Friday, September 29, 2006

Spider Battle

As I was washing my face last night before hitting the hay, I noticed something in my peripheral vision dropping in front of the mirror. When I looked closer, I noticed it was a spider, and he was on my sink, and the "OHMYGOD, Ewww, Ewww it's a spider", dance was on. Since James wasn't at home, and Zach's almost as fond of the monsters as I am, and there was no way I was going to get close enough to the damned thing to hit it with anything, I snatched the bottle of rarely used hair spray. I stood back as far as I could while still keeping within spraying distance and let 'er loose, thinking the hair spray would disable him long enough for it to set and possibly freeze-dry, or drown, him until he could be removed. Hopefully by someone other than myself.

The first volley of hair spray ammo didn't stop him from moving and he tried to escape, but I pursued him behind the toothbrush holder and attacked again and again until he stopped moving. He was only about an inch or so long, as far as I could see from a distance and without my glasses, but I do know he was brown and had some sort of mark on his back. This quick ID was enough for me to decide he had to be a brown recluse so I sprayed him, unmoving though he was, with two finger blasts, over and over. I might need to mention here that most spiders I see have the potential to be brown recluses except for the black widow and that hussy couldn't possibly be misidentified.

This morning when I went in to check, he was GONE! I'm hoping that James noticed the hair-sprayed mirror, counter, sink, and toothbrushes, and the spider carcass, and removed him, because the thought that he might have escaped would just be too much for my nerves to handle, it's the not knowing where he IS part that gets to me the most. I tend to feel crawly for days after those sort of encounters.

Today I did an internet search to see if I could identify him for sure but gave up after finding out that the spot on the back was supposed to be fiddle shaped, and the recluse has 3 prs of eyes instead of the normal 4. I gathered from this information that you'd have to be on top of the creature with a magnifying glass to find this out and that just ain't about to happen here since he's gone and there's no way I'd ever be that close on purpose.

The bathroom is still sticky with hair-spray because I haven't gotten my nerve up to go near where spidey might still be hiding. Every time I've had to go in there today I've kept my eyes peeled for him because if he lived through all that White Rain, he's probably out for revenge.

I hate spiders. I hate them a lot. And I'm not especially fond of snakes either!

Thursday, September 28, 2006

You Know What?

Blogspot gives me hives, that's what!

I've been in Microsoft Front Page for days trying to tweak templates to my satisfaction (mainly just changing out the graphics)and it's a pain in the pass when blogger won't let you publish the changes without trying over, and over, and over again to do so! But ok, it's done now, so whatdaya think?

I've sure been missing my visits to all my blog buds lately. There doesn't seem to be enough time in the day (or night) to do the things I want to do most. Wrestling with Zach through homework, even though he's partaking of the school program that's supposed to aid in that, has begun to take over most every waking moment. Even if he's not present, I'm thinking about what I need to be doing to help him and I think the time has come for me to search out some folks I trust to retest him for the ADD and see what we need to do.

Well the laundry awaits and I think I need a nap (I need a lot more of those than I get lately). Hope ya'll are having a great day!

Monday, September 25, 2006

Lord Send Down Some Wisdom and Patience, Please!


When did I become so dumb? When did 4th grade addition gain these properties; Cummutative, Associative, and Identity before advanced math and calculus levels?
How am I ever going to remember what I've forgotten (trying to recall if I ever knew) about these things?

And what in the devil (sorry about that) is a spool report really supposed to be?

Maybe I should run away and become a hobo, or maybe a superstar.
What do you think?

I'm weary.

And my body hurts all over.

Amen!

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Stormy Saturday, Cool and bright Sunday

It did a bit of blowing yesterday while we were gathered here to have ice cream and cake with Miz Krysten who had her 8th birthday. Her sisters, Abby and MeriKate, were very pleased that they could help her eat some of that delicious birthday cake and ice cream. It was a pretty good day even though the lights went out a little after noon due to the straight line winds and didn't come back on until almost 9pm last night.

Today we cooked a mess of fine vittles (pork shoulder, collard greens, crowder peas, and cornbread), played outside for a little while, and played a few games of Phase 10. Zach, the Chick, and Jillian didn't mind a bit that it was about 20 degrees cooler.

Here are the photos of the little Halloween tree that Blogger wouldn't cooperate with yesterday.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

Friday, September 22, 2006

Friday Frenzy





What do ya'll think of my little Halloween tree? It has fiber opic lights that blink and change colors and it makes these horrid little ghostly moaning sounds. A Nanaw has to do a little something for the children so now I have this little tree, and next week I'll put out my faithful little black imp (so he can scare the pants off me with his motion activated self), and string up the pumpkin lights on the fake plant in the corner of the dining room. Then my Halloween decorating will be all done!

I was tuckered out after spending the day with the Chicklets and tussling with Jilly every time it was time to put on a new diaper (she hates wearing them) yesterday so I collapsed into the bed before the weatherman was finished with his report on the 10pm news and even slept through my "James" alarm this morning (although he said I told him I was awake when he told me it was time to get up). I called him after I'd had my coffee and had both eyes open and told him to never believe me unless I was standing, and had both eyes open because I LIE when I'm asleep (no pun intended) Ha!
I rushed around to get Zach his breakfast and toss some clothes his way and we still had about 10 minutes to spare so I reckon I didn't lose any brownie points.

The electricity went off for over 2 hrs yesterday, for whothehellknows what reason, and do you know how many times you can sing that "Banana Fanna" song in that length of time? I don't either but I think we went through every relative's name we knew and some even twice and the Chick and Jilly Beans even had time for a little game of tackle with the football (Jilly Beans did the tackling, all the while giggling) before "Noggin" finally blinked back to life.

Thank the Good Lord for "Noggin"!

I got more lovin yesterday than a Nanaw deserves.

Today I had to stop by the school to buy a 4th grade math text book, (They sold me one Cindra, yippeee! Now if I can just figure that stuff out, did you know they're already teaching them some algebra, and it's been years!) After that stop I had about half a dozen more before I headed towards home, picked up cousin Kathryn on the way, and we spent some time doing housework (she doing the most), before we finally settled in the living room to discuss the world's problems.

Jami and the girls came over after school and we talked about Krysten's birthday tomorrow. I can't wait to see if the cute little jacket I bought her is going to fit. (I was going to put one of her photos in this post but BLOGGER is being a BIDDY again, AS USUAL)! I'll be sure to take photos tomorrow of the birthday girl and put them in my webshots album for viewing.

Jaylen has her birthday coming up on Wednesday and I have HIGH hopes that Trisha will be sending me some photos to post of her. She's growing up so fast! They all are,,making Nanaw feel so old!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Check the toilet paper for toothpaste smears,,,


Just saying,,in case you should ever need to know.

I'm feeling much better about Zach's math, he has a D instead of an F on his progress report. Now I'm trying to figure out how the A he had 12 days and 1 test ago, turned into a C. He claims he's made a good grades on last week's spelling test.

All this thinking is giving me a headache!

I've been all excited about the new season's episodes of my favorite television programs on CBS. I watched NCIS last night and although I'm upset that Gibbs has retired, I was relieved that he joined them on the show last night.

Criminal Minds started out with a bang and appears that it'll be another interesting season for them.

I caught the first episode of a new show, Jericho, tonight as well. I love suspense and this one appears that it'll be loaded with it. It's also a little horrific in that these events they'll be portraying could happen.

I'll have to wait until tomorrow night to watch my favorite, CSI Las Vegas. I'll be starting this season with a broken heart left over from the last episode of last season where my beloved Grisom hooks up with Sarah. She's not my first choice as a romantic interest for him,,,not even my 3rd choice. I reckon I'll get over it as long as they keep showing that handsome face of his.


Tomorrow will be a busy day here because the Chicklets will be visiting while Jerri and Bubbie go for his doctor's appointment. I'm already trying to plan my strategy for keeping Jilly Beans off of the kitchen table. Ha!

Monday, September 18, 2006

Absolute Confusion

Zach is having problems with 4th grade Math. He's had 2 tests and received an F on both because he wasn't able to grasp number values above the 1,000 ranges. If he was given the number 29,457,863 and had to round it off to the value of the number in bold type, he couldn't do it. After two weeks of struggling, doing internet searches for worksheets, going over and over, number by number, time after time, with him, I think he's finally getting the idea but I'm becoming very frustrated with this.

First of all, why is he having problems with it now? He didn't seem to have a problem with the numbers up to 1,000 or if he did it didn't appear to me that he did. Were they supposed to have worked with the higher number values in the latter weeks of 3rd grade and didn't?

Secondly, I am allowing Zach to participate in an after school program where I understood they'd have extra help while doing their homework. I've since found out that it's possible that this may have been what this program was meant for but the truth is, it's not what it's being used for. I feel like it's more or less an after school babysitting service for the parents who work. There are 34 4th graders in his group and 2 teachers. They give help if they're asked but they don't make sure the students complete their assignments nor do they check their homework, so after Zach's first week of attending this program, where he completed his homework in the 1 1/2 hrs that he was there (the same homework that was taking up to 3 hrs for him to complete at home), but was bringing nothing home for me to go over with him, I called to request a conference with his teacher.

The result is, I am no closer to knowing what to do in order to help him than I ever was. I asked them about resources available for students who needed extra help in grasping things. There doesn't seem to be any. I told his teacher the problems he was having in Math, hell in a handbasket, she should have known that after the first F, but even after telling her that he was still having problems recognizing the higher number values, he made another F on another paper.

Am I supposed to be finding the ways to help him to understand this? I'm not a teacher, what am I supposed to do? I need to stay ahead of where he is to make sure I can keep him where he needs to be, how can I do this other than sitting in his class room? Where can I find more teaching materials? I've searched on line when I know what to look for but specific things aren't always easy to find.

I'm open to any and all suggestions here and I'd really appreciate your input.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

BASSET HOUND UPDATE

No one was sure of the pups name so I'm thinking that Alexis named him. Jerri just sent an email with this update:

Well Mr. Elvis Austin Mallard has made himself right at home IN THE HOUSE! He is too funny. We brought him home bathed him and scrubbed those nasty ears! Got the few fleas off that he did have and he decided that Alexis' lap was the place to be! I told her we could try him one night in the house...he came to me barked a lazy deep bark and went out to pee and poop..GOOD DOG! 13 years and Bugs still won't do that, LOL. He hates the goat and the goat hates him. The kittens are not real fond of him but he doesn't take any interest in them at all. He bugs the shit out of Bugs though..he wants to play and she wants him to go play in the highway, LOL!

Play Ball, Clean Carpets, and The Passy Fairy

It's been a full week around here. The living room and dining room carpets are green, and I know this because they're clean, yippeee! Zach's feeling better but James has the nasty bug now and he's so busy in the fields with harvest that he's trying to fight it off or at least live till it rains before he sees the doctor.

There's a LOT of stuff that has to wait for a rainy day or winter time around here.

The Chick is trying to cut back on her passy addiction with help from her Banny and Mommy. This old broad called the passy fairy keeps taking her passies and only lets her have them after a nice, calming, bath when it's time to sleep. On Thursday, Banny was telling me about a conversation she and the Chick had about that bad, ol, fairy.

Chick: I can't find my passies, I laid them right here.

Banny: It's not bed time so the passy fairy must have taken them.

Chick: (sobbing a little) But I just took my eyes off them for a minute, and now they're GONEEEE!



Yesterday Jerri was telling me that the Chick was crying and having a passy craving moment on Friday and she told her she'd need to ask the passy fairy where it was. I guess Jillian decided she'd had enough of that ol fairy being mean to her big sister so she went and found a passy and gave it to the Chick. That's love huh?



Jerri had a coed softball tournament yesterday down in Elaine so I dropped Zach off at the farm on the way and drove down to watch her play. Banny, the Chick, and Jillian also came and we really had a good time even though it was plenty hot and dusty down there. Jerri's team ended up in second place and I thought that was most excellent because she had only played with one other girl on the team before and didn't even know the others before game time.



A Basset hound was wandering around at the ball park all day so Jerri asked someone who the pup belonged to. No one knew, they said the dog had been dropped off by family members at an old guy's house and he wasn't able to care for him so the dog just wandered around the little town and didn't really have an owner. Jerri, being the critter lover that she is, told them that she and Bubbie had been talking about buying the girls a Basset so she told them she'd give him a home.

Trisha called last night to tell me that Jordan had also played in a tournament yesterday and her team came away with a 1st place trophy! She said those girls dug in and played hard after a couple of early losses in order to win the tournament later in the day.



Well, that pretty much sums up my week other than the conference with Zach's teacher on Wednesday, but that's another post. I hope everyone had a delightful weekend!

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Catch up Post coming soon

I've been mite near't worn out the past few days but I'll be back to do a catch up post some time tomorrow. Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Somebody Shoot Me



It's been one of those days.

James's cousin kindly offered to help me get caught up with my housework and we're now through day 2 with no clear end in sight.

Zach woke up crouping.
Called to cancel conference date with his teacher.
Made a trip to see the doc.
Stopped at school to get Zach's class work and homework.
Home long enough to take curtains down and throw in washer.
Back to school to get Zach's work that wasn't ready the first time I went.
Did a little housework
Fought with Zach about doing his school work
Dragged carpet cleaning machine out of the corner where it was hiding
Got on line to find instructions on how to use machine cause I've lost mine.
Fought with Zach about doing his school work.
Filled tank on machine.
Watched water drain out of tank all over the counter.
Cleaned up water.
Filled tank again.
repeat.
Called son to say I was too dumb to use my own damned carpet cleaner so he said he'd
be there to show me.
Filled tank to see if I was fast enough to get it on the machine without dripping too much water.
Found out I wasn't.
Mopped the floor.
Helped clean and polish fireplace while waiting for son.
Son arrived, filled tank, found crack in tank.
Discovered Zach had been using tank for God only knows what.
Decided Zach is crack culpret.
Fought with Zach about doing school work.
Kathryn drove to MIL to borrow her carpet cleaner.
Kathryn cleaned living room carpet.
I piddled with laundry some more.
Cooked supper while dodging living room furniture that was in the kitchen.
Ate supper.
Helped Zach with school work he still had not finished.
Hung curtains.
Zach finished school work at 10:15 pm under threat of torture and exhile.

The conference is rescheduled for tomorrow and hopefully we'll be caught up with the housework by then.

Please pray for me, I'm in a very dangerous mood.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Whew



It sure was hot at the fair yesterday but our Jillian sure was a pretty baby all dressed up in her blue dress to match her eyes for the pageant. She didn't place but her Nanaw thought she was the most beautiful baby there and she's one of our little princesses, regardless.

I posted a few of the pageant photos in my Autumn 2006 webshot album if you'd like to take a look.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Brain cells a'firin

Thoughts keep flittering in and out of my mind like fireflies doing their mating dance, then all of a sudden there's a sizzling sound similar to the noise you'd hear from pee splashing on an electric fence. Minus the screams of course.

Doc Bell has assured me, on more than one occasion, that this sense of being at odds with myself is normal for a woman of my age and most of the time I believe he knows what he's talking about. But then I start ta thinkin, he has no ovaries, has never suffered a minute of PMS,,,,how does he know what's normal? I'm sure he read it somewhere but he can't, for one danged minute, know for sure if these violent thoughts I've been having about the laundry are normal.

Even the commercials have been getting on my nerves lately. Have ya'll seen the ALWAYS one about "Have a Happy Period"? The "Clean feels good. That's why there's new Always Clean. Same great protection you get from Always Ultra now comes neatly attached to an individually wrapped feminine wipe. It helps to restore that shower clean feeling with every change. Always Clean" one? Who makes up this crap? The only Happy period I've ever had was the period of time I've had since the hysterectomy in 1999. And even that moment of happiness was almost ruined when a nurse came into my hospital room to "teach me about breast feeding". I think I scared her a bit when I growled at her.

Then there's that disgusting commercial that Burger King ran for so long, the "Big Buckin' Chicken" one, ya'll remember that doncha? Sure turned me right off of eatin anything with feathers from Burger King. That crazy chicken looked like IT might be having a happy period alright. Hey,,,maybe they should combine those two commercials, ALWAYS and Burger King might sell more wings!

Just so you'll know that this week hasn't been a complete waste of time for me, I've got a few new words for you.

1. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

2. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

3. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

4. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

5. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like,a serious bummer.

6. Glibido: All talk and no action.

7. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

8. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

It's Thursday, already?



Above is a photo of the Mudpie Masters that I would have posted yesterday if Blogger hadn't been such a ninny and had let me.

The Chick won 3rd runner up at the Tri-County Fair pageant on Tuesday night. Jerri took this photo of her all decked out in her finery.



I'll get busy and post some of the other pageant photos on Web Shots soon but it was another year of being unhappy with the set up there for photo opportunities. They make us stay back too far, the lighting SUCKS, and they put the judges table right in the way so that in most of the shots someone's big head is in them. It wouldn't matter if they had a photographer there to take photos for us, but they don't,,so we have to make do with what we get.

Jillian's pageant is Saturday morning. I sure hope the fact that it'll be daylight will help the lighting situation for taking photos.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Hints of Autumn


I'm not sure if this is Skipper or Baby Girl taking a break.


The Chick's creation


Bea-U-ti-ful mudpie, up close


Jillian doing some serious driving

I spent the Labor Day weekend being mostly lazy and becoming almost proficient at playing "Phase 10". It's a pretty neat card game but I'm not sure I'll ever be blood thirsty enough to use those skip cards as they should be used. I sure had a great time Saturday and Sunday talking and laughing with my girls though, and seeing all the grandbabies as they flittered around doing what little ones do so well.

Yesterday Zach and I rode down to the farm where I barely had time to snap a few pictures before James got too busy to mess with us. When we left to go home one JD mechanic had just finished repairing a tractor that was needed to pull a boll buggy and he was headed to the rice field to check on a combine that wasn't running right, another had just arrived to repair a cotton picker that wouldn't start, two stalk cutters were broken, one of the cotton pickers had a packer not working, and a module builder was leaking hydraulic fluid. We went ahead and got out of dodge so James could deal with all of that stuff.

Monday, September 04, 2006

You're never too old to learn something stupid.

I've learned an awful lot over the past half century (geez that sounds ancient, don't it?) As a kid I learned,

Mud is not one of the 4 food groups.

It is not a good thing to torment the emotionally frail.

I would not squeak chalk.

Instigating a revolution can mean detention.

You are not allowed to hide behind the Fifth Amendment at a young age.

It's not a good idea to bring frogs to class

You do not have diplomatic immunity.

There is life, and then there is summer.

An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys.


As an adult I've learned,

If you explain so clearly that nobody can misunderstand, somebody will, and often.

There will be occasions that call for a particularly subtle blend of psychology and extreme violence.

There is an angel inside me whom I am constantly shocking.

That which doesn't kill you... will probably try again.

When life hands you lemons, squeeze them between your bitter fingers and throw them at the wall.

A truly wise man never plays leapfrog with a unicorn.

I'm not cynical. I'm just experienced.

There ARE folks who are a waste of two billion years of evolution.

On your way down the banister of life, your ass may collect tons of splinters.

I hope to continue to settle my internal conflicts without bloodshed.

Most normal people worry me.

Some people are on the edge. Some people are over it. I'm hang-gliding.

He who laughs last has not yet heard the bad news.

If you keep your feet firmly on the ground, you’ll have trouble putting on your pants.

Second place is the first loser.


I just thought I'd share those few little items as a learning experience for others. I believe I've learned more but along with age come the gaps in memory that only allow great thoughts of wisdom to come to light on rare occasions.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Trying this again

Webshots, where I store many of my photos, has redesigned their site so the kiddy photo didn't link the way I wanted it to in my previous post. So here it is again.

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Two fine games of Phase 10

And Image hosted by Webshots.com
by dian1954">all the chillins together (Jerri took that shot) except Jillian She went visiting a couple of days with Jerri's mom. I had a great day visiting with Trish, Jami, and Jerri as we played cards.

Still breathing

Just moving slowly. I'll get reved up and moving soon.