It started with Jav's car. His air conditioning went out. While the compressor was being replaced, it was discovered that his front brakes needed replacing.
Then the washing machine saga started. Apparently the keypad has gone bad on us. Two service calls and two pretty expensive parts to get it up and running again.
Last weekend, I lost my debit card somewhere. I didn't discover this until Monday, and luckily there were no charges on it. It's canceled and we're waiting on the new one.
We've been planning our one vacation this year to Padre for months. Spend one night in San Antonio, 3 days on the beach, then home. I started feeling bad Sunday evening. By the time the night before the trip came, I had a full blown bad sinus infection turning into bronchitis. So already fully packed and having to break my husband's heart, I decided we needed to stay here.
Last night we discovered our hot water heater is going out. Slowly, but still dying a slow death.
Enough already!
Friday, May 19, 2006
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Laughter is the best medicine
In these days of depressing news, ultra-high stress levels, and ever-rising prices for food and gas and everything else, I've found I have a need to laugh more than I used to. I've never been too big on stand-up comedians, though, until now. I have found one that reigns supreme in my mind. He's British, a VERY fast talker, and a VERY fast thinker. Probably one of the most intelligent people I've ever seen. You can tell half of his shows are just made up as he goes. He's a little Robin Williams like, but not so schizophrenic and MUCH funnier.
His name is Eddie Izzard. Here's his rather colorful website. Did I mention he's a transvestite? It just adds to his overall charm, in my opinion. He's also acted in some movies, including Oceans 12 (he was the rather colorful inventor). We're waiting for him to do a show in Dallas, but I think he may be afraid to tour in the Bible belt. With good reason, I might add.
I guess all stand-ups have a talent for taking the mundane and pointing out the humor and ridiculousness of it all. Eddie has a penchant for history. His skits have included subjects like why Hannibal chose elephants to invade the Romans - basically because the supply shop was out of snowshoes or skis; the conversation God had with all the different animals on methods of procreation - almost all of them were assigned "doggie-style", except the poor salmon, who had to swim upstream for miles and jump up waterfalls to multiply; and one of my favorites, a summing up of all the letters Paul wrote to the Corinthians, with the Corinthians basically wondering who in town started writing this busybody in the first place. Everytime we have a reading in Mass from Paul's letter to the Corinthians, Jav and I have to concentrate to keep from cracking up.
He's not just intelligent, though, he's silly and laughs at himself too. So you never feel like you're watching a high-brow know-it-all. The man just makes me laugh - really, really hard. Everybody needs a good belly laugh, especially these days. I always feel loads better afterwards.
His name is Eddie Izzard. Here's his rather colorful website. Did I mention he's a transvestite? It just adds to his overall charm, in my opinion. He's also acted in some movies, including Oceans 12 (he was the rather colorful inventor). We're waiting for him to do a show in Dallas, but I think he may be afraid to tour in the Bible belt. With good reason, I might add.
I guess all stand-ups have a talent for taking the mundane and pointing out the humor and ridiculousness of it all. Eddie has a penchant for history. His skits have included subjects like why Hannibal chose elephants to invade the Romans - basically because the supply shop was out of snowshoes or skis; the conversation God had with all the different animals on methods of procreation - almost all of them were assigned "doggie-style", except the poor salmon, who had to swim upstream for miles and jump up waterfalls to multiply; and one of my favorites, a summing up of all the letters Paul wrote to the Corinthians, with the Corinthians basically wondering who in town started writing this busybody in the first place. Everytime we have a reading in Mass from Paul's letter to the Corinthians, Jav and I have to concentrate to keep from cracking up.
He's not just intelligent, though, he's silly and laughs at himself too. So you never feel like you're watching a high-brow know-it-all. The man just makes me laugh - really, really hard. Everybody needs a good belly laugh, especially these days. I always feel loads better afterwards.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Why even try?
I'm a big advocate of healthy eating. I recently thought about only purchasing my meats, poultry, etc. from Whole Foods, not only because of health reasons but also because of ethical reasons towards animals. But it's very expensive, so I go back and forth on the idea.
Well, I just heard an interview on public radio of this author. He decided to trace back the origins of 4 meals: One from what he calls the Industrial Food Chain (big grocery store chains), one from the Organic Food Chain (like Whole Foods), one from the Local Food Chain (Farmer's Market), and then one where he tried to eat only things he hunted or grew himself, even down to the salt! He didn't recommend this last option in these modern times, even though he said it was probably the best, most enjoyable and spiritual experiences of his life to eat that meal.
The disturbing thing was his story tracing the Whole Foods organic meal. The chicken he purchased had a pastoral scene of a 1930's farm on the label, claiming "Free Range Raised". The actual farm's chickens, however, lived inside in a big barn with 20,000 others. When questioned about why they weren't outside, the manager said that they couldn't let them outside until they were 5 weeks old. Since they don't give them antibiotics, they're afraid the chicks will get sick if they do it before then. So when questioned about whether chicks do venture outside at 5 weeks, the manager said that no, they had all the food and water they needed inside, and they seemed afraid to go outside. Then the chicks are slaughtered for market at 7 weeks. Now, I don't know about you, but giving chickens the opportunity to go outside for 2 weeks of their little lives just doesn't seem like "Free Range Raised" to me.
Because of the enormous popularity of organic whole food, most Organic food chains now are employing the same tactics as non-organic chains. So why the heck spend the extra money? And even though I love purchasing my fruits and vegetables from the Haltom City Farmers' Market, they do not sell meat. So what do I do to try to be a healthier and more morally responsible person? What a conundrum!!!
Well, I just heard an interview on public radio of this author. He decided to trace back the origins of 4 meals: One from what he calls the Industrial Food Chain (big grocery store chains), one from the Organic Food Chain (like Whole Foods), one from the Local Food Chain (Farmer's Market), and then one where he tried to eat only things he hunted or grew himself, even down to the salt! He didn't recommend this last option in these modern times, even though he said it was probably the best, most enjoyable and spiritual experiences of his life to eat that meal.
The disturbing thing was his story tracing the Whole Foods organic meal. The chicken he purchased had a pastoral scene of a 1930's farm on the label, claiming "Free Range Raised". The actual farm's chickens, however, lived inside in a big barn with 20,000 others. When questioned about why they weren't outside, the manager said that they couldn't let them outside until they were 5 weeks old. Since they don't give them antibiotics, they're afraid the chicks will get sick if they do it before then. So when questioned about whether chicks do venture outside at 5 weeks, the manager said that no, they had all the food and water they needed inside, and they seemed afraid to go outside. Then the chicks are slaughtered for market at 7 weeks. Now, I don't know about you, but giving chickens the opportunity to go outside for 2 weeks of their little lives just doesn't seem like "Free Range Raised" to me.
Because of the enormous popularity of organic whole food, most Organic food chains now are employing the same tactics as non-organic chains. So why the heck spend the extra money? And even though I love purchasing my fruits and vegetables from the Haltom City Farmers' Market, they do not sell meat. So what do I do to try to be a healthier and more morally responsible person? What a conundrum!!!
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Making a house a home
Our house is really starting to come together. We've spent the last two weekends working inside and outside. Inside, we've been hanging up pictures and setting out family photographs, fluffing and arranging comfy pillows, arranging candles on the mantle, and putting quilts and handsewn pillowcases on our bed. Outside, we've been planting flowers in the front beds, getting the beds ready in the back for planting, and rearranging our back porch. Jav even got the porch swing hung up, so there was a good place to rest after all that work. The most exciting thing is on its way - we ordered a dining room table that seats 10 when fully extended. This piece of furniture will be the focal point, or the "heart" of our home. It took us a few months to get going, but I'm already amazed at how much these little details have transformed everything. After hanging the little pictures my grandfather made with needlepoint for their kitchen years ago on our kitchen wall, and realizing how perfectly they fit, I truly believe that we were meant to be in this house.
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