Hallelujah! The average high temperature in my area finally dropped to 99 degrees. Of course, that really doesn't mean anything as the forecast high for today is 107 degrees. But we can hope. Fall starts next Wednesday, so the temps should be dropping to around 100 degrees in the next few weeks. The monsoon appears to be over which means no rain (of significance) until January. Unless a hurricane decides to hit Mexico just right and we get the moisture from that.
Projects. I am inundated with half-finished and un-started projects. My third bedroom is absolutely a disaster. It looks like something from the TV show "Clean Sweep". It currently holds the pack & play, a small dresser for baby items, a small side table, and craft tables. I put the craft tables up hoping I would be able to complete some projects. Instead, they are covered with craft supplies making it impossible for me to have work space to actually work on the project. I'm a mess!
JD. Can I just be maudlin for a moment and tell you how much I miss JD & Janel? My dream situation would be for all of my kids to live no more than 12 hours driving time from us. That would make it easy for visits. Don't get me wrong, I love being able to talk to them whenever, for free, on the cell phone. But it's not the same. And we've only been face-to-face with Janel four or five times. She and I have a lot in common and I'm hoping the day will come when we can spend more time together. Ah well, maudlin moment is over, thanks for listening.
Sam's Club. First off, let me say, we are so thankful for the Sam's Club job. We need prayer for wisdom however. Dan's appraisal appointments are picking up (Praise God!). Last month he had 20 orders. It's really difficult to work that many orders and work full-time at Sam's. We need prayer that we will know when to make the decision for him to go part-time at Sam's. He can't quit until after we buy a house, hopefully sometime in 2011. He can cut his hours and keep his insurance. Obviously he makes way more at appraisals than he does at Sam's, so less hours at Sam's means more hours for appraisals... IF the orders keep up. Your prayer support is appreciated, thank you.
I get my new glasses today! I'll take pictures so you can see them... enjoy your day!
9.16.2010
9.15.2010
Christmas Corner Update
Yes, I've been Christmas shopping this week. I wish you could see the Nativity blocks better. They are absolutely gorgeous. They're a block of crystal with the Holy Family lasered into it. I wish I could buy one for every couple in my family. Check out today's Christmas Corner Update for Step Two and join us for a stress-free Christmas.
9.14.2010
Post Secret
Jessica introduced me to this blog. It's people who send in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard. The blog is updated every Sunday. It is funny, sad, beautiful, ugly, and a terrific snapshot of who we are, what our secrets are, and why we keep our secrets. I guess I kind of looked at Post Secret as a community service, a safe place to say whatever you need to say. When you read some of the secrets I think you'll know what I mean...
9.13.2010
My Blog List is Growing
I'm always on the lookout for x-stitching and Christmas blogs. Last week I found some really cool ones and added them to my blog, blog, blog list (I need to change the name of that, just haven't come up with a really good one yet).
It's hard to find a themed blog by using a search engine, at least in my opinion. So when I find a good stitching blog I click through the writer's blog list to hopefully find more. It occurred to me that there may be people looking at my blog who like to x-stitch and I should provide the links to some great blogs. Same goes with Christmas. I'm amazed at how many people out there look forward to Christmas like I do. I'm pretty much the black sheep in my family, so it makes me feel good to find I'm not alone!
Anyway, whether you enjoy Christmas and/or x-stitching, I invite you to look at these blogs. This first one has a great Halloween design. Keeping with that old-fashioned theme, the next one focuses on Christmas. They are beautifully designed. Which once again leads me to wonder, did they do this themselves? Did they pay someone to do it? How can I design a beautiful blog like this?
There's several other cool blogs I added to my list and I invite you to check them out. Do you have any favorites that you'd like to recommend? I'm always ready to be inspired by the creativity of others...
It's hard to find a themed blog by using a search engine, at least in my opinion. So when I find a good stitching blog I click through the writer's blog list to hopefully find more. It occurred to me that there may be people looking at my blog who like to x-stitch and I should provide the links to some great blogs. Same goes with Christmas. I'm amazed at how many people out there look forward to Christmas like I do. I'm pretty much the black sheep in my family, so it makes me feel good to find I'm not alone!
Anyway, whether you enjoy Christmas and/or x-stitching, I invite you to look at these blogs. This first one has a great Halloween design. Keeping with that old-fashioned theme, the next one focuses on Christmas. They are beautifully designed. Which once again leads me to wonder, did they do this themselves? Did they pay someone to do it? How can I design a beautiful blog like this?
There's several other cool blogs I added to my list and I invite you to check them out. Do you have any favorites that you'd like to recommend? I'm always ready to be inspired by the creativity of others...
9.12.2010
Terrific New Website... Check It Out!
I have posted before about my friend Joanna. She is a photographer and her work is fantastic. To see some of the four generation photos she took of my family look at my post of July 9, 2010. Joanna launched her new website this week. Be sure to check it out, and when you do have your speakers on.
It's a fun site to visit. She has a great eye and I love the way she describes her product as "modern and whimsical". That says it so much better than my layman's description of "she takes the pictures that are in-between the posed shots." I adored the four generation photos she took for us and now have plans to book her for our 30th anniversary photos, photos of my daughters and I, and photos of our whole family the next time we're all home together. However, my bookings are certainly not enough to provide her with a steady income. That's where you all come in. If you live in the Phoenix area and you want quality photos of your family contact Joanna. And be sure to tell her Vicki sent you!
It's a fun site to visit. She has a great eye and I love the way she describes her product as "modern and whimsical". That says it so much better than my layman's description of "she takes the pictures that are in-between the posed shots." I adored the four generation photos she took for us and now have plans to book her for our 30th anniversary photos, photos of my daughters and I, and photos of our whole family the next time we're all home together. However, my bookings are certainly not enough to provide her with a steady income. That's where you all come in. If you live in the Phoenix area and you want quality photos of your family contact Joanna. And be sure to tell her Vicki sent you!
9.11.2010
Remembering
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
My 6:00 am alarm went off at 5:53 am as usual. I always set my bedside clock five - seven minutes ahead so I won't be late. The radio was set to KTAR as usual because I was and am a total news junkie. It was a few minutes before the top-of-the-hour newscast and Ned Foster was discussing a small plane that had hit the World Trade Center in New York City. Never one to pass up an exciting story, I clicked on the bedroom TV to MNSBC (this was before they proclaimed their liberal agenda).
Sure enough, there it was, smoke pouring from the upper floors of one of the towers. I woke up Dan and we started debating if this was a small plane, a large plane, deliberate, an accident? Then, I watched in horror as another plane veered into the shot and into the other tower. The explosion was immediate. Fire. Bright reds, oranges, and yellows. Thick black smoke. It looked like a fireworks display had detonated out the sides of the building. I said, "whoa, that wasn't a small plane, that was a commercial jet." Our debate over the first strike was resolved in a few seconds. Large plane. Deliberate.
The thought "we're under attack" was immediate and real as well as unbelievable and surreal. My first thoughts went to my daughter Jessica who was away at her first year at UofA in Tucson. "What does a war in the United States look like?" "Are we safe?" "How will I get my daughter home?" "Do I go to work today?" My thoughts quickly turned to my friend whose husband was out of town. He works in law enforcement and was on an undercover assignment. I figured he would be called back to his home office. I called her, woke her up and told her to turn on the TV.
The extraordinary thing about that moment is that life went on as usual in my house. I got the kids up. I had every TV in the house turned to the cable news channels, but that wasn't that unusual for me. I explained what had happened and assured them that "yes, they still had to go to school". I got ready for work. The only unusual event was that I grabbed my camping TV to take to work with me so I could stay up to date. By the time I got everyone to school the Pentagon had been hit. Flight 93 was missing. I was sort of in shock and sort of thinking this was a dream and sort of convinced this was really bad. The worst event, the worst disaster to occur in my life up to that moment.
At work I plugged in my little black and white and watched the drama, the horror continue to unfold. The replaying of the jumpers. The replaying of each tower collapse. The replaying of the Pentagon in flames. The replaying of a black scar on the earth in Pennsylvania. I kept track of the President's whereabouts. The Vice-President's whereabouts. The Secretary of State's whereabouts. I watched the celebrations in Palestine. I watched the weeping in the United States. I was exhausted by the end of that work day. I doubt I got any work accomplished.
Driving home, the tone of the newscasters on the radio had switched from shock to indignation that we would be considered vulnerable to defiance that we could be defeated. The name Osama Bin Laden was already being bandied about as the mastermind to this event.
That night at dinner we discussed the attacks. Talked about what the next few days might bring. Explained that the country was at war, declared or not. We watched the President address the nation and then I settled down to watch the human interest stories already being aired on MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News. I cried as I watched the pictures of the missing go up on fences, walls, lamp posts, and buildings around New York City. I cried at the look of shock, despair and horror on the faces of the family members.
I watched far too late into the night and then reluctantly went to bed to try to sleep for a few hours.
On Wednesday, September 12, 2001 I awoke to the sound of my 6:00 am alarm going off at 5:53 am. I heard the voice of Ned Foster on KTAR talking about the overnight developments. I set about my day in the new normal of life in the United States of America. The post-9/11 life that continues today.
My 6:00 am alarm went off at 5:53 am as usual. I always set my bedside clock five - seven minutes ahead so I won't be late. The radio was set to KTAR as usual because I was and am a total news junkie. It was a few minutes before the top-of-the-hour newscast and Ned Foster was discussing a small plane that had hit the World Trade Center in New York City. Never one to pass up an exciting story, I clicked on the bedroom TV to MNSBC (this was before they proclaimed their liberal agenda).
Sure enough, there it was, smoke pouring from the upper floors of one of the towers. I woke up Dan and we started debating if this was a small plane, a large plane, deliberate, an accident? Then, I watched in horror as another plane veered into the shot and into the other tower. The explosion was immediate. Fire. Bright reds, oranges, and yellows. Thick black smoke. It looked like a fireworks display had detonated out the sides of the building. I said, "whoa, that wasn't a small plane, that was a commercial jet." Our debate over the first strike was resolved in a few seconds. Large plane. Deliberate.
The thought "we're under attack" was immediate and real as well as unbelievable and surreal. My first thoughts went to my daughter Jessica who was away at her first year at UofA in Tucson. "What does a war in the United States look like?" "Are we safe?" "How will I get my daughter home?" "Do I go to work today?" My thoughts quickly turned to my friend whose husband was out of town. He works in law enforcement and was on an undercover assignment. I figured he would be called back to his home office. I called her, woke her up and told her to turn on the TV.
The extraordinary thing about that moment is that life went on as usual in my house. I got the kids up. I had every TV in the house turned to the cable news channels, but that wasn't that unusual for me. I explained what had happened and assured them that "yes, they still had to go to school". I got ready for work. The only unusual event was that I grabbed my camping TV to take to work with me so I could stay up to date. By the time I got everyone to school the Pentagon had been hit. Flight 93 was missing. I was sort of in shock and sort of thinking this was a dream and sort of convinced this was really bad. The worst event, the worst disaster to occur in my life up to that moment.
At work I plugged in my little black and white and watched the drama, the horror continue to unfold. The replaying of the jumpers. The replaying of each tower collapse. The replaying of the Pentagon in flames. The replaying of a black scar on the earth in Pennsylvania. I kept track of the President's whereabouts. The Vice-President's whereabouts. The Secretary of State's whereabouts. I watched the celebrations in Palestine. I watched the weeping in the United States. I was exhausted by the end of that work day. I doubt I got any work accomplished.
Driving home, the tone of the newscasters on the radio had switched from shock to indignation that we would be considered vulnerable to defiance that we could be defeated. The name Osama Bin Laden was already being bandied about as the mastermind to this event.
That night at dinner we discussed the attacks. Talked about what the next few days might bring. Explained that the country was at war, declared or not. We watched the President address the nation and then I settled down to watch the human interest stories already being aired on MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News. I cried as I watched the pictures of the missing go up on fences, walls, lamp posts, and buildings around New York City. I cried at the look of shock, despair and horror on the faces of the family members.
I watched far too late into the night and then reluctantly went to bed to try to sleep for a few hours.
On Wednesday, September 12, 2001 I awoke to the sound of my 6:00 am alarm going off at 5:53 am. I heard the voice of Ned Foster on KTAR talking about the overnight developments. I set about my day in the new normal of life in the United States of America. The post-9/11 life that continues today.
9.10.2010
Labeling
So, I've noticed on other people's really cool blogs that they have labels. I had no idea how they did that until one day I saw the "labels" widget. I decided to apply it to my recipe blog where it really made sense to use it. I didn't like the way it looked though. It was just a list of labels. Not the cool looking thing I saw on everyone else's blog.
Yesterday I decided to explore the labels widget a little more and figured out that I was looking for a "cloud" not a "list". So I chose that option. Way cool. Then of course I wanted my everyday blog to look as cool as my recipe blog so for the past two days I've been labeling every single post on this blog. That was way more time consuming that I realized it would be. But doesn't my label cloud look cool?
The only problem with this whole labeling thing is that I (and everyone else in the world) can now see what I focus on when I write. Clearly I'm most interested in holidays, Christmas and Sunny. Not that those are bad things. But I do feel a little embarrassed that I haven't devoted more attention to Dan, faith, or any of my kids.
Now if I could just figure out that whole "grab my button" thing...
Yesterday I decided to explore the labels widget a little more and figured out that I was looking for a "cloud" not a "list". So I chose that option. Way cool. Then of course I wanted my everyday blog to look as cool as my recipe blog so for the past two days I've been labeling every single post on this blog. That was way more time consuming that I realized it would be. But doesn't my label cloud look cool?
The only problem with this whole labeling thing is that I (and everyone else in the world) can now see what I focus on when I write. Clearly I'm most interested in holidays, Christmas and Sunny. Not that those are bad things. But I do feel a little embarrassed that I haven't devoted more attention to Dan, faith, or any of my kids.
Now if I could just figure out that whole "grab my button" thing...
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