random, boring thoughts

Things I'm thinking about this morning:

I'm wondering how my son is doing at Scout Camp. I'm eager for him to get home but anxious at the same time. We've had typical teenager issues going on, and I'm embarrassed to admit that I was glad to ship him off for a week. I feel so guilty saying that, but I'm sure I'm not the first parent to feel that way. Still makes me feel bad. I love him and miss him, the boy I know him to be, not necessarily the stranger that's been bullying his siblings and doing other stupid, boneheaded stuff as of late. I hope he's having fun at Scout Camp and learning a lot. I hope he's safe and remembering to drink plenty of water. Unlike the rest of the scouts in his troop, he's inexperienced when it comes to camping and I don't necessarily trust the scout leader to remind him of certain safety issues. Scout Leader is a great guy but he's not big on the details.

I'm worried for a friend who's unsure about her family's future. I hurt for her and her other family members.

I'm sick of my house looking like an episode of Hoarders. I truly believed flooring issues would be resolved and I'd have everything back in its place within a week or so of school being out. What a joke that was. When 3 main living areas of your house are unlivable and their former contents are stacked to the ceiling in all of the livable areas, it just gets to be too much. I can't even clean because I can't get to the areas that need to be cleaned the most. I'm sick and tired of trying to vacuum around the bookcase that's still in the hall. At least I've quit bumping into it. Hopefully by the end of next week.......never mind. How many times have I said THAT before? I refuse to finish that statement because I'm starting to think I'll jinx myself if I say it again.

I'm looking forward to seeing an old friend tomorrow. We used to teach together. She probably knows me better than anyone else in this town, except for maybe the friend I mentioned earlier. The friend I'm meeting tomorrow went through a really rough patch a few years ago. We've kinda lost touch because after she left teaching and went through a divorce, her life has kind of taken a different direction. I hope to hear what all has been going on with her and I hope she's happy. The rough patch she went through was really, really bad. When you're part of a very prominent local family and you catch your husband having an affair with your sister-in-law, well.....it doesn't get much worse than that.

I'm a little nervous about the upcoming school year. We've had a lot of changes. Everyone is a little anxious about how rezoning will change our student body. I teach at the largest elementary school with the highest test scores and state grades of any school in the entire district. It's hard to climb to the top but it's even harder to stay there. Also, our assistant principal resigned. She and I were really good friends and I will miss her terribly. She's doing the right thing, though. She's been driving an hour each way every day to school for the past 3 years. Now that she's expecting a baby in October, it just doesn't make sense for her to continue that drive anymore. We also have a new principal. Everyone is a bit anxious about completely new administration for the upcoming year.

I had a great time yesterday with a teacher friend from school. We met at the pool and let the kids wear themselves out swimming for four hours while we talked about being nervous and shared gossip. She's moving from 3rd grade to 5th so she has way more reason to be nervous than me! At least I get to stay with my little Kindergarten babies!

I'm really disappointed that we can't go to my parents house this summer. This is the first summer since moving here 6 years ago that we won't be able to go. Flooring issues, kids' camp schedules, Dr. appointments etc. have eaten up the summer. The kids don't know yet and they will be devastated but there's not much I can do about it.

My favorite reality show, Big Brother, starts next week!! Today is media day when this summer's theme and houseguests will be revealed. I'm a sucker for stupid, shallow, reality shows.

I have mountains of laundry to fold so I need to close out this post and get busy.

What about you? What random, boring thoughts are you having today?

Spook-a-potamus

I've talked a lot about my five children, The Chef, and our busy activities. Today I'd like to introduce you to a member of our family that some of you may not know.

Meet Spook, our ten year old cat.

As you can see, Spook is a rather large cat. My daddy, Music Man, very accurately observed once that Spook rather resembles a small area rug. A rug with a tail and ears. When Spook crouches, like all cats do, he takes on a definite circular shape. He truly does look exactly like an area rug. Unfortunately I have no picture to prove it because its really difficult to catch him awake.

However, I do have this:

How's that for a size comparison?

I wear a size 8 1/2 or 9 so my foot is not small.

Neither is Spook, as you can see.

Spook came to be a part of our family in an interesting manner.

We didn't go to the humane society to find him.

We didn't search the newspaper for ads for kittens.

We didn't get him from a friend or neighbor.

In fact, we didn't even want a cat.

But as it turns out, Spook must have wanted us.

We were living in Laurel, MS at the time and on our way to a church picnic held at our friend Hank's house out in the country. When we got there, I noticed some of the youth walking around holding two kittens. One of them was light silver/gray with sky-blue eyes. Hank said the two kittens were strays that had wandered up that very day. Just my luck. That little silver/gray kitten was so beautiful I knew I'd fall in love with it if I gave it even a moment's notice so I made sure to avoid it the rest of the night. Peanut was only 4 months old at the time and we also had a chow-chow who would probably not welcome a kitten. Unless it was an appetizer. It was undoubtedly the wrong time for a new pet, much less a kitten. So I didn't hold it once, no matter how many times a youth kid tried to pass it off to me, not even once. Although I was tempted. But not once did I hold it and I made certain that 4 yr old Guitar Boy didn't either!

Once it was time to leave we rounded up all our stuff, the kids, the stroller etc. and started making our way to the car. It was a good ways from the house. Loading the car and strapping kids into carseats was a challenge because it was pitch black dark and I could barely see my hand in front of my face. Since we were out in the boondocks of south MS, there were no street lights and hardly any moonlight either, so you can imagine my fear when I heard a rustling in the bushes nearby. I had visions of rattlesnakes, coons, and skunks dancing through my head and I was just about to take a flying leap into the car when I heard the little mew of a kitten. Sure enough, that little silver/gray kitten thank You, dear Lord it wasn't a snake, jumped out of the bushes.

Chef, Chef, its that little gray kitten.

Don't get any ideas, Grandma Sandy was his reply.

But Chef why did it come all this way from the house?

Because I have incredibly bad luck was his reply.

Maybe so, Chef, but I made sure that neither Guitar Boy nor I paid any attention to this little dude whatsoever, so why would he chase us all this way to the car? Let me see if he will come to me.

I knelt down and my knee barely hit the ground before little silver/gray jumped right into my arms.

I think that was the point at which The Chef knew he was sunk.

We both knew that we had done nothing to encourage this cat to like us. None of us had even been close enough for silver-gray to know our scent. But for some reason, silver-gray hunted us down. We didn't choose him. He most definitely chose us.

I didn't even have to say a word. As I was kneeling, holding silver-gray in my arms, I looked up at The Chef.

Ugh. Ok. Get in the car. We'll stop at Walmart on the way home and get a litter box and some food, was his reply.

And with that, silver-gray, who was immediately named Spook by 4-yr old Guitar Boy, became part of our family.

Spook's favorite thing to do is sleep. At any given time, he has 3 favorite spots in which to nap. Every 3 months or so, he'll switch up those spots.

You can imagine Grandma Sandy's dismay when he once tried to establish territorial rights here:

How he managed to hoist his enormous self into Dogos' crib, I'll never know. But Spook has been known to pull off some pretty amazing feats.

For instance, when he was just a few years old, he went missing for a few days. We searched high and low for that blasted cat. I thought we were going to have to put Guitar Boy into therapy, he was so distraught. Then suddenly, here comes Spook walking down the hall directly from the boys' bedroom. We were so relieved to see him but could not fathom where he had been hiding for two days. And then, The Chef noticed that he was walking rather strangely. After having him checked at the vet, the Dr. diagnosed him with a broken hip. The break was comparable to one that would occur by having been hit by a car.

That's impossible, Dr. Vet. He is an inside cat. When he went missing, we assumed he'd gotten out of the house but once he reappeared, we were assured that he'd been in the house the entire time.

It was then determined that the only explanation for his broken hip was that he must've tried to jump onto the top bunk of the boys bunk beds, and fallen and broken his own hip. I've heard of humans falling and breaking their own hips, but never a cat. Pretty impressive, eh? And costly, I might add.

Spook even has his own blog. Yes, yes, he does. I think The Chef probably knows something

about that but I'm not sure. However, if you're interested in what Spook had to say a long time ago, then check out www.dcsworld-dc.blogspot.com

As I've stated, Spook loves to sleep. Currently, his favorite spot is a kitchen chair which Dogos finds hysterical. Every time she discovers him there, no less than 10 times a day, she breaks into hysterical laughter which in turn cracks me up.

This picture is to prove that he's actually a real cat and not a stuffed impersonation. His eyes look, well, rather spooky, but its just the flash on my camera. His eyes are still the exact same blue color as this text.

Besides breaking his hip, Spook does other strange things. What could be stranger than that? Well, how about refusing to drink water from any other source than a cup in a bath tub.

You thought I was kidding, didn't you?

He used to only drink it if it had ice cubes as well, but after the birth of the 4th child, he figured out that Grandma Sandy would no longer have time to make a trip to the kitchen to ice his drinks, so he gave up. He still insists, however, that it must be freshly poured tap water. Thank goodness he knows nothing about the existence of spring water from an artesian well.

Another strange habit is that he refuses to eat anything but dry cat food. He doesn't even eat that much, either. Pretty impressive that he maintains such a massive size with only a small amount of food a day. However, if his bowl gets even close to being empty, he'll literally trip whomever is in the room in order to get his bowl refilled. Usually he'll just stare at the refilled bowl a few seconds then walk away without taking a bite. Strange, but I liken it to his homeless days in Laurel before he adopted us.

There's no doubt in our minds that Spook is the only cat that could tolerate us. If there's any doubt in your mind, then take a look at this....

and this....

and this......

Seriously, what cat would ever put up with all of that?

Only Spook, bless his heart.

As infants and toddlers, my children have literally used him as a pillow, tried to ride him like a horsey, and played with his food bowl while he's trying to eat and he's never scratched any of them, not even once. Well, ok, there was that one time when The Boss pulled his tail so hard that he almost landed in another room and he scratched her, but I can hardly hold that against him.

Spook, you are a weird, strange, and quirky cat. In fact, sometimes I wonder if you really are a cat. When you chose us, I'm not sure you knew what you were getting yourself into, but you've remained true through the years. I can hardly fault you for your annoying habits because you've put up with more than your share of ours.

Thanks for choosing us, buddy!

Together again

The Chef has been out of town for two weeks.

Two very long weeks.

Grandma Sandy is very glad he is home.

And apparently, so is someone else!!

Laughing or cackling, I'm not sure which

Edited to add: I finally have the date for floor installation. Guesses, anyone?

At some point you just have to laugh.

The flooring guys came this morning to put down the final coat of sealant on the concrete slab. The sealant that has prevented me from being able to leave my house from the door leading to the garage (hello, front door, nice to meet you). The same sealant thats kept me from getting to my utility room for the past 3 days, although thats not a complaint because I'll take any excuse to avoid doing laundry. I'm choosing to consider the sealant as a friend and not a foe. After all, the sealant is what will allow Chester, the flooring installer, to finally be able to install the flooring thats been sitting downstairs for two months.

As we've marked off each day in this eight day process of applying layers of sealant and allowing it to dry, I've tried not to focus too much on when the flooring will actually be installed. However, I must confess that in the back of my mind I've been hopeful that we would have flooring by early next week at the latest. Its not like they don't know who we are at this point. After two months, I'm sure the various flooring employees are as eager to get rid of us as we are to wave goodbye to them for the last time. Finally, on the last day of the last step before we can have flooring installed and I can start to put my house back together as well as see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, I decided to just jump right in with both feet and ask the big question.

With a bright and hopeful smile I asked the sealant guy, "So, does this mean Chester will be here tomorrow to install the floor??"

hopeful, hopeful, hopeful, smiling, smiling, smiling

To which he replied......

"Naw, Chester's on vacation. They'll have to schedule you later."

At some point you just have to laugh. Sigh.

Priorities

Today has been one of those days where nothing seemed to go right. Sometimes you have that kind of day and then thankfully something jerks you out of your funk and sets your thinking straight.

It started off with my alarm waking me up early because the flooring guys were coming. Yes, that's right. The flooring guys. Two months after the flood and we still don't have flooring installed. Moisture readings were still so high that we were forced to remove the lord-only-knows-how-old-vinyl that we'd hoped to leave as a moisture barrier. Turns out that the vinyl itself was holding all the moisture so out it came. Today was work day 5 in the process of applying sealant on the concrete slab so I was up bright and early after a late night of watching The Bachelorette on tivo with LaLa. Floor guys have been getting here by about 8am. Today? 9:30am. Maybe not that big of a deal but we're on "summer schedule" so that was a major bummer.

Oh well. No worries. I'll just check a few things online on my Blackberry. It's only fair that I state publicly at this point that I am completely, totally, 100% addicted to my Blackberry. It is with me at all times. It stores pretty much every photo and video I've taken of my children over the past 2 years. I am a complete idiot when it comes to computers and technology but I understand my Blackberry and it understands me.

Until today.

Today the trackball decided that it was tired of allowing me to scroll down so it went on vacation. I guess. There's no other explanation for it's misbehaviour other than its constant overuse by me! I can scroll left, right, and up, but not down. What does this mean? It means I can't access my address book, text messages, email, photos, videos, recipes, web browser, or twitter. Basically I can call people as long as I know their phone number. Well, shoot. I can use the house phone for that! I spent 3 1/2 hours googling, removing and cleaning the trackball and sensors with compressed air.

Removing, cleaning, removing, cleaning, removing, cleaning.

I even put the trackball in upside down and guess what? I could scroll down but not up.

The story goes on from there and I will spare you the boring details, but it really didn't get much better from that point on! Did I mention I'm addicted? They don't call it crackberry for nothing!

I finally took a break from that frustrating experience and fixed the kids lunch. My two youngest daughters decided that today would be the day they would both act as if they were in a 12-hr-long competition with each other to see who could throw the biggest fit. They both put on such impressive displays that if I were forced to declare a winner I would have no choice but to declare it a tie. All I know is that I feel as if I've been verbally abused all day.

The afternoon brought better news with this little guy here.

Can you guess what he brought me?

If you guessed this, then you are right!!

My lifelong best friend and I worked out a deal for her laptop that she no longer uses. Here's to hoping I can figure out how to use this thing because my technology track record ain't the best, as we all know.

And guess what else she sent?

ONLY THE MOST AWESOME T-SHIRT EVER.

When I say I have a best friend, what I really mean is my twin in a former life. No, I don't believe in reincarnation but I can't think of any other words to better describe the relationship we have. We've been partners in crime since our mothers used to stroll us together on Pecan Way. We even have our own language but since that sounds way too creepy to put on a blog I'll leave it at that for now. tgdfde mmm hmm...

As I started working on this post several hours ago, I was in a frustrated state. But then I uploaded my photos and was reminded of how incredibly blessed I am to have a lifelong friend that sends me t-shirts and with whom I share 41 years of experiences and memories. I was reminded that although my two youngest daughters drove me completely bat-crazy today, I've been blessed with 5 beautiful healthy children and how dare I take that for granted? There are so many couples experiencing infertility or others that've lost a child and I'm frustrated by temper tantrums? and a stupid phone?

I was reminded of The Pastor who last week was in the hospital after having a TIA but is home tonight. I cannot put into words the admiration I have for her and other cancer warriors like our family friend Susan N. They are my heroes without a doubt.

I'm most grateful that because of today's test results, my own Mama will not yet join the ranks of my Cancer Warrior Heroes. It's all good!

So I'm off to bed. I am thankful for all of my many blessings and I will have a conversation with my Heavenly Father about all of that.

What are you thankful for?

Drive-by update, updated

VICTORY IS MINE!!

Drive-by update, so to speak

Good morning! Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. The Chef has been out of town and I plan to do a catch-up post on what all I've been up too, but for now I'll just say that we've been swimming, folding clothes, buying paint and summer camp supplies, tackling more home improvements, and a trip here:

Yes, a trip to the Emergency Room and the Chest Pain wing. My fabulous mother-in-law, The Pastor, was at the store the other day and began experiencing some pretty scary symptoms. She made her way home and called her oncologist. The Pastor has had ovarian cancer for 8 years and at this point I've lost track of which count of chemo she is presently enduring since she moved here. The nurse at her clinic was alarmed at the description of her symptoms and urged her to go to the ER immediately because it was very likely that The Pastor was having either a heart attack or stroke. The bad news is that she did, indeed, have a mini-stroke. The good news is that she feels fine, (relatively speaking) is already home, and will make some dietary adjustments and and another prescription or two to her daily intake. It was a scary several hours and I can safely say that we're all happy to have that experience behind us and to have her home where she belongs!!

I realize that it's Saturday again and I've yet to post last Saturday's The End. I've been holding out because I have some very exciting news of my own, and no, I am not pregnant again, so don't even let your mind go there.

Let's all take a collective deep breath...........

My very own Macbook was shipped yesterday and is on it's merry little way to Grandma Sandy's house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you even stand it? I can hardly believe it myself.

Once it arrives and I figure out how to actually use it, I will hopefully finish up last Saturdays story, Saturday: The End. I have so many posts in my head that I can't wait to type out but I'm trying to be patient and save myself some time by waiting for my new friend, Macbook, to arrive.

In the meantime, it's 6:30 on a Saturday morning and you know what that means. I'm off to see what I can find here:

I'm hoping and praying that Tomato Lady and her Mister have some beautiful fresh tomatoes for me. If I get going now, I should beat the trendy beautiful people and possibly even some of the farmers!

Wish me luck!!

June 14, Fourteen years ago

Dear Guitar Boy,

Fourteen years ago, you completely changed my life. You changed the way I would see the world. You changed the way I would feel about things. You changed the way I viewed my husband. You changed the way I viewed myself. You changed the type of teacher I would become. You created in my heart and soul a tenderness and love that I'd heard about but could only imagine. Fourteen years ago today, you made me a mother for the first time.

Those changes were not always easy. As your Aunt M has very wisely stated, with the birth of a child comes the birth of a mother and the transition from woman to mother is not always seemless. It takes time. But God created you to be a sensitive and patient child. He knew that you were the perfect one to usher me into motherhood.

As a baby, you hated to sleep. You were such a night owl. Today, you still are. As a toddler, you loved books, Blue's Clues, playing outside, and games on the computer. As a teenager, you love playing guitar and saxophone, playing football and riding the rip-stick, fishing, and playing video games. As you've grown older, your likes and dislikes have remained pretty constant.

You've never been a risk-taker. You have always wanted to do the right thing. You've always been a comforter...concerned about the feelings of others. In every setting, you've been drawn to whatever child was the troublemaker. You wanted to befriend him because he was unliked by the other children. Honestly, that trait in you freaked me out a bit because I had visions of juvenile delinquents and drug charges in our future...a tender heart can sometimes get you in trouble!

In 4th grade, you were voted by your classmates to be the recipient of the character trait of the month, "Honesty." You may never know, until you have a child of your own one day, how proud I was that you were chosen by your peers for that honor. It tells me that not only the adults around you recognize your integrity but your friends do as well. That speaks so well of your character.

As we navigate our way through these teenaged years, I know there will be bumps in the road. But just as your likes and dislikes have remained pretty much unchanged over the years, I know that you are the talented, sensitive, honest, comforting, young man of integrity and character that you have always been. Whatever the teenaged years bring, it has been my daily prayer for you from before you were born that God would continue to remind you of who you are as His child and that you will seek His face and allow Him to guide and direct the choices you make. I am so proud that you are my son and friend.

It's often been hard for you to be the eldest of five children. You've had a lot of responsibility. As your father and I both know, it's not easy being the first-born...

First and foremost, you are the guinea pig for our parenting skills. Your daddy has had a tendency at times to have extremely high expectations of you. That can be a lot of pressure to live up to. I have at times (ok most of the time) been overly-protective and overly-indulgent.
I'm sure that's frustrating and confusing for you.

let it be noted...you must give me credit for not listing all of your faults...I'm resisting the urge since this is, after all, your birthday letter, haha. You can thank me later.

At any rate, we are doing our best, so thanks for hanging in there with us and not trying to run away (so far) like Middle Man. Thanks also for not setting a precedent for running away and therefore giving Middle Man the gumption to actually follow through.

When I think of you, in my mind's eye I see the handsome man you are becoming but I also see my little boy. These 14 years have gone so quickly that it's hard for my brain and eyes to make sense of it all. How is it possible that you've gone from this:

to this????

Yes, yes, I know you take great pleasure in knowing that you are taller than me, but is it really fair that you're already taller than your Pop???

At any rate, Happy birthday, son. You may be taller than me, and have way bigger feet than me, but I'm still your Mama no matter how big you get. And you will still always be my little boy.

Aren't you glad your friends

don't read this?

Love, Mama

Saturday: The Middle

After I sent the little girls off to attend the birthday party...

...I decided to take a walk!

Now this was both a good idea and a bad idea.

Good idea because I'm the fattest I've ever been and it's past time to do something about it.

Good idea because I'd been putting off restarting my exercise schedule until summer when I had more time to get back on my treadmill.

Good idea because I've yet to even catch a glimpse of my treadmill let alone utilize it because the flooring issues from the Flood of 2010 have still not been resolved and my house is STILL an upside down mess. The treadmill is buried behind an upside down loveseat.

Good idea because there comes a time when you have to quit thinking about something and actually DO it.

Now with all of those good ideas, how could taking a walk possibly be a bad idea?

The only time I had to walk was at 12 noon on a summer day in June in the South when there also happened to be a heat advisory issued because of 110 degree heat index.

And it's been nearly 9 months since I exercised so I can safely say I'm not in the best shape.

Not such a good idea.

However, I went for a walk. I DID IT. I only walked for about 30 minutes which was truthfully enough in the oppressive and dangerous heat. I hope to be able to get back to my treadmill soon. Last summer I was so proud of myself because I was extremely disciplined, exercised every day, and even worked myself up to the point that I ran six miles! It'll take a while to get back to that, but a walk for 30 minutes is at least a start.

Remember my trip here and the mystery purchase?

I was searching for THIS:

Goof Off

I had never heard of this stuff before, but after the kids got acrylic paint on their clothes at VBS, there was a discussion on facebook about the best way to remove it. A mom suggested this product so I set out to find it. This stuff is supposedly able to remove all kinds of things including latex and acrylic paint, grease, lipstick, permanent marker, ballpoint pen and other tough substances from various surfaces. The VBS kids generally wear their VBS t-shirts every day so paint on a t-shirt is really not that big of a deal, right?

The problem I had was that Peanut got blue paint on a brand new pair of khaki shorts she'd just received for her birthday and as you may recall from an earlier post of mine, shorts for her age (10) that are of an appropriate length are hard to come by. (remember the booty shorts?!) so I was determined to get the paint out of her new shorts at any cost.

I'm happy to report that every bit of the blue paint came out! Goof Off worked so well on the shorts that I decided to tackle the shirts so I took a before picture.

There was significantly more paint on their shirts than on Peanut's shorts, so I'm still working on getting it all out. I'm confident that I'll be successful because Goof Off is a miraculous invention!

I have to say that the craft project requiring the acrylic paint was a group painting effort by all the VBS children. They had 3 canvases set up where the children would rotate through, much like reading groups, where each group would get a turn to paint together on the canvas. The finished products will hang in our craft room that's part of our rotation Sunday school program. I need to remember to take a picture of the canvases and post it! (more than likely the "blue" painting will take until next year's VBS to dry)

After my walk and while I was Goofing Off, haha, LaLa brought the little girls back from the birthday party. They had more fun than one could imagine. Pony rides, a life-sized ELMO (which terrified Dogos), a Sesame Street jumpy thing, Chick Fil-A chicken nuggets and a huge Elmo cake. They were happy to be home but not quite ready for LaLa to leave.

Here is the photographic evidence:

LaLa had to sneak out. She was barely out of the house for 45 seconds before Dogos' radar kicked in and she was on a LaLa hunt. Dogos is sitting at the top of the stairs crying and wailing Lala's name.


When she realized that sitting and crying would accomplish nothing, she resorted to this...

Yes, she's actually standing at the top of the stairs and shrieking LaLa's name.
Over and over and over and over.
You have no idea how much I wish I had video/audio for this picture.

Sometimes your children engage in certain behaviors that are so distressing and annoying that you reach a point where a decision must be made:

I will either have a conniption fit or laugh hysterically and capture this moment digitally so that I never forget it. As annoyed as I am right now, one day I will miss these fits because my babies will be gone.

Saturday: The End, will be up later this week.

Saturday, The beginning

On an early Saturday morning in June, you know where I'm heading....

And this morning, I was accompanied by The Boss. We headed out later than usual...it was almost 8am. Usually, I try to leave the house by 7am at the latest for two reasons. One: the earlier you get there the better in order to get the best pick of whatever vegetables you're searching for. Two: the Farmer's Market is a very trendy place to go on Saturdays. By 9am, all the trendy beautiful people start showing up. I'm not sure why, because it doesn't seem like they buy many vegetables and truthfully, they probably couldn't identify a cucumber from a zucchini. More than likely they show up on Saturdays to buy fresh milk from the Amish dairy farmers. Mostly it seems that they just stand around and talk to each other. And take up parking spaces. I try to go early to avoid all of that!

Of course, you know who I went to see first. Tomato Lady!

This is Tomato Lady and her husband. Are they not the cutest little couple ever? Tomato Lady is not this short. She is sitting on a stool because "ever since my knee-cap replacement surgery in December, my knee jes gets tired out so easy. I hafta sit up on this stool. That knee gave me fits all last summer long, I tell ya." Bless her heart. I wanted to take her a casserole or something.

When I asked them if I could take their picture, Tomato Lady kinda looked at me like I was crazy and I was afraid she would think I was a psycho. But she smiled and said, "Aw, that's fine honey." I waited until after I'd spend $20 at their stand to ask her permission. Smart, eh? After I took their picture, Mr. Tomato Lady grinned and told me he sure hoped my camera still worked.

Cute, cute, cute, I tell ya.

This is a picture of a portion of their produce stand. I can hardly stand the fact that she has a picnic cloth as a cover. Other vendors have table covers but they ain't got nothing on the Tomato Lady and her Mister. The display with their beautiful produce not to mention their good looks is just a WIN-WIN.

Don't you agree?

From them I purchased string beans, squash, cucumbers, blackberries, and potatoes. I freely admit that one reason why I love them so much is because they remind me of my own Mimi and Pop and the time I spent with them in their garden. They look nothing like my grandparents, but they grow the very best vegetables around. No tomatoes today. She hopes she'll have some within the next week.

We also got some "Flippen's peaches" which are the best peaches around. Middle Man has been asking for some Flippen's peaches for over a week. The Boss was so excited to see those peaches and to know she had a surprise for her brother.

Our next objective was to search for fresh herbs.

My fabulous mother-in-law, The Pastor, grows herbs each summer that she uses all summer long. She has a great place in her yard to grow them. We don't. Today I was searching for herbs for The Pastor. I hope to go back and get more herbs later for us that I can grow in The Pastor's yard because let's face it. Even without the lack of sunlight, with 5 kids, 2 dogs and a cat, it's a wonder we even have grass.




Herb Lady didn't have her usual abundant selection. She said that last year she ended up with such a surplus of some herbs, she had to throw them out and having to do that about killed her. My heart stopped briefly too, at her words. We got lemon basil, oregano, peppermint, and parsley to start off the summer. I'm looking forward to some mint tea!

(The blue thing you see in the lower corner is a market tote and yes, it is mine. And yes, it is monogrammed. Yes, it's trendy. However, I'm not skinny enough or well-dressed enough to qualify as a trendy beautiful person at the Farmer's Market.

In my own defense, I am a southern gal born and bred and I'm really shocked that God has yet to decide that we should just come into this world with our initials already monogrammed on our chest and be done with it.)

Our next stop was here!

While we were at the Farmer's Market, The Boss kept asking me what kind of store we were going to next. She was completely overly-excited about a birthday party that LaLa was taking her and Dogos to at 11am and was greatly concerned that we wouldn't get home in time.



She kept asking if...the next store had toys?



No, Boss.



Food? No, Boss.



What does it have for me? Nothing, Boss.



Then I don't want to go. I have to be home for LaLa.



We have to go to Lowe's, Boss.



I don't see why. They don't have anything.

In case you're also wondering why we went to Lowe's, I'll just have to keep you in suspense until my "Saturday, The Middle" post. Unfortunately the reason isn't because of any clever blogging tactic. It's because I forgot to upload the picture of the object of my quest when I was uploading the others and I'm such an idiot when it comes to computer stuff and blogging that I have no idea how to include it at this point, so there you go. Plus, I didn't utilize my purchase until the middle part of my day anyway. I feel sure no one will lose any sleep over not knowing what I found at Lowe's.

Fortunately for The Boss, she discovered that Lowe's really did have something to interest her. Thank You, Lord. A red Gatorade.

The Boss asked if we could get a drink for Middle Man too but then reconsidered and said, "No, Mama. He's gonna be so excited he has peaches he won't even care about anything else."




So with the red Gatorade firmly grasped by The Boss and the mystery purchase in Grandma Sandy's possession, we were off! Next stop? Home!







Upon our return home, we got out all of our Farmer's Market purchases for the other children to see. To say that Middle Man was overjoyed at the sight of that bag of peaches would be an understatement. I have to say that I take great delight in my children's pleasure over fresh fruit and vegetables.



Ok, so they aren't usually that excited about the vegetables but they certainly love the fresh fruit!






My next task was to fluff up the little girls for their birthday party date. And oh my, what a birthday party it turned out to be. They had so much fun!
That will definitely be an upcoming post. The party had ponies, a jumpy thing and ELMO.







I found something cute enough for them to wear to a summer birthday party outside during a heat advisory (seriously), hairbowed 'em up, and....












.....sent them off!!!



And now for my favorite part of the morning. Upon our return from our errands this morning, Middle Man was waiting for us at the top of the stairs. He had a piece of paper in his hand and I could tell by the way he kept standing in my path while I'm trying to drag in sacks of potatoes, peaches and the like, that he intended that piece of folded paper to be for me.




I have to preface this by stating that each of our children has certain chores that are age-appropriate. Peanut does her chores daily without question, with no prompting from us EVER. We have to tell Guitar Boy and Middle Man every. single. day. every. single. time. that it's time to do whatever is the task at hand.

It gets exhausting, to say the least.

In a family of 5 children, it would be most helpful and definitely less stressful for a 14 yr old and almost 8 yr old to just do what they are supposed to do. It's also not an unreasonable expectation.



So at least 2 weeks ago, The Chef had a discussion with the boys stating that part of being a responsible person and one with integrity is doing what you know you are supposed to do, even if no one is watching or telling you to do it. That includes chores. You know what you have to do, so just do it! Middle Man's chores are not so hard: get the newspaper in the morning and empty the clean silverware from the dishwasher. It's something he has to do every day. It never changes. Newspaper, silverware. Next day? Newspaper, silverware. Guess what...next day? Newspaper, silverware. Never ever changes.



This isn't the first time we've had this conversation.




I assumed it fell on deaf
ears until I read Middle Man's note to me today.








YEA for Middle Man! Of course, the newspaper was still in the driveway, but I'll take what I can get! See why I love this kid? Ah, I was so proud of him. He took initiative AND wrote me a note about it!



The thing that really tickled me about this note was that he referred to himself as "Middle Man." This is not his nickname at home. It's only how I refer to him on this blog and he's never even seen this blog, but he must've overheard me say something about Middle Man. Note to self: Middle Man DOES pay attention to some things so be careful what you say.



I also love the self portrait. It actually looks like him with the glasses and everything. Gosh, how I love this kid.




So that was the beginning of our Saturday. This sure did end up being a long blog
post and it only covered the first 3 hours of our day!!



Stay tuned for Saturday, The Middle, when the mystery purchase will be revealed!