Tears, Thank you notes, handwriting & postage stamps

This should be interesting. I wrote the title of this entry before I started in on the text.

I wonder if it's true that I am drawn to tears every day. I think it's actually possible. I know of at least two occasions for tears this week, and that's just right off the top of my head. The first flare up struck me as I finished reading aloud a beloved book to my kids. It was the last in a series of three, and I cried not only for the characters who had to say goodbye, but also for the loss of my own youth, and also, more simply, just the fact that the book was over. I had to pause several times just to get through the reading of it without choking up. The books were the Peter and The Star Catchers series by Dave Barry (yes, that Dave Barry) and Ridley Pearson. Amazing books.

The second thing I cried over this week occured just today. Kenneth's birthday is rapidly approaching and we were preparing the invitations. As any good homeschooler, I decided he definitely needed to have a hand in this process. So, I took the envelopes over to my desk, pushed my keyboard aside, withdrew a ruler from my desk drawer, rejected it, and chose another, (How fortunate am I to have my choice of rulers?), took up a pencil and carefully drew a neat guideline across each envelope so that my son could put the names of each of the guests on them without wobbling too badly. I was methodically attending to this task when my perplexed and befuddled husband came in to find me quietly weeping, with real tears running down my cheeks. I choked and gasped out, "I'm okay, it's okay," wanting to reassure him that I was only crying and that I had not gone off the deepend, at least not yet. I was just desperately missing my mother. I remember her doing precisely this same task for me for an occasion, almost certainly a birthday, for which she expected me to write an invitation or a perhaps a thank you note. I can even see the ruler she would have used to do it. It was yellow and said, "re-elect Judge John Mead." It is much more salient and powerful than any lesson I was ever taught in school. I always think of my mother when it is time to write anything by hand. She prided herself on her handwriting. She lived in an era when beautiful handwriting was very trendy. She told me that she and her girlfriends would actually get together and practice their handwriting. When I was in Jr. High she sent me to a handwriting tutor. I think she was holding my to an unrealistic standard, given my age. My handwriting is perfectly acceptable now, but the value of the handwriting, and of the thank you notes is as indelible as the ink.

So, are handwritten thank you notes a thing of the past? Are all those kids out there who are frantically texting each other going to grow up to send handwritten-snail-mail thank you notes to each other as adults? I'm trying to picture it. The image just fails to materialize. So, how is it that manners evolve? I don't really remember when you weren't supposed to wear white shoes after Labor Day, but it's certainly one of those references that gets dragged out as hopelessly arbitrary and archaic when the subject of manners comes up. I did grow up being told that it was absolutely off limits to attend a wedding in a white dress, but I see people do it more and more. I doubt that they are saying to themselves as they are dressing on the day of the wedding, "Oh, I know I'm not supposed to wear white to a wedding, but I just don't care!" More likely, they just haven't ever been told of the custom. So, again, I ask, will the text speak youth of today grow up to value a handwritten thank you note or invitation? I guess the jury is still out. My guess is no, and that's okay. It's every bit as okay as wearing white shoes after Labor Day, because you see, it's arbitrary and archaic.

So, speaking of my desk drawer, and sending things via snail mail…I have stamps in there representing six generations back in first-class postage rates. I used to buy stamps by the roll, but, as we send virtually nothing, except invitations, thank you notes, and Christmas Cards via snail mail, I can't use the stamps up fast enough to keep up with the ever changing postage rates. In fact, last year I didn't even send my Christmas Cards through the mail. I sent a virtual Christmas card in the form of a slide show of family photos from the entire year. It was very cool, but anyone on my list who didn't have email was just SOL. Just this past spring I was supposed to pay a friend of mine a deposit for a weekend retreat together. I actually asked her if I could just pay her via PayPal, because that was much easier than finding a stamp with the proper postage. She happily accepted it.

See, I did pretty well with that title.

Have a great day!

Six Flags is stingy with their ice!

Whew! We spent the day at Six Flags yesterday. Yes, I know what you're thinking, "It was 104°F Yesterday! Are you derranged" Well, we are now, primarily as a result of heat exhaustion. We're also under the delusion that having two free tickets to Six Flags, thanks to the Six Flags 6 hour reading club, means we will "save" money. Let's not kid ourselves, we ain't saving Jack! I was born and raised in Arlington, Texas, home of the original, the first, Six Flags over Texas. (For those of you who are not from here, you may wonder, "Why do they call it Six Flags?" Well…it's time fer a little Texas History Lesson. But that can wait until the end of the post.*) So being a native Arlingtonian, I cut my teeth on Six Flags, and there will always be a soft spot in my heart for the park. However, I need to take this opportunity to file an informal grievance with the place after our visit. Holy-Chili-Cheese-Dog, did that cost a heck of a lot of money! It was $15 just to park the car. But, really, what got me was how stingy they were with the ice! After doing some quick calculations, we determined that it would be less expensive for our family to purchase two of the freely-refillable "Souvenir" (God knows why anyone would want to keep one of these things!) cups for $15.00 each, and have them filled with water, than it would be for us to spend the day purchasing water bottles. With five of us and the water bottles costing $3.50 each, we would hit that $30.00 mark pretty fast. So that's what we did. However, after the first fill up, the folks in the little drink kiosks consistently put less and less ice in the cups. Generally, they were less than half full. I assume the employees have been instructed to do this unless asked otherwise. I assume that's because ice is expensive. I also have to assume, based on my observations yesterday, that the employees in the drink stations were instructed to work at a glacial pace, maybe they thought that was a way to make their precious ice last longer. I can not imagine working more slowly than those folks were working. But the stingyness with the ice is truly a false economy, because what happens when you fill my cup with very little ice, is that the ice melts almost immediately. So, I'm just going to dump my now melted ice into the bushes and come back (after standing in an unnecessarily interminable line) and ask you for more. So, basically, by giving me less ice, you are encouraging me to throw it away. Arrghh! At one point, after standing in a line and asking for ice water, the girl said, "Oh you don't want to get water here because it just comes from the sink, you want to go next door to the funnel cake stand." Well, guess what, I have just stood in this line, I can't say as how I'm jumping up and down to go stand in another one! I don't care if her water comes from the sink! (Where else would tap water come from?) I'm blistering hot, from standing in this line for 20 minutes waiting for her to help, at most 3, customers ahead of me, I just want my ice water, I want it now, and then I want to go stand in the shade. Please. Please can I go stand in the shade? Like I said, Whew!

Now, the nice thing is that I got to watch my kiddos' faces light up with elation when riding some of the same rides I rode when I was just their size. Like the Sombrerro, for instance, oh how I love that thing! With a fresh coat of paint, and a scrubbed clean look, it was like a time warp. We rode it several times and I got to sit with each of them in turn. Eleanor giggled gleefully and chattered on about the, "Big Yellow Hat!" I think she was reminded of the one Curious George's friend wears. Reid turned into a limp noodle and let the ride wave him about, loving that flip flopping sensation in his tummy. Kenneth just grinned, his impish little gapped tooth smile just about as wide as a long Texas mile. We didn't get home until late, they were all just completely filthy, I dunked them each in the bath, scrubbed them up, and then tucked them exhausted, but happy into their sweet little beds, and not a single one the least bit sunburned thanks to my diligence. Someday, maybe they'll take their kids there and feel the same way. Hope you all have a wonderful day, and that you are enjoying your summer!

*The reason that the park was named Six Flags is because the areas of the park all represent the Six Flags that have, at one time or another, flown over the land that is now the Great State of Texas. (Although, the last time I checked, the Gotham City flag never flew over Texas.) Those flags are, in order: Spain, France, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, The United States of America, The Confederate States of America and the United States again. You can read more about that here: The Six National Flags of Texas

My Cover Girl, and more road rage

Hiya! Important business first. Miss Eleanor is a Cover Girl! My page "Beckoned" featuring a picture of Eleanor, and gorgeous products designed by Lorie Davison, is on the cover of the August Issue of The Artisan Notebook! Linky here:



And, speaking of bumper stickers. I happened across this car in a parking lot today and just had to stop and snap a shot!



Well, thanks for stopping by! I'm sure I'll have a wordier post sometime soon!

A New Layout, a Freebie and Road Rage

Michael pointed out a news item to me just the other day. He said that studies have shown that folks who have their cars plastered with a lot of bumper stickers are more likely to dish out a little road rage on their fellow drivers. I think he was filling me in on this tidbit because I have my van plastered with magnetic mod flowers. I love it! Now you might think that sweet little flowers are pretty innocuous, but the article specifically mentioned that the content of the bumper stickers is actually irrelevant. Apparently, folks who cover their cars with personal touches are very territorial. Yup, that's me. Here's the article if you're curious: Bumper Stickers = Road Rage I think territorial describes me to a tee. In fact, it really explains a lot. So, if you see a threatening Sea foam green Toyota Sienna covered with crazy daisys bearing down on you in your rearview mirror, well…you'll know it's me. Reminds me a little of the Stephen King story, Christine.

Now I have a treat today. A new scrapbook page. I just finished this one. I'm doing a guest spot for Lorie Davison for July, and I'm tickled pink, by the way! So, I used three of her kits, the newest is a Collaboration with Edeline Marta and is called A Walk in The Meadow, and the other two are Faerily Moonlit and Water Spirit. Here's what I came up with.



I also used my great grandmother's reading spectacles in the LO. I photographed them, extracted them and then, for my little learning experience this week, I figured out how to make them transparent (without making them disappear…thank you Thena!) So, since I went to all the trouble, I thought I'd offer them as a little token of my appreciation, as a blog freebie to you. You can download them here:

NanniesSpecs.png.zip

The rest of the credits can be found in my DST Gallery

Read anything good lately? I just finished Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan. It's historical fiction about Frank Lloyd Wright and and affair he had which lured him away from his family in the prime of his career. Fantasic book, actually horrific in many ways, but a great read, I must recommend it. Well, I'm a bit all over the map today, but, after all, that's why I called this "mental detritus!" See you next time!

A Day for Cute Quotes

Okay, first business is to tell you about my mysterious trip. Kenneth and I went to Baltimore for the Davidson Young Scholars Summit. It was really enjoyable. Kenneth and I both had a great time. He got to learn chess from a grandmaster, attend a class on the solar system taught by Frank Summers…who is so awesome at teaching classes on the Solar System that he has a DVD for sale through the Teaching Company. He also got to hang out with some of his buddies from previous years, like Madison and Dominic, for instance. Way Cool!

Then we were off to Colorado for a family reunion and that was plenty of fun too. We went to an aligator farm, where yours truly held a gator for the family photo, I was the only one present who was even willing to consider it. I guess the McCalpins are more squeamish than the Reids (wink!) We also visited the Sand Dunes National Park and the creek was running so we got to play in the sand and eat a pic-nic lunch with Grandma & Grandpa. It was a wonderful visit. The highlight of the trip had to be our participation in the Great Crestone Parade and Waterfight. Uncle Jim Drove his old Army Truck and the boys in the back were armed and dangerous. I was sitting in the cab with Eleanor…I repeat…in the cab, and we were drenched. There was water dripping from the ceiling. Eleanor finally said at near the end, "Dat 'nuff water!"

So, for todays quotes. All three children were kind enough to provide me with quotes today.

First Reid: I picked him up from his first day of Lego Early Structures camp and this is the conversation we had:
Me: Did you Have fun?
Reid: Well, sort of.
Me: What did you do?
Reid: Well, all the other kids built stuff with Legos while I played in the swivel chair.
Me: You didn't want to build anything with the Legos?
Reid: Well…ya know, I know you wanted me to have fun, Mom, but I have fun all the time at home with you.

That was $90 well spent.

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Next Quote Kenneth: This is also when I asked about his Lego camp which was, "World of Droids."
Kenneth: We were talking about Wall-e in my camp today. My teacher said he didn't get a chance to see it because his wife dragged him off to do something else. I was listening to him and thinking, "Hey Mr! Don't let your wife push you around!"

Umm Hmm.

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Final Quote from Eleanor. We were eating our pic-nic lunch outside on the grass after the boys' camps and Reid, never one to sit still, had dashed off to go climb a crepe myrtle, in which he promptly got stuck and required my help to get down. We walked back to our blanket, he took off and nearly immediately climbed the tree again. Eleanor, who had wondered over there with him and was down on the ground looking up at him, put her hands on her hips, turned toward me and yelled, "MoooOOoooM! Reid's stuck in the tree again."

I guess I just have funny kids! They certainly make me laugh! Hope you are having a wonderful day.

New Favorite Song

I just hit the dentist and the doctor all in one day. Whew! It's a sad thing when going to the dentist is a treat because getting your teeth cleaned is still a little break from your children. Let's just try that again with a positive spin, shall we?… I really appreciate opportunities for a change of scenery and going to the dentist is no exception. I had a chance to watch a few minutes of Rachel Ray talking about obese pets (!) and I even got to read a couple pages of a magazine. It was a nice break. After the dentist, I got to go to the doctor, while I was there, I heard a song. It's probably not new, I'm good at getting excited about stuff that's ancient history, but I loved it and I bopped right home and got myself a copy from the itunes store. It's Brad Paisley She's Everything. I'm an eclectic kind of girl, I'll listen to anything if it has good lyrics.

Tomorrow I'm leaving on a little mini vacation with just Kenneth, it's top secret so I'll tell you more when I get back. (See, now you are curious!) Tee hee.

Speaking of Kenneth, fencing camp was interesting for him, but ultimately good. Coach is Polish and pretty hard core. I think it was good for Kenneth to have a pretty rigid environment, but it did remind me that Kenneth is not a joiner or a socialite. He definitely has some personality quirks that make group activities challenging for him. Something to work on as we wend our way on this journey together.

Reid ran right into a doorknob last week and gave himself a black eye. It looks worse now that it is healing than it did when it was fresh. Isn't that one of those ridiculous classic stories though? Poor little guy, he was not only hurt but, I'm pretty sure offended. He was very concerned about the upcoming trip. He wanted to know which days of the week he'd be staying with Daddy. I told him, "Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday," at which point he started groaning. When I asked why he said, "Oh no! Some of those are work days, which means Daddy is going to be on the phone all day!!" I assured him that Daddy had taken vacation days so he will be available to mind Reid, himself and Miss Eleanor. He was tentatively accepting, but I could tell he had his suspicions.

Speaking of Miss Eleanor, she has turned into quite the little chatter box. She knows the alphabet now, primarily thanks to Dr. Seuss ABC. Now we are working on learning to use the Track Ball on the computer, although I must confess I'm lousy about practicing with her. She talks up a storm, using ginormous sentences. Reminds me a lot of a certain redhead I know.

For Father's Day we gave Michael some software for his blackberry and 84 pictures so now he has a wallet sized slideshow. Pretty cool. He used it this week already when a new client said, "So, you gotta wife? kids?" I'm so proud!

Ah well, it's late. I should go to bed. Busy day tomorrow. See ya sooN!

Too Long!

Okay it's 3:00 am on a Monday and I can't sleep. Oh…what to do? I know! Post on my poor sad, neglected blog. I just returned today from a wonderful weekend away from my family. I went on a scrapbooking retreat! Can you believe it? I stayed at the most wonderful bed and breakfast in Grand Saline, Texas. I had meals prepared for me, a wonderful, beautifully lit scrap room to work in and the company of wonderful friends. All on a lovely creekside rural setting. It was quite a get-away. I really didn't want to come home. Really. I mean, I probably would have wanted to come home eventually, but I wasn't ready yet!

Kenneth starts fencing camp tomorrow (well, er, I guess that would be today) He should do okay, I'm going to try really hard not to worry about him too much, but being dropped off at 9:00 and working all day is a very different experience for my little homeschooled one. I hope he doesn't get discouraged. He's kind of quick to throw in the towel if he's not marvelous at something on the first try. I'll definitely be in his corner pulling for him, no matter what.

Speaking of summer…oh, I wasn't was I? Well, I was talking about camp, and camp is one of those things that happens in the summer. Since it's summer now you'd think I'd lighten up on the kiddos, but I'm not planning to. I figure they get enough breaks here and there every week, all year long, why should they get the summer off? I'm mean, aren't I? I just want them to stay sharp. Kenneth will be getting enough of a break by going to all these camps.

Well, I'll see if I can post something else new sooner rather than later, but for now I'm off. ta ta!

Double RAK'd!

Whoa! I got RAK'd twice in one day, and really within about 15 minutes of each other! The first RAK was from Madame Mim. She sent me this lovely kit called Guinevere's Tale:

The papers are amazing! All handmade! So gorgeous!

So, I captured this extremely cool picture of Reid, complete with Dandelion Seeds!

And I used her gorgeous kit to turn it into this:

Other Stuff I used:
Printer Blocks Alpha from Kim Hill
and font is Dakota Handwriting

The second RAK was from the talented Candice Wong. I think she knew I needed to see her stuff so she sent this to me to lure me into spending more money on the rest of the gear in her shop. She's got some absolutely to die for items! Here's Spring Flowers, which she sent me. I'll let you know when I've got a LO with it! Ta ta for now!

You can get her stuff at DigiGirlsDesigns OR at Purple Paper Flowers

Okay, now! It's very late (even later than it was this time last night, thanks to the time change) SO…I'm off to bed. see you next time. (Maybe I'll have more to tell and less to show next time!)

This is What happens when it Snows Twice in A Week…In Texas!

The snow started falling like crazy around 11:00 pm on Monday night. I threw the tripod out on the front porch and captured this amazing pic. This is our tree that has landscape lighting coming from below. I love the way it looks, and I love the streaks from the falling snow too.

I tried to wake Kenneth up, I really did! I was so excited, and I wanted him to see it, but he was out cold. (I only WISH I could sleep that soundly!) By the next morning though, our whole yard was completely smothered in vanilla ice cream. It was so beautiful! I got up very early and went out to snag a few shots before the kids were even out of bed. Of course, you can count on Texas for this bizarre juxtaposition:

When it snows, the tradition in my extended family is to call each other up on the telephone and say simply, "Look outside!" We don't even need to say, "It's snowing." We need only say, "Look outside," and the other person knows immediately what that implies. So…I sent an email to all my family entitled, "Look Outside" with this picture:

Of course we had to go out and play in it, which provided even more photo opportunities. I got the group shot first and then I moved on to the boys. I should have done Eleanor first because…by the time I got to her, well, a picture is worth a thousand words! (But doesn't she look like a little pink marshmallow peep, even through the tears?)

The one of the three of them together turned out nicely I think, too bad it's too late to use it for a Christmas card!

Michael even got one of me!



They only lasted about five minutes at a stretch playing in the stuff, but they really had a great time. I still remember the overwhelming joy on snowdays. About mid morning, Kenneth said to me, "Is school out? Because if it's school out for them, can we copy after them just this once? Pur-leeeeezze?" I'd already pretty much decided that even homeschooled kids ought to have a snow day, just for the experience of it. Each time they came back in, they expected hot chocolate, complete with whipped cream on top, of course. I keep a can of whipped cream in the fridge for just such occasions. They get a mug filled about 1/3 of the way with hot chocolate and then I fill up the rest with whipped cream. ( I usually refill the whipped cream once too!) On a cold snowy day when they are in and out every five minutes, that can add up to a lot of hot chocolate! Who needs lunch?!

Well, since I let them off the hook for schoolwork, I figured I had to do something productive with the day, so we tackled the job of cleaning their room. Not just the usual tidy-it-up stuff, either, I shoved all the debris from the closet floor out into the middle of the room, and made them put everything where it actually goes. When Legos are your passion, this can become a monumental task. All the while, Reid was clamoring to build a snowman. He kept running to the window to see if the snow had melted yet. I promised him we would build the snowman as soon as Eleanor went down for her nap. As soon as she did, and the room was clean, out we went. Kenneth, who was all done with the snow by then, chose to participate in a strictly advisory role through the window. We built him right outside the boys' bedroom so they could see him from their bunk beds. He didn't even last an hour! He had already toppled. I'm glad I got the pictures when I did! He has mushrooms for eyes, a traditional carrot nose, and a red bell pepper slice smile.

Reid was quite proud.

So then, the snow melted away and the next day it was 60 degrees and the snow was just a distant memory. The boys asked me, "When will it snow again?" I sighed wistfully, "Not until next year." (or not…)
When the first snow fell, I pulled my REI hiking boots out of semi-retirement. I hadn't worn them since our hike in Grenada on our cruise 3 years ago. In fact, they were still covered with mud from Grenada! They were perfect snow shoes. They kept my feet dry and warm. When I took them off, I left them in the mudroom, but this morning, I was tidying up. I put them away, and actually thought, "who knows when I'll need these again! I better put them away so they don't stay in the mudroom until July!" Yeah, right. Little did I know I'd have them right back on again this afternoon. It was 80 on Sunday, and 60 yesterday for crying out loud!

When it started piling up this afternoon, the boys were in heaven!

Eleanor liked it better today too!

And, when we came inside, and I started mixing up the hot chocolate, Eleanor took her finger and made a gesture as though she were pressing on the nozzle of the whipped cream can…and she accompanied this gesture with a sound effect, "sshhhhhttt" like the whipped cream coming out. Now that completely cracked me up. But for all that our snow was a big big deal. It doesn't compare with the REALLY big news of the day. Eleanor used the potty! Here she is putting her reward sticker on it, while big brother Reid looks on with praising amazement. Then there she is, grinning with pride after the big moment. Yay Eleanor!

And so, Mommy ponders, there is light at the end of the diaper tunnel! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
Have a great day…or week…or however long it takes me to write another exciting installment. toodle-loo!

News, News, News

Well, it's lots of news alright, but not sure if any of it will rock anyone's world, well, except mine that is. Okay, first up…I have a Webkinz. It was only a matter of time. I feel itchy palms every time I watch my kids play with theirs because I want to play too, so I just had to have one. My massage therapist has one…she doesn't even have kids, so why shouldn't I? I'm so in love with him. He arrived in today's mail from an Amazon.com Market Place seller and, oh! is he cute. This isn't him; the hearts on his nose are slightly different, but he looks a lot like this. I'm trying to decide what to name him. I'm open to suggestions, of course. Right now I'm leaning towards Gil Grissom or George Clooney



Other news is that I had a gallery stand out at DST (that's DigiShopTalk.com for you non-scrappers out there) yesterday. How cool is that?! Flergs RAKed me with a Digital Scrapbooking kit called Psycho Magnet (A name which I might have inspired since I am one of her scariest stalkers to which she would almost certainly attest. Be afraid Flergs, be very afraid) The kit looks like this:


And here's what I did with it:

And, since the journaling is pretty stinkin' tiny on there, here it is a little easier on the eyes:
If I ever thought before having children what it would be like to raise a child with a stratospheric IQ, I’m sure my imagination failed me. Hell, for that matter, my imagination failed miserably to accurately capture raising children at all! Even as a toddler, I knew you were exceptional. It was hard to miss. However when Dr. Wood said, “I only test gifted children and his scores are the highest I’ve recorded in a decade.” I was staggered. I have read that most education professionals don’t have the opportunity to come across a child like you in their entire careers. Here I am with a ring side seat into your life every day. But I would feel blessed and chosen for that opportunity regardless of your intelligence. The funny thing is that I don’t give it a thought on most days. You are just my sweet little Copper Top, who I love and nurture as any mother does. You may be brilliant Kiddo, but I’ve still got you trumped on wisdom and experience! After a moment of shock, I drove away from Dr. Wood’s office and it occurred to me that nothing had changed. You were still the same little guy you had been 15 minutes before. You are like other children in far more ways than you are different. You love to be tickled, love having raspberries blown on your tummy and you can still have temper tantrums when you are frustrated. You grumble when it’s time to practice the piano. You have training wheels on your bike, believe in the Tooth Fairy, and you still want me to tuck you in at night. Those things are infinitely more priceless in value than anything a test score could reveal.


Other news is that Kenneth used some cool new software to write a book. Near the end of the process he was supposed to add photo of himself, that will show up on the back cover. The software has a built in feature for uploading and printing a hardbound book. So, he asked me to take a pic of him for the cover of his book and I thought this turned out very well:



And, last, but not least, here's news from Amy Fenner, for whom I create digital scrapbook layouts. Her newest kit Color Me Crazy is going to be the Queen of the Crop Kit at GoDigitalScrapbooking.com this Friday, the 29th (leap day!) It can be yours just for completing all the challenges in the Queen of the Crop Woo Hoo! It looks like this:



Oh wait! I have something else! I got a Ron Paul sign for the yard. Not sure what Michael will have to say about that since he hasn't made up his mind whether he's going to throw his vote away on a Libertarian pretending to be a Republican or throw his vote away on a Libertarian who admits to being a Libertarian. I guess I'll find out when he gets home ha ha ha!

Take care until next time. Watch for another blog entry tomorrow, as tomorrow is/was my mother's birthday.

Sorry Hillary, you are not worthy of having an "Alamo"

Hillary's Alamo? – um, how about, "no."

Hey, do y'all remember the battle of the Alamo? Well, probably not from personal experience, of course, but you've heard of it, right? I have a bone to pick with news writers like the Baltimore Sun's Rick Pearson who are comparing Senator Clinton's upcoming face off against her fellow democrats here in the Lone Star State to a hallowed historic battle wherein 200 people lost their lives defending their freedom. The comparison of Hillary's Texas campaign to the battle of the Alamo is an irreverent insult to the heros who died there. Lest we forget, the Alamo is a shrine. Furthermore the comparison doesn't make sense, the battle of the Alamo was not a victory for Texas, but it did keep Santa Anna and his legion at bay just long enough to allow Sam Houston time to rally his troops sufficiently to prevail at San Jacinto. In other words, we Texans lost the battle but doing so meant we won the war. If Hillary loses Texas, she's outta here. So, calling this political Texas showdown "The Alamo," is not only a desecration to an iconical memorial, but it's not even accurate. Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, William Travis, and my mother would be rolling over in their graves, if any of them had one. Thanks y'all.

I can bring home the bacon, but I can't cook it

"In case you haven't noticed, the bacon's done. And remember? I want mine floppy." Can you hear the impatient microwave re-beeping in the background as my four year old says this to me this morning? Would you give bacon, floppy or otherwise, to someone who talked to you like this? I thought not! I was sorely tempted to go into bacon withholding mode, but I resisted. I also happily resisted telling him just where he could put his floppy bacon. I mean…could you keep bacon from a face like this, even if it is saying things that are a bit impudent?



I'm working on a scrap LO of him and what he packs in his lunch to take to school each day. I thought that might be a fun memory to keep. My brain is truly exploding with ideas for scrapbook pages, I cannot possibly scrap fast enough to get them all done…besides which I keep taking more and more pictures so I keep getting further and further behind. This is borderline psychotic, and it's most definitely clinically compulsive. yikes.

I took the kids to see The Pirates Who Don't do anything, and if you have not yet done this, you should. I think I thought it was funnier than they did. If you are Christian shy, this won't offend you. It is a bit of a departure from the usual bible verse fair that they offer up, but I wouldn't call it irreverant either. I even got the soundtrack for a friend's daughter because it's so zippy and fun.

I started up my very own smugmug account just because of this blog. I needed a place to put all these pictures! Actually, that's not fair, I got it because I want to keep all my pictures safe and sound. I became familiar with smug mug because we use it for all the SAIL yearbook photos. It's a great way to make sure everyone has access to them. They offer lots of cool photo products too so you can order straight from them…however…beware, they don't offer calendars (duh! what's up with that?)

Oh, and I have a parting thought for you to ponder for the rest of your day. What do you get when you let your four year old play Cars Radiator Springs on your computer (because it doesn't run on his) while he's eating an ice cream sandwich? You get a happy surprise that looks like this:




I was thinking of posting some freebies made of organic goodies - like a stem from that flowering quince pictured below, only extracted for scrapbooking use. I could do lots of planty flowery stuff. That stuff seems to be very popular right now. Would you like that? Let me know!

Here's a page I made using it:

Is it Spring Yet?

Oh my! I think it might be spring. We have flowers blooming in our neighborhood.

This is been an interesting week.  I've been on Vicodin.  This is the 8th day.  My neck is…well, it's a pain in the neck!  Have any of you ever tried these funky TENS units?  They are so happenin' It's got a little belt clip so I can get shock therapy on the go.  Wow.  I'm lovin' it.  I've also discovered the groovin' voice of Snook the Tree Sloth.  I basically became a Mouse Potato this week while I convalesced.  Which means that I, hired a nanny to do the heavy lifting (that would be Eleanor), turned on PBS for my kids, and glued my fanny to my computer desk chair.I was just mesmerized by the soothing voice of Snook the Sloth.  So soothed in fact that I had to know who's voice that is.  I did find the guy.  His name is Peter Linz, and he looks just like he sounds. I wish he could come over and sing me to sleep each night, or he'd really be good at self hypnosis audio tapes.  But…that could be the effects of the Vicodin.  Oh, and just now, here, at my house on Saturday-post-lunch.  I just said to my children, who were hovering around my desk as I type, "Could you just stop asking so many questions?  Couldn't someone else answer the questions for a little while? Please?" Pathetic.   I think I need Snook the Sloth to answer the questions for me.  He'd probably be kinder and gentler than I'm feeling at the moment.

I'm going to spend some time adding fun features to my blog here because I know that pretty soon, there will be people lined up for blocks clamoring to read my words of wisdom.
 

I hope each of you have a lovely day!

The Big Greenpalm Grove Blog Debut

I told Michael, "I need a blog!" 

He said, "You do not need a blog." 

For a while, I heeded his sage advice, and then temptation got the best of me.  So here am I blogging away.  I don't know why Valentine's Day seemed like a good day to start blogging, but it did.  And, because I have so much spare time…no, wait, that can't be it…must be some other reason.  Let's see…okay starting again.

So, because, my brain tends to explode with thoughts, (yep, definitely more accurate!) I decided to create my very own mental dumping ground.  Hence the title "The Mental Detritus of greenpalm." I thought that was fitting.  So far so good, I've managed to type several lines of precisely nothing! Wow, I can tell this whole blog thing is really going to have a profound effect on the world.  So glad I can make a difference, even in a small way.

Okay, so, because this is the big debut of my blog.  I've got a digital scrapbooking freebie to give away.  This is a collection of 10 vintage valentines.  They belonged to my great aunt and they are just so cute, I think.  All are scanned at 300 dpi and extracted for you to use however you'd like.  Of course I'd love to see what you do with them.   I'd also love to have some love, particularly fitting today, I think!  Happy Valentine's Day.

Here's the link for the freebie.

here's what they look like:

Hope everyone has a wonderfully romantic day! Please be sure you eat some chocolate.  I know it's a necessity for me today! Wheeee!