Friday’s Feast

Appetizer
When you travel, which mode of transportation do you prefer?

I am a control freak, so I prefer driving. I can’t sleep in any moving vehicle anyway (again – control freak – as though I could stop a plane from crashing or a train from derailing or who knows what, simply by BEING AWAKE, but whatever. I’m a little quirky).

Soup
Have you ever met a blogging friend in person?

Only those I knew in person before they started blogging!

Salad
When was the last time you were really, really tired?

After the most recent youth retreat. I was really, really, really tired. I think I was in bed that night by 8:45.

Main Course
If you could have dinner with any one fictional character from a book or movie, who would it be?

Rob Gordon (John Cusack’s character in High Fidelity…of course, I’d also dine with Jonathan Trager, Vince Larkin or Lloyd Dobler…)

Dessert
Fill in the blank: One day, I hope to see _______________.

my Grammy in heaven.

Take the 30- Day Organizing Challenge!

I know I’m breaking my after 10 PM no computer rule but I wanted to make sure to get my organizing challenge post up!

My bedroom closet has become quite a problem area. In it, I keep clothing, sheets, blankets, scrapbooking materials, photos, memorabilia, bags/purses, shoes and various other things. The closet is NOT large enough for all this – it’s not even a walk-in closet. But yet, all of it is in there! Here are my before photos:


It’s not pretty.

But it needs to be tackled. And I know that I can do it in the next 30 days. I learned a lot through Laura and her advice for me on taking care of my office and I think I will attack this area in much the same way.

First, I will remove everything – and I mean everything – from the closet. I’m sure it needs to be vacuumed and wiped down, so I’ll do that as well. Then I will sort everything out. Things I absolutely need right now; things to be given away; things to be thrown away; things that need a new home. I want to put shelves or drawers up on the left side (I have drawer on the right already) and get something to help me divide the top shelf up better. I am also considering possibly installing a second shelf up top but that is still up for debate.

So there you have it! Happy organizing to everyone participating in the challenge!

I’m Ready!

Tomorrow begins the 30-day Organizing Challenge over at I’m an Organizing Junkie’s place!

Last time, I was a coward. I wanted to organize my office but was overwhelmed and afraid I couldn’t conquer it in 30 days so I didn’t participate. Laura was a wonderful help to me anyway and encouraged me in my office re-org – and presto! A mere four month later, it’s 2/3rds finished! I’m really very satisfied with the results – everything has a place, clearly labeled, and put away. It’s functional – which is the very best part!



I still need to clean out the closet (but that is not in too bad of shape) and set up my scrapbooking station, but the bulk of it is finished. Yahoo!

And now I am ready for the new 30-day challenge. I have two “trouble” spots I am going to focus on. My bedroom closet and my bathroom medicine cabinet. Let the challenge begin!!

Menu Plan Monday

Look at me, sticking to my goal of menu planning yet another week!

Monday – Tater tot casserole
Tuesday – pasta & shrimp scampi
Wednesday – leftovers
Thursday – out with friends
Friday – out scrapbooking (and they feed us at the crop!)
Saturday – chicken enchiladas
Snday – Easter…not sure yet what my plan is…

Pet Food Recall

This pet food recall is freaking me out. I am not sure what the best thing to do is at this point. I thought I was safe with Purina products but now they’ve recalled their Alpo wet dog food. Their website said their recall does not include any dry food or cat food but I am still concerned. Pounce treats are also being recalled, which thankfully I switched from a while back, but what’s to say the treats I give them every day after Ramona’s shot won’t be next? I almost feel like I should find a way to make their food from scratch. I had looked into this before but it’s difficult to get them the appropriate vitamins and minerals that way. I guess I will have to look into it further. Any suggestions from the pet lovers out there?

It has been a good weekend. I was still under the weather Friday night for scrapbooking but I went anyway. I made sure I came home at a somewhat reasonable time and went directly to bed and woke up feeling much better on Saturday. I’m still a bit raspy and stuffed up but much better!

Scrapbooking was great – I got 27 pages completed in my travel album, which includes my first Workcamp. I was so excited to get that completed. We are scrapbooking again this Friday evening, so hopefully I’ll get started on Workcamp from last year. I’d really like to get caught up before I go to San Diego on my next trip.

Now I am doing dishes and laundry and trying to get caught up here at home while watching my boy Junior lead the race. Yahoo!! It would be great to see him win today!

It’s time for SMART Habits Saturday! I have to admit, I’ve done well with my meal planning and better with my water drinking, but not so hot with the vitamins. I think I only took them once last week. I have such trouble with them making me feel sick; I wonder if some people just can’t take vitamins?

Unfortunately, my Weekly Home Blessing fell by the wayside last week too with the coming of my horrible cols but I did pick up and start it today (and will hopefully finish).

So with these still in play, this week I am going to add another one that may sound odd. No computer time after 10 PM unless it’s an emergency. (Emergency? you are probably wondering…well, I handle the email prayer chain for my church and if I got a call asking for congregational prayer after 10 PM, I would certainly log on and send it out. Or if I had a work deadline I had to make. Other than that, nothing.) I really think that being on the computer stimulates the brain too much and then it’s hard for me to fall asleep. I know this is probably only a very small part of my falling asleep problem but it’s something I want to try.

So there you have it!

Wahhhhhhhhh

I am sick. I came home early from work yesterday and stayed home today. I slept off and on until about 1:30 and then got up and ate some soup and laid around. I started feeling better around dinner time and now my nose is running like it will never stop. I’ve gone through a box and a half of tissues since yesterday!! I hate being sick…I know, who doesn’t? I just feel like whining.

I am supposed to be scrapbooking this weekend and nothing is going to stop that – though no one might want to sit near me!! I’ll bring my tissues. And lysol.

I found this meme over at A Wandering Heart’s Musings.

Things I’ve done are in boldtype.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree

10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise

14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can

32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them

54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs (they didn’t stay that way)
57. Pretended to be a superhero

58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater

66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children/currently raising child
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart

111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
134. Read The Iliad – and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating- rainbow trout
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ

148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident.
150. Saved someone’s life

You Are Likely an Only Child

At your darkest moments, you feel frustrated.
At work and school, you do best when you’re organizing.
When you love someone, you tend to worry about them.

In friendship, you are emotional and sympathetic.
Your ideal careers are: radio announcer, finance, teaching, ministry, and management.
You will leave your mark on the world with organizational leadership, maybe as the author of self-help books.