I love my tree…

I have mice in my attic. Yuck!

So far, they have stayed in my attic. I’ve put out some bait for them, but I just did it, so it’ll take awhile to kick in.

This morning, I heard them chewing on the wall under the sink, trying to get into the kitchen. I’m not worried, though:

“BRING IT”

I broke my head. OK, not really, but that's what it felt like.

I was walking out the door to Monika's house for what was fixin' to be an awesome Pampered Chef show... and I missed the little step just out my door.

Next thing I know, I'm on the ground, having bashed my head against the brick post outside my door.

My first three concerns:

* I can't go to the hospital, cuz I don't have insurance
* I hope the blood gushing from my head isn't going to ruin my shirt cuz I don't have very many dress shirts for work
* All this blood on the ground is going to look like someone got murdered on my doorstep

Long story short: the awesome Clear Lake 1st ward magic kicked in & within 20 minutes Paula Allen was looking at my head for me.

Verdict:

* I didn't break my head... basically, I scraped it (unbelievable how much blood comes from a scraped head!!). I was shocked that it wasn’t something worse, but so grateful!
* No concussion
* I'm gonna hurt a LOT tomorrow--not just an achy head, but my muscles are already hurting from the shock of the fall

Once again, I am so grateful that I'm in a place where people don't think twice about dropping everything to help someone in need.

I am so blessed!

Oh, pictures--Keep in mind these are after Paula cleaned me up & washed the matted blood out of my hair:

I miss my camera. :0(

The Best Cheering Section Ever!

I played Wii bowling for the first time ever on Sunday.

The game was fun, but the best part was the cheering section:

(Benjamin Vautier, Cole Booth, Michael Vautier, Caralyn Tricarico)

OK, so they look a bit sedate here, but every time anyone bowled, they cheered like mad.

**WARM FUZZIES**



(My deepest apologies for the horrid picture quality. My wonderful camera that was a gift from students and went with me to Mongolia was stolen out of my own house & now I'm relegated to using a camera phone. I miss my camera.)

How I Spent My Friday...

Making Peanut Butter!


The Church has a peanut butter cannery here in Houston. Since I have no job & all sorts of time on my hands, I went up with a work crew today.




I have a very, very different perspective on peanut butter!! :0)

Devil in the Fence

I took this picture months ago, after I discovered the jack-o-lanternish face in my new, post-Ike fence (I just kept forgetting to post it up):

It makes me laugh every time I see it. :~}

Baking "Bread"

I've never claimed to be a domestic goddess. Just as well, because if I did, I'd be lying.




Need proof?

Exhibit A:




Funky quickbread, you say? Nope, that's whole wheat my friends!!


Exhibit B:




*sigh*

For Sale, Part II Pampered Chef

Prices noted are 10% off catalog prices. Add to that the fact that you’re not paying tax or shipping & you get a pretty decent savings! (“Normally” below = price + tax + shipping)

· Decorator Bottle Set $10.80 (Normally $17.59)·

* Cranberry Petite Squares $12.60 (Normally $19.76)

* Large Bar Pan $27.90 (Normally $37.80)

For Sale, Part I (BOOKS!)

I'm in need of: a-cash and b-less stuff. So, I'm putting a few things on the auction block, so to speak. Obviously, these items are only available to those of you in the Houston area, unless you want to pay for shipping too. ;0)

Please contact me by email (krats1976@yahoo.com) or facebook..I tend to forget to read comments here (sorry Jackie!).

Here's a partial list of books I have for sale. I'll be adding to this list as I find my hidden stockpiles of books.


TWILIGHT SERIES $35 for the set of 4
* Twilight is paperback, the rest are hardcover in excellent condition

$4 Titles:

• Wheel of Time: Books 2-10 hardcover ($4 each)
• Criss Cross Lynne Rae Perkins (hardcover)

$3 Titles

• Wheel of Time: Books 1 & 4 paperback ($3 each)
• Among the Free Margaret Peterson Haddix hardcover (this is book 7 of the Shadow Children series… I have most of the others & I’ll post them when I find them!)
• Life of Pi Yann Martel (paperback)

$2 Titles—Paperback unless otherwise noted

• A Thousand Acres Jane Smiley
• Refuge Terry Tempest Williams
• Dave Barry’s Greatest Hits Dave Barry
• Lonesome Traveler Jack Kerouac
• The Bourne Identity Robert Ludlum
• God’s Politics: A New vision for Faith and Politics in America Jim Wallis (hardcover)
• The Subtle Knife Philip Pullman
• The Amber Spyglass Philip Pullman (I have book one, The Goldan Compass too… I’ll post it when I find it!)
• The Road Less Traveled M. Scott Peck, MD
• Lake Wobegon Days Garrison Keillor (hardcover)

$1 Titles

• In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson Bette Bao Lord (paperback)

Oooh, I really want one of these!! Check out http://www.lifestarringellieandeve.com/hoover-platinum-edition-carpet-cleaner-ends-727/ to enter!!

OK, so I've been wanting a change for a long time. Maybe it's the uncertainty of my life right now & an innate need to control something. I don't know. What I do know is that the curly hair I LOVE out West causes me much stress in Humid Houston.

So, I took my Christmas money (courtesy of the YES Prep PAA) and headed over to my friend Dayna's house this morning.

The result?

Dayna's a friggin' GENIUS.

:0)

My friend Viki sent this to me on Facebook & it's my favorite thing all day:

SPRING TRIP 2009!!

Last week was the annual YES Prep Southeast 10th Grade Southern College Tour (Or YPSGSCT for short... j/k).

My 7 fearless colleagues and I wandered through the South with 81 10th graders, touring:

LSU

SPRING HILL

Vanderbilt


and


Rhodes College
(aka Hogwarts)

In a nutshell:

• No one got sent home (although 4 came very close...)
• No one fell out of a 5th story hotel window (although they tried)
• No one committed a felony... that I know of
  
• A lot of the YES Prep class of 2011 is thinking about applying to Vanderbilt
• I gained about 5 pounds as a result of eating out every meal (blech)
• We all learned a lot about the Civil Rights movement (see pics below!)
• I, for one, LOVED live music on Beale Street!!

Here're some more pics...just for kicks & giggles:

Mike IV (or is it VI?)... the LSU tiger

YES Prep SE Class of 2011!!

National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, TN


Blossoms on the Vanderbilt campus, Nashville, TN


For some reason, there was this bizarre fascination with Mr. V's hair... ?





Mauricio had been waiting for MONTHS to hear live blues at BB King's. I think he enjoyed it more than I did! (dunno what Mr. Mulholland was trying to tell him)





The kids listen to a presentation about life at Rhodes College



Someone left a purple mitten in the pot of pansies at Rhodes...

Today as I walked in to Target I saw...



A man walking out of Target in a Sasquatch (Wookie?) suit...


What do you do with that?