My Over seas Chat With Lu Tong

I am currently having problems with my email.

I am getting fifty spam messages every time that I open up my email.

"How to enlarge Your Penis"

"Viagra"

"How to Make Millions From Your Home"

I am sick to death of it, so tonight, I decided to call my Internet provider (who will remain nameless for a day or two).

I reached a girl who was in Indonesia.

I know this because I asked.

"FOR PETE'S SAKE" !!

Just let someone answer the phone for ONCE...and say "This is Sally" from Kentucky...How can I hep ya"??

Once I told her my email name "The clampetts"...I could right away realize that she had NEVER seen or heard of the Beverly Hillbillies.

Her pronunciation was at BEST..Clampeets.

I tried to small talk while she led me through a myriad of functions and clicking that did no good at all.

I thought about saying "Can you transfer me to "Bob" in Missouri"??

I know that we are shipping more jobs than we could ever imagine out of the country, but it is tiring to me to not only be upset with my computer, but be pressed to decipher what in the world she is trying to tell me.

I will give her this one.

I am NOT computer savvy.

But when I sit at my computer in Newnan Georgia... I want someone that I can chat with, someone that I can identify with...and someone that understands my language and my dialect.

I don't want my nails done, I just want to fix my computer.

She was gracious and nice...but I am no closer to an answer than I was when I placed the call.

It is no different when I call about my son's XBOX.

It is like I have called Mars.

They confuse me so much (which is usually MY forte) that I almost feel like saying

"You make this more difficult than the game my son was playing, when your piece of crap game unit stopped working after I paid $450 for him to have three months of playing it".

Are all of these people sitting in a back room somewhere, laughing at us, or are we not taking them to task?

When you make a phone call these days...you could be calling across the street or calling across the planet.

I remember when ANOTHER of my son's game systems broke down right before Christmas.

I had bought him three games to give him on Christmas morning.

When Rasheed answered the phone, he was very polite, but told me that there was nothing they could do for me before Christmas.

I explained it like this:

You wake up on the morning of Hanukkah , and you have a cool toy, but no AA batteries to operate it , THAT AIN'T MUCH FUN!!

He was wonderful in supplying me the the customer satisfaction that I not only wanted, but deserved.


My point is...

Used to (a million years ago when I was young)

You were calling someone across town to complain.

Now you don't know who you are talking to , or where in the world they are (LITERALLY).

I guess that I am turning into an old "FOGEY" ... if they EVEN use that word anymore.

The only point that I want to make, is that it no longer a small world that we live in...

It is a tremendous, expansive universe that we ultimately are forced to join.

To keep up with the technology, the phrases, the jargon keeps a person of my age SO on their toes...that you would think that I am a ballet dancer .

But I am just a Mother, Wife , server and aspiring writer.

I just like it so much that you all let me talk to you, and that sometimes some of you feel like you need to respond.

This world that we know is changing.

This world that we know is turning into something that I would have never imagined as a child .

But what are we going to do?

THAT IS THE REAL QUESTION!!!

Am I just thinking too much, ranting too much, or bitching too much?

Or could I possibly be right...or close to it?

I Just Can't Seem to Help Myself...

I am SOOO glad that the election is getting closer.

I am getting worn out.

Defending my beliefs, defending my choices, defending a man that I believe in.

Even my husband, who is a Republican told me just yesterday morning that he thought "my man" was going to win.

One of the many reasons that I love my husband is what he said to me after I said that Obama will be a great president.

He said "I really hope so".

Not that "The country will be ruined" or "This is the beginning of the end".

So many Republicans believe that if they don't have an elephant tromping through the white house... the country will fall apart.

In my opinion, the country has already fallen apart.

We may be donkeys...but we aren't asses!

WE have our downfalls, we make our mistakes, but we try more to take care of the people that need it the most.

My sister recently retired from her job after thirty years of service.

When signing her retirement package a few months ago.. she had $25,000 in her 401 K.

She checked it yesterday and she had $1.43.

A friend at work has lost $150,000.

After thirty years of service to a job...my sister is WIPED OUT!

My friends say "Leave it in there".

SO WHAT?

If it took her thirty years to acquire $25,000... it will take HOW long to build back up to at LEAST that minimum? And does she really have THAT long to wait for the money that she is deserved and entitled to?

SOMEONE dropped the ball.

Let's see...

Who has been in charge for the last eight years and what in the hell have they been doing?

I stand by my belief that the (republican) American people are terrified of a BLACK man being in the highest office in the land and think that it will be the down fall of the nation. That almost seems racist , if not ridiculous. If you feel this way, you should check yourself for not only racism, but for bigotry as well. If you don't believe me, just let it all play out... and condemn me in six months when he has taken control of the situation and made all of our lives better. YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THIS ONE... because it is going to happen and the country had better get used to the fact that the "BOY" is going to end up being the "MAN" that makes the difference and makes the changes that help us all.

My vote has already been cast.

My HOPE is that he swings into the white house with a vengeance and does what I know he can do...FIX THIS COUNTRY !!

I hope that in 2009.. my friends that were against and opposed to him will realize that all the talk and rhetoric were wrong.

We need a new start, we need a new government, we need a new leader.

I personally feel that it is Barrack Obama...I feel that it is time to give someone else a chance...a time to let us begin to take back the title of being the "Greatest Country In The World".

Quote your arguments about his past life, spout out your differences with his minister... WHO is trying to lead this country... Barrack or his "FORMER" minister?

Who are we voting into office... Barrack, or his preacher? Who is McCain's minister?

Haven't heard that much about McCain's church or affiliation.

Give this man a chance... and he can make this America a brighter and more prosperous place!!!.

I am NOT misinformed.

I am a very literate and informed person. I have done my research and I have evaluated my economic and political positions.

I watch the news and political shows .

My country, as well as my own family are in DIRE need of help and I as one American can stand up and say...

Get off your high right wing elephant butt and let the donkey kick some ASS.

Trust me in two years you and your 401 K will be grateful.

If not... you will regret it more than you could ever imagine.

And you can quote me on that!

Happy Birthday, "MAMA" !!!

With thirty minutes to go... I could not let this day pass without telling my MOTHER that even after thirty one years...she is still on my mind and still totally in my heart.

She left my life WAY too early, yet she has remained in my heart constantly.

I have a daughter that is her name sake. A daughter that was due on this very day. Complications caused her to be born on August 19... the date that my Mother died.

Eighteen years to the day that my Mother died, my daughter fought her way into this world.

I miss my Mother every single day.

I wish that she was still with us.

But God has plans that sometimes we can't understand .

I have come to believe that God sent me a present to make up for Him taking my Mother.

I have a daughter.

She is a best friend to me...has calves as thick as my Mother (a Leach girl trait) and fills me with joy.

I still miss my Mother, wish she were here every day.

But I have been blessed beyond belief with two of the greatest parents a girl could ever hope for, an upbringing that was extraordinarily wonderful and enlightening.

My Mother was a person that could do anything , could wrap people around her little finger...and they would feel grateful to be there.

She was taken from me too soon ... in my opinion... but has left me with the comforting fact that I was "ANN LEACH'S" daughter... and in retrospect... I was very lucky to have not only had her for a Mother, but for an example of what a GOOD person should be... not only how to live my life, but how to raise my own kids.

They flounder and wander, but my kids know ALL about their "GRAND MA" and I have no hesitation in saying that they will ALL find their way....

My Mother would NOT have it any other way.

I still dream of her.. and my Father.

In my dreams, they come to me...I know they have passed, but just seeing them in my dreams...I can smell them, I can almost touch them. It seems so vivid that it almost seems like a vacation... and it is ALWAYS so welcoming to me.

I may sound crazy... but if you have ever had parents as great as mine...I think that you could understand me.

They pop up in my dreams, and they are as real and as comforting as God can allow them to be.

I hope that I can make my Mother proud...My Diddy too.

I know that I lost them both too early... but what kind of person would I have turned out to be if I hadn't had THEM???

Happy Birthday, MAMA... I Love You, and I thank you for not only bringing me into this world, but making me the person that I am, and making me want to be the person, wife and mother that I know I CAN be!!

IT IS ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!!!


I will see you in my dreams... and you will be forever in my heart!!

Your daughter, KELLY

"HEARDDD"!!!

One of my favorite co workers is a cook at the restaurant.

When he is not in the line of fire (AKA) off the clock, he is a mild mannered and soft spoken man.

When he is "on the clock" he is a mad man...a seemingly possessed human that feels the weight of his position commands him to be "ON" at all times.

It rattles him if you speak to him directly, rather than going through the expo..(the person in the window that expedites the food and should be the only one talking to the cooks).

He has more quips, quotes and euphemisms for his job than I have ever heard in my thirty years of being a server.

Sometimes, even I have a hard time making a connection with the point he is trying to make, while flipping 30 steaks on the grill, as the orders keep ticking through on the computer that is spitting out tickets by the second .

Two of his favorite sayings are "No Jokes" and "All kidding aside".

He came out of the kitchen tonight to clock out from his shift.

His back, which I patted as he walked by was soaked with sweat ( it is usually about 94 degrees in the kitchen).

I told him as he walked by..."Let me tell you just an observation that I have made (all kidding aside)."

When he is on the line...he is ALL business.

I cannot think of ANYONE that is more less LIKELY TO TELL A JOKE OR TO BE KIDDING ABOUT ANYTHING WORK RELATED THAN HIM !!!!

I told him that it isn't like he is standing in the back of the kitchen making funny hats out of newspaper or saying "pull my thumb" or "watch THIS trick"!!!

We all know that he is STRICTLY professional and strictly there to do HIS job.

I worry that we may kill him with out petty requests (usually trying to cover up our OWN mistakes) or that he may burst open at the seams with our demands (from the customers).

Maybe he is just trying to rein all of us servers in, to remind us of what a hard and challenging job he has... or maybe he is just trying to save his own sanity in a brutally hard and fast paced job.

But whichever it is ...I feel proud to have him as a fellow employee, and feel lucky that he takes my observations with the intent that they are given.

"NO JOKES" ...."ALL KIDDING ASIDE"...

He is a person that takes his job seriously, does his job deliberately and conscientiously...and without his crazy, manic and wild demeanor... my job would just be a PURE hell.

All kidding aside.... THANK YOU RANDY !!!

Racism...It Totally Sickens me

As we plow through this election and I hear all the screams from terrified, nervous whites...it amazes me that we have come so far to learn so little.

My first memory of racial bias came at the age of about six.

My mother shopped at the local A&P. A grocery store that everyone in the town of East Point shopped at. Located next door to the Methodist church and across the street from Zesto's....that great fast food store that I think still remains (along with the Methodist Church) in a town that is on the cusp of Atlanta...a mere fifteen minutes from downtown...yet far enough away to have a small town feel.

My mother grocery shopped every Thursday. She bought all of the groceries that would feed our family of five for a week, wrote the check for $25 over to have spending money and I can vividly remember that her check was usually for $65.

Does that show my age or WHAT?

There was a "bag boy".

He was to my best recollection (and I just conferred with my sister on the phone) in his early fifties. Although this man was a bag boy...he was a beloved man by most all of the people that shopped there. He was always peppy, upbeat and eager to please. My mother may have given him a quarter when he stowed our groceries away in our trunk, but the next week he was smiling when he saw us and always more than happy to help us to our car.

On one of our weekly visits...Walt was putting our groceries away in our car. He slammed our trunk shut...then noticed a Pontiac Firebird parked next to our car with the windows down.

It was a nice summer day, and he whistled aloud at the car. He leaned in the driver's window and tooted the horn. TOOT TOOT!!

A white man emerging from the store, said ...to the best of my recollection..."Nigger, get away from my car"!!

Walt stumbled back, apologized...got rebuffed, seemed ashamed and for the first time in my young life I experienced some one's humiliation and embarrassment for being a different color.

My mother was embarrassed, and I was taught an early lesson.

This affable, friendly and generous man was being targeted because the color of his skin was different.

He was treated as if he were a criminal, he was treated as if his feelings didn't matter.

If this racist didn't want his horn to be "tooted" by someone on a beautiful summer day...DON'T leave both the windows down.

I wonder if I had leaned over and "tooted" his horn...would he have called me out just the same?

I can say almost for certain that he would have not.

At the tender age of six...

I think that I became a Democrat.

I became a person that cares about humanity, I care about the minorities, I care about taking care of other people and I care about the world that I will leave behind for my grand kids.

Big business will always take care of their own.

Some people will try to sponge off of the government and get something for nothing.

My party will try to take care of everyone, and may fail in some of their attempts, or make some mistakes.

But we will always try to improve not only the economy, but the world and environment that we live in...and the way that we that we use the planet and explore options and opportunities that make us freer to live a longer time on this planet with a lot less repercussions and have a lot more benefits.

As I look at the Nation, as I look at the world... Doesn't the Democratic view seem much more realistic?

Take a good look at your life, take a look at the current condition of the economy.

Could we do THAT much worse with a "DEM" in the White House?

I say, Let's give it a shot....What more do we have to lose?

Blacks, Whites, Asians, Hispanics.... We are a melting pot.

Let's not let racial bias keep us from recovering and growing. That is EXACTLY what America is all about.

I think that my old friend "Walt" from the A&P would be happy with what is happening in America today.

It is time that the REAL people take over...and that the caring and concern come back to the forefront.

Stand Up!!! America...Go to the Polls!!!!!



P.S. Webster's defines racism as :

"The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others".

We are all AMERICANS... wake up and smell the roses...KNOW what you need to do and do NOT be scared of making the RIGHT choice . I know that I am NOT!!!

One of The Total Pleasures in My Life...Reese

I have been watching this baby since she was nine months old. Actually my daughter is the "babysitter", but I have been there every step of the way. When she first came to my house, she was only starting to crawl. Now, at over two years of age...she has crawled her way into our lives and into our hearts.

She is HANDS DOWN the smartest and most polite child I have ever encountered. At the tender age of two, she covers her mouth when she coughs, thanks you when you give her anything, and always uses the word "PLEASE" when asking for anything. (I wish my sixteen year old had the same qualities).

She knows all of her colors, knows sign language, and knows how to make you love her without any effort on her part at all.

Her mother has grown so tremendously, and has become the mother that I hope I have been to my own kids.

At the ripe age of two, she always says "please" always says "thank you' and always fills your heart with a warmth that is few and far between with a child her age.

She is so wise beyond her years that it totally amazes me with her complete understanding of social skills, and knowledge of etiquette.

She is a complete and total joy to have in our house, and has charmed the pants off of every male in our household.

She is a girl who is destined to be a great woman, and will go on to not only make her mark, but probably leave skid marks in her path along the way.

She can count in Spanish, and she count on me, for being there ANY TIME she may need me or my family.

She has unknowingly wormed her way into our lives, and I have never been more proud to have this toddler in my life.

Her mom has met an exceptional man, one that loves this little girl as his own...and she loves him right back just as much.

He has kids of his own, and Reese has slipped right into the mix as if she has always been there.

I am so extremely excited for this new found love for her mother...she could have never been luckier than to find this new "baby daddy".

I am so excited that they are becoming a unit, becoming a family, and starting to begin a new life together.

My "Little 'Reese' of Heaven" has finally come into her own...her own family and her own place to learn, grow and flourish.

When they marry and move, I will miss her so much that I am sure I will ache with the fact that she won't be staying with me anymore.

But I will be filled with the comfort of knowing that my "little Reese of Heaven" is having the best life she can have, and the best parents she could ever hope for.

Sarah Palin..."LOOK OUT"....my Reese will make you look like Rosanne Barr !!!

Biloxi Part TWO

Back for a lighter post!!

They should call it a "COLD"sino... not a casino. When we checked into our room, the thermostat was set on 63 degrees. Who in the world wants a room to be set on that temperature in early September in the south?

When we went down to the casino, it was even colder. I had to go back up to the room to get another layer of clothing on, just to be able to stand the Arctic air.

We were on the tenth floor, and since we kept a bottle of tequila (my friend who was staying at another casino kept her bottle hidden away in our suite). It seemed like a long trip up to the room, but once we started drinking for free, it began to seem a shorter and shorter trip.

On one of the trips up to our room, I commented to my friend that they seemed to keep the entire place freezing.

She, being a frequent visitor to the casinos... said "take a look around". Look at all the overweight, out of shape people gambling. She told me they were just trying to keep them comfortable and happy.

I hate to admit it...but she was dead on the mark.

Our suite had a wonderful bed with a nice sheet set, a blanket covering that, a top sheet and a two inch thick comforter on top of the other three layers.

As I cruised the casinos, I noticed walkers piled up like dominoes. I noticed that we were all having to take the "freeze out" just to keep the unhealthy HAPPY!!

Thirty year old people scooting around in their "Rascals" and people EVERYWHERE smoking Camels. In a casino...it is like being back in the sixties...SMOKE SMOKE SMOKE... if you are a non smoker, you are one of the trouble makers.

In a casino, they want you to stay so badly that it is actually HARD to get kicked out.

My dear friend that had brought her own tequila down to the casino in a Dasani water bottle (she works for Coca cola)...hence the Dasani. She and I had sat at a poker table that was not being used, and decided that it was our own private night club table. We set up our drinks and just began to chat. She was tutoring me in the ways of the casino. She remarked that "See that big guy over there on the phone? He is the Pit boss and he knows everything that is going on". About that time, the "BIG" guy came straight to our table and asked my friend if she was "SHOOTING".

Being a newby to the gambling world, I didn't know what he meant, but my friend knew immediately what he meant. She had brought her own liquor in a bottle into the casino, and that was forbidden. He was nice about it, but I was embarrassed so I stepped away for a moment so that she would be able to come up with her own excuse..

When I stepped back to the table, the "PIT" boss said that we couldn't sit there. I remarked to my friend "Julie, you know you can't do that". The pit boss replied to my friend..."you told me your name was Tiffany". She rebounded with "Tiffany is my 'out of town' name".

I asked the Pit boss what gave her away...was it the salt shaker that she had on the table or the salt she had pre poured on the inside of her thumb and fore finger?

As we got up to leave the table with our tails between our legs, the pit boss called to me and said "HEY Agnes...you left your purse"!!

They were so accommodating , they were so nice...it is like we couldn't even piss them off if we tried.

My husband said that that is just the way it is with casinos...no matter what, they JUST want you to stay there. That is their hold, just keep you there, just make you happy. So they HAVE to enforce a few petty rules.

It is like being in terraincognita, it is an unknown world. You are sitting under the ocean in a smoke filled room with hundreds and hundreds of people, just there to try and make a buck, or worst case scenario...get a free buzz and go home thinking that somehow they have gotten something for nothing.

I am so extremely glad that we do not live closer to the casinos. They treat you so royally that you almost forget that they are sucking every dime that you have out of you...and smiling at you the entire time.

It almost seems like voluntary financial rape!

But it was fun, it proved to be a lesson, it almost seemed like I was a high roller for two days. At least that is the way they make EVERYONE feel...and that is where they TOTALLY suck you in.

God bless the people with their walkers and rascals...I hope that they know what they are doing... I know I didn't!!

Here Comes the Bride !!

I gave a co worker a wedding shower at work on Monday.

She is biting the bullet on Saturday to marry her "baby daddy". I wonder if that word will make it into the dictionary soon? It seems to be a pretty commonly heard word these days...but at least she is turning him from that in into the REAL daddy!

She is a dear sweet woman who has made her life into something good and has turned a hard childhood into a working adulthood ...adding a college degree and working on another.

I can't go to the wedding on Saturday because I am working and took too much time off to go to Biloxi to play with my husband for our anniversary (hence the shower).

I must say I outdid myself... Lasagna, garlic bread, caesar salad, champagne punch, spinach dip and a cake. (Do I know how to get out of feeling bad about missing a wedding or WHAT)????

I call her my chubby little friend... but of course with me weighing 105lbs that means most of my friends are "chubby". She has lost a lot of weight and is looking and feeling good about herself and her future.

Getting married is NOT going steady. It is not just living in the same house. It is making a life long commitment... as they say "for better or for worse". In my opinion, too many couples seem to miss that part of the vows.

It won't always be a bed of roses...well maybe for the first year, while you are still unpacking wedding presents and loving your "honey moon" stage.

I have been with my husband for over twenty years. We have had good times, great times, okay times and really bad times. I will admit that before he took me on this last trip, I had fallen into a funk. I was tired of doing everything around the house, taking care of the kids and house...all the while working six days a week. Of course he never demanded that I do those things, I just naturally took it upon myself to try to be a super woman.

After we came home from Biloxi...we had a fight. Not a fist fight...my husband would never raise a hand to me in a million years. But I spewed off with my big mouth. I felt that although we had gone on this trip, it was with two other couples, and I felt that for one time in twenty years, I just wanted something to be JUST ABOUT ME! I wanted to be the princess...I wanted to be in his spotlight. I wanted to feel special. The weekend had been spent in the casinos and partying with the other four people, and I just wanted to feel like he hadn't given up on me as being the focus of his heart and soul.

Our actual anniversary was on Monday after we returned from Biloxi on Sunday night. After replacing the screens on the house, and fixing the garage door that the kids had torn up while we were gone...doing all the laundry, cleaning up after the kids and falling into bed, I instigated the argument.

Little known to me, he came home early from work on Monday (our actual anniversary) and took me to our favorite Italian restaurant. He gave me a beautiful gold bracelet with tiny sand dollars and starfish on it (he knows how I love the beach). And then he dropped the bomb. He gave me a card that simply said Happy Anniversary on the front....and on the inside he had written "I never gave up on you, You just gave up on me".

It was the most poignant thing he has ever said to me... and he was exactly and totally right.

I thought he had just had a good time in Biloxi, and that was the end of our anniversary.

But taking me out...giving me that bracelet...and giving me that card made all the difference in the world to me.

Marriage is a long road, filled with many ruts and potholes. It is a commitment for life.

Sometimes you have to evaluate and sometimes you have to make adjustments.

But it isn't something that you can bail out on or give up on.

After that lovely dinner, and that special gift and card... I felt renewed.

I felt special...I fell in love with my husband all over again.

I could never imagine being with another man. I cannot imagine being without my husband. I cannot even think of anything that could make me happier than being married to Tim.

It hasn't all been roses, and there have been many ruts in the road.

But after twenty years....I feel a satisfaction that I made a wise decision in marrying him, and with staying with him.

Marriage is a lot of work... but if you both work at it, it is so tremendously rewarding that you can not possibly think of your self without thinking of your spouse. You are forever intertwined and I mean this in a good way.

I look at him and I feel so blessed to have a man that loves me with such depth and devotion. (and trust me...it takes a LOT to live with the likes of me)!!

So I wish the same good fortune on my very dear friend. I hope that her future husband realizes what a wonderful woman he has, and treats her accordingly. Because if he doesn't...he can always just be "baby daddy".

But to be man and wife is a blessing that is all too often taken for granted and thrown away at the first sign of trouble.

To work through the problems, seek out answers and solutions, realize mistakes and make up for them...it is all a process that is called "MARRIAGE".

If you stick it out, if you love each other totally and completely... you will find the greatest bliss that you could ever imagine.

There will be bumps in the road, there will be trials and tribulations... but there will be a satisfaction at the end of the day when you realize that you have a partner in your life and someone that loves you just as much as you love them.

Good luck to my dear friend and may she have the wonderful wedding and marriage that she so tremendously deserves.

You have to be in it for the long haul...for the good, the bad , the ugly....and whatever else life may throw your way.

Just remember that now you will always have someone to turn to and someone to lean on and depend on... and in my book that is a pretty awesome thing to have.

I hope that twenty years down the road you are still in love with your husband like I am with mine... TRUST me...it is an AWESOME and powerful feeling to have, and I feel extremely blessed to have it... and to have him love me as well.

Good luck my friend... enjoy the ride and make the most of every moment and day.

Life is short...


Til next time.....COTTON

Is the Country Just NOT Paying Attention??

I get emails EVERY DAY from people.

These "Cute" texts from people. I have one currently on my phone sent from a neighbor.
It is a text showing a monkey with a banana... with the white house in the background. It fades to a picture of Barrack Obama standing in front of the white house.

I do not know what the correct word to use is...but I think I could sum it up in three.

"TOTAL RACIAL BIAS".

This is a man that is a Christian, an advocate and an obvious patriot.

How in the world can you portray him as a muslim, black, or terrorist? (you repubs CAN'T tell me that you haven't tossed THAT one around )!!

I consider myself a Democrat, but HAVE voted for republicans. I vote for the person...not the party.

And Roe vs. Wade?????????????

Give me a break. The repubs have had eight years to overturn the decision.

My only argument with PALIN (besides her sarcastic comments about Obamma in her acceptance speech) is her opposition to abortion..even in cases of incest or rape .

I have a thirteen year old daughter.

If by some freak of nature, she was raped by a crack head, alcoholic or even by a relative( I know that last scenario is extremely unlikely)..but it COULD happen to some one some where.

There is NO man on this planet that is in the position to tell a woman what to do with her body. There is NO governing official that has the right to tell or legislate anything that can instruct a woman how to conduct her life or destiny with her bodily capabilities... or the options that are hers to choose.

Look at the economy...look at your own portfolio.

Are you happy having to drive around your city looking for gas?

Are you happy with us spending billions of dollars a month on a war where they don't want us...killing over 4000 of our own citizens?

Are you happy with having a man in the white house that only wants to sugar coat his election, get into office, and continue the last eight years?

Are you happy knowing that if his health fails... we will have a woman in charge that would let the government tell women all across this great nation that THEY do not have a choice on what they can do with their OWN body?

How many more banks can we bail out? How many more houses have to go into foreclosure?

It hasn't worked for the last eight years.

I say it is time to give someone else a chance.

Not a monkey with a banana...

But a man that has a vision to try to change the politics, the lobbyists, the CEO's..the wall street crooks and all of their cronies.

It is time to take back our nation, time to worry about the Americans, bring home our troops, fix the economy...and fix our future.

I would have voted for Mike Huckaby...and did in the primaries....but we are far past that point now.

It is a time to stand up to all of our fellow citizens and say that the time of racial bias should be a sore point in our past...not a stumbling block for a better future.

As I write this post, I know that I am losing readers. I know that I am in the minority.

I also know that I have three children who are coming into their adult lives WAY too quickly.

It is them that I worry about the most.

It is ALL of our futures that I worry about.

Take a look at your life now, and remember how prices, gas and the whole economy was over eight years ago.

Whether you agree with me or not...your only option is to VOTE VOTE VOTE.

I promise that I will not rant about this again until after the election.

But I am a DIE HARD voter.

If every person in America voted, if every person actually cared about their opinion being heard and counted.... We would be living in a MUCH different society...and it would be a much better place, a more peaceful place and a better world for all of us.

Once again.....it's only MY opinion Till next time....(hopefully)


COTTON

Livin " Large" for 72 Hours!! PART ONE

My husband took me on a surprise trip to Biloxi for an anniversary present. It's only taken him 20 years...but I have to admit he did it 'right'.

We stayed at the Beau Rivage, and I HIGHLY recommend it. Over twenty floors of almost embarrassing pampering and luxury (at least to someone like me).

We got there at 3:00..4:00 our time, when my kids usually get off the bus.

My phone rang at 4:05.

My middle son was calling to say they were locked out of the house. I always leave the back kitchen door unlocked. # one....we have three huge dogs in the backyard #2.... one of the kids are always losing their key, and can jump the back fence for easy entry through the back door.

My daughter had forgotten her key, my son had lost his...and their older brother had taken the hide a key.

My son was on the roof of our house. Not a good sign when you are two states away.

They finally got in after lifting up the second garage door (packed with junk).

When we got back from our trip... there was a screen on the roof of the third floor, and the complete top panel of the second garage door was off. WELCOME HOME !!

As I realized while I was in Biloxi, they are IN the house now..."LET'S GO GAMBLE"!!!!

WE all took the elevator down. When it is "JUST" your own group...you talk and chat. When there is an outsider in the group, you tend to just 'mutter among yourselves'.

It was the six of us, three couples and an odd man with a suitcase going downstairs to check out.

I couldn't stand the opportunity.

I said that my friend Jew and her husband could stay in our room that night . She said that she wanted to sleep by me, and with my butch haircut and wrinkles remarked that I had been meaning to break up with her.

The man with the suitcase began to pivot and move his handle of his suitcase up and down, and totally NOT looking up in any direction.

About that time another of my friends picked up on my Que , and said quite loudly "Julie, did you pay off those bad check charges before we left"?

The odd man out began to not only shuffle, but seemed EXTREMELY uncomfortable.

I JUST HAD TO ADD TO THE MIX!!!

AS the elevator door opened to let our 'friend' out, I gazed across the elevator at my husband and said...."Good luck beating that RAPE charge, Tim".

The man finally looked up and said..."I really hate to have to get off here".

He certainly had tales to tell when he met up with his party...and we continued on with our own.


It was a weekend filled with stories, lots of walkers piled up in a corner, rascals scooting everywhere and extremely over weight people "GASPING" their way through a weekend at the casino.

It was a wake up call.

Am I going to BE one of these people? Or am I going to be the one to assist them?

I don't think that I want to be either,

""DING A LING A LING" ....bells ringing....people thinking that they are winning money.

It is ALL a SCAM!!!

You can go to the casino and win a thousand...or lose a thousand.

It is just the energy...the free drinks...the oxygen that they pump in to keep us all alert.

It is a money making machine, and I CAN'T BLAME THEM.

We had a great time, and I have several more stories to tell about our short stay in opulence...

SO MUCH to come later...COTON.

"SNOT" That I'm Lazy... I've Just Been Sick!!

It started over TWO weeks ago with a scratchy throat, which developed into a sore throat...followed by a week and a half of snot working it's way out of my body...orifice by orifice . It hasn't been pretty... but I still managed to work every day and crash early every night.

I went into work today, when a co worker of mine said she had somethings for my daughter that she had kept when she cleaned her own daughter's room. Our daughters are 3 years apart...PERFECT for "Hand Me Down" syndrome....and we have reaped tons of great clothes, nic nacs and shoes from my wonderful friend.

Tonight she seemed a little hesitant as she took my car key from me to go load the "Treasure".

When I got off from work, I returned to my car to check out my daughter's "LOOT".


The first thing that I saw was a ball of yarn. The second thing that I saw was a door mat that said "CAT HOUSE".

Thank the Lord my three dogs can't read. But unfortunately they can "Smell".


They smelled the kitties that had entered and scratched their razor-like claws across the door mat...swishing their tails so vainly (as cats do...in MY book).

I will have to mail my Mother in law this item, as she genuinely "Lives" in a "CAT HOUSE". (See previous "Cat Whisperer" post).

We netted some good items. but as I remember my friend's hesitation when borrowing my key to load the
"CACHE".... I was reminded of my grand mother...The only grandparent that I ever had .

I had a "Step" grandfather and he was wonderful, but as far as blood relatives..."MEMA" was all that I had.

She stood at least 5'11".

I am 5'4" on an impressive day (when all my checks have cleared the bank and I am feeling pretty proud of myself).

She never learned to drive (another blog ALTOGETHER).

She raised my Mother and my uncle by herself during the Great Depression.

Her husband was a raging alcoholic, and an absentee Father and Husband.

My uncle went on to college ...and my Mother met my Father.

The times at my grand mother's on my mother's side are a sincerely and blissful memory.

My Mother took care of not only her new husband's bedridden mother and grand mother, but her husband and kids and did a MOST spectacular job and never complained or thought it a burden.

My paternal grandparents had all died by the time that I can even recollect being on this earth.

My Mother's mom is a different situation all together.

Every Sunday, it seemed like they would come to our house for dinner...after which my "PAPA" would remove himself to my parent's bed for a nap after lunch.

PAPA was a huge man, drove a tank under Patton's command. I remember that he brought back a Nazi flag that my MEMA made into a quilt.

Things like this spring from my earliest memories like no time has passed at all.

After my Mother died, we made the obligatory visit to MEMA...my sister was MUCH more constant than me...but at least I made an impression when I DID show up!! (in MY mind anyway)

Every time that we came into her house, we had fried chicken for lunch, with buttermilk biscuits and whatever "PORK" or red meat was thrown in to spice up the Pole Beans.

After the meal was the usual "Let's see what we have HERE"??

Sometimes it was a treasure, sometimes it was her cleaning out her closets.

I can vividly remember her saying "HONEY, I am just going to throw it away".

I have told my sister time after time after time...."WHY didn't we just LET her throw it away"????

We survived with a lot of memories and a lot of stuff that has been designed to be a family "JOKE".

Exactly WHERE are those pot holders that were framed on one of those squares with the rows and rows of teeth that stick up frantically saying "MAKE ME A PRESENT...YOU'LL SAVE $$$$$" !!!!!

I still have the Christmas card that my Mother gave HER Mother on one Christmas.

I still have pictures, dishes and relics that I wouldn't give a million dollars for.

But to think back to that time... My friend is only doing the same thing that my grandmother did .

Offer up their offering..."TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT" .


Some things I will keep... some things I will ship off to others.

Some things mean NOTHING...

But other things mean the entire world to you.

We discriminate, we decide what is to keep and what is to discard.

In this time of election, in this time of turbulence, in this time of need...



What do we DISCARD and WHAT do we KEEP ???

Till next time.................COTTON

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY", "DIDDY"

Today is my "Diddy's" birthday. His 83rd on this earth...and his 6th in Heaven.

How have the years flown by in such a 'blink' of an eye? How can six years have passed, when sometimes it seems like last week that we had our 10 day trip down the "Nile"??

He is missed as much today as he was when he took his last breath.

He is a fixture in my mind and heart... He is at the center of a "mini" shrine to him in my dining room. He looks at my daily with his smiling face every time that I walk through the room (probably at least 30 times a day) and gazing from picture to picture
I am amazed of the time line and man that I can follow by pictures and documents from his years in grade school, through the Navy and into a blissful marriage with my saint of a Mother (I can state this one on a Bible).

Through our years growing up in a community church....remembering their out pouring of love when both of my parents died.

Now we are left with their deaths...

What do we DO with "That"???

We begin by saying a prayer every morning...

"Thank YOU Almighty One"....for blessing me with the greatest gift an infant could ever receive...two wonderful parents...a childhood full of grace and tremendous memories, and parents to aspire to be like every day of my walk on this earth.

I used to think that I was so unlucky to have had my parents die so early.

Now I know that it was just God telling me that by giving me the greatest parents on the earth...he needed them more than I did, and had to take them back.

A fair trade, in my years and years of trying to make some type of believable reason for losing my parents....this can be my only option.

But as they enjoy their reward... I KNOW that they are with me every day, and look forward to our all meeting again....I look toward that day (hopefully in the far, far distant future ) and know that I have been lucky, blessed and have been given far, far more than millions of other people on our planet.

So happy birthday, "OLE MAN"......and as he would always say..... "That's MISTER OLD MAN to YOU"!!!!

I can still see the car grease under your nails, smell the forklifts that you sold, see you scratching your feet in their white socks...laying on your back after church on the hall floor in your boxers...underneath the huge attic fan...floating on your back in the Gulf of Mexico, always bailing me out of trouble and remember MOST vividly that you worked yourself relentlessly to give me the greatest child hood that ANYONE could ever dream of and one that I feel totally and eternally grateful to have experienced.

Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday day DEAR "DIDDY"...Happy birthday to you!!!!!!

This is my weak attempt at a tribute to a man that will always have "hung" the moon in my book... and this one is definitely "NON" Fiction.


Till next time.......COTTON

A Waitress, a Mother.... and a Democrat !!!

I just finished watching Obama's speech...and for one of the few times in my life, I was left "Speechless"....with tears forming in my eyes.

He was eloquent, informed, articulate and impassioned.

I am the only Democrat at my workplace, besides the other African Americans that I work with. Let me retract that...I know of one other, but the point is made...we are few and far between at my job.

The thing that I get MOST tired of hearing is that Obama is a terrorist and a Muslim.

His faith is as a Christian. He quotes scripture with familiarity and reference.

I feel personally that the people that so dislike and oppose him are only showing their repressed racial bias...although most of them would immediately deny it.

This man WANTS to make a change in OUR lives.

He wants to revitalize the economy, the education system, the environment and health care...he wants to IMPROVE OUR NATION.

He is a man that has not been born into money or fame... but has fought his way into every position he has achieved or risen to.

He is not a BLACK man, he is not a MUSLIM, he is not a TERRORIST, He is an AMERICAN!

He is a man with the vision of making us once again a powerful and respected nation, who take care of their own, and one that knows that OIL will run out.... there is no doubt about that, AND IF WE DO NOT SEEK OTHER OPTIONS, We are only fooling ourselves and putting off the inevitable.

Look at the last eight years.

When Clinton left office, he had balanced the budget and had created millions of new jobs.

No one thinks he was a good husband..but HEY...he got the job done for us. We didn't elect him on his ability to be a faithful husband...we elected him to run the country, and in MY book, he succeeded well.

Then we had the "CHENEY" administration .

NOW we have the chance to pull the entire country together..To get people excited, involved and do what every person that loves our country should and MUST do.

VOTE...VOTE...VOTE !!!!

Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat...If you don't vote...it is the most critical mistake that you can make as an American.

Our country is built on this system...and if you are too lazy to vote...then you lose your right to bitch.(in my opinion)

It is a cross road that we stand at...it is a choice that we have to make. It is a time to stand up and be counted.

I will watch the "GOP" during their convention...but probably only to reassure myself that I will make the right decision on Nov.4th.

Whatever choice "YOU" make... just be SURE to go and have it registered...make your opinion heard, make your self count...and thereby "BE" accountable. If every person in this country voted "What a Wonderful World This Could Be".

Although I am firmly and staunchly a "DEM"...I encourage, challenge and plead with all Americans to exercise and use the "PRIVILEGE" that we have at our disposal to VOTE...VOTE ...VOTE.

It amazes me how many people that I know and respect say "I just don't vote...it won't make a difference".

THE "HELL" IT WON'T!!!!

Do me a favor if you read this post.

PROMISE yourself that you will get out and vote, not only for this election, but for ANY election that gives you the opportunity to have your opinion not only heard,but recorded and counted...and MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

I "AM" AN OBAMA MAMA. I am not ashamed, I am extremely proud . If you are proud of your candidate...my hat is off to you...if you get off your butt and join in the voting.... If you don't want to vote... I feel extremely sorry for you as an American.

Till Next Time, ....if anybody comes back....COTTON

Sometimes The Public WEARS me Out!!

I was at work tonight when a customer was seated at my table...He was awaiting the arrival of his wife and two kids. He ordered water for all four of them. He asked for a bowl of peanuts...which I brought him . After returning to the table , he told me they were stale and asked if I could find him a "fresher" bowl ?

Number ONE: The peanuts are free.

Number TWO: They are ALL out of the same stinkin box.

Number THREE: "Did ya come here for the PEANUTS??"

Once his family arrived, they placed their order... still griping about the peanuts, but had their meal, consisting of a shared meal between the parents and two kids meals.

I waited on them as I would a family that had just ordered four Porterhouse steaks and a thirty dollar bottle of wine.

He wanted to see my General manager, who was currently out back helping to repair the dumpster unit out back in case of an inspection from the health inspectors. He was covered in sweat...heaving a shovel to clean up the mess sometimes left by the people who dump our dumpsters. I asked him if I could tell my "GM" his name, to which he replied "he would only know me by my face."

I assume (probably correctly) that he wanted our restaurant to donate to a school function or buy an ad in a money mailer or some type of advertisement.

The meal went smoothly.

After the meal, his kids and wife went to the restroom . While they were gone I took the bill to the table and asked if they needed anything else.

His reply was... "Can MOMMY have her water put into a 'GO' cup"?

Who is he talking to?

No one else is at the table.

Is he actually calling his wife "MOMMY" to me?

It struck me as strange. I could never imagine my husband saying that.

Maybe he had a brain fart, or maybe they just speak that way so often that it seemed normal to him.

They left me a $5.00 tip on a $60.00 tab.

Maybe it was because I didn't produce my General manager on the spot, or maybe "MOMMY" is in control of the checkbook.

I happen to give GREAT service to EVERY table that I wait on.

I happen to make $2.13 an hour.

Maybe he ought to tell MOMMY that one!!

This is just an observation, just a vent.

It was the only tip that I got tonight that was under 20%.

"Tell MOMMY that she OWES me one"!!!!

If my husband EVER calls me MOMMY to a waitress, I would take him outside and flog him to death...and then I would go back inside and tip the waitress at LEAST 20% for listening to a grown man not only talk down to the waitress, but stiff them on a tip.

GOOD LUCK ever getting me to get you to the HEAD guy in OUR place!

AS I say, it is just an observation, just a rant...just an example of how people want SO much for SO little.

Till next time....COTTON

PS I hope none of my customers ever find me , or my blog!!

Thirty One Years Down the Road...Seems Like Yesterday

Today is my daughter's thirteenth birthday.

That also means that my Mother died thirty one years ago on this day.

13

31

Those two numbers seem so connected for me on this particular day. Complete opposites...yet both have such a significant meaning.

Thirty one years ago I was a seventeen year old, left numb and quivering with the desperate realization that my Mother was gone from my life forever. It has been a struggle and somewhat a weight on my shoulders.

Thirty one years later, I have a thirteen year old daughter who was born on the day that my Mother died. A daughter that is named after her...and keeps my Mother alive to me every single time I speak my daughter's name.

My heart breaks to not be able to see them together, or have them interact as grandparent and grandchild.

But if God did ONE thing miraculous in my life (and He has done MANY)...it was most certainly sending me my youngest child as a joyful blessing to replace the most horrible memory of losing one of the greatest people that I ever had the honor of being born to.

How can it possibly be that thirty one years have gone by?

How can it be that God sent Massey to me on the same day that he took my Mother?

I just do not think it is coincidence. Actually I KNOW that it isn't.

He sent me my daughter to fill the void, to make this day a happier one...and to make my life all the greater.

I still mourn the loss of my Mother...always will.

But now August 19 is my daughter's birthday. It is also the day that my Mother died...but the day that God gave it back to be to be a happy day.

A day that my Mother found her home in Heaven, and a day that my beautiful girl found her way into my life.

You have to take the good along with the bad. You have to find reason with God's decisions and plans...and you have to find a way to have it all make sense in your heart and mind.

I will miss my Mother forever, and the hurt hasn't faded much after thirty one years.

What this experience HAS done, is give me a daughter who reminds me of my Mother and reminds me that although God took my Mother from me on August 19...He also gave me my daughter on August 19. My Mother's birthday in Heaven...and my daughter's birthday on earth.

LIFE TAKES AND GIVES!!

It is up to us to find the beauty and meaning... to enjoy what we are left with, and make the best of the situations and decisions that are ultimately out of our hands...but to realize as well that luckily we are all in God's hands...and that is a wonderful place to be.

Happy Birthday "Mama"

and Happy Birthday "Massey".

I love you both, and YOU BOTH make me the person that I strive to be. I hope that I don't let either of you down.

With a full heart and complete sense of gratitude to you both...This post is for the both of you...and for my own comfort as well.

With love and admiration,

Your daughter...and Massey's mother... till next time COTTON

They Say That the Number Thirteen is Unlucky...But it Is Incredible to Me

My youngest child...my only girl, is turning thirteen.

How did she progress from being a four pound "preemie" to being a young woman already more grown up than ME??

Her birthday is Tuesday. Being that school is in session, we have decided to have her party this Sunday so that all of her school friends and hopefully all of my family can come.

By the way Elizabeth, consider this your invitation...because I am working my butt off these last few days , trying to get everything together, and I know you read my blog.

ANYHOO... back to my girl.

We are having a "BLOWOUT"!!

We have rented a forty foot long slip and slide that they come inflate on our back lawn. It stands about four feet off the ground and has water spraying from arches all along the way. It is the most fun thing I have ever done legally, and all of the nieces, nephews and neighbors absolutely have a blast.

Just a shoutout to my kinfolk in LaGrange...We rent it from a place in LaGrange, "B&E Happy Hoppers". You should call them up next time you have a party for your "grand youngin's". Put a couple of drops of baby shampoo on the slide and it gets even better!!

We have kids in my neighborhood that only come to my house once a year...just to get their turn on the massive "SLIDE".

We are cooking burgers, dogs, having Chicken salad with Pineapple and almonds, and giving my girl the greatest send off into her teens that we can think of (or afford).

Her room is ALWAYS a wreck...she is unorganized and unfocused...but she is so stinkin sweet, honest and loving that I forgive her for her shortcomings, and praise her for her attributes.

I may regret it one day, but after raising two boys...she'll probably always be the easiest to influence...and she is A LOT easier to bribe!!

If I didn't have my kids, I don't think that my life would have much focus of any kind.

They are the reason that I work so hard, worry so much and pray so hard....Maybe they are what is keeping "ME" in line!!

If you live near NEWNAN Georgia...drop on by on Sunday! We will be glad to have you!!

I don't want to brag on myself (but I will) I have had over 5000 hits on my blog and want to thank every person that has read my blog and that has contributed to my postings.

Keep it up...and keep on reading for the re-cap of the big "Slip and Slide" event.... We may even give out medals, since it is the week of the Olympic Games. If any Chinese gymnasts show up...we WILL check "ID'S" . Till next time...COTTON

Time to EXPAND!!

I have decided... with a push from a dear friend (who remains nameless) to expand my site. She asked me what my two most favorite things to do were? I replied inquisitively.."drinking and smoking"?

She pointed out that I love to work in the yard and love to cook. I have decided to incorporate some of my favorite recipes and tips on landscaping and yard work into my blog.

I have a cook book that my Mother got as a wedding present. It is the "Updated" version of the 1946 edition of The Fanny Farmer Cook Book. Most of my favorite recipes come from this book.

I know that my relatives and friends can add to this tremendously, and welcome all of your additions.

My cousin from LaGrange can certainly help me out in the horticulture department...and I will look forward to anything she could add.

This is a work in progress. I am currently trying to add a search engine to my blog, and once I get things set up...I think it may be a really good tool.

Be patient with me, I am extremely "technology deficient".

BE GATHERING UP YOUR RECIPES AND TIPS!!

Tomorrow is my one day off, and I plan on working on this.

I also have a couple of new stories to share...and can't wait for you to hear them!!

Till next time...COTTON

Back To School...UGH!!!

Tomorrow starts a new school year for my kids and another year of torture for me.

My daughter bounces out the door every morning looking forward to school (which she considers a social club) and I shove my sixteen year old out the door saying "Just two more years if you pass this one"!! (By this remark I am trying to encourage him in the only way I know how).

My daughter isn't an "A" student, but she tries hard and has never been a problem. She is loved by all her teachers and for the record...is just too sweet to be hard on (maybe that is one of our problems).

My son...God help us, is another story all together. He is the smartest of my three. He can debate like nobody's business, he can tell you any historical or scientific data...he can even tell you why America is in such dire straits....and most of the time I agree with him. He HATES to be judged by numbers or letters ( that is his explanation for his GPA).

My daughter had her orientation at the middle school today, and got assigned to the team of teachers that had my son two years ago. In each classroom that I went into, after I told them that I was Zachary's mom and they had taught him two years ago...their first comment was "Zach was the smartest kid I ever taught".

Not that he passed their class with flying colors, but they saw the potential that I see on a daily basis.

He is a genius, he is my way to an early retirement...if ONLY we can get him out of school.

He fights the system, he fights the rules and he fights the entire concept of a controlled environment. My boy is a rebel...albeit a smart one.

But what I cannot instill in him is that at his age, you JUST have to play by the rules, you have to surrender to authority, and you just have to "PLAY" the game...not fight it at every turn.

Last year by the end of the school year...I had spent more time with the ninth grade principal than I had my husband. I look forward to meeting the tenth grade principal and I am certain by May, we will be well acquainted.

He is a good boy. He doesn't do drugs (a trip to the county juvenile detention center for a drug test guaranteed me that) ...Just checking after a rebellious period. But you have to keep a close watch on your kids, I am not one that will not keep a check on a floundering sixteen year old...and be caught off guard when it is too late.

I have come to realize that he is a pistol. He is loaded with information, facts and data that blow me away on a daily basis. He just doesn't like school. He doesn't like the fact that they judge and grade him on whether he gets a paper signed, or a progress report signed.

But how do I tell him that this is the way it works? How do I tell him that unless you come out of high school a millionaire...life is a hard ,hard road...even if you ARE smart?

I pray for him daily...and he probably prays in his room at night that I will leave him alone.

Guess who's prayer's will get answered first?

I have no reservation in saying that he is the smartest, brightest sixteen year old I have ever met.

Someone please tell me how to help him succeed, how to let him finally see his potential, and how to stop my heart palpitations every time a new school year starts.

Just thought that since I had this blog, I would throw it out there to you and see what came back.

Please help me help HIM.

Till next time..COTTON

Oh My "Deere"

My John Deere has been sick. I would almost rather my husband be on the outs than my riding lawn mower.

I am a yard fanatic. I can work in the yard from sun up till sun down....and I did JUST that today. I cut my own acre of grass, then moved next door to my retired neighbors. I cut, then I go back and weed eat (another favorite tool of mine) the entire perimeter of the property.

All of this is thanks to my next door husband (see previous post).

I bought my "Deere" from a neighbor for $400. It was the best money I ever spent.
Granted it is older, but after my next door husband put on the new blade belt and drive belt...I have been in a tizzy!!

After cutting my yard and the ole folks next door, I moved up to the front of our subdivision, which looked horrible...like a run down trailer park. I have been cutting it all summer long (where exactly do my home owner's association dues go)?

I don't mind cutting it, and in fact I do a pretty good job. But gas is a million dollars a gallon, and I feel that even if they don't pay me back, they could at LEAST slow down when they ZOOM by me with my back to the road, or at least swerve over to the other side of the road.

My daughter goes with me to pick up all the trash that has been thrown out by passer's that fly by our entrance.

All I know is that I am so entirely happy to back in the seat of my "Deere"...that the other questions seem a moot point.

So all the homeowners know that I will take care of everything (sounds like the same thing that is going on in my house).

But at least every time I pull into my subdivision, I admire my handiwork and mentally pat myself on the back.

They couldn't STOP me from doing it. If my yard looks great, I don't want it to be surrounded by unkempt or overgrown yards.

I guess that I have bumped up my responsibilities and have no one to blame but myself .

I may file a grievance or complaint at some point, if gas prices don't come down, but I feel so completely satisfied with my work that it almost makes it worth it to me.

I am an odd duck, I am anal about my yards, and thanks to that, the rest of the subdivision has a great entrance to their homes and I bring their property value up on a regular basis.

Sounds like a small rant, but with the heat index, it was 100 degrees while I did all of this work.

Who will nominate me for neighbor of the year??

Till next time.... a sunburned COTTON

"KIDS" ... What Can You REALLY Do Besides Worry ?

I got me a "BROOD" at my house.

I have three kids and they are all so different that it makes me wonder how they are all three mine.

My oldest, who has always been my hope for an early retirement...netted from his HUGE income of being "something" great, has dropped out of college for a break (I hope it is a short break).

My second in line is my sixteen year old son...who is a "freakin" genius that refuses to use any of his capabilities in any type of school work , homework or anything that may represent the fact that he is indeed smart. He can tell you how the Air Bus works, how to build an atom bomb, ANYTHING about history or culture...but can't seem to get a progress report signed or a project turned in by it's due date.

My third is my daughter...sweet and mature for her age, but blinded by the horrible heart wrenching debacle of "MIDDLE SCHOOL" and the fact that she has to struggle for the grades that she makes and most of her friends are seemingly "Breezing" through with all "A"'s. (At least she picks really smart friends). After being exposed to girls in their "tweens"... I have to salute her. Girls at her age are a vicious and conniving sort, and I would rather have my "average" scoring girl than some of the snotty little "priss pots" that I have encountered at the middle school she attends.

My point being...

I am in my late forties.

I thought by now one of my kids would have received the Nobel Peace Prize or at least would have discovered the cure for cancer.

But as a parent you have to take it all in stride. You have to unfortunately take everything into perspective...At least I HAVE them.

At least they are all healthy and happy (I guess that my constant cooking, cleaning and doing laundry pretty much make up the "happy" part) but I am OK with that.

I just want for them the absolute best and most.

It is easy for me at 48 to know what they need to do, but it is a totally different thing to get them to see my point.

I only want them to see that I am trying to save them years and years of wasted time and effort.

I want them to see their life from my view point..and to save them from wasted years, and to show them the short cut to success.

But as I type...I know it won't happen.

Life has to happen at it's own pace, with all of the the interruptions, pitfalls and mistakes.

I wish I could save all three of my kids from having to experience them, but I can't.

The only thing that I can do is to love them, pray for them and be there for them when they need to be picked up...reprimanded and sent back into the world to hopefully find not only themselves but find their way.

I envision great things for all three of my kids. I think that all three are extremely talented, gifted and destined for greatness.

It just worries me that they may get side tracked on the way. It worries me that they may get a menial job that seems like great pay to them, and forget their potential. It worries me that they may think they don't need to further their education...Hell..it worries me that they might get killed by a bus crossing the street.

IT JUST WORRIES ME, HAVING KIDS!!!

If I had known that having sex with my husband would cause me thirty years of constant worry and concern...would it have made me change my mind?

Unfortunately, or maybe should I say gratefully it would not.

I love my kids, I desire the best for them and have tried to give them the best advantages that I could.

I truly believe that all three of them will be just fine. They will ultimately find their way to success...it is just a HARD, HARD road to have kids and have them find their own way...and to let them find it in their own time.

Let's just hope that "OLE" mom is up to the challenge.

Till next time...........COTTON

The Realities and Fantasies of Life

I think that I am going to have to start carrying around a notebook so that I can jot down the hundreds of things that come to my mind.

My most recent thought is of a recipe that a dear friend of mine gave me.

I love recipes and always want to try new dishes.

My friend told me that she had found a wonderful new dish of pasta salad.

BABY..I love me some pasta and I LOVE me some salads.

She found it on the internet and told me she would bring me some to work the next day.

The next day...she brought a bowl of bow tie pasta that looked so forsaken and lost ...just waiting for someone to come to it's rescue.

She informed me that it called for a cup and a 1/2 of mayo (she had substituted low fat mayo "YUCK" ) and said that red bell peppers were too expensive to buy.

She also said that it was to have green onions diced and added..but she had left them out. Also it was to have grape tomatoes added, but they were also too expensive to purchase. "HELLO..it's called a recipe for a reason"!!

The result was a bowl of noodles mixed in low fat mayo and it was at the LEAST...unappealing and bland.

Of course this particular friend relies on me for all of her "SNACKS" when I work with her... and after getting the "REAL" recipe...it was absolutely delicious and a big favorite of all of my co workers.

Maybe they know me too well. Maybe they know that I love to cook and feed the masses.

Maybe they are just "Playing Dumb" knowing that I will bring in a dish that they will all fight over and snicker behind my back..."She ain't got a CLUE that we like her cooking".

I do it every time that I work a day shift.
I went into work today and the manager sifted through my bags and said "What did Cotton bring us today"

I am not sure what my mission is on this earth. Is it to raise my family, or is it to raise an entire company?

I love my family dearly, but I rely on my job to keep the money flowing.

Sometimes I think that the two are intertwined ... I have been at my current job for ten years and sometimes think that THEY are my family as well.

I actually DO love my job (which is rare these days ) and they compensate me wonderfully.


I care about, love and respect everyone that I work with, and I honestly think that is why they treat me so well and that is the reason that I continue to work for them.

To be "LOVED" is a great thing.

Not only am I loved by my family, I am loved by the people that I work with.

Let's look at it this way.. I could be "super sizing " it at a drive through or just be hoping to.

I am blessed, my family is too.

What more could an American hope for?
A better recipe than the American Dream.... I DON"T THINK SO!!!
...What better recipe for life could we all have ???

YOU TELL ME!!!

"MAMA MIA"

Back to the ole less serious Cotton.

I took my daughter, who is turning 13 next month (YIKES)!! to see "Mama Mia" today.

I can't remember a more enjoyable two hours sitting down than we had today.

I don't go to the movies much, but my daughter begged me and ACTUALLY bought my ticket for me.

After she sat listening to me sing along with all the ABBA hits... She asked how I already knew the songs?

I said "Baby, your Mom is A LOT older than you think, and I was out at the disco being a "Dancing Machine" while it was still HIP to "BE" a dancing machine.

I laughed, I cried and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

What a GREAT movie to see with your daughter!!

It is times like today that make me so very happy that I have a daughter that is my best friend...someone that is not embarrassed to be seen with me, and someone that will always hold my hand when I cry, and scratch my back when I ask (although I HAVE to do it nicely).

The cinematography was gorgeous...I am ACHING to go to Greece now...and the story was almost as beautiful.

I can't wait to take my sister to see it and recommend it highly to my few and loyal readers.

I have another couple of dozen ideas stewing in my empty head, and will spill them out to you as soon as I can.

Right now , I am in mourning for my "John Deere" that is ailing...hopefully my "Next Door Husband " will have me back on track tomorrow.

Then I will have all my yards cut, the front of the subdivision looking good, and will feel relieved enough to come back to my ole "PUTER" sit down and be able to tell you all more about my life, feelings and takes.

I just want to add that I have had over 4700 hits on my blog, and to me that seems to be amazing.

Am I a good writer, or are you just all BORED??

I love to hear comments...good or bad.

To hear praise or condemnation is equally gratifying for me. And think about it...if I EVER make it to a book...YOUR comments will most definitely be included.

I know from my account that I have readers...what I WANT is comments, thoughts and ideas. How long can it take for you to type "You Suck" or "I Like It" ??

This is a BIG HUGE step in my floundering career as a novice writer, and what I need most is some encouragement or maybe "DIS" encouragement.

Let's just put the ball into the other court and see who serves up.

Till next time COTTON

Ain't Life A Crapshoot ??

I am back home, two days back into work...ignoring the unpacked suitcases, stepping over the $300 worth of fireworks that my two "boys" bought in OLE "BAMA"...and have decided to start yet another book. (I read usually 2 to 3 books a week).

It is about a young woman in her thirties (WHEN did I get old enough to call a woman in her thirties...YOUNG)???? Her boyfriend (at this point in the book) has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

At this point in the book , I put it down on the patio table where I was reading... and began to ponder my life and circumstances.

I am 48 years old. I lost my Mother (I always capitalize my parents..they deserve it) when I was seventeen. I lost my Father when I was...umm... thirty twelve.

I always thought that I got a raw deal .

I lost my Mother when I was a complete "bitch"...no other word for it.

I didn't mean to be that way... it was just the "Way to Be" your senior year in high school.

She took it with grace and a grain of salt.

The day she died... she did it exactly the way that ANN LEACH would want it to happen.

It happened in the span of about thirty seconds. She was with me and my sister one minute, picking out and trying on clothes (only for my sister and me) but would pay for our selection of clothes...then she would go to Cloth World, a discount fabric store and buy herself some nice fabric on sale and go home and sew up an outfit for Sunday church service.

Don't get me wrong...She could have worked for Calvin Klein. Her sewing skills were legendary in our parts of the south west part of Atlanta.

As she fell back onto the floor, I knew in my tinny, whinny 17 year old brain that my Mother had just died on the floor in front of me.

It possessed me for years....I had been cheated !!

I gradually (about 15 years down the road) realized that God had smiled down on my Mother.

He knew what a fabulously talented woman and Mother that she was, and decided that she would not be left in a vegetative or impaired state.
He would just take her then...and WE could deal with the consequences.

As it ended up..the "Consequences" were vast and far reaching.

Our family fell completely apart...rebooted , readjusted and soldiered on.

Although it seems likes six months went by, it was almost twenty five years.

My Father at the age of seventy seven, was diagnosed with West Nile Virus. It was a rapid and unforgiving decline. (read my previous post).

He was healthy and vitally alert on day one...and ten days later he was taken off the ventilator.

I have often thought about these two days in my life.

But I realize that I could have been subjected to visiting my Mother in a nursing home, hoping for miracles that may have never happened. Instead, she went to her Heavenly home....so she could sit on my shoulder every day and be with me in my dreams every night.

As far as my Father was concerned..he HAD reached his late seventies..was sharp as a tack and was as happy as a GRANPA without his GRANMA could be.

He had his "lady friend" (was he OLD school or what)..and we all loved her.

His decline was unexpected and extremely rapid...(God once again smiled on our family).

It was tragic, it was horrendous, but it all happened in the span of ten days.

As I read about these cancer victims, Alzheimer's victims, heart patients... It comes to my mind that God has treated me more than fairly.

I am truly blessed with the fact that I had two amazing parents ; and BOTH of them were spared from the Chemotherapy, the nursing home and the rugged road to a decline that neither of them would have wanted for themselves or for us.

Sometimes I just feel like writing about them. Sometimes I just feel like telling you how I once felt cheated by this "crapshoot" we call life.

And sometimes I feel like looking at my life and saying, "THANK YOU, GOD" for not only giving my the most incredible parents in the world, but for taking them when you did...and for them not having to suffer, or make me suffer over their departing.

It has truly been a battle for me , my brother and sister as well...But to know that their suffering was brief is almost a sigh of relief.

To know that they are out of any discomfort , pain or impairment is just a tremendous amount of comfort to me...and knowing my parents as deeply and profoundly as I did...They would be thrilled with God's decision.

As it is, I have to be content with God's decision to take both of my parents, and live up to the standards and expectations that they not only instilled in but showed me every day of their short but very impressive time in my life.

I used to think I got the "SHORT" stick in life.. but in retrospect...I was a pretty lucky gal.

There are so many people in so many lands that have nothing close to the upbringing and inspiration that I had from my Mother and Father. Although it was brief, although I felt it was snatched from me...at least I HAD it.

It wasn't cancer followed by years and years of unanswered questions or prayers.

It wasn't a fall into the abyss of Alzheimer's that they could never climb back from.

It was simply a loss that I had to eventually learn to accept, and finally realize that I had been spared many years of discomfort not only for me but for one of my parents who may had been labeled to suffer and wither away in front of my eyes...and make their last years not pleasant to remember.

Except for each of my parents unexpected and sudden deaths...all my memories of my family unit as a whole are absolutely the BEST experience a child could ever dream or hope for.

Nothing but good memories(even the few not so good memories were always worth the lesson).

But as the years fly by, as my kids grow older I begin to think how truly blessed I have been.

Although my kids didn't personally know my parents...enough stories have been told and retold and retold. They have all three met my parent's life long friends and love each and every one of them. We have boxes and boxes of old pictures, report cards from first grade and even our "Cradle Roll" certificate from when each of us was enrolled at the church nursery on our first day at church service as a newborn. And know that my Diddy had each of us there on the first Sunday when we were brought home from the hospital; and probably didn't miss more than 3 Sundays over the next twenty years.

Our house was always alive with people , chatter and the hum of my Mother's sewing machine.

Our house was like a magnet for every kid that lived within 2 miles of our house. (Didn't you ALWAYS love to be at THAT house when you were a kid)?

Well that was MY house... and kids, adults and neighbors were always there and there could not be a more wonderful place to be... than to be at 2545 Bayard St.

I had the most fantastic parents that any kid on earth could ever have. I had a secure, loving and safe environment to grow up in, and I thank God for it every day.

Sometimes life IS a crapshoot. But my crapshoot of losing my parents early is totally overshadowed and made all the more bearable knowing that I had Frank and Ann Leach as parents, and that I was truly one of the three luckiest kids on the planet.

Every body loved my folks and that is really not much of an exaggeration.

I was blessed in the short years that I had with them, so many times over that I had to quit counting.

It has taken me till the age of 48 to realize that I may have gotten the short end of the stick...but it was the "best" end of the stick and the end that I needed to grow into the person, wife and mother that I feel like I am continually becoming and aspire to be.

So "Thanks" Momma and Diddy....You were the BEST!! I wish you could be here physically...but know that you are both with me and my kids in our heart and constantly on our shoulder. We are grateful for what we "WERE" able to have...You as grandparents, parents and our personal heroes.

"HEY"!! Maybe life isn't a Crapshoot.... Maybe it is just what WE make of it?

Till next time.............COTTON!!!

I Am Back , And My "Back" is Well...

After a week, I feel refreshed and ready to face the world again. It is amazing what a week at the beach can do for you, not to mention how it can make you realize that thirteen relatives can only be together for one week at a time...once a year. "We're OK with that"!
For the other 51 weeks..we try to stay away from each other as much as possible. It makes our family much more "Loving".

Once a year, we tell our brother how much we love him...and "BAM"...he forks out bucks to us lowly sisters...and subjects himself to a week with his siblings and our "CLING ALONG" kids...not to mention their girlfriends, once they reach the "likeable" stage.


It was an amazingly pleasant week...not ONE family fight...(We are famous for THAT one).

I only have a brother and a sister left in my "OLE" family tree. They are my "safe" place , my refuge and my saving salvation. They grew up with me, saw the same things that I did, and remember more things about my early youth than I do....although I can kick their butt in the memory department once I hit about 1970....both of them had a life then...my only life was to watch, admire and fantasize about what it would be like to be in their teenage shoes.I remember every detail of their high school years, and remember how excited I was to have them as an older brother and sister.

They have not let me down yet, and I am pushing fifty!!

We are all three from the same Mom and Dad...yet all different in our own way. I feel that we are pleasing blend of "tough", "mothering" "fumbling"...me being the obvious "latter".

It was week filled with kids, kids, kids...sun, sun, sun...and cocktails,cocktails,cocktails.

We all survived and feel better than we did when we left for the beach.

It can only be done ONCE a year...but ONCE a year we do the unthinkable...cram 13 or so people into a house for a week, and still come out loving each other, knowing each other a little better...and still feeling like a family. Actually, a pretty good stinkin family...if I may say so myself.

I will wait while the next 51 weeks go by until I go back to spend a cluttered, crazy and wonderful week with my family. It will probably take that long just to laugh at all the things that happened THIS trip and to save up for the next one.

Let's just hope my brother keeps his "PHAT" job....maybe next year, he can afford to fund the WHOLE SheBang!! (Hope he doesn't read this) !!!

Till next time..."SUNKIST" COTTON

I am OUTTA here!!

Got home from work, folded laundry, watered the dogs, packed a few items...and I am fixing (a southern term) to fall into bed.

I have worked seven days a week for the last month, just to save enough money to drag my tired ole self and two of my kids to the beach for a week.

I don't know exactly what I have packed, or what I have left out..but come hell or high water ...we are leaving in a few hours for a week of RELAXATION. Leaving the hubby at home...if I knew how to do a frowny face I would do that ..but my daughter, who is my "Textnology" expert is asleep.

I leave you all you faithful readers knowing that I am taking my daughter's lap top with me, in hopes that I can post from the beach.

I have become "hooked" on my posts, and believe me when I tell you that going to the beach with 3 teenagers, and four kids in their early twenties...is PLENTY of material for me to write about.

Look for me to post..because with MY family...there is ALWAYS a lot to talk about.

I have packed my compression hose, my back brace and my corn pads... and my sister is bringing the vodka for bloody marys.

I will end for now...I am too week to type on the key pad anymore.

But tomorrow you will hear from a hopefully rejuvenated , relaxed and sunburned middle aged woman that has never needed a vacation more in her life...and one that is going to enjoy it to the "MAX".

Till next time...COTTON

How Attractive AM I ?....REALLY

I came home from work tonight...Back killing me, worn out from working seven days a week.

I was sitting out back with the dogs reading my book..(the new David Sedaris book).

My husband came out back to talk to me when I started my lament.

I told him I was going to get a back brace to wear under my shirt at work. I said that between the corn pad I was wearing on the corn of my right pinkie toe (it's the size of a football field...at least it feels that way)...the compression knee highs that I wear because of my varicose veins in my calf's...and the knee brace that I have to sometimes wear because of a skating injury that I incurred during a race for mothers at a skate night for the elementary school that my kids attended (I came in second)...I was feeling OK about myself.

His reply was "You have never looked more attractive to me.You just need to get a hair cut".

I informed him that I had gotten my hair cut just today...to which he replied "I was kidding about the haircut".

How can this good looking man stay with a woman that is falling apart in every limb of her body?

Of course comes the next question... Who in the heck would take care of everybody?

Granted, I will be limping and crawling before you know it...but limp and crawl I will, until someone has me put away.

I am 48...I have been on my feet as a server for thirty years, and it is beginning to show...in every joint, bone and muscle.

Luckily, I am going to the beach for a week with my brother and sister in four days... all the kids, and hopefully a lot of bloody marys.

Gotta remember to pack my back brace, heating pad, corn pads, knee brace and compression hose...Vodka can only do "SO" much!

Yet, my husband for some unknown reason loves this broken down, worn down body that I wear...and I remain in his heart...remain in his life (who else is going to SHOVE" him down the path of life?) and he remains in my heart and soul as well.

Maybe I will get another haircut in Florida, maybe my joints and limbs will begin to mend. Maybe I will come back rejuvenated ...but at least I know I have my husband to come back to...and for some reason he seems to want me back. Beside the fact that the grass will be overgrown and the laundry will be piled up.

If he can take me with all my flaws...I feel lucky to have him.

Till next time...COTTON

My Girl is BACK...and my BACK is OUT!!

My sweet little girl came home tonight, after an eight day vacation with her friend and their family.

My back went out yesterday...Painfully so, after a 12 hour double at work on Saturday... carrying probably 30 racks of glasses and about at least 30 buckets of ice during my shift. I guess that I am not as young as I used to be.

I regretfully had to call out of work on Sunday. The spasms in my lower back were almost bringing tears to my eyes.

I went to WalMart and bought a heating pad, came home and ran the hottest bath I could...added a two quart pot of boiling water to it..and scalded myself silly.

After sleeping on the heating pad and repeating the scalding bath routine..I felt well enough to go back to work.

I take the good with the bad...My girl is back..but my back is killing me!

She remarked that I should let all the lazy young people at work do the heavy lifting....I believe her comment was "MAMA...you are OLD"!

Number one..they aren't going to do it...Number two..don't call me OLD to my face!!

She said she meant it in a good way.

Exactly what "GOOD" way was she talking about?

I guess she meant that I was still in shape, had a funky haircut and can still stand to listen to
STAR 94. (our local top 40 radio station)

My girl is finally back...and my back is finally better.

It freaks me out when I have a physical ailment that could possibly stop me from doing my job.

I have worked since the age of fourteen. I have never been without a job.

My husband is on the edge of making his dream come true. He has started his own air freight business...and is working relentlessly to make it ALL come together. It may take a couple of years for it to come to fruition...but I have complete and total faith in him.

If only my old tired body can make it that far. I am going to start taking it easier on myself...stop doing what others should and WILL start helping me with...and start making other "Young Farts" at work pull their own weight. I think that we will be OK..By that, I mean "I" will be OK.

At least I have my girl back...my husband has my back...and hopefully I will keep my OWN back!

If only these young people that I work with knew what I know...knew what I have done and experienced; and knew what lay ahead of them in life.

OOOHHH!! The magic word is "ONLY".

I guess that it is lesson that is learned by experience, trial and error.

But for Pete's sake...don't break "MY" back by learning it !!

Gotta go scald my back again...Till next time COTTON

Happy Fourth!!

I had to work today. (UGGH) I was at work when one of my favorite servers came in. She was the subject of one of my posts. My African American friend that we will call "Tiffany". Her boyfriend is a football player at Clemson. She text him to tell him "Happy Fourth of July". He responded that he didn't celebrate "WHITE" people's holidays. She was fuming when she sent a text back that the first man to die in the revolution was a black man.

Even I was astounded. I had no idea that the first man to die in the revolution was a black man. She could only remember his first name "Nat".

I told her that it was really nice of our men to send him on out front...."Just let us know what is going on, and we will be RIGHT back here waiting to hear back from you".

All kidding aside (not really) Happy Fourth to every one of my faithful blog readers.

We live in a great Nation...the greatest in the world. We just need to take control and take stock in what the entire country needs...not just the select few. We need to Thank God that we are blessed enough to not only be Americans; but to take charge and command of the situation at hand..retuning this nation to a stable economy, and getting out of Iraq.

Although this is only MY view, I feel that it is beginning to be a broader and more practical view.

Now off the soap box..I hope you all had a happy and safe Fourth.

I hope that every person looks into their heart...and thinks "What can I do to help another person...what can I do to help make a change...what can I do to make a difference"?

Each one of us has an opportunity every day to make a difference. Whether we choose to do it is up to each individual..and more importantly up to the ones of us that have a conscience and a drive to make this country the "America The Beautiful" that is can be if we all take the initiative. Baby steps is all we need ...baby steps is all I am asking for..baby steps can be all that it takes. We can move mountains... we can CHANGE the world.

I have faith that there are enough of us that genuinely care and enough of us that could have an impact.

Think what a wonderful world we could create if we all "JUST TRIED".

I am an optimist...I am a believer...I am a participant...I am a person that cares.

ARE YOU?

Till next time...COTTON

For Pete's Sake, I am Tired

Just got home from work...but I am HOOKED on my blog. I just wanted to give my latest update on my life, feelings and situation.

My daughter is sill away with friends... If I knew how to create one of those little frowning faces with my keyboard I would. (:):) >... Who discovered how to use colons, hyphens and semi colons to create "MOODS"?... And how much spare time did THEY have?

I am left with my dogs..my sons aren't much for the "HUGGY" type. But when I come in from work... my three pooches are all hovered by the door...waiting for "MOMMA".

I go upstairs and they are beating me by at least a step. I go back downstairs and they are flying in front of me..oomffing down every step. I go out back to read my book (currently "Angels And Demons"...don't even get me started on THAT book) and they are scratching at the door.

I come back inside to switch the laundry and they are all three laying by my feet in a pile. I go to the restroom..and all three tumble in right behind me...like they are seeing which of them can get closest to me.

I guess that they all know I am in "Massey" withdrawals.

It is extremely sweet of them to notice...and I appreciate their effort..but after working a ten hour shift... For Pete's Sake!! just give me a minute!!

But they don't..and I have to remember that they are JUST dogs... although in my house, that isn't a bad thing to be.

As I type this post all three are gathered at my feet....snoring away...just happy that "MOMMA" is home....and waiting for me to get up and put another load of clothes in the dryer, so that they can all three get up and follow me to the laundry room , just to make sure that I make it there okay.

My husband says they hear me when I pull into the subdivision and I don't much doubt that.

But they are keeping me company while my girl is away, and will lick her face silly when she comes back.

People that do not have dogs, just do not know what kind of companionship, dedication and loyalty they are missing...(and they don't even have to go to Teacher conferences, or look at disappointing progress reports).

All you do is love them, treat them to food, fresh water and a huge back yard to explore. They require nothing else, expect nothing else and want nothing else.

DANG....Why can't kids be that easy?

I wouldn't trade my kids for anything thing in the world...but I would have a hard time trading my pups as well.

It is all relevant... In my house..FAMILY is FAMILY. Yes I love my kids the most by any sense of the word "MOST"... but my pups are pretty important to me as well. They may come in second to my kids..but they are a close second...albeit they are definitely second...my kids would be devastated without these three dogs that are currently curled around my feet..snoring and farting and making me feel secure.

My two boys are out somewhere together...my daughter is 300 miles away. But my pups are at my feet...loving me now. Somehow they JUST know that I need them, while my "youngins" are away. And they don't even mind when the kids come back.

They actually act happier than me when the boys come back. And to me..that only means we have raised our pets right...or maybe We have just been blessed with the greatest dogs on Earth that know how to realize when they themselves have been blessed...and they just want to THANK US.

Till next Time...Cotton