DIY - how to use a laundry hamper

Step 1: Provide convienent laundry hamper for members of the family

Step 2: Make sure there is adequate space available for discarded clothing.

Step 3: Discard soiled clothing for wife/mother to collect and wash

Step 4: PUT THE FREAKING CLOTHES IN THE STINKING HAMPER!!! IT'S NOT EVEN 2 FEET AWAY! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO REMOVE OR OPEN A LID FOR PETE'S SAKE!


there you go, feel free to print these instructions out and place randomly throughout your house to help the hamper impaired in your family.

Next week: How to change the toilet paper roll... stay tuned!

twan

Last night my little P turned on her radio to fall asleep too. She happened to find the local Christian rock station, and was listening to it while she got ready as well. In the car on the way to school she said...

P - "Mommy I heard one of the songs we sing at church on the radio"

Me - "Really? Which one?"

P - "The one about Jesus"

Hmmm, that just doesn't really narrow it down for me.

A was trying to tell us that her friend goes to "twan" (sound it out like swan) That she takes lessons for twan... (sounds innappropriate doesn't it?) It took a while but we finally realized that she was combining the words baton and twirl...

OK, wanna see my laundry room...

An applique from Uppercase living

Cool gadget the holds my iron and ironing board

Where the dirty clothes USED to gather... (the floor)

Now they are locked away in the laundry sorter/which has a flap to cover them up...

America the Beautiful

As you could see from my 7th grade school picture, coolness has oozed from my pours for a long time. As I have said before, "You can't buy cool". So when I became a freshman in HS, me and BFF were at such a level of coolness that we truly were unattainable. We had THE most clever jokes, too smart for even the "cool" kids to get... (I am laying on the sarcasm pretty think here, just to clarify)

From our hilarious inside jokes I have developed a particular fondness of the song America the Beautiful. So when my little P brought home her written translation of said song, I was delighted.

Frute and plane... She is so awesome, I love love love it.

BFF and I liked to illustrate the literal translation of the song... Here is my drawing. although I will mention she was WAY better at drawing this...

Wow we really were a special kind of dorks... Especially cuz when I look at that (20 yrs later) I still get the giggles.

OK, even though NOBODY cared about my Cajun meatloaf...(ie: no comments) and am going to attempt to not kill this entry with a mention of food... I just wanted to share the 2 things that keep my kitchen functioning...

First the shaker is Montreal Steak, we use it for steak (duh) and pork chops... it is SO yummy.

Second is Zesty Herb, it is supposed to me a marinade, but I just mix it and then slowly simmer chicken breast or tenderloins in it. It is one of my family's FAVORITE seasonings and meals.

That is all. New and improved laundry room will have to wait for another day... I know you all are just dying with anticipation. Maybe if I get bombarded with comments I will break down and show you pictures of my laundry room later this afternoon...

huh...

My step dad used to tease me that I needed to get my 20 thousand words in each day, in other words, I talk a lot. I seem to recall the first times I got in trouble as a kid in school was for talking. My senior yearbook says "10 yrs from now LuckyWife will still be telling the same stories and laughing at them". Man did they ever have me pegged. Maybe it's a good thing that hubby and I moved so often, I needed a new audience anyways. I have even gotten "spoken to" at work (on more than one occasion) about talking too much. One would think by now I would have SOME self control... Maybe it's good that I blog... I get get my stories out without yakking too much... So knowing how much I love to talk and my long history of obsessive talking...


There is nothing I feel like talking about today... I have many possible topics including:

~I applied for a job at a local radio station... no not as a dj, but reception and Accounts receivable

~I'd like to tell you about the book 90 minutes in heaven by Don Piper and what I learned from the book.
~My inner struggle with wanting to share hubby and my story with people, possibly at church, and inspire people to repair their marriages vs hiding our tainted past and paint the perfect picture
~My thoughts and feelings after seeing the movie Fireproof - good by the way
~My daughter's written translation of the song "America the Beautiful" (adorable)
~My other daughter's attempt to combine the words baton and twirl... lol

~How one daughter implied that I have a mustache, because she can not lie about that but has no problem lying about how much candy she snuck from the kitchen or if she put clean panties on or not
~how I organized my laundry room and am totally giddy about it
~How the above sentence frightens me and I think I need to get out more.
~Oh and of course, I cut my bangs and now I look just like my 7th grade school picture, which was 1987, which is not a cool "80's are in" haircut.

Seriously, I'll prove it.



1987





2009





Only one word comes to mind here... FAIL.

What to do...

What to do, what to do...

One my my friends from florida just lost her father to cancer. The funeral is about a 4.5 hour drive from my house this friday. I am gonna have to talk to hubby, because I think I need to be there... Why would she need me when she will be surrounded by family? I will need to back up to the year 2006.

Kim calls me one day and says "I found my dad" What? I ask, details details! She had never known or met her dad, all she knew was his name and now that she was older, married, with children she had recently had a new desire to find him and she did. He had a vacation home about 3 hours from where we lived and they had planned to meet the following weekend...

One would think after waiting 26 years that one week wouldn't matter but it was eating her up inside knowing that he was so close. So Kim and I and all our girls decided to casually go sightseeing in the town of his vacation home THAT weekend...

So off we go, sight seeing, goofing off and having a great time... we then decide to find his house which happens to be ON the beach. wow. So we act like total stalkers walk up the beach and she calls... and tells him that we are right outside.

I was there when she met her father for the first time, and I think I should be there when she has to say goodbye.

All kinds of random-ness

Sunday night little P and I were all snuggled in my bed together watching a show, when I whispered in her ear...

Me - Guess What

P(still whispering) - What?

Me - I love you...

P(now whispering in my ear) Guess what?

Me (grinning, knowing what she is going to say - What?

P - Power Puff girls is going to be on ALL day tomorrow.

Me (not whispering anymore) - Are you serious?

P (in all seriousness) - Yes! will you wake me up at 6?

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School is canceled today... which means one more day of having my little pun.. er.. uh.. I mean angels at home with me. I really must do laundry today, only the panties that I don't like are left in the drawer . :-(

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Took my kids to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua, it was actually funny, I mean I actually laughed, out loud in the theatre... You may want to take that into consideration if I ever recommend a movie... Just putting that out there.

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You will only really get this if you happen to watch NCIS, on the show Zeva is from Israel and in an attempt to use american slang she often will mix up the words. Like "old school slothing, instead of old school sleuthing. Anyways the point of this is that my oldest, A, often does the same thing... the most recent treasure was while watching the boob tube, there was someone with a doll and pins... She piped up, "I know what that is! A doo doo doll." Tee hee... We told her is was a voodoo doll, she said "whatever"

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Picture time!

I like to make this the header of this blog... I'll have to figure out how...

I refinished an old antique desk... Old English rocks...

PS. Tracie - Did you get my e-mail with the scrapbook ideas? Anyway if you ever need inspiration go to www.scrapbook.com

PPS. BFF, I think you should come down next weekend so that we can go see revolutionary road together... I am dying to see that.

my cajun meatloaf

Pioneer woman has an amazing recipe for cajun meatloaf, you really should click here to read the original ingredients and great how to step by step instructions and pictures.

Using this as a guide I wanted to try and make the meatloaf as well, espeically since cajun meatloaf was also mentioned on desperate housewives last night. The only problem was that I didn't exactally have everything on hand nor did I need to feed 8 hungry cowboys, so here is what I did instead...


1 green pepper - diced
1 med onion - diced
2-3 cloves of garlic

saute these 3 items in 4 tbsp of butter

Now she then calls for a few items that I didn't have on hand sooo I added a packet of chili seasoning and a little black pepper.


add in about a half a cup of milk and a couple good hearty squirts of ketchup. Let this simmer for a minutes and then take it off the heat to add in bread crumbs... it should have a paste consistancy.


I scrambeled 2 eggs, added 1 lb of ground beef and then the veggie mixture. Mix well then add bread crumbs until you get the normal thickness that you like... or about 1 1/2 cups of bread crumbs... ( I think I really should measure)


Form a meat loaf and bake at 350 for 40 min...


Lastly and the MOST important, mix ketchup and honey and spread over the top for the last 10 minutes in the oven... and you get this.









as a side I made this:





Hubby and kids LOVED it and well... they don't like ANYTHING different...

Sneak Peak of BFF's Wedding album

A little over a year ago, BFF intrusted in me all her wedding photos. I am a scrapbooker, and I was to put together an album fore her. Well shortly after she released the photos into my care started the downhill spirial of 2008... (If you don't know what I'm talking about follow this link to spaces for the details) So I packed the pictures to move, then got sick, had family over, etc etc etc... Well finally, FINALLY, I started working on her wedding album. Now before you get all snotty about the fact that I have held her pictures hostage for over a year, one year, keep in mind that they have been married for 8 years already. It's not as though I have some newlyweds photos... So I got a couple pages done, and the creative juices are a flowing... Wanna see????

I cut my hair

I think I have a unhealthy attachment to my hair. See I have the natural ability to look at someone and know what hair cut would look great on them, when they seriously need a hair cut, and when their hair is just stupid too long... on everyone else in the world but me.

So I did, I took a good long look in the mirror and accepted that I need a good chopping... about six to eight inches would be my guess... What do you think?

Before:

After:

Fair weather friends

I bought a dog three years ago, while living in Florida, where it is sunshiny and warm 98% of the year. I am not bragging about this because I now live in Tennessee and it is 4* outside. So as I was saying my precious pooch has not had the pleasure of experiencing the utter cold and the 4 days of constant rain. It seems that my dog ONLY likes to pee where it is warm and dry. That requirement is not always reflected outside and it seems that when the elements are less than ideal she (precious pooch ) has found those ideal conditions in my children's bedrooms.

Let me also mention that while we lived in Florida with this precious pooch that there were the occasional accident, but we had tile floors... No big deal, grab a mop, or a couple paper towels and 409 and viola - gone. But here in Tennessee we have carpet. Carpet, at least, in all the places my pooch wants to pee. I have also found that dog pee has the staining capacity equal to Dye-Rite, kool-aid, coffee and tea. Does Yellow-5, come from dog pee? I mean I have cleaned and sprayed and scrubbed (repeat 12 times) more in the last month than her previous 3 years.

Now some of you may think I am not allowing her enough time outside, but I put her out and the second the door is shut, she is sitting there crying, and crying , and crying... til I finally let her right back in.

What do I do? Or can someone recommend a super dog pee cleaner?

On another note - the local golf course charges it's rates based on the weather, it is always half of the days high, so if it's 80 the greens cost are 40... It is 4 degrees outside and some of hubby's friends mentioned "let's golf for 2 bucks" Hubby is a fair weather golfer, he currently has on at least 4 shirts, long johns and is laying by the fire with a blanket... He will not be joining them today.

delightful D - things I love

Well, Jane "bestowed" upon me the letter D for a little game of name 10 things you love...

One would thing that having the letter D would be really easy, but either there were too many possibilities or my creative pool is experiencing a drought. (Drought is not a favorite) It could also be that every time I decided to really try and come up with my list the top two things that came to mind were the male organ and the artificial male organ. It was just downhill from there.



But at last I have made a list. In no particular order.



1 Disposable diapers: Now my babies have long out grown diapers, but anyone who has had children, especially those who have witnessed cloth diapers can appreciate the glory of disposable diapers.



2 Doctors: Now I know a lot of people don't like doctors, but I look at it this way. Doctors kept me alive when I was born, doctors gave me shots to protect me from life threatening disease, doctors took away my pain when giving birth and did CPR on my little P to give her a chance at life. Doctors saved me from kidney failure, prescribed Birth control and keep my babies healthy. I heart doctors.



3 Denim: Only the most perfect fabric made - EVER. I mean what else can you wear with every pair of shoes you own? It looks great with boots, sneakers, sandals, heels...



4 Disney: I know you all may not completely agree with me here, but my mom started brainwashing sharing with us her love for all things Disney at a very young age. It is the happiest place on earth.



5. Dirt: OK, maybe a little odd, but I have lived in 3 land types in my life, one had dirt, one had sand and the other rock and clay. Dirt hands down it the best, without dirt all the wonderful veggies that I love would not exist. Sand is very difficult to grow anything in, and the rock/clay is a serious pain in the arse to do ANYTHING to.



6. Democracy: God bless America.



7. Dancing: It was a lot more fun when my knees were in better shape, but none the less I love to dance. I dance while my kids play Rock band. I dance a happy dance when ever I get the chance. Nothing is better than the rare moment in which my husband holds me tight (usually in the kitchen) and we become one in a slow dance.



8. Driving: The freedom of driving down the road, seeing America through the windshield, anticipating what could be around the next corner.



9. Dishes: I love dishes, different shapes, sizes. I love having the perfect dish for any type of food. I have regular dishes, Christmas dishes, and even flowered dishes what were my mom's first dishes.



10. Dreams: Dreams of sleep, dreams of your future, dreams of your children's future. Dreams of sleep are fun to try and remember and figure out, dreams of your future give you something to strive for, dreams for your children make you be a better person for yourself.



I had a few runners up including: dictionary.com, Dads, desk, dishwasher, dresses, daughters (I took them off the list since they are both home barfing today, yea me :-( sad face )



Anyone else wanna give it a go?

Fire Safety, and a cute pic of my dog.

So, my youngest daughter almost burnt the house down, twice, this weekend. Yea, twice. She didn't engage in one bonehead move but TWO.

Please excuse this interruption. I would just like to take a moment and mention how I love thee blogger... I just had a power surge, and everything flickered with only one picture left to upload. Blogger randomly saves for you... so when I logged back in, everything was there waiting for me! I love you blogger. You make now proceed to your regular scheduled reading.

Bright idea number 1: Put pretty plastic necklace around light bulb. Friday night, both the girls have someone over for a sleepover, when A walks out and says "Mom, P's room STINKS!" This is coming from the girl who didn't bother to tell me the dog peed in her room because she didn't notice. So it smells like burnt plastic, and we locate this:

Of course I gave too the girls a LONG LONG lecture about safety and NEVER NEVER NEVER put anything on, over, around a light bulb EVER!

So anyways, the next morning I awoke, and hubby and I made the decision to go to church despite the chaotic order of the household (what a mess!) I walked into P's room and there was smoke SMOKE coming from her bed. I screamed, she had the poo scared outta her, hubby came running... She had turned on her lamp, laid it on her bed, on a stuffed animal. The result?

It was smoking and in a matter of minutes it have no doubt it would have caught fire. I don't know who was more scared, me or P. What if we had decided not to go to church? I wouldn't have woken her up! She slept with sissy last night, I can't get the smell out of her room. I opened all the windows to let it air out, still stinks. I am going to have to strip her bed ...

On a completely unrelated note, wanna see a picture of my dog? This is a pic of how she rode 8 hrs in the truck with us to and from Ohio...

oh, and hubby is wearing my sunglasses because I stepped on his. oops.

Did I mention I'm a lyricist?

No no not really, I had ya fooled didn't I? Actually last month Ellen had a contest to write a funny, inspiring story as to why you should win all the 12 days of Christmas gifts... So I wrote this little ditty, and then promptly forgot to submit it on time. (The statement pretty much sums up my life) So here is the little jingle I wrote to summarize the year 2008 for us.

Sung to the tune of the beverly hillbillies...

Now let me tell you a story about the family Frampton
Hubby call me up one day and said “they are closing our plant, hon”
they say that I can keep my job if we leave the sun and sea,
So let’s load up the truck and move to Tennessee.

Knoxville that is, Rocky top, U of T

So the house is for sale 100 grand less than we paid,
Hubby’s truck broke down 80 miles on the way,
we stayed overnight in a scary motel bed
Hubby then got a call, boss said “You‘ve been demoted”

Paycut that is, bait and switch.

We explored our new land and found only poison ivy
My kids each got a MRSA staph infection on their knee
I started puking, hubby took me to the emergency
I got a kidney stone and fevers of One oh three

Surgery that is and 5 day hospital stay

Now my boss says he can no longer pay me,
Hubby’s hours were cut to hardly anything
Just last month my car was repossessed
This whole year has been such a mess

Like a trailer park meets a tornado

Throughout all this disaster, the blessings they have come
We have learned to rely on each other for some fun
Thirteen years of marriage and our priorities are finally straight
All of this chaos has made my family great.

A team that is, we are working together
Ya’ll come back now, ya hear.

What have you done with your life?

I wish I could say this was an original thought, but it is not. :-( I got it from Shana.

Because of the New Year, I am looking at what I have done with my LIFE.
Try it!
The game is to leave in bold the things that you HAVE done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/Disney World
8. Climbed a mountain (not a big one)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Europe
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Driven a Race Car (well really I rode in one)
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Been to a Rodeo
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied( not currently, but it' shappened before)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout/Girl Guides Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favourite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (only if a fish counts)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Lived with your in-laws

deja vu

I have known this "unofficially" since before Christmas, but today it will be announced officially that the plant in which my husband works will be closing in March. It was March 08 that his plant closed in Florida we up and moved to Tennessee. Unofficially he will be transferred to another plant near by, which is really good news. Don't get me wrong I am truly thankful that he will remain employed, it's just the uncertainty that seems to loom over us that it wearing me thin.
This sucks. I know how distraught I am, my husband has to switch jobs again. Yes it is the same company, same job, but new facility, new people and new personalities he has to learn all over again.
And here come the water works. As my BFF says "STINK"

book review - The Shack

So something you may or may not know about me is that I love to read, a lot. That being said I decided to start sharing what I have read and what I thought about it sooo, here goes:

Title: The Shack
Author: Wm Paul Young
Summary: Father of four with a painful childhood loses his youngest daughter. Four years later, he gets a mysterious note, possibly from God, to return to the scene of the crime. There God helps him understand why there is pain in this world, and why God doesn't stop it from happening.

First let me say that I have walked past this book several times, and as soon as I read that his youngest daughter was abducted and murdered I put the book back down. I have daughters and I almost felt as if I acknowledged something tragic like is then it makes me susceptible to something tragic like this. I don't know if that makes any sense to you but... anyways.

So I have been rejecting this book for some time, but a couple days ago hubby said "Get yourself something to read while you are at Wal-Mart" this is what I found.

Don't be afraid to read this book. It touches so many emotions, humor, pride, sadness and joy just to name a few. There is an open dialogue between the main character and God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. It shows us how much easier it is to do things with Jesus than with out. If shows that you aren't the only one ever to be angry with God and that he loves you still. It teaches that God has no expectations of you, only that you trust in him with as little or as much as you have . Let me emphasize that again, NO EXPECTATIONS. He already knows every horrible decision you have made, every bad decision you will make and already he has forgiven you for it. Long before you acknowledge you've made the mistake and even longer before you've forgiven yourself for making it. It's that amazing?

When I read this at one point I thought to myself, I should grab a highlighter, and then promptly DIDN'T. If I had I would have shared some awesome passages, but of course now I can't find them... I also don't want to give away the entire book. The entire book is not "deep" there are some really humorous parts too, like when the main character, God, the Son, and the holy spirit sit down for dinner and the main character bows his head for prayer, the trinity all look at him and laugh. Realizing that they probably don't bow their heads and thank themselves.

So, yes it was a great book, great for someone new to faith that is still trying to understand the trinity, someone more mature in their faith and can talk to Jesus like a friend. For someone with no faith at all, it's possible it could plant a small seed in a lost soul.

So I say if you get the opportunity, read it. I actually want to re-read it now with my highlighter this time! :-)

I have arrived!

My New Year's Resolution was to leave spaces. It was difficult acknowledging that my relationship with spaces was unhealthy. When you have history with something, you tend to try and ignore it's faults and keep trying. Well, when spaces announced all my personal info to the world, I felt betrayed and the trust we had was gone. So I moved out. Left spaces behind...

Yes we still have some history, if you'd like to read about it you can go here,

I think I'm gonna like it here... (Can you name that tune?)