Random Musings

It's football season folks! Several years ago I was quite mortified when I went home and discovered that UofA had updated its logo. Gone was the cute little gray elephant. It is now a ferocious looking, rampaging beast. And life goes on. If last night's game was any indication, there may actually be a chance that Auburn's winning streak will end this year. ( Yes, that is a huge gasp of air you're hearing from down south and from Theresa Grant's house ). And even better, this year's game is the SAT after Turkey Day. Provided I can get a certain someone to cooperate, I might actually get to see the game with my family this year. Regardless, there's two days of the year when the females in my family do not answer the phone with "hello." Immediately following the AL/AU game, the females and my father will answer the phone with "ROLL TIDE!" regardless of the outcome. (And on Christmas Eve morning it's always "Christmas Eve ...

When I first moved to NC, Bobby informed me there were two women at church I would have to watch out for. One was five years old, and she thought Mr. Bobby was hers. I settled her distress at there being another "girlfriend" in his life by asking her to help with the wedding. The other woman was a little trickier. She was much older, considered herself the ultimate authority that mattered, and her closest friends called her by her childhood nickname of "Dick." Her first name was Gertrude (also known as Gertie). Somehow I couldn't even imagine calling her any of those names, so I simply settled on Mrs. Mullen. I tried to stay out of the way as she hobbled toward his chair to hang on as they exited the slightly steep ramp at church, and I cringed inside with every struggle her arthritic body faced, knowing one day that could be my Mom or perhaps even me. She was demanding, a pessimist, and fiercely loyal to those she loved. We also shared a birthday, whic...

For those of you tired of my political blabbering, this is my last commentary on the DNC . Yes, I do plan to listen tonight, but I most likely won't comment on what is said. So on to the self-righteous preaching of night #3: the Amens: Steven Spielberg's film on the sacrifice of veterans - as tastefully done as such a subject can be John Kerry's comments on how the flag is a symbol for our nation and belongs to all Americans, not just people of a certain party or ideology Bill Clinton's comments on how John McCain does love this country as much as the Democrats do; he just embraces the "extreme philosophy of his party". Finally some sound reasoning from this convention and not just more of the you're either a Democratic or an idiot tripe . the Oh Me!s: "The American dream is under siege at home." (Clinton) Yep, my dream of practicing my religion freely without persecution is most definitely falling under siege: Government sponsored/mandated...

I can't include speakers names from night 2 of the DNC as I was unsuccessfully attempting to can grape juice while it was on, so I can only highlight what I heard. Not to belittle their circumstances, but the vast majority of speakers in last night's DNC were the down and outs - those who have faced tough situations and are making themselves out to be victims of the government. And of course, by government, they mean the President and his political party. It obviously cannot be the fault of the Democratic Party who controls Congress, or themselves, or just part of life. Repetitive themes seemed to be "abandon foreign oil" and in so doing, help "solve global warming." I'm all for abandoning foreign oil. I don't think we have any business importing things that we are capable of providing for ourselves. I'm also in favor of us developing more fuel efficient vehicles. But the reality remains that those two things in and of themselves are not going ...

Nancy Pelosi - She is not a public speaker. She might do well at keeping the House in order, but she does not deliver well. She looked nice in a very feminine, white pantsuit, and her demeanour was actually pleasant for a change, but her frantic grasps at the podium as she turned side to side (trying to read the teleprompters perhaps?) was quite distracting from her message. She didn't receive a warm welcome from the crowd, and her excessive stereotyping of Dems and Republicans didn't sit too well with me, either. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg - Vivaciously detached, as always, yet a gifted speaker. The crowd seemed to love her, though in my opinion she didn't say anything noteworthy. the Republican Senator - Um, what kind of fallout did you have with John McCain? Other than obviously being anti-war, he applauded the Republicans up until the current administration, then did a 180 and verbally shredded them while applauding Obama . Even if O does win the election, do...

Many years ago, a friend gave me some cassette tapes ( SEE, I told you it was MANY years ago!) of lectures called "The Artist's Way". A lot of it was the typical new age junk, but she did make some very interesting observations. One of them was the principle that as a person explores and develops one area of creativity, then other areas will start to blossom or develop interest. And in my own life, I find that to be true. Thanks to my Granny Rea, I've always been interested in quilting. As a child I was always interested in learning to draw, but never had the opportunity to learn. Years later an artist friend of mine challenged me to go for it, saying "Anyone can learn to draw the basics." That was all the encouragement I needed (besides Bobby, agreeing to let me take a class and only do maintenance housework during the time). I found that as I learned more about one aspect of art, then my quilt ideas starting growing like crazy, and my interest in a...

Besides the normal Sat work of peeling apples and shelling peas, I did something fun yesterday! A group of CBC ladies met at the NC Museum of Art, and had a blast browsing through 2.5 exhibits before lunch. (sorry we had to cut your favorite part short, Betty!). It was great just being able to look and examine and discuss artwork with other ladies who were truly interested. (It was also great to be there because I wanted to be and not because a class dictated it!) And hopefully, all our brainstorms of craft days or work days will come to fruition and we can actually work together every once in a while. How cool would that be? So thanks Anita and Betty for taking the initiative for planning a wonderful morning!

My high school mascot was the Blue Devils, and like most small southern towns, football reigned. The team was supposed to be exempt from the next to the last period of the day on Friday so they could go to the locker room and either rest or watch clips to help them prepare for the big game. I'll refrain from sharing my past and present thoughts on that subject. One of our two main rivals was the Dora Bulldogs, located on the other side of the Warrior River. Games were always exciting; bus rides home (for away games) always required a police escort away from the stadium and windows up at all times (and yes, we were pelleted with rocks on more than occasion). For some reason, the CHS band and Dora's band had an on-going tradition of making various signs to hold up at each other throughout the game. Dora's signs always had some reference to the "river rats" (us), and they always spelled their name DAWGS . We retaliated that year. Gone were the little nice signs...

The current discussion ensuing among the Carolina region of SCBWI is the issue of parenting vs. censorship. A parent, who is also a writer, was mortified at some books her child brought home from the school library (classified as narrative nonfiction for 4-8 grade, they are in an elementary library and discuss actual crimes that have happened and the CSI techniques used to solve them). Evidently the books are quite graphic, but the larger discussion has been over the issue of whether or not the books should be in the library at all. Does that amount to good parenting, or censorship? When I was 12, there was a series out that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. A friend of mine had the entire set, and would loan them to me. After my Mom read one of the books, she told me she didn't approve, and why (the main characters, in HS, had no problem with gossip, lying, backstabbing, etc) and stated she really didn't want me reading such stuff. She didn't tell me I couldn't read...

I have some questions for everyone. When you get haircut, do you tip? If so, how much? Are there any mitigating factors (their own studio vs a place like great clips; cost, etc)

I passed a bad car wreck leaving work today. A metal tool box had been knocked off a truck and twisted. There were work boots and tools and a cooler and all sorts of things all over 401. The tools reminded me of my brother. I didn't see the truck itself, but I did see two cars that had clearly been hit. One of them was a minivan with a handicap sticker, and the entire front of the vehicle was gone. It brought back memories of another crash almost four years ago, when my sister was chaperoning a group of children from church to see the Christmas lights at the zoo. A car pulled out in front of the van, the driver swerved to miss, and the van went airborne, flipping into a ravine. Two truckers behind them immediately stopped, radioed for help, and headed down the hill. By the time they got there, my niece and the other 5 girls were at the back doors attempting to get them open (the van was upside down, head first). When I went with my brother-in-law a few days later to take p...

today's one of those stupendous days when even though you're exhausted you're totally pumped and excited about everything you've accomplished and wished you had a few more hours to do more How's that for an upunctuated run-on sentence? Tonya's room is clean and sorted, her bathroom is clean (except for mopping), and the boys' bathroom is clean (except for mopping) and I'm almost finished cleaning out the dining room, which had been pack central station. While cleaning the boys' bathroom (aka the nasty of nasties ), I opened one of the drawers to place their toothpaste inside and discovered: clean Q-tips, dirty Q-tips, empty toilet paper rolls, batteries, dental floss, earphones, toys, rolls of gun caps, and little bitty pieces of paper. While I had a brother growing up, I don't ever recall him leaving such stuff in the bathroom (though that could have been because his three older sisters would have let him have it!). Now all that's left i...

Today I've had the chorus to two songs reverberating through my head: Twila Paris' God is In Control and Crystal Lewis' People Get Ready Jesus Is Comin ' Before lunch, I received an e-mail at work, informing us that as of now the ABRO program is suspended (the group the kids come through). Last week, a Belarussian girl in CA refused to return home. With her host family's backing, she has retained an immigration attorney, is seeking to extend her visa and obtain political asylum . Chernobyl's Children, the group she came through, has been informed by Belarus that their program will be stopped and they are being cited for kidnapping. This week all NGO (non- government organizations) who have children's programs (which includes ABRO ) had a meeting in Minsk, and were informed ALL programs are now suspended, and if they are resumed then orphans 14 or older will not be allowed to come to the states. There are other new stipulations, but we will no...

Once a month all the ladies in the office pitch in and provide a gift and a meal out at lunch for whomever has a birthday that particular month. Today we stopped at Andy's near Fuquay (this lady has been on a diet and was hankering for a hamburger) but they were CLOSED! One lone worker stood outside with...a locksmith. At first we thought perhaps the store had been broken into, but turns out the owner/manager is getting married today, and the person he left the keys with to open the store never showed up. I imagine someone is going to be in mighty big trouble when that owner gets back! But I commend that college kid for going the extra mile to open the store for his boss. I think many people today would have shrugged and said, "Oh well" and headed home. But since we couldn't wait 20-30 minutes for the store to open, we headed on down the road to Chick- fil -A. I fear Andy's lost a fair amount of business at lunch today. I just hope they didn't call that ...

This topic has come up with many friends within the last few weeks. We as Christians are commanded to "honor the Sabbath to keep it holy." Growing up (until my teen years, that is) I thought that meant going to church. After all, isn't that what we did on Sunday? But then I discovered the little verse in under Exodus 20:8 and discovered that this commandment actually means to REST one day a week. I'm not sure we obey that command very well. Now, compared to the other six days, my Sundays are restful . I do minimal chores, there's no work, and we often have 2-3 hours spursed throughout the day to rest, read, or whatever. But that's not an entire day of rest. And when you work 5 days, spend 1 day on housework, then are at church most of the time the 7 th day...where's the rest? When we first got married, we debated whether or not to eat out on Sundays. My senior year of high school, the grocery store where I worked started opening on Sunday afte...

My freshman year of college I found myself mortified one Tuesday night to discover that in addition to a major test the next day (which I had been studying for), I also had three projects due the next day, none of which I had started. My upperclassmen friend who was in two of those classes (and had thankfully stopped by my room to see how they were going), recommended that I purchase a day planner and spend the following afternoon cataloguing all the project and paper due dates. I wisely took her advice, and that was the last time a project slipped up on my unawares. (NOTE: I did NOT say that was the last time I was up all night finishing projects...just that I was no longer ignorant of them). But a new problem arose. Between class, work, and yearbook staff, my free time was very limited. And let's face it, some homework and reading assignments, even in college, are just plain dull. So I quickly learned to ignore items on my "to do" list that were not due that week (excep...

I'm not actually from Townley (where the above picture was taken). My hometown of Cordova , AL is actually several steps above Townley sporting two banks, a small grocery store, two drugstores, a post office , a video store, and several gas stations ( Townley only has a part-time post office, and is where my father currently pastors). But like Townley , Cordova suffers from the past. In the early '60s, like many other places across America, the cotton mills closed their gates and went overseas. Unable to find work, many moved away. Others joined the coal mines. In the late '80s the coal mines began drastically cutting back (and it always seemed they did it at Christmas time). I'm not going to rehash the age old debate of whether the mines were only seeking profit or if the miners and the union's constant strikes and demands brought it about, but the reality is - it happened. Again, people moved away in search of means to support their families. The above pi...

I feel no shame; I'm proud of where I came from; I was born and raised in the boondocks. One thing I know, no matter where I go, I keep my heart and soul in the boondocks. And I can feel that muddy water runnin ' through my veins; And I can hear that lullaby of the midnight trains. And it seems to me that it's so familiar... ~ Little Big Town's "Boondocks"

Tonight as I was taking the trash container to the road, I noticed Linus had something sticking out of both sides of his mouth. To my chagrin and horror, it was a frog. I don't think he actually bit it, just carried it around for a while. Later he put it down and Lucy had it hopping by pawing at it. Poor little froggy . Even more disgusting, while working in the garden, I came across a leaf on my tomato plants that looked like it had a fungus on it. So I pulled it off, but made the mistake of examining it before tossing it out. Turns out, it wasn't mold. It was actually a caterpillar with little white things all over it. Then I spotted another one. So I called Bobby outside and had him look at it. The little white things I thought were worms on the caterpillar, according to my farmer husband, are actually...eggs. I refused to touch the next one, and instead shook it off the plant. I think tomorrow I will actually wear my work gloves for a change.

4 large tomatoes 1/2 tsp salt 2 T balsamic vinegar 1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil 2 c fresh corn kernels (cut from 5 ears of corn) 1/4 c chopped basil Cut the tomatoes into small pieces (remove seeds if you prefer). Toss with salt. In a seperate bowl, put vinegar, then gradually add in oil. Toss in remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. I tried this recipe yesterday. It was my first experience with both balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Contrary to my initial reaction when I saw the recipe ingredients, I actually liked the taste . So imagine my surprise when I pulled it out of the refrigerator tonight, and saw that the oil/vinegar had hardened. ?! I heated it slightly in the microwave, but it made me a little hesitant about eating it. The taste was still the same. So for all my cooking connoisseur friends, I have some questions. What is the difference between olive oil, virgin olive oil, and extra virgin olive oil? What is balsamic vinegar? Does olive oil have more fat...

I like that song Dave plays on Wed nights: Little by little, inch by inch, by the yard it's hard, by the inch, what a cinch! Never stare up the stairs, just climb up the steps, little by little, inch by inch. That somewhat describes me these days: tiny, minute movements that don't seem to accomplish a whole lot. I attempt not to focus on the big picture but to look at the tiny things, but I've inherited my mother's gene of randomness. For example, I start cleaning Tonya's room. There's a small batch of clothes that need to be bagged to give someone. So I go to get a bag from the kitchen. While I'm in the kitchen I see a half-made grocery list, so I get side-tracked by the grocery list. In the process of finishing my grocery list I head to the bathroom for a "quick" inventory, and wind up cleaning there instead. One of the cleaning supplies reminds me of something that belongs in Tonya's bathroom, so I head back in that direction. I'm...

Happy August 1st! The kids are gone, and have arrived safely in Belarus. Bobby is home, and his surgery was successful. I am at home, and actually got a nap this afternoon! So now that I'm almost caught up on washing clothes (and I've just come to accept the reality that I will NEVER be caught up on ironing), I'm making my major project list for the 31 days August: get caught up at work clean and sort all the stuff in the kids' bedrooms baste the layers of Bobby's quilt together put up the apples and pears find a decent grape juice recipe for next month start and finish a painting start the rough draft for the children's Christmas play I could easily keep adding to this list (I like thinking up stuff!), but I'm working very hard on setting realistic goals that I can reach. (That should be a goal in and of itself!) So if I look a little haggard these next 31 days, you'll know I'm probably stretching myself too thin ( haha !) once again.