ANTS!!!!!

Hells Bells it's hot here today.

In the 90's and humidity must be 300%. Whew.......I woke up after two hours sleep so hot i couldn't breathe. So I came into the living room and cranked up the A/C. It cooled off- but my head is STILL pounding from getting overheated.
And to make matters worse- I went into the kitchen, poured me some soda to take my meds with- and opened the corner cabinet to find those tiny tiny tiny little ants all over EVERYTHING in that cabinet.
So now I have to go out in the heat to buy ant spray cause I don't want those nasty things in all my food. So far I've already had to throw away a whole bag of vanilla wafers, 3/4 bag of those really NICE Jalapeno/Cheddar potato chips I had bought special for my day OFF my diet, and a couple of other items of food. I had to just wipe the ants OFF anything that hadn't been opened yet. I hate those ants. Sooo freaking annoying!
On the upside- it's almost hot enough to fry those ants in the kitchen. ALMOST. but not quite.......so...........

Off to buy ant spray.....and dog food.
Then off to work.
Bad weekend.....Bad weekend.

Post #2 For Today!!! RANT WARNING!!!!

BLOODY- BLOODY- BLOODY EFFING HELL!!!!!!

I just went on the stimulus check website to find out WHY our check hadn't arrived yet since it was due to be mailed out on the 16th.

Seems we didn't QUALIFY for it because- and get this- hubby had to use an ITIN for our taxes since we haven't gotten his SSN yet.
Okay, I can understand why that didn't get us HIS part of the check- but what the BLOODY HELL does that have to do with MY part of it? I'm a US citizen......I HAVE a SSN and FILED with it.
I was counting on that check to get my car fixed. Even HALF the amount would have helped a LOT!!!!! Now what are we going to do?
Dammitt!!!!!!
DAMMITT!!!!
Damn!!
Damn!!!
DAMN!!!!!

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate the fucking Government- I get screwed EVERY-SINGLE-TIME and NEVER even get kissed. NOT the FIRST TIME- NOT EVER!
Took me and Hubby 2 and a half YEARS to get the paperwork done so he could come over here and we could get married- takes one of our friends less than six MONTHS to do the same thing. Took another two years to get his work permit when it should have taken only a few weeks. It's always something....One thing or the other....... Dammitt!!!!!! Dammitt!!!!!! Dammitt!!!!!

I've had it- I'm moving to England. You don't have to file and all that shit every year- they do what WE should be doing and just take it out of your wages every WEEK.

I need a Xanax.
And Lots of Vodka.
And I want to kick someones ass...........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BLOODY HELL!!!!!!!!

I HATE crying.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRANK!!!..Giving It Alll A Try....& 3 YEARS of Blogging!

Happy 26th Birthday my Darling Eldest Son!!!! Much happiness and hope all your dreams come true!!!!
MWAAH!!!!
Mama XXX

*********************************************************
Recently, as you that read Paulius' Blog know, he has been sketching/drawing a lot in the past few weeks.
Much to my happiness.

He is a smoker and when he draws- he smokes considerably less.
I cannot in all seriousness say anything at all about his smoking because, I, myself was a smoker in the past. And occasionally, RARELY, I still will smoke a couple of cigs if I am anxious about something in particular. But his smoking less does make me very happy. I want him to be around for a LONG time with me.

Now back to what I began........ He has been looking at tutorials and such on drawing the human figure and portraits. And he is getting VERY good at it. His eye drawings especially are beautiful.
The human eye is a particularly difficult object for me to draw and get right. So he has given me a couple of tips about drawing eyes lately when I get frustrated.
Anyway, I've been sitting watching him draw for a while now- and the other day he asked me if I had ever thought about trying my hand at sketching.
What he didn't know is I tend to sketch/doodle all the time when I get bored, but my stuff is mostly landscapes and the odd stuff and I usually bin them after I finish....if I kept them all he would have something else to gripe about besides the amount of Christmas stuff I have.
Anyway........So I decided to try a couple of human figures. And I got ONE that I was happy with. It's an extremely simple female nude torso and it's actually good enough I'm going to have it matted and framed for our bedroom.
And now I'm going to try some portraits. With Paulius' pointers about the eyes I'm pretty sure I can accomplish at least a mediocre couple.

Paulius and I do a LOT of our hobbies together.
We tried out oil painting at the same time altho that also was something I had tried out before. My mom is an artist and has done several oil paintings and had some shown at a few shows. She and I sat down one weekend a few years ago and I painted a rooster which now hangs in my kitchen and set the tone for my French-Country Style kitchen.
The very FIRST painting Paulius painted was a 5 x 7 landscape in the Bob Ross style and it turned out perfectly!!!!
My mom has it in her formal living room resting on a gold easel. A virtual place of honor!

Our only difference in our drawing styles are he likes to be all technical about it and read tutorials on it and stuff like that before he tries it out. I, on the other hand, like to LOOK at drawings and try and not duplicate them- but come as close as I can to getting the same effect as the original artist did. I think all that technical stuff just complicates the process- for me anyway.

It's a fine line let me tell you.

At the moment Deviant Art has some LOVELY portraits I want to try out to add to the one I'm already going to put in our bedroom.
Wish me luck!!

After I finish- if I think they are good enough to frame I might post a couple of them here.
Or maybe not.
Who knows.

**********************************************
And on a COMPLETELY UNRELATED subject..........I just realized that on the tenth of May my blog was 3 YEARS OLD!!!!!! My, how time flies!!!!

How Do They Not Fall Down More?

Dedicated to all my "Computer Guy" Friends......

These "silly tech support calls " have been around in e-mails and online since the dawn of tech support.

They are always fun to read. I'm in the mood for a good laugh.

How 'bout you?

**********
Customer: Hi, this is Celine. I can't get my diskette out.


Tech support: Have you tried pushing the Button?

Customer: Yes, sure, it's really stuck.


Tech support: That doesn't sound good; I'll make a note.


Customer: No, wait a minute... I hadn't inserted it yet... it's still on my desk... Sorry....
**********
Tech support: What kind of computer do you have?

Female customer: A white one...

Tech support: Click on the 'my computer' icon on to the left of the screen.


Customer: Your left or my left?
**********
Tech support: Good day.

How may I help you?

Male customer: Hello... I can't print.


Tech support: Would you click on "start" for me and...

Customer: Listen pal; don't start getting technical on me! I'm not Bill Gates.

**********
Customer: Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha, I can't print. Every time I try, it says 'Can't find printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can't find it...
**********
Customer: I have problems printing in red...

Tech support: Do you have a color printer?

Customer: Aaaah....................thank you.

**********
Tech support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am?

Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me at the 7-11.

**********
Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore.


Tech support: Are you sure it's plugged into the computer?

Customer: No. I can't get behind the computer.


Tech support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces back

Customer: OK

Tech support: Did the keyboard come with you?
Customer: Yes

Tech support: That means the keyboard is not plugged in.

Is there another keyboard?

Customer: Yes, there's another one here. Ah...that one does work...
**********
Tech support: Your password is the small letter "a" as in apple, a capital letter V as in Victor, the number 7.


Customer: Is that 7 in capital letters?
**********
Customer: I can't get on the Internet.


Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password?

Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it.


Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was?

Customer: Five stars.

**********
Tech support: What anti-virus program do you use?
Customer: Netscape.


Tech support: That's not an anti-virus program.


Customer : Oh, sorry...Internet Explorer.

**********
Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend has placed a screen saver on my computer, but every time I move the mouse, it disappears.

**********
Tech support: How may I help you?

Customer: I'm writing my first e-mail.


Tech support: OK, and what seems to be the problem?

Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get the circle around it?
**********
A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer.


Tech support: Are you running it under windows?


Customer: "No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine."
**********


And last but not least...


Tech support: "Okay Bob, let's press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen.

Now type the letter "P" to bring up the Program Manager"

Customer: I don't have a P.


Tech support: On your keyboard, Bob.


Customer: What do you mean?

Tech support: "P".....on your keyboard, Bob.


Customer: I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT!
******************************************************

In all these calls the Tech Support should have just told them to pack the computer back up and send it back to the factory because they were too stupid to OWN a computer.

(But in all fairness......I admit I probably asked Paulius about a third of these VERY SAME questions and gave him some of these SAME answers when he was my Computer Tutor when we first met.(I knew absolutely NOTHING about a computer at that point....was afraid to even push the power button to turn it on for fear of forgetting some vital something I was supposed to do and therefore killing the whole computer or computer system. I was such a blond.) -so some of us ARE trainable......with TIME.......and IMMEASURABLE patience..... and LOTS of Ibuprofen.)
;-)

(PS........Thanks Pam! You always have interesting stuff to pilfer!!)

Okay- Pity Party Over...Next Subject Please!!!

Well, a few schools in our area are offering single-gender classes in Elementary school next year with the exception of Kindergarten.
Honestly I think it's a GREAT idea that should extend all the way thru high school.
I know I would have benefited IMMENSELY from same gender classes when I was in school had they offered it then.
I know you couldn't tell it now- but in school I was PAINFULLY shy. I wouldn't answer questions in class, I wouldn't ask questions if I didn't understand anything, and GOD FORBID I be called on to READ out LOUD!!

The only way I did as well as I did in school was because of my love of reading. I could usually find any answer I needed, given the time by just referencing in the library. Well, except for math.....Math was the ONE subject I was absolutely abysmal at.

I only started to get out of it when I joined Band and had to go out on the field for halftime. I was chosen as a Majorette and it was probably the best thing that happened to me in school. I began to come out of my shell a bit then.
I also think it would be a good idea to have same sex teachers FOR these single gender classes.
Less chance of a crush on a teacher that way. And yeah- in Junior High I had that problem too- in MATH Class of all places. His name was Mr. Beck and I think every girl in the school(and half the teachers as well) had a crush on him. Needless to say I- as well as most of the rest of the females students in his class- failed that class that year.

The powers that be think maybe this S/G classroom idea isn't necessarily a good idea. For one thing they think it will foster inequality of the genders, and for another they think it will bring on segregation lawsuits.
I think that's a cop-out way to think.
I think it would actually HELP the female equality because IMHO BOTH genders would be getting a MUCH better education without all the male/female interaction that hinders education and takes up so much of the students time during the school day.

Let me mention that BOTH sexes will be taught the same curriculum- only with different methods.
It seems males see desks facing each other as confrontational and causes more distractions and fights. Females are the exact opposite. There are other reasons as well but since I don't have the paper in front of me(and am too lazy to Google it and besides that I have to leave for work in 30 minutes) I'll have to forgo the rest of the explanations. If you wanna look it up it's the front page Item in THE GREENVILLE NEWS from Greenville SC.

Anyway, Like I said- I'm all FOR it. And for school uniforms as well, in case you were wondering.
Might cost a bit of extra money- but I think it would take away just one more HUGE distraction that all school kids are so prone to.

So there it is....My Opinion....for what it's worth.

Part I & Part II

PART I

Yesterday we went to my daughters house for two reasons.......1) it was TJ's Birthday party- and b) she needed her computer looked at-(See Paulius' -Blogpost).

I am so proud of my daughter. She has a good guy to share her life with, a good education and career in the making, great kids who are happy and healthy, a nice car, a boat, and a lovely house. She is constantly working to keep her life in line and improving it every day. She has done what every parent wants for their child- to do better than they themselves have done. And I'm so happy for her- she deserves every happiness she will ever find- and more.

Only problem is- every time I go down to her house I come home and absolutely sulk for days about WHY I can't get my life together like she has. I have a wonderful man who loves me, I DO have that part of my life in order, but I have a crappy car, a so-so job, and I'm still living in my parents "guest-house" because I can't save any money on my salary. Sure, I have a good education, but the things I am certified in I can't find work for here in the area I live- and I can't afford to move to a part of the country where it WILL do me some good.

Sometimes I feel my life is spinning out of control and I'll never get anywhere.... Never get my nice house, never get my nice car, and probably die while on my job-site.

I know I'm just having a really bad day and feeling sorry for myself and having a pity-party....but I try just as hard as anyone could and I'm getting NOWHERE fast. How do I turn it around and finally get some more GOOD out of my hard work?

Does anyone know? Can you share the secret with me?

*********************************************

PART II (Thanks for the borrow, Pammy Sue!)

PARENT - Job Description

POSITION :
Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma
Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Long term, team players needed, for challenging,
permanent work in an
often chaotic environment.
Candidates must possess excellent communication
and organizational skills and be willing to work
variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends
and frequent 24 hour shifts on call.
Some overnight travel required, including trips to
primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities!
Travel expenses not reimbursed.
Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

The rest of your life.
Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily,
until someone needs $5.
Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.
Also, must possess the physical stamina of a
pack mule
and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat
in case, this time, the screams from
the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.
Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges,
such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets
and stuck zippers.
Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and
coordinate production of multiple homework projects.
Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings
for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.
Must be willing to be indispensable one minute,
an embarrassment the next.
Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a
half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.
Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
Must assume final, complete accountability for
the quality of the end product.
Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and
janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :

None.
Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills,
so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :

None required unfortunately.
On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :

Get this! You pay them!
Offering frequent raises and bonuses.
A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because
of the assumption that college will help them
become financially independent.
When you die, you give them whatever is left.
The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that
you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS :

While no health or dental insurance, no pension,
no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and
no stock options are offered;
this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love,
and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.

** AND A FOOTNOTE "THERE IS NO RETIREMENT -- EVER!!! *

No Such Thing As A Perfect Man, BUT...........

Well, Kelly gave me something to think about yesterday when she told me to...

"Find something good to nag about Sunny - come on, he's a man. There must be a ton of things he does to annoy you!"

So I've been thinking really hard on it and came up with a couple of things.....

(I'll bet MONEY he posts some of the things that annoy him that I do after this.....)

Okay- first of all there is this twisty tie thingy..........That's like number ONE on the TOP of the list.
And then there's the other thing where he tells me NO sometimes.........I mean, the NERVE of the man not giving me my way ALL the TIME!!!!!

And then there's that thing where.......no- wait....thats ME that does that......But there IS that thing where he...........ummmm...no wait, that's me too.
.........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................

On the other hand there are a TON of things he DOES do for me that are so sweet I can't even begin to mention them on here because- 1) some of 'em are too personal to tell everyone and 2) because he would probally kill me if I told even SOME of the sweet things he does (even the minor ones) because all the wives would be reading his good qualities and then be nagging their hubbys to do the same for them and then the guys would be mad at him for opening THAT can of worms, so it's best left alone.

Suffice it to say...I'm a VERY lucky girl to have a husband like him....regardless of his horrible "twisty-tie" and "telling me NO" habits.

So there you go, Kelly.
No one's perfect, after all.

Are You Being Served?

Do you know why eating out is so popular?

I'll tell you why..... It gives the common working person a taste of how it would feel to have servants waiting on them if they were rich and famous.

Just for a short time you get to have someone wait on you hand and foot- not having to lift a finger to do ANYTHING for yourself except to say yea or nay in answer to the question of if there is anything else you require or want.

I tell you- I was born in the wrong era.....I would have managed quite nicely as Nobility or Royalty, thank you very much.

You may address me as M'Lady, henceforth.

Happy 8th Anniversary!!

Happy Anniversary Frank and Marie!!


It's been a wild roller-coaster ride for the two of you- but you have made it! I love you both and wish you all the happiness in the world.

Live Laugh Love........you two were made for each other!!

Much happiness for the future!!

XXX
Mama

*************************************************

What Do You Think?

For the life of me I just don't understand WHY a person would play a game and use CHEATS.
Why bother even playing it? I actually had Paulius pull up a cheat sheet of ZELDA-Ocarina of Time and then never used it. I just don't see the point.

My 30th year high school reunion is in early August. Am I going? Well, I'm of two minds.......first I would LOVE to go to show off my hubby and see some old friends I've lost touch with during the years.......but I probably won't go, to be honest. The last one I went to was our 10th and they ALL acted like jackasses....even worse than when we were in Junior High. There WERE a FEW exceptions to be honest....Cindy Guthry and Allen Ramey were a couple I could name that were sweet, and didn't act as tho they were trying to impress anyone with their juvenile antics. I greatly appreciated their decorum- I took away at least a FEW good memories from that reunion, thanks to them.

It's my long weekend to work this week- so I'm gonna let that be it for the time being.....I gotta sleep a bit and I have two cakes, a BOATLOAD of Green-Beans to cook and a big ol' batch of Chicken to fry for our FAMILY Reunion TOMORROW!!!
And you can bet your BUTT the family reunion will be better than the class reunion!!!

Today's the Day!!!

Today is the fourth anniversary of the day I married the man of my dreams.

It was a bright and beautiful day, full of joy and happiness.....along with a bit of nervousness, I suppose, for both of us. For Paulius, because it was his first marriage....for me because it wasn't.

When you get married for the first time you aren't quite sure of what to expect- altho all your married friends have probably told you LOADS and loads of stories, both "great love" and "horror" types. After a few months of married life you begin to form your OWN opinions about marriage.
Which is exactly what I did. I hadn't had the best of marriages......people tend to keep certain things under their hat, so to speak, before they marry someone.....and can get by with it because it's relatively easy to do when you aren't LIVING with them.
By the time my last marriage had deteriorated to the point of no return, I had sworn that if (and WHEN) I got out of it I would never-ever-EVER get married again. And I meant it with all my heart. I was sick to death of the men I married abusing (or ignoring) me and/or abusing my kids.
I swore I was going to work two jobs, move off to the mountains, have me a house built that was paid for as it was being built so no one could EVER make me move from it, and raise my kids on my own(I was homeschooling them) without any interference or highhandedness from any man.
And I sincerely meant it. They are MY kids and in the end- I felt I had the last and final word in anything that had to do with them. Period- End of discussion.
I meant to live the rest of my life with a great degree of happiness and serenity.
So, the company I worked for decided at that point to have the receptionist (my job) learn to work on a computer. Something I had never done........My sister had one and it seemed like a big scary thing that might be able to take over someones life.
But I had to learn it so I took the advice of the IT girl who came in to set my office up with the computer. She said the best way to learn was to go online, create a "hot-mail" account and then go in one of the chat rooms or such and find a "tutor". Some one willing to spend a bit of time helping me with learning what I would need to know.
That sounded easy enough so the first couple of days I set up an e-mail account.....yes it DID take me that long. I had never so much as turned a computer ON and after that there were lots of things to be considered, you know, when setting an e-mail account up. My biggest problem was trying to decide whether to have a Christmasy addie or a cute one, or a normal sounding one. Decisions, decisions.
At any rate, after I decided on THAT, I went on one of the sites and looked in the personals page for a "friend"/tutor.
And I read about 500 personals ads on there in the "friends" section. Paulius had been into photography at the time and had had a free night and had been messing about with his cam and had posted his photo with his friends ad. And no matter how many times I left it and read others- I kept returning to it. I almost didn't answer it because I thought to myself,"He's so damn gorgeous. He's always gonna be out with his mates and probably has a TON of Girlfriends as well to keep him occupied. He's not gonna have time to tutor me - especially with the 5 hour time difference!!!"
He lived in Britian.
But in the end I finally wrote him a quick e-mail explaining that I was new at the computer and needed a friend/tutor and I just really wanted a pen pal who was computer-smart and could help me with any problems I ran into while trying to figure it all out.
And to my surprise and delight- he wrote me back the next day!!!

And so our friendship began. And that's all it was in the beginning. We had a lot of fun with some of my problems on the computer....and when my computer went down I had a few hellacious phone bills from where I called him to figure out how to fix my computer. Lots of times it was something small- a couple of times it took a couple of days to work thru it.
We went on like that for two years. E-mails, phone calls, letters and cards bounced back and forth across the ocean like a tennis ball at a Wimbledon Championship Match.

But when I separated from my husband and filed for divorce, our(mine and Paulius') friendship/tutor relationship became more of a "friendship best-friend" relationship. That distance thing was certainly a damper on anything more.

I was beginning to really get to know him and he was always such a sweetheart. I began thinking that maybe someday, if I ever came across a guy like Paulius, I might consider letting myself fall in love again.
Then it dawned on me that I was already in love- with Paulius.

He completed university and came for a visit during his break after all the "exams" and his graduation ceremony. Even tho I was still working a full time job(now at the Police Department) for 6 weeks we spent our free time gadding about the country, seeing the sites and giving him a taste of what my life was like over here in America.
When it was time for him to fly back to England, I was heartbroken. It took everything I had in me to not run after him and beg him to stay. But we both managed it. I cried all the way home. Good thing Clay had rode down to the Atlanta Airport with us- he had to drive about half of the trip back before I could get hold of my emotions enough to take back over.

Anyway, Paul called me the day after Graduation and told me that he loved me before coming over- and being with me for that six weeks just proved to him that he couldn't imagine life without me being in it with him....and he proposed.
We figured it would take about 6 months before he was back and we could be married.........
That turned into 2 and a half YEARS before happening.
But happen it did, and he arrived back on April 4th, 2004.
It was a whirlwind of things set in motion for the wedding, and thanks to some wonderful wonderfully understanding vendors and friends and family we were married on May 15th, 2004.
My only regret is that Paulius' Parents weren't there for our wedding celebration.

It was the happiest day of my life to finally get to marry the man of my dreams.
Have my dreams of happiness and serenity finally come to fruition?

I would say....yes.
Sure, life could always be better(say, if we won that damn lottery everyone keeps talking about-but I have no proof of it's existence...yet.)but as normal, real life goes, yes. I have definitely found my Nirvana, my Valhalla, my Eden with my Paulius.

This is definitely what I was searching for............

Happy Anniversary , My Love.

In Need Of A Laugh??????

Only I could be rolling my window in my car up and turn to look at something up the hill and catch my pony-tail in it and not realize it until I had turned the handle loose and tried to close the door. Try finding the handle again when you are looking at the clouds and half off balance.....it isn't as easy as it sounds.

Only I could open a drawer of the end table sitting next to the sofa and reach down between the sofa and the drawer to pick up an item that had fallen between the two and get my arm stuck- not able to pull my arm out unless I closed the drawer, and not able to close the drawer until I got my arm out of the way which I couldn't do because I was kneeling on the sofa and couldn't slide the sofa out to get my arm free.............Dammitt.

Yes, both things happened to me this weekend.
I shouldn't be left on my own sometimes.

Long Overdue Post.........

It has been a week!!!
I'm still recovering from my illness a few weeks ago and still not quite up to full strength yet and get exhausted quite easily, but I think every day I grow a tiny bit stronger. I may live after all!!
Lucky Y'all getting to read my ramblings for YEARS and YEARS and YEARS to come!!
Hehehehehehehehh!!!!

Okay, so here's what's been up the past few days...........


I told you about my veggie patch, didn't I? Well, it's growing nicely!! I have Snap Pea Pods and Pumpkins shooting up like gangbusters! And the Watermelons and Cantaloupes are coming up as well, albeit a bit slower. The Tomatoes and Bell Peppers are hanging in there and the Snap Beans are....... well........a couple of those bushes are coming along..... tho not as well as I had hoped and THEY were the ONE thing I wanted most of all to grow!!
Ahhhhh, well, next year I'll know not to plant them under the roof line and the runoff from the rain won't wash them away!!

Live and Learn....Live and Learn!!
Hahahahahaha!!!

Our Mother's Day Dinner yesterday was lovely!
I had all the kids here and my mom came and so did my two sisters, Teresa and Nina.

I got a card from Julie and her brood. It was so cute...It had cartoon pics on it of kids crying and arguing and making a mess and then the mom hugging them and it said...


We were whiny,

We argued,

And We made a mess,

But you loved us No Matter What..........
(then you open up the card and it says........)

Admit it,....that wasn't always coffee in your cup, was it?

Happy Mother's Day,
Love Julie, Bubba, TJ, Austin, Justin, & Eddie.

It was SOOO funny!

Then Kathy came in and brought me a snow globe ( I collect Snow globes)with two of CJ's photos inside it in an acrylic photo frame. It is so cute!!!
Frank and Marie had come over almost every day last week and helped me and Paul with the spring cleaning so THAT was their gift to me. I couldn't have done it without their help and it was truly appreciated...the gift of time is a most wonderful thing.
I love them all so much.
We didn't think Kathy and CJ was going to get to come cause the girl who was supposed to come in for her at work called in sick and Kathy didn't know if she was going to have to stay til closing(11PM) or not. Luckily, the owners wife came in so Kathy could leave. It would have been a shame for her to have to work 12 hours her very FIRST Mother's Day! Bless her heart. I told her it was just something that came with being a working parent.
I, myself, have had to work on Christmas Day when the kids were younger and THAT REALLY was hard to do. I tried not to let that happen too often tho. And I usually was working nights anyway so I was usually home by the time they woke up. Bless their hearts, the few times I didn't make it home before they woke up they insisted on waiting for me to get there before they started opening the prezzies. God, I miss them being little.
Even as an adult Clay was always here at my house by 6AM to open gifts.And then he would call Julie and wake her and get her on her way over and then he would go and pick Frank and his family up and bring them over. While they were gathering I would make us all a HUGE breakfast of scrambled eggs, biscuits, hash-brown casserole, bacon, orange danish, cinnamon rolls and coffee.
I used to do that to my parents when my babies were little too. Charlie, My baby brother, and I would try to be the first ones to mom and dad's on Christmas morning. It absolutely DELIGHTED Dad to no end for us to show up at 5:30AM..... Not so much for Mom who usually had just went to bed at 4AM after finishing up all the wrapping of the gifts. But she never said anything til YEARS later! Come to think of it- with me and Charlie BOTH living on the place now, maybe THAT'S why she moved out!!!!!
Hahahahahahah!!

Speaking of which..........Paulius wrote in a recent blog about my problem....Obsession I think he called it with Christmas. well, I have to admit.....for normal people I probably DO seem to have a problem......BUT.....I refuse to get rid of ANY of my Christmas decorations until I get a house of my own and decided what decorations I want where. I've been collecting all these Christmas decorations for about 30 years now- and I see NO point in getting rid of something that will have a spot perfect for it in our home when we get it. I plan on moving ONCE more in my life and That's it. So it would be extremely wasteful to get rid of something that could be used later don't you think? Otherwise I'll just end up going out and buying the same thing I already had.
Oh and I actually DID get rid of THREE- Count'em THREE as in 3 whole oversized Christmas ornaments when we were doing our spring cleaning this year. So I DID compromise...again.

And btw MC-I have tried to decorate him while he was sleeping one night and he, for some STRANGE reason, took offense to it. Now he refuses to even wear a sweatshirt or sweater or "jumper" as they call them in England that has any kind of Christmas Motif on it. Except maybe a hat saying "Bah! HumBug!"
Hahahahahahahahahhaha!

I went back on my diet in full today when I got up. I know the doctors want me to recover my strength after being ill, but it's been 6 weeks so far and I want to get back on track now. I told everyone last night that I was going back on my diet this morning so if they wanted to plan anything, such as a dinner or anything involving food- they would have to let me know so I could plan my diet around it.....But really "planning" isn't required too terribly much on this diet.......No matter where you go there is invariably a green veggie and salad or slaw and a meat.
I'm learning that when sweets(which I adore) and breads(which I thought I couldn't EVER learn to live without) are put in front of me, it's not required that I eat them every time.
That's what comes from growing up in the era of the "Clean Plate Club". You're guilted into eating everything -and then some- because somewhere in the world there are starving children who have nothing.

Well, I'm going back to work for my long week this evening, so I'm going to go now and rest up for a bit again.
I'll try to not take so long to post again........

Happy Mothers Day....

To all the Mother's in my life.... I love you all.


Finally I have a pic of Marie, Franks wife to post on here..... so in order is: Kathy, Clays wife....Julie, My Daughter.........My Mom, Nancy...........and FINALLY a photo of Marie, Franks wife....for the life of me I can't figure out WHY she's so camera shy...I have the most beautiful girls on earth!!

I also want to wish my sisters, Nina and Teresa Happy Mothers Day.

You're all the best friends ever.

Love you!

Stylin'..........

Look at CJ tryin' to impress the ladies....
Mission Accomplished.