Saturday, July 27, 2013

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 3-24-1998 and 3-25-1998

*Disclaimer: Please remember that I wrote these when I was 15! I could be a snarky brat! I also am typing these journals exactly as I wrote them, bad spelling and all, except I have abbreviated names to protect the innocent or not-so-innocent.

3-24-1998

We met Shawna today at the hotel and she exchanged some money. Then we all went to the bizzarre together. After we ate at McDonalds we had a class at the flat. Sasha Z is the only student so Father made us take his class. It's 4 hours long and I about fell asleep. Then we went to the Cs to play games with the girls. R and J went to play basketball. We played Grouch. That game is a riot with D. We always have so much fun when we are at the Cs.

*Apparently I was mad at Dad on this day. I can tell because I called him "Father".

3-25-1998

I went with D and R to go see a snow skiing place. We went to Crashadek metro stop and switched lines there. Then we walked about 2 miles to see it. It was a very crude place. There was only one hill and the ski lodge was more like a shack. Hopefully we will go skiing next week. After that I went with R snow sledding. We went to Darnitsia and sledded there. I finally found my roll-up sled that I left last year. I was very happy about that. We went to Garmantna tonight.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 3-22-1998 and 3-23-1998

*Disclaimer: Please remember that I wrote these when I was 15! I could be a snarky brat! I also am typing these journals exactly as I wrote them, bad spelling and all, except I have abbreviated names to protect the innocent or not-so-innocent.

3-22-1998

We went to Left Bank today. R and J went with us. Their pews are all three seats wide so R, I, and J sat together. I got to see a lot of people that I haven't seen since the second trip. It was pretty nice. The first 2 hours were in Russian so I didn't understand anything. I hate that! I wish we could just have a universal language so everyone could communicate with everyone else. That probably wouldn't work anyway. Well at least the actual class was in English. Dad taught that and Arteome translated for him. K2 is huge! It was like she grew in the 2 days we hadn't seen her. It was really funny looking. Maria came up to J when the break was on and started saying how glad she is to see him and all this junk. Since I was sitting beside his she started talking to me also. Then she asked us when we were going to get "together". Apparently other people see straight through me. I just wish those feelings aren't one sided only... I got the first cross stitch bib for K2 done. It is so cute! Now I have 5 days to get the other one done.... I hope I can do it.

*K2 was pregnant with twins at the time so she very well could have grown in 2 days. Also, I just wanted to clarify that J is happily married as am I. My sister thinks it is inappropriate for me to post things like that when he is not the one I'm married to. I post it because it is what I wrote.

3-23-1998

I worked on the cross-stitch for K2 until 4:45. J came by to pick me up. We went to McDonalds and then we took all the food we got to the S's and we babysat for K1 and K2. R was there as usual. She spends so much time with those brats. I couldn't stand them like she does. Anyway, J played the computer most of the night while I watched TV and R played with the kdis. A was banned from the computer half way through the night because he went "number 2" in his pants. So for the rest of the night he screamed and threw a huge tantrum. Then we all went home together. R and J and I made complete fools of ourselves walking home. We were all singing and being rowdy. It was a riot.

*Ugh. I so wish I had not written all of that stuff about the children. It is kind of a wonder I wanted children at all since I apparently hated them. :(

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

The Mis-Use of Photoshop

Please don't be deceived by my title for this post.

I like to photoshop my pictures and I like most photoshopped pictures.

I like to brighten my pictures and that is about how far my photoshopping goes, but I do like family portraits with sparkling eyes and blurred backgrounds.

I'm not totally against photoshopping.

I am against photoshopping something in to something it isn't.

For example:
Pinned from here
Doesn't this drink look amazeballs??? Chloe Jo loves the color pink...and hot pink is even better. Not to mention the fact that it is called a "Barbie Drink." I knew I had to make this for her.

The results? Not so amazeballs.


Seriously? I made this drink (the non-alcoholic version) 3 times. I measured 3 times. While it is yummy...it is sooooo not hot pink...or really even pink at all. More of a dull orange. So very disappointing.

I commented on the post this recipe came from and didn't get a reply even though the site has several new posts from today up.

I hate it when people change something to look like something else and then advertise it as such. It is extremely irritating and, quite frankly, rude.

Looking back, I admit I shouldn't have been duped by this pin. There really is no way the colors of the ingredients would make a hot pink drink. As somewhat of an artist, I should have known this.

It is still frustrating.

I don't understand why people make things in to something they are not. It's okay that the drink is a dull orange. It really is. It is a yummy drink, just not a yummy, hot pink drink.

So please, stop the misuse of photoshop for a better, truer picture.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 3-20-1998 and 3-21-1998

*Disclaimer: Please remember that I wrote these when I was 15! I could be a snarky brat! I also am typing these journals exactly as I wrote them, bad spelling and all, except I have abbreviated names to protect the innocent or not-so-innocent.

3-20-1998

Marmie and I went with Shawna to Deskemeer today. It's a huge department store...huge for here at least. It's so different from how it was last year. We went to three floors of it and they were all stocked and full of merchandise. It is just so different. This country is getting up there with the big dogs now. Ha Ha. We went to K2's to play games. J and D walked with Marmie and I and Chelle. We played Phase 10 for a while but since it is so long we all decided to quit. Then D, Weaga, and J all started playing mind games where we had to figure out what they were doing. It was quite boring until Chelle and I decided to play the "What is it" game. They all were stumped until finally J figured it out. I worked on K2's present also today.

3-21-1998

Started out as a good day. I guess it ended ok also. R came over to make plans with me but that didn't work out. Shawna came to eat lunch with us. Dad was in a really bad mood. He is so irratable lately. Must be stress. I read or worked on that cross-stitch all day until about 4:00. We all went to McDonalds together and ate. I hate McDonalds. It wasn't even good here. I was hoping it would be really good because I am craving pizza....American pizza and I thought maybe that would be ok. Apparently not. Jeremy and Shawna then took Chelle and I to the Garmantna building to watch a movie. We watched Overboard. It was pretty good for having Goldie Hawn in it. When we were going up the escalator this guy asked Chelley for directions. Well she just looked at him like an idiot and he realized she was a foreigner. Then he asked where she is from in English. She said that she would rather not say. He then said "Is it a secret" and she said yes. Then he asked if we were spies. It was hilarious. We set him strait though.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Kiev, Ukraine Journal - 3-18-1998 and 3-19-1998

*Disclaimer: Please remember that I wrote these when I was 15! I could be a snarky brat! I also am typing these journals exactly as I wrote them, bad spelling and all, except I have abbreviated names to protect the innocent or not-so-innocent.

3-18-1998

It's great to be back over here again. As always, I didn't have any jet lag. Everyone is mad at me for it. LOL. J/K. We went to the bizzarre to buy a bunch of junk. Marmie says that if we buy enough today for a while we won't have to come back for a big trip again. I hope we don't ahve to go a lot. The bizarre was...bizzarre as usual. These people are so rude. The push and shove and are just idiotic. I was about to yell at the Ukranian behind me but it wouldn't do any good because he wouldn't be able to understand me. The meat market wasn't as terrible as usual. It's usually really busy but it wasn't when we went. The smell was herendous (sp?). I hope I sleep a full night tonight. I know I probably will so I'm not all that worried about it. The bus drivers here are terrible! They must drink vodka all night then drive the bus in the morning. Weaga and I have an inside joke about that. We always crack up when we look at each other and the people around us give us these awful looks. If looks could kil....Garmatna is the same as always. Igor isn't that bad...Weaga just thinks that. I hate singing because it is so easy to mess up when there is Russian singing also.

*Marmie is a nickname my sister and I use for my mother. Weaga is a nickname I used for R.

3-19-1998

It was a slow day up until we went to Houm and Shawna's for supper. I started the twin's gift. K2 is so big! Of course with twins....I got a bunch of one of the babys on the bib done. It's a cute little cross stitch thing. We went to Houm and Shawna's flat at about 4:00. It's so cute inside. The previous owners left the furniture and things so they didn't have to buy any. The living room is hilarious! The wallpaper is this pretty Victorian print but of one wall there is this huge beach scene going on. Then the curtains were white with a bunch of fall leaves on them. It was hilarious looking. It's like a lot of good taste mingled in with Ukranian taste. LOL. Then going home Dad got lost and tried to blame it one us all. Enough said.

*Houm is a nickname I used to use for my brother, Jeremy.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Crazed

Sometimes I have really crazy dreams.

Last night was one of those crazy dream nights. I don't know if it was the fact that I went to sleep hearing firecrackers going off or that Russ and I had a fun conversation about what he would look like as a super hero.

This picture came out of that conversation:

Baha. I love that man, but he is a goober!

Anywho...

Last nights dream was cracked out! Luckily, I woke up this morning remembering most of it so you guys now get to read my dream and wonder about how sane I am.














A Very Psycho Killer
A Wal-Mart Manager


It was late one evening when I realized I needed to go get something from Wal-Mart. Usually I don't go out at night, but that night it was important. I headed to our local Wally World and parked as close to the doors and as close to a light as I could. I had my trusty taser with me so I was feeling pretty safe. I had been having some problems in the recent weeks with a man who would wait for me by my car, but I was undeterred. I went in the store, bought the items I needed, and headed to my car.

When I arrived at my car, the driver's side door was open. Every hair on my body stood up on end. I cautiously peered around to the driver's side and that crazy guy who had been creeping me was sitting in my seat, with his feet out of the car. By that time, it was too late for me to turn back. He had seen me and I had seen the small gun in his right hand.

"Hey pretty lady. Give me your purse and no one gets hurt."

I wasn't about to give him my purse without a fight. We struggled for a few seconds until I realized I was defeated. I handed over my purse, broke free of his grasp and ran back to the store for help.

I ran to the customer service desk to talk to a manager. I quickly told her what had happened and she told me to wait for her while she called the police. Her office was in a building that was next to Wal-Mart. She foolishly left the safe confines of Wal-Mart to go to her office.

I waited for what seemed like hours. My whole body was trembling. I was still very scared and very freaked out.

When I felt like I had waited long enough, I rose from my perch to find the manager. I peeked out of the doors to assess the safety of the parking lot. I didn't see anyone. The lights were all still working and if I ran, I could get to the manager's office within seconds. That's what I did, but I was not prepared for what was coming next.

I opened the door to the office. At first it seemed abandoned. Then I saw the hand on the floor. I walked around the desk to find the manager had been brutally stabbed several times. And then I heard the door creak.

The psycho killer was standing in front of the only way out of the office and he was holding a blood stained knife. I knew the only way I was going to survive was to fight. I lunged at the killer, going straight for his neck. He blocked my advance and swooped down on me with the knife, missing me by a hair. We struggled for several minutes. I finally was able to knock the killer on the ground. His knife skidded across the floor to rest in front of the door. I made a break for the unprotected door. I sped out of the office as fast as I could, stooping to pick up the knife as I made my way out.

I ran back into Wal-Mart where I found my husband, Russ, waiting for me. He had been watching TV when Anderson Cooper broke in with the breaking story of the Wal-Mart Killer. The manager must have had just enough time to put in a call to the police. I have never been so glad to see Russ as I was then. He was fine and in his hands was a blow torch. He was there to protect me.

We clumsily made our way through the store, looking for a different way out that would be undetected by the killer. We decided to split up. We knew we would have a better chance of getting away and I had the knife and he had his blow torch.

I walked into a room on the side of the store and gasped. I wanted to scream, but the sound wouldn't come out. Anderson Cooper was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Dylan McDermott was lying next to him, also in a pool of blood. I bent down to see if they were alive. I could barely feel their pulses, but I could hear their breath raking in and out. I couldn't tell how many times they had been stabbed, but I knew it was bad. I grabbed a cell phone and dialed 911. As the call was going through, the phone was viciously swiped out of my hand. It clattered across the floor. I turned around to see the killer with another knife. His had was gripped around the handle and it was in the air ready to give the death blow.

It only took me a second to respond. I buried my knife up to the handle in the killer's stomach. The killer gasped in pain and turned around. Russ had heard the commotion and came running. He had his blow torch poised and ready.

"No, Russ! I stabbed him. He can't do anything to us now!"

Russ lowered his blow torch and I turned around to check on Anderson and Dylan. That was a stupid mistake. The killer took one last lunge towards me and I felt his knife cut through my back. I fell to my knees in agony. I turned around in shock, just in time to see Russ blow torch the crazy killer's face. I couldn't breathe for the pain and I slumped the rest of the way to the floor.

The last thing I remember about that horrid night was hearing the sirens and seeing the emergency lights through the front windows of the store.

I woke up a day later in a hospital room. Russ was by my side and I was told had been since the incident. Anderson and Dylan were both recovering well, also.

I would have died that night if it hadn't have been for my husband. He came when I needed him, blow torch in hand.

The end.

It's okay to laugh now.

Craziest. Dream. Ever.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Fournager







So not loving how old my girl is looking lately!