Spam by Mr. Microscope

In checking my email today I notice one with the subject of "Software" sent to me by my good buddy Outclassed M. Microscope. I realize people that send spam are unique, but it is beyond me how they would think that anybody would open an email with this name. Do they think I might actually know somebody with this name and be fooled into opening it? Or perhaps I am in such need of "software" that I might want to buy something from a person with this name? Perhaps they deserve kudos in the imagination department, but I'm a little flummoxed by it all.

Vanessa's Shower

Saturday was Vanessa's baby shower and it was a really good time. One of the games had 3 random people in a baby diaper changing contest and it just so happened that the 2 guys (and grandma to be!) were the three that played. Rusty was the winner (holding his "baby" in the air) and it was especially fun for me to watch James changing a diaper. He was a good sport about it and other than being slower than the others he did an admirable job.

After the shower was over Elley took us out to the pasture to see Gracie, the new baby horse. It was impressive to me to hear Loni when she whistled for the horses since I can't whistle at all and this girl has some lungs on her! The horses were on the other side of the pasture when we got there and when they heard the whistle they picked up their heads, then took off running towards us. The two males reached us first, then Journey and her baby. She is so beautiful and it was adorable to watch her toss her head back, kick up her heels and run with her mama!

Good times........

~ Elizabeth

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. - Psalm 150:6

Ya Gotta Have Friends!

Friday night we celebrated Jimmie's birthday early by heading up to our favorite chinese restaurant for crablegs. Jimmie is such a nut and when she and Jeanie get to going you just can't stop laughing! It truly was an awesome fun night and I am blessed to have these guys as friends. Love this group shot.


And you can see by the next picture that I really believe crablegs are finger licking good! Dawn's looking at me like she can't believe anybody would have the nerve to lick their fingers in a restaurant. ;)

Crocs!

Wedding plans are coming along nicely! Amazing how much can be done when there's not much time to do it. The dress is purchased and being steamed and she looks like a princess in it! Truly brought tears to my eyes looking at her, so I can only imagine what will happen during the wedding. I just feel so blessed to be able to love my future daughter-in-law!

Sunday morning Keith, Lynne' and I left for church and after service ran a few errands. I learned that beautiful church shoes with heels are not good to go shopping in! Keith just shakes his head when he looks at my shoes and I simply pointed out to him that all I had required of those shoes was that they look good at church and maybe going out to eat afterwards. They were not purchased as shopping and errand shoes! Lucky for me we saw the display of Crocs and of course I've been wanting to try them out. I couldn't bring myself to purchase the clogs, regardless of how comfortable they are, but did fall in love with the flip flops. And once Lynne' tried them on she stopped teasing me and bought a pair for herself! Mine are bright turquoise with gray tops and hers are black. We both wore them the rest of the day and I didn't even worry about looking like a frump wearing a church dress and Crocs. It did make for happy feet while going with James and Loni to register for the wedding. :)

~ Elizabeth

There are all kinds of shoes, For all kinds of feet, To wear at home, Or out on the street. There are boots for splashing, And sneakers for dashing. There are slippers for napping, And tap shoes for tapping, There are cowboy boots for riding, And ice skates for gliding. But the best shoes of all, Are the ones that fit you, While you're doing the thing, You like to do. - Unknown

The New Paula Deen Magazine is Here!!!

I feel rather like Steve Martin in The Jerk where he went skipping down the street shouting "the new phone books are here!" except that in Elizabeth World I'm shouting "The new Paula Deen magazine is here!!!!"

I went to Barnes and Noble at lunch and left with 5 new magazines! But the one that made me skip and shout (twist and shout???) was Paula Deen. I've only had time to flip through it before coming back to work, but it looks great. ~ sigh ~ Again, sweet life.

Just Not Feelin' It Today

I am really not feeling it today and from the sounds around my office, nobody else is either. I really think the cause is the weather. Severe storms rumbled through the Dallas area during the night, with quite a bit of thunder, hail and flooding. Many people were late, so of course lots of stories and sharing of pictures taken with cell phones! (I just love technology!) And it's dark outside now as another storm approaches, so I think my body just wants to be in bed.

I just fixed a cup of power coffee in the hopes that it will sharpen my wits a bit. The recipe? Empty a pouch of instant hot chocolate into your cup and fill with coffee instead of water. Mmmmmm! The cup in the picture is a bigger than normal coffee cup and was given to me a few years back by a coworker who knew my love for coffee and reading. The cup was purchased at Barnes and Noble and has author pictures all over it. There's also a spoon from my Pretty Pink Tableware set. :)

DaVinci Code - Truth Revealed!

Last night was the first in a 9 week Bible Study at church called Debunking the DaVinci Code and it was truly phenomenal! It's an hour and a half each Wednesday night and honestly my mind did not wander even one minute. I love our new pastor as he shares so much biblical knowledge and is a truly gifted orator. The class began with the movie trailer and then he started speaking and we were looking up Bible verses right and left. And one of the coolest things is that the church plans on renting a movie theater for us all to see the movie together! Ah, sweet life.

To kick off the study we had a dinner in fellowship hall last night. There are a group of men at our church called the "Holy Smokers" and they provide wonderful BBQ meals for many of our events. Once a month they travel just north of here to a home for abused kids and let the kids help them cook and serve a lunch. Great ministry. We got our food and sat with a couple we didn't know and got to hear quite a bit about the church in past years. And I just found her delightful as she went on and on about how we didn't look old enough to have been married 26 years. :)

~ Elizabeth

All scripture is God-breathed - 2 Timothy 3:16

We're Having a Wedding!

This picture of the beautiful couple was taken at the park on Sunday. They told us that they'll be moving the wedding up and then told us yesterday that it'll be 2 weeks!!! Guess I better get to shopping!!! :)

~ Elizabeth

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13

Hot in Dallas!

I'll go for the obvious and call this picture "A Boy and His Dog" since it fits so well. This was Easter, late afternoon, and it was HOT! You can see in the picture that the main part of the park had no trees at all. Luckily I did bring water for Joe the wonder dog and he was most appreciative. But I wasn't smart enough to bring water for us or the kids.

And speaking of HOT, the Dallas area made the Paul Harvey show this morning. We had the dubious distinction yesterday to hit 101 degrees, the hottest day in April on record. But even more "awesome" was the fact that we had rolling blackouts in the city yesterday. The tv announcers said that has never happened here and I will admit that when you hear rolling blackouts the first thing that comes to mind is New York City. This does not bode well for a mild summer this year.

And I realized this morning on the way to work that even with average gas prices in my area hitting $2.85 a gallon we really aren't hearing that much about it on the news. Since we've hit $3 a gallon previously does that make it all right this time around? I will admit that it has curtailed my driving somewhat. My truck does not fall into the economy class at all and we didn't buy it for its low gas consumption. But right now it's not as fun to be in it as it has been in the past.

And it makes me feel old to be worrying about electricity use/prices and gasoline prices. ;)

~ Elizabeth

"God does not show us the whole way, but only the next step. His promise is, "I will counsel you with my eye upon you". - Ingrid Trobisch

Easter Memories

One of my favorite Easter's was the year that Lynne' was 18 months old and James was 3. We went to mom and dad's house in OKC and we all dyed eggs together, then we went in the back yard and hid them for the kids. Off they went hunting eggs and James would help Lynne'. Mom and dad also had a mini dachshund that would steal eggs and take off running, much to the delight and laughter of the kids. We'd go back in the house, hide eggs, bring the kids out to find them, over and over again. Lynne' just thought this was grand fun and we all started getting bored with it. I have a picture of her standing at the back door of the house pointing to the door handle and holding her Easter basket wanting to play more and we had told her no. But my dad could not resist that little stinker, so the two of them played eggs for quite a bit longer. Just so cute in my memories, especially her in the little pink and yellow sunsuit, ruffled white socks and the white Stride Rite shoes. :)

{21} Day 16

On track with the movin' and groovin' and lovin' it! (LOL - that sentence makes it look like my "g" key doesn't work!) Anyway, still not loving the black pen doodling idea that I first thought was brilliant, but at least I'm accepting it now. Perhaps that will end up being another benefit of this challenge - being able to be a little more confident with "The Pen"???

Podcasts and Shadow Dogs

Another example of how Joe always has to be glued to my side. This was yesterday when I was taking the picture of the crocheted baby blanket and I decided to back up some and show his cute little face. Me and my shadow!

I discovered something about myself yesterday - I am not nearly as techno savvy as I thought I was! Or rather, I was techno savvy and time has marched on and left me behind. What a blow to the ego! LOL! This revelation came about as I was wandering around reading blogs yesterday. I honestly learn a lot doing that and I'm not just talking about things like people's favorite cookies or stuff like that. I keep seeing posts about podcasts and while I know what it is in general, I am clueless on specifics. I told Keith last night that I was going to have to give in and buy an ipod simply because I want to learn more and be "hip" with my knowledge. He of course laughed and since he loves all things electronic he's all for it. But further blogging led me to a site that had a link to a podcast about Lost - what could be more cool than that??? So I clicked it and discovered that you don't have to have an ipod to listen to these things at all - it can happen on the computer. Well I was happier than a tick on a hound dog at that point because it opened a whole new world to me! Who knew??? Then last night right before bed Keith pointed out that maybe I can download these things on to my little Dell PDA and be able to listen "on the go". *thunk* <--- Me falling off the chair - WOW! Now my PDA is way bigger than an ipod, but at least I can try this stuff out and see if it's something I'm interested in. Our world is just so cool with all these gadgets!

~ Elizabeth

"A grandmother's love is like an old quilt - warm and comforting." - unknown

Monday Singing

I have to admit that deep down I really do enjoy Mondays. It's the start of a fresh week (OK, I do realize that most people think of Sunday as the start, but that's in the middle of the weekend, so I choose to make Monday the start!) - 7 beautiful, untainted days to make what you want of them. This Monday the birds are very chatty here and have been since early this morning. It made great background music for our walk today.

And yesterday's weather was absolutely picture perfect, especially for the 195,000 people attending the Nascar race nearby. We sat on the couch inside and watched the race, which makes perfect sense considering the weather. :rolling my eyes at myself here:

But I did get out a crochet hook and start a new baby blanket, thanks to Shelly. As soon as the sun is up more I'll take a picture of it and post. I was a little surprised at how quickly crocheting came back to me as it's been probably a couple of years since I've done any at all. I did notice that I have to look at it more than I have to look at knitting, so it wouldn't be a good choice while watching a show that I need to pay attention to.

Last night we finally watched Lost from 3 weeks ago - the one where Sun discovers she's pregnant. Now what is up with that? The three of us did have a lively discussion afterwards on how we couldn't figure out why Jin was so happy since apparently he can't father kids. Quite the mystery there.

~ Elizabeth

"Our faults are like a grain of sand beside the great mountain of the mercies of God." - Saint Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney

Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday

- Missing the movie time and out to eat on our anniversary because the Busch race ran late - $0
- Rushing through the McDonald's drive thru for anniversary dinner and eating in the car on the way to a different theater - $10
- Watching a very violent, bloody movie at full price because we missed the early shows - $18
- Having an anniversary that I'd like to do over - priceless

Really I suppose I should have expected this since the entire last week has been so emotionally draining. Yes, I can think of a worse week I've had, but not too many. Relationships, health and work have all pretty well sucked this last week, so I suppose it's only fitting that our "celebration" for our anniversary should be McD and a violent movie. I honestly and truly would like nothing more than to sleep for a few days and forget this week.

The only redeeming thought I have right now is that tomorrow is Palm Sunday and the start of a new week. Please Lord - please let it be better......

And a happier note - today is my baby brother's birthday as well! Happy Birthday Bro!

~ Elizabeth

((( Friday Blogger 4.07.06 )))

"Challenge: Blog about your fave ice-cream flavor. "

OK, I had to join in on this challenge because I'm probably one of the few people on the planet that really isn't all that enamored of ice cream! I don't really dislike it, but I don't really care to eat it or not! However, I will say that the few times I eat it I like boring old vanilla the best.

That being said, we did stop at Braum's on the way home from the lake last weekend so Keith could get ice cream and I asked the lady for the tiniest little cone and told her to put very little ice cream on it. She looked at me like I was an alien or something, but she did oblige. I got peanut butter cup flavor and it really was quite good. It was at that time we decided to switch drivers, so I drove. We get on the highway, doing probably 70 mph when I took my first taste of the ice cream and the scoop rolled right off the cone and down my arm! So here we are flying down the highway at high speeds and I'm juggling a scoop of ice cream. See.....it does me no good to eat the stuff!!!

{21} Day 12

Another GREAT quote! So many things I've learned so far in this challenge and we're only halfway through it. Activity-wise I am SO on track that I am in SHOCK! I now make myself park a little farther than normal at work AND take the stairs up one flight to my office. Just a lot of very little things and I really think it will pay off in the end.

"Art-wise" for me - well I've learned that I don't like to doodle as an art form that others will see. And that's ok because now I know I've tried it and don't care for it. However, I have learned that I have fun lettering and will probably do it in my scrapbooks in the future where I've been afraid to do it before now. I always read that we should have some of our own writing because generations to come will like to see it, but I was too inhibited.

Spring Fever

Have I mentioned how much I love coffee? And this particular cup happens to be my favorite, though I don't tell the other cups because I don't want to hurt their feelings. I really think the Doughboy is the epitome of filled with joy - just look at his face!

And oh how I don't want to work today - I have the WORST case of spring fever! When I took Joe for his walk this morning it was nice and cool and the birds were already out singing. Seems like such a waste of a grand day to go to work.

~ Elizabeth

Bird Songs

Oh, there's music
In the forests
And there's music in the glen
As the birds are warbling greetings
To the spring
That's come again.
All their piping
Is so merry
That the woodlands seem to ring
With the praises
Of the bird songs
For the coming spring.
Join the joyous
Woodland chorus
And raise high your voice in cheer-
Join the bird songs
In thanksgiving
For the springtime
Of the year.
- Unknown

Lipton Green Tea To Go

MMmmmmm......LOVE this stuff! Had the Mandarin and Mango at retreat and it's my favorite, though if you're not a fan of sweet tea you might not like it. Today I bought Honey and Lemon flavor and it's good as well. And I saw on their site that they also have Cherry Blossom. (This commercial interruption brought to you by Lipton and the Letter "L")

{21} Day 11

The quote reads "Never permit failure to become a habit." - W.J. Book

LOVED this quote as well! Too often when I mess up something I'm trying to change in my life I figure I'm done. My poor drawing represents mountains - the peaks and valleys we go through in life and is meant to show that when in the valley we should pick ourselves up and head to the top again.

The words along the bottom and right side read: Climb every mountain ~ The little engine that could - Do not wallow in the valleys.

Joe and Changes

It's never a bad time to share a picture of Joe! I took this picture a few days back when I was in the backyard taking the picture of the rose. This is how close he always is to me - definitely a mama's boy.

Last night as soon as I got home from work it was time to set my things down and leave again for church. We did manage to stop and inhale a taco first, but only barely. Dearly loved the service and we both talked all the way home about things that were said. Just wonderful. :)

Today is Day 11 of my 21 day challenge and I'm still on target - unbelievable for me to stick with something this long! I'm really excited and hope this is a lifelong change. Joe is loving it as well because a large part of my being more active involves taking him on more walks. The really sad part is just how out of shape he is as well and he comes home panting so hard. Hopefully he'll build up his stamina soon and we'll be going even farther. I do have a long ranch goal for myself on this and am not quite ready to share, but it's exciting for me!

~ Elizabeth

O God, you are my God. Earnestly will I seek you. - Psalm 63:1

{21} Day 9

OK, black pens are a challenge to me. I messed up a word and really wanted to tear out the page. The quote reads "The principle is competing against yourself. It's about improvement, about being better than you were the day before." - Steve Young

I LOVE THIS QUOTE! This says in a nut shell what I'm trying to accomplish with this challenge. Always before I compared my exercising against others and with physical limitations I always come up short. This time around I really am competing against myself and I find this very liberating. And I also am finding that I'm changing some of the way I think about exercise - it really isn't an all or nothing kind of thing. Who knew???

So far I've done something every day except Sunday and I'm going to excuse myself from that. I started a stronger dose of the shot I take on Saturday night and it knocked me on my hind end, so that's ok. This time around I didn't wallow in that spot, I picked myself up and kept on going.

I did have to chuckle at myself this morning because I was curious what the distance around my block is, so I drove it. I couldn't figure out how to make the odometer do tenths of a mile, so I just figured I would drive until the mile changed and figure from there. Lucky for me it's about half a mile exactly, so I didn't have to worry too much about what the neighbors think!

And the side effect of all this "moving" is that I'm just feeling better emotionally. Endorphins perhaps???

One thing I do like about this journal entry is the rainbow in the corner. I've always said during happy times that my life is "rainbows and unicorns", so I'm liking this rainbow. I will admit to being very afraid of trying to draw a unicorn!!!

(And yes, I'm a few days behind on my journal!)

Spring is Here!

A sure sign that spring is here is when we buy the new baskets of flowers for the hook in the backyard. While I was outside taking this picture yesterday morning I heard a really loud "thump" behind me. I turned around and saw a large bird flopping on the ground next to the little building - apparently the dope had flown into the building! I told Joe to stay as he was sitting next to my feet and I stood there trying to decide what to do about this injured bird when it rolled over and I saw that it was two birds fighting. I guess they were so intent on fighting in the air that they both flew into the building! Luckily no lasting damage was done and they flew away, which caused Joe to race over and spend quite some time sniffing the ground where they were.

This morning was Day 2 of a new Bible reading I'm doing. Keith is back on day shift and I'm back on having my Bible reading/quiet time/prayer time in the mornings and it helps my outlook so much during the day. I'm lovin' it!

~ Elizabeth

A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult. - Proverbs 12:16

Monday, Monday

Another weekend but a memory. ~sigh~

Saturday we headed up to the lake to work on finishing up a painting project that's been in the works for way too long. We made a lot of headway, but alas, it must remain on the "things to do" list for a bit longer.

On the way up to the lake we pass through the tiny town of Marietta, OK. The City Hall building is getting a facelift and it just struck me as a cool thing, so I had Keith pull over so I could take a picture. I got the long-suffering sigh, but he did relent and let me get out and do it. When I got back in the truck I explained to him that he'll have to get used to things like this if I'm to make my goal of being a world-renowned photographer. This provided fodder for quite a bit of discussion and laughter and the trip was soon over.

Yesterday I didn't feel well, so did lots of napping, but Keith managed to clean the carpets in the entire house. This has motivated us to get rid of a lot of the clutter and "stuff" that we've accumulated. Once again the cat has kept me humble as I've already had to clean a "mark" he left in our room this morning. He is just too cute...

~ Elizabeth

Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth. - Deuteronomy 23:23