More Than Purple

(This was initially intended for my "ilovepurplemorethanyou" blog but it is having some technical difficulties)

Recently it was time to repaint our purple house.  If you want to know how our house became purple you can read about it here.

We've had the same painter for over 10 years.  He's the one who painted it purple in the first place.  He's from Korea and is a 5th degree black belt in Tai Kwan Do and a 3rd degree black belt in Hap Ki Do.  When he arrived in America over 30 years ago, he joined the U.S. Olympic Team and became an Olympic Champion.  Why is he now a painter?  Because he was the first born son and in his culture, he was given the option of joining his father's painting company or being disowned by the family.  His younger brother started his own Martial Arts school and our Jason helps out with it, as well as participates as a judge during competitions.

Since our kids are Kung Fu trained, and our oldest son Haven is almost a black belt, it was indeed an honor for Haven to spar with Jason, our painter in our home dojo.

With the house, we decided to do a couple of things different this time.  We chose a purple that was one shade lighter for the stucco than the previous color, for more contrast between the stucco and trim. 

Also, for a few years I've been saying to Marshall... "If only we could find a way to add glitter to the stucco."  Marshall would roll his eyes, but when it was time to repaint the house I brought it up again.  He said, "No way!" and then compromised and said I could have a purple glittery front door.  My response, "We can't have a purple glittery front door! Our front door has to be white, like the windows, for contrast against the purple!!!"  

I dropped the subject.  A few days later he said to me, "Okay, if Jason can do it, you can add glitter to the stucco."  WOO HOO!!!!

So Jason came over to get the new color swatch for the stucco and to discuss repainting the house.  I told him I wanted to add glitter to the stucco.  He had to pull out his smart phone and find out from his Korean-English app what "glitter" was.  Guess in the 30 years he's been here, he's never had to learn the word "glitter".  As soon as he learned what it was, he looked up at me like I was joking.  He said, "I've never done that before."  And I placed my hand on his shoulder and said, "Just think Jason, after this project, you'll be a master at it."  And he said, "I'm not sure I want to be a master at it."  Jason knows I'm a little crazy.  He's been painting for us for over 10 years.  

I told Jason I wanted clear, iridescent glitter added to the stucco.  Then Jason did a series of patches, with various techniques, etc. before finding the best way to add it.  The winning technique?  When adding the second coat of paint on the stucco, he would blow the glitter on the wet paint with an airbrush machine.  He used eye protection but apparently one piece of glitter still got in his eye during the project and he had to go to the eye doctor.  But he didn't complain.  And he got into it by the end, even adding glitter to the three triangles above the garage window, and he put twice the glitter in the entryway so it would sparkle extra.  He repainted the cement floor of our patio (dark purple) and added two kinds of glitter to it.  

And guess what? Our whole family loves it.  Even Marshall!  I've had 3 different neighbors walk over to our house and tell us how much they like the glitter, and they were all men!  Our Harley riding, Hummer driving 6'4 next door neighbor said he thought it was the best house paint job he'd ever seen.  (and went in to say how pretty it was at various times of the day)  It really does sparkle like diamonds.  I love it.  So the finished result???  Here is our house with the new paint job.

Oh, can't see the glitter?  Well you need video for that.  Here's my reaction to seeing the entry way glitter for the first time, before they were finished with the house.

I don't know why my husband lets me do crazy things like this, but I think there's nothing wrong with adding a little more "fun" into your life.  And for us, that means having a purple sparkly house.  Yeah, I'm a little quirky.  But I always have a smile on my face when I back out of my driveway or pull into my driveway and see my purple, sparkly house.

Breaking Bad 2

Jamie (Time Magazine's breastfeeding mom), Spank and I saw Breaking Dawn 2 at the midnight opening at the iPic Theater in Pasadena.  Some of you remember Spank and I from our Twilight-Headed days.  It was definitely an epic experience and the end of an era.  That's why we splurged for the fancy theater.  Not familiar with iPic?  Each seat is a cushy recliner.  Every seat gets a soft chenille blanket and a back pillow. They give you free popcorn.  There are tables in front of you with a call button so they can serve you food and alcohol while you watch the movie.  It doesn't get any better than that.

First the three of us met up and drove to our hotel.  Charlie's Angels Devils anyone?

We got a room with a King Size bed that we shared.  Oh yes, Platonic Threesome FTW! 

Then we had to try on the hats that our friend Carolyn sent us. Thank you Carolyn, my token Canadian friend.  See? I like Canadians too.  Canada, America's Hat!  (oh you guys know I love you, eh?)

Then we went to dinner and got our drink on.  Jamie got the beer sampler.  She took this very seriously.

After dinner we headed to the theater.  Spank was preparing herself for the event.

FINALLY... at the iPic Theater.  Here's Spank! 

And here's me and Jamie.  Seriously, iPic rules.  Sure the tickets are more expensive, but then you end up seeing the movie with your peers and not with crazy teeny boppers.  (my apologies to any crazy teeny boppers that read this.)

Now before Spank and I start our review of the movie, I will tell you that the movie was very riveting.  So riveting in fact that Jamie had trouble handling it.  (if you look really close, you can see her bra in the picture.  Those are very famous breastfeeding boobs!)

 ** Warning: This movie review contains spoilers.  If you haven't seen the movie yet and plan to, don't read our review. 



Spank:  I think we should start with the positive.



Ginger: *crickets*  Uh... the seats were very comfortable and they served us alcohol.  Lots of alcohol.



Spank: All very true, but you forgot the most important part... the series is over.



Ginger: *gigglesnort*  Don't forget the video montage during the ending credits. That was pretty cool.


Spank: That's true.  I actually cried during that part. Although, I'm very disappointed Buttcrack Santa wasn't included in the montage.


Ginger: Yes, that was a travesty.  The only other good thing I can say about the movie is Charlie.


Spank:  Honestly, he has been the only consistently good thing in all five movies.  He makes every scene better.


Ginger: I concur, however, how is it when he hugged vampire Bella, he didn't notice she was ice cold and hard as marble?


Spank: Well I never said he was observant.  


Ginger: Now, shall we get to the negatives?  Why did they do Carlisle's hair in a comb-over style?


Spank: Because he's a grandpa now.


Ginger: *dies laughing*  You're right.  Now it all makes sense.  I did love Jamie's commentary throughout the movie (when she wasn't sleeping).   For the first 15 minutes she kept saying, "This is such a bad movie, this is such a bad movie, this is such a bad movie."  And when Bella started getting dramatic, Jamie yelled, "Telemundo!!".  We should watch every movie with Jamie.


Spank: Since I heckled my way through Breaking Dawn Part 1, I was proud to see Jamie carry the torch for this one.


Ginger: But the difference with this time was that the entire theater was laughing inappropriately with us.


Spank: I disagree.  I think the laughter was very appropriate.


Ginger: Oh, how about that scene in the woods with Bella and the deer?  Since when do deer make pig snorting sounds?  I also was unaware that when you become a vampire, you see time lapse of flowers blooming.


Spank: If a deer snorts in the woods and no one hears it, is it bacon?


Ginger: BACON, BACON, BACON!!!  Speaking of bacon, we know who wasn't eating it.  Edward.  It would've messed up his lipstick.  His shade was even darker than Bella's.


Spank: He was wearing so much makeup, I'm surprised Reneesme didn't call him "Mommy".


Ginger: Oh yes, that freak of nature.  Poor girl had a mother without an ounce of maternal instinct. But FON (freak of nature) had the power to shoot straight up in the air like Mary Poppins.  WTF?  All she was missing was the umbrella.  And how was she conceived anyway?  Because all I saw was face touching and dust particles in their "sex" scenes.


Spank: I've seen more action in a Shrek movie. Speaking of action, what about that arm wrestling scene between Emmett and Bella?


Ginger: Well they had to give him some sort of scene.  Since he can't carry any lines, they had him carrying logs.


Spank: Wasn't that about the time Jamie was sawing logs?


Ginger: No, I think she fell asleep long before that.  But she was awake at the best part of the movie... when the main characters started dying.  You know it's bad when you cheered at Jasper's death.


Spank: Anything to cure him of his constipation.  But alas, it was all for not as we realized it was just a Dallas moment where Bobby Ewing woke up and it was all a dream.


Ginger: I think we would've had a much more favorable review if those people really had died.  Instead it was just like the book, a huge build-up to nothing.



Spank:  Well the movie didn't really disappoint since nothing happened in the end, just as we suspected.



Ginger: Despite it being an epically bad movie, it was the end of an era and one we wouldn't have missed.


Spank: It was four years of lots of laughs, great memories, quotable lines and friendships.  And now that this chapter is closed, let's hope to latch on to a better movie franchise in the future.  Overall, the best thing about the franchise was seeing Robert Pattinson as Robert Pattinson.


Ginger:  Oh you mean like this?

Life and Family Update

As you guys know, I've taken a long hiatus from blogging and shared that we are struggling with parenting one of our children that suffers from psychiatric/psychological issues.

If you are interested in reading more about what is going on in our family and what we are dealing with on a daily basis, I just posted about it on my other blog. 

As I said before, I have every intention of returning to regular posts here once we get a handle on things at home.  Thank you guys for your patience.

CLICK HERE to read the post about what's going on at the G-House.

Still On Hiatus

I just wanted to acknowledge that my mental health "week" has turned into over a month. To give you a little info, our first attempt at meds had some negative results and my child's behavior has significantly gotten worse. We're talking extreme self-harm, sneaking out at night to consume harmful substances while we sleep, etc. Needless to say the stress level we're dealing with is through the roof. Today we bought locks for the pantry and an alarm for her bedroom door and we hope that can help with the sneaking out.

I am so grateful for all of you who are patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for my posts to return, but understanding that I'm just not in a place where I can find the "funny" in things. Not to mention that having a 6 and 1/2 year old that needs constant supervision is taxing.

None of these behaviors are her fault. They are all OCD-Trauma related and she feels horrible afterwards. She's not a demon child. She wants to make us proud, but at the moment she has no control over her compulsive behaviors. Her behavior is the hardest challenge I've ever faced to date.

If you're the praying sort, we sure could use some.

Thank you. I plan to blog soon about it in detail on my other blog. (ilovepurplemorethanyou) if you're interested.

Mental Health Week

I'm taking a Mental Health week guys. Hope you will forgive me for bowing out. One of my children has several psychological problems and some days I'm good at handling it and others I'm not. I've had some consecutive "not good days" and at the same time am getting the run around trying to find the right professional to help my child (since the previous one did not) and spending a good amount of time on the phone re-telling my child's symptoms to everyone who will listen.

Hopefully it will just be a week. It's hard to think of funny things when you're just trying to keep your head above water. So thank you for your patience and I will return hopefully next week.

Shrinkwrap My Love

Witchy Wednesday to you all, my little gingersnaps. A Japanese Photographer has found a new concept... putting couples in plastic bags and vacuuming out the air before taking photos. It takes roughly 10-20 seconds to take the pictures, during which the couples have to endure the lack of air.

I thought it was insane, but Mr. G (a photographer) thought it was awesome. Thoughts? I just know if someone tried to shove me in a plastic bag and vacuumed out the air, I'd have a panic attack and bust my way out of there.

Japanese Photographer Tries to Keep Love Fresh Forever by Wrapping It in Vacuumed Plastic Bags

By Spooky

Some couple try all kinds of romantic tricks to keep love alive for longer, but Japanese photographer Haruhiko Kawaguchi takes a more literal approach – he wraps people in plastic wrap, sucks out the air and takes photos of their distorted bodies.

The bizarre images of people huddled together in weird positions, in vacuumed plastic wrap may look like stills from a a sado-masochistic practice, but they are Haruhiko Kawaguchi way of showing and preserving the love between two people. His project, “Flesh Love”, is pretty straightforward. Two people, usually couples, are “packaged” in a 100 by 150 by 74 centimeters plastic bag the artist buys from the Internet. After carefully arranging their body parts so he can get the best shot, Kawaguchi uses an old vacuum cleaner to suck out all the air and make the subjects look like a pack of packaged meat you buy at the supermarket. It takes about 10 to 20 seconds for hit to take the photographs, during which time the shrinkwrapped couple has to endure the pressure and lack of air. But it’s all in the name of love.

Love is the source of everything, according to Haruhiko, who like to be called Hal. A man who accumulates wealth does is out of love for his wife, or for expensive cars. People go to war out of love for power, or out of love for their country or their own life. So he feels proud to be able to capture the hottest, greatest moment of love, when the lovers are welded together in plastic wrap. If one of them dies, or if they break up, there is still this photo of their immortalized love.

The magic happens of the kitchen floor of Hal’s Tokyo apartment, under the watchful eyes of the artist and his American girlfriend, Katherine. Photo subjects are covered with lubricant so the skin doesn’t burn when the plastic presses upon it as all the air is sucked out. Still, the sensation isn’t very pleasant – the plastic seals off your nostrils, presses on your eyelids and the ears pop as if you’re diving into deep water too fast. Kawaguchi says he’s so far photographed about 80 couples for Flesh Love, and there have been some accidents. It’s the men who panic the most, he says. Four or five of them started struggling for air while in the bag, and one even peed in his pants, but none of them were able to break the plastic bag from the inside. But there have been no major incidents, and the artist always has oxygen sprays nearby.

So, would you have yourself wrapped in a vacuumed plastic bag, in order to have your love immortalized on a Tokyo kitchen floor?

Source: odditycentral (Thanks Mylynka!)

In celebrity news, Guiliana Rancic said that Kris Jenner (mother of Kim Kardashian) is giving her the best parenting tips. *pauses for effect* I'm wondering if "getting his own show on E Entertainment by way of sex tape" has been discussed yet. #motheroftheyear

Guiliana Rancic: Kris Jenner Is Giving Me the Best Parenting Tips!

By Allison Corneau

Giuliana Rancic and Kris Jenner attend the Associates For Breast And Prostate Cancer Studies' Mother's Day luncheon at Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on May 9, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California. Credit: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

When Giuliana and Bill Racic's baby boy enters the world via gestational surrogate in early September, new mom Giuliana knows just who she'll turn to when she needs advice: Kris Jenner!

"Kris Jenner is like my second mother," Giuliana, 36, raved to Us Weekly at a Wednesday TCA event promoting her new NBC series, Ready for Love. Calling the fellow E! star and Kardashian-Jenner family matriarch "amazing," Giuliana explains that Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian's mama is already doling out her best tips. "Kris gives me the greatest advice. You'll email her one question, one line, and she'll respond in four paragraphs. She's the most thorough, amazing woman."

In addition to prepping Giuliana for motherhood, Jenner, 56, is also encouraging Baby Rancic to be active in his early years.

"She sent the best gifts for the baby: the cutest clothes from Ralph Lauren, [including] Olympic polos from the London Olympics that have the Olympic emblem," Giuliana tells Us. "I thought 'wow, my kid is going to have an Olympic shirt from Bruce Jenner?' That's pretty cool. And she sent Baby's First Golf Clubs! Bill died when he saw that."

Source: usmagazine

Sometimes when you go to the zoo, animals act like animals. Like this Snow Leopard who caught a squirrel in its enclosure and starts eating it in front of the father & son. I actually would be saying, "Hey, that's awesome!!!" instead of this ridiculously irritating dad.

Sidenote: One evening when we were taking a family walk around the neighborhood, we saw a hawk perched on the top of the street light, eating prey it had caught. We all thought it was the coolest thing and stood there and watched it devour its prey. Since it was way above us, we couldn't really see the prey well. And then we walked down the street to our house and realized one of our backyard bunnies was missing and never to be seen again. O_o

And now for today's FAIL... Uh, I think I'll pass on the breast milk gelato and go for the... stimulant?

Source: cheezburger

And today's WIN! You gotta give it to this family for their sense of humor.

Source: winblog

Hey, WTF?!! Thank goodness this guy wasn't our wedding photographer! "Greg as bride walking down the aisle" "groomsmen peeing on wall" ??!!

see more Wedinator

And that's all the time I have for today. I'll meet you back here same time, same place tomorrow. Now, who has had banana ketchup before?

Banana Ketchup is popular in the Philippines.

Have you ever felt that the term “tomato ketchup” is a bit redundant? Whenever someone used it, did you replied with; “what other kind of ketchup can there be- banana ketchup?” Actually yes, banana ketchup or banana sauce is a condiment made from mashed banana, sugar, vinegar, and spices.

Its natural color is brownish, but it is often dyed red so that it resembles tomato ketchup. It was created during WW2, due to a lack of tomatoes and a relatively high production of bananas. Banana ketchup is sweeter than tomato ketchup; tasting more like Indonesian Kecap manis or Thai sweet chili sauce.

In Filipino households, it’s used in just about everything; omelettes, hotdogs, fries, fish, and other meats. It’s also a crucial ingredient in Filipino style spaghetti. Banana ketchup is widely exported; so if you live in a country with a considerable Filipino population (USA, Canada, France, etc.) but don’t have enough pocket money to visit an actually Filipino restaurant, give this exotic condiment a chance to grace your French fries.

(Source)

Ellie on Morphine

Tantalizing Tuesday to you all, my little gingersnaps. We have a first here at Gingersnaps in the Morning today. It's not just a Faithful Reader Profile. No... it's a Faithful Reader Profile ON MORPHINE. That's right.

Ellie Ment has been a faithful reader of Gingersnaps in the Morning for years and has turned into a personal friend of mine. She's American (from Boston) but went to school in Australia, fell in love, got a job and stayed. So she's my Bostonian friend down under.

Ellie had the recent misfortune of injuring her knee so badly it needed surgery. But thanks to modern technology (and the fact that we both have iPhones), we have been able to stay in contact via iMessage for free. That means I've been able to stay in contact with Ellie before and after her surgery and during her time in the hospital when she was chock a block full of morphine.

Her texts (and reactions to Morphine) are too good to keep to myself. And during one of her lucid moments between doses, I received her permission to share these pictures and her morphine-laced texts.

Here's Ellie's first text after her surgery.

I think she just discovered something profound here. I must find a way to test and confirm this theory.

Then she sent me a picture of her pink stained leg from the surgery. You know, the dye they put on the area before surgery.

And apparently when you get an idea on Morphine... you stick with it. And clearly Ellie had "Hunger Games" on the brain.

After surgery, Ellie got a sponge bath. I think this is my favorite text from her.

Ellie also had some other interesting experiences post-surgery on morphine...

Also, apparently Morphine and bathroom skills don't mix.

Also, Ellie learned an important lesson about bringing 5 packs of gum with her for her hospital stay.

That's right. She somehow managed to consume 50 pieces of gum that first night. And she still hasn't seen it again. O_o

But she has accomplished one important goal...

Thank you ever so much to Effie Ellie for giving us some comic gold by letting me share her morphine-laced texts. Ellie is now back home, successfully getting all her pee in the toilet, and is now weaning herself off morphine.

Until tomorrow then...

Your spit contains a painkiller that can be 6 times more powerful than morphine

Human saliva contains a natural painkiller called opiorphin. Due to its powerful painkilling ability, scientists are trying to synthesize a new natural painkiller from opiorphin. It is great, because it doesn’t have the same addicting attributes that morphine does and would work better with the body.

In a study, 1 milligram of opiorphin gave the same results as 3 milligrams of morphine did. In another study, involving rats standing on pins, they needed 6 times more morphine than opiorphin to make them oblivious to the pain.

Opiorphin works in the nerve cells of the spine. It stops the usual destruction of natural pain killing opiates in the spine called enkephalins. It is such a simple molecule, that scientists believe it’ll be possible to synthesize it and produce large quantities of it without needing to isolate it from saliva. Another approach is to find a drug that will make the body produce more opiorphin to manage pain.

(Source)