Consider yourselves warned.

Yesterday, at church, a friend of mine brought us a gift for Pastor's Appreciation. In it she had put a canister of my favorite snack: cashews. I was excited.





Then I read the warning label.



On the side of Great Value Cashews, it says "ALLERGY WARNING: CONTAINS CASHEWS"

I'm glad I read the label... That was a close one.

The Sacred Sunday Nap

Well, it's that time of day.... Sunday afternoon and time for the nap. Every week, we come home from church, grab a quick bite (usually), and then off to bed. All four of us.

Today I'm not tired. I'll admit, it's a little strange, but this is the first week in what seems like aeons that I have not yawned all through Sunday morning and crashed into bed for the Sunday nap. It feels good to not be tired. :) Although, I'll be lying down soon. It is the sacred Sunday nap after all.

I'm sitting here in my chair with my laptop, watching the family snooze on the couch. What a blessing it is to have a good family. They're snoozing, the dogs are snoozing, everything rests on Sunday. Which is the way it should be after all. Everybody needs a break.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a pillow that's calling to me.

Hard work is good.

One of the best ways to release stress is through physical work.

My preference is yard work: specifically, gardening. I love the feel of dirt under my fingernails and the warmth of the sun on my back.

I don't like the bugs. Ick.

But I like the worms and the flowers and the smell of the weeds. We have wild rosemary and some kind of parsley that grows in our yard, too. Those always smell wonderful. Oh, and some wild lavendar from a previous owner.

Today I didn't garden, though. Today I raked sticks. (Whee!) Normally, this is a task reserved for the kids, but our weather hasn't been so great the last few months. Lots of storms and lots of tornadoes. So there were sticks and branches and limbs. I decided to do the hard stuff and let the kids load the wheelbarrow instead.

And as I raked sticks I realized it wasn't so bad. Yes, the humidity was going staight to my head and I felt as though I would pass out. Yes, I was sweaty standing still. Somehow, though, I didn't mind. Stretching my muscles felt good. Doing the work felt good. Cleansing, even.

I haven't been able to do work like that for a long while. I have celiac disease, but didn't know it. It was sapping all my energy and vitality, and I hurt all over 'most all the time. Adjusting my diet has restored so much of my health in the last few days, though, that today I could work. And it was good. That's what I like about hard work. It feels good again.

Hi there. Nice to meet ya.

My name's Mikki. (DON'T sing the song!)

I'm a wife and mother, a high school teacher, a devout Christian, a poet, and sundry other usually unpredictable things. I love reading and writing. I adore video games of all kinds, and would rather watch a bad movie than a good one most days.

Speaking of movies, it's Friday, and that means it's time for a movie review! Since today started with a 12:01 showing of Wall-E, it only seems fitting to come full circle and end the same way.

Movie title: Wall-E from Disney and Pixar
Rating: G
Score: 4 out of 5 sporks

This movie starts with what may be the best Pixar short ever about a magician and his rabbit. The short scores a full 5 stars. I can't tell you a thing about it - it would totally ruin the whole thing. GO SEE IT!

The movie itself is definitely a must-see. It's totally kid friendly: funny, sweet, serious, unexpected all rolled into one. At the same time, it appeals to adults as well. Wall-E and his pet cockroach are captivating, and Wall-E is perhaps the most human character in the movie. Seeing what became of the people who lived in space for 700 years waiting to return to Earth was frightening...as was the amount of trash left behind. The writers' vision of unbridled waste and consumerism was downright eerie, but it was balanced well through humor and the humans' eventual desire to change.

Favorite moments:
- The musical Hello, Dolly! was woven into the plot.
- The cockroach and his twinkie
- The blending of live action clips with animation. (It was so natural that it didn't strike me as odd until about 6:30 pm.)


For more info on the movie, check out www.imdb.com/title/tt0910970/ .