It's an enigma

I love grapefruit, but I hate grapefruit juice (from a can or bottle...never tried it fresh, tho).

I love plums, but I hate prunes.

Similarly, I love grapes, but don't care for raisins (I'll eat them, but mostly I'm "eh" about 'em).

I'm afraid of heights, but I really want to go sky diving some day.

Ok, that's all I can think of right now. I'll add more later, I'm sure. Or not. Who knows.

In honor of the Olympics

Something that makes me tear up every time I watch:



The first time I saw footage of this was when Jimmy used a clip in a sermon illustration about 6-8 years ago. An excellent example of the Father Heart of God. Powerful stuff.

In this clip Derek Redmond is recalling the events:

Now it's 5:00 a.m.

Those crazily vigilant newscasters showed some videos that have already been posted of TS Edouard on You Tube. I do not want to EVER work on an oil rig in the Gulf!




And, I just need to point out that it's Tropical Storm EDOUARD (like Edward), NOT Eduardo (with a long O at the end -- I heard it pronounced like that more than once on You Tube videos and just had to make the correction. 'Cause, you know, those people will be reading this post shortly, right...)

It's 4:30 a.m.

...and I'm still awake.

*sigh*

Can't seem to clear my mind.

It doesn't help that I just put the news on to hear the latest of the almost-hurricane that will hit the area w/in the next 5-6 hours.

(("Almost-hurricane" sounds sooo much more ominous and romantic than "tropical storm," doesn't it?))

(((That would be the Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats, early 19th century "romantic" definition)))

Let's pray that the storm doesn't cause as severe problems as the last major storm did.

No bueno!

How in the world are all these newscasters/weathermen awake, alert, and coherent at such an ungodly hour?!

I'm not particularly concerned about the storm; it's just one of many things on my mind.

Hmm . . . I changed my mind . . . while "almost-hurricane" does sound more ominous than "tropical storm," I think the latter may sound more romantic than the former . . .

Ok, now I'm hungry.

*sigh*

Hope mom doesn't see this . . .

or else she'll insist we never use cell phones again!



Granted, it's a hoax, but I don't think that would matter to her!

12 a.m. & still awake

But I'm doing something I love, so I don't mind.

Being creative to put together my class's science fair project. It doesn't look like much so far:



but give me another hour at least.

I work best under pressure.

These are keeping me awake:



The coffee in the mug provides constant caffeine, of course. And the water in the tumbler induces constant visits to the bathroom. Hmm . . . that's probably TMI but it's past midnight - what do you expect???

************
UPDATE: Need to get ready for work but here's a pic of the almost final product, as promised:



I'll take proper pictures w/ my digital camera when I have the whole display up. Lord only knows when I'll actually get around to uploading the pics . . .

Oh, and this is basically the experiment we did.

Lemon Tree, Variegated

Here's not a great pic of our unidentified citrus tree:



A bee buzzed up just as I was trying to take a shot with my MacBook; you can barely see it on the flower to the far left. Therefore, I decided not to interfere with the pollination process and hurried back inside. Hence the poor picture.

Hmm...there was a lot of alliteration in that paragraph...but I digress...

I was baffled by all my internet searches in discovering the tree's identity. I knew it had to be a type of lemon or lime; I leaned more to the lime because the fruit we had last summer looked more like a lime. But the blossoms matched the lemon tree, like these you see:



But the leaves aren't dark green like all the lemon tree leaves I came across. They were light green with yellow edges. And it wasn't a diseased yellow, as far as my VERY untrained eyes can see. So I eventually decided to google "lemon tree" ('cause I'm sure it's lemon at this point) and "light green leaves." Finally a match!!!



It way more lush than the tree I have, but it's a match! The mystery is solved! Yay for me!!!

And if the pic didn't convince me, the description did:

Young leaves emerge with pink tints among the green. The pink matures to a rich cream. Flowers are numerous, extremely fragrant and are followed by striped fruits that are very flavorful.

It's the striped fruit that made me think lime because it was more green than yellow. Anywho, I can scratch one thing off my To Do List! Although, I still do need to plant my grapefruit seeds and work in the garden . . .

Mental Note To Self

Give yourself a few minutes for your food to digest before running off to play Skee Ball at Dave & Busters.

There was much fun to be had, but my tummy felt a bit funny after chowing down on one of their GINORMOUS salads. And the Mario Kart II arcade game was soooo much better than the Game Cube version! Then I hit the jackpot at that claw game that no one ever wins. You know, the one where you give your money in hopes that the flimsy claw will grab that cute stuffed dog that's actually weighted down so no one can ever claim it for him/herself?

Anywho, one of the bins was full of Houston sports paraphernalia and I thought I'd try for a plush Astros baseball . . . I ended up with a Texans football instead! So I tried again . . . up came TWO more things -- an Astros ball (not the one I was aiming for the first time) and an unexpected plastic Rockets pennant that was under the baseball; it's suction cup got hooked by the claw! I played a few more times (ok, maybe way more than "a few more times;" I can see now how gambling addictions develop) and I ended up with TWO MORE prizes; which included the original Astros baseball I was going for the first time! They're all official sports merchandise, so worth a pretty penny, and well worth the multiple swipes of my game card!



After my success Becca gave it a go and won a few prizes herself. Around that time some of the employers/bouncers started congregating around an employees door just to our left. Then I REALLY felt like a gambler who was being suspected of counting cards because the winning streak was too good to be true! Shortly thereafter we decided to stop being greedy and move on while we were ahead.

If I were a good auntie I would pass some of it along to my nephews. OR I could save it for birthdays and/or stocking stuffers. We'll see . . .

Flabulous Friday!

Why is it so fabulous, you ask?

Well, first of all, I didn't wake up until 11:30. And that was ok because WE DIDN'T HAVE TO WORK TODAY!

As soon as I came downstairs the coffee was already made and waiting.

The episode of Lost my brother was watching was from last week, not this week, so I didn't have to yell at him for watching without me. And I mentally forgave him for leaving the toilet seat up in both bathrooms.

We watched Lost and it was rather emotional, not like the Desmond episode mind you, but emotional nonetheless. Although the end was bittersweet, yet I hope. (I intentionally left that vague for some of you who haven't watched yet.)

As I type I'm lounging on a lounge chair beside the pool, which is temptingly calling my name, however I'm not deceived -- despite the 80+ degree weather and sunshine the water is still frigid!

I have a book sitting next to me just waiting to be read.

I was reminded that we're all failures, that we'll never live up to the world's standards, and that it's by God's grace that we are not overwhelmed by those failures and He gives us the strength to get back up and go on. That's fabulous news for me since I was feeling like such a failure last night; now I realize that I'm not alone!

My mom and I singlehandedly fixed the blender while my dad and brother sat on their keesters watching 3:10 to Yuma. My poor dad is being forced to do much of the cleaning and some of the cooking these days, so the blender got put in the dish washer w/o being taken apart. Apparently, even a Kitchen Aid blender can rust if left in standing water. Thankfully I was just making a shake and not something big, like salsa. I just poured it all out into a bowl and we figured out the prob and banged and turned and sprayed WD-40 until we got it loosened. Now it's just soaking in hot soapy water to get the gunk out. Can't wait to try the smoothie I was just inventing . . .

There's much to be done this Spring Break, so here's my To Do List so you can keep me accountable (I'm mostly talking to you, Debs):

1. Report Cards. Blah!

2. Science Fair project. Double blah!

3. Jury Duty Wednesday. I actually need to find my original jury summons; no idea where to look . . .

4. Figure out what kind of citrus tree the previous owners left us and how to tend to it. And other gardening for that matter -- the flowerbed out back looks horrendous and a plant I salvaged from my grandma last year seems sick. I also want to plant some grapefruit seeds I picked from my friend's last batch of homegrown grapefruit.

5. Catch up on the Philippians bible study going on over at OWOA.

I know there's more but I can't think anymore and this is long enough. I would apologize for my mundane post, but it's my blog so you'll just have to get over it! :o)

Morbid and a bit disturbing...

My thoughts, as they came to me while I read, are included in italics...

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Debbie!

1. It takes a lobster approximately 7 years to grow to be Debbie.
2. If every star in the Milky Way was a grain of salt they would fill Debbie.
3. Debbie can remain conscious for fifteen to twenty seconds after being decapitated. (Um, not something I hope will EVER be tested!)
4. Debbie can use only about ten percent of her brain. (Should I be offended?)
5. A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find Debbie. (Ok, this is the VERY disturbing part.)
6. You should always store Debbie in an airtight container in the fridge. (I assume that would come AFTER the decapitation . . .)
7. Pacman was originally called Debbieman.
8. The porpoise is second to Debbie as the most intelligent animal on the planet.
9. If you toss Debbie 10000 times, she will not land heads 5000 times, but more like 4950, because her head weighs more and thus ends up on the bottom! (Sounds painful. And again, should I be offended? They're basically saying I have a big, fat head!)
10. About 100 people choke to death on Debbie each year. (I'm left speechless . . .)

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Via Debs and Blest and The Thinklings!

My Tulips

I meant to snap a shot in my classroom, but I forgot.

The flowers have opened up and will start to wilt. The bulb is still attached and from what I've read online you can let the flowers fall and the leaves yellow and then pull them off the bulb, which can be planted in the summer. However, I noticed a small shoot starting to pop up and now I don't know what to do! Suggestions, anyone???

Incoherent thoughts that must escape

First, literature:

I love Anne of Green Gables. I forgot how much. I haven't seen it in well over a decade, so I was quite delighted when I went up to Waco and Bird and Brandi recently received it from Netflix. We started it Sat night and then I played the rest of it Sun after church. Even the kids seemed to get into it. I brought one of the books w/ me to work; not that I have ANY time to read. Just sit and day dream. Everyone rants and raves about Mr. Darcy while poor Gilbert Blythe is lost in the depths of literary memory. He's such a good guy, too!

Second, random:

Driving home last night I heard the author of Get Married on KSBJ. She was explaining how women, specifically, need to become proactive in their quest for marriage when they reach the "marrying age." Not to sit and wait for it to happen as we've done for years, but pray and seek out mentors to confide your desire in. To even look to older women/couples to make potential matches. Yeah, I'm not too sure how I feel about all that yet. It sounds a bit . . . desperate? But then again, I'm less than 3 years away from 30 and according to this lady my expiration date has been stamped and will soon draw near!

Finally, God speaks:

Powerful moment in church yesterday. During the sermon over Philippians 3 a man cried out and people started asking for a doctor. He had a seizure which triggered a heart problem. Everyone immediately started praying. Then the worship leader went up and led us in worship. I wept because I know I would want the same for my father. What better place for that to happen than a church where 1,000+ prayers will immediately go up on one's behalf and where the body of Christ will worship for you?

Then, I wept because just two nights before someone I know was sick in prison. Shaking with fever, lying on a concrete floor with only a thin blanket for warmth. Even the tinniest of medication was withheld. Some may say he got what he deserved for breaking the law and deceiving the people who love him. Some may say he deserves worse. But somehow, I don't think that's what Jesus would have said, or what He would have us say.

He who is forgiven much, loves much . . .

Then, I was angry. The people that should have been praying and worshiping on this prisoner's behalf were few and far between. When his sins were confessed there weren't 1,000+ there to pray and worship on his behalf. There weren't 100.

Then, I was assured.

The prayers of a righteous man avail much . . .

One is enough. And one is all you need in the darkest hours of life.

I must be getting old...

Have they lowered the minimum working age?

Obviously they must have.

Because I swear the kids bagging groceries and handing out baskets at HEB were well below the age of 16.

They must have been 13.

At the most.

Either that or I'm older than I thought.

Naw, it couldn't be that.

Maybe HEB just has some special privilege that allows them to hire child laborers.

Yeah, that must be it . . .

How Strange!

When I finally made my way downstairs to cook breakfast this morning I decided to whip up a batch of salsa. I pulled an onion from the pantry and coarsely cut it up with no problems. I added all the other ingredients and blended the baby up. It tasted soooo yummy over my eggs. However, as I sat holding the plate and eating in the living room I noticed my eyes starting to water. Then sting. Like when you chop up a particularly potent onion. Somehow, the onion didn't affect me when I peeled and chopped it. It didn't affect me when I added it to the blender and made the salsa. It didn't affect me until 30 minutes after it had been turned into salsa and then poured on my plate. How strange!