Homeowner Tip # 537

I'm beginning to wonder when the learning curve levels off for being a Homeowner. At this rate, not anytime soon for me. My latest saga has been courtesy of the smoke detectors. Yes, I am as confused a you. I never think about those little buggers on the wall and I believe that's the way it's supposed to be...a home of peace and quiet unless there is an actual FIRE! In which case, I'd be more than delighted to hear blaring alarms at any hour of the night.
And FYI...I own a model home with interconnected alarms running through the house's AC wiring. So if one alarm is not happy, they are all not happy, which means I'm not happy, and consequently lil bro and Jonelly are also not happy. Ever since moving in, those cantankerous little buggers seem to go off at the slightest whiff of a barbecue a block away or the gentlest of breezes that floats in or any apparent excuse to keep me on my toes regarding fire safety. I have changed the batteries at least a few times since moving in and was greatly disturbed to be jolted from my Saturday night slumber by resounding chirps less than a week after switching the batteries again.
I sought my godly council on Sunday morning from Kim (also a neighborhood homeowner) and Jonathan, who Erin reported had resolved their chirping woes. Kim had not experienced middle of the night jolting and Jonathan said he had to replace all of his. Arghhh!
So after church, I was determined to get to the bottom of their chirping once and for all. I made it my mission to disable them. Having read the instruction booklet, I armed myself with a flat head and wedged those buggers off the wall. While on the phone to the service guy, they began to chirp again in unison!!!! Much to my chagrin, those buggers were not yet dead. Having retreated to the garage...yes, that's right! Run out of my own home by electronics... I returned to help Lance in removing each and every battery from their inners. And, low and behold, they chirped again!!! Lance assured me it was their dying breath but I was doubtful. Thankfully he was right.
Anyways I learned that my units dated 2003 should last 10 years...hmmmm....then what's the problem....service guy's best guess was wiring in the network was faulty and there was no way to easily figure out which one was the problem. HA! I finally know the problem and I can fix this...you buggers are done for. No more networking with each other to chirp in unison. I'll replace you with plain, battery alarms that resound for legitimate reasons only like a real FIRE!I even indulged in two special alarms with lights for the hallways. So....I believe the rockin refuge is back to normal. We're armed, We're ready, and We're finally back to sleeping in peace. I'm hoping to, once again, forget all about my smoke detectors in the very near future.

Melinda's Garage Sale Treasure

Yes, I know you are all thinking....what?! She is not an advertisement for a weight-loss product. Nor is she striving to put on a few pounds. However, she does happen to help people get back to dressing themselves and needed a pair of pants to go over her own as a practice device at work.

Congratulations Pete and Wendy!

The Inside Scoop

So I haven't been one for leisure reading since grad school (I'm sure you fellow grad schoolers can gues why) but finally picked up a book I got at a garage sale last year (go figure). My 10 cent bargain turned out to be a good find. Titled "The Insider," it's a Christian fiction book written by a former White House staffer discussing the innerworkings of Washington. Filled with some twists and turns it wasn't the best I've ever read, but I liked it enough to throw it in my work bag everyday to grab a page when I could. Anyways...if anyone is wanting an entertaining leisure read for these beautiful sunny days, you are more than welcome to borrow it and enjoy! Happy reading....

Graduation Polling

"Earthquakin' like a wake up bomb"

For those of you that doubt, Tobymac really does have a line for almost any occasion. Including the above quote which more than adequately conveys the early morning wake up call by motion. Really who needs a radio alarm clock with your bed shaking? I personally thought at first it was an earthquake as I shot up out of bed but then told myself, "You need to settle down and stop working on so many crisis cases. It makes you assume the worst." My next thought was, "Oh dear, perhaps someone has broken into my house and is shaking the bed." Quickly followed by, "Is Lance playing some funny kindda joke by trying to shake me awake?" To which I looked around to see no one so I promptly assumed my fan under my bed, which I use to drown out early morning garbage truck sounds, was on the blitz and dying. I reached down to turn it down and it seemed to correlate with a lessening of the shaking so I attempted to return to a calm sleep. No such luck though. I heard the "ding" of a text message and thought, "Who in the world would text me at this hour?" Well be assured faithful blog reader, it was Eikenbizzle giving me the 411 on the 5.2 on the scale. "Hmmm," I thought to myself, " I really should stuck with assuming it was an earthquake." Promptly texting several others, I gathered several had not even heard it and others were shaken up just like me to where it was obvious something was going on. It really has been entertaining today to hear everyone's take on the earthquake and it's aftershocks. Funny side note, I called my mom to talk about the quakin' wakin' and she said she was going back to bed to sleep in late as it was Saturday. I said I was going to work b/c it was Friday. "Oh," she replied. "Is it really Friday? Thanks for telling me. I guess I'll get ready for work too." FYI...everybody...today was Friday. Hope you all made it to work. Tomorrow is Saturday. Enjoy sleeping in. I'll be garage saleing the town first thing.

I've been found...

Having succumbed to the pressure to join Facebook, I have been enjoying checking in with people a little more regularly...(and by checking in I of course mean pseudo-connection via electronic wires over the span of wireless connections). However, given these wonderful benefits, it had not occured to me the potential hazards that can come with connectivity. I.E. you may be hunted down by a person named Tiffany B_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ that you don't recognize. After contemplating who this strange-named person is you might hazard a click to see a message indicating said Tiffany's excitement that you have been found for a 10 year class reunion. Oh dear! (To think I didn't even know I was missing) First, were those high school counterparts really looking for me? Hmmm.... Second, am I really going to attend? Hmmmm....several friends would be great to see. In fact, I had my closest gal pals do predictions for each of us for 5 and 10 year marks and then we gave it to the most grounded person in the group (i.e. not me) to keep. It would be very fun to open those secret envelopes and see how we all thought we'd end up. I'm sure I'm quite wrong about most everyone, perhaps most wrong about myself...although I do think I gave myself a heads up on the being unmarried at 28. Kuddos to my 18 year old insights (ha, ha). So I may have to respond in the affirmative and venture a gander back to the cornfields of Illinois to see how my peers ended up. Has anyone else venture to any reunions? Contemplated their future reunions?
Do share, please.

yeah on the way...

Yesterday I heard a Third Day song on the radio, which I did not immediately recognize. This, of course, means it has to be a NEW Third Day song seeing as I know most all of them. Catching the new song on again later, I heard the announcer say that a new album will be shortly forthcoming. Shortly FORTHCOMING I say!!! Double yeah.
Just thought you Third Day fans would want to know...more goodness is in the works!

April Bday party

Thanks to all who were able to come and celebrate the bdays. It was a blast! Great news...said bdays will come again next year...yeah!

Funny quote from Jonelly...

The roommie and I were hanging yesterday waiting for Lance to finish up his SMITE meeting and we were discussing our Sunday am experiences. Jonell was telling me about her meeting with a gentleman to discuss some churchy things and I asked how the talk went. She relayed that it went well. Really well. So well, in fact, she said, "It was like talking to a woman!"
(insert lots of laughter)
So fellas....if you are compared a woman in your ability to converse with the human race, please don't be offended. It's apparently meant to be a compliment that you can...
1. offer information without being probed, peppered, or proded
2. ask questions of an intelligent and interesting nature
3. balance the conversation to be 50/50
For the record, I can say that there's been many a woman that I would not want to emulate. Really the point is, isn't it a great treat when you have a long conversation with someone new and walk about thinking "That was delightful!"?

The after 8 rule...

I have this informal rule that I tell myself to prevent said self from doing things one would regret or saying things one wishes one hasn't or creating problems one will have to fix the following day. The basic rule is that one is not responsible for saying things after 8 pm...one should not make important decisions after 8 pm... and one should not attempt to have serious discussions after 8 pm because one is quite tired after 8 pm as a general rule. I have followed said rule for approximately 6 years now and it keeps self more on track. Said rule has now become a joke with family and friends about my 8 pm cut off. Sometimes others like to follow said rule as well (this I do not mind). Yesterday was the perfect example of how I need to keep said rule in effect as I apparently cannot hear correctly after 8 pm either.
Let me present my case.
So I was hanging with myself yesterday evening with lil bro gone to hang with eric and Jonell off to see the latest in RVC babies. After a little laundry, housecleaning, etc, I flipped over to Cesar Milan, Dog Whisperer extraordinaire. He's quite the guru in dog behaviorism. Jonell eventually returned to watch the remainder of the show with me. So it was approximately 10:30 or so when the show was promoting the following segment. I thought they said Cesar was going to work with a foo-dah-grauw dog. I said to Jonell, "What kindda dog is a foo-dah-grauw?" thinking this must be some interesting breed of dogs. Turns out, it was a segment on a dog with food aggression issues. My bad! Clearly, the hearing is not functioning after 8 pm....But don't you think foo-dah-grauw would be a cool name for a breed?

Solve this equation...

If "x" = Lance and X cannot wear jeans to school, then what does...
x + jeans + large can of tomato sauce on Friday morning = ?





My guess...was....Lance are you taking a can of tomato sauce to donate to the food pantry so you can wear jeans today?

He was quite impressed I figured it out! Usually he can take $2 to pay the seniors to wear jeans on senior sponsored jean days.

Feeling Appreciated...

Well, as many of you know, I work a pretty interesting, stressful, and sometimes consuming job. Today was Staff Appreciation Day at CFRC so no phones were on, no clients to meet with, and we were treated to a FREE movie, popcorn, and drink at 9 am. Who gets to watch a movie at 9 am with popcorn on a Friday? Apparently, we do! Thanks to the big boss for paying us to watch a movie and reminding us what a difference we make in our community. In 2006, CFRC serviced over 11, 000 people. In 2007, we serviced over 16,000! Wow! What alot of opportunities in Lafayette! So my purpose in posting today is not just to remind all of you that the Lord appreciates your selfless service to people in your respective fields (although that would be worthy in itself), but to say that the movie Nim's Island is a pretty decent family film. I was entertained and enjoyed that it promoted a positive father/daughter relationship, had no "hanky-panky", and showed some cool animals.
FYI...as a part of Child Abuse Prevention month, Wabash 9 on the Levee is going to show B movie (is it B movie or Bee movie?) free next Saturday at 10 & 11 am. Anybody want to go? (Maybe I should check my calendar before commiting myself to go =)