Weird scratches

In the last week, I've woken up several times with strange scratches on my chest.

I have no idea how they got there.

I figure it would be any of these things:

1. I'm having bad dreams and scratching myself.

2. The child or dog in my bed could have done it while sleeping.

3. I'm changing into a werewolf at night and unaware of it.

4. A confused vampire keeps trying to bite me.

5. I have an alien inside of me trying to break out.

Random Scrap & Rabbit Trails

I got summoned to jury duty. It isn't perjury to lie on that form you have to fill out, is it?

I think maybe I told them I was disabled...and had fifteen children.

Can I wear my cowboy boots in a courtroom? And my cowboy hat?

Can I blog about it?!

I'm thinking they don't need me in a courtroom.
I don't think I could contain myself.

Sometimes at work our database moves soooo slow that I want to scream
and pull my hair out in frustration...

but I actually work with someone who lost all her hair (rather mysteriously)
so that seems insensitive of me to say that.

But really, maybe, out of everyone, she might understand the best.

I really wouldn't look good bald.

My husband let our 7 yr old see some scary movie,
and now Remy won't go into a room alone.

I've tried to explain that monsters aren't real.
But Remy isn't buying it.

I think I have a solution.
I'm going to tear down all our walls so our house is just one big room.

Yeah, that'll work...I'm sure our landlord won't mind.

3 bits of random

1. I finally gave in and bought my first pair of Crocs.

It's cold here, and I'm going to view them as slippers.





2. I'm about to do my good deed of the day...and drive my dad to church.

3. Later today we have my younger son's laser tag party.

Lots of 7 yr olds running around in the dark armed with laser guns. Sounds like fun, right?

Any randomness you'd like to share with me?

Devil Spawn

Pink Frosted Sugar Cookies

Are taunting me.


What's taunting you?

The Nut House

I'm not sure where to begin.

My house is crazy.

Let's set the scene. I'm making dinner in the kitchen.

My elderly father, who lives with us, comes squeaking in with his rollator
to fix himself a drink...a special concoction of ice cream and Crystal Lite.

Did I mention he's diabetic?

He's gotten very spiritual in his old age
and if you're not careful, he'll corner you and go on and on about the newest guru he's reading.
Regular religion is not enough for him.
He's enjoys doom & gloom, conspiracy theories and esoteric avatars to follow.

His shirt is stained with Crystal Lite, but he can't see it, because he's practically blind.

I point out that his shirt is dirty, and this is what he tells me,
"It's a new design. It's the Father, Son & the Holy Spirit."

And then he precedes to laugh, until the point of choking, at his own "joke."

I tell him it's a good thing he finds himself entertaining.


He heads back to his room, chuckling, where his TV is louder than a full marching band.





Next, there's Donny.
He's doing his homework, part of which consists of trombone practice.
He only knows a note or two, and I have to admit, it sounds like a dying cow.





Then there's Remy. He's either with me or Donny, never alone.

And he's always up to something.

He's been lying a lot lately. He's admitted he likes to tell stories.
I told him I like his creativity, but that I need to know when he's telling the truth or not.

He just smiles.

I'm in so much trouble with him.



Then there's Texas Home Boy, who's off watching
Mad Money or The Daily Show in our bedroom.
Or some horrible gangster movie with violence and cussing that scares the kids.
Sigh.


When I show up with my camera, I get THE LOOK.

You know, this one:

And, Annie, sweet Annie, just looks at me in confusion.

I know, Annie, this IS a nut house.
She follows me around, hoping I'm going to pick up her leash and my keys so we can go for a ride.

Sorry, Annie, someone's gotta keep these guys in line. It's up to you and me, sista.

I think I had a point with this story, but I've already forgotten it.

Scary, huh?
If you stand too close to me, I might rub off on you.
No, not rub ON you.
Get your mind out of the gutter!

I was telling someone today (can't remember who) that sometimes creativity strikes me upside the head with a steel bar,
but other times it sneaks up on me, pulls my pants down and laughs at me.

See, I told you this was a NUT HOUSE.

So, let's have a giveaway!!

I just finished reading a GREAT book, and I want to share it with you.

I'm willing to pass it on, because I want to share my addiction love of reading with others.

So, leave me a comment if you want to win!
Leave me a comment even if you don't want to win.
I love comments.
They make my day.

Did you know you don't have to have a Google account to leave a comment?
You can comment as "anonymous" or just put in a name, any name.

Stephenie Meyer, the fabulous author of the Twilight series, wrote this book also:

I'm not a real big science fiction reader, but this book, The Host, ROCKED MY WORLD.

It's Friday, thank goodness.

What does the weekend hold for you?
In what way is your house a Nut House?
Do you want this book?

Oh, yeah, this giveaway ends...whenever I feel like it.
That's how I roll right now.

Garbled Transmissions

You know what I think the root of all evil is?

Miscommunication.

Seriously.

I think if we humans communicated better with each other and understood each others motivations, the world would run smoother. Yes, there would still be conflict as people disagree on methods of solving problems, but I think it'd be clearer how much we all want the same things.

Food, happiness, health, peace, goodwill, etc.

Do I sound naive? Is this unrealistic?

Growing up on a ranch in the country, we had live-in help and ranch hands. The most memorable live-in that I remember was a young woman from El Salvador who didn't speak English.

She started taking English classes while she lived with us, and my mom worked on increasing her own Spanish vocab so she could communicate back. In fact, my mom started labeling the entire house with English/Spanish flashcards. Pretty soon, it was normal to me to see flashcards taped to the drawers, to the refrigerator, the trashcan, EVERYTHING.






But, what an ingenious idea! It sure helped everyone's communication.

I remember once telling our live-in that I was hungry and wanted a hot dog. She didn't understand that, so I switched to Spanish. I knew the Spanish word for "hot" was "Caliente" and the word for dog was "perro." So, I told her I wanted "un caliente el pero!" She looked confused and mildly horrified. I think what I saw is translated as "a hot the dog." Confusing, yes? Si!






We moved to this town a year ago, and I was immediately confused by our neighbors. We had one neighbor that would park their cars sideways across their driveway. The message seemed clear, "no one use our driveway." We had some guests turn around in their driveway, so it seemed they didn't like that. But we didn't get why?

It just seemed rude of them. We didn't understand.

Then one day the neighbor came over to talk. And then I understood. They worked from home and were on the phone a lot. AND, whenever someone used their driveway, their small inside dog would bark like crazy, causing problems with their home business calls. Now their actions made more sense.

Men and women operate so differently. I truly believe there are just some innate differences that are hard to overcome. I think we need classes on communication. How to do it best, how to be better at it, etc.

I could promote world peace, I tell ya, if I had a chance.

Have I told you that my bed communicates with me? It teases me and tempts me to climb back in. Except today, since someone had an accident in it (and I woke up soaked in said pee). Now it's telling me it needs to be washed, desperately.

Have you had some miscommunication in your life lately? Have you made funny mistakes while trying to speak a foreign language? Does your bed talk to you?

Chicka Chicka Bow Wow

Why don't animals dance?

They can hear the music.
But they don't seem to get the urge to bob their head
or shake their hindquarters?

I twittered about it, but no one answered me.


Oh, yeah, did I tell you I'm twittering now?
Or tweeting?
Or whatever you call it?

I'm TexasRhea if you want to follow me.


So, yesterday I found out that like NO ONE knows how to play chess!
I was dumbfounded.
That's such a strange word.
I like it.
Dumbfounded.

Anyway, I think I need to start an online class to teach EVERYONE how to play.
Chess rocks, people!

And, oh yeah, I'm giving away a book.
Normally I take photos of my kids drawing names out of a hat...
But this time I'm lazy, and I used the random number thingy.

So, the winner is...

Jenboglass!


She won this book:

This has been a tough week for me.
I didn't get the job I wanted, so I'm still job searching.
We've had lots of football practice and soccer practice
and some family drum workshop...don't ask.

Now my mother-in-law is visiting for the weekend,
which means I might go on a date with my husband,
which hasn't happened in months.

My creativity collapsed, and I didn't know what to write about today.

And, that's why you got this instead.

Saturday both boys have 8am sports games,
and I have a 6-hour long writing workshop...

And, I have nothing planned for Sunday,
besides driving my dad to church
and helping my eleven-year-old with two projects due Monday.

How was YOUR week?
Why don't animals dance?
Do you Twitter?

What are your plans for the weekend?

Sunday Somethings

So we've been warned that Hurricane Ike is on it's way.
Even here, north of Dallas, we are in its path
and expected to get hurricane strong winds and flash flooding.



So, just in case we lose power here (please, no!)
I am setting this to auto-post.
BUT, now, as of Sunday morning, we had no problems!
My family in Houston is without power though. :o(


Did you know there was a war last month?
A five-day war where Russia attacked Georgia
(the country, not the U.S. state).
A war, an invasion, or something like that.
I didn't hear much about it in our local news.
I heard it on NPR's international news.




Do you know how foreign countries view us?
They think we're like the movies they see from Hollywood.
Yep. Weird huh? Makes me watch movies in a whole different light...





I'm ordering a car decal from Monogram Chick. Have you checked out her shop?
I LOVE her stuff. I'm going to be order more when my budget allows. She rocks.






My son came home with this artwork the other day.
It represents all four seasons. Isn't it cool?




Just a reminder, Special Mystery Guest Interview coming up Monday!



And, the other night, my eleven-year-old son needed to look up measurements on the Internet (because I totally suck at grams and kilograms and all that).
He wanted me to do it for him. I said no, he could do it on his own.
You know what he then said to me?

"Mama, if I look up measurements online, I'll probably end up buying car insurance."

I died laughing and helped him out.

Coffee Beans Mid-Air

First things first.

The Texas Longhorns played football last night and won. Woohoo! Texas Fight!



Now, today, I had to run some errands, including the grocery store.
With the boys & my dad.

We only needed a few items, so we weren't there long.
But, as I'm headed down an aisle,
out of the corner of my eye,
I see a coffee bean go flying through the air.
And giggles.
Boyish giggles.



My kids are at it again.

On the coffee aisle, you can find whole beans left in the the filter of the grinding machine thingy.

And my boys rescue those abandoned beans to use as weapons against each other, pummeling them through the air, behind my back.

But, I caught them at it and lost my cool.

And, they lost their "good grocery store reward" where they get quarters to buy goodies at the front of the store machines when we're done.

Bad boys.


Another coffee bean flying through the air (aka: a surprise out of nowhere) came in the form of a new grill!

An early Christmas gift for the family.
From Home Depot.

I took out the third row of seats in my car and folded up the second seat...and was amazed by how much room I had! (also amazed by the amount of crumbs and dog hair I'd accumulated!)


And now the grill has a new home, in our backyard.
And we're going to use it for the first time today.
If you hear in the news about an explosion in Texas,
well, that'd be us, I bet.

Wish us luck.

Scattered thoughts

Most my posts have a theme. Or an event...or something that ties them together somehow. This post is not going to be like that. It's horribly unscattered and unpolished and kind of like my mind works half the time. Fun, right? Ok, let's jump in:

I had minor surgery this week. Ok, I'm being a baby. I had a mole removed in the dermatologist's office. I won't bore you with the details, but Remy colored in a corner of the room while I resigned myself to yet another scar and another story to tell on my body. It required stitches and I can't get it wet:

It's really hard to take a picture of your right arm when you're right handed. Try it. My hair needs to be brushed too. Sorry.

As you can see, I still have plenty of moles left. I should have told the Dr to take them too...all of them! Because I have a feeling I'll just keep coming back to have more and more removed over and over...but then I might cheat them out of their co-pays. Dangit.

Ok, so while I'm pouting about this, I am missing one child this week. Donny, my eleven year old has gone camping!! It's his first real camping trip, not counting some cabin camping in cub scouts. He's going with his best friend from Austin and his family. They drove from Dallas to Santa Fe, New Mexico the first day, then on to the Great Sand Dunes Park, Taos and onward towards Boulder and Denver! Then they're going to put Donny on a plane and send him back to me. We sure miss Donny (Annie's on a food strike until he returns!) but I hope he's having a blast.

Before I move on, let me remind everyone that I'm hosting a giveaway! If you haven't read about it or entered yet, there's still time. I'm closing it Saturday night at midnight. Read the post below this one to find out details:

Ok, with Donny gone, I'm having some major bonding time with my six year old, Remy. I've discovered he's quite a bit more chatty when his older brother is gone...I don't think he's stopped talking AT ALL since Donny left, in fact. This poor child apparently has no one to talk to. And, I get to hear a LOT about these creatures:

Please ignore the extremely DIRTY thumbnail in this photo, I only left it in due to it's helpfulness displaying the size of these funky, colorful creatures.

If you don't recognize these little guys, then you are really missing you, let me tell you. These are Bakugan. They're from a Cartoon Network show, and they're magnetic. They are little balls, until you throw them on a magnetic surface and then they pop open to become little creatures that battle. Sounds a lot like Pokemon, I know. They fit in little boys' pockets and travel with us everywhere.

Now, hold my hand as we jump from this topic to another totally random, unrelated topic. One, two, three and JUMP!!

Here we are. Cactus. My boys decided they needed to grow cactus. I'm not sure why. Maybe because they've seen me kill too many plants. I've heard these are hard to kill...in fact, you're supposed to ignore them a fair amount. So, we're growing us some cacti on our front step.

They wanted to put the planter on a nice chair by the front door, but I made them move this outside. Strange kids.

Ok, time to jump topics again. Are we all still here? Ooops, we lost Giggle to the dunny. Sorry girlfriend. One, two, three and JUMP!

Tampon cases. Aren't they cute? I got one once from Uncommon Goods because we women just need creative ways to carry tampons. No woman enjoys that time of the month, so we need to find ways to make it more exciting...give it some bling. Here's my contribution. AND, I just bought those Playtex Sport tampons that are supposed to have encouraging sayings on them...I can't wait to try them. hehe

Did I mention one of my new blogger friends is having a giveaway also? Carrie from The Gremlin Wrangler has some hilarious stories working as a cashier, stories from the front line of dealing with crazies like you and me. You know those people who go to the express lane with a million things? Or those drunk floozies checking out at 2pm with bags of shaving cream and toilet paper? You wouldn't believe what she's seen! She has two books out about it, and you've got to check them out. They're hilarious!!

Can you believe these d*mn sticky balls? They have become the bane of my exsistence. What the heck do they make these things out of?

Here's a big jump to a totally random picture. Isn't this Barbie cowgirl adorable? God, I wish I had her shape...and her red hat. I'm thinking about starting a cowgirl hat collection. Do you collect things?
Don't forget, I'm giving away fun stuff!! You don't want to miss out on it...and, we have to show the Bug we bloggers have power, right? We give good comments.