Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

Swampy's Baby Shower for Karmyn

I love Swampy. I am a better, kinder, and more generous person for knowing (sort of) Swampy. This party is a perfect example. I cannot remember having had more fun shopping for a shower gift. I cannot wait to see what everyone else got Karmyn.

My gift?

It's sort of an inclusive baby gift. Until the newest little one is ready to fully enjoy, the older sibs and Mom and Dad can hang out.

I give you.....

A library!!!!! All for your very own, in your very own home, and fully stocked with these books.

This library is furnished with soft and comfy sofas, lots and lots of soft, huge pillows, colorful rugs, terrific lamps, a Bose sound system and decorated with these beautiful hand painted murals. Just a nice, cozy place to nurture all of those "what ifs".

So, Karmyn, enjoy your shower and I hope you enjoy all of your gifts. Much health, happiness and joy to you and all of yours.

witty wednesday

Grandson: "Grandma, have you seen my pills? They have "LSD" stamped on them."

Grandma: "Screw your pills, sonny. Have you seen the dragon in the kitchen?"

Who is my hero?

This week Kitten is our wonderful host and this is her assignment... Tell me about the Super Hero in your life. Not from TV, but anyone that has been or is in your life that you have really looked up to or has made a impact on your life. It can one or many. You can share pictures if you like. Just have fun with it.

Who is my hero?

OK, this may sound a little weird, but my hero is my mother. I have not spoken to my mother in 20+ years. I guess a more accurate statement would be that she has not spoken to me in 20+ years.

She is still my hero.

I learned from my mother how to shop. This sounds frivolous, but I am talking about shopping for food and clothes. There were certain food items that, in my mother’s mind, would not be purchased if their price got above a set amount. These were not luxuries but things like mayonnaise. If Best Foods got above $.39, we did without. I learned, when shopping for clothes, to always buy the very best that you could afford and to buy classic styles.

I learned from my mother how to be a friend. When I was in 1st or 2nd grade, our neighbor’s husband was hurt in a construction accident. He underwent numerous brain surgeries and was left less than whole. Our neighbor, Honey, kept her husband at home. She, who had never worked, went back to college, got her LVN and went to work to support the family and care for her husband. She did not do this alone. My mother went with her. They graduated together, worked together, and retired together. Honey has since died. Her husband died when I was 19.

I learned from my mother how to be faithful to my religion. My mother never missed Mass. She went every Sunday, even if she could not, because of work, go with the family. She attended Church on every Holy Day. She dragged us kids whether we wanted to go or not. She worked, in part, so that she and Dad could afford to send my brother and me to parochial schools. She observed those domestic rites of the Church that are slowly coming back - weekly family rosaries, holy water at home, and religious art. There is not a single doubt in my mind that, when I left the Church, the rosaries and novenas started and that she prays for me still. And, yes, I found my way back.

I learned from my mother how to be polite and gracious. I learned that there are certain responses that are required to certain situations. This is a gift not to be taken lightly. Good manners have stood me in good stead through some very tumultuous times. Yes, ma’am, they have.

I learned from my mother how to honor a vow. My parents were married in 1940 and stayed that way until my father’s death in February of 1999. Theirs was not a happy marriage- at least not during the 18 years that I was at home. My father, God rest his soul, was a chain-smoking alcoholic who never missed either a day of work or a chance to belittle his younger children. I understand from my older siblings that he was different when they were young. I will never know. My mother, though, stayed. She did not allow us to show disrespect for our father in his house. She cooked for him, she cleaned for him, and she did everything that a “good wife” was supposed to do for him. She honored the commitment that she had made, as a young and hopeful bride, to her husband and to God.

The most important thing that I learned from my mother is how to be a grandmother. My daughter would not hesitate to tell you that my mother is her favorite grandmother. This is due, in huge part, to the fact that my mother loves my children unconditionally, totally, and without end. The same mother who strove to put me into the proper mold allowed my child’s imagination to run rampant. The same mother who never kissed me cuddled my children even after they were “too old”. The same mother who would not allow me to wear makeup until I was 16 bought my daughters eye makeup when they were 12 and, yes, I took it back. The same mother who made me feel less than adequate has nurtured in my children the absolute knowledge that they are the most important things in her world.

I learned from my mother how to have the courage of one’s convictions. Regardless of why she disowned me, she has done a banner job of it. I learned from my mother to never, ever, do this to one of my children.

I Didn't Die

I apologize to all of my friends who have been wondering where the heck I've been and especially to my Fun Monday friends, whom I totally deserted!


I have no real excuse. I have not been sick, nor has anyone in my family. None of my dogs had any horrendous and/or amusing ailment. I have not discovered a cure for cancer nor have I devoted myself to caring for the poor and afflicted.


I have just been busy.


I'm not even sure what I have been busy with, but I have just been busy.


I am still working full time and discovering muscles that I am not sure that I have ever used. Shorty says they all used to work, but I just can't remember that far back.


My lovely daughter gave blood for the very first time a week ago tomorrow. Those of you who know Julie know what an amazing thing this was for my needle-phobic, keeping her own blood child. She did it so that her son would know that it was a good thing to do. She rocks.


I won a propane powered grill (3 burner grill plus a side burner) at a charity event for Relay for Life from the company for which I work. This was awesome because I gave away my husband's grill 2 years ago when I was going to buy him a new one for Father's Day. I bought tires instead. Oops.


Lil Man got his first swats at school for disobedience. We were so not proud.


We have not had any severe weather here unless you count the 60MPH+ straight line winds that came though on Saturday night. Yeah, the hanging plants turned themselves into missiles.


The transmission on my car died. It's a front wheel drive. I did not know how much of a difference that made. I do now. Waiting to see if the loan (hubby's MC as collateral) goes through. I wish I was kidding about that last part.


The electricity went out today while I was taking the Dingo's trivia contest. It really did. That's why my time was in excess of 1000 seconds. Honest.


All in all, a lovely mix of good and bad. I still just don't where the time went.

Fun Monday - Accomplishments

This week's hostess is Southern Doll and this is what she wants. Sort of a reverse bucket list - or would that be a tsil tekcub?





What have you done in your life that was worth doing? I want to know the moments in your life that you hope will be the ones to pass through your mind when your time comes. I hope that doesn't sound too morbid. This doesn't necessarily have to be items you have checked off your Bucket List, it can be those small moments that made you smile, or the time you got that huge promotion you deserved, or the first time your baby smiled at you out of pure joy. I want to know all the moments, big and small, that make life sweet! If you don't already have a running list of these in your mind, you should! These moments help you remember how much your life is worth living, and we all deserve to enjoy it.



I have done a lot of thinking about this one and I have truly been amazed at some of the things that I have done. This is due, in part, to one of my previous jobs. I was a police dispatcher for a number of years and have had some truly life-saving and life-ending calls. My favorite, though, is just about a little girl.



I was working afternoons when a little girl called and said, "My name is Sally Sue Schimmelpennick* and I just got home from kindergarten and my mommy is not home". I asked if she had looked in the house and she said yes. I asked if she had looked at the neighbors and, in that voice that children reserve for stupid adults, she said, "I am not allowed to leave the house without my mommy's permission and I can't ask my mommy because she is not here". I acknowledged that she was right and asked her if she knew her address (this was pre-911 and addresses were not hooked to computers and phone numbers). She told me what street she lived on and said she did not know the number. I asked if there was a piece of paper or something in the house with her address on it. She asked me if I could hold on for a minute and she would go out on the porch and look at the numbers on the front of her house. I said that I would. She came back on the phone and gave me the numbers. I dispatched an officer to check on the child and see if he could help her find her mommy, staying on the phone with her until he got there.



Several minutes passed after the officer arrived at the address. He came on the radio and said, laughter in his voice, that Mrs. Schimmelpennick wanted to thank the very nice lady on the phone and that if Sally Sue had bothered to look in her own back yard, she would have found her mommy gardening. Mrs. Schimmelpennick called me later to apologize. I told her that it was unnecessary and that Sally Sue had done exactly what she was supposed to do. All in all, just a nice call with a terrific outcome.



I believe that it is in the little things that we make the greatest difference. Sally Sue, at a time in my life when I was in danger of becoming cynical and jaded, reminded me that there are those moments when everything does go right and there is a happy ending.


*names have been changed because I am old and cannot remember the child's name and because the name Sally Sue Schimmelpennick amuses me.

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for my mother's influence on my child. My mom and I have a very complicated relationship. Actually, that's not true. It's very simple. My mom has not spoken to me in 22 years. So be it.

She did however, have a great influence on my youngest child who is, in turn, the mother of my youngest grandchild. My mom is the grandma who loves her grandkids unconditionally but who also is very cognizant of actions and consequences.

So, when my lil man, who is actually my child's lil man, lost his little mind this last week, my daughter's decsions on how to handle him were very, very close to what I would have done without her input.

My schedule and my daughter's end up with lil man spending most nights with me. I then drop him off at her house on my way to work and she gets up to take him to school. The other morning, instead of eating his breakfast and then waking his mom up, he decided that he was "bored" and bugged his mom for the hour she was supposed to be sleeping.

Suffice it to say that he will not have a chance to be "bored" for a very long time. Pulling weeds and painting fences should certainly occupy his time, if not his mind.

I remember painting the white picket fence around my parents' 2 acres for making the same error in judgement when I was his age.

Julie was smart enough to never say that she was "bored".

Maybe lil man's child will be that smart, too.

Anyway, I am thankful that my daughter and I agree, almost always, on how to handle the lil man and when we don't? We are both smart enough to never disagree in front of him. So, thanks, Mom. You are loved and appreciated still.