Pop

It is the 2 year anniversary of Pop's death. He died at home, alone. It saddens me, still, to realize that no one was there when he died. It saddens me more that it took a whole day for anyone to realize there was a problem.

See, Pop had diabetes and didn't take care of himself very well. He wanted to rule diabetes, not be ruled by it so he set the parameters of how he would live his life. He drank, he smoked, and he ate sweets when ever he wanted. Life was going to be on his terms and no one else's. I guess I should admire him for wanting to live life on his terms, but I find that hard to do. I just keep thinking about the things he has missed and the things he is going to miss.

I miss him, grumpiness and all. I just hope that he is in a better place and at peace with himself because I know he wasn't truly at peace here on earth. Luv ya Pop!

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop - The Stray Cat

The prompt I chose at Mama Kat's was "Tell us about a stray animal you took in.

This little guy, not so little anymore, he's named Lucky. His name is apropos since he survived some extenuating circumstances.

One day on the way to summer school this car flew down our road in a hurry to get somewhere. Where is unimportant, what is important is that I saw this little black fur ball come rolling out from underneath the car that just passed. He didn't get under the tires for he would have been road kill. Fortunately he got under the car and was tossed to the ditch across the road from my house. I saw him get tossed, but was unable to stop due to the time constraints for the start of summer school.

I came home, not really thinking about the cat again. As it turns out he has quite a loud meow. My sister-in-law, Julia, heard him one night and ignored it. Then she heard him again a second night. Well she went to investigate. She crossed the road to see if she could see the cat making the noise. As she got closer the cat became very quiet, she couldn't see him so she went home. Well Julia decided to go back the next morning to investigate a little more. Amazingly enough the kitten was still there. Poor guy, he was blown across the road by a car, and lived in a drainage ditch for 2 days and 2 nights and survived.

At this point Julia didn't know what I had seen and I didn't know about the rogue kitty from the ditch. So when I returned home, now 3 days later, from dropping the boys off at summer school I see a little black kitten on her porch it is my turn to investigate. I go to Julia's house to see this black fur ball. She is watching him eat, he is very skinny and very young. When he is done she picks him up to give him some love. He is loving the attention. She tells me her story and shows me that he is mildly hurt.....he has road rash. I took one look at him and knew that he was the little black fur ball that was rolling across the road. Before I told Julia what I saw she said that she named the kitten "Lucky", for two reasons......he is black and he survived in the drainage ditch for 2 days and 2 nights. His name is also Lucky for another reason, he escaped the speeding car with 8 of his lives. As far as I am concerned he is a lucky cat and he has used up one of his lives with the car. Lucky is a lucky cat.

I have to say that he escaped moving out too, Julia had a place all lined up for him at a horse facility in order to help keep the mice at bay, but it didn't happen. Fortunately for Lucky the kids fell in love with him as did Julia and I, so we decided to keep him.

Wordless Wednesday

Apron Giveaway

Have you seen this? If you haven't then you haven't been over to The Apron Goddesses. You need to head over there and check it out, Julia is giving away a Sweetheart Apron which was generously donated by Carolyn's Kitchen. If you like what you see here, you can always head on over to Carolyn's Kitchen to see what else they have to offer. You won't be disappointed.

What are you waiting for? Go on, check it out!

Sunday Adventure

I have to give hubby some credit. Today he opted for some "family time" rather than the usual, which is work on his equipment. I love it when he stays home, it gives me a chance to break free from the kids, some down time. But not today, today was another definition of "family time", one I don't want to see too often.

Today "family time" consisted of driving around in a Jeep for 4 hours while he showed the boys a dirt biking park where they can trail ride when the boys get a little older. We stopped on the side of a two lane road and watched for a bit. The boys were impressed to see some kids out there with their dads. Trevor's comment was "I want to ride here dad.", followed by Jeff's comment "Oh you need to get a bit better on your bike Trev." Well, Trevor's comfort level hasn't reached the level of shifting gears, so he has a little more time before he can go. When we finished watching we proceeded to climb to the top of the two lane road that dead ends into a State Park. Little did we know that the State Park was CLOSED. All that driving around just to find that we couldn't proceed to the top to take in a breath taking view.....all the way out to the ocean on a good day. Needless to say we were all a bit bummed, a little hungry, and in need of a good stretch.

By the time we head back down the hill it is close to lunch time, we left our house at 9:45, so the boys are in the back seat complaining about their hunger pangs despite the snacks I provided. Once we make it back to town the boys are pushing and shoving each other in the back seat, a little bit of laughing, a little bit of crying, and a whole lot of noise. At this point my head is ready to explode and my butt is so numb I fear it is going to fall off when I step out of the Jeep. We finally get some lunch and find an empty parking lot to eat it in. While there we get a lunch time show. The show involved some guys on their street bikes all tricked out. We got to see them ride the bikes standing up, on the back wheel, front wheel, etc. They were amateurs, but entertaining none the less. After about 1/2 hour of sitting idle in the Jeep, eating lunch, and watching these guys try not to injure themselves we finally head out for the REAL reason for our Sunday Adventure, which is to get a new battery for the dirt bike Jeff just bought.

Finally, we are at our destination and then we can go home. Or so I thought. Jeff gets his part and then calls his brother about a building. He gives us the general idea where it is and we go check it out. At this point, I am done....head screaming, butt numb and I finally tell Jeff "We need to go home!" So with a little bit of reluctance we head home. I was so relieved to get here that I got in another vehicle and left, just to get some quiet time before the dinner mayhem would begin. So glad the day is over......still have headache. ;-(

Favorite Picture

The Prompts:

1.) Tell us about a memorable blind date.

2.) Other than the birth of a child or your wedding, write about a joyous moment.

3.) Write about one of the most difficult decisions you have made in your life.

(creativewritingprompts.com)

4.) Share the best picture you took last month and explain why it's your favorite.

It's that time, Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop Wednesday. Prompt #1, blind date, can't really write about that since I have never been on a blind date. Can't really think of a joyous moment in my life other than said events, so Prompt #2 is out. Prompt #3 would be slightly boring, so that leaves me with Prompt #4 which is Share the best picture you took last month and explain why it's your favorite. I am going to tweak it a little, the picture I am choosing is from about 3 years ago.

This is my favorite picture ever! Yes, he is angry, but that isn't anything new these days. He is about 3 years old here, but 6 now. This is a face I have seen often, throughout my childhood and now, again, in adulthood.

My sister was the best at looking at people through her eyebrows when she was angry. That was her evil eye. Amazingly enough her nephew, Trevor, can produce the same look while experiencing angry emotions. The first time I saw it I laughed with many memories of my sister making the same face. As luck would have it I had my camera for such an occasion and sent the picture to my sister. I asked her if the face reminded her of anything and she laughed because she knew it was a face she had mastered as a child.

This face still makes me laugh, I have a feeling it will make me laugh til the day I die. Trevor and Erika wouldn't be who they are without this cute, angry face.

On another note, if you have a chance pop on over to The Apron Goddesses and check out the drawing for a very pretty apron sponsored by Gift an Apron.

Bloggy Love

I received this from Julia from Our Simple Life, what a nice surprise. This is the Friends Award. Thank you Julia, I feel loved.

Trevorisms

Doesn't he look sweet? This is my #2 and boy does he have the "middle child" syndrome going for him. On a daily basis I am bombarded and abused with words of love dissension. He usually spouts these phrases off when he isn't getting his way. I don't know, maybe his verbal barrage means that I am doing something right. Although at the time I feel a bit overwhelmed. So here goes:

"I HATE you!"

"You're ugly!"

"You're mean!"

"I wish you were dead!"

"I wish you weren't my mom!"

"You're the worst mommy EVER!"

"I am going to run away!"



Isn't that the look of pure joy? This is the face I am faced with on a regular basis. Recently he has added to his repertoire, which involves some self-loathing. Instead of telling me how he feels about me he tells me what he thinks I feel about him. When this occurs he is usually getting into trouble for making poor choices. A lot of them reflect the previous statements.


"You hate me."

"You don't want me anymore."

"I'm stupid."

"I'm an idiot."

"I hate myself."

I can only hope that this too is one of those phases that will pass and never again return. Like I said it is overwhelming, especially when I have 2 others who want or need my attention. I just have to remind him that I love him and hope that it sinks in to the point where he truely believes me.

When he knows he has done something wrong or realizes that I am at my breaking point he will come over and hug me. Only at night will he give me a kiss and tell me "I love you". When he does give me words of kindness I think to myself "He's going to be okay." Or at least I hope he is.

Writer's Workshop Wednesday

Mama Kat's challenge this week was a bit of a conundrum for me. The prompts are as follows:

1. Describe your significant other's most attractive quality (on the inside).
2. Tell about something you stole.
3. Choose a poem you like. Take the last line and use it as the first line of your own poem. (www.creativewritingprompts.com)
4. Write a bout a scary encounter with an old professor.

I think the first prompt might be a tad boring, so I skipped that one. The second prompt wouldn't evoke a fun and exciting story since all I ever stole was gum from a small market and accidentally walked out of Walgreens with some Ibuprofen with out paying. The fourth prompt just didn't happen unless it was sooooo scary that I have repressed it. So that leaves me with the third one. As a kid I loved the poem Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too by Shel Silverstein, so here it goes......

Dear Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.
I can't believe you fly in a shoe.
It sounds like fun,
I wish I knew.

Oh, Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too,
If I could go for a fly with you,
We'd fly from Kingdom Come to Timbuktu.
Can I come with all of you?

I could clean the shoe
And serve the crew
As farther, and farther, and farther we flew
We could see worlds of new.

Just think of all that we could do
Beyond the moon and through the flue
To a place of true
Oh, please Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too.

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too
Let's leave with the morning dew
As the sun comes up and the sky is blue
Are you ready Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too?

I remember dreaming of the places they went to and how fun it would be to go with them. After all who goes around flying in a shoe? It was a little challenging, but fun. I just hope it makes sense to the rest of you. Until next Wednesday.......

My New Favorite Dessert

Anybody looking for a good dessert? I have one that is great tasting AND good for you!

Strawberries
Blueberries
Special Dark Chocolate Bar

Wash and cut the strawberries, put in a bowl. Wash the blueberries and place them in a bowl. Take 1/2 the chocolate bar and cut it, then toss it with the berries. Instant dessert.

If you go to The Apron Goddesses and enter her drawing for an apron you can wear it when preparing the dessert. Go on, go over there! You won't be disappointed, especially with the dessert.

Memories

I grow a garden, it's that simple, I grow a garden. As a child we had a garden in our back yard every single summer. I would help plant, water, weed, harvest, and finally preserve. My dad was the one to initiate this by digging with his shovel to turn the dirt. He would then fertilize the soil and again turn the dirt with his handy shovel. The plants would be planted and watered and the garden was on it's way.

This is just one of the memories I have of my dad, or Pop as we called him. I didn't have a dad I had a Pop. Summers were all about the garden and adventures to each and every one of the alleys of our town in search of "The Great Blackberry Bush". We had one in our backyard, but Pop always wanted more, more, more......I understand why, he made the best blackberry jam ever. Sadly, like everyone else, I had to get it at the store, it just isn't the same.

As a result of the gardening and blackberry hunts I also learned how to use a canner/home preserver. Pop taught me how to can jars of tomatoes, jars of blackberry jam, jars of pumpkin, and many other items. It had been a long, long time since I had done any of these things that I only re-entered the adventure in the past several years. I take my boys to a berry ranch and we pick berries in order to make jam. I have them help me plant the garden and harvest the crop in order to can/preserve the tomatoes and pumpkins. So far this is all I have ventured, but hope to add to my home preserving repretoire.

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop Wednesday

Hmm....6 descriptive words to describe me. This should be interesting. I can already forsee what my lovely husband will say.....

This turned out to be more of a challenge than I thought. Hubby was not so cooperative. He wanted to know why I needed this information and who was going to see it. I told him that I am doing Writer's Workshop Wednesday and that anyone can see it since it is on the internet. At this point he became tight lipped and then challenged me into giving him 6 descriptive words to describe him. So I played:

• hard working-he is a bit of a workaholic
• obstinate/stubborn-imagine that, he is pretty set in his ways and beleifs
• caring
• trustworthy
• persistent
• obnoxious

Once I gave him his descriptive words he made a feeble attempt.

• beautiful-I think he said that because I am his wife and had to
• caring
• energetic-I go out for runs 3 to 5 days of the week and for him that is energetic

After the first 3 he gave up, said "I'm done, I'm not a descriptive person" , so being persistent I continued to hound him until he could give me 3 more words. This is what he came up with.

• stubborn
• cold-not in the way of being mean, but I am always cold....my hands, feet, nose, etc.
• understanding

I, on the other hand, can name a few more descriptive words about myself that I think he was afraid to say for fear of the iron fist coming down on him. I am also short on patience which leads to being short on temper. My poor, poor family.......I can admit I am working on it.

Aprons, Aprons, and.........more Aprons

There is this gal, Julia, over at The Apron Goddesses who is having a drawing for an apron from The Paper Passion. Boy is it ever cute. I would love to have one myself.

This Apron thing/fetish all began in November, at Thanksgiving, when Julia and I were both, at some point in the day, preparing the bacon for one of the many dishes served. See she usually wears a big sheet in order to protect her clothes and I usually put on an old, ratty sweatshirt when I prepare the bacon. Both of us end up splattered and she says to me that we both need an apron. We decided at that moment that we would be each other's Secret Santa and get each other an apron of choice. At that point I showed her the web site for Jesse Steele and we chose the apron's we wanted.

Shortly after we ordered our aprons, Julia decided to start The Apron Goddesses. She is now getting sponsors to donate an apron for the "giveaway". I have to say I am excited, she is getting some great aprons to give to one lucky woman at a time. Go check her out at The Apron Goddesses, she has some great sponsors to check out too!

She has put a bee in my bonnet, I just bought a book that is all about aprons with some patterns in it as well. I am now going to try my hand at sewing one for myself. We shall see how that works out. With any luck I will do a fairly decent job, so wish me some luck because I will need it as I am a novice on the sewing machine. I will post the finished product when I finish.........might be a while, since taxes are knocking on my back door.

So for all you apron fashionistas go check out the very cool apron that will be given away! I dare ya, you are bound to really enjoy what you see.

Honey Do's

At my house it takes an act of God and Congress to get my husband to do any "Honey Do's", so I feel I need to give him some credit when he actually does any......and not just here in Blog Land. I need to be a bit more diligent to tell him I appreciate his help when he dishes it out.

Yesterday he decided to stay home and work around the house, much to my relief. He had been under the house and decided to wrap some of the hot water pipes so he, or anyone else (like my boys) doesn't get burned by them when I am running hot water. While he was there he figured he would do something I have been asking him to do for more than a year, put outlets on the exterior of the house. We need them for our Christmas lights as well as the light that is in our chicken coop. I have to say that the primary reason he did this is because he was tired of the "redneck, hillbilly" appearance of the
extension cord running across the patio and into our back door. Well if that is all it takes to get him to do something for me maybe I should start a bit of sabotage..........heee, heee, heee. No really, I do appreciate his efforts, however I would love for him to put me and some of my "Honey Do" priorities as high as he puts his customers jobs and their priorities. Yay for me I have two outlets for outdoor electrical needs, one on each side of the house. Good job Jeff and thank you.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I can't say New Year's Eve was uneventful. Last year my family and my sister-in-laws family began a whole new tradition, primarily for the pyromaniac's between the two families, of torching our Christmas trees. The men start by building a bonfire with a propane fueled torch so we can all keep warm on this cool winter's eve, then they proceed to prop up the two trees in order to light them afire. This is a testament to our "redneck, hillbilly" ways, it is as much fun for the men and children as it is for us wives who document this grand event.
Once the trees are propped up the men douse the trees with some gas, diesel, whatever flammable fuel is handy. Again the propane fueled torch is activated in order to get the trees started, then we watch in awe and wonder as the trees go "up in flames".

Meanwhile the kids are right in the thick of it. On this night they are armoured with some glow sticks they recieved from Julia's nanny. Some were a bust, but the ones that worked kept the little ones entertained as they spun them around and watched them fly through the air leaving a trace of bright flouresent color trailing behind it. When the novelty wore off they slowly began to place them in the fire and watch as the chemical reaction of fire and liquid produced an even brighter color for all of us to enjoy.

Once the trees were burned we added them to fire and watched as the fire died down. It is still early, but close enough for bed time for the little ones, so we head to Julia's for some champegne and sparkling apple cider. I have to say the sparkling apple cider is always a hit with my boys and Julia's two children. We also had some chips and salsa to snack on before heading home to put the boys in bed. It was a nice evening, one I expect will be repeated for years to come.
My evening did not end there.


Jack, our dog, is allowed inside on the occasion there are gun shots and fireworks, so I let him in the back room for an evening slumber. Once the boys were asleep, on my bed I might add, I had to move them to their own so I could get some shut eye. As soon as the boys are in their beds I settle in for the night, I pull out my book and book light (Jeff gets upset when the light is on when he is trying to sleep) and read until I am tired. Well midnight rolls in, bottle rockets and gun shots peirce the evenings solitude, my dog is scratching wildly at the door to be let in the main part of the house and my husband is pulling at me to fulfill his desires. In the end I humor them both, but not without consequences.

At about 2 AM I hear the scritch-scratch of doggie toe nails on our dining room floor. I decide to get up and let him out into the cool night's air, as he must be getting hot sleeping by the fire. As I enter the living room there is an overwhelming smell which leads me to believe that Jack has a bad case of gas, he is an older dog. After I let him out I decide to investigate to make sure there aren't any surprises. Well the surprise was on me, he couldn't wait and left me quite a surprise on the living room carpet......couldn't he have done it on the dining room floor, wood laminate? Sadly I spend the better part of an hour cleaning up his surprise and was restless for the rest of the night. Overall it was a good evening.