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His laugh

I think I've written before about T M H 's laugh. It's great. It's funny. It's more of a cackly giggle than an actual "laugh". It's the kind of laugh that will make you laugh just hearing it.



It's also loud.



Tonight, I was able to shower as part of my getting ready for bed routine. I'm more of a morning bather, but I made an exception since I potted some tomato and pepper and eggplant plants to humor Stinkerbell and also washed the sheets. Clean sheets deserve clean bodies.



After my shower, I returned to the living room in my underwear - I'm all exhibitiony that way - and checked my Reader to see what y'all had written this evening. I sat down on the loveseat and let Lucky start nursing.



Multi-tasking, mommy style.

Something on tv amuses The Mighty Hunter. As usual, after his nightly whiskey sour, he lets out his cackle laugh. Have I mentioned his laugh is loud? Lucky whips his head around, stretching my nip about thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis far, to see what his daddy is doing.

The Mighty Hunter realizes he has gotten Lucky's attention.

"hey bubba."

Lucky turns back to his meal.

"I wonder if laughing like that will get him to look over again. cackle cackle cackle cackle cackle"

Lucky looks back at daddy.

"yup. Even better, I get to see Mommy's booby!"

Lucky turns back to his meal again.

"cackle cackle cackle cackle cackle"

Lucky looks at daddy.

Daddy ogles mommy.

Lucky goes back to mommy.

"cackle cackle cackle cackle"

Lucky looks at daddy.

Daddy ogles mommy.

Lucky goes back to mommy.



rinse and repeat.

5 things

Melzie tagged me for this one. It's what I need right now, in the Desert of Inspiration... Thanks!

5 things I want to do before I die:

1. travel (here and other places.

2. build a house

3. learn to sew

4. get my masters (don't know in what exactly, just want to learn more)

5. get in super-buff, look-at-her-firm-butt-and-thighs shape

5 things I can do:

1. make an airplane out of the little paper thingy around restaurant napkins

2. raise one eyebrow independently of the other one

3. read Stinkerbell's mind

4. remember numbers without much effort (think "walking phone book")

5. read music (jr high, high school and college band plus 6 years of piano lessons did stick with me)

5 things I cannot do ... yet:

1. sew (more than a button or cross-stitch, which I gave up years ago in exchange for my sanity.)

2. pay bills without anxiety attacks

3. write html (beyond italics, strikethrough, etc)

4. speak a foreign language (4 years of Spanish and all I made sure to remember was "donde es la bana?" trust me, it's a very useful phrase.)

5. play the guitar

5 things that make a man attractive to me:

1. relationship with Jesus

2. sense of humor/his laugh (you should hear The Mighty Hunter's laugh)

3. tenderness (love of pets and kids)

4. smoldering, bedroom eyes

5. strength (not necessarily physical, emotional and mental and those intangible "manly" qualities that make a good provider/husband/dad)

6. the sexy singing ability of Harry, Ricky or Elvis.

5 celebrities that I crush on: (in no particular order)

1. Harry Connick Jr (if he had just asked me to marry him first, The Mighty Hunter would have a different wife - or be heartbroken and lonely!)

2. Pierce Brosnan - The Thomas Crown Affair is one of the sexiest movies I've seen.

3. Ricky Martin - my Latin singing, dancing love

4. Dennis Quaid - much like a goofy laugh, I love me a goofy grin.

5. Last, but not least, the King, himself. I couldn't find a clip of "One Night With You". But lemmetellya, it's just a complete seduction for me. And, for the record, I have a crush on only the 1968 Comeback Special black leather Elvis. And if The Mighty Hunter only knew what it does to me to watch that. Well, let's just say we might have more than 2 kids, and he might just get enough - for one time.

5 bloggers I'd like to see do this also:

1. Bee at WillBlogForShoes*

2. Jennifer at PlaygroupsAreNoPlaceForChildren*

3. MrsReevesFarm at ForTheLove...AMamasMantra

4. Casey at MooshInIndy

5. Super B's Mom at TheAdventuresOfT&SuperB

Let me know if you play along.

*I know I tag you both for everything, sorry. You're just my bestest bloggy friends. ::snort::

Monday Miscellany

Country Club - I wore a short skirt that barely fits my fluffy butt and a top with a cami under it. I felt like a dope. A dope from 1999. But at least I wasn't in my Hanes athletic shorts and tennis shoes. Dinner was delicious. It was a seafood buffet, with pork and chicken and something else I remember being too rare for me. We were pretty much the youngest families there and definitely the only ones with kids in tow. Lucky and Stinkerbell were the centers of attention.

There was a table next to us filled with septuagenarians and octogenarians (words for the day) having a birthday. They shared cake with the kiddos. One older gentleman loved talking to the kids and kept calling Stinkerbell over and talking to her. (I had my eagle-eye on him the whole time, having been "mistreated" by an older man as a big kid.) He claimed to be a "movie star," which thrilled Stinkerbell. He gave her a dollar, which made me super-uncomfortable. How do you handle it when strangers give your children gifts/money?

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Our friends had recently added on to their house. It looks great. It makes me sick though. They have all this stuff that I don't have and I know they make the exact same money as us. Actually a little less, since I get a small weekly check for the work I've done there since start-up - and still do. The difference between us and them is debt. We are debt-phobic. We owe for my Pimped Out Mamamobile and The Mighty Hunter's Mighty Truck and his Rhino. We live rent/mortgage-free in a nice, comfy home in exchange for its upkeep. (FIL's house. He travels year-round and owns the condo on Dauphin Island, plus his late mother's house.) The free house thing is great, except I have closets full of other people's stuff and pictures and decorations that belonged to FIL and the late MIL. It seriously needs paint and carpet, and The Mighty Hunter refuses to put money into this house - saving our money for our house. I get all that. I just want something that is mine.

back to our friends: They have to be drowning in debt. I know they don't put any money back for anything at all really. I just see what they have and know that if they can afford it, so can we.

I also wonder how they make all the monthly payments they must have.

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I lit The Mighty Hunter's head on fire last night, twice. He thanked me.

Although I would love to just leave this hanging and all 3 of you wondering, my OCD requires me to explain... dangit

He found some "ear candles" left over from when his mother was still alive. After her diagnosis and up to the last 3 months of her life, she used a large amount of homeopathic/herbal/alternative treatments. (While snickering several of them, I must give credit to her discipline, determination and fighting for her life with most every method available to her. She was given 6 months to live and lasted 2 years.) Ear candling was one of the things she did that I snickered at. She actually came to our house and had me help her with it.

How many of you have had the distinct honor of burning a candle poked into your MIL's ear?

So, The Mighty Hunter keeps the tv turned up very loud, which causes me to complain a lot. He just thought it was me, but admitted last night that "others" have made the same complaints as I (me?). He thinks his ears may be full of wax. And decided to let me candle them.

I think he has damaged his hearing over the years shooting without ear protection. I know that loud music has done some damage to my ears.

I told him that he would probably wear hearing aids sometime over the next few years.

His response: "huh?"

smart a$$

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Lucky is sitting up almost unassisted. He leans forward and props with his chubby hands. He raised himself up to a sitting position by pulling on my hands last night. He also learned to pull the blanket off his face for peek-a-boo.

He will be 6 months next week and is wearing 9 months and 12 months sized clothes.

Over the week of the 4th, he learned to wahwah. We pat his mouth with our hands/fingers and he says "ahhh", which sounds like "wahwahwahwahwah." This is my mom's favorite game with her grand-babies.

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School starts on August 9.

Stinkerbell is not looking forward to school this time. She wants more time with me.

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New spam subjects.

I've recently been getting a whole new theme of spam messages. The subjects are always a variation of a e-greeting from a generic someone who should know me.

family member
colleague
classmate
partner

My favorite is when I get an e-greeting from a worshipper. If you also worship me, you've picked the wrongest wrong of idols.

Also, I got an old-fashioned spam today with the subject "antelope racist."

Whodathunk that antelopes deal with things like segregation and Jim Crow laws and giving up seats on buses?

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I need to do less blogging and more things with my family. Blogging is my addiction. If you notice fewer posts from me over the following days/weeks/months, please understand and don't forget me. I love writing and the friendships I have made here. I have my email address in my sidebar. Don't be a stranger.

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See ya soon.

Mowing Therapy and Waterhoses

I haven't always enjoyed mowing the yard. There have been times that I'd rather have a rectal exam than get out in the heat and bugs and humidity and allergens and heat. But over the past few years, I've come to appreciate the amazing therapeutic quality of being alone for an hour or two - even if it is on a lawn mower.

Know what I mean? Sure you do.

Our yard is very big and takes me at least an hour and a half to mow. Sometimes, like yesterday, I let it stretch out longer. Also, the grass was thick in spots and had to be mowed over 2 or 3 times to get it short.

Yesterday, I said that it hadn't been mowed since before Father's Day. This is true, but in my defense, it hasn't grown any until last week. We have had no rain at all until last week. And now everything is growing again. So, don't think I've just let the grass grow wild, all natural-like. I like our grass cut short and not snakey. Our yard is enclosed by a pasture fence, I even mow on the other side of the fence - inside the pasture - two mower's width, to keep it from being all snakey. And, yes, "snakey" is a term we use all the term here to refer to tall, grass where you can't see a snake hiding.

Well, now.

I strutted myself to the barn where the Kubota is kept, singing "Walk Away" with Kelly Clarkson. Then there was "Bitch" and "Redneck Woman" and "Heartbreaker", "Wild Night", "Cherry Bomb". Then "I Can't Do This" by Plumb, "Whatever" by Steven Curtis Chapman, and "Voice of Truth" by Casting Crowns. These 3 songs began to change my mood some, as you can imagine. Then as I listened to "Sometimes He Comes in the Clouds" and "Lord I Believe in You," I began to loosen up and was able to think past the anger and hurt and disappointment and stress.

I began to see that everyone will disappoint and hurt me. And it's ok.

I began to see that I can trust only one person will never hurt me or disappoint me. And that's great.

By the time I had finished mowing, I was smiling again. The tight grip I had on my bitterness was loosened, and you know how good it feels to let go of something you've been squeezing the life out of.

I realized that I should wash the cut grass of the mowing deck. I've been told that it should be done each time the yard is mowed. But my memory leakage has kept this from happening everytime this summer. Once, maybe. Anyway, as I was kneeling and spraying the grass and sticking my hands into dark places where there might be bugs and spiders and things that I don't want to touch, The Mighty Hunter snuck up on me.

He began to help with the removal of the grass and was pretty helpful until he got cute with me and sprayed me with the waterhose.

I got him back with a spray to his crotch.

A short truce while we finished cleaning the mower was ended violently with him spraying me from neck to knee with the hose and then promptly running for his life.



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Thank you all so very, very much for the kind comments yesterday. It really helped to know that so many of you took the time to reach out to me with love and concern.

a note: I've taken anti-anxiety meds before. I'm OCD and have a very high tolerance for that type med, so I've hesitated to try anything because I know that a high dosage might be required. But I'm still thinking about it.

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Randomness:

Lucky is beginning to sit up alone and when on his belly, will pull and push himself around on the floor.

School starts in 27 days. Thank you JESUS!

We're eating dinner with some friends at their local country club tonight. I'm not a country club kind of gal, so I'm a little stressed over this. Besides the stress of eating at a place that causes me anxiety, I have no clothes to wear. Thanks to this baby fluff I still have on my butt and thighs and stomach. I was talking to my friend that we're going with about what to wear and what they have to eat, and she commented on the yummy desserts they serve. I felt compelled to point out that the mass consumption of desserts will not aid in our fluff removal. We've decided that each bite we take of desserts should be followed by a pig snort to remind of us of our ultimate goals.

I'll let you know how successful it is.