Happy Belated Birthday Jamey

Happy birthday to my favorite brother in law!!! Happy birthday Jamey!!!! Sorry I forgot to wish you Happy Birthday last Friday. You can thank your beautiful wife for bringing me to task.

Love you!!!!

Friday Family Face - Postponed

Sorry, but I will be postponing the Friday Family Face until next Friday. I totally forgot today was Friday. So I didn't get anything prepared, even though I did get some more responses to my questionnaires (thank you very much). Plus I wasn't feeling very good today (too exhausted from Thanksgiving) so I slept the entire day away.

I promise to do better next week.

Don't forget to post your family photos with Santa this Monday for Show and Tell.

Setting the mood

Thanksgiving is almost here. My mouth drools just thinking of all the yummy food to come. The turkey, the ham, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes and gravy, the yams, the corn, broccoli, green bean casserole, Thanksgiving jello salad, tossed salad, and let us not forget the pumpkin pie. And making their appearance for the first time this year, funeral potatoes (thanks to Danica). I'm getting hungry now. When is dinner?

The only thing that would make my Thanksgiving perfect would be Grandma Manning's rolls. I loved her rolls. I can just picture them now. Too bad I didn't inherit the cooking gene which is a good thing. Can you imagine how fat I really would be if I could make rolls or cook like Grandma M? We will have to settle for store bought rolls. Oh well, a girl can dream. Too bad Marti isn't coming to my house, she could make the rolls (she inherited the cooking gene I'm told.)

Food makes being with family all the more tolerable. Just kidding!!!! I love my family & I love any excuse to spend time with them, especially when it revolves around food. I just wish more family was coming for Thanksgiving. We will miss those of you that were invited that have chosen not to attend. You know who you are. But all is forgiven. I understand why you can't come and I won't take it personally. Just know that you will be missing out on some great food & great company!!!

I thought that since Thanksgiving is almost here, I would set the mood. We need something to get us in the mood for this day of thankfulness, family & food. So who better to set the right mood than Maxine.

So without any further ado, I give you MAXINE:








This is my personal favorite & one I can relate to:
Hope you had a good laugh. If Maxine doesn't set the mood, nothing will. And a word of warning to those of you who haven't figured out how to get out of coming to my house for Thanksgiving, expect to be amazed, unless I don't get my house cleaned on time, then expect the normal. You know how I procrastinate.

Kim

Monday Show and Tell

Here we are at Monday again. It seems as this worst day of the week comes way too often & way too fast. I hate Mondays (in case you didn't notice). Since it is Monday, time to post for Monday show and tell. This week I am going to show you a few more Thanksgiving decor & share what I did this weekend that I am thankful for.
First the decor: This is my living room dining table. Most of the furniture in our living room/dining room is Mission style (arts and crafts). This furniture belonged to Mike before we got married. I like to set this table in advance of Thanksgiving. Right now it is set for 4 people, but if the weather is bad, I will need to put in the table leaf & set for 6 people.

My crystal goblets don't all match as I only have 3 of each pattern. I need to find some more when I am out thrifting, but since I don't get to thrift much anymore, it is harder to find them. I do have plain goblets that I bought last year to use for Thanksgiving, but they are stored in a cabinet in the garage that I can't get to right now as there is too much stuff piled in front of it (my life story). I used my white plates that I bought from JC Penney a few years back as chargers. They are completely flat & everyone in my family hates to use them. They are afraid the food will fall off the plate, so I thought they would work as chargers instead. The dinner plates are my turkey plates (see previous Monday Show and Tell for photos). Then I used a leaf shaped plate as a salad plate. Then I topped it off with my new cream pumpkin bowls. I'm going to use these for tossed salad & the salad plates for my traditional Thanksgiving jello salad. The silverware is just some cheapy silverware I bought last week at Big Lots. But cheapy silverware is better than plastic silverware.


This is the top of my armoire in my family room. I finally was brave enough to get on a chair to take the photo. The "Christ" tile was a gift from Andrea's family last Christmas. I leave this up all year round & change out the decor around it. I painted the girl to the right along time ago. She is in a pumpkin patch, but the pumpkins got cut out of the photo.

Now for my weekend thankfulness part of the post. On Friday we went down to El Cajon to attend our annual company Thanksgiving luncheon. While in El Cajon I got to go to some of my favorite thrift stores. They don't have good thrift stores up were I live. So I am thankful when I have the opportunity to go when in El Cajon.

First we went to Amvets. There I got 1 goblet that matched 2 I already had (just need 1 more), the napkins trimmed in lace & a picture frame. Only the napkins were 1/2 price. Everything else I had to pay full price. I only spent $5.00 at Amvets.

In the afternoon we hit up the local Salvation Army. We lucked out as we got there at the start of their moonlight madness sale. Everything in the store was 1/2 price. Music to my ears!!!! I love this particular Salvation Army as they don't have a "Boutique" section. Most of the Salvation Army's now put anything of value in their "Boutique" section & charge antique store prices instead of thrift store prices. But since this store is in El Cajon, they know no one will pay antique store prices for items at a thrift store.

Here I snagged 3 photo frames, a glass cheese dome top, a shelf, a vintage Christmas cookie cutter set & a plastic silverware storage bin to store my new silverware in. And it was pink!!!! My grand total at Salvation Army was $4.50.
And what I am I going to do with all this stuff? I know you are thinking that I already have way too much stuff. Well, I am going to resell most of it on ebay. I sell shabby chic decor so I will paint the frames white, put in reproduction vintage rose or Christmas prints (haven't decided which). Paint the shelf white & highlight with gold. Sell the vintage Christmas cookie cutters as is. I will keep & use the silverware caddy & the goblet. Not sure what I will do with the napkins, keep & use or make something out of them. The glass dome looks great when you cover up something on a pretty plate with it. I'll try & remember to post "after" photos once I jazz everything up.


On Saturday we had a yard sale with the stuff we took out of our storage room that we turned into a game room. We were suppose to have a yard sale every Saturday for the past month, but I haven't felt like getting up early on a Saturday morning. This past Saturday I had a nightmare that work me up at 6am, so I really didn't want to go back to sleep. So I thought, this is the day for a yard sale.

I woke everyone up. Brandon didn't want to get up as he was too tired. But Jesse & Mike got up & drug all the stuff we had piled in our backyard into the front yard for the sale. We no sooner started putting stuff out when a cute elderly gentleman & his daughter drove up to see what we had.

He bought 3 cowboy hats, my entire collection of porcelain dolls (I know I am going to regret selling my dolls, but they have sat in a box for years), a glass lamp, a quilt & a box of die cast airplanes. I forgot until after the old man left that Brandon didn't want me selling his airplanes. Oops!!! At least I salvaged his Concord jet from the pile. I knew that was the only one he was really interested in keeping.

This elderly man loved our stuff so much that he came back 2 more times before we were finished & bought more items. He probably knew he was getting such a steal on all the items I sold him & that was the real reason he came back so many times.

While Jesse & I were waiting for buyers we talked about how Mike & I love to collect things & have a hard time parting with our stuff. I told him we inherited the "collecting" gene from our parents. You see, we had gone to Mon & Dad's house the night before and I mentioned to Jesse then that I get the collecting gene from my parents (well at least Mom). I told him I dread the day that Mom & Dad pass away & we have to go through all their stuff & figure out what to do with it. And then I said, "And you will dread the day that Mike & I pass away as you and Brandon will have to deal with all our stuff".

Jesse said, "I'm not dreading it. It will be no problem, we will get rid of it all!!!!" It seems the collecting gene stopped with Mike & me. None of our kids seem to have inherited this gene. So if anyone wants any of our crap, I mean stuff, let me know so I can let Jesse & Brandon know. Otherwise you will be out of luck!!!!

Did any of your kids inherit this gene? Let me know.

When it was all said & done, we had made $145.00. Not bad for a last minute yard sale that we didn't advertise or put up signs for.

All the stuff that was left over we took to the local thrift store & donated (we need a tax deduction).

I have so much stuff to get rid of that I could have a yard sale every weekend for a year & still have stuff left over to sell.

We took part of the money we made & went out to dinner to our favorite Mexican restaurant. We haven't gone out to eat in such a long time. The food was especially tasty.

So I was thankful for the following this weekend:
1) That gas is cheap enough we could afford to drive to El Cajon on Friday
2) That we got to eat Thanksgiving dinner a week early
3) That I got to see my parents, oh and Jodi too.
4) That El Cajon has good thrift stores & that I was lucky to hit the "moonlight madness sale".
5) That I got to see my grandson Gunner (oh, I forgot to tell you about that. My camera battery was dead so I didn't get any new photos. Boo hoo!!! But I am thankful that they get to come up & spend Thanksgiving with us, so I will take photos then.
6) That a little old man liked our stuff enough to spend lots of money at our yard sale (we made the most off of him).
7) That we were able to go out to dinner & that I have more money to pay for my property taxes.
8) That my kids didn't inherit the "collecting" gene as it can be quite a burden sometimes.
9) That I still have a house in which to have a yard sale.
10) And most of all I am thankful that I have family who I can share all of this with.

What are you thankful for? Be sure to post about your Thanksgiving activities. Next Monday's show and tell I want you to post photos of you and/or your kids with Santa Claus.

LA Temple

This was sent to me by Andrea. It is worth sharing.

This is from a mom whose son is serving with Dustin in Honduras . Nice and uplifting perspective on the LA Temple Situation.

Date: Saturday, November 15, 2008, 6:16 PM

My dear family, brothers and sisters, friends and leaders:

My heart is overflowing with joy and gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His tender mercies and mighty miracles in our behalf. I just have to share this with you. As most of you know, I am a Temple ordinance worker and work the morning shift in the LA Temple every Saturday. Today, I had the privilege of translating sister Martz-the new assistant Matron's-message during our devotional. She started like this "The prophet Joseph Smith said that no unhallowed hand would be able to stop this Work from progressing. These past few weeks when mobs have combined and armies have gathered against the saints, the Lord has protected His house". She went on to say that those, like her, who were inside the Temple when mobs were surrounding it, did not realize how scary and terrifying this looked on TV to the rest of us, because inside the House of the Lord all was calm and there was peace abundant. After Proposition 8 passed, the Temple began receiving threatening calls and mail from those opposing it. They were warned that more than 5000 people would come to the Temple and burn it to the ground, and stop Its work. The first Thursday when the mob came, the new LA Temple President called the Salt Lake City Temple Offices for instructions. He was instructed to call the local police and to insure the safety of those attending the Temple by closing the gates. The assistant Matron said today, that it was a tender mercy from the Lord that the mob chose that Thursday to come since they had only one person coming to receive his own endowment that day, which he received in time to leave before trouble started. The LAPD and the FBI responded quickly to the Temple Presidency 's summons and patrolled the grounds and kept the mob from entering the same. Most of them had never been there before and expressed their surprise at how beautiful and peaceful all around was. They were invited to come back during the Christmas season to see the lights and they promised they would. On Thursday, November 13th, sister Campbell, a secretary in the Temple , was opening the mail and upon opening a large manila envelope found inside a smaller one. When she opened this
one, a white powder flew all around her desk. She thought this could be related to the demonstrators and feared the worst-ANTHRAX. She contacted the President, who in turn called the Salt Lake City Temple office again for instructions. The FBI, the LAPD, and even the SWAT teams were once again in the grounds to investigate, and the Temple once again had to close from around 11:30 AM to 5PM. They closed the gates and were instructed to keep all the people there wherever they were found at the time. Those in the parking lot had to remain in the parking lot. Those entering the Temple had to remain in the first floor and those already upstairs were taken to the Celestial Room. Then, the miracles began to happen: A brother serving as a recorder that day is a Microbiologist by profession and used to deal with hazardous substances every day. He was the first to say the white powder in the envelope was only talc, and put every one at ease. Then the sister coordinator upstairs was impressed to call upstairs to the sealing area, and said "They said we can't go down but no one said we can't go up, and I have many people in the Celestial room ready to work. Could they do some sealings?" As it happened, there were four sealers present that day and they ran four sealing sessions non stop while the Temple was closed. Downstairs, someone else thought to invite those in the Lobby to do some initiatories, which they promptly did for all those hours too, brothers and sisters alike. Among those waiting in the parking lot there was a large group of young men and women with their leaders who had come to do Baptisms for the dead, and who waited patiently all those hours and decided when the Temple was reopened to go ahead and fulfill their assignment instead of driving back home. The Temple reopened in time for the 5:30 PM session. The next day when recording the ordinances, they discovered that they had performed 2000 sacred ordinances on Thursday, only one less than the day before when three stakes had been visiting the Temple . Once again the assistant matron reminded us of the words of the prophet Joseph Smith, "No unhallowed hand can stop the Work from progressing...". But, this is not all, a prophecy was fulfilled also. When the new LA Temple President was set apart by President Uchdorft of the First Presidency, he received a blessing and these words
were pronounced: " The time has come for the LA Temple to come out of obscurity and become an Ensign for
Righteousness to the world under your presidency." The pictures of the Temple have been shown on TV, newspapers and the internet, not only in this country but worldwide. People of other faiths have called and sent letters to the Temple thanking the Church for defending marriage and protecting the family, and commenting how impressed they are by how beautiful and majestic the Temple looks . One minister of an African American church, who by his own admission had harbored ill feelings against the Mormons before said " I am impressed by your integrity and Christ like behavior, and even if I am not ready to consider you my brothers and sisters in Christ, we can be first cousins!". I asked the assistant matron if I could share her comments and she said to go ahead. I can only add my own testimony that I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has the power and authority of God on earth. God Lives and Jesus, His only Begotten Son and our Savior is coming soon to redeem His people. I am grateful to know this and I pray we stand firm, steadfast and imobile
while the prophecies of the signs before His Coming are fulfilled. "Be not afraid, only believe" He has said, and also " What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and
the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." I testify that this is true and testify it in the Holy Name of Whom I strive to serve, even Jesus Christ. Be faithful and safe is my humble prayer.
Your sister in Christ, Patricia A

Friday Family Face - Tina

This week we are spotlighting someone from the Bunker side of our family. Tina is the oldest daughter of Becky & Rick. She is 27 years old & is not married yet. She works at Cost Plus World Market as a supervisor. She is also in charge of the kitchen department.

I asked Tina some questions & these are her responses:

Where do you live? Currently with mom, dad and two sisters

Places you have lived: Sacramento, Ca; West Sacramento, Ca; Mooresville, In; Palm Beach Gardens, Fl; North Highlands, Ca

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Probably Charleston, SC, North Palm Beach, Fl or London, England.

Education: Associates in Arts: Liberal Arts and Associates in Science: General Science; and planning on more.

Happiest childhood memory? Car trips to southern California to see the extended families.

What were you for Halloween? I was a witch.

Favorite place to eat out? Poojah’s Indian Restaurant.

Favorite decorating style? I really like the Arts and Crafts movement but I like the 50’s as well.




Happiest memory of teenage years? The summer between my Junior year and Senior where I spent it with my friends from swimming in the lake to bowling at the air force base.

Happiest moment in life? Still working on that one.

What makes you happy? Being with my friends and family.

What makes you laugh? Just about everything.

What makes you cry? Grey’s Anatomy and thinking about what could have been.

Something on your mind lately is? How the next four years are going to pan out.

What are you going to do for Thanksgiving? Probably work and then come home to eat and play games.

Favorite vacation spot or place to travel? Probably Florida.

Favorite day of week & why? Wednesday, just because that was the day I was born.



What scares you? Not having a family of my own.

What has been your biggest challenge or something you struggle with? Self-acceptance.

Who has been the biggest influence on your life, or who is your hero? Influence? Probably my parents have the biggest sway in my life.

If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today? Go to Vegas, gamble, have some fun with my friends and then drive to the Pacific Coast to see the sunset with my family.

Before you die, you would like to: Get married, have kids, and get my Volvo XC70.

Your life would be simpler if? I won the lotto, but I would still work.

What are you going to do for Christmas? NOTHING but chill at home.

Favorite color? Blue

Favorite time of day & why? I really like sundown because of the colors in the sky.


What do you (or did you) want to be when you grow (grew) up? Nurse, Mommy and Ballerina. Working on the first two and too short for the later.

What is your ultimate goal in life? Be content.

What has been your greatest accomplishment? Breathing.

What do you think is the world’s biggest problem? Not accepting people for who they are and respecting their thoughts and beliefs.

Are you a spiritual person? I tend to think so.

What surprises you most about your adult life? That I don’t feel like an adult yet.

Favorite food or drink? Warm bread from the oven.

Favorite movie? Do I have to pick one? Pride and Prejudice by the BBC, the one with Colin Firth. What a hottie.

Favorite thing about yourself? My eyes and skin.


What is something you believe in? That there is something greater than myself and I am just a small player in the grand scheme of life.

What has been your hardest decision in life so far? Moving back to California.

What is the craziest thing you have ever done? Got a tattoo, moved cross-country to be with a guy and get another tattoo to celebrate not being with said guy.

What are your goals for the next 5 years. Go back to school to get a BA or BS degree.

What are you really good at? Rubbing my mom’s feet.

Are you a dog or cat person? Dog and his name is Rusty.

Who would you love to meet living or dead? Abigail Adams, and ask her how she did it all.

Favorite food or drink that is not good for you? Beer.

Favorite book? “Beauty” by Robin McKinley

Favorite memory of Grandma & Grandpa Manning? Of grandma Manning, my blanket.

Do you weigh yourself? And if so, how often? Yes, the scale doesn’t scare me. Whenever I think about it.

What are you listening to these days? Radio: mostly country and whatever else I can sing to.

What song describes you & your life? Really can’t think of one.

What are you most proud of? Finally loving me.

Are you a morning or night person? More night than morning.

What is your pet peeve? Open cabinet doors, they freak me out.

What is the nicest compliment anyone has offered you? “You laugh with your whole body!”

Favorite treat or dessert? Black and tan sundae from Leatherby’s Creamery.

Favorite thing to do or favorite pastime? Be crafty: sewing, knitting, cross stitching or scrap booking.

Favorite possession? The costume jewelry necklace from Grandma Manning.


What is your theme song? “Fighter” By Christina Aguleria

What is your motto? Walk softly and carry a big stick.

What celebrity crushes did you have as a teen? Kenneth Branagh and still do.

One thing you love about your body? My curves!

Name 2 objects you use in your everyday life: Car and cell phone

Favorite ice cream? Vanilla, you can always add to it.

Favorite holiday & why? Independence Day; it’s close to my birthday so I can get fireworks and see all of my friends and family.

Your advice to others? Be true to yourself!

One word that describes you? Loved.

Thanks Tina for letting us get to know you better. Who is next? I don't know, need some questionnaires back.

Reminder that Monday is Show and Tell. We are still doing Thanksgiving stuff. You can post anything in regards to Thanksgiving or what you are thankful for.

Can you say WASTEFUL?

Today I was out at lunch & stopped by the gas station to get me a soda (my once a week splurge). As I was walking to my car, the post man stopped me & said he had a package for me. I squealed with delight. A package, I love packages. The postman said he squealed with delight too when he saw me, as it meant he didn't have to drive through the construction mess on the street out in front of my office in order to deliver the package to me. So he handed me my package with a smile & then drove off into the sunset (oh I guess it was too early for a sunset, but you get the picture).

I hurriedly (is that a word? Must be, as it came up with the correct spelling when I ran spell check) ran to my car so I could drive back to my office to open it up. I was anxious with excitement (even though I already knew what was in the box). But when I finally got back to work I forgot all about my package (food won my attention at this point).

So now I've been back from lunch for hours & all of a sudden I remembered my package in the car. I ran out to retrieve my sweet little package & brought it into my office to open up. Once I started opening it up I realized that the shipper of the package had played a cruel joke on me. They had taped up the entire box!!!! I thought that they had just wrapped it in kraft paper, but no. They taped up every square inch of the box with the most stickiest brown tape they could find. I had to keep unwrapping & unwrapping tape in order to try & get to my prize inside.

It was taking way too long & the tape was sticking to me & my long hair kept getting in the way & it was getting stuck to the tape. Ouch. I needed help. HELP!!!!! I yelled. Brandon came to my rescue. He grabbed the box away from me & finally got enough of the tape off to open it up.

Inside was my coke box that I won off ebay for $2.93. What a deal. But I bet that the shipper spent more on the tape than they made on the sale. What a waste. And why did they use, I mean waste, so much tape? It is because they used a USPS Priority mail box and shipped the item 1st class mail. The post office frowns upon you using priority mail boxes for anything other than priority mail, so the shipper had to cover up every part of the box as to not be caught in their deception.

And how do I know all of this, you ask? Because I too sell on ebay & when you order the "free" priority mail boxes from USPS, they make you check a little box that says "under penalty of law, you are not to use the priority mail boxes for anything but priority mail, so help you God". Well not exactly like that, but close. Plus I have turned priority mail boxes inside out in order to use them for parcel post shipping & I got caught!!!! And once you are caught, the item is returned to you to put in an appropriate box with a nasty note from the post office that "What you did is a NO NO!!!!! and don't do it again". So this particular seller was trying to "not get caught". But at what cost?

I'm just glad that Lynne (the woman I work with) is on vacation. She is the "Waste police" and she would have been quite upset to see the waste of tape.

Below are photos. Sorry that they are not the best. I left my camera at home (it is usually in my purse for just these kind of moments). I had to use the "El Cheapo" camera at work. It takes crummy photos. Also, I forgot to take picture before I started unwrapping all the tape. And it wasn't until Brandon got the box open that he said, "I'll bet you'll write in the blog about this". Ding, ding, ding, the light went on & a post for the blog was born. And then I wished I had a taken a "before" picture of the wrapped up box.


Proof of the waste:

Evidence A: Box that originally was covered head to toe in brown sticky tape. See the wad of tape in front of the box. This amount of tape came off just the top of the box & I didn't even uncover the entire top of box.


The final result: My new old Coke box. This will go in my Coke/Game room once it is completed. Mike still needs to put up the shelves so I can put all my collectibles up and get them off the floor. But my poor hubby has been sick for the past month & hasn't felt up to it. Maybe this weekend. Last night he fixed something & said to me "Aren't you glad you didn't marry a dumb ass?". My response "But I did marry a smart ass". Priceless!!

Danica's b-day photos

We went to Eric's house tonight for cake & ice cream to celebrate Danica's 23rd birthday. It was Eric's family minus Cade as he had Young Men at church, my family & Danica's 2 best friends.

Tomorrow night at midnight Danica, Taylor & friends are going to see "Twilight" at the movies. While over at Eric's, I got Taylor to let me borrow her "Twilight" book. So I am going to read a book. Can you believe it? I haven't read a book in about 13 years. Don't know why as I love to read, just haven't taken the time or had a book I wanted to read. But I want to see what all the fuss is about with Twilight. So I will let you know when I have finished, hopefully it won't take me a year. Have you seen how fat this book is? Wish me luck!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy birthday Danica!!!!

Happy Birthday Danica!!!!!

Happy 23rd birthday Danica!!! Hope you have fun today even if you have to work. We will see you tonight for cake & ice cream. Have fun seeing Twilight tomorrow night at midnight. Wish I was going.

Love,
Aunt Kim

Monday Show and Tell - Anything Thanksgiving

For this weeks show and tell I am going to show you photos of my front porch. This is the only thing that I decorated for Thanksgiving or fall outside.



Here is a close up of the round table just to the left of my front door. I leave this table up all year round & only change out the table cloth & items on the table. So far I have left the lantern all year as well. I just change the garland around the candle inside the lantern. I got the lantern last year on clearance at Mervyn's for $9.00. The Indian corn I have had for numerous years. I just put a new fall bow on it this year with ribbon I bought at the Dollar Tree store.

This is my new fall wreath. I just got it on clearance at Walmart this weekend for $5.00!!! I love finding deals.

Here is a close up of the fall painting hanging on my wall. It is framed in a tin frame with embossed fall leaves with a wood frame on the outside. (See 1st photo for the whole picture) I did not paint this (wish I had). I bought this about 3 years ago at a Joann craft store. I waited & waited for it to go on sale for 60% off. I have a Halloween one as well that I posted a few weeks back.


This welcome rake is the one Andrea gave me for my birthday back in August. The "Chalfant's" sign Jodi made for us for Christmas a few years back. They vinyl lettering is coming off. Hint, hint to Jodi, you can paint me a new one for Christmas this year!!!! The white pumpkin I got on clearance at Target last week. I love white pumpkins!!!

This is the sunflower garden stake that Andrea also got me for my birthday.
So there you have my "Thanksgiving" front porch. Hope you like it. If not, don't let me know as I will probably cry.

Sorry that I don't have anything witty or cute to say today as I am quite tired. I didn't go to bed until 12:45am this morning as I was watching "Oprah". Then at 4:30am we had a 4.1 earthquake that woke us all up. It was pretty mild as earthquakes go, but still enough to startle us awake & get the adrenaline pumping. Needless to say, I was not able to go back to sleep afterwards. So I only got less than 4 hours of sleep last night. It is really catching up with me now.

To top it all off, we had another 3.8 earthquake about 9:40am this morning. This time, I didn't move as it was over as fast as it happened. But it got my adrenaline going again. But now I am off the adrenaline rush & I feel like crashing.

I didn't get much done this weekend as I was glued to the TV watching the fires around here. Luckily none of them are close to anyone in our family (at least for the Langston family). And they were to the west of us so we didn't get any of the smoke here. I just felt bad for all the people who lost their homes.

Every time we have a fire here in southern California it reminds me of a dream I had when I was a teenager. I dreamt that a fire was coming towards our house & we only had a few minutes to evacuate. Mom said to grab everything that was important to us. Everyone in the family was grabbing photos, important papers, scriptures, things like that. I was grabbing the TV, stereo, & my records. I woke up in a cold sweat & realized how materialistic I was. It was quite an eye opener to me. I think if this was to really happen to me now, I wouldn't be so materialistic. But I would take the computer, but only because it has my photos on it.

Even though we have fires & earthquakes, I am still thankful that I live in southern California. I wouldn't trade fires & earthquakes for tornado's and hurricanes. The only thing that would make living in southern California perfect, is if it snowed on Christmas Eve so we could have a white Christmas. Now that would be per magic!!!

Next week we will continue the Thanksgiving theme. I want you to show and tell something or things that you are thankful for.

Friday Family Face - Dillydally

Well here we are at Friday again. Time for the Friday Family Face. But wait, I have no family member to spotlight. What you say, no family member to spotlight? I think we still have lots of family members left. Oh, but that takes them responding to Kim's questionnaire. And you see, only a few family members have responded to that dang questionnaire. So I have run out of people to share with you.

Wait a minute, you say, Kim hasn't spotlighted anyone in her own family except for herself. Well, my own family members haven't responded to my questionnaire either. So you are not alone in your procrastination. And I thought I was the only one who procrastinated.

Well, my procrastination or forgetfulness is part of the reason we have no one to spotlight. Brandon said he was almost done with his questionnaire & I forgot to remind him to finish it up last night (we were busy watching the fire in Montecito on TV). Therefore, he didn't get it done & I procrastinated getting any photos of him scanned into the computer to use today. So there you have it, I am admitting that I am partially at fault. Isn't that big of me?

Well don't despair, I do have someone to spotlight. The dillydally family. Dillydally is a synonym for procrastinate (I looked it up). Did you know they are a part of our family? You may have forgotten about them, or maybe you are not as well acquainted with them as me. Since they are an integral part of my family, I thought who better than me to reintroduce you to them now.

Here we have Grandpa Doofus Dillydally. He can't walk, so he gets around in a wheelchair. Which causes him to "drag one's feet". When he is not in his wheelchair he must be drug around. Therefore causing him to "drag one's heels".

Then we have the dad, Googlyeye Dillydally. His biggest problem is that he stalls. He doesn't know how to make up his mind. So he tries to stall everything and/or everyone so that he doesn't have to make a decision.

The mom is Fishface Dillydally. She is the delayer of the family. She causes delays for everyone.

Uncle Dork Dillydally. He postpones everything he possibly can. Why do it today when tomorrow will be so much better.

Baby Dumbo Dillydally. His nickname is Shillyshally. Isn't he precious?
And we can't forget their pets.

Kitty One eyed Jack the Snarl Dillydally. He is lazy so he puts off doing everything.

Dogs- Spike Dillydally. He likes to defer everything to a later date. He likes to hang out with Uncle Dork.

The triplets: Daryl, Daryl & his other dog brother Daryl Dillydally. They like to prolong, defer & adjourn everything they possibly can. This gets them in a lot of trouble.
Is it all coming back to you now? You know you remember this family. Well, I'm hoping that you don't know them as well as me. They aren't really that fun. They seem fun at first, then they tend to get you into a lot of trouble. So it is best to stay as far away from them as possible. Or they might bite you in the butt. And look at the teeth on some of them, I wouldn't want that biting me.

The moral of this little spotlight? Complete your questionnaires & email them back to me. If you need another copy, or you never got one (I don't have email addresses for everyone), email me at kasmlc@hotmail.com. I want Becky's & Marti's kids to do the questionnaires as well. So you kids (Tina I know you are a follower) need to email me your email addresses so I can send you the questionnaire. I also need photos of everyone to go with the questionnaire.

So PLEASE send them to me so that I have someone to spotlight next week. Otherwise I might have to make up family members. Or make up stuff about you. You have been warned!!!!

Also don't forget that Monday is Show and Tell. You can post anything to do with fall or Thanksgiving. Since I know that Marti's family knows how to blog, I'm hoping you will want to participate in the extended family blog. If so, email me & I'll send you an invite to be a contributor.

Kim

I got an award! Sort of.

Yesterday while I work I was given an award by a six year old. An award you say? How exciting!!! Well I was excited too when Joey (the six year old grandson of the woman I work with) announced in front of my desk that he was handing out an award to a winner.

That got my attention real fast. I got all excited to finally be recognized for something, anything, didn't care what it was for, just wanted an award. Something to justify my existence. I had visions of a gold statue with my name engraved on it. I was already thinking about my acceptance speech, when I said to him, "You are giving me an award?" He then looked at me & said "No, I'm giving my Grandma the award as she is a winner" and then he proceeded to walk over to his grandma's desk & hand her a piece of paper (the award) with his 6 year old gibberish written on it. I was crushed, my hopes had been dashed, my heart sank. Never mind that I wasn't going to be able to give my acceptance speech, I wasn't getting an award.

Then Lynne (Joey's grandma) says to him, "don't you think that Kim deserves an award too?". Joey said "Alright, I'll give her an award". He then came over to me & handed me the wrapping from a band aid & said "Here is your award". I got all excited again & said "I get a winner award too?" and then he said as only a six year old can say, "No, it's a loser award, you get a loser award". LOSER AWARD???? L-O-S-E-R. It felt like someone put there thumb & index finger in a "L" shape & put it up to their forehead to say, LOSER!!! Who in their right mind wants a loser award? What kind of acceptance speech can I give now? I'm not a loser, but a "loser" award was what I got.


A few minutes later (after Joey's grandma chastised him for giving me the loser award), he comes up & tells me he has another award for me. I said, "so I get a best person in the whole wide world award?". Joey looked at me intently & then grabbed the 2nd award out of my hand & went over to Brandon & said "Brandon, here is your award". So Brandon got the "best person in the whole wide world" award & not me. Stab me in the heart, why don't you.

Then Joey's ten year old sister Kelly brought me a piece of paper that she had typed up with the words "WINNER AWARD" with my name on it. I stuck my tongue out at Joey & said "See someone thinks I'm a winner, nananananana!!!!" This got Joey mad, he comes over to me & says that he wants the award Kelly had just given me. He didn't think I deserved a winner award so he was miffed that his sister had given me one. He tried to grab the award from me. I wouldn't let him have it. I finally had to sit on it to protect it. This got Joey madder.

When Joey realized that he wasn't getting the winner award back from me, he proceeded to tell me that it wasn't a winner award, but a wiener award. A wiener award? This kid obviously doesn't like me.


So there you have it, I was given an award, but it was not the award I had dreamed about receiving. I guess it was the award that Joey thought I deserved as he thought I was a sore loser when he gave his grandma the original award. It was pretty funny though seeing how upset Joey got when his sister gave me the winner award to make me feel better. You can't make kids fake what they don't feel. Maybe I should have tried bribing him? Maybe next time.