Team whymommy

See the new sidebar picture with whymommy written on it? This mommy with small children really needs everyone's kind thoughts and prayers right now. If you would like to join team whymommy and support her through her breast cancer treatment and recovery then go here http://canapesun.blogspot.com/. Remember when you visit whymommys site she wants only happy thoughts, she doesn't have time to feel sorry for herself right now.

Good old Bob

This is Bob. Bob started by making his own sausage and serving it in his 12 stool cafe after ww2. His first restaurant was about 30 minutes from here on his large farm. The farm is still there and the barns and outbuildings have been renovated and turned into craft barns. His old house, still on the farm is a museum.

This restaurant serves breakfast all day, but also has lunch and dinner. My favorite is breakfast. You can choose from large plates of sausage, bacon, eggs, hot cakes, potatoes, gravy and home made biscuits or one of these....

Crepes -Two delicate crepes filled with vanilla cream cheese and smothered with sweet raspberry or strawberry and banana topping.
Hotcakes- A stack of three large buttermilk, multigrain, plump blueberry or sweet cinnamon fluffy hotcakes served with warm syrup.Add sweet Raspberry or Strawberry topping for 99 cents
Stuffed French Toast-Three slices of cinnamon-battered French toast with vanilla cream cheese and sweet raspberry or strawberry topping.
OR
Stacked and Stuffed Hotcakes -You've never had hotcakes like these! We take two stuffed hotcakes, stack them with vanilla cream cheese, add more delicious toppings, then finish with whipped topping and sprinkling of powdered sugar.
Strawberry Banana CreamStuffed with slices of fresh banana then covered in fresh strawberry topping and more banana slices.
Chocolate Banana CreamStuffed with chocolate chips and fresh banana slices then drizzled with chocolate fudge sauce.
Caramel Banana Pecan CreamStuffed with honey-roasted pecans and fresh banana slices then covered in warm, caramel sauce.

Hungry yet?

One more for the road

One more 15 minutes of fame for out little area. Does anyone know who this is?If you don't live in one of the areas on the map below or at least visit, you may not know this man. His business started in this area, about 45 minutes from here. We love to go to where it all began and walk around. He was buried a few days ago near here and his funeral was at a small college near where he lived most of his life. I'll be back later with the details. Any guesses?

Where I come from.....

There is a song in that title somewhere.

It finally did rain, not a lot but enough to wet the garden a little and for me not to have to water it for the next few days. The weather is saying more tomorrow but they have been saying that for weeks. We are so far behind on rain now we will be in a draught for quite a while. I just want it to rain enough to plump up those blackberries that are starting to ripen. My BIL has acres and acres of wild blackberries and I am thinking I will try to make jam this year.

I thought I would wow you tonight by telling you a couple of exciting things about where I live. (that was meant with a little sarcasm, there isn't anything exciting here.) I live in Southern Ohio, in a tri-state area with WV and KY. There are very few things here to get excited about but we have had our 15 minutes in the spotlight in the last few years. Huntington WV is the site of Marshall University. Mathew Mcconaughey came to Huntington to film the movie "We are Marshall" which was a true story about a plane crash that killed an entire Marshall ball team. There was another movie made close by in Point Pleasant WV about the Mothman. If you haven't seen the Mothman prophocies it was a pretty good movie and based on something that some people in this area swear is true. I noticed that most of the people that claimed to have seen the mothman did so starting in November 1966, which was when I was born. This is the image of mothman that I found that reminds me most of the movie mothman.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the movie that it was pretty interesting and of course I liked seeing places that I have seen in real life. I'm glad I have never seen the mothman because I think most people that see him dies.....I'm not ready for that.

Ok, it's late, this post isn't making much sense and I need sleep.

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Pain update

I've been way too quiet the last few days but I will get back on here tonight and post. My life is just so full and wonderful (no wait thats someone elses blog) my life is busy and it is freakin hot here. It is 95 and humid in the shade. It is getting cloudy again, which it has every day, but no rain so far. I am so sick of watering things, I just need a couple of days off from watering.
DD and I are headed to WV to a mall to have some retail therapy since her BF is too busy to come see her again. I will post tonight, unless we get a storm that knocks the electric out, which would be ok too.
PS I got over my soreness quickly so I guess I didn't do any damage to myself after the whole pressure washer accident.

Oh the pain

Tonight superhubby asked me to go outside with him and pressure wash the camper. I decided to just go as I was, t-shirt, shorts, sandals and nothing else. We, for once, didn't have a bunch of other kids around so I hadn't bothered to put on a bra. Big mistake! I had never really used the pressure washer by myself so I decided to tuck the wand under my arm to help me pull the trigger because it is very hard to pull...really big mistake. I GOT MY B*OO*B CAUGHT IN THE TRIGGER! I should have put the girls back in their elastic safely harness and left well enough alone, but no I was too lazy. Now one of the girls is very very sore. The trigger on that thing is very hard to pull and then once you get it moving it goes easily. Just hard enough you have to really pull hard and then....Oh the Pain.

What I really need

I found this on quite a few sites and they were challenging others to do this too. Go to google, type in your name needs in parenthesis. Mine was "katy needs" and list the top 10 things Google thinks you need.
1. Katy needs to get home and get home soon. Voila! I'm there.
2. Katy needs volunteers to teach junior achievement.
3. Katy needs a pony. I'm pretty sure a pony is one of the last things I need.
4. Katy needs to understand that her outlook could negatively affect the performance of her department.
5. Katy needs to butch it up a little. Ummmm........I don't think so.
6. Katy needs to wear a ballgown. Maybe my next trip to wal mart I'll pull one out of the closet. (HA out of the closet....#5 get it. Sometimes I'm glad superhubby doesn't read this, that may confuse the poor guy a little)
7. Katy needs some good restaurants. I agree with that one!
8. To survive into adulthood Katy needs a new liver. I hope she gets one, whoever she is.
9. Katy needs a name. I thought I had one.
10. Katy needs special help, please. I'm afraid some people may agree with this one.
I couldn't resist one more........
It sounds to me like Katy needs it and needs it bad. (This from someone called naughtykaty who is posting on a board about spanking, and not as in parent child spanking)

Friday post part II

There is very little chance that I will be able to get anything other than dial up for a long, long time. We live in one of the few places in the U.S. that it is almost impossible to get anything else. My satellite company offers high speed but they require an $800.00 equipment fee and then some completely crazy monthly fee. Then I think the service is spotty. We live with hills all around us. We don't even have cable tv here. It runs within a couple of miles of my house but no closer. If it ran this way I could get high speed for a decent price. I'm pretty used to dial up and haven't used anything else so I don't know what I am missing.

What the heck is a blog?

Superhubby is not a computer person. He really never wanted anything to do with computers until he started having to use them a little at work. His idea of surfing the internet is "hey would someone look up toolboxes at Sea*rs and yell at me when you find them." Superhubby is not known for his patience and we have dial up. Those two things do not mix well. I remember a few years ago when he was trying to look up something on the internet and I kept hearing him mumble under his breath. He spent an hour clicking on one web page, waiting for it to load, mumbling under his breath clicking back and then clicking on the next page. He was not happy at all and no one wanted to sit and click on things for him. Finally after at least an hour I heard him yell at the computer " YOUR MOTHER WAS A CALCULATOR!" He then slammed the keyboard drawer in and stomped away. I'm sure the computer was ashamed and probably needed some serious therapy after than. People that know my hubby knows he is a great person who loves to help people, he just can't understand why anyone would intentionally sit at a desk and type things when they could be outside mowing or building something.
Anyway back to my point...superhubby was recently listening to DS and me talk about my blog. He was not impressed that I have a place I talk about him on the internet. I explained that no one that actually knows him reads this (other than Trina who probably drops in once in a while) and he is more than welcome to read it anytime. I then explained the whole superhubby, DD and DS concept. He was ok with that but declined to read because that would mean having to sit and click things and wait on them to load. I don't think my computers self esteem could stand it.

Just a few pics to end the day

I was doing a little nature watching this evening. I got a few pictures with 4 hummingbirds at the feeder at once but there were more flying around my head, trying to poke those sharp little beaks in my eye.

While I was taking pictures of the hummingbirds I realized the puppies I had brought outside with me had disappeared. I really need to keep a better eye on them. I headed to the backyard and toward the woods and guess who I found in the watermelon/cucumber/melon patch?

Buddy thought he heard something in the woods. He probably did hear a deer or a fox but he didn't worry about it too long.

Daisy ran from me for so long she finally collapsed on the ground panting. She didn't stay long though, she ran as soon as I put the camera down and tried to get her catch her. She has more jack russell in her than the others and she has an over abundance of energy like one.

The longest afternoon of my life

Yesterday afternoon started out just like all other afternoons. It was my short day at work so I got home around noon, fixed lunch for me and superhubby and then at 2 kissed him goodbye. I went on about my day (fed puppies and let them run around the yard and then tried to take a nap) and at 3:20 the phone rang. "Ms. M. is superhubby home?" I told them he was at work and then the man informed me he was from work and superhubby hadn't shown up. I wasn't too worried yet because one of the bridges into WV is closed and at times the traffic gets backed up. I got off of the phone and tried to call his cell phone and got his voicemail. I waited a little and at 3:45 the phone rang again and it was his boss. "Ms. M. I don't want to worry you but superhubby is never late and he still isn't here." Then I got worried. I actually got sick to my stomach worried. I knew his car could have broken down where he doesn't have cell service ( because we don't get cell service anywhere near home but on top of the highest hills) but surely he would have found a phone to call me by now to come and get him. I knew if he broke down he would have called because I would have had to bring a trailer to pick up his car. I tried to stay calm and DD and I started out for WV on the route I thought he would have taken to work. The roads he drives on are small hilly, curvy roads with few guardrails. DD drove and I told her he probably was just broke down but I searched over every hill, in every creek and over every bridge. I had flashbacks all the way of when boy that lives with me but isn't mine wrecked on one of these same road and ran into the creek and killed one of his and my sons best friends when his car went underwater. I kept looking and making myself look calm to DD. When we finally got to the river I called again before we went back and tried another route; it was 4:30 and superhubby had just gotten to work. The urge to wring his neck was great but the urge to hug him was greater. He had went his normal route, but the signs had blown down that said the road was closed on the other end. He had to turn around and went an alternative route where he encountered a head on collision. He had to wait there for an hour. The only other route would have made him backtrack 15 miles home and then go 30 miles in the opposite direction from work and double back. He decided to wait, but there was no cell service. He then got in the traffic at the bridge being used by twice as many people as usual. He was in a horrible mood because superhubby is never late for work and doesn't believe in taking off of work even if you are sick. He once worked with pneumonia when the doctor told him to take at least 10 days off. He went back to work after his appointment. He is stubborn, and he is ok and for that I am thankful.

Things that make you go Ooohh

My DS has decided to clean his room out and move back into it. When boy that lives here but isn't mine moved in he and my son both started staying in the front living room so they could combine video games and movies. DS's bedroom became a dumping ground for everything. To put it mildly it was a complete and horrible mess. I could get about 2 steps in the door and then I was blocked by games, clothes, hats and every other conceivable thing. I had been threatening to clean it out myself but I just didn't have the stamina it would have taken to do it. Then out of the blue last week he decided he wanted his own room back and he started cleaning with superhuman strength. DD loves to clean so she jumped in and together they made him one heck of a hangout. He put an entertainment center in with tv, stereo and games. He put his desk and laptop back. He put the mini fridge in there and stocked it with pop, milk and water. He brought his electric guitar and amp upstairs. He cleaned out stuff that has been there way too long. I understand why he wanted to get rid of this...from like 1st grade.

I can even understand why he doesn't need this, even though it was his favorite toy for many years....and is still his fathers favorite toy.

I will NEVER understand why he wanted to get rid of the dozen or so pairs of these. They are a size 3 and I still think they are so cute and just because he is getting ready for his sophmore year in college doesn't mean he can't have these.....does it?

My evening in review

DD and I went to Kentucky this evening to do our regular grocery/dog treat shopping. We stopped on the way along the Ohio river to take a few pictures.


Where we live it is easy to get to Kentucky or WV and we actually do most of our shopping in those two states because the town in Ohio near us has very few stores left. DD loved the Barges so we snapped a few pictures as one was going by.



The sun was setting and the colors along the river were so pretty. Pinks and purples are DD's favorite colors so she loved the sunset today.


The sun kept getting lower and I had to take a few more before it disappeared behind the hill for the last time.

We found out a little later that the brilliant colors were there because a storm was brewing. We drove through some rain and watched the lightning and heard lots of thunder. We made it home to a DRY yard because of course the rain skipped around us again. We are getting used to it but I wish I had watered stuff before we went because we got home at 11 and I have this phobia about walking around the back yard in the dark. I like to see the snakes before they see me. I guess tomorrow evening I will be watering everything in sight.
It's midnight and time for superhubby. He is going to be shocked that I am up.....

Superhubby's new toy

Yes superhubby got a new toy yesterday. It is something he has been wanting for a long time and since his birthday and Fathers day are so close we finally just caved in and got him a new pressure washer. He had so much fun last night and my old wooden picnic table looks like new again. The sidewalk looks newly poured and the porch lost the coffee stains from last week when he left his coffee on the porch and the neighbors dog knocked it off the table. He finally put it up as it got dark out and didn't have time to get it out today but I'm sure next weekend the outside of the house will be spotless.

On to other news.............letting every teenager that wants to stay at your house stay will make your once "good" living room look like this.

When boy that isn't mine but lives with me moved in I gave him and my son this room to have their friends over in and even put a dresser in the corner for the boy. They both had girlfriends at the time and I didn't want them to have girlfriends in the bedroom to watch movies when they didn't want to sit in the family room with us. This has worked out wonderfully as they can have girls or boys over, watch movies, play games and play on the computer when they want to without being right in the room with us, but they are close and we can see and hear what is going on. When the boy moved in I assumed it would be until he graduated high school, but I was wrong because he has been out of school for over a year now. When he moved in the curtain rods were straight, the lamps weren't on things up near the ceiling and the shades were on straight. The carpet also wasn't stained beyond repair. He is looking for an apartment now and I am praying harder than anyone he finds one.

Beaks of steel

I spent a little time this afternoon watching some of my favorite birds. These things buzz around my yard (mostly around my head) all day every day. I love watching them but sometimes they get a little close for comfort with those pointy little beaks.

Isn't my feeder gross looking? I can't get it clean because the neck is about the size of a pencil and nothing will reach in there. I rinse it out with soap and water every week but it still looks bad. The hummingbirds don't seem to mind. The red thing in the background is my husbands new tool cart, which is the second one he has bought this year. I don't know why it was on the side walk other than he wanted me to see it again. I love that man!

Netflix

Free 6 month Netflix giveaway here http://www.5minutesformom.com/1685/netflix/. I have never tried netflix but I would really enjoy it if I won it. With all the teenagers at my house I never get to choose a movie.

Weekends

This evening after superhubby got home from work I took him to an old pizza place we haven't been to in years. This place used to be his favorite place but for some reason we haven't been there in many years. These people make a mean pizza with lots of toppings. DD is babysitting for one of her teachers and the 3 boys we have here tonight are playing games.
On the way home we called the boys and DS informed me the electric was off. Where we live the electric used to be off quite a bit. It was nothing for the electric to be off for a few days several times a year. It would go off for an evening at least once a month. We had an ice storm 6 or 7 years ago and the electric was off for 8 days. The last few years the electric coop here has done a lot of tree trimming and putting in new poles that make the electric much more reliable. We still are well prepared for electric outages. We have flashlights by the dozen, gas cook stoves to cook outside with and a woodburner in the basement to heat by or cook on if its too cold outside. We also have a camper with a gas fridge for those times it will be off for quite a while.
I actually enjoy an evening once in a while with no electric. We get out old board games, cards and pictures and have a good time. I do remember that when it was off for 8 days my kids said they never wanted to see UNO again. You really have no idea what darkness is until you live way out in the country and have no electricity. I went outside a little while ago and looked at the stars...thousands and thousands of stars. I can see thousands of stars every night but without pole lights and lights shining out of the house you see thousands more faint stars everywhere. It was pitch dark because even at 11PM this time of year the moon is behind one of the many hills around us and the sky is black with twinkling stars everywhere. The noises that come out of the woods are interesting too, but I don't worry too much about those as long as superhubby is within yelling distance. I know there are coyotes, fox and skunks everywhere (trust me I had to shut all the windows last night due to a skunk) but they don't really scare me as long as I know what they are.
Well I think I have went on long enough about absolutely nothing. I am headed off to cut superhubbys hair! The things we do around here after midnight.

Happy Birthday Superhubby!

Ok, Kim I fixed the comments section. I have to click allow each time or it won't.

Happy Birthday Superhubby (who never reads this and probably doesn't even know it exists)

Today is superhubbys birthday. I won't get to see him today but I did call him from work today to wish him a Happy Birthday. He is a wonderful man and I am so lucky to have him. I may find a way to stay awake until he comes home.

Yesterday DD and I went to a local state park so I could take some pictures. I'm trying to combine my pictures with exercise because I am much more excited about walking around to take pictures than to exercise. A few year ago our local state park built a long walkway running along the edge of the lake so handicapped people could enjoy the lake. It was such a wonderful thing for them to do and I'm so glad everyone can enjoy the lake.

Of course I used the time to get some pictures of one of my favorite subjects.........

Then after we walked up and down the boardwalk we turned around and walked back. DD was walking fast and having a great time and I was lagging a little when we got back. It didn't help that the toilets in the parking lots of the old fashioned hole in the ground type and the smell when we walked by was horrible.

What I did on my day off

No matter what I try this post is either spread way out or it bunches up on me so do your best.

Today I went to Ironton, the nearest small town and climbed up all of these steps to bring you pictures of our little town. You can only see about half of the steps from here but trust me, it is a long way to the top. These steps lead to an over look over our little town.

From the top of these steps you can see things like this, which is our little strip mall type place right before you go into town. I don't know if this picture does justice to the amount of stairs I had to climb to take these pictures but it was the most exercise I have had in awhile. Our little town is very economically depressed. There are very few jobs here and the ones that are here are low paying.

What I like about camera's is that you can't see from here how sad our once busy little town has become. The bridge you see goes across the Ohio river into Kentucky.

Right before I went to take these pictures it finally rained. It rained pretty hard and I think it washed the yuck out of the atmosphere and left me with a beautiful sunset to try to capture pictures of. I tried my best but I still need some practice.

The worst pain a parent can feel

I know I seem to be in post mode and have posted 3 in the last 2 days. I will slow down again soon, just lots of stuff on my mind lately.


To all of you momma's (and poppa's) out there with young kids this is a public service announcement. ONE DAY YOU DD OR DS WILL GET THEIR HEART BROKEN.....AND IT WILL BREAK YOURS WITH EQUAL AMOUNTS OF PAIN.

When DS was in 10th grade he started dating his first really serious girlfriend. She was a sweet girl and DS was in love. Being the skeptical adult I am I figured this would last a few months and then they would each find someone better and move on. I was so wrong. I used to have to walk away so I wouldn't giggle in their face when they would sit and talk to me and superhubby with DS's arm around K's shoulder. They looked so young and like they were trying to look older. Fast forward 2 years and it was getting close to DS's graduation and he had a bad case of Senioritis (any parent with kids this age know that seniors have some weird disease that makes them know everything and care about very little.) He wasn't treating K very well. He would forget to call her, she would come over and he would kind of ignore her. Finally she did what she should have and broke off the relationship. It took DS about a week to figure out he screwed up big time and then it was too late. K wasn't about to sit around and get hurt again and there was someone else in the picture. The next 3 months were the most painful and scariest months of my parenting life. DS was beside himself with pain. He would walk around and cry, throw things at trees and sit up all night sobbing and cursing himself for screwing up so bad. There were times he would be upset and take off running down the road and run for miles, crying as hard as he could the entire way. I would get to work and DD would call and say he was having a meltdown and she was scared for him. There were nights I sat up all night because I was afraid of what he would do to himself. K would call every week or so to tell him she still loved him but wasn't ready to come back, and then it would start all over. Superhubby and I felt like we couldn't do anything for him. I remember being a teenager and I knew that no matter how many times I told him the pain would eventually get better he didn't believe it at that time. I knew that at his age he could not picture ever being happy again. I also knew that time would heal everything even if he didn't think so. It took months before he was better and even then he was just waiting until she was ready to come back. When I was in high school I was friends with a boy I'll call D. D had a lovely girlfriend who was as sweet as he was. One night D stole a bicycle out of someones yard because some kids dared him to. He was so worried about his girlfriend breaking up with him over stealing that bike that he went home and blew his brains out. Everytime one of my kids get the least little upset over a boy/girlfriend that enters my mind and I can't get it out. Why oh why D did you think that was the answer? Would my son feel the same way?

Fast forward another year and K is still with the boy who was waiting for her and DS has a new girl in his life. I hope he doesn't fall too fast this time, my heart can't take it.

The dust bowl

Do you remember the Little House on the Prairie episode where Mary was getting ready to marry Adam? They were such a nice couple, teaching blind kids, working together every day. Then at the last minute Mary backs out because she is afraid she will not be able to be a good mother since she can't see. Then a dust storm blows in and everything gets covered in dust. Then Adam and Mary must work together to save a little blind girl that wonders off in the storm and they know they can find her because they are used to not being able to see and they do work together and find her. In the end Adam and Mary get married in a small ceremony in a room completely covered in dust, all their clothes covered in dust. (I bet that made the wedding night interesting since the beds were all covered in dust too) Do you get were I am going here? I just mowed our yard. It hasn't rained here for so long that our yard is dying. I just mowed it because a few weeds were still living and trying to grow. I drove through dust so much that my eyes still hurt and I am still blowing it out of my nose. Oh we have been teased plenty of times. DD and I went into town the other day and when we left it was lightening and thundering and the sky was black. We put everything up and closed up the windows because it was going to rain. We got to town and it was raining so hard there was water running down the street. We came home to a dry dusty yard. A couple of hours ago it was thundering again and superhubby and I decided to mow quick before the rain....same story again, no rain. We do have rain forecast for the next few days and I am crossing my fingers because I am tired of carrying water to the watermelon and tomato plants.
PS. I also went ahead and topped the pool up from where the kids had splashed the water out because that usually makes it rain buckets!

And then there were two

Today someone stopped and wanted Leiko, the biggest puppy and the one that bullies the smallest one. I gladly gave him away since that means I can train the other two. They are pretty easy to read and I can usually get them outside in time but Leiko was a bed wetter and he could get out of the kitchen and potty in various places through the house. He has been gone for a couple of hours and the training is going great for the other two. They took a nap in the cage and then went outside and did their business and then they got to run around the house with us and play for a little while. They haven't been getting much of a chance to play with us in the living room because I couldn't keep Leiko contained to one area and he kept sneaking off to use the bathroom somewhere. Three puppies without much play time = three puppies with too much energy and nothing to do with it.

This is buddy, the littlest one that I can't stand to get rid of. He is so sweet and small. He is also ugly as can be. The camera doesn't show it but he has a layer of blond hair under the black hair that makes him look bald in places. I hope to get a good picture of him outside if I can get him to sit still long enough. Daisy wasn't having any of the picture taking today and every shot I got of her was the back of her head. I guess the girl is a little picky about who gets to take her picture.

Well superhubby is home and wanting to spend some time together. I guess I had better get off of here and smooch on him a little. Oh well scratch that he just found a show called 25 best swimsuit moments of all time....and when that happens he has no idea I'm in the house.