Resurrection Sunday

Why do you seek the living among the dead?

He is not here, for he is risen.

Sock

I have started a new one.

I haven't picked a pattern yet.  The yarn is the Paton's Kroy brown rose marle that Beverly gave me a few weeks ago. 

Yes, the photo is a crappy one from my new iPhone, but that's about all I can handle tonight.

The good news is, we've got tomorrow off.  The plan is to shampoo the carpet and mop the floors, go shopping, and clean my bathroom.

I'll let you know how that goes. 

Wednesday

Yep, I know it's Thursday, but I forgot to blog Wednesday.

I had a post all planned out, and I intended to post it yesterday.

But, I got home from work, checked Facebook, watched Survivor, and went to bed.  It wasn't until after I was in bed that I remembered I'd forgotten to blog.  And I wasn't going to get back up and do it.

But if I had blogged, I would have shown you a photo of my sock progress.

I would have told you that I had completed the pattern repeats and was ready to start the toe decreases.  I would have followed it up today with a photo of the finished pair of socks.

But since I forgot to blog, you didn't get to read any of that. (The second photo is more true to color.)

If I had blogged yesterday, I would have shown you a photo of my tray of little seedlings, and I would have shown you how my plan seemed to be working. 

I would have explained that I was putting the tray outside during the day so the little seedlings could get adequate light, and bringing it in at night to protect it from the cold.  And you could have seen from the picture that these little plants look much healthier than those I'd planted last year.

And if I'd remembered to blog yesterday, today's post would have been about how I spent all night fighting my lesbian zombie stalker whose name is Deborah Greene and bears a remarkable resemblance to Summer Glau.  I would have told you how when I told her I only did men, she flew into a psychotic rage and tried to kill me with a butcher knife, and I grabbed my shotgun and shot her point blank in the chest 7 times (I had to reload) and she still didn't die-- which is how I know she was some sort of undead creature.  And because of that, I didn't sleep well, so that was going to be all the blog post you got for today because I was really tired and wanted to go to bed early.

But since I forgot to blog yesterday, you didn't get any of that.

Pity.

Would have been a good post.

Chats On The Farmhouse Porch

1. Melanie asks "What kinds of seafood have you tried and liked? What is the most unique seafood you've eaten?
   
   I've tried lots of types of seafood, including fish, crabs, shrimp, clams, squid, crawfish, and lobster. Not sure if crawfish counts as a SEA food, but I'm counting it. The most unusual must have been the calamari fritta I had in Italy. That's fried squid for those of you who don't speak Italian.
   
2. Anne says, "An unforgettable holiday moment is_____________________. (She's on the other side of that BIG pond. I believe a holiday is a vacation on this side. )
   
   I think my unforgettable vacation moment was when we took the Great Western Tour (as my dad called it). I was only 4, but I remember it so vividly. It was on this trip that I first rode a horse (with my dad) and he showed me how to hold the reins. It was also the first time I ever saw snow in real life.
   
   
3. Arlene wants to know, "When was the last time you tried something new?"
   
   I am not fond of trying new things. I eat the same foods day after day. My routine varies very little. So, other than the occasional new recipe, I don't try new things that often. That being said, I guess it would have to be the homemade tomato soup I made a couple of months ago.
   
4. Becky asks, "Who or what inspires you?"
   
   Lots of things inspire me, but for now, I'll focus on the first inspiration in my life, my grandma. Despite being partially paralyzed from a massive stroke -- back in the 60s when there wasn't the medical technology available that we have today-- she kept on knitting, kept on crocheting, and until the day she died, I don't ever remember hearing her complain. Boy, I would have been.  Complaining, that is.
   
   
5. Madonna wants to know," How did you chose the names of your children. Wendell adds,"If you don't have kids, how do you choose pet names?"
   
   Well, the ex and I disagreed on what to name our child. I wanted to name him Luke, and the ex wanted to name him Freemont. Since I hated the name Freemont, and he hated the name Luke, we scrapped them both and pulled Cody out of thin air. Cody later thanked me for not naming him Freemont.

I hope you've enjoyed this week's chat.  Y'all come back again, y'hear?

Music Monday

Marveling at the absolute genius of Ludwig Von Beethoven. 

The Punies

Woke up this morning with a case of the punies.  Nausea, heavy chest, weak feeling, sore throat...

I hope I'm not coming down with that whatever it is that is going around.  My group leader Fernando has missed 4 days of work because of it, and he's the kind who never misses work.  Ever.

OK, maybe not ever, but he doesn't miss much.

I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and stayed home from church.

I rented The Hobbit from Amazon Instant Video.  I enjoyed it, but it wasn't nearly as good as the LOTR series.  It seemed much more cartoonish to me.

The CG was much more obvious-- at least to me, and I think that added to the cartoonish feel to it.  Also, the fight scenes had more of the feel of Japanese anime than sweeping epic. 

Overall, though, it was a pretty good -- though not spectacular-- watch.

After that, I had to watch the trilogy.  Well, I watched the first two movies.  I didn't get to Return of The King.

And I knit on my sock:

I only have 2 1/2 pattern repeats to go until I can start my toe decreases. 

Now, since I still feel terrible, I think I'll go lay down and maybe take some Nyquil. 

Not Just Eye Candy

I bought Cody a bunch of Easter candy.

Now, the real trick will be to get it down there to him before I eat it all up myself!

Dear CoWorker

Let me get this straight, you turned your dinner plate upside down on the work station, and now you're surprised that ketchup spilled onto the stand.

What did you think would happen? 

Gravity is a law. 

Seriously, dude. 

Thank you.

That is all.

Dear CoWorker

I realize that I am not exactly an expert on marriage and relationships. 

Even so,  I am reasonably sure that supergluing your wife to the toilet seat isn't exactly the best way to ensure a long and harmonious relationship.

You might want to rethink that one.  

Thank you.

That is all.

Rallies or Realities

I'm a big proponent of the Second Amendment.  I've never made a secret of it.  It is the most important Amendment in all of the Constitution.  Why?  It can be summed up in one simple, yet brilliant quote by Lt. Col. Allen West:

An armed man is a citizen.  An unarmed man is a subject.

Our rights are under a greater attack than ever before.  We must be ever vigilant.  We must be aware of what is going on, as much as we may want to hide our heads in the sand and pretend our beloved America isn't circling the drain. 

I follow a lot of pro 2nd Amendment pages on Facebook.  Recently, the owner of one of the pages went on a tirade because one particular weekend, more people attended a gun show than a nearby rally.  He spoke as if those attending the gun show instead of the rally weren't willing to stand up for their 2nd Amendment rights.  They weren't "putting their money where their mouths are", like those who attended the rally were.

I couldn't disagree more.  You see, while rallies may make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, they don't really accomplish anything--other than making us feel all warm and fuzzy, that is.

Legislation is not passed or defeated at rallies.

Laws are not upheld or struck down at rallies.

Change is not made at rallies.

Not that there's anything wrong with rallies.  Go ahead and attend them.  Hold your home-made signs.  Listen to the speaches.  Get those warm fuzzies if you like.  

But if you want to make a difference, if you want to accomplish something, if you want to make a real change, you won't be doing it at a rally.  Call your Congressman.  Write your Senators.  If you don't know who they are, find out.  Contact your State representatives -- hound them if you must.  Attend city council meetings.  Run for local office.

This is how real change is made.

As for those people attending the gun show, I see no better way of standing up for your rights than by exercising those rights.  The ones buying guns, they're the ones really putting their money where their mouths are.  Buying guns.  Arming themselves.

Preparing to defend liberty.

Because when it comes right down to it, the one who will truly be defending our rights won't be the guy holding the sign.

It'll be the guy holding the gun. 

Chats On The Farmhouse Porch

I took a vacation day today, so I could go up to Batesville and turn in my CCP applications. I got there right at-- well, a little before-- 8:00, and was done and outta there by 9:15.

That was good, because I wanted to run up to Southaven afterwards, too.  Which I did.  It was kind of a disappointing trip.

See, my friend has asked him to knit him an afghan in Pittsburgh Steeler colors, only our Wal-mart hasn't had any of the right colors in ages.  I thought surely JoAnn's would.  I was wrong.  I did buy some of this

in Cody's college colors.  BTW, those colors aren't true.  They're actually navy blue and gold, not black and gold.  I thought I'd knit him a hat and scarf for next Christmas.  And I got some more sock yarn, as my socks seem to be wearing out at an alarming rate.

Yeah, yeah, I've got a closet full, but I really liked these colors.

Then I went to Sportsman's Warehouse and looked at holsters.  I didn't buy one, but I hadn't really planned on buying one today.  I just wanted to look at some, and kind of get an idea of what I want.  Then I went to the pet store, and just came on home.  I don't like shopping.  Can you tell?

And now for this week's chat.




1. Furry Bottoms asks: Did you grow up in a small town, or a big town? Did you like it?

The town I grew up in was actually three towns that had grown so that they smashed together into one big townish like place. The total population was around 28,000. I liked it. It was small enough to still have that small town feel, but not so small it was boring. As a plus, we were only a 20 minute drive from a town of 120K , so if our town got too small, we could just go on over there.

2. Lisa wants to know: If you could pick one song to hear for the rest of your life, what would it be?
 
I have to pick just one? This is like last week's movie question. There are too many good songs out there just to pick one. Right now, though, the one I keep singing is Matt Redman, 10,000 Reasons



3. Karen asks: What are your pet peeves?
 
My biggest pet peeve at the moment is know-it-alls. They make me want to smack them up side the head.  It's even better when they act like they're an expert at something, but obviously have no clue what they are talking about.  A close second are those people who, when you ask them a question, give you as little information as possible, so that you have to keep dragging what you need to know out of them.

4. Colletta says: Do you remember your dreams? Are they in color or black and white? What is the craziest dream you've ever had?
 
I don't remember all of my dreams, but I do remember quite a few. I always dream in color. I've only had one dream in black and white in my life, and it stands out in my mind, because I felt like I was in one of those old 1920s gangster movies. Craziest dream? Well, now, it could be the baby airplane that had to have its wing amputated, or the eyeless ghoul who professed his undying love to me and wanted to marry me, or the Italians who wanted to take a live alligator back to Italy as a souvenir, or my 600 year old husband desperately trying to regain his family legacy...oh heck, just look in the right sidebar, scroll down to the Dreams link and take your pick. I do have 'em.

5. Rachel asks: What is the perfect pair of shoes for you?
 
The perfect pair of shoes would be no shoes at all. But when going barefoot isn't an option, I usually choose to wear my work boots. Even more so than my tennis shoes.  I've worn them so much they're broken in well.   I'm going to hate it when I have to get new work boots, too.

Well, that's it for this week.  Taking the day off gave me a chance to get my answers in a little bit earlier, too.  I'll have to do it again some time.

Bye for now!

Training Trumps Trying

Nobody runs a marathon by accident.

That's what our guest preacher, Dr. Eric Pratt said in church Sunday.

Nobody runs a marathon by accident.  Nobody gets up one day and says "I think I'll try to run a marathon today", and then goes out and runs a marathon.

No, people who run marathons, they put in the hours of training.  They put in the miles.  They sacrifice other things to train.  You can try all you want, but unless you put in the training, you will fail.  Training trumps trying.

It's that way with our spiritual lives, too. We aren't inherently good.  We aren't inherently Christlike.  We have to work at it. Sometimes we fail.  But we have to train, and train some more.  Now, our salvation is by faith, not by works, but living a Christlike life takes work.  We have to put in the Bible Study.  We have to put in the prayer.  We have to work at living like He would want us to.  We don't just try to be Christlike, we have to train for it.

Because training trumps trying.

In other news, I have decided that I officially hate Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn.  Every sock I've knit from the stuff-- whether it be from Supersocke or Sockittome Select-- has worn out in less than two years.  That's way too fast for the money I paid for what is supposed to be a high end sock yarn.  The El Cheapo stuff has lasted longer.

Yep, this morning I discovered a hole in the most recent pair I'd knit from it.  So, I've got one more pair OTN, but after that, no more socks from CTH.  I'll use all that stuff in my closet to do hats or scarves or something.  But no more socks.

Yesterday, I started some seeds in my seed tray.  Then I checked on them every hour to see if they'd sprouted yet.

I'm going to try putting them outside this year, so maybe they won't all die like they have in years past.  I'll just bring the tray inside if it is supposed to get below about 45'.  We shouldn't have too many more days of that, though.

I would have gone ahead and put them outside today, but we had some bad, bad storms blow through.  High winds, hail, and a tornado or two.  There was a semi truck blown off an over pass in Tupelo, and we had a tree snapped off and over some power lines on my road.  I know one of my friends still doesn't have power back.  I never lost power, thank goodness.

Buuuut, the roof at work leaks, and it drips right on my head.  It put me in mind of this old classic:



Because I'm freeeeeeee
Nothing's worrying meeeeee!

Good News, Bad News, And Eye Candy

First, the good news.

Long time readers of this blog may recall last September I got a wisdom tooth cut out.  The day I went to the oral surgeon, I had to pay $450 up front before they would do the surgery.  Then they'd bill my insurance, and either bill me or refund the difference.

A couple of weeks ago, imagine my shock when I got a bill from them for $650.

I did a little investigating, and found that they had billed the wrong insurance company.  So, I called the office and told them what I'd discovered.  They tried to make out like it was my fault, but I distinctly remember telling the receptionist that I had new insurance and giving her my card.

No matter.  They refiled, and yesterday I got a refund check for $245.  Woo hoo!  

Now, the bad news:

I got my paycheck today, and they had shorted me an entire day's pay.  I went up to HR, and they are going look in to it.  Someone probably just made an error in entering the information.  Believe it or not, even in this day and age, they still do it manually.  Whatever the reason, it'll probably take like 3 weeks for me to get my money.

Good thing I got that refund from the dentist, huh?

And finally, the eye candy:

Brass!  A friend sent me some brass casings so I can get started reloading for my new gun.  I've still got to get the stuff to go inside them, but hey, this is a start!

Not Much Going On

 I know some people say you shouldn't blog when you don't really have anything to say, but I have to.  I find that if I skip a day, then it becomes all that much easier to skip two days.  Then three.  Then four, and pretty soon I won't have a blog at all any more. 

So here I sit, just to be disciplined about blogging. 

I'm so sorry to bore you like this. 

To make up for it, I'll tell you a story...

We have a new supervisor at work.  Today is the first time I've really gotten to talk to him.  He told me that his dream job is to be a people greeter at Wal-mart when he is like 90 years old.  Yeah, that way he can pinch all the pretty girls on the bottom an totally get away with it, because nobody's going to say anything to an old man.

All right then...

I need to start taking more pictures again.  I kind of got away from it, because my old computer is so slow.  The old one with my camera program on it.  It is soooo slow. 

For some reason, the program won't install on my laptop, so that's not a solution.  I've been going through and backing up, then deleting a lot of photos to see if that will hopefully speed things up again. 

I know I'm just rambling, now, so I'll sign off and let you go on to more pleasant things. 

Thanks for bearing with me.

How To Buy An iPhone

How do you buy an iPhone?

Method 1:  Five days before product launch, buy a lawn chair and sleeping bag, and camp out for days in front of the Apple store.  Fight the crowds.  Pay $600 and walk out with a brand new iPhone.

Method 2:  Wait two years.  Go to the AT&T website.  Buy one for less than $100 and have a nice man in a brown truck bring it to you, and never leave the comfort of your own home.

I chose Method 2, and the end results are the same. I am the proud new owner of an iPhone 4S. 

I liked my Android phone, except for the memory issues, but when it came time for an upgrade, this iPhone just seemed to fit the bill.  The best part is, I could activate it online, so I didn't actually have to make a phone call!

Funny how someone with telephonophobia as bad as I have it still wants a cool phone.

Oh, and the first --the very first --app I downloaded was the Kindle app.  But of course.