Peculiar Treasures

Blink

2012-01-26T23:24:00.003-05:00

A day can turn on a dime.

One morning we're lolling about, getting ready for a typical day,

and the next moment, Mike learns that he has become motherless.

And just ten hours later, we find ourselves

sitting in his father's living room again,

just a handful of days after our last visit to southwest Florida.

The weather is absolutely gorgeous; mild and breezy.

Inside, stunned and silent, we sit, six of us,

commenting now and then on the Patriots, the election,

the weather.

Death may be inevitable, it may even be expected, but it is no less a shock.

We know her pain is gone, we know she is with Jesus, but we still mourn.

And we play cards with Dad,

and we distract him with chatter,

and we pray and we eat and we doze.

One big hurdle left...the funeral is tomorrow at 11am,

and Mike's dad is dreading the emotion of it,

and the discomfort that is particularly strong when one is an introvert.

Mike has the benefit of his heavenly Father's

peace-that-passes-understanding,

and we pray that his family will experience the same,

and be drawn to the Savior,

and embrace Him,

as Dottie Ellis did many years ago in her heart

and Monday face to face!

Peculiar in Pink

2012-01-22T23:31:00.003-05:00

It's a hoodie-footie kind of night.

So I'm channeling Ralphie Parker, and spending the evening curled up in front of the woodstove, with an assortment of dogs and family members and blankets. And Fig Newtons! (Never underestimate the comfy-ness of Fig Newtons.)

I love Sundays. We dress up, we worship, we rest, we spend time together.

How lovely is your dwelling place,

O Lord Almighty!

My soul yearns, even faints

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out

for the living God.

Better is one day in your courts

than thousands elsewhere...

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favor and honor;

no good thing does he withhold

from those whose walk is blameless.

--Psalm 84

Isn't He GOOD to us!

Celery-Green Wheelie Treasure

2012-01-17T22:08:00.000-05:00

Behold my new bike!

I'm thrilled with it. Logged over 16 miles on it last week, which is a lot for a chubby 47-year-old girl who lives in a high-traffic city.

Thrilled, I tell ya!

ColorFUL Treasure

2012-01-14T22:46:00.000-05:00

May I intruduce you to Mr. Deep Clay Red.

I brought him home a couple of months ago, where he's been residing on the back porch. Well, porch-no-more, he's now part of the family, holding up the dining room walls! I prepped his future habitat, which was cracked all over the place (what can one expect from 100-year-old plaster?).

I couldn't be more pleased with the color! You can see the old color above the picture molding (below) - not outside the family of clay colors, but faded and too pinkish. I may leave it up there, though; I think it's a nice effect.

Can't wait to get those window treatments up! And see the orange (silk) pod thingies on the table? ONE dollar a stem on clearance at Pier One in Florida. That's a whopping five dollars' worth there and I LOVE 'em. And though I didn't remember it 'til the other day, I loved 'em in another blog (real ones) that I follow, by a British mom and crocheter who lovvvvvves color even more than I. Evidently, they're called Chinese Lanterns!

Don't you wonder sometimes if heaven will have unimaginable, vibrant colors that are unlike anything we've ever experienced? I think of how John struggled to describe colors in the incredible glimpses he saw of heaven:

"...there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.
And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian.
A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne...."

And boy, what incredible stones will be used in the
foundation of the New Jerusalem.
Talk about color! Take a look:

Jasper

Sapphire

Chalcedony

Emerald

Sardonyx

Carnelian

Chrysolite

Beryl

Topaz

Chrysoprase

Jacinth

Amethyst

New colors or old, heaven will no doubt stimulate the senses like

nothing we've experienced before!

(Point me to the nearest restroom, for sure.)

Don't Light a Match

2012-01-11T21:05:00.002-05:00

Well, the tree's gone...

...nick of time, really.

Buddy enjoyed taking a running leap into the pile of needles; usually he only gets to do that in the autumn. I would have joined him, but those needles are pointy!

Two-Tiered Blingy Treasure

2012-01-10T21:47:00.000-05:00

I must've waltzed past this funky little treasure twenty times at the thrift store before I finally purchased it. It kept catching my eye, but it wasn't until I came across an item at JC Penney that I would have liked to buy, except that it was FORTY BUCKS, that I decided I must have this instead.

And then I promptly brought it home and did this:

Lookie there, it's a jewelry keeper!

And wayyyyy more cool than some ole' department store one.

And you sure can't beat $2 over $40.

By the way, note the cute cuff bracelet wrapped around the stem

made by my creative mom.

I think there's a word for this...wait...it's coming to me...re...re...ugh, cursed menopausal symptoms...aha! Re-PURPOSING.

Have you repurposed anything lately? Please share!

Lemony Treasure

2012-01-06T22:08:00.003-05:00

Thought for a minute that we were going to arrive home from a trip to Florida without a speck of citrus, but my Auntie came through with these beauties - plump, knobbly, scrumptious lemons!

Since I'm sitting here on the sofa with my jeans unbuttoned (and still uncomfortable), I have definitely decided to squeeze the lemons and freeze the juice. NO lemon squares...NO lemonade...NO lemon meringue pie. NO. NO. NO. Not for at least a ~~week~~ month.

Things I Ate While On Vacation: my mother's homemade snack mix (take one bite and you'll take fifty), whoopie pie (made by my sis, who understands the necessity of a whooopie pie at least once a year), chocolate, pizza, burgers, chocolate, sweet potato fries, homemade cookies, chocolate, pistachios, meatballs, subs, chocolate, Froot Loops, ice cream, and chocolate.

And now I have a second chin, pants that are too tight, and a Tums habit. Ah, but I also have a new bike. Lime green! with a bell! and a kick stand! (Twice I nearly sheared off someone's ankle when my old bike fell over at the farmers' market.) It was a Christmas gift from my wonnnnnderful husband and daughter, and I shall ride it tomorrow.

Let's see...how many miles must I ride to work off, say, one whoopie pie? Er...one bite of whoopie pie? (Baby steps, my dear, baby steps.)

Natural Treasure

2012-01-04T01:03:00.000-05:00

The mighty banyan tree:

This tree grows just a few blocks from my in-laws' home in south Florida.

Doesn't it look so very Lord-of-the-Ringsy?

Here are a few fun facts:

Thomas Edison planted the first banyan in the U.S., in Fort Myers, just north of my in-laws.

The fictional Robinson Crusoe made his home in one.

It's the national tree of India.

I would like to build a tree house in one and live like that family in Treasure Island. I would stock the tree with scallops, asparagus and Ovaltine. My bed would be a hammock and my cell phone would be accidentally stepped on and ruined.

After about three days, I would have second thoughts and head to my city rowhouse, and climb into my hoodie-footie, and prop my feet on the leather ottoman (a Victory Home Thrift Store deal, of course), and watch the TV screen flip from channel to channel (it's that or wrench the remote from Mike).

When are holodecks going to become available to the general public?

Time for a Rhyme (or Two or Seven)

2012-01-03T08:28:00.003-05:00

Tell me, O Octopus, I begs
Is those things arms, or is they legs?
I marvel at thee, Octopus;
If I were thou, I'd call me Us.
--Ogden Nash

Peculiar Treasure #1: Fascinating 19th century German book given to my brother by my sister for Christmas.

Peculiar Treasure #2: The poet Ogden Nash (my favorite, and clearly a big
influence on me), who wrote many other classics such as:

Fleas

Adam

Had 'em

and

Celery

Celery, raw
Develops the jaw,
But celery, stewed,
Is more quietly chewed.

and let's not forget

The Firefly

The firefly's flame
Is something for which science has no name
I can think of nothing eerier
Than flying around with an unidentified glow on a
person's posteerier.

or his foray into limeracy

Requiem

There was a young belle of Natchez
Whose garments were always in patchez.
When comment arose
On the state of her clothes,
She drawled, When Ah itchez, Ah scratchez!

and last but certainly not least

Further Reflections on Parsley

Parsley
Is gharsley

(to which I heartily disagree and have been known to eat handfuls at a time and then forget to check my teeth before waltzing into public)

Therefore, I say:

Parsley is stupendous

It's thyme that's horrendous.

Knobby Treasure

2012-01-02T09:05:00.000-05:00

A Hobby Lobby store is right up there with the public library

and World Market for stimulating my senses...in particular, my intestinal ones.

("Excuse me, please; would you point me toward the bathroom?")

It's a good thing we don't have these stores in southeast Virginia.

Talk about sensory overload! I find myself in the knob aisle,

and my brain starts whirling: where in my home can I use some of these

lovely treasures??

White with black Eiffel Towers, pink with orange polka dots,

sparkly blue and purple spheres....

I can't imagine why my dining room would need knobs,

since there's not a single drawer or cabinet to be seen,

but that didn't stop me from picking out four beauties anyway.

Aren't they splendid? And 50% off, too!

I've been looking for perfect-for-dining-room-windows fabric with little success.

I looked at a gazillion samples online, and wandered the fabric store aisles,

but nothing had the right color combination.

Only one swatch on a website showed potential,

but it was expensive and I couldn't be sure of the accuracy of the colors.

And then I walked into Hobby Lobby.

There it was! There it was!

The very fabric I had considered...and 30% off.

Made my day.

Flutterbug enjoyed shopping at Hobby Lobby just as much as I.

Those are knobs in her hand, too - she's going to make herself a scarf rack.

We're on vacation right now, but when we return I shall analyze every room

and piece of furniture for knobability.

I also hope to finally repaint the dining room, which is a kind of faded

bricky-pottery color, slightly browner and darker, and get some stitch-witchery

and slap some window treatments together.

And do something amazingly creative with those scrumptious knobs.

And then I shall walk in,

and promptly need to head to the bathroom,

and know that the room is just right!

Quintessential Treasure

2012-01-01T05:00:00.004-05:00

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

When a man found it, he hid it again,

and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

---Matthew 13:44

Now here's a peculiar treasure that beats all other treasures!

A wee baby, born in a stinky stable, all God, all man.

He grows, he teaches, he loves, he lays down his life

and takes the Father's punishment for our sins

upon himself.

He defies all laws of nature and humanity, rising from the dead,

and now he's busy prepping heaven for us

and prepping us for heaven!

Soooo....on one hand,

our stuff,

(a.k.a. trash)

and on the other,

Jesus, the

Greatest. Treasure. Ever.

Seems like a no-brainer, doesn't it?

Then for heaven's sake, what are you WAITING for???!

Coming Soon!

2011-12-02T21:53:00.000-05:00

Tweaking, tweaking, tweaking... should be back on the bloggy wagon by 2012!

In the meantime, rest up, eat well, read a few good books, worship your Savior, take a shower now and then, and before you know it, a new post will appear!

Zippity Doo Dah

2011-04-12T21:35:00.010-04:00

Hello, my friends! The week is just zipping by, isn't it? The older I get the faster it goes.

The Victory Home ladies are going to be singing in the choir on Easter Sunday. That black and red lump between the little girls is Boo...and no, he's not covering his ears. He's lulled into a euphoric state from the beautiful music surrounding him (really - they sound quite good!).

When he's not attending rehearsals, Boo stays busy keeping an eye on the neighborhood.

All those seeds I soaked and planted...and here's the result:

ONE seedling. Makes me think Walmart's not the best seed store....

I realized tonight that this is Year Eight of enjoying this view through the pantry window:

I get a little thrill every time I spot these gorgeous blooms as I hurry to and from the nearby sink. What beauty and creativity God has infused throughout the lowly earth! I can't help but stop, and marvel for just a moment, over the wonder of a Maker who cares enough to sprinkle little blessings over our day...the blessing of song...the blessing of furry pets...the blessing of seedlings pushing up through earth...the blessing of white, smiling dogwood blooms peering in my window.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2011-04-09T21:21:00.005-04:00

More trees!

I've worked on the mural a couple of times since the last picture, but mostly Flutterbug and I have been setting up the rest of the office. We found sound-reducing curtain panels at Walmart which we placed on the one wall adjacent to another office, and hung artwork on each panel.

We hung several other pieces of (purchased) artwork, put together an unusual lamp and a bookcase (pure torture), and arranged the furniture. One more painting session and the mural should be basically done. I had intended trees with leaves, but I'm afraid to do it! So maybe I'll save that for a day when I'm feeling all bold and confident and a bit reckless. In the meantime, winter birch trees will do nicely. Mike found a piece of art at Kirkland's with birches in it which will be across the room.

Next week I must work on taxes (a little early, I know, but I've been working on my procrastination issues) so I'm not sure how much else I'll get done. I DID finally get the kitchen floor raked up, and I even washed a few dishes for good measure.

Still no sign of the elusive Raisin Bran. In a rather traitorous move, I bought a box of Grape Nuts today. I must move on.

Lost and Found

2011-04-07T21:26:00.003-04:00

I have lost my Raisin Bran.

Sounds like a euphemism, doesn't it? No, I have not lost my moxie...or my marbles...or my grooviness.

I have lost my RAISIN BRAN.

The box was at least half full last time I had some. For my family's sake I only eat a small bowl at a time, for it does strange and wondrous things to my digestive system.

Now, if Boo had eaten it, 1) his flatulence would have given him away, and 2) he would have left an astounding amount of debris in his wake. Trust me on this. I need to rake out my kitchen tomorrow because he got into the trash...uh...yesterday.

And this is GOOD raisin bran - the nice plain ol' kind with the sugar-coated raisins. Where, oh where could it be? (Yes, I have checked both the fridge and the freezer, and the washing machine on the porch.)

On an unrelated note, you know those funny little rubbery things that you can put on your thumb to help you turn pages (I think my kindergarten teacher may have used one in the '60's)? I found one lying on the floor near the front door. Wierd. I have never seen one close up.

I also walked into the bedroom and there was a baby sock just lying there next to the bed. A BABY SOCK. There hasn't been a baby sock in this house in...well, Flutterbug's twenty.

Straaaaaange goings on around here.

Black As Night...In the Country, That Is

2011-04-04T20:03:00.010-04:00

Weeeel, the mural's still looking yellow...I'm starting to add trees...something tells me I'll end up working around those trees to try to fix it, and that wouldn't be so easy. We'll see.

Perhaps if I make the forest thick enough, it'll choke out the background! And if that doesn't work, I'll revert to my alternate plan of midnight in the arctic. In winter, that is.

Not Christmas, of course...more like January, when nothing's going on up there. You get my drift.

Good Formatting Grief!

2011-04-02T22:03:00.006-04:00

UGH...it's all BLOGGER.COM's fault that I can't separate paragraphs or put spaces before or after pics - everyone's complaining about it and it still isn't fixed. It's getting on my nerves!!

Boo Has Orange Lips

2011-04-02T21:03:00.009-04:00

Just got home from ladies' Bible study at the Victory Home Ladies' Home. They served cheese puffs, a Boo favorite, and in his own quiet way, he reminded everyone. I was a last resort, since all I had was multigrain Pringles and fruit. Don't imagine that I'm a saint...after working out at the Y this morning, I scarfed down two Weight Watchers taquitos, then alternated bites of World Table Chipotle Cheese Tortilla Chips with spoonfuls of grapefruit (no I'm not pregnant) and chased down that stimulating combo with a couple of spoonfuls of hot fudge sauce that my daughter foolishly left in my fridge. "A couple" may or may not be a bit of an understatement. Here's a peek at the cabinet; still working on the rest of the room so unless you'd enjoy seeing an ironing board, a full litter box, and other detritus of two slobby people living under the same roof, I'll wait a bit longer to post more pics of the room.

Still floundering my way through the mural. It's very yellow. I didn't mean for it to be, but I'm not ready to do anything about it. Mainly because I have no idea what to do about it.

Tomorrow we all have the privilege of worshipping our Maker! I'll be in His house in the morning; will you?

Bam.

2011-03-31T20:29:00.006-04:00

Just as I feared, I marched right into that cabinet in the hall this morning. Full body slam. Good thing I'm so well-padded.

A Little O' This and That

2011-03-31T13:22:00.011-04:00

My cool cabinet was delivered today (yay). I asked them, "Is it very heavy?"

"Nah, it's light as a feather."

"Awesome," I said, with my sweetest smile. "Then would you mind running it upstairs [that is, the 18 steps, with a bend]?"

They were oh-so-obliging. It sits in the middle of the hall, though, for now; I hope I remember that on my nightly teeter-and-stumble to the bathroom.

A couple of the thrift store guys picked up KFC for everyone for lunch. How sweet!

I had a wonderful visit with a childhood friend who was vacationing nearby. I don't think I stopped talking for a whole hour. I always imagine that after a visit like this, the people say, "Wow, can that girl talk. I thought she'd never shut up!" But I will try to imagine instead that she had as good a time as I did. I'm thinking we might be kindred spirits. We need more time to yack and find out!

Been splashing a lot of paint around in Mike's office. Tupperware has had a hand in my project. I feel a little like a kid; having fun squirting paint and mixing colors.

The scary project has begun.

Don't you love the contrast of that lovely towel? Gotta love the 70's.

More soon...my bed calls. Mike's been leaving at 5:30am to run to church (takes him a little over an hour). He is a madman. I've been getting up right after him, and though he goes to bed around 9pm now, I can't seem to fall asleep that early yet, and I have discovered the joys of Blackberry Sudoku. Mike snores while I stare at the blue glow of the phone and contemplate number placement.

zzz7zzzz2zzz4zzzz3zzzz9zzz...

Hibernation Was Nice, But...

2011-03-24T20:18:00.015-04:00

Well, HELLO! Has it really been three months?? This is what's snowing now:

All the lovely blooming, sneeze-inducing blossoms! It seems like just yesterday that we were dragging the Christmas tree (what was left of it) out the door.

We've gone through three toilets in as many months. Did you know you can pour water into the bowl and it will automatically flush? I suppose you did. Well, it was news to ME. And it got old pretty quickly.

Finally got everything fixed and then a squatter moved in...squatter...I crack myself up... I didn't have the heart to flush him, so I started using the downstairs bathroom. Mike wasn't quite so sympathetic, and the squatter has been relocated to an underground home.

In February we opened the the best thrift store ever.

We're still getting all kinds of fascinating donations.

Snagged this the other day for a great price at The Barn (our outlet). I have no idea where to put it. But isn't it lovely?

I picked this up, too, because I was inspired by the mirror below it. It's just plastic, but I'm hoping to find a nice retro aqua paint and see how close I can come to that cool mirror below (which I saw on etsy.com).

Buddy has found yet another way to be pampered. He's been under the weather...six hundred dollars and a mis-diagnosis of trapped gas later, that's right, trapped gas, turns out he has a spine problem and I have to carry him around, particularly up stairs, and perhaps for the rest of his life! He goes outside to do his business, then he whines at the steps, and like a dutiful mommy I step outside to scoop him up. Just as I reach down he runs off. I end up chasing him all over the yard, usually in something elegant like a robe and Mike's dress shoes. It's a good thing he's so cute.

Boo, on watch at the window for nefarious cats, looks all innocent here.

But imagine my chagrine when I came upon this, just an hour after bringing Buddy home from the vet with a month's worth of anti-inflammatory pills. Chewables...that was a mistake. Leaving them on the kitchen counter was evidently another one.

So back to the vet I went, with another dog and another gigantic wad of money. He's pretty well recovered now, and back in the swing of things at the ladies' home, including Saturday night Bible study.

Here are a couple of ladies who are too cool for their shoes, Flutterbug and Grandma. Her grandma is hip. We hardly blinked when we were watching a home slide show of family pictures and she said, "Who dat?" Actually, that's an outright lie; we laughed our heads off. She's a groovy grandma for sure.

The older I get, the more non-fiction I enjoy. I find myself compelled to fill my brain with fascinating things like what I learned in this book: (regarding size) a virus is to a human as a human is to the earth. Wow. No wonder they're so sneaky.

I'm reading this sequel to "A Year in Provence" which I devoured last year (a girl can dream, can't she?):

Who could resist a book that starts with a sentence like this?

Been feeling all artsy-craftsy again. There won't be any meals served on the kitchen table for a while.

Mike wants a wall-sized mural in his new office. Here I am starting something I have no idea how to do:

More on this project later. I have a backup plan. Let's just say I'm glad my sister just married a mural artist.

In the meantime, I also have a mess in the spare bedroom. More on this later.

Time to kick the brown thumb into gear. I soaked some seeds overnight and then planted them in these groovy pots: tarragon, dill, catnip, cilantro (the other herbs go in the big pots outside on the fence).

So there you have it. This is all but a few dozen highlights of the new year. I'd keep going, but I hear Buddy crying my name in the backyard. Time to wrap up in an afghan, and maybe throw on a bike helmet and chase him around the yard. Perhaps you'll see me on AFV one day, if my neighbors are savvy.

Snug As A Bug In A Rug

2010-12-31T23:32:00.003-05:00

Not much compares to the glorious pleasure of being SNOWED IN.

Homemade bread...

and leisurely naps...

I speak strictly of myself, of course...Mike was stir-crazy by about 9am.

But I adored every minute. And we let him drag us out the second day, on one of his famously long walks, trudging through wonderful piles of white stuff, slipping and sliding on ice, and then warming ourselves with she-crab soup and meatball sandwiches.

We returned to find our cars being shoveled out by our trusty Victory Home friends, who were going about town looking for opportunities to serve!

Thank you, Lord, for the snow and the rest and the joy!

Wishing you all a beautiful new year of joy and blessing and purpose and peace!

Quilty as Charged

2010-11-30T20:31:00.010-05:00

My crafty mom's been at it again! She cut up this old quilt and made some lovely ornaments - only two left, so if you'd like one, hop to it! (Banner Celebrations)

This one's my favorite and still available:

AND check out her vintage sewing pattern shop, while you're at it: Cutting Back.

Tried my hand at cranberry-orange sauce last month. I thought it came out great; Mike did not enjoy the tartness. The second time I made it I doubled the sugar. Still mildly tart but much better!

Well, back to my online Scrabble games - one against my mamma, and one against Flutterbug (who shows no mercy and cleans the floor with me nearly every game). I would never do that to my mother....

Ready For Some Randomness?

2010-11-21T21:27:00.021-05:00

I know, I know...I haven't posted in forever. It's a good time for a post full of randomness to catch y'all up on the highlights. Ready?

So...I learned a lesson the other day: don't tie a 15-pound dog to a 60-pound dog. It won't bode well for the 15-pound dog. Clearly I didn't think it through when I tied the ends of their leashes together. They were at church with me, and I thought it would make it less likely for them to sneak off. I certainly didn't consider that Boo might break into a run while Buddy was busy paying attention to an itchy spot on his own behind. The ramifications of my foolishness dawned on me at that point, but I was thwarted in my attempts to chase after the dogs by side-splitting laughter. I couldn't help myself. That laughter caught in my throat when I made the...um...added mistake of calling Boo to me when he was stopped between some seats. For once, he responded immediately with a leap and a lunge. I thought Buddy was a goner.

I'm happy to report that both dogs are fine and snoring away right now:

I always buy my Thanksgiving turkey just a little too late for it to be fully thawed in time. I stuck it in a cold water bath in the kitchen sink Wednesday evening as I prepared some other items, but it was still pretty hard at bedtime. Since it can't be completely submerged in the sink (I have to keep rotating it), I decided to pop it into the tub overnight. I ran that tub water forever and the rump was still showing...did you know that turkeys float? (Frozen ones anyway.) So I scrounged around for something to use as a weight. I wonder what Mike thought when he got up in the night to go to the bathroom and saw a gallon paint can sitting on a turkey sitting in the tub.

I'm happy to report that none of us got trichinosis. Or telekinesis. Or whatever.

Both Mike and I have had falls recently - Mike tried to kick a basketball out of the way so no one would trip over it. Ah, the irony. His foot rolled over it and he hit the ground in his only good suit (it was Sunday). Don't tell him, but I can hardly type this from chuckling so hard.... So I was carrying a giant box of toys across the room last week and stepped on a toy truck. Next-thing-you-know, I was doing a slow-motion split and there wasn't a blessed thing I could do about it. At some point, before I really pulled a muscle, I tipped over. I'm no Mary Lou Retton.

I'm also no longer the parent of a teenager - Flutterbug turned twenty in October (teeny sob). In celebration, we all went to a concert at a local church. I forgot to bring gum, and I like having fresh breath when I'm in close quarters with other people. I dug around in my purse and found one of those plastic bottles of gel toothpaste. Squeezed a tiny dollop onto my finger and licked it and swished it around in my mouth. It did the trick. I pulled it out again during the intermission and did the same thing. Then I offered some to Mike. He said, "Sure," and I squeezed a bit onto his finger. Then he clapped his hands together and rubbed the toothpaste all over them, while I stared at him with my mouth agape. Flutterbug managed to tell him it wasn't hand sanitizer and I found enough of a voice to snort and then laugh 'til I cried. That guy is a one-man comedy show.

My new skinny jeans are defective. They have utterly failed me. I didn't mean to buy them - I didn't even know they were "skinny" until I yanked off the label that said, "Skinny." I'm thinking that once the size goes into double digits, a better label would be, "Moderately Lanky Below the Knees." So they do their job as long as I wear them with a dress. Flutterbug said, "If DAD ever buys skinny jeans, I'll die." That was the same day that she told me, "The thing in front of the thing is the thing that Boo threw up on." She's so quotable.

I could go on all night...our life would make a great reality show - just following our huge Victory Home truck around town, which can't go in reverse, would make a hilarious storyline. But I'm getting sleepy, so consider yourselves caught up. And don't worry a bit about Buddy; he bounced back quite well from that leash fiasco, and recovered perfectly from having his head rolled up in the car window the same evening.

...And I'm Reading GARFIELD in the Downstairs Bathroom

2010-11-09T18:22:00.013-05:00

Caught a bug this weekend. One minute I felt perfectly fine; the next I was a-runnin' to the loo.

One benefit from spending all that time in the bathroom: I finally began to grasp Mendelian genetics. Yup. Nothing like a little light reading to pass the time when one is...uh...indisposed.

And I do mean light reading, as in The Cartoon Guide to Genetics.

It's right up my alley. And it caused me to ponder profound questions such as: which of my parents is able to curl his (or her) tongue?

For, according to my in-depth cartoon research, one of them must have that ability because I have that ability. (I'd take a picture, but I'd hate to embarrass my girl). Who would've guessed that tongue-curling was a dominant genetic trait? Good thing I'm reading this book. And if anyone questions my genetics knowledge, I'll just call them a recessive heterozygous phenotype. And I'll know exactly what that means, mwahahaha.

So have I mentioned that Flutterbug has flown the coop? Victory Home opened a home for women a few weeks ago and she became the overnight supervisor. I dealt with the initial empty-nest stress like any red-blooded mom would - marched to the store and picked up three boxes of sugar cereal and a gallon of whole milk. I slurped two big bowls of Honey Smacks and chased them down with a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles, and voila, life didn't seem so dark and dreary anymore.

We spruced up one of the guys' homes (I won't bore you with those gory details) and two women moved in the first day.

We now have four women (plus Flutterbug and Boo), and things are flying along very well. I supervise the women in the mornings as we overhaul our newest store. On the weekend evenings, Flutterbug often cooks special meals or dessert and they watch movies and play games. Another staff member who takes Flutterbug's place on Sunday and Monday nights often comes over for the fellowship. Don't you just want to check in?

Fall In!

2010-11-03T21:15:00.010-04:00

Sure signs of autumn in the Ellis home:

Caramel Apple soap in the lavatory (three weeks until I break out the awesome stuff)...

...fire in the woodstove and the sofas gathered 'round...

...and Buddy is sporting his winter coat (the summer duds are long gone).

Time for me to pull out my winter coat, too. It's gettin' CHILLY here in the sunny south.

Not that I'm complaining.

Don't knock the weather.

If it didn't change once in a while,

nine out of ten people couldn't

start a conversation.

(Kin Hubbard)

Enough About the Trip Already

2010-11-01T21:27:00.010-04:00

Let's knock out the rest of this vacation stuff, shall we? I have other things to blog about!

Here's Flutterbug and her dad at Fenway Park.

We spent a day touring Boston, which we rarely visited during the 18 years we lived nearby. Interesting city. Who knew?

We swam in a lake. YAY. I don't touch the lakes here in Virginia with a 10-foot pole for one reason: water moccasins. 'Nuff said.

We enjoyed a terrific production of Peter Pan at Prescott Park. Five dollar donation, sitting under the stars on lawn chairs, river lapping nearby, the incomparable scent of fried dough wafting on the air - can't beat it.

We also fit in Mike's high school reunion (should have taken pics, in retrospect), great services at my dad's church, visits with old friends, jogs in the neighborhood, lots and lots of eating (especially seafood and giant ice cream cones), sitting around the supper table with my dad, shopping in Wolfeboro, driving around lake Winnipesaukee, and a few dozen other things.

Then, smart cookie that I am, I asked my slightly perfectionist dad to pack the trunk. We had a few thousand grocery bags of detritus to add to our luggage for the trip back. I knew that if anyone could fit everything into that car, it'd be my daddy. He loves a good puzzle, and has no qualms about removing everything and starting over, if that's what it takes, whether loading a trunk or a dishwasher. Yessiree.

And I'm happy to report that he succeeded beautifully and I still had room for eight whoopie pies we picked up on the way out of town for my sis (at Calef's Country Store, of course) and a dozen Dunkin Donuts (which fit handily on my lap).

We managed to keep our mitts off those whoopie pies for a realllly long time and when we finally gave in we only snagged one each from the freezer. Brought the other five to SC with us a couple of weeks ago, and it just dawned on me that I never told my sister about them. They may be still sitting in my mom's fridge. Unless...Mom...is that cream on your lip?...

Harvard Home

2010-10-28T20:58:00.003-04:00

On our way back from visiting the cousins, we drove through Harvard to see the home where my dad lived when he was a small child.

Hearing my dad reminisce: priceless.

Jack Sprat

2010-10-27T21:30:00.006-04:00

What'd I tell ya.

That man was, like, six feet tall and normal-shaped everywhere but the stick-figure legs. My dad pulled me aside and said, "Since you're taking pictures, snap one of them." Obedient child that I am, I snapped.

Pretty Posies

2010-10-26T20:58:00.008-04:00

A trip to New Hampshire isn't complete without a visit to Prescott Park in Portsmouth.

Where else can a person see black plants with scary-deadly-looking shiny black berries?

In case pretty flowers seem a little dull to you, here's a picture I snapped while in line at McDonalds.

Evidently, Flutterbug pointed out the bug on the man's shirt because she thought I should brush it off. I, naturally, was thinking "blog moment."

And that's not the only picture I took while in line; tomorrow I'll be sharing a pic my dad suggested I take. We both share a mildly demented sense of humor...

Time Flies When I Don't Blog

2010-09-29T20:44:00.012-04:00

I'm a stalled ox. Not sure what that is, exactly...an ox, I guess...that is stalled...yup, sounds like me. Close enough.

So here it is, a month after my last post, and I.just.can't.seem.to.get.the.ball.rolling.

I was tempted to skip over the rest of our trip to NH, and plow (note the ox lingo) forward into the present, but...all those photos...all that fun...

Okay, here I go, the ox is leaving the stall and venturing into the pasture (in cute little kitten-heeled peep-toed shoes, of course)...

We had a great visit with my aunts, uncle and cousins in Massachusetts.

We passed around old photos which brought back lots of memories.

More pics tomorrow...I'm starting to frolic just a bit among the buttercups...

Who, Me?

2010-09-22T20:37:00.007-04:00

I saw Jupiter the other night.

It was just a-sittin' there in the night sky

all bright and shiny.

I reached out to touch it; it was so very small

next to my large hand.

But then it was huge

and I remembered I am just a speck.

And I marvel

that the Maker of this giant planet

lives in me, an insignificant girl

in an aging woman's body.

Guess this kind of thing was on King David's mind, too, a few thousand years ago...

"O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?"

What a privilege to be known
by the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE!

Wide Load Coming Through

2010-09-19T22:19:00.008-04:00

New Hampshire has four basic food groups.

Seafood...

...Dunkin Donuts...

...blueberries...

...and ice cream.

Now there's a food pyramid I can get behind (with a little help from a fork lift).

Tripping Northward

2010-09-12T21:33:00.013-04:00

Time flies when your life consists of hours of frantic-paced frenzy punctuated by moments of dazed stillness in the family room with frozen pizza and two snoring dogs and Eureka Season 3 in the DVD player.

So it is with some wonder that I write that we took a trip to New Hampshire A MONTH AGO. How can that be? I could have sworn it was just last week.

There's something divinely consoling in a visit to my "growing-up" hometown. After so many years away, the edges of the images in my mind are softened, and I'm pretty sure I hear "The Wonder Years" theme in the background.

Over an hour outside our destination, Mike and I start pointing excitedly to the left and right, filling in Flutterbug on many of our memories...there's the town where Mike committed his heart to Christ (in "The Devil's Domain" of the Salem High School Blue Devils!)...here's the apartment his blind grandmother once lived in...oooh, I remember ice-skating in that park after they flooded it with the firehose...and over there is the call-box on the telephone pole that Mike hit with his face while riding his bike past a fight erupting across the street which he couldn't pull his eyes away from (the fight never materialized because the men erupted in laughter when they saw the geeky kid across the street get knocked off his bike by the call-box, with the bike continuing innocently down the sidewalk)...hey, where's the old bowling alley?? the one with the small balls - what was that kind of bowling called?...I bobbed for apples at that Methodist church one halloween; that was the year I really wanted to dress up as a witch, like all the other girls I knew, but was forced to settle for a pirate, since THEY'RE not evil (and at least I wasn't the Vegetable Girl, like the year before, with a colander of fake squash and greenbeans and potatoes on my head and orange yarn hanging down through the holes and vegetables painted on my bedsheet dress and my cheeks and THEN had to walk down Main Street in a parade...oh, the mortification **sorry, Mom**)...almost to my street now...here's the road Mike and I often rode up and down on his ten-speed, with me on the handlebars...there's the ditch into which I rode my Huffy banana-seat bike, with, according to my 8-year-old neighbor (a Facebook friend now, wonder of wonders) my ponytails flying resolutely behind me...and, then...ahhh, my Wonder Years home...

...complete with my lovely Dad, his lovely flower beds...

...and the old croquet set still in commission in the backyard.

The very same day we arrived, we headed to the farmers' market downtown for a little shopping. I try to keep Mike's wallet light, so it doesn't weigh his pants down. We wouldn't want him sagging - that's so yesterday.

There's my dad talking vegetables. He'd make a much better Vegetable Girl...uh, Man than I, with his vast knowledge and interest in the subject.

And fruit...talk about fruit...he's got the world's best kind of superfruit in his own yard - BLUEBERRIES.

That is not my belly...it's the handle of the can poking my shirt out. YES, IT IS.

We counted the number of open Morning Glories every day.

My childhood may not have been as perfectly idyllic as I remember, but, like my dad's Morning Glories, I have grown and flourished and all the good things and people who had a part in it deserve to be the memories that rise to the top of my mind.

Here go the soft edges and that Wonder Years music again...

I Heart Mondays

2010-09-08T21:07:00.009-04:00

Yorktown is just a 30-minute drive from home, and Williamsburg a little farther; they're both nice escape destinations for us on our day off, so we headed there on Monday, with a quick stop at Wawa for a snack on the way.

I feel the history more in the quietness and peace of Yorktown than in Williamsburg with its quaint homes and period-costumed actors. The ground quivers with the pounding steps of colonial soldiers. I can almost see Indian canoes gliding along the river. Pocahontas may have stood on the very ground beneath me! (Yes, my history gets all squished together in my mind...it's kind of like Facebook - chatting with a childhood neighbor AND my next-door-neighbor at the same time.)

Boo had issues with the really big kitties pulling carriages.

I went into ONE shop...er...shoppe, in Williamsburg: Williams-Sonoma. And this is why:

I walked into the Victory Home warehouse bathroom the other week to wash my hands - and let me tell ya, it's not the purtiest-looking/smelling place - and without a thought I pumped a little liquid soap into my hand.

Evidently some nose-handicapped donor had given us a half-bottle of Williams-Sonoma Spiced Chestnut with Cinnamon and Clove Essential Oils Hand Soap.

Suddenly, I was transported into post-White-Witch-Narnia...the North Pole...Winter Wonderland...a Currier and Ives scene....

So I felt totally justified in paying $12.95 for 16 ounces of hand soap. Of course, I'll be hoarding the bottle until the holidays, so don't bother to drop in and ask to use the bathroom before then.

$12.95.

In my defense, I was strong enough to resist shelling out $18.00 for a teeny bottle of room spray.

Is it worth $12.95 to wash your hands in Christmas? I'll answer that with a holly jolly YES.

Potlucky

2010-09-04T20:29:00.007-04:00

My poor KITCHEN!

It's a wreck (more than the usual wreck, that is), after a marathon cooking session for tomorrow's potluck dinner after church. I'd post a picture, but...my vanity won't let me. The floor and the counters are littered with dirty bowls, utensils and ingredients, but the good news is that the fridge is holding a pan of beans, a bowl of watergate salad, a ham and a 500-pound pan of baked macaroni & cheese. I could barely lift it. Oooh, and two cakes sitting pretty on the stove, one vanilla with sprinkles and one chocolate w/colored jimmies.

In case you're confused by my terms, I consider sprinkles to be the sugary specks and jimmies to be those tubular solid-colored thingies, usually chocolate brown, but today, a rainbow of pretty colors. I'm not sure if "jimmies" is a regional thing or what, but I find the name totally tubular, man.

I was going to start writing about our terrific trip to New Hampshire, but I'm worn out and covered head to toe in powdered sugar and cocoa, which is making me feel a bit lethargic...and a little euphoric. So 'scuse me while I lean back, put my feet up and...zzzzzzzzzzz

He Da Man

2010-08-29T21:17:00.013-04:00

Here's a man people either love or hate:

Oh, the stories I could tell...but who wants to hear about hate when LOVE is so much more...lovely?

Can't help but love a man who'll sit through Nanny McPhee and act like he's enjoying it as much as he enjoyed Killer Rodents on the Space Shuttle.

Can't help but be attracted to a man who tells me he loves me in a Scooby Doo voice. And his Marvin the Martian impression sends my heart
a-flutter.

Can't help but adore a man who loves the unlovely, the addicted, the lost, the scary (and a few of them ARE a bit scary) enough to dedicate his life to helping them.

Can't help but be fascinated by a man, who, in bed at night, in spite of his allergies, reaches a hand out to give the cat that token rub she requires before she'll settle down to sleep. And then there's the whole "Saluting the Dog" thing...

The man bought me another diamond ring to replace the one I spun off the table at McGuffy's restaurant (of course, it was totally his fault for spinning his wedding band first. I can't help it if he's a better ring spinner than I am), he worried when I rode my bike all the way to church in heavy traffic, he put up with my chunky shoe phase, he laughs at my jokes (many of which are missing the key part on which the entire joke hangs - still not sure how that happens), he tells me to spend money...although, in retrospect, this may coincide with his desire to spend money...but still..., he loves to hop in the car and look for adventure on our days off, he even sits patiently while Flutterbug and I wander, as in a dream, through the sparkly and mesmerizing Christmas Store.

For our anniversary, he took me to a such a fancy restaurant that the waiter seated us and said (I kid you not), "Let me remove these white napkins from the table. I have black napkins that I believe would be better suited to your attire." The owner, who knows Mike slightly, came by the table, asked about Victory Home, and offered to call the mayor about a small city problem we're having...pulled out his cell phone and dialed him right then! We dined on the freshest she-crab soup, asparagus, some sort of meat (meat doesn't stay in my memory very well), scalloped potatoes...then headed to the oceanfront and walked and ate ice cream and reluctantly headed home the next day.

In a nutshell, I've had a fantastic 25-years of marriage with this zany guy, and I know full well that the next 25 won't disappoint!

Black napkins, yes, I can see that...

A Little 'O This...A Little 'O That

2010-08-01T21:10:00.025-04:00

It's the starting that's the hardest. Or, rather, the REstarting. But here I go...excuse the randomness of the post. In fact, embrace it! Who needs organized thought anyway? Think of this post as a big, colorful pile of confetti!

I found some strange ceramic rings at the thrift store. I don't know what on earth they're supposed to be for, but I stuck them to some mirrors, added buttons to the centers and, voila, modern art right over the toilet! I updated the little bathroom with a new mirror and bronze fixtures. Add to that the book of Christopher Robin's memoirs and I enjoy spending lots of time in there. A rebellious intestinal tract doesn't hurt either.

Oddly enough, when I described those ceramic rings to my mother, she went to a drawer, said, "Are they like these?" and pulled out the exact same thing! You'd think we were related, the way we're drawn to the same types of weird objects.

Flutterbug's been taking Boo to obedience class. The teacher said that dogs get used to the tone of our voices, so that saying "No" becomes ineffective. She suggested coming up with an irritating sound to use instead. Beth's choice sounds kind of like "aak" in a loud nasal tone. It's irritating all right. Irritates Boo, irritates Mike, irritates me. On the upside, we're all a lot more obedient.

My mother gave me a couple of fantastic cuff bracelets for my birthday. Love 'em! One was custom-made to match that pin I bought at the flea market.

Flutterbug and I went for a swim at the YMCA yesterday. I use the word "swim" loosely - it was more like bouncing down the swim lane and back and yakking a non-stop. We mostly talked about our upcoming trip to NH. She had a few opinions on the subject:

1) She heard that the alpine slide at Attitash has double sleds and she was clear that she will NOT ride with me (because I went "careening off into the woods" once; I corrected that misconception - the sled went careening off into the woods...I landed face-down on the slide in a Superman pose. Still have the 20-year old scar on my knee as a souvenir).

2) She hopes we'll be driving up Mt. Washington again, and this time she'll be bringing a movie camera, which she plans to train on me, post on Youtube and make tons of money selling advertising when it goes viral. Now don't even tell me you wouldn't act the same way (alternately screeching with laughter and shrieking with fear) on a road like this (that little teeny bit of land in the lower left corner is the road's edge.

Don't ask me why I'm okay with catapulting down a mountain in a plastic sled on a fiberglass track, and not ok with climbing up a mountain in a sturdy car with a trustworthy driver. I'm a complex woman.

3) She does hope we'll go to Newick's again...they have pretty good hamburgers (to which my dad responded, upon hearing that she ordered a burger at one of the best seafood restaurants in NH: "Are you out of your bloomin' mind???!")

Got a cantaloup in my farm co-op box this weekend. My dad calls them musk melons, and now I think I know why - it is stinking up the kitchen with what can only be described as the putrid smell of cat pee. WHEW.

I took a flying leap on the walk home from the Independence Day fireworks. Stepped into a bit of a hole and wrenched my ankle and went down like a bear hit by a tranquilizer dart. Ironically, I was chattering with little Billy's dad about how often that boy falls down (every few minutes). He's 8 years old now and still has legs like the scarecrow on the Wizard of Oz. He skips everywhere he goes, falls down, hops right back up again (wait 'til he's 46 - it'll take 4 minutes and a lot of stifled wimpering and embarrassed giggling).

There you have it...a veritable sea of confetti-like minutiae. Party on!

Ode to a Neglected Blog

2010-07-19T20:12:00.008-04:00

I know, I KNOW, I need to blog
I've fallen off the wagon
I manage one, or two, or three
And then I end up laggin'

As evening comes and day is done
I find my brain so foggy
I know there's lots of stuff to post
But I'm all pooped and groggy

Now the tales are piling up
I don't know where to start
The belly-flop onto the walk
My mother's bracelet art

And then there's Boo and Buddy who
Have come up with a plan
To work together in their way
To scare off every man (and cat)

I want to tell you all about
My groovy shopping finds
I'm sure what kind of shoes I buy's
On everybody's minds

But here it is, another night
Another foggy noodle
All you get's a silly poem
I'm off to eat a strudel

(Food: my Number One, All-time Favorite blog subject, by the way.)

(REMEMBER stanza two: FOGGY and GROGGY.)

(Right now.)

I Wish It Would Rain Potato Chips

2010-06-17T21:33:00.018-04:00

It's been a messy kind of week. Flash floods on Wednesday made getting home a real adventure -Flutterbug and I had to zig zag our way all over town to find a clear route. Look at that crazy bus forging recklessly through a flooded intersection:

That evening I browned some ground beef; I took it off the burner for a few minutes and when I put it back on, it exploded and rained hamburger all over the kitchen! Boo and Buddy thought they'd died and gone to heaven.

Speaking of those two wacky fellows, I'm still attempting to walk them together. The other day I walked home from the Y and walked them back to pick up the car. It's about a mile one way - an easy walk without the dogs, but on the trek back, between Boo straining ahead and Buddy insisting on stopping and sniffing every single odor along the way, I spent most of the time stretched like a heretic on a rack.

I've been walking a lot lately in my attempt to shed some of this extra weight. I managed to walk from the Y to church - about four miles - and went straight to the warehouse to work. I didn't consider how sweaty I'd be so I had to dig around for a shirt to change into. All I could find was a t-shirt with "Groovy Grandma" printed on it. Now I cannot dispute the groovy part, but let me be clear: a grandma I'm NOT.

Flutterbug and I got home the other night and - gasp - Boo had eaten the TV remote control. We located the nearest cable store and hopped in the car. It was a 40-minute trip so I entertained Flutterbug (who was driving) by playing with her Blackberry and reading her emails and Facebook statuses Victor Borge style.

We laughed so hard that when we walked into the cable store, I had mascara smeared all over my face and she had a bad case of hiccups, and they handed us a new remote without charge as if they were a bit afraid of us.

To which I say: groovy!

a-One and a-Two and a-Three

2010-06-14T21:47:00.010-04:00

Three items of limited significance to report on tonight:

1) Saw some terrific fireworks at the river Saturday evening; it was a nice stress-relieving break from the recent crazy work schedule:

2) Boo's tongue is longer than mine (which is saying a lot):

and 3) my Knight in Shining Armor cleaned the entire kitchen this morning, after sending his girls shopping.

Life is good.

Alice, Rosie, Florence...Benson....Anyone, Anyone??

2010-06-13T21:58:00.010-04:00

I really wanted a couple of farm-fresh eggs for breakfast.

But oh, the obstacles to overcome!

There were six - SIX - dirty frying pans sitting on the stove. (Fortunately, I discovered that I own seven.)

Found a serving fork to use as a spatula.

Several dirty plates were stacked on the toaster. Luckily, I found a bit of space on top of the microwave.

Ate my applesauce with a measuring spoon. I'm blessed (and cursed) with a scarily long and dextrous tongue, so it's all good.

BUT...sooner or later I must bite the bullet and tackle the kitchen. And the dining room. And the living room. And the bedrooms.

Tomorrow's our day off. Who knows, maybe we'll get the itch to clean up this pigsty.

It's that or go shopping, see a movie, eat out, hit the beach.

I wonder if you can fry eggs in a bundt cake pan?

Eat Yer Vegetables

2010-06-10T20:08:00.008-04:00

Here's a peek at a fraction of what I've been dealing with the last couple of weeks - the picture of this pile was taken after we sorted about twice that amount.

I like it a lot more when the stuff is GOOD; when it's mostly junk and trash, the task gets extremely tedious.

The days have been running together, and I missed my Wednesday CSA produce pickup last night. Picked it up today and bought a bit of cheese to make up for it - gruyere for a vegetable gratin, and some parmesan-reggiano just because it's so awesome.

I sauteed the summer squash, zucchini, carrots and onion, added some flour, salt and pepper, and a cup of hot milk until it was all saucy.

Grated some of the gruyere, mixed it with bread crumbs, sprinkled it on the top and dotted it with butter. Baked it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

I had just a taste since I only have seven weeks until the trip to NH. And, of course, just a teeny bite from the block of parmesan cheese.

And then just one more taste of the veggie gratin.. .

Wet Dogs and Sandy Toes

2010-06-07T20:45:00.011-04:00

Every now and then God surprises us with a special little blessing. He brought today's through a former Victory Home client, John (a little bit of trivia: the name John is the most common name of VH clients - currently we have four Johns plus a newly hired truck driver named John) and his sister, who own a rental home in the Outer Banks.

They offered the use of the home any Monday that isn't rented, so we hopped into our swimsuits and hopped into the car.

All five of us, that is.

Kitty Hawk is about an hour and a half from home (or is the house in Nags Head...not sure).

Pretty fine little place, eh? Named "Gigi's Toes in the Sand."

Two dogs, two totally different attitudes toward the beach. Buddy spent the entire morning sitting on one or another of us and whining like a loose fan belt.

Boo, on the other hand, is a natural born beach bum. He frolicked, he built sandcastles, he dug a really deep hole.

I had a minute or two of bliss (between the whiny squeals) rereading At Home in Mitford. Jan Karon's new book is coming out in October, so I'm using it as an excuse to go through the whole series again.

We also enjoyed lunch on the porch and quiet afternoon naps (mine was in the car on the way home - someone had to hang out with the dogs on the porch since we wouldn't let them in the house).

It was a well-needed break - all three of us had a whopper of a week. Mike drove one of the donation trucks on Saturday; Flutterbug worked extra hours; I worked nearly 50 hours at the warehouse alone, and it was HOT, MAN. Saturday's temps were up to the 100's. I lost 2.5 pounds.

I like those numbers!

And we feel all refreshed and ready to do it again this week. God is just so good to us!

Knot Funny

2010-05-29T20:57:00.004-04:00

In retrospect, it was not a wise idea.

But at the time, I thought it'd be easy to walk both dogs by myself. So Buddy and Boo and I set out down the road, trotting now and then and reveling in the fine weather. We had no problems all the way to the park, other than having my hands full with two fat leash handles and three bags of very warm poop (Boo's excrement requires two, count 'em, two bags). There were a couple of unleashed dogs on the far side of the park, so we kept our distance. Unfortunately, those dogs didn't keep theirs and next-thing-you-know, they were running straight for us.

At first, Boo and one of the dogs bounded around each other playfully. But that didn't last, and soon there was a lot of growling and lunging, and as the owner sauntered over, a tangled web of leashes and arms and legs rendered me completely useless in stopping it. The owner of the the other dogs unleashed (hehe) a maelstrom of foul language at her dogs, threatening obedience school (yeah, I can see how screaming that you're going to send your *&%#@! dog to obedience school would snap him to attention).

After her tirade against her dogs was over, she stalked off without a single word to me, leaving me standing there wrapped up like a cocoon. The three of us hobbled our way toward the park exit, Buddy trying to climb up my leg and Boo continuing to throw his 60-lb. weight around, as much as he could with 90% of his leash around my legs and arms.

We straggled home and I thought: all we need now is a cat in this story.

(Cue the cat.)

Boo lunged at her; I panicked and grabbed the leash line (it was one of those retractable type, with a skinny line) and it zipped right through my fingers, giving me a whopper of a rope burn - I think I lost of couple of fingerprints. The cat is just fine.

So, from now on, the ratio is one human per dog. MINIMUM.

Needle in a Haystack

2010-05-26T20:53:00.006-04:00

On Friday last week, Victory Home had a donation pickup at a computer repair business.

Today we got a call that our guys had accidentally grabbed a Fedex package containing some kind of specialty business phones and a computer chip thingy - total worth: $1,000.

Ugh.

We had sold the phones at the thrift store for, well, very little.

The chip thingy was, as far as we knew, left to be sold in the outlet, where people rifle through boxes to buy stuff in bulk.

Grrreat.

Every day, at the end of the day, all the contents of the outlet are placed in a tractor-trailer to be sold by weight. And this chip thingy would have been on the tables on Saturday.

Soooo, when I got to the warehouse today, every available guy was digging through the trailer, which was nearly half full. They didn't find the needle in the haystack.

There was a lot of praying going on!

Mike went to the business owner with a check and the owner refused it, saying it was partly his fault for leaving the box nearby, and asking instead for the use of the handymen for a couple of small projects. What a relief!

And then, just an hour or two later, our pricer came across a little flat, clear plastic package on the pricing table he'd been clearing off. He held it up and I let out a SHRIEK.

Yay! God heard our prayers - it was the missing piece (worth nearly $800 itself). I have confidence that the customer who purchased the phones will return them (they won't work on their own) and we'll be able to return those to the owner, too. We're praising God around here!

Now That's Power

2010-05-24T20:47:00.010-04:00

A bit blustery at the beach this evening.

We thought it would be nice to take a picnic and walk the dogs. So we shivered our way through egg salad sandwiches and headed quickly along the boardwalk to warm up.

That's King Neptune keeping an eye on things.

This is a homeless guy completely covered up in a sheet.

A little fog and chill can't take away the charm of the sea. The power of God is so beautifully displayed in the roar of the waves, in the churn and roil of the water.

And only God can control the sea, and only God can control the nations, and only God can control my life. Ahhh, the peace in knowing that!

Blessed are those you choose
and bring near to live in your courts!

You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,

who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
--Psalm 65

Green Peas and Ocean Breeze

2010-05-22T22:04:00.011-04:00

Strawberry picking was a big disappointment. "Poor John's" stood up to its name - the berries where either rotting or small or underripe. BUT the upside is that they had peas for sale and fresh raw peas are right up there with Junior Mints. You snap open the pod, run your finger along it, pop the peas into your palm, and then, ahhhh - pure bliss in your mouth!

But we did manage to get a few good berries. Enjoyed them over ice cream tonight (with a drizzle of chocolate syrup...shhhh).

I ended up with just one hour to get the thrift store displays up, so there was a whole lot of racing around (barefooted - I had blisters from the annoying shoes that I wore strawberry-picking) and tossing old merchandise into a heap and running up and down the aisles looking for more stuff to fill in the gaps. My kind of fun!

All this stuff makes me want to live in a cottage by the sea, with shabby white furniture and crisp cotton linens and scallops and corn-on-the-cob under the broiler and a little three-man, two-dog sailboat bobbing beside the dock.

Oh, and a Wawa just down the road, and maybe a Walmart a few blocks away, and WiFi access, and a Dress Barn nearby would be nice...

Rise and Don't Shine Too Much

2010-05-20T20:24:00.006-04:00

Does eating yogurt with a butter knife while driving to work this morning count as multi-tasking? (I really need to do dishes.)

Spent a lot of the day getting merchandise ready for a couple of displays.

Nautical/Beach:

Independence Day:

That strange-looking thing in the upper left corner is interesting. It appears to be cast iron, with roosters around the outside and a small bowl-like center with what appears to be a melted candle in it. I love the shabbiness. Now that I think about it, I should up a price a little. It's those strange things that get the most interest!

I hope to rise bright and early tomorrow to get the displays up before the store opens at 9. I speak facetiously - Mike has been getting up at 6am every morning this week, rummaging around for clothes, traipsing in and out of the bedroom, jiggling the bed while putting on his socks and shoes, and today, the piece de resistance: he walked out of the house at 6:30 without his keys and locked himself out.

I have a feeling it's part of a sinister plot to keep me cranky. Evidently when I'm not cranky, I'm just too bright and perky to handle. It's like looking into the sun.

Right, honey?

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's, uh...

2010-05-19T20:45:00.013-04:00

I did some major multi-tasking today.

Buddy's been relegated to our bedroom at night, so Boo can be in Flutterbug's room. Buddy's okay until around 3am, when he starts roaming in and out, scratching, licking, jiggling the bed...

I've been a little cranky. I like my sleep.

I go to the library about once a year lately. I feel like I've matured over the years, and become all responsible and stuff, but it never fails: I forget about the books until they're way overdue. So, good thing I had only two books checked out this time. The fewer the books, the slower the fines rack up, you know. (And I know you know.)

I've gotten really slack about exercising for about a week. And I'm eating like a stevedore.

Wednesdays are my pickup day for the farm co-op. I bring back the flattened plastic-y box when I pick up the next.

So I got this bright idea.

If I planned it right, I could take care of the un-tired dog, the overdue library books, the exercising AND the co-op pickup all at the same time. Yes, I am Melanie the Magnificent Multi-tasking Girl.

Popped a leash on the dog, slipped the library books into a backpack, stuck the co-op box under my arm and headed off toward town.

Three minutes into the walk, Buddy stopped to poop. No problem. I tied the poopy-bag onto the leash and kept walking. Arm started chafing from the box. No problem. I switched arms (38 times).

I plunked the library books into the drop box and Buddy and I took a water break on a park bench. Then we headed up the street to Angry Adam's Wine and Cheese Spot (not a likely place for me to enter, generally) and through the window I saw a group of people in the middle of the tiny place, in the middle of a wine and cheese tasting. I held up the box, and held up the dog, and the manager waved me in (phew). I hoisted Buddy onto my shoulder and waltzed past the wine and cheese-tasting group. Stuck the full box under my other arm, turned back into the crowd and nearly toppled Buddy right onto the table full of, yes, wine and cheese. Several gasps and chuckles later, we made it to the door and headed home with slightly red faces and lots of salad greens, eggs, radishes and onions.

What shall Melanie the Magnificent Multi-tasking Girl do tomorrow? Stay tuned.

Boo! Lick.

2010-05-18T20:38:00.007-04:00

This is Boo.

This is Boo on drugs (post-op, that is).

We welcomed Boo into the family two weeks ago. Mike's been wanting a dog to run with (Buddy's not quite up to par in that area - 4 inch legs make for a rather short stride, more up my alley, if only I'd run).

Boo is 2 years old, weighs 60 pounds and loooves people. Cats, however, are another story. So Kiki's been prudently camping out in our bedroom. Boo has a tenuous relationship with Buddy - he'd like to play with him, but Buddy seems to know that playing may include being shaken like a rag doll, so he's a little resistant.

Boo had never been fixed, so he went under the knife on Thursday, and is bouncing off the walls today. Before long he'll be running beside Mike again. They went for a couple of runs last week and it went pretty well, except that when Boo was done (after about 3 miles) he was done. He'd stop and sprawl on the ground and refuse to budge. So poor Mike had to call for a ride home!

Meanwhile, I've been working a lot more at the Victory Home warehouse. I've probably processed at least a gazillion donated shoes just this week. Some were very nice and some were - ugh - disGUSTing. Moldy, sticky, fungus-y, falling apart; I try not to lick my fingers while working with shoes.

We're getting ready to open another store, which is exciting (and nerve-wracking). All the interior walls have been torn out this week. Next: pop that ductwork up into the ceiling and raise the light fixtures and slap paint everywhere.

We plan to sell mainly furniture and larger items at this location. We have a great wheeler-dealer who currently runs the outlet and will be moving to the new store. He completed the program several months ago and is great with people and great at making money (a win-win!).

I need to wash off my koolaid smile and brush my teeth, and Flutterbug needs to take Boo out to do his business (that dog gives new meaning to the words bowel movement - he poops in fits and starts all over the place. No piles, just a minefield to maneuver through every time I step into the yard. That makes for a lot of effort in picking up those not-so-little offending thingies. Not a good time to lick my fingers, either.

Mike came home with a head cold. Rats.The Victory Home guys have been passing it around for days. I was hoping we'd escape, but I guess it's unlikely now.

I HAD to go and lick my fingers after hugging him this morning, hehe.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

2010-05-08T22:43:00.006-04:00

Lonnng, tiring day. I'm looking forward to crawling into bed and snoring (ever so gently, of course) and dreaming.

Victory Home had a table at the LifeChoices Wellness Fair this morning. Evidently, most of the town slept in, and it was verrrry quiet. Flutterbug and I walked home after a while (about a mile) to get the dogs (yes, that's dogS, a story for another day...) to see if they'd garner some attention.

There ARE two dogs in this picture; you've just gotta look hard:

The only real entertainment the whole morning was watching a chubby fireman Zumba. And it was entertaining!

It sure beat the Japanese movie with subtitles that Mike is being entertained by right now. Which beats the last 10 minutes of "Jaws" that he managed to catch a few minutes ago. Which beats...wow, the characters in the Japanese movie are dropping like flies...lots of hara-kiri-ing...ooooh, guns now...flaming arrows...top-of-the-head ponytails whipping in the wind...

Between the movies and the sashaying firefighter, I should have some delightfully wacky dreams tonight.

Bring it on. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Sam I Am

2010-05-05T20:30:00.007-04:00

I picked up my first farm co-op box today!

Lots of greens, of course, since it's only May...two kinds of lettuce, radishes, collards (think I'll give those away) and turnips. Since my house currently smells like a barn, I might as well cook turnips.

And look at those eggs! I just love the green one. It makes me feel all Dr.Seussy.

So...got any good turnip recipes? I'll go hunt for my nose plugs.

Do They Make Doggy Bonbons?

2010-04-30T22:20:00.012-04:00

We had temperatures in the 80's today.

And this is what Buddy kept doing on our walk:

I also had to carry him halfway home. And that was after dousing him with a bottle of water and stopping to let him drink water, twice.

Mike says I need to look for a little wagon for him. Something with a canopy to shade him from the sun. And maybe a fridge.

Someone Get Me a Trash Can

2010-04-28T21:16:00.014-04:00

If thou could'st empty all thyself of self,
Like to a shell dishabited,
Then might He find thee on the ocean shelf,
And say, 'This is not dead,'
And fill thee with Himself instead.

But thou art all replete with very thou
And hast such shrewd activity,
That when He comes, He says, 'This is enow
Unto itself - 'twere better let it be,
It is so small and full, there is no room for me.'

---Sir Thomas Browne

I am far too often all replete with very me.

And today I am also replete with cake. Cake for breakfast, cake for lunch. It's disgusting. Hopped on my bike this afternoon and rode all the way to Victory Home. Those of you who know the route may marvel that I lived to tell the tale. Whew, in retrospect, it may not have been a wise idea. I had intended to ride back too (first trip to offset breakfast, second to offset lunch!) but fortunately, circumstances prevented me. Guess that piece of cake will have to reside on my...um... gluteous maximus for a while.

I've been working out at the Y, and walking nearly daily, and working hard at the warehouse, but I need to step it up if I'm going to look like Jaclyn Smith's (younger) sister this summer. I lean more toward Glenn Beck right now, so I have my work cut out for me.

That's all right, though; I could look like Willie Nelson...or Commander Worf...or Maude...or Gary Oldman...wait, scratch that - I DO look like Gary Oldman.

Evidently, I'm replete with many celebrities and a big chunk of vanity and three pieces of chocolate cake with chocolate chips and buttercream frosting and fondant. No wonder I feel so bloated.

Picture This

2010-04-27T21:00:00.005-04:00

Well, I'm officially over the hill and I had a great time celebrating it!

Sunday afternoon I was whisked out of town by Mike and Flutterbug to Falls Church, and Monday morning we hopped onto the Metro, where I tried my best to avoid hurling my cookies onto the very pointy Italian shoes of the young man in front of me.

A couple of Dramamines later, we walked all over Washington. A couple of ibuprofen after that, we toured the National Archives and the Museum of Natural History. Had lots of pictures to post, but my laptop has the death rattle and refuses to cooperate.

This evening Flutterbug made me an awesome cake with fondant...wish I could show you.

Perhaps I need to bite the bullet and buy another computer. Ugh. Buying a computer is Number 3 on the list of Things I Try to Avoid Shopping For at All Costs (Number 1 being vehicles, and Number 2 being any-other-type-of-electronics-that-exists).

In the meantime, use your imagination as you read. Picture very pointy shoes. Like six inches beyond his toes. Picture Mike trying to stick the little ticket thingy in the slot about FIFTY times to get out of the subway station, with me holding my hand over my mouth and rolling my eyes.

Picture us walking toward the Washington Monument. Picture me being distracted by the countless portajohns on the green. Picture me taking pictures of the portajohns.

Picture us solemnly reading the engravings of the War Memorial. Picture me doing my best to control my irritation at the many teenagers who swarmed the site and behaved like...well...teenagers.

Picture us climbing the 87 steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Yes, of course I counted.

Picture us under our umbrellas in the misty rain as we slowly traipse alongside the Vietnam Memorial wall, gazing at the many, many names of those who lost their lives.

And now, right now, picture us heading upstairs to our lovely own beds and conking out. I cannot stay awake to think of any more pictures for you to picture. Sooo...'nighty 'night.

On the River

2010-04-23T21:46:00.012-04:00

What Buddy and I saw on our walk today:

We walked to the river, ate a bite or two of tuna fish, sipped some water - in Buddy's case, lapped and slobbered - and read my Madeleine L'Engle book (well, I did. Buddy's into James Patterson). Then we walked home. Weeeell... I did have to carry Buddy for a little while. He's not in the awesome shape that I'm in. I have to wonder what people think when they see me loping down the street carrying a panting ball of white fur and bug eyes.

There's ways and there's ways to walk a dog.

The Thrill of Victory

2010-04-22T21:16:00.010-04:00

Can't...talk...now...too...tired...long...day...

Oh, forget it. Who am I kidding? I've been talking nonstop since I woke up this morning. And I mean nonstop (right, mom??).

I loved this graduation ceremony. Soooo much less stress and effort than the last one.

It's thanks in part to this guy in the tie: he's a Chick-fil-A owner and after taking a tour of Victory Home recently, he offered to cater the graduation. I can't express how AWESOME that was - he and a personable employee brought all the food, all kinds of beverages, all the paper goods. And let me tell you, I was thrilled to skip breakfast to be able to enjoy that yummy food.

It was a hit among others, too.

And the moment we were done, he turned and said, "When's your next graduation?" He enjoyed it so much, and was moved by the testimonies, and said that this was the kind of thing Chick-fil-A wanted to be a part of. Oooh, I can't figure out a way to say that without dangling a participle. Sorry, Dad.

These three thrift store volunteers carpooled from the store to see Roy, the man who manages it, graduate. That woman in the middle is the 88-year old fireball I've mentioned before.

The other person responsible for pulling this whole thing off was Flutterbug the Magnificent. She knows how to take a project by the horns and she certainly did here. She picked up some terrific books for gifts for the graduates (shopping is her forte) and did a great job with the table decorations. I brought a bunch of clear narrow vases in different styles from the thrift store, and she ran pretty ribbon and confetti and glitter along each table and we popped pretty white and lavender flowers in the vases (she got them from Walmart for just $5 a bunch, and only had to buy two bunches).

There were about sixty people in attendance, I estimate. A lot of the Victory Home guys came, plus family members of the graduates, supporters of Victory Home, people who were curious about us, a few church members, relatives of former graduates, someone from our BNI (networking) group, volunteers, and a slew of thrift store patrons.

Seven men completed the program! And it's not an easy program to complete. They worked hard, stayed focused, applied the things they learned, made it through trials and tests, and gave up the things they'd been clinging to in order to overcome and have a victorious life. Kudos to them all!

This guy came on his lunch break - he had lost his job and much more when he came to us, and recently got his job back, which he never imagined would happen. He cried when telling it.

This is Roy, from the thrift store. He went off script as you can tell when looking at Mike, hehe. But it was a terrific testimony and I'm so glad that he's staying on with Victory Home for a while. So are the thrift store customers!

O glorious VICTORY that overcomes the world!!

Oh, and yes, I had a brownie.

Just Call Me Aunt Fanny

2010-04-21T21:05:00.004-04:00

All species of shoppers are welcome at Victory Home Thrift Store! ('xcept maybe reptiles and vermin.)

Tomorrow SEVEN men graduate from the program. We're trying something a little new - holding the graduation during the lunch hour: 12:10 to 12:50. Chick-fil-A is catering (for free!) and they'd better bring brownies. Just sayin'. I'm on a diet, can you tell? It's because of TWO SCARY WORDS:

No, not Heart Disease.

Nope, not Growing Old.

These words:

School Reunion.

I was going to say HIGH School Reunion, but, well, you know...three words and all...I used to be able to count before I got SO FAT.

Soooo...tomorrow brings lots of fun things, like book displaying (every Thursday at the thrift store), a Victory Home graduation, and maybe...just maybe...a Chick-fil-A brownie. A girl can drool, can't she?

Incominnnnng!

2010-04-20T21:33:00.007-04:00

Spring has sprung, the grass has ris'

I wonder where the birdie is?

There he is up in the sky,

He dropped some whitewash in my eye!

I'm alright, I won't cry,

I'm just glad that cows don't fly.

--Unknown (not me, although it's right up my poetic alley)

We've had some absolutely gorgeous weather here in fickle Virginia. I fluffed the porch cushions (cough, cough, sneeze, sneeze from all the yellow dust) and hung two massive ferns. They'll be dead in a month, but they're real pretty right now.

I get such a thrill in the tummy when the weather warms and the air has that certain smell. Makes me want to buy seedlings to plant and berries to eat. Makes me paint my toenails pink and touch up the paint on the walls.

Soon enough I'll be dripping sweat, battling mosquitos and getting all whiny. But for now,

I embrace Spring...

and keep an eye out for low-flying birdies.

Good Stuff Cheap.

2010-04-19T20:14:00.008-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I hopped and skipped to the Middle Street flea market, which is held in a parking garage downtown once a month. The last time I was there was a year or two ago, in the month of March, as a vendor (for Victory Home). I FROZE HALF TO DEATH.

This visit was much more pleasant and I spent nearly every bit of cash that I had (a whopping $13).

One booth had all kinds of handmade items and I bought this pretty thank-you card for $2.

A woman had clothed two mannequins in t-shirts and completely covered the shirts in pins. This one popped right out at me! ($5)

I saw a booth (literally: a parking space) full of old books. In writing that earlier post about the book Heidi, I discovered that my copy was (gasp) abridged. So I've been on the lookout for another one. I started flipping through the first bin of books and voila! there was an unabridged version of Heidi! And for...$1. Yep, I was on a roll.

Then I found this lovely ring that was big enough to fit my big old hotdog finger. ($5)

Just when I thought I had reached the epitome of bargain-finding, I sauntered across the street to a farmers' market and ran smack into some old friends who had a booth with fresh eggs right off the farm and she gave me a dozen for what I had left: a dollar bill and a few quarters (a big discount).

After eating the excellent, brightly orange, extremely tasty eggs for breakfast a few days later,

I decided to join their co-op. I'll get 6-8 varieties of produce plus a dozen eggs a week.

Three clucks for great deals!

Rut-a-Tut-Tut

2010-04-18T23:12:00.006-04:00

Ahem. Well. Didja miss me? I sure missed you, and I have no good excuse - I just seem to be off my groove and I'm having a hard time getting it back!

Grooves are tricky little things.

I wish I had something or someone to blame it all on. An old man would do nicely...

...but I don't have one. Well, there is a slightly aging man in the house, but it's not his fault. Plus he's always getting blamed for something, poor guy. Par for the course, in ministry - good thing he has a thick skin and a loving God!

So...here I go. Gonna try forcing my way back into that groove. Going to start a new groove, if I must, just so's I'm in one.

Groovy!!

Hahaha...Sniff, Sniff

2010-03-06T21:43:00.014-05:00

Yesterday was a day of crying and laughing. I cried great, salty tears into my Mini-Wheats in the morning. It was all Heidi's fault:

"...So we will pray every day, won't we, grandfather, and never forget Him again, or else He may forget us."

"And supposing one does forget Him?" said the grandfather in a low voice.

"Then everything goes wrong, for God lets us then go where we like, and when we get poor and miserable and begin to cry about it no one pities us, but they say, You ran away from God, and so God, who could have helped you, left you to yourself."

The grandfather walked on for a little while without speaking, then he said, as if following his own train of thought: "And if it once is so, it is so always; no one can go back, and he whom God has forgotten, is forgotten for ever."

"Oh, no, grandfather, we can go back, for grandmamma told me so, and so it was in the beautiful tale in my book--but you have not heard that yet; but we shall be home directly now, and then I will read it you, and you will see how beautiful it is."

[She reads to him the story of the Prodigal Son.]

A few hours later, as Heidi lay fast asleep in her bed, the grandfather went up the ladder and put his lamp down near her bed so that the light fell on the sleeping child. Her hands were still folded as if she had fallen asleep saying her prayers, an expression of peace and trust lay on the little face, and something in it seemed to appeal to the grandfather, for he stood a long time gazing down at her without speaking. At last he too folded his hands, and with bowed head said in a low voice, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am not worthy to be called thy son." And two large tears rolled down the old man's cheeks.

Early the next morning he stood in front of his hut and gazed quietly around him. The fresh bright morning sun lay on mountain and valley. The sound of a few early bells rang up from the valley, and the birds were singing their morning song in the fir trees. He stepped back into the hut and called up, "Come along, Heidi! the sun is up! Put on your best frock, for we are going to church together!"

There. That's how it should work. A person repents, and surrenders his life to God, and CHANGES. Transformation - it's a beautiful thing!

And it makes me cry.

I laughed until I cried a little later. BUT I CAN'T TELL YOU WHY. I'm really tempted...maybe...oh, how I want to...nope, better not - somehow it'll get back to...so I'll just say I laughed 'til I cried, and then 'til I gagged. I laughed off and on about it the rest of the day, and last night, in bed, with Mike gently snoring beside me, I got the giggles again. ONE DAY I'll share that story...

As Flutterbug and I drove home from dinner with friends, we had one of our laughing fits. I believe it started over a misunderstood comment about a burp and it degenerated into shrieking, screaming, can't-catch-my-breath belly laughter. I was bawling like a baby.

I wish laughing and crying burned more calories. I would be thin as a stick, I tell you, thin as a stick.

Bowling and Bypasses

2010-03-01T19:38:00.014-05:00

There's something comforting about simple, earthy pleasures during times of stress or even grief.

My friend lost a dear friend yesterday to a sudden illness.

"...and all I wanted to do was eat your bread," she wrote me (I had taken her a homemade loaf the day before).

And today, while my father-in-law was having open-heart surgery, we bowled.

"Way to go, Beth!"

(I wonder if they've stopped his heart yet.)

"Grrrr...that stupid 10-pin."

(Hope those doctors got a good night's sleep.)

"Steee-rike!"

(We never learned how many bypasses...when will it be over?)

It was over around three o'clock and Mike's dad was resting comfortably shortly after. We bowled more lightheartedly for the next hour (Monday bowling special: All-You-Can-Bowl for the price of one string. Ever throw a 10 lb. ball for three straight hours?? That's why I've been sprawled on the sofa for two straight hours.).

Life is hard. Sometimes it makes you want to cry, sometimes it makes you want to eat, and sometimes it makes you want to roll a heavy hot-pink ball down a greasy lane to knock down a couple of plastic penguins.

This old guy, a few lanes down from us, doesn't take life too seriously.

Yep, he's bowling backwards. And he wasn't half bad.

In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart!
I have overcome the world.
--John 16:33

Armchair Travels

2010-02-18T20:07:00.011-05:00

I love Thursdays.

Every week I prance into the bone-chilling Victory Home warehouse (gotta keep moving or risk freezing in place) and dump out boxes of donated books, and sort through them, and slap colored stickers on them (we use a color-coded pricing system), and on Thursdays I send them over to the thrift store.

Sometimes I can't get them onto the shelves before customers pounce on the boxes. And that's okay - after all, as much as I enjoy displaying all those fascinating covers, the point is to sell 'em.

On Wednesdays, all books are 1/2 price, so by Thursday morning the shelves are virtually empty. And an empty bookshelf is a sad bookshelf.

I have no idea what that last sentence means.

So...today a kindred spirit showed up. She collected every OLD book she could put her hands on, so I said, "I see you like old books."

"Oh, I LOVE them. My whole house is filled with them," she gushed.

"Ooooh, me too; I love to decorate with them," I said, and she agreed. We both love to decorate in the colors of old books, too - faded reds, browns, olive-y greens....

And don't even get me started on the reading of old books...well, okay, maybe just a comment or two...

I can hardly pick up a contemporary book - those old books have spoiled me. And some of my favorites have turned out to be lesser known works of authors whose names I've always heard, and whose most well known books I've probably never read.

Lost Horizon by James Hilton is an all-time favorite of mine, but I also enjoy his other books, especially an unassuming one called Time and Time Again, about a real average joe with an un-average twist at the end.

Jack London is known for Call of the Wild and White Fang, neither of which I've read, but I really loved his book Smoke Bellew. It would make an awesome movie.

The Pearl of Orr's Island was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. It was a beautifully Christian book, and it made me bawl. I HAVE read the first couple of chapters of Uncle Tom's Cabin, but...well, the print was so small...

I was transported into another world with Rudyard Kipling's book Kim (the name of the boy main character). And I've seen the Disney movie of his famous book, so there's no reason to read that one.

And then there's Silas Marner and The Mayor of Casterbridge, and ewwwww...Tess of the D'Urbervilles - don't read that unless you're a glutton for punishment or like the look of really puffy eyes. And if you're like me, you will be really, really angry and you may or may not throw the book into the toilet.

So run on down to Victory Home Thrift Store (or, if you must, a thrift store near you) and grab up a handful of very old, beat up books. Then make yourself a cup of tea, open a box of Junior Mints and stuff a throw pillow behind your back.

Happy reading!

Deliciousness-on-a-Stick

2010-02-12T18:41:00.013-05:00

Behold PURE BLISS:

Add a salty snack...

...and some pretty colors...

...and VOILA - a Valentine treat, fun to eat...

...and believe me, I know; I've eaten about six...okay, eighteen.

Poor Mike - he came home sick as a dog tonight. So Flutterbug and I are camping out in the living room, watching girl movies and eating questionable italian food out of cans. I'm soooo craving the bottle of Blenheim Spicy Ginger Ale that's upstairs in my bedroom. I tried to sneak in a little while ago, but was thwarted by the creaky floor and the massive pile of laundry that blocked my path.

Mike was conked out in the bed, and I was tempted to pull a bra from the laundry pile and use it to lasso the bottle. But just as I reached down, he stirred and I froze, and then wisely decided to settle for skim milk. Some things just aren't worth waking up a sick husband over. Now, if it had been root beer...

Six-Sided Crystals Falling Down, Down, Down

2010-02-07T20:32:00.012-05:00

I've been without my laptop for about three weeks, and I'm shocked to find that I've adapted quite well. The first couple of days I really missed it, but after that I got used to being tethered to the desktop, which I placed on a trunk not too far from the TV or the kitchen (important factors).

Mike says the same thing happens with homelessness, oddly enough. If we can get hold of a guy who's just ended up on the street, while he's scared to death and very uncomfortable, he'll be pretty willing to do what it takes to change. But give him about three days, and he'll begin to adapt to his situation and become much harder to reach. Same cold temperatures, same hard bench, same hunger pangs - totally different attitude!

One nice distraction from the computer situation was the SNOW. Oh, how we love it! This was the view through the pantry window. Doesn't it look like a dramatic painting?

The robins had already begun appearing this week; poor things don't seem to understand how to take shelter....

It's hard to imagine pretty flowers and veggies along this fence right now.

The day that it snowed, Mike and Flutterbug ventured out for a walk with Buddy.

They didn't make it very far before Buddy started trying to climb up Flutterbug's leg. The little furball doesn't care much for snow. Good thing I anticipated that and built him a fort the day before.

I was a little concerned that he'd be leery to enter it, but I needn't have worried. It's right outside the back door and he scrambled into it just as soon as nature called - that little patch of ground should be very fertile this spring.

We finally tossed him into the backyard; he didn't seem to appreciate the adventure of it, and tried to climb to higher ground.

The next day was sunny, so we headed out for a long, Buddyless walk all over town.

Three miles of stamping, slipping (only ONE fall, and it wasn't ME) and trudging, and I felt a little like Father Tim: "He was huffing like a steam engine and had lost feeling in most of his fingers and toes." I've missed that so much, living way down here in the south!

When we got home, I warmed up by cooking salmon patties over spaghetti squash. I don't know what it is about that combination, but Mike and I agree: IT IS AWESOME. Let me know if you want the details.

Since last week it has snowed again and we romantics are lovin' it. It's Narnia, it's trekking to Shangri-La, it's a snowman contest in Mitford...

...it's a WONDERFUL LIFE.

Feathers, Glass, Wood, Sharpies and Silver...oh, and GLITTER

2010-01-24T21:14:00.008-05:00

Sometimes I just gotta cut loose and work with my hands. I'm never really sure what will come of it.... This week, it was mirrors. Such fun! Now I'm up to a whopping FOUR.

I'm thinking of heading down the "Sharpie" road for a while - there's a lot of potential and it's a lot cheaper than buying different types of doohickeys to glue on, AND a lot easier than working with grout.

So...mirror, mirror, got a yen; let me at you with my pen.

What kind of message or saying or words would you like a mirror to say?

Random Peeks at My Life (or, How Bored Are You Right Now?)

2010-01-21T18:49:00.012-05:00

Last night, as I lay in bed, comforter up to my chin, cat curled at my feet, and sugarplums beginning to dance in my head, Mike suddenly spoke in the darkness:

"I feel bad that Lenny made it big and Squiggy didn't."

~~~~~

Early this morning I dreamt that I fell down (big surprise there) on a hill covered with wreaths. In my dream I turned to my daughter, and in my best Geico gecko voice, said, "I've fallen on ma boom, and ma scahf is caught on a Christmas Cactus wreaf." (The reason I remember this is that I woke up and recited it over and over so I could tell Flutterbug in the morning. Only thing is, I can't do a Geico gecko voice in real life. How disappointing.)

~~~~~

Mike washed a sinkful of dishes this morning before I even made it downstairs. He's the man.

~~~~~

There's a talking Ann Coulter doll in the backseat of my car. How many people can say that?

~~~~~

Mike taught Flutterbug how to drive a stick-shift. He certainly was optimistic - brought a full cup of coffee into the car with him.

Her dad had her drive around the neighborhood for about a half hour, and then he followed her the five miles to church.

She did fine until she got to one intersection near the church where she stalled.

Then she peeled out.

Then she got to the stop sign opposite the church and a guy was sauntering across the street staring at her. When he finally made it across, she tried to go, but stalled.

Then stalled again.

And then again.

The guy started gesturing and yelling instructions to her in a most unhelpful way and finally, with the help of a surge of anger and irritation, she made it into the churchyard.

And then she burst into tears.

That's my girl!

~~~~~

I've been crafting...with feathers, glass, wood, Sharpies, and silver. Curious?

~~~~~

I made meatballs tonight. See, the doctor says my blood pressure is creeping up, so I figure that's a good excuse to cook from scratch. Do you know how much sodium is in anything premade? I was shocked to find that my favorite lunch, Philly Cheese Lean Pockets, has a whopping 640 thingies of sodium. And, you know how it is, some days require TWO pockets. So...I've stopped buying those salt-licks. Had frosting for lunch yesterday, with gum for dessert. (I'm a baby-step kind of person.)

~~~~~

We looked at an abandoned assisted-living home as a potential spot for Victory Home. Please pray! It's a terrific and spacious property.

~~~~~

A couple of Victory Home guys are working on ridding our attic of critters. Good luck to them. There's a veritable village of pigeons, squirrels, and what sounds like a possible elephant stomping around up there. I've got enough of a menagerie here on the main floors: Buddy, who licked fiberglass yesterday, and Kiki, who prefers frozen vegetables. Is there such a thing as a pet who enjoys pet food?

~~~~~

Yawwwwn; I need to cozy up to the woodstove for a few minutes and then toddle off to bed. Got a busy, wacky weekend coming up, and a trip to South Carolina next week. I need a good dream-free, husband-spouting-nutty-comments-free beauty sleep (what are the odds?). Night-night.

Do They Let Dogs Join the Army?

2010-01-18T20:16:00.011-05:00

Poor Scratch 'n' Sniff has the doggy flu.

At least that's what the man-who-gouged-$250-out-of-me-at-10-o'clock-at-night said. Since he barely looked at Buddy and never explained the uncontrollable trembling and whimpering, I'm not convinced. All I know is: I hate seeing a suffering animal. Mike got out of bed in the night and grabbed a bath towel to tuck around Buddy, and then tucked Buddy up against him in the bed, and I loved that man more than ever.

My mother has suffered much more than I - she lost two beloved cats within a couple of weeks of each other just before Christmas. I could hardly bring myself to think about it. How we love our pets!

~~~~~

A few days later...

My hard drive has crashed and I still don't have it back from the man-who-will-gouge-lots-of-$$$-from-me. BUT, that's okay, because...

Buddy is better!

And Mike has resumed his attempts to train Buddy to salute him. Yup, thaaaat's right.

Every night we pile on the bed to pray. When Buddy hears "Amen" he hops off the bed, Flutterbug scoops him up, and Mike puts his hand to his (own) forehead and says, "Buddy...Buddy...Buddy..." (it takes a while to get that dog's attention) and salutes THE DOG.

Then Flutterbug grabs Buddy's forepaw and holds it to his forehead and salutes back.

They do this a few times, and then Mike says, "Ok, now let him try it by himself." We roar every time he says this. Every single time.

The day that dog salutes Mike, I'll eat my hat. The blue striped stocking cap with the braids down the sides.

And then I'll give David Letterman a call, of course.

Mmmm...New Leaves

2010-01-03T21:21:00.006-05:00

Well. Time slipped away from me and I never did come up with a list of new year's resolutions. Ah, well...it's not like I don't know what I should and should not be doing to improve my life.

Instead, I have adopted a motto, a maxim, a mantra, if you will, to help me keep myself in line: Feed the Spirit, not the flesh!

(Oh...plus this one: Shoes Do Not Make the Woman. That's gonna be a toughy.)

My flesh is like a pitbull sometimes, so I'm in for a real battle. Gotta strap on the belt of truth and all that other armor and put up my dukes. Gotta start the day prepped with the Word of God and end it with lots of thankful prayer. Gotta grow a spine.

How refreshing it will be to be able to exercise a little SELF-CONTROL (as well as a little muscle or two at the Y).

How exciting it will be to be able to bend in my jeans (which are currently unbuckled so I can breathe).

How awesome it will be to get my out-of-control-crazy-busy-life organized (now my expectations are soaring out of control).

A girl can dream, can't she?

Tick, Tick, Tick

2009-12-28T19:15:00.015-05:00

Call me foolish, or a bandwagon-jumper-onner, but I LIKE making New Year's resolutions. I LIKE the idea of fresh starts,

of second (or twentieth) chances,

of new beginnings.

So what if I fall back off the bandwagon with everyone else in a matter of weeks? My optimism reigns supreme. Yup, every single stinking year.

So...in an attempt to regain some control over my flesh, I'm working on purging the house of all holiday sweets, candy and treats.

Boy, am I getting a sugar rush.

I'm also trying to get some exercise - no sense waiting until January 1 for that, with all the calories I've inhaled this week.

So Buddy and I are hitting the road (don't get the wrong idea - I'm walking, not that crazy running stuff). Why, oh, why can't I ever remember to bring a bag for the doggy doo-doo that Buddy insists on dropping right in front of a homeowner every time we go for a walk? Are you familiar with pin oak trees? Those skinny little leaves are good for nothing. Ditto crape myrtle leaves. And don't even get me started on itty bitty boxwood. Where's a hosta plant when you need it??

Seems like God knew we'd need lots of opportunities to start over, so He broke time down into years, months, weeks, hours so that we can do just that. And sometimes I do need a start-over in a matter of hours or even minutes.

So...this week I make a list. I think and pray about the past year and the changes I need to make, and I start writing. I consider my spiritual life, my family, my health, my work. I love lists and I love fresh starts. Exhilarating!

Now off I go to finish purging this house. My fresh start, after all, is only three short days away!

Snow Time Like Party Time

2009-12-20T21:53:00.009-05:00

YAY! What a beautiful gift on the evening of our Christmas party!

I was all mature about it, of course. Flutterbug was beside herself.

Collin immediately set about building a snowman.

Cinnamon Red Hot eyeballs:

We grownups didn't play with our food - we filled our bellies with it.

Buddy was surprisingly lethargic, considering the number of begging opportunities that surrounded him.

Our houseguest got a splinter (again, poor thing) from our old, decrepit floors.

Nancy and Paul were sneaking truffles in the kitchen. The rest of us had no inhibitions about stuffing our mouths with them in front of everyone.

THE 21st century party accessory:

John looks all pastoral there on the right, but don't be fooled - he was pulling comic strips out of that Bible. He has a whole collection stored in there.

All in all a sweet evening with sweet friends, in sweet fellowship, thanks to a loving Savior who sweetly blessed us with snow and so much more.

Sneak Peek #4

2009-12-18T23:19:00.009-05:00

Look what was donated to Victory Home - a pump organ! I wonder if my organist dad can tell me anything about it...

We're wishing, wishing, wishing for snow this weekend. We're too close to the coast to get what the rest of the state gets, but Flutterbug and I always hold onto that tiny thread of hope. If it snows, you'll be the first to know!

Sneak Peek #3

2009-12-15T20:54:00.007-05:00

Big week ahead - gifts to wrap and ship tomorrow, cards to glitter and glue and sign and address and mail, party at our house Saturday night, kids' Christmas program on Sunday night.

Flutterbug's been busy covering angels' wings with foil and I've been busy thinking about cleaning the house for the party.

We decorated the church on Saturday:

Between the church, the front porch and the inside of the house, we've used three big bins of greenery - frasier fir and douglas fir free from Lowe's and several cedar bows from the churchyard. I love FREE stuff!

Now off to bed I must toddle

And fill up my hot water bottle

And put my comfy jammies on

And sing a silly sandman song

Nighty night!

Victory Home Graduation, Part II

2009-12-12T19:21:00.011-05:00

Sometimes when I have a lot to write, I feel overwhelmed and write nothing at all.

So tonight I offer a compromise: a photo gallery of our graduation, with a few words thrown in for good measure:

Everyone pitched in to quickly set up the room:

Flutterbug made two batches of cheesecake bars and then decided to dip strawberries in chocolate, most definitely the two most popular desserts of the evening:

Brad finished the program over four months ago and returned to be with us. It was great to see him and his dad, sister and several other family members.

Ben plans to continue with Victory Home for another phase of six months.

Greg is now managing the warehouse and thrift store. His children and his brother and sister attended the graduation.

John slipped out of the kitchen to give his testimony and receive his certificate; he's our resident cook and helped with the evening's dinner.

Our volunteer cook, who whipped up a great meal of beef tips over rice, green beans, and her homemade cranberry-orange relish:

Robert was just complimented today by an elderly yard sale customer for his kindness and gentle manner in dealing with her. He plans to stay on with Victory Home for a while longer.

James had lots of family members in attendance cheering him on.

We gave out about a dozen door prizes which were a great hit.

"The Specialist" from "The Specialist Radio Show" emceed the event which added an interesting element and kept things moving.

That's a state senator and the mayor of Chesapeake standing in the background:

Two probation officers came to see one of their charges graduate, and found that another of their past charges was in our program, and said they looked forward to coming back to see him graduate too!

Olive Garden donated salad and breadsticks. There were several bottles of dressing left over and I was able to snag one. I shall enjoy it thoroughly on my next twenty salads!

Please keep Victory Home in your prayers. There are so many more men who are in need of healing, help and hope!

Victory Home Graduation

2009-12-10T22:28:00.005-05:00

I can't feel my legs.

My feet, on the other hand, are screaming at me.

I had frosting for breakfast.

I splattered coffee all over my stockings (while they were on my legs).

I forgot scissors to cut the table covers (from the roll).

I'm on a sugar high from the two pieces of cake I just inhaled at 10pm.

And it was all worth it...

More tomorrow...

Sneak Peek #2

2009-12-09T22:10:00.007-05:00

"God whispers to us in our pleasures."

Leave it to C.S. Lewis to nail it right on the head!

~~~~~

We have a big evening tomorrow - six Victory Home men are graduating from the program, and we're hosting a dinner for them and about 100 people at the local community center.

Mike is a great "big picture" guy and I take up the slack as the "detail person." So I've been a LITTLE BIT BUSY this week getting ready for the graduation and dinner.

I have a 3-page to-do list which I couldn't find anywhere when I arrived at my 4th and biggest stop this morning - Walmart. Just when I gave up hope that it was in the car, I found it tucked into a beverage pitcher I had picked up at the thrift store.

I've had a constant adrenaline leak all day. You know, nerve thrills in the tummy and running down the limbs. That's gotta be healthy.

I baked a few cakes tonight. Tomorrow, I frost! (And a few hundred other things....)

Flutterbug will make her awesome cheesecake bars and Nancy is making ten gallons of tea tonight, and tomorrow a sweet woman from church will spend the day in the Victory Home kitchen preparing beef tips over rice, with green beans and her homemade cranberry relish.

I think the main source of the butterflies in the tummy is my unnecessary (I hope) concern that we may underestimate the amount of food needed.

My mother had a similar fear just before my wedding 25 years ago and doubled the order of stuffed sandwiches - those cute little oval rolls that split at the top for ham salad, egg salad and other delectable fillings. And one of the only images still in my mind of our reception is of those huge pyramids of sandwiches towering above the pitiful little trifles and pickles and mints below. I've half a mind to follow her lead. The other half knows I need to go to bed and trust God! It'll all be just fine. And the food is of no consequence compared to the great testimonies we're going to hear from the grads and former clients, stories of changed lives, and hope, and new hearts, and joy...that joy that God gives us in little doses, so that we'll yearn for more, and turn, and embrace the Joy-Giver who has future joys in store for us that we can not begin to imagine!

You have made known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

--Psalm 16:11

Sneak Peek #1

2009-12-06T21:53:00.008-05:00

Christmas Time's comin'...

I feel a little guilty at times for so enjoying the shallow stuff, like decorating and crafting and baking and watching silly Christmas movies.

To help me stay focused on CHRISTmas, I'm doing some reading: Lee Strobel's The Case for Christmas, Henry van Dyke's The Other Wise Man, and this book, which I've been using as a decoration for years but have never read:

Twinkling lights are beautiful, and the smells of pine and cinnamon give me a thrill. I love to play with glitter and pine cones and colored paper and ribbon. Christmas carols never grow too familiar and I adore vintage ornaments.

That thrill of joy, those inexpressible twinges of pleasure that I feel around this time of year - I believe that's from God; a tiny glimpse of heaven, a taste of of eternity. And it causes me to yearn for more of that joy, and look forward with anticipation to forever with Him!

You have made known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

--Psalm 16:11

Give Me A Caption, Please - I'm At A Loss!

2009-12-03T21:05:00.006-05:00

Pavlov Would Be Proud

2009-11-30T22:27:00.006-05:00

Poor little Kiki has been deprived of cat treats for over a year, just in case they contributed to her allergies. But I still had to shell out big bucks to the vet again this year, so the lack of treats didn't make a speck of difference.

Therefore, Flutterbug and I decided to surprise her with a little something. We shook a few stinky little treats onto this dresser in the hall.

She immediately took up residence and has hardly stepped off the dresser in two weeks.

And she's downed three boxes of treats, thanks to her big eyes and persuasive meow and convenient placement.

I like her style. I'm thinking of setting up a cot in the kitchen.

What More Could One Ask?

2009-11-26T08:06:00.026-05:00

Give thanks to the Lord, says the writer of Psalm 107, and then he reminds me why:

He is good
His love endures forever
He delivers me from my distress
He leads me by a straight way
His love is unfailing
He does wonderful deeds for men
He satisfies the thirsty
He fills the hungry with good things
He heals with his word
He rescues from the grave

Consider the great love of the Lord!

In Psalm 111 I'm reminded that:

His righteousness endures forever
He is gracious and compassionate
He provides food for those who fear him
He remembers his covenant forever
The works of his hands are faithful and just
His precepts are trustworthy
He provides redemption for his people

To him belongs eternal praise!

Psalm 116 tells me that:

He hears our cry for mercy and saves us
He is gracious and righteous, full of compassion
He protects the simplehearted
He has been good to me
He has delivered my soul from death
...my eyes from tears
...my feet from stumbling

I have SO MUCH to be thankful for!

I could never repay the Lord for all his goodness to me.

Instead, I will call on his name and walk obediently with him all of my days.

I love the Lord,

for he heard my voice;

he heard my cry for mercy.

Because he turned his ear to me,

I will call on him as long as I live.

--Psalm 116

Now there's a deal that CAN'T BE BEAT!

Three Little Kittens...Wait, Make That Eight

2009-11-17T21:12:00.018-05:00

I LIKE mittens. I have several pairs of them. Some have flaps so that I can use my fingers; some are fur-lined, and ALL keep my hands much warmer than silly old gloves.

I LOVE these mittens. My mother is just so creative. She's been coming up with all kinds of adorable mitten ornaments, which she's selling on etsy.com. There are a lot of closeup pictures on that site so you can see the wonderful details.

She uses vintage ribbon and old buttons and findings; and even though she started out trying to plan a mitten's layout and design, she found that each took on a life of its own and came together very differently from what she first had in mind.

Don't you just want to go frolic in some snow?

Wawawhat?

2009-11-16T20:30:00.014-05:00

I was planning to write about that pesky little storm that whipped through our area last week, but it'll have to wait a bit while I deal with something MUCH more important (snack-related issues are right up there with fire safety and national security on my list of important things).

Raise your hands if you know what a Wawa is (from my last post). Well then, for the rest of you...

Here's how I found out what it was. We were with friends a few years ago, on our way to a production of "The Miracle Worker" for Flutterbug's birthday. We passed a billboard that looked kind of like this:

"What on earth is a WAWA?" I asked.

Our friends told us it was a glorified gas station with a deli and good food (not the first time I've been told that a gas station has good food - ewww).

I didn't give it another thought until the little girl playing Helen Keller arrived at the well for the famous scene of her first spoken word.

And then she said it.

I have no IDEA why that word coming out of that poor little actress's mouth struck my funny bone so hard, but when you're in the fourth row in a tiny little auditorium, during the pivotal scene of a well-loved play, it's not the best time to let out a snort and start shaking with stifled laughter.

I don't think we actually patronized a Wawa store until quite some time later, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the food was good. They have made-to-order subs and hot food and all kinds of yummy snacks.

They have nifty touch screens for placing orders, so you can take your time and choose your options, as specifically as "Add mayo" or "Add a little bit of mayo."

In case you're wondering (Dad) why the strange name, check out their website - I need to go find a snack.

And maybe a drink of water.