Random Musings from the Mothership....

Can I get an Amen that our first week of school is almost behind us, and M2 is liking the whole deal. Guess I won't find her behind 7-11 smoking cigarettes when I think she's in her Science class. Not that I did that, or skipped class so much my senior year I got my car yanked two weeks before graduation. (thanks Super D, I probably needed that one). She is so funny, though, when I ask her if there are any cute boys, she puts her hands over her ears and yells' blah blah blah I can't hear you' which she has also said the two times I have asked her if she wanted to have 'the talk'. Yes, she is eleven and unless they've spelled it out on Spongebob, I'm pretty sure she is not up to speed on that subject. That will be an entire post and a good bottle of Chardonnay for me afterwards, and I hope I will be saying 'that went well'.

I was listening to the Today show while I was in my office working, and when Willard Scott was doing the birthdays, one caught my attention. A lady named Mildred Hussey was 101, and Willard said 'Mildred grew up in Pennsylvania while helping run the Hussey farm.' I suddenly thought of how you would run a Hussey Farm, like take a number at the gate? You pay more for the older experienced Hussey's? And thinking pretty sure that the farmers next door didn't mind their neighbors much, especially if they could get a glipse of what the Hussey's were wearing each day. Or if the Hussey's didn't lower the shades in the barn at night..........I think I like the word Hussey, its so much more PC than Slutty. But then again, I do know some girls that should be turned out on the Slutty farm, but thats another blog on a day when I'm in the clown suit.

Then I read a column some lady wrote in the Dallas Morning News and she was talking about her kids watching the Olympics and they were not going to correct the fact that they called one of the events
Secret Nice Swimming. I love kids translations, interpretations, etc, so much. One of my friends 5 yr old plays the rock and roll video thing and he thinks the song he loves is called Juice Box Hero. He also calls the airport Gar-Field instead of Love Field. One time M2 asked me why we have students in our eyes. I said what? and she said it again, and then, thinking like a toddler, I said 'do you mean pupils? and she said YES! Good lord, its amazing we get them past the age of three with this communication gap. Especially when they get so frustrated they add screaming to the conversation and then mom has to go 'freshen' her iced tea to get through the translation.

Since M2 was small, she heard the word Lawton since that is where I am from. When 9/11 happened, we of course were keeping her away from the tv (she was three) and finally, after several weeks, and many days at preschool, she came home and said she knew someone bad hit the buildings with a plane. And I said yes, we are going to find him and put him in jail because he did a bad thing, 'And she said "I know his name " and I'm thinking this is going to be good, so I said what is it? And she said "Oh Someone From Lawton". I do know some people from there that may be terrorists by now, but I don't think its THAT one.



This is the weekend we throw the par-tay for Super D, so I'll be trying to keep her sober long enough to get some good pictures. (I am SO kidding she may have one glass of wine, and then a sip or two out of mine). We can all only hope we are rocking and rolling like her at 85- she says its because of a great sex life, and then I put my hands over my ears and say "blah blah blah I can't hear you'

have a great weekend- don't Labor too long on anything but keeping your feet up
Boomer Sooner
LYG-Bj

Word of the Day.....

I just heard the term Cankles, and thankfully had to google it to find out what it was. Such valuable information just lurking out there! While looking, I also saw Thankles, which I thought was maybe some kind of thank you note that you wrote your doctor when the swelling went down. Sadly, it is equally bad and refers to some type of thigh-ankle continuation. Who knew this terminology? I'm glad there were no photos.... so I inserted this yummy baby foot to remind us we ALL HAD CANKLES at one point in our life.

Is this problem an old age thing? ( pregnancy doesn't count) I have an Aunt that sister A and sister B and I have always made the raised eyebrow face when we saw hers; she may have earned hers, though, through some Karma the universe owed her. Thats not another blog story, thats a years worth of therapy transcripts. I always thought everyone at church would be fine it she chose a pantsuit that day.

But back to the cankles. Why do these conditions have to have such gross names? I think that if I were in charge of the universe, I would assign the people that name lipstick and nail polish the job of also assigning these names. How about Happy Hula toes, instead of Hammer toes, or Coral Candy Cankles. What about Luscious Lilac Leprosy? Make Mine Mauve Milaria? It just sounds ALOT better if you ask me, and people would be less 'eeewww' about this stuff.

As Lorrie would say, I'm just sayin............

and trying to save the world one Coral Candy Cankle at a time.

LYG-Bj

Joan Crawford wants YOU!!!

Ok, here's the deal. Not to be outdone by Watches and Wii Giveaways, my friend and fellow chick, Racie Lover (do yall know that isn't her real name?) anyway, came up with the following contest to win this beer glass, which, by the way, she designed for the restaurant that she works for...( The Flying Saucer/ Dallas)

Contest is as follows:

1. Post a comment on this blog and answer the following question: If you were to get a tattoo, where on your body would you locate it and what would it be? If you would NEVER get a tattoo, what would you choose for someone else and where would that be?

2. Contest will run until Friday, Aug 29th. I'll draw over the weekend and let you guys know who the winner is. Tell your friends to stop by and leave a comment! The more the merrier.....

next month, who knows? maybe a Wii or an Iphone-!

I smell football.....

After reading through some comments on previous blogs, I realized I now have some football noise that is going to be good. Seems like there is a KState fan (also claims to be a Georgia fan- how can you love two teams?)and I have some other smack talkers out in the world, one from Ohio State, one from Oregon (they don't read this so I can REALLY talk about how lame their teams are). And Sheila is a Tech Girl, so I'm sure we'll get some of that in here too, probably served up with some type of Marmite.

Yeah, I see all of your lips moving but you're really not saying much.....

Oklahoma football, as in The University of Oklahoma Sooners, is really the pinacle of where you should all strive to be. Our record speaks for itself, and now that my Dallas readers who are going to chime in with the UT rah rah realize THIS WEEKEND IS THE FIRST GAME for everyone, this blog could turn into stats and alot of shit talk for several months to come. And then there is the game, OU vs UT, held during the State Fair of Texas, which should be a national holiday, if you ask me. So get ready and you have been warned if you are not the football type. I'm really alot of fun to watch the games with, and I don't burp or grab my crotch but I do scream, and I usually cook something great for game day, SO COME ON OVER........

I'll be the one in red....

LYG-Bj

Big Yellow Bus + M2 = First Day of School

Sorry you missed it, and there were no photos but I had on a formal dress and crown this morning while sipping a mimosa and waiting for M2's bus. Yes, Mother of the Year is now Mother of the SCHOOL Year, and when I came back inside after waiving goodbye and slipping the driver a $20, I looked in the mirror and several deep wrinkles had vanished from my forehead. Talk about earning this day, I'm so there. One of the many good things about today is that M2 is so organized, I didn't have to check her backpack, her notebook, anything, I just know if she needs it, its in there. Even though she had not been real excited about wearing a uniform, she added the touch of pink converse tennis shoes which is so her. And a little silver bling. First day to ever have a locker, too, so if you all can dust off that memory, you know how exciting that is!! Guess that is why she was up at 5 am and had to wake me up about three times!

While we were sitting outside (20 minutes early) waiting for the bus, she said:

Are you going to sit out here with me tomorrow?

Absolutely!

Wednesday?

Of course!

Thursday?

Not so much...

Friday?

Sleeping in.....

So she punched me in the arm and the bus pulled up and she saw a friend that she knew and smiled and off she went. And I came inside the house and yelled woo hoo so loud the dogs started barking...........

Today is a good day

LYG- be a fountain, not a drain

Bj

Showdown at the OK Corral.....

At first I was going to name todays post Menopause and Mondays Always Get Me Down. But I'll wait until I have the official diagnosis from the Dr. if you know what I mean. However, my ugly mood swings could be caused by the last 48-72 hours of my so called normal life, which has been anything but.

The fact that I started out Tuesday with a dead battery in the car is a non-issue now, and the redemption factor was that my dealership popped a new one in for free! Ten points to the good- then that night, all settled in with M2 and waiting to watch Modern Medical Marvels (her choice to see the blue man and people that eat while they sleep) the dogfight of the century breaks out in my living room between the two males on the sled team. (sorry girls that I'm repeating myself but Racie Lover told me I should blog about it) This dogfight was vicious, bloody, and had M2 and I on the floor trying to pull them apart, with her screaming, me screaming new obscentities for her to learn, and finally we had them apart and everyone was bleeding except Bella - I don't even know where she was during the mayhem. I can't tell you how scary this was, and for a moment I missed the ranch hand that I had recently let go, because of his size and maleness and boots that would have punted one of the fighters out the back door. So we girls kind of get it together and we separate the men for the night, and the next day I ask for advice from my peers and the resounding comment was 'you never break up a dog fight'. Then I hear the words pack order, dominance, instinct, etc and ALL of the advice I got was great and very much heard. The next day, I left them (the dogs) a big note that said "If you are wondering who is in charge around here, it is Moi, the Mothership and I can cut back on your dog chow if you do that to me again. I also have located new sled teams for you to join, got it?" They have been on better behavior, but I'm watching them like a hawk. I think Owen is positioning himself for the Alpha Dog spot, and Abner is too bad ass to let go very easily. We shall see.

So I have an invite to a girls night/jewelry party last night and walk in thinking oh good, my friends are here and there is wine. The Universe is lining back up. I'm there three minutes, and get a full glass of red wine spilled down the front of my favorite white shirt by a waving arm (Carol E, if you're reading this, it came out so I don't hate you anymore) But Racie Lover walked in and said "nice gunshot wound" and I could have cried like a dying dog right there amongst the earrings and bracelets.

Enough is enough. Today was back to semi-normal and even though Cesar Milan has not returned my 911 calls, I think I see the light of the weekend. Hopefully its not a train. And I also think I need a second clown suit and rainbow wig to keep in the car with me (Porto Clown), when I'm out and about and have a close encounter with a nervous breakdown. I'm just sayin......

Heard a great old song today, JJ Cale, Cajun Moon, and that is going on the IPOD next. Definitely a patio/wine/watching the world go by song. Alex, I think we danced to that in your living room one night while Lindy was making drinks or pate or both.

I'll shock you all one day and insert a witty video of me cooking Kraft Mac & Cheese and (gasp) eyeballing the butter and milk measurements. I have to keep some family cooking secrets a secret. I will not however, lift any animal to my mouth or over the stove. We do that so often around here, its boring. Maybe I'll do a handstand as I drain the noodles using only my feet, and get them back in the pot without spilling any. And M2 will yell I love pancakes and Target will call me to place an ad on my blogsite. Watch for that one.......

Random thought:

If you take out an o and add a UH, dooce spells douche, which is unfortunate if you ask me. Kind of like the bartender that wasn't very nice named Richard.

That was a fun night......

Thanks for coming by, leave me a note

LYG

Bj

# 4 Tail at the H.O.T.......

I know.

You all think I am crazy, but if you saw this little blue eyed cutie, you would have given him a home too. M2 and I went to Petco to get dog food and there he was, staring at us like he knew we were coming. When we walked up to him, his tail started wagging and he was darting around and around, and M2 looked at me and I just caved. He is a 2 month old, male, we named Cowboy.

and now you have to go to comments to see the rest of the story.....

Middle Age is a bitch named Karma....

Tick,tock, watching the clock, but only because I decided today that I am 49.43yrs old. Pretty sad if you are tracking the calendar to see when you are EXACTLY six months away from hitting 50, but, oh, it is so standing on the hill and whistling at me. Some days throwing a few rocks at me. Some days slapping me on the back of the head, then hiding when I turn around. Some days I even smell it, like Channel #5, which suddenly smells good to ME, not on someones MOM like it did when I was growing up. And you can bet when the AARP card shows up, I will have on a black arm band while I write wrong address on the envelope, then secretly flip off the postman for spreading those lies. And the next person that says 'its just a number' to me, I'm going to put your name and address on Craigs list that you are giving away free Wii's, got it?

My good friend Trish, (hey Patty!) who I've known since I was four, has continued to send me a subscription to More Magazine, which I really love. However, it is for women over 40 and some of the articles are too in my face about aging. Somebody shout DENIAL for me, I'm too busy denying that I'm in denial. So I actually sit down and have time to read through the magazine the other night, and the main article was about dressing for your age, blah blah blah, don't try to look like Britney Spears if you are 52. So, Friday, I work at a trade show in Dallas for the Architectural and Design community, and I realized that many of the women here in Texas need that magazine. I saw ruffles in the wrong places, heels that probably put that woman in the hospital by 5, and tight clothes on places that should never see tight. Oy Vey! There was a shade of purple on a woman that would have made a great crayon color and/or match something in a bordello. And last but not least, I run into someone that used to look pretty good, but not so much anymore. She got the trophy out of the whole place for dressing way too young. Actually, we never really liked each other that much (so not a chick) and she gave me the once over like some women do, and I smiled and oozed how nice it was to see her, and smiled to myself when I walked away.

I suddenly realized that I'm aging pretty well and to 'stay in the moment' once again and don't look too far down the road, because Denial is up there somewhere and I will now try to sneak past it when the time comes.

Then I went to lunch with my new friend Karma, who I'm starting to like even more these days.

have a great week- leave a note that you were here

LYG-

Bj

Would you like Dove or Irish Spring with that pottymouth....

If you know me, you probably know this story already but I"m putting it here to archive in case I get hit in the head and have amnesia (not to be confused with Momnesia, which is treatable with a good Chardonnay).

M2 was about 3 and had just gotten a red swing set for her birthday. She had mastered the getting on part but kind of just dangled and twisted back and forth beyond that. It was a beautiful day, and I had dressed her to go to preschool in a darling yellow striped sundress, of course complete with matching bow, and she looked like a picture. I was standing in the kitchen looking out the back windows watching her, and truly having an incredible mom moment, where I think she is the most gorgeous creature I have ever seen, AND she's mine. I heard her start saying "mama", then a little bit stronger "Mama" and while I'm walking outside to see what she needs, and still floating that I am the luckiest mother alive, she says "MAMA!" And I get to the swing set and say "what do you need Angel?"

and she says "swing me, G&#dammit"

POOF- Mom moment gone, and I am now in Sargent Mother mode in full stride with her on the way to the bathroom. As I swiped some soap across her mouth and told her we do not say that ever ever ever, I'm thinking holy sh#$, how did she hear that word? And she used it in the right context!! I swear, no pun intended, we didn't say that at our house EVER! I just blamed it on the next door neighbors that had conveniently moved the previous week and left it at that............

can't blame that one on the dog

LYG

Bj

Staying in the moment......

I decided to write about this today, because I keep hearing the phrase "Staying in the Moment". The first time I heard it was when Oprah was all jacked up about the book A New Earth, and if you loved it like she did, I'm glad. I just know myself and my attention span. If I have to re-read the same sentence three times and still guess whether I understand it or not, I will not stay for the end of that book. OR, if I read a chapter and then realize that I just (in my mind) reorganized my closet, chose paint colors for three rooms, and decided it was time to trade in my car, I'm not going to get the guts of that message either. That actually irritates me because I wonder why people overthink so much in their lives. I have many layers but it is a different kind of 'deep'. But I do suddenly like the SITM phrase because lately I find myself going through the motions and not really checked into what is going on around me. So I sat down with M2 last night and we watched the Olympics and Michael Phelps and ate cantaloupe on the couch together and I stayed right there the entire time. Going to keep practicing today, and see what is around me that I have been missing. I think many of us, I know I have been doing it, are either looking way down the road, or glancing over our shoulder to see what happened/didn't happen/could have happened. I am going to be right here, in my space and conscious of it, all day long if it kills me.

At least if you were worried, you'll know where I am.

LYG-

Bj

guest blog: "Racie Lover" chimes in.....

If you know Bryan, like I know Bryan, oh, oh, oh what a rug.........

and BTW, this is NOT his picture, because I have no legal team.

yet.

here's Gracies note:

Speaking of wigs, for those of you who remember one of my former boyfriends, Bryan, you may recall the lingering question about the true source of his apparently very healthy head of hair. It was one of those burning, unasked questions that hung in the air like Beijing smog. I finally figured out he wasn't just wearing a tasteful rug up top, but a full-blown Rachel Welch-worthy Man Wig, complete with head-hugging flesh-colored webbing, a wig stand secretly stashed in his closet and enough fake-hair products in his bathroom cabinet to start his own Vidal Sassoon Salon. Every time I introduced him to a new family member or friend they instantly got this puzzled, is-he-wearing-a toupee? look on their face. I started catching friends looking at the top of his head when they thought neither he nor I was looking. When he finally 'fessed up to his deep, dark secret I had already figured it out on my own and said something inane and totally untrue like "Oh, Sweetie, it doesn’t matter one bit. I love you for who you are, not what you are wearing up there." Of course, that wasn't really true but what was I going to say? "Take that stupid wig off and stop being so insecure and shallow, for God's sake. You look like Liberace."When we finally broke up and I started telling people we were no longer an item the first thing they would says was” Well, now that its over, I just have to ask you..." and before they had finished their sentence I would say” Yes, he was wearing a wig." What can I say? I was jealous. His hair always looked better than mine.

thanks Grace, love it, love it, love it- sorry if this is offensive to anyone, but the "gurls" prefer au- naturale as you can tell...

keep them coming

LYG-Bj

And she was lying in the grass...

name that tune. one of my favorites.........

Since we are going to toss around the Men,Shopping,Cool Dining info on the blog from time to time, I called my friend today and asked her how her weekend was. She had alot of good information, which if you are single and reading this, I would really pay attention to this one. Ready?

1. Don't go out with a pilot.

That pretty much sums it up. Terrific. Yet another rat out there in the big woodpile of life. Which is the reason for the title today, because my friend Cynthia's dad use to tell me 'she's a snake in the grass'. I love that, Snakes eat Rats! (sorry to the men that might be reading this, but I welcome your comments too) I said earlier if, after many months pass, I may just decide to move to a mountain, live in an old school bus, and rename M2 'Blueberry' and my name will be Dances With None. And we will wear patchwork clothing and not shave our legs. That makes me cringe, but I'm just sayin....

Shopping Info:

Shoe Pavillion is going OUT OF BIZ so go grab some new zappatos for just being a wonderful person . 70% off sounds good..And not that any of you head north on I-35 through Oklahoma very often, but if you DO, let me know and take a pitstop in Ardmore. One of the coolest stores is there, very Dallas, called the Clover Leaf. YOU MUST STOP or you will be sorry............

Cool Dining- how many of you have tried Tillmans Roadhouse? SO wonderful,

the Salmon makes my knees weak. GREAT interior (I think its by Todd Oldham) and if I can talk Miss Smith into it for our hostess gig, you girls will be going further south than you have in a LONG time. Its on Bishop in Oak Cliff but so worth it. Prickly Pear Margaritas, and they put popcorn on your table that has white truffle oil on it and I will reach right in front of you to get yours.

Gloves are off on the popcorn.

Taking Owen to Petco to get the talons trimmed; the Peticure people said I never ordered one, so I reordered one today, but he (Owen) wrote me the following note;

screw the petakure klippur. eethur tak mi tu Petco or painte the dam thengs.

I think they get in the way when he makes out with Bella........

Leave a note that you were here, and throw out some shopping dining, and oh, if you have some random printworthy male info, put it in too. I'm not talking about Alans bday photos, but I should get a copy of those for my blog (or my wallet)kidding, Belle

LYG-

Bj

Hey Where Did We Go?

Days when the rains came......... not.

This blog will be slightly rambling because I don't feel a cohesiveness about the gems I'll share with you, but then again, sometimes they just come together at the end.

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon..............

17 count em, 17 days until school starts!!! Mom of the Year is just about out of ideas for M2 to keep busy. Swimming is so overrated at this point, because she has been every day, and like I said earlier, the pool is lukewarm. I even thought about having some ice delivered, but I don't know the phone number for the man with the horse and wagon that does that. He may not have a cell........

Has anyone been to the Bengal Coast restaurant on Oaklawn? (http://www.bengalcoast.com/) Post a comment and review for me, checking it out for a chick dinner- have a "slight" connection to the owner, so we may get FREE mints when we leave. Pays to know me, huh?

Those people in Beijing eat some weird stuff- (watching the Olympic rewind)

If that Peticure thing doesn't show up soon, Owen is going to be mistaken for a Komodo Dragon..........

My friend Robin wants to add a section to the blog and we're going to call it"Men, Shopping, and Cool Dining"- and review all three in very inovative ways(shes single and in the dating loop) I shop and eat, so we've got all three covered. I want some input on this one, ladies, and btw, did Kitchen 1924 go out of business? AND, Central Market has a Chardonnay called Double Dog Dare Ya and it is CHEAP and really good! We love cheap and good!

One week has passed since the changes around here, and although not seamless, pretty good overall. We had some tears last night but I think it was tired kid; we are school clothes shopping tomorrow, after she goes bowling today and spends the night with her dad. May write myself my own kitchen pass tonight, and then again I might just sleep. Both sound equally intriguing.

I also became Julio the lawn boy today and I so love instant gratification, especially when I can get all of the power equipment to start. (I am woman, watch me mow) The yard looks great, just beige in spots from the heat. I put some new music on my ipod to listen to while I was in the yard, and here's a good old song to download: 29 Palms by Robert Plant. MAN that is a good song, I played it about 4 times and it makes me want to DANCE on a beach somewhere!!! You all should have it on your playlist.

Going to the pool to float- the only thing that I can think of to pull this all together is that Julio, the lawn boy is going to be the color of Bacon very soon so there you have it.

LYG

Bj

ps. send me a note if you are into College Football- I have a cool link for schedules for all the conferences/games

Jack Sprat Could Eat No Fat..........

Gurlz,( and Chris) I could not make up the following story if I tried and it is true, true, true. Several years ago, a friend of mine , Nancy, and I had tickets for Lily Tomlin at the Majestic downtown. We met for drinks, and headed down to see what was the funniest show I have ever seen live. But this is not about the show. If you've never been to the Majestic, its an old theatre venue with big velvet drapes, gold ornate fixtures, and rows of seats squeezed together like a value airline. We found our row, and slid down to our two seats, and how fortunate to be seated behind Jack Sprat and his wife. She was about 5 feet taller than him, and I was right behind her.

Nancy and I were just talking normally, and M & M Sprat turned around at the same time to stare at us for some reason. When they slowly turned around, Nancy and I were like 'what the hell was that?' and probably giggled but did nothing to deter from our theatre etiquette. Before the lights went down, Mrs. S turned around again and glared at me so I shot her back a look to hopefully keep her large head facing forward from that point on. So the lights go down, the show starts, and it is hilarious. So here comes intermission, and they have wine in the lobby. I know, you all are saying 'head that way', so Nancy stands up to slide down and out of the row and I stand up to follow and the buttons on my jacket hook the back of Mrs. Sprats 'lovely hair addition' and I pull that woman's wig off. It is attached to the front of my jacket like I've captured a rodent and I am trying to get it off and her husband is trying to get it off of me and Mrs Sprat is making gutteral noises and patting the top of her head. I finally, in a pushing motion, get it into his hands, start apologizing profusely, look to my left for moral support from Nancy, who has vaporized into thin air. I say "sorry" one more time and sprint to the lobby, and there is Nancy in a corner, almost bent in half, laughing so hard she can't breathe. I just stood there, looking at her, like, we could not have TRIED to do that and accomplished what just happened. I couldn't even talk. I walked over to the bar, got two glasses of wine, and handed her one. I truly was speechless, and when I started telling her 'what she missed' she started wheezing laughing again and we HAD to stop talking about it. So we go back in to see the 2nd act, and go to our seats and guess what? Either the Sprats had moved or went home, because they were 'no esta' in their seats. I really felt bad, but then when the show started I had a really good view with the tower of power not seated in front of me. Great show, both on stage and in the seats, I would say.

This is also true- we left to go have dinner and headed down Henderson to go to Flips and a truck load of hispanic men backed out of a bar and hit us, and while we were sitting there waiting for the police to show up, I had two requests for either dates or jobs, couldn't quite understand them. When we got to Flips, we couldn't even eat without laughing so hard tortellini was about to come out of our noses.

Promise, all of the above is true.

LYG

Bj

they say its your birthday..........

I thought I should write about a very cool person, Super D, who is my mom. She deserves a page from me, so here it is.On Labor Day Weekend, she will turn 85. I'll probably get in trouble for publishing that, but I am because she looks, acts and feels so much younger. Hope I get those genes ..........

Anyway, with everything that is going on around here, I thought I would tell my friends that any strength and positive-ness that I have has always come and still comes from her. She raised me and two sisters from ages 9, 13 & 15 pretty much by herself and looking back, I don't know how she did it without us feeling many ripples. After my dad died, she kept it together, things around the house pretty much stayed the same, and she always looked at everything with a 'we can do anything' attitude. Her favorite saying when something wasn't going well was 'pull your bootstraps up' and get on with it. We did, and my sisters and I still do, and we are all closer than so many families because of her. I will admit, out of the three, I gave her most of her gray hair and heartaches. But she still calls me.........

Labor Day Weekend, she and her girlfriend are flying into Dallas to meet my sisters (including Trish) and I and have a girls weekend at a beautiful hotel, with spa time booked, dinners out, and pool time and shopping. Every year I get to celebrate her birthday is a gift to me that I do not take for granted and never will. Happy Birthday Super D~ I couldn't have picked a better Mom or love anyone more than you.
LYG,
Bj, your favorite

and the beat goes on.........

M2 and I had a lovely dinner and swim last night at the Barnes casa with the girls. Thanks Belle, you are such a great friend to have! But here's the deal. After dinner, the small girls were talking about food they liked and did not, and the subject of Marmite came up. M2 had never heard of it, and Baby Barnes was dancing around the patio expressing how much she loved it!!!
For many Americans reading this (thousands by now I'm sure) Marmite is very British and I don't really know how to describe it. Belle brought out a jar and said is looks very much like tar. Baby Barnes wanted to have some, so suddenly a plate of toast with the tar spread on it appeared on the table. M2 declared 'I'm not touching it' so I had to at least give it a try. The only thing I can even put it up against is maybe beef boullion cubes that have not been diluted.
But worse. So I ask Belle where she buys it and she says Grandma brings it over when she comes from the UK. She said Kroger sells it for about $7 for a little jar, and I said it should be on sale all the time. Belle said, but one, get seven free and I said no, the little sale sign should say
somebody take this shit off our shelves, its free. I'm pretty sure Marmite was the name of a troll that lived in a cave and scraped tar off the streets for a living. Now run out and get you some!

have a lovely day out there- be a fountain, not a drain............
LYG-Bj

Weird [weerd], noun; adjective, ie weirder

Stay with me for a minute, and read this-

Definition: Weird refers to that which is suggestive of the fateful intervention of supernatural influences in human affairs:

I, personally, did not know that what I have been suffering from is caused by anything supernatural, but I CAN tell you the last 24 hours have been 'weird'. This blog is a little bit too close to being personal, but I'm pretty sure the only people reading are my friends that really know me. My marital status has changed as of this weekend, and I have been running around in circles with a big net and catchers mitt to soften this for M2. (attachedatthehiponlychild). Well, compounding the first 'weird' night in the house, our power went out at 7:30 and did not get repaired until 1:30 am. So, we swam, the powerless neighbors came over and swam (everyone suddenly got HOT although it wasn't as bad as it could have been) and then we waited for the big trucks to come and fix it. During this time, as we were getting sleepy but M2 was refusing to go to sleep until the AC was on, she started crying about all of the drama we are swallowing and I couldn't take it anymore, and I started boo-hooing, I mean, the ugly cry as Oprah calls it. So we got ahold of ourselves, and took some iced tea out to the patio and sat (we said thank you to God for a breeze out of nowhere). So we were talking and she said "Mom, I don't mean to say anything mean to you right now, because I know you are sad, but when you cry that hard, you sound like a dying dog"- .............. Of course I started laughing so hard and then she imitated me and we both were laughing so hard that I said (thank you God) again...........
Then the big trucks pulled up and me and the powerless neighbor mom and her two kids and M2 and I sat on the driveway like white trash entertainment on a Saturday night, except it was Sunday, and watched them install the new green thing that does something to give us power.
1:30 in bed, with all three dogs and sleepy us.
Today is a good day, lots of talking and I have the most wonderful child and we will be brave together and hold each others' hand alot and get through this. And I will cry like a dying dog again, but then that will make me laugh........
LYG,
Bj