Aliens and Pantyhose

Aliens
I witnessed a probably innocuous event at work today that got me thinking. Do we walk amongst aliens?

I was walking down the hallway about 15 feet behind another employee when out of the blue he stops and swings an imaginary golf club. I stopped half out of surprise and half out of wanting to see what else he might do. He stops in mid swing and then cocks his head in a very quick and unhumanlike manner, waits for few more seconds, and then starts walking again. Maybe he’s an alien? One of my very good friends says she saw an alien aircraft some years back. She is as normal as the rest of us and I have no reason to not believe her EXCEPT the bible, or at least my interpretation of it, doesn’t talk about aliens. Well it doesn’t talk about dinosaurs either but the fossils are there so they must have been around at some point. Or maybe God created the fossils just to screw with us. I do believe that God is the single master but is it only our universe or does he have all kinds of others that he is ruling? I told one of my other coworkers about the 'golfer' and now we both think he is an alien.

The Pantyhose Incident
For the third time in 2 years, I walked out of the rest room at work with my skirt tucked in the back of my pantyhose. As with all my other memory lapses, I forget to check my skirt before I walk out of the bathroom but remember (sometimes) on the way back to my desk. As my memory makes a brief appearance, I stop dead in my tracks, much like my alien co-worker in the story above and scramble to make sure that my hindquarters are not on display. I think I have discovered something that will help me keep my skirt from getting tucked in. My skirts are really flowy and this particular skirt has 2 layers so instead of just gathering it up and squatting, I gather it all in front of me and put all the layers into the underneath most layer and holding that under my chin while I pull up my underwear and hose. Picture gathering berries in an apron where the apron is my slip and the berries are all the layers of my skirt. Or maybe I should just stop wearing pantyhose?

My sponsored children in Chile

Ken and I sponsor 2 small girls in Chile and we have been worried about them and their families but I got an email from our sponsorship organization saying that no sponsored children in Chile have died. It is a relief to know that they are safe but please keep them in your prayers.

Happy 'For Petes Sake' day (Friday 2/26)

First off, I have no idea where this saying came from. I googled it and found nothing other than alternatives like 'oh for crying out loud' which I also say quite frequently. If you know the origin of this saying, please let me know.

On to the business at hand.

It is Sale-A-Bration time at Stampin Up and if the free item with a $50 purchase wasnt enough for you, I am offering an additional $7.50 in free product for a $50 order and an additional $7.50 with every $50 spent if you order by midnight this friday February 26th. $ requirement is pre tax and shipping and these orders will not go in until sometime in March.

If you order $100 worth of regular merchandise, you get 2 free sab sets and $15 worth of stuff. If you spend $150, you get 3 free sab sets, a free hostess set, $$22.50 worth of merchandise paid by me, and $15 worth of additional merchandise from Stampin Up for a total of 4 sets and nearly $40 in free product that you choose.

Here is the link to all the catalogues including the main catalogue and the current Sale-A-Bration mini. http://www.stampinup.com/us/enu/16192.asp. Please note that for the first time, Stampin Up is allowing select additional regular catalogue sets to be ordered in place of Sale-A-Bration sets. A list of the additional sets can be found on page 11 of the Sale-A-Bration brochure.

Please include all item numbers when you submit your order.

You can get the free Sale-A-Bration item(s), 1 for each $50 ordered, anytime before the end of March but my $7.50 incentive is good through Friday February 26th only.

Also, I am looking for class ideas. Anyone that sends me an idea for a class will get their name put in a hat for a prize.

Thanks for your continued loyalty.

I am queen of the hotel deal

I found another pretty good hotel deal. Its not as good as the Ramada MOA I had a few weeks ago but still is very good at more than half off the regular rate. I believe its for this weekend only (Feb 5th and 6th).

It’s the Holiday Inn Express in Eagan (Mall of America). Its 5 miles from the MOA and they have a free shuttle. It has a free continental breakfast, a pool and Jacuzzi and I got a suite for $50 including tax. Here is the link http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ex/1/en/advancedsearch?roomResult=none&hotelCode=EAGAN&rateCode=IPFD2&quickRes=city&_requestid=297955. The rate preference is IPFD2. Initially I think the search results gave me a regular room but I changed to no preference and got the suite at the same price.

Other than that, my leg feels very good most of the time. I get pangs that make me feel frustrated and last night was a bummer, but I think the last shot I got worked. Another hopeful day.

I am joyful and optimistic

I feel joyful and optimistic today. I got over some humps I had at work over the last few weeks and pain wise, I feel good. I am seeing a nutritionist and am looking forward to getting back to regular exercise.

I put in a Stampin Up order last week for a new 12x12 red ring album, some designer series paper, and some of the sale-a-bration Welcome Neighbor 6x6 paper. I also got some stamps and wheels and need to get busy scrapbooking the boys. Dominic is 4 months old and I haven’t made one page for him, sheesh.

There are a lot of new happenings and events that began last fall at Stampin Up that I am just getting around to researching and communicating. There is a clearance section on the customer website (under store, then clearance, here - http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ItemList.aspx?categoryID=493 ). Stampin Up is discouraging ordering clearance items through a workshop as the item may be sold out by the time the order is actually processed. Soooo, Stampin Up wants all clearance orders to go through the demo website or through a demo order. Let me know if you need help with an order.

$10, 10 minute Caribean Chicken recipe

INGREDIANTS
1. 4 chicken breasts ($6)
2. 1 tomato ($1)
3. ¼ c cilantro (approx) ($1)
4. 2 T lime juice (approx) ($1)
5. 2 T green onion, about 1 T of green and 1 T of white (approx) ($1)

RECIPE
1. Lightly grease a frying pan with oil. I used pam
2. Add 4 thawed boneless chicken breasts and brown on both sides
3. Add green onion and fry a little
4. Add clean, stem-less tomato to pan and mash it into chunks
5. Add half a cup water (approx) and cover
6. Cook for 5-10 minutes until the water is mostly reduced
7. Remove from heat and add lime juice and cilantro

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away

I have been friends with my neighbors, Jenny and Andrew, for some time. Their 3 girls play with Austin and Logan while Jenny and I chat about our lives. Jenny inspires me with her words of wisdom and her role as a Christian and a mother. I aspire to be like her in many ways.

I sort of ‘hole up for the winter’ so my conversations with Jenny are limited to mostly email until it gets warm enough to stand around outside. Andrew is having surgery today and in response to my offer of help, Jenny sent me an email with such inspiring words, I felt like she helped me instead of me helping her. I want to share an excerpt because it will be a reminder to me when I am feeling despondent and having a pity party.

***********************excerpt of Jennys email*************************
Thank you for your thought and prayers. God is good - even when life is hard. Our desire is to praise him through everything - no matter what! As Job said after he lost everything (daughters, sons, livestock, wealth) except his snarky wife, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." (Job 1:21) I love that attitude.
**********************************************************************************

Andrew will be recovering for a few weeks and if you read this between now and say the end of the January, please pray for him to have a quick and easy recovery.