Queenies Little Kingdom

I’ve bamboozled myself all morning by running down every rabbit hole I could find. That’s what you (I) do when avoiding something important.

I met a writer last night.

God has a way of throwing big hints at me (uh, hello….HE IS GOD, right?) and I, in my very twisted OVER-THINKING personality, talk myself into a tizzy of “that’s not what that was!” just to keep my dream locked up in a box. Nice and safe. No risk involved. But misery. Twisted mind-boggling misery for my brain.

I want to write. Really, I want to.

Fear is my biggest obstacle.

Recently, I was deep in thought about what it is that’s holding me back (besides fear) and I realized, all my excuses….the ones I’ve repeated and tweaked over & over to everyone whose ever encouraged me, are just that, excuses.

Excuses place a person in a frozen position. I’ve been frozen so long that I might even have a little freezer burn.

I have to push on. I have to stop looking at Electra bikes online (I have one and I’m not shopping for another), I have to turn off Pandora (that opens my mouth to sing and shuts down my thought process), I have to quit eating a sunny-side egg each morning (you don’t need to know why) and I must write down words.

I am a writer.

Hear me type.

Happy Monday, friends.

I couldn’t sleep last night. My misery-o-meter is off the charts. So, I’m taking the lemons of exhaustion and making lemonade today. You’re welcome.

I had a Starbucks Frappucino (that tasted terrible, by the way) at around 5:00pm and that’s what I’m blaming my toss’n & turn’n on. Cause, I’m a blamer. Go on, hate! I’m making lemonade anyway.

Some days are just a little more challenging than others, right?

Looking back over the weekend, I admit…some important stuff got taken care of around our house. New curtains in our bedroom and fancy faux wood blinds too, all hung like we live in a completely finished house (like other people do). What? Projects hang over your head too? Good, because I hate feeling sorry for myself over unfinished jobs. Now, I can just tell myself that everyone has “junk” to do.

I also had to work on life insurance paperwork. Isn’t that special? It’s always fun to face your biggest fear. I mean, really. Who likes thinking about losing their most cherished human? Not me and probably not you. But in the world of being a grown up, life insurance is a very important issue. Anyway, I filled it out and prayed over it that I would never need it and that my kids wouldn’t blow it (if both hubby and I kicked it) on fast food and fast cars. God love them.

I love being different from my hubby. Even when it comes to things we like and dislike. Over the weekend, we stopped at the donut shop and ordered lunch after picking out a few donuts. For 26 years, my hubby has ordered his food SANS THE CHEESE. I would bet that of all those orders, more than half of them arrived with cheese proudly stacked onto the food.

What is it about that – makes it so difficult to get right? NO CHEESE. NO CHEESE. NO CHEESE.

And, no…..I’ve never watched Star Wars and yes, my hubby still looks at me like that. I’m not normal. I know already.

Did you hear the news today about the 2 shark attacks in North Carolina? Uhh, yea. This fear….is real! Remember, I’m from the JAWS era. I watched it over & over and still flipped out getting in the swimming pool.

Never mind about that beach vacay, babe. I’m good.

Besides, sharks in North Carolina and flesh eating something or another in Florida. No thanks, I’m willing to sit it out.

Enough about me. How’s your Monday? Are you taking the tiger by the tail? I hope so.

Bizarre, crazy, unimaginable…… and more. That’s my opinion of most of the stories I’ve read today on my news feed. Our world is flat out mad! People are strange and their behavior proves it. I’m not kidding when I say the stories I’m sharing today ARE TOTALLY REAL!

At a Walmart near you…..

Okay, this happens. Why? I don’t know. What is going on in this guy’s life that his brain tells him to do this? Seriously? This is inside WALMART!!! Ladies, beware! Creeps are slithering all around you and your children while you’re shopping.

More evidence to KEEP YOUR KIDS WITH YOU and to not let them wander alone in stores while you mindlessly shop. Geez!

This lady might not be familiar to you at all, but she is famous right now for her reaction to a surprise kitchen makeover done by her husband. Let’s just say, she is not impressed and even though I don’t like the new kitchen either….she is brutal with her response.

I think it’s safe to say….everyone hates her now. She handled it with the least amount of class possible.

Meanwhile, back at Walmart…

Yep, that’s not far from my town. Thank you Beech Grove, Indiana for representing. It’s always good to get your name in the news!

These ladies take their issue about as far as it can go (I believe there were arrests made) and even the child in the photo gets a few kicks in. This, this is our society.

Something is not right.

Oh maybe I’m just not right. This new trend is popping up everywhere too. I think I’ll pass, how about you?

Even Madonna & Miley Cyrus are doing it. Ha, exactly why the rest of us need to hold tight to our Venus Razors, girls!

Down in Texas, two little business gals got SHUTDOWN! No more lemonade for you, hot shoppers in Texas!

Just look at the two little vicious criminals! Thank God someone intervened (God bless you – government hoopla) there’s no telling where this behavior would’ve lead them. Perhaps, not shaving their armpits or throwing a real hissy when hubby blows $60k on a new kitchen.

Jesus…..come on back!! Clearly, we need you. We’re not safe on our own.

Again, not too far from me because I’m clearly living on planet crazy….is this incredible story of a man impersonating being a marine. Why this keeps happening, I do not know. What is it about this fascination? Stop, people!

Honestly, this is just sad. I feel embarrassed for him and his family.

I’ll stop with this last bit of crazy. These two convicted criminals are still on the lamb. The authorities still do not have a handle on where these guys are hiding so any place in the country is fair game. Lock your doors and if you are so inclined….practice the 2nd Amendment. People like this have nothing else to lose, obviously.

The New York State Police continue to search for the two prisoners who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York. The escape of 35-year old David P. Sweat (right) and 49-year old Richard Matt (left) was reported to State Police early yesterday. Both were incarcerated for murder.

Watch out for bad guys people!

Lord,
Help us navigate the bad in this world with eyes and a heart like yours. Thank you for reminding me, this world is not my home.
Amen

I live with an arteest. It’s true! Look, he made that trellis for me out of limbs from our overgrown trees out back. I showed him a picture and he went to work, designing and throwing supplies around like Edward Scissorhands working on a masterpiece.

It’s even better than the photo I showed him on Pinterest.

During my yard sale (no, I didn’t make any money) I met a lady who lives down the street who admired some of the items around my yard. I told her my hubby had made the trellis and she was impressed.

So, I volunteered him to make her one.

Oh, he doesn’t mind. He loves doing it. He’s an arteest, remember?

He got busy later that day.

He trimmed limbs, organized his items and began the madness of putting together his masterpiece.

He bent, he shaped, he twisted, he nailed, he tied…..he stood back and looked it over.

He turned those twiggy limbs into a tall gorgeous trellis, so, I moved it over to the edge of the garage to take a photo in better light. Only I ran inside to deal with the kitchen clean-up and before I could get back outside to take the picture…..

He pushed the garage door closed.

And his lovely creation, was smashed. Smashed beyond repair.

All that work, gone. In a flash. It was one of those walk away moments. Just walk away. Move on.

The next day, he went back to his craft and made another one and no one touched it but him. So, it’s still alive and ready to go to its new owner!!

Think she’ll like it?

Two Lessons:

Don’t move anything your husband is working on without his permission.

Don’t volunteer him (unless you’re absolutely sure) for any projects that involve his blood sweat and tears.

He’s not mad at me for either, by the way. He really does love doing it. Do something nice for someone today.

It’s Friday and I couldn’t be more bent out of shape, if I tried. It’s all because of this weekend’s YARD SALE! My neighborhood hosts one of the area’s biggest yard sales every June and I naively committed myself to joining in.

Because, we have so much clutter and junk piled!

I’ve been telling my hubby, the guy who literally has to move stack after stack of junk to get to his tools, saws and other important items – that WE’RE GOING TO SELL ALL THIS EXTRA PILED UP JUNK AT THE GARAGE SALE IN JUNE!

I can’t very well let him call me a liar, can I?

Last night he banged out a large impromptu table out of some $5 particle board that we hauled home on the roof of his jeep. All with the understanding that I was going to get down on some yard sale setting up this morning!

I lied.

I’ve done just about everything else a person can do besides dragging boxes and items downstairs to the sale table. I woke with a sudden urge to organize and “do” all sorts of mundane house jobs, you know….anything to distract myself from my real responsibilities today.

I’ve been thinking about all the work ahead today and I guess it’s fair to say that yard sales are humbling. Really, they are. You hold onto items that are valuable to you (or some other sap sucker in your life) and you watch out for them, don’t let them get damaged or destroyed and then after all that you realize, YOU DON’T NEED THEM and throw them into a garage sale to GIVE AWAY to some swindling garage sale officianado.

They are real, ya’ll. Not lying.

Here comes the part where I admit yard selling is humbling. You look over your lovely items, some of them things that you paid HIGH DOLLARS for and you start to get real business-like. You think, that’s worth at least $5 and this is surely worth $2. But, no. No, no, no!

People are going to scoff at every single price on every single item.

If you mark a pair of Nike’s (and I have several of those to add to my sale table) for $2 someone is absolutely going to pick them up, turn them and look them over (they are in perfect condish), see them for the nice shoes they are, they will probably even imagine them on their dusty little feet and then they’ll look at you and say, “Will you take .50 cents?”

H U M B L E
M E
L O R D

Yard sales are one of the most exhausting jobs ever. Physically, mentally and emotionally.

Perhaps, that’s why I’m still sitting here in my pj’s with my sheets in the wash and piles of stuff to put away bumped to the front of my To-Do list.

Lord,
Forgive me for the clutter. The kind in my house and the kind in my heart. You are a perfect example of keeping life simple. Help me to focus more on the important stuff in life.
Amen