If I had my own vineyard~

It would be named something cute like this:

B. Lovely

Isn’t that the sweetest?

On the downside, perhaps I would not turn a profit.

Business 101: Sell more than you consume.

Oh, Snap.

Starting Life; Later.

 

A scene from our kitchen, last week: 

Upon rising and getting herself ready for an 8:15 dentist appt, sleepy Linds was being a bit whiny.

(Did you know teenagers love to sleep in the morning?)

Linds: Oh my gosh…why do we have to go so early? I can’t believe the dentist is even open this early. Whyyyy? 

Me: Well,  believe it or not, a lot of people are already at work, getting busy with life.

Linsd: Why? Whyyyy?

Me: Life is for living kid!

Linds: But why can’t we live later?

Meanwhile, at camp, she is up at 7:30am everyday. I suppose some things are worth getting up for. 

She has only been gone 3 days and I already miss my little whiner.

Look at what I FOUND! Oh, and let’s blame the Dogs on my move to Tacky-Ville.

 

I ventured out into the sweltering heat yesterday and made an attempt at cleaning up the garden. We have been having daily rains and that means: weed city.

Beneath all the weeds, I found some treasures:

Yes, TWO (tiny as heck) taters and a cucumber.

I can’t decide how to prepare the taters.

Should I roast them?

Bake them?

Or should I go all out and make twice baked potatoes?

At this rate, I should have a batch of mashed potatoes by 2035.

Did I tell you *something/someone was stealing my tomatoes?

I found the culprits. 

  

Yeah, they look all sweet and innocent.  You can’t even trust your own family members these days.

When I confronted them, they gave me this whole spiel…tomatoes are rich in vitamin A and C and then something about potassium and lycopene being good for their heart and coats...yada yada yada…

So…what does all this mean?

Well, it is too hot and sunny in my garden for my ‘maters now.  And I can’t keep them in pots on the lanai.

*dang tall dogs*.  

 

I am resorting to tacky.

Yes, I know lots of people use these upside down planters. I don’t mean to offend, but I find them to be tacky. And I am joining the tacky party.

Right there on my pretty lanai with the resort type pool will by my tacky ‘mater plants.

This might be the beginning of the end.

Next, plastic flowers on my kitchen table and one of these in the front yard:

Toilet eating woman Image from flickr creative commons

Once you go tacky, you never go back. 

Now I must run, I am busy knitting pastel tissue box covers for all my blog friends.

Happy Monday!

Friday; Off to camp and non-fun places too.

Linds is heading to camp this weekend.

FOR.THREE.WEEKS.

This is the camp she visited for the first time at spring break this past year. But that was only 6 days…

THREE.LONG.WEEKS.

I know she is going to have a blast.  She packed last week for heavens sakes. She has been counting down the weeks, days, hours and minutes.

I am trying to NOT  be offended by her strong desire to leave me.

Surely she will grow a foot while away.

No email. No texts. No calls.

It is like she is going to be on ‘Survivor’… and yet, I am worried about MY survival. 

Did you know you have to sharpie/label your name on EVERYTHING for camp?

Dang…it took forever to label all her cotton swabs.

*****

 

The last few days have involved lots of appointments or the making of appointments. Dentist for three of us, Dr for Linds (physical), Orthopedic surgeon, Physical therapy and next….oral surgeon. Looks like someone might need her wisdom teeth out too.

Lets see what else we can fit in here, shall we? The calendar is mighty full up until school starts again.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

 

Finish this sentence: My perfect idea of a camping trip would be:

Bee Safe. Bee Happy.

Bee a safe and happy camper.

Hanging up her Cleats; for Now.

 

LoLo is on the injured list.

Again.

She has had a sore shoulder. For over a year.

Yeah, we rush to the Dr. all the time. not.

She had to have a very expensive and invasive MRI. (the kind where they shoot dye into the area, then do the scans)

She has a torn labrum.

 

The surgeon said she had 2 choices. Surgery (with 4-6 months of recovery) or physical therapy, with no guarantees of avoiding surgery later on.   

We are going to try the physical therapy. It will be several days a week from now until mid August, then we go back to the surgeon for a reevaluation.

If she has surgery at that time, she can kiss her senior year of softball goodbye.

What the heck is she going to do if she does not play ball?

She has not had more than 4 weeks in a row off from softball since she was 10 years old!!

I know one thing she will have to do with this time off is…curb her eating. If you are not burning it off, you can’t eat like a lumberjack anymore sweetheart!

And a big congratulations to her as well; Thanks to her awesome stats this past softball (high school) season, she was just put on the *All State 2nd team* last week.

 

I will be praying that the physical therapy will work. No surgery for my baby please!!

Labrum photo borrowed from: www.aurorahealthcare.org

The Child Bride

Remember how I said the other day that I was watching a gazzilion wedding shows while my brain was turning to mush?

All that wedding brouhaha sparked something in my psyche …what am I going to do with my cheap, tacky, what was I thinking when I bought this wedding gown?

{yes, we are blissfully happy and smiling..but isn’t everyone smiling at that HUGE bow on my tushie?}

I pulled the old dress out of the box, half expecting it to look yellow and dingy…and dang it the thing looked cheap and tacky perfect!

I had an idea….I wonder if this will fit Lindsay?

I mean she has been asking for a new dress, and she did not specify “NOT a wedding dress!”

 Before she knew it, she was stripped and ready for my her wedding.

The darn dress was almost too small for her!!!!!

She could not breath and it looked a bit short in the front!!!!!

This means…I was smaller than a 14 year old girl when I got married!

Coach should be ashamed…darn those older men marrying child brides!!!

Of course I took a few photos. But she said I could not share.

Sorry.

She looked pitiful and unhappy…itchy too.

Oh wait, she did not say I could not share photos after I blurred her face out!!

This is why I am such a great Mother, I read in between the lines.

 

I am sure I looked a bit more joyful wearing it.

I do need to get rid of this thing…

LoLo was verbally ripping altering the dress apart while Linds was wearing it: “ well, you could cut off the sleeves, rip off this top layer of lace, shorten it up about 3 feet and dye it pink….”

Whatever…I was on a limited budget…it certainly served it’s purpose and I have seen much worse.

But if I were to do it all over again…oh boy, bridezilla here I come!

Now, I must go and start picking out THIER dresses.

Dads; The Regular and The Sweet!

My Uncle has been busy cleaning out some of my Grandma’s things and sent me a boatload of old photos this week.

This one, I have never seen before:

I don’t think it is flattering of me at all (Jay Leno Chin) But I love this photo just the same. We looked so darn happy.

My Dad and I did not have an ideal relationship…but it was what it was. I know he loved me the best that he could…he was just a man who struggled with a lot of internal demons.

Sadly, this may have been the last time we had a photo taken together.

Happy Father’s Day Dad. I really miss you!

And even though he is not my Dad…Happy Fathers day to Coach!!!

{Well, some days, I like to call him my Sugar Daddy!! Don’t we all need a sugar daddy?}

If half the men on the planet were as good as you…this would be a much better world to live in!

Happy Fathers day to all you Dads…fur dads, Uncles, Grandpa’s…good men help to make this world go ‘round!

Now, go grill something! BooYah!

Friday; Being Left.

 

Well, it has happened.

Finally.

I think we all knew this day would come eventually.

I am not the easiest person to live with.

Well, I mean, I am the easiest person to live with, if you abide by every little demand I make of you.

I can be picky.

I am demanding.

I am darn near perfect.

 What?

“Yes I am darn NEaR perfect, and if you can’t handle that, well then there is the door”     That’s what she said.

The Coach has left me.

He packed his bags and skipped town yesterday.

Things are looking bad around here.

LoLo is packing and leaving town today too. She has had it up to here…

It will be a ghost town around these parts.

Ghosts and me…and the dogs and those cats.

Seems Linds has decided to leave as well now…seems things will be better for her from a different view.

Good riddance to all of you…you’re nothing but a pain in my side and you know what else……while you are at it…take those furball cats and then you can sh…..excuse me?

Oh, never mind.

Who said that up there? I swear…crazy people are constantly       hi-jacking my blog and talking garbage talk.

Seems that all my people will be back home soon.

My bad.

false alarm.

I will miss them terribly. Even if they are not perfect.

Forizzle

There are so many days that I wake up and feel just like that FACE. All droopy and poopy.

So, what are you doing this weekend? 

Are you being left as well?

Would you like to be left?

Whatever you do, do it with a smile on your face. It makes people suspicious.

Bee Sweet.

Bee non-picky and non-demanding.

I’ll Bee happy when they all come home!!!

Speaking of Tree’s…

 

Two posts in two weeks about trees, heck you would think I was a tree hugger.

Guilty.

Coach’s Mom and step dad have a sweet house at Lake Okeechobee. They have a very large oak tree that drops lots of seeds which then shoot up as lil’ baby trees.

Years ago, shortly after we moved into our home, they gave us 8 baby trees. They could not have been more than 12” tall at the time.

We planted them all. It wasn’t even arbor day!

One of them shot up much faster than the others and is now our very favorite tree.

The tree. approx 12 years old.

(is that a flying boxer under our tree?)

 

It is home to numerous bird nests.

 

Here is the “big” tree in background with one of it’s siblings in front. See the size difference? Is there such a thing as tree steroids? If so, this tree is juiced up. 

 

Perhaps one day, both of these trees will have swings…I imagine children enjoying countless hours of cloud watching; daydreaming.

Daydreaming; it does a soul good.

Too much *Down Time* can turn your brain to mush.

 

Still on the mend….

On Friday, I watched about six hours of “Say Yes To the Dress”. In.A.Row.

Saturday I watched 4 episodes of “Girl Meets Gown.” Then I topped it off with a few “My Fair wedding with David Tutera”

Sunday I watched Bridezillas. I won’t divulge how many episodes. (BTW: there are some crazy, narcissistic and mean women out there)

I am on wedding overload.

Ok, who is getting married??? I need to put all my plans in place.

I promise I won’t take over.

Ok, I will totally take over, but you knew that.

***

I have also watched way too much HGTV.

I am ready to redo most of the house. From my bed.

I really want to redo our dining room.

I love the table. I love the buffet. I like the china cabinet.

I hate the chairs. They are too big for me. I feel like Goldilocks in them…though I never find the one that is just right…they are all too big.

And couldn't I stain the pine cabinet, replace the glass top on the table and and and and…..

I might just do that…

when I get out of bed.

Look at that, I just noticed how far my feet are from the floor.

****

I had a dream this weekend that I went into our garage and found a few shopping carts.

I suppose we stole them? Really, we don’t steal.

They were this old fashioned kind of cart:

Remember those?

This type of cart was poorly designed. It only held a little bit of groceries on the top. I suppose the large bottom area is to hold….what?

A small rhinoceros?  I know my girls liked to sit on the bottom. Silly.

Speaking of carts, don’t you hate it when you go to pull one at the store and it is full of garbage?

Who leaves garbage in the cart? YOU? YOU?

And why does the store NOT clean this up?

Don’t get me started.

***

I was at the drycleaner recently and spied one of these carts.

I was T H I S close to asking where I could purchase one…I could use this in my house.

Our laundry room is a jaunt from the bedrooms.

Plus, it would be fun to put the cats in it for a RIDE.  MeeEEeeeOOOooooowwwwww.

It also reminds me of my days hanging out at the laundry mat. Oh, the people you see at the laundry mat….

Don’t get me started.

Shortly after the funky stolen cart episode, I dreamt about big moist brownies, just chock full of almonds.

All that wedding planning, dining room redoing, laundry and shopping has wet my appetite.

So, who else is craving a brownie?

Happy Monday.

Photos from Flickr Creative commons; except for Brownie: CookieMaddness.Net

 

Friday; Things Look *a bit* Rosy.

I hope this day finds you all to be in good shape.

I have not been feeling well this week. Ughhhh. But I will live.

My family has had to pick up my slack. And they came through.

LoLo has picked Linds up after school each day this week, very nice.  Having another driver in the house is just peachy.

(no comment on the extra gas and insurance)

My MIL took to Linds to school two mornings for me and one of those mornings she brought me fresh cut roses from her yard. Aren’t they gorgeous?

I have to brag and let you in on the fact that I gave them this rose bush years ago…and it produces the most perfect deep apricot colored roses!!!

Something so simple as a few cut roses, just lifted my spirits. Funny how it is so easy to make someone's day.

Speaking of roses…one of my little busy bee roses is doing very well:

They make me smile.  : )

***

LoLo starts a summer gig as a baby sitter tomorrow. She will be in charge of a 10 year old and a 6 year old. She is so excited, as am I.  It will keep her occupied and give her some $moolah$ too. It looks like she may have another part time job as well.

Busy kids are good.

Question for anyone with younger children; what do babysitters earn per hour these days? I always paid 10.00 per hour when the girls were younger…but maybe I was overpaying.

I always seem to overpay somewhere.

***

I did something really crazy and reckless this week;  I sent my girls to Target with.my.credit.card.  Talk about living on the edge!

Ok, maybe not crazy or reckless, they have never given me a reason to not trust them.

They actually came home with less than they went there for. Which never EVER happens to me.

***

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Bee healthy!

Bee Rosy!

*W/W* Does Size Really Matter?

 

 

Not according to the teeny tiny ferocious puggle!

My *Short* Career ‘Under The Big Top’

 

My friend Mildred wrote recently about a large tree located at her childhood home. She mentioned how her Dad made a swing for her and she spent countless hours on that swing watching the clouds take on shapes.

Isn’t that a dreamy sight to imagine? Nothing to do, but watch the clouds? 

*taking a few minutes to daydream*

Ok, I am back.

Mildred’s post made me think of the large tree in the backyard of my childhood home.  It was a great climbing tree, which also meant it was a good ‘falling out of’ tree as well.

I recall one specific day (after recently visiting the circus) that my brother thought I would make a great trapeze artist.

It made sense to me too. After all, I was small, bendy and easily persuaded.

I recall the rope in the tree and Mark hoisting me up; my string bean arms reaching out to it.

I held on to the short end of the rope, while Mark had the long end…and he began to spin me.

I spun in a circle one time, lost my grip and proceeded to land on the large roots at the base of the tree.

I immediately had bright red blood bruises up and down a thigh.  

Pfffffftttt.

My trapeze career was short lived.

I am thankful I stood my ground and I did not try this as Mark had  originally planned, with me holding the rope by my teeth.  

You can see that HE was the adventurous one in the family, as long as the adventures involved ME.   

 

*I found an ariel view of our old house on Google earth..and that big ol’ tree is still there!*

 

Trapeze photo borrowed from:  http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3427/3962743952_ca02dfb44c_b.jpg

Not Knowing the Boundaries Of Our Country.

 

 

Friday. Yipee. Our last Friday for the school year!!!

Does anyone have any big travel plans for the summer?

Share. Please.

Me? I want to go to Costa Rica. Badly. Coach and I went in 2005 and loved it…I want to share it with my girls before they go off and leave me forever. 

It won’t happen this summer, so I thought to myself, perhaps NEXT summer? Then I remembered I made a promise many years ago, that I will have to fulfill next summer.

I told both the girls that when each of them graduated, we would take them on a trip to Europe.

Yeah, What was I thinking?

What do you think the chances are that they will realize Costa Rica is not located in Europe?   

I will answer that. I think my chances are pretty good. For example: 

A few days ago Linds suggested we go to Key West this Summer… and then asked me if we needed passports to go there.

I then reminded her Key West was in the same state that she lives in. The State of confusion.

I love my globe challenged family.

 

Wishing you all a relaxing weekend doing something that you love with somebody that you at least like.

Finish this Sentence:

If I could go anywhere this summer I would go to: ___________.

Happy Friday my Peeps.

Bee someone special, no matter where you are.