eye {heart} you

My husband has five adult children. The other day, I was stuck in a bit of a quandary, stumbling over what normally would have been my introduction of one of his daughters {he has three}. I said, "this is one of my husband's..." and then stopped, turned toward her, and asked, "does that sound like I have multiple husbands?" I opted for the more general, tho vague, "my friend".

Anyway, she likes physical activity. Lately she's been climbing the trees in our front yard. So she's been seeing some stuff that would otherwise have escaped notice. Like this perfect heart, which serves as a lovely pupil for this tree's eye, would have most likely continued to be ignored by us human beings.

What's really cool is that this tree's heart framed so lovely within the eye actually seems to be looking down at our front porch, watching over us, keeping us in its line of sight.

Banned Books Week

Feed your need to read, as quoted on my left bar, by Stephen King.

It's odd to think that in this day and age we are still dealing with folks burning and banning books. It's a book, if you don't like it, don't read it!

I find it curious that the folks that are mostly up in arms, attempting to ban books usually aren't very literate and don't actually read much anyway.

As far as the age~old argument that children are helpless and we need to protect them, if you'd really like to do so~~teach them to think. Teach them morals and ethics. Let them know that there is a ton of stuff out in the real world they might maybe be exposed to and that all of it isn't necessarily stuff that is good for them; so they ought to be able to filter for themselves as they grow.

Besides, the best way to tempt a child {or anyone really} is to tell them DO NOT eat of the tree or read the book.

*warning* disgusting content to follow

I'm just now freaking out cuz I had a yucky experience in the bathroom, so I'm a bit preoccupied with that {shudder}.

See the other day, I killed a winged~frickin~roach in the bathroom, with my bare hand. It was super juicy. {squelch}

And tonight, I went in, to take my meds, and I go back in and there is the winged~frickin~roach's brother {winged~freaken~roach} ON MY FUCKIN TOOTHBRUSH! And as I grabbed for it, it hopped over on my OTHER TOOTHBRUSH.

Oh.My.Fucking.God.

So I squished it and then threw both brushes out and scrubbed my hands. And dude, I know it was getting revenge. Now I wonder what the hell is going on in there with other unseen~fuckin~winged~roaches. shudder.

I'm damaged for life.

Thought I only vomited in my mouth a little.

satisfaction

Ya know those days when you just feel like you've accomplished alot, even if you really haven't? Maybe it's that you finally do those two or three things that have just been lurking on the edge of your intentions. Maybe you remember to pick up a few things you've routinely been forgetting. It's all those lil things that line up and drop into place and you can just go down your mental list and check them off.

Today was that sorta day for me.

Tupelo

This morning, we stopped by the tag/title office at the courthouse to do what we could do regarding our newly acquired 1981 Honda 400c. We'll be getting antique tags so if you see me tooling around on a tight lil bike, with my bubble~gum pink girly half~shell...well, very long time readers will remember that ahem I'm tough {spoken in the smallest softest whisper ever}. Otherwise, you can just imagine.

Then we zoomed up to Tupelo to see the ortho~dude, who was pleased as he could possibly be about how wonderful Jerry's leg was looking in reality and on film. So we go back in December for a six~month {from the wreck/surgery} check~up and then I think we're done. He did say that he'd like to see us in a year and that he won't really release Jerry cuz if he ever has anymore trouble due to the fractures, then the ortho~dude wants us to return. I think we're good. Jerry was doing the time~warp and that involves some bending and twisting of the knees, so I think we can expect his to dance his way into the work in the morning. And he is tha~rooooo with physical therapy. yea!!

And we stopped at the bookstore and picked up a few holiday presents. And went to Hobby~Lobby, where I lamented the dwindling yarn supply and the exorbitant prices. Again, the kudzu into fiber idea cropped up.

Jerry has been wanting to buy me a few new outfits, especially since our first anniversary is coming up at the end of next month. So we went to JCPenny's and browsed thru the "clearance" racks {dude, most of the prices are way more than I would usually consider, even at fifty percent or more off}. Jerry's good about finding stuff that would look good on me, and we walked away with a few items to add to my wardrobe. Including a few tops, bras, and one really awesome dress that I'd not have thought was my style but I really like it once it's on me!!

Some items are pictured throughout the post. Not all the items, just some. It was fun, and very low stress. And I really am glad that Jerry suggested this!

Thanks so very much, my love!!

surprise, surprise

Tomorrow, My Jerry and I are heading to Tupelo. He'll be seeing the ortho~dude for a follow~up and then we won't be seeing that doc again til Dec, I'm sure. While we're near the mall and all, Jerry's mentioned that he would like to see me in an outfit or two during our first anniversary at the end of next month. So since he doesn't need to be up at half~past dark o'clock, we caught up on a few TiVo'ed shows.

One of which was Sons of Anarchy. We had a bit of a surprise when riding up on a tricked out Harley as Bachman, the cleaner, was a familiar face. Stephen King guest starred. And not surprisingly, he was really, really good at playing his character.

There was an accidental death of an unsavory character and a cleaner was needed to uhm dispose of the body. So Katey Segal's character asks Kim Coates's character for some assistance. He replies that Bachman is expensive, but good, very good. And in the next scene, up rides Stephen King.

He was so good, he was scary good. It'd be awesome to see this character be called upon again at some point. The silent interaction these four characters had was amazing and gave me chills. I think that the cleaner is definitely someone that would be useful to the show.

What I liked particularly about his guest appearance was that the show didn't play it up. There was no hype. They didn't flash on it during last week's previews of this week's episode. They didn't announce it or treat it as a teaser just prior to the show. I really like that.

The more I learn about Sons and the folks involved, the more I gain respect. I'm intrigued. It would be too easy to take this idea to overkill, but they don't overplay it. And Stephen King fit right in to the story, making the feasible premise all the more relevent. Awesomely good.

my wood~sprite

I've been enthralled with BookMooch and have enjoyed the process for the most part. There are some folks who don't have much respect for books and treat the service with much negativity, mostly cuz it is a free exchange. But other than those few folks, I've enjoyed the BookMooch exchanges muchly.




One person whom I've been exchanging eMails with of late, from whom I'm mooching Dracula, has made me a wonderful bookmark. She'd asked what my tastes are and directed me to her deviantART page to see samples. I explained that trees are important to me, and I love the autumnal season best, but trees in all seasons thrill me, especially hard~woods, oaks, maples, and the like. So she sketched me out a wood~sprite, colored her in, and is sending the bookmark with my book. That makes it all that more extra special!!

...duh...

Proof positive that no good deed goes unpunished was shown this morning during a cluster~fu..flurry of phone calls that made me question the sanity and worthiness of interacting with bureaucrats. {sigh}

Leaving out lots of nitpicking details, I'll try to zero in on the crux of the matter...the left~hand so did not know what the right hand was doing.

I called all the agencies that have been involved with my husband's accident and all that followed. Mostly to check in with them, let them know where/when we are in the process of all this, etc. Oh, good! All the agencies responded, that's just wonderful! No problem, this all sounds great! He's way ahead of the healing~curve!

I get off the phone with the very last place, feeling good, having been reassured all's well. And not but twenty minutes later, I receive a phone call from that same agency, the caller demanding action! right! this!very!minute!NOW!! I was thrown, cuz dude, that is so the exact opposite of what the other woman told me. And since I've not received any sort of indication to the contrary, I thought that all was well. So it really was very odd to receive this demanding!call!that!needed!attention!right!now!! When I pointed out that I just spoke with their agency twenty minutes ago, the caller was stunned and insisted that there was no record of such a call. {sigh}

One of the seven principle characteristics of inefficient organizations is poor communication within the organization that leads to poor communication with clients of that organization. In other words, as a client, you cannot hold the organization to their own stated policy for procedures. Which is a damn shame, cuz they sure as shit can drop kick your ass right outta the extremely unlevel playing field they themselves devised. We said what? Are you sure? Well, what we meant was...

argh...I'm so frustrated that I can't even speak very clearly...

manic monday

We've all gotten songs stuck in our heads before. Actually, it's usually not even a song in its entirety. Rather it's the chorus, or in my case, more often than not, it's a line or two in an endless loop.

There's something that's been weighing on my mind lots lately. Other than my writing here, eMails to friends, and IM chats with loved ones...well, I really haven't written anything in quite some time. I've been thinking about getting back into it, being more disciplined and setting some goals and then reaching them. But something holds me back.

I'm not sure why I'm so hesitant. But I can think of a few possible reasons. I wanted to give the matter some thought. So last night, I gave it my undivided attention.

Yesterday afternoon, I went into some old files and printed out a few short~shorts {or flash fiction}, poems, short stories, and such. I read a few things to my husband, whom I never really shared my creative writing with {outside of the blog and such}. I realized that I haven't written anything along those lines for years. wow.

After everyone was sound asleep and there appeared to be several dead~dogs slumbering in various favored spots in the living room, I settled into my pink chair and turned my mind toward my thoughts and feelings toward writing. I'm not sure what I arrived at, but I do know that it took most of the night.

The problem was, I kept looping back to one thing or another. It was like getting a lyric stuck in my head. The pattern of it seemed to be more and more ingrained.

And I think that I just need to give it a shot. Or two. Or even more.

I do need to use caution. Sometimes, I get very excited about something. Apply myself. Get all wrapped up in it. And then end up triggering mania and then it's such a mess. The after~burn knocks me down and it takes all that much longer to get back on my feet and stable again.

If this entry seems rather cryptic, it's mostly cuz I don't feel very clear yet. And I'm not sleeping the way I should. That's fairly minor at this point, but I'd like to correct the matter before it becomes something major.

{oh! this summer i was unable to wear my wedding ring, my fingers were too swollen, with fat, heat, and fat~~did i mention that i've gained 50 pounds in the past year? and last night, i slid my ring on and it feels so much better to be wearing it!!}

happy hooking!

Today is International Crochet Day!!

You'd've thought that what with all the waiting in hospitals and doctors' offices and such this summer that I'd've used that time wisely by reading and/or crocheting; but that did not happen. In fact, I haven't crocheted in quite some time. I was back in the craftee~room last night, cleared some things away, and put some yarn up, and sorted thru some piles that were just set down instead of actually put away. There is still lots to do in there, but at least it was a dent! The large table back there is piled high with wedding stuff. There are still a few boxes of stuff to go thru from my trailer on the farm, tho I think most of it will be tossed, some needs to be washed {my winter coat}, or put away {some of my crochet accoutrements} . I've put all the christmas stuffs under the table back there last fall, we weren't here for the holidays, and I didn't want to come home to decorations that needed to be taken down and packed away for the year. I feel deplorably, woefully behind on most everything including resuming the cleaning of a couple rooms in the house and such. Sigh. I have no idea what I want to do for whom this year. I have a feeling that I won't be presenting folks with personally made items this holiday season. My mother and I will be attending a craft~fair next month, perhaps I will find some things then that speak to me and seem suitable for some folks!

sharing the stumbles

I'm not exactly sure, but I think that there is a series that an artist is calling "saturday morning breakfast cereal".


I'm finding them absolutely hilLARREEus.



Some of them are real groaners, some are snickerlicious, and some are not even worth mention. But then there are the real jewels that make me go, AHA!! while grinning and snorting.



Take a look, see for yourself.



There are some common themes, the misunderstandings of women and men, the funnier moments of sex and politics, and pokes at various myths and such.


Just your general fodder.

oh for ...

When I first stumbled upon this, I snickered.

Then I showed it to Jerry, he guffawed.

So chortle and chuckle away!








{by the way, his artistic son makes sake~sets, throws them outta clay}

tripping down memory lane

I used to love to watch cartoon skits of what the future might be like.

Checking out some of the older magazines, how they might have thought things might be in their future, makes me wonder if our thoughts of the future are as way off.

My grandmother, along with a vast majority of folks in her generation, firmly believed in plastic covers {shudder}. Not that she hosed things down. Or even cleaned very often. Until recently, I didn't know that the smell that I fondly associated with my grandparents' towels hanging on the bathroom rods is actually deep~seated mold that never was bleached entirely out...that's why whenever the "clean" towels became damp, they emitted a smell that I now think of as sour.

Could be one contributing reason for my current love affair with heavily bleached sheets, towels, etc. as an adult.

family 'do~ings

Well, My Jerry's mother lives in an assisted living home, in the area. Every few months, they host a get~together for the residents' families and it's usually something that you can bring a dish to, or not. They have plenty of food there, so it's nice if you bring a side~dish or dessert, but not a necessity. They really just want you to be there.

The first one of the year, the day of, I got terribly sick and by the time the gathering rolled around, Jerry wasn't feeling so great either. So neither of us went. Oh, well, we'll make it to the next one.

The next one rolled around, and Jerry was actually on his way home to get me when the meeting of the cadillac made that infeasible. We decided if either of us got sick, or hit by another vehicle, this time, then we'd never attempt to attend another one of these.

Glad to say that we went and had a great time. The four of us {Jerry's daughter went too} sat at a table and told stories and laughed and had a good time. I ate an usually large amount of desserts, and drank swe'tea till my tummy pooched over my waist band.

Jerry'd made deviled eggs. The residents loved them! We probably will take two platters next time. The director of the home said that they are a favorite, whenever anyone brings them.

Jerry's daughter won a door~prize so Jerry has a new white MSU t~shirt he can wear to the game tomorrow. Then we all went out and sat on the front~porch rockers. The evening was a balmy soothing sort, the kind that makes the south sound so appealing in those novels. And we just sat and rocked and chatted.

A good time was had by all.

Tomorrow, I'm going to go to the first meeting of the Starkville Writers' Group. It most likely will be an organizational/planning gathering. We'll decide how often, when, where, the purpose, etc. I'm excited about that, and think that it might be an excellent opportunity for me to push myself a bit more.

In the morning, Jerry and two of his daughters plan to go the cemetery to see his first wife's final resting place. Next week would have been their anniversary. They shared their entire adult lives, raised five children, and so this is a good time to remember her for him. He'd asked if I wanted to go, but I think that this is meaningful for his girls too and I think it might be a bit much for his eldest daughter to try to deal with my presence at that time. They were very close and I'm sure that it will be an emotional time for her.

Then in the afternoon, Jerry and her husband will go to the first MSU football game of the season. The game doesn't start til 6, but they plan to be there around 2~~Jerry's group {the Vet School at MSU} and her husband's church will have tailgate tents set up. There are usually hot dogs and hamburgers and sodas and maybe some watermelon and of course, the ever~present swee'tea. I expect they won't be home til 10p or so.

There has been a "new" ruling by the SEC, that we will be allowed to have our cowbells. If you've never been to an MSU game, you probably haven't heard such clamor. But let me remind you, we're a land~grant university which has strong agricultural and farming roots. We like us our cowbells!

So then that will be the doings for the Labor Day weekend for us. Sunday, Jerry most likely will need to put his leg up and rest some. Monday, of course, he has off.

All y'all be safe out there!

so apropos!

I absolutely love every thing about this, right down to the foul smell that must emit from the sewer.

...and another one for my baby

cheezy sci~fi flicks are definitely viewed in our home.

regularly.

another one for my baby

Dude, I've heard more cartoon~death voices these last two months...it almost made me think I was time~warped to the 80s.

dating myself

Oh, yea!!

for my love

the tardis, it takes you places