hangin with Dan the Man

Daniel was my companion on a trip back home to Charleston today. He's a pretty good traveling buddy, despite his immense need for Dramamine.... He likes all my music and can sometimes be spotted doing a little jig.

We met some friends for ice cream at Baskin Robbin... he was crushed to learn they didn't have his favorite... Love Potion #31 in stock. Fortunately, it only took ten minutes.. lots of cajoling... threats to help him leave flaming poo on the doorstep of the corporate pigs who had stolen his joy... and a waffle cone with two scoops of vanilla and M&M sprinkles to make it all better...

Mr. Man's song choices are hysterical... his most recent favorites have been Paul Simon's Ways to Leave Your Lover and America's Sister Golden Hair... On the trip home tonight, I could hear him singing the chorus to Lay Down Sally, saw him dancing to Buckwheat Zydeco's Whatcha Gonna Do... and his final song choice for the evening...Terence Trent D'Arby's Wishing Well, with full singalong and dancing accompaniment... That kid rocks my socks!

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Rewind

I like to think of myself as a responsible adult. I have always tried to do things as they should be done. I am a little eccentric in my tastes, but for the most part I go through life with a bit of a filter and do my best to remain palatable for the world at large. Recently, I have begun to consider what my life would be like if I had made lots of different decisions. Don't get me wrong... Love my life now, but what would it be like if I had stuck with my childhood dream of being a hermit? Back in the day, I dreamed of a cabin in the woods, a horse, and rare trips to the real world for supplies. Or what if I had never married or had children? As we move through what I hope is the last of Aurelia's baby stages (for crying out loud she is ready to be done with that)... I imagine alot what a quiet life of a single person would have held for me. Maybe travels, a completed degree, loneliness... who knows. But while I listen to a tantrum thrown by a five year old terrorist, I will use that mental escape and conjure up all the woulda coulda shoulda's for fun!

Fond memories

The other day I was in a conversation with my father in law (Ben) about Peggy (my mother in law) making Aurelia some dresses. It reminded me of all the times my grandmother would make me dresses with pinafores and jumpers, etc. When asked where I got them, I would pat the outfit and say "Mawmaw made it!" proudly. That same evening, I watched a little video on a distant cousin's Facebook page that traveled my road in my hometown at least a good twenty years ago.... it evoked such memories that I had strong dreams that night.

I dreamed about and could smell the sausage and gravy cooking in my grandmother Helen's kitchen while all the sisters (my mom and aunts... there are many) played spoons on that table....together and laughing.

I dreamed of drinks of water out of Anna Mae's metal pitcher from the refrigerator in her kitchen, such an old, but reliable appliance. That water was SO cold and I could never get enough. The only rival in my memory was great grandma Stella's well water with a metal ladle....

I dreamed of the feel of grandma Aurelia's braided rugs under my toes. Of the smell of the tanned hide that served as a drape across the sunporches leather sofa. The settling softness of her hugs and the smell of granpa Charlie's aftershave.

Into my dreams, wafted the aroma of papa Elvin's cigar. The smell of his "candy", when he would mix peanut butter and syrup together. The insulin shots he would give himself after. The smell of diesel and oil and machinery on his hands. The sound of him teasing us about belonging to the Shinn's.

The smell of my grandma Frances' fabric shop. The sound of her machine whizzing along and the radio tuned to 58 WCHS talk radio with Dr. Dean Adell. Knowing she would have peanut butter and crackers in the little fridge in the back. Her Mary Kay lipstick samples in the bathroom are likely what led me to never wear makeup.

The smell of the wood burning in the cast iron buck stove that warmed our house. The sound of the spring that ran in the back corner of the house. The feel of the sun on my hair as I watched my mom and Anna Mae in the garden. Anna Mae always made me chocolate cake, because she knew it was my favorite.

The smell of Windex and newspaper when I would clean my granmda Frances's mirrors and table tops and straighten her collections of Wild Wonderful West Virginia magazines. The sound of the her sitting room television battling to override Papaw Elvin's television in the living room set on volume level 4,000.

Fighting with my brother so furiously that we were sent to our rooms, then climbing into my closet so that we could talk through the adjoining wall. I believe those arguments could have been over whether Buck Rogers or the Dukes of Hazard and who was going to watch which on our single television.

The sound of my mother singing "Consider the Lilies" in the car. My father and his rendition of Be Bop a Lula in his silly moments.

All these things... and so many more...

Tax Man Cometh

Every year, because I am a freak, I get excited and happy for tax time. I love to gather all my information and sit down to calculate my return. Because I have always had a return, even when it was a little one. This year, I owe the state money. And that makes me mad. I checked my math several times (even though I was using Turbotax), I swore, I paced around unbelieving.... but, alas, it is true.... I owe the state money. By April 15th, one of the adults in our house is going to have to write a check to West Virginia. And quite frankly, I cannot think of anything the state has given me recently that is worth the amount we will pay. So after seventeen passionate years together, my secret affair with tax time begins to cool. It was bound to happen, we had so little in common. He was all numbers and data, and I am all free and wild.... Sigh.... but oh, how I shall miss it.....

Excitement and jubilation

Over this past weekend, my aunt and her granddaughter have been in from Florida. I had the privilege of taking Helen to see her first snow and watch how excited she was to wallow in it by the side of the road. Spending time with Helen and Dot was wonderful, since we rarely get to do it. And now that there are just nine more months until Dot and Nikki and my mother and I go to Hawaii I am getting SO excited. Dot used to live there, Nikki was born there, and my mother has been several times, so I am the only one who is going for the first time!!! This will be the first major vacation that I have taken alone, no kids, no husband... I am looking forward to luau's, helicopter rides, beaches, and lots of SLEEP!!! WOOO HOOOO

The tooth fairy book

As dictated to me, by Aurelia. Her book for the tooth fairy (left under her pillow in lieu of a tooth) entitled "Henry and the Boat Cleaner".





The robot had a play for making prize, so he can be some gooder guy. He wanted to write a cat, but he couldn't even. He tried to but he couldn't. He tried to put a pig on paper. There was hearts and sparkling moons.







I don't believe I could have said it better myself.

Fairy Dust

Yesterday evening, Aurelia plopped herself in her bed, surrounded by her brother and her stuffed animals. Daniel read her a chapter from his book and then they both watched her movie from Christmas (Tinkerbell's Lost Treasure). This morning, she came to tell me that her tooth was loose.... Not only was is loose, it was completely gone! No idea if she lost it in the night and swallowed it or what... We had discussions about the fairy novelty and she insists that a dolly, NOT a dollar, will be left for her. After all this wishing that she would abandon baby land and begin to embrace big girl world... sigh, here we go. No turning back. You should have seen her face when that commercial for the new movie about the tooth fairy with that big guy in a tutu came on just before bed!! BAHAHAHAHA

New Year nearly here

For those who are curious, my sweet friend Laura actually was in town and we did get to spend several hours togethers this past weekend. I had the pleasure of meeting her sister, Leigh, and her other sister's husband, Matt. We had dinner and drove around Huntington a bit, before I had to grudgingly let her return to Charleston. I am sure that I nearly squeezed the life right out of her each time I hugged her, but I could not help myself. It was the perfect Christmas gift!

In the coming year, I am going to give a new craft a test run. After calling around, I was forunate enough to learn that the local stained glass shop is open and although they don't give formal lessons, would be willing to give me a quick tutorial on cuts and soldering... I am certain this will be a quick foray into this artsy endeavor, as I don't have much of an artistic flair, but I am intrigued nonetheless.

This Friday is our annual New Year's Brunch. So many more people from different areas of my life have agreed to come this year, it's sure to be a full house. What better way to start the newest decade than to be surrounded by wonderful people, with good food and excellent conversation?! I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!!

Love
Hippo Lady

Remember this?

Remember this?

Well, this week Laura really is coming... And I am going to get to see her!! The last time I saw here was shortly after 9/11, when I traveled to TX and spent a long weekend with her. When you have been friends with someone for almost three decades, but they have lived away from you for nearly two of those, it is an epic event to get to see them!! She knows all sorts of things about me (little me anyway) that I don't even have to tell her. When we talk about being hermits and building cabins, we both know the backstory. WOOT! If I mention her treehouse, she is right there with me and has a mental visual!! And I am stoked to get to fill in the gaps of our adult lives.

Now, please, please, please....let us all send up the happy ju ju's to the great beyond that this is also not a prank. I believe I have checked it out and it is valid, but one never knows!!

Hurry, Laura! Come on to WV and let's play in the snow before it all melts away!

Season's Greetings

Today was my nephew's birthday, my cousin's wife Tanya's birthday, and my late Pawpaw Elvin's birthday. Most of the time birthdays pass by and I don't remember until it is too late to even get a proper birthday wish out. With Facebook and it's handy little reminders of birthdays along the side, I will never again have a reasonable excuse.....

So when I got home, I was already in a nostalgic mood, thinking about my Pawpaw... He was such a serious guy...But he LOVED babies... There must be a million pictures of him with all the grandkids and extended family in his old recliner...

My husband had taken the tree out of the basement and set it up in the dining room before leaving for work. I dug around in the basement and got out all the ornaments and let the little ones put theirs on. Each year, everyone gets their own special ornament... It was like a little time capsule to pull out the ones they love so much.. And I know it sounds hokey, but pulling out things that date back to Cory's wee baby days made me feel connected to all those who had passed. Regardless of beliefs in great beyonds and all that, I know that the presence of those I love and miss is with me each time I take the time to linger on a memory.

Sadly, my little ones don't have any memories of my Pawpaw. He passed when Cory was five. Nor do they have any of my grandma Helen (my mother's mother), my great grandma Aurelia (her namesake), my great grandpa Charlie, sweet Anna Mae, or any of the others that have gone, but as we decorated that tree together and talked about times long before they were born, you would certainly never know. They know the stories of these people, they miss them without ever having met them, and it makes them happy to hear all I can tell them.

Belated Giving of Thanks

This year I am thankful for:

My sweet family. Our kids are rotten, my husband is a goofball, but every day I am thankful for them. The tinkle of the little ones laughter when they are getting along and plotting world domination in the back room. The occassional softening in my oldest's eyes when he looks in my direction and offers up a playful hug or joke. The steady knowledge that no matter what the situation, when I look to see who has my back and is there to catch me when I fall, I see Ted.

Community: While it is true that the NBC show is fetching and I really enjoy it, I am actually referring to the wonderful network of friends and acquaintances developed over years and years. To have such a diverse and rich group of people to weave into the fabric of our lives (Did I just hear a cotton commercial... perhaps...) is more than I could have thought to ask for and I am immensely grateful to have it.

History: I am fortunate enough to have a deep well of memories with the people that I love. Anytime and anywhere, something reminds me of something that happened with someone and it makes me smile. Usually.

Joy and Laughter: Even though I am an untamed heathen, I believe that there are gifts in our lives. When I was very young, for whatever reason, it occurred to me to be happy. Just to be happy. Nothing earthshaking. But each time life has taken me down a dark and windy road and I have had to make a choice about which fork in the road to travel, a little tiny bit of me remembers just to be happy. Being happy doesn't fix anything, doesn't make all the woes disappear, but by golly, it makes crawling back out of the muck more palatable.

Happy Birthday

Today was my husband's birthday. That makes him older than my by two years for the next couple of months, but that hardly matters when I reach for my ID at the liquor store and no one bothers to ask for it. And before you ask, I certainly do not frequent the liquor store. After our weekend away, I started wondering if I could make a decent daquiri at home that didn't require a second mortgage. At present, the answer to that question is no. I digress, back to Ted's birthday. After wishing him a happy birthday and all that nonsense, I made sure to call his parents and thank them for creating him and raising him to be who he is. While I am sarcastic and full of jokes about my Ted, he is by far and away the sweetest, most devoted, loving, honest, decent man in the world. He would have to be to have married me and continued that silliness for over ten years. He my rock, the one that stands behind me even when I am wrong, takes my crap and gives it back in just the right doses. We've been able to laugh and work our way through our life together, so that the bad times don't seem so bad and certainly don't appear to have been numerous. I could ask for nothing more...

Happy Birthday, Ted. I love you and I am so glad we found each other and made this life. This blog will self destruct in five seconds, so savor it.

Cinnamon

I love the smell of cinnamon. I love the taste of cinnamon. Walking down the aisles of the various stores between Halloween and Christmas and smelling all the spices (especially cinnamon) makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. So why is it that I cannot find any cinnamon mints? There used to be a lovely selection when you were in the checkout line. Now there are fruit flavored, spearmint, peppermint, but no cinnamon.... The only option is Big Red... occassionally a little Dentyne... but no breath mints...Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone have a logical explanation? Personally, I believe there is a conspiracy at hand, but I have yet to settle on the responsible parties... Aliens or Ann Coulter?

Letting Go

Recently, I have been concerned about my children and how suitable they are for public consumption. I am letting go of that. I don't care what the public at large thinks of my children, if they are happy, well, and not hurting anyone. So whether I feel like they are getting the hairy eyeball because I am paranoid and have low self esteem or because they really are, it no longer makes one iota of a difference to me!

I want to make decisions for my oldest to help him. I want to guide him to the best life he could have in the pursuit he deems most appealing. I want to shake him until he realizes that things that are worth having never come easily. But instead, I am going to swallow the tremendously large lump in my throat and sit back to wait for his decisions. I will earnestly try to refrain from a constant stream of my advice unless he has asked for it. (TRY, TRY, TRY). But I must let him go. He must make his decisions and mistakes and reap benefits and repercussions all by himself. SO much harder than leaving them at kindergarten, watching them walk unassisted, discover the world outside of your arms... SO much harder.

I've been searching for ways to help my little one out of her perpetual baby phase. At five years old, she wants me to help her eat her soup and oatmeal. She speaks through a small hole in the top of her head that makes her voice high and squeaky. I want her to grow up.... until I turn on the tv and see that people take children and throw them in the garbage. Then I remember, she is MY baby. I'll make her feed herself, but I'm not going to hurry her along anymore.

Hug your babies, no matter how old or young. The days fly by, even when they seem to be dragging, and that old saying "the best is yet to come" is wrong. The Best is already here and we'll miss it if we don't take the time to look.

Musings

Recently, Aurelia has become enchanted with Dancing with the Stars. She asks me to put it on and "dance her". This entails my holding her by the hand and allowing her to flop around, twirl herself, dip herself into a near concussion (by bouncing her head off the floor and causing me to lose my balance and fall on her). She conned her daddy into a bout of this "dancing" over the weekend! TOO FUNNY... When he was tuckered out she switched gears and danced on the doorjams until the music stopped...

After coming home from school today, that little bean pole ate a cosmic brownie (otherwise known as the tasty lard rectangle), three bananas, an entire can of chicken noodle soup, a Hershey Bar, several glasses of juice, and was still claiming to be hungry at bedtime... We need to locate the tapeworm!

Such is my underprivileged life, that I enjoyed a massage today and have my bed pre-heating under the temperature controlled electric blanket. Not to mention the little gadget that Ted has on the Jeep that started and warmed it before I had to go out with the kids... I am being robbed of my right to complain to my kids about how hard I have it by the abundance of readily available luxuries at hand!! ARG (oh poor pitiful me)!

I had actual conversations with my oldest son today... and enjoyed it. I am happy to have gotten to the point that our exchanges are not always barks or disagreements. He is an adult on the path to a responsible and happy life and it makes me happy to see him doing things and enjoying himself. Now, if he would just stop saying his eyes were green when they are so clearly blue... life would be perfect.

Aurelia has also adopted her cat mode. She crawls around on all fours and meows like a cat. She nuzzles faces with the cat, climbs on the coffee table like a cat, etc etc etc like a cat. She asked me to get her a flea collar.... I am frightened...

Baby boy has hit the big 18!

Wrap it up

My husband's only job in the morning is to make sure there is 35 cents for the girl to buy her milk. A week or so ago, he presented her with a baggie full of pennies.....

This is why I am on the Christmas shopping kick right now. I have high tech boys who love high tech things and those things cost the buckaroos. My daughter is easily pleased with shiny pink things and that is fortunate for me.

Right now I am on the hunt for Ebay treasures and things that will surprise them and make them happy at the same time.

If my husband reads this, and I know he will not because he is too busy playing Mafia Wars, I know what I want for Christmas. But it requires time, patience, knowledge of my likes.... but it is inexpensive... That is your first and possibly only clue.

Family of the extended variety will be discovering that I am a shopping GODDESS when the tinsel is finally on the tree... Oh yes... a GODDESS... I hope.

Hustle and Bustle

Wow... Summer ends and the year just steamrolls toward December. Everywhere I look there are decorations for holidays that are are two or three holidays down the line... Geesh... The kids started school and seem to be getting along well. Daniel gets frustrated that his sister will not allow him to mother her like he wants to. But he has been with her long enough to know that she will knock the socks off him when tries... that girls is tough as nails... Cory turns eighteen soon... Man that is blowing my mind... I started as the CASA volunteer recruiter this month. In case there is any doubt, I LOVE IT. Maybe one day, there won't be any abused and neglected kids, but until then...sigh...

My grandma had her birthday yesterday. Things seem to have worked out so that I can go to the beach with her this year. I can take or leave the beach, but getting some one on one time with my grandma is something that I cannot pass up. She is a spunky lady and I love her.

Beside me the clock is ticking down the minutes until I head home. Aside from a little trip around town to pass out some brochures and things sometime this weekend, I am considering shutting down my phone, ignoring my emails, and giving my kids the one on one time they deserve.. Rotten though they are! :0)So if you don't reach me this weekend, take no offense... I am vegging out!!

My quiet corner of the earth

When we moved three summers ago, I couldn't help but be nervous about living in a new place. What if there wasn't anyone I connected with? But I quickly realized that I didn't need to worry about such things. Over the past three years, I have been fortunate enough to know the majority of my closest neighbors on a first name basis... something I didn't even have where I had grown up my whole life.

As I walked out the door yesterday evening, hand in hand with my daughter, a cool breeze washed over us. We could hear children playing in their backyards...we waved at neighbors lounging on their porches... we strolled along our bumpy sidewalks talking about our day and the week to come. After we returned, we picked the ripe raspberries from our meager front garden and I carried the harvest to Neighbor Jenny.

We are so fortunate to live in a place where we feel at home, know our neighbors, look out for one another and have a sense of community. I can't imagine a better thing.