City Girls, Country Girls

As I was brushing my teeth last night it occurred to me that the girls are growing up the exact opposite way I did.

I grew up in mainly urban/suburban environs. On most of our family vacations/getaways we escaped to the peace and tranquility of south Georgia, visiting Grandmom and Granddaddy. And I loved it, even as a teenager. I loved that there were no city lights to block out the stars. I loved helping with the chickens and in the garden. I loved the quiet of the country and taking walks through cotton fields along dirts roads. I loved sitting on the porch with Granddaddy watching the occasional car go by. I loved seeing the Christmas lights that Tifton put up "downtown" every year. I just loved the coziness of it all.

Now, I live in that (somewhat) cozy environment. When we take our family vacations we usually head to the big city- Jacksonville or Atlanta. Mostly to visit friends and family, but also so we can hit up the big city stores and museums and restaurants. I love having lots of choices as to what we will do for the day. I love knowing that there is a good chance I won't run into someone I know. I love looking at the skyline at night, all lit up. I love the excitement and energy.

It will be interesting to see where the girls settle down when they grow up.

A List of Things for Yoooooooouuuuuuuu!

Men I Have Been Unreasonably Attracted To At Some Point In Time:

1. TIM CURRY


Was it when I first saw him as "Rooster" in Annie? No, I was only six. Was it when he was "Wadsworth the Butler" in one of the greatest movies of all time, Clue? I was ten. Definitely getting closer. What sealed the deal for me was seeing him in full-on drag as "Frank N. Furter" in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. How twisted is that?? But really, it's his voice. Deep and British! His laugh is pure evil (in a good way). And he sings!! *swoons*

2. PRINCE


Look, he's only like 4'11, he's skinny, a little too fond of the color purple (Not to be confused with The Color Purple, Mom. Hee. That joke WILL NEVER GET OLD.) and he wears too much make up. But the dude oozes pheromones. And somehow he manages to go between a smooth baritone and a sweet falsetto and he pulls. it. off. What's up with that?

Songs and/or artists that are COMPLETELY OVERRATED and I Unreasonably Hate:
1. FIONA APPLE


UGH. I cannot tell you how much I despise Fiona Apple and every song she has ever sung. Her voice is average at best and her lyrics are bad middle school diary. Not to mention she is completely full of herself. I am really glad she was basically a one hit wonder and hope she never attempts a "comeback".

2. NEIL YOUNG


He looks and sounds like the abandoned cat that lives behind your local gas station. Crosby, Stills and Nash are better off without him.

Two Documentaries Everyone Should Watch:
1. Grizzly Man


Timothy Treadwell lived in the wilds of Alaska among Grizzly Bears. Timothy Treadwell thought the bears were his family. Timothy Treadwell was completely NUTS. Spent the hour and a half watching this movie. You won't be sorry.

2. The Endless Summer


It's so retro it's hip again! I love this movie. (I even love its not-as-good sequel.) Who hasn't dreamed of travelling around the world visiting beautiful and exotic locales? Who hasn't dreamed of having a rockin' surfer body? Who hasn't dreamed of a cure for skin cancer so we can all be tan and beautiful year round?? I still think, given half a chance I could be an awesome surfer.

It's Friday, I'm in Love

1. Isabella has been home from school for three days now because of a sinus infection/fever/bad cough. The antibiotic *finally* seems to be kicking in and she's feeling better. James stayed home with her on Wednesday, and I've been home yesterday and today. I've been able to cath up on a few things around here, which is nice. Around 10:00 or so this morning I folded a load of laundry on my bed and then put it away. I sat down for a minute to survey the joint, fully intending to get back up, put my shoes on and go get some more Ginger Ale (Ginger Ale fixes any illnesss. Did you know that??)

Nex thing I knew I was waking up and it was 1:00! What kind of person have I become?? One who falls asleep for a three hour nap, evidently.

2. I am feeling quite motivated to rearrange my books on the bookshelves in the living room. Right now everything is (mostly) arranged by author (but not in alphabetical order) and the occasional genre. I think of moving all the genre books together and making a larger shelf for books I haven't read yet. I'm hoping this way I'll remember what I haven't read when I go looking for something before I go out and buy something new.

But the thought of rearranging 500+ books is a little daunting. Maybe I'll just run down to the library and pick up the books I have on hold first.

3. You know I worship at the feet of The Pioneer Woman. Everything she does is magic and all that jazz. But the last few recipes I've made from her have only been so-so. The Cherry Cake Pudding was especially disappointing. But it's okay, Ree. I still love you!!!

4. I am so very glad we don't have school on Monday.

Third Person Thursday

Tip 'o the hat to Kage for the format idea.

She knows this time of the year is the winter doldrums, so she tried to compensate by keeping her home tidy(ish) and cozy, cooking pots of hearty soups and the occasional yummy dessert and looking forward to spring and sunshine, which isn't too far away.

But just like clockwork, the moody blues hit with a vengeance. She's tired and worn out from dealing with the flu on top of life. She knows her partner is also tired and worn out and worst in his mind, COLD. (He doesn't like being cold.) She's trying to be supportive, but the energy battery is already running so low in spite of the extra rest and vitamins and cutting out the unimportant to focus on what matters Right Now. She realized today that not only is it a full moon this week, but her monthly visitor would be arriving sometime on Sunday. (She knows this thanks to the miracle of modern science).

In other words, Mother Nature is really, really messing her up.

She's been worrying about her girls, too. She remembers those awkward tween/pre-teen/teen years all to well. At times she sees the girls handling challenges with grace and maturity that belies their ages. And then sometimes they're a weeping mess that can't be fixed, only endured. She remembers what it was like and digs deep in her muddled soul so she can listen or talk or provide a solution- whatever is necessary. And then there was yesterday when there was nothing she could say, and the consequences (if any) would fall directly - and painfully - on her precious girl's head.

And then there's reality smacking her straight upside the head, with another sick girl. It didn't seem serious at first, but it's getting worse. The doctor wants to wait until tomorrow to how things stand then. The last time she waited her baby girl ended up with pneumonia. But she decides to trust the doctor, because the alternative (a middle of the night trip to the scary, takes-eight-hours-to-be-seen-and-who-knows-what-germs-are-now-taking-over-her-body emergency room) is worse than waiting.

And while she's busy dealing with the day-to-day stuff, living life, enduring to the end, what she REALLY wants to be doing is thinking deep thoughts about long term decisions and implications and ramifications. For her. For her partner. For her girls. For their family. For their friends. She wants to write out her concerns and frustrations and her goals and dreams. But she's afraid people won't be kind or understanding or worse; like they will judge her feelings and willfully misunderstand her choices. Because it's happened before, and it wasn't pretty. It never is.

Her body will heal. So will her mind and soul. Mother Nature will be kind again soon. She'll worry in the meantime but then, when the time is right, when the universe shows itself, she'll act. She knows life is messy and lovely. She's got the dichotomy down and she understands that juxtaposing some things will make people mighty uncomfortable. So she waits a bit longer, biding her time. Pondering. Praying. Revising. Reviewing. Waiting.

Lulu says "Happy Thursday"

Y'all. Y'ALL. LOOK AT THAT FACE!!!!

What I Did Not Do On Valentine's Day

1. I was sick with the flu AND tonsillitis last week. As in Monday afternoon through Sunday Night. I went back to school yesterday because 1) I was feeling better (finally!) and 2) we had our class Valentine's Party. Party days are always crazy (in a good way) but I can't in good conscience make a sub deal with that.

So. While in the abstract I knew yesterday was Valentine's Day, in the concrete world I had pretty much forgotten about it, what with being sick and all. Which means Isabella went skipping off to school with no valentines for her class. (Madeline, being in middle school, is now responsible for giving out valentines to whomever she chooses. I wash my hands of it.) This was Isabella's last year of the whole-class-valentine-thing and I blew it. I should feel guilty-ish, but I kinda-sorta don't.

2. Speaking of realizing it was Valentine's Day but not realizing that it's TODAY (or yesterday, as it were) James made plans to get a haircut after work. I forgot about these plans. With Beauty and the Beast stuff plus me being sick, I hadn't cooked a real meal in almost three weeks. Last night I was feeling well enough to throw together some Spaghetti and Meatballs and Caesar Salad for dinner. (I figured the sauce was red so that said "Happy Valentine's Day" enough).

I was getting kinda late (for us) and James still wasn't home. For a sit down dinner! That I cooked! On Valentine's Day!. So the girls and I ate without him. When he got home and I saw his lack of hair I remembered his plans. Oh well. A romantic dinner is such a cliche anyway.

3. Before I got sick, I bought the girls their Valentine's presents. We got them a rose charm to go on the Pandora bracelets they got for Christmas. (A rose because 1) roses are the International Flower of Lurve and 2) it's the Beauty and the Beast trademark symbol, and we wanted to get them something to remind them of this production.)

However, I get sick before I could order James *his* Valentine's present, namely, new long johns (The cold weather apparel.Not the delicious cream filled, chocolate filled pastry. Although he would have appreciated that as well.) But since he didn't get me anything either, we'll just say No Harm, No Foul.

And frankly, if Valentine's Day disappeared from the calendar I probably wouldn't miss it. You know those people who are all "Christmas is so commercial! Jesus is the reason for the season! Down with malls and Black Friday!!! Blah, blah, blah fishcakes!!"? That's how I feel about Valentine's Day. You're supposed to go all out on this one day out of the year to share your significant other how much you love them by spending money or doing something "special"? Please.

There's a well-known LDS blogger who I kinda-sorta keep up with who kept referring to the day as the "Lover's Holiday". *cue me rolling my eyes SO FAR BACK INTO MY HEAD THAT I'M AFRAID THEY MIGHT NOT COME BACK*. Sorry, well-known LDS blogger. This just smacks of trying way way WAY too hard, not to mention it's just obnoxious.

I'd keep on ranting, but it's time for me to go pick up some dinner for James and the girls. (They are rehearsing, he's building amazing sets.) Hopefully they'll know I love them, even if it's not February 14th.

When Doves Cry

***MAJOR EDIT AT THE END!! MUST BE READ!!!!!***

Y'all know my mom, right??



Nice lady. Loving wife, mother, and Nana. Doting daughter. Asset to the community. Maker of fine breads. Possessor of hobbit-like feet.

I want to tell you a story about her.

Back in the day, 'round about 1995 or so, I came home from a date. As was her habit, she was waiting up for me, watching TV. (I think this habit ended with Helen, but that's beside the point.) As was my habit, I sat down for a few minutes to talk to her, catch up on the evening's home events, etc. It took a second, but I eventually realized what Mom was watching on TV.



That's right, my friends, this woman was watching Purple Rain. I was speechless! Who knew she was such a fan of (what he was known at the time) The Artist Formally Known As Prince??!?!?

To this day, she swears she was just flipping through the channels and it just happened to be on and she got sucked into the movie. I've never been convinced by her story. I think she liked it.

So now I consider it my duty to call her everytime I see that Purple Rain is on, so she can watch her favorite movie. Just like I did last Friday. I bet she even DVRed it!

THIS IS FOR YOU, MOM!!!



Mom just reminded me a part of the story I forgot!!!! She says that she *thought* she was watching The Color Purple and got very confused when Whoopi and Oprah never showed up in the movie.

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I really think that just makes the story better. ;)