A Chorus or Two

This is going to be a whole bunch of randomness 'cause I'm all over the place right now.  Besides all of the busy-ness of the week, I came home last night to find out that the pool pump had quit and the dog was very ill.  And this morning, the ring cleaner did something funky to Hubby's wedding band and it's no longer gold in color.  Lots and lots of little things that are sometimes big things are filling up my days, along with the various and assorted bible school songs running through my head.  When you sing them fifty- two times a night with dozens of children they tend to get stuck in your cranium and then just burst forth in the middle of something completely unrelated.  I'll be typing a memo at work and suddenly get the urge to blare, "God is the King of everythiiiiiiiiing!"  Or "He is Lord, Lord, LORD!" Fortunately, I've been able to keep the spontaneous shimmying under control while in public places.  

The heat wave has broken a little, and today was downright decent.  I won't say pleasant because the humidity is still hanging around, but 85 beats 110 any day.  People all around me are saying, "Man, I can't wait for winter,"  and "Don't you wish it was cold weather again?"  No.  No, no, NO!  (God is the King of everythiiiiiiiiing!)  Sorry.  110 still beats 35 in my book.  Plus, I'm a whole lot happier in shorts than I am in a coat. 

I'm on a roll with the crockpot these days.  It's a crockpot kind of week since I have about thirty minutes between the time I get home from work and have to be at the church.  In that thirty minutes I dash in the back door, give the dog his insulin shot, throw some kind of food onto a plate for Papa T. and his sitter, change clothes and dash to the car.  I feel like shouting, "Time!" every time I pull into the parking lot at church.  Or "He is Lord, Lord, LORD!"

Note to self, do not make that rice and beef experiment again. 

I have found the best pair of summer shoes evah.  I needed a good pair of black every day sandals to wear with dresses and casual stuff since my old ones were from last summer and had the sad look of a Halloween pumpkin amid the Christmas decorations on the first day of December.  They were ragged.  I stumbled onto these Sketchers, and girl, let me tell ya', they are the woop-do-diddly. 

They look like they have a heel, but they don't feel like they have a heel.  They are soft and springy and stretchy.  They go with dresses.  They go with shorts.  They go with pants.  They work with everything, which is my kind of accessory.  They felt so good I wore them out of the store and then went back a few days later and bought a pair for next year because I have learned that if I find something that fits really well, they tend to discontinue it right away.  I should do a commercial for Sketchers.  I now have owned six pair of them in various styles.  You hear me, Sketchers?  I'm over here, anytime you want to compensate me for my blubbering.  Oh, and could you make these shoes in brown as the ones I'm wearing now are just as ragged as the old black sandals, and frankly, they are a bit odiferous.  Now, if I could just get someone to make a panty that makes me as happy as the Sketchers do.  For that?  I would sing the Hallelujah Chorus.

A Few Things

I sometimes forget that you're not with me 24/7, and that I don't always remember to tell you certain things about the family. Then I look up one day, and think, "They don't know about this, and this and that." So here's a whole bunch of random stuff to get you caught up. Besides, this Daylight Saving Time thing is kickin' my hiney, and I don't have it in me to make one great cohesive post. Bullet points it is!

-The weather here is fantabulous. We're having a really early spring, as in the temperatures this week are in the mid to upper 70's. That's highly unusual, but I'll take it. I love the feeling of running this time of year in shorts and a short sleeved T-shirt. The general public however, is probably not loving my ghostly white legs.

-We took our dog to a veterinary ophthalmologist in Nashville last Friday to have his eyes checked. They are unable to take off his cataracts because his retinas are detached, but we are giving him eye drops daily now to keep away "the glaucoma" as my grandma used to say because glaucoma would cause him painful headaches, and we don't want that.

He also had an ear infection for a few days, which meant at one point he was getting eye drops twice a day, ear drops once a day and two insulin shots a day. When I got a printout of last year's drug store expenses for filing our income tax returns, I realized we paid way more for his medications than mine. What does that say about us? We are crazy dog people.

-I had zero prescriptions last year. Zero. Not even an antibiotic, which is a miracle because my sinuses usually like to get really good and infected at least once a year. I did the dance of joy at that piece of good news because yay for me. And it helped to make up for the fact that we spent a fortune on the dog.

-Teen Angel now has three jobs. Besides going to school, she works at the bakery, she hostesses at a busy restaurant in town and is now tutoring one of the neighborhood kids. It keeps her good and busy. Some days I don't see her until she comes in from work at 12:30am, and wakes us up to tell us she's home. We have discovered in this process that I can apparently carry on a full conversation with her while being sound asleep.

-Teen Angel and I are saving for a trip to Italy. While it is slow going, we are making progress. If we get really aggressive about it and give up new shoes, we might be able to make that trip in August before school starts. It could be next year though. We'll see. I'm doing some photo shoots on the side to raise some travel money. In the meantime, I picked up some books on Italy, and we are learning as much as possible so we can decide exactly where we want to go and what activities we want to do so we'll know how much money to save. I want to ride in a Gondola in Venice. She wants to see the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, including that little girl in the glass box, Rosalia Lombardo. What do you do with a child who wants to gawk at ancient carcasses in rotting clothing? Google it. You'll understand my confusion.

-I looked at this picture of her taken at a recent Mardi Gras celebration and said, "Self, when did she get so grown up?"

-Speaking of pictures.  Before they took down the Christmas decorations at an area tourist spot, I made my family pose for a self portrait so we'd have something to make a decent Christmas card out of next year, as it apparently takes us more than a few weeks to get our act together in that department.  PIcture taking is not their favorite activity.  We got one good photo and this:

You see what I have to put up with?

-Ya'll I'm so excited about the Murray State Racers' seed for the NCAA tournament. My alma mater is having one heck of a season, and while all eyes are on the University of Kentucky, those of us in the Bluegrass State are also rooting for Murray. If they make it past the first couple of rounds, and they very well could, I'll have to pull out my old MSU pom pom squad tights with the horseshoes on the butt and put them on. Rally tights! Here's hoping they still fit 'cause if they don't I'll have to wear them on my head instead.

-I bought tickets the other day to see Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks in concert this summer. Happy birthday to me. I sprang for good seats, and I just can't wait. He may be wrinkly and old, but I still find him as hot now as I did in 7th grade. Perhaps it's because I'm no spring chicken either. And I'm thinking we should try to catch Aerosmith on tour this summer too, since I've never seen them live, and let's face it, you never know when one of those fellas is going to fall out. Did you see the segment on 60 Minutes about them and all of the physical therapy and stuff they have to undergo just so they can perform?
-And I'm happy to say that daddy is doing just fine after his little heart scare. Did I tell you about that? I can't remember. He had, as mama says, a sinking spell a couple of weeks ago, and since it included some sweating and chest discomfort mama shuffled his butt off to the hospital. A stress test and heart cath later, he was given a clean bill of health. We still don't know why he had that spell, but he's doing fine. Well enough to eat Girl Scout Cookies, let's put it that way.

-And finally, I'm glad I didn't give up cake for Lent. I was at a get together last night where dessert consisted of two of my favorite food groups: strawberry cake and cream cheese filling. I am weak against the cake. Weak, I tell ya'. If eatin' strawberry cake is a sin, I'm ridin' to hell on a fork. In the fast lane. Lord help me, 'cause I can't help myself in the presence of cream cheese in any form. Ciao, y'all! (I'm practicing my Italian.)



Fa La La La La

You better get all prayed up, brothers and sisters, 'cause hell is freezin' over. I went shopping yesterday and found three, count 'em, THREE, pairs of jeans that fit well. Of course, I had to try on eighteen pair, but nevertheless I found three pairs of jeans I really liked. It's a dadgum miracle. Buying jeans is right up there with buying bras and bathing suits. I'd rather get jabbed in the eye with a red hot poker than try them on. And don't even get me started about the lack of comfortable, well made pantries for women who fall somewhere between hoochie mama thong and granny panty. You just can't find a good panty these days. I was beginning to think it was just me, and then I struck up a conversation with a 40-something stranger at the underwear clearance rack at Wal-Mart who was complaining about the same thing. I felt much better about myself afterwards. However, a couple of minutes later when I was squatted in the floor looking for my size in the Hanes cotton low rise briefs, I witnessed her nearly get into a fight with a lady who walked up to her and said, "Karen told me at the cookout you wanted to whoop my a**." And then the other lady said, "Noooo, I said I didn't want to be around your a**." They went back and forth with some attitude, and there was some ugliness tossed around about panty lady's recent stint in jail, so perhaps she hasn't always made the best choices. However, I do not believe that incarceration should affect your ability to judge a good panty, so I still feel confident I'm not alone in my frustration to find adequate drawers for the middle aged woman. By the way, the police were called to that little catfight before it got out of hand, so I slipped around the corner and down to the grocery department before I witnessed something I had to testify to in court. That was two days before Christmas. So much for peace, love and kindness for your fellow man.

Teen Angel and I spent yesterday shopping. We didn't buy much because the sales were somewhere between fair to middlin'. I saw better buys before Christmas, but we did find a few bargains, and I scored big time on some capris for our upcoming cruise. Plus, we had some tasty Chick-Fil-A and good conversation. All was right with the world. It was a nice way to wrap up the holidays.

Christmas was good. All was calm, and all was bright. That's not always the case with Hubby's family, so we considered it a successful holiday. Santa was better to us than he should have been, but he didn't get too carried away. I got a new rolling hard case which holds all of my cameras, lenses and photography gear. No more lugging around three backpacks. Also, I got a new suitcase with 360 degree wheels. I can't tell you how excited I am about that. That one made it on my wish list this year after Teen Angel and I lugged our suitcases across Europe, up and down steps in buildings without elevators and across crowded airports last August. Exhausted, we were sitting at the airport in Paris for our flight home, when a lady in high heels went gliding by us with her spinner suitcase, pushing it effortlessly and acting like it was the easiest thing in the world. I looked at Teen Angel, pointed at her suitcase and said, "I'm gettin' me some of that." Besides, I needed a new suitcase anyway. Hours later, when we picked up our luggage in Dallas to go through customs, mine wouldn't roll right, and it was like draggin' a dog without legs on a leash. I finally stopped and looked at it and realized that one whole corner, wheel and all, was busted off that bag. I didn't know whether to thank the baggage handlers at Charles DeGaulle or Dallas International. I had to drag that heavy thing through customs, recheck it and drag it through the Nashville Airport with one wheel. It was a joy, I tell ya'. On the bright side, the bottle of French red wine we had shoved down in the middle of the bag made it through both flights in one piece. Salute!

I'll get to use that new suitcase in a couple of weeks when Hubby and I take off for Mexico. We are taking a cruise with several of my cousins and their spouses, and it should be fun, fun, fun. There are a million things to do between now and then to make sure that Papa T., the diabetic dog and Teen Angel are all taken care of while we're gone. We are spending one night in New Orleans before our ship leaves port, and it should be interesting. That happens to be the night before the LSU-Alabama BCA Championship football game. Every redneck in the southeast will be in NOLA, trolling Bourbon Street. I told Hubby it should either be very exciting or a good opportunity to get in the middle of some kind of street fight. You know us, we seem to find excitement wherever we go. I better where my clean underwear incase I'm in some sort of accident. Let's hope I find some decent new drawers before we go.

Let's Catch Up

It seems like there are so many things I haven’t shared with you in recent days. Like the new camera I bought or the state of construction in our backyard or the general state of chaos in our lives right now. As my friend Yvonne would say, “Girl, sit yourself down and let’s talk a spell.” The three men who read this site can sit down, too. It works best if there's pie, though.

We are rapidly winding down on the construction of the garage and pool. The pool is done, and I’ll show you a picture of that in another post, but the garage is still a work in progress. It is under roof, and the stairs have been built. Every day when I come home Hubby has to show me around and give me an update. I’ve never seen a grown man be so excited about anything; except for that time he thought he saw Cameron Diaz at the Memphis Airport. The last couple of days I’ve missed taking pictures of the work because it’s been dark when I get home, but I’ve been documenting each step of the construction, and I’ll share some of those pictures with you soon. It’s very exciting. Bottom line? We should be done by the first week of December.

We had some illness in our house in recent days. Teen Angel had some kind of twelve hour stomach bug that took her out of school for one day. She swears it’s because I fed her an undercooked pork chop. She’s full of hooey. It was perfectly cooked with just the right amount of color in the very center. I’m just sharing my side of the story now because she keeps acting like she had trichinosis. Hubby had a cold which turned into the cold from hell and then into a sinus infection. I made that diagnosis a full 24 hours before he went to the doctor based on the description of that piece of lung he coughed up yesterday morning. The doctor confirmed my diagnosis this morning, gave Hubby a shot in the butt and a whole bunch of medicine. Hubby declared a new rule last night. He says from now on he’s going to call the doctor if he has an illness that lasts more than three days. It took only twenty years for him to declare me right on that issue. Why do men fight going to the doctor? So far, I’ve managed to stay well, but I keep washing my hands and picking up the remote control with my shirt sleeve. I also rinse my sinuses daily with the joy that is known as the Netti pot. I know it sounds gross, but it really does work. You just have to get past that gunk that winds up in the sink.

The anxiety that always surfaces in Hubby’s family during the holidays has already begun. I’ll refrain from elaborating on that, but let’s just say those folks keep me on my knees in prayer. Sometimes my eye twitches, too. Is there a twelve step program for surviving the holidays with people who drive you crazy?

I’ve not been a very good blogging buddy lately. I just haven’t had much time to comment. Because of my job, I head up our city’s big Christmas light display, and I’m all HOLY MOTHER OF MABEL IT’S ALMOST TIME TO TURN ON THE FREAKIN’ LIGHTS WILL WE GET EVERYTHING READY IN TIME right now, so my blog reading time is short. Rest assured, I am keeping up with the fun happenings at your blogs. Forgive me for not giving my two cents worth on your various posts. As if my opinion was needed.

I bought a new camera yesterday. An independent film maker who lives here is selling a bunch of photography gear that’s only slightly used. While there was a lot of eye candy and tempting stuff to buy, I had only a certain amount of money. I could either buy a nice camera that was similar to mine and still afford that big lens I’ve been saving for or I could buy a Mack daddy camera and start saving all over again for that lens. After two days of lens, camera, lens, camera, lens, camera, I decided I wanted the lens more. I decided to buy the smaller camera which is still a step up from my other camera and is a great camera. It’s in pristine shape with plenty of bells and whistles, and I now have a backup camera for shooting special events and don’t have to change lenses so much. Only 632 more items on my wish list to go!

I have to turn in an order tomorrow for Teen Angel’s graduation invitations. Be still my heart.
And I tried that cranberry pie over at the Pioneer Woman’s place last night. It was awesome. I recommend some sweetened whipped cream with it though. Or some ice cream. Or some crème anglese. Eating it plain, straight out of the pan with a knife works, too. In fact, I think it could work as a meal in itself.

Tidbits From the Island of Hula

-It has finally warmed up here to the forties. Thank heavens. I was getting tired of chipping the frozen snot off my face after my midday runs.
-Speaking of running, I spit on myself Tuesday while running. There's a trick to getting rid of the excess saliva while on the run., and I screwed it up big time. Jim Croce was right when he said you don't spit into the wind.
-Every month I get together with girlfriends and play Bunco. Which means we roll dice for three hours as an excuse to eat decadent desserts and dish about hormones, husbands and mothers-in-law. Sunday night is our annual Bunco slumber party. It may or may not include adult beverages and karaoke. If you hear dogs howling in the middle of the night, don't worry. They're just hearing me sing.
-Did you hear that Teddy Pendergrass died? Oh, the memories of the 80's his music brings back.
-We cook for Mama J. and Papa T. each night, and Papa T. likes simple food. We found out this week he does NOT like pasta with clam sauce or vegetarian patties made from black eyed peas. We also found out that clams stink up the house.
-We are apparently out of air freshener.
-The good news is I have cobbled together enough Christmas money and leftover lunch money to buy that camera lens I want. The bad news is you will be subjected to my learning curve with the new lens.
-We have to take Papa T. to the doctor's office tomorrow for lab work. Pray for us brothers and sisters. It could be a long afternoon.
-And mama called me today on my cell phone to ask me if I had bought that new cell phone yet. She said she wanted to find out if my cell number had changed. Doy.