Whew. . .

Thursday, Thanksgiving was at my house (it was great), and so yesterday, I did absolutely nothing. I literally sat on my couch and watched TV all day. It was fantastic! Today, I decided to get going on some Christmas shopping (I have a policy of never setting foot on in a store on Black Friday). I started about 12:30 and the day proceeded like this: Super Target East, World Market, East Kellogg Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us, Barnes & Noble, Big K-Mart, West Target, Hobby Lobby, Perfect Peace, New Market Square Wal-Mart, Harry Hines Jewelry, Sedgwick County Zoo Gift Shop and, finally, Long John Silvers at 5:20 or so. Needless to say, it was DEFINITELY a day of power shopping! The Targets and Wal-Marts were busy, but I walked almost straight through the checkouts at all 4 of them. Toys-R-Us was a madhouse, but they didn't have what I wanted, so I got to skip the checkout there. The craziest place of all was Hobby Lobby. I ended up leaving without what I needed because the checkout lines were so crazy. Even after all that, I came home and still ordered three things online. All-in-all, I got 14 Christmas gifts and 2 birthday gifts, along with the appropriate batteries (that's a pet peeve of mine). I only have 2 gifts to go - well, 2 people to go. Mom and Shane are always the hardest :-).

Check out the headline . . .

Putting the gun in his pants was first mistake
BY STAN FINGER
The Wichita Eagle
Maybe it was karma.

Three men attempted to kidnap a teenager in a dispute over stereo speakers shortly before 4:45 p.m. on Monday, Wichita police reported. One of the three pulled out a gun and fired it at the teen in the 1000 block of South Wichita.

The shot missed the teen. But then the shooter jammed the gun back into the waistband of his pants -- and it went off.

The bullet struck the 23-year-old man in his left testicle, causing him to cringe -- which caused the gun to fire again.

The second shot struck him in the left calf.

Police did not release information about the size of the gun he was using at the time.

The wounded man walked into Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus seeking treatment, police said, and was later booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on suspicion of aggravated assault and aggravated attempted kidnapping.

His companions, ages 18 and 20, were arrested for aggravated attempted kidnapping and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

So, I'm standing in the break room . . .

. . . getting my lunch out of the fridge and I see some leftover cookies. Yum. I got a plate, nabbed a cookie, and, thinking I was alone in the room, said (in my best Hammy the Squirrel voice) said "but I LIKE a cookie!" Then I turned around and almost ran into my boss, Marlin. He just smiled and side-stepped me rather warily. All-in-all, a typical day.

Well, I have spent every spare moment this week preparing to paint and then painting my bathroom and laundry room. The bathroom is still gray and white, but I lightened it up a few shades and then installed some new cabinets (ok, I put the cabinets together and DAD installed them, but it still counts). The laundry room lost a cabinet, got painted blue and then received a new closet system. I couldn't have done it without Mom who helped sand and paint and Dad and Shane who did the heavy lifting! Here is a before (though not a very good one) and an after of the laundry room:

BEFORE - You can't see it very well, but the walls are white, the cabinet is brown and the clothes rack is small and leaning precariously:


AFTER - The view from the doorway:



AFTER - The view of the cabinet, washer and dryer:


Lots of work, but well worth it!

I spent most of the day painting teeny-tiny things, including this - the latest addition to my Christmas village of 20+ buildings that I have hand-painted through the years. It's been a long time since I painted a building, so this one is a little rough, but it's not too bad, all things considered!





BTW - the whole "nutlicker" thing was an accident. Two completely unrelated words just popped out of my mouth together, I swear!

Whatever Shane says. . .

. . .about what happened tonight, he's lying :-). Well, ok, he's probably telling the truth, but you had to be here to understand. It was a very weird night - let's just say that I was more tired than I thought!

I did not. . .

. . . say "butt" today. I'm taking it one day at a time. . .

Today, I said . . .

. . . the word "butt" (as in the phrase "that will be a huge pain in the butt"). It may not seem like a big deal, but it is - just ask Shane. Plus, I said it to my boss. That part was just funny. It was a long day.