Well, getting in the last day of work! Man, what a glorious feeling! An extra day off, can't wait!
The hubby and I have a lot of things to do this weekend, cause we have finally managed to get a few days off from work, at the same time.
See, about 3 months ago, everyone in my house decided to play "musical rooms"! My daughter moved from her room (upstairs) to the guest room (upstairs), my son moved from his room (downstairs) to his sister's abandoned room (upstairs), my husband moved from the master bedroom (upstairs) to the son's abandoned room (downstairs), and I have been the only one to manage staying PUT!
Now, when I say the hubby moved from the master bedroom, I mean, he sleeps in the room downstairs during the day, when he works nightshift. Why, you might ask, because the old house we live in will 'heat up' during the daytime hours, and the little room downstairs gets very little sunlight and stays relatively cold during the daytime hours. Also, the master bedroom over looks the highway and is very noisy during the day (from heavy traffic) and the 1st floor room is on the opposite side of the house and is quite during the day!
Plus, this room is also what I have termed "the hunting room". This room contains one wall of locking gun cabinets, which we will be installing this weekend. Along with all the other 'essentials' required for the sport (i.e., camo clothing, boots, lighting, etc). All these things are currently located upstairs in the 'sitting room' of the master suite. So, I finally get to move these things out of this area and back to a location where I can lock them away, out of site!!
And this long weekend affords me the time, and available muscles, to accomplish putting the final touches on reclaiming my house and putting things in order. Not to mention the 'spring' cleaning which is long overdue! So, along with the 4th of July celebration, comes the 'cleaning out' finally. I will be glad to accomplish this so that I can turn my attention to some very much needed repainting/window cleaning/window caulking/renovations.
So, I hope everyone has a great, joyous, holiday weekend. And please don't forget to THANK A SOLDIER when you see them out this weekend. After all, they lay their lives on the line so that we, as Americans, can enjoy the simple pleasures of our daily lives!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
On the brighter side of life...or is it?
Someday's are filled with anticipation, most days are filled with dread.
Like, telling my 11 year old, cat-loving, son that in one single, rushed-filled morning, I managed to carry off, not one, but both of his beloved, flea-loving kittens! In my hast (or rather, in my defense), I forgot to check underneath my truck (yep, that's right, I drive a truck!) and apparently the flea-loving kittens had decided to catch a ride! Now what! How can I possibly tell him what I have done? Maybe, just maybe, I can convience him that they left of their on volution! (After all, didn't they?)
I know, just time to face the music, right? Oh God, I hate this part of motherhood!
My daughter has graduated high school (May 24th) and preparing for her freshman year in college, or junior college, that is...cause her daddy is not the least bit happy about letting his "little princess" leave! (Irony, sometimes it's just so, so wonderful!)
When Andy and I first began the "courtship" which eventually became our marriage, he decided that I really needed to "grow up and get away from being (what he 'thought') a daddy's girl".
I was 18, just a few weeks from graduating high school, and hadn't decided what I really wanted to do with my life. We met through my brother-in-law (they worked together) at a little watering hole across the Mississippi River just inside Louisiana. At the time, this little watering hole was also the "local" teenager/young crowd hang-out, known as PJ's Last Chance. PJ's was where everyone went on a Friday/Saturday night and was probably in the prime of it's life! The place consisted of what had one-time, long ago, been just a small package liquor store, then expanded to include a bar and a few pool tables. Then expanded again for additional pool tables, and yet again for additional pool tables, bar and stage/live band area. Anyhoo...
Kristen will be leaving home in a few weeks to being her "new" life, sans mom, dad, and "Bubba" as she so affectionately refers to her brother. She's always been a daddy's girl, her entire life, (and somehow I think all girls are to some point) and now she's all grown up and leaving home. This has really put her daddy into a 'state', to say the least. I find it somewhat, really very amusing!
Oh yea, without a doubt, I am very anxious, not to mention, maybe a little excited for her! At the same time, scared to death! Here in the real world (God she hates it when I use that term), life is very unpredictable. People are not always what they appear to be, and life can get the best of anyone. So, I'm trying to swallow all the fear, keep it all under the surface, and put on the happy face. As much as I fear for her safety, I really know it's time for her to take the next step to adulthood! That's where the excited part come in!!
Her first step, so far, has been coming home to 'announce' her decision to "pierce" her nose! This is a child who has endured 4 major sinus surgeries! Her first at age 2, second at age 5, third at age 11, and 4th at age 18 (just 5 days before Christmas!). Each one more intense than the one before, each one more painful. The last surgery, the doctor tells us that upon removing her tonsils he finds "tumorous" growths, nothing to really be alarmed about. Byopsy results were inconclusive for cancers, so not to worry. (Yea, right!:) Have you ever known a parent who wouldn't worry, just a little! Then he says: "Her sinus passages contained numerous polups and therfore, I have removed the lower tubador's and performed an aggresive burn-back of the sinus passages, almost down to the cartiledge". Now she returns on a six month rotation for him to check her progress.
Now, now she wants to 'pierce' her sinus'! Go figure...
Like, telling my 11 year old, cat-loving, son that in one single, rushed-filled morning, I managed to carry off, not one, but both of his beloved, flea-loving kittens! In my hast (or rather, in my defense), I forgot to check underneath my truck (yep, that's right, I drive a truck!) and apparently the flea-loving kittens had decided to catch a ride! Now what! How can I possibly tell him what I have done? Maybe, just maybe, I can convience him that they left of their on volution! (After all, didn't they?)
I know, just time to face the music, right? Oh God, I hate this part of motherhood!
My daughter has graduated high school (May 24th) and preparing for her freshman year in college, or junior college, that is...cause her daddy is not the least bit happy about letting his "little princess" leave! (Irony, sometimes it's just so, so wonderful!)
When Andy and I first began the "courtship" which eventually became our marriage, he decided that I really needed to "grow up and get away from being (what he 'thought') a daddy's girl".
I was 18, just a few weeks from graduating high school, and hadn't decided what I really wanted to do with my life. We met through my brother-in-law (they worked together) at a little watering hole across the Mississippi River just inside Louisiana. At the time, this little watering hole was also the "local" teenager/young crowd hang-out, known as PJ's Last Chance. PJ's was where everyone went on a Friday/Saturday night and was probably in the prime of it's life! The place consisted of what had one-time, long ago, been just a small package liquor store, then expanded to include a bar and a few pool tables. Then expanded again for additional pool tables, and yet again for additional pool tables, bar and stage/live band area. Anyhoo...
Kristen will be leaving home in a few weeks to being her "new" life, sans mom, dad, and "Bubba" as she so affectionately refers to her brother. She's always been a daddy's girl, her entire life, (and somehow I think all girls are to some point) and now she's all grown up and leaving home. This has really put her daddy into a 'state', to say the least. I find it somewhat, really very amusing!
Oh yea, without a doubt, I am very anxious, not to mention, maybe a little excited for her! At the same time, scared to death! Here in the real world (God she hates it when I use that term), life is very unpredictable. People are not always what they appear to be, and life can get the best of anyone. So, I'm trying to swallow all the fear, keep it all under the surface, and put on the happy face. As much as I fear for her safety, I really know it's time for her to take the next step to adulthood! That's where the excited part come in!!
Her first step, so far, has been coming home to 'announce' her decision to "pierce" her nose! This is a child who has endured 4 major sinus surgeries! Her first at age 2, second at age 5, third at age 11, and 4th at age 18 (just 5 days before Christmas!). Each one more intense than the one before, each one more painful. The last surgery, the doctor tells us that upon removing her tonsils he finds "tumorous" growths, nothing to really be alarmed about. Byopsy results were inconclusive for cancers, so not to worry. (Yea, right!:) Have you ever known a parent who wouldn't worry, just a little! Then he says: "Her sinus passages contained numerous polups and therfore, I have removed the lower tubador's and performed an aggresive burn-back of the sinus passages, almost down to the cartiledge". Now she returns on a six month rotation for him to check her progress.
Now, now she wants to 'pierce' her sinus'! Go figure...
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Today's the day.....to start!!!!
Well, well, well. How does one begin...I've never been a person of self expression. My life was never "easy", as some may say. Growing up the fourth child of six, raised by two parents struggling to make ends meet, on one 'small' paycheck. My father bringing home every stray child he came upon.
As a young child being orphaned after the death of his mother during child birth, my father couldn't leave a child to fend for itself. So began a never ending cycle of child rearing. Still amazing to think that this man of little means would touch the lives of twenty five, that's right, twenty five kids!
We never missed the things we didn't know we 'needed'. The things that all the other kids had. Guess you could say, we never knew we were supposed to miss them. They never seemed to be of importance. The things of importance were always provided, Lord willing, by the blood, sweat, and tears (if required) of manual labor. Manual labor, child labor, call it what you will! With all those kids, it took each and every one putting in their own blood, sweat, and tears, just to keep food on the table! We all had our list of work details, each and everyday. Cows to milk, horses to feed, pigs to slop, chicken nests to raid, etc!
As much as it was work, we always managed to find 'fun' along the way! After all, we could be our own 'baseball team' during the over-crowded times, when my father brought home other kids needing food, clothes, etc. But, my parents always made sure the necessary things were taken care of and church, mind you was necessary! We went when the doors were open, everytime. Never missed a beat! Never missed a moment to make sure that we knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, who we were, where we came from, and where we were going!
My father never talked much of his life before adulthood, just that 'things happen that are beyond your control'. He never had much, if ever, to says about his family before he passed away at the young age of 71, 3 days shy of 72. We knew he had brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and during our young lives, we were 'briefly' introduced to them, here and there. He didn't finish school, attended until the 3rd grade, but left when his mother fell ill. "Gave up schoolin' to help my mother with 8 youngun's at home", was what he'd say when I asked him about it. Just barely could write his own name, much less read. But was very stringent with his children, education was a priority! Sometimes, I think he'd pull a fast one on us, saying he couldn't read. I think he could, just was he way of making sure that we were putting in the effort to learn ourselves! One hell of a man!
Like I said, I never had it 'easy'. Days were long, full of work, lots to do, which didn't include getting into trouble. Never had time for that, unless, we were lucky enough to 'sneak' it into the day's routine, which we did on occasion! I had 3 older sisters, a younger brother and sister, respectively. So, when we could manage the time for an 'occasional' brewhaha, we did! Like, on one of the traditional Easter egg boilings. I was around 8 or 9 years old. My job to 'boil' the eggs for the dying later that evening, a few days before the "Easter bunny's arrival". And as luck would have it, I was in one of my more 'jovial' moods and decided to "half-way boil" the eggs. They were boiled 'just enough' to keep them from 'breaking open' putting them into the cups for dying, but not enough that when you 'smacked' another kid upside the head with one, that the goo inside would 'ooze' down! Now that was fun!!! And as luck would have it, shortly after the hunting was complete came the brewhaha, and boy was my father ever mad! I think he gave me 'barn duty' for the fun of it! We all hated 'barn duty'. "Barn duty' was the equivilent of 'janitorial service' for livestock.
But, I regress....those days are long gone. The sweet childhood days of innocence, fresh air, lots of sunshine, hard work, and tons of...... childhood laughter.
Well, well, well. How does one begin...I've never been a person of self expression. My life was never "easy", as some may say. Growing up the fourth child of six, raised by two parents struggling to make ends meet, on one 'small' paycheck. My father bringing home every stray child he came upon.
As a young child being orphaned after the death of his mother during child birth, my father couldn't leave a child to fend for itself. So began a never ending cycle of child rearing. Still amazing to think that this man of little means would touch the lives of twenty five, that's right, twenty five kids!
We never missed the things we didn't know we 'needed'. The things that all the other kids had. Guess you could say, we never knew we were supposed to miss them. They never seemed to be of importance. The things of importance were always provided, Lord willing, by the blood, sweat, and tears (if required) of manual labor. Manual labor, child labor, call it what you will! With all those kids, it took each and every one putting in their own blood, sweat, and tears, just to keep food on the table! We all had our list of work details, each and everyday. Cows to milk, horses to feed, pigs to slop, chicken nests to raid, etc!
As much as it was work, we always managed to find 'fun' along the way! After all, we could be our own 'baseball team' during the over-crowded times, when my father brought home other kids needing food, clothes, etc. But, my parents always made sure the necessary things were taken care of and church, mind you was necessary! We went when the doors were open, everytime. Never missed a beat! Never missed a moment to make sure that we knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, who we were, where we came from, and where we were going!
My father never talked much of his life before adulthood, just that 'things happen that are beyond your control'. He never had much, if ever, to says about his family before he passed away at the young age of 71, 3 days shy of 72. We knew he had brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and during our young lives, we were 'briefly' introduced to them, here and there. He didn't finish school, attended until the 3rd grade, but left when his mother fell ill. "Gave up schoolin' to help my mother with 8 youngun's at home", was what he'd say when I asked him about it. Just barely could write his own name, much less read. But was very stringent with his children, education was a priority! Sometimes, I think he'd pull a fast one on us, saying he couldn't read. I think he could, just was he way of making sure that we were putting in the effort to learn ourselves! One hell of a man!
Like I said, I never had it 'easy'. Days were long, full of work, lots to do, which didn't include getting into trouble. Never had time for that, unless, we were lucky enough to 'sneak' it into the day's routine, which we did on occasion! I had 3 older sisters, a younger brother and sister, respectively. So, when we could manage the time for an 'occasional' brewhaha, we did! Like, on one of the traditional Easter egg boilings. I was around 8 or 9 years old. My job to 'boil' the eggs for the dying later that evening, a few days before the "Easter bunny's arrival". And as luck would have it, I was in one of my more 'jovial' moods and decided to "half-way boil" the eggs. They were boiled 'just enough' to keep them from 'breaking open' putting them into the cups for dying, but not enough that when you 'smacked' another kid upside the head with one, that the goo inside would 'ooze' down! Now that was fun!!! And as luck would have it, shortly after the hunting was complete came the brewhaha, and boy was my father ever mad! I think he gave me 'barn duty' for the fun of it! We all hated 'barn duty'. "Barn duty' was the equivilent of 'janitorial service' for livestock.
But, I regress....those days are long gone. The sweet childhood days of innocence, fresh air, lots of sunshine, hard work, and tons of...... childhood laughter.
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