How do you say weird in Italian?

It was a weekend filled with highs and lows.  Overall, it was good, but it has some unsettling moments.  It was the first weekend we haven't had company in, well, I'm not sure how long.  Several weeks.  It was kind of good to be alone.  Teen Angel had a roller derby bout in Bloomington, Illinois so it was just Hubby and I.  We quietly floated in the pool Friday and Saturday afternoon because that was about the only way to stay cool.  Even then, you had to stay mostly submerged to escape the 105 heat we had.  We had a regular cold snap today as our high was only around 99.  Aye, yi, yi it's warm.  It's hotter than a elephant's butt on the equator.  And dry.  We haven't had rain in a long time.  Everything here is burning up.  Hubby finally quit watering the grass because it just seemed futile.  And expensive.  We did stay cool though and trotted downtown Saturday evening for dinner and the opening reception of an annual photo contest held at our main local art gallery and the independent theater next door.  There are two parts to the show, one featuring regional photographers, and one on my photos was selected for it. 

I took it in China Town when we were in New York last year.  Much MUCH to my surprise I won second place and a $100 prize.  Money for our Italy fund!  They said I was brave and controversial.  I rather like that.  We celebrated with a nice dinner and homemade ice cream at the local ice cream shop.  I NEVER eat the ice cream.  Hubby always does.  I found it to be a special occasion so I splurged.  I was feeling, um, brave.  As we ate dinner, Teen Angel texted me to tell us they won their bout and she hadn't kocked out any teeth or broken any bones.  Winners all around in the Hula-gen household Saturday night.  As the world usually doesn't spin in that direction for us, we were all pretty thrilled with our good fortune.

The bad news came yesterday morning when we found out that a classmate of Teen Angel's who she graduated with last year died in her sleep Saturday night.  The young woman was just 19 and it appears there was a medical issue that caused her death.  It was a shock to Teen Angel and all of her friends.  What a loss.  We had just seen the young lady at the movies Thursday night when we went to see Magic Mike. 

And yes, Teen Angel and I went to the midnight showing of Magic Mike.  It was a packed house, I might add.  Mother daughter bonding at its best.  It was exactly as I expected, a thin plot and lots of mostly nekked hot men dancing around.  I give it four stars just for the last fifteen minutes.  And while I won't spoil the fun for you ladies who haven't seen it, let's just say that if you're a Matthew McConaughey fan, you won't be disappointed by those fifteen minutes.  Fifty shades of what?

The second really weird moment came yesterday when Teen Angel realized that the man arrested this weekend for murder was a dishwasher at the bakery where she works.  The man was arrested after someone spotted him pushing what appeared to be a body in a shopping cart down the street in the wee hours of Sunday morning.  The police say he actually killed the man early Friday morning and kept him in a storage container behind his house until he tried to move the victim.  He then went to work at the bakery Friday.  Which means when Teen Angel was at the bakery Friday and saw him, he had the body of someone he'd killed stuffed in a box at his house.  Now, if that doesn't ruffle your never endings, what does?  Yikes.

See?  Good weekend with weird moments.  I have lots of posts floating around in my head since I haven't posted since last Wednesday, but honestly, I just needed to take a break from writing long enough to catch up on some picture editing.  The summer photo season is in full swing, and I can't wait to show you some pictures I took recently of a six month old.  Two words-mud puddle.  It was great fun, and I have maternity pictures this week and a wedding next weekend.  It's keeping me busy, but ya'll it's MONEY FOR ITALY!  Ciao!  (I'm practicing my Italian. Let's hope it's better than my French.)

On a Wing and a Prayer

Has it really been Thanksgiving since I last posted? I think that's the longest I've gone between posts since I first started this blog four years ago. I have just had a couple of the busiest weeks of 2011 at work and home. Whew! This is always a busy season for me at work because of the holiday related community events my employer participates in, but sister mercy, it's been busy at home, too. Yesterday was the first day since before Thanksgiving where I could just sit for a few minutes, unwind and make a list of all the little things I need to catch up on. And that list covers a whole page. So what's new? Dear Lord, please send me two extra legs and more hands. Amen.


Here's what the Hula-gen's have been up to:

-We got Papa T. out of the hospital and back home with some physical therapy and home health. About the time we thought he was back on the right track, he had a very light stroke that sent him back to the hospital for two days. Fortunately, there was no damage to his speech or mobility but it certainly did give us a bit of a scare for a few hours. And it happened while I was in the middle of shooting a wedding, so I couldn't leave and help Hubby at the hospital. Aye, yi, yi. It all worked out though, and Papa T. is back home feeling pretty good and may I say just a little sassy.

-The photography business has been very busy in recent weeks. I had four family shoots and a wedding all squeezed into a three week period. I spent every spare minute this past weekend editing photos and uploading them to my photography site. I am now caught up, except for the wedding, and those pictures aren't due for a couple of more weeks, so I'll be working on those over the course of the next few nights. Weddings are hard work, but I do love seeing the bride and groom enjoy their big day. It brings back good memories. I'm lovin' the photography for pay thing even though it does consume a fair amount of time. Can you say vacation money? Dear Lord, thank you. Amen.

-Speaking of vacation, we are going on a cruise in January. It's been planned for quite some time, and we'll be on the same cruise as several of my cousins and their spouses. It's going to be a blast, and Hula was very proud of herself for scoring $62 planet tickets for the flight to our port city, New Orleans, and $59 tickets for the flight home. But she got a little greedy and was holding out for a great deal on a hotel room in New Orleans for that night before our boat leaves port. And then LSU got a spot in the BCA Championship game. In New Orleans. On January 8th. The night we're staying there. And suddenly the hotel rooms got scarce and expensive. Holy hurricane, Batman! A room at the Marriott Convention Center that was $149 a night three weeks ago is now $445 a night, and most of the mom and pop bed and breakfast inns have a four night minimum stay that week. After an hour and a half on the phone and online I managed to find a room for $111, three miles from downtown New Orleans in a hotel that is not next door to a crack house. I'll take it. It's better than renting a car at the airport, driving out of town to a hotel and driving back in the next day. And we won't have to stay with Madd Maxx and his family in Baton Rouge, which was going to be Plan B, even though he doesn't know that yet. We're still close enough to the French Quarter to boogie on over there if we want, and it occurred to me today that perhaps we should actually try to go to the game. Whatever we do, I'm sure New Orleans will be rockin' that night so it should be interesting.

-In the category of bad news never seems to be far away these days, we got word last week that Teen Angel's cat, Sabrina, has cancer. In fact, she doesn't have long to live. Her lungs are full of tumors so she probably has only days left. She doesn't seem to be uncomfortable yet, so we are keeping an eye on her and lavishing her with lots of attention. One of two things will likely happen in the next week. She will either start to hurt and we'll have to put her to sleep or she will die in her sleep. Every time we walk into the house we run to check on her and hope she hasn't died. This death watch thing is kind of hard. It's compounded by the fact that Sabrina was actually Sissy's cat. Sissy adopted her as a kitten right after Sissy's son died, and we adopted Sabrina when Sissy died. There's a unique attachment there, and it just makes losing Sabrina even more difficult than it normally would be. Dear Lord, please stop with the bad news. It's getting old. Amen.

-And on a really positive note, one of the things we do at work this time of year is to hold a two day event with the local hospitals where we try to stuff a semi truck full of canned goods for local food pantries. The event started last Tuesday with a bang, and then quickly slid downhill when the weather turned to poo. It rained early, turned to wet heavy snow, sleeted, rained some more and then turned very windy. As in it turned over our pop up tent. It was just miserable, and as I huddled with the other volunteers in the back of that cold wet semi last Tuesday night, I thought we were certainly going to go home with much less food than expected. But then the sun shined the following morning and cars started streaming to the truck. Hours later the truck was full, and we had more than 17,000 pounds of food. I couldn't believe it. I guess that's why they call it faith. Dear Lord, thanks for the affirmation that the world is not going to hell in a hand basket. Amen.

When was the last time I blogged?

Y’all, the world has spun so fast and so far in the past few weeks that I don’t know whether to scratch my watch or wind my butt. I feel like a pancake in the road, run over by life’s madness. It’s a bit like a Road Runner cartoon, only I’ve discovered it’s not so funny to be the coyote. Interesting, but not necessarily funny to be the one peeled off the pavement between every act. It makes me wonder why the coyote didn’t just shoot that damn road runner after about the second round of dynamite. Anyhoo, despite the madness, things are settling back into a routine around here, and hopefully, things will be calmer in the weeks to come.


Papa T. is doing fine. He is lonely at times, but his spirits are good, and he’s determined to do as much for himself as possible. Except for the dinner thing. He’s not willing to give up my cooking, which is fine by me. I don’t mind cooking for someone who raves over everything that’s put before him. Besides, he would survive on Coke Zero and peanut butter crackers if left to his own devices, so we’ll keep wheelin’ the meals up the street. In my quest to make sure he gets the appropriate amount of green vegetables and fiber, I have introduced him to dishes he’s never eaten before, and it’s very fun to watch him sample each night’s entree, unless of course, I’ve phoned it in and presented him with a tuna salad sandwich. NO ONE around this place gets excited about tuna salad. Except the cat, which is a good thing because Mama J. left us with eight cans of tuna and twelve cans of chicken.

Mama J. also had thirty cans of green beans and thirteen cans of asparagus in her kitchen cabinets. We have no idea why. She didn’t cook. I continue to be amazed at the things people leave behind when they die. Take it from someone who has cleaned up after two dead folks, if there’s something you don’t want someone to know about you, get rid of it NOW. Somebody will find that mess when you die. If you’re lucky, it’s just green beans and asparagus. If you’re not, you may leave your relatives wondering why you needed so many Fleet enemas. And you know they’ll talk about THAT at family get-togethers for years.

Papa T.’s birthday is Friday, and all he wants it to go out to eat, so we will oblige him with a trip to Cracker Barrel, his favorite restaurant. A restaurant isn’t even on his radar if it doesn’t serve cornbread, so Cracker Barrel it is! I predict he will not order anything that involves green beans, asparagus or tuna. I also predict he will have two slices of cake. I just a man who embraces cake.

The rest of us are back to our normal routine of school and work. The busy season at work is upon me, so I suspect January will be smacking me in the face before I know it. In the meantime, I’m holding on to summer as long as I can. She’s slipping through my fingers, though. We’ve had cooler weather lately, and people have been talking about how nice it is that fall is just around the corner. I’m trying not to panic, but you autumn lovers just don’t understand how hard it is for us summer babies to let go of the shorts and flip flops. It’s not that I don’t WANT to like autumn. It’s just that it reminds me of how soon winter will be here, and THAT my friends, is downright depressing. There’s nothing that ticks me off faster than having to wear a coat, so I’m dragging my feet into September and refusing to give up my sandals or put the cover on the pool until there is frost. I’m also avoiding Hobby Lobby and places that I know are covered in autumn leaves or cheery turkeys. And lest I need any reminders that technically there are still a couple of weeks left in summer, I just have to reach around and scratch the six mosquito bites on the bottom of my left butt cheek that I earned at the softball park Saturday night.

On a positive note, I learned Friday that I’m a finalist for the city’s Business Woman of the Year Award, so you know what that means. I get to shop for a new suit! We have a luncheon next month, and it is truly an honor to be lumped in the same category with fifteen women who are remarkable, so I will actually need to polish my shoes for this event. The jury’s still out on wearing hose though, especially if they’re from the ACME Company. I don’t need any explosions that involve nylon and my nether regions.

Monday Ketchup

Whew. That’s what I said yesterday when I finally had a chance to relax and catch up from the craziness of the last couple of weeks. For the first time in a week I cooked dinner, caught up on laundry and sat down to read a book. You could probably hear the sigh all the way to Milwaukee. Hello, Milwaukee? Can you verify that? Or are all you Wisconsin folks hibernating inside to avoid the heat, too? It has been hotter than Guam here, and I had to chuckle when I read the news stories the other day about record heat in Central Park. Ooh, news flash, now that it’s reached the Big Apple, the nation is officially hot. Some two weeks after the entire Midwest melted and oozed down the humid Mississippi River. Too funny. It’s been so hot here that I’m having trouble figuring out what to pack for our trip. The temperatures in London and Paris have been in the upper 60’s and low 70’s lately, and I’ve seriously forgotten what 70 degrees feels like. Do I need shorts or cotton pants? I don’t know since even the slightest amount of clothing on your skin feels like too much around these parts. All I can say is thank goodness I’m not pregnant or I’d be roasting in my sandals. Sister mercy, the hot flashes are bad enough this time of year.


Anyway, I suspect the next week will fly as we get ready for vacation and I play catch up on all the things I’ve gotten behind on recently. That’s a good thing and a bad thing. Bad because I feel like I have sixteen things to do between now and our trip “across the pond” and good because that just means it will get here quickly, and I’m so excited my toes tingle. Or maybe that’s just because I sat on them for a couple of hours today while writing stuff for work. You know, once you hit middle age, you’re never sure if a tingle is a byproduct of excitement or another body part trying to go south. Speaking of south, if my fanny sags any lower I’m going to have to fly to Birmingham to pick it up. But that’s another post. In light of the need to “catch up” I’m resorting to the dreaded bullet points to share all of the things floating around in my noggin today. Forgive me for phoning it in, but it is what it is. And that’s all that it is. Really. I got nothin’ else today. Whew.

-I bought a duel voltage blow dryer for the trip, but after hearing 1,672 horror stories about melted outlets I’m scared to plug it into a socket in Europe. Therefore, I will likely have wet hair for ten days. Can you say braid?

-Am I the only one who has a fear of booking stuff on the internet and then having those reservations become lost in the system somehow, no matter how many times you double check them? Is that referred to as OCD?

-I bought two new pair of walking shoes for the trip and am trying to break them in. They came from the “comfort aisle” at the shoe store, and I can’t believe I’ve gravitated into that realm. Next thing ya’ know I’ll be sporting Birkenstocks. Somebody stop me. Please. Stop me. Immediately.

-While making our itinerary for this trip I decided that you could literally spend weeks touring chapels in Europe. I thought we had a church on every corner in the south but we got nuthin’ on Europe.

-Amy Winehouse’s death makes me sad. Not because I’m a huge fan, although I do like her music. But because it’s likely one more person lost to addiction, and those of you who have fought that battle with a loved one and lost know how painful that is. I just hate the way addiction destroys lives and causes so many people so much pain.

-The tragedy in Norway? Crazy. Have we always had this much crazy in the world?

-I’ve been a horrible blogging buddy lately. I can’t seem to find the time to read and comment on the blogs I normally track. So sorry, folks. It’s either skip the blog reading or feed the family and well, those crazy folks want food every day. What’s up with that? Anyway, I hope to be back to visiting your blogs very soon.

-After taking two weeks off of running because of the heat and frankly, a lack of motivation, I got back on the wagon today. I also went back to some weight training. Boy, did those weights get heavier since the last time I picked them up. And my feet? Not really happy with the decision. My love/hate relationship with regular exercise is more on the hate side right now. I’d kind of like to break up with the treadmill, but then I’d have to break up with mistress cake and well, that’s just not gonna happen.

-And on a positive note, Hubby has poker night tonight, which means I’m in control of the TV remote. And let the people say amen.

Gentle on my Mind

*Let me apologize in advance for any whining or self pity expressed here this week as I take care of Hubby and two ailing elderly folks, the neediest of which is NOT the man who just had his foot sliced open and sawed on.

I’ve had plenty of opportunity to dwell on things in the past couple of days, especially while I was waiting at the hospital, and random thoughts came to mind.

1. The delicious taste of cubed cherry Jello with whipped topping in a school or hospital cafeteria cannot be replicated at home.

2. A hospital’s legal counsel would probably advice a nurse against admitting to a patient’s wife that the patient was accidentally given a double dose of morphine, no matter how much the patient’s wife laughed at the husband’s behavior.

3. If Charlie Sheen falls in the woods, and the media doesn’t show up, does anyone hear it?

4. I owe my mother-in-law a debt of gratitude for keeping me in frequent conversation with God.

5. A sure fire way to motivate you to eat right and exercise is to try on swimsuits when they first hit the racks in February.

6. There is no joy like accidentally discovering in your office cabinet a Ziploc bag full of Reese’s cups left over from a recent marketing activity. Joy, joy, JOY!

7. Living in the Middle East probably sucks.

9. The need for a new appliance or expensive car repairs is directly proportional to the amount of income tax refund you receive.

10. Seeing two patches of daffodils, a handful of crocus and four yellow dandelions in bloom during a midday run sure gives you hope that all will eventually be right in the world and in your life.

Movin' Along

I write what’s on my mind, so it seems like whenever I get to the middle of each new week my fingers have the urge to tap out how busy the week is and how fast the world keeps spinning. And then I remember that I wrote about that the previous week, and the week before that. And then I wonder what on earth I’m going to put down on cyber paper instead because all I know right now is “busy”. And fast. And warp speed time. Halloween is this weekend for Pete’s sake. And soon to follow that is Thanksgiving, and great Gertie, Christmas in only a few weeks away! However, I CAN report that I have purchased one Christmas gift already, so my goal of starting my Christmas shopping before mid-December for a change has been met. Pass me a celebratory margarita, please. And some Halloween candy.

Life keeps marching forward in a quick step for the Hula-gen’s so instead of trying to form some sort of cohesive post with a beginning, middle and tidy summary, I’ll just spit out some tidbits for you.

1. We haven’t had rain in western Kentucky in months. It is no exaggeration to say that the rain we’ve accumulated this summer could fit into a teacup. We’ve had sunshine every day since May. The people of this community can thank the Hula-gen’s for the downpour we had yesterday as it was the day we had planned to pour concrete at our house. Once again, God is teaching me a lesson in patience.

2. Daily, we get the wild idea to get into the pool as soon as we get this concrete finished, and then we stick our toe in it and feel the 59 degree water.

3. A photographer friend of mine set up his studio lights and helped me to shoot the studio portion of Teen Angel’s senior pictures last night. It was great fun but quite the workout. He made me shoot everything on manual and work through the things I didn’t know. He is an excellent teacher, and I’m very grateful, but it felt kind of like when the gym trainer makes you do those extra fifty sit-ups you’d rather not do since your abs are already burning. He was all aperture, shutter speed and custom white balance, and boy, was my head tired when we finished. Ask me where that aperture button is today. Just ask me. I dare ya’.

4. Teen Angel has a new beau. That thud I just heard was the sound of all of you parents with teenagers who just dropped to your knees to pray for me. Thank you.

5. I finished editing wedding pictures today and will nervously hand those over to the bride later this week. Ooh, it makes me nervous to share my work with others in such a personal way. I now have to start editing some senior pictures I shot for a girl last weekend and prepare for a shoot Saturday morning involving a three year old and a one year old. I’ll get to see just how fast I can move and shoot Saturday. This is all pushing me out of my comfort zone in a good way and inching me closer to that $2,300 lens I want. Nikon 70-200mm here I come!

6. I love learning new things as I get older. Have I said that lately? I really do. It makes me feel not so old.

7. Hubby is totally engrossed in picking out stuff for his man cave. We’ve had more conversations about paint colors in the last two weeks than we’ve had our entire marriage. He was also watching Steel Magnolias by himself last night when I got home. Maybe we should dress HIM as Dolly next Halloween.

8. I’m taking two vacation days this week and spending one whole day shooting fall foliage in the local wildlife areas. I can’t wait. Hubby is going along so the bogey man won’t get me in the wild woolly woods. I don’t know what he’s worried about. I could kill someone with these boney elbows of mine. Nevertheless, it should be a nice day together as long as he remembers to refrain from asking, “Why are you shooting THAT?” We had that discussion earlier this week when he walked in the door and found me shooting pictures of the foam on top of the tea pitcher. He may be in touch with his feminine side, but he knows nothing about photography textures. Or that bag of Halloween candy I have hidden in the kitchen.

I Had A Three Day Weekend....

But I’m not sure where it went. The Hula-gen’s are running in circles these days, which would account for my four day absence at this site. The highlights:

-The remodeling is about 3/5s done, but it’s starting to drag a little, and we are trying to crack the whip. We go on vacation in two weeks, and we want this stuff DONE by then. Done I tell ya’, done. Finished, finito, get out of my house.
-I am so over painting and picking paint colors. We are down to the master bathroom which has one coat of a blue that I was just sure was the perfect blue. Until it was put on all four walls, and I screamed, “Stop!” It’s butt ugly. Every one from the electrician to the brick layer thinks so, so it’s going. I don’t have the energy to look for another blue, so I told the painter to slap on some of that cream color that’s in the foyer and the hallway and call it a day. I can live with cream. It's the new black.
-New faucets in brushed nickel are lovely, simply lovely. Until you find them leaking about 9pm, three hours after the contractor has left the building and about fifteen minutes before the bottom of the cabinet is about to give way. T-Y-L-E-N-O-L.
-I am in serious need of that vacation. The Emerald Coast here I come! With swimsuit, sunscreen and library books in tow.
-Our days and evenings have suddenly turned a smidge cooler, and the thought of jacket weather is TICKING ME OFF, but I am trying to be grateful for the beautiful days that are upon us. It’s hard for a summer baby like me, but I’m going to try. I wore white shoes the other day just to be stubborn, though. Nobody noticed. BTW..am I the only person who hangs onto sandals long after they’ve worn out? Even when they’re stinky and faded, I can’t seem to turn loose of them.
-While we haven’t had a firm offer on our old house yet, it’s showing well, and we are upbeat. I am, however, tired of trying to keep it sparkly clean for unexpected lookers. The neat freak otherwise known as Hubby is loving every minute of the sparkliness. I swear, that man is crazy in love with neatness. It must be a disease. If it’s a gene, I was born without it.
-Our niece’s son, W., has had three cobalt treatments in the last week and a half. His hair is starting to fall out. They keep running tests but haven’t really given us an indication yet of how bad his leukemia is. The two times they’ve tested his spinal fluid they have not found cancer cells there which is a good thing. The teachers at the elementary school where his mother teaches and the high school where is father teachers are putting on a mini-Woodstock type fundraiser for little W. next month. It’s wonderful how friends have started to rally around him, but it breaks my heart that he’s going through this. I cry if I think about it, so I try not to think about it.
-The dog and the cat lay side by side in Hubby’s lap for about forty minutes Friday, and we thought we’d had a major breakthrough in their showdowns. Until an hour later when he chased her into the dining room and she slapped him in the face with a furry paw.
-Papa T. has been cranky lately. Arms crossed, mouth poutin’ seriously cranky, and we’re not sure why. His mama would have whipped him with a peach tree switch if he had acted that way with her. We’re about ready to find a peach tree.

Twelve more days until vacation. Twelve more days.

Not That Anyone Asked...But

-After months of fighting with his gall bladder, daddy surrendered his belly to the surgeon this morning and finally had his gall bladder taken out. The value of Tums and Rolaids stock is likely to drop with news that their business will drop off about 30% since daddy won’t be chewing those tablets like Chiclets anymore.
-I am amused by hospital patients in their gowns who drag their IV and wheelchair outside past the no smoking zone to smoke a cigarette.
-I learned today I shouldn’t go to the farmer’s market before work because I polished off most of my newly purchased cherry tomatoes by 9am while sitting at my desk. So much for tomatoes with dinner.
-A fellow I worked with in radio many years ago shot and killed himself this week. He was one of the funniest people I ever knew and was an absolute joy to work with. It makes me sad, and I can’t believe I’ve been touched by suicide a second time this year. We just never know what’s going on in the hearts of others, do we?
-My husband and child left at 5 o’clock this morning for King’s Island in Cincinnati with the church youth group. I rolled out of bed at 4:30 to drive them to the church. I drove there in my pajamas and was glad I didn’t get pulled over. Great Gertie, I’m cranky at 4:30am!
-I’ve made this church trip many times, and I usually end up riding all kinds of scary stuff that eventually makes me puke, so I opted to stay home for Mama J. and Papa T. duty. The beauty shop and Cracker Barrel, here we come!
-I don’t care where Michael Jackson’s body is now. I don’t care where he’s buried. The media can move on to more important issues as far as I’m concerned. However, I will admit I am curious how much that gold casket cost. My Aunt Mabel, who was a funeral connoisseur and took great stock in the quality of a casket, would have been very impressed with the Jackson family’s selection.
-Hey, Sarah Palin! Quit wearing makeup when you go fishing. It makes you look vain and ridiculous. And please, quit pretending like you don’t know what your immediate plans are.
-Did you hear the one about the guy who posted a song on YouTube about United Airlines breaking his guitar? It’s hilarious. If you need laugh, check, check, check it out.

Not that anyone asked me but......

-John and Kate? Don’t know ‘em. Never watched ‘em. Can’t believe they’re shocked that selling their souls to the reality TV devils led to fame and the demise of their privacy and their marriage. Mostly, I’m just sad for their children. And annoyed that TLC doesn’t have the decency to pull the plug on that train wreck.
-Oh, Michael, Michael, Michael. What a mess. When someone dies, most families will fight about who gets the money no matter if there’s a fortune or just a nickel left. The fallout has just begun in his circle. The guy obviously had problems, and I could go on and on about this topic, but mostly I’m just sad for his children.
-I can think of no celebrity that I would stand in the street and cry over if he died. What’s up with that?
-I’m constantly amazed at how our society builds people into mega-celebrities, pushing them into a vice filled isolated existence and when they die too early because of the stress of it all, we act surprised. What is WRONG with us?
-A long time ago, in a land far, far away, I could moonwalk. While watching some MTV videos the other day, I tried some of my old Thriller moves when nobody was looking and thought I popped my hip out of joint. Don’t tell anybody.
-Note to self: Spending all day at an amusement/water park with a group of small children should be done near the END of the work week, not on a Monday because no amount of sleep on the three hour bus ride home prepares you for work on Tuesday morning.
-The heat index around here last week and the week before was around 105 each day. It was hotter than Guam. I ran at eight o’clock at night instead of during the day, and it was still unbearable. I have never been sweatier in my entire life, but I’m not complaining because I made a deal with God during the ice storm that I wouldn’t gripe about the heat and humidity this summer if he would just make the ice and cold go away. Boy, did He.
-The most interesting news at our family reunion this past weekend? My 70-something aunt is on Facebook. She confirmed me as a friend this morning, and I suddenly remembered I’ll have to explain those pictures with the flamingos on my head.
-We’ll plead the 5th if a certain cousin of Teen Angel’s starts sticking out his tongue soon.

-Teen Angel and I practically tripped over each other Sunday when the ice cream man came rolling through our subdivision. I would have snapped a better picture, but I was too busy making sure I got a strawberry shortcake bar before reaching for my camera. On a positive note, I set a new world record for dashing out of the pool and grabbing a towel.

-Last night we got the first rain we’ve had in days. It lasted about thirty seconds and blew through so fast the sun didn’t have a chance to disappear. It left us with a marvelous rainbow, the most vivid I’ve ever seen. This picture doesn’t do it justice because it literally faded in a matter of seconds right before our eyes and had already lost part of its color by the time I took this picture. It was so cool I didn't care that our neighbor drove by while I was standing in the intersection in my ratty old blue pajamas.

Bits and Pieces

1. I honestly cannot tell you where this week went. I was so busy it seemed to pass me right by. In fact, the whole year has been like that so far. I used to think my mom was crazy when she said things like that.
2. Hubby is in Nashville for the next couple of days with Mama J. and Papa T.. Papa T. is having surgery to relieve the pressure on his eye so he won't lose the tiny bit of vision he has left. The girls are in charge of the TV remote around here for two days. Count 'em, TWO whole days!
3. Despite my best efforts, I have fallen for that bouncy song, That's Not my Name, by The Ting Tings. That's what I get for listening to the radio. It's vaguely reminiscent of the You Light Up My Life fever I suffered in the early 80's.
4. Sometimes I'm amazed at people's rudeness. A lady came up to us at lunch today, offered condolences to Hubby on the loss of his sister and then proceeded to ask, "Do you know what made her do a thing like that?" I exhibited great restraint by biting my tongue and not saying what I was thinking, which was, "What would make you pick a gosh awful hairdo like the one you're wearing?"
5. The rain finally seems to have stopped after a week on nonstop downpours. All I have to say about that is, "Hot damn!" Our little tomato plants are yellow and mushy, which is not a good thing. It could be August before we get any tomatoes at this pace, and that, my friends, would be a tragedy.
6. Apparently, I'm going to be an early achiever on this menopause thing. It's been about 76 degrees all week, and I have sweated like a thief in Sunday school every day. When the burly man in a long sleeve shirt sitting next to you is cool as a cucumber and you're not, it's a sign that things they are a changin'. I guess the sooner I get it started, the sooner I'll get it over with.
7. Teen Angel's driving is coming along nicely, except for that abrupt lane change she did the other day which made me poop my pants. I'm never going to sleep again, am I?
8. When you buy a new CD and you reach for Celtic Spa, you know y0u have a little stress in your life.
9. What is it with underwear manufacturers? Every time I find underwear I like, they discontinue it. Is there some kind of panty conspiracy I haven't heard about?
10. And finally, my blog time and commenting has been pretty lax lately due to all of the going ons around here and my stress level. That's evening out somewhat, and I should be back to visiting some of your blogs again soon. See ya in blogland!