Like any good zombie, I'm on the hunt for BRAINS...

I used to be smart.

I swear I did. I mean, I used to *know* *stuff*. I could think a coherent thought and communicate effectively. I was on the Brain Brawl team in high school! (Not that that really counts for anything. My friend Sarah's dad was one of the sponsor's. They needed a team, and Sarah's dad said if we joined he'd buy us lunch after every match. So it was me, Sarah and two other friends. We only did okay. But we got to be on the local public television station in the wee hours of Saturday morning! Oh yeah.)

These days, I don't feel very smart anymore. Part of it is the whole "Mommy Brain" thing. I manage the schedules of three other people who live in this house, in addition to my own, and I think keeping up with all that info has pushed out all of those long passages of Shakespeare I used to be able to quote from memory.

Another part of it is that I spend ten months of the year trying to think like a four year old as I plan out lessons and activities for my preschool class. Sure, I can come up with a *minimum* of 15 verses for "The Wheels on the Bus", but for the life of me I can't remember ANYTHING about algebra (which is a problem now that both girls are doing Pre-Algebra/Algebra stuff in school).

My brain feels foggy a lot of the time. Sometimes it's because I'm tired. Sometimes it's because I'm overwhelmed mentally and/or emotionally. I think a lot of it has to do with my anxiety medication because it DIRECTLY effects (affects? No, effects. See I used to know this no problem!) the way my brain is working. It's been especially bad today. Luckily I'm not really responsible for anything more taxing than making some pasta salads.

Crap. The whole effect/affect thing was bugging me so much I had to go look it up. I WAS WRONG. It's affect. The stupid medicine is affecting my brain. GAH.

I suppose it could be worse. Even though I *feel* stupid, I know I am not *actually* stupid. And the four year olds often think I'm a genious, so that's something. And maybe someday my anxiety will be in check again, and I can give up the foggy brain medicine. In the meantime, I'll keep trying to remember all the things I've forgotten.

Hello? Is it me you're looking for?

1. As much as I tried to avoid it, schools starts on Friday for the girls. It starts on Monday for me. Jaws, not being affliated with school in any way, has had no break and has been going to work on a regular basis for awhile now.

2. Last Saturday we (meaning me and the girls) drove Mom down to Tallahassee for an almost all day seminary training meeting. We decided to do some final back-to-school shopping. Our first shopping trip was when we were down in Jacksonville last month. It's exciting to go shopping in the big city, doncha know? I'm thinking about making this kind of trip a tradition. Something to look foward to to shake off the End-of-Summer blues.

3. I am so sick of mowing our lawn. Jaws is too. This school year I use my school money to buy a Dyson vaccuum and a riding lawn mower, come hell or high water.

4. Last week Madeline got Stage Two braces put on. Poor thing. More hardware this time, for a longer period of time (two years). If I don't buy a Dyson it's because of these braces.

5. Bella will most likely go into Stage Two braces in November-ish. If I don't buy a riding mower it's because of these braces.

6. I've discovered a new Pet Peeve. I hate it when people complain about where they live. Let me repeat that. I HATE IT. Maybe it's because I grew up in a military family, but I was always taught that home should be wherever you are and to make it as joyful an experience as possible, because it does no good to complain about it.

If you don't like where you live, MOVE. If you can't move, find the good in the situation and learn to be happy about it. If you can't find the good and be happy, then SHUT UP, because no one -NO ONE- wants to hear you complain about how terrible Podunk City is, especially the people who choose to be happy living there.

I'm sure this opinion offends many people, but frankly I don't care. I am sick and tired of the complaining. It's fine if you think somewhere else is better than wherever you are. I think there are LOTS of places better than where I am! But it's not fine (with me, anyway) to constantly whine and moan about it. For Pete's sake, GROW UP.

7. Wow. Maybe that PMS medicine isn't working as well as I thought. On the other hand, maybe it is, as I haven't actually voiced this opinion to anyone in particular, to their face. And I probably won't. Probably.

8. My mom made me laugh - out loud - TWICE last week. It's not that she's not a funny person, because she is. But her humor is more of the subtle type. It's ninja humor. So the fact that I LOLed is noteworthy.

9. My birthday is on Sunday. Email me for gift ideas, although cash is always welcomed.

10. What do you think of my new art project?? Feedback to make it better always welcome!





The piece in the middle is a print from Urban Outfitters that says "Home Is Where You Are", and I've surrounded it with favorites pics of the fam. I plan on adding to it.

Q and Eh?

Hey man! What's up?

Hey yourself. Not much. Just livin' life, ya know?

No, that's not what I mean. What's up with you? Why aren't you blogging this summer? Did I do something to offend you?

Of course not! It's not you, it's me.

That's what they all say.
No, really. It *is* me. You know how it is in the summertime. The days are lazy and soothingly repetitive. How many time do you really want to read about my taking the girls to the pool and how dark my tan is getting?

Well...

And think about it- if you have to get up for a job/small child/weak bladder, do you really want to hear about how I regularly sleep in past 10:00 9:00 am while my children happily entertain themselves??

I guess you have a point.

Sure I do. My not blogging has been for *your* benefit, see?

That's really thoughtful of you.

I know. I'm a giver.

But honestly, I've missed you and your witty insight into the minutiae of everyday life!

Sorry about that. I've tried to make a conscientious effort not to be in front of the computer so much this summer. It's been hard, seeing as how most of my closest friends live in my computer, but it's been good for my mental health.

What? Your mental health? What do you mean??

Never mind.

The least you can do is throw me a bone here. Haven't you done ANYTHING blog-worthy in the past two months? What about the chickens and the playhouse? What's going on with Jaws and the girls?

Okay, okay. Jaws went to Scout Camp at the end of June. We missed him a lot. He took my camera and came back with pictures like this:











A few days after James got home from camp, the girlies and I took of to Florida for a few days. We visited some old high school friends of mine, went to the beach, did some back to school shopping in the "big city" and generally had a great time.

The chickens are doing great! We almost double the flock to 15 after getting 7 more chickens from my brother. They are all getting big, and we should start seeing some eggs in the next month or so.

James finished their coop and run before he left for camp.



















Impressive, no? The playhouse still needs a real roof, some insulation and electricity, and James still has to build out the storage area under the playhouse (not to mention the whole structure needs to be painted). But the girls are happy, the chickens are happy, and I'm pretty sure we've become the crazy family in the neighborhood, as at least five different people have stopped and asked what the heck we were doing back there.

Jaws is busy with work. Madeline is excited to start middle school next month. Bella is excited to start 5th grade. I'm excited to start my third year of teaching Pre-K (and my 8th year of teaching preschool altogether). I am not excited that we will have to get up before the crack of dawn again. But that's still three weeks away, and I'm not going to think about it yet.

Good for you.

I know, right? See how much better my mental health is??

Uhh...

Trust me. It is.

I'll take your word for it. So what else??

Nope! You're not going to catch me monologing! That's enough news for now. If you want to know what I'm reading, check my Goodreads box on the side of my blog. For more day to day action, you'll find me on Facebook. If you really, really want me to post something (or something in particular) feel free to leave a blog comment. Now, I think I hear the UPS man delivering my latest order of books from Amazon, so adios amigos!

Random Thoughts on a Random Afternoon

It's raining, and I'm home alone.

The house is quiet, except for the hum of the A/C and the pounding of the rain on the back patio.

James is at work, and the girls are at a birthday party.

I've been trying to make quick refrigerator pickes all day, but I've haven't yet.

Summer is more than half-way over.

The chickens are getting big, and we should start seeing some eggs in the next month or so.

I bought a new planner yesterday (I like the type that go from July to June of the following year. It matches the rhythm of my life much better than a January to December planner) and my preschool planning book should be arriving in the mail today.

I've been blogging for a long time. The novelty is starting to wear off.

I wonder how long the rain will last? Hopefully the rest of the day. I like falling asleep to the sound of rain.

This picture says so many things about our family

Happy Father's Day!

Summer Fun

Albany is a big-ish small town. We're big enough to have a Target and Old Navy and soon-to-be-two Publix's, but not big enough for an Olive Garden or Super Target. If I go to the grocery store, I'm bound to see at least a few people I know. Albany has a definite small town feel.

Not too long ago, we started noticing that for such a small town, Albany has an inordinate amount of places that serve *only* hot dogs. At last count, we've noticed at least five. It's kind of weird, actually. Why the great love for hot dogs in Albany? How do five hot dog stands survive in the cut-throat restaurant business? This doesn't even take into account all of the BBQ joints and fast food restaurants that have hot dogs on their menu.

I mean, hot dogs are okay, if you're in the mood for a hot dog. It's not something I seek out, and it's certainly not something I think about buying when I'm looking to buy a precooked meal.

But the girls like hot dogs, and Madeline came up with an idea for some summer fun. We are going to visit all of the hot dog restaurants in Albany, one a week, and rate them. We even have a grading system! Sure, we could be doing something else with our time, but why not? Look for our first review soon!

A Tree Fort in Our Yard (minus the tree)

If I had a million dollars
I'd build a tree fort in our yard
If I had million dollars
You could help, it wouldn't be that hard
If I had million dollars
Maybe we could put like a little tiny fridge in there somewhere
You know, we could just go up there and hang out
Like open the fridge and stuff
There would already be laid out foods for us
Like little pre-wrapped sausages and things

- Barenaked Ladies

Well, we certainly didn't have a million dollars, but we a lot of free wood, a friend who lent us a nail gun, and a man with a big immagination who would do just about to make his girlies happy.

The free wood had lots of nails in it that had to be removed before it could be used. Each piece of wood had at least 12 nails in it. James pulled them all out by hand.


The Bucket 'O Nails, at least two inches deep


Putting down the flooring while sitting on the flooring takes lots of talent!


Don't try this at home, kids!


Me, wondering how all of our projects get so out of control


Look! Progress!


James saying "Worship my mad building skillz!"


Look at that!! A real playhouse! And the beginnings of a chicked coop and run!


James, Isabella and 3rd daughter Katie on the balcony


The temporary roof- our old trampoline! It's not waterproof, but it makes great shade and it was FREE!


The girls decided they were going to spend the night in the clubhouse.


They got eaten alive by mosquitos, but they stayed out all night! Can you believe it?


Obviously, the playhouse isn't quite done yet. But it's playable, and that's all that matters! Work now turns towards the chicken coop, because the baby chicks are starting to look like real chickens.



(This picture was actually taken a week ago, and they are even bigger now!)

Public Service Annoucement

'Yeah' and 'Yea' are synonyms.

'Yea' and 'Yay' are homonyms.

Don't use yeah/yea when you really mean "Yay!"

This PSA is brought to you by my raging case of PMS. You're Welcome. :)

What a cross between Stonehenge and the Taj Mahal would look like if it were being built in So. GA

For about two years now, we've had a plan to build a playhouse for the girls. A playhouse complete with electricity (and therefore A/C) that could also double as storage, and just maybe a guest house for when people come to visit. Our neighbors heard about the plan and laughed. The next day we came home and found three chairs on the front porch with a note saying the chairs were a "contribution to the girls' first apartment".

These playhouse plans were also part of the motivation for James to bring home all that wood last spring. He built the compost bin last spring, and the pile of wood had been sitting ever since. In James' defense, he's a busy man. But with the addition of the chicks (and the return of longer days) James has been working hard in the back yard.

Which brings me to last week....

James' plan for the permanent chicken coop involved a long yard and a coop with nesting boxes, tall enough for us to walk inside without having to bend over. We planned things out together, spray painting marks on the ground where poles would stand and things would go. I left him to his work. James had been outside digging holes for poles for about two hours when he called me out back, saying he had an idea. This is what I saw.



His idea was to build a small "treehouse" on top of the coop for the girls to give them a place to play until the "real" playhouse was built. In our minds we were thinking of the treehouse my Granddaddy had built over at the compound.



You can see it in the above picture. Something simple. Something easy.

*cue ominous music*

The girls loved the idea, of course, so James go to work going through the piles of wood to see what he would need to use. About this point I suggested that it might be nice if the playhouse was just a little bit bigger than the coop, making a balcony up top, and a covered place underneath where the girls could park their bikes and scooters. James thought this was a fabulous idea and adjested his plans accordingly.

I'm not sure what happened next. The next time I went outside things were...bigger than I had imagined.



See those cross boards? Those are the supports for the playroom floor. Let me show you from a different angle.



James is over 6 feet tall. The floor will be 8 feet in the air. The playhouse itself will be almost 6 feet tall with a pitched roof. To say that this thing will tower in the air would be an understatement.

Then I got to looking closely. All of the posts seemed kind of far apart. James then explained to me that the dimensions had changed a bit to make it easier to work with the wood we already had.



All told, from one end to the other, starting with the entrance to the chicken yard to the end of the balcony this structure will be 38 feet long. The playhouse floor itself (8 feet off the ground, remember) is 8 1/2 by 14 1/2 feet. For the record, this is almost as big as our bedroom. It started out 5ft by 8ft. The plans now included enclosing the area underneath the playhouse and building shelves/cabinets for even more storage.

Please tell me why we can never, ever stick to a simple plan.

TO BE CONTINUED, AGAIN

Chickie Baby

Waaaaaaaaaay back in 2003, when we were still living on the Compound in Tifton, James asked me what I wanted for a Valentine's Day present. I told him "chickens". So he agreed to build a chicken coop in preparation for little, tiny baby chicks that would be available that spring. He drew up the plans and got as far as getting some 4x4s in place that would be the corners of the coop.

The Valentine's present turned into a Mother's Day present, which then turned into a birthday present, then James started schoool and before we knew it it was May 2005 and we were moving to Albany for his new job and I had never, ever got my chickens.

Last spring, James brought home a bunch of wood and made me a compost bin out of some wood he brought home from the base. I alluded to our next project in that post, and finally SEVEN YEARS after his initial promise, WE HAVE CHICKENS.

My brother David ordered 60 chickens from a mail order company, and they arrived the week of the family reunion. Dave set aside 10 chicks for us, and James (after checking out and reading every book on raising chickens from the library that he could get his hands on) set about building a Biddy Box that we figured they'd stay in for at least a month.

James built the box and set it up on some sawhorses over our garden box (which I had never got around to planting anything in this year, although the rosemary and thyme I planted *last* year are still thriving!)


The idea was that each day when we cleaned out thebox, we'd let the chicks run around in the garden.






I don't know if it's our tender loving care or what, but these chicks are SUPER CHICKS. Less than two weeks after the reunion we had to upgrade their "area" because they are getting HUGE!

James decided to mount the biddy box on the end of the (now) enclosed garden bed, giving the chicks a run. I think it's pretty smart myself.






So for the time being, the chicks have plenty of room, and they are happy and thriving. We still have 8 chicks (we lost two of them to a neighborhood cat who found away into the pen. James has sworn to have his revenge. Our ultimate plan has always been to build a bigger, permanent coop in the back of the yard, with laying boxes and plenty of room.

With it being the Memorial Day weekend and having time off of work, James decided to get to work building the permanent coop last Saturday. He had been outside for about two hours when he came into the house and uttered these immortal words....

"Hey, come see this. I have an idea...."

TO BE CONTINUED

*tap tap tap*

Is this thing on?

I noticed it's been almost a month since I updated Ye Olde Blog, and I thought about waiting a whole month, but then I decided that it would just be too cruel to deprive you of my witty thoughts and insights that much longer.

Since we were last together:

- I went on a field trip with Madeline to the Georgia Aquarium in ATL
- I got a haircut
- school has ended for both me and the girlies
- we had the family reunion
- we've aquired baby chicks
- we had to buy a new computer
- I figured out how to stream Netflix, Hulu, Amazon VOD and all sorts of other channels through our Wii and onto the TV. As soon as this season of Gaving and Stacey is over we'll probably be cancelling the cable and saving beau coup dinero each month. (Maybe)

I'm hoping to spend this summer lounging by the base pool as often as possible, reading lots of books and eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. I'm not really all that interested in doing much of anything else. ;)

With that, I'll leave you with a few pictures.

Navel Gazing

Things I Have Discovered About Myself and/or Finally Accepted In Past Year

1. I DO NOT like change. I thought I was okay going with the flow/seeing what happens/etc, but it turns out I'm not.

2. Even though I want it to (if for no other reason than to use the thousands of dollars worth of supplies in my house) scrapbooking doesn't give me the creative outlet that it used to. There's no motivation there, and hardly any desire. Most of my creative energy goes into preschool and writing witty blog entries.

3. I love living in a small(ish) town, because the people have such big hearts. Unfortunately those big hearts too often come with small minds. It's like living in a huge warm, funny, sincere, petty, crazy, dysfunctional family. I need to learn when to speak up and when to keep my big mouth shut.

4. Anxiety medications are a Good Thing.

5. There's a difference between being stupid and Being Stupid. Far too often I am the former, but I thank God every day that I am not the latter.

6. I spend far too much energy thinking about people who are Being Stupid. I need to be more kind in my words and actions to those people, in hopes that they will be kind in their words and actions towards me.

7. Heavenly Father is probably frustrated and disappointed with me, for a lot of reasons. But He probably feels the same way about Pat Robertson, Al Sharpton, Jeremiah Wright and Glenn Beck, and at least I'm not making money off of His name.

8. I'm fat, but my eyes and lips are gorgeous. It might be time to join Weight Watchers.

9. I wasn't nearly as smart and mature at 18 as I thought I was. (In fairness, I realized this a long time ago. But given that I'm closer to being the mother of an 18 yeard old than I am to being an 18 year old myself is really driving the point home.)

10. It will be OK if I don't ever "finish" college. I have never stopped learning, and I don't plan to stop any time soon. I am an intelligent, well-rounded, creative woman who loves her careers; both the one I get paid for (preschool teacher) and the ones I don't (wife, mother, pseudo book reviewer, wanna-be librarian, occasional writer).

11. Sometimes writing a blog post at 1:30 in the morning is a good thing. SOmetimes it's not. We'll see what the verdict is on this post in the light of day. ;D

12. I physically can't make an odd numbered list.