MERRY CHRISTMAS: THE SEASON OF HOPE

Normally I really really love Christmas, but this year I just couldn't get into it.  I faked my way through.  I suppose you get out of it what you put into it, but I really felt no energy to put much into it.  We have had so much sickness this last month, that it was just about all I could do to go to work, let alone prepare for the biggest day of the year. 

The one thing I truly did do this year is focus on the real reason for this season.  We glorify the Christmas Story, we make it sound so cozy and peaceful.  Perhaps through God's grace it was just that.  As I was sitting in church this advent season, I kept thinking where was Mary's mother?  I wonder if Mary yearned for her mom to be there to be her support, her guide, her help in time of such need.  I know when I had my babies I found my mom to be a huge help, resource and source of encouragement.  Our minister, in his sermon last Sunday, touched on what I had been wondering since the beginning of advent.  Because of the Census Mary and Joseph had to travel many many miles to Bethlehem when she was so close to delivering.  Just imagine.....imagine being a mere teenager and forced to leave a mother and family you need so much to comply with a census, only to get to your destination and not being able to find proper lodging.  Through it all....God provided. 

I think of this past year and how as a family in some really tough times, we have pulled together.  Through it all God has provided.  When all seems doom and gloom he pulls us through the other side.  He puts the right people in your life just as you need that bit of encouragement and hope. 

I have also been dwelling on how many people are missing the ones they love this holiday season.  I think of the families waking up today in Connecticut who two weeks ago thought this would be a wonderful Christmas with their children only to have them ripped from their arms just a week and a half before Christmas.  What are they feeling today?  How do you deal with such tragedy?  How do you face Christmas ever again?   There are no human answers to these questions.  They say time heals.  I'm not sure I totally buy that.  I believe time provides a scab over the wound to where it maybe it doesn't hurt so bad, but it will always be there. 

My personal belief is that God provided hope in his Son and therefore we ALWAYS have hope even when things feel hopeless.  God provides.  My hope and prayer for everyone is that they find this HOPE, believe this HOPE and believe that through it all God is there and he will provide according to his will.  ( the according to his will is what scares me :)......My faith is not always strong, in fact sometimes it can be very weak, but this I know.....God's love is everlasting.  

 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Merry Christmas to all!!

HAS ANYONE SEEN OUR SILVERWARE?



The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

 Here is a fork line up.  I am asking anyone who may have any forks matching the one on the left to please leave them on our front deck.....no questions asked. 

I thought we got through Thanksgiving without a problem until a few days later when John was apparently counting the silverware.  Seems there are a few special pieces missing.  I just don't know what to think.  (We can talk about John's anal retentiveness in a later blog)

28 years ago, just before we were married, we picked out a special set of silverware at the JC Penny Outlet Store.  I believe there were only place settings for 8.  A few years later my mom bought us more silverware in a different pattern and I gave her most of our old.  Well, I didn't realize it at the time but  we liked are weddin' wear better than our next set and I wouldn't have given the first set away had I known John was so attached to them.

Somehow, he had managed to hang on to a  handful of forks from his favorite set.  When we set the table you MUST, if you don't want to hear a ton of whining, set his spot with a "good" fork.  Even Taylor realizes this when she sets the table.

Well, Thanksgiving came and went.  We had a great day.  However, it seems a few of John's favorite forks have disappeared.  We have 12 suspects, but we can easily narrow it down to two....My mom and Sarah.

The possibilities are endless with Sarah, did she throw them  in the trash with the take out she finished eating?  Are they stuck to some bowls or plates somewhere in her room? Did you check her car?   I mean ever since we found the meat thermometer in the bathtub we really aren't sure what to think about her.  We tend to find cooking paraphernalia in every room of the house. 

The other prime suspect is my mom. She has the rest of the set.  Did she think these were hers and put them in her purse to re unite them with the rest at her house?  I'm actually leaning towards Vivian more than anyone because EVERY pot, pan, casserole dish I would pull out of my cupboard on Thanksgiving she would say "I used to have one just like that"  OR  "I think I gave that to you" OR (as she is on all fours down looking through my cupboards) "I know I left that bowl with a lid here someplace.   Remember when I brought you potato salad in that in 2005?"  "You never gave it back to me"  Now, this woman can hardly remember her grand children's names, but she knows every dish, pot, pan, and casserole dish she has ever had in her 55 years of marriage.

So mom, if you have a few of our good forks, I will trade you the 1950 metal, dented pan you were coveting at Thanksgiving. 

Until this caper is figured out, I'm setting up metal detection and possibly lie detector tests for Christmas.  We can't afford another silverware heist!

My Voting Experience and Other Random Stuff

There are two jobs I would like to do in additional to my 9-5 career.  I want to be on the air conditioning/heat committee at church ( Dear St. Paul's, setting the air conditioning at 78 degrees is not air conditioning, it does however, represent an oven. Love in Christ, Bobbie) and I want to organize and lead the group of people that volunteer at the polls.   OH MY GOODNESS.....I'm not generally a high strung person, but I like organization and promptness.  Organization and promptness was not currently available in our precinct.  Let's face it, people who are retired, and I will be one of these people some day, have no worries about time.  Time is not exactly a resource they care much about. They paid their dues of running kids around, meeting deadlines, volunteering etc. They are now relaxing and enjoying life.  They have looked forward to this election for the last four years.  It is a social event that is for sure.    I'm happy for them.  I hope I live to see that day. 

The day of the election, I thought I would pop in, vote and be on my way to work.  The polls open at 6:30....or do they? Our faithful pollsters, Hilda, Matilda, Edith and George (the token man) didn't quite have their sh** together at 6:30 or 6:35 or 6:40.  Time is ticking and my head is about ready to explode.  They are shuffling and re-shuffling papers, taping crap on the walls, talking amongst themselves about not liking the way the books are put together.  Meanwhile, the rest of us were sitting on a bench waiting for these four spark plugs to start hitting on all four cylinders.  (I know nothing about cars so this analogy may not be a good one)  The line is getting longer and longer.  Some guy in line next to me starting complaining about how the news said there were already problems with the voting machines.  I just looked at him and pointed to Hilda who wore the lanyard around her neck that programs your computer cards you use to vote.  Very dryly I said "therein may be our problem"  It's probably not the voting machine. There is probably more than one Hilda around the country.  Bless her heart she is trying.  She is doing the first card.  She slides it in.....it beeps.  She slides it out.... it beeps.  She turns it over..... it beeps. She wipes it on her pants and tries again...it beeps, she gets her hankie out to wipe it off and it beeps again.she takes her glasses off, she puts her glasses on...  She can't get it to work. About this time my aneurysm started acting up.

The worst part however was just the fact they were not ready at 6:30 sharp.  As more time passes and I'm getting more and more pissed.  I make eye contact with Matilda and give her the stink eye, eye roll, and a deep sigh.  She pretends not to notice.  That didn't help.  We continued to sit some more.  I commented to the lady beside me how I really need to get to work.  She says snidely "well you just may need to come after work"  Really? Really?  You just may need to....I don't know.......shut up.  I'm here on time (it's past time now) The four amigos are getting a list ready for Fred of what they want for lunch, and I have some where to be.  This day is going to have a record turn out and we are not equipped to handle the first three people in line??

Let's move on to the second and actually the biggest problem.  I would bet my next paycheck that the procedure for voting has been the same at this particular precinct since I was in diapers.  You go in and there are 4 people sitting at the table.  Edith, asks for your ID (yes a valid ID, what nerve!!)  She looks to make sure you are who you say, your license is not expired, your address is correct and you are in the correct precinct.  I was expecting her to say something like  "oh, I see you lie about your weight.... Mrs. Obama has just the diet for you!", but she didn't.  She validates who you are and then she looks in the BIG BOOK for your name.  She compares your information and address to what is written in her big book.  She then passes your license to Matilda, who has another big book in front of her.  She finds your name, and has you sign beside it.  Then she yells past Fred down to the computer programmer/IT manager Hilda "SHE'S IN SANDY VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT!!!  I waltz right past Fred who apparently is just eye candy and a decent lunch for these women.  I get to Hilda and hold my breath.  I say a quick prayer that goes something like this. 

Dear God,

Please don't let it be this hard to get into heaven.
Please tell me that the Big Book is automated and
not manned by Moses. (he had a a little time issue getting out of the dessert)
Please tell me there will be no one flipping through pages while I
hold what little breath I have left.

Also, God, Please help Hilda as she programs my card.

In Jesus Name I pray, AMEN.

Hilda does a great job.

  There is a sign that says, Please don't take more than five minutes to vote"  OK really?  It took me 25 minutes, four seniors, and two gigantic books to get through to a voting machine and they want you to take no more than five minutes to exercise your right to vote.  I should have brushed up on the issues because I really didn't know what some of them were.  If I were to read them all, it seriously would have taken a lot longer than 5 minutes. 

Now, in all seriousness, is this how they vote in NYC? Chicago? LA?  Is there no better system out there?  This truly isn't a volunteer problem exactly (though they should have been ready for their first voter at exactly 6:30) The year is 2012. We put a four wheeler on Mars this year.   Do we really still have to flip through gigantic books and have four people to help one person vote.  I think it's just crazy.  Some of this is my fault, I'm kind of old fashioned and want to vote on election day and not by mail, but I have to say I will reconsider next time. If I want to see retirement I need to calm my racing heart down and avoid stressful situations.

Meanwhile, I'm getting my resume together to be a volunteer next year.  I have my girls picked out, plus John.(he will hand out stickers)  Vivian is in charge of breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I will be there at 5am setting up and decorating.  It will be a blast!

GO VOTE AND SHUT UP

Good GRIEF....Tuesday cannot get here soon enough, but wait....being my realistic self, as opposed to my pessimistic self, I do not believe Wednesday morning this horror movie will be over.

Here is my prediction for Wednesday morning....Ohio will hold this whole shenanigan up.  The election from hell will be like the "chad" election where suddenly old people were too weak to quite push that chad out the other side of the paper and left something hanging.  (Put your weight into it!!) Accusations will be flying about who "Owns" the voting machines and when you checked Obama you actually voted for Romney. (or the other way around)    I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT.  I'm so sick of conspiracy theories I could puke.  So to young and old alike...... Take your crazy asses to vote, make sure you do it correctly and shut up.  

When you come home, there is no need to go on FB and tell me who you voted for, I think I already know based on your political posts the last two years. 

How about this.  We come home and thank God for the people who gave us the RIGHT to vote.  Those who fought and conquered so we could post our rants on facebook without fear of government persecution. (let's just persecute each other)   I thank God that as a woman I am allowed to have a say.  I'm thankful that it's a very real possibility that a woman will someday be president.  I hope when that happens we don't spend the entire four years worrying about her wardrobe, her weight or how pretty or ugly she is.  It's a stressful job.  She will probably look like Halloween when it's all over. 

So this is my political rant.......GO VOTE AND SHUT UP. 

HAPPY FRIGGIN' BIRTHDAY MA!

Well today  is my mom's birthday and I didn't get the card in the mail.  She's beginning to believe there really isn't a card at all, but I swear to the good Lord above I bought a card!  It was nothing mushy, or smushy, it had a crotchety old woman on the front and when you open the card it simply said "Happy Friggin' Birthday."

We really suck at birthdays around here.  We have never been big on them, it's just another day.  My mom views it that way also.  She believes birthday cards are a waste of money and should not be bought.  (that's the republican in her)  She wants Romney to get elected, but worries about how much the secret service bill is going to be  with that herd of kids and grand kids he has.(this makes me chuckle)  I suppose when you look at this stuff from our meager salaries, that's a fair concern, but if you compare it to the national debt, I think it's a little bit crazy to worry about it. 

I can tell you ways I'm a lot like my mom.  I can tell you ways I'm less like my mom and more like my dad.  I really believe I'm a fair blend of each.  Mom likes people....I don't.  I would prefer a good book and silence.  She likes an audience and a soap box.    She will truly help anyone and is very, very giving.  I would suggest that if you would ever like to go shopping, skip the mall and go to my moms house.  She will give you a tour of the house and you can just point and say "oh, that's beautiful, I like that" she will be fetching Bob to shove it in your trunk or tie it on your roof like a dead deer.  I'm not kidding you!  The next time I visit, I'm going to mention I like her hall table.  I'm driving the van that day. 

Hospitality?  This woman can make cheese, trail  bologna, crackers and a slice of pie seem like a four course meal.  She loves to cook and loves entertaining people.  Her home is always open for anyone who is hungry.  I can promise you will never leave hungry.

Mom is a take charge person.  She will step in and just do.  Rarely do you have to ask.  She admits and I can vouch.....Vivian can clean up puke and eat a peanut butter sandwich at the same time.  She will do the dirty work.  No job is too messy.  NOT ME!  I plug my nose, pull on the rubber gloves and if that puke is on  something I can throw away and buy another, that's what I do.   She was a very compassionate nurse and one that I would want by my bedside. 

We are both dumb as hell.  We have been known to clean out our purse and make two piles.  One pile to throw away and one pile to keep.  Well guess what?  We get the piles mixed up and throw away the keepers and keep the trash.  We stuff that trash back in our purse and when looking for our wallet the next day, head to the garage to go dumpster diving.  We have thrown out bills, remote controls, and keys.  (at least I have, and I'm pretty sure she has also)  One of my funniest mom stories (she is going to kill me) is when she swore her video camera was stolen.  It wasn't just stolen.... it was stolen by illegal immigrants.  She was just ranting and raving how she knows it was on the seat of the car and some illegals came and stole it while she was in paying for gas or something.  (this is where  Roger and I just look at each other and roll our eyes and go along with it)  Well, wouldn't you know, she found that camera a couple days later...yes she did, it was in an old dryer.  I HAVE NO IDEA HOW OR WHY....you will have to ask her, but she owes the illegal immigrant community an apology I guess. 

Well, mom....you didn't get the card because it never made it into the mail box.  I hope you have a happy friggin' birthday....you deserve it.  I could probably write a book just about you and your shenanigans, but I will save that for some other day.  Your story isn't finished yet....In fact I'm pretty sure it's only going to get better, crazier and more fun before it's all over!  God be with Roger.  I'm moving to Hawaii with Obama.

ONE OF GOD'S BIGGEST BLESSINGS TO THE CANTON/SOEHNLEN FAMILY

Wow, Just wow.  I cannot believe that our precious little granddaughter is four years old already.  I don't know if it seems to have gone this fast for her own parents, but to us aging adults, it truly seems like no more than a year ago, she was born. 

I want to share something personal.  When Sam told me she was pregnant, I was not overly thrilled.  Actually, she didn't tell me.  Sarah was talking to a friend over Aim ( A chat thingy) and left it up on the computer.  Just for the sake of argument, for the one time in my life I wasn't snooping, it was just there.  Sarah was telling a friend about Sam being pregnant.  (if you want to rob a bank, please do not take Sarah, because you will be in the hoosegow looking out NO DOUBT!  She cannot keep a secret)  When I read this my head went right into the proverbial sand.   I was hoping Sarah was just kidding.  She wasn't. 

I'm a planner.  I admit.  I blame it on my place of employment.  We have plans for plans and contingency plans for contingency plans.  I like an orderly life.  I like things in progression.  I'm old fashioned.  I like graduation, college, college graduation, marriage, babies, etc etc.  So this little peanut of a surprise took me a little bit to get used to.  OKAY, it took me like a week.  After that, I was fine. For the record, I was NEVER EVER mad, I was worried. 

It's no secret, so I'm not going to sugar coat it,Taylor was not exactly planned.  She could, by no stretch of the imagination, be a statistic.  Pro Choice people tend to think of abortion as a woman's right to choose.  (to me, this is about a baby,  more than it is about my rights as a woman)  Father's don't get a voice because it's only their baby, not their body.  This, in my mind, is so not logical, I can hardly stand to discuss it.  I stand by my opinion, that a heart beat is a life.  Period.  Let me add one thing and it may sound like a contradiction.  I DO NOT STAND IN JUDGEMENT of those who have had abortions. (the only exception to this is if you are using it as birth control)  I know there are many times, where life overwhelms.  People get scared, they do not see any other solution.  There seems to be nobody there to offer a hand, in fact the only people who may show up are those to tell you how wrong you are. I know this sounds like another contradiction, but I don't even want to see Roe V Wade overturned.  This needs to be a decision that comes from the heart, not because the government tells you it's wrong.  I would challenge all Pro Life people to put down their picket signs and give girls/women a reason not to abort.  Volunteer to help a girl in need, volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center, there are many, many ways to help without judging or being hateful. We need to put this Pro Choice VS Pro Life stuff away in an election.  There has not been a  Republican president yet (they are the ones who use this debate in their campaign) who has solved this problem and there never will be. I can think of no good reason for a late term abortion....don't even go there with me. When this happened under the Clinton administration I hated that man. I view it as pure evil.  I would rather die first than kill a child that is viable...meaning they could live outside my womb.... That is the end of my rant....   My point is both Ben and Sam understood what was important and knew they were not alone...they chose life.

This little girl has brought us more joy than we ever thought imaginable. (when I say "us" I mean both Ben's family and ours.)  We cannot imagine life without her.  I've heard parents explain how they worry about being able to love another child.  I never worried about that as a mother, but it enters my mind as a grandma.  Now I know, without a doubt, this will not be a problem of course, but it did enter my mind.

I guess with this simple blog, I just want to thank Sam and Ben for choosing life and giving us what we really didn't know we wanted or needed. What seemed like an obstacle or an inconvenience turned out to be one of God's many blessings that comes wrapped in something we humans don't recognize as a blessing at first......a baby.   Thank you God, for seeing the big picture.  We wouldn't change a thing!

Bobbie's View on Being Politically Correct...I Will Never Be a Candidate for the Supreme Court

I've been trying to tell you for the past 9 months, and I hope you are hearing me loud and clear, I AM AN ODD BALL.  I don't view things the same way that others do.  I do not look at life the same way that most people do.  I'm a God made mediator. I try to help everyone in an argument see the other person's side.   I tend to ride the fence on a lot of issues because I can usually see both sides.

I sometimes find humor in things most people don't find funny. When playing Words With Friends, I try to make words that mean something to me rather than being strategic to get words that rack up the most points.  For instance, If I have the letters to form the word POOP, I go with the word POOP over some other word that could give me twice as many points.  Humor should be worth double in my opinion. I'm usually not politically correct.  I use words that some may find offensive.  Frankly, politically correct cramps my style because I can't be me.  People probably wouldn't appreciate the real me.  My friends like the real me.  My husband loves the real me. Quite honestly, he's as bigger ass than I am.  Speaking of big asses.  I have one.  (no his name's not John) I will use myself as an example as to not offend anyone.  I have a big ass....I am fat.  I guess there are a lot of ways we, being politically correct, have to refer to my heftiness. Below is a list of ways we can be politically correct and my interpretation will be in parenthesis next to it.

Bobbie is a little chunky-   (Bobbie is Fat)
Bobbie is heavy (no, she's fat)
Bobbie has a pretty face (Bobbie is Fat, but she could be pretty if she lost weight)  I alwyas say it's best not to be both fat and ugly.
That outfit looks good on you (it doesn't make you look AS fat)

Sarah:  My Dentist reminds me of you
Me:  Why is she fat?

See, my point is even if you don't use the politically correct "word", I yam what I yam.....FAT.  It doesn't change the meaning.  OK, let's move on.

I find facebook to be interesting.  I have 200 Plus "friends" and it's kind of like having kids, they are all different.  There are those that are super emotional and dramatic.  To these "friends" everyday is some sort of drama. I swear they must live in a state of upset all the time.   I have artsy friends.  My artsy friends don't just see a flower they SEE A FLOWER with God's face shining in the center of it, with glistening dew drops dropping from the petals and the shadow it casts is an orb from a dead relative.   Me?  I see flower.  Yes, it's a pretty flower, but it's still just a flower.  I have flowers in my back yard, that somehow, John was able to bring back from the dead after Sarah tried to euthanize them in the 95 degree heat while we were on vacation.   There are people who are all about the peace, tranquility, harmony, love, meditation, breathing.  I get it,  I really do, it's just well, I'm tainted I guess.  I'm more of a I get up, go to work, fight to keep my head above water, don't take people's crap (make sure I don't dish it out either), go home and pray for a good nights sleep with no child waking me saying they have a flat tire or wrecked the car.  NOW THAT'S A GOOD DAY!  I don't like war, but I certainly believe we will have it around forever and I would prefer our country stay militarily strong.  Does that mean I don't love peace.  Hell yes I love peace.  I'm taking Monday off just so I can get some peace.  As for national peace, I'm not counting on it.

I am not a good candidate for a suicide prevention hot line,  OK, so don't call me to talk you off the ledge, unless, of course you REALLY want to wake up dead.  I'm not afraid of death, however I am afraid of the torture that may lead up to my death.  This torture could be mental or physical...who knows what God has planned.  

So there you have it.  I'm really a nice person.  I never ever want to hurt anyone's feelings, so I find myself being politically correct as to try not to hurt anyone's feelings, but geez, this thing is only going to grow and grow and grow.  Why do we have to be so thinned skinned?  Why is a word or phrase we used to use suddenly deemed improper or offensive?  Who decides that?   I don't care if it's the word cripple, midget, short person, fat person, etc etc....  In fact the word little person sounds way worse to me than midget.  OK, I'm stopping now because I'm sure on my way to offending some of you or all of you. 

Who Has a Big WOO HOO for Empty Nest?

I know this isn't going to go over well with people.  I know it's going to come out all cold and ugly and unemotional, yet I doubt it really will shock anyone either.  So here goes.....I LOVE TO BE ALONE.  I do, I just love it.  I'm not saying I would want to be alone 24/7 but 10/7 would be OK.  Seriously, If I could have one day a week of total alone time, I would be one happy lady.  Something has changed drastically with life.  I used to work every Saturday.  My day off during the week used to be either Wednesday's or Thursday's.  This was my day to do whatever I wanted.  I would get the kids off the school and clean the house, plan a nice dinner, and do whatever it is I wanted to do.  Many times the TV would never even be turned on.  I prefer silence to anything.

Here is another mommy blogger shocker.....empty nest doesn't phase me.  I don't want my kids to feel unwanted and I hope they don't read too much into their suitcases being packed by the door, but isn't leaving the nest a natural part of life?  I mean, I really wonder about people who want to all live together like a cult or something.  It's just not the way life is supposed to be.  (Please don't make me start quoting bible verses about leaving your mother and father and cleaving to another)  Truly I only have one left at home and wouldn't you know her middle name is pig pen.  She just happens to be the last one to give up her blankey, so that should have told me something right there.  I want her to leave when she's ready, I don't want to rush her because once she walks out that door, it gets boarded up and you have to have a secret password and handshake to get back in.  NO EXCEPTIONS.  I have my Pinterest boards all ready as to what I'm doing with each bedroom.  ( In fact, I think John is starting on the one bedroom next week.)  One bedroom has structural damage, but to no fault of Sarah's.  I believe the good son had a X Box meltdown and chucked a controller through the wall. 

Let me clear something up.  I truly like being a mom.  If you talk to my friends they will claim I didn't know where the kids were when we went on a couples only cruise, but I did.  I  knew they were safe  with Sergeant Vivian.   I didn't feel the need to spend 15 dollars on a phone call from Jamaica to check on them.  Dang, you people are high strung.  (I suppose this is another reason there is no Mother Of The Year award)  Anyway, I did like being a mom and have wonderful memories of family dinners.  If you don't have family dinners, I think you are missing out on something really special.  In this age of smart phones (I think each baby has to have a phone and an infant seat to be released from the hospital) Internet, I pods, I pads etc, family dinners are 20 minutes where all devices can be shut off and we can have conversations about the day.  Most nights John and I just needed to sit and listen as the kids talked to one another.  We really didn't have to add on an interrogation room with a one way mirror until around the age of 14.  Water boarding never really worked well for us, but we will discuss that in another blog.

Now why do I look forward to empty nest?  Well, I would like to tell you it's because John and I want to make whoopie all over the house like the old days.  ( my kids just threw up in their mouth), but actually it's just because I would be really really worried if I had not raised kids that are self sufficient and responsible enough to leave the nest at a decent age.  What's a decent age?  I don't know....everyone is different, but dear God please don't let it be past 25 PLEASE!!  I think what John and I have proven and our kids finally truly see, is in spite of my joking around, we are family.  We have each others backs and through strife, good times, bad times, rough times and sometimes what seems like impossible times we are all there for one another.  You don't have to be attached at the hip to have each other's backs, you just have to have that bond of family.  I'm glad our kids have each other and I'm glad I have each one of them.   But.....move on already.  :)

Another Doctor, Another Blog

I know I sound like I dislike all Doctors.  I really don't..see I put a capital D on Doctors to show my deepest respect.  I do believe I could be a Dr critique.  In my early years, I would randomly just pick Dr.'s out of the phonebook.  I find it doesn't really do any good to ask people's opinions because everyone has different ideas on what a good Dr. is.  The Dr. that delivered all three of the kids was really not my favorite.  First, his hands were just too small.  Those little slimey people could have slid right out of his sausage fingers. 

With Samantha he used forceps so hard that the side of her cheeks were red and raw for the first couple weeks of her life.  With Jonathan he broke his collar bone during child birth.  We didn't figure this out until a couple weeks later.  Jonathan was the only kid that cried at the hospital a lot.  I was thinking about trading him off for the quiet baby in the nursery.  Even in 1991 they kept pretty good tabs on what kid belonged to which mom.  So we brought the original home.  At his first check up the pediatrician noticed a "knot" aka a tumor on Jonathan's collar bone.  This particular pediatrician always went right to the worst case scenario.  He sent him to the ER for an Xray and turns out it had been broken during birth.  In a few months down the road this particular doctor would also put him through a battery of tests to rule out things like heart problems and Cystic Fibrosis.  He had me in an uproar most of the time. 

I've written quite enough about my oncologist.  He is as boring as you can get, but because of his outstanding credentials, I will cut him some slack.  Besides, I've seen and heard his patients in the waiting room.  There's is no wonder he has no sense of humor.  If I had to deal with Edna every six months, I would want to either shoot her out of her misery or retire. 

The newest Dr. I tried was a dermatologist.  I actually got a recommendation for this one. I wouldn't say it was a good recommendation, but a name written on a napkin type deal.   On vacation, my dear friends informed me I had a big ugly melanoma looking thing on my back.  I really didn't think it was melanoma, but I felt it was probably some sort of cancer that would need hacked off.  I did the responsible thing and made my appointment.  Between the time of making the appointment and actually going, I found that most people dislike this Dr.  One girl I work with HATED her.  Another girl, thought she was just okay.  The "just okay" girl actually had a growth on her ear that was growing a lot, I mean this was a big growth.  This particular Dr. wouldn't take it off because it wasn't cancer and she said insurance wouldn't pay for it.  OH HORSE POOP......if you take the damn thing off and send it off to be tested insurance will pay for it.  I sure wish she had told me this story when she wrote this Doctor's name on the damn napkin.  I already had my appointment and figured what the heck...I would keep the appointment. 

The first thing that is a turn off, are the doctors that belong to "The Foundation"  It's a complex that is bigger than the University of Akron.  You have buildings A, B and C.  It took me three stops ( because of course I went in alphabetical order) and a half tank of gas to find the correct building.  Then they are so helpful, they have a 90 year old woman working the "information desk."  I admit I'm very low on patience, but when I have to repeat the Doctor's name three times for Grace to hear me and she still doesn't understand me, I just want to ask the person who is charge what the point is to have someone handing out information that apparently can only understand sign language or maybe speaks a whole different language.  Once she understood what Dr. I was searching for she sent me on a wild goose chase.  I ended up reading the wall where they list all the offices and found the Dr. I was looking for was RIGHT BEHIND where she was sitting. 

The office was practically empty.  They put me in the examining room to sit for one HOUR....ONE HOUR and to my knowledge the office was empty.....I never saw any other patients.  I found this to be absurd.  The nurse asked me the same questions that I had already filled out on my forms and the questions that kept coming up were:  What color is it?  Has it grown?  when did you notice it?.......EVERY TIME I answered  "it's on my back I can't see it".  After sitting for an hour the Doctor and her nurse came in.  The nurse is carrying a container with a hose that looked like I was going to get my gears greased or something.  It looked like an old fashioned oil can.  I made a joke ( I forget what I said) they didn't laugh.  Dr. S. was particularly abrasive.  She started asking me the same questions that I had already answered.  What color is it? How big is it?  Has it grown?........OMG I was pissed by this point.  You are the Dr. I'm sitting here....why don't YOU look at it and tell me what color it is and how big it is?  I DO NOT HAVE EYES IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD.  THEY FELL OUT WHEN THE LAST CHILD LEFT THE NEST.  She went behind the table and looked for less than a split second and said "yea that's just an age spot".  An age spot?  My friends sent me to the Dr. for an age spot?  Really?  Because when we compared my melanoma to those on medicine.com, it was in the advanced stages?  Are you sure  it's just an age spot?  She went on to examine me for other potential problems and somehow found a microscopic-can't- see- with-the-naked-eye- pimple-like- thing on my arm.  Nurse Ratchet handed her the "can of oil", and she blasts the pre-cancerous thingy on my arm.  For those of you who believes guns should be banned, I would suggest you re-think that.  If any criminal would get their hands on this device it would do more damage than any arsenal.  I went to this Dr. three weeks ago and I'm still scabbed over where she blasted the little thingy on my arm.  I'm pretty sure I'm scarred for life.  I'm very thankful she didn't use it on my face or I would look like Halloween right now. 

I wish I could say I'm done with doctors for this year, but I have an oncologist and CAT scan to get through yet before the end of the year.  Next year my goal is to NOT max out insurance to where everything is covered 100%.  I would like to not reach my deductible. 

The Taylor Interview......

  We can't wait for the baby to sleep through the night, but.....we miss rocking them to sleep.  We cheer them on when they start to crawl.....then we put them in a play pen so they can't move.  We want them to talk so we know they can hit their mile stones, but once they have proven their ability to talk and talk and talk.....we beg for silence.  We want our toddlers to be happy, yet (this is for Sam and me) when things get too loud, we want them to stop laughing and screaming so much.   We want our kids to go to school, yet we miss them being home.  We want them to have lots of friends, but they need to be the RIGHT friends.  We want them to grow into good self sufficient adults, but we still want them to need us.  Oh, the list can go on and on....

As we approach Taylor's fourth birthday I just marvel how much kids learn in such a short time.  We all do it, my kids did it, but I think when it's your grandchild you look at them differently.  You actually have the time to marvel at how they grow, learn and interact.  I've decided to interview Taylor and here is some of our conversation:

Bobbie:  Who do you like better Grandma or Grandpa
Taylor:  (with a scowl)  I like you both the same

Bobbie:  What do you want to be when you grow up?
Taylor:  A princess

Bobbie:  What makes mommy happy?
Taylor:  When I pick up my toys

Bobbie:  What makes mommy sad?
Taylor:  When there is a mouse in the house, but it's gone now.

She interrupted our interview to tell me that her lizard eats apples and carrots and Aunt Katie is going to grow a mustache on her chin.

Bobbie:  What is your teacher's name?
Taylor:  I don't know I didn't ask.

Bobbie:  Where's daddy
Taylor:  He's in the army helping people

Bobbie:  If you could buy anything you wanted what would you buy?
Taylor:  A green light.
Bobbie:  A green light?
Taylor:  yea, for kids.  when they are in bed and you shut the lights off the green light comes on and they won't be scared.  I would also buy a cuddle, cuddle puppet.

Bobbie:  Name your friends.
Taylor:  Marlie, Zoe, Callie, AJ, Lisa (her moms friend) and Angela (again her moms friend)

Bobbie:  Tell me about how Aunt Katie surprised Grammy Pammy.
Taylor:  { big scream} it was loud! 

Taylor:  Can I go outside bare toed? (this is what she says instead of barefoot)

This is the end of our interview because just like all kids, she doesn't like to be interrogated and she has places to go and see.

 Tay surprises me with what she remembers.  She remembers her and her mom making a cake to bring me when I was in the hospital.  She remembers how at Christmas my niece Stephanie "ruined" her play dough by mixing the colors.  (she's harboring a grudge on this one)

My earliest memory is around Taylor's age.  I prayed for a little sister.  I remember my mom bringing home a cat and she had it wrapped in a blanket and I thought I had scored a sister.  I also remember around the same age, a pick up truck came crashing into our house and prior to it crashing, my mom yelled "BOBBIE, GET TO THE BACK OF THE HOUSE"  I was four......where the HELL is the back of the house!! 

I love that I have a little person that I can watch grow and learn.  She also helps me remember my childhood and how wonderful it was.

Dexter the nightmare...I mean dog.

This blog may offend dog lovers.  It shouldn't because I'm just talking about my own inadequacies as a dog owner.  It's not just me who stinks at it, my entire family should be made have their canine tubes tied.



My Three Squirrels and the dog from HELL



When we moved to the country John and I promised the kids who were 5th grade, 3rd grade and first grade, that they could have a dog. (at this point John is shaking his head violently that he had NOTHING to say about this promise) So in the spring I made a voyage to Louisville to pick up a full breed Boxer Puppy.  I knew I wanted a male and I knew I wanted his name to be Dexter.  I also knew once I arrived at Dexter's puppy mill he was probably not going to be the shining star I was hoping for just based on his parents and his environment.   At this point there should have been a divine intervention and I should have slowly walked away, but I didn't.  I took Dexter home.  I figured, I still had three children that were still thriving, how hard could a dog be?

Oh, he was hard.  I don't have a clue what kept us from killing him, I really don't.  Besides the cost of buying a full breed dog, this dog did thousands of dollars in damage.  He chewed up John's prescription sun glasses, Samantha's camera, the couch....yes, THE COUCH.  I ran to the dollar store one day for literally 5 minutes and came home and he has a piece of the couch in his mouth as he runs to the door with his stub of a tail wagging.  I couldn't believe it.  When crated, he decided to chew the silky trim off the blanket, this is a true story......silk was coming out his mouth and worked it's way all through his system and it was also coming out his bum.   The crazy Vet assistant pulled the piece that was coming out his rear and he nipped at her.  So not only did we get a thousand dollar surgery vet bill, we also had the equivalent of a juvenile detention center for dogs on our front porch flashing their badge and telling us we had to quarantine Dexter because he bit the vet assistant. I said OK, I will try, but just so you  know he will chew the door knobs off the doors to get outside.  He was like Robo Dog.

Dexter would run away when you let him out to pee.  He would run right up the road to where there were horses and the horse's mommy would threaten me that there would be a bill in the mail if he harmed one of those horses.  The horses were like 40 years old and the only excercise they got was when my dog chased them.   I'm not sure why she was threatening me.  Hell, he didn't want to hurt them, he wanted to play with them.  There was no amount of coaxing him when he was with those horses.  We tried hot dogs, lunch meat, anything and everything.  One time, I had to call John home from work to get the dog in.  I told John to tell his boss my right ovary exploded and I needed to go to the hospital.  John got out of his car, yelled Dexter's name and BOOM the dog came running.  John definitely had the Alpha thing going on and Dexter was petrified of him.  People could not understand why we couldn't keep our dog under control.  I swear to the good Lord above we tried.  We bought an industrial strength collar, and a long lead.  We hooked it on a tree and he could run and exercises on this lead.  It was made out of super duper strong cable, there was no way to break it......except apparently he was strong enough when he saw a girl dog run across the yard or hell it could have been a bird.   I look outside and I'll be darned......the lead is dangling from the tree, Mighty Dog had busted it.  I collapsed in tears, yes the damn dog made me cry!

I don't even want to talk about obedience school.  He was retained in first grade.  If there was a doggy Attention Deficit Disorder, this dog would be medicated. ( We may as well throw the H in there ADHD)

Dexter died when he was only five years old and it had NOTHING to do with us choking or poisoning him.  He got cancer, like a lot of boxers, and went to doggy heaven.  (possibly)

Now tell me who's a slow learner, a year later we bought another boxer.   She came trained and it didn't take us long for the kids to have her untrained.  A week after we got her we went out to dinner for my birthday.  When we came home we found she had eaten my birthday cake and then promptly threw it up in the living room.  Happy birthday to me.  Then there was the time I put chicken in the sink to thaw and she somehow got it out of the sink and ate all our uncooked chicken.  So what's the moral of this story?  Dogs drool and cats rule!  No more dogs for me.  Cats are my favorite, we have the same bitchy personality. 




Dexter



Lack of Inspiration

last night I'm minding my own business watching Olympic diving and out of the blue I get a facebook message from a friend clear across the country asking me why I haven't been blogging.  Well the truth is, I haven't been particularly inspired lately.  I pride myself on my sense of humor and my lack of sense, but lately....I'm just not feeling it.  (well, I have a major lack of sense but the humor is gone)

So, I told my friend to give me a list of subjects and I would write something.  My first blog is going to be an honest account on why I haven't been inspired lately. 

Life:  life is hard.  I really, really get tired of the meanness, the bitterness, the conditional love thing.  If you act a certain way people will love you.  If you believe a certain way, you will be respected.  If you are a republican, you must be rich, if you are a democrat you must need food stamps.  I get tired of every time I'm on facebook it's a political spiel of some sort.  Turn on the TV, more political garbage.  All I hear is hate, hate, hate. 

Christians are made out to be idiots because they believe the Bible is inspired by God.  We are to accept people of different religions and their beliefs......except, it appears, Christianity.  The problem with some Christians is a lot of us come across as though it says
WE are to be the judge of all people.  Some actually believe their sins are somehow smaller or less important than someone Else's sins.  See, I have totally lost my funny bone! We all suck! We all fall short.

However,  I can also tell you there are a lot of super nice non-judgmental people in the world.  Has anyone ever stepped into a pile of crap?  Have you ever done something that seemed so awful you wondered how anyone could love you?  Have you ever needed a friend or family member to just say "it's OK, we are here for you NO MATTER WHAT?   I'm here to tell you I have the best friends in the world.  I have friends that if I land in a pile of crap, they will hug me before they throw my ass in the shower.  If need be they would crawl in the crap with me and carry me out.   We have all had people, who in spite of our trials and tribulations love us anyway.  At best they don't kick us when we are down.    In the words of the late Rodney King "can't we all get along?"  (OK that's not particularly inspiring, but you know what I mean!)

This has been a very strange year for us, but God has blessed us with so many people that were there. They simply showed up.  My friends laugh because I will play my cancer card if it gets me something like....oh I don't know......a vacation house in Florida...a new couch or chair, meals delivered to the house....you know just fun things.  Sometimes, people who are down and out just need someone to say "it will be ok, we will help".........

Stay tuned to my next blog where I tell you about the time my mother didn't have toilet paper and used the Kleenex that was in her hand and it had freshly chewed gum in it........That sometimes doesn't work out so well.  I'm suddenly feeling funny again, at someone elses expense, but still funny. 

SHADES OF GRAY BOOK REVIEW

I never wanted to admit that I read the trilogy Shades of Gray, but I figure the gig is up when I start Pinning on Pinterest actors who should play the main character in the movie.   Why in the world would a nice middle aged, Christian girl like myself be reading this filth, and more than once I might add?  Yes, I read them each at least twice possibly three times. 

This is how it all began....Someone at work sent me a link of a review that was written by Dr Drew (it was from Fox news)  I read the review and was intrigued.  The author believes this series is very degrading to women.  So I read it, I just wanted to see what the hype was....yes,  I did it only for  research....I DID!!  Personally, I didn't find it any more degrading than a lot of things in this world. 

The main character is a man who is 27 who is a self-made millionaire. (First sign this was a novel/fantasy)  The first thing I did was turn him into oh, I don't know... let's say a man  approx 49 years old who is a millionaire. He meets a young girl who may remain 22.  May to December relationships are fine, but taking the chance that I may end up lusting after a 27 year old at my age is NOT fine.  (double standard I know)  Once I got the characters in their proper age groups I read and read and read.  I didn't put it down until I was finished.  I read all three books in no more than a weeks time.  I was on sick leave at that time so that helped.

For those who may not be familiar it's the story about a man who is into very kinky things.  He has never had a true loving relationship, he has just always been a dominate who took care of his subs financially and sexually, but never emotionally.  The book is NOT about only whips and chains and other kinkery.  There is a love story.  However, every commentary I have read has it all wrong.  They focus way too much on the whips and chains.  One person wrote that women love these books because secretly we want to be hurt or want to do something out of the ordinary. They insinuated that we like to get away from changing diapers and cleaning house.   NO NO NO NO we don't, well yes we do, but we don't want to take a break from this stuff to go get beat in the bedroom.  

I realize men have their fantasies and well so do women.  The old saying is men want to marry a Schoolteacher by day but they want a freak in the sheets at night.  Speaking for myself I want a man who cooks, cleans,and scrubs floors.  To me that's pretty damn sexy. 

This book takes us where our real life doesn't.  Christian Grey is our Knight in Shining Armor.  This girl wants for nothing and I'm not just talking financially.  He meets every need she has, he takes care of her. Even more importantly he loves her with all his heart, mind and soul.   He is willing to sacrifice.  The problem with young girls reading this book isn't the raw sex or the sub/dom relationship, it's in believing that you can change a person.  This is a novel.  It's an X rated Disney Princess story...a fairy tale.  Or as I've heard it referred to....Mommy Porn. 

Sadly I admit, I will be at the midnight premier with three or four of my closest friends.  (and you know who you are so don't deny it!)

NO ANSWERS, ONLY QUESTIONS.....

John and I Just got back from a wonderful vacation.....friends allowed us to use their home in Florida and we just chilled and didn't do much of anything.  I'm not sure I used a complete brain cell in the entire two weeks.  I didn't fret over work, or what was happening at home.  We just took one day at a time with wonderful friends and enjoyed life and laughed a lot!

Then we woke up on Friday to the awful news of the massacre in Colorado.  I wasn't going to watch the news concerning it because I tend to get caught up in the story and the people.  However, as the day progressed there was no ignoring it.  I'm afraid I have not been able to shut my mind off since.  What a world we live in.  All I have are questions and no answers.  Below is my list of questions and if anyone has the answers, please feel free to speak up, because quite frankly I'm at a loss.

Why.....what happened that one individual decided to do this?  What happened?  He just woke up one day and thought this was a good idea?  Why did he turn his apparent brilliance into evil?  What happens that nobody sees this?  Why do we feel the need to have semi automatic weapons or worse?  Why do we feel the need to tell others they can't have the right that is theirs under the constitution of the United States of America, Why don't we put the responsibility where it really should go....on this one individual?  Why when there is a catastrophe like this do we turn on one another?  Why is it Obama's fault or the Republicans fault? Why is the responsibility of the NRA?  Why can you purchase 6000 rounds of ammo over the Internet and not be put on an FBI watch list?  What makes us think if we ban guns, the insane won't find some other form of terrorist weapon?  How did the terrorists of 9/11 pull off crashing four planes within hours, with nothing more than box cutters as their weapons?  ( OK planes were their weapons also, but they got possession of the planes through box cutters) You can make weapons out of various household chemicals.Again I ask....WHY DO WE NEED AUTOMATIC AND SEMI AUTOMATIC WEAPONS!? Why should people like my dad, who loves to hunt, be penalized because some dumb ass did something heinous? Are violent movies to blame? Are violent video games to blame.  How much can we possibly place the blame on outside influences?   What about this kids parents?  Did they know he was crazy?  Did they ever see any signs that he was a danger to society? How do they feel?  Do they feel responsible?   Should they feel responsible?  When your son or daughter does something like this, does a part of you hate them?  How do you find the strength to move on?  To face him again? How do the survivors feel? How do they move on?  How do the families of those who are lost move on?  How do they not let hate consume them? Is forgiveness possible? 

As you see the questions can go on and on.  I have my opinions on some of these questions. Some I'm on the fence about.  We will never live in a sterile world. There will always be crazies.  I believe no amount of regulating is going to eliminate a single crazy person.  They will find a way to spread their carnage.   Too many people have sacrificed their lives for our freedoms.  We should never be too eager to give those rights up.    Laws are made because we have people that need controlled.  When we stop taking personal responsibility, someone else will take responsibility for us.  I prefer to make my own decisions rather than let a government do it for me. 

I feel so terribly sorry for the victims and their families, but I also feel bad for the parents of this boy.  From all accounts so far, he came from a "normal" family.  They must be devastated, worried, scared, mad, and feeling awful that a part of them could do such an evil act.   All I know is my God is big....bigger than any of this and I believe one day there will be no sorrow, no pain, no tears, no sickness and no evil.  We will one day live in eternity with only joy and happiness in our hearts. 

More later......

WHAT MY FATHER TAUGHT ME

When I think back to childhood memories, there is no doubt mom really did the dirty work when it came to child rearing.  I never ever ever remember my dad yelling at me, scolding me, or spanking me.  I do remember him sticking up for me.....a lot! 

I've mentioned in past blogs that my grades in school were less than ideal.  I thought school was a social event, not a scholarly one.  I lived for recess and lunch.  In eighth grade I was getting D's and F's in American History.  The teacher wanted to see my parents.  I think mom had finally had enough of my stupidness and made my dad go with her to school.  Well, right off the bat the the teacher, who was a man all of 4 feet 11 inches, pissed my dad off.  He had Statistics on the board as to what percent of students were getting A's B's C's D's and F's.  There were a lot of kids who were in the D and F range.  After the teacher had ranted and raved about how stupid this particular class was my dad said "well, you either have a lot of stupid kids, or you have a lot of stupid teachers trying to teach them"  BOOOYAAAAA CHA CHING!  Dad got him with that one. 

When I had my wreck at the age of 16 ( I rear ended someone) it was my dad who took me to court.  The judge said "so MS. Tedrick, how many feet are you to stay back from the car in front of you?  What is your assured clear distance"  My answer was "two car lengths"   The grumpy judge said " I asked you how many feet!"  at that point my dad spoke up and told the judge he wouldn't know the answer to that question even at his age.  Mr Judge didn't like that.....I don't remember his exact response, but he was grumpy.

Dad was not the modern father of today, in fact he was pretty old school.  The lessons he taught me were quiet subtle lessons.  No lecturing required. 

Things my Dad taught me:

1.  Never say you hate church
2.  Fart is not a nice word
3.  Never ever use the Lord's name in vain
4.  Be nice
5.  Sty's on your eyes happen because I obviously peed in the middle of the road.  (WTH?)
6.  Coffee mixed with toast is a meal.  (as in they are mixed together in a bowl...ewwwww)
7.  Work without complaining.  (I'm a work in progress)
8.  Taught me how to drive stick shift by handing me the keys in Downtown Columbus.
9.  Patience
10.  Be kind to others
11.  To know what channel Fox News is on regardless of which provider you used:  cable, Dish, or direct TV
12.  To love others even if they are democrats.
13.  A love for Cats
14.  Enjoy a good party
15.  It's best if you don't wear a ring at work (his wedding band got caught and tore his finger off)
16. No Bobbie, that hang nail on your finger will not make your finger fall off (well I was only 4!)
17.  If you are at someone else's house and need to use the bathroom, do not be too to embarrassed to use it.  Don't try to make it home.....You just might not make it.  ( you know what I mean dad)
18.  For the big decisions, wait until your mother gets home.
19.  Most of all I learned that a person doesn't have to continually say the words I love you to be loved.  It was rarely said, but definitely guaranteed and I never once doubted it. 


I thank God for both my parents, as in all good relationships, they off set one another.  If mom was against me, I could always count on dad being for me.  It's the same way with John and I....When I'm losing my cool, he's usually holding it together and plays the protective role.  That works both ways.  I find myself being the mediator when he's losing his sh**.  Maybe this is why God set up this whole parenting thing as a partnership.  All  know is I would never ever want to have done it alone and I'm glad I was fortunate enough to have two great parents!

Happy Fathers day to all!

SAD BEACH DAY 6

Geez, what a way to end a vacation.  Sam got a call this morning from the kennel that was keeping her Great Dane Mickey, that Mickey had died.  They said he had a seizure....the vet believes his stomach probably twisted and that killed him. We don't know what to believe and having an autopsy on an animal wasn't something we were going to do.  So losing Mickey just pretty much set the pace for the day. 

One of the most touching things was while Sam was crying, Taylor looked at Sarah and me and said "Seeing mama crying breaks my heart"  and she put her hand to her heart.   That made me cry.  I guess compassion starts early in life.  There is a lesson in everything I guess.

So, John and I thought we would take Taylor away from the sadness for a bit and take her to the Aquarium.  It was OK, but nothing spectacular.  We saw fish, sharks, sting rays etc.  Taylor got her picture taken with a real life mermaid whose name was also Taylor.

Later on that evening we went to our last dinner at Cagney's.  Cagney's is famous for their prime rib.  Jon and Sarah decided to live large and got a fillet and lobster tail.  Sam and John had the prime rib and I just got a fillet.  Prices are what you would expect to see for a good steak and prime rib place. 

Other than today, this vacation was a wonderful week.  There were no sibling fights (that I'm aware of) Taylor was a joy to watch scamper around the beach and the weather turned out 50/50.  Now it's time to pack up our mess (poor poor maid)  I'm proud to say that there is no structural damage. 

RIP Mickey.  You were a loving, doppy, klutzy, ginormous dog that will be missed

REST IN PEACE MICKEY!

BEACH DAY 5

Well Thursday FINALLY the sun came out.  We were so so happy.  We went out around 10 am and most did not come back in until seven that evening.  We skipped going out to dinner just so every ounce of sunshine could be absorbed.  Taylor and I came in around five because she said she wanted a nap.  I never thought I would hear those words come out of her mouth. 

Not much to report except, sand, surf, sun and fun!




We planted us a tator in the sand. 



We swam.





We made new friends.  This little girl wanted her picture taken so Tay would remember her FOREVER.

 Only one more day of fun in the sun....it's been great! 


 

BEACH DAY 4

So I've done the non rain rain dance, prayed to the Stop the Rain god's, tried playing mind games with Mother Nature and nothing seems to be bringing out the sun. 

By day 4, I have to say I'm not happy.  We only have two more days to pull this thing out and I'm hoping for a little sympathy from whoever is in charge.  I really haven't bothered God with my prayers because well, I just think there are a lot more important things for Him to worry about than a family of 6 having sun at the beach. ( like keeping our deployed soldiers safe in their desert of hell, Especially Benjamin Soehnlen)  We will just ride it out and make the best of whatever comes up. 

Speaking of Ben, We really do miss him being with us.  Though, the odds of somone being arrested would probably have increased, he would have been the life of this party, seeing as we are so so boring! 

Today, Sam and I went to the outlet malls.  It was kind of cool to just get out and spend a little time in shopping therapy.  Taylor now believes it's her birthday because she got so many presents.

Let's see she got the dress, matching shoes, Prince and princess dolls and a Belle play set.  Besides being able to swim, what more could a girl ask for. 

Then the most amazing thing happened.  The sun started coming out.  We decided to skip dinner (OK we never skip a meal, but we ordered in) and just enjoy the sun.  WOO HOO!!

As for dinner:  WE ordered from the BBQ House in North Myrtle Beach.  Their deal was 1 pint pulled pork, Pint Cole slaw, Pint green beans, two orders of hush puppies, four buns and a gallon of sweet tea.....all for $23. 

Forecast says Mostly Sunny tomorrow YEAHHHHHHHH!

BEACH DAY 3

Day three was much like beach day two. Cloudy and chilly.  As you all can tell by my Goddess like tan, I love the sun.  Well, OK.....maybe not.  I do like the sun.  I was really hoping for more sunny days, but you know what?  You get what you get.  It's still uber relaxing and away from the routine of life so I"m choosing not to complain too much. 

What were the highlights on Day 3? 

We ate....yes when all else fails make a good dinner reservation. We ate at a place called Umberto's at Barefoot landing.  I would give it 3-4 stars.  The side dishes were family style.  Your first side dish was some sort of beans.  I don't know how to explain it except to say it was like bean soup without much soup.  I didn't care for it.  Then we got a cucumber, tomato and onion salad with an Italian dressing on it.  In my opinion this would have been much better just being a regular salad with the dressing on it.  I'm not a tomato person, but the cucumbers were delish and I loved the dressing. 

For the main entree John and I chose a twofer again.  It was a strip steak with two ginormous pork chops on top.  There were also green pepper, onions, mushrooms and red potatoes.

The pork chops and steak were at least two inches thick.  I had half the steak and a couple bites of pork chops.  Amazingly enough the pork chops were more tender than the steak, but all had a great flavor. 

After dinner we had ice cream and a carousel ride.  Then as seems to be the norm, the sun breaks out in the evening, giving you the impression that the next day is going to be gorgeous sunny. We will see....



BEACH DAY TWO

So if you know the Canton's at all, you know we are listed in the dictionary under boring.  When we go on vacation we just want to chill and do what we want to do, which in a lot of circumstances is just sit and enjoy the sound of the waves crashing on the shore.  Day two was cloudy all day.  You know what?  Three year olds don't care.  Sam and Taylor went swimming several times yesterday in spite of the weather. 



Tay Playing America's Next Top Model (oh boy)



It's kind of interesting how we adults rate our days.  If the sun isn't shining, or we have the sniffles, we tend to rate the day as bad.  A three year old, on the other hand, can find joy in putting on her favorite princess dress and dancing around the living room.  We adults need to learn some things from the three year old crowd. 

So, day two ( and possibly day three) seems to have been drearier than we would like, but all is still good.  We will just take Taylors lead and be happy in spite of bad weather.

The restaurant chosen by Sarah tonight (which incidently turns out she didn't care for) was PF Changs.  Overall review.....Out of five stars I'd give it 4.  I thought it was good.  John and I had a two for 39.95 which included soup, appetizer (I chose chicken lettuce wraps) two entrees with white or brown rice and a tiny dessert.  I thought everything was really good, we took home a ton of left overs. 

If you EVER want to get a three year old to eat hand her some chopsticks....she did really really well!



BEACH DAY ONE



First day at the beach!

 Sunday Taylor was up bright and early.  Like 6:30 am early....She was getting bored in the Condo so I asked if she wanted to go take a walk along the beach.  Of course she did.  She grabbed her bucket and I had to talk her into NOT wearing shoes.  (goos as she calls them) 

It was a sunny beautiful day.  The temp was in the low 80's and we all probaby got more sun than we needed, but who could resist such perfect weather. 



Beach Fun with mama



Crabby Mikes dinner day one

So as I said we talk about our next meal at the previous meal.  First night's dinner out was Crabby Mikes Seafood Buffet.  I give it two stars.  First, We are not big on buffets and second we decided seafood buffets are where fishermen send their too little for good restaurants fish and shrimp.  The crab legs were good, but really how can you go wrong with crab legs?  Every thing else was just sub standard.  Tomorrow we are looking for a menu we can order off of.

I LIVE FOR VACATION

I love vacation.  I love getting away from real life.  Right now we are in Myrtle Beach.  (The house is secured with real human beings and a dog that will saw you in half, so don't think you will be able to break in and steal the fine china. (more like Corelle ware)  Our cat, on the other hand would have handed you the keys to the safe.  That's why she is no longer with us.)

We are kind of getting away from real life, except we are taking all the kids with us.  (plus baby talk-a-lot Taylor)  I know, I know, this could go either way.  It could bring back precious memories of vacations past where we would take the kids on vacation each summer.  OR......someone could get arrested and I will have to spend good money to bail them out of jail.

After this week however, I decided it probably can't get much worse, so what the heck. 

• computer contracted a virus.....not just any virus, but a Trojan Bomb
• Sarah had one of the worst abscesses I've ever seen which landed her in the hospital
• Work had it's share of out of the ordinary issues.
• Then we finished with a dog with a paw that is infected and could, if it doesn't clear up, require amputation,(she will still saw you in half, she's not happy!)  You're heard the expression " Bear with a sore ass?'  Well, this is dog with a sore foot.
• A husband who is mad we have a dog and well let's just say I'm glad he doesn't own a gun.(sounds heartless, but.......)

I thought I might blog our vacation daily, but at a beach vacation there is not much to talk about except wind, surf and sun and fun.  We will see where this leads.  Maybe we will call it the Best of Myrtle Beach?? Just like old people, we discuss our next meal at the previous meal.  so who knows, maybe something exciting will happen......gosh I hope not.....boring is good.

EXCUSE ME, YOUR FOUNDING FATHER CALLED....

   One of our Founding Fathers called today...I believed it sounded like George Washington, but then again he tends to sound a lot like Thomas Jefferson.  He was in quite a lather, so I never did get a chance to ask for sure who he was.  He kept wanting to speak to someone that was in charge.  I told him he may as well speak to me because I really can't tell who's in charge.  He explained that he feels like a dad who died and left everything to the kids in his will and then the kids turn on one another.  He feels he and the other guys left a pretty good thing ( I assume he means the Constitution) and wants us all to knock off the bickering.  Here is a direct quote.....

"Its soul, its climate, its equality, liberty, laws, people, and manners. My god! how little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!"

I felt ashamed.  Damn when he originally said this, they were still riding horseback to get anywhere.  There was no real good way to communicate.  They didn't have Internet, phones, electricity, indoor plumbing,(for reading the newspaper on the Lou)  or Fox News.  WHAT!  NO FOX NEWS, CNN, CNBC....Good grief, how did they know who to vote for?  Who was there to uncover and record Washington hittin' the peace pipe?  I mean that cherry tree thing just came out of no where.....Yet, even in his day, they still had it better than anyone else in the world.  Imagine how much better we have it now and we take it for granted. 

 Washington assured me he hated actual war, but he firmly believed our country needed to be war ready and very strong.  He went on to re-quote a quote....( I mean I couldn't get a word in, he was so upset)

"Experience teaches us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession."

"If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War."

He then went on to quote Thomas Jefferson: 

"For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security."

I said  "ok George I really need to get going, I have a cake to bake for the picnic. Perhaps we can hook up again on the Fourth of July or something.  I will spread the word that you are very upset and don't really care for the direction we are going.  If you still need to talk, please call my mother. She has some very strong opinions and would love to hear from you.  I will spread the word of what you trying to remind me"   

So from George's mouth ( Jefferson's also) to my ear what they were trying to say is this:  instead of complaining about our military or cutting spending to our military, we should be making sure that not only are we war ready, but our soldiers and those that have served are very well taken care of. Wouldn't you think our military, at the very LEAST, should have the same health insurance as our congressmen?  They are, in fact, a government employee who works really hard for our country.  They literally put their own lives at risk and for less than should be expected.  When government is talking spending cuts, this group of employees shouldn't even be mentioned. 

 We only have a soldier to thank (and God of course) for our freedoms and our liberties.  Unfortunately we didn't gain these privileges through talking and reasoning with the enemy.  I wish that could be done, then there would be no need for war, but unfortunately, others cannot listen to reason.  (remember there are still countries where human rights do not exist.  Women get hung for "letting" themselves be raped!)

We, The United States of America, need to stay strong and be proud of what so many of our military have laid down their lives for.  They didn't do it for nothing.  We owe them and our forefathers more than we can ever return. I, along with every other Miss Universe wanna be, would love to see World Peace.  However, the Bible says in Matthew 24:6 "there will be wars and Rumors of Wars....." We cannot become weak....

God Bless our Servicemen and women, both past, present and future.   let's please give them the respect they deserve!  Our country needs to remain militarily strong!