Monthly Archive for November, 2004

Flashback #6

Published
by
Val
on 11.30.04
in Days Go By
. 3 Comments

I must have been in tenth grade, I was homeschooling, we all were… and it was one of those rare times that my mom went to work.

It was around Christmas and we had the tree up. I remember getting the tree up that year, we wanted a real one but heaven forbid we buy one or cut down one of our pines. No, that was the year we had the dreaded cedar tree, I believe. That was the year mom and one of my brothers cut it down, then dragging it towards the house decided it was too tall and cut it only to then find it way too short. No, that was the year we had the short tree on the kid’s table in the living room.

We were all working on our schoolwork, well, except my youngest brother because he was in Kindegarten and he was already finished (he has always gotten done as soon as possible to move on to bigger and better things).

So we hear a crash and screams and the three of us went running. My youngest brother was screaming in the living room, but where was he? Oh, there, under the tree, there he is. He had been standing on a bar-stool-chair and jumping his GI Joe men from branch to branch when he started to feel like he was falling backwards. So, of course, he leaned forward and grabbed the tree.

We started to pull the tree off of him which only brought out more screams because he also had the lights wrapped around his head.

After detangling him and the tree itself we put it back up. After much frustration, Ryan and I had the tree set back up and looking decent. We went off to have school again.

The tree fell again.

At that point, we basically said “the hell with it” and undecorated it and then threw it off the deck.

We got out the artificial tree, put it up and decorated it…. of course, leaving off any ornament that brought in some sort of disagreement. When we were finished, we had a dying tree off the deck in the backyard, the table gone, and an artificial tree dressed up like a short 70’s department store tree.

Boy, was mom surprised when she came home. :angelicsmile:

spam comment

Published
by
Val
on 11.29.04
in The Working Stiff
. 4 Comments

I thought this was funny enough to post. Just received a spam comment trying to get me to click a Cialis link that goes to some other drug site. Whatever.

Anyway, this is what it said…

I find you lack of faith in the forth dithturbing.
- Darse (”Darth”) Vader

:lol:

minimum order

Published
by
Val
on 11.29.04
in Little Light
. 4 Comments

Talking to Ruthie here and she was asking some questions about the candle making and it reminded me of something…

So I am trying to find a place to buy jars through the Winter and Spring. Now that canning season is over, Walmart isn’t selling the jars I use anymore… or at least the 5 Walmarts we’ve been in lately.
So I went to the website of the maker and while they don’t have an online store, they say “email here if you want to buy…” blah blah blah.
So yesterday I did and today I got a response along with 3 megs of catalog pdfs.

Minimum order for them = $2500. :eek:

So, anyone know of a good reliable source to get pint sized jars with lids? Would like to get Ball brand, but Kerr is fine, too (that’s what I’ve got so far).

One idiot too many

Published
by
Val
on 11.29.04
in Days Go By
. 4 Comments

There are just too many idiots on the internet today. Too many who complain and make statements about the Christian faith when they really KNOW NOTHING. They think they know but really they just make generalizations and refuse to open their eyes to anything else.

So no, I will just spend my required thirty seconds at your site and then leave. I’m not bothering to defend anything or try to show you the error of your ways. You suck.

I can’t correct the world. Continue reading ‘One idiot too many’

hip-hip-hooray!!

Published
by
Val
on 11.29.04
in The Working Stiff
. 5 Comments

Whoo-hoo, I am getting DSL!!!

But shhhhhh… Steve doesn’t know yet…

Continue reading ‘hip-hip-hooray!!’

O Christmas Tree

Published
by
Val
on 11.28.04
in Days Go By
. 7 Comments

O, Christmas Tree, O, Christmas Tree, how lovely are thy branches?

I put up our Christmas tree tonight, not long ago, while Elijah ate some cereal and Steve changed the oil in the car.

We have a tiny tree, one I bought last year at Garden Ridge. It’s five feet tall, but it’s not wide at all. It’s one of those real wood bases - kind of like a craft tree. It has tiny, real pinecones on the end of some branches.

I only put out the decorations that are the most imporant to me this year. Nothing special, I don’t have room around here to be special.
Continue reading ‘O Christmas Tree’

Christmas Shopping 2004

Published
by
Val
on 11.27.04
in Days Go By
. 5 Comments

Okay, I thought today’s Deep Thought was absolutely hilarious:

Once, when I got lost in the woods, I was afraid that eventually I might have to eat Tippy. But finally I found my way home, and I was able to put Tippy back in the refrigerator with my other sandwiches.

Anyway, Christmas shopping… today was a day out with Carrie! (Wanting to skip the boring part? Go to the end)

I met her a half an hour late, at 10.30, this morning and we were out ALL DAY.
We went to this place she wanted to go to, that turned out to be really cool, and the St. Louis Mills, and Pier One, and, of course, Target. Plus this place called Jimmy Linn’s Asian Cuisine (sp?) or something like that, turned out to be interesting. We have decided that we are now food people. (I say ‘people’ because I can’t spell the word I want, and I apparently spelled it so bad that even dictionary.com can’t figure out what I mean.)

Anyway, want to know what I bought? Continue reading ‘Christmas Shopping 2004′

Photo Scanning

Published
by
Val
on 11.26.04
in Humanities
. 2 Comments

I am in the process of scanning some photos I borrowed from my mom quite a while ago. These pictures are special because, from what I understand, they came from her mom’s collection. My grandma died when my mom was six in 1963, from a brain aneurysm. So, of course, I never met her. Most of these photos are from the 50’s and are of her and my grandpa and her sister and her husband, whom we are really close with and what I find funny is that a lot of these photos are from my grandpa & uncle’s hunting/fishing trips and some contain only dead fish or rodents or inanimate objects.

These photos are also extra special because they are lucky to be here. My grandpa’s second wife was so jealous of my grandmother, a dead woman, that she threw away all the photos she found of her. Any that survived were already in the hands of my mom or her siblings or my great-aunt or great-grandparents. As far as I can recall, I’ve only seen one photo of my grandma and grandpa’s wedding day.

Anyway, I just thought that especially since this Thanksgiving, as I’ve been thinking about what I’m thankful for, I’ve been thinking a lot about family and how important each and every one of them are, that I would post some of my favorites.

I will also post one of my grandma, not from this collection, that is one of my absolute favorite photos of her.

What is pretty interesting about these photos though, is that I see a past life — somewhere where my grandpa existed before I knew him. Somewhere where he seemed to be happier, more himself. I’ve also got a copy of some of their old home movies that were transferred to VHS by my uncle and grandpa just really seems to me to be someone completely different. It is almost like a part of him died and was buried with grandma.
What is really sad though, in my opinion, is how my grandpa and my great uncle (his brother-in-law) were best friends and now… I think they only see each other at funerals and weddings.

Oh, I even have my mom’s baby book, a lot of which was handwritten by my grandma, that I’m going to have to scan/transcribe.

Yes, family is very important and I am very thankful for family and friends.