Wait... I Have A Blog?

I am surprised how many of you have still come by to see if I have had any inspiration. Constantly surprised by my awesome friends. Thank you for not giving up on me.

I know I have appeared to just drop off the blogging wagon. I have been quite obsessed with the ease of Facebook. This is no excuse. I still need to write. I have moved my physical existence from a rent house to our first home. Having never bought a house before, I was overwhelmed. I didn't have an actual intention to buy the house until almost Valentine's Day. We signed the contract and gave our earnest money on March 9. We signed the mountain of paperwork and got funded on April 9. The beautiful house is ours, after a mere two months.



The word "overwhelmed" doesn't really cover it. I am swamped, tuckered, lost, disorganized, cluttered.... and then overwhelmed. It all looks like such a mess. I have so much stuff that seems less valuable now that it is in the new house. I have done a lot of laundry, and cleaned and organized... and it looks as if I have done nothing. I am clearly in need of a maid, storage designer, motivational speaker and life coach. Sigh. I keep plugging away at it, hoping that I can have things down to a manageable dull roar by Mother's Day, when my Mother is coming for a visit.

I asked the previous owner to trim the bushes back away from the house, so that we could get to the water access behind them. Yeah, someone really took that the wrong way. The bushes got trimmed from the front. I don't know whom to blame, because I realize that what I said was misinterpreted. I don't like the bushes, I wanted them gone anyway. But I was hoping to wait a year or two before removing them completely, and replacing them with a stone patio.

The cats have been getting used to the new place, too. They stayed in the former house for a few days longer than we and our stuff did. They came out of the safety lockdown room (old master bedroom) and looked at Jeff as if to say, "WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!!!" They spent the first two days in the new house climbing into places I won't let them go again, sniffing everything, and staring out the windows.

Marvel decided that he needed to be in the closet in the second bedroom. A bag fell, and in his efforts to escape, he got a shallow cut on his nose. Poor baby. It worries me that he was bleeding, but it stopped pretty quickly. I am hoping that he heals quickly, too. He does not like me cleaning his wound, and he will not be happy with alcohol being on the cotton ball that comes next.

Mystic has not injured herself, but has gotten to the top of the built-in bookcase, the top of our closet in the master bedroom, and the top of a bookshelf we brought in. She is a very vocal cat, walking around talking to the Ceiling Cat, or whatever she imagines is up there.

Obviously, the cats are fine. They are both crashed on the couch next to me right now. I would put a picture here of that, but the camera is in my purse, which is currently under Mystic's head.

This has been a pleasant break. I am going to get back to the cleaning and finding of places for all my junk. Thanks for checking on me. Keep coming by, anytime. I love visitors. Feel free to come find me physically, too. But if you drop by, be warned: I will put you to work!

Have a blessed day!

Silly Saturday

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
I love to nom your branches.
Your ornaments make lovely sounds
When I knock them to the ground!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
I love to nom your branches.

The Winds And The Waves

I have to admit that Facebook has taken way too much of my time lately. I love talking, and the chat function allows me to chat with people in other states and even other countries, with no extra programs on my computer. Unfortunately for you, I have rather ignored my blog. I never run out of things to talk about, but to write it all down takes a long time for me. I do a lot of self-editing. There are drafts that you have never seen, because I used Blogger to clear my mind, not to write for publication.

I am catching up with so many people that I had lost touch with. Honestly, I was thinking about not trying to find friends from High School, because I kept up with the two or three people who really meant something to me. The rest were... stuck in the yearbooks. But then a few of my old friends found me. It just goes to show that I cannot, should not, make assumptions about my former life.

I have a host of excuses, and none of them says why I am in a funk. I don't really know myself. I just know that I am hoping to make the next year a little more interesting and a lot less sporadic. Some Word of the Posts, some pictures, not so many monologues of craziness.

Do you make resolutions? I have always made a point to NOT make resolutions. I think that serves governments better than individuals. I prefer this year to simply BE resolute. I want to do things with intention. I want to make my time on the internet productive and useful... even profitable, if I can. I want to spend more time in God's Word. I want to read more and watch TV less. I want to move more. I want to spend time in true, meaningful meditation. I want to do more with less.

I want others to know that I serve God, and Jesus is my savior. I want them to know the joy that has brought to my life, not the misery that I have put upon my own shoulders. I want to learn about faith and other things in life from my cats. I want to share what I learn with you. I want to learn from each of you.

As 2008 slows to a halt, and 2009 winds up in preparation to fly, I wish for you the Peace that passes all understanding. We may not live in a peaceful world, but His Peace will calm us in the eye of the storm. Please enjoy this song by Scott Krippayne. (I found a fan video on You Tube.)



P.S. Marvel is snoring. Have you ever heard a cat snore?

Discount Spelling Causes Business Laughs Galore

Word of the Post
Today's word is: palindrome
/pal"in*drome/ noun
The word literally means to run back again. This is the term for a word or phrase that is the same both forward and backward. Examples: Hannah, lol, madam. Go check out Weird Al Yankovic's song called BOB. The whole of the lyrics are palindromes.
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I just want to say that I have not forgotten my blog. I have not forgotten any of my diligent readers. I have taken pictures, so this should make up for the lack of words, right?

This is a local Discount Tire store that recently opened. They need a new sign painter, can you tell me why?

This is the first Cat Scan of the cool box we got from Flea. Marvel is soft and sweet, and curious to know what was in the box. I think the package passed the scan.

This was the Second Opinion. Mystic is very good at knowing when something is not for her, and getting into it anyway. By now, the box has been opened, emptied, and still passed the thorough scan.

The mug came! DH was so excited! He is the one who won the contest for her picture, and he chose to get a mug (the other choice was a t-shirt) with his own caption. Would this qualify Fred and Bessie as LOLCows? (As opposed to LOLCats with their own website.)

The caption that won the day and the mug! I still have yet to see DH use his mug, but it has been washed and is now waiting for his hot cocoa. We need cooler weather so he can be happy to drink hot cocoa.

Not to gross you out or anything, but this was my work today. We had a wooden seat that was old, and cracked and needed to be changed. This job took me almost an hour and a half. The removal of the old took FOREVER! The cleaning up and attachment of the new (pictured here) took less than ten minutes. Yeah, I took a shower after this, because... eew.

There are these pretty flowers that grow in the summer at my house. There were once daffodil bulbs in the little flower patch by the porch. I don't even know what this stuff is, but it is brilliantly pink, and there is just one localized patch of them. I have several pictures of them. I also had the mosquito bites to prove that I was outside in the cool, cool, cool of the evening for more that two seconds.

THIS is the oddest picture I think I shall ever see. This is a marching band, in the shape of the State of Oklahoma (it is upside down from his nosebleed seat).

This was taken by MY DH, at the Oklahoma State vs. Troy football game this past Saturday. Now, anyone who knows my DH knows that he is an OU (University of Oklahoma) fan, and that naturally means he is not an OSU fan. But when you get free tickets handed to you, you take them, no matter what team you watch.

DH's friend from his Friday Night Finals job had an extra ticket, and offered to take DH to the game. DH was a good boy, and didn't wear OU stuff to an OSU game. He went because I said he could, and because he loves college football. He had a blast, and both Oklahoma teams won against past troubles. All in all, it was a good night. I was surprised he wanted to go.

This is my friend Pam and her daughter Tulle, playing the "Beating Nemo" game at a gathering after a church service. The tail gave way long before the rest of the fish gave up its candy. Tulla is a cutie, and when everyone had gotten their fill of destroying the pinata, DH was standing nearby while Pam and Tulle and I were cleaning candy off the ground. She didn't say anything to him, but she went and got his hand, and brought him over to "help" pick up the candy. We all got a good laugh out of it. Pam said that DH had been told, and that he was expected to help. He stopped helping when Tulle went back inside... the ground is a long way down from 6 ft up.

"He touched the butt!" This is the punishment for being Nemo. He pooped Tootsie Rolls. It was way more violent than a church group should have had so much fun with.

This is my MIL petting the biggest dog I have seen in a long time. A few weeks ago, we went to DH's Great Uncle's funeral in TX. This was Great Uncle's dog, Klondike. Gentle Giant of a dog, sweet and friendly, and just looking for someone to scritch his ears.

He was as big as half the couch. He is getting old, too. It took a lot to get up from the floor when he laid down... and he laid down right in the middle of the room several times. There were so many of us in the house, poor Klondike was always in the way. What would you do for a Klondike dog? I did a lot of ear scritching. And I nearly lost a leg when he sat on me! I was originally in that seat he is blocking, and my circulation was cut off. DH said once that he could eat our two cats, and nobody would notice. (Of course the cats would notice, and I would notice them missing!)

Tomorrow, if not before, one of my friends is having her third baby. She is scheduled for a C-section tomorrow morning, really early. I am going to help her dad with babysitting her twins while she is early in the hospital. Yep, you read that right. She has twin boys, and is having another boy with this delivery. Did I mention that the twins are barely over a year old? No? Oh, well that seemed important. The boys are so cute, and another will only be more cuteness in the world. Her husband works so hard, and at last news to me, was looking for another job.

I need to go shopping. If it were only for shoes and hair bands, it would be fun, but this is for staples. Not the kind that go into paper, the kind that are required shopping list items.

Enjoy your adventures this week!

Mug Meme

I used to be crabby about memes. I don't really like them. They seemed a waste of time. Like blogging isn't, right? So, I have decided to stop being so crabby. I can choose which memes I participate in, and which ones I don't. I just need to lighten up. Which is why I am hoping to unload so much stuff when I finally get to do the garage sale.

I am supposed to show you pictures of my Mugs. Jan told me to just dust them off, not clean them all. Well, as you can see, there are a lot of them, and they are all pretty dusty. These hang on a hat rack, on the right side of my dining room window to the back yard. The top three are Garfield collectibles from McDonalds many decades ago. The middle four and the middle of the bottom three are what Jack and Ron called Butt Mugs. They are pictures of the KYIS 98 Morning DJs' butts, and many of them have autographs. They sell for a lot of money in this area, if you have one that someone missed. I know, silly. Don't ask. They are nice guys. Bottom row left is Celestial Seasonings in the pattern of the Mandarin Orange Spice. I got this years ago, not at their factory this year. Bottom row right is Rt.66.


This next picture is the left side of the dining room, where I hang more mugs on a larger hat rack. This batch have been dusted in the past two months, so there is not nearly so much dust. Top to bottom, and left to righ; Row 1t: DH's Big Blue Band from High School; Mary Englebreight "Life is a chair of bowlies"; handmade colorful mug with little imprints of cat sillouettes; Sleeping Beauty. Row 2: Niagara Falls; Maxine "Just because you're in love, don't go getting disgusting in public."; Maxine "Don't worry if I bite your head off. I'll spit it out."; Hallmark comic "Please, please, PLEASE let my car start this morning!"; DH's fave college team, OU. Row 3: My High School, Farmington NM Scorpions, the front is our school logo, the back is a list of the 300+ graduates names. VERY TINY print; Oklahoma Christian University logo; Precious Moments mug that has my name across a heart; handmade mug that my Aunt S bought for me for Christmas about 10 years ago, it has buttons designed on it, and a scripture printed out, Psalm 33:3.


The next two pictures are three mugs I got on my trip to Colorado in April. The first is the best chocolate in my little world. Not a bad mug either. The handle is really chunky, and has a little imprint for your thumb. Nifty!


The next two are mugs we bought at the Celestial Seasonings store. We were planning to come home and join a Scrabble Tournament at our favorite coffee shop. I brought the mugs, and let everyone use them. We didn't drink out of them, and we all cheated with them, so at least it was equal cheating. They have many words all around the sides (some repeated, but hey, it's a start) that start with the letter on the tile picture.


This next one, I tried to get a picture of the tiny print on the bottom, but the picture just came out white. It says the cup was made in Occupied Japan. This is big, because there are not a lot of pieces that were left intact. Occupied Japan had a problem with being Occupied, so when they kicked out the invaders, they destroyed a lot of beautiful pieces. I have a larger dish also made in Occupied Japan, but not in this pattern.


There you have it. Muggy Chelf's Collection of Collections.

I won a contest over at Flea's blog. I named a Chicken. I got the chicken in the mail today, and opened it. But I was running late, and I left the tan puffy envelope, with the chicken inside, on our couch. When we came back from our mid-week Bible classes (and the dinner the church serves on Wednesday nights) we found this: An empty envelope.


Then DH hollers to me from our Bedroom. "Did you have the chicken back here?" I said no, I left it in the living room. Marvel, I am pretty sure, stole my chicken, and took it back to the bedroom, and left it like he leaves his Gift of Mouse toys. This is at the foot of the bed, on my side, near a pile of throw blankets I keep meaning to wash.


Poor "Fowler" (I won by Flea's helper-son picking my name suggestion for the chicken) was put in Kitty Toy P.O.W. Camp. He was chewed before he even got to fly. So sad. I still haven't removed the tag, and I can see that the cat chewed the tag a bit. I am surprised, really, that the head isn't gone, and the thick rubber isn't chewed to tiny bits. I have put Fowler in a safer place for the night. I think he needs to come to the family reunion in Kansas this weekend. I just need to make sure that the mean boy cousins don't attach him to a rocket.

It All Depends On Your Definition

Word of the Post
Today's word is: perk
/perk/
Today, we get several words for the cost of one. Ah, the perks of being a reader here at Chelfspace.
1. verb. To perk; to make smart, to straighten up, to display jauntily or saucily, to erect. As in, to perk the ears. Also, perk as a peacock.
2. verb. To gain or regain energy. I perked up after my nap.
3. noun. A perquisite (abbr.), which is an incidental benefit awarded for employment. A company car is a great perk.
4. verb. Percolate (abbr.), which is to strain through. I love the smell of coffee perking.
5. adjective. Perky, as to be bubbly with enthusiasm, to the point of annoying others. Katie Couric is paid to pretend to be perky.
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This week has been an adventure.

Saturday, June 14, DH and I were honored to pick up Niki and Benny and Max at the airport, so they could run Camp Zenith at O.C. They had an amazing week, and I got to help a few days. I dearly miss my days of being a counselor at Four Corners Encampment in CO. Kids can ask the deepest questions, and they take home a fire from camp that is a high like none other. They learn that there are other kids struggling in the same ways, and they learn to lean on the strong for support. Unfortunately, they also learn to let the weak drag them back down sometimes. Teens are just as human as the rest of us, but learning to handle their crazy hormones, too.

Monday, June 16, DH got up around 7. He cleaned up a hairball. (We do have two cats as masters) Then he took his shower, got dressed complete with tie, went to feed the cats. He came and kissed me goodbye with the "I love you" I get every day. His pattern is set.

Tuesday morning, June 17, at about 5:00, I heard one of the cats giving us a new "gift"... so I got up to clean up. I did not sleep well that night, so getting up early like that meant that I stayed up. Tuesday was a rather long day for me.

Wednesday, June 18, DH was scooping the cat boxes (his job now, so that someday when I have kids, I don't have to touch that junk and make me and the kiddos sick!), and rounding up the trash from all over the house, as is his pattern before we leave for our midweek Bible study. He was just dumping his own trash into the bag from my can (reusing those plastic bags - our small bit to be more green), when he discovered a treasure. The "hairball" from Monday was actually a "hairy" MOUSE!

We always use massive amounts of tissues or a paper towel to pick up the yuckies, so I know DH didn't actually touch the mouse, but now I am grossed out by the fact that there was a dead mouse in the trash on the other side of the room for THREE DAYS. And I am pretty sure that DH is grossed out that he pick up a dead mouse. He says that fortunately, there was enough time between the touching and the noticing that the disturbedness was lessened. Still... Ew.

I don't know which cat caught it, but they put it on the floor at the foot of the bed, precisely in the middle. A "gift" for both of us. How sweet. As if to say, "I know you don't always eat breakfast, but you need your protein. I love you, parents!" I have been grateful for years that the toy mice are not real. They end up on the bed all the time. We even joke about the "Gift of Mouse" that gets left while we are away. This time, I am just grateful that it wasn't on the bed. And I wonder which baby to thank for it?

Today, we got our laptop up to date with new downloads. We had to install the driver to tell the computer that it has a wireless card. Now we can see our own wireless network at home! We also got the new "genuine" Windows copy activated, and now I have to get used to all the updates that have come in the time our poor laptop was disconnected. I used to have cats on my buttons for Firefox, I have to try to get that back. We have been playing all afternoon.

As much of a blessing as this laptop has been, it can be frustrating for me too. I assume (I know this is what my problem is) that the computer should do what I tell it, the first time. Yep, I expect Windows to work. Ha! There is the rub. I guess I have to treat this new update as a new program that I have to learn. All over again. I wish we could afford a Mac. Right out of the box, they work. And I could reasonably expect it to work the same every time. Anyone know how to make a Gateway laptop sleep? Since the Great Blockage, it stays hot if it stays on, even when the lid is closed and the screen goes dark. I have been afraid to leave it on at night, I would rather turn it off, until I can tell it to sleep. I can't have any fires starting in my living room while I sleep.

I hope you get all the perks you could ask for this week!