the color little girls love. Yup that purple.

Saw this sign yesterday at a meeting I went to.

Yes, that elevator has been out for three months. I'm not sure how many people need to get to the second floor with an elevator but I don't think this building is ADA compliant now. 

My Church is Kind of a Big Deal starts this Sunday at church. We have two weekends where we have food trucks, lots of carnival games and this year...FIREWORKS. What a crazy fun church I go to.

As I mentioned earlier this week, Whitney and I got baptized last Sunday before she went back to college. What a special moment to share with my child. 

We had ordered a blind for the bedroom and when it came in the color was so far off what we picked. Did you know that Levelor has a 30 day guarantee? Well we didn't. Thank goodness for that so we can go get the color that we want. We will upgrade our order to real wood so that the color will be exact. The faux wood can vary significantly the Levelor rep told us. 

Hodgepodge

Joyce is taking next week off so I thought I had better get busy and answer this week's questions.

1. The best part of waking up is____________________________________.

Starting each day with a fresh outlook. Don't bring yesterday's troubles with you today.

2. Given a choice, which animal interaction would you most like to experience (or for those non-adventurers...which would you dislike the least?)- Swim with the dolphins at one of several locations in the Florida Keys, a lion encounter ten minutes from Victoria Falls (Africa), or a day at a remote base camp high in the Big Sur wilderness via the Ventana Wildlife Society helping track California condors?

Swimming with dolphins. It is on my bucket list I wrote about in April.

3. What is something you fear about 'old age'? What is something you look forward to?

I fear having my body fall apart on me. I look forward to traveling when I retire.

4. Hot sauce...are you a fan? If you answered yes, what's something you make/eat that must have hot sauce? On a scale of 1-10 how hot is too hot?

I like hot sauce but only when it is used to cook with. We used to get a killer ceaser salad with a hot sauce dressing.

5. It's been said that children learn what they live. What do you think children learn at your house?

Independence.

6. What's your favorite movie with a number in it's title?

It Happened One Night

7. Saturday (August 16th) is National Tell a Joke Day...share one here.

I've got nothing. I am a terrible joke teller.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Today is my husband's 48th birthday. So we are the same age for 13 days. He says I'm older but we have the same number of years so I don't think so for these 13 days.

Big Announcement

I figured that title would catch some attention.

This weekend was big for Whitney and I. We chose to get baptized at our church before she went back to college.

I was raised Catholic so I was baptized when I was a week old. And I went through all the Catholic steps (confession, confirmation) but I never felt anything with them. We even had Whitney baptized when she was a baby.

But this was different. This meant something to both of us. Now I finally understand why people say that you should make your own decision to be baptized. Why most religions don't baptize babies and make sure children are old enough to understand their decision.

I don't talk much about religion here. I'll mention my church and the great things it does, but I don't get too deep about anything more than that. But I feel a deep need to share the good news that I chose to get baptized. 

Truly a Friday Fragments

Mrs. 4444 just had rotator cuff surgery and still she hosted us this week. Here's to a speedy recovery.

Starting off with the stupid criminal, how about two of them. Two women were sitting in a car smoking crack. Unfortunately for them it was parked next to an unmarked police car with two police officers in it. And then they found about 6500 hydrocodone pills, meth and heroin. Let's just say they won't be out anytime soon.

As I've been driving to work lately, I've noticed a bunch of three wheeled motorcycles. I must say these look sturdier than a regular motorcycle but you still won't catch me riding one anytime soon.

And then I've been wondering about car colors. There are plenty of standard ones but there are three colors that I wonder why anyone buys. Orange, yellow and powder blue. The orange ones around here look like either Texas Longhorn or Oklahoma State orange. Neither of which plays well in the home of the Oklahoma Sooners. Yellow just always looks strange on a beautiful Ford Mustang. And the powder blue ones are just weird. Its like they want a wimpy looking car. If you have a car any of those colors, can you tell me why you got it?

My other random thought this week is how does the ionic, tourmaline hair dryer work so well? My old hair dryer bit the dust so I had been borrowing Whitney's travel one for a week. My hair felt so dried out. I bought a new one last week and my hair feels so soft. Does the ion tourmaline work that much better? What about it makes my hair not dry out? Inquiring minds want to know.

We are playing musical cars today. Whitney's is at the lock shop getting her door locks changed out. She had to be at work at 7:45 so she borrowed Dan's car since it is just like hers. Dan had to take me to work at 8 so he would have a car today. So I'm carless until we get hers back later today. And it was a good thing we got her car in today since she moves back to the dorm on Monday. We need all three cars to move her stuff. Crazy isn't it?

Hodgepodge - Yes I'm Alive

Seems like it has been weeks since I've participated in this. So I'm getting it done early this week.

1. What would you say is the key to success?

Persistence and hard work. You aren't going to have success just handed over to you on a silver platter.

2. Have you ever been to the Florida Keys? Any desire to visit that part of the US of A?

We went to Key West for a few hours on a cruise. I really wasn't impressed. So I doubt we will ever go back.

3. When and where did you last see a real live donkey? Monkey? Turkey?

I'm sure there is a donkey around one of the farms that we live near. Monkey would have to be at a zoo. Turkey...hmmm been a long time for alive one. Just cook me one for Thanksgiving!

4. An old Portuguese proverb says, 'Beware of the door with too many keys.'What do you think this means? Share an example of how this has proven true or false in your own life.

How about shopping this weekend in the clearance section. Too many choices that I couldn't even fathom digging through the racks.

5. Besides your home, vehicle, and special jewelry, what is something you keep under lock and key?

Technically nothing is under lock and key. I've got so many keys to things that I don't know what they really go too.

6. When did you last get keyed up about something?

I got keyed up (in a good way) when I found out we could save almost $1,000 by switching our home and car insurance. That was a great day!

7. Who thinks we need an easy one right about now? Key lime pie...yes please or no thank you?

I'll pass on the key lime pie. Not a fan of citrus pies.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

The money we saved on the insurance covered the cost of repainting the bedroom and ordering a new window blind. I think that is a win-win situation!