Friday, September 29, 2006

D.H. sort of exclusive!! Scrapbook pics revealed!

Sounds dramatic, huh? The pics aren't the greatest--wish I could get more detail, but you can see the basic layout. Any comments or ideas would be welcome. I'm terribly new and amateur at this. But I've decided to make Sunday afternoons my scrapbook day for now. This past Sunday, I listened to Yahoo Music on my laptop and scrapbooked for a couple hours. It was good for me to sit and focus on something creative for a while. It does not come easy for me--I'm too fidgety.

Here's the link for the pics: http://desperatehousewifepics.blogspot.com/

Frustrations....

Tired of em...don't want no more. Yes, that was a double negative. I'm sorry. It's been a frustrating couple of weeks. My overworked hubby is working during an outage at the power plant--meaning a unit is down for scheduled repairs, so means lots of overtime, early mornings, late nights and they won't give him enough money in his budget to fix things right. He's so stressed, and not having him here is stressing me out. But, I can't tell him that, because it stresses him out more---AHHHHH!!!!

Feeling quite alone. Wishing I had family here to lean on. I feel like such an outsider in this community sometimes. I feel guilty asking people to watch my girls, when they have such busy lives themselves--and we're not family, so they don't have that bond. Maybe I should hire a foreign nanny or something. I'm very thankful for dear friends who will sacrifice their time to watch my kiddos for an evening. Things could be worse.

I'm still bogged down about many hurts in people around me--family issues, deaths, illnesses. I even still hurt for the Irwin family in Australia. I told the Lord this morning, "I can't handle this yoke--you need to take it from me or I'm gonna fall in the mud."

Today--going to make the best of it. Plans to finish painting the trim in our little bathroom, which is almost done (Hallelujah!) Going to look for Halloween costumes for my girls and do some small home furnishing/organizing shopping. I'm going to not think about crappy stuff for a few hours. I'm thumbing my nose at the crappy stuff. *Phhhhttttttthh to you crappy stuff!!*

Monday, September 25, 2006

Phenylpropanolamine--say that 3 times fast!

Have you seen this e-mail floating around?

All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE (PPA) are being recalled. You may want to try calling the 800 number listed on most drug boxes and inquire about a REFUND. Please read this CAREFULLY. Also, please pass this on to everyone you know. STOP TAKING anything containing this ingredient. It has been linked to increased hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in brain) among women ages 18-49 in the three days after starting use of medication. Problems were not found in men, but the FDA recommended that everyone (even children) seek alternative medicine.

A list of medications allegedly containing PPA is usually accompanined below the warning. I got this one from Aunt Lu (thanks!) and had to Snopes it out of course. According to Snopes, this warning is TRUE, but OUTDATED. As the original warning was issued in 2000, many of the medications listed in the email are now reformulated and contain NO PPA. If you have any doubts, look on your ingredient labels or call (888) INFO-FDA. You may also want to read the article here: http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/ppa.asp

This is Misty the informant, signing off ;)

Friday, September 22, 2006

Love is a choice


Today has me pondering this statement. So often, people talk about "feeling" love, but how often is showing love mentioned? Jesus mentioned it a lot. Love your neighbor--doesn't mean admiring their backside (or frontside for that matter) from afar. It means help them, be there, choose to do good for them.

Problems in my side of the family have me bogged down today. Why don't some people just get it??? Love IS a CHOICE!! It is not just how you are feeling--it is NOT even about YOU!! This modern world mentality of do what feels good for me, me, me is just not what Jesus wanted out of us. No, I don't think he means us to completely neglect ourselves and sacrifice everything for everyone all the time. We must have balance. But we are to think MORE HIGHLY of others than of ourselves. Think of their needs before we make choices that will hurt them. Do all we can to resolve problems lovingly before they get out of hand, before we give up and walk away. This has been so rampant in my family and so many others.

Today, I choose to love. Today, I got the paint out for the kids and let them paint. Today, I baked them some chocolate chip cookies for snack time. Today, I will give my hubby one smooshy wet kiss when he gets home. Today, I choose to love my extended family even when I don't like them very much right now. Yes, you can love someone even when you don't like them. Because love is a choice. Choose to love someone today---make it an action.

If you want to see more cute kid pics, click on "My Pictures" in the links section.

The rest of the Apple Orchard Pics...

Are ready for viewing.

Go to http://desperatehousewifepics.blogspot.com/ to see them! I was holding Zoe for many of the shots, so not the best quality. I think I got some fingerprints on my lens too. Ah, the trials of photography during motherhood.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

The apple orchard revisited!

We traveled to the local apple orchard again this year with Meg's preschool class. I have now also created a new blog just for pics like this--and I have linked it in the links section. However, I am having difficulties with both Hello and Blogger today, so I only have a few pics from today there, but will try again later. I'll update you when they're ready. The little boy I babysit--henceforth to be known as "buddy", went for the first time today, so it was good to witness him picking his first apple. I love good clean fun like this. I wish we could go more often!

Here is the link: http://desperatehousewifepics.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

We said goodbye


I watched the Steve Irwin Memorial Service last night--which was actually 9 am Wednesday morning in Austrailia. It was held at his Crocoseum in Australia Zoo. 5500 people attended, and it was broadcast all around the world. They left a seat reserved for him, and lying in it was his favorite cap that he wore when he watched shows with his daughter. Various people spoke, and some recorded remembrances from celebrities were shown. There were pics and videos from his work and some heartfelt music. I was holding it together pretty well until his little daughter Bindi came up to speak. She read a little eulogy she had written for him. She told how much she loved her daddy and that she had the "best daddy in the world". She said she wanted to continue his passion to save endangered animals and work in conservation. She got a standing ovation. I cried like a baby. I know her dad would have been so proud. Steve's wife, Terri, didn't speak, so I'm assuming she was too distraught still--she was there holding little Bob, and wore sunglasses, and you could tell she was barely keeping it together. One of the most tearful moments was at the end when Steve's #1 croc assistant loaded up his old flatbed croc hunter truck for the last time and drove it out of the Crocoseum.

Read little Bindi's speech here: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20444731-5001028,00.html

And some pics from the service:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/5363342.stm

Still a little tearful this morning. It's really hit home now that Steve Irwin is gone. The world has lost a great life...God's creation has lost a great warrior. I only pray that others will take up the torch and continue with his mission.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Hippo Eats Dwarf


I have gotten a great deal of Snopes-worthy items in my inbox as of late. I had to report on this one!!! Besides being funny as all get out (just let your mind imagine it!), it apparently has been circulating around for several years, and the dwarf has changed nationalities a few times. The hippo, surprisingly enough, has retained the name Hilda. I guess that's a good hippo name. Check out the Snopes article here:

Hippo Eats Dwarf

What I really love about it is the fact that there is a band NAMED after this story. See them here:

The Hippo Eats Dwarf Band

Is Your Cell Phone a Telemarketing Target?


Have you seen any e-mails like this?

Greetings To All of My Friends and Family

In just 4 days from today all U. S. cell phone numbers will be released to telemarketing companies and you will begin to receive sales calls. You will be charged for these calls! Even if you do not answer, the telemarketer will end up in your voice mail and you will be charged for all of the minutes the incoming (usually recorded) message takes to complete. You will then also be charged when you call your voice mail to retrieve your messages. To prevent this, call 888-382-1222 from your cell phone. This is the national DO NOT CALL list; it takes only a minute to register your cell phone number and it blocks most telemarketers calls for five years. In case you have friends other than me, pass this on to them.

According to Snopes, this is FALSE. Read up on it here: Celling Your Soul

Monday, September 11, 2006

E-mail petitions

They don't work. Here's one my Aunt Lu sent me today. You may have seen it before:

Our Granddaughter in Ca. was turned down for a teaching job, because she only had one yr. of Spanish. She got a job at a private school. She now teaches in Rancho Cucamonga, second grade.

Had an interesting conversation with a lady of Hispanic origin last week. She told me that she planned to come down to St. Mary's and get a job in Admissions (where I work). When I pointed out that we didn't have any openings, she advised me that "soon" current employees will have to be fired to hire bi-lingual employees. According to this lady, the Spanish speaking people of the US are going to demand that all public facilities - like hospitals, courthouses, etc. - be staffed by people who read, speak and comprehend Spanish. We hear about the silent majority but I think we are going to have to speak up or find ourselves a conquered country. That would be an interesting historical note - greatest land in the world conquered by Mexico without ever firing a shot! Think about it.

Not a citizen? NO BENEFITS!
Petition to Require citizenship to be eligible for social services in the United States
No amnesty and No free services for illegal immigrants.
Agree or Delete: Instructions to sign are at the bottom.
PETITION FOR PRESIDENT BUSH If you don't forward the petition and just stop it, we will lose all these names. If you do not want to sign it, please forward it to everyone you know. Thank you!!! To add your name, click on "forward". You will be able to add your name at the bottom of the list and then forward it to your friends.
THE 2,000TH PERSON - SEND IT ON TO THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL ADDRESS: President@WhiteHouse.gov


See what Snopes has to say about this petition and e-mail petitions in general:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/petition.asp

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Sunday Tidbits

Love this pic! I'm going to start posting it to people who blog too deeply for me :) So, here's some life tidbits to catch you up on. Missed a few days. I'll see what I can remember.
_____________________________________________
I've been totally bummed about the death of Steve Irwin all week. They had a private funeral for him yesterday and buried him in his Australia Zoo. I finally understood yesterday why I and so many around the world were so saddened by his passing. If you watched his shows for any length of time, you felt like you knew him. He was always so open, so passionate, so welcoming, like you were part of his adventures. I watched his Crocodile Hunter series starting in college in the mid-nineties, and in his series, I saw his conservation and his FAMILY evolve. He shared every aspect of his life. You would often see his mom and dad on the show, his wife from the start, then his kids--they even had episodes with their births. Check out his Crocodile Hunter website--pics and bios of his family. They share their lives with the world, so the world knows them all . He didn't film dry animal documentaries. He filmed his life, and was so filled with it, that it is just hard to think of him dead. So, that's where I am with that. Moving on, but will still be sad for a while. No one can replace that guy.
___________________________________________________________________
Labor day weekend. Went to a birthday party for daughter's friend. Pool and pizza. Too cold for the pool, and it rained a bit, but good party. Went to visit family later in the day. Ate out at a good restaurant way out in the boonies in Green County, KY (I think) late that night to celebrate belated birthdays (brother in law and mine, 40 and 30 respectively). Had car show in Adair County on Labor Day and did a little shopping at the booths on the square. The bad news: Found out my brother and his wife are splitting up--for the record, I think my brother has problems handling responsibilities of relationships and doesn't want to put the work into it that it deserves, and some of his choices stink. Sorry, need to vent, but I do love him and am praying that he and his wife will work it out still. God has changed harder people than them.
___________________________________________________________________
Joy today--finally started my scrapbook of our summer vacation. Day 1 is chronicled. It is terribly amateur, but I had fun experimenting with different things. I like glue.
___________________________________________________________________
Poor hubby is overworked and overtired. Having back problems. He's spent a good deal of time working on wiring a friend's new house, and much more time working on wiring up A/V stuff for our church. He spent the entire morning sermon on his back under the console hooking up stuff to try to get it working, and the whole Sunday school hour carting stuff from the new sanctuary to the old for the second service, because they haven't enough duplicate equipment and for some reason, won't do both services in the new building. We still have a bathroom that we have had torn apart since February. We have a toilet and sink in our bedroom. I want my bathroom done--we're now starting to move on working on it again. A 4x4 bathroom...February...*roll eyes*
___________________________________________________________________
Babysat a little girl for some friends from Lexington this past Saturday. Nice having a little girl here for Meg to play with. We usually have our little guy here--nice to see a girl in the dress up clothes this time :) Got up about 5 am to make breakfast--a good "Overnight Breakfast Casserole" that I mixed up the night before and just had to get up and bake. They arrived at 6 am, and everyone loved my breakfast--oh, blueberry muffins too (last frozen blueberries from my bushes for the season). I love feeding people. It's a sickness. They went with Bryan to a golf tournament, so I kept the girls and entertained them all day. We painted, watched cartoons, played in sand, play-dough, and dressed up. I was bushed. I was late for church this morning....as usual.
___________________________________________________________________
Started regular exercising again. Going to start walking with a friend this week. Looking forward to getting some fresh air. Did treadmill 3 days last week, and picked up 8 minute abs again. My abs were quite sore for a couple days. Makes a difference when you miss it for a few months.
___________________________________________________________________
Going to the dentist with hubby on Tuesday. Haven't been for 2-3 years. Shame on us. Have a wisdom tooth that is hurting a bit. Will probably have to get it out. Scared to death--hope they knock me out or gas me so I won't care. Never had dental work before.
___________________________________________________________________
That's it for now. I have pics to post of our Labor Day trip, and I'll try to get pics of my amateur scrapbook too. I will also try to post updates on the "Intimate Issues" Bible study and do a piece on healthy dinners. Stay tuned for more....."Tales of Interest!!!" (*if anyone can pinpoint this reference--I'll give you FIVE dollars, I promise!--except Bryan--he knows")

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Life is beautiful?

My Aunt Lu sent me this one today. Good example of a hoax about a computer virus. This one has been circulating for a while--if you get a "warning" like this, please check it out on Snopes before you forward it on, which only propagates the hoax. Then, let the sender know it's a hoax, so we'll all be educated. My mission--educating the public about hoax e-mails!

See the Snopes article here: Life is Beautiful

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Remembering the "Wildlife Warrior"



Though most people thought he was a bit crazy and figured he'd get taken down by an animal some day, what most people didn't know--and what the media ISN'T focusing on--is that Steve Irwin was a dedicated conservationist. Most of the money he made from his "Crocodile Hunter" program went into conservation efforts around the world. I'm still very saddened today, as are millions around the world, by his tragic loss and I'm tired of the media focusing on him holding his baby in the croc exhibit. They tell so little about all the good things he was involved in. Here's a good article about it. Whatever you thought or didn't think of Steve Irwin, let's keep his family in our prayers as they try to move on and keep things going without him.

Read the article here: Irwin Was a Self-Made 'Wildlife Warrior'

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

A truly sad day


Steve Irwin, the Australian "Crocodile Hunter" who made "Crikey!" a catch-phrase died in a freak accident yesterday off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. He was stung in the heart by a sting ray. Very unlikely and unlucky accident. I would not have been as shocked to hear that he was decapitated by a crocodile or bitten and died by a poisonous snake. But a sting ray? Right through the heart? Totally shocking. He was filming a documentary at the time that he was also planning on filming with his 8 year old daughter--who was not there, thank the Lord. His wife and kids (Bindi-8 and Bob-2) were in Tasmania on vacation at the time and flew back there yesterday. I am so saddened because the world has lost such an enthusiastic "wildlife warrior", as he called himself. He excited lots of folks about wildlife of all kinds and educated us about creatures that have been villified over the years. I just wonder where all his work will go from here. Read the Discovery News article here:

Steve Irwin dies from stingray


*Edit: Steve's wife and kids were in TASMANIA on vacation, not the states.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Book Memes

I don't know exactly what a meme is, but "Maggie" had this post on her blog the other day. I was "tagged", which is the cyber-space equivalent of being "it" in a game of answering questions about a particular subject, in this case, books. Here is what I posted in the comments:

What is a tag? Does that mean I need to answer those questions?

If so, here goes–it will be short

One book that changed your life:
The Bible–how could it not? And possibly “Plant Anatomy” by James D. Mauseth–mainly because I just looked at it on my bookshelf and thought, “Why not?” I learned more about plants in that class then the average joe knows. Did you know that pears contain cells called brachysclereids that give them their gritty texture? Well, now you do.

One book that you’ve read more than once:
The Bible again, actually–read it twice through when I was younger, though I’m sure I didn’t get the meaning out of it that I can now. Oh, and I read some good kids’ books a few times too. One was “Silver Wolf” by Paige Dixon, which tells a wolf’s story from his point of view, and “The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” by Joan Aiken and Pat Marriott which tells the story of two little girls who become orphaned and must escape from an abusive orphanage. Very good story of overcoming adversity for kids.

One book that you’d want on a desert island:
Wow, that’s a really hard one, but probably a puzzle book to keep my mind occupied until rescue arrived. Plus, when I was finished with it, if I was still stranded, I could use it to start a fire, maybe.

One Book that made you laugh:
“Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway”–hilarious

One book that made you cry:
None that I know of–I’m not very emotional that way, but I almost cried when reading Stephen King’s “It”–crying for it to be over already!! Gees, that book was over 1000 pages–way too much detail to even be scary. You can only describe a freaky clown so much before you say, “Shut up! I don’t care. Get on with it”

One book that you wish had been written:
The manual that came with my kids when they were born.

One book you couldn’t put down:
“Salem’s Lot” by Stephen King–I had a Stephen King phase in my younger years. Very scary story about vampires and I couldn’t read it alone, it was so scary–had to be in the same room with my parents. It really was that scary.

One book you are currently reading:
“Intimate Issues” by Dillow and Pintus. Christian Bible study about sex. I’ll update new chapters on my blog soon–stay tuned!

One book you’ve been meaning to read:
No idea–I’ll surprise myself.

Five people to tag:
No idea–just anyone who reads go on and have fun. Come on now–whatcha waiting for?

You can read the whole discussion here: Magnanimity's Book Memes post

Now, if anyone wants to jump in, just comment it or e-mail me and I'll post it right here in cyber-space. Consider yourself tagged if you have read this *ha-ha (evil laugh)*