Timeless Anne-isms

I'll be rewinding time, at least in my mind, as of late while indulging in the Anne series. There is something innately girly in this delightful series and I am enjoying the escape from the many pressures as I sneak under the fluffy white covers to scan Anne's next quoteable and adventure. The beauty of the Anne series is you forget all the sub-story lines and experience them afresh after letting the books rest quietly on your shelves for 2 years. I am included some of my favorite Anne-isms. Be forwarned...Those of the less than female persuasion may be bewildered by the girly sayings below.

"I'm crying," said Anne in a tone of bewilderment. "I can't think why. I'm glad as glad can be. I'm so happy. But can you tell me why I'm crying?"

"Most of the trouble in life comes from misunderstanding. I think," said Anne.
"The little things in life, sweet and excellent in their place, must not be the things lived for; the highest must be sought and followed; the life of heaven must be begun here on earth."

"I think," said Anne softly, "that 'land where dreams come true' is the blue haze yonder, over that little valley."

"Echo is a beautiful nymph, Davy, living far away in the woods, and laughing at the world from among the hills."
"Is that all true Anne? Or is it a whopper?" demanded Davy staring.

"I was at Isaac Wright's funeral at White Sands last week. The husband of the corpse felt real sorry. Mrs. Lynde says Mrs. Wright's grandfather stole a sheep but Marilla says we mustn't speak ill of the dead. Why mustent we, Anne? I want to know. It's pretty safe ain't it?"

"We stood there and talked while Elizabeth sipped her milk daintily and she told me all about Tomorrow. The Woman had told her that Tomorrow never comes, but Elizabeth knos better. It will come sometime. Some beautiful morning she will just wake up and find it is Tomorrow. Not Today but Tomorrow. And then things will happen...wonderful things."

"She had what Rebecca Dew calls 'a delicate air,' and gave me the impression of a child who was more or less undernourished...not in body, but in soul. More of a moonbeam than a sunbeam."

Inquiring Minds Want To Know

Tuesday will mark my first solo feat of screening potential interventionists to join our small but growing team. I am still quite amazed that we have no system of set questions by which to stack up one contestant against the next. Feeling the pressure to do a good job, especially since I'll primarily be the one to manage any new staff fiascos, I implore your brilliance, past experiences, and thoughtful input on these questions of the day,
"What questions should one ask in an interview?"
"Is there a philosophical approach one should have when interviewing?"
And for humor's sake,
"What are the worse interview questions you have ever been asked?"
Thank you friends for your much anticipated participation. =)

Wanted: Female Roommate..Dead or Alive...Preferably Alive as We Enjoy Conversations and Laughter Here.

Rockin Refuge females not desperately seeking but patiently perusing potential place-fillers for vacant four-walled, carpeted space to be formerly occupied by lil bro after Labor Day. Landlord to offer clean, Christian environment with some non-negotiable standards including Biblical lifestyle and low rent with occasionally yummy free food choices when frige is full. Interested applicants welcome to view homested and discuss specifics by contacting abby.

My own Third Day Concert

Well, Friday is the day that 3rd day will be in Indy but I, unfortunately, won't be there. I'll be hosting a going away party for a colleague at my home. So, I've decided to share with all of you what I'll be missing at their concert by making my own blog concert. Hope you rock out to the tunes and love the soulful worship!

BORN AGAIN


GIVE LOVE


LET ME LOVE YOU


WHO I AM


SLOW DOWN (with a former American Idol contestant)


BEHIND THE MUSIC

Welcome to Blogland!

My AZ parents are now posting via their own blog. To check it out, click on my AZ parents link under Friends on my homepage.

Mmmmm....yum, yum in our tum, tum :0

Melinda has been talking to me for several weeks about finding a time to relive one of our favorite pastimes...the horseshoe. Lest you think we are equestrian afficionados, I will reassure you we are not. We are talking about the Springfield Illinois creation known as a horseshoe sandwich.

Dana and Jeannie also got to experience their first horseshoe and agreed the dish is quite amazing. Perhaps we should host a horseshoe party so all can enjoy. It does not disappoint. Mmmmmmm...
If you happen to want to try making one yourself, here's my tips...
1. Toast a piece of texas toast and place it on the center of the plate.
2. Cook and place a hamburger directly on top the toast.
3. Cover the hamburger in cheese sauce.
* To make your own cheese sauce, melt 4 T butter, blend 2 1/2 c milk with 2 T cornstarch + salt + pepper + 2 t worchershire sauce + chilli pepper and cook until thick and bubbly before adding 2 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
4. Put hot steak fries on top of hamburger.
5. Cover in cheese sauce.
6. Ketchup on the side.

"It was a Baboon Heart!" insert laughter here

Jonelly and I are watching Olympics, enjoying some sofa time, and catching up on the day. Commercials come on for several items (I'm a die-hard commercial muter so no sounds were audible). We see the promo for a new series on NBC with Christian Slater as a guy that has 2 totally different lives and the following conversation ensues...

abby: "That looks interesting. I like Christian Slater as an actor. There's something mysterious about him."
jonelly: "Yeah..I like him too. Guess what my favorite movie is with Christian Slater in it."
abby, thinking what's the only Christian Slater movie I can think of, laughing: "Untamed Heart!"
jonelly, looking surprised at my quick and quippy reply,: "YEAH (like duh tone)!!!...
(something or other here....hard to say since we were laughing hard)
jonelly: "It was a great movie...hockey game and it was a baboon heart!"
abby: " yeah....the baboon heart!!!"
jonelly: (pause) How did you know that was my favorite movie with him?"
abby: "What other Christian Slater movies are there?"
jonelly: "I don't know."
abby: "Me either! Wasn't there a flood movie he was in (thinking...Jars of Clay had their Flood song in a Christian Slater movie but what was the name of that film?)

How ridiculous are we to both like him as an actor and we can't even tell you two movies he's in!

Super Tips for Homeowners

So...let me share another weekend of interesting items from the homefront.
About a month ago, I began contemplating how to remove my shower knobs to clean them. One evening at 11 pm, I attacked it with vigor. I tried twisting, pulling, and unscrewing but to no avail. They have continued to glare at me with mocking water residue just below the clear surface yet unreachable to even the smallest of brushes. I debated marching into Lowe's and finding a somewhat respectible clerk to explain my seemingly ridiculous problem but was pretty relunctant to say the knobs had won and subsequently I was deficient in knob removal IQ.
To my delightment, the water residue underneath the clearly mocking surface pushed off a portion of the top of the knob. Initially, I thought, "Oh great! One more thing to replace and I'm pretty sure shower knobs are not under $20." But no!!!! This predicament proved to be my saving grace. I grabbed a nearby pair of scissors, wedging them under the corner, and popped that face cover section of the knob off to discover....a secretly hiddent screw that allows for easy removal of the knob!
Armed with a baggy of white vinegar, cheap and able to dissolve almost any residue, I plucked that knob off and dropped it in to wait. Several minutes later with the help of a sponge and old toothbrush, I put back on my sparkling clear, residue-free knobs. The roommate and bros were amazed as I recounted my feat for Sat. afternoon fodder.
I also learned that simple staples due to trick to keep blinds that are slightly too long from continuing to drag on the floor.
And....perhaps even better...I found the power of joy! Yes, as the Scripture reads, my joy really was complete (well almost). A week ago, a bottle of weed killer leaked onto my garage floor. This would have not been any big deal as the garage floor has tire marks and a few oil drips except that the weed killer was florescent pink! Arghhh. Having had much success with the white vinegar all over the kitchen and bathroom fixtures, I thought I'd give it a try. No such luck. Still pink. And them I thought about the yellowy goodness lurking behind closed doors...JOY! So with a little elbow grease, broom in hand, I mixed my joy and water to bubble away the pinkness into the crevices in the garage. Maybe I'll get really lucky and the joy will also kill the any colonies below too. Needless to say, I was quite joyful about all the cheap but effective solutions to homeowner problems today. Now if I can just exchange the screen door rollers I bought that are the wrong size tomorrow....my joy will overflow into Sunday =)

Tidbit of the Week

I have spent several hours of the past week listing approximately 200 books on half.com in attempts to simplify, simplify, simplify. This was a worthy effort sparked by recent reportings from a colleague that the LMHC (that's Licensed Mental Health Counselor) exam was "easy sneezy" in her words. Having my anxiety lessened, I decided to part with by two-sided, hard and softbacked friends from the good 'ol days of seminary. To my delight, I have sold approximately 22 books in 3 days totaling over $200 (just the amount to repair my exhaust pipe that decided to hang listlessly as of yesterday). Marching my trophies into the post office today, I was greeted by a talkative fellow who seemed genuinely interested in helping me mail out my texts to their new homes. I had one text going to a mysterious APO address. Well, mysterious to me no longer! I learned that APO is military and this particular buyer is a medical military staff in Europe. I agreed to ship first class as I learned media mail will probably sit for weeks before sorting and retrieval. I also learned that FPO designate other branches of the military. In the words of a fabulous game...Who Knew?!

Notorius for all the Wrong Things

Has anybody else ever asked you the question, "SO if you could be famous or rich but not both, which would you pick?" I remember that question being posed of me in high school during scholarship interviews. Well, I may not have really wanted either but apparently I am famous enough to have my name scratched for the world to see at The Counseling Center. Lest you fear this latest fortune is going straight to my ego and crushing my feeble attempts to foster humility, let me clarify. My name, followed by a ubiquitous term starting in "b" closely associated with 4 other alphabetical characters, is inked onto the customer parking only sign tied to the fencing in The Counseling Center parking lot. I was informed of this latest graffiti and my notorious status to warrant said graffiti Friday afternoon promptly following my walk in on domestic violence, resulting containment of a suicidal individual having recently ingested items not to be confused with vitamins, and subsequently my encounters with a less than friendly as indicated by lack of handshake upon request(due to apparent germaphobia) police officer followed closely by a slue of paramedic staff and the Executive Director questioning me as to the barrage of Lafayette's finest at our offices. As you can gather, I was having one of the most peaceful Fridays yet training new staff on assessments and our apparently budding relationship with law enforcement and medical staff in the community. So when my colleague gave me a pitiful look and asked if I was aware of my standings on the parking sign, I could only laugh and reply to the negative but convey my humble and honorary acceptance as this was my first time to be mentioned in vandalism in Lafayette to my knowledge. My colleague also informed me she attempted to right the wrong by scrawling an addendum to the epitaph by adding "Not" to the plaasant label bestowed upon yours truly. Having guessed promptly who the culprit was, seeing I had informed some unfortunates of their demise from the program, I called my supervisor to share my status amongst Lafayette's elite. I was informed that cleanup had been requested of the janitorial and maintenance staff, who now prioritizes projects daily to ensure immediate ones are attended to first, but as to date, the sign including my name stills stands in all its glory...furthest to the right in The Counseling Center parking lot. I suppose, you, friends and family, are welcome to mosey on over and take a peek for yourself. Who knows when these fair fortunes will come my way again!