Ring, Ring Goes the Cell Phone

Should you answer it?

It depends.

If you are in the check-out line at the grocery store, dress shop or book place.... NO!

Charging through traffic on a six-lane expressway.... NO!

In the car with your kids.... NO!

Pulling through the drive thru at McDonald's.... NO!

Halfway through the a film at the movie theater.... NO!

Last week I was shipping a package at the UPS store. A small sign sits on the counter that says: "If you are talking on your phone when it is your turn to be waited upon, we will move to the next customer in line."

Bravo UPS! What's so important that you can't be polite and attentive to people around you? Surely the gossip, which is mostly what I overhear people talking about on their cell phones, can wait.

Isn't it frustrating to have to wait while someone finishes what usually amounts to a frivolous conversation.... just so the check-out person can ring them up? Isn't it annoying to hear a teenager drop the f-bomb over the phone in the milk aisle? Isn't it disgusting to watch a cell talker ignore the wait staff while they laugh loudly at their friend's jokes?

Isn't it rude?

Accents

Paula Deen, southern cook extraordinaire. She reminds me of so many southern ladies with her big hair, big make up and flashy jewelry... and she sounds like I do! Paula is from Albany Georgia (pronounced All - Benny). We pronounce words like sugar, pecan and ya'll the same.

Ignore the recipe.... it sounds gross! Ya'll enjoy!

New Doo

The hair was out of control. Frizzy, unstylish, and frumpy. So horrible I'd been wearing it in a clip for weeks with just a bare minimal attempt at styling in the mornings. It had to go. I didn't get my nerve up for the color and highlights this time, just a cut. But next time, I'm committed to the foil treatment.



Abby preempted our hair appointment with a self-styled doo. she actually didn't go super short. So our stylist was able to work it into something reasonably cute.



As my Grandmother once said about my brothers' teenage hair styles: "It's just hair."

After the haircut I hit the sales at the mall for a new pair of jeans, some stylish pumps, a few pairs of earrings and a necklace. So nice... and on sale too!

Another Birthday

It's pouring rain here as I type. Windy and wailing as a tropical storm moves through.

Ava would have been five today. We ate pink cake in her memory, Abby and I. We thought of her family and the wonderful life they shared with her and the missing of days without her in them.

Happy Birthday Super Princess.

Happy Birthday to You

I would add the bit about looking and smelling like a monkey, but she doesn't. Happy birthday Angel.

Graduation Day 1993. I remember that day so vividly. Standing in an unfamiliar place; the familiarity of the life that had gone before, the uncertainty of the life waiting ahead. My best friend has been with me through both. Growing up, sharing the turbulence of the teenage years, difficult times in both our lives: losses, loves, moves, children....

We are so in tune that our children were born almost exactly one year apart. Maddison and J.T. are winter babies with Maddison born one year and three weeks before and Abby and Hunter are September babies. Hunter is 1 year and five days older than Abby.

Do you know I don't even know her phone number? I just push the little button on my phone with her name on it. Tomorrow I will press the "Angel" button to call and say Happy Birthday! To say thank you for all the sleepovers, lunches and shopping trips. For the funny emails and the "just checking on you" calls. I will wish her a Happy 33rd year on earth and thank her for sharing all 33 of them with me. I look forward to a lifetime of friendship through ups, downs, PMS, menopause and weak bladders. Because I love her, even if she does have funky taste in shoes.

Baker, Baker, Cookie Maker

Weary Mother Brain

My brain is tired. It is a fatigue brought about by the constant grumbling of malcontents within our walls. The whining, the poking, the chasing and squealing.... they are slowly eating away at my brain cells. Soon I will have the IQ of an amoeba.

Them (In the house):

He took that from me!
Well I had it first!
She hit me!
But it was an accident! I didn't MEAN too!
AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (screamed at high pitch while running down the hallway)!
Stop that!
MOOOOMMMMMM!

Me: Wondering if letting one sleep outside with the dog would earn a trip from Child Services.

Them (In the car):

Youngest child mimicks sound of passing gas.
Brother smirks and says: "She pooted on me!"
Both dissolve into insane giggles.
Body function humor escalates into poking, prodding and smacking and inevitably loud complaining about who started what and who is hitting whom.

Me: Wondering at this point if tying them to the roof of the car for road trips would be immoral, illegal or both.

Them (In the yard):

Child in bathing suit doesn't want to get wet. (?)
Brother blasts her with the hose anyway.
Wild screaming ensues.
Puppy is now inflamed by screaming excitement and joins in by jumping, tearing at clothing with teeth and in general, adding to the mayhem.
Child with hose repeatedly sprays water onto patio despite requests to keep it in the yard.
Child in bathing suit wants to watch ants in ant hill.
Child in bathing suit gets bitten by ants after being warned more than once to move.


Me: Wondering if tiny hint of 'told ya so' in the back of brain should induce guilt. It doesn't.

Test Drive: A Cautionary Tale

I would be the perfect infomercial sucker if it weren't for the very practical adages buried deep in the recesses of my brain. You know the ones: "You can't get something for nothing" and "Too good to be true". If it weren't for this skepticism we would be the proud owners of a set of Japanese steak knives that can cut through an aluminum can (when one might need a can sliced, I don't know), then perfectly slice a tomato, those green bags that help your fruit and veggies stay fresh longer, and the amazing steam mop.

Of all the the informercial offerings I have coveted, the electric sweeper that is multi-directional, battery powered and picks up both large AND small objects (believe it or not there are alot of those scattered about our place) is the one I long for most. Low and behold our local super store has them on sale!! For only $35.99!!

You think you see where this is going now don't you? Melinda purchases amazing electric sweeper and it falls apart in her hands. Oh no. That would be obvious. And cheaper.

My mother-in-law purchased one. I don't think the adages about getting what you pay for, etc. reside in the deep recesses of her brain. Now, I get a FREE test drive of the much longed for sweeper at my mother-in-laws place! Happily I plug in the battery and begin to power around the kitchen, the den, hardwood floor, rugs, etc. It works nicely. Gets up the crumbs from the under the table where the kids are eating, gobbles up the little bits of paper and lint that rugs draw like magnets. Everything is going well. Until I attempt to empty the dirt cup.

Did you know that location is an important thing to consider when emptying a dirt cup. Especially if you just grab the bottom of the sweeper, and inadvertently raise the handle to, oh say, ceiling fan height? Did you know that a ceiling fan made to look like a log in the center with fan blades attached by incredibly thin fake twigs is fragile? Especially when hit by a sweeper handle. Especially when it's moving? Did you know that it would have been cheaper for me to buy the sweeper than it will be to replace a fan blade on a discontinued fan?

Isn't She Lovely?

He's handsome too. This Saturday, my parents will celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. Here's how they looked on their wedding day in 1963. I just love Mama's classic suit and hat combo and Daddy's skinny tie.

When I was little I loved to look through their wedding album. Seeing my grandparents without gray hair and my aunt in her bridesmaid's dress. My favorite picture of all is the one where they are feeding each other cake and laughing. Daddy said it was because Mama bit his finger!

Happy Anniversary!

New Math

This:



plus this:



plus this:



equals this:

A Conundrum

J.T. starts 2nd grade on Monday. His 4th year of school. How on earth did those first few years speed by so quickly?

Lately, he's been sneaking into our bed in the middle of the night. Worming his way up, under the covers, to lie between Mommy and Daddy. I usually notice the invader when one of his incredibly long feet end up in my stomach, or twined around one of my legs.

I know I should send him back to his bed. We would all sleep better. But his face is losing it's baby fat. His head is rising ever higher when he stands next to me. Fewer baby teeth are wriggling their way loose. He can swim in the deep end. Soon he won't need a snuggle. Shouldn't I make the most of each one?



I took this picture the first day of school last year. Love how his new shoes are glowing.