What I didn't want for Christmas

I got a new dvd player for Christmas and SH had to hook it up... I really wanted that.

I also got a blow dryer, mixing bowls, a mixer, a flash for my camera, lotions, a blanket wrap to keep warm with, a new willow tree angel from DD, blank dvd's and a couple of movies from DS, a pretty sign from an aunt that just says simplify, candles, dish towels and some berry vines from other Aunts and a cousin or two....and a cd from my cousin with a song she wrote in 2001 called "Grandma's house on Christmas eve" Which is what we did every year from the time we were born until the Christmas of 2002 when Grandma was no longer with us. I cry just opening the cd case so listening to it may take awhile.
The most popular thing being passed around Christmas eve, which is now at my Aunts house, is one gift I hope I don't get.... a horrible stomach virus. It started with my cousin the next night... my mom the day after Christmas and now has went through 4 Uncles and one Aunt... so far. Since I spent Christmas day with my mom, and she didn't come down with it until early the next morning I am still not in the clear....every twinge makes me think I am going to start puking. People from my family and SH's family are on their way in for our second Christmas celebrations this coming weekend... if we all aren't puking.... wish me luck!

Amen

Tonight it feels like all is right in the world again. My DS and DD are both here, under my roof, waiting on Santa. The boys that used to spend a lot of time here are back here tonight, playing video games, cards and eating chocolate. I'm tired, but in a good way. The house being full of teenagers is what makes life fun. Santa doesn't come to our house until everyone is in bed..so I may be up all night, or I may put gifts out and cover them with a blanket so I can get some sleep. No matter what, I am happy, my stomach is full and the shopping is all done.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL....AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT

Deck the halls...and all that crap

Today is going to be a quiet day. I'm going to straighten up the house, dip everything in my cabinets in chocolate, and get ready for a bunch of people who will be stopping by tonight. My DS and his girlfriend are coming out to help me dip things in melted chocolate after while and exchange their Christmas gifts since she will be traveling back to her parents house for the holidays. DD and her friend K are babysitting for one of their teachers this morning then off to meet some guys for a movie and lunch before heading to the basketball game tonight and then maybe back here to eat some of that chocolate. I have an After Prom planning meeting tonight.....yes we are already planning prom and the after prom party. I can not believe it! I was thinking the other night that prom dress shopping usually starts in January....which is almost here. Prom dress shopping, for those of you who have never had to do it, consists of weeks of going to different dress shops, trying on 200 dresses that weigh about 78 lbs. each and finally going back to buy the first one you tried on...if it is still there. Then comes the dreaded accessory shopping. Accessory shopping can take up to a month and sometimes you end up with 3 different necklaces that look perfect with your dress which means another month of trying them on together over and over. Last year DD's dress needed altered and the woman that altered it did not do a good job and DD spent prom night not being able to exhale...at all. Her dress was that silky material that you couldn't change after you had it altered because the holes would have shown. It looked good and if she stood just right you couldn't tell that one of the straps was longer than the other. Needless to say we will be finding someone else to do the altering this year, if it is needed.
Hopefully I will have time to update before Christmas but in case I don't I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.

So...you wanna date my daughter?

Like most teenagers DD seems to really enjoy boys. It seems that boys really like being around DD too. Superhubby and I try to keep an eye on the boys hanging around and usually that isn't a hard thing to do. The high school DD goes to has around 350 students in 9th through 12th grade. Most of the teachers are people we know. It is very hard for kids to get away with anything when mom and dad know your teachers, or are related to them. Once in a while DD drags in a boy from anther school or older boys who have graduated and we don't know well. Superhubby and I have different ideas on what we want in a boyfriend for our daughter.
My ideas are ...
1. kind and considerate
2. loves his momma
3. willing to spend time at our house with us and DD
4. must be planning to do something with his life

Superhubby has his own ideas, as this boy found out this week.....

We love to feed the birds during the winter months. My family room has a bunch of big windows that look right out to the pool deck. This fall we forgot to get out the bird feeder and looked outside one cold day and the birds were lined up looking in the window at us. I went and bought a bunch of bird feed and we loaded up the feeder. The birds loved it for a few days and then we noticed the amount of food they were eating slacked off considerably. Today when I got home from work I think I may have figured out the problem.....I guess I will save money on bird feed this winter.

If you have a moment....

Earlier this fall my cousins daughter tore her ACL during a volleyball game. This girl is the star female athlete of the entire school. Terrific at softball, volleyball and basketball she was destined for a college scholarship in at least one of the above sports. The ACL thing ended any dream she had of that. She had surgery to repair it a couple of months ago and there was even talk of letting her try softball in the spring to see if her leg could take it. Then yesterday she went to the doctor with a few concerns about pain and found out one of the screws had come loose AND there was some type of infection inside her leg. She is back in surgery today to repair the problems and see what type of infection they are dealing with. Her doctor and her parents are hoping it isn't some type of MRSA infection because that will be so hard to treat. If you have a few minutes keep Emily in your prayers today....

Now where did I put that %&*# Ark?

All summer I complaineddiscussed the extreme dry spell we were going through. By the end of September we were about 10 inches behind in rainfall for the year. Not anymore. It has rained....and rained.....and rained for days. Today it started raining before daylight and by 7:30 A.M. we had already had over an inch of rain. Then it rained some more. Schools in the area were scrambling to get kids home while the roads were above water. Some people were using it as an excuse leaving work early to make sure they were able to get home without traveling through the mess. I don't personally know anybody who would do that, I'm just saying it may have happened(-;
I drove the long way home from work today to make sure I didn't run into any water and the whole way home guess what...it rained. I thought about starting to gather two of every animal together, just in case, but I am not going to clean up elephant poop if he must go on my boat, so I am just going to have to hope it eventually dries up. I don't think I could allow any snakes on my boat and I'm pretty sure the original rules specify two of everything. There are a few animals (like the snake) that I have no idea how to tell a male from a female and I think the whole thing would be pointless if I ended up with 2 of the same sex.
As of now it has quit raining. I can still hear water running down the hills everywhere which means the bigger creeks will still come up and driving around will get annoying. The good news is the news says a clear day tomorrow and then Saturday night and Sunday a mixture of rain, ice and snow. Is it spring yet?

It takes a village

I finally got my Christmas village out. I love my Christmas village and really look forward to seeing it. Up until last year I had a miniature village that I only got out every few years. I had always wanted one of the bigger villages but they were so expensive that I couldn't justify the expense to myself around Christmas every year. Last year SH and I talked about it and we decided I should buy a couple houses and just add to it every year. DD and I went shopping to pick out the first few and on the way we stopped at a flea market. There, in the middle of the flea market was a couple of women selling an entire village. Their mother had passed away and they were selling her Christmas decorations. The houses were all under 5 dollars apiece.....so I bought the entire village. My village sits on SH's Great Grandmothers old cast iron wood cook stove. It alone weighs about as much as a real village.

I love it when night falls in the village and you can be nosy and peak in the windows (just call me peeping kate)

If you look in the window of the village toy shop you can see the shop owner playing with his puppets and looking out the window at the snow.

If you look in the window of this house you can see mom and dad putting the kids to bed.. so visions of sugarplums can dance in their head.

This picture, well, you can figure this one out for yourself. I just wish he would shut the door.

A few of my favorite things.....

I'm putting up my tree. I love my Christmas tree and so many of my ornaments have a story behind them. I want to share with you some of my favorites and I hope that everyone who reads this will share a few of their favorite Christmas ornaments with me. If you don't do Christmas ornaments then share something special and let me know so I can come to your blog and see.

This little fellow is my favorite little mouse. Normally I am not a big fan of mice but this one is a little special. I am a addicted to a big fan of peppermint. I also get a horrible cough every year. My Grandma W always kept peppermints around and gave me one when I started coughing. One year she saw this mouse and it reminded her of me...so she bought it for me. I miss my Grandma W so much but my little mouse makes me happy.

This ornament is special to me for about the same reason as the first. When I was little Grandma W. made me this ornament with my name on it and here it is probably 30 years later.... still on my tree every year.

The next three I like just because of what they are. Every year when my mom goes to the beach she tries to find me a new Santa at the beach ornament. I love Santa sitting here with his binoculars.....

Santa surfing just makes me giggle, I think he probably needs a summer vacation.

I absolutely love this one of Santa having a drink on the beach in his board shorts. I have a few more but haven't unpacked them yet.

This one is the first ornament SH and I owned after we got married. My mom bought this for us for our first Christmas together and I have bought a dated ornament every year since this...I have a lot of ornaments.

I have a few baby's first ornaments for each child and each are special to me. This is DD's and it is waiting for her to put on the tree....because each year they must put their own on the tree.

This one is DS's and he was my first baby, and this was my first baby's first ornament. I can't wait until he stops by to hang it on the tree. I had to hold them up to take the picture but I won't hang them until they are here.

I have unpacked a couple of little boxes of ornaments, which means I have more in the basement somewhere. One of my favorite things about Christmas is getting everything out and every year it seems I find stuff I have forgotten about and it gets me excited all over again.

Remember, share with us some of your favorite Christmas things...or whatever it is you celebrate.

On love and marriage

I have no idea where that title came from, just a thought as I started typing and it makes me sound like an expert... which I am most definately NOT. I was just thinking today about how marriage changes over the years and the difference age makes in your life.
Remember those early years when, to your husband at least, you always looked like this....and every night was like a romantic trip to Paris, or at least to a romantic motel. You didn't have to go anywhere to feel like you were in the most special place in the world..... his arms.

During those same early years you husband looked exactly like this. Even if he didn't look exactly like this he looked close enough to it that you thought he did. When he lay in bed it looked just like this to you, you could tell he was just there waiting on you.








Back then you could do amazing things with your body. You could put your legs and back in some odd positions and not need pain killers the next day, or a chiropractor.

Your children, when they were born, were going to have the most perfect mother, the one that worked (or stayed home) but also baked cookies and took care of the dog.

Then a few dozen years go by. Things start to change and those nights of Paris like bliss are replaced by quickies during naptime. Your wonderful children are still wonderful but you can not figure out how the future President of the United States is ever going to get to the Oval office if he can't figure out how to tie his shoes.














Sometime you feel like this is what you must look like to your husband. Stressful days do not alway make for the most romantic nights.

That handsome prince you married looks like this most of the time. Not that there is anything wrong with this, it just makes you use your imagination a little more. This man has flowers in his tool box. Superhubby doesn't bring me flowers other than the ones stuck to the bottom of his shoes after he mows the yard. I will take what I can get. I'm just glad that SH has a toolbox and knows how to use it...

My entire point to this post was that even though things change (some a lot, like the size of my butt) there is always a bright side to everything. I know that SH is busy but soon he will be a little less busy and then he will find time to spend at home with me, which will probably make us both crazy, but I'm willing to take the chance.

Tonight the forecast is for snow. 1 to 3 inches is the thought of most weather people in our area. We very seldom get a "good" snow anymore. We used to get them a little more frequently and I'm sure in the future we will get more, but for the last few years we have been fairly dry, with only a few small snows every winter. The road crews around here are ready in case it actually does snow and I noticed today by noon most hills on state roads were already being treated by the liquid brine solution they use. This is a road I travel about every day. It isn't my road, which you can tell by the fact that it has guardrails, and lines, though whoever painted this one must have been up way too late the night before.

I have been having some neck pain lately so I decided to clean out my purse and get out an old favorite. This change was mostly in the bottom of my purse. I deserve a neck ache for being too lazy to clean this out earlier.
I went to the doctor today and my blood pressure was a good 130/68. I haven't taken the water pill she prescribed to me for the last few days because I had ran out and didn't want to call her office for a refill when I was going to be there anyway. I was sure it was going to be high. She rewrote my prescription for that and added wellbutrin to try to help me get a little control over my ADD life. I hope this helps me focus a little because my life is so chaotic and it doesn't have to be, I just make it that way. It is weird to be an adult that has full blown ADD. It isn't something you discuss with too many people because it is thought of as a childs problem. I had it as a child but I wasn't very hyper so no one noticed. I do have to be moving in some form, but I do this weird little thing with my fingers that no one really notices but me or my foot is shaking constantly. My brain runs in fast forward anytime I try to sit still so I have no idea what is going on if I am in a quiet setting where I should be paying attention. Movies are out, tv shows that don't have commercials are misery for me and paying attention in church is impossible. I have been typing this one paragraph for 39 minutes and have gotten up and swept half of the kitchen floor, put clothes in the washer, walked the dog, made half a sandwich, changed the tv channels to something else I am not going to watch and twice just got up and wondered off and forgot completely I was doing this. This is my life every day and it gets annoying. I know it annoys me and it really annoys DD and SH, both of whom like their lives and home organized and neat....they have the wrong person here to do that.

I'm trying to make myself drink more water too. I am so bad to only want to drink caffeinated soda's and no water. I have had a case of water in the kitchen floor for a month and never drink it. Tonight I put it in the fridge because that makes it much more desirable to everyone here. It's kind of like that weird boy you went to school with that you have nothing to do with until that one evening when you have had a little too much to drink and you are wondering around and there aren't any other guys around but him ..... That never happened to me, I'm just saying it could happen, to someone else.

That is exactly why I did it

I have mentioned before that SH is not the least bit romantic. I have grown used to it and really don't mind at all, even though sometimes I give him a little bit of a hard time about it. About the time I think it's time to start teasing him again he goes and does something nice. I didn't say romantic, I said nice, which in his world is the same thing and I am so very happy with that.
In Ironton there is a little store call Bartram's that sells chicken salad. I love me some chicken salad but only a few people make it the way I like it. I have been wanting to get in there and get some for the last few weeks but for some reason it never works out that I am in there when they are open or we get half way home and realize we forgot and don't want to go back and add 15 or 20 miles to our trip.
Today I had to go to DD's school to watch Beta club inductions and SH had to go to the dentist and then stop by my parents house to help my dad with something. I called in there a few minutes ago to see if he had left and mom said he left 45 minutes ago. She said right after he left she went to Bartram's and SH was there buying chicken salad. Now SH isn't a big chicken salad fan and I only mentioned to him once about a week ago that I really wanted some of their chicken salad. That, my friends, is why I feel so lucky and love this man so much.
Don't forget to check out the cooking blog.....does anyone have a good chicken salad recipe?

For the last few weeks I have been working on a top secret, undercover, covert...uhh....hiney widening project with my friends Monkling and Kim. We all love recipes. We love sharing recipes and trying out new recipes. I especially love it if other people try out recipes and I just taste test, but that doesn't happen often around here. So we decided to work together and make a recipe blog. We want to share our recipes with you, and get new ones from you. When you get done reading this I ask you to go to http://cookingforacause.blogspot.com/ and look at our recipes and see if there are any you want to add from your collection. If you would like to add one just email me at themyers@frognet.net or 3bloggers@gmail.com.
I have one little favor to ask, if you look in the side bar of the cooking blog you will notice some links to charities. We are asking that you make a donation to one of the charities in the side bar. We have no ties with any of them and the links take you directly to their donation site. This is just a way to help some people while we all get to play around with some new recipes. This is an honor system type thing completely so we are only asking you to donate and the rest is up to you. Have a great weekend.....and make something new for your family!

It really tis the season!

Just to add a little to my last post I went outside and took a picture into my family room after dark. This is what it looks like to the hunters in the woods, only I am a little closer than they should be. The quilt in the chair is the quilt SH and I fight over at night, because the family room is the coldest room in the house. There are plenty of other blankets in that room but we both like the quilt.

I put some lights up on the porch last week but didn't turn them on until the weekend. I thought they were fine until I took this picture and then I figured out that they needed something else.

I went outside in the 34 degree windy night and added some to make it feel more balanced to me. I know it looks like some are out but that is just a picnic table sitting in front of the porch. I would like to move it but I do not have the energyto move a 250 lb. table and my toes were frozen because being the smart person I am I wore sandals.
Now if I could just get SH to get the lights to dance to some cool music.....then it would be Christmas.

Stay tuned on Saturday for a special post! A little hint? Do you like sharing recipes?

Tis the season

No not the Christmas season, in Ohio it is now hunting season, which is much more important to quite a few people, including those of us who have had to replace windshields, bumpers and hoods from the deer. Why, you may ask, am I underlining every word of this post? Because I can not figure out how the underlining got started and I have no idea how to stop it. I'm sure if I spent 3 minutes looking around in this little blog world I would figure it out but it took me 30 minutes to upload these pictures and I really have more important things to do, like eat more hot tamales and snickers bars clean my bathroom and do laundry.
Back to my original reason for this post. It is hunting season in Ohio. To give you an idea how this affects me let me show you around my little slice of Ohio.
If you walk out my front door and look straight ahead this is what you will see.



If you look to the right (what happened to my underlining now, and my color, this thing is crazy!) Anyway if you look to the right this is what you will see. Do you see the house on the top of the hill?


If you look to the left, you will see this. There is a nice little spot up there I used to love to go to and just sit and watch deer and squirrels.

If you walk out my back door this is what you will see. Is anyone sensing a theme here?

No matter where you are if you look down you will see this, which is yet another dropped off animal. I think this is about the 8th one this year. This has absolutely nothing to do with this post but since the kitten tripped me 3 times while I was trying to take pictures I thought I would include her, she must be feeling left out.

This week no matter where you look, no matter which way you turn when you walk out any door you will see something that looks like this.

I have nothing against the hunters. Superhubby used to hunt back when he had the time and energy to get up at 4AM and walk into the freezing woods with a backpack full of coffee, gun ammunition and dry gloves. I actually appreciate the hunters thinning down the herds around here because they have gotten completely out of hand. I do, however, cringe each and every one of the 27 times a day that someone shoots at a deer. It echo's off of these hills and every shot within a couple of miles sounds like someone is shooting right outside your door. I also have no curtains on my family room windows. My family room looks straight out into the woods behind the house. No one is ever back there other than during hunting season so I never felt the need to put up curtains over my pretty arched windows. This time of year I find myself wondering who is out there, can they see me, does this mean I have to wear clean underwear AND a bra? Could a hunter see if I had a bra on from out in the woods? They do use binoculars to hunt but frankly I am not binocular material so I am just going with the idea that they will keep looking for the 4 legged deer. There have been many times in my life when I look out and see hunters, uhh, relieving themselves in the woods, but I don't use binoculars....well not for that I'm looking for squirrels.

Because I am too lazy to make up a title

The day after Thanksgiving we woke up to this. After a summer of mostly 90 degree + days we weren't too upset to see this. Then today we had a 60 degree rainy day. Now the wind is starting to roar over the hills and the cold is coming back. I hope we don't have more of this when we wake up.

Today we went shopping and got a big bunch of our Christmas shopping out of the way. Thank goodness for Steve and Barry's. If you have never been to a Steve and Barry's store I recommend you find one. The prices are amazing.

I have decided since DS is living on his own I am using his bed as a gift wrapping center. My Grandma always used a spare bed to wrap gifts and I am finding it much better than spreading stuff all over the house. This is mostly todays haul.

When DD was docenting at the Lawrence county historical museum Saturday one of her "friends" Dave surprised her by stopping by with a dozen of her favorite color roses. Dave made a few brownie points with her on that one.Gun season for deer hunters started today. There is something weird about looking out your window into the woods and seeing people out there with guns and orange hats.

I'm thankful for.....

Just like 3rd grade......

I'm thankful for my family, I know I am one of the lucky ones.

This is SH and my DD.....both of whom mean the world to me....

This is DS and my mom on her 70th birthday..... both are near and dear to my heart.

Here is my dad and a couple of my dozens of Aunts and Uncles.....

I'm also thankful that I can see things like this and take a picture of it.....just because I want to.

This is the mighty Ohio River from a bridge going into Ashland Ky.

This is a church near my house...I just loved the sky behind it though I wish the electric lines
weren't there....

So now I am going to go finish hanging my Christmas wreaths and start on those pumpkin logs...I'm thankful I can make this stuff and enjoy it, though my thighs are not quite so happy with me.

Shame on me.....

This is what I'm hiding behind my kitchen garbage can. To be fair (and to give myself an excuse) we burn our garbage and its been windy and the yard is full of dry leaves so I have been burning things a little at a time and saving things like boxes for a couple of weeks.
I have been thinking about our eating habits lately and realized that we eat few veggies anymore. The ones we do eat are covered in cheese or butter borderline healthy. If we could count tomato sauce I would be listed as one of America's top health experts. I have heard that tomato products are good for your prostate so if I had one of those I would be able to stand up and pee like a 20 year old after a keg party. Since I don't have one of those and my doctor just put me on a water pill because my blood pressure is creeping up, I need to work on my food selection. Most evenings it is just me here or me and DD so cooking a meal seems silly. I need to find fast, healthy things that won't be so annoying to cook.
A week or so ago I was having a chocolate craving and went and opened DD's snack drawer. She has a drawer in her room she keeps snacks in so her father and I will leave them alone she and her friends will have them if they want them. In her drawer I found her chocolate Easter bunnies from the last two years and her giant Hershey's kiss and chocolate Santa's from last Christmas. If I wouldn't have fallen in love with that beautiful face right at birth I would swear she was switched with someone Else's child in the hospital. The self control and the fact that she is so smart makes me sure she got only the best from both sides of our family. Have I mentioned that she took her ACT's a month or so ago? She is a junior so I wanted her to take them once early this school year just to get the testing nervousness out of the way. That way she would be able to take it 2 or 3 more times and not have to be so scared of the test. She scored a 27....on her first try. A 27 along with a 4.0 average gets her a full scholarship to a couple of colleges around here. She will have an ACT prep class after Christmas at school that should help her raise it a few points which will help her gain access to a wonderful education at very little cost to her poor parents. Think of what she could accomplish if her mother made her eat her veggies. We did order from a pizza place tonight, but we ordered a salad....with cheese, ham and pepperoni. IT HAD LETTUCE AND TOMATOES TOO, I swear it did.

Monday misgivings

SH has a toothache. A bad toothache. He has been asleep since about 9:30 this morning which is the first time he has really slept for the last couple of nights. He paced the floor all night but did his best to be quiet and I slept quite well. This is a complete turnaround from our norm....I am the one with the bad teeth. I have spent countless hours and dollars trying to save my teeth but a couple of years ago, after having 4 abcessed teeth in 6 months I cried uncle and gave up. Root canals seldom work for me and my dad (who's side of the family I take after) lost all of his teeth by the age of 32. My parents worked hard to keep mine healthy when I was young and I spent way more time in the dentist chair than my friends, but even my baby teeth broke off and decayed. My poor kids spent so much time in the dentist chair they thought it was home away from home. I spent so much money at the dentist I think I paid for his sons college tuition. The day I made the last payment on DS's braces he looked at DD's teeth and said "here we go again." He excused himself to his office and I'm sure he called his wife and told her to go ahead and book that cruise she had been wanting to take.
I hope everyone has a great day. SH just woke up to get ready and is a little grumpy....the keyboard noise is bugging him.

Friday randomness......again

Try not to get too excited over this picture......this is my chimney. This chimney is attached to a woodburner in the basement that is our main heat for the winter. We also have a heat pump but we are on a rural electric co-op. Being on a rural electric co-op only means that heating your home with electric is equal to winning a reverse lottery where you give all your money away.

The tree in the middle of this picture is not an over achiever that shed all of it's leaves before every other tree. This tree is my fire wood for the winter because this beautiful black oak in my front yard died last year.

Do you see my problem? The wood burner is not big enough for me to get this entire tree in at one time and I have a problem using a chain saw. My main problem with the chain saw is that I can't start it....which means I can't use it for anything but juggling, which is something I would kill myself trying do in my spare time.

(notice my neighbors new house and garage in the background)

This is not my chimney. This is a smoke stack from a power plant we drove by when we were traveling recently and I just put my camera up in the windshield and snapped pictures to see what I would end up with. I like this picture for some reason but have no idea what to do with it.

DD and one of her very best friends love to hang out together. I can't figure out how they hang out, talk to their boyfriends on the phone and still carry on full conversations. They can do this for hours on end and it would definitely give me a headache. This is why we still have 2 land lines. We got them when DS lived at home but never had it removed for just such an occasion. We also have 4 cell phones which gives us a total of 6 phone numbers.

My last random thought for the evening.....DS called to tell me he was coming here to stay all night. I love when he does that but I am a little confused as to why he is coming tonight. I asked if his girlfriend was gone to her parents for the weekend and he said no she was next door in her apartment. My thought process is probably a little screwy on this but I am trying to figure out why before he gets here. My guesses are 1. all of his underwear is dirty. 2. He and g/f are fighting. 3. He is out of money (which has never happened since he moved and I'm pretty sure he is doing well financially.) 4. Is there something he wants to tell me face to face? (which could lead to an entire post all its own.)

Guess I will just sit around and think it to death until he gets here and probably just wants to visit, which I will enjoy.

Edit- I hit publish and the doorbell rang. It was DS with so much laundry he couldn't open the door..... I love that boy.

Dear Deer.....

Dear Deer,
I thought I would write you a quick little letter to explain a few "facts of life." Tonight when I decided to drive to town I saw 18 of your closest cousins standing in or right beside the road, within the first mile after I pulled out of the driveway. When you are standing in the middle of the road and something big with bright lights is coming at you......move. It isn't complicated, just move. There isn't any grass or yummy plants in the road anyway so why are you standing there? In case you haven't realized it yet those cousins of yours that are lying in the road, for days, aren't napping.....they just didn't move.
When I got back from town and walked outside with my dog I noticed 3 of you wandering around my yard. One buck and two does. I'm not sure what you were doing in my yard but since it is November and both does were smiling (and was that a cigarette I saw you trying to light mr. buck?) I'm pretty sure I know what you are doing. Please remember that while it is November and I know that there is one thing you all love to do in November, those men walking around with bright orange on aren't here to see a deer porn show, those aren't camera's they are carrying, they are GUNS. I notice you aren't very scared of me or my dog but we are not planning on any deer steaks, we prefer beef, but we are not the majority and a lot of people are looking forward to stocking up their freezers. I know it may be shocking but when I say they are stocking up their freezers I mean with YOU. Please remember that while female deer pee turns you on Mr. Buck, those guys in the orange vests have some of that....in a bottle.
Even though the Santa gig has been going well for some of you no one really believes that all of the deer around here are needed by the big guy and his little helpers. I'm thinking I would be coming up with some backup plans for the next few weeks. Do you have any frequent (flyer)flier miles you could cash in and maybe head for somewhere safer....New York city maybe? I bet you could get a short term gig standing by a sled somewhere eating hay and waiting on Santa to listen to 4396 kids a day tell him what they want for Christmas.
If you decide to disregard my letter could you at least not stand in front of my car.....or bleed all over my yard?
Your friend,
Katy

Newbie

I saw her from across the parking lot. She was cute, young and obviously excited. As I got closer I heard her tell the two toddlers she unbuckled from car seats in her little car that was adorned with fuzzy dice and pink seat covers that she was so excited that mommy let Aunt Jo bring them to Wal mart with her. I would guess Aunt Jo to be 17. She was so good with these kids that I almost felt guilty letting her walk into wal mart with kids that looked to be 3 and 4 without a warning. She put them in a buggy and I heard her explaining to them that Aunt Jo had a few things to get and if they were good she would let them look at toys. Ha...Newbie....she had no idea. I went on my way to get a few things and instantly felt guilt. Guilt that I wasn't explaining to her the pitfalls of wal mart in November. The toy section is bad enough but when there are flashing lights and trees all around.......the most experienced parent has trouble. I went to the shampoo aisle and saw her go to the section of hair car products. Shampoo is one thing but hair care products usually take some time and label reading. I saw her looking at a few things and reading but about that time child#1 turned around and noticed the entire section of flashing singing reindeer and snowmen. I'm not sure what words came out of that child's mouth but it sounded like AUNTJOIWANNASEETHESMOWMANSINGAUNTJOIWANNAGOTHEREAUNTJOAREYOULI
ISTENINGAUNTJOAUNTJO.
I was finished in the shampoo aisle so I went back to the camera/film area. It took about 5 minutes and Jo, now not quite as happy looking, came back toward the toy section. She was still patient and I heard her explain to the kids that they were going to look at CD's first and then toys. I chuckled to myself and went on to find my niece some pet shop thing that I wanted to get her for Christmas. Aunt Jo must read quickly because she was in the toy section in about 2 minutes, without any cd's in her buggy. I also noticed there weren't any hair care products in there now. Aunt Jo explained to her niece and nephew that they were going to look through toys quickly and go home. The kids agreed and they started through the toys. I found the pet shop toys and as I was looking for the one I needed I wasn't surpised to hear the crying start, then the screaming started. Aunt Jo was trying to make them put toys back she had let them hold.....Aunt Jo is such a rookie. I was finally finished with my walmart trip and as I walked past Aunt Jo I silently wished her luck as I went to pay for my purchases.
I loaded my bags in the car and noticed poor Aunt Jo trying to squeeze two screaming toddlers into the backseat of her little two door car. Both kids had their arms out and legs splayed to keep from having to get in their seats. Aunt Jo had no bags. I still wonder what Aunt Jo did to her big sister to make her want to punish he like that...or was it her own little form of birth control for her little sister.

Just donate my body to science.

I hit 4o last year full speed ahead. I didn't sneak up on it or try to act like I was really 35 and 40 wasn't there waiting for me. I hit 40 hard. Have you ever heard the saying "the best of both worlds?" Well I think 40 hit me with full force of the worst of both worlds. There are so many things about this "aging" me that I need to figure out. Things I am not sure I want to know, but I don't think the alternative to finding out is preferable. Some things are simple....Just how much support can you buy in a bra? How long can I keep sprinting to bathrooms when I start coughing?
I've noticed my shopping lists are getting odder. That is where the weirdness that is middle age really stands out. This list is a list of things I have purchased in the last few weeks...........most do not go together.
1. tampons
2. kotex pads
3. pregnancy test..(ok that was a fluke and I was a couple of days late and didn't want to take
some medicine unless I was completely sure)
4. acne medicine
5. fixadent
6. efferdent

SH didn't see # 3.....that may have led us to have to invest in a heart monitor.

An update already?

So I am on something like day 500 of this cold/pneumonia thing. I can finally breathe a little and if I don't try to run upstairs I can keep breathing. I had a week where if I walked from the family room to the bathroom I could not get enough air in to keep from getting light headed. The interesting thing is that no one in this house has gotten sick from being around me. I guess I am keeping my germs self contained.
SH has been, umm, grumpy the last few weeks. He is completely covered up at work and with all his little old ladies. Every single morning when he tries to get ready to go work on the house from h*ll before his real workday starts some little old woman calls....and then another calls, and they need something done today. It can't wait until the other house is finished. They have a plant that needs mulched, oil that needs changed or something as stupid and unimportant. I just want him to be able to finish this house so he can spend a little time with us that isn't stress filled.
DD is doing great at school. She has been busy as a bee and this weekend is going to be even busier.
I am going to hit publish, even though this post is about absolutely nothing....kinda like Seinfeld.

Fall back

Tonight we turn our clocks back one hour, resulting in an extra hour of sleep. This is sleep I desperately need. My cold is all but gone but my lungs or something else is locked up tight. I can walk the 30 feet from my recliner to the bathroom and be completely out of breath. I fall asleep but as soon as I do I get this strangled feeling and start coughing and can not quit until I have thrown up a couple of times. It is 1:30 in the morning and I have fallen asleep 3 times and had a coughing fit as soon as I fell asleep each time. Last night I coughed for 4 hours straight. I finally fell asleep from sheer exhaustion and slept a few hours. I'm hoping for the same luck tonight. I feel much better than I did a few days ago, other than the horrid coughing.
Tonight was the surprise birthday party for my mom. She had a few clues that something was up but wasn't quite sure what. In the end it all worked out and we all ate cake and ice cream and wished my mom a wonderful 70th birthday. I wish I was half as healthy as she is.

AWOL

Today was trick or treat and charlie brown and peppermint patty did the rounds of town. Why is it that my son, who would not go trick or treating after he turned 8, will go now that he is 19?

I have been away from blogger for a few days....I have a miserable cold AND my doctor started me on a water pill.....coughing and a water pill when you are 40 and have had 2 kids is not a fun combination. Now I am going to go make me a bed....on the potty.

Answers to all your burning questions....

I've been so very busy and I haven't felt great lately and because of this I have gotten behind on my email, blogs and housework. I thought I would take this opportunity to answer some emails that I have been remiss in answering. I wish I was taking this opportunity to mop floors and dust, but email must be answered. I do, after all , have my priorities straight.
1. Mr. Mclean Peters - I can not believe you went to all the trouble to track me down....from London. How much exactly in U.S. dollars is 3 million, eight hundred thousand pounds? How much of that am I going to end up with? I think I will go ahead and quit my job, who needs to go to work with that much money just waiting for them.
2. Colin Mclain- I would love to make big bucks returning 10-20 calls a day and sharing information with people. I know, from personal experience how much people enjoy getting phone calls from people who just want to share.
3. Stuart Landry- Canadian pharmacy sounds like a wonderful company. I'm sure that a large, well ran company such as yours only sends random emails to people because your prices are so low you just want to share the love with everyone.
4. Natalie Santana- I'm not sure what makes you think I would prefer my vibrator to my husband? Who came up with a name like Megad*k for your company? I'll let you know if I need your services in the future but for now, I will stick to my SH. I notice your email says if I use your product people will say "your pen*s is unique." If I grow one at my age and with the whole being a female thing, then I guess it would be unique.
5. Bernie Callahan- I really hope no one at my server reads my email. You are one of the 5 or 6 people who email me every day and the title says "I won't forget last night." Darn I must be good....You, on the other hand, must really suck because I do not remember you at all, nor do I remember the other people who won't forget me after last night. If I can't remember you then maybe you need to get in touch with Natalie from #4. I understand she has something that may make you a little more memorable.
6. Ramona Erwin- I'm happy that you want to keep my kitty kat happy but once again....who came up with a name like mega*ik?
7. Callie Mcmillan- I'm not sure why you are emailing me with an offer to umm "increase the size of my member" because I don't have a member. In my life I have been a member of the 4-h club. I have been a member of the PTO and I served as vice president.....but I have never HAD a member.
8. Mason Woodard- I'm starting to get a little self-conscious. Who has been telling you about my Umm member? Why does everyone think I need megadi*? If I had a member I would probably be staring at it right now while I rocked back and forth and cried like a baby......If I had a member it would totally rock.....and be better than yours!
9. Bryce Welch- I DO NOT NEED MEGADI*... not now....not ever.

If a pictures worth a thousand words...

The critters are crazy around here lately. These ugly little things are flying (and biting) continually. I have more mosquito bites than I have ever had in my life. I really believe that the ones biting us are tiny and these, that we see so thick are minding their own business. Some people call these something other than mosquito's....can't remember what.

These ugly little guys are getting ready for winter. I just quit knocking down their webs and I now call them Halloween decorations.

A pictures of things that I bought while in Amish country. I didn't get a very good picture of this, but I'm too tired to take another.

I bought this because I do not have enough stuff to dust already. I love these berry vines and now I am trying to get SH to repaint my entire kitchen and dining room before I put this stuff out anywhere.

I fell in love with this sign a long time ago. I have found them in the past that I like better than this, but every shop that had this message that I wanted only had signs that looked like this one. I have wanted a sign with this message for years and finally decided to just buy it while I was in the mood to spend money, which I am not in the mood to do often.

I love this sign for many reasons...one, obviously is because I think this says everything about families. I also love the song by the same name that Brad Paisley sings...

"Two People Fell In Love"

A baby's born in the middle of the night in a local delivery room

They grab his feet, smack him till he cries he goes home the next afternoon

Fore you know it he's off to school and then he graduates in May

Goes out and gets a Ph.D. and then cures all sorts of things

Wins a Nobel Prize and saves a million different lives

The world's a better place for all he's done

It's funny when you think about the reason he's alive

It's all because two people fell in love

Right now at a picnic shelter down by Caney Creek

You'll find potato salad hot dogs and baked beans

The whole Wilson family's lined up fillin' their paper plates

They've drove or flown in here from fifteen different states

Well Stanley Wilson says that sixty years ago he knew

That Miss Emma Tucker was the one

Now five generations get together every June

All because two people fell in love

[1st Chorus]There ain't nothin' not affected When two hearts get connected

All that is, will be, or ever was

Every single choice we make Every breath we get to take

Is all because two people fell in love

Well, I recall a young man who was driftin' aimlessly

And a young waitress who seemed lonesome as could be

But in a little cafe right off of fourteenth avenue

With a whole lotta help from up above

We met and things sure turned around for me and you

And all because two people fell in love

[2nd Chorus]Baby, there ain't nothin' not affected When two hearts get connected

All that is, will be, or ever was

I'm glad your dad could not resist, Your mama's charms and you exist

All because two people fell in love

[Tag]You know, to me it's all so clear, Every one of us is here All because two people fell in love

A baby's born in the middle of the night in a local delivery room

They grab his feet, smack him till he cries he goes home the next afternoon