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This is my Bible (well obviously.) The leather cover was custom created for me by this guy in prison. I don't know him, but my brother in law used to work with a guy who found out about him. He takes orders. What you do is, lay your Bible (open) on a big sheet of paper and trace around it, write down your favorite verse, throw in an unspecified amount of money (I didn't pay for it so I don't know how much he charges) and BAM! About a month later you get a really cool custom made Bible cover in the mail. Oh also you tell him your name & he puts it on the front if you want him to. I was thinking I should post his contact info here but I don't have it. Maybe I'll try to get it. But I don't know if he's still in the pen or not. But I'll find out.




I just wanted to show you my favorite things. Kind of like Show & Tell. Cause the last time I participated in Show & Tell, I was driven over the edge in a state of sheer humiliation that resulted in my sitting on my favorite turtle (see picture) and peeing on him. I didn't mean to pee on him, but I did mean to sit on him. I was trying to hide him cause I was informed (rudely) by a fellow preschooler that today WAS NOT Show & Tell day. It was tomorrow. So in order to save face I decided to sit on Windalie (you can see his winder if you look closely) but then some kids saw him sticking out from underneath me, sending me into the whole nervous humiliation thing that made me wet my pants. So maybe this time around will be a better experience.

Here's the back of it. I chose this verse because it reminds me of how simple it really is to live a life that pleases our Maker. That, and the fact that "living safely in the land" tops my list of desires for this wretched planet. I'm big on safety. In fact I think I need a bodyguard. But they wouldn't understand the nature of the protection I require so I'd have to hire a bodyguard for the bodyguard. And it would just spiral out of control from there. So I think I'm better off winging it till I crash and burn. If you have no idea what I'm talking about then it's obvious you have so much catching up to do. This is ridiculous.

Red leather bookmark, made by an inmate back in '92.

My necklaces, got at the mall a few months ago in an attempt to remind myself that I am worth decorating. Not that I have anywhere to go or any place to wear them. But they are there. They are draped over my little Lighthouse nightlite in my bathroom. I don't really need a nightlite but I think they make a room look pretty.

I tore this out of a big New Yorker cartoon book (you can find them at used bookstores & they're worth the $8.00). When I first saw this it took me a while to figure out what it meant, then when it hit me, that it's summing up my entire outlook on commercialism and greed and how we are fed such nonsense from the media like starving stupid sheep in the soup line. I "laminated" it in mailing tape a few years ago and it's one of the few things that I actually put on my wall. Well now it lives in one of my favorite books (Foxe's Book of English Martyrs). Speaking of that book, I had the idea to write about some of the amazing folks who were burned, beheaded, and otherwise bullied for their beliefs. Yes I think I will. Later, though.

Another one of my rare wall decorations. (I can count on one hand the number of objects that adorn my bedroom wall). My daughter gave this to me for my birthday in 2005. We were at Ross and I saw it, picked it up and was carrying it around, when she saw me and said, "oh Mommy, that's cute, do you like it?" I nodded, and she took it and said, "then I'll get it for you for your birthday!" Which made me crack up. How backwards is that. Like a child I was carrying it around, and I got to put it in the cart. My kid is hillarious. We have a secret saying: "This is TIBBY". It stands for "This Is Backwards". We use it alot. She's really sensible and mature for her age. I'm not.

HAND-PAINTED CROSS BOOKMARKS!!!!!!!!!! Cute, I know!

my favorite flip-flops, I think I've worn them every day for a whole year now. Even when it's cold. Even to get applications. Wait...

I was given this token one day, just minutes before an incredibly frightening event took place, by a really cool kid, and I had nothing to give him in return, but I promised him that the next time I saw him, I'd have something cool for him.

So this old key has been living in my purse for a long time. Just in case. You never know when you're going to run into someone. And I can't break my promise. I don't know why I chose a key. I just get the feeling that boys like old keys. To be honest it's not the first key I had in mind to give him. The first one I was going to give him was a strange, small black key, I was told it was a Jailer's Key, so I thought that was cool, until I found out, it was a handcuff key. So the old rusty key is a better choice I think.

Here's my mp3 player that resembles a cockroach egg case. I own it due to having washed and dried my beloved player, killing it.

This is my other beloved player that I killed. It was a bad brain day and I forgot it was in my jeans pocket. I actually cried when I realized what I had done. I can't bring myself to throw it away. I keep thinking it's going to come back somehow. You never know. Electronics are funny like that.

My key ring. I just want to demonstrate how simple my life is right now. There are only 3 keys on it: car (not my own), house (not my own), and mailbox (ditto.)

A strange discovery a few weeks ago! As I was rooting through all these old family letters, I found a small flat box, opened it up, this handkerchief was inside along with an old handwritten note from some old relative, she said that this handkerchief belonged to my great great great grandmother, all the way back in Germany, long long ago, and she wanted me to have it. Apparently it was sent to me as a gift when I was born. So how come I'm 38 and I'm just now finding out about this? I took it out of the box and now it lives in my Bible. I got busted. My mom came looking for it, seems she saw the empty box. I told her she can't have it back. It's mine. Proof that I have connections.

Lately I've had some struggles. And I am reminded that when life is rough on the outside, to walk by faith and not by sight. This little note lives in my Bible too, it's copied from something I read one time. It helps. So I thought I'd share it here.