Unforgettably Random

Many years ago, I wore the perfume "Unforgettable" for awhile. Someone once asked me what it was called because they liked how it smelled, and I couldn't remember the name. I guess it was forgettable.


My mom was telling me something about The Manchurian Candidate while we were chatting on the phone one day. Problem was my chronic mishearing kicked in and I thought she said, The Main Jury in Canada! I had NO idea what she was talking about.


Sometimes words fall out of my mouth that are not at ALL what I wanted to say. I was opening my big, enormous, Super Scrabble Deluxe game at my mom's and where it hinges, the tablecloth got caught. I said something about catching the clothespin in it. Yeah, because tablecloth and clothespin are so close to the same thing.

A Challenge: 40 Days of Water

I came across this site a few days ago and it's been ruminating in my mind ever since. The basic premise of the 40 Days of Water Challenge is to have only water as a beverage for 40 days, from March 1st to April 9th. You then save the money you would have spent, and donate it to Blood:Water Mission, a ministry begun by Jars of Clay. From the website:

Blood:Water Mission exists to promote clean blood and clean water efforts in Africa, tangibly reducing the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic while addressing the underlying issues of poverty, injustice and oppression. Blood:Water Mission is building clean water wells, supporting medical facilities, and focusing on community and worldview transformation, both here in America and in Africa.

Here's an excerpt from the 40 Days of Water Challenge:

We have the gift of choice: Freedom to choose on any given day what clothes we will wear, what work we will do, what food we will eat and what we will drink. In nearly a third of the world injustice threatens to take away these basic kinds of choices that we take for granted. In these places a woman can choose to drink the unclean river water or the unclean puddle water. She can choose to walk once for four hours to get water or walk twice for eight hours to get more water. She can choose to give her children something to drink that she knows may make them sick or she can give them nothing at all. She can persist or give up. You can help give her a real choice.

Yesterday, I found myself faced with this question:

Why would I NOT participate in the challenge?

Well, when you put it that way . . .

So two more days of feeding my Dr Pepper crave, and then it's nothing but water.

Wordless Wednesday: Discombobulated

To see what others aren't saying (kudos to Robin!), go here and here.

Aw, Nuts

I think it was the Comedian who recently asked what cashews look like in the shell. I realized that I had absolutely no idea. We became quite curious about this matter, so a little research uncovered the following interesting tidbits:

1. the cashew tree is an evergreen


2. the cashew tree is related to the mango, poison ivy, and poison oak


3. the kernel, or nut, actually grows at the bottom of the fruit, the cashew apple (see pic)


4. cashews grow in tropical climates and cannot survive frost


5. the shell oil is caustic and can burn skin

I guess that last fact explains why we can't buy them in the shell. That doesn't sound like a very fun task. Given their frost issues, we won't be growing any here in Colorado. Tropical we are not.

As we further discussed nuts in shells, we discovered that we hadn't seen macadamia nuts in shells either. It turns out that is a little easier to track down, purchase even. But why are they so costly? Because they're so hard to crack. Three hundred pounds per square inch of pressure is required to shell macadamia nuts. Apparently precision would be important here. Otherwise, I suppose you'd have macadamia nut meal.

I hope you enjoyed this little foray into nut trivia. I've uncovered some other interesting facts. Maybe I'll share them some other Saturday.




For more cashew information, click on the picture at the top. For macadamia pix, click on the link in the previous paragraph.

Wordless Wednesday: MOO

More Wordlessness can be found here and here.

For more photo fun, check out my photoblog.

Bowling for Dorks

Many years ago, my sister and I were looking for something fun to do one evening. There weren't any good movies to see and we just wanted to do something different. So we opted for bowling.

Understand that at this point in our lives, she had bowled maybe once. I think I had bowled maybe twice. One of those times was after a local prom - in our formal clothes at around 2:00 in the morning. I doubt we were really honing our skills at that point.

So the bowling alley dude, using his super sharp sleuthing skills, determines that we are clueless, and he puts us on the center lane, right in front of his little booth. We were sort of hoping for a lane far away from public view. Like maybe a hidden practice lane or something, through a secret door. No such luck.

We were the two biggest bowling dorks ever seen. I can only imagine how hard it was for bowling alley dude to breathe and speak to customers while simultaneously laughing at us. To top it off, this was before the days of automated scoring. For those of you who aren't old enough, there was a time when you got a piece of paper with little squares on it, and maybe a little miniature golf pencil, and you actually had to calculate your score with your own math skillz.

The math skillz weren't really a problem. The fact that we had no idea how to score in bowling was more the issue. So in classically crazy Calvin & Hobbes fashion, we made up our own method of scoring. Sorta like Calvin-ball. Only this was Calvin-bowl. No worries, it was our score sheet. We could do what we wanted.

Yeah, right. When we went back to bowling alley dude's booth to pay up or something, he asked for our score sheet. Dumbfounded, we looked at him and asked "Why?" I personally don't think he really needed it. I think he just wanted to laugh some more at these two inept young ladies. I guess he said something convincing, because we handed it over. We might've gotten away with our version of Calvin-bowl, but I think the fractions gave us away.

We had an exceptionally fun time. That's how we operate - the dorkier we are, the more fun we have. As a bonus, we also provided entertainment value for bowling alley dude, and possibly anyone near the center lane.

Randomosity

Today's episode of total randomness seeks some input from you, the one reader who will actually come over here and make it to the end of my long and rambling post. Thank you. Thankyouverymuch for sticking with me. Maybe I'll send you a ribbon.

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Over at Quiet Life, I was catching up on Donna's posts and one had the lyrics from "Blinded by the Light" by Manfred Mann (interesting name, btw). I had to laugh that a lot of other people apparently misheard the lyrics the same way my friend and I did. No wonder we never got it.

What classic misheard lyrics do you recall?

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Probably my favorite belongs to my sister. She'll love me for sharing this with the world. Oh well, probably not the worst thing I've ever done to her.

I like to hiss and funk in Dixieland
Burger Mama come and take me by the hand.

Any idea what song that's from? And if you're my mom, don't answer . . . yet.

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In my family we have a myriad of misheard things - way beyond your basic song lyrics. Many of which have led to some long running jokes. Which is just part of the glue that makes my family what it is. Which is a good, and often funny thing.

What crazy traditions make your family unique?

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I really love our new house, but there is just NOTHING interesting to take pictures of in this part of town. It's so . . . boring, photographically speaking. It's definitely making my Project 365 a little more challenging. If you haven't seen my pix lately, go check it out. I'm taking a photograph a day, hopefully for an entire 365 days. I almost missed one, but got back out of bed at 11:15 to take one. It's a weak shot, I know, but it was the best I could come up with on such short sleepy notice. Ha! Ha!

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It snowed here last night. We haven't really had much snow in awhile. Which is mostly okay. Cold bothers me a lot more than it used to. I think it comes from living in an igloo for the past three years and having outrageously high utility bills. So I mostly refused to turn on the heat and just stayed cold much of the time. But the snow's pretty. I like to look at it and photograph it. And then I want the sun to come out and take it all away.

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I've been thinking I should finish up "The House" story. As if there's anyone reading it. But you never know. Someone might wander by my blog some day and read the entire thing. And they might like it to be completed. Or that might never happen and I won't know anyway. But it would allow me to check something off that great list of unfinished projects.

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Speaking of unfinished projects . . . that's one of the many things I'm Queen of. Along with the Queen of:

~ one trip
~ ummm . . .

Okay, so I'm Queen of two things. One trip and unfinished projects. Welcome to my tiny little kingdom. Over what do you reign?

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Why do I always remember the web sites I want to check out after the laptop is shut off?

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Okay, I'm randomed out for now. Need to go pick up ClayGuy.

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Edited to add: How about a little laugh? Check this out!

Emptying Boxes

Slowly but surely I'm getting through the boxes of stuff. Of course, when we first moved in, I emptied a lot of them. Then came the holidays and that project got put on the back burner.

Since the holidays, we've been busy getting back on track with school, along with the rest of life, so it took me a little while to get with the program. A couple weeks ago, my friend Lucy came over to visit for awhile and somehow having her sit in the studio, chatting with me brought forth motivation.

I've been diligently sorting and purging the plethora of scrapbooking, rubber stamping, and other craft supplies. I'm really looking forward to the scaled down version of my things.

One area that's remained untouched since before the holidays is in front of the bookshelf in the living room. When we moved in, the bookshelf was put there just to have someplace to put some small boxes. At some point, I did manage to put books on about one shelf. So the other day, I began to pull the boxes out and start dealing with the contents. Today, I made even further progress, as indicated by the photo above. Of course, I didn't show you the stacks of things I still need to address, but they're kinda messy.

Gee, who knew a photo of a boring old bookcase had so many words behind it?

Wordless Wednesday - Buds?

Go here and here for more wordlessness.

Why?

Why does the apartment complex go the trouble of having signs printed (I assume they paid money for said signage) to put out on their property that say:

"We ♥ our residents"

I mean, really now. What's the alternative?

"We HATE our residents and their little dogs too"

Of course, they ♥ them. Without them, they receive no rental income. With no income, they have no jobs. What a stupid sign.

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Why does the townhouse/apartment complex have a big old sign in front that advertises the following?

Home of the "Yes I Can Service"

Apparently no one understood that the end quote belongs AFTER the word 'can.' Even if the people who requested it don't know better, isn't there someone at the sign company who knows how to proofread? Anyone?

Bueller?

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Why do we (women in particular) compare and criticize ourselves so much? For a humorous take on this one, check out Pioneer Woman's perspective on photos of herself. PW is beautiful, people. I know countless women bloggers who want to BE her. Or at least be very much like her, minus the horse dung. She's beautiful, yet even she critiques herself to pieces. With a stellar sense of humor. This made me laugh. Very much.

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I have many more "why?" questions, but they escape me now. Why is that? Why is it that I can't retrieve information when I want it? It only appears at random moments when it's completely irrelevant. And then what am I supposed to do with it? Like last night, just before I dozed off, I had a brilliant idea for a blog post. This morning? Gone. Vanished.

Why?

ABSee Photo Meme - C

Today's post is brought to you by the letter

I believe they're self-explanatory, however, the one in the lower right is clay. Courtesy of ClayGuy, of course.

Join in the ABSee Photo Meme fun over at The Homeschool Post.

Wordless Wednesday - Free Food

For more wordlessness, go here and here.

A B See Photo Meme - B

Yes, B really does follow A. But sometimes it can take a couple weeks or so. Without further ado, the next installment is brought to you by the letter

Brazil nuts



Blueberries



Bananas

Come see the other entries or join in the ABSee fun over at The Homeschool Post.

25 Random Things

Since I already came up with this over at Facebook, this makes for an easy post here. In the original meme, you naturally have to tag people. Well, I'm not really up for taggage right now. So if you want to play, jump on in, the water's fine. If not, you get to learn some tidbits about me you may not have known.

Enjoy. Laugh. Shake your head in wonder.

1. I get earworms all the time. In case you think that's something parasitic, it's not. "Main Entry: earworm Part of Speech: n Definition: a song or tune that gets stuck in one's mind and repeats as if on a tape; also written ear-worm, ear worm; also called cognitive itch, sticky tune." Maybe I should use sticky tune, as that's much less disgusting-sounding.



2. I actually LOST weight with my first pregnancy. When I went for my 6-week checkup, I weighed 30 pounds LESS than before I got pregnant. This was after giving birth to a healthy 8 lb, 3 oz boy.



3. Sadly, that didn't happen the second time around.



4. I cannot stand Oreos.



5. I crunch on ice. Again. I used to and then I stopped. Now I do it again. Don't really know why.



6. When my husband proposed to me, I thought he was going to break up with me and go back to his ex-girlfriend.



7. He didn't, I said "yes," and we've been very happily married for over 22 years.



8. In the first eight years of marriage, we lived in 10 different places in two states. In one house, we only lived for 3 months. No, we're not military - we just moved a lot.



9. I spent my 14th birthday at a disco in Mexico City. It was a 9th grade Spanish field trip.



10. I learned how to change a tire when I was 10 or 11. My Dad taught me. I hung out in the garage with him.



11. I can type 125 wpm with no errors. At least I used to be able to. I still type fast.



12. I am a recovering perfectionist.



13. I wish I were more creative and a better photographer. In reality, I probably just want more time to be creative and learn better photography skills.



14. I have excellent organizational skills, but apparently no ability to implement them in my own life.



15. I made my own wedding dress, veil, and flower bouquets.



16. I once made my husband a suit - fully lined, tailored, the whole 9 yards. It was MUCH harder than my wedding dress.



17. I can't stand to have water sitting in the dirty dishes in the sink.



18. I've broken my right foot twice. The first time, I slipped off the side of a pair of wooden clogs. I was 17. The second time I was walking. In flat shoes. No reasonable explanation for it. I was 28.



19. I told people that I broke it while bungee jumping because the truth was so boring.



20. I lived through the 7.1 Loma Prieta Earthquake on October 17, 1989, opening day of the World Series. My cousin and I were in Taco Bell to grab some dinner on our way to class at D'Anza College. We slid under a table and laid on the floor giggling. We tended to laugh at most everything in life. We had no idea just how serious it was.



21. One of my two best friends from high school and I used to regularly write letters when I lived in CA and she lived in CO. Back in the day when phone calls were too expensive and we weren't online. Most of our letters were 10-14 pages long. Neither of us could've afforded the phone bill.



22. I took a graphic design class in high school. I was very interested in it, but never pursued it further. I wish I had.



23. I've done our taxes every year of our marriage. I also did all of my own taxes for years before, as well as my sister's. She even fed-exed her taxes to me once when we lived in different states. I did take a federal tax class in college, but that was long after I'd already been doing them. I don't think I remember anything from the class. Now I use Turbo Tax.



24. I was a demonstrator for Stampin' Up! for 8 years. It was a blast. As a result, I have too many stamps, too much paper, and other accoutrement.



25. When we were young, our family had a Ford Country Squire 10-passenger station wagon. It was green with wood grain trim. My sister and I would sit cross-legged, wrapped in blankets in the back of the car, with all the seats down. My dad would take turns and corners a little sharp, hit the brakes a little harder, and accelerate quickly, so we'd slide all over the place, bashing into the car sides and each other. It was SO much fun!

Answer to Financial Woes

While Saturday Night Live is certainly not at the top of the list of places I'd send someone for good advice on living, this is truly an exception. They hit the proverbial nail on the head. Ironically, it's from nearly three years ago. Too bad people weren't listening then. Enjoy.



Need I say more?