Friday, September 30, 2011

7 quick takes- college reunion and a potential house fire

--- 1 ---

If I were a real or good blogger, I would plan these out in advance, but can I just tell you that my house looks like a hurricane is currently passing through and I'm still in my pajamas and I forced my husband to take all four children with him to drop the older two off at their fancy schmancy (free) arts classes so that I could "get something done" and what I'm doing is writing this?  So count your blessings, people!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Lots of pics, not lots of words

My poor, miserable, overworked children.  Sigh.  A huge box of product from Catholic Child arrived yesterday and they have to play with the toys and read the books and tell me what they think and oh my goodness, can you imagine how hard their lives are?
Paul, the litmus test for whether or not a toy is frustrating.  This one passed!
So that means I am writing catalog copy right now and not so much with the blog copy, which means you (don't you feel lucky?) get to look at a bunch of photos.  Yippee!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

I don't believe in Too Hard (history, volume 1)

Back on January 18th of this year, when I wrote my second post ever on this blog, I said this:

It's not all that overwhelming for me, apparently, to imagine moving and renovating and having four kids simultaneously, but knowing where to start with all of....this, the story-telling business, has got me in a little bit of a tizzy. I mean "I was born in Los Angeles...." might be a little too far back, but eventually I'll probably have to go there for you to fully appreciate the intricacies of my neuroses.

Well, eventually is today, my friends.  It came sooner than I thought.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

New Series Starts Tomorrow. And a Musk Ox.

On Thursday I wrote a post for Mama Kat's workshop and from that tiny poem came a hundred thousand requests for more of the history behind the history of la casa de dweej.  And that makes me nervous.

Part of me thinks there are a lot of good stories in there.  The other part of me knows that everyone has a story and I'm willing to bet mine isn't quite as scandalous or crazy or moving as you're imagining it to be.  And I don't want this to turn into a Me Dumping My Schtuff on You All the Time blog.  Gotta keep my eye on the moderation clock, ya know?

Monday, September 26, 2011

The day I had a Gun pointed at me

I was going to tell you about our free visit to the Kingman Museum on Saturday, but then my neighbor pulled a gun out on me on Sunday afternoon and I was all "THIS will make a MUCH better blog post!".

And just so you don't hyperventilate with worry, no, I'm not dead.  Thank God, right?

Sunday, September 25, 2011

5 Twitter Users I will Not Follow Back

It's time to take control of my virtual life.  I need to make it as enjoyable and uplifting as possible, because Lord knows I've got enough stuff to deal with in my home life that I don't need to be held hostage by my computer screen.  So, in the spirit of making my own peace, I've come up with a few guidelines for myself to ease the stress that is inherent in the strange, convoluted world known as Twitter.  The following are the five twitter users that I just cannot follow back.


5. Blue Steel Guy
Oh yeah, you know what I'm talkin' about.  And yes, I mean you, Mr. I think I'm super smolder-y but really I'm pretty much a loser because I set up my own camera on a tripod my bathroom counter and made a Zoolander face into it.  If you follow me on twitter, I will wish there was a way to unfollow people that I never even followed to begin with because yes, that expression annoys me that much.
source

Friday, September 23, 2011

7 Quick Takes Friday: Log of the 5 Stink Eyes

Stream of consciousness super quick quick takes time!  My family is already giving me the stink eye, fyi.  Imagine writing all of this with five stink eyes on you, okay?

(1)
The reason I have to hurry like a zoomy fiend is that my girls are taking some flower arrangements to the community flower show today.  The youth category requires them to include vegetables in their arrangements, so they both grabbed green tomatoes off of the plant outside.  I decided not to interfere.  Incredible, right?  Me, keeping my mouth shut?

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Where I'm From

I am from incense, from Barbie, and raw milk in a five gallon bucket.

I am from 219 Lakewood. Grandma. A laundry chute. Before Detroit was Detroit.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Wordless Wednesday- building the zero dollar gate

Using the wood paneling that we removed from the west half of the kitchen, the hubby and his mini-me built us a gate to the chicken yard yesterday.

Yay!  No more impaling ourselves on the metal as we squeezed through a narrow opening covered in chicken wire!
cutting the boards to size

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Karate boots: Even more awesome than they sound.

Tommy is in super duper get stuff done mode.  He WILL find a job and the snow WILL fall and if we don't do all of this stuff while the sun is shining and the sky is clear, it just won't get done.  Plus, you know how I love deadlines.  They're my bffs, honestly.

Monday, September 19, 2011

You are not Alone

Before I really start, I have to say something.

The love and support and prayers and emails and facebook messages and smoke signals and ham radio transmissions that I...we...our family received in response to Friday's post was nothing short of overwhelming.  I shed more than my share of happy tears that day.  And every day since.  Tears of gratitude and humility.  Tears of longing to thank each of you personally.  I've said before that I'm so thankful we don't get what we deserve.  Because I don't deserve such kindness and generosity.  The love that has been heaped upon me by strangers.  Strangers no longer.  Yet there it is.  Here you are.  You.  Who said that and did that and are doing all of that.  My heart is full to bursting and I don't know how to say or show how much your prayers and love mean to us.

Friday, September 16, 2011

7 Quick Takes Friday: Things are Hard

(1)
Usually these are funny.  I don't think this one can be funny.

(2)
It just feels like nothing is working out right now.  Hubby still hasn't gotten a job offer.  The baby won't nap.  One of the projects I was working on got cancelled, so another portion of our (super tiny) income is gone.  AND...the 'm' key on our keyboard is actually broken.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Thankful

He got up early and baked cranberry orange scones.  Homemade broth for the girl with the cough.  Bacon for the happy littles.  Eggs from our chickens.  A freshly brewed pot of coffee.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Top Ten Photos from Today

Have I told you about the homeschool partnership that our school district is offering?  Dude, it's so awesome.  Fantastic.  As in, free classes taught by real professionals and field trips for any homeschooled student in the area.  You can't take unlimited classes, but you can get free private piano lessons (or theatre or clay or latin or mad science or...you see where I'm going with this)!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Champagne Drapes on a Beer Budget: Pottery Barn Inspired Window Treatments

In light of yesterday's chat about being poor for the moment, I thought it was high-time I did another post for all the bargain lovers out there.  

When I first saw these drapes in the Pottery Barn catalog last summer, I felt inspired.  I wanted them for our brand new living room.  They were the drapes of my dreams.  And I did dream about drapes back then because our house came complete with spider-ridden, threadbare, filthy drapes from the 70's that smelled even grosser than they looked.  And they didn't even cover the windows.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

What Being Poor is Teaching Me

A good friend of mine, who also happens to be starting a crazy adventure of moving to a state they've never lived in with no jobs lined up (you can read her blog here), put this as her facebook status yesterday: 

Only 78 degrees today, went for a run in a little Vegas rain. I like to think that there is a lesson to be learned in every experience. Today's lesson: Don't run past a dog poop recepticle with your mouth open!

Friday, September 09, 2011

7 Quick Takes Friday: World's Best Recruitment video

(1)
Have you ever written some really funny, probably brilliant notes about what 7 thing you're going to share on the back of a tiny scrap of paper and then tossed the tiny scrap into your purse among all the other scraps of who-knows-what and then dug through your purse to find it so you could share them and make the world a happier place and been completely unable to find it?  Yeah, I know, right?  Stupid purses.  In light of that, kindly dial down your expectations for this post about 11 notches.

(2)
Okay, wait...this is actually important.  Remember last week when I asked you to please pray for my friend's brother who would be undergoing brain surgery?

Thursday, September 08, 2011

They're Proud of Us

Viking paper dolls wait patiently near the printer.  The boy is coloring his alphabet sheets.  Little Cecilia munches on her cereal.  The house is quiet.  The bus goes by.  The girls are still asleep.

Everything just feels...right.

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

My Heart is out of my Larynx- 2 Day Redux

Where do I even start?  Right now I'm typing on my like-new laptop which, a mere two days ago, just moments after publishing my last blog post, died.  It was dead, my friends.  Okay, not dead.  Unusable, though.  The screen?  It was black.  There was a little white cursor and nothing else and my frail little heart jumped from its customary place to the very uncomfortable region of my larynx.


If you've ever had your heart in your larynx, you'll know why it has been hard for me to function the last two days.

Monday, September 05, 2011

Do you NEED a paper bag in order to hyperventilate?

Hmmmmm, lemme just take a quick gander a the calendar.  Just mosey on over and have a look-see....


So, if yesterday was-


Wait a second.


If yesterday was...


Ohmysweetbabyjeezus.

Friday, September 02, 2011

7 Quick Takes Friday: child labor and drinkin' on a boat

(1)
If you have never been to Michigan, come here.  Its beauty is wildly under appreciated.  And for those of you who love water the way I do, you'll be pleased to know that one is never more than 8 miles from a fresh water lake anywhere in this entire state.

Speaking of which, some friends from our parish invited us over to their house on Saturday, and this is what happened: 

Thursday, September 01, 2011

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