"Out Damn Spot!"

"Hi I'm at a laundromat in -- and I put my clothes in the washer and put the quarters in, but now it won't open. How do I get my clothes back?! Your number is the only number here." So not wanting to deal with him nor have to try to look up the laundromat in the system, I transferred him to customer service.

Then J comes over and asks, "Did you talk to that laundry guy?" and proceeds to tell me that the guy starts off just the same: "My clothes are stuck in the washer here at ---. I want them back! Who can I get to come and unlock it! Your number is the only number around here...." J looks up the address, but it's not in our system so the guy complains, "Well who am I supposed to call!? I want my clothes back! Do I just break it?" "Uh, I don't know...I'm sorry I can't help you...."

Lol. Yeah, when I have a problem I just randomly pull some number off the nearest sign, advertisement, billboard to complain about a problem!

Thank you God

You ever think that God lets a little flower grow in your path in the cement sidewalk or snow fall, even if not to stick, just for you? just to fulfill that wish in your heart that someone understood your pain, that someone really cares?

I sure do, and then it makes me remember, I am important to someone :-)

Shout outs from my people :-)

This morning as I was crossing the street to work, and I hear someone "woot wooing" at me. I look up to see Ash laughing and saying, "I can't whistle..." Just because. It made me smile; good start to a Friday morning!

The a little while ago, Unknown/Unavailable shows up on the caller ID, I answer and hear a voice that seems familiar and alive with animation saying, "Hi this is Gen! " but in my mind I think, "This couldn't be Gen K. that'd be international; must have been a customer talking to B." so then I was really confused when she said, "Is this B?" since by then I was like, "Okay, I guess they were talking to B." But then she said, "This is GEN!" Then silence. I said, "K. ?"  Yeah, it was my friend Gen calling internationally!

Anyhows, that's all. No big story, just good to hear familiar voices :-) So I thought I'd say so....

Love to my friends! Have a lovely day!

A poem from a child

written by Jimmy D. (13yrs)

Exile is like being thrown away
It's not being able to see day
Everything he cast aside
For that day he had to ride.

Exile is like Our Lord
Who resembles a broken sword
Thrown away by all mankind
A new home for Himself to find.

Exile is an unpleasant sight
When you have to go and fight
To earn yourself a home and bread
And a place to lay your head.

Exile makes you courageous
Teaches you not to be outrageous
Makes you meek and obedient
Helps you not to be lenient.

Exile seems to be bad
Living the life of a nomad
But great good can come from this
Grace from Heaven you'll never miss.

Friday 13th or April Fools

Okay, so I just had a scathingly brilliant idea for an office joke on Friday 13th! LOL. I was sitting here minding my own business, when all the sudden a wonderfully hilarious prank popped into my head!

Things are supposed to go wrong today, right? Well, so what if when someone printed off some paperwork, someone went and got some shredded paperwork and put it on the printer where their printed papers should have been!!! Dude! I would love to see someone's face!!!

That's all. Back to work :-)

Ladeeda :-)

NOVEMBER 6, 2009       11:00 PM



Do you ever just stand back and look at the stars? Stop and smell a bunch of flowers? Stop in your tracks just to stare at a tree on fire with Autumn? Breath in deeply the frosty scent of Autumn leaves? Gaze at the snow covered pines decorating a mountain side? Do you ever just stand in awe at the beauty of nature? Do you feel that burst of excitement in those few moments when you’re gliding atop the snow through a still frozen forest making waves in the snow? Okay, you’d have to be a boarder for that one, but I think you could see my point… All of those things give me a rush of joy, love, excitement, and awe of God. And then all is still and I move on feeling secure, warm and at peace. I am happy to know God cares so much about us.

I had to fill out a survey at work, well, questionnaire for an “About us” page, one of the questions asked if I could live anywhere I wanted to, where would it be. Now I’m not one to think of “my favorite movie”, “my favorite actor”, “my favorite subject”, etc. If I like something with a passion, then I just know that I like something. Otherwise, I don’t really think about what subject I like best or where I’d want to vacation…. It’s only when people ask me that I stop and think about the answer to those types of questions. But for some reason, I had a picture in my head right away of a place I’d want to live. I’d want to live on a vineyard in Italy in a quaint old house and have a view of some glorious mountains in the background. Now I’m not sure if that exists, but I’ve a perfect picture in my head :) Pretty amazing picture since I don’t think of those type things much….

Perhaps it was that my sis asked me the other day where I’d want to go on a honeymoon since we were discussing how it’s kinda half and half a waste of money as you’d want to just spend relaxing time with your spouse and not so much the place. Of course I had to think of it, so I thought, what type of setting would make me feel relaxed with no worries…. And I thought of vineyards and open courtyards with greenery everywhere and that peaceful quiet of people speaking in hushed tones…. A vineyard somehow is my picture of a peaceful place to live :) Lol.

"Remember When..."

Few weeks ago I was sorting through all my letters from everyone taking them out of the envelopes and stapling all the papers to cut down on the bulk since they were taking up way too much space in my little file box. As I took them out, I found a post card that Andrea had sent me from France right before she entered the convent...I forgot how good friends we were when we were teaching at St D's the year after I graduated. We hung out all the time, we were best buddies :-)

Everyone who'd had her as a teacher always thought she was too "mean" or "stiff" I suppose, but she wasn't at all--that is, after I'd broken the ice on our first day in the teacher's house! Lol. that was so hilarious, all the other teachers were staring in horror as I totally ignored her "bitter" words to me and started joking around with her in "that" tone like, c'mon you can come out and play... Lol, I'm laughing so hard just thinking of it. I had asked what her first name was or Mary had told me so that I could get to know all the teachers by first name as I was a teacher that year. So when Andrea came through the door, I said, "Good morning Andrea!" with a smile on my face. She glared at me and said, "I bet you like being able to call me that!" I was a little taken aback. Okay, no sweat. I told her in a brat-childish tone, "I never had you as a teacher, so I'm not used to either way."

Then as she sat at the table doing something, I got my breakfast ready then asked if I could sit across from her, she looked at me and I think she said something like, I don't care or it's a free country or just had that look on her face. So I sat down and said something that I don't quite remember, but I just remember the sound of all the teachers in the kitchen (this was in the teacher's house) suck in their breath in shock and stand silently waiting for Andrea to get angry. I wasn't trying to make her angry, I just wanted her to lighten up, so I was talking in "that" playful type tone again, like a little puppy trying to get an older dog to play.... Andrea sat there for a second, everyone was silent still, then she just laughed. We were best friends from that moment on! :-) and the teachers who had stood still in their tracks relaxed and went on with their meal, though apparently amazed that I'd done/said what I had :-)

AnYHow, I was reading her letters to me from the convent and thought, why the heck did I stop writing her again? Why would I get lazy and not write such an awesome friend?! Besides that I love the style of her writing :-) She totally has a sanguine streak, you just have to break the ice first :-) So anyhows, I just wrote her a few weeks ago, she just wrote me back. I was so excited. So awesome :-) Besides, ya know, letters just make a person feel special :-) 

I love writing and receiving real letters with friends! 

*Yayyy*  <-- did I get that right Annie? ;-)

Cold smells

Have you ever noticed that there is a distinct smell to someone who has been outside in the cold for at least 10 minutes? I just went for a little jaunt around a few blocks to stretch a little, and sitting here for a few minutes, I caught that smell on my clothes! It's that smell you get when it's cold out, sticks to everyone. I very much dislike that smell!

Whenever I catch that scent, I always think of the first time I realized what it was. Dad used to go running every morning carrying weights or a bar and would wear green sweatpants and a yellow sweatshirt when it got cold. He'd come back smelling like the cold outdoors. I remember wondering why he smelled like that for awhile, and then a few days after wondering, I got my answer after I came inside after being in the cold. It's just the smell of the cold outdoors!

Yeah, That's all. Not much of a story or seems like there should have been more, but no, that's all  :-P

"And she, O Catiline, thus pleads with you, and after a manner silently speaks to you..."

"And do you, who, from the consciousness of your wickedness, know that the hatred of all men is just and has been long due to you, hesitate to avoid the sight and presence of those men whose minds and senses you offend? If your parents feared and hated you, and if you could by no means pacify them, you would, I think, depart somewhere out of their sight. Now, your country, which is the common parent of all of us, hates and fears you, and has no other opinion of you, than that you are meditating parricide in her case; and will you neither feel awe of her authority, nor deference for her judgment, nor fear of her power?

And she, O Catiline, thus pleads with you, and after a manner silently speaks to you: -- There has now for many years been no crime committed but by you; no atrocity has taken place without you : you alone unpunished and unquestioned have murdered the citizens, have harassed and plundered the allies; you alone have had power not only to neglect all laws and investigations, but to overthrow and break through them. Your former actions, though they ought not to have been borne, yet I did bear as well as I could; but now that I should be wholly occupied with fear of you alone, that at every sound I should dread Catiline, that no design should seem possible to be entertained against me which does not proceed from your wickedness, this is no longer endurable. Depart, then, and deliver me from this fear; that, if it be a just one, I may not be destroyed; if an imaginary one, that at least I may at last cease to fear."

~Cicero (106 B.C.–43 B.C.), "First Oration Against Catiline"

Landscapes in my Mind

Mountlake Terrace

Doesn't that sound like a beautiful place to live :-) Who needs a camera when there's canvas in my mind....

Internet Detective

I love the internet! Lol! Little do people know there are so many ways to view a page /blog that they have deleted!

Okay, okay, perhaps a little devious, but still, I found the post most amusing for starting off my workday! :-) Besides, one must remember, if it's online, you've already given up privacy rights! :-P

*thanks to my blogger friend for making me laugh about Friday at the Office*

Not the Pickles!!

Lol. I was snooping through the cupboards for an after lunch sweet snack and found some dried plums, pulled the can out to take one and noticed a jar of grape leaves (yes, canned grape leaves--so good rolled with hamburger and rice). So I pulled it out and turned around to face Mom sitting in the dining room and said, "Hey Mom can I buy these off ya?" Her face went into a shocked/horrified expression and she shouted, "THE PICKELS??!!" I stood there in shock for a moment while the look on her face and the words she said adjusted in my mind. Then I just started laughing uncontrollably! Finally she realized they were the grape leave... then said, "Oh!!! I thought you wanted my pickles...and I just bought the pickles for me yesterday...!" Lol.

Maybe ya had to be there, but it was awesome! LOL

The Four Seasons

As I left work today and started across the prairie towards home, I thought how things never really change, I'm still doing the same things, but the months fly by..... First, I remember driving across the prairie in the summertime. Warm days with the windows rolled down. Ah the evening breeze starting to come alive, throwing the scent of barbeques at my senses :-) The autumn and all the leaves are changing, that first day of hunting season is a smell, the smell of the frostbitten leaves. The fog is holding heavily to the ground and the only sign of a crossroad is the red flashing lights warning me of the stop sign.... I love the fog though somehow it scares me and then the memory of something a friend once wrote flashes in my mind and the fog becomes a ravenous wolf running after me.... Broken thoughts. The winter when sometimes the road seems to disappear and my teeth are still chattering because I forgot to warm my car up again.

And now...the window wipers are on, the world outside is drinking in for our summer greenery. I turn on my headlights, and notice, so does everyone else. I guess they too think the rain dims the world; a little blurry to the senses. ...all the seasons flash through my mind; it only took a second, and they were gone. Time passes, life seems to stay pretty much the same.

Then another train of thoughts come from the wipers going back and forth...the thoughts written by a friend of their fascination with the wipers as a child..... I hardly ever think about my childhood anymore. Only once in awhile some memory is thrust into consciousness, but otherwise I don't have many memories to look back on it seems.... But at least they are...for the most part...happy memories :-) Most of the time memories of Mom and what she used to do for us with the little we had :)

In the summer she'd always take us swimming, most often at a small man made lake near our home. But once in awhile, she'd take us to Palmer Lake twenty minutes away. When she took us there, she'd make us popcorn and put it in a brown paper bag and some sandwiches. The real treat was those few times she'd make a ton of pizza pocket sandwiches with her little sandwich toaster and put them in brow paper bag -- half full of pockets!!! The bags of sandwiches and popcorn with oil spots on them. Fond memories.

Lol. Was just thinking how we always used to have real butter, we'd never eat margarine...then things were getting tight and butter more expensive so Dad said we'd have to eat margarine and the butter was for Mom and Dad.... Dad had recently decided to give each of us kids $5 a month, so we took that money and bought each our own pack of butter! Lol. When Dad found out that's how we were spending our allowances, he was apparently a little embarrased or proud or a little of both, and Mom started buying us butter again. To this day we all love butter :-)

It still makes me laugh! Us kids were so serious about it! lol. We'd write our names on the butter pack and even make lines so no one else would take any! Then one day Dad opened the fridge and found all our packs with names and we told him he couldn't eat ours! LOL! I'm killing myself laughing here! He was all shocked! Mom went over to him with the fridge open and told him what we were doing....

Hmmm, well, I suppose it'd be good to go to sleep now since it's nearing 9:30pm.... Lol. I love to write! :-E (hmm, those bucky teeth don't work so well with this font...looks better in txting, cuz these ones look kinda crooked and evil! Reminds me of a vampire! :-) Anywho's, I'm off to bed! ...soon anyway.... ;-P

On the Road Again

For a few months I'd been wanting so badly to see a good friend who lives in Kansas. It happened like this last Tuesday at 3:30pm while I was working: "I want to visit Annie, but how when I don't have time off??? I'll be done sanding these up today and we could spray tomor---WAIT!! The doors aren't even coming in this week! AHHH!!!! I can take the rest of this week off and go visit Annie and go to Brandi's wedding!!!!" And I continued to scream excitedly every few minutes for the next 5 hours until I was exhausted :-P lol. True story.

Mom and I packed up and left for KS next morn. (wasn't hard convincing Dad, I know all the right things to say. All true things, but also the right way :-P ) Oh, and I don't think it was because of my pure excitement, but I woke up at 4am that morning and couldn't sleep again. The alarm went off at 6am, but slept another half hour. Shmanda got up too and made an awesome breakfast of avocado, bacon, cheese toasted sandwiches! Mmm so good! She's real.

I was so excited on the way there that not even half way through Montana I was telling Mom that I'd like to just drive straight through to KS so I took an hour and a half nap while she drove to Sheridan, MT. Then I drove through to Denver and Mom drove another two hours in which I didn't sleep at all. Oi. We got into SM at 8:30am local time. 22hr drive. Ya know, it was actually providential that I got excited enough to say that I wanted to drive all the way through instead of staying in Casper, Wyoming. There was a HUGE snowstorm in Denver the next day! Lucky!

It was about the same scenario on the way back, except a few hours out of Denver going somewhere around 80 or 90 mph, some little racoon decided to run in front of me...I made the funniest scream. Lol. but yeah...there was some 'coon hair stuck in my wheel when I got home.... Some deer decided to walk down the road just at dawn so that the red road gave them camoflauge. Yeah, threshold breaking! lol.

When I got home, I went to bed at 2:30pm...I slept so deeply! Wow. ...and I woke up about 15 hours later at 6am! lol. So good!

I'll post about my stay in SM later :)

Lenten Resolutions

Went to confession, the padre asked if I'd made any Lenten resolutions and then he told me that I shouldn't just make some resolution for Lent like giving something up, but rather to do something that would be good for me. Do something positive that will help me in general. Help me in life and continue to benefit me throughout life. Very interesting point....