Wordless Wednesday

I know, it's supposed to be wordless.  But let's just say... THANK GOD for slip covers, washing machines and being non-anal-retentive.  I would have killed myself years ago if I was. 

Simple woman's Day book

Outside my window... a cool summer breeze which makes me ever so thankful as I have not turned on the A/C yet....

I am thinking... about my huge list of summer projects, which only went from the printer to under my iced tea glass while I waste time strolling through my blog roll.  I actually created it on excel so that my kids could check off on the projects they help me with. (HA)

I am thankful for... that cool early summer breeze and the fact that the dog gate I heard squeaking in the night was just my 17 year old coming to bed LATE and not the ax murderer I was sure it was at 2:30 am.  I love it when my husband travels!

From the kitchen... Finally getting around to baking the ALDI cinnamon sugar pretzels I bought ages ago.  Breakfast of champions!

I am wearing... shorts and a tank top... but I am clean and freshly showered!

I am creating... a digital photo book for my son's rowing coach.  A friend asked me to help her with a scrap book-- and I don't think I am capable of such things.  Digital is so much easier and very professional looking.

I am going... crazy...

I am reading... nothing.  How sad is that?  Unless you count culling the stacks of magazines that clutter my family room or the blog roll that just keeps growing.

I am hearing... The dishwasher, washing machine and the anal retentive whining of Jeff from Flipping Out.

Around the house... did I mention my project list?  It just keeps growing and growing. 

One of my favorite things... the lazy days of summer (do you sense a theme here?)

A few plans for the rest of the week: Finish graduation gift shopping (late as usual), take my kids to the pool, finish this book for Coach Dan, start one project, and tie up the loose ends from my school year volunteer commitments.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

 That little boy (look at that juicy goodness) trying to push his sister off the bridge after her 5th grade graduation, has finally crossed that bridge himself. After 14 years the DeBuys kids are out of Northwood.  Kind of bittersweet. 

 Thanks to The Simple Woman's Daybook for inviting us to join in! Click on the link to read some amazing thoughts by other woman...

                                                             

  

Quick Take Friday

Seven Quick Takes (Snow Day!!)

--1--

Snow day!  I can't tell you how amazing it was to not have to go to work today.  I am afraid that it is way to close to Christmas break and that I am getting to comfortable being home again.  I miss being home.
Summer is just around the corner - I just keep telling myself...

---2--

Back to the snow day.  I know that if I had any northern readers you would comment and laugh at how the south immobilizes when it snows.  We have no salt, no gravel, no plows.
So laugh all you want.  Sure we drive like crap in the snow.  You would too.
We are relaxed down here.  Our motto?  We'll just wait until it melts....

--3---

I live at the top of a fairly steep hill.  My neighborhood is old and thickly wooded.
Hill + woods+ snow= ICE.
Ice and hills DO NOT MIX.  And I don't care if you are from New Hampshire, Illinois or Timbuktu  you will not navigate this hill safely!  At least that is what I spent the day telling people on the street outside.  I'd say I personally saw 12 cars careen down the hill into the curb, onto the grass, or spin a 360.  the results?  One tire blow out, a few bent rims, lots of burnt rubber.  But the worst?  The run-away trailer that had been pulled by an F-250.  After jack-knifing and blocking the street completely it got away, slid down the hill, banked off the curb and hit a car 5 feet into a driveway (the blown tire car-- crappy day for them).

The worst thing, is that despite several people calling the city to complain-- we got NOTHING... no salt, no gravel, no barricades.   

--4--

On a positive note, snow days can be fun!  I reconnected with several neighbors today.  Met a few new ones.  Shared some movies with a few - can you believe there are some people out there who have NEVER seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels?  We shared some hot chocolate with our mailman who skied down the hill on foot to deliver the mail! We LOVE our mailman!

--5--

My sister Sheilah is in Virginia these days.  Yesterday she had mohs surgery on THREE separate spots on her face.  Poor baby.  Amazing woman that she is, she posted a picture of her bandaged face from the car on her way home from the hospital SMILING.  She amazes me, truly.  I sure hope she takes advantage of my mom while she is there- and keeps Perky out of the local thrift shop and away from the cool whip.

It's just peanut-butter cups, some sugar cookies and some cool whip....oh my!

--6--

I feel very efficient this winter.  By the end of the winter my wooded back yard might look half way decent.  We have been burning anything and everything from back there.  Well, anything not covered in a hairy vine.  Because we all know that this is POISON IVY, and it can be nasty when burned.  Another thing we southerners just instinctively know. 

--7--

Christmas is almost put away.  :(

I think I might leave the snowflakes up indefinitely.

I like them.

Stop by Jen's for her Quick takes!

Saving Frank

You know that old expression  you never see a dead cat up a tree? 
I actually heard it for the first time a few weeks ago when a friend mentioned that her neighbor's cat had to be rescued removed from a tree (hence proving the old saying wrong...)

This afternoon I heard it again.  Only this time it was Frank, my dear friend's cat, who was up the tree-- at LEAST 40 feet up.  He had been up there for two days.  We have had record low temperatures.  The wind-chill was 5 degrees... Thankfully, Frank was cold but alive and well up there on his perch.  He was just not willing to come down.

With no success after calling the power company, the fire department, the local news, the vet...,  Bri and her kids did everything to get him to come down on his own.  Yummy food, treats, yelling, throwing sticks.  He was too high for nerf darts and the tree was too big to shake or bend.

Frank wasn't coming down on his own.

In desperation Bri called our house looking for a chainsaw to cut the tree down. 

Who am I to not help a friend in need?

So we show up en-masse  ready to  help extracate Frank.

The chain saw did not cooperate, despite coaxing.  It was having performance anxiety. 
Ry tried shooting Frank in the bum with an airsoft...  no luck 
He settled for using his newly acquired knot skills to tie the pull rope to the tree (good Christmas gift Claire!)
She and E suggested psychological ways to coax him down (ah, girls)...  no luck
The little boys just ran around in circles
The big boys young men opted for the physical route-- chop it down with an axe.
 
Which they did
With great force
(picture soon-- when I can figure out how to get pictures off my phone)

Watching Frank ride that tree like the Silver Surfer was a thing of beauty.  A quick hop and a skip before touchdown and he was off.
Hopefully NOT up another tree.

2009 --- It's in the past....

January brought devastating news about my sister-in-law Biffy.  Rhett and I made a trip down to visit and hold her hand and pray.  Claire went back to school and life went on -- at least for us here in Atlanta.  It would also bring my baby's 10th birthday.  Who strangely asked for a fondue party?

We, of course obliged.  Because we LOVE fondue. 

So do Mumma and Poppy!

February  brought about some stir-crazy kids and the death of my lap top. I also chaperoned our Sean's orchestra trip to Savannah for the GMEA convention.  Isn't he handsome here in his tux?

 

February would also bring a newly confirmed Catholic!! Sean's sponsor, Uncle Rob, was in Iraq.  Here he is with the rest of the family

March  would begin my   fascination addiction to Facebook.  You can see a direct correlation between this addiction and the number of blog posts from here on out.  While I love FB, I would become disenchanted by it as we learned of the death of my mother's best friend Cate, via FB

Throw in the obligatory Irish celebration, the annual church party...

and a LOT of rowing,  and chaperoning a GREAT group of kids from church on retreat.

April would continue with more rowing...and a quick trip up to Charleston the visit the girlie and play tourists.

May saw the end of the rowing season...the end of the school year -- my first employed school year!!  Sean turned 16!  God received 2 souls into heaven, our friend Judith our friend and neighbor Erin, who was only 17.  We would celebrate Mother's Day by giving mom a gift that she would, OF COURSE, return...

June would bring the whole clan together to celebrate the baptism of the newest member of the family and finally another girl! Welcome to the world Keira Rose!

The rest of June would be spent poolside enjoying our cousins before the Davidson's next move to Virginia.

July would bring sadness.  My dear sister-in-law Biffy would lose her battle with cancer a short seven months after her diagnosis.  I was blessed to be with her at the end and pray everyday that she is at peace with our Lord and is looking out for me

.

  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 2 Timothy 4:7

August brought the back to school frenzy and one-day, round-trip jaunt to Charleston taking the girlie back.  Not something you want to do frequently. Once again I will have 4 kids in 4 different schools, and I am the mother of a 19 year old!  YIKES.

September would bring more rowing.... more carpooling....and lots and lots of rain!!  Our rowing club boat house would flood 3 times.  Each time would involve shoveling the remnants of sewage overflow -- YUCK
October brought the sought after Head of the Charles Regatta

November was full of Thanksgiving goodness.  The girlie came home.  Family fun was had by all

December brought Christmas fun and sad memories of Biffy's struggle.  Ryan would finally become a teenager!  We would also have another basement flood and a broken hand on Daniel.  We spent the holiday snuggling in front of lots of fires in the fireplace watching movie after movie.

 

2010 HERE WE COME!

Old friends

I grew up here in Atlanta.

Well, let me take that back -- I went through puberty here in Atlanta.  I consider that growing up.

By the time I got to high school as an 8th grade "sub-freshman" I had started my 7th school.

That would have been THIRTY-TWO years ago.  Yeah, you heard that right.

A lot can happen in thirty-two years.

First love and the inevitable heart break that follows,

Leaving the nest

Weddings -they are the easy part- and MARRIAGE

births and deaths

Toddlers and TEENAGERS (sometimes together)

laughter and tears.

I have been blessed to share these times with these lovely ladies.
Aren't they pretty?
We don't look old enough to have known ANYTHING for 32 years, let alone each other!


I must say we all look much better when not sporting plaid skirts and saddle shoes.

"The best mirror is an old friend."
--George Herbert

Old friends are a mirror to your old self.  You know, the one you see in the mirror when you wake up-- before you rub the sleep out? When I look at them I can see myself 16 again, ready to take on the world.

Old friends not only remember who you were and know how you got where you are now,
they still like you.
 
Or are at least willing to have lunch with you every once and a while.

Who is your mirror?

Crazy

OK Gnarles Barkley, y'all have done it.

Top song of the decade.... CRAZY

The more I searched around and the more I listened, I began to agree.  It was a fun song -- and, it was a crazy decade.

As my friend Christine always says (which always stops gossip in its tracks) -- "We are all crazy."

I remember when, I remember
I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place
Even your emotions have an echo in so much space


And when you're out there without care
Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much


Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Possibly


And I hope that you are
Having the time of your life
But think twice
That's my only advice


Come on now, who do you
Who do you, who do you, who do you think you are?
Ha ha ha, bless your soul
You really think you're in control?


Well, I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
Just like me


My heroes had the heart
To lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember
Is thinking, I want to be like them


Ever since I was little
Ever since I was little
It looked like fun
And it's no coincidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done


But maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you're crazy
Maybe we're crazy
Probably

wordless Wednesday

cars

Have you ever heard of the old expression "penny wise and pound foolish"?  That should become my personal motto.

I drive an old car.  I drive an old car because I am paying college tuition for my darling daughter.  I don't begrudge anything.  This is a choice that I have made.  I bought this car new.  I was so proud.  It was a beautiful egg shaped minivan.  I bought it to replace the family truckster --

A Ford Country Squire... ever see National Lampoon's Vacation?  That was my old car -- in black.

"The Mothership" as my kids affectionately call my car has served us well and we have put 128,000 miles on it.  Most of it between Atlanta and New Orleans.  Never mind the fact that it is on its 3rd transmission.  Those stories should be saved for another time.  They created "fun" memories for my family...  remember the time the car caught on fire at the gas station in Alabama?  And the waitress at Waffle House said she recognized us from our 3 hour stay at the BP station waiting for a rental?  .... yeah, good memories.

Let me mention something.  I am the daughter of a car man.  A BRAND LOYAL car man.  My grandfather emigrated here to the states in 1925 and settled in Detroit.  He worked the line at Chrysler and retired a car man.  His son, my father, would go on to spend his ENTIRE ADULT life working in corporate America for FORD MOTOR COMPANY.  As kids we would sing and dance around the coffee table to "The Union Song".  I am also one of four daughters-- no sons.  Why does this matter?  Well you see, my father over compensated for the lack of testosterone around the dinner table by imparting in each of us certain more masculine interests.  Cars, tools, furniture refinishing, lawn work....  I took on cars and tools. 

Back to  penny wise.... for the past six months the windshield wipers on my car have not worked.   I took my car to a mechanic to do some emissions work and they diagnosed the problem as the  multi-function switch.  Said the wiper motor was fine.  Since I had just dropped $560 on the engine I opted to put this repair off.  For six months... the rainiest six months the Atlanta area has seen in DECADES I have been driving the Mothership sans wipers.  Rainex has been my best friend.

I have put off fixing it because I am lazy and well, I could find MANY other ways to spend that money.  Remember?  Penny wise and pound foolish....

So this morning I decided to bite the bullet and bring the car in. Thanks to a generous Christmas gift from my parents, I felt comfortable spending some money on the old Mothership.  (OK and the fact that both of my driving age kids are afraid to drive it when it even hints of rain)  Add a recall on the car that if not fixed could cause spontaneous combustion .... sitting in your garage.  OK, I know, I have been super lazy.

In my need to be supermom I took charge.  Asked them to repair the multi-function switch... I am so cool, I know all about cars... look at me... daughter of Mighty Mickey...

OK all you out there in cyber space.  Don't do this!

Because the dealership will take you at your word.
Do exactly as you say.
WITHOUT checking to see if the part is actually defective.
Because Supermom here has already told them and OF COURSE, she knows everything. (I knew that would eventually come around and bite me in the ass)

Then, you will find out that it is actually the motor... not the switch...and that once they put an electrical part in they will not take it out... even if the part was never broken in the first place.  This can be very costly.   Then of course, because you are committed to actually having working wipers at this point, you have to add the cost of the new wiper motor and labor again.

It is also personally costly because now you have to call and wake up your daughter on her college break and interrupt her beauty sleep and ask her to come get you--- 15 miles away.

Why 15 miles and not at the dealership around the corner?  Because I am a BRAND LOYAL daughter of a car man.  And his friend owns this dealership.  A man that came to my wedding. A man that actually got my mother, Sparkle Plenty, on WATER SKIS once (believe me that's akin to walking on water).

This may have been a good choice-- because when one is penny wise and pound foolish it is important to be able to name drop and hope for some assistance.

Because I am NOT supermom.
Because I do NOT know all about cars -- as much as my dad would like to think, and this arrogance cost me $300!

So, a little name dropping allowed them to split the difference on the second repair.  Let's hope they got the recall fixed right.  Because I don't feel like coming back.

Craft days

I am so late with this blog post.  What's new?

Before Christmas I hosted a craft party.   The idea came after an evening of coffee and brainstorming with my friend Sara.  We decided that we needed to find a way to make a heartfelt and homemade Christmas.  It was my first attempt at hosting such an event.  I have been to plenty of cookie swaps.  But I was looking for something different. I think it turned out quite fun.  The idea was that everyone bring a craft idea and the supplies to make it-- we could each take home a sample or help a friend get a head start on her Christmas giving.

Sara, the supermom supreme,  brought decoupage frames and mirrors.  They were so cute!   You can see my son eying her supplies, which she kindly shared.  You can also see my mom, Sparkle Plenty, also admiring her handiwork.  These were really cute and I almost copied this idea for our class at school.  Unfortunately, Michael's was COMPLETELY sold out of frames the day I went there.  Sara's followers must have gotten there first.

My friend Deborah, brought these adorable advent wreaths.  Being the hyper-organized accountant that she is, she made kits.  Each kit was beautifully packaged and wrapped in Advent colors- ready to go.  As you can see in the foreground, her own wreath is well used.  It was an adorable idea that could be adopted for Brownies or Cub Scouts or your CCD class.  The greenery is made up of traced hands.  Something to think of next Thanksgiving when you have all your extended family sitting around the table.

Doesn't this table look like fun?  I am sure you are thinking, please tell me how spray adhesive and Epsom salts can be a craft?  HA! Silly person.   Sarah (in the adorable scarf) brought a new twist to bath salts.  She packed them in Christmas tins with a candle, candy canes and scented them with peppermint Dr. Bronner's.  The spray adhesive was for Erin's decoupage coasters.  These were a big hit-- even Daniel made at least 4.

My friend Rachel, standing with the coffee, bravely faced her fear of anything crafty and came to be part of the fun.

What pray-tell is that hot chick doing?  Is that a super long straw?  NO... that's my sister Colleen making adorable headbands.  It was my sister Bridget's idea and a great way to use up that left over fabric stash.  See the one Colleen is wearing?   It is basically braided fabric sewn to an elastic strip.  Another good Brownie or American Heritage Girl craft.
Oh, yeah, there's Sara... still decoupaging away.   And I couldn't resist-- Sparkle Plenty, AKA MY MOM, modeling a headband.
Brianne brought the makings for homemade soap that was divine!  And so easy to make, just use a few empty tin cans and a crockpot as a double boiler and voila! SOAP. 

I was very happy that she shared with me.  A hint I learned from her?  Use baby cereal oatmeal as an additive.  It is much finer than "regular oatmeal" and still offers all the benefits.

In the end, I think hope fun was had by all.  It was a nice afternoon, hanging out with friends and making presents.
Oh, and if you took the hyper-link to Sara, you might have noticed her asking me for a tutorial on snowflakes.  I admit, that's not my strong point.  But I will share a picture of my "Elf-ed" living room.