worthy thoughts

If Jesus is big, wouldn't he squish the world?

Would his head stick out of heaven?

How can he hear us when we think?

Is he just tricky?

questions posed by my facebook friend kyle's 4-year-old daughter. i especially love the last one!!!

new receptionist

hello. you've reached one8y creative. the lady who feeds me is not 'in' right now, as she is busy wasting time on the internet.

can i take a message?

the sun coming up

okay, peeps, have you noticed any advantages to the time change yet? for me, the biggest one is that i am actually awake in the morning BEFORE the first person calls the office at 8am. it was getting seriously crazy last week, i was staying up half the night working, and sleeping in far too late.

so, back on track. i completely, absolutely lucked out when i glanced out the front door at 6:38am this morning, only to see a sky that matches my kitchen! 20 minutes later and it was gone, but i still have it in my head.

ps. pic does not do it justice :)

it was on sale

that's about my only excuse for my latest purchase. now, i really really wish i could find a little old lady with a bernina and a ton of spare time on her hands to sew it into a quilt for me. let me know if you know such a person :)


ps. here is proof that i *really* needed a new fabric purchase. not.




pps. here is proof that i have an extremely happy work space as of yesterday, when i spent most of the afternoon tidying it up. made all the more lovely courtesy of God, who supplied the sunlight ;)

yooo hooo....

can you find kristie lou?!

:)

not to brag...

well, sort of. they are having a color contest for the best room over at apartment therapy, and one of the final four rooms (there were a BUNCH to start, some very creative) is strikingly similar to a certain someone's kitchen....


satisfied.

reddest red

all of a sudden, the barberry bushes have turned bright red. i always forget how beautiful they are!!

you cannot see the little bird in the 3rd pic who was yelling at me the whole time to leave, so he could continue feeding ;)


sigh. i love color.

my weak constitution

in the world of symbolism yesterday, i had a "glass not only half empty, but kicked over and the other half empty too" kind of day. i am pretty sure if i had grown up in the days with covered wagons going across the prairie, i'm the one who would have succumbed to the first mysterious ailment that came along, when there was no tincture to administer.

or, in more modern terms, i would probably be the first one kicked off the island ;)

i guess you could say i am not much good at being sick. i hate it!! even though i think God spared me from being TOO sick, as i asked. i never did actually vomit, although i wanted to...alot. i finally figured out my slight stomach upset was being enhanced by the theraflu, and the fact that i'd only eaten a brownie and a packet of sugar free jello in 36 hours.

let me tell you, that stuff is nasty. it took awhile before things settled, and i had a cup of noodles later in the evening, which helped. today, i am still woozey in the stomach, but toast sounds kind of pleasant.

i guess maybe sometimes, even the weak survive :)

bye bye verizon

i cancelled my silly verizon cell phone on monday. the worst part about it is that i won't be able to use my pretty orange phone :-( however, the not spending $89 a month will be good. especially since i have not turned it on in months.

going to try that net 10 thing that my friend ellen recommended. i am kind of scared to buy and set up a phone online. however, tech savvy gal that i am, i'm sure it will be fine!

there is something bad about not being a cell phone owner. pretty sure i would be mocked and shunned.

sunshine on my shoulders

it's a john denver kind of day over here on the back forty...cannot tell you how much i love the sunshine! we are still kind of fixated on looking out the new door. i don't even mind the dead plant/salvage yard view with sun streaming on it!! thank you Lord.

speaking of, still holding off on the flu bug. symptoms include itchy eyes, slight fever, headache, sneezing and one very strong urge to vomit last night. i sat on the bathroom floor, prayed for God to take away the urge, and to be healed in Jesus' name! i really think you gotta plead the blood of Jesus over this stuff, peeps. i sat there for awhile, and by a half hour later i did not feel too bad. still drinking fluids and sleeping a ton, and believing God is bigger than flu :) thank you twice Lord!

hope the flu is not getting your household either. praying the Lord will restore and bring health if it has already entered...happy tuesday.

here comes the sun!

and there goes my cute old screen door...


i do love the vintage charm of the old one. but i did not like the fact that my cat could escape from it if it closed just SO. and that the winter wind came blowing underneath it like it didn't even exist!

now, i can lock the bad guys out during the day when i am working, without shutting the door! that's a benefit for sure in this neighborhood. and the color matches the windows, so at least the outside looks cohesive.

and little miss can totally see what's up! right now she is freaked out, because pit bulls live across the way. who wants to see those all day when you're a cat?! i'm sure she'll get used to it though.



oh. and look at that NEON door. beautious ;)


and most importantly, the SUN is shining! woo hoo!!!

peace and onions

i knew it was going to be quite the weekend, when i stayed up working until 12:00 on friday night. words cannot describe how tired and anxious i was, i had about 3 days work to get ready by this morning. so, i dug in.

funny thing happened! i hermitted myself at home (yes, that is a word) - and got the 3 days of work done in about 1.5 days total. plus, i managed to sleep two 10+ hour nights, because i have been feeling fluish lately on top of things.

last night as i sat crocheting, i felt at peace. then, i remembered the onions! panic! he he. i quickly went outside to see how they were, and YES, they had not rotted yet. close call :) so, i will let them dry off and try to figure out how to store them for the winter.

not exactly what i would call an IDEAL weekend, but not bad, either.

leftover love

i am kind of obsessed with leftovers lately. i guess it comes from the discovery of all the food i had in the freezer. i did throw out a HUGE bag of stuff, but still have quite a few things that are good, but need to be used.

so i got the idea of making my own microwave lunches. today i crockpotted some beef, onion, a nearly gone red pepper, leftover cream soup and a spoonful of yogurt to make a yummy stroganoff. then, i made some rice (on the bottom) and steamed peas to go with things.

3 cartons of goodies, at no cost because everything was leftover. i am hoping to lose some weight this winter, and it helps to have fast lunches ready, so i don't eat fast food or candy bars for lunch.

what next?!! i have some shredded chicken, so i am thinking a mexican meal will be coming up :)

for the record

THIS is why people shop target. look at the cute little (actually BIG) door hanger i found on my door today! with a great booklet on the back containing $15 of coupons for the new, cool target i have yet to visit.

i can tell you it is on my soon-to-do list, however.

go target!! you rock.

oh ps. i can also tell you carey has already written this headline for a small retail grocer client of ours. i believe her version was "Get fresh with us."

:)

tea time

i desparately wanted to take a picture of something pretty around here, but it's still completely dreary and grey. hopefully, the sun will come back some day.

so. i'll post about tea. i am getting back into the daily habit of tea, usually at night while i'm watching top chef or project runway :)

my fave for the last couple of years is Good Earth, the original flavor which is licorice-like. my friend rachelle introduced me to it a few years back, and i immediately loved it. i wish i could redo their packaging. but still, it's worth a try.

happy friday!

spuds

so yesterday before the rains came, i ventured out to dig potatoes. i was very very close to just leaving them in the ground, never to be seen again. i get that way with the garden by this time of year .... but i have to admit it was kind of fun unearthing them! they were bright pink, kind of pretty before the mud dried on em.

i dug about half of em, maybe a third. we'll see if i get the rest done. probably not, if i had to guess. i will not be planting them again, because for the $8 i paid for the seed potatoes, i will be lucky if i get $8 worth of goods. still, it feels good to know i am able to grow em up. well, me and God :)

let's review

in a 2 hour period this afternoon, i will have visited a daycare and the local clinic. naturally, i do not have one of these little babies in the house, but I'M JUST SURE there won't be any germs present ;)


please Lord, please.

tastes like mom

i have an interesting experiment going on over here at the back forty. i'm cooking as many things from the bottom of the freezer as i can, as a way to clean it out. that sounds a little gross, doesn't it? but seriously. i've had a stand-alone freezer for over a year now. it's GREAT to be able to put up corn and apples and green beans and such. however, i have not eaten a great majority of the stuff i have saved!

so, i made some swiss steak on saturday, using little leftover pieces of meat, from when i grilled and had ONE TOO MANY. i used to HATE swiss steak when my mom made it. now, i like it. at least enough to eat the freezer portions i made, in 3 consecutive days! ha.

then, yesterday, it was a mini tater tot casserole. now THAT is a good memory from growing up! i actually think it was one of my favorite meals, although i used to kind of pick out the big chunks of hamburger, and give them to my dad :) oh. and my mom used carrots in her TTC. really, i've never known anybody else who does that. but let me tell ya, it's the goods.

wonder what else is down there at the bottom o' the deep freeze, waiting to be turned into tastiness?! moms, just remember that whatever you feed your kids today is going to be their memory of you when they get older ;) carry on.

octoberness

i always say i am going to clean up the yard/garden in the fall, and i never do. i think i know why, it makes me sad to see the deadness. i actually avoid even going outside when it gets cold out. since the freeze, i have not even stepped foot into my sun porch, which badly needs winterizing.

however, today, i set out with the new camera to take a look. some of it did make me sad. i don't think i will be able to tackle the back yard this year. it was neat to walk back there, though, and see about a hundred birds happily chirping and playing in the dead stuff. they don't seem to notice.

there was also more life than i thought. and more beauty. a few things, like the pretty ivy that is still going strong, and the rosemary, are coming in the house with me for the winter.

:) i think i will go have tea out there later on today.

kind of sort of

i am trying not to be nervous about this flu epidemic stuff, but i kind of am. i really don't like the thought of air-borne viruses of any kind. kristie made fun of me for being afraid of the bird flu, but i guess it's the swine flu i need to worry about. either way, the thought gives me the heeby jeebies.

of course, i would not consider a person who lives alone and rarely leaves the house "high risk." but still. i do go out. sometimes. i guess it gives me a good reason to limit my already limited social life all the more. thank goodness for ya'll. and online ordering :)

the yarn came yesterday, and i'm not sure i like it. i will not go out shopping for something different, however ;)

keep it safe out there...! and maybe stay home, just to be sure :)