Me? A Public Speaker? .....You Bet Your Sweet @#$%^&* I Am.

Okay. So I mentioned this briefly in an earlier post, but I had a nice treat in March when I was featured front page of Grand Rapids Press' Sunday Home & Garden section. Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood did a great piece and I'm very grateful for that. But to be honest, I was very nervous about it. I mean I was REALLY nervous. I knew I had to do it, but I wasn't sure what to expect from the article.
Click this link to view the GR Press article.

It turned out to be a really good thing. And one result of that article was that I was asked to be the guest presenter for the Hudsonville Fair's Ladies' Day. Now that is something I'm very excited about! I know, I know. Most people would be excited about a newspaper article but nervous about public speaking. But if I ever was scared about public speaking, I was cured after an incident in my college days:

While taking an Anatomy and Physiology class, I spent a lot of time pouring through the pages of my textbook. Though not particularly good at science, I was fascinated with what I was reading (God has designed some awesome machinery ) and was acing the course. As a matter of fact, I was setting the curve with my closest peer earning a mere B. It didn't take long for the others to catch on and to begin giving me "looks". I don't know which was worse, the looks of contempt for messing up the curve or the looks of ridicule for being such a dork. I wanted to shout to them "I'm not a dork, I don't even like science!" (but we all know that would only have been half true).

ANYWAY, we were given the assignment of presenting an oral report on a medical condition chosen from the prof's list. As I waited my turn, I heard a lot of "Oh, I chose diabetes because my aunt has that" or "my neighbor has scoliosis so I picked that", etc. As luck would have it, I was the last one randomly chosen to come forward. There were only 3 left, none of which I had ever heard of before. Naturally, I picked the one with the funniest sounding name.

We were given plenty of time to complete the assignment, but as usual, being the procrasinator that I am, I waited until just before it was due to begin. I was home for the weekend and pulled out the trusty World Book and to my horrors discovered that it is a disease of the male genitalia. There was NO WAY I could give that report! But I couldn't go to my prof and let on that I waited until the last to do it. Or should I just drop the class!?

I was sick to my stomach. But decided I HAD to do it. And I had to say some of those words that I had never even verbalized before. Hey, doctors did it all the time! (What if I had decided to be a doctor, I reasoned.) Writing the report was no biggie. But now I had to figure out how I could possibly say THOSE words OUT LOUD. Back at school, I began "Operation Word Desensitization" by practicing on some of the guys in my dorm. "How's your @#$%^&* , Joe?". "Nice @#$%^&* we're having today, Mike." "Did you guys have some of that delicious
@#$%^&* for lunch today?" Oh, sure, I got some looks, but I was ready!

When the time of my report finally came, I walked confidently up to the front of my classroom. I launched into my report, spouting out @#$%^&* here and @#$%^&* there as needed, without even flinching. Out of the corners of my eyes I could see my peers -- including cute college guys -- giving each other knowing looks and snickering. But I made it through. And when I was done, I looked them all in the eye and announced that when I chose that particular malady, I had NO idea what it was. And that had I known, I NEVER would have chosen it. At that, the class dared to all burst out laughining and I saw a big grin break out across my professor's face.

So THAT'S why I no longer have a fear of public speaking and am excited to share my junk passion at this year's Hudsonville Fair. Me? A public speaker?.....You Bet Your Sweet
@#$%^&* I am!

Oh, you wanted to know how I did on my report?.............I got an A.

Midge

Just more junk!

Okay, I was planning to post something else, but don't want to post too often without including junk or junk projects. So first, this is just some junk I'll share.



Of course my favorite kind of junk is the free kind, but sometimes you have to spend a little money to get those one of a kind items. When my friend Julie called to say she had some vintage waterskis, how could I refuse?

Check out the cool graphics on this pair, straight from Cypress Gardens in Florida. The three skis together would make an awesome hall tree.

Probably can't tell from the photo, but these are child's size and it was the pair Julie and her sisters learned to ski on. Not to worry, I won't harm them, but I will probably convert them into something useful like a shelf or bench. Don't you love the color!

I had already agreed to pay $20 for the skis (a little more than I'm used to paying for junk, but how often do you come across such sweet waterskis?), but then she added this chair to the mix. Always so many possibilities with something like this.

And to make the deal even sweeter, she threw in a few more goodies. All in all, a good deal for both of us.

HERE'S what I got for free later in the week. It's just a sampling because the rest are buried in the back of my trusty minvan, but I got 10 of the small windows and 2 of the big ones. Just sitting at the curb on garbage day! I see some mini-greenhouses in my future (though the one I already broke will probably become a memo/chalk board.

More curbside finds -- 2 cabinet doors, some plywood pieces, rope, and a yardstick. It will all go into my giant pile of junk supplies -- very handy stuff.

Also scooped up but not pictured (also buried in the van) -- metal folding chair, some wood molding, and end and rails from a crib (where is the other end and rails?....hmmm).

Anyway, just thought I'd share. Now it's on to a different kind of post. Stay tuned.

Midge

WE HAVE A WINNER!

We have a winner for the "I heart junk" T-shirt.

Congratulations to ......

PRIM & PROPER!

She wrote the cutest post about the contest, too. Be sure to check it out on her blog, offer your congrats, and see her posts about what she does with old furniture. She's got the trash to treasure thing down.

If you aren't prim & proper but you so wanted a shirt, don't fret. I'll be hosting another t-shirt giveaway very soon. Check back in.

Midge

MY FIRST GIVEAWAY! -- Hope it fits you to a Tee

MY FIRST GIVEAWAY! WooHoo!
Okay, so it's not an awesome prize, it's just a simple T-shirt. But it is a fun one. And who wouldn't want a way to announce to the world how we feel about our beloved junk. If it looks familiar it's because I'm wearing one just like it in my profile photo. I have several and I always get smiles and usually comments (good ones) when I wear it.

Why do I have several? Well, I was experimenting with making some to sell. None came out "perfect", so I've decided to try a different printing method. I kept the Oops'. I have several more sellable ones, but thought it'd be more fun to offer them in giveaways -- much easier to mail than other giveaway options, too.

SO.....

What do you have to do to be entered to win this fine prize?

Since it's my first giveaway, I'm sticking to the program I see offered by most other bloggers:

1 Entry -- for commenting on this post

2 Entries -- if you are one of my followers

3 Entries -- if you post about this giveaway on your blog (please let me know in a comment)

For a grand total of 6 entry possibilities!

YOU HAVE UNTIL THIS FRIDAY NIGHT, JULY 10, AT 8:00P.M. EST. The winner will be announced on this blog shortly after that.

Don't fret if you don't win this time, it won't be my last T-shirt giveaway.

Good luck, Midge

Gather round the kitchen table, I've got a big announcement

I can't think of a better way to make a GRAND KTCHEN ANNOUNCEMENT than by first introducing you to this GRAND KITCHEN LADY. I wish I could say that she's our new mascot, but alas, she belongs to another.


I found this displayed in one of our local charity, thrift shops. Of course, I immediately freaked out and ran to my car for the camera -- no camera. Trip #2 -- camera, no photo disk. Trip #3
-- success.

This was put together by one of the store's volunteer merchandisers. She had seen it in a magazine (don't know which one, sorry I can't give credit) and immediately fell in love with it and had to duplicate it for the store.

SPECTACULAR!

Speaking of spectacular, my big announcement isn't spectacular, but it is exciting for me. My husband has a website selling kitchen cabinets online. So to hopefully send some traffic his way......wait for it........wait for it.......I'VE STARTED ANOTHER BLOG!!!

It's called "Havin' Fun in the Kitchen" and it's all about, ...duh, having fun in the kitchen. There's a link to it in my sidebar. I hope you check it out.

Midge

P.S. If that wasn't big enough for you, check back here in the next day or so. I'm planning another mediocre, I mean exciting, announcement. .......... Okay, it's going to be about my first giveaway. Keep it on the down low.

Happy Fourth! Just saying....

"The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity...I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God." -- John Adams

"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure... are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." -- Charles Carroll (signer of the Declaration of Independence)

"In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciouly answered...do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?" -- Ben Franklin

"God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel". -- Ben Franklin

"For my own part, I sincerely esteem it [the Constitution] a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests. "
-- Alexander Hamilton

"Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. ...Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us." -- John Hancock

It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worshhip here." --Patrick Henry

"[The Bible] is the rock on which our Republic rests." -- Andrew Jackson

"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure w hen we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever." -- Thomas Jefferson

"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We've staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity...to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God. -- James Madison

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible." -- George Washington

"To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian." -- George Washington