Saturday, December 11, 2010

Mouse Party at the Ryan House

    "I don't like that mouse," says Emma, every time she spies the trap, meaning, she doesn't like the snap as it goes off when Daddy's up for giving her a good old-fashioned scare.  Me, I don't like the mouse that's supposed to get trapped in them.
    We've lived in this house for six and a half years now and never had mice, but this year we (and everybody else I talk to) has mice GALORE.  I despise the things.  In fact, I get that little girl screech and jump up onto whatever is the closest to me.  Last month it was from the floor to the bathroom vanity in, oh only about, .2 seconds from when I saw the thing run across the hallway.  That one, my prince-charming-mouse-catcher-husband, actually managed to catch with his bare hands....I won't tell you how he got rid of it.  It was a little dozy, but really really disgusting, as I found that it was making a stockpile in the drawer beneath our bed.  Yes right beneath where I LAY MY HEAD!
    Now, a month later there seems to be more of them, and they have moved to the wall in our bedroom.  Partying it up in there every night too.  They scritch and scratch from the doorway wall to the closet (by which point I'm staring intensely at our clothes to see if I did really just see that scarf move or if my night eyes are just playing tricks on me) to the wall at the head of the bed.  By that point one of us is banging on the wall (usually Brad, because, let's face it, I'm pretty much petrified) or throwing pillows or just generally describing how we are going to get a shotgun and start blasting the wall apart.  Hmmm...might be a way to get rid of the old panelling and do some drywall.  Then again, thinking about how the kitchen redo was started 2 years ago and I have yet to have one measly 4X8 sheet put up behind the stove to finish the project, I think I better just do a little more bugging for that poison to get put in the attic tomorrow night.
   On the bright side, mice are not nearly as noisy as the flying squirrels my parents have attracted to their walls.  And today, I'm really into counting my blessings!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

20 Questions

Before the days of DVD's in cars we had this great game called 20 questions that we played on any trip longer than 1/2 an hour.  One person thinks of "something" and the other players have to ask yes or no questions until they are able to guess what the "something" is.  If they ask 20 questions and still haven't figured it out, the "thinker" wins.
     For example....I think of a penguin....
           You ask "is it alive?"...yes
             "Is it native to the US"...no
I'm sure you all (that is to say, if anyone is reading this other than me) have played some version of it at one time or another. Haven't we all filled out those questionnaires by e-mail or on FB that are supposed to let us "get to know" each other better?  I've been thinking about how to introduce myself on this little blog and I thought my own version of 20 questions would be a way to start.  Just a few questions that would be interesting to ask someone as you get to know them.
1.  One word that YOU think of yourself as?
      transplanted
2.  Middle Name and meaning? 
      Marie...middle name of my grandmother, mother, sister (much to her chagrin), and daughter.
3.  Favorite thing to do?
       Read
4.  What are your family ties?
       husband, daughter, son, brother, sister, parents
5.  What do you believe in?
       A standard of truth that is unchanging whether we want it to exist or not
6.  Glass is half full or half empty.
       Depends on my mood and there are probably far more days where I think it is half empty than full.
7.  Dream home?
        A house on the water, in a moderate to cool climate, with lots of windows, and lots of family.
8.  What is the mislabel that you have gotten, but hate?
        Stuck-up....I just hate talking to new people or people I rarely see...initial conversation is so          awkward...so if I can just avoid eye-contact then we don't have to talk, but then I'm stuck-up.
9.  Do you have a story that defines you?  What is it?
      My husband and I met at a church convention when we were 11 and started writing each other.  It still amazes us alot of days that our relationship ever existed, let alone got to this point!

Pretty sure by this point you are either bored of me or I'm bored of you so let's just figure that someone has won this game and finish at an even 10 questions...
10.  The question around our house is always "How cheap are you?"  so thrifty or spendy?  What's your best recent deal?  
   I'm terrible for only buying something if it is on sale.  I got my new Cricut machine....which I think I might just go use right now...for $55 at Jo-Ann Fabric's on Saturday....which doesn't man a lot unless you know that it is worth $199!  In case you can't tell, question 3 was a real toss-up between reading and scrapbooking.

Monday, November 15, 2010

babies

Brocade White Yellow 5x7 folded card
Unique party invitations and greeting cards by Shutterfly.
View the entire collection of cards.

Did I really just do this?

If you know me from my childhood...and not as in know who I am, but actually know me, then you know I write.  However, I still feel REALLY dorky doing this.  Not that bloggers are exactly dorks...more like geeky or a little to keen on themselves.  So I hope I'm the geeky kind of blogger, not the vain one.  Oh, and I have a really good excuse to finally get this going...(I'll admit I've been thinking about it for a while now).  If I post a link to a project on Shutterfly I get a 25$ gift certificate.  How sweet is that?  So now that I have that accomplished...I guess I will go back to the beckoning laundry pile.