chewing the oysters

the other day, my mom called to let me know that my dress came in and she will bring it with her when she comes this way in a week or so. while we were on the phone, we both wondered why folks say, 'in my heart of hearts'...do you think cows moo to each other in their need to convince the other of their sincerity, 'elsie, i'm telling ya, i just knew it in my fourth stomach...'. by the way, mom said the dress was beautiful and i asked if she tried it on. she was shocked that i would even ask. of course she didn't.

so friday was my jerry's birthday and we did a few things over this weekend to celebrate. we did have our first couple's pix taken at walmart. we pick them up in a week or so, and i think they turned out pretty good. course, i'm biased. i will say tho that when mom was here back in february, she'd said that jerry and i looked good together. i cannot remember when my mom has ever said that about the significant other in my life. so it was a very nice thrill to know she thinks that.

jerry's youngest daughter made a sugar-free cake for him and brought it over with her family. his oldest daughter and her family were already here and it was a very nice evening. the soon to be seven month old grandson surprised both jerry and i by rolling over and scooting himself along. you'd've thought i'd never seen a child do that, the way i carried on. whatta ninny. the two year old grandson and five year old granddaughter got to running around and it was cool to see such exuberant happiness. it's a bit different for me to follow what a small child is telling me, but i try to pay attention and respond appropriately. so when the lil boy plopped himself down in my lap to tell me about the stinky monster, i tried to keep up. he did lean over and see his reflection in the glass against the darkness outside and then solemnly said that the stinky monster was out there, waiting to get him. he didn't seem scared, just informative. the lil girl was telling me about her zebra earlier and i'm glad that her mother told me that it's a plastic toy; it made it easier to know how to respond...cuz sometimes kids have really great imaginations and i wouldn't want to have asked her about riding the zebra when that wouldn't've done at all.

the next day, my jerry and i rode the bike over to tuscaloosa to the first black river story teller fest. it was a beautiful day and there was also an air show, so traffic was a bit congested going in and coming out. on our way over, we stopped in columbus to visit the flea market held at the farmers' market's ground. we saw some neat things, including these collapsed melted glass bottles that formed these sorta shallow troughs. some were meant for cutting boards, or cheese trays, and i thought that they'd be good for putting on the stove for when you have messing spoons and spatulas when cooking and stirring pots. thing is, lots of times when i admire something, i don't want it for my own. i just think it's cool. where it is, without me owning it. like some dresses i see; they're nice on that person...i don't want it on me. ya know?

the day progressed beautifully, including going to wintzell's oyster bar. my jerry's been a fan of the original one on the coast, so we popped in to the new one in tuscaloosa. our waiter {hi, todd!} was an extremely cool young man on his way to seattle in the next year or so. i love meeting and talking with folks like that; which is yet another reason why going to fests, esp story tellers, is so great.

on our way home, we stopped in columbus again. this time to visit my friend's church. she'd told me about a marriage seminar that was starting at 6:30 and would probably be 2 hrs on the outside. my jerry was a bit reluctant, but he didn't say anything so i knew he'd go. well, we actually got there around 6 and it went til almost 10. but it was really good and we didn't realize that four hours zoomed by. my jerry and i were both glad to have gone and i got one of the best books ever...the five languages of love. we all had fun, cuz it was very informal, and we did all sorts of lil exercises with various folks.

thing is, i had a bit too much sun during the day. we sat in the shade; actually, i hid in the shade at all times. but i'm fair skinned and tend to burn easily. and then some of my meds make me even more sensitive to the sun. i could feel my face getting tight and warm, but i thought i'd sunscreen with me. when i went to find it, uhm...no. so we stopped at walmart and picked some up. a bit like too lil way too late.

so that evening, during the marriage workshop...my sunburn came to full fruition and i could feel the heat radiating out from me in waves. finally, my friend leaned over to whisper that she was worried about me. she said that either i was breaking out in a rash or blistering along the side of my face and by my mouth. i told her with a very straight face in all seriousness {from my fourth stomach} that when i crossed the threshold into the church, i began to fester with boils and my flesh began to blister. since she knows me extremely well, and since i've attended bible studies with her for over five years...she burst into laughter. and then snickered every time she looked at me.

seriously tho, the best stuff evah for skin needing nourishing is ocean potion skincare. it's a bit on the pricey side, but not prohibitively so; i get it at walmart for about $4+ (even tho online, i found it for twice that). i get the moisturizing with aloe lotion. it's made of entirely good stuffs with no alcohol (unlike most lotion) so there is no stinging. and it isn't greasy (unlike most lotion that is alcohol-free). and it smells so good that i want to consume it...yummy! i think it kinda smells a bit like baby-aspirin, that orange-cream like scent. but that's probably just my weird association with stuff. cuz yeah, i'm that much fun.

hey, i just got this tip in eMail today: if you ever get the sudden urge to run around naked, you should sniff some Windex first. It'll keep you from streaking.