To Whom It May Concern:

I am at my mom's, my kids are in the car waiting for me, and I have about five minutes to spare on this computer. I thought I'd read a couple of blogs. I had no idea I'd been gone so long. Seriously, like every single person on my sidebar has posted AT LEAST once during the last week, and I've missed all of it. There are about zero comments from me out there in blogland, and I feel totally out of the loop.

This stinks.

And it doesn't even take into account the posts I wanted to write this week - all of which have completely escaped my brain. My original plan was to get up here sometime over the weekend and write a couple of posts I could schedule for this week - but life kind of got in the way.

That said, I just want everyone to know how much I appreciate those of you still taking the time to read my blog (AND COMMENT!!) while I totally neglect you in return. I just have to say that my life is a bit stressed right now (week six of husband's unemployment) and every comment I got this last week really put a smile on my face. I'd been thinking about dropping my blog (since who knows when I'll be able to get another computer), but there is no doubt that being able to reach out and share things with all of you truly makes things better.

So really, this post isn't a post at all - it's just a big THANK YOU!! To all of you who care. Seriously. You may never know.

My Amazing Day...

First, I slept in. Or not. It depends on whether or not you take Daylight Savings Time into consideration. Personally, I found it refreshing to have a "good excuse" for being late for church. And there were people who were way later. So there.

Then, I had the privilege of helping out the primary presidency since they were short staffed. Can I just say how relaxing it is to be in there when you aren't the prez? And don't have to do sharing time? Or singing time? Or all of the above??? It was like I had no responsibilities. It was bliss.

Then I went home. It felt a little less blissful to be trapped in my house with my four children and all their pent-up energy. Seriously. I swear Sunday is their most energetic day of the whole week.

And then something magical happened. We had company - and not just any company either. Hansey, and his wife Hottie stopped by. Apparently, they have magical powers, because as soon as we'd we gone through the family-greet, my children disappeared upstairs never to be heard from again. Well, we did hear them a few times, but it was still rather miraculous.

Just in case some of you don't know who Hansey is, I'll tell you. He is Mr. Hilarious. AND he has a blog (which can be found on my sidebar) where he displays his particular brand of hilarity. I've known him and his wife since forever, and I suppose you could say he's one of a kind.

So anyway, here they were at my house. My living room was quiet for the first time all day. It was a miracle.

And then something even MORE miraculous happened. Hansey mentioned he knew something about computers. I think it was at about this point that I threw my laptop at him. (Remember my laptop? The one with all the issues this last week?) By last night I was so completely irritated with this computer because I'd done what someone told me, installed this spyware program, tried to run it, aaaaand...nothing happened.

And Hansey saved me.

I sat there and watched the whole process (in a state of almost complete mystification), and finally - FINALLY!!!!! - MY COMPUTER WAS BUG-FREE!!!!! Seriously. It was a beautiful thing. In fact, it still is. I have managed to type an entire post without any attacks from unwanted/super-persistent/uber-irritating pop-up windows telling me my computer is ABOUT TO CRASH. And it didn't take five thousand years to boot-up, either.

It is so refreshing. Just like the sleeping in, the non-primary-prez primary, and the magic silent/invisible children affect. And might I just point out that Hansey and his lovely wife are responsible for half of these phenomenons?

I told them to come again soon.

And now I think everyone should head on over, read Hansey's blog, laugh hysterically, and tell him how great he is in his comment box. Especially since it seems he's been experiencing a bit of a blog-funk (left over from February), and needs a little boost to jolt him out of it. After all, anyone who makes an innocent social call, and then allows themselves to be roped into computer-fixing, deserves a little love and appreciation - don't you agree?

Hope everyone's Sunday's were as refreshing as mine!

The Day My Stars Aligned Thanks to a Crash Test Dummy (and my mother)

I haven't shopped for clothes in a long, long, LONG, time. Those that know me will be shocked. This is not like me at all. Sometimes, however, the budget cramps my style, and I simply can't justify more clothes.

Did I mention how much I love clothes?

I love clothes. A lot. Especially Fall clothes.

I did go shopping last Fall - and I distinctly remember getting lots of cute things, and never feeling like I couldn't find something to wear. So now, considering that all of those exact same clothes are hanging in my closet, how is it that I suddenly have nothing to wear? Does this happen to anyone else? I see those clothes...I remember wearing them...even feeling cute in them... Yet they leave me completely uninspired now.

And they all look alike to me.

And I'm SURE some of them must be missing, because otherwise I'd be able to feel just as cute as I did last year, right?

But I don't.

Today I was sitting there thinking about trying to find something to wear to church tomorrow, and I got depressed. So I started thinking about shopping. And how I'd dropped a pound this morning. And how that was clearly a sign that the stars had finally aligned, and I was supposed to go to Ross.

Besides, my mom still owed me birthday money so I had fifty bucks to spend. Me+Ross+fifty bucks = at-least-enough-clothes-to-get-me-by-till-after-Christmas. The whole winter if the clearance racks are full and I don't count shoes...

And then I received divine confirmation that today I truly was destined to go shopping. Just as I called Hubby to let him know I was taking off when he returned, the mail came in. What do you suppose it had for me? Honestly, you'll never guess, so let me just tell you.

Remember Crash's little contest? The one where I won $50 for my little Sasquatch tale? Well, she'd emailed me to get my info, but I kind of didn't give it to her because I felt weird taking money from a stranger. What I didn't know, was that she is a woman bound by her word - and that she has amazing stalker-skills.

I got my $50 in the mail today. From Crash. With chocolate covered macadamia nuts, a pack of cards, a totally cute retro post card, and lots of little balloon foil thingies that went everywhere. And I have no idea how she got my address. (Well okay, I'm pretty sure I know her source, but still - very impressive).

Did I mention they were fifty one-dollar bills? My kids were totally awed by the wad of cash - and I chuckled all afternoon. Or should I say "All the way to Ross, Baby!"

It's been so long since I went shopping (my birthday in June, to be exact) that I was actually a little nervous I wouldn't know what to do when I got there. See, I have a system at Ross. If you give me an hour, I can walk away with an armful. I have a shopping uniform (cute jeans and a black t-shirt), a shopping pattern, a system for putting the clothes in the cart, and a system for trying them on (which has everything to do with the shopping uniform). I am like a machine in that place!

But I was on a time frame.

What if I couldn't do it anymore? What if I was only halfway through my cart when it was time to go? What if my time deadline made me so stressed out and flustered I missed all the super cute nice stuff, and ended up with the cheapo won't-last-after-one-washing junk I've sworn I'd never fall for again???

Can I just say that my game was ON?!

I rocked that store. The clearance racks were packed, the store was practically empty, I got my favorite dressing room (the one where you can see yourself in the community mirror with out actually leaving your room), and that lost pound made all the difference.

So thank you Mother, THANK YOU CRASH!!!, thanks to you lovely ladies I can finally stop setting my alarm thirty minutes early to allow for time to put together something to wear. I made a major haul today, my closet is packed with way cute stuff, and I didn't even have to touch my budget money. (Except for that really cute pair of {extremely necessary} brown shoes I was forced to put on my credit card. With maybe a couple other items. But don't tell).

Anyone want to place bets on whether or not I'll need to go shopping next Fall?

And the New Limerick Champ of the Planet We Call Earth Is...

Can I just say that we have some amazing limerickers out there?! This was a really hard one to judge because so many were so good. First we have our reigning champ Sue, from The Quack Shack, who turned out two fine limerick specimens. They are both worth a looksy, and qualified as contenders:

When doing laundry, I've cried,
"Oh, help! Your tips, please confide!"
Whites don't go with peach
Stay away from the bleach
Lest everything comes out tie-dyed!

I hang out my clothes on the line
The sun dries them crispy, but fine
I'll save a few dimes
But spend so much time
Hunting socks that aren't even mine.

Love the tie-dyed line! So original. The two that gave me the biggest laugh were from new contenders. This first one is from Lisa over at Away From It All, and here it is:

My house is one big laundry pile.
Well, there's two, but they each stretch a mile.
There's "dirty" and "clean"
(and some in between)
You'd never know underneath there is tile!

What a great visual! And the other funny girl new to our contest is Alison Wonderland. This one has one of my favorite openers:

My daughter just puked on her sheet.
The baby, his diapers they leak.
Which leaves me in a quandary,
I refuse to do laundry,
But my house it is starting to reek.

Can I just say that I've been here??? These were both so fabulous, that I had to take a poll here at home to make my decision. As soon as I'd decide on one, I'd change my mind and be back to the other one. Finally, however, after several people weighed in, I managed to make my decision. And the winner is...

Lisa, from Away From It All!!!!! GOOOOO Lisa! I sure hope there was somebody there to catch her when she fell, because in her picture she looks tall. I'd hate to be responsible for injury over in Poland - I don't know if their medical facilities are up to snuff. (She'll have to let us know in her next post).

To the rest of you limerick writers, thanks for making me smile! I can't wait for an excuse to have another one!!

And the Winner Is...

And the winner is..... soyandrue! When it came right down to it, the only way to judge was by which one struck me as the funniest - and this one makes me chuckle every time. So congratulations soyandrue, you have earned your own special place on my sidebar, where the world can appreciate you for being the fine limerick writer you are. I have no doubt that you are thrilled with this distinction. What an honor. Can someone pass the girl a tissue? I think she's overcome.

And here is that winning limerick, for those of you who haven't had a chance to read it yet:

So how did I get so addicted?
My fingers are really inflicted
Carpal Tunnel's no joke
My keyboard is ... broke
And my grammar is really restricted.

Again, I would like to thank everyone who entered my contest. I loved all of your entries, and plan on doing this again in the near future. This means soyandrue will have to defend her title - so practice those limericks!

P.S. Annie and Natalie both get awards for producing the most entries, and being the most supportive friends/sister EVER. Thanks girls!! (Hope you didn't think I meant some kind of actual award, it's more like a big mental "thank you" that will make you feel good inside. After all, I'd hate to promote materialism by giving anyone anything super cool - I'm really righteous like that).

Hope to see you all next time...

To All My Personal Life Savers

My computer went cuckoo on me the other night. Is it fixed yet? Well, no. I'm just having faith that I can get this whole post off before it decides to shut me down and erase everything. I called the HP support place Thursday night, and the guy sounded very encouraging just before we got cut off. Unfortunately, he never called me back, and we were gone over the weekend. Hold your breath, because when I'm done with this I'm giving it another try.

My weekend? Ward camp out, hosted by yours truly - the ward activities person. I would like to preface this by saying that being an activities planner is not really in my DNA. I am the type who plans a meal and forgets the silverware and condiments (could I ever remember the condiments?) In other words, I am NOT a detail person. By any stretch of the imagination.

This is possibly the reason I keep getting put into positions requiring extensive planning. Someone up there is hoping that at some point I will get things together and remember the little things that make things work - like tables for people to cook/serve on, for instance. (never fear, I remembered them that morning and managed to throw some together. See? I am getting better! The only thing we had to leave and get was the ice!). Is it working? As noted, there have been minimal improvements. Like the fact that I now recognise that I will undoubtedly forget lots of little essentials. Like bringing something to secure the signs to the tree/post/whatever. (Again, saved from repeating this blunder by assigning the job to someone else.)

This is really my secret strategy. So secret that I always inform everyone involved that if I do not have an AMAZING detailed/organizing/list-making/personal-assisting-type individual working closely (and I mean VERY closely) with me, the whole thing will come crashing down around all our heads. So far it's worked, and I would just like to thank Kathy, Magen, Joyce (who will probably never read this blog, but knows how lost I would have been without her) and every one else who has ever uttered those fateful words, "Um, have you thought about the..." for saving me from certain disaster.

After all, isn't this the way things are supposed to work? It's kind of like marriage. I have my strengths - somewhere, I'm sure - and I have someone else around to make up for my weaknesses. I'm not convinced (at all) that in this planning department they wouldn't be just as well off without me, but hey - they sure make me look great! And that's what this blog is essentially about. I would like to publicly thank them and tell the world that nothing I am in charge of would ever be successful without that amazing person standing right beside/behind/in front, of me. Close, I always keep them close. If they stray too far you will hear me frantically yelling "Kathy? Kathy?! WHERE ARE YOU KATHY! I CAN'T DO THIS ALONE! GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Now if I could just get this kind of help at home, I'm sure my kids would eat more vegetables, and my husband would always have clean socks. And I would never forget orthodontist appointments - or anything else for that matter. So thank you, thank you, thank you, to all of you who have helped me avoid repeated disasters - you know who you are, and you know just how truly lost I would be without you!