Sincerely 'Fro Me to You

I do not put scissors to my head nor my daughter's and this is why. Bang trims gone B.A.D.What is really embarrassing is that I had NO idea one side of my bangs was shorter than the other until I saw this picture. Yikes. Big D was horrified when he saw what I did to our daughter's bangs. I did it the day before we went on vacation to visit his parents in Montana.

We won't get into what I did to my mom's hair when my best friend & I were bored one day...

* digiscrap kit by Stacey Crossley.
**click the pic to really see the bangs in all their glory

A-Z Awarded

Bubba's Sis gave me this award! I think she likes me!

Here's how it works:

1. When received, you may post the Premio to your blog.

2. Link to the blogger you received it from.

3. Give it to 7 bloggers.

4. Link to those 7 blogs.

5. Leave those seven bloggers a comment about receiving the Brilliant Premio.

So, here it is!

A. attached or single? attached for 20 years to Big D!
B. best friend? Bubba's Sis
C. cake or pie? both, thank you!
D. day of choice? Friday night
E. essential item? camera
F. favorite color? red
G. gummy bears or worms? neither - I hate how they get stuck in my teeth (just like Milk Duds, bleck)
H. hometown? this is a toughie for me. I grew up in Pine Bluff, Ar but I also lived in Memphis, Tn for an equal amount of time. I consider both of them my homes.
I. favorite indulgence? massage by Big D or shoes/handbag; either or all!
J. January or July? January - July is too oppressively hot!
K. kids? two - 14 yr. old Lamb and 10 yr. old (but not for much longer) Bear
L. life isn't complete without? my family
M. marriage date? which one? Hee! December 31, 1989
N. number of brothers & sisters? 2 of each
O. oranges or apples? apples - especially baked into pies!
P. phobias? driving related: left hand turns, interstate, dark, & rain I conquer most of them on a daily basis.
Q. quotes? "To the world, you may be one person. But, to one person, you may be the world." I remind myself every day when I get frustrated with the politics of my job.
R. reasons to smile? my awesome family
S. season of choice? Spring and Fall, I love them both
T. tag seven peeps! (see below)
U. unknown fact about me? If I tell you, it won't be unknown anymore! Let's just say I have my secrets. :X But, if I must tell you something....my senior class ring is not from the high school I graduated.
V. vegetable? broccoli
W. worst habits? procrastinating
X. x-ray or ultrasound? ultrasound
Y. your favorite food? This is a toughie for me. I love food! Eating out is one of my all-time favorite things to do. If I had to pick, I'll go with baked potato soup. Right, Coastie Bro?
Z. zodiac sign? stubborn ole' Taurus

I'd like to honor the following blogs, and award them a 2008 Premio as well...

1. Melissa
2. Stacey
3. Misty Dawn
4. Jamie Dawn
5. JenGi
6. Library Girl
7. Any who would like to do this!

Ya'll don't have to tag. I just wanted to honor ya'll because I love you & your blogs so much.

Heard At My House Re: Dinner

Um, this tastes like chicken fried steak with an aftertaste.
Yeah! That's what it tastes like. School chicken fried steak.
I had chicken fried steak at school once. It tasted better than this.
I still taste it in my mouth!!!!!!!

Sigh. My poor family. They really drew the short end of the stick when it comes to my preparing, cooking, feeding them great meals. It really did taste bad. And, no, it wasn't chicken fried steak.

Camera Critter #16

Hey you! Are you going to hold that all day or are you going to feed me?

Camera Critter Meme

Hanging...Out in NYC

Hanging at the Brooks Atkinson Theater waiting to see Grease
Hanging at the stage door waiting for autographs
Hanging with the stars of Grease feeling such awe & excitement
Hanging at Yankee Stadium so happy, at least one of them anyway, to see the Yankees play the Red Sox
Hanging out between Rockefeller Center & Times Square with the dogs
Hanging in the air experiencing the thrill of a lifetime...so far

Sincerely 'Fro Me to You - Hair Edition

This is my first Sincerely 'Fro Me to You post! Click on the button if you want to participate. There aren't many childhood pics of me around as my mom's 2nd husband decided it'd be fun to take all my mom's "family treasures" with him when the marriage ended. Yeah, I'm bitter about that. My dad has some, my aunt has some, & I recently found out, my grandparents have some. One of my uncles took their photos & started scanning them to send to all the family. As I was showing them to the kids, Lamb was enchanted with my hair. "It's so soft & curly, I really like the curls..." I started to get a complex that my hair now is nothing but trash! ;)

I present to you, the soft & curly haired D...

Ack, the clothes! Yes, I'm a child of the 70's.

As my hair became longer & heavier, I lost all the little curls, as you can see in the last pic. Then, I made the tragic mistake of getting the Dorothy Hamill 'do. My mom warned me not to do it. I was a determined 8/9 yr. old tho & convinced my daddy to take me. The curls were lopped off & never returned. All I am left with is body & frizz. Wah!

The Suffering of Ty

Ty has issues. Soft rain, hard rain, thunderstorms, lightning, they all do him in. However, nothing. n.o.t.h.i.n.g. does him in more than power surges or power failure. Last night, during So You Think You Can Dance no less, hmmmph, we lost power. Thank you, thank you very much Hurricane Dolly!!!!

Ty got so scared he wet his pants. Do you see how big he is? Can you imagine the size of his puddle? There's a certain little boy who is trying to earn money to buy his sister a special Christmas present. He made himself some money last night.

Answered Prayers

When Lamb was born, she was 6lbs.10ozs and 21 inches long. She was long and thin. She remains long & thin. When people see her, they always comment on how tall she is. Yet, she's not tall at all; she gives the illusion of being tall. She is always in the 5th percentile in height. And in weight, she's even less than that. As a matter of fact, she doesn't even register on the curve. At one point, the dr wanted to do some testing if she didn't gain any weight. Luckily, next visit, she had gained some & he realized she IS growing & gaining. She's just a tiny girl.

My prayer has always been, "Please, let her be taller than me." It's my prayer for both kids. ;) I am only 5 feet. And while it hasn't harmed my life any, I would certainly love for my kids to be taller than that.

Yesterday, Big D measured Lamb. We knew she had a major growth spurt last year. And, even though she looked taller than me, she kept hovering right below me. However, yesterday, we found out that she has passed me up! She is now almost 5'2"! I am thrilled! I figure she isn't finished growing yet so maybe she'll be 5'3". Or, dare I dream, 5'4"!

Keep sleeping & eating, Lamb!

Camera Critters #15

Not as pretty as Misty Dawn's but here is my Camera Critters offering of a butterfly I saw while sitting in the square.

What Is It?

What is it, kids? What? You want me to go down there with you? Why? Is there a tornado? Hurricane? Nuclear bomb?

Oh. You are just tired of walking and want to rest.

*click on the pic to enlarge it so you can see the sign

Baseball In My House

There is nothing like watching a baseball game with Bear. He is watching the All-Star game that was actually played last night.

Right now, I am listening to him get so excited to see Hank Aaron & Yogi Berra. Hang on, I have to stand up & put my hand over my heart for the National Anthem. Ok, I'm back. Right now, I am watching Bear hula hoop and cheer & razz his favorites (our Astros) & his not-so favorites (Alex Rodriguez). Ouch, my ears!

I know the outcome. Bear does not. He wants to know, yet he doesn't. But, he won't find out tonight. It's bedtime! Bwahahahahaha! I love when I can drive him crazy right back. ;)Ya'll ignore clutter, right?

The Office

There just isn't prime time family t.v. anymore. Sure, we can watch reality t.v. together, the Disney & Nick shows (which are cute & fun). But, where are the Brady Bunch, Happy Days, Growing Pains, Who's the Boss, & Cosby Show shows for us? Where's the life lesson with the nice wrap-up at the end? There are none that we've found.

And here's another show that's really not family tv but, dang, if we don't enjoy watching together. And by we, I mean the kids & I. Big D tries & he does laugh, but it moves too slow for him. What show am I talking about? The Office which is on Thursday night NBC.

I recently discovered it this summer. As I was watching by myself, Lamb innocently wandered in & got hooked. She loves the Pam & Jim story, especially the pranks. Wondering what we were laughing about, Bear walked in & got hooked. Should he watch it? Probably not. Sigh, I'm a bad parent. I let my child walk in the 'hood on a Monday morning AND I let him watch The Office sometimes.

We finally caught up on the dvds (may I add that I'm driving Bear crazy because season 3 is 4 days overdue). All that was left was season 4 on nbc's website. We watched a few shows when Bear was bored, ready for a break. Lamb wanted to keep watching. I told Bear that he could watch with us or watch later. He opted to watch later. Lamb & I were secretly high five-ing each other. See, Bear loves the theme song. He either makes up lyrics for it or just "sings" it without words.

Lamb & I were watching when I heard what sounded like the theme song, which we had just passed. I paused & sure enough I heard correctly. When I asked Bear about it, he said, "Yeah, I chose to watch later. And it is later." Oh, ok. Glad we got that cleared up.

Is it wrong of me to not be upset that we watched it at the sorta same time in 2 different places? Yeah, family t.v. Whatever happened to it?

July 15, 1988

One thing Bear likes to do is inform me of things he thinks I should know about Lamb. In younger kids, that's called tattle-telling. In Bear's mind, it's called informing.

In one such instance, he informed me that Lamb had watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. Not quite sure why I needed to know that, but I did inquire as to why she didn't wait until the 15th to watch it.

Sarcastically, she asked if that was "one of your anniversaries?" People seem to think Big D & I have a lot of those. Bear jumped in on it and wondered if we celebrate the day we saw the movie in the theater. People also seem to think we celebrate silly, random things.

Rotten kids. I haughtily informed the both of them that Yes, it IS one of our anniversaries. And we don't celebrate the fact that we saw the movie on the 15th but the fact that it was our first date. TWENTY YEARS AGO!

Happy 20 years, Big D! I knew you were something special when you opened the car door for me. You still do that and I still think you are something special. I'll always be your Honey Bunny.
How much do I love you?
Let me count the ways...
One one thousand, two one thousand, ...fifteen one thousand...TWENTY one thousand...

Guest Blogger

Bear wanted to tell about his 'hood adventure so I am going to let him guest blog.

Without further ado, I present to you Bear's story told in his own words:


In New York City in Harlem, the Polo Grounds (New York Giants played there until 1957) was a baseball stadium demolished to be a housing development. There is a plaque inside that Big Daddy & I wanted to see.

In the 'hood, it's rough & scary. If looks could kill, we would be dead by now. There were litter, broken beer bottles, shirts in the woods, graffiti everywhere, & that's pretty much all we saw. But, luckily, we went in the morning while they were picking up the litter. Good thing Big Daddy knew exactly where the plaque was (thank you Google Earth!) or else I wouldn't have wanted to go with him.

So we find the plaque in so-so condition. Some bolts were missing, scratches on it, & somebody tried to draw graffiti on it. Big Daddy took the picture, I ran over there quick as lightning to have my picture with it. Then we took off in a dash. Well, we hurried up anyway.

Luckily, my sister & mom weren't there, just in case we had to actually run from scary people. Whenever we were quickening to get out of there, somebody was following us. But he took a left. We walked up the long steps & we were officially out of the 'hood. Then, Big Daddy & I said: "We will never go into the 'hood of Harlem again."

That's pretty much our day in the 'hood. P.S. I don't think you should go there at night time.

Yours truly,
Bear

Camera Critters #14

I missed last week due to family vacation! I'm back with a Camera Critter from NYC.

I present to you Balto, the heroic sled dog! This statue can be found in Central Park and was erected in 1925. Balto himself was there for the unveiling. Interestingly enough, you can now see Balto at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. After his death, he was taxidermied.
The plaque reads:
Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxin six hundred miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in the Winter of 1925.

Endurance · Fidelity · Intelligence

Support

West is Left, Right?

I am horrible with directions. Turn or Go East, West, North, South, huh? I still use my hands when thinking about which way is left & right. I can not read a map, well, an interstate/highway map. So Bear had good reason to question whether or not we'd be ok when he found out he & I would be going to Central Park Zoo while Big D & Lamb did her trapeze school. I, on the other hand, wasn't worried. It's Central Park! How hard could it be to find? Plus, I knew Big D would give me detailed directions. I was so very unconcerned.

The day before our zoo adventure, I had even more reason to feel confident. The family separated. Big D & Bear went to get pictures of extinct baseball park plaques. Lamb & I walked around Greenwich Village. With only a map to guide us.We walked around NYU, Waverly Place, Mulberry Street, & Bleeker Street. We saw Carrie Bradshaw's stoop & Nigel Barker's photo studio. Never got lost once. I'll admit, Lamb helped me out with directions. But, the point is, *I* followed a map. *I* got us where we needed to go. We were so good that we finished before the guys & were able to rest & relax in a square. Ah, relief for the feet!So, you see, I felt good about getting Bear & myself to the zoo. I was even feeling adventurous enough to expand locations. Bear wanted to get all the Statues on Parade for the MLB All-Star games. He was lacking two of them. They were somewhat on our way so I agreed to take him. No prob, Bob!

We went our separate ways with Big D telling me our subway was down the street a couple of blocks & it'd probably be across the street. Thinking to be smart, Bear & I went ahead & crossed the street. We walked, we walked, & we walked some more. I called Big D to inquire how far we'd have to walk. Let me add that we are wearing our 20 lb backpacks since this was the last day of vacation. They were heavy. And, since it's July, it was H.O.T. & humid as well. Big D said we should be coming on it. So, we walked some more. I started getting a bad feeling & mentioned to Bear that maybe we should turn around. I could see the look of apprehension in his eyes. I assured him that all was well. I could see the doubt still. We decided to cross the street & walk back up the many blocks. I was looking hard for the subway with no avail. I finally decided to stop in a corner market & found out we were a block away from it. Whew. I called Big D & he felt like we were going in the wrong direction. I got a little testy. Good thing I didn't listen to him. A block later, there was the beauty of the subway stop. Big D & I had a miscommunication. While he said "across the street" I was thinking the other side. It was really "across the corner" but same side of the main street. I wouldn't have missed it if Bear & I hadn't crossed over to begin with. ARGH!

I handed Bear his Metro card & we proceeded to slide them. I went through but Bear did not. I could see the panic in his eyes as he kept trying to swipe. I was on the verge of telling him just to crawl under when I reached over to try & swipe his myself. I felt the kindness of a stranger as, on his way out, he used his own card to swipe Bear through to my side. It has been my experience that New Yorkers are so very kind. It's the tourists that can be rude.

Once we got on the subway, we had smooth sailing. I could see the confidence in me growing in Bear's eyes. We made it to the two statues, the Balto statue in Central Park, the zoo, and back to Lamb & Big B at the school with absolutely no trouble.

I can maneuver myself around a city. Sorta. As long as I'm given detailed directions. Whew!

Friday's Feast

Appetizer

When was the last time you had your hair cut/trimmed?

About 2 weeks ago

Soup

Name one thing you miss about being a child.

The simpleness of it all. Things just happened when I was a child. Now I'm the one making these things happen. Not as much fun. :)

Salad

Pick one: butter, margarine, olive oil.

Why, butter of course!

Main Course

If you could learn another language, which one would you pick, and why?

Spanish so I could understand conversations around me. Lamb is getting ready to take her 2nd year of Spanish AND 1st year sign language next year. I'm envious! I'm hoping she teaches me what she learns. ;)

Dessert

Finish this sentence: In 5 years I expect to be…

the mom of a college freshman. Gulp.

So Tired, So Very Tired

Hi!! How are ya'll? Anything new? We finally got home around 2am this morning. It seems that there were storms all around delaying planes & pilots. We spent 4 hours in the Long Island airport then another hour in the Baltimore airport. I was starting to think we were going to be stranded but it was for naught. All planes & pilots made it to us so we could sally forth home.

Tons of fun was had, ten thousand miles of walking, not as much picture taking (only around 600 this time, ha), & lots of stories, including a walk thru the Harlem projects, to share.

That'll have to wait til I recover tho. Tune in for more!

We Interupt This Blog

For a limited time due to a family getaway to NYCDon't worry, the blog will return Wednesday with no lost episodes.

D... & Goliath

Sunday we had the good fortune to see the Astros play the Red Sox at Minute Maid Park. It was the 1st time ever for Boston to play in Houston. I was surpised at how the fans acted. I really thought we might be at Fenway rather than Minute Maid the way the fans cheered and booed. A much difference experience than when we saw the Astros play the Yankees a couple of weeks earlier.

But, that's not the point of this. This is all about the giant of a man who sat next to me. He had to squeeze in the seat and he spilled over into my space. His clap was like a sonic boom that made my ears ring. And his hands blocked my view of home plate. His voice was louder than all the Red Sox fans put together. Can you tell how large he is?

How about now compared to my knees and Big D's knees. Keep in mind that we call him Big D for a reason. He is over 6 feet tall.

Is this better? The guys in front of us left so we each hooked our legs over the back of the seats.

I'm telling ya'll, he was massive. And he had no idea I was taking pictures of us together.