Saturday, July 7, 2012

What a guy!

Today was the first Saturday of the first full weekend of the month, so that means Kid Workshop time. Our children love going every month. The in laws were in town and are late morning people, so we were needing to occupy the kids until they decided to come to our house. They built Penske trucks, a project that was fairly involved. Our favorite inspector, Bob the Builder, put his stamp of approval on their projects. He is always so encouraging as they build. What a wonderful offering to the community kids!



It has been a full day, fixing a serger, exploring quilt shops, building, tending to a still sick boy whose fever came back tonight, so I am off to bed. Hopefully a funny strange encounter or new pattern or recipe to share tomorrow. Night all....
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Friday, July 6, 2012

Always interesting

The in laws are in town and it never fails that some weird things happen to make us look like we are plagued. Yesterday the drama with the dog and a storm that knocked the power out were on the menu. Today we woke up to a feverish boy. Really? He rallied for a while and we ran to check out some quilt shops for my MIL. She is quite a fine quilter and is always up for finding new fabrics and gadgets to support her "habit". By the time we finished and had dinner, the evening oven hours were beginning and the boy began superheating again. I'm afraid we have a trip to the doc on our schedule, but we will have to see how the night goes. When he gets really whiney and chatty in his sleep, that usually indicates ear infection. He has mentioned them today, so, you know.

On a completely different topic, I have secured the scrumptious recipe for a Lavender Lemonade I recently had at my friend's wedding. I will be getting some lavender to grow and use for this beverage. Absolutely sublime. Or sublemon...hahaha! Sorry....


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Thursday, July 5, 2012

Another scare...

Our sweet 14 year old lab gave us another scare today. We realize that every day with her now is a gift, but that doesn't make the end any easier. Cosby takes to her food with great gusto, barely breathing while she Hoovers it down. Today we went down to find her listless near a bowl of untouched food. This set off great alarms for me that I tried to keep quiet around the children. I called the hub, who left work to take her to the vet. S knew what was going on and tried her best to not cry, but the tears came anyway. All of us cried through the grocery store, trying our best to stop. B and I sat down with the kids and had a long, weepy discussion about Cosby and all she meant to us. We kept checking in at the vet until finally we went in at 5:30. I cried the whole way there, not knowing what was to come. The report was not as grim as we had thought. She was coming home with new arthritis meds, heartworm pills and flea medication. Her bloodwork was pretty normal for a dog her age...the vet was pleasantly surprised.

Squeals of delight came as the prize pooch walked though the door. It felt so good to know we had her back home for another spell, but I still dread the day when we will be bringing her home to lay her to rest. Morbid, I know, but it is coming sooner rather than later. Until that time, we will soak up as many wet doggy kisses as we can stand, knowing that our lives are better because she has loved us as her own pups. There's nothing like having a dog's love and loyalty and I am sad for those who have to miss out on that. Just nothing like it...


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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Freedom and Firetrucks

First of all, happy Fourth of July to all you crazy kids out there. I have always been a fan...loving the parades, cookouts, fireworks, the pride of living in the country we do, the pride in our military and 1812 Overture. I never tire of that, one of my go to records to listen to in school while doing homework, but I digress. The feelings for the Fourth are not shared by all here at the ranch. My sweet husband lost his beloved grandmother 11 years ago today, when I was very pregnant. We were so anxious for her to meet our sweet baby, but it was not to be. The woman who had so much to do with molding the man I love so dearly was gone and, though it was not a surprise, it was so terribly sad. So, even all these years later, the pain burns just as badly as it did then. G is also not an excited participant during the Fourth. She has never been a superfan of loud noises, including thunder storms and fireworks. We have to get creative to keep her off a xanax drip. S and F enjoy the day just fine and are happy to do whatever comes up on the schedule.

Today we were fortunate to come across some freebies and decided to take advantage. We got free Starbucks, even though my cup was so strong I think I had heart palpitations. It was free, so I dealt with it. The hub, ever in search of a deal on a cheeseburger, came across a deal Hardee's had for the day. If you dressed up like Spiderman, you got a free bacon cheeseburger. Here is what he did:



The man loves his burgers. G had on a shirt of the boy's 4 sizes too small, S had on one two sizes too small and B had a pair of the boy's swim trunks stuffed in his belt. I have a Spiderman shirt for pj's, but I chose to stay home and mow the lawn and quickly dehydrate. The clan came back from free burger poaching victorious and salivating.

B left to go help set up for a cookout at our dear friends' house, so the rest of us messed about, watched some Turtleman and of course Duck Dynasty. We then headed to the cookout, two Key Lime Pies in the cooler and hungry tummies all around. There were sprinklers and misters all around to help cut the heat, but it sure tried to win. The kids were all soaked and enjoyed getting at least one of the pastors very wet and the others good and damp. They didn't protest too much. A sweet lady from our church did succumb to the heat. Bless her heart, she ended up being the center of attention she never wanted to have and ended up leaving with some handsome first responders in an ambulance. They were eyeing our beloved investigative reporter, Don Dare, who was there at the party. Starstruck and doctoring all at the same time. We are so very concerned and are all praying she feels better very soon!

We returned home hot and tired, hearts warmed not only by the heat but from the friendship shared with so many. The kids bathed and the boy remarked that he was tired...more than once. I used that time to do some prep for the in-laws' arrival tomorrow during bath time. After ripping a nice chunk off of my toenail off in an unfortunate and bloody vacuuming accident, I deemed it time for the kids to retire for the evening. G steeled herself for a stormy night of revelry and redneck neighbor fireworks displays ahead:



Poor girl. Hopefully the Makita drill ear protection will do the trick.

We are watching James Bond as the children slumber. I think I gained major wife points by knowing every word to "The Man With The Golden Gun" theme song. Hey, what can I say? I'm just cool like that. Happy Independence Day!
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Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Sad, sad day

Today we lost one of America's most beloved actors and one of my personal heroes, Andy Griffith. I watched his reruns when I wasn't allowed to watch anything else. The lessons taught on his show are ones I use with my own children today. His calm sensibility and southern wit appealed to me from the very beginning. My brother and I laughed until we cried at "No Time For Sergeants" and I wore out his comedy album talking about baseball and Shakespeare. A little bit of my childhood died today and the lights of television have dimmed considerably. Rest in peace, Mr. Griffith. You will be missed.



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Monday, July 2, 2012

The poor serpent

I learned today that you can never assume something that looks like a garden hose is indeed a garden hose. Sitting on the front steps on Mrs. Cheryl's house this morning, I noticed a black tube on the ground. I had the iPad out, so I looked around to see what bed she was watering. Looking back down at the hose, I saw it start to move and then narrow. This is when I moved faster than anyone has ever seen me moved before. A decision had to be made: was this worthy of interrupting Cheryl during class? Yes. I got her attention through the storm door. She came to see for herself. After a rake was obtained, the creature disappeared. You would think that would be comforting but, uh, no. She went in to finish class and I was on snake duty...something I never thought I would do. It was sneaky for 5 minutes or so,but then got bold. Cheryl was back out with the rake, trying to relocate it. It wanted to relocate up her front tree. Several times. Finally, it went back into the shrub to hide again. I had to leave before the exciting conclusion, but I imagine Bernard black snake is probably needing a Xanax and a cocktail to soothe his frazzled nerves by now. Poor guy...






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Sunday, July 1, 2012

Weird things I've learned this week

It has been a long and strange week. I mean not anything out of the ordinary, but just full. Here are some things I learned this week:

1. If you see something that looks like fish roe in the toppings section of your trendy frozen yogurt shop, step away...step away.

2. Pizza Inn and my family should never mix.

3. Lunch out with coworkers is exponentially more stressful when you throw the new senior pastor and two of your children into the mix.

4. The idea of glasses, for a seven year old, is much more exciting than the actuality...even if they are Vera Bradley.

5. When you go blueberry picking after a "bad judgement" blueberry picking incident in sandals involving a spider bite, staph/strep infection and a 4 day hospitalization, everybody's a comedian asking, "Did you wear proper footwear".

6. My intelligence level, according to the golf tee game at Cracker Barrell, will forever be stuck in "Ig no ray moose" status.

7. I wish I felt as free to express myself on the dance floor as my daughters.

8. I realize the term "Bust a move" is one that I probably shouldn't use to the 10 and under crowd unless I'm ready to have a conversation.

9. When you walk past a lady in Lowe's who says to someone on her phone "Your car's in a creek? Why?", you want to follow her around the store and find out what happens next.

10. When you decide to throw away a raggedy wicker trash basket, make sure your child is emotionally attached to it like it was a pet.



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