Have You Been Cranky Lately?

Holla!

2011-09-27T16:23:00.001-04:00

Hey guess what?! I got a job! I think it's gonna be good. I think that I'll like it. I think that I'll be able to move up the ranks quickly. Because I'm THAT awesome. You know I am, too. :)

Spider Web

2011-09-20T08:38:00.007-04:00

It was pretty and foggy this morning. There was dew on everything, and at the bus stop, attached to the STOP sign, there was a gorgeous, dew-covered spider web! After the kids got on the bus, I had to make a trip back for photos. Some of them turned out really well:

This is the lot across from my folks' house. I liked how it looked in the fog, but the picture didn't show it how I saw it. *sigh* Oh well.

Side view of the spider web. They get better, I promise. Keep scrolling down.

The whole web.

This is the guy that made the web. I found him hiding behind the sign on the post.

I included the photo of the STOP sign because even though the web took up almost the whole post, you couldn't see it head on. I thought that was interesting.

Toes + A Little Too Much Time On My Hands =

2011-09-07T14:51:00.001-04:00

Some Stuff We Did

2011-09-06T22:15:00.004-04:00

Here are pictures of some stuff that we did this weekend!

We went to the Cards vs. Reds game on Friday because we got an awesome deal on nosebleed tickets!

Here's a picture of the good-lookin' people!

The Arch in the upper left-hand corner.

Labor day we had a picnic at Forest Park before heading to the zoo!

Here's a great picture that Jeremy took of a gorgeous butterfly outside of the Jewel Box!

Lily pads in the pool outside of the Jewel Box. I liked these variegated ones!

Exoskeleton on a lily pad.

There's a dragonfly on the lily on the right.

Pretty blue flowers climbing up the outside wall of the zoo.

Lioness in the tree.

Hippo butt!

Do you see the frog in the water?

My charming husband, charming a cobra.

Text Book Names

2011-09-04T21:37:00.003-04:00

Here's a politically correct word problem from my 4th grade son's math book:

"D'Jeran has $23, Becky has $42. Together D'Jeran and Becky have how much money?..."

I would like to know why rich Becky has more money than poor D'Jeran. And what's the likelihood Becky and D'Jeran even know each other, let alone live within walking distance? Is Becky just hanging out with D'Jeran because she wants to upset her daddy?

How did D'Jeran make it into this text book? The apostrophes were confusing to my son, who couldn't read this name. Really I'm not trying to be ugly, but why can't they just name everyone Sam, Jill, Bob or Sue? It's not because I only want my kids exposed to "white" culture (I just moved out of the ghetto - all of my kids' friends were of different backgrounds), it's about using names that the kids can read. This isn't English or World Geography, it's a math book.

Other confusing names out of the book: D'Nae, Anitra, Kazi, Tamira, Talnai, Raziya. I'm sure we'll come across more as we go.

My Son Had A Birthday

2011-08-27T18:01:00.001-04:00

My son had a birthday and the kids started school, and I made no special post about it. Worst. Mom. Ever.

Another Cool Spider!

2011-08-11T23:39:00.004-04:00

I know that I take lots of spider pictures for someone so scared of them, but have a look at this spider living right outside my mom and dad's back door! It's some kind of huge garden spider with a web that stretches all the way across the door, and takes up at least the whole top half! Amazing!

This is a bad shot of the spider, but it's incredible of the web!

You Cheated!!!

2011-08-08T16:40:00.002-04:00

Today Dan and Launa were playing tic-tac-toe. They were joking around and playing until Launa shouts, "YOU CHEATED!! Hey Mooo-oom! Daniel chea- ... Hey, wait a minute! I can't tattle on YOU... *I* was planning on cheating!"

I love it when they start growing logic. It's funny. :)

Frozen Dinner

2011-05-28T22:10:00.002-04:00

The Lean Cuisine market creations chicken alfredo (in the steam bag) is goooooooooood! Usually those frozen entrees need to be spiced up a little out of the microwave (especially the diet ones - ugh), but these need nothing else (except maybe more inside)! As my dad says, "It's so good, it'll make your brains fall out!"

It will, too.

Dinner At Our House

2011-05-27T19:04:00.001-04:00

This is a real-life conversation held over dinner tonight:

Jeremy: "Ugh, my ears are ringing."

Daniel: "I don't hear anything."

Launa, putting her ear up to Jeremy's ear: "Let me see if I can hear it...nope."

Daniel: "Let ME try!"

Tide Pools And Airport Stays

2011-05-19T23:27:00.010-04:00

Today my daddy, Al Gross, interviewed me on his show in St. Louis at KXEN am 1010. I think he had me for most of the hour. We had a good time chatting and discussing life. We talked about our trip to the tide pools and I promised to post some pictures from the trip.

I feel kind of bad because Sarah (my sister) was there, she was using her camera, and she took all of the pictures, so there are none of her. I didn't even think to ask her if she wanted some pictures of herself on her own camera! I'm ashamed. Anyway, she got some good ones of Dad and me. ;)

I was looking back to see if I had posted any of these pictures on my blog previously, but it turns out that I didn't get around to it. I also forgot to write about my 24 hour stay at chez LAX, which is actually a very good story, so I'll post the pictures and reminisce about my time stuck in the airport.

Sarah (on the left) and me overlooking the Ojai Valley on Dad's personal history tour.

Dad holding an octopus that we found at the tide pools in Ventura, CA.

A smaller octopus that clung to a rock for camouflage. Can you see it there? It's easier to find if you're looking for legs.

I finally worked up the courage to hold a smaller octopus!

I love this picture of Dad.

A hermit crab we found. I think Dad has owned those shorts since the 80s.

None of us knew what these were. We found them under a rock, and they slowly shrunk back down into the dirt after we exposed them.

Sea anemone.

The carcass of a horseshoe crab.

Cool rocks.

A barnacle and the underside of a sea anemone.

So! My stay in LAX happened this way: I was on a budget. A man from my church is retired from Delta Airlines, so he used his perks to get me an inexpensive, but bump-able seat on a flight to LA and back to Atlanta. I took the shuttle from Ventura to LAX. The shuttle left at 4 pm, and I had the last plane out of town. They boarded the flight, and instead of calling the stand-bys to get on, the senior flight attendant decided to shut the plane and take-off, even though there was plenty of room on the flight.

Of course, I didn't realize that I had the last flight out of town, and that I was in for the experience of my life. After my flight left me, the airport cleared out pretty quickly and suddenly there was just me and about five other people in the whole terminal. I was going to get to sleep in the airport! I grabbed my heavy carry-on bag, and I decided that it was time to settle in. I scrunched up on the seat, and tried to use my bag as a pillow, but I just couldn't get comfortable. After a while of this, one of the other young ladies in the terminal said to me, "Excuse me, but you'll be a lot more comfortable if you stretch your legs across the aisle and prop them up on the seats across from you, then put your bag in your lap and rest your head on it." It turned out she was the daughter of a Delta pilot, and had had lots of experience flying stand-by and consequently, sleeping in airport terminals. While propping my feet up was better, it still wasn't comfortable, and I mostly cat napped for most of the night, maybe getting a total of 90 minutes to 2 hours of sleep.

The airport filled up in the morning, and the six other displaced passengers and I started the process of moving from terminal to terminal in hopes of finding a flight with an empty seat to Atlanta. As we moved from one flight waiting area to another, the other stand-bys and I started to chat each other up. It started with the self-deprecating and good-natured looks we gave each other every time we had to haul our bags to the next terminal. Before long we were talking to each other about who we were and what we were doing. The girl that talked to me the night before and I stuck pretty close together and there were two other men that we spent a lot of time with. One of the guys bought us lunch. We told each other stories, and I went over to the gift shop to buy a pack of cards. The other girl and I played a game called speed. In the afternoon, she finally caught a flight! I was happy for her, but sorry to see her go. I gave her my contact information, but it changed pretty soon afterward, and I wonder if she ever tried to call. It would have been fun to see her again. I got a flight in the evening, and finally made it home in time for breakfast the next morning.

It was exhausting and could have been a pretty rotten experience if people had decided to be crabby about being stuck in a crowded airport terminal hauling our heavy bags all over the place. Fortunately we were having so much fun getting to know strangers, that it turned out to be one of the highlights of my trip! I was glad to get home, and I slept for hours once I got there. I wish I had written down more about it right after it happened, because it made a great story, and I know there are details that I've forgotten by now.

So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed the photos, and the story about being stuck forever at the airport. Feel free to leave comments, I always like hearing from new people. Personal shout-out to David Klaus. I hope you got to hear me today!

Found in Launa's Backpack

2011-05-16T22:48:00.004-04:00

Look what I found in Launa's backpack. It was too cute not to share. Translations under pics, in case you can't read Kindergartener.

From Launa, to Daddy - "I love Dad"

Dear Dad, Thank you for making me feel better. I really appreciate it.

Daniel's Poem

2011-05-12T10:19:00.000-04:00

We just got back from Daniel's writer's workshop tea. It is where his teacher gave us the portfolios of our children's writing assignments throughout the year. The kids also wrote poetry books. Here's my favorite out of Daniel's poetry book:

If I were in charge of the world

I'd cancel school for boys, not girls.

Punishment, work, and also the

only language would be English.

If I were in charge of the world

there'd be dancing animals, free prizes

every week in the mail, $1,000, and

a lot of video games.

If I were in charge of the world

you wouldn't have cars that run on gasoline.

You wouldn't have cigarettes

or death

you wouldn't even have tornados.

If I were in charge of the world

A cat would be a dog. <--my favorite line

all people would be rich.

And a person who sometimes doesn't listen

and sometimes is lazy

would still be allowed to be

in charge of the world.

Okay, so I can't say that I agree with everything in that poem - I'm not raising a little xenophobe or socialist (I hope) but he's 8. We'll get to the finer points of politics when he's old enough to get it.

Parenting Quandary

2011-05-11T23:51:00.000-04:00

I just received an EXTREMELY graphic text book about crime scene investigation. I'm tempted to warn my children never to touch the book. On the other hand, they have never shown an interest in my text books before (after all, they're text books), so I'm afraid that if I draw attention to it, they may not be able to resist sneaking a peek to see what all the fuss is about. Thoughts?

Event # 1

2011-05-10T18:48:00.004-04:00

Okay, so super-mega-ultra-cool event number one is:

Launa lost her first two teeth! Okay, this is not super-mega-ultra-cool to probably anyone but Launa and me, but it's a pretty big deal for us. Not only does she look adorable with the big, gaping hole in her face, but she has the cutest little lisp now that her teeth don't touch in front. Bad news is, she is already getting in her big-girl teeth, and one is in front of the other. I'm already calculating my kids' orthodontist bills, and I'm wondering which they'd prefer: pretty smiles, or a college education?

Why Are You Following Me?!

2011-05-10T08:54:00.003-04:00

Speaking of his Christian walk, my dad (whose name is Al) sometimes says, "You know, I'd be doing okay if Al didn't follow me around all the time."

Today in general I'm feeling pretty much the same way: I'd be doing alright if Mary weren't following me around.

Sorry. :(

2011-05-09T21:49:00.001-04:00

I lied about posting something every day. I didn't have time to post anything today, and I still have to finish some homework tonight, so there will be no update today. But tomorrow should work out for blogging. I'm a jerk. Manana, my friends.

Sorry For My Neglect

2011-05-08T22:17:00.002-04:00

I don't know why, but I have been supremely unmotivated on the blog front. It's not like nothing's been happening. A LOT has happened in the last month, I just have not been feeling up to writing about it. I was supposed to spend today catching up on my blogging, but I spent it churching, napping, and mothering, so it didn't happen.

Which reminds me: Happy Mother's Day! Being a mom is awesome, and I got to save my daughter's life today because she choked on a pickle at Larry's Subs in full view of everyone. I got to give her the Heimlich and pull chewed-up food out of her throat. I felt bad and hoped it didn't ruin everyone at the opposite table's meal (they were all watching, you know). I apologized, but they were nice about it. Jeremy, who actually has had first responder training at work (and has also been trained in how to save a choking child) was absolutely no help. But to be fair, I was the one sitting next to her on the outside while she was on the inside next to the wall, and he would have had to walk around the table and behind me to get to her. Also, I was so afraid of doing it wrong and hurting her, that I'm pretty sure she mostly choked it up on her own, I just helped clear it. BEING A MOMMY IS SO MUCH FUN!!!! If you're not in the process of actually giving birth to your kids, then you're knocking yourself out just trying to keep those little buggers alive!

Over the next week, you may expect a new post every day, each describing one ultra-exciting thing that happened over the last month. I know you're excited! I know you can't wait, but trust me...it'll be worth it! See ya tomorrow!

Buried

2011-04-06T00:53:00.002-04:00

Have you heard of that movie Buried about the guy who wakes up in a coffin? Don't bother renting/seeing/in any way supporting this movie with your money. It's just another one of those anti-American propaganda pieces that Hollywood is churning out. And it was boring. I should have guessed. Wish I could get those 2 hours back. I could have done something more productive...like make a scarf out of belly-button lint.

New Glasses!

2011-03-28T21:47:00.003-04:00

My new glasses came in today! I have to say that I had a hard time deciding to actually trade in my old ones for new ones because I REALLY liked my old glasses. They were the most fashionable and attractive glasses I think I've ever owned. I also thought that they looked really good on me. Anyway, since they were four years old, Jeremy pretty much forced me to go get a new pair. I think he said something about being terrified when I drive, and hating to read menus for me...

Anyway, just a refresher:

These are my old glasses...:

...And these are my new glasses!

(Those are rhinestones on the front and sides.)

The jury's still out on these ones. They're cute, but I just really LOVED my old ones! I asked J to help me pick them out since he was going to have to look at them for the next...however many years it'll be until he forces me to buy new ones again (because I HATE spending money on myself, especially when it comes to things I need...I know that's weird). Anyway, tell me what you think!

Daniel, Daniel, Daniel!

2011-03-23T22:42:00.004-04:00

I have not been as good about updating here as I should be. There is a TON of stuff to tell you about Daniel, so let's get started! First, we got Daniel on his ADHD medicine. It has made a HUGE difference for him! In fact, he ended up getting the star student award for this 9-week period! We were invited to a special breakfast where they acknowledged all of the star students (there were a LOT of them! I think there are about 30 classes for each grade, my kids' school is HUMONGOUS).

Daniel and his daddy. :)

Picking up part of his award.

Snapped the picture a little late, it was Daniel receiving his award from his principal (the tall guy in the suit).

Also, Daniel is in Cub Scouts this year. He's a bear scout. He earned his Bear badge and an arrow point, which they awarded him at the Blue & Gold Banquet. He was also in a funny skit with his friends, and I would upload video of the skit, except that I'm having some issues uploading video from my camera. :(

Daniel and his badges.

Daniel's den receiving their badges.

Finally, the kids and I went on a hike with Daniel's scout pack on Saturday. I had never been on this hike before, but it was VERY cool, and even closer to my house than the park! (Who knew?!) At the end of the day, we went to the park to fly kites, and had a blast! Last weekend was really nice.

Half way up the mountain we took a break, where I snapped this picture. Daniel is so sweet and longsuffering when it comes to his sister.

At the top!

The view from the top.

Daniel was really good at kite flying! Once he got it going, he kept it in the air.

Launa, on the other hand, had to run her kite to keep it in the air. Made me think of that line from The Princess Bride: "I wonder if he is using the same wind we are using?"

Daniel got his kite completely un-spooled. That's him in the lower right corner. ;)

Oh, The Humanity!!!

2011-03-15T10:47:00.001-04:00

Don't you hate it when you're minding your own business, and somebody comes along and DROPS A GIANT BAG OF CEREAL ON YOUR HEAD?!?!?!?!

Me too.

Things In My Neighborhood

2011-03-07T15:51:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures I've taken around the neighborhood. These are some flowers that Launa and I picked out and planted the other day. I'm so glad that the weather is flower-friendly at last! :) This time last year, it was still snowing!

Snap dragons, and a water-globe thing that my next door neighbor gave me. :)

Violas.

Here's the placement of my flowers. I'm still waiting until tea roses become available so I can plant them in my big flower pot.

A limo. To quote Jeremy: "Somebody took a wrong turn somewhere!"

This is the prettiest magnolia tree I've ever seen! The flowers are purple instead of the standard white! It is easily the prettiest thing in my neighborhood. I took pictures on 2 settings to see if it made any difference, and I can't see much of one, but thought I'd post them both anyway. I should have gotten out of the car and taken a close-up of the flowers. So pretty!

Letter To School

2011-03-05T13:10:00.002-05:00

Dear school:

QUIT SENDING STICKERS HOME ON MY CHILD'S CLOTHES!!!!!!!!

Thank you,

Mary

Happy Birthday, My 6-Year-Old Launa!

2011-03-02T21:11:00.002-05:00

Today, my precious little baby girl turned 6 years old! Can you believe it? More than half way to the double-digits! Last night as I was wrapping her gifts, one of them ended up being wrapped in plain pink tissue paper and was rather boring looking. I didn't have any ribbon or anything interesting to put on the package to make it more attractive, so in a flash of brilliance, I decided to look up on YouTube how to make paper flowers so I could put one on her package. It turned out so pretty that I decided to make more out of pink, green and yellow tissue paper, and hang them from Launa's ceiling so that this morning she could wake up to flowers hanging in her room. (I'll attach pics of the room after we clean it up this weekend. ;)

I'm sure that you all have been looking forward to Launa's annual story, and we did record one, but for some reason my photo program has started to quit responding when I try to transfer videos from my camera to my computer. I don't know what's going on, so once I get that straightened out, I'll add the video. Sorry for the inconvenience. (I actually really liked the story this year.)

Okay, so today, Launa woke to the paper flowers, and she thanked me first thing this morning for them. And she wondered how I was able to do it without waking her up. (I'm surprised I didn't! I kicked a toy that made a HUGE racket!) Then, since she'd been asking me for weeks if I'd bring her Chick-fil-a for lunch on her birthday, I brought her Chick-fil-a and ate lunch with her at school. Then we passed out cupcakes.

When she got home from school today she was DYING to open her presents, but I made her wait til Dan got home. After Daniel came home, she opened her gifts, and not very long after that, her Papaw came by with a gift for her too! Launa made out like a BANDIT this year! She got a unicorn pillow pet, and a Taylor Swift Barbie doll from her dad and me, Daniel got her a Littlest Pet Shop with 3 pets in it, and her grandparents got her a bumblebee pillow pet and $10. PLUS, when her little friends in the neighborhood found out it was her birthday, they brought her a popsicle. That was really sweet. :)

I bought her a cookie cake with "hippie peace signs" on it, that the lady accidentally started spelling her name wrong on, and had to fix. I didn't notice til I took a picture of it at home that she forgot to cross the "t." I got a good laugh out of it. Everybody and their sister called her today. As we were getting ready to go to bed, Launa gave me a face full of kisses and said, "Thank you for planning my birthday so good."

It's nice when I get something right. :) Today WAS a good day.

Mmmmmm! Fortune Cookie!

2011-02-25T20:04:00.003-05:00

I wish I had thought to take a picture of it. After school today, Launa went upstairs to wash her hands before she had a snack. She came down carrying the most smashy fortune cookie I had ever seen! She got it at lunch and had put it in her pocket to save it for me. So, here was this pitiful fortune cookie, crumbled to smithereens, presented to me, by my very proud daughter.

I decided that we could share it.

So after very carefully opening the packet, I picked out the fortune which read, "The project you have in mind will soon gain momentum." (I don't have any particular projects in mind, but okay.) Then, Launa and I picked the crushed pieces of the cookie out and ate them. The things we do for our children. She found it as funny as I did. I like that about her. :)

Where Does She Get It?

2011-02-22T20:09:00.003-05:00

After school today, Launa asked if she could have a small bag of m&ms. I said she could. After a bit, she's sitting on my bed, enjoying her m&ms, when I ask her:

"Are those good?"

L: "Yes. Do you want some?"

Me: "No, thank you. I don't need any m&ms right now."

L: "You know you want the delicious taste of m&ms in your mouth."

Me: "No! No, I don't!"

L: "You will be crying out for some after I've eaten the whole package!!"

Me: *rolling on the floor laughing*

...A few minutes later...

L: "Mommy, can I interest you in a green m&m? It's your ve ---- ry favorite color!"

Me: "No, I don't want any m&ms right now."

L: "FINE! I'm eating it myself! ...and I'm ENJOYING it!!"

Feels So Good

2011-02-17T06:45:00.000-05:00

Ah! It feels like Spring this morning! Still a little chilly, but you can feel the change in the air. It's supposed to get up to 70 degrees (F) today! I think I'm gonna play outside this afternoon!

Netflix

2011-02-15T23:12:00.002-05:00

I am so happy today because I just discovered that Netflix has 3rd Rock From the Sun! I love that show! :)

I Enjoy My Children Tremendously

2011-02-15T20:42:00.001-05:00

My kids are so cool. They are fun, they are nice, and they have loads of personality! (For any of you doubters, ask around. People frequently tell me I have ridiculously good children. They can be loud sometimes, but overall, they're good kids.)

Anyway, yesterday at school Launa received a bunch of stuff from the post office - a coloring book, some brochures and a tiny plastic flag that could be mounted on the computer (with a mount that reads, "THIS IS MY POST OFFICE"). Launa had two of them, so she gave one to Daniel. We had sandwiches for supper last night (since J and I ate the big meal for lunch, see below), and my kids spent the evening pitching their flags into their bread and claiming it for the USA. I admit that perhaps this means that their table manners could stand some improvement, but it was actually very funny. I got to hear phrases like, "I claim this hamburger bun in the name of the USA!" and, "I claim this Swiss cheese in the name of the US of A!!"

Then, close to bedtime, Daniel told me that his principal went around the school giving suckers to the kids for Valentine's Day. He described the sucker as tasting like "an old lady's house." This, I imagine to taste a lot like Chanel no 5. He said it tasted more like new house. I don't know how he can equate "new house" with "old lady" but I liked the association.

Finally, today, just teasing my daughter I asked her, "Why do I even keep you around, anyway?" She said to me, "Because I'm your daughter, and you'd miss me, and I'd stand on the front porch with a sad, sad look on my face, in the rain ..."

I tried to convince her that I'd occasionally look out the window and wave to them from the warmth of my comfy bathrobe between sips of delicious hot cocoa. She knew better. Ah, my kids are nice.

The Best Laid Valentine's Plans

2011-02-14T15:10:00.002-05:00

There's a reason that Valentine's Day isn't very important to me. Basically, I don't have a romantic bone in my body. I love my husband with all my cold, withered heart, but grand gestures just aren't in my makeup.

In case any of you need a refresher on a typical Valentine's Day at my house, this is what we did last year.

Well, J and I have had a rough few weeks and I felt like, this year especially, I needed to do something nice for him. Since he works nights and the kids are in school during the day, I decided to make him a special romantical lunch. His favorite thing I make is ravioli, so I thought I'd make that, some garlic bread, a salad and (his favorite dessert) chocolate molten lava cake.

Okay! I had the meal all planned out in my head, and I could make it in my sleep! I got up early this morning, got through the tub, did my hair and makeup so I'd look gorgeous for him and headed down to make lunch for him.

I started with the lava cake. Wouldn'tcha know! I forgot to check the box when I bought it, and I needed 5.5 Tbsp. of real butter. Of course I only had 2.5. After some deliberation, I decided that margarine could make up the difference. Got those ready, and in the oven.

Then I started on the ravioli. It doesn't take long. I boil water in the big pan while I make my special sauce (thanks, Liz) then drop in the frozen ravioli while the sauce cooks. I think the whole thing takes about 15 minutes start to finish.

The lava cakes were done just as the ravioli finished, and I cleared the table and put on the table cloth. All I had to do now was take care of the last minute details: put out the dishes, toss salad into bowls and set the food out. I decided that I'd better go get him up because it usually takes him a few minutes to get it together when I get him up to eat. Well, because he knew that I was making him a special lunch, he hopped out of bed and came down to eat...and I still didn't have everything done! As I was finishing the salads, I realized that I forgot to boil an egg for him to eat with his so he got lettuce and salad dressing. Exciting! Then, I grabbed the first bottle of Catalina I saw for him, forgetting that I have this weird thing about throwing away food. Even if it's REALLY old. Even if it's REALLY, REALLY old...

So I finally get everything together, and we sit down to eat. J looks around and says, "Did you make garlic bread?" OH SHOOT! I forgot! But it's the frozen kind and shouldn't take more than a few minutes and the oven is still hot from the cake, so I hurry and grab the bread, look at the directions, and realize that it's supposed to go into the broiler. I don't have a rack in my broiler, so I decide I should put it in my toaster oven - only the bread is twice the length of my toaster oven. So Jeremy and I start hacking away at this frozen bread to cut it down the the right size for the toaster oven, and there's a piece of wax paper inside to make pulling the two halves apart easier (not!), which makes cutting the bread in half an even bigger challenge. So we're cutting and laughing and imagining all the ways that this particular situation could go wrong. Finally, we get the durn thing in the oven, and it's back to the salads.

J takes a few bites of his salad and says, "This salad dressing tastes funny."

It occurs to me that we could be possession of some VERY old Catalina dressing. So I told him to quit eating it. (Don't tell him, but I checked the expiration date before I threw it out, and it expired in 2008.) I don't think he wanted to know how old it was because he didn't even look for a date. Smart man.

He moved on to ravioli. And the bread came out of the toaster oven. We probably should only have put 1/2 of the bread in at a time, because they were all squished together, and while they looked done on the outside, they were COLD on the inside. I tossed 2 of the pieces back in for a couple more minutes.

ARGH!!!

Okay, well. We finished lunch and it was time to get started on the lava cake. Which is supposed to be eaten within 20 minutes of coming out of the oven. I think it had been about 40 minutes at this point. So, I popped them out and plated them, tossed 'em in the microwave, and sprinkled powdered sugar on them. Then I threw some m&m's that J bought me for V Day on the plates for garnish. They just weren't good. That's all. :( Microwaving didn't help them at all. *sigh* Some days, things just don't go right.

We ate the cakes while we watched the romantic movie Salt, which we got from Red Box 3 days ago and needed to watch or return. I liked it!

I'm a good cook. There's nothing that should have given me a hard time today. It just didn't work out. And such is life, I guess.

Dreaming

2011-02-14T06:44:00.001-05:00

I spent the night in combat in my dreams.

Rough

2011-02-13T16:53:00.001-05:00

The tragedy that is my household today.

Surprise!!

2011-02-11T18:18:00.001-05:00

I'm sure this comes as a shock to most of you, but I have come to a conclusion about myself:

I am a very shallow person.

I know, I know...total surprise! Right out of left field!

As a child I used to think that I was responsible and mature. I used to think that I was a deep thinker, and an intellectual.

What did I know?

I know the truth now.

If it isn't fun, I won't do it. If I have to think too hard about it, then it's too much like work, and I won't waste my time on it. This explains why my house is always a wreck. It explains why I only read fiction. It explains why I spend the minimum amount of time on my homework. I HATE work!

I am an irresponsible, shallow human being.

I would have thought this realization would upset me since it is so different from my former perception of myself, but as I have come to terms with my true self, I have also found that it doesn't bother me. Ah well.

Don't Forget Your Backpack!

2011-02-09T06:46:00.001-05:00

It's 23 degrees this morning (farenheit). As Launa was stepping on the bus she realized she didn't have her backpack. I had to run the block home, grab the backpack and run back to the bus. It's been a long time since I was in track, guys. It is exhausting! Since I ran in the cold, of course I now have that cough. Fortunately, my neighbor gave me a ride home. My neighbors are nice.

2011-02-07T20:25:00.001-05:00

NO ONE TO TALK TO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UUUUUUUUU-UUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! *bashes head into keyboard:* szb v nm,kmbgccv

The Curse Of Beauty

2011-02-07T14:38:00.003-05:00

I posted a message one time about how everywhere Launa goes, people want to gush over her. Other little kids want to hug her. Adults want to tell me how gorgeous she is. Everyone wants to be near her. It's the price of true beauty. Anyway, I took Launa and Daniel to the Dollar Tree the other day because they had a little money burning holes in their pockets. While we were there, a Mexican lady (who didn't speak ANY English) stopped us, and started to gush in Spanish about Launa's hair. I could tell she was telling me how beautiful it was, because she was stroking Launa's hair while smiling and speaking rapidly in Spanish. I did catch a "bonito" in there, which I'm pretty sure means "beautiful." After some smiles and a "gracias" (from me) we went on our way. I think Launa was a little freaked out. You'd think she'd be used to it by now.

Why Won't My Drafts Save?

2011-02-06T22:23:00.002-05:00

I am no longer on facebook. I'm having a little trouble adapting. I like being able to post something quick and get back to my life. I guess that's why my blogging has suffered. Anyway, I started a draft called "Things I Wish I Could Post to Facebook" and jotted down a couple of things like "The odometer in my car rolled over to 141414!" and "I just made the best pot roast of my LIFE!" and "I just tripped over the plastic hamper in my living room (it wasn't where it belonged), fell on top of it, and broke it. At least I'll have a couple of really cool bruises!"

I was going to save up a week's worth of posts and then blog them, but the drafts won't save! It's driving me bonkers! Maybe I should make a list to keep in the margin of my blog and start fresh every week.

Nutty Bar Taste Test!

2011-01-20T21:48:00.003-05:00

Good evening, loyal readers. Today I decided to perform a public service by comparing one of the best snack foods ever made: The Nutty Bar. Unfortunately, the reason I happen to be doing this taste test is because I'm finishing off a box of one brand and beginning a box of another, so there are only two brands in the running: Little Debbie (LD) and Great Value (GV).

The contest got off to a little bit of a rocky start, because I pulled the packages out of the boxes, then laid them down right next to each other on the counter while I got the essential glass of milk. I went back to get the snacks, and realized I didn't know which was which! The contest almost ended then and there. But upon closer inspection, I realized that they were slightly different in appearance. In fact, one of the bars looked a little less chocolaty, and was a little bit skinnier than the other.

Uh-oh! Not a good sign for whoever the culprit turned out to be!

I was out of GV, so I compared to LD's. Turns out, the cheap-o looking thin ones with less chocolate were the name brand!! Tsk, tsk, LD! Not a very good start for the snack I paid an extra quarter for!

Well, I had compared the aesthetics, and GV, definitely looks better, but which actually tastes better? There's only one way to find out, and I am just the girl to test it! I decide to start with the more appetizing looking snack, and bite into the GV brand.

Of course it tastes like heaven, it's a peanut butter/chocolate combo with wafers in between! But for our purposes, let's try to be somewhat critical. The flavor was good, and the wafers were nice and crunchy. There was a good chocolate to peanut butter ratio. Then it was gone.

Now, it was LD's turn! I took a bite into the skinny little un-chocolaty snack. The wafers were more crispy than crunchy. I have to admit that the flavor was slightly better than the GV. The peanut butter seemed creamier. And I actually liked the crispness better than GV's crunchiness.

Now here's the thing: Great Value brand costs $1. Little Debbie brand costs $1.25. Are LD's Nutty Bars good enough for me to go out of my way to buy them over GV's?

Eh, because I'm cheap, probably not.

If I'm at a store that only has the name brand, then I'll happily spend the extra to get a slightly better confection. But if I'm at Walmart, I'll probably just grab the GV at checkout and still be a happy, well chocolate and peanut buttered girl!

The Zombie Apocalypse

2011-01-10T14:09:00.001-05:00

After hearing about "The Zombie Apocalypse" and watching enough zombie movies to be pretty much convinced that a Zombie Apocalypse is basically inevitable as scientists continue to play God, I have come to a decision.

I hope to be the first zombie.

Most people want to survive the Zombie Apocalypse. Many people want to kick the Zombie Apocalypse's butt. To many, being one of the last humans beats the alternative...becoming a zombie; or worse: becoming zombie food. In addition, there seems to be some kind of bragging rights involved in beating off zombies, and being one of the last human beings left on the planet.

I would submit to you, however, that being the first zombie is a far superior alternative.

First of all, becoming the first zombie means that you totally don't see it coming for you, so you have no dread of what might happen. One day you feel fine and the next, you are a mindless zombie, eating human flesh. This is admittedly not an appetizing idea, but certainly preferable to being terrified that you will become the aforementioned monster, or its meal, and THEN becoming such.

Second of all, how cool would it be to be the one that started it all?! I would go down in history!! "Patient Zero" has a really cool ring to it, and that could be me!

Third, and most important, I am much too lazy to have to spend so much of my day just trying to survive. I do not want to have to run from zombies, barricade myself against zombies, and become super-inventive in devising ways to obtain food without becoming the food myself. Please, just shoot me and get it over with. Or better yet, become the first zombie, and never have to worry about it!

Finally, I believe that surviving the Zombie Apocalypse is completely overrated. Once the zombies are vanquished, and you're left with only a handful of other people, then what? Your family is gone, there's no guarantee that you even LIKE the others that survived the Zombie Apocalypse with you, and, let's be honest, the smell would be overpowering.

That is why I want to be the first zombie in the Zombie Apocalypse.

A ... Thing Happened To Us On The Way To The Bus Stop

2011-01-06T06:51:00.003-05:00

My children's school starts at 8:00 in the morning, but they have to catch the bus at 6:37 (you got that right...in the morning) every day. Between my house and the bus stop (about a block away) there are 3 or 4 places that collect mud every time it rains. It rained last night. This morning, as we were walking to the bus stop, Daniel slipped and fell in a BIG mud collection area. He was COVERED in mud! I looked at him, and I looked at Launa (who hadn't fallen and was clean) trying to decide if I dared to leave my little girl at the bus stop alone in the dark to wait for the bus while I ran home to get Daniel changed. I decided that I'd better not, so I told them we needed to hurry home to change. Fortunately, we ran into our next door neighbor on the way back to the house and I asked him if he'd hold the bus for us. (Note: We are a 1-car family, and my husband is at work with the car, so my kids HAVE to make it to the bus.)

As we were walking back to the house, poor Daniel was sore and his shoes were slippy from the mud they were covered in. I wanted to be sympathetic, but the bus was due in any moment. So I told him I was sorry that he was sore, but that we had to hurry. I told him to wipe his shoes in the grass as we walked, and told him that as soon as we got to the house he needed to start taking off his pants and shoes while I grabbed a fresh pair of pants for him.

As we got into the house, I started running upstairs and he started taking off his pants and shoes...on my area rug. I grabbed the first pair of pants I could find and hurried them down to Dan, who was waiting....with his muddy shoes and pants in a heap...on my area rug. While he put his pants on, I grabbed a paper towel to try to wipe some of the mud off the sides and tops of his shoes so they were a least wearable. When I got back from cleaning off his shoes, I realized that I'd handed him a pair on jeans with a hole in the knee (sigh) but they were what he had on, and they were what he would wear. I tossed him a hand towel I had lying around so he could wipe off his hands, he got his coat and backpack back on, and we were on our way back to the bus stop. I think the whole thing took about 3 minutes.

On the way to the stop, our neighbor spotted us and told us to hurry, the bus was waiting. So we ran to the bus (in the STREET this time, because somehow this is safer than the sidewalk). The driver almost headed down to the next stop (which is about 300 feet from my kids' stop, I am NOT exaggerating for effect. It's ridiculous.) but when he saw us, he waited. He told me that if he had gone down to the next stop, he would have waited for us there, which was fine as well, but I was glad I didn't have to run the extra 300 ft!

The kids made it to the bus, and I need a bowl of Lucky Charms.

It Could Only Happen To Me

2010-12-29T21:26:00.001-05:00

When I was 18 I got a second hole in my earlobes, but for some reason, one side never healed properly and I had to re-open the piercing every time I changed my earrings, so I finally just let it close up. For Christmas my in-laws gave everyone $25 gift cards to Walmart! I wanted to do something completely frivolous that I wouldn't probably use family money to do. I decided I wanted to get my second earlobe piercings reopened with my Christmas money.

It seemed like a really good idea, so I went over to have it done tonight. The girl that was doing the piercings had a real thick accent, making her a little difficult to understand. I also decided to get my right cartilage done, so when she asked me which side needed to be re-pierced, I thought she was asking which side I wanted the cartilage pierced on, and I raised my right hand. So she found the little opening to the hole and re-pierced the right ear.

I remember getting my ears pierced when I was 18, and it hurt. A LOT. So I was pleasantly surprised when the piercing didn't hurt at all. She popped the other earring out for me to put into the other side, and she pierced my cartilage.

While she was cleaning up and getting ready to check me out, I tried to put the earring she gave me into my left ear. And it wouldn't go in. That's right. I had her re-pierce the wrong side!! I told her what happened, and she looked at me and said, "I'm running really low on the earrings you just chose. I don't know if there are any more left. So she searched for another set of the earrings I had just bought, and they were completely out. (Of course.) She looked at me and told me, she didn't know what to do, because there were no more earrings like that.

I looked back at her and I said, "Well, I'M the idiot that had you re-pierce the wrong side. Do you think you could just force the other earring in? It's my own fault."

She said she'd try. So I sat back down in the chair, and she started trying to work the earring in. It hurt. Really bad. She said that she could see it coming through the other side and that if I was okay, she'd keep pushing it through (I do feel at this point that I should clarify that even though it hurt, I was NOT fussing, wincing, whining, or being a baby in any way, but I did have my eyes closed - maybe they were closed really tightly). So I told her to finish the job. When it popped through, it really popped through! It was a very strange feeling. She told me I had to take extra care with that side to make sure it didn't get infected since we had to put it through by hand.

I laughed pretty much the whole way home. You know, people tell me that they admire my ability to laugh at myself, but honestly, if they gave themselves as much material as I give myself, they'd be laughing too! I am the biggest dork on the planet.

So, there you go. I had the wrong ear re-pierced. I am the only person in the world that would forget to check before I had something like that done. Yay me!

My Son Makes Me Laugh

2010-12-27T13:53:00.003-05:00

We got a new (fake) Christmas tree this year. As it is its' first year with us, my son said to me, "I don't think that this Christmas tree knows how to be a Christmas tree yet. It's only its first year."

I said to him, "Are you going to teach it how to be a Christmas tree then?"

He turns to the tree and says, "Okay tree, stand still, and hold the ornaments!"

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T14:13:00.005-05:00

Christmas tree with gifts underneath.

The most handsome boy on the planet! My wonderful 8-year-old Daniel!

Launa-monster! She loved the gift she got from Dan!

First white Christmas in Atlanta in 128 years!

Kids posing with their snow man!

Close-up of the snowman!

I'm Siiiiiiick. :(

2010-12-22T21:32:00.002-05:00

I have been blessed with an extremely strong constitution. I don't get sick. Well, I get sick sometimes, but only the odd cold. If it happens to be something worse, it usually happens less than annually, and it rarely knocks me out for more than a day or two. Needless to say, I am a HUGE baby when I'm sick. Every time I get sick, I am pretty much convinced that the end is near. Conversations often go something like this:

Me: *feebly* "Jeremy.....? Is that you...? Are...are you an angel...? Is this what death feels like?"

Jeremy: "Mary, you only sneezed. I promise you will survive!"

This week I have been very sick.

It started out on Friday with a cough.

It progressed on Saturday with a cough, headache and a low-grade fever.

Sunday I had a monologue to deliver at church as part of the Christmas production. Let me tell you, the only way I got through that was through lots of prayer and divine intervention. Really. I'm pretty sure that God stood right next to me and whispered the words into my ear. My concentration and thinking abilities were next to nothing that day, but I still nailed it (and had a believable delivery)! Fortunately for me, my costume that day was a pair of sweats and my bathrobe, along with n0 makeup, and super-frizzy hair! It was the perfect part for me.

What else? Okay, so Monday, I think I slept most of Monday. Yeah. I did. Jeremy took care of the kids and was wonderful that day.

But on Tuesday, HE came home from work with it! (He works the graveyard shift at a textiles factory.) So we were BOTH pretty useless on Tuesday, and he even called off work. I was supposed to make a cake for him to take to work for their Christmas potluck (I don't think I've ever blogged about my cakes, but my mom used to be a pro, and I learned everything I know from her. I make GOOD cakes!). I had already decided that it would be the better part of wisdom to not infect his entire shift with this nastiness, so I'm kinda glad that he didn't go. I have a graceful out now. I'll make the cake next week and send it in.

Today he felt well enough to start trying to do something about the house, which looked like it had thrown up. It's reasonably clean now, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to finish cleaning the kitchen and dining room tomorrow. He has to go to work tonight if he wants to get paid for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. So even though he doesn't feel good, he's off to work. I hear him getting ready now. :(

I finally went to the doctor today. He told me what I was afraid I'd hear: "There's nothing I can really do for you. You've had this thing so long, you just need to let it play itself out. I'm writing you a prescription, but don't fill it unless: By NEXT Friday you still feel like this, or your symptoms get worse, and your fever spikes." He said that there was only a 50/50 chance that the antibiotics would work anyway, so I should use them only as a last resort. He did give me a scrip for a cough syrup that should knock me out for a few hours of blessed sleep! He also told me that if I start having shortness of breath that could be pneumonia, and to get back in to see him.

He also told me a lot of other stuff about sickness and antibiotics, but I can't remember any of it. He told me that he doesn't usually go into so much detail, but that I seem to be very open and willing to understand what he's saying to me. I don't know if he was just flattering me to make me obey his instructions not to fill the 'scrip until the end of next week, or if he really meant it, but I'm thinking that my glassy eyes and mouth breathing couldn't have actually instilled too much confidence in my intelligence or comprehension. But I appreciate the sentiment all the same.

So the real reason that I started blogging at all tonight is this picture of Launa. I love this outfit that she has thrown together. This is one of her favorite outfits, and I have to admit to loving it myself. The pink tights have skull & crossbones on them, but you can't see them well in the picture.

(Sorry, FB friends, I know you've already seen and heard all this stuff.)

What Happened to My Nectarines?!

2010-12-14T20:20:00.002-05:00

Have you ever wondered what happens to a nectarine after many months? In early summer I found a great deal on nectarines, and being the savvy shopper that I am, I picked up a couple. I took them home, but didn't put them away immediately. I guess at some point, Jeremy must have decided to clean up the dining room, or at least clear it out enough that it could be used for its intended purpose. In any event, the nectarines disappeared. I looked for them in the fridge (Where they belong?! HA!), they weren't there. I looked for them on the counter (under all the junk that I keep there, of course), but they weren't there. I looked for them in the dining room on my chair where I had last seen them, but they weren't there. I looked everywhere else in the dining room. Not there. I even looked in my laundry room/storage closet (hereinafter referred to as "the utility room") which is right next to my kitchen. But I could not find it there. I started to worry a bit because I know that nectarines are highly perishable, but I figured that my nose would eventually lead me to them.

The nose never did find the nectarines, but my Christmas stuff did!

I suppose that from my pictures you have probably guessed that housekeeping is not my strong suit. And you would be right. The thing is, if the parts everyone sees are cluttered, imagine how the closets must be! Yeah. It's no wonder I couldn't find those nectarines. My Christmas boxes, when the decorations are not in use, reside in my utility room attached to the kitchen. Along with every plastic bag I have ever brought home from the grocery store, I guess it makes sense then, that I couldn't find the one plastic bag that HAD THE NECTARINES IN IT!!! It is Christmas time, folks! Those nectarines were from early summer! Would you like to know what I found in place of the nectarines?!

Actually, no, you wouldn't.

I will spare you the description, because I don't know how close you are to eating, or just how long ago you ate. Let's just say that I'm not curious enough to have peeked into the bag of liquid I found next to my Christmas stuff as I took it out to the dumpster (sometimes apartment living has its advantages).

You see, I learned very early in my adulthood never, ever to store produce in the utility room with my washing machine. It happened like this: I had a bag of potatoes that I had nowhere to put. I thought my utility room would be a great place for this. Then about a week later, there was a hideous stench coming from that room. I went to investigate, and what did I find?

Exploded potato guts in a bag!! That's what I found!

Ever since that learning experience, I have kept my produce out of my humid utility room. I guess I forgot to inform Jeremy. Hmm, maybe I should tell him now.

Walks In The Park With My Sister

2010-12-08T13:08:00.005-05:00

A couple of months ago I decided I needed to get my tush out of the house and moving. The thing is, I HATE exercise! I am an undisciplined do-nothing that tries my very hardest never to be uncomfortable. I couldn't afford a gym membership to guilt me into going because I was paying for the thing. I knew I wouldn't go myself, (I get bored very easily). The kids can't keep the pace that I can yet. I knew I had to get someone that could make me accountable.

My sister-in-law Stacey has battled her weight most of her life, but recently lost over 40 pounds (hope it's okay with you that I posted that, Stace), and she has kept it off for quite a while now (well over a year). I decided she was my girl! I asked her if she would start walking with me a couple of times a week. She agreed, and we started going to a local park with a 2 mile walking trail. She's been taking care of herself for a while, but I have been out of shape for much longer than she's been in shape. It was nothing for her to do 2 miles and go on to 4, but it took a while for me to be able to make it as easily as she could.

Anyway, after a couple of weeks, I started looking around and realized, this park is really pretty. Then, one morning, we saw 11 deer! I decided I needed to start bringing my camera along. When I find really nice things to take pictures of, I take them now. I am not a professional photographer. I'm not even a very good amateur photographer. In fact, I have a real knack for moving while I snap a photo or of covering half the lens with my finger. (I understand it's a family trait.) I never see very many deer when I have the camera around, but I've gotten some other interesting photos. I have decided to share them with you today.

An old nest found on the ground.

Pretty yellow fall tree.

Yellow tree behind rock bridge.

Interesting mushroom.

Persimmon! It took me a while to identify this because they are tiny. The blossom cap on some of the others finally gave it away.

Red tree overhanging the trail on a cloudy day.

Geese

More geese. Notice the lone white goose in the background. How do you think he got mixed up with such a rowdy bunch? Leave your stories in the comments section.

Line of red trees in front of some Georgia pines on an overcast day.

Half green, half red tree in front of one of the baseball diamonds.

More trees around the park.

Interesting duck we met for the first time today. He didn't like me taking his picture.

I got him to turn to the side a little anyway so I could take his picture.

Now that it's gotten cold and the leaves have fallen off the trees, this grass seems to have popped inside out like popcorn. This is a picture of a big bunch of this grass. (Sorry it's blurry. I warned you, though.)

This is a close-up of that popped grass. Turns out, that's ICE coming out of it! It must hbe really moist inside, and the moisture starts seeping out, causing the ice to slowly form swoopy ice art on the outside! Cool, eh? I thought it looked like packing peanuts and wanted to see if that's what it felt like, which is how I discovered that it was ice! Crazy!

Time For An Update!

2010-12-08T07:39:00.003-05:00

Wow you guys! I've been terribly neglectful of my blog lately, and as you can see I'm trying to get back with it. My posts have been somewhat uninspired, but I'm hoping to get my mojo back soon. ;) I've been looking over my blog though, and all of my family pictures are really old and outdated! I think I need to go through and update them so the family looks true to life. Otherwise you may think that I'm a 26-year-old mother of 6 and 3 year olds forever! I'll be 40 with 2 college aged children (insanity!!) and everyone will think I'm a young mom of two babies. Strange how life tricks you into not realizing that you and everyone around you are getting older. Next month I will be 29. 29!!! How does this happen? I need to hurry and get myself into shape. I'd like at least one year in my 20s where I like the way I look and feel.

I have heard that people mellow when they hit their 30s and start feeling more comfortable in their own skin and more content with life in general. I hope it works out that way for me. I think if I were more relaxed it would make a huge difference for my family. I try, but I've been a crazy woman lately. Maybe that's why the blogging has come hard for me. I don't even recognize myself anymore. I've been prickly and irritable. I have a hard time thinking nice thoughts about anyone. Every little perceived slight sets me off. This is really weird for me because I really like most people, and I generally give people the benefit of the doubt. My philosophy for many years is that people are not out to get me, and their underlying intentions are not to hurt me, so I'm not easily offended. But this is not the case anymore. Don't even think about disagreeing with me or saying something that could in any way be perceived as a criticism or ^%@&MARY!!*^$# will come out and get you! And believe me, you don't want to meet ^%@&MARY!!*^$#! Anyway, I'm hoping to get Mary back soon. In the meantime, maybe ^%@&MARY!!*^$# will provide some entertaining material. We can only hope.

Launa's New Socks

2010-12-07T13:31:00.002-05:00

I bought Launa socks in early October because I was unable to find all but maybe one pair. Even after searching the house, under beds, in closets, and under the couch *shudder* I still couldn't find any of her socks. It had been a while since I bought socks for her anyway, so I decided it was time. When I went to Walmart to pick out a new set, I was happy to see this adorable pack that had different colored socks that could color coordinate with pretty much any outfit she had! Obviously not considering the fact that I couldn't find any of my daughter's current socks, and that if that happened to any of these socks, they would have no mate, I grabbed the package. I am entirely serious when I say that some of these socks were worn ONCE before their mates disappeared! (I'm sure you could tell by looking at the pristine condition of some of these socks.) I have already had to pair the gray one with the black one, and the blue one with the purple one. I know people joke about missing socks, but really, where DO they go?

Cub Scouts

2010-12-06T21:15:00.006-05:00

Daniel started Cub Scouts this school year. He is a bear cub. Today they worked on earning their wood-working badges, and they made bat houses. You read that right, bat houses. Because I want screechy, rabies riddled, terrifying flying rodents around my house. It's a good thing that we rent, because I can say that we aren't allowed to put it up. Here are pictures of the bat house that Daniel, Launa and I (but mostly Daniel) made at scouts:

Daniel and Launa posing with the bat house:

Close-ups of the sides and inside. That's some high quality craftsmanship!

I hope the bats don't end up with tetanus on top of their rabies.

As a reward for sticking with me this long, an added bonus - Launa playing the DS:

Sweet Launa

2010-11-20T14:45:00.002-05:00

Okay, so this might be "overshare" territory, but I was in my underwear after my shower, and Launa came in. She wanted me to help tear the perfume samples out of a magazine we had been talking about and looking through together earlier. So I sat down, and we were looking through the magazine, when she starts patting my adorably distended mommy belly. She said, "Belly, belly, belly. I used to live in there. It used to be my home." And she kissed it. Suddenly my belly doesn't seem so hideous to me anymore.

More Than Just A Family Story

2010-10-14T07:22:00.004-04:00

The kids had Fall break over the weekend (5 days off in a row!), so we got to go visit my family in St. Louis. My grandma has had a rough year and recently moved into my folks' house. It was really nice for my family to get to spend some real time with her, since we have rarely been able to make visits across the country to visit her in California. Before I went to bed (super late on that last night in town), my mom got out a little album that they put together of family snapshots.

You know how there are some stories that you hear about growing up, but you really can't grasp the true horror of it until you have lived life a little? We revisited one of the tragic stories of our family history as we went through the album and as I was telling Jeremy about it later, the depth of anguish I felt over this story surprised even me. Here it is:

As we were going through the photos, there was one of this beautiful, goofy, adorable little girl with short, tousled, blond hair, and the typical knock-knees and giant teeth of a pre-teen, holding a lit-up birthday cake and grinning ear-to-ear. My aunt Nancy. It was her eighth birthday.

When my mother was very small, and my uncle was an infant, the family was involved in a terrible car wreck. In this wreck, my grandma's pelvis was crushed and she was told that she would never walk again. My aunt Nancy was thrown from the car and died on impact (this was in the early 60s when seatbelts weren't even installed in every car). My grampa, who has always struggled with depression couldn't care for the entire family, so the oldest three children stayed home while my mom and uncle Mark, who were babies at the time, had to be cared for by separate friends and family members until my grandparents could get things back under control in their lives. The oldest child, my aunt Debi cared for the home and the other two siblings, while still going to school and maintaining her grades. At the age of 12. This one event set them back for years as people and as a family. The accident happened two months to the day after the photo was snapped of Nancy's 8th birthday.

Grampa and Gramma made it through the tragedy. My Gramma walks. Nancy is a well-used family name, in honor of the aunt/sister/daughter that everyone loved and missed. It has occurred to me that on Tuesday, my son Daniel will be the exact same age as my aunt Nancy was when she passed away. And I now dream of the beautiful little girl frozen in time, waiting in The Father's arms for the rest of her family to join her in their own times.

Cool Facts About Spiders!

2010-09-20T15:48:00.003-04:00

So I asked the exterminator about the black widow looking spider from my back window. I told him that it looked like a black widow with a red squiggly line down it's back. He told me that it was a male black widow because they have either a red squiggly line or a dot on it's belly instead of an hourglass. I told him how strange that was since there was an egg sac in the window. He told me that it must have been the dad and that he got away from the mom (who usually kills the male after mating), but was coming back to eat the eggs. I feel kind of bad that I had J kill the eggs, since it sounds like the dad had the same goal in mind. The exterminator told me that the males are also venomous. As he was leaving, the exterminator told me to take the broom and sweep down all the spider webs on my front porch because spiders only make enough web in their lifetimes to make one web. They absorb the web (Liz told me that spiders can absorb their webs, but I didn't know they can only make one web in their lifetime) when it gets really yucky, and then use it to make a new one. If their webs are knocked down though, since they can't make anymore webs, they will starve to death.

My Dining Room Window

2010-09-04T17:24:00.005-04:00

I don't go outside as much as I should. And I rarely have any reason to go out back. My back door is in my dining room, right next to my dining room window. As I was coming inside from the back today, I noticed all these bugs on the ledge and I thought, "Wow, we must have a serious spider living on the window!"

I ran inside to grab my camera and take a picture of the window sill to show you the carnage. When I came out, I was surprised to find ...

THIS!!!!

It looks like a black widow, but instead of an hourglass, it has a red squiggly stripe down it's belly. I wonder if there's a variety of black widow that looks like this, or if it's a benign garden spider sporting camo?

New Banner!

2010-07-23T19:49:00.003-04:00

In case you haven't noticed, I have added a new banner image. How do you like the Flock Of Seagulls 'do? It was better before I went downstairs to get the camera. But it's still the same basic shape. Love that girl. She's ridiculous.

Knives I Just Don't Get

2010-07-19T16:18:00.005-04:00

Here are two knives I've had for the last 9 years. They came in a set. I don't understand them. What do they do? What is their intended purpose?

The top knife is a lot like a steak knife, but instead of curving up on the end of the blade, it curves down. The bottom knife is shown flipped over on the next picture. This knife has two blades, one going one direction on top, and the other facing the other direction on bottom. It's hard to see what I'm talking about in the pictures, but I hope you get my meaning. Notice the handle: It is meant only to be held one way...so why the double edge?!

These are the knives that I just don't get. Do you have any gadgets around your house that inspire awe and wonder (like, you wonder what the heck it's supposed to do)?

Polling Problem

2010-07-18T14:18:00.002-04:00

Hey, I just added a poll so that you can vote for your favorite Georgia monster. The poll wasn't working properly, so I took it down to try again. If you haven't voted, come give it a try. If you have, come vote again because your vote has been reset. Thanks!

Freaky, Weird and Messed-Up Bugs From God's Country

2010-07-16T23:26:00.006-04:00

So, I've been living in Georgia for some time now. (2 years this month, can you believe it?!) The bugs here never cease to ~~freak me out~~ amaze me! Anyone who knows what kinds of bugs these are, or any interesting information about them, please let me know.

This is a bug I found right outside my front door when I was telling Jeremy goodbye before he left for work. It was about 11:30 pm. I liked him because of his loooooong antennae.

I woke up to this guy in the doorway between my kitchen and utility room. Because of his stillness and legs-up positioning, I thought he was dead.

Turns out he was just in the throes of death. When I scooped him up into my dustpan and it flipped him over, he started writhing. But he was on his way out. I tossed him outside.

This is a moth I found on my wall out back when I was tossing "mandibles" up there outside. I just thought it was really interesting, so I took a picture of it. Then my bratty neighbor kid killed it. He fed it to a spider.

Speaking of spiders...

This impressive specimen is the same kind of spider that I battled while I was blind and naked in my bathroom. In this case, I had just seen 2 roly-polies crawling around my house and I was on the phone with my dad lamenting the vast number of roly-polies that have been sneaking into my house. I was starting to explain to him that my house is the official roly-poly graveyard since they seem terribly fond of coming here to die. I walked back from the living room where I had seen roly-poly #2 to the kitchen where I had seen roly-poly #1, and looked where the roly-poly had been. Instead of a benign if somewhat annoying roly-poly, there was this huge, nasty guy waiting for me! I was so surprised that I screamed right into my poor dad's ear! (Sorry Dad, I do feel bad about that.) Well, I had seen him, so he couldn't be allowed to live. ::shudder:: Then, I had to figure out how I was going to do it! (Because, of course, I still haven't gotten around to buying that bug spray I promised myself I would pick up after the other spider attack...really, why do I procrastinate so much?) Ack!! I opted for the Clorox Ready Mop which was close at hand, and which kept the spider a good distance from me. This picture was taken after I had smashed the snot out of him! (I suppose that's kind of obvious, since one of his legs is lying next to him, and he's in a crumpled heap.) Ugh. Just looking at the thumbnail of this sends shivers up my spine! In fact, I have to type this in "Edit Html" mode so I can't see the picture! I have seen several of these in my house, and they make me nervous because they are quite large (easily 1 1/2" including the legs, maybe even bigger, but I am not getting close enough to one to measure). Again, I can't get close enough to one of these to figure out if it's a brown recluse or something else. If anyone knows, let me know...actually, I may not want to know. ...If it is a brown recluse anyway, because if that happens, I don't know if I could ever get close enough to kill one, even with a broom or mop. Ick!

So there you have it! Georgia's greatest and most fearsome critters. Hope you enjoyed looking at the strange creatures that God has used to make my life more interesting while I have been here.

The Dentist!

2010-07-06T22:25:00.003-04:00

I took Daniel to the dentist in late February for the first time in about 18 months. (Bad Mom! I know.) Of course by then, he had gone from having perfect teeth, to having 8-9 cavities that needed to be filled between his teeth. (FLOSS, for goodness' sake! FLOSS!) One of his cavities actually needed to be crowned. This was going to run us just under $800 out of pocket to do. On his baby teeth. *sigh* We don't have that kind of money, so like any good overwhelmed mommy, I ran and hid from the mess for 3 months. Well, the tooth that needed to be crowned really started to hurt him, so I took him in for a consultation and a second opinion from an office that came very highly recommended from a couple of individuals and a general dentist.

After they got done looking at his teeth (and taking their own x-rays), they brought him out and told me how good he was in the back and how they had no trouble with him, and he was all smiles. This is always nice to hear. However, by now the verdict was even more bleak. 3 of the other cavities were now going to need to be crowned. My bill will now be $2000. Out. Of. Pocket. For baby teeth. They will fall out in about 2 years. At this point, I start sobbing hysterically, and the poor girl going over the numbers with me doesn't know what to do with me. She asks if I'd like to send the kids back out to the waiting room to play while we discuss our options. The kids say they'd like to go play, so, even though normally I don't like to let them out of my sight in public, I allow it. We discuss options, I have a chat with the dentist who tells me that they may not have to do crowns on those teeth if he doesn't hit the nerve, but he wanted to err on the side of caution. Meanwhile, Daniel still needs to have a crown put on his hurting tooth immediately at a cost of $344. Well, I have a Benny card, and I think there's enough left on it, so I head back out to the waiting room for them to call Daniel back again so they can do his crown.

They have a cool safari themed waiting room. There's a big fish tank that people can walk behind, and there's this climb-y enclosed thing the kids can play in. And there are a couple of televisions and plenty of seating. On first glance into the waiting room, I don't see the kids, so I figure they must be in the climb-y thing, or behind the fish. I look behind the fish. Not there. I look in the climb-y thing. Not there. Huh. I check the bathroom. Not there. I go back to the climb-y thing and call for them. Nothing. There's nobody inside. I do another quick sweep of the waiting room, and they are clearly not there. I tell the lady behind the desk that my kids came out to the waiting room to play, but they are not there, and would she please check the back for them. She checks. They are not there. I make another sweep of the waiting room and all the nooks and crannies. NOT. THERE. So I ask the lady at the desk if she will allow me to check the back and see if my kids are there. Not knowing what else to do, she says yes. I wander around in back looking for the kids, of course I can't see them there. The assistants back there ask me what I'm doing, and I tell them that my kids are nowhere to be found. So they all start the search for my kids.

By this time, I'm starting to freak out. There's no shouting or hysterics yet, but there is some definite desperation. I am imagining myself having to call the police and fill out reports, and some MANIAC has just walked into a dental office and took off with my children, and I'll never see them again, and how am I supposed to live without them? What will I say to Jeremy? I am the only person on earth that could lose both of their children in one afternoon in a dentist's office! What if they don't come back? I really don't think I can survive that...

They call me from the waiting room. They found them! The children had been hiding in the climb-y thing, laying flat under the windows so that I couldn't see them.

...

Okay, let me just say, that as happy as I was that they were still alive, they came tremendously close to being skinned alive right then and there! Lucky for them we had more time to wait in the waiting room, because if we had been ready to leave, we would have gone straight home, where I would have tanned both their hides so well, that they would not have been able to sit for a MONTH! I stared them both down, and told them that that was NOT funny. And to never, EVER do that again. I should have used their restroom to thrash them ... everyone would have heard, but I don't think there would have been one parent there that blamed me. *sigh* Anyway, I don't think they will try that again, because they could tell that I was serious. So much for "Oh, he's been so good!" I was so embarrassed. But at least I still have my brats. Strangely enough, I love 'em anyway.

And Now, My Son's Comeback

2010-06-01T17:15:00.003-04:00

Daniel had been playing Inkball on the laptop when he came down to ask if he could play something else because Inkball was getting too difficult. Jeremy overheard and said, "Is this what we've taught you? That when it gets hard, quit?! Well I didn't raise any quitters!!" Daniel turns around and says, "Actually, you just did." Smart aleck.

Another Launism

2010-06-01T14:40:00.002-04:00

I was minding my own business when Launa came over and asked me what my favorite thing to do was. I told her, "Spanking the kids." She said, "No! Not something that hurts." I said, "Kicking the kids?" She said, "NO!!! Nothing that involves violence!"

Launa's Day

2010-05-18T13:32:00.002-04:00

Today was Launa's last day of pre-k! It was a 1/2 day so I picked her up at 12. For the award ceremony, she won the award for being kindest! I can't tell you how proud that makes me! I think at the Christian school I used to work for they would have called that the Timothy award. :)

Anyway, we stopped at the store after school so I could get lunch and a couple of other things for dinner. Afterwards, while we were driving home (well, I was driving, Launa was sitting in the back seat) I was listening to Limbaugh. Launa calls from the back seat, "Mom, will you please call the man on the radio and tell him to leave and go home?" I asked her why I should do that, and she told me, "Because I don't like to listen to him." *sigh* I'm raising a couple of Liberals. Where did I go wrong? Actually, I had to laugh, and I changed the channel. Love that silly girl.

Speaking Of Grampa...

2010-05-03T20:45:00.002-04:00

That story reminded me of another one from when I visited them in 2000. My grampa took me to church one Sunday when I was over, and he parked in front of this older looking building, that looked a little like a storefront with no windows. We got out and he gestured to the door on the building and said, "Okay Mary, that's where we're going."

I read the door: "Church of Scientology, Mission of Buenaventura"

I turned right around and started to get back in the car while exclaiming, "GRAMPA!!! We can't go in there!!"

He started to laugh and pointed across the street to the big Lutheran church and said, "Nah, I'm just kidding. We're going there."

You know, he had a sick sense of humor.

I Can't Believe I Forgot This!

2010-05-02T16:41:00.003-04:00

There's this great story about my grampa that I was going to be sure to mention when I wrote about him, and I just now remembered that I had forgotten it! Here it is:

When I was 18 years old, I went to visit my grandparents in Ventura, CA. That was in the Fall of 2000. While I was there, they were filming to movie Swordfish in downtown Ventura, and my grampa thought it would be a special treat to take me over there to watch some of it. So we went.

Grampa parks the car, and leads me down to where the filming is taking place.

He walks past the barricade and continues to walk down the street.

Past the actors dressed in SWAT gear on a tank, past the people running the opposite direction down the sidewalk.

I'm tip-toeing behind him whispering, "Grampa, I'm not sure we should be back here!"

Suddenly, the director is shouting over the loudspeaker, "EVERYONE WHO IS NOT IN THE MOVIE GET ON THAT SIDE OF THE STREET!!!!"

LOL! Yeah, he was yelling at us! I was SO embarrassed, but I didn't want to ruin Grampa's chance of watching the filming, so I sucked it up and we went across the street to the crowd behind the barricade and tried to watch, but there was nothing interesting happening and we finally got to leave.

You know, at the time I thought he was just being oblivious, but now I wonder if he was trying to photo-bomb the movie. That would have been awesome!

That is the story of how my grampa and I almost became movie stars!

I Wish

2010-04-29T01:59:00.002-04:00

I just saw an ad for World Vision that said:

"I can bail out:

a: A National Bank
b: Auto Companies
c: A Child Slave"

And all I could think was, if the government hadn't taken my money to bail out national banks and auto companies, I could afford to sponsor a child. Except I wouldn't do it through World Vision because a good percentage of your money goes into their advertising campaigns. I want to put it in with the charity who will use the largest amount of my money possible for the child I sponsor.

2010-04-19T19:10:00.002-04:00

Ahhhh, Lou Rawls! I could listen to that man sing forever!

My Favorite Cake

2010-04-18T13:33:00.004-04:00

Jeremy's aunt called me on Thursday to ask me to make a cake for her husband's 40th birthday. She told me that I could do whatever I wanted as long as it was all "Over-The-Hill"ed out! So this is what I came up with. I am proud to say that it is of my own design, and that the "rocks" the edge the cake are chocolate rocks I found in the candy dept. at Walmart. I LOVE this cake!

Oh yeah, I forgot to add nostrils to the skull at first, so I added them after I took these pics. I took another picture with the nostrils, but I haven't uploaded the pic to my computer yet. So you'll have to use your imagination. ;)

Spring Break

2010-04-13T00:18:00.005-04:00

Launa and Shadow at James and Jody's

This Spring Break was unusually eventful for us. I decided that I needed an internet detox, since I had been oblivious to my family to an unacceptable degree. I got off to a good start, but couldn't ignore my grampa's passing on Tuesday, so I wrote two tributes to him - one here and one on FB. Thursday, Daniel had his testing for learning disabilities. I'll get the results on May 7 -you know, two weeks before school lets out for the Summer. Hopefully we'll be able to start some strategies and get some kind of coping mechanisms in place before school starts in the Fall so he can take 3rd grade by storm!

Friday we went to visit my brother at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina. We got there in the early afternoon, and hung out and made dinner together that night. Saturday we decided to go to the beach, so Jody got out her GPS and pointed it toward the nearest beach which just so happened to be Wrightsville Beach, NC. We grabbed lunch within a couple of miles of our destination at a local fast food restaurant, in which the girl behind the counter was especially rude to my brother and treated him like a moron. When we were done there, we headed back toward the beach, but got stuck in awful traffic. After waiting in traffic for about 30 minutes to get a mile, we realized there was some kind of event going on in town. People were dispersing from what appeared to be maybe a parade, and girls were dressed in old-fashioned debutante dresses out in front of the historic mansions of the town! Wouldn't you know it? We chose the annual Azalea Festival to visit their beach. But the town was beautiful, and the girls in their pretty dresses were a thrill for Launa, so it wasn't a total loss. When we finally got to the beach, we stripped down to our bathing suits, and ran for the water!

Did you know that the Atlantic Ocean in North Carolina in April is FREEZING?! Well, you do now!

We spent a lot of time on the warm sand instead of in the water, although the kids really didn't mind the cold water much. They were having a blast finding sea shells and playing in the waves. Daniel surprised me since he can't swim, and is usually a very cautious kid, by running into the water up to his waist all by himself without any adults very nearby. (I have to admit that as his mother it also alarmed me tremendously, but any time that kid wants to be adventurous, I try not to discourage it.) We had a good time burying each other in the sand, and walking on the pier. Jeremy and I went over to the pier first and we got there just in time to watch someone pull a 40 lb stingray out of the water! It was very cool! Jeremy and I went back and got the kids and James and Jody, and we all went for a walk down the pier. After spending the day on the beach, we decided that we wanted to get some fresh sea food from a local place, so we went to a local shop and asked where a reasonably priced seafood place was. The guy told us to go to a place called Heironymous (I have no idea how it's spelled) and we plugged it into the GPS. So we got to the restaurant and got a place to sit. We decided after having a look at the menu that we would take the kids to McDonald's for dinner afterward in order to save money knowing that they probably wouldn't eat the more expensive food we would order from this restaurant. Two other parties were seated at the same time we were. The waiter took our drink orders, but didn't come back to take our food order until the other parties had already gotten their food. Then we waited for over an hour for our food. We decided to pay for our drinks and leave, so we asked for our check. Suddenly, the waiter was all excuses (he actually told us that they were putting a large party in priority over us because the two waiters were sharing the tips from them), cared about our food, and told us it was ready and in the window, were we sure we didn't want to stay for the food? Well, we allowed him to persuade us to stay. (BIG mistake!) The food must have been sitting in the window for a very long time because by the time it came out the food was cold, and crab legs couldn't be cracked. Anywho, we were pretty ticked off, but then we received the bill. Just under $100. Jody, spurred into action, went to have a chat with the manager, who incidentally was the man who seated us. He remembered seating us, and agreed with Jody that it had been an excessively long time ago, and gave her a $30 gift card to help pay for our meal. Meanwhile, our children are starving, because they had just spent a day at the beach and we stopped for dinner at 7 pm and it was now 9 pm. We still had a 2 hour drive home. So when we finally got to McDonald's, we decided that the kids had earned Happy Meals instead of dollar menu for being so good at the adult restaurant. Jeremy went in to order. 10 minutes, later, we were wondering what had become of him, so I walked in to see what the hold-up was. He was just putting in his order. I would like to take this moment to say that the restaurant was not packed out. I don't know why it took so long for them to get to him. I would also like to say that these time frames are NOT exaggerations, they are actual amounts of time that we waited for service and food. 10 minutes later, he finally emerged from McDonald's with the two Happy Meals he had ordered.

Maybe you can help us come up with a new slogan for Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Here are a couple that we came up with:

Wrightsville Beach, NC: Service at OUR convenience.

Wrightsville Beach, NC: Where we will get to you when we're good and ready, and not a minute before!

Despite all the food difficulties, we did have a good time at the beach, and the kids now know that the ocean is REALLY salty! Daniel, who was having a blast running into the ocean later amended his opinion of his day to say that it was the worst day of his life because he swallowed too much salt water. Whatever...I guarantee you I won't be able to keep him out of the ocean when we make another trip later in the Summer. We have come to the conclusion that there's no reason for us not to make a couple of trips a year to the ocean since we live so stinkin' close to it! This is a luxury! But we will meet James and Jody at a halfway point next time.

Daniel in the water - alone.

Jody, Launa and me.

Daniel Launa and Jeremy

Launa and Daniel with Uncle James. Note Uncle James' Haitian farmer's tan!

The most handsome man alive.

Pretty sky that day.

40 lb. stingray.

The good-lookin' people.

James kisses Jody on the pier.

Anyway, Sunday was our last day together, and Jody had been wanting to take the kids to a place called Monkey Joe's, which is a bounce house. Since we had such stringent time constraints, we did not keep the Sabbath holy and went to play. It was a good thing that we went. The kids got to get a lot of their energy out before we made the 7 hour trip home. And they went to sleep in the car and slept well, which was good since they had to go to school this morning. Since I had the car, I didn't Daniel up at 6:10, and instead let him sleep until 6:50 and then took both kids to their schools in opposite directions. Tonight, they went to bed nice and early without excuse or argument. They knew they were tired. We had a really good Spring Break. We just wish we could have spent more time in North Carolina. There was not enough time, but Summer break is right around the corner, so we'll do it again before Summer's out!

Launa bouncing

Daniel sliding

James after about 2 hours of Monkey Joe's.

Wayne Guess

2010-04-06T19:16:00.003-04:00

Today the world lost my Grampa. Wayne Aldon Guess was born in the state of Nebraska to a farming family. He was the youngest of several children, and used to joke that his parents gave him the middle name "Aldon" because they were all done having children. He married my gramma as a teenager. He was 17 and she was 15. Gramma said that on their first date he tried to convince her that a light pole was the moon and stood there howling at it. It's a wonder that he scored that second date, but I'm glad that he did! ;) Grampa and Gramma raised their children in Yakima, Washington on an indian reservation. Grampa was a farmer and could make anything grow. He was also a construction worker and could build anything beautifully. Grampa built this cool futuristic craftsman home where my mom grew up. It had all of the amenities of a modern home. This house came complete with built-in appliances in the kitchen which could be pulled out and hidden away when a person was finished using it. They lived on a working farm. My grampa had livestock, horses, and grew crops. My mom used to be a crack-shot and barrel racing competitor when they lived there.

In the mid-70s when my mom was in Jr. High they moved to the coastal town of Ventura, CA. Because that was where all the good construction jobs were. That's where I was born. They lived right down the street from a great park. This park had the play areas fenced in with wood stumps that varied in height. When we were little my grampa would take us to the park. And he was always so patient. He would hold our hands while we walked all the way around the play area on the stumps. I've always been afraid of heights, but I would occasionally try to slide down the pole, or the big slide, and inevitably got stuck and refused to come down. My grampa was 6'4" and would reach up for me to come down. He'd have to convince me that he wouldn't drop me. (I was 4, but thought he wouldn't be able to carry my weight or he would miss me when I fell.) He never missed. He would push us on the swings for a long time. Probably much longer than he wanted to, but he never rushed us. He also lived by a community college that has a swap meet every weekend. We would go and he'd always get us something little there. Ventura has a marina with a bunch of little shops and a carousel. My grandparents would take us there and let us ride the carousel, buy us tiny little baby porcelain dolls that were about 2 inches big. If we were really good, they would buy us cotton candy (pink, of course!). They also would take us to the museum and we could play in the "tide pools" there. One time we saw a live shark egg there! It was cool! It looked like a rectangular pouch with a ball on one end, and you could see the little shark developing inside! Sometimes they'd buy is "trouble dolls" or fools gold from the gift shop. Trouble dolls were a local indian tradition. There were 5 dolls in a teeny-tiny box. You were supposed to tell them your troubles, and they would work at night to help resolve them. My grandparents live near a lot of farm land. The neighboring town of Oxnard is famous for its strawberries. My grandparents used to buy these huge half flats of strawberries and share them with us when we visited. Grampa used to tell me to "Eat up! It'll put hair on your chest!" I think he did it so he could have more strawberries, because inevitably I would put the strawberry I was eating down and not go for any more that night. Grampa used to like to go to the swap meet and buy fabric from a whole-saler and send it to me for dresses when I was a teenager. I made several really pretty ones, and I still have some of his fabric. I think I'll make Launa something. Maybe I'll have enough material to make something for both of us so we can match.

After I had Daniel, I took him for a visit when he was about 18 months old. When grampa heard that I was bringing him, he unearthed the little red Radio Flyer wagon that we used to play in when we visited him as kids. Of course, by the time Daniel came to use it, it was rusted and a mess. So Grampa sanded it down and re-painted it so Daniel could have something to play in when he got there. While we visited, my grandparents took us to the beach and the marina. Grampa took us to the swap meet. Even though my grampa was no longer a farmer by profession, he loved to grow things and would create a garden each spring. It was planting time when we got there, so Daniel helped Grampa plant cucumbers. At 7 years old, Daniel still remembers that! When we talk about him he always asks, "Is that the grampa I planted cucumbers with?" He is.

When Grampa found out that I was having a girl, he went down to the swap-meet and bought a pretty little frilly dress for her to wear when she got here. We went for another visit when Launa was about 18 months old. I don't think I managed to get any pictures with him. I don't know how I did that.

By the time my Gramma Gross died last year he had deteriorated badly. We visited him in the nursing home he was in at the time. He was so skinny and he couldn't walk. This was not the Grampa I remembered from my childhood. It was a hard thing to see. The last 2 1/2 - 3 years have not been good ones for Grampa. My grampa has had many struggles in this life. He suffered greatly with depression. When my mom was a very small girl, her family was in a hideous car wreck. One of the children didn't live through it. Today, he got to see her. He gets to hold the baby that I lost. And those that my cousins lost. While it hurts me now, I know that he is whole again. He is seeing the ones that he's been missing. He is not depressed. His body moves the way he wants it to. No more Parkinson's. Yes, this is a good day for you Grampa.

I look forward to the day I get to see you again. And I'll miss you until then. I love you Grampa.

Internet Detox

2010-04-05T14:19:00.003-04:00

Mary has been a neglectful wife, mother and house-keeper. The biggest reason for this is my Internet addiction! Jeremy and I have agreed that we need a media detox. He - video games, me - internet. The kids are home from school this week and they deserve better than looking at the back of my head and having Jeremy craning his neck around them every time one of them has to walk through the room this week. We are going to have a good time hanging out as a family this week, and the Internet is NOT invited to this party. See you all next week.

Silly Little Article

2010-04-04T23:39:00.002-04:00

Ran across this article tonight. It uses a deck of cards to reveal personality types. Here's what it says about me:

I am a 2 of spades.

"Spades are confident, strong-willed and wise. Even when they are young, Spades will often act more mature than their age. These are the workers of the deck. Spades are more interested in doing their jobs well than talking about them or becoming too emotionally involved with others. Spades can be stubborn and don't like it when others try to control them. Spades find satisfaction in careers in construction (building), broadcasting and health care. And, as the symbol of 'transformation,' Spades can also be successful in industries that deal with death or dying, and mysticism.
...

Two is sensitive, logical and comfortable in partnerships because you enjoy having someone to talk to, or bounce ideas off of. Avoid being insincere or becoming too dependent on the opinions of others."

Interestingly, I share this number with my boys Glenn Beck ans Rush Limbaugh (and also Howard Stern I'm afraid).

I don't put much stock in this obviously (confident? worker? really?) but a girl can dream.

My Life Philosophy

2010-04-02T15:44:00.000-04:00

Inadequacy of Taste

2010-04-01T22:54:00.002-04:00

I love music. I think I have pretty good taste in music. But I also feel a little bit limited in my musical experience. I grew up in a rock n' roll family that went to hymn & chorus singing churches growing up. The classical music that I know, I like. However I feel a bit stupid and uncultured when it comes to music other than rock music. I know music from the 50s to the present, with a noticeable gap in 70s music knowledge because 70s music for the most part stinks (even the worst decades have the occasional good song, but I'm talking in generalities here). Studies have shown that people who prefer pop music are not very deep thinkers, while those that like jazz and classical are generally smarter than everyone else. I can see that. Usually the reason that I listen to music is so that I don't have to think. Maybe that's why I like it so much. People don't usually think of rock music as beautiful or even very deep. It's funny to me, though, that the right rock song will still move me to tears. Most of the songs that do that to me are associated with a memory or a different time in my life and fill me with longing for things that I miss. It's even more than that though. Sometimes I'm actually where I want to be when I listen to the right song. That's all.

Today

2010-03-31T06:46:00.003-04:00

Today is get my house back under control day! I dread the amount of work this is going to take, but I will be so relieved when it's over. The reupholstery job has taken over my house, and I'm ready to take it back! Those of you who know me are likely to know that I am just not a tidy person by nature. I let piles of clutter grow on every surface. But this thing that has happened to my house is even more than I can bear.

Mess! You have been put on notice! I am coming for you! And my cleanliness will be complete!

Ahh! FINALLY!

2010-03-30T19:44:00.005-04:00

Finally finished the job! Jeremy's chair was the hardest. For some reason the back part of the chair top did not wish to receive any staples and repelled them like opposing magnets! I think I wasted at least 2, and maybe even 3 of those long strings of attached staples just trying to get some to stick into the back! It was maddening! I finally got a few to stick well enough to get the fabric to stay on, so hopefully there won't be problems with it falling apart later. We'll just have to see. I'll use gorilla glue next time - at least on Jeremy's chair.

Here's the finished product!

My side of the table.

Launa's side of the table.

Daniel's side of the table.

Daniel's chair.

Launa's chair.

My chair.

Jeremy's chair.

So the workmanship is amateurish, but I can guarantee you that this is the only dining room set in the world like this. And it's mine! My children helped to make it, and they chose their own fabric for their chairs. I love it.

Reupholstering My Life

2010-03-29T07:05:00.004-04:00

Okay, by now anyone who knows me or has any connection with me on Facebook knows that I have been reupholstering a table and chair set that we got from Jeremy's sister. We are super happy to have a table and chairs that we can eat at and put our food on at the same time (I think, I haven't had the opportunity to try it out yet). I am going to post the before pics today, and tomorrow, when the whole thing is done, I will post the afters.

A few thoughts on this project:

1: It was really fun to do something together as a family.

2: No one else in the world has a table and chair set like this.

3: It's possible that this make-over cost us more than just buying a brand-new dining room set at Walmart.

4: My house is a Wreck! (With a capital 'W')

5: D'oh! I just thought of a way to do the corners on the chairs that would probably look a whole lot better, but I only have one chair left to do!

6: I wonder what I'm gonna do with the old dining room set?

7: Can't wait to try them out tomorrow!

Before pictures:

The Big Reveal!

2010-03-20T10:49:00.003-04:00

Okay ladies and gentlemen, here it is! My very first television interview! A couple of things:

1. It is broken up between video clips (end of clip 2, beginning of clip 3).

2. For brevity's sake, I'm only going to post a link to clip 2.

3. You can watch the rest of the show while you're at the Cartersville UNCUT YouTube page.

4. For some reason, when DP uploaded clip 3, the audio didn't think it needed to make an appearance. When Deanna gets back from Washington DC (Sun or Mon) she'll re-post, hopefully with sound!

Without further adieu, my television debut!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTCBLfwN5zA

I Guess It Just Grew Legs And Walked Away!

2010-03-13T01:38:00.004-05:00

I was making dinner, and wanted to open a can of olives. I opened my knife/gizmo drawer, where the can opener lives:

But it wasn't there.

I looked in my silverware drawer thinking that if Jeremy put it away, he may have done something different with it than I would:

But it wasn't there.

I looked in my kitchen gadget caddy:

But it wasn't there.

Not knowing where else to look, I checked on top of my microwave, because it is a popular landing pad for junk:

But it wasn't there.

I had looked everywhere. There was no other logical place that the can opener would be, and I wanted to finish making dinner.

So I went next door to borrow theirs.

I brought it home.

I used it.

I sent the children to take it back.

While they were gone I turned around and:

Yep! Right next to the sink.

I knew as soon as I used the neighbors' I'd find mine. Sometimes, that's all it takes.

Tomorrow

2010-03-10T21:34:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow I get to tour an old house in town that has been turned into a restaurant. I'm really looking forward to this interview. Then, next week, we get to go to an old fire house, and talk to fire men! Awww, yeah! Bring on the firemen! Maybe they'll let me wear a helmet! Ummm, next I'm gonna try to get the first black school house built to regulation or an old plantation house that wasn't burned when Sherman came through, so it's pre-civil war. It's still owned by the same family that built the place! This is so much fun! I'll have to post something NOT show related next time. Sorry if I'm boring you, but I am having such a blast doing this!

The Archives

2010-03-05T00:14:00.002-05:00

I have not been liking the way my blog has turned out since I started it back up. It's just not that interesting. So I went back through my archives a little bit to see if it's always been this way. Turns out, it hasn't! It used to be really great! I was reading my old posts and laughing at how funny we all are. I'll have to bring back the poll questions. Those were fun. Anyway, if you have time, I HIGHLY recommend the archives. Take a walk down memory lane with me, and tell me some of your favorites.

More Pictures!

2010-03-04T13:53:00.005-05:00

I finally found the cable to my camera and can upload the pics! So here we have pictures from Launa's birthday, where school got snowed out, so we had time to go to Chuck E. Cheese, and the place was a ghost town! It was the best trip to Chuck E. Cheese we EVER had! And then I also have a self-taken picture of myself with the Assistant Professor of English at Georgia Highlands College, Professor Jesse Bishop, who was my interview today. (I'll always remember my first!) Anyway, enjoy!

Wit, Charisma, Good Looks, Talent, Skill

2010-03-02T23:39:00.002-05:00

Those words describe... me(?!).

There used to be a talk radio station in town. The station had a major equipment failure, and the owners decided it wasn't worth fixing and have allowed it to go dark. This used to be my favorite station, so I became a fan of theirs on FaceBook after it went off the air in order to get info on what would happen to it. They had a morning drive guy who, after the station went dark started a cable tv show about our town. He invites all the fans of the station to be his friends on FB. That's how we became friends. He always puts topics up for people to talk about, and sometimes I would respond (but not often). One night, we ended up getting into a conversation, where I apparently intimidated the heck out of him with my fast come-backs. Then, he erased the conversation. I didn't know how to take it, so I laid low for a while. Yesterday he posted something on my wall, I teased him about it, and scared him off again. I apologized on his wall and told him that sometimes I don't know when to shut up. He told me that I'm very intimidating because I have the quickest wit out of anyone "here." I scrolled down to see how many friends he has. I told him that coming from a man with 2,608 friends, I would take that as a compliment. I told him that he should give me a segment on his show called "Shut Mary Up" and that if someone could render me speechless they would get a prize.

Me and my big mouth.

I didn't mean it. I was just joking with him.

He liked it!

He wants me to do a segment where I interview people for the show. And somehow I agreed. I'll have to call him tomorrow to hash out the details. How do I do these things to myself?

Last Day As A Four-Year-Old

2010-03-01T21:04:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the second installment of Launa's pre-birthday story time show. You may remember last year's show, and if you don't, click here for a reminder. I must warn you that this year's installment is spooky, terrifying, and a little disturbing. This is definitely not one for the faint of heart.

Whiney Moment!

2010-03-01T15:35:00.003-05:00

UUUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHH!!!!! I hate, hate HATE accounting! I HATE it! And I have to do this stoopid homework, and I am having a very hard time making myself! It's a big assignment worth a lot of points, and it's due in 10 hours, and I am just despising my life right now. I think that my school is intentionally torturing me with lots of accounting classes, just to be nasty! Why, CTU? WHYYYYYYYY?!?!

For You

2010-02-28T21:08:00.002-05:00

A gift for all you Twi-hards out there. This video makes me laugh. Pause the playlist at the bottom of the page if you want to hear it.

Creativity At Work

2010-02-27T08:52:00.003-05:00

This is Launa:

This is Launa's bruise, Purple Cat. She named it herself.

Drumroll Please!

2010-02-26T08:40:00.003-05:00

The first pics taken with the camera. They are a little blurry in places, but my camera has a setting to deal with it, I just wasn't using it! Anyway, enjoy.

The Unveiling

2010-02-25T21:30:00.004-05:00

Here it is! My new camera. It is a Kodak EasyShare with 10.2 mega pixels and 3x optical zoom. I feel like a deal-finding maven because this one was $129.99 on sale for $79.97. It came with a case and a memory card included (tell me that's not standard, please!). It was about $15 more than a similar Olympus model at a different store, but I think I got a good deal since it came with extras (and the ad said it was worth $129.99!). Plus it came in stylish red! So, good deal, or did they see me coming? I'll post the first pics I took with it tomorrow. I would post them now, but I have to do some homework tonight, and I don't have time to play with it. :(

Camera Time

2010-02-24T21:47:00.003-05:00

I don't know if all of you saw what happened to my 35 mm camera a couple of months ago. It has gone to that great photo-shoot in the sky. So it looks like I'll be getting a digital camera. If you have been reading my blog, you may remember this diatribe against digital cameras. Bottom line: I don't like 'em, and I don't trust 'em. However, it appears that my desires are irrelevant. Finding a 35 mm camera is next to impossible, and in a couple of years finding film for one will be equally impossible. Does anyone have a digital camera that they like (if such a thing were possible), that they also didn't pay an arm and a leg for? Any help would be great.

Time To Start Preparing The Cell Now

2010-02-23T07:03:00.003-05:00

Motorcycles scare the snot out of me! I think they are dangerous and stupid. I have never ridden on one, and I have no desire ever to ride one now or in the future. Think about it: you're on the highway with 2+ ton vehicles all around you on nothing but a bicycle, with enough power that it propels you at 70 mph, and you're wearing a leather jacket and a helmet. One false move, and they're scraping you up off the pavement with a spatula and identifying your body by comparing DNA from the sludge on the road and your hairbrush at home. This is not the way I want to go. A little over a year ago, a young man who went to our church was riding his motorcycle home from work, when a car that didn't see him accidentally nicked the back of his tire sending him out of control and nearly decapitating him. He left a wife and two children who have been deeply hurt in so many ways I can't even tell you about it here. A couple of months later a man I grew up with was riding his motorcycle with a friend, the throttle stuck open, and he took a curve at excessive speed. He flew through a cable which took his arm off, and would have bled to death except that he landed in a way that clamped the artery in his arm. Obviously Launa is too young to understand the permanent consequences motorcycle riding can bring about. (I get that it's dangerous to barrel down the hwy in my Cavalier too, but at least there's some protection there.) But I'm still terrified! She has a thing for motorcycles and motorcycle men! She's four! Every time she sees a man with his motorcycle, I have to remind her to close her mouth and wipe her chin. It's a little funny. The last time she noticed a motorcycle man, it was a middle aged guy with a pot-belly. She started her "Ooooooh! Motorcycle man! He's so dreamy!" routine. I told her she wasn't allowed to bring a man like that home when she got to be older. She wanted to know why, so I told her that he was really old and hefty (no better time to begin prejudicial indoctrination in your children than when they're very young). I told her that if she were going to get herself killed on a motorcycle for some man, that he'd better be beautiful enough to be worth it. To which she replied, "Oh Mommy, it doesn't matter what he looks like! I would still love him!" (For his motorcycle.) Anyway, I do believe that I am going to have to lock her away once she gets old enough to date. I'll make it nice for her. I'll decorate her cell with flowers and costumes and she can have a kitten.

An Overheard Conversation

2010-02-20T22:21:00.002-05:00

The family went with me to clean the church tonight. I was cleaning the toilet in one stall, and the kids were in the bathroom with me. This is the conversation I heard:

Daniel: Can you see the blue part of my eye?

Launa: No.

Daniel: That's because I turned my eyes backwards into my head.

Launa: Did you see your brain?!

Daniel: Yes.

Incidentally, you will probably be happy to know that diarrhea man did not make an appearance this week. I wonder if he's been reading my blog? ;)

The "Prize-Winning" Recipe

2010-02-20T10:55:00.003-05:00

Okay. First of all, let me just say that this is not a healthy recipe. It will, in fact, rot your teeth, and you will actually feel the cookies going directly to your hips and butt. This is a recipe that I am famous for, and somehow achieved the nick-name "Mary Cookies" (Thank you Zach!).

Homemade Oreos

2 boxes of devil's food cake mix
1/2 c. flour
1 c. oil
4 eggs

1 can of frosting

Preheat the oven to 350. Get your biggest mixing bowl and a strong hefty spoon. Put the dry ingredients together and mix well. Add the wet ingredients, and mix until everything is wet. The batter will be very stiff. Roll into 1" balls, and place on cookie sheet. Bake 8 minutes. Take the cookies out of the oven at 8 minutes, do not over-bake. Let cool on a cooling rack. Use your favorite frosting on the underside of a cookie, and sandwich together with another one. Cream cheese frosting is awesome with it.

So there you go! TRY THIS RECIPE!! You will love it!

Oops!

2010-02-19T09:29:00.003-05:00

I didn't realize until yesterday (I don't always get all of the scraps of paper sent home with Launa) that this week was mommy week at Launa's school and moms were invited to read to the class. Also today is a tea party, and all moms are supposed to bring their best dessert to share and then there will be a vote for best dessert at the end. I was supposed to send in my recipe by Wednesday because they were making books, but I didn't realize in time. Now I feel like scum because I'm going to be at the tea party, I'm going to win first place, and I won't have my recipe in the book. It was completely unintentional! Hopefully they won't hold it against me.

Feelin' The Love

2010-02-17T10:45:00.002-05:00

Alright, after reading all of your ridiculous comments from yesterday and this morning, I realize that you insane stalkers really do like me. So I'll go ahead and respond to your wackiness right here. Dana - sorry to make it so hard for you to become a follower of my blog. I'll add a follower box for all who would like to do so in the future (See? You inspire necessary changes for the better!). Also, thanks for telling me that you like to read about Launa. She's so cool, but I'm always afraid that I'm in danger of making this the "What Launa Said" blog. I have another funny story about her that I'll post in the next paragraph. Also, I hate that I don't post more about the Dan man, but he's just in a different stage of life, and he doesn't unintentionally say funny things at the rate of Launa. (Besides, I think she may be more that way forever than he is.) Finally, I did not vote in your poll, I have been a selfish jerk and have not been reading other people's blogs, just checking to see who's reading mine. I'll go there to vote as soon as I'm done with this!

Okay, Launa story! When I was feeling under the weather, Jeremy went to Game Stop to get a new DS game to keep me entertained. He got me this hidden object game, and Launa was helping me search for things. On one scene, we were looking for the last thing, and I found it! Launa launched into this gushing diatribe: "Mommy! You found it! I'm so proud of you! You're so smart! You're such a great mommy! You're amazing! How did you...?" And then she shut up, because I couldn't hide the amusement on my face, and she thought I was laughing at her (she's getting sensitive about that). She's definitely my little cheerleader. It doesn't matter how small the accomplishment, Launa comes around and makes sure I know exactly how awesome it was of me to do it!

Trailer Trash Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T20:16:00.002-05:00

Welch's Sparkling red grape juice? Check!

Kraft processed cheese slices? Check!

Premium saltine crackers? Check!

Video games? Check!

"Future Millionaire" shirt? Check!

We are all set for the Valentine's Day to end all Valentine's Days!

Hooray For Church Cleaning!

2010-02-13T16:55:00.002-05:00

So, I clean half of the church every week, and my SIL does the other half. Sadly, I get the bathroom half. Which, I really wouldn't mind, except that every week, some guy has to have diarrhea all over at least one toilet, which he leaves for me to clean up. Today, I just went in to the church to give it a quick facial, and not a full-body spa treatment, because that was about all I could muster. So, I get to the men's room, and sure enough, some guy has pooped all over the toilet! I have written a letter. I will probably never actually post it in the bathroom (though I was tempted to make a bunch of copies and wall-paper the room with them), but I am actually pretty proud of it, and so I'm going to post it here. You're welcome.

"Church Men!!

I am not your momma, I am not your wife, I am not your maid. Do you really think that you non-tithe-paying tightwads give enough money to this church for them to pay someone to clean up your nastiness? Well they don't pay me. I donate my time to keep this church looking decent. So the next time you feel like having a massive diarrhea attack all over the seat and down the sides of the toilet, make your momma proud, and clean up after yourself!

Mary
(Poop-scraper extraordinaire)"

Ah, The Maturity of Some People

2010-02-13T11:12:00.002-05:00

I am sick. I have been sick since Thursday. And while I'm better today than I was on Thursday, I am worse today than I was yesterday. Anywho. I am supposed to teach Sunday School tomorrow, but I don't know how I will be feeling then, so I needed to call the other SS teacher to ask if she would be willing to cover for me. Unfortunately, somehow I never got her number, so I had to call around in order to get it. I called my sister-in-law to let her know I'd be over to the church to straighten up today, but that I was not going to be deep cleaning. Well, I also have the most ridiculous phone ever times two. See, my phone itself has a 3 that sticks, and you really have to mash it down, and sometimes, after all that mashing, the 3 loosens up too much and punches twice. I accidentally dialed this number: (770) 769-7133 because the 3 mashed twice. As soon as it happened I shut off my phone so that the call wouldn't go through. Well, I also have the magicJack. A wonderful device that allows me to have a home phone through my internet service for (you know it!) $20 a year. Since this offer is (obviously) too good to be true, the magicJack is a little quirky. One of its' quirks is that even if I hang up my phone, sometimes, the magicJack doesn't hang up. As soon as I realized this, I made a mad dash for my computer to hang up the phone before it went through. Unfortunately, I missed. The phone was answered, and I ended up hanging up on the guy. As a result, in a swell of maturity, while I was on other calls trying to call my friend and ask her if she'd trade with me (she will) I got a call from (770) 769-7133. Just so they could hang up on me. I suppose it is every bit as mature of me to publish the number (770) 769-7133 as an illustration of an immature boob, but I feel crappy, and I'm gonna do it!

IF you Like my Body, AND You Think I'm...

2010-02-10T06:53:00.003-05:00

Most of you that have met me, know that when I gain weight, it all goes directly to my belly. It's sad and annoying considering there are so many places where my fat would better serve me, but that is neither here nor there. When my mom and SIL were in town, we had a big dinner one night, and I was being goofy (stupid, take your pick) and I pulled my shirt up over my belly and pushed my belly out, creating a tremendous masterpiece of giant belly. Launa walks over to me, puts her soft, warm little hand on my belly and starts rubbing it in a circular Buddha-wish-making motion, turns to my mom and SIL and says, in an eyebrow cocked, you-know-you-wish-you-could-do-this kind of way: "Jealous guys?!"

The Long Awaited, Triumphal Return!

2010-02-09T06:58:00.002-05:00

Yikes! It's really been OCTOBER since I posted anything? And it was pretty unkind, what I wrote, too! Okee-doke! A lot has happened, and I have written very little about it, so here's the run-down:

Launa started her first year of school! Can you believe it?! She's actually in Pre-K, but it's been a great experience for her. She sometimes has difficulty being away from me for so long, but she's getting better at it. She hasn't fussed in a long time over it.

Daniel is in 2nd grade. He's my big man! King of his school, which only goes to 2nd grade. I just found out that he goes to his school counselor a lot because he's worried about his uncle James being in the Army. :( James is in Haiti right now working on the relief effort (and burning his armpit hair - you'd have to see the pics to get the exact mental picture of this disturbing behavior.).

Let's see...Oh! I graduated with an associates degree in paralegal studies. So I am a paralegal now! Just not an employed one... but that's the loss of all those silly attorneys that didn't have the sense to hire me! Oh yeah...I swore that I was going to take some time off school, make a little money to help ends meet...yeah... Instead I went back to school starting in January to get my Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice. (Why do I do this to myself?! A break would have been AWESOME!) I just finished my last assignment for my first class last night. Not my best work, but sometimes that happens. That assignment kinda threw me. But my professor did tell me before the final two assignments that I was top of our class, and that anything I did would be okay from that point forward, so I think just turning something in was good enough. (Oops! I probably shouldn't have vocalized that sentiment.)

Jeremy has applied at the Bartow County Sheriff's Dept. Hopefully they'll put him on as a jail guard, which he'll have to do or two years before they'll allow him to become a deputy and hand out speeding tickets.

Hmmm...We're getting a sweet tax return. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my two little tax deductions?

My mom and sister-in-law got to come by my house for a couple of days last week. That was way fun! They brought lots of food, which we ate pretty much the whole time, so that was nice. Thanks for the food ladies! Their last night in town, we had a two hour, glow in the dark dance party using tunes off of my very own playlist at the bottom of the blog. We had a blast! Jody and I bought 8 packages of glow stuff: necklaces, bracelets, a magic wand, and a mask, and when it was time for the party, we cracked all the glow stuff, brought out our tiny (borrowed) fiber-optic Christmas tree that changes colors, decked ourselves out in glow stuff, shut off the lights and danced the night away! We had the best time! Jody wants to make a somewhat regular event of our dance parties, with her hosting one (in NC), and then us hosting another (in GA). I think it sounds like a ton of fun. You guys should come too! :) She took some video of me dancing with her phone. Once she posts it on FB, I'll probably post it too. Never claimed to have any dancing ability...but it's fun to let loose anyway. ;P

Welp! I think that's it for now. I'll try to do better at posting updates in the future. Love you guys!

Balloon Hoax

2009-10-24T02:17:00.002-04:00

Okay, this whole balloon hoax thing is ridiculous. I was trying to figure out how it was possible for a 6-year-old kid to be trapped inside a helium balloon and 1: be light enough for the thing to lift off the ground, and 2: be able to get inside the thing in the first place and 3: breathe. The whole situation was fishy from the beginning, and I'm sure maybe the authorities thought so too, but have to follow up on claims involving children. The Heenes are media whores and disgusting human beings. They deserve any charges that are brought against them along with any bills the police send their way, and probably even to have their children removed from the house since they were told to lie to the authorities and neighbors, (presumably) left the youngest child at home by himself, as well as taking resources from other potential real-life emergencies. These guys are just top-notch, grade-a DBs. Too bad they won't rot in prison for longer than 6 years at the most...on the other hand, they kinda need to hurry up and get out of prison so they can get off the state dime and start repaying the county for their hoax. And no, they should not be allowed to file bankruptcy in order to get out of it. Psychos.