In the pink...

It's a pink diamond.  24.78 carats. Incredibly rare.  My guess is that it isn't being worn.  I think it is on display.  Or I think that it is in a safe.  It's pretty.  But pink isn't really my thing.  Even when it looks like that.

What is up with the phrase "Nothing is certain but death and taxes".  That is a crock.  You know what else is certain?  Laundry and dishes.  If they weren't certain, there would be a bunch of tetanus riddled naked people walking around.  So, can you guess what I was up to today?  That's right.  Cleaning.  Real cleaning.  Not just maintenance to keep Hubs happy cleaning.  

Apparently the new exertion of cleaning wiped me out to a degree that I was unable to post last night.  So, it is now today and we will continue on rather than begin anew.  How often do we get to use that word?  Not often enough, I say.

Fine.  I will come clean.  I was watching Veronica Mars.  Until 1:00 am.  Here is a little something about my personality.  I find something that I like and I suck the life out of it until I'm bored or it ends and then I move on looking for the next best thing ever.  Shows, games, people, hobbies, books, movies - whatever.  So, right now, it's Veronica Mars and I'm not savoring it.  Oh no.  I'm gobbling it up and then I'm going to be all bummed out when I reach the end of the series.  And then you are going to have to find me some other show that is comparable so I don't become a lunatic.  Or a really awesome book that I read up in the span of 3 days.  That's right.  It's on you.  No, really.  Help a girl out with some good suggestions...

Hubs is in the middle of some ridiculous deadlines.  He's working hard.  He texted me that he was coming home to help put the kids in bed.  And I told him that he didn't have to and he said that he wanted to.  So, he came home and took them upstairs and has been fighting with them for 10 minutes solid.  Because putting our children to bed, regardless of it being the exact same scenario every single night, seems to take them by surprise and they totally forget what it was they did the last time we did all this, which was, you know, yesterday.    And also, he hasn't eaten dinner yet so I'm thinking he's super glad to have made this special gesture of coming home to snarky hyper children who forget that they have exactly 3 directives every night - pee, brush teeth, get in bed.  That's it.  Even pajamas are optional but if they want them, they dang well better get them on before they get in bed because in bed is the end of the line.  Hopefully, eating some pizza I made for him and sitting next to his hot honey will make up for it.  He's awesome.  Last night he took some time to rub my back.  I felt like I either had a pinched nerve or was well on my way to one.  He's a good back rubber.  Then he asked me when I was going to start exercising and make my back stronger.  And what I heard was blah blah blah you need to get back to making fudge.  So that is what I did.  I don't care where I go, the fantasy fudge recipe on the back of the Kraft marshmallow cream jar is the best tasting of all time.  And the batch I made today is the best I have made yet.  It could be that it has been so long.  It could be that I needed it that bad.  But this is what I do every year just about this time.  And the earlier I start, the more frequently I can make it before the season ends and I just look pathetic.  And fat.  And happy.  Those can all go together, right?  

For today's new thing, I did some shopping.  I know!  But until the big companies start reading my blog and want to send me stuff to tell the world about, I have to write about what I know.  Or, you know, what I don't know because it's new.  

Ollie's Bargain Outlet

513-825-2500

2220 Waycross Road
Cincinnati, OH 45240

Hours of Operation
Monday - Saturday: 9am - 9pm
Sunday: 10am - 7pm

I was in a wandering mood today.  It's my last day of freedom.  I mean... it's my last day before there will be kids at home for the next 6 days.  Straight.  So for no particular reason, I thought of Ollie's and how I had never been there and should check it out.  Ollie's is excellent for wandering.  It's a little of everything.  LOTS of books.  Linens, some foods, Christmas goods, flooring - a myriad of products, if you will.  I tried to be pretty good.  I didn't even grab a cart on the way in.  I just walked.  It wasn't until I scored some $2.99 bags of coffee that I grabbed a basket.  And I didn't fill it up.  I was restrained.  It was mostly coffee and coffee related products.  And protein bars for Hubs.  There was other stuff I considered.  But I've made a commitment.  More on that in a sec.  If they had had a coffee maker that grinds the beans and brews them right up, I would have been in a world of temptation.  And since I left my mini muffin pan in Myrtle Beach last summer after not even using it, I had my eye on one of those.  But the only thing they had was a micro muffin pan. And that was not what I wanted so I didn't get it.  They had some Rachel Ray cooking stuff.  They had oodles of scrapbooking stuff...really cute, really inexpensive scrapbooking stuff.  And none of it made it into my basket.  I know.  It was fairly miraculous.  It's a close-out place so if you like to hunt, you are in luck.  And if you see something that you like, get it.  With close-out places, it's hit or miss.  The stock constantly changes.  And they don't take coupons.  I will give Ollie's 6 out of 10 Jenny jewels.  The organization is not awesome.  But there's some good stuff to be found.

On a highly reliable website that I have never checked before and have no intimate knowledge of it's accuracy, I looked up the phrase "in the pink".  What it has come to mean is in in perfect condition, especially of health.  One of the coolest things about that is that when I was googling, there's a reference to a site called "In the Pink".  It's a non-profit boutique for women living with breast cancer.  I love that.  It's got the pink and the hope all wrapped up in some lovely clothing for women living life in the most perfect condition that they possibly can.  My friend who has breast cancer has had an awful week but it's getting better.

During church this weekend, the number was revealed of how much our church is committing to all the initiatives we want to accomplish.  And it was all pink all the time.  We look crazy, but we are healthy.  We will be helping other people be healthy.  In South Africa.  In India.  In Cincinnati.  Are you ready?

46 Million Dollars.

I am surprised.  I am humbled.  I am excited.  I am ready.  I am in.  This is big.  This is how miracles happen.  This is how the world begins to change.  And it has to.

And that pink diamond up there?  A man paid $46,000,000 for it.  One ring.  One stone.  One man.  I wonder if I even have words to express how sad this makes me.  Over 10,000 people decided to sacrifice.  One woman decided that she will not be coloring her hair anymore so that she can give.  One couple gave up their motorcycle instead of keeping it or selling it - they gave it to the church.  I didn't buy that yummy smelling candle at Target.  I'm not saying that God wants us all to get down in a loin cloth and live in a hut and tend to lepers or live in a van down by the river.  We all have a call.  This is mine.  This is our church's.  It may not be yours.  And that's cool.  I don't judge you.  I do judge a dude who has the kind of money that he can blow a wad that big on something so audacious when so much more could have been done with that money.  I bet it wasn't even a conflict free diamond.  Knuckle head.  That is so not the word I wanted to use there but I'm trying to maintain some sort of PG to PG-13 continuity and honestly, I don't know where douche bag falls on that line.  Apparently, I'm not totally heeding God's call not to judge.  Or call people feminine care products...

I have to go now.  If I don't, Veronica is going to keep feeding me cliffhangers so that I watch just one more episode to see what happens.  And also, I've done like three lines of fudge so probably I should be on a different level of the house than the pan... And something got all wonky with my post and I ended up having to type it twice.  And that, my friends, is bordering on work...

foreign...

Mayhaps you would be surprised to know that I still have muddie buddies in my house.  I know.  Me too.  Although I just made a pretty good dent in them.  And I didn't make fudge yet but I got the ingredients.  And latch on to this magic.  You take pretzels (not the stick variety) put them on a cookie sheet while the oven heats up to 400.   You place a rolo on top and stick them in the oven for about 4 minutes.  When they come out, you smoosh a pecan half on top.  I haven't made those yet either.  But I have the pretzels and the pecans on stand-by waiting for the rolos and as you can see, I have memorized the recipe.  I didn't read it just now and type it out for you.  Oh, no.  It's up there just a waitin'.  You may recall that previously, I was interested in losing weight.  I think a more successful venture would be to see how much I can put on.  That way, if I fail, I win.

Turkey day is on the way.  It's going to be low-key.  I just realized that Hubs wants me to call the Saudi and invite him over to eat with us.  I mean, I didn't just realize that happened because we only just talked about it like an hour or two ago.  What I mean is that it will be interesting.  As I am serving ham.  The Saudi joked once about me serving him pork sometime and just not telling him.  I think he was joking.  There's a part of me that is convinced he really wanted me to because he wanted to try it but didn't want to be held accountable to Allah for eating it.  Let's be real.  Bacon is just about worth conversion.  But I never did bait and switch him.

Skunk and Peanut are having a Thanksgiving feast at their school on Monday.  We are supplying the corn and the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Because peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were sure to be part of the original cross-cultural exchange.  Peanut and Skunk don't like peanut butter and jelly.  They like peanut butter and "chocolate" - which is Nutella.  I fool myself into thinking that it's extra protein since it is derived from a nut.  So, we asked the teacher if we could bring both kinds of sandwiches in.  She said yes.  So, here is what I was thinking about the corn.  I was thinking about taking the little baby ones that come in the jar.  I mean, kids totally dig miniature.  Pretty much, the smaller something is, the more thrilled and obsessive they get with it.  Observe Polly Pocket et. al.  So, instead of taking boring old canned corn, what if they had miniature cobs that they could just eat the whole thing of?  Fun?  I think so.  Probably Skunk and Peanut are not going to touch corn in any formation so it doesn't matter much.

I have my sweet potatoes to do any myriad of ways to make many different people thrilled with the results.  And marshmallows to that end as well.  I'm not making green bean casserole this year.  I don't think we are going to miss it.  Really, if I just bought a can of the fried onions, that would be even happier than eating fatty cream of crud soup mixed with not so terribly green canned beans.  The only thing that makes that dish is the onions.  So, let's just eat the can of onions and call it a day!  Or maybe we could just go somewhere and order onion rings.  Who has the best ones?  My mom used to make beer battered onion rings.  I think she would make them like once a year or every two years.  They were the absolute bomb.  And not just in a hanging out in your arteries waiting to explode kind of way.  They were dang delicious.  That's what I would like to have on the table for Thanksgiving.  I'd be all thankful for that.

The Black Friday ads are trickling onto the Internet.  I can't figure out how much attention I should be paying to those this year.  Hubs and I have done Black Friday before.  And it's been fun.  Glorious deals to be had, caught up in the competition and the hunt and the score.  I totally get it.  Although, in some ways, Black Friday is for amateurs.  I do my gift shopping all year long hitting deals as they come and am usually pretty much done before the 4 am sales that day.

But this year is just a very different year.  For one thing, Hubs and I are doing everything we can to have a slave free Christmas this year.  I bought  some good stuff for some good people that helps some good people.  It's a win win win.  If you are interested in how you can help make that happen, start with some good fair trade coffee for the coffee drinker in your life.  Buy fair trade chocolate for the chocolate lover.  Buy local.  Check out Trade as One for a huge selection of items that help the people who make the items have a sustainable income.  It's just not okay for someone to sacrifice their childhood, their dignity, their quality of life so that I can have something cheaper - or anything at all.

For another thing, the presents for the kids will be a very different animal this go round.  For a few years, Hubs and I decided that we would only buy our kids 3 presents each for Christmas.  But the kids have 3 sets of adoring grandparents who buy them presents as well.  So three can easily turn into roughly one billion.  Give or take.  This year, we are asking for cash money, pooling it all up and buying each kid 3 presents total- from the lot of us.  For real.  Jesus got three gifts.  Good enough for the King of Kings is good enough for my kids! He's all the time giving us great examples on how to do stuff.  This is a good idea!  And you know, it's probably harder for me than it is for the kids.  I do get great joy out of giving.  And they dig getting stuff.  Unfortunately, as they have the attention span of gnats, once the getting is got, the care and keeping there is not.  Yes.  I do know I'm a poet.  I know it.  This is going to be a challenge to me.  I'm great at the gifts.  I need to be better at the meaningful.  Would Princess care if she didn't get a bracelet kit if it meant we could go do a cooking lesson together?  Would Scooby forego yet another Lego set if I took him out for pizza and laser tag?  It's just that much easier for me to express my love with a thing.  It's so much harder for me to express my love by actually giving it away or doing it how someone else needs me to do it, rather than how I most feel comfortable doing it.  Whoa.  That was deep and slightly somber.  Anywho.  A huge hope is that by reducing the number of gifts, the kids will take some time to discern favorites and there is less distraction so that when they get bored with those 3 things, they just dang well have to figure out a new way to use them.  And the thing is, I have no idear what it is they should get.  Skunk just keeps asking for various superhero toothbrushes.  I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth - or a skunk in the teeth...  If I just get those for him, I'm in the clear, right?  It's what he asked for.  And Princess and Peanut pretty much want every single girly thing that graces any catalogue coming across their laps.  So as I peruse the Black Friday ads, I'm hard pressed to see much of anything I'm willing to wake up crazy early to purchase.  Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that I won't be out there.   I

Here's today's new thing.  Veronica Mars.  Leave it to me to discover and enjoy a television show that is no longer.  I'm into the third episode of the first season and I'm totally hooked.  The writing is great and now I know where Kristen Bell came from and what the big deal is.  Yep.  This is gonna be one of those types of shows where I'll do marathon nights.  As it is, it's already midnight and as soon as this is over, I will allow myself to go to bed.  I'm giving it 9 out of 10 Jenny's Jewels.  Check it out - Netflix, library, whatever.  Let us marvel at what t.v. can be. Or was.  You know.  Since it got all cancelled or finished or whatever.

One final thing to share.  We went to church tonight and we got to hear the number raised for our campaign.  Unfortunately, that is all I can share about that.  There are 3 more services tomorrow and it is only fair to let that be as much as surprise to the people going then as it was to us going tonight.  The number is a miracle.  Any number would have been.  Given this economy, given the holidays, given all the things that demand our attention and our resources and our money.  Given the growing apathy and the growing blind eye - there's no reason to have raised as much as we did.  It's a number of hope.  It's a number of radical, unadulterated love.  I believe in my heart it's a number capable of changing the world - because of the hearts and the consideration of all the people in coming up with their own sacrifices - all in the name of love.  People are doing things they have never done before.  Our church is doing something it has never done before.  We are encroaching on new territory.  It's exciting.  And it's a little nerve-wracking like any adventure is when it begins.  Okay, Okay.  I will give you one hint.  There is a zero in the number...  S'okay.  I'll tell ya tomorrow.   Now let's go to bed.  Not together.  I only have a queen and Hubs would be confused and upset.