Pink

Thanks so much to Robin at Bittersweet Punkin who graciously passed along the "Nice Matters" award to me today. It's always a let down after our daughter returns to college, so what a nice surprise when I had the chance to catch up on my surfing, er. . . . very important research. And if you haven't had a chance already to check out Robin's fun little piece of blog-land, then run on over there--she always has something that is interesting, creative, inspiring, or just plain fun. And the very best thing about Robin, aside from the fact that she's really nice, is that she owns a PINK Dyson vacuum cleaner. I just might be vacuuming my house this very minute if I had a pink vacuum cleaner. I just might even be vacuuming my neighbor's house if I had a pink vacuum cleaner. Sadly, my dowdy old gray vacuum cleaner hasn't come out of the closet in quite a while; mostly because I've run out of duct tape to hold it together. But if I had any tape, it would be pink.

So I'd like to pass along the Nice Matters Award to others who may or may not own a pink Dyson vacuum cleaner. The first nominee is Debbie at In the Onion Patch. She makes the sweetest little mice! You've gotta check them out on her blog. And, she's really nice.
And the second nominee is Bebe at Peaches and Dreams, a fellow Georgia gal. She often features posts about artists and museums, or other interesting tidbits; and she happens to be super nice too.

[Okay, I'll come clean :-) All the duct tape in the world couldn't have fixed our old vac, so my dearest bought a new one a couple of weeks ago. Alas, it's just a plain, drab, boring ole beige. But I'm off to find pink duct tape.]

Vintage Valentine Postcards

Love these old images! Busy day today, and then we're off to Atlanta again.

3. . . .2. . . .1. . . .Blast Off!

Since I'm bringing up the rear of the Baby Boom Generation, and there were no blogs to chronicle the fun things my kids did when they were small (I don't think Al Gore had even invented the internet yet) -- and since I have a plethora of crazy stories rambling through my mind, I thought it might be fun to revisit some of those good ole days. (Plus, I just like to use the word "plethora" whenever I can.) Thus I begin a series entitled "Blasts From the Past" -- figurative blasts mostly, but one or two real blasts just to keep things interesting. Truthfully, this is a veiled, self-indulgent attempt to live in the past which is really an excuse to avoid doing laundry. These will be regular postings, and by regular, I mean random, because I really don't do structure or deadlines very well. Heck, that's why I don't even carry a watch--I find them too judgmental. And "random" fits in better with my busy life, because sometimes I actually need to do laundry.

I had 4 kids in 7 years and there are spaces of time which I just can't (or maybe, won't) remember. Days were filled with all the fun and busy-ness (aka, mayhem) that 4 kids, 2 dogs, one husband, and one 18 pound stray cat named Friendly could muster. I think I had at least one kid in diapers, sometimes two at a time, for about 10 years, without a break. Our family single-handedly kept Kimberly Clark and Proctor and Gamble in business through part of the '80's and into the '90's.

But one particularly hectic evening I remember that I was in a hurry to get myself and my kids out the door to some really important, live-or-die event like soccer practice or grocery shopping. I was busy trying to finish supper, clean up spilled juice, deal with a colic-y infant, answer a relentlessly ringing phone, and referee 2 toddlers. As I hurriedly stirred the pot on the stove, I quickly glanced over my shoulder to supervise yet another spat, and suddenly realized the baby was nowhere to be seen. In a panic I asked the two oldest, "WHERE'S THE BABY?!" I was met with dumbfounded stares, and my son finally said timidly, "Mom. . . .you're holding her." Talk about needing a Calgon moment.

But, Calgon didn't take me too far away. . . Sometimes things were quiet. . . .a little too quiet. . . . . like the scene from Bambi, just before the fire and then all the woodland creatures scramble, "Man's in the forest!!" During one of those moments, I found our 2 year old merrily singing and cleaning the toilet. . . with my toothbrush. Okay, that was scary, but the really scary part was that I wasn't sure just how many times before that she'd helped with the housework, and I didn't know. This is the same (Get outa my hospital!) child who came running into a room where I was sitting and then, unsolicited, announced defiantly, "I didn't touch anything." I'm not sure if the sound barrier was broken as I scrambled into the room where she'd been, and I never found out just what she hadn't touched, but I did replace all the toothbrushes, just in case.

Oh there are so many more stories, but I'm getting hives just reliving it all, so I'll save some for later. We survived those years and good thing--three are teenagers now. No worries there. . . right?

So, the first "blast" has been fired, so to speak, and is in the virtual books. And from a mom who's lived almost through to the other side, there is a light (or a train, maybe!) at the end of the tunnel and I'd never, ever trade the journey along the way, even for a new toothbrush. :-)

What a blessing.

Slide Show

I've been busy this week painting a nursery (with giant pink polka dots!) for a friend, but had a minute to share (i.e. brag about :-) something my daughter made. I just loved this little horse print from a "woodcut" she did in art class recently. She carved her design onto a thin piece of foam rubber, then made several prints. I might give it a try myself.

[Addendum: And be sure to check Suzanne's blog--she's having a give away.]

Update January 19: Here's the wall which I finished today--You can't really tell how it relates to the rest of the room, but the colors and style coordinate with her bedding, etc. Each dot took about 4 coats of paint to cover the chocolate background. Baby "R" is due on Monday, so we finished in just the nick of time.

Move to the Head of the Class

Recently I came upon a little link and thought it was kinda fun. It ranks your blog's readability, and somehow it ranked mine as College Level (Undergraduate). I thought I might try scanning and posting a page or two out of my daughter's Calculus book just to see if that might boost my blog's level a notch or two. [Note: I guess it doesn't rank the blog author's technological competency level, because I tried 8 times to load the link they provided with my "grade" and failed every time. That probably puts me with the pre-schoolers. At least I passed the "Draw Me" test on the front of a matchbook cover.]

http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/reading_level.aspx

[P.S. I've been tossing a few ideas around in my head for a couple of swaps. Hope all that tossing around hasn't loosened something up or broken anything--I probably need to hang on to every brain cell that's left. :-) I'll be posting some pics soon (of my ideas, not my brain!), hopefully. And I'm having a SALE at my website.]

Oh, the Monotony

The day started like any other. I was jolted awake by our infamous outside cat, Friendly (and no, dear readers, he is still not) who had once again, sneaked in when an unsuspecting husband let the dog out the night before. You might ask how clueless could an otherwise responsible, detail-oriented person be. (I'm fairly certain that the cat hasn't learned to teleport himself inside, although he was a stray and I'm not absolutely sure that in one of his previous 8 lives that he wasn't the subject of some government experiment involving such technology. Heck, he might even be a small cog in some secret government spy program, for all I know.) Anyway, this is the same man who did notice a large moth which flew into our house while letting the dog out one night last summer. He said he tried to find the large flying insect but couldn't, so promptly forgot about it. Three days later, I discovered the "moth" in my laundry room in the basement. Turns out that this moth was really a small brown bat and it was perched just above my head in the doorway. My hero husband came running when he heard my hysterical scream, and then went running when I found out that he had seen the thing fly into the house THREE DAYS EARLIER, and then forgot to tell me. Never mind that when he had seen it, it was a "moth," because it had now morphed into a giant vampire bat inches away from my jugular. (You may remember a previous post about a similar incident involving a rabid skunk and the dear Clueless One's failure to think it was a "big deal" that it bit my neighbor--somehow, Friendly was also part of that story too.)

Anyway, again, to return to my original story. . . as I gradually moved from that blissful state of deep slumber, to that foggy state of semi-consciousness, and then to that startled "I shouldn't have watched that horror movie last night" state of wakefulness, there, about an inch from my nose, sat a motionless orange cat staring at me. After I peeled myself off the ceiling it was time to start another day. "Get up girls. Sorry for that ear-piercing screech. No, Dad didn't let another bat into the house. Just Friendly." Off to school, and then on to my first cup of coffee and my daily dose of blog-land, only to find out that my dear friend Blondie has sent me a very kind award. Apparently I am one of her "Daily Doses"-I was so surprised. Such a wonderful way to break the monotony of our boring life here in Georgia.

I really didn't have a speech prepared, but I would like to thank dear Blondie, the others who stop in to read and comment, my kids, my dear husband, of course dear Friendly, my cleaner, my hairdresser, all the people in wardrobe and make up, my producer, my agent, the writers. . . . music playing louder as I drone on and on and on . . . . oh wait, just trying to compensate for the cancelled Golden Globes.


Honestly, and seriously, I was really touched by Blondie awarding me one of her Daily Doses. She really is a kindred spirit, and I read her blog daily too! Thanks so much, dear, dear Blondie.
Here's the story behind the award.

"This little award is called The Daily Dose - and here is all the important info to tell you what it is about and where it came from. This is a tribute to all the blogs that you've discovered that you can't possibly live without. They make you laugh, cry, think and feel connected every time you read a post. They give you a thrill as you see them loading into your browser and you get an equally satisfying thrill when you see that they have commented on your blog". From Xandra: creator, The Daily Dose Award.


I'd like to pass along the award to. . . .music playing louder and louder while I drone on and on and on. . .
Guess I'll post those later.

Hippity Hoppity Easter's On It's Way

Hosted by Heather, and unfortunately, due to a huge response the swap is now closed. But not to fear, check out SwapDex if you're interested in finding out about other swaps.

False Advertising?

My daughter and I were out the other day and saw a furniture store having a "Going Out of Business" Sale, and a large banner which read "No Reasonable Offer Refused." We were tempted to see if they meant what they said, and thought about going in and offering $5000 for a $30 chair.

"No! We must refuse that offer, lady. . . it is clearly unreasonable."
"How about $4999, then?"
"Sold!"

(Note: We took said daughter back to college yesterday, and I miss her already. We got her settled into her dorm room, purchased her textbooks, and had time to grab a bite to eat before making the lonely trip home. Thank goodness for cell phones, because we were just out of the worst of Atlanta traffic--and my eyes were just about dry--when my phone rang. "Your books are in the backseat of our car? Yes, I know that you will probably need them for class. Great, I guess we'll be seeing you again in about 3o minutes." Another hug good-bye, and then we were back on the road, needing a few more tissues. Seems like yesterday I was taking her to kindergarten.)

Hot Chocolate Weather in Georgia

It's been really cold and windy here in northeast Georgia; too cold to do much but stay in and drink lots of hot chocolate. Our school holidays are winding down and everything gets back to "normal" on Monday. I suppose normal is subjective, and I'm always a little sad when everyone has to return to the real world of work and school; but I am looking forward to getting back to creating.