And Now for Something Completely Different

I thought this was really cute.

My Coat is Smokin

Do not try to use a lamp as a coat rack.

I am very lucky that things did not get out of hand. I thought that it burned a hole in my coat and I would need a new one, but no. It only left a burnt spot on the coat and on the light bulb.

Quote: Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. - Bible (I guess even though it doesn't say light bulb or coat that would be the same principle. Don't do it.)

Sparkling Trees

I didn't get out on the road till around lunch time and it took me a while to get the ice off my window and door of my truck. It would have been a little faster, but all I had was a little plastic spoon ;-)

I went by the store on my way home and got a real ice scraper incase this happens again tomorrow.

The trees and grass were all covered with ice and dazzling in the sun. It was really pretty. When I do get out I always enjoy it and wonder why I was so afaid to go out.

I need to start carrying my camera with me because I miss some really pretty pictures that I could take.

Quote: In skating over thin ice our safety is our speed - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Baby it's cold outside

I have this image in my mind of an angel getting ice from the refrigerator and being distracted so that that it spills over and comes down on The Leaning House of Moggy ;-)

I went out to my truck this morning and can't even open the door. That would be okay, but my cell phone charger is in there and my cell phone is in need of it.

The weather is susposed to get above freezing by lunch time and so I should be able to get the door open after that I suspose.

Quote: Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate. - Albert Schweitzer

I am in the Pink

I don't expect a lot of people who live north of me to feel sorry for me. I have to say that I don't know how you guys stand being cold for so long every year.

I guess I would be more prepared if I lived up there. Our roads are okay right now, but they are susposed to get icy later and we don't do well on icy roads.

Movie Night at someones home

I got invited to eat and see a movie at someone's house. They put a sheet up on one wall and projected the movie up on it. That was really neat. The movie they chose was "Oscar" with Sylvester Stallone. I had never seen it and it was a great choice. It's really funny. Someone said it was made from a play and it flows like a play. If you get the chance this one is worth seeing.

We had food too, Pizza and lots of other stuff. I will probaby have to pay for it Monday as that is our last weigh in at work.

Quote: I think that gravity sets into everything, including careers, but pendulums do swing and mountains do become valleys after a while... if you keep on walking. - Sylvester Stallone

Faith along with Doubt

The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." - Matthew 13:31-32

I heard something today on the radio that gave me another perspective on faith and doubt. It went something like this.

(Faith is only needed when we don’t know for sure (which means you have a little doubt) and when you know, you don’t need faith because you have moved beyond that.

He illustrated his point by making a fist and asking the audience if they believed that it contained a $20 bill. A few did. He then said I’ll destroy your faith by opening my hand and showing you that it is there. Now that you know I have a $20 bill, you can no longer have faith that I do you actually have knowledge of it.

I think that we come to Christ by faith, but as we really gain knowledge of him that relationship changes. I think you just need that little mustardseed of faith to get you going.

I may not have said all this right, but I found it interesting to think about.

Buyer Beware

I was almost sucked in by one of those infomercials. Its really hard to understand how they are able to make so many things looks like just what you need.

Thanks goodness for online reviews so you can go and see what other people who already got sucked into buying something have to say after they get it home and try it.

Quote: People like to feel they are buying of their own good judgment as a result of the information the salesman has given them - Paul Parker

Redecorating

When I first moved to The Leaning House of Moggy I meant to replace the toilet seat which was a little kid design. The boy went to the store and got a brand new solid white seat and put it on.

I now feel that I am on my way to decorating the house ;-) There is a lot more that needs to be done, but you know what they say....

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. - Lao Tzu

I may have to put my foot down

My X has been calling me and I may have to change my phone number. I don't want to get into the specifics here, but it's really just a matter of I don't want to talk to him.

I can't believe it's Saturday already and I haven't posted since tuesday. Here is my excuse it's cold in my bedroom where the computer is and so I'm not on the internet as much.

I did make it to work everyday. I also worked late most days. Yesterday the thing I was most excited about was finding a new formula for an excel spreadsheet. VLookup <- it's great. I can compare a field in one worksheet with a field in another worksheet and then pull over other information from that worksheet. I just figured it out late yesterday and can't wait to put it into action for more things.

Quote: One good reason why computers can do more work than people is that they never have to stop and answer the phone - not sure who said it

Cold Shower

My outdoor faucet cover got moved or lost and so I went by and got another one yesterday. It was almost 10:00 at night when I got home and went to put it on. When I was putting it on I accidently turned on the water and so I didn't really do a good job of it.

I checked the weather on the internet and it didn't look so bad, so I decided that it would not freeze. I hope that it didn't.

I have to say that I don't know how people live up north where it gets really cold. We really don't have that many times when there is the possibility of pipes freezing. That does mean that we are usually not prepared (or maybe it's just me).

Quote: Friendship that flows from the heart cannot be frozen by adversity, as the water that flows from the spring cannot congeal in winter. - not sure who said it

Weigh In

Today was a weigh in for our group at work. I thought about weighing the clothes I was going to wear so they didn't add too much. I did wear something fairly light and shoes that I could slip out of. My friend wore a bulky sweater and boots and since we are having to pay a dollar for every pound we gain, she has to pay.

I will admit that I am going to have to pay one dollar, but I'm surprized it's not more with some of the stress eating I have done lately.

Quote: Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it - Lily Tomlin

Reality or Lack of It

Sunday morning I didn't want to face the day. So I slept really late and missed Church.

I may have mentioned that I really didn't want to be a landlord. Things are going well so far, it's not that a problem has come up. It's just that I don't always like to be responsible for my life and yet I need to be.

Sometimes God pushes us out of our comfort zone and I am pretty far out buying, selling or renting a house.

Quote: If a man harbors any sort of fear, it percolates through all his thinking, damages his personality, makes him landlord to a ghost. - Lloyd C. Douglas

I'm a Landlord

I wanted to sell, but today I rented my house instead. I felt that this was the direction that God was leading me. Now I have to borrow money to pay for some of the repairs I had done.

I actually had the house leveled which is expensive, but there can only be one "Leaning House of Moggy".

I didn't think of it in time, but I guess there could have been a "leaning house of Moggy" the sequel.

I did get my truck inspected, something which I had not noticed was over two months late. Not sure how I managed not to get pulled over by the Police. When I was leaving the Inspection place the first car that passed by was a police car. He put on his lights and went after someone else. Probably some slacker who had not gotten their car inspected ;-)

Quote: I'm recording our history now on the bedroom wall, and when we leave the landlord will come and paint over it all. - Ani Difranco

A fun ride

I rode with my friend at lunch and she drove through a really fancy car wash. I almost never wash my truck and when I do it's by hand.

She had the man take off the antenna and I wondered how he would feel taking the antenna off my truck. It still had a crook in the end from when I took it off and bent it to fish my keys out. I also still have plexi glass held on with duck tape for the little center window. However I don't want you to get the idea that I am a red neck. I am not.

Quote: She’s wound up tighter than the girdle of a baptist minister’s wife at an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast. - redneck saying

Happy Hour

A friend invited me to Happy hour with a group of people that she knows and I don't know. I got there about 30 minutes before she did and I sat next to the group, but didn't talk to them. They didn't know that I belonged with them and so they didn't say anything either. When she got there she introduced me to eveyone.

They are a really nice group of people. I'm not sure if I can handle having more friends, but maybe I can.

Quote: Color possesses me. I don't have to pursue it. It will possess me always, I know it. That is the meaning of this happy hour: Color and I are one. I am a painter. - Paul Klee

More on my New Years Weekend

I saw 17 deer. Eight at one time in a wooded area near the road I was going down and one crossing a road going out from a nature center. The best were four that came to eat at a deer feeder as I was sitting and watching. Two of them came within about 30 feet of me.

The hardest part was being still and quiet ;-) well I do have a little trouble being quiet.

It was a nice peaceful weekend and I needed it because my X called again a couple of times. I know that he is a human being and I don't want to be mean to him, but at the same time I don't want to talk to him at all about anything.

Quote: Some of the best lessons we ever learn are learned from past mistakes. The error of the past is the wisdom and success of the future. - Dale E. Turner

First Day of the New Year

I had breakfast with my parents then drove south till lunch time and had lunch at "la Peeps". I spent the time from lunch till supper time playing a new game (Mexican Train Dominoes). It was really confusing because there are a lot of rules to learn and we didn't have one person who really knew how to play without us going over the rules many times.

You can only play your original dominoes you drew (called bones) on your own row (with one exception) and when you have to draw because you can't play you have to keep these dominoes separate (called boxcars) because you can never play them on your own row.

It was a fun day and ended with watching the old 1954 black and white movie "Them" I can remember seeing it as a kid and I think it was just as scary to me this time ;-)

My friend let me borrow a computer so I could update my blog while I'm here. It's set up a lot better than my computer is at the moment, but I will eventually get my place in order ;-)

Quote: I don't know if you would call it a domino effect or not, but a lot of changes have been made. Some good, some bad, but every year there are changes. = Na'il Diggs

2008 In Review

I am saving this space to put in a little summary of last year