Spring Break

The kids have been on Spring Break here this week. Zach went to work with his PopPop the past two days but tomorrow we're going with Jerri and the girls to the Children's Museum of Memphis (or "Kid's Museum as Beans calls it). I've never been but Jerri takes the Chick and Beans pretty often and they just love to play there. For a look at some of the exhibits you can go here, and they even have a blog here.

I think it will be a good day to take pictures.

And hey, it's almost Spring! Do you feel it?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

If God sends you down a stony path,
may he give you strong shoes.

*

May the grass grow long
on the road to hell for want of use.
*
As you slide down the banisters of life
may the splinters never point the wrong way.
*
May the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty.
*
May your glass be ever full.
May the roof over your head be always strong.
And may you be in heaven half an hour
before the devil knows you're dead.

Farm Use for Blow Dryers

Zach and his buddy are sacked out on the couch and recliner watching a "Freddie" movie, I'm enclosed in the bathroom with a Good Housekeeping mag attending to my morning constitutional, when the front door opens and the man starts yelling for Brenda!

I'm thinking, ",,,alright sucker, this had better be good, " as I head to the living room.

There he stands, in the door, cause his boots have mud and water dripping from them, with dripping papers in his hand.

"Can you zap these in the microwave for me? Or how about the oven? I need em dried and I need em quick as I can get em."

I told him No on the microwave idea, and No on the oven idea, cause these were drenched papers and papers will burn once they're dried and I was in no mood to fight a fire today. So I dragged out my trusty blow dryer and we went to work carefully peeling the sheets apart to dry them enough so that they would no longer be sticking together in a dripping mass.

The Man had been to pick up a new Flex Harrow and the wet pages were the instructions for putting it together. I really think the pages have plenty of time to dry cause the Man usually doesn't read the instructions until After he's put it together wrong at least once.

Ok, I'm outta here to go run a few errands. Hope everyone is having a super Monday!

I'm not sure I can do this,,,,

It's hard. It was hard the first time I tried, harder the second, and even harder the third time I tried to quit smoking. I have had this love/hate relationship with cigarettes for 40 years now and I know they're probably killing me. I don't know how to explain this addiction but I know without a doubt that I have one.

Tuesday I went to my doctor, the one who has the assembly line patient care going on, and was able to spit out in my 2 minute allotted time that I wanted a prescription for Chantix. The only thing he said before writing the prescription was, pointing to his head, " are you sure up here?" I told him that I hoped so, and that was that. I paid, I left.

Tuesday evening I went to my first support group session for smokers who want to quit. After I attend two sessions, they will provide the Chantix to me free of charge so that sounded like a good deal since I don't have insurance.

My first homework from the session is to cut my cigarette use down to 20 cigarettes a day. I did this on Wednesday although I had to go to bed twice to calm down. On Thursday I did ok too but two naps helped me through then also. Today hasn't been good, no naps and I'm a bit stressed; when I'm stressed I reach for my crutch; the smokes.

I think I'm willing but I'm weak. I love those nasty things but they're killing me. I start the Chantix next week, we'll see.

Photo Challenge - The Eyes Have It - March 21st

“The eyes are the mirror of the soul”

“You never know how you look through other people's eyes.”

“The eyes have one language everywhere”

Got those cameras ready? The new photo challenge topic, chosen by yours truly, will be "The Eyes Have It" on Saturday March 21st. Most anything is allowed; artistic or realistic. Use your imaginations and have fun!

I've always been fascinated with expressions and the eyes are the most expressive of all. A wonderful photo taken by National Geographic photographer, Steve McCurry, has stayed in my mind since the first time I saw it back in the early 80's. There was so much to see about the young Afghan girl by looking at her eyes.

Many of the photos that I take of our babies I've focused on their eyes and have ended up with some very pleasing shots.

Please go over to our photo blog, courtesy of Miz Donna, and follow her directions to sign up for this challenge. Grab those cameras and go out and have fun!!! Remember, it's in the Eyes!

Many thanks to Miz Cindra for all of the fun we had last time with her Photo Editing challenge topic!!

Doing the Zoo

MeriKate, the Chick, and Beans in the Northwest area of the zoo.

Zach with Budda.

DIL, Jerri, and my son James (aka Bubbie) looking all cute.

The temps were in the mid-70's on Saturday so we loaded up some snacks, loaded up some kids, and went to the Memphis Zoo to celebrate what we hoped was the beginning of Spring around these parts.

It was more crowed than I've ever seen it and we've been visiting there for many, many years. I guess everyone else was celebrating the beautiful weather too.

About half of the animals decided to stay inside and I had to dodge around people in order to take a quick snap of any of the critters. It wasn't at the top of the list for great zoo adventures but it was a nice day out anyway.

I was watching the weather this morning and that man on there said the temps will be back in the 40's about mid-week. I sure hope he's wrong.

Photo Challenge - Photo Editing

Miz Cindra was kind enough to host our challenge this time and she decided that we should all try our hand (and brain cells) at photo editing. With all the inexpensive and FREE photo editing software out there, there's no reason we for us not to give it a go.

So I did.

And I hope y'all did.

Click the photos below to enlarge to see more detail.

By the light of the Moon

My mouse had taken some bad bytes of something when I started my photo combinations so I forgot to put the 2 original photos for this creation where I could easily find them. I finally gave up the search. I used a shot of the foliage right around sunrise and a shot of the moon; both originals were in color.

Original of Zach wearing PopPop's straw hat.

Same photo after applying a pencil sketch effect and fiddling with the contrast.

I took some photos of an old, abandoned, house on one of the back roads earlier this week and thought it would be fun to make it haunted. A zoom shot of the window and a shot from google image combined to give me somewhat the effect I wanted. The original photo of the lady I used to make a ghost is on the far right; then I inverted the photo, made it more transparent, used a black and white effect for the house window; then cloned the hell out of photo to try to make things blend together.

The end result: Haunted

The originals are a photo I took of the Chick one day while she was wearing my straw hat and squating down in the yard to inspect Zach's Game Boy. I have the color original somewhere but I had used the septia effect on this a long time ago and decided it was the effect I needed. The house is the same one from above; another photo I took earlier this week. I used the septia effect on it also and then combined the photos, did the clone thing again to blend the backgrounds.

At Play

I don't even know how I did this one. It just happened when I was trying to follow an tutorial about combining photos using Paint Shop Pro. I took these photos for an earlier challenge; Patterns.

Vision

I've learned more about photo editing this past 2 weeks than in the past 5 years that I've been using photo editing software. Thank you Miz Cindra!

Please go over to click the comments at the Brenda Photo Challenge blog to see all the other editing creations from other challenge participants. I guarantee that you'll love what you see.

I'm going to be here early to see as many blogs as I can before we leave to go visit the Memphis Zoo for the day. If you haven't posted yet, or I run out of time, I'll for sure be by to visit as soon as we're home.

Early Reminder!

See the fun that can be had with a little photo editing software and a few clicks?

I wanted to remind all of our Photo Challenge players that Saturday, March 7th will soon be upon us and it will be time for our newest photo challenge given to us by Miz Cindra. I've been having a blast with this; I've played, and played, and even though I can't remember one single step of many of the processes, and have hopped back and forth from one editing program to another until I'm as ditzy as Daffy Duck, I've had FUN!

So, don't forget to go over to the Brenda Photo Challenge Blog and follow the directions provided by the Delightful Miz Donna (down in Texas) to join us on this next adventure using our cameras and software.

Thank you Miz Cindra, for encouraging me pull out my dusty Paint Shop Pro for dummies, and user guides; for the tutorials that I can understand, and for being our hostess for this challenge round.

A big thanks to Miz Donna (over in Tennessee) too for providing us with even more tutorials to help us with the new challenge.

I can't WAIT to see what everyone comes up with!

Too Much TV,,,or not enough?

Jerri said the Chick came bouncing down the hall the other day and said,

"I think I'm having Déjà bo, that's Chinese for I've seen all this before."

Irresponsible Choices

We've all made them and I'm quite sure that most of us live with the consequences of choices, the good, and the bad, but the key words here are "most of us live with the consequences". We don't intentionally cause someone else to pay for them, or add an undo burden on others due to them, do we?

Nadya Suleman unmarried, unemployed, lives with her parents and receives food stamps and other government assistance and is the mother of 14 children.

How did she pay for the IVF treatments that she underwent to give birth to all of these children?

How does she plan to give these children a loving home and pay for all the necessities needed to raise these children when so many families with TWO parents and far fewer children are struggling to do this on a daily basis?

Does she expect donations and reality TV to do it for her?

I truly think she does.

I think the woman needs a through psychiatric evaluation before they allow her to remove her octuplets from the hospital and into her care because I think she needs some major help.

It's wonderful that medical technology has given women who so desperately want to be mothers the chance to do so, but I it's dangerous (for the mothers and the babies) , and against the laws of nature, for human mothers to have litters of babies.

Maybe I'm wrong to feel this way, but I do.

Thoughts about this have been brewing in my mind for weeks now and I just had to let them escape.

I'm Lazy

And my energy has gone off somewhere, I'm not sure where, so I posted but it's over at my Dummy site. It's a fun post so please go take a look.

My mood could have something to do with the weather and my frustration with it. 73 on Thursday, 60 on Friday, 38 today and it's spittin' SNOW.

I'm going to continue hibernating now.

Evil Meal Planning

I'm having thoughts of Fricassee Parrot, or maybe Odie Cordon Bleu.

This squawking bird is DRIVING ME CRAZY!

*he's a tad bitchy right now because I've confined him to his cage. I was tired of needing a jackhammer to remove the bird turds from every teeny wire on his cage.*

Alexis stayed with me on Tuesday and for half of the day yesterday; she's still a little puny from her surgery. I also puppy sat with little Bindy, the jungle dog, on Tuesday. When Alexis and I went into town for an hour we left Odie with Bindy and wondered on the way home if we'd have fur and feathers strewn all over when we returned. They behaved and both were taking naps when we got back.

Happy Birthday Jordan!

How does it feel to be 11 today? We LOVE you!!!!

Petrified

I was back here at the computer yesterday trying to find some information on per diem rules when I heard someone at the front door. Seconds later I heard little girl voices and realized that Alexis and Beans had come to visit. I called out that I was in the back and would be out in a second but Beans needed to see me right then, so she came back to my office/junk/whateverelse will fit in here/ room and plopped something down on my desk. I finished jotting down some information and looked down,

"Wow Beans, that's a cute little turtle! Where did you get a turtle in Winter?"

Beans said, "Yep."

I looked a little closer at this 2 1/2 inch long critter and said,

"But he's not moving, what's wrong with him,,,,Beans, is that turtle dead???"

Beans said, "Uh huh, him's dead, but him's my friend and I wuv him!"

That turtle wasn't just dead, that turtle was petrified! He'd been alive once and he'd escaped her clutches and got lost. But I guess, months later, she found him and he's continueing to be her friend. She insists!

I reminded her a couple of times before she left yesterday that the turtle needed to go home with her cause Nanaw didn't know what to feed a petrified turtle.

It's Not Funny, but It Is!

While Jerri was here last Wednesday waiting for time to pick our Beans up from Pre-school, we were talking about times past, when we were growing up, and how there was never much money. I believe what started that branch of the conversation was how the door on the toy cupboard wouldn't quite close because of all the toys, and bits and pieces of toys, that were stuffed into it, and how lucky our kids were to have all of those toys.

The conversation drifted along, one subject leading to another as conversations tend to do, and then a memory popped into my head of the old hoopty my momma used to drive when I was about 10 years old, or thereabouts.

Back then, we lived about a mile out from a little, tiny, town here in Arkansas that's only about a 35 minute drive from where I live now. My sister's and I went to church in that little town almost every Sunday morning, and evening, and Wednesday evening and most of the time we walked that mile, plus several more yards, to get there. After dark though, Mom would come to pick us up because our imaginations could conjure up all kinds of evil critters and axe murderers along that country lane if she didn't.

Anyway, the memory was of the times we, and some of our friends, would be sitting on the church steps, in the quiet dark of the evening, waiting for our rides. Then, we'd hear this far-off, but very distinctive, roar of tail pipes as a car was cranked up and someone would inevitably say,

"Here comes your Momma."

We knew it was time to start saying goodbye to our friends then cause Momma was on her way. We knew when she got to the end of the lane to turn on another road that lead into town, and we could tell when she slowed down at the end of each street once she got inside the city limits. We'd always be lined up, waiting to get in as soon as she pulled up in front of the church.

We were so lucky to even have a family car those days; I can remember even earlier when we didn't and Momma would have to walk that mile, and more, before daylight, in every sort of weather, to catch a ride with a friend to get to work. So, it didn't bother us one hoot that we had one of the loudest cars in the county; it ran, and we had a ride.

Photo Challenge - Signs of Spring

The leaves are starting to peek out on the Chinese Willow in our back yard. We do a whole lot of sittin' under this tree when the weather is warm. You may have to click to enlarge the photo to see.

We planted this Blooming Pear tree in the front yard late last Spring to replace my beloved Mimosa that died from a lightening strike. I'm watching closely for the first bloom from this little lady.
Hipped rows in the field on the south side of our house. Seeing tractors in the field is a sure sign of Spring in these parts.

These early daffodils were growing in a yard in Lexa so I got a quick shot of them (I didn't want want the folks living there to come to the door with a shotgun). They must be one of the earlier varieties because mine don't even have a bud showing yet; just the green blades. Last year my early daffodils first started blooming the last week in February then Mother Nature dumped 7 inches of snow on them the first week in March.

It's that time again; time to put out the results of our efforts for the new photo challenge. Joy over at Shuttershy was kind to be our topic hostess for this round. Thank you Joy!

The signs were subtle around here so I had to get up close to see most of them, but over the next couple of weeks I expect Spring will start popping out all over here in the Mississippi River Delta.
I have noticed a few of the Tulip Trees (pink magnolias) have been trying to open a few blooms, and some of the Spring shrubs are beginning to flower.

Y'all be sure to go over to the Brenda Photo Challenge blog and click on the names in the comments to see all of the other challenge photos. I love seeing everyone's take on these challenges!

Frenzied!

My mind is busy, busy, but it skips around like a scratched record on the wrong speed setting.

I work on a tax return,

I have to make a phone call to get more information,

I get busy with the return again,

I jump up to put a load of laundry in to wash,

Forget to start the dryer; I also threw a load in there,

The phone rings; I have to find it,

Oh yeah, I was working on that return,

Think about my back brace for the hundredth time;
don't know where it is and I need to find it,

I go looking for the brace, I notice 2 blankets are in need of a wash,

Where did I put that thing?

Put blankets in laundry basket to wash in next load,

The sink is full of dishes; I've started in there twice to get those done,

I still haven't finished the tax return, need even MORE information,

I'm getting nowhere fast around here!

Staying Ahead,,,or Behind

This is the way My Brain looks today. My Brain is a nice sized calendar book where I can jot down the things I need to do so that I don't forget to do them. I have 6 years of Brains stored for future reference (for which I have no idea whether I'll ever need, but if I throw them out, I'll surely need). The first things in My Brain to be done today are for the Improvement District, except for the entry jotted on a pink sticky note, that one's for the farm. There are a few personal items that need addressing too, if I get around to them. If I don't, they'll be moved to the tomorrow section of My Brain. You can probably tell at a glance that My Brain is mostly dead, but occasionally it keeps me in line so that things get done around here.

There were the Pee Wee basketball games on Friday evening and (too early) Saturday morning. Zach's team won Friday, and lost by 1 point on Saturday. He sure looks anxious in this picture.

Alexis, (aka, the Chick) getting ready to blow out the candle on her birthday cake on Saturday afternoon. The cake was delicious!

Paco was one of the guests at the birthday party. If you click the picture to make it a bit bigger, you can see the feather sticking out of the side of his mouth. Poor Paco won't be attending any more birthday parties. (that's a joke, he found one of Odie's feather's floating around and somehow it ended up in his mouth).

****My son called a few minutes ago and Alexis had her surgery to remove tonsils, adenoids, and to insert tubes in her ears. They're already out of the hospital and on their way back to my daughter's to spend another night in case there are any problems. I sure hope the Chick starts feeling lots better now!

I'll be around to visit as soon!

Happy Valentines Day!

There was a time when I had high expectations from my redneck husband concerning romance but those expectations went up in smoke pretty much within our first few months of marriage. I knew my romantic ideals were over and done for sure the year I told him that I wanted two new commode seats for Valentines Day, and would you believe it, that was one year when he didn't forget what day it was!

Happy Heart Day everyone!

What's In a Name

My sister tells us this story about a woman who's daughter was in the hospital where she worked. The lady was all in a huff because the nurses were not pronouncing her daughter's name, La-eia, correctly. Terri told her to just tell them the correct pronunciation and she'd see to it that they'd say her name correctly from then on. The woman's reply was, "It's a simple name really if you'll just remember that the DASH is NOT silent. La (dash) eia."

What is it with these people? Do they not realize that they're giving their children names that will define them every single day for the rest of their lives? When we named our children my first concern was that they be able to spell, and write, their names before reaching adulthood. We have "Trisha", "Jami", and "James", simple names, good names, strong names, common names, but not so common that they ever had more than 1 other child in any of their classes with the same names.

I was reading the Honor Roll list from one of the nearby school districts a while ago and all I could do was shake my head when I read some of the names of the children. Can you imagine being in kindergarten and having to learn how to spell, "Darhranesha", or "Shonqawnicksa", "Trieqauna", "Tieawauna", "Lavortchano", or heaven help you, "Shaquirta"?

Another story my sister, the nurse, told me was about this woman who was naming her newborn son and the nurse was helping her to fill out the birth announcement for the newspaper. The woman said the baby's name was Dominique, the nurse asked her to please spell it so she'd get it right and the woman said, "D O N O T H I N G". Then she got mad because the nurse couldn't stop laughing!

Please Momma's, have mercy on your children by giving them a names that they can spell before they're 20!