Make a Smilebox slideshow

Splish Splash

This fountain is in the lake on the campus at my college - a lake that used to be a field when I went there. Mom and I drove around the campus yesterday and I was blown away by how much it had grown since I graduated in '90. When I lived here, the campus was sparse with buildings. I lived in one apartment building on campus across the field (now lake) from the main dormitory. The cafeteria/student building was tiny and an easy walk at the center of the campus. The two classroom buildings were on top of what we called suicide hill - a steep flight of concrete steps that ascended what seemed like a mountain. I knew that if I had to climb those steps right after eating my breakfast of Captain Crunch on vanilla ice cream then I'd burn off every single calorie and be good to go for lunch after class. My tinytown college is now sprawling with new dorm buildings, new classroom buildings, a new and HUGE student center, a football stadium (we didn't even have a football team when I went there), construction of a new arts building, and who knows what else is going on. Wow. Even more telling, this college is situated on the one-time Wise County Poor Farm. 

This is the opening of Judith Viorst's account of 90 days with her son Alexander (of Alexander and the Terrible No Good Horrible Very Bad Day fame), his wife and three children in their Victorian home in D.C. My kids LOVE Alexander books, and I love Viorst's writing. Mom checked this out at the library for me yesterday. Man, I miss that library. It's a thousand times better than Greensburg's - more books, more space, inviting and clean, nothing like a dungeon at all. 

Here's the Benjymeister with Mom, aka Nana. You can barely see the mountains behind them. Beautiful. 
And here are the Men Folk in what Mom is making sure I tell you is THE GARAGE/MAN CAVE. THIS IS NOT HER LIVING ROOM. There. She wanted you to know that.

Taekwondo people, where are you?

Do I need to come home and round you peeps up and make you blog more so that I can feel like I'm still there?
Huh?

his is so pathetic - SPIRAL -

That's all I got!

I have to say, I'm missing my taekwondo friends!!! And the blogging action. And even Jimmy hijacking my blog.
But, I'm so happy to be with Mom and Dad. Even though Emma isn't. Well, she's loving the nightly walks downtown (which takes about 5 minutes to walk to - this is Tinytown, after all. But when we're at the Tinytown house, she's scared out of her wits, always checking for Brandee and Hokie as if they're gonna jump her. Bless her heart. She'll probably get used to all this as soon as we're ready to come home! :)

Sparkly

Mom gave me some sparkly goodness today - my great grandmother's wedding band and engagement ring. Michelle had worn the band; Mom had the engagement ring. Now I wear them together. They're the perfect bit of vintage bling - not showy, just about true love many, many years ago. And the sparkle is nice.

Mom and I had the greatest walk tonight. We strolled down the hills through the neighborhood, downtown along mainstreet, cut through the funeral home parking lot to the old St. Mary's hospital, and back through an alley and along the backstreets home. Coming home is tough climbing up all the hills. But the conversation was special. And I needed to walk the fried balogna sandwich I ate after church today off. That's two fried balogna lunches on this trip. I'll have to really straighten up when I get home.

When I lived in Virginia, I wasn't convinced it was such a swell place. But now that I've lived in the armpit of America, I think Virginia is just about the most perfect state in the union. It's just beautiful. And clean. And friendly. And it's home. I think it was a priority that I made the trip to Mom and Dad's this week. I'm so glad I did.

Now, the drive, let me tell ya, was no picnic. But the boys were mannerly and content with watching movies for most of the seven hours on the road, and Emma was a well behaved fur dog who slept in the front seat beside me the whole drive, and I love to write in run-on sentences whenever I get the opportunity. We sat through episodes of Star Wars, Bible Man, Magic School Bus, and Rescue Heroes. Then we pulled up the driveway at 420 Poplar Street and home. Within minutes of slamming the car door, Emma was off and running through yards and LOST. Dad and I drove around the neighborhood looking for her, then Camden and I high-tailed it through the neighbors' yards until he spotted the naughty naughty bad dog. Of course she wouldn't come to us when we called. She's not well trained, and that would just be way too easy. So we ran through some more yards a bit like Laura and Mary Ingalls and captured EmmaLemmaLimaBean and walked her home. She's been cowering ever since, terrified of Hokie the beady-eyed dachshund beast and Brandee the ginormous golden girl. They are actually very good dogs who just want to play. But Emma won't go near them.



And here's RELIEF. Relief from healthy food. Fried balogna on white bread with a smear of mayo. Now, I know hot dogs are nasty. And I know, too, that bologna is just a great big fat wiener sliced thin. But when you fry this baby up on high and slap it on the bread, something magical happens. Relief from all the stresses of life.


Here's a smelly picture - can you smell the fresh snapped beans? This smell makes me think of my great grandmomma Stapleton. Her whole house smelled of good southern cooking. And beans are one of the smells I can remember. She lived in a coal camp called Bonny Blue in one of the old camp houses the miners and their families lived in. There was a creek that ran behind the house that Michelle and I wanted to stomp in so bad we couldn't stand it. Mom spoiled our fun, though, and told us no. There was nasty stuff in there. We believed her, but I don't now. :)

Mom and I snapped beans this morning while sipping coffee. She's gonna cook them up in her crazy scary pressure cooker that I have to tiptoe by because I'm deathly afraid of its power. But they'll be worth the fear.



We paid a visit to Michelle's marker today. It's a pretty cemetery, as far as cemeteries go. Not the ghostly kind I played tag in when I was a teenager. It's down in the valley nestled between Norton and Big Stone Gap. I cried when I saw her space. I know she's not there, but just knowing this is her last earthly stop makes me weepy. Sometimes I get angry with her for leaving, and I want to talk to her, to tell her that I think she was a beautiful person inside and out and I wish I could talk to people the way she could and miss her so much. So I sat on her grave and told her all that stuff. Then Benjy wandered over and wanted to know which side her head was on. I guess those things are important to 5-year-olds. You wouldn't want to be laid with your head pointing down. It was a gorgeous, hot day down in the valley, blue skies, puffy clouds, pretty flower arrangements. Mom and I walked around reading the names on the markers. If I was prego - which I am so not - I think I could walk around graveyards and gather names for my baby. Maybe my next dog. We left the cemetery, driving back through the Gap and old Appalachia, remembering the places I'd been as a girl growing up in the country and feeling a bit of relief that Shell isn't sick anymore.

A new shopping center is coming to town. I really hate to shop, but I ♥ office supplies, so the new Office Depot will be a fun stop for me when it opens its doors. I should so be on The Office when it comes back this fall. (Jim has a crush on me, did ya know that?)

Movement

I could have put a picture of Princess of Power making me do lunges and sit-ups at taekwondo tonight, but I didn't have my camera. So I'll fall back on this picture for MOVEMENT instead. See the movement of the water? This is the rain falling on the pool cover in the back yard this afternoon. I love rain, particularly rain that comes with lots of thunder and lightening. 

Next to snow, thunderstorms are my favorite weather. I confess to being a weather junkie, and I've been watching Hurricane Dolly beat up Texas off and on today. I don't want anybody to get hurt or property to be ripped to shreds, but I do love a good storm. Maybe I should have been a weather girl. Can you see me, standing in front of the map pointing to California and telling you about the sunshine and earthquakes and traffic to come? Or standing right in front of Pennsylvania and telling you about our own chances of precip and humidity while you hurl bagels at your TV and tell me to get the *#&% out from in front of your state? (And don't you just hate it when the weather man stands in front of the one part of the map you MOST want to see and then the commercial's on and you don't have any idea what to wear the next day???)

When I was a kid, I remember Grandmomma telling me not to be afraid of thunder. "It's just God's angels going bowling," she said. Somehow, I believed her. I was pretty naive, though. I also believed my sister Michelle when she told me she was a gorilla dressed in a people suit because her gorilla mom wanted her to have a decent shot at life and as we all know, gorillas don't. So, naivety aside, the bowling story has stuck with me and I will tell you that I've heard myself telling Benjy the same story a time or two. Nothing like perpetuating a really fun myth. 

Make a Smilebox photobook

Today I'm feeling kind of moody.

Yes, moody.

On days like this, I get anxious about stuff. Stuff like toothpaste spit left in the sink, dirty clothes abandoned on the bathroom floor, yogurt cups discovered under the couch. Stuff like that. And so my moodiness grows and grows and grows until I realize that I forgot to take my Lexapro this morning. So, after moodily mowing the lawn (what's my lawn mower's name, Princess???), I pop my happy pill, sit down with the boys to dinner, and begin to relax. Yes, the edge is finally wearing off. The pillows tossed on the floor aren't bothering me. The milk cups sitting on TV trays for 2 hours now aren't making my head spin like Sibyl. And the boys' crazy maniacal laughter is actually making me smile. 

I've been on Lexapro since Benjy was born. I'll never forget that feeling of hopelessness and despair that signaled post-partem depression. My friend Kat recognized it and told me to call my dr., so I did, and here I am five years later. I have tried to wean off of it a couple of times before, but the anxiety is so strong that I feel like curling up in a cave and never coming out. Of course, that's normal. We all feel like closing the curtains and sleeping for weeks. But the anxiety, the feeling that my corner of the world is spinning out of control and I'm ready to let it is what I cannot live with. And my kids shouldn't have to either. 

Today, when my moodiness was peaking, I sounded like the meanest mom on the planet, yelling about the laundry that had been tossed off the guest room bed, screaming about the mess in the playroom (it is a playroom, after all), fuming over the laundry that two boys can go through in only 12 hours. I HATE that feeling of losing it, yelling instead of helping. By this evening, I was back in control, ready to help with kind directions instead of barking orders like a drill sergeant. And you know what? Even with the pillows and the milk cups and the insane giggles, it's all OK.

My aunt sent me this cool email today, but I'm not a big forwarder, so I'll post my answers here and beg all you bloggy friends to do it, too. Come on, you know you're dying to know 48 ODD things about me. Now you can!

1. Do you like blue cheese? no; it's moldy.
2. Have you ever smoked heroin? No - can you believe this question ???
3. Do you own a gun? no, but I do have a mean janhg bong.
4. What flavor do you add to your drink at sonic? ewwww, yuck; and we don't have a Sonic here; probably it's against Yankee rules.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? nope, I look forward to them because I get a lot of reading done during the wait time.
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Do you know what they put in those things????
7. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story - "it's fra-geel-eh"
8. What do you prefer to ????? I think this question is missing......
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? Michelle's charm bracelet
11. Favorite hobby? reading
12. Do you have A.D.D.? no
13. What's one trait you hate about yourself? my incessant need to straighten up stuff.
14. Middle name? Leighann
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: what's tomorrow's picture word?; wish I had a new book to read tonight; man, what is Emma licking???
16. Name 3 things you bought yesterday...a Diet Coke, Pop Tarts, Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs (kid's book)
17. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? water, black coffee, skim milk
18. Current worry? Will Benjy ever eat enough fruits and veggies???
19. Current hate right now? mowing the grass
20. Favorite place to be? home
21. How did you bring in the New Year? with friends from school
22. Where would you like to go? back to Seattle, Rome, space (I'm not far from it....)
23. Name three people who will complete this? I expect to see this on blogs, Princess, LL, and SC.
24. Do you own slippers? yes, fuzzy blue Dearfoams are my current fave
26. What year would you go back in time to? I would like to be in the 20s and wear a flapper dress and spy on the gangsters.
27. Can you whistle? yes
28. Favorite color? YELLOW
29. Would you be a pirate? No, but I'd be a spy.
30. What songs do you sing in the shower? I'd rather take a bubble bath and listen to the news.
31. Favorite girl's name? dunno, girls are weird.
32. Favorite boy's name? Camden and Benjamin - no surprise there.
33. What's in your pocket right now? I'm in my jammies - no pockets.
34. Last thing that made you laugh? Camden telling silly knock knock jokes
36. Worst injury you've ever had? Wow , I'm blessed. I guess it'd be the tiny scar I got just under my nose after I totaled Mom and Dad's car in high school. (Watch me walk out of Taekwondo tomorrow and trip on my shadow....)
37. Do you love where you live? Not particularly, but I do love my friends, so that makes it all good. 
38. How many TVs do you have in your house? 4
39. Who is your loudest friend? Honestly??? In my group? Probably me.
40. How many dogs do you have? One - who's the good dog??? Who's Mommy's baby girl dog Emmalemmalimabean Emma Louise Dawn???
41. Does someone have a crush on you? I think the guy on Burn Notice does. Plus also Tiger Woods.
42. What is your favorite book(s) Beach Music - Pat Conroy...anything by Pat Conroy.
43. What is your favorite candy? Mounds bars
44. Favorite Sports Team? The Steelers because I know who they are. I know their colors, too. And I know that they play football.
45. Your favorite meal? ahi tuna from Red Star Brewery
46. What were you doing 12 AM last night? reading a hysterically funny book of essays about the south
47. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Wow, the boys are still asleep.
48. Do you have any odd habits? I pop my neck and back and knuckles and toes. Sometimes I count the pops to try to beat my last count.

That's what I've got. I started to put my Diet Rite can on, but I did that last month. How boring. So, I went to Spell With Flicker and typed in METALLIC and got this. Pretty cool, huh?