Sunday, May 31, 2009

Sunny Sunday

Well, it's gorgeous outside!

Last night I was trying to watch Wall-E. Awww...how cuuuuuuuuuuuuute! I just loved it! Anyway, while trying to watch it last night, I heard such a huge racket outside my window. No, it's not the garage band 2 doors down (they don't rattle my windows...)---I thought, it's too dark for that touristy train to be rambling through. All these horns honking away and blaring whistles...how long will that last?

I believe it was around 15-25 minutes long.

Josh comes back in and tells me I missed the parade of the race cars' semi-trucks!

WHAT! Oh mannnnn.....

These semis rumble through our quiet town on their way to MIS (the Michigan race track) west of us. Awww man! I love to see them "parade" through town, their trucks all decked out with logos and sponsors and lights and all that. Oh yeah. And to see the people wave them by...oh yeah the police had to hold back the side roads traffic to let the trucks run through.

I think of it as the Stampede of the Semi's.

A cattle of trucks rumbling through.

Then it was all quiet again...and Wall-E trying to win EVE's attention in the movie (awwww).

And off to zzzz land for me.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Amazingly Simple Home Remedies

1. IF YOU'RE CHOKING ON AN ICE CUBE, SIMPLY POUR A CUP OF BOILING WATER DOWN YOUR THROAT. PRESTO! THE BLOCKAGE WILL INSTANTLY REMOVE ITSELF.

2. AVOID CUTTING YOURSELF WHEN SLICING VEGETABLES BY GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO HOLD THE VEGETABLES WHILE YOU CHOP.

3. AVOID ARGUMENTS WITH THE FEMALES ABOUT LIFTING THE TOILET SEAT BY USING THE SINK.

4. FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SUFFERERS ~ SIMPLY CUT YOURSELF AND BLEED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THUS REDUCING THE PRESSURE ON YOUR VEINS. REMEMBER TO USE A TIMER.

5. A MOUSE TRAP PLACED ON TOP OF YOUR ALARM CLOCK WILL PREVENT YOU FROM ROLLING OVER AND GOING BACK TO SLEEP AFTER YOU HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON.

6. IF YOU HAVE A BAD COUGH, TAKE A LARGE DOSE OF LAXATIVES. THEN YOU'LL BE AFRAID TO COUGH.

7.. YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'T MOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THE DUCT TAPE.

8. REMEMBER - EVERYONE SEEMS NORMAL UNTIL YOU GET TO KNOW THEM.

9. IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.


*big thanks to my friend in New York for forwarding this to me. It really helped kill the longest afternoon of my life at work...by laughing my head off and forwarding to everyone I could think of! Thanks, A.G.!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

My Memorial Day Weekend...

We escaped around 4:30 pm on Thursday in our rusty van up towards Sleepers State Park (thumb area of Michigan)....with a few stops along the way---

Arrived safely around 10ish. In. The. Dark.

Ooooh boy.

And bugs attacking me. Wait, was that a mosquito? Whaaaa???

*slap! slap! OW!*

Cleared an area and set up our tent pretty fast. Just as we started to settle down, our friend and her daughter showed up...around 11ish or so.

LATE. (they had lots to do, they said...uhhh huh).

Then they forgot their tent poles.

"Got room for 2 more people---a queen sized mattress?"

Oh sure! My tent is huge...can hold up to 10 people or perhaps 15 very skinny people. Or 30 kids.

I think my friend was shocked at how big it is inside. After all, the inside is always bigger than it looks from the outside.

ZZZZZZZZ......

Friday morning, we woke up to drizzling rain. So, my friend and the kids drove around and I ended up joining them for a trip to Walmart to find a tent...(for her, not me)...and found a nice small one that can sleep up to 4 (skinny people).

It was really very pleasant and I had not been feeling so great so I took a nap and felt better. We cooked lots of yummy food, and such.

Saturday morning was another drizzling day, but it cleared up by lunch time. At that time, I decided after my nap we'll go to the beach and we did.

Got sunburned...awww. But hey, I don't need face foundation for now. I've got started on my tanning by frying my face. My nose is little pretty tender at the moment. Just wait til it starts ... peeeeeeeling.....(ewwww).

Oh yeah, did more garage-saling (sailing? sale-ing?) and ohmygoodnessyouwouldn'tbelievethis!!! but my friend and I scored this twice used canopy tent ...the kind they use at tailgate parties or at festival booths....for fifty bucks (the going rate for those are around $150 or so)...and a cute folding table with 2 camp chairs (with cupholders!) for 25 bucks!

I'm a happy, but broke, girl.

Then...Sunday, what we do Sunday? Another lovely day at the campground, and the weather was cool, but we were able to tolerate that.

Monday we loaded up the van again, and it wouldn't start! So luckily my friend was able to shock it back to life and off we went on our merry way home.

The drive up took around 5 hours.

The drive home took exactly 3 1/2 hours. With only 2 break stops.

Came home, crawled in bed and slept for a couple hours.

Betty (car) was happy to do some running around town with my sister and her husband. I'm glad she wasn't lonely...it made me feel good.

Now I need to find the remote control for my tv...to turn on the CC. Ah.

How was your weekend?

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

What I did today....

Well....tomorrow I will put in a half day of work, then on way home, run errands like, buy FOOD...then come home, do last minute laundry, packing. Will have the husband pack the van for me....yeah.

Today ... was Ashley's last band concert. I was informed that I believe the day before, then reminded again today. Ah. Almost last minute.

And 10 minutes before we're due to take her to her concert, "Mom, I need black socks".

*sigh*

So I go through the laundry and gave up, found an old pair of black tights of mine (that I swore I'd never ever ever wear again!) and cut off what I thought was reasonable sock-length. Then I said, "there....and keep it for next year too!"

At the Civic Auditorium, I sat there, listening to the 7th grade band and man are they good! They've improved so much! Then the 8th graders came on and they did their pieces. They were pretty good too, but I think the
7th grade band had better selections of songs. It was just wonderful.

Yes I can hear music, with the help of my hearing aid.

Then we swung by my sister's house to drop off Betty's spare keys so my brother-in-law can borrow it for work or whatever.

We stepped in and my nephew, Jedi, came up to me covered in chocolate and wanted me to pick him up.

Uh...I was wearing white capris but had a navy blue blouse on...so okay..."don't touch my pants, sweetie" and carefully lifted him.

Awwww. Was just so sweet and it really touched me that he wanted me to pick him up. He's only 2! Awww.

She commented that ever since I came inside, Jedi calmed down a lot and stopped yelling at mom. Hm...glad I could be of service. I know he had sore throat and was on meds for that...so I knew he didn't feel too good for a few days.

Sister #5 is amazed that Ashley is so tall...and so skinny! Ashley's reply to that? "That's because I'm a teenager!"

*snort*

As we were leaving, Boo (niece) was rinsing her mouth out, and I was helping her a bit. Then I sprinkled kisses on her face...."Stop that!"

I said, "but why? I do that because I love you very much!"

She smiles with a very blue grin (the mouth thing that helps you see if teeth still needs scrubbing) and said something like "And I love you Kirstan"

Waves a blue tinged hand at me, buh-bye.

And out the door.

"Ashley, wanna drive?"

"Sure!"

Okay, so we get into the parking lot that is across the street from my home. I switch places with her.

Not bad for a beginner.

She did need little help with the parking on the curbside.

And no cars or animals or pedestrians were harmed during this training...

I did this with Sister #5 when she was like what, 10 or something.

Just a taste of what driving is like.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Camping Countdown...

One day and half til I'm out of work.

2 days until we're on the road.

2 1/2 days, we'll be at the campground setting up.

3 more days until we're sleeping in and just ...

relaxin' and chillin' and piggin' out and just...relaxin'.

I drove the van to work today. Just to see how he's been doing lately. I forgot how "heavy" it feels driving after driving Betty for so many days (since Feb!)...and knowing we will take out the back bench seat to make room for our camping gear, it'll still be interesting. Well, I hope we can unlock the back seat and get it out. If not, then...we'll see.

Tomorrow I'll drive Betty. It's quicker and ...smaller...and...all mine.

Tonight I had company over. It is always good to have this friend over for a visit. He just makes me laugh, and you know laughter is the best medicine in the whole wide world. The evening concluded with Josh showing him tricks on his scooter.

Now I'm supposed to try to watch Dancing with the Stars...and I am little restless. Hard for me to settle down a bit so I thought I'd try to blog.

Sorry it's nothing exciting ...

Good night, y'all.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Ready or not....

I'm quite excited about a much needed get-away next weekend. My family and I are escaping to go on our annual Memorial Day camping trip.

Not too far, not too close. Just right....in the thumb area of Michigan---overlooking the lake. It'll be so cool.

And the weather is supposed to be in low 70's so that ain't bad. I do have warm sleeping bags, so no worries there.

That means, I need to dig out all my camping gear, do an inventory of what's what...and decide which of the 2 big tents we want to use.

Then there comes making up a grocery list---I will basically be the chef for the whole weekend. My friend will bring whatever I need her to bring. It'll be fun.

Thing such as grilled teriyaki beef strips, baked potatoes (where we wrap 'em in foil and toss into the campfire to "bake"), and some corn on cob (if any are available), or how about some yummy chicken shish-kebobs? Then another night, probably big fat juicy burgers. Also will let Joshua make his famous breakfast bagel sandwiches. He does pretty good here at home so he wants to cook us breakfast one morning. That'll be really good.

Needing to make sure that we have all the things needed such as pots and pans, and dishes, and silverware (I have these really cheap silverware that someone had given me for ...my wedding...it is perfect for camping use!) and plastic cups and oh yes, let's not forget the coffee. I will have to make sure my husband brings his cuban coffee thing.

Also making sure my swimsuit still fits (probably will hang from me...) and stock up on sunblock. I plan to fry myself to get a head start on summer tan.

A good friend of mine thinks it's too much bother. Sorry dear, I know you're not a camping type of person but hey, it's actually like a sports, and we love it. Some families are cut out for camping, some arent.

My husband is trying VERY HARD to be a good sport but we do have our moments. Gee, more than 5 years and he is still trying to be a happy camper. Yes I did give him the option of staying home this year OR joining us. But whoever joins us cannot complain...they have no right!

Camping is something that we really enjoy. The freedom of being away from home. The freedom of being away from work. The freedom of being closer to nature (yes, I'll bring my allergy meds). And ... for me, I just adore any waterside campgrounds...I would much prefer going to Lake Superior...but Lake Huron is fine.

After all, sometime later this summer, I plan to go on my own trip...on the shores of Lake Superior. Sometimes it's nice to be alone....

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Classes for men...

Summer Classes for Men at
THE ADULT LEARNING CENTER

REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED
by Friday, August 16th 2009
NOTE: DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL
OF THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZES WILL BE LIMITED
TO 8 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM

Class 1
How To Fill Up The Ice Cube Trays--Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.
Meets 4 weeks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Class 2
The Toilet Paper Roll--Does It Change Itself?
Round Table Discussion.
Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00 for 2 hours.

Class 3
Is It Possible To Urinate Using The Technique Of Lifting The Seat and
Avoiding The Floor, Walls and Nearby Bathtub?--
Group Practice.
Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 4
Fundamental Differences Between The Laundry Hamper and The Floor--
Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.
Meets Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.

Class 5
Dinner Dishes--Can They Levitate and Fly Into The Kitchen Sink?
Examples on Video.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM

Class 6
Loss Of Identity--Losing The Remote To Your Significant Other.
Help Line Support and Support Groups.
Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday 7:00 PM

Class 7
Learning How To Find Things--Starting With Looking In The Right Places
And Not Turning The House Upside Down While Screaming.
Open Forum
Monday at 8:00 PM, 2 hours.

Class 8
Health Watch--Bringing Her Flowers Is Not Harmful To Your Health
Graphics and Audio Tapes.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 9
Real Men Ask For Directions When Lost--
Real Life Testimonials.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM
Location to be determined.

Class 10
Is It Genetically Impossible To Sit Quietly While She Parallel Parks?
Driving Simulations.
4 weeks, Saturday's noon, 2 hours.

Class 11
Learning to Live--Basic Differences Between Mother and Wife.
Online Classes and role-playing
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, location to be determined.

Class 12
How to be the Ideal Shopping Companion
Relaxation Exercises, Meditation and Breathing Techniques.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Class 13
How to Fight Cerebral Atrophy--
Remembering Birthdays, Anniversaries and Other Important Dates and
Calling When You're Going To Be Late.
Cerebral Shock Therapy Sessions and Full Lobotomies Offered.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 14
The Stove/Oven--What It Is and How It Is Used.
Live Demonstration.
Tuesday s at 6:00 PM, location to be determined.

Upon completion of any of the above courses, diplomas will be issued to the survivors.

*Sorry guys...but after dealing with someone who didn't read my crockpot recipe very carefully today, I felt it was time to post this .... credit goes to whoever sent it to a friend who forwarded to me...many thanks, whoever came up with this! I love it!

Monday, May 11, 2009

*Blowing hair out of my eyes...*

Wooo.

In a tired way, "woo".

Or "whew".

What a great weekend we had. It was just a wonderful time and our last Deaf Cafe program of the season. We successfully created memories of our 5th season (but fell short of ONE month...May's) using Animoto. My husband and I were challenged but we had fun.

The program itself was a Wizard of Oz kind of theme, but we changed it around into a gospel style. It was really good. And I was so proud of all of the actors and our support team...and the music was great too. Emotional too...sad and happy but good kind of sad.

Now we are on break for the summer...to catch our breaths, recoup and come August, start up again for our 6th season on September 12th!

So, enjoy the clips...it's broken up in 2 parts because, it's easier to download to this site, and 2) they would only show a number of pictures to follow the length of song we picked out. Live and learn. We went ahead with 2 parts...and then successfully did a 9 minute long one (but it would take FOREVER to download here)....

Enjoy!





And here's the 2nd half of the season:

Friday, May 8, 2009

Sometimes we need to be left alone

I am having one of those days where I just need to be...

......left alone.

I'm okay, really. Truly. Just one of those days where one needs to just chill out, and have some time to oneself.


And it's perfectly NORMAL. Nobody will think otherwise.

Onto other things---tomorrow is Deaf Cafe-Flint's 5th season finale...and in some ways I'm sad but in other ways, I'm happy. It will give us the summer to recharge ourselves for another season in the fall.

I'm excited...and so looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Cereal for dinner

Yup. I'm having cereal for dinner.

A very late dinner, too.

I had developed a migraine this afternoon that it required me to hurry home to take my maxalt and crawl in bed and ....sleep.

It felt really good.

The nap, I meant.

I know it's been a few days since my last post...and I have had a lot of time to think things over. I have made some decisions and things that has happened this week has shown me that changes need to be made.

Wednesday (oh, last night...), Ashley went with a friend for her youth group here in town. Wow, she really enjoyed it and I was happy for her. It would make it so much easier for me because I do feel bad she couldn't be more involved with the youth group at our church we go to 26 miles away. So something closer to home...and she's a happy girl, and it really does do her spirit good!

(psst...she kind of stopped wearing those awful elastic headbands around her forehead....does it mean she's starting to realize how silly that is??? I can only hope....*crossing fingers*)

Josh has some new friends too...and he's really exerting his independency! But I do have to lay down rules for him...and set some limits too. He's become very "extreme" with his scooter, an old rusty thing we had given him a couple years ago. So, for his birthday this year I probably should get him a new one.

I am off from work tomorrow so it'll be nice. A chance to catch my breath, get things ready for our Deaf Cafe season finale. My husband has been hard at work putting together video(s) through Animoto so it's cool. We wanted a longer version so I had to find music that was more than 5 minutes! I did, a jazzy tune for up to 9 mins. Hey, we're getting our money's worth!

Usually I have something newsworthy to blog about but seems this week was more of...needing to recuperate from a lot of things that has happened last weekend.

So maybe, MAYBE, I will have something more fun to blog about.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Thoughts...

Well, a lot has happened...

Saturday I made the mistake of drinking cuban coffee. That took me the whole day to detox from. I was rude to one of my BFF's and even though I did NOT intend to be rude, it came off rude and I knew it was NOT ME talking. It was the cuban beans!

(sure, blame it on the coffee!)

I accomplished finishing the scripts and we were able to rehearse the acts. Our main star has a lot to study for and I know we'll have a great program.

One of my BFF's posed this question...and it's a very good question because we were all ...not happy with someone at the moment.

"Maybe you can answer this: when my son was young, before he became a christian, he'd lie. If you asked him what color was the sky, he'd say green! If you asked what he ate, he'd say nothing, and we'd ask him what was all over his face (PBJ)...he'd say, nothing. Whatever it is, he'd lie! When he became a christian, he stopped lying. No more. So, answer me, if a person says he or she is truly a christian, how can this person tell outright lies and when they think they're going to be caught, they try to cover their behind with another lie..."

Makes us wonder, what kind of person are you really? Why do you want to lie...why not come clean and just be truthful. We'd never judge you, and we'd not ask any questions but to lie about something...and thinking we have STUPID written across our foreheads? Noo...I do not think so.

So...that was one of the discussions we had and really made me think a lot. It has also made a big impact on my impression of this person---used to be great friends with this person. Sadly, this person just chose to go off track and run towards the edge of a cliff. We've done all we could...but the rest is up to that person.

Ah...when I am guilty of something, I am quick to apologize. If I am caught doing something I shouldn't have done, I will make it right...because it's the right thing to do.

That, my dear friends, are my thoughts for the day. I just want to go to that person and say, "what were you thinking and....how could you?" but....I don't think I'll be seeing this person any time soon...

Friday, May 1, 2009

Interruptions and Distractions, Oh my!

Ever since I got home, I've been trying to finish writing the final 2 acts of a program I'm doing for Deaf Cafe.

I've already done Act 1 and 2. Now just need to finish Act 3 and 4.

Act 4 is partly written. Act 3 was just a couple lines. I need to think more on how that should develop so maybe Act 4 will inspire me ....

Confused yet?

See, I got home, finished making dinner and was trying to write the scripts. I got distracted with emails and my husband & son constantly coming in to talk with me about one thing or another.

THEN...I got very achy that I needed a hot bath to get the aches out. I had to cancel my evening with Sister #5 because I did not feel so good. I was truly very achy.

It's very difficult to enjoy a nice, relaxing, hot bath with bubbles (almond scented, y'all) and reading a book when you've got people constantly knocking on the door...and knowing my husband is very deaf, he can't hear me say, "GO AWAY!"

I could lock the door, but the family knows how to unlock it. So it's pointless, really.

"Mom, can I have 2 dollars?" (yes/no---go away!)

"Honey, I wanted to tell you about a letter I got...." (tell me later! why now? go away! Shoo!)

"Mother, is it okay if BFF stays the night?" (GO AWAY!)

"Moommmmmmmmm.....I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. Can I go get something from store?" (NO! GO AWAY!)

What part of "go away" do you not understand?

There went my relaxing hot bath. The water got cold from the constant door opening and shutting (like it's a fan or something).

*huffs*

I sit down to start writing some great ideas when I got a phone call. My children's father is in the hospital. I'm trying to give comfort to the kids' grandma. Kinda hard to do that when I'm not really sure what to say.

Then another friend calls me...so I talk with that person for a while...while still being interrupted by my family members.

(what is it, is there a full moon tonight or something?????)

Then Grandma calls back, to let me know the kids' dad is going home from the hospital.

Oh okay thanks. I need to get back to the other person ....call later?

So I call the other person....and the interruptions continued.

Now I sit at this computer and I'm trying to finish it. It is now past 10:30 pm. I'm tired.

Even as I'm blogging, the interruptions continue.

Hm...I really need to lay down the law around here....they already have a few but not when it comes to DC matters---

My other laws:
  • Thou shalt not wake up mother from a nap...unless there's a fire or someone is bleeding to death. The minimum and maximum hour(s) of mother's nap time is 2 hours. Not a minute less, or a minute more.
  • Thou shalt not drink mother's coca-cola without permission. (or Golden Grahams cereal)
  • Thou shalt not talk to mother during her favorite television programs. Only during commercials they may speak.
That's pretty effective so far.

Well, it's late, and I need to crawl in bed and get a good night's sleep. THEN, in the morning, I will brew a great pot of COFFEE and sit at the computer, say a prayer and finish the scripts.

Then all will be right in the world of Deaf Cafe.

Amen.