two things new

These last few days have been quite eventful. I'll start with the good and the most recent. So, *da dada dum* I got my braces off today! Yeah:D After nine months of, not pure torture but not great either, I'm finally able to smile without the thought of "Hmm, I really hope that spinach ravioli I just ate didn't leave an unpleasant green spec on my front brace..." Also, maybe people will finally stop asking me if I'm "a junior or senior in high school". It just got a little old after having it asked of me sometimes more than once in a day. But, alas, no more! I'm so happy, it was definitely worth it.Now, onto the not quite so pleasant. Last Thursday I had surgery on my foot. I'm not going to go into all the details into why I needed the surgery but basically I'm really bendy all over my body, and the bones in my foot were doing wacko things. So now three screws latter, I'm home and on crutches for 6 weeks. I can't put any weight on my foot for that whole time, so that is going to be the hardest part. Fortunately though the surgery went well. I stayed the night in the hospital, which was a good thing because I actually ended up passing out and then was sick, but I had a lot of support from people, and faith in God, and even though we had a few scares, and scars, everything is going good.

I hope this last pic isn't too icky, but it better shows what it looks like under the cast on my foot. Oh, one really positive thing is that the doctor thought I could be on pain pills for up to two weeks, but I was off them by Saturday morning. Funny though, while on the pills besides sleeping a lot, I can't remember quite a bit of what actually happened. Stuff is slowly starting to come back to me, but people keep telling me things I did that I can't remember but I truly wasn't loopy and was always really lucid when people were talking to me! I go and get a new cast tomorrow, so pray everything continues to go well:)

Dumb Birds

Yes that is a chicken, and yes it is roosting on the computer monitor. But how in the world did it get there? This story goes back about about two months, when mom had a moment of weakness and decided to bring home two chicks from Murdock's. With chicks, we always set them up in the house with a heat lamp so they can feather in before we bring them to the coop.

A few weeks later, when they were still small, but feathered in enough, we graduated them to the big chicken home. I don't remember what mom and I were doing, but for some reason we weren't home and Luke was going to watch them. The most pitiful sight awaited us when we walked in the door, there was my brother Luke, sitting on the couch, tearing up, with a bloody head featherless chick shivering on his lap. Apparently the rooster had attacked it and Luke rescued it to the house again. A few days later the rooster attacked one of out hens and she had a huge gushing crater of blood on her back. Unfortunately for us, that meant turning our den into a place for chickens to re-cooperate (pun intended).

Right now you might be going "oh, poor chickens!", or "how wonderful that your mom saved them". Well, haha, not! I'm not trying to be a horrid human being with no pity for the harmed beasts, but these birds have made the last few weeks a living nightmare at times. At first it was ok having them in the house. The birds slowly started to recover and I could deal with my room smelling dimly like a chicken coop when I woke up in the morning, but that's when mom started having a emotional attachment. Every day Mom would take the three reject birds out to the garden and then if it rained or when it got late, brought them back in. It got to the point where once mom even said "Hi Meg, I just got back from taking the babies on a walk. Before that we played in the garden together, now I'm bringing them in the house because it was getting chilly out".

Do you see what I mean! They had infiltrated my mothers heart and once she even called them her loves! The straw that broke this camels back was when she started using the same names for the chicks as she did for me! She would be talking and I'd be like "yes mom?", and I'd walk into her talking to the dumb birds. This was about the time that the word "chicken" changed to "dumb bird" for me. It stuck too.

There is so much more to this story that I'm not even going to delve into like: what was happening in the chicken coop, the rooster escaping and then coming back, trying to free range the chickens, buying a pecking block, finally getting rid of the rooster, dad and I going crazy, loosing chickens in the house, stepping in unpleasant stuff, the den always smelling horrid, Cleo chasing the dumb birds, never being able to watch anything with mom in the den without her codling the creatures, them flying around the room, making chick food in the food processor (the worst sound you will ever hear), having them try to attack me, and so much more.

So that brings us to the first picture. I walked into the den to use the computer and I was so startled by that sight my heart was pounding for minutes afterwords. I had no clue what it was at first, and no one really truly expects to see a chicken on the computer.

Last Saturday morning was a great day for various reasons, but one of them was because it was the day we brought the birds out. We finally put the hen with the other chickens, and the two chicks in the garage. But you know what? I don't care that they are still not in the coop, because they are out of the house! No longer does this side of the house smell, no longer do I find a bird under the piano, no longer do I have to share mom with three dumb birds. Life is great, and I can sit here, in the den blogging without hearing the birds scratch, peck and fly at the sides of their boxes. Like I just said life is great:)

Times almost up!

I knew my break would go by fast and it did. I had over a month, but I start classes again tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. I have to admit, besides the constant dread of homework, and the stressful overburdened feeling I get on the not so rare occasion, I'm looking forward to getting back to a routine. For the last few weeks, besides the occasional "activity" I'm been completely bored! I have actually had days where I hesitated getting dressed, and some days spent the whole day in sweats, yes you heard me sweats (don't worry not the baggy guy type). So in honor of boredom I thought I would share with you some of my pointless endeavors that I have done in some of my more extreme states of boredom. I've drawn one too many pointless sketches. Watched almost a whole season of Bizarre Foods "cow stomach anyone?" I spent way too much time on the computer; Playlist, Pandora, Modcloth, Anthropologie (which is were the adorable jacket its from..I think), etsy, ebay, just to name a few.

Wrote around ten poems:

The Sorrow of the Stars

Time is blowing the leaves away

to a place so far unseen.

The stars they came and stole the day

and I'll see the last no more.

Why? I entreat the grass to talk.

Why drain the color so?

The birds look down at me they mock,

and with the wind they fade away.

Why flowers bloom ye then ye die?

Why goslings must they feather?

The rustling hillside webs a lie.

The clouds they part in sorrow.

Sun is shedding tears for me,

enamored with my woe.

Infringing on the Willow tree,

I hide my voice among it's bark.

Time has blown the leaves away

to a place I once had been.

The stars did show me their dark day,

to watch with them forever more.

I've done other things like sewn a skirt, did some logic problems (In my most insane state of boredom), baked a lot (I'm suffering for it), and although I can't think of anything else I did, I might have done something somewhat worthwhile.... I hope.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Cross, Blackout

As some of you know, or read on my previous post, one of the things I didn't accomplish this last year was donating blood. I'm not a big resolution person considering I seldom keep them, so I decided this year instead of doing "resolutions" I would make a list of things to get accomplished. An actual list that I could check things off of. I'm a big list person. I could write out my whole life just to have that satisfying feeling of crossing something out.
Yesterday, I told mom that the only day I could donate blood was tomorrow because we are going skiing next Monday and after that I'll be starting college again soon so unless I did it that next day I probably wouldn't be able to do it until summer. Mom wasn't thrilled with going to town so she hooked me up with a ride with Tina Vestal "that" day. It was around 1ish and I was happily lazing around in my home clothes when mom said Tina would pick me up in about a half an hour to take me. Wow, I was like "OK, are you sure?". I got ready really quick and even though I hadn't expected to go that day, still I got in the car and left.
Tina dropped me off at the Red Cross and I went in read their forms, got checked to see if I was anemic (I wasn't), answered their questions on the computer, and sat down in the chair. I'm a little squeamish around needles so I wasn't sure how I would do with the whole thing. I'm the type who asks allot of questions (my inner five year old coming out). He rubbed this yellow gunk over my arm, and when I asked about it he said it was iodine. I was supposed to squeeze this foam ball to I think keep my vein up or something, and when he was sticking the needle in I just looked away, and after a quick poke I was fine. I'm good around blood, so I was just watching it fill my little blood bag down below me. I was surprised on how well I was doing I asked the man questions about like how much blood I could lose without dieing, how long is average for it to take, and other stuff like that. I tried not to be annoying, but I think I just came that way. Tina came to see how I was doing and how long I would be and decided she had time to run to Costco. Not too long after she left I started feeling a little woozy. Like kind of sick, but not too bad. I started hearing/feeling my heartbeat and then the world started imploding around vision and I was enveloped by blackness.
I had a dream I don't remember of what though, something green and white and boxy, and then the nurses or whatever they are were around me. If you have ever passed out you know what I'm talking about when I say waking up is the weirdest experience ever. I had to literally convince myself that going to donate blood was not a dream and that I was actually there, and willed myself to wake up. My forehead was really sweaty and I felt woozy. They handed me a puke bucket even though I didn't feel the need too, and put a screen around me. I saw the man taking the needle out of me and even though I could barely see I was pretty coherent. I asked if he got enough and he said no, and that they couldn't use it. That made me sad, but there was nothing I could do about it. After laying in the chair for a few minutes they asked if I thought I was good enough to sit at the table and I honestly did feel good enough. I sat at the table and drank a bottle of water. The people were really nice and kept asking me if I was OK like every 30 seconds. About two minutes later when the one lady asked if I was doing OK, I almost answered yes, when I didn't feel too hot anymore. They came over to lay me down in the chair again and halfway there I started to go. I told them that I was going under, and that I was almost gone. By the time they got me to the table they were three black creatures guiding me over. They told me to stay awake I think I replied with a "Ahh". They said to keep my eyes open and move my feet around. I did and the world started to materialize again. After a few moments I stated that my ears felt funny, and they did, like water pressure when you swim too deep.
It took awhile before I moved back to the table and felt good enough to leave. They said the reason I passed out was my body hyper reacting to having it's blood taken away, like "Help, I'm dieing here!". If I drink a lot of water and fill up with protein before I go next time, I should be fine. The more I give blood the more immune my body will become to loosing that much.
Overall even though I wasn't able to actually donate blood, I'm still glad I did it. I might have to wait until the Summer to do it again, but now I know what to expect and how to prepare, so I will be ready.

Why me?

Yesterday was the day that I got my top two wisdom teeth removed. Some of you have already experienced this lovely ordeal, some of you aren't quite there, and still others maybe will never have to. So, I will start my experience at the beginning.

My appointment was at 10:45 a.m. Thursday, September 9th. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink that morning, but it wasn't so bad because I have a cold and really wasn't that hungry anyway. We got there on time and had a short wait. I really wasn't nervous at all, if anything a little excited. After sitting in the ominous green chair and talking to the nurse awhile the anesthesiologist came in. I'm weird with little pain. I can do big pain, like tearing the ligament in my ankle almost no problem, but needles.... not so much. I have to say that was the worst part, at least up till then. They injected the anesthesia into my arm and the nurse stuck a big plastic thing in my mouth. I remember thinking it was taking a long time to work, and then I started giggling. I don't know why, I just was finding it funny. Then my lips started to tingle and I think I giggled even more. I could just imagine the anesthesia seeping up my arm and into my head because suddenly the world started to collapse on me, and I think I remember saying "Ohhh".

When I "woke up" I was quite loopy. Mom said I was crying and when she asked me I didn't know why. My head felt so heavy like it was filled with sand, and I think I kept saying something about a waterfall. Mom also said that I kept doing the alphabet in sign language over and over again. I was seeing double, and my mouth felt like plastic, which I think I kept insisting upon. The nurse and my mom helped me out to the car. I still couldn't help sobbing and when mom would say that I was crying I would insist that I wasn't, and I even said I was so fine that I would drive us home if she wanted me to. It felt like it took forever to get home, and I was feeling very seasick. Mom had to help me to the couch when I almost fell over. I was just standing there I felt like my legs just turned to jello. I took a short nap, and when I got up besides felling tired I was OK. I really wanted to help mom make dinner so I started stirring the milk and butter to make a sauce to go over the mac and cheese. The Vestals came over to pick up Christian and I was talking to Hannah when I had a sudden notion that I really needed to puke. I ran to the bathroom, the gagging feeling was in my throat, when the world started to fuzz and then went black.

I woke up and it was the strangest feeling ever. I had no clue were I was, or even who I was. I just heard some people talking and saw what looked like carpet. I really was completely disoriented and drenched in sweat. I kind of sat up, or what I thought was up, I wasn't even in tune with my body it seemed. I remembered something about blue pelicans, and then it came back to me. I called for mom and when she came (I think I was crying again) I said that I thought I had passed out. She brought me over to her bad and I lied down. I felt nauseous for the rest of the day, and kept feeling the urge to upchuck. My mom called the doctor and the doctor said, "no more monkeys jumping on the bed". No, actually he just said that I was probably dehydrated and needed to lay down.
When I woke up today besides being incredibly puffy, and tired I'm doing much better. I went to town today and mom got me some stuff for me to eat. I was so pitiful looking though that people kept giving me these sad looks, and the lady at Costco called me sweetie. I still have a lot of homework to do so I should be off. The sad part about this whole ordeal is that I have to repeat it in a year or so.

Day 23:Shark Bait

So, we got a call today from my brother in Florida, and he had an exciting story.

Everyday my brother goes for a swim in the ocean, he lives right on the beach so who can blame him. He had finished doing his daily laps and was floating on his back. He noticed some people getting out of the water but didn't take any notice. He then heard someone yelling something about watching out, but again he didn't really process that he was trying to get his attention. After a few moments he decided to stand up to see what was going on. He was in about chest deep water. Two feet from him by his feet was a six foot long Bull Shark. He said he didn't even think of panicking, just "that's a really big Bull Shark". The motion of his standing up made it go away, thank God. He said that it swam really fast, and that he couldn't have ever out swam it. So that was my brothers encounter with a shark, and he lived to tell of it, and with all his limbs.

Oh, and on a much lighter note, I got all my books for college today. They actually look really neat, and I should hope so for what they cost. And as to my day, how I would like to be remembered; I want to be remembered as having served God with all my heart, and always having joy.

Day 2: Secrets, Pirates, and the Unknown

Today's question was much harder then yesterdays. I was thinking like "what is my favorite move?". I started going over like historical documentaries and whatnot, but then got to thinking although I really enjoy movies like Pride and Prejudice, they definitely aren't my favorite. I figured a favorite would be one that you can watch over and over and not get tired of. This also was hard because if you know me I don't really like to watch movies more than once. And then it struck me, I could watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy over and over! But on second thought, no way is that my "favorite" movie. After some more pondering I came to an conclusion. OK, I know a lot of people think this movie is stupid, and I would agree about the sequels, but I would have to say my number 1 sorta favorite movie would have to be Pirates of the Caribbean Curse of the Black Pearl. So there you have it, my secret is out and I hope it's not too shocking.

"I'm sorry but you threw off the emperors groove"

Last night I was in a blissful state of felicity. I had recently delved into the romantic world of Sense and Sensibility and was finding it quite amiable. But then, all to sudden it was no more. At first I didn't know what it was but I soon realized that the inhuman shrieks where from coyotes. Ugg. The sound in between a siren and a woman crying in pain sent chills up my back and gave me goosebumps. I tried shutting my window but I could still hear them, only now they sounded more like a ghostly whine. I'm a routine girl and that totally threw off my groove. Eventually I fell asleep and dreamt that I had dark green eyes (whatever). But when I woke up I still felt off. There is no moral or point to this encounter, but I hadn't posted for a while, and it is still on my mind.

Purple Bananas

I'm sure you all know the feeling when you see that your fresh yellow bananas have gone a little too mushy and brown for human consumption. About that time we all pull out are trusty banana bread recipe. You all know the one; never failing, always perfect, family favorite. Well, I have been so sick of ours for so long I've been experimenting. By now you should all know that my experiments in cooking are always..... interesting. I first tried the banana cookies which were a huge hit. But me no, I can't make the same trusty recipe for a fourth time now can I? So I pulled out an old Rachel Ray mag and found this recipe for caramelized banana loaf cake. It looked gross to begin with in the picture so I was a bit hesitant, but we had all the ingredients so I went ahead. You first have to like saute (fry?) the halved bananas in sugar and butter (umm). Which was an interesting process.

Tip; soak the pan when your done, sugar kinda hardens quickly I found out.

Next you lay the now gushy bananas on the bottom of a pan and dump the rest of the caramel on top. This is when I really started hearing complaints from family members.

"that looks gross, I wont eat that"

You then make a generic banana bread mix and put on top, bake, and walla it looks like every other banana bread! But then after ten minutes of excruciatingly waiting it was time to turn it over on a pan and.......Purple bananas? I have no clue how yellow bananas turn pink and purple (with a mix of yellow and brown) But they did. My brother Luke refused to try it, my mom scraped off the top, but dad and I ate it, and surprisingly we thought it was actually really good!

So the question is "would you eat it?"

Twister

I found this sight off a buyer on etsy. You all should take a look if you like funny clay pictures or squid.

(Just go to the side bar and click on a year to see all her pictures)

http://articulatematter.com/

Life could be a dream

I love this tag it is always so funny.

You put your ipod, or playlist on random shuffle and use the titles that come up as the answers to your questions.

If someone says "This is okay", you say: Chim Chim Cheree (Ok, I'm a very happy go lucky person)
What would best describe you personality? Fish heads (I sure hope not)

What do you like in a guy/girl? Upendi (Not sure about that)

What is your life purpose? Rock around the clock (Like it!)

What is your motto? Belle Notte (Very romantic)

What do your friends think of you? I feel pretty (I'm glad I make everyone feel so good about themselves!)

What do you think about very often? Chicken fat (True)

What is 2+2? There coming to take me away (It's not that hard of a question, I don't have to get all paranoid)

What do you think of your best friend? Squirrels (Girls?)

What do you think of a person you like? Come thou Fount of every blessing ("Bless me")

What is your life story? Whipped cream (Doesn't feel like that)

What do you want to be when you grow up?Be thou near to me (Humm)

What do you think when you see a person you like? The face of Boe (NO, No, don't take that seriously please!)

What do your parents think of you? In the mood (I can get moody)

What will you dance to at your wedding? Panis Angelicus (Sweet)

What will they play at your funeral? The Chicken dance (I can't believe that came up again It must be a sign!)

What is your hobby/interest? Angel of music (Not sure what that means)

What is your biggest secret? End Creditouilles (But remember, you don't know anything...)

What do you think of your friends? Somewhere over the rainbow (Happy?)

What is the worst thing that could happen? Jesu, Joy of mans desiring (No, that would be the best)

How will you die? Oh the Deep Deep love of Jesus (The most perfect way to die!)

What is the one thing you regret? In the Jungle (I've never went to the jungle so I guess I could regret that)

What makes you laugh? Talking bird (That is funny)

What makes you cry? Daylight Hymn (Songs don't make me cry)

Will you ever get married? The Runaway Bride (ok so I was so shocked when this song came up, I mean what are the chances I have like over 130 songs on my playlist and the only one that mentions marriage comes up! So I guess I'm will get married but not for long?)

What scares you the most? Hi Ho it's of to work we go (Work can be scary)

Does anyone like you? Who put the bop in the bop (Not sure is that's a yes)

If you could go back in time, what would you change? Caruso (Humm)

What hurts now? Rockin Robin (Well, I do hurt myself dancing a lot)

What do you often exclaim? We go Together (Ok)

Where is paradise? Purple People Eater (The 50s?)

What did you first say as a baby? The Phantom of the Opera (Vocabulary, nice)

If you had a pet what would you name it? In the Still of Night (To complicated)

What is your favorite sight to see? Hideaway in the Love of Jesus (Again not sure what that means)

What makes you gag? Ich hab dich lieb (Ugh all those dancing bunnies)

What are you best at? Nearer my God to Thee (That's nice)

If you wrote a book, what would you call it? Robin Hood Theme (Already taken)

What did you last wish for? Band of brothers (I have three how many more do I need?!)

What would your superhero name be? Just you Wait ("I'll save you on my time, just hang on till I finish lunch")

How soon will this be over? Ugly bug Ball (Does that mean never?)

Where are you sitting? Gota de lluvia (Um, ok)

What do you hate? Hakunamatata (No, never!!!)

What do you most love? Bittersweet Samba (no comment)

What do you not much care about? Rose (I actually don't even really like roses)

What is your secret name? 99 Luftballons (You probably didn't know that did you?)

What will you post this as? Life could be a dream

Pounding

I made my first pound cake yesterday. It looked so pretty, but James said it tasted like soap. Oh, well, I like it!

Umm, lemon soap glaze....

Caution! For strong stomachs only. (I'm not joking)

Yesterday night was crazy! First John Mark came over because he said he "broke" his knuckles and wanted my mom to look at them. Well, he hadn't been here 5 minutes before my dad runs in holding his hand and dripping blood. We had got over 6 inches of snow and he was out using our snow blower tractor. He thought he had turned it off ( he is hard of hearing) and was going to clean the built up snow out, so he reached his hand in. Big mistake. Two of his fingers are a mess. It looks like he stuck them down the garbage disposal. We called Mrs. Mallery to come over (she has dealt with these things before). James and Stacia (they had come over for dinner) went to town to get some bandages and stuff. Mrs. and Mr. Mallery soon came over and washed the wound out in warm water and grapefruit extract. We applied myrrh, pan away, tea tree oil, lavender, Roman Chamomile, and olive oil. About every hour we had to change the bandages. There was blood everywhere, even Cleo had to be cleaned off. I'm hesitant to put a picture, I really don't want to get flagged for disturbing images or something. So I think I won't. I'll leave it up to your imagination. Remember when Jaclyn cut her forehead open?It makes that look like a paper cut. If you want a picture I will e-mail you one. Please pray for healing for my dad.

Elvira

I haven't posted something crocheted in a while, so here is a doll I finally finished. Her name is Elvira. She doesn't have a story, but if she did I'm sure it would be sad, or possibly adventurous.

New movie!

So, I made a new movie. I think it is really stupid, but kinda funny I guess (if not embarrassing) Well, tell me what you think. Enjoy!

Caveat Emptor

Last night I read a disturbing fact. It said "some common red food coloring are made from dried insects called cochineal". So I decided to investigate this claim. Way to soon I found it to be true. The shell in red M&M’s, Strawberry Yogurt, fruit punch, pink frosting, most things that are red or pink are made from this female bug! You’ll also find it’s what gives makeup it’s nice red or pick shading. It is labeled under Carmine, or "artificial coloring" what’s artificial about smashed bugs?
But before you decide to vow off anything that is red, Cochineal does support subsistence farmers in poor parts of the world, and is remarkably non-toxic. But just know that next time you feel like putting on some blush, or go to eat that bag of M&M’s you might be using a few dead bugs.