Weekly Words Challenge 54!

The words for this week were Time and Place.

How did you interpret them?

Time


Place


(More Beach Shots)

Hungry Water


Sea Oat Sunset


(Random Pictures)

Fallen Leaf Moth

Thusly named after what I originally thought it was.


Magnolia Tree Seeds



The words for next week are:
Distorted
and
Clear

If you haven't joined the fun yet, go here for details. Don't forget, we also have a Flickr group for easy shareability. Plus, you get to find out the new words at least an hour earlier. Happy snapping!

Daily Etsy Pick:
Rock, Paper, Scissor Note Cards
Swimming Fish Bracelet
"Happy Rays" Fine Art Photo

WTF Etsy?:
Ridiculously Huge Ring
Retro Liquor Bottle Cozy
Barnacle Hat
World's Tiniest Piece Of Invisible Pottery

One Stop Juju Shop

I went into this weekend expecting to do a lot of good for others. But what I GOT from others was much more remarkable. I had no idea Friday's post would evoke such an outpour of responses. It blew me away. Truly. Here I doubted, and the proof that chivalry is alive (if not a bit stunted), was all around me. So, thank you. To celebrate, I'm having a drawing. How's that for giving back? Anyone who commented on Friday's post, as well as anyone who comments today, will be entered into a drawing for a secret gift.

No, I'm not telling you what it is yet. But here's a clue: I posted a picture of mine not that long ago and everyone went crazy over it. So leave a comment, or a link to a post, about a good deed that you did this weekend or a good deed that was done to you. Keep the good juju ball rolling. I did a few simple deeds this weekend before stumbling on one I felt was more worthy of the challenge. It happened without me thinking of it being "the" good deed, too. Hoop and I were on our way back from the beach when we saw a car stuck in the sand.

The owner of the car, a middle-aged man, was sitting in the driver's seat looking a bit helpless. He was surrounded by able-bodied bystanders who were too busy ignoring him to help. The sad part was, it didn't take more than two minutes of pushing to get the guy back on the road. But he couldn't have done it alone, and the alternative was to call a tow-truck or wait for help. Who knows how long he'd been waiting already. The man didn't say much before zooming off. But I'd like to believe that he passed the good deed on to someone else.

We can hope.

Now your turn...

Movers, Shakers, and Ballbreakers

This morning I watched a teenage girl plow into a family of baby ducks I had just slowed down to let pass. Then she flicked me off. I cried rivers through my make-up all the way to work. When I finally got in, I hid in my office for an hour, not bothering to turn on the lights. My boss and his cohorts discussed politics on the other side of my door. Their voices carried through the vents like a loud speaker. "I think the government needs to stay out of things," my boss said to his audience. "Like Katrina. The government shouldn't have been helping those people."

I hissed air through my teeth, waiting for someone to disagree. But the silence, followed by a change in subject, told me that the cowards had all nodded their heads in agreement. "Those people", as if they weren't our people. Disgusting. I was standing in the checkout line of the grocery store two nights ago when a man carrying a case of beer came up behind my full cart. "Go ahead," I had told him, motioning for the conveyor belt. He took the spot without so much as a thank you. It made me think of all the doors I've held and cars I've let in lately without so much as a nod in return. Maybe these really aren't my people.

It feels like there's a Chinese fire drill going on in my head. All these thoughts are racing around, racing around, waiting for their chance at the driver's seat. "I'm too weak." "This is what I have to become to survive." "You're either a mover, a shaker, or a ballbreaker." I told Hoop on the phone this morning that I hate people. "You don't hate me," he said. "You don't hate your Mom." Leave it to Hoop to poke a hole in my generalization. "So I don't hate people. I just hate MOST people." I don't hate Jon Stewart... J.K. Rowling... the Dalai Lama. And for the record, I don't hate any of you.

There's a definite deficiency in the human condition though. Somewhere along the years we lost chivalry, followed soon after by compassion and morality. In an effort to be individuals, we lost the ability to be united. How do we fix that? Is it like a pendulum? Will it swing back? I'm not depressed. But thank you, to those who were concerned yesterday. I'm tired. I'm disappointed. I'm grieving over the loss of something I foolishly thought still existed. Every day I was being assaulted by it and I didn't even realize... This world is beating the optimism right out of me.

I need you to do something for me this weekend, OK? I don't ask for things very often. What I need is to hear about an act of chivalry, a conscious effort that caused you to go out of your way for someone else this weekend. I need to know that there's still hope. I'm going to do it to. Then I'm going to post about it on Monday. Leave your good deed(s) in the comment section of that post, or write a post of your own and leave us a link. It doesn't have to be something huge. Any small deed will do. Maybe if we put enough good juju out there it'll- I don't know, catch?

So pay it forward Homebloys, and have a wonderful and safe weekend!

Pause

I was so deep in dream this morning when my alarm woke me, it literally felt like the bed was pushing me up from its middle. It was expelling me, like skin to a splinter. I was at the part in my dream where I realized our wedding was today and that nothing had been prepared. The DJ had just asked me what songs she should play and I was about to confess that I didn't give a damn. Somewhere between showering and dressing my brain rebooted, remembered that it was Thursday and that the wedding was still another month and a half away. Thank God.

But I'm afraid a part of myself remained in bed anyway. Maybe it watched me leave and then went back to sleep. Regardless, my body, here at work, is acting like its waiting for the reunion. It's not budging until it gets that missing piece back. I tried exercising at lunch. I tried feeding it. But it's stubborn. "Let's do some work," I tell it. We start in on some random spreadsheet and the next thing I know, we're googling recipes for pumpkin bread and it's two hours later. I feel ADD, without the neato hyperactivity.

I'm not depressed; I'm just not really that interested. Here's my confession, I haven't worked in two days. It's worse today than yesterday. I've been here, just not mentally. I don't know what I've done with the time either. Surely it wasn't anything productive. By the feel of things, it wasn't anything fun either. I'm on pause. Part of me is curious to see how long I can let it go on before there are consequences. Will there be consequences? In a place where no one knows all I do, where I could go three days without a conversation, consequences could be fun.

In Other News:
Blogtations has featured one of my quotes in a YouTube video! It's really well done, and I'm not just saying that because I'm bias. Go check it out. Seriously, there's nothing going on here anyway. ;)

Weekly Words Challenge 53!

The words for this week were Modern and Primitive.

How did you interpret them?

Modern/Primitive Keys



Modern/Primitive Calculations



Modern/Primitive Cooking Pots


Modern/Primitive Phones



The words for next week are:
Time
and
Place

If you haven't joined the fun yet, go here for details. Don't forget, we also have a Flickr group for easy shareability. Plus, you get to find out the new words at least an hour earlier. Happy snapping!

Daily Etsy Pick:
Vintage Letterpress Collage
Hand Painted Peacock Tote
Antique Book Print

WTF Etsy?:
Mask (Look at the price!)
Pomegranates I Love You (Check out the rest of her stuff too.)
Mr.T Hand Painted Bowling Pin
Patriotic Paper Mark

Gallimaufry

(noun: A hodgepodge or jumble.)

My parents live in central Florida, which is about 45 minutes from where Hoop and I live. Somewhere in between the two, at about the 30 minute mark, the weather pattern changes entirely. It's like the difference between the Sahara and the Tropics. Last month, the waterway beside our neighborhood flooded. Meanwhile, the lakes in my parents' town were dwindling away to puddles. If Hoop doesn't mow for two weeks, the weeds in our yard begin to devour our house. My parent's struggle to grow anything besides dirt. You would think we'd all be used to these differences.

Saturday morning, Mom called to tell me that they were leaving for the zoo. "So you're going to meet us there, right?" I stared at the downpour outside. "Um. I hate to break it to you, but I don't think we're going to the zoo today." She told me not to be silly; it was sunny outside. "Oh-kay." Then I got ready to go to the movies. Thirty minutes later, I received a phone call. "It's pouring!" Mom wailed into the phone. "Would it be OK if we went to the movies instead?" "Sure!" I told her before reading off the movie times I'd pulled from the computer 30 minutes before.

We went to see "Ghost Town". I can describe the movie in one word. SLOW. I would have rather watched two snails wrestling. The story is about an unlikeable dentist who goes in for rectal surgery, dies, is revived, and then starts seeing dead people. Only, these dead people want things from him. The rest of the movie is one long, boring boy-tries-to-get-girl subplot that isn't even interesting. Just when you think you might fall asleep, they throw something funny in, bait enough to keep you watching (and hoping). Skip this one altogether. Hoop and I gave it one out of five sporks.

Sunday evening, Hoop and I went to visit his Mom. As I mentioned two posts ago, the soon-to-be-MIL still hadn't gotten us the addresses of the people she wanted to invite. I'd long ago decided not to care about it, seeing as I'd already sent out the other invitations and was busy rounding up RSVPs already. But Hoop couldn't let it go. "Have you got the addresses yet?" He badgered her on Sunday. Then she did something I will never forget. She handed him a phonebook and huffed, "Well, they're listed in the yellow pages." Then, to my utter shock and disbelief, Hoop did something equally absurd...

...he handed ME the phonebook.

Un-fucking-real. I handed the book right back to him, of course. Apparently, they have both lost their fucking minds. My new name for Hoop's Mom is MILzilla. My new name for Hoop is Stupid. On top of that, Hoop's Dad keeps telling me our wedding website is down. Granted, the man has never tried to access the site himself. No, he's taking the word of some computer-illiterate friend. Despite my assurances and telling him how many people HAVE accessed the site, he doesn't believe me. Ugh. I'm done. I'll be drinking in the corner until this is all through. Let me know when I need to walk down the aisle, OK?

So, what fun and exciting things did you do this weekend?

Damn You Stephanie Meyer

You did it again! You got me so addicted to one of your books, I failed to work today. Instead of filling out pointless mind-numbing necessary price information for my accounts , I was in the back room (hiding) with "The Host." Did I say I loved your "Twilight" series before? Well, that was a joke compared to how much I adored this book. It was by far your best book yet. DAMN YOU. By the way, would you please consider me for a role when this becomes a movie? I would make a great alien.

To my Homebloys, I'm waaaaay behind at work now. Blame Stephanie.

Until next week...

Have a safe and fun weekend!

"I Do What I Want!"

That's Hoop's line when I tell him he can't do something, like eating two Snickers bars in one sitting... or believing he can fly without the aid of a plane. In the case of the first scenario, I ended up chasing him around the house yelling, "I will smush it!" So he shut himself in the bathroom and yelled back, "I do what I want!" like an insolent kid. I'm having one of those days today. I don't feel like piecing together all these thoughts to form a coherent post. So I'm just going to ramble. Probably a lot. Because damn it, that's what I want. It's not considered "jumping the shark" if I warn you I'm doing it first, right?

Sunday afternoon, Hoop wrapped his face in one of my old bandannas and declared he was going to mow the lawn. Have I mentioned how much I love that riding lawn mower? I think it might be an aphrodisiac. An hour after Hoop started mowing, I went out with a cold glass of water and my camera. Hoop threw the mower in park when he saw me coming and started gesturing wildly with his hands. Little did I know, it was his pathetic attempt at gang signs. My boy, he's so white he's clear. "What?!" I screamed over the noise. I swear it looked like he was trying to tell me he'd lost his finger but that I shouldn't worry because it was only the tip of it.

Fucking-a.

When he realized I didn't have any idea what he was trying to do, he quickly cut off the machine, enabling me to see that he still had all of his digits. So of course, I didn't mention the fact that I thought we'd have to start calling him Stubby. Don't think that I wouldn't either. I had a dream last night that I went to use the bathroom at a bar and some chick wouldn't let me enter the stall. So I punched her between the eyes and it knocked her out. The dream ended when I couldn't decide whether I should run away or pee first. I've had punching dreams before, but the punches either never connected or my hand went through the target like jello.

Then again, I wasn't a badass at Wii boxing before.

My coworker just stopped me on my way to the coffee pot to ask if I had anonymously entered her into a muscular dystrophy challenge. Apparently, someone from work entered her without her consent. Now she's going to have to go downtown at her lunch next Wednesday and participate in a curbside fundraiser. If she doesn't show up, someone is going to come and "kidnap" her. Does anyone else find this kind of creepy? I'm all for a good cause. But, I like to choose when and what I'm rallying for. I also find it disturbing that my first thought was that this might be a trap. Possibly one put on by the Scientologists.

There are other things I could discuss with you, like the fact that Hoop's parents are both certifiably crazy (IMHO). <-- Stands for "in my humble opinion", not "I'm (a) ho". But really, who likes airing out dirty laundry on the net? Not me. No way. Have I mentioned that his Mom still hasn't gotten me the addresses for the people she wants to invite to the wedding? Now she wants us to bring all the stuff to her house this weekend so we (I) can work on it at her convenience. I hope someone gives me a gun as a wedding present... with silver bullets... and a self targeting mechanism, because Jebus knows I can't aim.

I won't even get started on Hoop's Dad; because no one likes to see me unleash the She-Hulk. She sucks the happy right out of the party. In other news, the A/C on my car is fixed. Yay for Hoop! I dropped my dress off at the local seamstress this weekend. Mom kept telling me how skinny I looked and I had to keep explaining that the corset I was wearing was redistributing my fat. If it wouldn't keep me from eating, or breathing, I might be coerced into wearing one every day. And, as a final note to this weird ramble/recap, I'm including a link to the funniest stuff on the web. Yesterday's edition was one of my all time favorites.

Enjoy!

Weekly Words Challenge 52!

The words for this week were Male and Female.

How did you interpret them?

Male/Female Shoes



Male/Female Bathrooms



Male/Female Drivers


And they say WOMEN are the bad drivers? Pfft.

(Random Photos)

Tractor Gangster


Star Fruit


The words for next week are:
Modern
and
Primitive

If you haven't joined the fun yet, go here for details. Don't forget, we also have a Flickr group now for easy shareability. Plus, you get to find out the new words at least an hour earlier. Happy snapping!

Daily Etsy Pick:
Coiled Snake Stone
Ancient Egyptian Board Game
Altered Tin and Mini Scrapbook

WTF Etsy?:
Congratulations On Your Baby
BBQ Apron With... Attachment (ADULT)
Monster Bag

Ho Hum

Today, I am the laziest person alive. Enjoy my lame attempt to fill a post by answering some of your comments from yesterday's post here, instead of in the comment section where this kind of crap belongs. I'm sorry. Ok, I'm not. But that shouldn't stop you from loving me.

Knight said: Okay, I have it all figured out. What you need to do is convince your followers that Twisted Tink is actually the story of creation and make it the new bible like the scientologists did with the sci-fi book. If they believe you hold the keys to their happiness and afterlife they will start giving you money so you will help them. Just imagine, you could have a huge group of people that follow you around dressed as fairies and believing you have magical powers.

You. Are. Brilliant! Maybe I could recruit the real, live Peter Pan to be my pope. We'd have a holiday every Monday. Casual Fridays would mean coming to work in your PJ's, drunk. Wings would be mandatory, obviously. But the dudes could wear black ones, with spikes on them. I'm not picky. All I would require is your absolute submission... Just like the government. I would totally rock as Ruler.

Mamatulip said: Tell me about the follow feature. Is it like Twitter? I'm not on Blogger so I have no idea what you're talking about.

I'm not exactly sure how it works either. All I know is that when you log on to your Blogger account, there's a little icon that says "Followers". When you click on it, it shows you who has pledged to be your loyal henchman (or woman) for all of time. Pretty neat, huh? So far I have eleven henchpeople.

Apathy Lounge said: Books, The Office, reruns of The Gilmore Girls. Toast with butter. Chocolate milk. Mexican beer.

I heart Jim. Is it deranged that I think I would LIKE working in that office?

Michael Knight Rambo said: I always wanted to be a cult leader. I like the idea of sitting around drinking and sleeping with my hot followers while they make me money and do my laundry and stuff. Plus you can make them do silly shit like chanting and whatnot. I tried to start one at work a few years ago but I'm just too lazy and have no follow through. Sigh. Good Luck!

See, that's where you screwed up. There are supposed to be incentives to joining a cult. Like free drugs... or WINGS. P.S. I've been dying to ask you, what's the story behind your name?

Chris said: Y'know, I think you can create your own Wikipedia page - you and Hoop should go for it!

I could; but who would read it? I'm waiting until we get famous (or infamous) first.

One Daisy said: I am currently worshiping batteries. They seem to be a girls best friend. I could be the Duracell Queen and wear a head garment made of copper. Of course I would be wearing fabulous shoes too.

No, a vibrator is a girl's best friend. But hey, maybe that's where all your batteries are going. ;)

Alli said: I would totally join your cult. totally. as long as you don't make me wear squirrel feet in my hair. By the way, I decided you look like a young Diane Lane. Have you been told that a million times?

I haven't! But I'm really flattered. Thank you. Let's do a comparison.

Diane Lane-


Tink-

Hot picture, huh?

Speaking of hot pictures, check out this ad I saw on Facebook:


Oh crap, I'm out of time! I had other things to say too. Like, what the hell is hot bologna in a jar?! This is really going to aggravate Jay . He hates when I only reply back to some of the comments and not all of them. Oh well. I guess I'll have to make him co-cult leader.

Have a great/safe weekend Homebloys!

My Own Cult

I've been busy. So, I hadn't really gotten the chance to check out Blogger's new "Follower" feature until today. So far, I have seven followers. SEVEN. Whoo! I'm thinking five more and I can consider myself a cult. But don't worry, no free Kool-aid here. No way, baby. You want Kool-aid, you're going to have to PAY for it. On a side note, does anyone else think it's kind of crazy that people in the 30's actually took to something that implied they needed an aid to be cool? Of course, it was during the Great Depression. I'm sure morale was pretty low.

Since we're not going to be having Kool-aid, and I'm not creative enough to design my own supreme being, I'm thinking my cult should revolve around Spore. Spore is my new obsession and cults are all about obsessions, aren't they? I created my own world last night (Tinktopia) and started my own colony of single cell organisms (Widgets). They ate other organisms and eventually (45 minutes later) they had evolved to be land dwellers. Holy crap, I think that makes ME a supreme being! I wonder if I could add the Widgets to my list of followers. Their brains are only the size of lint balls though.

Maybe my cult could be about this guy. His site, The Best Page In The Universe, kept me entertained for hours yesterday while I was supposed to be working. He's even got his own Wikipedia page. That's like having King status in the land of nerd. My favorite line on his Wiki page is, "Maddox decided to name his site 'The Best Page in the Universe' despite his knowledge that Yahoo! blocked sites with the phrase 'the best' in the title from inclusion in its search engine". For real? We need to test this out... OK, I just did. It's bullshit.

So tell me, if you had a cult, what would you worship? I need ideas so I can steal them. Would it be your favorite TV show? How about your favorite band? Maybe you would base your cult around belly lint and then create a tapestry out of all the different colors you collect! Hey, it could be kind of cool. Gross, but cool. Hey, maybe I should Google that... Holy cow! I just found a forum where a dude claimed he would pay $40 a pound for Vegan belly lint. Don't believe me? Go here. Or, you could just read his post below.

"THERE IS A PRIZE OF 1,000 ZIASTERS FOR THE MOST CREATIVE OBJECT OR IMAGE CREATED WITH BELLY BUTTON LINT. I AM TRYING TO COLLECT IT FOR MY PROJECT. (SECRET) AND AM WILLING TO PAY $40 A POUND FOR VEGAN LINT. I DON'T WANT ANY ANIMAL FLESH INVOLVED IN ANY WAY. I AM USING THE AZTEC AND MAYAN RECIPE FOR BELLY BUTTON LINT AND I STAND A REAL GREAT CHANCE. I ONLY NEED 2 MORE POUNDS. DON'T SEND ANYTHING MOLDY OR RANCID. I ONLY WANT THE 'BEST'."

Daily Etsy Pick:
Sleep Mask by Lovelyart
Puppy With Handlebar Mustache Cards
Golden Rain Tree Seed Tin

WTF Etsy?:
Warning: Evil Baby
Taxidermy Squirrel Foot Hair Barrette
Urine Sample Candle

Weekly Words Challenge 51!

The words for this week were Safe and Danger.

How did you interpret them?

Danger: Keep Hands and Feet Away

...otherwise your finger might turn into Pacman.

...unless you're Superman, able to deflect pointy arrows.


Dangerous Old Lawnmower

The wheels were stuck in place; which made using it like pushing around a fifty pound lead weight. Then the bolts on the handlebar gave way, forcing the user to hold it up while pushing. In short, I was afraid Hoop would have a heart attack if we kept it much longer.

Safe
Thankfully, Hoop buckled and decided to get a riding lawn mower this weekend. It was long overdo! Now my baby can mow safely and in style.


(Hoop's Entries!)

*A caution: Some of the images below are gross. You've been warned*

Safe Frog


Dangerous Door For Little Critters


Squished Lizard

Ewwww.

The words for next week are:
Male
and
Female

If you haven't joined the fun yet, go here for details. Don't forget, we also have a Flickr group now for easy shareability. Plus, you get to find out the new words at least an hour earlier. Happy snapping!

I Heart Etsy: Will be posted on Wednesday! :) Correction: Thursday.

Blogger Seeking Fodder

Today's blog fodder is brought to you by Folioweekly.

Women Seeking Men

BLUE-EYED BLONDE. Young, pretty, 54, 5'6", looking for preferably blue-collar clown who will tease me and make me laugh. If you want someone special to live and laugh with, contact me. Hardworking, loyal, honesty a must. Be careful what you wish for!

Bozo says, "54! I thought you said she was 'young'."

Men Seeking Women

BAKED BEANS = INCREASE MILEAGE. Mentally retired, high-school grad, non-smoker, non-drinker, can't dance. Single white male, 51, 6', 195, iron-pumping, nose-picking, book reader, movie lover, ravenous eater! Seeking single white female, private sex therapist to cure aging, hormone overload, sleeplessness, boredom! In this case, honesty is probably NOT the best policy. Also, did anyone else mistakenly read mentally retired as mentally retarded?

ELVIS IN THE BUILDING. Well... sorta! Played drums for Elvis. I am 55, attractive, good shape, non-smoker, social drinker, music lover, active, loving, caring, down-to-earth, very romantic, full head of hair. So "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" Let's "Shake, Rattle and Roll." The man has been dead thirty-one years and you're still riding on his coattails?

I Saw You

BIG RED. Now this is very bold! You're so fine, you blow my mind. Maybe in time we can have more than coffee in common? Until then, I guess that I'll see you around. From Little Red. I got five bucks that the dude's real name is Mickey.

THE INCREDIBLE SNAIL. You scoot, scoot, scoot on your candy red apple. The service was great. Extra cheese, hold the fork. Cucumbers are a must. Smoothies sometime? I'm sure you're sick of coffee. It's legal in my sexy red shoe. It's ads like these that make me believe in secret drug rings.

TINSELTOWN HOTTIE. Your flaming red hair set my heart on fire. Your beautiful blue eyes chilled me to the bone. I regret being too shy to ask for your number. Let's rendezvous for a late night double feature! Rawr! Love, Icy-Hot.

COLOR ME BAD. You: Blue bear, blue bear... getting tattooed, you're so cool! Me: Tall, blonde vixen... not! (funny noise, funny noise) make the pain go away! Maybe we can color in the Hello Kitty coloring book together one day! ...What?

KOH CD RELEASE PARTY. You: The devil. Me: Your doll. I think our friends were as shocked as we are. We are life long fishing buddies! Let's go argue about this in bed naked! Even rednecks find true love. Aw.

UNICORN GIRL. You're honestly the prettiest unicorn I've ever seen. And on top of that, you're a girl, too. Best combo ever. Even better than peanut butter and bread. Nothing beats peanut butter and bread. NOTHING.

Tomorrow I will be out of the office and unable to check everyone's WWC submissions. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't post them! I should have mine up by *tonight and I'll come by your blogs first thing on Wednesday. *Unless I can actually figure out how to set auto-post. Happy snapping!

Head Soup

I've sat here for an hour trying to think of something to say. But the contents of my head just slosh around, without anything of substance bobbing to the surface. I feel happy and stupid. I wonder if this is what a worm feels like. If you Google it, the majority of people think humans are the stupidest animals on the planet. But if that's true, can we trust the judgement of the STUPIDEST animals on the planet? Maybe the people who are voting don't count themselves. They're probably the ones who voted humans as the smartest animals on the planet, too. How can we be both?! I'm so confused.

We should ask the worms what they think.

I can't put a finger on my happiness. It jumps around, making it impossible to trace where it came from. Maybe I'm happy because it's Friday, or because I've started exercising at lunch. I've been eating better too. Well, when I'm not binging on free cake. Hoop and I have had some really nice evenings at home playing with the Wii, cooking dinner together, and watching the fourth season of The Office. Maybe I'm happy because I realized today that it's been 1 year since I quit smoking. A YEAR! I decided to celebrate the milestone by purchasing a set of really expensive/frivolous tickets to Halloween Horror Nights.

Have I mentioned that I've been saving my money up for a wedding? Yeah, those things are pretty expensive. Who knew? Now I've gone and dipped into the kitty. But it's justified, right? After all, I've saved $1,387.17 by not smoking, AND going to Halloween Horror Nights has become somewhat of a tradition. It's where Hoop proposed to me last year. Also, the theme this year is twisted fairy tales. I get antsy just thinking about it! Maybe there are a few reasons I'm happy today and not just one. Whatever it is, I hope it stays. I could use a little stretch of happiness and good will.

So tell me, what do you have to be happy about today?

Have a great weekend Homebloys!

Dum dum de dum

Mom and I went to a bridal show on Sunday. The tickets were free and I was bribed with cake. FREE CAKE. Sweet Jebus, they could have asked me to show up in a toilet paper gown and I would have done it. When we arrived, I was instantly assaulted by a greeter with a "Here Comes The Bride" sticker. The woman never stopped smiling, even while she was talking. Then we were handed empty bags and directed through a door like two trick-or-treaters entering a fun house.

I was just telling Mom, "This isn't nearly as creepy as I thought it would be," when we entered a room decorated to look like a church. There was even a harpist. The next room was set up like a reception hall. They had a DJ, and hors d'oeuvres, flowers coated in glitter, and lots and lots of bows. I'll be honest, it looked like Easter had thrown up all over the place. Who knew pale pink and green en masse could actually make someone feel ill? The main room was a little better, but only because there was food.

In total, Mom and I spent about thirty minutes at the show. Most of it was spent pushing through crowds to get to chocolate covered strawberries and bite sized petit fours. The other brides were busy snatching up fliers and jabbing at each other with elbows to reserve vendors. It was a relief to be able to say, "No, thank you. I already have one of those." Although, I did snag a coupon for tuxes and saw a few ceremony decorations that I might like to duplicate. I also saw a few people that I hadn't seen in years.

It was funny to watch them glance at my obnoxious discreet bride sticker and then exclaim "I see congratulations are in order!" If they were hoping for details, I gave them none. It was at about that point that the cake binge caught up with me. Cake, it's like crack turned kryptonite. I was ill for the rest of the night. But now, just thinking about all those sweets has me googling when the next show will be. Mom and I have decided this might be our new yearly thing.

Only next year, we're going to lie and say Mom is the bride.

P.S. For those who have been asking, the wedding is November 8th!

Weekly Words Challenge 50!

The words for this week were Moody and Bright.

How did you interpret them?

Bright



Moody

Finding this on the side of our house yesterday made me very moody. I guess you can add wet rot next to termites on our list of house woes. Grrr.

(Random Pictures)

Lizard On The Grill


Tea Covers

My littlest brother choked on his lo-mein when I came back to the table with these and asked Mom, "Would you rather have the one with dancing eggs on it or the surfing penis?"

The words for next week are:
Safe
and
Danger

If you haven't joined the fun yet, go here for details. Don't forget, we also have a Flickr group now for easy shareability. Plus, you get to find out the new words at least an hour earlier. Happy snapping!

Daily Etsy Pick:
Organize Fish T-shirt
Get To The Point
Secret Decoder

WTF Etsy?:
Zombie Sleepover Diorama
Baseball Signed By Santa Claus
Penny (Her descriptions crack me up)