Movie review: Ratatouille Topic: Other
I took my daughter and neice, both 9, to see the new Disney movie today. You just need some nice cool place to go on days like this....when the heat hovers around 116F and even lazing around in the swimming pool makes your head pound. So we grabbed our Harkins 'loyal patron' cups and went to the matinee.
First of all, it was a really cute movie....good characters, setting, and writing. It was very charming and I loved that.
I just can't get past it being about rats.
Rats crawling around kitchens, through sewer pipes, slinking about in the dark and stampeeding in a full hoard of swinging tails and weird noses and the slinking......aaaarg! Not to mention preparing food in a restaurant! I hated it I hated it I hated it! Even now my stomach is feeling lurchy just thinking about it.
The girls loved it though.
Maybe it is because I grew up in the Willard generation.....*shudder*
If you've seen the movie, did this bother you? Or am I just over sensitive? I just know I don't think I"ll watch it....ever....again.
EVER!
ps....notice, no use of graphics or html links on this post....no word from angelfire 'help' yet. *grumbling*
Well, there is my new header, but I don't know how to make it mesh with my blog.
It seems so detached and far away.....
Any ideas?
UPDATE: Kim, you ROCK! Thank you so much! I am so jazzed to have that figured out! I had to figure it out blindly, but your info was key!, because there is no template, just a blank html space to type info into. And all the details were encoded or hidden or soemthing. So I typed into the img src tag: width=990 (trial and error finding that number) and it worked! Then I had to put the img src tag under the 'head', not in the 'head' space to get it under the ads!
Maybe some day I can pay the 5 bucks a month and have no ads on here! lol For now, that will have to do.
Talking blog? Topic: Other
I noticed yesterday that my blog has been uttering words. Do not be alarmed, it's only an advertisement on the top of the page. Simply push the button that says sound off. My appologies....it's a free blog, so they do advertise without my permission on here.
Also, here is a helpful tool if you check on a lot of blogs each day to see if there is a new post. It's called bloglines, www.bloglines.com and it's free. After putting in all the blog addresses you would like to keep track of, you bookmark your bloglines page. My daughter saw the bookmark for my bloglines and was amazed that there was a service to keep track of your favorite blogs for you. Your page will have a list of blogs that you've subscribed to and the ones with new information added will be highlighted. That way you only check in on your favorite blogs when there is something new to see and you never miss an entry. I've been using it for over a month now and it is very very helpful!
Oh, I love this verse of the day today,
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom... Colossians 3:16
And speaking of admonishment, I was visiting e-mom's e-magazine, Chrysalis on which she has posted a really good article on postmodernist subjective truth and classic literature. Just go read it.... =)
Retreating Topic: Other
My husband and I will be going to the mountains for the rest of the week, beginning tomorrow, for a much needed retreat. Some very kind ladies in our church are sending us up to their cabin and the kids are staying with my friend, Cheryl.
Now I just have to get done with my pre-op biopsy tomorrow morning before we go. It's just standard procedure before a hysterectomy these days, but I've heard it can be painful. So I'd appreciate anyone who would pray for us to have a nice, relaxing time without the downer of being in pain! And pray for Cheryl as she homeschools Maggie this week for me!
Check back each day though! I have set up a few older blog entries to post while we're gone and a Wordless Wednesday Photo for Wednesday.
A wasted afternoon Topic: Other
Busyness has taken over and I am so tired of running around in the car and waiting in lines! I took Emma and Bethany to register for high school last week....this week, it's been getting Bethany's car repaired, then registered and tested, etc etc....unpacking from going to the cabin, birthdays, teen girls' sleepover, new homeschool group meeting (went out for coffee til 11pm afterwards) visits from out of towners, an AZ Dback baseball game (thank you Mary Ann!) and errands. The one day I found to have some internet time, I have spent 2 hours looking at Gilmore Girl quotes and trying to figure out how to change things on my space.
Get. Priorities. Straight! Sheesh...
Well, it was entertaining, but definitely a waste of time. Things I could have actually spent time on this afternoon:
Oh, nevermind...but there are some pretty worthwhile things, I'm pretty sure.
I was going to join up with three blogging carnivals this week. I was going to look at window covering ideas for my bedroom. I was going to clean my bathroom and paint. Nuts...
Look for more interesting posts here by next week....I promise, I might, if I have time, okay, maybe the week after that.
I guess I am just wrung out dry this week....unlike Molly, who never runs out of vastly deep and interesting things to write about! Amazing! =)
America is a hard place to be content...I'm rolling it around in my mind. Here are some other people's thoughts....as well as some from the Creator...
Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. Henry David Thoreau
You can't have everything. Where would you put it? Steven Wright
What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on? Henry David Thoreau
The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization. Ralph Waldo Emerson
To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment. Jane Austen
Ecclesiastes 4:8 There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. "For whom am I toiling," he asked, "and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?" This too is meaningless? a miserable business!
Proverbs 19:23 The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.
Philippians 4:11-13 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
1 Timothy 6:6 6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.
Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Carol, at She Lives is going to a Fourth of July baptism celebration. How cool to celebrate real freedom on the day we celebrate our country's political freedom....and to remember that analogy every year!
Dave Barry is quirky, weird, but has hilarious gifts from the internet on his sight daily. Today's post even has a Gilmore Girls shout out. (a weird film clip made by the character Kirk)
Molly, from Choosing Home the has gone solo with a new blog called, Adventures in Mercy. She always has very interesting and though provoking reading!
Sallie, at A Gracious Home (which used to be called Two Talent Living) has a wonderful, historical post on the Fourth of July.
Okay, hope you have fun wandering around the blogs as I have this morning. Now it's time to prepare a quick lunch and go swim with my family on this hot day, looking forward to our little family cookout tonight. Homemade burgers, homemade ice cream, packaged chips with preservatives and watermelloooooooon.
Weekends and Mondays Topic: Other
We had a very lazy weekend around here. Saturday found us sleeping in, enjoying an afternoon wedding and swimming in the evening. Sunday was a good day at church, we saw Emma off to jr high camp and went out to lunch with some friends who just moved to Phoenix. We knew them about 13 years ago while living in New Jersey.
I also had time to really explore the Christian Women Online e-zine. It's an online magazine full of cool stuff. I also joined their web ring of Christian Women bloggers, as you can see from the graphic on the lower left of my page.
Today I have what I think is a monster sinus headache....either that or an anurism, I can't really tell the difference. So I am probably going to lie this bowling ball head of mine down on a pillow and shut my eyes for a while.
7 Days of Blogging--my history Topic: Other They're all blogging about blogging this week....and I'm behind! Carol at She Lives got it started and I'm learning a lot of helpful hints and background on all my favorite and newly found bloggers. Check it out here.
I have never been a writer, never (ever) kept a journal, but I do write a Christmas letter every year that is something like I do here on my blog. It's got an update-ish, attempted humorous, slightly devotional feel. Almost 2 years ago, my friend Kim sent me an invitation to her 'blog'. I knew what a blog was...short for weblog....but I thought it was mainly a journaling type of medium. I did not know that it could be a tool to entertain, fellowship, witness, or rant to the general public. Kim no longer blogs, but I started thinking, as I would read her entries....almost craved them like an addiction...that I could maybe do this. So I went to my angelfire account, not knowing about type-pad or blogger and signed up for a free blog space.
And here I am, over 200 posts later, still wondering if I can do this.
Some days I sit here, thinking I should really post today, but *knocks on head with fist* there's simply 'nothin in the noggin'. That is part of the beauty of blogging. You reallly don't have to have anything to say....and many of my posts are like that. And then some days, it flows like I am a blogging machine! (how very artistically temperamental of me...heh)
Some days I think no one is going to read this stuff...why am I wasting my time trying to contrive posts? Then my husband will just mention something that I"ve written about lately and I think, "WOW, he READS this!" My college daughter once told me that she and her roomate read it out loud to each other in the evening. I thought that was very cool....what a complement! Or a blogging friend (one of the greatest blessings of blogging!) or mentor will comment randomly and I'll get that "attaboy" that keeps me going.
It annoys me that I need that.
I am not doing this for my own private release, people. I really do crave for people to read it....to 'get' me. It's like an artistic outlet....a way to be creative...to have something that is my own. I have 2 friends in Williams, Arizona who read this daily. They don't leave comments on here but they tell me everytime they see me how much they are enjoying it or that they are telling people about it. My own private following....LOL....thank you Mary Joe and Peggy! You kept me going when I felt like ditching it.
I am totally admitting how selfish I am, I know. But I have to be honest. After years and years of being a stay at home mom of little children, with hardly any outlet to be creative or to express myself, this has been a very rewarding year and a half for me. It's given me so much confidence in how God can teach me and how I can learn to do something totally new.
I do believe it's a gift from God at just the right time in my life. Besides being a creative outlet, it's also given me the courage to be somewhat introspective....one of the weakest points of my particular personality. And to learn to work at putting something together regularly that will bless people and encourage them in their faith is a really great honor and one that I take seriously.
So this is my history of blogging. Thank you for reading it. =)
And, by the way, why do you blog? And if you don't, why not???
The ex-expert Topic: Other
I'm off to look at nursing homes for my dear father today, but I wanted to share with you Carol's post for today over at She Lives, because She's An Expert.
Just go...it's a very profitable read!
And I would appreciate prayer today as we look for a loving place for my dad to live, as he needs so much more physical care than my mom or family can provide.
Moved in! Topic: Other
This is just a quick update on what is going on. I haven't posted in quite a while, but we've been moving, unpacking, and setting up our household. We are here in Phoenix, trying to get back into a normal schedule with schooling and running the house. The weather right now is so awesome! (although, in a couple of months I'll be whining about the heat!) We have a screened in room on the back of the house, (which is called an Arizona room here) where we've been hanging out when we stop to relax. LOTS of birds winter here in Phoenix and we're enjoying listening to birds singing all day, as well as the pleasant breeze that comes right through our house all day. There is a small pool in the yard too, that we've been trying to get back into shape before it gets hot here and doing some landscaping. So we're having fun!
Yesterday was Charles' first official Sunday preaching at our new church and we He did a great job. He will be preaching in Acts on the early church for a while as we begin our journey with this new group here. Last night they gave us a pounding (food, a plant, a big picture for over the couch, and pool chemicals!) and money tree for our first couple of months of groceries...that sure is coming in handy!! There were also gift certificates to a couple of local grocery stores, Home Depot, Lowe's and Target.
Sometime soon I hope to write about some things I"ve had on my mind....and about the women's retreat I went on with our new church. (which may take several posts!)
I have a glitch in my get-along. If you're having trouble coming to this page, you are not alone. 
We are going to my sister's cabin for a couple of days. But I am post dating some old blog entries of mine while I'm gone.
...Contentment
Nothing to really add today, but here are some gems from my blog wanderings this morning.....
They're all blogging about blogging this week....and I'm behind! Carol at 
