Batta, Batta, Batta, Batta!!!!!!!!!!!

Stanch. Feet planted side by side, body squared off to the home plate, hand over hand grips on the baseball bat, she concentrates. The lime green tennis ball sits atop the tee. Elbows up, grip firm, she swings the small bat as she locks her elbows to keep the swing straight above the plate. A few on the tee and then it was free pitching to her. Hit and miss and more instructions, she started connecting with more then she missed.

More practice today is scheduled for Carrie. For the first 30 minutes, Carrie is into it. She follows instructions doled out by her sister and brother. Soon the instructions become too involved and her interest wans. The little black puppy has distracted her. She giggles as he nips at her heels and she drops her bat to stoop down to pick him up. We postpone this training session to be continued later in the day.

You can only capture a 5yr. old's attention for a short while. The key is to maintain a lot of patience and breaks.

We petted the puppy then moved to the swing set. "Push me harder." She squealed with laughter as she felt my hand in the small of her back following through on the forward motion of the swing. Somewhere among the pushing I noticed that she was pumping her legs. I sat down on the steps of the ladder attached to the slide and encouraged her to do some of the action it took to keep that swing moving.

Carrie was outstanding in her performance on the ball field this afternoon. She had lost that confused look from the previous game. She strode up to the home plate, squared off and as the pitcher sailed a ball over home plate, she swung her bat and connected. It took a few seconds for her to remember to run. Our screams in the background helped. "Run, Carrie, Run!" and she was off.

She isn't spontaneous yet on the running but the lapse time has been considerably shortened. She grinned as she made all the bases and tagged home plate. She was having a good time and though we wanted her to understand the game, seeing her enjoying herself is most important.

From where I sat, I could see her hand moving across her face. She began fanning  herself with her hands and called to the coach "You know I'm sweatin over here?" Carrie will never be accused of being hesitant about voicing her feelings.


Her outfield performance has greatly changed. She faces in the correct direction now and keeps her eye on the batter and the ball. The few times the little guys were able to get it to the outfield, Carrie ran over and picked it up. She clutched it to her chest. We'll have to work on teaching her to send it to first base instead of carrying it around with her.

A lot to learn, this game of baseball. Practice and  patience.

I'm off to bed. The Prince is getting married in a few hours.  I doubt that I will be awake at 0400 to watch the ceremony. I plan on catching the rerun.

Ball Improvement

Ah. I'm not one for excuses but here goes anyway. It's about Carrie and her ball games. I watch the other little guys out there and they seem to be not as lost as Carrie about what is going on. They watch the ball, run the bases and play the out field. Carrie is lost. Two weeks of practice these youngsters have had before the games started.

There was a mix up in the contact information so Carrie's mom missed that communicate and Carrie missed two weeks of practice.

Today we headed for the grass field beside her house. Bricks were placed in the grass in a diamond pattern and the game was on. Ted stayed at home plate beside Carrie while she swung at the tennis ball on the tee. I was on first and April was on second and when Carrie sent the ball sailing, I took off. April moved to third while I took her place at second and miracle of miracles, Carrie dropped the bat and headed for first base.

Ted recovered the bright lime green ball and placed it on the tee. With her left foot on first base and her right leg extended towards second, Carrie had her eye on the ball. Ted swung and Carrie was off! She didn't have to be told. She is improving. I didn't have to scream "RUN CARRIE, RUN".

We played a few more times with each of us rounding the bases and then it was time to move Carrie to the outfield. Directly behind April who was on second base, Carrie raced for the balls that Ted was hitting from home plate. Picking up the ball she turned to run back, swinging her arm in a full arc she lobed the ball to me on first base. Yes! She's got it and she was actually laughing while she played.

Carrie's gonna kick ass and take names tomorrow. That's what we told her anyway. She still doesn't understand that phrase. That too will come in time.

The Ambien is kicking in and I'm just going to slide down off these pillows stacked against the headboard as soon as I slap down the lid on this laptop.....

Gangsta Carrie and The Ball Field

Carrie looks like a rapper. Dressed in her black t shirt and her  white silk boxer like shorts that hang below her knees, she looks the part of the kids dressed like rappers or the "gansta" crowd. It's "play ball" time and off we go to the ball park.

Carrie insists on riding with me in the roadster. Here she is flipping her gansta signs:

And to the park we go.

Her crew of fans arrive:

Along with the"mom":

and the warm up begins but first a glimpse of Carrie in her gangsta clothes. Disregard the braids and the bows...which are verrrrrrrry UNgangsta like:

and to the field she goes for warm up:

And then the game begins. Carrie heads for the dug out where her guide there lines them up to head for the batter's mound. Carrie is up to bat first. She swings and connects with the ball and it sails forward. Any amount of "forward" motion is considered a good ball. Carrie stands and watches as the ball sails through the air then hits the ground where it rolls along until one of the children on the other team picks it up. Carrie is still standing on home plate.

I am outside the wire fence and I'm screaming "RUN Carrie, RUN". She turns to look at me and at that moment the coach on home plate gently turns her shoulders and points her to first base while telling her to "RUN! Carrie, RUN!" and away she goes. From the time she swung at that ball until the time she actually picked up those pink Nike clad feet and headed for second base, we could have all taken a lunch break. The child needs more instruction I fear.

Now she stands on second base and the coach there she chats up. She is facing him and having a wonderful conversation. I can't hear what she is saying but I can see her little hands flutter around punctuating what she is saying. The ball is hit by the next child at bat and Carrie is clueless. Soon that child arrives at first base and the coach realizes that Carrie hasn't moved on to second base and at that time he turns her to second base and yells "Run Carrie, Run". She is such a well trained child. She doesn't move until she gets that green light and in this case it's someone screaming "Run, Carrie, Run!"

I'm not hoarse from screaming. The daughter trys to tell me there are 13 coaches on the field and to this I say, "they don't understand that she doesn't know what she is supposed to be doing and she needs ME to tell her to RUN!". I notice the daughter moves quietly to the other side of the field. Since I was the only one screaming, I'm assuming she was a bit embarrassed.

After all the children had their turn at the bat, it was Carrie's team's turn to be in the outfield and that's where they placed Carrie. She is facing the field of trees watching who knows what. I'm screaming at her to watch the ball. She kicks some dirt around, does a couple of dance steps, twirls and curtseys and does some mouth synching to some tune flitting through her brain. Balls are flying by her and occasionally she will look up to watch one move by while keeping her feet planted firmly in place.

Eventually I get up and move around the field and plant myself behind her. I whisper, "Carrie, watch the ball." She blows me a kiss and winks. "Carrie", I say, "watch the ball and when it comes this way, run and pick it up."

She gets it. Here she is, braids and all and she is actually facing in the correct direction. She is watching the ball and the batter. Now she knows what she is supposed to do. The ball heads her direction but lands at some chairs occupied by parents. She stands and looks and later when I asked why she didn't run over and get the ball she says "Nana, you know I'm not supposed to go close to people I don't know."

"Yeah, Carrie, I remember those instructions."  We might need a little more work on this part of the game.

Somewhere before this game ended, the coach walks up to the wire fence and asks "Who is Carrie's mom?" None of us made a move to answer. It took a moment for April to confess. The coach had a message. "Ya know" she said, "Carrie asked her what the big deal was with this game. What's the fun part?"

Yep, everybody knows who Carrie is now. A low profile is not programmed in to anyone in this family. We're gonna play it by ear. I'll be the one standing behind Carrie giving instructions.

Google Reader and ASS U ME

I have to chuckle sometimes at people. The really funny ones are those that hold themselves above their peers based on their intellect. They have so convinced themselves of how more intelligent they are then the flock in which they travel and I wonder if that's why they travel in that flock. I posted and the only part of that post they read was the first paragraph in their Google Reader..and the assumptions ran rampart. Had they bothered to read the entire post, but then that would be expecting too much of these highly intelligent individuals, they would have seen a post about a lesson being taught to a child. 

Suffice it to say, when you "assume", it will  make an ass...u...me.....(ass out of you and me.)..

I'm done!

The Neglected and The Fold

Eyes closed, he laid neglected in the chair. She had lost interest in him months and months past. She hardly noted his presence. Did she acknowledge her neglect of him or did she use one of the many excuses that she kept at the ready should she need one?

She was usually quick with her responses when it came to explaining her actions or inaction's where he was concerned.  Oh sure. She assisted him when it was convenient for her. When it wasn't, she moved into a zone where only she was allowed. He was left to fend for himself.  When she spoke to him, the words skewered him where he sat.

I watched her performance and decided it might be time to sit Carrie down and have a little conversation about her treatment of this doll.  I explained the importance of treating all her dolls equally. Neglecting her oldest doll for the newer ones was not acceptable behavior. This might be a good time to teach her a lesson in cherishing the old. I'm thinking of my age and what better lesson to teach her at this time in my life.

"Gather your boy doll into the fold" I said to Carrie. Her serious face looked up into mine and she said "What's a fold?"  I thought her question might have typical of Carrie's style. She is open to learning new words. Her vocabulary is broad for a 5yr. old.

I explained while she sat and gazed skeptically at me. I decided to use this time to leave a message on age . Soon I noted a change in her expression. Her lesson in respecting her elders slowly registered. She stood and walked over to me, arms around my waist she said "But Nana, I'll never forget you. I'll always be with you." and to this I replied with the same thing my grandmother said to me when I was a young girl of 12.

"One day Carrie you will be busy with your friends. You will forget about me for  a while. Your life will be busy with all the fun things you will be doing. I will have to wait awhile until you finish those things and then you will return to the fold. The fold is your circle of family and friends. Watch the time little girl. Don't run out of time before you return to us. If you wait too long some of us won't be around for you to return to."
Carrie is aware at her young age of 5, that people and pets leave  and will never be seen again. When her Gus passed away, she tearfully accepted him being gone and she will sometimes talk about how she misses him.
I suppose it's never to early to learn that life lesson.

The Easter Bunny

This year we were smart. Ok, so it took way too many years for us to accomplish that but I'm just sayin...

Let me stop right here and tell you how much I detest that overused phrase ..."I'm just sayin".....

It's been done and done and done and if I never hear it again......well..I'm just sayin"

Now. Easter. The daughter and Carrie boiled, colored and counted the eggs. Thirteen of them. That was the wise thing to do. Count them. Now we won't find a week old egg hid beneath a car seat by the odor of rancid rot. We hid those thirteen eggs and when Carrie hunted eggs, we also knew when the hunt was over. At the count of "thirteen" we called a halt and went back into the house to work on dinner.

Carrie gets to help. Usually it's pouring the beans into the bowl, stirring the ingredients together or peeling eggs. She peeled the shells off of three and showed me how good she was doing. There was no egg white left. The yellow round yolks sat in a dish waiting to be made into deviled eggs. I caught her before she peeled all of the thirteen and told her she needed to wait until her mother got back. "I think you might need a little more direction on peeling the shells off the eggs."

I'm in charge of potatoes. I'm on my way to the kitchen to check on the dessert and to peel some potatoes.

Happy Easter to one and all . Here's hoping you are spending it with family and friends or with family or with friends!

Wii

Carrie is brightening someone else's day today and that's how I like to think of it when she is gone from me. She is causing someone else to smile and that's a good thing.

I had plans to go to the theatre this afternoon but there just wasn't anything playing that sounded appealing. Usually a buzz goes around when a good movie is playing and based upon those reviews from friends, I will make my way to a seat in a darkened theatre and watch the film.

Instead of the theatre, I attempted to use my Wii and Netflix to watch a movie. I tried for about 45 minutes to get the Wii tuned to Netflix and finally gave that up and signed on to Netflix using my laptop and watched " Eat, Pray, Love" that came out last year. Julia Roberts movie and though it was "ok", it was not a movie that I will remember for a long time.

 After the movie, I turned my attention back to the Wii. Having an electronics devise defeat me is intolerable unless it's a DVD/VCR player. Those I never get to cooperate.

I eventually found that the Wii needed an update. I've had it for a while and only use it for the games Carrie plays on it. I don't realize all the potentials of this gaming system. It just never occurs to me to use it to get on the web. The possibilities it offers are varied and numerous.

Eventually I was able to insert the code and tune in to Netflix and browse some of the movies that could be ordered or watched instantly. Though I didn't select anything, I have it ready to view a movie on the big screen of the projection TV that sits in this living room.

I barely made it through the one movie I did watch. I kept drifting off to sleep and having to rewind for the parts missed and that's where I am right now...ready to go to sleep.

G'night.

Better Safe Then .........

Here I sit in Starbucks, laptop at a small round table. I have the weekend to myself. An afternoon movie is planned and a morning of dinking around in the sunshine unashamedly accomplishing very little. It's my day.

It was a buggy sort of night. Carrie, who spends most of her time with adults except when she visits her dad on the weekends, had a little problem.

It seems that one of the children she was hangin with had head lice and now the little critters have taken up residence in her beautiful, long thick hair. If you have ever had to deal with them, and who hasn't if they have children in school, the process of ridding them from the hair is a long drawn out affair. 

The stuff most people use is called RID. At almost 20.00 a pop for a box of this special stuff, it gets expensive. It has to be done more then once which makes getting rid of  the visiting uninvited little guests as  expensive as evicting someone from a rental property.

We use alcohol. Yep, 70% Isopropol. Alcohol is bactericidal, meaning it kills. At the hospital we always keep our pockets full  of alcohol swaps.  We wipe the phone mouthpiece of the desk phone before using it. Better safe then sick.

Pillows and bedding gets liberally sprayed. Carrie got sprayed multiple times and April and I saturated our hair in alcohol. Better be safe then buggy!

The next step was to spray vinegar in the hair to dissolve the glue like substance used by the nits to hang onto the hair. Poor Carrie suffered through our administration's until we had to run the little metal tight pronged comb thing down her locks. After sitting quietly for 45 minutes, she had enough of our attention and became tearful. As the tears slid down her cheeks she asked if she could go to my house with me when her mom was done. What could I say but "Sure. We are almost done. I'll take you with me when I leave." and that's how she ended up at my house again last night. She missed her T Ball practice and the trip to her dad's after the game.

Today she will go to her dad's. She will return on Sunday and we have plans. "Nanny, you know what happens with I come back on Sunday?" she says with a big grin on her face. I confess. I was stumped and she was impatient with my lack of knowledge.

"Nanny, it's Easter!"
 Visions of colorful eggs, chocolate and bunnies denotes Easter for Carrie. We may make a visit to the pool at the apartment complex where her sister lives, weather permitting.

This morning she stood in the shower while I bathed and washed her hair. I wrapped her in towels and we finished her morning dressing ritual in front of the TV in the living room.

Before leaving, I grabbed the spray bottle with the alcohol and spritzed her hair again. Better safe then buggy.

And She Said

"Where's your mom?" I said as I walked into her room. She lay curled up on her bed, the television tuned to her favorite channel, Noggin. She rolled over and looked at me through half open sleep swollen eyes and said, "She's in her room and she had to have a butt pill."

Oh yeah...ok and do I need to know more? With a light step, I moved down the hall, through the living room and down the short hallway to her bedroom. Tapping lightly on the door, I shoved it open to find her laying in her bed. I asked softly "How ya feelin today?" and the weak smile she gave answered wordlessly that it wasn't a good day so far.

I climbed upon the king size bed and waited for any further revelations. Finally unable to stand it any longer, I ventured to ask "What's a butt pill?"

She grinned. The first sign of good humor I noted today and said..."Mom, what does one use for hemmorids?"

A light flashed and burned brightly and I could understand Carrie's description now. Kids say the darnest things don't they?

Run Carrie RUN!

Small sheets of dust were blown up by the brisk wind about today and she ducked her head down shielding her face as she stood in the outfield. Her black t shirt and white shorts were the uniforms they wore while waiting on the ones on order. Her long thick honey colored hair was pulled up high onto the crown of her head into a pony tail that bounced and swayed when she tossed her head.

This was Carrie's first day on the ball field. She waited in the dug out until the coach called her to step up to the T Ball at home plate. An ugly black helment on her head, face flushed pink, she stode up to home plate.

He positioned her beside the ball and with her mini bat,  she swung and connected and then stood and looked at her coach. "Run Carrie, Run". She looked to the bleachers when she heard her name while the seconds ticked by. Her coach leaned down to tell her to run for the base, pointing her in the right direction. I laughed, knowing she couldn't hear me. She trotted to first base and the coach there was ready with more instructions.

Soon her team was in the field while the other side was up to bat. Carrie stood in the outfield, arms windmilling while her body twisted to the right and then left. She was dancing to some tune in her head, kicking dust and oblivious to everything connected to baseball. Her coach moved to her side to give her instructions; she had him repeat three times to make sure she understood what he wanted. She was convinced he was there as her friend. She patted him on the leg, smiled and wanted to chat.

The next outfield experience has Carrie waving and blowing kisses. That's my girl...always a parade for Carrie. She is either fitted for being a politician or an actress. 

From the stands, her brother, sister, mother and me watched her antics. Never again will she be this innocent on the field. With each visit she will learn and a certain amount of seriousness will be infused as the meetings progress. Right now I'm going to enjoy watching her in all the newness she is experiencing and in her innocent reactions to this new environment.

Her shoes, bat and glove are on the floor by the door. Today we will head for the backyard to do some batting practice. I have to remember to make this fun. Hit or miss, we will remember to laugh. After all, it's called a "game" for a reason!

Big and Ugly

Standing at the kitchen sink, the sun was just making it's way above the Little House. The Little House is the storage building we had built to look like a smaller version of the house  where we live. It's even painted the same colors, a cheery yellow and white  and has Pella windows installed in every wall to make it bright inside. Drywall has been painted a pretty mossy green and a  fan and light is installed in the ceiling which is drywalled and heavily insulated. In the event someone might want to live in it for an outdoor guest bedroom, it will be easy to heat and cool.

This building has a minor role in this story.  I tend to stray off the subject sometimes and there I strayed. Let's get back on track now.

The view out of my kitchen window is the green grass of the lawn and beyond that the  8ft board fence that serves as a privacy barrier to the neighbors on the back side as well as the ones on the right and left. Barely to the right of that kitchen window stands the Little House.

As I stood at the sink and looked out the window at the sun splashing the lawn and the Little House, I heard a thud. I had just glanced down into the sink load of dishes. I looked up quickly to a sight that took me a moment or two to process.

For the past month during the quiet hours of the night and after I had climbed into my bed, a sound from the attic I attributed to squirrels or some other benign animal would rustle through space there and I would imagine it being something small and furry. Even a mouse was an animal I considered benign. I've never been frightened of a mouse. My nemesis is bugs. I will climb on a chair and scream over something creepy crawly.

As soon as my brain accepted what I was seeing, I watched in horror  as the head of that huge snake turned to face the window where I was watching, paralyzed in place. The head looked as big around as a dinner plate with hooded eyes the size of large marbles. The body kept slithering down from the eaves of the house, all 15ft of it. I noted the pattern on it's body and the diameter. It undulated and coiled it's body into itself in loops as more of it moved to the ground. It would move farther out onto the lawn to allow it's body to stretch out from the loops as more body slithered to the ground. As I watched, it moved to the left of my vision and toward the patio. I ran to the door to make sure it was locked all the while wondering what I was thinking by installing an all glass french door on the back of this house. After locking the door, I moved to find my cell phone only to find it ringing. The door to the Little House was opening and a few people ventured out. The meeting they were having was postponed while they planned an escape from the back yard.

Struggling up from the depths of darkness, my hand found the cell phone and flipped it open. Ted said "Are you awake?"   and sliding up on the bed into the pillows at the headboard, I sighed and with relief said "yeah, yeah I am now!"

Grabbing my purse, phone and keys, I picked Ted up and because I promised him yesterday, we got his breakfast from Burger King and then drove to his school where I left him at the front door.

As soon as I got back home, I climbed back into my bed prepared to turn off this laptop.

I listened quietly in this darkened bedroom for the sound of any movement from the attic. I no longer believe in benign furry creatures causing those noises. Is that a slithering sound I hear?

Monday and Rio

I wasn't in a hurry this morning to do anything. Lazing around in my pajamas, noon rolled around and was time to get off the computer and the telephone and get showered and dressed.

Back to the furniture stores, I sat on more sofas and chairs and left them where I found them. It's at times like these that I wish I lived in North Carolina. I know a lot of the furniture offered today isn't manufactured in N.C. as in days gone by, but I would feel better searching there. I look at the  finish on the case goods and note where something has bumped into it and a chunk of the finish has fallen off. Finishes are NOT supposed to fall off in chunks. The old finishes were stained wood where the new finishes of today are a sprayed on hard coat over fiber board. That finish isn't something that can be sanded some day and restained. I'm not happy with what is offered in today's market and that's what keeps me from wanting to part with my money.

I wrapped up the shopping and returned home empty handed. The day wasn't a loss. Carrie had plans for me and one of the things on her list was seeing Rio. We made it to the theatre just in time to climb halfway up the ampithreatre and move to the center where we dropped into our seats and rescued the can of Coke hid in my purse. I did spring for a bag of popcorn at Carrie's request. I'm just amazed that a small coke and a popcorn ends up costing as much as the two tickets purchased to get into the theatre.

We sat there in the dark and watched the cockatoos and  macaws in all their splendorous animated glory. Carrie sang and clapped her hands and waved her arms in the air as she sang along to the music. She's an animation herself. It's entertaining watching her watching a movie.

Meanwhile Ted had sprung from the bus at my house and was waiting on us to get back to the house. I whipped through the neighborhood, gliding to a halt at the stop signs sprinkled around the streets and he hopped into the car for a dinner of McDonald's fare. This wasn't what was planned for dinner tonight but Carrie informed me it was a tradition with her and her mother to always go to McDonald's for chicken nuggets after a movie. I may have been snookered. I'll check the veracity of this with April when next we talk.

Meanwhile, it's time to take Ted back home and see if I can talk Carrie into spending some quality time with her family so I can curl up with a cup of coffee and do nothing for anybody!

.........and  back to the house after dropping Ted off. Carrie didn't want to go home so she is  here  with me carrying my IPod around doing her own videoing of fruits in bowls and appliances in the kitchen and the toy from her happy meal. She is an eclectic film maker. I see a stage in her future. All we have to work on is making sure she is angst ridden, paranoid, bipolar, narcissistic, self centered and an ego maniac.

I'm off to be entertained by Ms. Carrie. It's going to be a long evening.

The Weekend

Saturday morning and a chill was in the air. I went early to do some grocery shopping to beat the crowd. It must have been the grocery shopping that early in the morning that inspired all the cooking that followed. Meatloaf, lasagna and chicken parmiagna was left to cool on the counter while I cleaned up all the mess from my cooking spree. I made a  visit to the daughters where I lamented about missing Carrie. She is visiting her dad in Lydia. Today she returns and I'm ready for her to come home. I may make the drive to pick her up.

Sunday:

It's again chilly this morning. The bad weather again swooped higher through this part of the state and the tornado warnings and extreme weather didn't materialize but the cool air dragged in behind it and stayed through yesterday and this morning.

The husband will be gone for a little longer then planned but at least everything is back on track with his job. He expects to be busy the remainder of this year. No tornadoes in Duncan, Okla. where he is working. I told him to not trust Oklahoma in the spring. This time of the year is notorius for mean winds there.

I have a new purse and a couple pair of sunglasses from my little shopping trip this morning. None of the furniture stores were open this Sunday morning, something I wasn't aware of until I drove through their empty parking lots.

It's late afternoon and I called Carrie's dad. We have a plan. I will be leaving shortly to drive over and collect her.

Sunday after 1700hrs.
I'm sitting here surrounded by Ted and Carrie. The smell of bacon drifts in from the kitchen. Ted requests bacon and eggs when he visits. It's his favorite meal and one which he knows I will cook for him anytime he requests. Carrie had her usual meal of noodles and now the Wii is fired up and a fast game of baseball is being played by Ted. Soon the doorbell rings and the daugher slips into the house. I think everyone is here now and all I want is a nap.

She packed up Carrie and the chicken parmigian and headed home. My eyes are fighting a good battle on staying open but they are still losing. I'm way to tired to try to stay up longer and it's not even late yet.

A Quickie

I'm sitting here in CC's Coffee House surrounded by the usual crowd of students and non students, all gazing into their laptops. I have a cup of medium roast coffee sitting at my elbow. The view through the window is of the heavily trafficked Bertrand Drive. Trees lining the road are bending with the wind while the sky overhead is busily moving dark clouds across my view. Occasionally a clear patch of bright blue shows up and I have hopes that the sun might make an appearance.

I stopped at a furniture store on my way here and browsed. I sat and sat and flipped cushions over, felt the bottom of those sofas, matched the color to the fabric I carried with me and found a sofa that would be suitable:

I was looking for a plain fabric and a solid material as this sofa will complete an "L" shape layout in the living room. I intend on keeping my old sofa..the one with the cushion problem. The only reason I'm adding a sofa to that room is to accommodate the husband. He won't be happy with the cushions that are on the old one yet. They still aren't as soft as the original ones. I'll move the old sofa to the other side of the room and put this one facing directly to the big screen TV so that he will have some SOFT seating.

If I make the decision to purchase the sofa pictured, I might have to wait until tomorrow to bring it home. We are having light sprinkles..sporadic rain fall and it doesn't look as though the weather will improve much today.

The husband had a tornado touch down about 100 miles from where his rig is standing in Oklahoma. He was told that should one get close he would be awakened to go into the underground shelter. He's hoping they remember him should one hit during the night.

The rig is lost in the hole so he is standing by while they find themselves. More days away from home, he will not be returning at the end of a week as planned.

I'm packing up this laptop and heading for the house. I have the roadster in the parking lot with the top down and it's already been rained in once this morning...slight though it was, I don't want to have the interior washed again.

Maybe I'll find a movie to attend this afternoon. A rainy day movie might just be the ticket!

Cars, Breakfasts, Sofas and Blooms

Smart Car Kits. From a Smart Car to a 'Vette?   I was hangin with Ted this morning and he gifted me with this link that he thought I would enjoy. Ted will hang with his Nana if I dangle a Burger King breakfast in front of him. This was a tradition since he was a small child. Once a week and usually on a Friday, I would pick Ted up at his house and we would make our trip for the double sausage crossiantwich. Usually we sat at the bus stop while he had his breakfast and then I would drive on to my job. The timing was perfect for me to stay with him until the bus came and I was never late to work.

Today we came back to the house and I drove him to school. I have more time to do that now that I'm happily unemployed!

My morning has been spent outside watering the day lilies and the roses. I spotted a gardenia that has bloomed so I'm soaking those plants with water. It takes a lot of water to keep those gardenias spouting their fragrant blooms.

Alert, alert. Unless you saw the sofa report on the crawl tape running along the bottom of the CNN channel, let this serve as an update. The cushions are softer but they will never compare to the down ones that came with the sofa. I may go look for a soft cheap sofa that will complement this one in color and style and do some furniture rearranging in the event that the husband is still unhappy with the seating on this one.

I'm off to get showered and dressed and to the furniture mart. Pictures to follow...maybe!

The Tail End of Friday

 Today I made another trip and picked up those sofa cushions. They are softer..yes...but I doubt they will ever be as soft as the down pillows that were the original equipment! The above two pictures are of a Panther; a two seater and I'm thinking it is English although I haven't done a search YET.

 Carrie chilled out on the ride home with me. Yes, the girly girl has  her makeup on.

Chillin at the house!



I had one goal and it was to pick up the cushions. I'm spending the evening with Carrie Lane. She has my 35mm Canon SLR film camera. There isn't any film in it as I never use it anymore. It has been a bit of a struggle explaining this ole dinosaur to her. She can't quite grasp the fact that she can't instantly review the pictures she has just shot as she can do with the digital. I opened the back of it and showed her where the film went and explained that we had to send the film off to get it developed. She requested I just upload them onto the computer so she could see them.

Back to square one in the education of camera use, I scrounged around and found a canister of film. I may load it and the next time she is here we can make a trip to the park and shoot some of the film. I have a feeling that not getting instant gratification by viewing them as shot won't appeal to Carrie who has grown up with digital cameras.

Right now, she has that heavy camera hanging around her neck as she rotates around the room. I hear the old familiar click and whirl and the shutter is detonated. I miss that sound. That Canon traveled the USA with me for years during my travels. While out west, the wide open spaces required the long lenses that added to the weight of that camera  that I packed around. From Washington state down the coast of California and across the entire USA, I moved around year after year. The eastern seaboard from Rhode Island to the Florida coast, my photo albums were filled with shots taken with that Canon. Occasionally I select an album and sit down to leaf through the photos that chronicle my life and travels.

Devils' Tower, Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood, Rapid City, and Denver name just a few of the towns or places that  rest between the covers of those old albums. The steam rising on a cold morning in Yellowstone, the white caps and rapids of the Snake River just down the canyon from Jackson Hole and the snowy mountain runs of the ski slopes are pictured and saved. Moose in the school yard in Big Piney, Wyoming and friends on camp outs in the mountains, these pictures too  spark memories of life in the Rocky Mountains.

 My albums are one of the first things packed when a hurricane is headed this way. My photos are very important to me. With the time I have been wasting lately, I could fire up the scanner and digitalis them. I'm afraid that rates right up there with the boring job of shredding paper.  Though I would like it done, I won't be doing it. I know myself and after scanning a few pages, I would lose interest. I have an external hard drive where I store all the current photos. It's about the size of a deck of cards and I've been adding photos to it for years. I still have one half of it left for storage. These photos are shot with a digital camera and are ready to store.

It's time to head to the stove. Chicken Parmigiana is on the menu; a salad, some garlic bread and a glass of red wine. I'm done! 

Almost a Night Alone

No sofa cushions and I'm getting used to the look of my sofa the way it is with the lovely brown fuzzy blanket wrapped around the old spare cushions that were hid in the shed.

In my wanderings around today, I finished off the chores started days ago. I mailed the printer ink to my sister and stopped by the hospital to pay a bill and since I was in the neighborhood of the wine store I stopped in. I like to browse the bottles of wine and note from which country they came. Germany, France, Australia, Spain and Chili along with the fine wines from our own vineyards here in the USA, I sample them all. Not at one time of course, but I try one from a different country each time I go.

Tonight it's a Merlot from Napa Valley. Along with the Merlot, I picked up a bottle of Chardonnay. Both of these vineyards I have never tried before. I'm sipping on a glass of the Merlot and as a red goes, I prefer the Merlot over the Cabs. A bit less dry, the Merlot is kinder to my taste buds.

The phone rang and my whole night changed. Ted called and requested help with writing a paper for school and within minutes he arrived here. I was only one glass of wine from a nap but  I proof read and then moved to the office to type his paper for him. He sat beside me and suggested changes in wording and structure. I was impressed by his interest in getting it right and not just getting it done. Times be a changin for him! I remember a time not long ago when getting anything down on paper was good enough.

A kiss and a hug and my big guy was on his way home to finish citing his work. He will be using this knowledge learned with this paper many times before he obtains a college education.

I poured another glass of wine and settled down in front of the television. It's nice and quiet and for now that's a good thing. 

Quiet, too Quiet

Janis left this morning. She is on her way to the retreat she has scheduled for this week. We set her GPS and I printed out a hard copy of directions to her next destination and after seeing her to the Interstate, I headed to Scott to see the upholstery man. My cushions were not ready to be picked up so I went to Best Stop and bought some cracklins and boudin balls and then headed for the daughter's house.

Carrie was in her tutu. Carrie looked too cute twirling around the room to show me the flare of it. Soon the daughter emerged from her bedroom with a load of laundry in her arms and wearing her black tutu. It was right here that I wish I could have just taken this in and stayed quiet but I had to ask.

The daughters' tutu is a crenoline underskirt for a Halloween costume. She was a serving wench and this was the part of the outfit that made the skirt billow out.

Carrie was impressed that she and her mom were dressed alike. I just smiled and nodded. It's nice to have a mom that knows how to play.

I'm back to my house and I should do a few chores here but all I want to do is take a nap. Maybe I will.

Tired Puppy Here

Off and running and we were. We grabbed a piece of fruit and hit the road this morning. I had to make a stop by the foam place to pick up the new foam and the cushions and then drive to the opposite side of town to drop them off at the upholstery shop. Vernon the upholstery man said he thought he could have them done this afternoon but I didn't hear from him and I was too busy anyway to go pick them up had he called.

Today is Janis's last day here so we went Road dayin....
From here to New Iberia and to Jefferson Island where we walked around the grounds of the actor and artist that owned this place called Rip Van Winkle.  The owner of this place had been a horticulturist. Plants were bought in from all over the world and planted and cared for by his servants. The servants quarter building stood close to the main house. Grottos, statues and fountains were tucked away around the property among the tall bamboo plants. The sound of peacocks screaming could be heard as you walked the paths down to the lake.

We stood on the pier and watched as turtles climbed up on a piece of log protruding out of the lake. On the opposite side stood a chimney stack made from bricks. The story goes that a oil rig was drilling in this lake and drilled into a salt mine. The sudden suction of the water into this salt mine sucked the houses from the shore and into the lake. Lifes were lost along with property that day.

We had a garden salad and shared a club sandwich for lunch which we enjoyed from our table with the lake view.

Our next stop was the Tabasco factory. A short tour of the facilities and a stop at the guest shop and we were on our way to Delcambre. Shrimp boats were lined up along the shore and the smell of fresh paint was in the air. As always, some of these boats were docked for repairs.

I'm tired. My eyes are drooping and my brain is wandering. It's time I climbed into my bed and give my mind and body a break.

I'll be back tomorrow. Leave the light on.

Today in Pictures!

River Ranch to look at the mansions.

Jefferson Island

 Jefferson Island/Rip Van Winkle Gardens:

Delchambre, La. Shrimper's boats