Friday's Feast

{Featured Flickr Feast by sifu_renka}

Appetizer
What is your favorite carnival/amusement park ride?
Roller Coasters! The upside-downier the better!

Soup
How do you react in uncomfortable social situations?
I am very opinionated (ya think?) and will usually get right up in people's business.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy discussing deep, philosophical topics?
ZZZZZZZZZZ. Snork. Ugh. Were you talking to me?

Main Course
Did you get a flu shot this year? If not, do you plan to?
Oops! Best laid plans and all that.

Dessert
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend watching television?
My TV or The Suite Life of Zach and Cody? 25 hours? Maybe? I dunno. I usually don't stay in one place when the TV is on. Dishes, Laundry, etc. Things gotta be done.

P.S. I just entered a DVD in the Telly Awards. Wish me lots of luck and send good vibes in the direction of the judges (wherever they may be).

Do-Re-Meme

iTunes Meme

How many total songs?
4829, 12.8 4504, 12 days worth of listening. (Sorted!)

Sort by song title - first and last…
First: A’ Soalin’ (Peter, Paul & Mary)
Last: 1985 (Bowling for Soup)

Sort by time - shortest and longest…
Shortest: Who’s Knocking on the Wall (TMBG) - :04
Longest: Inna Godda Da Vida (Iron Butterfly) – 17:02

Sort by Album - first and last…
First: Abba - Gold
Last: Van Halen - 1984

Sort by Artist - first and last…
First: A-Ha
Last: 50 Cent

Top five played songs…
Hey There Delilah (Plain White T’s)
You Bring Me Joy (Anita Baker)
We used to be Friends (The Dandy Warhols)
Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’ (Journey) ***My favoritest song evah!***
Silver Wings (Merle Haggard)

Find the following words. How many songs show up?
Sex: 24
Death: 3
Love: 251
You: 541
Home: 91
Boy: 116
Girl: 63

First five songs that come up on Party Shuffle…
The Raven and The Coyote (Robert Earl Keen)
Eye Know (De La Soul)
Lost Not Found (Dirty Vegas)
Face of Love (Jewel)
Love Surreal (Nicole Atkins)

Are you on my list?

You Are a Funny Gift Giver

Your gifts are wacky, offbeat, and even borderline naughty. You prefer to give a gift that makes someone crack up... Forget utility. You prefer to give something that's totally hilarious.

What Kind of Gift Giver Are You?

___________________

Wow. Thanksgiving. I'm so tired and I haven't even made a dent in the dirty clothes piles.

We went up to our house in Iowa on Wednesday and immediately drove to Minnesota for some awesome pizza from our favorite hole-in-the-wall pizza joint. We returned to the house and what did we find? (drum roll) A leaky pipe! The Commander went to the c-store and got some duct tape for a temp fix. It still dripped, but it didn't spew. We had to coordinate all of our bathroom visits. "I'm turning the water on! Anyone need to go?" or "I'm turning the water on! Everyone needs to shower."

Thursday we went to The Commander's Aunt's house for lunch. I got to try a new food. Lefse. Ever heard of it? I had recently read about people eating it, but I didn't know what it was. Now I do. We told the relatives about the plumbing problem. My MIL and FIL (RIP) were friends with the plumber, so my SIL called him for us and left him a message.

Friday morning we went for breakfast at the new coffee shop and when we came out, the plumber was driving by. He pulled into the parking lot and told us he had been looking for us. I guess he recognized The Commander because he looks just like his dad (RIP). We met him at the house and he got us fixed up. For now. He said there are a couple of things that need to be done in the future and once we get settled in to give him a call and he will come back over.

Then we went and bought me some new furniture! It looks similar to this, but with a sleeper sofa hide-a-bed. Plus a matching stand alone recliner. They had the recliner in stock, so they delivered it, but they had to order the sectional pit group. And yes, it is that light color leather. The room it is going into has a dark green carpet so we thought this would go with it a little better than a dark leather. And, it matches the dogs.

We were so thrilled to get the recliner into the house. We had been sitting on patio furniture. If we hadn't been sleeping on air mattresses, it might not have been a problem, but my back was killing me. We took turns sitting in the recliner to help ease our aching backs. After the first night on a wee thin air mattress, The Commander bought us a fancy, 18" air mattress with memory foam. It was better, but there is nothing like a legit mattress for some quality sleep.

Friday night we were back at the pizza place for a birthday party for some cousins.

Saturday we put in some shelf liner. And put in some shelf liner. And put in some shelf liner. We still didn't get it all in.

We drove over to the University for a bit and stopped at our favorite handmade candy shop where I spent $54 FOR CANDY. Mostly caramels. MMMMMMM. We stopped for supper and I had a couple of weak margaritas that didn't even buzz me. Bummer.

We drove back to Oklahoma on Sunday and I'm about to fall over I am so tired.

So, there ya go.

Books

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx

You're Dune!

by Frank Herbert

You have control over a great wealth of resources, but no one wants to let you have them. You've decided to try to defend yourself, but it may take eons before you really get back what you feel you deserve. Meanwhile you have a cult-like following of minions waiting for your life to progress. This would all be even more exciting if you could just get the sand out of your eyes.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Y'all have a great Slapsgiving Thanksgiving.

Happy 100th Birthday Oklahoma!

You're still doin' fine.

(I have a photo of the fireworks, but since I am the last person on Earth to still have dial-up, I have been waiting a good five minutes for it to load. It is late. I am tired.)

I'll also get the boy to sing "Oklahoma!" and post it for you when I can.

We got another dog. He is an 11 month old Golden Retriever named Amedeus. We don't particularly like that name (For him. For Mozart, it is just fine. Plus, I keep singing "Oooo, rock me Amedeus. Amedeus. Amedeus. Amedeus. Amedeus. Amedeus. Oh, oh, oh, Amedeus. Come and rock me Amedeus!") so we are thinking of alternatives - Ami (ah-me) and Mo are the front runners. Any suggestions? He's very tall and long-legged. Poor Cooper hits him about mid ribs. Poor squat fellow.

Meme

Play along if you’d like. Leave me a comment so I can go read your answers.

1. What kind of soap is in your bathtub right now? Olay something or the other (purple on wrapper) bar and Bath and Body Works Sensual Amber wash

2. Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? No, but if you would have asked me a few months ago, I would have said yes.

3. What would you change about your living room? Keep the fireplace, everything else must go.

4. Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? Clean.

5. What is in your fridge? Milk, Minute Maid Pomegranate Blueberry juice, Harvest Moon beer (yucky), Alizé (yummy), four cooked chicken breasts (I need to figure out what to do with them), leftover Hideaway pizza, 19 eggs, yogurt, jellies, pickles, Country Crock, sliced cheese, apples, etc

6. White or wheat bread? White

7. What is on top of your refrigerator? Camera, two pitchers, two room sprays, junk.

8. What color or design is on your shower curtain? Green, Lavender and Blue. It has squares with leaves on them.

9. How many plants are in your home? 2. Anyone need some Aloe Vera? I got two huge pots outside for the taking.

10. Is your bed made right now? Rarely do I make the bed. I do pull the covers up so they are smooth, but I don’t do the fancy fold-over with the bedspread and pillows.

11. Comet or Soft Scrub? Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Countertop Spray in lavender or Mr. Clean’s Power Wipes. For stains, I use a goat’s milk laundry detergent made into a paste.

12. Is your closet organized? Sort of. Fancy Pants on the left, short sleeves hirts on the upper right, pants and long sleeve shirts on the lower right. Underbritches, socks, shorts, pajamas, sweaters and sweatshirts in the shelves. (I have no dresser) Crap I have pulled out, but decided not to wear, on the floor.

13. Can you describe your flashlight? Maglite Mini in purple.

14. Do you drink out of glass or plastic more at home? Joe’s Cups (plastic)

15. Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? No tea, but I do have some lemonade.

16. If you have a garage, is it cluttered? Yes. That’s all I’m going to say on this subject. I can get my car in, that is all that counts.

17. Curtains or blinds? Both.

18. How many pillows do you sleep with? I got some new pillows and I heart them! They are just right so I only have to sleep with one. The package said they are good for side sleepers and they are!

19. Do you sleep with any lights on at night? I would prefer not to, but we have to keep the nightlight on in the hall so The Boy doesn’t tumble down the stairs on his way to the bathroom at night.

20. How often do you vacuum? I vacuum the family/TV room at least twice a week. Sometimes more if needed. The rest of the house is on its own.

21. Standard toothbrush or electric? Standard. And it must be a Mentadent.

22. What color is your toothbrush? Most of the time I have a purple one, but I honestly can’t tell you what the current one is.

23. Do you have welcome mat on your front porch? Living in the country, we have a welcome mat at all three outside doors, plus mats to wipe your feet on inside the house.

24. What is in your oven right now? Some wayward pieces of foil.

25. Is there anything under your bed? Yes, but frankly that is none of your business….

26. Chore you hate the most? Washing dishes.

27. What retro items are in your home? Our new house has flocked wall paper and red shag carpet. The house we are in now is pretty non-retro. We did have an 8 track player.

28. Do you have separate room you use an an office? Well, we call it the office, but it is more like the sewing machine storage room.

29. How many mirrors are in your home? Five. One in each bathroom and one propped up in the corner of our bedroom waiting to be moved to the new house and one on The Commander’s dresser.

30. Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home? We keep rolls of change in a drawer.

31. What color are your walls? White, TV room - pink (supposed to be mauve, but it is more Pepto), master bed - Masquerade (purple), The Boy’s room - blue, Shorty’s room - green, laundry room - country blue.

32. What does your home smell like right now? I don’t know, but Shorty has been having friends over lately and every time they walk in the house they comment on how good it smells. This weekend it smelled like Sarah’s Mom’s White Chicken Chili

33. Favorite candle scent? Grass from Pier 1. They no longer have it and I WANT SOME MORE!

34. What kind of pickles are in your refrigerator right now? Vlassic Kosher Spears and (drum roll please) State Fair Brand Hot Bread and Butter!

35. Ever been on your roof? Not on this house, but I have been on a couple of others.

36. Do you own a stereo? No. I use my DVD Player and the surround sound in the TV room or my boombox in the bedroom.

37. How many TV’s do you have? Five in this house. One in the new house.

38. How many phones? One in the kitchen, one in the TV room, one in the living room, one in Shorty’s room and one in the master bedroom. (Three downstairs, two upstairs) Plus the cell phones.

39. Do you have a housekeeper? I used to use Merry Maids. I’m thinking of calling them up again to really scrub down the house so we can get it ready to go on the market.

40. What style do you decorate in? Decorate?

41. Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints? Solids. Although prints help hide the stains.

42. Is there a smoke detector in your home? Five.

Friday's Feast

{Featured Flickr Feast by hjkaufmann}

Appetizer
Which snack do you like to get when you go to the movies?
Milkduds! and popcorn with butter of course.

Soup
What year did you start using the internet?
1997?

Salad
What is your first name in Pig Latin? (Here’s how!)
Erryshay

Main Course
Name something you are picky about.
My sheets on my bed being smooth, no wrinkles! Drives me up the crazy wall.

Dessert
Fill in the blanks: I ____ ____ yesterday and I ____ ____ today.
I watched Survivor yesterday and I grocery shop today. (yeah, pretty pathetic)

Riddle me this...

WHY? Why for the love of everything does my body hate me?

I have gone up two pant sizes. (I may have had a little something to do with that, but I'm blaming the steriods.)
I have had the cough for (looking at calendar) 29 days. (Somewhat better.)
I just finished my last antibiotic (2nd round) two days ago and this morning I blew out enough florescent gack out of my nose to light up the Gold Coast.

Why?

_____________

My friend and I were at the craft show the other day when we saw my stepson's mother. For whatever reason, she always has to talk me every time I see her. I don't like her. We are not friends. We never will be friends. Leave me alone!

After we finally managed to get away from her, my friend said to me, "I like how you did that."

"Did what?"

"Every time she said, "It's good to see you.", you said, "Thanks!"

Well, I sure wasn't going to say "Good to see you too".

_____________

The Boy had his first official piano recital last Sunday. I would have a short video of him playing, but someone (me) didn't push the button hard enough on the camera to actually record the thing. Geez.

CAUTION!

It isn't just the Wheel of Death
Originally uploaded by Sherrypg

We seriously laughed until we cried reading this thing. They also have Latin America's Best Clown.

Who needs gingerbread

Who needs gingerbread
Originally uploaded by Sherrypg

The Cough - Day 23

Advair, Avelox, Methylprednisolone and Tessalon Perles.

The doctor didn't seem concerned about the blood specks. He did seem concerned that I was still coughing. He thinks it is just irritation from the original cold/allergies.

I'm now on my second go round of antibiotics. He said he doesn't like to prescribe them because he thinks they are overused, but he thought I really needed them.

Plus, steriods! Woo. I will now eat my weight in food. Stand back. It isn't going to be pretty.

Tessalon Perles? Don't let them dissolve in your mouth. Swallow them whole. Although you may have been told to take them instead of cough drops, they aren't lozenges. At all. Trust me.

I have since had three more people tell me there is something going around that has a cough that lasts forever.

Oh, and the rib pain? I have never had a broken rib, but this is what I imagine it feels like. Right below my left chesticle it aches a little, but when I cough, I have to clutch my ribs and say, "Ow!" (or if I'm alone I say something quite different. It involves stomp dancing and popsicle sticks.)

__________________________

The little church ladies are selling their hand-made peanut brittle at the craft fair again. I got five bags of it. They took my phone number so they could call me later to see if I want some more. Duh. I should be in the brittle of the month club and they should automatically send it to me. I love this stuff.

I'm trying to decide - peanut brittle first and then a nap or vice versa?

The Cough - Day 22

We had a good time last night.

We started out at the meet-up house. And don't listen to anything this woman has to say. She will probably tell you that a bunch of moms poured themselves some Mimosas to sip on while walking around with silly hats on while their kids ran around gathering candy. She don't know nuthin'

At one house, the candy giver guy was asking, "Do you want this, this, or this?" The Boy turned around and yelled, "MOM! I'M GETTING YOU A TWIZZLER!" He loves his momma.

So anywho...the cough. It lives on. So far I have taken - Flonase, Zyrtec, Advair, Guaifenex, Histinex and a Z-Pack. The Histinex is the only thing that helps the cough, but it knocks me out.

I have had three different people tell me I probably have walking pneumonia (alas, none of them qualified medical professionals.)

Last night, we stopped by a friends house after mimosas trick or treating and I ate a bowl of taco soup (yum). When we got back home, I was finishing up my Jones Soda Cream Soda (yum) and a little went down the wrong pipe. I started coughing and kept coughing. Tears were running down my face and suddenly..."I think I'm going to throw up!"

I high-tailed it back to the bathroom all the while telling myself, "Don't throw up. Don't throw up. Don't throw up."

After coughing and retching (tmi?) very violently for a few minutes, I ended up not throwing up (that would have been a waste of perfectly good taco soup), but I did cough up some phlegm with what seemed to be BLOOD FLECKS.

So now I am really worried about this cough. My body aches. My ribs hurt when I cough. And did I mention there may have been BLOOD in my sputum?

Doctor appointment tomorrow morning. I'll keep you advised.

Now where's my damn Twizzler?