Vintage Blonde

Vintage Blonde, originally uploaded by EllenJo.

This is so adorably funny! My dog would never sit still and let me do this to her. Oh well.

I'm at the breaking point...

...and I don't know how much longer I can tolerate the pettiness, gossip, and general stupidity of my every-day surroundings!

That is all.

SPC #2 Mirrors

This is in the bathroom of Dollywood on a Christmas time visit last year. I love the hand painted detail of the flowers. I really gotta work on smiling more when I take pictures. I think I'm concentrating so much on getting the shot I forget that I'm actually in the picture!
I really enjoy going to Dollywood with my family. Any time of the year is great but I especially like the fall because they have the Harvest Festival when they bring in crafters from all over the US, wonderful food, and Bluegrass music.
I used to work there in the summers between college semesters, and I really miss it. The last time I worked there I was a candle maker. That was the best job ever! I kick myself on a regular basis for not keeping that job. Seriously.

seeing red!

This being Columbus Day and the daycare being closed I decided to catch up on my laundry. So I'm washing my scrub tops and just going along my merry way when the dryer buzzer goes off and I go to take them out and see...red streaks all over everything!!! First I thought an animal had gotten into the dryer and perished (hey it could happen), but when I started furiously taking the clothes out I found the culprit. A red crayon had somehow crept into my pocket and melted all over everything! Oh woe is me what am I gonna do now? Back into the washer they went for a 20 minute soak in hot water and Oxy Clean, then another run through just to make sure. There are still some spots and I will probably be washing them again. But that was my blond moment of the day and I'm sure it won't be my last.
So carry on and have a good day!

SPC Mirrors #1

This was originally taken for the "Get your shine on" challenge for the whole word connection thing, self esteem being my word that shines in my mind a lot. But now it's perfect to start this month's theme.



I put the sticker on my closet door mirror to remind me to have more of this thing that seems to elude me...especially when I'm around people I don't really know. To the people who know me this will seem like an odd statement. Because I don't have to prove myself to my friends it's not so hard to be myself, and they know I'm a dork anyway. They can share in the dorkyness and we are happy.

I SUCK at updates!!

I felt the need to share that...so thanks for listening. I blame it on my slow internet connection and my lack of patience.

Dorkiness Defined

Today marks the end of well...an era for me. I've been a fan of the comic strip "For Better or For Worse" since I was a girl but only got to read it on Sunday from the newspaper. When I found it online I was so excited! I've been following the lives of these fictional characters for so long it feels like they are part of my family. Seriously. When Farley (the dog) died, I shed a tear or two. It coincided with my dog dying and it was just so heart wrenching. When Michael got married I was a little jealous of the girl he was marrying, and then when he had kids I was like no! he's too young. And now Elizabeth is marrying Anthony, and when I read the wedding ceremony * I got a little choked up. So now it seems the end* has come for this family that I've grown to love. I'm not sure if the writer plans on continuing the story, or revisiting old story lines, but I will continue to be faithful to this world she has made. And yes, I know it's a little dorky to indulge in a comic strip, to get lost in this fictional world, but hey, it's not like it's detrimental to my health...yet.

*I linked to the comic strips based on the assumption that it is a permanent link. I don't know for sure but I'm hoping they are. I apologize in advance if you happen to click on the link and it no longer takes you to the intended comic.

restaurant fun

a little camera angle trickery




my sister channeling The Grudge





dessert is the best part of the meal!

i've been busy

My second attempt at making a scrub top, this time for one of the girls I work with. I had told her a couple of moths ago I would make her a UT one so she could wear it when football season started. I waited until Thursday, the day before she wanted it to start sewing. And not during the day. No no no, I waited until 9:30 that night, partly because I worked all day, partly because I had play practice, and partly because I knew I didn't have to get up early to go to work the next morning.



It only took me 4 hours as opposed to my first one that took me 7 hours. I think I'm getting the hang of it.





Carla decided she needed to offer her support



feeling the late hour



sorry about the grossness on my oven, I really need to clean it. And yes, that's what time I finished it.



And...the finished product on the recipient. It was too big, she didn't care, but I gotta work on my measuring skills.

Shine Self Portrtait week 3

This is called getting up with the sun to drive an hour and 15 minutes to the federal court house to sit for an hour to plead my case to get out of jury duty. And it worked.

The sun is looking over my shoulder as I make my way there; and it is warm, glowing, bright and cheery....the exact opposite of the way I felt as I drove down the interstate. Jury duty is exciting to some people you know. This was my second selection letter (I have to be available through Dec.) but the first time I went to the courthouse I felt like a highschooler who had to give a speech and wasn't prepared, praying that they wouldn't call my name. I hate that feeling.

summer bloomin'

Girls Night Out and other...stuff

Last night was our second girls night out trip and the destination was the Macaroni Grill where I got something with penne pasta and yucky fatty chicken, strawberry lemonade, and then... dessert. This time is important for all of us because even though we see each other every Sunday in church we don't get to talk that much. The subject of that new show on ABC called Swing Town came up and we all learned that we have our own little swing club in this two stop light town. Amazing and shocking I know! (at least to a few of my readers, probably not for everybody else). Oh, the things we learned. I cannot repeat them here.



I'm not a lemonade kinda girl but this was really good. Smooth, not tart.



Sadly, this is not the dessert I ordered although I should have. I got something with apples in it.

At work earlier in the day I was trying to take a photo for my self portrait blog I'm working on. This is one of the rejects but this is what I do. I'm a moderator, a comforter, a referee, a nurse, a cook, a teacher, a janitor, a mentor, and all sorts of other titles you can think of. And trust me, just because it looks like I'm just lounging there, I hardly ever get to sit down during the course of a day.



I'm beginning to wonder if the new director position is really for me because I have some moral issues with some things, but I'm giving it a month, and then we'll see what happens. Oh, did I forget to say that I got promoted to director of one of the daycares after the old director quit very unceremoniously? Yep, I did. It's weird because I've never been in a leadership job before. Maybe I'm just nervous. Maybe it will all be ok. We'll see.

Sunday School is Serious Business

You know it's true! We work hard in Sunday School, can't you tell?

Sewing for 7 hours is not what it's cracked up to be

I've been promising for about 3 weeks to make a scrub top for myself for work. The girls are anxiously waiting to see the results cause they all want one too. Today was the day, and if I had known it was going to take me all frickin' day I would have planned better. I'm no stranger to the sewing machine. On the contrary, my little ancient Kenmore has served me well even thought she has fits of being uncooperative at times. And notice the duct tape on her. That is courtesy of a past theater director who borrowed her and dropped her on the floor.



I had to do a little bit of adjusting because I messed up the collar but you can't tell it and it's too big but the pattern is a unisex scrub pattern so the sizes may run a little big. I love the material because it's so fun and perfect for daycare. I need all the brightness I can get in my day!



By about 6:30 I was so over it and I was starving but I wanted to get it finished. That's when the machine started shutting down and eating the thread. I finally fixed it after about 20 minutes of ripping, and screaming and walking away. You can see the almost empty bowl of Cheezits in the first picture where I got desperate and was looking for anything to get me through. Can I just say for future reference that it's probably not a good idea to eat cheese crackers while you're trying to sew. I'm just sayin'.



You can see my frustration here. (Sorry I deleted that picture out of sheer stupidity, but trust me I was over it) I'm starting a self portrait blog taking a picture a day for a year. This guy inspired me but I'm not going to use Flickr simply because I ain't paying for something I can do for free. So I'm trying out WordPress because...well...I already have 2 blogs with Blogger and I don't want to be a blog hog. And I want to see if it's as easy to use as I've seen other people claim it to be.

This is the finished product:


I love how setting the camera on top of the sewing machine conveniently cuts off my head.

Where's My Sunglasses? SPC #2

Since I've been working at the daycare I've been getting up a whole lot earlier than I'm used to. Except now I'm used to it. So this morning I was up in time to see the first rays of sunlight coming over the mountain. So early in fact that I decided to take my dog to "visit" my grandmother's grave at the grave yard. It's here that I faced the sun. The sun is "shining" in my face.




The truth is I'm having a little difficulty interpreting this month's theme of Get Your Shine On. I'm not very good at abstract things. Give me a good detailed list of what you want and I'm right on top of it. I will continue to try to be more creative with this because some of the other blogs I've seen blow me away with their creativeness. You can see more of them here at Self Portrait Challenge.

uh...yes I lied

Weekly Wrap up #4 Liar Liar

In the past week have you lied? What was the lie?

Yes...I made up an excuse for a girl I work with not to come in for somebody else who wanted to leave work for no good reason

What was the scale of this lie (white lie, huge lie, etc)? Were you lying to cover another lie?

white lie...nope not covering

Did you feel guilty about the lie or nonplussed?

not guilty in the least...she needed to be at work, not looking for her next fix

If you haven’t lied at all, was this because of an effort to tell the truth or because you simply did not have to?

i can't answer this one...sorry

Hair twirling is in my blood (Self Portrait Challenge week 5)

I have some excellent hair twirling skills...



I've done it ever since I can remember, especially when I get nervous or bored or frustrated. When I was a very little girl I would play with my mama's hair while I was going to sleep, and I guess it just progressed into playing with my own and I'm the only one in my family that does it. So it's not really in my blood, but it sounded like a good title for this blog.



I don't know why I'm not smiling...it seems like a lot of my pictures are of me not smiling. I guess I was just concentrating so hard to get the shot it looks like I'm mad or something, but I'm not I swear.

See other great self portraits here

Saturday 9: We Travel Well

1. What part of the world and country do you live in?
United States, Tennessee

2. What is the furthest from home that you have been, and where is it?
Durango, Mexico

3. What travel destination have you enjoyed the most?
I will say Maine because it was the first time I tasted cookie dough ice cream and I just thought it was the greatest invention...ever!
*That sounds kinda shallow after I read it so I should probably say Mexico because it was for a mission trip and I really did enjoy seeing a different culture from my own southern...uh redneck world.*

4. What travel destination have you enjoyed the least?
a college choir trip to Folley Beach, South Carolina. It was just all kinds of messed up.

5. Is there somewhere you’d like to visit but have not, and where is it?
Yes, definitely Greece. The urge started with the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and has been reconfirmed with the viewing of Mamma Mia. It just looks so beautiful and happy.

6. Do you prefer traveling to see historic places or to hit the beach and relax?
I enjoy both. I like laying on the beach for about 2 days and then I get bored out of my mind.

7. What popular vacation destination have you never considered because you think you’d not like it?
Niagra Falls

8. Where do you travel to most recently?
Orlando, Florida to work with the children at Wycliffe Bible Translators but gee whiz that was a year ago. I haven't been anywhere since.

9. Do you like day trip “mini-vacations”?
Yes. We go to Dollywood all the time since it's only about 3 hours away even though we haven't been at all this year. It's a very dry year for traveling at our house. And when I see this post, I laugh.

My Neighbor Loves Me!

Cause looky at what we found on our back porch when we got home this afternoon!
YUMMY!!!!!


A close up...just so you can see how yummy they are.

Spelling 101

Boy, I can't spell. I was looking through my older blog posts and I have a ton of misspelled words. This is one of my pet peeves, for people not to spell words right. And look at me, I'm slacking left and right with my spelling. I will try to do better next time. I promise.