Three Year Olds!

I am notorious for re-telling stories. You know, events that have happened, that brought a tear to my eyes, or a rumble of laughter. I'm about to re-tell a few that just deserve a blog about them.

There are so many happenings in raising our children to be recalled...

Randal (my son) three years old....
He had a bookcase headboard on his bed. He had every kind of hat you could imagine; cowboy hat, baseball caps, safari hat, coon tail hat(like Daniel Boone's), top hat, etc.
After we would say our prayers and tuck him in, then returning to check on him, Randal would have on a hat and be sound asleep.
Night after night, when we would go back in to check on him, sound asleep, yet a DIFFERENT hat on his sleeping head. After about two weeks, one day at nap time, I laid across his bed to rest with him. I thought to ask him about the different hats at night. He told me
"different hats for different dreams, mom". Just like I should have known....

Amber (my daughter) three years old...
She LOVED her pacifier! By three years old we were putting the pacie up until a car ride, nap time or night time bed time. If she wanted it in-between she knew she had to go lay down in the bed to get it and sometimes she'd just take a "pacie break", get it off her dresser and lay down on her bed, all by herself, just knowing the rules. Now, that you have the picture of the love affair between her and her pacie...
One day Nick and I went to pick the kids up from my mother's house. They had been there for a few days, for a visit. Of course as all kids do when they were reunited with us they instantly got whiney and irritable with each other and anyone else that entered their paths. We got them all strapped into the back seats, and were settled in to travel. Randal reached over and popped Amber's pacie out of her mouth by the ring. She squeals, and whines. Puts it back in her mouth after retrieving it, and the aggravating brother does it again! As this happens a few times, and Nick and I are so glad to be with them again, we still are looking forward, and are hoping this too shall pass... we hear........ from our angelic, presious, tiny three year old's mouth....
Amber takes her pacie out, looks at 6 year old Randal, and says......
"If you don't leave my pacie alone, I will make your life a living hell." ?????!!!!!!!!
Exact words.
Randal was speechless, Nick and I was STUNNED...where did that come from???
Of course, we knew, she'd been with her Mimi a few days!!!hahahaha
We never addressed it, how could we? We were trying so hard to hide our laughter! We sure didn't want her to repeat that at Mother's Day Out or Sunday School when another child irritated her!
Mimi says she never said that around her, it was probably on one of her soap operas one of those days. Yeah right. hahahaha
Yeah, from early on we knew Amber could and would, speak her mind if the situation calls for it!
After all, she is her Mimi's granddaughter.

Hero

I have a cup of coffee in my hand.
I'm sitting on the porch which is located in LA...Lower Arkansas.
The rain still patters off the tin roof.
I look over at the empty chair on the other side of the table, and I can visualize my father-in-law sitting there with his cup of coffee. Looking over the fields before us, listening for moving animals in the bush close by.
He and I shared many moments like that...
Bob loved this farm.
Even in his last months during his chemo/radiation treatments, I'd go into town and drive him down here and he'd ramble around adjusting clutches on tractors, making his way at his slower speed.
A true pillar of strength, cancer his only enemy.

With father's day coming up, and me, here at the Farm... if I believed in spirits remaining...Bob would be here.
Perhaps he gets to visit sometimes.
I can close my eyes and see his little silver truck coming up the dirt road with dust billowing behind it. I can hear "Mornin' Girl! Got coffee made?"

As I reflect on my memories of Bob, it amazes me it's the last memories that invoke the strongest feelings for him. Not because of his tragic, suffering death, but because of his strong enduring spirit. The horrific pain that he must have had, and his determination to be strong.
Bob was always strong, and responsible, and dependable.
A trait of course I cherished of Bob was his ability to laugh! Oh, how he loved to tell stories....many stories....many, many stories. Most of his stories sparked laughter from him, and his big belly would rise and fall with each snicker.
On father's day, since we've had the farm, Nick always had a shrimp boil and had the family down, Bob sitting in the center chair of the circle. It never being said, but everyone knowing who the "big dog" of father's day was.

He was a hero of mine. Hero's are never perfect, but they bring on feelings of safe.
Bob helped us all feel safe.
We are so blessed to have his legacy of responsibility, dependable, and strong!

I'm extra blessed, because he passed all that to his son, my husband. I see my husband with all the same wonderful traits of his Dad, that I admired.

Bob was more to me than a father-in-law, he was like my Dad.

On this father's day, I will hold my coffee cup up and drink with him in spirit.

Whatcha goin to do?

The last few days I have come in contact with a couple of people that have made me think of what I'm gonna be like when I'm 70 something...

First one: She's dressed really cute, smiley, and during our talk she tells me of a group of friends she has that meet together and they eat and play games once a week or more if they want. Her grown grandson even makes a comment, "don't you eat with family anymore?" He wanted her company so badly, yet she wasn't just hanging on to family for dear life. Therefore she's interesting to family, gives them something to talk about...friends, games, etc.

Second one: She dressed without much care. During our brief talk, I heard how depressing it was to be retired. How she doesn't have much contact with others.
Her husband is sick, her sister died 4 years ago and the nephew from her wrote her a thank you note for a graduation gift sent to him and addressed the note Mr. and Mrs.
not aunt and uncle. She said the sister that died was the "one" in the family that pulled everyone together, and how no one comes to see them now, not even her own children. The grandchildren she retired to keep have grown up and gone their way.
A daughter -in- law doesn't know them, and acts like she doesn't want to know them, polite, yet stand-offish.

Ok, People, which one will you be???????

Will you see old age as a time to say what you want, play what you want, spend time with who you want???

Of course this does go back to who we are throughout our lives.

Are you one to pick up the phone and create your own invites?
Or do you wait for the phone to ring and be invited?

Do you call a friend and hang up not really knowing what that friend is doing, or thinking?
Do you only relate what is relevant in your life? Or do you pull that friend into yours?
Do you find interest in others that are different from you?
Do you listen to the World News, and make yourself knowledgeable, interesting, and current?
Do you hold grudges and pout with the passive aggressive ways, stewing inside that no one does you right?

You know the old saying "Be a friend to have a friend", it's true all of our lives...even in our golden years. Even for family, especially as everyone gets grown and can actually choose which aunt to go see...haha!
So, come on ladies! Figure it out! If your phones not ringing now...

it will ring less later!

Showers....Gifts Galore!

Today,
a wedding shower for a dear friend's daughter.

Friends gather to put out food made with our own hands on fancy plates, flowers arranged to create the "awww" effect.
Punch, ice water in a beautiful crystal decanter.
The gift giving, the ribbons saved,
the paper torn off and tossed aside.
The gifts are displayed on another beautiful table with care.
All the while, smiles and hugs and "oo's" and "aww's" being shared.

I stand aside and watch the room.
No matter what kind of shower we are providing, wedding or baby shower,
our group of girls delight in the new anticipated happiness for the recipient.
Our group of friends hold hands
and dry each others tears at funerals that we have to attend.

These women have heart.

I'm so happy that through this chapter of my life God has provided me with
this group.
Everyone is not of the same denomination of church.
Some are loud and obnoxious
(like me and a few others)
Some are quiet.
Some are more comfortable financially.
Some are not.
Some came from the country.
Some are city girls.
Some are real prayer warriors,
and those that aren't have strength in other areas as needed.

Ok, now let's really get to it...we love laughs!
Each one has their own struggles, their own fights against life,
but give us one little tidbit of laughter and we LOVE it!
We can take one CRAZY episode out of our daily encounters,
and run with it!
Sure, holding the hands, drying the tears, and strengthening each other throughout troubled times is so important.
But, without the laughter that would get dry, dull, and very depressing.
I love our mixture!


Today as I saw faces enter the room that no longer work along side us,
I realize their chapter ended with us at work but will forever be a part of us.

Yes, we have heart.
Caring.
Empathy,
and true love.
I'm so glad I have my girls...they are MY gift, each day.

Summer..... It Is!!!!!!!

You know it's summer when the metal part of the seat belt in your vehicle
can cause a 3rd degree burn.

The summer tomatoes, followed by the pea crops, and then the watermelons!
OMiGosh!
The smell of fresh mowed lawns, chlorine water by the pools.
Bugs and spiders, and mosquitos everywhere!
Red wasp, honey bees, and don't you dare smile while riding the four wheelers or boats or you'll get
teeth full of bugs.
The daylight lasts so much longer.
With everything buzzing, flying, growing, there's just more energy in the air!
Except for the mid afternoon til after dinner time.
The real steamy time of day that all of it slows down and stops.
Time to nap with a humming fan, blowing.
I love summer!

My Mom!

I don't really know what angle to write this story from, should I tell in "general" or tell "details"??
With details this could be very lengthy, there's so much to say about my Mom. So, I'm just gonna begin and see where this goes.

There was never a day that you'd walk into my Mom's house and not smell wonderful food cooking.
She was a round, jolly, wonderful cook, that was never too busy to sit and laugh and talk with whoever came into her home. Her house always had people coming and going. She welcomed people so whole heartily they returned just to hear her laughter, and eat her good food.
When you were in my Mom's presence she made you feel good about who you were.

In the years of me being a teenager, Mom smoked skinny brown cigarettes and cussed like a sailor. Always with a rip-roaring laughter to back it all up! Always up for a practical joke, she was just a person people liked!

We always had extra people for every holiday or just on any day...people she'd met that had no where to go for the holiday she'd invite them to eat with us. How may Christmas's we'd find us running to the store last minute to get some extra socks to wrap or books or something for Mom's friends she'd invited in. Mom got mail and visits, from people for years that had lived in one of her rent houses that she'd helped through tough times.

Mom had a teenage girl through the 1950's, another teenage girl through the 1960's, then me as a teenage girl in the 1970's... she saw times change a lot. She just rolled with the changes...
She never talked of the past. I asked her questions of things and she'd answer my questions but always said, "I don't' like old stuff, antiques are just old stuff, I like new stuff. Let's not talk of the old times let's look to the new times."
When I'd fuss at her about something, and she didn't agree, her famous saying was"BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS"HAHAHA Even in writing this, I want to laugh out loud!

Mom was my biggest cheerleader! Any time I needed to feel loved, she was my safe place.
My kids called her "Mimi" and she loved them as much as I do. She was always ready to brag about them to anyone that would listen, wherever she was!

Mom and I were very different, yet very alike. She had many challenging things in her life that formed her into such an interesting character. Her resilience was amazing!

Four years ago this month, Mom died.
A part of me died too. The part that was so intertwined with her laugh, her hands, her smell.

I'll always...always, love my mom.

Fever...

I'm sitting at the desk at the computer, and I get chilled to the bone.
Perhaps I have the thermostat turned too low.
I change it and go back to the computer.
A few moments pass and I begin to shake, and my teeth start chattering.
OK, this is not normal, I get my winter robe and put it on and get under the warmest blanket I can find.
I continue to shake. While shaking and teeth chattering, I notice the aching shoulders, and back. Uh-oh.
I got the thermometer out of the cabinet and took my temp, 101.
Throughout the night, the fitful sleep, the shaking, the teeth chattering, plus a sick stomach.
I switch the TV on periodically to have noise to distract me from the aches.

Swine flu all over the TV. People wearing masks.
I turn the TV off.

Things worsen, but then turn around. I take my temp, 100.
Thermometers are so good to show you that you are getting better.
I feel somewhat better. Another hour goes by and I take my temp again, 99.5.
Going down.
Finally, another hour or so, temp 98.6!
Yea! For thermometers!

I have found out over the years, I'm not one that likes being alone when sick. When I was young my mom always made me a bed on the couch when I was sick, in the middle of everything going on. She would let me lay in her lap and I'd smell Jergens lotion, and onions(she was always cooking and chopped onions for everything she cooked).
Right now I can close my eyes and see her loving hands.

So, just another sick day, a wasted 24 hours.
What a wasted day.
A whole 24 hours I'll never get back.
No smiles in 24 hours.

But, only 24 hours...
Tomorrow will have to be double happy, double fun!

My Sister

Tomorrow is my sister's birthday!

I won't tell her age but I will tell you a little about her...

Talk about an interesting person...

Here we go!

I was two years old when Bobbie Jo left home to get married. She went to California to marry her husband he was out there in the Army. She was 17. Her first child was born about 9 months after she married, at 18. Her family of three moved back to Arkadelphia. 20 months later she delivered twins a boy and girl, Bobbie was now 19. Three babies within 20 months.

They lived two houses down from us, so my neice and nephews were like siblings for me.

I was 3 years older than her oldest, 5 years older than the twins.

When the twins were 4, Bobbie Jo and Charlie divorced.

Bobbie became the single mother that worked hard to raise her kids. At one time she had three jobs, selling Mary Kay makeup(she got a pink car for high sales!), working at a Timex watch factory, and going to Beauty School. It took her a long time to finish Beauty School with the other jobs and 3 kids, with no financial help from the father. My Mom and Dad were there for her but they were having their own struggles.

Different points in her life they moved to try different venues of work for her. She lived in Texarkana and worked for an ammunition plant during the war. She lived in the Little Rock area selling mink coats in an elite shop downtown. What a variety! No one has EVER called her boring!

When she finished Beauty School and got her license, there was no stopping her then. She put in her own shop in Malvern, AR. Another in Hot Springs, AR for a few years.

Later moved to Taylor, TX, and had her own shop there, and another at Phlugerville, TX.

Later than that she moved to Arlington, TX, and had her own shop in Midlothian,TX.

Yes, she was quiet an entrepreneur!

Throughout these years her children flourished into wonderful responsible caring adults.

Did she make mistakes in her own life, in her mothering life? Heck, yes.

Was she fun? Heck, yes.

Was she perfect? Heck, no.

How many of us can say we are perfect?

Our Mom's last five years were spent in Bobbie's home.

Our Mom's last moments of life were spent in Bobbie's arms.

Mom wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Tomorrow when she blows the candles out on her cake as her grandchildren are gathered around her chanting "Go Nanny Jo"(which name I chose for her with the first grandbaby due and she was feaking out not wanting to be called "Grandma"at the tender age of 44!)

She can look back on her "resume of life past" and really be amazed at all the crooks and turns and where the roads have all come out so far. She has the three grown children and 11 grandchildren and one great grandchild, and another on the way. Whew...

Happy Birthday, sweet, crazy, nuttie, vivacious, loonie, adorable, hilarious,.... sis.

Shopping...

Anyone that knows me...knows I HATE to shop.
Last Monday I went on the most dreaded shopping trip EVER.

I had to find me a new pair of jeans...dum,dum,dum...

Now, for a "200+" beauty, this is a day-of-reckoning.
The dressing rooms have harsh lighting to show all the purple veins in HiDefinition.
And there are FULL-LENGTH mirrors!
Sometimes there are more than one.
So, I go to the big-girl's store.
Lane Bryant
I start to look around, as I find the jeans, I see tags that are different colors, and definitely different numbers on those tags. Instead of seeing 16, 18, 20 etc.
I see 0, 2, 4, 6, etc.
You've GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!
So, forget indescreetly shopping and silently, without eye contact paying for the purchase.

I have to ask how the size charts go...

The sales clerk looks me over (as I cringe) and says "you will be a yellow 6".
Shur-nuf, she was correct.
"6" I was.
Now, you and I both know in the real world it's not a true "6", just a fat woman's "fantasy-land 6".
Looking at those jeans in that dressing room, on my short fat bod, was no scene for a "fantasy".
Oh well, it is what it is...

The day after the dreaded shopping trip...my sweet husband comes over to kiss me goodbye for the day, and says what he says most days of our marriage,
"My woman is so pretty. I got me a good looking woman."

Bless his heart.

Just A Days Thought

Today I woke up, slowly walked into the kitchen to get my first cup of java, got my lap top and crawled back into bed. Before settling down I opened every window blind, so as I write this the sun is streaming in. How good is this??!!
Tomorrow is Easter.
Easter.
My faith in Jesus is total , and it fills my heart and soul plum-up to the top!!

I had a conversation with a good friend this week, we talked about JOY.
People say that I make them feel good about themselves, people do seek out my company, either to hear my humor or my bantor, or just to make jabs at my good nature. How irritating I can be most days, trying to be "up and happy by-choice".
One person that I work with told me this week to
"hush-up, not everyone could fart rainbows" like me.
When she said this I CRACKED UP!!
I've never heard it put like that to me...oh believe me, I've had lots of things said to me about my cheer'full'ness, over the years.

I have a lot of sadness deep down in my soul, like we all do.
If you've ever loved people and lost them to death, it makes you really recount every minute here with them.
Holes are left in those spots of the heart.
If you've ever been disappointed in someone that you loved the most, there's another hole. If you've ever had financial hardship that will create so much anxiety,
holes happen....
Now, the good news...total faith in Jesus can fill those holes.
I try to see every sunrise as another chance to get it right.
I want to "love" it all-right.
I want to understand what God wants of me this day.
So, every day I try to see "why" God has given me this time.
I'm really sure He doesn't want all my holes to show.
I'm sure He's happy with me "farting rainbows!"

Billy's Wedding! First weekend of Spring Break!

My nephew Bill Little got married!
History of Billy and me...we are like brother and sister. He is 3 years younger than me and one of my best friends in the world.
The ceremony was wonderful, Stacie sang a song and it brought tears to my eyes, it was so beautiful and sweet!
I wish for them... a life time of love!

Nick and I left the church after the reception was all cleaned up, it was 9:30pm.
(Anyone that knows me.... knows I don't get out after dark)
Nick has a GPS that he got at Christmas...so he pushes a few buttons and we are on our way, from Texarkana, to back home in Longview.
It was DARK and rainy.
The little man on the GPS, told us to take a turn and we missed it, so he had to recalculate, we weren't on a road that you could turn around on, we had to wait for the next exit. We took that one and he recalculated the drive again.
Now, we were on the darkest, curviest, skinniest, highway ever...and no one seemed to live on this road. Another turn came up, we missed that one too but we did turn around and go back to that county road. This road was just as bad as the last one. It looked like Big Foot country. Fauke, AR wasn't far...
We came upon a sign that said Bloomburg, TX, to the left.
That's when I knew we had traveled deep into the countryside.
(I have a dear friend from Bloomburg)
Of course my husband was so funny during this adventure...comments,
"Girl, I don't think we know where we are"(Nick)
"yeah, Nick we are right here, as I'd point to the car on the GPS"(me)
"girl, do you see Big Foot any where?"(Nick)
"Good thing we aren't meeting any cars on this skinny, dark, wet road"(me)
"Why aren't there any cars? Only 10pm"(me)
"Big Foot got them" (Nick)
I CRACKED UP!
Well, we eventually came out on a main highway that we recognized.
We got home safely. Exhausted...yes.

Good Bye...For now.

Today I drove 4 hours to honor a sweet 5 year old boy. He left this life in a car wreck along with his 47 year old Grandmother. It was a double service. Double sad for his surviving Mother, and the other family members.
As I watched the videos, and saw the love on that screen in those pictures, the thought came to mind...how special that he didn't have to leave this life alone. He was in the company of his grandmother that loved him dearly. They were together when they met Jesus!
Of course all of this sadness makes you recall things in your own life.
Perhaps I won't take the little moments for granted.
The big times always stand out, but the little ones, like smelling coffee first thing in the morning, like really hearing the "I love you's" sent over the phone. Smelling puppy breath. Slipping into a hot bubble bath.
So, on the drive home, 4 hours again, my soul sighed...
My heart belongs to Jesus, there's no fear in me for death,
only fear that I will take each gift He gives me of the time here and I'll waste it.

Rotten Mood

Every time we blog we try to tell things with a lighter twist,
now you are gonna read about a rotten mood.

It wasn't a good mood day.

To start with there was no one certain thing that made the day a rotten one.
Just everything.
On days like this I feel a little guilty.
For one thing, I totally try to FAKE it.
I put on a FAKE smile, and cringe when I have to be cheerful.
I see so many people in a day that I have found if I let my true mood show, people get so freaked out! They act like I should never have a rotten mood. That even makes me in a worse mood.
So, today even waiting for one car ahead of me in line at the cleaners,
irritated me for the wait (which wasn't long).
I won't list all the irritations.
Because it wasn't the people's faults, it was just my rotten mood.

You've all been there, done that.

Home, is so wonderful.
On a rotten mood day, just closing the door behind me as I enter my house is a wonderful feeling.

Safe from FAKE.

These days are needed, so that when we have good mood days,
we will know the difference.

The Farm

Nick and I just had three days at our farm.

Before we went to the farm Nick and I watched a slasher movie(we weren't sure it was one til after so much time was invested we felt we needed to finish it)
In this movie a couple were staying in a cabin way out of town and people knocked on the door and then proceeded to torment them and eventually kill them.

The first night I sorta started thinking of that movie.

Now, I do not normally get freaked out or scared very easy, unless it's over a mouse.
As bed time approached, my mind started playing tricks on me.
Sounds outside, my heart would race.
Finally, I say to Nick "are any of your guns loaded in here?"
"Yeah, the ones in the corner, the pistol in the closet, why?"
"I just feel a little spooked, thinking about that movie"
As I settled into my pillow, to sleep, I think how far the nearest person is to the farm.
As sleep takes me over, I have a dream of running from bad people, people trying to kill me, and Nick can't save me.
I must have ran from the bad people all night because when I woke the next morning I was sore all over and still very tired.
I won't be watching slasher movies ever again even by accident!

The days and nights were fine after that first night.
We rode the fields and woods in our Ranger. One deer feeder was torn apart, screws and all. After some detective work Nick determined it was a racoon's fault.
Nick repaired it and off we went.

Nick's younger brother came down to see us two of the three nights. One of those nights he killed a wild hog. Good riddance...they tear up the land so badly, all farmers hate them and their destruction. The next day the buzzards were very busy with the dead hog. It's amazing how God has made everything with such a plan and purpose.
Buzzards...even their name seems so sinister.
But, they have a purpose...so cool.

I walked some and sat alone in a deer stand, to watch the wind whip around, and the birds at play. I didn't get to see another animal even though I was patient and quiet.
It's like that sometimes.
Then other times, we can sit on the porch and see deer like crazy.

No matter.
The time spent at the farm is a refresher for us.
It's a time that we can reconnect, with each other and our selves.

Nick comes in all dirty, with a big smile on his face. Something as easy as driving the tractor and pushing trees out of the way of a path that have fallen.
You can tell, it just feels good to him.

When the days came to a close and the dark enveloped us out there in the bottoms, it's a simpler place and time.
A happy place.

Valentine's Day

I'm going to tell you about a Valentine's Day a long... long time ago.
It started one Christmas.
1976.
I was a senior in high school and one adorable (and super cool) Nicky Neel and I had been going steady for six years with only a few break-ups throughout that time.
We had been talking marriage a lot, we even started buying household things like pots and pans and such.
(we started our own hope chest; for you, that remember that term)
Here comes Christmas time, and my birthday...I'm really expecting a ring and a formal proposal, I'm handed a long narrow box. We are in his parents living room, everyone's eyes on me.
I hold the package a moment longer than normal, my mind is racing.
I take the ribbon off. All is quiet.
I unwrap it quickly to get this over with..and I think..."WHAT?!"

It's a .22 rifle.

Nick instantly grabs it up and acts sooo proud of his purchase, showing it to his Dad and brothers. My disappointment is sidelined by their enthusiasm.

OK, I got a gun.

After our family gathering, and I return home everyone asks me to see my finger, expecting to see a ring...

I pull out my gun.

For days the phone rings from friends, everyone wanting to hear the news of a new diamond, and I have to tell them...

I got a gun.

Well, my feelings are a little hurt. Naw, my feelings are demolished!!! Of course, I discuss this issue with him, heated at times, but he would always say...

"I've got my own way, my own time."

A couple months go by, Nick even buys some new towels for our hope chest and adds them to our collection, of course all the while professing his undying love for me.
We regularly target shoot with

MY NEW GUN.

Now, it's Valentine's day. This is it! He will do it today! How romantic! This is what he was waiting for! How memorable!

He grills me a steak and bakes me a potato, gives me a small box.

I take it in my hands, start unwrapping it, I can't believe it!!!

A case of .22 shells for....

my new gun.

I cried. Right there in front of him. oh well. We should share our grief and I was so sad.
But, time went on, we didn't break up and somehow I understood my strange and unpredictable, cool and adorable, smart boyfriend.
He was smart enough to know we needed to wait to get married for several reasons.

We did get engaged, October of 1977.
We got married December31,1977.

His way, his time.
He said "We've gone together forever, so no need in a long engagement, and if we marry before January 1st I can claim you on my income taxes, your mom will understand".
Well, as crazy as this makes ME sound...I always knew Nick had my heart. I always knew however it went, we'd be happy. Yes, I'm a trusting soul....

Here we are many years later and
we both agree there's no need for fancy cards, or pretty flowers.
But he cooked me the best boiled shrimp and potatoes, and his own homemade shrimp sauce!
So, this is our 38th Valentine's Day.(7 years of courtship; 31 of marriage).

And even after all this time he still thinks

a gun is the BEST gift ever!!!!!

Pleather Beauties!

We have this couch and love seat that has been a pain in the a-- for the last 6 years...

Let me start at the beginning.
When we got the mobile home on our farm in 2003, it came with a couch and love seat that is the "pleather" fabric.

Plastic, pretending to be leather. ug. and ugly.

Nick dug his heals in and REFUSED to let us change the furniture for something more comfortable.
Nick's argument was that it was PERFECT for the farm, it wouldn't get dirty when other people came in with mud and such. (No one has ever come in terribly dirty)
Nick also thought it looked manly and good.
So, for 6 years we STUCK to the couch in the summer and FROZE on it in the winter.

I hated those couches.

Finally, we bought new couches for our house and took our old blue couches to the farm.
Finally we now have comfort at the farm!

Nick insisted we bring the "pleather" ones home to sell them in a garage sale.
Today was our sale...I heard comments like "those are pretty rough" people talking about the "pleather" beauties.
One lady talking on her cell phone says "Hon, I'm looking at them and they are bugared up."
Nick is kinda getting the idea by now...
Final draw we load the "pleather" beauties up to take them and donate them to Good Will.
The dog pound of all bad merchandise where it goes to die....
Nick still feels confident that HIS couches will find a home soon...
As Nick hops out of the truck to unload his treasure, the young guy in charge of all the donations left there in his charge, says......

"I can't do nothing with that"

Nick looks like a deer caught in headlights!
Nick says "WHAT?!"
The young guy says "we can't sell that".
Nick is lost for words...
Then Nick says
"What am I suppose to do with them???"
The poor guy says nothing. What's there to say?
Could he say...."not my problem"?
Nick gets back in the truck and I'm holding in the laughter.
Nick's face, ears, neck is bright red!
I CRACK UP!!!!!!!!!
As we are driving away, Nick says "I'm starting to think my couches aren't as good as I thought."
I'm thinking, "No Shit, Shurlock!"
We both start to laugh all the way home.
Very seriously, Nick says "What will we do?"
Very seriously, I say "I'll call bulk trash pickup for Tuesday."
Then we both CRACK UP laughing all over again.

Gentle Giant

Once there was a little blond girl that had pig tails and sad eyes.
The twelve years that had been her life,so far, were filled with lots of tears and many, many fears.
All of the fear, left one day.
Replacing the fear was no direction, no guidance.
Most days she was wobbly through the growing times. Her teenage years were unguided, loose and insecure.

A constant thing in her life, was an Uncle that always cared for her. He lived across town and had his own troubles and heartaches of past times. As the years went by, he would always come by just to talk... to ask how her week at school was...ask about her boyfriend, just a talk in general. A talk that let her know she was loved and important to him.

The blond pigged tailed girl, turned into a young lady, ready to get married, she asked this special uncle to walk her down the isle to her new life with the man she chose for her husband.

The big and little events in her life, she always had the uncle there to hold her new babies and to applaud her life.

He's a simple man, but always ready to laugh and enjoy a good visit.
His strong arms, and his consistent, laid back style was a stabilizer for her.

As time passes she has more insight into the true character of her uncle and she truly sees a Gentle Giant.
The best kind of man.

Tonight, she received a phone call from the Gentle Giant. His body is weakening but his mind and wit is strong.

The love between them is evident, and expressed with words.

How blessed she is to have the Gentle Giant...

Telemarketers....GGGRRRR!

The phone rings.
I try to quickly get out of my new reclining couch (a comical sight even when I'm not in a hurry):)
I hit my knee on the door facing as I try to get there before they hang up.
"Hello" puff puff #%@#%@*(a few choice words)

"Mr. N. N?"

"He's not here" as my knee throbs, my temper is rising.

"When will he be reachable?"

"What is this pertaining to?"

"Ma'am?"

"WHY DO YOU WANT TO TALK TO MR. N.N."

"Are you Mrs. N.N.?"

"LISTEN, YOU DIALED MY NUMBER, I ASKED YOU WHAT THIS IS PERTAINING TO, YOU CALL MY HOUSE EVERY NIGHT WITH THIS NUMBER SHOWING UP ON MY CALLER ID; WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH MY HUSBAND THAT YOU CAN NOT DISCUSS WITH ME????

"It's about renewing his Redbook magazine subscription, he's on his final month,should he want to renew it"

"He doesn't even know that magazine comes to the house,I'm the one that reads it, but you have just LOST my subscription for now and in the future"

"So are you Mr. N.N.?"

"WHAT????? TAKE ME OFF OFF OFF YOUR CALLING LIST! THAT MEANS DO NOT CALL THIS NUMBER EVER AGAIN!
I hang up, wondering for the hundredth time why I didn't just hang up to start with...

My Friends!

Today was nothing out of the ordinary, yet each person I came in contact with was so special!

Where I work there are such fun, caring people.

Every thirty minutes my classes change and that means I have a new teacher and 20 new students. In a days time, I have worked with 9 grown ups and 140 children that doesn't include before school(star room), or carrider duty with more. I've done this work for 18 years. I'd like to think that I've helped many children throughout those years,
but I know they have taught me so much more than I've taught them.

One adorable student constantly calls her headphones---earrings!

I hear happy stories, and I hear sad stories, but I always hear hope in their voices.
My constant prayer is for God to open my eyes to what I need to see and my ears to what I need to hear. Five year olds do not always have the vocabulary to express what they need.
Those sweet little spirits are our future.

My days are constantly entertaining and eye opening!

Five year olds see the world in a whole new way!

Let's Talk About TV Shows...

Monday is one of the BEST nights for TV, in my opinion. If you enjoy mindless shows that require very little intellect and concentrating....my kind of night!

I start out with The Big Bang Theory at 7pm. These nerds are soooo funny! I don't understand what they are talking about all the time but I adore how they say those smart things!!!! Sheldon is a hoot!!!!

The next show I watch is How I Met Your Mother. This group on this show ,remind me of Friends. The writers don't seem to be as funny and quick as the ones for Friends, but still funny just the same. If I still had small kids at home this couldn't be watched. It has way too much sex talk in it.

True Beauty is on at 9pm. Talk about a show that really hits all the good points!
A group of people all chosen because they are pretty, but are being chosen for the beauty they have inside. They are watched on hidden cameras and chosen to stay if they do the right thing. This is a reality show and I like it a lot. This would be a good show for teenagers to watch in my opinion. Totally entertaining!

Ok, here's the last one...Momma's Boy's....another reality show of mom's helping their boys pick out a girl. Really a dumb show, but it hooked me....the moms are unbelievable....also on at 9 pm.

I record all these and FF all commercials and it doesn't take long to watch them...
I've always wanted to give reports on movies or shows. Whether it was fun for you to read I don't know, but it sure was fun for me to report...more later.

Sunbeams

Oh my Goodness, the sun has made an appearance! As the days in January go, the sun is a distant cousin, but today it's here!

I enjoy the sunbeams that shine through windows in my house. In the years I had small children and worked at home, I would only clean the rooms of my house as the sunbeams were shining in. When my babies had diaper rashes I'd take their diapers off and lay them in a sunbeam shining through the window. It really seemed to help the rash. I would only iron clothes at dark(or on cloudy days) so I wouldn't waste any sun time....
I love for the sun to dance across the room, perhaps because home is my most favorite place on earth and the sun makes me happy too.
Take dogs and sunbeams too..... it's a slice of heaven, to see a dog laying in the sun all stretched out, and he barely raises his head to look at you and his eyes are squinted almost shut and a hint of a dog smile, on their lips.
Sometimes, at night when things feel bleak, lonesome, worrisome, all that seems to ebb away when the sun comes up. It all seems to be lighter than the night before.
If I was a flower child from the 60's I probably would've wanted to name my daughter, Sunbeam.
Seems to me, sunshine is like God smiling straight at me.
I love sunbeams!

What a wonderful day!

I love Saturdays! I had big plans to get so much done, but I did very little. I'm new to blogging and I need to embelish the facts of my life because I'm rather boring. So, you'll never quiet know if it's fact or fiction that I write. I love to have the total floor to express myself...perhaps this will be cool.