Day Is Done,,,,almost

The baddest weather missed us I think but I didn't risk driving to Helena for Zach's Tah Kwon Do cause I didn't want to get stuck there in case something icy or white decided to stick. It sleeted and snowed off and on all day but it was mixed with rain and the temps stayed just a frog's hair above freezing so nothing but wet was on the ground.

I wish I had the gumption to go have a talk with that groundhog critter, I'll tell him that 6 more weeks of winter would not be a good thing this year. It's past time for James to be doing some form of farming because he's past getting on my nerves, I'm ready to tie him up with duct tape, hide him in the closet, and put that remote somewhere that never sees the sun.

I saw the farm owner in town the other day and he must have noticed the wild look in my eye cause he waved real quick and hurried back to his truck. He gives his farm managers WAY too much time to aggravate their spouses in the winter time.

I haven't seen an entire LifeTime movie on, what he calls, the vagina channel since sometime in November! And I don't think I can keep from losing all means of control if I have to listen to, or view, even one more John Wayne western.

We picked up Jilly Beans while we were in town today so she can spend the night with us. The very first thing she wanted to talk about was the new baby mice they had! Remember Jerri's email that I posted a bit ago, about the little house mouse who had gotten into the tame mice's cage, and how they were fighting? Well, apparently they weren't fighting.

Also, the little house mouse isn't a very responsible little house mouse because as soon as he did the deed/or deeds, he managed to get back out of the cage and disappear, of course he left no means of support for this little offspring-to-be. James said he never knew a tame mouse would mate with a wild one,,,well,,,there ya go bud, you know now.

Well,,,the Beans sacked out a little while ago and Nanaw won't be too far behind her. I hope she leaves me some room in the bed!

Hope ya'll had a fine day!

To Do

1. Meet the client that I wasn't able to meet yesterday due to a delay on their part.

2. Do the monthly banking.

3. Stop at Sears to buy a pail of laundry detergent and a mini shop vac. (also remember to buy birdseed so Ya-Ya won't be pissed off at me).

4. Make James buy my lunch.

5. Hurry home in case the weather man is even half right about the possibility of winter precipitation (he hasn't been in a couple of weeks now).

6. Do a tax return.

7. Take Zach to Tae Kwon Do and bring the Beans home to spend the night if the weather isn't too bad by evening.

Ok, I think that's all. I'd probably better copy and print this so I won't forget something.
Ya'll have a great day!

A Crystal Idea

Miz Crystal asked her readers to post their favorite book and/or movie. I thought this would be hard because I have so many favorites, but after thinking for a minute or two, these have to be it.

"The Stand" by Stephen King. This book scared the hell out of me but I couldn't put it down. I first read it back 1979 and read it again about 8 years ago. This book started a love affair between myself and Stephen King's novels of horror.


"Love You Forever", by Robert Munsch is my favorite children's book. Zach was a little fella the first time I read this book. I broke down and sobbed before I could get to the end and he looked at me like I was crazy or something.

"Steel Magnolias" has got to be the best chick flick in the whole entire world. I've probably seen this movie about 20 times. I laughed, I cried, at one point I did both.

Not a Good Hair Day

We've been getting some furious gusts of wind here today and for awhile it was coming a downpour. The electricity went out while we were at Tah Kwon Do, seems it was out for most of the southern part of town there. Got the panicky kids to the truck and got them warm (temps dropped 20 degrees in just a few minutes), and got them home. The Chick and Jilly Beans had electricity, we didn't until about an hour ago.

I'm still trying to get warm.

Hope everyone had a super duper day!

Been One of "THEM" Days

First off, Miz Donna tagged me so I'm gonna do this for her even though I'm doing it the lazy way. You'll understand later in this post the reason I'm mostly brain dead. I'm supposed to list 5 things about me but due to the brain matter issue, you get this many,.done like this.

Now, I'm gonna tag Miz Cindra and Mr. Ed to do the same. :-)

Now for the reason for being sluggish so early in the evening.

I've completed, printed, addressed envelopes for, 3 tax returns today, and I've completed, and electronically filed ours.

Then the school bus came and dropped off Zach and his 3 little sisters. Zach lives here so I'm almost always prepared to wrestle with him about homework, but add 3 busy little girls, in different grades, to this mix and you've got a Nanaw who has forgotten how to even spell her name by the time ALL the homework is done.

In the midst of all that I cooked a simple supper of Spaghetti, left-over green beans, and some garlic bread.

Son-in-law came to pick up the girls and I thought I'd get a chance to breath a little but,,,

THEN, Zach happens to mention that he has 2 projects due TOMORROW!! I knew about his book report project due on Thursday (that still has to be done sometime between now and then) but these were 2 more that he'd forgotten (since Friday), until now, to mention.

So guess who's been online finding the stuff he needed to do the projects and then sitting at the kitchen table with him to make sure he sat still long enough to complete them?

Normally he'd be doing the online research himself but he's a lot slower at googling (he'd still have been here this time tomorrow) so I did it this time, and all the while I was threatening his life and limbs for not saying he had this to do when it was assigned.

Now, I'm going into the living room to climb into my big ole chair, with my blankie, and my book, and I'm going to read until I get sleepy.

Ya'll have a wonderful evening now, ya hear?

I'm SO ready for Spring!

This one was taken by Jerri.

The photo opportunities are much better!

Little Shopper

Zach and I met Jerri and Jillian at Pizza Hut for lunch today and then, after Jerri picked Alexis up from her play date, went to Wal Mart to pick up a few things we needed.

I was much impressed with how mature Alexis has become while shopping with her mom. I don't think she asked for one single thing the whole time we were in there except for some cucumbers. I finally told her she could pick out a prize and she chose a Brats book. I also bought her some seamless panties that we found because the child hates panties with seams. Zachary could take lessons from her cause he and I constantly argue about what, if anything, he can have, and I still often end up with several items at the checkout that weren't intended purchases.

Jillian is a serious little shopper. Groceries are mostly at the top of her mind's shopping list. She loaded up a huge pizza into Jerri's cart, while in mine she put her own bag of powdered donuts, and a couple little boxes of Valentine chocolates for her "dister" and herself. We'd told her she could pick out a new Strawberry Shortcake book and she did, plus 2 more. She also found a Strawberry Shortcake shirt that was just her size, I knew she was in love with it because she carried it all over the store.

We're back from shopping now, Zach and I stopped and got a few movies on the way home, James is gone on an overnight hunting trip with his brothers, so we've donned pjs, made hot drinks, and plan to snuggle down and stay warm this evening.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Tagged

Karen tagged me so I'm doing this for her. You can follow the directions and do this too if you'd like.

Share 7 random/weird things about you. Post the rules. Link to the person/person's that tagged you. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include a link back to their blog. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving them a comment.

1. I don't like to get my feet dirty but I hate wearing shoes indoors.

2. Dirty fingernails make me crazy.

3. I am not an organized person, I'll never be an organized person, I've given up ever hoping to be an organized person.

4. I like cold cornbread with a teaspoon of peanut butter spread on top for a snack.

5. I love liver, onions, and gravy.

6. I've lived in England, and I've visited Scotland, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany. I've also lived in MN, and NC and have been through or visited almost every state in the North, South, and Eastern US. except for the upper NE. I've never been further west than Hot Springs and Conway, Arkansas.

7. I think I'd like to be a beach bum. I believe I'd be an excellent one.

I'm not going to tag anyone but I'd love to see what everyone might come up with if they feel of a mind to do this.

I was crusin for a dream

Blog buds who've been visitin here for awhile know that I rarely dream, but when I do, it's usually a doozy. (click here for proof)

I went back to sleep this morning and boy did I have a doozy.

I dreamed that I was frying up some swamp rabbits and James had invited someone over for supper. The invited someone was one of the mexican farm workers (all of whom have green or SS cards by the way), and when he arrived he brought brothers, sisters, in-laws, mother, father, and aunts and uncles along with him. There were even a few babies in the bunch!

And there I was frying up 2 swamp rabbits.

I think I woke up in self-defense.

Lazy or Sick?

I went back to bed after the school bus fetched the kids yesterday,,,about 7:30ish. The phone woke me up at 9:30. Then around noon I was having trouble keeping my eyes open so I laid back down and slept until almost 2:00. The sleepys hit me again at 5 and I went back to bed and slept another hour and a half. I also slept good last night but I'm still sleepy this morning.

Maybe I just need some more sleep.

Chainsaw Massacre

Lightening struck and killed our Mimosa tree last spring and James has mentioned the need to cut it down several times since then. The community chainsaw, at the farm shop, is often being used elsewhere or needs repairs so we decided to buy a chainsaw to do the deed.

When we put the chainsaw in the shopping basket yesterday I was just about to tell James that he'd better not be using it to prune every stick standing in the yard but before I could get the words out of my mouth he said, "I can use this to prune some of the lower limbs on the cedar tree." I told him if he started "wacking" at all my trees and bushes, I was going to hide the damned thing!

Lord, protect my bushes from the madman with the chainsaw!

So, when we got home, he reverted back into the "oh man, a new tool/toy/machine" mode and decided that he needed to put it together, right then, in the living room. I was in the utility room but I could hear him muttering to himself while he was trying to figure out which part went where so I yelled, "read the directions!" I heard him muttering a little more, then in a loud voice he said,

"First page,,,WARNING,,, James, don't f*** with this before you read the directions!"

Very humorous but I'm still worried about my poor bushes and trees.

Bush Giveaway

You can understand the man’s alarm. As though his legacy were not tarnished enough already, there’s a real chance that if things don’t get better quickly he will be remembered for a presidency that botched a war and nearly lost an American city to a hurricane, neatly sandwiched between two slumps. It will make Herbert Hoover look like George Washington.

He wants the Internal Revenue Service to mail out rebate cheques to all taxpayers, perhaps as much as $800 for single taxpayers ($1,600 for families). If Congress can get its act together, that would be in people’s pockets some time over the summer, perhaps just as the slump is really starting to hurt.

The Democrats aren't so sure his plan would benefit the ones that the current economy is hurting the most and want the rebates
only to be targeted for those making under $85,000 per year. There's also a question about those who pay no taxes so would gain nothing from a rebate.

For now, who knows where this will end up, but I'm all for getting some of what we've been faithfully, if not happily, paying in in taxes.

Personally, I'd spend the hell out of $1600 of unexpected income. I'd keep saving the money that I have put back for the sofa that I'm still searching for, and get down right serious about finding one to buy. There probably wouldn't be even a yankee dime left unless I happened to find a VERY good sale going on, but I'd be sitting high on the hog (or sofa).

Of course, those plans could be dashed if these danged gas prices keep going up, and up. And food,,,might take the whole $1,600 to buy groceries for the month by the time they get around to cutting a check.

I was so excited last month that the payment for James's new truck was going to be a whole $50 dollars less, and a whole year less, than the old truck, and then I noticed that the monthly draft for his health insurance went up by that same amount. Sure popped the hell outta my balloon.

Anyway, Send it on George W., it'll be nice to have a little prize to put in our pockets instead of yours for a change.

LtoR Abby, Krysten, MeriKate, Jillian, Alexis (aka, the Chick)

I woke up this morning to find an email from Jerri,

ONLY US!

I went to tell alexis and meri kate that it was time to settle down and get ready for bed and I noticed the mice were fighting, which they never do, and upon closer inspection I found that we actually had 3, yes, THREE freaking mice. Seems that a little house mouse decided that we are good to our critters here and that it beat the hell outta living in the ghetto so he obviously climbed right into the damn cage!

So I will say it again...ONLY in my house does a free-living mouse cage himself to be part of our family! I am not shitting you this is a true story!

I'm still laughing! The little house mouse joined their zoo which already includes,

2 turtles
1 green snake
2 cats
2 dogs
and the mice!

Jami had a doctor's appt in Little Rock today so Abby and Krysten are here (MeriKate is at Jerri's). Zach's already in trouble for aggravating the girls. Constantly!

And it's only 8:30 a.m.

It's gonna be a longgggg day!

Boys and Their Toys

Zach isn't usually receptive about doing chores around here, but surprisingly, when I asked him if he'd vacuum this morning, he jumped right on it. I noticed it was taking him quite a long time so I started watching him.

He adjusted the vacuum for the floor type, then he took out the duster attachment and dusted the vacuum. He pushed the vacuum around the living room floor for a bit and then he had to stop and use all the attachments. If there was a button, he pushed it, a lever, he pulled it. He emptied the bagless container and dusted it out, he fiddled with the filters.

Then I figured out what was going on with this child who's probably going to be world famous one day for being able to procrastinate about anything remotely resembling work. It's a new vacuum! It's got to be taken apart just to see how it works and if it can be put back together.

Is this a man/boy/male child thing? Has anyone else noticed this about the men/boys/male babies in their lives? Do you have pieces of "things" in the toy box/closet/basement/garage that were once whole? Do you dare throw any of these "things" away, or do you have to butt heads because "they know what that goes on/to and they're planning to fix it"? Do you see their eyes glaze over and a wild, wanting, look appear on their faces when there's a new tool, toy, motor, for them to put their hands on? Is that dangling thing on their Y chromosome what makes them do these things?

James has mostly grown out of this need but my son and grandson are still at it. I remember, back a few years ago, Jerri was a tad upset because Bubbie had taken a motor off of some piece of household equipment so he could put it on his remote control car. He wanted to see if he could make it go faster. I think he blew it up.

I hope everyone is having a great Saturday. I'm preparing myself, mentally, to take 3 boys to the movies and McDonald's tonight. Wish me luck!

Sheer Delight!

How long has it been since you've gotten this much enjoyment from eating a cupcake?


I had big plans today to come into my little office and get some accounting work out of the way. I have the client's check stubs and bank statements laid out in here on my desk, posted 5 checks and then came to one that I can't read. Now I've got to call him (as soon as my danged cell phone charges) and ask him what that check was for.

So much for getting an early start, huh?

Floating Brain Cells

Pretty dreary day yesterday as you can see from my photos of the birds. The blackbirds have been flocking our country road in huge numbers reminding me of that old Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Birds".

Zach's 11 years old today and is a little upset that he hasn't had to start shaving yet. It's hard to believe that little munchkin has been my little shadow for that long. He decided last year that he'd rather go to the movies with friends than have a party so I reckon we'll be seeing what's on for Saturday.

The Beans stayed overnight on Tuesday night and we did a lot of snuggling, reading, and playing yesterday. We were watching an episode of Sponge Bob, the one where their squirrel friend gets a flea and it multiplies. It must have caused a Cartoon over mind moment cause I got so itchy from watching it that I just kept finding a new place that needed scratching. I'm going to try to avoid watching the reruns of that episode.

The Chick and Jerri came to fetch the Beans around noon and spent the afternoon so we were totally entertained for a few hours. Those two girls are a mess and a half.

Sometimes I have a sick sense of humor

Maybe a little less than sometimes really.

This news story has had my husband and his pal, Jeffrey, laughing over their morning coffee for several days now.

I hope when I go that someone can get a little enjoyment out of what I've left behind.

MeriKate Update

MeriKate's elbow is fractured in the ball (that roundish part of the bone I think) but it wasn't in the growth cap so the doc said that's a good thing. There is the little problem that it's her left elbow, she'll be in a cast for at least 6 weeks, and she's left handed.

She's been in a good bit of pain so it's uncertain if she'll go to school this week and they didn't cast it yet either, they'll have to go back to Little Rock on Friday for that. The doc also told them to give this child vitamins with calcium (something Nanaw has mentioned in the past).

Bona fide Nanaw

Holy Shit but it's been a rough one today!

It started out mild to middling, James woke Zach up in time for Sunday school and let me sleep. I woke up around 8:30ish or so. While I was still sipping my first cup of coffee, the phone rang and it was Bubbie saying he was going to bring his 2 girls for a visit while he went bird hunting with his dad. I told him that would be ok and went back to sipping my coffee.

James took Zach to Sunday school and came home and decided to cook some breakfast for himself and the Chicklets. They came in about the time he was getting started and Bubbie's friend, Jeremy (friend since grade school) came in. While James and the girls were eating, Bubbie and Jeremy decided to go pick up Jeremy's little boy, Ryan, so he could play with Zach while he, James, and Bubbie, went hunting.

Before they got back, Jami and Keith came with MeriKate, Krysten, and Abby. They also had their neighbor's little grandson, Christopher, with them, he's Jillian's age.

Ya'll see the house filling up here, don't you?

Ok, now, everyone got back so there were 6 adults and a total of 8 children.

At this point, I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps I am going to need something a little stronger than coffee before the day is over.

It wasn't too cold today so most of the kids went out to play. Zach and Ryan were doing boy things, and MeriKate, Alexis, Abby, and Jillian, were together doing girl things.

The men folks left to go hunting.

Around 11:30, MeriKate (who's 7) came into the house crying. It seems that the baby of the family, Jillian(who's 2), roughed her up a little bit and she fell and hurt her elbow. It started swelling so, after a little discussing, it was decided that they would take her to the emergency room to make sure it wasn't broken.

Jami and Keith left to take MeriKate to the emergency room.

I put the TV on a cartoon channel and sat down.

Then it hit me, I was the only adult left at home and I was surrounded by 7 children, one of which(Christopher)was still in diapers.

And they hadn't left any diapers!

Was I crazy? (probably only a little then, but bona fide and needing a straight jacket after a little while).

The kids were pretty good, just busy, and I was a little busy trying to keep up with where they all were. I called Jerri a little before 2, and was telling her of the diaper dilema and how I hoped he didn't do a deed before Jami and Keith got back, and she told me she thought I had some left-over diapers from Jillian in one of the island cupboards.

I did, thank goodness, cause Mr. Christopher did a dirty deed indeed. I also found a whole box of my paperclips in his pocket while I was changing him. ( When did he get away and go into my office?)

I also cooked dinner in this madhouse today, I think there were 11 of us for dinner.

Jami and Keith got back with MeriKate with her arm in a sling, her elbow is broken. Then they had to leave to drive her to the Children's hospital in Little Rock to see an Orthopedic since the hospital that we have here isn't much good for anything other than band-aid injuries.

Krysten and Abby are staying here tonight.

Now, I'm sitting here taking a breather. I found a trail of lemon sour Nerds leading to my desk with a passy at trail's end so I know Jillian's been computing at some point today (one of those times when I lost her I reckon).

Baths are done, pjs are on, and I'm waiting for bedtime.

from left to right, Alexis, Abby, Christopher, Krysten, Jillian, Ryan, and Zach in front.



And how was your day?

January Babies

The first birthday celebration in January is that of a blog friend, CJ, over at Honeysideup.
CJ has had a long row to hoe in her young life but she's the most upbeat person I've ever known.
She and her husband, Gary, live in southern Missouri and are truly a loving and happy couple.


Yesterday I had a call from over the BIG pond with news of another big day. Miss Senna Klinkenberg arrived on January 5th, much to the delight of her big brother, Jessee, her Mom, Soony, and her Daddy, Eric.

Soony (Danielle Elena Hubertina Soons Klinkenberg) came into our family in August 1989 as a 17 year old exchange student from The Netherlands. We hosted 3 more after her but although we loved them all, Soony was the one who truly became one of the family. We call her Soony because her name was too difficult for my husband to pronounce with the Dutch accent so she agreed that we could use her nickname from elementary school.

I flew to Holland to attend her wedding in December 2004 and just look at the beautiful babies she and Eric have made since then! Jesse will be 2 in March and I'm sure he's going to be a wonderful big brother to his new little sister.



My baby, James (aka Bubbie) had a birthday on January 9th. He turned 28 and I figure in another 5 years or so he's surely headed for adulthood! Ha! He's married to the sweet, Jerri, and the Daddy of the Chick (Alexis), and Jilly Beans (Jillian).

He just got a promotion last month to
Lieutenant. He sure makes a handsome correctional officer, even when he's kicked back at home.

Miz Mary lou, over at Life After Nexcom had a birthday on Jan 11th. She claims to be 62 but I'm sure she's fudging just a little because from the few photos I've seen of her, she looks to be about 49! Mary lou is another of my blog buds and lives in Washington state on the pacific coast on an island!

My oldest daughter, Trisha, will be (gasp!) 36 on January 23rd. My firstborn's birthday reminds me every year of just how old I'm getting to be! This is her complaining because I'm taking her picture.

Trisha lives and works in Little Rock and is the wonderful Momma of Jordan and Jaylen, two of my lovely granddaughters. I wonder what she would think if Zach and I decided to spend a few days with her in Little Rock during his Spring break? Think she'd let the girls skip a couple of days of school if they're not having their break yet?

If I've forgotten anyone's birthday, please forgive me. I'm getting worse and worse about remembering dates,,,even remembering today's date!

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Gonna Give This a Go

From over at Miz Donna's place:

Bernard Pivot’s Questionnaire as heard on The Actors Studio with James Lipton.

1. What is your favorite word? lethargic
2. What is your least favorite word? Whatever
3. What turns you on? Honesty
4. What turns you off? Dishonesty
5. What is your favorite curse word? All of them
6. What sound or noise do you love? Birds (except for Ya-Ya's squawking)
7. What sound or noise do you hate? noisy chewing
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Researcher
9. What profession would you not like to do? A Diver
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
"Well, you didn't screw up too bad."

Just a tad on the lazy side.,,,

I'm still sniffing and snorting some from the last cold and James passed a new one on to me. I hurried out and bought a new bottle of vitamins with minerals so maybe if I get back in the habit of taking them again I won't be killing so many trees by using up so many kleenex, napkins, and toilet paper for blowing this honking big nose of mine.

I decided to take some benedryl for my watering eyes this morning and go back to bed. Benedryl makes me very sleepy but it doesn't shut out the squawks and whistles of Ya-Ya, who was pissed off because I dared to go to the bedroom where he couldn't see me. He paid no attention when I threatened to pluck him, and only hissed at me a little when I mentioned BBQed Ya-Ya on a stick.

The males around this place are so self-absorbed.

James made half a dozen trips in and out of the house this morning before he finally remembered, and found, all the things he'd forgotten, or lost, and went on his way to hunt poor, defenseless little quails. I thought about telling him he needed to tie a string around his finger, but after his 3rd trip back into the house, with wet boots on, I really wanted to tell him he needed to tie a rope around his neck so he'd remember. I did neither,,, I guess I'm getting kinder, gentler, less willing to start an argument in my old age. I even called his cell phone for him so he could track it down by listening for the ring. Wasn't that nice of me? (well it was, I could have insisted that he call himself!)

Zach's been having his annual instruction on Black History again and was surprised when his PopPop and I were able to answer all his questions correctly. He found it hard to understand that we'd actually been alive when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968. I'm also not sure he believes me when I tell him we used to have a dinosaur as a pet.

We've been wrestling with math homework again and today it was fractions. He's 3 days into a new semester, he was out of school for 2 weeks, and he had fractions last semester, (which was 2 weeks ago). Now he's acting as though he's never seen this stuff before. It makes me so frustrated that I want to run away, I'm just not sure where I'd go, or how far I'd get, with gas prices competing with the price of gold.

Oh, and since we're on the subject of prices, has anyone been able to afford beef lately? Corn, rice, wheat, and other grains, and soybean prices are higher now than I've ever seen them in my lifetime (probably anyone's lifetime). The farmers are ecstatic that the profits are rolling in but I wonder if any of them have been in a grocery store lately? (James went with me and he nearly had a cow,,, which would have been a good thing!) It could be that a good bit of those profits are going to go into their belly's. And it's gonna get worse before it gets better.

I'll be clucking soon due to all the chicken I've been buying (but it's going up too, just doesn't make my heart stop when I see the price,,,,at least not yet).

Okey Dokie, I'm done for the day. I hope everyone is having a great Wednesday!

My vote for "CheneyCare"

I am one of the 50,000,000 Americans without health care coverage. I have no way to seek medical care in this nation. No government program will cover me, and there is no private insurance available to me that I can afford.

Guaranteed medical care, at a cost we can afford, is a right that we, as American taxpayers, deserve, yet do you realize that many of the presidential candidates actually believe that a high percentage of those without health insurance can afford the coverage and just choose not to buy it? They also believe that if you are lucky enough to have coverage, that you'll receive the medical treatments/drugs that you need.

It's so easy to ignore this problem if you are an American that the health care crisis hasn't affected yet due to having decent health insurance coverage through your job, but you're next. Companies are struggling with the huge cost increases for premiums and many are no longer able to foot the bill for their employees. Also, if you've never had a serious medical problem you're going to find out that many times the insurance company will deny coverage or only pay for mediocre care, or should they pay up, drop you as a high risk at renewal time.

I want "CheneyCare", I already pay for what he has, is my life not worth the same?

I'm casting my vote for John Edwards.
Nuff said.

Breaking

I feel as though pieces of me are breaking off and the least little thing, the right button pushed the wrong way, might make me fly into a trillion parts. I'm so moody that I either feel like ranting or crying or sometimes both.

I've taken a traxene that I keep on hand for anxiety, maybe it'll smooth out this moodiness.

Menopause is the pits.

Back Then

Sometimes a scent or a sound takes me back to a time when things were so much simpler, a time when I think I felt the most secure in my life.

I wish I could remember how many sunny mornings I spent next to the old wood stove at Grandma's house. I could look through the door and see her in the kitchen puttering around making dinner (what we called the mid-day meal). The radio would be on KBFC in Forrest City and every one of my memories includes "The Wings of a Snow White Dove" being the background music she'd listen to as she kneaded the dough to make rolls, or beat the batter for her yummy cornbread.




A pot of pinto or great northern beans would be simmering on the wood stove and the aroma that drifted up when she'd lift the lid to give them a stir would make me so hungry even though it hadn't been all that long since breakfast. I can't remember ever having a dinner or supper at her house when there weren't some of those beans on the table.

If a hard freeze hadn't damaged the green patch, she'd also be washing some turnip or mustard greens to get them ready to throw in a pot of water with some tiny slices of salt pork for seasoning. Sometimes there'd be some little potatoes cooked in their jackets staying warm on the back burner of her old range. She'd always put a little pitcher of bacon drippings beside them so we could season them with a little drizzle.

I think if I could go back to just one place in time it would be as a child in Grandma's kitchen, maybe sitting at the table with her and Grandpa, a bowl of her hot cornbread covered in cold buttermilk sitting in front of us.

You should have to have a license to have children!

Each time I think that perhaps things are getting, maybe a little, better in this world, I turn on the news or read the online headlines and come across the most desperate stupidity. Negligent Homicide and reduced bond to $50,000? Hell, they ought to smear her with honey and tie her to a fire ant hill, in the desert!

This evil excuse of a mother was only having her children there for a visit and she wouldn't even stay home to spend time with them. People like this woman just sicken me.

Burrrrrrr,,shiver, shiver,,,

See that white x up there? --------
That's about where I live, I'm right under it. That large swoopy thing on there is the jet stream and we southern folks here in Arkansas perfer it when that large swoopy thing stays up there in Northern Missouri somewhere. The air, it does have fangs tonight, and it's taking a big old bite out of my delicate southern constitution. Heck, I've even had to dig around in the closet to find my warm, fuzzy lined, Canadian moccasins that Kat sent me awhile back. Those ones are right toasty!

Now, below there is the forecast, and you can see from it that we'll only be having a couple of days of bitey weather. You can also see from this the major reason for the constant confusion
we have about weather in Arkansas during the winter. By Friday it'll be feeling like Spring again. Of course, next week we could have that dreaded stuff, snow, ya never know around here.