One more house problem

So, Sunday night, LAST Sunday night, the back half of the house's electricity blips. Probably just another blown fuse, but I can't see which one, so I wait for Steve to get home. Once he gets home, the lights are working fine. So maybe I was just hallucinating.

Then,

The oven won't work.
The dryer never did dry the last load of clothes.
The stove won't work.
The house is getting a bit stuffy.

Then, Monday evening, to add insult to injury, I go to take my bath, and the water won't get above barely tepid.

Geesh.

So we suffer all week. I invade various family members for showers for me and the kids. We suffer through the laundromat. We burn up at night. We live off TV dinners all week. (Oh, and tuna fish....) I'm too old for this.....


The electrician comes today. They can't understand how the place hasn't burnt down. Of course

So we are temporarily displaced this week while the house gets rewired.

Fun.

Playing House

I'm really hating the house today.

Last night, something 'blipped' and the back half of the house went dark. We left it alone until Steve come home, and for some odd reason, when he tested the lights, they all worked fine.

However....

The oven had stopped working.
The stovetop had stopped working.
The dryer had stopped heating.
The air had stopped working.

So today, after we get home from work, I decide to get a bath.

The hot water had stopped working.



I can take all the above, just..........Not the Hot Water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From his estimates, the power meter is in the process of breaking. Which is expensive.

Of course.

And....

Rowan had to go the the doctor today----she wasn't kicking her low grade fever. The doctor decided she was a likely candidate for ADD or ADHD.

Survey Meme

101. My name is:
Carla

100. I was born in:
Paducah


99. I am really:
reclusive

98. My phone company is:
Dialog

97. My eye color is
blue

96. My shoe size is:
8

95. My ring size is:
5-6

94. My height is:
5ft 4

93. I am allergic to:
most all pain medications. This sucks.

92. I was born on:
Not telling!

91. I am annoyed by:
Liars.

90. Last book you read:
The Testament by John Grisham

89. My bed is:
I have 'things' in the bed. (clothes, my laptop, I sleep with all this. Hey, it's a king size bed....)

88: One thing you hate about yourself:
My weight

87. My favorite Holiday is:
Halloween/Christmas

86. The perfect kiss:
is from Steve

85. The last three cd's I bought were:
Haven't bought a CD in probably ten years.

84. Are you living at home:
Yes, but my name is on the mortgage now.

83. Do you have any siblings:
1 brother, 3 sisters

82. Are your parents divorced:
No, it was 'til death do us part, for them.

81. What did you do yesterday:
clean and scrap and nap and snuggle.

80. Love at first sight:
Yes

:::Which is Better:::

70. Hugs or Kisses:
Both.

69. Drunk or High:
Niether. I have control issues.

68. Phone or Online:
online.

67. Red heads or Black haired:
black haired

66. Blondes or Brunettes:
Blondes

65. Hot or cold:
Hot

64. Summer or winter:
Summer

63. Fall or Spring:
Fall.

61. Night or Day:
Night.

60. Oranges or Apples:'
Oranges.

59. Curly or Straight hair
Curly

:::Here's What I Think About:::

58. Abortion:
depends on the situation

57. Backstabbers:
Won't get a second chance

:::Last time I:::

56. Had food?
30 minutes ago

55. Saw someone I haven't seen in awhile:
not too long ago

54. Cried in front of someone:
last week

53. Who is the ditziest person you know:
Jennifer

52. Who makes you laugh the most:
Kameron

51. The last movie I saw:
Misery

50. What I don't understand is:
Not enough room here for all that

49. Something I always really miss when I leave home is:
my pajamas and the sense of solitude

48. The thing that I'm looking forward to the most:
Halloween

47. The thing that I'm not looking forward to is:
School. Fighting with the contractor over the septic system

46. Tomorrow:
Work

45. Today:
peaceful

44. Next Summer:
Hopefully on vacation or in design classes

43. Next Weekend:
cleaning

42. People call me:
Mom


41. The person who knows the most about me is:
Steve

40. The most difficult thing to do is:
not lose control to anger.

39. I have gotten a speeding ticket:
Never.

37. The first person i talked to today was:
Steve

36. First time you had a crush:
5 yrs old

35. The one person who i can't hide things from:
Steve, because he deserves better.

34. Last time someone said something you were thinking:
Yesterday

33. Right now I am talking to:
Steve

32. What is your dream job?
Designer

31. First real job:
Define 'real....'

30. I have/will get a job:..
years ago

29. I have these pets:
Frodo---cat
Ellie Mae--dog

28. I wish:
we could win the lottery

27. The worst sound in the world:
Spongebob screaming

26. The person that makes me cry the most is?
I got rid of them

24. Person[s] that makes you happy:
The kids and Steve

23. Florida or Hawaii:
Hawaai

22. My favorite piece of clothing:
my pajamas

21. Last time I cried:
last week

20. My friends are:
my support line

19. My computer is:
my fave toy

18. The school I go to is:
Too old for all that

17. Last person I got mad at:
Kameron

16. The all-time best movie is:
Lord of the Rings

15. The all-time best feeling in the world is:
Feeling loved and loving them back.

13. The movie I cried at was:
All kinds

12. TV channels you watch:
don't

11. Favorite web site:
www.digitalscrapbookplace.com

10. I like/love:
God

9. The worst pain I was ever in was:
after a C section

8. My favorite word is:
Faery

7. My room is:
a storage room for all my crafts

6. My favorite celebrity is:
Johnny Depp.

4. What I like about the opposite sex is:
hands and eyes

2. One thing that makes you feel great is:
coffee

1. person that you wish you could see right now:
Jim or Hollie

Which Pirate are you?

My pirate name is:

Dread Pirate Marie

Like the famous Dread Pirate Roberts, you have a keen head for how to make a profit. Even through many pirates have a reputation for not being the brightest souls on earth, you defy the sterotypes. You've got taste and education. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

More faeries

I need to stop scrapping faery pages and get some organizing done, or some housecleaning, or something properly useful. Just couldn't resist it today though....

SNL Kit

My kit this month for SNL. I just wasn't into it this month as much as I normally am, so, to me, it's bunk. It's time to start taking some real classes.

Cooking

DSP Blog prompt: I'm going to deviate from the Fashion theme today and ask if you have ever been in the middle of cooking when if you realized you were missing a key ingredient and couldn't make a dash to the store? What did you do?

Ugh. Yes. More often than I'd like to admit. Most often when the kids were little, single mom, three young 'uns, pots full of food over an open fire...ick. So what do you do when you are making spaghetti and have no spaghetti? Hope you have rotini. Or, make sloppy joes on wheat bread.

I can't really think of any incident in particular, but I know I always find some way to improvise. Sometimes it doesn't turn out all that great, but I come custom built with Mammy's Depression waste-not-want-not attitude, and we usually seem to turn out okay.

I did have a friend one time who was completely broke with payday still 2 days away, who had one small pkg of hamburger meat left to his name, and had decided to fix himself a couple burgers one evening. He loved spiced so he decided to throw some cayenne in there. He was talking to me on the phone, and wasn't paying attention, and accidentally dumped cinnamon in the burgers insteads of cayenne.

He howled, and ate them anyway. It is still our favorite memory. (Except for the beer box, maybe, but that's a story for later.....)

Fashion Twyst

DSP Blog Prompt: Fashion Baron. You are the up and coming fashion designer of the age. What kind of fashions and fabrics can we expect?

For dressy stuff, something that would be a mix of gypsy, Victorian, gothic, and Renaissance, all rolled into one. Stuff slashed and jagged on the ends. Lots of boots and bustiers. Something Stevie Nicks, with MY twist!

Lots of high quality satins, lace lace lace! And stuff that helps those of us with flat/no boobs. Sheer, cozy, ethereal see through fabrics over opaque fabrics like silk.

Dark, rich colors, or rich creams and whites. Irridescents and sequins. Bling!

Pajamas: BIG, cozy, flannel, furry pajamas! fuzzy socks.

LOTS of costumes. I would be Halloween costume specialist. Or a Hollywood costume prop specialist......

Weekend Scrapping

Two blogs in one day and all these scrapbook pages I did...Boy I was on a roll this weekend. Credits are in my DSP gallery. My favorite one though is the one I changed my avatar to! I also included my DET entries, i think it's safe to put them here since I got cut going to R3. Boo.

Halloween!!!!

This should technically be my last Halloween with the kids. I have entertained this thought this weekend, and at first, it broke my heart. There just can't be an end to Halloween. We can't just stop having our one day of the year that we love almost most of all---our one chance to prank, run, dress up, shock, gorge, and be general miscreants!!!!

Then I started to try to find ways around it. Cris is just over a year old. Kenna's pregnant---Sam's pregnant---new babies are coming, babies who'll have a crazy aunt and cousins to teach them all about toilet papering, comical costumes, how to get extra candy...yes, Halloween might carry on...but it just won't be the same. Maybe I might accept grandkids, after all. Just on Halloween.

And I thought about it even more....why can't they still dress up and go trick or treating? Maybe not to get candy, but one of the best parts of Halloween is the time spent with my kids while we brainstorm and create our costumes. And it's not like we still can't keep our other Halloween tradtions......the haunted house at my sister's farm.....(she can't wait for them to get older so she can put them to work as a spook instead of on the hayride having fun)...the trip to the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin and the hayride there, complete with pictures, apple cider, horse rides (Kameron hates those but always does it anyway), the house parties.....

Somehow I think next year will find me in severe denial of the fact my youngest will be official teens, and we'll still be making costumes....after all....aunt Janet needs more spooks for her haunted hayride. Until then, I am going to go for broke and enjoy this one for all I can milk out of it.

Memes and Beauty Secrets

I have been tagged by Tink, my fave OtherFaery, of [url=http://tinkstribulations.blogspot.com/] Tink's Tribulations. I have to list seven things about me you probably don't know. (My oldest freinds will probably not only know it, but still remember it.) But this is for my virtual friends!

I am going to use FIRSTS as a springboard, since anything current is just.....boring.


1. Who was your first prom date?
Didn't make it to prom

2. Who was your first roommate?
Glenda Seaford---my thoughts still follow you all the way to Heaven.

3. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?
Virginia Beach, Virginia


4. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with?
Cory & Debbie


5. Whose wedding were you in the first time?
Crystal's--Maid of honor


6. What was the first concert you ever went to?
Guns s Roses and Aerosmith


7. First tattoo or piercing?
tattoo--spray of roses on the ankle---15 yrs old
piercing---ears at 7 yrs old


And I'm supposed to tag 7 other people. I don't think I know 7, so I'll go as far as I can:

Pat from The Life of LoonyHiker
LuLu from Linda Rechtin's Designer Blog
Beth from Beth's Designer Blog *******************************************************************************

DSP Blog prompt for Friday:
Beauty Secrets. What beauty secrets do you use (no matter how unusual)?

Food for thought, food for the tummy, and for your body....

Cabbage for acne treatment:
Cabbage toner:
4 oz witch hazel
One 1-in square pc of cabbage leaf
Put in wide-mouth plastic bottle. Cover w/ tight fitting lid. Let steep for 24 hours. Keeps up to 1 week.

Olive oil in the hair, put a plastic bag over it, lay on a towel and a heating pad, turning every so often. Or go do yardwork in the summer. Or blowdry it with the bag on it, but it's got to set, like, an hour or more. Leaves your hair super soft and shiny. Hard as heck to wash out, but it's just like a hot oil treatment for.....oh, 5 cents. My hair is to my waist and two tablespoons does the trick.

Preparation H for puffy wrinkled eyes. Do it at night, cause it kinds stings if your undereyes are in pretty bad shape. (Um among other reasons, haha)

Green tea for everything. Put warmed tea bags under the eyes for circles and puffs, drink for cancer-fighting, antioxidants, nerves.

Orange juice and a bowl of chili the morning after to cure a hangover. (It works.)

Lay on the sofa every night with your legs over your heart for at least an hour to prevent vericose veins.

Self Motivation

DSP Blog Prompt: Self-motivation. Ever get in a rut and didn't feel like you would ever get out? What did you do to pull yourself up and out?

Hm.

I don't think I ever get OUT of the rut.

The closets always need cleaned out. I got my summer clothes out in July this year. The autumn leaves from last fall didn't get burned until June. The dishes get left until I need to cook again, the checkbook gets balanced when I'm afraid I might have bounced something, the shopping gets done when we are out of EVERYTHING. The utility bills get paid late because I forget to mail them off. I don't want to do direct deposit because I forget to balance my checkbook on time.

I'm still legally married. I left my husband 8 years ago. We were only married for six. How's that for procrastination?

I do what I can do, until I get tired, and what's not done, someone else can do, or it gets left.

What do I do to get out of it? I don't really think I do. I haven't felt 'caught up' since I was 15 and didn't know what all that stuff is.

If anyone has any good ideas, pass them along. Usually the best motivation for me, though, is the onset of spring and fall. Which means, I'm about to get my butt up and going, right about now.

Maybe. I still have scrapping to do, and books to read, and costumes to sew......

Lest we Forget....

I'm not much on discussion of politics, world events, or debating, and I won't elaborate now, but to me it is very important to post my small tribute to the memory of Sept. 11. It is very important that we not forget what happened to our country on that day!

Pranks!!!!

So I took the boy to Wal-Mart today to have his hair cut. We had a 45 minute wait, and I didn't have any cash to spend so we couldn't really go shopping.

Wal-mart + Mom + Kameron = BAD Business.

It also brought back a few memories.

We got security cameras turned on us for drinking a Full Throttle energy drink in the sewing section. (I wanted to check out costumes, and he was thirsty. We paid for it first. I never pay for chicken livers first, I eat them in the store all the time, and I never get in trouble! Boo.) The customer is always right.

I dared him to get up on the treadmill display and see how fast he could go. He did.

We thought about greasing the inside of the free check your blood pressure cuff with KY Jelly, but I didn't have enough cash to buy the jelly.

They were out of silly string. Boo. I have been silly stringed before, right in the shampoo section. And the magazine section, and the sporting goods section.

If you put a bottle of lotion up against your arm and stick this in the blood pressure monitor, wait till it squeezes it's tightest, and flip open the lotion lid, Kameron gets blasted with lotion. If it's the right kind of bottle, he gets it in the face.(That wasn't this trip, though.)

Wal-mart shoppers do not necessarily like to be hit in the face with snowballs. (Not this trip either, but I do know this to be fact.)

I don't really know what they think of merchandise getting put in their buggy when they aren't looking. We haven't gotten caught yet.

It's easier to throw stuffed animals over the tops of the aisles at one another if the twins are with us. Then, we can just blame it on them.

I didn't buy a bra this time, so Kameron didn't stroll around with it on the top of his head, with the cups sticking up like ears.

Random Musing

Saturday morning. No milk. The boy and I were both craving some good coffee, which includes milk. The red cap, five dollar a gallon stuff. I was in no way fit for public viewing, so I made him a bargain: I drive, give you the check card, you go in and get it. We do this alot since I'm not fit for public viewing 90% of the time.

On the way there, I glanced over at my impeccably dressed child, and noticed his hair sticking up in the back. !!!!!!!!! He agreed to go in public, and his cowlick isn't plastered down??? He must really not be awake yet, either.

And it just kind of hit me. I'm getting older. If he hadn't of been around, I would have went and got the milk myself, fit for public viewing or not. The would have been exposed to my sweats, the dark circles under my eyes and no effort to conceal the extra 35 pounds I've gained this year. He, under most circumstances, will not even go check the mail until he's groomed so well he could attend a ball.

I remember being like that.

I was his age, and my hair had to be properly teased, crimped, or curled to perfection, makeup on ALWAYS, jean cuffs always properly tight-rolled, shiny black boots, all bangles adorning my arms, everything in it's place. I'd spend an hour preparing myself for a trip to the mall with freinds, or just to go with mom to fill the car up with gas. You never knew who you were going to run into!

I guess it's a teen thing. Because I certainly do not care who I offend with my relaxed look nowadays!

Fashion Facts

DSP Blog Prompt: Fashion Facts. Over the centuries, fashions have taken dramatic changes. Do you know of any obscure fashion facts to add to our knowledge?

I think everyone knows corsets were made from whale bones. That's all I know. I'm not a fashion queen, and I never have been. But it's funny that a fashion prompt is up today, because today I finally took the time to stop by the mall and get myself some new jeans for work. After plugging through 10 stores, embarassing myself in the skinny stores (couldn't get the stuff past my hips) and being sniffed at in the stores that cater to heavier women, (yes she literally told me to go elsewhere, nothing would fit me there. Nice.)....I finally landed in the Gap, and while I did NOT want to pay Gap prices, a homosexual salesman made me feel so at ease and picked out the perfect jeans in less than ten minutes. The guy was awesome. He made me miss my old restaraunt coworkers so much!!!!! I love gay men! (Yes that's off topic, but I had to say it.)

So, I finally have a pair of jeans that fit. After almost a year battling my new weight, I'm comfortable in at least one pair of pants. I'd pay another 60$ for another pair that fit so well.

Let's see....little known fashion facts....sorry, drawing a bust on this one!

Shoes

DSP Blog Prompt: Shoes make the woman. Give us an insight into your closet. Your shoes closet that is.

I don't have a closet! (My stuff is in Kameron's closet.)

I have shoe corners throughout the house, and a shoe organizer, and some shoes in shoeboxes in Steve's closet. The shoe organizer is leaned up against the chest for the time being (which is probably a couple more years) until we can get the proper closet spaces built, or a kid or two grows up and leaves home, and I get some room. The boxed up shoes are dress shoes I don't wear often but need them just in case... I am flip flop and tennis shoe kind of girl, but when I dress up, I looooooooove boots! I don't have near enough boots.

Hats?

DSP Blog Prompt: Fashionably Correct. In years past one would not be seen without a hat to complete your ensemble. Not so much these days. When and where do you think it is fashionably correct to wear a hat?

Halloween.

I say this because it seems that hats ARE indeed socially unacceptable anymore....all the 'rules' point to where or how NOT to wear hats....Not in church, not at the table. etc etc.. And, then if all else fails, there's the adage that 'wearing a hat all the time will make you bald.'


What about do-rags???

Personally I think I look like a dork in hat, especially a baseball cap. Witches' hats are Okay, and the beekeeper hats are good when gathering honey. I haven't gathered honey, though, in over 20 years, not since Uncle Clyde's beehives.

Double Duty

DSP Blog prompt: Simplify life. We all have them, those household items that we purchase for one thing and then end up using them for another. What items do you have that serve double duty?

Wow, not many, off the top of my head. My son, well, you have to hide toothbrushes from him. No toothbrush is safe. He finetunes and polishes his shoes every night with a toothbrush, hopefully old!!!, some mild soap and water, a soft cloth, and shoe polish. I have never seen anyone so particular about his shoes!!!! I did eventually break him from toothpaste. I don't know where he got the idea that toothpaste was an awesome shoecleaner, but it took me about two years to get him to knock it off. He started this odd little habot when he was about ten. He'll be 16 this year. Too bad he doesn't clean the rest of his room like that!

As for me, I use the rubber cupboard liners to open tough jars. An apple goes in the potatoes to keep them from growing those little root/worm-looking things they get after you have had them for a bit. Lemon juice gets put on peeled apples AND peeled potatoes to keep them from going brown. OLD toothbrushes get the dirt out of the teensy tinsy cracks, should it live through the Boy, and oven cleaner is great for buildup on a linoleum floor surface. It's also the bomb for the bathtub. Come to think of it, oven cleaner gets out just about anything. Ink pens are used as hairsticks, socks as mittens in the winter....

Did I wear THAT!???

DSP Blog Prompt: Fashion Woes. What, in your opinion, is your most embarassing fashion moment.

Okay, I'll be back one of these days to post some photos of my poor little self as a wee babe in some awful, and I mean A W F U L high 70's fashion disasters. Too bad for everyone that my scanner died a slow and painful death, there are some funny ones.

Mom and Mammy wouldn't let me wear pants until I was in 2nd grade. And I remember one morning, my mother rushing me out the door as I screamed that we were forgetting to put on my panties. I was about 6. That would have been horrid.........sent to school in a dress and no skivvies!!!! She must've been running late that day. (I got my UnderRoos on before the bus came, thank goodness.)

And there is this photo of me in some type of dark green/brown PLAID ghetto/disco pantsuit and vest. I was about 5. It was horrid. It's not appreciated until I can post the picture!!!

Misc.

Rowan's picking up the scrapping again. It's easier to teach with the laptop, so hopefully we'll do more teaching/learning on the laptop, enough to get her comfortable enough with starting the program and doing her own basic pages. Here's the result of the last tutorial, which experimented with recoloring:


We used Lauren Bavin's Bluebells and Butterflies kit from DSP.

And since my week was just crappy, I couldn't think of a single happy thing to scrap about, so I did this one:


I used Linda Rechtin's The Cat's Meow, and Rene Bross' Fairy Land series from DSP.

Today is my birthday. it doesn't feel like a birthday. But I can have what I want, within reason since we are broke. So I have chosen my favorite, of course----a pajama/do nothing/scrap all day day. That's really the best. The twins called me from their dad's to wish me happy birthday, Steve wished me a happy birthday, and I got several other well wishes, none from my son. Figures. I am trying not to let that bother me.

Dress Code

Blog Prompt: Now that school has started back here, the big issue is the dress code. dDo you agree with having a dress code and if so, who should determine what it should be? Should it be the principal, the school board, the students, the parents, the state dept. of ed or someone else?


I think there absolutely should be a dress code enforced in all schools. I also think everyone should have a say in the dress code, since everyone is affected by it: The people who teach, who look at it, the people who wear it, pay for it, and are responsible for the ones who wear it.

I would love to see uniforms in our schools, but I don't think that's going to happen for a long time. Of course, when I was in high school, if someone would have ever said that would have come out of my mouth, I'd have fainted of mortification right then and there. I also would love to see the reduction of stereotyping (rich vs. poor, etc)

I DO NOT think open-ended dress codes clauses should be put into effect, as they currently are in our schools. (And have been for years) This means, if any given teacher doesn't like what your kid has on, for any given reason, despite the fact that the clothing meets all dress code conformations, then you ave to pick the kid up and take it home and change it. But, I guess if they want to be that way, that it would be fine, as long as they pay for the clothing. The stuff isn't cheap.

I don't care for clothing that should all but have "Please knock me up" pasted on the front. It's a proven fact that teens have still developing brains, and overdeveloping hormones, and do not make wise decisons alot of the time. I hate seeing marketing that targets these physical characteristics of a typical teen.

On the other hand, teens have a huge need to express and to just 'find' themselves. There's always going to be new, evolving steroetypes that help them fit into or gloriously rebel against a niche: Preps, headbangers, nerds, emos, jocks, etc etc etc. However, I feel such should be approached with caution, and closely monitored. (Parents: Just say NO to Thugs, Lolitas, and Stoners)....

Now that I have rambled I guess I should say, long story short, as with all things, proceed with Moderation.....

The RANT continues

a. None of the aforementioned afflictions have yet remedied themselves, other than the boy did emerge from his room today to watch Spongebob with the rest of us.

b. My exhusband called today and has decided I will owe him half my income tax refund next year. We've been split for 8 years. He's been disabled for 5 of those and hasn't worked in ages. (Before you feel sorry for him, this is because he was a drug addict and got himself terminally ill from his addict antics.)It is all I can do to not start screaming and banging on my beloved keyboard at his blatant display of stupidity. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I told him if he wanted it, to get a lawyer and come get it. Maybe I'll decide to go and get my six years back child support he owes me. For 3 kids.

c. Steve's brakes are still broken. Don't recall if I mentioned that.
d. The kitchen sink is still stopped up. Don't know if I mentioned that.

I'm sure I'll think of something else. It took me an hour to remember all of it when I talked to my sister. Her week hasn't been good, either...her big dog bit her little dog and he lost his eye. Luckily, her DH works for a vet, taken care of straightaway, but she is still heartbroken for her baby. She saw a six foot snake across her driveway. She's petrified of snakes. (And she lives in the boonies.) She said she twisted and turned and spun and fishtailed and doughnut'ed the car trying to run it over, but only suceeded in calling her son's attention to the door, and he promptly told her she was a nutcase, she shoulda grown out of all that mess by now!!!!

There is a HUGE spider on the porch ceiling. He and I eyeballed each other for an hour while I talked to my sister on the phone. Since he didn't move, I let him live. I am extremely proud of myself for this, and for not fainting.....

Herbs

Blog Prompt: Today is More Herbs, Less Salt Day. What herb(s) do you like in your food?

Olive oil is not an herb but I pay the extra price and use it for everything I can in place of butter or vegetable oil. It really adds flavor to things and has lots of health benefits. I love fried eggs and fried okra, so I use it for that...I use it in place of butter when cooking any of the packaged pastas, in my spaghetti, I sautee cubed meat in it alot, with some Italian herbs and that is sooooo good...so when I DO just HAVE to have something fried I use that instead. It doesn't take gobs, just a couple tablespoons. It's also wonderful on toast in place of butter.

I have to say I'm heavy on the garlic, and any herb considered Italian. My son likes to peel potatoes, brush them with olive oil and basil, and bake them. I like to make steak rubs. And I love lemon pepper!!!! Cubed meat (any kind, just make sure it is lean) in a tablespoon of olive oil, lemon pepper, and garlic, and I don't need anything else!

I want someday to have a garden...even though I'm not a green thumb. Faerie/flower gardens around the house, vegetable and herb garden in the back.

It's just late summer, and I am in the mood for shelling something, or shucking, or canning or 'putting up' something. Maybe I'll go visit the vegetable stand later and get my fix.....

The Rant

I'm having trouble with the boy again. Seems that AFTER he got in trouble for numerous other issues over the summer, he decided it would be OK to go up to the highschool and kick a steel door in to the concession stand with another kid and have a Coca-Cola splattering fight. The Coca-Cola fight is cool, the breaking down of the school's steel door IS NOT.

We've placed several types of punishment in effect over the course of each offense. He continues his blatant disrespect for me, claims all his misdeeds should be No Big Deal, and blames me for screwing his life up. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

So is he just going through a normal teen rebellion stage? Or is there some sore of serious lack of responsibility here that I need to be worried about? I get varying answers from people. I guess it depends on how bad their kids were.

I got extremely disgusted with his attitude and the fact that he made the twins very nervous last night, so I called the police. It's one of the most heartbreaking things on earth to watch your child hand-cuffed and led off and driven away in a police car, even if they are just taking him to a counselor, and even if it's what he needs, and even if you did the calling.


My new job still doesn't hasn't recieved the last bit of paperwork they need from from the county, so I am going on day #3 waiting to start. I will be so glad to return to work, and I'm so tickled to have this new job. It's just been par for the course for my week.

The Health Dept. seems to have a major problem with my contractor who installed my new septic system. So, therefore, they have a problem with my new septic system. Which happens to work fine.

The SUV just underwent it's second estimate at the body shop after being rear-ended by a teenager. The results weren't good. I won't post about that until later, though.

It has NOT been a good week. And it's only Tuesday!!!!!!!!!

I think I need some prayers.

Illness

Blog Prompt: Describe the most serious illness you have ever had.

Being pregnant!!!! Of course, that's not necessarily an 'illness', but it caused the most pain and suffering, ever.

I guess the most serious 'illness' was when I was about 15, and my stomach started hurting and it just never stopped, for over a week, gradually getting worse until I couldn't hardly walk. I remember finally going and hunting my mother down, and her being irritated at me demanding her to take me to the hospital. I was told that 'this had better be good.'

They kept me for 8 days.

It was eventually diagnosed as gastritis, a stomach condition that can be best descibed as numerous tiny 'pinholes' in the stomach. It took them that long to figure it out because it's not a condition common in teens, and they think mine was brought on by bad nerves. It doesn't go away. Luckily I haven't been bothered with a bout of the pain from it in several years. And the castor oil they fed me in the hospital.....well, if you reallllllly hate somebody, make 'em drink a half a bottle of THAT stuff. The 1/2 teaspoon Mammy gives you to keep you regular doesn't hold a candle to hospital doses.....


Speaking of nerves, they are still bad. Very rough this week, in fact. I have several things floating around right now, and I wish the problems would go away. The full moon has hit our house with a vengeance.

Personality test

So this one treated me a little better than the book test...

The first lesson in growing up

One warm summer day when Kameron was about two years old, he was with me in the living room, sitting with his legs out in front of him and playing quietly. He'd been this way for quite awhile, while I read a book on the sofa. All of the sudden, he jumps up, screaming at the top of his lungs, and crying in that panicky, oh-I-just-chopped-something-off, get-me-to-the-hospital-now cry. Of course I am scared to death, and look up to see the poor thing standing there with big crocodile tears streaming down his face as is pointing to one leg, which he is holding aloft in the air. He stops, and runs to me and throws himself into my legs. As I ask him what in the world could be wrong, since I don't see any obvious injuries, he backs away, kicks his little leg back out in rigid, straight-forward position and tearfully exclaims, "MOOOOOOMMMMMYYY! I-I-I gots, I-I-I gots haaaaiiiir!!!" Then he starts jabbing his little finger up and down, pointing at his leg. "I gots hair on my LEEEGGSSS!!!!"

It took quite awhile to calm the kid down and get him to understand that the teeny, tiny, blonde, almost invisible hair was indeed OK and quite supposed to be there, and that it didn't matter that Mommy didn't have any hair on her legs. We had to wait for Daddy to come home from work, so he could show Kameron the hair on his legs before he was finally, fully at ease.

Scrapbook Updates

The following is a recent scrapbook page I completed with a kit I made, a template I made, and a fellow Saturday Night Live member's papers, username Marriedin79:




This is my Saturday Night live #29 August 2007 contribution:


I created this mini-kit as the posting prize for the current challenge for the Odds'n'Ends Challenge with Chix n' Mars on DSP:


This page for my niece Whitni, for her MySpace:


I am so glad to be creating this fast, again. When I quit smoking in February I went through some serious scrapper's block and an almost clinical relapse in depression. I made it, though!!!!

Just ONE Food.....

Blog Prompt: One food you would never give up is...

Oh ONE? BOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chicken. Fried, rotisseried, baked, Crock-pot'd, Alfredoed, stir-fried, grilled, bacon-sauteed, con-broccoli'd, you name it, I can eat the heck out of some chicken. Everyday. Never get tired of the stuff.

Maybe I should eat MORE chicken and less ice cream, and try to get a few pounds off.

Book Quiz. WT??

Found this Book quiz on Tink's blog. All I can say about what it said about me is.......What the HIZZY!!!!! lol....

You're Lolita!

by Vladimir Nabokov

Considered by most to be depraved and immoral, you are obsessed with
sex. What really tantalizes you is that which deviates from societal standards in every
way, though you admit that this probably isn't the best and you're not sure what causes
this desire. Nonetheless, you've done some pretty nefarious things in your life, and
probably gotten caught for them. The names have been changed, but the problems are real.
Please stay away from children.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Being an Angel

Blog Prompt: Wed. Aug 22 is Be an Angel Day. Tell something nice you could do for someone today.

Hm. Sorry, that bottled PMS spilled, and I got some on me. Alot. I'm all out of kindness today.

Ask me again tomorrow.

Procrastination

Blog Prompt: What are you putting off right now?

Heh. The entry would be shorter if I said, what do I not put off! I am a procrastinator. I have a lot to take care of, that's no joke. Sometimes I make excuses for it, sometimes I'm nervous, sometimes I'm tired. Sometimes I'm lost, or torn, or my resources are thin.

I wish I could harness the power of PMS, put it in a bottle, and take a good dose of it when I need it. It might help me some. Those sour moods and that don't-run-over-me extra dose of strength, I find is hiding sometimes when I most need it.

Right now, I am putting off:

Something to do with my job. (My Mercy factor---for not wanting to give some people what they so deserve, even though they so deserve it. But, tomorrow is the big day.)

Something to do with my house. (Needing a little PMS factor here. I have a contractor to defend. This will hit next week with a VENGEANCE.)

Balancing my checkbook. (limited resources)

Mailing off a few bills (because I haven't balanced the checkbook this week)
(Here's that resource thing again)

Cleaning my room (yeah, I talk out of both sides of my mouth here. The kids can't leave to go out sometimes, not all the time, if there room is a pigsty!) This has something to do with tired.

Cutting my hair. This...this has something to do with something that I can put my finger on, and that something I can't put my finger on is something I'm not ready to let go of yet.

I go tomorrow to visit the hairdresser. A consultation, if you will. I wonder if I'll take the plunge and make the appointment. I wonder if I'll keep my courage and KEEP the appointment???

E-mail

DSP Blog prompt: Name three people you last e-mailed, and why.

1. My sister, because she has a twisted sense of humor, so I sent her a good joke fitting her personality.

2. Steve's sister, sending her a good e-mail also befitting her personality.

3. At work I send about 20 e-mails a day so those are self explanatory and boring.

Relaxation

Blog Prompt: Aug 15 is National Relaxation Day. Tell what things you see, hear or do that relaxes you.



This is Wednesday's prompt. I'm late.



One very big thing is to eat and read, although, when I am super stressed like I have been this week, reading doesn't calm me much because the people in the books are always in trouble. This is the stuff of great fiction, no argumant about it, but I have to already be at a certain point of OK before I can even enjoy a good book or movie anymore.



I like a glass of wine in the evenings, sometimes, but I don't like the smell it leaves so I rarely even do that. I usualy end up going and brushing my teeth at least once after every glass. I should also state that I also can't stand the smell of alcohol on other people, either. That's a long story, not one for now.



Crocheting is relaxing. But, it is time consuming, so I usually don't crochet unless I have a specific project to complete.



Writing is relaxing. I know though, that I usually do not like what I write when I go back and read it, so my attempts at fiction are usually thrown away. This is a habit I've had all of my life, and now I wish I'd kept the diaries I'd made as a younger woman, so I could look back on them now.



I guess I find it very hard to relax!!! Today, anyway, when I need to be able to really bad. Nerves have been taut all week, for several reasons.



Probably the most relaxing thing of all for me is scrapbooking and trying to learn how to design. I can't hardly wait until I can get a copy of PSCS3 and really do some learning. I hate money being so tight.



I love to go to the lake and be near the water. The sound of water lapping on the banks is very relaxing.



I guess, given the burnout I am suffering and the nature of my job, NOT having to talk to people is relaxing!

Five Things Around My Computer

Hm. Well, right now I have two.

5 things around the desktop PC include:
A big stack of all kinds of computer paper
2 scanners, neither which will work properly
The bills
Miscellaneous software
Faery figurines and Steve's lava lamp

The laptop, which I cam currently on:
sofa
end table with lamp
blankets and pillow
coffee
small trash can


I'm not sure what this says about me.

5 things around Steve's computer:
desk organizer
flashlight
coffee cup
telephone
ashtray


5 things around the twin's computer:
Some software
a notebook
trash under the desk (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Spongebob Squarepants mouse pad
pens and pencils


5 things around Kameron's computer:
dirty dishes
candy wrappers and trash everywhere
high school notes from girls
school binder
small red wicker basket with software and misc things in it

Let's face it, the oldest boy is a pig.

I think the fact I have listed five computers is more ......disturbing......than what's around them. Except for, maybe, the boy's dishes. One of Mom's rules: No eating at the PC......

Look at your Hands......

Blog Prompt: Look at your hands. Why are you grateful for them?

For lots and lots of reasons....an unfathomable amount of reasons. I can touch my children with them. I can express my creativity with them. They help me earn our living. They help me learn, cook, clean, sew, crochet, read, (or hold the book, anyway) EAT!!!!!!! (lol) I can snuggle Steve with them....I can type, scratch, wash, shave, shampoo, curl, SCRAPBOOK!!!!.....and I'm pretty happy that God gave me some good fast growing fingernails. (Sometimes I look at them and think they might even be pretty. Sometimes.)

But most of all,

I can fold them and pray with them.

How would you spend a found $20 bill?

Blog Prompt: How would you spend a found $20 bill?

Before I quit smoking, on a pack of cigarettes. After I have quit, I SHOULD put it in the cookiejar labeled GYM to help me lose this 35 pounds I gained. I would realistically probably put it in my gas tank, or buy my kids or Steve something, go to the Dollar store for some cat litter or toilet paper, just give it to my kids, or get some DSP kits. Or maybe I would put it in the actual savings account to add to the Christmas fund (which has all of $24 dollars in it thanks to the new septic system)....

How has the Internet affected me???

According to the website "Daily Holidays of 2007", today is the anniversary of the World Wide Web. Blog Prompt: Tell how the internet has made an impact on your life.


I'm with lots of other ladies on this prompt---how has it NOT affected my life? I might say it has affected me in such a positive way that I wish it would have come along sooner. Maybe I would have sat at home instead of running around getting into trouble in my teenage years. I love to read, so the Net has saved me lots of money in reading material (but it will not ever take the place of a good book, a blanket, coffee and chocolates). I found my 'calling' in computers, and while I haven't quite made it to my goal career yet, I know that it will be with a computer. (If my bum neck will just permit it, anyway....) I have found hobbies and friends, and discovered things that interested me greatly I might not have found originally. I also use it as a tool to watch over what my kids and their friends are up to by perusing thier MySpace sites. It's amazing what you find out from that!!!!!!!! So, it is a very versatile tool of many many uses....so many I can't even think of them in one sitting. I also met my very good friend Eric, who lives in Chicago and comes to spend a week with me every year that he can afford to. I have missed him this year!!

How many Hats do you wear?

DSP Blog prompt: How many different 'hats' will you wear today? Will you be mom, grandma, employee, employer..etc. How do you balance all of it?

Employee
NOTE: The employee subhats include, but are not limited to:
Problem Solver
BrainStormer
Mediator
Coordinator
Psychologist
Victim
Therapist
Computer Geek
Punching Bag
Trend Analyst
Payroll clerk
Cashier
The Bearer of Bad News (yeah, the messenger gets shot ALOT.)
Oh and the list goes ON!

and then we have:

Mother (to three)
Girlfriend
Sister
Ex-wife
Head of Household
Finance Manager
Maid
Cook
Mediator
Referee

I am sure the list goes on here too.

If I am lucky I get to wear these hats:

Computer Geek
Scrapbooker
Blogger
Reader
Crocheter
Snuggler
Kitty Hugger

Rattlesnake pics

Here's a few shots of the rattler we stumbled across while (unsucessfully) looking for a place to go fish. He looks to be a mid-size Timber Rattler.







More on the whole trip later. Let's just say I'm getting a bit too old and cantankerous for this stuff...

Queens of Choir

Credits in my DSP gallery

The twins at their last choir concert--May 2007 approximately--crazy how I can forget dates so soon. Nicole's looking just a little too grown up for Mama to be comfy with.

Random musings

Wheeee! It's vacation time this week. I am going to looooove all the sleeping in I am going to do. The defintion of sleeping in, to me, is, just sleeping until you wake up. So I might sleep in till 7 am one day then noon the next.

Going to try to take the kiddos camping. I am really looking forward to that. I hope I can find a bathing suit to fit my extra 30 pounds in! I need a lawn chair, too, actually, we pretty much have everything except what I need. Imagine that.

Before that, though, there's got to be some major cleaning going on around here. My bedroom needs an overhaul (yeah, it's my fault, I gotta find a place to store all my jumbo plastic size containers full of fabric, and yarn, cross stitch crap, paper scrapbook stuff....etc) so, in order to do that, the 'back room' which right now is just an abyss.........well....the 'abyss' needs cleaned out in a bad way.........and it needs turned into a walk in closet. I have never met a house with so much NO closet space as my house!!! There's the backyard that needs an overhaul....not even going to get myself started with that. The front porch needs it. Maybe Steve can get the hammock up, too, and I can snuggle or at least go finish Hooper's Jack the Ripper book I snagged off him. I love to read outside! Maybe next year we can get a smaller laptop that the bettery will stay charged longer on and I can actually go scrap and design and write and muse in the hammock.

I hope for the good of my house I stay on the revamp the house kick. I am so wanting to get some of this stuff done.

Wallpaper......the twins have changed their mind AGAIN!!! Partially, it's my fault........the stuff they picked out isn't prepasted. I am scared of not prepasted wallaper. So after two hours of more looking, they finally decided, while we were in the car going home, on a tropical palm tree mural. I don't really know how I'm going to pull that one off. So, back to the drawing board on room design. And just when I had finally worked out a way to make the obnoxious pink teardrop retor crap maybe actually look good..........

Today's DSP prompt was:
Do you have a lucky number? Why is it lucky?

The answer is no, so, that doesn't make for a very interesting prompt from me!!!

However, this week has been a lucky week..........Bethy made a kit just for me because she loved my Reading to the Girls photo. The photo is here: http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=199908&cat=500&ppuser=56638

And Bethy's gorgeous kit is here:
http://bethnixon.blogspot.com/2007/07/august-2007-buzz.html

It's so wonderful! I can't wait to try and scrap this photo!

Baseball!!!!!

Last night we went took the twinnies to a Minor League baseball game. Those are always so much fun! This is the first one Steve has ever had a chance to go see --and the first we have been to together. I really had a ball watching him enjoy the game. The girls had a good time but I believe they got a little restless. The game was between the Miners and the Paints. The score was 5-3, Paint's favor, with the last 2 runs being scored in the 10th inning. There was an awesome fireworks show afterwords and that was the twin's favorite part! We didn't get home until 1 am and Steve has to work today so I know he is going to be so tired when he gets home!! The twins were standing along a concrete wall, and had come back up to Steve looking for me (I'd snuck off to go get some chicken fingers). As soon as they left their post, one of the outfielders came crashing into the same spot, flying over the wall and into the mud trying to catch the ball. I am glad they moved!

Makeup!

DSP Blog Prompt: (7/6/07)
Do you wear makeup? Love it or hate it? If you do wear it, is it for you or other people?


Yes, I wear makeup. I hate it for the most part. I mean, I am glad that it's been invented, because I'd scare the hizzy out of most people if I did not have it. I have never, even when I was very young, ever been able to be classified as a natural beauty. I have always needed help in that department! At least that is how I have always felt. I would say I wear it for myself, because it makes me feel better. I don't feel AS scary. And I have to say I enjoy applying it when I have the time. It's kind of like painting! But after it's on about an hour, I feel like I have lard all over my face, and all I want is just to go home and take the stuff off. I never wear it at home. They just have to love me as I look. Only, only if I am going to go somewhere and be gone awhile. And now, as I get older, I am even getting brave enough to skip the makeup for trips to walmart and such. I'm not going to be discovered as a beauty queen like Pamela Anderson was at such things like baseball games or trips to the grocery. And I'm never going to see those people again anyway, probably, and remember it, so, who cares if they think I look horrid?

More High School Memories

DSP Blog Prompt 6/29/07:
What were your high school colors? Team names? Clubs you belong too? Did you graduate? What do you remember most about your graduation day?

Highschool colors: Red, white and grey
Team Names: Greyhounds
Clubs you belonged to? Art Club, Choir
Graduate? Nope!
What do you remember most about your graduation day?
That Kameron was right at a year old, and that I had four weeks left before graduation. I had made A's and B's all year long. Kameron had caught a really BAD case of the chicken pox. We are talking pox bigger than a quarter, fevers of 104 degrees that sent my 17 year old self into a PANIC. He still carries some of those scars, and I learned that I had every right to be scared of that kid's fevers. He's no joke when it comes to a fever, but that's another story in itself. Anyway, I wasn't about to leave the kid with a sitter--he was too sick. The doctor wrote me out an excuse from school to stay home with him for two weeks until he got out of the woods. I could now collect all my schoolwork, keep my grade average up, and graduate, and be home with my sick child.
I took the doctors excuse in and the principal would not accept it because *I* was not sick. He didn't care how sick my child was. A heated argument ensued between us. I was to report to school unless I got the pox myself or I would not graduate. In the nastiest way possible I let him know just what I thought of his decision and stormed out. I still feel no better about him today. If I knew then what I know now, I'd probably slapped a lawsuit on that school. I did not graduate--I stayed home with my baby. Kameron recovered fine and I went back and got a GED. So, what I remember most about my graduation day is that I was at home in the living room playing with a laughing, bouncing, healthy baby boy, instead of standing in line in a cap and gown waiting to get a piece of paper that I could have lost a baby over.

To this day I do not regret my decision.

Saturday Night Live: Signature Americana

I had time to throw together a July 4 kit before the kids and their social lives took over....(Happy Birthday Rowan & Nicole!!)

Saturday Night Live: Template

At DSP's Saturday Night Live, our kit-making group is growing by leaps and bounds. This month, I suggested two different color schemes, and someone else suggested a totally new scheme since our original July 4 color scheme closely mimiced what they had last year. So, we ended up keeping our original red-white-blue scheme and added this bright Fiesta scheme. I was soooo psyched to do something with these colors, but my kids took my hand and RUN with me the whole month, so all I ended up with was this lousy template. Oh well, maybe later!!!

Steve and ... Me

The girls took this picture of us after their 5th grade gradtuation ceremony. I have lots of great photos to scrap from that day but the Muse hasn't been visiting me much lately. I think this one came out alright, though, and even if he does look like I was stepping on his toe, I wasn't...he was actually happy. He just won't smile for pictures!!!

High School Friends

DSP Blog Prompt:
Did you have a lot of friends in high school or just one or two very close friends? What did you and your friends do for fun? Are you still in contact with any of them?

I would think of myself as anti social on one hand, but, then again, I had a huge amount of friends. They just weren't your cookie cutter high school kids, and we didn't engage in cookie cutter high school activities. I would say that we played TOO hard. A lot of us never recovered from it.

We skipped school. Of course, we'd be hungry, so we'd crash our friend Shawn's house and guess who got to cook breakfast, cause they were the only one who could cook a from-scratch breakfast? Moi. So I taught the boys how to make bisciuts from scratch. We were pretending to be in Home Ec! We were learning.....just not where and what we were supposed to at 9 am. Who wants Algebra III at 9 am when you can have a biscuit and someone's mom's beer???? Or, how about...um...geography. We'd explore the terrain on three wheelers. Unfortunately we wrecked and I broke my nose. Then we wrecked again and run the thing off in the river. (Robin's dad was SO mad at us!!!)

We'd push the bar....... Jump railroad tracks, drag race, play 'chicken' with trains, explore haunted houses, drink too much, drive too fast. Fight too hard. Sleep too late. Jam too loud (all the boys played electric guitar or drums). Sneak out at night, hitch a ride into town, meet up with buds and be off on the next adventure. We played hide and seek in graveyards. Skinnydipping? Too lame!! (but we did it anyway) Midnight motorcycle rides, bonfires, rock concerts, keg parties, seances.....Life was an endless cup of this robust, effervescent, intoxicating brew, and we drank deeply of it.

We were 80's babies......it was sex, drugs and rock n roll all the way. Pink Floyd was old school, and to be revered, so it blared from the stereo systems of Camaros, Z-28's and Iroc Z's. We made every rock concert we could afford, even if we had to skip or miss school or face the wrath of a parent. Was two weeks of house arrest an endurable punishment for a trip to the big city, to get a front row seat at a Motley Crue concert...to have Vince Neil grab your hand and see Tommy Lee play his drums naked? You bet. (If you got desperate, just sneak out. ) Lita Ford was the new Stevie Nicks and all the girls had wild platinum blonde hair just like her. We sported black concert T-shirts, ripped jeans, and black bangles. Butterfly knives were nestled in our black leather boots decorated with chains, and we knew how to use them.

Live life in the fast lane, and you crash and burn. A few of us actually graduated, and went on to have a healthy, happy adult life. Quite a bit more than I would have expected, looking back now. Some of us were forced to straighten up (when babies were on the way). Some of us didn't make it to see 18, and even more didn't make it to see the first wrinkle line our faces before we were lain in the grave. Still more succumbed to the evils of addiction in one form or another, others landed in jail for a long, long time.

A lot of those friends are still very dear to me and we still get together from time to time, although the social gatherings have tamed down considerably. Some of them I have distanced myself from in the greater insterest of preserving what I have become. I can't believe we even made it through a month of that kind of lifestyle. I wouldn't trade my memories for anything but I wouldn't go back for a million dollars, either.

And I cry for the ones I have lost.

Teenagerhood

DSP Blog Prompt: Moving on in life, as a teenager what do you feel were your greatest achievements and worse mistakes? Have these achievements and/or mistakes helped to make you a better person? Or did they hinder you as you proceeded into adulthood?

Wow....I didn't achieve much as a teen. I made lots of mistakes, actually. I wasn't into any high school clubs or groups. I was misunderstood and artsy, and fell into the wrong crowd. What most people would say is the worst mistake a teenager could make ended up being my greatest accomplishment. I ended up pregnant at 16. Unlike a lot of other teenage girls who handed their baby off to someone else to raise, though, while they go finish growing up, I kept my kid, and raised him just as I am raising them all today. I was heading down a road to certain destruction....one I have seen many of my friends from that time in my life follow. I grew up, met my challenge and responsibility head-on, and today, I have a good, strong, well-loved, intelligent son that I am proud of. I could have achieved similar results without learning things the hard way...but, also, I look around and alot of other people my age who never had things rough, and think, "Now how would they handle something really, really tough?" I am glad that I also became a stronger person from all my trials and tribulations.

So, honestly, even with all the mistakes I made, I wouldn't change a thing.

My Childhood Pets

DSP Blog Prompt: As a child did you have any exotic (i.e. those not indigenous to your area) or unusual pets? If not, did you have any pets at all? What kind? Did you give them standard pet names or come up with unusual and unique names?


Hm. No. But snakes as pets were fashionable in our household (at least until Mom come home) when I was a kid. Dad loved snakes. And in keeping with his I-wish-I'd-had-a-little-boy-but-you'll-do-fine attitude towards having a girl, he taught me not to be afraid of snakes. He did this by catching a little grass snake, tying a string around it's neck, and giving it to me. Then after I learned I could drag it about and it wouldn't eat me, he taught me how to pick it up. He taught me how to get bit. He taught me how to tell if it was piosonous or not. Since he passed away before I was old enough to handle poisonous snakes, I am still leery of those kind and won't pick them up.

My mom was horridly, horridly afraid of snakes, so this education only existed in her absence. My sister tells me that one day I had picked up a Tonka truck out of my sandbox (no Barbies for me, I'm telling you, I was sposed to have been a boy) and a snake crawled out of it and up my arm. She said that I just picked it up (the right way) and set it off in the gress, while my mother had coniption fits.

There were racoons, in the farmhouse, great things when they are babies. Horrid as they get older....the older they get....the meaner they get. And the baby fawn caught in the combine one year. Mom would get really mad if I drug home a coyote baby from the fields. The only thing I was really allowed by Mom to have was cats.

One of these days, I'm going to be Cleopatra for Halloween, down to a live snake around my neck.

Childhood Collections

DSP Blog Prompt: Did you collect anything as a child? Why or why not? What was the significance of your collection and where did you procure it? Do you still have any or all of the collection now?


I wasn't much of a collector as a kid, but I got into collectibles a bit as I have grown older. I had a mediocre stamp collection that my grandfather helped me build as a child. It stemmed from the stamp collection my father left behind when he passed away. I kept it for years and year, but when I moved out, I left it with Mom, and I guess she spring cleaned one year and got rid of it. Amazing how you can totally forget something that was so importangt to you, then something will make you remember it. And you are left with....'wow. I'm an idiot. I'd give my left eyetooth to have that back.'

As I got older I started to collect dragons, because it seemed like an odd thing to collect, and something nobody would have much of. Then, I branched out to wizards, castles, faeries, etc. Soon dragons and fantasy figurines were everywhere so it became not-so-interesting anymore. Kameron decided he wanted the dragon collection, so I passed it to him, but he has pretty much outgrown it as well.

Now my house is littered with faeries. My computers are sprinkled with faeries, and my cubicle at work is spilling over with printed digital scrapbook pages and faerie statues.

One other thing I think it is safe to say that I collect is sewing fabric. I have boxes and boxes of fabric that I am going to sew something out of....

one of these days......

Family Field Trip: The Graveyard

Once, when I was about 9 years old, my mom and my sister took me to this really old graveyard that was rich with old stories, history, etc etc. We went in the late afternoon, and I can remember my sister joking as we drove in, "Remember, Mom, we have to make it out by dusk, they lock the gates, you know. Don't wanna get locked in."

We got locked in.

We got out, (by, um, driving thru someone's yard, hope they didn't get mad) and unfortunately the wonderful experience of being locked in a graveyard after my mom and sister had just got through telling me about 100 ghost stories about it, well, kind of overshadowed the ghost stories thierselves.

This is a story my kids love to hear. So, since the twins are about 12 now, sis and I decided it was high time the girls got to experience what some might call a sick and twisted family tradition, and, what sis and I call.........a history lesson!



Were the girls traumatized? After three and a half hours in the graveyard, (no, we didn't get locked in this time) we adults suggested some ice cream and then home. Their prompt response was:

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
"Let's go see that one! We haven't seen that one!!! Or that one.....Mommy Aunt Janet pllllllleeeaaaaaase...........Can't we just go see a FEW more???"

So, what were some of the stories we told them?


About this lady, who died at 23, grieved to death at the loss of her lover. The story is that her gravesite statue (which has long since been vandalized, only half the statue remains) would cry tears of blood, and you can still to this day see bloodstains in the folds of the skirt. (I remember the stain being very prominent, when I was little, but today is no more than a faint line of rust color that you really have to look for.)



And about this grave marker, under which, if you sit, at night, the angel will drop cement raspberries onto your head.


And when this man died, his dog laid on his grave until it grieved itself to death. A statue of the dog was placed at the foot of the plot to honor him, but the head of the dog has since been taken off by vandals.

They got to experience the sadness of the death of a child, see whole family plots, and military graves, all formed in their small, neat and orderly rows, dating back to the Spanish-American War. They marveled at how our tributes in the form of the gravemarkers have changed over the years----from whole families buried together in mausoleums or large plots of ornate stones encased in wrought iron fences, to the open, slick, plain-fonted, simple stones of today, with no more than two or three people in an area bearing the same name.

And, hopefully, learned some valuable lessons in the meantime...

If you could be a child for one day....

Blog Prompt: If you could be child for one day, how old would you be and what would you do?

I would be six again, or seven, and go fishing with my Poppy at Miss Emmy's pond.

I'd go dig for worms in the hours before, and ride with him in his big green Ford to the baitshop to get crickets and minnows, just in case the worms weren't good enough.

We'd stop on the way home, in SOMEBODY'S corn field, and play some hide and seek. I'd scream when I saw a banana spider, then we'd steal a few ears and leave.

I'd wobble with the 6 foot tall high-tech fishing pole he'd bought 'just for me'---the glossy, dark green and black fishing pole that he suffered a tongue-lashing from my Mammy for, when she found out how much he paid for it (well, them....he had to have one too...).

Once we got there, I'd giggle when he cursed and proclaimed that he forgot the bait and left it at the house. I'd squeal when he came back with a snake wriggling in his hands, and cringe when I had to bait my own hook with a chunk of newly slain snake. (Yes, it works.)

I'd listen to his stories about when he was a little boy, and when Mammy burnt the schoolhouse down.

I'd throw my pole down, and just pull the line in with my hands, while he shouted encouragement in the background. (That pole was WAY too big for me, after all.)
Once I reeled the fish in, I'd be very, very proud, because I would have just caught THE BIGGEST fish EVER, no, it really IS, doesn't matter if it looks smaller that the other ones in the bucket. And I wouldn't have to take the fish off the hook, because they 'fin' you. And, well, finning hurts.

Then, in the twilight, I'd eat my fish dinner with my grandparents, maybe having some fried green tomatoes and corn on the cob with it. Afterwards, I'd sit with Mammy and break green beans, or shuck corn, (from our own corn field, which was probably missing a few ears because someone decided they wanted some on the way home from somewhere) for canning and blanching the next day.

Later in the night, a bad thunderstorm would blow in, and my grandparents would come over to our large farmhouse. Momma and Mammy would sit in the dining room, scared of the storm, and have coffee. Poppy and Daddy and I would be outside on the front porch swing, watching. I would fall asleep stretched out in their laps in a soft blanket.....and dream sweet dreams.

I wish I could learn....Because....

Blog Prompt: I wish I could learn..... because.....


There are just tons of things that I wish I could learn. I think the things that I wish for the most are to be able to learn things that will keep me independent, and ways to keep my family safe, and happy. Ways to have plenty in the bank for retirement....ways to keep the car from breaking down...ways to stay safe, and sheltered, without getting spoiled. (While we are wishing, let's throw in, ways to stay looking and feeling 25 forever!)

Other than that, I wish I could learn about history, and web design, quite simply, because I love the stuff. Or ways to draw better, ways to make money doing the things I love to do. I would love to learn to play the guitar, but God would have to make my fingers grow some, first, and give me at least an ounce of musical talent. (I don't sweat this.)

I wish my DOCTORS would learn how to make my head and neck quit hurting. Because....I hurt all the damn time. (We are on 3 years & counting! Whooohoo for them!)

I would love to learn how to learn by osmosis....at least for the dry stuff I need to learn.

I HAVE learned that you should not ever pray to God for patience. He works in mysterious ways. Go ahead---pray for it. He does not send it down from the heavens in a box with a pretty pink bow. You LEARN it, the hard way, by enduring nasty people, traffic jams, and dead mouses in the walls!

Memorial Day

DSP Blog Prompt: How does your city celebrate this day or do you do anything special? Do you know anyone who has served in the military? If so, let us know so that we can honor all of those who serve their country.

My city doesn't do anything special for Memorial Day. Most businesses do not shut down but I personally, at the moment, am lucky enough to get the holiday off.

I know several people that have served in the military. They don't talk much about it. I have been fortunate enough to hear some old war stories, first hand, from a soldier who fought on the front lines in Normandy and elsewhere in WWII. I believe the stories were told in confidence to our family at the time, so I will not repeat them here. But I will say that if ANYONE deserves the respect of the world...it is a soldier!!!!

Faery Twins

Here is yet another faery layout. I can't believe how big my twinnies are getting!

SNL kit May 2007

My Saturday Night Live Digital scrapbook designs for May. I went totally off the wall with our supplied color swatches and did all faeries!

DSP Blog Prompt 5/16/07

Blog Prompt: List the 5 things that annoy you the most. If you are like me, this can change from day to day, but tell me the recent annoyances that have just gotten on your nerves.

1. Rude Customers---whether you are my customer or not.
Given my line of work, which I don't usually talk about, I have to say, people who expect something for nothing. If your item is five years old, it's used. Period. Warranties DO apply. Service technicians do get sick, have babies, and heart attacks, so sometimes they haveto change thier appointments. And sometimes, just sometimes, when you get a service rep on the other end, maybe we really ARE trying to help, so just be nice. When I am out, as a customer to another business, I can't stand to see someone acting like a moron to the hired help. Most of the time (although I agree, there are circumstances that warrant a fit), but, most of the time, all that caterwauling just isn't neccessary.

2. People in General
Thinking about this for a moment has just opened a floodgate of annoyances. It all ties into people and how they act. There's far more than 5 things to list, so I'll go with these, to start:

Snobby attitudes -- Last time I checked, EVERYONE'S undies were made in such a manner that they all get put on the same way. Where would these people REALLY be if they didn't have dear hubby making their living for them, or Mommy paying their bills?

Materialistic tendencies ---so somebody's house is bigger than mine. Queen Elizabeth's 'house' (or palace) is bigger than theirs. They can get over it.

Bullying --Please--call a lawyer! I hope he's worth the four grand or so that will be spent
getting a point across.

Road rage--I'm not sure about the rest of you, but stomping, horn-honking, finger-waving, and screaming idiots behind me just make me want to go even slower, even if the car directly in front of me does decide to finally speed up.

Liars --The be-all, end-all of annoyances. I absolutely cannot stand to be lied to.


3. Crooked politicians and the health care system
I don't feel that I need to elaborate on this one....it speaks for itself.

4. The person or persons responsible for the extinction of the good, old-fashioned 'arse-whoopin'
I know everyone knows at least one person who would be put in their place should they be dealt a good swift kick in the pants every now and again..........

5. Having to go somewhere at the end of the day
That wasn't planned, or anything that cuts into family time.

DSP Blog Prompt 5/8/07

Blog Prompt: What makes you feel safe?

Oddly enough, a kicking summer thunderstorm. Lots and LOTS of thunder!!
The sound of the ocean or water
A hug and a snuggle for Steve and/or the kids
Coffee or hot tea, blanket, a book or hand-held craft project, choclate, and muted lighting
Snuggling in soft thick covers in the dark
My big brother
All the children laughing at once

DSP Blog Prompt 5/7/07

Blog Prompt: What do you think about ghosts?

I know plenty of people who believe in them. I have had some strange experiences but I can't say I have out and out full fledged come face to face with a spectre of the highly publicized translucent white, neither benign or malignant. What messes with me the most are my dreams. My sister has dreams like this, too. I would really like to see a ghost, preferably one benign.

Perhaps the most disturbing experience I have had was when I had first split up with my husband. When I rented a house, a friend of mine was going to help me move some things in. When getting directions, he got rather white and said "Um, you can't move there. That place is haunted." And proceeded to tell me about a woman named Susan who supposedly haunted my new house. He had known people who lived there before, evidently. So, fine, I arranged for other help. Poor Lon was so spooked that he never came to see me. Now I think is a perfect time to mention that I never ever said anything about Susan or a ghost to my children. The twins were about 4 years old at the time.

Not long after we were living there, Ro got up from bed one night and said, "Mommy, I can't sleep. That lady won't go away."

What?!

So I go into their bedroom, and for the life of me I can't see a thing. I turn the light on. Nothing.
"Ro, honey, there's no lady in here."
"Ya huh. She's in the corner. See her?" Ro asks.
Then Nicole interjects with, "Her eyes are black."
"Nic, you see her too?"
"Yea. She's right there gosh Mommy!"
"What's she wearing?"
"White stuff! Since you can't see her can we just sleep with you?"
So the twins curl into bed with me, and right before I turn the light out, Rowan says, "Nicole look! There she is again! In the fan light."

That creeped me out so bad that I got them dressed, got my son dressed, and flew, past midnight, to my friend Bryan's house. I got him up, out of bed, and made him come spend the rest of the night at our house on the sofa! But after that, in the year we lived in that rented house, we never saw anything else of our lady ghost with big black eyes. But Bryan and Lonnie never let me live down my horrible lapse of courage that one night.

DSP Blog Prompt 5/3/07

Blog Prompt: You have heard that the President and his wife of an obscure country is coming to visit and picked you (and your family if you want) to have dinner with. You can decide to cook for them or order in or take them out. What 5 dishes would you want them to taste? They can be any part of a meal (appetizers, main dish, vegetables, salads, desserts) or all of one type (all desserts for example).

I belive I would decide to cook for them, and give them a taste of authentic hillbilly cookin'-- just like Mammy used to do. I'd make them:

Homemade biscuits:

2 parts self rising flour
1 part shortening
1 part milk
(The only time Mammy ever measured when cooking was when she was doing an intricate candy such as peanut brittle or divinity. She is the one who taught me to cook, and I do not measure most of the time, either.)

Wilted Lettuce:

Fry bacon and prepare white beans. White beans can be canned, if neccessary, but Mammy always used leftover white beans from a pan of ham hock and white beans cooked the day before. Also cut up green onion stalks in small pieces.

Take fresh washed and dried green leaf lettuce (not iceberg) and lay in 4 or 5 layers.

Heat leftover bacon grease to very, very hot, and sparingly drizzle it over lettuce. You will hear a crisp crackling sound.

Scatter white beans on top, then layer green onions and bacon cut into very small bits. (No processed bacon bits!)


Venison

Cut fresh venison (crossgrain) into small bite size cubes or pieces. Toss lightly in flour. Fry in 5 or 6 tables spoons of olive oil and several teaspoons chooped onions. Add fresh cooked bacon slices into mix when complete.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Prepare a separate bowl of eggs and a heavy dash of milk, beat well.

Cut slices of green tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick. Dunk each slice in egg mixture, then in yellow corn meal. Fry in oil.

Rhubarb Pie

This is so hard to make, Mammy's way, I'm not even going to post it.

But nobody likes stuff like this to me, so they would probably turn their nose up at it. And these days, it's considered heart attack on a plate, but just every once in awhile I can't resist it! To me, it's a meal fit for a king.

DSP Blog Prompt 5/1/07

Blog Prompt: You won the travel lotto! You will get an all expense paid trip for you and your family to 5 places anywhere in the world. List the 5 "Must See" places in the world you would go see.


Well, let's see.......there are 5 of us, so I would let everyone pick a place. Unfortunately, that would leave me with just one!!! Where would I go?? Probably to Australia on New Year's Eve. They have, of course, the biggest fireworks show on Earth then.


After that, should someone forfiet (sp?) thier choice, I would say to England, Scotland, Ireland, and Romania. Oh, and Italy, all over. Greece. And Alexandria, Egypt, and then to the Pyramids.... all to see what I could learn about their rich history.

Weren't we supposed to stop at 5?

Broked Kitty

I was NOT going to have another cat. I had two already that I could barely afford vet bills on. But everytime I went over to Steve's sister's house, this little grey cat would go berserk. He would not leave me alone. I couldn't hold the baby, I couldn't eat dinner, I couldn't do anything without that little thing all over me. I can't say I didn't like it. I adore snuggly kitties. Finally around Christmas Kameron decided he liked the cat, too, so, home it went. The cat loves me. That's about all I can say for it. And did I get attached to it? yes. Real attached? I was ate up with that cat. (His name is Frodo by the way.)

Well, one day he decided to go outside. When I come home from work, he didn't come. I was worried sick! The next morning, he didn't come. The girls found him beside the garage. When we brought him in, he couldn't walk. So we took him to the vet. She did some X-rays and we found out that he had eveidently been hit by a car, or some sort of severe trauma, because his thigh bone was completely broken at the base of both the top and bottom joints. The bone was broken in such a manner that it was impossible to splint both breaks. We had a few options....we could amputate, euthanize, or we could gamble. So, we gambled. She splinted the bottom break and we left the other break to heal on its own, bracing it as much as possible. She said sometimes breaks like that would heal into what is called a false joint. We were hoping Frodo's sweet little leg bone would do this. He just wouldn't be able to move very much. And we knew that he would have a severe limp, always, if everything went according to plan. But I couldn't put him down, and I couldn't have his little leg cut off, so I gave the house payment to the vet and let her do her thing.

We had to do splint checks every week so she could keep an eye on the breaks. Using the litterbox was not a very pleasant experience sometimes, but I have to say that this cat was a trooper through it all. He never lost his appetite or snuggle capacity. I think he's even more snuggly now, because in order to let him get a reprieve from his dark cat box, I'd sit with him on the sofa in the evenings for long periods of time, holding him in my lap. I'd even let him chew on my hands when he felt frisky. We all signed his cast so he'd know we were rooting for him.

Finally, after all his shots and deworming and splinting and neutering, the cat is able to come out of the box. His hip healed about as well as we could have hoped. The leg gets a little stronger everyday and he doesn't limp near as bad as I thought he would, but the leg is certainly not usable for crouching and jumping. All in all, I think the vet did a wonderful job and I am so glad that my snuggly little baby is OK!!!!!

Another funny story......

I have a feeling I'll be re-visiting this blog prompt alot, posting as I remember them. Tink's blog made me remember this!

My Brother in Law, Captain Underpants

I had been dating this man for about 6 months or so when I thought it might be safe for him to meet some of my family. You have to understand, I have long been plagued by the meeting of the family. That's because they want to act like bullies or wierdos. I should write a novella on it at another time.

So I arrange with my sister to meet her later that evening at a local members only club she was part of for a few drinks and anight of laughter and relaxation with my friend. (He's not my friend anymore but that's beside the point).

We have to ring the bell at the locked door, and wait. We then have to introduce ourselves, and ask for my sister. The doorman yells across the area for her and I hear my brother in law yell. "I'll come get 'em!"

We are led into the foyer and you can see down a wide hall. We can't go any further until someone I know comes to escort us in to the building. I think at this point it I need to mention that just before we went in I told my freind that I was not responsible for any manner in which my family may act. Period.

Bounding down the hall, sideways, just like Tigger would do, comes my very tall, very thin, brother-in-law. He also has a glass eye, although in the fair dark it wasn't too noticeable. His arms are waving in the air, and he is wearing, over his clothes, a pair of women's bra and panties.

My friend was not overly traumatized and found it very funny. Back then I thought that was a good thing, although now I wish he'd run screaming, but that's beside the point. And I have yet another wonderful family memory for the journals.....

DSP Blog Prompt 4/27/07

Tell a funny story or your favorite joke.


My son is a practical joker. We have all gotten up in the morning at some point in time smothered in toothpaste, shaving cream, mascara, or guacalmole. We've had glasses painted around our eyes. We've had messages written on our backs. We've shot bottle rockets out of the window of a moving vehicle, toilet papered trees and thrown snowballs in wal-mart parking lot. We throw stuffed animals over the aisles in wal-mart, too. We know all the best interactive prank call websites. (Okay, maybe I play along with him a little bit. But, like a good Mom, I always warn him that if he ever gets busted and hauled down to juvie he has to act like I wasn't in on it so they'll let me bail him out. People just don't have the sense of humor they did twenty years ago, you know.)

We are always daring one another to do something. One day I dared him to dress up in a purple summer satin nightie and run around the yard. I did a scrapbook layout about it. Since pictures really are worth a thousand words sometimes, I'll let the layout be my real blog entry for the day:



A better posting of the layout can be found in my DSP gallery.