More cell phone

Upon closer inspection of the phone, I found that the ringer doesn't ring anymore, it only vibrates; and the camera doesn't work.

I "heart" Yahoo! Answers

You really can find the answer to any question there. I mean it, anything!

http://answers.yahoo.com/

Update on cell phone

After drying out for a few days the phone is working fine. The screen was a bit discolored at first, but it fixed itself. Yay!

Something you don't want to see when you walk into the bathroom...

...is your cell phone in the toilet. I suppose this is why babies are so darn cute!

Mothers Day Gifts

Jealousy/Envy

jeal·ous·y
–noun, plural

1. jealous resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage, etc., or against another's success or advantage itself.

en·vy
–noun

1. a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, possessions, etc.

—Synonyms 1. enviousness. Envy and jealousy are very close in meaning. Envy denotes a longing to possess something awarded to or achieved by another: to feel envy when a friend inherits a fortune. Jealousy, on the other hand, denotes a feeling of resentment that another has gained something that one more rightfully deserves: to feel jealousy when a coworker receives a promotion.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

The Moon

Here are some pictures that I took of the moon using a telescope that my dad gave me and a digital camera.

It says, "crunchy"

We saw "Charlotte's Web" at the dollar movie today and I have to say it was pretty good. I was worried the remake would ruin the story but it did not. It stayed true to the book and the previous cartoon movie, with many of the same lines. A good thing is that the Wilbur in this movie is a lot less whiny than in the cartoon. The real pig is very cute.
I was disappointed that two of my favorite lines in the cartoon were not in this movie.

The first one is when they see the web and Mr. Zuckerman comments that Wilbur must be no ordinary pig and Mrs. Zuckerman replies, "It seems to me you're a little off. It seems we have no ordinary spider!" In this movie it is actually Mrs. Zuckerman who decides that the spider web is a "miracle".

My second favorite line is when Templeton is asked to get a word for the web and he comes back with 'crunchy'. I was terribly disappointed when they skipped that part and he just came back with 'radiant'.

My Boss, Betty

The first job I ever had was working for Betty at her teacher supply store. I worked there for 4 years; during high school and a year afterward. I only left the job because I got married and moved out of the area. During my time there, Betty trained me on all sorts of things having to do with the business, not just cashiering and stocking shelves. She allowed me to place orders with the supply companies, get the bills ready to be paid and even trusted me to do the bank deposit for the store. All of that when I was 17 or 18 years old! I was so proud to have that kind of responsibility.

I just found out that Betty passed away last month. Even though I had not seen her in awhile, I'll miss her.

Jesus Camp is not so scary

It took me so long to finish this post. So much I wanted to say, but it was too hard to write without being too detailed for those who hadn't seen the movie yet.

I recently watched the movie Jesus Camp, despite being warned that it would be too shocking. As someone who has been to a "jesus camp" of sorts myself, I was not shocked.

I guess I was supposed to be shocked at what was being taught to the children. You don't have to worry about kids. When kids grow up they figure out for themselves what's true or not true.

There is a boy in the movie who gives his testament during camp and admits that he has a hard time believing in god because you can't see god or hear god. He also says he doesn't believe the bible stories that his parents tell him. He cried when telling this. I could tell that he wanted to believe, but he couldn't. I used to feel this way too. I know he will grow up to find that other people feel the same way he does, and he'll be alright.

Orb

While uploading some old photos to the computer, I noticed that this one has an "orb" on it. I don't believe that it is anything paranormal, but I do think it's sort of cool that I got one.

2007

To celebrate 2007 we each wrote down things we wanted to do/change in the new year and used one of our HumanLight candles to burn it. It was a nice ceremony, especially since the kids do enjoy burning things.

Each new year it is usually hard for me to remember to change the year when writing the date. Well into February I am usually still writing the previous year. However, for some reason I had been writing 2007 on my checks since October of '06. I figured that it would be easy for me to make the change this time. The other day when writing a check I accidently wrote 2008. Always thinking ahead!

Cooking is a waste of time.

I don't cook anymore, I merely heat things up. At first I felt guilty about this, but I don't anymore. I used to look at things like 'place and bake' cookies or instant mashed potatoes and think, "How lazy can a person be?" Then I started trying these things, one at a time, and found that not only are they made in a fraction of the time as those made from scratch, but they taste better too. I buy frozen lasagne, bagged salad, breakfast tacos, pre-cooked bacon, and yes, sometimes when they are on sale, I buy Uncrustables too. When I watch cooking shows I am so puzzled as to why someone would waste all that time. However, I do seem to remember from my pre-children days that it is easier to prepare a meal with two hands and without a baby banging pots at your feet.

A good Christmas song is "Celebrate me Home".

A bad Christmas song is "Christmas Shoes" .

They must have read my blog

After karate yesterday we decided to go to Braum's but I warned the kids not to play in the playland. When I pulled the car up I could see that the entire playland had been ripped out. There were visible stains on the concrete floor. "Look at all that whiz." I commented to the kids. Ben cracked up.

And speaking of odors...

On Thursdays after karate, I usually take the kids somewhere for a treat. A few times we went to Braum's which is a fast food/ice cream shop. They have the filthiest playland I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of playlands. The playland does not have tables inside, just a bench, so I was sitting at our table outside with Abe, while the other kids played. When it was time to go I went in to the play area to tell the kids and had to immediatly cover my nose. Inside there was this weird sickly sweet smell, but terrible, I couldn't put my finger on what it was. As we were getting in the car I said,
"It smelled in there. What was that smell?"
"Melted ice cream mixed with whiz." was Ben's prompt reply.
Yeah, that sounds about right. Needless to say, now we go to Baskin Robbins.

An Inconvenient Smell

For the last week, a mystery odor has taken over my kitchen. I'm not really sure what it smells like, but it is not good. My first thought is that it was coming from underneath the oven, but there was nothing under there that would cause it. Different members of the family smell it in different places. Sometimes it seems the smell has gone away for 1/2 a day but it always comes back. I thought perhaps an animal died in the kitchen somewhere. I cleaned under the major appliances, even disconnecting the dishwasher and pulling it out from under the counter so I could see if something was behind there (nothing). The smell is actually making me a bit crazy. Two days ago while sitting on the kitchen floor investigating, I decided I couldn't take it anymore and used a hammer to pry the front baseboards off of 2 of the cabinets. No, there was no dead mouse in there as I had hoped to see, but there was plenty of disgusting crap. Cobwebs like I had never seen before, sawdust, construction dirt etc., and thousands of dead bugs - mostly ants and rolly pollys. Despite the fact that there were about 500 of those egg sacs that spiders make, I did not see one single spider. There were no animal droppings or any evidence of larger animals being down there. Yesterday, while lying on the floor trying to vacuum it all out with the attachment hose, my hair got sucked into the main part of the vacuum where the brush spins around and some of it got ripped out. Today the smell is still there. Oh odor gods, why must you torture me?!

Spongebob Squarepants Pumpkin

This is from a few years ago, but we have such fond memories of this pumpkin.

I pity the poor fool

Whose car is next to mine during the trunk or treat. I went with a Nightmare Before Christmas theme this year. Ben made a replication of Jack's scientific method on his white board. We hung halloween socks as stockings, had a halloween wreath, and lights, and we even played the music from the movie. The kids reported that it was the best car there.