Saturday, March 31, 2012

So, I have been away from the internets....

Here's why:



I finally broke down and got some cable for the house. Not even good cable, mind you. The most basic of basic. With On-Demand. Now, that right there...that's the problem. I have been browsing the On-Demand all night when the boys have gone to sleep, when I should be sleeping, thereby, majorly screwing with my already dodgy sleep schedule. This means, I have been falling asleep somewhere around 3-4 AM and sleeping till past 1 PM every day that I was off. And for what?

This:

I am a sucker for geneology shows. It is interesting to find out how we got here.



I don't even know why I am hooked on this show. Bronson Pinchot is a bit of a dork, and really doesn't do anything but order others around. But, I do like it. And, I want to adopt his assistant, Mikey.



Simply, beautiful.






What is there not to love about a show that follows baby animals from birth through the first weeks of life.



And there is the guilty pleasure. As a rule, I tend to avoid "reality" programming. But I do like this show. It is quick, and T and Coco are such a cute couple.



I even watched an episode of this:


I hate this show. Why do I do that to myself?

And, then there is all the PBS!!! My very favorites being:







And Sherlock is coming back in MAY!!!


Now that I have made a TV glutton of myself, I will be able to resume normal functions. Like leaving my house from time to time, reading, sewing, knitting and other things that do not include a remote in my hand.



W. :)


Sing along Saturday is preempted to share this...



I love Downton Abbey. This spoof is so funny, and spot on! My favorite part would have to be poor Mr. Bates...

W. :)

Friday, March 30, 2012

Fill in the blank Friday



Fill in the Blank Friday courtesy of the Little Things We Do.

1. My greatest strength is my ability to roll with the punches. I adapt easily to change. Which has served me well in life.


2. My greatest weakness is my tendency to procrastinate. What's the big hurry. It will get done eventually.

3. People always compliment me on my curly hair. I don't know if it genuine, or just trying to make me feel better, since I hate my hair.

4. If you found me procrastinating you'd probably find me doing anything except that which needs to be done. TV, driving around, reading, blogging, etc, etc.

5. The most cozy place in all the world is yet to be discovered. However, I do like to curl up under a quilt on my sofa now and again.


6. Something new that I tried recently was actually using other settings on my camera other than automatic.


7. This weekend I would like to well what I would like to do is get my sewing machine out and work on refashioning skirts. But, what I will be doing is working. :P

W. :)

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Sunday at the Cemetery .....





On Sunday, the Kiddo and I visited the Lexington Cemetery. We had visited it before a few years ago in the winter. Winter does not do this place justice. Springtime here is absolutely gorgeous!




Most of the roads in the cemetery were lined with beautiful flowering trees like the ones above. I can not even begin to describe the smell of the place. It was awesome and sweet.









All of the grounds were carpeted in these wildflowers. Beautiful.



The dogwoods are all in bloom. Growing up in North Carolina, my elementary school was located directly across from a cemetery, and I remember the white dogwoods. I didn't know they came in pink and coral.





There a beautiful ponds and fountains. And there were some visitors from the north there.





There is a sizable military section in this cemetery.



This one is definitely remembered.



After our visit to the dead, we went visit some new babies.




And had lunch at Jimmy John's, which was....




Saturday, March 24, 2012

Bonus song for Sing Along Saturday!!



Just cuz it's fun!

W. :)

♫Sing along Saturday!!♫



Oh, Adele. Do you always know exactly how we feel?

So, speaking of making someone feel loved, try this on for size:

A Powerful Three-Step Algorithm for Happiness

Imagine if the key to happiness was to not make yourself feel better, but to make someone else feel better. To make someone else feel loved and appreciated.

And, how do you understand love? How do you express love? What is your Love Language?

I have been perusing the 5 Love Languages website, and it states that most people have a specific Love Language. They are:

1: Words of Affirmation
Actions don’t always speak louder than words. If this is your love language, unsolicited compliments mean the world to you. Hearing the words, “I love you,” are important—hearing the reasons behind that love sends your spirits skyward. Insults can leave you shattered and are not easily forgotten.

2: Quality Time
In the vernacular of Quality Time, nothing says, “I love you,” like full, undivided attention. Being there for this type of person is critical, but really being there—with the TV off, fork and knife down, and all chores and tasks on standby—makes your significant other feel truly special and loved. Distractions, postponed dates, or the failure to listen can be especially hurtful.

3: Receiving Gifts
Don’t mistake this love language for materialism; the receiver of gifts thrives on the love, thoughtfulness, and effort behind the gift. If you speak this language, the perfect gift or gesture shows that you are known, you are cared for, and you are prized above whatever was sacrificed to bring the gift to you. A missed birthday, anniversary, or a hasty, thoughtless gift would be disastrous—so would the absence of everyday gestures.

4: Acts of Service
Can vacuuming the floors really be an expression of love? Absolutely! Anything you do to ease the burden of responsibilities weighing on an “Acts of Service” person will speak volumes. The words he or she most want to hear: “Let me do that for you.” Laziness, broken commitments, and making more work for them tell speakers of this language their feelings don’t matter.

5: Physical Touch
This language isn’t all about the bedroom. A person whose primary language is Physical Touch is, not surprisingly, very touchy. Hugs, pats on the back, holding hands, and thoughtful touches on the arm, shoulder, or face—they can all be ways to show excitement, concern, care, and love. Physical presence and accessibility are crucial, while neglect or abuse can be unforgivable and destructive

I am a #2, with some #3 & #4 thrown into the mix. I would rather spend a great day doing stuff together, maybe get a card once in a while, and if I woke up to dinner cooked, that would be great!

My husband is #5 & #1. Talk about a mismatch! Husbeast is all touchy-touchy and verbal stroking. Not my cuppatea at all.

I am looking forward to getting this book from the library. I want to see how we can learn to give each other what the other needs. You'd think we'd know this by now, being together 20 years, and all that....

W. :)

Doing the happy dance....



Because....

other than a meeting Monday evening...

I am off work until next Thursday!!!!! Woot woot!!

Trying to get my ass in gear, and get all my transcripts sent to KY so I can start school this summer. It is ridiculous that I am a college graduate, have been out of high school for nearly 25 years, and I have to turn in a high school transcript. Sucks.... There are people old enough to drink and rent cars that were born after I graduated high school.

Plus, this endeavor will grant me the grand opportunity to call my high school, and deal with the ever-so-rude people that work there. PPlllbblltt! :p

W. :)

Friday, March 23, 2012

Fill in the Blank Friday



Brought to you by the Little Things We Do.

Today's theme: Color


1. My favorite color is blue .


2. My home decor color palette includes beige. Don't want to talk about that any more. :(

3. Other people always tell me I look good in the color red or marine blue. Something about those colors makes my eyes bluer.


4. The color I detest is Brown or anything related to brown. Can't wear it. Makes me look totally sick.


5. If you were to look in my closet most of the colors you'd see would be red and blue. Oh, and I am really into Kelly green this year.


6. A color that I simply cannot pull off no matter how hard I try is beige or ballet pink. Especially beige. Actually, most pastels.


7. The color of my favorite dress is red, white and blue.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

A new guilty pleasure.....



OMG, I never want to work on Sunday night again!!!

And, I am looking forward to "Don't Trust the B in Apt 23."

W. :)

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

I loved you too much.....

So, my 10-year-old Echo has sprung a leak in the trunk. I have been apparently growing black mold in there for a while. Nice.

I like my car. It has served me well, never given me any problems, and it gets great gas mileage even all these years later. I have a tendency to live in my car. I get the mail from the post office, it goes in the door pockets. There were way too many empty water bottles to mention. I had fabric and sewing supplies, a calculator (?), 3 books, a pair of flip-flops from when we moved (last July!), a bottle of shampoo, 2 hats, a pair of gloves and a scarf. That was in the interior. Sad, I know.

In trying to remedy the leak situation, I cleaned out my trunk (which was for the most part empty), and came across this:



The key to my brand new, 2002 green, VW Beetle. I got it as a lease, and the dealership worked every which way from Sunday, to make this deal happen, even going so far as to pay my first two months payments. I loved, Loved, LOVED that car. Too much, and therefor it had to be taken away.



I babied that car like you would not believe. I washed it every week. It got to be parked inside the gate off the street, locked inside the chain link fence. It had car seat covers, special floor mats, and a steering wheel cover. I put a new flower in its vase every 3 days. I think my favorite thing about that car, besides its gorgeous red and blue dash display, was the 6-disc cd changer. LOVED that car.

On the Sunday before Labor Day, 2002, after owning it for only 5 weeks, my car met its doom, in the form of a giant, white, evil SUV. Giant evil SUV ran me off the road, my car went into the median and was totalled. Fortunately, my son and I, who were on our way to see my mother, were not seriously hurt, and the car took all of the brunt of the accident. But, when the firefighters arrived, I was crying so hard, and all I kept saying was, "Look, it only has 1054 miles on it. I just got it. My husband is going to kill me."

So, when I went to the body shop to pick up all of my stuff from the car, I must have thrown the key into the roadside emergency bag, which moved into my current car. The buttons still work on it.

Ten years later, and that pain is still with me. I am convinced that because I loved that car too much, I had to lose it. Sadness.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

St Patrick's Day 2012




The boys and I made the trek downtown to see the St. Patrick's Day parade. The last time I attended a St. Patrick's Day parade it was in NYC. Now that is a parade. Nevertheless, it was fun to get out amongst the people for another parade in Lexington. The pictures are a bit out of order, and I thought the parade was over after the Mustangs, but this is about the gist of it.




Antique tractors. Love.



Color guard, pipe and drum band, Knights of Columbus, Master of Ceremonies

Tweed Ride 2012, Rollergirls of Central Kentucky, Harley Club, Lamas and Alpacas!!!


Ronald McDonald, Couch Car, Mounted Police, Pot O'Gold


Mustangs!!! I'll take the red one, please.





♫Sing along Saturday!!♫



Sometime, I feel like there literally is a hole in my heart. A feeling that something is missing inside me. Try as I might to fill the hole with things, clothes, food, there is nothing that makes me feel the peace I seek.



I have Pinboards full of clothes I'll never buy, projects I'll never do, decorating ideas I'll never implement.

I have so many clothes. Too, too many clothes. What are these clothes for? Are they for a life that I wish I had? Are they for the person I wish I could be? They must be, because there are items I have that I see no use for.





Case in point.

Most of what you see in this closet.....I have never worn. I have shoes....that I will probably never wear, because I don't do heels. I have purses...but I only use maybe three.















I have more yarn and patterns than I will need. There is a term for this kind of behavior: S.A.B.L.E. (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy) I like knitting, don't get me wrong. But how many hat patterns do I need? How many scarves will I actually knit?


All of these skeins are still un-knit and they were purchased 7 years ago. This is from my former blog.


When I am out shopping, I may purchase an item. I get this almost euphoric feeling come over me, and then I want to get more, more, more. At the fabric store, the gardening supply, even the likes of the Salvation Army!!!! (The only time I don't have this feeling is when I am grocery shopping, which I loathe!) Looking at style blogs, reading catalogs, online window-shopping, will literally keep me up all night. Just this past Saturday night, before going to sleep I was looking through (of all things!) an LL BEAN catalog (stop laughing), and I literally could not sleep for dreams of red sailor shirts and khaki pants.



Even food. Sometimes, eating is just to fill a void. But, no matter what, how much, when, it will never be enough. Will never feed that hunger.







I know my husbeast wishes I would try to fill my void with sex. No such luck for him. That is a whole other ball of wax.

Thank heavens I don't collect cats, or creepy dolls, or stuff like that. I am by no means a hoarder. You have seen enough of my house to know that. I just feel like I'm chasing something.....a feeling. But what is causing this?

Is it my f**ked up relationships with my family? (mother issues. how cliche.) Is it the scars left by an alcoholic, molester step-father? Is it never having had a relationship with my birth father?

One could say, "Well, you have to be allowed to dream." Am I dreaming for this life, or planning out my next one? I have actually heard myself say, "Next time around I am going to do __________ differently."

I know there are those out there that will send me straight to church. I have tried the church route. I just end up feeling more alone. More sad. Perhaps I have not found the right church?

Perhaps I need therapy. (ding, ding, ding!!!)

I find the only times I am really, truly happy and feel that peace I seek is when I am traveling, just doing the drive arounds with the family, or like this week when I was just out communing with nature. That is when I feel peace. It is all the other time...there is just this aching I can not even describe.

W.

Friday, March 16, 2012

There is no charge for Awesomeness.....



Or attractiveness.

"If you don’t claim and own your awesome, you leave your self esteem in the hands of the kind of people who try to make you feel bad to make them feel better and that doesn’t sound like a good plan to me."

Why do we let others dictate how we feel about ourselves? Why do we give the control of our emotions and self esteem over to people who do not have our best interests at heart?

I don't want to be that person. The one who tears other's down to build myself up. I want to be the person who does this...



How much better would this world be, if every person left a note like this for 10 people? And those 10 people, passed it on to ten more.

W. :)