Monday, June 30, 2008

Spamalot.

Whoever is spamming me, you really need to quit. Not only is Gmail *uncannily accurate* at filtering out your blah-biddy-blah, but you don't even make it the least bit appealing for a 40-something female librarian.

Here's some of the latest tempting offers from the gmail Spambox:

"Dyann Hout" wants to tell me about "Canadina chemists" who can save me 90% on medical bills.

"blayne lauramae" wants me to click on her "Hilary porno." (I'm not kidding. As if.)

bfsssx wants to offer me "Power in my Pants" (he obviously doesn't know about my love for beans), and charls thinks I'm going to click on "She will fondle your nerve endings."

Ah, the satisfaction of hitting "Delete all spam messages now" and seeing "Hooray, no spam here!" It's the adult equivalent of eliminating a really potent teen pimple!

(Potent Teen Pimple. I'll bet *that* will be in my Spam folder next week...)

Thursday, June 26, 2008

How do you say "yum" en Espanol?

MARY'S PALETERIA!

So after church, we stop for ice cream at Mary's.

What's an escamocha? Let's go in and find out!

This mural suggests everything inside is YUMMY!

And it turns out that the escamocha is muy bueno!

"No, thanks, Aunt Kristy. I'll just stick to my two scoops."

"Me, too. No escamocha, thanks."

"Well, okay. If you're sure. Hey, girls, it's got granola on it. You like granola!"

"Um. There's a...bug. Crawling in my escamocha. Oh. Ick."

"ARGH. I tried to lift him out, but he smushed in between my fingers. Oh, gross."

"It's okay. It's okay. I'm not going to let that little bug ruin my escamocha!"

We love MARY'S!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

More than you ever wanted to know.

Okay, so many of these questionnaires have arrived in my Inbox lately, in various forms, that it just seems more time-efficient to post the answers to the last one received (Melanie's) here.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Well, "Kristy" sounds exactly like "Christi," the Latin name of our Saviour; I'd have to check with my parents to be sure, but that's probably NOT mere coincidence!

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Last week, while reading Same Kind of Different as Me. (My alma mater, Abilene Christian University, will be giving every incoming freshman a copy of this powerful book this fall!)


3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? No


4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Seltzer's Lebanon bologna (and if you're thinking of the icky "baloney" kind of bologna, then you've never tasted the lean, smoky DELICIOUSNESS of Seltzer's Lebanon bologna...worth driving to Central Market in Fort Worth for! Worth driving to Lebanon, PENNSYLVANIA for!)


5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes...thank God.


6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? No. I can't imagine why anyone would ever befriend me (I'm exhausting & will try your very last nerve) or ride in a car which I am driving (I'm awful & will test your very last nerve).


7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Definitely more than I should.


8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes. (Perhaps sarcasm is rooted in one's tonsils?)


9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Maybe...it's possible. If it weren't TOO big of a drop...and if the water below were REALLY deep...and if the bungee platform were engulfed in flames.


10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Uncle Sam's. The cereal I likened to "lawn trimmings" the first time I tasted it. (It grows on you. Like lawn trimmings.)


11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? 92% of the time


12 . DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? No


13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Blue Bell's Tin Roof Sundae


14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Hmm...approachability? The *friendliness* of someone's face, maybe.


15. RED OR PINK? Pink. The only family member who looks good in red is Mom.


16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF? Like I would post that.


17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Nanny. I think of her every day and still dream about her.


18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? N/A (posted on blog rather than sent to Inboxes)


19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
black pants & no shoes (kicked them off after work)

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
chili con frijoles AND green beans = late lunch after Summer School today ("I love beans!")

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Director Patricia Rozema's audio commentary to the film Mansfield Park (a bonus on the DVD)

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Goodness. I have no idea. Perhaps dark purple, like a bruise?

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Mademoiselle by Chanel, the woods, hair salons, the ocean, a load of towels fresh from the dryer, and my daughter (she smells like apricots)

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Tech Support (You don't even want to know. It was a Summer School re-imaging/printing fiasco involving two classes of kids simultaneously.)

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Absolutely!! Melanie is the first friend I ever made in Mrs. Turner's kindergarten class...the last kindergarten class to meet on the campus of Plymouth State University.

(Here we are in third grade, both on the second row.)

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? the Winter Olympics


27. HAIR COLOR? Whatever comes out of Amber's bottle of dye.


28. EYE COLOR? dishwater


29. WEAR CONTACTS? Sometimes.

Hey, someday ask my mom or sister about the time we all went to Allentown, Pa. for a good deal on contact lenses, and Karen ended up being punished for laughing hysterically at me as I tried to learn to put them in. (She had to go sit in the Ford Pinto. Parked next to a deep snowbank. In a dark, cold Allentown parking lot--a punishment *not nearly as severe* as it should have been; Karen nearly ruptured internal organs as she choked and gasped with laughter.) Truth be told, Mom did
only marginally better at reining it in. The whole drive home, they shrieked with glee as they recollected my hateful glances in their direction when the lens would pop out of my eye (yet again!) and muffled hysterics would fill the clinic...

30. FAVORITE FOOD? Thai, Italian, & salads


31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings!

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Jane Austen's Mansfield Park is playing at this very moment!


33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Um...it's summer in Texas. It's "shirt optional" weather here.


34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter


35. HUGS OR KISSES? Yes, please!


36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Caramel pretzel Klondike bars, baklava (with a cup of coffee), cookie dough, or brownie batter


37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? N/A


38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? N/A


39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? The Good Book...looking for a Scripture selection for this week's church bulletin


40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Mouse pad? Huh? Is this 1998? (I use my leg or the arm of my recliner.)


41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Mansfield Park--without the bonus commentary
(Good grief. How boring. This movie has served for THREE of my answers so far.)

42. FAVORITE SOUND? the singing at Camp Manatawny or babies belly laughing





43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Stones...except when "Hey, Jude" comes on.


44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Hollywood, I suppose. Not much of a world traveler.


45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Eating Klondike bars, watching Mansfield Park (that's FOUR!), forwarding email, and avoiding cleaning


46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Corpus Christi, TEXAS!!!


47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Hmm. Posting them on the blog means I may not see answers.


48. WHAT TIME IS IT NOW? 5:25 p.m.

Wait a minute, Melanie...48 questions? What kind of interview is that? Here's some bonus navel-gazing to round it out to 50:

49. ANY INTERESTING TRIVIA ABOUT YOU? Every time that KACU announces that one of their underwriters is "Dr. Sandi Mathur, gastroenterologist," I always complete that phrase with "...to the stars!"

50. WOW. THAT'S WEIRD. ANYTHING ELSE? Yes. According to a link Kirsten posted, there are 31 "Kristy Fowlers" in this country. I wonder what they're like! (Remember when the comedian Dave Gorman went around the world looking for other Dave Gormans...and 73 of them met for a party in Washington, D.C.?)

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day!

Whether you're preaching the sermon...

...gathering the eggs...

...reenacting battles...

...or supervising aquatic safety, you do it with strength and integrity.

Our family would not be the same without you. Thank you, Dad!

***

When father prays, the house is still,
his voice is slow and deep.
We shut our eyes, the clock ticks loud;
so quiet we must keep.

Sometimes the prayer gets very long
and hard to understand,
and then I wiggle up quite close,
and let him hold my hand.

I can't remember all of it,
I'm little yet, you see;
but one thing I cannot forget,
my father prays for me.

--Author unknown


Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Friday, June 06, 2008

Get a tissue. I'm not kidding.



Hope you had a Kleenex. (You were warned.)

Thanks, Dad, for sending this one. I'll bet this is on everyone's blog tomorrow!

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Reasons I love my church #48-50.

Our preacher read us THREE selections tonight from one of my family's *all-time favorite* books, Letters from a Nut by Ted Nancy...and then he seamlessly tied it into the lesson. (Our family is Ted Nancy-crazy, especially after we read his book aloud to each other on a long car ride to the Greensboro Airport. We were hysterically laughing and wiping away tears and gasping and holding our aching sides by the time we arrived at GSO; you can't even say "Pip the Mighty Squeak" to Karen without her snorting milk out of her nose! Even if she's not drinking any, which is kinda weird...)

Oh, and the lesson? It was about the intimate nature of the creation of Man--not spoken into being, but formed from the dust and with God's breath in his nostrils. And how Adam's first thought upon seeing his companion was not how different Eve was, but how similar she was. And how we're *both* "male and female" created in His image. Yeah, great lesson...thought-provoking and deep and satisfying.

Then, one of the ladies invited ALL of the ladies to stay for finger sandwiches, brownies, lemon bars, fruit, etc. for a dinner she prepared for us all by herself. We laughed and talked and prayed and visited with each other...so nice.

Blessed and blessed...and about to drift off to sleep...

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Media Blitz

You know how everyone has their fifteen minutes of fame? Well, mine are officially OVER. It's time to toil in happy obscurity again, sixteen minutes later.


Here's the stroll down Media Memory Lane...


The dog lover in the newspaper:

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2007/sep/01/pooches-get-in-the-swim/


The baroque music lover on the radio:
http://www.kacu.org/kristy



The librarian on TV:
http://bigcountryhomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=9476

http://bigcountryhomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=10096

http://bigcountryhomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=9485


Sweet Misha!

http://www.dogsincars.co.uk/gallery.asp?g=8&p=868


Keeping cool in the heat,

Ol' What's-her-name (who thinks that pool picture is looking really refreshing right now)

Monday, June 02, 2008

Mysterious Monday

Life's little mysteries...from our house this morning...

What in the world used our yard as its potty last night?
Is this porcupine poo?
Feline feces?
Possum poop?
Skunk scat?


What are these crazy pods? What kind of strange tree grows outside Houston's window?


Note to burglars: If you get by the electric fence, you'll meet the REAL danger to your life & limbs...Bennett.

Everyone says that May Bee is so scary and bad, but Bennett is the one who burst through the front door to attack another dog in the street! Karen had to run outside and try to pull him off the other dog, while apologizing to the other dog's owner...oh, and another time, Karen wrenched her back, trying to keep Bennett from eating a man who approached us during a walk.

And don't even get Houston started on the time Bennett wanted to leave teeth marks on all people & creatures (including Kirsten's Rottweiler & Siberian Husky) at Red Bud Park!

Sweet Saint May Bee loves all of God's creatures!
(Here she is trying to save the soul of the winking, snarling Pirate Dog;
she's probably whispering Scripture in his ear.)