1. forgiveness
2. parents who love me
3. a Dad who will go to Menards for me
4. a Mom who always is ready to answer my cooking phone calls
5. brothers
6. a sister-in-law
7. brothers who use power tools
8. brothers who will spend time making my computer faster
9. nephews
10. a happy, newly-married grandmother
11. a church family
12. friends who don't mind me dropping in
13. Saturdays of food and film with JG
14. health
15. prayer
16. a place to call my own
17. a friend who will cut my hair on short notice--and do a fabulous job
18. wealth
19. feast
20. dessert
21. staying in touch via FB
22. a job with potential
23. art
24. new floors
25. Christmas in my family
26. a family reunion to look forward to
27. novels
28. a local coffee shop
29. the smell of muffins baking
30. music--even the stuff I'm embarrassed to say I like
31. gripping television drama
32. lists
33. the color orange
34. basketball with the guys
35. friends who organize volleyball
36. a study of wisdom
37. safety
38. coworkers who commiserate
39. people to push me to be better
40. new learning opportunities
41. spiked hot chocolate
42. new experiences
43. projects
44. a car that runs and is paid off
45. new boots
45. new jeans
46. flexibility
47. potential
48. making up new recipes
49. refrigeration
50. book club
*these are not in order of gratitude :)
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
practice really does make you better, but not necessarily good
This weekend I once again ventured into the territory of home improvement. I am not good at taping, painting, removing carpet, prying up tack board, removing nails and extraneous materials from trim, cutting underlayment, laying laminate flooring, or renailing trim, but I'm better at it then I was on Thursday.
And yes, I'm sore. But all for a great and great-looking cause.
Oh, and shout out to my brother J. Because of him I did not come into any more contact with power tools than moving them, which is a good thing. And I also was not in charge of measuring, which is good too.
I even managed to snap a few pics of the before and after:
And yes, I'm sore. But all for a great and great-looking cause.
Oh, and shout out to my brother J. Because of him I did not come into any more contact with power tools than moving them, which is a good thing. And I also was not in charge of measuring, which is good too.
I even managed to snap a few pics of the before and after:
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Better in different ways
I tried to better myself yesterday. I attended KitLitCon 2010. I don't actually blog about kit lit very often (who am I kidding, at this point I don't blog very much at all) but I do like kit lit, and more importantly I work in the kit lit biz. And since the convention was nearby, I decided to go. I did learn a lot. But I came up with a few questions too:
*audience? who is the audience? are we speaking to the choir?
*do I want to be a "blogger" or do I blog just for me...and should I then be journalling instead?
*what's with the homogeny in kitlit blogging?
*who has time to follow so many great blogs (and Twitter and Facebook)?
and in completely unrelated news
The Vampire Diaries is better than it has any right to be. My friend Jen told me this; I was skeptical (although I knew it would be good if she said so.) She was absolutely correct about this one. It's based on books that I hear aren't that great. It's on the CW. It's a teen drama. But it is totally gripping and entertaining. Relationships are key, and this show is doing those right. Surprise keeps the plot moving; and this show has no fear. I might be embarrassed to say I was watching this...except it's so good. (Side note: thank goodness they did away with the annoying diary voice overs; but kudos for having a quick shot of the main female character at least writing in hers on disc 3.)
*audience? who is the audience? are we speaking to the choir?
*do I want to be a "blogger" or do I blog just for me...and should I then be journalling instead?
*what's with the homogeny in kitlit blogging?
*who has time to follow so many great blogs (and Twitter and Facebook)?
and in completely unrelated news
The Vampire Diaries is better than it has any right to be. My friend Jen told me this; I was skeptical (although I knew it would be good if she said so.) She was absolutely correct about this one. It's based on books that I hear aren't that great. It's on the CW. It's a teen drama. But it is totally gripping and entertaining. Relationships are key, and this show is doing those right. Surprise keeps the plot moving; and this show has no fear. I might be embarrassed to say I was watching this...except it's so good. (Side note: thank goodness they did away with the annoying diary voice overs; but kudos for having a quick shot of the main female character at least writing in hers on disc 3.)
Thursday, October 21, 2010
News of the Lonely
My house feels a little lonely tonight, as much as a I love it. I think it is the darkness so early and the fact that I'm too cheap to turn on heat yet...but also maybe I could just use some company.
Just wanted to say that I am now working on house project 3 with 4 in the coming quickly better plan stages. I will post photos...eventually. Let's just say the floors in 1/2 the house look MUCH better--thanks to my bro! Also, for the record, I have officially fixed a toilet for the first time. And ripping up carpet can be tricky.
Sports: Now that the Twins are out :(, go RANGERS!
TV: All the good shows have started again. I'm doing my best to keep up...and sometimes failing. Okay, often failing. But I've managed to keep up with The Good Wife, which has been excellent.
Movie: I watched Lilies of the Field this week (in two parts.) It was a very interesting movie. I didn't know anything about it other than that Sidney Poitier was in it. All I could think was "this movie never would be made today." Also, it has one of my favorite songs in it. Pops into my head all the time whenever I hear or say "Amen." :)
New thing: I'm going to a conference this weekend. I've never been. And I'm sure it will be interesting even though not completely applicable to my daily life. I'm excited to hear some new things. I will have to see how my introverted personality makes it through the experience...I always intend to push outside of the box a little...but I'm never quite as successful in practice as I am in my imagination.
New thing 2: I doing it. Next month. National novel writing month. I'm not sure when I will fit it in, but I'm determined. I have the idea (partially started even); I'm going to try to outline further one of these days and then write, write, write in November.
Just wanted to say that I am now working on house project 3 with 4 in the coming quickly better plan stages. I will post photos...eventually. Let's just say the floors in 1/2 the house look MUCH better--thanks to my bro! Also, for the record, I have officially fixed a toilet for the first time. And ripping up carpet can be tricky.
Sports: Now that the Twins are out :(, go RANGERS!
TV: All the good shows have started again. I'm doing my best to keep up...and sometimes failing. Okay, often failing. But I've managed to keep up with The Good Wife, which has been excellent.
Movie: I watched Lilies of the Field this week (in two parts.) It was a very interesting movie. I didn't know anything about it other than that Sidney Poitier was in it. All I could think was "this movie never would be made today." Also, it has one of my favorite songs in it. Pops into my head all the time whenever I hear or say "Amen." :)
New thing: I'm going to a conference this weekend. I've never been. And I'm sure it will be interesting even though not completely applicable to my daily life. I'm excited to hear some new things. I will have to see how my introverted personality makes it through the experience...I always intend to push outside of the box a little...but I'm never quite as successful in practice as I am in my imagination.
New thing 2: I doing it. Next month. National novel writing month. I'm not sure when I will fit it in, but I'm determined. I have the idea (partially started even); I'm going to try to outline further one of these days and then write, write, write in November.
Friday, September 24, 2010
patience
Patience is a virtue they say...mine is wearing thin. You see, I finally bought a new dishwasher (step 2.5 in home updating) and it is being delivered this morning. But they haven't called yet, and I'm getting very impatient...because I have to go to work and I have many, many things to do there. Ack!
In the meantime, I'm trying to make the best of my 1/2 day off by accomplishing some projects...and then I just decided to update this instead. So here's what I'm inputting these days...
holidays: I came up with a fun idea for a Christmas card...I will show it to you if I manage to pull it off. (This begs the question why do I make it so complicated, right?)
sports: The Twins clinched this week. I can not tell you how obsessed I am, because it would be embarrassing :) I can, however, tell you that I both went to a game this week and am wearing a Twins sweatshirt right now (if that gives you any idea.) I love them all and I can't wait to watch/listen to them keep winning!
TV on DVD: FNL update--I just finished season 2 and it was excellent. I love the evolution some of the characters are taking. It is incredibly realistic. I also just started watching The Vampire Diaries season 1. I started watching it last season, but got too far behind. Now I'm catching up. It may seem cheesy--but it's a very well done dramatic cheesy.
TV: Glee started this week, and sadly that is the only currently airing show I found time to watch this week. The new TV season looks excellent, but I don't have tivo/dvr or the time to keep up. I am hoping to watch Hawaii 5-0 though.
travels: I went to or through South Dakota twice this month. You may ask why I would do that...well, it's all about the people really. The first weekend was for Lifelight south of Sioux Falls. It is an excellent (and free!) Christian music festival: favorite performers of the weekend=Group 1 Crew. I went with a few really good friends and we had a fantastic time. The second weekend was traveling through SD with a few friends to go to a Christian women's retreat in Nebraska. The retreat was excellent and very renewing.
music: The newest disc to catch my fancy: Rebel by Lecrae. This is one of my favorites so far.
books: I read Water for Elephants earlier this month. Very interesting and quick read. Now I'm reading A Concise History of China. It's a little dry and there are lots of names (really hard to keep straight!) but it is really interesting and about a subject that I know very little about. I'm powering through and should be done next week.
Got any recommendations for me? I would love to hear them.
In the meantime, I'm trying to make the best of my 1/2 day off by accomplishing some projects...and then I just decided to update this instead. So here's what I'm inputting these days...
holidays: I came up with a fun idea for a Christmas card...I will show it to you if I manage to pull it off. (This begs the question why do I make it so complicated, right?)
sports: The Twins clinched this week. I can not tell you how obsessed I am, because it would be embarrassing :) I can, however, tell you that I both went to a game this week and am wearing a Twins sweatshirt right now (if that gives you any idea.) I love them all and I can't wait to watch/listen to them keep winning!
TV on DVD: FNL update--I just finished season 2 and it was excellent. I love the evolution some of the characters are taking. It is incredibly realistic. I also just started watching The Vampire Diaries season 1. I started watching it last season, but got too far behind. Now I'm catching up. It may seem cheesy--but it's a very well done dramatic cheesy.
TV: Glee started this week, and sadly that is the only currently airing show I found time to watch this week. The new TV season looks excellent, but I don't have tivo/dvr or the time to keep up. I am hoping to watch Hawaii 5-0 though.
travels: I went to or through South Dakota twice this month. You may ask why I would do that...well, it's all about the people really. The first weekend was for Lifelight south of Sioux Falls. It is an excellent (and free!) Christian music festival: favorite performers of the weekend=Group 1 Crew. I went with a few really good friends and we had a fantastic time. The second weekend was traveling through SD with a few friends to go to a Christian women's retreat in Nebraska. The retreat was excellent and very renewing.
music: The newest disc to catch my fancy: Rebel by Lecrae. This is one of my favorites so far.
books: I read Water for Elephants earlier this month. Very interesting and quick read. Now I'm reading A Concise History of China. It's a little dry and there are lots of names (really hard to keep straight!) but it is really interesting and about a subject that I know very little about. I'm powering through and should be done next week.
Got any recommendations for me? I would love to hear them.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
09/02/10--look kinda familiar?
I never would have thought of it, but I'm glad someone pointed it out.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
not recommended
Sometimes I like not knowing. If I pick up a movie I haven't heard of (which doesn't happen all that often), I quickly scan and decide if I'm in the mood for it. This plan, which I usually like because it doesn't give away the movie and keeps me surprised, backfired this weekend. Now I admit picking a movie called The Killer Inside Me should have set off alarm bells. It was well acted (except maybe one person...) but DISTURBING. Watching a few of the special features actually helped me appreciate it a little more since I found out it was based on a 1950s novel; not sure why that made it better, but it did. (Jen, if you read this, Casey would probably love it.)
The other movie, Dare, had some interesting psychological things to say too, but once again, DISTURBING, but in a different way. I'm just a little sick of everyone thinking that every teenager is twisted or has to become twisted or experience twisted to grow up. It reminds me (in the opposite way) of a great Stellar Kart song. (Not sure how this video connects to the song really, but it's funny in a bizarre way.)
Oh, and sometimes being disturbed is okay...but for me, only if the lesson that comes out of it is worth it. In these cases, not so much...
Oh, and I had an "aha" moment today: the main character in any teenage movie never has fun at a kegger. A lesson for us all :) Care to dispute? Let me know what movie and who it was...
The other movie, Dare, had some interesting psychological things to say too, but once again, DISTURBING, but in a different way. I'm just a little sick of everyone thinking that every teenager is twisted or has to become twisted or experience twisted to grow up. It reminds me (in the opposite way) of a great Stellar Kart song. (Not sure how this video connects to the song really, but it's funny in a bizarre way.)
Oh, and sometimes being disturbed is okay...but for me, only if the lesson that comes out of it is worth it. In these cases, not so much...
Oh, and I had an "aha" moment today: the main character in any teenage movie never has fun at a kegger. A lesson for us all :) Care to dispute? Let me know what movie and who it was...
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