Riley's Birthday

Okay - I know - half a month - but here is a link to at least one video - still having trouble getting the other to upload. I would LOVE to upload the one of Daddy (remember, pronounced deady) showing everyone my FLIP video camera, but Brent and I got seasick, and Mama looks so damn old, so I left that one out.

Instead, here is a short video of Riley, 7 year old, professional bowler.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3583995669881939333

And, yes, that is MARY in the pink.

And HERE are a few pics -

Say hello to my little friends . . .

Well, I think the time has finally come to introduce you guys to some of my friends from Second Life. You've heard me talk about that crazy game Brent and I play on the Internet - I say game, but it's really more of an online community. Some of you have actually witnessed it FIRST HAND of all things. A couple of you - who will remain nameless (Todd and Rob) - are still wondering what someone needs a second life for if they have a first life.

It's been a great opportunity to do things you normally couldn't do, to meet people, and to just kill hours upon hours of time. LOL -- The nice thing is that Brent, like lots of other folks with injuries, has been able to make friends and entertain himself when he'd otherwise be miserable on a couch. It's also given me the chance to shop like crazy, flirt with strangers - woot woot, and make some interesting friendships.

First, though, I need to introduce myself I guess, cause I'm gonna use some pics of me with my friends Habibi and Jason.

This is me -

So -Internet - here are a few of my SL friends -

This is Habibi. One of the best things about SL is that age doesn't matter so much, so I can totally hang out with a soon-to-be 22-year-old and have the best time sometimes. She's a hoot. When Brent and I get down to Florida (hopefully this fall), you can be sure we will be looking her up.

This is Jason. I met him through work - that's right - I have a job in SL. He's funny and kind and helps out all us "girls" at the club. Jason is from Alabama, and if Brent and I have time in April after our NICKELBACK CONCERT, we're gonna go over and meet him -

Last, but most assuredly not least, is Kili, short for Kilikopela. He's my landlord, and honestly, one of the friends I have had longest in this game. Odd thing about SL, people come and go rather quickly in your life, so hanging onto someone for any length of time is a feat. Kili is an absolute ass sometimes, but aren't we all? He gives me total hell A LOT, but then again, that reminds me at least one of my loyal readers (and you know who you are).

Thing is, there are lots of things about SL that to an outsider are absolute craziness, and me looking at this pics, well, yeah, we all have ears - LOL - but to us - that's normal. I suppose this means I'm gonna have to start a damn series of posts about SL, and what a NEKO is or what I think a NEKO is.

Yay! \o/ Something for you guys to look forward to.

As Promised

K - here is a link to a video which is actually a compilation of clips from Friday night's adventures in Washington.

The clips are hilarious in their own rights - but the best, I think, are the additions by BRENT in the second clip, which is actually footage of a 60+ woman who was defending her 40 year old son - lol -

The third clip is for friends who haven't seen my other clips of Machine Gun - funny thing here - Brent went up late in the night with the video camera and did some close ups of me for posting. Guess what? After about TEN Wild Turkeys and Cokes you can't tell if you're recording or not - LOL - and he stoooooood there for such a long time - giggles -

The BEST part of the whole thing starts around the three minute mark where Brent is video taping the people that adopted us because we had a table. The young man I am talking to was actually a student at PSJ when I was librarian there - which is funny - but watch my face around 3:55. TOO FUNNY!

Enjoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4559536537643424508

Seven years ago - well yesterday

Riley, middle nephew, turned SEVEN yesterday! Today, we're going to New Bern to bowl, cause he's still a bowling fool. I've told you, right, that he has his own bowling ball. This is like his second or third one, too. CRAZY!

Anywho - gonna ride south for the afternoon - eat some cake and celebrate his surviving seven years in MY FAMILY!! Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!

Here's one of my most FAVORITE pics - it's from his brother Colin's birthday last July - but it's PERFECT!!

MMMM Gorgeous

Machine Gun actually played in WASHINGTON of all things last night, and you know, as their biggest fans, we had to go. Sadly, my biggest fear was encountering "school-mates" but was luckily not bothered with anything like that.

I'm thinking I will start posting my videos to my Google account. Will put links here for that - and yes, INTERNET, you WILL have access. All six of you.

WOOT WOOT

Spring Sprang

OMG - Dare I say it - but I think Spring has finally brought her ass to Washington.

I've been noticing every morning as I leave the house that the pear trees across the street are starting to bloom. That's a great feeling - walking out and seeing those trees. Makes you notice other small changes. Things you might miss until everything is in bloom and it's all around you.

But this morning - this morning I looked out the window into the back yard and there it was - that green - you know - one morning you look out - everything's brown and sleepy. Next morning you look out and everything is green and fuzzy. That happened this morning, and I am so freaking excited.

The forsythia is blooming - the quince has bloomed - oh quince you ask? What is quince? Well, let me tell you - it's like the first blooming bush of the spring in MY yard (pink btw) and guess what else. IT bears fruit. That's right bitches - fruit - lol - I actually had a QUINCE grow on my bush in my backyard last year. WOO HOO!! A far cry from being a quince farmer or whatever, but maybe this year two, who knows? LOL

So anyway, I'm gonna try to get out and get some pics today - but it's raining - to add to the springiness of the day - and I'm gonna have to hit and miss in between showers.

Here's hoping you guys are getting glimpses of spring out there where you are, too.

(BTW - more videos and pictures from last weekend's 40th bday party in Wilmington will be upcoming - gotta kick my Flip video camera in the ass to get it to work right)

Later!

OMG the first to turn 40

Well, faithful readers, the first of the 40's happened yesterday . . .

Todd turned 40 on March 6. This, of course, required me to take a day off to drive down and harass him as much as possible, with the help of Rob, naturally.

Here's a nice shot of Rob and me singing to Todd - and yes - according to the video - I do sing terribly. Enjoy!

September and Keith's Dad

Well, sorry to have to report, but Keith's dad passed away. Sep came down for the visitation and funeral, and it was nice to see her, although it was a terrible way to get to see her.

Brent and I both send our sympathies out to Keith and his family.

As for September -

Well here she is with her newest best friend. (And you just gotta admit that the green walls in the background - hot - very hot)

Valentine's Day

This crap is gonna be all out of order folks - so suck it -

Well, we celebrated Valentine's Day all weekend long. Brent bought me these - which are much prettier in person --

He got some candy and a very nice monkey card - feel free to ask him about it - and we spent some time together - which was nice -

Hope you all have a great Valentine's Day!

Income Taxes

Woo Hoo!! Just finished our taxes. Brent will mail them tomorrow, and soon we'll be rich. LOL - wouldn't that be nice.

I have been doing our taxes for a few years, and I think it's getting easier, or I really messed them up this year. Fingers crossed that it's the first one.

OMG

Almost a freaking month? I really need to get my head out of Second Life. Seriously, Brent and I are addicted, and so my Real Life/First Life/whatever you wanna call it life has taken back seat.

So here are a couple of posts.

Enjoy!

From the mouths of babes - or maybe dead presidents

For those of you that like to keep up with what my crazy family is doing - lol - my middle nephew, Riley, now has his own BLOG. YES folks, the seven-year-old is out there on the Internet.

Please visit his site - do NOT leave anonymous rants - lol - not that I think you can -

http://eagle306riley.blogspot.com/

Guys don't make passes at girls that wear glasses . . . thank GOD I'm married

Well, some of you already know, but now you must all be told - I have decided that the year of the 40 year olds should be celebrated with me getting my first pair of glasses. I went today to pick them up and have them fitted to my big ass nose, and here are a couple of pics -

Well, some of you are saying - it's about time - and I say - it's not really that bad - lol - at least not yet - and I've already been able to tell how much better I can really see printed words and such - gonna be up for a while on the computer, so let's hope this helps with that kind of eye strain as well.

Ta Ta - my fellow almost 40's - oh my - that reminds me - the first person to leave us to cross over is TODD - drum roll please - 35 days and counting . . .

Carrie

I talked very briefly to Leslie yesterday on the phone.

Carrie is still on oxygen, but she is home. Things are semi-normal for them. They were supposed to have a doctor's appointment today in an attempt to figure out what they need to do to ween Carrie off of the oxygen.

More news as it becomes available.

Snow!

Well, finally, after four years of waiting, we get snow. Lots of it, too. Well, at least lots of it for us here in eastern NC.

This picture below is one of my favorites. Brent and I went out during the storm on Tuesday and took pics. Since he bought me a replacement camera when mine was stolen, and then the stolen one was returned, we have competing cameras - which was funny driving and trying to get angles without getting out of the car. LOL

Carrie and the air in Boone

Apparently Carrie did not take well to the altitude in Boone, and she has had to go into the Boone hospital for oxygen - here are emails from a friend of Mark's and Leslie's -

Hi folks,
Leslie left a message on my phone asking that I send out a note telling people that they left the hospital in Winston Salem but are back in the hospital in Boone because Carrie’s oxygen levels were low, probably due to the change in altitude. They didn’t think it was a big deal, but Leslie wanted people to know what’s up, since they don’t have email access where they are in Boone. I know some of you may know about this already, but I wanted to send out the note to everyone who has been getting emails periodically so we can all be sending them our good thoughts.

Jeff

and then today


Hi folks,

I just talked to Leslie again and she asked me to pass on an update. Carrie is still in the hospital in Boone on a very low flow of oxygen to keep her levels up. She seems fine, but they want to keep her to make sure she’ll be okay on just room air at Boone altitude. They may go home tomorrow, but it’s still a bit up in the air right now. I know they are appreciating all our thoughts and prayers.

Jeff

Carrie Update

YEAH!!

Hi.

Today we got the news we have been waiting for--as long as Carrie continues to do well for the next couple of hours, we will be able to go home later today!!!!! They completely removed her oxygen in the middle of the night and so far her oxygen level is staying high enough that they are comfortable to let us go. We are so excited we can hardly stand it.

Thanks again for all of your good wishes!

Leslie

Carrie Update

From Leslie -

Hi,

Carrie is continuing to do well today. They have completely removed her feeding tube since she is eating so well. According to the report from the doctor just a few minutes ago, her X-Ray for today looks better than the one yesterday. She has been through most of today with no supplemental oxygen, but a couple of times has needed to have some through her nose at low levels. If she continues being able to support herself this way we should be able to go home in the next couple of days. YEAH !!!!!!!!!

Thanks again for all of your good wishes.

Leslie

Carrie Update

HI,

We are continuing to have good news about Carrie. She still has the oxygen tube, but they are working to wean her off of the oxygen support. That is the plan for today. She has also started nursing again and is doing really well with that. She has lost about a pound since she arrived, so hopefully she can now start gaining some of that back. We have been cleared to move to a regular room, but right now the hospital is too full and there are no regular rooms with the type of monitoring that she needs, so we are just waiting.

The most recent guess is between 3-5 more days before we can go home, but the fact that they are even making predictions is a good sign. I will send more news as we have it.

Leslie

Carrie update

From Leslie -

HI,

We continue to have more good news today. Carrie's X-rays from this morning show a big improvement in her right lung from yesterday. She is still attached to the pressure machine (called a CEPAP) to help with her breathing, but the doctors are hoping that if she continues to do well overnight, they will be able to start working on weaning her off of it tomorrow. Mark and I got to spend the morning taking turns holding her while she slept which was really exciting for us.

Keep the positive thoughts and prayers coming our way because they seem to be working.

Hopefully, we will be able to send another good report tomorrow.

Leslie


Keep them in your thoughts - still not where we want them to be - but so much closer -

TODD'S MOVING

You should know right now that as of the middle of February, Wilmington will be the hottest spot on the East Coast - lol - seriously folks, Todd found out today that he got the job in Wilmington with the Army Corps of Engineers. YEAH! Cannot wait! Just think - between him in Wilmington and Sally in Myrtle Beach, my summer should be full - lol . . . .

Carrie

Okay - according to Horton I skipped a step - I sent out a text message, which apparently didn't reach everyone, so a brief catch up and then the note from Leslie for today -

On Christmas Eve, the Bradbury's were all in their car going somewhere, and they looked and Carrie had turned blue. They took her to the hospital, and then she was taken to the hospital in Winston Salem - so they have been at the hospital pretty much straight since Christmas. They have been home a couple of times to see Will who is being kept by the granparents.

Apparently, Carrie caught some kind of virus and then pneumonia. So they had to put her on a respirator.

Leslie called me on the 30th, because that was the first time she could get a break to let me know. Luckily I was able to distract her with stories about the nephews and their Christmases -

She and Mark are staying at the Ronald-McDonald house in Winstonl-Salem, so if you're looking for a donation for 2009, feel free to make a donation directly to that house - I will be doing so at the end of the month when I get paid again.

So that being said - here's the email I just got from her - oh - and if you didn't get the text message, it pretty much said - take a minute - send some positive energy out to the Bradbury's right now - they could all use it -

Hi,

Sorry for the news blackout. The last couple of days have really been a roller coaster. Carrie was removed from her ventilator yesterday, which was very exciting. We got to hold her for the first time in two weeks and she seemed to do okay. But overnight, the doctors got concerned about her breathing and some other indicators. They put her on a different machine to help her with her breathing, something that is much less invasive than the respirator. The plan has been to wait and see what happened as a result. So far, she seems to be doing better. Her X-ray from tonight looks much better, so we are hopeful that she will continue to do well and they won't have to reinsert the breathing tube.

Hope you are all doing well.

Leslie

Another Update on Carrie

From Leslie -

Hi Everyone,

Thankfully, we are still getting more positive news about Carrie. Overnight she did well with the changes that they made to her ventilator yesterday. Today they are going to try her with some even lower settings and see what happens. If she responds well to those changes, then they will possibly take her off of the ventilator tomorrow. I am sure she will still have to stay in the ICU for a period of time for observation, and she will still have a feeding tube. They have also made it clear that she won't go straight from ICU home. We will definitely step down gradually to a regular room before we go home. Hopefully, everything will continue on a positive path, but even the most cautious of the doctors has used the phrase "turned a corner" which is reassuring.

Thank you all again for all of your kind thoughts and prayers. We all appreciate all of your support.

Leslie

Another Update on Carrie

From Leslie -

Hi Everyone,

Thankfully, we are still getting more positive news about Carrie. Overnight she did well with the changes that they made to her ventilator yesterday. Today they are going to try her with some even lower settings and see what happens. If she responds well to those changes, then they will possibly take her off of the ventilator tomorrow. I am sure she will still have to stay in the ICU for a period of time for observation, and she will still have a feeding tube. They have also made it clear that she won't go straight from ICU home. We will definitely step down gradually to a regular room before we go home. Hopefully, everything will continue on a positive path, but even the most cautious of the doctors has used the phrase "turned a corner" which is reassuring.

Thank you all again for all of your kind thoughts and prayers. We all appreciate all of your support.

Leslie

Update on Carrie

From Leslie

Hi Everyone, Just wanted to let you know that we are still in the pediatric ICU. According to the doctor this morning Carrie is doing somewhat better. They think that the pneumonia is clearing up or is completely gone, now we are still waiting out the virus. They are trying to do some things to wean her off of the ventilator. We will see how it goes-- yesterday they tried that but ended up having to go back to where they started, but the doctor said she sounds better today. The fact that she had both the RSV virus and pneumonia is making her recovery a little bit slower. Hopefully we will have more good news to report tomorrow. Leslie

Happy 2009!

New Year's Eve

Well, Brent and I went out last night to the Sheraton in Greenville to celebrate NYE with a bunch of crazies! Us included. LOL

Seriously - we had a blast! The band was Machine Gun, and we have decided to become groupies. They are based in Wilmington, which really isn't that far away, but they do shows all over, so we hope to see them again soon.

They're a cover band, so they sing songs I know the words to, which helps A LOT. The best was when the lead singer sang Jessie's Girl. You gotta love it when the whole crowd knows that song. Remember Rick Springfield? Wasn't he the hottest thing?

Anywho - here's a short clip of them doing "Message in a Bottle." Brent thinks the lead singer looks like Charlie's cousin Guy. A little yes. And this dude is 37, so I don't feel like such an old lady.

Here's the link to their MySpace page (remembering of course that I think sometimes that MySpace is the tool of the devil.)

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=49798297

Christmas Lights

This is a short clip I took with my FLIP video camera (woohoo) of a light display here in Washington. The display goes on for like six or seven songs, but this is, of course, just a small clip.

Enjoy!

Christmas Gifts

Okay - here's hoping my loyal readers - all four or five of you - had great Christmases.

Christmas at the Callahan household was a wrapping paper storm of present opening. It was fun, but tiring. On Friday, the elder Bakers visited us for the day for our Christmas, and that was nice, but tiring. So needless to say, Brent and I have spent the last two days resting up - getting ready to put away Christmas and get ready for what will hopefully be a great New Year's Eve.

This year in our contest to get each other the best gift, my sister won. I received a Mood bag. Now, if you aren't a Project Runway fan (and why wouldn't you be?), then you have absolutely no idea what I am talking about. Brief explanation: the contestants on Project Runway have a new challenge each week, and they usually go to Mood, a fabric store in NYC, to buy their materials, and they always come in with these bags that say Mood on the side. One day while Daddy was in the hospital in Greenville back in March, Mary stopped over at my house to watch an episode we had on DVR (and I say we, because Brent watches it too - gotta love him), and I said, "I'm going to go to New York just to go to Mood to buy a yard of fabric and get one of those bags."

So you know what? Mary had Neil get the information off of the Internet (oh what a wonderful tool), and she called Mood, and after what I am sure was an entertaining conversation for the clerk in NYC, Mary had ordered two yards of fabric and a bag for me for Christmas.

My plan now is to use it as my school bag, just to see if anyone recognizes it. I FREAKING LOVE IT - lol - so Mary won this year.

But among all the nice gifts, I have one I want to mention - in honor of one of my loyal readers - Cathy - and her husband David.

The joke is that I am the Queen Bee of Chocowinity Middle School - at least according to some of the teachers - so for Christmas, David decided that I needed these -

Many thanks to everyone for their presents and warm wishes - and many wishes for a Happy New Year!

Leslie's and Mark's Daughter

Well, folks, she's here. Caroline Felton Bradbury was born on December 16. Apparently they waited until the last minute to leave the house, so Carrie was born on the side of the road in an ambulance - in the words of her father, Mark

Here’s the short story: Leslie had contractions on Tuesday (12/16) morning, as we got into the car to drive to the hospital I called 911 just to be safe, Will stayed at home with a babysitter, we got 3 miles from home when we met up with the volunteer fire fighter, he had us stop to check Leslie’s condition, within 10 minutes about 6 more fire fighters arrived as did the ambulance, within 5 more minutes the baby was born – with the car pulled off on the side of the road and Leslie reclined in the passenger seat, that’s why you see her exiting the ambulance at the hospital with Carrie in her arms! Oh, and between the fire fighters and ambulance crew, no one had ever delivered a baby before…

Both Leslie and Carrie (8 lbs, 2 oz; 20 inches) made it through the ordeal just fine and we are all at home now. Quite a day, quite a story.

Mark

And here is the Christmas card/birth announcement that came the next week - impressive timing for parents with two small children!

Congrat's!

Dollar Tree Strikes Again

Many thanks to the people of Indonesia for all their help in my on-going search for reasons we should stop shopping at Dollar Tree.

Technology Conference

Went to Greensboro for two and a half days for a technology conference last week. Learned some pretty cool stuff and got some free stuff, too. But really kept coming up against a couple of things I thought you guys might have opinions on.

First of all, they keep saying we need to engage these students. That they are using technology all the time, and they need to use more. That students are multi-tasking so much that they are doing like 26 hours of stuff in one day - seriously.

My problem with all of this is that students may very well be multi-tasking and doing all of this stuff, but is this allowing them to sit still for an extended period of time? I ask this, because to read a book - or even to listen to a book - you really need to be able to be still - and not distracted. I fear that these multitasking students are being trained to be entertained and drawn to shorter and shorter bits of information.

From TV shows with small bursts of entertainment divided by small bursts of commercials to music videos. It's amazing to me that they can sit down and watch a full length movie anymore. But then again - they are totally immersed in it if they go to the theater, so maybe movies still have a chance - lol

Anywho - the other thing about the conference was the abundance of laptops and the abundance of folks who thought it was not maddening to hear typing during a presentation. People who type during a presentation kill me. I can't even begin to imagine being the presenter.

What do you guys think?

One year anniversary

Well, Thursday marked the one year anniversary for the FIRST f-ing back surgery. The one that either didn't work or was totally f-ed up by the folks that put me on the gurney right after surgery. The one that had me in pain until the SECOND surgery in January.

But I'm doing good now. Although about three days ago the pain started picking up again. I think and hope it's just been aggravated by something - probably too much touch football - lol - but anywho -

Seems like forever ago. The whole wasted winter actually. Things happen at school, and I just say, "I don't remember. I wasn't here." Really weird.

But thank God the second surgery "took." Here's hoping for another year pain free.

A few updates

Well, let's see . . .

Leslie is due on the 21st of December. I haven't talked to her recently. She and Mark are running a hectic schedule between half day daycare and teaching. She's actually looking forward to having spring semester off with the baby. And remember it's a girl.

September is working hard all the time and keeping up with - what is it now? - 13 nieces and nephews. They sold the small store she was running, so now she's in the bigger one at Woodcroft.

Todd is still in St. Louis. How many years to go? He's coming home for Thanksgiving. Gets to work in an extra ECU game that way.

Rob is coming up for Thanksgiving - or at least part of the weekend - which is cool. Apparently there's a new restaurant in Charleston with a good brunch and a cute chef - at least he's cute in the pics on the website - mmm just one more GREAT reason to take a trip south.

Sally is getting ready to come off of a week's rest after working at the library for a million months straight with no real holiday. She's coming up for Thanksgiving as well, as that is also her mom's birthday. She likes her job and is enjoying living alone, but could probably use a roomie, so if any of you are contemplating moving south - lol or east - or north - lol lol

Keith is living in Charleston and working at Ladsen elementary - he and - God knows I forget how to spell it - Ik are having a Christmas party on December 13th. I don't think Brent and I will be able to go down - not that close to Christmas. But eventually we will get down there - oh and Keith's coming up for a couple of days at Thanksgiving as well.

Christie and Charles and their brood are doing the same. Morgan is in 7th grade this year - JESUS are we all really that old.

If I left anyone off, I apologize - and just ask - anonymously works - lol

Anonymous comments

LOL

I guess there are a few things I need to take care of . . .

Okay, Mary's friend was murdered by her boyfriend. They leave behind five children between them now with no responsible parent.

WITN will NEVER move to GVegas because it will probably cost too much. They have owned that property for a million years - ever since the theater closed - but who knows - miracles do happen. They have never claimed Chocowinity, let alone Washington as their first home. IF you want to get local news, you watch WNCT out of GVille.

Brent went to a lawyer back in like January when we realized that the Worker's Comp company was going to try to make him go back to work doing what he had done - but he can't - he can't do the physical work, and the meds make him loopy, so he can't do what he was doing, and the company he worked for is not going to fire him, so we need to figure out the next step. He has been meeting every two weeks with a job counselor, and right now we are getting ready for mediation with the WC company because for the last two years they have NOT been paying him what they are supposed to using the state's calculator. AT least that is what the lawyer has said. So Brent just recently filled out a bunch of paperwork, and then he sent it back to the attorney. So now we wait - won't hear anything back until January.

Uncle Von's visit went well. Jason was down for a long weekend, and I got to hang out with him. He wants to know what the deal is with the property - why his father doesn't just go ahead and sell it to my father - and I wonder the same thing. I was hoping that Jason would talk to his dad, but I don't think anything ever came of it.

Granny's house and the property Well, Dad keeps it up. I go down every once in a while and get stuff - got some utensils for the library the last time - spoons for serving dip and such. If I could go down there with some trash bags and know that Daddy wouldn't lose it, I would. I don't' know what he wants to do. It's just a pain. But we have it, and he's cleaned up a path through the woods, which just makes me want to get a four wheeler and ride around down there.

And oh yeah - Kristen shot JR.

TGIF

Thank God. I was beginning to wonder if I were going to make it to the end. It's been a crazy week, especially as I didn't work Monday or Tuesday. And next week, I get half a day off on Thursday and all day Friday for school related things, so they don't even count.

Other than that, things here are good. Mom had her bladder stretched today. OUCH! This is supposed to help with the pain she has been having now for almost a year. She came through the procedure just fine, BUT (you knew there was a but coming - come on) she hasn't PEED yet. Not since before 8:30. She may have to go back into the hospital if nothing ever comes out. And then it will be a FLOOD!

Daddy's doing well. Mary's tired some, but is making it through. Horrible thing happened to a friend of hers. http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/34180814.html

Things like this happen all the time, but never to people you know.

Brent is doing well. He's lost some weight and is piddling around the house. No news on his lawyer's work.

Guess that's it. I was thinking I would do a post some time this weekend giving everyone info on what everyone else is doing. Let me know what you think - and if you have something you DO or do NOT want included-

Later Peeps

My Dentist is so Going to Love Me

Okay, I finally got stuff straight to take some pics of the stuff I have been scavenging from Granny's.

My parents have always said that my Granny kept so many things around her because she never had a lot in the early parts of her life. They scraped by after she got married - and that was right out of high school, so I guess she started hoarding things she could get.

For instance, right after she went into the nursing home, Brent and I went down to Acre with Daddy, and we cleaned out canned goods. I am not joking - over fifty cans of canned veggies - some with expired dates of course. Yeah - who knew that canned food went bad?

Well, since Granny's death in July, I've been gradually bringing things home from Granny's - a little bit each trip. There's a necklace, and then a vase, and then a set of vases - like I'll ever use them all, but who knows, right?

Well, back to the hoarding part. God bless her heart, but that little woman had a bunch of stuff, odd things, stockpiled for, I guess, the future.

Below is a picture of toothbrushes I have brought from her house to mine. Will Brent and I use all of these? No, probably not. We have already used a couple - one in the bathroom, one in the kitchen - as nail brushes and vegetable brushes - and we gave some to my in-laws, because they like really hard toothbrushes - and that's what these are. And just for the record, this is probably only half of what was there - so many being dispersed in different directions. (In fact, I gave two to Mary today to be put in these shoe boxes Riley's Cub Scout troop is making for the poor.)

There are probably fifty combs in one drawer, and other things like that. It's heart breaking and scary, and it really makes me look around my house as I stock pile things and wonder if I really need it all.

So here are a few pictures of other things I have brought to my house from Granny's. Things you will find on display at times in my dining room.

no excuses

I promise - it's coming - updates this weekend -

:-P

Remember when . . .

This is for all you bitches that took me out, three years ago tonight, and let me drink way tooooooooo many grape crushes.

And a GREAT thank you for September, who got up EVERY time I had to run to the bathroom to puke. It was a LONG night for us both.

Three years tomorrow folks!

Incoming

Uncle Von, Laura, and my cousin Jason will be in this weekend. Von and Laura are going to be staying for a couple of weeks, with plans to go out to Granny's and clean it out. What out means in the last part of that last sentence I am not sure. Should be interesting.

CMS Indian Football

God, I love football season. And I mean the time of the year when as the sun gets down, it gets a little cooler, and the lights on the stadium just make everything look great.

We played Bath last night at home, and beat them, which is WONDERFUL! Actually beat them by 8 points, which is even better. The first half was sorta chaotic - got a couple of calls against us for not have the right number of players on the field, but Chris (the head coach) got that all straight after halftime.

But the weather was great - even had a cool breeze right there at the end - and it was just nice to finally be there. Not that I don't love my summers, but there's just something about fall nights and football.

Hunter Turned Twelve

Not a big deal by most standards, but if all of you will take a second and think back.

Mary - she had a baby - TWELVE years ago.

Jesus God when did WE get this old.

Anywho, we gave him Brent's old electric guitar. Brent fixed a couple of things on it and restrung it. Oh and bought a used amp. So now he can really ROCK the house. LOLOLOL

Always give children noise makers - so they can aggravate the hell out of their parents when they get home.

All in all it was a quiet party. The Bennetts hosted, as Mary was still sorta out of it from her surgery. It was a beautiful day, and we got to sit out on the deck and enjoy the quiet of the country.

Happy Birthday, Hunter.

Oh, and for those of you that know her, Vicki - Reed's youngest sister - is pregnant and due in March.

My Sister and her Surgery

Mary came through her gastric by-pass surgery well, but is taking a little longer to recover in the hospital. They kept her an extra day, but she should be out tomorrow, going home.

She has conceded that she will not be able to host a party for my nephew Hunter's birthday on Saturday, so we will all be going to his grandparents house (the Bennett's) right across the street from Mary's, which will work out well for everyone, I think.

I am very proud of my sister for doing what she has done and hope it all goes well.

Keep your fingers crossed.

And this is why we are falling fast . . .

Granted - I bought it at Dollar Tree, but come on folks, even the Chinese need to know that the Union Jack isn't American. Geez . . .

SAS Tour Summer 2009

Just in case you're interested, recent news puts Stephanie's family moving to Cary in the summer of '09.

Watch out RTP!

Fran Survives

Sorry it's taken so long to update.

Fran survived surgery - they actually had taken her in before I got there - the schedule got moved up, so I didn't have to stay at the hospital as long as I had thought.

She went absolutely bat shit crazy in the hospital. The drugs they had her on totally made her lose her mind.

She called me Friday night and said she wanted me to come pick her up to take her home. When I got to the hospital, Daddy said she had been like that all afternoon. She wanted the tubes taken out and she wanted to go home. They couldn't keep her there. She told me that if I wasn't going to take her home, I could "carry my ass on." LOL it really was sorta funny, but also worrisome, because at that point, Mary and I both were worried that she may have suffered some kind of stroke. But Brent reassured us both that it was the medicine and it was.

She was discharged Monday morning, and the had a medical transport bring her home - because there was no way Daddy would have been able to get her in the house. Even with help. And she's been home doing well ever since.

A physical therapist and nurse came daily last week - it goes to every other day next week, and she's using a walker to get around on. She hasn't been able to get upstairs yet, and it looks as if it will be a while before that happens. But she is doing well after surgery.

What we have to work on now is trying to find out what happened to her to make her fall. Why is she so dizzy all the time. I understand that she is on medication that will affect her blood pressure when she stands up, but she was actually blacking out before the surgery.

Supposedly Mama is going to go to her general practitioner tomorrow to start this next process. Dr. York visited Mama in the hospital and is supposedly already working on this question. Should be interesting to see what does or does not happen next week.

So that's it for Mama - I did manage to use my MP3 player to get some voice recordings of crazy lady in the hospital. Haven't had a chance to see if any of them are, um, interesting, so will let you all know.

Cross your fingers - let's see if we can get through a week with no major catastrophes in my family.

The Continuing Saga of Fran and Gary

Well, folks, I had not meant to write about this (thinking that it would go away and it didn't), but here it is.

Last Sunday, my father called and said, "Lisa, I need your help. Now." and then hung up. So I rushed over and found that Mama had fallen - twice. One time she had completely blacked out and the other time she had just gotten dizzy. So I stayed over there until she started feeling better and talked to Daddy about what the problem could be. Luckily, nothing was broken.

They went to the doctor on Monday, where everything appeared to be okay, but the doctor scheduled a CT scan of Mama's head on Tuesday. (Monday was Daddy's birthday - 67 years old.)

But they never made it to the appointment.

Because on Tuesday around 1:30 or 2:00, Mama fell again. While she was home ALONE. COOKING.

Luckily Daddy got home in time to get the pot off of the stove and call the rescue squad. That's when I got the call at school from Brent - Daddy had called him, I guess, because it was the easiest number to remember. So I called Mary and the whole "spend the night in the emergency room/hospital" story began.

First of all, the ride to the hospital made Mama sick. She can't ride lying down. And the AC on the rescue squad was out, so Mama threw up when she got to the emergency room. Luckily our cousin Tobby was one of the EMT's, so Mama and Daddy felt a little better about that whole situation.

Once she got in the emergency room, they checked everything and sent her to Xray to get her head CT she had been scheduled for, an xray of her chest and an xray of her hip. (And I WILL say at this point that everyone in the emergency room was VERY nice AND helpful.)

Did I forget to mention that she was having pain in her hip?

Well, the xray came back negative for anything in the hip, but she was having too much pain, so the emergency room doc's ordered a CT of her hip as well. And this is the point where I stop to say . . .

Unless I am bleeding profusely or dying, do not stop me off at Beaufort County Hospital.

There is no one at BCH that can read CT scans. They have to send them to Greenville to be read. The next day. Is this such a hard thing to do? What kind of training is involved? Are we, as a nation, suffering from a shortage of CT scan readers? Maybe Brent needs to go to school for that.

Okay, so they put her in a room, around eight o'clock, where she asked for something to eat - I mean she asked Daddy, and he told me to go find out, where - hold on a sec - another departure from the story -

Why can't it be a requirement that ALL nurses be nice. Why do people continue to nurse when they are no longer PEOPLE persons? Go do something else lady . . .

Anyway - Mary and I left around 8. Mama made it through the night. The next day, the magic man CT reader in Greenville called to let somebody know that Mama had cracked her hip. Dr. Miller - who will probably complete the trifecta for SHITTINESS happening at BCH - will be doing surgery this afternoon to put a plate on her hip.

So I am off today. Going to take a shower, go to Dollar Tree to buy my broke-assed Mama some Sudoku books, and then I'm at the hospital for the rest of the day - I guess.

Wish me luck.

Doctors and more doctors

Well, last week was marked with two doctors' appointments.

I had my last (hopefully) doctor's appointment with my back doctor on Tuesday. We are both agreed that the slight discomfort I have sometimes with my leg and hip is going to be with me forever, sadly, but is something we can both live with. I of course live with a nagging thought in the back of my head sometimes that it is a repeat of the condition I suffered from last year, and will once again slowly get worse, but then it gets better, or something else grabs my attention. The pain I lived with over the fall and through the winter last year was terrible, and the situation with having two surgeries in a month's time was even worse, so I think I am allowed a little nagging thought every once in awhile.

My other doctor's appointment was on Thursday with Dr. Kroncke, my gynecologist. I love going to his office, because they always act glad to see me and are so nice. I know that sounds strange, but in a day and age where nurses and PA's and even doctors shuffle you through to get their days done, my gyno's office is really a nice trip. Sadly. They remember things about me, even if they are written in a file, and they act glad to see me. Did I say that part twice? But it's nice. And I really appreciate it.

But the second appointment went fine, just waiting for the notecard that says the tests came back negative. Fingers crossed.

Meltdowns scheduled for Thursdays at 7:00

Okay, so I went to school Monday in high hopes of getting the custodians, or some kids, or anybody that could move tables, to help me get my library straight.

I was in constant motion, putting things away, moving things - oh and the computer lab got six new computers, so I had carts full of computers just sitting by the door - totally unnerving, because it's a mess to look at, and it's more work that needs doing.

So, the first thing I asked the custodians to do was to take out these two coolers that were, at this time, full of water, as they had been there for a WEEK, and the ice had melted.

-Side note - I may talk a lot of shit about our custodians, but the truth is they are probably doing the best they can under the circumstances. One of our custodians had to have emergency surgery the Friday before school started, so we are a man down. But I am still going to talk some shit. -

So our male custodian shows up, and decides he is going to put one cooler on a hand truck and pull the other one behind him because it has wheels. Well, he heads to my front door, and the second cooler hits the rubber edge between my tile and my carpet and guess what. The second cooler tips over, pouring water out in a flood. The funniest thing to me looking back is that it fell over right where we have this ten foot tall lighthouse a teacher made with her class years ago - how appropriate.

Well, a shop vac was found (thank God we have a teacher with one) and the custodian got to sit for 30 minutes or so sucking water up with the shop vac. Then he went to get kids to move the tables - and the two boys did, but when they started moving chairs, they moved them two at a time, and clank clank clank, that was the end of that. I thanked them all for their time, and sent them on their way. I would get the chairs moved later.

That was probably the highlight of Monday.

So Tuesday I get to school and go in the front door of the library - I am the only one that ever comes in that door - besides the odd maintenance man - but it's closer to where I park, so . . .

But there at the edge of the cement was a pile of blue stones, aquarium stones to be precise.

Well, I figured one of my slack ass teachers had dumped her aquarium there, leaving her stones for God only know what - birds with color sense?

So I took a picture. I have it at school and will post it next week. And I printed an 8x10 and have it in a frame on my desk. Seriously. It centers me.

And guess who did it? The custodian. When he dumped the shop vac. The teacher to whom the shop vac belonged had warned him that he needed to empty it before using it. And he had dumped it out and left it there. The custodian.

And then the rest of the day was filled with Language Arts classes visiting the media center for their "refreshers." Did ten classes I guess on Tuesday and the same on Wednesday.

I had gotten my assistant to sign classes up, and on Wednesday she signed classes up that overlapped - guess she just wasn't paying attention - but was that when they were signing up or when she was typing it up to give to me? Wouldn't YOU have checked the times. But it worked out. My 6th grade LA teacher worked with me, and all went well.

By Wednesday I had helpers for 8th grade and knew who my helpers for 6th and 7th would be, so I could see some relief coming. And my list was getting shorter. But it was still LONG for me.

So I worked and worked. And during this, I was staying up until 11:00 or 11:30 with Brent and Second Life (which is worthy of a blog all to itself) every night. And by Thursday, it had all taken its toll.

So Thursday went okay at school, and then I get home, and Brent says lightning has struck the phones. Our phones were dead, our Internet was out, our cable worked, but we had to fix the other. One of our phones had a bulging power pack - so we discarded that. But the Internet - we have to have that. So I got on my cell phone and spent the next hour working with the Suddenlink Guy trying to get the Internet to work. We decided to just let the phones go for the night, scheduled an appointment for the next morning, and kept working on the Internet.

Well, my nerves kept getting more and more RAW, and by the time I got off the phone with the cable guy - we got the old cable modem working, but it wouldn't work with the router, which only made the situation worse - by the time that whole debacle was over, I was, shall we say, tripping.

I was really really ILL. And I just stood in the middle of the living room and clenched my fists and said, "Right now, I am so fucking aggravated that everything is wrong. I'm going to bed." That was at seven o'clock on Thursday night.

At six o'clock Friday morning I got up. (There were a few trips to the bathroom throughout the night.)

And I felt better.

And Friday was a great day.

Meltdowns scheduled for Thursdays at 7:00 - an Introduction

Okay, so the first week of school really, really sucked. Well, actually the first four days did, but Friday, well Friday went fairly well.

I have never had so many people who needed so much all at one time from me. I totally don't remember it being like this last year. And to tell you about my first week, I have to go back to last Friday, before school started.

Well, Cathy, my centering rod, had to leave early for a funeral, so I was left alone. And that's when things started to fall apart. Everything I touched went south. I moved a network printer from one classroom to another and it lost its IP address. Just in case you are reading this and don't understand what that means, here's the translation - it worked in one room, and then it lost its freaking mind and didn't work in the next. In less than five minutes.

And then I go back to my library, dog tired, and it's a mess - things everywhere. You don't know this, but over the summer, people "find" things and drop them off in the library - odd electronic things, carts, tables, SMART board stands with no SMART board. So I had all of this stuff to deal with, because I had been out in classrooms working. And the tables - this was really one of my biggest problems.

My library is only so big, and we have tables on both ends. Well for the first workday when we had our afternoon long faculty meeting, almost all of the tables were crammed on one end. And they stayed that way. Until this Tuesday - when school had started. And being a spatial kind of person who has to see some kind of order, let me tell you that was the last straw - no one to help, because now I can't move tables and things with my back - which really pisses me off.

So, I left. I packed up my stuff and left last Friday. Came home and was so un-nerved, I cried. Yes folks, that's how bad it was and how tired I was - I cried, because this would be the worst opening of school I had ever had.

And then I sat on my fat, happy ass all weekend and rested.

It's the end of the world as we know it . . .

Well, today is the last day before the official start of school for the kids. I have worked all week trying to get classrooms ready for tomorrow, and now my library is in terrible shape. This is going to be the worst start to school I have had in fifteen years. Seriously. I think I was even better prepared my first year, when I was hired after school started and had to push a cart from classroom to classroom.

I will tell you this, and I knew that this was coming. I hate working on computers. I hate networking printers and installing drivers and plugging things in. It drives me nuts. I have had to do too much of this over the past ten years, and now I believe I have reached my limit.

But hopefully I will be able to get things straight tomorrow. If nothing else, I plan to take four 8th grade boys out of their last period science class tomorrow to help me move tables. I have gotta get something done, and fast.

So, if you call and I don't answer, it's probably because I am taking a nap every afternoon this week.

Wish me luck.

It's What the Cannibals Cook In

That's what Brent said when I told him about the item that you will find if you follow the link below -

http://www.dutchtub.com/

Think of what you find there and then hear my husband say, "It's what the cannibals cook in."

You gotta love the man . . .

Do you remember?

Have you noticed the new JCPenny's ad that is based on the movie "The Breakfast Club"? Totally hilarious if you were a fan. And who isn't a Molly Ringwald and John Hughes? God, the movies that man made while we were growing up.

And Anthony Michael Hall was always my hero - the nerd.

So, I'm watching "Sixteen Candles" with the Donger - remember him? You know he was like 21 and everyone else was way underage, so they all got him to buy beer while they were shooting this movie. And then he went on to be on ER forever as Yosh.

And John and Joan Cusack are both in it - amazing.

They're at the part where Anthony Michael Hall has shown up at his friend's house with Jake's dad's car and the prom queen, and he wants a picture taken. And they take one at it's a Polaroid of only AMH's eyeball - lol.

I love these movies. They remind me of being a geek in high school. Something that is farther away than I realized until the JCP ad came out.

And to top it all off. Brent has never seen "The Breakfast Club." God bless his heart. Thank goodness for Netflix.

So, of all the John Hughes' movies, what was your favorite? "Pretty in Pink," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club" . . .

Tough call -

The Tent's Packed Up

Well, the whole "event" is over. Most of the cousins have left, and I have to tell you that it was nice getting to see them. I got to meet some of the littlest Williams - Mina, William, Gabriella, and Xavier. All very cute, and with a streak of Williams in them that will keep the line going.

Everything went fairly well with the exception of one cousin sending a message to another cousin that my grandmother didn't want her at the funeral. Oh Jesus, you know that my Daddy got so mad when he found out. And I'm with him. At this point, what does it matter? Granny wrote that when she was hurt, and I am sure she would have been happy to know that her granddaughter came and paid a last respect. It's a stink, but something that will eventually fade, I hope.

Of course it was sorta poignant thinking that this was the last time I will ever see all of my uncles and aunts together alive. They are now at the front of the line as Todd said. And so it begins.

But to change the subject, tonight we are going down to Mary's, because today is Colin's 4th birthday and from what I hear, there will be cake. And you know Brent and I are driving fools when it comes to cake - lol. So that also means that today is Leslie's and Mark's 3rd wedding anniversary - Happy Anniversary folks!

And so it ends . . .

Well, folks, Granny decided to leave us on Saturday around 2:15 in the morning. I am glad she is hopefully somewhere feeling much better.

http://www.paulfuneralhome.com/obituaries.php?page=0&op=view&id=633

Let the trumpets sound and the angels sing

News flash - Stephanie is moving back to NC.

Read the news here -

http://awomanofegypt.blogspot.com/

Good Friday Morning

For those of you that don't know, my father's mother, Granny, has been in a nursing home for over two years now. Well, about two weeks ago she developed pneumonia, which is not a new story as she as had it before. But this time, she was sent to the hospital because it had gotten so bad. The hospital folks stabilized her and sent her back to the nursing home, at which point my father was told it was only a matter of time before she died.

So, for about a week now, my father has been torn up about the whole situation. A situation compounded by the fact that my Uncle Von has come home to be here for this event. It's strange how there wasn't much of an interest when Daddy had to put her in the nursing home, had to take care of her and visit her every day, but now that she is dying, the interest level has increased exponentially.

My Uncle Russell, who lives in Texas, has told Daddy to call him when it's over, as he has to work. My cousin John (http://www.youtube.com/user/HeleOnHunting) has decided that he will be flying home soon. There's no telling how many folks will show up before this is all over.

What my mission is today - the reason I am up so damn early - is that I am meeting my sister (who has an early Dr's appointment in G-ville), and we are going out to get Granny something to be buried in.

Honestly, it's a little macabre making all of these arrangements before Granny is actually dead, but I will be honest with you - my Granny has been gone for a long time. Now there is only this ghost of a person in a hospital bed at a nursing home.

My family went through this a little over a year ago with Mama's mother, Grandmama, and let me tell you, it is the most painful thing to have to deal with - watching someone waste away to a wraith, to a being that cannot communicate or for lack of a better word - live.

So today is death duty day. One of many to come in the future I suppose.

Hope you guys have a better one.

Pet Peeve

Your - possessive - meaning it belongs to you

You're - contraction of You Are

I do not understand why so few people know the difference. I did not realize that so many people misuse these two words until I just finished reading an email from a person at Central Office for my school district.

I think I may become a crusader for the education of folks as to the difference. Wonder if there is a tshirt somewhere for this?

Projects, projects, projects

Hey, Guys!

Well, I have finally gotten started on a couple of projects around here - and have finished two!

Amazing, huh?

I made a door/draft stopper for the utility room door. YOU may not think that is important, but the door is almost an inch short for some bizarre reason, and now AC and heat won't run out under that door any more.

I have also started making slip covers for the dining room chairs. I have had these chairs since I moved in as gifts from a friend of my parents'. The are beginning to really show some wear and tear, and really need to be recovered and have the bottoms rebuilt, but when you can buy fabric for a dollar a yard at Wal-Mart, why not just try to build something yourself? So, about four or five months ago I saw some cheapie fabric that would work in our house and bought about 8 yards of it. And it has just sat in the corner by the sewing machine - watching me while I played games and such on the computer, wishing it was something other than a pile of fabric.

So now I have made two slip covers - not really great, but so much better. Here are before and after pictures -

And for the final project in today's entry, Brent and I went to Habitat for Humanity on July 3rd and bought a light fixture for the dining room to replace the old fixture that had hung there probably since this joint was built over fifty years ago. When I moved in here, it was a brassy color. I wanted something that was white/cream and textured, you know what I am talking about, but those things cost money, so dad painted it for me, and it looked really good - 8 years ago.

Well, the one we bought was brown metal, but my dear sweetie Brent has painted it, and we have officially installed it - and I must say we are both very impressed with ourselves.

So - what do you guys think?

South Carolina Fireworks

Well, many thanks to the folks in SC that still make fireworks worth a damn. Despite the rain, Brent and his cohorts managed to shoot off the fireworks we had bought over the Memorial Day Holiday, making July 4th a great holiday.

I managed to go shopping at all of my favorite junk spots, and even got Brent out to go with me some.

We ate tons of stuff cooked on the grill - shrimp, sausages, and steaks - and had a great time with his folks.

What did you do fun for the 4th?

Happy Independence Day!

We are leaving in a bit for Franklinton to spend the holiday with my in-laws. Should be fun - lots of SC fireworks for the home-brew show this year.



Hope all of my loyal readers - both of you - have a great holiday.

Summer Vacation Really Begins

Well, I am considering today to be the first real day of my summer vacation as last week was a blur with the trip to Chincoteague. The kind of vacation where you sleep really late and just do the things you want to do. Today I have sat around a couple of hours in my pajamas, and now I am getting ready to go out to lunch with Cathy.

This afternoon, I may take a nap - or not - that's what I love about summer vacation.

Let's hope I don't get bored too quickly.

Ponies

Ponies
Originally uploaded by leaseuhd

Here are some pictures from Tuesday. We are just getting going this morning, but I wanted to upload some pictures, for my loyal readers, to ease your hearts, because I know you were worried that the whole trip was a storm like Monday night.

Things here are so beautiful, and it's nice to not have anything to really do.

Going to the beach today on Assateague. May see some more ponies.

Monday Night on Chincoteague

Okay, today -- Tuesday -- was wonderful. Last night, not so much.

Here is a video of just a small taste of the storm that blew through. More later.

Vacation

Well, tomorrow at the crack of dawn - well a little later, but that's not the point - Brent and I will be leaving for our official summer vacation.

I have been wanting for years and years and years to go to Chincoteague and Assateague to see the ponies. The ones Marguerite Henry wrote about in Misty of Chincoteague and Stormy Misty's Foal and Sea Star. I read those when I was in 5th and 6th grades, and I decided I wanted a pony - like a lot of little girls do - and I wanted to go to Pony Penning Day, which is the last Wednesday of July on Chincoteague, when the fireman go over and herd the herd over from Assategue to Chincoteague for an auction. The ponies swim over, and it's something to be seen, at least that's what I have read.

So we are going up for four days, three nights, and we are going to see the ponies, and we are going to fish, and we are going to swim, and so on and so on.

So, expect few reports between now and the weekend, but expect pictures and such later.

The Woods They are on Fire

For those of you that don't know, Eastern North Carolina is on fire. Yes, I CAN say Eastern North Carolina, because a huge chunk is smoking even as I type.

The local tv station has a story here http://www.witntv.com/news/headlines/19456249.html

We have been hearing about this for a while, but the winds changed direction yesterday afternoon, and in two hours, smoke was reaching as far west as Greenville.

Brent says that they have declared a code red air quality warning in Raleigh. RALEIGH. That's not good. Not good at all.

So, needless to say, it's been hazy, smelly, and your eyes and throat stay irritated. But, thankfully, the temperature has dropped some, and the wind will shift this weekend.

Here we go again . . .

Well, Daddy had some pain on Tuesday and ended up in the emergency room. He couldn't - as he says - make water. Not a drop. And felt like he really needed to.

Well, they couldn't do anything in the emergency room, so they took him up to surgery around ten that night, knocked him out a little, and catheterized him. The doctor said he had a little infection and a swollen prostate, so that had cut off his "water."

And the next day he went home.

Not.

No, the next day - no "water." They did a CAT scan and found a kidney stone which they went in and took out - ouch - and he spent another night in the hospital.

Today he is home. Thank God. I know he is much happier.

Mimosa Tree

A couple of years ago, I guess, a mimosa tree began growing out of the neighbors flower/tree bed into my "space" you could say. I love mimosa trees, so I never did anything about it.

It is now over ten feet tall, and blooms with beautiful pink flowers.

Have you ever looked at a Mimosa flower close up. Totally worth it. Very cool.

Photos on Flikr

2008_0612odds0098
Originally uploaded by leaseuhd

I have uploaded photos from our Memorial Day trip to Charleston here to avoid having to load them up on Blogger.

Enjoy!

Memorial Day Weekend

I know I really shouldn't write anything until I have pictures to upload, but I want to go ahead and tell everyone what a wonderful time Brent and I had in South Carolina.

(Of course the sad thing is that the only people who read this blog are those people we went to see. Hi, Y'all!)

Let me tell you folks, I hate traveling on a holiday weekend, but since I got an extra day off, and since I know I will not be able to afford to do much traveling after the 20th of this month, I packed my husband up and we went down to see friends in Myrtle Beach and Charleston.

While in Charleston, I finally bought something from the ladies that weave the seagrass into baskets. I couldn't afford the baskets - Geezus Gawd they are expensive - but I did buy a beautiful bouqet of roses which I have displayed in my dining room.

Also, while in South Carolina, we ate some of the most delicious food. If you are ever in Surfside just below Myrtle Beach, you must eat at Nibbles. It's right on the pier, and they have the most delicious seafood.

Hopefully I will be able to afford the gas down to Myrtle Beach again. My sister and her family will down there for a week in July, so Brent and I may take advantage of the free place to stay with a pool. Know what I mean?

Charleston was fun, but a really quick one day shot at a visit. I would love to come down for a long weekend, but I don't think I will be able to make it this summer. Sorry, Rob!

But Memorial Day weekend was fun. We spent time with Sally, Rob, and Todd. Just looking around, talking, and eating. Sounds like the perfect vacation to me.

Teach to the Test?

Okay, sorry I haven't been here in a while. I need to take a minute to explain something to everyone - and by everyone I mean my one true fan Rob - about the end of the school year.

Well, first of all, in middle school in North Carolina we give what are called End of Grade tests. We give every grade Math and Reading EOG's, and 5th and 8th grades get an extra dose of Science EOG's. These tests take up a good chunk of the morning at school and make everyone tired, from the kids taking them to the teachers administering them.

Well, I have administered, in the last month, the Reading EOG once. The Math EOG's (one calculator inactive and one calculator active) twice, because if you fail it, you have the chance to take it again. I have also been the proctor for an EOC, which is an End of Course test because it is a high school level test we give our 8th graders smart enough to be in Algebra class.

And this makes you tired, and you don't get as much done, which is a serious problem when you have 8000 books to get straight along with computers, overheads, calculators, blah, blah, blah.

So, I have been coming home and napping. And then I get up and Brent has dinner ready, so we eat. And then I watch some mind-numbing television. And then? Well, then I go to sleep.

Now, besides testing, we have had other things going on.

My fifth graders went to the county Battle of the Books competition and beat two 7th grade teams and one 8th grade team by a bunch of points, which makes me want to holler every time I think about it. So there were days when I spent a couple of hours practicing with the kids to get them ready. And let me tell you something. These fifth graders - they are going to rule the world - they are supersmart - seriously.

And then there was a Character Education celebration, and the yearbooks had to be handed out, and a dance, and athletic physicals (I do height and weight), and a meeting I got to take off half a day for (YEAH!), and last but not least an EOG carnival where over 400 students were rewarded with rides and games outside in the hottest weather we have had in years in June. But they had a blast, and we got pictures, and it's done.

So I've been busy.

But I promise, Rob, to do better.

Happy Birthday, Sally!

Today is Sally's Birthday! I would say which birthday, but most of you know already, because the large majority of us are the same birthyear.

I have known Sally almost all of my life. The only person I have known longer, that is not a family member, is Stephanie Stalls Carrerra Whatever, and we all know that she hasn't been in the picture in years.

I met Sally when my family moved in next to hers on West Second street, when I was four and a half years old. That's a long time folks. A very long time. How many of us can say we have friends that have been with us for over thirty years?

So this is to Sally. I am including several photos. If I had really thought about it, I would have gone over to Mama's and gotten some of the really old photos out to put in here, things that would probably have been forcibly retracted at a later time.

These first ones are two of my favorite pictures. Sally took our engagement picture, you see, and so I took one with Sally in my spot, just to see what it would look like.

Good picture, huh?


Looking through the pictures I have, it's funny how all of the really good ones revolve around the wedding - I guess I need to get better pictures of Sally, huh?

So Happy Birthday, to someone who will always be older than I am!

My Inspiration

Two years ago I stumbled across a blog called Dooce. Heather Armstrong was writing about her life - her daughter and husband and stuff that happened to her. She is hiliarious. I hope only to be half or a quarter as witty and funny as she is.

So she is now part of a wave of "Mommy Bloggers" or something like that. It's a booming business according to the Today show this morning. And here's a link to Heather's interview.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGKh6lbtKQ0

And I feel very comfortable calling her Heather in references, because I just know if I were to meet her we would become best friends and hang out all the time.

Not really, but it would be cool.

So after you guys watch the YouTube link above, definitely check out Heather's blog - www.dooce.com

And let me know - do you think she is as funny as I do?

Finally someone is bringing money in . . .

Well, Sassy got her prize today for winning in the Humane Society's photo contest under favorites. A $15 gift card to Tractor Supply Company - which works, I guess, because we ARE supposed to spend the money on her - right?

Anywho - with $5 to enter her, $5 to enter Pete (who did not win and is still recovering from the depression of not being chosen), that leaves us with a $5 profit.

Now only about $545 more dollars to go and we can call it even.