Random Fact of the Day #11

Last night, staring at myself in the mirror, I found about 10 white hairs. I plucked them all.

After the deed was done, I noticed that one was white only on the bottom half. The top half that once was closest to my scalp was red.

My hair is as indecisive as I am.

That is all.

Random Fact of the Day #10

I have filed the taxes and am almost caught up on business orders.

Yay!

That is all.

Random Fact of the Day #9

While showering today, I counted seven bars of soap in our shower. Yes, seven.

Four are mine, two are Dustin's, and one is a facial soap bar that we're currently sharing.

Excessive? Nah. A girl needs options. Who wants to smell the same every day?

That is all.

Random Fact of the Day #8

Signs that you are a chocolate addict:

You are walking out the door, on your way to Lowe's, Circuit City, and any other store your husband decides to drag you to... but before you get out the door, you find yourself running back to the kitchen and stuffing a bag of Hershey kisses into your purse.

You find yourself holding it up, proudly, and declaring it your "snack".

Cause heaven forbid you go a few hours without chocolate bliss.

That is all.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Random Fact of the Day #7

To my fellow inhabitants of planet earth, and beyond:

I love babies and I used to love the idea of carrying and birthing one. That ship has long sailed. I no longer desire to be pregnant. Whether that disappearing desire is my own doing or God's, I don't know, but the fact remains that it is gone and I am glad.

I want a baby, not a pregnancy.

I need lots of support and encouragement as we seek to get that baby through adoption.

I've moved on... why can't you?

That is all.

Random Fact of the Day #6

I'm a firm believer in forgiveness and grace. You know this already. I don't like to hold a grudge, nor do I like one held against me.

So what happens when someone offends you deeply (a rare occurrence) and you just cannot let it go? You try. You ask God for help. But you can't. The bitter roots run deep.

What does that mean?

Try as I may, the very sight of certain people turns my stomach and makes my blood run cold. Even after pleading with God to change my heart about it. This bothers me almost as deeply as the bitter roots go... but obviously not quite there yet. I hate this about me.

That is all.

Random Fact of the Day #5

Deciding to try new things, we recently bought a jar of sunflower seed butter. What do you know, sunflower seed butter tastes frighteningly similar to sunflower seeds. What's even more frightening is the fact that this somewhat took me by surprise.

I hear "______ butter" and expect to taste peanut butter. I don't know. Don't ask.

Almond butter? Tastes surprisingly like almonds. It's my favorite.

Chocolate licorice, however, tastes nothing like chocolate or licorice. What kind of world do we live in anyway?

That is all.

Random Fact of the Day #4

Yesterday, I was out of hand soap. I thought I was not out, but when I went to refill the pump in my bathroom, I could not find the refill bottle. I'm not entirely convinced that it isn't hiding from me, in hopes to spare what little soapy life it has left.

So I swiped the bottle from hubby's bathroom and later on went to the dollar store down the way. You must understand that I can't go to the dollar store and buy only one thing, so I found a little door rug and a few other needed items.

What I can't figure out is why the cashier gave me a funny look when I handed her a couple crunchy hippie all natural laundry products... and a can of Pringles.

Surely she gets hungry after doing the laundry.

That is all.

Random Fact of the Day #3

I keep trying to figure out why, if some soda crackers are sold with unsalted tops, they are still called Saltines.

Shouldn't they instead be just Ines?

That is all.

Random Fact of the Day #2

Yesterday I walked down the hall and saw something peculiar out of the corner of my eye. I peered into the laundry room to see just what it was.

This is what I found:




The question isn't why, but rather who?





Because bwue fuzzy wuzzy beaws obviously like to swim.

That is all.

Random Fact of the Day

While in the shower, I shaved my leg. Yes, singular. The other was forgotten.

I didn't realize this until I was already getting dressed.

Poor lone, hairy leg.

That is all.

So long, 2008

So 2008 is finally over. I can't say that I'm sad to see it go. Like its buddies prior, it wasn't the best of years for me personally. Business-wise, it was borderline fantastic. But other than that, I'd like to send it off quietly into the night and forget it ever existed.

But because that's just not possible, I thought I'd try to come up with a list of things I learned in 2008. So here we go.

In 2008, I learned...

* ... that the laughs never end when you lock yourself in the bathroom naked. Just when you think the story has been forgotten, someone brings it up yet again. (And sometimes that person is you.)

* ... that God can give me a deep love for people I never before thought possible and make me an advocate for a cause I never thought I'd be interested in.

* ... that cloth diapers are super cute.

* ... that music makes me feel better.

* ... that a housing project you expect to only take a few weeks will, in reality, take about six months.

* ... that acupuncture needles hurt. I don't care who you are or what you say, acupuncture needles in my feet hurt!

* ... that my husband was in a bell choir and knows entirely too much about Riverdance.

* ... that when the adoption world says "a couple weeks", they really mean a few months at least.

* ... that I'm much more of a crunchy person than I ever thought possible and that as the years go by, the more I lean towards grace based discipline for our future kids.

* ... that God's grace is, in a word, awesome.

* ... that I'm a klutz in the kitchen, and really need flashing labels on my baking items and a zap collar to warn me when I'm about to use the baking powder instead of baking soda.

* ... that laughing at myself keeps me sane.

* ... that jewelry making is pretty cool, but photography has my heart.

* ... that I looove driving our baby SUV. Though I don't love parking it. The angels break out into song when I get it right.

* ... that I am very relieved I will never be pregnant. Like singing hallelujah relieved.

* ... that if voting really made a real difference, it would be illegal. (Thank you, dear friend, for that line. I still need my bumper sticker.)

* ... that it's hard to blog when I'm not doing very well.

* ... that I am stronger than I think, but weaker than I'd like.

* ... that somehow, even when life throws you one crappy suck year after another, it still goes on. And on. And somehow you know it just might all end up okay.

Randomosity

I guess I haven't rambled in a while. Truth is, I haven't had a lot to say. I'm definitely in a funk these days. Call it depression, call it the blues, call it a funk, dreary, the blahs, whatever you want to call it I have it. All I want to do is sleep. I cry at the drop of a hat. Or the whack of a hammer...

*I hit the heck out of my finger yesterday. I was cutting some discs for an order, and the big, heavy duty mallet landed on my finger instead of the punch. Hardened steel + big, heavy duty mallet + lots of force = OUUUUCHHH!!! Although what I said was far less polite than ouch.

*I tried to take a photo of my poor finger, as it is quite bruised, but for some reason the bruises really don't come out on the photo. It's weird. It looks ugly. And it still hurts.

*Arnica cream does not help when you whack your finger that hard.

*Crying for ten minutes straight while calling your finger very ugly names does not help either.

*Icing it while crying and calling it ugly names does very little in the way of comfort too.

*Typing hurts. Though yesterday I could not use it at all, so I guess hurt is somewhat of an improvement.

*Our flooring project is almost complete.

*Well, kinda. All of the flooring is down, and now we're trying to put the baseboards back on.

*Well, "we" meaning my dad. And sometimes I watch. Nail guns scare me. Hello, I can't even use a mallet without killing a finger.

*Dustin and I are shopping around for a camcorder. I'm thinking about video blogging. I don't know about that though. I mean, your expectations of me are so high... I'm not sure how many times I can say "yo" and "fart in your general direction" on camera. Either way, we need a camcorder to catch those precious moments that are sure to come... such as baby's first booger bubble.

*There will be no baby booger bubbles if I never finish revising and mailing the four extra copies of our scrapbook. It should have been done a month ago. Yet, it's not.

*I'm rethinking this whole parenting thing. I'm thinking I'm not cut out to be a mom. I don't want to do it anymore. I'm going to be a horrible mom. Please don't tell me how great I'll be because I won't believe it. This is why the revised scrapbook is not sent. Mental block. I may never finish it.

*I bought a Beco Butterfly and I'm not sure I like it. It says it fits from 4'11", but I'm 5' and it does not fit right. Too bad. I was excited about it.

*I am now sold out of cuff bracelets at the moment. This is a good thing.

*I'm tired of my house being a torn up mess. I have a Sam's size package of toilet paper in my living room. There's just something not right about that.

*I was supposed to get a new tripod today, but UPS sucks and is running behind so it won't be here until Monday. The macro is too much for my $15 Amazon.com tripod and me no likey the camera shake. Me also no likey the small amount of noise I get from shooting at 800 ISO. So, I ordered a Manfrotto tripod with a ball head. It's supposedly rock solid and can support enough weight to last me through any camera upgrade I might want to throw at it.

*I'm so thankful that my second Etsy shop (jewelry supplies) is paying for my newfound photography addiction. Because it does.not.end. and it's a 'spensive addiction, yo. My shugah daddy can't buy me everything.

*Speaking of shugah daddy (gosh, I hope you all know that's a silly joke), he just got an iPhone (merry Christmas, hon) and now thinks I need one.

*It's his fault (love you, hon) that I'm now addicted to YouTube. It all started with watching phone reviews, trying to decide which cellphone to buy. I do need a new cellphone, I just do not need an iPhone. Who needs GPS when you're never far from home?

"iPhone... where is mom & dad's house?"
"Right down the road, idiot."
"Oh. Ok... where is the health food store?"
"Just a little further down the road, gosh!"

See? Who needs that? Sassy, those iPhones.

*I think he's winning, because despite the fact that I don't need GPS or an iPhone, he has somehow brainwashed me into wanting one.

*I now feel strange talking about all the expensive electronics in our lives. We've never before bought expensive electronics. This is new. In fact, before the past couple years, we've never bought expensive ANYthing. We're blessed with hubby man earning a really good salary and my business endeavors paying for my silly little hobbies right now. I know it will all end with the introduction of children (formula's 'spensive, yo). (That's the second "yo" that you would not have gotten were I video blogging.)

*I do not want to be a mom that yells. Last week I yelled at my parents' little diva dog. Does that mean I will yell at my little diva kids? I can't do this.

*I still hate the monstrous crib of hideousness, but I think I'm too tired to care.

*That's all.

Operation: Randomness

The Tagaholic, Errrrr, Sandy tagged me for the random things meme. The rules are to post the rules on your blog, write six random things about yourself, and then tag six people.

But you see, I'm not much for rule following. I think rules were made to be broken, or at least tested (and I can hear my parents singing the Ballad of the Parent of the Strong-Willed Child right now...). SO, will she follow the rules? Will she or won't she?

I guess we'll find out.

I like writing random posts. I've been meaning to do one for a while, but you know how that goes. I'm a bad blogger lately. Shame, shame. Someone throw chocolate at me as punishment already. Oh well. Here we go! Wait!! Before we do, I should also thank all of you who nominated my blog for the "I Love Your Blog" award. You know who you are (and I know who you are too, but I'm paranoid that if I start listing you all, I'll leave one out on accident and that would just be bad.) So thank you. All of you. I adore you all. Will that work? *grin*

Here we go for real...

* I hate scrapbooking. I've now spent over forty hours on a digital scrapbook (aka "adoption profile"). I've secretly enjoyed it. But I hate scrapbooking. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. (Kristin, are you still my friend?)

* I need a good kick in the rear. Well, what's left of it anyway. You see, I've been working it off for the past few weeks. Figuratively, I mean, in my jewelry business. Not actually, you know, like with exercise. Who exercises anyway? I think that died with the invention of the internet. At least it did for me.

* This bullet point is a continuation of the last one just cause I feel like it. Gosh! So, the kick I need in what's left of my rear is because of my goal setting and reaching. I don't need help setting them and reaching them. I need help rewarding myself for setting and reaching them. I set one sales goal for myself and decided that when I hit it, I'd reward myself with a nice, new toy (a rolling mill, new camera lens, or kiln). I reached that goal and bumped up the reward to the next goal. I met that goal and put it off even more. And so on and so forth and now I'm one tiny sale away from doubling my original goal and I can't make myself do it. I decided I'd go for the lens (and oh what a sweet lens it is!) but even though I want it so much I daydream about it daily, I just can't write that check. What's wrong with me?! I'm a shopaholic - this should not be a problem. Commitment issues. I have commitment issues.

* I secretly wish I were a photographer instead of a jeweler.

* I still love designing jewelry, but the volume of repetitious items I've made lately has made me want a vacation. I'll have to slow down once we get a baby. I won't be able to keep up this pace and be a mom at the same time. Please note that I'm not complaining. Not at all. I'm thrilled! But I'm also tired. I need a nap. Or thirty.

* Our home study might be submitted for approval this week. Finally. Maybe. Don't hold your breath.

* This is random point #7. See? It's the whole rule thing.

* I'm really pushing it now, aren't I?

* Sandy, are you still my friend?

* I took this photo over the weekend, at my parents' new house. They just bought a new house. Yay, new ho-boaters! (If you're scratching your head in confusion right now, "ho-boaters" is "home owners" when you have the flu... which is what I had when we closed on our house a few years ago. Ho-boaters just stuck. Got it? Cool.) I took it in their new bathroom, which has a window. I wish my bathroom had a window. I wish my house had their house. It's a nice house. It's not so easy to photograph yourself photographing yourself in a mirror. Although it is easier than photographing your own ear. Ladies and gentlemen (man?), this is me without makeup (but also without zits - Photoshop is my friend).


* The photo is in our scrapbook/profile. Want to see the page it's on? Here you go. Sneak peek. Maybe I'll be nice and show you the rest someday.

* You see the necklace I'm wearing? It's an "oops!". It was an order for this cherry blossom pendant. However, I drilled the hole just a little off-center, so it hung quite crooked. Oops. I won't sell something like that, but I will keep it and wear it. You really can't tell when it's on, I found out this weekend, so oooooops! Yay me. I like my cherry blossom pendants, and now I have one! (If you were wondering, I did re-make it, though much better, and it is happily on its way to its new owner as we speak. Err, type. Or whatever we're doing right now. I guess I'm typing and you're reading. Or bathing in a vat of chocolate. I don't know you. I can't pretend to know what you're doing, you sick freak.)

* That's all!

* WAIT. Not quite. I can't end on #13. I just can't.

* So I guess I'll say something else.

* I'm supposed to tag 6 people, but I'll just leave that choice up to you. Who has time to do a meme anyway these days when there is chocolate to be eaten (or bathed in)?

* That's all.

* For real this time. I think. Who can tell though, really? Those pesky commitment issues again...

Randomness: Adoption

*Parenting via adoption is no better or worse than parenting via conception. It is just a different way of getting there.

*Choosing to adopt is not settling for something less than. Just because something is second choice does not make it second best.

*Birth parents are not evil people lurking in the shadows, waiting to "take the child back". God has put in me a tremendous amount of respect and compassion for women who make an adoption plan. Not to mention gratitude. My heart truly goes out to them.

*How do you express that plus share yourself in a "Dear Birth Mom" letter? However it's done, I need to figure it out soon.

*Beginning this process has put a whole new meaning to certain areas of scripture. I never really thought about the fact that Moses was pretty much adopted. Ephesians 1 says that God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world and predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus to Himself. I mean... wow.

*Adoption is forever. Once the child is ours, it's ours as if it had come from my own womb. No turning back. The birth parents cannot regain their rights. Adoption is final and forever. God adopted me. No turning back. Final and forever. Again... wow.

*There is a great possibility that we could become a multi-ethnic family. The idea of embracing, celebrating and incorporating into my daily life an entirely different culture than my own in such a real and tangible way while teaching my child to do the same is something that is very appealing to me.

*Though it also scares me a little, because the world is still cruel.

*But I'm a redhead, and though I'm little, I can take 'em. That will be my kid. Bring it.

*There are 2 million couples waiting to adopt. That's many many more couples than babies being placed.

*Adopting does not a hero make. Although the process is now less villainized than it has been in the past, unfortunately it seems that it has swung to the opposite extreme and is now romanticized. We're no saints. We're just regular people, many of us infertile, lots of us traveling a painful journey with way less highs than lows, who love children and want to raise our own. Our future children do not need to be rescued. They're not "lucky". If anyone is lucky, that would be us. Adopting does not make us heroes. It makes us parents.

*Our interviews are done, and though I'm not a hero, I do feel quit heroic to have completed our part of this leg of the journey. I have never before had to speak to someone so in depth about every aspect of my life, past present and future, all at once. It will be at least a few weeks before the home study is written and approved (it will be around a 20-page document that needs to be approved by multiple people), but once it is, we can legally adopt in the state of Texas. (And we get to sign away our life savings, wooo!)

*Three years ago when we first decided to pursue raising a child, I never imagined we'd be here today. It's not a place I thought we'd be at this point in our lives. Now that we're here, I can't imagine being anywhere else.

More Randomness

*You are all BAD bloggy friends, BAD! You asked me why when I told you not to. For that, I... (ok, confession time. Just now I was going to say, "I fart in your general direction", BUT what are the odds that you would all get the reference there? So nevermind. Plus, I'm waaaay too classy for that.).

*Instead, "Go and boil your bottoms sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you!"

*Class? I got it.

*Let's hope that class shines through on Wednesday, when we have a person from the adoption agency come by to do our home study interviews. They will either be all in one day or in two days. I think since our appointment is early enough, it might just be one.

*I promise to not break wind in anyone's general direction. Though I do have allergies, so I can't promise a lack of nose-blowing. Sorry.

*My house is currently still torn apart from our flooring project (which isn't quite done). I'm worried that this will reflect negatively on the study. I don't know why it would, but I'm a worried paranoid person by nature, sooooo...

*We now have our first ding in our new flooring. Some metal thing was on top of a shelf, on a pile of clothes I was pulling down (why? WHY was there a metal thing on the shelf? I have no idea.) It fell and hit just right and *ding!* I cried for an hour.

*"A" is the initial of the last name of Dustin's family members who threw a big shin-dig family reunion thing, for which they took pictures. We could not be there for the pictures, so we were sent shirts with an "A" and told to take photos, including silly ones, so we could be "photochopped" in. Hence the last post.

*I thought that was a bit weird, but okay.

*I think my husband makes an adorable blow fish.

*My dad thinks he knows Hawaiian because he can now pronounce "humuhumukununukuapua'a" which is apparently some famous fish in Hawaii and means "fish with a pig's nose". Or something.

*My printer farted in my general direction last week when it decided it would poop out on me. I sensed it coming. Being a business woman in the middle of trying to fill orders, a printer is a must. So I threw it in the toilet and *kindly* requested my hubby buy me a new one likerightnowplease.

*Maybe kindly is not the appropriate word there. Growled might be a bit more accurate.

*I don't normally growl, but I was completely stressed. My wonderful man was nice and bought me one anyway, despite the growling. It must be because I'm so cute when I growl.

*I recently ordered some cloth dipes "seconds". I could not pick the colors. "Girl" was the only option. I ordered them anyway because the price was insanely cheap and I figured "hmm, pastel lavender, not too bad?"... I requested they be as non-girly as possible and said why.

*I recently got a package for five hot pink dipes "seconds". I will either have one chic baby girl or one baby boy that better be really secure in his masculinity.

*Besides a Hot Sling, those are the only baby things I've bought since I last mentioned baby stuff. The only other thing I'll buy before getting "that call" is a changing table. I plan to buy that soon after our home study is approved. Oh, and maybe a baby carrier that Dustin can use. That plus a quick run to get formula and wipes and other baby toiletries before picking up the baby should do until we're settled in.

*It stinks that it could still be two more years before we're parents. That would make for a 10 year wait total (we've wanted them since we married but kept putting it off one reason or other) and a 4+ year wait since deciding we were ready. Hind sight is always 20/20.

*I could really go for a slice of chocolate cake right now. Anyone want to bake me one?

*That's all for now.