For Bee...
This is my left thumb. I shut a solid wood door on it in 4th grade. It happened at school. Blood squirted everywhere. I had a HUGE bandage on it for months. I think there are still scary stories told about the catastrophe, all to terrorize kids into not playing with doors, slam doors, shut doors, open doors, etc.
I need some lotion.
Photo Friday
Crazy Hip Blog Mamas wants to know
"where I'd like to be"
There are several places. Some of the places hold special memories and the promise of more good times. Then there are the places that speak "rest" and "peace" and "comfort."
1. My bed, clean sheets, dark room, alone, with no one's feet in my tummy or back, with no telephones, alone.
silence.
2. Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee. Any time of day. Any time of year. Any kind of weather. We live 3 hours from this beautiful place and try to visit at least once a year for a long weekend (or more.) The wildlife is abundant. Picnics. Peaceful walks. Naps in the sunshine. Eating Pringles, sausage cheese balls and beanee weenees. Sunrise. Fog. Snow. Rain. Sunshine. Sunset. Mosquitos.
3. Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Late summer. August 1999, The Mighty Hunter, his mom, dad & brother and I spent a week there. Rented a condo and a mini-van. Rode around Yellowstone and the beautiful town. Saw lots of animals. Ate some great food. Made some great memories. We lost his mom to leukemia the next June. This was our only family vacation with Kay and some of her last healthy days.
4. The Park Grill, Gatlinburg, Tennessee. French Onion Soup, Moonshine Chicken, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Yordy's White Chocolate Cheesecake, Coffee, Sweet Tea. Near the piano.
This is not the cheapest place to eat in the Smoky Mountain area, but it is worth every penny. It's a requirement for me to have one meal (or at least a dessert) there each trip.
yummmm
5. Dauphin Island, Alabama. Spring or Fall. Summer is too hot. The Mighty Hunter's dad has a condo there. Stinkerbell loves the beach. The hermit crabs are abundant and very entertaining. A short sea-doo ride takes you over to Sand Island, a very large sand-bar, where you can find beautiful shells and sand dollars. I had never seen an undamaged sand dollar on the beach until our trip there last year. Good times.
6a. Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama. Fall. Gameday Saturday. Back in the day, as a student and/or member of the band. 90,000 people in the stands. Aubie clowning around. Marching out of the tunnel to the sounds of my own horn and those around me playing "War Eagle!" and the crowd cheering and singing to MY! MUSIC! wow
6b. Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama. Fall. Gameday Saturday. With Stinkerbell (and soon, Lucky too!) Spending a paycheck on a Coke and popcorn. Letting her be the "center of attention" in her AU cheerleader costume. Watching AU beat the other team.
6. My bed, clean sheets, dark room, snuggling with The Mighty Hunter, Stinkerbell and Lucky.
There are other places I could include in this list, but those are in my memories alone.
edited to add: #7. Walt Disney World. We went about this time of year in 2005 and 2006. Stinkerbell loved it. It's an amazing place. We'll probably wait till next year to go with Lucky though. 
And while we're at it. Look at that precious smile! She's a regular Dale Evans!
Delusions of Grandeur
"The clicker is MINE!"
or
"beware the rabid remote-control-guard-baby"
or
"Show me how to use this or I'll spit up ALL! OVER! THE! COUCH!"
or (last one, I promise)
"Hey, pretty momma. Wanna join me over here in the dark on this couch for a midnight snack?"
One more picture. Bask in the adorable cuteness of our singing cowgirl...
Just the way you are
Right now
Right here
Stay that way forever, please.
Don't grow up anymore.
Don't stop needing me.
Always look at me with that I-love-you there's-nothing-and-no one-better-than-you look in your beautiful eyes.
Always need me.
I'll always remember how you would watch me while you nursed.
How your chubby face would look slimmer and your triple chins would disapper as you stretch-stretch-streeeetched your neck up to see me from my arms.
How your softy soft-soft hands would reach up and caress my chest as you drank my milk.
How you would dig your little chubby feet into my tummy as we snuggled in my bed at all hours of the day and night.
I'll always remember how you loved your baby brother intensely.
How you wanted so VERY much to be the one to soothe him, tickle him, please him.
How you wanted me to nurse you again too.
How you nursed your baby-doll, CrisD.
I'll always remember how you were such a baby-hog.
How you teased him with the bottle until he would almost jump up to grab it with his strong little mouth.
How you loved me just a little bit more and a little bit deeper because of our babies.
How you handled them with the intense tenderness of a true Daddy.
How you would say "please just be quiet" to the newborns just so you'd feel better.
How you would tell them to get out and get a job already.
How you cried when they were born.
How you would suddenly be incapable of the most basic things out of fear and concern for your babies.
How they reduced you to a man with jell-o for a back-bone. But in a good way.
How they absolutely owned you.
Stay just like this.
forever
I love you just the way you are.
I can't wait to see what tomorrow will hold.
woohoo! Carnival time!!!
This week's theme is to visit one of the random blogs and then write about it.
I have chosen Jennifer at Playgroups and No Place for Children.
This is not the first time I've read a blog post by a PERFECT STRANGER that I could have written myself. I suppose that it's obvious that I would read blogs by other writers that are going through most of the same challenges and changes and events in their lives that I am experiencing right now.
duh.
But Jennifer cracks me up.
Go on over there and look at her pretty new bag and her great new shoes and her birthday gifts! Happy Happy Birthday to YOUUUUUU!
note to Jennifer: I apologize for not being more descriptive and all about your blog. For some strange reason, I'm word-poor today. You deserve much more than just my one short paragraph, but I'm not up to the task. Be sure, though, I'll be back and will get to know you more.
while rumbling around through my unpublished drafts, I found this...
"What was your favorite t.v. show when you were a kid?"
I grew up in the boonies. (translation: country, rural, podunk, middle-of-nowhere) We had an aerial antennae. The wind would blow the antennae and we would lose the tv's signal. Except then, we didn't call it a "signal". It was a "picture." One of us would go outside ad turn the antennae, trying to tune into the "picture" better. Those of inside would stand as close as possible to the exterior wall near the antennae but could still see the tv and yell: "More! More! Wait! WAIT! TOO FAR! GO BACK! A ittle more! STOP! GOOD!" Then we'd watch until the wind blew it again.
I have the best, sweetest memory of when we got CABLE!!!
I was 15.
The first week, the cable company offered a free preview of the movie channels. Lucky us, though. They installed our cable just before a rare, long-lasting winter storm (that means that we got a couple inches snow, whuch melted and then refroze and melted and refroze again for several days in a row. That winter storm prevented them from turning off that free preview for a whole month!
Now that I think about it and know a little more about technology, I wonder what kept them from throwing the little end-of-free-preview switch at their office on time. It's entirely possible that the equipment they installed required a cable guy to come out to our house to end the free preview. (I almost said "service technician". um, yeah.)
Sooo...
BC tv?
BC = Before Cable
We had 3 channels. Chattanooga, TN's channels 3, 9 and 12. NBC, ABC and CBS, respectively. Occasionally, we'd get their public tv channel, but that was before educational/informational tv was worth a crap. Pre-Discovery Channel, when all they showed was documentaries about the mating rituals of the South American three-toed red ant.
At least that's what my mom says. Ant sex.
Then Huntsville, Alabama's channels boosted their signals a little and we then got 3 MORE CHANNELS! But they were the same dang channels. And the same dang public tv with the same ant porn.
Channels? This was the old way of saying "network tv". Shoot, I'm old.
And a hillbilly.
So, what did we watch on our abundance of viewing choices?
I remember fighting with my older and very mean brother over what we'd watch right after school. We'd race from the bus to the house and bust open the front door. No, it wasn't locked. It never was. We lived in a place like that. And I still do, for the most part.
I preferred Tom & Jerry and the Smurfs. He wanted something else. I don't remember at all what he liked, just that it wasn't Tom & Jerry or Papa Smurf. I do remember that we agreed on the He-Man cartoon and Thundercats. (both of which creep me out now. I mean YUK!)
And I LOVED the School House Rocks shows sooo much that when Stinkerbell was 1 (1!) I bought her the dvd set of all the episodes.
sing along with me: "conjunction junction. what's your function?"
At night, we'd have to find a show that the whole family could agree on or go to our room and listen to our radios. (My Michael Jackson "Thriller" 33rpm LP!!!) The whole family had to agree because we had ONE! TV!
ONE! I tell you! And it was in a beautiful REAL WOOD cabinet that required dusting with PLEDGE! with the grain!
real trees sacrificed themselves for our television viewing. we were special!
Mom and Dad - Dad mostly - insisted we watch Hee! Haw! (hillbillies, all) I hate to admit that there are still moments in my life when singing one of their regular songs is quite appropriate.
My brother and I loved the Dukes of Hazard, Three's Company, Love Boat and Fantasy Island.
I waited with great anticipation for the Wonderful World of Disney specials. "Extra popcorn for me, Mom!" (and the popcorn was made with a hot-air popper or on the stove! no microwave popcorn way back then!)
I think my FAVORITE memories of tv shows are also the vaguest ones.
There was one after-school special that first aired when I was about 5. In it, the kid lacked confidence and learned to believe in himself by saying "You can do it, Duffy Moon!" My mom must have watched this with me and was able to use it to encourage me as I encountered challenges of all kinds in my life.
I can't begin to count the number of times my mom said "You can do it, Duffy Moon!" to me, with a wink and a knowing smile. And that was all it took. I knew that if I tried my best, I would succeed. Even if I didn't actually hit the home run, make the cheerleading squad, become a talented artist, I succeeded by simply "doing it" and doing it with my best efforts.
I'm pretty sure that when Lucky was born in January, my mom said it then too.
It still works.
And I now share the same encouragement with Stinkerbell.
A few weeks ago, this happened.
Did anyone notice?
I meant to look for it. I meant to show it to Stinkerbell. I meant to eat more M&Ms.
Well, I probably ate enough M&Ms. Too many, I'm sure.
But it was way after dark when I remembered the eclipse. Do you know how I remembered? I saw the moon still partially eclipsed.
Yeah, because I'm smart that way.
And then I became all Smart Mommy and started explaining eclipses of all kinds to Stinkerbell, because this was a TEACHABLE MOMENT. Because my brother works for NASA and that makes me smarter than you. nyah!
So, Stinkerbell asks good questions and seems to be getting it. Because, at 6, she is smarter than Smart Mommy.
pardon the interruption: but this note is for Stinkerbell. One day, you will be reading this and reminiscing about your mom and how she would sit obsessively and tap tap tappity tap at her laptop and how this MUST have been a desperate attempt to maintain a minimal level of sanity. And when you're reading THIS entry, I want you to know that, right now, my precious PRECIOUS child, you're PESTERING ME TO DEATH! PLEASE BE QUIET!!! You can play on noggin.com in a MINUTE!!!
ANYWAAAAAAYYYYY....
So, Stinkerbell is smarter than me. Established fact.
And she asks a great question, because she is listening to Smart Mommy and totally understands.
"So, why is the store open?"
So, maybe she isn't paying complete attention. How can I maximize this teaching moment?
think think think
I decide that I can combine astronomy with history and folklore and start telling Stinkerbell that long ago, people were afraid of eclipses and how they would hide inside their homes and pray and fear that the world would surely end. I refrain from telling her that many many days I consider hiding inside the house.
I know all this because, as The Mighty Hunter has pointed out for years, I know all kinds of facts and trivial information. Unfortunately most of what I know is useless on a daily basis. I need Ken Jennings job.
So.... why was the store open?
Was I able to answer that insightful question?
No, not really. Because I'm Smart Mommy, but not THAT kind of Smart Mommy.
7 weeks.
I think I'll cry.
Yeah. So, Stinkerbell was out of school Friday. I don't know what the "holiday" was. Just no school.
And Thursday afternoon should have been her first tee ball practice. But it rained. And they cancelled. And cleats remained clean. And faces frowned. And kids pouted.
But the parents did recover - oh! the desperation of the parents. Because tee ball is a wonderful outlet for toxic kid energy, there was a dire need for diversion. And also entertainment for the next day's holiday from school.
So a friend who will be on the same tee ball team as Stinkerbell came home with us and spent the night. Whch was fun. Except for the competitiveness and "I wanna do/be/say this" and the "no you're not playing the princess/snow dog/rock star/momma/sister/teacher/boss/homeless person - I am!" and the pouting and foot-stomping and flowing tears. But once the girls calmed me down and let me wear the Cinderella tiara it was a lot more fun.
So we ate pizza and made gooey chocolate chip cookies and stayed up reeeeeeally late. Like 10:30!
And then The Mighty Hunter finally got home from work. My 27 phone calls to him, pleading for him to 'HURRY THE CRAP UP!!!" with the sincere sounds of terror, fright, frustration, fatigue dripping from my voice - they didn't encourage him to finish his work any earlier.
jerk.
The girls were in bed but still awake.
Lucky had been fussy and doing his dog-whistle-pitch scream and NOT nursing. And NOT taking a bottle. This is sOOOOO out of character for my good-natured little boy. He wil squeal when he's really hungry or cold, but that's about it.
But The Mighty Hunter comes in and is "Mr. Good Guy". He tiptoes into Stinkerbell's room and scares them - because that's his job. They squeal. He tells them to go on to sleep and shuts the door. He then walks over to Lucky, who is still screaming.
"What's the matter with my bubba?"
silence
coo
gaaaa
I flop my body onto the bed in exhaustion and defeat.
jerks
big jerk
little jerk
Mommy's the milk maker and diaper changer and the one who sticks the pappy in his mouth. Daddy's the hero.
whimper
So, he's 7 weeks old. He loves his daddy more than his mommy. I can't handle the company of two 6 year-old girls for 24 hours. I've eaten more sharp cheddar cheese than is healthy.
And my cholesterol is 202.
Do you think I'm gonna eat oatmeal? Nasty mushy oatmeal?
Only if they stop making Cheerios!
And I lose the use of my jaws and my taste buds stop working.
Nah, I don't think I would even then.
blech!
Stinkerbell decorated her own "big sister" t-shirt for her little brother's BIRTH day. She worked very hard to make it pretty. We used those iron-on decals that work with inkjet printers. She chose the colors for the layout I threw together.
Since this will be our last child, it was definitely a "once in a lifetime" event for Stinkerbell. She was very excited about her brother's birth and full of questions. It was an exciting day for all of us. For her, I think it was better than Disney World.
Visit Crazy Hip Blog Mamas and look at the other "once in a lifetimes".
What's for lunch?
Macaroni and cheese with extra Velveeta in for more thick, creamy yumminess.
No. Not "healthy". But, sometimes, on a rainy day in Alabama, you just gotta eat whatever the lovely crap you want to eat.
Also, I have laundry that needs to be hung up from the dryer so that I won't have to turn on my iron. Because I don't iron unless I have NOTHING ELSE TO WEAR!!!
While I've been eating, Lucky's in his swing and I've been browsing the carnies from yesterday's Crazy Hip Blog Mama's carnival...
And they've found a new species of clouded leopard somewhere in South America. Wish I'd listened to the story. Heeeeeeeeeere kitty kitty kitteeeeee. Preeeeetteeeee kitteeeeee.
Yeah, it's raining. And this afternoon should be the first teeball practice for Stinkerbell. This was her team last year! This year, she's a Rocky!
Dryer buzzing and need a shower.
oh and will probably poop too.
tmi sorry
Chicken Recipe Rally
Hold On...
I've got two for you...
****Chicken hobos.
Hobos? aka Boy Scout Dinners, Camp Fire Dinners, Pouch Meals
Cut chicken into bite size pieces, season to taste. Cut vegetables of choice. Fold large heavy-duty foil double and make a "bowl." Place chicken on bottom, then put veggies on top. Spoon 1/4 to 1/2 cup sauce of choice on top. Seal foil at top very securely. Bake in oven at 350 for 45 minutes or until chicken is done.
Ground beef/turkey is also yummy. Tender roast meat works. I like corn, onion, potato, okra, tomato, squash/zucchini, diced chiles. The Mighty Hunter likes jalapenos too!
Sauce? I do my rotelly chicken sauce. 1 can Rotel. 1 equal sized can tomato sauce. 2 T brown sugar. The Mighty Hunter wants Worcestershire in his - lots of it. Stinkerbell likes Worcestershire and brown sugar.
****Low WW Point Chicken Quesadillas
(2) 8" Whole wheat tortillas (98% fat free)
1-2 Tbs all white meat chicken
Chili powder
Cumin
1 Tbs Rotel, drained
1 tsp diced chiles
Chopped onions, raw or sautéed in olive or canola oil, your choice (1 Tbs or as preferred)
Cubed hot pepper cheese – substitute milder variety pepper jack if preferred
Sliced jalapenos (to taste)
Pre-heat non-stick pan over medium heat. Drain all water off chicken. Transfer chicken to a bowl, sprinkle with chili powder and cumin. Using a fork, "shred" chicken into thin "slivers", mixing chili powder and cumin into meat. Lightly spread approximately 1-2 Tbs of chicken onto one tortilla. Spread Rotel, chiles, onions and jalapenos evenly on top of chicken. Distribute approximately 8-10 cubes of cheese on top. (If using shredded cheese, use 1-2 Tbs). Carefully slide into pre-heated pan and cover with 2nd tortilla. Allow to cook until bottom tortilla is golden brown, 4-5 minutes. Using wide spatula, carefully flip tortilla and allow to cook an additional 4-5 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove from heat. Slice with your favorite pizza cutter and serve with fat free sour cream.
I also substitute cooked onions from time to time. Depending on what you use to cook them and how many you use, they probably add a point.
One quesadilla = 3 points*, approximately. The points were determined by using points calculator and calorie, fat, etc of ingredients. Rotel, chiles, jalapenos and raw onions are 0 points. 2 tortillas are less than 1 pt. Chicken is approx 1 pt. Cheese and cooked onions are approx 1 pt. All this WW point stuff is by MY estimation, which I readily admit is flawed and not scientifical at all.
Ok, not two. three...
******Chicken salad - nothing special, just yummy
2 cans chicken, drained completely and smushed with a fork
mayonnaise
grapes
sm pecan pieces
diced onion
This one of those non-recipe recipes. The only exact measurement I have for this is the canned chicken. I put in enough mayonnaise to moisten the chicken but not make it runny. I slice the seedless grapes and put enough in there to get a piece of grape in every or every other bite. I put probably 2 Tbs of the small chopped pecans. I put in enough onion to give it a little flavor, probably 3 Tbs.
This is great on some fresh loaf bread, on a cracker, in a bowl, you name it!
(Fun, peppy theme music)
"Stinkerbell's show"*
Stinkerbell is an animal. Her name will be changed to CrisD. She will be a golden matriever.
Auburn Gal Always is the veterinarian.
CrisD** is a shelter dog.
Auburn Gal Always bought CrisD and made her get rich and made her a house before she got there.
The other veterinarian is Stinkerbell’s daddy. Auburn Gal Always’s little boy is still Stinkerbell’s little brother. The brother’s name is Lucky.
Auburn Gal Always’s name will be Vicky.
The Mighty Hunter’s name will be Vernon.
There will be a song at the end of the show.
CrisD is a puppy. Vicky will make her a collar on the computer that looks like a bone.
We need some practice and the veterinarian shop is upstairs on Mommy’s bed and we will need a little bit of coloring on cardboard to make it gray like the cage bars.
We will need to color something like rocks.
Auburn Gal Always’s secret name is Mrs. Santa Claus.***
CrisD will dress up in her dog clothes that she will make.
Auburn Gal Always is the actress and will need to wear something black and pretty and a hat that she will have to buy.
We will make lots of copies of the show and will give them away to Stinkerbell’s friends that are kids because it’s a kid’s show. So just give that family one. And get the camera people’s phone numbers on the phone book and tell them to get this film on one of those tapes.
CrisD likes TV and she watches it upstairs on Vicky’s bed. And at Vicky’s house in the living room, she watches TV too.
We need to draw a bowl and dog food and the bowl should say CrisD with a little period on it. And we should draw a bathtub too. And CrisD gets a bath everyday – pretend. And when she gets out of the bath, she shakes off. And Vicky says “ewwww.”
Vernon will save a toy horse from certain death with an emergency Achilles heel transfusion. And that’s when CrisD shows up and gets called “CrisD, dog veterinarian.” And that’s when CrisD starts to be a veterinarian.
We should make a dvd holder and we should take a picture of Stinkerbell, The Mighty Hunter and Auburn Gal Always and a reindeer and the horse that needed help and Lucky and Stinkerbell is posing like a pretty dog with her paw up like bented and her legs on the ground and her left paw is up and her nails are pointing down.
*Always playing some involved, convoluted, complicated, soap-opera game, Stinkerbell dictated the above plan for her "show". In her kindergarten-level reading skills, she supervised my typing "what's that say?" and corrected me when I got it "all wrong." I think I finally got it right.
**CrisD is pronounced kris-dee. not kris-tee. Get it right or you'll get schooled.
***Mrs Santa Claus is another game we play on a regular basis. Complete with a very busy Mr. Santa Claus, Rudolph (and assorted other reindeer), hot chocolate and s'mores, imaginary snow and dangerously cold pretend-weather brrrrrr. As Mrs. Santa Claus, I've taken in a little girl who has no mother, kittens without loving people, dogs without loving people, babies without a mother and made lots of chocolate chip cookies.
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per this site, my Rock Solid Ghetto Shiznit Name is
Wankmaster Cwac Cwac, yo!
what does "shiznit" mean?
******************************************************************
I'm doing this post like this with all the *s and disjointed topics because my ISP is having some stupid SQL problems and I can't always log in to my blogger account. And I have NO! IDEA! when they'll get it fixed, because they won't REPLY! TO! MY! MESSAGES!
I know. I can change ISPs. There are other ISPs.
Cable? But because I live on a short stretch of road between a major highway that has no homes, therefore no cable, and the dead-end of the cable line, and there are only 4 houses between the end of the cable line and that highway and they laugh at me when I ask them to send their precious cable my way. LAUGH! Silly, silly woman.
DSL? I'm in the sticks. STICKS! BOONIES! BACK-WOODS! We have Bell-South but they don't plan on upgrading our equipment for ISDN! or DSL! soon.
Satellite? Hate Hughesnet, dish is ugly and too expensive initially. WildBlue - they're "full" in our area and again is expensive initially. There are others but haven't looked into them yet.
Dial-up? Get REAL! I've tasted high speed. I'm waaaay too good for dial-up now. I'd rather read a BOOK!
************************************************************
Lunch-time. I think it will be a California Pizza Kitchen Margherita frozen pizza. yummmm. Then some yummy under-baked chocolate chip cookies.
************************************************************
Supper? Probably chicken hobos.
Hobos? aka Boy Scout Dinners, Camp Fire Dinners, Pouch Meals
Cut chicken into bite size pieces, season to taste. Cut vegetables of choice. Fold large heavy-duty foil double and make a "bowl." Place chicken on bottom, then put veggies on top. Spoon 1/4 to 1/2 cup sauce of choice on top. Seal foil at top very securely. Bake in oven at 350 for 45 minutes or until chicken is done.
Ground beef/turkey is also yummy. Tender roast meat works.
I like corn, onion, potato, okra, tomato, squash/zucchini, diced chiles. The Mighty Hunter likes jalapenos too!
Sauce? I do my rotelly chicken sauce. 1 can Rotel. 1 equal sized can tomato sauce. 2 T brown sugar. The Mighty Hunter wants Worcestershire in his - lots of it. Stinkerbell likes Worcestershire and brown sugar.
******************************************************
Laundry. yuk. tired! of! laundry!
*******************************************************
I much prefer Young and the Restless over Days. Y&R's guys are hotter - except Nick, his caveman brow creeps me out.
Scrubs - funny. LOVE Dr Cox's girl names for JD. I know this show is not new. But I've just now started watching. FUNNY STUFF
Monk - I miss you soooo much.
Psych - you crack me up. Hurry up and do this "summer season" already!
House - my favorite mean-spirited, agnostic, drug addict doctor. I wish I could say the things he says and get away with it and NOT FEEL GUILTY
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yea. lunch.
bye!
Gosh, I hope the publish button works!
atomic clocks and daylight savings time
yeah
not so automatic
So, I did the updates on my laptop, The Mighty Hunter's laptop, a few puters at his office for DST. Mine worked. The Mighty Hunter's Outlook calendar may not have made the transition so well.
We set our clocks at home last night.
We have 2 of those atomic clocks. The ones linked to some super time-broadcasting clock in Colorado or Houston or Dauphin Island. The ones that I never have to set and that I LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOOVE.
Keep batteries in them and they're right.
Power goes out in the middle of the night? At least one alarm in our house will wake us in the morning - assuming we remember to turn ON that alarm!
Atomic clocks? good.
DST? evil.
DST that makes me wake up an hour earlier? SUPER EVIL.
DST roll call!!!
DirecTV? check!
Auburn Laptop Always? check!
Cell phones? check!
Old-fashioned, set-it-yourself alarm clock? check!
Atomic clocks?
Atomic clocks?
crickets
wind blowing
the howl of a lone coyote
Atomic clocks? gotta set those for DST yourself too!
stupid technology.
stupid clocks.
stupid atomic time-broadcasting Colorado mountain.
stupid DST.
stupid stupid stupid
Over at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas, we're sharing stories about reading books to our children (or memories of books read to us as kids.
Here's my story...
I joined one of those book of the month clubs for kid's books. I got a lot of books, most of them great. Some of them, just dust-collectors. A few of them became super-favorites for Stinkerbell. Her favorite one for a long time during her toddler days, and it still gets a lot of face-time, was "How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?"
her toddler days are long gone. I just might cry right now.
With its light, rhymes, Stinkerbell would listen to how Papa and Mama would tell the dinosaur goodnight and then shake her finger at the naughty dinosaurs as they threw their tantrums and avoided bedtime.
The inside cover pages were filled with drawings of different dinosaurs playing with toys that are found in any child's bedroom. One had an airplane. Another bounced a ball. One was reading a book. Stinkerbell would point her chubby, toddler finger at each dinosaur as I would count how many dinosaurs she saw.
I would say, "Which one has a choo choo?"
"daaaar. choo choooooo!"
The dedication page showed an Ankylosaurus yawning, dragging its blanket, walking away. Many times I'd get to this page and Stinkerbell would point to the blanket and make a sound.
One day, she pointed to the blanket, "me!"
"Me...?"
"me!" pointing emphatically at the blanket.
"That's the dinosaur's blanket."
"me!"
"Is that the dinosaur's blanket's name? Me?"
"me!" nodding. The poor child's mother is not very smart.
"Is that the name of your blanket too?"
"MEEEEE!" smiling.
Soon her blanket's name was extended to Meme. But that's how she taught her mommy something using her favorite book.
But my favorite memory of reading this book to Stinkerbell as a toddler was her emotional reaction to the end of the story.
Throughout the sweet book, the dinosaurs are resisting telling their Papa and Mama goodnight. All through the story, Stinkerbell would scold the dinosaurs. She knew better (not that she DID better herself.) It was her responsibility to teach her dino friends to get their long, scaly tails in bed on time and without throwing a fit.
Finally, the Mama and Papa get the sleepy dinos to "tuck in their tails" and "turn out the light". Stinkerbell's sweet little hands would pat the covers and she'd make the soft, sweet sounds of her approval and love.
The pages of the book where the T-rex gives 'night 'night kisses are marked forever from the moist kisses my affectionate girl gave her dino friend.
And, without fail, her reaction to the last page's goodnight wish "Goodnight. Goodnight, little dinosaur," was full of her tender feelings. She would cry and place her head on my shoulder, hiding from the sadness she felt as the dino went to sleep, leaving her alone.
Until I turned the page to the outside cover, where the dinosaur counting would begin again.
The memory of my daughter's tender sympathy and big heart will stay with me forever. The memory of her tears over a book's characters going to sleep are preserved on dvd.
Read to a child today. Make precious memories of your own.
Visit Kane Miller publishers to find other quality children's books.
Crazy Hip Blog Mama is having a Recipe Rally today!
Here's mine...
Auburn Gal’s Easy Chicken Gumbo
2 cans chicken, all white meat
2 lg cans tomato sauce
1 lg can diced tomatoes
1 sm can tomato paste
1 can Rotel
1 can diced chiles
2 lg tomato sauce cans full of water
2 ½ T chili powder
1 T cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sage
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp thyme
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 lg onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced/pressed/grated (can substitute 1 tsp chopped garlic from jar)
2 whole bay leaves
3 chicken bullion cubes
Place all ingredients in crock pot. Allow to cook until onion is tender. Remove bay leaves before serving.To increase spicy heat, like my husband wants, you can add crushed red pepper and Tabasco sauce.
To make the bullion cubes easier to dissolve, crush them in their wrappers. I use a hard spice container and whack it a few times.
You can also add shrimp or sausage or other normal gumbo-like ingredients if you like!
yummmm!!!!
enjoy!!!
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Important stuff.
Chloe W. Moore
Memories are important, and today I'm gonna share some with you. Pardon the probable typos. My eyes are already tearing up, thinking of what I'm about to write...
Tomorrow is March 3, 2006 and will be the 6th anniversary of the death of my maternal grandmother.
Mama Moore. She was a retired teacher, most of that career was in the first grade classroom at Sylvania High School. There are hundreds of kids that occupied those short chairs in her room. A room decorated with ABC's and 123's and books about Curious George and building blocks and the distinct smell of chalk dust and fat pencils and fat crayons and paper with dashed lines. And love. Lots of love.
She was my brother's first grade teacher but not mine. I would like to have that memory of her too.
But my memories are of spending the night at her house and sleeping in the big, tall bed in her front bedroom. That bed was sooooo tall and the quilts were soooo heavy. I think the memories of crawling up under the sheets in that bed, those snugly-tucked, clean sheets, that make me race with the rest of my little family to be the first under the covers when I've washed the sheets for our bed. And the memory of the weight of those quilts that mashed on my toes, uncomfortable but comforting, gives preference to quilts on our bed instead of fluffy down comforters.
I remember going on trips with her. Old lady trips. Charter bus trips to Natchez, MS, for the annual Spring Pilgrimage, where she squeezed my hand HARD and told me in her most dramatic whisper "That's why I'm a Democrat." And a trip to Epcot, during which I experienced one of my early hypoglycemic black-out because I'm too hungry and stupid episodes and scared her to death in the bathroom of a Morrison's Cafeteria.
I remember her buying all kinds of things for me. Michael Jackson's Thriller album - 33rpm, no less!!! Of which she asked me repeatedly if my mom and dad would approve.
I remember her coming to the hospital and sitting with me during my 3 hour glucose tolerance test during my pregnancy with Stinkerbell. This not-so-secretly annoyed me. And I regret my annoyance at her concern. She could have slept late that day, and I acted like a turd.
I remember her telling me stories about my Papa and his bright blue eyes. "Like yours," she'd say and brush my shaggy hair out of my face. Papa died of a massive heart attack before my first birthday, so my only memories of him are stories from Mama and my own mom. He was a card, they say. Her love for him was deep and true and passionate.
I remember her riding to Auburn with me for a night trip between quarters and her sharing her "scientific" explanation for the origin of AIDS. Don't even ask. It made me forget how to drive a stick-shift for a full 5 minutes. And I did NOT laugh!
But there are things about Mama that I learned about her instead of remembering.
I learned that years before my Papa's death, when my mom and her sisters and brothers were still young, Mama realized that she would probably live longer than Papa (he was several years older than she) and would need to support her children and herself. So, she drove herself to Jacksonville State University and earned her teaching degree. I must point out that JSU is now more than an hour's drive from where she lived - with better roads and more reliable cars and safer travel conditions, in general. But she did this in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Alone or with her oldest daughter, she did this a few nights a week, after caring for her home and 4 children while Papa was at work during the day.
I learned that she managed her finances with skill and invested in property around her home, expanding her estate by several times. She managed the mining of coal from some of the property she bought and further increased her wealth. She leased out additional farm land to other farmers near her, allowing them to increase their yields and her to further increase her annual income.
I learned that, for all the wealth she built (which is still not vast, but was very comfortable), she was not frugal. She bought clothes and never removed the tags. She collected spoons from her travels. SPOONS. She couldn't part with hundreds of empty butter bowls missing lids - or lids missing bowls.
She had more than one Shotgun Red doll. (Why have one?)
