Oh Spring, where art thou?

I miss warm weather. I miss flip flops, strappy sandals, and my favorite capri pants. I miss the smell of sunscreen and freshly cut grass. I'm tired of 20 degree weather at the BEACH. No doubt when its 100 degrees and 100% humidity I will be complaining about that too.....

I cant wait for spring and I'm so looking forward to getting more daylight hours. Are you all as anxious as I am?

Kentucky Disaster Recovery Trip

We got back from Kentucky late Sunday night- I'm still tired! As a group we worked on about 12 different homes- we helped a lot of people and the trip was well worth it. We used a lot of chainsaws and pulled a lot of heavy limbs. Seriously people a lot of HEAVY limbs. There are advantages and disadvantages of being 1 of 3 women on a trip like this (although honestly only 2 of us did any heavy lifting).

Disadvantages:

- In a group of 26 men we do not blend in- its obvious if you are an asset or if you're just taking up space.

- I felt like I had to work twice as hard as the guys to be viewed as aforementioned asset

- When the men are running chainsaws, driving tractors, and hanging from the treetops who do u think is left to pull all those limbs?

- The guys try to be gentlemen but they kept getting in my way- "I don't need help with this 50 pound tree branch and you're slowing me down Bubba so speed up or turn loose and get outta my way!" (I'm very strong and underestimated all the time!)

- When you add a GPS to the already out of control male stubbornness- they will NEVER stop and ask for directions- even when it's 10:30 pm and you've been lost for an hour and the GPS keeps insisting that you have arrived!

Advantages:

- One of the guys on the trip has a wonderful sister who lives in Lexington, KY about 45 minutes from where we were working- with 3 beautiful, plush guestrooms. She offered them to the women bc the guys were staying in the baptist association's bus warehouse- yes really (there were no churches big enough to accommodate the group in this rural area). Her home is amazing and I didn't want to leave!

By the way, the guest room had queen size beds so logically my husband was invited to stay with us. The other guys on the trip got jealous bc of their less than desirable "Accommodations" and one specifically got ticked off at my husband. My husband quickly pointed out that no one else was going to be sleeping beside me so it didn't affect this guy in the least lol.

- With 26 guys who couldn't wait to get a turn at driving- I didn't have to drive one mile.

The above photo is of me standing in front of 1 of 3 same size piles of tree branches at one home.

Grown Up Friends

A topic at GDNNOP got me thinking about a game I used to play with my mom when I was little called Grwon-up Friends, and I intoduced our little girl to that game this morning while we waited for her school bus.

How to play: Child pretends to be the adult friend of the mommy, the friends discuss their day, their jobs, their families etc.

What I learned about my "grown-up friend" today:
Her plans today are-
stapling papers together (3 at one time), buying 80 eggs, going to the milk station "for 5 milks", cutting down the grass, and going to work

And apparently her husband "died in the 80's". I didnt know she knew the 80's ever existed.
She wants to play again when she gets home and I can't wait to hear about her day.

I've Been Tagged: True Confessions

I've been tagged by themrs.

Okay..... true confessions....hmmm......

1) I had a PHOBIA of dogs til I was 11 and my parents bought one to "get me over it"- a fluffy little mop of fur... the horror! But it worked! I hated it to begin with, I felt like a prisoner in my own home, but within a few weeks I was no longer afraid of dogs.

2) I HATE mayo, cream cheese, whipped cream, sour cream, salad dressings, seafood, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, marshmallows in my hot chocolate, veggie dips, broccoli, coffee, and pie to name a few. . . .

3) I'm slightly (majorly) addicted to hand sanitizer

4) I refuse to watch sad movies, read sad books, or listen to sad songs: I cry easily and I want my entertainment to be happy- there is enough in real life to feel sad about.

5) I avoid petting zoos bc I'm . . . . afraid of goats. I was once chased by a billy goat. .. . I was 5 and it was huge. Enough said :)

Monicaw42 consider yourself tagged!

Kentucky or Bust

My husband and I started volunteering with a Disaster Recovery team in our town, I've been on one trip, he's been on two, and we are embarking on another one on Thursday. We are heading to Kentucky in the wake of recent ice storms- not quite sure what to expect yet, our "briefing" is tomorrow afternoon. The last trip that I went on was because of the Ice Storms in Oklahoma in 2007- it was a a lot of work and in less than desirable conditions. (The wind really does go sweeping down the plains!) Down trees covered peoples homes, vehicles, and property- we mostly helped the elderly on our last trip, there was no way they could do the work themselves and certainly couldn't afford to pay someone to do it. They were so grateful and it was very rewarding. They couldn't understand why we spent our New Years traveling 20 hours away to help people we didn't know in frigid cold temperatures. According to reports from mission leaders until very recently (in rural areas of Kentucky) people were still being found frozen to death in their beds.

I can't wait to let you all know how it goes, say a prayer for our group :)

Little Debbie: You Deceitful Witch

Still plugging along towards my weight loss goal (I'm down one dress size so far) and I'm always looking for new low calorie options. I was pleasantly surprised to find 100 calorie Little Debbie cakes in the store a few days ago. Until I got it home and opened the box. Note the size in the picture. I wasn't expecting anything gigantic but seriously? I would rather have a little more of a less tasty treat- this is just enough to make me remember what chocolate tastes like. It looked like a regular size portion on the box. Little Debbie, how could you?

The Skunk and Me

As if hormones, breakouts, and pop quizzes weren't enough for any 14 year old to contend with Pepe Le Pew decided my life could use a little more. . . . fragrance.

Picture it: Sicily 1945. . . . Just kidding. I can't help but reference the Golden Girls occasionally.

One night (when I was 14) I awoke at about 3 am to a truly putrid smell. Groggy- I couldn't imagine what it was. I tried to go back to sleep but this was a smell that would not be ignored. My parents woke up about the same time and after some investigation we found the offending culprit- a SKUNK somehow got underneath the house and couldn't get back out again. In a panic it began flinging itself against the wall over and over and over again- spraying its powerful scent each time.

There was no going back to sleep that night and there was nothing to do but wait for the skunk to find its way out- which eventually it did, but not before filling our home with it's super skunk spray. After a few hours the smell seemed to clear out and since it was too late to get much rest at that point, I got ready for school and my dad and I went out for an early breakfast.

Next stop: Junior High. Imagery is vital here. Imagine with me, if you will a bustling 8th grade hallway, 13-14 year olds milling around, chatting, getting books out of lockers, cheerleaders discussing last nights episode of 90210 and "how like, totally cute Luke Perry is". .

I took about 3 steps down the hall when just like a scene from a movie- the crowd parted, audible gasps could be heard all around as hands flew to protect noses, and one 6'2'' football player, towering over the crowd yelled out "SHOOOOOWEEEEE! WHO GOT SPRAYED?!?"

I was horrified, Praying to God no one knew it was me. How did we not know the smell was all over our clothes?!?!? I flew to my classroom, dumped by books and bolted for the Principal's office to call my mother. Before however, I could make my get away- a boy who had a slightly obsessive crush on me met me with a smile and a barrage of questions. "Hey Sam- You look good today. How was your night? Can I sit with you at lunch? Do you smell that? What's wrong? Wait, where are you going?" and lastly yelling after me as I ran down the hall "Did I do something wrong?!?"

By the time I made my way to the office school "officials" were already trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. I tearfully explained to the secretary why I needed to call my mom. They were all VERY sympathetic, not to mention eager to get me out of there! I called my mom's office and her assistant informed me she was already on the way- apparently she had been humiliated at work as well. Just then my favorite teacher from the previous year walked in and saw me in tears. The secretary- God bless her, explained for me because I was too busy dying of embarassment. Mrs. Patrick (the best teacher I ever had) felt so badly for me that she wrapped me in a huge bear hug. Yes, covered in skunk spray, she hugged me and told me that one day it would just be a funny story- and it is. She probably had to burn her outfit.

My humiliation wasn't over just yet. The principal- a dear man who really cared about the students escorted me to an empty classroom to wait for my mom. He then opened the window and muttered none too convincingly " Incase you get hot". It was 40 degrees outside. I watched out the window counting the seconds til my mom's car pulled up and when it did I made a break for it. Adding insult to injury as soon as I got to the door I heard Mrs. Phan behind me- exclaiming in her strong Vietnamese accent to no one in particular: Shoo! What died?

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to rid your home of skunk? Your clothes? All your belongings for that matter. Its darn near impossible! It takes washing the tainted items in all sorts of concoctions and lots of prayer. We didn't smell the skunk spray on our belongings because like any smell- we got used to it in the hours we were subjected to it before we left home.

For months afterward I was beyond paranoid that there were traces left of it on my clothes. I nearly drove my best friend crazy shoving things to her face and demanding to know if she smelled skunk! As if I weren't paranoid enough to begin with. . . . .