Busy Weekend

We knew there was some rain coming but God sure painted a pretty sky before it arrived.

Friday night was pretty cool when I took Alexis, Jillian, and Zach, to the little ice skating spot at the Court Square in Helena for a few spins around the rink.  Beans (Jillian) had a little problem staying on her feet but the Chick (Alexis) below, seemed to get the hang of it pretty quick.

 We awoke to a little rain on Saturday morning but didn't have much on the drive to Little Rock. It turned out to be a cloudy but nice day.

The girls spent the night and on Saturday we got up early and drove to see 2 other of our girls, Jaylen and Jordan.  We had fun laughing at their boxers who thought there might be a bite of Rice Krispy treats to be had.

Jaylen's happy, smiley, face!  All of our girls are such cuties (and I'm not a bit biased).

I stopped a couple of times on the way home from Little Rock to get a few shots of the gorgeous Canadian geese that were landing in the harvested rice fields to feed.  We get loads of Snow geese but not so many Canadian geese the past few years. 

That was pretty much our weekend. Family, fun, and food. Can't beat it!

To My Dearest Friends and Family,

There were probably many, many times this year when I may have

Disturbed you,

Troubled you,

Pestered you,

Irritated you,

Bugged you,

Or got on your

nerves.... 

So today I just wanted to tell you...........  

Suck it up Cupcake!!!  
'Cause there are  NO   CHANGES  planned for 2011 !!!

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!!

Not for the faint of heart. :-)

Running in my Sleep!

I love reading and I love reading horror novels most of all.  I love that little quickening of the pulse as you try to hurry to read your character out of a scary situation, one you know for certain you'd never find yourself in cause there's no way you'd do something so stupid as that! Nope,,,not when it comes to life and limb anyway.,,,

I've mentioned many of my favorite horror authors before I think, ,,Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston, just to name a few.  Each has their own style and give  little shivers as you read,, at just the right time to keep you wrapped up enough that you can't put the book down,,,
just yet.

Very few of the horror books, or movies, that I've ever read, or watched, have really scared me enough that I was bothered by what I'd read after I'd laid down the book, or the movie went off.  Not until some time in the mid-70's when I watched the original, the black and white, the horrific, Night of the Living Dead.  Before that movie was over I had moved from my chair and was sitting in James's lap on the couch!  I had a few nights of nightmares over that movie, one of which had me being trapped in a phone booth while I was surrounded by drooling, dead, bodies!

I woke up before I found a way out of that dilemma.

Later in life, after I'd reached a more mature level of adulthood, I watched another walking dead movie called Dawn of the Dead.  Once again I was very bothered by the movie and suffered through a few nights of nightmares.  You'd think I'd learn a lesson from this wouldn't you?  But nope, a few more years passed and I watched a remake of  Night of the Living Dead.  This time it wasn't so bad so I thought I'd worked through my terrors of reanimated dead folks.

Well, I downloaded several (as in 6) zombie/end times/walking dead type novels to my Kindle.  Holy Shit I never realized there were that many zombie/walking dead type stories to be told!    And I'm waking up exhausted from running from, and fighting, these dead folks.

Lordy, I sure hope I can keep it up so I won't be Zombie stew!

Autumn in the Arkansas Delta

It's beginning to look, and feel, a little like Autumn around here.

Colorful and cool.

Photo Challenge : Broken

It's that time again and I almost let it get away from me!  I'm glad that I remembered to get a couple of shots of my poor, broken, shelf sitter with her broken leg.  She sits and waits for me to remember to buy glue to put her back together which I hope to remember to do very soon.

1.  I don't know why these photos are appearing sideways on here.  It's weird,,,very, very, weird. 

Don't forget to click on the links at the Photo Challenge Blog to view all the other great shots done by our other talented shooters.

It'll take me awhile to get around to seeing everyone's take on the "Broken" challenge today but I'll make it as soon as I can!

Here We Go Again!

I thought I was through with this stuff.

The last time I attempted to help a hard headed boy with Algebra was way back in 1996.  I ended up taking off my slipper to use as a head bopping tool in order to allow the knowledge to flow through his mind.  Here I am again, attempting the impossible because I'm TOO OLD for this!!!!!

Just more Stuff,,,,,

I read some wise words once, but sadly, they were uttered by a made up character in a book.  I have hopes that the author of the book, "The Lost World" by Michael Crichton, put the words into the character's mouth and perhaps a seed of his wise ideas have sprouted and will become common knowledge some day. Michael Crichton died a couple of years ago and that is very sad.

As the wise, made up, Dr. Ian Malcolm once said, "What makes us think that as humans, we are aware?  Where is the evidence for this?  Humans never think for themselves because they find it much too uncomfortable.  For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told, (or hear, or read) and become upset if they are exposed to any different view.  The most characteristic human trait is conformity!  Other animals fight for territory or food; humans fight for their 'beliefs'".

Dr. Malcolm also believed that the internet would be the beginning of the end of our species because it would mean the end of innovation.

This guy was seriously wise.

There is a hole in the siding of my house.  I first learned about this hole when I found suspicious plaster dust and the bottom of said hole behind my computer monitor.  The man of the house ran over something while mowing that could have become a lethal weapon had it been emerged from beneath that mower in a different direction. 

Please forgive me if I refuse to put my faith, (and my hard earned dollars saved for literary purchases)  in a wet-behind-the-ears, barely out of diapers, poor little rich kid who don't know BEANS about Nuttin'.  Talk about never having trod a mile in anybody's shoes but those of some designer's,,,,Heaven deliver us. Please!

I just love these kids,,,,

Photo Challenge : Fast Foods

It's Photo Challenge time again so let the fun begin!  Miz Donna chose Fast Foods; here we go!

 MeriKate is enjoying a Wendy's burger.

We stopped in here for burgers when we were in Mountain View, AR last year. The atmosphere was awesome!

 There was a pot of peanuts at every table...,,,and you couldn't eat just one!

Hope in Chili

Sometimes you look around at all the meanness and ugly going on in this world and you wonder what's to become of mankind.  Then God sends us a miracle and you know that all will be ok,,,at least for awhile longer.

Welcome home fellas!

Dusty Delta Sunsets

It's as dry as popcorn farts around these parts.  Could someone send us a little rain please?

Cymbalta

I knew I've been feeling down but didn't realize anyone else had noticed until the Terrorist looked at me and said Nanaw, you need Cymbalta.

I think maybe I do.

Photo Challenge : Orange

 I love the light orange petals with the reddish orange streaks in this lily.

 This little fella seems partial to the delicate pastel orange of this moss rose bloom.

I love how the orange of the floatie is reflected in the Terrorist's face in this picture.

Orange is it!  Time for the photo challenge where we get to view all the exceptional captures from our challenge buds.  Go on over and click the links to see what I mean.

Hello, Roy?

I was snuggled in and sawing some humongous logs the other morning when the ringing of the phone dragged me from my bed.


Sleepy, grumpy, me:  HELLO.

Voice on phone: Yes, I need to speak to Roy please.


Sleepy, grumpier me: What? I told you, or the person who called  yesterday, that there is no Roy here. Roy does not live here! Stop calling!

Voice on Phone: Is this 870-572-5555?

Sleepy, grumpier, me: Yes it is.

Voice on Phone: Then I have the correct number for Roy.

Sleepy, grumpier than ever and now even bitchy, me: Are you crazy? No you don't!  Roy does not live here. Roy has never lived here. I've had this phone number since 1981 and Roy didn't live here then, Roy doesn't live here now. I don't even know anyone named Roy,,,,except maybe Roy Rogers,,,but I didn't even know him really, just knew him from TV. You know they stuffed his horse when it died,,,,,,,

Click,,,,dial tone.

Voice on Phone hung up on me. Can you believe that?

Mr. Clean and Me

So,,I was gonna scrub the kitchen sink,,,,Have y'all tried Mr. Clean Multi-Surfaces Liquid Cleaner with Febreze Freshness in the lavender flavor?  It's some good stuff,,,so I hefted the bottle of cleaner out from under the sink and opened it.  When I  went to sit it down on the counter, I sort of lost my grip a little and it "plunked" when it hit the surface.  I happened to be leaning over the sink at the time and the amount of Mr. Clean that splashed out of the bottle was just enough to douse my left ear, arm, and get on my face and hair.  I then spent the next little while washing Mr. Clean Multi-Surfaces Liquid Cleaner with Febreze Freshness in lavender scent from my body parts.

I still pretty much smell like a sweetly scented Summer garden with an added undertone of a strange, tangy, note.  If anyone notices my new scent I'll just say "thank you kindly."

Photo Challenge : Dirt

Time for a new challenge and Miz Crystal chose the dirt topic. I can't wait to see all the participants over at the Brenda Photo Challenge blog.
The first challenge picture is of the Chick standing in a field of hipped rows a few days after a rain. It's the perfect time for looking for arrowheads, and old marbles, and just stuff,,, I have a family of gatherers, they search for and gather old things quite often.
I did not take this one, and I'm jealous. This is one of Jerri's shots of our Beans who's about as dirty as a little girl can get. I reckon the mud baths our children take do their magic cause I truly don't think we have a homely child critter in the bunch.

We don't lack for dirt around here. This is one of the field turn rows down the road a piece. See all the dust? That stuff billows and just hangs in the air sometimes when the humidity is as high as it's been this whole summer.
This little fella got a little muddy as Zach gathered him up out of the garden back in the Spring. He was safely moved to the corn field across the turn row.

I call this a Zen turn row cause of all the neat little evenly spaced harrow marks in the dirt. It lasted until we had a rain but even then kept it's neat appearance. Told you we had lots of dirt.
Here is the Beans and her friend Falon getting hosed down after another round of mud bathing.

Well that's all I'd better post. I don't lack dirt pictures here in the delta. :-)

I Should Be Doing Other Things

Instead I've been admiring the moss rose growing in the porch planters by taking a macros so I can continue to admire their beauty even after their blooms have faded.

And since I was in Helena the other day, I drove over the levee and luckily was just in time to capture two barges passing on Old Man River. The one on the left is headed south towards New Orleans, the one on the right, tugging north towards Memphis.

I've also spent more than a little bit of time in front of the dining room window taking pictures of this little critter and his mostly friendly hummer friends. On this day, this little fella (who's about thumb high) was ferociously guarding the nectar in the feeders.
Click the photos for a larger view if you'd like.

I hope everyone is having a delightful weekend!!

I made another year!

I'm 56 today and I'm loving the laughs. Y'all click to enlarge the cards below, you won't be sorry.

Miz Donna sent the card above and I laugh every time I look at it.

My kids gave me this one! Yep, they know me. LOL.
They also made me a most delicious, homemade, carrot cake. Yummmmmm!!
I also got a lovely hummingbird feeder and some new flat ware. James is making a bottle tree for me but hasn't finished it yet. I'll take pics and post them when he's done.
Happy Sunday Y'all!

Photo Challenge : Ruby Red Macro

Red, Rouge, Rojo.

Can't get much redder than tomato ketchup.

This little view master type thingy is about the size of a quarter. I think the actual viewer is long lost but this was red so I shot it. :-)

Red crayon, red pencil, red marker, and the word RED.

It's that time again! Time to show off the fun we've been having with our cameras by doing the photo challenges. Click on the link to be carried over to view lots of other Red Macro challengers.

Oh yeah!

I love this!

Hahaha, good doggie.

CHARACTERISTICS of the NARCISSIST

Do you know someone with these characteristics? If you do, I feel for you cause they can often make your life a living hell.

Certain characteristics appear with stunning regularity among narcissists. Since narcissism is on a continuum, some will have more than others.

1. Self-centered. His/her needs are paramount.
2. No remorse for mistakes or misdeeds.
3. Unreliable, undependable.
4. Does not care about the consequences of his/her actions.
5. Projects faults on to others. High
blaming behavior; never his/her fault.
6. Little if any conscience.
7. Pretends concern but is really Insensitive to needs and feelings of others.
8. Has a good front (persona) to impress and exploit others.
9. Low stress tolerance. Easy to anger and rage.
10. People are to be manipulated for his/her needs.
11. Rationalizes easily. Twists conversation to his gain at other’s expense. If trapped, keeps
talking, changes the subject or gets angry.
12. Pathological lying.
13. Tremendous need to control situations, conversations, others.
14. No real values. Mostly situational.
15. Often perceived as caring and understanding and uses this to manipulate.
16. Angry, mercurial, moods.
17. Uses sex to control
18. Does not share true ideas, feelings, emotions.
19. Conversation controller. Must have the first and last word.
20. Is very slow to forgive others. Hangs onto resentment.
21. Secret life. Hides , friends, activities.
22. Likes annoying others. Likes to create chaos and disrupt for no reason.
23. Moody - switches from nice guy/girl to anger without much provocation.
24. Repeatedly fails to honor financial obligations.
25. Seldom expresses appreciation.
26. Grandiose. Convinced he/she knows more than others and is correct in all he does.
27. Lacks ability to see how he/she comes across to others. Defensive when confronted with his/her behavior. Never his/her fault.
28. Can get emotional, tearful. This is about show or frustration rather than sorrow.
29. He/she breaks spirits to keep them dependent.
30. Highly contradictory.
31. Convincing. Must convince people to side with him/her
32. Hides his/her real self. Always “on”
33. Kind only if he's/she's getting from you what he/she wants.
34. He/she has to win.
35. Does not discuss openly, has a hidden agenda.
36. Unilateral condition of, "I'm OK and justified so I don't need to hear your position or ideas".
37. Always feels misunderstood.
38. You can often feel miserable with this person because they drain you.
39. Does not listen because he/she does not care.
40. It's always about his/her feelings, noone else's.
41. Is not really interested in problem-solving.. wants the sympathy.
42. Very good at reading people, so he/she can manipulate them.

Moseying Through the Days

I've been so frustrated, depressed, and so very sad over the past few weeks that I just haven't been able to get my mind going in the direction it needed to in order to do a post worth reading or writing.

Beginning with my surgery. We were billed $33,143 for it initially. After meeting with the "man" in charge of taking every penny of your liquid assets, the bill was miraculously reduced to $11,300 since that was exactly what we had scrimped to save in an IRA. I could have paid the bill out in monthly installments but it would have been with no reduction and a longer than life monthly expense.

Another $3660 is owed for the surgeon, the this,,,the that,,,but we are paying that as much as we can monthly. When that's paid we can start saving again, maybe.

A financial aid rep came by my room when the word was passed down that we had no insurance,,,did you know that we'd have qualified for financial aid if we'd had a credit score below 600? WTH?

And sadly, my best yahoo trivia, blogger, facebook, boisterous, wise, sweet, loving Kat left us on June 7th. Every time my phone rings I expect to hear her gruff voice on the line, She had the most fabulous talent for knowing when a friend needed a laugh and she sure provided me with a load of those. I am so lucky to have known her and I miss her more than I know how to say. I can't imagine the hurt her loved ones are feeling without her.

So now Summer is here and zooming by too quickly. School will be starting in just a few weeks, Zach's already having to go to football practice 4 mornings a week. The days are getting shorter and I hate that. Before we know it, it'll be Winter again and I'll be whining for Spring.

A vicious cycle, isn't it?

Just Cause,,,

I thought you might need a smile today.

Telling it Like it IS.

My friend Nick sent the video clip to me. He feels, as I do, that those men sitting on that committee are enjoying the entertainment being provided but aren't seriously considering a single word he's saying.

It's all about big bucks folks.

Here's a look at how much members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee received in political contributions from oil and gas interests since the beginning of 2009. Contributions are from political action committees run by oil and gas companies and from individuals employed by those companies.

The oil and gas industry has contributed more than $7.5 million to members of the 111th Congress thus far in the 2010 election cycle.

It's just sad.

Hoppin' and Shoppin'

Some fine lookin' soybeans.

James, aka PopPop, kicking the dirt up to see if the late beans planted in the draw were coming up.

Well it wasn't me doing the hoppin' and I didn't do a whole lotta shoppin', but the check amount said I did so maybe it was so. Anyway, the summer trip to Sam's is outta the way and we probably won't need to go again until December. I hope.

If you click to enlarge the map up there, you can find the red dot over in the AR part of the map and see about where I live. Follow the red line that I've drawn and you can see that we did the tri-state circle during our shopping trip.

James wanted to visit President's Island to see how the soybeans and corn looked up there so we went to Memphis first to do that. Afterwards we drove over to Southhaven, Mississippi to do the shopping, had lunch, then headed home on hwy 61 in MS. It was a nice little trip and I was plumb tuckered out by the time we got back home.

I'm heading to bed now. I hope everyone had a great Monday and is looking forward to a productive and glorious week!

Where Were You?

Do you remember where you were the first time you heard these?