That's My Boy

We have a full-length glass storm door that stays open whenever the weather allows - and when I'm gone My Boy Nelson lays and watches out the door for me to return. By the time that I can get turned into the driveway he can manage to shimmy through both cat doors and be waiting in the driveway.

And he always comes bearing gifts; sometimes the gift might be a toy, sometimes it is a slimy piece of rawhide, it could be a sock, a stolen dishtowel, a leaf, an article of clothing or even a stick that he nabs on his way to the car.




But it seems as if it is a point of pride with him that he cannot come empty handed to greet me, or any other member of the family. I absolutely love it.

Cause I Know You're Dying to Know...

The lonely green Mini-Van, it's partner the trailer and the desperate Lawn Mower are still waitly patiently in the field for someone to come rescue them. It's been nearly three weeks since I told you about them. That's three weeks PLUS the time they already put in before I decided they were blog worthy; I'm not even sure how long that's been. Let's just say it's been a long damn time for these poor things.

We've pondered this situation, it's been fodder for more than one discussion (hey things have been slow around here lately). Why would one just abandon an apparently decent looking vehicle? Sometimes our imaginations run wild...was the vehicle used in an illicit crime? And this is the perfect hiding place for it? Suppose there is a body stashed in it, (oooh) or perhaps drugs??? Is it being hid, as one proposed, from the Repo Man?

Or did someone just simply walk away in a fit of frustration and a string of cuss words? And is now sitting in their family room looking out at this stupid van EVERY SINGLE DAY?

Has anybody seen my cheaters?

The first thing that I do each morning is get a cup of coffee, check my email, peruse Google Reader to see which blogs have updated and then check Facebook.

This morning I was trying to do all this sans glasses - I lost my good glasses last weekend (I know some of you out there are really surprised at this news). So, on Facebook I had a New Friend Request (yeah me), but I didn't recognize the name, but I was barely able to determine that the person had graduated from my high school, so I'm thinking, what the heck, everybody needs friends, right?

So, when her profile pops up, I'm squinting at her picture and she's sitting in front of this beautiful house, lush landscaping and I think, well, it looks as if whoever she is, must live in California. But, her profile doesn't mention anything about California, hmmmmm.

Danny comes in the room and I say, look at this girl, I think she lives in California, look at the picture.

HELLO Nelson's Mama. She's sitting in front of the Visitors Center of your husband's employer. FIND.YOUR.GLASSES.

Will you be my friend? Check Yes or No

Danny, Rea and I are meeting friends for dinner tonight – friends that we haven’t seen in nearly nine years. Sadly, you probably know how it goes, you change jobs, move to a new town, you promise to keep in touch, but somehow – it just doesn’t happen. You end up simply exchanging Christmas cards with someone that was once a part of your day-to-day lives, someone that was your neighbor and friend. A friend that you shared a pregnancy, hopes and dreams with.

But, now, we have re-connected – on FACEBOOK, we’ve been posting back and forth and tonight we are meeting for dinner. Rea and their daughter were close buddies from birth until three, but who longer remember one another and will be reacquainted; her husband was an enabler in Danny’s fishing habit (I wonder if he shoots skeet). We are all looking forward to seeing them again.

I’ve had a Face book account for probably a year or so, but only in the last four or five months have I truly become addicted. It’s really fun to find people that you’ve lost touch with – just this morning I chatted with another friend, someone from high school, that I hadn’t talked with since 1986. We actually lived in the same apartment complex in Nashville for a time; we were both homesick in a big city and actually stumbled across one another there. I think we were a lot of company for each other for a time.

Syd, as you can imagine, has been less than enthusiastic about my Facebook addiction. Any mention that I make regarding Facebook is met with condescension and eye rolling. She REFUSES to be my friend – however, it doesn’t stop me from sending her friend requests again. AND AGAIN. It’s become a game, I keep asking and she keeps ignoring me. I really don’t want to be her friend and actually understand why she doesn’t want me as her friend, but you know, I’m her Mom – it’s my job to harass her!

But Syd doesn’t get why I like Facebook – it is a completely different experience for people her age. I think most of her friends are people that she knows from school or that she at least knows in a current way. She’s not reaching back in her past and finding people or has never found someone that she thought was completely lost to her. Some of the people that I’m connecting with are not people that I would ever email or phone, but it’s nice to know that they are still alive and well and in the words of my friend Jo to get a “sound bite out of their life”.

More and more of my friends are getting Facebook accounts, just this week I got a "Surprise" request from one of the last hold outs. I was glad to see her...I'm having a great time staying connected with current friends, old friends and reconnecting with lost ones.

Are you Facebooking...look for me if you are!

The Battle of the Basket

It was cold and snowy here today; nobody wanted to go outside and Vivi staked out her basket early in the day. Ben usually leaves her alone, but today he felt as if she had stayed quite long enough.

He started with some gentle prodding and when that didn't work, he upped the ante.
Now he's poking...

Ears are back...

Maybe a slap or two will help!
Nope, Viv held her ground!

I need to check on a double-cat basket. Or would that be a duplex basket or a loveseat basket?

Our Birthday Girl

Today is ReaRea's birthday, how is it that twelve years can simply sift through your fingers just like sand at the beach? I've struggled all day yesterday and today with what to say about Rea, how to capture her personality in a brief way - to convey her complexities and how special she is to us, but I just don't think I can. And frankly, I think she's probably like the kid next door; or your kid. She's pretty fabulous - to us. But so is yours, so enough said.

We love her heart and soul. Warts, toads and beautiful blue eyes. Wicked laugh. Every last inch.

However, I couldn't resist a little walk down memory lane...here are a few of my VERY favorite pictures of Rea.

The Odd Couple

I saw this story the other morning and loved it, then saw it on another blog today. Thought I'd share it too.



The Elephant Sanctuary is in Hohenwald, Tennessee and an easy drive from here; they are always asking for volunteers and I was all ready to sign up and go shovel manure, slice watermelons and what have you. I had visions of befriending an elephant and me scratching it's trunk and being best buds and all. Further research revealed that I would be unable to even lay my little eyes on the lovely pachyderms - volunteers are completely restricted from any contact with the residents of the sanctuary.

Still, I enjoy perusing their website and reading the diary updates of the ladies and their sole gentleman friend. Here's the link: http://www.elephants.com/.