Another Work Week Done

Spring had BETTER be just around the corner because this ole southern gal is sick of all this cold weather. Cold again today with rain...just super! (not)

We have three big dogs and one of them is blind so needs to be kept separated from the youngest who is a live wire. Ziggy's his name and trouble's his game. He means well, just still such a pup that he wants to pounce on Ham (the blind one) to play but makes Ham nervous and usually ends in a dog fight. Ham is a momma's boy. If I am in my bedroom with him and the door is closed, he's happy as an eighty pound clam. If I walk out of the room and shut the door behind me he lays by the door sniffing and whining until I come back. He sleeps right between Tim and me at night.

My back's been hurting me for the past week or so and sometimes so bad that only Tim massage's give me any relief. We quickly learned Ham ain't about NOBODY touching his momma. He may not be able to see but the minute Tim starts to massage my back he senses it and goes straight into protection mode. He nibbles at Tim's hands and wedges himself between Tim and me. He's pretty persistent. Tim's mentioned before that if anyone ever tried to attack me, Ham would most probably kill them first. I like it when the big ole hound spoons me back to back at night, he's sturdy support. Tim hates it because that means he gets Ham's huge paws in HIS back.

I felt better today. I have come to realize that although Tim's massages feel wonderful and give me immediate relief, nothing will help it permanently go away except daily and nightly stretching. It beats doctor bills so have resigned myself to the fact I have to include them every day and every night.

Thank goodness I am old enough to remember the Jane Fonda workout video. The first twenty minutes were all stretching and still remember them, in order. I remember her saying "Knees soft, shoulders back, head up" and even remember how many repetitions she did of each exercise. I suppose it's a small price to pay to be able to not only walk but work. The pain is all on the right side of my body. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why. I've been a server since 1979. I've been carrying heavy plates and trays with just my left arm for well over thirty years six sometimes seven days a week and has my body out of whack and off balance. Actually, Tim came up with the theory but makes perfect sense...although I am sure Tim could be a rocket scientist if he wanted to. (not)

I had to work at three thirty today so went into the living room to watch Grey's Anatomy for an hour and stretch the entire time, thinking of Jane Fonda and all her instructions. Here's another plus. If that workout is part of what kept Jane Fonda looking the way she does today in her later seventies, I'm all for it.

Speaking of late seventies, tonight I had a request party of fourteen, most all over seventy and then some. Every single man at the table wore a hearing aide and all the women wore a perfectly matching outfit. They had requested me because one of the women's son is my husband's best friend. The reservation was for six thirty, the first couple showed up five forty five and asked with surprised amazement "Are we the first ones here?"  I guess when you are retired you have plenty of spare time. I'll never know that feeling!

All fourteen showed up well before six thirty and the party started! They all ordered water but saw a few looking over the wine list. I went straight to my husband's best friend's mom and said "Let's have a glass of wine, I bet if you order one they will all follow suit." (and they did)

The minute they sat down, a few of them got out discount cards and had them by their plate (just in case they forgot)

They all live in a subdivision right around the corner from us. When the subdivision was first built it was exclusively for peeps over fifty five. Once the economy tanked the builders let ANYONE buy. This ticked off the old peeps and  can't much blame them but can't much blame the builders either. Now the ole peeps have kids playing in the streets,  at the pool and teens with music blaring from cars they drive too fast through the ole peep's neighborhood.

It went flawlessly once I got them to a drinking! I'm kidding, they only had one glass of wine but  chatted them all up and by the end of the dinner they loved me. They tipped me well over twenty percent and with the few other tables I had made enough to take the next two days off and get my STRETCH on!

I think about how much my back hurts me at fifty four and wonder how much THEY hurt being well over seventy? Guess none of them were servers in their youth because they all seemed fine to me.

I'm just so happy to have two days off in a row again...a girl can start to get spoiled with this kind of free time but has sure helped in getting my house in order.

One of the Lost Boys in our house is moving out! Unfortunately it is the one who helped us out the most financially...in other words, not either of my sons. At least my garage will be a lot emptier. He's taking his washer and dryer with him along with a kitchen table, chairs, bookcases and lots of tools.

Segway "Back" to me.

Here's the thing. I HATE stretching. Tim is a great trainer and makes me do it... but  need to do it when I get home from work and he is asleep. I need to do it before I go to work when he's sometimes not here. I need to do it several times a day when I'm not working. At least this latest attack has made me so miserable  realize now I HAVE to do it or learn how to wait tables from a wheelchair I will be forced to buy from either Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Maybe I can find one with a tray attached to the top of the handles.

Tim has assured me the more I stretch the better I will feel. I'm going to take his advice and give it my all the next two days.

It's getting late but since Zach bought us Netflix, I'm going upstairs into the living room and watch some Breaking Bad while I stretch out my breaking back.

Til next time...COTTON

Don't Make Me Go All "DDS" on You!

So my license expired on my birthday last week. Took me forever to round up all the paperwork they needed but since I currently don't even have a vehicle, took my time about it. All four of us are sharing Massey's little car. Zach and Tim's are both in the shop and I haven't finished paying off the station wagon I'm getting from German Mike. (our sorta sketchy mechanic/ car dude) Then I realized the other day when I went to the store when Tim was off I was driving without a valid license...oops!

Woke up before eight this morning , brushed my teeth and wet down my "Boy Do" and headed to  the dreaded DDS. Here's my first gripe: It was always called the "DMV" until a few short years ago. "DDS" means the dentist, not the Department of Driver Services. Number two: it's not much  of a service here in  Coweta County as it is a pain in the butt. Actually maybe they were right renaming it because sometimes it's almost as painful as a root canal going there.  Today was no exception.

I got there ten minutes after they opened and had about thirty people in  front of me just waiting to get in the door. I was behind Snoop Dog. I hadn't been there thirty seconds when a woman came outside in her fancy little DDS shirt and announced the system was down, no testing and no estimated time of getting the system back running. The only thing they were testing was my patience today so I stayed in line. Snoop Dog left shaking his head and I moved up a spot!

Thirty minutes later I was at  the door, it was open and could feel the air conditioning from inside. NOW we're getting  somewhere!

By  this point I had started chatting (go  figure) with  a young girl behind me and the dude behind her, who was around my age.  I told the girl she was too young to remember but this reminded me of when they changed when you  got your tag renewed back in the early eighties and you  would spend four hours in a line wrapped around the building just to get your car  tag. People would bring chairs to sit in the lines were so long. Old dude nodded, he remembered.

 All three of us moved inside the door around nine o'clock and sat on a little ledge by the window. By  this point there were at  least fifty people in line behind us outside on the sidewalk.

The "Dentist" had a poster on  the wall for us all to read telling us how much  they cared. By  the poster was a stack of comment cards so I picked one up. The old dude behind the young girl behind me said in a very droll tone "Don't even waste the ink in your pen." We all three sat on  the ledge as long as we could and agreed  there was no reason to get up when the person in front of us was still waiting to  advance. So what they had moved up  five feet? I told the young girl to wait until we couldn't see  the person in front of us when they rounded the corner, then we'd get up and everyone would shuffle forward fifteen feet and think the line was REALLY moving!

We all rounded the corner ten minutes later and could actually see  what was going on inside the facility. We  stood there another fifteen minutes. There was a young guy in a chair directly to our right waiting to have his picture taken. For the entire fifteen minutes he sat there as the woman behind the counter tried to get the camera to work. Ten minutes in, the old dude said. Damn, he must be wanted in four states as long as they've had him sitting there.

Never one to be shy I called out to the guy in the chair "Hey, what are they  doing, DRAWING your picture?" This got a chuckle out of the young girl behind me and a flat out laugh from old dude behind her.

The young guy sheepishly said "Guess so" and I countered with "I don't have time to sit for a portrait today and didn't even put on makeup."

Ten minutes later I had a number and a clipboard with a pen to fill out my form. Old dude was still waiting in line but high fived the young girl behind me when they said "Next!" I put my hand beside my mouth  and looked back at  old dude and said "Look at me, I got a clipboard AND a pen!" Then I whispered,  "I'm keeping the pen, don't tell anybody."

It went quicker after that but it's still ridiculous. If you have all your stuff, it should be a five minute ordeal at  the most.

Then my number was called and I walked to the window. I saw a nice looking black guy who  seemed to be in charge walking around and it hit me, "I know him." Thank goodness Massey wasn't with me because whenever I say that she always says "You  know everybody, Mother."

I asked the woman taking my information down what his name was and knew before she said "Clyde"  it was a guy I went to  high school and was in the band with with. I hollered out (as I normally always do) "Hey Clyde, get your saxophone and come over here, I'm Kelly Leach!"

He smiled and I told him he looked great!  Nice guy that he is, said I did too. He asked me if I could still do my cheer leading moves and I said "I could do a cart wheel split right in the floor here if they'd let me!" The woman waiting on me seemed dazed but Clyde just laughed and said  that wouldn't be necessary. He still lives in East Point,  the town I grew up in and is running for Mayor.  The city would do good to elect him, he's always been a stand up guy.

Five minutes later I left with my new license and a renewed friendship.

Came home and  cranked ole Johnny up  for a four hour ride.

My sod has taken off and have done a lot of weed pulling in the island out front.

This entire area used to be nothing but red Georgia clay.

 The side yard is taking off  too,  used to be only red clay and exposed  roots.

Ziggy loves it when I cut the back yard. Of course being a pup he gets excited over anything. 

I'm Rain Man the savant when I cut the back. I start at the edge of the fence and cut blowing all the grass out to the side of the fence. Then when I reach  the fire pit in the middle of the yard I reverse and go the other way blowing all the clippings back out. Then I weed eat the edge of the fence where all the clippings are. Then I rake up all the clippings and throw them in the fire pit. Yes it's a six hour job but for some reason I am happy as a clam after all is done,  edges trimmed front and back, driveway and walkway swept and can walk out side and say, "That looks pretty darned good!"

Even threw a roast in the crock pot after I got home from the DDS/DMV with taters, carrots, onion and celery.  Made some gravy and cooked some rice and field peas with snaps. The inside of our house is another story but I'm off again tomorrow and will  tackle that job then.

Little Sir Charles even seemed  to like the freshly  cut back yard. Here he is doing what he does best...NOTHING.

I'm covered  with chigger bites, smell like a wrestler not allowed to bathe but the yards look great, got food cooked and put up to feed us tomorrow too.  Going to soak in a hot, hot tub. My knees are ridiculous from  breaking up the dog fight yesterday and although the pups have licked them all day when they had the chance (they always feel bad about  battle wounds they inflict) I'm heating up a five quart pot of water and adding it to my bath water. Drinking a cold one and peacing out. Maybe one more episode of Game of Thrones, but then I'm done.

Tomorrow is Massey's  day.  We gotta  get some student loans to fill the gap. It's Ham's day too, gotta get in touch with the foundation about his eyes. It's hard keeping three dogs separated  and it's hard letting  your little girl go.

Life's never dull round these parts.

Til next  time...COTTON

Another Week Behind Me

Just finished a nice skype with TJ in Australia. All three pups were behind me so he got to even skype with  the dogs. Charlie didn't want to be bothered, only seen sleeping on the couch behind me but the other two came over to the camera for a little face time.

It was good to see TJ's face and hear his voice. He seems to be doing well and has a nice little room which I had a video tour of. I'm not a big fan of all this modern technology, it seems to dehumanize us but when you have a kid living halfway around the world comes in really handy. As I was getting through talking with him, Zach hooked up on skype from his friend's house and I  left the conversation for my two boys to continue.

Things are settling back down around here with Massey finally graduating. A few more short weeks and she will be gone too. Zach's doing great as well and I have no complaints...other than my aching back, night sweats, daily hot flashes, chigger bites from working in the yard and really gross hairs that sporadically appear on my chin. How do you not notice a hair sprouting out of  your chin til it is a half inch long? For Pete's sake, I can't keep my reading glasses on 24/7.

Yes, I have somehow wandered, and or stumbled into "Old Lady Years." My eyes are terrible, I can't read a book without my cheap dollar store glasses. I can't read a credit card number or name at work without them and certainly can't type up a work order at  the furniture store without them.

On the up side,  I can load a king size mattress onto a truck , move a sofa and loveseat by  myself and still work circles around most all the young kids I work with at  the restaurant. I'm calling myself a winner.

I have one kid living halfway around the world doing what I should have done when his age, live life to the fullest when you can. I have another headed to college in a few short weeks and yet another who bottomed out, paid the price and  is making not only me but himself proud. Yep...I'm a winner!

Tomorrow is my day off. I only need one. Give me two days and I don't want to go back to work. I have a date with my Johnny Dear. That's my therapy, being in the yard riding my lawn mower. When I'm riding I think about things and figure out solutions. I think about where we've been, where we are going and how to get there...and all  the while make my yard look inviting and a nice place to see every  time I back out of the driveway  to go to work. The chigger bites simply remind me how much I itch to do better.

Massey and I took Ziggy over to my sister's house today after work to try and socialize her new boxer pup. She's named Zola (after our grandmother) but seems more aptly named Zoloft. She's the most nervous pup I have ever met. Let me put it this way, she's terrified when my sister gets out a broom to sweep the kitchen. We took Ziggy out into their side yard where Zola was nervously waiting. I had to let Ziggy off the leash because he was about to tear my arm out of the socket. Massey  said not to, Cin was kind of with Massey  but I thought it best  to let dogs be dogs.  Ziggy  took off like a speeding bullet but Zola had at least a twenty foot lead on him. Ziggy  caught her in under five seconds and she immediately turned over in the submissive position. She got up and took off and they  chased each other around the yard for thirty minutes non stop. After thirty minutes they were both frothing at the mouth and panting like they had run a marathon. Zola warmed  right up  to my "Good Bad Dog" and was smiling with that boxer smile before we left.

Massey  took a video of  them and I will upload it onto  this blog tomorrow.

We may be moving soon, but not counting the chickens before they hatch. Been there, done that.

All I "Do" know is we are making strides here, got three kids making their marks on the world and making me feel really old.

Stumbling through a new job, cruising through my old one with the cut in hours and pretty much enjoying life for the first  time in almost five years. Got three kids on track for success and one  day off to boot!

Life could be a whole lot worse.

Til next  time...COTTON

What a Week!

I've been meaning to blog but life has been crazy round these parts. Three weeks without a car has been a pain in my bony butt. Between getting Massey to and from  school, getting Zach and me back and forth to work and getting errands run and done I feel like an underpaid cab driver.

Zach paid for the repairs on the BMW (which weren't cheap) so we're letting him have it. He only has to pay  the insurance and upkeep. Tim balked at the idea originally but after two days of not speaking to me finally agreed.

We bought TJ a car  when he turned sixteen and granted we were still doing well financially but TJ started working when he was fifteen and paid for his own car insurance and his high school yearbooks, senior dues and gas for the car.

When Zach turned sixteen, I wouldn't even let him drive my lawn mower much less my car. He was a terrible driver. He didn't get his driving permit til he was almost eighteen and couldn't believe they actually gave him one then. He hit a rough patch around the same time and after a year of  breaking my heart, came to his senses in a big way. Yes he screwed up royally but also manned up and paid for his actions.

In the meantime when Massey turned seventeen and we were just starting to keep our chins above water, we sold Tim's car and made enough to get an older model car for him and a little older model Ford Focus for Massey...and she doesn't even have a job..

Don't get me wrong, she's a great girl and does terrific in school. She has a good head on her shoulders and is chomping at the bit for a college education. She doesn't deserve to have broke parents and hate  she has suffered from our financial misfortune. I remember being a  seventeen year old girl in high school. Peer pressure is brutal and ridicule is freely tossed towards anyone who is a "Have Not." It was embarrassing for her but even more so for me. It didn't help everyone at school knew about her brother's debacle.

I had friends who stepped up and helped Massey. I had family who helped Massey. It just bothered me  that "I" couldn't help Massey. I have a lot of family and friends to pay back.

The thing is...we gave TJ his first car, we gave Massey her first car. Why  can't we give Zach his first car,  considering he's paid well over a thousand dollars for the repairs and turned his life around?

I'm kinda ashamed to say he spent thirty days in the county prison but he did the crime and paid his time. He was in a work release program and strip searched every night when I drove him back after work. I know it was humiliating to him but was absolutely heart breaking to me. He never complained about it,  but every single night he got out of my car the last thing he said was "I love you."

That goes a long way in my book.

So now Zach has a convertible. It's a money pit but it's the start of summer and if it lasts til the leaves start dropping in the Fall, he'll have the best summer of his life. He deserves it. He's cleaned up (still has a smart mouth) but has made me really proud. He has a full  time job he loves and is on the straight and narrow...so much so that some of his friends laugh  about what a straight up guy he is now. His friends laugh...I beam a huge smile!

Massey has been really nice about letting me drive her car and will be delighted to know that I pick up MY new/used  car tomorrow.

No I'm not a soccer mom but could play one on TV with this car!

So now I have a car payment again.  Only $200 a month and must be getting old cause I kinda like this wagon!

Lucky for me, Massey has landed under the wings of many people who love and do for her when I can't. Do I feel  embarrassed? That would be a big fat yes but having your kid be happy is worth it.

I don't forget that I also have three pups in the mix. People hands down saved my oldest pup, Ham from heart worms. I'm battling with the vet specialists about having lens implants for him. They call it elective surgery  but I call it "Let's do it surgery." I'm having my vet call the specialists and tell them they think he can survive the surgery.

So I still have my house. I have given all three kids cars. I have given my pup (with lots and lots of help) a healthy life.

I'm starting a promotion at one job and keeping the other. You can never be too careful.

Who would think that at  the age of over half a century I would have so many new things going on? Not this Chica!

Wait til I blog about my Johnny Dear tomorrow night!

Til next  time...COTTON

The Bad, The Blind and The Uga-ly

I've had a great response to Ham's blog. I was supposed to be off tomorrow and had plans of setting up his account and creating his Facebook page but picked up a shift for tomorrow while I was at work tonight. Work has been slow so all I can do is pick up extra shifts and pray.

On Sundays we have a brunch  from 11 til 2 and the cooks always save me the left over biscuits to take home for my family.  We have awesome biscuits and the kids and Tim like to nuke them in the mornings for breakfast. When I left work last night one of the cooks told me not to forget my biscuits so I put the dozen or so in a big zip lock baggy and took them home.

Ziggy can sniff out food from a mile away, he ate a garlic bulb out of my potato bin last night, little idiot.  Maybe he knew it was Halloween week and is scared of  Vampires. I brought the biscuits home and left them on TOP of the toaster which is at the back of  the kitchen counter.

Massey left for school first this morning, then Tim for work. I went downstairs to get a glass of milk and it looked like someone had spilled oatmeal all over my living room carpet.  I wondered what it was until I saw the zip lock bag with a hole chewed in it.

 Ziggy had eaten ten huge biscuits for breakfast. He was fast asleep on the sofa, looking quite content...and full.

At least he ate something that wasn't bad for him. I came home from work Thursday night and found my bottle of nail polish remover on  the living room floor with teeth marks so deep  the bottle was leaking. Ziggy wouldn't even lift his head off the floor and I thought this maybe this time his luck had run out. Surely acetone isn't  meant to be ingested ...by dogs OR humans. I dragged him out  the back door and watched him dry heave for a while, gave him a fresh bowl of water and  read my book while he stumbled around the yard. I brought him back in and went to bed knowing there wasn't much else I could do but pray for the little dummy.

He woke up the next  morning rearing to go! (And I thought Tim had a cast iron stomach)

Who would have ever thought Charlie (the bull dog) would be smarter than any other dog in our house? Certainly no one IN our house.

Ham's just content to be fed, let out occasionally and never wanders far from the back door except to poop.

Charlie is as lazy as a worker for the public works department. He's like the guy who stands around the hole with six others just observing while the eighth, who picked the short straw or lost at rock/ paper/ scissors was digging the hole while all the rest commented about how slow the one guy was digging. That would be my Charlie! If he was  human, he would be a wife beater living in a trailer yapping at his wife to shut up so he could snore in peace.

The thing is...as much as I talk and write about my dogs, I have never heard one complaint from any of the three. No belly aching about how foul nail polish was.  No complaining "I can't see ten inches in front of my face" and no complaining "It's tough being ugly and not being able to jump."

I love my kids first and foremost... always will  but my pups are a close second. My kids gripe all the time but my pups seemed thrilled every  time I walk into the room and never back talk me. At least one of them snuggles with me nightly and another one wakes me  staring into my face with a smile and wag of their tail.

A  friend of mine commented on a blog I wrote quite a while back. He said "There is a reason dog is GOD spelled backwards."

Let's see...unconditional love, no questions asked and love even when you fail , forget or drop the ball.

I'm lucky to have total support from not only my pups but The Big Dude.

Til next time...COTTON

Mostly Thankful and My "Hates" Are Few

Call me crazy...you certainly won't be the first but I am thankful we got this little demon. I am thankful that he dooky's in hard little balls that are easy to pick up off the floor with toilet paper.

 I am thankful that my three kids, ten other ones from the neighborhood and three previous dogs broke my house in...carpets, walls and furnishings. I never even painted our walls til about four years ago. I just left them standard builder's white until my sister came over and painted the house for me as a present a few years back.

She is an amazing painter and now I get to wipe dog slobber off  beautifully painted walls instead of using white out to cover crayon and marker scribblings.

I am thankful that I still have my humble little home. It's not a mansion but it is full of life and love and is almost  paid for.

I am thankful that my youngest child is a senior in high school and college bound with vigor and determination to change the world.

I am thankful I have survived raising three kids.

Things I hate:

Losing both my parents way too early. That about sums up what I hate.

Back to what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for having an excellent childhood. It was joyous and  filled with love and memories that will last until my mind begins to falter.

Now it's just me, my brother and sister left to carry on  the family name. My parents couldn't have left me in better hands. I was the baby in the family and have continued to be. Both my older Sib's still take care of me and I keep worrying they will finally block my number and sneak out of state...or country.

My only other hate is that kids are too spoiled these days...and guilty of doing that as well. I haven't had a lot of money  to spoil them with, but they are spoiled just the same. I guess I should feel lucky that I didn't have money  to spoil them with or else I would have a lot longer hate list.

I go to pick Massey up from school every day and kids are screaming out of the parking lot in brand new Mustangs, Chargers, BMW's and I've even seen a kid driving a Jag. None of them are driving safely and all trying to pass each other or pull around each other when they know it is a high school of 3,000 kids all released at once... For Pete's sake"Some body's gonna have to wait."

I was on the phone with my sister the other day when pulling into the parking lot to pick Massey up and told her I needed to get off the phone because a boy in  a big ole red neck truck with rebel flags flying from the back behind me was revving his engine and chomping at the bit to simply get around me only to wait in front of ten more cars. My sister said "What are you  thinking? Get out of his way, he has the rest of his life in front of him  and you're holding him  up."

 I guess my kids aren't as spoiled as most, but they are still spoiled. They missed having grandparents do it so I filled in.

 They also have an uncle (my brother) who is an excellent spoiler and makes me look like the bad guy which helps me reign them in and keep my sanity... what's left of it.

The photo above is Ziggy and Ham snoozing behind me as I type. Click on it...are these dogs sweet or what?

So I've raised three kids...and I'm still raising three dogs. My kids never pooped on  the floor (maybe once) but the dogs simply love me for being me and never complain or ask for anything. I wish  my kids would silently wait to be fed but they don't.

So I've had the best of both worlds. I had terrific parents and tried to be a good parent. I could never be as awesome as them but I gave it a shot with pretty good results.

 I have a husband who loves me, three kids who still tell me they love me on a regular basis and three pups who remind me how hard but  how easy it is to show and feel love.

I've had some hard knocks but I have also had more love than I deserve.

Be the best person you can be. Love all you can, even when it hurts.

"When you walk through a storm
Keep your chin up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never walk alone."

We sang this at my high school graduation in 1978.  Thirty four years later I realize what the song meant.
My dreams have been tossed and blown but I have always held my head up high and I have never walked alone!

Til next  time...COTTON

The Southeastern Fair at Lakewood

Click on this photo to see one of the great childhood memories I have. Every year the Southeastern Fair came to Lakewood and my Diddy  took me. I guess when I was younger he took all three of us kids but my fondest memories are of just him  and me. We would walk through every single stinking exhibition hall. Farm equipment, chickens and roosters, pigs and cattle.  It was wonderful. Then we would walk down that marvelous Midway that spread out over a hill down to the racetrack and rickety old wooden roller coaster the "Greyhound."

It was built in 1915 and was blown up in the second "Smokey and the Bandit" movie in  the seventies. You could watch people riding it, while wooden boards would fall off. Heck we didn't even have seat belts in our cars back then...what's a few loose boards?

Then there was that ominous walk by all the Freak Show tents. I remember year after year seeing that cartoon drawing of Lobster Boy and all kind of other outlandish things being advertised. I went one year  with my next door neighbors and we actually went inside the tent.

Most of the advertised were simply things preserved  in jars. Kinda gross. I do remember the Bearded Lady, she was real...Real Fat, ugly AND bearded. (bless her heart at least she had a job)

Lobster Boy was just a freak. Another fat stumpy guy behind a glass case with hands that were an obvious severe deformity . They  probably made him help pick up the cow dung in the exhibition hall with his claws after we all left...I can't see them treating him like a king.

Then there were the "peep" shows. The tent was decorated with caricatures of women in veils and belly dancing outfits. I never went in those, but bet my older brother did!

It was the one day a year that  Diddy and I were besties. We didn't ride anything, we didn't spend  money but explored each agricultural and animal exhibit and simply people watched . The smell of funnel cakes, horse, pig and cow poop all mixed together was mesmerizing to me as a kid!

To grow up in the sixties and seventies was amazing. We never locked our front door, slept with all the windows open, even on the ground floor and rarely locked the screen doors unless we were trying to keep  the dog from getting out.

We didn't have air conditioning in our house, we had an attic fan. We had one phone in our house, a black rotary dial phone on the kitchen wall. We had one television...big as a love seat. It always had aluminum foil wrapped around it's antennae. (which never seemed to help)

Our first video  game was by Atari.  "Pong." It was on the black and white set but we were all fascinated  by  the virtual ping pong game.

We all carried transistor radios around and if home ran to the rotary dial kitchen phone to call in a request or try and win a contest.

We slept like babies even in the summer heat.  I remember going to bed listening to WQXI (we called it Quixie) on the screened in back porch and waiting to hear my request after getting home from  the roller rink ,where no one asked me to couple skate. I always wanted some pimple faced boy in bell bottom pants and a wide collared paisley shirt to saunter up next to me on his Roller King skates and ask me to couple skate with him to "Seasons in  the Sun" by Terry Jacks.

Never happened.

But I was still a happy kid.

Didn't have my first french kiss til I was over fifteen and it was, at the least awkward. I went to a dance at the school with him. Does it tell you anything that his nickname was "Chin?" His older brother who drove us was nicknamed "Big Chin" and this was WAY before Jay Leno! He was a good guy but it didn't help he broke his leg on the wrestling team two days before the dance and wore a suit with the leg of his suit pants safety pinned up over his cast.

Looking back...I was so stinking lucky.

Needless to say I remained a virgin til after the age of twenty...another thing I am pretty proud of. He turned out to be a bigger idiot than me and in hindsight a waste of my time and virtue.

Don't ever rush growing up. I know kids want to but they are insane.

When you are a teen you  think everything is dire, every episode tragic and horrific.

Give yourself time to grow up. Give yourself time to become somewhat of the person you will end up to be.

Enjoy your childhood. Be a kid while you can still be a kid. You can never go back...trust me!

I WAS lucky. I grew up as a teen in the seventies and lived no where NEAR Woodstock but in comfy ole East Point, Georgia.

I wish my three kids could have been so lucky!

Take the good with the bad.

 I was lucky but my kid's are confronted with evil at every turn in their lives. I know they often turn a deaf ear and mutter "Whatever" when I am talking to them but in my heart I know they hear me...at least I hope so.

I still want a guy to ask me to couple skate to "Seasons in the Sun."

Just once!

Til next time...COTTON

Last First Day of High School

My youngest begins her senior year of high school tomorrow. In  true Cotton fashion I waited til today to buy the dreaded school supplies.

When I was a kid your momma never had to buy school supplies...they gave you every thing you needed when  you  got there. Notebooks, pencils, crayons, markers, rulers and compasses. Sometimes they even gave you a  minature coke bottle on a tiny chain. (I grew up right outside of Atlanta...Coke Country)

 I always loved the notebooks, wish  they still made them. Blue Horse three ring binders covered in denim. I searched for over an hour on the Internet for a picture of one but found a pic of  the filler paper instead and it brought back a flood of memories.

I took Massey to Wal Mart and we picked up some notebook paper, composition books, pencils and a three ring binder. She needed a new back pack but we couldn't find them. I spotted a man stocking shelves and asked where the back packs were? He rubbed his face and solemnly said "I'm embarrassed to say they forgot to order them. That's all we have, and he motioned to a wall behind us with about ten Dora the Explorer and Batman vinyl back packs.

Can you say "I bet someone got fired from the purchasing department of the Wal Mart in Newnan this week?"

He said we could try sporting goods and see if they had some. We went to sporting goods...and that's just what they were, sporting goods. Back packs for $49 and up. We opted to skip the back pack purchase.

She got what she needs for her first day; They'll send home a mile long list tomorrow of what else they want me to buy.

At least she is a senior, although having had two others graduate before her I know exactly what to expect. It's already started.  Last week I had to drop off ten bucks for her 'Senior 2013' tee shirt for her to wear on  her first day. They want seventy five bucks for her to walk at graduation...heck they should pay ME for sitting in the football stands sweating to death to just watch her walk across a football field. At least WE graduated at  the Municipal Auditorium in downtown Atlanta. It was pretty impressive, unless your class graduated the day after the circus left town. If your class did,  you  could still smell  the horse and elephant poop but at least it was still an auditorium in downtown Atlanta and  you  were actually on a real stage!

I know Massey is excited. My boys weren't so much, but they both were sick of school.  Massey is a social butterfly and wears her Indian Pride (the mascot) proudly. She may not be a cheerleader or be the Homecoming queen. She may not be the most popular girl in school but is one of the truest most sincere sixteen year old girls I have ever met.

 She can wear me out but that's what mommas are for!

 She can just as easily make me smile when I feel like crap and even know when I need to hear her say "I love you, Momma."

My last child is growing up. Three kids have survived having me as a momma. Kudos to me!!!

til next  time...COTTON



Google Maps Let Me Down When I Already Was

Went to the visitation for a kid who grew up across the street from us and was killed for senseless reasons. It was held in the hometown of his parents so I googled the place with their "maps." You would think Google used the above photo to get me there. It took us well over a hour to get there and since we didn't really know where we were going we had to simply rely on "Big Brother" aka The Internet.

 Before leaving for the visitation I picked up a former neighbor who used to live two doors down but has since moved to "The Kuntry." She was riding shot gun and filling in as my GPS...that means she had glasses on and was reading the driving directions to me. Somehow we must have gotten on a truck route and had to finally stop at a gas station for help. The guy behind the counter looking like Apu from The Simpson's said "I am not from around here (No Duh) let me ask someone else."

 He sauntered over to the video poker machines to a black woman who seemed to be a regular. I told her I was looking for a certain funeral home, knew the name of the street but didn't know the name of the funeral home. She asked if the deceased was black or white?

BINGO! Had my directions. Here in the south we lay our peeps out by  race. Sad to say but it is the truth. In less than five minutes us whitey's pulled into the lot. It was a sad affair to say  the least. My neighbor didn't really want to look at our young friend but the book was in the room with him so I stepped in to sign it for the both of us.

 I am almost fifty two and have attended more funerals than weddings at  this point in my life. When my mother died I wasn't really happy with the way she looked. She looked fake to me and I made the mistake of touching her hand,  which didn't feel like the hand that had held mine or hugged my neck for seventeen years.

I looked at this young man and he looked exactly as I remembered him asleep on my couch after spending the night with my own two boys. Peaceful and at  rest.

It made me cry uncontrollably.

My neighbor and I went over to his parent's house afterwards and talked for a hour about the kids. They had two, my neighbor had two and I had three. They ALL grew up together. When we moved to Newnan Massey was two, Zach was four and TJ was  eleven. All our kids...my three and their combined four ruled the neighborhood and not only wore us out but wrecked our houses, dug holes in our yards, shot BB guns when we told them not to and pretty much gave us gray hair earlier than any of us parents desired.

But you know what? They are your kids and you love them regardless. That is what a parent is for and that is what a parent is SUPPOSED to do.

My kid's have made so many mistakes they make me look like "I" was a good kid...which in fact I wasn't but my parents loved me anyway ... helped me  when they could and made me suffer consequences when necessary.
I am a firm believer in bringing back "Butt Whoppings."

But when you lose a child (who will always be your CHILD) it tends to feel like too much too little too late.

My kid's aren't perfect. My kid's have worn me out time after time but yet  other times have warmed not only my heart but my  hand as they have held it.

These parent's will never feel that warm hand again. Sometimes there are no "Do Overs" in life. This is one of those times.

There but by  the Grace of God goes anyone of our kids. Hold them tight, it may tick  them off but it beats going to a funeral.  Keep a check on them and pray for the best. Kids think they know it all...I know I thought I did. These parents did the same thing but lost the gamble. In the world today you just never know..it could have just as easily been one of my own kids. I have known this family for over a decade. Good people, wonderful people  They are sitting  where I could be sitting.

 Wake up kids...That's about all I can say. The ball of life is in YOUR court.

Times have changed and I'll stand by my comment "It's a scary world."

On the way back we got directions from Big Chris (the dad) and it took us twenty minutes to get home. As my daughter would say "SMH."

Til next time...COTTON

It's a Messed Up World

I had to work another double shift today and got up with a heavy heart. Last night right before I went to bed I found out a kid who not only grew up across the street from us but grew up with my own three kids was shot in  the chest Friday night after an argument at a local tavern. He was only 25 years young. Now he'll never grow old.

What kind of argument makes you think it is okay to point a gun at a person's chest and pull the trigger?

There may be a couple of exceptions that I can think of... but an argument over a girlfriend isn't one of them.

When he was in high school he worked at the grocery store where I shopped and ALWAYS took our groceries out. (Said he loved getting out of the store for a bit) He had a smile that was infectious and came from a great family. His sister was one of Massey's first baby sitters and his parents were good people too.

When he was just a kid he'd come down to our house and play basketball or video games for hours with Zach and TJ. I remember the first time he came into our house with a black nylon dew rag on his head and our boxer, Rosie went berserk because she didn't recognize him. We laughed about that for years.

I'm not laughing tonight. He was one year younger than my oldest son. He had decades and decades and decades ahead of him... and then some.

Now he is gone. In the matter of a split second he left this world. It saddens me to think  guns are what some people choose to settle an argument with.

Webster's defines  argument as "A discussion in which disagreement is expressed; a debate."  I don't see the  word "Kill" in any of that definition,  yet a young man  lost his life  during an argument.

I witnessed the death of both my parents and it still unsettles me to say the least. If I lost one of my children, especially in such a senseless way I don't think I would ever recover from it.

This young man is gone...forever,  after the simple click of a trigger of a weapon that should only be used for deadly and warranted reasons.

It's a scary world we live in now.

Til next  time...hoping there will be one, COTTON

Can Anyone Multi Task Like a Woman?

When looking for a picture for my blog I came across this one and it made me laugh out loud...Mainly because when Tim and I first got married we had a lawn mower exactly like this and I used it for over two years to cut our grass. I had to hold the handle halfway down where the bars were broken with one hand and guide it along from the top of the handle with my other hand. Talk about a work out! Thank The Lord I was still in my twenties. I tried fixing the handles with duct tape time after time like any sensible girl from the deep south would do and quickly learned duct tape was highly over rated.  The next push mower I  bought was  $40.00 and a piece of junk that barely made it through two seasons of me wearing it out once a week after I brought it home but felt like riding a John Deere while standing up in  the seat and moving my legs one in front of the other and  was pretty happy about it...at least the handle stayed up the entire time!

After years we finally bought a brand new house and after pushing almost two acres for a while bought a riding mower from Tim's boss. It was a Craftsman, older and only lasted a year before backfiring extremely loud in the front yard one day and never cranking it's ugly head again.

My brother in law saw a John Deere for sale chained to the fence by a house around the corner from my subdivision and called me. (Thank you Harvey!)
 Just like I do ...I went and made friends with the ole dude and asked the guy to let me post date a check and drove my baby home! Johnny has been good to me and once the check cleared we were engaged! (Huge pun intended)

I've had to replace three belts two blades one tire and some "thingy" under the seat but he's my baby and I love him!

I opened the restaurant today but got cut by one and had to be back by five. I turned into my driveway while unbuttoning my work shirt and was in shorts and a tank top five minutes later, cranking Ole Johnny up.

I cut the back and side yards, weed eated the entire back yard and  swept the back porch so  the mutts wouldn't track in all the clippings.

 My boss had sent me home with an empty five gallon oil jug from where they fill the fryers at work.  I emptied all the motor oil still sitting in the driveway from when Zach  changed Tim's oil into it...having to throw away my lemonade pitcher he had used after the oil pan container overflowed. BTW did you know that a Mercedes 320ML takes over eight quarts of oil? The guy at the auto parts store told me some Mercedes take twelve quarts. We're talking synthetic oil  and it ain't cheap!

 The jug wasn't full so I emptied all the glass jars I had in the kitchen stored under the kitchen sink. My Fry Daddy broke a while back and I was using old pickle jars to get rid of old grease. The jug was full by  the time I got through and I had ten minutes to get back to work. I took a towel and brushed all the grass clippings off my legs and feet. Pulled back on my tights  and skirt for work, put my back brace on and reapplied up my always minimal make up. I got into my car and put the top down for the drive back to work. Nothing blows grass out of short hair like driving a convertible fifty miles a hour for eight minutes!

I went back into work with no minutes to spare asking another co worker as I buttoned up my work shirt over my back brace if I had any grass clippings still in my hair?  My "Used" to be dear friend said "Only one...no wait a minute that's just a white hair." Heck! She should have pulled THAT one out first!

It was slow at work and I was off before dark. On my ride back home (with the top up) I pulled a plug of grass out of my ear and flung it out the window. I didn't make much money tonight but it was awesome pulling into the driveway not seeing motor oil sitting in pans and how nice and trim my yard looked. That's worth a lot to me.

I may not be a lot of things. I'm not the greatest mom although I strive to be. I am a hard woman to be married to but a hard working woman,  which has so far kept my husband from killing me in my sleep. (thus far)

You know...I used to think I had it bad (which we did for a while) but somehow we made it.  Thanks to Help from above and help from around. You get what you give and that's why I am constantly cramming every possible task into every possible opportunity.

I saw a post today my sister in law from California made from Dr. Seuss and it just struck me once again how brilliant the man was.

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?'

That's my mantra...and that's my goal.
 Til next  time...COTTON

A Hard Day's Night

 I can't believe this little boy is nineteen now!

So Zach is officially working!! He is working in the kitchen of the restaurant where I work.  It's not easy working in any kitchen...most definitely not in this one. He has no experience, where most all  our cooks have culinary degrees or extensive training. He was thrown to the wolves and has somehow survived for over a week now. New cooks are usually subjected to hazing that could make a FAMU freshman shudder. Okay, they haven't killed him but it has been rough.

I am sure a lot of it was because they all thought "Mama pulled a few strings." I really didn't... or maybe I did. I just asked my boss to give him a chance and he complied. I thought they would start him off making salads and dropping taters in the fryer. His first night the owner had him working the line with him learning to make Chicken Parmigiana and other entrees. Zach seemed pumped but beat like a drum when he got home. He screwed up a couple of things but was introduced to a ton of things...mainly one of the best chefs I have ever known.

There  are three invisible lines in any restaurant. One divides the hosts from the servers another divides the servers from the cooks and the last one separates the cooks from everyone. The cooks are behind the line (literally) and verbally shoot at will or whim. They are always right, even when they are wrong. They all think servers are idiots. They may have a point about servers, some are. Those servers are in it solely for the money...THEIR money  and could care less about anything else.

 Me? I do it because it is my job and chosen career. I'm not graduating from college in a year. I'm not graduating in two or even four years... I'm raising a family.

Zach had a rough shift this past weekend and thankfully I had already left.  The owner is half Italian and half French. His wife is half Polish and half German. Their son is half insane half the time. They have most of Europe covered between them and most of the heritage background includes some mighty explosive temperment. Zach took a verbal beating but weathered it. When I heard about it my heart hurt for him.

I did nothing but  listen to Zach vent on the ride home. I picked him up at one in the morning. Everyone else had left and he was standing in the parking lot by himself. His dew rag was sideways with the flap flying in the wind like a kercheif with him looking like an abused animal. He told me about his night and I simply said "Just let it go, it's over."

I told him when I first started working there,  their son had come down hard on me one day and made me cry.  Zach asked "What did you do?" I told him I did what any other grown fifty year old woman would do...I tattled on him to his daddy.

The difference is I was an emotional wreck when I started working there. We were being threatened with foreclosure and having utilities cut off and couldn't even buy dog food much less REAL food.

Zach has to tough it out...step it up a notch and prove his worth.

That's the problem with most kids today...they are wimps and spoiled rotten. My kid's aren't spoiled rotten by any means but have never had to face the "Real World."

My husband told me Zach will be just fine...his biggest problem is he's just like me. Dang! I always thought that was his Forte' !!

I left work tonight after working another double shift and picking up another shift tomorrow. I have Wednesday off...Barb is taking me to a wine expo at the High Museum in Atlanta.  Guess I better eat breakfast on Wednesday!

Raising kids used to be easy. Raising teens now is brutal. It's not the same as when I was a teen. When I was a teen you turned eighteen and you were gone from the nest for good.

I love my kids... would and often HAVE gone the extra mile for them.  I say a prayer daily for all of them. I am still living and learning at the tender age of almost fifty two.

Life can be tough...more often than not but I'm still hanging on and hanging in there. I have a great job and relentlessly trying to take care of my own.

Heading to bed and hopefully getting up to do it all again tomorrow.

Til next time...COTTON

Get By With a Little Help From Your Friends

I was all excited because I just worked the day shift today and had tonight ALL to myself! Massey was working tonight, Zach was too and Tim was in the "Black Out" bedroom sleeping til 11PM for work. I got off at four and went home to pick the kids up and take them back for their shift. I stopped at  the gas station on the way back home and filled up my gas can. Went directly into the bathroom downstairs right off the kitchen and peeled off  work tights skirt and blouse leaving them in a heap on the floor. Proudly put on my John Deere T shirt and a pair of Capri's, tied on my tennis shoes and went straight back out to the garage.

The weather has been freaky here. Today was 74 degrees with hurricane force winds (not really but the wind was whipping around like crazy,) It has been so warm that all my bulbs are up and many flowers have already bloomed. My grass actually NEEDED cutting...in the middle of February!

I went into the garage and moved the drop cord and step stool off  "Ole Johnny Dear" and noticed that in his state of winter hibernation two tires had gone almost flat. No worries...I always have a couple of fix a flats...actually I may be a stock holder in the Fix a Flat company. I pumped the ole boy up, filled his tank and set out a roaring! Mostly I just needed to cut back the weeds  mulch the leaves and with the wind at my back then in my face and then whirling all around me I finished in just under a hour.

I was going back over the yard to spread out all the clippings when my neighbor, Mr. "Slow"Lee came sauntering out of his garage to lean across the back of his diesel truck to have a smoke and stare at me...which meant "Are you gonna cut my yard too?"

For Pete's sake! I didn't want to but as long as ole Johnny was pumped up and filled up I may as well cross the great divide I call my driveway and make the ole coot happy. I finished his front yard in about thirty minutes and even attempted to cut his back but it was too wet and after getting Johnny stuck in mud twice I gave up. I had clippings of grass and leaves all in my face and hair and even had mud all over my back side where I got stuck in his lowland areas. I rode back to my side of the driveway and took my now muddy shoes off. (I had to push the mower out of the mud twice)  I came in  the kitchen and the phone was ringing. I looked at  the caller ID.  It was work calling. I answered the phone and Massey said "We need you  to come in, we have a party of 20 a party of 14 and another 10 just walked in." I told her I had just gotten off the mower and was covered in clippings and mud. She said to shower and hurry back!

Massey likes to bus tables but hates to seat. People get unusually ugly when it's a teen at  the host stand and tend to frighten even the adult hosts so I couldn't much blame her.

Since I talked her into going in tonight to help because they had a few large parties I immediately felt guilty. A shower was out of the question, by  the time I got there they would be buried beyond rescue. I went back into the bathroom  got my work clothes off the floor and pulled them back on. I drove back to work with the windows down and the clippings flying out of my hair at an almost amazing pace. I was back at work fifteen minutes after hanging up the phone with her.

The twenty top fizzled, one person showed up only to find out somehow she was a week early. I helped out for a few minutes and calmed Massey's nerves by staying at the host stand while she bused and reset the the tables. (Her forte')

I left around 8:15 so I could go home and pull my lawn mower back into the garage before everyone in the neighborhood was asleep. (Johnny ain't real quiet and I always put "baby in the corner" of the garage to sleep)

Less than a hour later I made my fourth trip to the restaurant in less  than ten hours. It was if nothing had ever happened. The place was all but empty, cleaned up with no evidence of the chaos I walked into.

I didn't do much when I was there but all it takes is one person to take up the slack help a few people with just a few things and  make the whole process flow a LOT smoother.

Barb gave me a bottle of wine...that's all the thanks I need! The bartender tried to tip me out but the offer is all that matters. She forced the money onto Massey to give to me but I'll let Massey keep it...she hung in there when the pressure hit and deserves it more than me. It's a crazy place where I work but a crazy place that kept our heads above water for quite sometime. What helps even more is all the people working tonight were people  I would help at any time for any reason and they in kind would and HAVE often done the same for me.

For the first time  EVERYONE in my family is working...including all three kids. If they are willing to help who am I to not help THEM?

"You get by with a little help from your friends."

We are steadily, sometimes shaky but always constantly getting to a better place. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and it seems I am raising giants and couldn't be prouder!

It's Karma. It's the Golden Rule...It's getting by  with  a little help from your friends.

Til next time..PROUD COTTON

I May Be a Freak But I'm Not a Clean Freak!

I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing...but the thing is it's just the way I am. When my kids were first born was the closest to being a clean freak I ever got. Boiling not only the water I made their formula with but sterilizing seemingly endless bottles nipples and pacifiers, cleaning  humidifiers daily and even washing their little booty's with a warm washcloth every diaper change...regardless of it being a number one or number two. I quickly learned that wet wipes were just as effective as warm washcloths but kept up  the bottle sterilization for at least six months. Then I switched to washing the bottles in the dishwasher adding a cap full of bleach with all the nipples and rings in a dishwasher net bag. My kids never really liked pacifiers much anyway so instead of sterilizing them, I just threw them out .

I am almost fifty one now and my kid's are 25... 19... 16 and all three still alive and healthy. I taught them the basics as they grew up. Wash your hands often, always with warm water and soap. Brush your teeth twice a day. Take a bath and change your underwear every day and don't eat boogers.

So  far it has worked out pretty "well" for us. (small pun intended)

I used to clean my house (dust vacuum, wash sheets mop floors) every Friday just like my Mama did. The big difference was my Mama was a housewife until her youngest child was almost in junior high school.  Once MY kid's got old enough (high school) to clean and do  for themselves and I was still working six days a week I let them live in squalor if they chose. I would clean my own bathroom and the guest bathroom. I kept the living room clean in case company arrived unexpected and cleaned the kitchen after every meal. Between meals they were on their own. The past year or so I have been working sometimes 14 day work weeks...sometimes 20 day work weeks.

I have let the home dust and dirt fall where it may..."Everywhere." If they get disgusted enough they pitch in and clean.
 What do I care? I work over fifty hours a week and work more than I am at home. I work in the cleanest restaurant I have ever worked in (and I have worked in a LOT) so I feel pretty secure about my living environment. I seem to live at work and therefore live in a very clean place.

When life went in the crapper for us, cleaning my house was bumped way down the list,  KEEPING my house worried me a heck of a lot more and became my main priority. I also learned how to pinch a penny til it screamed. I learned how to sometimes beat the banking system (so I like to believe) learned how to keep utilities on WAY past due dates while still  keeping the kids cell phones activated.

When Barb (my boss) eats a meal at  work she always has at least half left over. She  gives it to me and I  take it home and put it in the fridge. Tim wakes up the next  day for work thinking he is eating yet another PB&J for lunch and spots a box of Chicken Picata or Veal Marsala in the refrigerator with "COTTON" written on the box. I will admit, sometimes Barb's best  friend eats dinner with her and has over half her dinner left and asks if I want it? I thank her and put the food in yet another box  label it "COTTON" take it home and tell Tim Leon sent him some food. (Leon is the owner's son)

One time Tim came in to eat some first go around food with Massey and  I mentioned to Leon "If Tim says thanks for the food just say you're welcome."

Skip to today.

I worked a double. Zach took me to work this morning and kept my car because he actually has a job that wants him to come in and talk about employment with their company. I told him to go pick up Massey after school and then come pick me up for my luxurious one hour break. They both got there and announced they were hungry. Monday night is "Pasta Night" at Mama Lucia's.  All pasta entrees are $9.99. They ordered to go. Zach got spaghetti with meatballs and Massey got an order of three meatballs. Our meatballs are ridiculously good and like the good people they are   discounted everything and I had dinner for both kids a bag of warm bakery baked bread with extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning for under eight bucks.

I drove home, for a thirty minute power nap with Zach riding shotgun and Massey in the backseat with the food on her lap. We got behind an older tiny Toyota pickup with about twenty huge garbage bags bulging out of every corner of the truck bed when Zach casually said "Don't get too close, if he picks up speed one of those bags might come flying out."

Not one minute later the tiny truck put on his left blinker and started to turn, then  slammed on his brakes just like I had to. The bags shifted but stayed put.  Behind me I heard Massey say "OH my God I think I'm gonna cry!" The bag fell off her lap and her three delicious meatballs were deposited on top of her brand new snow white New Balance tennis shoes her Dad had just bought for her. I told her not to move...we would be home in four minutes. My motto is  "Don't cry over spilled marinara."

We got home , I got out of the car and looked in the seat behind me. Massey still looked mortified but had two meatballs resting on top of each shoe. I told her to wait for me to go get a beach towel but first scooped each meatball up into my hand , went into the kitchen and rinsed them off... put them on a small plate and covered  them with my cheap store brand plastic wrap and put them in the fridge for Tim.
The kids were appalled.
They both said "We'll tell Dad."
I told them  being married to me would kill their father long before anything I fed him did and they better keep their traps shut.

So what I've cut a few corners? It's not like I sterilize Tim's every meal.

 I told Massey they could drive me back to work in thirty minutes and I would get her some more meatballs...she seemed happy with that and I was beyond happy with my thirty minute nap.

On the way back to work I called and ordered Massey's replacement meatballs. She ran in and picked them up when they dropped me off and all was good.

Zach came back to pick me  up from my dinner shift three hours later and when I was checking out with Len (the owner) Zach said "Dad didn't eat those meatballs he went to bed early." Len said "They will be fine, rinse them off and cook them at 250 degrees for ten minutes."

Zach (in total Zach fashion) said "Well then we'll just bring them back here for you to eat."

Len just chuckled...he is married to a woman that makes me look like Aunt Bee on Xannax. I love Barb to death and she is my mentor as a working woman but absolutely everyone is either in awe of her or fears her tremendously.

The meatballs are still in the fridge...if the kids ratted me out they will be sorry, trust me!

Catering for work in the morning. Going to bed thinking how lucky I am to not only have a job that helped save my family but a job that has helped feed my family.

Yes I  aptly named our email address...

Til next time..."Kelly Mae"

27,000 !!!

Logged in tonight and noticed the stats...I have had 27,000 hits on my blog! I went to the stats page to see what kind of people read my incessant drivel. I have readers from not only the United States but the following: Russia, India, Philippines, Canada, Germany, Italy, Pakistan(Yikes!) Puerto Rico, Turkey, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Denmark, Australia, and Netherland. That totally blows my itty bitty mind.

I started my blog as a vent but it grew into a personal venture and a healing machine for my soul and sanity.

I went from comfortably well off upper middle class to welfare in the span of less than twelve months. It was an eye opening jaw dropping  lesson in humility and gratitude. I have learned a lot about myself and a lot about how much I am loved and how many blessings I have.

We are on the road back to what Massey calls "Being unpoor." Although Tim and I felt the finacial weight bearing down on us like a ton of bricks, it wasn't easy for my two kid's still at home. We actually had to not so gently shove the oldest out to flap his own wings and fly away. I still feel bad about that, but he has matured and made it on his own and it makes me smile to know how wonderful he has turned out to be.

Still got two at home both in their teens driving me to look like the above photo. Massey is a great girl but when you are feamle and sixteen...Drama is your middle name. I remember it well.
Zach is like a son in a sitcom series....somebody's gotta be making this crap up! I love him anyway but he is close to getting shooed out of the nest as well. (Maybe his older bro needs a room mate.)

My life is comical to say the least. It is never dull around here.

I came home from work tonight after working an eleven hour shift to find my living room all re arranged by my younger son. He moved the 42" TV to the other side of the room which was fine by me. Now it won't have the glare coming through the windows making the picture harder to see in  the daytime.  My problem was he routed the cable wire across my fireplace mantle and had it tacked down with push pins (nice touch.) He also moved my sofa out of the living room and into my dining room for some unknown and bizarre reason.

I came home from work and sat down at  the computer in  the dining room to check my email when Tim came downstairs from the bedroom and spoke to the two dogs laying on  the floor behind me. "Well look at  this, now Momma can do her blog and then just plop on the couch and go to sleep."

I glared at him but relented the glare when he rubbed my aching shoulders for about 45 seconds.

Now tomorrow I have to drag my couch back up to the living room. At least the living room is all vacuumed and ready for the return of the "sitting device."

One thing is for sure...there's never a dull moment in our house (unless we are ALL gone) but then again who knows WHAT my two crazy pups do when we are!

Thinking about getting a Christmas tree on my day off tomorrow. Heck I could buy a forest of trees with all the room we have now in my livng room...

Til next time, lived another day to tell another story COTTON