Thankful Thursday #15

As I prepare to crawl in the bed at my in-law's house, worn out from the weeks events, I had told myself I was not going to blog tonight. But I've been away for so long and I didn't want anyone to think that I had fallen off the face of the Earth.

Plus, there is SO MUCH for me to be thankful for this week - I just had to share; but before I begin, I must first tell you the story that leads me to all of this gratitude...

My family and I are moving.

This was something we have been talking about doing for a long time but, up until recently, it has never evolved into anything other than wishful thinking.

This was a huge decision for my family and me.

A decision that was not made lightly.

You may recall that my good friend Amy gave me a wonderful verse to pray over - and all of the humorous events that followed my first attempt.

Isaiah 30:21

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

You might also recall that I decided to hold off praying over this particular verse until the time came for me to actually look at some property.

So, as I got ready to meet mom and go to our viewings, I pulled out the Bible and read over the scripture again - this time with more success. :)

The second one I looked at was the one for us, we wrote him a check and it was ours.

Now I had two weeks in which to pack ten years of stuff, for our move in date of November 1st.

TEN YEARS I have lived in this house.
TEN YEARS of a love hate relationship.
TEN YEARS of some of the most wonderful memories of my life.
And after TEN YEARS, one day brought it all crashing down, to a screeching halt.

We no longer felt safe in the home that had been ours and we could no longer stay there.

The man who broke into our house early Sunday morning, one week before we were scheduled to move, while the girls and I were sleeping, took all of that away from us.

He got away with little to nothing - one TV and one DVD player - but he robbed us of so much more than that.

He robbed us of our peace of mind, of our security.

My oldest daughter (who will be twelve in just a few short weeks) bore the brunt of his intrusion, as she was awake and heard him from the time he broke in until the time he ran out.

She heard it when he slammed the crowbar into our iron door in order to pry the lock.

She listened as he wrestled with getting the front door unlocked and open.

Frozen in fear she did the only thing she knew to do... She hid herself and her four year old sister (who was sleeping in her bed) under the covers as he walked around the front of our house and her room, unplugging televisions, stereos, lamps and DVD players.

She listened as he walked to the back of the house and into my room. Then she listened as he ran out of my room, after making the mistake of turning on my bedroom light and startling me awake.

I did not realize that there was someone in our house who didn't belong. I woke up mad. Mad that one of my girls had just come into my room before 6 o'clock in the morning and turned my light on - although this is not something that either of them have ever done before.

I started to lie back down and drift back off, as the man had run back into her room to get the TV that he left behind, but the dogs were barking so I got up to let them out.

Still mad at being woken up prematurely, and now I had to get up because they weren't going to stop barking until I let them out, I crawled out of the bed hollering at the one I believed to be the culprit. And I as I yelled her name towards the front of the house he decided to leave that TV and he ran out.

No one answered me, and I did not hear him run out over Drake's incessant barking. He would not go out, he wanted to go up front.

Minutes later, she came running down into the den, frantically crying and telling me that "they robbed us."

I'm in the den and I look around to find that nothing looks out of order, but we do have boxes everywhere.

I believe that she had a nightmare and that she is confused because everything is packed up, so I begin trying to calm her down and comfort her. But as I ask her questions, to understand what she's trying to tell me, and I listen to what she's saying, it starts to sink in that this wasn't a nightmare at all but something that has really happened.

I go with her to the front of the house and sure enough, the things she said he took are missing.

Needless to say, we are no longer staying in that house.
We are currently residing with my in-laws, until this weekend - at which time we will officially be in our new home.

They can have the house; along with the TV, the DVD player and whatever else he may have taken that I haven't yet noticed.

We will take what's behind door number two - a new home, in a safe neighborhood, with better schools, peace of mind, AND our lives!

Which brings me back around to telling you all the reasons that I'm thankful:

I am thankful that my children are safe and that we all lived through this experience unharmed.

I am grateful for all of the many wonderful friends who have reached out to us and offered their support.

And I am thankful to my in-laws for putting us up this week, until we can get moved.

Most of all, I am thankful that God was with us - watching after and protecting us - during our time of need.

He was there with my baby, whispering in her ear, telling her exactly what to do and letting her know when it was safe to come out.

We have talked about what happened a lot this week and she never ceases to amaze me with her unexpected wisdom.

When I told her that He was with her and that He helped to make her and her sister invisible to him, she responded to me with this:

"I know, mommy. I prayed the whole time. I kept praying and praying that you would wake up and that he would just go away. And He answered my prayer...He answered it with you. Because when you woke up and yelled he ran out."

*Sigh*

She is our heroine!!

I will be back once we get settled; until then, please take care.

The Bucktooth Sisters

Please give me a sign...

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a love hate relationship with my house.

As a first time home buyer, I learned many, many lessons. Lessons about what to do and what not to do, about what questions to ask, about what things to look for, etc.

Several years ago, we refinanced our house. Another process about which I learned many, many things.

I have loved my house for as long as I can; after living here for ten years, it is now time for us to move.

Needless to say, this is not a decision that was made lightly. This is a huge deal for my family and me. It was discussed, pondered, prayed over and discussed some more.

One of the people I talked to about this was my good friend Amy. I told her that I was nervous because this will affect my entire family and I didn't want to make the wrong decision. She kindly listened to my story, offered a few encouraging words and told me she would be praying for me. She also gave me a verse to pray over.

This was a verse that she wore around her neck during her recent travels to the Mediterranean.

Isaiah 30:21

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

What an excellent verse, amen?

That Amy, I tell you, she always knows the perfect scripture for any given situation. Just one of the many reasons I love her so, but I digress...



That night I took the Bible to bed with me and looked up this verse so I could read it and pray for direction. Afterwards, I rolled over to lay it down on my book tray and stretched out to turn off my bedside lamp.

No sooner than I finished turning off my lamp I got a horrible ache in my chest and neck. The pain was in my back, under my shoulder blade, and stretched down my right arm to my elbow. It hurt to breath, it hurt to lie down, it hurt to roll over, it just plain HURT!

Two IBprofin and several minutes of intense discomfort later, I finally managed to get comfortable enough to drift off.

The next day my, as my co-workers and I were walking back to the office from lunch, I felt something poke me in my neck. "Ouch!" I yelled while I slapped at the pain, noting the feel of a definite bug under my fingers.

I flung the culprit to the ground and before Katie instinctively stomped on it, ending his life, we all four looked down to discover that it was a bee.

I had gotten stung, on my neck, by a bee! OUWWCH!! Darn bee!

Later that evening, I was driving home from work. I turned right at the stop sign and looked up to see a train, slowly making its way down the tracks - tracks that I still had to cross. Already running a little late, I made a snap decision to turn and head in the other direction to beat the train - which looked like it was getting ready to completely stop on the tracks.

Right before I arrived at the next street I heard the siren of a police car. Then I saw it - he was pulling out of a side street, getting ready to pull someone over for speeding.

AND he was headed in my direction...

Crap! I thought to myself. I know I was on a mission to get across those tracks, but was I speeding? How fast was I going? What's the speed limit?? Crap, crap, crap!

After making it safely across the tracks (since that was the whole reason I must have been speeding in the first place) I pulled over and rolled down my window, license in hand, to receive my punishment.

"I clocked you going 46 in a 35" the police lady politely informed me.

"Okay" I said, laughing to myself that I was now stopped because I was trying not to get stopped. Oh, the irony of it all...

After going to her car to run my license, she returned with my ticket and let me know that they had lowered it to say I was only going five over.


Whew! I thought as I signed my ticket thinking what a nice officer she was. "Okay, thanks." I said and we bid each other good day.

Yes, I know...It's just crazy. I thanked her for giving me a ticket. What can I say?? No use getting mad or upset about it.

And the good news of this little event is that the worlds slowest train, that I was trying to avoid getting caught by, DID stop on the tracks.

I arrived home and called Amy.

I told her about my day and we had a good chuckle over the irony of the events immediately following my prayer on a this verse that she suggested AND about all of the crazy events that happened, one after the other, to her while she was on her Mediterranean adventure - wearing this exact verse around her neck.

We decided that God loves Amy's sense of humor and that is why he keeps letting all of these things happen in her life - so she can blog about it and entertain us all :).

And, since she and I have become so close, he may have thought that my sense of humor was just as good. However, I'm not convinced.... so, to be on the safe side, I decided to hold off on praying over this particular verse until the exact moment that I will be going to look at houses.

I'll let you know how that logic works for me ;)

Until then.....take care.

Halloween's going to suck this year...

Sometimes, you just gotta laugh to keep from crying...

Grilling Goodness #2

It's Friday and you know what that means, or maybe you don't - I'm not sure; but, if you've ever been here before, then you know that my girlfriend Tina has come up with a Friday meme that she has so cleverly named Grilling Goodness. So without further ado....let's see what she's Grilled up for us this week??

1. What can cheer you up when you're feeling grumpy?

The obvious answer to this one is my children. They can do or say something so completely off the wall that it knocks Mr. Grumpy Pants right out - TKO!

A few other things that often help to send Mr. Grumpy Pants packing is talking to my husband, my mom or my friends and blogging. I have often said that blogging is completely therapeutic for me.

2. Give one feature that could make or break the deal if you were shopping for a new home.

Okay again, the obvious answer would be the cost or getting declined for the loan - I'm just sayin' that would definitely break the deal, dontcha think??

But on a serious note, if we were in the market for our 'final' new house - because if I ever get the opportunity to move out of my current house and into a new one it will be the last time - there are several lessons that I learned when we purchased our 'starter' home and ALL of the following criteria would have to be met before we signed on that dotted line:

1. All windows must open (and close - of course) and have screens.
2. Central heat and air is a MUST
3. The average cost of the utility bill in the winter and in the summer will factor into the decision.
4. The insulation level will be inspected.
5. We will also be paying someone to crawl under the house (if it's on a foundation) to ensure that there was never a fire in the master bathroom that they covered up by putting flooring over the burned wood and that the stand up shower is being held up by more than just the grace of God and the wall tiles.
6. If the crack head guy who is installing the ventilation system for the central heat and air, that we've already established is a MUST, is working in the attic and falls through the ceiling and they do a piss-poor job of patching it up - the deal is definitely off!

I could go on but I will stop now least you think we got screwed, bought a house fixed by crack heads, are complete idiots might actually be the stupid young, naive couple who bought a house like that.

3. What's the craziest thing you've ever let your children eat for breakfast?

The youngest loves to eat chips for breakfast - any kind, it doesn't matter to her - with her daily cup of chocolate soy milk. Yep, I let her. I sure do. I have no time in the mornings to argue with her about what makes up a healthy breakfast. If chips and chocolate milk make her happy and get me out the door on time, then sobeit!

4. If you are a 'watch what you eat' kind of person, share a meal or dish that makes it easier to diet.

I always watch what I eat - how else am I going to be able to make sure all those yucky ingredients aren't in there??? Ohhhh...you mean healthy eating *snicker* yeah right *snicker*

Okay, just so we're clear on this one Tina...This isn't a question. I'm just sayin'.

Good grief! First you don't ask a question, then you expect us to share a dish or meal with you....and not just any dish or meal...NOOOO you want a healthy dish or meal. Sheesh!

Well, since I don't really cook and I only watch what I eat to be sure I'm not putting something nasty in my mouth, I'm going to defer to one of Amy's scrumptious looking recipe's on this one. Just click on the link and pick the one you think you'll like :P

5. Is there something you used to do as a child that you would never let your children do now?

I once walked the pug while I rode on a skateboard, it was really fun! Looking back on it now, prolly not such a good idea...

But really, looking back on my childhood - there isn't much that I did back then that I would ever let my kids do now and don't misunderstand, it has nothing to do with me doing things that I shouldn't have. It's all about the times that I grew up in as opposed to how things are today. When I was young, I ran all over the neighborhood, all weekend long. I had to check in when the noon tornado drills went off and then I had to be home at night when the street lights came on. In today's world, these are things that my children will never get to experience!

6. If you have a daughter, are her ears pierced? When did you allow it?

Yes, both of my daughters have pierced ears and they were both very young when they got them done. Actually, I didn't take either of them to get it done because I didn't want to get arrested for assault when I punched the store clerk for hurting my babies. I figured having a mother at home to raise them was more important than sharing that experience with them - especially since they would never remember it and I would never forget it. Ya know what I mean??


7. Are you the only person in your house who changes the TP roll??

Yes, but I keep hoping one day it will catch on with other members of the household.


8. How old were you when you no longer lived with a parent(s) for the first time?

Eighteen - Little Miss Independent, couldn't wait to be on my own. Kids, if you're out there and you're reading this....SLOW DOWN!! Don't be in such a hurry to be all grown up and living on your own - it's not as fun as it seems. TRUST ME ON THIS!! And on the flip side of that coin...If you're...say...thirty or more...and still living at home with mom and dad....maybe it's time for you to check out what it might be like out there on your own. No hate mail please, it's just a suggestion.

Just Mornin'

We’ve all had them…Days where we wish we had just stayed in the bed.

Today was one of those days for me.

It all started when I rolled out of bed, after coming to the realization that we had overslept and now had less than thirty minutes to get ready before time to leave, and here is how the rest of the morning went:

Hollered for the girls to get out of bed as I rushed into the den to let the dogs out and feed them.

Fed the dogs

Hollered for the girls to get up

Let the dogs outside to use the bathroom

Hollered for the girls to get out of the bed

Took my shower

Hollered to make sure the girls were up

Let one of the dogs back in

Hollered to see how the girls were progressing

Brushed my teeth

Now aware that it was raining, I went back into the den to late the other dog in, before he got too wet, and put him in his cage.

Hollered to see how the girls were doing

The oldest was cleaning up poop from Priss, our part-time pooch, who had just been let out but didn’t want to stay out because of the rain.

Hollered to see if the youngest was up and getting ready.

The oldest said that she had told her to get up but, since its only big sister requesting she get out of bed, she responded with a strong “no.”

Walked to front of house to drag the youngest one out of the bed

Stepped in a some poop, that had been overlooked, on my way to the bedroom

Grabbed a piece of the long stream of toilet paper, that the oldest had strewn from the roll in the bathroom all the way to her doorway, and wiped off my big toe.

Walked into the bedroom and pulled the covers off of the youngest, picked her up and placed her down on the floor.

Walked back into my bathroom and washed my foot.

Removed towel from my head and brushed hair

Went into my room to put underclothes on, prevented the youngest from trying to crawl into my bed, told her to brush her teeth.

Stalked into the kitchen to grab my paddle to reinforce that I was serious about her brushing her teeth and getting ready.

Dried my hair.

Hollered to let the girls know it was time to go and see if they were ready yet

Put makeup on.

Put clothes on

Hollered out to let the girls know it was time to go

Went into kitchen to grab the girls breakfast and make the chocolate milk

Helped the youngest get her other shoe on

Asked the oldest to turn off all the lights

Made sure all appliances were turned off, all cages were closed and locked and ensured that the radio was turned on for the bird.

Grabbed the wrong keys from hook, got everyone settled into the car.

Pulled my keys out of my purse and started the car

Opened the garage door, backed out of the garage into the driveway.

Grabbed an umbrella, stepped out of the car and into the downpour to close the garage door (that I have to manually shut every day because it will open automatically but it won’t close - and has been this way for several months now.)

Got drenched walking to the garage – regardless of the umbrella

Closed garage door, went into house and put the wrong set of keys that I had grabbed earlier back onto the hook, got drenched walking out of back door.

Got back in the car, got drenched pulling soaking wet umbrella back into the car.

Dropped the oldest off at school

Arrived at second destination for the youngest and her side kick (Priss) to be dropped off. Grabbed my umbrella, opened car door to go around and let them out of the car only to find the door was locked.

Walked back around to my side of the car to unlock the doors because she had her hands full, with the dog, her drink and her umbrella, and wasn’t able to unlock the door without putting it all down.

Walked back around to her side to let her out.

Picked the dog up so she wouldn’t jump out into the huge puddle that had gathered on the curb from our torrential rains.

Grabbed the Hello Kitty umbrella from her to assist with the opening of it and then held her chocolate milk while she got out of the car.

Got back in the car and got drenched pulling the soaking wet umbrella back into the car.

Slowly making my way to work, with the back up of the rush hour traffic and the rain slicked streets, I finally arrived.

Later than usual, I feared being able to find a decent parking space and, as I exited my car and made my way towards the building, I wondered why I was even bothering with an umbrella at this point.

I could keep going but, exhausted from all the energy that was spent trying to get everyone taken care of and getting them to school and work on time, suffice it to say that I spent the rest of the morning wishing I had stayed in bed and fantasizing of ways to go back home and do just that.

And so, when all the 'chipper' people looked at me and said, "Good Morning!" I responded with the nicest response I could muster, and that was just "Mornin'".

Smurfette

Saturday's Are Mine!

Last weekend as I got ready to head out for my weekend ritual of going to the Movies with Mom - and sometimes other friends - my oldest daughter looked at me and said, "Why don't you ever spend the day with us on Saturday's?"

"Because I spend the day with mom on Saturday's." I tell her while trying to stamp out the guilt that comment was trying to cause. "I am with you every day during the week and we're all together on Sunday's too. Saturday's are mine." I add, hoping that will appease her.

"I know" she says in her most dramatic, guilt laden tone "but that's not a Saturday"

I'm not sure the relevance of why she feels it would be different to spend the day together on Saturday as apposed to Sunday but can I just tell you how much of a punch in the gut that statement was for me?? even as I continued on my way out the door to go see our Saturday movie...

Okay, now I realize that, at this point, it's not sounding like I'm going to win any sort of Mom of the Year award but, before you start throwing your rotten fruit at me, please keep in mind that she didn't earn her nickname of the "Drama Queen" for no reason.

Little did she know... a Saturday spent together was already in the cards for us, coming up the very next weekend.

This past Saturday was the annual 5K walk for JDRF. I was nominated as the cheerleader team captain for my department at work and, as such, I felt a responsibility to also attend.

It was for a great cause and there was going to be fun and games for the kids, add that together with good music, free food and beautiful weather - not to mention the cute work husband who nominated you, with his pretty blue eyes, and who would also be attending said function - and there really wasn't any good excuse why we shouldn't go...

First stop was to the food court for some breakfast type food before beginning our day of fun.

Afterwards, we headed over to the face painting area where my little stinker proceeded to tell them exactly what she wanted, just as she had informed me the night before when she came into my room and said, "I'm going to get a flower on this hand - pointing to her left hand, and a butterfly on this hand - pointing to her right, and a car right here - pointing to her cheek"

Have I mentioned that she is very strong willed??

They had a grand time playing in and on all of the inflatables!

The one that seemed to be the stinkers favorite was the one where you climb up a huge ladder, only to reach the top, bounce a couple of times, and slide down a giant slide - although, there was a time when I thought I was going to have to climb inside the whales mouth to retrieve them before they finally slid back out his 'other end' - but for the most part, the gigantic slide was her favorite. She would climb up that ladder, slide down that slide and run right back in line to do it all over again.

After hours of sliding, jumping, climbing and bouncing it was time for lunch. She didn't want to stop to eat but, after much talking and a promise that she could go back and play again once she had eaten a little something, I somehow managed to convince her that she was indeed hungry.

While they went back to the inflatables, one last time before we headed back home, I stayed in our company tent to see if any of our raffle tickets might be called. He called one of our numbers and up to the table I went, where I quickly chose the Disney Princess kick ball that I had been eying.

On the way out of the park, we played a quick game of kick the ball and chase it around. OH how they LOVED that!!

We would have played longer but momma's not as young - or in shape - as she used to be and her lungs quickly reminded her of that little fact.

As we headed towards our car, the drama queen kept kicking the ball and the little stinker decided to throw a bit of a fit, because DQ had HER ball and she couldn't catch up to her.

Others were watching this melt down with interest, curious to see how the momma was going to handle this little situation before it got too out of hand. But all the momma did was focus on her breathing, as she kept on walking towards the safety of her car, while struggling to catch her breath, lest she embarrass herself by passing out in the middle of the field, right in front of her work husband, who had probably - unknown to her - witnessed the short game of kick ball she played with her children.

They drove home, happy after their Saturday spent together, and the mother went to her room where she collapsed on her bed and took a much needed nap.

And THAT, my friends, is why I spend Saturday's at the Movies with Mom.

Sneeze Free Sleep

If anyone played Grilling Goodness last Friday, or if you read my post answering Tina's questions, then you saw her mind boggling question #2.

The one where she asked, "Do you have any idea why we don't sneeze in our sleep?' Then she told us to take a "Wild Guess."

Here was my response:

Hmmm??? Good question, Tina! I have no idea why we don't sneeze in our sleep but I'm sure I will have to go Google it as soon as I finish this meme, thanks alot!

Who says we don't sneeze in our sleep?? Do you know for a fact that this is the case?? Some people talk in there sleep, some people walk in their sleep and my husband holds his breath in his sleep - I tell him all the time that he's not swimming. So, if all that happens in our sleep and we aren't aware, how would we know if we sneeze in our sleep or not?? I'm just sayin'..... But okay, you asked for a wild guess sooo... I'll say that it has something to do with the fact that our eyes are shut (because everyone knows you have to see the light before you can make a sneeze come out, right?!?!) and our brain is in sleep mode; therefore, it is not sending sneeze signals to our sneeze mechanism. There, that sounds good...right???


Is she mad?? Does she not realize that I can't just let a question like this go?? You would think she knows this about me; after all, we have known each other over ten years now. But apparently she wasn't concerned about my sanity when she posed such a bizarre query.

Where do you think she came up with that one, anyway?? Well, I'm not sure what made her think of it; but it was such a good inquiry that my curiosity, of course, got the better of me and I had to go look it up..

Turns out this part of my "Wild Guess" - and our brain is in sleep mode; therefore, it is not sending sneeze signals to our sneeze mechanism - had a little bit of truth to it.

So, for those of you whose curiosity was peaked with this one but were too lazy busy to look it up, here is what I found in my Google Search:


The signs are unmistakable: the eyes water, the chest heaves, the nose twitches, the body tenses, suspense builds... until finally a sneeze blasts forth, concluding the drama. It's a momentarily paralyzing experience that can seize one at almost any time.

But try and recall if you've ever been jarred out of a peaceful sleep by an explosive sneeze. Chances are you can't, because, thankfully, we don't sneeze while we sleep. To understand why, first we need to know why we sneeze while we're awake.

Sneezing is a reflex, which means that it's an uncontrollable physical response to an outside stimulus. When something, say a piece of dust or a strong odor, stimulates nerve endings in the lining of the nose, the stimulus travels to the central nervous system and is then routed back to the muscles of the face, throat and chest. Once stimulated, these muscles go to work and cause us to forcefully expel air from the mouth and nose. Or, in other words, we sneeze.

Because the nose lining tends to swell when we lie down, making it even more sensitive to sneeze-causing particles, it would seem that sneezing would be likely during sleep. However, since there is little airflow in most bedrooms at night, and little movement to stir up dust and other particles, the nose is not bombarded by as many foreign particles as it is during the day. Furthermore, the area of the brain responsible for the sneeze reflex relaxes while we sleep. So, even when a particle does touch the nose lining, the brain doesn't notice, and we don't sneeze.

And now folks we, or better yet, I can officially lay this one to rest. :)

Grilling Goodness with Tina and Friends

Last week I told you about a new game my good friend, Tina from Golden Goodness started where she throws out eight random questions and asks us to play along.

I also told you that she hadn't named her meme yet and that she asked her readers for suggestions. After bombarding her with several giving her a couple of suggestions - I'll bet I taught her a lesson about making such a request. HA! - she quickly chose the perfect name for her Friday meme and made a cute little button to go along with it...

See, isn't it cute?? (good job, Tina!!)

Alright, let's get this party started. And don't forget, if you want to play too, be sure to go over to Tina's post and fill out Mister Linky to let her know you played along.


1. Do you snort when you laugh?



Well, it doesn't happen often; but, on occasion, I have been known to let a little snort slip out when laughing really, really hard. I have also laughed so hard that tears have streamed down my face, I've laughed so hard that I've choked myself up, I've laughed so hard that I've given myself a headache, AND I've laughed so hard I've peed - just a little.



I LOVE to laugh.


2. Do you have any idea why we don't sneeze in our sleep? Wild guess?



Hmmm??? Good question, Tina! I have no idea why we don't sneeze in our sleep but I'm sure I will have to go Google it as soon as I finish this meme, thanks alot!

Who says we don't sneeze in our sleep?? Do you know for a fact that this is the case?? Some people talk in there sleep, some people walk in their sleep and my husband holds his breath in his sleep - I tell him all the time that he's not swimming. So, if all that happens in our sleep and we aren't aware, how would we know if we sneeze in our sleep or not?? I'm just sayin'..... But okay, you asked for a wild guess sooo... I'll say that it has something to do with the fact that our eyes are shut (because everyone knows you have to see the light before you can make a sneeze come out, right?!?!) and our brain is in sleep mode; therefore, it is not sending sneeze signals to our sneeze mechanism. There, that sounds good...right???


3. Do you give much thought to astrology?

Me being the typical definition of Virgo - if you were to look up the meaning of the word, you would probably see a picture of me.

I do not plan my life based on my horoscope but I do believe that the alignment of the moon and stars does effect the way people behave.


4. What is the most expensive thing you've purchased this year?

My Elliptical that I just had to have and absolutely love but don't use nearly as often as I should. *sigh*

5. What kind of shampoo do you use? Loyally?

Currently, I'm using Kirkland brand shampoo. I have no loyalty to any of the shampoos that I use. I think it's better for your hair if you switch them up. However, there are certain shampoos that I am loyal about NOT using...Finesse is one of them, my scalp HATES that shampoo!!


6. Whose music are you really diggin' right now?

I am a lover of music and I listen to almost anything. Right now, I am not listening to much music - too busy listening to my audio books.


7. What is your favorite thing about the Fall?

I like the relief from the sweltering heat and the colors. The colors are absolutely amazing!!



8. Do you have a GPS?

YES!!! And I LOVE her!!! Her name is Lola and she is my girlfriend. She has changed my life in ways that you could not possibly imagine. She gives me the freedom to go places I never would have gone prior to her arrival. I take her everywhere I go!

How it came to be

I left work and headed out to do my daily afternoon routine: pick up the girls, go home, eat dinner, etc. etc. etc.

First stop - Jewal's house to pick up the little stinker, but today something was different; as my four year old came running out to greet me, something else came scampering out behind her.

Catching a brief glimpse of the little fur ball, I asked "What was that?" At which point, the said fur ball scurries over to where I'm standing and rolls over on her back, allowing me full access to rub her belly.

Ms. Jewal had gotten her that morning from the local pound - can you believe it?? A Yorkie at the pound? Unheard of!

She had gone to the pound over the weekend, to check out their dogs. Not finding anything out front that caught her eye, her grandson asked if they could go into the back. She didn't want to go back there, because of the smell, but they went anyway and that is where they found this precious little girl.

Her owners never showed up to claim her and they were releasing her the next week. They told her to put her name on a list of people who were interested in adopting her - she was the first name on the list. When the day came that she was available to adopt, Jewal had to be there the first thing in the morning, when they called her name, or they would move on to the second name on the list and so on, so forth.

Adoption day arrived and Jewal was there before they opened the doors, making her the proud new owner of an adorable, 1 year old, housebroken, Yorkie.

When I got there to pick up my little stinker and learned that Jewal had a new member of the family, I inquired what she was going to do with her at night - she also works a night time job and hadn't had the time to get a kennel or anything to keep the pup in while she was away. She didn't want the new pooch to feel lonesome on her first night, in new surroundings, so I offered to bring her home with me.

We brought her home, groomed her and each of us picked a name for her: The Drama Queen chose the name Andalasia, the Little Stinker picked the name Belle and I chose Priss (short for Prissy).

We took her back the next morning and gave Jewal all three name choices. Priss was the favorite but Little Stinker was not letting go of Belle and so a compromise was reached and they named her Prissy-Belle.

And that, folks, is how we got our part-time pooch that I posted on last week's Wordless Wednesday. Every afternoon, when I pick up the Little Stinker, we go home with Priss too. And every morning, I drop them both back off on my way in to work.

Tacky Tuesday