susan's two hours of early morning fun:

3:47 am - wake up to a very loud growling creature in my bed, my hungry stomach.

3:50 am - after three minutes of trying to will myself back to sleep, got up.

3:52 am - went to the bathroom (AGAIN).

4:00 am - scrounged the kitchen, came out with peanut butter toast.

4:10 am - attempted to fall asleep.

4:10 to 4:30 - Butter clickity-clacked around in her cage (her nails need cut) around and around and around til I'm sure she collapsed from sheer dizziness.

4:30 am - had a very bizarre dream that involved me and a flying oldsmobile.

5:00 am - woke up to a furry feline walking on my head.

5:15 am - pet said feline, listening to him purr away.

5:30 am - more clickety-clacks.

6:00 am - turned off alarm.

6:10 am - got up.

I know, you wish more posts were like this.

quote

"If it takes you more than 60 seconds to do your hair in the morning, you are not a man." -Josh Canady

weirdo pets

I don't know what it is about our pets, but this seems to be their favorite position.

food and southern phrasing

Two things. The phones are pretty slow today, and since I'm going on 8.5 hours of sleep (it may sound blissful to you but trust me, it's not enough), I have been resting between calls. Before my last call, I realized after the fact that I had been thinking, I mean really thinking long and hard, about how much I wish we had some bacon at home b/c if we did I would make myself a toasty BLT sandwich when I get there. Then I found myself thinking about the different tastes of the bacon, lettuce, tomato, toasty bread, and how wonderful they taste when put together. Mmmmm. I think I will make Josh stop on the way home so we can pick up some bacon.

Secondly, I have heard a fair share of southern phrasing in the year that we have lived here. "I might could...", "I ain't got but...", "I'm all tore up...", but my favorite is when I ask my cusomer on the phone if they need anything else (especially if it's an older man) and he says, "Nope, that'll git it!"

reactions

Josh when he learned about Mickey D's nixing the dollar menu:



Yahtzee when I told him we were getting a dog:



Honey when I said, "Give me my camera":



Me anytime a camera points my way:



Butter when I told her I lost my job:

what not to say

What you probably should not say to someone in welcoming them home for a visit:

"Hi! Looks like Nashville is feeding you well!"

Really?

I will never understand, and I guess this is the intuitive introvert talking, how a person can just blurt something out without thinking about it first. Ah well, it provided some minor entertainment as an afterthought.

Ironically, I've lost about 10 pounds since the last visit.

a few of my favorite things

I could go on and on about the things that make me smile. In fact, in high school I made a wooden chair (with the help of some skilled VBS people) with tons of things that make me smile that I woodburned all over it. Things like "puppies", "rain", "flowers"...etc. But, here I will only list a few of my favorite things...



My hubby. He's the best husband ever and I love him TONS!




My cat, Yahtzee. He's such a good pet and he makes me laugh.




New haircuts! I love growing it out and then chopping it off. It's a fun change!






Flowers!! I always tell Josh, you can never go wrong with flowers! Store bought or hand-picked...I love 'em all!




Old pictures! I could spend all day going through them.




Oh sweet mother of all things good and holy. I love ice cream. I can never have enough, which is why I hardly ever buy any at the grocery store. Mmm, cold, sweet, creamy, lovely ice cream.



Okay, I'll stop now.

some places that i love

I have had the opportunity to travel to a few different places. Some I have just traveled through, some I have stayed a while. Of those places, that I can think of, are Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, Illinois, Alabama, Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Mexico, Amsterdam, Austria, Albania. I don't know if I'm forgetting any, but those are the ones that come to mind. Out of that list are a few places that I have been more than a couple times, and that I will hopefully be able to go back to again and again....


This is a shot of a Pennsylvania farm. I don't know where this is exactly, but it looks very much like the land where I grew up. I don't think that I could have grown up in any other place. It suited me. I was a country girl, that's for sure, and I love going back to visit!



This is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland. I met Josh at Washington Bible College, and we got engaged two days before my graduation...on this beach...that's the bay bridge in the background.

In the four and a half years I spent living on the eastern shore, I've fallen in love with it and am often a little homesick for it now that I live here in Nashville...which brings me to another cool place I love...


Nashville, TN!!


Winter Park, Colorado. Along with becoming part of Josh's family I have found that I like to ski! We have gone to Winter Park two times now and I just can't say enough about the beautiful, fluffy whiteness! The mountains are just breathtaking.

welcome to my mind (yikes!)

A few things on my mind right now:


1.

Oh sweet sassy, this can't come fast enough! Josh and I are taking a week to travel to Merry Land and Pennsyltucky to visit our families! It's been around six months since we've seen them...for some it's been longer. It's been fun to keep this count down on the dry erase board in the kitchen. As you can see, we have 21 days until we leave...and of course a note to myself for the proper equivalent of dry to cooked rice when I make white rice in my rice cooker....mmmm....white rice...and kimchee! Man, I'm hungry....okay, sorry for that trail, although, this is a blog about what's on my mind right now, so I can type anything! =) Just kidding..next!


2. GO rent this movie. Right now. Are you going? You can finish reading this when you get back. Trust me, it's worth it.


I just LOVE the concept that is all through this movie about hearing music in everything if we just listen and acknowledging how that within music we can find a deep communication. Freddie Highmore is a great little actor as well. You can watch the trailer here.


3. Most disappointing movie of the year so far...


Josh and I are both HUGE fans of M. Night Shyamalan, so anytime he has a new movie coming out we both drool over the previews until opening night. Well, this time we waited for a matinee to save a few bucks, and man, what a let-down!! The story was okay, but the acting was horrible! I'm so sorry, Mark Wahlberg, you know I love you, but the action flicks suit you better! We've decided that this won't deter us from seeing more M.Night movies, since this is the first one we haven't liked of his.

4. Small accomplishment - I've lost 11 pounds! It may not seem like much, but I'm working my butt off at the Y 5 days a week, and will soon start implementing some things I'm learning in this book...

It just has some very simple and sensible advise. I've also been following a running plan. One of the biggest things I've learned so far since I've gotten back into running, is the importance of listening to your body and then acting accordingly. I haven't been very active since high school/college and so it's been an adjustment realizing that the way I was then is not the way I am now, and I'm not just talking about being bigger and fatter. I'm talking about the communication between mind and body. When I was younger, pushing myself had no limits. I'm realizing that now that I'm older I can't just push myself as far as my mind wants me to go. For example, I tried to follow this running schedule for "beginners" several months ago. It started out okay. I was tired, but completing the steps, so I felt accomplishment. Then, week three rolled around and I noticed that I not only found I couldn't keep up with the increasing intensity on the schedule, but I was also starting to steadily decline in what I was able to do. I wasn't just tired, I was exhausted and felt like I was hit by a truck 15 minutes into it. My joints started aching. I felt like I was old. This inevitably caused me to get discouraged, and made it easy to start missing workouts. What I found is that this is a common mistake with recreational runners: too much too soon. I'm also reading this book...

...which is where I read about the importance of listening to your body. Now, I am still following the beginner's running schedule, but if the workouts are still kickin my batooshkie at the end of the week, I don't worry about advancing and repeat that week over. I'm finding that it's done amazing things for my drive, too. I don't get discouraged. Oh, and as you can see, Yahtzee is thinking about taking up running as well. I just snapped this about 2 minutes ago...



5. Money stinks. You can't live without it, and it's so hard to manage! At least for me. Josh and I have started a new budget suggested by Dave Ramsey. We are in the second half of the first month and so far it's working out pretty good. We would love to be able to become debt-free and never use credit cards ever again. We are really hoping our house will help us out in this area. Speaking of the house, nothing new has happened for a while due to said new budget plan, but I will definitely update as we do things! Okay, that's about all that's on my mind right now. Relieved? I am, this laptop is hot on my legs. I think I'll go sit in front of the fan....

house purchase

Today I purchased something for my house. It's great, it's grand, it's gloriously beautiful. It's something that every new homeowner dreams of.........





















It's a dish-rack. Completely overpriced, in my opinion. However, I decided it's a must-have when I realized I was pulling out more dirty dishes than clean from my dishwasher. Shucks, I'm gonna miss handing over the task of dishwashing to a machine! I'm no stranger to dishwashing....as early as I can remember I was part of the dishwashing shenanigans at the homestead. I wish I could say it holds many fond memories for me, however I think most of my sibling sqabbles took place over that sink. Maybe not the majority of them, but definitely the worst of them. Something about soapy dishwater, wrinkled fingers, and painful towel slaps (is that what they're called?) used to bring the worst out in me. I do have one very good memory that sticks out among all the screaming and splashing. My dad was probably out at the barn, and my mom left to go somewhere. Before she did she cautioned my brother Daniel and I that we had better have the dishes done when she returned. She left, and we set to task. Daniel said he wanted to play a game. He wanted to see exactly how fast we could finish the dishes. He wanted to set a record. I thought this sounded like fun and so the fastest, splashiest dishwashing job ensued. I don't remember the details, just laughter, fun, and wet. Daniel had a way of doing that every once in a while. Making a job fun. So, while I don't expect to have anymore dishwashing, sibling squabbles over my new dish-rack, I do see more soapy dishwater and wrinkled fingers in my future...at least until it's time to gut my kitchen and put in a new one!

relaxed

Josh doesn't smoke. Except for when he's rummaging through boxes and finds an old cigar from 1932. Just kidding, it's not from 1932...but it's at least a few years old. I thought this was a hilarious sight. Chillin' in a camping chair on the patio, big ol' headphones so he can hear his music, smokin' a cigar.

thank god i'm a country girl

Yesterday evening was filled with a romp roarin' good time while Josh mowed the lawn and I dealt with this:


This is the patio outside our bedroom. A month or two ago we raked up a ton of leaves...and left them here.


It has since rained and rained, creating a soppy, yucky, dirty mess. And that's not all. I may not like soppy, yucky, dirty messes, but you know who does?


That's right, nobody likes me everybody hates me, I'm gonna go eat worms! Please tell me you've heard that song. Oh, and also, I totally screwed up this photo when I was playing around with it so there's only a total of about two worms in this picture, but just take my word for it. It was like spaghetti under there. And, I will admit, considering all of the things that could have come crawling out of this mess, worms really aren't that bad, even if there were enough in that pile to start a freakin colony. I thought, wow, that's gross, but oh well I'll go get the gloves in the garage. After searching the garage, said gloves were nowhere to be found. I realized I would be handling this mess all-naturale. Yes, I know there's no 'e' on naturale, and no, I don't mean naked. I went back and looked at the pile thinking, Really? This is so gross! Then I heard a voice, one that I hadn't heard in a while. You chicken! You used to walk happily through cow crap in your bare feet! You had a front row seat for skinning during deer season, you let calves suck on your hands, you've had every imaginable dirt and gross substance on you at some point on the farm....and now you can't pick up worms? Okay, so I didn't really hear a voice, but these were some thoughts going through my head at the time. Growing up in the country I certainly have been into some dirty places. So, me and this guy had a heart to heart.


I know it looks like I'm pretending to eat him. That wasn't my intent on the photo, but oh well. My point is, I realized worms aren't that big o' deal, and I needed to remember my roots a little. And for that, I thank my little worm friends! Oh, and if you don't ever come back to this blog again, I understand! =)

google nap pod

I'm not usually a napper, but if LifeWay invested in these puppies, I just might be converted. Can't you see it? A little LifeWay logo on the side? Suddenly I feel very sleepy....

one of those days

Do you ever have those days where you feel like this?



Or like this?



Or maybe this?



Or, maybe you just want to forget it all and do this..



I had one of those days today. Ugh. But now, I'm going to bed, looking forward to a better and brighter day! Good night.

thought of the day

If you have to take your hands off the machine to pull up and adjust your sleeveless top, you might have confused going to the Y with date night. You might as well just walk back and forth in front of the machines while showing some skin. You'll expend less energy, and you'll have served the same purpose. I mean, completely my personal opinion, of course.

wow

I just happened to have my camera with me at work this day. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but this is the view from my office window.


And these I took on the way home (don't worry, Josh was driving):



I'm thinking, the golden arches can't really hold a candle to these colors! I liked the contrast, though.

just because

I absolutely hate arguing with my husband. Unfortunately, we are imperfect beings living in an imperfect world, and anytime you put two personalities together for an extended period of time, there's bound to be some friction at some point. While I hate when it happens, I like when it ends this way:


I don't even remember what the argument was over, but I wish I would have had a camera in my hand when I opened the door for him (he had gone to get a few groceries), and he was standing there bogged down with grocery bags and flowers. Somehow any hard feelings that were there just melted away. Weird how that happens.

crossed lines of brain and body

This girl looks a lot better than I did today. I walked into the gym, picked out my treadmill and stepped on like I do every day. I started it up, pumping it up to the speed I start out with, which is a brisk walk. After a minute or two I realized that the very annoying whine coming from my machine is not something that will eventually subside, and if I have to listen to it for the next 20 minutes I might go insane. So, I hit the STOP button and turn to get off. Well, how quickly my brain told me the belt was stopping apparently was not in sync with how quickly it was ACTUALLY stopping. Thankfully, this incident wasn't as bad as it could have been. I turned around and ended up doing a couple quick back-steps before finding myself in the crab-walk position, each foot and each hand spread out on the non-moving parts of the treadmill. I jumped up, smiled sheepishly at the guy on the next machine who's neck appeared to snap in my direction with my sudden movement downward, and hopped onto the next one and on with my workout. Nothing was hurt, although my pride took a healthy singe.

senior moment

This is a true account as recorded in the Police Log of Sarasota, Florida...

"An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her
car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle. She
dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream
at the top of her voice, "I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get
out of the car!"

The four men didn't wait for a second invitation. They got out and ran
like mad. The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her
shopping bags into the back of the car and got into the driver's seat.
She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition.
She tried and tried, and then it dawned on her why... For the same
reason she did not understand why there was a football, a Frisbee and
two 12 packs of beer in the front seat! A few minutes later, she found
her own car parked four or five spaces farther down. She loaded her
bags into the car and drove to the police station to report her
mistake.

The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn't stop laughing. He
pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale men were
reporting a car jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white,
less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair, and carrying a
large handgun.

No charges were filed.

If you're going to have a Senior Moment, make it a memorable one!