a confession

the proverbs31woman devotional was very convicting this morning.....it talked about taking time to be alone.

"When we do not allow time to rest and regroup from the stresses of life, we allow cracks in our spirit that make us emotionally and spiritually fragile. We keep going at break-neck speeds, rarely slowing down long enough to be refreshed.

Today's key verse highlights the fact that even Jesus Himself found it important to get away for a while; to slow down and cease activity. He urged His disciples to get to a quiet place. In doing so they would find rest. Being alone and quiet would help keep them whole."

the past few days i've taken some alone time. i took vacation days monday & tuesday & didn't tell anyone. (well, i told "amwacs", & my friend joyce, & the guys at work.) i have been very busy at work & things were starting to jumble in my brain. i needed to take some time & dump it all out & start over!!

and my confession is, even though i had alone time, i didn't take the kind of alone time that i should have.

i was still busy. friday night there was no movie, just talking & that was good. & then y'all know about my cleaning rampage! saturday morning was the stamping workshop at church. saturday afternoon i mowed the front yard & cleaned the street & driveways of all my neighbors--didn't talk to anyone all afternoon & evening! sunday after church i came home & started to tackle the pallets. that was a doozey & i realized that i'd be better off with "a man with some sort of other saw" to assist me!! and luckily he's got other saws besides circular saws!! but with our busy schedules & christmas being only 55 days away, i just might be giving IOU's this year!!!!! but i kinda have the same attitude as last year -- "it's the thought that counts" & i'm sure thinkin' 'bout it!!!!!!!

monday i slept in til 9:30 - i wanted to sleep ALL DAY! that bed felt so good!!!! but i promised "amwacs" that i wouldn't sleep all day, all vacation--good thing i did that!!!!! held me accountable!!! i tackled the dirt pile -- had to weed it & then moved 3 wheelbarrows full of dirt to the flowerbed after removing the spent summer flowers.

amazingly, the pile looks no smaller!!!! but the bed is full again! there were some zinnias that sprouted in another flower bed, so i transplanted them to the flowerbed. not sure if they're strong enough to make it, but we'll see. didn't talk to anyone most of the day - and someone i wanted to talk to didn't want to talk to me, so........... kids!!

monday night i took a long, hot bubble bath & read a book.

tuesday i slept in til 9:30 again!!! i didn't talk to anyone all day & worked on organizing (aka cleaning up) the craft room. the day FLEW by & i felt like i wasn't getting much accomplished. then i remembered that i was also taking this vacation to just chill out & relax my brain. it was hard to get over the guilt of not doing much, but it was necessary. tuesday night was stamping with the girls & my best friend cindy came from magnolia to stamp with us. that was fun!!

i went to bed early last night (11:00pm) and this morning i.did.not.want.to.get.up!!! i was afraid if it didn't though it would be 9:30 again before i knew it!!!!! i was super busy at work & the day flew by (i even stayed a little late working on stuff again!) but i wasn't stressed & i was thinking clearly. well, at least more clearly than last week!!! so my days alone were good!

when i read my devotional this morning, i felt so guilty. yeah, i had had lots of "alone time" but that time didn't include Jesus.

"If we make time to answer Jesus' call to go away with Him to a quiet place, we can crack-proof our spirits, making them strong and rendering us ready to handle life. A few quiet moments spent with Him can help mend cracks, renewing and making us to be vessels strong enough to be used by Him."


i know how sad i get when i want to spend time with someone i love but they're too busy for me. i forget that Jesus must get sad when i don't have time for Him.

so right now, i'm going to shut off the computer, get ready for bed & spend some serious time with the One i love more than anyone. no body else, no radio, just me & Him.

thank you, Jesus, for reminding me that my alone time needs to include You!!!

i have my own "ecard"!!!!!!

well, actually laurie made it, but i was the inspiration!!!!!!

wow! inspiration for poop!! i'll bet none of y'all can say that about yourselves!!! i need to get a more exciting life!!!

if yer not doing anything & want to help me move a dirt pile, come on over!!!! i promise there's no poop in it!!!!

(& i promise tomorrow's post won't be about poop!)

don't know what to title this post because i can think of so many titles for it!!!!

so we'll just forget about the title & get on with it!

lucy is back to 4-wheelin' it again!!!! and she's workin' great & the yard looks fantastic!! thanks to "a man with lots of wrenches"!! he's getting to be quite the expert at fixin' my wheel - he got it on in 5 minutes this time!!! she didn't get any "locktight" though - he said "maybe next time!"

hmmmmmmm i like that "next time" business!!!

and just for the record, i'll swear on a stack of bibles, the wheel comes off all by itself. i'm not one of those kinds of deceitful, devious girls!

this is funny.....after trying various wrenches to find the right size,
i said: we should write the size of the wrench on the mower so we'll know which one to use next time.
he said: shoot! we should just hang it from the mower handle!!!!!

hi,SUZAN!! this reminded me of you & john!!!!!!!!


after he left i was so keyed up that i couldn't sleep - so what did i do? at 11 PM i started cleaning BOTH bathrooms!!!!! oh, the exciting life of a single girl!!

weeks ago i found a recipe on the internet for soap scum cleaner so i thought i'd try it.

OH.MY.GOOD.NESS.GRACIOUS.SAKES.A.LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS STUFF WORKS BETTER THAN ANY STORE-BOUGHT JUNK YOU CAN SPEND A TON OF MONEY ON!!!

i love it so much that i want to come & clean your bathroom for you!!!!!! i want to clean everything now!!!!!

suzanne's bathroom tiles are white (like in my bathroom too) but they had probably YEARS (i'm so embarrassed!) of soap scum on them! soap scum - white. tile - white. narry a thought given to cleaning them!!!! but the grout had developed this orangey-yellow appearance. a few years ago i bought this "grout paint" cleaner -- don't waste your time. looks good when you 1st apply it. next day, yucky. years later even yuckier.

in the past i've tried "EVERYTHING" to clean the tiles/grout/soap scum off the glass shower door, to no avail.

WELL! i finally found the answer!!!! you heat a couple cups of white vinegar in the microwave then pour it into a spray bottle. add equal amount BLUE dawn dish soap, mix & then spray on the tile walls, the tub, the faucets & all chrome, the glass shower door. let it sit for a few minutes & then you can literally just RUB off all the crud!!!! i used to scrub -- last night i LITERALLY USED MY FINGERS TO CLEAN THE CRUD OFF THE GLASS DOOR!!!

AND LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE TILE!!!! i took a sponge & put a little borax on it & rubbed the vinegar solution on the grout & tiles & they are bleached white!!!!!! you could even see the dirty drips of removed crud before i even started rubbing! (i read on the internet that borax & vinegar are like bleach.)

and there are other benefits too!!! my hands are SO SOFT!!!! the house smells so fresh!!!! at 1st it smelled a little vinegar-y, but after a few minutes you couldn't smell the vinegar. and after i rinsed everything, WOW! it was such a fresh clean smell!!!!

at 1st i wasn't going to show you any pictures. i thought, it's ok to show you my dryer lint, but not my soap scum!!! some things are personal, ya know!!!! it's hard to take pictures of white tile, especially in a room with no windows & at night, but here you go....

"before"

"starting to work"

"WOW!!"

"WOW!!"

"WOW!!!!!!"

i need to get a ladder to get the tiles up near the ceiling. i also need to rub/scrub about 1/2 of the tiles with borax because they aren't as white as the ones i scrubbed.

i mowed the grass & cleaned up all the leaves/pine needles/acorns from in front of my house & all the houses around me on my street this afternoon. i figured i may as well blow their sidewalks & streets & driveways because if i didn't it'd end up back in front of my house anyways!!!!!

i now have the cleanest bathrooms & cleanest street of anyone in the neighborhood!!!!!!

and i'm pooped!!!! i sure hope i can sleep tonight!!! right now i'm running on 2 1/2 hours sleep!!!!!

speaking of poop ---- i'd like to make one of those ecards that everyone posts on FB (don't know how to do that!) -- it would say:

"if you let your dog poop on my front lawn, i'll follow you to your house & poop on yours!!!!!!"

that just ticks me off to no end!!!! i don't have a dog, so why do i have DOG POOP in my front yard????

and i leave you to ponder that thought.....

just wanna say......

that i have absolutely nothing to say!!!!!

so until then, here are some things other people have said:

and just because i need a laugh:

i'll be back soon............

7 pallets & a bunch of fence boards!!

i now have 7 pallets!!! a friend brought one she found to me tonight. and this afternoon my neighbor across the street was replacing his fence. he had a trailer parked out front & had a TON of fence boards -- full sections -- that he was going to take to the dump. i asked for some (he doesn't speak english, so the conversing was a little difficult) but then his sister interpreted & he smiled & climbed in the trailer to fish out some of the better sections for me!!! he probably thinks i'm nuts, but what the heck!!! i got FREE WOOD!!!!!! i'll have to make him something --but i'll have to do it in spanish!!!!!!!!!

i didn't get much done at MY house this weekend, but i did a lot of stuff everywhere else!

after ladies' bible study i met a friend for lunch. she's a budding author & was telling me about the book she's writing --- i can't WAIT for it to be published!!! it's MY KINDA book -- historical fiction, civil war, southern, love story!!!! after it's published, i'll feature it here!!!! i'm so excited for her because this is something she has wanted to do for a long time & she prayed about it & God revealed it to her in the neatest way!!!!! when she was telling me about it i was thinking, "that's so neat -- i need to pray & ask God exactly what it is that He wants me to do. i need to stop asking Him for what i want & find out what it is that He wants for me." (& then i remembered doing that a long time ago, but i don't think i hung around for His answer. THIS TIME, i'm gonna WAIT & LISTEN.) stacey, i love you & i'll be praying for you!!!

then i ran a few errands, came home to find a friend weed eating my yard! what a sweetheart!!!! then i found out that my internet was corrupted & i needed to completely uninstall it & reinstall it. that meant phone calls to india & the phillipines! why can't computer help desks be manned by americans??????

well, the "fix" was taking too long & i needed to be somewhere else to help someone else, so the computer would have to wait til sunday after church. so then i went to a friend's house to help "the smartest man in the world" install curtains in his kitchen, living room, dining room & office. they're beautiful curtains that i picked out. it's a good thing i went shopping with him or you can bet he'd have some really ugly curtains in their place!!!! for 5 hours i ironed curtains while he installed the rods. he's pretty handy with a drill & for 5 years or so has "fooled" me into thinking he's a "work challenged accountant that can't do anything so he can get out of having to do any work!" ha! now i know better!!!! get ready, mister! i'm puttin' you to work on projects at church!!!!!! (no pictures, i should have taken some, but i forgot my camera!!!)

this morning in my preschool sunday school we have a time called "bible stories with wyatt" (kinda like "silly songs with larry" from veggie tales!!!). wyatt is 3 & every sunday he makes the class sit on the blue rug & he pulls a chair up in the corner & sits on it & tells us a story. today it was about Jesus turning the water into iced tea!!!!! not sure what the rest of the class is getting out of these bible stories, but i'm lovin' them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

came home, ate lunch, did a small craft i've been meaning to do for.ev.er. that took all of 38 seconds & then went to my friend laurie's house to sign on to her wireless connection so i could call bangladesh or wherever to get my internet fixed!! then laurie helped me update my internet browser & clean up my computer and OH.MY.GOODNESS!!! it's working SO much better now!!!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!

i had to disable the anonymous comments from my blog again. i was getting lots of gross spam. sorry, but if you want to comment, you'll just have to get yourself a google account (free & easy, we even set one up for a friend this afternoon!!!!). so sorry if you don't want to do this, but i've got more important things to do than get a lot of crap that i have to weed through & delete every day. you know, i'm busy makin' things collecting pallets!!!!!!

and now i'm a PINNER!!!!!

isn't THIS the cutest thing!!! i want one of these SOOOOOOOOO BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(this is from a blog called welcometotheturnerfarm.blogspot.com) it's an outdoor shower!!!!! (now i just need some outdoors to put it in! outdoors out in the country because this just would.not.work in my backyard now!!!!!!!

this evening i taught myself how to pin to pinterest. now i'm a real pinner of my own pins, not just a RE-pinner of other people's pins!!!! YAY!!! & i did it ALL BY MYSELF!!!! with no help from my teenage 20 year old daughter!!!!! (& i found a really cute thing to make laurie for christmas!!!) i wish it was april instead of the end of october!!!

i NEED TIME!!!!! .....wonder if i can find it on the side of the road?????

the exciting nightlife of a single texas countrygirl

i'm gonna warn ya right now......this post has some dirty pictures in it!! but i'm gonna post them because i'm all for "keepin' it real"!!!

just what does a single girl do in texas on a friday night?

?
?
?


well, THIS ONE cleans the lint out of her dryer!!!! (my brother cleans it out of his bellybutton!!!!)

i've been meaning to do this for a long time & tonight it just hit me that i needed to do it RIGHT NOW!

so, after i took all the filters out of the vacuum cleaner & washed them,

i took the "lid" off the dryer to clean it out.

you just take out the lint screen (if it's on the top, like mine), unscrew the 2 screws & pull out & up.

would have been a smart idea to wait with cleaning the filters til i was done cleaning the dryer, but we don't always do things "in order" around here!!!! (hope tomorrow's a sunny day so the main filter can dry out! can't do any vacuuming until it's completely dry! aw shucks!!!)

anyways, (i hate it when people say "anywho"-- that's like fingernails on a blackboard to me!!!) anyways, back to the dirty dryer: it's a good thing to do this regularly because all that dirt & lint can catch fire. don't want that to happen!

how do ya like all them "dirty pictures"?!?!?!?! i purposely didn't watermark them!! if anyone wants to steal my dirty pictures & claim them as theirs, well, more power to them!! they've got a more boring life than i do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

since i couldn't vacuum it out, i just took a dust rag & wiped it all out.

the heating element is that round thing on the left. amazing how much crud was on it! hopefully it'll run better now that it's all clean in there. after the vacuum filter is dry, i'll run the hose down the lint shute. i pulled quite a bit of lint out from the edges & corners of what i could reach. & tomorrow i'll vacuum behind the dryer & unhook the vent exhaust hosing & clean it out real good.

gotta save some of the fun for another day, can't do it all at once!!!!

i washed the lint screen. you should always clean the lint out EVERY time you do a load -- the dryer runs more efficiently with a clean screen. takes longer to dry a load if the screen is full. (remember that, suzanne!!!!! EVERY time!!) fabric softener/dryer sheets leave a film on the screen & air can't pass through, so it's a good idea to wash with soap & water every so often.

here you can see how the "film" is making the water puddle on the screen instead of pass through.

and here, after washing with regular dish soap, the water passes right through & doesn't puddle!

tomorrow i'm also going to fix the kitchen faucet. it wobbles & shakes everytime you turn it on or off.

i think it just needs some screws tightened up underneath. at least i hope that's the problem!

and then i'm gonna get my girly saw out & go after some of those pallets! i'm itchin' to make somethin'!!!

so, single girls, who needs a man???

apparently i do.

last saturday while i was mowing the backyard, lucy lost her wheel. again. luckily i had just a little more to do, so i persevered & finished it on 3 wheels!!!! i've got muscles of steel!!!! it's the same wheel that fell off last time.

a man with a wrench is supposed to come & fix it. he said this time he's bringing "locktight" to put on it!

well, dang! then it'll NEVER come off again!!!!!

not to worry -- she's got 3 others!!!!!!!

(hope i didn't get you too excited with all those "dirty pictures"!!!!)

the BEST vegetable soup!!!

it's still hot here. definitely NOT soup weather, but i was in the mood to cook (doesn't happen often!!!) and in the mood for mexican chicken vegetable soup. it's my own recipe & i cook like my mom, so there are no measurements. ya just throw stuff in til it looks & tastes the way ya want it.

it's got: chicken, carrots, onions, celery, potatoes, tomatoes, 1.5 jalepenos (because that's how many were in the fridge!), some homemade salsa (whatever was left after i ran out of chips! - about a cup or so), green beans & corn, salt & pepper.

it's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!!!! like a bazillion times better than the gumbo i made a few months ago! i think i'll leave the lou-si-ana cookin' to amwacs & i'll stick with the texas cookin'!!! however, based on some of the conversations we've had, i'm afraid of what kind of critters meat he'd put in his cookin'!!!!!

got it all ready for a couple weeks' worth of lunches & dinners. just waiting for it to cool so i can put it in the freezer/fridge. had a bowl for dinner tonight & can't wait til lunch tomorrow!

but like i said, it's NOT soup weather &
NOW
I'M
BURNIN' UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm a 6-pallet girl!!

God answers prayers. even the little ones that we think are silly & we think we have no business asking.

friday morning as i was driving to work i was praying. told God i really needed some pallets. i said, "christmas is 11 weeks away & i have no money for gifts, but You've given me the gift of creativity & the talent to make things & i have some ideas but i can't spend any money. it would really be nice if i could find some pallets on the side of the road like all those other ladies in blogland!"

at 12:30 & 12:45 i missed 2 calls from my friend nancy. she was driving in our pastor's neighborhood after picking her daughter up from college or something. i didn't get a chance to listen to her message til i was leaving work at 5. she said there were 4 pallets in front of this house down the street from the pastor's house. they wouldn't fit in her car but she tried & i should go see if they're still there.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!

i thought, "that was 5 hours ago, they're probably long gone," but i drove that way on the way home from work. i prayed the whole way, "God, i know this is a silly prayer & there are more important things i should be praying about, but please let those pallets still be there."

i was following a guy in a truck with a boat through the neighborhood. at one point just down the street from dan's house the truck pulled over to the side of the road & i went past him. i drove all the way through the rest of the neighborhood & didn't see any pallets. i was more than a little disappointed. so i went home.

and i prayed on the way, "God, i'm sorry for being selfish i shouldn't be envious of all my "friends" in blogland who find great deals and get to make things for free and then blog about their good fortune and they even have husbands who find "junk" for them and then everyone lives happily ever after and i know i shouldn't be praying like this, God, but i'm just being honest i want to be one of those women who finds great stuff for free & makes beautiful creations & You know that i have no money for christmas gifts & just NOW WHAT am i going to do?"

well, i know God was listening & He probably even said, "oh my dear, you know that 'patience' thing I've been trying to teach you? I just wish you would learn to do it!"

but, of course, i didn't hear Him.

i went home, got ready to go to my pastor's house for "movie night with valerie & the girls" & my friend joyce picked me up. as we were driving & talking, all of a sudden I.SAW.THEM!!!!!!!! there were 4 pallets sitting at the curb down the block from valerie's house!!!! and it was the house that the boat was in front of because i remembered the PURPLE lawn chairs at the house across the street from it!! the boat was hiding the pallets!!!! i screamed! scared joyce!!! "STOP THE CAR!!!! THERE'S MY PALLETS!!!!" she said, "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" so i told her the story....i asked her if she thought we could get them in the back of her car. and like a good friend, she turned the car around & we went back -- i said, "hurry, drive fast before someone else gets them!!!" (pallets that had been sitting there, undisturbed, for over 7 hours!!!)

i didn't want to just steal take them, so i rang the doorbell & asked the lady if i could have them. she said "by all means & i have another in the garage that you can have!"

JACKPOT!!!!!

ANSWERED PRAYER!!!!!!!!!!

but they wouldn't fit!!

i asked the lady if we could put them in her garage so nobody else would take them & i could come back with my car after we'd watched the movie. i asked her if she could please stay up til 10:30 or 11 pm!!!! pretty brave!! she was very nice & said she would.

i enjoyed being with the girls & watching the movie, but i kept wishing it would just get over with so i could go get my car SUV mini enclosed pallet hauling truck!!!! (amwacs would probably call it a GIRLY TRUCK!!!!)

so a little after 10 joyce & i left - we told the girls that if they were still there when we got the pallets, we would come back & continue the partying!!!!! and we did!!! we got the pallets loaded & went back & had "girl talk" til after midnight!!!! everyone joked that i'd probably make something when i got home, but i didn't even take them out until this afternoon after i had mowed the backyard & cleaned the garage!

i already had that other pallet from my friend amy, so now i have 6, yes, SIX pallets!!!!
i've got plans for tomorrow after church, so i won't be able to do anything with them til next weekend. --- but at least i won't be hauling them around for a month!!!!!

they're all in fantastic shape. some of them have really GOOD wood

some of them have great beat up chippy rustic wood. some of them have wide boards, some have skinny boards. some have lots of boards on the front AND the back!!!

and some of them, like this one, have a whole section that's just PERFECT for one of my projects & i won't have to do too much to it except a cut here & a cut there!!!!

i'll try to let you know about the progress & projects i make, but some of them are going to be christmas presents, so i won't be able to show you those til way later! i've got 7.5 vacation days left that i'll be taking over some long weekends -- perfect project weekends!!!!!! i can't wait!!!!

and i said another prayer, "thank You, God, for such a fantastic GIFT You blessed me with. thank You for loving me enough to know that a piece of wood set out for the garbage would make me so happy!! You know what i want & what i need.....and You give it..... all in Your own time!!!"

"patience."