Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Back in CA

I did return successfully yesterday. Just didn't have time to blog about my great weekend.

Wednesday, I left work a little later then I had intended, but still managed to make it to the shuttle I wanted to catch. I got to the airport two hours early, in fact, which gave me time to get a leasurely lunch, wander around the terminal, and even read for a bit. And get this, both my planes were on time, something I don't think has ever happened going to or from Dallas.

We didn't do much after I got there beside go to bed, and then Thursday we slept in. Once we got up, we fixed the traditional dinner with all the trimmings, including two kinds or yams. My sister-in-law has her favorite and our family has ours. Although both admitted we liked the other's better then we remember this year. After dinner we watched the Amazing Race and played Apples to Apples. Plus, of course, we had dessert. SiL made one item I couldn't have because of my nut allergies, but she also made a caramel cheesecake that was wonderful.

Friday was another lazy day. We did get out and go to the Dallas Arboretum. It would have been prettier if stuff had been in bloom, but it was still nice. We also stopped at a Wal-Mart, and I was able to find the hand soap I like that I can't find in Santa Clarita any more! I bought a bunch of bottles and sent them home with Mom and Dad.

Speaking of whom, they left really early Saturday morning to start driving back. But the three of us went back to sleep after they left. :) Bro had to go into the church for a little while, so SiL and I hung out at the house. We watched like six episodes of season 3 of Friends. Then Bro finally got home and we watched Lost and went out to eat.

Sunday was busy. Since Bro is the youth pastor at their church now, it was a work day for him. It was also my first chance to watch him in action, and I was very impressed. He's got a great relationship with the group. That evening, they had a youth game night that I got to crash, which was lots of fun.

Yesterday, I had to leave. :( My flight out of Dallas was about 20 minutes late, but I didn't have far to go between terminals, so I made my tight connection no problem. I also finished The Buck Stops Here, which I'd been reading since Thursday night. I really don't want to see that series end!

Today, at lunch time, I bought a washer and dryer. Can't wait for Best Buy to devliver and install it Saturday. Work was crazy since I had a couple days to catch up on. And Paul started moving stuff in. He intends to spend tomorrow night here.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Last Night Was So Not My Day

Actually, I was having a good day. Not quite as productive as I had hoped, but still decent.

Then we came home.

It started when I realized the floor in the kitchen was wet. It was dripping from all four sides of the frame of the light. I immediately call the Home Owners Association and they call the emergency plummer. He doesn't think he needs to come out since it could be from the condo above. Unfortunately, they aren't home, so he comes out. I'm glad he did, too, because it was indeed a pin hole leak in a pipe. He fixed it, leaving a giant hole in my kitchen ceiling.

Casey had finally remembered to bring home some stuff I was planning to use to try to take off the tape residue from the for sale sign. yeah, I haven't worried about it for two years, but it's beginning to get to me.

Anyway, I use it, and it does no good. It does however, smear all over the window, which I can't get off with Windex.

Naturally, I had to dry the kitchen floor. I went to wash those towels. When the cycle was done, I discovered that it hadn't properly rinsed the towels. And it had a faint electric burning smell again. It's official. I need to get a new washer and dryer.

To top it of, the light in the kitchen isn't working anymore. I don't know if it's because it got wet or what.

Why does this stuff always happen right before I'm supposed to leave town?

Of course, it can all wait until I get back. Still.

Today was much better. I got lots of stuff done at work. Looked at washers and dryers a little at lunch time. And I bought tickets for our game night viewing of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on December 9th. I so can not wait! And Paul brought over his check for December rent. It's official, I'm going to have two roommates starting next week. Of course, we also need to make a little room for him to add stuff. Still, we can make this work.

In other news, our "game" night Saturday was going to see Zathura. Yeah, it's pretty much Jumangi in space, but it was still enjoyable.

Well, I am all packed for my trip to visit my brother and sister-in-law for Thanksgiving. Mom and Dad are already there. I'm really looking forward to this. See you next week and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Word Association for November 20th

Found here.

  1. Heads up:: Seven Up
  2. Kicker :: Soccer
  3. Aggressive:: Mean
  4. Getting ugly:: Washington DC this week
  5. To be continued:: NO! Not again!
  6. Twist:: Plot
  7. Form:: Fitting
  8. On the road:: Again
  9. Import:: Export
  10. Flowers:: Roses

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Way Past Time for an Update

I'm sure you all agree.

Last weekend's game night was different. We went to a game night that Debbie's Sunday school class was hosting. We wound up all together playing games. Wasn't bad, but it just wasn't the same as normal.

For the most part, this week has been rather quiet. Getting some stuff done at work, but not nearly as much as I should be getting done. Next week is going to be rough as I try to get everything done I need to before I leave for Thanksgiving.

Sun is shining. It's in the 80's again today. Doesn't feel like I'll be listening to nothing but Christmas music next week.

I found my dad's Christmas present this week, and I'm rather excited about that.

The big news of the night was Thursday. When I yet again made a fool of myself in public.

Some of the staff had brought in cookie dough to bake cookies for the kids when youth group was over. They were baking them in the kitchen near the gym/worship center. Now we just put a new floor in the gym, and there are big signs everywhere saying "No food. Water only." So, naturally when I see kids eating their cookies out there, I try to stop them. Some of them even purposefully defying me.

One of the decans in the church had been out on visitation and came back in time to snag a cookie. As I'm trying to remind him not to eat the cookie in the gym, he completely ignors me, takes it, and walks off.

So there I am being underminded in front of the kids again. I loose it and slam my Bible into something which makes a rather loud noise. Not exactly the best response. The decan comes back and starts literally yelling at me for all he is worth, then tells me we need to move where we will have more privacy, stopping every so often to yell at me in front of those who had no idea that anything has happened.

Then he asks for an explanation, which, when I try to give him, he interrupts me every two words to yell at me some more. Finally, he's about to storm off because I'm not behaving in the way he wants, and I tell him he's behaving no better then I am. That has the desired effect and pulls him up short. We are finally able to talk through what happened and he sees where I'm coming from. However, he also brings up again my reaction to the prank pulled on me at the church campout a year and a half ago. What's most interesting about that is his son was one of those involved yet I've had lots of people tell me what happened was wrong and those involved were out of line.

Yes, things were settled before I left, but I spent most of the rest of the night stewing about it. At one point, Pastor Jon mentioned to me again about understanding when I feel it's time to move on.

Frankly, I've been thinking about it more recently. I had decided I was going to transition out of it this summer at some point. But now I'm wondering if I should move up the purely selfish time table. Maybe I'm hurting more then I'm helping. This was especially driven home by the fact that none of the activities coming up are things I'm at all interested in doing. Yet we need to be doing activities of all kinds with the kids.

So yeah, Im rather frustrated and confused right now. Prayer would be greatly appreciated.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Thursday Threesome for November 17th

Got to get this done before I leave for the day.

Brought to us this week by slow service and The Back Porch.

Onesome: Where's-- the main event for you and yours next Thursday? Are you staying in? ...or are you doing the "Over the river and through the woods" thing?
I'm going to Texas. My parents will be there as will my brother and sister-in-law.

Twosome: the-- main course? If you had your way, what would be on your plate as you sat down for a Thanksgiving meal?
Turkey, stuffing, Mom's yams and apples recipe, and pumpkin pie. I think I'm likely to get all of those but the pie.

Threesome: Server?-- Who is the main server at your get together? Does one person run the show? ...or do several people work together? Students: do you even get to go somewhere?
We'll probably all work together again and then eat buffet style when it's done.

Monday, November 14, 2005

So just how did my week end?

With me sick, of course.

For a week now, I've had a cough. When it comes, it's pretty bad. But then I can go hours without coughing at all.

Tuesday, I didn't feel well, but stayed at work. Wednesday, I worked hard and got lots done. Then came Thursday. I felt miserable and sounded worse. Was running a slight temperature, so I called in sick and stayed home.

By the end of the day my temp was gone and I was feeling better. My cough was the worst it had been all week, however.

Of course, the fun in all this was my Friday plans. I'd taken the day off work and was planning to visit with my aunt while going to the Nixon Presidential Library, which I had never been to before. So, when I decided I was sick Thursday, I started trying to get in touch with her. When I did, she decided she was going to go anyway and she'd call me when she got into town Friday to see if I was feeling better. I was, so I went, too.

Am I ever glad I did. First of all, it was free because of Vetrans Day. Second, it was fascinating. I really didn't know much about Nixon, so I learnd alot. In fact, I want to go back to try to absorb some of it. Naturally, it has a strong pro-Nixon bias, but what else would you expect?

I think the thing that struck me the most was how things really haven't changed. The same stunts the two parties are pulling on each other right now they were doing 50 years ago when Nixon was in the Senate. It's so sad that the parties are more concerned with having power then with ideas or even listening to what their constituents want.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Word Association for November 13th

Really, I haven't abandonded this thing. Honest.

See, I'm doing this week's word association.

  1. Mighty:: God
  2. Gotta find time to ....:: Relax
  3. Statistic:: Percentage
  4. Midnight:: Dark
  5. Thaw:: Frozen
  6. Hips:: Lips
  7. Reader:: Book
  8. Related:: Family
  9. Brilliant:: Mind
  10. Posture:: Poor

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Thursday Threesome for November 10th

Brought to us this week by Time and The Back Porch.

Onesome: Of the Hours-in the week, which ones are your favorites?
The ones I spend at game night each Saturday.

Twosome: In the-week there are 168 hours (it seems longer!); what bit of trivia do you hold that you'd like to share with the group?
There are 10,080 minutes in a week. Lots of zeros. I like it. Of course, I cheated since I used a calculator to come up with that. My brain has turned to muss today, I'm afraid.

Threesome: Week-after week we roll along, pausing each Thursday to share some common time here; where else do you go on a weekly basis for a little diversion? (On line or off line; either is fine.)
At the risk of repeating myself, game nights Saturday. Word association Sunday. And my TV shows during the week.

Monday, November 07, 2005

News, News, and Game Night Fun

Saturday, the repairman came out and couldn't find anything wrong with the washing machine. Naturally. We've now done four loads with it, and we haven't had a problem. So I have no clue what was going on.

Still, while I was out and about on my lunch hour, I stopped by Sears and saw they are having a great sale this week. So I stopped by the library and looked at Consumer Reports. Now I don't know what to do.

I heard from Paul tonight. He's a go for moving in! Hope this works out well. Guess we'll find out next month.

Naturally, this does give me more money to play with for replacing my washer and dryer. Still don't know what to do.

Of course, if this is Monday, it must be time for a game night update.

Saturday was Carol's birthday, so naturally we celebrated by making her bring dessert. She brought not only a lemon meraigne pie, but also chocolate overload bar cookies. both were very good, not that it surprised any of us.

For the game we played Beyond Balderdash. This game gives you obscure words, people, dates, movies, and initials. One player puts the real definition in, but everyone else makes up something they think will fool the rest of the group. It's lots of fun and always good for some laughs. Here are some highlights.

What does FTBS stand for? Is it a) Franklin Television Broadcasting Station? b) Free throwers Boomerang Society? c) Fortune Tellers Behavior Society? If you guessed b, you'd be correct. Believe me, no one got that one.

Who was Tobias Smollett? He wasn't the first winner of the Ironman triathlon. He also didn't invent binder clips or grocery sacks. He did invent the mailbox, however.

What does Ranarium mean? A post reclamation byproduct of water used for colling radioactive material? Nope. A place where rinos are cared for? Nope. It's a frog farm, of course.

Let's switch to movies. Going Ape. The movie is not about a scientist who switches his brain with an ape's. Not about chimps trying to take over the city or a shimp who plays football. Nope. It's about a guy who inherits orangutangs and must take care of them to inherit $5 million. And I see it starred Tony Danza and Danny De Vito, too.

That Sinking Feeling. The drama and disappointment of Harriet's high school prom? A newlywed couple gets suckered into buying a yachet in which things go wrong? A gang of Scottish Teens steal a warehouse full of sinks? Believe it or not, it's the last one. Although the yachet got the most votes.

Two more.

Duffing means: a) to hit a teddy bear when you're mad b) hitting a golf ball badly so that it barely goes anywhere c) the body of a fisherman's artificial fly d) happily bouncing a ball down the street e) Stepping on the heel of the shoe of the person in front of you f) a soccer player hitting the soccer ball with his head. The correct answer would be C.

Finally, more initials. NPBOA stands for a) National Party Boat Owners Association b) National Parks Board of Authority c) National Pimple Busting Officers Associaton. In this case, the answer is A, but I'll let you continue to guess which answer got the most laughs of the evening.

See, you learned something new by reading this post today.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Word Association for November 6th

Found here, of course.

  1. Deeper and deeper:: Digging Yourself
  2. Can’t help .... :: Falling in Love with You
  3. Devil’s advocate:: Wrong Side
  4. Superpower:: Strength
  5. Threatening:: Message
  6. Played:: Out
  7. War:: of the Worlds (and I didn't even see the movie this summer)
  8. Violate:: Treaty
  9. Invest:: Product
  10. Choke:: Hold

Friday, November 04, 2005

TGIPayday

The insurance over the last few months has really wiped me out. I need the money from payday today like you wouldn't believe. I sure hope Paul's answer is yes next week about moving in. I do have money in savings, but I hate to touch it. I guess what happened last night would qualify as an emergency, however.

I decided to wash a load of towels before I left for youth group. I started the washer filling. It stopped way too soon, like only after a couple inches. I moved the switch and started it again. That's when I noticed the burning smell. Naturally, I turned it off. I've got a repairman coming out tomorrow. I called around until I found someone who didn't charge an arm and leg for the initial service call. Probably not the best route to take, but it's the one I chose. We'll see what his diagnosis is.

Depending on who much he says it will take to repair it, I may just replace. That's the way I'm leaning right now. The washer and dryer are old. Not sure how old, but they look to be 20-30 years old. The dryer doesn't dry clothes right, usually taking two or three cycles. They came with the place, so I don't have too much invested in them. It might be worth it just to get rid of them and get new ones. Of course, that means trying to figure out what I want to get. Fortunately, most places will have stuff on sale next weekend for Vetrans' Day. Hopefully I can get a good deal.

On the good news front, I got my electric bill this week, and it had a credit on it. Apparently, I qualified for a credit of some kind. Don't know what/why, but I do want to poke around and see if I can figure it out. I'm guessing it was because my useage this summer was significantly less then last month. The benefit of having two fewer people running the washer and dryer and setting the thermostat much colder then I wanted it.

Last night's youth group was the latest in a series of unusual weeks. We left at 7 and took the teens over to the house of one member who is very sick. We sang a few songs and Pastor Jon shared a couple verses. Took all our time, but it was very nice.

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Thursday Threesome for November 3rd

Brought to us this week by normal humans (I don't know anyone who likes it) and The Back Porch.

Onesome: I Can't - What little thing can't you do that everyone else seems to be able to do?
Change my strum pattern while playing guitar. That doesn't count? Find Seinfeld funny. Um.... The worst part is, I'll come up with the perfect one as I drift off to sleep tonight but forget it again later.

Twosome: Stand - What issue is it that you take a big stand on?
Many conservative political issues.

Threesome: Being Sick - Are you prone to getting sick or are you one of those people that can go years in between illnesses?
I used to go years without getting so much as a cold. Now I seem to get colds a couple times a winter and can catch other diseases pretty quickly as well.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Welcome to November

Don't I say this every month? Can't believe it's already November.

So, looks like Paul might be moving in next month. Still could still change. No firm/can't back out committment on either end. But assuming things don't change at his current situation, he'll move in.

How's that for uncertain. :)

Game night was a blast Saturday night. We started by watching the new VeggieTales, Lord of the Beans. Great addition to the series. Very funny. Then we played Killer Uno, and I won. Granted, we stopped early and it was only by 50 points or so, but I'll take it where I can get it. Plus I made peach cobbler (from a Joanne Fluke recipe of course) for dessert. Let me tell you, it was wonderful!

And during a break, we used Debbie's computer to view the final trailer to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. This one actually has talking animals in it, and I felt the shivers. This is gonna be so good! Only 39 days, but who's counting?

Yesterday was fairly warm with strong Santa Ana winds blowing and temps in the 90's. My last bit of warm weather until Spring, I think. Already cooling off again.

So, does this make me a grump? Last night, I had maybe two dozen kids come to my door trick or treating. I wasn't expecting a whole lot because of all the stairs in the units. However, the majority of them were Jr. High age and WERE WITHOUT COSTUME! It kinda seems to me that if you are going to go trick or treating, you should be wearing a costume no matter what age you are. I felt like not giving any candy if they weren't in costume, but I didn't actually follow through.

Finished Mew is for Murder at lunch time. Glad to be done with it. A debut novel, and it showed big time. Later this week, I'll be getting the new Turing Hopper and Talk Radio mysteries. Can't wait to read both of them.