Went out to see Bo the other day, he wasn't there....so I took some pictures around the farm.

Caught a great sunset totally by accident. Just stepped outside saw the beautiful sky and turned around to get my camera. Here's what I got:

Did ya hear? Bob Evans died.

Rich loves Bob Evans biscuits and gravy. Whenever he leaves work to go there he always says, "I've got a meeting with Bob, be back later."

We love you Bob and we'll miss you! Thanks for making such great sausage!

My dad had some kidney stones "removed" yesterday. He was a nervous wreck but sailed through the surgery just fine. They actually blasted them inside his body. He will expell them as he tinkles over the next few days. He's very, very sore but getting better.

I'm sure he'd love to recieve some get well wishes from everyone!

For Kelsey Smith

WITH HOPE
by

Steven Curtis Chapman
Album Title: Speechless

1 Thess. 4:13-14 & Heb. 6:9, 10:23

This is not at all how we thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams

And now you've gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile

And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain
The pain of losing you, but

We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
'Cause we believe with hope
(There's a place by God's grace)
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again

And never have I known
Anything so hard to understand
And never have I questioned more
The wisdom of God's plan
But through the cloud of tears
I see the Father's smile and say well done

And I imagine you
Where you wanted most to be
Seeing all your dreams come true
'Cause now you're home
And now you're free, and

We have this hope as an anchor
'Cause we believe that everything
God promised us is true, so

We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope

The Children of War

This picture was on the internet today. It broke my heart to see the scared look on the boy's face trying to take shelter behind a U.S. soldier. I can't imagine being a kid living in Baghdad. Wish I could swoop down, grab them all and protect them.

The strangest part of this picture to me is the stark contrast of emotions. Some are just walking across the street looking in the direction of the gunshots, others are just standing around, some are running. I guess this image is evidence how the human mind can adjust to even unthinkable situations.

I'm still praying for resolution in Baghdad but I'm honestly not sure how this whole thing is going to end up.

These are the lillies blooming on the west side of my house.
There's only one little plant that comes up every year.
It blooms like crazy trying to make us proud of it.

I planted all my flowers this weekend. Now it's time to watch them grow and bloom their little heads off. I love flowers!!!

I spotted this little begonia bud just starting to bloom. I liked how the petals open out of the bud curled and kind of unfurl in front of our eyes.

I thought it would make a good picture and would give me a chance to play with the macro mode on my camera.

Here's the result:

Remember what it felt like to write your name with a sparkler? Well, you've got another chance!

Check out www.sprintsweets.com I can't figure out how to write the flowers but little hearts and smiley faces come up automatically after the words love and happy. It's fun to play with and a great viral marketing campaign! Good work Sprint!

I read an interview with Lakisha from American Idol. Did you watch? She got voted off - but hey it's just the beginning for her. Great things on the horizon for sure!

She said she was crying and holding her 4 year old girl. The little girl wiped away Lakisha's tears and said, "It's ok mommy, I'm not mad."

How stinkin' cute is that?

We have a new employee at work. Her name is Nicolene. I decided her nickname should be Nico (Nee'ko). I further expanded her nickname today to be Nico Suave. So we laughed about Rico Suave for a while and I decided we needed to find the Rico Suave video. Where do I turn? Of course, trusty YOU TUBE has a Rico Suave video! Here he is in all of his no shirt, leather jacket, bad boy Latino glory. Besides Erik Estrada, Gerardo could explain my obsession with dark skinned, bad boys ..... (yeah I know, I married a blonde, white boy. I can't explain it either!)

Don't you just love 90's dancing? Enjoy this blast from the past!

Hey Sanjaya, your 15 minutes is up, bud!

Now, Let the REAL competition begin!

I love this picture. Mom's got a proud little smile on her face, Robby looks slightly shy and innocent and Grammy is gorgeous as usual. Jill's right, we've got good genes!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!

I LOVE YOU AND HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Snow in April. What the ............

Poor confused tulips don't know what's going on!

My little tree in the back yard really wants to
bloom and make me happy.
Old Man winter keeps coming back
and spoiling all my fun! Green grass and snow...what's wrong with this picture?

GAME NIGHT!
APRIL 2007

WITH OLIVIA AND AMANDA

Last weekend, O&A stayed all night with us. On Saturday night, we did game night. We played putt-putt (in the house), bullseye ball, basketball, bingo and of course, the slot machine. Here are some pics we took throughout the night. Overall, Manda kicked our butts - but as you can see from below, she also kept score part of the night - so we think a little CHEATING occurred!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've heard of Global Warming....

but this snow in April stuff makes me think we're going through.....

Global Colding!

What the heck!?!

Our next President?

ATTENTION BLOGGERS!!!!

DAD AND CHANCY HAVE THEIR OWN BLOG NOW!

Be sure to visit and leave some comments, here's the address:

http://chancyandme.blogspot.com/

He's the baby-daddy!

Now we can all go on with our lives!

Operation Gift Cards for Grammy
Emergency Fund

Don't know if you guys know this or not, but Grammy is running pretty low on money. She had to pay her homeowner's insurance this month and next month she's got to pay her property taxes. Mom said after both of those expenses are taken out she won't have any money left to live on. I guess her annuity is getting pretty low on cash too - and that's all the money she's got left to her name.

Just because she's got a nice home and wears nice clothes doesn't really reflect what's going on in her life. Any little thing we can do to help her, makes a big difference in her life.

She'd never tell us about this shortage of money - but it's real. Grammy always minimizes her situation - she doesn't want to be a burden on any of us, but she needs our help. So anything we can do to help her, makes a HUGE difference.

GRANDKIDS UNITE!!

I know there's not an occassion here to present her with a gift but I thought if any of you had a few extra dollars, maybe you'd buy her a gift card from Kroger or someplace to eat.

She'll appreciate it more than you'll ever know.

Rich and I are planning to dye Easter eggs with Livi and Manda. They are spending the night with us on Saturday. Not sure if we'll be able to recreate these eggs! Wow!These are traditional Sorbian style Easter Eggs at the Sorbian Easter Egg Market in Bautzen, eastern Germany. For more info and some more great pics, check this out:
http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=103&article=44132

Looking at this makes me realize how much is going on in this world that I haven't seen. I want to go see the world! Don't you?

Happy Birthday
Livi-Love
!!!!!!

You're HOW old????

Once again, Walmart has some cool free samples offered on their website. Here's a link:
http://walmart.triaddigital.com/Free-Samples.aspx?fromPageCatId=11

Hit refresh on your browser a couple of times, the offers change. I'm getting some free lipstick, makeup and Alavert. If you need some disposable underwear - well - you can get that too!

Go getcha some!

Rich and I recently discovered

THE CURE FOR ANOREXIA!

McDonald's New Cinnamon Melts

460 calories and 19 grams of fat later - give anyone with anorexia this baby and they'll instantly bulk up and become addicted at the same time.

Ever tried the recipe called Monkey Bread? McDonalds has recreated monkey bread in a microwaveable, gooey, warm melted icing and crispy cream like bread of deliciousness!

PURE YUMMO!

Cinnamon Toast Doesn't Make You Fat, Lack of Sleep Does!

Sleep the Fat Off
By PsychologyToday.com

Imagine... shedding pounds simply by spending more time in never-neverland. Sounds like something out of a late-night infomercial.

But two studies show a striking connection between amount of sleep and levels of appetite-regulating hormones in the body. The findings suggest that chronic sleep deprivation could be making you fat.

American adults have cut their average nightly sleep time by nearly two hours in the last 40 years. And while we've lost sleep, we've gained weight: In 1960, only one out of four adults was overweight, and one out of nine was considered obese. Now, two out of three adults are overweight, and nearly one out of three is obese.

Previous research had shown an association between shorter sleep time and higher body mass index, but no one knew why, says Dr. Shahrad Teheri, an endocrinologist at Bristol University, and lead author of one of the two studies.

He and his colleagues used data from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort, which has tracked the sleep habits of over 1,000 volunteers for 17 years. They found that those people who slumbered (on average) five compared to eight hours each night had a higher body mass index.

And when the researchers collected blood samples from the volunteers, they discovered that the sleep-deprived had higher levels of ghrelin in their blood. Ghrelin is a hormone produced in the stomach that sends out hunger signals to the brain, which then commands you to be interested in food.

At the same time the sleep-deprived had high levels of hunger-stimulating ghrelin, they had lower levels of leptin. Leptin is another appetite-regulating hormone; it's produced by fat cells and delivers satiation signals to the brain. The particular hormonal ratio of high ghrelin/low leptin was likely encouraging the group to load up on unnecessary calories.

"Before this, people thought obesity was the result of sitting on your butt and stuffing your face," Teheri says. "But it turns out sleep has an influence. It makes sense to me personally, because when I was a sleep-deprived resident, I always had the munchies."

The second study hails from the University of Chicago's sleep laboratory. It shows that sleep loss has an immediate effect on the body's levels of ghrelin and leptin. A few nights of insomnia could thus trick your brain into thinking your body needs more food.

In the sleep lab, a small group of young men were forced to function on four hours of sleep a night for six days. The next year, they returned to the lab, but were allowed a full night's rest for six nights, so that researchers could directly compare their hormone levels and appetite.

During their sleep-deprived week, the men not only showed lower levels of leptin and higher levels of ghrelin, but they also reported stronger cravings for sweet, fatty and salty foods. Sound familiar?

"While there is a lot of attention on diet and exercise [for weight loss], these two studies underscore the importance of adequate sleep," says Terry Young, co-author of Teheri's study and professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin.

"Unfortunately, people think of sleep as an irresponsible activity. It's as if they are being macho, and want to prove how busy and important their lives are. I predict someday that attitude will be as socially unacceptable as smoking."

With Leland as good as on his way to a Mexican prison, I thought it was time for me to look for his replacement.

I found him!!! I found him!!!!!

Alli, you probably know this guy too. But I'm sorry, he's mine and I'm not sharing!

If any of you watch Miami Ink, this is Ami James - I think he owns the shop.

He's mine. Back off.

I read something once that said, "You always sell to the heart, not the head."

Yesterday Becky asked me to write an ad for a dog they'd had in foster care for 9 months. Clifford, an older dog, had a few health issues, but his cute, little face told his story.

So I channeled my inner Clifford and conjured up a heart-string-tugger of a story for an ad.

We posted the new ad yesterday and Clifford went home to be with this forever family in Zionsville today !!! Yeah for Clifford!!!!

If you want to read Clifford's ad, I think it's still online: http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=7818731

Need a good laugh?

Go to http://www.thisisbroken.com/

This blog lists packaging, advertising and all kinds of stuff that's not quite right. Here are a couple of examples that gave me a good chuckle:

Broken: Lowery Park Zoo flyer

The pricing scheme is on the back of a flyer for the Lowery Park Zoo in Tampa Florida:

Adults ( ages 12-49)
Seniors (60+)
Children ( Ages 3-11) Ages 2 and under are FREE

How much is admission for people that are between 50-59? Or are people between the ages of 50-59 not allowed to visit the zoo?



Broken: Triple thick shake
Robert Lee observes:
McDonald's advertises a "Triple Thick® shake". I've been trying to locate the National Shake Thickness Standard to verify that these shakes are three times thicker than the standard. [Maybe not "broken", but an apparently unprovable promise...]

The Girls of TechPG

Mom was in Noblesville auditing one of their agents this week. We met her there and ate lunch - then did a little shopping before heading back to work.

Terri (aka the Boss Lady) is on the right and Mary Ann (our recruiter) is on the left.

Is it possible to fall in love with a plumbing fixture?

If so, I think Rich and are are head over heels. The plumbing crew was out today to finish the slab leak clean up stuff. While they were here we had them install new faucets. Rich called me at work to tell me how much he loved the new one we got for the kitchen. I knew I hated our old one and sure didn't think I'd form an emotional attachment to a plumbing fixture.

Oh, but I have.

I'm in love with my faucets......heard faintly in the background.... "Hi I'm Andrea and I'm addicted to plumbing ammenities."


We've always wanted one of those restaurant sprayers for our kitchen but knew it wouldn't HELP sell the house in the long run. So we compromised and got a cool pull down faucet. We can't quit playing with it tonight. It's sad.



We also got new bathroom fixtures. I love it, but I can only have one TRUE love going at a time, so the kitchen wins out.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY JAN AND JILL!!

CORRECTION!!

Thank you Alli-Gal - you little quality checker you! The April show's actual date is April 27th. This is the 10 year anniversary of the show, there will be a spill over event on Saturday, but the actual show (if you want to get your hands on anything good) is Friday the 27th.

The April Show

Left: Snowy Church by Connell

Every year, Rich's brother displays his art in a show called the April Show. It's usually held the first Friday in April and nearly every year it rains.

So in an effort to win out over rain, they moved the show to April the 28th. Here's a website about the show: www.aprilshow.org

If you want to go, get there early. This show is held in a man's home. It's becoming more and more popular every year. It draws an enormous crowd - Wall to Wall, Body to Body. It's packed and usually pretty hot in the house. But it's worth it. The art is great!

Come one, come all!

Hot Water Fest

2007

It's baaaack! We've got hot water again. They were here about 6 hours today, digging through our floor, digging out pea gravel to get to the pipe that was leaking.

They filled the hole back with the pea gravel and then concrete on top. I wanted to carve something into the concrete like, "here lies my mother in-law" or "never thought you'd look here!" - you know something a skosh deranged. Here's why: eventually, we'll get off our butts and move. Some day, someone will want to replace the carpet. When they pull up the carpet and pad they will see this repair - so.....why not make em wonder!

Rich didn't want me to. So I carved our initials and the date in it. It's still really soft so if any of you have a good idea - shoot it my way. I have about a 2x2 ft area to work with. hehehehe

An Experiment in Amishism

I don't know how they do it, the Amish.

How do they live without electricity? Without hot water? Without so much that we take for granted?

Rich and I have been living an Experiment in Amishism, though reluctantly.

Our slab leak is going to be fixed tomorrow. It's none too soon. (I promise pictures of the jackhammered part of my closet floor! Check back soon!!!)

We've been turning off the hot water heater so it doesn't leak out into the slab. I get up about 2 hours before I need to actually get up to turn the hot water heater back on so if I'm lucky, I'll have luke-cold water to wash my hair in and take a sink bath with.

The hot water leaks out into the slab just about as fast as the hot water heater can produce it. So you play a game of hot water roulette every morning - gotta get to the bathroom at precisely the right moment, or the luke warm water has all escaped and the bathroom floor, though not heated, is now toasty warm.

Oh yes, kids, the Amish have something in them that I lack. Though I admit, I know the difference between icy cold water and luke-cold water now. And the difference is big, let me tell ya.

Of course it's hot water that's leaking, not cold. So our light bill was $300.00 this month! What a shocker! Wouldn't you think the light company would send a little note with the bill.."hey we noticed your consumption of electricity shot to near record perportions- what's up over there?" ....but no. They happily sent the $300.00 bill and are now anxiously awaiting my check to arrive!

Our insurance adjuster has been all but non-existent. Her excuse for ignoring our phone calls? "She's single and is behind in her work." What? Did she just say she's single?

Anyway, the end is in sight. I can't wait to take a shower again.

I'll never take you for granted again Mr. Hot Water Pipe Under the House.