Monday, February 27, 2006

Gettin' 'Em Started Young



















My older brother & Bobo checking out Ramone's new shotgun. Not bad for $135.

Isn't she pretty?

Munchkins

Saturday the family went up to Abilene to hang out & celebrate Mom & Dad's 30th anniversary.

We went to the Russell Stover factory (Mmmm... chocolate... *drool*) and the Eisenhower museum.

As you can see, the kids had fun.

In the top picture we have, in the back, the littlest nephew & Beetlebomb. The juvenile delinquents in the front are Elf, Bobo & Lil'Un.
The little duffer here is posing. He can be quite a ham when he isn't just sitting there watching everything around him.
Bobo & Lil'Un are being crazy here, as usual. Bobo has learned lots of fun phrases from Auntie LG, like "inconceivable!", "I'm a mess", "I need a Hemi" and the newest "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay".
I'm not sure what Elf was doing here, but umm... okay...

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Saturday Kitty Blogging

"Is the Carnival of the Cats here yet?"

"Not yet Syd. It'll be up tomorrow at
My Animal Family. You can check out the Friday ark at the Modulator, though."

"Oh goodie - gratuitious kitty pictures!"

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Words Of Wisdom

"When Shemp pours on the charm, no dame can resist him!" - Moe

"One of us is crazy, and it ain't YOU!" - Larry

Roses are red,
And how do you do?
Drink four of these, and
Woo woo woo woo!
-Curly

"I'm a victim of coicumstance!" - also Curly

(I gotta watch me some Stooges soon...)

Ramone The Wild

I'm having a terrible time coming up with usable nicknames for all the family members. I finally remembered the nickname my little brother gave himself years ago.

This kid with blue eyes & curly light blonde hair named himself Ramone. Yeah, you read that right. Ramone.

(Mom just told me he named himself that when his two sisters & three cousins, also girls, put on a 7 course meal for the whole family. He was the head waiter & needed a name to go along with it and so... wah-la!)

Of course, this is the child that would go around saying "Come with me to the Cosbidore". Dad & I think that came from a Three Stooges flick, but we're not sure.

This is also the child who, at age 3, in his little wife-beater & Scooby-Doo underwear, threw rocks at the sheep-shearer's brand spankin' new truck until it broke out the back window. The rest of us were all standing around telling him to stop, but it didn't have much of an impact seeing as how we were all laughing hysterically while saying it. This was while Mom was in the hospital having Peanut. Needless to say, Happy Gram (Mom's mom) was horrified when she saw what her little charges had done/allowed.

I believe he also murdered two, count 'em - two, of the eldest's inflatable boat-raft-thingies. One was (I think) when he over inflated it with the air compressor. The other was in the pond, with hatchet. Of course, who doesn't take a hatchet with them in an inflatable raft?

We lost count of the number of times he flipped the 4-wheeler while jumpin' terraces. He got caught in one of the back wheels when Peanut was driving and she didn't believe him when he yelled to stop because his foot was stuck. Just kept going.

Once, when the parental units were in town, he grabbed all of the cats & the dog and brought them all in the house. We probably had around 20 outside cats. My poor Happy-dog knew she wasn't supposed to be inside but was confused because one of her people picked her & brought her in. She kept whining & looking at the door. I was yelling at the boy while catching cats & putting them outside as fast as I could. I would put one out & he'd bring two more in! It's flippin' hilarious now, but I was so steaming mad then. The 'fun' quit when the folks got home, my momma cat knocked over a jar & I stepped in the shards.

I have a friend who, every time I say that I have a Ramone story, says "Oooh, this is going to be good!" And it usually is, even with my lack of talent for telling a story.

I Left It At Home...

I was working on another post with Lil'Un 'helping' on my lap. After a while, I grabbed her hands and said "Hey, get your own blog."

She said "I have one! I left it at home."

Lil'Un is the blonde & the brunette is her older sister, who I have yet to find a suitable nickname for.

They both look like Precious Moments dolls in this shot from the little brother's wedding to Kat.

The Queens Of Their Catdoms

The Mothership's Booie oversees her minions from her throne-with-a-view.
Sydney & her Lambie pose for the adoring paparazzi.
She usually doesn't sit still long enough for a decent picture. Tearing around the house at full speed, flying from one piece of furniture to the next to the next is her preferred state of existence.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

An Engineer Reads Psalm 23

I thought this was appropriate for a Sunday. Found at Lyn of Bloggin' Outloud's Pun Page.

The Lord and I are in a shepherd-sheep relationship, and I am in a position of negative need. He prostrates me in a green-belt grazing area, and conducts me into lateral proximity with a non-torrential aqueous accumulation. He restores to original satisfaction levels my psychological makeup.

Notwithstanding the fact that I make ambulatory progress through the non-illuminated geological interstice of mortality; terror sensations shall not be manifest within me, due to the proximity of omnipotence. Your pastoral walking aid and quadruped-restraint module induce in me a pleasurific mood state. You design and produce a nutrient-bearing support structure, in the context of non-cooperative elements.

You enact a head-related folk ritual, utilizing vegetable extracts, and my beverage container exhibits inadequate volumetric parameters. Surely it must be an intrinsic, non-deductible factor that your inter-relational, emphatic and non-vengeful attributes will pursue me as their target focus for the duration of the current non-death period. And I will possess tenant rights in the residential facility of the Lord, on a permanently open-ended time basis.

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Here We Go Again

I’m finally making myself sit down and redo my reply to all of the commenters on this post since Blogger ate the first one.

UPDATE: I found the original archived somewhere and so am re-posting it here. I also have it saved so that if it goes bye-bye again, it's not a problem.

This is my response to the filepile.org-ers who have been visiting and the few that have been leaving comments on the Don't Close Your Blinds post. This is all the "arguing" I am going to bother with due to the fact that I have learned from my job that it does no good to argue with someone who is determined to believe whatever they want. So, unless someone has something particulary good or I feel like responding to something, this is all she wrote.

First of all, that piece is not satire. I don't see how anyone could possibly get that impression. As far as being "blinded by ideology" goes, the road runs both ways honey. When someone refuses to accept the truth as fact merely because they hate the "spokesperson" that promotes said truth, as the left often does, well... I'd consider that being "blinded by ideology".

Secondly, alex p. claimed the neighbor was actually having a barbeque.
Here's your barbeque. You forgot to mention that the wife and kids were the main course.

As for the accusations that Saddam didn't have weapons, or WMDs, I suggest that you go read
Who Is Lying About Iraq by Norman Podhoretz.

Just for the record it isn't the regular citizen in Iraq that wants us out now, it is the terrorists (mainly from other countries) who want to control Iraq. These people are not "freedom-fighters". They plant IEDs and use car-bombs, uncaring of the fact that they kill innocent Iraqis in their attempts to get our soldiers. They kidnap and behead citizens. If they were truly "freedom-fighters", you'd think they would have a care for the people they were fighting to "free".

In regards to my first comment to anonymous, I apologise. I shouldn't have been so sarcastic. The meaning would be the same, just not the method.

Originally posted 2.4.06 at 7.47am

One addition:
tongodeon’s claim that out boys and girls over there are doing more damage than Saddam – get real. If you want to know what is really going on over there – pull off the tinfoil hat and do a little research on your own instead of blindly swallowing the crap the goons on the TV feed you.
Read the CENTCOM updates. That’s the truth, no leftist propaganda.

A Job That Can Really Sink It's Teeth Into You

Story time, lady & gent - both of my lovely readers out there.

I work the night shift in a residential treatment facility for teens with behavioural and emotional problems ages 10 to 17. The cottage I started out working in was a temporary shelter for boys and girls - 8 girls, 4 boys. I was doing 12am - 8am Wednesdays, basically 9am - 12midnight Thursdays, 12am - 12pm Saturdays and 12am - 9am Sundays. I always (supposedly, anyway) worked with another staff.

This Sunday morning in May two years ago, I was working with Lydia, a really nice lady who was fairly new and not yet trained on how to restrain the kiddos. Well, she was trained but in the new method we were not allowed to use yet (TCI), not the one we were still using at that time (MAB). Two of our girls were on the run, but brought back by the police in the wee hours of the morning.

At 2 in the flippin' morning, we suddenly hear yelling, screaming and all sorts of cussing coming from a room upstairs. I go up there to see what is going on and the story I get is this: Girl A, who had just gotten back from running, was wearing an article of clothing belonging to her roommate. Girl B, the roommate who had not run, was wearing an article of clothing belonging to Girl A. Both girls wanted their own stuff back but didn't want to give up what they had on. This proceeded to turn into a fligging-stuff-at-each-other mess, with me & Lydia trying to kep them away. I was doing everything I could to keep this from escalating any further, due in part to not having another staff who was supposed to restrain.

I eventually got Girl A to walk downstairs with me to the time out rooms. Girl B started flinging shoes at us from the balcony. (Yeah, this place has balconies - it wasn't designed for this level of care when it was built.) Girl A did fine until B came downstairs yelling stuff about A's family. Nasty stuff that until then I never heard from anyone - let alone an 11-year old girl. From there it went to h*ll in a handbasket. There we were, in a small hallway, trying to contain two wildcat 11-year-old girls.

We have two seclusion rooms. The locking mechanism is magnetic. Unbeknownst to us, the fire alarm had been pulled earlier that evening and nobody on shift knew how to reset it. So, we were unable to toss the girls into seperate rooms and seclude until they stopped trying to kill each other.

This whole fighting thing went on for about 45 minutes. I finally told Lydia to do a small child restraint and if she got in trouble for it, I'd take the blame. The only problem was, both girls were wiry, skinny little things. You'd think that would make it easy to grab onto them. Yeah. Right. I swear they turned into octopi. There were arms everywhere.

I got Girl B into a restraint, but that only made her more susceptible to punching from B. So I turned and pushed her into a corner so B kept hitting me instead of A. Both girls were still screaming disgusting, inflammatory things about the other's family.

At one point A came over and, while trying to punch B (who I very, very badly wanted to shut up by slamming her head into the wall - I didn't though. I refrained.), socked me in the face. This was when Girl B, the one I had in a restraint, bit down hard on my upper arm. I released the girl, ripping her teeth out of my arm, and grabbed the other one. I picked her up and carried her through the cottage, outside and across the yard toward the next cottage.

My intention was to seclude her in the other cottage's time out room, but halfway there, she was fighting so much I had to stop. She eventually stopped fighting and calmed down. We talked about what had happened - I don't really remember what all I said. When I thought she would stay calm, we went inside to find that Girl B had calmed as well. They completed their time outs and went to bed, one in a separate room to keep the drama from starting up again.

Lydia got me some ice and we went on about our business for the rest of the night. When I got off work in the morning, I went home, told Mom, cried a little and then cleaned up. I went to church, helped in the Sunday School class and then it all started to hit when I sat down in church. Mom took me to the campus nurse and she said to go visit the ER. They tested me for all the lovely crap you can catch from a rabid kid and started my Hepatitus B shots, just in case.

I ended up with a lovely bruise, all dark purple and red, larger than the palm of my hand. And my hands ain't small, folks. You could see the imprint of every single tooth that girl had. I am not kidding. We took a picure but have no idea what happened to it.

The overnights actually have it pretty easy. We don't deal with that stuff on a day to day basis like second shift and even first shift do. There are staff that have been bit and kicked and hit so many times, they've lost count. However, when you are on night shift, you are without resources. There isn't always someone there to help you and half the time you can't get ahold of a nurse. I will say, though, that things have gotten better on campus since this incident.

Anyway, that's my one exciting story from this job.

The End.

This Is Perfect





Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Hey, now. I've slowed down. I no longer go 9.874 mph over the speed limit. Friends at Cessna used to joke that we could tack a couple wings on my truck & she'd fly. Too bad I couldn't get my hands on one of them there power plants. That woulda been fun. *GRIN*

Friday, February 17, 2006

Shoes!

I love shoes. Especially ones with high heels. And also if they are a teensy bit funky. Like my high-heeled tennis shoes below.
And, no, I don't go running in these. ;-)
I also like vintagey looking ones like this pair.

In fact, I like them so well, I also got them in brown. Remember, if the shoe fits, buy it in every color!

Toys

After the kids were picked up by their dad the other day, I found this set up on the ottoman. I think Beetlebomb did it.
Ya think GI Joe is gonna be Spidey's new nemesis? I'd like to know, 'cause knowing is half the battle...
I'd also like to know what the other half is.
Of course, Lil'Un has to get into the fun as well. When I tell her to pick out several toys to take with us in the car, this is what she picks...

Yup, it's Michael Vaughn from Alias, Eowyn from LOTR and some little cowgirl chick all hanging out together.

Personally, I think Eowyn could take Vaughn. He's kind of a wimp. He always has to be rescued by SpyBarbie. Well, except that one time when he kinda ended up a little dead-ish.

Sink = Comfy Bed


Syd loves curling up in the bathroom sink. If I can't find her when I get home, half the time this is where she can be found.

The Roses Are No More

Thanks to the psycho Sydney, the two lovely roses I got for V-Day are dead & buried. Well, they were buried. The cat, who knocked the durn things over so many times they fell apart, has dug the stems out of the trash can to play with them. I think she must like the petals, so when I dumped the flowers, I pulled them all off and dropped 'em on the floor for her. Yay! Now my kitchen floor is pretty!

Sleep Blogging

Some people drunk blog; I sleep blog. For the past week & a half, I've averaged probably 2-4 hours of sleep each day. The 4 hour days are when I've taken a sleeping pill. Ugh.

A friend is overseas in Germany right now and I usually send weird emails with a theme - F for when he was in France & Finland (Hopefully the foul food furnished by Fred doesn't make you feel funny.) and A for Arizona (Alleviate agony by abandoning altogether the accordion.). I was going to send a G themed one but I am so tired and completely uninspired all I could come up with was Great Googly-moogly. (Holy cow. Y'all should see all the typos I'm having to fix here. It's pathetic!) I also sent Nic a N one for New York (Nay, nimble nincompoops are not the norm. & Neglect my nonsensical, nerve-wracking nuttiness.).

I've had my cousin's kids every day after school for the past week. Mom took pity on me today/yesterday & had Peanut take the little goobers. So, I should have been able to get 10 hours. Think that happened? Nope. Evil Flexeril (or was it evil Ativan?) Woke up after 4 hours and couldn't sleep again until 30 minutes before I had to go to work.

I think I'm done rambling for now. I'll head over to the Mothership's later & do some kitty blogging.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

I. LOVE. FIREFLY!

Lil'Un & I went to the video store today to get movies for my sick mom (sick as in viral, not twisted) and they had a deal where I ended up getting the first two discs of Firefly free. So while we ate, Lil'Un watched The Princess Bride on the goon tube & I watched Serenity & The Train Job on the 'puter. Woo-hoo! (I would love to look like Morena Baccarin.)

I first heard of Firefly when Frank J and all the folks at
IMAO were getting fired up over Serenity coming out. I saw Serenity twice and then got Firefly from Netflix. This show has some of the best lines ever. Some of my favorites:

Inara: What did I tell you about barging into my shuttle?
Mal: That it was manly and impulsive?
Inara: Yes, precisely, only the exact phrase I used was "don't".

Mal: Can't get paid if you're dead.
Jayne: Can't get paid if you crawl away like a bitty little bug neither. I got a share of this job. Ten percent of nothin' is, let me do the math here... nothin' and a nothin', carry the nothin'...

[flipping through Simon's journal]
Jayne: "Dear diary: Today I was pompous and my sister was crazy. Today we were kidnapped by hill folk, never to be seen again. It was the best day ever."

[Playing with toy dinaosaurs]
Wash: "Behold... this land. And we shall call it [pause] this land."
"Maybe we should call it, "your grave!"
"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"

Zoë: Shepard, isn't the Bible kind of specific about killing?
Book: Very specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzy around the area of kneecaps.

Y'all can find a bunch more
here.

Roses

I was over at the parental unit's house Monday night before work. I was walking out as Dad came in & handed me a rose. I thought it was very sweet and then... he said "I got this for you because I know you're not going to get anything else".

Gee, thanks.

Well, just for the record, Pookie left a rose on the windshield of my car. (Thanks, Pookie!)

So phooey on you, Dad! ;-)

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Happy Anniversary!

Thirty years ago today, a young couple married in red and pink themed ceremony in a small church in Chambers, Nebraska.

Now, they have 4 kids, 3 kids-in-law and 2.5 grandchildren (and one cat). There have been ups and downs but they have persevered and come through it all together.

Thank you both for who you are and who you raised us to be. It is your strengths and weaknesses that have molded me, and is still molding me, into the independent, God-fearing woman of Christ that I strive to be.

I love you.

Just FYI...

If you are ever in a bed that is on risers so that the top of the mattress is hip-high, and you drop something on the floor, make sure you do not try to lean out of said bed to pick it up. You WILL fall out. It ain't pretty.

Horse Mode

Every once in a while I click into what I call "horse mode". I get horses on the brain.
When I get into my horse mode, I unintentionally click & kiss to the car when I'm accelerating, my legs try to nudge the car into a turn and when it's time to brake... heh. I settle deeper into the seat, pull on the steering wheel and think, sometimes even say, 'Whoa'. I find myself thinking of when and where the horse would be changing leads on the curves. I even do the same thing when I'm walking around. (Hey, I never claimed to be normal...)

I used to compete in barrel racing (them barrels sure are fast... bad joke, I know), pole bending, showmanship, horsemanship, western pleasure & trail. I got my first pony at 12 and rode regularly until I was 21 or 22. My last horse was sold 3 years ago in May and I still miss the life I had then. From the time I was 12, all I wanted to do was train & show horses and it is the one thing I can say I am/was d*mn good at. (Sorry, Mom) Unfortunately, between my fibromyalgia/back problems and burning out in college, that goal has been laid to rest.

Someday though... someday I will be back in the saddle, even if it's just to compete in the local saddle club's play days.

If anyone is interested, I have pictures of all my 'babies' here -
Pal, Jazzi, and Bugs, Ty, Pebbles & Sugar. The long version of my horsey years is here.

Welcome To The Ministry Of Silly Walks

I walk funny.

Yesterday (well, now it would be the day before yesterday... anyway) I was in the grocery store, wearing heels and walking quickly due to being in a hurry. I walked by this group of several guys and a girl and when I turned around from the produce section, the girl was doing this exaggerated, funny walk. When she saw me she stopped and started giggling.

Mom has told me several times over the years that I walk funny. She says it's kind of a cowgirl-swagger. Anne told me I sashay. (I do NOT sashay. Trust me on this.) Bridget also says I walk different. I have tried numerous times to change my walk but it refuses to stay changed.

Oh well. If you're ever in Kansas and see a chick with a hitch in her get-a-long, don't worry about it. It's just me and my weird walk.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Friday, February 10, 2006

Cat Scratch Fever

My hands are usually covered in kitty-scratches.
A certain little puddy-tat is the source.Better watch it - she'll come after you...
By the way, that's her tissue paper pile in the background. She loves hiding & sleeping in/on that.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

My List - Updated

I have updated my list of things that I would like to do someday. Some of them I figure I have a pretty good chance of accomplishing. Others - not so much.

The languages - yeah, I know that's quite a list, but I'll whittle it down when I decide what I want to be when I grow up. Unfortunately, retirement is not a feasible career option.

On to the list:

1. Learn to paint / draw decently
2. Open a tea room
3. Go to Scotland, England, Ireland, Israel, France & Italy
4. Learn Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic, French, Italian & Gaelic
5. Learn to drive a motorcycle
6. Rehab a '71 'Cuda and drag race
7. Trace genealogy as far back as possible
8. Take gourmet cooking classes
9. Learn to dance
10. Play "Hot Canary" & "Devil Went Down to Georgia" on violin
11. Take voice lessons
12. Learn to play piano
13. Get a degree or two
14. Renovate a Queen Anne-style house
15. Learn to quilt / knit
16. Learn fencing / archery
17. Take photography classes
18. Learn to play chess
19. Go to sniper school
20. Shoot an AK-47
21. Learn to ride sidesaddle
22. Learn to jump / dressage

I'm Too Slow

Apparently I need to get married soon.

I had my cousin's kids today and I had just picked up Lil'Un from pre-kindergarten. We were on our way to get lunch when suddenly from the back seat I heard a rather strident "Are you married yet?" After a 'huh?' moment, I answered with no and got "Why not?" in response. She sounded so annoyed with me. I asked if I was supposed to be married and, according to the answer, I'm fallin' down on the job.

So, sorry, Lil'Un. But I promise if that day ever comes, you'll be there.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Clan Gunn

I am a descendant of the Scottish Clan Gunn (hence the latter part of my screen name). Thought I'd share a little info about us.

Our motto is Aut pax aut bellum which means "Either Peace or War".

From
ScotClans.com:
History

The Norse word gunnr means war. Living between Caithness and Sutherland, the Gunns were descended from the Norsemen, some think possibly from Olaf the Black himself, and their name foretold their destiny.

The ferocious Gunns were continually at enmity with neighbouring clans, especially the Keiths. Gunn lands were constantly being encroached upon from the North, South and West.

Helen, only daughter of Lachlan Gunn of Braemor, was celebrated for her great beauty and was due to marry her cousin Alexander. Dugald Keith, a retainer of Keith of Ackergill, had tried to woo her, been rejected, and responded jealously. On her wedding day, he paid a surprise visit to her father’s house, surrounding it with armed members of his own family, who then began slaying the unsuspecting Gunns.

Keith took Helen and imprisoned her in Ackergill. Eventually, to escape his sexual abuse, she went to the top of the tower and jumped to her death. The feud that ensued was very long and bloody, with continuing attacks upon each clan. One costly but indecisive battle was at Harpsdale, near Thurso, in 1426.

Eventually, in 1464, the war-weary chiefs of the two clans agreed to meet at the Chapel of St Tears to lay their grievances to rest. The chief of the Gunns was George. He held the important office of crowner, and wore the magnificent brooch of the post. He arrived at the chapel on horseback with eleven other riders, as agreed.

The Keiths arrived on twelve horses also, but with two men to a horse, and slaughtered the Gunns. The brooch of the crowner was taken from dead Gunn’s body. A century later, William MacKames, George’s grandson, avenged his kinsmen with the life of George Keith of Akergill, his son and twelve others in a bloodbath at Drummoy in Sutherland.

In other times the clan found themselves in conflict with the MacKays and the Earls of Caithness and Sutherland. In 1585, although outnumbered, they successfully held off a joint attack by the Earls, taking 140 enemy lives before darkness stemmed the slaughter.

The clan took a heavy defeat at Lochbroom from Sutherland but it was the Highland clearances by the Gordons which finally moved the Gunns off their long-held lands.


Dad and I went to a Scottish Festival up in MacPherson a while back. While we were waiting for Mom to come pick us up, we started going over a little family history - namely the feuding with the Keiths and Mackays. We had seen tents set up for both the other clans and wound up coming up with a little scenario in which we got a few small weapons - Dad wants an axe and I'd like a sword or two - and decided to pick up the feuding. Our imaginary adventure ended when the police decided not to pursue the perpetrators of the feud (us) due to reports of the warring ways of the clan Gunn and also the sharp weaponry. (I know, I know - we both need to get out more...) Mom, the quiet Welsh/English one, just shook her head and said "Oh my".

By the way, we tried haggis while there. It wasn't disgusting like I thought it would be but it did have a very strong taste. We each ended up buying a can. You can get the same stuff
here. It wasn't the traditional recipe (they had to follow USDA regulations) so it was made of liver, beef, onion and various other dead cow parts. Sounds appetizing, doesn't it. Not a problem for someone who grew up helping castrate and butcher sheep though. The fun part of that was that when we butchered, Grandpa would let me play "veterinarian" on the innards. The liver and stomachs are really pretty cool. But enough of that...

I've added the clan badge over yonder on the sidebar. I'm going to try to figure out how to do a background with the tartan if I can. I know just barely enough about html to get into a lot of trouble...

Bible Study Partner

I am taking a class called Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. (More info here) It is one of the most powerful, moving experiences I have ever had. So far, we are concentrating on the Biblical mandate for missions and how that is threaded so incredibly throughout the entire Book. God has really been speaking to my heart through this and He has opened my eyes to so much. When I feel I can get halfway close to doing it the justice it deserves, I plan to delve deeper into this on here.

Anyway, all of that means I have doing been a lot of in-depth Bible study lately. I even cleared off the table for it. And, to top it all off, I have had a study partner...


"I'm not in the way here, am I Mom?"

"Oh, no Syd. You're just fine."

"Good. Now where's the book on cats? There is a book about cats in here, isn't there?"

OBL On The Playground

I just had to share this inspired little tidbit I ran across over yonder at MDG's place:

To me, it sounds like they know they are losing in Iraq, and have completely
lost in Afghanistan, and they are trying to cover the fact that they are really
getting their butts whipped. They aren't just getting their butts whipped, but
they are getting their pants pulled to their ankles, hung upside down on the
swingset, and we are buying candybars, pop and comic books with their lunch
money.


Head on over there to read the rest. And I love the pic he has posted with it. :-)

Cuddly

Yay! Finally another word to describe my shape. (I'm in shape. Round is a shape...) Cuddly certainly sounds better than fat. I still need to work on a Buff - Not Fluff campaign, though. (That phrase has been blatantly stolen from my friend Nic.)

Monday, February 06, 2006

The Religion Of Peace?

From Michelle Malkin - "Followers..." and "In Their Own Words".

Rather telling, don't ya think...

Hat tip
caltechgirl.

Heading To Milan...

My sweet silly psycho Sydney has been voted as Kittycat Model of the Week over at the Carnival of the Cats.

Getting To Know.. err.. Me...

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion:

You have low extroversion.
You are quiet and reserved in most social situations.
A low key, laid back lifestyle is important to you.
You tend to bond slowly, over time, with one or two people.

Conscientiousness:

You have medium conscientiousness.
You're generally good at balancing work and play.
When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done.
But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it.

Agreeableness:

You have high agreeableness.
You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly.
Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone.
You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance.

Neuroticism:

You have low neuroticism.
You are very emotionally stable and mentally together.
Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly.
Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure.

Openness to experience:

Your openness to new experiences is medium.
You are generally broad minded when it come to new things.
But if something crosses a moral line, there's no way you'll approve of it.
You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

D'oh!

I got stuck reading so many great blogs in the Bad Example Family that I completely forgot to check IMAO and Is Full Of Crap.

I'll have to rectify that post-haste.

By the way - for lots of Kitty-goodness, go see the
Carnival of the Cats at Enrevanche.

You can also check out the
Friday Ark (yeah, I know I'm late) at The Modulator.

What In The...?

My post that I had done with my response to all the comments on the Don't Close Your Blinds post disappeared!

GAHHH! Evil Blogger...

Update: And so has the comment that pointed readers of that post there...

R.I.P.

Got home from work yesterday morning to discover that some genius - who apparently needs to get a job or another hobby - broke off my mailbox and bent over the street sign on the corner.

Dad came over and started to dig out the concrete base. The box itself is fine (they broke the standy-deal) so he's going to weld a solid pipe on for the new base. Heh. If anyone wants to mess with the new one, they better bring a torch. On the other hand, I think I'd pay to see that dolt hit it with a sledge. (Can you you say Wiley E. Coyote?)

Maybe I should just leave it down. Those pesky little bills keep showing up in the durn thing...

Friday, February 03, 2006

Rampaging Muslims

Neal Boortz has a quite valid point concerning the Muslims' outrage over the Mohammed cartoons.

A small sample:

Dead children. Dead tourists. Dead teachers. Dead doctors and
nurses. Death, destruction and mayhem around the world at the hands of Muslims .. no Muslim outrage ... but publish a cartoon depicting Mohammed with a bomb in his turban and all hell breaks loose.

A very interesting run-down.

When An Alias Fan Runs Amuck...


...You end up with every season on DVD, the PS2 game, books, action figures and a kitty named...
Can you guess?...
Yup, Sydney Anne Bristow W---.
What can I say... I'm a nerd. :-)

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

The Financial Cost Of The War

From National Review Online


Seems the war in Iraq is costing a mere 2% of our GDP, which is a whole heck of a lot less than any other we have fought with the exception of the first Gulf War.

Who'd'a thunk it, after all the hootin' and hollerin' from the moonbats and "un-baised" media...

Hat tip
The CUG

"If" For Girls

Found this great little poem, based on Rudyard Kipling's "If", over at Modestly Yours.

"If" for Girls

If you can hear the whispering about you
And never yield to deal in whispers, too;
If you can bravely smile when loved ones doubt you
And never doubt, in turn, what loved ones do;
If you can keep a sweet and gentle spirit
In spite of fame or fortune, rank or place,
And though you win your goal or only near it,
Can win with poise or lose with equal grace;

If you can meet with Unbelief, believing,
And hallow in your heart, a simple creed,
If you can meet Deception, undeceiving,
And learn to look to God for all you need;
If you can be what girls should be to mothers:
Chums in joy and comrades in distress,
And be unto others as you'd have the others
Be unto you - - no more, and yet no less;

If you can keep within your heart the power
To say that firm, unconquerable "No,"
If you can brave a present shadowed hour
Rather than yield to build a future woe;
If you can love, yet not let loving master,
But keep yourself within your own self's clasp,
And not let Dreaming lead you to disaster
Nor Pity's fascination loose your grasp;

If you can lock your heart on confidences
Nor ever needlessly in turn confide;
If you can put behind you all pretenses
Of mock humility or foolish pride;
If you can keep the simple, homely virtue
Of walking right with God - - then have no fear
That anything in all the world can hurt you - -
And - - which is more - - you'll be a Woman, dear.

Praying In Public

I absolutely H.A.T.E. praying out loud.

I have no problem bowing my head and silently praying in public. I often keep a running inner dialogue with God going throughout the day. But... I have always had issues with praying in front of other people. Doing anything in front of a bunch of people, really.

Tonight at Bible study I was asked to pray and it caught me by surprise. I accidentally gave the guy who asked a look and when he asked what that was for I replied that I don't like to pray out loud. Normally - every other time it has been expected of me - I have gone ahead, bit the bullet and done it. For some reason tonight, I declined and I have been feeling like a schmuck ever since. It is something that I suppose I just need to get past or work through or whatever.

I am a very private person. There have been a lot of things that I would like to write about - a class I have been taking, stuff in Bible study, discussions with friends, etc. but I do a lot of inner processing and usually don't give much input into discussion. I have also always been overly worried about people's opinions of me. It doesn't bother me near as much as it used to, but I still always have that awareness of "what will they think" in the back of my mind. Some of my friends have this blog address and if you are one of those people, know that I trust you more than I do most others. Especially with this little episode of emotional... whatever it is.

Back to the praying thing. I was eating out one Sunday with my group of "ratty little friends", as Mom puts it, and most of us had already begun praying silently when one person suddenly began praying out loud for us all. When this friend was done, they said "I don't think we should pray to ourselves". I wanted to say that I don't pray to myself, I pray to God, just not in a way that others can hear. I had to choke down my snarky side that wanted to shoot out "Matthew 6:5-6, read it and weep, sister". That's something else I need to work on. Snarky-ness is not good when one is trying to become a Proverbs 31-type lady.

Well, that's today's little shot of useless junk that probably didn't need to be said but that I felt like getting out anyway.