Wednesday is the best (don't ask me why) (I know why - I'm taking the Churlita challenge and having summer fun!)

Since you asked for it - more chicken  pictures!

Today, I would like to share my new youtube favorites.  Neither are particularily kind - but funny enough nonetheless.

YouTube - Zombie Wake-Up / Roommate Air Horn Prank

This is the video I tried to share a while back.  My son's friend (who is now living downstairs at the Casa) filmed this on his digital camera a few months back.  (We have hidden all the air horns here.  Although it might be interesting to try on my hubby - I kid I kid).

YouTube - Triumph the insult comic dog does the Hawaiian weather

This video we found the day after my father in-law's memorial service.  The four of us (Hold See, Jo-ash - formerly known as Gross Back, Hubby and CrazySunny) sat on the grungy motel bed and laughed and laughed and laughed!   I hope you enjoy it as well.  Poor Hawai'i!

Have a grand day!

I'll Gladly Pay You Tuesday

Happy Tuesday Pay Day.  I have determined that I will pay bills today.

Aren't you glad to know that?

I would like to share some chicken and garden pictures with you, as well as pay bills.  (I have already walked 1 mile to boot.  What a busy little bee am I!)

Turn your head sideways and you will be looking at part of my small first time garden here at Casa de Refugio.  Our soil is HORRIBLE!  I only put 4 cubic feet of Ammend into this garden, so my expectations are not high.  But here it is. (Sorry for the neck crick.)

And here are some of the ladies at the Casa.  They have not yet begun laying - they were born at the beginning of April.  But it is time for me to get some laying boxes in their coop (I will be dumping some of my school work out of crates and into boxes and giving the ladies the crates.) 

(Please allow me to explain Casa de Refugio - it is the name I have given our home.  I would like our home to be a place of refuge, for myself, my family and our friends. The name came to me years ago and I finally adopted it (with hand painted sign out front and all) within the last year.)

Have a wonderful Tuesday .  May all your bills be paid - with extra left over for you to save and a bit to enjoy!

Bathroom Update

Another first here at Raising Sunny!

My first import of my own photos...

The above is the before of the tub and shower.  Shocking and frightening, isnt it?

And the after - ta da!

And here are a few pictures of the entire finished product.  Whew!

So here it is - all done. (Sorry the colors aren't coming out - light blue and light green with white ceiling and while trim.)

Thanks for veiwing!

My First Scavenger Outing!

The word, function, was chosen by 3GirlKnight.

Skipping the math meanings - function, noun, an activity or purpose natural to or intended for a person or thing.

The function of a mother is:

 to love, cherish and protect her child.

The function of a blogger is:

to provide an on-going narrative.

oodles of funch

The function of a songerwriter is:

to write a good ass song.

YouTube - Steve Earle Jerusalem

The function of an artist is :

to comment on the world inside of them

Old Man in Sorrow - Vincent Van Gogh

or outside of them.

The function of a film maker is:

to make a perfect film

YouTube - Rushmore Trailer

or at least a perfect scene.

Which is the scene in the Big Lebowski where we first meet The Jesus .  Eight year olds, Dude!

Thank you for viewing my first scavenger hunt!

Thursday Update/80's Homage

The bathroom is almost done!  It will look nice.  I will post the pictures tomorrow.  I am sure you are waiting anxiously (she says, tongue in cheek)!

Boy howdy - painting isn't as easy as it used to be...my body aches in all kinds of places that it shouldn't ache.  Back in the 80's I could paint effortlessly and painlessly...ah.... back in the day.... and an excellent intro to the next subject - a hint of the 80's through my eyes....

I had all my children in the 80's.  Three boys whom I love with all my heart!  My first child, know as Gross Back In (as in Grocery Outlet puts the gross back in groceries) , was born with a rare disease - very rare - both my husband and I are carriers - and systemic (a problem with cystine exiting the lysosome). When he was diagnosed at 13 months (failure to thrive) we were told he would die by age 10.  Later we learned otherwise.  He lost kidney function at age 12, got one of my kidneys (a perfect 6 point match) at age 13, and lost his sight at age 26.  (But these events did not occur in the 80's and are therefore not pertinent to the subject at hand.)  Shortly after the diagnosis in 1982 my husband freaked out and informed me on Christmas that he was leaving us for his high school sweetheart.  He never really left any of us (at least not in the 80's) and the 2nd bundle of joy, Dandu, (unaffected carrier) arrived 27 months after Gross Back In.  Two years and nine months later the 3rd bundle, Hold See, (also an unaffected carrier) arrived.

The 80's were not my favorite decade.  Being married to a womanizing alcoholic, having a child with a rare disease, and raising three young boys kept me busy (as well as finishing my bachelors and masters degrees).

Besides my children, one of the main highlights of the 80's for me was the movie Raising Arizona.   My kids, my favorite babysitter and I saw it at the local drive-in, sitting in the back of a Nissan 4x4, amid a meteor shower in 1987.  I LOVED it!  This began my affection for all things Coen (I have seen all their films except Blood Simple -  I like their funnier outings better.) 

Enjoy the clip!  I hope it entices you to watch the whole film.  It is a gem from the 80's.

YouTube - Raising Arizona

Back to the Grind

I am now back home from funeral/memorial service/in-law dealings.   Ye-haw!   It is so nice to be back to my normal [vacation] life.

The bad news is:

The bathroom fairies did not paint the bathroom while I was gone - imagine that!

So back to the grind with me.

Lots of prep must be done before painting....holes here, caulk there, mold on the ceiling, etc.  

Today I washed the walls with bleach and Dawn.  I sanded previous patches, scraped things I had not seen before and found - yikes - crumbling wall board (due to improper previous caulking). 

 

I had planned to get to the painting today - but I still have holes to re-spackle - (as the spackle dries it shrinks and I need to re-fill the holes [with sanding and priming in between]).  I have caulked where water is not involved, I have gone to the big box store to purchase waterproof caulk (so that I may caulk where water is involved), new switchplates @ $6.00 a pop (what was I thinking?) and I have even purchased a new light for the ceiling (I should never have cash....).

I hope to have pictures when the project is done (but don't set you heart on it!).

Let's pretend that's me and that's light blue, light green and white paint I am so attractively spreading around.

You guys are great!

What (Re-Heated) Hell is This?

Laura B. tagged me to do a meme.  

At first I didn't know what a meme was - but I think I figured it out - after all, it's all about memememe.

5 Obsessions

1.  Today I was obsessed to go back to the estate sale I went to yesterday, before my father-in- law's memoral service, to get the 3 dimensional star of David that I didn't buy (or need) yesterday.  I went back - it wasn't there.

2.  Watching bad TV.  I can hardly wait for the final season of LOST to see if my theory about what is going on is true.

3.  My children.  I love them dearly and really enjoy seeing how they are (for the most part) living life waaaay better than I did at their age.

4.  Avoiding organizing my home paperwork.  I will do ANYTHING before that.  I figure I don't have enough money to pay all the bills, so I let them all pile up (and in the meantime, have to pay even more of the money I don't have enough of.  in late fees, etc.)

5.  Relaxing this summer - I have been in school (done now - hooray!) for 4 years getting my clear credential for teaching special education.  I am not teaching summer school and I am going to enjoy this summer if it kills me! 

5 Dislikes

1.  I dislike that I say mean things to people.

2.  I dislike green bell peppers.

3.  I dislike ice tea that is more tea than ice.

4.  I dislike the greed that I see in everyone around me, including myself.

5.  I dislike the heat.

5 Tags

All the female bloggers that I know have already been tagged (Hey I've only been doing this for two weeks) so -

I tag -

1.  dmarks

2.  billypilgrim

3.  3GirlKnight

(If I have left anyone out - [please forgive me] - who thinks I should have tagged them [my this grammar is getting convoluted] - consider yourself tagged.)

Hey - how 'bout -

4.  PatrickO'Neil

and since I am now living in fantasy land, let's see....

5.  Brad Pitt

Wow!

I just had to share this!

                                                  

It's a lightning strike in Kansas.

Home Again - Service is Friday

We are home for a day and it is nice to have peace and order.  

Unfortunately, I was not able to maintain even a minute semblance of being another (nicer and better) person while out of town helping the in laws.

I started sniping the second day (probably the first day without even knowing it) and did not stop.

My brother in law was the brunt of most of it.  (Besides crop circles.)

After spending the whole stinking day getting a cemetary plot (and spending all my fix up the house this summer money - which I will supposedly get back), we walked into the mother in law's house and the brother in law stated, "There is no chlorine for the pool."  To which I answered, without thinking, "Really, there's no chlorine in all of Freno?  Imagine that."

My favorite mother in law quote is, "Is this chocolate local?"

I hate that I am not a kind, nice and smiley person.  

I hate that I can't say only nice things to people.  

All I can do is 1) say nothing or 2) whatever comes to my head.  And apparently the more tired I am, the more grouchy I am.  I do not suffer fools gladly.  I wish I did.

We are returning to Freno tomorrow.  

I have asked my son to pick a family member to chronicle.  My youngest has chosen the brother in law.  I have chosen the mother in law.  Number 2 son will hopefully choose another family member and my plan is to put them all together into a wonderful Coen-eske Wes Anderson type screen play. 

Wish me kindness, peace and joy - with lots of smiles ;) 

In Freno

Hiding out in a motel with air conditioning and wifi!  

Death in the family brings out the stress.

I went into the situation fully intending to support my husband and I vowed (not out loud) to be kind, smile alot and to refuse to be offened.

Well by this morning - after sleeping on the floor in my mother law's room, I was tired, grouchy and laughing at the in laws.  

After spending hours today at the funeral chapel and with the extended family, I started baiting my looney brother in law by asking, "And what do you think about crop circles?" ("Nothing everybody hasn't heard before," was his answer.)  But honestly, I don't know anything about them and who better to ask than Loon himself?  Oh well.

We have made our escape and driven down the Blvd. of Dreams and taken up residence in a Comfort Inn.  While it is a far sight more comfortable than the family home, it is not a room by the ocean.  But there is wifi and I can prentend that I have been supportive, kind, smiley and never offended.

 Get me outta here!

Death in the Family

It is with sadness for my husband that I tell you this.  His father quietly died yesterday and we will be going to the town of my origin to be with family.

Saturday - Is this a.....what day is this?

Another quote from Mozart's Brain by Richard Restak - 

"In essence, our frontal and prefrontal lobes are responsible for our ability to project ourselves into the future......Thanks to these humanizing brain areas, we are the only creatures that can transcend limitations of space and time.......In practical term, this means you can benefit from the use of mental imagery.......We eventually become the products of the images we entertain about ourselves.  'All that we are is the result of what we have thought,' according to the Dhammapada........First, think about what you want to achieve.  Second, come up with specific achievable steps to facilitate your goal.  Finally, regularily review the steps leading to the desired goal and clearly envision yourself possessing what you desire...."

.

So what you spend your time thinking about (be it positive or negative) is what you will become.

Yikes!  

I will now be putting all that thought energy to the good, not the evil.

I will become what I envision.

Hardy har har - that one's for you dmarks!

Free Friday!

Free quote for the day - 

"Why did God make us?" a rabbi asked.  "Because he likes to tell stories," came the answer.  Become an active participant in your own life story.  Conceptualize reality in brain terms: the art of montage."  Richard Restat in Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot.

Seems like the best thing for our brain is to dream through life - but that can't be it.

Here's a dream sequence for you:

-a picture of what would happen if Venus crashed into Earth.  Whoppee!  Looks like fun, doesn't it?

(no reason - just a cool picture i thought i would try to import into my blog - thanks for reading!)

Painting update - I have scraped around both the tub and shower and treated with bleach.  When the bleach dries I will prime the area and go looking for the cove whatever at our new big box store.  

Our local retailers (some of them anyway) like having the big box store here - so that people won't go down the hill and bypass their little stores entirely.  I don't know....our economy is so outta whack that only a bigger disaster than what has already happened (due to unchecked greed) is needed to reset it.  A new thermostat so to speak.  I wonder if they have that at the new big box store?

Thursday, the same as Wednesday

Insight Express - I have none.  Imagine that!  

Already this summer vacation is looming on too long.  I never was one to enjoy unstructured time.  What is wrong with me?

Think happy productive thoughts for me.

I need to prep the bathroom for painting, make potato salad for a party called Emmanuel Kicked Cancer's Ass, and read some good stuff (not crappy fiction junk food).

I'll let you know how it turns out later.

Peace out!

Welcome Wednesday!

It is another day, and I didn't make a single dollar!  I did spend 104 of them at the Grocery Outlet, however.  (My eldest son says that Grocery Outlet puts the gross back into groceries.  If you have one near and haven't yet tried it, I would encourage you to go for the experience.  Beware of dates on meat.....)

The chickens, cat and dog are happily fed.  The son is downstairs practicing with his band Mildrid. (Nothing on youtube - just checked - I'll have to talk to him about that - Gotta keep up with Ananda girl)  Cat is sleeping.  Dog is sleeping.  Husband is sleeping.  Sky is overcast. Never thought that I'd being wearing a jacket in June and wishing for slippers.  A lazy do not much day.

Happiness to all out in blog land.

Well, Ananda girl has inspired me.  

I will share a video from a friend of my son's - he's actually sitting here next to me in the living room watching Lost.

Zombie Wakeup

I sure hope it works - as this is my first attempt at live linking youtube.

Have a grand Tuesday!  I know I am!

We got propane - the downstairs bathroom is painted - but I do need to go to the grocery store and the chicken feed store - but watching Lost is so compelling!

My first day of summer.  I know that isn't officially summer until until June twenty something, but I'm out of school until August teen something, so as all school kids will tell you, that counts as summer!  

 

I am reading about jet fighter pilots and my brain and fully expect to be brilliant, in shape and young by the time school is back on.

Ananda girl is working and I'm not - at least not the kind of work someone will pay me for.  She must be the better man.  Her photos are GREAT! That makes her great! 

Not a very interesting post - but not much interesting happens around here, unless you count the propane tank being on zero as interesting!

hello

first of all - i have never been in jail - bailed people out - visited - but never been there on my own.

second of all - being sunny is what i strive for - and raising arizona is my favorite movie - or one of them - so the mix for the title.

i hear bloggers are supportive peeps - so - support away!