RODEO! YAAAAAAA-HOOOOOOO!

OK- so at the Dakota County Fair were the following things to do after my sister left with the kids. EAT and watch bull riding.


I gave Christian my word I would post this picture of the crap sampler platter we shared...Deep fried mac and cheese, brocolli, cauliflower, egg roll, garlic mashed potato balls, and other nonrecognizable consumables. YUMMY! Little did I know that I had fed my nephew far too much until Kevin came to work the next day and let me know the joys of cleaning up vomit at 2:30 in the morning. Technicolor yawn was apparently the closest descriptor- Sorry Kevin- I wouldn't have given him that SA egg sandwich if I would have know it would put him over the top.

On a BRIGHTER note...Check out the chaps on that cowboy- Mega Manly Men sparkling as their bodies are flung off huge furious bulls!!!- Did I mention that Jamie, Tasha, Andrea and I are going to the rodeo- I am so excited! YUMMY!

Forced Family Fun Day

Water Park of America. No Pool. Explain me that!

Lazy River, Four Person innertube ride through a gynormous and fast tube, many slides, a wave pool where you can body surf, kids stuff galore, a basketball game.

No Pool. I am not sure if you can actually swim there...

Arbor-Torium

OK- so this was the full day off and Dakota County Fair was a half day. Auntie Kristin and Christian and myself went. Christian was free because he's 12, Kristin and I shared a Happenings book coupon and it was $7.00 for the three of us to get in!

I whole heartedly recommend going to the arboretum if you have not, especially if you want to explore what types of shrubs and flowers to plant at home. Very educational, beautiful, and splendidly pollen-riffic.

Keith Aged!

My "boss" had his birthday on the 15th. He aged- just like every other day. We put on the team spirit and decorated a bit.

Here is his blog...
www.keithtrautman.blogspot.com

Yeah- he is a good boss. Didn't even get mad, but took vidoe for his wife to see. Then he packed up the balloons to take home to dump on his children.

Dakota County Fair

I took the day without pay off so I could see Christian before he left and of course Raef and Sydney too. Christian realized how much fun the tilt-a-whirl is because you can contol it, Raef was on full fledged hyper mode- zipping too and fro, Christian broke it down a little by the Music Fest ride, and all Miss Sydney needs is a little pink stuffed dolphin to make her day- you must appreciate her simplicity :)

Sparrows

Two baby sparrows were out near my garage but they have grown and flown. They built their nest on a light fixture.
So adorable...parents- not so much- I got dive bombed everytime I went for my car!

WOW!

OK- so I am overwhelmed at my own ineptitude. I started school last Wednesday and boy it has been a decade since I have had to buckle down this hard. I have even made definition flash cards of every word in my first assignment.

I am in friggin remedial Psychology and I feel like I have brain damage. I used to just get by without any tough studying and be a B student. Even with my AP classes I would average a B average. Now- I feel like I am learning how to study all over again.

On top of it I am not accustomed to learning over the internet. I am thinking taht I am greatly missing the tons of knowledge that I recieve from listening to a professor lecture. Thank God for teachers!

I hope it gets easier - my sister says it will. The first few chapters aren't always juicy and fun. I cannot wait until I am over the hump of feeling like I don't know how to learn. I know I have it in me and I will prevail. I need an A in everythign from here on out because I want to raise my GPA.

If I can learn to process mortgages I know I can do anything that I put my mind too.

a visual story

For explanation see my other post- I am having some difficulties uploading pictures...

Not for the sque-mouse; Pablo wild at heart

So- don't finish this if you get a little bit sick by bizarre things. There you are warned!

I love my cats Pablo and Lucy. They love to spend time on the deck thinking that they can catch birds, eating insects and messing around the delusional tree frogs who come up there. Pablo was out by himself tonight. I heard a ruckus on the deck and went to turn the light on and let him in. He rushed by me and I had the sneaking suspicion that he had something special in store for mom :)

He scoots by me and he has a treat in his mouth. I was hoping it was dead- but oh no- it was fully alive and brought inside my house. Thank you Pablo- mommy loves you too- but please take your "toys" outside.

Welcome Mr. Field, the mouse. Why he came up on the deck to visit I do not know- but I am pretty sure he will not do so again. Into the dining room comes our house guest in the gently clenched jaw of Pablo. He drops it but knowing the game, I knew the mouse was fully alive. Little did I know it would be an alien to boot.

While Pablo paused too long Mr. Field ran from my dining room into my kitchen. I am doing fine with this. I fed frozen mice to snakes in Science class and I like albino rats, and would keep one for a pet- if I could know it would be alive when I get home from work every day. Into the cucina we go. I am not cool with the mice running amuck and Pablo wanted to play and not eat the mouse. So I grabbed a nearby vase and trapped the mouse underneath.

Pablo went bonkers! He desperately wanted to get his paws on Mr. Field but mom was not having it. Mr Field was having what looked like the biggest bowl movement I have ever seen proportionate to the size of his body- Way to go Mr. Field! Yuck- it is kinda smelly. I reached for a near by paper to slip under the vase so I could get Mr. Field and his gigantic turd out of my house.

We get out on the deck and I let Pablo have at the vase and eventually he lets Mr. Field out who ran and catapulted himself over the edge of the deck. Perhaps he has lived on to tell his story- we really can't know. He also could be Mr. House maouse- but I don't like calling him that- yuck.

Meanwhile the turd is alive and writhing. Yes- alive. I have no idea what can inhabit the bowels of a tiny mouse. It seemed larval in it's movements and was brown, and it looked like it had a hard shell with many fragments- kinda like an armadillo. I couldn't get a good picture of it- but you can see it in one of these pictures pretty clearly. I have trapped the alien under the vase on the deck and hope that it is there in the morning- even though it grosses me out beyond belief I will investigate.

How the BLEEEEP can something live inside your belly which is bigger than your head AND has no intention of leaving your body unless you are scared Larve-less by an animal 100 times your size? I cannot find anything on this on the internet. Does anyone know what this could be? Wow!

Word of my day

pith·y ( P ) (pth)adj. pith·i·er, pith·i·est
Precisely meaningful; forceful and brief: a pithy comment.
Consisting of or resembling pith.

pithi·ly adv. pithi·ness n

pithy
adj : concise and full of meaning; "welcomed her pithy comments"; "the peculiarly sardonic and sententious style in which Don Luis composed his epigrams"- Hervey Allen [syn: sententious] adv : in a pithy sententious manner; "she expressed herself pithily" [syn: sententiously]

Nicklecreek

I didn't like their first album. The second is excellent and this one rocks my world and happens to be stuck in my CD player in my car. (Yes the year is 2006 and I finaly have a CD player built into my car). bliss baby!

Swirling

Do you ever feel like the whole world is swirling and changing all around you? Business moves so fast and globally. The people who believe in American made prodcuts can't afford them anymore. Ford makes 9% less cars...

I am sad because my nephew went home on Tuesday. It has been two months since my trip and I have not appreciated things like I should. I have a ton of pictures which I will have to upload.

Benji won! That makes me happy http://www.benji-schwimmer.com/. Yahoo Benji!

Friday night going no where all the lights are changing grey to blue...

Firstborn

I am reading Collosians. Here is the excert that stopped me.

1: 13-18 [The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins.
[Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation.
For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him.
And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together).
He also is the Head of [His] body, the church; seeing He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead, so that He alone in everything and in every respect might occupy the chief place [stand first and be preeminent].

I have not thought much about being a firstbron. I am not a firstborn, but three of four. My siblings are very integral in my life. I cannot imagine a system where ,my brother would be the one who would recieve my parents inheritance (which there is none to be had- but if there was).

Jesus was Firstborn. Such an important position that Sarah give Abraham Hagar so he can keep the inheritance in the family. Cain and Able exchanged the birthright and blessing. Jesus gives his iheritance to us. I don't think about this because it is so foreign to me. Any thouhgts?

Ergun Caner and Nido Qubein- two presidents

So- I finally have my hand me down iPod Shuffle up and running as of Saturday (my hand me down Palm Pilot was first in line). I have the learned the beauty of free podcasts. Yesterday I was cleaning and doing laundry. Today I am going to finish painting my bathroom and will clean out my garage.

My brain has been broadened by this mans speaking which I found free on iTunes. HE says amusing things like, "Most peoples inner child needs spanking" "My favorite definiton of metrosexuality is this...If the last thing you waxed wasn't your truck..." all this in the midst of a series about Islam. http://www.erguncaner.com/new/

I don't know much about anything middle eastern and he is Turkish and a former Muslim. We are so blessed to be in a country where we have the freedoms we have- that message was clear from Ergun and also from Nido Qubein whom I saw speak Thursday. http://www.nidoqubein.com/


I went to see Nido speak Thursday with an organization I belong to this year called Peak Performers Network. It brings in speakers who have been sucessful in not only business and life. I find it really refreshing because I can hear things through the filter of my faith and keep the good stuff for encouragement. I am very impressed with Nido (who is a Lebanese imigrant) and his ability to think outside the box and refuse to let his circumstances dictate the outcome of his life.

I was so excited about what Nido shared with us about his university I wanted to go there to study. He is president of High Point University in Winston-Salem NC and Ergun is the president of Liberty Theological Seminary at Liberty University in Lynchburg NC. Do I adore Mr. Falwell?- possibly not so much. I was so impressed by Ergun's candor and knowledge I would to study under him as well. Inver Hills is paling a bit but I am still excited for my class to start soon which I am taking online- budget AA here I come!

Someone new...

Welcome Lucy- I am all aflutter!

Fear

I realized today that I fear relaxation and down time. I keep putting things off at work that I could do. I save projects like rearranging and cleaning up the copy room (so Kevin my brother doesn't have to). Or another one would be this hallway we have with a bunch of shelves which is completely disorganized. I fear being cought up. I don't do it here. I can't get it at home. I procrastinate and I don't know why. Does anyone understand this? What is wrong with me?