Oktoberfest

Lance is in Denver for a week doing embalming labs and the like so I'm home alone with a million things racing through my head. I ask myself, what's a girl to do in a case like this to which my response would be found HERE.

However, this week is Oktoberfest and I have plenty to do to get ready. So, come on down and join me with the festivities and stop by my booth! Here's a little sneak peak at what will be there.

I'm Taking My Chances

When we moved back home from Charleston I was sick seven times within five months which was the pits to say the least. Whether or not you agree with the pro and cons of it, Lance and I got flu shots yesterday. I hope it works because I really don't want a miserable winter again!

Best of Craigslist

Lance found these on Craigslist and we got a kick out of it:

NEED SOMEONE TO HIDE EASTER EGGS IN MY APT WHEN I'M NOT HOME!
Posted April 7, 2009

I need someone to hide Easter eggs in my apt when I am not there! They are small and filled with candy! I would like to find them myself on Sunday! I am willing to pay! Serious inquiries only!

FREE, FREE, FREE!!!
Posted May 21, 2009

Ever want a good quality stump you can rest your feet on, relax on, or even eat your food on? Then we have the best item FOR FREE just for you. Today only come and get your free, newly removed stump. You even get the dirt attached for NO CHARGE. Just can't get any better than this. Please let everyone have a chance for this, serious inquiries only. Have a great day, have fun and keep shopping on Craigslist! (Click HERE for the picture).

GARAGE SALE ETIQUETTE
Posted July 20, 2009

Hello buyers and thank you for coming to our garage sale.

I know our newspaper ad and signs say that we open at 7 am, but if you arrive at 6:00, go ahead and ring the doorbell several times and peer into the windows until we answer. We'll open up early for you.

Feel free to show up with your unleashed dog, and of course, let him poop in the front yard. Our lawn-boy will clean that up later.

For your convenience, we've taken the time to mark everything with a price. But go ahead and keep asking, "How much do you want for this?"

In the mood for a cigarette? Come into the garage and light ion up. Grandpa doesn't mind if you blow the smoke right into his face. He's only on an oxygen tank. It's probably good for him anyway. And just leave the butts on the garage floor or flick them into the yard. We'll take care of those for you too. It's my mistake for not having an ashtray available.

And I know 25 cents is a fairly steep price. So let's haggle for 5 minutes about it. I don't have anything else to do today.

Also, pick up a bunch of items and then tell me what they remind you of. Be sure to tell me about every aspect of your life. Don't leave anything out. I'd love to hear all about you. And when you put the item back, just throw it in a completely different spot, upside down or just all wadded up.

Your McDonald's breakfast is going right through you, isn't it? Of course you can come in and use our bathroom. Be sure to look in the medicine cabinet for any prescription meds you might need. And there's some spray up in the window in case you drop a poop. Hope everything comes out ok!

Wow, you want to buy all of our grandmother's antiques and at our full asking price? Oh, but you don't have any cash with you. Well yes, you can certainly write us a check and then drive off with the merchandise! No worries. I'm sure you're an honest person. Next time, we'll try to be prepared and accept credit and debit cards.

As you leave, be sure to rev up the engine several times, blast the salsa music and then lay a scratch as you drive away. It's loud but oh so cool. Have a great day!

ACTOR NEEDED FOR EMOTIONAL ROLE. ONE DAY HIGH PAY
Posted April 17, 2009

My deceased aunt gave my two kids a cocker spaniel a few months back. The dog has been a terror and become overwhelming for me. I am a single father raising two young children. I cannot face telling the kids that the dog must go. I have found a good home for the dog, and just need someone to transport the dog, and play the villain.

Premise: You will be the dog walker hired by daddy (me) to walk Skittles. I will introduce you to the kids and you will tell them you are going to help Skittles get her exercise when Daddy is too busy to walk her. At that point you will walk Skittles to your car and take her to her new family 20 minutes away from my place. Then return holding just a leash. The story will be that Skittles broke free of the leash and took off. At this point prepare for crying, things to be thrown at you, and possibly cursing. My kids are young and dramatic, they're girls.

Pay will be $500. The job will take roughly 2 hours at best.

This job is ideal for an actor looking to diversify their role base, or someone who genuinely likes to make children cry. Acting experience is a plus, but not necessary. Please inform me of any prior experience in this kind of situation.

LIGHT HOUSE CLEANING NEEDED
Posted September 23, 2008

Need some light house cleaning. I'm pretty busy and not able to clean my apartment so I need someone to do some light work once a week or so. Here are some pictures to give a general idea. (This one you just have to see the pictures HERE)

BARBERSHOP!!!

Hello, friends, this is Lance. I have come out of blogger obscurity to create a post on an ever important subject. What comes to mind when you think of Fall? Halloween, leaves, and Barbershop! The Twin Falls County Fair was a couple of weeks ago and my quartet, 4th Avenue, had the opportunity to wander around its grounds and sing to random people to entertain and embarrass them. Our repertoire included a tag line we sang outside of the public restrooms ♫Please wash your hands...♪

LtoR: Ben Pratt, TJ Eldredge, Kempton Cox, Lance Cox

We also have coming up our annual Magichords Barbershop show. It is entitled "Irving Berlin Goes Barbershop" and will feature the Twin Falls Magichords Chorus, 4th Avenue Quartet (us), Grandpa's Boys, Arioso from Boise and headlining is our guest quartet McPhly. You can see a video of them here. The show is on Oct. 10, at 7:30p at the CSI auditorium. Tickets are $10 adults and $9 students and seniors.
Below is a video of 4th Avenue. Sorry about the quality, it was taken by a regular picture camera and we were singing in a garage. Also sorry about the lack of movement...it had been a long day:)

Head Start

I've had these autumn crafts for several years but never got around to making them until now. This is what I did on Labor Day besides the Demolition Derby. Fall is just around the corner.....

Define Generosity

I would find myself very selfish if I didn't share this story. After my oral surgery the doctor said I needed to get a mouth guard so I called my dentist and it was $200. There's no way at this point that I can fork out $200 so I'm glad I just called. About a week later was the county fair which my work has a booth in, so one of my coworkers Jeremy called me and said, "There's a booth across from us that does mouth guards (as well as other things, mainly teeth whitening) and their cost is $75, do you want one?" I told him no, that was too much especially with Lance being in school, yada yada. He said, "Well name your price he said he'd do it for any price." I told him the most I could do right now is $25. Jeremy said there's no way that would ever happen and hung up but he called back about 5 minutes later and told me it's a deal, the teeth guy would do it for $25.

I got to the fair and met with the teeth guy, Andrew, who explained to me the procedure and made sure I understood the price was $25. He said that my other coworker, Rodney, who was standing there the whole time during this phone bartering between Andrew, Jeremy, and myself immediately pulled out his wallet and handed Andrew the $25. Andrew donated the remaining $25 so I could have a mouth guard to prevent future oral surgeries.

I immediately started crying because I was so touched and grateful for what they did. When you're a poor college student/family $25 might as well be $2500 and right then the money had nothing to with it, I was so overcome by their generosity and selflessness. I've never witnessed such an act of charity and benevolence before and I owe them a whole lot more than $25!!! Saying thank you is not enough, paying back the $25 is not enough, so I promise that not only will I do those two things but I'll also take $25 and give it in some way to someone else that needs it and hopefully it will mean all the difference in their lives as it has mine.

Expect Nothing and Appreciate Everything

This evening as I returned home from enrichment, I find myself so filled and overcome with gratitude and happiness! Our meeting was about gratitude and we had two extremely wonderful speakers who uplifted and edified us. I'm so glad I went tonight because of all the things I learned and all the things I felt. Our first speaker talked about an accident that her little four year old daughter had and how touched she was that 2 days later, laying in agonizing pain, her daughter was the first one to thank Heavenly Father for the accident and the outcome. Our second speaker gave us her own thought of having three levels of gratitude. #1 is being thankful for everything that people around us do for us. #2 is expressing our gratitude by showing it through thank you cards or baked goods for someone, etc. #3 is showing our gratitude by the way we live our lives. For example, we pay our tithing because we're so thankful for all that we have both spiritually and physically. We take care of our bodies because we're grateful to have them and to be healthy. Of course she said it much more eloquently than that but it just popped and I had one of those "Ahhhh" moments. She also said that after her husband died, her motto would be, "Expect nothing and appreciate everything." I loved that.

Surprise Getaway

As a surprise for my birthday Lance planned this weekend getaway trip together. He changed the date at least 3 or 4 different times due to schedule conflicts and my oral surgery, but I took a day off work and we drove to....................Hagerman? He told me it was about 45 minutes away so I thought we were going to Burley. What could possibly be in Burley is beyond me, but Hagerman instead?! For all you Charlestonians it would be the equivalent of going to Ravenel or Awendaw, what would possibly be there? So I just put my faith in him and kept my questioning opinions to myself until we reached our destination. Just a few miles past the tiny town is the Billingsley Creek Resort which is a quaint little getaway of a few cabins. We were the only ones staying there for the evening which was nice to have the whole thing to ourselves. This is a picture of our cabin.Back behind the main office is gorgeous landscaping and flowers. There's a creek that runs through it with a little bridge where you can walk across and sit on the swing together. That's exactly what we did all night, sat on the swing and just talked for hours while we marveled at the beautiful scenery. It was so great to be together for the evening and just talk about everything and anything.
Outside to the left of our cabin is a hot tub that is closed in on 3 sides. We were a little hesitant to use it because it was dark and there were a ton of bugs everywhere. As soon as we lifted the cover a huge, ginormous moth about 4 inches in diameter flew straight into the water, thankfully there's a little net thing so we just scooped it out. Now mind you it was really dark and there were dark spots all over on the bottom which we assumed were just rust spots. A little leaf blew down into the water and made me jump and then I see dark little tadpole looking figure swimming quickly straight toward me. I gasped which scared Lance and we both jumped and kinda freaked out. We're not scared of bugs or little creatures but it was completely dark and this thing was swimming straight for me! Since we just scooped out the mutantly huge moth we were still holding the net so we scooped up what ended up as a lizard and sent him on his merry way. We were a little wary to even sit back and relax in the hot tub for the next 20 minutes but it was a nice little adventure!We had such a great time and it was so thoughtful and sweet of Lance to plan it all for me. I loved every minute of it, especially the peaceful scenery and gorgeous little creek. I loved just sitting on the swing and talking for hours until it was too dark to see our way back to the cabin. Thanks Sweetie for the great getaway!

Girls Night with Christine

My sister was in town for a couple of days which unfortunately she arrived the day of my oral surgery but luckily I had a speedy recovery so I didn't miss too much. We had a girls night with my mom and all my sisters in law. We had a scrumptious dinner and painted and decorated these cute little pumpkins. It was such a great night being together and relaxing and talking!

KoLei didn't feel too well that night but we're glad she came anyway.

This is one my finished pumpkins. I love these little googlie eyes in clusters, they're so fun!

Christine made this delicious cake for dessert. It's called Better Than Sex Cake and after she told my mom what it was called, I think my mom wanted to crawl into a hole. So funny!

Recovery

Some of you have been asking how my oral surgery went so here's what went down, or should I say out? We first had a consultation with the doctor because after a few more xrays, he thought there's no way my wisdom tooth should be bothering me. He asked if I was a grinder to which I replied no. He said I bet you are because your tooth is fractured which is what's causing you so much pain. Ah, just what I wanted to hear! So he pulled my back molar...........yes my permanent tooth............I told him while he's at it to yank them all out and give me dentures, Lance didn't like that idea too much. Thankfully he's thinking my wisdom tooth should come down in the exact place of my molar, so we'll see if that happens. Of course they put me out, I was SOOOOO looking forward to that! I think next to marriage being put out by anesthetic is the best thing in the world! But it was nothing like being put out or recovery from wisdom teeth removal. I woke up on my own after about an hour and a half of sleeping at home, eating was uncomfortable for the first 2 days but not bad, and I was back to the work the next day. And weirdest of all I had absolutely zero pain and no need for the pain medication he prescribed me. In a nutshell, it thankfully wasn't bad at all!