Aloe Vera.. umm no thank you!!!

Aloe.. GREAT idea! It was also a great idea when someone advised me of just that about 20 years ago after I had spent a week at the beach and I looked literally like a lobster. I smeared the cool green gel over my very tender burnt areas (at the time I could wear a very small bathing suit so there were A LOT of areas that needed attention) I lay down to hopefully get some sleep. Wake up a few hours later feeling not quite right.. something is wrong.. something is VERY VERY WRONG.. I am blind.. I can't see.. I CAN'T F'ING SEE ANYTHING.. Wait.. I can't scream either.. I am trying to talk and nothing is coming out in words.. it is mumummmuuummmuumm and that is it..
Oh I can hear so I haven't lost everything.. In my banging around to figure out why I can't talk or see.. wait my hands don't feel right.. I can't move my hands right.. ew and what is that I am standing on?? It feels like some kind of gel .. what the heck is that??? Oh I can't see it..
Then all of a sudden I hear OH MY GOD.. HENRY!!!!

Remember Henry is Joe's name right who at the time was known to me as Daddy..

Seconds later from him rummaging around and from my mother again... WHAT ... WHAT.. WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER???
Joe... I dunno...
Mother... her face.. it is OH MY GOD.. and it is GREEN!
Joe... I don't know what that is.. give her a bag of ice..

Which turned out to be a plastic glove filled with ice but it did get the swelling to go down in my eyes enough that I could see a tiny bit. My lips finally went down enough I could mumble some and it took my hands and feet at least a week to get back to normal.

The weirdest thing is .. I had a friend with me at the beach.. after all my rummaging around she stirred and got up and we went through the same monologue with her!!!!

We were BOTH severely allergic to aloe!!!
The scariest yet good part was when we were in the store buying this Aloe stuff the girl tired to push bottles of Aloe Tea on us.. saying that it would help cool us from the inside out.. we both thought it sounded gross and did not give it a second glance. We could have probably went into some major reaction with that.

So my lovely ever helpful friend.. I will keep the itchy ta ta's!!!

Before I wake up with a concussion..

Somebody PLEASE tell me that you have some sort of suggestion.

My dear sweet wonderful Waterman is an involuntary wife beater! Ok before you have heart failure.. KEEP READING! Like I said it is involuntary as well as unconscious.. he is dead to the world asleep when it happens and unfortunately so am I! He has crazy arms.. it isn't like he is swinging it is more like they are flopping, and you guys have seen him.. he isn't exactly a weakling.. he has really strong arms and hands, it is one of the things I love so much about him. In his defense he has sleep apenea which the doctor has yet to set up his appointment for (reminder to self.. call them again for the third time on Tuesday) and he moves around a lot in his sleep which normally I can sleep right through unless of course I get the right hook to the back of the head.. or the jab to the side.. or the flop to the nose.

Before you suggest a bigger bed.. we are in the biggest king size bed you can possibly buy unless we have one custom made and if I go that far I am going to have them build a wall in the middle. And please do not suggest separate beds.. one of my greatest joys is waking up with this man in the morning and hearing him say "Good Morning Sweetheart" or something to that effect. I mean seriously the world of separate twin beds for the husband and wife went out the window with Fred and Wilma Flintstone in the early 70's. Did you know they were the first couple to be seen on TV in a double bed together at the same time? Useless Knowledge .. one of my wonderful qualities that most people HATE. John Belushi was the first person to say .. umm.. (since I think at least one of my children reads this) uumm eerr.. the F word on TV .. he was doing a Samaria Guy skit on Saturday Night Live.. See Useless Knowledge. What was I talking about again?

Oh yea.. my husband's floppy arm.. there has to be an answer short of hog tying him. He suggested me tying his hands together but I figure if I do that then he is just going to flop BOTH of them on me. One is enough thank you very much. I am really at a loss. The thing about is he feels very bad about it and I know it isn't his fault .. but DAMN IT HURTS.

Just a quick PSA

For those of you that miss me and I know who you are.. I am just spending some quality time with the Waterman. The little dude has taken off for the night to spend some time with his best buddy, so that leaves the Waterman and myself to a night and day of kidlessness. Oh what shall we do with ourselves??

Seriously though going on a boat trip tomorrow to the Eastern Shore.. Taking the camera so when we get back there will be pictures.

Have a great Memorial Day everyone!!!

PS.. Ann Marie IS my real given name..

I love Joe!

This is Joe.



Isn't Joe handsome??


I have loved Joe since the day I was born. He protected me from the big bad things in the world and was my super hero. He has bailed me out of jail, he chased off a bad boy or two.. maybe three, he loved me even when he couldn't like me very much, he taught me to ride a bike, throw a base ball like a boy, start a go cart (granted he broke my nose while trying to do so), he taught me how to be me and not what everyone (erhmm my mother) wanted me to be. I could keep up with this list forever but I won't bore you.

Joe bought me this today. I see many many grilled things in my future. Thanks Joe!!!

Joe hasn't always been Joe to me, for the first 33 years of my life he was just Daddy.

I think I have finally lost my mind..

My dreams.. I can't take them anymore. They aren't really scary just weird and they are starting to get to me.

I am not someone who has ever looked into what my dreams mean or what I am trying to tell myself but this is getting out of hand. To be honest I do not even know where to begin to analyze what is going on in my gray matter as I snooze.

One I can pretty much figure out. It was easy actually. Binky got pregnant, and when I took her to the vet she was pregnant alright with 13 mix breeds they were going to have to abort. (keep in mind Binky is all of 3 lbs she couldn't handle 13 of anything inside of her) Well I understood all of this and told the vet I would do anything to save my Binky that the money from 13 pups was not worth it. That is when he told me that they were mix breeds and I couldn't sell them anyway. Enter weird part of dream, she was pregnant with 3 books, 2 coffee cups, and 8 other inanimate objects. I remember the books and coffee most simply because those are two of my addictions and I was thinking that it was all my fault!

If you don't think I am addicted to books since Monday afternoon I have read two novels and I am starting on the third.. Yes you counted right that is a novel a day. As for the coffee I never am without coffee. EVER.

I figure that was my brains way of telling me that I am spending too much time with these things and not enough time with real life, the problem to me is that IS real life.

I also have dreamt that I was pregnant NOT EVEN POSSIBLE PEOPLE and that someone I used to be close to was pregnant, in a way you could say she is part of the family, kinda. What is up with all this pregnancy dreaming!! I know that pregnancy does not mean pregnancy in your dreams but I have NO idea what it means.

This past weekend I had to get up and go outside to the garage to make sure that the Waterman was really out there because repeatedly people kept coming in the house telling me he wasn't there, or he had left, or he wasn't where I thought he was, this was all in a dream and granted he was right where I left him when I found him, it was still weird!

This morning was what put the icing on the cake. A friend that passed away 2 years ago or so came to see me this morning. Which is fine.. I suppose.. but when you tell me that you are coming back to visit with my 9 year old after he gets home from school today I am not so sure it is fine anymore!!! No no no.. GO AWAY.. Take your note you have in your hand that allows you to see him and go back to where ever you came from! You are NOT visiting with my son.. even if your note says that you are now his new dad GO AWAY!!!

I did not say any of those things in my dream but I was still thinking them. What I did say was today was not a good day in a very shaky voice and walked back into my house and woke up.

It is now 7 am.. and I need a drink.

I can admit when I am wrong

Apparently my Chosen Sister (I stole the term from here.)had to set me straight this morning. She was a "Clique Hopper" too. This I knew and I think what I said was not communicated well. I must say we do learn by making mistakes though because I had no idea that she had gotten in "trouble" in 4th grade by a very enlightened teacher who realized she was getting into a very small clique that would ultimately lead her down a path of self centeredness and close mindedness. I am not saying that she would have turned out that way because later in school years I think due to life she would have changed. I just think this teacher realized these three little girls (that is what they were at the time) were closing themselves off to the rest of the world. Thank goodness for this teacher because there is a chance if it had not been for her that my sister would not have chosen me. I should send her a thank you card because that one act 25 years ago may have molded part of my life.

When I said that she didn't understand my "clique hopping" I was incorrect. She understood it. She just didn't understand why I would chose to hop into a crowd of not so desirables. There were lots of reasons for this. I think some of it was for shock effect. Some of it was for the bad girl image. Some of it was so I could do the things that some of the straight laced cliques would never have done with me. Some of it was for safety.. like I said lots of reasons. I don't regret it, none of it. I would not change a thing because ultimately everything I have ever done in my life has brought me to where I am today.

So to my chosen sister I am sorry that I made it sound like you didn't understand me, because you did more than anyone else in my life. LHK

This is all leading to something I promise.

I read on a blog the other day a question. I can not remember the exact verbiage of the question but it was pretty much this "If you could live your dream life what would it be?"

I am living my dream life. There is nothing I would change (well I might be living in a bigger house). The fact is I am not sure that many people would agree with me if you knew my entire situation but the deal is I am happy, my children are happy, and my husband is happy. Isn't that what life is all about? I have a great job that I love. I love the people I work with (well 99% of them) and I love the work I do. I live in an awesome town even though to some people it maybe small town (it is). I married a man that I have loved in some capacity for my entire adult life. I have life long friends who are all over the US and even one that is far far away. I have people who come here and read this blog who I have never met, who I have never emailed, the extinct of our relationship is leaving each other comments on our blogs, but the fact is I care about them and they care about me. Read my comments if you don't believe me. I have a friend who I have spoken to on the phone maybe twice, the rest is email but I know if I called her today and told her I was in trouble she would be there for me.

I may not have enough money to pay all my debt off in the bank, I may not have a house big enough to hold all my books, I may not have all 4 of my kids under one roof, I may not have the fanciest car in town, but I am richer now than I ever imagined I would be.

To me that is a dream life if I ever heard of one.

Torn between to lovers is like a..

ball and chain..

Or is it trying to love two women.. old country song in my head sorry and before anyone has heart failure there is nothing wrong with me and the Waterman. We are fine, wonderful to be exact. This is about my youngest child, before your next heart failure he doesn't have lovers or women. What he has is two friends that are tearing him apart!

Why can't kids these days realize that it is OK to have more than one friend? Why can't they understand that it is ok to hang out with people from other cliques? When I was in high school, that was the odd thing about me I suppose, there wasn't a group I couldn't hang with. I thought it was because I was too weird to belong to any one group at the time but looking back on that time of my life there wasn't any groups that really shunned me. I was just strange enough that everyone wanted me in so they could try to figure me out I suppose. Well that and I knew where to get all the "illegals". I was what I like to call a "Clique Hopper" and later in life that helped when I started bar hopping! The role of "Clique Hopper" was never understood by this person. Which is totally crazy because SHE was a "Clique Hopper" too. I suppose what freaked her out was I would hop into cliques that were dangerous territory for her. They were probably dangerous for everyone there and I am quite sure that I left more than a few brain cells around those cliques, but it was high school you are supposed to do that right?

Anyway my point here is that the little dude has a new friend and he has no idea how to divide his time. Don't get me wrong I LOVE the fact that he has friends. When we moved here he had no one and spent countless hours in his room playing video games. Then he met Friend 1 who lived right across the road. They were inseparable it was great my little guy had a friend who I wasn't friends with his parents first!! Awesome right? Wrong. We moved. Only a mile down the road but to an 8 year old that may as well be across the state. Just this month I have agreed to let him walk the mile to see Friend 1 but the issue is in the mean time he has met Friend 2 and if Friend 2 is around he completely doesn't want to hang with Friend 1. Which really isn't all that big a deal because Friend 2 is so much closer to home and I have known Friend 2's parents all my life. Well this weekend enter Friend 3. This is new.. Friend 3.. I had never even heard of him before until Friday and all of a sudden I get told "Friend 3 wants me to come over today and play". Friend 3's parents I do not know, I do not know where they live, or their phone number. I know nothing about Friend 3 except his name is Friend 3. So finally today after many phone calls that were answered with Dude is not here right now (Friend 3 apparently knows how to use the phone and is not afraid to use it) I met the parents of Friend 3, they seemed nice enough so I allowed Dude to hang out there for the afternoon and he apparently had a great time. And as soon as he got home he headed up to see Friend 2, but over dinner I get the bomb shell of all friend bomb shells... Ma, I am not friends with Friend 1 anymore because Friend 3 doesn't like him. UMM WHAT!!! No No No NO! It does NOT work that way. Friend 1 was your friend before Friend 3. And when I caught myself saying that I knew that was wrong too. I didn't know what to say except but .. please don't be one of THOSE kids.

We talked about it a bit and I hope I made my 9 year old understand that life isn't about being friends with one person, or in one particular group or the other.. I can honestly say that friends help mold me into the person I have become and I feel like if you limit yourself to one person or group you are going to be led to disappointment at some point in life as you are going to get into situations where you do not fit in so well.

It is all funny in a way because I was trying to put some kind of label on my blog the other day.. is it a parenting blog, a marriage blog, a photo blog.. that kind of thing.. my blog like me does not belong to any particular group and I like it that way! I just hope I can raise my kids to be the same.

It's so hard to say goodbye...

Warning.. there will be TV spoilers ahead..

It is Season and Series Finale time. I do not like this time of year. The TV gods are taking away my friends and replacing them with the odd new kids or old versions of my friends for the next 5 months or so.

It is going to be 5 months before I find out if Manny on Medium comes back and if Allison gets her apology she so deserves.

It will be again that long before I find out if someone finds Sarah from CSI before she drowns to death in the mud.

What about Grey's does what's his face REALLY leave what's her name for good? Does George tell his wife that he didn't pass the internship and has to start over in life? Sorry I just met my Doctor friends this season and I am so busy with my others that I very rarely find time to visit with them.

Melinda from Ghost Whisperer, does she figure out that Gaberial is her brother? What else does she remember from dying?

Lost .. not ready for that one yet it happens next Wednesday.

Without a Trace I have already forgotten how that ended but I was not happy there either, Cold Case does Lily make it?

Do you see my problem?? I have multiple friends facing life and death situations, I have some friends that need support, I have some friends that just need some one to says that everything is going to be alright.

But the TV gods have cut me off from them for 5 months!!! It isn't even like I can email my friends to catch up or touch base for the next few months. I have to replay in my head the last times I saw them again and again (read watch reruns) until they come back and tell me what is going on in their lives! AGONIZING!!!

Even worse than this is that someone decided to take Loralei and Rory Gilmore away from me .. forever and these two just became my friends 2 months ago!! I just stumbled upon Star's Hollow not to long ago and wanted to stay forever and it was like there was some kind of weird disaster that wiped out the whole town as if it never existed! This happens to me all the time, as soon as I start watching something new.. the gods wipe out the entire town.

Yes I am a very sad sorry creature that plans her week nights around the TV Guide.

Things that make you go hmm....

I have been out of town again and I know some of you will not believe that I did not take Jenny Mac with me but she stayed home carefully tucked under the love seat awaiting my return. The most shocking thing was I survived 48 hours without her. I was still breathing when I got home. Maybe now wouldn't be the best time to say that when I got home I kissed the Binky Boo, checked my email THEN kiss the Waterman. HHmmmmm I may have my priorities a little twisted.

I went to Maryland this week for work, that part was stressful but a good kind of stressful. Lots of work done, new ideas discussed, proposals made. All good things. I love work when it is going fast paced and good things are happening, truthfully I love my work all the time. I love what I do. I love 99.9% of the people I work with. Hmmmmmm I am not sure that ALL people can say that.. I am a lucky person when it comes to work.

I spent the night with my sister.



Personally I think she is one of the most beautiful creatures God put on the planet. Inside and Out.

When we finally ended up in the same place at the same time Tuesday night we spend two hours outside on the deck.. GASP.. talking! I think her husband referred to us as hens or chickens or some kind of farm animal at one point. After the mandatory chit chat about who looks terrible, who looks so good you have to poke your eye balls out with chop sticks so you don't think bad thoughts, who is getting married, who had a baby, who is cheating on who, the conversation turned to more serious matters. It was a strange conversation and to be honest I do not remember HOW it got brought up. My sister said she wished I were at her wedding, I said I wished she had been at mine.

Let's wind back a few years here, technically lets wind back A LOT of years. I believe the year I am looking for is 1984. that is the earliest I can remember at the moment. Simply maybe because I haven't even finished my first cup of coffee. Starting in 1984 she and I attended each others life events. I was there when her biologicals divorced, she was there when I ran away, I was there when her heart was broken, she was there when mine was, I was there when she needed Lucky Charms, She was there when I was failing school, we were together for proms, we were together for dates, we were together every day in some way. There were the major mile stones of getting driver licenses, We are FRESHMEN, We are SOPHOMORES, We are JUNIORS, We are SENIORS!! Every year a mile stone, Every year a memory that I can link back to her. June 1989 that ends. The last major life event we have shared together was Graduation.

Over the last 18 years many many things have happened in both of our lives. We both have graduated college. We are both now married. I have had three children. She lost a parent. We have both purchased our own homes. We have both been promoted at work. None of these events were shared. Once we graduated we separated into two very different worlds. I don't think either of us did this on purpose, she ran off to college and I ran off and got pregnant. Over time this did not change. We always seemed to be separated by something. It is so odd because I love her way more than even my biological brother (Happy Birthday to him by the way) and there is no one else on Earth that I would even want to share those things with but her. I think maybe I just don't share things well. Milestones in my life now are mine alone and I don't want to share them. I don't know really I really don't. Hmmmm.

Either way I hope she knows how very much she means to me!!! LHK!!!

So days are just..

Better than others. I am over my pity party to some degree. It helps to actually cry sometimes. Who knew. I couldn't hold it all in any longer today so I did just that. I cried and then I pulled up my big girl panties and made myself blueberry muffins that I have been longing for and one heck of an awesome dinner complete with strawberry shortcake! Who can cry when they are eating strawberry shortcake??? I know I can't. That is just one thing that makes me smile.

I saw three of the four kids today so that is at least a passing grade. And I am grading on a curve this year so I say all in all the day was a good solid B. I know I didn't win any awards this year with my mothering. To be honest I pretty much stink at it. No matter how much I completely love each of them with all my heart I am just not a good shower. It is hard for me. I don't talk much about my kids on here and it is for good reason. So because of those reasons I am going to move on to other topics.

I thought of someone today and I am not sure why. She just came to my mind a little while ago and it made me miss her. It made me sad because of the things she is missing. My aunt passed away so many years ago. Dude wasn't even born and Sis was just a little tiny thing so it had to be 10 years ago. She has four wonderful granddaughters that she did not get to meet. She would have loved them. She could have told them all about her days as a girl scout leader for me and my cousin. She could have told them about how she made sure a neighborhood kid who's mom wasn't always around had dinner. She could tell them about camping in the woods in the pouring down rain sceaming at the top of her lungs that if she HEARD ONE MORE WORD THE NEXT PERSON WAS SLEEPING WITH HER! (and believe me that was NOT somewhere you wanted to sleep) She could tell her granddaughters how her neice was so messed up that she had to come live with her for awhile and how she wrote her letters when no one else would. She could tell her granddaughters how angry she got at her own daughter one day that she threw all of her clothes out of the window of her bedroom only for my cousin to find out years after her death that our grandmother had done the same to her. She could tell her granddaughters how she won a battle with weight problems by finally setting her mind to eating right and exercise. I don't know why she is on my mind today.. but today of all days I am glad she is.. Happy Mother's Day Aunt Reedie!

I am not sure I even want to post this because it is a deeper veiw into me that I am not sure that even I want to see at the moment. I believe that there are changes coming and I am going to need help. I believe that the out come of the changes will be good but the battle will be long and hard. I believe I will need help that I am not good at asking for. I made a list yesterday that I am not proud of. So today I am going to make another list.

Things in my life that I am glad of...

1. I am glad I married the love of my life. There is no other person on this earth that I would want to call my husband.

2. I am glad that I have friends that don't give up on me.

3. I am glad that I have four wonderful healthy children

4. I am glad I have a job that I love and I work with people I love to work with.

5. I am glad that I have a mother I could say Happy Mother's Day to.

6. I am glad that growing up I had 4 parents. Two Mom's Two Dad's I learned life lessons from each and every one.. even if more from some than others.

7. I am glad to have experienced loss of loved ones in my life. It has made me appreciate those that are here more and given me precious memories of those that have gone.

8. I am glad that I found my way home after many years lost.

9. I am glad that I still have the ability to write even though it does get mushy at times.

10. I am glad that I know how to love even when it hurts.

I am going to start my own version...

Ten things I do not like and why.. I am not tagging anyone today this is just for my own person use. It is 9 am on a SATURDAY and I am already annoyed to some degree.

1. I do NOT like people who do not take my world for it when I say the Waterman is unavailable. If I say he is unavailable that is not going to change at all when you say but I only need to talk to him for a minute. So what.. 1 minute... 30 minutes... he is STILL UNAVAILABLE. And when you push the issue I get all weirded out and think it may be important and go interupt the Waterman only to find out what was so important to you wasn't to him.

2. Women who call and when I say he is not available HANG UP.. Umm excuse me but just because he isn't available does not mean I couldn't take a message! Do NOT hang up on me!

3. I do NOT like the word CRISP. As a matter of fact I cringed a little when I typed it. Why must we even use that word??? Is it REALLY that important? Can we not find another word to mean the same thing. I mean just EW. There are other words I do not like either but this one is the WORST. It even ranks higher than the OTHER C word I do not like.

4. I do not like gorgeous Saturday's that I have to spend raking the yard instead of on the boat. I do not like it even worse when it is followed by a Sunday that is too cold to go out on the boat. Doesn't seem quite right does it??

5. I do not like a lady at work. I can't tell you where I work or who she is but I CAN say I do NOT like her. She is rude very very rude. Not to just me but to EVERYONE and she has her hand in everyone else's pots and she wears shirts that on the front say.. YOU WILL FOLLOW MY PROCESSES OR YOU WILL DIE.. and on the back say.. I WON'T FOLLOW YOURS AT ALL. Ok she doesn't REALLY wear those shirts but I can see them in my own head. She treats me like a moron and has basically said in emails that I am worthless and pointless. I know I am NOT supposed to take it personal because this woman doesn't have a bit of social skils in her body BUT I do take it personal.. those kinds of things HURT.

6. I do not like Mother's Day. I do not have a very good relationship with my own mother and that puts a damper on it for me. It makes me feel like a failure and a disappointment every year. Last year I spent a 3 hour drive from VA to NC crying on Mother's Day because it went so horrible. I made a decision not to make Mother's Day plans this year. I have given my mother her gift. I will call her, but I won't be spending dinner or time there.

7. I do not like that I am fat. I am not sure that explanation needs to be given here. It is kinda plain and simple. My ass is the size of what TWO asses should be. I SERIOUSLY need to do something about it but I have NO will power. No matter what I say or do I just can't MAKE myself do it. I swear I make all these plans in my head about what I am going to do about losing this weight.. and GUESS WHAT. All the weight is STILL here. I know that it is going to be all up to me but something has to be WRONG with my head. I can seriously be eating something and at the same time be thinking in my head.. you don't really want this.. you don't need this... but keep on chompling anyway! WHAT IS UP WITH THAT!!!

8. I do not like my el cheapo camera. I am very sad about my camera situation. I really really want the Panasonic Lumix. oh and by the way.. the post the other day.. I said DLS.. I was trying to say SLR.. I had work on the brain. The ony thing is I can not seem to justify buying myself this camera. No matter how many ways I spin it. I can't justify it. I was soooo hoping I might when the contest over here this week but I guess I am not all that creative when it comes to naming pictures.

9. I do not like that they have remade some great old 70's and 80's cartoons and turned them into some kinda freak show! I mean seriously have you SEEN the new Scooby??? It is horrible. The pesky kids do not even look right!! I am very saddened by this,

10. I do not like the fact that I could list 9 things so easily that I do not like. I have a friend who keeps telling me that I need to think positively. Maybe I am not a positive kind of person! Maybe I should try to do something to change that.

Ok I am done with my pity party now. I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Saturday!!! And to all you mothers out there HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!

Drat!!! I got tagged and totally missed it!

Because of the toothache and some minor travel this week I have been a day or two behind on blog reading.. I got tagged by.. DooDaddy. The hardest part about this is figuring out WHO I am going to tag back.

I am supposed to tell you ten INTERESTING facts about myself and that is not going to be easy because I am a boring kind of person. But I really liked DooDaddy's idea who made it nine TEN facts and a lie. You get to tell me which one is a lie.

1. I love to read (not very interesting but keep reading) and I have a hard time parting with books after reading them. I probably have thousands of books of all shapes and sizes. I have even read books from the library and then had to go buy them because I didn't want to part with it.

2. I drive a truck. A very big loud truck. You can hear my truck about a half a mile from the house. I love my truck.

3. I love to cook but I don't follow recipes well. I am always throwing in a little something extra even if it might mess up the whole dish. I haven't messed up a whole dish yet by doing this but I am sure it will happen at some point in time. Because I have a problem following recipes exactly it kinda throws baking out the door. Baking is too exact for me.

4. I once was playing around with my sister and talking in this granny country voice.. you know the one.. the one from the cartoons Granny that had tweety bird.. I could talk pretty much just like her. I had the whole Thank you Sonny down to a tee. Well the phone rang and I answered it in that voice. It was my prom date.

5. I do not remember my first marriage ceremony. Not that it matters I am glad I do not remember, that was a bad time for me. I remember each and every second of my wedding with the Waterman. I just don't remember the words the Preacher said. I can still see the whole ceremony in my head like I was there and I see his mouth moving but I don't hear the words.

6. I am addicted to coffee. My husband has often refered to my drinking massive amounts of coffee as my "Coffee Problem" He is right. It is a problem because I use that creamer stuff and I may as well poor liquid sugared fat down my throat. I have been teased repeatedly that I have a Starbucks Sonar in my brain that goes off whenever I get close to one because I can spot one from a mile away.

7. I have five brothers, four sisters, three mothers, two fathers, three sons, two daughters. That is 19 in total. Can you tell me how many of those are biological?

8. I love taking photographs. I don't have a good camera. I am still shopping. I have found the one I want and it isn't THAT expensive right around $400 with all the gadgets I need. And I am sure This One will do.. BUT I am secretly longing for This One.. It is about double the cost of the first one.. but well worth it and it is as close as you can get to DLS without going DLS. Which I KNOW I am not ready for. AWESOME.. the one I WANT went down in price!!!

9. I love football. I will sit around on Monday night, all afternoon on Saturday and Sunday starring at the TV while football is on. I think it has something to do with the mens rear ends in those tight pants. I cheer out loud at appropriate times and scare people in the house because I scream so loud.

10. I had a really good one for this one.. but I totally FORGOT IT! Obviously I have memory issues and as soon as I hit PUBLISH I will remember what it was! So how about I give you just a few short facts in here that really need no explanation. My BEST friend has been my best friend since middle school. I have a best friend who lives in the REPUBLIC of Georgia. I wear size 8 shoes. I am crafty in both meanings of the word. I am IN love for the first time in my life. I have seen every episode of Law and Order all three series. OHHHHHH I REMEMBER THE OTHER ONE. You get 11 from me.

11. I have always wanted to be a Medical Examiner. You know do autopsies and such. Dead people do not bother me. I think ever person dies with one more story to tell and it takes some one special to get that information from them. Because as much as I love the Ghost Whisper and Medium I don't think everyone has the ability just to chit chat with the dead. That in it self is weird I know.. BUT check this out. I can NOT stand to watch someone even have a teeny tiny cut.. or get a shot.. or those surgery shows on TV. Why.. because they are still ALIVE!!! So why did I not become and ME.. because apparently someone thinks that you have to learn how to work on LIVING people before you can work on the DEAD. umm ok WHATEVER THERE GOES MY DREAM!

OK here are my tag backs just because I am annoying a couple of you and because I REALLY want to know how the rest. If you by chance have done a list already.. send me the link I won't make you do it again, Phyl.. you have to DO IT.

Got Gauge
Not Without My Coffee
Marie's Muses
Two Kids and a Husband
Life After

Long day..

Been to DC today.. Got home around 7 pm to a little miss who missed me badly. Badly enough to chew my arm to peices when i got home. Ok not really my arm more like the arm of an old swear shirt but we had about 3o minutes there that I wasn't sure my sleeve was going to make it out alive.

I am tired.. tooth still doesn't want to act right but it isn't KILLING me tonight so that is good right?

Sunday is Mother's day and I have done NO SHOPPING.. ZERO .. ZLICH.. NADA.. i do not like shopping. I swear I am a girl.. I really am.

Because someone told me I could..

here is second post today.. HUGS TO A SPECIAL FRIEND..



Isn't this exactly what you asked for??? A LITTLE bit of sunshine!!

Happy Monday..

YEA RIGHT!!! The toothache is still here, but it is only manifesting itself at night! What is UP WITH THAT. Before you guys start fussing at me about calling a dentist.. I HAVE!!! The first appointment I could get so far is June 22nd. That is right more than a MONTH away. But I have a couple of referrals I am going to call on Thursday and before anyone says CALL NOW, believe me I want to but I have an important meeting in DC tomorrow and really couldn't have any major dental work done prior to it due to the fact that I am going to have to talk and all. Ok here is the strange thing.. it isn't really my TOOTH that is hurting even though it is quite obvious that either a filling has come out or it is broke,, it is the gum that is hurting, and I don't mean above the tooth either i mean the entire gum on the upper right side.

Ok enough talk about my dental issues they will get fixed and I will just have to be miserable for another few nights.

I had no internet this morning for HOURS!! I am not sure what happened but that is why there was no post earlier. I was going to post last night but the tooth thing (ooopps sorry there I go with dental again) didn't let me.

To the person I am not talking ABOUT but I am talking to.. I will teach you how to make meatloaf. It is easy and I promise it will TASTE GOOD.

No pictures today.. sorry. Oh I have worked more on the cozy but I really want to wait until it is done to show it off.. k?

So here is the deal..

Yes I have been a bad blogger lately. It isn't my fault really.. really it isn't. It is my tooth's fault. It hurts. It has hurt most of the weekend. Not a horrible rip the side off my face hurt but a take a hammer and screw driver and pry it out on my own kind of annoyance. Know what I mean?
I have also been working on my Cozy.. it is turning out quite nicely, not enough for a picture yet but getting there. Maybe by tomorrow.

We had really bad wind here today.. blow your truck half way across the road kind of wind. There has been no damage but it is one of those bone chilling winds.

Oh.. we found the litter of kittens today. We had THOUGHT they were under the house. Apparently Momma Kitty Puss was NOT happy about where they were residing and decided it was time to move up in the world. Que the Jefferson's Music. The new family has moved into one of the boats. Now that we have found them I am sure they will be moved rather quickly again. Kitty Puss is not a very social kind of cat. The most we get out of her most days.. is HISS!! Which I have translated to mean. GIVE ME MY DAMN FOOD AND MOVE ALONG NOTHING TO SEE HERE!! Seriously as soon as one of us walks out the door all we hear is HISS!!! You would think that considering we are FEEDING HER she would be a slight bit nicer, but not Kitty Puss. We are even feeding her EXPENSIVE cat food. One would think she would at least hiss a thanks every now and then. The only thing I can say is that she is a good Momma. She hides her babies well!

I made the shiskabobs long before I asked everyone what to do but I promise I will blanch (that is yet another word that I do not like) the veggies first. My poor meat was like shoe leather.. but it didn't stop anyone from eating it!! They were devoured!

I made meat loaf today.. one of my guys favorites.. we had mashed potatos and asparagus with it. Does anyone notice the pattern with the aspragus lately? We all LOVE it and since the season is so short we eat it all we can. I don't think aspragus is one of those things you can freeze. Unless someone knows something I don't.

I leave you today with a sweet little picture of the Binky Boo.

Hide and Go Seek

Sorry.. I was hiding and I think that no one was seeking!

No really I wasn't hiding I have just been busy. Spring is always a very busy time of year around these parts. People are always bringing boats to be worked on and of course there is the two we have that need to be worked on as well!

I am headed to breakfast with Joe this morning so again this is going to be a short post but wanted you to know I am alive and well.

PS does anyone know how to cook shikabobs so that the meat is tender yet the veggies are done??

Good Morning!!!

Yes I know I am late sorry. I ended up coming home last night instead of today. I am very glad about that. I was not glad about the major headache I had last night when I got home. It rained on me for about 2 hours.. driving in the dark and the rain is not fun, but I PLOWED through it.


I stopped by here yesterday..Got Gauge not the website the actual house. Bosco gave me "the eye" for outing him as the killer. Sophia tried to see if I tasted like the traitor I was by licking me.. repeatedly.. with hot stinky doggie breath licks. They forgave me a little I suppose because they allowed their Mom to hand over some yard I am going to make a few bags with.

First I have decided that I AM going to make this. Newest ProjectWill get started at some point this evening.

Right now I have boat issues to deal with.

Happy One Month Anniversary to ME.

Ok Ok to US.

It has been one month of bliss. I would say the honeymoon still isn't over.

I go to DC tomorrow for two days. Monthly meetings. Fun. I have decided that they are a lot like the WWF in suits. You know .. back stabbing, bad refs, people thinking they are in control that aren't, the good guys, the bad guys, all the fun of wrestling minus the fake blood, ladder, tables and chairs.. WAIT we have tables and chairs!!

Seriously though it isn't all bad I happen to like wrestling (please don't tell the Waterman this it may be grounds for divorce) and I get to see my WONDERFUL WONDERFUL Boss and I get to see my sister so that makes it good.

On the bad side I have to leave the Waterman, the Binky Boo and the Dude until Thursday night. That part STINKS.

If by some chance I don't update for two days.. NOW you know why.

I'M GONNA RIP YOUR GUTS OUT!!!

We may be in need of legal services here in Mathews County. I think my sweet little Binky girl may just have a violent side.

I woke up this morning to a horrid scene of a murdered pink doggie. Guts were everywhere! I will have nightmares about this for ages..













I heard a year or so ago that Sophia had good legal representation over at Got Gauge during the Sheepie murder investigation, however, I think it was found that her legal counsel, Bosco, was the actual killer.

Things are going well here in the water world! Especially since we now have running water in the house again. Yes I make that sound like we have been without water for weeks on end. In all honesty it was only for a few hours this morning.. but STILL! The waterman knows more than just working on the water.. apparently he can work on THE WATER too. After completely gutting (what is it with gutting around here today) the pump house he put everything back and we now have pressure!! I think I stood in the shower for an extra 5 minutes this evening in complete udder awe because I had forgotten what that actually felt like! Have I mention lately how much I love this man!!! The man who gives me WATER!

We are going to watch the Farce of the Penquins now.. Someone remind me to give this man extra kisses tonight!

YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK..

No real post about life as a waterman's wife today. If anything he should post about how pathetic of a wife I have been today! From 2 pm until 11 pm tonight I have had my nose stuck in a book! Promise Not To Tell. I linked the title of this post to the authors website.

This is probably one of the most gripping books I have read in FOREVER. If you are mystery lover you will LOVE this book.

Ok so I wasn't such a great wife today.. I didn't even cook him dinner, but I DID go get his wedding ring resized today so it would stop falling off. That counts for something right?

PS I started and finished the book today.

What is a Waterman?

Well besides my wonderful handsome husband that is.

To be honest a few years ago I would have answered this question with a very strange look followed directly by.. "WHAT??? YOU MUST BE KIDDING!!! RIGHT???" Now I answer in a more dignified way.. with "OH PPPUUUULLLLLLEEEEZZZZEEEE!!" followed with a big eye roll!

Just kidding Marie.

In all seriousness I found out a few years ago that the term "waterman" is very localized term used on the Chesapeake Bay. It means just what it says actually, it is a man who works on the water. It doesn't matter what his catch is, fish, crabs, clams, or oysters. If he gets up at the crack of dawn and is on his boat or if he works all night does not matter. What matters is that he makes his living from what he catches on the bay.

When the question was asked I did a quick google search and I found this poem written by Jennings Evans. I felt that it summed everthing up beautifully and truthfully.

What is a waterman?
Well, that's not easy to define
But he comes from a special breed
He's usually not the wimpish kind.
He's dedicated to making a living
From a blustery Bay
That can be unrelenting
On any given day.

Each day becomes a battle
For which he must prepare
To fight against the summer's heat
Or the winter's chilling air.

A waterman has to endure it all
The wind, the ice, the rain
Nothing comes easy to him
Except the aches and pains.

Sometimes a waterman is not understood
By his fellow man
His ways are rough and rugged
He's not satisfied too long on land.

Sometimes he's witty and humorous
Sometimes he's an ornery old goat
But what seems to make him the happiest
Is when he's aboard of his boat.

You might say a waterman lives
An unusual way of life
He spends more time with his boat
Than he does with his wife.

Of course, he will try to make sure
His wife isn't completely ignored
If there's extra work on the boat to do
He'll try to lure the old gal aboard.

Now the watermen's news is usually heard
Down at the General Store
Where each waterman can communicate
Or even take the floor.

Many topics are discussed
But the most popular form of gab
Almost always boils down
To nothing but oysters and crabs.

It's the pursuit of oysters or crabs
That make the waterman's day
He's very hard to live with
When he can't get out on the Bay.
A waterman must have a special knowledge
To keep his boat and rig in shape
It's really surprising how much he can fix
With a piece of wire or tape.

And then a waterman's disposition
Is not completely sour
Except, maybe when he has to arise
In the wee, early morning hours.

But he can be downright entertaining
When he spins a yarn for you
And he's certainly not above
Throwing you a curve or two.

But it would be a sad old day
Should the independent waterman
Be forced to leave the Bay.

Big corporations with their smooth operations
Would quickly move in with their slick manipulations
And then, where do you think the watermen would be
Of course, working for "The Big Man" and no longer free.

Yes, these are times of apprehension
When a waterman can't clearly see
What lies ahead for the Chesapeake Bay
Or what his catch will be.

Still he must be determined
To have the faith, and hope
That with the good Lord's help, he'll make it
Along with his trusty old boat.

What is a waterman?
He's just a man, who works on the sea
Who helps provide the food
That God has given to you and me.

May God bless all the watermen
As they toil on the Bay each day.
And may he always watch over the watermen
The colorful watermen of the Chesapeake Bay.

Just for your futher enjoyment this is a little peek at what my Waterman does.



For the record waterman have always been my heros. I love you guys. Grandaddy, Pop, Uncle Tay, Uncle Bill, RoRo may all of you be working the bay in heaven hauling in record catches. To my guys still here, My Waterman, JW and Gunsmoke, I worry, it is what I do, but for you all I hope the day comes that the tides turn.

Don't drink and fly.. you may hit a bump and slam your fist in the face of the woman beside you.

Today started out like any other.. I woke up. That is where normal ENDS for this lovely day.

It wasn't all bad.. Let's start with some good things.

I went to these places today. I can't tell you what I got at one of those places (surprises) and there is another store's bag, but that is in the car and I am not going out in the rain to get it.



I had these tonight. After posting last night about my huge rear end I eat this today.. MORONIC I tell ya..



I am sleeping in this tonight. Granted I am sleeping in it alone and that does not make me happy in the least but it does look comfy doesn't it? Oh and the pillows are heavenly. I really need new pillows at home.



Ok on to the interesting things..

I got up at 4 am to catch a flight to Chicago. I really did not want to get up that early but I did. I had no desire to leave the wonderful Waterman, the little Binky Boo, or the little Dude, but alas I made my way to the truck after as many kisses as I could squeeze in.

Get to the airport- check.
Get through security- check
Get to gate- check
Play on Internet while waiting for loading- check
Call home check on Waterman, Binky and Dude- Check
Load Plane- check
Take off- UNCHECK... NO CHECK.. NO NOTHING..

We were loaded on the plane for the pilot to immediately come on the intercom to say that we are delayed two hours!!! I mean SERIOUSLY.. WHY DO THEY DO THIS? I know they knew before putting us on the plane that we were NOT going anywhere. Ok fine whatever.

Settle in for a wait- chec... oh not so fast there.. I am sitting beside a lady who didn't bother to book her flight until last night and as surprising as it was to her she was not seated beside her husband. Well boo hoo. Ok fine not boo hoo. I felt giving and after all I would have wanted to sit next to my waterman too, so I agreed to switch seats with her husband. I mean after all it was caddy corner to me and was still an isle seat.

Pack Laptop back up- check
Grab book- check
Switch Seats- check
Settle in for wait-chec.. oh this is SO NOT happening.. the nice lady that is in the middle seat (who was quite a bit older than I am and since you all know how large I am I can say this and not feel guilty at ALL.. quite a bit larger than I am) can't keep her arm in her seating area.. her arm kept getting in my space!! In my rib area. Then she wants to chat. I am emailing work on my blackberry.. here is how that conversation went.
OL (old lady) Oh you have one of those text things.
Me mmhhm
OL Are you texting people about the delay?
Me unntaahh
OL Are you using that for work?
Me mmhhmm
OL Is it really that important?
Me mmmhhmm
OL I see
Me (to myself in my head) NO LADY YOU DON'T SEE A DANG THING.. YOU DON'T SEE THAT YOUR ELBOW IS BURIED THREE INCHES INTO THE FLAB THAT IS OVER MY RIBS. YOU DON'T SEE THAT I AM IGNORING YOU. AND YOU ARE TOO OLD TO SEE WHAT I AM ACTUALLY TYPING ON MY BLACKBERRY AT THE MOMENT THANK GOD CAUSE IT IS ALL ABOUT YOU AND YOUR FRIGGIN ELBOW. NO LADY YOU DON'T SEE AT ALL!!!

Now typically I am not this mean about things, but I forgot to tell you about boarding the plane. That didn't help matters much. I boarded behind a older smaller Asian gentleman, picture an older rougher Mr Miyagi. This man had a larger bag than I have ever seen allowed on a plane. I am not sure how he was even allowed to board with this thing but he did. He lugged this thing behind him and seemed so frail I wanted to pick it up and carry it for him, that was before he backed up and banged me with it TWICE. No excuse me.. No I am sorry.. Only thing I got for my banged shins was a evil nasty look. Asswipe. So we FINALLY make it back to the seats, Miyagi is in the row behind my original seat. Keep in mind I am only on a one night trip so I only have my back pack and planned on storing it under the seat, well apparently Miyagi was afraid I was going to put my bag in the over head bin over my seat because he tried to take my head off with that monstrous bag of his!!! Frail my ass!

So you see, between getting up way early, delayed flights, Miyagiasswipe, Musical Seats, Elbows, and nosy granny.. I had finally HAD ENOUGH and was about to blow my lid. Anyway I think that the yelling in my head must have scared Granny Elbow a little because she started to leave me alone. Back to the check list.

Get book out- check
Get Mac out- check
Email Lis back on BB- check
Start Settling back in for the wait-chec.. OH NO NO NO NO NO THIS IS SOOOO NOT HAPPENING..
OL.. Excuse me.
Me.. muttering under breath
OL.. Excuse me.
Me.. yes.
OL.. My husband needs to stand up.
Me.. (in my head again) BITE ME.. GRAMPS can cramp up and pee himself for all I care I am not moving..
Me for real. Ok..
Stand up - check
Move out of way- check
Let Gramps by - check
Smile cause he seems as miserable with Granny Elbow as I am - check
Sit back down to wait for Gramps to come back- check

OL.. you know I think I will go while he is going..
ME (head again) if you don't make up your friggin mind I am going to stick a fork in your eyeball and pluck it out.
ME.. audible sigh

Apparently Granny Elbow didn't have to tinkle like Gramps, she apparently had to float a log that gagged Rows 21 through 15. All the while I am standing there waiting.. what was the point in sitting back down.

Ok.. so Gramps shuffles back into his seat and Granny Stinky Elbow flops back in hers. I settle back into mine. FINALLY
Settle in for long wait and two hour flight - CHECK CHECK CHECK CHECK CHECK

So finally we are on the way, Granny Stinky Elbow reads a book which is fine by me, but then it is beverage time. I get coffee and she has the NERVE to tell me to BE CAREFUL with it. Uumm do I look like I am 2???

Live through Turbulence from Hell without puking- CHECK
Land- Check
Stand up and Wait for people to get their luggage-CHEEAARRRRGGGGHHHH
Granny Stinky Elbow shoved me into the isle!!! I didn't need to get luggage out of the bins so I was waiting, well she didn't want to so she SHOVED me into the isle!! WHAT THE HELL! So then I spent the next 10 minutes being bumped around the isle because I was in the way.
Get off plane- Check
Get rental Car- Check
Work- Check

That should be the end of my tragic day. Umm no. Joe (aka my Dad) calls me and says that Dude's book bag is gone (in this book bag is his clothes and all of his medications for tomorrow)
Me-Gone? What do you mean GONE?
Joe-He says someone stole it.
Me- That didn't happen
Joe- Probably not but we don't have it..
Me- Ok.. I am sorry
Joe- I went and got him some clothes
Me- didn't you get his medicine
Joe- he doesn't have any
Me- yes he does I picked it up YESTERDAY
Joe- He doesn't know where it is
Me- IT HAS BEEN IN THE SAME PLACE FOR 6 MONTHS..
Joe- I will take him to get it.

so he does.. I love my Joe.. but when they get back to Joe's house.. dude only has ONE sock with him. This is after making TWO trips to my house. Whatever, tomorrow he is going to school in dirty socks!!

Ok.. that seems like enough right? Nope not for me.
I finally get all checked in the hotel and take a much need shower to relax. I forget to take my contacts out before showering and there is just something about hotel water, maybe it is the chlorine, it dries my eyes out really bad. It took me about 10 minutes to unstick the little sheets of plastic from my eyeballs and THIS is what I was left with.



I did get one half way cool airport picture today though.. see?

Mirror Mirror on the wall...

WHO THE HELL IS THAT LOOKING BACK AT ME??

On days like today I look in the mirror and try to figure out where the hell I went. Or maybe I should say why is there enough of me to make TWO of me. Seriously! When I got pregnant with Bud I weighed just about 100 pounds. When I got pregnant with Dude I weighed about 20 more pounds than that.. MAYBE. Now.. Let's just say I am serious when I say there is enough to make two of me.

I have tried diets, lost some weight, gained it back, lost some weight, gained MORE back, lost some weight, gained WAY MORE back. I am now at the point I am not even comfortable in my own skin. I don't know who I am or why I can't put the fork down.

Hang on I need to get the doughnut sugar off of my fingers..

Ok back.. Now there is popcorn butter on my fingers..

Ok back.. Hang on I can't type and eat this bowl of ice cream..

Ok back..

DO YOU THINK I HAVE AN ISSUE??? I do. I am scared. I am miserable. I am sad.

And I don't know what to do..


Have you seen me??? If you have please send me back to Mathews County so maybe I can start over and do this differently!!




Thanks.

Taking Tests..

I was having a hard time figuring out what to fill this blank page I have been looking at for the last 15 minutes with. Maybe that is where I was actually going wrong, I was trying to THINK of something to write about instead of just letting it happen. So I did what I have always done when I had something I couldn't answer. I asked my sister.



Tomorrow she has to take a test and she told me to write about that. So I am. This test she has to take is the third in a series of tests she is taking. She is on her way to study for this test right now. I wish I could take this test for her, if for nothing else but a little bit of pay back.

I have a confession. I graduated high school in the CLASS OF 89 from Mathews High School. I was in the class and I did graduate with the class but the confession is I graduated LAST in the class. That is right out of the 83 people in our senior class that year I was number 83. Well I guess actually 82 because one of my very close friends didn't make it. I wasn't last in my class because I was stupid, wait maybe it was because I was stupid, it wasn't because I was dumb, wait maybe it was because I was dumb, it wasn't because I was unintelligent!!! There finally I got it right. I was actually quite smart, I just didn't want anyone to KNOW I was smart. That would mean I wasn't cool!

In the years of trying so hard to be cool I do not remember ever doing the first bit of homework. I do not remember lugging books home. I do not remember taking notes in class. I don't remember studying for test. I do not remember these things because I did not do them. The only reason I ended up graduating at all was because of my sister. I can't even begin to tell you the number of nights she sat at home doing homework while I was out looking for my next beer. I can't tell you the number of times on the way to school or class that she crammed weeks worth of info down my throat so I could at least get a high F on a test.



Now she has a test to take and I wish I could study for her. I wish I could cram the information in her tomorrow morning so she didn't have to study. I wish I could do this so she could be knitting. I wish I could find a way to thank her for everything she did for me.

I did prove to myself and the rest of the world that I was in fact really quite smart ten years later when I went back to college and graduated with a 4.0 gpa, but that will not give her the time back of her youth that she spent trying to keep me in some kind of manageable order.




Thank you Middle Sis.. I love you!
LHK 4-ever
Mav B

Someday's are just normal..

Today has been nothing but what you would consider normal. No major melt downs on my part. No major drama for the Dude. No major boat issues for the waterman. All in all it has been a very typical normal day in someone else's world. In my world typical and normal are two words that do NOT describe the NORMAL day at all. Typically and normally something would be amiss, but not today. Nothing. Quiet. It is quite odd. Wait I am sorry there is 2 hours and 44 minutes left in my day for something to go not quite right.

Maybe I should explain. Not quiet right is not a bad thing at all. My not quiet right is my normal. my routine, and to be honest things don't seem quiet right when everything is even keeled. I love chaos. I always have for as long as I can remember I revolved around one form of chaos or another. Long ago it was bad chaos, these days my chaos maybe the fact that my Dude never comes home unless forced. Or maybe a knitting pattern that isn't doing what I think it should. Or Binky Boo getting sick for no apparent reason.. WAIT WAIT WAIT.. back up there.. Binky got sick today for no apparent reason. There chaos and normalcy restored in my world. (side note she is fine it seems she just nibbled on something that didn't agree with her)

JW stopped by today to say hi. It was good to finally SEE him. Talking online with him is great but just having him stop by on a whim is always cool. Too be honest I wish we saw more of him. He is a great kid. He is probably going to kill me for calling him a kid because he is far from what most of you would consider being a kid, but this isn't your world it is mine and for me it doesn't matter if he is 60 he will still be a kid.

Speaking of kids. My youngest kid has decided that the neighbors house is where he belongs. Not that I don't love he fact that he is having a great time. Not that I don't love the little bit of peace of mind it gives me to not see him sulking around he house doing that kid whine of a thing that grates on my nerves like nails on a chalk board. Oh if you have kids you know the one... the horrid, horrible, hair raise, blood curdling statement "I'm BOOORRRRREEEEEEDDDDDD!!!!" I don't miss any of that. I am just worried he is going to wear out his welcome. I have been told repeatedly that won't happen, that he will be sent home if he stays a second longer than he should. But still I worry that he will become the neighborhood nuisance. Or maybe I am just worried I am becoming the neighborhood UNCOOL mom and how horrifying that would be!!!

Hope all of you had a wonderful Monday. I am going to spend time with the wonderful Waterman.

Life is...

Just wonderful on the water in spring time! I have spent the last two afternoons on the water with my wonderful husband. Alone. As in just us. That is something that does not happen all that often. Typically we have friends or children or both with us. This weekend it was just us!!! Please do NOT get me wrong we LOVE it when friends ride along, we enjoy being with them and the conversation and the laughs, but sometimes it is so peaceful out there just cruising and hearing nothing but the John Deere rumbling. This afternoon was a little chilly so I spent the whole trip on the engine box wrapped up in a towel, because it was so cold I did not realize the amount of sun I was getting on my face. I look like ... well a sun burnt me.

Dude had a good weekend too. He spent the weekend with friends. I love the amount of independence he has been exerting lately. He is growing into a fine young man.

My son, Bud, came over yesterday afternoon so the Waterman and I could go out to dinner. Did you read that.. we went out to dinner! Dinner at a restaurant with REAL napkins. Real napkins in these parts are a rarity. The food was ok.. but the company was AMAZING. Have I mentioned lately how in love with the Waterman I am?

Back to Bud. That kid is absolutely the most amazing person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. The twelve agonizing hours I spent in labor with him was worth each and every terrifying second. He is 15 going on 30. The maturity level of this kid is something I am not even sure I have met yet. He gets his drivers license in a year, learners in 3 months and in no way am I afraid he will go out and do something stupid. You know something stupid like driving as fast as you can to a 90 degree corner to see how fast you can go and how close you can get before slowing down, I should also mention this corner had a brick wall at the end; or like taking off and driving to Florida after being up for two days partying; or drag racing; or drag racing through a stop sign. (you had to be really good to do that and not get hit.. I never got hit) OH I should mention all the above STUPID STUPID STUPID things listed I did and that BARELY scratches the horror story surface. I am lucky. My parents weren't. I should say I am lucky with Bud because the kid has a great head on his shoulders. Dude unfortunately is mini me when it comes to personality, he won't be driving until he is 40.

I say I am not worried about Bud doing any of those things but I am worried, very worried. For every mature 16 year old on the road there are 20 kids that were just like me. Let's see how fast I can go. What happens if I am going 65 and yank up the emergency brake? Can I drink 20 beers and drive? Can I pee in church parking lots with the cops watching and not get arrested? Believe me, these things cross a kids mind at 16, 17, 18.. that is what worries me. What the other people on the road are doing.

Not to mention what my daughter will attempt to talk him into doing. Hmmm maybe I am just as unlucky as my parents after all! They should hand out Xanax prescriptions to parents when their kids start driving. Ok I am going to have a nervous break down now.

But I will leave you with pictures of my brats when they were babies.


JW




Bud and Sis




Dude

No Pictures Today

Sorry. I am just not in the mood to post pictures today. Why you ask, because I desperately want a new camera. The more I look at other blogs the more I realize how inadequate my own pictures are. How lame.. how pathetic.. how non artist. I am ashamed to post any more pictures. That does not mean I am not taking pictures, it just means you won't see them.

I am just bumming around today. Nothing much going on. The Waterman is out working on boats for the Boatman. The Dude is out playing somewhere in the neighborhood.

Can I just say that is one small joy .. make that a LARGE joy of living in a small town. I can guarantee that when my little Dude hops on his bike and takes off in the morning he is going to end up at the house of someone that I went to school with or someone that I have known most of my life or someone that I am directly related to. It is so incredibly nice outside today that it would be a shame for the little brat to sulking around the house all day like he used to when we lived in the city and there was no bike riding or going off on your own. Living in a place like this opened up a whole new world to him that he never knew he was missing.

I wish I could say that this afternoon we were taking off on a nice boat ride and I would be taking along a camera worth taking but alas the Home Depot calls us and that is where we will spend the beautiful afternoon. Looking a power tools, large powerful power tools. HMMM maybe that won't be so bad.

Happy Saturday Everyone!

Oh shoot here.. one picture taken with a crappy camera.

The name of this blog is deceiving..

It is the truth but not the whole truth. I realized this when I was sharing old pictures with my oldest son tonight.

Ok so technically he isn't my son he is my step son, but I have never liked the word step-whatever. It seems so detatched. I am sure some of you will not agree with me on this but that is how I feel so deal with it. Heck I have a sister that isn't even a step-whatever nor is she a half-somethingorother she is just my sister and I love her dearly and at times dislike her just like one too. I can honestly say you can dislike and love someone at the same time.. just ask her.

Our Boys.


This is one of my favorite pictures of all time. It was taken last year long before I even knew that young man would be my son, but it was still one of my favorites even then. Our boys, the oldest and the youngest. Aren't they handsome?







Ok let's get back to the point of this post. My deception. You see I am not just the wife of a waterman.

I am the Great-Granddaugther of a waterman.


This is Captain Henry Owens. He owned four boats that I am aware of. One was named after my grandmother, the Ellen Marie. I was named after her, the Dude likes to say that I was named after a boat.













I am the Granddaughter of a waterman.


This is Captain Snooks. Pop as I called him. He owned two boats. The Pet and the Virginia. I have no clue where those names came from but he worked on the water until he couldn't anymore and even on his death bed he woke up more than one morning at 4 am saying it was time to go in the bay to fish his pound nets.




I am NOT the daughter of a waterman.


My father hi-tailed it out of the water world as soon as he was old enough to hold down a regular job. Somehow the saltwater didn't make it in his blood and hunting did. I still love my Hounddog though.






I am the wife of a waterman.


Being the great-granddaughter and the grand-daughter of watermen has done nothing for the worry I go through every time the wind blows when one of these guys is out on the water, but this is my life and I love it.







I am the Mom of a waterman.


To be honest I am new this part and I am sure that worry of him being out there on the water will drive me insane but I will get used to it... at least that is what I keep telling myself. I remember when The Waterman took my camera on the boat with him last winter and this particular day was very very COLD.





I am the Mother of a Future waterman.


My little one informed me that when he grew up he was going to work on the water. I hope he means as a hobby because the working part of the water is dying rather quickly. So many rules and regulations put in place by people with book smarts and no working knowledge of the bay.




Now you have the truth and you have met the men in my life all in one post.

It used to be Arizona and a Streamline Trailer.

For years when I wanted to run off I always had this fanatasy story of running off to Arizona and living in one of those streamline trailers in teh dessert. Why I don't know because that quite possibily would be the most miserable place in the world to be in one of those bullet homes. Can you even imagine how HOT it would get in there?? Maybe that was the point.. trading one misery for the other. I dont' know really.
The point is in the past few days I have decided that I do not want to run off to Arizone in a Streamline. Oh I do still want to run off just not to there.

Where I want to go I want to see this every morning..














Where I want to go I can nap with this much comfort every day.













Where I want to go I can knit what I want when I want.















Where I want to go I can eat these whenever I want. Like last night.















Where I want to go I can listen to what I want when I want.. (note that is 2566 songs listed)















Where I want to go I can go to bed with this every night.



So what I have found is where I want to run is home. I just couldn't get there last night even though I was here.

The Little Things in Life...

Actually in my world I am getting ready to talk about the big things, but when you put it in perspective (yes there I go again) we are all very small in comparison to the world. I have been doing some thinking, I have always said for as long as I can remember that I didn't NEED anything. You could take everything away from me and I would be ok, and because I am such a hardheaded strong willed person I still say that I don't NEED anything but there are quite a few things that I want. I am going to let you into my strange little world and show you a few things that I do NOT WANT to ever have to live without.

MY WONDERFUL WATERMAN



There is something to be said for a man who loves his wife even though she wears bunny ears! Seriously, I do not ever want to think about life without this man. He knows how to make me laugh and smile even when I can't don't want to.




MY SWEET DUDE



This little guy gets on my LAST NERVE at times, but what kid doesn't. Every day I see something new through his eyes. He is an angel. That is the only thing I can say.

BINKY BOO



I never would have thought that a dog could capture my heart the way this little one has. She is part of this family and everyone in the house LOVES her.






COFFEE AND MARLBORO'S



I didn't say that they were all GOOD for me now did I? I just said it was stuff I didn't want to live without, and to be completely honest the coffee and Marlboro's keep me sane which in turn keeps the previous three "Don't Want to Live Withouts" from running away from me screaming!




MY BLANKIE AND PILLOW

Don't ask. I have had the pillow for as long as I can remember. Asswipes People have actually been hurt over this pillow. NO ONE gets to touch my pillow.. NO ONE. That includes the "Don't Want to Live Withouts" and in truth they are all afraid to touch it.
As for the Blankie I am not as attached to that. I will allow other people to touch it, but not sleep with it or snuggle with it. The Blankie is MINE and when it is time to watch Law and Order I do NOT want to have to say to someone.. give me my blanket.. I want it sitting there waiting for me in all of it's fluffiness.

JENNY MAC

That is what I named my laptop, yes there is a story behind it. No I don't feel like telling you at the moment. This thing keeps me connected to friends and family that I have all over the United States and as of 8 pm tomorrow night I can say all over the WORLD! I don't want to post pictures of all my friends it will take way too long. So I posted Jenny MAC cause this is my connection to those people. Family, Friends and the Internet.. all things I do not want to live without.

Life is short.. Live every day to the fullest.. Find something to smile about every day.. and never forget that we all have things in our lives we don't want to live without.


Go Hookies!!

Sibling Rivalry

When I was a child, which is different than saying when I was CHILDISH, because that I still am. Ok back to the story.... When I was a child I used to pick on my younger brother TERRIBLY. I was always much taller than he was and a considerable amount meaner. My mother (who I still say loved him more) used to say, "One of these days he is going to be bigger than you and he is going to get you!!" Well she was right .. sort of. He did end up much taller than me, a foot taller to be exact. HOWEVER he never got me, why you ask, because I was always way meaner and much more sneaky and very hard person to GET. I am not sure that anyone ever GOT me.

Yesterday, my friend Pat and The Boatman (yes I just named him that Pat) came by to deliver work, and with them they brought Rudder who happens to be Binky's brother. Now let me put this in perspective for you, because I like doing that.. putting things in prespective .. Rudder is STILL twice as big as Binky if not more. I seriously need to take her to the Post Office and have her weighed. But the point is compared to her he is HUGE!! Binky is a fairly nervous little bugger so I was a little concerned that she would shimmer and shake and hide behind me. uummm NOT!!!

Take a look at this video ...



Looks like my little girl can hold her own!!!