Any Emergencies In The House?

Have a (very) minor medical emergency? I'm your girl. I am now recertified in CPR & First Aid.

Finally. After the last four classes were cancelled with little or no warning.

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Nothin' like getting to clean up vomit from the carpeted stairs first thing after arriving at work. Yech...

This Could Be Interesting...

I put up my Christmas tree last evening when I couldn't sleep. Sydney the Psycho Cat was 'helping'. One time I pulled her out of the top foot of the tree. I guess we'll see how long it lasts. So far Rummy doesn't seem to be very excited about it. I think that's probably a good thing...

Scary...

I stopped at the local Mickey-D's on the way to work last night & there was a 1/2-ton Chevy sitting in the parking lot, half in the drive-thru lane. The lights were off & I couldn't see anyone in front of them in the line, so after a minute or two I pulled around them & back into the lane. It was then that I saw a guy on a bike was at the order-dealie. The lights on the truck flashed on & they gunned it forward to my bumper & started yelling & cussing at me. They continued with that until after I was at the pay window. Every time they pulled forward, they gunned the engine & then screeched to a stop right at my bumper. That's not fun when you're in a little bitty car & they're in a jacked-up 1/2-ton pick-up.

I probably should've explained to them that their lights were off, they weren't really in the lane & there were at least two car lengths of free space in front of them with no movement from them, so I assumed there was something wrong with their vehicle. I didn't say anything because it didn't sound as if they were the most rational folks on the planet & I didn't want to be late to work.

Sheesh...

Nothin' like doin' somethin' stupid & then getting mad at everyone else when you get caught.

A girl at work got back from her Thanksgiving home pass & had to do the mandatory urine analysis. It came out positive for meth & opiates. Girl completely flipped out, said the results were wrong & retested the next day with the same results. Then she tried to convince staff & the therapist to keep the results from her case worker & her mom was saying she doesn't understand as they were together the whole time. Uh-huh.

When the worker came for a visit, the girl started crying & yelling because she lost her chance to go on home passes due to this little bit of brilliance. And now, she's wanting staff to do a hair follicle test & a lie detector test so she can prove she didn't do any drugs.

Here's a novel idea - don't do drugs & then flip when you get caught. Difficult I know, but it just might be worth a shot. *rolls eyes*

I'm Late, I'm Late...

But the very important date is long past. Oh well.

Happy (very belated) Thanksgiving everyone.

The parental units, Rumsfeld & I went up yonder to the farm for Thanksgiving. The shin-dig was on Friday. My Aunt, Uncle & cousin Roo from Wyoming were there, as were my little cousins, one of whom I'd not met since he was born last summer. Rummy had to be tied in the back yard after he jumped the retaining wall/fence. At least he had lots of company, what with the five little boys (all under the age of six!) running around out there. I had at least four people say "That's not a dog - that's a horse!" in the first half hour.

Roo & I spent part of the discussing the family reunion we are planning for next summer. Holy. Cow. Do y'all realize how difficult it is to plan something that will accomodate the older folks & the little babies, the men & the women, plus allow us to get some important family business done as well? Every time we thought we had something worked out, another option would be brought up or we would be informed it wouldn't work. And this is just Grandma & the families of her four boys. Ah well, it's all good...

Hope all y'all had a lovely & blessed weekend with your families.

Kitty Litter Cake

Hey look - I'm kitty blogging! (kinda sorta - I'll get back to showing off my Sydney when I get more pictures taken) I've not made this yet, but I'm forever running into people who mention it & think it would be a hoot to do for the munchkins sometime.

Kitty Litter Cake

CAKE INGREDIENTS
1 box spice or German chocolate cake mix
1 box of white cake mix
1 package white sandwich cookies
1 large package vanilla instant pudding mix
A few drops green food coloring
12 small Tootsie Rolls or equivalent

SERVING "DISHES AND UTENSILS"
1 NEW cat-litter box
1 NEW cat-litter box liner
1 NEW pooper scooper

1) Prepare and bake cake mixes, according to directions, in any size pan. Prepare pudding and chill. Crumble cookies in small batches in blender or food processor. Add a few drops of green food coloring to 1 cup of cookie crumbs. Mix with a fork or shake in a jar. Set aside.

2) When cakes are at room temperature, crumble them into a large bowl. Toss with half of the remaining cookie crumbs and enough pudding to make the mixture moist but not soggy. Place liner in litter box and pour in mixture.

3) Unwrap 3 Tootsie Rolls and heat in a microwave until soft and pliable. Shapethe blunt ends into slightly curved points. Repeat with three more rolls. Bury the rolls decoratively in the cake mixture. Sprinkle remaining white cookie crumbs over the mixture, then scatter green crumbs lightly over top.

4) Heat 5 more Tootsie Rolls until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle with crumbs from the litter box. Heat the remaining Tootsie Roll until pliable and hang it over the edge of the box. Place box on a sheet of newspaper and serve with scooper. Enjoy!

Lovely...

Well, I got to make a lovely little jaunt to the ER the other night.

I was at work Tuesday morning, packing meds for the girls' home passes & decided to pop a couple of multi-vitamins as I had forgotten mine at home. Ten minutes later, I noticed my arms were bright red & starting to burn. Itching started in & then it started spreading to my hands & up toward my shoulders. Took several Benadryl & waited to see what would happen. I eventually called the ER & then my boss & the Mothership as my throat was starting to constrict. I kinda figured that wasn't good. By the time I got to the ER the redness & burning was gone but my throat was still feeling tight. The doc said I caught it in time with the Benadryl but we have no idea what the reaction was to. Spent the rest of that night & the next one in a Benadryl fog & nursing a rough throat.

Went for my consultation with the sleep specialist yesterday & have free samples of Requip - for Restless Leg Syndrome - and an appointment for a sleep study early next month. Guess we'll see how that goes...

I called Viking Dad to see if he could take Rumsfeld out since we were in Wichita a lot longer than planned. He called me later to say that the dog must be hollow as he had peed & peed. I asked if he was still going & about died of laughter when I heard "No - he's taking a dump the size of my truck!" Hey, he's a big dog, he can't help it. Dad keeps saying I should've gotten a chihuahua. I always reply with "I wanted a dog, not a noisy little rat."

Fluffiness

Your Expression Number is 7

Very intelligent, you are usually thinking, introspecting, or analyzing. You have a good mind, and you are especially good at finding out the truth. Very little ever escapes your observation and deep understanding. You tend to obsess over wisdom and hidden truths. You are likely to become a authority on any subject you undertake. Operating on a different wavelength, most people don't know you that well. Very logical and rational, at times you tend to lack emotion. So much so, that you often have times coping with emotional situations. You are not very adaptable - you may tend to be overly critical at times.

What's Your Expression Number?

Okay, now that's just creepy...

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Your Quirk Factor: 72%

You're so quirky, it's hard for you to tell the difference between quirky and normal. No doubt about it, there's little about you that's "normal" or "average."

How Quirky Are You?

Normal is just a setting on your dryer...

From Bus Babe Leslie...

Rings

The other morning at work I was reading over a girl's Mastery paper (to move up to the next level) & one of the girls asked if I was married. Another girl said "No, she's engaged."

Huh? When did this happen? Turns out she was confused by the ring I wear on my left ring finger. They wanted to know why I wore it & I said it's my purity ring. None of them knew what that meant, so I explained that it's a symbol of the vow I made before God to remain sexually pure until I marry. All but one girl went "Huh? What's that mean?" The one girl's jaw dropped & she practically shouted "You're a virgin!?!"

When I answered in the affirmative, the rest of the jaws dropped & they wanted to know how old I am. What's sad is that they all said they wished they were still virgins - 14-17 year-olds who are so jaded & have never been taught another way. Even worse, the ones who never had a choice, having been raped by fathers, uncles, mom's boyfriend, etc...

I normally don't share this kind of info with clients, but I think that they need to know that it is possible to live another way. Having a boyfriend all the time is not a life or death deal like they seem to think it is. I don't know if it'll have any real effect on their lives but maybe it'll stick in the back of their minds & come through someday when they need it.

Yeah Baby!

Sunday's National Ammo Day! Whoo-Hoo!

More info at jimmyb's...

The Good Ol' Days..

... When the men were men & the women were glad of it. (Sorry - that's a Viking Dad quote.)

I recently watched two Fred Astaire movies & loved loved LOVED the top hats, ties & tails. And of course Ginger's gowns - all frothy & covered in feathers (I'm not big on sequins). They looked so snazzy & elegant. Of course, Fred can't compare to Cary.

Ahh, Cary - my dream man. *sigh*

I love suits & the whole dressing up thing. (This coming from someone who wears t-shirts, lots & lots of t-shirts.)

And Cary is so debonair. And handsome. And... I'd better stop drooling now.

Cary *big sigh & fluttering lashes*

I Don't Have An Accent, You Do...

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
The South
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Back when I showed horses & listened to country music all the time, I had a fairly twangy Okie accent. (Born & raised in NE Kansas.) That's pretty much gone away & I even have a hard time doing a country accent after only playing around with British accents for so many years. Mom & I occasionally speak in our fake British accents when we're out & about, just to see the reactions we get. The girls at work really get a kick out of it too.

Voice for TV & radio - perhaps, but my face was definately made for radio...

Snitched from the Queen of the Castle...

Sleep Is A Luxury

Since the sleeping thing hasn't been working out particularly well, I'm going to see a sleep specialist. Before I go in for the consultation, I have to keep a sleep diary, including all napping, sleeping, waking the middle of the night/day & caffeine...

Want a peek at my life? Here ya' go...

11.4 - Woke at 6am, in bed at 7:30pm, didn't sleep at all, up at 11pm for work.
11.5 - 12am-large Mountain Dew, 10 & 11am-1 cup coffee, 1:30pm-1 glass Diet Coke, 2:45pm-50mg Trazodone, in bed at 4:15pm, 45 minutes to fall asleep, up at 11pm for work, had been awake for 35 hours by the time I went to bed.
11.6 - 1 & 3 am-1 cup cocoa, accidental 10 minute nap at 4:15am, 5am-1 can Diet Pepsi, 9am-50mg Trazodone, in bed at noon, asleep after 30 minutes, awake at 5pm, dozed off & on until 11pm.
11.7 - 12am-large cappuccino, 7am-1/3 cup coffee, Noon-1 cup Diet Pepsi, to bed at 5pm, asleep after an hour, awake several times (can't remember times) before getting up at 11pm.

Wow, that's a lot of pop. I'm back to my decaf green tea with honey now...

Those Crazy Kids

I got a little note from one of my clients this morning. She had one for each of the staff. Mine is below. The spelling & punctuation are all her.

Dear, Ms. W---
I would like to express my emotions towards you to you. You make mornings fun, “Yes,… Ya” I lov that I know its you on the other side of the buzzer. Your witch laugh cracks me up, You always put a lil smile on my face manley (mainly ~ LG) cuz its so early that I am half asleep still and trying to laugh at you or wit you. And when you braught your dog that was so much fun! Tell him I said “woof woof” lol JK! (just kidding - I'm guessing here ~ LG)

The “Yes,… Ya” thing is something that I didn't realize I did until she started laughing about it one morning. When I answer the buzzer, I say "yes" & then when I answer their request or question in the affirmative, I always say "yeah". I'm glad it makes her laugh & some of the other girls have started commenting on it as well.

I took Rumsfeld in to work one Friday afternoon to let the girls see him. They had a blast running around the circle with him until my boss came out & said that her boss told her he can't be on campus until he's a certified therapy dog & I've set up a schedule. Well, another lady there has an experienced, certified therapy dog & they don't let her bring him in, but they let one of the therapists bring her puppy in. And there's no way he's a therapy dog 'cause they have to be at least a year old to be certified & he's only 3 months. Some of the management people - really nice people, but they haven't a clue as to what they're doing or supposed to be doing as management. There have been so many times they've said we're going to start doing something, then either don't follow through or someone has to tell them what they want to do is illegal. Frustrating. And they wonder why there's so much staff turn over...

By the way, the spelling & punctuation are scary, but pretty much par for the course around there. It's actually not that bad compared to a lot of the other kids' writing I've seen.

Needy Children

I finally remembered what else I was going to say in my last post. I'm doing two boxes for Operation Christmas Child this year & got everything the other day at Wally-World. They're all ready to go, except for the pretty beady edging I need to sew onto the bag for the little girl. I don't do the shoe boxes like they say - instead I put use hard plastic storage boxes. Our young adult ministry group did this last year & it works great. I line the box with a handerchief & then fill 'er up. I'm including a Kansas post card with my address in case the kids who get my boxes want to write.

I also adopted a little girl from Burkina Faso through Compassion International yesterday at church. (This was our missions themed weekend & I even got to see Teri again. I was kinda surprised that she remembered lil ol' me.) My little girl is Kabore Pegwende Clementine. From her adoption page:

Clementine lives with her mother. She is responsible for helping in the kitchen, running errands and cleaning. Her mother is sometimes employed.

For fun, Clementine enjoys jumping rope, hide-and-seek and playing group games. She attends Bible class regularly and is in primary school where her performance is average.

She lives in an HIV/AIDS affected area, so that means that there are extra expenses, if not for her then for others in that area - meds, extra care, more orphans, etc. Malaria & meningitis are also common.

Sponsorship allows her to be provided with Biblical & hygiene education, recreational activities, socail clubs & academic tuition, as well as reading & writing education. Clementine's mom will also be able to attend educational meetings. Forty-four percent of the kids in her area are not in school due to a lack of economic resources.

Anyway, if you want to do something that will make a difference in a life, check out both of these charities. When you see a red ribbon on the Compassion site, that means that child is in an HIV/AIDS area.

(I'll put up a picture of Clementine sometime when I'm around a scanner.)

What I'm Up To These Days

So, I've not been posting much. Big loss for all y'all, I know. *rolls eyes*

Anyway, I've started helping out in the tech department at church. I do the PowerPoint slides of the announcements. It's a good chance to exercise my artistic side, just have to keep a firm rein on the goofiness. Some is fine, but not every slide. So I spend a couple hours every Friday doing that.

Last week was my first week in several months where I only worked 5 days. Yay!

This coming weekend I'll be at the Worldview Weekend conference. I went last year & heard Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis, Sean McDowell (son of Josh McDowell, a former atheist who set out to disprove Christianity & ended up becoming a Christian) & David Barton of Wallbuilders. This year the speakers are Jason Carlson, Kirk Cameron, Ray Comfort & Bob Cornuke. I'm really excited about hearing Bob Cornuke speak - he's called a modern day Indiana Jones & archaeology is a small obsession of mine.

There was something else I was going to mention, but my brain is a wee bit deadish, so I'll let it go for now...

Interesting...

(Dad - you'll like this one... and Mom, if he gets riled up - sorry...)

Go on over yonder to SWWBO's place to read about Phill Kline's challenger for Attorney General Paul Morrison.

Why yes, I would like a scumbag for AG. /sarcasm off/ Ick...

Weird...

I don't know if it's the caffeine or the old anxiety attacks making their presence known, but I've been having these weird episode things where I feel like a faint electrical shock is going through my whole body. (A quick tip - never grab onto an electrical fence. Not a very good idea...) It leaves me with a headache & feeling like my legs are going to go out from under me. My heart feels like it's going to pulse out of my chest, just for two beats & then it's back to normal until the next one. My arms & hands go all numbish, except for the carpal tunnel pain that jumps up into my elbows.

It's been happening a lot lately - after my pie-making class Thursday, Rumsfeld & I went for a walk & that happened at least every couple of seconds. At Cessna, I remember one day where it was like this the entire day. I just made sure I stayed clear of wings & moving forklifts because when one would hit, I'd kinda black out for half a second. (Ooo, I guess I'd better clarify - when an episode deal would hit, not a forklift. :D)

Anyway, I wish it would stop, 'cause it's really starting to annoy me...

Snicker Pie

The Mothership & I went to a pie-making class lat night at a local kitchen store. We got a good pie crust recipe plus lots of recipes for fillings - sugary & more filling, meal-ish pies. The best. ever. pie she showed us was a cheesecake-y Snicker pie.

Oh. my. gosh. Was it ever good...

Snicker Pie

1 - 9" baked pie crust - bake only until light brown - this will be baked again with the filling

Filling
5 (2.07 oz.) Snicker candy bars
1/2 c. sugar
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/3 c. sour cream
1/3 c. creamy peanut butter

Topping
3 T. whipping cream
2/3 c. milk (or bittersweet - she used Ghiradelli ~LG) chocolate chips

Cut candy bars in half lengthwise; cut into 1/4 inch pieces. Arrange over bottom of partially baked crust.
Beat sugar & cream cheese until smooth.
Add sour cream & peanut butter.
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition (the best trick for cheesecakes is to mix very little after the eggs are added - this helps keep the cheesecake from cracking on top - however if it cracks it's okay since you are putting chocolate on top)
Spoon over candy bar pieces.

Bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes or until center is set. Cool 2 hours.

Warm whipping cream in microwave.
Add chocolate & melt.
Drizzle over pie.

Refrigerate 2 - 3 hours before serving.

The lady noted that you need to cut the pie after it has cooled for about an hour & most definately before you put it in the fridge. Otherwise it is extremely hard to cut. The chocolate topping was warm when she drizzled it right before the pie was served. This pie is to die for.

I also picked up a butane lighter that's shaped like an ol' fashioned Peacemaker & a partial set of pink martini glasses (all 3 of 'em are the square-y one in front) for 50% off.