One of My Favorite Things, Rediscovered!

It's been years since I used a Furminator tool. As a groomer I loved my Furminator. But for some reason, I haven't ever used one on my own pets. Recently I started begging Rich to let me get his cat shaved. I feel like I spend half my life either vacuuming up cat hair, or seeing imaginary cat hair somewhere. Rich has had pity on the kitty, and has informed me how ugly our cat would look sans fur. I can only imagine how lovely my house would look without fur. :)

Finally I decided to order a new Furminator tool to use on the cat. I carefully combed the dead fur out and filled half of a Wal-Mart shopping bag in less than 5 minutes. I can't believe I haven't used it sooner!!! 

You can find a Furminator tool HERE if you would like to rid your life of cat hair! :)

Gas VS Lattes

Today it cost me $42.37 to fill the l'il gas tank on my teeny Corolla. No fair. But still, when I read the following, it's hard to be mad about gas prices. Makes you wonder what we are thinking sometimes! Unfortunately, I don't drink coffee (haven't in four years).

The average latte costs $3.59 for 16 oz. That's 22 cents per ounce~or $28.72 a gallon!

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.

                           ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

My Amazing Day Off

I haven't had a day off in...weeks. Today I took the day off, and I spent the whole day cleaning, doing laundry, organizing, running errands and grocery shopping. I decided to use leftovers in the fridge to make salsa, then made a garlic topping for the chicken burgers. I love spring and summer because everything is fresh and tastes yummy. I spent FOREVER peeling and mincing fresh garlic. It takes a lot of chopping to make one small bowl of salsa!! I don't know why these pix are so blurry. But anyway it is my salsa, then summer squash and asparagus. I broiled it all, and it was yum.

If I had to pick a favorite day of the week, it would be Sunday, by far. Now when I was a kid, I didn't really understand why people would say that Sunday was their favorite day. I knew that I was supposed to be really excited about spending the whole day at church, but personally I preferred Saturdays. 

Rich and I decided, before we got married, that if we were going to make it very far in life then we needed to have a real relationship with God. Not just to learn how to walk the walk and talk the talk, but honestly learn and understand what God expected from our lives based on the truths of the Bible and not just blindly follow whatever the "church crowd" was doing. We have taken seriously the task of figuring out what we believe and following our core beliefs in our everyday lives. We were both fortunate to be raised in Christian homes--but at some point every person has to decide what he or she is going to do with God in the long term. 

I won't bother writing out the whole story (after all, this blog can't have THAT many followers)....but we found FBC just three months after we moved here. We had been attending another church but from the first service, we knew that FBC was OUR church. It is not a big church, but it is a GREAT church! We have been so blessed here! We have, in a Pastor and Pastor's wife, real people that have become our dear friends. Our church family is amazing, and our church is reaching others. We have grown so much since we came here. It is wonderful to hear God's truths brought before us by a truly humble man who is being greatly used. Our hearts and lives are challenged and touched as our Pastor preaches from the Bible. Instead of using God to make his own points, he lets God use him to make HIS points. 

As we continue to grow spiritually, we find that we have an even stronger desire to give our Sundays wholly to God. And that's because we aren't giving our Sundays to God. He gives us something on our Sundays. Giving time to God is not a burden or an inconvenience, it is the least we can do for a God who has done so much for us, and has blessed our lives with such joy and abundance beyond anything we could have accomplished on our own. Is life perfect? No, but through all of life's troubles and worries, I know that my God will supply all my needs, and knows the path He has planned for us! Yes, Sunday is our favorite day!! 

Moissanite VS Diamonds

I found some earrings that I thought were made of diamonds....and I liked them. Then I read that the stones were actually a man-made stone called moissanite. Being a bit of a skeptic, and not truly sure if this was just some fancy way to sell CZ, I submitted a request for information to the GIA. Imagine my surprise to receive a detailed response. I have posted the response below, because I found it interesting. Who knows, perhaps I will buy those earrings after all!!!

Dear Elizabeth:

Synthetic moissanite, produced by Charles & Colvard (http://www.moissanite.com/) is an option to a natural diamond. I would suggest that you look at the synthetic moissanite in person prior to purchase to make sure you like how it looks. If this is an online purchase, please read the vendor’s return policy in case you decide you do not like it once you see it.

As for its durability, hardness refers to resistance to scratching. The hardness of synthetic moissanite is 9.25 and the hardness of diamond is 10. The hardness of ruby and sapphire is 9.  Toughness refers to resistance to breaking, chipping or cracking. The toughness of synthetic moissanite is Excellent. The toughness of diamond ranges from Good to Excellent because diamond’s toughness depends on cleavage planes.

I’ve not seen an independent gemological research paper stating that the color of synthetic moissanite will change over time.  In comparison, colorless CZ, another diamond simulant which is also a synthetic, has been documented to become yellow over time.

A notable feature of synthetic moissanite is the appearance of doubling of the facets. You will have to decide if you like the way this looks. To see what this looks like, please click on this link: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1186&bih=697&q=doubling+facets+moissanite&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=. If the link does not work, I went to Google Images (http://www.google.com/imghp) and searched on this phrase: doubling facets moissanite. It is still best to view the synthetic moissanite in person.

As for its brilliance that depends on how well cut the stone is. Brilliance is a combination of all the reflections from the surface of the stone and the inside of the stone. It gives the stone its brightness and flash.

Good luck with your purchase and please let me know if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

Rose Tozer

________________________________
Rosemary Tozer
Senior Librarian
Richard T. Liddicoat Gemological Library and Information Center
GIA World Headquarters
The Robert Mouawad Campus 
5345 Armada Drive
Carlsbad, California  92008

The Insanity Plot

Last night I was fairly certain that my pets were plotting to drive me fully and utterly insane. I got into bed at 12:45. Within 15 minutes, my dog was sitting up in his kennel, making super annoying little moans and cries. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I got  up and took him out for a potty break. He delivered, so I assumed that was the problem and snuggled back under the covers with my 5 pillows. Within 20 minutes, quiet (but very annoying) growls started drifting my way. I attempted the SHHHH sound. The dog is typically well-behaved, so imagine my shock when he was yipping and barking low, muffled barks by 1:35. I thought that perhaps Lassie was trying to save the day, so I got up and checked to make sure everything in the house was ok. The stove and oven were off, the iron, etc. I checked all the locks on the doors, and looked out of the windows to see if perhaps something outside was disturbing him. With everything checking out normally, I once again crawled back into bed to catch some Zzzz's. 2:15 a.m.--annoying whines filled the room again. I got up, and moved the kennel into the living room and closed the door. Angry, indignant barks followed. I got up again, and moved the kennel next to my bed. Then I administered a rare dose of doggie discipline. Feeling as if I had gotten my point across, I once again got back in my bed. Blissful quiet until almost 3:10, when the dog once again started whining and being generally obnoxious. By this time I had reached that point that you see parents reach in the check-out line at the grocery store when little Billy wants a candy bar. They will literally do anything just for some peace and quiet. I opened up the kennel and stuck the little monster next to me in the bed (I HATE  having little furry things in my bed). The next thing I know the cat is sitting on top of the dog, boxing his head with amazing moves, and the dog is crawling all over Richard, waking him up too. By this time my mind is racing towards my next move. I put his kennel into the walk-in closet. Boy did that ever NOT work. The cat sat outside the closet door and annoyed the dog. I'm sure he was just rubbing it in that he was FREE. By this time I STORMED out of the bed (4:05 a.m.), to retrieve the barking dog from the closet. I grabbed the dog, looked him straight in the eyes, and crossed that line straight to insanity. "I NEED TO SLEEP!!! BE QUIET!!! STOP BARKING!!! YOU CAN SLEEP IN THE BED, YOU CAN SLEEP WHEREVER YOU WANT, JUST SHUT UP!!!" The dog looked at me with his beady eyes, and seemingly satisfied that he had pushed me over the edge, proceeded to snuggle up next to us in the bed and slept soundly until 8:30 a.m.