Love me some Mandisa

All I'm after... : )..

After reading comments on DebbieDoo's Facebook page, I know what I've always known. People prefer original material on blogs.  I'm good with that.  From time to time I have original things on here.  I also know that I work full time and have a fairly substantial commute there and back and then come home to take care of a household that includes three dogs and two cats.  If original material is the only thing ya want see, try checking out my other blog, E'Una Vita Bella.  Yup, I have two of them.  Well, technically, that is Milo's blog.  We don't post as much on his blog though.  Lol.  He's a busy puppy, between chasing cats and barking at squirrels, or check here from time to time, or spend time with other blogs.  I'm good with that too.  I try and post original things, but by gosh, between all of the noise, the commute and the pets, it's all I can do to stay sane some days.

All I'm after is a life filled with laughter, and music and fun. If you all would like to share that, awesome, feel free to visit often, I love when people come back to my page!  : )..  It's all good.  Different strokes for different folks.  All I'm after, is a life full of laughter.  I've got enough crazy stuff going on in my real life to want anything else.  I'm not looking to be a huge blog.  I just want an outlet that lets me share whatever makes me and hopefully a few others happy for a while.  : )..  Until later, much peace and love to all my bloggers who do all that and more!  : )..

Blackberry Slushie Heaven.. : )..

One of our favorite local wineries bought a slushie machine this year. It takes five bottles of wine to make these tasty little treats, but lemme tell ya. They are deelicious. : ).. They had a wine snob who visited them and told them, "Missouri wines taste like asphalt". Umm. Really? Why are they tasting asphalt? Ick! Do they know that people drive on that stuff? No wonder their taste buds are off. Lol. That's ok. Just put the wine down and leave it alllll for us. Unhand my blackberry slushie and go back to your snooty wine. Go Missouri wine!

Best skit ever! Lol! : )..

Emmy's Neighbor Visit.. : )..

Keeping track of three pups can be challenging at times, especially when you don't see all three go outside and only two come back in.  Let Fergus and Milo out this afternoon, but didn't see Emmy go too.  Let Fergus and Milo back in, and we left to eat dinner and get some dog food.  Came back to one of our neighbors walking over to our fence.  Luckily, they were outside and saw us leave.  Emmy ran over to the corner of our fence and started barking at them, so they figured out she got left out by herself.

She doesn't always go outside with the boys, she's usually standing at the door after they have gone outside.  Not sure when she snuck past me.  We have a routine of coming back inside and stopping for cookies.  Emmy doesn't always wait, but likes to run back to our bedroom and crawl under the bed.  She knows that I'll bring her cookies back to her.  I should have noticed that Fergus got to eat her's without her growling.

Our neighbors, who also mow our grass for us because we always invite them to our parties without asking for anything in return, and who Dutch is getting ready to build a motor for, came over and picked Emmy up.  They took her over to their house to wait.  She got to spend time with her friends, Katie and Harley D, and got to meet their cat, Whiskey.  Lol.  She also got to go for a ride and have McDonalds Chicken Nuggets and a couple fries.  : )..  All in all, I think she had a pretty good visit, even if it was for all the wrong reasons.  D'oh!  I'm usually more observant than that, and won't let that happen again.  Whew! 

Her brothers sure were happy to see her, and she sure was happy to see all of us again as well.  Lol.  She's back inside with her family, happily playing with their new tough chew toy and snackin on their new dog food.  I think she enjoyed the break from Milo and Fergus though!  Boys are noisy!  And they tear up her toys.  Time to snuggle!

I Heart It.. : )..

I've started noticing hearts every once in a while.  Usually, they show up about the time that I'm stressed out the most, like this one when Dutch really didn't want to go to the Jack Johnson concert a couple years ago and was acting out.  Lol.

 I had to add it to my ticket stub naturally..  : )..

I found this one at a gas station..  : )..

I found this one at our friend's wedding reception..  : )..

And finally, one of my co-workers found this

one on his way in to work for me this morning.

I look at them as a little love from up above..

: )..  Just when I need it the most..

Ahhhsome.. : )..

If you all have noise in your life, my suggestion?  Buy some Koss noise cancelling headphones.  If you all wake up with dogs barking at dogs that are barking outside, or because a leaf blew past the house and a cat who is perpetually meowing, no matter what you try and do for it, buy some Koss noise cancelling headphones.  If you all have a cat that begs for something, even after you feed it something in the morning, let it outside, give it water, pet it and it still meows?  Buy some Koss noise cancelling headphones.  If your dogs won't stop barking at the cat who won't stop meowing?  You guessed it.  Buy some Koss noise cancelling headphones.

If the only quiet time you have all day long is the car ride to the place you spend eight and a half hours that is chocked full of noise?  Umm, hmm.  Right. Buy some Koss noise cancelling headphones.  I mean, as long as those noisy people are doing what they are supposed to be doing, it's ok if they make noise.  My solution?  Exactly!   Buy some Koss noise cancelling headphones.  If you ask for that noise to tone down just a "smidge" and are told, "They are all just doing what they are supposed to be doing, not doing side conversations."  What's that?  Winner, winner, chicken dinner!  Buy some Koss noise cancelling headphones.  If those people are getting compensation and the thing that they are supposed to be doing is driving someone crazy?  Give them kudos for a job well done and a huge raise.  Then they can buy some Koss noise cancelling headphones.

If the only other quiet time you have all day long is the car ride back home?  Buy some Koss noise cancelling headphones.  Back to the dogs that bark.  Back to the cat that continually meows.  Back to the noisy spouse who, despite knowing that your day is chock full of loud, annoying, rude, disrespectful noise, gleefully joins the fracas.  Back to the spouse who spent all day in the quiet because they are off from work, and now wants to keep talking and talking and talking and talking because they didn't have any one to talk to all day?  Oooh.  Yeah.  You guessed it. Buy. some. Koss. noise. cancelling. headphones.

WalMart sells them for $20.31.

These ahhhsome inventions reduce ambient noise.

These ahhhsome inventions cover your ears and keep out a lot of the voices around you.

I'm thinking about having them super glued to my head.

WalMart sells Super Glue for less than $5.00.

Koss.  You have saved my sanity!

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

You all are ahhhsome!

Ahhhsome.

Once again, it's peaceful.

Once again, I can function.

Once again, I can do what I am supposed to be doing.

Oooh, don't worry.

Those other people who are still doing what they are supposed to be doing?

They haven't changed one iota.

They haven't changed one decibel.

They haven't changed one smidge.

But, thanks to the wonderful, wonderful, wonderful

people at Koss and WalMart?

I. Don't. Hear. Them. Anymore.

Ahhhh.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhsome.

Ahhhsome.

Ahhhh.

Yeah.

Koss.

Soooo nice.

Yeah.

They. Are. My. Heroes.

Ahhhh.

Yeah.

Sooo much better.

Koss.

: ).

Bless y'all.

Ahh.

Yay!

: ).

Whew.

Wishing everyone a peaceful night..

After the tragedy this week, I couldn't think of anything better than to wish everyone much

peace and comfort.

Just something simple.

It's a chipboard peace sign from Hobby Lobby,

a monogrammed letter

and some daisies with different colored middles.

I'm linking up to DebbieDoo's Newbie Party

again this week.  Great site, great host, great newbies!

I've missed joining in on so much

lately, but things are getting better by the day.

: )..

Me and Bubba.. We love our Shrimp..

A Little Leno Humor.. : )..

Belvoir Therapy.. : )..

Soo, I know how to deal with noise without Celexa.  Lol.  It's two bottles of Sorelle Dolci wine from Belvoir Winery in Liberty, MO.  That's the winner, winner, chicken dinner, winery tasting and pairing party winner that we chose last year.  Deelicious wine.  Rumored to be haunted, steeped in history, this winery was converted from what used to be an orphanage that housed young boys as well as indigent adults and the elderly way back in the early 1900's.  They host paranormal parties from time to time and have several buildings on their campus that look like a good ghostly hang out.  I'm tellin you, it's one of my favorite place to hang out, and I'm not a ghost.  Lol.  Sorelle Dolci.  Yummy.  : )..  Celexa Schamexa.

 A picture from our wine tasting party..

 Yummy..  Sorelle Dolci..  : )..

Spooooky..  It's a ghostly apparition..

Nah..  It's just Belvoir Winery at night..

: ).  I love Belvoir.

I love Sorelle Dolci.

Awesome.

Aurora Shootings.. : (..

So sorry to hear about the mass shootings at the Aurora, CO midnight Batman movie premier.  : (..  My heart goes out to the family and friends of all affected by this horrible incident.  Aurora has always been one of my work's sister cities.  We have had a friendly, trash talking rivalry between our centers because of the Chiefs and Broncos, but we have always worked together.  They are our only other US monitoring center since our company split.  May those affected have much peace and comfort to get through this.

Some of my favorite Pinterest Pics..

Elvis has left the building..

Elvis wants to be here..

 Elvis wants to see some of these..

Or these..

 Elvis wants to sing songs of freedom with feet in the sand..

 Elvis wants to be free to do whatever Elvis wants to do..

With no one telling Elvis that they can't do that..

Without telling others that they can't do things

that make Elvis want to leave the building..

Oooh to be free..

Elvis..  has left the building..

And is going to have some N'awlins Benedict for breakfast..

Go Elvis! Go!

The Duhks - Heaven's My Home

Not feelin it today.  It was a looooong, frustrating day and whew, I am
sooo glad that it is over.  Lookin forward to a peaceful, quiet night of
snoozin.  Missing DebbieDoo's Newbie Party again this week.  Just haven't
had much time, energy or creativity to put into my blog the past couple
weeks.  I'm hoping that will change soon, but not so sure that it will. 
Anyway, love this song.  So nice and quiet and peaceful.  Pleasant to listen
to.  Relaxing.  Enjoyable.  Great group.  Great song.  : )..  Ahhhh.  Nice.

No Doubt is back! : )..

I love me some No Doubt, ever since the start, but we've sorely missed
them for ten years.  They just released their first new single today.  : )..
Can I get a woot woot?

Do Re Mi Flash Mob..

This has always been one of my favorites.  : )..

Country Time..

 

Joy is my hero.. : ).. Lol.

Go On -- Jack Johnson

I'm up for some relaxin music today.  This definitely fits the bill!  : )..
I looove me some Jack Johnson music...

No mas, por favor..

Long story short.  Aghhhh.  That is all.

I've also been mia on Pinterest.  Yeah.  I've been that stressed that I've barely paid it any attention.  Does Pinterest go on if I don't look?  I'm sure it does.  It's still there when I check.  I've barely spent an hour, when it used to be hours.  My newest addiction?  Pizza Hut's mild buffalo boneout wings.  And guess what??  Yay!!  It's Wing Wednesday, or so I'm hopin.  I'm thinkin Pizzolo's (spelling) and some mild buffalo wings would definitely help me out today.  Whew. 

: ).. 

Keepin it simple..

Since my craft issues this past week, lol, I decided that I would keep it simple for the Newbie Party this week.  I've been in a mood for some flowers, using my burlap and thought that this would be a great solution for both.  This uses all recycled material.  I've had the burlap for a couple months.  I've had the ribbon for quite a while, as well as the flowers.  Add a recycled can from the other night, toss them all together, and voila.  My DebbieDoo's Newbie Party submission for the week.  : )..

Just keepin it simple this time.

Check out DebbieDoo's Newbie Party here..
Great host, great site, great newbies!

Cops fun in the Summertime..

Lol, had our own version of Cops in the neighborhood last night.  Took the pups out one last time around 10:30pm.  Despite the darkness, I could see two cop cars (one Independence black and white, and one dark, county car), parked, lights and engines off on the road across the field behind us.  No sooner than I had called the dogs to go back in, and put one step on the deck steps, I heard, "GET ON THE GROUND!!" I'm tellin ya!  I almost hit the ground!  Lol.  Then, "STOP RESISTING OR I'LL TASER YOU!", followed by, "I'm not resisting!" and then, "STOP RESISTING!" and, "Agh!!"  Lol.  I'm guessing their version of "not resisting" differed from the Independence Police's version.  I didn't hear anything after that, but saw a paddy wagon pulling by shortly after that.  Hot cops fun in the summertime.  : )..  Gotta love the city.

Dinner for tomorrow..

Whew, had a quiet weekend, cleaned house, shampooed a carpet and basically took it easy.  Great way to spend a weekend, if you ask me.  Even worked in a lot of time to play with the puppies.  They loved it.  Getting ready to head back to work and back to the grindstone.  Once again this month, we are having to step up our evaluation production.  We have to finish five rounds again and we are barely into our second round.  Whew.  Work is going to wear me out!

Thinkin about making something quick and super easy for dinner tomorrow.  I just so happen to know that we have a whole chicken chillin out in the freezer, and I'm sure we have all of the other necessary ingredients for some crockpot bbq chicken.

Found this Pinterest recipe here..

Alrighty, time to rest up for the chaotic week that lies ahead.

: )..

Nautical Blues..

Soo, one of my co-worker / facebook friends just posted a picture from Galveston, TX.  Ahh.  I would love to be there.  We got to go about three years ago.  My mother-in-law lives on a 37 foot sailboat in Kemah, TX and invited us down.  We spent nine days down there, cruising around in the hotrod.  It was such a great time!  I miss it.  I am soo landlocked right now, muddling around in KC, MO.  Sigh.  Here are some pics from the Texas coast..

 Loaded and ready to go..

 The bridge to Seabrook, TX..

That camera angle?  Wasn't just the way the

camera was sitting.  That's how steep of a climb

it was on that bridge!  Uggghhhh!

 My mother-in-law (also Jan McCormack, lol), and her

37 foot Irwin liveaboard sailboat.  She lives and works

at the marina in Kemah, just off the Boardwalk.

 One of my favorite boats down there.  Lol.

 I kept taking pictures of dolphins while we rode a ferry to

Bolivar, TX.  Dutch was being a smart aleck, "Look!

Another dolphin!"  I thought he knew me better than that.  Ha!  : )..

 After seeing the price tags inside the store?  I probably

didn't want to know how much those were!

Another one in front of the same store..

 Any "Captain Ron" fans?  That's the actual boat they used

at the end of the movie.  It's been docked at my MIL's marina

for a while and is in need of some TLC.

Some Galveston seagulls, picture courtesy of the internet.

I love seagulls.  Saw a bunch of them, but all of my phone pics are

on the one phone that I still haven't found the old sim card.  Lol.

One of these days I will find it!  It has other pics on it that

I want.

Speaking of what I want, I'd love to get to go on another

vacation like this one.  Oooh, how I would love that.

Maybe.  Just maybe it'll happen.

Or someday, I'll live there,

or here..

Charleston, SC..

Oooh, how I would love to be in a coastal area..

Sigh..

One day.  One day it'll happen!  : )..

Aha! Durr! Really? Lol.

Ok.  So.  We've lived in this house for almost four whole years.  I've had an actual built in dishwasher that isn't me for this entire time.  Today?  Today was the first day that it occured to me, that little silverware bucket / container?  Instead of gathering a handful of silverware and trudging the four steps to the silverware drawer?  I can actually, actually, (ACTUALLY!) pick it up out of the dishwasher and take it with me, while trudging those four steps to the silverware drawer.  Wow.  Almost four whole years to figure that out.  Ok.  I've never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the shed.  I'm thinkin I must have had a little bit of my tool hangin out getting a little rusty in the rain.

On top of that?  Tonight?  After making tacos and having a mess on the kitchen counter?  I had to wash one of the pans because the dishwasher was already full and running.  I used to left over pan, held it under the lip of the counter and brushed all of the lettuce, cheese and taco meat that was dropped into the pan.  Whoosh.  Again.  Four years.  Dang.  It's been a day of epiphanies.  Lol.  It's taken a while, but by gosh!  I have hope!

On another note??  One of our Target stores has finally, finally, finally stocked Schticky's!  They have Schticky's!  I need a Schticky!  I have pet hair!  I have dust bunnies!  I have stuff on the floor that could easily be picked up by a Schticky!  However!  Yikes!  They were $20.  I'm not quite so sure that I need a Schticky that bad.  Lol.  : )..  I did get a free Swiffer Wet Jet last Sunday, while helping my friend move.  I hoped she had Schticky's too, but alas, no luck.  Ha! 

Anyway.  Whew.  It's been a long week, despite one holiday off from work.  I have to rest up from that and my epiphanies.  I've had a few other ones this week, including a great idea for truckers who need a safe and secure spot to park a truck.  Dutch shot that idea down.  Whateva.  He might rethink it if he gets another truck.  Well.  If the insurance company ever figures out that we had as much in it as what it was insured for.  That's a totally different story.  Alrighty.  Whew.  I'm worn to a frazzle.  TGIF for sure.

Cool Aide.. : )..

Since it's been so hot lately, I couldn't think of a more fitting item to post for the first, "Pin the Tail on the Bloggy" Party, sponsored by DebbieDoo's Blogging and Blabbing, and Shannon from Fox Hollow Cottage.  It's such a fantastic idea, guaranteed to shake up Pinterest and the internet for sure!

Thanks to the both of you!  Kudos!

It doesn't look like there is much relief in sight, unless you think the 90's are better.  Lol.

I found this delicious libation at a bar called Topsiders, which operates at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.  They call it the, "Ha Ha Tonga Zonga" so that they can gauge when people need to be cut off for the night.  : )..  Why would they have to do that? 

Because this is what is in it:

1 Shot of Malibu Rum, 1 shot of Amaretto,
1 shot of Peach Schnapps, 1 shot of Southern Comfort,

Pineapple Juice and enough Grenadine to make it red.

I have dubbed it, "Cool Aide" for now.

It's a little like Hawaiian Punch with a kick.

Now, to enjoy some delicious, cool refreshment!

I forgot just how tasty this drink was.

: )..

Here is a link to two of the great participants that linked up before me on the

bloggy party!  Check them out!  Great stuff!

 Great Party Containers made from paper plates!

Click here for the link!

And great Mason Jar Soap Dispensers

found here!

Here are links to the two blogs that linked up behind me as well!

Such a great Dining Room!

Love that rug, but I think I love a lot about that whole room!

Check it out here!

 

And I am loving the Vintage Bathroom Update!

You can find it here!

By the way, not to forget our awesome hosts in this party!

Here are the links to their submissions as well!!

Since Shannon at Fox Hollow Cottage came up with the idea,

I would love to start this off with her entry!

 I love Chalk Paint, and I love distressed items!

You can find this one here!

And finally, our bloggy host with the most,

the creator of the quip, "Pin the Tail on the Bloggy"!

It's DebbieDoo's Blogging and Blabbing!

Great host!  Great site!  Great ideas!

Great newbie supporter!

Check her page out!!  You'll love it!!

Click here to find it!

There are already soo many great bloggers who have linked up to this awesome

Pinterest Pinning Party!  I will be adding a lot of Pinterest links pronto!!

Let's keep this party goin!

Because Freedom Isn't Free.. Happy Independence Day..

Craft failures galore..

Had a great idea for a neat picture frame, but alas, I am beginning to think I am not very crafty.  My first attempt at it was a huge craft fail.  Tried to work over it with a flag idea and lemme tell ya, trying to paint stripes while holding one charging puppy off with my left hand wasn't working very well. : (.

Tried starting with tape stripes where the red paint would go and that worked really well.  The white paint went on great with my little spongy roller brush.  Success!  Yay!  Looked great! 

If only it would have stayed that way.  When it came to painting the red stripes?  Everything kept pulling my dry white paint off.  : (..  I tried loosely contacted tape.  The red paint bled underneath.  Tried some frog tape, and although it stuck better, I still had red paint bleeding under it as well.  : (..  Worst of all?  My quote that was my original craft fail has continously appeared through countless layers of paint.  Lol.  Ok.  I give.  The crafts have beaten me this week.  It wasn't even a fair fight.  I give.  No mas.  I'm really starting to think that this stuff is not in my skill set. 

I could teach you all about how to handle your alarm accounts, from the fact that you can set up temporary passwords and keypad codes for guests, workers, babysitters, realtors, etc to the fact that you can dictate how your alarms are handled.  If you want to be called 24/7 on all signals, the company can do that.  If you only wish to be called from a certain time of day to a certain time of night, the company can do that.  I can explain every signal that my company covers, and can tell you all kinds of interesting things on how to manage an account.  I can't craft this week to save my life.  Good thing I'm in the alarm service field.  Lol.  : )..  I can run circles around most of the people that I work with.  As long as it's not making crafts.  Whew.  Nooo mas!  Por favor! 

I am unfortunately missing out on the DebbieDoo's Newbie party this week.  There's nooo way I'm putting that craft fail anywhere near that link.  Lol.  I'll try again next time.  C'est un terrible!  (pardon my french, that's one of the few phrases I kind of remember, maybe French isn't in my skill set either.)

Alrighty.  Going to relax and add some more music to my iphone.  : )..  Laters!

Yes.. Despicable Me 2.. Can we get a Woot?!!

Helping out friends..

Spent the day with friends, helping some pack to continue their careers with ADT down in Knoxville, TN.  They were telling me that the call center there is crazy.  They have a sports grill as a cafe, six big screen tv's and recliners for the workers.  They also have track, mood lighting, peach and mint green walls and they don't tie their employees to their desks like the KC center has to.  I'm guessing that's because they only have about 300 workers and most of them are more mature than our group of 800.  If we had the same rules here, no one would ever be getting work done.  Lol.  Anyway, I was glad to help them out and spend a little time with them before they go.  : )..  Good luck to them and the other six people who are heading that way!

I'm sure it's the same everywhere, but by gosh..

Here's a couple dog pics for the upcoming week..

Lol.