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February 23 Why aren't you married yet?"You see, your generation is experiencing the fallout of a culture profoundly confused about who God is and therefore about what it is to be human and what it is to love. Your relational disappointments and suffering are, sadly, emblematic of the age."
It suddenly seemed like he was speaking from a vantage point I didn't want to share. I didn't want to be the poster child for some cosmic cultural crisis. I wanted a manageable, fixable problem. "Well, I have tried to work on any issues I might have." "Yes, yes," he gently agreed without dropping the matter, "though I imagine that has only made things worse. You've kept growing, and most of the men around you have not. So the gap and perhaps the sense of suffering from isolation get greater. That is taken from a VERY good article on Christianitytoday.com and throughout it I have been debating whether or not to post anything about it. Then I read the paragraphs I am going to include here and decided I had to post something about it. Here is a little food for thought, not only for my loyal readers, not only for my fellow singles, but more, for anyone who has ever asked a single woman this question:
"Why aren't you married yet?"
"At the end of the day, you and your friends might approach the question from a hundred different angles. You can evaluate men and the reasons for their passivity, their seeming crises of personal authority, and their assorted fears. You can analyze the divorce culture and how it has damaged and scared many younger people. You can investigate how the freedom (and sometimes compulsion) for women to have careers has changed how the genders perceive and relate to one another. You can get a therapist and explore your own history, issues, desires, and expectations around men, marriage, sexuality, intimacy, etc. You can stand on a mountaintop and beg with a guttural yell for God's explanation. You can take a long, hard look at your dress size, body language, calendar, and social skills. And if you are not too utterly exhausted after all of this, you can make some changes. Get out more, update your hairstyle, practice being a little more vulnerable, steward your sexual wares more wisely, pray more, and quite possibly, genuinely enjoy the growth and change.
Still, all the analysis and restructuring in the world might not get you what you want, including a satisfying answer to the why question. I mean, you might come to understand what has wrought the four Bostons full of single women. You may grow to understand why it would have been a total disaster for you to end up with Dave or Eddie or whomever. You might even discover that your singleness has nothing to do with your relative greatness or lack thereof. But you still might not know why you are single or why your best friend or younger sister isn't living in the "four Bostons" with you. You might understand that the world is fallen and often unfair, but that's still not the kind of answer that warms you on a lonely Saturday night. And if in your heart of hearts you still yearn to be married or have a family, this hard mystery lives, eats, and sleeps with you." * Reading these paragraphs almost made me cry. That last sentence is deeply the cry of my heart much of the time. I think what I have decided is to never ask any friend of mine this question. I'm not actually sure I have EVER asked a friend this, but keeping these two paragraphs especially in mind, I think I won't again. I think the other choice I may make is to help focus on the MEN. No, this is not going to turn out to be an angry rant, although it could. But, simply to point out that easily half of the single 20-something women I know would happily date any number of men in our circles IF THEY WOULD ASK. But as she states above, they are generally too passive to ever ask. So, I am going to ask them and try to help my friends meet the men they may not already know that I do know, etc. That last one will take more work and discussion with my girlfriend's but I think it could be worth it. Anyway, just consider the heartbreak and confusion and pain that is dealt with when these two paragraphs are much of 'the story of my life.'
Driving a what??I got in my car to go to lunch and the radio was on. I hear this commercial for a Multi-Activity Vehicle. And I think to myself . . .
"A what? What are the other options . . . flying? Does it hydro-plane . . . what are those big boat things used in the swamps called, is it like that?"
A Multi-Activity vehicle hmmm. not sure what that is supposed to be. I'm sure it's much more obvious than what I'm thinking, BUT this is much funnier.
Thought I'd add my funny story as told to me by one of my loyal readers (Hi Kelly!)
She had looked up this book "The Organized Homeschooler" on the internet in the library system and found that a local library had it. So, she decided a trip "into town" with her girls was called for. So they came to the library and hung out (and she made a new friend!! Yeah Kelly!!) and she went looking for this book. It wasn't on the shelf or anywhere near that shelf so she went to their computer system to look it up. She finds the listing and looked for the "status" only to see that . . . drumroll . . . . wait for it . . . .IT'S LOST!!! The organizing book is LOST!! Clearly, the person who had it last, NEEDED it, but apparently didn't get through enough of it to keep from losing it!!
 In addition, not only is that ironic and very funny, but what's better is that she didn't even really realize the irony and humor in it until she told her husband later that day and he pointed it out. I LOVE that kind of irony. The stuff that doesn't even phase us because it happens all the time and it simply doesn't occur to us that it should be funny. Anyway, I'm off to relax in front of the tivo with the dogs before our big move this weekend. Say a prayer that all goes well and smoothly and I don't become a raving lunatic wench, 'cause that would really suck.
 Have a good one!! February 20 I *Heart* My PointsI am a scrounge of the worst kind. Meaning, if I can get something for free or cheap I will. If I can get it from another person who does not see it's clear and obvious value, for free, then I will. Needless to say, I'm also online trying to get free stuff all the time. No, not just coupons or free mailings or whatever. I mean, honest to goodness, free REAL STUFF. For example, my wonderful friend Arayna sent me a link to hook up to this MyPoints thing, which I did. I signed up in spite of the fact that I don't actually spend much money on the internet. I spent (at the time) way more money than I needed to but most of that was at Blockbuster or Mcdonalds. But, I digress. So, I figured, she gets points if I sign up and maybe I can get something out of this deal eventually. So, I've been on My Points for quite awhile now. Last year I smelled Moonlight Path scented lotion from Bath & Body Works at a friends house. Oh, my goodness, DIVINE!!! So, I decided I needed to get me some of that. So, I started looking at my online surveys and rewards things trying to find a way to get a gift certificate for Bath & Body Works so I could get me some of this divine lotion. Well, I thought I had one place, only to go over and look at My Points and realize that I can get double the amount for half the effort, comparatively speaking. Ummmm, okay, so I AM ALL OVER THAT!!! So, I bulked up a few extra points and got myself $25, YEP $25 gift card to Bath and Body works and not only did I get that DIVINE lotion, I also got a shower gel and added a $2 antibacterial handsoap and a miniature shower gel for traveling. It was WONDERFUL. I have just realized that I never said anything about the loveliness that is MyPoints, and I figure better late than never. ya know! So, here goes
I LOVE
  MYPOINTS!!!You should go check them out too. Actually what you should do is tell me that you want to know and I will refer you to them, that way you can help me the way I helped my friend and we're both happier!!!
And, just in case I wasn't clear enough. They credit points to an account you have with them anytime you buy something from their "selected retailers" which are people you may be buying from already. Then, as mentioned in passing above, you can redeem those points for honest to goodness, REAL STUFF!! And, they send you e-mail offers to try things and get extra points and even if you don't want to try the things you can still get 5 points just for clicking a link, most of the time. It's wonderful, just tell me the e-mail to send your invite to and I will happily send you a referral!!!
Wait a sec, I just went into the MyPoints site to look for a link to include in this post and realized that for a handful of points I can get a $10 Barnes & Noble Gift card to use with my $25 Christmas present, HELP ME OUT, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE (please mentally insert 3 puppy-dog-eyes, pouting, sweet faced emoticons that don't exist on msn spaces here)  tee hee. February 18 In Her ShoesTonight my mom and I watched the movie In Her Shoes. It was VERY VERY VERY GOOD. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Good, redeeming, heart-felt, feel-good movie.
Synopsis from the website:
IN HER SHOES is the alternately hilarious and heart-rending story of two sisters with nothing in common but size 8 ½ feet. Maggie and Rose Feller are both best friends and polar opposites when it comes to values, goals and personal style.
Maggie (Cameron Diaz) is a party girl who barely graduated from high school, recycles jobs as quickly as yesterday's newspapers and believes her biggest asset is her attractiveness to the opposite sex. Her recurring state of unemployment leaves her virtually homeless as she bounces between the sofas of her friends and relatives. With no confidence in her intellectual ability, she prizes makeup over books and has an innate talent for choosing the perfect accessories and clothes for any occasion.
Rose (Toni Collette) is a Princeton educated attorney at a top law firm in Philadelphia. Her beautifully decorated prewar apartment is her haven from the outside world. With her nose perpetually to the grindstone, she struggles constantly with her weight and never feels comfortable in the clothes she wears. Her low self esteem regarding her physical appearance has left her dating life non-existent. Rose's one joy in life is shoes (because they always fit), but unfortunately she has few social opportunities to remove them from her closet.
After a calamitous falling out, the two sisters travel a bumpy road toward true appreciation for one another - aided along the way by the discovery of the maternal grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) they thought was dead. Through their re-connection with their grandmother, Ella, Maggie and Rose learn how to make peace with themselves and with each other.
Personal note here, If you prefer a movie with good "eye candy" this has it. It has Richard Burgi who I remember from Dawson's creek . . . at least I thought he was Dawson's dad, but it wasn't listed on imdb.com so I'm not sure. He was Amy's ex-husband on Judging Amy and according to imdb.com also did some CSI and 24 work. Okay, so I just did a bit o' resesarch and found out that they have a similar "look" but in fact are NOT the same guy, obviously. So, he's in it and he's great, AND there is the cutest guy! Mark Feuerstein, who I remember from What Women Want with Mel Gibson. He is WAY cute in this movie. Great guy next door thing going on. Okay, apparently I'm a little starved for affection and companionship right now. Rather than blathering on anymore I'm going to link these up and post this and go to bed!!
Another one of those movies that makes you wish someone in your family (certainly NOT yourself) would step up and be the peacemaker, make the first phone call, send the first e-mail (these days snail mail is a dinosaur
), do something to fix what is wrong. Makes you hope that maybe someday, when that moment comes up that you CAN be the one who makes the phone call or does whatever is needed to fix it. That was one of the best things about this movie, they were angry, they held grudges, they told the truth . . . sometimes. But they worked past it and got back to the love and the blood that holds them together. There is a phenomenally beautiful poem at the end. If I had the energy and no headache, I'd go find it online so I could print it here, but that would sorta almost could ruin the end of the movie. So, I'll just leave you to the movie and to enjoy it when you get there. Anyone else seen any good movies this weekend?Did anyone else see the Women's Snowboard Cross Olympic finals tonight?!? AMAZING!!! That is a crazy sport, should totally be included, is GREAT to watch and had a phenomenal, if bitter sweet, ending for us American's. You should check it out if you haven't already. February 17 thought I'd see "in print" I know I already put one up today . . . but I ran across this and can't pass it by without noting it somehow in history.
I have had a long standing addiction to the internet. No, not that nasty way, get your mind out of the gutter. but, if given the chance I'm on the internet for anything and everything as often as possible. Very bizarre, I'm not trying to explain it or understand it.
But, because of that "addiction" I have finally started listing some of my PartyLite stuff on eBay. I have finally started doing that because eBay started this new portion of their site called "Want It Now." If you're looking for something specific, like a particular PartyLite piece that would complete your collection, then you can go onto Want It Now and post what you're looking for. I go onto Want It Now every day to make sure I don't miss anything. I have 13 items listed on eBay right now, you should go look. ;) Click here if you want to see what I'm selling right now. Anyway, so, I always search want it now looking for anything with the word partylite in it. I've had a fair amount of success. But, I decided this afternoon to browse and see what there is in the home decor, candles section of want it now. So, I looked through for some Mary Kay stuff I have from a friend and I looked around for other things and then I ran across this exact listing
electric thaw jar for semen
ummmmmmm, okay, VERY concerned for this person. What in the world IS this thing and WHO in their right mind would actually REQUEST one on eBay. Okay, piqued my curiosity, I couldn't resist. So, I clicked on it to see what they said about what they were looking for. This is what it said:
Looking for an electric thaw jar for semen for use in artificial insemination of cattle/goats
Okay, well now I'm a little less concerned for the poor guy this was going to get used on . . . .at least that was the only thing I could think of to use it for. But, then again, wait a second, where am I browsing that I came across this . . . oh, that's right, I'm under Home & Garden, Home Decor (Decor people!!!), Candle Holders, Candle Accessories, Other Accessories. Okay, now I have no idea WHAT you do with this item, frankly I don't care. I am sure there is nothing gross . . . well, maybe gross, but nothing dirty or rude or nasty about this item. That does NOT disturb me in the least. What disturbs me is this:
HOW DID THIS GET LISTED UNDER CANDLE ACCESSORIES!!!
It says electric in the name, so clearly, it's not run by candle light or a lit wick. Very disturbing. That's all. Rant is done for now.
Thought I'd hear a grown man saySo, I was walking into my building after lunch today and I saw this guy in a small delivery van sitting at the entrance/walkway into my building talking with a guy standing outside the van. As i walk by I hear the guy sitting inside the van say, at least 3 times
"I don't want to be on the menu.
I don't want to be on the menu.
I DON'T want to be on the menu."
Ummm, okay, well, menu for what?? Granted you're in a truck with a beer logo on the side, but even if you're talking about your product(s) then YOU aren't the one on the menu. Is there a menu for finding a man that I am unaware of? 'Cause if anyone knows anything about a menu like that you TOTALLY need to clue me in! Anyway, enjoy pondering what exactly this guy meant. Oh, and leave me comments to tell me what YOU think he meant, 'cause I am totally baffled!
 February 16 This should countSo, we have been under a winter storm advisory for 10 hours or so. We got some snow through the night, but this morning is when it really hit. Well, not even snow. We had a couple of inches on the ground when I got up, but it wasn't doing anything. So, I figured it would be fine to head into work, since it wasn't doing anything. By the time I got out of the shower and dressed it had started raining. Not quite freezing rain yet, in that it froze in the air, but it froze as soon as it hit almost anything on the ground. (Then again, is that the definition of freezing rain? as opposed to sleet? I don't care) Anyway, it had covered my car with ice so I started the car and let it run. Then I came in and made my coffee etc. I went back out to scrape all the snow and ice off my car which came off VERY easily and then realized it was sleeting/freezing rain whatever.
That was when I got nervous. Honestly, not about GOING to work, BUT about coming back this afternoon. I just didn't know what it was going to do and what the roads were going to be like. I was fairly certain my boss wasn't going to come in because we talked about it and she took work home last night to do today in case we did get snowed in. So, I called her and we agreed that we would just close the office for today. So, Yeah, SNOW DAY!!!
Okay, I just realized that I'm sorta rambling and not getting to the actual POINT for this post. Yes, there is a point.
So, I took some notes about the varying kinds of snow and other things today, that I may write up someday and post somewhere . . . Again with the rambling! Grrr, okay, SO I watched the snow and read for awhile and then my mom got home from a meeting at work and we read for awhile longer. Then the precipitation sorta stopped. We were both trying to decide whether or not to try snowblowing or leave it alone. Well, I decided to go out and snowblow.
So, I started snowblowing, but the rain had made the snow VERY heavy and, obviously, VERY wet. So, at one point I got too much snow up into the blower thing and killed the engine. then it refused to start up again. I let it sit for a bit and it still refused. I went in the house and ate lunch and read for awhile longer. Then we, mom and I, decided to snowblow again. I got ready to go out and told her "If you hear it crank up, come on out (to shovel). If it doesn't work, I'll be back inside in a minute." It started right up and I snowblowed while she shoveled the edges etc.
Now, here comes the real point to this. I have a long driveway. 3 cars long 2 wide. Could, basically, fit 6 cars in the driveway if we wanted to. That doesn't include the sidewalks or the ramp part of the driveway. I had to snowblow in 2-4 inch increments because it was so heavy and wet the blower would get jammed up. So, I think this TOTALLY counts as a workout. That long of a driveway in 4 inch increments, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I think that totally counts. I was so "gross" when I got done that I had to take another shower.
I am using the "Health and Wellness" category on this post. My idea is to start posting when I do bother/manage to workout and see what you guys think. Be encouraging, tell me I'm making stuff up or that a "workout" doesn't really count; because really does it count to do 10 pushups if you have 3 cupcakes after supper? I don't eat 3 and I don't do pushups, but it's an example. So, I totally think this snowblowing the driveway should count as a workout. Any arguments? February 15 My Creativity, be gentleSo, about a month ago I wrote a poem one night. Just something that was rattling around in my brain while I was trying, unsuccessfully, to sleep. So, finally I turned on the light and wrote it down. Due to a short-ish period of melancholy and aggravation with my single state, I decided it's time to "publish." So, here goes . . . be gentle.
Maybe someday . . . . . Maybe someday my prince will come Maybe someday someone will appreciate my complexities, idiosyncracies, oddities and weirdness Maybe someday someone will challenge me as much as I'm sure I will challenge him. Maybe someday someone will see a worthy prize of my heart. Then again . . . . .
Maybe someday I'll realize my Prince is here already
Maybe someday I will appreciate not having to explain all my complexities and oddities. Maybe someday I will rise to the Greatest Challenge I would ever face. Maybe someday I will be worthy to see the Prize in His eyes. Maybe someday my prince will come . . .
and maybe someday I will come to my Prince. Copyright 2006 Laughing Mouse -Please don't steal my stuff without giving credit. And, if you decide to borrow my stuff, please let me know. thanks! Makes me want to SCREAM!!OK, so I have a profile up on a bunch of personals/dating websites. I refuse to pay for any of them so I can't actually do much on them. So, through a series of prayers and decisions in the last couple of weeks I've decided to remove/delete every single one of them until further notice. I may put one or two back up later, but for now I'm removing all of them. So, I got an e-mail from one of them today and went to the site to delete my profile. Okay, deleted it fine. I go to another one that I have to delete myself and IT WON'T LET ME!!! If I want to delete/remove my profile I have to CALL THEM!!! So, I am right this second, as I type this, sitting on the phone waiting for one of the "agents" to get free so I can ask them to delete it for me!! What is that??Aggravation! That's what it is. So, now after 10 minutes I'm finally deleted. She was nice enough but had NO EXPLANATION for why I couldn't delete myself! GRRRR
Second, I was driving to work this morning and got behind a guy with disabled plates on the car. Okay, I try to have some compassion and empathy for people driving in disabled plates 'cause obviously something happened. But this guy! Argh, let me tell you about it! So, he's going slower than molasses and I'm already late, so I'm aggravated. Granted, that is completely my own fault, so I can only be so angry with him. BUT THEN, he pulls up to a green light and stops, STOPS!!! He's turning but we're on a one way so there is NO REASON TO STOP!!! So, I honk. Well, more like HONK. So, he looks at me crazy in his mirrors and makes the turn like he's a sea turtle. THEN he sorta shares the two lanes that he's turning onto. So, I'm like, "Okay, which one are you using, where are you going, so I can pass you!" So, I pull into the other lane and go flying by him and he looks at me, again, like I'm crazy!! What is that??? Then to make it funny, there is this guy crossing the street in the middle of the block, nowhere near a crosswalk, and this old guy HONKS AT HIM!!! Made me smile and sped off to work. Hopefully your morning has started better than mine. February 14 Sappy Valentine'sSo, this morning my radio station is saying "Sappy Valentine's" as opposed to happy valentine's, get it? So, I thought I would put up a quick post wishing you a Sappy Valentine's and include a few of those funny quizzes I take. So,
"SAPPY VALENTINE'S!!!!"
And, check out these quizzes.
And here is a little dance for you to enjoy and start your valentine's off right!!
February 13 Thank you officerI am sure that many of you have read this before, seen it previously, or even gotten it on e-mail. I was reading them over my boss' shoulder today and decided I had to share. So, I give you the top 15 Police Comments. I laughed out loud at 13 and 6 especially. enjoy!!!
#15 "Relax, the handcuffs are tight because they're new.
They'll stretch out after you wear them awhile."
#14 "Take your hands off the car, and I'll make your birth certificate a worthless document."
#13 "If you run, you'll only go to jail tired."
#12 "Can you run faster than 1200 feet per second? In case you didn't know, that is the average speed of a 9mm bullet fired from my gun."
#11 "So you don't know how fast you were going?
I guess that means I can write anything I want on the ticket, huh?"
#10 "Yes, Sir, you can talk to the shift supervisor, but I don't think it will help. Oh . did I mention that I am the shift supervisor?"
#9 "Warning! You want a warning? O. K., I'm warning you not to do that again or I'll give you another ticket."
#8 "The answer to this last question will determine whether you are drunk or not. Was Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?"
#7 "Fair? You want me to be fair? Listen, fair is a place where you go to
ride on rides, eat cotton candy, and step in monkey DOO."
#6 "Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster oven."
#5 "In God we trust, all others we run through NCIC."
#4 "Just how big were those two beers?"
#3 "No sir we don't have quotas anymore. We used to have quotas but now we're allowed to write as many tickets as we want."
#2 "I'm glad to hear the Chief of Police is a good personal friend of yours.
At least you know someone who can post your bail."
And.................... THE BEST ONE !!!!!!!
#1 "You didn't think we gave pretty women tickets? ...
You're right, we don't..... Sign here. February 10 My new WelcomeI'm honestly not always sure that people notice the little things here on my site. And I was in a hurry. So, I didn't mention my little welcome guy or where I got it from. If you click here there is a whole site with all kinds of dancing things. There's Chris Farley the stripper, Napoleon Dynamite trying to dance, Bush and Cheney doing a variety of dances and some other items as well. That's where I got him. If you need help figuring out how to put it up go to Hack MSN Spaces, click here for a direct link to the directions. He's GREAT!! Have a great one!!! February 08 Sweepstakes humorI'm online and taking these quizzes and surveys and stuff and I go into this site to sign up for a stereo sweepstakes for $1500 towards stereo equipment. I figure that's worth 5 minutes to fill out their thing. Then I come across this question
In how many organizations are you actively involved? This includes charities, your children's school, church, etc. (Select one only.)*
o 1
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5
o none
ummm, okay, well, i'm "actively involved" in at least 2 things, maybe 3-4 depending on how one counts. But it says "SELECT ONE ONLY." Okay, well if you're going to tell me the right answer regardless of my life how can I be honest and truthful!?! The irony made me laugh. Hopefully you laughed too.
February 06 Television Preview ExtravaganzaHello friends!!! Have I got a story for you!!! Well, see it all started . . . nah, don't like that beginning.
A few weeks ago a friend called to tell me she had received tickets to a Television Preview. There were four tickets and a letter. Well, to make this portion of a very long story short, they ended up not being able to attend and they gave me their tickets. So, I got my friend and her boyfriend to come out for dinner and TV. We enjoyed a wonderful meal at Olive Garden, chatted at Starbucks awhile, and then went to the hotel where the preview was being held.
We were waiting and chatting and filling out this booklet o' stuff. I decided to make a quick potty run just to make sure I wouldn't have to miss anything later on. So, I get up and I go into the bathroom and I do my business and then I realize that I can hear applause like you would hear at a music concert on the muzak station. Now, a little applause, not a big deal, but it was applauding me THE ENTIRE TIME I was in the bathroom! A part of me was almost embarassed and the other part of me wanted to take a bow! It was very amusing.
When I returned to our seats we had gotten a very "interesting" neighbor. I'm not going to go into details to avoid being mean or rude, but let me just say that interesting is the best I can come up with. There is more to this interesting person coming later. Needless to say their appearance was a bit startling to walk back in and see.
As we were sitting there we got a little bored so we started looking around. I looked across the aisle and noticed this man with a zip up portfolio thing taking notes. Like, copious amounts of notes. We couldn't figure out what could possibly be so important while one was waiting for the Television Preview to start that one would feel the need to keep notes. It just struck me a little odd and a bit funny.
Now, the first show was terrible. In my opinion it was anyway. Terrible premise, horrible lead actor, terrible transitions, bad editing. And they wanted to know if I would like to see it as a weekly series. Well, honestly, the premise is a woman who meets this man through her hypnotherapy practice that she realizes she loved in a past life! Now, how can you possibly build that into a weekly series for any longer than like . . . i don't know . . . . a month! And that would be stretching it. The lead actress was good, the writing and editing etc were terrible. The second show was GREAT! It's called City and it has Valerie Harper as a City manager with some VERY amusing co-workers and great set-up and comedic timing. The only problem was that everything looked like they pulled it from a set from the '80s. Not exactly sure who's running this show, but they definitely needed to change that. ***
Right as city got done they played a commercial, actually there were commercials throughout all of the shows, and city had a Coke commercial. Now some of you may not realize it, but I am a Coke addict. I am, I love coke! So, I've had at least 2 cokes that night as well as a cup of coffee and I am PARCHED!! Mohavi desert here people! then they play this coke commercial that plays one line per frame the following:
"Right now
someone is getting a coke
instead of watching this commercial
the rest are thirsty"
Okay, is it necessary to torture me!! I seriously would have gone to get a Coke if I knew where one would be! Great commercial, obviously!
Now the weirdest thing about this whole experience was the booklets. They were marketing booklets. Flat out, no questions. Each page had a picture list of various products. One page of regular soda, one of diet, one page of snack foods, one page of emery boards, one page of cholesterol medication etc. You had to circle one item on each page. This was your "prize" if you name was drawn, they would send you one of each. So, we do a booklet right away when we come in. then we watched Soulmates and did a booklet based on that show. That booklet had a few marketing questions as well "Have you purchased toilet tissue in the last 3 months? Have you used cholesterol medication in the last 6 months? etc." So, then when they gathered up all these books they drew three people out to win the prizes. So, they drew three people out right at the beginning before they had started anything. Then they drew three people after showing us the two television premiers. The last person they drew the second time around happened to be MY FRIEND!!! We were very excited. She is a current, very successful, PartyLite consultant. I am a former PartyLite consultant. We are well familiar with the proper protocols to winning any kind of prize in a hotel ballroom. So, when the guy read her name we both like hollered out a little. We didn't really scream, but we definitely made some noise. Now, sadly, this embarassed her boyfriend a little bit. He said something about not yelling or making such a fuss or something and she said back to him "You're just lucky I didn't yell out 'I Love PartyLite!!'" That is, in fact, the standard protocols we were trained in. So, not only did we laugh at that, so did the people around us. Again, very amusing.
As I write this it occurs to me that this may not seem at all amusing or funny to anyone else in the world, and in fact, it doesn't seem REALLY laugh-out-loud funny to me now. But, first and foremost, it was very funny at the time and secondly, I don't really care if it's funny anymore. Hopefully you get a laugh out of my little sidenote here if nothing else. Okay, back to our regular programming.
Oh, and, as we were going into the hotel there was a crappy looking minivan outside right near where I parked that was playing Jeremiah was a Bullfrog at an ungodly high volume comparative to it's location and time of night. What was worse was that there was no back window and no one in or anywhere near the van as far as we could see. When we left it was still there, still playing oldies, still completely alone. That is one mystery that may never be solved in my mind, but oh, well. We were somewhat disturbed by it, but amused once we were in my car and on our way.
Now on to the last and by far funniest "incident." We are sitting there, with our interesting neighbor behind us, and this M.C. guy up front reading us questions about various household things to gauge our marketing status or whatever. So, he asks "Have you purchased a toothbrush in the last 3 months?" To which our neighbor replies, sorta quietly,
"I just use my finger."
We're a little grossed out but the comedic timing is okay so we kinda laugh. So, the M.C. asks a couple more questions and then says "Have you purchased any toilet tissue in the last 6 months?" And my friends boyfriend leans over his shoulder and says to this woman
"And I don't want to hear that you 'just use your finger'!"
to which people 3 rows in any direction were laughing! We laughed so hard that it threw off the M.C. guy. he kind of faltered and then looked at us as if to ask "should I be stopping you? did I mess something up? Is it okay if I ignore you and move on?" Which he did and we finished out the night without any other major mishaps.
My friend and her boyfriend and I hung out afterwards without anymishaps as well. Amusement and laughing but no mishaps. But then again it's hard to spend much time with "Laughing Mouse" and not be amused and laughing at something. Anyway, as that old classic says "That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!" Have a Laughing evening (or day)! thought I'd seeSo, I go home for lunch almost every day. I was on my way back to work today after having thoroughly enjoyed Culver's chicken strips for lunch and I was stopped at a light near my house. The light is on a pretty busy intersection and I hit it just as the lights were changing.
I looked around, as I always do, and notice these two guys sitting oddly in a white pickup. I look a little closer and see this odd white something near them that didn't jive with the type of truck they were in or the clothes they were wearing. As I'm looking their light turns and they start driving through the intersection in front of me when I realize what I'm seeing.
These men had lawn-ornament-neon-rope animals in their laps.
The passenger had a flamingo and I think the driver had a bear. Why exactly the driver had a neon-rope-lawn-ornament in his lap, I'll never know, but I immediately thought of you dear readers and have only now gotten the time to put up a post. I have another VERY Amusing and interesting story to share later tonight, hopefully, so tune in again soon!! February 04 Ummmmm, is it supposed to do that?So, I was cleaning up my basement last night and saw something that reminded me of this story. As soon as I thought of it I knew I should post it for my loyal readers to enjoy. It's a "classic" favorite story of mine that I actually don't tell very often because most of my stories come to mind when someone or something reminds me of it and there is seldom a time that anything would remind me of this. So, here goes
Maybe a year ago, I was here in my basement, laying in bed reading and I heard this noise. Now, you may not know it by I have psychotically good hearing. I can hear the frequency buzz off certain TV's and it gives me a headache. I used to be able to hear my old phone vibrating in my purse from 3+ feet away. (I can't hear my new phone, it doesn't vibrate as hard or something.
 ) So, I'm laying in bed and I keep hearing this noise and I keep ignoring it thinking it's "just the house." That's my excuse for almost every noise I hear down here. Then I realize it sounds like something is dripping. Apparently I had not watched too much CSI yet at that point in my life because it occurred to me as I wrote that, that it sounded "like blood pooling from a dead body." Then again, I have no idea what blood dripping sounds like, but that did not occur to me the night I heard the dripping. What did occur to me was that it was raining and nothing should be dripping inside my house at 1 in the morning.
So, I got up and started wandering around, following my ears, trying to place this sound. It led me over to this corner where I thought this thing on the roof was leaking again. It had leaked a year or two before this. But, I got over next to it and the dripping was off to my side. So, I follow over and I hear the dripping in a closet and I open that closet door and look in and at first don't see anything. Then I hear the drip, very clearly, from inside this closet somewhere.
So, I look around for wetness on a wall or any of the stuff inside and it takes me awhile, but I finally see that the breaker box, fuse box, whatever, is actually dripping. Now, I'm no rocket scientist, but I know, without question, that your electrical fuse "station" that keeps your whole house running well and routes all of the electricity in your house appropriately, should NOT NOT NOT be dripping water at 1 am!! Now, the really weird thing was that it was dripping from a bottom corner where there appeared to be a 1/4 inch seam of metal.
Now comes the funny part. I have this debate in my head. Mom and Dad can both be very grumpy if you wake them up in the night ( I know, pathetic that Istill live with my parents, but I've kept that secret as long as I can. I owe them money, it's like the mob. well, not at all, really, but that sounded funny in my head. Plus, I only work part-time and although I make good money it's not really enough to afford a place of my own. anyway . . . ) So, now I have to decide if I'm going to take a chance on this box shorting out and buring the house down OR wake my parents up for what could be nothing (sorta). I decide to chance their wrath and be able to sleep knowing the house won't burn down, or at least knowing that if it does burn down or something happens, dad didn't think it would and it's not my fault.
So, I go upstairs and I stand in their doorway, because mom has a tendency to swing her arms when you wake her up suddenly and I learned as a child to keep my distance, and I call out "mom, dad" VERY quietly. They don't move or anything, so I say it again, a little louder. Mom answers "Whaa" So, I said, I kid you not, I am not making this up
"Is the fuse box supposed to be dripping water?"
Yep, Thank you, I will now go take my Mensa test. I know, I know I sound totally stupid. You have to keep in mind that it is 1 in the morning and I'm anxious more about waking them up than about the fact that it is dripping. Additionally, I want to make sure they aren't mad at me and yet understand the gravity of the fact that potentially the house could BURN DOWN!!! Of course, without running in and screaming that at them. I can be fairly level-headed from time to time.
So, they came down and dad looked at it and realized that a seal outside the house had, obviously, come loose or whatever and needed to be replaced but decided that the house was in no danger. However, the bigger problem came later when we got looking at it, it had been loose for a very long time and almost the entire inside of the metal box was rusted at least a little bit. So, a couple of days later we had to have the son of a family friend come out and shut off all our electric completely and replace the box completely.
So, moral of the story. Next time your breaker box is dripping and you need to ask the important/handy/in-charge person in your life about it, maybe you should use my line "Ummm, is the fuse box supposed to be dripping?"
I think I'll add a really short funny story that Kelly and I shared yesterday. I had put up on my MSN messenger that I had a white-hot searing pain in my hip that was freaking me out and she asked me how my back was. Which lead to a discussion of the all over body pains I was having the night before in bed. One in my hip, one in my sternum, around my ribs to the middle of my back, maybe one in my knee, felt like all over and was so uncomfortable I couldn't sleep. So, we were discussing it and I told her that I actually had to say to God "God, I can't be riddled with cancer, I don't have insurance to even think about getting treated so by the time I realize I have cancer I'd be terminal and die soon." She started laughing at me and I shared that in the light of day I realize how ridiculous it sounds, but in the middle of the night that is an earnest prayer. She said "No, I'm laughing because I told God the same thing last week." I know, we're more than a little neurotic, but we love each other, which makes it all good. I should also note that while I had the searing pain in my hip I had to keep telling myself (please insert Schwarzenegger's voice from kindergarten cop here) "It's NOT a tumah!" I had to do it multiple times that day and the next while the pain persisted.
So, okay, I have freshly baked cinnamon rolls, personally made coffee (as opposed to dad's leftovers) and an empy house all calling my name. I'm out of cyber-world and back into the real-world. ttyl!! February 01 Thought I'd hear"No, I'm not doing anything this Thursday.
But, next Thursday I'm going to be radioactive."
(Thanks!! You know who you are.) |
A total sweetheart, you always have a lot of love to give out.
In love, you inspire and respect your partner.
Looking back on your life, you will have a few true loves.
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