I Was Wondering...

If a spider kills himself, is it called insecticide?
Or if a plant kills himself, is it herbicide?
I was just wondering.

Unsettling Discoveries...

I’m a pretty clean person. One would think that any place I inhabit would not be a suitable home for any sort of rodent or insect. However, I have recently discovered that my truck has become a hospitable environment for some sort of mutant, radioactive spiders.
I don’t think they started out as mutant, radioactive spiders. Because the other day when we went camping, Michael astutely noticed a very small spider crawling up the inside of the windshield. Gross. Yet squishable.

You must understand my opinion about insects. I don’t mind them…they’re creepy, but typically harmless. But…should one make the mistake of entering my humble abode, whether it be house, apartment, or car, it is all out war. And trust me, the insect will lose, no matter what it takes. So, of course, I mercilessly squash the tiny little spider. But then, no less than an hour later, a slightly larger spider is seen crawling up the windshield! Again, disgusting, yet disposable.

Then, just last night, I’m driving down the road, and suddenly, a much larger spider, perhaps an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, is crawling up the inside of the windshield! Now while all spiders that enter my personal space are sentenced to death, I am still a female. And while it is socially acceptable for me to, well, scream like a girl, freaking out is less desirable when you’re driving down the road. But since I already mentioned that I refuse to lose the spider vs. human battles, the spider must die a horrible death. So I kill the giant spider. With my bare hands. Ok hand…the other one was still driving.

But what disturbs me is that I can’t help but notice that the spiders keep getting bigger and bigger. I fear that there may have been some sort of spider-Ford reaction that is mutating a nest of ordinary spiders into giant, Crys-eating insects. One of these days I expect to see 8 giant hairy legs in my rear view mirror creeping over the top of the driver's seat, seeking revenge for his smaller brothers and ready to squish me with a giant kleenex.

Adventures in Camping

So this past weekend I was looking forward to going camping and enjoying a peaceful, relaxing, quiet time. Just to be able to drive away from civilization, leave it all behind, and go somewhere quiet to recharge and reconnect. So me, Jami, and Michael left after work on Friday to East Texas to do just that. It took almost three hours to get there, but we'd been on longer road trips together! Besides, I figured the farther we drive, the farther from civilization we'll be. So we drive thru Podunk City and Nosepick, Texas and finally arrive in Tatum, home of Martin Creek State Park. (Note, none of us have camped here before, our first choice being Tyler but it was already full and this was the next closest)

We drive up, everything appears normal. Lots of trees and cricket sounds...and we take the twisty turny drive to our campsite, number ten. But what's that rising above the trees, it looks like...three smokestacks...? But that's impossible, we're in a state park in the middle of nowhere! And what's that thru the trees...there seems to be an abnormal amount of light for this time of the evening...hmm.
We continue driving and counting down the campsites to ours...13...12...11...and as we round the corner, we find the perfect lakeside campsite, number 10. But only slightly more overshadowing was when turning the corner revealed that on the opposite side of the lake lie what can only be described as a fully active, fully functioning, nuclear power plant! We're talking this thing was lit up better than the Griswold's christmas tree. Plus three giant, clearly working, smokestacks. And it gets better. On the smokestacks were the bright flashing lights to warn airplanes of their presence. Such bright lights in fact, that you could see them reflecting off the trees above our campsite! The place could have doubled as an airport. And to top it all off, the occasional foghorn. We assumed to warn of impending meltdown doom. Needless to say, we won't be revisiting Martin Creek State Park or recommending it to anyone else, either!

Ahh, nothing like spending time with mother nature and coming home with an extra arm growing out of your head.

THIS is the peaceful and serene view from our campsite on Saturday morning.

And the Winner Is...

Ok, so I just read Kara's post about the Oscars and how she listed who she thought who should have won, and it gave me an idea. So in the Crys McDonald Show, here's who the Oscars would really go to...

Best Dressed...Always Kara. Miss Fashion Fabulous herself.

Best Picture...Amy, because let's face it, she's gorgeous.

Best Chick Flick...Sara, because she can embrace all the girly stuff that I'm not always good at.

Best Shoot 'Em Up...Ross, because he looks a 4 ton pissed off bull in the eye at least once a week and then says "that was fun!"

Best Actor...Erick. Make him sing and you'll understand.

Best Speech...Matt, because he always has something great to say. It might be wise, or it might be cheesy, but if you need advice Matt's always got some ready. And chances are it will rhyme.

Best Supporting Actor and Actress...my parents! Not just because they are literally supporting me financially right now by letting me live with them and eat their food, but because they are continually supportive in all the things I do, from probably 20 years ago when I said "I want to work in theatre" to about 2 months ago when I said "I'm gonna go work for a church!"

Best Friend in a Recurring Role: Blake Rodgers because he has always been there for me time and time again. I joke that I don't like to have him around my christian friends because he's got all the pre-Fellowship dirt on me and says things that give me heart attacks like "remember the time when..." but the truth is I love when he's around and I love him so much and am so blessed that he still puts up with me, and now we get to share our faith, too!

Most Inspirational Role: Brad Saab, who went off to Florida to save the world.

Best Tech in a Trilogy: My friend Kyle from college. I say Trilogy because like Blake, he too has been around quite a while and I am so blessed that he's still a part of my life. And Best Tech because that guy can build anything. And when he did, we entertained ourselves by seeing how many pieces we could break it into, find the farthest city we could drive it too, then try to put it back together again. Hours of fun people.

Best Soundtrack: Jason, because time and time again, no one ever gives me better advice than that guy, and he always knows what's right or what to do.
Drives me nuts.

Best New Artist: My office mates Brian, Jeph, and Brad who continually entertain and remind me not to take things too seriously! Brian is always sure to ask how you are or how your weekend was, Brad is always good for a useful piece of knowledge, unusual story, or a sarcastic poke at Jeph, and Jeph is great if you have a water bottle lid or sunflower seed shortage.

Lifetime Achievement Award: I can't have an awards show without giving this award to the one and only Jesus Christ. I am daily reminded, humbled, and amazed at what he has done with my life, and accolades are truly due to someone who worked so hard to get me here!