1000 words

**official White House photos on flickr**

these are neat... check them out here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse

President Barack Obama's signature on the health insurance reform bill at the White House, March 23, 2010. The President signed the bill with 22 different pens. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Whether you agree with it or not, the signing of the health care bill is monumental.

"It has been so long since our federal government acted on a grand and historic scale to enhance the fairness and accessibility of humanitarian services that people, confronted with something they couldn't recognize, freaked out." "...maybe we could engage in compassionate activist government more than once every 50 years, so that people wouldn't be so afraid of it when they saw it." "Immigration reform, energy policy reform, financial sector reform - maybe we put those through, just to take people's minds off the sinister evils of a country ensuring health insurance for its people."

- excerpts from March 29th article by John Brummett (Arkansas News Bureau)

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May 8, 2009 “A temporary White House staffer, Carlton Philadelphia, brought his family to the Oval Office for a farewell photo with President Obama. Carlton’s son softly told the President he had just gotten a haircut like President Obama, and asked if he could feel the President’s head to see if it felt the same as his.”(Official White House photo by Pete Souza)

This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.

3 more little things that make me happy for no apparent reason

1. spackling - repairing little holes and nicks in walls and then touching up with paint. I just need more holes to spackle... not enough left around my house [sigh]. I recommend the pink spackle that turns white when it is dry. So cool.

2. pulling weeds - yes, I find something very satisfying about pulling weeds - maybe it holds symbolism for weeds in the yard of life... hhmmm?

3. Garfield - The humor of Garfield makes me happy. It has as long as I can remember. And to think, I'm not even a cat person, but that fat, sarcastic, lasagna-loving, Odie-enduring cat speaks to me. And let's not forget about Garfield's love for Pookie, his stuffed bear... awww, sweet.

on the other side

I haven't made an ATC in awhile, but I was inspired by this sample of outdoor carpet from Lowes. The flamingo is a cupcake topper (I had to force myself to consume the cupcake it came with so I could use the flamingo... sacrificing for my art. ha!). Used a lego fence and Evan just informed me that he will want that piece back. Guess Evan doesn't want to sacrifice for my art ; p The theme behind this card is my version of the grass isn't always greener. I am trying to convince myself that I really don't want to move to Vermont. Wish me luck.

Spring has Sprung...???

Welcome Spring!

It is the first day of a new Spring season. After being in the 70s yesterday, Spring arrived today with cold, rainy weather and a chance of snow. But at least my flowers scream Spring. I snapped a shot of these on my front porch this morning. And meet our new gnome. Still need to come up with a name for him...

You can never have enough storage especially if you have a kid ; ) I got this 7 foot tall kitchen cabinet yesterday and painted it. It will hold 'back door stuff' like dog food and play shoes... and possibly Evan if needed! LOL I hope to finish the cabinet today i.e. attach the hardware and add a little trim. This is one of my many Spring projects that I am working on.

**Saturday evening update** nothing like a little snow to welcome Spring

maybe I should give some folks more credit...

I had a 'run-in' with a local lady in December. Then in January she takes a cheap shot at me (so to speak) and I let it be known that I wasn't taking her ignorant crap. Now flash forward to yesterday. I'm not feeling well and needed to make a trip to Wally-World to stock up on 'sick supplies' for me like cookie dough and kleenex and poptarts for the man-child. I knew I was in an extra foul mood and hoped against hope that I wouldn't bump into any one I knew on my excursion. Yet even as I hoped for this one small thing, I felt that karma wasn't on my side... and I was right. First off I saw a lady I know that is nice enough, but I didn't have the umph to be chatty (and believe me she is chatty) so I admit I ducked and dodged her. Thought that was all karma had in store for me... oh, but I was WRONG! I turn down an isle and a few steps later I see local, ignorant crap lady from December/January entering the same isle at the other end. It was a moment that cried out for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly theme music. This is also the moment when I realized this lady deserved more credit than I had previously given her because she spun around and raced away. Smart move for sure, lady! Very smart ; )

little chair time

It is that time again. Time for me to park my bigger than necessary adult rear end into an itty bitty classroom chair meant for little people a fraction of my size. And the trick is to sit in a kid chair and still feel like a grown-up while talking to my child's teacher. Yep, it is parent/teacher conference time.

I am thankful that I don't have anything really to stress over when I meet with Evan's teacher. He is doing excellent in first grade. Not only with academics, but with getting along with his peers, learning to adjust to new things and grasping the importance of education (which in my humble opinion, are the more important aspects of the early grades).

And a bonus about little chair time (aka L.C.T.) is that it always coincides with the school book fair. It has became a tradition for Evan and I to shop at the book fair together the day of the parent/teacher meeting. I look forward to it... maybe more than Evan does ; ) The theme of this book fair is Book Fair Diner - All You Can Read. The librarian has even decorated the library to look like a retro diner. So fun! Maybe I should coordinate my L.C.T. outfit by adding a little retro flair... ; )

http://www.scholastic.com/

Happy Birthday, Dad!

We enjoyed a birthday/social security party with family and friends at The Lake today. My parents evidently hang with some feisty retirees ; )

A Healthy Serving of...

Tiger Pride

Being the good PTA mom that I am, I agreed to volunteer at Evan's school yesterday for the quarterly Tiger Pride Store event. Students earn Tiger Pride cards during each quarter and then get to use them to 'buy' goodies at the 'store'. It is a big deal to the kids, let me tell you. Evan seemed proud to have me there and I got a kick out of all the kids just being kids. All of Evan's friends and classmates always say "hi, Evan's mom" or "hi, Ms. Jackson". Being called Ms. Jackson just doesn't seem right though... that's for when I get to be really old! ; ) I want to say "listen up kids, I'm a long ways off from being Ms. Jackson". But truth be told it is really sweet. Anyway, I feel like I need to take advantage of this time now, because before long having his mom lurking around his school and talking to his buddies won't be so cool to Evan. I'm preparing myself for that phase when kids want everyone to think they were born asexually and lack parental type figures all together. The good days when I will have to drop him off 2 blocks away from his school : /

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Going Green... and burnt sienna and maybe blue and...

We have lived in our house for almost 5 years. During that time the changes I have made to it have always been with the resale value in mind. Can't doing anything too drastic. Gotta keep things palatable to the masses. Stay neutral. Stay beige. Yesterday that ended... kinda. I painted part of the kitchen a light green. And the green may spread. And the inside of our front door will soon be a burnt sienna color. Nothing will be safe! I am claiming my house for myself (since I have to face the fact that we may be here for the long haul). Resale value be damned (okay, that's just me talking out of my ass. still have to be practical afterall.) Although I have some crazy ideas like knocking a hole in a wall to make an 'inside window'. I have even considered taking up tiling bathrooms. I know... once I stepped off, a whole new world of possibilities appeared! Look out Lowe's here I come... yet again.

Those Charlie Brown Days

I bet we all have them... those days when the Lucys of the world keep moving the football. AAUGH! I know I have my fair share of Charlie Brown Days. It stinks that a lot of those days I can't really talk/write about because they involve confidential info or I just don't know how to formulate the situation into bloggable content.

I can say that I am feeling surrounded by 'enemy forces' more than usual. For example I often consider doing away with my facebook account for the simple reason that I don't like being ambushed with religion and politics... unless I agree with the religion and politics (just being honest). And when certain facebook book friends start popping off about certain religious or political opinions, I can't help but feel differently about them (again just being honest). I am not one to shy away from who I am or hide what I believe. But I attempt (really I do) to use restraint when it comes to social networking on facebook. I don't use that forum to rant about certain issues. I save that stuff for my blog ; ) Disclaimer (better late than never): If you read my blog prepare yourself to delve into the inner workings of my mind. My blog is the world according to Danica. Not intended for all audiences ; ) And for many facebook is the world according to them. That's just how it is... we all have the choice to keep trying to kick the football or not.

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So how many decades did Charlie Brown keep trying to kick that football? (Good grief already, Dude.) Part of me admires him for never giving up. Part of me wants to give him the 'what for' reality check. And another part wants to take Lucy out back and give her the 'what for' butt kicking she so clearly deserves.

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I wonder how the Peanuts gang would handle this era of online social networking??? I know I would be slightly crushed if I discovered Snoopy was a staunch conservative who believes that the root of all evil stems from the lack of God in the public school system.

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a little advice Peanuts style:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzy31wZBmtU&feature=related

Destination Dallas

okay, not that Dallas... exactly

...this Dallas. Aka my maiden voyage to IKEA.

the IKEA maze?
should I be worried about this?


**'Triple D Weekend' is finally here. Darla, Danica & Dallas**
d & I are roadtripping to the Big D tomorrow to shop and hopefully spend time with a good friend of ours that made it out of Arkansas (so at least I know it is possible). This trip is coming at a good time for me. I need to get away and focus on other things for awhile. Although focusing on buying things that come in boxes and have to be assembled may not be the best thing to help unravel my knotted up brain ; )

**update**

Apparently so many people get lost in IKEA that they had to put in a restaurant in the store and serve Swedish meatballs as sustenance. who knew? ; p