Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Remember to eat your peas {and collards}.

Black Eyed Peas are a staple of New Year's Eve/day around here.
We always ate them when I was little.
They give you good luck for the new year, you know.
My sister used to take about three like pills b/c she did not like to eat them, LOL!
That was a creative solution, no?

Collards are said to bring wealth.
That was something other people said, and I am sure it is a regional 
tradition, but we did not do that at my house.

In a bit, I am off to get my peas from my Mama's house.
Some for me, and some for the kids.
We all need good fortune, and my kids will actually eat peas.
I will bring some home for Andy.
We are gonna eat oysters for our NYE meal, and watch Taylor Swift on TV.


We do not have any collards to eat, that I know of, but I might find some by the end of the day...
You just never know, collards are pretty ubiquitous around here.
Don't these look yummy?
I can tell you, they are. :)





Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Eva playin babies {2}

Eva was playing and playing this morning.  I just love to watch her play.  While she played I ate breakfast, worked out, and showered.  This whole time she was just a playin!  When I was in my room getting ready (see bottom picture) she was sitting on my bed cutting up a piece of yellow cardboard into tiny bits.  For a brief second I thought...why in the world is that so fun for all kids?  Mindlessly cutting up paper into tiny bits...it's done by all kids all over, and cleaned up by all moms.  I did not say one word, and I quickly quelled all negative thoughts.  I just watched and listened.  Turns out she was making homemade macaroni and cheese for her babies! yep.  A foodie mom, that Eva is!  She said her babies just love it.  They love all the food she makes, "They will eat anything in the whole state!"  --that is how good her babies are!  After they ate half the bowl of homemade mac n cheese she read them a book.  Then they took a drive in the doll baby car.  Those babies have it good, real good!
This post sort of harkens back to my old posts.  I realized that I want to keep this stuff in my memories.  It is absolutely precious to me.  Precious.  
PS--on a not-so-precious note, I have to be the freakin tooth fairy and Santa tonight!  WTF??
Andy is at work, so a lot of imaginary shit is all on my shoulders tonight.  For a person who finds {pretend} play to be so enchanting, having to pretend my ownself presents quite a burden for me!




Tuesday, December 23, 2014

The last road trip {home}

Suzanne had driven this drive for twelve years.  She could check herself out at exit 273B and check back in when she had to make the big U turn to get onto 264.  No biggie.  Only this time her Toyota Camry was filled to the brim with babies and stuff.  She had all the last bits of stuff from the condo and two toddlers in the car, and she was headed to her furnished and well-loved house in Wishington. The first thing she would want to do was drink a cold beer with her friend under the carport at her house and just hang out.  Maybe a road trip to the beach for the day was in the cards...just like in high school.
Suzanne sought out all the fun things to do in Wishington.  Each Saturday there was a local farmer's market downtown on the waterfront! (yippie!)  She did want to go back to her church and just see where she wanted to go to church....the little, country church where she grew up, or the bigger in-town church where she was confirmed and attended youth group--such a toss up! Meanwhile Randy was investigating a new career, one that would have him working in town, instead of traveling all the time (which had driven Suzanne a bit crazy, what with all the babies and all).
Suzanne and Randy spent the summer fighting and making up, and eating {Friday night  pizza} straight out of the Animal Vegetable Miracle recipes.  They went swimming in the river and at the Country Club Pool--as {visitors} of Randy's parents.  The summer was a mix of crazy, mad, and fun. They only had the fall to look forward to, which would bring a new job for Suzanne and more school for Randy.  --More. School.
Suzanne's {friends} had yet to come out of the woodwork.  That one from highschool was mostly in Hiding--there were no spur of the moment moments of camaraderie.  Some times people from far away ventured into the swamp to visit--and that was awesome!
Suzanne quickly realized that going to the grocery store up the road was an invitation to FREAK out. There was zero anonimity.  If you were to bet a pay check on seeing a known person--you could make double pay all the time.  She ALWAys saw someone she knew.  Or, she knew people who knew her (mama and daddy) were all around.  Yes.  True.
She was still blissful, however.
Still full of bliss!

Thursday, December 18, 2014

back to the condo

I realized, after I wrote that last post, that there was nothing about a condo in the post!
The condo was the cozy little spot where Randy and Suzanne and their two toddlers camped out with the bare minimum before they moved back to Wishington.  It was old, the tub only ran scalding hot water, there was only one eye on the stove--it was bare bones, but it was still in a place that was near TJ Maxx, a Harris Teeter, a highway...you get the picture.
The condo living was kind of fun.  Plus Suzanne had all the excitement of knowing that soon she would be back in her picturesque small town surrounded by all of the people she {knew} and loved.
The six weeks of living in that Condo were dear ones.  The children caught lightening bugs in the grassy yard.  They ate mulberries from the mulberry bush in the yard.  Suzanne spent her time reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and Skinny Bitch.  Both of these books would be very influential for Suzanne for the whole summer to come.  Meanwhile, Randy continued to travel for his beloved job as an archaeologist.  He was not at the condo too much.  They also enjoyed those last several weeks by going to farmers' markets, and music festivals all over their urban jungle paradise.
So that is the condo in a nutshell.
Fun.  Short.  Sweet.  Bare bones.  It was the last chapter in Suzanne's story of living not in her town.
Soon, they were off!
Next stop, A road trip {home} to stay.

Monday, December 15, 2014

The condo and transitions

The house was sold!  Suzanne had to find a new place to be.  She put the word out in her office and quickly found a small condo in the small city nearby to stay in for her transition period.  She and hubby could finish up the school year and then head back home.
Over Easter they had the opportunity to have a sneak preview of what moving home would be like.  They had moved all of their posessions (besides the bare minimum) into the rental house/grandma's house in Wishington. So an Easter break in the house would be a little taste of what life would be like after the big move.
The house was so sweet!  So cute on the outside, and completely fixed up on the inside.  Freshly re-finished hard wood floors, freshly painted walls.  The memory from that partial week would never leave that little snapshop memory place in Suzanne's mind.
The house felt very cold, and the paint smell was noxious!
A tiny feeling of panic set in.  Suzanne was realizing that she was leaving behind...all of her anonimity, all of her whole foods, all of her friends, all of the malls and intrigue the bigger place...to move
{home}.
The easter bunny came --in Wishington--as he would for years to come.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Cruising into middle age like an Elephant on ice skates!

Yep!  It hits me--now at 36.
I have to dye my hair.
Hello Sally Beauty Supply and bottles of dye...are you ready for some fun every four months or so?
This is a first, and not something that I enjoy doing.
....and to think I have always thought (in the back of my mind) that I would not mind being a hair cutter.
THEN-- I could not shake my fall {funk} so I had to resort to some happy pills...yep, check that box off on the {list of things for middle aged women}.
Also, there is a blob on my middle that does not want to go anywhere--it just wants to grow.
SO, I feed it, with whateverintheworld I want to eat.
Against all logic (no, it is not a meal time).
Against all food rules (don't eat so much meat, it is Horrible for you).
Against all emotion--If you get a big belly you really will have emotional issues.
I EAT!
ick...
One more thing...wrinkles--they are putting themselves all over.  Around my eyes...my laugh creases, my "serious" forehead wrinkles. I have to be serious a lot apparently, that is why those gouges are on my forehead--b/c I have to look so serious or inquisitive, What? Really?
What in the world?  Yesterday I went to take a passport picture and the girl at Walgreens was going to offer to take it again...I just said, "What's the use?"  I have figured out in my 36 years--in the past two or so--that you can take the picture over and over--and it is going to look just about the same.  Yeah.  True.  So away I cruised with my dyed hair, no smile, laugh line passport pictures tucked neatly into the junky compartment of my grocery getter.  Not really satisfied, but feeling accomplished.
I do not want to be middle aged--but what is the other choice?
Hee hee.
That is my Dad would say.
Also, does anyone remember that commercial where the woman would say, "I don't intend to grow old gracefully, I intend to fight it every step of the way."
omm...that might be me.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

And the snark queen herself...(btw, I hate the word snark too)

I just haven't found a better one...

Acorns in the wind

Instead of Buckshot...just another title for random thoughts.
Also, acorns don't blow in the wind, so laugh now, as it is supposed to be funny!
{I am laughing at myownself.}

**Annoying linguistic trend of the season:  People leading every thought or paragraph with "so".
This is quickly going to be the next, "like".  Find another transition word, please!  "so" has an official grammatical function...to be the transition of your every thought is not it.
This trend started on N.P.R.--but now even the PTA moms at my very rural school are doing it...so umm...it is SUPER annoying--no matter who is using it.
*  Winter sucks!  All of a sudden all I wanna do is hide out!
Today at work I had to wear a damned tobogan on my head and I can't take it off b/c my office is cold and I have to go out every 30 minutes anyway...so might as well stay warm, right?  ugh...
**why in the HELL?? is everyone all of a sudden taking professional pictures of everything they do?? the pictures are cute--but is everygoddamnthing that fucking special??--(I know there is a lot of emphasis there, but my winter bad mood has officially kicked in (maybe I should call the local professional photographer to foto me on my dirty ass couch, drinking beer in my tobogan with my mean-ass grimmace on my face)--I mean revealing the gender of your fetus??--all of your pregnancy fotos--by a professional photog??? baby's first boogar...G.D. Enough is enough...no one needs to do all of this...too much celebrating already..okay??  shit! PS if you photograph the conception, that is officially called Porno if you post it of F@c3b00k.  Okay? Okay.
newsflash--they are gonnaendupinaboxin a closet--you don't have enough walls for all that shit!
Just fyi in case you want to know that shit ahead of time --also, we are not all supermodels, nor are we all professional photographers, so don't quit your day job--or if you just don't have one, maybe you should join the rest of us and be miserable as f*c! every morning and "haul your ass down to vascolindas and hang drywall at the new mcdonald's" (thank you OfficeSpace for all my favorite work-related quotes)--or turn in some t.p.a. reports..etc.
Those are my three thoughts for today...
three acorns!
that is all..

Sunday, November 9, 2014

When you're the runner-up

You only get a medal.
You. only. get. a. medal.

AND when you are seven, eight, or nine; apparently the trophy is the only thing that matters.
The glory of being champion is only trumped by the plastic, gold-painted statue, which must be had!
The win is not the thing.
The trophy is the thing.

Yesterday our team was the runner-up.
All day long, leading up to the play-off game, there were tales of trophies past.
They had spinny things...
They were blue.
They were tall.
The little boys were all so excited and full of confidence that this trophy would be theirs.

Alas, it was not to be!
NOPE.  The other team from our town beat us!--a tough blow, to be honest--
BUT--at the end of it all Victor told us, that it would have been alright if the runner-up team would have gotten a trophy!--Darn it!
Not, if we would have won.
Sino, if we would have been awarded a trophy!
LOL

When we were little they were still made of metal I think.
Nowadays they, like most other things, are made of plastic.
Cheap.
No.  Matter.  Trophy is trophy.

P.S.  I have never been awarded a trophy for anything! 
I never played all this stuff when I was little.
So, no trophies.  Oh, and I really think they should give kids who make all A's trophies.
I did do that!


Saturday, November 1, 2014

All the way from Watsonville California....

A cute little bug, who was tucked away inside my raspberry this morning.
I bet that was a crazy journey!
At first glance, it appeared that he might be dead.
BUT, when I broke the raspberry open, he began to move.
Currently he resides in Beaufort County NC, and the raspberry has been consumed.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Surrealism with Sarita--dedicado a Pedro!

Cada vez que me siento en una junta con Sarita la unica cosa que puedo pensar es que estoy trapped en una pelicula.
La pelicula se llama BOco. y es una produccion de Pedro Almodovar (not really of course).
Soy la interpreter, la amiga, la terapista.
Estamos en Eastern N.C. y la mama es de dondesea Mexico.
La primera vez que yo la vi estabamos en la traila de evaluaciones.  Yo estaba evaluandose a su hijo, el cual no hablaba, sino tiraba sillas y grito para comunicarse.
Ella llego con su {esposo}, el ninyo, y una bebe en carriola...o y la otra en su matriz!
Yo le dije, sin ni pensar en lo correcto, "y cuanto mas vas a tener, senyora?"  Me miraba con la cara de la gente lastimada..tirada, batallada...cansada.
Hicimos la evaluacion.
Le visitaria a ella muchas veces mas...en shelters, en su "traila" --na mas una camper.
Lloraba por ella y su bebe.
Celebre por ella cuando me dijo --"tengo un IUD, Susana"
Ahora tiene recorte de pelo de una rockstar.
Esta en la vivienda de "low income"
Maneja su "minivan."
Y algun abogado de algun lado le ayuda.
....gracias a dios!
Oh!  y...tiene a su novio...
El esposo se fue a la carcel.  Yo le dije que..ya no iba a ir a su casa, me dio un peligro a la vida mia...si su esposo se salio de la carcel.
Una vez cuando nadie tuvo ni un trozo de papel para apuntar un notita en una de nuestras juntas...
ella tiene su smart phone que puede usar.
No worries. :)
See the crazy?

Insomnia

Every now and then I wake up at some crazy hour and I just worry and over think every thing that is going on around me at the speed of {life}.
This day I was worrying about red ribbon week at V-man's school.  There was an event every day and Victor did none of them b/c it was my job to get all the stuff together and organize it all.
Silly sock day.  Favorite sports jersey day.  Book character day...
I.  Did.  Nothing.
What a terrible mother!
So what do I do when this happens???--I wake Andy up too.  Then I tell him all that worries me.
Then he says something funny and we both end up laughing very loud.
Then, the kids wake up and come in here b/c we are loud--4:00AM by this time.
When Victor came into my room I asked him all about Red Ribbon Week and if he is upset b/c we did not get all of that together etc.
and he said....
"Mama, that's next week!" 
LOL!
And...for all you blog followers out there...here is a silly picture for you:
A trailer with an airplane sticking out of the top.  It has been there since last May when the tornado hit.  
Have a great weekend!

Sunday, October 12, 2014

What are all your doll babies doing Eva?

....Playing school.... :)
I love to watch her play.
This child really knows how to do it.
She gets lost in her room (or any other one she picks) for hours, and she plays!!
Sometimes she is cutting hair (including her own).
Sometimes she is caring for her animals and babies in the {vet} clinic.
...the list goes on and it is precious to me!
If one has a child who is more literal minded one can see the contrast.
Some children do not spend this kind of time at imaginary play b/c they just come out of the womb 
with a very literal mind.
Imagination comes in very short supply for some.
For others, it oozes out and cannot be contained!
For the imagination ones school can be torture.  
We have started calling school the "learning factory".
That is what our school is like these days.
Come in, crank out some worksheets from 8-3.
You get a 20 minute breather outside.
You get a 25 minute eating session (talking among friends is discouraged).
....You get it?

The Realtor

Suzanne decided that selling the house in Saltineville was a must-do.  As quickly as possible, b/c she knew they needed to get all of the money out of the house that they could, and the days of flipping houses...well, those days were over b/c all of the people were beginning to realize that they were, in fact, not rich--(even if the bank wanted them to think so). ;).
Suzanne was gonna do it herself--but that was for the birds.
Real estate broker became a job for a reason.
After having shown her house to at least five strangers and talking to one crazy guy who {almost convinced Suzanne that he was the guy who was gonna buy the house), Suzanne called the realtor.  The person came out to the house, told Suzanne all that was wrong, and sold the house--no money lost!
"Whew,"  Suzanne thought, "we got outta that one like a cat out the screen door!"
In all honesty, the house in Saltineville was one of the best Suzanne could have picked.  It was a cute, brick ranch house with all hardwood floors, a beautiful kitchen, a large backyard, a car port, two man cave sheds, in a neighborhood, two bathrooms...just perfect.
BUT--this wonderful house was not in Wishington, which was precisely where Suzanne had determined, in the blink of a moment, that she and her family needed to be.
So, it was goodbye perfect house, hello {home}.
Just a sidenote, the perfect house also had a gigantic interstate that ran not even a mile away down some hills, and when the leaves fell off the trees...the interstate literally roared!  (Wishington did not even have an interstate within an hour's drive).
Interestingly enough...during those moments, any little tid bit of bad that could have crept up as a cautionary tell to Suzanne hid itself in all the {goodness} that Wishington had to offer.
...grandparents, diamonds on the river, no interstate, gente conocida, a {bestie} who lived right there in Wishington...the list goes on.
Stay tuned--Suzanne is gonna get to Wishington soon....

Thursday, October 2, 2014

buckshot

does anyone remember these kinds of posts?
These are posts in which one might fire off about anything that comes to mind.
Here are mine:
* The name Brooks, for a boy, is one of my least favorite.  Brooke, for a girl, fine.  Brook, for a girl, not as good a spelling, but whatevs...
Brook with an /s/?  omm..for a boy?  bad idea.  dumb. hate it.
**does anyone remember learning to multiply double digit numbers?  I do.  I was always deemed "careless!"  LOL--I got it, but I hated it.  Igual for Elena.  Thank god for Andy.
*Bourdain, or Zimmern.  Well, although I relate, in my attitude to Bourdain more, --Zimmern for me!  I love a big fat nerdy guy who is so excited about everything he sees, and he does not try to make it so existentialist all the time, he is not a ner do well, nor does he even try to be one.  He is damn happy to be finding bizarre foods.
**wanna make a smoothie?  go get a stick blender, put in a frozen brown banana (don't throw it out), some other frozen fruit (whatever you pick is cheap in the comida kitty frozen foods section), some yogurt, some water, and some chia seeds...blendy blend--I do it every morning.
*Jobs:  I am getting a little worn down by mine.  I love helping children. 
*Spain:  going there is looking more and more like a longshot every day.  Today I priced a trip and it would cost clost to ten grand to get us all there...
sad. face.
**Spain:  is the place I love the most...and my dream is to go there with my children and live at Matalascanyas for a month in the summer and take trips around with them to see my favorite stuff...carmona, segovia, gibraltar, sevilla {nervion}.  Ojala!
* Fright.  my colleagues and I were discussing fears the other day.  The baptist among us talked about her preacher's current topic:  revelation
all of the rest of us asked her questiosns and we talked about Ebola, extremist religious tendencies, ebola, wars (specifically --the Ukraine, Afganistan, Iraq, Israel, Hong Kong...go on and on))
**Babies, now that mine is five, and is too heavy to just pick right up etc., I really want two more, no lies...with more sanity, a part time consulting job, a trust fund, --I would have two more, b/c five is a good even number.


afterschool

October 2, 2014
Victor:  2nd grade
Eva:  Kindergarten
Both worn {slam out}, as my Mama would always say.
Come on Mama!  Stop talking and take us home!
"My brain hurts!"  ~Eva Louise Hill

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

so there she sat

On the very hot back stoop of her house in Saltineville, the hot sun was beating down on her, as the afternoon sulked along.  She was waitng for her husband to get home.  As she sat she thought, and as she thought, she began to plan.  This kind of planning happened to Suzanne often.  This was the kind of planning that got ahead of itself.  The kind that led to finding a new job in one day, the kind that led to moving.
Moving back to Wishington only became an appealing option once Suzanne and her husband had TWO children.  One of them did not like riding in the car.  It became difficult to visit the grandparents for the weekend.
Only after Suzanne was able to see Wishington through the eyes of a visitor was she able to even fathom that it was, indeed, a beautiful place.  Her husband agreed.  They would talk about the beauty as they cruised down East Main St. headed toward River Road to go to the Grands' houses.  There, in one spot, all of a sudden the beautiful river spread out before the visitor! Gorgeous, with diamond sparkles on all the teeny ripples.
Also, only after Suzanne had been to visit a very cool house that was in the same neighborhood as her in laws and was just asking to be {fixed up}.  Now Suzanne and her family never moved into this house, but just checking it out planted the seed....
The seed of {you CAN go home again}.
On the back stoop of her house, that very afternoon Suzanne planned exactly how that would happen!
She called her mother in law and arranged a rental agreement.
She started looking for jobs for herself, and for her husband.  It would be an industrious pursuit, but it would happen!
None of anything even the slightest bit antagonistic presented itself to Suzanne as she began to think about moving {home}.
Cue the Simon and Garfunk£l song, folks...
And, stay tuned!  There is more of this to come, b/c chronicaling this is just too much fun. 

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Some sights

and smells, and sights can instantly take you back to your childhood!
Elena's dance teacher's mama's parents lived on the road I grew up on, and my daddy used to stop and talk to them and eat grapes off their vine.
I was with my Daddy in his truck a lot, and I also ate grapes off their vine.
Ms. Gwen and I put all this together one afternoon while I was waiting for Elena, and she brought me some today! :)
YUM!
When I took the lid off and ate one a feeling of nostalgia washed over me...
Good ole scuppernong grapes! :)

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Oh hell, why not?

This morning, I am feeling a bit--hmm...Sassy! :)
So here goes!  --You may think of this as pure fiction if you wish.  It will be good reading.
In the small town of Wishington there are many little social groups.  This is probably true of any small town.  This is really the only one that Suzanne had ever lived in so she really did not know about other small towns.
Nope.  Only Wishington.
Suzanne had grown up with this social structure all around her.  It was no mystery.
If your dad was a doctor, lawyer, or successful business person, your parents would fit into a particular social group.
If your dad was a state trooper, electrician, plumber, teacher, etc.  Your parents would fit into another group.
This is, in all likelihood, true of many many places--all around the world.  Really, it made no difference to the children, b/c for the most part, children just made friends.  Suzanne had friends from several of the different strata and social groups, so she knew about these groupings, but she did
not have to live by it.
One weekend she might spend the night in a giant house cleaned by a maid, another weekend she might spend the night in a small brick, ranch style house, just like her own.
There was, however, a distinct memory in her head of children who very much knew about the proper grouping of people, and abided by this.  They hung together, almost exclusively, until one or two of them might get shipped off (in high school) to some private school in Virginia.
There was another {VIP} group of people who were called "from heres" , and these people were quite self-important.  If you were "from here"  it meant that some ancestor was a general in the civil war, or they at supper with George Washington.  You know, it was not enough to be "from here" and be from down the road on a farm.  Oh no, "from here" to this group meant --from the {VIP} stock of folks.  Get it?  yeah...blue blood and all that.
There were all kinds of other observations that Suzanne made all along...
Die hard alliegance to particular universities (no matter which ones )--that seemed very contrived to Suzanne...including ridiculing people who enjoyed other teams equally..??  and arguing with those who were equally die hard about some other colors, was also a part of the social code.  Suzanne's parents never participated in any of that, so she simply did not understand it...
So when Suzanne left Wishington as a fresh eighteen year old--it was quite a blow to discover that people did not walk around waving to one another in other places!
It was quite a blow not to be able to just charge things to her dad at the drug store.
AT THE SAME TIME--Suzanne discovered that it was fun to make friends to whom none of that stuff written above mattered! Whew!  What?? You just like people when you meet them and they are nice, no need to ponder what their Dad does?  No need to ponder which Regiment of General Lee's army their Great somebody fought in???
ohhh...this was refreshing.
So, Suzanne spent twelve or so years living in the world in which one could be anonymous.  One could make friends based on simply enjoying the same band, or being in the same place at the same time! WOW.  Twelve years of growing up.  Twelve years of just being.
Then came the day that the {idea} of Wishington came slipping and creeping back into Suzanne's mind.
...stay tuned for more. :)

Thursday, September 4, 2014

If only I were able

to sit down with any one of my blog readers (is anyone still there?? LOL) and say even a quarter of what I would like to write here, you would know what I really wish my blog could {still} be.
HOWEVER, knowing that it is so public makes that level of {sharing} an impossibility.  This is so sad to me.
When Andy and I first started our moving home adventure I was so unknowing.  I spent my Saturdays spending twenty bucks at the farmer's market to buy veggies.  I made home made pizza dough and put the fresh veggies on it.  I relished in the fruit trees in our yard, and how we picked that stuff and ate it.  I was always on the verge of crazy with me and my kids and a husband in a job/career transition.  There were only two kids.
I knew few people.  I was fine with that.  If someone invited me to do something --that was super.
If no one did--didn't care etc.  BC i was happy with my plants, books, husband, toddlers etc.
We did not even seek outside social engagements etc.  We were just living.
I soon found out that my {bestie} really had no time for me, in real life.
After a summer of chasing her, I gave up.  We see eachother one time a season now.
No worries.
Six years have passed.
A kid was born.
I have voted here.
Andy and I were adopted into some kind of social circle--only to be ditched {sadly?}.
Oh, and I think  another one just dissolved...
My friends are my co-workers.
There is so much I could say about my life here on my blog, and here in this town.  I would truly be a nice release to just write it all down, and let go of it.
There is so much commentary that could be funny, and entertaining, and eye opening--depending upon your perspective.  BUT--I cannot make it.
You see, my town has stifled me.
I am trapped by all of the {whatever} that goes on here.
So, I will not comment on any of it.
I will just suffer it, very occasionally I will relish in some part of it (living near our parents/work friends).
And I will always wonder, as all parents do, is {this} the place where I should really be rasing my children?
Are {these} values mine?
hmmmmmm....???
Instead I will share mom tidbits, and some snark every now and then about a trivial current event, or some idea that crosses my mind.
That is the only thing my blog can be.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

The end II

I have had this waffle maker since I was about 15.
Andy has used it to make waffles for our kids SO MANY TIMES!
It died last night.
Goodbye old waffle maker friend.
It sure was a good one!

Sunday, August 17, 2014

The end

Today marks the end of my Summer!  Every Summer on this day I have the strangest set of emotions.
Mainly I want to weep.
I do not want to leave my children to go back to the rat race.
I do not want to rush around all day and have to devote so much of my energy to my career.
Then, I remember, 
omm...They are all THRILLED to go back to school!
They cannot wait to know who is going to be in their class and who their teacher will be.
They are saturated with free time, eachother, and summer overall.
So am I.
Today my {big cry} came in the parking lot of the Library as I walked to my car in the hot sun with my final Summer check out in my hand (another Mary Kay Andrews book).
I wept.
I felt very emotional and sad, I lamented the loss of summer as I walked down the aisle buying {goodies} at Food Lion.
Then a little voice behind me said, "Hey Miss Hill!"  I turned around to greet the child and she quickly hid behind her Mama's leg being a bit shy.
I recognized her face, she is in my bus line.
Then it hit me!
No more sadness!
I am ready!
Ready for random hugs all day long by little teeny people.
Ready for my {me time} in my office in the morning.
Ready for lunch in silence and peace.
Ready to see the excitement in my own childrens' faces when they talk about their new adventures!
And here those sweetie pies are, watching scooby doo on Eva's I Pad mini---

Monday, August 11, 2014

I am still here --back from vacation

We just got home from a week at the beach.
It was so much fun!
The ocean at Kill Devil Hills was warm.
It was a bit rough a couple of the days, but then quickly calmed down so that we call could swim.
Andy and Joel rented stand up paddle boards and we all had a turn to paddle around in the sound.
I even caught a wave in the ocean!! {sitting down} LOL.
I do have picture evidence...but it is scant.
I will share soon.
My children are not always cooperative with the photo snapping these days and I often sabotage their fun when I bring the camera out.
So, some of my favorite images of our vacation are just going to exist in my mind and in my memory.
I am going to write about those with great detail so that maybe, later on, I can conjure those images up in my mind when I need them.
Ojala!

Meanwhile, back at home--it is sofa washing time folks!
It is vinyl siding washing time!
It is wind down and hold on time b/c the roller coaster ride of a new school year is about to start.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

To be a fan of the underdog

This post has been writing itself to me since I was at the beach in June.
The Mayor came to sit with my Mama and me on the porch.
He talked and talked, and all that he had to say was thoroughly entertaining.
He was wiring a house up at Corolla, at least 7,000 square feet!
"How was Mama dog?" my mama asked him...
"Oh, she's alright, you know she has to eat a biscuit every morning.  I take her one each day," he said "before I head out to work"
I just listened.  We sat on the swing drinking cheap beer, enjoying the breeze...
Mama dog, is a stray that no one owns, I learned.
The mayor does not own her either, but each day for eight years he has taken her a biscuit.
We also talked about "Youngblood" his girlfriend.  
I was just listening and listening while my Mama and the mayor caught up.
Yeah...Youngblood is much younger than he, and she is the black sheep of her family..(he, of course, did not say this..I deduced it).
Another underdog in his trail of daily interactions, I thought.
Then my Mama and I sat on the swing and we talked and we talked.
I began to ponder the people around me who are fans of the underdogs.
While other people are worrying about how to {get ahead}, or "keep up appearances", or "maintain the status quo"...the list goes one with cotidiana preoccupations, the fans of underdogs walk through the day spotting people who might be down trodden and who the world has {sh!tt3d on}.
Then, they go about finding simple ways to make the day of the underdog better.

There is probably another group of people who can spot the underdogs and sympathize with them, but they do not make it a priority to change anything.

People who are fans of the underdog might look mousy, like they don't care.
They might drink cheap beer or liquor.
They probably drive old beat up trucks and have jobs that do not pay all that well.
They might have simple, cheap hobbies like fishing off the pier or grilling out in the yard.

The use their money to take biscuits to stray dogs, they take their time to 
mow the grass for old ladies and don't charge a dime,
look out for friends who are down on their luck....
The list goes on.
I do intend to keep studying and looking out for these people.
They are very interesting characters, and one does not come across them frequently.
But if one is lucky enough to come across a fan of the underdog, one is lucky enough!

Thursday, July 17, 2014





{new} rooms

We have been re organizing and cleaning out.
An old porch became an inhabitable {sun} porch. ;).
So here we have pictures of three very happy children, each of whom has his/her own room as of yesterday!
Three cheers for Grandaddy!--Really more cheers than that... really, cheers to infinity and beyond, but I am a traditionalist and the saying goes, "Three cheers"
You will have to see the next post to look at pictures b/c I have not done this the correct way to put the fotos here...
Stay tuned! :)

Glitter and Glue, by Kelly Corrigan

I read this book and as I was reading I kept folding up pages.  This is what I do when I read as I come across stuff that I want to read again, or literary passages that are so profound I hope that I can remember them {forever}. hmm. hmm. ;).

So I read the book Glitter and Glue recently and it was really about mothers and daughters.  If you are a mother or a daughter, you should read it. 
The story itself was not all that {wonderful}.  It was not wonderful in the way that it is just irresistible and it just sucks you in.  The author, Kelly Corrigan, does however, have a way with words.  Usually, I observed, at the ends of the chapters she would stick some wonderful tidbit of life observed and then written down!

So, before I took the book back to the library I took pictures of the pages that included greatness!  The ones that were dog eared from the bottom--I just took fotos of them.
I will share quotes here:

"Martin announces he's done, Finished, my mom corrects.
Are you a slab of meat? "

This one hits home b/c my own Mama hates it when people say they are "done".  It drives her crazy!  I remember my third grade teacher hated it too!  So we are all well trained to say we are, "finished"  --no "I'm done, Grandma" around here...no way! No sir!...

Here is another:
"That's the thing about mothers.  Once the containment ends and the on becomes two
Forget trying to memorize this...here is a picture of the page! LOL
Look at the eighth paragraph down.  Are you able to read it?  It is beautiful!  It begins, "The thing..."
There are so many more quotables in this book, which to me is the talent of Kelly Corrigan.
I kept waiting for her profound tidbits! :)

Read the paragraph that begins, "While he told me about playing golf..."
That one is wonderful! :)
I took six more pictures of pages of this book, but I think that my bloggy friends should just check this book out at this point and read it, it is great! :)

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The little girl who grew...




Has anyone ever seen that book?  It is very sweet.  My Mama has it at her house.   It is a treasure.
Here is our {baby}.  She turned five today!
She is gutsy as hell!
A total hambone--she earned that nickname as a baby.
We had a pool party to celebrate with all her friends.
On her wishlist...a microphone, a guitar, purple fingernail polish, and an I pad mini! :)
You go Eva Louise!  We love you!

Friday, July 11, 2014

Eva's quotables

"....so the library used to be a magazine shop when you were little, Mama?"

We have been going to the library this summer.
We all get a book.
Eva has been getting fairy chapter books.
I have tried to convince her to get a picture book, as she cannot read at all.
But no.
When we have reading hour off she goes to her room to read her chapter
book to her baby.
I must say, it melts my heart!
Who cares?  I say to myself, if she has a whole summer of {reading} chapter books...

Yesterday we were leaving the library and Eva asked me, "Mama, how come that lady is over there in the library and she is not even getting any books?"
I told her all about the internet connections and that some people go there to pass the day, or look for jobs, or just to research stuff.
Next, the "when I was a little girl" story came out.
I told her all about how when I was little we went there to do research and we looked at magazines and periodicals. " There was no such thing as the internet," I said.  
Eva's summary:
"So, that means when you were a little girl, the library was just a magazine shop, mama?"
--"yep" I said, "now which chapter book did you choose this time Eva?"

Ahhhh...the joys of being a mother!  and ahhh...the joys of enjoying all that is the {baby} of the familiy!

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Dragonfruit

My fun, simple taste of adventure from Whole foods this weekend!
Elena was equally excited.
It tasted okay...was a beautiful color!  
It is so nice to venture west of I 95 from time to time!

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Funny Movie Club

People tend to relate to their fellow employees.
If one is lucky one might even find friends at work.
At a school a group of friends needs to find some way to {release} tension.

Funny movies are just about the only ones worth watching.
Romance--predictable
Scary--not acceptable, don't like 'em
Kiddie movies--I actually like 'em when my children want to watch them.

So put school friends who need to laugh and funny movies together and one might form a
{club}.
That has unofficially happened among my work friends.

We go out to eat.
Have a couple drinks, and then go to see a funny movie...the kind that make you laugh
so damn hard!

Tonight we watched "Tammy."
Then we said good-bye to one of our funny movie club friends!
She is moving {home} to Pennsylvania.
Lucky her!--It is good to go home again.

We all did laugh really hard.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Confessions about {me}!

I love this little section of the US W33kly each week.
The person tells 25 things about themselves that are just odd or quirky etc.
Since today I am 36, here goes:
1.  I have never seen the movie Top Gun.
2.  I have never seen the move The neverending Story
3.  I am ambidextrous, for real.  I have no idea why I complete all fine motor tasks with my left hand, and all gross motor tasks with my right hand.
4.  I love all teeny things.  Small, little teeny things are my favorites.  They always have been, since I was little.  One time I carried a teeny apple around in my hand for two weeks..til it was sauce.  I think I was taking care of it. LOL
5.  I do not easily join groups of people.  I find friends, but their groups do not tend to adopt me as a member.  Who knows why, and I guess I do not care.
6.  Disney world is not on my agenda.  I went when I was two--that was 1980.  The big gold ball building was not even there yet then, and I guess we will never go there...Andy has no desire to go there.
7.  I was terrified--like a phobia--of water over my head until I was about 11.  I could swim etc.  --but not touching was terrifying to me.  My ever-patient super hero cousin finally convinced me how stupid this was when I was about 11...maybe 10...not sure.
8.  Cherries are my favorite foods.
9.  Avocados are next.
10.  The NYC subway system at rush hour (one time in my life) when trying to  reach New Jersey--is one of the rings of hell in my mind--for sure.
11.  Frankie Valle's song, "You're just too good to be true"  is one of my favorites.
12.  Another is, Dire Straits, "Sultans of swing"
13.  One day I will spend an entire Summer in Spain.
14.  I have a big fascination with languages and linguistics.  If I could have my dream job, I would just be a linguistics nerd.
15.  Hymns at church make me cry, and I wonder if this is genetic.  My mama does the same thing.  It is not sad, nor is it happy...just CRY.  Just pure emotion.
16.  Certain foods have a dirt taste and I like them...beets, potatoes, peanuts, rutabagas.   I like them b/c I like the taste of dirt a bit...
17.  The smell of a baby's head is the best smell in the world...as far as hitting that center of the brain place and making you think everything is {okay}.
18.  My favorite book is The Count of Monte Cristo.
19. I have a bad temper, and when I get mad I have to throw things and yell.  I think that is why my blood pressure is super low! :)  110/70 or so
20.  One favorite quote of mine is "Be who you are, and say how you feel, those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter."
21.  Eleanor Roosevelt is my hero!
22.  One of my ancestors is the inventor of the Dewar Flask--google it.
23.  I love to look stuff up about my ancestors, most of whom came to North Carolina in the 1700's and were just poor farmers.
24.  Snobbery is my least favorite characteristic of any human.  --Snobbery = dumbassery.
25.  My Birthday is the longest day of the year.

that is all my friends!  Have a great day!
I am listening to the NPR top summer hits list...and eating crab legs for my birthday supper.
Woo Hoo!

It's official! I have been on a voyage, friends.

To England!
yes.  I have even adopted a British accent at times, much to the amusement of my husband and children.
If you read my blog you have seen that I am a Downton Abbey fan, and then thanks to N3tfl!x, I discovered "Call the Midwife."
Well, that dear old, web-based program watching service has done it again!
My newest addiction has been "The Paradise".
If you want something good to watch, episode tras episode...
That is the show!
British television drama is where it's at, people!
All three of these shows are absolutely captivating.
All focus on different periods.--the setting
Whoa--if you have not checked these out, then do!
Pace yourself dear bloggy friends.
I stayed up til two AM watching an entire season of "The Paradise"
It was the night before my birthday, and I convinced myself to stay up til my birth hour watching this show til the end of the first season.

Also, both "Call the Midwife" and "The Paradise" are based on novels...
umm humm...which makes for some good {future} reading!

So then, to keep this England thing going...
I watched my favorite tr@sh TV today--anything on Br@v0.  The show I watched was something about ladies in London.

Hell, who needs a vacay to foreign lands with all this immersion?!

Cheerio!

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

What is this?


This! My dear Bloggy follower, is a picture of a double hand-mopped kitchen floor. :)
Every time I mop I think about my linguistic pet peeve of people advertising things as "hand" completed---that {of course} are always completed by hand.
Mopping is one of those activities at my house! 
LOL--all the time. :)

Monday, June 16, 2014

Snuggle Condo

I have had this post in my head since I took the picture! 
Doesn't it look like they are in a multi-story building?  Each with his/her own floor to snuggle! :)
Very cozy, indeed.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Cushion

Here is one.
Here is another.
Here is another.  Stick with me here...
And to complete the theme, here are the two melded together:

Is meld a word?--Oh! yes!  I just looked it up to make sure. {mom brain}
This week was a week FULL of activities.
Heck, the whole month has been!  While we have shuffled around after school to graduations, dance recitals, ball practices and games, swim practices...{crazy}, my children have hung in there.
They have been tired.  They have been happy, grumpy--every emotion from A to Z.
What I have not done is act like a "tiger mom"
One of the days Victor was so tired--that I called Andy and he came to get V-man so he could lay on the couch all day.
When they are tired and grumpy--MOM packs their stuff for them, finds their stuff for them, and give them hugs.
The more I am a mom I am realizing there is no place for the "tiger mom" in my world.
The world and its demands are "tiger enough"--I think I will just be a cushion.
I would rather soften the blows.
Are my expectations of them high?  Sure.
Are their expectations of themselves high?  Right now, yes, and time will tell on this one..
Does life demand a whole lot?  YES!
So, I will be the one in the wings checking, gauging, and picking up the slack.
When I was composing this post in my head it occurred to me that this is what my Mama has always done too!
When I was tired, sad, frustrated, got my feelings hurt--she has always been there...
checking, gauging, and picking up the slack..
No room for Tiger moms here, folks!
Moms are the cushions! :)
(just don't ask about Mama bear, however, she does come out if necessary!)





Friday, June 6, 2014

Try it!

This stuff is WONDERFUL!
L'Oreal's new sunscreen face lotion.
It has the perfect feel, just a bit of color --but sheer color!
Finally a sunscreen for my face that does not feel as thick as mud!
When you put it on, you do not feel like it is gonna make you break out.

If you go to Walgr33ns right now, they have coupons on the counter...and this 
wonderful lotion is only like 8.75!
What a bargain for such great lotion! :)

Friday, May 30, 2014

La playa

 This picture reminds me of one of those ones from the Great Depression where all the people are lined up and no one is really happy or smiling...I think there is one of my Mama's family on the beach that really looks a lot like this one, LOL.

The water at Nag's Head stays cold for a LONG time...so we were really taking our time getting in.  We eventually did...but it was chilly, and rough!
This is all the cousins. 

At the old ball game

 This is where we have been spending a bit of time lately.  I must say that when Victor hits the ball and runs the bases...my heart skips a beat! :)
Thank God for athletic genes, none of which came from me, by the way.
I am so glad I got these two pictures.  When we go to games I do not take my camera etc.
We just go out there and sit and watch.
I just took it out there so that one time I could get a couple of pictures.
Victor has had an awesome season!  We have had fun.
It is amazing to watch these seven and eight year old little boys play ball. 
So anything else that I say is going to just sound like Mama rambling, therefore, I will stop!
Enjoy the fotos. :)
Can you see they are looking up to see where the ball is going to go? 
Okay, I stop now...

Sunday, May 18, 2014

La comunion

Count it!
Another first.
A catholic communion.
The first communion of a little girl, all dressed in white.
Our friend Yineth had her first communion yesterday.
We do have a Catholic Church in our little town.  There used to be a Catholic school (now an empty building, save for the confirmation classes that happen there).
It was beautiful!
The mass was held in Spanish and in English.
Not repeating one another, sino complimenting one another, with some scripture being read in English, and other scripture being read in Spanish.
The Priest spoke his own version of Spanish, I refer to as "the best he could"
--probably very much like the one I speak
The word he cannot say, "conocimiento."
He butchered it every time! LOL
Yineth was just beautiful!
I was amazed by the liturgy.
It was HEAVY!
The word, "medieval" comes to mind.
Which, might not be a fair word, but this is my blog, so I don't aim to be fair.
The priest quoted St. Thomas Aquinas when he talked about faith.
It was all just fascinating.
No, I was not invited to take communion.
I am not Catholic.
This was all laid out for us, my children, my Mama, and me.
This has happened to me before in very evangelical protestant churches that specify "unless one is saved one may not partake of holy communion."
All of that is foreign to me, as at my church everyone who is a believer is invited to take communion.
Being {saved} is a matter of one's own heart and their relationship with the Holy Spirit.
It is all very interesting.
The communion service is EXACTLY the same, btw.
The priest read almost exactly what my Preacher reads.
I just loved it!

Le Danse



See how sweet Kaye looks?  Even at 10:00 at night after watching three hours of dance recital.
There is a reason I try to emulate her. ;).
Sweet.  Gracious.  It can be hard at times...I tell ya! (you read it on my blog LOL).

Since then...

I have not been posting like I want to!
Really, I would like to average one per week.
This past two weeks have been very busy weeks.
This weekend was dance recital weekend.
It was FUN!
My cousin Kaye came.  Kaye has one son.
For someone with one son, she has been to her fair share of dance recitals.
What a sweet cousin!
She goes to them ALL!
If you announce a dance recital to her, she will come for a visit to watch it.

Last night, as I watched little girls shake it and boogie down in sequins this is what I thought:
If aliens were to visit our wonderful Place in the universe and observe a dance recital what in the world would they think?
Picture them observing and taking notes!
This is what I thought they might write:
These beings have strange rituals, they place their young nymphs upon a platform dressed in sparkles and then laugh and cry as the young shake around in the sparkly outfits!
Of course it would be written in alien language--not English.
I also always think about all those sequiny leotards being maufactured in Ch!na (or any other foreign/third world manufacturing place).  Don't you think they wonder...
What in the H3ll are these people doing with all of these sparkly leotards?
Boy if they could have a video overview of all the dance recitals that happen in May!
So interesting that we do this thing.

Back to my cousin.  I think it is sweet that she comes and she has the most wonderful commentary about the recital.  She really gets into it.

I will post pictures this afternoon! :)
Happy Sunday.

Monday, May 5, 2014

And the photographic evidence...


Once is {totally} enough.

This past weekend I went to the Outer Banks and ran in the flying pirate 1/2 marathon.
I excercise and run all the time.
Just about every day of my life I do a workout video or run...
I trained for about two months doing long runs to build up my endurance...
When I got to the race,
I CHOKED!
Not literally...but in the stick shift car kinda way.
At the starting line I had to pee.
Since I had just gone, I thought it was my nerves...
but it was not.
So at mile two I was at the scotty potty waiting in a LINE of women!
Six minutes...
Then I was out of the pack.
So, at mile nine I had another {odd body thing} happen
that I will not talk about here....but after that happened
running was just about out of the question!
I mean I could run in small doses...
THAT. WAS. ALL.
I just could not run...
So, it took me almost three hours--not good!
I also realized, as I was running....I hate this!!
I know now--I never want to do that again...ever.
Curiosity satisfied.
Yes I can do it.
Yes I am not good at it.
Yes it tears your body up.

The end.

Monday, April 28, 2014

Trying for a better picture...


Just a week after a {nail art} session with my two girls

This masterpiece has created itself on my nails!  Since I discovered its resemblance, it's not going anywhere.  It only gets better from here!

There's a first time for everything

On Friday night we had tornados all around us!
I was at my friend's house in her closet with her little girl.
For an hour and a half we hid in the closet because there was no electricity and
we were told to "go to your safe spot!"
that is what we did!
Then, after the storm, I drove home.
There was a bad smell in the air...and trailers that were trailers when I left to go to Sissy's house,
were now flattened-gone..
There was a calm panic in the air--all around me.
Two route attemps later, I arrived at my house.
So, I posted lots of tornado videos on my facebook page!
See!--It is almost like you cannot escape Facebook.
After the storm I wanted to see news updates etc. and Facebook had the best ones.
The videos posted there were the best ones.
hhhmm.... This has left me on the fence.
Mostly I know I need to get off of there...
But then some odd thing happens and I  want to look on there...
Okay--back to Monday
Back to the real world!

Friday, April 25, 2014

Update {on the news!}

On CBS this morning they have an expert!!
She is telling me that
There are two kinds of envy
1. is {benign}
Envy and Jealousy are different she says... hmmm...
Jealousy is when you "fear losing something"
Also, "The more you are on facebook, the less happy you are"
hmm...
This is interesting.
She never told the 2. kind of envy...oops!
So, there, my feelings have been validated by an expert!

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Pea Green

...with envy!
Has anyone watched "Gone with the Wind?"
In that movie Scarlett says that at some point.
Lately, envy has reared its ugly head in my world.
Facebook is a source, but I also think that Facebook alone does not make one jealous.
One must be in a {funky} state to begin with in order to look on Facebook and become jealous of mere {aquaintances}.
Recently I mentioned my philosophy on Jealousy, which I have had for a very long time....since I was around 12.
Jealousy:
There is no need for it because If you are jealous of someone for any reason, you only have two choices:
1.  Get what they have--work hard etc, and figure out how to have that thing, or situation, or {whatever}
or
2.  Realize that you are not gonna have that {thing} and get the hell over it!
I mean jealousy is a terrible feeling and if every part of your logical mind tells you "that ain't ever gonna happen."--Then you need to just forget that {thing} and get the hell over it!
The END.
So, at 35 I have just been wallowing in jealousy!
I get on facebook and see someone who sells butt lift videos for a living in a {pyramid} sales fashion from her house--and I will be!--she and her husband are going on a cruise--FORFREE! b/c she has sold so many butt lift videos!!
**What I am thinking**
Why in the HELL did I spend six years becoming educated to have a job at which I will never even make 50 thousand dollars a year???-When I could sell F*cking butt lift videos and go on cruises!!???
I can tell ya....sometimes having a {profession} no vale la pena!  Some days there is not a lot of gratification in what I do.
If, however, I were not on facebook-- I would barely know this person.  I certainly would not know about her all expense paid cruise--points against facebook!
I guess anyone who reads this blog can take this example and multiply this by ten and then there is the facebook fun/my life is wonderful/boastfest that I have decided I can no longer suffer.
Now, to stop this terrible wave of jealousy that has swept over me...that is another story.
It is totally my problem...some mindset thing...and it will change! :)

Coming back??

The blogging traffic has been light lately.
The last time I  posted was a while ago.
BUT
I think that I am coming back!
Recently I decided that Facebook is not for me.
So, I have cancelled my account.
Therefore, if I want to cyber exhibit my life, this will be my vehicle.
Right?
Also, I have an itch to make some kind of excitement in my life...
Conquer a reading list?
Become a no waste home for the summer?
(have y'all checked out that blog?)
....hmm..
Whatever my excitement is, it has to be free or near free.
All of our summer money will be spent before summer arrives...so
Free excitement it is!
Ideas anyone?
Whatever my idea is, I will blog about it.
No waste is seeming like my favorite so far.
Trying to be trash free is really a challenge in today's world of {buy new plastic Easter Eggs every year}.
My children thought I have lost my mind when I was trying to explain catching the waste water in a buckeet (from the shower) and then dumping it into the toilet...
They will need an example I think.
Melissa was baking recently, and that is fun too...maybe will do some healthy baking and blog about that!
I also have two stories to tell, so those will be forthcoming.

The End--for now...

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Can anyone guess what our letter focus of the week is?

Look what Eva is holding...
What is Elena holding--hint..we are in a restaurant.
Look what Victor is holding, 
and finally...look what I cooked in the middle of the island. :)
Fun after work!
{homeschool} LOL!

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Had to be today...


Because that is when I found it, cut it, broke it up, cooked it, and ate it....YUM!
All for me!

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Happy Birthday Elena!

Can you tell how exctied she is to be having cake for breakfast? :)
We had a family party on Sunday, but this morning she got to eat one of the last pieces of her cake.
The other piece will be for her this afternoon! :)

Elena is sweet!
That is the word that describes her--among many others like, curious, nature-loving, caring, friendly, respectful...the list can go on and on--
BUT, since the day she was born we knew that Sweet! Was the word for her. :)

Nine years ago right now, I was in a lot of PAIN!--she was born right before The View came on. LOL
10:57.

Spot on!

Spot is our family's chihuahua.  He is what we call, "an evil dictator/stuffed animal come to life".  Sometimes, after he has ...