Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Breathe, just breathe.

I don't like confrontation.

But sometimes it's necessary.




But I've been taking stock of my life.
And I'm not happy.

So, I've issued a much-delayed ultimatum to my husband.

The details are not important.

What is important, is that if things don't change, I'm leaving.





Monday, April 27, 2009

Swine Whine

If I were a swine, I'd be totally ashamed right now.
I mean, passing on such a nasty virus to humans and all...





They're so cute though, it's hard to stay mad.

And apparently those viruses mutate to transfer to humans.

So, it makes me wonder.
Did a pig fall into a vat of nuclear waste?
Get bitten by a radioactive spider?
Get hit by a magnetic meteor?
Get abducted by aliens and experimented on?

I'm gonna blame it on the aliens.
It's always the aliens.



Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Up Side of Down

This weekend I was feeling down.
Down, drained, lost, depressed.

I had to work on a Saturday, which took a good chunk of my day...and time away from my kids.

And let's face it, I'm still not used to spending so little time with them.

I've been a stay-at-home mom most of their life, although I've worked from home and/or been in classes part time at the University of Texas at different times. But, I've always been available for them.

And now that's changed. The change has mostly been for the good. I'm enjoying working in the business world. The boys are gaining more independence. But, a part of me grieves. It just does.

And this summer scares me.
Last summer we went swimming almost every single day.

We went on field trips to corn fields and roller skating.
We had fun...together.

This summer I have to work.
We do have an amazing trip to Disney World planned, but other than that, I have to work.
And I Don't know what to do with them.
I guess summer camps.
And relatives.
but it makes me sad.

So, this has all hit me this weekend.
Along with feeling drained.
And down.
And lost.

And my marriage is a mess.
A big complicated, messed-up mess.

So, when I got home from work yesterday, the boys wanted to go play outside in our neighborhood park. I reluctantly agreed to go with them, grabbing a book and my camera.






And something amazing happened.

I started out feeling grouchy.
sitting in the grass, watching them play.





And then slowly, I began to appreciate the greeness around me. Texas is GORGEOUS this time of year. Everything's blooming.




And then I felt the urge to take pictures.
Of the green trees.
Of the flowers.
Of my two boys playing together.





And by the time we went inside an hour or two later...I felt re-charged.

And I remembered.
Oh, yeah.

Being in nature,
being with my children in nature,
being with my children in nature and taking pictures...

that makes me happy.








Saturday, April 25, 2009

She deserves a collar made of diamonds.


Hey, Annie!!



Over here, sweet girl!



I know you're really tired,
but I need to dress you up & take some pictures for Camera Critters.





You've worn boots before...and an apron and a hat...

so, let's try on some jewelry today!




Annie, you look so beautiful!
See, your boy had to come give you a hug.



I know the camera flash is really annoying.
And you want to go to sleep.

But just a few more photos...

How about we try on some more jewelry?




At least we didn't tie her up this time...or put on the storm trooper helmet.




Oh, dear, I think she's had enough.

Maybe next time.



I love our sweet girl.
She puts up with so much.

And is totally spoiled in return.
I'm not sure who gets the better deal.


Camera Critters is SO much fun! join us!



Camera Critters 1st Anniversary


Friday, April 24, 2009

Which is worse?

Which is worse?

Wearing two totally different earrings to work and not realizing it for several hours...

Or

No one at work commenting on it?



Thursday, April 23, 2009

Grace Redefined


Some people, when they walk, they glide.
They float on air.
They look like they're dancing.





Not me.
Nope.

Yesterday, in Starbucks, I did the slow motion trip.

Not only did I trip on myself...
I did a double-trip, almost falling flat on my face
but managed to recover only to trip again splashing my drink
but not dropping it.
It was graceful alright.
In a buffoon, comedic way.






Remember when I had to sing for my Starbucks?


Then I managed to shut my finger in a drawer at work.
My own drawer.
My finger.

Then later the same day, I managed to shut my shirt in the drawer,
so that I ended up all hunched over and stuck.

I'm graceful, I tell ya...

And then, at Target, I was trying on necklaces for fun...
the same day...
and managed to get the clasp of one stuck in my frizzy mop curls.

A few curses and minus a few strands a hair later...I got it unstuck.

I'm a walking definition of grace redefined.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

I think he's seen too many action movies

This is Donny, my 12 year old,
who is a straight A student in the 6th grade.
Sometimes the hormone brothers pop in,
but otherwise he's a laid back kid.






Last September, I posted a letter of warning about him.
Because of his new bebe gun.

He's been very responsible with it all year.
Until last week.

He came home on the bus, as usual.
but couldn't find his keys.

My husband, who's been working from home,
had left to go pick up our younger son from school.
And my elderly father was home, but couldn't hear the door.


Donny was locked out.

So, he had the brilliant idea to go to the backyard,
where he'd left his bebe gun.
(he's not supposed to leave it outside)
and then...

he used to the gun...

TO SHOOT AT OUR BACKDOOR LOCK!

How many times have we seen shows or movies where the hero shoots the lock?!




Good Lord have Mercy, a seriously lack of judgment there.

We had a loooooooooong talk about it.


BTW, he says he shot at an angle, so the bebe wouldn't ricochet back and hit him.
And he hit the door, so he has good aim...
we have a dent to prove it.


Should I be proud of his ingenuity

or

horrified?!!

(have you seen this amazing corn art?)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Chitti Chitti Bang Bang

This is me at 10 years old.




in my Little Shop of Horrors sweatshirt
(I had seen the musical on Broadway in New York),
and I'm on my grandmother's porch in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.


Today I'm celebrating.


Celebrating that I'm 32 years old.
Celebrating that the same grandmother,
who has lived in Baton Rouge my entire life,
is moving this week to come live in Texas!
Moving just minutes from me.


I'm beyond happy.


And, I woke up this morning to the sweetest birthday message from Shannon.
Thanks, Shannon, you made my day!


Monday, April 20, 2009

I don't have eyebrows...but I might have snakes

My feet have suffered this winter.
I ignored them, stuffing them in boots and socks for months.

I clipped nails once or twice, but over all, didn't mess with my toes.

So, now spring has sprung, it's time for open-toed shoes.
And that means pedicure time.

So, about a week or so ago, I had time for the much-needed pedicure.

I got the whole works.
Salt scrubs,
hot wax wraps,
lotion massage,
red polish,
it was WONDERFUL.

But the sweet young Vietnamese woman wanted to do more to me.
She wanted to give me a manicure.
I'm just so hard on my nails, I wasn't up for a manicure that day.

Then she looked at my eyebrows...and I could read the horror on her face.
So, I let her have her way with me...I mean, my eyebrows.

I'm kind of surprised there was anything to wax or pluck away (she did both).
I barely have any eyebrows at all
and the hair that is there is really light.
But apparently what was there needed tidying up.

Then she looked down..to my upper lip.

I almost started to cry.

I'm not hairy, people!
But some errant hairs are standing up and making themselves seen.
I'm devastated.

And then, I came home to this:





That's the door to our garage.

Oh, hell no.
That's it.
The garage is now dead to me.

I don't deal with snakes.


Sunday, April 19, 2009

How many times a day do you do IT?



I grew up on a ranch.
And my parents chose not to have TV hooked up out there.
So, I basically grew up not watching TV.

I read.
And used my imagination.
and read.
and made up whacked bedtime stories for my little sister.

Books were my world.

Why am I telling you this?

To explain my relationship with books.

Whenever there is something I don't know, I turn to books for the answer.

I'm always ordering a book from Amazon to teach me how to do something
or how to handle something...

and recently I found a book that sounded interesting.

The Experts Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do




100 experts explain how to do things in these short essays:

Bob Villa shares how to paint a room. Bobbi Brown shares how to apply lipstick. Peggy Post shares how to set a formal table. The Holiday Inn Housekeeper of the Year shares how to make a bed.
You get the idea.

I randomly opened this book today to share an entry with you.


It's about Washing Your Hands by Julie Gerberding. (she's the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aka CDC)


We all know how to wash our hands, right?
Do you remember who taught you how?
I don't.
It's something I've done all my life.







When I was 15, I worked as a volunteer at the Children's Hospital in Austin, Texas.
And the nurses there told me to wash my hands while singing "Yankee Doodle."
Because the length of time it took to sing was adequate time to kill germs.

Well, Dr. Gerberding suggests something similar!
Here's her instruction:

1. Wet your hands.
2. Apply liquid or bar soap.
3. Run your hands together vigorously to make a lather and scrub all surfaces (including between your fingers and under your fingernails).
4. Continue to rub your hands together for 20 seconds. It takes that long for the soap and scrubbing action to dislodge and remove stubborn germs. Sing Happy Birthday TWICE as a timer.
5. Rinse your hands well under running water.
6. Dry your hands using a paper towel or air dryer.
7. If possible, use your paper towel to turn off the faucet.




Seems basic?
makes sense?




When to do it?
before, during and after you prepare food.
before you eat.
after you use the bathroom.
after handling animals or animal waste.
when you or someone in your home is sick.
when your hands are dirty.



So, my questions for you:

Have you been washing your hands correctly? Have you ever worked in a hospital? Or volunteered there?

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Breaking the Law



I might be a bad influence on my boys.


I really wanted some pictures of cows.
So, I found some.


But I had to climb a fence to get to them...
and I told the boys to stay in the car,
so that they weren't trespassing with me.

But, they followed me.

And we found the cows.




and their guard dog donkey.



This donkey kept his eyes on me the entire time.
The cows pretty much ignored me.
But this Donkey was on Duty.



Believe it or not, but the cows were having a meeting discussing the merits of
traveling by train versus traveling by trailer.

They want to go to Wyoming.



But when they saw us, they hastily broke their meeting and went back to eating grass.
But I was on to them.
I knew what they were up to.



By the way, my 7 yr old had no idea what this was:



He'd never seen a cow patty before!!

I enlightened him.
And he giggled.


I'm sure the cows were rolling their eyes.




But that Guard Donkey...he kept an eye on us.




Eventually the boys went back to the car...and started yelling at me to hurry.
They got tired of all the pictures I was taking.

See the car in the distance?
That's how far we trespassed ventured.




This blog can't be used against me in a court of law, can it?






Camera Critters is SO much fun! join us!



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