I gleamed this week's question from a recent discussion I heard on the radio about how Americans are obsessed with size . . . particularly when it comes to the homestead!
The guys on the radio mentioned that the most expensive house in the Dallas/Fort Worth area has around 20,000 square feet. And at the moment only 2 people live in it - although it requires a small company of people for upkeep!
I'm sorry, but there is a point when a house becomes too big!
But I started wondering, "If I could add a couple hundred square feet here or there to our current house (for practical purposes, of course!), where would I put it?"
I think the enemy to any house and home is clutter. I hate clutter. I hate disarray. I hate stacks of stuff - although I am currently tolerating several boxes of sales material in my office because I have nowhere else to put them . . . I need more closet space!
I have to hand it to our builder, they did a pretty good job on creating plenty of closet space. But can you ever have too much closet space? It's just amazing how all the stuff you accumulate over time seems to suddenly overflow and take over a room.
And that's all it is - just stuff. Stuff we never will use - stuff we never have used. But all stuff that we think we will eventually use. So we keep it and stuff it in every nuck and crany in our house until finally there's no room for the stuff that we really do need to keep!
I guess that's why there are so many storage units being built around here . . .
___________________________________________________
"If you could add square footage to any ONE area in your house or apartment, which area would it be?"
Total Votes: 25
The Living Room: 12% (3 votes)
The Dining Room: 4% (1 vote)
The Kitchen: 12% (3 votes)
The Master Bedroom: 8% (2 votes)
The Bathroom: 20% (5 votes)
The Closets: 36% (9 votes)
The Pantry/Utility Room: 0% (0 votes)
The Garage: 4% (1 vote)
The Front/Back Yard: 4% (1 vote)
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Friday, June 01, 2007
Say What?
I recently had lunch with a doctor's office where we talked about gross food that nobody likes to eat - which got me wondering if the topic came up because they didn't like the lunch I brought in.
(Black-Eyed Pea, by the way, happens to have great food - especially for take-out!)
One nurse said, "The one thing that always makes me gag is 'vy-anna' sausages."
[phonetic spelling mine]
I sat there for a moment trying to figure out what in the world 'vy-anna' sausages were - and then it dawned on me. She's talking about vienna sausages! But who in the world pronounces them 'vy-anna' sausages? It's not like this nurse had a Texan accent or a southern drawl.
Just as I was about to call her out on her misspeak, another nurse said, "Oh I know! I hate 'vy-anna's' too!"
OK, wait! Are they really pronounced 'vy-anna' and not vienna (like the city in Austria) sausages? Am I the one who's been mispronouncing them all these years?
Vy-anna or vienna - either way, they make me gag, too!
Yuck!
(Black-Eyed Pea, by the way, happens to have great food - especially for take-out!)
One nurse said, "The one thing that always makes me gag is 'vy-anna' sausages."
[phonetic spelling mine]
I sat there for a moment trying to figure out what in the world 'vy-anna' sausages were - and then it dawned on me. She's talking about vienna sausages! But who in the world pronounces them 'vy-anna' sausages? It's not like this nurse had a Texan accent or a southern drawl.
Just as I was about to call her out on her misspeak, another nurse said, "Oh I know! I hate 'vy-anna's' too!"
OK, wait! Are they really pronounced 'vy-anna' and not vienna (like the city in Austria) sausages? Am I the one who's been mispronouncing them all these years?
Vy-anna or vienna - either way, they make me gag, too!
Yuck!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Tap the Brakes!
There are a few things I hate to do:
1. Flying with the Evil Empire.
2. Going to the dentist.
3. Having to tell Kelly I got a speeding ticket.
4. My most recent addition to this list: Having to tell Kelly I got a speeding ticket for the second time in a month.
Umph!
Rather than talk about the specifics of the speeding infraction(s), I think you'll more enjoy hearing about how I broke the news to Kelly.
As it is with many things in a life-long relationship, timing is everything. I would describe the timing I used when telling her of the first citation as "poor".
We had just gotten in the car and were heading down to Waco for a family shindig when Kelly said, "Now don't get a speeding ticket!" I, thinking this was the opportune moment to tell her, said with a big smile on my face, "Oh, don't worry! I already got one today!"
I said it with a big smile because I thought that would somehow soften the blow. Kelly didn't speak to me again until we got to Waco 2 hours later . . . and that was only to tell me that I had just missed my turn!
Needless to say, I put far greater thought into how I would tell her of my second, groundless, unsubstantiated, unjustified and baseless moving violation written by a public servant who had no concept of "letter of the law" versus "spirit of the law" . . . ahem!, but I digress.
"Concerned" family members told me it would be best to tell Kelly during dinner at the In-Laws'. Looking back, I now wonder if they encouraged me to do so just for their own mealtime entertainment!
Good or bad, I took their advice and sat down at the dinner table trying to think of the exact wording to bring up the subject. A few kicks from underneath the table let me know that the audience felt I was stalling. Finally, I just blurted it out as fast as I could!
"I got another speeding ticket on my way to Brownwood on Thursday! Please don't hit me!"
I tried smiling again! Which, by the way, I'm starting to think that it doesn't matter if you're smiling or not when you tell your wife you got a speeding ticket.
I have to hand it to Kelly, she took the news well considering the situation. It's funny how this discussion always leads to a comparison of driving records and that how a clean driving record somehow means you're a safe driver - it could just mean that you've never gotten caught!
But I can honestly tell you that I've now learned my lesson: Never take advice from family.
Or was it: Don't tell your wife about your speeding tickets.
No wait, it's: Never get 2 speeding tickets in a month . . . especially when you're only on a single income.
Actually, I think the lesson is: Tap the brakes and don't get speeding tickets!
(And if you do get a speeding ticket, try not to smile when you tell your wife or else she'll think you're not taking it seriously!)
1. Flying with the Evil Empire.
2. Going to the dentist.
3. Having to tell Kelly I got a speeding ticket.
4. My most recent addition to this list: Having to tell Kelly I got a speeding ticket for the second time in a month.
Umph!
Rather than talk about the specifics of the speeding infraction(s), I think you'll more enjoy hearing about how I broke the news to Kelly.
As it is with many things in a life-long relationship, timing is everything. I would describe the timing I used when telling her of the first citation as "poor".
We had just gotten in the car and were heading down to Waco for a family shindig when Kelly said, "Now don't get a speeding ticket!" I, thinking this was the opportune moment to tell her, said with a big smile on my face, "Oh, don't worry! I already got one today!"
I said it with a big smile because I thought that would somehow soften the blow. Kelly didn't speak to me again until we got to Waco 2 hours later . . . and that was only to tell me that I had just missed my turn!
Needless to say, I put far greater thought into how I would tell her of my second, groundless, unsubstantiated, unjustified and baseless moving violation written by a public servant who had no concept of "letter of the law" versus "spirit of the law" . . . ahem!, but I digress.
"Concerned" family members told me it would be best to tell Kelly during dinner at the In-Laws'. Looking back, I now wonder if they encouraged me to do so just for their own mealtime entertainment!
Good or bad, I took their advice and sat down at the dinner table trying to think of the exact wording to bring up the subject. A few kicks from underneath the table let me know that the audience felt I was stalling. Finally, I just blurted it out as fast as I could!
"I got another speeding ticket on my way to Brownwood on Thursday! Please don't hit me!"
I tried smiling again! Which, by the way, I'm starting to think that it doesn't matter if you're smiling or not when you tell your wife you got a speeding ticket.
I have to hand it to Kelly, she took the news well considering the situation. It's funny how this discussion always leads to a comparison of driving records and that how a clean driving record somehow means you're a safe driver - it could just mean that you've never gotten caught!
But I can honestly tell you that I've now learned my lesson: Never take advice from family.
Or was it: Don't tell your wife about your speeding tickets.
No wait, it's: Never get 2 speeding tickets in a month . . . especially when you're only on a single income.
Actually, I think the lesson is: Tap the brakes and don't get speeding tickets!
(And if you do get a speeding ticket, try not to smile when you tell your wife or else she'll think you're not taking it seriously!)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Tate-ism #8
"If sucking just one finger is fun then all 10 at the same time must be great!"
"Ohm yeahf - mumch betterf!"
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Book Rant: Audacity of Hope
I have to first admit that I did not finish The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama.
I knew that I wouldn't get through it all when I didn't even bother taking it with me on a recent business trip despite a 3-hour flight.
I started Audacity thinking this would be a great way to educate myself on some of the front runners in next year's Presidential election. For once, I'm going to cast a vote not because of an "R", a "D" or even an "I" following the candidate's name - but because I've made a fully educated decision based upon the where he or she stands on important issues in our country . . . right?
Umph! Just beat me over the head with a brick, why don't ya?
Why can't politicians just say what they think? 100 pages into this thing and all I've seen so far is a great balancing act by a guy trying to walk down the middle without saying too much to offend one side or the other.
I knew that I wouldn't get through it all when I didn't even bother taking it with me on a recent business trip despite a 3-hour flight.
I started Audacity thinking this would be a great way to educate myself on some of the front runners in next year's Presidential election. For once, I'm going to cast a vote not because of an "R", a "D" or even an "I" following the candidate's name - but because I've made a fully educated decision based upon the where he or she stands on important issues in our country . . . right?
Umph! Just beat me over the head with a brick, why don't ya?
Why can't politicians just say what they think? 100 pages into this thing and all I've seen so far is a great balancing act by a guy trying to walk down the middle without saying too much to offend one side or the other.
Meanwhile, he has packed each page with so much grandiose "Yea! America!" fluff that it makes you feel like you should be playing God Bless America in the background while you read.
Before I go any further, let me assure you that my critical tone isn't just because he's a Democrat. In fact, I find all politics to be equally mind-numbing regardless of party affiliation.
The problem I have with this book is that, so far, there's nothing here that gives me an idea of who Barack Obama is or what he stands for. For me, the audacity of hope lies in hoping that the next page will be better than the one I just finished.
If elected President (which I admit wouldn't be the end of the world), let's hope Mr. Obama accomplishes more in his first 100 days in the Oval Office than he has in the first 100 pages of this book!
I'm shelving this book for another one - can't go wrong with Lucado!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
100 Movie Number Quotes
I found this YouTube video on Conblogeration.
It's 100 movie clips with number quotes in sequence to countdown from 100 to 1. Watching it is a total waste of time . . . but still pretty cool to watch nonetheless.
By the way, I can name 58 movies in this video. How many can you name?
It's 100 movie clips with number quotes in sequence to countdown from 100 to 1. Watching it is a total waste of time . . . but still pretty cool to watch nonetheless.
By the way, I can name 58 movies in this video. How many can you name?
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