Another Day In The Life….

Day Five of the lower back pain. Ugh. I probably should go to the chiropractor but, I don’t have the time. I also don’t feel like spending money for that right now. So, I will suffer in silence, or in my case, intermittent whining. This whole thing has been a reminder to me, how in life, if one small thing is out of order, it can affect everything else. I am hoping that I will just wake up one morning (soon!) and I will be healed…and not have to walk like I am 95 years old for the first couple hours of each day!

 

 

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This morning has been great (other than the back pain). It is sunny outside, with buttery sun puddling on the kitchen and living room floors. We are having another  “cold front”….so the temps are only in the 70’s with low humidity. There is also a slight breeze, which I find very enjoyable. My heat miser friends are not happy. According to them, “July is in the middle of the summer! Summer is supposed to be hot!” I secretly, in my own mind, am thinking, “Suck it up, Buttercup!” I love weather like this and I would do the happy dance, if I could, without causing further pain in my back.

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, I spent some time rearranging things in a corner of the living room. I have a beautiful, hand crafted, oak shelf. I had various knick knacks on it and thought to myself, “I can do better than that”. So…….I decided to bring out about half of my Boyd’s Bear collection to fill up that shelf in the corner. I have a… eh…hem…..rather large bear collection, that has been growing over many years. I like to look at them, so for now some of them are at home in the corner of the living room. My daughter said I am going to grow to be an old lady with lots of teddy bears. I informed her that these are not just any teddy bears….and there are a lot worse things to collect than bears. I obviously will not be willing my sweet, cuddly collection to her! Hmmpppffff!

 

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Anyone that knows me, knows that I am an avid animal lover. My son’s dog, Lonnie, is a terrier mix. When we got him from the Humane Society three and a half years ago, I didn’t know much about terriers. All I knew was that he had the biggest brown eyes and he was looking straight at me when we took the tour to see what animal we wanted to take to our “fur-ever” home. Little did I know that “fur-ever” really meant FUR forever.  I love this dog. I mean really love this dog. He is awesome. Of course, I found out after the fact that terriers are renowned shedders. Lonnie is white with a black mask. Let me just say that I do a lot of sweeping and vacuuming at my house. White fur is abundant. I don’t mind though….he is worth it. Maybe I will knit him a sweater out of his own fur for a Christmas present. Not really. I was just kidding, people. Sheesh.

 

 

 

 

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I need to sweep and vacuum off the deck carpets today, probably wipe down the tables too. I invited a friend over for a birthday dinner tomorrow evening. We are fairly new friends (this past year), but I feel like I’ve known her a lot longer. We are close in age, and that is always nice because then the other person gets references from childhood or young adulthood that others might not get. She is also very cool when it comes to music and photography. So, in my mind, I categorize her as my cool, artsy, friend. Does anyone else do that besides me? You know, like she is my funny, awesome, always has me laughing friend. Or maybe she is my fellow bookworm, always has good quotes and facts, kind of a friend. Or this is my crazy, “I’m gonna go postal”, never a dull moment friend. Lord only knows what title I get from my friends. They probably just consider me a little weird, but lovable. I can live with that.

 

 

 

 

Well, it is off to get things done today. I know this wasn’t one of my “normal” blogs, but today I just wrote what I was feeling. I never know where that may lead!

At 3 O’Clock In The Morning

Some days I just need to laugh, and what better fodder for a good laugh then my own life?

I’m currently watching the cat bat a spider around on the floor. I don’t have much any love for spiders, so I’m not feeling the need to stop her. Uh oh. The spider just went under the baseboard over near the dog’s dish. Ugh. My sweet calico is now watching the baseboard. She knows the fast little creature is under there. She will wait patiently for his return. She is pretty extremely patient for a cat. She did the same thing with the field mouse that ran through the living room and eventually found its way behind our refrigerator, a couple of years ago. You can read about that episode here.

Speaking of spiders…. I got up in the middle of the night, last night, to use the bathroom. Yes, I know I shouldn’t drink so much iced tea before bed! (it is a weakness) I didn’t turn the overhead bathroom light on because I didn’t want to be fully awake. As I was sitting there, minding my own business I noticed a black fuzzy thing on the floor near my foot. I think you know where this is going….. The spider was heading towards the hamper. This spider was the size of a quarter. In my mind it might as well have been as big as Godzilla. That is how my mind works when it comes to arachnids. In the middle of the night. Near my foot.

I did not jump up fly through the air, screaming. I had to be quiet, no sudden movements, so as not to scare the long legged fuzzy up under the hamper or baseboard. Once he made it to the “safety zone” I wouldn’t be able to get him. I stealthily grabbed an old magazine, and with the speed of lightening (or at least as much speed as I could muster at 3 o’clock in the morning) gave the misplaced spider the smack down. It was over quickly and painlessly. Well, painlessly for me, not so much for the spider. R.I.P

The cat is now laying near the baseboard. That spider doesn’t have a chance. She will wait him out.

Good kitty.

 

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Random Silliness

 

I’ve been looking through my pictures…..and thought I’d share some random silliness with you, my blog readers. Life is never so serious that we can’t take some time to laugh at ourselves.

I was going through some of my pictures the other day. What ever possessed me to take these pictures? I remember I was doing something crafty and wanted a picture of it. I was, at the time, sitting on the bedroom floor trying to decide on lighting…..why I took these pictures I don’t know. I nearly blinded myself with the flash. I’ve got real talent. On a bright note, I had just gotten my hair cut and it looked pretty good.

I have a thing for barns. I don’t know why, I just do. I’m the crazy woman that drives around the Ohio countryside snapping pictures of stranger’s barns. I’m very covert…I only stopped the van in the middle of the road on a few occasions.

Why was it that we moved from the southern states, to Ohio? Just kidding. I like the snow. Of course, I am not the one shoveling it, so I can say that.

Too bad that my camera doesn’t take night time pictures very well. This is the moon. Really. And, by the way, your eyes are not bad. The pictures are not in focus. I said I took pictures. I never said I was good at it.

These pictures were me admiring my newly stained window grilles that I did this past summer. I will not discuss the details of The Great Stain Debacle of 2011….Oh, okay.  I um….slipped and stained myself in the process. Does anyone know how difficult it is to get wood stain off skin? Let’s just say, for days I looked like I was covered in liver spots. End of discussion.

A happy heart makes the face cheerful,
   but heartache crushes the spirit.  Proverbs 15:13  NIV

They’re Coming To Take Me Away…

horse fly, Diptera family Tabanidae, Tabanus s...

Image via Wikipedia

On this incredibly stinkin’ hot day in the rural Midwest, I thought we could all use a good dose of humor. I will allow you to laugh at my expense. Dawn vs. Nature. It is not a pretty sight.

I thought that we had moved to a picturesque setting in the rural farmland of Ohio. Actually, this turned out to be true, although I had no idea the other critters that had also chose to live alongside us on our little slice of land. In the Spring we had a raccoon under the deck. This visitor caused our dogs to nearly go berserk. At 3 am in the morning. The dogs couldn’t get to the “scared out of his wits” raccoon, and the raccoon was NOT coming out with two “Cujo‘s” on the loose. There was not much sleeping going on that night for anyone in a five mile radius of our house.

We have a ground hog that has a vacation home down where our property meets the road. He is quiet and keeps to himself. Every time I see him, The Wind and The Willows comes to mind.

We have Bambi and family that trek across our side yard on a fairly regular basis. Fun to watch, unless one decides to jump out directly in front of the the family van….then it is a little scary. The other night my husband laid some rubber on the road when he braked hard not to hit a deer that literally came out of nowhere, directly in front of us. My heart was hammering in my chest during that little moment, as I was nearly decapitated by the stupid shoulder strap safety belt. Are there any statistics on death by shoulder strap?

In August and September we have the gnat plague. Where in the world do gnats come from? Honestly, there is no food sitting out, nothing like that….they just appear like clockwork. In August. They stay for two months and the family chases them around with the bug zapper before they disappear, or are inadvertently eaten, as they are always in my way while fixing dinner. Um…they look like pepper. Sorry. I looked gnats up on the internet. They are a nuisance, but harmless and will not kill anyone if eaten. I don’t know why they come here. It’s one of life’s mysteries.

In late Fall and early winter the field mice decide that it is time for them to head toward their winter retreat. The retreat happens to be our garage, and if they are slick enough….the main living quarters. This does not set well with me. At all. I hate mice with a white hot passion. They mock me, as they scratch around in the walls. I find myself yelling at them ….and I know I am not imagining that I hear the faint sound of laughter. Go ahead and laugh! It’s all fun and games until I start laying out glue traps. Stinkin’ little fur balls. Then who will be laughing? I digress…….mice put me in a precarious mental state.

We are currently battling a horse fly population that has reached biblical proportions. Now, before I moved to Ohio I thought I had seen horse flies. I was wrong….at least not like these. These flies are the huge. Their heads are the size of my thumb nail. I am not kidding. One has to make a run for it when leaving or entering the house. If one should linger too long on the deck, there is a great possibility that said person could possibly be carried off by the mutant horse fly gang. They dive bomb anyone on the deck, like miniature Kamikaze pilots.

I better go. I’m heading out to the deck.

I think I’ll take the electric bug zapper with me. It reminds me of a lightsaber.

Just call me Luke Skywalker.

Beat The Heat

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It is a hot, humid, sticky, stifling Monday morning in west central Ohio. I know there are a lot of people dealing with temperatures much hotter than the 90’s, but it’s still hot, regardless. I could gripe about the heat (and I probably will, because I am not above whining), but I will begin today’s blog with being thankful that we have a working air conditioner in the house.

The last severe heat wave we had, the air conditioner was not working. We couldn’t catch a breeze and I was quickly melting in a pool of sweat. It was a gross and disgusting scene. Just trust me on that. Moist skin, hair plastered to my head, and a sweat mustache are not my most beautiful look. Needless to say, I was happy to see the temps eventually drop. Now, this week, I am looking at 95 degree temps again.

Have I mentioned that I enjoy the laid back spirit of summer? But, not so laid back that I drop over dead on the lawn from heat stroke. Just sayin’. Don’t waste your time telling me I am a heat wimp…because I won’t even fight you on that point. I will just agree with you and then request that you go and get me some more ice cubes for my tea…..or fan me……or spray me with the water hose. That’s just how I roll.

The dog days of summer are very real at my house. The outside dogs just lay around in the shade, and pant a lot. I make sure their water bowls are always full. I tell them to drink up. I’m seriously considering buying them a kiddy pool. They can lay around in it and I can bring them their water bowls with little umbrellas in them.

I’m already thinking ahead. Three months from now will be October 18th. Aaahhh….cool days and crisp nights. My perfect season…..Autumn, I miss you. Please hurry. Before I melt.

Well, it’s off to find something to wear today. Something cool…..but, still decent. And legal.

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I’m thankful this Monday morning for…..

*laughter

*humor

*friendships

*family

*working air conditioner

*ice cubes

*cold water

*my house

*a to do list, and the ability to do

*my husband’s job

*compliments

*encouragement

*the possibility of rain

*creativity

*A heavenly Father who loves me

*That sad times never last

*That there are golden moments in each day

*Life

What Does Your Fridge Say About You?

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Image by dsleeter_2000 via Flickr

What says home more than the door(s) of your refrigerator? Come on, you know what I’m talking about! Some people are “nothing on the fridge” individuals, others are “children’s art work” on the door, and still others use the fridge as their personal Rolodex or photo album. What does your refrigerator say about you? If someone was going to profile you ( I watch WAY to many police/crime shows) by checking out your refrigerator/freezer…what secrets would it tell?

I’ll go first….. take me home Tuesday leads straight to my fridge!

Hmm, first of all…..this woman is family oriented.

Clue #2 She understands that she is not the one in control.

Clue #3  This woman commented on a friend’s broccoli salad, and now has the recipe. She must like broccoli.

Ah hah! Friends that have been married for 50 years. What does this tell about her? She is happy for her friends. She is happy she has friends. She likes a good party. I’m not sure. She hopes that she will be married to her husband for that many years. (it probably won’t be 50, she married him when she was 37…so, she’d be pretty old to hit the 50 yr. mark….and her husband would be 91. Just sayin’. )

Um….she has a sense of humor. She loves Geico commercials. She likes to freak out her family by having eyes watch them when they get in the fridge? (“I always feel like somebody’s watchin’ me…….”)

Eucharisteo? Yes. Much to be thankful for. One of her new favorite words. What is the deal with the maps on the fridge? She either really digs geography, or she is a home school mom.

A perfect verse for the fridge….now where are those leftover nachos? Amen.

She likes books…and obviously by the date on the pink slip, her son has a HUGE late fine at the library.

She is not above using cartoon chip clips. She likes magnets. A lot. What else can she stick on her fridge?

According to the very precise science of refrigerator profiling, this woman does not appear to be psychotic… maybe just slightly odd. After all, if she likes broccoli and geography she can’t be all that bad.

A Typical Saturday At My House

A storm is brewing. I really, really enjoy the clouds around here.

My oldest son, sporting a gas mask. He got this from a friend, who got it from I’m not sure where. It is nothing for me to be sitting at the kitchen counter and see him walking around in this get up. I love my son, even if he does have an “interesting” taste in wardrobe selection.

This is what Brad looks like without the gas mask. There is a handsome face under there! This is his cat, Shamus.


My sweet son, Kendrick, with his “man’s best friend”, Lonnie. Lonnie loves spending time with his master just hanging out. Have you ever seen the movie, My Dog Skip?

My daughter’s “a girl’s best friend”, Ace. Ace is very photogenic…if I can get him still enough to take a picture!

Ace thinks he is a sled dog. Breanna harnessed him to the wagon and off they went! I don’t know if he is Iditarod material…but, he’s perfect for Ohio weather.

Yes, I claim them. They might be a little weird, or a lot…. Their father and I realize that the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Monday Night At Home

 

Take me home country roads…leads straight to my house on a Monday evening.

 

Hey Bertha, she’s taking pictures again. Just look up and smile.

Fine, Gertie. Doesn’t she know I don’t like my dinner interrupted?

She adores us…she calls us her little fluff balls. Isn’t she sweet?

We’re so adorable…we could take this trio on the road. Do either of you sing soprano?

Ace is trying out for the roll of big, bad wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. “Is that you Grandma? What big teeth you have!”

Salem followed me into the driveway. I was trying to get her to look at the camera.

Then I got this!  Okay, Salem a little to close and personal. Cats are scary this close up.

I should seriously make an 8×10 of this and frame it.

The farmer probably thought I was nuts, taking pictures of him working.

Home Sweet Home

One of my favorite spots…which is now sporting some new giraffe print pillows.

Who says one can’t live in the country AND be fashionable?

 

For The Love Of Laughter

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“A cheerful heart has a continuous feast.”  Proverbs 15:15

When is the last time you laughed out loud, tears streaming down your face?  Laughed so hard you snorted? Got the hiccups? Your stomach ached from the muscles you used for a good belly laugh?

Laughter feels good.

Nikki, the family calico cat, has a special fondness towards me. Some might call it stalking. She follows me around the house like my shadow. She makes me a little paranoid when she follows me into the bathroom…and sits and stares at me. Eh, hem….I can do this myself, kitty cat. This morning I was making the bed when she came flying out from underneath it. I didn’t know she was there so I nearly had a heart attack. She made me laugh out loud because she was covered with dust bunnies. Okay, I admit to all my blog readers that cleaning under the bed is not at the top of my list. Not this week. Um… okay. Not ever. Nikki looked hilarious with a big  ol’ dust bunny right on top of her head, between her ears. She did not appear too humiliated by the whole thing.

I laughed so hard this evening! My son’s dog, Lonnie is a terrier mix. He can stand and walk around on his hind legs. Lonnie loved the smell of the pot roast that I was serving for dinner. Boy, did he want some! He walked around on his hind legs trying to get at the plate. He was so focused on the plate that he backed right up  into the garbage bag I had setting on the floor, ready to go out. The expression on his face was priceless.

This is the same dog that I blogged about last week that would not eat his yummy, dog food, nutritional bits. Go figure.

Tonight, while preparing dinner, I was singing and goofing around in the kitchen. My son said, “Mom, you are very ‘bubbly’ today. I like it when you are in a good mood. It makes the whole day better.”  His words struck me. How often do I forget, in my day to day busyness, to smile and laugh, and joke?

My son reminded me  that

Laughter is the best medicine and….

It makes the whole day better.

Blood Curdling Screaming Coming From A Cart

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I went to Walmart this morning. I had some grocery shopping to do. I don’t really dig the grocery shopping part, but I love the people watching. That store tends to be a veritable petri dish of characters. Today there was a little girl who kept me entertained. She was a screamer. You know the kind I’m talking about. It started out as a whine. (bless her heart, she was probably needing a nap) Then a “Moooommmmmy!!!”. Mommy ignored her while she attempted to figure out the best buy on breakfast cereal. Girl got louder. Mom, perused the sugar crunchies, and bran cardboard. Girl let it rip. “AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaa”. I have to say she had a healthy set of lungs on her. I’d say everybody in the entire super WalMart could hear her. She was that good. Such a loud scream wrapped up in such an angelic little face.

As I continued to shop, I periodically heard the “AAAAAaaaaaaa” from some other aisle. I smiled. I don’t have young children, so I can.

I finally was finished with the buying of food staples. My family will be happy that they are not going to starve. I maneuvered my shopping cart into an available check out line— behind two other people. I always pick the slow line. The cashier was personable, but slow. This always happens to me. I think it must be genetic. Can people have DNA that always, no matter what, attracts them to the slowest line in a store? Just sayin’ that I am curious about that. It seems plausible.

Two lines over was harried mom with screaming tot. Girl was stuck in cart while mom unloaded groceries onto the conveyor belt. Girl yelled. Mom gave her “the look”. Girl got quiet. She was probably thinking over her options. I had a feeling that little girl was going to get it when she got out to the mini van. Aaahhhhh…….the joys of parenting. Did I mention that I am glad to be past that stage? (Big smirk….I mean smile.)