Marie Osmond

I LOVE these pictures of Marie! Did you see her "dance" on Monday night? It was HORRIBLE! It wasn't even a dance. I think she just gave up at the end. The whole thing was just stupid. And I could not stand her quote, "I'm a dollmaker!" UGH! Pathetic. She deserved that score. Go Bruno!

Square Envelopes

Did you know that the Post Office charges you more to mail a square envelope than it does to mail a rectangle one? Here is a portion of an article about it.

The square has four equal sides and four right angles. It is a regular shape. To the U.S. Postal Service, however, the square is "unusual." Its sorting machines, built for oblongs, can't find the address on a square envelope. People have to do it. That's why the post office imposes the square surcharge.
The square surcharge has been around since machine sorting began in 1979, yet even those who knew about it rarely knew how many stamps to put on a square letter. Postal clerks often didn't know, either, so square letters mostly got delivered anyway.
Then last May, the post office launched a new "shape-based" initiative. Mailing a one-ounce oblong costs 41 cents. A one-ounce square costs 58 cents, including a 17-cent surcharge for squareness. At a Manhattan post office not long ago, a window clerk named Thomas Merritt took one look at a square envelope and said, "Nonmachinable. I would not use that shape, period."

Guess in that case it's not hip to be square.
It is so weird letting your 17 yr old daughter go into a bank and make a deposit by herself. My fledgling is about to leave the nest, I suppose. In the past month she has also gone to the movies without a parent and to a restaurant without a parent. It makes me feel SO OLD!

I went to my new counselor, and I like her A LOT! The problem is: she gives homework and LOTS of it! This week I have to listen to another sermon by C.S. Spurgeon, who is good but I think very dry; read the entire book of Ephesians; read a small book (which I accidentally left on her desk -- awwwww); read a pamphlet, write down answers on a page about prayer, take notes on the sermon at my church this Sunday. OUCH!

I was thrilled to see the Target R2D2 coming onto the screen and saying, "Merry Christmas!" Good for Target FINALLY!

Bless us Lord, this Christmas, with quietness of mind; Teach us to be patient and always to be kind.Helen Steiner Rice

~'night all~

Cold, Rainy Saturday

It is a cold and rainy Saturday. I don't expect many customers -may close at noon.

Had breakfast at Denny's this a.m. with Kim and Shannon. Shannon is an online buddy I have never met IRL. She was very sweet, and they both came to the store to do some shopping! I do have one older couple right now shopping for preschool items.

KSBJ is playing Christmas music this morning, and it is upsetting me. I may need to switch the station. If it is only November and I am feeling like this, I don't even want to know what December will be like.

K17 went and saw Enchanted last night. She is going to take K14 and a friend to see it today.

I read a 350 page book in less than 24 hours. It was nice to do that. I hardly ever read anymore. I had forgotten how much I missed getting into a good story.

I am going to try to go back to church tomorrow. Hopefully, I will. Tomorrow, the Texans play so I will be watching and writing lesson plans for the week. Maybe do some grocery shopping, too. I wish the holidays would last another week.

Dusti went with us to Mom and Dad's. She did very well except for during the meal. She sat on the floor next to my mom and whined the entire time, wanting food, of course. She doesn't do that at our house because she knows we won't give her any. But my mom is a sucker for a cute face and has passed her food in the past from the table. This year Mom made Dusti wait until after the meal and put the scraps in her food bowl.

The pig and the chicken were on their way to breakfast, trying to decide what to have. When chicken said, ''Let's have ham and eggs.'' The pig then replied, ''That's fine for you, it's a small donation on your part, but it's a total sacrifice for me.''”

A SMILE FROM GOD!

Happy Thanksgiving

K14 was telling me the other day, "Mom, we need to get a chimney sweep out here so we can start a fire in the fireplace." It barely gets below 40 degrees here, so fires are few and far between.

Growing up, we had a fireplace. Every year for Christmas I would buy my dad the exact same thing - a box of fireplace matches and a package of color crystals that you throw into the fire, causing the flame to turn beautiful colors. I remember us trying to pop popcorn in the fireplace popcorn popper. It was tiring to hold that thing and shake it over the fire. Once Dad had some wood sitting on the hearth, and it was full of carpenter ants. I remember that when he threw the logs into the fire, that the ants made a hissing sound. I remember feeling sorry for the ants because they were experiencing a painful death.

On Christmas Eve, dad would open the fireplace curtain and move the grate sideways so that it looked disturbed. Then he would take his shoes and put them in the ashes and walk them across the floor, making it appear that Santa had been there.

I LOVE fires in the fireplace, but I am afraid of leaving the embers unattended when we go to bed.

~Happy Thanksgiving!~

A crooked log makes a straight fire.

Holiday Parade

Today was our annual holiday parade. The theme was Happy 100 years to our town. K17 and K14 clogged on float #112. They looked really sharp out there!

Last night they went to a social, giving R and I some time alone. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Tonight they have a Thanksgiving feast at one of the churches, giving R and I time alone. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. They will be at my mom and dad's from Tuesday to Thanksgiving, giving -- you got it -- R and I time alone!

Tomorrow the Texans are playing, so that is couch time for me! The girls don't have any writing homework to do this weekend, but I think they have science work to do, I'm not sure.

I took K17 out of Vocabulary from the Classical Roots - it just wasn't doing the job -- and switched to a visual clue version of Wordsmart. It is the second book in a series, but got it in my resale section so I couldn't be picky.

The girls are at home making cornbread for tonight's feast. I have R working at the cash register deleting files, and I have played on my laptop all day. We got an order from Alabama yesterday. We have had a steady stream of customers today -- I didn't open until noon because of the parade -- mostly Girl Scout purchases.Dang! A man just picked up an expensive item that we NEVER sell and then decided to put it back!

Well, it's about time to close. Y'all have a nice weekend!

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good..." Psalm 100:4, 5a

Strike Outs Below

Just a note about the post below. I was trying to be clever and strike out the word "doorstops" and it struck out the entire post. I went back to try to fix it and managed to save all but the top paragraph.

Overheard in the store today...

You'll be glad to know that Mr. Klein is already selling doorstops fruitcakes in his store. BLECH! R and I bought an apple pie and a cherry pie last night for Bible study. YUM! Problem is that hardly anyone showed up, so we had to bring half a pie of each home.

The following was overheard in the store yesterday:
Customer to employee: How do you know how much this costs?
Employee: There is a price tag.
Customer(turning the book over): Oh, okay.

A big Homer Simpson "DOH"!

Some of you know that on Wednesday, I clean toilets, 18 to be exact (including urinals). I do this as part of a homeschool co-op. It's not an exciting job, but it keeps me away from people and all the chitchat. Anyway, you can learn a lot while cleaning toilets. For instance, did you know that the toilets in the girls' restroom are yuckier than those in the boys' restroom? Also, what is the point of tearing up paper towels into miniscule pieces and throwing them on the floor RIGHT NEXT TO THE TRASHCAN? I know why. So that I will be challenged picking them up wearing living gloves. Did you know that someone makes floormats especially to put in front of urinals? Today I learned that the automatic flushing toilets actually have a red button to push to manually flush them. Guess what I have been doing for the past six weeks? Waving my arms madly like a maniac, doing everything but the Hokey Pokey to get them to flush. What an idiot.

Just between you and me, I think that Marie Osmond is going to win Dancing with the Stars simply out of popularity. She should not have made it this far. I would be curious to see the actual results of the votes to see if she is usually close to number one. If she wins I think the show is done for. I mean, why watch when you know it's just a popularity contest?

"I've learned.... That life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes."
-- Andy Rooney

OCD Joke

I stole this joke from another blog.

A Stanford Medical research group advertised for participants in astudy of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
They were looking for therapy clients who had been diagnosed with thisdisorder.
The response was gratifying; they got 3,879 responses one hour afterthe ad came out.
All from the same person.

Tee hee.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My dad had a birthday yesterday! We are going to baby brother's house tonight to celebrate! It will be so nice to have the whole family together.

K17 got a job at Chick-Fil-A (good for her!), so that will be another place I will be driving to during the week.

I am very happy to report that my friend, Kim, had an excellent report from her oncologist this week! And she looks GREAT!

I know my last post sounded kind of depressing. This werek I feel like a new woman. I have started going to a Christian counselor (trial period) and she answered a lot of my questions. I am working on taking better care of my body, my mind, and spending more time with the family. I am even going to go to church tomorrow for the first time since December. I know that I will have setbacks (and I pray that my family will forgive me for that), but I am really going to try to make a go of it from now on. So now I am going to two counselors, but that should not be a problem because they are working on different issues. My OCD therapist will be moving away in February so I won't get to see her anymore anyway. And best of all -- this new counselor is free!

It is boring at the store today. R is on his way to bring me some lunch after he drops off K17 at a friends house. She's going to go see Dan In Real Life. K14 is hanging out at home with her BFF.

Only one order this month so far on the internet. Several people were shopping yesterday but didn't check out. Someone is shopping right now from PA - she has a whopping $3.90 in her shopping cart! The webmaster has assured us that even though this is considered to be our slow season, Google is continuing to increase the amount of people it sends here.

Went out for margaritas with E last night. Was so nice to get out, eat chips and pico de gallo, drink and talk for 2 1/2 hours.

Well, take care all. I don't have the creativity today to leave you with a quote.

LIFE

Everywhere I go I see these strange creatures. They walk, they talk, they laugh, they smile, they enjoy life. Oh, wait! Those are people! I used to be one of those. :o(

Menu and such

Listening to K14 play the piano while i plan the menu for the week.
Monday - stuffed baked potatoes
Tuesday - chicken salad and fruit on our way out the door to Bible Study
Wednesday - dirty rice (JUST R AND ME)
Thursday - out to eat night
Friday - R and I are attending a Barbque for a prospective art school for K17 in Houston. The girls will be a party that night.
Saturday - grilled salmon
Sunday - homemade wheat pizza

Dumbledore

With all the talk about Dumbledore being gay, I'm beginning to wonder what is the big deal? I mean, gay people exist; my kids know they exist. Jesus loves them just as much as he loves you and me. As long as it wasn't referenced in the books, I don't see much to worry about. Guess I'm getting to be more liberal than I thought. Now, the fan fiction, that could be a problem. But who of us reading this blog allow our children to read fan fiction anyway? J.K. Rowling is just trying to draw attention back to her books so those who haven't will go out and buy the books and look for the nuances in them. More money for her, which is her right, I suppose.

I got the go ahead from the web people to upload all 11,000 items to the website as soon as I am ready, pictures, descriptions, or not. This will probably entail about three weeks of work for me, I am guessing.

Tonight R and I are going to dinner at the Vietnamese restaurant with some friends. K17 is going to youth group; K14 is staying home to rest from the party she held last night.

Last Day of September

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM IF SHE'S WATCHING!

TODAY, ON THE LAST DAY OF SEPTEMBER, WE MADE ANOTHER INTERNET SALE, AND WE HAD ALL THREE ITEMS IN STOCK!!! A $48 SALE IS NOT A LOT TO BRAG ABOUT, BUT IT IS A SALE! AND IT WAS FROM A REPEAT CUSTOMER, WHICH MEANS SHE MUST HAVE LIKED OUR SERVICE ON HER LAST ORDER! WE HAVE NOW HAD ORDERS FROM TEXAS, CALIFORNIA, PENNSYLVANIA, OKLAHOMA, KANSAS, AND NORTH CAROLINA. I HAVE PUT A MAP ON THE WALL, AND WE ARE STICKING PUSH PINS IN THE STATES AS WE RECEIVE ORDERS.

Had a bad panic attack on Tuesday (I happened to be driving at the time) and ended up going to my friend K's house. (Thanks, K!) It came on so suddenly, but if I look back, I remember it building up. Wish I could remember those feelngs for a warning for next time.

K17 and K14 went to what is equivalent to a homeschool student council meeting last night and did some planning for the group's activities. Tonight K17 will be meeting some friends at ITs, a popular local arcade, while K14 is going to youth group at a different church. Richard is riding into Huntsville with a friend to hear a preacher who is on TV. I guess I'll cancel dinner for tonight. I was going to make sloppy joes, but no one but me, myself, and I will be home to eat them. Guess it will be a nice, quiet evening at home with me and my doggie, who, by the way, is smidgeons away from being housebroken (FINALLY!). She will be 2 years old on October 18th!

Tomorrow I plan to clean some of the house and go get my nails done. My nails look like they are right out of a horror film!

Well, I will sign off for now as I listen to the steady hum of customers browsing (and I do mean browsing - not buying) in the store. One customer was in for 1 1/2 hours and only bought two posters and an eraser. Oh, well, every penny counts!

~bye~

Volleyball Game

K17's team did great today! I felt so sorry for the other team. First, they didn't have many parents there, I suspect because they were from so far away. BUT the parents that were there did not clap or cheer for their team. I felt so bad for them.
K14 is having her first guitar lesson tonight with my brother. Got her a beginner book, but she will need some thin guitar picks, he says.
Got the girls a Pride and Prejudice (motion picture version) piano book. I'm glad because I'm sort of getting tired of Phantom of the Opera songs.
Below is my menu for the month:
Monday – roast, meatloaf, quiche, lasagna
Roast and meatloaf served with potatoes and veggie; quiche and lasagna served with salad

Tuesday – chef salad, taco salad, grilled chicken salad, tuna/chicken salad
Tuna/chicken salad served with canned fruit and crackers

Wednesday – Chicken teryaki, turkey roast, roasted chicken, chicken stir fry
Served with rice and corn

Friday – potato soup, taco soup, chicken noodle soup, chili
Served with crackers, muffins, or cornbread

Saturday – catfish, salmon, fish sticks, salmon patties
Served with pasta and peas

Saturday – sloppy joes, hamburgers, hot dogs, baked potatos
First three served with French fries

Sunday – spaghetti, pork chops, tacos, homemade pizza
Chop and tacos with potatoes or rice. Spaghetti and pizza served with salad.

Shopping Carts

I've noticed that there are about twenty-five or thirty people who have visited our website, put items in their shopping carts, and then never checked out. I added them up and came up with $1515.47. I sure could use that money right now. Glad people don't keep their items in baskets all over my store

Today is a sad day. I have one friend who is not speaking to me, one who is barely speaking to me, and one whom I've lost completely. I thank God for the remaining friends that I do have. Y'all are WONDERFUL!

Thoughts on OCD

Sometimes I think back in my life, remembering people I've known and wondering if maybe they had a touch of OCD, not that anyone can have "a touch" of it. I remember one friend in college who some would call strange for many things she did. One thing she did drove me nuts. She would stay up until 3 or 4 a.m. doing laundry. How can one person have that much laundry? I remember that she would wash each individual pair of panties by hand, using Spray and Wash and dishwashing liquid. Then she would wring each one out by hand, like she was going to hang them up or something; and then she would put them in the washing machine and run them in there with more detergent. The whole process lasted at least an hour.

I saw a man in our parking lot a while back that I thought for sure must have had OCD. He pulled his car up, got out in front of the grocery store, got a large sponge out of his trunk and began to scrub his entire car, wheels and all, top to bottom. When he was done, he put the sponge away and went into the grocery store.

I had to laugh, but, actually, OCD is not that very funny. Some people are confined to their homes because of it. Considering that I have what has been termed a "severe" case of it, I am very blessed that I am as high-functioning as I am. I am able to hide a lot of my rituals, and, plus, most of my OCD goes on in my head, which is why it is so difficult to treat. Rituals are easier to treat because they are concrete.

Lots of Girl Scouts coming in the store today for uniforms. I have had one return so far in thirty minutes. It was something I wasn't supposed to take back (a workbook), but, hey, she caught me on a good day. One customer is bummed because we are out of EZ Graders. One lady came in and dumped off a whole bunch of math books she didn't want anymore.

Well, I have LOTS of work to do. Please pray that we get some more internet orders and that we are able to fill them.

Today's quote is from the Cosby Show:

Cliff takes women's underwear out among Theo's laundry)
Cliff: All of this isn't Theo's.
Rudy: That's definitely not Theo's!
Cliff: Is this yours?
Rudy: That's not mine! I'm not that mature yet.

Long Time No See

Haven't talked to you guys in awhile. It has been crazy here. Got 659 more items ready to go up on the website.

So what else is going on in my life? We had a very large order come in last weekend from California. Unfortunately, we kind of messed up on our end and the guy had to send some of it back. We ended up overnighting him the correct books, which was more money out of our pockets. Oh, well, live and learn.

K14 accidentally died her hair pink; well, not the whole head, only blotches and the roots. If you ever need to get dye out, go to Walgreen's and buy Color Oops!! It worked wonders.

My friend L read my book in one night. Amazing! She said it kept her interest, so that was a good comment.

We are up at the store. It is almost five and the girls still have schoolwork to do. Going to Old Navy and Kohl's after work. Then home for dinner-salmon patties. Tomorrow night is baked potatoes and Sunday is roast. I will post next month's menu soon.

K17 is doing great in volleyball, but her toe isn't. She has to have the toenail removed in a couple of weeks.

Life is humming along as usual at the K house. I enjoy reading your blogs. I notice some of you are like me and don't get the chance to write much.

"Is it real?" No, the freckles and blond eyebrows also were apart of the hair dye kit.

My Sunday

Today the girls and I went to the mall for some shopping and female bonding. K14 bought two shirts and a pair of bermuda shorts; K17 bought a shirt. Then we went to Academy to get K17 some shoes for volleyball, which she has tomorrow. K14 and I will travel a ways to visit with Mom and Dad while K17 is practicing.

I have two orders to do and don't know when I will have time to do them. I promised K17 that we could watch the second disc of 24 tonight.

Above is a picture of K17. Isn't she beautiful?

Jack Bauer: I'm federal agent Jack Bauer, and today is the longest day of my life.

Menu planning

Praise God! I knew it would happen! Someone came in and put the Apologia Physical Science on consignment. Woohoo! Now each girl has their own science book, making school day much easier.

Here is a rotating menu I made for September. There are four Mondays, four Tuesdays, etc. Hoping to add soups to October's menu.

Monday - meatballs & rice, spaghetti, lasagna, baked spaghetti
Served with garlic bread and green beans

Tuesday - chef salad, taco salad, grilled chicken salad, tuna/chicken salad
Tuna/chicken salad serverd with canned fruit and crackers

Wednesday - grilled chicken, chicken teriyaki, turkey roast, chicken stir fry
served with rice and corn

Friday - catfish, salmon, fish sticks, salmon patties
served with pasta and peas

Saturday - sloppy joes, hamburgers, hot dogs, baked potatoes
first three served with french fries

Sunday - roast, pork chops, tacos, breakfast casserole
first three served with potatoes or rice; casserole served with biscuits and turkey bacon

This is a new sway of planning meals which I discovered this week. Hope it will help me get organized. Now I just need to get back to my Motivated Moms organizer. Don't know if that will ever happen! There are just not going to be enough hours in a day, especially if I am working on the website!