I am a nerd...

I need a vacation...we'll just leave it at that...

~Peanut


"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in."
-Robert Orben

oooh, new stuff!

New layout...whatcha think?

EDIT: Ok...had to change it. I was getting bad vibes with the red background!!! LOL

~Peanut


"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."
-Mary Engelbreit

Ok, it's a little more real now...

I just dropped off the invitations!!! All 113 or so. I walked up to the counter with my 2 boxes of white envelopes with the pretty green heart stamps on them that say "Love", and when I handed them to the lady at the counter I thought, "Oh my, this is actually happening!!!". Then I asked her to make sure the postage was ok, and it was (thank goodness)! She said that doesn't happen very often. I also learned that I didn't need the extra postage for my over-seas invitations. Better safe than sorry though, right?

Oh yeah, and the shower is this...coming...SUNDAY!!!!!! Yay!!! Hopefully I have my voice back by then.........

~Peanut


"I am thankful for the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends."
-Nancie J. Carmody

Gross!!!

Ok. I love spring. But!!! There are 2 things that I really don't like about spring. Comes with the territory though I guess. I don't like storms. Thunder and lightning is fine, but when they get violent, count me OUT!!! Then...the bugs. Bugs in general don't really bother me, but spiders...eeew, and those disgusting house centipedes (some people call them silverfish), GROSS!!! Well, here's a funny story about bugs for your entertainment.

I got to work on Thursday and there was one of those almost white spiders on the wall behind my cubicle. I swatted it. It fell. I don't know if I killed it or not, but I have NO IDEA where it went so I was paranoid all day. Then, Friday morning rolls around. I was in the bathroom getting ready for work when a huge housefly decided to pay me a visit. Now, I don't have a problem with flies, this one just so happened to scare me half to death because I didn't see it before it buzzed me. Here comes the funny - well not really funny for me - part. My coat comes apart. It has an inside fleece lined jacket, and an outer jacket part. I love my coat, I really do! Thursday I had taken it apart and was only wearing the outer jacket because the weather was gorgeous! I hung up the inside part on one of the chairs in the living room when I got home. When I got done getting ready for work, I went to put my coat on. It was going to be colder so I planned on putting the two parts together again. I put the inside part on, and grabbed the outside part. I swung it around, threw an arms in and flipped my hand over to snap them together and there was a house centipede on the heel of my palm!!! My coat came off in about .0000000000001 seconds. I danced around for a few minutes with my heart in my throat then shook the CRAP out of both pieces, turning them inside out and everything. I planned on washing them last night just to be on the safe side but didn't have time to. That's definitely on my list of things to do now!!!

~Peanut


"Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"
-Robin Williams

Where did the time go???

I wanted to post something last Friday (and a few days since then), but time just hasn't been on my side. This might end up being a mish-mosh like a couple of posts before. All I ask, is that you scroll to the end of this post, and read the part beginning with "For Little Lizzy".

The other day, I woke up in the morning, and I heard birds singing. It was the nicest sound that I've heard in a really long time. The weather has been taking a turn for the better - and by that I mean sunshine and warmer temperatures. I love winter, snow, and the crisp smell in the air, but I absolutely love Spring. The birth of new life after a long, hard beautiful winter. The beginning of many things on the Earth. I love it...flowers, green leaves on the trees again, clear blue skies with white fluffy clouds...*sigh*.

The wedding stuff is all getting done, pretty quickly too! We meet with the dj next Wednesday to finalize things, the invitations are all but ready to be sent out. They will *hopefully* be going out Saturday morning. They really need to go out like...today, but that's not going to happen. I just have to finish the inside envelopes, and post the outside envelopes and they'll be good to go! The shower is next Sunday...NEXT SUNDAY!!! I can't believe it's so close now, and I still haven't gotten what I want to wear!!! lol It's almost surreal. I thought that I would feel weird when I started planning my wedding (thinking back to way back in the day when I was a wee one with huge wedding dreams). I thought I would stop every single day to think "is this really happening to ME?", "Am I really doing this?"...but it's nothing like that. I'm not freaked out, well not entirely :-P (I love you honey!!!), I'm not worried...I feel comfortable with the whole thing. It feels right. I can't wait!

You may notice that I have a new link listed on the right side of my blog. It's the last one on the "Linky, Linky" list. My brother brought this group to my attention. It's very interesting, and very informational. I can't wait til I can join the ranks. Sometime after the wedding, it will happen. This story will give you a good reason as to why...I have my own reasons, but this about sums it up...enjoy. (Please note: This is NOT my story. I copied it directly from my brothers blog, and the link listed at the end credits the author.)

For Little Lizzie

I've been asked a few times why I carry. I'm really awful when I'm put on the spot, so I usually say something like "it's legal", or "it's my right". When I open carry, I think I'm going to start saying something along the lines of "to protect my family and myself", or more likely "It's my right, It's legal, and I'm tired of being pushed into the closet by the people who are unnecessarily frightened by guns". It's the truth. Guns are not bad. The vast majority of gun owners are not bad. Most of us do reside in the closet, though, because society has been trained to believe a bunch of lies. I've run across the following story a couple times, and considered posting it. Now I've finally broken down and done it. It's a good read. Enjoy:

“Why do you carry a gun?”

If I had a nickel for every time I've been asked that question, I'd have, uh ... as many guns as his firearm-festooned Editorial Immenseness, Roy-Boy. It's been asked of me by all flavors of folks in all slices of society, with attitudes and expressions ranging from angry-arrogant to curtly-contemptuous, to brainless an' befuddled. My answers to it have sorta formed three phases in my professional gun-carrying life. During that first and longest phase, I answered all of 'em sincerely and articulately, often following up with stacks of historic and legal documents. After many years, I concluded only a semi-significant sliver of people even heard what I was sayin'. The rest had already made up their muddled minds.

Finally, I just got sick of it, and moved on to Phase 2. If those asking seemed to have teensy open spaces in their minds, I gave 'em S & A: "Sincere & Articulate." The more harshly-bleating sheep, however, often got exchanges like this:

"So," queried Snidely Snotworth III, lookin' down his unbusted but needed-bustin' nose, "Why do you think you have to carry a gun?"

"Well," bellowed the Brutish Neanderthal (that would be me): "Because you're not QUALIFIED to carry one. You haven't got the skills, the judgment, the sense of responsibility, or the courage for it."

This answer often popped out after I'd just returned from some Heart-Of-Darkness where every living soul knew that the difference between slaves and free people is having the means and determination to defend their lives, property and liberties. That meant having guns and guts and God-given rights. Most of those people would quite literally die fighting for the freedoms so many Americans casually give away, and proudly bear social responsibilities those sheeple * won't even recognize.

* Sheeple: Sheep-like people, many of whom deny the existence of wolves, and vote to pull the teeth of the sheepdogs who protect the flock.

The Voices

Then I matriculated to Phase 3, where I started having some fun with the Snidely Snotworth types. When they asked the Big Question, I'd go all hunchy-shouldered an' secretive, then lean in close and mutter, "Because of the voices, ya know?" "The VOICES?" sniveled the Snidelies, suddenly scaredy-cattish. "Oh, yeah, the voices ... They told me to be, you know, prepared for when the killer clowns come ... " I'd furtively goggle around. "The voices say the killer clowns are comin' ... They're cannibals, some of 'em, and ..."

About that time the Snidelies would be skitterin' away like mice on polished marble.

Yeah, I know, the "killer clowns" answer might not have been "helpful," but it did just as much good as giving S&A answers to the sheeple, and it was a lot more fun for me. I know you already know why we carry these cannons. But sometimes, just sometimes, we all need a little reminder. That includes me, and I've got one to share with you. One that got me where I live.

The Connor Clan has been nomadic, and we've lived in a number of places. In one of 'em, we shared a side yard and friendship with a young woman we'll call Miss Maine, and her knee-high daughter, Little Lizzie. Miss Maine quickly bonded with the Memsaab Helena. Clearly, Helena's Amazon-warrior spirit and skill with arms impressed Miss Maine mightily, and much of their time and talk revolved around that fierce self-confidence--and guns.

As for Little Lizzie, the munchkin almost duct-taped herself to the Mem's leg. She followed Helena everywhere, but always, always, kept glancing back to check on her momma, as though she were the worried parent.

There was something guarded, something hurt and defensive about both of them, and that fearfulness extended to me for a while. They got over it, thank God. Then I sorta became a moving bunker for 'em, representing cover and protection. Finally, we learned the story.

Miss Maine had been attacked--brutally and viciously. You don't wanta know the details. As with so many such crimes, it wasn't really about sex. It was about hate and domination, cowardice and cruelty. And an even younger Little Lizzie had witnessed it. I like to think the Memsaab and I helped them to recover emotionally.

Then one day Lizzie came and snuggled into my shadow, visibly disturbed. That morning her kindergarten had put on "Frighten The Munchkins Day." Some schools do a pretty good job of alerting children to predators--don't go with strangers and that kinda thing--but others do more harm than good. All they do is terrify the tots and give 'em no operating options. Lizzie already had twin tears glistening, ready to fall when she grabbed a tiny fistful of my trouser-leg and asked, "Connor-Sir, will you a'ways be here? Wouldja be here ... When the bad mens come?"

My knees cracked on the sidewalk as she slammed into my shoulder, shaking with sobs as the hot tears came, splashing my neck and searing into my soul. "'Cause I'm a-scared!" she choked, and clutched me tighter. Oh, GOD/Who would not--who could not--fight without fear, suffer without sense of sacrifice, and kill or die deliberately, using the most effective means available--to protect life, liberty and a Little Lizzie? For God's sake, who?

Those who would not are no better than the predators.

Maybe in Phase 4, when somebody pops The Big Question I'll just smile and say, "For life, liberty and Little Lizzie." You guys can fill in the details.


John Connors
Gun Crank Diaries
American Handgunner
August 2005
http://www.americanhandgunner.com/CGC705.html


Happy Spring everyone! Easter is right around the corner. Let us all remember what this wonderful season truly means.

~Peanut


"The time you think you're missing, misses you too."
-Ymber Delecto

GREAT Weekend!!!

It all started on Friday. I got out of work at 4:00. Had an appointment at David's to pick up my wedding gown after the alterations. LOVE IT!!! Can't wait to be able to post pictures... After that, I headed home to grab some PartyLite stuff to take to my girls night. Kasia, Jaibee, a couple of other girls and I got together at ones apartment. We ordered veggie pizzas, a salad and some bread. All we did for almost 5 hours was sit and chit chat. Oooh, we also had some brownies, and a glass of wine. It was nice!

Saturday, I had all the bridesmaids, the moms, and Kasia over to work on centerpiece things. I was expecting it to take at least 3 hours to get everything done...well...I was so wrong. We had nearly 34 rings done, and 28 candles wrapped with the ribbons in about an hour and a half!!! I guess that's what happens when there's a bazillion people working on it! Ok, that was a bit of an exaggeration...there were 9 of us working on everything, but still!!! Later on that night, Cletus' brother came down with his lady friend. We all went out to dinner, then to a gaming/arcade place for a few hours. We played a bunch of driving games...which...I won one of them!!! And I'm terrible at driving games. It was awesome. **giggle**

Today, we all got up and went to the 10:15 mass. After we went through the readings, and the Gifts were being prepared, I looked at what the Communion hymn was going to be...'How Great Thou Art'. I am not entirely able to sing that song. It brings me to tears. I didn't sing any of it today because I was on the verge of crying. That was one of my mamaws favorite songs...every time I hear it, I think of her, and I miss her. I know she's well and safe, and I know I will see her again, but it still hurts. I pray for her often. There was also a little boy, a boy scout, who was receiving an award for devoting himself and sharing the light of Christ with other people. It was really neat!!!

Anyhoo...

~Peanut


"Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the works Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee. How great Thou art, how great Thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee. How great Thou art, how great Thou art."
-Stuart K. Hine (1899-1989)

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Yes...a day for green beer!!! lol Not really the first thing on my mind...

I emailed our photographer yesterday to see if he could adjust one of the photos from our engagement session so I could order a print to use at the rehearsal dinner. Well...he adjusted it for sure!!! About 10 different ways!!! They all look FANTASTIC too!!! I know which one I'm going to use though. Also...after seeing the updated photos on his website, I'm even more excited to see how our wedding pictures come out! :-)

Anyways...I got to searching out some St. Patrick's day things, and came across this...it's nice!

St. Patrick's "Breastplate" Prayer
(The Deer's Cry, or The Lorica)

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through the confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the Judgment Day.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of demons,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!! God Bless!

~Peanut


"May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand. "
-Traditional Gaelic blessing

T minus 60 days and counting

So, today marks 60 days til the wedding. This weekend was relatively productive too! I was off on Friday, and had a chance to do a few more things. After I cleaned the house, I was able to finish cutting all the vines for the centerpieces. I separated all of them too. Each color is in it's own bag. lol I'm a little anal about stuff sometimes. Now, it will be easier to get everything going on Saturday when all of the girls come over! Cletus helped me with the invitations too. We stuffed about 100 of them. Postage and all on the response cards. Now, it's up to me an my WONDERFUL memory to finish up the labels so we can get the invites sent out in the next week or so. Can't believe it's so close!

EDIT: I can't believe I almost forgot the best part!!! My wedding band is here SOMEWHERE!!! His has been ordered, it will be in in two weeks! yay!

Today had a great highlight. A co-worker just had a baby a month ago, and she came in with her adorable little girl! She is just precious! On the other hand...I'm so sick of Monday's. I have great weekends (especially LONG weekends), then Monday rolls around and something happens, usually at work, that just blows everything out of the water. Oh well, it's just a job...not a career. That's what I keep telling myself. I'm happy that I am blessed enough to have a fairly well paying job right now.

~Peanut


"Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties."
-Doug Larson

Alright, alright...

I'm a chicken. What can I say!? I decided to cancel my appointments to get my bottom two wisdom teeth pulled because...

1) I'm scared! Seriously! They put me under for the top two, and I have to be awake for these two...it kinda freaks me out. I'm still going to do it, just not for a couple of months.
2) I don't want a limp lip for my wedding. The wedding is only 2 months away now, and I really don't want to have my lip all droopy because I've lost the feeling in my jaw.
3) I don't want to have a numb jaw...and for the same reasons as listed on #2.

Like I said, I am going to have it done, I just don't want to do it before the wedding. I realize that the likely hood of me losing feeling in both sides of my jaw is probably only about 50%, but that's too high for me. I'm under enough stress as it is with everything else going on. Don't need to add this to it!!! Also, just so that everyone doesn't think I'm just being a crazy bridezilla wanting a perfect wedding and perfect pictures... Normally, the nerve on your lower jaw runs below your teeth. Mine is running right next to the roots of my teeth. They couldn't tell when looking at the x-ray if it was in front of or behind the teeth, but it's right along side them nonetheless. I am at a much higher risk for nerve damage because of this. They didn't want to take the bottom two when I was in high school for this exact reason.

Thank you to everyone that had been praying for me to come through these two procedures safely. I greatly appreciate it! Now, I can focus on the wedding, and not what I might look like at the wedding! LOL

~Peanut


"Yes, risk taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called sure-thing-taking."
-Tim McMahon

Happy 2 years!!!

That's right...two years ago today I met my wonderful fiance!!!

Happy anniversary honey!!!

~Peanut


"The bonds of matrimony are like any other bonds - they mature slowly."
-Peter De Vries

Is he serious??????

Ok, this just floored me. If you are an Obama supporter (meaning, you voted for him and agree with his views), you may not want to read this. I might say some really mean things...I just saw on Yahoo that Obama overturned the Bush policy on stem cells.

First of all, he claims to be a practicing Christian, yet supports abortion. Now, he is "allowing federal taxpayer dollars to fund significantly broader research on embryonic stem cells because "medical miracles do not happen simply by accident,". No shit Sherlock...it's called a MIRACLE for a reason!!! So now, not only is he supporting abortion, he's supporting killing embryos for research that hasn't even proven itself yet. Adult stem cell research at least has some backing! I did not vote for Obama...nor would I ever. I don't agree with abortion. There are so many other options, killing an innocent child shouldn't be one of them. I don't agree with embryonic stem cell research for the same reason.

I don't think that spending billions of dollars on the ROADS is what this country needs. Granted, the roads are pretty crappy, but what are we going to do with wonderful roads if no one is working??? NOTHING!!! We will all be sitting at home on the couch watching a tv that we probably won't be able to afford to have turned on! How about spending that money on companies that really need it so more people don't get laid off? I understand that it will create jobs, but one of the largest automotive companies is about to declare bankruptcy...why don't we help them as much as we did the banks? I'll tell you why...everyone is afraid that GM, Ford and/or Chrysler will do the same STUPID thing the banks did!!! Had the auto companies gotten in first, I think they would have gotten the help they needed, unfortunately, it didn't go that way.

I don't think that ripping all the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan is the right choice quite yet. There is still a lot to be done over there. Do I think it was a good idea to be there in the first place? Not really, but I do support them 1,000%. I have family over there, and I don't want anything more than for them to be safe at home with their loved ones. I don't want anything bad to happen to them, but I also don't think we're quite finished. Oh well, not my choice. I'm not the president.

I do not like Obama. I haven't liked him since day one. I pray for him, that he may be able to decipher what's best for our country, and I hope that he can pull off half the stuff he promised during his campaign, but I don't see it happening. He is a smooth talker (gee, why does he always have a teleprompter? There was another story about that last week!), yes he is an intelligent man, but I just plain don't like him. I do pray that this country can make it through the mess we're in right now, and I hope that he can help. I just hope he doesn't get re-elected.

This just got my blood boiling...my $.02.

~Peanut


"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on."
-Carl Sandburg

Oh so good!!!

This morning, I actually got up and went for a quick run instead of my usual DVD workout or jumping rope in the garage. It was extremely humid (it had just stopped raining), so I had a heck of a time breathing. I'll probably actually go to the doctor and see if they diagnose me the same way I was diagnosed in high school...exercise induced asthma. I wouldn't be surprised!!! It felt SO GOOD to get outside and run again though. I will be doing it a lot more in the near future. :-)

Getting back to lunch now though...I'm going to start the book I bought the other day. It's called "Stories About Purgatory And What They Reveal - 30 Days For The Holy Souls". It's part of my 'research' tied to my Lenten penance. :-) Purgatory is one of the things that I don't 100% understand yet. I'll probably end up reading again...and again to see what else I can get out of it. We'll see what the book opens up for me!!!

~Peanut


"When you re-read a classic you do not see in the book more than you did before. You see more in you than there was before."
-Clifton Fadiman

Why am I surprised???

Ok, I really don't know why I was surprised by this today, but I was. People just never cease to amaze me...

Picture this...You're driving home on a two lane road. You need to make a left hand turn either into a parking lot, a side street, whatever. Now, there isn't one of those handy dandy little 'extend-a-lanes' on your right side, but people don't hesitate to pass you on the right. Here's what kind of surprised me...today on my way home from work, I was stopped in because someone was turning left. I heard a siren coming from behind...well, I couldn't tell at first where it was coming from, but then saw the people heading the opposite direction starting to pull off to the side, then saw the ambulance. So tell me why half the people in my lane didn't even TRY to get over to the right to get out of the way of an ambulance??? Are they in such a hurry that they can't wait to go around you when you're making a TURN, but they can't get the heck out of the way when there's an EMERGENCY???

Seriously...

~Peanut


"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength."
-Eric Hoffer

Well!

Today I had every intention on posting a long blog about certain things going on in my life, and now I'm down to the last 15 minutes of my lunch break. I'll give you the cliffs notes version...

I feel helpless. People in my family are struggling. Not just one person, but pretty much all of them. I want to help them all, but I don't know if I can, or if they would even accept my help if I were to offer it. I guess there's only one way to find out though, right?

The first part of my lunch was spent at a little store near our church. It's owned by a parishioner, and I really like it. They have all kinds of things from books, prayer cards, rosaries, necklaces, etc. I went there today to get a pouch to keep my rosary in, and wound up leaving with the pouch, a book, and a couple of small things that I'm going to give to my sister. I hope she likes them! :-)

Anyhoo...maybe I'll post more later. I have RCIA tonight, so I might not get to it. Hopefully, I'll have my friends story posted soon too...gotta get back with him about that!

~Peanut


"Fear not that life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning."
-John Henry Newman