Let's Start Something

At my book club tonight, one of my friends gave me an awesome birthday present: a battery-operated chandelier to hang in the tent the next time we go camping. How hysterical is that? I can hardly wait for the next camping trip. A little bit of frou-frou in the woods.

Another friend brought Amish friendship bread starter for us. I have been wanting to make some of this for quite a while, and now all I have to do is mush the bag for a few days, add a few ingredients and voila! Delicious bread.

After we were finished talking about our book, A Thomas Jefferson Education, we got into a conversation about bread starters. I was telling everyone about making a sourdough starter by setting out a bowl of flour and water to catch wild yeast. It sounds fantastical, but really, that is an awesome way to make great sourdough bread. When we get back from our trip, I think I will give that a try. I made the attempt a couple of years ago, but I did something wrong and wound up killing my yeast after two weeks of babying. Maybe this time I will be successful.

So, yes, my sweet honey and I are ditching the kids for a couple of days and heading to North Carolina for some R&R. We have no route planned, no ultimate destination, no schedules and no reservations. We're going where the wind takes us. I think it will be a delightful adventure, and I'll update you all when we get back.

I hope all my kitties will be here.

Lamenting My Shortcomings. Sort Of.

My baby girl surprised me this morning with breakfast in bed. That was to have been for my birthday, but I was up before her yesterday, so she made up for it in style. Pancakes and a bowl of cereal, along with iced peach tea. What a sweetie.

I had quite a list of things I intended to accomplish today, but I didn't meet one single goal outside our homeschool subjects and my morning walk.

I didn't get to the grocery store before the BOGO cat food went off sale tonight.
I didn't wash my hair.
I didn't make my bed.
I didn't take the kids to park day.
I didn't read all my meditation books this morning.
I didn't read any of my lastest classic.
I didn't sweep or mop the kitchen floor.
I didn't get back on my diet as I'd planned. (see above note regarding breakfast.)

However, I did schlep in all the cushions from the deck furniture in anticipation of a terrific storm which never materialized.

I made a phone call I'd promised my husband I'd make.

I learned how much I missed my Nintendo DS, to the detriment of most every other activity today.

But, I also spent an entire day with my kids, learning, laughing and enjoying life, and playing with my three remaining kitties. And that in itself beats any list I could create.

My sweet honey popped home from work just long enough to get the kids and the Behemoth, then drove to the ATV shop to finally get that machine that's been hanging out there for two weeks. I learned that on the way home, they made a detour by Petco to get the cherub another betta fish to replace the one that died last month. Its name is "Blueberry Smoothie." I'm not sure I'd want to be named after something edible.

While they were there, they even perused the "other" pets; rodents, reptiles, amphibians...

NO THANK YOU. Mainly because, by default, I end up with the maintenance of said critters. And I have enough to do on my list.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Last night, my sweet honey presented me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a darling card (he picks out the very best cards for all occasions!) an awesome cookie-cake and some plants for my gazebo shelves. Wow!

This morning, I slept in...way in. Then my mother-in-law treated me and the cherub to a delightful lunch at Chateau Elan. We feasted on a wonderful buffet of roasted duck, grouper in a cream sauce, flat iron steak in a red wine sauce, a delicious salad bar that included these incredible little marinated onions, and then I was presented with a dessert plate of chocolate cake and mousse, complete with a candle for wishing. A perfect celebration.

After lunch, we walked around the resort and winery gift shop, and then headed home. I spent the rest of the afternoon lolling in the gazebo while the kids swam in the lake with friends.

Just before dinner, my awesome family presented me with another surprise...a Nintendo DS of my very own! I had gotten one for Christmas, but it had been taken over completely by the kids, so now, I can claim one just for me.

I totally love birthdays. I plan to have at least 60 more. Won't you join me?

Whissenhunt and More

Okay, I finally decided to pair my mobility (i.e. laptop) with my tranquility (i.e. gazebo) and blog outside. I feel sufficiently inspired to ramble on for quite some time.

Our Memorial Day weekend is going along at a quiet pace, which of course is right up my alley. Because I tend to clean on Mondays, today is no exception, including laundry and general pick-up.

Yesterday was rather interesting, to say the least. Well, let me back up.

Saturday afternoon, we picked up the kids from their sleepover and headed home. En route there and back, I worked on my latest "classic." I have a list of 100 Classics You Should Read in Your Lifetime, and I'm working on crossing them off. Last week, I finally finished Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. (I had gotten sidetracked from it when I got caught up in the Outlander series again.)

Anyway, MotF was a wonderful book, and I'm satisfied with it being on The List.

However...

My next choice was The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Since I had been reading women authors for some time, I decided to give the gents a chance. So, I took the opportunity of being in the Behemoth for a couple of hours to whip through that little story. I thought the story line was so-so, but the pictures this author created with words was, well, inspiring to say the least.

Saturday evening, we got all dressed up, dropped off the kids at the grandparents' house and headed to Fairfield Estate for a frou-frou wedding reception. How lovely. We parked in the polo field parking lot and waited for the shuttle to take us up the hill to the magnificent house. We drank champagne, mingled with the masses and nibbled from an extensive buffet. After we visited with the bride and groom, we decided we'd had enough of the hoity-toity life. We snuck out and headed to our car. Because we were bailing so early, the shuttle was still at the bottom of the hill, so I slipped off my shoes and traipsed barefoot down the manicured grass of this gorgeous estate. I'll bet no one has done that in years...if ever. I felt like a runaway princess. Heh.

Sunday, I got ambitous with my reading and opted for A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. I'm sure it's on The List for SOME reason, but I couldn't find a reason anywhere. What a boring, poorly-written story. Maybe someone out there can email me and tell me the underlying gist of the book 'cause I just didn't get it. I'm going back to women authors for a while.

Fortunately, AFtA was a very quick read, and I gobbled it up in the van to and from our Sunday adventure.

And what an adventure it was.

My sweet honey wanted to take the boy to a new (to us) ATV park called Whissenhunt, and since I really had nothing to do but clean the house and read, I talked the girl into going (just once,) and we all piled into the Behemoth and dragged the trailerful of machines to Dahlonega for a day of off-roading.

All went well on the trails, and I was actually enjoying myself. The rhododendrons were in full bloom (first time I'd ever been in the woods during that show,) the trails were clean and not crowded. I was having a blast riding up and down hills, through trees and past drop-offs that gave me a thrill.

Then we turned onto a trail that looked promising. Little used, by the looks of it, and open to all sorts of possibilities. I was feeling so good, I let the girl drive while I rode behind. The boy was driving while my sweet honey rode behind. What a wonderful family outing.

The trail got a little narrow and a bit challenging, but I knew the cherub was up to the challenge. The boys were ahead of us, and she was following their lead very well. THEN...

She tried to cross a tree root, but went a little too far up the tree, and we got vertical. VERTICAL. I rolled off the back and tumbled down the hill a ways, then scrambled to my feet to see if she was okay, while simultaneously watching the ATV roll sideways onto her foot. Holy cow.

Everything was alright, and her foot was only under the rubber flap on the fender. I was a little bruised, but otherwise fine, and she only had a small cut on her elbow. After the girl and I recovered a bit, I decided to drive. Heh. We rode along for a mile or so, and then came upon, well, for lack of a better word, ATV hell.

Straight downhill, the trail was totally washed out in the center and could only be traversed by straddling the gorge by its narrow sides and holding on. OMG. My worst freaking nightmare.

Too steep to go back, the trail led down, down the mountain. We discovered, too late, why the trail was not often used. We inched our way to the bottom and only started breathing again when the trail levelled out. There would be no problem from this point on to get back to the big loop and enjoy the rest of our day.

Well. We were just about to head out when my honey heard someone shouting for help from the top of the hill. He and the boy turned around and headed back up (!) that ravine to see what was the problem. I had no problem just waiting for them to come back.

Moments later, he called me on the radio to say he was stuck and would need me to come get him. GULP. I started to turn around, but about that time, he called to say he'd gotten out.

I could hear him talking to someone, so I decided to hike back up the hill (not drive.) I got even with him, whereupon he informed me that he had ROLLED the ATV, not once, but TWICE trying to get up to the person. Yep. ROLLED it. ONTO his leg. ON TOP OF MY SON.

Now, here's where a nice gulley comes in handy, not to mention full body armor for the boy. He slid off the machine as it was foundering and fell down into the wash-out and the ATV went over him. Didn't touch him. Egad.

Turns out, the cry for help had come from a dirt bike rider who had lost--LOST--his motorcycle when it tumbled off the side of the hill down into a creekbed. It was so far down the side of the mountain, we couldn't see it.

One of his buddies showed up to help, so after sharing some water with him, we assessed our position. My honey once again inched down the hill on his machine, the girl and I galloped back down to our ATV, and we carried on.

We made it back to the parking lot, exhausted but without further incident. We were all shaken up and ready to come home. We went to a great burger place and slammed down cheeseburgers and fries, then moseyed home and crawled into bed to just rest.

All of us are black and blue today, but not really worse for the wear. I would totally go back to that ATV park, now that I know which trails to avoid. The well-worn trails were very pretty and most enjoyable. However, it will be awhile before I want to tackle that sport again. I need to buy some more protective gear.

Take My Kids, Please

Another rain storm passed by last evening, but it didn't dampen our planned outing. I certainly hope all this rain puts a dent in our drought situation, though. I know my deck plants are drowning. I have to get a drill and make some drain-holes in a few of my planters or I won't make any Roma tomatoes or onions this summer unless they're in a soup. My herbs, however, are delirious with the extra water. In fact, they are downright menacing from certain angles. I watch them out of the corner of one eye when I pass, just in case the rosemary or oregano get ambitious.

The outside fish are way happy, too. My sweet honey changed out one of the tired old pumps for a new one, so the waterfall is amazingly loud. The fish race around in a riot of orange and gold, playing in the bubbles, and we just sit on the deck, surrounded by the intoxicating sound of water gushing over rocks. Nirvana.

We made a delivery last night of several things to my homeschooling friend. She and her honey decided to get the ATV and go-kart for their kids, one being for her son's birthday coming up next month. She also was the proud recipient of some of my patio furniture.

So, since we have a trailer, we loaded up all the things and drove over to her house in the pouring rain. At least the stuff got a good rinse and blow-dry as the rain slacked off and the wind whisked away the drops.

We visited for some time and had dinner, and then left, sans the kids. (I told you we delivered several things!) Our kids have been begging for a sleepover, but since I have trouble with (i.e. don't like) other peoples' kids, (hey! everyone who knows me knows about that!) then my wonderful friends take my offspring into their homes for some overnight social interaction.

When we got home, two of the cats were outside, but I couldn't find Luna. I called for upwards of half an hour, and finally went to bed, resigned to the fact that I'd lost yet another pet. I was deciding how best to see the remaining felines to good homes and trying not to cry, when I eventually fell into a fitful sleep where I dreamed about giant predators leaping from every shadow to devour one and all.

I gave a start and sat up, confused by the sound of the TV show my sweet honey was watching. "Look who came home," he said. There was my baby Luna curled up sleeping at the end of the bed. Sigh. I've decided. No more cats when these are gone.

Early morning was beautiful and sunshine-y, and I spent it in my gazebo (of course) with a cup of steaming hazelnut coffee, my morning meditation books and my three cats. We have to go back to get the kids shortly after lunch, (giving them time to swim in the friends' neighborhood pool,) but for the time being, I'm just luxuriating in the peace and quiet.

Deja Vu

Finally, the cherub is free from arm constraints at last. Today was her last orthopedist appointment, and the x-ray showed considerable new bone growth and some straightening of the misalignment. And she's cleared for sports, too. Glad that's over.

On a much less happy note, another of my beloved cats has vanished. I don't know what's out there, but we were home, and it still happened. I try to keep them inside as much as I can overnight, but they're so accustomed to going when and where they like, that it's nearly impossible. And now Riley, my 13-year-old pal, is gone. I'm nearly ready to give the rest of the felines away so I can get over the pain all at once.

The hurt is still fresh from losing Simon, so this has set me back a bit. Again.

But We Needed a Souvenir

Whew! We just had a terrific storm pass by our house with hail and everything. My sweet honey was worried about the cars, because, you know, with all those fine motorized playthings in the garage, there isn't any ROOM left for actual cars.

I ran the kids downstairs into the basement when the sky went green, but they made the best of it by saying, "Well, to keep from being too upset by the storm, we can play video games!" They seemed almost happy to be set upon by Mother Nature. Huh.

Me, personally? I was overly concerned about my new gazebo. Hail? Yipes, stripes, I don't want hail-holes in my new veranda-room!! So, while the kids played something interesting on the Wii, I cowered under the deck, willing the hailstones to defy the laws of physics and curve around my gazebo.

No sooner than the all-clear was sounded and the ice turned into a deluge of just plain water, I raced upstairs and surveyed the tent-top for any possible damage, then let out the breath I'd been holding for twenty minutes in a grateful sigh of relief.

After that, I raced around gathering buckets to catch all that wonderful rainwater for use on my deck garden in the days to come. The kids, needless to say, were miffed at me for not getting them some hail.

"Where's the hail??"
"It melted."
"What?? Did you save some?"
"Are you insane? I wasn't going out there in a storm just to collect some dirty ice chunks!"
"Wahhhhh!"

Sigh.

So, now they're having some conciliatory ice cream to mend the rift. I told them next hailstorm, they could go out and get their own ice.

"Very funny, Mom. We could be killed doing that kind of thing."
"Hold on. You wanted ME to go out and get ice for you."
"Yeah, but you'd be fine. You're not a little kid."
"Precisely. I would get hurt quicker because I'm bigger than you."
"Right."

So much for familial love.

Friends Beg Friends to Take Away Stuff

One of our homeschooling pals came over today to visit. The kids asked if it was warm enough to swim in the lake, and I said, "Sure. Go for it." So the four of them raced down to the dock and dove in. It must have been warm enough, although I believe they wouldn't have said they were cold even if they'd turned blue.

While they had lots of fun splashing about, my friend and I sat in the gazebo and chatted. I'm telling you, that new deck space is just wonderful. If I could figure out how to fit a bed in there, I believe I'd stay out there all the time.

After my sweet honey got home, he let the kids get out the ATVs and the go-kart, and they all sped up and down the street, laughing out loud. The visiting boy said, "We need to come over here more often!" I have to agree.

We had been wanting to sell some of our machines, and were thrilled to find out my friend and her husband were interested in getting both the go-kart and one of our smaller ATVs for their kids. Hallelujah! I finally get some of my garage space back. Not only that, they can made good use of some of our discarded deck furniture. Things are definitely looking good for us.

Anyway, I sat up late last night and watched three shows on the History channel. Now, I'm too sleepy to comprehend what I'm typing. I'm thinking about that outside bed...

No Cats in These Empty Boxes

What is it about my family that completely disables their ability to recognize a piece of trash? If it's happened once, it's happened a hundred times.

Just today, by way of example:

I opened the refrigerator door this morning to find an empty gallon milk jug. At what point does anyone think that after they've prepared their morning bowl of cereal or evening glass of chocolate milk that it is their duty to place the empty jug back in the fridge? Why then? Every other time someone uses milk, they leave the container out on the counter. I can almost always guarantee that if the jug is in the refrigerator and I didn't put it there...it's empty.

Later, I went downstairs to snag something from the freezer. Lo and behold, there was an Italian ice box...no Italian ices. What gives? I can't imagine getting out the last treat, fighting to extricate my hand from a flopping box, and then stuffing it back in the freezer door. Argh.

In the upstairs pantry I came across the microwave popcorn box. You guessed it...no popcorn...just an empty box.

Out in the garage was a box that once held cans of sparkling water, but no more. The box just languished on the floor several feet from the recycle bin. Sigh.

I followed the trail of neglected garbage around the house and schlepped all the things to the trash can.

Today was a baking day, and I made blueberry muffins and a lemon poppy-seed cake. Those goodies, along with hazelnut creme coffee made for a delightful snack when one of our friends stopped by. Needless to say, we spent our time hanging out in our gazebo. That place has turned out to be a lovely spot for visiting and lounging and just generally hanging out.

After he left, my sweet honey and I skewered a pork shoulder on the spit for slow-roasting. I spent the ensuing time reading, of course, and then tossed together some side dishes. One thing I had been craving for some time was a couscous salad, and I whipped up one in short order. Yum.

And then as the cherub and I washed up the dishes, she announced that she no longer believed in Santa Claus.

That's just another empty box left lying around for me to pick up, I guess.

Fiction is Addicting

Help! I'm trapped in the world of fiction!

I've been sucked in by sequel after sequel of the Outlander series, until my days and nights are filled with 18th century Scottish adventures. Romantic sigh.

I had the day off today, since the kids were with the grandparents. I could have gone anywhere, done anything, browsed without distraction at any number of retail shops, but noooo. What did I do? I raced home after screeching by the dry-cleaners, grabbed my novel and headed to the gazebo for several uninterrupted hours of reading.

Now, I'm warmly ensconced in bed being forced to watch E.T. with commercials, tapping out a short little essay for my fan.

Yes, I'm down to one blog visitor per day, and I know who she is. Ah, well. Part of the reason is that I'm too lazy to market myself. That, and I'm way too involved with my Scottish fantasy to mind that my little offerings of literature aren't eagerly awaited by thousands. Perhaps in another time. For now, I have to relive the drama of a little alien trying to get home--with my other fans.

Tales From the Quiet Side...Or Not

I have been staring at this blinking cursor for over half an hour. I was going to regale you with tales of the last couple of days...stories of our homeschooling lessons, tidbits about the cats, reviews of our meals...

But...I got nothin'.

I seem to have lost myself in my new books. I am sufficient in my duties, but the in-between times have been totally dedicated to Diana Gabaldon's masterpieces, all the while lounging inside our new outdoor space. Contented sigh.

The pressure to keep up with all the great writers in my life!! Yipes! My life tales pale in comparison.

And with that, I'm off to dreamland. Whether or not I'll drift through the stories I've lately read or float through my own memories remains to be seen. Perhaps there will be much more to tell...tomorrow.

Blow the Man (and Everyone Else) Down

Why, yes, I had a lovely Mother's Day, and thank you for asking.

I bounded out of bed at the leisurely hour of 8:30, and after some warm mocha latte, I headed outside to help my sweet honey with the assembly of our deck furniture. Everything went along swimmingly until we opened the dining table and noticed an enormous chunk missing from one of the edges. Sigh. Nothing to do but take it back. Today. Now.

We loaded the kids in the van and headed to Lowe's, where, much to my intense pleasure, Don was working today. I simply called him over to the refund counter, explained the situation, and in no time (bar the fact the replacement table had a gash in it as well, and also had to be replaced,) we were home again, putting the finishing touches on our new outdoor living space.

And just in time, too. We dashed through the shower, threw on some serviceable clothes and met Grammy and PapPap at the front door.

The men were cooking for us for Mother's Day, which essentially means they throw hunks of beast on the grill, poke them for a quarter hour and then call one and all to the table. Never mind for the previous two hours, the womenfolk were chopping, slicing and mixing well all the ingredients for the side dishes. Yeah.

It wasn't too bad, especially since I had three awesome side dishes I'd been wanting to prepare anyhow. Ranch Potato Salad with Roasted Red Peppers, Apple and Cabbage Slaw with Red Wine Vinaigrette, and Crispy Sweet Potato Fries. Yum.

We tossed all that on the outside table along with the grilled beast and some fresh bread and commenced the festivities. We had peach iced tea, pink lemonade and a wonderful Merlot as accompaniment. However, the wind was so gusty, that I feared my plate would be blown away at any minute, along with all our new furnishings and our bodies as well. Sheesh! I questioned the decision to eat outside in the tempest, but my sweet honey was determined to christen the space right away. We kept glancing over at the gazebo, but it took the heavy blasts with apparent ease.

The outside ambiance was exciting for sure, but right after we shoveled in the last bites, we grabbed plates and bowls and wine glasses and dashed into the inside warmth, where the womenfolk washed all the dishes. Something is so not right about that, but I can't quite put my finger on it...

I'm just kidding. I much prefer to tidy my own kitchen because I'm the only one who knows where everything goes, and believe me, it goes in its appointed place or there is heck to pay. You all know that.

Needless to say, I collapsed into bed at 9:30, giving only a fleeting thought to the blog, the wind and the weekend, only to be awakened at 1:00 by the sound of my son depositing all his dinner into the toilet. I don't know what happened. We all ate the same things in the same order, but he has a funny gastronomical disposition that causes him to barf at the strangest times for the oddest reasons. Anyway, he's fine and dandy this morning, as are we all. Just another quirk of my baby boy.

(Personally I think he snuck some contraband food from his room after we all went to bed, but who am I to say...)

Today is trash day, so I lugged all the old deck furniture out to the curb to see what the garbage gods will choose as their weekly sacrifice. I've seen them stuff whole couches in the back of a sanitation truck and crunch it up with glee, while at the same time turning up their noses at a can of dried-up paint. Go figure.

Later, peeps.

All Hands on Deck

Today was a Major Project Day. No, not the hole in the ceiling, that's still there. Nor any kind of gardening or Yard of the Month pursuit. Nope...today was THE DECK.

Our deck has been plain wood, stained wood and then painted wood over the last 16 years. Suffice it to say it really needs to be repainted, but all it got today was a good pressure-washing and scrubbing.

We spent most of the day driving and shopping. Part of the morning was spent taking the new ATV in for a few minor fixes and hanging out at the ATV place for their 1-year anniversary party. Free food and schtuff. So, while we had the Behemoth and an empty trailer out-and-about, we commenced to look for new deck furnishings.

Now, we have a rather large deck. The planned deck for this house when we built it was 10x10 or some god-awfully small dimensions like that. But my sweet honey, with his brilliant foresight, demanded a deck upon which a small army could perform drills. I think it measures 12x30. We have a dining section, an entry/garden section and a living area section. It's awesome. We spend lots of time out there, between grilling and eating, lounging and sitting, and sometimes swinging, not to mention growing things.

Unfortunately, we've been rather lazy in furnishing said sections. We got a bar-height table and chairs with umbrella for a wedding gift, we got four chairs and cushions for free from an office out-of-business purge, and we bought a cheap swing from Kroger a couple of summers ago. Altogether, we spent maybe two hundred bucks on the entire array, not counting our gas grill, which is just fine and dandy.

The bar-height table crashed over during a storm last summer and lost its glass top, two of its matching chairs failed in the seat-area as they were being sat-upon, and algae and mildew took over the chair cushions and swing. We picked up a shorter table from a yard sale thinking we could swap the glass from one table to the other, but it wasn't the right size. We contemplated having the table and chairs repaired, but I was more than ready to let all that old and excess furniture go away. I firmly believe it's all outlived its usefulness.

Hence, the shopping expedition.

Now, I'm not a browser. I prefer to walk in, scan the offerings and PICK ONE. Don't see anything I like? Bye. NEXT.

So, we hit Lowe's, Home Depot and WalMart in about twenty-five minutes. Then we went back to Home Depot and got the sitting-area set. After that, we hit Lowe's again to pick up the gazebo and dining set, plus a couple of rugs.

At both stores, we did the nifty "apply for a credit card and get a discount and x number of months to pay with no interest." That's my kind of shopping. When the items are paid off, we cancel the cards and voila', considerable savings with no wallop on the old checking account all at once.

All went well at the first store, and the item in our cart actually rang up at $100 less than the ticketed price, plus we got the new account discount. We were off to a good start.

At the next store, we ran into a little snafu trying to find someone to help us. The first lady asked if I was finding everything okay, and I said, "Yes, and I'm ready to buy a few things." This I said to the back of her head as she walked away.

Fortunately, we found a wonderful person to help us named Don. We had a few questions for him, and during his very knowledgeable answers, the other lady kept walking by and giving my kids dirty looks as they climbed on the display outdoor furniture. Not in a bratty kind of way, but in a kid kind of exploring way. It's outdoor furniture for crying out loud. If it can't stand up to a little playing, it shouldn't be for sale in the outdoor section.

Anyway, Don loaded up all our choices on a cart except the rugs. I wanted two, but there was only one in the rack. I was told by a passing salesperson to get the number (which was 130702 for those of you who care,) and the person in charge of that area would know if there were any more in the back.

Well, guess who was in charge of sisal rugs? Evil-glare lady. She took one look at me, sneered at the kids, and said, "Everything we have is out on the floor." I proceeded to say, "Well, other places sell rugs, too. I don't have to buy them here." Hmph.

She stalked off, and we headed to the checkout.

As we were walking out the door to the loading area, I noticed the checkout chick had neglected to give me my 10% discount for opening a new account. Now wasn't that WHY we opened a new account in the first place? Sheesh. So, I went back to her area, but she was GONE for the day. Of course she was gone for the day.

I was directed to Returns...that black hole of an area where they send customers to rot. That chick informed me that she could help me, but I had to wait in line behind seventeen other people with less-than-pleasant countenances. "But, we're idling in the loading zone, and this wasn't my fault." Sorry, lady, we're busy. Get in line or come back later.

Holy cow. For real?

I spied Don walking by with a fellow in a Hawaiian shirt. "Excuse me, Don, but do you happen to have any pull here?" He said no, but that the fellow with him did. It was the Store Manager. SCORE!

I was escorted to the front of the line, and graciously given my discount. As the chick was doing the necessary button-pushing, I happened to ask the manager and Don, who had followed me, about those darn rugs. "Well, if you knew the number, I could check on the computer..."

Here's where the photographic memory comes in handy. "130702"

Two open-mouthed stares. "Wow. You're good."

Yep. Now where are my darn rugs...

Wouldn't you know it? Evil-glare lady had it all wrong. There were plenty of rugs in the back, and Mr. Don was more than happy to get two of them for me, and Mr. Manager was more than happy to discount them as well, which, by the way, with all our other discounts, made them free.

It all goes to show you get what you ask for, especially if you ask for a manager.

Anyway, we began the process of assembling the furniture when we got home, but totally ran out of steam even before we finished the first item. That will be our Mother's Day project, and that's fine with me.

Getting a Head Start on the Weekend

At last, we finished testing this morning. Whew. I took the kids to Grammy and PapPap for their PE class and I spent the afternoon getting pampered and generally enjoying myself.

My sweet son came home from the visit with two dozen red roses for his Mom for Mother's Day. What a good boy. He even gave me the picture he made at art class. He was anxious to get the celebration started. The girl didn't bring flowers, but she's way too cute for that to be an issue, I suppose. And I still have her picture to look forward to.

So, we had a yummy dinner on the deck, which included zero meat. Once in a while I like to torture them with a completely vegetarian meal on the pretense that it's good for the digestive system. I prepared an awesome, flavor-filled pasta dish with a fresh veggie topping and a Greek salad on the side. I made a happy plate, but the rest of the ingrates fled to various parts of the kitchen to find other sustenence. Whatever.

After dinner, I broke into a bag of peanut M&Ms. Heh. That was my present to myself.

Happy Birthday Kitties

Another day of testing, in more ways than one. Hopefully, tomorrow will wrap up the whole tedious event for another year.

My sweet honey's car went kaput this afternoon. Timing belt. Sigh.

The cherub and I just returned from a homeschooling book discussion at a friend's house. And with that, we wrapped up the day.

Today is Simon-and-Luna's birthday. They turned two today. One of them was with me, the other was not. There is a cat-shaped hole in my heart that still shows no sign of healing.

The Ramblings of a Contented Woman

Well, there ain't too much to say about today. We completed another section of our testing this morning, and then took off this afternoon to enjoy the beautiful day.

My sweet honey took the boy to get yet another ATV, with a solemn promise to me that he would please, please sell one or both of the small ones we have. Our garage looks like a repository for homeless gasoline-powered machines. Sheesh. He admitted to having counted the "engines" in our possession, coming up with 31 or some over-the-top number like that.

In all fairness, we did inherit numerous contraptions from my parents, including a wood-chipper, some miscellaneous yard tools and a couple of lawn tractors, but the bulk of the metal menagerie is of our own doing. I can only hope in time we will actually be able to move to a farm where our rustic natures won't clash so much with our environment. Honestly, our neighbors must think we've the IQs of pine trees. If they only knew.

While the boys were out acquiring yet another fossil-fuel burner, the girl and I went to park day and hung out with our friends for several hours. We met a new homeschooling mom and kids who had recently moved here, so we now have even more people with whom we can socialize.

Afterward, we all convened here at home and ate pizza after we ooh'd and aah'd over the new machine. Honestly, I don't think my life could be any more boring...er, no...predictable...um, that's not the word, either...maybe just settled? I suppose the alternative would be less than appealing. There's nothing wrong with being contented.

With all this quietness, I have been able to get in some serious reading. While I mostly enjoy nonfiction books that supplement my studies and continuing education, lately I have been spending some time in Diana Gabaldon's series featuring Lord John Grey. Well written, exciting, all around good reading.

And, yes, I still use her original Outlander series as the carrot for my daily treadmill walking. The chapter I read this morning was long enough to last for over three miles. I was checking the stats on the control panel during the cool-down phase and noticed I used up just enough calories to enable me to eat another slice of checkerboard cake today. Heh. That's motivation for you.

Beyond that, my new research subject has to do with who, in fact, really wrote Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. (It was in all likelihood Francis Bacon.) Interestingly, that little mystery connects in with some of the reading I've done on the megalithic stone henges in Celtic Europe, the pyramids in Egypt and the zigaurats in Meso-America. Cool stuff, no? My dream is to one day travel to all these places and work with an archaeological team to dig up dead things. And/or inanimate objects du historie. I don't care, as long as what I find has been around for millinea.

Alright. I'm nodding over the keyboard again. I have to start getting to bed earlier or I won't get enough beauty sleep to prevent frightening myself when I see my reflection in the mirror. As it is, I'm on shaky ground anyway. Mr. Sandman, here I come.

Art Du Jour

We made it to the last day of art class. The kids learned quite a bit this year, especially my son, who feared he hadn't enough talent to participate. However, he surprised us all with his work, and his progression was wonderful.

Today's project was a Mother's Day picture, so I have yet to see the magnum opus of the course. I can hardly wait 'til Sunday.

Afterward, we headed to the grocery store, and because we weren't in a big hurry, I let the kids do some of the shopping for me, weighing fruit, making selections based on per-unit price and then they got to visit with the deli lady who sliced our cheese.

Because I forgot Cinco de Mayo yesterday, I decided to fix a freezer meal of Enchilada Pie tonight. It was okay, but not as thrilling as I'd hoped. Some of the recipes I chose definitely needed some tweaking.

Anyway, the kids played outside after dinner and I read for awhile, that is, until I fell asleep on the couch. I guess I need to go to bed.

Put Down the Microphone and Eat Some Cake

Would someone out there dial 911 for me? Tell the responding emergency person that I have an ice pick jammed in my right ear. The only reason I haven't inflicted the same injury on my left ear is because I can't get the ice pick out to move it over.

Why the drama? Because my blessed baby girl has been SINGING again.

You'll recall I mentioned before that she can't sing.

After a very quiet weekend of reading and driving around the peaceful north Georgia mountains, we fell back to work today with gusto. We first cleaned and tidied the house from top to bottom. That was relatively uneventful except for the announcement from the basement, "Mom, there's a squirrel-butt down here!" Egad. Cats.

After lunch, we started our year-end homeschool testing, which was plenty stressful, but followed it with a light freezer-meal dinner of Shrimp with Pasta and garlic rolls. Yum.

So, to treat the kids for their hard work today, I decided to bake something. Anything. Whatever they wanted. Just pick something. Muffins would be great. Yes, a cake would be okay, too. I don't care which flavor cake mix. Really, that one's fine. No, that one is okay, too. Really. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD JUST PICK ONE!

Sigh.

She wanted chocolate. He wanted yellow. Of-freaking-course they wanted different cake flavors. Nothing is easy around here. And THEN, to top it off, and for some unbeknownst reason, I opted to complicate things further by saying, "FINE! We'll use BOTH mixes and make a checkerboard cake!"

WHAT?!? What was I thinking??

Seriously, I need help.

Two hours later, I was staring at a perfectly frosted three-layer cake, plus twelve brown-and-yellow swirled cupcakes, because two mixes make way too much batter for three little checkerboard cake pans. I don't know what the insides of any of the cakes look like, and frankly I don't care.

Oh, and surprise, we DID NOT have the frosting on hand. Despite my still-overstocked pantry, we had no icing. Why, you ask, when I have seven different cake mix flavors, do I not have one single can of frosting? Even though I buy frosting EVERY time I buy cake mix? Why, indeed.

Not only can she not sing, she's a sneak.

Anyway, we made frosting from scratch because, naturally, despite the fact that I had no frosting, I did have all the necessary ingredients on hand to make it from scratch. Surprisingly, the stuff turned out pretty good.

After I made the last little swoop of icing on the top of the cooled cake and shoved the unfrosted cupcakes in the freezer for later...much later..., I turned to behold the utter destruction that used to be my kitchen. The kids were seriously hyped-up from the prior batter-licking frenzy, so I sent them outside onto the deck while I started the disaster clean-up.

That's when the cherub turned on the outside "spotlight" and began to sing the song she had "written." She can't sing in the first place, and now she thinks she's Hannah Montana. The back door was open, and her audience was her brother, two cats who are apparently hard of hearing, and forty-eight thousand little flying creatures who are now inside my house bizzing around my monitor.

I, too, was a recipient of the concert, although a reluctant one. The louder I banged pots and pans in the sink, the louder she sang. She knew. SHE KNEW.

TWENTY-THREE VERSES LATER, thankfully it stopped. I squeezed out between gritted teeth, "Honey, that was incredible!" Wheeze, wheeze.

I can still hear that melody beating against my brain like the moth against my desk light, sixty full minutes after the encore. And now you can see why I need an EMT. Please. I really need to jam this ice pick in the other ear.

Fading Azaleas

Ah...May. I was looking out back this afternoon and realized if I don't get a picture of the kids in front of the azalea blooms within the next, oh, 2 hours, I'll miss that photo-op entirely. I think it's a shame that traditional azaleas put on that gorgeous display for only a couple of weeks in the spring. They're so beautiful, I wish they'd tarry longer.

I have one Encore azalea in a pot on the deck that I got for my birthday last year, and I'm looking forward to seeing it bloom throughout the summer, if indeed it does what the label said it would. We shall see. It didn't do much last year because it was getting used to its new home, but it's had a year to get ready, so I'll dump on some SuperBloom and hope for the best.

I'm not sure how we're going to top last year and receive Yard of the Month again. I haven't had the energy to think about replanting begonias and caladiums. If annuals just weren't so, well, temporary, that would be so convenient.

I remember my Grandmother's flower garden from my childhood, and I long to see it again. It was always a riot of color for months on end. I wonder what it looks like now after years of untamed growth. I'll bet it's amazing.

My little vegetables and herbs are getting along nicely, and I've even remembered to water them every day. With them being out in the direct sun, in containers no less, I'll have to be diligent or they will shrivel into dust in no time.

The children and I are getting ready for year-end testing. Even though I teach all year, everyone wants to know how they're doing at the end of the traditional school year. I have given brief thought to following the school year in my planning, but I always revert to year-round schooling. I just don't think a long vacation is all that beneficial to learning.

So, we will have school every day through the first week of August, despite the fact that the kids will be going to several summer day-camps. We will just find a way to squeeze in history and literature, math and science in the evenings. I seem to recall Abe Lincoln working by the light of the supper fire. If it was good for him, it'll be great for my kids. Plus, I'll be all rested from having them GONE all day. Heh. I do wonder what I'll do with myself for hours on end...

Year-round school. Too bad there aren't any year-round azaleas in my back yard.