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Obscene

I've seen this done in movies, I've been tempted to do it myself, but I've never actually seen it in real life.  We pulled up next to the car at Best Buy, and I did a double take when I got out of my car.  Wow!

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Teamwork

I have the best girls in the world.  They rarely fight, and when they do it's over silly stuff like chores.  They help each other.  They hug each other.  They watch out for each other. 
The other day we were in line at the store and I hear Miah say:
Miah:  Hug me.
Laurel: Huh?
Miah: HUG ME!!!
Laurel: OKAY!!
Miah:  I love you.
Laurel:  Love you too Mimi.
Awww.  Moments like that make me smile.  These guys are going to be BEST FRIENDS later.  Right now they are best sisters. 

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In the Water

I'm having to go back and post date a couple of blogs.   There was a huge storm two days ago that knocked our power out, which made it impossible for me to post.  The computer started acting up as soon as it came back on, and Jay's been working on it for me. 
Today's picture is Lake Erie, in Erie New York.  We spent our summer vacation there last year camping right on the edge of the water.  It was great.  I love this picture especially.  The girls and I took a walk on the beach while Jay stayed at the campsite to read.  We rolled our pant legs up, walked in the water, took pictures, and collected beach glass and rocks. In the middle of our stroll we found a huge stump that had been floating in the water for a long time.  It was too heavy for us, so Laurel ran back to get Jay, and like the true awesome husband he is, he carried the stump and the rocks back to the van to take home with us. 
When I look at the stump sitting in my yard, or this picture, I think of quieter, less stressed times.  You don't even have to ask, yes that stump will be following us on our little Army adventure. 

Idle Wednesday

Gather used construction paper (or not used, but I'm trying to be green here.)

Shred into small strips.

Cut up into smaller pieces.

Place in pot and cover with boiling water, let soak over night.

Place in blender, adding just enough water to facilitate blending process. After the paper is well blended, and mostly looks like fibers, squeeze as much water out as possible.  Add just enough Elmer's glue to make pulp the consistency of play doh.

Shape into balls, or what ever shape you want.

Let dry for up to a couple of days, then carefully drill holes for stringing.

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Unfair

Guess what I'm going to be doing today? 
I've had these glasses for eight or nine years. I love them.  I still think if them as my "new" glasses.  Right now I'm wearing the "old" ones.  Thank god I hold on to things!  I'm so ticked off.  Jay and I were just making a budget for the next few months so that we could afford a trip home, two girls' birthdays, attaching a hitch to the jeep, and renting a u-haul trailer.  Now I have to smash that budget all to hell with glasses.  The really irritating, frustrating, ridiculous thing is that they snapped in half while I was cleaning them.  Immediately after I was showing Jay how badly scratched up his were after a few months, compared to my old-as-hell ones.  Karma laughing at me? 

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There aren't anymore Twizzlers!

Fine Then!

Miah, and her incredibly expressive personality.  As usual, Harley is in motion, and Laurel is oblivious to all but her nummies.  This just makes me giggle.

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Right Out of a Movie -Stephen King's house.  Taken a couple of years ago in Maine.

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Something Normally Overlooked

The top photo would be my laundry/utility room.  Usually when I'm doing a project, I ask the kids to "put this back where it goes" or "Go find the wrench" maybe even a "See if we have this --- ---- tool"  The kids ALWAYS put things back haphazardly, in the wrong place, or not at all.  I may find my level in the middle of the floor, or spare screws in the dryer. You never know.
What I'm saying is....The kids are always overlooking my organization.  I'm always overlooking the mess they make.  I got tired of it, and decided to make it stop.  I took this picture this morning, three weeks after we finished the big clean/purge of 2011.  Except for the couple of bottles on the shelf that have tipped over, it's exactly the way I put it.  The kids finally decided that they don't want to have to spend an entire week cleaning up after themselves.  Every single day they have helped me clean up for exactly 40 minutes in the morning.  Friday they helped me do laundry.  Sunday Miah cleans out her pool by herself. Laurel cleans up after art projects.  I'm loving it.  Just one tiny hitch.  Jay. 
The second picture is a photo of a photo that I hung on the laundry room door.  At the time, it was meant to be ironic, but now it's starting to be true, but do you see the smudge in the corner?  Jay.

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A Day Off

Jay and I made sugar cookies.  I'm happy to report that they are only one point a piece!  My very favorite thing to do is cook or bake alone with Jay.  He's always trying to stir something, or flip it over, open the oven, or just stick his finger in to see if it's okay, or if it needs to be fiddled with.  He is definitely a fiddler. This Saturday was nice. Perfectly quiet, not too much work to do, and watching Home Improvement with the family. 

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Something the kids made.   Picture by Miah.

My bike finally got here last week, after a load of ridiculousness that I won't bore you with, but it came packed up within two separate boxes.  Miah of course, decided that the thing to do would be to play with them!  This is the Fort the girls made. Harley and Dobby both took it over as soon as Miah left to get something to drink, and wouldn't let her back in. 

This lasted one day, before I couldn't take it anymore and made them take it apart.  It was only cute until Harley knocked it over, trapping Dobby under the weight of the blankets, pillows, and boxes.  She wasn't laughing, but I was!

Idle Wednesday Follow Up!

My bowl

Laurel's Bowl

Miah's bowl

The Finished Projects!
These aren't the best pictures I could have taken, but they were hastily taken in between cleaning, two dentist's appointments, grocery shopping and dinner cooking.  They turned out really well.  The foil was a tad tough to peel away, but I figure that grocery sacks or plastic wrap would be easier.  I just didn't have either available at the time.  I'm going to spray polyurethane on them tomorrow after I know that they are totally dry.  

Thursday's Thoughts

Today's thought:

There are more things in heaven and earth...then are dreamed of in your philosophy.

-W. Shakespeare

I've been watching a series of educational programs narrated by Morgan Freeman. There were episodes on the big bang, black holes, time travel, it's all talked about at times just above my level. But one of the questions posed was what there was before the big bang. I have had a theory on this for a while now and would like to share it now. This is all based on my understandings of popularly accepted science. But if there is a blatant flaw in it, I don't know what it could be. Here it goes:

As we understand the universe, it is constantly expanding from a central point. Throughout it is pockmarked by black holes. These are so powerful that they pull even light into themselves. Super-massive ones are believed to be at the center of each universe, but at the center of some are multiple black holes that are combining. It stands to reason to me that these holes would be getting larger and more powerful, eventually so many that these ultra-massive or mega-massive black holes would first reverse gravity, and eventual force all matter in on itself. I know that science is still struggling with gravity, but what I understand is that the closer to the center you get the stronger the pull becomes, and the larger an object's mass the more gravity it exerts. This would indicate to me that it is essentially possible for all of every thing to force itself back to one pinpoint. This pinpoint would be so small and packed with energy that it would not be sustainable and then...bang, along comes the new universe.

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I used to feel this way, but I decided to take a page from Oprah's Magazine, and purge the extra.  Some shoes just hurt, and why the hell would I wear them anyway?  To look cute?  Screw that!! Here's my closet:

I kept  a few dressy shoes,  one pair especially.  They do make my feet ache pretty good, but I just can't part with them.  I do love my shoes.  Old, odd, unusual, comfy, sometimes downright weird, but I love 'em.  Maybe someday I'll show off the more unusual ones. 

Idle Wednesday

The Supplies

Cover the bowl with foil to protect it.

Cut 8 to 12 inch strips of yarn.

Dip yarn in glue. 

Gently squeeze out excess glue.

Place gluey yarn on foil in whatever pattern you wish.

Let dry for 24 to 48 hours

Then gently remove yarn bowl from it's mold and enjoy!

 

 

I'll post our final products tomorrow!

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"Going Places"

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What have you been reading?

I've been pre-reading this set of books for Laurel and Miah for the past couple of weeks.  I'm on the last one now, and I have to say that even though these are written for young adults, I have really enjoyed the heck out of them.  The series is sort of Harry Potter like because from the first novel to the last, they grow with the person reading and the character in the book.  Pendragon starts out as a fourteen year old regular boy, who finds out that he's not so regular.  He's a Traveler. 
I don't want to give any of the story away...I hate it when I read a review and it gives me expectations that the book may not live up to.  I will just say that I stopped reading all of the other books I was reading in order to finish these, they are kid friendly for the 13 and up set,  (The books do deal with the deaths of some main characters, so you may want to read them first like I did) and I could hardly put them down.  I have stopped being prejudiced against young adult books considering how much I've enjoyed several series' in the past few years.  I recommend you try to do the same!

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Strings

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What's for Dinner?

Home made potato salad, coleslaw, Pseudo fried chicken, and fried green tomatoes.  I saved up all week for this meal, but it wasn't as bad as it looks.  I used fat free mayo, baked the chicken instead of frying it, and only ate two fried green tomato slices.  It was incredibly good!

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Throwing Pots

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Keys:  Picture by Miah