Spam Update

A while ago I was whining about all the spam comments I had been getting on my blog. My settings were programmed so that I had to approve comments before they were published, so none of them actually ever showed up on the blog. But it was a real pain because I got an email every time some "person" posted a comment about gutter cleaning, teeth whitener, or whatever on one of my craft projects. (Yeah, what does gutter cleaning have to do with a Christmas centerpiece?!)

Anyway...a couple months ago I turned on the "Word Verification" feature, and it has made a HUGE difference! I know it's a little more of a hassle for real people to make a comment, but I think it was so worth it! If you're having any problems on your own blog, I would highly recommend it!!

Dresser Makeover - Part 2 - It's Done!!

Well, my dresser transformation is finally done. The difference between the "before" and "after" pictures is amazing...you won't believe it!

Here is my floral beauty before...

And here it is after...

Unbelieveable, right??!!

I know, I was pretty amazed myself at how well it turned out :) It was a lot of work, but I just kept telling myself that it would all eventually pay off.  It really does look like a completely different dresser!

......And if you haven't figured it out by now, Happy April Fool's Day!!

My one little crafty touch for the whole thing was a small "TV placemat" I made for underneath the TV which sits on top of the dresser, to avoid scratches.  

And as a little inside joke with myself....I used some of the extra fabric (yes, more than 10 years later I still have it!) that I used on the original Floral Dresser. :)

More about my new dresser (which I love, by the way!) later!  Have a great day!

Olympic Fever

Otherwise known as "Better Late than Never" 

(I had this post almost ready a week ago...just remembered to post it...oh well, I thought I would share anyway!)

I don't know about you, but our family really enjoyed watching the Olympics! So last weekend we were very excited when we found out about a "Welcome Back" ceremony at Drake University for the Olympic athletes from the state of Iowa.  We just happened to be going to Des Moines anyway, so it was great to be part of this awesome event to welcome back 5 athletes from Iowa: Miranda Leek (archery), Lisa Uhl and Lolo Jones (track), Jake Varner (wrestling), and of course Iowa's newest official citizen, Gabby Douglas (um, duh - gymnastics) :) Really, she is now an honorary citizen of the state of Iowa. She has a certificate from the Governor and everything! :)  

There were also a few other special guests - including Shawn Johnson and Liang & Lee Chow from Chow's Gymnastics in West Des Moines. Yeah, we are so awesome to be rubbing shoulders with some pretty famous people! Heh heh.

The Knapp Center at Drake - all decked out!

I was also excited to hear The Nadas from Des Moines for the first time. Both my sisters are fans of theirs, but this was the first time I had heard them. They were great!

Warm Up band - The Nadas

Miranda Leek (Archery)

By the way, the guy in the red tie is a sportscaster for one of the Des Moines TV stations. I have no idea what his name is, but I managed to get him in just about every single picture!

Lisa Uhl (Track)

Jake Varner (Wrestling)...notice the gold medal!

The Chows

Lolo Jones (Track)

Shawn Johnson (no explanation needed) :)

Gabby Douglas (Honorary Iowan)

The whole group...welcome back to Iowa!

Isn't That Funny?

Since I have nothing creative to post right now (I'm definitely going through some craft-withdrawal lately!) I thought I would share an amusing little story for today....which by the way, is Friday, April 20 at approximately 1:00 pm. (Remember that for later, it will be important!)

My soon-to-be teenage son, Harry, is on his iPod constantly. But we have a rule that the iPod stays in his room during school. Or so I thought - until 49 minutes ago when I received a notification on my phone that it was my turn to play "Scramble With Friends," his new favorite game! Hmmm, remember that part about the time? School isn't over for another 2 1/2 hours! Busted!! (Old Mom isn't as dumb as he thought!) :)

Have a great weekend everyone! I have some great ideas that I'd love to work on this weekend, hopefully I'll have some new posts for next week :)

Exciting News and a Giveaway...?

This is kind of a big deal for me!! I just found out that I've had my first "feature" post! If you haven't visited Homemaker In Heels, stop by and check out Crystal's blog. It's one of my favorites! AND...while you're here if you'd like to become a Crazy In Iowa follower, just sign up on my sidebar! I've been thinking about doing a giveaway in the near future if I have enough followers to make it worthwhile (in other words, that way my mom & sisters don't have such a high chance of winning! LOL.) So follow me and join in the craziness!

Exciting News!

Just a teaser here...I have two big things to share! One will be coming tomorrow and the other next week. I'm so excited! Check back and see what's happening!

What the.....??!!

The other day, I was searching through my craft supplies for some creative inspiration. I came across some magazine pages I had saved a LONG, LONG time ago (before I had kids, before cell phones and the flat iron were invented). I'm not quite sure WHY I hung onto them...but if I wait long enough, they might be cool again someday...here's a sample. You be the judge!

In the Kitchen

My daughter was soooo excited yesterday about a book she checked out from the school library..."Cooking the French Way"

Didn't even realize they had cookbooks in the school library...I was amused!

Always Verify Your Source!

As a journalism major in college, one of the things our professors talked about over and over was verifying sources of information. I must be getting forgetful or just lazy in my old age, because I did not follow that advice last week...

Ginny was so excited for her cousins to come visit last weekend, and decided to make gifts for them. She had heard them talk about their new favorite TV show, "Super Y" and wanted to make super-hero capes for all 3 of them. Now is the time to mention that my kids have pretty much graduated from cartoons to all those annoying shows like "Wizards of Waverly Place" and "Sonny with a Chance" - so I'm not too familiar with the current cartoon line-up.

Ginny recruited her grandma to sew the capes for her, then brought them home to decorate.  We had the first one all finished (or so we thought!) when I happened to mention the gifts to my sister. What is this Super Y thing anyway? I asked. She explained the background of the show and how the characters solve problems by asking the question "Why?" Aaaaaaaahhhhh. That makes much more sense than a super hero whose name starts with the letter Y.  (What would her name be anyway, Yolanda?!)

So one "Super-Y" cape later, we learned a lesson! Always verify your source!

Bossypants

I'm only about halfway through, but I have to say, Bossypants by Tina Fey is HILARIOUS. A friend of mine read it this spring and warned me about how she laughed out loud numerous times. That happened to me last night at the softball park. I'm sure everyone near me thought I was an insane person, cackling to myself. So even before the official book review, I'm going to say...go out and get that book! 

Summer's Top Five

I have to admit, I'm stealing this topic from another blog I read. I thought it was a cool idea for a post, and I hope the original blogger feels honored to be duplicated! Anyway, I'm sure my favorite things about summer are different, so on with the list. 

I will list my top 5 in reverse order to build suspense. I just KNOW you're on the edge of your seat! :)

5) Parades. Only a couple weeks until the 4th of July parade. We are lucky to enjoy this one in the comfort of our friends' front yard. One of the best seats in town!

4) Baseball and softball games. Both my kids play now, and I really enjoy going out to the ballpark to watch them. They don't always win, but it's always entertaining! Especially when the coaches and ump start arguing and the ump storms off the field threatening to quit...oh, wait - that's another story.

3) Summer Nights, baby. Sounds like a song title, huh? (Yeah. I think it is!) :) Sitting outside on a warm summer night is the best. As long as there aren't too many bugs!

2) Swimming Pools. As a former swimmer, I spent many summer days perfecting my "chlorine sheen" hair color (also known as "chlorine green"!) Although I don't wish for that shiny, straw-textured hair again anytime soon, I still love going to the pool.

1) FLIP FLOPS!!  In my day, we called them thongs. That takes on a whole new meaning now. But I am referring the the variety you wear on your feet. I would wear them year-round if I lived somewhere warm. Like not Iowa. :)


So there you go. What are your favorite things about summer?

Close Call

Next weekend, Local BFF is getting married.  (Yeah for her!) :)

I am very happy for her and her fiance, and have the privilege of being a part of the wedding! And a year or so ago, when she asked me to be a bridesmaid, I thought it was way cool that she was letting us pick out our own dresses instead of sticking us with some icky brides-maidy thing that only looks good on 20 year olds.

Fast forward to last month - I found a dress I thought I really liked. I just had a little trouble getting it in my size. I first bought it in a size too big for me in another town. (Bargain shopper sales strategy - they were having a sale and I got a good price.) I knew I could return it at the store closer to home for the correct size. Well, I neglected to try on the new one until last week when I was matching my shoes. I had a little bit of a shock when I found that it fit just fine, BUT it was a good inch shorter than I expected! Not too appropriate for a 40-something bridesmaid, if you ask me. (As Sportsfan said, "Yeah, everyone would have been looking at you...not that you'd look bad, of course! It's just a little short.") Thanks for that, honey.

After a light-speed trip to the mall last Friday night, I found a great dress! I was ready to pay any price, but it was ON SALE, and it is much better for me than the micro mini I had before. Whew! Close Call! See picture below...(and yeah, that's not me. I wish.)

Back Again!

Yes, it has been a LONG time.  As mentioned, I spent a week in Pittsburgh on a church mission trip. It was great!  It just took a little longer to get caught up than I anticipated! (Doesn't it always?!)

So, about Pittsburgh. It was such a good week. I have to admit, at the beginning of the week I was questioning what I had signed up for. But the Pittsburgh Project is a really great organization and I learned so much from them. (I could write a whole post about that, but maybe later!) How it worked was that our group of 25 was split up into 4 smaller groups, each was assigned a home to work on, and given a list of repairs for the home. We were also encouraged to share with the homeowners our religious beliefs if they seemed receptive. I wasn't sure if our homeowner would even want to talk or if she would be the type who just watched and made sure everything was checked off our list. However, Mary, our homeowner, was a pretty amazing person. I'm certain she taught all of us more about religion & faith than we could ever teach her! 

After the first night (and a huge rain storm) the roof we were in the process of repairing leaked ALL over her house. Instead of getting upset, Mary simply said everything happens for a reason, and she was trusting in God that it would all work out in the end. Harry really enjoyed our time at Mary's house, and got into the habit of playing the piano for her every day. He DID actually work, too - nothing super strenuous, but painting, replacing floors & light fixtures, and hauling shingles & garbage aren't things he does every day. He helped with all of it and didn't complain!

Sassy soldier with a little hip thrust

In addition to the work, we had a good time with our team. Our ages ranged from 10 years old to 50-something. There were several college students, who of course were waaaay cool in Harry's eyes. Every day on our way to the homes, we'd pass certain landmarks that became group favorites, such as a monument of a World War I soldier who was standing at a sort of strange angle. (Kind of like he was posed on the fashion runway - very odd!) All the kids would shout out names they made up for things like this, and I still hear Harry saying some of the Pittsburgh catch phrases while we're driving around at home! 

One night we went to the top of the city to Mt. Washington, which has a great view of the city. 

Pittsburgh at night

(As one of our fellow team members pointed out, it looked much better in the dark - Pittsburgh is a fairly run-down city, which is basically why we were there!)

It really was a good week, and as Mary said, everything did work out in the end (after a few additional repairs that weren't on our list!) I think Harry learned a lot about how lucky we are. And as Mary told him, he now also has a new "grandma"! We exchanged addresses & phone numbers, and hope to keep in touch!

Alternative Spring Break - The Pittsburgh Project

In about a week, Harry & I are headed out on Spring Break - woo hoo! Only we won't be visiting any beaches or resorts. Our church is taking a family mission trip to Pittsburgh. We're taking part in The Pittsburgh Project, a program that helps elderly citizens rehabilitate their homes, among other things. Ginny is too young to go, so she & Dad will stay home this time.

I'm excited & think it will be a great experience for Harry. I've always wanted to do a mission trip, but we're not quite ready to go international. So the Pittsburgh trip sounded like a great opportunity. The part I'm NOT thrilled about is that we'll be staying in a not-so-nice part of the city. (I think moms are obligated to worry about things like that!) From what I've heard, it is okay for example to walk the streets alone - as long as its during daylight hours. Being from Iowa, we're not really used to the crime of a big city. But our youth pastor, who is leading the trip, has been there at least 25 times, so I trust that he knows what he's doing!

Here's a little info about the Pittsburgh Project from their website, in case you're interested:

The Pittsburgh Project is a nonprofit community development organization with a 25-year track record of developing leaders and serving the city’s most vulnerable residents.  Our year-round staff of 51 operates a progressive series of afterschool and summer programs for 450 urban young people, deploys over 2800 people annually to perform free home repairs for Pittsburgh’s elderly homeowners, and spearheads economic development and job training efforts in our Pittsburgh neighborhood.

And some stats about the city of Pittsburgh:  

Almost one-fifth of homes are owned by households with incomes below $20,000, and over one-quarter are owned by homeowners 65 and older. Many seniors cannot afford to maintain their aging homes, and often live in the shadow of fear and isolation. There are widening gaps between rich and poor, between black and white, between those connected with resources and those without access to any. The Pittsburgh Project is located in an area of significant need. Twenty percent of our neighborhood’s housing units are empty. Unemployment is nearly five times the city average. Nearly 79 percent of our neighborhood’s households live below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty guidelines.  

I will try to post an update while we're gone (we are supposed to have internet access) or fer sure when we get back! 

The Many Uses of Phosphoric Acid

Earlier this week, I went to a lunch meeting for work where the guest speaker talked about paint. (Exciting, I know! I do have a glamorous job, by the way.) He talked about different applications and how to get a surface ready to paint. He said cement floors need to be properly prepped by either sanding the surface or using some kind of acid to smooth it out. He suggested phosphoric acid as a good choice. Okay, so mental note to remember that the next time we paint a basement floor somewhere...

Now imagine my surprise the next day when I purchased a bottle of flavored water and (after taking a few drinks) noticed that ingredient #3 on the list was PHOSPHORIC ACID! EEEEWWWW! See, I'm still trying to avoid HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) so I just kind of skimmed the ingredients quickly in the convenience store. In the end, I wasted $1.50, dumped out half the bottle, most likely corroded part of my stomach, and definitely increased my stress level a couple notches for the day. 

So, lesson learned...remember the "Food Rules"...ALWAYS read the ingredient list!!

New Year's Goals

Faraway BFF was telling me the other day that her husband has been pestering her to make "New Year's Goals". Is there a difference between goals and resolutions? To find the answer, I checked Webster's Elementary Dictionary, the handiest thing in our house. Apparently Mr. Webster was a bit of a jock, because 4 of the 5 definitions of "goal" in the elementary dictionary relate to winning a race or scoring points of some kind. It is also defined as a "purpose". A resolution on the other hand, is defined as "something decided on." Either way, I thought I'd share my New Year's Goals/Resolutions. I tried to pick things that are completely measurable, that is, I will either end up doing them or not.  Easy enough....yeah, right!

1) RUN A 10K RACE. This is a big deal for me, and in order for it to happen, certain other things must also take place, such as staying in shape, exercising regularly, and having good music on my iPod. I'm pretty sure I can do it!

2) READ ALL THE BOOKS FOR MY BOOK CLUB. 12 books a year, how hard is that? But the way our club works is that each person picks a book for their assigned month. Some of our members prefer books that, hmmm, how shall we say....I don't care for. Historical fiction for one, is really NOT my thing. For some people it is. That's where I've been having a problem. I like non-fiction though, and some others don't really. So maybe when It's my month, I'll pick The Tipping Point, again. Maybe someone besides me will read it this time! :)

3) CLEAN MY HOUSE. My idea was to do the one-room-at-a-time thing, but my sister recently introduced me to something even better! Check this out: http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/ I have decided to do the 21-Day Organizational Challenge. More about that later.


4) TELL PEOPLE ABOUT MY BLOG. So maybe someone besides my family might read it!  :)

Houston, We Have a Problem!

Here's what Ginny & I found in the living room when we came home yesterday afternoon.  Oh well, I didn't have much else going on...so re-decorating the tree, gluing together broken ornaments and cleaning up pine needles all night gave me something to do!!  (Please note the sarcasm in my voice here!) :)

Davenport Trivia

Who out there is familiar with the name davenport? (Yes, you geography experts are correct...there's a town on the eastern edge of Iowa called Davenport.) But that's not quite what I had in mind. I was thinking the other day about the term my parents frequently use for the furniture in their living room...davenport. I wondered where the heck they came up with such a strange name for their COUCH?! So thanks to the modern miracle that is the internet, I did a little research. It turns out that the word "davenport" became a generalized trademark (yeah, I just learned that one too...it's kind of like calling tissues "kleenex") after furniture made by A.H. Davenport & Company peaked in popularity. The term was very popular in the Midwest. The Davenport Co. was around from the mid-1800's to 1973 and even made furniture for the White House. Some of their pieces currently reside in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  

Makes me feel extra special when I go to Mom & Dad's and have a seat on their "davenport"!!

Your Socks Go Where?!

Ginny actually LIKES to do homework.  Probably because she is only 8 years old.  So far it's not that tough.  One of her favorite things is for me to make up "fill in the blank" questions for her spelling words.  Today I made her list and she worked on it during Harry's piano lesson.  If you remember from my earlier post, In My Dreams, I mentioned that her room sort of resembles...a garbage dump.  So I'm not sure why I was surprised when she completed sentence number 2 "Socks go on your floor" ??

Sorry Ginny, you are not a winner this time.  You came so close to the grand prize, but the word we were looking for was feet.  Feet, Ginny, feet!!

Scratch Where it Itches...

Anyone familiar with the University of Iowa football team's history has heard this phrase before.  Our former coach Hayden Fry was famous for this quote, among others...."Welcome to the Salvation Army.  I've never been associated with an offense so nice about giving the ball away," and "You just witnessed an old fashioned rump kicking!"  Hayden is an endless supply of hilarious quotes...but back to the subject at hand.

I've been doing a lot of scratching lately, thanks to a mystery rash on my neck and legs.  I'm not going to get all gross and in-depth here because no one wants that, including me!  And luckily it hasn't really been that gross.  Just annoying.  What really freaked me out was when my eyes started getting swollen & red.  I look like I've been pulling all-nighters for the last week, when really I'm in bed by 10pm. 

So when I realized this was not going away on it's own, my first instinct was to go online and figure out a diagnosis.  (Now come on, who ever thought sites like Web MD were a good idea?)  All they do is provide a forum for people with all kinds of weird symptoms to try and diagnose each other.  ("Yeah, my cousin's sister's boyfriend had the same thing.  It was caused by eating too much devil spice beef jerky and drinking Mountain Dew while sitting in the hot tub all day.  He put some baby butt cream on it and it cleared right up.")  I have to say I found some really far out stuff on these sites.  After doing some research, I finally narrowed it down to the following:

1) Allergic reaction to who knows what

2) Excema

3) Pregnancy

4) Menopause

5) Foreign Accent Syndrome (Not really, but I did find that online.  It's the sudden change in speech patterns & intonation.  Caused by head trauma.  That could be on the horizon for me next.  Might be kind of fun!)

Knowing that pregnancy and menopause are both out of the question, I finally went to my family doctor.  She narrowed it down a little more.  She thought it was one of 3 things, prescribed me some steroid cream, and referred me to a dermatologist.  (Who can't see me for 3 more weeks!)  I'm really hoping the tiny tube of steroid cream will last that long.  Picture a tube of lip gloss.  That's what I've got to hold me over for the next 3 weeks.  Ugh! 

Until then, I'll just keep on taking Hayden's advice.