28 February 2007

Again with the randomness

More snow on the way. Coming down thick and heavy at the moment. We may have a snow day tomorrow. What some people won't do for a day off work.

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I really need a haircut. It's getting to the point where I just work in some gel when it's wet and blow dry it back and out of my eyes, and hope for the best. I've been getting a kind of retro swoop thing going. Last weekend for work I wound up looking like this:
I really need a haircut.

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More on the "warping our children" front: Thing 1 asked if we can watch Rocky Horror Picture Show sometime soon. Oh dear.

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And finally, an allegory for you. Thing 4 is warming up to the dogs, however, probably because he lives on their level, he notices that they smell like dogs.
"The doggies are stinky!" he announces.
"But we still love them." I reply.
"No, they stinky!" he asserts.
"I still love you even when you're stinky." I remind him (so potty training isn't going so well...)
I take a little pause.
Lately I've been noticing the quote "Your attitude(s) is (are) like the aroma of your heart." The coach in Facing the Giants says it, but I haven't been able to track down his source, and I've seen it popping up elsewhere. I can have some pretty stinky attitudes, but God loves me even when I'm stinky. How lucky we are to be loved unconditionally. We can joyfully accept His love, or scorn and reject it, but is there for the taking no matter what our mood at the moment.

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Off to batten down the hatches. Stay safe and warm.

26 February 2007

What have we done to these children, v2.0

So I come downstairs this morning to the sound of Thing 4 watching movies; not Shrek, or Lion King, but the singalong feature on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, as he bounces along to "Knights of the Round Table." Oy. This is almost as good as the time I found him and Thing 3 smacking their foreheads with DVD cases as they watched the monk scene. Thing 1 can frequently be found sprawled on the couch with her father's boxed set of M*A*S*H*. Our children will either have very eclectic tastes, or be royally screwed up.

25 February 2007

And so it came...

My FIL, the weather geek, says we got 10" of snow; neighbor says she heard 16"on the radio. It was plenty. Wet and heavy. Good for the dirt, bad for weak roofs. When iPastor came home from night shift at 6am, the highway had been plowed to one lane, but the streets had not. He's lucky he made it into the yard with that lightweight, low-slung Geo. The neighbors came to blow us out, and as I dug out the wheels, the snow was right up to the frame.
I was awakened by iPastor answering the phone. The neighbor from across town was in Monte waiting for a ride, and couldn't rouse anyone at home. I went out to go check, and quickly determined it would be faster to walk than to try to extricate the vehicles. Walking in wet snow is a better workout than a Stairmaster(tm). Too heavy to shuffle along in, you have to step over. And over. After I got home from waking the neighbor (helps that they have large, loud dogs) I figured I was in for a penny, so I took my dogs for their morning potty. At first they seemed to enjoy a romp in the snow. It wasn't too long before they figured out it was almost as deep as them, and they got tired of jumping.
The forays into the snow weren't half bad. 25 degrees is plenty warm when you're properly clothed and exercising a bit. Happily, it is no longer 25 below zero. This snow will melt relatively soon, and probably be replaced by another blast or two before spring. We do have snow in the forecast most of this coming week, but I don't think in this amount. I had hoped to take pictures, but it would require working up enough gumption to find the camera. And batteries.
Thing 1 is working on a service project. She won a Kiwanis essay contest, telling what she would do for someone if given $100, opting to send some homemade care packages to servicemen in Iraq through anysoldier.com. She's downstairs working on her homemade goodie bags. We suggested she see who else she could get to contribute, so she hit up the local Lions and got another $100. Mama's little capitalist.
Off to finish supper. Monkey brains tonight!

24 February 2007

Here it comes...

We've had an abnormally snowless winter here in Minnesota, so now that a three-day storm is on the way, its all people have been talking about all week. We desperately need the moisture, so its a good thing, really. The snow was supposed to start about 2 am, but held off until about 9:30 this morning, after spitting a nasty layer of freezing rain on the ground to slick things up a bit first. At least it was little pellets, and not sheet ice. I'll have to wait until this afternoon to see if I attempt the drive to work. My boss has farther to drive, and goes right past here. Maybe I'll make my drive dependent on whether he makes it. My luck, he'll have stayed over in town.
The girls and I started out with great progress on the house this morning, and are taking a well-deserved break. I should get back to it, however, before I lose my momentum.
Sadly, now that I sit down to address you fine folks, I find myself lacking anything to say, so i'll leave y'all alone and go peruse seed catalogs online. The first seed catalog used to come the week (and once even the day) after Christmas. Since I started looking online, however, I have to go search out the info on my own. I miss having a catalog to tote to the kitchen table or bathroom to peruse at leisure. I'll have to sign up for a mailer to fix that.

19 February 2007

Road Trip

We're back from going to see Mercy Me in concert last night. The bands were awesome; the trip less so. Kids had attitude, iPastor had little patience for them, and I tried to enjoy myself despite them all, with varying levels of success. I suppose it was about time for a letdown. I usually spend more time planning and fiddling with little trips like this than we actually spend on them. So far, the trips we've taken have turned out fairly well. Guess everyone needs a clunker now and then. I was so stoked for this concert, and the music was all I expected. Could have done without the distractions.
It seems we finally have a break in the weather. Let it climb above freezing and we start acting like it's summer around here. It was 37 degrees today, and we saw shorts and flip flops all over the mall. Most area schools were out so it seemed like a weekend.
Been a little scarce around here lately, but the routine has been mostly the same old work and sleep cycle. Aside from a bum knee kicking up to complicate matters, things have been pretty uneventful.
With that, I'm off to settle the troops in for the night.

08 February 2007

Thursday Thirteen

Lately Thing 4 has taken to saying he's "afraid" a lot. He is usually afraid of anything he doesn't want to do. For simplicity's sake, this week's list...


Thirteen Things to be afraid of, according to a three year old


1. The dark
2. shoes
3. coat
4. bedtime
5. supper (instead of bananas, which instill no fear whatsoever)
6. mom
7. dad
8. the other Things
9. his toys (instead of the babysitter's toy that he wants to bring home...)
11. sitting up straight
12. bathtime
13. clean pants







Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!





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So I'm pretty sick of freezing my fanny, among other things, every time I go outside. The temperature was supposed to creep up into the 20s and 30s by Sunday, now it's been pushed back to next Wednesday. The sun is nice. It's sharp and bright and very pretty, from the inside looking out, anyway.

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Waitress gem of the week:

"Is that the only soup you have today?"

"Yes."

"So there's no other soup today?"



I get major bonus karma points for throttling my inner sarcastic witch. It would have been too difficult to choose which reply to use anyway...

"Yeah, we have three, I just said that to annoy you."

"I could run down the street to the store and get you a can."

I even withheld the simple "Are you really such an idiot?" stare, and kept my happy face firmly plastered on.

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On other fronts, Job #2 is great. Short shifts, fun people to work with, fun with customers as above and nice ones, too. The major downfall is the reputation this place has for evil desserts and really good food. Not part of the weight loss plan at all. Every day I must calculate something along the lines of, "Did the running I did burn enough calories to justify the chocolate macadamia nut pie?"

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I must be off to get things done before I go. It's a two-job day. Ick.

05 February 2007

More random randomness

I bought some new bath products at the Evil*Empire Saturday. I got a couple of bottles of "3-in-1 Bubble Bath, Body Wash, and Shampoo" Someone in the health and beauty industry has finally figured out that soap is soap. I, and I am willing to bet most consumers, have been using liquid bath products interchangeably for years. Now it's a marketing point rather than just being too lazy to run to the store for shampoo. Another disturbing observation; on the bottles is a bright yellow sticker that says New! Flavor! Who's tasting the soap?

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Woohoo! The high today is expected to (just barely) break zero. Can spring be far away? I did notice more daylight as I sent the kids off to the bus this morning. This is the time of year when we start to gain daylight at a noticeable rate. I am stoked.

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Well, it's not above zero yet, so I'd best go start the vehicle warming.

04 February 2007

Randomness

That seems to be the word of choice for Thing 2 these days, so I may as well roll with it.

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The doggy assimilation seemed to be coming along nicely. After getting home at 2:30 am from Job 1, then having to get Things 1 and 2 on the Speech bus at 8:00am yesterday, I was ready for a little quality couch time. I popped in a movie for the younger Things, and snuggled in to doze. Dogs apparently thought this was swell, because they hopped up to join me of their own accord. I may have stunted all progress today by giving them baths, as they seem particularly skittish, but I'll have to see if they calm back down.

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Its cold. Bitter. Biting. Piercing. Yuck. I have had amazing luck with car batteries, as we have no garage or tank or block heaters on either vehicle (I realize this is stupid living in Minnesota, but who am I to be blamed for having common sense?) I did have to put some isopropyl in the van which cranked right over, but would not stay running. The temperature is supposed to sneak back up painfully slowly over the week, and Sunday jump into the mid-thirties. It's a heat wave people.

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I am ignoring the Superbowl. I hope the Colts win, simply because my friend Ann will be impossible to live with if the Bears win. For better football fun, check out Facing the Giants, which my church will be showing in a couple weeks.

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I suppose I should go draw a bath and scrape of the stank. We had no water all day yesterday due to a main break. It seems to be at least a monthly occurrence hereabouts. Our water bill has been increasing on a steady scale to make improvements, but I haven't seen any yet. Gripe. Maybe a bath will improve my disposition as well as the ambience. Ta!

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