Friday Fun Zone

Wal-Mart announced that they will soon be offering customers a new discount item: Wal-Mart's own brand of wine. "There is a market for inexpensive wine", said Kathy Micken, professor of marketing. She went on to say: "But the right name and presentation is important."

Customer surveys have been conducted to determine the most attractive name for the Wal-Mart brand.

The top 10 surveyed names in order of popularity are:
10. Chateau Traileur Parc
9. White Trashfindel
8. Big Red Gulp
7. World Championship Riesling
6. NASCARbernet
5. Chef Boyardeaux
4. Peanut Noir
3. I Can't Believe It's Not Vinegar!
2. Grape Expectations
1. Nasti Spumante

The beauty of Wal-Mart wine is that it can be served with either white meat (Possum) or red meat (Squirrel). It will also be available in convenient 6-packs (aluminum cans or plastic bottles) or in 24-can cases. It will be presented in the same coolers and next to the beverages of choice that Wal-Mart's customers are already familiar with.

*****************************

This was sent to me and I loved it! Most of you know how much I HATE WAL-MART! I usually end up going there and I wanna kick myself every time....

Bout Blogging

I often have people ask me about my blogging. I thought it was time to share some of my secrets.

1. I use Bloglines! I started Bloglines awhile back and it has made blogging so much easier and quicker! I list all the blogs I'm currently reading and they are highlighted when the blog as a new post. I don't have to open a blog page only to discover that the same post is there from last week. You can read the post on bloglines page or open up the blog page. I usually open the page - I like to read off of people's own templates. This also allows me to comment if I want to. It's free (Karene) and yall should all subscribe. I've included a bloglines button on the right side of my template so you can link it from there whenever you're ready.
2. I don't comment all the time. That's right - I'm one of those people. I may read a blog all the time and never comment. I may read yours and never write a comment. I love yall more than my luggage but time isn't always on my side.
3. I write first. On the days that I know I'm writing a post - I write first. If an email has to go out, I write first. If I start with my blogs, then I may not have time to write. Write first.
4. I blog early. Now, during the summer, I usually blog about 7:00 before the kids get up. I have a cup of coffee and I get up to refill and go potty. Yes, I do come back here to read during the day and the children generally follow me (I'm the Pipe Piper, follow me.) These I try to keep to snatches. Don't ask my kids if I'm on the computer all the time - I'm sure they think I am.
5. I consider this a hobby. I happens to be a hobby that I share with lots of people and talk about alot but a hobby none the less. It puts a different perspective on it for me - I don't know how to explain it.
6. I edit. This is important! I always reread my posts and edit. Add here, take away there, put in the word I forgot earlier, clarify sentences and attempt to have some grammatical structure. I check the spelling with spell check and go to Dictionary.com if I need to. I have read some non-editors and it can get to be too had to understand - take too long to read. I know it takes time but I know it makes a difference.

Those are my little tips. Please feel free to comment and add your own. None of us want our hobby to over take our lives!! Or do we? (cue scary laugh)

Wordless Wednesday - Ahoy, Mateys!

For more Wordless Wednesday 5 minutes for mom

Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Tacky

Ahhh, the chicken story. I think that mama's have a responiblity to teach their children manners. Yes, even boys need to learn how to act in public. I taught one old boyfriend to cut his meat - he held the fork like he was jabbing the meat. It was sooo unattractive. I'm thinking he learned something from our time together.

So, we had the college kids over to our house on Sunday night for their weekly devo. I know a couple of the kids and it just seemed like the right thing to do. It did allow me to talk to the kids about how our house is just one more thing that God has entrusted to us. I made dessert pizza and lemonade. Very low-key.

During the serving of the homemade dessert, one guy asked for a fork. There were forks on the table (of course) but for some reason he needed one from the drawer. He proceeded to open a can of chicken and pour it into a plastic cup. This was taking place next to me so I questioned him regarding the gross chicken. He offered no apology why he would come into my home and not partake of my homemade dessert. Or that he would bring his own food. He gave no explanation of his (I guessed) health issues. Where I come from we call this no "home trainin." Apparently this is a normal occurrence for this guy - he even does this in Bible Class. That's just wrong....

A Book, A Wedding and Some Cars

Sorry I haven't written is sooo long but life is moving faster than I am! I have finished the book, Better Off Flipping the Switch on Technology. It was interesting. One of the author's main ideas is that our technology doesn't make our lives easier. We become slaves to the technology. The cost of it, the upkeep, the time it uses (as I sit at a computer and write it anyone who will read.) He also wrote about the fact that we have to run, walk, work out, to get the physical reward that plugging in takes away. It doesn't come from working outside so we have to use our "leisure" time to exercise. Some of us just get fat - he wrote about that, too. One of the most interesting observations (he thought) was the ability to think and converse while doing physical labor. He and his wife were in a small Amish community and the neighbors were share work. There were often times to think and share ideas while working on the farm.

Interesting, huh? Pretty good non-fiction read. Now on to a fiction!

*********************************

I also worked a wedding this weekend. There was plenty of bare skin but no tattoos. The weirdest thing (ok, one weird thing) were the carbon copy bridesmaids. They almost matched physically. There was one poor girl who didn't get the message about her toenails. Her's were red and everyone else's were French tip. HORROR!!! Do you think it showed in the pictures??!! Robot bridesmaids, scary.

The other particularly interesting (for my readers) was the groom's cake. It was a huge red and brown tomahawk - or so I thought. The lady putting the greenery around it told me was an axe. She says "They're lumberjacks." Oh, well that explains everything I wanted to say. The bride and groom didn't look like lumberjacks to me but what do I know. After staring at her for an entire minute she told me they went to Stephen Austin State University and that makes them lumberjacks. Finally I got it.

*******************************

Last night we went to see Cars. Yes, we're the last people you know to see the movie. We loved it. It was funny and I may finally "get" Nascar. I knew it was about waiting for a wreck but it seems there's something about the passing, too. One friend told us she was a little bored toward the end but we spent so much time going to the bathroom that it was broken up for us a little. Kenny, four times and Abbie, three - Jim counted.

Friday Fun Zone

It's raining here in Abilene and that doesn't happen very often. This is a strip that always made me laugh when we were in Bham.

Reading is Fundamental

I'm trying to work into my reading some non-fiction. I've said previously that I'm a Fiction Girl - I love to get lost in a story. This summer I'm committing to read one non-fiction for every fiction book I read.

Sooooo.......
I read The Camel Club by David Baldacci and had trouble stopping to host Bunco. It's very topical fiction with conspiracy theories and international bad guys. The bad guys were both Middle Eastern and North Korean. It was a great read and I'm trying to get Jim to read it, too.


Now I'm in Better Off: Turning the Switch on Technology by Eric Brende. I found a blog site that is only book reviews. The blog writer's favorite books are some of my favorites, too, so I thought I could trust her opinions. I'm providing a link but bear in mind - they are HER opinions. In Better Off, the author is exploring the world without technology. He and his wife have moved to a small Amish (sort of) community to see how they could make it without modern tech. Good one.

Next is a fiction - I don't know what yet but I can't wait.

Wordless Wednesday - A Little West Texas Beauty

other Wordless Wednesday participants @ 5 minutes for mom

I Love Being A Girl

Actual conversation:

Me: Why are your pajamas wet? Did you pee-pee on them?

4-year-old: Noooooo. They are okay (loves her new pjs)

Me: But they're wet. Are you sure you didn't pee-pee on them?

4-year-old: (coyly) I fell in.

Me: What's rule #1?

4-year-old: But somtimes Bubba forgets to put the seat down.

Me: That's why we always check first.

Daddies

I've had two great daddies in my life, Thurman and Jim. One took the time and effort to raise me. He trained me in Bible knowledge and people knowledge. He loved me even when I was unlovable - kinda like our Father. The other is taking time and effort to raise my two rug rats (as he affectionately calls them.) He's training them in ways I can't. He can talk Kenny out of a tantrum and carry Abbie on his shoulders.

They both love their wives and provide for their families. They both walk with God. Happy Father's Day, daddies!

Friday Fun Zone

My Mom (MM) sent this to me. He must be a yankee - no one would hire this guy in Birmingham. Who would want this tacky truck in their driveway?

Speaking of white trash - did anyone see Brittney
Spears on TV last night? Bless her. She's pregnant and well-endowed and choose to show everyone of us! She was even chomping on gum! She really needs to hire me to help her get a clue.

M-O-U-S-E

Ewwww! We have a mouse in our backyard. I spotted it on Tuesday night while I was eating dinner and almost came out of my chair. (Yes, it was outside.) I tried to remain calm enough to tell Jim about it but my kids immediately were looking for whatever it was. Let me interject right here that I hate mice. Some people are freaky about snakes - I can walk around them and discuss them without any hesitation. I've know people who are weird about spiders - I say let them live, they eat mosquitoes. But mice are another story.......

Last night the horrible rodent walked (it ain't running) across our patio and then sat calmly deciding where to go next! I was horrified! After church, Jim got a gun and tried to kill it (Praise God) but the children kept walking out the door. Jim gave up. Now I can't go in my backyard and I look for it every time I walk by the windows. My sweet hubby keeps telling me that it can't come in our house and I'm choosing to believe him!

********************************

I was blessed during my time at Homewood church of Christ to be around several missionaries. Homewood's policy is have their missionaries live and work there for 6 months to 1 year to get to know the members. Of course, it also allowed the members to know them! Anthony Parker was one of those missionaries and his blog tells of another. Cyndi Chowning spent many years in Africa and has died there. Please link over to read Anthony's tribute.

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

It's Me!

Oh my stars! My picture finally appeared on my blog!!! I hope everyone can see it! Tammy took this as a publicity shot for our new speaking ministry. I'll have more on that later. Not only does this look like me - you can't see the fat!

********************************

I'll be posting Wordless Wednesday regularly. Go to 5 Minutes for Mom for other postings. There's lots of good stuff over there.

Wordless Wednesday

She's A Rebel

To not long for and strive to be what Jesus calls us to be is to choose hypocrisy in the name of grace and cheapen the cost of that grace. -Phil Ware

Phil has been writing about obedience on his Heartlight and on his blog. Obedience is a hard word for me. I'm fine saying it to my children but applying to myself "feels" icky. I'm a child of the 70's. I remember Women's Lib, the fall of Saigon, and disco. That entire time was about rebellion. It was hip to be against the establishment. Establishment = uncool. These were media lessons. These were the messages that surrounded us daily. My home and church lessons were definitely about obedience and rule following. I was cool - I rebelled.

True obedience is not driven by a frantic fear of being lost, but is an obedience propelled by our love for what the Lord has done for us and rooted in our confidence in our relationship with him. - Phil Ware

I'm grown up now and know the truth about God's grace and love. I respond to that grace and love with obedience to His word. It's not about rule following to be "allowed" into heaven - it's about thankfulness. It's about bringing glory to Him though our actions. It's the same way with our kids. We all long for the day that our kids obey us because they love us. So is my knee-jerk answer to obedience my "real" belief system? Is part of being real and authentic, obedience?

Maybe I do need a Harley.

lion sleep tonight

In my continuing effort to entertain yall on Fridays - I bring you another video!

Actions Speak Louder....

Abbie sings all the time! It's so sweet to overhear her singing a praise song and when I try to join in she usually tells me "I'm singing!" As in "I don't need your help." But yesterday was an eye-opener. Here's the lyrics to her made up song:

If you wanna be like Mommy, you have to act like her,
If you wanna be like Mommy, you have to act like her,
Come on, come on, you have to act like her....

I know I have alot of influence over my children but, this is down right scary. I wanna say "Don't act like me, act like Christ!" I know better than anybody what a sinful, horrible person I am and I want my kids to be better than that! I must accept the gift that God has given me (and I asked for) and I also must accept the responsibility.

Prayers for Bill

This is a special amaryllis given to me by Margaret's dad. It was one of his dad's that Bill (Margaret's dad) had moved from place to place. He had some that he had dug out of the yard in Vermont and I was fortunate enough to get one of my own. (Margaret told me he didn't share very often.)

I'm asking prayers for Bill - he's having lots of tests run and probably even surgery later in the month. He and Jean (Margaret's mom) are staying in Birmingham and he's being treated there.

Going to the Chapel

Yet another wedding:

This one was at 11:30 so you know everybody had to be there super early. I don't even know what time the florist got there. I guess she was happy to be able to do another wedding in the afternoon - I know that the photographer shot another wedding later. They had a hairdresser there doing hair at 7:30 AM. The bride and groom saw each other in "private" before the ceremony - no pictures, nothing. They weren't in there that long so maybe it wasn't too gross. Lots of live music which means lots of microphones, a long receiving line which means lots of people complaining, and a tent outside that means someone had to wait around for the tent guys to come pick it up! One tatoo, on a bridesmaid's ankle.

It was a beautiful wedding. They were very much in love and very committed to each other. I think the vows stuck. The preacher, J Wayne Kilpatrick, said when he tied a knot it stayed tied. It's lasted 11 years so far! Happy anniversary, sweetie.

The evolution of dance

Two different people sent this to me because they knew it would crack me up. I hope it makes you laugh, too!