Amazing Me

I'm amazing, and I can't tell you why. I'm the best sister in the world. Can't tell you why. I'm one heck of a friend. Can't tell you why. As I'm writing this I wonder...if I've done all of these great things about which I can't tell you, are they really great? Hmmm...

Michigan: The Tease Me State

I'm considering a petition to my state government to change our state slogan from The Wolverine State to The Tease Me State (hey...the "Show Me" state?!?) This is my reasoning:

Thursday - high 60's
Thursday night/Friday morning - 30's
Saturday - 70's
Saturday night - 60's
Sunday - 80's!!! (woo hoo)
Sunday night - 70's
Monday morning - 70's
Later Monday morning - 60's
Monday - 60's
Tonight's forecast - 30's!!

Okay...I challenge you to prove me wrong...

Here they are - my "adopted" kids!

Ohhhh!!! I spent spring break in Port Huron with all of my "adoptive" kids...my sorority sister's and their kidlets :) It was too much fun!! So, here they are...all my little chi-chis :) Top center we have, slightly hidden, Isabella ("Bella"), Baby Aidan ("Wubie") and Olivia ("Livi"). Yes, they are in pink water :)

Next, we have their cousins...Mr. Lars on the left and big sisters Sage & Jade on the right (go ahead...guess what they do on Friday afternoons??). I even got to go with all three of them to a gymnastics field-trip...do you know how much fun it is to pull 15-20 kids under four out from the big foam pit?! Hee, hee.

So here they are! Finally, someone cute to post on my blog!!! I'd show you their momma's, my dear, dear friends, but one doesn't like photos and the other one got photoed...behind a pile of little tykes :)

Okay...I'm outtie!

Happy...Christmas??

Okay, apparently Michigan weather has the two major Christian mile-stones confused. For Christmas in 2006 we didn't need jackets or even boots. Personally, I enjoyed it :) However, it wasn't quite normal. March was fabulous, starting to warm up and enjoying the jacket-free life-style once again. And then came Spring Break..and our WINTER STORM! What?! Oh yeah, so my little sun baby niece was outside in a short sleeve shirt and shorts...this is what it looked like here this Easter. Woo hoo...yuck.

Happy Easter!!

Easter...what does that really have to do with Christ? HAPPY RESSURRECTION DAY! GLORIOUS SALVATION! Hope y'all get to celebrate life with Christ, enjoying His love and grace toward us all.

:( No good pictures yet...I'll find something good soon! In the meantime, enjoy my baby niece Ella at www.thegabelfamily.blogspot.com

Will I Ever Grow Up?

I hope not, but for right now it might be nice. As an infant I used to go right to sleep, lulled away by the sweet words "Bed Time!". Not anymore. Actually, not for many years. As I've gotten older, I've become more stubborn. Just ask my hubby. When I get really tired I tend to talk...very, very quickly. And very, very incessantly. Even as I write this it's 10:40 pm and I'm tired. I could use a good, solid night sleep, but I'm fighting it. I don't even know why. There's no one to talk to, I've already checked every website that interests me and there's nothing good on TV. Yet here I am, typing my lil' fingers off, just for the sake of typing.

I'm going to eat pizza tomorrow, for the first time in MONTHS. I'm excited. I also get to bond with the Kellerman clan some more...it's gonna be good.

Okay, I'm outtie.

My Babies

Here they are!

My lovely little lady is Midgie...Midgie Moo Moo, or just plain Moomer for those of us who know her more intimately. For quite a while she's suffered an upper respiratory infection; however, she's feeling QUITE lively and frisky these days. In fact, she's feeling SOOOO healthy that Mommy can no longer take naps...at least not without Midgie running up and down and up and down and up and down Mommy's legs, arms, head...you get the picture.

To the right is my big boy. This handsome fellow is Bucket: he enjoys long naps in the window, wrestling with his little sister and annoying his Momma with early morning nibbles on exposed fingers and ears. He's now weighing in at 12 lbs and is hoping to break 15 lbs by his first birthday.

Since we don't have any human kids, these will be my pictures for a while...I'll try to get some other fun stuff too!!

My new camera's here! My new camera's here!

I'm SOMEBODY! (Thanks Steve Martin)

So, I just got my brand new 7.2 mega pixel digital camera!! Whee!! Unfortunately, Matt's out of town and I can't get the cats to sit still long enough to get a good shot, so I don't have anything fun to post yet. However, I may soon introduce you to The Clampets Came to Williamsburg...just not yet. I just wanted to whet your appetite...photos coming soon!

Why do they call them "conveniences"?

Modern conveniences? I think not. As the world rolls on each day we create more and more ways to make life easier...and 400 ways in which that convenience can break down and send us plummetting beyond the dark ages.

In case you haven't met them yet, I have the most ADORABLE nieces! Sarah and Ella (see them both at www.thegabelfamily.blogspot.com). Sarah came into my life when she was four years old; now, she is growing into young womanhood and is quite social and active. I don't get to see her nearly enough, but I try to stay in touch. She is in PA with her mom, stepdad and new baby sister. I have some pictures...I should put them up.

On the other side of the country is Ella. She is the first baby. She is spoiled. She is a boonchkin. As she is the off-spring of my sister, communication is more frequent. As she is the first-born to my sister, pictures are ABOUNDING. As I am on the other side of the country, I DEMAND lots of pictures posted on-line so I can watch her grow from a distance. Did you SEE the swimming pictures?!?! Oooo....

Well, I thought it would be great to finally comment and let my brother-in-law see that people DO look at their family blog and a photo documentary of Ella's first year is more than appreciated by some of us. Yes...that's when modern conveniences stepped in to help out!

Okay...I cannot post a comment annonymously. Sure, not a problem. I'll just put my name. Wait...no name, just your account information. Do I have a blogger account? (FYI - I maintain 497,839 blogs from the same email address. I'm geting to know these people well). Well that shouldn't be a problem, let me just type in my info...verify my login? Hmmm. If I have to, I guess I'll press this icon...what? Where am I now? This account has not been activated? Maybe I messed up, lemme try this again. Ten minutes later: I KNOW THAT LOGIN IS UNAVAILABLE - IT'S MINE! I'M JUST TRYING TO LOG IN!!!

And so, no comment. Frustrated and confused that I have somehow been lost in the vast pit that is cyberspace, I rush frantically to my blog dashboard knowing full well that I posted things earlier this week and hoping I can still get back in! NO problem :) All 400,000 blogs, still up and running. Apparently the folks at google and blogger don't mind my smart-%$# blogs, they just don't want my smart-&%@ comments.

Errr. (If you're a frequent viewer you may remember that I ranted and raved about technology about a year ago too...). I'm too worked up to go on now. Okay, I'm calming down. I'm gonna leave for a while. I don't even wanna get started on the stupid pop can deposit in the state of Michigan and how everyone is more than willing to take your $1.20 per 12 pack, but they can refuse to take your cans back for any of a zillion reasons because the companies (let's call them Cepsi and Poke) can refuse to take the cans, so we're paying all kinds of money that we'll never get back because I guess they can't recycle a can with some dirt, but my husband could tell you otherwise, but I'm just rambling now...(the title all makes sense now, doesn't it?)

Matt's Miracle...take a look

Hey folks, more news on Matt's medical condition. Check it out at www.mattsmiracle.blogpsot.com

Death of a Cat Post

After 12 months of distinguished service it is with great sadness and a humble heart that I announce the untimely departure of the Cat Tree. Originally purchased for Inky and Saber Booy, they self-lessly willed the 8', multi-tiered pole to our baby girl Roo. Though Roo loved the tree, and Inky & Saber tolerated it, it was never as loved as by Midgie & Bucket. More than a scratching post, it served as a bed away from home, an excellent piece of exercise equipment as well as a toy and playmate.

The cat post will be laid to rest in the American Waste garbage tote in Westchestertonfieldville this afternoon. A small reception will follow immediately following.

What a GREAT day!!!

Wow! What a great day!!! FIRST - I JUST got my new laptop. Woo hoo!! (Homer Simpson)

For my birthday I combined birthday money, gift cards and a store credit to put towards a Sony Vaio. I was still short but my WONDERFUL, HANDSOME, COMPASSIONATE husband told me not to worry about it...he pitched in the rest of the money for my birthday!! :) (SOOOO many reasons I married that man).

And then - AS IF THE COMPUTER ISN'T ENOUGH - Matt called today to tell me about some tickets his boss gave him...TO THE RED WINGS GAME THIS SUNDAY!!! Yes, that's right! I will be going to the Wings game in TWO DAYS!! Until then, boy will I learn everything about this beauteous machine :)

I feel so competent

I've never considered myself a great driver. I mean, I drive out of necessity, for no other reason. If I could translate myself daily I would never get into a car again, but I must endure.

HOWEVER! This past week I've realized that, no matter how much I hate driving, I am by no means the worst driver in the world. Lemme tell you about my encounters with Vanity Girl and Time to Retire.

First, Vanity Girl. 2/5/07 - every school from Holland up to Central Lake, from Ludington over to Gaylord, is closed. It's 3 degrees with a wind chill 15-25 below zero; visiblity is sketchy and the roads are sheet ice because its too cold for the salt to work. I'm going to run errands and am stuck behind vanity girl. On the above day she is driving her friend across town, but she feels unpretty. She decides to put on MASCARA while DRIVING on SHEET ICE!!! But it gets better...when she's done, she puts her glasses back on. I maintain a safe 14 car-length distance...

Next, Time to Retire. 2/6/07 (My birthday, thank you very much) - schools are meeting, but its still cold as an iceberg. Pulling out of Do-It-Best hardware on Zimmerman Rd. is a cute couple, granny and gramps driving their 26' long Cadillac-Towncar-Lesabre beast of an automobile. I can barely feel my toes with the heat on in my car. They are driving down the road, single digits mind you, with their back driver side door WIDE OPEN! I took a quick peak...nothing in the backseat. Just a wide open door. I hope someone caught up with them...

It's about that time...

I don't really have anything to post, but I figured I should put something up here. It's been almost a month! On the plus side, no one is puking (yeah!). That's pretty much it...not much else to detail right now. I promise, if anything exciting happens I WILL let you know :)

Merry Christm..HUAHHHH!!!!

Merry Christmas!

I'm at my parents house this year and the place is PACKED!! We've got 8-10 adults at any given time, 2 kids and 5 cats. With only four bedrooms and two full bathrooms, its a tight squeeze. Especially this year...

We've got a few family traditions that I look forward to each year (in detail in one of my previous posts), but just to recap: opening gifts on Christmas Eve, Shrimp & Baby Back ribs...I enjoy them. However, in the recent years we've adopted a new tradition that we'd all like to elminiate as it seems to escalate with each passing year. For the last 4-5 Christmases someone is ALWAYS sick. [Please stop reading if you have a weak constitution] I'm not just talking "take two Tylenol and call me in the morning" sick; I mean crumpled on the couch, rolled in a ball, blowin' it out from both ends kind of sick. And its getting worse.

Lets review the most memorable years. I think it was 2003 and I had to share a room with Cammie. She and my mom both got sick that year. I got to share a room with her as she spent the night rocking on her bed moaning, "Oh God, oh God, oh God. I'm gonna die. Violet (her cat), Violet, I'm gonna die." That was a fun night for me. Got up the next morning and Michelle and my dad tried their hands at the Christmas Roast. Please Mom, don't get sick again.

Last year Cammie was pregnant. For three months she ate and puked up apples...Christmas was no exception.

And now we can add the great epidemic of 2006: the "It-wasn't-the-turkey Outbreak". Once again (I'm seeing a trend here) Cammie got things started; a few hours later she took out my husband, Matt. We thought it was the turkey they'd eaten. No one else had eaten it and no one else was sick - we're safe :) Yeah right. We dropped like flies: Karin, Mom, Sarah, Aunt Linda. Right now we're in a holding pattern, but there are more people coming tonight so we might be able to take a few more out with us!!!

As I thought about ways to commemorate this "happy occassion" I've decided to hand out the 2006 Puke Prizes. Here are our winners:

Fearless Leader: Cammie (thanks for getting it started)
Cutest: Sarah
Loudest: Matt (yeah, the neighbors called to thank us for sending him home)
Most Graceful: Mom
Most Honest: Aunt Linda
Biggest Pain in the A#* and Panic Freak: Michelle [yeah, the only non-sick one worth mentioning]

How your Christmas was far less eventful :)

Almost ready

Okay, it's almost ready! I finally picked a blogspot name, but I don't have anything ready to publish yet. However, you can check in a week or two. The new site, set up to start (gulp) letting people read/critique my writing is:

www.therehastobeabeginning.blogspot.com

I'll see you soon :)

Facing the expectation

Wow. Here I am again, sitting at the computer, easily typing yet another blog for my site. There may be a dozen people who read this, but there may not be any. Regardless, it really is easy for me to write about nothing. I have the been blessed with the gift of bull#@&%. When it doesn't matter, when nothing is at stake I can put together as many useless words as necessary to fill a few pages.

But what if it counted? What if it meant something?

For as long as I can remember I've been writing stories. I have pages and pages of unfinished stories, started as early as the fifth grade. I wrote fantasy, romance, adventure. I even expanded some of my favorite stories, adding a ninth grade flair to Star Wars and The Three Musketeers. However, no matter what I wrote it was only for my eyes only. I've been wondering recently - supposed I let someone else read my ideas.

I don't mind keeping a blog. There's nothing I publish here that I wouldn't tell any of you to your face, but that's just my being honest in light of the current circumstances. I've been honest with my opinions, but am I secure enough to be honest with my desires? This is how my mind processes things: to tell you what I think about you/your situation requires as much courage as going to a beach in a swimsuit. To tell you what my heart and mind have created, to put it out there for your critique and possible rejection...well that's just a nude beach.

And so I wonder why I care so much. If I can be honest in one area, why not all areas? Lots of thought, lots of prayer, and I have my revelation.

I don't care about your opinion, but I'm not about to waste my time on a fruitless venture. If I'm going to let the pen loose and get the keyboard clicking then there had better be a goal, a reason for my writing. I might as well try to publish something. I used to be afraid to fail. That kept me in my room most of my life. Fear is crippling, but I'm past that. What's holding me back? Expectation. It's very liberating to realize that, just past the fear of failure lies the bog of the expectation for failure. That is truly, honestly, an icky, nasty, stinky place. So how do I get out?

I let you read it. Scary thought, but I'd rather move through the fear and allow myself to receive criticism than to stop growing and spend my life wondering.

So, I'll be publishing a new blog soon. No name yet, but I'll let you know soon.

He didn't forget me!!!

Okay, so Matt and I are in Toronto. He's been healed of cancer, we're soaking in the glory, life is good. I feel the urge to look at my engagement ring. Though I haven't cleaned it, it is sparkling. We sit in the same spot each day. Every time I look at my ring, it looks different. First it had a pink hue, then yellow. Then John Arnott explains that, just as some people get gold fillings while at TACF, some women have their costume jewelry become real gems.

Hmmmm...

So, I didn't really go public with this, but Matt didn't buy me a diamond. He bought me Moissanite (which I HIGHLY recommend...it is beautiful!!!). It is EXACTLY the ring I've always wanted and we could afford it. Well, we decided to go to a jeweler just to see if the ring is STILL Moissanite. The only way to tell is a light refraction test, which is done with a digital do-hicky. There is no real room for human error here.

Well, I happened to be in the mall today and decided to have it checked out. Now please read carefully: Matt bought a .86 karat Moissanite ring. The ladies at the store told me that, not only is my ring a DIAMOND...they believe it's a FULL KARAT!!! Oh my, oh my, oh my!!!

This is just about the most wonderful thing. It wasn't anything I asked for, expected or even ever considered, but God never forgot about me. With everything that we went through with Matt, God remembered me :) I can't wait to show y'all my new ring!!! (Honey, I love you!!!)

PLEASE: DON'T ENABLE ME!

Note to everyone: I am NOT allowed to read fiction or get cable...EVER!!! Please, I beg you. In the future I am only allowed non-fiction and televised sporting events - I MEAN IT!! Would you like to know why? Okay, here is the reason why - I GET TOO INVOLVED!!! Here are some examples:

1) I finally decided to read the sixth Harry Potter book. It's a long one. One night Matt & I went to bed and I decided to read just one more chapter (yeah, right). He glanced at the clock at 1:00 am and 2:00 am. When he rolled over at 3:00 am I told him not to look and assured him that it was late and it wouldn't happen again [mostly because I finished the book the next day].
2) 2002, Lakeland, Florida. I decided to read the Lord of the Rings for the first time ever. I started just after my birthday in February and went to Florida the first weekend in March. I stayed up so late each night reading that when I finally got to the end of the series it was about 2:30 am in a hotel room in Lakeland; I was so sleep deprived that it took me an hour to read the last few chapters because I was crying so hard that I couldn't focus on the pages.
3) And the kicker: I came to visit my sister and her new baby in Vegas. There was nothing on TV so we tossed the Gilmore Girls into the DVD player (she has seasons 1-5). Let me repeat - I GET TOO INVOLVED! I watched my first episode sometime on Oct. 25th. Today is Nov. 1st and in the past week I watched ONE HUNDRED AND TEN episodes of the Gilmore Girls! I'd never seen it before...I got sucked in...I had to see what happened...I AVERAGED THREE HOURS OF SLEEP A NIGHT SO I COULD WATCH FIVE SEASONS IN EIGHT DAYS!!! That's 4950 minutes of Gilmore Girls...82.5 hours!!! Oy vay!

This is why I can't do fiction or television. I beg you, please, DON'T LET ME NEAR EITHER OF THESE...I NEED THE REST! I am currently incapable of removing myself from the situation so I need to avoid it all together. It's too late for me in regards to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and the Gilmore Girls as I will be eternally hooked, but please, I BEG you: if you have read a great new book or are involved in a hot new series, KEEP IT TO YOURSELF! I need to sleep. I need the rest. Besides, with friends like Luke, Han, Aragorn, Arwyn, Sookie, Rory and Michele my social calendar is already booked.

Thank you for not being an enabler.

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin

(DISCLAIMER: Thursday night Shaina & Beth would not go to Meijer with me...I had to go all by myself. This has nothing to do with my blog.)

Ah, pumpkins. I've always been a fan of pumpkin pie, but I decided to do something different this year. First up: pumpkin soup. It's actually supposed to be pumpkin and shrimp soup, but does anyone else think that sounds icky? Maybe I'll try it yet. But anyway, here are my suggestions:
- my recipe called for sauteed carrots, onions and garlic to be pureed and added to the canned pumpkin & milk. I would sautee twice as many veggies and only puree half. If you don't like shrimp with your soup it lacks substance.
- possible meat alternatives: bacon or pork or ham.
- if you don't have all spice, add extra ginger, some nutmeg and cinammon.
- it's very good with a nice piece of whole grain toast.

And my newest experiment - pumpkin cheesecake! Woo hoo!! Some GENIEUS found a way to combine pumpkin pie and cheesecake! Again, here are my ideas:
- when it calls for cream cheese to be room temperature it really means about 70 degrees. if your house is only 64 (such as mine) the cheese isn't quite soft enough. you may want to nuke it a bit for a nicer consistency (otherwise it looks like there is cottage cheese in the cake, but its still good!!)
- 1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs does NOT equal 20 squares (no matter what the recipe says). For the record, 20 squares yields about 2 1/2 cups of crumbs, so you will have too much crust (and no, I didn't put it all in there, but I did forget to add extra butter)
- try not to think about what's in it...it'll just ruin the experience.

If I get any more great pumpking ideas, I'll let you know, k?? (Oh...don't forget the pumpkin pancakes!!!)