Fun with friends...and Elmo

What a fun weekend! I hope you all had a good one because mine was great, and I'm totally going to brag it up now on how great it was! Saturday I suppose wasn't the greatest part, since Branden had to work, but it was still good because I went into town to meet him for lunch. It was raining, and since he works in basically a covered farmers market there is no break room for him to eat in, so we went across the street to a coffee shop. They have a "tea for two"deal which is cheap and means we can sit inside while Branden eats his lunch and we sip tea. We then headed to the grocery store since our fridge shelf (that's right, we only have one shelf since our fridge is shared) was looking bare. Branden's lunch hour came to a quick end and he then gave me some cash so I could go to the butcher's BY MYSELF (take THAT social anxiety!) and get some pork chops, ground beef, and turkey sausages. I did just fine, and even had a lovely conversation with the lady at the butcher stand where we get our mince and sausages! Then I headed home and made a big pot of chili! Branden came home and we had a relaxing night but were all excited for the next day because we were meeting up with friends.

Sunday was an 'early' start for me. I even asked Branden if he was sure it was healthy for people to get up at 8am; he kind of laughed and didn't take me seriously. I still have my doubts about 8am but I did get right out of bed because I was excited for the day! We were headed to the "early" service of church, the 10am service, because we were leaving right after with our new friends that moved here from the States about a month ago. This is the woman that was just over a couple of weeks ago because she's pregnant, had a kidney stone, AND had to see kitties having sex in our back garden! Her and her husband live way out of town so they drove us out to their house for Sunday lunch, and 3 other couples, all friends of ours, were invited as well. We had a ball! The house they are staying in is AMAZING with a tub that you could bathe a cow in! I have never seen such a big tub in my entire life! We spent the entire day with them and then caught a ride with our other friends who have the sweetest, most adorable little 1 year old boy. I got to babysit him last week for just a couple of hours and he is the most easy going baby! His parents are pretty laid back as well and are such a fun couple. All of the couples that were there yesterday are incredible, fun, and we all get along so well. Branden and I were taken in so warmly and quickly, and now we all get to do the same for this 'new' couple from the States. Although they don't feel new really; they fit in as if they have always been here.

Today for your music, I have to share a good parody video. I found this for my nephews since I know how much they love dance music and Elmo. If you haven't heard the original song "I'm Sexy & I know it" ....well, I wouldn't necessarily suggest looking up the original video. I ended up watching most of it through my fingers because, despite living in Europe, I can't take that many images of men in speedo things. Elmo has my vote for the better video!

Silly Grandpa!

My grandparents are highly entertaining, and my Grandpa is easily the quirkiest of the 3 grandparents that I have left (my other grandpa died when I was 6).  He can't get his words strait and either makes up a new word or just replaces it with one that doesn't even come close to matching. 

Example:  He and Grandma went over to some friends' house for dinner.  When they got there, they knocked on the door.  Nobody answered so they knocked again; still no answer.  Finally after a while, the people answered the door and Grandpa said, "Man, I was getting worried.  Thought I was going to have to burst in and perform artificial insemination!"  Poor Grandma wanted to die!  Respiration, insemination...what's the difference!?!

 

Grandpa also does some things that are poorly thought out, but luckily they end up to be pretty funny.

Example:  They have a large gravel parking area next to the house and it gets a lot of leaves in the fall.  Grandpa has a leaf blower, but he has to stand and walk around with it...too much work! So he got the brilliant idea to use his riding lawn mower so then he could just sit back and blow away those leaves with ease! Not too bad of an idea until Grandma came screaming out of the house because he managed to break the bathroom and bedroom windows with the gravel that also inhabits the parking area!  Then Grandma noticed that he also broke out a back window of their car!  He was in soo much trouble that you would think he'd have learned his lesson...oh no.  Next year he did it again, and broke out the same windows!  I think Grandma might have taken the lawn mower away from him...we can only hope!

Now this is talent!

I don't have anything humorous to report. For the most part, I have been feeling not so great. I'm pretty sure it's my winter allergies finally kicking in and after 2 days on allergy meds, I am slowly feeling better.

I am excited to share this music video with you all today though! Noelle has been part of Branden's circle of friends for a long time. She has a fabulous voice and the band Branden was in, used her for some songs for backup vocals. Also, she is a very gifted photographer and I think her video really shows her artistic side as well. She's a sweetie and she just had her birthday (yes, she's very young!) so what an accomplishment in her life! I can't wait for more! This song will be available in the next couple of days on Amazon and iTunes but for now, the only place to get it is from Bandcamp HERE

Noelle, your song is amazing, catchy, and I hope it goes viral! I love how creative your video is and I loved seeing everyone at the end! It makes me a bit homesick. For all my readers, feel free to email it, share it on facebook, and just pass it around! Let's help get her music out there!

Oh, and the video was shot in the area I grew up in...just wish I would have thought about running across those big hay bales! That looked like fun!

Friday blog lovin

I swear, I haven't been drinking (it's only noon!!) but I love you guys! I discovered the joys of blog family back in 2005 when I first started Padded Cell Confession on MSN Spaces (which no longer exists). Some of my past readers are still in my life and I have "seen" them find love, get married, and have kids all via the world we are family in, the internet. I love that I still have them as part of my life and it makes me feel good because I know that if for some reason I had to stop blogging I would have a lot of you who would stay in my life.

I have watched my views and followers climb up and up over the months, despite the fact that I have stopped actively trying to draw in new followers and even stopped looking for new blog reads. This does not mean that I don't appreciate new followers or new blogs that I happen to run across, but I miss the days when I could easily read everyone's blogs, comment back on every comment, and make new connections with new people. For me, it is quality and not quantity. I feel bad when I'm days behind in reading your blog posts and especially feel bad when a new person leaves a comment and I never get around to checking them out and adding them to my existing blog family. I feel like I'm loosing the personal touch, and I hate that feeling. I like having a successful blog but I don't want to be a big blog where I get 500 comments from all sorts of random people who I feel I'll never get a chance to get to know. Does this all make sense??

Anyway, I am sorry that I have been very neglectful this week but life is picking up a lot over here and I'm discovering more and more how I'm part of it. Not having a job is actually fantastic because I am free to just be available for people. I just wish I had as much time with my online people as I do my physical world people. Last week, one of my favorite, hilarious online people gave me an award! If you haven't checked out The Ginja Ninja yet then you should do so now, before I sick a horde of flying monkeys on you!

Of course, we all know that with blog awards comes rules. My rules aren't too bad actually. I just have to tell you 5 random things about myself and then pass it on to 5 other blogs. Simple enough!

1. I went to the store, by myself, for the first time this week since moving here last March! This may sound absolutely ridiculous to some of you, but my social anxiety would keep me from going to stores by myself when I lived in the town I grew up in for 25 years! When I went to the store this week, I had no fear, no worries, and I survived! It's a huge exciting step for me.

2. I ate a dried caterpillar last week. We have a new housemate from Botswana and he has two big bags of caterpillars that have have their guts squeezed out, been boiled in salt water, and then dried in the sun. They tasted like soy nuts with a hint of jerky, and he told Branden and me to help ourselves.

3. I still have a little Christmas display set up on my dresser. I need to get around to putting it away but I've been lazy in getting around to it. I currently have Christmas decorations stored in 3 different countries. A couple of boxes are in my parent's attic, a little tree and decor is stashed away with the neighbors we had in Scotland (they are saints for holding our stuff!!), and then we have our decorations here in Ireland. Maybe this is a world record...it should be odd enough to be!

4. I am a "missionary". This is a word that turns people off right away and I am not a huge fan of how it is thought of now days. We aren't affiliated with a certain church, denomination or organization. We aren't handing out Bibles or literature or just talking to random people in the streets about God. We think that being a missionary is a way of life that is to be seen and not necessarily heard. This is why I'm separating my Padded Cell Confessions blog from my new blog. If someone wants to read more about my beliefs then they can, but if they don't then they can just stay here and have a laugh.

5. This leads me to my last thing. My new blog has a name! I am very grateful to all of you for your input. Sadly a lot of them were taken, but you got me looking into a different direction than I had before. I dug into my Bible and came across a great description of my life: "and blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." Matt. 5:5

Yes, this does sound terrifying for a meek person like me, but I actually read it a bit differently. I have met more people from around the world since living here than I ever did living in America for 25 years. This meek, anxiety ridden girl has found the world open up to her in ways she never imagined, so I see this verse as perfect. Unfortunately, "Blessed are the Meek" is a clothing design company in Australia, so I slept on it and came up with: With A Meek Heart
It should be fully launched by next week, so for those that are interested in a different side of me, you won't have to wait much longer.

Now to pass on the 5 awards. I have some people who are newer to my blog family, so I'm passing most of the awards on to them in order to learn a bit more about them (plus they are fabulous!) and the rest of the awards to bloggers that I've known a while and would love to learn more about.

Dave: Cimba7200's thoughts: He's been part of my blog world for a long time but I would love to get to know him more! Dave is in New Zealand and has incredible photographs that make you itch to book plane tickets!

From the heart of Alicia Marie: She recently wrote a blog post on things about her, but I loved them and want more! Her conversations with her husband make me crack up and think about Branden and my conversations! She has a way with her humor and also a way to tug at anyone's heartstrings as she goes through her personal battles.

Rachel Whitley: Wordstream: After reading her post about a beloved cat she had, I knew we were kindred spirits. She's a fantastic writer and really knows how to describe pure emotion with just words.

RCB English Class: He's blue and sarcastic, what's not to love?? He leaves me hilarious comments and I love reading his way of looking at things. Oh and I believe he's taking his blog readers to Bora Bora  ;)

Scope-Tech: Just the fact that he shared the horror of a Walgreens selling sushi in Chicago was enough for me to realize that we had similar world concerns! His fun little video clips he finds and shares are great little additions to my day as well.

So that is my award sorted and my new blog almost sorted! I am excited about Monday because I have a friend from my hometown who put out a fantastic music video recently! She has the voice of an angel and her video is so professional! I'm very proud of her and I look forward to sharing it all with you on Monday! Have a great weekend!

Oh the horrors!

So as I mentioned in my last 'non-post post', I had a friend, Marcie, over all day to make sure she wasn't by herself as she's going through a kidney stone while being pregnant. I should note that being pregnant means any pain relief she can have from her kidney stone would only come in the form of Tylenol because the prescription pain killers are too strong for baby...also note that I would have DIED if I had to 'get by' on Tylenol. She will probably laugh her way through childbirth after this ordeal!

Anyhoo, we had a such a fun day! She came over for lunch and I made pizza puffs, broccoli salad and then later when our other friend stopped by for a visit, I sent us all into a chocolate coma by making my mug brownie AND shoving half a Toblerone triangle down the middle of it! Oh My Heavens!!! After our visiting friend left, Marcie and I went into my room and sat on the bed to chat. Branden was sitting at the desk laughing along with us when all of a sudden, I got really excited! Out the bedroom window, I saw not just one, but two kitties, run along my back garden wall!!! Marcie by then, had heard all about my "I want a pet!!" moaning so she wasn't too surprised as I squealed like a little girl seeing Disneyland for the first time. This is how it went:

Me: EEEEEEE!!!! There are TWO kitties!! They are so cute!!
Marcie: Awwww, how sweet!
Me: *bouncing up and down excitedly on the bed a bit and still squealing
Marcie: Wait, what's that one doing??
Me: Uh....
Marcie: Is it trying to eat it?
Me: Oh my goodness!
Marcie: It's biting it's neck!
*one kitty proceeds to 'mount' the other kitty as we are watching, now in horror!
Me and Marcie: OH NO!! EEEEEWWWWW!! AHHHHHHHHHH! STOP KITTY!!!
At this point, I jumped off the bed, threw the window open and yelled: NO HAVING SEX IN MY BACK YARD!!
The naughty kitties ran away...probably to find a more secluded bush...

Branden was at the desk so he couldn't actually see out our window, but he got to watch our faces the whole time and he was laughing at us so hard! Needless to say, I've got my 'kitty fix', the neighbors need to get their kitties fixed, and I probably laughed off that amazing mug cake because it just got sillier when her husband came over from work for dinner. We'd never met him before and we fed the poor guy a giant dried caterpillar (story about THAT soon to come!) and at one point he looked at me and asked, "Who are you people???". I'm pretty sure he enjoyed himself though as we all were just a barrel of laughs all night.