Posts

Showing posts from July, 2013

I'm not near as cool as Collin thinks I am

Image
I didn't escape Collin tonight after church. I rarely ever do. I hung around in my car with the window down instead of driving off like I usually do though. His first thing tonight was that I needed a new car. That my car was old. My car may be 9 years old, but it is paid for. And there's no need to get another one if it A) ain't broken and B) sits around most of the time. Until earlier today, I hadn't even driven it anywhere since Sunday when he walked me to my car. He goes on to tell me how interesting I am. How I always do fun things. About how I should make a movie. About how many followers I have on Twitter and You Tube. How awesome my blog is. I have no idea why Collin thinks I am so fun and do such fun things. My life is really so very boring. Seriously. A movie about me would put the audience to sleep. Trying to figure out what to blog about the past week has been a stretch. I'm sure you've noticed. At least I have a fan. Everyone needs a fan.

Bring on fall. Any time now.

I don't know what the deal is lately, but I've not been sleeping up until the time my alarm goes off. A couple of weeks ago, I could barely wake myself up when the alarm went off. One day I laid in bed at least 15 minutes beyond. However, I have used my being awake to go ahead and force myself to walk before work this week. Seeing as this post is on Tuesday, that's a grand total of two days. I've not been walking this summer since it got really hot, and the coolest part of the entire 24 hour periods the last couple of days (according to Accuweather) has been around 7 or 8 AM. But that has not been by any means cool. At least 80 with 150% humidity. OK, obviously not that humid, but very humid. This leads me to say, "when is fall going to get here?" I'm ready for it to not be suffocating to go outside again. Thankfully, I'll be escaping for vacation soon where the highs will be 80 and the lows will be 60. At least 20 degrees cooler. That's if

The self-proclaimed TV event of the summer

It's that time of the week again. Time for The Bachelorette ! It's part 1 of the 2 part season finale. It's so big, they had to break it into two episodes. Chances are, it won't live up to the hype. We start off with Chris' highlights of the season. I STILL don't get it. I don't see the appeal. Then there's Drew. Can she ever talk about him without saying the word "sweet"? At least he is attractive. Oh, and then there's Brooks. I don't get that either (all the way around). I'm ready for the finish line so we don't have to keep going through the stupid skipping, running, etc. analogy. She thinks it's unspoken love. Brooks does not love you Des. Depending on how many commercials we see, you'll find that out in the next hour. At least that is my prediction. Her first "over night" date in Antigua is with Drew. They see some sites before having a picnic on the mountain to talk about the time back home.

Paul and Barney and Si

I may get kicked out of my Sunday school teaching position at some point. I just have this feeling. This quarter, I've been teaching Kindergarten, and I've been doing good do keep us on track, much less take videos, etc. I do have to throw in that while I still have two soon-to-be 7th graders still stalking me at church, I may have a soon-to-be 1st grader join them. I sit around different spots in the table each Sunday. I sat down next to one little boy last week who was excited about that for some reason. He scooted closer to me, then planted his feet practically right on top of mine. Aye carumba! How did I create yet another monster? Anyway, back to me being a bad teacher. Last week were singing, the whale did swallow Jo-jo-jonah. I did point out that the Bible said "fish", but I didn't know of a fish other than a whale (yes, I know a whale is technically a mammal) that could actually swallow a person. One very inquisitive little boy asked if Jonah was s

I go shopping because I need clothes, and end up with a...

Image
I did get 100 pages of reading done last night, but instead of reading all day, I went shopping. What I was really looking for was clothes, mainly shirts. I'm tired of wearing the same t-shirts especially all the time. I need something to take on vacation soon, but I should have been thinking about an upcoming business trip in September. I'll think about that later. I probably could have forgotten to look at a certain area of Belk in Waxahachie if my mom hadn't gone over to where they have some dishes. I'd thought about going over there, but I could have been distracted and not gone. I have a few plates that I picked up for decoration a year ago, but they had some new pieces. Owls that match the plates. And I saw this mug. You know I collect mugs. I had to get him though I didn't need him. Isn't he cute? My mom bought me the matching cookie jar for my birthday. In November. Maybe, I'll forget she has it. Since I bought the mug, I probably won

My to be read pile is getting ridiculous

Image
Between everything going on lately, I've really not read much, but my to be read pile is growing by leaps and bounds. Now that softball and VBS are over, maybe I can get back in the groove. I've been saying I was going to read all weekend for weeks, and I haven't. Seriously, maybe this weekend. Two on my list that I have promised to review: The next two on my list... I even bought these.: Plus I have a stack more. However, I have hard copies of all these books above, and I'm not taking hard copies on my vacation because I'm not going to back them. I'm taking my Kindle and while I do have some books in paperback and e-book (thanks to work!), I don't have these. My mom took off the week that we didn't get to go on vacation because she needed to take off time anyway. In the last two weeks, she's read at least 4 books. She keeps telling me, "I finished this..." or "I finished that..." I am strangely jealous. And

So, you didn't miss anything on the Season Premiere of Sister Wives

I did invite people over to my house for the Sister Wives premiere last Sunday. Only one person came, but we had some good conversation time. The others didn't miss much and the show is sure to be of before a next season. That is my prediction. That's not to say that I won't be watching every episode until it goes off the air because I probably will. Robyn is poised to cry every time they talk to her. Every. Time. No one wants to buy Sister Wives jewelry. Big shock. I mean, because all of us have sister wives. Not. Janelle wants to know how they all expect to pay the bills. So do I.  So. Do. I. Christine still doesn't like Robyn. Kody is still the flakiest husband ever. Merry still doesn't know whether she wants another baby, even if Robyn carries it. If it's been a year since Robyn made the offer (because they celebrate Solomon's first birthday), I am pretty sure you don't want another baby. You're 42. You're only child is abo

Did I suddenly fill a swimming pool I didn't know about?

If it's not one thing, it's another. The good news is with using more electricity this month, my bill was only $5 more than my previous bill since changing to TXU Energy free nights. Comparing the two bills is kind of apples and oranges because the fees are done differently, but with a hotter month and two more days in the cycle, I can say I am pleased with it only being $5 more because it easily could have been $50 more. However, my water bill that I opened this week was double the month before. I used 5x more water than the month before (goes to show you all the base charges, etc.) That's more water than I've used the entire time I've been here. I used the sprinkler system a few times, but not that much more than I did the month before. And I didn't dig a swimming pool this past month. Sigh. The city came out and reread the meter and said the meter wasn't spinning enough to be a leak on their end. However, in 16 days, I was over my usual usage in

A Big Year for Lily Giveaway Extravaganza!

Image
Suzanne Woods Fisher is celebrating the release of A Big Year for Lily ,  book three in the beloved Adventures of Lily Lapp series, with a giveaway extravaganza!   One winner will receive: An iPad Adventure Pack (includes a fun stand  and an art kit )  Twelve winners will receive: Special prizes specially picked by Lily (something new each day)! Suzanne will announce the winners on July 29 on her blog! Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on July 27th.  All winners will be announced July 29th at Suzanne's blog . Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to visit Suzanne's blog on the 29th to see if you won one of the fun prizes!  (Or better yet, subscribe to her blog and have the winner announcement delivered to your inbox!) {MORE ABOUT  A BIG YEAR FOR LILY } Book Three in the Adventures of Lily Lapp series. Co-written with Mary Kinsinger. Lily Lapp’s family has settled int

The claws come out on The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All!

Thank goodness we are near the end of this season because it's getting old. Before we get to see the guys, Des gets advice from Ally, Emily and Ashley on what to tell the bad boys when they try to defend themselves on the Men Tell All. Ally didn't think Ben was a bad boy until he said some things after he was sent home. I have to agree. Des is not looking forward to talking Brian who had his girlfriend come and confront him. And what does James have to say? I admit, I didn't like the guy, but I don't see anything wrong with talking about what might happen in his future. Now the guys are on. It's amazing how you forget about half of these guys in just a few weeks since they got kicked off. Of course, they haven't been memorable this season anyway. Chris Harrison starts off by asking Jonathan what he thought he was doing with all the references to the fantasy suite. He says it was a joke gone wrong. Dude should have gotten a hint after the first

Rainy July in Texas

Image
The past week has been crazy weather week in Texas. But I'm not complaining. Record breaking low high-temperatures for several days. I sure didn't mind it up in my office, that's for sure. Or at softball games, even though I got a bad sunburn that hurts days later. And rain. Oh, how it's rained. Last Sunday during showers, the neighbor next door was spray painting in the rain. I guess he was in a pinch and needed to paint them (whatever they were) so he wasn't worried about them being wet, but with the rain and humidity, they sure weren't going to dry. Paige's state softball tournament has been going on the past week in Mabank. The week we were supposed to be on vacation, but that's not the point. Her first game was supposed to be on Monday night at 9 PM. The whole day was completely rained out. On Tuesday, she was supposed to play at 9 PM - the game they missed from the night before. Lightning like crazy by the time we got over there and

My venture to an alternate universe

Image
The subject of Comic-Con came up this week at work. I surprised my co-workers by telling them I had been once upon a time. They asked me to do a blog post, so this ran yesterday on the Litfuse blog . As a lazy blogger, I'm stealing it. This weekend, thousands upon thousands of people are gathering in San Diego for the largest convention of its kind.  It’s where comics, movie, and science-fiction lovers come together to share their love of fantasy and toy collectors build and show off their hoards. Maybe you’ve heard of it:  Comic-Con . Medieval Fight Club I have to admit, I’d never heard of Comic-Con until 2006. Since then, it’s gained more and more attention in the publishing trades, entertainment publications, and media. Admittedly, maybe I just didn’t pay attention until then because it’s been huge for decades. After all, I’m just not into all things the convention celebrates. That’s not to say anything good or bad—I’m just not into comics and sci-fi. I could very well

Colleen Coble’s “Rosemary Cottage” Nautical Summer Giveaway

Image
Water can be calming and healing, but it can also be dangerous, as Amy Lange and Curtis Ireland both found out. Both lost their siblings to the sea, and they hope to find healing on Hope Island. But will they find it, or will their quest to find answers set them at odds with each other and with those who have secrets that need to stay hidden? Find out in Colleen Coble ’s latest book, Rosemary Cottage , which released July 9. To celebrate, Colleen is hosting a 12-day Nautical Summer Giveaway . From July 16-27, Colleen will be giving away a new nautical prize every day. She’ll announce the winners on July 29 on her website , so mark your calendars for that date to see if you were picked as a lucky winner! Not on Facebook? Enter here . {MORE ABOUT  ROSEMARY COTTAGE } Amy came to Rosemary Cottage to grieve, to heal, maybe even find love. But there’s a deadly undertow of secrets around Hope Island…. The charming Rosemary Cottage on the beach offers Amy Lange respite

Enter to win an iPad Mini from Krista McGee in her “Anomaly” Giveaway!

Image
Krista McGee is celebrating the release of Anomaly , the first book in her new YA dystopian series, with an iPad Mini Giveaway! One winner will receive: An iPad Mini A $25 iTunes gift card (download Anomaly to the iPad!) Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on July 31st. Winner will be announced at Krista's website on August 2nd. Spread the word about Krista and her giveaway HERE ! For more about Anomaly , check out my last post !

Ragged Hope | Visa Cash Card Giveaway and 8/1 Author Chat Party!

Image
Cynthia Ruchti    is celebrating the release of Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People’s Choices (Abingdon Press)  with a $200 Visa Cash Card "Hope" Giveaway and Facebook Party! One winner will receive: A $200 Visa Cash Card Ragged Hope by Cynthia Ruchti Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on July 31st. Winner will be announced at the " Ragged Hope Author Chat Part on August 1st . Connect with Cynthia for an evening of encouragement, laughter, and more! Cynthia will also share an exclusive look at her next project and give away books and other fun prizes throughout the evening. So grab your copy of Ragged Hope  and join Cynthia on the evening of August 1st for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book, don't let that stop you from coming!) Don't miss a moment of the fun;  RSVP today .  Hope to see you on the 1st! For more about Ragged Hop

A Bride for All Seasons | Enter to win something new each day!

Image
Four novellas, four brides, and four stories to fall in love with.   Enter the world of mail-order brides with four of your favorite authors: Mary Connealy , Robin Lee Hatcher , Debra Clopton , and Margaret Brownley . In A Bride for All Seasons (Thomas Nelson) each of the prospective brides is hopeful for a second chance at love—and that second chance always seems to come in an unexpected package.   The authors are celebrating with a fun 12 Days of Unexpected Packages Giveaway ! Between July 12-23 visit the authors’ Facebook Page to enter to win a new giveaway each day. Winners will be announced at the Facebook Author Chat party on July 23rd ! Such fun! About the book: It All Started with an Ad in a Mail Order Bride Catalogue… Melvin Hitchcock of the Hitching Post Mail Order Bride Catalog isn’t dishonest—not exactly. If he tweaks his clients’ applications a bit, it’s because he’s looking out for their best interests. This charming bouquet of novellas introd

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree (Bachelorette Recap)

Not sure why ABC didn't make a highlight video for this episode, but here is an awkward moment... It's time for the hometown dates and just the previews for tonight make me understand why these guys are the way they are. Their families are 50 shades of crazy. #1... Zak in Dallas, TX Des cannot believe the guy who got out of the limo with his shirt off is still around. That's all you Des. You're the reason why he's still around. She is going to get to meet 4 members of his family, but before that, he tells her about a dream. They were melting in the sand, then it started snowing. Something about a bunch of kids. I could follow it no more than she could. He runs off so that he could go get the family sno-cone truck. Oh. My. Goodness. A bunch of children come out for sno-cones and they feed the masses. Then he runs out in a penguin suit. Remembering the first episode, I have to wonder if he was commando underneath. Now, to meet the family, where he

The Bachelorette got ripped off in my opinion

Yes, I know the last episode was 6 days ago, but I've been a busy girl. Besides, I don't think anyone is reading these posts. Anyone else wondering how much money ABC gets from the tourism departments of foreign countries. Now, people are sure to flock to Madiera, a place they never heard of until this week. There one-on-one dates and a two-on-one date with no roses at the dates except the two-on-one. Except this time, if you don't get it, it doesn't mean you are going home. Who will not make it to next week and not be able to show Des off to their families during the hometown dates. Des invites some of the women from last season to help her talk out how things are with the guys. I don't remember one of these women. Des asks Catherine about Sean. Kind of an awkward moment. Sean told Catherine before she left, "give Des good advice" so he is really looking out for her (or so says Catherine). Riiiiiiight. As she talks about the guys she doesn&#

Anyone want to proof my mega scrapbook for me?

It took me a year, but I finally have my scrapbook from my last vacation put together. (The one to Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver.) However, before I print it, I need to go over it once more for typos and I am the world's worst at catching my own mistakes. Want to take a look? You don't have to proof it if you just want to look. Click here to view this photo book larger Shutterfly offers exclusive photobook layouts so you can make your book just the way you want.

Some children are better actors than others Part 2

Image
At VBS this week, I took pictures so that each child in my class could have a take home picture frame. In the first picture I took, I told the kids to smile. In the other, I told them to act scared that there was a lion right behind them. Some need some acting classes. Others, including one related to me and her cousin had no problems whatsoever. This is the second half of the 21 kids that made it at least one night to the 3rd and 4th grade class. And a bonus... Chloe, Paige's friend who also wanted her picture made.