VBS 2008...It was a Blast!

Wow! What a great week -- with some GREAT kids!
Remember, if you want to blow up a picture for more detail, just click on it. (Note: There are VBS pictures posted over 3 different posts...don't miss the first ones on Tuesday, June 17)



































Heads removed to protect the guilty!
(Adult Break Room...YUMMY!)










































Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

A-ya-wiki, B-ya-wiki, C-ya-wiki

This song has been ringing in my head all week. After VBS today, I awoke from my nap with this crazy song resounding on my brain! It's a fun song, but I can hardly get all the words in -- forget doing all the motions! You know you are getting old when you can't do the hand motions to children's songs!

A-ya-wiki. Admit to God that you're a sinner and repent and turn away from your sin, quickly, quickly. B-ya-wiki. Believe that Jesus is the Son of God and He gave His life for you and me-ee-ee-ee-ee. C-ya-wiki. Confess your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord forevermore, it isn't tricky!

During today's invitation, 17 children came forward. I'm not sure how many actual decisions were made--but if there was only one --it was well worth the effort!

Here are a few more pictures of the fun from the week. Tonight was Family Night and our kids did a great job showing their parents some of the things they learned.

Oops! I must have left my camera at the church tonight... Stay tuned. I will post one more set of pictures tomorrow.

More VBS

A few more pictures of our VBS Class.



Here are the 3 Musketeers...the only boys out of the 13 students today. [Just a note: God really knew what He was doing when He gave me a daughter!] These guys are so sweet...but they sure do act like boys!!!










This year we are doing a lot with 3-D glasses. Of course, these smart 3rd graders ALWAYS comment that they can read the stuff without the fancy glasses. (Of course they can!!!) So I just laugh and say "Yeah, but it's soooo much more fun this way!"








Not every class is lucky enough to have "Hannah Montana" in their class. Here's Hannah and Montana! (Sorry about the red eyes...one day I'm going to learn how to fix them!)









Part of our fun crew waiting on parents to pick them up. Here is some advice: If your church ever thinks about going to 'theater seating'....scream at them..very loudly... and often... NOOOOOO!!!!!! It is nearly impossible to corral 450 kids in these seats and keep your sanity. (Just a freebie for my loyal readers!)








This young lady broke her arm playing soccer. Having your arm in a cast during the hot summer is not my idea of fun. When I was finishing 1st grade, I broke my arm the last week of school. I can tell you first-hand... IT IS MISERABLE!!!!








How could you resist this handsome face? For some reason, I call this young man, Parker. That is NOT his name. As far as I know, I don't even KNOW anyone named Parker! So what's the deal? It's really starting to irritate him after 3 days! But I've tried to explain how sometimes old ladies just get something in their brain and can't get it out. He smiles and says "It's okay!" Bless him...


Stay tuned!

VBS 2008 - Outrigger Island

Here are a few pictures to show what fun we're having at VBS this year! I have 12 great kids and the best helper in the world!



Here is our door deco. The kids don't have to duck down, but most adults do--making the kids LOVE it!

Our group is called The Divers...hence, the diving equipment.




















The long look into the room ...without kids.

Check out our square palm trees.


















This is what VBS is all about: teaching kids to check it out for themselves in God's Word!















These great trees and surfboard were passed on from a sweet lady at Bradfordville Baptist.

















This is my group of great kids! I only have ONE that I'd like to trade...there's ALWAYS one!










I'll probably look worse than this by the time the week is over!


Stay tuned!

VBS, Viruses, and Vigorous Cleaning

Whew! What a busy weekend!

It all started on Friday morning. (But I couldn't come up with a "V" word for tooth extraction...) I chauffeured my sweet, 20 yo, football playing nephew to the oral surgeon for removal of his wisdom teeth. Isn't he cute? =====>

His mother lives in S. Florida. She was frantic because her baby boy was having this procedure done without her here to oversee the process and recovery. She asked me to be the "mom" figure in her stead. Although he had a morning appointment, it stretched out until after 2 pm before we were headed back to the 'man cave.'

After a very frustrating, unsuccessful trip to CVS (don't get me started!) to have his 3 prescriptions filled, we ended up at a very quiet and pleasant Publix Pharmacy on Ocala Road. At Publix, we were able to fill all 3 prescriptions and one (the antibiotic) was free!

So, by 3:30 pm, he was finally ready to take his medication and head to LaLa Land. As requested, I did the "mom" thing and made him write down instructions, times of meds, and what his diet would consist of for the next three days.

He was very proud that he had cleaned his bedroom the day before, so I dutifully inspected the clean and orderly space. I didn't mention that it was too bad he didn't wipe the coffee table, the counters or the ...um...stuff... growing on the couch in the shared area of the apartment. (He says his roommate is a slob and he refuses to clean up after him any more.) As a result, I didn't feel guilty in the least as I put my feet up on the coffee table. I didn't DARE take my shoes off!!!! Maybe he neglected that part so I would feel at home?

As he closed his eyes to relax and nap...his cell phone kept ringing with well-wishers. So, I did the "mom" thing again and took the phone away and turned the ringer off. (Okay, he was fast asleep when I took it...but I would have wrestled it out of his hand if I had to!) As I sat on the questionably safe couch in his very 'male' apartment, I reflected on how fast that young man has grown up and what a good catch he will be for some lucky girl!

After about 2 hours of supervising my nephew's snores, my sweet dd called; letting me know she was almost in town. This meant I had to leave the pretend "mom" thing and go do the REAL "mom" thing. Nobody had to call me twice! I was absolutely ready to squeeze my girl.

Her ride from camp arrived at our rendezvous point at nearly the same time as I. Please excuse my nimiety, but you cannot imagine the sweet sensation of wrapping my arms around that girl! She looked so tanned and happy; had she really grown a foot taller in only one week?

We had a wonderful ride home; she nearly talked my ear off about the fun she had at camp. It amazed me that I didn't have to prod with leading questions. LOL! I think it helped that "their weren't any troublemakers" this year (specifically, our foster-dd!). It seems that Mr. Craig had scheduled the youngest teens for an earlier training time; thus allowing the smaller group of older teens to get to know each other better than in previous years. Camp Charis rocks!!! (Her words.)

After a 'Welcome Home' dinner on Friday night; I laid out our weekend schedule. First, the bad news. On Saturday morning, we were committed to going to Papa and Granny's house (the one vacated after 45+ years) to help my SIL clean prior to them moving back in. (LONG STORY!!) Then, on Sunday, we would be celebrating Father's Day AND decorating our room for Vacation Bible School (VBS!). Not much time for riding her horses, but I assured her she would live through a few more days of deprivation.

Saturday morning. Here is where the VIGOROUS CLEANING comes in. Ugh! My SIL, her dd, my dd and me spent the day pretending to be Super-cleaners. After 6 hours of hard labor (by hard labor, I mean scrub to the bone, arms falling off, hard labor!), we got exactly 2 bathrooms, 1 master bedroom, 1 hall and a few windows DEEP cleaned. We scrubbed walls, windows, floors, baseboards, ceiling fans, and cleaned out closets and bathroom cabinets; trying to eliminate years and years of nicotine from the walls and dog hair from the floors. Just by myself, I probably went through 1/2 a box of latex gloves. It was not a pretty job! ~By 4pm, every muscle and bone in my body cried out for relief! I was actually thankful to have VBS ahead of me in the coming week. (I'm just a lazy bum!)

I just don't know how my SIL does it. She is like an energizer bunny cleaning machine! She has already spent many days trying to get 45+ years of living cleaned up into something habitable again. Pray for her. She still has the kitchen ahead of her. Her SIL hasn't been much help in this endeavor. (I'm just a lazy bum!)

So, Sunday arrives. As I levered my etiolated body out of the bed, I quickly decided that Father's Day would not start with a delicious hot breakfast. It took great depths of sheer willpower just to drag my aching body to the shower. Cook breakfast? Are you crazy? Since I knew we would be feasting in our friend's home for lunch after church, I didn't feel too much guilt. (This reasoning would come back to haunt me later; my friend called as we left for church to cancel our lunch date, since she wasn't feeling well.)

We went to Plan B for lunch. Thankfully, I had had the foresight to move a bag of steaks from the freezer to the fridge on Saturday in order to thaw them for a Sunday or Monday night dinner. So, to honor Mr. Fix-It as World's Best Dad, our yummy lunch consisted of steak on the grill, mashed potatoes (or smashed taters, as I like to call them!), corn-on-the-cob and fresh, home-made Egg Bread. Not bad for Plan B, huh!

Later, after an extremely abbreviated Sunday nap, dd and I headed for town to decorate our teaching space for VBS. Our theme this year is Outrigger Island; a Hawaiian theme. Now folks, I would be happy to teach VBS for 3 weeks rather than have to decorate a room! There isn't a creative bone in my body as far as I know. I can copy things...but don't ask me to come up with an original idea! So after spending nearly FIVE hours turning our little space into a Tiki Hut on the beach--complete with palm trees--we were finally ready to head home; with only another two hours or so, of VBS preparation ahead of us!

This is where the VIRUS comes in! As I wearily fixed myself a sandwich, I hear this exclamation coming from the living room: "What is WRONG?? This thing is going crazy!!! MOM!!!!" This did not sound promising since I knew dd was checking her e-mail and My-Space on the computer. I drug my tired body (with the even more tired mind) into the room to see what the commotion was about. Sure enough, the computer screen was having convulsions. My first thought--correctly-- was VIRUS!!! So I spent the next two hours trying to outsmart this crazy computer that I know hardly anything about! (Still don't know if that pesky virus code is gone or just hiding and ready to jump out at any moment!) Why do people think creating and sending viruses is a fun thing to do? What kind of person finds pleasure in this? One day, I would like to meet one of these folks so I can ask before I shoot them! (JK!)

Oh, well. Monday morning came quickly; and with it our first day of VBS. We're teaching 3rd graders. Most of them are really sweet and easily entertained. Hopefully, they will learn something about Jesus before this week is over. Our theme for today is "God is real!" Oh, my dear children...HE REALLY IS! If they only learn this one thing, it will all be worth every moment.

Stay tuned!

Announcement....

My Girl Is HOME!!!!

O Happy Day!!!

I Cheated... and I'm Glad!

Bright and early this morning, our home telephone rang. Pretty uncommon sound around here since most of our family members and close friends know calling the cell is the best way to talk to us. It's normal to hear a cell phone ring early, but the home phone ringing is rare. Not a good sign.

I grabbed the phone and glanced at the Caller-ID. It shows "Camp Charis"...heart starts beating hard...what's happened? Our dd is at Camp Charis and they NEVER call unless there is a problem! [In fact, that is my one and only problem with dd going there. Their rules keep us incommunicado for the whole week!] (Nice big word, huh Deb?)

I answer the phone, "Hello." The voice on the other end is NOT dd......heart beats much faster...what's happened? The voice identifies herself (I've never met her, but I know she is one of the permanent staff at the camp) then she questions me to see if I'm who I am. I say "yes."...thinking "just get to it lady...what has happened to my baby?" Then she tells me "There has been an incident"...heart is pounding hard and fast..."but we think Becky is okay." WHAT HAS HAPPENED??? My heart is screaming!!!

The lady on the other end FINALLY tells me that dd was stung twice yesterday by wasps and that she swelled up a lot, then they gave her Benedryl last night and she seems to be much better today. Okay, truthfully, she told me all this in a few seconds--it just seemed like FOREVER before my heart heard "everything is okay!" Whew! Not good for the ol' blood pressure. Deep breath...heart-beat getting back to normal...

Now, you're thinking... this woman is an overprotective nut! Surely kids get hurt all the time without it being a big deal. Well, in my defense, I've only got ONE to work with here! I'm not as experienced as some of you moms who have 4 or 5 or 10! You go through stuff like this enough times to be a bit calmer. I'm trying!

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with an elderly friend of mine. We were talking about how much I missed not having a side-kick this week and she said "You're in training camp this week."

"Oh, no, " I said. "Becky is at training camp this week," thinking my friend was just confused.

She laughed and said, "No, I mean God has YOU in training this week to start cutting those apron strings!"

"NOOOOOOOO!!!! I'm not ready!" I replied.

I'm really NOT ready! Guess God doesn't much worry whether I think I'm ready or not. He IS working on me. He's using this week to help me see my real priorities. He's making me pay better attention to Mr. Fix-It.

Actually, Mr. Fix-It and I have had real conversations this week...among other things. We've had to soothe Squeaky because he misses his girl, we've apologized to the horses for their lack of TLC (we have fed them!), explained to the dogs each time we get out of the car, that "No, she's not in here" and we've accomplished a few chores together. I've even cooked a few meals this week! But it is so much more fun around here with dd's bright smile!

Now back to the phone call:
At this point, after hearing what happened and what they had done, I was calm and KNEW dd was fine. But since I had the chance...I decided to CHEAT and ask to talk to her. After assuring the lady that I was sure they had done everything necessary to take care of dd, I told her I would "feel better" if I could actually speak to dd. "Would that be possible?" I asked. I'm sure she was thinking this insecure mom didn't really believe her when she said that dd was okay. She agreed to my request and quickly went to get dd to come to the telephone.

When I heard that sweet voice say "Hey Mom!" my heart was filled with that wonderful feeling all of us moms get when we hear our children say our names. (Don't ya' know God feels the same when we talk to Him and call Him by name?) So, Mr. Fix-It comes into the room (shall I say running?) and I put the phone on 'speaker' so we could both talk to her. She assured us that she was just fine and 100% sure she did NOT want us to come get her! [NOTE: We aren't THAT bad! We were just kidding about going to pick her up!] She said she slept REALLY good last night with the Benedryl. Great! Now she's turned into a druggy like that Polish Girl in Brazil! (LOL!) She told us she was having a fantastic time and she would see us tomorrow anyway!

So, now that I've had my "Becky Fix" --even if I had to cheat a little to get it [so sue me!] ...I think I can make it! God is so good to let those little bugs get a bit of sweetness from my baby so that Mom could hear her voice.

Romans 8:28:

²⁸And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Only a little over 26 hours to go....

Stay tuned.

[Addendum to this post]
After watching tonights national news, this post seems quite frivolous. It is. There are at least four families grieving for son's who died as a tornado hit their Boy Scout camp today. My heart grieves with them.

No Gas to Go...Bummer.

Some days it just ain't fun living WAAAAAAYYYYYY out in the country! Tonight is MNO...and I can't go.

If you aren't familiar with MNO, it stands for Mom's Night Out. This is where homeschool moms (or any mom, really!) get together and learn from each other. We especially like hearing from those veteran moms who have been in the trenches longer than we have! Sometimes we learn how to deal with our children better; sometimes we learn how to deal with our husbands better. Sometimes we learn ways to strengthen our relationship with the Lord. Sometimes we go just to be able to spend a few minutes talking with friends without being interrupted by kids pulling on us. No matter what we learn...we always laugh!

Do you know how good it feels to laugh? Even when you've had a crazy week (or month) and don't feel like laughing? MNO should really stand for Mental Night Out. It really does improve your mental health! My dd learned a long time ago how much better things went at home after Mom went to a MNO. (Except for those "child-training" nights. She used to groan when she saw me come in with CD's or cassettes on this subject. She knew 'Boot Camp' wasn't far away! LOL!) For those moms who don't go -- You are really missing out!

But tonight, I just can't go. I went to town this morning for a Dr's appointment, had a Women's Ministry meeting over lunch with a friend, walked at the Mall, ran a few errands...then ran out of things to do. Even though Wonder-Woman and the Princess are planning on being there...I just couldn't justify hanging out until 7pm. So I came home. It feels like my friends are throwing a party and didn't invite me. Did I say, "Bummer?"

Don't get me wrong...Mr. Fix-It would probably not give me a hard time if I went back to town. But I just can't do it. I can't seem to justify spending that $4/gallon to do something for ME when Mr. Fix-It works so hard to provide for his family. Right now, he is having to work outside in this vicious heat so that I can run the air-conditioning here at home (sorry, Kell!). It's just not in me to spend $15 on gas just to hang out with my friends. At least not tonight.

The theme for tonight is training your children to sit quietly in church. I have a really good story about that -- it actually might help somebody! Well, probably not...but its a true story. Thankfully, we are wayyy past this problem...so I can't justify going even knowing they will talk about other wonderful things, too.

So, I'll just sit here and have my little pity-party, missing my friends and my little girl....

Bummer.

Blogging on Blogger

In case all you Blogger blogees haven't noticed. Blogger added a new feature the other day. It's called Blog List. "Why would this have anything to do with me?" you ask. Well, I'm here to tell you, it's a really cool addition.

Since dd is away from her dear mother (at Camp Charis) this week, Mom has had some free time (read: MOM IS LONESOME!) to play on the computer! In one day, I've revamped my header, added a little scroll-y feature that I found on another website, and added the Blog List to my blog.

The great thing about the Blog List is that it tells me when a blog is updated, so I don't have to waste my time clicking on a blog over and over in the vain hope the blogger (read: the Princess) has finally posted something new! The List keeps updating itself and moves the most recent posts to the top so that I can easily check out new stuff. Isn't that nifty?

I've also found some interesting websites that tell you how to do some cool things on your blog. Some of these are written in Geek-Speak...but some are written for Newbies like myself.

This may be a very educational week -- for MOM! 5 days to go!

Stay tuned!

Singers and Brothers

Yesterday morning I set my mind to be the wonderfully domestic, Mom, God meant me to be.

The Project: Cut the "too flared" legs off of 2 pairs of jeans and hem them; so dd could have 2 more pairs of shorts for Camp Charis this week.

Considering myself to be of average intelligence, I reasoned..how tough can it be? Other mothers do this. Surely, it can't be too hard!...Can it? Remember, I sewed a strange shirt together in high school Home-Ec class over 30 years ago, right? Okay, in all honesty, my friend Cheryl really sewed most of the shirt for me when the teacher wasn't looking...but I threaded the machine!

Pretending to know what I'm doing...I instructed dd to put on the first pair of jeans so that I could....ummm...measure. Yep, I was going to measure (that sounded like a good start). So, as dd modeled the jeans, with hands straight down to measure where her fingertips would fall...I took my trusty scissors and tried to cut a straight line around her leg while she was squealing and jumping because she said it tickled. After getting all four legs (of the pants!) cut off, I proceeded to pull out a sewing machine.

Yes, I actually own two sewing machines. Can't sew...but I own two! One of my most prized possessions is my mother's tiny, old, black Singer sewing machine. So many wonderful memories of her are pulled out of that box each time I open it!


As a young wife at 18 yo, expecting her first baby, my mom purchased this machine brand new in 1956. She made all her own clothes and most for her new baby. My dad says she paid $17 a month for a VERY long time to pay it off. Didn't I say it was one of my most prized possessions?

My mom was a most excellent seamstress. She made too many things to list...but some of the more notable projects included: all my Easter dresses; matching red wool blazers for 3 sons, and 1 husband that matched the red dresses made for herself and her daughter (she never sewed anything red again!); drapes for our home; a yellow gingham bedspread, curtains and canopy for my teen bedroom; and hemmed many, many pairs of pants for the four kids in her home. I think she was very disappointed that no matter how hard she tried to teach me to sew... it never quite clicked. After patiently trying to show me over and over...she would finally give up and do it herself. (I can really identify with that now that I'm a mom...back then, I was just glad to be let loose to go do something else!)

As usual, I digress...Since this job sewing denim was one I considered too tough for my precious little Singer (don't want to mess it up!), I pulled out the Brother sewing machine I inherited from Mr. Fix-It's aunt. This one is a bit more complicated and sews zig-zag stitches. Mom's little Singer never even heard of zig-zag! (Actually, I can't quite understand why anyone would really want to zig-zag...but that's something I'll have to contemplate another time.)

So, after getting the instruction book to figure out how to put the bobbin in (it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to get the little cover off -- it just pops off!), I examined the illustration showing how to thread the needle. [Now, remember, I just got my contacts changed and gave up being able to see things close up without glasses.] So, I put my trusty reading glasses on and tried to thread the needle. Finally, I'm successful at threading the needle. Wahoo!

I go back to the little book and re-read how it should be. As I read, I see it say "thread the needle from back to front"...Oh, no! I did it backwards (front to back), so I pull it out and try to thread it from the back. After numerous unproductive attempts, I call for dd to "Please come do this for me before I start cussing!" (I would never really do that...but it made it sound more urgent...okay, I might!) So dd, starts trying to thread the needle as I re-read the instructions AGAIN. This time, I read them "thread the needle from front to back"...What? How did I read that wrong when I had it threaded RIGHT? ACKKKK! Soooo.... after 2 different pairs of glasses, 1 frustrated dd, and 1 really aggravated mom...I finally get the machine ready to sew.

Now, any of you who have ever sewn on denim, you know about broken threads, needles that don't want to go through the layers at seams, etc....you get the picture. FINALLY, after over an hour of struggle, jean shorts #1 has been completed. Yay!!!!

Now to the second pair. Long story short...legs not even. Pull out threads, start to sew again. Bobbin runs out of thread. Get book out again to figure out how to fill bobbin. Fill bobbin. Re-thread @#$%^ needle. Legs REALLY not even. Cut another inch off of long leg...re-sew. Now legs look fairly even...but one leg only shows one line of hem...the other has two sewn lines...dd says "It's fine!... I don't care! ...Just quit sewing!!!!"

Love that girl!

[Note to Self: You are NOT Wonder-Woman like Pat Weso! Don't EVER try to save $$ again. PAY the $15 for shorts already sewn!]

Mall Meanderings

After the 'extensive' shopping trip yesterday, dd and I decided to go to the GS Mall so that I could get my walk in for the day (in the air conditioning) and then we could eat lunch.

It's so much fun to walk around with someone to talk to ...instead of having to get all introspective and evaluate my life as I walk alone...asking the Lord to point out all of my short-falls. (Believe me, He will!) Our conversation today was sweet. We talked about the crazy fashions in the windows...most had at least 3 pieces on the tops. We couldn't figure out why, if you KNOW your top is immodest, do you think adding an ugly t-shirt underneath, with a bustier on top, makes it all better? As we passed Victoria's Secret, I wondered out loud whether she thought I should buy the outfit in the window for myself...her reply was that Victoria should keep her secret instead of showing everybody! We talked about so many things...I wonder how often in the future will I have her full attention for 30 minutes at a time? Did I mention that it was a sweet time?

[Note to Self: Even though it is a delightful experience to have teen dd walk and talk to said Self, dd's long legs and athletic self will KILL YOU!!!]

After we finished walking, and before her mother keeled over in exhaustion; we pulled out her little coupons for Chic-Fil-A. Buying their calendar is soooo worth the money! We had a Grilled Chicken wrap, regular Chicken Sandwich, large fries, a Coke and a cup of water for $3.17! The Grilled Chicken wrap costs nearly $5 by itself! What a deal...I feel like... Pat Weso!!! Wahoo!

Now, lest you think..."Hmmm...she walked and then ate a chicken sandwich with a gazillion calories??" Aha! I knew you were thinking that! Actually, according to my handy-dandy little Calorie King book, a regular Chic-Fil-A sandwich is only 410 calories; which, in the scheme of things is a pretty good deal! My sandwich probably had a lot less calories because somebody forgot to put that yellow, buttery looking stuff on the bun...so I'm sure I don't have to count the WHOLE 410!

So, just for good measure, after eating we made another loop of the top floor....then ended up at the Dollar Store so Mom could pick up her prescription glasses...of course, at a bargain price! Pat is really rubbing off on me...maybe I ought to look into that Wonder Woman bustier, myself!

Blueberries and Blue Jeans

Instead of picking blueberries this morning as previously planned, I went shopping with dd. For those of you who know me...even a little bit...you know shopping is one of my least favorite occupations. Actually, I would consider shopping for clothes one of the few things I truly HATE! However, dd is leaving for a week long camp on Saturday. She informed me --after 8pm last night!-- that she had only ONE pair of shorts and ONE pair of jeans that she could take to camp. A shopping trip became a necessity...(even in my hebetudinous state!). (Yeah, we're homeschoolers...."Look it up!")

So we postpone blueberry picking....which according to the magazine article I read last night could cost me the opportunity to lose over 5 pounds this coming week! Sure enough, the article says if I eat blueberries and yogurt for breakfast I will lose 5 pounds a week!!!! Of course, I'm wondering if that means I'm not allowed to eat anything else the rest of the day? Hmmmmm.... I'll have to look into that.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. Shopping. Well, we went to our first stop. Goodwill on Apalachee Parkway. I parked the car and was talking on my cell while dd went in to begin the search. Approximately 10 minutes later I followed...yes, it WAS an important call! Anyway, when I got in the store, dd had found exactly 1 pair of shorts...but had NOT even tried them on yet. So tamping down my impatient..."What have you been doing?"...I sent her to the dressing room and set out to find some jeans for her to try on. But what size?

My sweet dd is built like her dad. (Thank you, Lord!) She has long, slim legs; a small waist; and no butt. This is not always a great combination when looking for pants--but it is soooo much better than short and stubby, like Mom!

She steps out of the dressing room...Wahoo! The shorts are an absolutely perfect fit and length! What are the chances of that?






The perfect shorts,

finger-tip length,

...only $3.49 + tax!









So we look at the size. She goes back in the cubicle and I head to the rack to see if I can find any other pants close to that size. Actually, I was amazed to find so many pairs of jeans that you could actually READ the size! Wonderful!

So, with about 8 pairs of jeans draped over my arm, I proceed to the dressing room to have dd try these on. Our conversation sounded like this:

The first pair...
Mom: Those look really good! Not too tight, the right length...
DD: What? These are hideous! Look how these legs are...they are straight leg and look weird! (Note: Everything is said with !!!, like her MOM!)!
Mom: I think they look fine.
DD: I would look like a dork.
Mom: Fine, take them off and try on the next pair.

The 2nd pair...
Mom: Those look really good! Not too tight, the right length...
DD: Are you kidding? Look at these flare legs...they make me look like a balloon!
Mom: I think they look fine.
DD: Yeah, for a dork!
Mom: Fine, take them off and try on the next pair.

The 3rd pair...
Mom: Those look really good! Not too tight, the right length...
DD: Don't EVEN! These make me look like a freak! No way would I wear these!
Mom: Come On! They look fine!
DD: Yeah, for a freak!! I won't wear them, so there's no point in buying them! [said very respectfully, of course!]
Mom: Fine, take them off and try on the next pair.

Okay, you get the idea... Dork pair, old lady looking, freaky, too straight legs, too flared legs, too long legs, too big in the waist, too dark, etc., etc., etc.

After going through all 8 pairs...we have 1 "maybe" pair. Mom heads back onto the floor and finds another stack. As dd tries on this stack, our conversation was not much better except NOW Mom throws in a compromise. [Otherwise known as a Light-Bulb moment!] We've decided to take a few of the pairs that fit the waist and legs and we'll just cut the "hideous" bottoms off for shorts. This makes dd smile. This makes Mom smile. Wahoo! We have a winner!

So we leave Goodwill with 3 pairs of jeans and 1 pair of shorts...for $19.89. Not bad, considering the shorts we saw at Wal-Mart last week were $15 (for one pair) and were too short and looked like they had been washed way too many times! Of course, if I had been informed of the jean deficit at an earlier date, we could have shopped at the 1/2 price on Monday sale...but 'planning' is not in dd's vocabulary (Mom's fault, of course!).

Now all I have to do is get out my trusty sewing machine (that probably HATES denim) and figure out how to hem these pants to make them look less hideous and more acceptable.... I don't sew... Pray for me!

Hear the Sizzle?

Sizzling Fajitas! Yep! I stepped out of my little rut and made something different tonight for supper. Even though Mr. Fix-It is your basic meat and taters kind of guy...I knew I could lure him in if I put plenty of bell pepper in it!

Last month we bought the basic Angel Food package and it included this 'fajita meat.' I've never eaten a fajita, much less cooked them. I have smelled them at restaurants...and they smelled pretty good.

So tonight I thawed the packet of meat, got on my trusty computer and looked up a recipe (or How to Cook Fajitas) so that I could impress my household with my prowess in the kitchen! My friends who know that the kitchen is NOT my natural environment will be very proud of my new dinner entree. The rest of you who know how EASY fajitas are to make will not quite understand my thrill at this accomplishment. (Of course, it's not as big a deal as if I cleaned out my cabinets and organized them like that Polish girl....)

Just so you know...dd and Mr. Fix-It really liked them. It must have been the peppers and vidalia onions!

So mark down this date in history. I made something DIFFERENT for supper! Wahoo! What's next?

Squeaky

In the past I've spotlighted our family's equines and canines. Now it's time to introduce you to our FELINE, Squeaky. (Yes, I know I already posted 1 picture...but that doesn't count!) Lest you wonder about the weird spelling of animal names at our home...I lay that squarely at the feet of dd. She is an excellent speller...except when it comes to 'names.' She likes them to be spelled differently than most people would expect; thus, we have Kodi, Bessy, and Squeaky.

Squeaky came to us when he was already a year old. Mr. Fix-It didn't think this was a good idea because he didn't think the cat would bond with the family. But since his previous owner, who had adopted him from the pound, was desperate to find him a new home (offering a big bag of food, food/water dishes, food mat, litter box with bag of litter, kitty condo and 1 yrs worth of vet visits); how could we turn down this deal?

When he came to us his name was...ahem...Virgil. We know he was embarrassed by this name because he hid under my bed for his first two weeks at Lonesome Pine. By this time we had figured out that he didn't say 'Meow'...he squeaked! Very quickly, Mr. Fix-It started calling him "Squeaky" or "Squeakers"-- it stuck.



He sleeps in very strange places.












Since Day 15, Squeaky has wanted to be in the middle of any activity. We had worked on this puzzle for quite some time...after putting in the last piece, Squeaky quickly decided to try it out.






Here, he is impersonating a sheet in my linen closet. Needless to say, Mom was NOT a happy camper. Sorry, I'm not one of those people who like to sleep on cat hair sheets!









Here, he is dreaming of playing in Carnegie Hall.















He's happiest when cuddled up to sleep. He likes being held and cuddled. Many times he will stand on his back paws and hold his front paws in the air for dd to pick him up...just like a toddler.







He's even been known to sleep with Mr. Fix-It!













He likes to do schoolwork --or keep schoolwork from getting done...












He likes to read.















Here, he's enjoying a read-aloud book... probably about horses.














He's not really thrilled with English, but then again, neither is dd.












He likes to play the piano, too!














Here, he is acting in his capacity as a computer tech. Helping foster-dd with schoolwork on the computer.









He thinks he is human. This is HIS girl, and you can bet he will be somewhere close at bedtime... unless he needs to go outside...at which time he promptly jumps on Mom!









Even when strangers show up to spend time with his girl, he's right there in the middle.











He actually takes over the bed most nights and has been known to push dd off the bed.



















DD loves animals...period! She loves horses, she loves her dogs, she loves her cat. That is just fine with me...she'll never want to leave home!

Jumping Jehoshaphat...It's June!

Wow! May went so fast my head is spinning! I managed to blog every day after signing on to Blogger (on May 3). I won't expect that of myself again...but I wanted to start with a bang (and keep up with the Princess who did it so gracefully:p)!

I think I'll start a tradition with myself of using my first post each month to summarize the previous month in a few concise sentences. Okay, concise isn't really in my vocabulary...so I'll just try to keep it as short as possible.

I think I'll call it....

Things I Figured Out in May 2008!

1. Nobody actually cares where I start.
2. My brothers don't actually care that I wished them a Happy Birthday online. Neither one of them was very happy to be awakened from a nice sleep early on Sunday morning! But that was the most fun part for me!!!
   
3. I did manage to ask my Dad about the story of my mom having her 2nd baby on the birthday of the first. After dropping Mom at the hospital, he had to drop Mr. 1 Year Old off at a babysitter. Mom had Baby #2 before he could get back!
4. I miss my dear, sweet friend Edna more than you can know. So many times I pick up the phone to call her and chat...then I realize she's spending her time with her old friend, Jesus!
5. Mr. Fix-It misses the shooting tree. I don't.
6. As my family rides around town together; invariably one of us will say, "Remember delivering flowers to that office? or that house?"
7. After receiving a replacement phone, I've forgotten to program in my prayer alarm. Sure need to do that today!
8. I'm very happy not to be in west Texas or New Mexico in the heat. Actually, I'm very happy to be sitting in very decent air-conditioning right now!
9. That really was an ugly car we were sent to California to pick up. But we'd gladly do it again--even for an ugly car!
10. The mountains in California were beautiful. The Mojave Desert was full of rocks. I don't want to live in any of those places.
11. Our dd loves snow. (Okay, I already knew that!)
12. Even looking at pictures of the Grand Canyon makes my heart swell. God really did a good job!
13. Probably the most important thing I learned this month. If you post about an extremely humiliating experience that happens to you, EVERYONE loves it! They actually read your blog and post comments. Who would have thunk it?
14. Even the person posting an ongoing travel blog gets bored with it!
15. This month I've learned that if you actually walk at the mall on a regular basis...you can almost keep up with the old ladies! Or you can walk the route the opposite way of the old lady that keeps passing you and it will freak her out!
16. Since posting that my dd always wears her helmet while she rides the monster; I found out that is not quite the case. Hmmm....
17. Although my un-scientific friends tell me my shower-curtain-eating-bug is a common cricket, I refuse to believe it. I have sent the picture to a professional bug man...who is so professional he even has two beetle species named after him! Surely he will tell me that it is an exotic bug known only to a few and that they've decided to name it after my shower curtain!
18. After meeting Boomer and Bessy, I bet you didn't know that Boomer got his name because...well...he had a very bad gas problem as a puppy and would run us out of the office on occasion! He lives outside now and it doesn't bother us.
19. Thirty years is starting to feel like a very long time. Especially, when you have friends that tell you about attending their "10" year reunion this summer!
20. Someone (Laura! Bless her heart!) has finally explained the correlation of dust and dirt. I'm so thankful to report that most of my dust has not made the transition as yet. But give it time!
21. I'm thankful that none of my friends believe my dd can be unkind, less than sweet, or disrespectful to her sweet mother. Maybe we're doing something right!
22. Putting off going to the eye Dr. was really stupid. I'm so thankful to be able to see faces again. I told our Pastor yesterday, "I'm so happy to see you today!" He looked at me kind of funny and said, "Well, I'm happy to see you today, too!" Then I said, "No! You don't understand...I'm happy to SEEEEEEE you today! I got my contacts corrected." He laughed...he knows how crazy I am!
23. Anybody interested in a 4-bedroom house sitting on 2 acres on Highland Drive out Buck Lake Road? I know a good one for sale!
    
24. It has come to my attention once again that dd is growing up wayyyyy too fast!
25. I have a lot of random thoughts and questions that nobody cares about except me. But I will, if it kills me, find out what kind of bug ate my shower curtain!

Happy June!