CAUTION: Woman In Progress

Sis2 and I went out last night as an early celebration for her 34th birthday. It's not often that she and I get to go out just the two of us anymore so we were like kids in a candy store. As much as I love mah beebees, sometimes it's nice to get to just talk to their mama without out kiddie interruptions. Just like in the good ol' days, pre-Goofus. So we ate steak and talked...for four hours! Honest to Pete, we didn't realize we'd been sitting there that long. Yeah, we knew it had gotten dark out but we figured it was somewhere closer to 7:30 than 9:00. We'd covered the gamut of conversation--faith, parental concerns, venting about "stuff"--ya'll, there were even tears at one point. Just good, honest conversation. I guess if I hadn't had to pee so bad we'd've still been sitting there talking when they closed the joint down. Before anyone goes ballistic about us holding up a table for that long, on a Thursday night the place was pr...

Really wish I could work from here...

Admittedly, my taste in television runs vastly different from what the masses seem to enjoy. Seems everyone I know talks about how amazing Modern Family is and how all the Real Housewives shows are their guilty pleasures. Me? I WANT to like Modern Family. Sofia Varga (isn't that her name?) is hilarious but the so-called comedy just kinda thuds at my feet. As for Real Housewives ...gag. All this is my way of saying, "I'm probably not the best person to go to for Fall premier reviews." Anyway, here's the rundown: Monday: Since Chuck is moving to Fridays, my Monday schedule is free to watch How I Met Your Mother. For YEARS I was certain I hated this show. Then Lifetime began showing the re-runs and I fell in love with it. I'm a little behind on what's what right now because I'm a Chuck ho and the past four seasons has been spent decidedly dedicated to Zachary Levi. This new freedom to watch HIMYM lends me to watching the new CBS comedy TWO BROKE...

No, literally. I've had a pain in my actual neck for the past several days. It started Thursday, I think. Painful to move, painful to stay still, painful to sleep--just an all around painful neck. Not sure what I did to inflame it, but I wish I could undo it. It's not bad today, actually. Just a twinge. But I was near tears with it yesterday. I've been staying doped up on 800 milligram ibuprofen and the occasional Lorecept. Or Lorestat, whichever. I can't keep all these drugs straight. That's why I'd never make it as a pharmacist. Yeah. That's why. Also been icing it. But you want to know something? Side of the neck where your shoulder meets it is an awkward place to keep an icepack. I think I've mostly iced my head and ear more than my neck. Then yesterday at the height of my pain when I was about ready to cry Mama decided it was time to make jelly. Granted, I had not told her I was in pain because then I'd have to hear all about HER pains an...

The littlest baby girl loves the camera. This is some of her work taken back in August. She's photography genius, right? :-D Our feet. And my sexy fat calf. Contain your jealousy. And your vomit.   I'm not really mentally impaired. I just act like it.  Bobo is SWEATY. Grilling outdoors in August will do that. But we needed documentation. Also, Lyssa is the only person alive who can get away with photographing her Bobo.  The entertainment center I dreamed crashed down.  Nana who I apparently inherited my mentally impaired-ness from.  Efan at the table.  Nana carrying a plate. Love the artistic "looking up" technique she used.  Me, my belly and Libby. Okay, so I took this one. It was the only way I could get my camera back from her. I'll be acting as her booking agent for anyone interested in hiring a pint-sized photographer.

So the other night, Mama and I hit up Wal-Mart after work. She had to pick up some things for the kiddos so while she went off in search of juice and yogurt, I headed to the fabric department. I still wanted to finish that corkboard and get the fabric to finish covering the chair in Libby's room. I searched and searched and drooled over fabric and debated and compared and decided for sure this is it five times. I finally found a pink piece in the pre-cut squares that I thought might be big enough. It was an inch wider than the piece I'd bought the previous trip and was a solid...well, sorta solid...instead of patterned. I figured if all else fails, I could use it on the chair. Then I discovered the scrap bin. You know, where all the pieces of bolts go to die be sold. Actually, I think they're called fabric remnants instead of scraps. But whatever. Anyway, I found a bundle of this soft plum colored remnant that was marked as 3/4 of a yard and priced at $1.13. Score! Ex...

Turned my back for ONE SECOND and little furry heifer stole my seat AND my book. Meanie.

I can still hear his voice. I can clearly picture the lines and wrinkles on his face when he laughed. The silly Daffy Duck voice he used to talk with just because he knew it made us laugh. It still seems weird that he's never at their house when I go to visit. I keep expecting him to come down the hall or come in from outside with some wiseacre remark. At birthdays, Christmas, etc, I expect to see him with Granny. I still can't sit in his chair at the kitchen table and not wonder if he minds. Sitting there to eat just feels wrong. And to see someone else in his recliner makes me sad. He was so much a part of who I was and who I am--such a huge influence on my life, my emotions, my spirituality. Such a good part. Always encouraging, rarely judging--there are so many things I can sit here and think of that I wouldn't have done had it not been for him telling me that I could...that I should. So many ways he made it possible for me or my sisters to follow our dreams and ...

Ya'll, I am in love...with an electric sander. As you might recall from my pretentiously long and rambling post from last week, Daddy loaned me his. It's a Black and Decker with the little bag that allegedly sucks up the errant dust. Since I'm not stupid--not entirely, anyway--I first read the manual which is pretty basic. "Load the paper, grip the handle, press the 'on' button and let the sander do the work." (meaning, don't apply pressure) Naturally, having never used one before, I was a little hesitant about applying it to the drafting table  or to the small chest  in the dining room. I did, however, have this small bookcase that used to live in the guest bedroom and now lives in MY bedroom. It originally belonged to Daddy. He'd had it since before he and Mama married (I think) and it used to live next to his recliner in their house. I inherited it about eight years ago and it has moved with me everywhere since then. As you can imagin...

So yeah. Lunch yesterday was... Well, I don't want to say that I didn't have ANY fun because there were moments of laughter. But--E invited a girl from the 2nd floor (a relatively new girl) who she's actually known since college. Fine,whatever. I don't care. New people can be fun. Although, I have had a few work related run-ins with this person that left me feeling a little cool towards her.  However, through most of the meal they had their own little conversation about their college years, the girls' weekend they had this summer with their other college friends, etc of which A and I had nothing to contribute. *shrugs* Whatever. That's cool. A little rude, but... *shrugs*. But then...THE BARTENDER. FORGOT!! TO PUT THE KAHLUA. IN MY MUDSLIDE. !!!! I mean, seriously. If I'd wanted a milkshake, I'd've gone to Sonic and paid half of the $6.99. The whole point of a mudslide is the Kahlua. E and I stopped the waitress and complained and she said,...

Daddy (who is made of awesome) loaned me his electric sander via Mama. When I asked her when the demonstration was she said he told her, "She's a smart girl. She'll figure it out." Lovely. I've been saving toilet paper and paper towel tubes. I think I'm up to, like, 45 or something. Anyone dare to guess why? I switched my living room back around to it's original state. Libby seems happy about it. She hated the couch in front of the window. It blocked her view. I get to leave in thirty minutes. I skipped my morning snack in anticipation of a mudslide and some serious eats at Applebee's. Anyone ever watch that movie with Kristan Bell (the one where she stole the coins from the wishing fountain--can't remember the name!) and she kept calling it The Applebee's. And she made it sound like there's something wrong with eating there. Like it's lame and beneath her. Hello screenwriter snobs. The first time I ever ate at an Applebee's...

This was the view from my front yard this morning as Libby and I were out for her last morning walk. It's getting to be that time of year when it's not exactly dark outside but not altogether bright, either. The moon was still high in the western sky and the lovely roll of pink clouds reached to envelope it. What's that old saying? Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning. Or something like that. Which, according to my mother means bad weather. It's supposed to rain tonight. Does that count? Meanwhile, as I was admiring the western sky, the poor Devil Pup was getting dive bombed by a horsefly. It was after all that fluff on her butt and she was NOT HAPPY. She almost caught it a couple of times but it was just toying with her. When it started chasing me it was time to go in. ;-) Anyway, not much as been going on. The weekend was great. I got a lot of cleaning done--both bathrooms, the kitchen--including wiping down cabinet doors and windowsill, sweeping, va...

Photo by Sis2, budding photographer.  He's very into hats these days. And he's cuter than a little thug oughtta be! I see some broken hearts in his wake in the future. AND...he'll soon be TWO. *dies* For the longest time he wasn't really into Aunt Jana. Well, as an infant, he loved me. Then he went through a stage where he wasn't all that into me. Or rather, it took him a while to warm up to me whenever he saw me. Now the little booger squeals as loud as Lyssa does when he sees me. Mostly, I think it's because he loves Libby and he knows where Libby goes, I go. Or maybe he just gets excited because Lyssa gets excited. Or maybe he finally realized that I'm the sanest person he's likely to meet in our family. (Scary, right?) Also, I think he's figured out that food can be found wherever Aunt Jana "the cookie keeper" is. He's very into food. Not a picky eater, this one. He runs for his spoon whenever anything remotely edible ente...

Photo by Sis2, budding photographer Though her official party was on a Saturday, Lyssa's actual birthday wasn't until that Sunday. Sis2 and Goofus wanted to celebrate it strictly just their little family. A sort of private and intimate family time, you could say. When Sis2 asked Lyssa what she wanted to do for her birthday Lyssa responded that she wanted to go on a picnic with a red checkered blanket--she was very specific about that! There HAD to be a red checkered blanket. Lyssa's not the kind of kid who asks for a whole lot. It doesn't take much to thrill her. But she does have a big imagination and a childish  romanticism about her that I find rather charming. I was a lot like that when I was her age. Sis2 was, too, now that I think about it. Unfortunately, our parents were more for practical things and while they did always try to make us happy, there was a lot of "no" in our lives. Because we were silly. Perhaps that's why Sis2 is alwa...

Photo courtesy Sis2--budding photographer.  She got glasses recently. Nana took her for a free screening when she was here back in August. Little did poor Emmy know it would result in glasses. Actually, though, she has contacts that she wears most of the time. Can you imagine a (nearly) twelve-year-old wearing contacts? Not me. I still can't stomach the idea of touching my eyeball and I'm thirty-two! Her mama actually has to help her get them in and out and constantly remind her to wear her glasses when she takes her contacts out. Emmy's story is that she doesn't have enough nose to keep the glasses on her face. Likely story. ;-) I think she looks cute. Studious. You can't see from this pic, but the frames have butterflies on the front/top/whatever of the ear piece. CUTE. I'm totes jealous. BTW, could her legs GET any longer?? *dies* Mah buh-beee ain't much of a buh-beee anymore. *sniffle*

I've been having problems lately with the overhead light fixture in my bedroom shorting out. Have I mentioned this before? Anyway, a couple weeks ago, while in Lowe's, I picked up a new one but really just settled for one that would pass somewhat. However, the more I looked at the box on the dining table (waiting to be installed, Uncle R!! ) the more it looked like a really pretty boob with a very pointy...well, rhymes with bipple. Another trip to Lowe's and I still couldn't find another one that I liked better. Flush or semi-flush mount light fixtures (the ones I can afford, anyway) appear to come in dull or boob. Them's your choices. The ones I drooled over were WAY outta my price range. Then today (when I should have been working--oops!) I was browsing through the Lowe's website with still no luck. Then I had the bright idea to check at the Home Depot. We don't have a Depot anywhere near here so I forget they exist. Long story short, I totally scored ...

Ya'll, it's done turned off downright chilly 'round these parts. It never got over 65 degrees yesterday and I was able to have the windows open and everything. It was GLORIOUS. Today it's  hovering somewhere in the mid-sixties again and all I can think is--please last! We had a nice long day of rain yesterday, as well, thanks to Lee. He blew up a nice steady horizontal rain. And wind. Lotsa wind. But nothing like the howling window rattling gusts Katrina blew up six years ago. No, Lee was kind to Northeast Mississippi. I haven't watched the news lately to see how the coast fared, though. Hope it wasn't bad. :-/ All weekend was kinda awesome. The sun was bright and warm Friday but come Saturday a cool breeze started edging it's way through the trees, softening the jackhammering heat enough that one could step outside at noon and not break a sweat for the first time since early May. Which was fortunate since the family was all at the Folks' house this...

A girl and her favorite aunt. And by "favorite aunt" I, of course, mean me!

I fried up that long horned (running) okra last night. Both spears. Cut into discs, battered in egg and equal parts flour and cornmeal and fried in a bit of Canola oil--all I can say about it is is, "YUM." And, I ate every. last. bite. Except for the few nibbles I shared with the Devil Pup. I had to eat it all though, because I *gasp* walked a mile before supper. No better way to reward such good behavior than by eating something fried, right?