Evangelin

It breaks my hear to announce that Evangelin has officially disbanded. Zach has joined a touring band for a 6 week tour! We're so excited for him and wish him the best. (No, Zach is not solely to blame for the break-up.)


I can't tell you how much I miss hearing them in my living room and writing on my dry-erase board. This was their last set of notes; a set list.



This definitely doesn't mean the end of music for these boys. Ty's now concentrating on school and work. He still practices whenever he can.

So, this just leaves the mom to get over it!




I believe their myspace page is still up. You can still click on the banner at the bottom of my site and hear their music.

Glenna's Story

*I've decided to start having some fun with the pictures Glenna leaves on my camera.



Howdy, Ma'am. I don't mean to alarm you, but I'm on the trail of an outlaw.



There's no need to worry your pretty little head. Just wanted you to be aware and encourage you to lock the barn door tonight.


Just as soon as I saddle my horse, I'll mosey right along. Did you happen to see a horse run past here nigh on to an hour ago?




He went that-a-way.




I mean, he went that-a-way! Don't mind the DNA strand behind me. It means nothing.




He'll never catch me. I'll go out in a blaze of gunfire and glory!

The End.

Trek Games

Last weekend was the first Trek Games where Glenna was a participant. It was Superbowl Weekend in Tampa, but we didn't hit much traffic. The Lord gave us a beautiful day in Clearwater!

We arrived early enough to picnic on the grounds at Clearwater Christian College.


We found out later that students are not encouraged to walk on the grass there. Oops.







Unfortunately, the attendance to this was the smallest I have seen in all my years of JV. Fortunately, that didn't keep Glenna and her friends from enjoying themselves!

We fought hard. There was a one point difference between us an the blue team for most of the day. In the end, they pulled off a five point win and we came in second.

It was a blast!

(I wish the color was better on this one. Glenna's hair is pulled over her face.)

Ode du Car

Little purple car,
Your name was Nerple.

You never looked purple from the inside.




It took great courage for a teen boy to drive you around. You built a lot of character. You taught appreciation for life's simple pleasures.

Now you're gone.

The end.

Pavlov

Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich (1849–1936) Russian physiologist; discovered conditioned reflexes, e.g. dogs salivating in anticipation of food; Nobel Prize 1904 for his work on the physiology of digestion.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov would ring a bell and then feed the dog. Eventually, he only needed to ring the bell to trigger salivation in the dog, since it was anticipating food.

Here, we have our own little Pavlovian experiment.

It all started with my friend, CP, and her dog, Abby. We watched Abby for 10 weeks while their house was being renovated. They had taught Abby to like ice cubes! Whenever someone was getting ice from the door dispenser, she would run in and they would give her one.

Abby taught our two dogs, Jack and Blaze, to like ice cubes, too!

Blaze died in '06. Jack carried on the ice cube tradition and taught it to someone else.

We don't have a door dispenser, but we do have a freezer drawer. All we need to do is pull open the freezer door, and Missy will come running.

Every.

Time.

Jack will come only if he wants an ice cube. Missy will come back, even if she's just finished one.

Need to know where the puppy is? Open the freezer drawer.

The clever girl has figured out that sometimes ice cubes drop behind the drawer onto the floor of the freezer. When we pull the drawer out all the way, she can stick her little head in and grab an ice cube!


The freezer drawer - who knew it would become our Pavlov's Bell?

Frozen

This is as winter as it gets in Florida.


Glenna braved the cold on my behalf in order to get these shots:





When we go to marine science, Mrs. R is ready with hot chocolate and all sorts of goodies (including the best hummus ever according to both Glenna and Kelly).
Kelly has been dying to wear this jacket. She bought it at PacSun and fell in love with it. It will last her forever, too, since jackets don't get worn out in Florida!



The Kate! I love the Kate. I. Just. Do.




While Kelly is studying marine science, Glenna does a sewing class with Mrs. G. (I usually put my nose in a book or work on my AWANA lesson). Here, the sewing class had escaped to the outdoors:
If we can't see her, then she can't see us! She'll never know we're here. Note: Bekah R. is the one without shoes in the cold. She's usually the one without shoes, anyway!



It's so unusual to see them so bundled up!



Here's my solidly frozen bird bath:




God knew what He was doing when He sent us to Florida. I sure don't like to be cold.





The one bonus to colder weather is that it encourages the azaleas to bloom! Mine bloom later than most because they're in the shade.


It's beautiful and in the 70's today! Thank You, Lord!


(An aside: This weekend when I tackled Mt. Neverrest, our laundry, I accidentally singed a pair of Himself's pants. I took them out to show him as he was touching up the paint on The Mexican Side Dish. I helpfully pointed out the fact that he had a run on the side of the window. He just as helpfully pointed out that I had singed his pants. 'Nuff said.)

The Devolution of a Floor

devolution

1545, from de- + (e)volution. Used in various legal and fig. senses; in biology, as the opposite of evolution, it is attested from 1882.

Florida Builder, 1962 - Let's put in that new flooring called terrazzo. Supposed to be able to withstand heavy traffic and last forever!

Homeowner, 1972 - Let's cover up this boring terrazzo. Linoleum is cheap and easy!

Homeowner, 2002 - We've got to try to sell this house. We can't possibly sell it with Mom's old linoleum! Let's cover it with linoleum tiles and carpet.

Homeowner, 2009 - This carpet is too nasty, and the cheaper linoleum tiles have lost their surface. Let's take the floors back to the beautiful terrazzo! We can polish it up and make it shine again!


Thus begins the renovation. Already, without the carpet and "tile" determining the shrunken size of our dining room, we have so much more room and the house looks more open!


All of these pictures are blurry. No one knows why.

Himself, lifting off the linoleum tiles in the dining area. The carpet was cut up and removed. I could not believe the amount of dirt under that carpet. I must have swept up five pounds of silt. It felt so good to know we weren't living with that dirt anymore.




Lifting up the "tiles" in the kitchen reveals the ancient sheet linoleum. The funny thing is, the woman who originally owned this house still goes to my church! She had sold it to her daughter and son-in-law, and they put the "tiles" over the linoleum. Pat (original owner) swears the linoleum wasn't yellow when she picked it out. It may have not been yellow, but it was definitely 70's!


These two are of me, chipping off the tiles with a 5-in-1 and a hammer. Worked for me! Again, there was so much dirt and filth trapped under these tiles. I bleached and bleached it after I got the tiles off.
My family fondly refers to this as "squatting like an Aborigine." I've noticed each of my children do it, too.



Our schnauzer reacts to all the hub-bub and his changing world:
Jack would bring me toys, balls, anything he could find, and throw it into the middle of whatever I was doing. Are you sure you wouldn't rather play? Want to stop that right now? Please?



Once the terrazzo is polish and restored, it will look more like this and not yellow. We can't wait. I will then put an area rug in the living room.
I'm so glad terrazzo is back in style. I'm especially glad I didn't have to pay for mine!

Home Improvement?

I adore a freshly painted wall.

Married to a painter, I am fortunate enough to have a husband who adores a freshly painted wall even more than I do. I've also had more opportunities than most brides to actually receive freshly painted walls.


I was thrilled when Himself announced he was preparing to paint our garage/school room exterior. The mishmash of current colors wasn't repulsive, but it was also, well, mishmash-y. He told me there were certain colors he needed to use and test for his business.


Evidently, some painters have complained about the paint not working the way it should.


He quickly masked off the doors and windows and started applying the primer.


Already, the primer gives it a freshness! Before, we had primer around the red doors, beige walls, tan trim. Mishmash.



This side of the school room is already primed.



Curious about the colors, I walked over to the two, five-gallon buckets.
What is that under the lid? Which colors, exactly, were giving the painters trouble?



I spied some on the grass (looked like someone had sneezed it there) and tried not to gasp. Or gag. One of the two.
I know my camera and the lighting is not doing this justice. It looked suspiciously like peach yogurt.


I'm not a fan of peach-colored paint, but peach yogurt isn't so bad. That's the color he was going to put on the trim.



Ok . . . . what about the walls?
It's CALLED Copper Penny. it LOOKS like something else, altogether.




Here's the peach yogurt trim.





Here's the body color on the side.
I had no words. I had no words, because I'm sticking to the 'If you can't say something nice' mantra. It's just so, so . . . brown.





Regardless of the color, he really is an excellent painter. I couldn't be more thrilled with the care and skill he takes, even when testing out some hideous paint.




I was honestly trying to get him in the "upward" position, but he paints too quickly for my little camera. We'll have to put this one in the awkward pose file.



Ah! Now he's standing up.



Here, he's using a handy little gadget to test the mil thickness. One of the complaints was that they couldn't put it on a certain mil thickness without it sagging or running.




Hmmm. . . . a mil thickness of 11 and it's performing just as it's supposed to. Painters of the world, you can thank Himself and my school room for finding that out on your behalf!



As the colors began to dry, I was relieved that the yellow began to look less like peach yogurt. It kind of faded into a lemon yogurt, but it didn't stop there.


It should have stopped there. Again, this lighting isn't doing it justice. I should have waited until it was in full sun.


Friends, I give you Nacho Cheese and Beans.
Glenna has dubbed it The Mexican Side Dish. (Please note: the overspray will be corrected, of course.)



I have begged Himself for a large yard sign that reads, "I did not pick these colors! My husband did!"



So far, he has not complied.

Legitimate Shivers

My bird bath is frozen solid.

This has never happened in my almost 11 years in Florida!

We're woefully weak when it comes to enduring cold. Let's face it; we've been acclimated to warm weather! My friend BA was wearing long johns a sweater, and a coat last night at AWANA. I thought she looked most cozy.

Don't hurry, Summer.

Hoping for a long and beautiful spring!

Coming Soon . . .

. . . photos of a Mexican Side Dish!

(and it's probably not what you think)

Information Overload

Our pastor made an interesting observation on Sunday, and I'm still trying to process it.

Is it possible to have too much of the Word of God?

Very simply, he cautioned us against continually listening to sermons throughout our day. His argument is that we are not allowed to let the word seep in and affect change. In fact, he states that we can't possibly do everything we hear in every sermon and often end up doing nothing at all. His point was to replace listening to sermons on the radio all day with personal prayer and Bible reading.

As we told our JV'ers on Wednesday, personal prayer time and Bible reading are non-negotiable for the Christian wanting to know the heart and will of God.

I subscribe to many blogs. I use Google Reader, so I don't need to check each one every day - it alerts me when someone has written something new. There are so many fantastic ones out there who have challenged me deeply.

What I'm finding, however, is that when my mind is too full to process any more, I skip over it and check the "entertaining" blogs instead. I soon have a back-log of blogs waiting to be read, can't possibly read them all, and delete them instead.

I know I need to trim the list.

Don't worry; there are some of you that will never leave my list. I think you know who you are!

;-)