Long lost post... (Originally posted May 17, 2007)

TRANSFERRED FROM LIVEJOURNAL This has been such a weekend of emotions that I don’t exactly know where to begin. I suppose in this case it’s best to start at the beginning and work my way to the end. Hubby’s father is back in the hospital. We drove 2 hours north on Friday night to Hubby’s sister’s house, spent the night there, and then Hubby went to visit his dad at the hospital. He was there for a couple hours, came back to the house, ate some food, and then took Kiddo over to visit his papaw (grandfather). Hubby came back in a terrible mood, and we left for home about 30 minutes later. Hubby started out driving, but about 20 minutes into the drive, I looked over and he was very obviously not doing well. I suggested he pull over so I could drive; a suggestion which he immediately took me up on. We switched places and as we continued our way south, he spent the better part of 30 minutes releasing some of his pent-up sadness, frustration, and anger over the situation with his dad. Suffice-it-to-say it was a good thing I took over as he was not, at that time, fit to drive. We were supposed to meet our very good friend, MI, out by the airport for dinner – which is why we left Hubby’s sister’s house relatively early in the day. MI was coming into town for Little Bit’s baptism all the way from CT, and therefore we thought we’d save him a long drive after a long flight by coming to him. His flight was originally supposed to arrive at around 5PM, but due to one thing or another, his flight didn’t get in until around 6:30PM. (MI, keep me honest here – I’m not sure I’ve got the time’s right.) After Hubby had calmed down a bit, we decided to take a detour to the Lodge Cast Iron Outlet in Sevierville. We were looking for an iron skillet for SS, and a unique Mother’s Day gift for Hubby’s mom. We found exactly what we were looking for, and while we were there, MI called to say that he was delayed – which was fine – so we went to the Coleman Outlet for a while. Kiddo had a blast running around checking out all the tents they had set up for display; he decided he liked the big one the best – it even had a built-in pet door! As we continued on our way to the airport, we took another detour to look at a couple used cars. I found one I really want... I saw it there before about 3 weeks ago, and it’s still there. From what I can see, it looks to be a decent automobile – but I haven’t had the chance to drive it yet. Hubby likes this one. .oO(Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just plunk down the $$ and drive them both home...) Anyway – we finally connected with MI and went to Up The Creek for dinner. If I were a food critic, I’d give it 1.5 stars. The food itself wasn’t terrible, but the service was not great, the restaurant seemed grimy (our table was sticky and I saw a waitress “cleaning” a table with Pledge Furniture Polish and a rag), and I ran into (literally) a waitress in the women’s room who stumbled out of a stall looking very much like she was drunk or on some illegal substance. Overall, not a great dining experience – but the company couldn’t have been better! We left MI at his hotel with directions to the church for the next morning and drove 40 minutes home. When we got there, we got the kids inside and settled (Kiddo was already asleep and Little Bit hung out quietly in her bassinet) and then we brought in all our stuff from the car. Once everything was inside, it began to pour buckets of rain! I mean the time between finishing bringing everything inside to when I first noticed the sound of rain was approximately three minutes. Boy, we lucked out! Hubby had to run out to our other car (which was parked on the street); he was gone about 30 seconds and was totally drenched by the time he came back inside! The next day was Sunday and Little Bit’s day of baptism! We somehow managed to get everyone bathed, dressed and to the church by 10:30!!! We had C,M&ZD, D&LS, GS, MG, B&SG, MI, S&CS, PDD&JW, J&EB, the entire choir and countless other people I know stood up for us that day. We had so many friends and family in attendance – and we could not have felt more blessed! Thank you all for coming, being our friends, and loving us – we love you! Little Bit was so good and didn’t cry at all. She opened one eye as he put the water on her head, but she was pretty much asleep through the entire thing. Kiddo was super good, too, and only wondered aloud once at what “he” (our Pastor) was doing with that water? After the service (which we video taped, btw) we went back to S&CS’s house. They generously offered to let us use their house for the "after party" because they had leftovers from their 25th Wedding Anniversary party that they’d had on Saturday. (We were supposed to be in attendance, but SS said she didn’t want us there – meaning, "Go visit your dad!!!") It was a wonderful day, and I was so happy to spend the time with everyone. C&MD, a quick and heartfelt thank you to you both for being both Kiddo’s and Little Bit’s God Parents. It means so much to Hubby and me. We love you! Anyway – I guess that’s it for now. I feel like I’m just stopping in the middle of a good story, because I have so much more to say – but I need to stop. I’ll write more again soon and post pictures as soon as I can. Love to all! TTFN JMS PS: I had intended to post this on Monday, but somehow never got around to it so it’s a little out of date.

Just Whatever... (Originally posted May 9, 2007)

TRANSFERRED FROM LIVEJOURNAL I haven’t really had too much to write about the last few days. I keep opening Word, writing a few sentences and then deleting the entire thing because it was either uninteresting or I just wasn’t feeling inspired. However, because I really want to post something to keep my adoring fans happy (tee hee) – I’ll just write about whatever comes to my mind and post it. Hopefully you won’t be bored to tears. (JC...this is for you) I had a really strange dream the other night. In the dream, I was getting into bed and as I was settling down and pulling the covers up over me, I realized that my feet were touching something soft and furry. As we don’t have any animals that could possibly be under the covers at the bottom of the bed, I was curious and threw the sheets back. There, at the bottom of the bed, was a little red fox! As soon as I tossed back the covers it came snarling at me with its teeth bared. They looked like little white needles and the look in its eyes was murderous. Somehow, I managed to grab its muzzle and stop it from chewing off any of my appendages. All the commotion woke up Hubby and (still dreaming here...) between the two of us, we managed to confine the evil little furry thing inside a greeting card! Yeah – what was THAT all about? Little Bit was two months old on Tuesday (5/8). She’s getting bigger every time I look at her. I see her growth progress more now because I’m not with her 24/7. She has a doctor’s appointment on 5/11 so hopefully we’ll know more about her weight and height then. She’s extremely strong and already has very good control over her neck so her head doesn’t do a lot of bobbing around. She’s trying to stand up already, too! No, I know she’s not really trying to stand, but she’ll push herself up and stand there as long as you’re supporting her under her arms. She loves it when you stand her up and talk to her and gets a big grin which lights up her whole face. She’s a very happy child and we are so lucky!!! Kiddo is doing very well. He’s still being difficult, but it has lessened somewhat. The potty training thing is still not going well, though we had a possible break through the other day. We were at B&TG’s house for that wonderful oyster roast thing (thanks again, Scoop!) and their little son SG, who is Kiddo’s senior by one month, is also potty training. He’s got a little potty chair and during the party, decided that he had to go. He’s wearing pull-ups and so he, on his own, went potty – with Kiddo watching everything. After SG was done, Kiddo said to BG, “I really have to go potty!” and so she helped him get out of his clothes (he was wearing a belt) and he happily went potty. Afterward, BG got him one of SG’s little pull-up and made a big to-do about them being “big boy underpants”. Since then, however, he has expressed absolutely no interest in sitting on the potty at all. Last night, I called B&TG and asked them if they would mind looking after Little Bit for about 45 minutes so I could take Kiddo, by himself, to the park. I really needed some quality time with my little guy and he really needed some quality time with me so it was great to be able to do that – even for a half an hour. The only down side was that he banged his knee pretty badly (bruise, not cut) on one of the stairs at the playground and complained last night and again today that it hurt to walk. I checked him over very carefully to make sure nothing was broken, and we put ice on it as soon as we got home – but he was limping around, dragging his leg and whining about his knee for the rest of the night. I feel bad, because I was right there, and he didn’t fall hard! But we’ll continue to watch it and if we feel it requires a visit to the doctor, we’ll go. One other thing I’d like to throw in is this: Thank you to anyone who has given us a baby gift. I’m in the process of writing thank you notes, and I know it’s no excuse, but with working full-time and then taking care of the kids when I get home, the note-writing is very slow going!!! The other problem is that I have been horrible about writing down who gave us what, so if you don’t get a thank you note, its not because I overlooked you or just didn’t write them, it’s because I’m an idiot and didn’t do what I was supposed to do. Etiquette is just not something I’m very good at and my brain doesn’t seem to be as sharp as it once was. I hope no one is offended by the lack of a note, should that be the case, but please know that we do, deeply, thank you. (Boy – I hope that doesn’t sound like I think it sounds!) Anyway – I guess that’s about it for now. For not having much to say, I feel like I’ve written quite a lot. Hope everyone is doing well. TTFN JMS

Sleep & Oysters (Originally posted May 5, 2007)

TRANSFERRED FROM LIVEJOURNAL Last night, Little Bit slept almost 6 full hours! So, maybe I’m looking at about a once-per-month thing where I get a decent night’s sleep…who knows? She’s doing great, though. She’s still a chow-hound and is growing by leaps and bounds. Her next doctor’s appointment is at the end of next week, so we’ll know more then how much she weighs and how long she is. Tonight, we went to our friend Scoop’s house for his annual Oyster Fest… He collects money from everyone he’s invited (this time it was approximately 80 people), and goes to the Shrimp Dock in K-Town for oysters and shrimp. I’m not sure how many bushels of oysters he picked up this time, but probably somewhere between 5 and 10. Then he and his dad – and whoever else wants to help man the grills (yes, grills…plural) – grill the oysters in Scoop’s special concoction and then sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. It’s absolutely out of this world, if you like oysters, which I do. It’s also quite the experience – we always have a good time. Anywhoo…I guess that’s all I’ve got for now. Wish I had something interesting to say or some fun story to tell…but I don’t. Hope everyone is well! TTFN JMS

Clowning Around (Originally posted May 3, 2007)

TRANSFERRED FROM LIVEJOURNAL So I got an email from KM the other day, and was quite amused when I learned that he was the lucky winner of a pie-in-the-face contest! Literally! Actually, I think he came in 2nd place by very narrow margin. After speaking to his wife, and my good friend, NM last night – I told her to tell him that the videos of him taking a pie in the face should be broadcast far and wide! What better place to do that than this widely-read blog? (Please note my air of sarcasm here.) If you want to see my friend KM receive his pie, CLICK HERE and click on Mr. M’s videos. They’re definitely worth a giggle....but it was all for a good cause. Below is an excerpt from that e-mail – KM, I hope you don’t mind!  “My school is raising funds to purchase some much needed playground equipment. The PTO came up with the idea to donate a dollar, and vote to see your favorite/least favorite teacher catch a pie in the face. I decided to be the "lightning rod" and challenge my students by telling them that they had no shot to pie me in the face, and to "bring it on!" “Needless to say, the students rose to the challenge in a BIG way. We raised $1600 in one week. I think I stirred them up, because I led the in the voting until the last day. I wound up getting hit twice because I had a friendly wager with the librarian that I would garner the most votes. I lost in a close race on the last day, but there were really no losers due to the donations we received last week. “I wanted to let you know that there is a video link to the pie-throwing festivities that occurred on Friday. (I know some of you think that I have deserved that for SOME time now.)” Way to go KM! TTFN JMS

Surprises (Originally posted May 2, 2007)

TRANSFERRED FROM LIVEJOURNAL Portions of a multiple e-mail exchange between me and Aunt C that I thought I’d share. I promise I have a point... AC to Me “Hi – UB & I ordered a few items from (your registry at) Target. Do you want them to be a surprise, or do you want me to tell you? Love you, AC” Me to AC “Thank you! Oh...just surprise me! I’m quite excited!!!” AC to Me “You are a champ! I would want to know!! Love to all.........” Now...when I was pregnant, both with Kiddo & Little Bit, and Hubby and I decided not to find out either baby’s gender, people constantly wondered, “I don’t know how you do that...I would want to know!” I guess it’s just part of who I am. Some surprises, like the gender of our babies and what gifts people were kind enough to get me are wonderful!!! Others, for example, like a surprise birthday party – I could do without. I don’t like being the center of attention and so surprises that involve me being the focus aren’t fun at all. I guess I get embarrassed and don’t know how to act or react in situations like that. If I know about the party or whatever, I can prepare myself and therefore not make an idiot of myself or anyone else. I’m currently invited to a wedding shower for this Saturday, which, unfortunately I cannot attend, and a baby shower that is in June, which I have put on my calendar wouldn’t miss. I know that neither of these events are a surprise to either the bride-to-be or the mother-to-be...and I think that’s the way it should be. DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this blog are not necessarily the opinions of the rest of the natural world...but they should be!!! TTFN JMS