Penny Full O'Thoughts

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Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:12:22 -0500

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Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:05:01 -0500

muffintop-less: Finish each day and be done with it. You have...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:41:00 -0500

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. - Emerson

Don’t let the mistakes you made yesterday effect today. Each second of every day you get a second chance to change. Make today healthy and fit <3

Amen to that!

WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT ON YOUR PLANET?

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:09:00 -0600

Oooh that’s a tough one! I have a really long bucket list of places I’d love to visit but I’d have to say that the top spot is reserved for the Kotel - the Western Wall - in Israel.

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

Wow. What a day! As homeschoolers, we’re always on the look-out...

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 23:21:00 -0500

Wow. What a day!

As homeschoolers, we’re always on the look-out for fun, educational stuff to do.

As science and space addicts, all you have to do is say something science-y or mention space and we’re like squirrels planning to invade your birdfeeder. Tell us, tell us, tell us.

When we found out about a local Space Week event, you bet your favorite brownie we just had to go!

Quick Admission:
I said “National Space Week”. It’s actually “World Space Week”. Oops. My bad.

Although we wound up getting home a bit later than we’d planned, this was so worth the 2 hour [one way] drive! =)

We’ll upload our report to our Travel and Event Tumblog as soon as it’s ready. We’d say tomorrow but honestly, we are tired. It’s more realistic to say it’ll be up sometime Monday evening.

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

P.S. Don’t forget to check your local event calendars! You mind find some truly fabulous stuff going on right in your own backyard.

P.P.S. Do the faces CJ makes in the background make you giggle too or is am I the only one who giggles about them? LOL

This Place About To Blow

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:28:00 -0500

CJ, my son, couldn’t understand why I started laughing hysterically when Kesha was singing it’s “time to let the crazy out” [Blow].

Oh, honey. When you get older, you stop trying to hold the crazy in and try to figure out how to incorporate it into your life.

Forget trying to please everyone all the time. Forget trying to be perfect. Forget having split personalities: one for the public, one for your friends, one for your family, one for yourself and one for church/synagogue/temple.

Look, I know I laugh way too easily, sometimes a little too loud, and can chat about almost anything. I’m sorry if it offends people but this is my nature. If I let it out in doses, it’s manageable. If I wait until I can “let the crazy out”, it’s like a natural disaster. LOL

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

My Travel Blog

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:35:10 -0500

Now you can join me and my son CJ as we roam North America in search of family friendly fun!

We’d love for you to follow along and share your adventures with us too. You can find our travel blog at http://pennyandcj.tumblr.com.

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

Okay so besides writing, I love real estate rehabilitation. It...

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:05:00 -0500

The Contractor

The Joker

The Woman

Okay so besides writing, I love real estate rehabilitation. It can mean anything from remodeling to real estate make-ready but to me, it means making a house a home.

It’s been 10 years since I last did something like this so I’m a little rusty but I’m using my Mom’s house to remember.

Heck, fixing something for Mom is the biggest test of all. LOL

To let off a little frustrated steam, I do stuff like this. Take crazy pics, make videos and dance around like a cracked out hummingbird.

Um, well, I do that last one most of the time anyway. So hey, how ‘bout them duck lips? LOL

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

Migraine Masochist

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 11:37:00 -0500

Call me a masochist but in spite of having a raging migraine, I’m still here trying to write!

On a scale of 1 to 5, I have a Level 4 migraine and I know I’m acting like a sick toddler: Wah! I don’t wanna take a nap!

Sadly, I waited a little too long to take my meds (who likes taking medicine?) so I will have to go curl up into a little ball and ride out all the symptoms now.

Guilt flogs me with a cat o’nine tails. I’m not sure which feels worse. The migraine or the guilt.

Why is it so hard to just admit we aren’t feeling good and take care of ourselves? Yes, we have responsibilities but if we aren’t up to par, there’s no way we can do everything we need to. Or at least, we won’t be functioning at peak.

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

Oh my gosh! How awesome would having a Pikachu be? Oh, I’m...

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 11:25:00 -0500

Oh my gosh! How awesome would having a Pikachu be?

Oh, I’m sorry. A Pichu. My son prefers the teeny version. =)

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

Happy National Cheezburger Day!

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 11:44:24 -0500

Rewarding The Wicked

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:36:00 -0500

One of the hardest things for any believer to face is the thought that a God, our God or Gods, would seemingly reward the “wicked”.

Lately, I started to wonder if I sometimes accept a less desirable fate because of a typical “it was meant to be” Christian outlook I grew up with or because I didn’t want to “fight fire with fire” (i.e. retaliating in kind).

Moses and David often stood up to God. These guys didn’t just cry “why us?”, they argued that certain outcomes were not worthy of God’s glory. Kinda like putting a diamond on a ring made out of plaster.

Those we may consider “wicked” have their attitudes going for them. They refuse to accept anything but what they feel is their due.

Yet, at what point is enough enough? We could say that point is when someone might get hurt but how do we know with any certainty that someone will or won’t? It’s hard to draw a line in the sand when the sand shifts like dunes in the desert.

Another thing the “wicked” have going for them is a seeming lack of fear. They are not afraid to challenge socially accepted norms. They are not afraid to rock the boat while most of us are busy giving them everything they want to avoid a confrontation.

What Do You Think?

Do you feel like the wicked get rewarded? Is it something we are all responsible for or is destiny something we each create?

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

Medical Advancement: See-Through Mouse Brains

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:18:00 -0500

Humans are odd creatures. We complain about everything and never seem to be happy with what we’ve got.

Someone’s grass is always greener on the other side.
It’s the typical too hot, too cold, too dry, too wet or dang it, I just can’t see through this mouse’s brain!

Wait. What?

See-Through Mouse Brains Created; May Aid Medical Scans
Transparent organs, embryos have real “wow factor,” expert says.

~ National Geographic

Yes, wow. We are now making SEE-THROUGH mouse brains. Technically, we can make see-through mouse organs as well. Of course we’ll then dye them different colors so we can observe them better.

Perhaps this is a good thing. Perhaps we will save a lot of mice now that we don’t have to chop them open in some gruesome way. Perhaps this is the first step to having the powers of invisibility.

Or perhaps it’s just another freaky development in our self-made evolution.

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

How To Lose Weight Effortlessly

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:49:53 -0500

No, this isn’t a joke post. This is honestly how I lost over 30 pounds without being on a diet or exercising.

So, what’s the secret? Learning what “serving size” really means.

Yes, it is that easy!

Look at the size of the meals we eat. Each restaurant-sized plate has waaaay more food than one person should eat at a sitting.

If your family didn’t have a lot of cash to toss around when you were growing up, you may have this thought running in your head that you “can’t waste food”. Not only is it a spiritual crime against the Heavenly Provider but there’s a child out there starving and here you are getting ready to chuck some good food.

So we stuff ourselves with more than we should. I’m looking at you, my fellow RGV Catholics and Hispanics but I know there are a lot of others out there who do the same thing.

Do I need to remind you that GLUTTONY is one of the 7 Deadly Sins?

If you decide to learn about portions and just keep eating whatever you want in moderation, you may find that you feel a bit hungry the first few days.

This does not mean you are starving and should shovel more food down!

Your stomach is so used to huge amounts of food and will need time to understand that it will no longer be over-stuffing itself.

If you know you’ve eaten the right portion size and are on track to consume the right amount of calories for your body, there are three things you can do to help get through those hunger pangs:

Increase your water intake (most of us don’t drink enough anyway). Sometimes we think we are hungry when we are actually thirsty. Lay off the soda. Make sure you drink a full glass (6-8 ounces) of water 20 minutes before each main meal.
Use a juicer to make *real* juice from fresh fruits and vegetables. The pre-bottled stuff is usually watered down and sugary. Fresh, homemade V8 is much healthier.
Eat something crunchy. Sometimes we eat when we are bored, upset, anxious or need to think. Crunching things like apples, celery and carrot sticks help relieve tension and fills our tummies with good stuff.

Exercise is great - it helps our bodies stay strong and healthy - but you don’t have to kill yourself at the gym, go on crazy diets or totally give up the stuff you love to lose weight.

Supplements are fine if you are talking about a multivitamin and maybe some St. John’s Wort or something. Beware the “magic diet” pills, powders and whatnot though!

They might work in the short-term but usually have some gross side effects (Alli, anyone?) and can cause unnecessary grumpage (Dexatrim, et all).

There are a few other little tweaks you can do (which I’ll share later) but, basically, you can munch whatever you want if you remember what your serving size and daily recommended caloric intake are.

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

Confessions of a Redneck Tanner

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:44:00 -0500

A long lost family friend said I looked “great” and asked what I’d been doing.

Yeah, I have lost about 30 pounds since our last face time event and now sport a light tan. I think the tan helped more than anything. I don’t look as pasty as I was in this pic.

The ensuing conversation went like this:

“Did you go to the beach or the tanning salon?” Uh, neither. I just tossed on a bikini and spent a few minutes each day out in the sun. You know, in my backyard.

“No really, how did you get your tan?” Let’s see, I gave our black Lab a good hose down, refilled all the animals’ water containers, and generally just stood there a few times. I basically just invented my very own redneck paradise.

Nervous giggling ensued. Figuring that I hadn’t properly convinced anyone, I proceeded to explain the following:

Adjustable, pool-side type lounger + cold drink of choice + water nearby = usual sunning setup, right?
Usual sunning setup - adjustable, pool-side type lounger = natural tanning booth.
Usual sunning setup - adjustable, pool-side type lounger + most secluded side of house that’s 45 minutes away from civilization as we know it = my redneck setup.

“Oh, so uh, you were serious?” As serious as a melted chocolate bar on a hot dash.

“Weren’t you embarrassed?” My son gets advanced warning when I am about to go into sunning mode, so he knows when to shield his eyes. I got over the curious stares from the chickens, the dog and our cats a long time ago.

Unless there’s an illegal alien hiding in the brush (which could happen considering how the coyoteros drop off their “cargo” sometimes), then I hope they liked the show. I’m a mom after all.

*Gasp!*

What? It’s not like I was nekkid. Heck, some of the outfits I’ve seen at South Padre Island have a lot more “out” than “fit”.

Now before anyone skewers me for baiting cancer, I assure you, I’m not superficial enough to tan just to look a little better. In moderate doses, sunshine is actually beneficial.

If you don’t believe me, click here, here and here for some reliable health info.

Stayed tuned for updates on how I lost 30 pounds without working out, dieting or starving myself.

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

elitistczar: Print this, memorize it, live by it! So true!...

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 12:35:23 -0500

elitistczar:

Print this, memorize it, live by it!

So true! Even if we think we’ll fail, we’ve got at 50/50 chance as long as we show up. If we never try, we’ve taken away any opportunity we had to make it.

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

Especially if they are writers on a deadline … Have fun,...

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 11:47:00 -0500

Especially if they are writers on a deadline …

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

elitistczar: I want to live here. This should be my world....

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 11:41:00 -0500

elitistczar:

I want to live here. This should be my world. :)

I feel inspired to write a kick-butt sci fi novel!

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,

Hello and welcome to my electronic writing notebook! =) Whether...

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 10:16:54 -0500

Hello and welcome to my electronic writing notebook! =)

Whether you call it a website, a blog, an e-notebook, virtual diary or something else, this will be my writing receptacle.

You’re going to experience serial fiction, participate in fun activities I use to help me karate chop any writer’s block, hear literary works brought perkily to life and be invited to help create community inspired short stories.

Don’t miss an entry! Make sure you check back often or sign up for my RSS feed.

Have fun, stay safe and God bless,