They say it's her birthday...

Today is my dear friend Lucy's birthday. Her name isn't really Lucy, but somehow a few years ago I told her that we were Lucy and Ethel. I was Ethel (not Cousin Ethel.)

Let me tell you a few things about Lucy...

She is an awesome mom. She is totally devoted to her daughter and takes parenting very seriously.

She loves her family.

She is a caretaker and a nurturer.

She has sacrificed so much (willingly) for people in her life. She is a giver.

She loves, loves, loves a good cup of coffee.

She is very organized. She knows how many monkeys are in her kids' barrel of monkeys. (Something I cannot relate to. :>))

She is a talented singer, actress and musician.

She is crafty.

She's smart.

She loves red lipstick. (a girl after my own heart!)

She loves good food and she isn't afraid to "eat like a real woman." (No nibbles for us! We can put down some groceries!)

She is an awesome cook and hostess.

She loves animals and once took in a mama cat and kittens, and then took them with her during a hurricane evacuation. With her child, her two dogs, cat, and two turtles. Yes, m'am. She did.

She is my sister in Christ and I love her.

Happy Birthday, Lucy. You got some 'xplainin to dooooo.

Click here to enjoy one of the best scenes with Lucy and Ethel!!

Finally, some real writing talent in the family.

My daughter asked to put something on my blog. This is her latest favorite story. Her teacher asked the class to write about a "shy purple pig."

THE SHY PURPLE PIG

Once their was a planet called purple planet. Evrything was purple. Egsept for the people and the animals! But Shy purple pig happened to be purple. One day purple pig overheard the Farmer talking to a detectives’ boss about him. O.K.,Il’ take Him. Shy purple pig, Welcome to the detective life. I need you to go out there and be a detective. So he did.
THE END

This post could save your life, or just make you want a doughnut.

According to a recent news article, people in the South are more likely to have a stroke than folks in other regions of the US.

Go figure.

The article goes on to say (I shall paraphrase a bit) we Southerners are having strokes left and right because we are fat, lazy, uneducated, are smoking like chimney stacks and running up our blood sugar with all of those Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Now I know I might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but don't insult my blood glucose levels. ;>)

Call it a hunch, but I'm thinking this high incidence of stroke may be related to all the meat we eat. You know, the meat that has been cooked in fat (which came from some other meat source). Never mind that we boil all of the nutrients out of our vegetables and season them with more meat (or just fat.) Even our bread has Crisco in it.

Rumor has it that somebody in Stark, Mississippi came up with a butter flavored ice cream.

OK. That last sentence? I made it up. Everybody knows that people from Mississippi don't eat butter flavored anything. They eat butter, not butter substitutes.

I do not mean to make light of the serious, life-threatening, debilitating medical condition known as stroke. Just consider this my silly attempt to get your attention. A healthy diet, exercise, and regular check-ups with your doctor are key to stroke prevention.

You should also know what to do if you or someone you love experiences a stroke. Time lost is brain lost.

So while you're sitting there at your computer eating your buttered biscuit and fried chicken, take a moment to read the warning signs of a stroke.

The information could save a life. That life could be yours.

Love-Me-Knots. Check it out!

Bows, bows, bows.

They've got your precious bows, here.

Bows. Who wants bows?

Have you visited Love-Me-Knots? Mommy Dearest and her friend Melissa have launched an awesome website where you can purchase handcrafted bows for your sweet girl or grand girl. You'll love the gorgeous ribbons for those curls and you'll love knowing you've helped two great stay at home moms.

SO, check it out! You'll be glad you did.

See you soon, Melinda

I can't believe Melinda was voted off.

Maybe it is all a blessing in disguise? Without the AI title, Melinda can have a little more creative freedom and really make her music all her own. Can I just say that I really have admired that she has dressed and acted appropriately on stage? She managed to be stylish without being immodest.

Looking forward to the CD, Melinda!

YOU ARE W-O-M-A-N!!

Random blips in my brain

Updated to add: Your comments are proof that you guys are quite the intuitive ones, too! Lovin' your comments. Fun. Thanks.

It's really frightening, the things I think about throughout the day. Other people are spending time planning healthy meals for their families, saving the planet or discovering cures for cancer. I'm just trying to make sure my clothes match.

Consider these my deep thoughts for the day. (Scary.)


1. While I was watching one of those commode (Mommy Dearest, I didn't say "toilet." Wink Wink) cleaner commercials, I kept noticing how much they claimed that the product killed germs. They even get all mathematical about it and use a decimal point- "99.9 % of harmful bacteria."

I like a sparkling bowl, if you will, but has it ever occurred to anyone what is going to go in there after we have disinfected it? Ahem.

I'm thinking 100% harmful bacteria.

So, let's do a good job cleaning the commode and focus more attention on the bathroom sink.

Just a thought.

2. Has anyone noticed that the Geico gecko has a different British dialect? Did they think we wouldn't notice? It's like when they replaced Darrin Stephens with a new Darrin on Bewitched. They tried to switch them on the sly; the actors even had the same first name.

I want to know. What happened to the first gecko? Did they fail to renew his contract or did he meet a tragic ending, one where his tail didn't grow back?

3. I think the actress who plays Meredith on Grey's Anatomy needs a new hairdo.

4. I think Jennifer Anniston's face is getting longer.

5. I think Cracker Barrel is a weird name for a restaurant that doesn't sell crackers. Or barrels.

And who is the old man sitting next to the barrel in the logo?

6. I don't understand why it is OK to drink coffee and listen to Diana Krall in Barnes and Noble but it is not OK to have a snack and whisper in the public library.

I'm just sayin.'

7. I realized today that I have become a connoisseur of chicken nuggets. They could feature me on Food Network.

Or not.

There's an iPod in the henhouse.

I've been buying more organic foods. We have switched to organic milk, eggs, and some meats. The organic meats are a little more difficult to find.

The switch isn't just for hubs and me, but for our daughter. Years from now folks may say organic was much ado about nothing but for now, I am not sure the added hormones are safe. (The organic milk actually tastes better! Seriously!)

I don't mind a little pesticide sprinkled on my fruits and veggies. I figure that I can wash those off. OK. Truth is, I'm cheap. We may go totally organic with that food group, too. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. Maybe when the prices go down...

Yesterday, while at Publix, I found a new (for me) brand of organic eggs- The Country Hen. I read the package late last night while making cupcakes and had to chuckle. These cage free hens are living the life in "sunlit barns and porches."

I am soooo glad I found The Country Hen. I just hate those snooty city hens strutting down Madison Avenue in their big Prada sunglasses with their blackberries and MP3 players. Don't you?

;>)

The last 24 hours in a nutshell.

1. Drove to my parents' house for a short, but sweet Mother's Day visit.

2. Saw a Piggly Wiggly, a small town square, tall pines, short bridges over "branches" (instead of "creeks"), brown thrashers, mockingbirds, cows, horses, and one mama deer and baby standing on the side of the road.

3. Smelled the aroma of speckled butter beans pressure cooking on the stove, jasmine on the vine, and smoke that had traveled for miles from the Georgia Fires still burning.

4. Heard a little girl giggle with her PaPa.

5. Tasted way too many speckled butter beans, some pork roast, a Hardee's breakfast biscuit, homemade hamburgers and pound cake. (It's a good thing I was only there for one night!)

6. Enjoyed the sweetness of being a mother and a daughter all at the same time.

And did I mention the butter beans?

Remember the mothers of Virginia Tech

Please pray for the mothers of those precious young students who lost their lives at Virginia Tech.

This will certainly be a difficult Mother's Day for all of them.

Our prayers are with you all.

You're A Gem, Girlfriend

Your husband trusts you with the checkbook, the car, and the kids.
You promise not to nag him
as you pick up his socks for the rest of your life.

You seek wrinkle-free, stain-resistant fabrics
and use a "warm iron as needed."

You are like the UPS truck bringing goods from afar,
buying ground beef on sale at Winn Dixie and organic milk from Publix.

You can smell a deal at Target from a mile a away.

You are still up at midnight making lunches for your kids
and you remember to cut the sandwiches in little triangles instead of squares.

You considered a field, but settled on a Mary Kay home business,
and with the sale of lipsticks and nail polish, you help pay the mortgage.

You go to the gym for aerobics class once a week,
or at least do weight training- lifting toys off the floor.

You help your neighbors, buy Girl Scout cookies and
volunteer many hours to the PTA.

You take your children to Sunday School and teach them about Jesus.

You make your best potato salad for all the church suppers
and you always take a cake to someone after a death in the family.

You are not afraid of anything (except maybe spiders)
as you care for your family with strength and courage.

You can't sew a stitch
but you sure know how to dress for less.

You always try to say a kind word
or say nothing at all.

You take care of your husband and children each day
without concern for yourself.

You are a Mother.

This Mother's Day, may your children call you blessed
or at least, you know, call you.

May your husband also praise you,
or just compliment you on your cooking.

Happy Mother's Day!

Pat, I'd like to buy a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath traditional with equity.

We could be the next Reality Show. Combine Designed to Sell, Buy Me, and Wheel of Fortune. Add a dash of Roseanne and Claire Huxtable and you've got yourself a hit.

We may even make into syndication, people.

Y'all know we have been house hunting. We've also been trying to sell a home. We have found a house we adore and are in the process of dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's and making sure the dollar signs have two slashes instead of just one and that termites aren't overtaking the subflooring. Meanwhile, we are in the middle of negotiations with a potential buyer and playing the "I'll counter that offer Game." You know, it's been like a trip to the spa. Only the lady doing the pedicure? It's her first day. And she has big sheep shears for nail clippers, she's nearsighted and in a VERY BAD MOOD.

I'm just sayin'. Buying a home while selling a home? It's a blast.

I am not much for bartering and negotiation. I always hate that part. I don't see why they just can't sell homes the same way they sell shoes. I mean, can you picture me going in Belk and saying, "Excuse me, M'am. I see these sandals are marked for $49.99. Could you sell them to me for only $24.99 and throw in a matching bag?"

They'd think I was nuts.

Most of the time, I feel like I'm on a game show and I just keep spinning the wheel, crossing my unmanicured fingers (since the nail lady scared me from the pedicure), watching the wheel slowly, slowly come to a stop and praying, just praying that little clippy thing doesn't pop over to "Bankrupt" or "Lose A Turn."

I would love a Free Spin at this point.

I know that God is in control and we do pray that we make decisions that will honor Him. It is His money after all. I just hope I don't end up having to pick some cheesy prizes, like a tacky dog statue or a velvet dolphin painting for my new family room.

Or solve a puzzle like this one-

Hey, Vanna, give me a nerve pill.

Seven strange things about me that aren't in my purse.

Military Mommy is soooo patient. She tagged me for the purse meme a while ago. My digital camera is being temperamental, so now I just give up. I am going to post without the picture. You guys are brilliant and I have complete confidence that you can picture all of the lint and loose change in the bottom of the bag.

I have a few purses, not many. I usually only change them with the seasons. I have a few for summer, but the one I keep going back to is my favorite. It is a black and white toile fabric tote with some cute black fringe. It really can go with summer or winter. I bought it a craft fair from a wonderfully talented lady. It's a gem.

If you ask my husband, he'll tell you that you can't find a thing in my purse, but "OH CONTRAIRE!" I can find the following items:

My red wallet (easy to find in any bag)
Pens
Old receipts that I don't need until I throw them away
Lipstick
Compact
Medicines
Neosporin
An unsharpened pencil that reads "I survived the test"

If and when my camera takes its Prozac and changes moods, I'll take a picture for y'all.



His Singer tagged me for this Meme-
Seven Things You Never Knew About Me and Were Smart Enough Not to Ask

Maybe it wasn't exactly worded like that. ;>)

1. I don't like to eat out by myself. I would rather go through the drive thru and eat in the car, or just take it home. I realize this is odd.

2. I once caught a shark. (small one, about 3 feet long)

3. I love to smell play dough.

4. When we first married, we bought our first washer and dryer. The dryer wasn't drying well and I told my husband about it. He said, "Did you empty the lint filter?"

I said, "The what?"

Mama's dryer had the lint filter in the door. Our dryer had a lint filter on top. Since our dryer didn't have one in the door, I assumed it simply didn't have one at all. Go ahead and laugh.

When my husband emptied the lint filter after months of use, the blanket of lint was so large, you could curl up with it on a cold night and stay warm. I don't recommend this method of domestication. Let's say it together, FIRE HAZARD.

5. I still eat Spaghetti-O's.

6. When I was a kid I buried a time capsule in my parents' backyard. I can't remember where I buried it. My husband has tried to find it since we got married. It is driving him crazy.

7. I cried when I went to Gettysburg. So much loss of life in one place. Very sad.

What do fear and apathy have to do with my floors?

This commercial bothers me on so many levels.

Watch it and come back. (It's the commercial for the floor that supposedly withstands anything and involves a scary movie, some much-too-young-to-see-it kids, and a sad little dog.)

This is what upsets me-

Why are the parents letting their kids watch this movie?
The only family member that is frightened by it is the dog.
This shows absolutely no sensitivity.
The poor dog. Oh, if you don't care about the kids, the dog should make you sad.
He has an accident and they just look at him.
No one consoles him.
No one cleans up the mess.

Am I too sensitive?

Comments, please.

Edited to add- You guys don't have to agree with me to leave a comment. I realize I think in black and white sometimes- funny, since my blog has so much grey. :>)

Lessons From The ER

It has been one of those days.

My daughter had a stomach virus and let's just say that it has tested my strong maternal constitution. I won't get into the gross details, but the virus forced us to visit the emergency room.

I love the ER almost as much as I love Newman. I'm torn between the two, really.

This visit was actually pleasant, as pleasant as is possible, considering that your daughter has wretched and heaved and you are both sleep-deprived and there are strange people shuffling around in bath slippers watching a television that for some reason must be suspended from the ceiling.

But I digress.

The nurses were fabulous. The doctor was fabulous. And back to the nurses- one of them had the most delightful accent. It sounded French. I'm not sure, but it was delightful.

My daughter needed IV fluids. (Ouch! She was so brave.) She is a different child now and feeling much better.

To stay in the true ER Visit Tradition, I have to share what I learned today. I'm all about bein' educated.

1. The emergency room is the last place to be if you have a phobia of germs. That little shower curtain is a sad excuse for protection from the unknown on the other side. And we all know what literally lies on the other side.

A very sick person who is either vomitting their lunch or coughing up a lung, or both.

And then they call for the bed pan.

2. If you are lucky, (as we were today) and the person on the other side is not hurling or hacking, they will in fact have one of the following conditions:

A skin infection
Strep throat
A strange insect bite
Back pain (can we say "drug seeking?")

3. All emergency rooms are painted pink, blue or pink and blue. I think it is to calm the patients. Or the staff.

4. When your kid has just finished vomitting for the past 36 hours and you yourself have had nothing decent to eat, the staff will invariably heat up their lunch in the breakroom microwave and the delicious aroma will manage to waft down the hall and cross the shower curtain barrier, reaching you, the starved, sleep-deprived mom.

5. Since you are a mom and nothing that your kid does ever makes you sick, you actually get hungry when you smell the microwaved meal. (Let's face it; you can change a d*aper and eat a peanut butter sandwich.)

6. Bendy straws are a kid's best friend.

7. Sitting by the bedside with a sick child reminds you of all the times your Mama sat with you. You opened your eyes in the soft, quiet darkness and saw her still there. Then you closed your eyes and drifted off to sleep.

8. Motherhood, with all the bodily fluids that come with it, is the best job on Earth.

:>)

Friday Feast

Appetizer: Name something you would not want to own.

A self-help book titled "How To Lose Your Southernness."

Soup: Describe your hair (texture, color, length, etc.).

Thick, foiled with bleach, chin length, and needing to be styled at this moment. Underneath all of the carninogenic glory it is very brown, except for the streaks of grey that keep popping up.

Salad: Finish this sentence:

I’ll never forget my wedding day or the day my daughter was born.




Main Course: Which famous person would you like to be for one day? Why?

Susan B. Anthony. She is one of very few women in history I respect and admire. She was a Christian and an educated woman.

But, if this character was a real person (and not a character) I would like to meet this woman-

"I'm not as sweet as I used to be."

Dessert: Write one sentence about yourself that includes one thing that is true and another thing that is not.

I am a size 4 and I bought my wedding dress for 50% off.

Put a 1 in front of that 4 and it is a true statement.

I paid for my own wedding dress and was so proud! I had been on my own for a few years and wanted to contribute. My parents gave us a very nice and beautiful wedding, of course. (There was no red velvet armadillo cake in the garage.) :>)

Today is For Heather

Is it no coincidence that today is The National Day of Prayer?

Please Pray for Heather

Heather is having surgery tomorrow- brain surgery.

I cannot imagine the awesome strength and faith she must need to go through this. But I can imagine and know the awesome God who will see her through. He loves her and her family more than they could possibly dream.

Let's join together in Christ tomorrow to pray for Heather, the medical team, her husband, and her children.

May God be exalted.

Works For Me: Birthday Cake Delivery

I believe everyone should have a special birthday. Maybe it is because Mama always made mine special. I was a December baby, so Mama tried to make sure my birthday didn't disappear into Christmas.

Anyhoo. Birthdays hold a special place in my heart.

I also believe everyone, no matter how old they are, should have a birthday cake.

If you know someone out of town who lives alone or just doesn't have someone to make a cake for them, you can have one delivered to them! Granted, they aren't as good as homemade, but as they say,"it's the thought that counts."

Here are a few links to check out:

Send A Cake
1-800-Bakery.Com

American Idol: Quote of the Week

"I want the camera to get my slim side." Miss Kiki

You go, girl!

Who do they see when they look at me?

I want others to see Jesus in me.
What do they see in my eyes when I look at them? Compassion? Judgement?
I could have lived their life instead.

"Instead"
Stacie Orrico

I saw him shaking his change in a coffee cup
Asked for a dollar but I told the man to give it up
Said he's hungry I don't think that it's true
I bet my dollar he'd just spend it on booze
I turned my back on him and began to walk away
But then I heard a little voice inside me say
What if it's really true? What if he's hungry?
What if it's not for him? Does he have a family?
How'd you get here
How'd you end up on the street
Where did you go wrong
Wonder what I'd do if it were me

A new point of view
A walk in your shoes
I wish I could get inside your head
To see what you see
When you look at me
Cause I could have lived your life instead

It was 90 degrees in the Summer heat
She was veiled in black all the way down to her feet
This is America doesn't she know
Somebody take her shopping buy her some clothes
She came up to me I didn't understand a word
I was about to leave then another thought occurred
She must be really lost scared and frustrated
I should try again to see what she's saying
How'd you get hereHow'd you get so far from home
What was it that made you leave
Wonder what I'd do if it were me

A new point of view
A walk in your shoes
I wish I could get inside your head
To see what you see when you look at me
Cause I could have lived your life instead

I wanna see oh see what you see
And I wanna feel oh feel just what you feel

Cuz I could have lived your life instead