Dancin' Queen

Again, forgive me but Caroline loves dancing and, as her great grandmother, I love sharing a few funny things about her with y'all. Ballet to her is putting a leg in front of her with her toes pointed as you'll see in this video. She's done it better, but she is distracted from it by watching herself in the mirror, which is the only way our granddaughter can get her to stop grabbing for the camera. See:

Her usual cute face:

Caroline doing Ballet and Hip Hop! She has started this sniffing thing recently and sniffs everything and then puts her finger on her nose if it stinks to her and which you'll see towards the end of this video, the sniffing not the finger to her nose in this one. Weird kid I know but then she's in this family so what can I say? ;-)



Just a few Random Thoughts today:

I actually do visit some blogs; it's just I don't have much time to leave comments for a lot of them. I've seeing the profiles of a few and noticed that a lot of women are putting in their profile about books they like—the classic books. Now, I wonder if they just put that on there to sound—oh forgive me for lack of a better word and I truly don't mean this to sound like it is going to sound but highbrow. I don't like the classics at all. Give me a good trashy murder mystery or action packed thriller and I'm lovin' it. I truly don't like the old love stories. I'm asking: what do they really like about them? I read them in high school and college but found them truly boring.
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If you are not married to the guy, the answer should be NO and you know what I'm talking about. If he truly loves you, he won't ask and he would ask you to marry him. First hand knowledge here! :-)
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Another 24 and Jack Bauer comment: He once saved the world with duct tape. This is true.
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Every day I'm able to stir up endless possibilities in my paranoia pot that is forever boiling on my mental stove.
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Mormon girls serve casseroles...this comment will be explained in a later post!
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Pink Saturday for 1/14/2012

Welcome to Beverly's Pink Saturday once again. Just click on the logo and visit her blog to see what it is all about and visit all the other participants.

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While this isn't pink, it sure caught my eye when I saw these photos of gorgeous kitchens.

This one is very similar to a friend's kitchen. They have recently sold their house but I'm sure the new owners bought it because of that kitchen.

Also, the purple ruffled bedspread. My granddaughter's favorite color is purple so I'm showing her this one for sure.

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I'm a crafty and creative person so I thought I'd simply show you some of the things I've made for the last several years. I've sold most of the birdhouses, which is my favorite thing to do and will do more someday. I just need to find time to get the craft room in order and do them. Okay, let's face it; basically, I'm trying my best to be lazy. It's a contest between a friend of mine and me. I think I'm winning!

This is a clothespin bag. I have three of them in my laundry room just for eye candy. But actually, they do have clothes pins in them. Decorated and darling clothes pins.

This is one I sold. I do them with barkcloth and/or designer fabrics. They all had the same theme: roses. What else? I love rose fabrics and still have quite a stash of it.

They truly are adorable, and I put my heart into each one. I may have some for sale someday again. I'll show them here if I do.

I have picked up old suitcases for as little 50¢ and as high as only $2.00, which I consider quite a bargain. I then cover them with gorgeous fabric and place them on plant shelves around my living room.

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Okay, ready for some more of my thoughts on the television series 24 and Jack Bauer? Well, you're gonna get them anyway.

Why do they keep doubting Jack Bauer when he's "been there and done that" and is rarely, if ever, wrong.
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In the 8th season, the CTU (counter terrorism unit) one woman is trying to be a fashion model. No agent would walk like a runway model in high heels. Her clothing is so tight I can see her navel and stretch marks through the fabric!
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They are forever asking "Are you alright?" Sometimes I want to jump through my laptop screen and scream, "If I was alright with 3 bullets holes in my chest, a gash on my head gushing blood and a broken kneecap, I'd be sure and let you know!"
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Oooh, and the big one: "You're not leaving this room until you tell the the truth." Well, if that doesn't scare them into telling the truth, I don't know what will!
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Has anyone noticed how all the architecture is 1950s style. I mean the "residences". Then the doors in almost all the scenes are glass. I found that very odd. When questioning a suspect I'd think they'd want heavy wood doors. My guess is that they got a discount on those old looking doors. Simply the worst decor I've ever seen.
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Has anyone noticed none of them wear seat belts?! Horror!!! Just let me try that and see how fast the police pull me over.

In one season they had a "villain" who was from India, had long hair, a vertical soul patch, very short and was, frankly, about as threatening as a squishy banana.
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The satellites spying on us was, quite frankly, disconcerting. I hope that isn't true but something tells me it is. Wow! To be able to track me right down to my bathroom is not comforting, I tell ya!
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Yet...I'm still enthralled and loved that series.
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Just Sittin' Here Daydreaming

One of the things I love most about this mission for my Church is just being able to sit here taking calls while I blog! I'm so loving this. We all need to serve in some way and this is my small way in helping people.

Having been the highest paid woman in a very top Fortune 500 company, you would think this is beneath my capabilities. Noooo, it is not! When we serve our fellow man we are serving our God. I know it's hard to believe someone so humorous—ME—can be very religious, but I think God loves humor. After all, he gave us teenagers, didn't he? *Smirk*

Today, I give you more photos of English kitchens, which are very homey. I love the look of them and the coziness they exude. Isn't this window arrangement just lovely? I like the cheerfulness it brings.

I am a big devotee of mismatched chairs.

These next two photos are the same kitchen if you can believe it, huge by my standards, but just scrumptious.

I have a pantry but nothing near what this larder is.

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A group of us women had lunch together a couple of weeks ago and the subject of sociopaths came up. Yes, I know, it's a strange subject to come up but I had a question about something else—narcissism—and that segued right into sociopaths. One of my friends is a licensed psychologist so she was more than willing to answer a question. So I told them my first experience with a sociopath—and hopefully, my last!

Our decision to move to Idaho was a fluke caused by the 1989 earthquake in San Francisco. We arrived here and bought a small business and retained the one employee of that existing business. (This was a total lifestyle change for us, trust me.) That woman was the best salesperson I'd ever seen. If someone walked through the door, it was rare that she would not get the sale. She was that good. The problem was she was a sociopath as I found out later.

She never had access to our finances but she got around that in other ways. One was giving our product away at our cost. She apologized and we lost a great deal of money, but she was our employee so we bit the dust on that one.

Then she would lie and tell people in that small town that we were doing things we were absolutely not doing. She could look right at you and lie and you'd believe her before me. It was truly mind boggling. But she was so believable that it almost destroyed our reputation. Come to find out she had been in prison for embezzlement. Then one day the Secret Service showed up and asked us about her! She had been using a credit card belonging to a friend of hers in another state. That is a federal crime. Talk about shocked. While this woman wasn't a very attractive lady, if she had fixed herself up and dressed more stylish, she could have been a millionaire in selling.

At that time a new friend, whose husband was a psychologist, (Why have most of my friends or their husbands been in the mental health field?) and I were talking while sitting at a park one day and I told her the story. That's when I found out about sociopaths. She told me that's what sociopaths do. They have absolutely no conscience of right or wrong. It certainly enlightened me and I am much more guarded around people now. Our church excommunicated her and the leaders came to me and hubby and talked about it but we assured them she didn't have access to our finances. But it is kind of sad when someone with such a skill as selling does things like that when they could be so successful honestly.
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Just a few Random Thoughts for today:

Embarrassing moment: The other day I was on Skype with another missionary who was helping to train me doing this mission. I hadn't even combed my hair that morning as I wear a headset when sitting here taking the calls. I started picking my nose and several minutes later I realized we were on video chat! Talk about embarrassing. So be careful when you are skyping with someone. I have my preferences set so no one can video me without me clicking on Video. I screwed up that day for sure. I didn't know what to say. Deer in the headlights?! So quiet I could hear my brain cells dividing?! Yep, all of the above.
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Am I perfect because I'm a Christian? Nuuuuu, I am as imperfect as people come. I don't dance with the devil but he sure signs my dance card frequently!
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Next time I think I'll talk about padded bras.
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A Blogging Tip

In a recent post I stated something about blogs that have all the favorites of the blogger on the sidebar and some go on forever. Well, after that, I saw one that actually went on for hundreds of favorites. I can't remember whose it was and wouldn't say even if I could so as not to embarrass her or him. I don't think I've ever seen so many. I think it was on their Profile page though. My goodness, that blogger had a lot.

Anyway, I received an email from someone saying that is how she can keep up with all of them and when they're been updated. It didn't occur to me that some of you didn't know the alternatives to have a Blog List on Google Reader. Yes!! You don't have to have them all on your sidebar. I actually prefer Google Reader. Anyway, I'm showing you how you can do it without having your scroll bar so tiny you can barely see it when you have so many things on your sidebar. I'm not meaning to embarrass anyone or be mean but just to show you there are alternatives.

I've done a screenshot of my desktop to show you how I view all my favorites. There could be many more as I do hop around but I've had to limit it to just a few who inspire me, whether creatively, emotionally or spiritually. I've also Photoshopped the screenshot so as to not make anyone feel bad if they're not on it. Plus, I like privacy. Yes, I know that's hard to believe with some of the things I post on here but there are certain privacy issues of which I prefer to adhere. Having been burglarized twice in California (once even walking in on them and being threatened with a screwdriver) and having once been burglarized here in Idaho. Actually, I don't think I've ever mention Love Bunny's name on here, but I do so in emails to people. It's all about privacy.

So, google Google Reader and create your own page and start putting your subscriptions in there. It will take a while if you have a few hundred but it's well worth the effort in my opinion. And, please, pass the word around. You may use my screenshots if you'd like. Just drag them to your desktop. (Mine looks a bit different because I'm on Apple Macs.) Or send your friends to this post. I'll also put it in my tutorial up at the top so it will be visible to anyone. That tutorial up at the top gives you a plethora of blogging tips on how to do a blog. If you haven't looked at it, I suggest you do. It can answer a lot of questions for you. It's a good tutorial I did in 2009. In fact, you might like looking at all of the "Pages" up at the topl

Oh, and those in the top left corner are ones that Google "advertises" and you could be in there for other people to see also. Those aren't ones I necessarily subscribe to.

Also, you can "view" each blog in the area to the right without actually going in there if you prefer. It'll give you a heads-up on the post for that day to see if you're interested in perusing the whole post. Saves a lot of time in my opinion.

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All This Talk of Other Countries

I've noticed much talk about other countries on the blogs: things French, things Italian, things English and such that I've decided to do some posts about living in other countries. Personally, I love seeing photos of other countries and having visited other countries I just cannot imagine living anywhere else but the USA. I know most of you love to travel and wish you could travel more, but with some first hand knowledge of living there I find I'm happy just exactly where I am. But more of that later. First, let's visit a typical middle class home in France. Second, be happy where you are and for what you do have. I am.

In this photo I'm intrigued by what they've done with the ceiling. I've never seen a ruffle hanging from there before but I kind of like it.

Stone walls and floors in the bedroom would make for a very cold bedroom I'd think but with the fireplace it wouldn't be so bad. And, lots of ambiance!

When we moved into our house, which was brand new, and noticed how all the plumbing worked so well that we could turn on both showers, the washing machine, dishwasher, flush toilets all at one time and still not notice a bit of drop in the pressure, I was sold on new construction. I doubt I would ever be happy in an old fixer upper or old plumbing. I had enough of that in our last house!

Very sweet vignette in the bath.

I'm not too sure I'd want a living/sitting room this rectangular though.

I do like the round top doors though.

Wine cellar? Only the French. ;-)

Lovely bedroom for visitors.

Neighborhood markets would capture my attention also.

The view from the house across the lush valley.

Beautiful walkways but I don't think I'd want to be climbing up and down daily. I'd guess the whole village must be in great shape from the meandering streets.

This little place in the yard would certainly be a blessing though.

Beautiful views just walking in the evening.

But tell me, how do the cars navigate on such narrow streets?

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My brother-in-law and his wife lived in Italy and Belgium. When they lived in Italy they had to go out and buy cabinets for the apartment they rented. When Italians rent an apartment or house, it comes with absolutely nothing except maybe a toilet. There is no flooring. There are no kitchen cabinets. And when they had a broken window it took weeks to get it replaced. They just don't have Home Depots there to go in and get a piece of glass. I've forgotten most of what they told us it was like but I think they were glad to get out of there.

Here is an account from a friend that lived there:

We lived in Italy and it was not a walk in the park. It was poor, lots of stealing going on. It was not the dream I imagined it would be. I was thrown into a big, old, dirty, filthy city and it was hard for those 3 years. The food was wonderful. The traveling was a blast, but I would not want to live there again. And oh, the healthcare was horrid. It was scary to go into the hospitals. They are like 3rd world countries, just didn't feel sanitary or clean like what we have here. And they don't make appointments. They wait for first come, first served. You have to bring your own bed linens, nightgowns and food. You bathe the patient; they don't. And they sandwich them all into a room like sardines, not a pretty sight. Yeah, I love where we live here in the good ol' U.S.A.!
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