groupon

you guys know about groupon, right? apparently, it's all the rage. just started here in SF. today's deal looks pretty yummmmmmmy.

everything is outta control

it's a good thing this book came in the mail yesterday. it was recommended by a church friend. it's about learning to deal with life's uncertainties, instead of trying to make things go your way. which i know in my head isn't ever too successful, but still, i always seem to try.

anyway, it was only fitting that i woke up at 1 a.m. with a GUSHING sound of water coming from....somewhere. not. good.

when i went down to the basement in my groggy state, there was a huge 1" gushing spout of water coming out of a pipe! i kind of was jolted out of a sleepy state, trying to figure out what was going on!

then, thankfully, i remembered what dax (my plumber) told me once: 'mrs. bobbi, you always ALWAYS need to remember where your main water line is!!!!'


thanks, dax. i remembered. shut the water off, and went back to bed...now i am left with a very soggy wet basement (aren't you glad i was home and semi-coherent when this happened?) and i am waiting to be plumbed. again.






sigh. cannot say i am loving being 'out of control' quite yet!

freedom at last

siesta and i feel exactly the same these last few days. all we can think about is 'should we go outside for a minute?'

:) it's been a great break in the weather. apparently, the highs in SD have not reached the 70s for several years....avg temp is 51.

so, woo hoo! i spent an hour or two yesterday afternoon, cleaning off flower beds. plan to do the same today. i'm sure we'll probably have a bit of snow in april, but somehow, i will make that trade because the warmth has been so long in the waiting!

happy tuesday :)

runza rage!

this weekend, i had the pleasure of dining at kristie lou's house. it was fun to see all the re-dos she is re-doing at her house. we oooohed and aaaaahed over several cute projects.

then, we ate runza casserole. if you have never eaten a runza with a nebraskan, you don't know what you are missing. runza is a nebraska favorite, a combo of homemade bread dough, cabbage and ground beef. they do make variations in the actual restaurant, but i kind of like the basic version. it's probably my german, not nebraska, heritage that makes runzas seem right to me, also...

they are great to make at home, but a little time-intensive because of the individual dough balls. so, kristie found this recipe, which was great. we'll both be eating runzas til we cannot anymore. but if you have an actual family, it would not take so long to eat them.

yum!!!!!!!!

Runza Casserole

2 lbs. hamburger
2 onions, chopped
4 c. shredded cabbage
Salt & pepper to taste
2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
1 lb. Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Use 9"x13" pan. Begin to brown hamburger and onion for a few minutes in a large pan and add cabbage to steam. Spread 1 tube of crescent rolls over bottom of pan. Spread meat on top and add cheese. Place second tube on top and pinch together again. Bake 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Cover last 10 minutes to soften crust.

Perfect for Runza lovers and so much easier than making individual ones.

spring's sprung

i probably have more interesting things to say, but looking out the window, i am just so darned happy that 50/60/even 70!!!!! degree weather is here this week. it's like God knows how long and hard this winter was, so He is sending spring early :)


happy day!

upcoming election

i'm going to vote for one of these people for mayor of sf. he has a nice face, dontcha think?!


hint: it is not my friend jim, who is looking at his shoe.

consider this

i have been spending far too much time today thinking about toilet paper. mostly, about how much i never thought about it before. i guess i was kind of imagining tp going into complete nonexistence, right after flushing. sluuuuuuuuurp. gone. never to be seen or heard from again.

not to say i have never thought about tp.

i mean, i usually buy in bulk at sam's club. because then i don't run out and have inconvenient moments.

i think about the softer, fluffier, charminier kind when i do shop for it. because by now in life i MUST deserve softer, fluffier, charminier stuff.

i have never before thought about how much of it i use. i know it's kind of personal, but bear with me. i usually wind out a fairly nice sized 'wad' that fits into my hand. it's just more comfortable that way.



not. ever. again.


from now on, i'm thinking about it. 2-4 squares for the regular duties. maybe MAYBE 6 if you need em. no more. REALLY. no more.

because some day, when you least expect it, these little tp fragments (which don't go away btw, ever) will come back UP into your sewer system, into your basement, and present you with images that you NEVER EVER WANTED to have. awful horrible images glued into your psyche.


and possibly even, this little guy will show up with them. and then the plumber who can very well deal with the tp, but CANNOT deal with him, will freak out.

and then you BOTH will freak out and declare it the yuckiest, gnarliest, yet kind of funniest, day on record. and then you will figure out a way to put him (snake, not plumber) outside, so that he can tell his friends about HIS horrible awful images stuck in his brain.



4 squares. that's my new resolution. hopefully, it will be a LONG time before i have to relive today again.

focus

looking for ways to not think about the plumber pumping raw sewage out of my basement right now :)) thank goodness for 'seeing a bird' as carey would say.

brighter days

wow. i am really noticing the longer days. i almost don't want to get my pjs on at 5:30pm anymore!


last week i found another sad little thrifted lamp. siesta kind of liked it. the shade is from target, they are starting to get more of the modern drum shades, which makes me happy.


he seems to fit nicely in the bedroom. i still kind of want to repaint this room, but the additional light from the lamp helps. oh, and i switched the comforter over. thank goodness for reversible items! it's like i got something new.


:)) happy hump day!

way cool

i am thinking Heaven might be something like this. except it might be better there for the penguins.

snow's last stand

a quick look around the yard this weekend yielded one remaining giant snow clump in the front yard. it's a holdover from the city street crew dumping large piles of snow on my boulevard last winter. note that it looks to be composed of about 50% dirt as well.



otherwise, it was rough, but it looks like mabel is going to pull thru.

broken mr bendo

anybody who has spent any amount of time in SF knows about mr. bendo. he is just HUGE, that is why he gets noticed i think :)

anyway, a drunk driver took him out on wednesday. since then, he has 3,200 'fans' on facebook, proclaiming their love. we live in a crazy world :_) we miss you, mr. bendo!

good stuff

sometimes, it's good when things are cuter in person than they were online.

yay!


in just a couple of months, they'll be going here.

God and the rest of it

last night in my worship group, we decided to watch a chris tomlin dvd with louie giglio talking about laminin. i posted about it awhile back. i really needed that message, even though i had forgotten!

see, i have had things kind of backwards lately. i have been looking really, really closely at myself. trying to figure out what i want, where i'm at in life, and why i am so frustrated with so much of my day-to-day existence.

this video is about changing perspectives. louie talks about the universe, and demonstrates its shear size, relative to our size (he uses a golf ball to represent earth in the sermon) and blows your MIND. in fact, one of the black holes in one of the hugest stars millions of light years away, happens to look like this:



then, he flips it and gives this great little talk about laminin, which is a molecule in our bodies which binds proteins together. basically, it holds us together. you remember the punch line, right? Laminin looks like this:



and there you have it. from the farthest away galaxies, to the woven-in structures of our bodies, our very being, is the cross. why, oh why, would i spend time focusing on the bigness of ME when i am so tiny compared to the bigness of Him.

today, in the 50 degree weather, with work to do and taxes (gulp) to be done, i will try to remember that it's all small stuff, compared to the One who holds it all together.

oh, and when i checked the weather this morning by googling "sioux falls weather"? i kid you not, i ran into this :))) ha. God likes to add the perfect punctuation to the end of every sentence, doesn't He?



happy day guys!

miss emily

yesterday i got to have lunch (and a goodbye for now) with miss emily. i call her cousin emily (because she, kind of, is)...but really, almost anybody could call her cousin emily.

she is a light for the world. i remember one of the first times i noticed her, she was 'helping' kristie sell jewelry at the brookings summer arts festival. man, that girl was working the crowd! she was pulling folks into kristie's booth right and left. i think it's because she has a tendency to look directly into your eyes, and ask you about yourself. because she really, really wants to know.

that, and maybe because of her heart. it's amazingly full. she is ready to LIVE this life! and she won't settle for anything but 'to the fullest.'

that's what i think, anyway. the next chapter of her journey will take place in the ukraine, where she is going for the peace corps for the next 27 months. she has a suitcase full of down coats and wool socks, ready to go. and a classroom full of young kids who don't even know it yet, but they are about to meet an amazing teacher and mentor.

God bless you em! we'll be keeping in touch with you at emilyonamission.com

green is good

happy st pat's day, all. i am only a bit Irish, on my grandma clark's side. we never really got into celebrating the heritage, although to this day i enjoy potatoes :)

anyway, the weather is still very grey and irish. it's balmy, i guess. is that how you think of ireland? i don't think of ireland as too sunny. perhaps i will be wrong, and today will be the day it decides to show up.

ps. i know i need to change my banner. there is still snow hanging around, but alas, it too is grey. sigh.

crafting the future

boy, give me a little taste of spring, and all i wanna do is make stuff. funny how God puts that in us, the desire for new creation!



lots of stuff on my mind, not the least of which is the yard and garden – which are in desperate shape (again). i have dreams of nanking cherries and dwarf apple trees. of large, spikey grasses and flowering perennials. of raised beds for tomatoes and peppers. oh, the possibility.



and then there are inside crafts. one of my faves, anna maria horner, has a new book coming out that looks to be filled with goodies. look at that lampshade!!!!




and of course, more thrifting is in order. my newly lovely closet spawned the desire to make a new/old suitcase yesterday, using vintagey fabric. now, that's better ;)

all of these things, and a to-do list for work that seems to be growing. new logos, new campaigns, new websites, new, new, new.

thank you Lord for new ideas!!! ideas are my favorite :)
happy tuesday, hope something new pops into your head today!

beige is the new boring

remember when i was thinking about this little ole neighborhood house?



well, over the winter someone bought it, and turned it totally beige. and yes, anne, they cut down the giant errant shrubbery....

i am always happy to see my neighborhood go UP, not down. i am hopeful for a nice back yard neighbor. i guess that whoever bought it completely redid the whole thing, albeit in a nasty shade of 'whatever' beige. they are asking WAY more for it, than i thought i could sell my house for, so that is encouraging.

maybe if i ask nice, they'll let me help with the landscaping ;)

perfect pot(s)

i had made my mind up, i really had. i was NOT going to start seeds this year. last year, i spent a million bucks and a bunch of time, only to be disappointed with the outcome of most of the stuff i started. for 67 cents, i kind of like letting the greenhouse take care of my tomatoes :)

only problem is, i have the wonder pot maker. i love that thing. it's round and smooth and so fun to make pots! i don't have any newspaper in the house any more, so i used an urban outfitters catalogue. printed with soy ink, and the perfect size.

i had to make just a couple. or six. to be honest, i could make em all day, if i had a reason.

and i happened to have some leftover heirloom tomatoes. so how bad can it be to just do a couple?

now, i need God to send me some sun. funny how gardening just doesn't really work at all without God in the mix, does it?!

spring cleaning

grey weekends are good for something. after stalling on the closet reorganization for the last 3 or 4 or 5 years, i finally tackled. and won.

sort of, i was really disappointed in the shelves. i bought a set of hanging shelves, but i swear it was like drilling into CEMENT. oh. i guess it was cement. these old plaster walls are killer. the one shelf you see is being held up by a book on one end and a prayer on the other end. i am expecting a large crash at some point. still, i am not embarrassed to open it anymore. in fact, it kind of makes me happy to look inside and see organization.

oh, carey? the sewing machine case that was mysteriously missing when your mom visited, is now mysteriously found ;)

spring ahead

peeps, it's time!!!

birthdays

well, to prove how unworthy i am, after bashing her for spending her birthday lunch with somebody else, she brought ME a present for HER birthday.

that my friends, is a good friend. thanks care, i love it.

withdrawal time

i admit i am a little sad that the real housewives of oc are done for another season. wow! it was quite the year, even MORE vicious than the past, if that is possible. the reunion show is always the most explosive, because by then, the women cannot contain their disdain for one another...i hate to admit i like the show, mostly because it's like a football game. you pick your side, and root for her to the final touchdown!

i liked gretchen and alexis best (above). they were the nicest ones in a group of undeniably mean girls. and we are talking MEAN. they say whatever, and then they deny it! even though it was on camera! it makes me crazy. alexis is the lone christian in the bunch, and i do have to say it does not make people like her much. gretchen is the cute party girl, and probably acts the most respectful, considering it's a mean girl free-for-all. sigh. makes me realize my girlfriends are pretty awesome.

i am sworn to not watch it anymore next season. it really doesn't do much good for the world, or for me. however, i will not promise anything ;)

it's a need, people

words cannot describe how much i have to have these.

now i know

why it's grey today.

this little one went to play with the angels, as her parent's put it. her story grabbed the hearts of many, as 42,000 tweets rang out at the announcement of her death.

grey day

yep, another one. i think it's been grey and gloomy since last saturday. i can count the times i've left the house on about 2 fingers! that is nutso.

i hate greyness. i hate the fact that the snow is super ugly and gritty and dirty right now. i hate the fact that we still HAVE so darn much snow around.

i guess i hate march. somebody, please, tell me something good about march. not including that carey and big j were born then. and not including anything irish, because i don't really care about the irish.

thanks, as you can tell, i need it.

happy birthday, man!

Click on photo for enhanced view. nice :-)

blank slate

for the 2nd time this month, i woke up to monday morning, and a completely empty calendar. to be honest, unless things change dramatically, the rest of the month is coming up pretty short as well.

it's a bit concerning. i'd like to say it's the economy, but i have noticed that most people except for me seem to be pretty busy.

i'd like to say i haven't had any 'leads' even, but to be honest, i've had several and they have fallen through.

i'd like to say that i'm totally confident and fine with things, but that would be pretty untrue. i'm not sure how to feel. when i work through the fear, i think it boils down to this.

i've worked my whole life as a graphic designer. in the beginning, i was pretty sure i did not possess the skills to make it in this field. i didn't feel especially motivated OR creative. but i didn't know what else to do! that is the truth!

then, somewhere along the line, i got hold of things. i still felt mostly LUCKY instead of super capable or talented or skilled. it just seemed that i always got alot of positive feedback for the things i made.

to this day, i'm not especially sure i even deserved some of the opportunities i've had. i attribute my successes to timing, and an unwillingness to give up, and great people around me who make me look good. i also can say with all honesty, i've truly enjoyed this life. i get to make pretty stuff for people - how can that be bad?!

however, i'm starting to live in the real truth - God gave me this job, and these skills, and this life. for some reason, for His purpose. He had a plan, still has a plan, and WILL have a plan for me, for all of my days. if He decides to shift my life, who am i to try to decide where? or how? i don't even feel capable of making the choice, so i have only Him to cling to, hoping He will just open a door that i can walk thru. and for this monday, that door is a blank slate, a chance to live fully in Him, and not be burdened by what i think i SHOULD be doing.

argggghhhhh. the trusting is the hardest part. but once you get beyond that, it does seem a little bit exciting, too ;)

freeeeeeeeeeday

yay. made it to the end of a peculiar week. i have been having those of late.

really, all i can think about now is spring. and melting snow. i would not be surprised to see myself in the yard with a blow dryer soon.

the temps have been good for here. i try not to listen to people talking about blooming flowers or budding trees or 60 degree weather. that, i don't need. what i do need is a vision for things to come. and slowly, spring is unfolding.

i think it's gonna be good.

quitting time

hey - i have an idea. let's all quit early today and go shopping together at Crate and Barrel!
either that, or let's pray for some will power ;)

changing times

the headlines lately have been full of change. i am all for change, but not sure that much of it seems to be positive. maybe i'm just hopelessly old school :)

here's what's going on:


apparently, the US postal service is contemplating delivering mail only 5 days a week. the local paper interviewed people in nursing homes, who were very upset. hey, here's a thought. maybe we all should VISIT IN PERSON on saturdays! that would save money AND make the old peeps feel better!




in other news, even though we won't be getting any mail, the SD legislature thinks we should be able to drink at all times. looks like 'beer on Sunday' is going to pass here in SD.


this one was on the news last night. i don't think it's new, but i guess you can now find out what gender your baby is - in a box! well, i probably won't be long, and you'll just be buyin' the whole kid in the box. yikes.

he he. that's the news here. what's big where you are?