Item No.3265 or 50th Anniversary Party

The 50th anniversary party went very well. For a small bfe community the turn out for this was great. There was a slide show of the happy couple starting at childhood moving up to current day. The food was delicious and plentiful. The punch, with the heart-shapped ice went was enjoyed by all. The decorations are still being talked about (in a good way) today. (or at least yesterday at church, where I the heathen was not, but Speedy was.) So, here are a couple of pictures to attest that there really was a party & I really was there for it. My sister and I are in the last picture. While I did not get her permission to post this and she does read this, (Hi Sister!) I felt it would be safe to post as neither of us are truly recognizable.

Love and candy...

I realize that my blogging world is quite delayed compared to my real world. Yet, I am of the mindset that sometimes it really is better late than never. I give to you No. 3485 of my daily head list. This one has officially been removed from the list that runs through my head on a constant basis.

Behold, the Moosie Valentine Turtle. Concepted, designed & engineered mostly by Moosie. The children were to bring a decorated box to hold the classmate valentines that were requested (read demanded) by the teacher. She worked long & hard on this hand-crafted original and did not win any class prizes. The "shell" is an old plant container that I cut down to her specifications, ran wire from the drain holes through the box for stability and we covered the holes with a green milk lid. She drew the face, then traced her sock feet on paper & cut that out for the turtle feet. The turtle also is sporting a fine orange tail at the rear of the box.


Here is the Rokimus love container. It was a rush job, done mostly by me with him being the supervisor. Of course, it's tough to try to do this silly stuff for school when you're busy being a tractor repairman, welder and horse wrangler. He did some work on it and earned 2nd place in the class competition. Moosie was not impressed. Those "tires" are stolen from my dark room supplies and are film processing reels. The jug is a vinegar jug and the lettering came from his dad's race car designs that I did last year, including the sponsor on the bottom. The part where the handle is lifts up, like on a car hood.

Lastly, we come to the valentines that my kids handed out to the other children in their class. Yes, even the one that has physically harmed my Moosie. Now, I realize that I could have gone out and bought some of those cute, colorful, sugar-laden valentines, but in my warped head, that would not do for their first ever valentine swapping event. Therefor, in the midst of planning, shopping and coordinating a 50th anniversary and dealing with a strep sick child, I came up with the following:
What you are looking at is this:
Blank Index Cards with hand-cut hearts. Attached to the hearts are the words "You color my world Insert Name Here" and various stickers that the kids chose. Attached to the cardstock are hand-made crayons made from little broken bits melted down into little rounds. I took the round multi-colored crayons, melted a hole through the middle, ran red ribbon through that hole to the hole in the card and finished it off with gum for the Rokimus hand outs & candy for the Moosie ones.

Yes, that should win me Mom Mom of the Year. No, I probably will not be doing that again next year. Although, I did think of another neat idea... :)

This post is brought to you by the following sponsors:

Tylenol®, Alka-Seltzer Plus® Flu, echinacea, garlic, Mojo tea & soup, one huge pot of coffee and extra pulp orange juice. Oh yeah, and 14 hours of sleep.

I'm not feeling too great right now, but will try to bring you some form of entertainment no later than Monday. I'm on day 3 of this fever-ridden crud and am channeling some of Speedy's determination for my own. (I use determination here instead of stubbornness due to the fact that he's been wonderful during my plague.) I am determined that I will be at 100% by the end of today. I will be 100% by the end of today. I will be 100% by the end of today. That's 100%, not 100ºF, which has been my lowest temp in the past few days.

I'll let you know how my mantra works. Have a good one.

Daily Grind...

So, I had grand plans today for showing the pictures from the 50th Anniversary party and writing brilliantly about how everything went like clockwork. How I am so grateful to the "blue hairs" of the church, for without their help, my life would have been much more stressful. How adorable my children were as they guarded the guest book and even hunted down the folks that had the nerve to walk on by without signing their name. All that will have to wait for another day I'm afraid. You see, I am in a perpetual house of sickness.

That's right folks, welcome to our house of fever and crud. To catch you up, Moosie had strep a couple of weeks ago, Rokimus had fever & headaches last Friday and today, just a bit ago, the teacher called to inform me that they both were running fever & complaining of hurt stomaches. And, oh yeah, did I know that there is a virus going around? Well, shit. That's what went through my head.

So, today's post is brought to you by the following. Without which, I'm quite certain, I would never make it through my days as well as I do...
Thanks Marcus, for reminding me a couple of months ago about the wonders of the french press!

* I've applied the artistic touches to the photo of my pot & cup to make up for the dirty stove top.

Rollin' Weekend...

So, it's been a busy life around LaLa lately. Friday saw Moosie and me in her doctor's office getting tested for strep. Yep, it was and yep, she got a shot. This was the first time a shot was offered instead of the twice a day for 10 days syrup from hell. We chose the shot & yes, she screamed. She also commented to the nurses that acupuncture was NOTHING like getting a shot & maybe next time she could visit the acupuncturist instead!

Saturday saw me taking care of Moosie, doing laundry, getting 48 Valentines ready for the kids, shopping for the upcoming 50th wedding anniversary party and arranging for pick up of Rokimus' latest welded art piece (another bottle tree) for Ganny. Of course, I feel that my bottle tree is much better, as it was his first design, but Ganny was quite impressed with hers.

Sunday rolled in with the usual church thing, this week without the "fit" but with the rush of blue-hairs rushing in to ask what they could do to help with the party next Saturday. Amazingly enough, when they ask, they are really telling me what they will be doing & bringing, because obviously I am not competent enough to handle something of this nature. Because, you know, I lived in Memphis for a number of years - alone, I have a tattoo, I don't believe in the Southern Baptist theology, and finally, I abandon my family a few times a year to gain some form of sanity back via wonderful art festivals in Fairhope or movie nights & Indian food in Memphis. I mean really, I must need help!

Sunday was also the continuation of the valentines, laundry - never-ending, ever-piling loads that must be washed, dried & put away, kids' valentine holding boxes for school (Moosie=Turtle, Rokimus=Race Car) and the usual household stuff like cooking supper, cleaning kitchen, dealing with the Epileptic basset mix.

So, I'll be a bit busy this week, but this one should be wordy enough to last a day or two. :) I hope ya'll (all two of you who read this) have a great week & I'll check in with you later.

You Are The Devil

You don't represent evil, but you do represent the animalistic side of humans. You demonstrate what happens when we listen to our first instincts. At times you tend to be materialistic and hedonistic, giving in to temptation. Admit it, you're guilty of acting first - and forgetting to think later! Your fortune: Right now, you may be having a difficult time as a result of choices you have made. You need to think about what's important in your life, and discover what chains you down. It is the time to acknowledge your faults and take steps to overcome them. It's also the time to let go of any fears or inhibitions that are holding you back.

What Tarot Card Are You?

Not psycho yet...

You Have a Melancholic Temperament

Introspective and reflective, you think about everything and anything. You are a soft-hearted daydreamer. You long for your ideal life. You love silence and solitude. Everyday life is usually too chaotic for you. Given enough time alone, it's easy for you to find inner peace. You tend to be spiritual, having found your own meaning of life. Wise and patient, you can help people through difficult times. At your worst, you brood and sulk. Your negative thoughts can trap you. You are reserved and withdrawn. This makes it hard to connect to others. You tend to over think small things, making decisions difficult.

I promise to try to enter an actual blog later, right now I'm off to paint a wall.

What Temperment Are You?

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Apprentice. You've got the basics down pat and you might just be falling in love with this hobby. Big needles, funky yarns and simple shapes are the name of the game, but it doesn't mean you don't experiment a bit, here and there. As an apprentice, you probably fall back on other people to get you through those rough spots, and if you don't know anyone who knits, you probably have a few books or online sources to tap. http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








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Not your average Friday night...

So, there we were. Speedy & I watching the previously-taped must-watch show. We'd been out to dinner earlier, shopped a bit at Books a Million & come home to have some coffee & watch our show. This is our night - the kids were next door for their weekly sleep-over with Granny & Grandaddy Chief. We had opened the back door when we got home so that the dogs could come in & out as they pleased. About 30 minutes into our show, I happened to glance over at the open door. There, inside our house was this. What you are looking at is about an 8 inch long baby rattle* snake.


I really do wish we had some kind of in-home surveillance camera system set up. We would win the $10,000 prize for America's Funniest Home Videos if anyone could have seen my reaction. I told Speedy quite calmly that there was a snake in the house, by the door. That was the end of my calm. He stopped the tape, moved closer & it moved. Until that point, my brain had not processed the situation. Let me tell you - I may be a bit slow, but my next reaction was so quick! I went from sitting down on the couch to standing on top of the cushions, screaming for him to KILL IT! KILL IT DEAD! He, of course, dealing with the hysterical wife holding the clueless rat terrier, grabbed the broom. I quickly informed him not to use my house broom - get the hoe! So there he goes - out the door by the snake. Please note that the next time you see me you'll see the additional gray hairs immediately. During his absence, I continued my part in this drama by yelling something along the lines of "God in Heaven, come down and smote this snake dead!" I consider this my wifely duty apparently, because it never occurred to me to do anything else. He came back in the front door with the shovel. What a good man. I of course, was doing my part by staying on the couch cushions, not taking my eyes off the thing. (Our ferocious basset hound mix had just walked by the snake to go outside - away from my screaming & Speedy's cussing.) At this point, I'm thinking that getting the shot gun is a great idea. I've always wanted a window at floor height in that corner of the house! I must say though that Speedy quickly & efficiently assassinated the intruder and saved the day. What a man! :) We saved the snake of course for his dad to look at it & confirm my suspicions that it was a rattler. He did & it was.
(*possibly - there's been some discussion about rattler vs. copperhead. of course all of this is mute since whichever it was, was being the key word, it was poisonous & it's NOW dead, dead, dead.)

Amazingly enough, at the time the picture was taken, the thing was still alive. Right after Speedy took the picture, it hissed at Speedy. Speedy threw the camera to me (still on top of the couch), grabbed the shovel & finished it off. :) My hero.

Now, according to a friend of mine, I will also need your prayers for my soul due to the fact that I killed a creature that was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Something along the lines of it not being the snake's fault that it came into my house. Well, that may be and I can definitely use all the prayers I can get, however, given the situation to do over, I would still say KILL IT DEAD! Sorry Aunt Camille. :) I'll try to work on that.

Hindsights...

Yesterday when I woke up, I felt great. I was looking forward to the day and had a great disposition upon waking up. That should have been my first clue that something was not quite right. You see, I am by no means a morning person. Even my children know this. They know to wait until after my 2nd cup of coffee before attempting to get me to comprehend something. So, anyway, the morning was great, we even decided to go to the backyard church.

Now, I'm not a big fan of the backyard church, or any church of that denomination really, but it's literally in our back yard. Convenience is a hard thing to break. Especially when the church I'd like to attend is about 15 miles away. So, we walk to church, the sun is shining, birds are singing... I was expecting a little cricket to jump in and break out in song. The message of the preacher was pretty good, and the kids were behaving... CLUE 2. (life's just too good at this point, I really should have paid attention to the signs more)

It's getting to the closing part, you know, where the congregation stands & sings and the preacher is standing up there just praying for someone, anyone to come down front and the people are already thinking of what they're going to eat for Sunday dinner when IT HIT.

Shooting pain from my ear up my head. Loud roaring and pain. What a way to finish up a spiritual moment. Though I must admit, my prayer level was kicked up a notch. Then of course, the dizziness started. Not too bad, just enough for Speedy to look at me and ask if I was OK. Um... nope, not OK, but I think I can make it home.

So, back through the yard to the house. Moosie kept me steady as I walked. I took the meds I have for just such an occasion & sat down. This "fit" (as I like to call them) was not too bad. I was nauseous this time, which is not normal for me, but the overall dizziness wasn't too bad. I was able to remain sitting so long as my feet touched the floor and I stared at one spot on the wall. You see, my mind knows that the walls and floors don't move and I can reason that I'm not actually moving, though it may seem like it. The noise in the ear, the pain and the apparent spinning do not make for a beautiful day, let me tell you. Luckily this all only lasted about 30 - 45 minutes. Not too bad. I've had it last for hours before.

Afterwards, well, I'm tired. Bone tired. Not really sleepy, though I did do quite a bit of that, but just worn out. And I will be for a few days. The good news is I only have one of these "fits" about once a year, so I figure I'm good to go for another 364 days. :)

The bad news is that I don't know when they will come, there is no cure, and most likely at some unknown point in the future it will get worse. I take daily meds for it and they've helped alot, but it's no cure. Even the specialists don't know much about this thing and can't tell too much other than what someone who has it already knows. Another sucky thing about this condition is that there are no outward signs. And there is not much information out there about this, so you just wind up telling people you don't feel good and they look at you like you're a weakling, a person that just doesn't want to "deal" with life. Well, screw you buddy.

Today, the day after, is the pissed off day. Yes, I normally have those after a fit. It's the day of saying WHY? Why in the world did I end up having this? Why am I one of the 615,000 in the U.S. to have this bestowed upon them?

Today is also the thankful day. I only have the reminder of this disease about once a year. Most days I go through life not even thinking of it. Some, in fact, many with it are not so blessed and have to go through severe procedures and take heavy prescriptions. So really, I just need to shut up about the why me and start saying thank you to the Beings that Be. Thank you.

So, the modal sheets didn't get cut into strips for knitting, I got to lay on the couch and hold my beautiful daughter, hear her tell me she loves me and have my son come in and rub my sholders, sit with me and give me hugs. I got to have my hubby tell me to not do anything but take care of me. Maybe the day was a great one after all. Much to be thankful for, and I am.

Lists, Breathing and Shoving...

There's a list running through my head at any given moment, that is if there was a moment given to me. You see, I have a running dialog about things that were done, things needing to be done in the immediate future and things that I need to be planning for. This includes everything from changing the sheets, working on my current "paying" job and feeding the dogs to finishing a wall mural at a local church, working on a friend's painting, cutting strips out of the modal sheets LB ate holes through... and the list goes on and on and on. I also have lists that are for places that I visit, like Mobile/Fairhope & Memphis.

I need quiet, but when all devices are turned off, there's still that list running through my head. And where does taking care of me fall in the list? Dead ass last. That's where. Why? I don't know, but I'm working on putting me somewhere near the middle. Why the middle? Because occasionally, I'll work my list backwards.

A couple of months ago I was feeling like everyone was taking little pieces of me until there was nothing left in the reserves. I got sick, literally physically ill because there was nothing left in me to fight. Fortunately I have an acupuncturist. Yes, getting tiny needles stuck in places all over my body brings me peace & well being. For four and a half hours, someone else is taking care of me and all those list items just drift away. Her only goal is to get me better - physically, emotionally and spiritually. That's a tall order for someone to fill and she does it beautifully.

This time she had a biofeedback machine to help with the acupuncture. What an experience. She told me things that hit dead on. Jealousy? Yep - I'm working on that now in fact. I think it's just asinine that we have this cold, crappy weather and yet STILL NO SNOW! NO SNOW! NO SNOW! What the f*(*?! What have I done to deserve no snow while just a few hours away they're getting it out the wazoo? (Obviously, I'm not ready to let this jealousy thing go yet - but I'm working on it.)

She also told me that my reserves are "dangerously" low. Well, no shit sherlock. I've been giving out pieces of me left and right. It was her next question that stopped me: "What do you get out of that?" Huh. There's got to be a payback if it's something I just keep doing - and I do. Someone wants me to be on a committee for a church I don't even agree with theologically? SURE, No problem - I can do that. What's that - you're anniversary is actually next month, not 6 months from now, and you need a party at the church? And you need me to design the invitations, coordinate the decorating/cake/servers/etc? And take the photo for the newspaper write-ups? Sure, that's a breeze.

What do I get out of it? Maybe somewhere deep down, I feel the need to justify my life. That by being everything to everyone, I'll be OK with who I am. That my life will mean something. Because you know what? On most days I don't mean very much to me. I'm just a stay at home mom whose kids are in school. I'm a graphic designer for a company that every now and then needs my work, and every now and then pays me for it. I like taking photographs, but don't consider myself to be a very good one. I occasionally enjoy painting, but normally end up starting all over because what's on that canvas sucks in my eyes.

-- I actually wrote the above this morning. I've since been to Looney, MS and back. I've done some thinking & some breathing. Deep breathing. I have to stop and remind myself that we are created in the image of God. While I may joke that He must have had a rough day when He created me, really He didn't. He didn't screw me up, I did. My insecurities are just what I allow them to be. I can allow them to take over my being, or I can shove them down & get on with life. The good and the bad. I'm shoving & at this moment, I'm winning.