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Sunday, October 31, 2010

The Neighbor's Painted Plywood Cut-Out Treasure

A couple of posts ago there was a comment left.  I decided to get the picture proof to show you.  So this is for Will who said about country neighbors, "the slavering curs guarding their garden gnome and painted plywood cut-out "treasure.""




This is obviously some sort of Halloween display.  Want to know where it's located?  Right across the street.  Everytime I look out the door I get to see this.  I think someone's been watching too much Shark Week. 

And guess who else gets to see this?  Rowan.  5 year old Rowan.  Man eating sharks that come out of the ground...right next to her own front yard.

Friday, October 29, 2010

The Good The Bad And The Ugly...Day 2

The Good is that I made it back onto the dreadmill for another 5k.  I managed to shave off almost 3 minutes from yesterday's time.  The little training books say I'm supposed to take a day off now. I guess I'l be back running on Sunday.  I can say that my friend said pain is weakness leaving the body.  I really thought the pain would be in my stomach, since that's where the weakness is.  For me it' in the hip and outter leg areas.  I'm using an all natural remedy to see if it helps. 

The Bad was not heard from today.  I know that this is their surgery day.  I didn't expect to get a phone call.  They won't be happy on Monday.

The Ugly was 07:13 this morning.  Thank you Rowan.  07:14 she starts nagging to take a bath.  07:14:30 Rowan is being told how I haven't even had coffee and she's already nagging me and we aren't taking no freaking bath till after I get some coffee.  07:15  BooHooHoo  as she runs to her room.  I'm thinking the voodoo doll won't work as well when they are slobbery wet with self -entitled tears. 

She returns within a minute, composed, and ready to join in family participation. 

Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Good and the Bad...Day 1

Right now I'm chronicling two events for you.  For now they'll be called the Good and the Bad.  They could randomly switch places but I hope the Good doesn't become the Bad because that will probably mean I've injured myself. 

The Good is that I registered to run in the Race for the Cure.  The logo on the right will take you to the donation page for me, if you feel like doing that sort of thing.  When you go over there you'll notice that a big fat $0 has been raised.  I think they should have put the $30 I paid to register as counting towards the goal but whatever.  You'll also notice they take donations as low as $5, which I might have to contribute because I'm not going in with a big fat $0. 

This is my first official race.  It's a 5k, or 3.11 miles.  I've actually run this distance several times by accident.  For some reason I thought a 5k was 3.67 miles.  I'm an overachiever.  So if you donate rest assured that I can actually win finish the darn thing.  I've never actually done the running thing outside either.  I run on my treadmill in the security of my home.  Don't you live in the country?  Yes, I live in the country.  If I were to go running out by my house, I'd be running.  Running for my life!  The Dumb People think living in the country = I need to own 3 or 4 big, hopefully ferocious dogs to guard my land.  Because that's what a bunch of women joggers do, case out the joint to get their hands on your broken-down-lawn-ornament El Camino in the front yard.  Please.

Today I ran a 5k and my time was 50 minutes and 6 seconds.  I'll be running tomorrow and let you know how much I've improved.  Rowan also thinks I should not run this race because, "I might get hot so it's not a good idea."

The Bad is my nose.  Here's where I'm at now.  Had the appointment cleared and ready to go and then the radiology place calls and says they aren't in network, even though they told the doctor's nurse they were.  Now they're not. 

I call the nurse back today and she's all, "huh?"  And it's so weird because yesterday everything was fine.  O.k. she's calling the radiology place back and then she'll call me back.  She calls back and tells me they are out of network and I should call my insurance to try and find out who's in network.

I call my insurance who says the radiology place is out of network.  I ask well who is in network closest to my house so I don't have to drive 70 miles to the one place that I know is in network but trying to avoid because of the 70 mile freaking trip.  He tells me the closest place is the 70 mile one.  Then he reads me my coverage, "unless the facility is further than 30 miles from the residence."  AHA!  The For Sure facility is 35 miles one way from my driveway, residence, so I should get the upgrade to use to the original facility I wanted that's right in my town. 

He tells me that my town is only 24 miles from the 70 Mile facility.  I tell him but my house is 35 miles from the 70 Mile facility and he just said anything over 30 miles from a person's residence.  He's not sure because it's done from Google maps....Apparently it's 24 miles if I go off road, through the woods, streams, and cattle ranches instead driving on a state approved highway.

So now I'm waiting till Google decides where I live and which facility I'm supposed to use.  So instead of going to the facility by my house for a 5 minute procedure this morning, I'm still waiting to find out how to use my coverage I've paid all year for...

To Be Continued....

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Warning: It's Gonna Get All Bloggy Up In Here

I spend a LOT of time reading other people's blogs and then whining that I don't have time to write.  Or there's nothing as interesting happening around here.  Face it, some of you can play a sweet tune with your words all strung together and fittin so nice. 

Luckily for me I have been blessed dumped with a couple topics I'll be excessively blogging about starting tomorrow.

I'm getting a nose job.  Not what you think and the red tape hoops will be many.  The aggravation will be large.  Expect to see lots of !#$$%%$ and cursing several generations of someone's family for any perceived slights.  You'll understand when I write about my love for insurance.

I'm registered to run in an actual race...with other people that run, like for real.  I'm hoping there will be at least one person pushing their 50 pound stroller with their 3 year old and then I'm guarranteed not to come in last. 

I hope to see you soon with progress in these 2 fortuitous subjects. 

Friday, October 22, 2010

Decorating the Living Room

For most of us there is a mystique about decorating.  At least I like to think there is and I'm not the only bozo challenged person when it comes to decorating.  When I look in magazines or on blogs it seems like a very hard task and I will have to buy a lot of new stuff because my stuff doesn't look anything like the picture. 

I was inspired by Shiny Red Houses to do something, which I didn't do, except in my head.  She said to take everything out of the room.  I didn't do this because where was I going to put it?  And I would definitely be bringing the couch back in.  But I did mentally take everything out and save only the things I liked and started imagining them in different places. 

Next I had to come up with a color theme.  I didn't have a color theme.  Or I thought I didn't have a color theme.  You're supposed to have 3 main colors and then accent with 1 or 2 other colors.  They said this on BHG so you know it's true. 

I started taking pictures of the things I did like and weren't going to be going anywhere.

Notice anything?  All my favorite stuff has 3 colors with 2 accent colors.  Red, tan, and brown with accents of black and little bit of green.  In fact, this blog's background has those colors.  So if you're having trouble with colors, they are probably already all around you.

Now I could make a plan of attack.  This included wearing new ankle boots and pretending I had tons of money.
Something you hear on all the shows is how things "tie" together.  One thing that can really tie a room together is the rug.  This is the one thing I knew I should spend money on because it would get the most use, I would have it awhile really really long time and need to like it..a lot.  I like it because it has my colors and also has floral patterns with nice square ocd shapes.  This rug totally works for me!  Not to mention that it's soft as a baby's butt.  There's serious chastisement for putting shoes on it.


Something else I knew would change a look is throw pillows on the couch.  When I brought these home Jace said, "oh god, you brought home more pillows."  Pillows tend to breed like rabbits around here.  I don't know why I think just the right pillow will bring me pure happiness, but I've got about 20 pillows that will all attest they thought they were THE ONE.  I had the brown pillow already.  I bought a 2 pack of the solid red pillows and a 2 pack of the pillows with squares.  Each 2 pack was $12. 

Here are the remaining things I bought.  I needed a picture frame because I had a new picture to display.  The mirror tray is actualy a mirror that hangs on a wall.  It was on clearance for $7.  I left the hardware on the back so I can hang it later on if I want.  I have a soft ottoman so for now I'll use it as a hard surface to set things on like those candles.  I got the candles and glass holders on clearance for $.48 each.  My other most favorite purchase was this blanket throw.  It's super soft and the colors are gorgeous.  I could've made this but by the time I finish it would be next summer and no one wants a blanket in the summer.  I need it now.

 


Isn't she cute?  I'm going to eat her up.  It has the total "aww" factor because she's sticking her tongue out.  I let her pick out her clothes because I remember the horrendous outfits in my school pictures that were picked out by not me.


Here is the result of my hard work.  $150.  I was having unclean thoughts about the chair in my bedroom.  Mostly that I wanted to move it to the living room.  I'm still looking for the perfect slip cover for it and the ottoman.  For now we will just have to live with it.  There's other furniture on the other side of the room and I can say that the rug really did tie it all together.  It created a smooth transition all the way across the room.  There's a couple of other things that I will do/add to the room soon.  I need bookshelves as you will see there is no t.v. in this room.  Shelves are kind of like pillows in this house.  They keep showing up...everywhere. 

I am really happy with my results.  I love the colors.  It reminds me of really good pasta sauce and fried food.  It makes me feel cozy.  So thank you BHG and blogosphere for helping me understand decorating and figuring out I already had most of the stuff I needed. 

Sunday, October 17, 2010

The Fake Grandparent, i.e. Not the Same Dad I Grew Up With

It has come to my attention that there's some funny business going on around here.

For this school year, my Father has volunteered to pick up Rowan once a week from school.  He lives right around the corner from her school.  So it didn't bother me when he said he was going to need a booster seat for the  Papa truck, the pink one, not the brown one.  Pink seat, not pink truck.  His truck is silver.

Now, he comes to see me at the farmer's market every week.  It's a mixed blessing.  It's good to converse but not about putting the old ladies in his apartment complex into slavery crocheting hats for me.  It's also not good to come see me and let everyone know he's arrived by hitting the metal pole  with his truck.  Don't worry, the truck barely goes over 5 miles an hour...downhill.  He is the slowest driver on Earth. 

I thought it was cute that he came to see Rowan and they would do a little handshake and she would say, "I love you Papa."  And he would say, "oh that's nice."  My dad does not say I love you to anyone.  And he gave her money.  I know.  Shock and Awe.  The dude didn't run his air conditioner ALL SUMMER. AT.  ALL.  In Texas. 

Anyway, Jace casually mentions this final nail in the coffin evidence to me.  He went to pick up Rowan, who by some unseen force is sitting on the floor quietly coloring and my dad is reading a magazine.  But on the counter there is a small plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut into perfect little squares.  With no crusts....Let it sink in.  I may need therapy for this.  For you see, growing up with my dad was not crustless square tea sandwiches.  The sandwich was made with both ends of the bread.  The whole sandwich was a big crust.  What is this guy doing?

I'll tell you what he's doing.  He's turned into a semi-sweet old guy with a secret handshake and secret tea parties.  It's very sweet to see Rowan get excited that she'll get to see Papa.  I have a slight smile on my face that she has this relationship, but I'm left to ponder why he didn't do these things when I was growing up.  And I have acceptance that that's how the parent-grandparent transition works.  I will probably do the same. 

But crustless sandwiches?  Really, dad...

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Henna My Hair

So....

The other day there were these gray hairs peeking out at me.  What to do? 

I saw a lady with raging red hair and it was beautiful.  Not for me but still an awesome color.  I told her.  That led to a conversation and my journey into henna.

The only really bad review I found was something about all your hair falling out preceeded by the sounds "sizzle and pop."  That was hardly going to deter me.  I need something way worse like "head fell off." 

Now where to get it.  The flaming red haired lady told me she had to order it off Amazon because they don't sell it at the Sally's anymore.  Fine, I look on Amazon for 2 days before finally deciding.  I order.

Two days later I'm in the local health food geek store and what do I see...the same henna hair color I had ordered from Amazon...cheaper.  So you know what I did.  I bought some more.  This time I had a chance to really study the box and make an informed decision.  The store had several brands of natural hair coloring, who knew? 
This is the brand that I chose but I picked Swedish Blonde.  Turns out henna comes in a variety of colors.


Now you're asking how does it work?  The short version is that it's temporary, coats the hair with this new color instead of stripping the old color and replacing it with a new color through chemicals. 

I'm not sure about the old stories of henna.  Like the sizzle pop stories.  The brand I bought has been making it for 10 years and almost all of the ingredients are from organic farming.  It's made mostly of essential oils and plant extracts. 

I asked Jace what he thought.  He asked if I was from Sweden.  He said I didn't really look like the girl on the box, and for that matter he didn't resemble the guy on the box with a cinnamon bun on his head.  All this means is he likes it.  What do you think?


*on a side note:  I've been busy crafting stuff for a festival which is why the posts are not here so much.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Scum-Sucking Carnies

We've been reading a book with Rowan every night about a carnival.  Mainly it's a story to teach kids not to blow their money on the games and have fun going on the rides.  Lucky for me I found an ad for a carnival in a neighboring town and I opened my big mouth and said we should go.

I did think this was a pretty good carnival.  I was also spying on the arts and crafts booths to get ideas for an upcoming festival I'll have a booth at.  In case you're not aware, you do not take pictures of other people's art and crafts tables unless you want to get beat up.  You also do not blatantly take notes or sketches.  You hold your phone just right and pretend you are texting and receiving a really funny text from your friend and snap the pic quick, then continue chuckling as you pretend you are texting them back while walking away. 

There's was lots of carnival food.  And lots of long lines.  I did wait in one line for the funnel cake.  It was huge.  It was worth the wait.  Next time we'll take a 5 pound bag of sugar and just give Rowan a spoon. 

Next and mostly there were the rides.  I buy the bracelet for unlimited rides.  When I grew up I didn't get an unlimited ride bracelet.  I also didn't get funnel cake.  By God I will not let Rowan live a life of torture!
So that I could do all that sneaking around the craft booths, Jace got an unlimited ride bracelet, too.  And that's where we should have stopped.  But part of the book we've been reading was about the games.  So I coached them both about how this was going to go down.  Let Rowan lose or win a dinky prize and we walk away.  Right?  Easy plan. 

We walked up to the balloon game.  A cigarette smoking, half toothless grin, twinkle in his eye carnie knew just what to do.  We paid for 3 darts.  Rowan threw her's at the balloon but it landed on the ground.  Jace took the other two and popped the balloons.  The carnie gave him another dart "on him" and Jace missed.  I said to stop.  The carnie smoothed talked him a few more times but was talking so fast and LYING to a little girl about which was the large size prize...We lost $15 at that dumb game.  He convinced Rowan she was getting the giant prize and then handed her a medium one.  Then I was mad.  Jace took Rowan on some more rides and was thinking it might be good idea to stay on the ride till the next day when I would be in a better mood.  I fumed and hoped the carnie's trailor would explode in a ball of flame that night.

I have 2 more festivals coming up.  One will not have a carnival and I will have a great time.  One will have a carnival but I will eat my money before I give it to any scum-sucking carnie running a scam game.