Halloween Memories Part 2……

* OK, before I get started I have a little business to do……..

You have been Booed!!!! I was Booed by the wonderful Lisa at http://jujuboo.blogspot.com/. So here are the rules…….
Go to as many of your blog buddies as you want and tell them they have been boo-ed . Have them pick up this picture and add it to their blog and say with the link who boo-ed them . Put the picture in your sidebar if you want so that others know that you have already been boo-ed , if you post lots and it’s not on the main page where everyone will see your boo-ed post!

So go out and spread the BOOS before it is too late.*

Now on to the memories……

The boys were so easy. Little Miss is the one who desires all store bought costumes. Her costumes have to be just so-so. With the boys….. jeans, a flannel shirt, a hat and a toy pistol and you have a Cowboy. Trashy, over-sized clothes, a pillow in their shirt and a little black makeup smeared on the cheeks and WA-LA you have a Hobo. White make-up, a red nose and a bright jumpsuit and TA-DA, A clown! When they were little, they could care less about what they were as long as they got to go Trick or Treating.

Once they got older and picked their own costumes it was still fairly easy……. The dead Pokemon Trainer consisted of blue jeans, a T-shirt with Pokemon Balls pinned to it and a fresh coat of powder and dust. Sting from the WCW…..Black jeans, a black T-shirt, white makeup and some black eyeliner. Blue jeans, a flannel shirt and a bandanna, finish it off with a teardrop under the eye and a blood covered bandage on the chest and you have a gangster. See fairly easy! 

The hardest year was the Power Ranger year! Lord, all of the sewing and gluing. Cotton material, felt, shiny material. I still have nightmares about it all. But it was worth it. (I wish my scanner was functioning, I have pictures and no way to get them on the computer!)

Now Little Miss was easy the first year! She was almost 4 months old and I made her a biker babe!

                                   (Excuse the poor quality, a picture of a picture never turns out.)

Since then she has been a princess, a ballerina, a clown and Cinderella among other things. All, but the Biker Babe, were store bought. She just couldn’t have anything homemade, that would not be as fancy!

Easy E has never really eaten candy, so Trick or Treating was kinda a letdown for him. He liked the whole dressing up process and he liked showing off his costume. But he only ate a few kinds of candy, Reese’s Cups, Skittles, and Smarties. So SCORE, Mom and Dad! He went Trick or Treating until he was about 11 years old and then he started dressing up and giving out candy at Grandma’s house. He still dress for Halloween.

The Boy loved candy. So SCORE The Boy. He hated the whole dressing up process. He squirmed and complained the whole dad-blasted time! But he loved getting out there and begging for candy! He was a skittish kid so the decorations freaked him out a bit, but he tolerated them for the candy. His 3rd or 4th year was the most memorable. The very first house we went to had a bowl of candy and you got your own. When he reached in to get his candy, a hand popped up and slapped his hand and it screamed at him. It scared the hell out of him! Needless to say he was done for the year. He refused to get out of the car at any other house and he never got his own candy out of a bowl again!

Halloween is the perfect thing for Little Miss. She loves getting dressed up, she loves candy, and she loves all of the attention. It just doesn’t get any better. She can get all dolled up, prance around and everyone goes on and on about how cute she is.

This year, Easy E says he is going to be a Vampire, his wife a Goth Lolita. Little Miss is going to be a Vampiress. The Boy, well, he will probably do his best impression of a drunk Redneck. With any luck Hubby will be a man in a good mood for a change. And Me, well, I think I will be me with more energy! It is the best costume I can think of. Happy Halloween to all of you!!! Until next time…….

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND THANKS FOR VISITING!!!!!!

                                                                              BOO!

Halloween Memories!

Halloween used to be a big deal for me. Not so much anymore, though I don’t know why. Yes, free candy was a big deal to a kid who rarely got candy, but it was more than that. I loved the decorations, the spooky houses and the dressing up. As a youngster I was the usual clown, witch and ghost. The unusual Egyptian queen and female hobo. Once I got older I was the wicked witch, the good witch and the farmer’s daughter. As a teen, I made a haunted porch for our 9-10 trick or treaters.

I have a few memories from Halloween that for some reason I will always remember.

The first one is when I was about 4 years old and I was a hobo. I had my sack on a stick, just like the hobos carry their supplies. The first few houses I had my stick over my shoulder, then I got tired. As any 4 year old would do I started dragging my sack behind me. Guess what…..You guessed it, I drug a hole in my sack and lost all of my candy! Daddy, being a heartless bastard, said tough shit! We went to one last house. This happened to be the house at the end of our street, the house where the young man, I was in love with, happened to live. This young man, I would guess to be 16-18, happened to know the cutie pie from down the street had a huge crush on him. And when I stood on his front porch teary eyed, he asked what was wrong. I cried that I had lost all of my candy. He took pity on this sweet child. Not only did he give me all the candy in his bowl, he gave me his pillow case to put it in and then he walked carried me back around our entire route and told each house of my disaster and got me all my candy back! I really wish I could remember his name. He was so sweet to a little girl!

Another Halloween that sticks with me is the year my older cousin lived with us. She stayed home to give out candy while my parent’s carried me and my brother trick or treating. She watched a moving van pull up to the house across the street and load up a bunch of stuff. She thought they were moving during the night to avoid paying rent. We all found out different when the police came up the next morning asking if anyone saw anything, because the people across the street had been robbed while they were out of town! So my advice to you, if you see someone moving at night, call the police, just in case!

When we moved out to the country, we always went back to the “big” city to trick or treat. Better candy and the houses are closer together. When we hit the last house we would go and visit with a family friend’s house. This became a tradition that we kept up for many years. Also in the tradition was the “spooky house”.

There was a house where the woman dressed up as a witch and sat behind her cauldron all bent over, you couldn’t tell she was real. The cauldron had dry ice in it so that it would smoke and they had multi-colored lights shining on it. It was SPOOKY! As we walked in to the yard, she would sit perfectly still until you got right up to her, then she would jump up and scream and run after you! She scared the hell out of me every year! And to top it off, NO CANDY!!!! I never could remember which house it was, a lot of houses in the area had candy givers dressed up and outside or things sitting in the yard. I never remembered until she jumped and screamed. I swear the neighborhood got together and planned it out that way. Hell, they may have moved her to different houses every year, I don’t know. I know I loved it and dreaded it every year!

My last memory of the day was the haunted porch we did for a few years. Our back porch was covered so we dyed a few sheets black and hung them up so you couldn’t see in. We decorated it with ghost, skeletons, and spider webs. We had a chainsaw and a few farm tools dripping with “blood”. My brother dressed as Jason…..

and I was a ghoul.

I would hide behind the porch swing and my mom would lead the kids through an opening on to the back porch and tell them to go to the door for candy. When they got close I would jump out and chase them to the back door, where my brother would come out of the darkness and chase them back to the other end of the porch where they came in. My mom would be standing there with her candy bowl to give them candy. We never had many trick or treaters but we enjoyed it and we scared the hell out of a few kids.

So there you have it a few of my Halloween memories. What is your favorite Halloween memory? What was your best costume? Tomorrow I will be back with memories from my kids Halloweens. Until next time…….

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND THANKS FOR VISITING!!!!!

BOO!!!!!!!

It’s that time of year again…..

The chill is in the air and the snot is pouring! We had allergies running rampant all summer, but a Singular in the morning kinda helped make it manageable at least for Little Miss.  Now it is the time for those sinus infections and head colds. Every year Hubby gets bronchitis and I seem to keep a head cold. Little Miss stays snotty and The Boy starts hacking up a lung due to chest colds! And it seems to show up with the first night of freezing weather!

We have tried it all! Vitamin C, I swear our bodies reject healthy! Since our bodies seem to reject healthy, that knocks out most of those “keep you healthy” ideas. Vitamins, minerals, herbs, and common sense have all failed. I mentioned Vitamin C, but also on the list…..zinc, goldenseal, echinacea, bundling up, getting a lot of rest, and the best one, trying to stay away from sick people.

Staying away from sick people isn’t easy! They are everywhere and they won’t stay in when they are sick. That drives me crazy!!! I hate going somewhere and running into a hundred and ninety sniffling, sneezing, coughing, red nosed, miserable people! Why don’t they just stay home. Who wants to make everyone else miserable like them? OK, women who desire giving it to their husbands because their husbands are being asses about the woman being sick don’t count! Not that the thought has ever crossed my mind. *ahem* Hey don’t judge me them, some husbands are not as wonderful as my 2 male readers! Some men actually take no pity on a sick wife. They still expect them to do it all. Not my readers! They are good men I am sure. *I am looking at you! You are a good man, aren’t you? You do everything when the women in your life are sick, right?*

How do I know we had our first night of freezing temps? Little Miss got up sniffling, Hubby called and didn’t even sound like himself he was so clogged up, The Boy got up coughing and I have been snotty all morning. And with snotty noses comes draining sinuses….and with draining sinuses comes tummy problems! Gross I know! But really either end can be involved. I know, no less gross. It’s just a fact of life around here.

Little Miss left out of here this morning with her jammies on. (Yes, she does own jammies, I did not go out and buy them.) With freezing temps, she goes out of here in jammies! How crazy am I for letting her do that? She already has a runny nose and started getting a cough. I know that cold does not cause you to get a cold, but it can’t help any if you already have a start to one. Yes, I sent her to school. I can’t keep her home for a runny nose and cough, if I did she wouldn’t go to school from August to about March. Between allergies and sinuses, she is just screwed. In the above rant statement about sick people being out, I am referring to contagious people. You know the ones, people who have the flu or honest to goodness colds. Oh, and those who choose to go out when they have a stomach virus! I can’t stand those people! Anyone who would pass along one of those things should be shot!

I must go for now, I have a Halloween costume to alter. I don’t know why she wouldn’t listen to all of the people who told her it WOULD NOT fit!!! Stubborn children and fathers who can’t say NO!!! so until next time…..

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND THANKS FOR VISITING!!!!!!

The Guidance Counselor from HELL!

Well, the guidance counselor is at it again! Last year, she told Little Miss I was a drug addict. OK, she didn’t call me by name, but she taught the kiddos that cigarettes are drugs and anyone who smokes is a drug addict. So Little Miss called me and her father drug addicts, not just in the privacy of our own home, but also out in public. I know smoking is bad, I know it is addictive, I know it can cause a host of medical problems. I get it. I have ALWAYS told my children smoking is a NASTY habit and I hope they never do it. *For the record….My oldest does not smoke, my youngest son smokes sporadically, and if Little Miss ever so much as touches one I will beat her senseless. After the hell she has put me through over my smoking I think I would have every right to.* I understand cigarettes are technically a drug and I understand that teaching kids not to smoke is a good thing, but I could do worse.

I don’t beat my children *though at times I wonder how I keep from it* I don’t smoke crack. I don’t pop pills. I don’t snort coke. I am not a pothead. I only drink once in a blue moon nowadays *And when I do drink I catch hell from Little Miss when she finds out. Apparently drinking because I want to makes me an alcoholic.* I tell my children daily that I love them and they don’t want for much that they don’t get. SO see I could be way worse.

Which brings me to WORSE. Being a friend to the environment. Apparently I am not. This woman lives to make my life a living HELL! She is an uptight bitty, she must have a stick shoved up her butt to be that rigid. I swear I bet you could count her kids and see how many times she has had sex. Anyway, the kiddos “visit” with her every week. Usually it is something helpful like being a good friend, raising your self-esteem and respecting others. She has on several occasions taught about being drug free, I agree with this, but does she have to lump cigarettes in with the other drugs?

This week is Red Ribbon week- Drug Free week so you would think she would be talking about drugs, but she is talking about the environment.

* I must speak on Red Ribbon Week before I move on. Everyday this week the kids can participate in dressing up each day. It is not mandatory but the teachers are pushing it by giving out stickers to those who do it. Stickers can be turned in for rewards. Little Miss is sorely lacking in the stickers department, you can’t get in trouble and receive stickers.

So Monday was wear red day. Easy enough Little Miss has several red shirts. Tuesday is Wacky clothes day. Little Miss has it figured out (one pants leg up, one down, one shirt sleeve up and one down, one short sock and one long sock). Wednesday is follow your dreams not drugs. Kids wear PJs to school. This is where I am starting to have problems. A lot of kids wear t-shirts and shorts to bed around here (Little Miss wears an over sized t-shirt) Red went out and bought the Little Hellions pajamas, a lot of people are doing that. I think it is ridiculous, there are more things to spend money on than pajamas the kids aren’t going to wear again. Besides it is going to be like 30 Wednesday morning, a bit  chilly for PJs I think. Thursday is School Spirit day, kids wear green or gold (school colors) Most of the kids have school shirts or camo shirts so that is OK. Friday is the day that pisses me off. Medieval Fair Day and they want the kids to dress in Medieval costumes. Yea, I have one of those laying around! And really, does Hel-Mart carry a cheap costume like that? Red found a knight costume for the Hellions. It isn’t really a knight costume, but it has a shield and a sword, she said they could wear a black sweat suit (which she had to buy too). What can a girl do? A princess, a peasant girl, or a queen. I won’t be going out and purchasing a costume. With the economy like it is, most parents can’t afford it and the teachers should take that in to consideration. I would say over half of the school is at poverty level or a little above, the teachers know this too. Why not do a hat day? Most kids could find a hat around the house. They drive me crazy…..the teachers have money and they think everyone else does too. All of the teachers have husbands that have good jobs to go with their teacher pay.*

OK on to the environment. I wish I could say me and the environment were BFFs but let’s be realistic we aren’t. I do not intentionally harm the environment, but I know I could do better than I do. I know that. I don’t need a guidance counselor pointing it out to my kids. I bet she don’t do all the right shit either.

OK, my list of rights…….

I recycle cans. I reuse those plastic bowls lunch meat and stuff comes in. I reuse the plastic bags from Hel-Mart and the grocery store. *I admit probably not the correct way. Little Miss brings her dirty clothes home from grandma’s in them. I put the cat shit and litter in them to dispose of it (I know that just means my cat’s shit is in a landfill for years), I put food scraps in them (Hey, it keeps my garbage from stinking so bad, I know, it will be in the land fill for years.) I read the newspaper everyday, but my SIL gets it and then passes it along to my MIL then I get it from her. One paper, 3 families. (Saves a tree or two I am sure.) I get all my magazines from my SIL then I pass them along to my mom who either takes it to the recycling center or to the doctor’s office. I pay my bills online whenever possible. (Saves an envelope, a stamp, and a check.) I turn off the lights when I am not in a room. Hell I don’t turn the lights on if it is sunny and I don’t need them.

But was any of these things on her damn list? Well, Hell, No! What was on her list?

Use a reusable grocery bag *How many of these things would you need if you bought a buggy full? And how much do these things cost each? A couple of bucks?* If you must use the plastic bags, take them back to the store to recycle them. *How do I know they don’t just throw them away? I mean it is a garbage can with a clear bag in it.*

Don’t flush the commode every time you use it. *EEEEWWWWWW, urine stinks and it leaves a ring in the commode if left too long.*

Conserve energy. Only run the dishwasher when it is full. *Can do.* Keep the refrigerator and freezer full. * I wish I could do that!* Use those pigtail light bulbs. * I don’t have a problem with that, if they didn’t cost 4 times more than standard bulbs*

Turn off the water when you brush your teeth. * But I rinse my toothbrush often* When warming your shower or bath water catch the water in a bucket and use the water to water flowers. *That would require me to remember to get the bucket in the shower and get it out for my shower and then I would have to remember to water my flowers and I don’t have that many flowers to water.*

Reuse as much as possible. For example….Turn a cereal box into a magazine holder. Turn large cans in to pencil holders. *Exactly how many of these things do you need in one house?*

Use environment friendly cleaners. *Is vinegar environment friendly? I use it whenever I have it.*

She had others…. Recycle everything, conserve gas, buy “green” products. All are good things to do and don’t require a lot of effort. But she “counsels” that if you don’t do all of these things and more, you are single handily ruining the environment. I think she oversteps her bounds by miles!

Little Miss came in telling me how awful I was to the environment. Everything I threw away was inspected, I should have recycled it, composted it, or reused it *Come on…..Reuse a paper towel I cleaned up cat puke with? (Sorry I just puked a little in my mouth!”* Every time I left the room she turned off the lights and the TV. *Good Grief, I was just going pee!* I flushed the commode. *She wanted to know what I did. * UH, none of her business!* I dumped scrapes in the bag, I should compost it. *Helpful if I had a compost pile and I don’t think you compost everything*

But the big question is…..Did it help her? NO!!!! Still wasting toilet paper, still taking 20-30 minute showers, still leaving on her lights and TV. Hasn’t changed a thing. Apparently her not doing these things doesn’t hurt the environment. I want to follow her around and point out everything she does wrong!

The thing I really want to do is go to this bitches bitties counselors home and see if she practices what she preaches! I want to know how many can pencil holders she has. I want to know how many cereal box magazine holders she has. I want to see all of her recycling bins *and if they are done correctly*. I want to see  her compost pile. I want to see her shower bucket and see her water her plants with that water. I want to see how many “green” products she has in her house! I bet she would never invite me to see all of it.

I am all for helping with the environment, conserving electricity, water, and gas and all of that other stuff. But does getting my kid to harp on me about it is not helpful! It doesn’t make me want to do better.It just pisses me off and makes me want to go and smack the guidance counselor.

Remember when the big thing was buy American? A lot of people found out that it was hard to find things made in the good ole US of A! I did a quick look around this morning. A lot of my stuff was made in America. Body wash, check. Shampoo, check. Conditioner, check. Razors, Canada, shit, close enough. Anyway, a lot of my stuff is made in America. I guess I will go “green” a few years late too. So what do you think. What is your best “green” hint to help me out? I want something to put this crazy guidance counselor to shame!

So until next time…….

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND THANKS FOR VISITING!!!!!

The weekends over…….

Lord, it was one long weekend. So you know it is weekend update time, so without further ado, here we go……

I had energy coming out my ass on Friday! After months of barely being able to get up and get anything done and being completely worn out after doing any little thing, I was shocked that I managed to get the whole house cleaned, including The Boy and Little Miss’ rooms. I vacuumed and swept and mopped, cleaned both bathrooms, changed sheets, dusted…..All of that stuff I hardly ever get done anymore. I will admit I still hurt and my legs still gave out on me, but I wasn’t exhausted just being up and moving around! And the best part……..NO NAP!!!!! I didn’t even feel like I needed one! The house looked better than it had in months! Even The Boy noticed and for him to notice anything short of a fire in the living room, well, that is an accomplishment. Hubby said we should have company more often because the house looked good.  I admit the kick in the ass to get up and get it done was because Little Miss was having company, but getting it done was all me!

Little  Miss’ friend was a nice and polite young lady. Bigger than Little Miss, course that’s not saying much, Little Miss is a little bitty thing. We took them out to eat, Pizza Hut, could they have chosen a more expensive place to eat? Yea, they could have, Apple Bee’s name was thrown out there, as was Ryan’s, Fire Mountain what ever the hell they are now. So I guess it could have cost us more. I was thinking more on along the line of Mc D’s. But Hubby chose to go along with them. We also hit the Dollar Tree. *I love this place!!! Where else can you get 24 items for 25 bucks? Shampoo, body wash, conditioner, shaving cream, razors…….I LOVE this place!!!* From there we hit Hel-Mart. Good Lord! Dog food was the big purchase, 40 bucks worth of dog food and we don’t feed the dog’s the good food!

I have decided that it is too expensive to eat out or clean or do anything else! Everything has gotten so high! Gas is going down, but I hear, OPEC is reducing production since oil prices have gone down, I guess that will cause a shortage, so the prices will go back up! You just can’t win nowadays!!!

The night went fairly smoothly, the girls were fairly good, a little loud at times, and a big bounce on Little Miss’ bed caused the box springs to fall down so they had to sleep in The Boy’s bed. He had opted not to come home since the last time Little Miss had company he woke up with makeup on. I can’t say that I blame him. He went to a bachelor party. Hard to believe that he has friends old enough for that.

Little Miss’ company had to go home early on Saturday morning, basketball practice, so she left around 9:30. I developed some sort of stomach, head-achy, body achy bug. I alternated between hot and cold and feeling like shit and feeling like crap. So I spent most of the day cutting material for my quilt. *After working on it and thinking I had it close to done, I discovered that I needed another row to make it long enough, so that meant a shitload more squares and such.* After all of the cutting, I managed to get 1 1/3 squares sewed together. I also wondered from the couch to the outside. Hubby finally had a bit of help in the way of The Boy so he worked on Little Miss’ tree house. He managed to get all of the floor joist up and put the wood down for the “porch”.  He even added a swing, well one of those two seat swings, for her. He is also going to put up her swing and a slide and a bar for her to hang on. I foresee a broken bone. The damn thing is 8 foot in the air!!

Little Miss went to a Halloween party with Red. She was the oldest kid there, but I think she had a good time anyway. She came home with a ton of candy. Candy in this house is a bad thing!!! If it is here we will eat it! We don’t eat a lot of candy, well, Peanut M&Ms don’t count! No they don’t! Because if they count I eat a lot of candy! Hey, peanuts are a good source of protein and that makes them a healthy food. Don’t argue with me, I refuse to listen to anyone who claims Peanut M&Ms are anything but a part of a balanced diet!

I watched “Speed”, I don’t know how I missed this movie! Being a fan of Keenu Reeves, you would think I would have seen this one. OK, hush, he is a good actor! Just because I drool over him doesn’t mean I only watch him because he is GORGEOUS!!! He is a good actor, I won’t go so far as to say he is a great actor, but he is a good actor. He has come a long way since “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”. I am also a big fan of Johnny Depp, hush…..he is a good actor too! I found out Sweeney Todd is going to be on HBO or Cinemax starting in Nov. So I am waiting for it.

Sunday I was still fairly achy so I laid around most of the day. Actually I believe hubby run over me with a truck during the night. He swears he didn’t, but I think he sneaked a truck in during the night. He spent a good chunk of the day outside as usual. He had a cousin over and he spent a good chunk of the day helping him work on his Corvette. The Boy had a friend over to work on his newest truck. He had traded the Mustang for a 4×4 Blazer alittle over a week ago and on Saturday he traded the Blazer for a GMC full size truck. It is jacked up in the back and lowered in the front. They decided to lower the back. SO they worked on that most of the afternoon.

My Grandaddy came over to visit. It shocked the hell out of me! He never comes over here. He spent most of the afternoon talking about the past. He does that a lot. Sunday he spent the day talking about dogs he had 20 years ago. He knew they were gone but he was remembering what they used to do. He also referred to my Grandma as my momma several times. He does that a lot. I worry about him some times. He has a lot of health problems, but I worry about Alzheimer’s or dementia. At times he talks about incidents from years ago like it just happened.

Otherwise I spent the day watching movies. I watched “Martian Child” I had never heard of it so I didn’t know if it would be good or not. I guess it was worth the 2 hours I spent watching it. I doubt I would watch it again, it was a bit slow, but all in all a decent movie. I also watched “I am Legend”. I watched it twice! The first time I missed the first 15 minutes and the middle 30 minutes and only got to halfway watch the end. *It was on when Granddaddy was here.* So I watched it again in hopes that it would make more sense to me. I got the concept of the movie, it was a virus, he was looking for a cure, he found it, he died. But it just seemed so choppy to me. I think it was a good movie, but it could have been much better. I rarely get to sit down and watch movies, unless I am sick and people are avoiding me, so it was a treat to get to watch 2 movies without interruption.

Little Miss went over to the little hellion’s house to spend some time and ride 4 wheelers. Hubby grilled hamburgers so that meant I only had to do French Fries. WOOT!!!! The Boy’s friend stayed and ate, I wonder if he eats much away from here. He said a cheap steak *last weekend* and a few fries was the best meal he had eaten in a while. Last night he got excited about hamburgers and hot dogs! I don’t mind feeding the kid’s friends, they don’t bitch about what I cook! Daisy had her 1st Dumdum lollipop……

I know sugar is a bad thing for dogs but…….It was all hubby’s fault! I told him she didn’t need it, but he feeds her everything!!!! And besides look at how much she is enjoying it…….

I guess I should go, I need to get some work done and I have just been informed Bug and her boyfriend broke up on Friday night and that means I am likely to have company today. It doesn’t bother me, I know she needs to talk. He was too old for her anyway. And I am curious to know who broke up with who and why. I know I am nosy!!! But I am the aunt I should know these things. So until next time……..

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND THANKS FOR VISITING!!!!!

It has to be short and sweet!

I have made the biggest mistake in my recent life. I agreed to let Little Miss have spend the night company! So that means the house must get cleaned and food must be gathered. Easier said than done! I even have to clean The Boy’s room because Little Miss lives in there when he is gone and I feel like if he is gone for the night, the girls will end up in there sleeping. So I have to clean the whole house and I am really not in the mood for it. It is raining and on rainy days I am so much lazier than normal! And we all know how lazy I have gotten here lately.

What in the hell was I thinking? I guess I wasn’t thinking. This young lady is one of the 2 girls Little Miss proclaims as her BFF! And no less than 3 times a week she comes home in tears because two of them or all of them are in to a huge fight and are no longer friends! I must admit it is usually the other little girl in the trio that is the main problem. She is a bit of a BRAT and if it is not her way she throws a fit and yells she is no longer a friend to whichever one she is pissed at. But the little girl who is coming over is the one who wants to be the boss. This should be a treat!

And it is raining and suppose to do it most of the day! So what does that mean? They will be in the house all evening! Whatta treat for me! I don’t even have a clue what this child eats!!! And this week we had to play catch up on the bills we put off last week because of the short check! So we have zero money! We are idiots!!! We weren’t thinking, were we? Oh well no need to worry about that now.

On an up note I only poked myself once to get my shot yesterday!!! I guess I should go for now. Sorry it is so short, but as you have read I have a ton to do today and if I keep sitting here I will be here when the girls come home and I will have nothing done!!!!

I want to share a few pictures. Last night Little Miss “cleaned” her room and when she was done she requested I come look. This is what I found…….

Oh, Lord, does this mean she is growing up!?! Her dad had a cow! All those boys on his little girls wall! The Jonas Brothers seem to be the big thing for now. Hubby wants to know what happened to Barbie, Bratz, and all the other “babyish” *according to Little Miss* stuff. She told him she was growing up. He is not taking it well. He is out of the bed, but still trying to accept that she is not his baby anymore. heh!! So until next time……

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND THANKS FOR VISITING!!!!!

My love/hate relationship with the country

Not the country as in the US, but country life. I felt I should clarify this so the FBI/CIA/Homeland Security doesn’t show up on my doorstep.  *Hi, I am not a terrorist or a risk to the government in any way!*

There are a lot of great things about living in small town USA. And a lot of shitty things about living in small town USA. I have lived mainly in the country my whole life. We lived in the “big city” for the first 5 years of my life, then we moved to the town I continue to live in. While we are growing a bit now *I personally do not live in the city, my FIL refuses to sign to be annexed into the city limits*, the best I can tell there are about 350 residents in this little piece of the country. Now I think that qualifies as small town USA.

As I said there are a lot of great things about living in a small town. A LOT of shitty things. I thought I would start with the shitty part so I can end on a happy note. Though all of these things (or most) can happen anywhere I would think they are more common in the country……

Finding horse shit in your front yard, even if you don’t own a horse, is a common thing around here and to make matters worse because there is an abundance of horses around, you can’t say for sure whose horse it was. I have woke up to find horses in my front yard more than once, a lot more. The miniature was the easiest one to figure out where he came from. The neighbor in the curve of the road is the closest owner of a miniature horse. It used to be funny to hear the kids say, “There is a horse in the front yard!” Not anymore. The best thing I ever heard come out of my oldest sons mouth was when he was about 4 and he opened the front door and yelled, “WE HAVE A HORSE!!! I ALWAYS WANTED A HORSE!!!!” He had never mentioned wanting a horse before or since but that morning he was so excited. And horses are unpredictable. So you can’t just walk up to it and lead it home, even if you know where it belongs. And animal control around here is a joke. I called them once because I had 3 horses in my front yard, I was asked if, 1) I could round them up into a pen. 2) If I could call around and find the owners. 3) If I could keep them penned until they could find the owners. 4) What my damn problem was, when I told them to get out here and do their job. We quit calling because they don’t show up anyway.

The smells are awful in the country. Yes there are wonderful smell in the country too, but those wonderful smells you can find in the city too. Examples of awful smells……Overflowing septic tanks, cow/horse shit, chicken houses, skunks, goats, pond scum and road kill. For those who do not know what pond scum is, it is just algae and it stinks. And goats have a smell of their own and it ain’t good.

The sites in the country can be beautiful, but then there are the eyesores! Barns falling in, old houses rotting away, chicken houses, grown up fence rows and grown up fields. In a small town they worry less about condemning places, kids just know to stay away. *Well, most do anyway, you will occasionally hear of a group of kids partying at an old house and usually it is the owners of the land that run them off, not the police.*

Police are another problem in small towns. The big news here just a few months ago was we finally have a policeman on duty 24/7. He isn’t on the road or at the station, but he is just a phone call away. Asleep in his own bed, but ready to go if needed. Firemen on the other hand, we have more than we could ever need. We have an all volunteer fire department and what redneck doesn’t love a good fire!?! I swear if there is a fire within 20 miles of here, there are no less than 50 men wondering around.

My SIL, Red, had what is called a controlled burn. You give the fire department a donation and they send a couple of fire fighters out to set the fire and watch it and make sure it doesn’t go anywhere. She had a pile of trees and they sent out, oh, 6 firemen.  I swear to you, they doused the pile with kerosene, lit a match and yelled YEEHAW as they threw it! Within 30 minutes we had 5 different fire departments out here trying to put out the fire in the woods before it got to a house behind us! Five gallons of kerosene on an already dried bunch of pine trees was more than was needed. They did manage to get it out before any big damage was done, but they set the woods on fire! Geesh.

It is not all bad in the country. There is good here too. How about getting to see wildlife up close and personal. Not long ago we had a bear spotted in our neighborhood, it was on a man’s back porch. The squirrels and raccoons are abundant and not too fearful. Sometimes you can watch them playing for hours. Dad watched the baby foxes playing in a clearing behind his house and we watched a fox running after breakfast one morning. Not all wildlife is “wild”, we have had the same squirrel here for a couple of years, he is quite friendly *not in the “he has rabies” type of friendly* he ignores us and the dogs and goes about his business of running and jumping. A few years back I had an old squirrel who would play a little game with me when I was at the clothes line. He would get on one end and I would be on the other end and as  I moved he moved. We met up in the center. He never feared me, he run like hell from the kids, but we had a routine. I actually buried this one, I found him at the clothes line one morning, I think he died of old age, I guess he just wanted one more game. I do teach my kids to not mess with the wild animals, watch them from a safe distance and don’t trust that they won’t hurt them. See I am a good mom sometimes!

There are also all the flowers in spring and summer, the aroma just floats in the air. And lots of people have vegetable gardens and want to share their bounty. The beautiful unobstructed views of mountains, fields, old barns, beautiful old homes, and children playing in the yard.

Here are a few things that can run either way. Good at times and shitty at other times….

Everybody knows everybody. It is great when there is a death and they pile you ceiling high with food. Or sickness and they bring in meals. About anytime that involves food coming into my house is a good thing. But because everyone knows everybody else, you can’t fart in public without the whole town knowing. If you fart in the Pig, by the time you get home their are 5 messages saying something like, “I know what you did at the Pig.” If you are having an argument with your spouse the whole town takes sides, and all of them give you assvice.

Your relatives are likely to live close by. Great if you need a babysitter or food. But you can’t get away from them either. A family feud can put a real damper on neighborhood parties. And your deep dark secrets are never safe. Any family member, at any time can slip and tell the wrong person and it takes years for it to go away.

Hell, there are no deep dark secrets in small town USA, because chances are you still live where you grew up and whatever you did as a teenager is never forgotten! Somebody will remember it. “Yes, I remember you! Your the one who used to do donuts in the cornfield behind my sister’s house!” *For your information, it was not me, I did not drive until I was 26. Chances are it was my husband or youngest son though.* I guess there can be deep dark secrets in small town USA but it ain’t easy. Because somebody will figure out what it is and 20 years from now they will tell someone.

A couple of things I noticed that only happen in small towns……

People ride horses down the road. Which can be bad, horse shit on the highway makes a mess when run over.

You give directions using, not street names, but people’s house, fields and the such. As in, ” You go down the highway, when you get to Old Man Jones’ house turn back to the right and go past the 3 ponds and when you get to the field where the Johnson’s keep their cows, bare off to the left, and go on past Bobby Joe’s place and when you come up to the fence where the horse is standing in the corner, turn left and it will be at the end of that dirt road. You can’t miss it.” *I swear to the good Lord above, I have gotten directions that involve looking for the horse that stands in the corner of the fence.*

Streets around here have names but unless you happen to live on it, no one knows what they are. When 911 came out here a few years ago, we got street signs. Most of the roads no longer have the names they have been know as for years. There is a road that comes to mind, Union Rd. It has always been and probably always will be known as Burnout Rd. It was the road where everyone took their hot rods to and did burn outs. Hence the name, Burnout Rd. New folks around here don’t have a clue where it is, but those of us who grew up here will always have memories from there. My husband personally blew up about 12 motors on that road.

We have our own names for stores too. In the south Piggly Wiggly is a fairly big chain store, it is commonly known as “The Pig”. The local Family Dollar, Dollar General and Dollar Tree is usually called the Dollar Store. Could be any of the three, just depends on who you are talking to. The Jet Pep is Jason’s. The Exxon is just Day’s. The Spur station is Gina’s. You get the picture. The local diner closed, which meant the Liar’s Table had to move over to Jack’s. Anyway the diner went through 3 owners and 3 different names, but it was always Velma’s, who was the first owner. Since there has been a boon to move to the country, we are  getting a few new people around here and we confuse the hell out of them. It is not intentional nor is it done in meanness, but we forget that everybody didn’t grow up here.

I don’t think I would live anywhere but the country. A small place around here is usually 3-4 acres of land, which means your neighbors aren’t in your back door. Of course we have some places popping up that are on 3/4 acres of land here lately. *Damn grandkids are starting to part with the family land.* And anyone who lives on you road is your neighbor. As in, “He is the neighbor from down the road.” Knowing most of the people around you is a nice thing really. Of course the current mayor is pushing for the area to grow and before long we won’t be a small town anymore. I think I will miss it. Or maybe I won’t. It might be nice to be able to fart at the Pig and not come home to find out everyone knows it was me.

Until next time……..

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND THANKS FOR VISITING!!!!!!

ALWAYS GET A SECOND OPINION!!!!!!!

I will never doubt that you should always get a  second opinion before any kind of surgery!! I always thought it was silly to get a second opinion on a cut and dry type of surgery. NOT anymore! Hubby had a doctor’s appointment yesterday with Dr. W. *Have I mentioned lately we love Dr. W?*. He came in and looked at his knee and twisted his knee around and said he needed to go and check out his MRI and he would be back. He came back in the office and said he didn’t see anything real bad. He had a bit of fluid in (around?) the bone from the bruise in his bone, but otherwise it looked fine.

When we picked our collective jaws off the floor, we told him how the last doctor said the cartilage under his knee was torn and flipped in to the middle of his knee and he was going to do surgery on the 27th. He excused himself to look at the MRI again. He came back and asked a few questions about where the damage was and exactly what was said. We told him it was the anterior horn of the medial something or other and he knew what we were talking about. He went back to the MRI. When he returned this is what he said………..”BULLSHIT!!” I kid you not that was his exact word. We told him what we could remember about the radiologist report. He took us in and showed us where the damage was suppose to be and explained what we would see if the diagnosis was correct. He also showed us where the bruise of the bone was.

He said it was not uncommon for a doctor to take the radiologist report as the last word and never look at the MRI or X-ray themselves. So he would give the doctor the benefit of the doubt and say he just read the report and didn’t look at the MRI. He also said a lot of unneccosary surgeries are done because of that.

We were floored! We got to thinking after that and realized the other doctor never so much as pulled up his pants leg to look at the knee, let alone do any twisting and examining. He never showed us the damage on the MRI, just showed us things on a picture on the wall. He came in and said surgery was the only option he had. I am so glad we felt a bit uncomfortable withthe other doctor. I mean we thought he was honest enough and nice enough and all, but something left us uncomfortable with him. I guess it was a good thing.

Dr. W said the bruise would leave hubby’s knee sore and tender for another 3-4 weeks or so, but otherwise he was fine. The crunching in his knee we keep hearing is because the thigh muscle is weak and not holding the kneecap in the exact perfect spot. He showed him an exercise to do that would help withit. I know he won’t do the exercise, but it’s nice to know it is a normal type of thing. Dr. W said it was from not really using the leg for the past couple of weeks. He said it was just a little weak and should beef up pretty quick. Of course if he doesn’t get any improvement in the next few weeks, he told him to come back, but he didn’t see any reason why he shouldn’t be fine now that he is back to using that leg as normal. OH, and he said we could just come visit with him. *Have I mentioned how much he loves us too?* heh!! And he would appreciate it if we could send a little business his way. He is so busy, I can’t see why he would want more business.

Do you know how happy we were and are? There are no words to say how relieved we are. He has been released from all of his restrictions and can go back to work without fear of more damage. His boss was so glad to get the news, now he doesn’t have to work as hard. heh! So prayers do work! Thanks to all of you who did your part in the prayer department and showed us all of the support we could ever need!

While we were at Dr. W’s office, we realized the doctor I have been seeing is just across the parking lot and so we run in there and I told them I feared the directions for my shots had gotten lost in the mail and could I get a copy. Well, she was more than willing to go and get me a schedule sheet. I had to look up how to give yourself an interamuscularinjection on the Internet. I always heard you could find anything on the Internet, this proved it. So my instructions said 1cc and my syringe is 1ml so I had to look up a conversion chart, who knew they were the same damn thing! I have never been good with the whole metric system shit so I didn’t.

I. DID. IT!!!!! I gave myself a shot! In my thigh! I was dreading it and I started to put the needle in and it hurt and I pulled back on the needle and then just took a deep breath and poked it on in! The only thing is the B12 shit is red and you are suppose to draw back on the needle and make sure you don’t get blood. I worried about that but when I pulled back the end looked clear so I guess I did it right. The shit is thick and I put it in kinda slow. My thigh was a bit sore for a little while, but otherwise I pulled through it without any major problems. I guess I will be able to do it. My schedule goes like this…….

1cc-intramuscular (IM) everyday for 7 days

1cc-IM every other day for 7 days

1cc-IM two times in a week

1cc-IM one time in a week

1cc-IMonce a month.

So I guess I better be able to do it. I could go and have my dad stab me everyday, but I am a grown up and he hasn’t been home a lot the last few weeks (Disaster Relief Warehouse volunteering) so I decided I should just get over that fear of needles and do it. I still have a fear of needles but I guess I can do it. Little MIsswas pissed she wanted to watch me give myself a shot and I did it while she was at school, but I told her she would have her chance to watch Saturday and Sunday. That seemed to ease her temper. I think it would be better after I am a bit more comfortable with it. I still don’t want to do it today but it is not as bad as yesterday. It took me about 30 minutes to get the courage up to stab myself, maybe today only 20 minutes or so. heh!!

Well, I guess I should go and get something done. Bug said she was coming to visit today so I should get started. I kinda wonder in the back of my head what she might want or what she needs to talk about, but maybe it is just because she hasn’t visited in a few weeks. So until next time…….

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND THANKS FOR VISITING!!!!!!!!!!!!

A quick type by…..

Just a quick post to let you know hubby has an appointment with Dr. W. today so I am going to be missing today. Let you know how it goes tomorrow!

It’s another week.

So it is another week, it’s Monday! *blach* Sorry I tried to be perky, but it just ain’t happenin’. I am tired and I am sore but I am here. So what went on with you this weekend? Mine was fairly smooth, but around here smooth is never really smooth. SO let’s get on with it, I have a ton to do today and I just can’t stall all day!

So Friday hubby cancelled his surgery with Dr. T, he got approval to go see Dr. W and now he has to get Dr. W’s office to fax something to the insurance company and hopefully he can get in to see him pretty quick. He still isn’t excited about surgery, but he is a bit more comfortable with it.

Little Miss spent the night with Grandma as usual. I was not invited to go and drop her off, apparently I talk and Little Miss wasn’t in the mood for me to visit. Hubby carried her and didn’t even go in, and that would be why Little Miss prefers her dad carrying her. That is OK, I had 4 days worth of newspapers staring at me and I was able to get through all of them! I actually more skimmed them, but I read a thing here and there. I did the comics, Ann Landers, Heloise and an article here and there. I read enough to say I am somewhat informed! And somewhat informed is probably dangerous! heh!!

We stayed in on Friday evening, we are such party animals I tell you! The Boy was gone, Little Miss was gone and we sat around and watched TV and messed around on the computer. I just don’t know how we handle all of the excitement! *rolls eyes*

So that brings us to Saturday. Both of us had headaches and the feels bad. I guess too much excitement is to blame. *hahahahaha!* Hubby welded a bit on Little Miss’ day bed so we could get it painted and put up. I finally finished weeding and raking my flower garden. Otherwise we sit around and looked at each other. We sat out on the porch and did talk some, about his knee and money. We didn’t solve the world’s problems but we both felt a bit better.

The Boy finally came home, he had laid out all night and hadn’t let anyone know he was planning on that. He didn’t return alone, of course he had a buddy with him and they left together for the night. Again we weren’t told it would be for the night. I was expecting it. Today is the 2nd anniversary of the death of his best friend, so I was expecting a rough weekend. I thought he would spend the weekend with Flop’s brother, but I guess he just spent a few hours with him. Otherwise I think he spent the weekend drinking. I wish he wouldn’t do that, but I can’t sit on him. I think something is going on that doesn’t have anything to do with Flop but he isn’t sharing. I guess we will just have to wait until he is ready to let us in. Hubby is worried about him, but he is like me, we can’t sit on him or force him to talk to us. All we can do is let him know that we are here.

Saturday night was also so very exciting! We sat around. Can you stand the excitement? It was so exciting I can’t remember exactly what we did. I guess we watched TV but for the life of me I can’t remember what we watched. Says a lot about the state of TV nowadays.

So Sunday was a bit busy. We went and got the rest of the day bed at mom’s and got the metal stuff they had piled up for hubby to carry off. Mom was home, we thought they were at church, but she had opted to stay home. She got her flu shot on Wednesday and has had a sore throat and runny nose every since. Happens every year. From mom’s we went and cleaned the office. I finished 15 minutes ahead of hubby, usually he is standing around waiting on me. I noticed he was doing everything backwards, I don’t know what was going on with him. But it was nice to get done first for a change and not be the one who held him up.

We went and picked up the paint for Little Miss’ day bed. She opted for a BRIGHT PINK! I believe the name is watermelon. So hubby came home and started painting the bed. Then we went to work in her room. Everything from the top bunk went in the floor and everything from the bottom bunk went in the floor. SO pretty much you  couldn’t walk in her room except where the bed was. We finally got the bed together and I went to work cleaning and setting everything back up.

This is where the whole evening went ugly! I was busy in that disaster area trying to clean up the room where I would be able to get to the closet to get her clothes for school. I walked through and said something about dinner, thinking that hubby could put corn dogs in the oven and I was informed everyone was waiting for me to get supper fixed. Of course hubby didn’t know how to run the oven! We have been there before, it is not hard! You don’t have to have a college degree to run this damn oven! So I slung the corn dogs in the oven, set the timer and went back to work in the room. Would you believe when the timer went off he couldn’t even get off his ass to turn them over! Supper got done and I just kept working. What was the only thing I heard from him? Was it something sweet like” You work too hard, sit down eat.” or “I’ll get those dishes.” how about, “The room is looking good.” No what I heard was this, “I didn’t mean for you to clean the whole damn room! I just meant to get the bed put together and in place. Moving the dresser and cleaning was all on you!”

Pissed? Do you think I was pissed much? Oh, yes I was! I was trying to find a damn library book, they swear she has lost and I will have to pay for. 10 bucks for a 10 year old book. We have been here before I paid 20 bucks, yes, 20 bucks(!) for a library book one time and then in two weeks she checked it out again! They had returned it to the shelf but neglected to mark it as returned. I didn’t get my money back! I requested it, I requested it again, I requested it loudly, but I never got my money back! Apparently they neglected to put down I had paid for the damn book! You know what? I worked my ass off and I didn’t find the book! The room looks nice though…….

See looks nice and the color is growing on me. When I first saw it I thought, “Ugh, NO! Don’t like that, we will be changing that quick!” But the more I look at it, the more I like it. And believe me I spent a lot of time looking at it.

I finally got done in the room, just in time to clean up the kitchen! Once I finished that I had to go through a ton of, “I Love you!”, ” Have I told you how much I love you?”, “How much do you love me?” These comments mean only one thing……He wants something. Sure enough, he wants me to call Dr. W for him. I told him I would make the call, then I got to fill out all of the Worker’s Comp shit. Little Miss wouldn’t go to bed, once I got her in the bed she took to yelling, “Love You!” every 5 minutes, in an effort to stay awake. Did I tell you my Sunday night sucked?

I finally got in the shower around 11:30 after she finally gave up and went to sleep! This is when I discovered I was out of coffee!!!! After I poured out the left overs from morning and threw away the grounds from that. At almost midnight I am discovering I will not have coffee for morning! Not a good thing. I did mention this to hubby when he snarled at me for jarring him awake when I got in the bed around midnight!

So when I woke up at 3:30 this morning to find a face right in my face I was pissed. I thought it was Little Miss but it turns out it was Mr. Hubby. Apparently he got cold and snuggled up to me in an effort to get warm. I hate it when we have to play with the thermostat. It is screwy and I can’t just set it on 68, no we would all freeze. I can’t set it at 73, we would all roast. I swear there is a sweet spot somewhere between 68 and 69. And it takes about 2 weeks to find it! And God forbid we have to turn the air back on! So I am spending my day trying to find that perfect setting. Apparently last night it wasn’t set right. So my guess would be in an effort for Mr. Hubby to get warm he woke me up and it only took til his alarm went off at 4:30 to get back to sleep! So when my alarm went off at 6:05, I was not happy! And guess what Mr. Hubby didn’t reset the heat, NO, so I got up to a cold house. He was forgiven when I discovered a pack of coffee sitting in front of the coffee pot this morning! I guess he was protecting the baby! I don’t care how I got it, the point is I had coffee this morning!

Well, I guess I should go, I must clean the house and wash the clothes and go to the school and pick up that fundraiser crap that Little Miss sold. I hate Mondays!

So until next time………

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND THANKS FOR VISITING!!!!!!!