Victory!

Tada! I after months of battling with the shower drain - I can finally shower without standing water!!!

What is my trick you ask?! How can you too shower without a clogged drain?! Well - you have come to the right person!

You have some options - with success in varying degrees:

• the plunger - works well to "get things moving" on down the pipes
• chemicals (i.e. "Liquid Max Plumber Gel)
• equal parts salt and baking soda with hot/boiling water poured over
• screwdriver

In this last battle, it was the screwdriver that was must helpful. It helped me pry out 4 razor covers that had gotten down the first half of the drain - but not all the way (whoops!) and quite a large handful of hair (it's a wonder that I'm not bald!)

Happy Showering!

"Time for Wendy's!"

Having a lunch hour close to up-town has caused me to think often about open lunch during high school. When I don't pack my lunch (which has been more often because of lack of trips to the grocery!), I think about what I want to eat for lunch that day - often hours before the noon hour. Some days, I end up at Baker on the off chance that I might see Andrew there - or that it's tomato tortellini soup day! (It used to always be Thursday - now I can't figure out what day they serve it on.) But usually, I go to Wendy's.

Oh Wendy's. : ) And the 99 cent value menu. And Dave. And the Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger. sigh.

In high school, I was given $10 a week for 5 days of lunches. Once I was FINALLY given permission by my dad, I joined my friends for open lunch - where we could leave school and eat lunch elsewhere. We would meet in the back parking lot because most of us had the special reserved spot parking (it was based on grades and we were all pretty nerdy) and try to decided where we were eating that day. There were usually 2 cars worth of people (although, sometimes some people rode in the trunk), unless I had the "spaceship" van and we could all fit in there! So we had to decide before we left where we were going to lunch for the day. I'm not quite sure how we decided. It was never an official vote. Perhaps it was whoever whined the loudest... hmm... I don't remember.

Every day though - there was a reason to go to Wendy's. There were little catch phrases and hand motions or signs. It started with Wednesday. "Wednesday - Time for Wendy's!" Pretty straight forward the connection there. And we would make a "W" with the index finger and thumb of both hands, the thumbs touching. Since Wednesday and Wendy's both start with a W - we would of course eat there on Wednesday!

"Tuesday - Time for Wendy's!" Tuesday and Time both start with a T. So clearly, we had to eat at Wendy's on Tuesday's too!! (We would make a "T" with our index fingers and alternate the "T" with a "W")

And Thursday also starts with a "T" - so "Thursday - Time for Wendy's!" (Same logic and motions as for Tuesday.)

"Monday - Time for Wendy's" "M" is just a "W" upside down - so once again, CLEARLY reason enough for us to eat at Wendy's on Monday. (The hand motion was just an inverted "W" that would alternate between an "M" and a "W.")

Now the only day of the week left is Friday! And well, our expression for Friday didn't quite follow the pattern of the other days of the week and it's not quite fit for print. :) So I'll leave it up to your imaginations. We did have just cause for for eating there on Friday too!

I used to order a plain JBC and value fry. I now order a JBC and a value fry. (I like lettuce and tomato now!)

Sigh, there are so many Wendy's stories that I could bore you with! I could probably even dig up some old pictures of us eating there. (Since I keep everything!)

PS. I had Wendy's for lunch today. It is Monday after all!!

Future Assurances

Whenever I start to think about my future and about going back to school full time for the next 2 years -- I check out this website. After being an early childhood major and there being next to no jobs available in the state of Ohio, it's so encouraging to see such a long list of open positions. AND sign-on bonuses?! And that site only lists SLP (Speech Language Pathology) jobs in the school setting in Ohio. There are lots more jobs available at hospitals, nursing homes and private practices. It's a very different feeling to be studying for something, knowing that you'll be able to find a job when you are done. It's nice. It's really nice! (and it's nice to be studying for something that you are interested in too!)

Three cheers for grad school! (Check back in once I actually start and see if I am still cheering!)

New Hobby

I enjoy gardening quite a bit.

In college, I wanted a flowering plant in my room. So I bought this kit at Target with a bulb, a vase and these clear crystals that expand with water (instead of dirt). The flower never got to the blooming stage (I can't remember why!), the crystals smelled awful over time and when I cleaned out the vase in the utility sink in the dorm bathroom, the crystals re-expanded and clogged the drain.

When we rented, I tried to transform this little space in front of the duplex into a flower bed. I think it could have been more successful, but I bought packets of mixed flowers -- so I never could tell what was a weed and what was a going to someday bloom into a flower. It eventually was overcome with weeds.

Last year, we were so busy with indoor renovation projects, that I didn't get a chance to work outside. And someone before us thought that red lava rocks would be a good filler in 2 of the flower beds. The other bed was WAY overgrown. I did pull some weeds and bought a few flowers at the farmer's market because it needed some color.

THIS SPRING will hopefully be a turning point in my pursuit making something beautiful! I still don't have my "master plan" for the space - I would look daily at flower catalogs and never make any decisions! (I wanted all of them! And I wanted a selection of flowers that will be continuously in bloom too and be perennials. For someone without much background knowledge, that was too much to figure out!) I've decided to start small and have realized that I can always replant the flowers some place else if I change my mind later! So, I've been busy pulling weeds, shoveling out rocks, planting flowers and raking mulch. I love getting my hands muddy. Only I realized yesterday as I was bending down to plant a flower that I could be that cut out of the old lady's backside. I'll have to work on that one!

Here's to not minding the rain because it's watering my flowers! :)

Office Supply Catalogs

ps. there are NO hot chair models. (there are no chair models, period.)

Makes me wonder where Michael Scott shops.....

An Interesting Dowry

As I was reading through my daily Bible reading today, I came across an interesting passage in I Samuel. For those Bible scholars out there, you are probably shaking your head and saying to yourself, "she's not really going to go there, is she?!" Perhaps I have more of a Young Life spirit than I thought!

Brief background: Saul is trying to have it look as though he likes David by offering his daughter in marriage, but really wants David dead and out of the picture. Saul first offered his eldest daughter's hand in marriage to David, but had her married to someone else at the last minute. This is his second attempt.....

Here is the passage "The Message" version first:

1 Samuel 18:25-27 (The Message)

When the servants reported David's response to Saul, he told them to tell David this: "The king isn't expecting any money from you; only this: Go kill a hundred Philistines and bring evidence of your vengeance on the king's behalf. Avenge the king on his enemies." (Saul expected David to be killed in action.)

On receiving this message, David was pleased. There was something he could do for the king that would qualify him to be his son-in-law! He lost no time but went right out, he and his men, killed the hundred Philistines, brought their evidence back in a sack, and counted it out before the king—mission completed! Saul gave Michal his daughter to David in marriage.

Important note in this version: it's not specifically stated what was the proof, but that it was "counted out before the king."

Now, let's look at the NIV version to find out what the proof was that was needed:

1 Samuel 18:25-27 (New International Version)

Saul replied, "Say to David, 'The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.' " Saul's plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines. When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king's son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented the full number to the king so that he might become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.

(emphasis mine)

This story begs to have questions asked. Such as what would a bag of two hundred Philistine foreskins look like? Did David kill them first or did the Philistines get to experience an adult circumcision in full consciousness? Who had the honor of counting them to the king? Did Saul get physically sick at the sight of it all? And did Michal ever brag about her dowry to her friends? And other questions that are even more inappropriate.

(I am curious why the 2 versions had variation in the number of foreskins. I feel there is a significant difference between 100 and 200. Really, was David just having that much fun?)

ahh the Old Testament....

Pastime Paradise

I was listening to http://www.musicovery.com/ and something strangly familiar came on. It sounded a bit like "Amish Paradise" but knew it wasn't that becuase I was only listening to Jazz and Latin music (an interesting combo, I know). Maybe "Ganster's Paradise?" I checked and it was "Pastime Paradise." A fun little ditty by the one, the only - Stevie Wonder.

From Wikipedia, RE: "Ganster's Paradise" and "Pastime Paradise"

The music is a reworking of Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise", a song from his album Songs in the Key of Life. "Gangsta's Paradise" uses the same tune, and a different orchestration of the same backing music. Coolio changed the lyrics to be more relevant to life on the streets.

:) Happy Paradising!