Scribble and Scrambles - Nada Post

Just zipping through. We held a honken garage sale today and had loads of fun...if you can call that fun. Our "nephew" Josh came all the way from Minnesota to experience an Iowa garage sale.

There we are.

We are heading out to see the movie Expelled so I'll do a review soon.

And good news, Athol Dickson sent his Dregs answers so I'll post those next week.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Serials and Scenarios - Athol Dickson's Winter Haven

I'd love to be able to give you more personally gleaned info. But alas, I've not read the book, though I want to, and Athol had an ugly deadline so he wasn't able to get to the questions.

As per usual, click on the book cover to see more from Amazon. Here to find out more about Athol and here to see what Kim had to say about it all.

Since Athol has the questions he may just pop in and surprise us some day.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Scribble and Scrambles - In Progress

I've decided that my in-progress house reflects me far more than I ever realized.

For starters, the direction you point your gaze is going to give you very different facets of me. You've by now read some of my remodeling stories. One corner of my house holds massive, beautiful oak bookcases full of books. If you look that direction you're going to think the house is pulled together. Of course, to fully see the bookcases, you'll be standing on the unfinished stairs next to the huge one floor drop-off with the two by four safety railing.

This is me. Catch me on a good day and you might think I've got life, God, marriage, and parenting all figured out. That is if you only spend a few minutes with me. : ). Underneath the polished, sturdy surface with multiple eclectic statements, like my bookshelves, are the raw two by four building blocks that just might offer up a sliver.

Come further into my home and you will find the party ceiling...exposed studs with party globes in happy colors. In the next room is the ceiling with a hole from an unfortunate friend's leg plunge through the drywall the day he came over to help with the second floor. Most of my house contains construction dust that occasionally gets wiped down, and each room, with the exception of one, holds at least one small or large project that is unfinished. Just like me. Except I'm pretty sure I don't even have the one area that is nailed down and presentable.

The part I like best. No, the part I love best is the fingerprints. My house is full of fingerprints. From the generous Christmas gifts from parents and grandparents that have gone into the purchase of windows and flooring and insulation and a furnace, to the hours of investment from friends and family as they come over to lend a hand on a project, I can't turn around in a room without a memory attached to why it looks the way it does. My parents plugging away late into the night when my husband decided to start a project at eleven p.m. makes me smile. My father-in-law inspecting and helping with plumbing joints, especially when the resident carpenter had reached plumbing overload. Before we put the sheetrock (drywall) up, I couldn't help but remember all the hours that our kids spent playing among the rafters. With permanent markers they decorated the studs in their rooms and even penned spiritual blessings. How many people in my life have shaped me, left their marks and been exactly who I needed at exactly that moment? Too many to count. I love the idea that I'm covered in the fingerprints of others.

Finally, this house is a labor of love. My husband has built me a home. Not only has he built me a home, but he has made sure that he has invested the best of himself into it. Has it always come first? He'd be the first to laugh. Often it comes last. But it's always from his core. Who he is and how much he loves his family is reflected in the artistry, the time, the sturdiness of this home. What a picture of God. He has given the most precious parts of Himself to me. He has invested His blood, sweat and tears into my life.

Thank you, God, for building projects and for grace.

Thanks to you, too, since you have scribbled on my walls and left fingerprints on my life.

Scribble and Scrambles - Mid-Week Gigglefest

Need a laugh?


Click below for your har-haring pleasure.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=-wIEihDAcpU Ha.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=bk5V68KfHBI Ha. Ha.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=di5OlFJoGWQ Ha. Ha. Ha.




Now, I can face the rest of the week.

Scribble and Scrambles - Randomness to the Third Power

A cousin/nephew/friend sporting his sweet stache which over a long weekend was grown, embraced and shaved.

The shaved is a very, very good thing.

Some sicko sent this in a forward memo....apparently its the next big toy recall. Ewww.

I thought the wicked "bite" from my trike pedal was the worst.

And here are the gas prices in our neck of the woods.

Nah. Another e-mail forward...but funny in a completely unfunny sort of way.

Scribbles and Scrambles - Party Globe Pat

Grandma turned 90. That's pretty huge, even though she's not old enough to be on whichever morning show celebrates centenarians.

What do you do for a 90 year old who has either had everything she's ever wanted, or doesn't want to go there at this point in her life?

You have a party.

Since Rob tore down our kitchen wall turning our kitchen area into a KITCHEN AREA, we decided that we were the likely place to be able to tuck 40-plus people into a cozy atmosphere.

Pat came to decorate. It's been awhile since I picked on Pat. So you may have forgotten that he has a flair all his own, and a certain way to do things. However, I wasn't surprised to see my dad, (Pat) hauling in large plastic bags three nights before the party.

"Whatcha got?" I asked.

Now not only is Pat full of flair, he can't pass up a screamingly good bargain. He grinned. "Well, all the Christmas stuff is dirt cheap and look what I found." He reached into a bag and pulled out a set of three orbs in red, green and blue, each the size of a mammoth grapefruit.

"Cool." I said. "Maybe we could put them on the studs in front of the window." I've grown used to the bare stud look. I actually find it attractive in a primitive way.

Pat grinned. "Oh, I have a few of them. I thought we could put them on the ceiling."

Pat is precise, and our outlets were limited. But after two hours my ceiling looked an awful lot like a really anal-retentive prom decorating committee had come through and left their mark.

So, that was a full three months ago. Guess what's still hanging in my kitchen? And guess who still plugs them in on occasion? Ya know, sometimes life just demands party globes.

Super Cinema Saturday ~ Lars and the Real Girl

Watch Lars once to marvel at the storytelling, the acting and the heart of this film. Watch it over and over again to absorb the charm, the quirk and life-altering love. At least that's my plan.

I adore films where ordinary and slightly broken people stretch and grow into someone inspiring and beautiful. This is that story, and not just one character inspires, several rise to the opportunity to become better versions of themselves.

Lars is damaged. His childhood was a shadow of what it should have been. Instead of love and nurture, he received a grieving husk of a parent. But the adult Lars is okay as a loner. Functional even. Until circumstances invade his tranquility and suddenly he's forced back into some of those dark places, back into grief and fear. But instead of dealing with those issues like most of us do, he comes up with a creative way to reach out to his arm's length friends and family. He invents a soul mate. Unfortunately, she's not invisible like a child might conjure up. "Bianca" is bigger than life in most definitions of the word.

Lars' quirky support system rallies around, choosing to make his delusion theirs. Bianca, a missionary from Brazil, here to meet Lars, her Internet love, is embraced and becomes a popular citizen. Gosling gives a stellar performance as he runs through the emotional gamut of a stunted man who has tucked life away into a spot where he is not going to be hurt and where he will not find love, the thing he needs the most.

The story unfolds as the townspeople reach out to Lars and Bianca while Lars tries to find his way out of his self-imposed prison cell.

One warning -- Bianca is a "doll" from an adult website and her original purpose isn't to help a young man find emotional healing. There are some sex/anatomy jokes, a little sophomoric humor, and "build your own girl" visuals from the website. Surprisingly, the ick factor is low and Lars and his brother are very respectful of Bianca and its obvious that Lars and Biancas' relationship is "chaste." But if you are sensitive, keep that in mind.

Others may not like the open ending. Several details are not explained. We are given clues to the reason for Lars' brokenness and why he is breaking at this point in his life. The ending is open, too. The pace is also slow. We're talking a character piece and most of those don't have a lot of intense action. I'm drawn to British/Irish films, and Lars feels very much like a Brit film. About a Boy is one of my favorites. I Am Sam is another film that comes to mind because of the complex, and real characters.

Bottom line, you won't like this film if you don't want to think. You won't like it if you have to have a lot of fast-moving action. But if you delight in characters and stories of humanity in its messiest and most beautiful moments, you owe it to yourself to check out Lars. As for me, Lars will be added to my all-time favorite movie list.