The Exception

i before e, except after c,

or when sounding as a, in neighbor and weigh

As I was leaving Sam’s this morning, KLove was discussing a law in England, well, rather a law that is in the process of being passed, that would ban teachers from teaching the above sing song rule for spelling.

The reason? The exceptions.

As they asked the person that called in to spell sufficient, I realized I never have used that rule for that particular word, but I have used it for the word received often. Then I wondered “how many exceptions are there?”

So I decided I could either sit down on my keister and google it or enjoy my caffeine leisurely. Both won. So I seized the moment and found common words, and some weird words - phenolphthalein, phthalei, monteith. Ok not necessarily weird, just not used in my day to day vocabulary.

Did you know that a monteith (an exception to the i before e rule) is that large punch bowl with the notched rim to hold the cups?

My conscience has now told me it is time to forfeit this inveigle post (ok, that might not exactly be the proper use of that word, but I am trying to be artful with this post) and seek protein.

Maybe some breakfast would be a good idea!

Do you still use that rule with some words?

Ahhhh, The life of mom (parents) . . .

A.A.A.D.D.

Do you ever receive an email that makes you really chuckle, and then maybe shake your head because the story sooooo mirrors your own life?

Well I did this week, and as sad as it is, I truly have similar days - not all the time, but at times.

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.
As I start toward the garage,I notice mail on the porch table thatI brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys on the table,put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,and notice that the can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills backon the table and take out the garbage first.
But then I think,since I'm going to be near the mailboxwhen I take out the garbage anyway,I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table,and see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study,so I go inside the house to my desk whereI find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks,but first I need to push the Pepsi aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.
The Pepsi is getting warm,and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,a vase of flowers on the countercatches my eye-- they need water.
I put the Pepsi on the counter anddiscover my reading glasses thatI've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk,but first I'm going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter,fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,I'll be looking for the remote,but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,but first I'll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers,but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back on the table,get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying toremember what I was plannning to do.
At the end of the day:the hose has been running since noon, the car isn't washed,the bills aren't paid,there is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter,the flowers don't have enough water,there is still only 1 check in my check book,I can't find the remote,I can't find my glasses,and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all damn day,and I'm really tired.I realize this is a serious problem,and I'll try to get some help for it,but first I'll check my e-mail.... or blog!

Caught!!

Wordless Wednesday . . .Whispers to Guffaws

I will whisper the wordless wednesday. . . The man tends to develop strange symptons, this one was something wrong with his eyes, said there was nothing in them, just something there. These symptoms only arrive at bedtime. Of course they are stall, and a quite good one, what mom completely ignores their kid when they express physical discomfort? Maybe take a picture of them in their hypochondriac stage, but ignore??? naw.

Ok, there is no whispering about the following.

This is either a true example of making the best of what you have or a definite case of you might be a redneck if . . .

Can you tell from this snippet?

Well try this view

A plywood door! Painted to match the rest of the truck. I was trying to snap the picture without being noticed, but I had to have a picture. I have never seen such a creature. Quite ingenious if you will.

Lions and Tigers and Werewolves, Oh my!

When I was very young I had all these strange ideas.

For example, I remember thinking that when I was an adult, I would change my name, my first name. That my name was kid's name, not an adult's name. I had planned on changing to my middle name or a derivative of it.

I remember thinking that when you turned on the radio, that is when the music started. If it was not on they apparently just waited. Isn't that a strange idea? But I was young!

I remember thinking that the garbage men were the coolest, the neighborhood kids all thought that. Now, as a parent, I am grateful for the job they do, but I really have never wanted my kids to run out to see or speak to the garbage men! (I know that is probably not nice, but . . . it is what it is).

I remember thinking there was a possiblity that people really could turn into werewolves and watching anything with werewolves would result in nightmares. I still as an adult leave the movies alone, even though I KNOW people cannot turn into such creatures (or that such creatures exist).

I remember thinking that in the animal kingdom, animals dated and married. I thought that cats were female and dogs were male and they married each other.

I thought the same thing of tigers and lions. Tigers were female and lions were male and they married. Male pups would grow up to be lions and female to be tigers.

Of course as I grew older these thoughts became those I thought as a child. Now I am not a child and know those things not to be so.

Except. . . .

Turns out one of my ideas was not too far off after all. And I had no idea until last week.

LIGERS!!

Male Lions and Tigress make not more lions and tigers but LIGERS!


Liger - For more amazing video clips, click here


They have been around since the 1800's. Did you know there were such creatures? I wonder what other interesting combinations there are out there? What ideas did you have as child that seems quite silly now?

Southern Drawl on Helium

Have you ever heard a Southerner on Helium?

About three years ago on Ocho's birthday, I had purchased a bunch of helium balloons.
Family gathered and as we sat around chit chatting, just enjoying each other's company, the helium ballons became the focus of fun.

My SIL, hubby's oldest sister, said she had never sucked helium from a balloon. So with some egging on she did. The first swallow all she could do was laugh, and laugh at having a loss for words. The second swallow she finally started talking more than laughing.

So without further ado . . .heliumed southern drawl

And May God Bless You

Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,

who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.

Psalm 89:15

Splish Splash I Was Taking A Bath

Such a small room for so many happenings . . .

October Hauntings and History Repeated

I have been haunted for 5 years. It is not necessarily a "being" that I am haunted by . . . .








The are no orbs.







No spooky sounds.









Just horrid green wallpapered walls from the Archie and Edith Bunker era . . .








We have worked on one room at a time for the last 5 years. We have made some updates and changes . . . .

Before

After

See the faux brick carpet squares.

Gaaarosss!

Hubby replaced with wonderful tile and refinished cabinets.

I think this was a the wallpaper in the foyer of "How To Lose a Guy In Ten Days" You know when she went to meet his family . . .

Before

After

. . . and a few other rooms.

Now this horrible room. Why the big deal? Well, see, the contractor who apparently built this house in 1972 was inebriated or new at the house building thing, or just plain old SHODDY worksmaship! I say that because, you see, the first indication? Was all the old plaster towel rod holders plastered in the wall. They all were not straight, nope each one - four of them , dropped 1/4 of an inch from the left holder to the right the holder. Even the toilet tank was off, at an angle.

The second indication was when we first started taking wallpaper down. We discovered something very disturbing.

NO PRIMER ON THE WALLBOARD BEFORE PAPERING! Oh my does this project overwhelm me! Wallboard not primed before being papered means you get torn wallboard when the paper is removed. It was not put up great anyway, so painting over it does not look good either.

But on the other hand, it makes for great wall art. See:

I think it looks like a bird

So now begins the ridding of Archie and Edith Bunker :

. . . first the wallpaper, then updating the paneling, and then new chair railing . . . hope it gets done before Christmas!

And while on the subject of Archie Bunker. You know they say history repeats itself?

Well, I thought I would add some pics of the Bunkers house, but I sorta ended up on you tube . . . and this is where the history comes in (as much as sitcoms can be historical). In light of the gas/oil situation, the election, the ugliness of those who do not like it when people do not agree with them, and the huge economic issue, I offer this as light humor (disclaimer: the following views do not necessarily represent the views of this blogger [me] - it is strictly offered as view back to the 1970's)

Town Hall Presidential Debate

I actually watched the debate last night . . .well most of it.


I really, really find it hard to pay attention all the way through . . . my mind wanders way too much.



I did hear McCain mention that "most of you probably had not heard of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before . . . " (or something of that nature). . . hmmmm.



I heard Obama say his wife probably had a list of things he did not know . . .



I heard their responses on Russia being an "Evil Empire" or not. . .



I heard them discuss Healthcare and Taxes, which I had heard from their VP picks during that debate . . .



I liked the Town Hall Format much better than the debate style debate . . .



I liked Tom Brokaw and I got tickled at him trying to reign the candidates into the 1 minute time allowance . . . .



I watched it to the end (sorta). . . and I watched the mingling too!



And I am sad to say . . .the biggest ahhh haaaa moment came at the end . . . when I noticed, after having sat very stoically throughout the "debate" . . .

Everyone pulled out identical, possibly Kodak, yellow disposable cameras to take their pictures!!!
Well, except for one fellow, I did not notice he had a digital - how did he get that in there??

Were they allowed to bring their own cameras and everyone else didn't think about it or forgot?


That was funny! Yup, I am easily entertained and yup, I am a registered voter who cannot sit through a political debate . . .Scary huh?

Land Line Lambs (Sheep)

I received an email about old telephones. Here is what someone artistic and creative (I guess that is kinda the same) person did:

Dudant, Dudant, Dudant

I had a good friend call today to chat before she heads to the sunshine state for the next two weeks - TWO WEEKS - wow. Fancy named cocktails, boats, sunshine, tatoo parlors - just kidding! ;)

Ok back to the point, I shared with her that I had finally taken her advise of writing all the hurdles and opportunities that parenting and life has presented to my husband and me. I have recently started a blog!

I did not tell her that I was thinking how life has eased up and is a little more boring, so this blog may not be that interesting.

And then life gave me a funny . . . .

When I came into the shop today I noticed a dark line across the floor. As I came closer to inspect, I realized what I was seeing was moving - a line of hundreds, and thousands of marching fire ants. I really dislike fire ants. Especially when they decide they want to come inside.

I found some ant killer and started spraying both sides of the marching line of ants (felt like I needed them trapped and dying between the lines, as opposed to scattering). Time to clean them up. I started wiping up the floor with a rag and then decided to to sweep up the remaining carcasses into a pile. Before I had a chance to get the dustpan, the 19 year old that helps me came in to work.

I noticed that she looked at the pile as she walked by. This where the day took a comic turn.

After seeing her look at the pile:

I said "we were invaded by ants"

She said "oh {pause} what is that then?" (pointing to the pile)

(sorry about the flash)


I said "Dead Ants" (get the title, dudant, dudant ok, anyway)


She looked puzzled and then


She said "how did you get them to pile up like that?"


I, of course, pause and think through what she has just asked, making sure I just heard the question correctly.



I said "I'm an ant trainer"


She said "oh" and walked back to the kitchen to started working - really believing me!





Not as good as CDW's apple question, but defintely a "what are they thinking" moment.