Do you yell at the TV?

Because I have done some yellin' at my TV tonite. Hubby was watching Hardball. Yeesh.

Now, I don't consider myself to be "in the know" about all things political. I hated History classes when I was in school, and to this day I can't tell you who does what in the governmental scheme of things.

I don't know the function of the House of Representatives.

I don't understand what Congressmen and -women do in their jobs.

There's a lot I don't know. And I'm OK with that for now.

Because I'm learning. Against my will, mostly, because I listen to the TV.

And while I may not have the learnin', I have some common sense.

I can see the bad stuff coming down the pike, y'all, and I know when to get my gun and bar the door.

For whatever reason, The president feels that we should help Mexico with its own war on drug cartels. Why? What about the drug problems in our country. But shelf that for now. We can talk about that later. Because he's blaming AMERICAN GUNS for the strength and uprising of MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS.

Did America purchase these guns for Mexican Drug Lords? NO.

Can Mexican drug lords get their guns from other places? YES.

If we patrolled our borders in a more efficient manner, would we be in a better place as a country, and could guns get down south as easily? Yes, and no, respectively.

If you blame guns for violence, you may as well blame pencils for spelling mistakes, folks.

And if our President is going to blame guns for violence, I can see the next step. The next step will be to somehow revoke or remove our right to bear arms. OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS AS U.S. CITIZENS.

I have a big problem with this. I don't want to shoot someone. I'm not in love with guns. I don't think someone's out to get me.

But if someone was out to get me, or was to threaten my family, my babies, my home, my country, or my life, I want to know that I can protect myself with the gun I purchased LEGALLY for self- and home protection. I want to know that my hubby can carry his gun in protection of his family and property, in accordance with state and federal regulations, because he is LEGALLY LICENSED to do so.

This is my right. Your right.

I don't know about you, but I will fight for it.

A beautiful weekend

The last two weeks have been great for me, and this weekend capped it all off.

Friday night: My sweet friend met me at my house when I got home from Mimi's (who is doing very well, and wants me to keep coming back!). We jumped in the van and away we went. We only get this opportunity about once a month, and we weren't wasting our precious "sister time" chit-chatting with hubby.

We went to a few stores, to pick up some items I had been needing, and then ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Everything was awesome! the food was DEE-LISH and the service was excellent. We waddled out of there, and stopped by the mall for a few minutes.

I was shopping for a few casual tops. I wanted something a little longer, closer to a tunic style, because I'm so tall, and I don't care for the short-waisted tops that appear to be so popular now.

I. Found. Nothing. Or nothing I liked. What's with the crazy colors? And weirdo patterns? I just wanted some simple tops, for pity's sake. So we left the mall, I with empty hands, and y sweet friend with a set of PJ's for her daughter.

We then went to check out a new casino in the area. We had so much fun! But I apparently am a magnet for freaks. Strange unknown people kept coming p to me and TALKING to me. I wasn't looking anyone in the eye, I wasn't intentionally sending out any "please accost me in a public place" vibes. I was just looking at different slot machines, and generally checking out the new casino.

It was really nice! It had these odd geometrical cut-out windows in the walls between different sections, and I was peeking through some of them, when this woman comes up behind me and says, "Don't you love being tall?" Of course, I jumped like I'd been shot, and then informed the lady that she'd just scared the hell out of me! Geesh...

A few minutes later, I walked past an ATM and some guy asked me if I was winning any money. I answered with some non-commital noise, and then asked my sweet friend why all these strangers were talking to me. We both kind of laughed about an imaginary sign being posted on my back....

Then this older couple kept pointing and smiling at me, and I finally realized that I had waited on them before, when I worked at a different casino. So maybe the other two weirdo's were previous customers as well. I don't know...

We didn't win any money, in case you were wondering.

Saturday: Woke up, finished the Paint-the-living-room project, FINALLY, and had hubby pick up my new-to-me TV armoir which my sweet cousin sold me at a very good price! And I love it! It's so non-cluttery-looking and pretty in my living room. And it's holds all the DVD's, video games and equipment, and family board games. It's beautiful!

Sunday: (If you've read this far into the post, give yourself a pat on the back) Got up, watched the NCIS marathon on TV while cleaning house, and cooked dinner for my folks. The whole day was very quiet and relaxing, and I really enjoyed having my parents here. We played a new game tonite. Cranium Family edition. It was a blast. Even Nanny and Papa enjoyed it.

SO that's it!

This week I'll try to write a few more Mimi-ism's. It may be my last week with her, and I will miss her so much!

Happy Easter!

I woke this morning to a morning like many others, rainy and wet, especially this time of year. What was unlike many other rainy wet spring mornings, was the birds. They were raucous and noisy, but in a cheerful sort of way. It was as if they were spreading the glad news that Jesus Christ lives! And that thought made me joyful indeed, in spite of the dreary weather.

In fact, the weather doesn't seem a bit dreary. It seems like a gentle cleansing rain, and reminds me that being reborn in Christ is the most cleansing thing in my life.

So when my home on earth isn't quite clean enough to suit me, at least I can know that my spirit is clean. And like a clean home that hugs me when I walk in the door, a clean spirit is inviting, loving, and welcoming, even on a dreary day.

Am I frugal enough?

I have read some amazing blog posts this morning!
This one and this one got me thinking this morning. AM I frugal enough? Do I rely on conveniences too much? Do I do enough to save money, and work on a budget during these hard economic times? Because they're only going to get harder. Bad times are comin' y'all, and I'm scared.

This one really drove the point home. And the point for me was that while I can bake my own bread, and sew, mend, crochet, make jelly, and keep house, I don't do enough to be considered truly frugal. And now I'm really scared.

See, I don't grow a garden. I never have. I could, I just haven't. I do flower beds, so I know my thumb is green enough. But I enjoy the convenience of buying my green beans frozen, and picking up a bag of mixed greens for dinner.

I have recently become the co-owner of 7 grown chickens. My husband bought them to use as live bait for a trapping job. (Don't send hate mail, the chickens were kept in separate bait boxes and were not harmed!) Now that the job is finished, we need to build a chicken coop. At first I was aggravated at the thought of just another thing for mom to take care of. But after reading this morning, I am grateful that I have them.

But what about other staples? I don't know how to make peanut butter, or butcher a cow, or use seeds from my own veggies (once I grow them) to grow veggies the next year. How will we survive? When the Great Depression hits, how will I feed my precious family? Because if I dread the "What's for dinner?" rant now, it's really gonna be bad when the economy hits bottom.

I don't live on a farm. And how I wish I did. I've always craved that simple life, while enjoying all my modern conveniences. But to be able to grow and butcher and can and stockpile food for the future... this is a skill that is going to be quickly necessary. I'm going to follow the advice I read this morning, and do all the research I can manage, and print out instructions for things I will find useful for being more frugal and self sufficient, and file them away in my Control Journal. Because last week I thought making my own laundry soap was a crazy idea. Now I feel like it might be necessary.

Baby Boy

Link up and brag about your babies at It's Almost Naptime!


Honesty is his middle name. Actually his middle name is Jordan, after his daddy. But he's a very honest child. To a fault.

Several summers ago, Hubby and I took the boy to go fishing for a day at a nearby lake. It was a quiet early summer day, and I was feeling quite lazy. I had packed a lunch, and snacks, and a blanket to lay on in the sun.

He's always been Daddy's boy, but that day he just wanted to lay on the blanket with mom, as Dad wouldn't be still. Dad's a bank-walker when he fishes. He travels up and down the banks, casting and reeling, and C was only about 5 years old at the time.

So the boy and I were sitting on the blanket. The fish weren't particularly hungry, so the fishing was very leisurely at the time. I was laying back reading a book, and C was playing with some little Hot Wheels. We had a little snack, and chatted a bit, and untangled fishing lines, and recast them.

It had been a good twenty or thirty minutes since the last cast, and suddenly we heard a splash. We looked up to see the end of C's little Spider Man fishing pole swimming away. I jumped up and hollered, and ran into the water, but it had already disappeared under the surface.

I felt horrible. I apologized to little C, and told him I'd buy him another pole, because I should have been helping him watch it. He cried a little, and I kept telling him how sorry I was. I kept glancing at hubby, feeling worse by the minute. I kept apologizing. It was the only fishing pole he had, and it was a Spider Man pole. C loved Spider Man.

Finally, C stopped crying, and I stopped apologizing, and I told him he could help mommy fish. He could hold the pole, and I'd help him. He didn't want to.

So here I go, apologizing again. He said, "Mommy, it's ok. I'll get another fishing pole. You can buy it for me. 'Cause it IS YOUR FAULT. But it's ok. I'm not mad."

I laughed and laughed until I thought I would burst at the seams. My honest sweet caring little boy.

Minutes passed, and C was playing with his cars, and I was reading a book, with one hand on my pole, and suddenly there was a tug on the line. Then a BIG tug. I set the hook and started reeling in. The fish broke the top of the water. It was HUGE y'all. And funny looking. It didn't swim or pull right. I thought, "Weird..."

Y'all, when I got this fish pulled in, it was so tangled in fishing line, and had TWO lures in its mouth. TWO! And you guessed it, one of them was attached to C's Spider Man fishing pole! I was so relieved! After all, I didn't have to buy another pole for C!

When I said as much to him, he said, "Yeah! I got my pole back! Aw Right!" Pause "But it's still your fault, mommy."

Gotta love honesty.

My Fiery Angel

Link up and brag about your babies at It's Almost Naptime!


She is 10 going on 25.

She is baby and child and woman all rolled into one.

She is needy and independent.

She is bossy and needs to be reminded of what to do.

She is fiery when confronted.

She is silent when in her own world.

She is an animal lover.

She loves small children.

She's an artist at heart.

She loves to sing and dance, but she's clumsy, like her momma.

She is passionate at play.

She is serious while working.

She's a helper, through and through.

She's a great student, and wants to be a math teacher when she grows up.

She is beautiful, and precious, and precocious, and loves drama, usually the kind of her own making.

She has a great smile.

She has an angel kiss on her head, a little white streak of hair, present since birth.

She is sweet, kind, loving, and has a temper to rival no other, just to even things out.

She is my sunny, bright, bouncy, beautiful girl-child.

My Son, My Hero

I originally wrote this story in December of 2007, after a terrible ice storm had knocked out all the power in our surrounding area for weeks at a time. Today I have edited it, in order to submit it for the carnival over at "It's Almost Naptime!!".

On Monday morning we woke up to the sounds of tree limbs falling in our backyard, and all the power going out at our house. Within 3-4 hours, power was out all over the neighborhood.Tree limbs were down all over the streets, due to a horrible ice storm that ravaged our area all night. The fire department was going through and checking lines and disconnecting live wires on the ground.

Now y'all know, power outages and kids do not mix. The kiddos were BORED. No TV, no video games, no lights or music, and naturally, no school due to the storm. So bored kids need something to do.

I sat the kids down at the kitchen table where there was plenty of light, and they started to play monopoly. More tree limbs fell, and the kids yelled and got scared. The limb that fell this time had yanked the cable lines from the back of the house, and squashed the fence between me and a neighbor, and had taken out my neighbors power lines as well. I calmed the kids, and went on with making coffee for the fire crews.

Suddenly, Weston says, "Mom, there's smoke coming from the back of Brandon's house!" Brandon is the neighbor to the east of us, and we can see his back door from our kitchen.

So I looked out the window, and sure enough, it looked like smoke, but I thought it might have been steam from a dryer vent. So once again I calmed the kids, told them to stay in the house, and went next door to check. The closer I got the more I could smell smoke, and I got scared. I banged and pounded on Brandon's door, and yelled that the house was on fire, and told him to get out. I called 911, and as I was headed back to my house, here comes Weston with the fire extinguisher from under my kitchen sink. LOL What a smart kid. I handed it to Brandon, took Brandon's girlfriend back to the house with me, and called my hubby.

The fire department showed up, put out the fire, which thankfully did very little damage inside the wall and attic and none to the interior of the house. And Brandon joined his girlfriend at my house. There he shook Weston's hand, in a very grown-up fashion, and thanked Weston for saving their lives.

Talk about one proud kid, and two proud parents. Brandon and Courtney are fine, and we are all thankful for Weston's quick thinking.