The Universe Has A Warped Sense Of Humor!

The car I got from Enterprise (paid for by the other guy's insurance) is a newer version of the car that hit me! Yes, I was assigned a 2009 Nissan Altima. The car that hit me was a 1995 model. This is a black car. I would never own a black car, not on purpose. Not in Oklahoma. The temperatures this week are supposed to be over 90 all week. With the 60% humidity and more, the temperatures are way too hot to have such a big dark car.

It is a smooth ride, turns soft like butter! Lots of fun cubbies to explore, way too many cup holders, and useless gauges to distract my attention while driving. I like knowing that there is a cruise control. But the first time I pushed the button to turn it on, I accidentally honked the horn. In fact, I honked three times before I realized that I was the one honking. I spent probably 10 minutes just adjusting the car to me, and making sure I could reach what I needed to reach. Can't damage the car right in front of the rental office, you know?

Zipper got stretched only, and is back home as of late last night. Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. The next appointment in about 6 months will be the rod replacement surgery, provided she does not break them before that. She was showing Daddy the ropes this time, since he has not been there for a stretch before. Apparently, she was angelic for Daddy. He got to see the rare happy side of a girl on the edge. I have not heard how much she grew with being straightened out. Now we just need to get some more fat on her bones to cushion her.

I have been trying to trim our budget recently. Our house related expenses went up a little when we bought this house. So I am trying to cut back on brand name things. I went to Aldi. This grocery store has good prices on food that is not name brand. I decided to try their milk, since it was so much cheaper than others. Big mistake. This stuff tasted like colored water. I used to get 2% milk that tasted better. Mystic, who usually loves drinking milk after my cereal is gone, turned her nose up at it. That sealed the decision. I have decided to not skimp on milk. I am going back to Braum's. I found a store that has the 1/2 gallon for $0.20 less than the store near DH's work. For as little milk as I use, I can pay a little more for the good stuff.

I am off to clean again. Since I know your prayers work... please pray that I don't get bogged down by the work it will take to get my new home looking the way I want it. I can't imagine how to decorate anything, because I can't see past the junk I have in the way. If I can move my pride and junk out of the way, my home can be a more open place to share the hospitality I have in my heart. I know this goal is not so lofty that it can't be met. I know I can finally have a clean home, with God's help and yours. Thanks!

Be blessed today!

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch...

I want to send a BIG Thank You to Mamma Mia, who reminds me constantly to give myself a break! I have been hoping that I could get the house together and pretty in a week, two weeks, a month.... and here we are at very close to two months, and I sincerely don't feel very accomplished at all. I want to have a clean home. I really do! The trouble I run into is that I have given myself way too many breaks. I have essentially locked myself in the house, and while I can see progress, it is moving far too slowly for my taste. I want to do more work in less time. I don't know how to go about the housework efficiently. I have a new goal. Maybe stating it out loud on the blog will encourage me to work harder for it. I am hosting a baby shower in my home on the 27th. I have two weeks. I don't want to do all the work in the last two days. (I do work extraordinarily well under pressure.)

Zipper is getting stretched on Monday. We are hoping that she just gets stretched, and doesn't need new rods just yet. She will come home from St. Louis at least 3 inches taller. I am sure of it. Ferret had tried to give her more nutrition, to grow out and put some fat on her very skinny frame, but Zipper took it all and grew up instead, which means she is curved pretty badly. So, if you will please lift her and her family up to God, I would appreciate it.

I have a new Facebook Username. I don't know why I bothered. They wouldn't let me even look at "mychelf", but "chelf" went through just fine. I don't know how my moniker could be construed as vulgar or questionable, but I respect their choice. I have no idea what to DO with the Username, and am taking suggestions. If you are on Facebook, look me up: www.Facebook.com/chelf

I need some suggestions. I have a very dark and somewhat bland matte brown living room. The ceiling is even painted! I like it, it is different. However, it absorbs all the light in the room, allowing for no reflection at all. I find that light colored decorations look pretty good on it. It might actually get to be my Oriental themed room, with lots of pink cherry blossom art and brushstroke letters. What I am looking for is ways to make it a little brighter, without taking away the base color. I have considered sponging on a lighter Mauve or a red-toned Cinnamon to give it a bit of a glaze. I have considered repainting altogether, but don't want to do that right now. Does anyone have tips to making a dark room less intimidating?

Jumping June Bugs! I have to be up so early tomorrow! Back in May, my Honda Fit got bumper tapped. I was driving, and the big van in front of me stopped. I hurried to stop, and then tried to avoid getting hit from behind by angling to the right a bit. The green sedan behind me tried to avoid me by going into the left lane of traffic when he realized he could not stop, but we still glanced off each other. I did not hit the van, and the other driver did not hit anything other than my bumper. It is amazing how much it costs to fix such a light tap. His insurance is paying for the repairs, and I am delivering the car to the shop at the way-too-early hour of 7:30. It will take me 20 minutes or more to get there, so I plan to leave by 7. Ugh. I am a Garfield (TM) sort of person. I don't do mornings, and I despise Mondays. Both will happen tomorrow. I suppose complaining won't help nearly as much as getting to bed before midnight tonight will.

His insurance is also paying for the rental car replacement. They approved me for a full sized car! To replace my compact hatchback. I have no idea what make or model of car I will come home with. If I can save them a little money by downgrading what I get, I may try. Depends on what they offer me, I suppose. I might like to try out an SUV. (I can dream, right?)

Enjoy your own cars this week, everyone!

Can I Bore You Some More?

Word of the Post
Today's word is: caliginous
/ca*lidge"i*nous/ adjective
Misty, dark, dim, obscure.
London is often portrayed as claiginous. The murky fog dims the lights, and gives the city at night an ominous glow.
I was under the impression that it meant "made of tin", because of the line in The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard calls the Tin Man a "clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caliginous junk". Made of tin would actually be "ferruginous", but that wouldn't alliterate with clinking and clattering, now, would it? The idea being communicated (supposedly above everyone's head) is that the Tin Man is rusted and heartless. I imagine a batch of tin cans tied to the back of a car at a wedding. Empty, noisy, old, rusted and utterly without beauty. The Wizard is attempting to insult the Tin Man, and show his great intelligence.
At this link I found an interesting discussion of this thought, spawned by his own ponderances of irony. Here I found another, more directly related to the script of the movie. This person delves into the plot twist that the "Oz is not that brilliant after all."
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I have a matter of very great concern. I don't want to give names, or too many details, for the sake of privacy. Please pray for my friend. She had a tubal pregnancy that was ended today. I am praying, and knowing that many of you will do the same for her. I praise God for His family of believers to help in this time of pain.

Ferret and Zipper are in town for Zipper's oral surgery on Wednesday. They are working in the back of her throat to close a little hole, so that she can keep air separated between her mouth and her nose. It will help her be able to make more consonant sounds when she speaks. This could be very interesting in the long run. Zipper-Speak is very vowel oriented, and very hard to understand, even sometimes for her mom. I have to be looking at her, to see what she is trying to do with her mouth to really get what she says. Today at lunch, she told us she needed a "map". She meant "nap". Close. Still, she hit that P with perfect clarity, and that is new in the past few months to me.

We took the Buick in to the Honda dealership last night, and got all our personal stuff out of it. It is a 2002 model, but it had a book for a 2003. Whatever. At least it had a book. I have never been so very happy to be rid of a car. The relief is so sweet. When we thought about buying a car before this, we were in the finance office of the Hyundai dealer before the dread nearly made me puke. This time, I never got the growling pit feeling in my tummy, I never got the "get me out of here, NOW" voice in my head. It was almost painless. I say almost, only because I now have to PAY the price we agreed upon. A little more friendly conversation got us a better interest rate, yet again. This is a total of 13 points better than the loan we got on the Buick in 2003. We have paid off two cars, early, since then, and have very little other debt. It is good to know that the hard work we have done was not useless.

Now, we have to figure out what sort of coverage we wish to carry on our cars, and get the insurance set up. If you live in Oklahoma, and have need of an insurance quote, I have the guy for you.

There is much to do this week, and not nearly enough time to get it all done. I hope I don't lose my mind!

Raise your glass to mindless existence! I shall enjoy mine filled with a little water, on the rocks.

God's Country, No Matter What Those Cowboy Fans Think

Word of the Post
Today's word is: lupine
/lu"pine/
Noun: A flowered herb, producing legumes; cultivated for erosion control. Available in White, Field, Wolf and Egyptian varieties. The seeds of the lupinus albus variety have been used for food throughout history. Thought to exhaust the soil.
Adjective: Of or relating to a wolf; wolfish, ravenous.
I hesitate to admit this, but it took me three readings of the books and two viewings of the Harry Potter movies to realize (the light finally came on!) that Professor Lupin was a werewolf.. and that lupine meant wolfish. It was truly a "duh" moment for me. And one of the varieties being Albus (as in Dumbledore) cracks me up.
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A few small updates. Zipper didn't really break a rod, but the doctors were checking into the screws that hold them, and decided to do the stretching now, while they had her open. She is home now, and doing well. Pop got the pacemaker/defibrillator implanted, and got to go home on Saturday. Laura said his color looked good, and he was in great spirits. He is permanently on oxygen, but that means he is breathing better. Please continue to pray for his health. And last, but not least, my car with the "check engine" light on was a stupidly small problem. It was the after-market gas cap letting air into the system, and making the (used replacement) engine and computer confused. We paid a terribly unreasonable amount for the new cap from GM, and paid way too much labor (even at half) for them to put it in... and I got a 27 point safety check and an oil and fuel filter change. So, I paid a little too much for each of those things, but it didn't cost me half of our Stimulus Package, and my car is running great again. The sigh of relief is still reverberating in the house.
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Now, back to our story.

On Monday afternoon (we are now up to the second half of April 7) of our Colorado Vacation, we came back to Niki's house, packed up our stuff, and said our goodbyes.

We proceeded south, leaving Denver behind. When last we saw our heroine, she was napping while her DH drove. The only questionable weather we saw in either direction through Colorado was the snow and rain we passed under in Colorado Springs. We were planning to drive through a bit of the Garden of the Gods, and did see the first and smallest loop. This is a rock formation commonly known as the "Kissing Camels". Honestly, I can only see one camel, but it is kissing something.

We got to the gift shop/visitors center at 4:58 pm, and their gates had signs that said they would close and lock the gates AT 5:00 pm, so we did not go in. I wanted to go up to Pike's Peak, but we didn't bother. It was snowy and probably closed up there anyway, and we had a goal in Pueblo.

We were visiting as many people as we could possibly fit into the vacation. The experience of meeting people in person that I had as yet only seen online was a joy for me. We met Suezque and MammaMia at Black Eyed Pea in Pueblo. Suezque had given me a long list of restaurants in the area, near the highways we were going to use. We thought that Black Eyed Pea had closed all the stores outside of Texas, but there were still several locations in Colorado. There are no franchises left in Oklahoma, and DH had been craving their food. I had been picking most of the destinations, and I am related to the family that we were visiting, and I am friends with the bloggers that we were meeting in person. I thought it a good idea to give DH a choice about something.

I was feeling for the hubbies, watching three little birds twitter on about bloggy subjects. I should not have feared. DH is usually quiet, but he contributed to the conversations, too. All three of our hubbies went to Oklahoma Christian, and know some of the same people. The world is so small, especially among the believers of Christ. This plan of mine to have a meeting of friends actually felt more like a family reunion. We had a really good dinner, and a fun visit.

MammaMia's hubby shares the same name as our brother-in-law, and their little daughter has the same name as our niece. She has a beautiful family. The kids kept moving, as kids do, so I didn't get very many good pictures. Suezque and I sat next to each other, and traded hugs for Sally and Lil' Major. G said that DH and I looked familiar. Here are the three Bloggy Friends. Left to right; MammaMia, Chelf, Suezque.

After too short a visit, we all went our separate ways. MammaMia had to get home to put the little ones to bed, and Suezque had to drive back out to her home. DH and I went to my uncle's house in Canyon City. (I can't figure out how to put the ~ over the N to spell it properly.) We had a good visit there. We got to see pictures of cousins I have not seen in almost 20 years. Here are Uncle Paul and Aunt Kathy.

Paul is one of my Dad's brothers. He and dad have several hobbies in common. They both make excellent pancakes. They both have great memories of their childhood, and both tell interesting stories. He even made a quilt to keep in their camper when they travel! (Dad used to sew kites, so I think they both just do whatever strikes them.) Kathy is a crafty person, a seamstress, making dresses for her granddaughters. She works in the office at their church, and she really enjoys being able to go on month-long trips. Ah, retirement at it's ideal. Young enough to do, old enough to appreciate.

Paul called me over, while he was cleaning and preparing for their next camper trip, and had me listen. It took a moment to realize what I was hearing. Thousands of bees, floating around their four or five Bradford Pear trees in the front yard. Here is the up-close picture I took, not knowing until later if I had really caught the bee in the picture.

We left Uncle's house a lot later than we expected, but after a relaxing and lazy morning. We spent the rest of Tuesday driving. Not far past Canyon City, we were listening to a new CD~Chicago's Greatest Hits. Along the road, we saw some construction. I said, "Hey, look, they are crack-filling." At that precise moment, the song played the lyrics, "Fill in the cracks, hit you when you least expect it." I have had impeccable timing before, but this time made us both laugh out loud. (The song is called Love Will Come Back, and on the album XXX (their thirtieth) it was a duet with Rascal Flatts. This version was Chicago only.)

We stopped by a rock shop. I love the rock shops; sparklies in every color you can imagine. This one had local rocks, and imported rocks too. We bought a piece of Peridot for MIL, because it is her birthstone, as well as both of the grandchildren. I got a piece of what was called Chevron Amethyst. It is not nearly as crystalline as Amethyst that comes in what looks like Geodes. It is a beautiful purple rock, with white lines in a Chevron pattern through it.

We went from Canyon City through Gunnison on our way to Montrose. There is an area that the road crosses a lake. We took pictures of the frozen lake, covered in snow.

DH thought it would be interesting to show on the map where we were. Look to the left of Gunnison, and we were near Sapinero. This is the picture of the map we had.

We went through Montrose, Ouray, Silverton and Durango to get back to Mom's house in Farmington. We arrived in Montrose later than we hoped. Mom wanted me to bring her seconds from the Russell Stover factory there. She wanted sugar free chocolate. It was closed an hour before we got to town. Sad. I would have loved to buy some cheap chocolate for myself. At least I know it is there. I will go back someday.

We went south through Ouray and Silverton. I have been to both of these many times over the years of my youth. I had never paid attention to the roads that got us there. They are both in very high valleys in the Rocky Mountains.


View Larger Map

This is a rather straight looking line of Hwy 550 between Ouray and Silverton. It is all just little switchbacks. Once in a while, you can go a whopping 40 mph. Most of it, if you are going faster than 25 mph, it is scary. You can fall off the mountain. The road is only wide enough to have two lanes of traffic, one in each direction. For most of the road, there is no guardrail on the "down the mountain" side, and there is a huge mountain on the other side. The mountain side was covered in snow. The road had only been open once the trucks had pushed all the snow off the road. There were NO shoulders on either side. I was happy to let a semi truck pass me, using a runaway truck pullout. Seriously, I would not have been happy to drive more than 1/4 of a mile with that dude riding his brakes behind me down that road.

Most of the time we were driving, it was dark. The sun can light the area, but sunset is seriously early in the mountains. I drove from Montrose to Silverton. I told DH it was stressful driving, and I couldn't do it anymore. He drove from Silverton to Durango. I am not sure now which was more stressful, driving or riding. DH didn't know what was beyond the headlights, but I did. I want to let everyone know that DH is an excellent driver, but this was crazy scary for me. I like to be in control of the car in scary situations. It is my nature to be in control.

On a side note, when I was younger, I would not ride in the passenger seat of my own car. In the early days of college, I couldn't bring myself to trust anyone to drive me in my own car. I could ride with anyone, and see that they were a great driver, but in MY car, I was ALWAYS the driver. DH didn't notice this, until I told him. While HE was driving. On a long, straight highway to visit my parents. Now, it is still odd to have someone else drive my car, but DH owns them too, so I don't mind his driving. And it had nothing to do with the car. I loaned my car out without fear. Several people drove the car, but I was not in it. Yes, I know, I am strange. But hey, you know that if you have read for any amount of time here.

More on the trek home in the next installment of this adventure!

Stimulating Happy Dance

Word of the Post
Today's word is: vulpine
/vul"pine/ adjective
Of or pertaining to a fox; foxy, crafty, cunning, artful; resembling a fox.
When running, she exhibits the vulpine agility necessary to evade the hunters.
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First of all, Happy Mother's Day!

To all the women in the world (like ME) who are not mothers... your place is equally honorable. Women are made to fill a void in the world. God put us here to complete and complement humanity. We bring beauty into a drab environment, and laughter and love into the home. We help others to raise their children, and we continually learn from our own mothers, sisters and friends who are mothers. We are created by the Grandest Artist, and we are Masterpieces. Do not let the world tell you that you are not worthy if you are not a mother. You are a Daughter of the King of Kings, and He knows your true Beauty.
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If it's not one thing, it's another. I have a few things I would like your help pleading to God.
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Zipper managed to break a rod in her back last week. She told Ferret that she had a "pokey" hurt in her back. They are getting her rod replaced on this Monday afternoon. They were going to stretch her in late June anyway, so this just moves up the job. Please keep the kiddo in your prayers. She did well with getting her tonsils out a month ago. She is such a brave little thing.
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I have heard no update on Pop since the last one I posted here. I would guess that he already has his pacemaker/defibrillator installed (makes him sound like a car or a computer, doesn't it?), and I hope he does NOT get the feeling of getting kicked in the chest by a mule when it works.
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My friend Lisa (the second one... Version 2.0...the impostor?) has a family friend that recently passed away. She is dealing with her own family issues surrounding this loss, and I want her to have strength and compassion. I don't want to test her patience, I just want the funeral and other family events to go smoothly, without any "episodes". It is never easy being the peacemaker in a family.

Her hubby, Jody, is a good friend of ours too, and it looks like he will have to start all over on his Doctorate...again. Yes, he has had to do this once before, and this adds yet another year to to his finishing goal. I am hoping that he just lets it go for the summer, because he is leading a group of O.C. students to Europe. I don't want this setback to cloud his travel fun.
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On a note of Praise, I have a friend from Texas who is going to go to work in a foreign country, with a group from "Let's Start Talking"... and he just got his full financial need funded last week. This group goes to other countries, and teaches people to read and use English by reading the Bible with them. It is an outreach for God, as well as for literacy education.
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Is it appropriate to say that God blessed us with money, when it is a refund from the thieving government? I would guess the answer is YES, because thieving governments are not in the habit of sharing refunds.

Another note of Praise: We got our Stimulus Package refund on Friday. The first thing we did was pay a bill. I had one final bill from my days at O.C. It was down to exactly $600. It is now paid in full. Yay! I am free of my financial burden to Oklahoma Christian. (If I get a call from them tomorrow asking for money, they are going to get hysterical laughter, but no money.) I am one step closer to total debt freedom! We still have about 10 to 15 years of payments on DH's loans, but we are ahead on those.

We have talked about different things to do with the remaining $600. We had wanted to get a new TV stand, a couple of shelves to match, a coffee table, and some low shelves to store shoes and DVDs. I had also wanted to save some of it. However, we have two cars to give minor repairs to (likely with major labor charges), so I don't know how much will really happen in our household decorating. This bill being gone frees up $100 per month to save or whatever, so that is going to stimulate the economy a bit. My economy. Ha!

Time to lock up the house for the night. I hope everyone had a good day. Enjoy Life!

And Now, Back To The Show

As everyone has beaten me to the punch, I am sure some parts will be things you have read twice already.

Let me play catch up before I get into the trip. I have been busy after our two week hiatus from the world. Recovery has been slow and laborious. I spent the better part of last week monitoring the testing for the 5th graders at SIL's school. She is a Counselor, and the State of Oklahoma has to have two adults in the room during testing. Probably a Federal Law of some kind, trying not to leave children behind. I got to read, so I was working more on that 888 challenge. I got the same teacher as last year, so at least we were comfortable. The kids were a different story. This is Zipper swinging on Sunday.

On April 15, Zipper and Ferret came to OU Children's Hospital, to have Zipper's tonsils taken out. She was tired and cranky when I saw them (April 15). They were headed home the next day (April 16). Zipper is such a trooper. She has decided sometimes to tell us that she is in a "bad mood" and we are not to talk to/touch her. At least she wasn't just screaming, like the very unhappy babies we could hear down the hall. This is Speedy G swinging on Sunday.

This weekend, DH and I went to Wichita to see Zipper's family. We went up there to see the movie "Expelled" with a group of like-minded people. I also got to meet Lil Major and his daddy, on a short Sunday afternoon visit with Sally. How many ways can we say it? He is just cute! I guess there are times when it is bad to be a comfortable pillow of a baby-whisperer. He slept the whole time we were there. DH held him, and so did I. Thank you, Sally, for letting down the guard for us. This is me with Sally and Lil Major on our Sunday visit.

Now, we get back to the reasons we took the vacation. With Dad's permission, I sold the minivan he had loaned to me. It was an extra he had already replaced, and he would have sold it once we got back home, anyway. My friend Roadrunner's brother-in-law needed a box on four wheels to get him from point A to point B. I got Dad to sign and send the title to the minivan, and two weeks before our trip, the 1992 Tan Dodge Caravan with 214,000+ miles on it moved to Arkansas. This is the van.

Being without the car that was going to carry us to NM, on March 31, we flew to Mom. We left Oklahoma City in the early afternoon, and flew first to Denver, changed planes, and then to Farmington. I think my stomach stayed in the overhead bin on the first plane. DH was supposed to remind me to get it before we left. I am rather glad that I didn't have it on the second flight. That turbulence was like riding a raft in a churning sea. The pilot called it "annoying", but it came closer to "sickening". Dad and Mom came to pick us up, and then took us to dinner. We spent the rest of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with them. I got to meet my Brother for dinner one of those nights. This is the family picture we posed for. Thank you to Bro's girlfriend Jenny for playing photographer for us. Left to right, back row: Brother, Dad, Me. Front row: Mom, DH. You couldn't tell I am her child, could you? Be honest!

Part of the fun of this trip was to introduce DH to my Dad's family. We have been married for 8 1/2 years, and he had only met my Dad and two cousins who live in the Dallas area. Dad is the 6th of 7 siblings. I am just getting started. (Poor DH probably didn't understand what a mess he married.) In Loveland, we spent two nights with Aunt Sue and Uncle Stanley. I had not yet met Uncle Stanley, because that is a recent marriage. This is a picture from their wedding (I stole copies from a disk they had).

We spent Friday visiting. We drove over to Greeley, to visit Aunt Dianne, and went to a great little Mexican restaurant near her home for lunch. I helped her with a troublesome bit of a puzzle, and DH showed her pictures on our laptop. We also saw our friend Sandra. We knew Sandra from O. C., and we got to meet her two children. We have not seen her in 8 years. She was already in Greeley for an appointment, and then came to Dianne's house to visit. Her kids are cute. Her son was pretty happy to meet us. Daughter was a little bit careful, but was happy to sit on my lap near the end of our time together. Her hubby was not able to get off work to come see us. We went to dinner together, and stood outside in the cold and visited just a little bit more. This is Sandra with DH. Kids were in the car. We didn't think to get the camera out and take a picture of Aunt Dianne. I am regretting that.

Stay tuned for the next episode of Chelf's travels!