I Am Not....

I am not a Boy Scout or a Girl Scout, or a Bluebird, or any combination of the above that might have a motto of preparedness.  But I have kind of learned my lesson.

This will be a post of confessions.  First up: I didn't have time to shave my legs today.  So I picked a beloved long skirt.  It came from a thrift store about ten years ago and I love how comfortable it is because (second confession): it has a drawstring waist and I love not having zippers and buttons constricting me.

I walk to work on this lovely day, full of sunshine and smiles and I arrive on time but as I bend down to put my yogurt in the fridge I hear an ominous rip.

Which I ignore, stretch down even further to find a slightly empty spot for my lunch treat,  and hear a worse rip.  And then my skirt sags away from my waist and feels like it might hit the floor.  I casually, but quickly, get a grip on it and make my way to the bathroom.

Upon entering I discover that my draw string has severed connections with itself, and I no longer have anything holding my skirt up.  I dig through my bag, praying for a safety pin, but no such luck.  I almost never have a safety pin at home when I need it, I sure as shooting won't have it in my purse for an emergency like this!

At my desk, I jerry-rig a paper clip to cinch my skirt in, and I then I sit and pray for the hours to sped by so I can walk home at lunch.

First thing I do when I get home: let the skirt fall off.  Second thing: feed the dogs their lunch.  Then I make my own lunch.  After that I fix my skirt, good as new.

I have decided I can't always be prepared, but I will change it slightly and always have a safety pin in my purse.  That being said, I was almost late back to work trying to find one!  I did, and it is in my purse and I hope to never have to use it.

A To Z Reflections

I'd known fellow blogging friends were going to do the A to Z Challenge, but I didn't know if I really wanted to commit to that.  A letter a day?  I hate the letter 'J'.  That would be a tough day....and I'm not wild about 'K' or 'Q' either.....

Then April 1st rolled around and seeing all the clever 'A' posts got me excited and inspired and I knew I could do that too.  So I joined up.

I loved it!  Visiting other blogs, commenting on posts that intrigued me....not to mention my own blogs comment numbers jumped up!

I didn't plan in advance.  I'd wake up and think, "Today is the letter --" and sometimes inspiration hit immediately, sometimes I pondered it all through the day.

I had so much fun doing this challenge, and I missed it when it was over!  The first day after the challenge ended, I sat down to blog with no clue what, how, when, where or why to write!

I'll do it again next year, absolutely!  But I will give the letter 'Z' a lot more thought.  I enjoyed every "Zippity Doo Dah" post, but next year I want my 'Z' to be...um....unique.  And I sincerely hope that doesn't make me a bad person!

Out Damn Weeds!

I don't know where I was last summer, but I obviously was not taking care of my flower beds.   They are a disaster.  And that is not an exaggeration.

This is about 1/8 of the beds I have, but I can assure you, they all look like this.  I started trying to weed, but have ended up having to dig things up to get all the weed roots, and even then, I can tell it's a lost cause.

I'm half tempted to just let it go back to grass and have my husband run the mower over it.  

Actually, with the way I feel about it right now, I'm way beyond half tempted to do that!

I'm Back On For Wins

I have had a gut feeling about whether every baby was a boy or a girl since my first born, and I have been right every time except for 3 years ago when I guessed a girl for my sister's third and he turned out to be a wonderfully perfect boy.

I should have changed my guess because I had a dream a few weeks before he was born, and instead of a girl, he was a boy.  I woke up and thought, "She's having a boy," and then I thought, "Don't second guess yourself," and I was wrong.

So for this last baby, my youngest sister's third, I've felt like it was a girl.  Just had a feeling.  But, I wasn't confident in that feeling after my one wrong feeling.  About four days ago, I dreamed that the baby had been born and I got a text from my Mom saying, "It's a girl!"

I decided to go with it.  I made my final guess and it was done up in pinks and frills........

It's hard to tell in this unisex hospital blanket, and she also looks identical to her big brothers, but I was right.  I'm back on for wins in the guessing baby game!

Welcome to the family baby RJC!  OhCho is going to spoil you rotten.

My Perfect Mother's Day

I wake up when I want

Not when the dogs bark

Or the kids knock

I have no household chores

The dishes are washed

The trash is tossed

I want to sit on the front porch

With a good book for reading

And a mocha for drinking

I need a card from each kid

And that means the dogs too

Printed all over with 'I love you'

I should go out to eat

Since I can't lift a finger 

To figure out dinner

I will stop by my Mom's 

To tell her she's awesome

I am because she is a very good Mum.

This post inspired by prompt #5 at Mama's Losin' It!

First Love

This is the true story of first love, of meeting on the school bus at the age of 14, of going steady and holding hands, of proms and pep assemblies, of the B dinner for two and a movie at the old theater.  It's the story of two kids who felt older than their years, who came together like perfect connecting puzzle pieces, who knew that to say yes to this big adventure was a forever kind of deal.

I can remember in our early dating life, trying to picture us together at our 20th reunion, and I could not see it.  Not because we weren't digging each other, but because we were still getting to know each other.  I can pinpoint the exact moment the scale tipped to the heavier, better, side of knowing.

It was the 4th of July, and my guy showed up at my door for our date at the parade and fireworks later, with an eye patch and his Mom.  His eye was scratched, he couldn't drive, and to keep our date, his Mom was our chauffeur.  Being all of 16 going on 17, I should have died of mortification.

Instead, I took his hand happily, proudly.

Later as I sat with his Mom on a blanket and watched him light off fireworks (he was being careful he said, but considering he had only one eye and it was dark, I was worried) I felt a surety, a wholeness, a sense of belonging when I looked at him (eye patch and all) and I knew.

I knew then, and 21 years later, I still know.

He is the the other half of me, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish.  He is mine and I am his.

And for everyone who said we were too young (and considering that we were 18, that was almost everyone) I say, "Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries."

True love watches a guys favorite movie hundreds of times and even after that many viewings, can't stop laughing when he quotes from it.  21 years and counting!


This post inspired by TangledLou and all the somethings she's up to!

The Sun In Her Eyes

When we moved into this house years ago, we upgraded from a round table that sat four to a rectangle table that can seat 6 easy and 10 if you really love your neighbor.  We also upgraded from eating in the kitchen to a real dining room.

After so many years with a round table, having a 'head' of the table felt odd, so the four of us sit two by two across from each other.  We do have our spots, and only for guests do we give up our white knuckled grip on our reserved seat!

My daughter has always sat facing the outside door, with it's lovely old fashioned glass window, but during certain times of the year (namely spring, summer and fall) it catches all of the sun's glory. Those lovely rays of sunshine fall exactly on her face, and she is blinded.  She's tried moving her chair to the left or to the right, but it is no use.  Her spot is a sun spot.

I would always tell her I was so sorry and offer to trade spots or move her chair to one of the ends of the table, but we are set in our ways kind of folk, and her spot is her spot regardless of blinding sunlight.

When company is over, we sit wherever there is a spot.  There are no rules on those nights, and so it happened a night ages ago that one of my son's best friends sat in my daughter's spot for dinner.  He quickly held up his hand to cover his eyes and I thought, oh no!  We can't let a guest suffer!

And so an idea came forth that still hangs around to this day:

The apron curtain!  It hangs on the door year round, sometimes up, sometimes down.  My daughter is quick to point out that I never thought of it for her, when the sun was in her eyes....  True.  I don't know why I didn't think of hanging something up there years before!  Just tired I guess.

It is an apron she sewed herself, that I love dearly and was loath to dirty up in real apron duties, so I think that should count for some good Mom points!



PS This is not an example of blinding sunlight coming in.....currently we have a huge, ugly rain cloud hanging right over our town.  Otherwise, it would be ablaze in sunshine!