Movin' on Up

Packing schmacking!! Sure I should be doing all kinds of things right about now, but here I sit. Still in front of my computer.

Caroline intrigued me with this whole Wordpress thing. You see... I am on a quest to find a free blogging service that 1. allows me to update my template and 2. has categories. I thought I had found it in Wordpress. But alas... you cannot change the template in any way shape or form. You know that just won't do. Standard templates are boring. And I am certainly not boring.

So, with a little more searching I found what I think may turn into the holy grail of blogging. Wordsome. This little gem is powered by Wordpress, but it has all the features that a blog nerd like me lives for. I can customized my template, I can add categories and if you have the patience the dashboard is relatively easy to figure out. I will say that customizing the template is slightly tricky because they put the code into 4 different pages. Talk about confusing.

Pointing out character flaws one person at a time.

So my bloggy friends... I am going to pack up and temporarily move. You can now find me at my new home. Still Life of Elle, just a new host. I'll leave my blogger site up for now. Just in case that whole Wordsome thing doesn't work out. Besides... all the links in the posts link back here.

Sorry I keep moving things around on everyone. Just like to keep you on your toes.

Spoiled little girl

Up until the age of 8 I was an only child. I was also a very spoiled child. Despite the fact that my parents did not have much money, I was granted nearly everything I asked for. Of course there were a few things I recall not being granted. They were often overly priced toys that we just couldn't afford. My family somehow always found a way to compromise with me. If you ever meet my Grandfather ask him to tell you the infamous "cowboy hat story."

Spoiled little girls tend to evolve into spoiled adult women. I am the prime example of that. I like brand name things, what can I say. I do carry a Coach handbag. I love shopping at Nordstrom. And I rarely drink anything other that Starbucks coffee.

Of course all that changes when you adopt. All of your money is magically vacuumed right out of your pockets. You are given a choice. Curb your spending or get creative. I have elected a happy medium between the two.

Discount brand names. This comes in the form of places like the outlet mall and Costco.

There is one other thing that I had "given up." I had not bought new contacts is about a year. I haven't had new glasses in about 4. Sure, we have insurance. Our eye insurance covers a yearly exam and contacts every year and glasses every 2 years. The problem is that they won't cover contacts and glasses in the same year. Contact lens prescriptions are only good for one year. So rather than get new glasses I always elect for the less expensive contacts.

However, my glasses have gotten so bad that I can't drive at night when it rains. I live in Washington. I rains a lot here. D said that we were going to have eye appointments and that I was getting new glasses. This was part of our Friday morning.

We head off to our local Costco for eye exams. Why Costco? They take our insurance. I am here to tell you that insurance is a fabulous thing! Not only were our eye exams only $40, but we found out that they cover frames up to $130!!! This meant I could pick any frame they had available and insurance would pay for it.

Costco may not carry designer clothing, but they DO carry designer glasses frames. Dolce & Gabana, Tommy Hillfiger, and none other than Burberry!!! That one little word to a woman who has been unable to purchase something so extravagant in a very long time was like the heavens opened up and angels sang. So yes... I selected a very cute and very trendy set of Burberry frames. I am just way too excited about all of this.

I am soooo spoiled.

Pre-emptive Retail Therapy

You ever have the inclination that something major is going to happen in your life so you need to just seize the moment? I am not exactly sure if that is what I was feeling this weekend, but it is good justification for shopping.

In my attempt to peel myself away from my fancy new office I agreed to go shopping with Kathou this weekend for orphanage donations. We headed on up to our local mega outlet mall for some discount deals. In all fairness, the last time we went shopping Kathou left with a very expensive handbag and me with nothing more than a pair of shoes. This time I was the "big spender." Ok it is an outlet mall, how much can you really spend?


It started with, "oh lets go into this store!" So we head off to the first store. Then we passed the Eddie Bauer outlet. Ok we didn't so much as pass it by as actually went in. Herein lies my downfall. They had the cutest kahkis for a whopping $19.99. None of that stretch material and they even roll up to flood pants. Very versatile when you don't know what the weather is going to be like. So I bought them.

I will say that I did buy some orphanage donations. 3 sweaters, 5 hats, 4 long sleeve t-shirts and 3 pairs of sweat pants all for $48! I am learning the bargain hunt from the discount queen!

Of course no trip to the outlet mall would be complete without a trip into Ann Taylor. Cute clothes at reasonable prices. What more can you ask for? I had no intention of buying anything in there. That is until I haphazardly looked through the wall of pants. They had the cutest turquoise short pants for $4.99! I have nothing to go with turquoise pants, but they were $4.99 people. I also found a great pair of brown cords for $9.99. They are a little more flare legged than I usually purchase. They really are the kind of pants that when you look at photos of yourself long in the future you will think back and say... what was I thinking? But they are cute now, and frankly that is all that matters.

So I did a little retail therapy. Little did I know that it was going to be a hectic few weeks coming. I may be stressed, but I will look darn good.

Internet browsers

For those of you still suffering with Internet Explorer let me open your world to a whole new kind of internet. You may have heard me mention Mozilla or Firefox. If not, you just weren't paying attention. This is a way for you to reclaim your internet.

If you have yet to download this little gem I highly suggest you do it right NOW!!! Fewer pop-ups, better security and killer add ons.

The other little bit Mozilla has to offer is that my blog designs show up the way I want them to. That and you can change the theme of your browser. Currently my screen is the iPox theme. The home button is a little iPod and it is just darn spiffy.

As for add ons. Well I have a tool bar called Rubnub for your Yubnub. Sound odd. Well it is. It is like a search bar. You type stuff into the tool bar and it takes you exactly where you want it to. So for instance. I have it set that if I type the word "blog" it takes me to the Blogger Dashboard. The other feature is if you type the word "Simpsons" it gives you a totally random Simpsons quote. Completely useless, but fun.

Of course there are other add-ons. Take for instance the one D found last night. It is called Security Level or something. It puts a little box in the lower right hand corner that tells you what the current national security threat level is. Again totally useless, but somehow D thought is was funny, so he installed it. I can tell you that the current national security threat level is yellow (or elevated for the dummies like me.)

I must not have enough to do if I am posting about the wonders of Mozilla. But seriously... download it. You'll thank me later.

Play Day

Today is my first "day off" in a very long time. The past few months I have been consumed with Godspell costumes, adoption paperwork, church work that I have fallen behind on and other various projects that I have created for myself. I can say that today I have none of those to do. My only need to do task for the day is to make our house look somewhat presentable. Considering it hasn't really been cleaned since St. Patrick's Day this may be a bigger task than I imagine.

I think I might even attempt do break in my new Laundry Mate 5000.

I have a whole day to sit around, play with my little craft projects, work on some blog/website designs and eat bon bons (oh that's right I don't snack.) I am sure I won't be lacking for anything to keep me occupied.

I can't tell you how great a feeling this actually is.

The Laundry Mate 5000

As discussed in the past I hate to do laundry. I almost would rather just go buy new clothes than have to wash the ones I already own. I have a bad habit of leaving clothes in the washer for days on end. And if I have to wash socks... well we all know what happens then.

The worst part is I let the laundry pile up until it is overflowing from the hamper. Of course the bottom 1/4 of the hamper is full of stuff that either needs to be taken to the dry cleaners or handwashed. So the hamper fills up quickly. When I can't stand it anymore I finally sort the laundry into my multitudes of baskets. What happens to the baskets? They stack up in various places around the house. Usually the wind up in Pickle's room.

Since the door to Pickle's room is shut I can't play my usual shove and stuff of dirty laundry. My MIL was even so kind as to bring the baskets that were in there out so I could was the towels and sheets. Pa-Sha I say. There are baskets in the laundry room (which is also the bathroom I use during the day) and in our bedroom.

The piles of laundry are even wearing on me. I had a fantastic idea on how to solve my laundry problem. I would buy a segmented laundry hamper. This way I can fit more into it, I don't have to sort the laundry and I could just roll it down to the laundry room when I ran out of underpants.

Therefore I now own what I affectionately call the Laundry Mate 5000. It is a 3 compartment rolling hamper. It is the neatest thing ever!!! D told me that I now actually have to do the laundry. We'll see.

My kids

Yeah, yeah, I know the comments aren't working. Sorry about that. I guess it is what I get for trying to modify a blogger template. I'll get them working again soon.

I thank all of you for your words of encouragement. I needed that.

You would be surprised at what actually lifted my mood. My kids. No, I don't have kids of my own. D and I volunteer with our JR and SR high youth at church. And of course you have heard me ramble on about this production of Godspell they are doing. Well the show opened last night. Of course we had to be there for opening night. I saw the show Tuesday at the dress rehearsal, but I wasn't really paying attention.

Let me just say that these kids are AMAZING!!! They range from 6th to 12th grade. They put on a full production of Godspell. Of course Godspell isn't my most favorite musical, but this production was outstanding.

By the end of the show I walked out with a huge smile on my face. This was a huge about face from the Elle that snapped at one of the kids for complaining to me about his bio in the program. Hey man, logical consequences for not turning in your bio sheet on time.

It truly is astounding what young people can do. Thanks kids. I needed the boost.

Underneath it all

I really am a mess. I am trying too hard just to get on with my life. I am starting to worry about that. Everyone was surprised when I went back to work at the church so soon. We shut A's bedroom door last Monday and D's mom packed up all of his things the next day.

I am just so afraid that I am trying to play the strong roll. I get asked how I am doing and I tell people I am doing okay. I don't say great, but I do manage an okay. In reality I am a basket case. What the hell am I supposed to do? I can't just sit around feeling sorry for myself can I? I feel like I owe it to myself and my family to be the strong one.

I do happen to have my good moments, but more often than not I am pushing feelings down inside. I am about to lose it at any moment. I was so tired on Tuesday that I almost started crying in the middle of hand bell practice. I had to finish the last of the props for the kid's Godspell production, I worked the afternoon at the church, had a 3 hour long Godspell dress rehearsal that I had to write a video production shot list for then bell choir. In the end I just couldn't take it anymore.

Moreover, I had to tell my dad tonight that his grandson wasn't coming home. He got angry. He tried to tell me the Russians are just telling me a story. He doesn't want me to continue. He thinks I should just try for a domestic adoption. It made me so angry. I got frustrated with him and explained why this is our best chance at having a child right now. It took a while, but I hope he came around. He doesn't understand the concept of an open adoption. I had to equate it to me. I said, "how would you like it if my birth mom wanted to be involved in my life?" He wasn't too keen on that idea. He is just so stubborn sometimes. Gee, I wonder where I get it from.

Needless to say I truly am a mess. I will continue to tell you that I am fine, but in reality we all know different.

Extreme Makeover Home Office Edition

I am like a good girlfriend of mine. When I have something really bad happen the place that I am in holds a bad connotation. Monday night we were in my office when Olga delivered the bad news. This is not a good thing. You know how much time I spend in my office? This is where I work, so quite a bit.

Tuesday morning I told D about my bad karma theory and asked if I could go buy a new desk to give the room a bit of a change. Well the project turned into a bit more than a new desk. D's parents took us up to our local IKEA store. I found the desk I wanted, but of course it was larger than my old desk thus eliminating the space for my small bookshelf and printer table. I need somewhere to put my hoards of plant books so I bought wall cabinets to put the books in too. At the beginning of the store they had a display room that was painted the most beautiful color of aqua. It was paired with a clay brown and I fell in love. So after the IKEA adventure we made our way to the local Mega Home Improvement Store for some paint. I decided to just go with the aqua. (Thank you Ikea for now listing the paint colors: Benjamin Moore Passion Blue)

Wednesday afternoon I spent the day painting my office. I actually finished it in one day. Thursday we put together the new desk. Which of course was not without incident.* Then of course D says this room would look really good with some new stained molding to match the desk.

Friday we hung the wall cabinets and Saturday we made a trip to the other Mega Home Improvement Store for new Hemlock molding. Of course the molding had to be stained. Also not without incident.**

So here I am sitting in my pretty new office. Almost totally finished. I have some more artwork to purchase (of course the old artwork just didn't work) and some touchup painting to do. So say it with me... "Bus driver... move that bus!!!"

Before

After

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Oops, I forgot to add my footnotes.

*When we brought the large corner section of the desk into the house I peeked inside the box. It was the wrong color and the wrong shape!! It of course would not fit into either car so I called my friend Kathou who graciously drove up from Olympia to help me exchange the desk top. (Olympia=30 minutes from Tacoma, Tacoma=30 minutes from IKEA) Kathou you are the best!!

**While applying the wood conditioner to the molding I decided not to do it the Swedish way. You know, walk back and forth to the can. So I set the can on one of the pieces of molding as it sat on one of the saw horses. As I was applying the wood conditioner to the opposite end of the piece of molding the can was sitting on I picked up and turned the wood. Thus upending the brand new can of wood conditioner spilling its entire contents onto the patio. Smooooth.

I suppose you are wondering...

How is Elle?

Oddly enough I am ok. I have my moments, but otherwise I am doing remarkably well. D and I took Tuesday off and his parents came to spend the day with us. I worked on a project all day Wednesday and yesterday I did go back to work.

Today is St. Patrick's Day so of course that means the annual dinner. I make a great St. Pat's day spread every year. That will take up the good part of the day.

I am trying to keep myself busy, but am allowing time for the occasional breakdown. I cannot believe the amount of support we have gotten this past week. We have had many comments on the Adoption-Adventure blog. I have had countless emails, e-cards and general good wishes from people. I have had phone calls from family and friends and even a bouquet of tulips from one of the pastors at our church. That of course made me cry when I got to work yesterday. I suppose it was a good thing no one was around.

I have lots of theories, reasoning and just plain epiphanys about this whole situation. Too many to go into, but just know that I really am doing well.

I'll get back to regular old Elle soon. Posting about the useless crap in my life like the fact that my hair hates me and that Lutherans are a breed of their own. I just ask that at this time you please pray for the 3 other families that lost their children this week. I am not going through this alone.

Damn you Trader Joes

Never. I repeat, Never go to the grocery store when you are hungry. The smart person would have figured this out a long time ago, but I happen to only be an average person.

I asked D last night what he would like for dinner seeing as we had no thawed meat in our house. He said, "You could go to Trader Joes and pick up one of those vegetarian Indian dishes that I like so much." Oooh! good idea! I was already hungry at this point.

I hop in my little car and drive down the street to the bestest grocery store in the whole world. (ok, it's not as good as Whole Foods, but we don't have one of those here.) I love Trader Joes. See my love decent wine at affordable prices here.

I am not much of a snacker. I eat my meals at very specific times and don't eat much in between. Let's just overlook the 2 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in one week thing shall we. But... when I go to the grocery store hungry I come home with all kinds of crap that I don't really need. I have been known to buy a box of Lucky Charms just because it looked good that very moment.

So I am standing in the chip aisle at TJ's thinking I really should get myself a snack for those moments when hunger strikes. I found the most delectible little treat! Papadums! Papadums are typically a large, tortilla sized crispy Indian flat bread. Difficult to make at home, but oh so yummy. Thanks to the magic of TJ's they have made this treat into a bite sized chip. Of course they need some kind of dip to go with them. OOOOHHHH Hummus!!! I sounded like a hippie stoned out of my gorde in the middle of the store. I hot foot it over to the dip area and they have about 6 different kinds of hummus. I select the garlic.

I really could eat this snack as a whole meal. In fact I might just do that for lunch today. If you have a TJ's near you, try it. I promise you will like it! Sure beats the reduced fat Cheez-its I just ate*. Reduced fat. Really. Who buys reduced fat snack foods. If you are going to snack have something that actually tastes good.
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*Please note that I passed up the unopened box of Thin Mints sitting right next to the Cheez-its. What the heck was I thinking?

Sorry about that...

I had a moment there. Let's just move past the post where Elle says her cousin is attractive. I don't really want to be labeled any more of a redneck than I already am.

I must say that currently the Life of Elle is quite boring. Granted I am up to my eyeballs in projects, but there isn't really anything of particular interest. Look for a few new blog designs to come out pretty soon.

I unearthed my office a little. Evidently I have 2 desks in here! Who would have thunk it? I am still doing a little freaking out about that whole parenting thing. Still not quite sure what to feed this thing when it arrives, but I suppose I will figure it out.

On a totally unrelated subject I have to recommend a book to all of my readers. On most days I am a pretty smart person. I love to read and read just about everything. I do tend to shy away from trashy romance novels and anything suggested by Oprah, but that is a whole different story. I picked up one of the greatest books I have ever read. I know you have all heard about it. The book is Freakonomics. This book if fantastic. I was quite in the need of a good dendrite fluffing (oh, you will hear that phrase from me on occasion). The guys who wrote this are geniuses. They really do look at the hidden side of everything. It will simply astonish you as to how clueless we are to the pressures of "conventional wisdom."

There you have it. Elle's very own little book club. Pick yourself up a copy of this one today!

Is it wrong to think your cousin is good looking?

Noooo, I am not from Kentucky. I grew up in Podunk little town, Washington. I think that might be worse than growing up in Kentucky.

Sunday afternoon was my Grandma's 70th birthday party. (yeah yeah, she's young, so are my parents) The party was at none other than one of the tribal owned gaming establishments. Can you see my joy? I firmly believe casinos outside of the state of Nevada or Atlantic City are wrong on so many levels. However, it was Gram's birthday and I couldn't pass up an opportunity to spent the afternoon with my family. They are a kick. Besides, I had to have a reason to see my dad and scold him for not taking his medication.

Anyway, all of my uncles and aunts were there. Even a few cousins. And when I say few I mean very few. There are 23 of us and only 5 showed up.

My uncles rock!! My dad is the oldest and then the youngest is only about 12 years older than me. I grew up around these guys. They are just your average working joes. (no pun intended as my dad's name is Joe) They are genuine and sweet guys. What was most surprising is that my Uncle Kevin actually came. Well, the truth is his sons brought him since he can't drive. I do actually mean that plural. Sons. I haven't seen my cousin Jesse in a few years.

Here is a little background on me and Jesse. There are 3 of us who are the "older" grandkids. All girls. I am the 3rd oldest of 23. Then there are 3 boys. 2 of the boys are brothers to 3 of us girls. Then there was Jesse and I. We are not siblings, but look similar to each other. Both blond and fair skinned. The 6 of us spent summers together. We were like bickering best friends. The best part was that us girls would dress the boys up in girl clothes and make them play fashion models. (it is amazing that even one of them turned out normal) We would even do stuff like swim in the horse trough. Talk about redneck.

Well I got married, move away and then Jess graduated high school and we hardly see him. The last time I saw him was two years ago. Lemme tell you this boy has turned into a man! Holy Cow! Jesse now measures in at around 6'5"-6'6", longer blonde hair and great blue eyes. He works as a firefighter and is starting his EMT class shortly. Sorry ladies, this guy has some mystery girlfriend that none of us have met.

It was so amazing to see him I just had to get a photo of that one! This is Jesse with my Aunt Robin. Yeah, that's D in the background. Like how I am not in the shot? Of course sitting or standing next to Jess would make me look like a dwarf.

I am sure that it is not ok to think that your cousin is good looking. But what a fine man this boy turned out to be. I am glad to know that there is another one of us that turned out somewhat normal. You can't help but be just a little warped by my family, but that is what makes us charming!

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Ok mom, pick your chin up off the desk. Yep, the little boy is all grown up now. Shocking I know!

Visit with my sister

I bet you all are dying to know how the visit with my sister went. I have to say that it went quite well.

First, I'll tell you about her. My sis stands all of 4'11". Her name is very unique and for fear of ridiculing her in the future and people she might know finding out I will call her "Little". I am sure I could have come up with a better nickname, but that one is so fitting.

She and her boyfriend arrived around 2:30 yesterday afternoon. We were supposed to drive down to Olympia and meet at mom's house, but mom had to work. So I talked her into driving up here. See how I worked my laziness in there? Anyway. We had a nice visit. She has actually darkened her hair (she is a natural blonde), she has gained a little weight (which she fully admits) and looks very good over all. She talked non-stop. This could be from nervousness or just her personality.

I can say that it was strange seeing her again. It has been so long. However, the visit was nice. They stayed for about an hour. We showed her the house and the movie D made of the boy. She is excited to be an aunt, but I am not quite sure she understands that whole aunt thing. After all she hasn't been here through the whole nightmarish process. I tried to explain it to her, but I am not sure if it all sunk in or not.

We had the opportunity to talk about some of our fond memories of growing up. (I'll let you in on some of those at a later date) Actually it was us telling Little's boyfriend about our mom. As I have noted in the past mom is a little neurotic. (oh don't seemed shocked woman! you know it's true) I am totally the way I am from my mother. I am not seeing this as so much of a bad thing anymore. D disagrees.

I am certainly not the same person I was when she left. Growing up will do that to a person. I am more reserved than my mom on this one. I will admit I am thrilled to have Little back in our lives. I have to get used to the fact that she is her though. My mom, Little and I struggled so much when we were younger. Our childhood could have been better. Little and I competed for just about everything in life. I am noticing that I am still doing that with her. I would like the ability to put that aside, but I am not sure if I am ready for that yet.

My main fear is of my mom getting hurt again. This probably stems from a trust issue. Little left 2 times in the past and it hurt my mom so bad. I don't ever want to see her go through that again. Mom and I have worked so hard over the past few years to have the relationship we have today. I treasure that relationship so much. Things are good now, my mom is so happy (especially since Little's return) I don't want that to be taken away from her.

I think at this point I am going to have to let go of my fears. I am going to have to trust that Little has grown up and that she has no ill intent. And Little, if you read this, I love you very much. I have missed you terribly. I am glad that you are back in our lives.

My sister

I have a sister. Not sure if I mentioned that one before. Ok, I mentioned I had an 8 year old sister, but this is not the sister I am talking about. This sister is going to be 25 this year. Damn I feel old. Anyway, I haven't spoken to her in about 4 or 5 years.

She actually was my step sister. Her dad married my mom when I was 10. She came to live with us when she was 6. When I was 22 my mom divorced her dad and fought for custody of her. My mom won. Not long after that my sister moved out of the house to live with her boyfriend. I lived in Kansas at the time so I am not exactly sure surrounding the circumstances on that one. Our family never attended her high school graduation. A few years later she contacted my mom and apologized. Soon after that she moved back in with my mom. A while later she up and moved out again. That was the last we saw of her. My mom and I have always wondered what happened to her. Was she ok, is she safe, where was she living.

Recently my sister decided to contact my mom again. She sent her a card saying she was sorry for hurting her. She has made a good life for herself. She lives in Portland, OR. She is a real estate broker and living with a very nice man. (I haven't met the guy yet, but this is what she says) Anyway, my mother was elated! She wrote my sister back and they have been in communication for a few days now. My mom called Wednesday to tell me all of this was happening.

It is so ironic that my sister decided to contact my mom when she did. I was driving home the other day and thought it would really be nice to have her around to talk to. I missed her.

I mulled over writing her for a few days. I finally sat down today and sent her an email. I told her that I was glad she contacted mom and was happy that she was doing well. I told her she was going to be an aunt and sent a photo of A. Within an hour I got a response back. I can't begin to tell you how nice it was to hear from her.

She and I had always had a fairly good relationship. We fought like crazy. Like me holding her down and beating her with a piece of kindling. Or her stealing things from my room or telling mom things I was doing that I really shouldn't have been doing. But what siblings don't fight. I always had someone to talk to in my sister. I always tried to look out for her.

So tomorrow she and her boyfriend are supposed to be driving up to our area to visit. It will have to be a short visit. Unfortunately D and I have tickets to go see the Seattle Thunderbirds. (hockey team) and the tickets were a Christmas gift from a friend, so I can't cut out on this one.

I am excited to see her, but cautious. I have missed her so much and don't want to lose her again. I want A to have his fun little auntie. Mostly I want my sister to talk to. Somehow you just can't call up an 8 year old and complain about your job or a foreign government. Wish me luck all. I'll let you know all about it.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

I have a weakness. Ok, I have more than one, but this one is a biggie! It's that time of year again when the little angelic girls in their little green dresses whore their cookies at every grocery store, department store, convenience store and everywhere else you go to. They have even infiltrated our local IKEA! You know the ones. The Girl Scouts.

I am a Girl Scout cookie addict. Whew, it felt good to get that off my chest. Anyway, about a month ago one of our sweet little younglings at church looked at me with her big doe eyes and said, "Elle, will you buy some of my cookies." Well, I'm not sure sweetheart... I don't have my checkbook with me. "That's ok, you don't have to pay right now." Ok then, I'll buy a few boxes.

How many boxes does Elle purchase? 5. That simply won't do. That is not nearly enough cookies to get me through the week. Actually, I bought 2 Thin Mint and 3 of those peanut butter things. Those are D's. I am a Thin Mint snob.

You would be proud to know that I did not rip open the box and start shoving said cookies into my face the minute the little angel delivered them. I was a good girl. I waited until the next day when I ate nearly an entire sleeve in one sitting. It is day 2 of the cookie fest and I am almost through my first box. I am eyeing that second box and thinking about where I can find me a fix when that one is gone.

I will fully admit that I am a Girl Scout hunter. I usually don't have the privledged of pre-purchasing my cookies. I actually like it when they ask at the store. They see this huge target on my chest from a mile away. I buy at least 3-5 boxes each time. They LOVE me!!

I secretly cry when they are all done selling cookies each year. I have to go back to the Thin Mint ice cream that just isn't the same. I really shouldn't eat it anyway with that whole lactose intolerant thing.

So if you hear news reports of some cookie crazed lady taking Girl Scouts hostage looking for a cookie fix... that's me.

Shrove Tuesday

I am very aware that today is Ash Wednesday and not Shrove Tuesday. I know this very well since I spent the whole day yesterday trying to get some kind of printing device to print the bulletin for tonight's service. The fuser is going out on my laser jet and our fancy dancy, hooked to the computer RISOgraph copier hates me. I can print the newsletter, but not the stupid bulletin. After much struggle, cursing and crumpling of paper I got it done. Whew!

So our Youth and Family Ministry team puts on a Shrove Tuesday Pancake Feast every year. It is supposed to be a fundraising event for youth activities. This year the funds are going to our 8 youth attending the National Youth Gathering in San Antonio, TX. (of which D and I are 2 of the adult counselors. TX is July... yeah...) In years past the Pancake feast has not been as well attended as it should have been. Which is unfortunate because it is a super fun event. We make masks, eat pancakes for dinner and have a pancake flipping contest.

D decided that he wanted to start a new program at our church to advertise events such as the Pancake feast. Thus Video Ministry. It is a great program. Our highschool youth shoot commercials, church events and just plain fun stuff all in attempt to showcase the life in our congregation. The kids put together a commercial for the Feast and we showed it during church. The congregation loved it! Best yet... IT WORKED!! We got twice the turn out for the Feast than ususal. Good job kids.

So my Shrove Tuesday was spent in the church kitchen flipping hundreds of pancakes and trying to herd teenagers. Let me tell you this is almost as fun as herding toddlers. I have determined that teenagers are much like lemmings. And this is the group of youth that I am going to take on a plane to Texas?! God help me, what have I gotten myself into?

YMBALI

You have heard me repeatedly mention that I work in our church office. And I am sure you were paying attention when I mentioned a few hundred times that I am Lutheran. My faith is not a funny thing, it is what keeps me going in this world, but the whole culture of Lutheranism is simply hysterical. As a fundraiser for the adoption we considered making a "Lutheran" calendar. Of course by the time we thought of it it was February and who buys a calendar in February? I thought of it again this year, but that was January... Maybe I'll get it right next year.

I thought all of you who are not Lutheran might like a taste of what it is like to live in my little world. This is from www.oldlutheran.com. YMBALI means "You Might Be a Lutheran if..."

...you only serve Jell-O in the proper liturgical color for the season.
...when someone mentions red and green (in terms of Christmas), you immediately think of a battle over hymnals.
...during the entire service you hold your hymnal open but never look down at it.
...during communion you hum the hymns so you can see who's at church that Sunday.
...rather than introducing yourself to a visitor at church, you check their name out in the guestbook.
...you think Garrison Keillor's stories are totally factual.
...you have your wedding reception in the fellowship hall and feel guilty about not staying to help clean up.
...a midlife crisis means switching from the old hymnbook to the new one.
...you forget to put water in the baptismal font but never forget to put water in the coffee pot.
...the pastor skips the last hymn to make sure church lasts exactly 60 minutes.
...you don't make eye contact when passing someone in the hall because you think it's impolite.
...your choir believes volume is a fair substitute for tonality.
...you don't know what was sooo funny about dat movie "Fargo" then.
...in response to someone jumping up and shouting "Praise the Lord!", you politely remind him or her that we don't do that around here.
...you think a meeting isn't legitimate unless it's at least three hours long.
...peas in your tuna noodle hotdish add too much color.
...you make change in the offering plate for a ten.
...you think butter is a spice.
...the church is on fire, and you rush in to save the coffee pot.
...you have more than five flavors of Jell-O in your pantry.
...the only open pew is up front, so you volunteer to shovel the sidewalk.
...you know what a Lutheran Church Basement Woman is.
...you think hotdish is one of the major food groups.
...http://www.luthbro.com is one of your bookmarks. (actually this should be changed to www.thrivent.com)
...your five-year-old recites the Old Testament books as Genesis, Exodus, Lutefisk...
...someone asks you after church if there's any "decaf coffee" and you laugh because you KNOW that if it doesn't have caffeine, it can't be coffee!
...you think anyone who says "casserole" instead of "hotdish" is trying to be uppity (or maybe even Episcopalian!)
...you think the term "Jell-O salad" is redundant.
...you hear something really funny and smile as loud as you can.
...it takes 10 minutes to say good-bye.
...doughnuts are in the official church budget.
...they have to rope off the last pews in church so the front isn't empty.
...you're watching "Star Wars" in the theatre and when they say, "May the force be with you," the theatre replies, "and also with you."
...you tap a church visitor on the shoulder and say, "excuse me, but you're in my seat."
...you can say the meal prayer all in one breath.
...your church library has three Jell-O cookbooks.
...it's time to change a lightbulb and the left side of the aisle begins a debate on "change," while the right side of the aisle musters five volunteers--one to hold the bulb, and four to turn the ladder.
...you laugh out loud while reading this list, and relive your childhood at the same time.
... you think the four food groups are coffee, lefse, lutefisk, and Jell-O.
...you sign a petition to have Campbell Soup Co. rename its "Cream of Mushroom soup" "Lutheran Binder!"
... you pronounce the word Lutheran "Lutern."
...requests you hear are preceeded or followed by the phrase, "If it's not too much trouble then..."
...you know all the words to the first verse of "Silent Night" in German but can't speak a word of it.
...you have an uncontollable urge to sit in the back of any room.
...your mother could give any Jewish mother a run for the money in the guilt department.
...you think lime Jell-O with cottage cheese and pineapple is a gourmet salad.
...Folgers has you on their Christmas list.
...you're at an evangelistic rally and you actually manage to raise your hands waist high.
...the only mealtime prayer you know is "Come Lord Jesus."
...you and your family of six squeeze into the last pew along with the 140 members already sitting there.
...at the close of a memo it states "Peace be with you" and you respond "and also with you."
...you can't get into heaven without a casserole.
...you notice the Kool Aid stock shoots up during the Vacation Bible School season.
...you consider lottery tickets a serious investment.
...you sing "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" while sitting down.
...a line item in the trustee's budget is "coffee maker maintenance."
...you think tuna hotdish is a gourmet meal.
...your idea of an affirmation is "This is most certainly true."
...it's 110 degrees outside and you still have coffee after services.
...change means wearing your brown suit instead of your blue suit to church.
...the most mail you receive all year is from the Stewardship Committee.
...you win $10 million in the lottery and decide to throw a party and money is no object, so you advertise in the church bulletin, rent the parish hall, and ask all of your friends to bring a side dish or salad.
...a capital fund drive is needed to finance the new one million cup coffee urn.
...you serve Jell-O as a vegetable.
...your biggest fund-raisers are bake sales instead of bingo.
...you can't have a meeting without having a meal.
...you refer to your trip to Minneapolis as a pilgrimage.
...sharing the peace during the service takes more time than the sermon.
...all your relatives graduated from a school named Concordia.
...you count coffee among the sacraments.

What does hair loss have to do with my love affair with mops?

I have this strange love affair with mops. I really like to have a clean floor in my house. Now this isn't to say that I clean the floor constantly. On the contrary rather. I just happen to really like it when it is clean.

I cannot tell you how many mops I have bought in the time we have been married. I have tried the sponge mop, the cotton rag mop. I have used swiffer wet and I even own a Hoover Floor Mate. I like the Hoover a lot! But my favorite mop to date is the Libman Wonder Mop. It has a great pull down ring out feature. It doesn't get the floor too wet and it cleans like a dream. It has been a very long time since I have broken out the Libman. I typically use the Hoover or the Swiffer. They are quicker and easier. The whole mop and bucket thing just is a pain in the butt.

We happen to have white kitchen floors. This is not by my choice. We inherited them with the house. My dad's first comment about our house, "ohh, you aren't going to like those floors." Yeah Dad, you were right.

Yesterday our Social worker was coming for the update on our homestudy. So I thought I would get handy and actually mop the floors. By the way the best cleaning agent to be used with said Libman is Murphy's Oil Soap. This stuff is the best for everything. Anyway... I busted out the trusty Libman and mopped my little heart out. This took all of 2 seconds since our kitchen is so dang small.

Well... I found the flaw with my beloved mop. The mop has the ability to get under certain items in our kitchen, like the refrigerator and the butcher block. These are not places that my broom can reach. So what does the mop do? It flicks out dust bunnies the size of small rodents and copious amounts of my hair. I sound like a slob now don't I? I am not really, I just don't clean out under my fridge. This is the problem when you own 2 cats and your hair is falling out from stress.

My 2 second mop job turned into picking up bits of wet dirty cat fur then mopping again. But you should see my floors. They are sparkly clean!!

The one where Elle shows her face

well... not quite actually. The whole blue eyeshadow discussion got me thinking about how the 80's were unbelievably cruel to me. I sat down and looked at all the photos of myself from the 80's and man was I ever an FLK.

I will fully admit that at some point during the cold war I once sported a mullet. Of course we didn't call it a mullet back then. It was one of those my cousin is doing it so I should too. If I knew then what I know now about that particular cousin I think I would have picked a better hair style!

Rhonda said she wanted to see a photo of me with leg warmers and a side pony tail. Sorry to disappoint you R, but my hair just isn't long enough for the side pony. Besides I think that the only place you could get leg warmers would be the Goodwill and that falls into my fear of purchasing second hand items.

But what I can give you is a photo of me in leg warmers from the 80's!! Please take note of what I am watching on the TV. Yes indeed it is the Muppets. Probably the Muppet Show to be exact. Although it could be the Great Muppet Caper. I love that movie! I still do, in fact... I own it. I might just go put in the DVD player right now.

So here it is for your viewing enjoyment. Elle in legwarmers.

The Free Gift

About once a quarter Clinique comes out with their free gift promotion. You know the one. Where they price everything just above the minimum purchase price requiring you to buy and additional $32 lipstick that you really didn't need just to get the free gift.

I was at the mall with my friend K a few weeks ago and Clinique was running the special. Unfortunately I don't use this particular line of cosmetics. No free gift for me. K, however, does. K makes a purchase that awards her the obligatory free gift. Of course I am a little jealous, because who doesn't like buying something to get something free? I actually considering purchasing something so I too could have the free gift. Of course what would I have purchased? Lotion.

Anyway, we leave the department store 1 free gift richer. (ok K was richer by it, but I live vicariously through her sometimes)

About a week later I get this package in the mail from K. I love mail. Especially surprise packages! I open it up and lo and behold the package contains a free gift from the Clinique counter!! The little note read that she needed some moisturizer and got another free gift. So she sent it to me. Isn't that just too sweet? Aren't I lucky to have a good friend like this? I am. Thanks K!

This quarter's free gift is pretty cool. 2 cute little bags, a little mascara (jury is still out on this one), a lipstick (almost a rockin' color on me) and a little eyeshadow. I am not one for much eye make up, but on occasion I like to look a little more than a mousy housewife. The colors are even decent in this one. A soft pink, a cocoa brown and a steel blue.

Blue? I don't think that even in the 80's I wore blue eyeshadow. I try out the pink and brown. Love them. However, today I thought I would give the blue a shot. Yes people... I willingly put on blue eyeshadow. I am not exactly sure if I should be proud of this or horrified. It actually looked half way decent.

My god! Am I going throwback? I have the sudden urge to hunt down some stirrup pants and leg warmers. Thank god my hair isn't long enough to put in a side pony tail. Someone might have to do an intervention.

Where do I find this crap?

I found this on another blog and thought it to be rather funny.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Elle!

1. Every day in the UK, four people die putting elle on!
2. The pharoahs of ancient Egypt wore garments made with thin threads of beaten elle.
3. Louisa May Alcott, author of 'Little Elle', hated elle and only wrote the book at her publisher's request!
4. Early thermometers were filled with elle instead of mercury.
5. Elle will always turn right when leaving a cave.
6. Elle can taste with her feet!
7. Elle has enough fat to produce 32 bars of soap.
8. Elle kept at the window will keep vampires at bay!
9. It's bad luck to whistle near elle.
10. Elleicide is the killing of elle!

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Everywhere itchy

I have issues. You all knew that though. I told D one day that I wanted a body transplant. If they can transplant a whole face, why not my body. Of course I am not sure of what on my body I would like to keep. I can tell you what I want to get rid of. This is not one of those "I'm fat and want the body of a supermodel" kinds of things. I just want parts that work. For instance, I would like eyes that can see, ears that can hear better, feet that have arches, a stomach that will actually process food in a normal fashion, a uterus that doesn't spontaneously grow strange objects and most of all skin that doesn't itch!!!

When I was a kid I used to get these weird red patches on my skin. My mom freaked out one day and took me to the doctor. She was convinced that it was ring worm. It looked distinctly like ringworm. The dr. said it wasn't, gave me a cream and sent me on my way. I still get these little patches on occasion. However, they don't really itch that much. It is just the rest of my freakin body.

I have tried nearly every lotion on the market. The problem is they may stop the itching, but they make my skin break out. Talk about damned if I do and damned if I don't. I have never been able to moisturize my face. Any lotion that touches my face makes me look like a 12 year old boy. I wash my face with a basic neutrogena face wash and that is it. I wear as little make-up as possible and call it good. This seems to help, but it still doesn't solve my itchy body problem.

To illustrate my point of the itchy skin, below is a photo of all the lotions I currently have in my house. I throw about 10 bottles away about once a year. Actually, I have curbed my lotion buying obsession because I am running out of room to keep them.

Yeah, I'm a big H2O fan. Their stuff smells great!

I have found nothing that truly works on my skin without making it break out... until now! Apparently the bargain lotions were just not good enough. I had to go into one of those fancy skin care shops that sells $65 face cream. For $65 I better look like a supermodel! However, I did scope out a body cream that might just be my ticket out of itchville. It is this super thick 25% Shea butter stuff. I got the girl to give me a couple free samples to try. I wasn't quite sure if I really wanted to invest $36 in body lotion that is just going to throw me right back to my teenage years. Well... Day 2 and I am mostly itch free and mostly zit free. I think we might have a winner!!

What is better is this company also makes a hair conditioner with shea butter in it. I thought at $16 a bottle I could give it a try. D told me that at that price it better damn well work. Considering I think I spend $3.00 on my 2 in 1 shampoo. (I know it's cheap, but I like it) So how did the conditioner work? FABULOUS!! I also whipped out my curling spray that I already had and by golly I have some fairly nice hair. I am still waiting on the stuff I ordered from Amazon, but Jen recommended it so it has to work right?

Now if any of you have the same skin condition I will gladly take any suggestions on what works for you. And yes, I even tried the baby oil on wet skin trick. I smelled nice, but that's about it.

Entertainment

D took me to the NW Flower and Garden Show today. I haven't been to the show in a few years now. I don't like large crowds and this event is the epitome of large crowds. We paid $19 per person to get into this place. $38 for 2 hours of entertainment. That is how long it took us to get through this thing. You would think that with me being the plant person that I am it would be an all day event. Not exactly.

Imagine thousands of people crammed together who instantly have become "plant experts." Every Dick and Jane in the place was the fore most authority on everything botanical. Combine that with the scent of 2 million hyacinths. That is the flower and garden show. Not to mention the morons who buy bundles of willow twigs, plant stakes, long handled pruners, and tomato cages and DON'T check them! Every time you turn around you run the risk of losing an eye.

The best part about the show was the entertainment value. My 2 favorite comments were the following:

Clueless lady #1

Looking at an all pink display garden decorated with a "path" of little pink balls that look distinctly like gumballs, Clueless lady #1 says to clueless friend, "Oh look, tomatoes."

Uhh, lady those are pink! and they are gumballs!!! Can't you smell them. Also note the lack of stems and for God's sake they are PINK!!!

Clueless man #1

Peering into another display garden Clueless man #1 states, "That's a pretty willow."

Sir, I hate to inform you that that plant is a Coral Bark Maple.


I am very aware that not everyone has had the luxury of spending years of their life living nothing but plants day in and day out. And I am very aware that I am not the world's expert on plants, gardening or landscaping. But some of these people are very very funny. There were some students their studying the display gardens and "judging" them. Husbands and wives looking for ideas for their own gardens at home. Ordinarily normal people who have now become plant experts.

The best part about the show was getting to spend the day with D. He had to listen to me blabber on about all kinds of crap he doesn't really care about. He followed me as I wandered around in circles around the orchid booths trying to decide on if I could kill it or not. I really wanted a new orchid, but I just can't grow them when they are in moss. I have 6 already, 3 that are blooming and really no space.

It was a good day all in all. Humorous and fun.

Living life right

You ever have those days where you hit every green light in town and get rock star parking at the mall. Well for me the past few days have been like that. The sun came out and life perked up.

Thursday I was pleasantly surprised by my girlfriend Ingelaurie who brought me a coffee. She is the best! When I arrived home from the church Thursday night I had a package waiting for me on my front doorstep. It was a beautiful wall hanging quilt from Margaret. Thanks M, I love it.

D got paid more than we expected so he actually gave me the OK (and a budget) to go buy some plants. Friday's weather was beautiful so I decided to try to find a way to maximize the given budget. Yes, I entered the plant department at my local mega home improvement store. Being the good plant lady I am, I just couldn't bring myself to actually purchase plants there. So I drove across town to one of my favorite independent nurseries. To my great delight I actually found the plant I was looking for. A dwarf burning bush! It looks like a bunch of twigs right now, but just wait until fall. I also picked up a few heaths and 2 rhubarb roots. I haven't ever grown rhubarb, but I really like rhubarb pie. 2 roots will feed our entire neighborhood!

My day in the yard included removing more than my fair share of Bee Balm. This plant is part of the mint family. If you know anything about plants it will give you an indication of the aggressiveness of this little monster. I left one clump because it really is pretty. The rhubarb took its place. I planted my new little babies, mowed the back yard and pulled a few weeds.

My car is now a happy car and evidently it really is gray. I just thought it was the dirt. Of course it is supposed to sprinkle today. Figures.

D also let me purchase some bark for my rose garden. We have had landscape fabric down, but no bark for months. Our last wind storm whipped it up and piled it on top of some of my rose bushes.

So despite the crappy few weeks I have had, this week I feel like things are starting to feel a little better.

Thanks to Jen for the advice on the hair stuff. I ordered it from Amazon. Can't wait to try it. Because you are all so captivated by my hair I'll let you all know how it works.

Damn hair!

I think the world is out to get me! I really do. I feel like I take one step forward in the world and then 12 giant steps back.
First, the back seat of my car is wet. I have a large mass of pine needles that have built up where the hatch hinges are. During the really heavy rain the seal just couldn't take it and the hatch leaked. So I have to shop-vac out the pine needles and hope my car dries out.

I figured since I have to whip out the shop-vac that I might as well clean the rest of the car. So I trot on off to Target and purchase a fancy new wash mitt. I figure my little car has been through enough abuse with the way I drive I might as well pamper it a little.

What does all this have to do with my hair? Well... as you may recall my hair is the bane of my existence. It is that type of hair that isn't quite straight and isn't quite curly. I still have not had it cut and it is getting dry. A girlfriend of mine suggested that I start using a conditioner every few days in addition to the 2 in 1 I already use. While we were in Canada I tried the hotel shampoo and conditioner. I know, I know, hotel shampoo sucks, but this was different. Apparently Bath & Body Works now supplies the hair and skin care products for Marriott. They had this aromatherapy (orange ginger) stuff. It is freakin awesome!!! My hair looked nice. It was a pretty curly not a frizzy curly. I loved it. So of course I forgot to take the little bottle with me.

The next weekend we stayed in Seattle for the fancy dinner and guess what? Another Marriott! I was smart this time. I took the conditioner with me. But as luck would have it I ran out today. That means tomorrow I will go back to frizz head or I have to find some conditioner and quick!

Now the smart person would just run out to her local B&BW store and pick up a bottle of the miracle cream, but would Elle? NOOOOOO! B&BW is in the mall. The mall is full of babies and teenage mothers, stupid people who don't look where they are going and fun boys who wear too much cologne. I. hate. the. mall.

So as I am doing my errand this afternoon to purchase the fancy new wash mitt for the car I spied with my little eye the most fantastic thing ever. In the same shopping center with Target is a B&BW!!! Filled with joy over the though of ridding my life of the frizzy hair I ventured in. I saw the Aromatherapy line of products. I scanned, and scanned, and scanned. Didn't see hair care. Little clerk girl asks if she can help me. "Hair conditioner" I grunted. "Oh, I'm sorry. All we have is the American Girl products. We will be getting the Aromatherapy line in soon though." "When will then be now?" "By the end of the month."

Great. I have to go another 3 weeks with this rat's nest on my head! Hey, at least my car got a new wash mitt.

Elle vs. Football

I live in the NW. Yes, this is Seahawks country. I grew up with rabid Seahawks fans. My dad, my uncles. All Seahawks fans. I remember the days when they used to bitch and moan over the fact that the games weren't on TV, because they were blacked out (due to poor attendance.) I remember when Qwest field was being built, them complaining because you couldn't have alcohol at Husky Stadium. Of course none of us could afford to actually go to the games, but it was something to complain about. These men in my life have loved football. They are the epitome of the 12th man. Despite all of this rabble rousing in my life I have never developed a love for the Seahawks. I am the anti-football fan. I don't understand football. I don't get that a game that has a total playing time of 60 minutes could take 4 hours?! Give me a break!

So what is an anti-football girl like me supposed to do during the biggest game of the year? I asked myself that very question when we were invited down to the in-laws house for a Superbowl party. I packed up my book and my computer and we headed down.

During the first quarter I sat in the family room reading my beloved blogs and looking up other miscellaneous stuff on the internet. That is until I heard the cackling coming from the other room. My MIL and her friends have this laugh that is just hilarious! The funniest thing is it gets louder and louder the longer the evening goes on. These women are notorious for this. Of course the source of the laughter is coming from the commercials. I may hate football, but I do find Superbowl commercials a bit funny. Reluctantly I took my place among them to watch the big game.

You all should be proud of me... I actually watched a football game for 2 whole quarters! That is some kind of record. Yes, the commercials were hilarious. The officiating was terrible and I even saw the touchdown that wasn't, and the interception and 72 yard return! Aren't you impressed I know a little football lingo? Somewhere around the end of the 3rd quarter I lost interest. So back to my computer.

Kudos to the MIL for the food. She made brisket and Oma's potatoes. (Ask me for the recipe, they are to die for) She put on quite the spread and didn't ask anyone to bring anything!! I actually had a good time at a Superbowl party. Imagine that!

Now do you think anyone will come to my house for a Stanley Cup party if the Canucks make it?

A new mark

I think Elle might have found a new mark for a bloggy make over. There is a newbie on the scene in the world of Russian adoption. Jen and her husband Mike are going to adopt a little girl. They already have 3 biological boys. They need some estrogen in their house I would say.
Go check out Jen's blog if you haven't already done so. Adopting from Russia

Of course Jen has to agree to the Elle makeover first. In the mean time let's all welcome Jen to the world of waiting. *Welcome Jen!*


I am still taking orders for any other adoption bloggers that might like a bloggy makeover. Just have to let me know.

Elle's Day

So after careful review yesterday was yet again another wasted day. What exactly did Elle accomplish?

1. Showered, and applied make-up
2. Cleaned up the breakfast dishes
3. Grocery shopped (I even went 3 different places to get everything)
4. I did actually cook dinner. (it wasn't done until about 8:15, but I cooked!)
5. I worked on the quilt I started for myself.
6. Watched Mission Impossible while working on the quilt
7. came up with a new fundraiser idea that I pitched to D.
8. Carried on an Instant Messenger conversation about said fundraiser.
9. Found a new fundraiser in the mean time, an proceeded to carry on another conversation with D.
10. Eventually folded the sheets that were on the sofa. Of course that was at D's prompting when he brought them into the bedroom and threw them on the bed. Come on people, they are queen sized sheets and I am little. I needed his help anyway.

And the number of times Elle checked her email yesterday: about 15. of course many of those were simply because I was carrying on a conversation with a girlfriend and happened to be sitting in front of the computer.

Well today is my church 1/2 day so it has to be productive. Of course I work from 12-4:30 then have a meeting at 6, another at 7 and then choir at 8. So I won't be home until around 9:30 or so.

On a side note I did buy myself some flowers yesterday. Pink Tulips and white Alstromeria. Put it in a white vase... very pretty and chic. I also treated myself to a Coke. I lifted it from the youth fridge at the church, but gosh darn it I was certain the awaited email wouldn't come yesterday and I needed a treat.

Elle's Attention Span

I have a very short attention span. Everyone who knows me will attest to this fact. So lets do a little sociological experiment on Elle today.
First: Elle suffers from ECD. (for the symptoms of EDC click here) It is currently 9:24 a.m. and I have checked my email 2 times.

Second: the following is a list of stuff I really should accomplish today.

1. Shower
2. Grocery Shop (D has no food)
3. Take garbage bag out of my office and place it in the garbage can.
4. do the breakfast dishes
5. fold the sheets that have been on the sofa for 3 days
6. make the bed
7. pick up the mess I made in A's room
8. balance the checkbook
9. cook dinner

Third: the following is a list of things I would really like to do today.

1. work on the multitudes of aprons I already started
2. work on the quilt I started for a girlfriend
3. finish the quilt I started for myself
4. start the scarf I said I would knit for D
5. start work on the costumes and props I said I would do for our church production of Godspell


So... as you can see I have many options on how I can spend my day. At the end of the day I will post to tell you exactly what I did (or did not) get accomplished and exactly how my affliction with ECD really is.

You then can attest to the fact that I must have ADD and assist me in finding a support group, or at least some medication. Either that or this is going to work great for me and I will pull a "see I really can get stuff done."

BTW, besides checking my email, I have read 8 blogs, read 2 yahoo groups, FRUA, and adoption.com. I have searched for handbags on ebay and written this blog entry. I want NO comments on the fact that I need to get a life. There are certain things in my life that I deserve to do at this point!

Wish me luck!

If Mike Tyson were a cat

We got home from the store the other night and I noticed something on the ear of one of our cats. Upon closer inspection I discovered it was dried blood. Evidently our cats had a little argument while we were out buying them cat food. J, our dumb male cat, probably pissed I, our fat female cat, off. She doesn't take crap from anyone.

Our house looked like something out of a CSI episode. You could follow the trail of "evidence" all over the house.

Exhibit #1: I had a crusty substance on her fur. This was either J slobber (which it usually is) or J's dried blood.

Exhibit #2: A big spot of dried blood on J's ear and a missing chunk of said ear. (see photo below)

Exhibit #3: Drops of dried blood in the hall

Exhibit #4: More dried blood in the TV cabinet in our bedroom

Exhibit #5: clumps of grey cat hair on the floor in front of said TV cabinet.

Exhibit #6: tufts of hair coming out of grey cat.

Exhibit #7: tufts of orange cat hair stuck in the claws of said grey cat.

Now I don't have that fancy CSI testing equipment, but I think this is enough evidence to prove that Isis pulled a Mike Tyson on J. Although, I am sure he totally deserved it.

Does this look like the face of a vicious lunatic to you?

Mother Nature's Cruel Joke

It is very sad when you measure rain in # of days and sunshine in # of hours. We ended up having something like 27-30 straight days of rain. We were watching the news last night and the weather guy said that we had 30 straight hours of sun (or clear sky) How sad is that?

Yesterday was the nicest day we had in a long time. I mean beautiful! I opened the sunroof on my car (all the way), wore my sandals (albeit with socks) and thought damn this is nice. Of course yesterday was my afternoon at the church. So I spent the beautiful day indoors.

The weatherman also predicted it was going to rain today (my day off), but it wouldn't start until the afternoon. So I do my usual routine of email, blogs, shower, etc. and I have the intent of going outside to take care of a few weeds in my garden. I go out side, grab my tools and start hacking the heads off of ugly weeds. And what happens? No more than 2 minutes into my fun it starts raining. Ok, I am from the Northwest, I can handle a little sprinkle. I keep working. It starts to rain harder. It now becomes decision time. Do I throw on all the rain gear and keep working or do I pack it in and go in my warm house?

Well, I am sitting at the computer so you can guess what I did. All I want to do is pull some weeds so I don't look like the neighborhood embarrassment. Well, if you saw my yard you wouldn't call it that, but most of my neighbors know I am a horticulturalist. How bad is it for a plant person to have a crappy garden? I mean come on, I have a reputation to uphold here. I can't let the little old ladies that walk by and say things like, "oh look at that garden, she isn't going to have anything in that flower bed come winter. She planted all deciduous plants." HA ladies you are WRONG!!! There is something in that bed!! WEEDS!! I win I win. Ok, bad example.

So here I sit. And by my calculation it is 11:16 am and that is definitely not afternoon. Walter the Weather guy - you were WRONG!

God, Help me!

During road trips D and I (ok mostly me) like to talk about dreams for our life. It actually is my way of getting D to talk about his feelings, but that is a different story.

So on this trip to Canada I started asking, "if you could do anything in the world what would it be?" D wants to be a professional golfer. Of course he thought this was totally unrealistic, but I thought otherwise. Ok, maybe playing on the PGA tour was a little unrealistic, but being a golf pro is not. You have to go to school for it. Of course the school is in Florida and we live in Washington, but hey it isn't unrealistic.

What do I want to do? Oh the possibilities. What don't I want to do is more like it. I told D that there is so much out there I want to do, but I am running out of lifetime. How can that be at my age? That just goes to show you how long my list actually is.

The big thing I want to do is own my own store. I have lots of ideas of what type of store I would like to have. We had talked about a Play it Again Sports. I thought about starting a landscape design studio that would be an intern program for new designers. But the thing I think would be the most fun is starting my own boutique style floral shop. Not one of these floral shops where they sell all that gifty crap or tons of shit people really don't need, but one of those sleek, refined shops. You know, the type of place that the average joe is intimidated to go into. I want it to be like that, only the average joe would be welcome in my shop.

I know, this sounds nuts. I always come up with these ideas that just sit there in my mind or I try them and fail miserably. I have a feeling that this is a flavor of the month type of idea. I do this all the time. The good news is, so far I have not purchased a book on the subject. In fact I do not own a single floral design book. but the catch is that I actually started looking up schools that teach floral design. There are 2 in my area. One is at the local technical college, the other is actually a floral design institute in Seattle.

I cannot believe I would even consider going back to school, let alone for something that I already know how to do. Of course I have never worked as a floral designer or in a flower shop for that matter. I just know that I love flowers, I like the creative aspect of it and it would give me the chance to own my own store front.

Someone please stop me. Can someone please show me where the brain "off" switch is?

I've been threatened

Wouldn't it be great if those were one of those stories where I get to play the victim and there is this big stalker threatening to kidnap me? It would make for a fantastic story, but sadly that is not the case. I was threatened by D.

I forgot to mention in my previous posts that I am really bad driver. I mean really bad. Ok, not Rhonda bad, but bad. I have managed to drive myself 30 miles without knowing how I got from point A to point B. Seriously. It isn't so much that I am not paying attention... well... maybe I'm not. I get distracted by random thoughts and just go through the motions of driving. I usually make it home safe. I haven't been in an accident in a good number of years. (knocking vigorously on wood)

Well, this evening I was driving home from work and evidently I was not paying attention. I realized that the person in front of me was not moving. So I did an awesome defensive driving move and slammed on my brakes and swerved. I was slick. Shaking like hell, but slick.

I got home and told D about my little adventure. The conversation went something a little like this:

Elle: I just about wrecked my car tonight.
D: weren't paying attention were you?

Elle: I have no idea what you are talking about.
D: If you wreck your car that is it. No more car. We can't afford to buy you a new one.

Elle: So I should pay attention while I am driving?
D: Yeah, I'm thinking so.

Evidently I need to become a more alert driver.

In other news, I finally found the coveted cell phone ringtone. It took a little creative Googling to actually find it. It isn't called the Hey Song. It is Rock and Roll part 2 by Gary Glitter. You have to know the one I am talking about. It is the song they play at every hockey rink after every home team goal. Now my phone plays it. I just wish more people would call me.

The finalists for the ringtone were:
Back in the USSR (Derek stole this one from me)
Knight Rider (keeping in that whole 80's theme)
Ob-la-di, Ob-la da
and
The Mister Six song

Next I am on the hunt for the Hockey Night in Canada song.

Crisis Averted

I did it! I finally did it! I am so proud of myself (ok tooting my own horn a little too much here). I actually filled out the online prescription form and had my Pfizer gold refilled. Of course I waited until D was home to drive me down to the pharmacy to pick it up, but that is a different story. So tomorrow there will be no sneezing fits. I must say though that the allergy attacks are quite the ab workout.

Considering the fact that the furthest I went today was the front stoop I got surprisingly little accomplished. It was one of those scattered days I have. See, I may have 3 paying jobs, but I only work outside of the home a day and a half a week. The 2 in home jobs are my own businesses and if I don't feel like working I don't. Today I didn't feel like working. So I started the day with reading my favorite blogs, followed by sweeping the floors (sooo needed to be done), then I sat down at the sewing machine to work on a project. Then the thread broke so I went to do some ironing, then the iron kinda burned the ironing board pad. Then I went back to the sewing machine, then to the dishes... can you see a pattern here? I think the pharmacist should slip me some Ritalin instead of Zyrtec.

So D and I are going on a romantic one night get away this weekend. I am sooo excited. We haven't been away for a very long time. The last hotel stay we had was on a rock hard bed in Vancouver, WA. But that was to help D's sister move, and wasn't really romantic. This time we are going to Vancouver, BC. One of my favorite places in the world. Staying at the Hyatt and having dinner at the noodle house. Of course I will just have to stare longingly at the doors of GM Place since we can't afford hockey tickets. I do plan on spending every last cent I have on a new Team Canada Olympic sweatshirt though.

I have this wonderful Roots sweatshirt from the last Olympics. But frankly it has been deemed unfit for "out of the house wear." So I have to buy a new one. The bad part is HBC is doing the Team Canada stuff. But a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.

I really am way too excited about this night away. I know I don't have any kids to get away from, but I do have cats. And a night in a bed with just the 2 of us is just heaven!

why?

I am just damn stubborn. I really hate that about myself. Why is it that we have these qualities about ourselves and we are powerless to do anything to change them? Take for example my allergies. I have mentioned before the severity of my allergies. In order for me to lead a normal life I am required to take a very expensive allergy pill. Now any normal person would see that they are running low on the Pfizer gold and call the pharmacy for a refill. But will Elle do that? Noooo, she would rather run out and suffer the consequences. You would think I would learn.

So here I sit, looking like rudolph, sneezing my brains out (literally). My house is covered in wads of toilet paper simply because I am too stubborn to go out to my car and get the box of kleenex my mom gave me during my last episode. Of course the house would be covered in wads of kleenex, but at least my nose would be less red.

I think my head is going to explode.

What's that in the sky?

I saw the most amazing thing this morning!!! There was this bright ball of light in the sky. It kinda made me feel warm and I had to squint when looking at it. What is better is that the sky wasn't this dark gray color. It actually was blue. I had heard stories of a world where there is this magical orb in the sky that people call the s-u-n and the sky was blue. It made the plants grow and you even had to put on these reflective eye shields. I thought it was just one of those urban legends until I saw it in person. I was even lucky enough to capture a picture of it.It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Sadly I don't think it is going to last long. The weathermen, while also mystified at this sighting, are predicting the return of the wetness.

The good news is that this miraculous moment afforded us the opportunity to climb up on the roof to slap a thick coat of roofing sealant around the chimney. We think the culprit is mainly the stupidity of the previous homeowner. The flashing around our chimney was improperly installed and some of the sealant was gaping. Also a big piece of flashing, where the water is coming in, was bent down exposing a large crevice. The funny part of the whole thing is that we were lucky to find some sealant that works when it is wet, but the directions clearly state make sure the area is clear of any dirt or debris. We tried to scrape away the copious amounts of Doug-Fir needles, but the sealant just wouldn't stick. (of course this resulted in a rooftop argument) My suggestion was to take the garden hose and hose out the junk. Of course adding additional water to an already leaking roof wasn't D's idea of smart. However, I won. We used the hose to wash away the debris, layed down a thick bead of sealant and now only time will tell. The next step will be to replace the waterlogged drywall in our living room. Good thing I know how to do that!

On a another note... Go check out Margaret's blog. I had fun with this one, but who am I kidding, I have fun with them all. Those of you who use Internet Explorer (IE) as your web browser have no issues viewing it. Those of us using Mozilla have some issues. I am not sure what the deal is, but it won't view right in Moz. I will have to do some exploring.

And on a totally unrelated topic, I need the help of my bloggy friends. I need a new ringtone for my cell phone. Currently my phone plays the "A team" theme song. Come on... you know the show, Mr. T, Murdock and the gang. This is not to say that I am a big Mr. T fan, but I think the them song is a riot. However, I am getting tired of the A. So here is your chance, let me know what you think my cell phone ring tone should be. The possibilities are endless.*


*ok, not really endless, I am secretly searching for the Hey song, but I can't seem to find it. I just need some good suggestions to an alternative.

I too got tagged

Like I have posted before I am not much of a Meme person, but I thought this one was rather cute. And in my attempt to be a more prolific blogger I thought I would tell you a little more about me. Besides... I got tagged by Lauri and lets face it, she sent me a really nice E-card that made me smile.

What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was in college trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Do I change majors, where do I find work... I was also planning our wedding. WAAAAAY too young to be doing that!


What were you doing 1 year ago?

Frantically cleaning my house getting ready for our dreaded homestudy. Damn our house looked good. I shoulda taken pictures.

Five Snacks I enjoy
1. Lucky Charms
2. Goldfish crackers
3. Cookie dough (not the ice cream, just cookie dough)
4. grapes
5. ranch dressing. I know this is really a condiment, but let's face it, anything you put ranch dressing on is just really a medium to get the dressing into your face.

Five songs to which I know all the lyrics

1. Obla-di-obla-da - The Beatles (damn Michael Jackson for owning the rights to all Beatles songs preventing us from downloading them from iTunes!)
2. Ironic - Alanis Morissette (ok, most Alanis songs)
3. The Eleventh Hour - Jars of Clay
4. Dodo - Dave Matthews Band
5. Down to the River to Pray - Alison Krauss

Five things I would do if I were a Millionaire

1. Move out of the US and pay to fly my parents back and forth
2. Start my charitable foundation
3. Save a whole ton
4. Contribute to charities Im passionate about (I took that one from Lauri, but it applies to me too)
5. fix my fricken roof. Ok, let's be realistic here, if I were a millionaire I would just buy a whole new house

Five bad habits
1. I refuse to purchase anything in which the can, box, or container is dented, scratched, or maimed in any way
2. My shoes have a bad habit of not finding their way back into the closet, least of all the shoe racks. I totally blame the shoes.
3. I anally organize my closet
4. I am stubborn
5. I am a perfectionist

I blame all of these things on my mom. Well, except the shoe thing, that really is the shoe's fault. (mom you know I love you right?)

Five Things I like doing
1. gardening
2. playing hockey
3. reading
4. cooking
5. spending a lazy afternoon with D trying to find the best discount stores

Five things I would never wear ( buy or get again)

1. shoulder pads. I don't need them
2. hammer pants (my name is Elle, I once wore hammer pants)
3. leg warmers
4. hair scrunchies
5. baggy sweaters

Hey! I am a child of the 80's what can I say.

Five Favorite toys

1. the church's laptop
2. kick ass medium format camera D bought for my birthday that I don't use nearly enough
3. Photoshop
4. Baby S's Fridge Phonics, I do it just to irritate D
5. my one and only Xbox Game, Oddworld, Munch's Oddessey

Im supposed to tag five people- but everyone I would have tagged is tagged already, so just go to their blogs and leave a comment. It makes them feel good!

Margaret- Peanut pants
Rhonda - Still waiting


So here's the deal: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot

afrindiemum
an elephants gestation
So its come down to this
ukraine adventure
Life of Elle

I am a bad blogger

I have to say that I admire those of you who post daily to your blogs. I think have determined that my just isn't that interesting. (of course we all know that isn't true) I really do have a hard time coming up with stuff to write about. I mean come on, how many times can I tell you that this rain is slowly killing me. Yes, we are up to day 26, with no end in sight. My unofficial rain gage (a bucket on the back patio) shows about 6-7 inches since Saturday.

Now with 26 straight days of rain and an older house we all know that something has to go wrong. Yesterday I was putting on my coat to go back to work I noticed that there was this bubble in the wall where the ceiling meets the wall. That really can't be good. Upon further investigation I realized that indeed the roof is leaking and the bubble is full of water. Fortunately, D was also home for lunch. So the following is how the next hour played out.

D: no that isn't full of water.
L: oh yes it is!! Feel it.
D: ok fine.

D then gets a flashlight and climbs up on a ladder that is on top of a workbench to peer inside the attic to spot any leaks. (all this while in his work clothes)

Then a conversation ensues about who we should call to assist us with this little predicament. We try the church handyman, Chuck, but he is gone for the day. D's dad is in Kansas, my dad and step-dad are at work. I walk to the neighbor's house, but he is in Sweden. This means it is up to D and I.
D gets up on the roof and frankly our roof is crap. The gutters and valleys are covered in pine needles, the back side is covered in moss and the flashing around the chimney is not that great. D bounces around on the roof trying to find any soft spots. There aren't any major ones. L then proceeds to climb onto the roof and do the same bouncing dance. We then manage to wrap a tarp around our chimney. Did I mention it was raining at the time? Shocking!
D then cleans out the remaining gutters and gets off the roof. Doesn't this sound like fun?

So here is the good news. When I got home the bubble hasn't gotten any bigger. I called my step-dad and he says put some kind of sealer on it. Ok, sounds good. I then call my dad. Dad says, put some kind of sealer on it. Dad says it sounds like a flashing issue, but he can't come help us this weekend and it really is a dry weather project. But it isn't supposed to stop raining any time soon!!!!
Dad also says to cut the bubble open to let the water out. D does so and the water that comes out smells soooo bad. Like rotting cardboard. So now we will have to replace the flashing around the chimney and drywall in our living room! If it isn't one thing it is another.

Last night we made a pilgrimage to the local "mega home improvement store" and lucky for us they have just the thing! Wet application roofing sealant!!!! $5 later we walked out of MHIS happy campers. I'll let you know next week if this all mighty sealant works!

Wish me luck.

100 Things

Rhonda posted her 5 weird habits and it got me thinking. (I hate memes by the way) I tried to think of my 5 weird habits and I couldn't come up with anything good. I am sure my mother could name them in about 2 seconds. I had an easier time coming up with 100 things about me. So here you go:

1. My middle name is Ellen.
2. I was given that name after my grandmother, who has the same middle name.
3. My first name is not Elle, that would be silly (Elle Ellen)
4. I got married at 20.
5. I am still married.
6. To the same guy.
7. I wasn't even pregnant when we got married.
8. We waited 7 years before trying to have kids.
9. We have a son 1/2 way around the world.
10. He isn't officially ours yet.
11. The first time I traveled out of N. America was to meet the boy.
12. I have been to about 1/2 of the US States.
13. I love to read.
14. I read about 7 books at a time.
15. I never get rid of books.
16. I refuse to buy used books.
17. I have a fear of dirty houses.
18. I blame my mom for that.
19. I am good at a ton of things, but am an expert at nothing.
20. I have tried nearly every craft known to man.
21. I am a very visual learner.
22. I taught myself how to knit.
23. I taught myself web site design.
24. I drive a German car.
25. I am trying to figure out how long I can keep the car before having to trade it for a more "family friendly" vehicle.
26. I hate messy car interiors.
27. I am anally organized.
28. I like to browse at Office Depot.
29. I love containers to store things in.
30. Rubbermaid is my friend.
31. I am a workaholic.
32. I have 3 paying jobs, 1 non-paying "job" and I am involved in multiple activities.
33. I want to start a charitable foundation to assist orphans overseas.
34. I love hockey.
35. I was so sad during the NHL lockout that I watched pee-wee hockey.
36. I was so desperate for hockey, I learned how to play.
37. I play left wing.
38. I have an obsession with shoes.
39. Not just my shoes.
40. I look at everyone's shoes.
41. I am not allowed to the Nordstrom shoe sale unsupervised.
42. I taught myself artistic photography.
43. I own 4 cameras.
44. I hate to do laundry.
45. I refuse to fold socks.
46. I will leave socks in the dryer for a week.
47. I have a love/hate relationship with craft shows. I love to go get ideas, I hate that I could do that at home, but never make money off of it.
48. People irritate me. They are late, overly opinionated, and refuse to hear anything different.
49. My grandfather taught me the value of a valid argument. Thanks!
50. I should have made him proud and been a debater.
51. I was an average student in high school, but was honor roll in tech school.
52. I have 2 cats. I love them very much and carry them around like babies.
53. I used to dress my childhood cat up in my doll clothes. She didn't like that.
54. I am a neat desk person. I leave my desk neat and clean at the end of the day.
55. I am perpetually on time. I hate to be late. If I have a 2:00 appointment with a client I will ring their doorbell promptly at 2.
56. I have OCD when it comes to knick-knacks in my house. Don't move the white head or I will rip your arm off.
57. Every picture in my house is perfectly level and will not move. I fun-tacked them to the walls.
58. I rearrange the plants in my front yard for fun.
59. I design people's landscapes for a living, but can't design my own.
60. I can fill up every box on a Starbucks cup. (double tall decaf soy peppermint no-whip mocha) It is a sickness really.
61. I am lactose intolerant, but still eat ice cream and cheese.
62. I try to sneak drinks of milk, but regret it in the end.
63. My favorite soft drink is Coke, but I don't drink it any more. It is like crack to me.
64. I don't like candy or cakes.
65. I love cookies and pie.
66. I didn't like chocolate until I had a fibroid removed. I didn't ask for that when I signed up for the surgery.
67. I love the beginning of every season. About mid-way through I wish the weather would change.
68. I collect international folk art.
69. I don't mind spiders, but Wolf Spiders freak me out. You can hear me scream 2 miles away.
70. I make D kill them.
71. I grew up in a penecostal church, now I am a fairly conservative Lutheran. But you wouldn't know it if you met me.
72. I have a nasty habit of picking at my face. I pick until there is a big red mark. I hate it, but I can't stop.
73. I am an adoptee.
74. No, I don't want to know who my biological parents are. My real parents raised me from birth. They are the greatest parents ever (despite crap we went through).
75. My parents divorced when I was 8. They both married really bad people, divorced those and now found the people they were meant to be with.
76. I love my Step-dad and Step-mom very much.
77. I have an 8 year old sister.
78. I will always win the "guess who's family is wierder" contest.
79. I have been told I am a very reflective person.
80. I will always be honest when I tell you what I believe.
81. I am a very schedule oriented person and hate change. I will pull a rain man if things are not the way they useually are.
82. We have moved 12 times in the 9 years we have been married.
83. We are not military.
84. 2 of those moves were across the parking lot.
85. I have quit my job twice without having anywhere else to go.
86. I used to work for Hallmark.
87. They brainwashed me and now I can't buy anything other than a Hallmark card.
88. I will make a card before I buy anything else.
89. I can tell if something on the wall is not straight. It will eat at me.
90. I admire my mom. She had the courage to leave 2 men who were not good for her.
91. I didn't discover this admiration until last year.
92. I have a fascination with foreign culture. I think it is because I don't know what my true ethnicity is.
93. My favorite holiday is my birthday and my least favorite is New Years.
94. I am a middle of the afternoon person.

95. The clothes in my closet are organized. Turtlenecks, tanktops, regular t-shirts, nice t-shirts, 3/4 length sleeves, long sleeves, sweaters, pants, skirt. It all has to be put back in the correct section.

96. Dishes in my cupboards are also organized. Every dish has a specific place. It makes sense to me, that way I can find what I am looking for. D puts things away in the wrong place sometimes and it takes me weeks to find it.

97. The aforementioned white head was created by me in the 8th grade. It has moved from house to house and always sat next to the TV. I came home from a business trip and D had bought a new TV. The head no longer fit so it had to be moved. I was nearly catatonic for days afterwards. People move the head just to screw with me. Same with the green bible.

98. I ring handbells and my book MUST be in alphabetical order.

99. I call a stool a biggener. I am short so a biggener is essential to life. Biggener: n- a device that makes one bigger.

100. When I start something new I have to learn everything about it. I spend hours researching its history. I buy books on the subject. I have books on photoshop, front page, Spanish language, Russia, adoption, hockey, quilting, landscaping, organic gardening, Buddhism. You name it I have a book about it.