This place has been a madhouse. School's back in, the swimming is over, and I've been trying to catch up on all the work around here that I let go to go play at Mom's all summer. I'm finally starting to be able to actually see the floor again - we no longer have to manouver our way through the clutter. *laughs* It's not tidy by any means, but we can get through now without breaking our necks.
I'm going through menapause, which means I've "copped an attitude", for which I've been given Remifemin tablets by those who love me, to "curb" my "mood swings". I looked to see what's in them, and they're made of something called 'Black Cohosh'. I sat there musing, what is Black Cohosh? Stan piped up and said "It's Black Widow Venim - the only thing strong enough to deal with women like you..." I Googled it, it's an extract from a member of Buttercups. Black Widow Venim indeed!
My camera battery won't take a charge for some reason - it's not a year old until Christmas but then again, I've taken at least 10,000 pictures with it. Still, I have to have a new one today, TODAY, because the grandparents tea is this afternoon and I HAVE to have my camera.. Mikyla's all ready, she knows the line in her Grandparents Poem - "A is for Always letting us win, when we play games." (Isn't that adorable - letting them win.. hell, they're a half century younger than we are, they win fair and square, we're too slow and feeble to win anymore! If I want to win at something, I have to go play against my mom or my grampa! And I KNOW they ain't letting ME win! I EARN those wins!)
Meli that album you made is just beautiful, that had to take some time to do, you're something else, I love you! Thanks again!
Shelly, I set the tables up in the living room, wow they're pretty, I can't believe you didn't want them anymore! My sister in law sent me roses day before yesterday, FTD, in the prettiest vase, and I put them on one of them, along with 2 bottles of wine. Now Mikyla doesn't like to see Beer, Wine, or any kind of alcohol in the house, it makes her uneasy.. she starts asking Who's going to get drunk?" I was given the wine as a gift and had it in the refrigerator and had to take it out and hide it, it made her that uneasy... but... it's pretty on the table by the roses - so I put it there, and waited to see Mikyla's reaction. She came in from Nana's last night, ran through the house, did a double take in the living room.. gasped and said "Oh Mammy, those tables are BEAUTIFUL! Where did you get them? Why is that 'beer' there?" (All alcohol is beer to her) I said well, I just like the bottles, the color is pretty, and no one around here is going to be drinking it so I thought we could use it for a decoration there, what do you think? She looked at it a second and nodded, then skipped off to wherever she was bound.. calling her approval over her shoulder, "It's just beautiful there!" I tried to get your big screen tv, but Gerald wasn't letting go with it. *laughs* Thanks again for the tables. P.S. You forgot your broom the other day. See you this weekend!
Dede, the tea-set made Mal's day, she just loves it.. and the magnet, ohhh how Mikyla coveted that magnet, she tried to take it, but skinny little Mallory wasn't having any of that, she held her own and got it back, held it over her head like the championship belt a heavy-weight wins and uses it to drive Mikyla crazy with envy. *laughs* Big hugs from her, and from me too, thanks!
And you, Miss Jana, all those trojans, we're going to have to do something about that! *laughs* One broken hand wasn't enough for him was it.. *goes to get the sledgehammer* (just kidding, wouldn't hurt him for the world.) Thank you so much for all the goodies in that box, it was like Christmas! I never saw so much snatching up of lip gloss and toothbrushes in my life! "Ohhh that's MY color!" "Hey, I like this, can I have this!?" I need to go to Middlesboro. Thank you, I'm glad you're partially back, I missed you! This has been three of the longest weeks of my life!
I have another dog. We drove 6000 miles to get him. He's 3 and a half months old, peckingese. He's beautiful, with the most adorable eyes you've ever seen. And gentle! He's training himself to go do his business outside...Amazing, I've never had a dog that wasn't brain dead in some form or fashion, this little fella is just perfect. If you don't believe me, ask Mom. She isn't a dog person at all, but said she wants him, she and Bonnie are fighting over him. As if...
Mikyla, Mallory, Stan and I each wrote a name we liked on a piece of paper. Stan picked "Corky"...Mikyla wanted it to be "Angel Cake", Mallory picked "Fudge", and I picked a most imaginitive "Jack". Joel just calls him 'doggy' - he doesn't understand the concept of giving something a name. Anyway... we put our slips of papers into a bowl, and let Maegan reach in and get one. Then we read which name she chose. Mallory's name was the one she picked, and so our puppy's name is "Fudge". It's sort of perfect too, because he's the color of fudge royal ice cream.
When I was about 14, I went to the store with my grandfather. On the way home, he stopped to get gas. Back then they had a guy who stood there and pumped it, but papaw would get out of the truck anyway and stand and talk to him while he pumped it. This particular day my grandmother's nephew was also getting gas in the next lane. Papaw turned, saw him and started to talk with him.. just to pass time. As I watched, I remember being disgusted by the way this guy behaved. He nodded once to papaw, distracted, then he cut Papaw off mid-sentence and walked away, into the store.. to me it looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there having an old man talk to him. I was afronted, pretended like I hadn't seen the slight, and I felt bad watching papaw put his hands in his pockets with a puzzled expression on his face. I can remember thinking, "what an asshole, I am going to try to remember never to cut anyone off like that, I'm going to try to listen, and if I can't listen, I'll do my very best to pretend to listen."
Don't you just hate it when you try to talk to someone and you get the same thing, just a distracted reply, then cut off? Or worse yet, the person you were trying to tell something to over-rides your voice, your story with one of their own. Once or twice okay but repeatedly? It's like.. why bother? And why listen to them tomorrow when they call or come by with some anectedote they just 'have' to share...? I sure hope I remembered to teach my own children not to do their grandparents that way. I sure hope that... say... if Mom is trying to tell one of my kids for example, about her day at school, that my girls listen and don't just cut Mom off. I hope that because someday, they'll be glad they took the time to listen. I'd hate for my children to be cheated out of something because I may have forgotten to teach them their manners. I've learned to listen. I've been called a very good listener.. in fact.. it's said that the reason I worry so much is that I listen too hard. Still, you learn a lot when you listen. Worrysome or not, if you want people to listen to you, you really should make an attempt to hear them as well. Fair's fair.
A P.S. on the rude nephew at the gas pump. Some years later he was killed playing a game of russian roulette. Or..he shot himself in the head. I've heard different stories of how he died. And young and foolish as I was when I heard this, I remember thinking... well it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
Listen!
(Hey, I told you in the second paragraph of this post, I've copped an attitude)
I'm going to Brenda's next weekend to stay with Papaw while she and James go away for their anniversary. *laughs* They say he's a tad on the grouchy side.
(noway! impossible, not him! hehe) I swear, I'm not going to walk back and forth at the foot of his bed and just stare at him to freak him out.. I will not say things like.. ohhhh you poor darling you, you can't really get away from me now can you.. you can't run now can you.. you can't hide beneath the table to scare my children now can you... *laughs* I swear I'm not going to do or say those things. I'm going to treat him just as kind and as gently as I'd like to be treated when I'm old and can't move. I promise!
Mom has volunteered to help Mikyla's teacher in school. This has resulted in Mikyla being happier there, but wow what a change in Mom! She's animated, enthusiastic, involved...she's having more fun than I've seen in a long time. I think it's too neat, good for both of them, and I'm tickled to death that they're both so happy and Mik is doing so much better in school! Way to go, MOM!!!!!
Oh.. you know I have to mention the death of the crock hunter. Dead at 44, stung in the heart by a sting ray while filming a documentary called something like "The Most Deadly Creatures of the Sea". The world is shocked. Mom said something that in my wicked state of mind, made me laugh. I can't believe the ray did that to him. I can't get over it, I thought he and the animals read each other's minds...oh that's Steve Irwin, I can't kill him! How dare that ray do that!? *just shakes head* I truly hate that he died, I enjoyed watching him with Mikyla.. *coughs* I don't know if I typed a post about her and what she said of one of those croc hunters or not - how she hoped the thing bit his head off because he was stupid for putting it in the croc's mouth in the first place. I'm sure she didn't mean that literally, and I'm sure I didn't either. Because I was thinking the same thing when she voiced it. I do, I really do hate that Mr. Irwin was killed by that sting-ray, but I wasn't in shock like most folks are. The only thing that surprised me about that man's whole life was that he wasn't killed in similar fashion long before it actually happened.
Hey! I'm gonna swim up beside this great white with my lucky ham around my neck, slap this shark upside the ass with a boat oar, let's see what happens!
Headlines in the paper the following day:
"World Stunned that Shark Eats Beloved Conservationist!"
*furrows brows* That could be a Vonage Commercial... "People do stupid things..."
Take care everyone, I have to go get things together for Tea. Love you all!
Posted by juel at September 8, 2006 09:53 AM