I have purple hair.

That's really all there is to say about it, too. I was inspired by friends/movies and I went for it. I originally wanted dark pink, but my stylist talked me in to purple. So here we have it! It's already faded quite a bit, but I had the BEST. HAIR DAY. EVER. the day after I got it cut.

Trying to be a little less predictable... Is it working?

Laughing in the Barnes & Noble parking lot...*

At my church we don't have a regular praise team/music director, so they have different people come in and do music. So far it's been pretty good - and we have our own musicians sometimes, just not always. This week was led by just one man with a guitar and he was really into the "praise" aspect of the music. He had an earpiece for not just one, but BOTH his ears, and he kept putting them in and taking them out, but the thing that really got me was the repetition. I swear we sang the same two lines 10 times, then switched to another set of lines for 10, then back to the original. So, I got to thinking about this little story, which I first heard in a class in college:

A Funny Little Story About Hymns and Praise Songs

By Author Unknown

An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.

"Well," said the farmer. "It was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns."

"Praise choruses?" asked the wife. "What are those?"

"Oh, they're okay. They're sort of like hymns, only different," said the farmer.

"Well, what's the difference?" asked the wife.

The farmer said, "Well it's like this ... If I were to say to you, 'Martha, the cows are in the corn,' well that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you,

'Martha, Martha, Martha, Oh, Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA,

the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows, the white cows,

the black and white cows, the COWS, COWS, COWS

are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, in the CORN, CORN, CORN,

COOOOORRRRRNNNNN,'

Then, if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well that would be a praise chorus."

As luck would have it, that exact same weekend a young, new Christian from the city church attended the small town church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.

"Well," said the young man, "It was good. They did something different, however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs."

"Hymns?" asked the wife. "What are those?"

"They're okay. They're sort of like regular songs, only different," said the young man.

"Well, what's the difference?" asked the wife.

The young man said, "Well it's like this ... If I were to say to you, 'Martha, the cows are in the corn,' well that would be a regular song. If on the other hand, I were to say to you,

Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth.
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, glorious truth.

For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense,
Hearkenest they in God's sun or his rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.

Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight,
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed.
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn chewed.

So look to that bright shining day by and by,
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn
Where no vicious animal makes my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn,

Then, if I were to do only verses one, three and four, and change keys on the last verse, well that would be a hymn."

*I was reading this on my phone in the B&N parking lot and the line "Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight" got me laughing so hard I snorted.

Thank you, Ref!

So, I FINALLY used my Amazon gift card, provided by one ref250 in honor of my birthday. I got Help Wanted, an addictively fun wii game that recently came down in price.


It's basically a bunch of mini-games, like being a manicurist or carrot farmer. So far, my favorite is being an interpreter. Pretty cool stuff.

I also got the cd, December by George Winston. It only arrived today, but the part I've listened to is wonderful!


So thank you much, Ref. I will think of you as I enjoy my new toys!

BIG NEWS!!!! BIG NEWS!!!!

To my many readers in the blogosphere (see, I'm funny! many readers. hah.):

I PASSED THE PE EXAM!!!!

Celebration is in order! You have my full permission to have fun for me this evening and into the weekend! Eat sweets, dance wildly, go on vacation, etc. Such a relief and soooo exciting!

Wa-hoooooo!!!

My Next Quilting Project

Never one to leave well enough alone, I've started planning my next quilt before I've finished the one I'm on. I think it's pretty exciting, so I thought I'd share it with you! First off, here's the pattern I'll be using:


It's from Quilt Sampler Magazine (their Fall/Winter 2009 Issue) and it's the quilt from Temecula Quilt Co. I love it because it's a sampler without having applique. I'm just not quite ready to add another thing to my list, so I'm sticking with piecing right now. Anyway, I love the pattern, but I really don't need to buy more fabric. I'm pretty sure I already have more than I can use... but that's not really the point, is it? Anyway, as I sat admiring the quilt and thinking about the fabric I do have, it hit me: Use the Christmas fabrics I collected after last year's Stash Dash!! It's perfect because the pattern calls for medium/dark fabrics:


For which I will use the reds/greens I collected! It also calls for light colored backgrounds. As you can see:


I got those too! And finally (this is where you get to voice your opinion), it calls for a bit of tan. You can see it in the picture as a border around the center area. These fabrics don't really fit in to the background or medium/dark categories for me, so I was wondering, "Could I use one of these as the tan border?" and "If so, which one?"


Now's your chance! Let me know! Anything would be helpful - like should I get rid of the two fabrics in the red/green picture that stick out like a sore thumb? Or maybe one of those fabrics that I don't know how to classify is really a background. Thanks in advance for your help!

Progress with a BANG!

I had last Wednesday off, but in the spirit of readiness for Thanksgiving, I planned to get up at a reasonable hour and do serious laundry and sorting and storing of clothes. I hate to report this, but all did not go as planned.

It all started a little before 6am when both Lillabee and I woke up to crunching and banging sounds. My first thought was that someone was running into a car, then backing up and doing it again, repeatedly. Except then, BOOOM!!!! My bedroom lit up with a yellow flash. (The walls are yellow, so the flash could have been white light...) My next assumption was that my neighbor's house was on fire. I wasn't that far from wrong. It was a house one block away, but I could see it burning.

I called 911 and they already knew about it - firetrucks arrived soon. I stayed up and watched until they got it mostly out and there was just a big plume of smoke. Then I figured, "I'll get 15 minutes more sleep." (in the picture below, you can see a reflection of my bedside lamp on the window - hope it's not too confusing, it shows the smoke really well)


Three and half hours later, I woke up. There was still a smoky smell in the air, but the fire was out and it was definitely later than I meant to sleep!


I had some delicious pancakes, taking full advantage of the day off work. They were so good. My co-workers teased me a bit for taking pictures of food. See what I do for you? This way you can enjoy my day off, too!


Finally, I'd like to share what I've been sewing away on for the last week and half. It's the quilt of merryheathreness, and you wouldn't believe the work that goes into making a quilt look like you didn't plan it. It's slow going, but I'm trying to remember that, like all things in life, I'm only going to be doing this sewing once, so I can enjoy the process and if it takes a while, it just makes it more memorable.

Tonight we're having a storm and I wish the wind would stop. Have I mentioned I really don't like wind? Well, I don't. And we get it a lot. Grrrrrr...

The Tallest Betty Suarez Ever

Well, I've been a bit sick (theories abound - cold, flu, swine flu, etc.), but I'm back to feeling much better - so it's time to show you how utterly fabulous I looked as Ugly Betty.


I got the wig & glasses as part of a kit, but all the clothes are my own. That amazed my co-workers. One quote, "I'm just going to start wearing whatever I feel like. You've inspired me!"


There were only a couple of us who dressed up, but it was so much fun I didn't mind standing out. One really fun part was people didn't recognize me. I got a "Hi dear" from one person - then "Oh! Mary Heather!" Another person drove by me as I was shouting their name without even looking at me.

The kit also came with a Guadalajara poncho and a "B" necklace - but I didn't wear the poncho much, just because I was so proud of my Halloween costume that came entirely from my own wardrobe! That's the best, right? Plus wearing a wig was fun. And hot. Literally.