Fall Preview ...

OMG. It is that time of year again. The time of year when you need to take a day off work to prepare for the new Fall lineup of TV shows. It isn't as easy as one might think. You first have to figure out what all of the new shows are. You then have to get on the Internet and read what the show is about and watch the sneak preview. OK, so then you have to make notes about when they start and what channel they are on not to mention the day and time the will regularly be on. After all of this you still have to get the DVR involved. You can only tape two shows at one time so you then prioritize the shows that you have chosen. It is a painful process. Luckily there is nothing on Monday or Friday that I want to watch, that will give me a chance to catch up on everything I have set to tape. Gary is not so excited. He dislikes about 90% of my shows so he usually excuses himself to the bedroom to watch Fox News. The secret to a good marriage ... DVR and two TVs.

OK, so I finally did it ....

Did you see the target ad this last Sunday? How could I not buy a new purse? They had five or six different purses that I liked and they were only $20.00. Gary and I went running around on Sunday afternoon just to get out of the house and somehow or another we ended up at Target with two purses and a wallet in the cart. I don’t know how it happened, it just did. I have carried both purses around the house now for two days and have finally decided which to keep. I am also taking the wallet back because all of my “stuff” not money but stuff will not fit into it. I just couldn't take it anymore. It was either go buy a $20 purse or pay $65 for a massage to deal with all of the stress of no new purse. I think I got the best deal at Target.

Grandma or Mom?

After somewhat of a stressful week, I sat down today to watch some mindless TV. As I am flipping through the channels, I come across the Maury Show. Is my husband the father of my daughter's baby? OK, now first I thought, do people really watch this crap? Then I found that it was the end of the show and I had sat and watched the entire show. So, the answer to that questions is YES. Where do those people come from. So you are a single mom and you begin to date and then marry. On your first wedding anniversary you find out that your daughter is pregnant ... and it might be your husband's baby. Are you kidding me? I am saying they need to go straight from the Maury Show to Dr Phil. After watching this show for an hour all I can think of is .... does that baby call you Granny or Stepmom? Next time I want mindless TV I am watching Sponge Bob.

It is one of those days ...

When someone lives with you for several months, no matter hard you try not to, you get attached. It has been two weeks today that my granddaughter, Jamie (4) left for a visit to Elden and Columbia and has never returned. I miss her. I miss her waking me up in the mornings, singing "you are my sunshine". I miss her calling me "granny" with hands on her hips. I miss her sitting on my lap while I tried to work. Today Amanda has moved into her dorm at the University of Arkansas for her freshman year in college. I miss her also. I will miss the sushi, the soccer games and hearing her call me "Doof". In my best possible attempt to cheer myself up today, I have the music playing really really loud. I started out listening to Randy Travis, Big Smith and Andy Griffith Gospel CDs. I have just been walking around the house singing as loud as I could possibly sing. The dogs are scared. They have run into the bedroom to hide under the bed. Ok, well Roxy just has her head under the bed because she can't fit any other part of her body under there. I have changed the music to Big Smith. Burn down the house, 12 inch 3 speed oscillating fan and Trash are my fav Big Smith songs. Daisy has stuck her head out from under the bed and is now howling as I sing ... I'm gonna burn down the house and leave by the light of the fire ... I am not sure if it is my singing that is making her howl or if she thinks I am going to leave her in the house while it is burning. The music helps ... but when it stops, there is still the void of no Jamie or Amanda. Oh, and to make things just a bit worse ... there is still no new fall purse.

PURSE ....

You ever get something in your mind and you can't get it out. Your mind wanders away from it for a bit but it always goes right back to that one thing. Well, I need a new purse. I have spent all day convincing myself that I should not jump in the car and go look for the perfect Fall purse. I mean if I started, it could take all day. Target, TJMax, JCPenney, Dillard's, Macy's, Gordman's ... and the list goes on. So I have made it through the entire day without going and getting one yet here I sit at 10:15pm still thinking about it. I have been on QVC and the home shopping network websites. Still, no new purse. I went to the closet and got one out from last year. It is perfectly fine but who am I kidding ... there will be a new purse and if I was a betting woman I would say I will NOT be able to make it through day two without at least starting the search. Wish me luck.

Cupcakes are the way to go.

I have been spending more time on facebook since the girls are gone. I have a lot of time on my hands. I have been reading profiles of those in my past. Some are very specific and some not. I just read my profile and I feel so boring. Married for 7 years, worked at the same place for 10 years. No pictures of my kids, cause I don't have any. No pics of my step kids cause they don't like me. I have decided to make some stuff up ... I think I am going to go with cupcakes. I am married to Gary who works for the us Marshall's (cause i love the show "in plain sight"). He travels alot which is why I am able to spend so much time making cupcakes. I opened "jenny's cakes" 5 years ago and was voted best place to get sweets by the 417 magazine for the third year in a row. We are members of the Corgi rescue team taking in pups and dogs alike who have been abused or are from puppy mills. We just returned from a two week vacation in Hawaii, photos to follow. I have just graduated from culinary school and spend all of my spare time cooking gourmet meals for the homeless. Or maybe I have been married to Gary for seven years, we have kids that don't like us, jobs that are boring and I can't cook. I think cupcakes are the way to go.

Where does the time go?

It has been awhile since I wrote. I hate that I can not tell you what I have done for the last couple of weeks. I didn't have a lot of down time. My DVR is 73% full so I haven't been watching much TV. My on-line farm has all 4 day crops so I haven't been on the computer much. I don't seem to get anything done. I haven't done anything fun. You work and then two weeks are gone. I guess what they say is true ... the older you get the faster time goes by. OMG ... I have nothing. Nothing to talk about. Goodnight.

You will be missed Grandma Pearl

My husband's Grandma died this week. It is sad. She was 93 and was always very nice to me when I moved to Columbia. No judgements. Just accepted me into her family. It is funny what you find out about family when they die and you read their Obit in the paper. Why doesn't anyone tell you about your family why they are alive. When people die, it makes you think that you need to Live every day to the fullest. It reminds you that you have family that you need to stop taking advantage of and go see. You always hear people say things like "you will be missed" but in reality, if you never went to see them while they were alive, the person that died had probably already started missing you. People get upset with themselves because they let so much time go by, they stopped sharing their lives with people, they stopped visiting with people. OK, maybe a text now and then ... but that is not real communication. People have so much to give these days (and i don't mean money or objects) and we just don't take the time to find out what it is. What are we so busying doing? When I get back from Columbia, I am going to visit my Grandma. I MISS MY DAD. Don't wait too late to get in touch with, go see ... or just call and talk to that person, the one you assume will always be there. Make amends. Say your sorry. Get back in their lives .... before you are saying about the next person "you will be missed" or "I should have visited more." Thank you for accepting me into your family Grandma Pearl.

to push or not to push

How do you decide what to let your kids (or grandkids) do? Or should you push them to do things. Gymnastics, dance, soccer, volleyball, swim ... and on and on and on. You want them to be well rounded but not so busy with activities that they have no time for friends, family and relaxation. I am a huge soccer freak. I want Jamie to play soccer. She did a summer mini kicker class but sometimes she seemed to like it and other times not. should you make them try everything or how do you choose? i love to watch soccer, tennis and basketball, is that what I send her to? she loves music, do i let her play the piano or wait until they offer it in school? I do not want her to be one of those kids who does a couple of things but only does them half way. I want her to be a happy healthy kid who enjoys herself whatever she does.

Gotta love camp

I saw the most amazing thing today. I went to Camp Barnabas to pick up Hayden. I saw teenagers excited about spending time with other teens or younger kids that had Cancer or misc illnesses. They didn't care what they were wearing or if they had the right look. It was just enough that they got to spend a week with them and help them have one of the best weeks of their lives. Canoeing, camping, swimming, fishing, dancing and many more activities. Each camper had a counselor. They sang songs, celebrated God and had a great time.

Nothing really to say ...

You ever wake up one day and realize that you are just sad. Tired of being sick and not able to take care of your mate when they are not feeling well. Tired of spending so much energy on those who should be taking care of themselves. Do you ever feel like the life has just been completely drained from your body. That old saying "live for today" isn't as easy as it sounds.

The smallest Angel

Since I have been out of the hospital I have had to use an inhaler. The simplest things take my breath away. Walking to the mailbox. Harvesting the garden. Taking a shower. Everyone was in the front room watching TV so I decided to started my daily ritual. In the bedroom and bathroom I begin. Wash my face. Brush my teeth. Take medications. Then shower. I am all soaped up and ready for the rinse cycle when it hit me. No more air ... having trouble catching my breath. I turn around ready to yell for someone one to bring me my inhaler when the shower door opens. I stand there water pouring over me, grasping for air ... she giggles and says "Granny whatcha doin'?" Once again, she saves me from myself.

Here comes the Bride

Who knew that you could get on the Internet and 15 minutes and $30 later you can be an ordained minister. Well I found out this week that there is an ordained minister living in my home. Tuesday we had a wedding ceremony in our front room. I know, when you think of a weddings you think church or park, candles, flowers and decorations. The wedding at my house was like everything else in my life ... very different. We start with the bride and groom who i have met twice and as far as I can tell they had only met five times before the ceremony. The bride's thirteen year old son, who lived with us for several months. The groom's eight year old grandson. The bride's sister who is the Internet minister. The bride's nieces, one of whom is my granddaughter, me and three dogs. The bride and groom stand facing each other in the front room with the boys standing up for their parents. A beautiful background of our breakfast dishes on the dining room table, luckily I received a few vases of flowers when I was in the hospital that were sitting on the table, so we did have flowers . The minister standing in front of them with her spiral notebook, the dogs running up and down the hall barking and playing and me and the girls sitting on the couch. And the ceremony begins. Do you take him ... do you take her ... they are staring into each others eyes, the girls are looking at the bride and groom with odd looks on their faces, probably wondering why every young girl gets all worked up about getting married if you are just going to do it in the front room and when can we turn Mickey Mouse Club house back on the TV. The boys were having a hard time standing still and not laughing but the love birds were in their own little world. They repeat their vows and Shirley announces "I would like to introduce you to Mr and Mrs .... Kurt and Rachel ....." She looks at me and shrugs her shoulders and says "I don't know his last name." I chuckle to myself and wonder, is this really my life and where is the cake? After I thought about the happenings of the day, I decided that if we had it to do again, I would make a couple of changes. I would have let the bride hold my hospital flowers and instead of the dining room they could stand in front of our cucumber archway in the garden, they could have cut the zucchini bread that my mom made and feed that to each other and we could have all washed it down with a mug of best choice diet root beer. The ceremony ended, the TV came back on and it was like it was just another day.

The ride of a lifetime

Wednesday was the first day of camp for Hayden. He got a full scholarship to go to Camp Barnabas for a week. We had one car in the shop and two people who couldn't drive. My sister offered to drive us down to camp. She drives a 2009 Honda Pilot. White. Not a speck of dirt inside or out of the car. We load up. Me and Jill in the front, Hayden and Jamie in the back. Jamie decided to ride along just for the fun of it. We head out and before we even get off of our street, Hayden opens up the door and throws up. He didn't get anything on the car. We back up to the house and stock up on double lined walmart bags just in case. And we are off again. We make it about 15 minutes from camp it all started .... Hayden has his head completely inside the walmart bags throwing up. I have to roll down my window so I don't vomit and I tell Jamie to just look out the window. Jill doesn't say anything but I am sure she is completely freaking out because they aren't really germ people and someone is throwing up in their car. So we continue on down the road .... me with my head out the window, Jamie saying "why do i have to look out the window?" Jill saying, "you owe me big" .... what is the smell, why do i have to look out the window, are we there yet, you owe me big, what is that smell, can i stop looking out the window, what is that smell ... finally we arrived at camp , we cleaned Hayden up with wet wipes, and sent him off to have a good time. we got the car cleaned up, Jamie feel asleep on the way home and Jill and i just chuckled on the drive home. Jill dropped us off at home and from the mouth of the 4 year old, "thanks for letting me go, it was fun." Oh to be 4 again ...

The knife was not so nice.

I checked in on Tuesday, July 7 and was beginning to wonder if I would ever check out. The surgery went well, it was after the surgery when everything fell apart. Blood pressure went way down, blood sugar went way up which neither matters when you stop breathing. I just got home on Sunday Night. A two day stay turned in to a ICU all liquid diet six day stay. It is good to be home. When you have all day to just lay around and think about things, you realize that the two statements, "keep it simple" and "it is the little things that matter" really are true. I had a hard time sleeping without my husband there. I missed getting awakened in the mornings by Roxy rubbing her cold noise on my arm. "Good morning Granny". Rudy and Daisy chewing on my toes while I am peeing. It is funny the things you miss. I am glad to be home.

Going under the knife.

Mean, hateful and bitchy ... that is me. But today i have woken up as someone else. Today I am being admitted into the hospital for surgery. I have to go in one day early because of my blood sugar levels. I am scared. Almost embarrassed to admit it but yes scared. The last time I had surgery was on my right shoulder. Torn rotator cuff. It was an outpatient surgery, however, the 40 year old diabetic who has trouble with anesthesia was inpatient for three days post surgery. I have been very emotional lately and have had my feelings hurt alot over the last few days. Is this what happens to you once you get old. You become a big ball of .... cry baby! And that is what I am today ... a big cry baby. My mom is taking me to the hospital and Gary is going to be there to sit with me but people die during routine surgery. I need someone to come over here and slap me up the side of the head. What is wrong with me? And in she walks ... carrying my puppy, Rudy, sleep still in her eyes, she trips over Roxy, drops Rudy and crashes to the floor. Crying like a baby. We sit on the couch together for a muted episode of Handy Manny as she smiles again and sings "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine ... " to her Granny. I am still scared but not nearly as much.

Where are the school supplies?

I have enrolled Jamie in Pre-K with the Springfield Public Schools. She is excited about going back to school and I am excited about buying school supplies. I spent a week getting everything ready. Social Security Card, Birth Certificate, Shot records and forms filled out. Today was the big day. We go to finalize her spot and get all of the information and get the school supply list. She will be going to Westport Elementary from 8:30 to 2:30 Monday thru Friday. She needs a couple of shots, we got the calendar and other paperwork including the supply list ... OMG are you kidding me? Four things on the list? No pencils or crayons, no ruler or note books, no glue sticks? Backpack, hand sanitizer, Kleenex and rest mat .... what are they going to be doing all day? laying down resting, blowing their noses and then sanitizing their hands? what is the backpack for, to carry home all the dirty Kleenex? How is she going to learn anything but more importantly ... who am I going to take school supply shopping?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, this is my birthday month. What I mean by birthday month is .... where are my gifts? It is the 3rd and I have yet to receive any gifts, cards or anything. What is that about? Early in our marriage, Gary spoiled me by giving me gifts, taking me to dinner and surprising me with small gifts all month. Now that we are further down the road in our marriage and we have more people living in our house and we do more stuff all year round, the birthday month has dwindled away a bit. Today though i have had lunch at the Pizza House and dinner at The Roost for a yummy mushroom swiss burger and the back rub is about to begin so I am accepting that as my first birthday month gifts. I will keep you up to date on my birthday month progress ... and if you need a list or my address ... just let me know. Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday day to Honey, Granny, Jennifer ... Happy Birthday to ME!

The meanest Granny of all?

It is 10pm and I am sitting on the couch watching a movie that I have seen 10 plus times, wondering why kids think it is ok to just do what they want when they want. I have three granddaughters staying with me. The third one arrived on Thursday evening. We have been to Burger King for lunch and playing, then to Republic for the park and Fireworks. We swam all day Saturday. Today, movies and playing, harvesting cucumbers from the garden, swimming in the little pool and out to eat. Girls were sent to bed around 9pm with a snack and drink. The TV is on and instructions were given. No talking or playing. Lay down and watch TV. It is an hour later and they have been out of bed several times. I need this or I need that and Mommy and Papa just send them back to bed. It is now 10:15pm and there will be no Fireworks tomorrow. If I was a betting girl (which I am) I would bet that there will also be no Hannah Montana Movie tomorrow either. Mean ol' Granny can only take so much before she steps in. Could be a long and boring week if things continue .....

Happy Father's Day?

My dad died 5 years ago in February. Some people tell you that it will get easier, but does it? Does it make you an less sad this Father’s Day then it did the year he died? NO. Do you stop thinking about him when you go see your mom because she moved out of the house that they raised you in? NO. I often think, if he was just here for one more day, what could I have done with him or told him. Today is the day that we celebrate our Dad’s … make time today to call him or go see him. Spend some time with him and tell him that you love him. Enjoy your Dad today.