Woods, Decisions, Water, Jobs, Snow, & Beds

This week we will answer some unusual questions, brought to you by Kimber, the color purple and the number 13.


1. Have you ever pooped in the woods? no I have not. I've gone in a pail that we rinsed out later. I have this issue about pooping anywhere but in my own bathroom. Luckily I don't go places too often so I don't have to worry about it.

2. You are starving. You have not had anything to eat for days. In front of you is poison ivy, a live hissing cockroach, and a rotten stinky piece of some sort of mystery meat to eat. Which would you pick and why? Poison Ivy I would think would really mess your throat up and having an itchy throat is probably worse than hunger and stinky meat? You would probably get sick from it, so I guess I'll go with the icky cockroach. I'd tell it to stop hissing and then I'd bite his head off because he probably wouldn't listen anyway.

3. Bottled or Tap water? Bottled water is probably just tap water anyway, so I'll go with the tap water!

4. Your dream job, what would it be and why? A zookeeper. Working with the big kitties.

5. Do you have any snow globes? One. A Disney one. Personally I think they are sort of silly.

6. Do you like your bed? If not, what kind of bed do you want? I like my mattress. It's my parents' old one, which wasn't old when we got it. They paid a couple thousand for it ( I think they are nuts ) and Dad couldn't sleep on it. My bed frame - I don't like it anymore. I want a huge 4 poster bed.

thats it? Only 6? I was just getting going....

Remember to check back throughout the day to see who all has played and go and see how they answered these off the wall Thursday Thunk questions! Be nice... let them know you stopped by.

Berleen? Where are you??

Wow... I haven't blogged since Sunday. Whats wrong with me?

All I'm going to blog about is my new 'puter room & hallway. Well, its not new, it's still old - it's not like you can go to the store and buy a new hallway or anything.

My sister, our friend, the girls (ok, Demon #1 didn't do much) & I repainted our hallway/stairway and put new tile in our 'puter room. It's fricken awesome!!!

Our hallway before....and after....

and I painted our bathroom. I don't have before pics though... it was white overkill before, basically.

Sunday Stealing: The Nudder Meme

Sunday Stealing: The Nudder Meme

1. Who did you spend at least two hours with today? Myself, so far. Although I haven't even been awake 2 hours yet.

2. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks? Snow.

3. Who was the last person you called? I called my sister back yesterday morning.

4. What were you doing at 12am last night? sleeping

5. Are your parents married/divorced? my mom is deceased, so I don't know how that works. My dad & stepmom are married though and have been for 27 years.

6. When did you last see your mom? Through a hospital window when I was 7 years old.

7. What are you wearing right now? my husband's robe

8. Where is your favorite place to be? at home or at the lake

9. Where is your least favorite place to be? in a crowd of people... wherever that crowd of people is.

10. Where would you go if you could go anywhere? Mesa, Arizona

11. Where do you think you'll be in 10 years? I don't know, but I hope to be where I am right now. But if the husband has anything to do with it, I'll be in the country somewhere.

12. What was the last thing that really made you laugh? Everyone getting paint on their butts yesterday

13. What cities/towns/villages have you lived in? doesn't that cross that invisible privacy internet line that everyone thinks they live behind? I'm not ashamed; Albany, Rockford, Buffalo, Rexburg, Farming, St. Martin, Roscoe & Avon (and then back to Albany).

14. Are you a social person? I think #9 answered that one for me, dontcha think? I'm internet social though, does that count?

15. Do you sleep alone? Nope, I share my space with the husband, 2 dogs and a cat. And I can't tell you who is the bigger bed hog. Well, Chico the pomeranian, he pretty much stays in the same spot at my feet, so he's good to sleep with. The others? Well... lets just say they all could take a sleeping-in-groups lesson.

Camera Critters - 11.8 - Happy Birthday Saki!

It's hard to believe, but Saki turned a year old yesterday! Of course, we haven't had her a year yet... she was 10 weeks old when we got her, but yesterday she turned a year old!!

In that short 10 months, it's amazing to think of life without her.

She has become my shadow, even now she's at my feet as I type this. When she hears me grab my car keys - she's at the door ready to go with! And she usually does go with... she's so spoiled.

I go to sleep each night with her on the floor next to our bed but somehow during the night she sneaks into the bed, unnoticed, and I wake up with a big golden butt in my face. And what a bed hog she is! But dumb me, I move over in my sleep to give her room... enough room for her to spread out sideways in the bed. Of course if the husband is in bed she sleeps in between us. Lucky for her he leaves at 3am, so she gets a few hours of comfortable sleep.

And since the husband is deer hunting this week... guess who gets the bed the whole night?

Happy Birthday, Saki. We wouldn't trade you for the world.
We've already had one offer from someone to sell her... no way, no how. There isn't enough money. The guy said "how about a million?" and I didn't even flinch... there is no amount that could get me to sell her.

Plus, she makes a good foot warmer.

Friday Fill-ins (the 11-7 version)

And...here we go!



1. My blueprint for success includes laughter, love & more laughter.

2. A Reese's Peanut Butter Cup was the last candy I ate. (duh)

3. The best facial moisturizer I've ever used is a product Avon came out with under the Anew name. Then they changed the formula and I broke out HORRIBLY from it. Damn them.

4. Rocking in a rocking chair/rocker recliner can be good therapy.

5. I'd like to tell you about my cup of coffee. It's yummy - dark roast and steaming hot.Trucker", because well, it does. And if you want one, you can get it here! < / shameless plug >

6. Goofiness and borderline insanity is my strongest characteristic.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting the bed all to myself because hubby is going deer hunting... wait. Crap. The dogs will take over. Nevermind..... tomorrow my plans include painting the hallway, stairway and possibly the computer room and Sunday, I want to lay the tile in the computer room!

Now that you are done reading this mumbo jumbo - go play with yourself here!

The election, snowmen, ketchup, cookbooks, hair, sickies and alphabet letters

click it, you know you want to.

This week we will answer some unusual questions, brought to you by Berleen, the color red and the number 1,908.

1. The election is over... what do you think? I think it's about time. That was the longest campaign crap I think I've ever been through. Sadly in 2 more years it starts all over again.
   
2. Tell us about a snowman. It has a red hat on, black eyes, a blue scarf, yellow buttons and a carrot for it's nose. He's tall. Taller than me. But I don't know where he lives. Probably in my brain is all.
   
3. What brand of ketchup do you buy? Heinz. We tried some generic stuff once... never again.
   
4. Do you use a cookbook? I use them to take up space on top of my microwave.
   
5. Do you blow-dry your hair or let it air dry? Depends on my mood. If I let it air dry, it will be damp 10 hours later and that really sucks when it's cold outside.
   
6. When was the last time you were sick? Sick sick? Last winter. I don't get sick-sick too often, just little-bit-sicks.
   
7. What is the strangest letter of the alphabet? Z. No matter how you throw it at someone it's gonna hurt when it hits them with those sharp corners and ends. I guess maybe that doesn't make it the strangest - most dangerous, yes.
   
8. Who was the last person you bought a present for? What was it? Will you buy me one?My nephew, Kolton, and sadly I can't remember what it was. A book was one of them... what the heck else did we buy him? Grrr. Oh... we bought him 3 things, the 2nd thing was a recorder (the insturment that you blow in?) because we like to buy other people's children loud toys as presents. Ahhh! The 3rd was a little thing of PlayDough. The only thing better than giving a 3 year old a loud toy is giving them a messy toy!
   
9. Why are we ending at 9 questions? Because that Berleen person was lazy yesterday and not creative at all. Someone block her IP from the Thursday Thunk site.
   

Waffles and laughing

I love people who find humor in things. I've mentioned it before that I laugh at everything - even things that probably shouldn't be laughed at, but humor is healing, people! To prove my point, my bestest friend lost her baby daughter at 9 days old from "probable SIDS" (I quote that because I don't agree with it, but that's another blog post). I didn't attend the wake because they were having an open casket and I couldn't bring myself to see little Katarina like that. I just couldn't. As much as I wanted to be there for Missy, I just couldn't. But she understood. Why, I don't know, but she did. Kat was being cremated after the wake and Missy had mentioned that the "box" that they put her in was really cheesy looking, but they just couldn't afford an urn. The day of the funeral I walked up to Kat's "box" with Missy and I just stared. At first I couldn't see it... I mean, where was it? I didn't see any fancy gold box... there were some flowers and a cookie tin. Missy had to point it out to me and it was the cookie tin.... it looked like a square cookie tin! Thankfully, Missy has the same need for humor as I do, so the cookie tin became sort of a "inside joke", so to speak with us. We laughed that day about it. Yes, we were laughing at Kat's funeral, but you know what? Missy needed to laugh and so did I.
To this day Kat is still in her cookie tin and that's what it is still called - Kat's Cookie Tin. And we still laugh about it, smile about it and sure, tears are shed occasionally but you can't spend your life crying. You need to laugh.

Which brings me to the email I got last night. Have you ever seen the t-shirts that say "I don't have ADHD, I just... hey! Look a squirrle!"?? I personally do not have any in my shop, but a lady emailed me last night and asked me to make her a design with a waffle that says "I don't have ADHD, I just... hey! Do you like waffles?". I don't know the meaning behind it because I didn't ask, but I love that whoever this gift is for can laugh about their ADHD disorder. There are far too many people who use disorders, sicknesses & diseases as an excuse or a crutch. Heck with that! Embrace it if you have it! Laugh about it... enjoy it, because it's who you are.
I plan on laughing, cracking stupid jokes and smiling up until my last dying breath. I don't want to go out of here sad or miseralbe, I want to go out knowing that I was happy with the way things were - or at least found humor in it. You can find humor in anything - even death. Smiling is the best healing out there.... so many people need to learn how to laugh and smile and heal themselves.

The world would be a much better place if we all just laughed a little bit more.

10 Things I Love Talking About

1. My pets. That is definitely #1. I guess its like when my kids were little and they always did something cute everyday that I wanted to share with the world. Pets never grow up!
   
2. Days of our Lives if I can find someone who still watches it.
3. My childhood and my family's past.
4. My shops
5. My forums and people have to stop and ask me WHO I'm talking about and then I get the "oh people online" like they aren't real people or something. How rude.
   
6. Religion. I love learning about other religions & different views, but to find someone who can question religion is hard. The coolest thing was when I found out one of my closest friends was a Jehovah Witness! I love listening to her explain her beliefs!
   
7. Gossip. I admit it. *whew* what a relief off my shoulders that I've come clean with that!
8. Old times. Different from my childhood & such - I love reminiscing about high school & such.
9. Fine. I'll say my kids. I do like to talk about them. Not as much as when they were cute babies and toddlers... I loved bragging about their first word or a funny thing they said, but now I'm usually just bitching about their PMS teenage hormones or attitude or something.
   
10. Did I mention pets?
    

Next week: 10 Things That are Going to Happen in the Next 4 Years (once we decide who the president will be)

Manic Monday - TV, senses & wacky beliefs

How many hours of TV do you watch per week? Do you feel that's too much, not enough or just right? Less than 10. I suppose it's enough but there are always shows I miss.

Which of the 5 senses do you feel is your strongest sense? My sense of smell because I always think I smell something burning. I must have some hidden fear of the house burning down or something because at least a few times a day, out of the blue, I will smell burning something - food, plastic, whatever. It drives me nuts.

What's the wackiest belief you held as a child? You are gonna love this - that there was an Indian boy named "Falling Rock" in the Rocky Mountains that was lost and his Indian Chief father made the government put up all those "watch for falling rock" signs all over the mountains.

I still hate my dad for that one.

Video games are ruining our kids...

So CNN reports this morning that violent video games are linked to child aggression.

About 90 percent of U.S. kids ages 8 to 16 play video games, and they spend about 13 hours a week doing so (more if you're a boy). Now a new study suggests virtual violence in these games may make kids more aggressive in real life.

My first thought? Why aren't the 30-somethings walking around with a hatred for ducks? I would think that Duck Hunt could ruin anyone's mood... ok, so maybe we don't have a hatred for ducks, but I know a few people who wanted more than anything to kill that fricken laughing dog!!!
Why can't people just open up their eyes and see what the real problem is? It's us. Plain and simple. Turn on the news... there is more violence in that 1/2 hour of TV than 12 hours of video games. And lets see - the news is REAL, video games are fake. I think even kids can figure that one out.
Let's stop wanting the big bucks cars, houses, boats, diamonds and all that other fancy shit and stop and pay attention to our kids once and awhile. That might just help a tad bit.

Wanna know why kids are aggressive? Because they are pissed off that they were brought into this world by two people that don't spend more than 2 hours of waking time at home.

On the subject of video games, I've recently been explained something that made far too much sense. Are video games all that bad for kids? Is limiting their computer time to an hour a day really smart? Look around - what does our world consist of? Computers. Technology. It's a sad fact - maybe not so sad - but those kids who are sheltered from computers, video games and the like are going to step into the world as an adult and not understand a fricken thing that's going on. And, not to mention, jobs. What kind of good paying job doesn't have something to do with computers? I'm not saying sit your kids in front of the stuff for 18 hours a day, but have you ever noticed how much these kids are learning?

It's not the world we grew up in, people. It's time for us to just adjust to that. We can't raise our kids the way we were raised. It's just a fact.

Sunday Stealing

Cheers to all us thieves!

Sunday Stealing: The McDanger Meme

What are your nicknames? All of them? Puppet, from my childhood but a few people still call me that (one of my brothers) and I really don't care. Lee, which I haven't be called in YEARS. Angel, which only a few people called me. Currently; Ber, Ber-butt (my bestest friend calls me that), BerBear (my best friend calls me that) and Honey, which is what my husband ALWAYS calls me (he never calls me by my name).

What TV gameshow or reality show would you like to be on? Wife Swap. Well, not really, I'd be scared to find out how messed up I really am, but if I had to pick one :)

What was the first movie you bought in VHS or DVD? I didn't buy it, I got it as a gift, and it was James Dean's Rebel Without a Cause.

What is your favorite scent? baby powder

If you had one million dollars to spend only on yourself, what would you spend it on? I couldn't do it... I hate buying things for myself.

What is one place you've visited, can't forget and want to go back to? My childhood

Do you trust easily? Yes, and it's a weakness of mine.

Do you generally think before you act, or act before you think? I act before I think. Far too often.

Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days? the demons fighting like 2 year olds on a daily basis. I wish they'd grow up.

Do you have a good body image? as in, how I see myself? Kinda. I guess I do physically, too.... sort of. I don't understand the question....

What is your favorite fruit? strawberries

What websites do you visit daily? Oh my. All of them? Facebook (you can add me if you want!), Insanity Cafe Forums (you should join!), my CafePress account, Local6.com, my hometown newspaper, Yahoo News, a whole bunch of blogs, my GoogleBase Feeds... this could really get time consuming listing all these!

What have you been seriously addicted to lately? nicotine.

What's the last song that got stuck in your head? The WitchDoctor, thanks to Demon #1's ringtone

What is your favorite thing to wear? jeans & one of the husband's t-shirts

Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy? no.

What would you do if you saw $100 lying on the ground? pick it up. Duh.

What items couldn't you go without during the day? coffee and my contacts.

What should you be doing right now? going to the bathroom because I really need to pee.

Words Ending in TER ~ I Say You Answer

~Words Ending in TER ~ I Say You Answer~

1. My Computer...is my bread & butter... and jelly

2. Tap Water...might not be as good as bottled water, but it's cheaper! And I often wonder if it's not just tap water in those bottles anyway.

3. Mystery Writer...never really understood the point.

4. Sign of Winter...long johns!