For the past two weeks someone has been home with me. Either I've had a sick kiddo or someone has been on vacation. We have been in and out. To the store and back. I've cooked and done laundry. My house has not been tidy no matter how hard I tried to keep up. We even took a trip to Columbus and my daughters besty came for a week long visit.

Have I mentioned that someone has been home with me every day for the past two weeks??

Yesterday I cleaned. I shined up my home. I cooked a big pot of chicken soup and the house smelled wonderful. Laundry was started. Then I sort of forgot about it. Then my husband reminded me. Laundry was started anew. Then I sighed a big loooooooong sigh.

Today there is just me......and the dog....and the cat. The way God intended for Mondays to be. My men are at work. My daughters are at school. I have a big ole pot of coffee and a new creamer called mint chocolate aka balm for a mothers soul. There is nothing before me but a day of quiet. I need to get laundry done but that is neither here nor there. I have an applique project ready and blogs to get caught up on.
I love having a quiet day to myself after so much busyness. It makes me feel all pink puffy hearted inside.

I hope everyone out there is having just such a Monday...full of peace. :)

Thanksgiving.....

Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll!!! Hope your turkey day was as wonderful as our was. :)
We spent the day in Columbus with our friends. Ate a lot of turkey.
A
Lot
We also ate some ham....and green bean casserole.....and rolls...and corn pudding....and cranberry sauce.....and then some more turkey.....and stuffing.....and pie!

Groan.....

I am still stuffed this morning. After dinner I went upstairs to the 4th floor (seriously you all need to see this house!) and took a nap in what I like to call the movie room. It is set up just like a theater with wonderful overstuffed leather chairs that lean back when you press buttons. There were blankets passed out and naps taken while we watched the parade. The grownups stayed downstairs and since I didn't want to leave the kiddos alone I took a nap with them. All comfy cozy with my oh so lovely mink blanket. Martha Stewart would have called yesterday a good thing. :)

Hope everyone out there hugged their family tight and thought of things they were thankful for. Today is shopping. No, not at o dark thirty. We are headed to the mall after lunch to hang out and just be. I'll make sure to take some pics so I can share tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day after Thanksgiving day!!!
hugs!!!

The Grocery Store Debacle....

The other day I took my son to the grocery store. The cupboards were bare at Chez' Owens so we were gonna hit it and hit it hard.

When we walked into the store it was packed. All of the retirees had come to shop. No problem since retirees like to talk and if there is something I like to do it's talk to strangers in the grocery store! :)

So there we were. I had a cart. The Son had a cart. Everything was going good. We laughed. We talked. We moved out of the way of the lady with the blue hair who was taking no prisoners. It was shopping at it's finest. Isle 8 is where the cranberry juice is. I loves me some cranberry juice. Goes great with a leeetle bit of that wondrous thing called Cranberry Vodka.



I will now take a second for us all to shout " Hail to the cranberry vodka!"


Carrying on.....as I reached for the cranberry juice my stomach all of the sudden said "Heeeeeeeelllllllllllllllloooooo" and I thought I was going to be ill. Violently. The never can I show my face again in this here town kind of ill. I dug in the cart and opened up the box of Gas-X. Oh yes I did. And can I just say that nothing embarrasses a kid more then when you jump in a grocery cart, root around, find the Gas-X, hold it up and shout "HALLELUJAH!!"
We waited a couple of minutes to see if the pill was gonna work its magic. My stomach said to me "I SAID HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOO!!!"

I told my son to stay with the carts and ran to the bathroom. Nothing. I looked in the mirror and noticed I was kind of pale. I walked back to The Son and told him all was right once again and for us to carry on. Then people we get to the dairy isle. I turned around to reach for the coffee creamer.....you know the kind....the kind in the large bottle that says yummy/scrumptious things like "toffee" or "caramel".... as I reach for the creamer I felt dizzy all of the sudden and had to swallow like a ma-zillion times cause it was gonna happen!!! I looked at the poor man standing next to me whose wife had sent him to get the coffee creamer as well and he was looking at me like this.....



horrified.





I heard my son take a deep breath as he readied himself for the horror that was about to happen. I just stood there in shock staring at the man and thinking to myself "Self, what you got yourself here is probably that there Pigeon Flu and you need to fortify your loins cause this chain't gone-be pretty." Seems that when I am about to get sick in the dairy isle my inner hillbilly comes out.

Thankfully, after a couple of deep breaths, I got myself together and crisis number 2 passed. But let me tell you, we finished the rest of our shopping in a blur. I threw whatever was in front of me in the cart.....got to the checkout line and held on to the counter while my son loaded everything up....and kept asking me if I was okay. Then he ran to get the car while I stood outside with our bagger. We made it home with no further incidents.
I've been fine ever since. Crazy!!!
I am now scared to leave my home and will be staying indoors indefinitely.
heeheehee

2012....and the bully update...

So yesterday the movie 2012 came out and man oh man was I excited to see it! I've had that baby marked on my calendar for months now. I like a good movie people and one about the world ending in a fiery explosion of mayhem is one of my favorites! The hubby took the day off so he could go with me and we also made The Son get up outta bed so he could go too. Now the movie is long...2 hours and 20 minutes. We needed to be home by 3pm and were gonna be cutting it close. I asked the hubby if he could be the Keeper of The Time and let me know when it was 5 minutes to 3. I was pretty sure we would get to see the whole movie.
I had a jumbo popcorn and a gigantic-a soda. My hubby was on one side of me and my son on the other.
I.
Was.
A.
Happy.
Camper.

Until..........

Just as the movie was getting good....things were sliding into the ocean....people were hanging off of the side of buildings.....my hubby leans over in a panic and says "Hey! It's 3 o'clock! We gotta go so we can get Middle Daughter to work on time!" I stand up and say "Already???!! Wow! That went fast!!" Then we raced for the car. I kept thinking that 2 hours and 20 minutes had gone by so fast and what was up with the rest of the movie...did the previews go on that long at the beginning??? Cause I knew....just knew that more explosions were gonna happen that I was gonna miss.

You wanna know what happened as I turned the corner to hop on the highway to home?? I looked at the car clock. heh. My husband forgot to change his watch for Daylight Savings. It was only 2. My son and I just stared at him like how could you????? DID HE NOT KNOW HOW LONG I WAITED FOR THIS MOVIE TO COME OUT???????!!! I was thinking that I may have to leave him. I may have to pack up the kids and move. Where? I do not know but it would be a place where everyone gets the time right.

Not really. heeheehee He felt so bad and kept apologizing and I thought he was so cute that I forgave him. It's just a movie after all. The son on the other hand is packing. He is moving to that land I just wrote about.
So guess who's gonna go see 2012 this week??? Yeah. That would be me. :)

The Bully Update:
The Vice Principal of my daughters school is a dream. He got right on it and stopped everything before it could get out of hand. He talked to our daughter (and I will be eternally grateful that we taught our kids to say Ma'am and Sir!! Boy does it sound good!) and then he talked to the other girl. My daughter said she laughed at the girl when she came to school with yellow hair and the girl said she wanted to punch her face off for it. The Principal explained to my daughter that she shouldn't tease and he explained to the girl that she shouldn't want to punch the faces off of people. They are each in their respective corners and we don't think anything else will happen.

You know, it's hard to know when to step in as a parent. We like our kids to figure thing out for themselves with us helping as needed. We don't want to fight all their battles because then how will they learn to stand up on their own when they get older. We do draw the line when there is talk about "jumping" our 12 year old. It's just a no all the way around. Kids mean it these days. It's not an idle threat. Also? We act fast and furiously when we feel that our own kids have gone to far. I've told the three of them that I was bullied when younger and how I felt about it.
So the Boo-Bear is back to being her fire-cracker self. She had a friend spend the night and seems to feel pretty good about the whole thing. Thank you to everyone who thought about our girl!!! You guys rock!!

Bullies....

Yesterday my hubby had the day off. He's been gone doing Air Force type things so a day off was just what the doctor ordered. We went out for breakfast....went to Lowe's....stopped by Avenue so I could drool over a coat I have my eye on.....walked around Sams Club so the Major could drool over a TV he has his eye on and we went back to the yucky meat store to get a whole chicken. My man wanted to cook Beer Butt chicken so Beer and Chicken were got. The only crazy thing that happened is when I was walking out of the store (he had gone to get the van) an older man burped right by my ear.
Why?
Why did he do that Int-nets?? And was it just as crazy for me to think "Hurray!! I'm so gonna blog about this!!" hahahahahaha

When we got home The Boo-Bear was walking from her bus. She looked at me and I thought "Uh-Oh. Somethings wrong." She said she had to talk to me and got a little teary. I grabbed tissue and we scooted for her room. Seems she was bullied. By a girl who's name I know well. Last year this same girl bullied The Boo-Bears friend mercilessly. For a year people. She confronted her outside of class...on the playground...in the hallway...at lunch. The Boo-Bear got into it with her a couple of times over it and her friends mom even came over to our house to see if her daughter had done anything to warrant the attacks. Ummm no. The mom was supposed to go to the school and have a conference with the principal over it but never did.
I guess yesterday she figured my daughter needed a little attention. She confronted her at her locker. Words were said and a threat made that she was going to get some people to jump her. My baby said she wasn't scared of her and for her to go away.....then our Boo-Bear said she flicked her fingers in the air so the hateful one would realize she meant it when she said to go away. Then? Then she cried while she looked at me. She said her fingers were shaking when she tried to open her locker. She said she didn't want to get into trouble at school. I was all WHA??? Why would you get into trouble? She is worried that the Principal will call them into her office to discuss what happened and that they will both get into trouble. Yeahno. The hubby is taking some time off this afternoon to make a visit to the school. He is going to talk to the principal about what happened. We went through this once when our son was younger. He had been bullied. We went through the proper channels...talked to the counselor.....got it documented....all the things you do. When the kid hit him for the first time my son hit back. They got hauled into the office and the principal called me to let me know they were both being suspended. She said she knew of the problem but with the whole no tolerance policy they were both out for three days. My son thought he'd get in trouble at home. Um no. We took the three day suspension and the bully never bothered him again.

So today will be a long day. My Boo-Bear had an upset stomach this morning but felt pretty good that her friends all called her last night to offer support, like only 7th grade girls can, and that her father is going to her school to see what's what. I'll sit here today and wait for her to come home.

sigh.

It's gonna be a looooooong wait til she gets home. 3 o'clock never seemed so far away.

Ft. Hood....

As a military wife and daughter my thoughts and prayers go out to the Army community at Ft. Hood.

Visitors....

My cousin "Jordanthing" came for an over night visit the other day. Jordanthing isn't her real name it's just what my son called her, for reasons known only to him, when he was little. Anyway she came for a visit and much laughing and talking was mine for a couple of hours. Cousins...they do the body good.

As she was packing her car to leave a pretty interesting thing happened. She came back into the house and said she had to hop into her truck PDQ cause two labs came over to check out what was what and made her nervous. I, being a dog LOVER!, said labs?? She thought they had gotten loose cause they both had collars on. My, being a dog LOVER! said lets catch em and find their mom! She looked a tad bit sceptical, not knowing that inside of her quiet mom-like cousin beat the heart of a hero. :) hee. I go outside and whistled. Two huge! dogs came running around the corner. I opened my back yard fence and in they galloped. Much coo-ing over how cute they were and what good doggies they were and let Aunt Dawn get you a little treat-kisskiss belly rub-belly rubs later and I had caught me some dogs. My cousin? In the house watching from the back door. Inside of her beats the heart of a hero as well she just likes to use it only on weekends. heeheehee

I had her bring me Abbey's leash and took the biggest one out of the back yard to look for his mom. The younger lab protested so we let him out thinking he wouldn't go far without his buddy. I walked around the neighborhood looking for someone obviously upset cause Hey! Doggies!! Loose!! Looking for them!! And you know what?? Found her!!!! She had gone out back to feed them that morning and the gate was open. She was in her car driving around the neighborhood in a panic thinking she would never see them again and life would never be the same. Okay, I made that up but she WAS looking panicky and driving around the neighborhood. She got her dogs and we shook hands promising to be bestys. Okay! Made that up too but wouldn't that have been great!!! Really she acted kinda put out and only wanted to get her smoke on and pull up her white tank top/sans a bra but that's okay cause Hey! Doggies!!! I knew in her heart she thought of me as a hero and I was okay with that. Then I went home and we took the cousin out to Red Robin where she paid!!! Hey!! Cousins!!! and we went to Best Buy where we may have danced around the store a little cause they were playing rockin music.

All in all a very nice two days. Big hugs Jordanthing!!!!

Brotherly love....

Our youngest and oldest have a very deep abiding love. He has introduced her to the tres fabulous Pokemon game, tooting, watching movies, blue slushies at Sonic..... and she has helped him to learn patience. :) The other night he went to the store, bought a bunch of snacks and the two of them put their heads together so he could help her achieve levels unreached before in the history of Pokemon. All. Night. Long. Yeah, I know, that's a great big brother.

He has also introduced her to the always funny game of name calling. Do you all know what a Pongu is?? It is a toot. He calls her Pongu Sniffer and she calls him Turd Juggler. A very typical morning between them at Chez' Owens usually goes thusly....

Him: Morning Pongu Sniffer.
Her: Morning Turd Juggler.

Then they are able to start the day. Now if one of them tried this with the middle child?? Our 17 year old?? It would go like this...

Them: Morning Turd Juggler.
Her: OHMYGOSHWILLYOUSTOPCALLINGMENAMES!! Twitter twitter text text. MOM!!! text text twitter. MAKE THEM STOP!!! text. MOM!! twitter. MOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOM!! I CANNOT WAIT TIL COLLEGE!!! AUGH!!

Always classy over here folks. Always classy.

Astro Boy......

Last night I took the Boo-Bear and the Son out to a movie. It's hard to agree on a movie between three people and after much discussion Astro Boy won. Boo-Bear loved it....I gave it a C. It gets a little weird/campy in one spot but the message is good. It was no Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs that's for darn sure! She wants to see Where The Wild Things Are but man oh man every time I read something about it everyone says how depressing it is and I do not need any more of that! hahahaha

Today is Saturday. I've got two kids who want to hang out at the mall and get some Christmas shopping done. We're gonna eat Chick Fill'A and maybe I can talk one of them into treating their ole' momma to a Starbucks. A trip to JoAnns and some fat quarters may be in my future. I am working on a tea pot wall hanging and want to get all the blocks prepped so I have something to do at night while the family watches what they watch on TV. I'll take some pics of the blocks later on tonight.
It's gonna be a great day. :)

A peek into Air Force life.....

There are times I love being the wife and daughter of an Air Force member. I was reminded of something this morning that I especially like while having my first cup of coffee and reading blogs.

Every morning at 7:30 I can hear Reveille play. We live across the street from a section of the base so I can hear it loud and clear. At 5 Retreat plays and then at 10PM we get to hear Taps. Every day. Did you know that when you are on base everything stops while those songs play? Every car stops and anyone outside must face in the direction of the big American Flag....usually by the front gate. If you are in uniform you must stand at attention. It is so neat to sit in your car and watch life come to a standstill for a moment while we all pay our respects to our country.

When my kids were little 5 o'clock was dinner time. You would hear Retreat play and when it was over you could see kids scatter for home. I absolutely loved it! Some days I would go to my kitchen window, where I could see the park, and just wait for it to happen. The kids would all stand very still....some with tiny hands over their hearts like they had been taught to do...and then they would run for home to eat.

The other day we were all walking to the car to go somewhere when we heard the music. Without saying anything we all stopped and faced the area across the street where we knew the flag was. My kids were quiet. The hubby stood straight and tall. When it was over we resumed walking and talking. Just picked up where we left off and it was so natural that no one mentioned it. My heart felt so full. It made me proud.

Just a little sharing about how life is over here. :)
hugs everyone!!

My new Dream Job...

I was online last night perusing the internet when I came across an article about people who study paranormal activity. In short, they are Ghostbusters.

I. Totally. Want. That. Job.

I read that article two times and for a brief second I thought about waking up the hubby and telling him that his dreams were about to come true and I was going to get a job! Then I thought about how grumpy he would be if I woke him up to tell him that his wife wants to be a Ghostbuster and let him sleep.

Ghostbuster!!! Can you even imagine how great a job that would be??? I could be at a function with the hubby....he would be in full Major-mode and I would have on heels and an oh so lovely dress. (annnnnnnnnnd since this is my fantasy the dress would be a size 5! ha!!) A General and his wife would walk over to make small talk and they would ask me what I do. I would sort of swish my cosmo and say in an offhand kinda way "Me? Oh, I'm a Ghostbuster." Then I would smile demurly at the Generals wife cause there is no way her day job could top that! I am sure they would stand in awe at the wonder that is Me "The Ghostbustering Wife"

Or I would be at JoAnns taking full advantage of a 40% off sale and a woman would ask me what I needed the 4658 rolls of tape for. I would say "Tape? This is for my job." She would be intrigued by the woman of mystery that is me and say "Really? What is your job?" I would then smile politely and tell her that I am a Ghostbuster and the tape is to put all over a house infested with Stage One Ghosties that can only be caught with good ole fashioned sticky stuff. Can you just see the envy on her face when she realizes that she is just a boring Supreme Court Judge who has to wear a boring old black robe day after day and I am a Ghostbuster, probably besty's with Dan Aykroid, and I get to wear awesome ghostbuster type outfits??!

Now, of course, as I am afraid of ghosts my job would be to wear the cute outfit and stand in front of the haunted houses with a sign saying "Ghostbustering Going On Here....to hire please call 1-800-rockin-jobs" I would let others do the actual "busting." My momma din't raise no fools.

I am now off to have a third cup of coffee. God only knows what I will post next. heeheeheehee

The creepy man....

On Sunday my hubby woke up and told me that he must cook some ham-hocks...and beans. Then I went downstairs to make some coffee. I needed to fortify my loins before any plans were thrown at me. He came down about 20 minutes later, dressed and ready. He definitely needed some ham hocks and beans.......maybe some of my sweet corn bread....and possibly some sweet tea. Oh, and I should get ready cause he wanted me to go with him. As I am a white woman I don't have the faintest clue what one should look for in a good ham hock.....other then they should be big.....but I love muh man so off we went. The man likes to buy his ham hocks from one store. It is a small little hole in the wall......probably run by mountain people. Nothing wrong with mountain people, I'm just setting the scene. Teeth are not always a given. Shoes and shirt are mere options.

As we are waiting at the meat counter with all 645 other mountain/hunters in full camouflage gear/slasher type people I got a little tingly feeling at the base of my neck. Now int-netz I am a child of Oprah. For years I was a devout follower and I know that when you have a tingly feeling at the base of your neck that means that a murderer is close by. Of course Oprah calls it your "hmmmmmmm something is not right" feeling but she really means that a murderer is close by and you should run RUN ham hocks be damned!

Now I was at one end of the meat counter and the hubby was at the other. He had gotten all enthralled by the sirens call of beef and had left me. I looked around to see why I was getting the tingly-murderer is close by feeling when I saw this man looking at me. It wasn't a "Hey! What a cutie that girl is!!" It wasn't a " HMMMMM white girl with black man....bad!" look either. It was just a really weird blank stare. I looked away and pretended to be oh so intrigued by a packet of something called "Salt chure deer meat and the wimmin will come a'runnin" and when I peeked to see if he was still looking? He was. I looked behind me cause maybe he was aiming his dead blank stare to some other unlucky person. But guess what?? There was no one else behind me. I decided to hide in an isle. Not that Oprah ever suggested that hiding in the cereal isle when you are about to be attacked, is a good idea but I needed to give the man time to be distracted by something else. When I got tired of reading cereal boxes I fought my way over to the the hubby. I figured the weird Freddy Kruger man would see that I was well protected and would stalk someone else. Nope. He kept looking. I thought about telling my hubby but the man hadn't really done anything. I just kept getting an icky feeling. And ladies, would my husband understand The Wisdom Of Oprah and how I was having a Hmmmmmmmmm Moment?? No. He would walk over to the icky little man and ask him if he was staring at his wife and if so could he knock it off cause he was giving her the heebie-jeebies. And really.....the area of town we were in...well let us just say that I didn't want to stand out any more then we already were. I only break out the black belt moves when needed and on one cup of coffee.....me loins weren't nearly fortified enough.
Our number was called while I was wrestling with what to do so we ordered our ham hocks. Paid for them and got in the car. I told the Major about all of my thoughts. He looked around the parking lot to see if I was being stalked but nope. No icky murdering man had followed us out to the store. And why I felt the need to share this loooooong and sordid tale I do not know.
It's just me looking for the silver lining in things....see......escaping a murder/slasher?? WIN WIN!! Yeah Me! Looking for the good in life!!! :)

Anyway!!! so tonight I am still alive and well in Ohio. Let this be a lesson to all you ladies out there. If a very tiny-weird-murderer-slasher type person stares a death ray stare at you, just do what I did.
Hide in the cereal isle. Works every time. And yes, that is the moral of this story. giggle

Night all!!!

Decrating for Fall.....

Been doing a little Fall decorating around here. When I went to the Covered Bridge Fest my dad got this house for me....it lights up!! Very Fall-ish.











I also decorated the front porch.......This is just some corn stalks....a couple of bales of hay....some pumpkins and a table my dad made for me.











In the other corner I put a small cabinet with a very large pumpkin on top. (Cabinet also made by my dad....yes, it pays to have someone in the family who is a woodworker!)











And over here I put two bird houses......also made by my dad. :) I got some Fall Garlands from JoAnns.....60% off Ladies!!!....and hung them around our porch. It looks really nice at night when the porch light is on.

I think Fall may be my favorite season. It's cold so you can wear the cold weather clothes but it's not freezing to where you don't want to go outside.

Happy decorating everyone!!

Serious post ahead.........

So ummmmmm my posts have been pretty spotty lately huh.
Thanks to all who have hung in there with me and my once a month posting.

As many of you out there know life is not always one big basket of butterflies. At times things that we are desperately trying to hold at bay rear up and say "Okay, enough. Let us deal with this now." Everyone has something that they deal with. Mine is that every once in awhile I get sad. For no reason. Just sad. Usually it only lasts a day or two and then I can snap myself out of it and go on with life, none the wiser. This time? No. It has gone on and on and on. I describe it as waking up one morning and it is sitting on your chest, smiling down at you and saying "Hi! Remember me?? Wellllll I'm back!" You can tell yourself that your children are wonderful, your hubby is the best, you have a roof over your head, food in the fridge, shoot even your dog loves you but it doesn't always work. I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago to tell him that maybe my "vitamins" weren't working like they should and he wanted to go over what I had been doing that week. I told him. Just the usual wife and mom stuff. He says to me "You seem to take care of everyone. Who takes care of you?" Then he got nervous when I felt oh so sorry for myself thinking "Yeah! Who??" and maybe got a little teary. hahahahahahaha

So what to do and how to pick yourself up by the bootstraps and get it together already??

When I go through it I start a new quilting project. I put music on during the day. I get out of the house and go be amongst people. I buy myself a fat quarter. I make big dinners and set the table nicely. Or I re-arrange furniture. I never let it affect my family. I feel very strongly that my kids will not remember their mother being sad. This time? Nothing worked. I found myself laying on the couch after the kids went to school and then waking up 3 or 4 hours later. Eating for no reason even if I was full. A week would go by and I didn't laugh. I had to make myself go out. Even knowing I had to buy bread was a huge huge task that would loom in front of me. I even stopped answering the phone.

One night my daughter sat on my bed and said that I seemed sad. Was it something they had done. Was there something she could do to help. My other daughter came in and sat on the bed and they pow-wowwed as to what I could do. Yeah, that is a heart breaker for sure. They wanted their mom back. Shoot I wanted her back!

It's hard to say what made me have such a long "hard time" this time. It's been months. I was just so sick of myself. Nothing debilitating or any crazy thoughts, I just re-read what I wrote and wanted to put there out there. Just sad. And tired. And anxious. For more then a couple of days.

For months The Rents and I had planned on going to The Covered Bridge Festival together. Just the three of us. I would drive up to their camper....saying camper makes me think of a small little pop up when really people?? This thing is huge! Comes with two lazy boy chairs......tv......kitchen.....shower...you name it! Anyway, the plan was for me to drive up to the campground, stay in the Taj Mahal of campers with them and we would drive to the Festival and spend a whole day shopping. Going from booth to wonderful booth of craft stuff. When Nana got sick and I spent some time with her I thought about not going. I mean...money...recession....sigh. Then my heart said oh no. Go. Do not stay home. Get away for a bit. Spend some time with The Rents. I am so glad I listened to my heart. I took the 4 and a half hour road trip alone. Just me and my music. I stopped off here....



bought a little sumpin sumpin for my Ya-Yas.......












Then I spent some time with these two. The Rents. When I got out of my car to say hello I just held on to my dad. I breathed him in. I hugged my mom and when she kissed me on the cheek, grinning cause we were gonna have a rockin good time, I felt my soul wake up for the first time in months. I felt quiet inside of myself. Does that make sense?? The first night I was there we just sat together. We had to get up the next morning early as the Festival was an hour and a half away. My dad watched some TV and my mom and I read. Every once in awhile I would peek at them. Then I would grin to myself cause oh my gosh are they cute. Also? I felt so happy to be there with them.
The next day we drove to Indiana. The Festival was not what I expected. It. Was. Marvelous! Booth after booth after booth of crafty things! You weren't allowed to take any pictures so I snapped my dad before we entered the town. Oh, guess who had pneumonia that weekend?? Guess who we had to drag back to the camper at the end of the day after walking 245112 miles?? Yeah, that would be this guy.

I came home and felt more myself then I had for a long long time. I've laughed again. I chased my youngest up the stairs trying to pinch her while she laughed like a loon. I was interested in what was going on around me. I've answered the phone! :) I also made a decision that I would not go back to that place. I've started to say no a bit. No, I will not stop what I am doing and drive to the school cause you forgot something...AGAIN. No, I will not drive everyone hither and yon. Get another mom to do it...it's their turn. Yes, I will do my share but doggone it I will not let myself be so taxed out that I get depressed again. I also know that people will only tax you out and make you crazy if you let them. I plan on working on some balance. Oh, and laughing. I've missed laughing.
The next time my doctor asks me who takes care of me?? I'm gonna tell him about these two. My Rents. And I am going to thank my lucky stars that I feel better!!!

Okay, enough down in the mire stuff!! hahahaha Next up is pictures of the porch! It is decorated for Fall and looks so great my neighbor stopped by to tell me so. :)

hugs everyone!!

Angel Swap Update......

My secret angel swap person got her gifts from me a couple of days ago!!
I got someone from Hungary and had a lot of fun making stuff for her. (I also borrowed this photo from her blog as I forgot to take any of my own before I sent it out.)

If you ever get a chance to do a swap sign up!! It is a great way to get a peek into someone who lives a life very different from your own and you can make a nice friend as well. :)

Thanks to Helen for being in charge of all of us!!!

The hubby and I go out for breakfast on Saturdays. Just the two of us. No kids! Hurray!! :)
Last Saturday we sat down at our regular table....ordered some coffee....and opened up the paper. I get the comics and he gets the sports page. As we were enjoying ourselves two men sat at the table behind us and one of the men says the following

"When I get home the first thing Im-a gonna do is put my underwear back on."

I looked at my husband and he looked at me. I started to giggle. Then I told him that I thank God every day for moments like these! hahahahahaha Keeps life interesting.

And yes, I did turn around....all stealth like....to see the gentlemen who was "Commando" for the day. He was busy gumming some bacon by that time cause he left out his bottom teeth. Probably sitting on his underwear at home.

hahahahahahahahaha

Bucket List....

When I was in the airport waiting for my flight to arrive so I could go back home after a crazy three days of care taking I heard an announcement over the loudspeaker. The desk attendant said that the airline was doing this new thing where you could upgrade to first class for $50. Let me repeat that...first class. Let me also say that the plane ride was only an hour and ten minutes so when I thought about that and spending the $50 I didn't get up. We had an hour before boarding and I let my thoughts wander. I started to think about a Bucket List. I knew that if I had one flying in the first class section would totally be on there. I thought about how small the seats were and how small my own personal seat was not. I've never flown first class before. I began to make a Bucket List in my head.
When I went to throw my coffee cup and bag away I found myself walking up to the desk attendant. I asked him if what I had heard over the loudspeaker was true and could I upgrade my ticket to first class. He smiled and said yes. Then we looked at each other while I had an inner war with myself. Finally I handed over my debit card. He explained that when he called for first class passengers to board that I could come on up. Then I sat back down and grinned to myself. First class!! After awhile boarding began. I stood up and made my way slowly, cause there was really no hurry. We were FIRST CLASS Huzzah!!
I got to my seat and guess what?? They give you a blanket!! And a pillow!! And a very lovely bottle of ice cold water. The best bottle of ice cold water you will ever sip. Probably from a very special First Class Glacier. I got situated and smiled at the person sitting next to me. We had tons of room and both crossed our legs. I gave a sigh of contentment. She pulled out her cell phone, being a very important CEO/First Class Flying type of person. The flight attendant came over and asked if we would enjoy a beverage. That's what she said. A be-ver-age. I wasn't really thirsty but no way was I gonna pass up a First Class Be-ver-age. And you know what else?? She would make people wait to board so that she could pass out our drinks. Then I sat back and partook as the rest of the people boarded. Once we took off and the Capt said we could move around the flight attendant closed a curtain between us that the rest of the plane. She brought more be-ver-ages but this time in real glasses. She asked if we were comfy and could she get us anything else. Maybe a cookie. Or a hot soft pretzel. By this time I was covered in my sooo soft blanket and had my pillow in my lap with my new book resting on it. I declined any food and read for a bit.
Now the question is this....do you think it was worth the $50 for a flight only lasting an hour and ten minutes?? HECK YEAH!!!! I came out of that airport grinning so hard the hubby asked me what happened. When I told him what I had done and that really, I had to do it as it was on my Bucket List, he laughed. I felt happy all day long.

Ahhhhh First Class Flying, you have ruined me forever.

I have no willpower people. None. Not a bit.

Today I went by the quilt store to be out amongst the people and to ask about a block of the month I want to start. I walked in all happy and minding my own business and not even looking to spend any money..pinky swear..when I looked over to the right. It was really weird cause there was a glow coming from a corner room. Like an angeliclly glow. With some soft music. And I swear I heard my name being whispered. Of course I walked over to check it out cause I am a Nosy Rosy and Dear Baby Jesus and All That is Holy In the Land there was a quilt. It was beautiful. It was the most specialist quilt I've ever laid eyes on. It spoke to me. To my inner most soul. It said, "Daaaaaaaawwwwnnnnn I am beautiful and you want to make me and your husband is not the boss of you even though you swore on your brand spanking new Janome that you wouldn't buy any fabric you must make me and buy all the fabric for me now...right now."

Oh Int-netz I promise I resisted at first. I shook my head no and tried to walk away when a sweet little old lady (God ladies over 90 get me every time with their whole sweet little smiles and how they smell like lemon burbena and they carry hankies in their sleeves) she walked over to me and said "Isn't that quilt gorgeous!!" I said to her that yes it was but I wasn't allowed to buy anything as I just purchased a brand spankin new Janome and that even though my husband wasn't the boss of me I really shouldn't buy any fabric at this point and time. I should lay low on the whole fabric-purchasing thing. Yep, Dawny-Lay-Low is my new name. She patted my hand and said I was a good girl then she looked at the quilt again and sighed. As she turned away she mentioned that it was a class.

A CLASS INT-NETZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FULL OF MY VERY FAVORITE THINGS!!! QUILTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND I COULD TALK!!! OUT LOUD!! TO THE PEOPLE!!!!!!! Oh the hum of freshly oiled sewing machines. The laughter of like minded people coming together. And be still my heart but you know.....you just know that a Grandma would be in there and I could probably sit next to her and ask her to be my friend and she would pat me on the hand and tell me that I was a good girl. Le' sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

So guess who walked outta the quilt store an hour later with an armful of new fabric, the Eleanor Burns book "Underground Railroad" and is newly signed up for a class on how to make it???? If my husband (who is sooooooooooooooooooooooo not the boss of me!) is reading this then no, it wasn't me. Nope. Not me sweetie!!! But if he isn't reading this??

Totally me.

Hello world, may name is Dawn and I have an addiction to Grandmas who smell like lemon burbena and have hankies in their sleeves....and maybe just a weeeee little addiction to fabric...and thread.....and Eleanor Burns.........OKAY AND CHOCOLATE!!! There. Ya happy now??? I'm exhausted from all this confessing.

PS. I cannot show pictures of the fabric til the hubby goes to work as it is hidden in a cabinet far far away....not that he is the boss of me or anything!!! heh.

Thank you to everyone who left kind words about my hubby's Nana. :) You guys rock!!

Sooooooooooooooo speaking of cold and flu season...and isn't everyone??! Did all of you out there get a flu shot this year?? Did you have your kids get one?? We got a letter yesterday from our hospital that the Boo-Bear should come in and have one. The thing is...she has never had one. The hubby gets a flu shot every year. He has no choice being military. I remember when he got his first one years ago. He promptly got the flu.....and again the next year but not as severe. The doctor told him that it happens that way with the flu shot. Well I'm worried now that if the rest of us get out first flu shot that we will get the flu. And oh my gosh don't even let me get started on Swine Flu. Sheesh! We get a call once a week, at least, from the automated school line about it.

Usually during the Fall I stock up on medicines for colds and sore throats and fevers. When we were in Korea we got the nose swab at school. This year I am seriously considering the flu shot. So what say you internet?? Are you getting the vaccine.....are you letting your kids get it......how are you preparing for this winter time/cold and flu season???

Emergency Trip.....

My husbands grandmother got really sick last week. He gave her a call on Saturday to see how she was doing and she was so sick she was in tears. Not good when you are 80 years old. The hubby had just come back from a two week TDY and couldn't leave so I stepped up and asked him if he wanted me to go and take care of her. 30 minutes later I had a ticket for Atlanta in hand. The hubby doesn't mess around when it comes to his Nana.
When I made it to her house the next day she let me in and went right back to bed. I felt her head. She was burning up. I asked her if she had taken her meds that morning. No. I asked if she had checked her sugar that morning as she is diabetic. No. We checked it. Her normal range is 110. That morning? 350! The hubby has a cousin who lived nearby so we bundled her up and rushed her to the ER. Thankfully it was right around the corner. Listening to her breathing my gut told me she had pneumonia. My gut was right. Once we were signed into the ER they put her in a bed with monitors all around and lots and lots of blood tests and a couple of chest X-Rays. Not only did the test come back positive for pneumonia but her blood sugar was so high they were worried about a diabetic coma. We sat in the ER for around 9 hours then they decided to admit her. We asked for...and received...a private room. I was so thankful for that because the hubby's family had gotten word that Nana was sick and were flying in from everywhere.
That poor little thing was so ill they had to do a blood transfusion. The first night I stayed with her. The nurses got a cot for me so I could lay next to her and listen to her breath. The second night my mother-in-law flew in. She had the blood transfusion that night. My mother-in-law got the cot and I got the chair. After the transfusion she was doing so much better that I got to go back to her house and take a nap. Exhausted is to small a word for how I felt. I have to say that when the hubby has someone in his family that needs help they sure do rally like nobody's business. Nana never had better care. If we weren't making sure she was warm then we were holding her hand. Everyone kept her spirits up and the phone never stopped ringing. We had to screen calls or else she never would have gotten any rest. Families are a wonderous thing!

I left to come back home on the same day they let her go home. Since the hubby and I hadn't really seen each other in three weeks he took two days off. We had breakfast together, celebrated our daughter turning 17!, went to a pub to watch a football game, and did I mention that when I got home my house sobbed in relief?? heh. As I spent all of yesterday cleaning my fingers to the bone I kept repeating in my head "Give thanks that you are needed....give thanks that you are needed.....do not kill anyone....give thanks!!" heeheehee
So I'm home now and have a ton of blogs to get caught up on. Please forgive me if I haven't responded to any comments left the last week or so. Today is the first day I've been able to get online.

I hope everyone out there is healthy and well!!!!
dawn