"Needy"

I had an epiphany this morning.

My Boy had said to me something along the lines of: "a girl being needy".

I pondered these words as I was throwing laundry into the dryer.

I realized ~ women in general are a needy lot.

We need:
To love, be loved and feel love
To be independent but dependent
Affirmation, support and acknowledgement
Appreciation
Freedom to be ourselves, but belong to someone
To be creative
To cry, laugh and be quiet. Sometimes all at once.
Company and quiet time ~ alone.  Sometimes at the same time.
Affection
To play and be serious
To ponder all that is and all that will be.
To be emotional without judgment
To be protective and protected
To be soft and firm at the same time
To fix what we think needs fixing

Therefore, we are needy.

I'm sure the list could go on and on.
If you are a woman and think none of these things apply to you, well, I'm sorry for your loss.

I know without a doubt we needed men so we could be women.  Without them,  we aren't.
God didn't make a mistake in making Adam first.  He made Adam in His image and realized, I think, He needed an emotions roller coaster to be his help mate. No need letting him go  through life's ride all by himself.  God then needed Adam to make us. We needed Adam to exist.  There's no shame in that!  We then wrapped all our emotional mumbo jumbo around the corner post God provided us with.  Men may not understand, but that's ok. They just need to realize and know that fact ~ 'cause let's face it ~ it's a bigger picture than they can see. 

Go ahead ~ be needy (not cling-y).  Need the things that make you who you are.  Own them. Don't settle for what the world is trying to impress on you.  Look within and you'll see you already have all that and then some.  So don't get your britches in a bunch, be the woman you want to be and be thankful for those men in this world because without them, we wouldn't be.  They are our corner post, not our whipping post.  We are their equal, not their superior.
 
End of epiphany.

I'll get off my soap box now. 

Happy Birthday, Donna!

Happy Birthday to the Middle Sister 

Do you feel like you're in the middle?

I hope your day is filled with

"Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows"

And "Brighter than a lucky penny"

I know that:
"Everything that's wonderful is sure to come your way"

Love you!

Crickett

Happy Birthday, Itty Bity!

I just want to know how we came from here:

to here:

in just six short years minutes!?!?!?

How is that even possible?

Happy Birthday my Itty Bitty girl

So glad God sent you into our world

You light up the days with those little baby blues

Just want you to know ~ how much I love you.

Love you to the Moon and back!

Mom-Mom

Happy Birthday, Izac!

Happy Birthday, Young Man!

Hope your birthday is as fun as you

I'm sure there's lots of things to do

Cake and ice cream, just to mention two

Happy, happy Birthday ~ to you!

Love you bushels and pecks

With hugs around the neck!

Aunt Crickett

Happy Birthday, Little Lady A!

Happy Birthday, Little Lady A!

I hope your birthday is a special day.

Five years old, how can this be?

Pretty soon you'll be ~ twenty-three?

(just kidding)

Enjoy your day Little Lady A ~

And catch this love I'm sending your way!

Love you to the Moon and back!

Love,

Mom-Mom

PS - You melt my heart 

Strawberry Fields and A Rainy May

Drippity-do-dah, Drippity-yay
My oh my, what a dreary day

Plenty of rainfall's
Been coming our way
Drippity-do-dah, drippity nay!

It. Has. Rained. The. Whole. Month. Of. May!  So it seems.
I am sick of it. Sick, sick, sick.

It has really put a damper on life outdoors around here.
The pool may never see the light of day is still closed.
The strawberry field is a mud pit full of green berries.
And I was in a quandary! I didn't pick last year because of all the rain.  And let me just say, I am still getting grief about it.  And not just from family members.  Pft. 

Goldilocks and I went picking last Sunday (one of very, very few sunny days).  We were there for what seemed like ages.  We came out with two buckets of berries.  It was a struggle just to get that!
I sent some home with Goldilocks for her effort and kept some.  Wouldn't you know I threw away a third of what was left!  Rotten little buggers!  Cut the rest up for strawberry short cake.

So I waited impatiently for more sunshine so I could go again.  This past Friday presented a good window of opportunity to do that.  So half may Aaron and Hur team (Lady Di) and I teamed up with TEN buckets and loads of enthusiasm.  Surely now there would be berries after two days of sunshine.  Surely.  Off to the field we went!  After what seemed like For. Ev. Er.  we walked out of there with TWO, yep, TWO buckets of berries between us. Some of them were, let's say, questionable as far as ripeness goes. The odds were not in our favor. 

I pondered for about a day as to what I should do with my bucket.  I spread them out on a cookie sheet hoping to deter the "rotten berry syndrome".  Worked pretty well I must say.  So, what to do with them?  I have an order for two strawberry pies for one of Ben's friends, plus I want one myself.
I have been getting stink-eye expectant looks and insulting subtle hints for jam.  You know you've created a monster you're appreciated when the recipients of your gifts give your jam jars back all nice and clean. (with a smile on their face) 'cause you know they want that jar back ~ filled again!  So needless to say, that one bucket of berries wasn't going to fill that tall order!  So.... I made an executive decision:

I washed all the berries.  This is about half of them.

They did finish ripening up nicely yesterday.

 I cut them up.

Got the cooking supplies ready.
See where this is going?

Threw the crushed up berries in the pot with the ingredients I needed.
Do you know yet?

And I made jam.

Eight small jars to start with.  I'm holding out hope against the odds that I can pick again and make more jam.  I am. 

There was enough berries left to make a couple pies, but not another batch of jam.  So it all worked out. 

I've been toying with the idea of charging for this stuff!  Wonder if the kidlings would go for it? 

Bahahahaha!  Who am I kidding?!  They would melt down into a puddle.

Put your name in the pot now.  That may be the only way you get jam this year!  

Kissed by A Stranger

Some "Me" time was gifted to me today.
Only because our Little Turtle Dove wasn't quite herself and had Mama up since 2:00am. 

Well now, what say ye?  What shall I do with this unexpected gift?

Ahh, I know!  I shall have a coffee date with L'Oréal!  She won't mind the impromptu-ness!  She's flexible like that.  I've been putting her off for  a couple weeks  now, due to one thing (Little Turtle Dove) or another (Little Turtle Dove).  Our visits are short ~ about an hour or so, so when she bid me adieu I was left to figure out something else.  Not that that was a hard thing to do since I heard Marshalls, Target and Hob Lob all beckoning to me! They did so in such a sweet voices that I couldn't say "NO".

So, "YES", it was!  I ate my breakfast, did my devos and out the door I sprinted ~ kinda.

(Oh, I did throw a load of laundry in while L'Oréal was here.  She didn't mind.  Not at all.)

Marshalls first.  Beach towel and decorator pillow envy.  This place makes me swoon. Glad I was only window shopping!

Then to trusty ol' Target.  Let's see if we have any "steals" today.  There probably were, but they were stocking and I couldn't focus, so I headed out.  And this is what was waiting for me:

Some strange car was literally kissing the bumper of my Red Tin Can!  I know she's not pretty, but she's not easy.  Come on now.  I'm not sure what scared me more, the bumper kisser or the lady in the SUV near me.  In her scary smoker's cough voice she says to me:

"I saw them do it when I pulled up.  They didn't hit it, they just touched it."  Now, I'm no rocket scientist, but I think for a car (Hi-Ho-Silver, there)  to end up touching another car (my Red Tin Can), they have to hit it.  Plain and simple.  Kinda like my car. 

No, I didn't hang around for Hi-Ho-Silver's owner to come out.  I mean, look at my car, then look at theirs. Pft. Silver was almost as bad as Red.   I am grateful, however, they didn't lock bumpers.  The last thing I want to do was drag a stray home.  I have enough hostile engines in my driveway as it is. I'm not adding a stranger to the pile.  Who knows what quirks it harbors. 

Last stop was The Hob Lob.  I love to browse that store!  Sooo many ideas come to mind.  I oogle over all the bric-a-brac-y stuff first and then spend my time gazing wistfully at the fabric.  I think I may have a borderline fabric obsession.  Just borderline. 

Then it was homeward bound (reminds me of a song).  I just had to remember it's Gosling Season and be mindful of the gaggle of Mamas, Papas and Goslings sauntering across the street, holding up traffic on occasion.  I think those geese think they own the world.  I think we think that too, because we stop and let them mosey along, all 10,000 of them. 

Oh, and it's raining ~ A. G. A. I. N.  As if we haven't had enough.  I'm sure I'll go bat crap crazy when the Sun does decide to shine for more than a day or two. 

Well, that's if for now. 

I'll catch ya on the flip side, Lord willin' and the creek don't rise! 

Wrong Number

We all get them ~ someone calling ~ or in this case texting ~ the wrong number.
If I am the culprit, I profusely apologize and go on. Sometimes it takes the culprit on the other end to actually realize he/she's dialed the same wrong number twice before they move.  And ~ they usually apologize.

But then, then we have that one, not up to par with 'wrong phone number 'phone etiquette, culprit. The one that takes advantage of the situation.

Case in point:  Yesterday a "302" number texted me.  I responded simply because I have family in the  "302" vicinity and thought it may be one of them.  Here's how it went down:

Wrong number:  "What's up with my survey??? Th millsboro dodge"
Wrong number:  "TJ*"
Wrong number:  "Hook me up"

All three texts before I could respond.

Me:  "what???"

Wrong Number:  "My survey I asked u to fill out"

Me: " i think you have the wrong number :/"

Wrong number:  "I'm sorry.  This is Harold right? You still in Markey for a new truck?"

Um, What part of 'wrong number' confuses you?  AND,  if you have the wrong number, why on God's green earth would you apologize and then ask if I'm "Harold right?"   Why?

Me:  "no - this is NOT Harold - you have the wrong number!"

Wow!  We really do not understand those two words 'wrong number', now do we? Dazed and confused.

Wrong number:  "O ok sorry"
Wrong number:  "Well are you in the marke for a new or used vehicle? I have the deals?"

Oh. My. Word!  Are you kidding me???

Me:  "N.  O."

End of convo.  I must give the dude credit.  He had some amount of confidence even after eventually realizing he had the wrong person to pursue a sale.  Can't give him any credit though for his punctuation or spelling.  Don't think I would score  much of a deal from this guy, especially since he seems to questioning them himself.

'til next time,
This is "Harold" signing off.

PS - Spell check lit up like a Christmas tree!

I've Got Sunshine

(You know the melody)

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day

And it's cold outside

For the month of May

I guess you could say

What can make me think this way

This girl, this girl, this girl

Talkin' 'bout this little girl

She's as sweet as honey

And the bees envy me

Her tiny little voice is

Sweeter than the birds in the trees

I know what you're gonna say

What can make me feel this way

This girl, this girl, this girl

Talkin' 'bout this sweet little girl!

It has been so stinkin' cold and rainy here for the beginning of May.  But she is certainly a little ray of sunshine on such gloomy days!  Put all five girls together and we have a heat wave!

Before I Forget

Much has happened since my last "serious" blog post.  I honestly don't remember a lot of it.  But there are a few things that have just stuck with me.

I always say, if you need to speed, you needed to leave earlier.  So I said.  I wasn't needing to be anywhere at a specific time but I was hasty. Thus the following:

For some odd reason I had both Reasy Peacy and Goldilocks during a weekday.  I don't know if the HS was using it's building for PSAT testing or what, but never-the-less, I didn't have Ittly Bittly.
I decided to take the girls on a fabric excursion since we had the day together and well, you know, the fabric store was calling.  We pile in the red tin can, buckle up and off we go. We are just chatting away going down Lillian.  As I approach the bend I see a sheriff's car parked in a lot.  I look at my speedometer and notice I'm going 40 (in a 30 mph zone).  No need to slow down now.   I round the bend preparing to pull over just as Reasy Peacy says:  "Oh look, Mom-mom, the cop has his lights on."  "Yes, Rease, those would be for me." I reply as I'm pulling over.  We go through the usual, license, registration, and waiting.  Reasy Peacy is in the front with me.  She proceeds to tell me:  "That is Deputy Donut from Mardela."
Oh yea?  Then she says, ever so sweetly: "I may or may not have made him angry at me at school."
"WHAT? Turn around and look out that passenger window.  Do NOT make eye contact with that man.  Do not say ANYTHING!" I warn her.  She's cracking up.  I'm not.  Last thing I wanted was a ticket because "Deputy Donut"  recognized a student he had to rebuke.  He did give me a warning ~ asking when the last time I was pulled over.  Geeze ~ years ago, why?  'Cause apparently I had two incidents on my record.  But, in his defense, he couldn't tell me when.  (I'm understanding his name now)  And, I just realized ~ Goldilocks sat silent the whole time.  Hmmm.

To and insult to injury:  Next day Kellifer told me she was putting on her make up and watching the news when Ittly Bitty came down the stairs. 
Itty Bitty:  "Oh man. I missed it!"
Kellifer:  "Missed what?"
Itty Bitty:  "I thought they were going to say something about Mom-mom speeding."

Okie dokie. Thank you girls for sharing that event.  

Let's continue, shall we?

I had  Itty Bitty this weekend.  We are sitting on the sofa with our gadgets.  She is so close to me she might as well be sitting in my lap.  She does that.  Anyway, she nonchalantly says to me:  "Mom-mom, you married the right Pop-pop for me."  Awe.   No words.


*edited* ~ I was "informed" by Goldilocks that Officer Donut is really Deputy Donut. 
Well, gee willikers Mr. Wilson.

The Little Turtle Dove

Last week I watched the Little Turtle Dove for the first time ~ all day ~ all week ~ by myself.  Well, mostly by myself and mostly all week.  I was beyond  nervous keeping her ~ not because I didn't know what to  do, but because I didn't know what she liked to do!  Fortunately God works all things out!  School was delayed Monday for the HS students due to testing so Reasy Peacey was here with me until 10:00.  Tuesday I had all the hooligans because school was closed due to the Primary Elections.  Wednesday I was on my own.  Thursday Reasy was here until 10:00 again due to HS testing. The girls filled me in as we went and all went well!   And Friday ~ her Daddy had her (I was nervous for him too!) 

Thank goodness she's an easy, delightful baby to be around!  Makes my job much more pleasurable.

Having Rease here helped me while I got the bus schedule figured out (again). She was my extra set of eyes and ears.  Not to mention it was a N. A. S. T. Y. week last week.  One day was just a deluge of rain!  And it was cold.  So cold I had to turn our heat back on.  I was afraid she would turn into a popsicle!

Itty Bitty left her lovie for her little sister to help her make a smooth transistion.  It's almost as big as she is!   It melted my heart.

I must not be doing too badly, she's smiling. . . . .

. . . . . and napping!  Brief as it was, it was a nap!

 

We are on week two now.  I think I have a system (very flexible system) in place.  We should do fine.

As long as The Little Turtle Dove is happy, Mom-Mom is happy.