my first tag! should I cry or cheer?

So, I have been tagged and I decided to go ahead and take the plunge! My wonderful friend M at Faith, Hope and Love tagged me. The process was rather amusing to me, as I had watched this tag float around a few blogs I read and finally it came to rest here on me. I really thought I had dodged the bullet, but the bullet has come home to rest.



The Rules: In order to accept this Bloggy Award/Tag, you must do the following.....

1. Write a post showing it, together with the name and link of who has given it to you.
2. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in their content or design.
3. Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing they were prized with ‘Honest Weblog’.
4. List [if you can and/or dare] at least ten honest things about yourself. And then, pass it on.

10 Honest Things About Me! (does it get more egocentric than this?)

1.I love the smell of babies. I think that the smell is second only to the smell of coffee. No, really, I don't know anything better then the smell of babies. Actually, I don't think there is anything better then that baby smell. I will be down visiting my friend again soon and I will be frantically sniffing that baby every chance I get. My friend will have to beat me off with a wet burp rag.

2. I am pretty good at many things, but I don't feel that I am VERY good at too many things. I feel that while I can do art and I can do a bit of writing and I can do a bit of speech stuff and I can do a bit of decorating and a bit of gardening, I don't feel that I have any one area that I am stellar in. I am not complaining... I just feel like I am good at many things, but not amazing at any of them. I am content with this.

Isn't he a cutie!!!

3. I love my husband more then I probably should. He is my rock and I stand amazed by him everyday. He is strong and patient and loving and kind. He has a very common sense outlook on life and he sees things for what they are. He is able to be to the kids what I cannot be. He relates to them in ways that I cannot. One of my favorite things is watching him play with the kids and watching him read to them or watching them and their love for their daddy. He balances me and I do need that. I can be very artistic and spontaneous and flighty and forgetful and he is able to bring balance to my force... sorta like Anakin Skywalker.

HA! He would be so proud of my Star Wars reference!

4. I do not eat breakfast unless I actually cook something and I certainly do not cook breakfast everyday. I do however drink coffee. Everyday. Without fail.

5. I love my life as an Air Force wife. I am very proud of my husband and I enjoy being a military spouse.

John in Iraq.

I like talking to people about the military and what is is like being part of that culture.

The garage door decorated for a homecoming from Iraq.

I remember what is it like being civilian looking in and I understand the questions that people have. I have no problem answering them, actually I welcome them because if anything, the military needs more people to understand what is going on now in our little culture bubble. We need people to understand how to help military families as our spouses are deployed again and again.

You see my kitty keeps trying to grab me in this picture. She likes me too!

6. I like animals a lot. If I had my way I would have a small zoo here. Fortunately, like my earlier post stated, John keeps me in check. He allows me to have the one beautiful puppy and the one sweet kitty and the one boring sucker fish. If it were up to me, I would have another 4 or 5 pets. Then I would start going crazy cause I can't bring balance to the force of the litter boxes and the tanks and whatnot. It would get scary people and that is why we have Anakin... er... I mean, John here.

7. I have this really weird tendency. I talk for things. Things like animals but also things like tea kettles. My tea kettle doesn't just whistle it yells. No kidding. The tea kettle will be whistling away on top of the stove and my kids will yell at me to let me know, cause obviously I cannot hear the screaming tea kettle in the room with me and I will start talking for the tea pot, "HEY! I'M HOT!!! TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF! I AM HOT!!!" I will also speak for animals that are in videos or pictures or just out. I am afraid it is a sickness. I will talk for our pets. For example, the dog will be looking at me and her eyebrows are dancing and I will be saying something like, "Are they talking about going for a walk? I can't tell cause they have learned to use that code word. Maybe they are! I would love to take a walk, but then again, I would love to snuggle them. I love everything cause I am a goofy Lab and I just love life! I love my pillow and I love my dog dish and well... I love my toy! Yippie! Mommy is getting out Peanut Butter! My favorite!" Do you see how this is a disease?! The problem is when I do not feel like doing this and the kids really think I should. They ask me constantly, "Mom, what is that bird saying?" If I am tired of it I will reply, "Nothing. The bird is saying nothing." They beg. They just know that the bird is saying something SO funny in their momma's head.

"Nope, I don't hear the train coming, but I may or may not hear a herd of buffalo."

7. My husband is helping me out here, so for this one, he says that I need to put down that I talk in a very "theatrical way." He says that I sound like I am narrating a play when I talk all the time. Maybe I should ask him what that means? Does he like this? He has never mentioned it before? Does it grate on his nerves and he feels like he finally got the chance to tell me? Who knows... I am not going to risk asking him. He will just have to deal with the narrator's voice for the rest of his life, cause I do not think I can change that.

8. I love my coffee. I have teased you all here in the past about me quitting my addiction, but I do not think it is going to happen anytime soon. I have even bought that Teechino stuff and I have not brewed ANY of it. It is supposed to help me break my coffee addiction and it was expensive. It is still sitting on the shelf in my kitchen. I have contemplated brewing some in the evening for a nice warm drink, but I haven't even thought seriously about brewing it in the morning. That is crazy! I stumble into the kitchen and start my coffee making and I have never contemplated brewing Teechino for my morning brew because at that point my body needs only one thing. Caffeine. My body needs it bad. I know my whole house will be happier if I just have my caffeine, SO I just have my caffeine. Ah well. Anyone want a full bag of Teechino?

9. I am Obsessive about things. I am not OCD... I am just obsessive about things. When I get interested in something, I get REALLY interested in something. When I want start learning about something new, I mull it over in my head constantly. I dream about it, I watch information on it. I read about it. I check out books from the Library on it. My friends have to listen to me talk about it constantly. I am sure it is a chore for them, but they must be good friends cause they are still around. My poor friend Kristen has seen me through many of these obsessive times with me. I am sure she was ready to pull her hair out during the WoW faze. I am sorry Kristen. What can I say? My husband was deployed?! I don't know. I am hanging my head in shame. Honest.

K10 and K26 checking out a brand new egg!

When I was going through a Bald Eagle Obsessive time, we were watching the Bald Eagle web cams and reading up on Eagles and we went on a field trip to a Birds of Prey sanctuary and one morning My Girl came in to ask me a question when I was stil mostly asleep. She asked, "Momma, who are Doodle's parents?" I replied in my sleepy stupor, "K10 and K26 of course." Then I stopped and paused and woke up slightly and said, "No, they aren't. K10 and K26 are EAGLES and Doodles is a cat. We don't know Doodles parents." My daughter went away confused. Poor girl.

10. Sometimes I take really, really random pictures.

It is sorta scary,

but you never know when you are going to get a really great shot.

Right? You just never know.



Now, I am supposed to tag 7 people. Are you worried? Oh, come on, this is fun!

Anyone and everyone who reads this blog is tagged. That should be about seven! hehe... Now, all of you, go out and type up ten true things and hit publish on your blog. If you don't have a blog, make one. If nothing else, it is therapeutic and a great way to waste time on the computer!

i drove home last night

On the way I did stop for a potty break with the kids and also got myself a mocha from McDs... I know, kinda weird huh? Mochas at McDonalds, well I will take my coffee wherever I can get it. Anyways, as I was ordering the sweet teenager who was taking my simple order asked me if I wanted non-fat or regular milk in my mocha. My reply, "Skim please." just didn't work for her. She looked at me slightly concerned and said, "That isn't an option here, we just have non-fat and regular." She said this as she studied the keyboard on her cash register. I grinned, and holding in my laughter, told her that I would take non-fat.

In the car, as I drove down the highway, I just shook my head. Yikes!

for those of us thinking of kicking coffee to the curb...

In my post below this one, I didn't mention that I am actually really contemplating kicking the coffee addiction. I do not like being addicted to anything, and I tend to have issues with addiction. Not like BAD stuff... but I seem to become addicted to things easily. Like Cadbury Mini-eggs. We have discussed these things before here.

I hate having a pounding headache because I didn't get a chance to grab coffee on my way running out of the house in the morning. That drives me nuts and makes me feel that I am not in control. Not that I am a control freak. Nope.

Ok... then there are the health aspects. Coffee really isn't healthy. It just isn't. It just tastes great.

I ran across this blog and I really liked the sounds of it and would like to try this stuff, BUT I will need to get my grubby hands on it first. We will see if I can the next time I get to Whole Foods.

Why would I try this stuff? Well, to be honest, I love the taste of coffee and I like the "special" drink factor in the morning. I like that I have a nice warm something to kick my rear into action. Of course, when I give up my Joe I will have to deal with massive headaches and a lack of kick-my-rear-into-gearness, BUT... oh... see... there is the problem. I think about missing out on that Kick my Rear Into Gear goodness and I have problems letting go of the Joe.

I will let you all know if I can give up my Joe. I like to think that I can, but you know what? It is going to be a very hard addiction for me to break.

grab a cup of joe with me

So, about two weeks ago tragedy hit my house. John was putting away some groceries and he dropped a jar of peanut butter onto my coffee pot. The glass carafe broke and left me with no way to make coffee in the morning. I have had this coffee maker for about 13 years or so. It had been my grandfathers before that. I inherited it. Yes, some people may inherit things like money or jewels... hehe... I got a coffee maker. ANYWAYS, I didn't really want to just buy a whole new coffee maker. I decided that I would just go buy a new carafe, which I had done one other time. So, I headed to Target and picked up a new carafe. I brought it home.

It was too tall for my coffee maker. I would have to return it.

So, still being stubborn about my coffee maker I proceeded on. I mean, who wants to buy a new one if you can keep one out of the landfills by just buying a new carafe? I get peeved with our disposable society so I take things to extremes. You can feel free to roll your eyes at me if you feel the need.

I got on ebay and looked for a carafe to fit my coffee maker. I found one! I made an offfer on it and they countered and I got my coffee pot in the mail a few days later.


It was too short. No kidding. I now have TWO carafes that do not fit my coffee maker and I am drinking instant coffee. I mean someone can only take so much of instant coffee.

Finally, I decided that it was time to go buy a new coffee maker. My Mr. Coffee was still going strong, I had just broken one too many carafes, so I decided to just go with another Mr. Coffee. I found one with a stainless steel carafe. (I can't break it!) It was only eight cups, but that is fine because I am the only one here who drinks coffee and I can always brew more when others are over.


I took the whole thing out of the box and found these weird holes on the back of the fill tank. They are just barely above where the water fill line is. Barely. I was miffed. If I move the coffee pot with a full tank, water will easily be spilling onto the counter. UGH. I called Mr. Coffee and talked to a lady. What is up with that? I called MISTER Coffee. I suppose he is busy and has his wife answer the phone for him. She told me that they are overflow holes so you don't accidently overfill the tank which would result in overfilling your pot, which would result in coffee all over the counter.

I debated taking it back, BUT I just don't want to. I am tired of this and it is a good coffee maker and I don't usually make eight cups at a time so it will rarely be an issue to worry about.

At least I finally have nice hot coffee again.

I SOOOOO wish my coffee looked like this every morning.

I also have two extra Mr. Coffee carafes and a working coffee maker without a carafe just in case anyone needs one.

This tells me something about myself I am sure, but frankly I am not sure I want to know what it is. I am stubborn? I am weird? I am incompetent? I am just not going to think about it.

One Saturday a Month

Just one Saturday a month as I wake up and lay in bed trying to eek the last bit of sleep out of the night before I am forced to deal with feeding two kids and a dog and a cat and a husband, just this one Saturday a month I realize something. It is the Saturday for Gab and Nibble!!! This actually gets me out of bed quite quickly and as I hop up and do all my morning preparations, getting dressed and doing my hair and all of these things that usually get done on Saturdays MUCH MORE SLOWLY I think about what kind of coffee I will have. Ahhh... now that is something to think about when brushing your teeth!

I skip downstairs, check out what Ike did in the night and check my email and let my family know that this is the Saturday morning that they are on their own. John just grins slightly and completely understands. I drive over to the chosen location, this week it is St. Louis Bread Company, sometimes it is at more personal places that serve full omelets and other such yummy things. I walk in and feel like I was just welcomed at Cheers where everyone knows my name! Ten ladies sit around a table with their mugs of coffee and their bagels and their ready smiles and the ready chatter. We talk of homeschooling our kids and we talk about Bible Studies and we talk about our gardens and our homes and our issues with weird neighbors and our issues with strange family members.

The time passes so quickly as we sit and eat pumpkin muffins and sip coffee and tea. Laptops are pulled out and blogs are figured out and pictures are shared and tales are told. Finally someone's cell phone rings. The dad's have broken the mom solitude of the now afternoon. We all scoop up cell phones and say our good byes. We will see each other in the coming week, but it will be with kids and our conversations will be vastly different. They will be interspersed with calls to children, "Don't pick that up! Please don't touch that. What did your sister do? Can you stop crying long enough to tell me what happened? Please don't run in here."

You get the picture. This morning is almost as sacred as church and I do treasure it and can I just tell you how GOOD that pumpkin muffin tasted! MAN!

This reminds me of how important these times are for us moms. The times taken to be without children and it doesn't need to be that long. These mornings often drag onto the afternoons slightly, but they are certainly not weekend retreats!

Once again, I Thank-God for the amazing Homeschool group we have and what a stupendous blessing it has been to our family.

Do it Yourself Coffee Filters!

So this morning I had a weird thought as I carefully snipped around the edge of a napkin. I was standing at the counter with a pair of scissors cutting a napkin into a nice circle. This wasn't part of a craft, this was me having issues with memory once again.

This was the third day in a row that I have made my own coffee filter. You know that you can buy them in a store for a nominal amount really, but well, ya know that just wasn't challenging enough for me. I enjoy working for my morning addiction. Honest. I had tried using my super absorbent paper towels, but they just didn't let enough of that coffee goodness seep through into my pot. So, this left me standing at my counter in the kitchen working on this fine art. I tried just cutting a square to fit in the spot reserved for a filter, but it looked like it would be constantly falling into the way of the water. Eh, perhaps if I cut it in the shape of a circle it would work that much better. The store bought ones are in the shape of a circle, why reinvent the wheel?

Maybe today I will remember to pick up coffee filters, or maybe I will continue to ply my craft. You know I could make coffee filters out of washable fabric! That may be just the thing.