%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
Just shooting the poop with Lori |
|
He travels the world on the backs of others Insignificant in his stature and size His journey carries no mission Randomly roaming at the will of his host Sated enough to never question his trek Life is an open adventure without worry If the excitement of his dusty trail dulls Another bus awaits to grant passage With a furry friend to carry him home Ah the wonderful life of a flea |
| Lots of things on my plate,not food, but business. With two kids in college and a Senior in High School there are lots of events ahead. It will be a wild year but hopefully a good and promising one. I look forward to the wonderful family life that waits. My older kids are in strong and committed relationships with exciting and fun new people adding to the mix. They seem to fit in very well which is a blessing unto itself. I probably never thank the good Lord enough for all of the gifts bestowed to my family in the form of precious people to love. |
|
| I stood in line with a man at the DMV, along with 30 other desperate souls. Birthdays, alone, are the rusty reminder of coffin nails hammering in your direction but the government likes to gift you of reminders that with advancing age your sight might be failing or that you may be safer riding a bicycle. This was the year of such a bountiful present enclosed within my mailbox. Being the responsible citizen and vibrant cranky old fart that I am I chose, to comply to the laws of the land. A vision test was all that was required of me to ascertain my renewal. I must tell you, proudly, that because of my stupendous driving record I have not been required to step one foot inside of a DMV for myself in over twenty -four years. I have been allowed to phone it in with my debit card, so to speak.No testing needed! I was worried enough about the test that I actually googled vision tests given at the driver's license bureau. A normal person would just have their eyes checked,but i'm a little spunky and a little bit vain.I decided to just wing it. I was informed that a certain DMV in our area was always quick and easy to get into quickly. I apparently chose the wrong day to try this. There were over 35 people squished into a luncheonette-sized box waiting to jump through the necessary hoops to achieve their prize. Only two individuals resided behind the counter and it was clearly approaching the lunch hour. They were a bit snippy. "Do not step beyond this line" was heard often from the hungry and overworked ladies of the DMV. I waited somewhat patiently for 2 hours in an uncomfortable chair squeezed between strangers. one of which had definitely spent the previous two hours in the hot sun repelling any deodorant placed earlier that morning in the near confines of his armpits. Luckily, the other gentleman was a hoot. His whispered commentary on the scene playing out in front of us, made for a pleasant experience. He made me laugh and forget about the stress of the vision test awaiting me. I passed the test and left with my paper license in hand, with the real one to be sent to me in approximately 15 business days. On my way home I thought about the man that I had met. Here was a man who managed to lighten the mood for many of us. He was living in the moment and managing to enjoy the mundane tasks of life. He was at all times polite and respectful. He waited patiently and was jovial with all of us. I vowed to take a page from his book and enjoy every moment granted. Even if the DMV continues to remind me that I am an old piece of flatulence. I will now sit patiently by my mailbox for the Bell Tone hearing aid coupons and enticements. |
| Talking yourself out of letting stress overwhelm you is an art. It is not necessarily an art that I possess the knowledge at which to succeed. Sometimes life comes rolling at you like a bus in the fast lane and the only option is to stop,drop, and roll to avoid becoming roadkill. Break it down and deal with one stress inducing event at a time. Most importantly pick yourself up and kick the dust from your panties, and then search for your calm in the heavens. |
| I have an eighty pound dog that is deathly afraid of butterflies. He believes himself to be a lap dog.He refuses to stay outside unless a human friend is with him, preferably my husband, for they are soul mates.He grumbles like Scooby-Doo when we pet the other dog, pushing our hands away and nosing our hands towards him instead. Dimitri is highly intelligent but very needy. My fifty pound mongrel runs around the tree in a circular pattern, creating crop circles in the grass, with his tongue hanging out while yipping at rabbits and squirrels that pass by. He never stops and even manages his bodily functions while running. WE call him the Forrest Gump of dogs. Vladimir pulls Dimitri around the house by the collar.Now I absolutely love our beasts but it is quite disheartening when I see the incredibly bright dogs on Facebook throw basketballs through hoops or catch a frisbee from a moving car. |
| If you have never cleaned a teenagers room, the experience is trauma at its finest. My son is away for 10 days so I thought I'd surprise him with a clean room to come home to and a nice bed to warm his hearts cockles after camping for nearly two weeks. First the hidden stash of trash in obscure locations is mind boggling. We own trash cans and he even has one in his room but apparently the distance is too great. Next is the number of dishes, mainly glasses, that were being held captive in this den of dirtiness is atrocious. I somehow failed to notice that my cabinet was empty, probably because I use the same cup multiple times. He must be given credit for setting the record for balled-up,non-paired, grimy socks found under the small wall-mounted basket ball hoop that shares no connection to the laundry basket on the other side of the room. This mom tallied the total at 37 socks. It is nice to find out that my washing machine is not the culprit in this one sock game we've been playing for years. Next, I should probably mention the teenage boy smell that permeates the room. It is hard to describe, but I swear it is like having a jock-strap taped to your nostrils. Fabreeze is my new best friend. For the past few years, I have only entered this bedroom to pile freshly laundered items or replace items left in my living room. He is responsible for maintaining his living space. When I have mentioned cleaning it, he makes it presentable to the glancing parents eye. Little did I know that there were cubbied pockets of filth lurking beneath the surface, Half-way through the job I thought about running out and closing the door to pretend I'd never seen it. My sensibilities would not allow it, so I trudged through the swamp and completed my task. It looks much nicer. The good news is that he won't be home now for several days giving me enough time to loose my all out fury at the state of the room. We will definitely have a talk when he returns but there are two things that I've learned from this project. The first is that I will only have this child for a short time now. At seventeen, he will be on his own soon with college and life in general. I love the boy, warts and all, making me want to hold on to our time together for as long as we can. My next lesson, is a happy moment for mothers everywhere. I failed to come across any illicit drugs, porn, alcohol or any uncomfortable materials of any kind.It does my heart good to know that he is the kid I always believed him to be. I didn't go looking for the worst possible scenario but I learned a little more about the guy that lived here. Though he is a slob, he had pictures of his family and friends prominent on his desk. Athletic trophies and medals were clean and dusted. His bowling bag was front and center in the room. The books he read as a kid were lined up neatly. And most importantly,the cross he received for confirmation still hung on his wall. |
| I have been a slacker...My blog has been dormant for more than ten days.This may be blamed on many obstacles in my path, such as the fly in my soup, the fleas in my underwear, or the tarantula in my bed. Haha, gotcha. No excuse really! Time just flies when life is doing its thing. Previously, I had done well at keeping up with it but I suppose down times happen and we must roll with the tide. So please forgive me and I hope for reinvested diligence on my part. Until we meet again,,. Put just a little Boogie in your Kleenex. It's SNOT a bad thing. |
| So last night I had a chance to view my daughter on stage once again. She is playing Sophie in Mama Mia for her college. I have to say the tears of pride were numerous. She has an incredible talent and to see her confidence on stage is remarkable. But the thing I am most proud of is the credit she has given to everyone in the show with her. She knows that what she has the opportunity to do could not be accomplished without hundreds of others. It does a Mama's heart good to see the camaraderie of the cast and crew. It is a difficult and fickle profession but she is a hard worker and loves every aspect of theater. She truly is the girl with the golden hair that learned to sing before she could talk. God has bestowed many gifts on her and she is quite aware of that fact. |
| My youngest boy is sitting here waiting for his brother to pick him up for a day at the water park. He is as excited as a child of seven but is seventeen. It is so cool watching my kids turn into friends. He is trying to play off his excitement but is pacing while he waits. Makes my mama's heart feel good. |
| How weird is that I enjoyed filling up the pool for my dogs? I sat on the deck watching them play like toddlers. They dunked the ball and retrieved it 100 times just for the sheer joy of squishing the water out of it. It was a coordinated doggie form of play as they each took turns with the same ball. I offered them each their own ball but it didn't hold the same appeal. I must say summertime holds its own novelty and joy is found in the simplest of things. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
