Quick, which is your favorite style?

Some people are so creative.

Mixed Up Does as Mixed Up Is

I am so mixed up in my days. (And evidently in my titles too!  Does that title even make sense? Or should it be "Mixed Up Is as Mixed Up Does?"  Oh well.)  It seems lately that it's never the day I think it is.  Today I thought it was Thursday already. Yesterday I thought it was Monday.   I wonder what I'll think tomorrow will be.  So in that vein I think I'll do a post of mixed thoughts because obviously mixed up is where I'm dwelling right now.

We woke up to a gorgeous morning today.  Yesterday was -23*C (brrrr) and today is 0*.  Gotta love Southern Alberta. Definitely heading outside with the kids today.  I think I'll try and take Todd out for an early morning walk before work all this week seeing as it's now light out at that time.  Providing it's nice at 6:30  in the a.m.

Not looking forward to losing an hour sleep this weekend.  It is the weekend we turn the clocks forward, right?  I'm already stressing about it.

I've got several books on the go right now.  I'm doing a book for review that will have the review posted this weekend.  I won't be finishing it by that time because I only received it last week but it is good.  It's non-fiction and try as I might to just read it straight through for the review I find myself not being able to help taking notes so it's taking longer.  It's very good and definitely convicting.  I'm going to make a concerted effort to do as much of it that I can before the review but I know I'll be going back to it and doing a deeper study for sure.

I need to put an ad in the paper for another dayhome child.  This is the part of my job I find most difficult.  Those interviews even after 21 years of doing this do not come any easier.

On that thought, I am really considering taking some courses in library sciences.  I don't know why I never pursued becoming a librarian as it's always been a passion from the time I was an elementary school  kid.  I think I got really distracted in high school with the social scene.  Anyway that's another post.  But I've heard that there will be lots of retirements of librarians in the school districts around here over the next few years, so I'm really considering taking the plunge.  It's never too late, right?  The thought of homework though makes me cringe.

I colored my hair on the weekend trying that new foam haircolor that is supposed to be really easy.  Sigh.  I've never had such a mess.  I got dye all over my son's bathroom wall.  Hubby was not impressed.  And the color came out way darker than I thought it would.  With my luck, this will not fade fast, just because I want it to.  Maybe I'll try to put some high lights into this weekend.

And on that note I need to get to work.  I see some instrument crafts in my very near future.

My Bullet Thoughts

I can't seem to put together a post this week.  My brain does not want to think in full thoughts or paragraphs.  So for your enjoyment (ha!) here is what's bouncing around in the caverns of my brain today.

• I'm tired! 
• I need fresh air!
• The chinook blew in this week.
• It's been like a hurricane outside for 4 days now.
• This morning the sky was flaming red.
• "Red sky at night, sailor's delight.  Red sky in morning, sailor's warning".  Absolutely true!  
• It's going to be another wickedly windy day.
• It's hard to get fresh air when the wind is blowing so hard it takes your breath away. Literally. 
• My heart is breaking for Hubby's mom.  And Hubby.
• Strokes are from the pit of hell.
• What would we do without God to lean on and draw strength from in hard times.
• I'm about 5 days behind on my bible reading plan now
• I am determined to get caught up
• I want this to be the year I actually do this thing
• That is, read through the bible in a year
• I find myself rereading the same verses over and over because it's hard to focus this week
• Sigh.
• I hate Hubby's new shift at work
• I feel like I rarely see him
• We especially miss him at the dinner table
• I'm planning for a date time this weekend
• I love that the dog makes me laugh and lightens it up around here
• He doesn't like that I'm watching the Dog Whisperer (LOL)
• Don't forget to join in on Fave Fives tomorrow!

Got this in my email today and it made me smile so I thought I'd share it.

'Twas the night before Christmas and out on the ranch

The pond was froze over and so was the branch.

The snow was piled up belly-deep to a mule.

The kids were all home on vacation from school,

And happier young folks you never did see-

Just all sprawled around a-watchin' TV.

Then suddenly, some time around 8 o'clock,

There came a surprise that gave them a shock!

The power went off, the TV went dead!

When Grandpa came in from out in the shed

With an armload of wood, the house was all dark.

"Just what I expected," they heard him remark.

"Them power line wires must be down from the snow.

Seems sorter like times on the ranch long ago."

"I'll hunt up some candles," said Mom. "With their light,

And the fireplace, I reckon we'll make out all right."

The teen-agers all seemed enveloped in gloom.

Then Grandpa came back from a trip to his room,

Uncased his old fiddle and started to play

That old Christmas song about bells on a sleigh.

Mom started to sing, and the 1st thing they knew

Both Pop and the kids were all singing it, too.

They sang Christmas carols, they sang "Holy Night,"

Their eyes all a-shine in the ruddy firelight.

They played some charades Mom recalled from her youth,

And Pop read a passage from God's Book of Truth.

They stayed up till midnight-and, would you believe,

The youngsters agreed 'twas a fine Christmas Eve.

Grandpa rose early, some time before dawn;

And when the kids wakened, the power was on..

"The power company sure got the line repaired quick,"

Said Grandpa - and no one suspected his trick.

Last night, for the sake of some old-fashioned fun,

He had pulled the main switch - the old Son-of-a-Gun!

-anonymous

Randomness, Otherwise known as I got nothin'

1. I feel exhausted and drained. Physically, emotionally and creatively. I don't often get this way but when I do I tend to draw introspective, hence the "I got nothin'" in the title. And lucky for you, you get the random sentences of whatever comes out of the keyboard.

2. I survived leading ladies group once again. Though it was a hard one and I had a sense of panic a couple of times. We're doing a study by Patsy Clairmont on untangling our emotions and the topic this week was anger. That one's a toughie because the study can really turn into people feeding off of each other's points of anger and it can take quite a downward, negative turn. Add to that we have a couple of ladies who are not afraid to speak their minds and you never know what they will say. The leading of God was really needed to stay on topic and to keep bringing everyone back to how to deal God's way with their different points of anger and how to bring glory to Him in our overall attitudes. Praise God for His grace whenever I do something like this, is all I can say.

3. The main bedroom is coming along. For those who asked we picked the color "Jute" which is sort of a beige brown base with hints of green and yellow and even some gray, depending on how the light is hitting it. I satisfied my more earthy color need and hubby's darker, more saturated color need. These pics aren't quite the way they are "live" but not bad. See how it looks a bit different depending on the angle of lighting. And of course I had to use flash so that makes it a touch different than natural light too. At night it's deep and rich.


And yes, the '90's wall paper is coming down. No more burgundy. But hey, it used to be big purple flowers thanks to the folks who live here before. So burgundy was a vast improvement! And no, that is not how messy my bedroom usually is. Everything is piled into the middle and on top of the bed. What we'll do when we redo the floor is at this point beyond me. We might be breaking out the tent and sleeping bags. Which could be a tad chilly in Alberta at this time of year.

4. It is really noisy down here. Man, oh man. Put 5 boys and one rambunctious girl into a small playroom and it's amazing the decibels they produce.

5. American Idol was dullsville last night except when the visually impaired fella sang. Seems to me Canadian Idol talent last season was way above this years American group. Sorry my American friends, 'tis true. And I felt heart sick for the poor kid who accidently knocked over the mike stand and the judges couldn't let it go no matter how many times he said it was an accident. And then Ryan rubbing his nose in it was over the top. I thought the kid was gonna cry. I hope Ryan apologized after. I sorta like the blonde girl who hasn't been able to get it together with image. I hope she makes it through too.

6. My dog, Samson, desperately needs to go to the doggy hairdresser. He looks a bit like a crazy mop.

7. It is beautiful here this week. Do I dare to believe maybe, just maybe, spring might be on the way?

8. And with that comes spring cleaning. If you need motivation for that go here and scroll through the post for about the last 3 weeks. My word, my friend is a vertitable cleaning superwoman and if it doesn't motivate you to at least do something, well, I don't know what will.

9. I wish I could be like my cat who is now curled up and sleeping beside me on the top of the couch. To sleep when you want and have no one give me a rough time, have someone make me breakfast and dinner when I demand it, act cute or snooty as my mood strikes, have attitude and still have them loving me and vying for my attention when I choose to give it, never have to scrub a toilet or dust. Sorta sounds like fun.

10. I need to win a trip to somewhere beachy and lovely.

So I'll stop there. I'm sure there is only so much randomness even the best of bloggy friends can handle. If you stuck with me through this, bless your heart!

I can't even think of a title for this stuff

After all the busyness and semi-excitement of the last month or so, this last week has been virtually calm and well, boring. And while it's been nice to just be able to pause and take a breath, I've also noticed that, uhm, I got nothin' to blog about. Yes, me, the motor mouth of the family has nothing to say. My sister would keel over from shock if she knew.

So, you get some random thoughts. Aren't you lucky. :v)

-I whacked my head on a shelf yesterday and gave myself a little cut. I didn't think I could ever see stars so close up. And did you know styling your hair with a little goose egg and cut is really painful?

-in the spirit of the big shuffle that's been going on around here since Kay moved off to school we now shuffled Tia. Moreso, Tia's bed. With Jay going to the downstairs bedroom formerly occupied by aforementioned moved away daughter, he got the queen bed that went with that room. So Tia laid dibs on the loft bed with the attached desk that was in Jays room. So we had to break that down and reassemble it in Tia's room and then move her bed in Jay's old room which is now Kay's room when she comes home to visit. You got that? I didn't lose you did I? 'Cause reading that back, MY head is spinning. But that could be from the shelf incident too. Anyway we did the whole job with nary an injury to any human beings, except the loft bed required a visit to the welding doctor after we removed a part and the desk end fell forward and snapped a bar that attached one end to the other. Who knew that was an important peice? Sheesh.

-Here's a picture of the Golden Rice of which I posted the recipe here, 2 days ago, that I forgot to put up and which I found on my camera today.

-The big color debate for my bedroom is on with the hubby. We haven't painted in about 12 years in there and it's needing it badly. Hubby likes the color it is, which is a really nice mossy green, and although I love the color after 12 years of it, I'm a bit ready for a change. Something more on the neutral side so I can do the bedding in whatever strikes my fancy (and budget) at the time. You got any suggestions?

-We're having pajama day in dayhome tomorrow and I'm thinking how I'm going to pull off making waffles for lunch with 7 little ones here. It's funny, the parents are saying the kids are more excited about getting to wear pajamas here than about their halloween costumes at night. The big discussion at the lunch table yesterday was what pajamas each of them was going to wear.

-hmmm, uhm, let's see, uhm, I got new towels last week. The color is called "cornstalk" and it's sort of a really nice browny taupey with hints of mellowed goldy kind of color. Can't you just see it?

-I need to get to the store where they have little table top prelit Christmas trees on for ten bucks. I want to send one to Kay as a surprise. She's the one who loves Christmas decorating and would decorate in November if I let her. Because of her we always had the tree and decorations up the first weekend in the December.

-I bought 3 white pumpkins this week to put on my front porch in my planter. Here's a pic of them. Now this is where you come in. Got any ideas how to decorate this up a bit so it looks like I did more than throw 3 pumpkins into my planter?

Are ya still here? Isn't my life utterly thrilling? If you stuck with me through that you are a very special person, indeed!