WWHLR: How to fold t-shirts so that the logos show. Fascinating little technique I found here on the internet. I may never fold shirts the old way again.

Now... on to other matters.
I have been sharing odds and end things that I am learning. It is time for my dear friends on Blogger to share their wealth of knowledge. So occasionally I will be asking a question that I am curious about. If your read this blog and my journal you may see these questions twice, but if you only ready here it will be a whole new question to you. But I like getting a wide variety of answers. So now on to my question:

What are your dinner staples? You know the things you fix on a regular basis. The stuff you nearly always buy the ingredients for just to have on hand. The stuff that you whip together when you don't feel like following a recipe or don't have a lot of time. That's the stuff I'm talking about. The stuff you eat often.

For us those would be:
Spaghetti
Chicken Tacos
Chicken Provolone
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Baked Potatoes
Chicken and Stovetop
RiceARoni
Fish Sticks
Ham Steaks
Crock Pot Roast & veggies

All of course paired with a fruit or vegetable. I just got curious what other people fix for dinner, while I was fixing one of our tried and true the other night.

And another thing:
I just found out about this reading another blog. I'm a weenier ahem, winner. Thanks to Mommyof4LittlePeople.

And now I shall spread the love.
See here's how it works
The rules for the “You Make My Day” award are to re-present it to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blog land. Let them know through email or by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on.
And since I have a rather small number of blogs that I'm able to keep up with over here and some of that small number has already been nominated by other people.. I'm able to give away awards without feeling bad because frankly, you all make my day whenever I'm able to make it over to blogger.

Put on your best red-carpet smile... here we go:

1. I nominate A BOOKWORM because you keep me in the library loop and you've always made my day anyway.

2. ART, because you always have a song in your heart that carries you through even rough times and I find that inspiring and happy.

3. NAN, formerly known as CATE IMAGINES. For being the fun grandmother who just makes me smile because you just exude youth yourself.

4. EMILY - You, much like farmwife, have a great turn of phrase and crack me up on a regular basis.

5. INKLING - I don't often post to your blog, but I do read it and you are ever willing to reach out and ever diligent... you inspire.

6. LAUREN - Your picture posts are always fun and you've gotten me using toilet paper for things I would never have thought I would before :P

7. MADRETZ - Because you are just plain crafty and cool. And your pictures... wow. I get to visit whole new places through your blog.

8. Sarah - another girl with a fun turn of phrase and not afraid to show frustration. I respect... plus you have almost... almost.. gotten me to want a gingerbread latte

9. RAGGED - you just rock... you are so masterful with your needles and so good and writing in a travel journal style. Much like Madretz you let me visit places I may never get to go, through your blog.

9 1/2. MOMTO4LITTLEPEOPLE - It is so great to be reconnected with you. I enjoy hearing about all your happenings... I think I just may have missed you :D

9. GRACE - Lady, you amaze me. You have such joy even during pain... and that is something, plus your kids are just cute.

10. And of course FARMWIFE I wouldn't be on blogger if it were not for you. Plus your comparisons of your children to various figures in history and literature crack me up.

10 1/2. QUEEN MOTHER - I just really enjoy your posts. You are a lot of fun and the little stories about Farmwife, Princess and Bubba are all fun to read for me.

And you can ask any little kid... halve count. They totally do. What you are seeing are actually 10 entries not 12.

And I would have voted for DID, SILAS and GIRL but they have all but quit posting... no guilt though.. no guilt.

WWHLL: I am not an affectionate person

Okay, that's not really true. I'm quite affectionate. I'm just not big on pet names. Since we are still at that point where we don't know what we are having (hopefully human, but maybe a guinea pig... you just never know :P) I hate not having something to call the baby I just don't like saying "it". I always thought that I would give him/her a sweet little in-womb name like many of my friends did, like "our sweetpea" or "peanut","bean", "pumpkin", "honeybun" or "sweetheart" or something...and I don't find anything wrong with those names... but I just have to admit to myself that, that just isn't me. I can't do it. The words won't roll off my tongue. They feel uncomfortable in my mouth.

I'm the girl who actually hates the word "precious." It's like nails on a chalk board to me. I don't really have a good reason why I feel that way toward that word, other than it is often said very insincerely. And it seems that I don't mind it in certain contexts... like "more precious than rubies" that doesn't bother me at all. But "isn't that precious" just makes me tense up. Maybe it's only when it is said with kind of a sing-song sound in the voice... I don't know. I do know that seeing Lord of the Rings didn't help with my feelings toward the word though because now I any time I hear it, I just hear Gollum's voice saying it.

I quit reading a book my mother gave me on the proper nutrition for pregnancy due to it referring to you child as "your sweet baby" all the time. It just got a little too annoying. Plus the book just seemed to talk baby-talk to the mothers... and that disturbed me.

I've been pondering these aversions lately. Maybe I'm just still too much of a tomboy to enjoy them? Maybe they feel too much like being talked down to or talking down to someone else to me? I don't know.. I've just never liked ootsy cutesy terms.. I'm just weird that way I guess. I have often threatened physical violence to anyone other than my daddy if they ever dared call me "Suzy". My DH isn't even allowed to call me Suzy. (I guess "daddy" might count as an ootsy cutesy term if you are a stickler... but I think all parents in the south are referred to as daddy and mama... so I don't really count it)

I wasn't even into cute names when I was tiny. When my mother suggested that I name my baby dolly "Daisy" or "Lilly" or something like that... I told her "No, name him Bob". And Bob he was in his little yellow daisy patterned dress for the next 5 or more years.

So I guess with my past history it shouldn't be surprising that I wouldn't be able to to come up with a cute/affectionate name that seemed to me to fit this yet undermined gender person that I'm growing in there. But I have caught myself talking to the little one. And I believe I have found the term I am comfortable with. Until gender and names are decided or we see what personality this little person has... the baby will be called Little Person. Just like I call it, when I talk to him or her now. LP for short.

Oh.. and the other think I've learned this week is that I keep changing my letters.
So just for anyone's piece of mine here is a key to what I'm saying in my subject lines:

WWHLL = What We Have Learned Lately
WWHLTW= What We Have Learned This Week
WWHLT = What We Have Learned Today
WWHLR = What We Have Learned Recently

WWHLTW
Never ask what kind of cheese a Mexican restaurant is serving. Being new to this whole pregnancy thing and overwhelmed by all the things you aren't suppose to do or eat. I just wanted to make sure the queso was pasteurized. That's all. Just wanted to know if it was. I had asked around on my journal (not at the restaurant) and got mixed ideas about it. Some thought it might be goat cheese, others were pretty sure it is processed white American cheese. I decided to give it a chance anyway since DH loves Mexican food and I was craving some nachos and just ask to make sure.

So I asked our waiter what kind of cheese it was. He said he didn't know. Then said he thought it might be American. I said good thinking "okay good it's processed therefore pasteurized" then he said, "but I don't know it could be Mexican. So obviously we were having a bit of difficulty understanding each other. So I asked if he knew if it was pasteurized or not- since that is really what I was trying to find out. And that is where I messed up. Apparently he was unfamiliar with that term. He started telling me how the health inspector was there ever month and they always passed. I apologize and tell him I'm not questioning that the food is safe.. I just want to know if the cheese is pasteurized. It's very good cheese, I think we get it from Scisco truck he says. I thank him, tell him I'm sorry again and just order the nachos anyway. I'm pretty sure from all that, that it is indeed processed cheese and therefore pasteurized.

But I think I unintentionally seemed like I was insulting his country by asking. *Sigh* I really didn't mean it that way. I just wanted to know if it was pasteurized.

WWHLR
No matter what the lady giving free samples at Kroger says and no matter how frugal I'm feeling at the time. I should never buy an 8lb ham "that freezes well" for just Jay and myself. What a mess that was over the weekend. First I had to cook it for about 3 hours. That was no problem really but the slicing.... wow. What a mess. We have a very small amount of work space in our kitchen. An 8 lb. ham on a cutting board takes up all of it. The dog did enjoy licking the bottom of the cabinets where ham juice ran down as I was cutting. But ewwww. So after slicing the enormous ham. I then had to clean the kitchen thoroughly. And I now have enough ham in the freezer to feed a small army. And what is worse, due to smelling the hammy smell for that amount of time, and being pregnant... I now have absolutely no desire to eat the ham that I worked so hard on. I'm hoping the desire comes back soon. I'm thankful that Easter comes early this year. Perhaps we'll have everyone we know come over and eat ham from our freezer that day. I'm pretty sure it will keep two months in the freezer. Must be sure to look that up.

First post of 2008

I told myself I'd try to post more to blogger this year or at least go back to my What We Have Learned today format. My goal is to post something at least once ever two weeks. I read other blogs a lot more often than that, but blogging in more than one spot is a bit overwhelming for me at times and as I've mentioned before I'm more of an Livejournal girl. But I do miss having something to say here at least every once in a while.

I had stopped the What We Have Learned Today posts last year because I got so down at one point that all I felt like I was learning were hard lessons that don't make for good reading. But a new year has started with a new start and new outlook. So WWHLT is back with a vengence.

Now I do want to note that WWHLT is getting a new name because WWHLT is not necessarily accurate. It really should be WWHLR - or What We Have Learned Recently.

And to start the new year right, here is WWHLR:
There is a Boogertown Road in Pigeon Forge. That cracks me up, in juvenile kind of way. Wouldn't you just love to live on Boogertown Road? Wouldn't you love telling that to delivery people and getting to spell it out and giggle at their responses. Wouldn't you just love to tell your most sophisticated friend that you are moving to Boogertown Road? Doesn't it make you wonder if there is really a Boogertown somewhere? And just what would Boogertown look like in your imagination?

Gifted: And other things you may or may not have known about me

I am a happy girl.

Over the last week and right before the weekend, I got good mail.
Mail that truly amazed me. I was gifted. It was all part of the great gift exchange that I mentioned below. Art was the only one who replied to me so I sent a gifty to her. However I don't think I did nearly as well with hers as she and Ragged did with what they sent me. Not that I didn't try. I certainly did, and I certainly hope she will be just as happy with what I sent her. I just can't imagine that it would be any better than these.

Ragged's gift came first.


And questions came to my mind:

How did she know about my obsession with socks? Have I mentioned that here? My obsession with socks? I don't remember it if I have... but otherwise how would she have known those would tickle my fancy :)

And a book motif journal.... I use to be a library worker... did she know that?

Mary Englebreit notecards - she's totally one of my inspirations as a illustrator.

And the other note cards, are just so pretty and right up my alley.


Then came Art's package. Beautifully decorated and all. Made me happy just to see it. By this time DH is getting jealous of the good mail I am getting when he received credit card offers :P I gloated mercielessly.

Art has not seen me, nor been around me (other than breifly at that reunion in 06) in years. But yet she was able to connect with my personality better than some of the people who work with or interact with me on a daily to monthly basis. That just amazes me. Her gift thrilled me as well.



Note cards with my real initial on them - I had been looking for some of those.

Tissues with a little nun on them saying - "Bless You" - made me giggle.

The ornaments - I'm a huge fan of stained glass - I would have it in all my windows if I could. How did she know that? But these will not go on my tree... instead they will adorn my kitchen window year round, because they match it perfectly.

The mug with an ornate "Z" on it. Works perfectly in our office. I don't think I can ever drink out of it. It is too pretty. But it looks awesome tucked in with the artwork that adorn our desk areas. And how did she remember how much I like Victorian style lettering?

The star - Have I ever mentioned a small collection of stars in my dining room? How could she have known.

And the photo album. How could she have known that we will hopefully be needing a brag book size album come August if everything goes well this time? How could she know, when we weren't even telling anyone until after our parents and we just told them this weekend. But I guess I'm telling you all now, if you are good at deduction.

So in conclusion, I am gifted. I have many treasures from two people who are gifted in another sense as well. They are both obviously quite intuitive and "just know" stuff. I don't know how. But somehow they both just knew me well or are super duper guessers either one. And I appreciate it greatly. It made for wonderful holiday surprises.

Another give away - no passing or anything required

All I need is a little participation.

I need ideas. I work better with a subject. And so I'm looking for subject matter. I've mentioned stickers before and asked what people like but I think I'll take a different approach.

Here's the deal. I need ideas for drawing scrapbook stickers. If you give me an idea for a "different"* topic for some scapbook stickers... * different being defined as stuff you don't find often in stores or wish there were more choices for and also something rather generic (in other words, no portraits or copywrited stuff like Mickey Mouse). Then I will send you a free set of whatever that sticker topic is once I get it finished. Scrapbook stickers are of course good for things other than scapbooking as well. So don't feel like not being a scraper should keep you from participating.

Here's the "catch" though. I don't know when I'll get around to finishing it - because I have to put them behind "real" work. But I will say you'll get them sometime in 2008.

So what do you say?
Are you game?

Been tagged twices and I needed something to write about anyway

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night? Hmm, I guess my husband, he was the only one I was around last night.

2. What were you doing at 0800? Getting ready to leave to tell stories to 2,3 & 4 year olds at church.


3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? working on an illustration


4. What happened to you in 2006? Went to a reunion, got rearended really hard that february, can't really remember anything else from that far back.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud? "Nope no one's there, good girl for trying though" addressed to the dog after she alerted us to the door, due to the sound of a neighbor's car door slamming.


6. How many beverages did you have today? 2 so far


7. What color is your hairbrush? Hairbrushes cause frizz but my comb is green


8. What was the last thing you paid for? stuff at Lowes... oil stuff husband needed, and a socket converter.


9. Where were you last night? Home, cleaning, working and stuff.


10. What color is your front door? White


11. Where do you keep your change? In my pockets, or in a jar on the dresser or at the bottom of my purse.

12. What’s the weather like today? It's chilly and sunny.


13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? For me, it is a tie between chocolate chip cookie-dough or Cookies N Cream

14. What excites you? Lots of stuff: travel, having company, fun mail, trips to the library, surprises, eating out, festivals.


15. Do you want to cut your hair? Not cut it, but I'd like to find something to do with it.


16. Are you over the age of 25? Yes.


17. Do you talk a lot? Depends on the company.


18. Do you watch the O.C.? Nope


19. Do you know anyone named Steven? Yep


20. Do you make up your own words? On occasion

21. Are you a jealous person? depends - not typically but I have been known to feel jealous on occasion.


22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Angela


23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’. Kelli


24. Who’s the first person on your received call list? Martha

25. What does the last text message you received say? I don't text. I'm not fast enough.


26. Do you chew on your straw? nope


27. Do you have curly hair? yes, uncontrollably so at times.


28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? Work as far as next time I get in the car. But as far as trips, probably Gatlinburg for Christmas with my family.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? I don't know. I don't think I hang out with rude people.


30. What was the last thing you ate? Chili


31. Will you get married in the future? We have plans to renew our vows on our 10th anniversary with my sis & BIL because it will be around their 20th. We hope to go to Vegas or somewhere else that has a drive thru Elvis chapel, just for laughs and to say we did it.


32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? I've only seen 1 movie in the last two weeks and it wasn't remotely good.

33. Is there anyone you like right now? Yes.


34. When was the last time you did the dishes? Last night


35. Are you currently depressed? Not terribly at the moment but have been quite recently.

36. Did you cry today? No. not today.


37. Why did you answer and post this? Because I had nothing better to write about and two people tagged me and that made me feel quite special.

Sharing the Love

Recently Emily and Ragged both posted about a neat idea and I want to play along. It's a chance to share some love, pass along some good vibes and give a little back.

Here's how it works: I pledge to send five tangible gifts to the first five people that decide to play along. These goodies will arrive by the end of the year. And they are surprises, so I can't tell you what they will be.

Here's what you have to do in return:
-Include a comment here if you want to play along; also e-mail me your address at zannhu (at) hotmail (dot) com.

-Return the favor: post about this on your blog, inviting five people to play along and sending five gifts to them as well.

PS: Like Emily & Ragged, it's ok if more than five sign up, it's just a starting point.

Come on. . . you know you want to.

What We Have Learned today:
One should buy new sheets more than once every 5 years, lest you forget what size your bed is.

I did this. I can't believe I did this. We've had the same bed since we've been married. We've also had the same sheets. I decided it was time for a new set of sheets. I went to Target thinking we had a Full Size bed. I got a great deal on some really pretty full size sheets. I came home, washed them and put them on our bed....

or rather I tried to put them on our bed.

they are too small, we have a Queen size bed. Don't know where I got the Full Size idea from but I really should write that down so I know for next time.... oh wait. I am writing it down right now. Now unfortunately I bought these at Target, the store with the worst return policy ever and I have already washed them and threw away the packaging because I was "sure" we had a Full Size bed.

*sigh* Anyone have a full size bed? Would you like some pretty garnet colored sheets?

Please be my research assistant

Quick question... If/when you buy scapbook stuff, what do you buy sticker-wise? What subjects do you look for? Holidays? School days? Flowers? Quotations? Do you ever look for stuff you can't find? Any favorites?

Just For Ragged

To understand this post, you must go check our Ragged Around The Edges' last blog entry.
This tatoo is for you Ragged :)

Just like being on Oprah... or not.

My virtual Oprah visit.
The part of Oprah is being played by Farmwife today.

First off, I apologize for my absence. It has been overwhelmingly hectic here and I think the lack of time and the exhaustion of it all kind of led to a struggle with depression. For the past week I think I cried every single day. Not sniffle cries either... we're talking down right boo hoos. Everything in my life felt like it was falling apart, old hurts raised their ugly heads and I just wasn't dealing well... which leads us to the What We Have Learned Today of this week.

WWHLT: A day off, without obligation, and with enough sleep, does wonders for one's psyche So far today I have not crumbled into a weepy little depressed mess, and I am more content with myself. I think I owe it all to the fact that I allowed myself this one day with absolutely nothing that needed to be done (everything can wait till tomorrow unless I want to do it today) and no places that I have to go. I've spent the last three weeks working and running non-stop with my regular deadline-oriented stressful job, social engagements, charity commitments (Dog Jog and Dragon boat race- which were both physically extreme) several free lance jobs (which I pray I get paid for and that the customers were happy with), plus the usual house work and family commitments. Most days I'd wake up at six and not get to bed until close to midnight. Not exactly good for you. But today has been much better - I baked cookies, I've cleaned on my own schedule, I even reorganized my cabinets and J and I are getting along splendidly because we've been able to talk leisurely with each other and not on the run. Sometimes I forget with my more social lifestyle now how much of an introvert I still am, and how important down time really is to my sanity and sense of worth.

And that concludes my confession part of my virtual Oprah visit, now to the more fun questions such as:
#1. Given a free plane ticket to any destination of your choice, where would you go? Oh goodness, it is a round-trip ticket right? I can think of several places because there are a lot of places that I would love to visit if only we had the money because there is just no way that I can get J to ride in a car that long. I'm not sure I could narrow them down and just pick one. But I think since we are only being given a plane ticket and no hotel vouchers or tourist tickets, we would probably visit Wisconsin, because I've heard so much about it and would love to see it and we have friends we could stay with up there, and I'd save my ticket until they are able to adopt their first child (they are in the process and the waiting game) because I'd love to see her, and the child and the land she has so often spoken of to me.


#2. What's your favorite Junior High Fashion statement?
Jr. High and early high school kind of run together to me and neither were extremely nice looking fashion years. But I'd say I miss chokers being in fashion. I loved wearing choker necklaces, and baggy shirts. Loved those too - one of those two periods was the age of grunge and it was stylish to wear ripped jeans, baggy shirts, and flannel. I've never been so comfortable and fashionable.

#3. If you were given the superpower of your choice, what would it be?
instant teleportation. I would be able to zap myself, here, there and everywhere in the blink of an eye. No more traffic, no more car trouble, no more worrying over whether we could afford to go somewhere. Oh! And with my superpower I'd be able to take ride-alongs with me. All they'd have to do is touch my super outfit in some way and they'd be teleported with me.

#4. Do you have a list of things to accompish in your lifetime? If so, what's on it? If not, what would be on it?
I have a list for everything so of course I do. I have a list of things I'd like to accomplish in the next three years, not to mention my lifetime. And my lists are extensive. Some of the things in the lifetime list are - I know I want to visit Ireland or Japan at some point, I know I want to raise a child, I know I would love to be a published author or illustrator, I know I'd like to go on a trip visiting lots of the wacky landmarks or festivals around the country, I want to feel anti-gravity at some point, I want to go scuba diving, I want to take a cruise, and I want to work with habitat for humanity and pet a dolphin or a bear.

#5. If you woke up tomorrow as a man, what name would you choose for yourself? Had I been a boy, my mother would have named me Micah Seth. I'm quite happy I wasn't a boy. I'm not sure what name I'd give myself. I like Seth okay. Maybe I'd call myself Isaac because it means "he will laugh". And that is very important to me as opposed to the meaning of my first given name which means "bitter or sorrowful". Which is one of the reasons I never really went by that name (other than the fact that no one ever called me by it... my mother started out calling me by my middle name). I never felt like it fit me anyway. But I still hold on to it because it was my great-grandmother's name, and though I never got to know her well, I heard so many good stories about her that I was proud to bear her name even though I never went by it. But back on topic, Isaac is one of five top contenders for names we would name a boy if we ever have one.

Thank you Farmie for the fun questions. Now cue the closing credits to the interview :)

Things I've Learned This Week

1. Employer supplied insurance is not always what it is cracked up to be... particularly if they are in the midst of negotiations... will they pay? Won't they? We won't know until Sept. 1.

2. Farmwife and I may have the same ring.
Is this it FW?


3. Dogs look very cute in Easter socks.
Sasha had to have a growth removed from her neck. The day after surgery, we put my easter socks on her to keep her from scratching at her stitches. She's done very well. We now leave them off entirely. She gets to have the stitches out on Friday.


4. Heat lightning is not caused by heat. It is merely a very big storm a long way off, but the atmosphere is allowing for you to see it. We watched a beautiful display of "heat lightning" the other night. It was when I was describing this that my coworker relayed what she had learned on the discovery channel.

5. I've been singing the line from a hymn wrong for years.
I love the hymn "Jesus Paid It All" Particularly the first verse at this particular part of my life.
I hear the Savior say,
"Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all."

But I realized today as I was displaying the lyrics on the screen for church that all this time I've been singing another verse wrong. Sometimes God makes me laugh at myself. All this time I thought it was:
Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
Can change the leopard’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

It doesn't say that. It say's "Leper's" not "Leopard's". I kind of giggled when I realized my mistake. Wonder how many years I've been singing it wrong and if anyone has ever noticed but not said anything. Luckily I think with my accent they sound about the same anyway.

Hey, God could change leopard spots if he wanted too and you know it. My lyric fits just as well.

zann doesn't play by the rules

I'm trying to catch up here. It has been a super busy/stressful/sad/ and annoying week.

in this past week I have had:
1. more work than I almost could handle...but we managed it.
2. more bills from the hospital when we thought we had paid for everything
3. realization that my insurance isn't paying squat on stuff.
4. found out out dog needs to have a lump removed.
5. found out a younger friend from high school committed suicide recently.

See... tough week.
So no WWHLT... I'm just not feeling that perky.

But I will indulge myself with a little MEME
I didn't get tagged and I don't do tagging, so I've changed the rules a bit. But I would love it if you would play along, whether in your blog or in the comments. Your choice. But I got it from Lauren's blog and thought it was really neat and fun.

THE RULES:
1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3.You need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts.

My middle name:

S -Suzanne is actually my middle name but also the name I've always gone by. I use to hate that I was called me by my middle name (not that I felt like my first name fit me all that well) but as I got older I liked it a bit more, because no one could ever guess my middle name because they always thought it was my first.
U - understanding math is not something I'm good at.
z - Zann is my nickname and the letter Z is how i often sign emails.
a - art is something I've always enjoyed since I was very very young, it is wonderful to see my niece and godchild taking an interest in it a their young ages.
n - notes and letters that have meant a lot to me are something I hold onto for years and years. Someday someone is going to open a box and find a whole bunch of letters that don't make sense to them but have meant the world to me.
N - Nature is where I feel closest to God. It is why I chose to have an outdoor wedding and it is where I go when I need some strong one-on-one time with my Savior.
E- Eggs are a food that I use to hate, but I have recently become quite fond of.

WWHLT

WWHLT: DH and I cannot use spray on sunblock.

At least not after we have both removed our glasses.
We went swimming with some friends yesterday and used a friends' spray on sunblock - after we had already removed our glasses to swim. Neither of us are totally blind, but we do lose detail with out our glasses on. We ended up with some rather weird sunburns. Whereas we managed to rub it in, in most spots we apparently missed some others and have little blotchy spots where we missed. Really it kind of looks like we've been masked and spray painted.

Oh well. You live and you learn and since we very rarely go out in the sun I'm not terribly worried about the effects of this one burn

Slam Book and WWHLTW

To prove that I am reading but just have not had any time to post nor any idea what to post about. I am taking Farmwife up on her Slambook questions.

I have been quite careful not to read other poster's answers yet for fear of influencing my own. But plan to go back and read them by the end of the day.

What's your name/nickname? If it's a nickname where did you get it and why?
Zann, it is short for Suzanne and was given me by my sister who would sometimes say "Suzannzabar" in greeting of me and then that later got shortened to "Zanzabar" which in turn got shortened to Zann. This all happened long ago - since I have been mostly gone by Zann since I was 12 or 13 years old. My mother also use to call me "Lucy" occasionally... we don't know why.


Do you have a significant other (very important question in the lives of high school girls)?
why yes I do indeed, but I won't tell you his name but he's two grades ahead of me and totally cute and quiet.

Who is your best friend?
Nicky

What's your favorite _________? (I'll let you fill in the blank. Typical Slam book choices were color, band, song, movie, number, food. You can fill in as many or as few as you like. OK, so maybe the questions weren't really that deep, but we were adolescents...sue us!)
My favorite ethnic food is Chinese food.
My favorite mythical creature (I think that was in one of my slam books at one time) is a pheonix

Do penguins have knees?
no, they are like weebles... they wobble but don't fall down.

Who's hotter: Dead Poets' Society Ethan Hawke or Reality Bites Ethan Hawke?
Dead Poets' Society Ethan Hawke

If you were stranded on a desert island which lead singer would you most prefer to accompany you? AdamDuritz, Eddie Vedder, or Michael Stipe . And why?
Eddie Vedder. He's the bad boy of those three and he has that really nice deep voice.

If one train leaves Boston at 2a.m. traveling at 15mph and a bird flies south from your roof at the butt-crack of dawn which side of the bed will you get upon? Considering the velocity of the train and the sense of direction of the bird, I'd say I'd probably just not get up that day as it is the end of the world as we know it.

Given a free long weekend & $1,000 you were not allowed to spend on bills, what would you do?
Take a weekend at a spa (though I don't think I knew of spas in high school-they hadn't gained the popularity that they have now- so my old school answer would probably be "I'm going to Nashville for a TPAC show & out to eat at Kobe steakhouse" )

How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?
Well duh.... as much wood as a wood chuck could chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood

Leave us with your favorite quote.
"What are we going to do tonight, Brain? - Same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world!"
-Pinky and the Brain

I actually have a lot of other quotes that are favorites but that was the first that came to mind at the moment. It's so "deep" ;)

WWHLTW
If a little kid asks you to come eat lunch with them at their school... do it. It is a hoot. I loved eating with my neices on Monday, right before driving back home. I think that improved my spirits emensely.

Life's Not Fair...

"Life's Not Fair Zazu"
That's the quote that started this bit of pondering. I've been thinking and occasionally saying that line from the Lion King since last week. And that got me thinking ... a lot of the phrases I use rather often have come from movies, plays, tv shows or sometimes books. For instance, I often tell my husband that he is:
"A good man, Charlie Brown"

My sister often tells me that she is "Woooried about Percival" (a line from the play "Play On") whenever she thinks someone is a bit crazy.

I often say goodnight by saying "Goodnight, Wesley, Most likely kill you in the morning" (Princess Bride)

Often while cooking I will do Swedish Chef impressions - "Nuw we poot de chicki into da pot"

and there are quite a few other things. It happens on an almost daily basis that I quote a movie, play, tv or book during my everyday speech. I'm challenging myself to keep track of it this week. I challeng you to do the same. How often to we quote literature in all forms without even meaning to?


WWHLT: It is illegal to kill snakes in the state of Tennessee - I learned this after finding a snake in our yard and looking it up to find out what kind it was. It was a Rat Snake... a harmless constrictor (well not so harmless to rats I guess) and we let it live. I knew it wasn't venomous from it's head... but I didn't know what kind it was until I looked it up this morning. It was on the website that I found the snake that I found mention of the law. I wonder if you are suppose to report yourself if you accidently run over a snake with a lawnmower or something?

Weee! Look what I got in the mail! Thank you Phenn! I think this is much better than a sweetgum blow fish.. but if you think it's a fair exchange I'm not going to argue :D I have just the use for this special little album :D
z

Wow. I hate it when I go and make a recipe that I've made for years and somehow, someway it turns out terribly wrong. I don't know which step I missed, or what I did wrong but somehow I ruined banana nut bread. It probably would have helped to not have been making it at 9pm. It also probably would have helped to not have to had to leave the half-done batter in the fridge overnight because one of the ingredients (the milk) had gone bad and I had to get more before finishing the batter. And did I mention I didn't have any nuts to put in it either.

As my niece once said after reading the Disney book version of Robin Hood
"Prince John should have thought that through a little better"

Oh well. At least my dessert for tomorrow turned out nicely.