Meet Stewart

Stewart is a mouse and his owner is the Chick. This is not the same Stewart as the one she had a while ago,,, that little Stewart went to his heavenly reward. Stewart is very tiny, so tiny that this Nanaw even held him for a minute or two. Stewart has a little cage he calls home that is Jilly Beans proof as this is an absolute necessity. Jilly can sure love their pets hard sometimes.

I stopped by to see the girls yesterday while I was in town and this was the conversation about Cookie the kitten that I heard between Jerri and her mother while I was there:

Banny: Where's Cookie?

Jerri: (looking up from her painting chores) I don't know, did you look to see if he was floating in the pool?

It seems that Jillian insists that Cookie go swimming with them, whether he wants to or not. I suspect Cookie hides a lot.

The Cactus are blooming

Before It's Time

James's cousin decided he was done with living some time Wednesday night, or early Thursday morning, and took his life. He left behind a wife and 3 beautiful daughters, one of which was with her mother when they found him. I don't understand how he could do this. Did he even think about what he'd be doing to his children as he was making this decision? His mother? His extensive family?

I couldn't sleep last night thinking of how terrible his pain must have been to never want to see another sunrise.

Menopause and the Occasional Urge to Retire to a Padded Cell for Peace and Quiet

This is an attempt at constructing a 3D map of Arkansas.

Below is the artist in training. I traced, he sculpted and shaped, drew squiggles where there was a need, Sculpted Mt. Magazine ( it looks like a big pimple or a deformed boob), and gave me hives from the struggles to get him to sit still long enough to work on this school project. I had to sit beside him every second to assure that the hot glue gun wasn't used as some kind of lethal weapon aimed at the furniture or anything that breathed. Did I mention my whole house has the lingering aroma of baked clay?

There's still some work to be done as he must still label the major rivers and lakes,,,we're thinking toothpick flags here,,,and construct the information on a poster about one of Arkansas's parks, a town with a population below 20,000, a place with a name that comes from another language, and also his poem about the Strawberry River. He tried to hand print all of that but it was so unreadable that I've sat him down to peck the info out on the keyboard. He only likes one more little thing and he'll be good to go after 1 more round with the hot glue gun, Lord help us!

I sure hope his teacher appreciates his efforts. She gave him a C- on last week's project, Stuart Little's bedroom, because he forgot to include an invention and an explanation on how it would help Stuart. I was unaware of these instructions or I'd have made sure he did it, but getting him to bring stuff home is like pulling teeth!

I feel like I need a gold star for all the corralling and instruction I give him at home,,,or at least a paycheck!

Lazy Sunday,,,almost

Here's the Chick wearing the new duds her momma designed for her. She has a little purse to match.

This little angel was pretending to be asleep but she wasn't done playing yet.

PopPop and Jillian taking a nap after their strength-draining ATV ride.

See this little angelic face? Look closer,,,,cute as a bug huh? This is Meri Kate. She decided to terrorize their rotweiler puppy yesterday so she threw the cat on him. He ran terrified through the house trying to remove the cat from his back and fell on sweet, little, Abby (below). Jami called me from the emergency room last night where Abby had just gotten 3 stitches on the inside of her mouth.

Started out calm but with kids you must always figure some excitement into the equation.

Terrorist and Friend

The Terrorist has a friend over this weekend.

Nanaw had no problems getting to sleep last night.

Krysten is supposed to stay over tonight.

The Chick's Zoo

The phone rang today and when I answered a little, excited, voice began telling me about the new pet that she'd saved from being the kitten's supper. His/her name is Stuart Little and he/she is a baby field mouse. Jerri had to make a trip to Wal Mart to buy a hamster cage and bedding for the little one and the Chick informed me that she was bringing Stuart to meet Nanaw tomorrow!

I believe by the time Alexis is a teenager, they'd best have a place with a huge barn for all of the animals she'll have gathered up by then. So far she only has,

2 dogs

1 puppy

Momma Cat

1 kitten

2 turtles

2 horses

1 bird

and a baby mouse

Jillian loves animals too but gets a little rough with her lovings so they have to keep a tight rein on her for awhile yet.

Krysten, MeriKate, and Abby love their pets also. I think they've got 3 dogs, a cat who just had a litter of kittens, and a horse or two.

Jordan and Jaylen have a critter too but I can't remember what it is.

We have an extended family down here in the delta!

Disorganizational Skills

Once upon a time we had an aluminum fishing boat, a wooden paddle, a cricket basket, a minnow bucket with little mesh dipper, a couple of cane poles, and a decently stocked tackle box. All of the fishing equipment fit nicely into the boat for storage. The boat was stored outside under the shed. We went fishing a lot and we caught a lot of fish.

Those were the good ole days before we felt the need to have so much stuff.

This morning, as I sleepily stumbled through the dining room, I had to side-step around a new trolling motor, and a metal detector and it came to mind that I've been going around these two articles for several days now. There is a crossbow with 6 arrows atop the armoire in the bedroom, open the top doors of the armoire and there's the training collar for the dogs, with charger, one of those hand held, satellite guide gadgets that supposedly keeps you from getting lost, a rolled up sleep sack, items of cammo clothing, items of orange blaze clothing, and a wooden boxed set gun cleaning kit. I dare not look atop the cabinets for fear of finding some petrified minnow,,, or something,,, once used for fish bait,,, or something.

Somebody in this house had better learn some organizational storage skills, and since I'm the Queen of disorganized, it probably ain't gonna be me!

Energy Lag

Not much to report around here.



I've read two books and this month's Reader's Digest this week.



Took several naps.



Vaccumed the floor one and a half times.



I think it's time for another nap.

Fallout from the Imus Controversy

There will only be 49 contestants in the
Miss America Contest
this year because no one wants to wear
the banner that says,

IDAHO

I've had about all I can take of this freedom of speech snatching. Imus screwed up but it's not the end of the freakin world! Have you noticed how one-damned-sided this "being politically correct" thing has become? If you're going to fire a man for his mouth over-riding his butt, then get rid of all the Rappers who actually put some THOUGHT into their totally non-politically correct lyrics.

You don't have to listen to something you don't want to hear. There is a switch that says OFF as well as the ON, so USE it.

They'll be burning books next.

I Don't Have the Energy of a Gnat

Sometimes they can be soooo sweet!!

The Chick had loads of energy today. She came to play after her dance recital. I'll post some photos later, after Jerri sends me some. I manned the video camera today and couldn't juggle two things at once. I'm slow like that.

And that Taco Bell Chicken Taco Salad has given me gas. I probably won't be able to stand to sleep with myself tonight.

Down on the way to the Farm

Zach and I took a little trip down to the farm today to take some lunch to PopPop so I took my camera along in case we ran across any critters. Old Town Lake had plenty of fishermen (and women) out enjoying the beautiful day.

These guys told me the fishing wasn't so good today. They were loading up to go home.



These fine folks were from Mississippi. They had a camp set up beside the lake and were cleaning their catfish so they could cook them.


This dude was standing out in the corn field waiting for us to go away.


This old water snake was lying in a ditch on the farm.

They Want to Place the Blame

My heart goes out to the parents and other family members of the students and faculty who were killed or injured earlier this week at Virginia Tech. Noone should have to suffer through such horror. But, is there a way it can be prevented from happening over and over? Who's to blame for not stopping that sick young man who killed and killed and then killed some more?

Should the blame be placed with the security and police departments? Why? They're supposed to be mind readers now? What about his professors, his classmates for not reporting more vigorously how strange he acted? His parents? Current gun laws?

There is probably nothing much that the campus cops or the local city police force could have done about stopping a young man hell bent to kill. The young man who committed mass murder in Blacksburg, Va. made overtures so unwelcome to young women that their ultimate rejections had to be delivered by the campus police. They in turn were troubled enough to send him to a mental health facility after a court magistrate declared him "mentally ill" but not "an imminent danger" to himself or others. (another article I read stated that they had declared him a danger to himself and others). That was in 2005.

There are millions of people, just in our country, that suffer from mental illness, many, if not all, are probably not even aware that they are mentally ill. These people seem to be ignored, overlooked, or simply misunderstood by others. Unfortunately it is too late for all those victims who have lost their lives so needlessly in Virginia Tech and even more sadly, is the fact that there could be hundreds of other Cho Seung-Hui’s out there ready to snap at a moment’s notice. Does one wait until something like this occurs before getting these people the help they need? Our society has a duty to point fingers in the right direction so that we can perhaps stop future tragedies from occurring.

He's da Man!

Zach and his new gas grill and basketball.

Some Days are Diamonds

I was moaning and groaning about having to get out of my favorite, non-binding, duds to take Zach up to the school this evening for their awards thingy for basketball that was finished last month, and for the drawing for the gas bbq grill that they'd sold chances for to earn money for the PTO.

Most of my moaning was due to the fact that, since we live out in the country, we don't have many neighbors that we can con into buying all those chances, and I ended up buying all 20 of the ones he brought home to sell. I let Zach fill out the names, phone numbers, etc on each one (I figured it was writing practice) and he'd done some in his name, some in mine, and some in PopPop's. And since we never win a smell of anything, I considered it a donation, and forgot about it.

They gave out their little medals and the first and second place ribbons. Then they had the drawing for the bbq grill. The little girl who'd sold the most chances put her hand in and pulled out a ticket and they called Zach's name as the winner of the grill, then they turned the ticket over and told him that since he'd sold the winning chance, he'd also won a new basketball.

That child had a smile on his face almost as wide as the Mississippi River and I swear he was strutting on his way up to claim his prizes.

Tunes running through my head

I've been listening to music on You Tube this evening, just some stuff that never gets old to me. I've even watched movies several times just because I liked some of the music they had on them. One of those is From Dusk Till Dawn cause I liked this and this. I've also watched Oh Brother Where Art Thou many times just for "Man of Constant Sorrow".

Best Laid Plans

The freezing temps we had on Friday and Saturday night sure did do a job on some of the, already planted, crops around here. Below is the field of corn on the south side of our house last week before the freeze. (notice the crooked rows, I think the tractor driver was high or something)
This is how that same field looks this week after it got a frost bite. Sure doesn't look promising, does it? (You'll notice the freeze didn't straighten those rows out any.)
below is Mr. Mockingbird. He's got a brother, a wife, and a sister-in-law and the whole danged family has become a little problem. I've been taking photos of them for a couple of years now and they don't seem to mind, they let me get closer and closer as time goes by. But they've sort of taken over the neighborhood and don't want new folks (birds) to move in. We've caught them beating up on the other bird species that like to hang out around here. Today, the mister here tore up Lucy and Ricky's (the dove pair) nest that they'd made in the plum tree. I'm not sure just what to do about these neighborhood terrorists.
This is the cute little bird feeder that Jerri gave me at Christmas. James painted it John Deere green and hung it in the cypress tree for me but the wind's been blowing like crazy and there's no way I'm gonna be able to keep seed in it unless I glue it in or something. (Hmmm,,I wonder if duct tape would work and still let the birds get a bite? ) Anyway, I was going to buy one of those pole things with a hook on it this week and buy a new feeder to hang from it so I'd have one closer to the house,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
but that was before I changed the ink cartridge in my printer and the thing took a cranky turn and would no longer work. I was right in the middle of printing out a last minute tax return so I had to get dressed and go into town to buy a new printer so I could finish. It took awhile to search for one that would take the same cartridges as the old one cause I wasn't going to lose that $32 and have to spend more for another new cartridge for the new one.

James went to town with me and we bought 24 more tomato plants to replace the ones that got frozen last weekend. That sneaky, old, Jack Frost better keep his mitts off of these!

Normally, when I finally go to sleep, I'm so falling down tired that I sleep like a corpse. I don't move and if I dream, I don't remember it. There's just a big ole blank spot for how every long I was snoozing. The rare occasions when I do dream are usually if I'm sick and running a fever, or I go back to bed after Zach goes to school, or take a nap. (there was that one time when an accidental dose of codeine made me dream that my head fell off and I couldn't move!)

Anyway, this morning I went back to sleep after Zach left for school cause I was tired. At first I remember dreaming that I heard water running (it was raining outside for real) and I walked outside to find that there was water knee deep in the front yard because the outside hydrant was on and wouldn't go off.

Then I dream skipped, as you know dreams are likely to do, and I was on the old, dirt, lane leading to the house where my sisters and I spent a lot of our youth. My sisters were with me, in an old, grey and navy, Merc Marq that I used to have, and as we were driving down that lane, in the rain (it was raining for real remember), I was having to dodge mud holes that looked to be as big as gravel pits, float through water as wide as a small river, and eventually came to the end of our lane to find the road had washed out and we were sitting atop a waterfall that dropped a long way down into a huge gulch. As we sat there wondering how we could go ahead and knowing we were stuck and couldn't go back, I dream skipped again.

We were in Belgium and don't ask me how I know we were in Belgium, I just knew, in my dream state, or maybe I recognized the language or something, that we were in Belgium, and were standing on this busy little street outside these teeny, tiny shops. I looked at my youngest sister, who was standing next to me, and asked her,

"How'd we get off that muddy waterfall? Never mind, tell me later,,all this talk of water makes me need to pee, where's the bathrooms around here?"

Our middle sister, I'm the oldest, was just coming through a door between two of the tiny shops and she motioned to me that the bathroom was in there. I went through the door into a kitchen where there were 2 women preparing a meal, and there was a kid in a high chair eating some green looking stuff. I asked them, in sign language, where the bathroom was and one of the women pointed to a little, bitty, baby pot behind this curtain hanging over in a corner.

I was using the same sign language to tell the woman that there was no way this big ole butt was going to be able to squat over, or attempt to sit on, and actually HIT, that little bitty pot when the phone rang and woke me up. For Real!

I'm kind of glad I don't dream or don't remember dreams cause that wore me out and I'm sort of afraid to go back to sleep right now for fear I'll find myself in a stew pot in a jungle down in South America, or something.

April Thought it was February for a few days,,,,

See these beauties? I think they bit the dust over the weekend. We woke up Saturday with temps around 27 F, and Sunday evening they only climbed to a mere 30F. I covered some of the little plants on the porch so they may have survived but James's tomatoes didn't like the freezing cold breeze, even though he wrestled the puppy to cover them with large paper cups , so they'll have to be replaced.

We had a good Easter down here. The kids went home full of chocolate and eggs to wreck havoc for their mommies and daddies. They had fun searching for their Easter eggs,,several times. Jillian was the smart one, she was perfectly content to find the first one so she could eat it.

It Doesn't take much to humor me...

I have a new favorite commercial. I love those California Cheese Cows and especially like this commercial.

I'm also partial to the rat on the Charlotte's Web.

Batten Down the Hatches!!

We're having several waves of artic air making their way down from those friendly Canadians the last couple of days and this weekend. The air out that has quite a bite to it!

3:49 PM CDT FRI APR 6 2007
..FREEZE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 10 AM CDT SATURDAY...
..FREEZE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING...

Our poor tomato plants probably won't survive this. James went out to try to cover them but the wind kept blowing the covers off so he gave up. I took plastic bags and covered up the few little flowering plants I've set out and brought two more inside. On Tuesday it was above 80 degree and will be in the 70's again by Monday but in the meantime, I've had to drag out my flannel drawers again.

SYMANTEC ARE CROOKS!

I'm backkkkkkkkkk!! But not with more than an ounce of the 2 ounces of sanity that I once had. Norton can KISS my rosy red LIPS, buttocks, or whatever, those lying, thieving, pirating, SOBs choose after DAYS of dealing with them and their lack of honesty, I went online and did a search for Virus program reviews and I bought myself a NEW one.

I'll let you know how it works out, but in the meantime, neither it, nor the firewall that came with it, has blocked my ability to comment on Haloscan.

I almost feel good!!

Definitely relieved to be done with all that uninstall, install, read this, do that, crap.

I sure hope my title for this post gets top billing on the google search engine so future purchasers of Norton products will be forewarned.

Now, how's everybody doing today?

Haloscan Dilema

I've been snooping to try to find out why I keep getting "attack" messages every time I try to comment on a blog that uses Haloscan and I think I've discovered my Norton's doing it. I went to their site and did a live chat with a tech this morning after waiting for over an hour,,she gave me a link to upgrade my 2006 version that I upgraded to only last summer, then while I was attempting to save the link to do uninstalls and installs of 2007 version, that danged Norton did an regular auto update for me and rebooted my computer.

I lost the link.

I lost my temper.

Norton still does the Attack thing to haloscan comments.

I sent them an email with the Analysts chat ID number and I'm still waiting for a reply.

I've got a headache.

Sometimes I love my email!

A friend sent this to my email today, and although a delightful surgical procedure has exempted me from having to make this sort of purchase now, I can FEEL the agony put forth in this wonderful letter.

AN OPEN LETTER TO MR. JAMES THATCHER BRANDMANAGER AT PROCTER & GAMBLE.

Dear Mr. Thatcher,

I have been a loyal user of your Always maxi pads forover 20 years, and I appreciate many of their
features. Why, without the LeakGuard Core (tm) orDri-Weave(tm) absorbency, I'd probably never go horseback riding or salsa dancing, and I'd certainly steer clear of running up and down the beach in tight,white shorts. But my favorite feature has to be your revolutionary Flexi-Wings. Kudos on being the onlycompany smart enough to realize how crucial it is that maxi pads be aerodynamic.I can't tell you how safe and secure I feel each month knowing there's a little F-16 in my pants.

Have youever had a menstrual period, Mr. Thatcher? Eversuffered from "the curse"? I'm guessing you haven't. Well, my "time of the month" is starting right now. As I type, I can already feel hormonal forces violently surging through my body. Just a few minutes from now,my body will adjust and I'll be transformed into what my husband likes to call "an inbred hillbilly withknife skills." Isn't the human body amazing? As brand manager in the feminine-hygiene division, you've no doubt seen quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customers' monthly visits from " Aunt Flo". Therefore, you must know about the bloating, puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying jags, and out-of-control behavior. You surely realize it's a tough time for most women. In fact, only last week, my friend, Jennifer fought the violent urge to shove her boyfriend's testicles into a George Foreman Grill just because he told her he thought Grey's Anatomy was written by drunken chimps. Crazy! The point is, sir, you of all people must realize thatAmerica is just crawling with homicidal maniacs in Capri pants.

Which brings me to the reason for my letter. Last month, while in the throes of cramping so painful Iwanted to reach inside my body and yank out my uterus, I opened an Always maxi pad, and there, printed on the adhesive backing, were these words: "Have a HappyPeriod." Are you f ______ kidding me? What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness - actual smiling, laughing happiness-is possible during a menstrual period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit pleasurable? Well, did it, James? FYI, unless you're some kind of sick S&M freak girl, there will never be anything "happy" about a day in which you have to jack yourself up on Motrin and Kahlúa and lock yourself in your house just so you don't march down to the local Walgreens armed with a hunting rifle and a sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory. For the love of God, pull your head out, man. If you just have to slap a moronic message on a maxi pad, wouldn't it make more sense to say something that's actually pertinent, like "Put Down the Hammer" or "Vehicular Manslaughter Is Wrong"? Or are you just picking on us? Sir, please inform your accounting department that, effective immediately, there will be an $8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your Flexi-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescending BS. And that's a promise I will keep - Always.

Best Regards,
Wendi AaronsAustin , TX

Ouch and Dang It!

I'm having hell with haloscan comments, every time I visit a blog bud with haloscan and try to leave a comment, Norton gives me, "An attempt to attack your computer has just been blocked." And sometimes I don't even see a link available for comments, so I hope the blogger buds who are using this will excuse my lack of remarks, but Haloscan Hates me and won't let me!

My back is still giving me problems off and on. The on is mostly every time I try to get up from a sitting position.

I hope everyone is waking up to a fine Monday!

There's a Conspiracy Going On

Is there a new law that I missed that says you aren't supposed to take a nap? I tried a little before noon the first time yesterday and my daughter Jami came over. After she left, I felt the need to snooze come on again and the frozen food man showed up. I'd just snuggled in again and was dozing off and my MIL came a'knocking at the door.

I'm going back to bed now so if it's against the law, just send someone to arrest me. I betcha I could get a few naps in a cell!

Oh, I almost forgot

Here's the cute pic,,,as though those others weren't cute enough!

STILL laughing!!!

Jerri just sent me an Email

The coffee pic is blurry, however when you are caught at 7 am making coffee for moma act all shy and like you don't know why your "dister" (that's Jilly speak for sister) is telling on you!!!!!! Now later, when you are caught red handed...well purple handed painting yourself with melted candle wax at 3 pm that very same day you blow big kisses so that moma will laugh and not give you a good ol southern ass spanking! and for good measure I tossed in a cute pic!

I'm still howling with laughter every time I look at that little, purple, smoochy face.

Better her than me! Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

Stuff

Trish called the other night to tell me that Jaylen, who's only 5 1/2, has lost her first tooth. This is a milestone for younguns ya know.

Anyway, Trish told her to put her tooth under her pillow when it was time for bed and the tooth fairy would leave her some money for the tooth. Jaylen said, " Ut Uh! I'm not going to do that because I don't want some strange fairy coming into my room when I'm asleep. You buy my tooth." Trish said, "Ok, how much?" Jaylen thought for a second then said, " $40.00." Trish told her, "No way! You'd best go put that tooth under your pillow for that fairy and see if she's needing a tooth enough to pay that much for it, I'm not paying you $40.00 for a tooth!"

They finally negotiated down to $4.00.

I was laughing about Jaylen not wanting a "strange" fairy to come into her house and Trish told me that she doesn't allow the Easter Bunny to come unload their goodies either. Trish has to meet the Easter Bunny at the front door so he won't make an in home delivery.

Jordan has also lost a couple of her teeth lately but Trish didn't mention anything about her having a problem with the fairy visiting. I reckon at her age, the idea of cold, hard, cash, overcomes any worries about strange fairies coming over while they're asleep.

I wonder if Jaylen has thought about the fairy coming into the house to leave money for Jordan? Ha! I'll have to ask Trisha about that next time we talk.

Spring Break Blues

I'm almost elated that spring break is almost over except for the fact that I'll have to wake up at that ungodly 6 a.m. hour once again. The little road trip up to see sister Paula was excellent happiness therapy but then I return home to the same ole stuff like,

Feeling like Hansel and Gretal with their bread crumb trail as I follow after the terrorist here with his little boy messes. There's the trail of socks, the trail of shoes, the trail of popcorn, the trail of empty drink cans and half full, abandoned glasses. Oh, and I almost forgot the trail of kiddy Uno cards and left-over pizza.

The laundry basket taking on the appearance of Mt. Somethingorother, and

The danged telephone ringing constantly and I can't ever find it and I can barely get up to answer it cause of this wicked aching back of mine.

There is one ray of hope around here, I think. Hubby came in around 9 last evening and asked me if I'd been to the beauty shop. I'd had a shower and rubbed a little gob of mousse in my hair but I never got around to actually using a brush or comb on it. I think it would be best not to mention his compliment? to my hairdresser. Ya think?

Of course he could have had too much of the field dust and grit in his eyes to see me clearly.

Ok, I'm off to find that heatpad and wrestle the remote away from the terrorist.

Home Again

Zach and I made it home around 4 pm yesterday and we were both tired, me from all that driving, him from playing his gameboy for about 5 of the 7 hrs we were on the road. The trip only takes about 6 hrs if you don't stop for the necessities but we had the necessity of finding clean bathrooms every couple of hours or so.

I had a great time visiting with Paula my nephew, Michael. I didn't get to see my nephew, Fisher, until I was getting ready to leave. On Saturday we went to Wilson Creek State Park to see the Civil War museum and battle grounds, then on Sunday we went to the Zoo.

Sometimes I get lucky

No talent but occasionally I sure do get lucky. I lucked out with this shot, I was sitting beneath the plum tree, it was cloudy and looked like it could rain at any moment but the sun was straining to shine through the gloom.

Road Trip

Zach has his spring break next week but I thought we'd start on it a little early and take a trip up to Missouri to see sister Paula. I'm picking him up from school at noon tomorrow so we can get through them thar hills before dark.

We plan to visit the Springfield, MO zoo while we're there and I think Paula mentioned a fishing trip for the boys, other than that, I'm going to take some photos and sleep late when I can. It's just a long weekend trip so we'll be home some time on Monday.

Maxine's Will

I, MAXINE , being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead politicians who couldn’t pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it, or lawyers / doctors interested in simply running up the bills. If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to ask for at least one of the following:

Glass of wine or a Bloody Mary
chocolate
Margarita
chocolate
Martini
Cold Beer
chocolate
Chicken fried steak
cream gravy
chocolate
Mexican food
chocolate
French fries
chocolate
Pizza
chocolate
ice cream
cup of tea
chocolate
Chocolate
Sex
Chocolate

It should be presumed that I won’t ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day.

You'd think I'd learn

One of the little male pups, with a full belly, taking a little nap in our neighbor, Jesse's lap.

I swore I'd never become attached to another animal after our little Bichon Frise, Gizmo, was killed by a low-flying car 20 years or so ago, but how can you not become attached to a bunch of chewing, squirming, biting, licking, whining, pooping, peeing, puppies?

Sooo,,,

I guess I was mellowed out from the trip to West Memphis with James for his doctor's visit yesterday, being thankful and all that we hadn't had to wait forever because I was as gasey as a Goodyear blimp after the lunch we'd had at Shoney's, because I volunteered to take the puppy pack to the vet today for their puppy shots. (Got to remember to call first in case the doc has other plans for today).

James put the dog carrier in the back of the truck for me last evening but I've been worrying all night, between periods of restless sleep, about them getting car sick, or hungry, or thirsty, about how I'm going to be able to gather up all those little dudes and get them into the carrier, if they'll be ok if I stop to have lunch (I'm pretty sure the Mexican place doesn't allow puppy guests) with Georgie, our neighbor, who's going with me to lend a helping hand. Also, I was concerned about hubby's intention to purchase the puppy shots himself and administer them to the pups, even though he's been giving the boosters to his other dogs for years, I worry.

One of them, Dempsy Mocha Mallard, has already gone to her new home with the Chick and Jillian where I know she'll be loved and treated like royalty, but I worry about the other 4 who'll be leaving us in a few days for their new homes. What if noone is there to play with them?

I'm sure some folks are wondering why I'm worrying about puppies when the state of the world is near crap, but I'll worry about that next week. Unless something else comes along.

Not too much going on around here....

Most of the news is even the same old thing.

There is one little tidbit,,, Arkansas folks have been getting a tad wound up about the lack of concern from those FEMA folks. It would seem that since most of the folks down Dumas, Arkansas way actually work for a living, rather than sitting around on their posteriors waiting for the gub-ment handouts, they're not likely to get too awful much of the diaster help, that I would have thought to be desperately needed, from Bush and his cronies. Never mind that's it's these same folks, who've had their homes and businesses completely wiped out due to those tornadoes that roared through awhile back, who are paying their shares into the gub-ment coffers on a more than regular basis.

It's enough to make you want to quit work and start picking up aluminum cans for a living.

Springy Doins

I"m gonna hug him, and squeeze him, and call him George!

I was sitting outside with Jerri and the chickletts yesterday, the puppies were in and out of the kennel and Alexis and Jillian were in hog heaven to have all those puppies to play with. The cartoon above came to Jerri's mind as we watched Jillian try to herd the puppies into doing things her way.

This little fella followed the Chick everywhere she went.

It's so nice to be able to sit outdoors in our shirt-sleeves this week, makes me wonder if Spring has finally sprung or if it's just teasing.

Off to the Little Rock today

I'll need the patience of a Saint, which I don't have, and nerves of steel, which are lacking, and decent directions, which I hope are not lost, because today I'm taking James's elderly aunt to see a doctor in Little Rock. I've been more than a little moody lately so I have hopes that today is not one of her major whining days.

This lady was on her death bed just one year ago but only 3 months or so after rising she managed to alienate nearly every one of her close family members and tried to run over her daughter who was blocking the drive-way to keep her from escaping to the casino in a car she wasn't supposed to be driving.

The lady might weigh 100 lbs when she's dripping wet.

Please, Lord, forgive me of my tresspasses prior to actually doing them, I'm going to need all the help I can get today.

Sunday Ponderings

Q. What occurs more often in December than any other month? A. Conception.

Q. Only 14% of Americans say they've done this with the opposite sex.What is it? A. Skinny dipping.

Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what? A. Their birthplace. This is propinquity.

Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested? A. Obsession

Q. More women do this in the bathroom than men. A. Wash their hands.

Women: 80%, men: 55%.Q. What do 100% of all lottery winners do? A. Gain weight.

Q. In a recent survey, Americans revealed that this was their favorite smell. A. Banana.

Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"? A. One thousand.

Q. What do bullet-proof vests, fire escapes, windscreen wipers, and laser printers all have in common? A. All invented by women.

Q. Married men revealed that they do this twice as often as single men. A. Change their underwear.

Q. This stimulates 29 muscles and chemicals causing relaxation. Women seem to like it light and frequent, men like it more strenuous. A. A kiss.

Q. This is the only food that doesn't spoil. A. Honey.

Q. 40% of all people who come to a party in your home do this? A. Have a look in your medicine cabinet.

Q. 3.9% of all women surveyed say they never do this. A. Wear underwear.

Q. What common everyday occurrence is composed of 59% nitrogen, 21% hydrogen, and 9% carbon dioxide?A. A fart.

Rules for living in Arkansas

Here's to all of us who live in Arkansas , some born and raised here. Some got here as fast as they could, and others who would like to be from here.
1. Pull your droopy pants up. You look like an idiot and noone here want's to see yer drawers.

2. Let's get this straight; it's called a "gravel road." I drive a Pickup truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you're going to get dust on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.

3. They are cattle & lakes for fishing. Sorry they smell like cattle and fish to you. They smell like money to us. Get over it.

4. So you have a $60,000 car. We're impressed. We have $250,000 combines and cotton pickers
that are driven only a few times a year.

5. Every person in every pickup waves. It's called beingfriendly. Try to understand the concept.

6. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of ducks are coming in,we WILL shoot it out of your hand. You better hope you don't have it up to your ear at the time.

7. Yeah, we eat Crappi and Catfish and love it. You really want sushi & caviar? It's available at the corner bait shop.

8. The "Opener" refers to the first day of deer season. It's a Religious holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.

9. We open doors for women. That is applied to all women,regardless of age.

10. No, there's no "vegetarian special" on the menu. Order steak.Or you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the pound of ham & turkey.

11. When we put food on a table, there are three main dishes: meats,vegetables, and breads. We use three spices: Onion, Pepper, and Garlic!Oh, yeah... We don't care what you folks in New York call thatstuff you eat...

12. You bring "coke" into my house, it better be brown, wet, and served over ice. You bring "Mary Jane" into my house, she better be cute, know how to shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.

13. College and High School Football is as important here as the Lakers and the Knicks, and a hell of a lot more fun to watch.

14. Yeah, we have golf courses. But don't hit the water hazards--it spooks the fish.

15 Colleges? Try ASU, University of Arkansas, UALR, UAMS orCollege of the Ozarks. They come outta there with an education plus a love for God and country, and they still wave at passing pickups when they come for the holidays.

16. We have more folks in the Army, Navy, Air Force,and Marines,than any other state, so "Don't screw with Arkansas ," If you do, you will get whipped by the best.

We act bad, don't we?

Da Double Nickel

James is 55 today.

I'm happy to say that I'm not 55 today but alas, it's coming sooner than I want. This photo was taken when he was in SD back in December, after he'd shot his first pheasant.

I went shopping this morning and brought him his favorite chocolates, a bunch of socks, and a new pad thing for his truck seat. I'm making chicken and dumplings, cornbread, and taters for his supper, and I've already made his chocolate birthday cake and I didn't even explode it this year.

He's lounging in his recliner now because it rained and he's home but he had to move my dryer to replace the vent hose so he's all tuckered out, I reckon.