Not Me Monday

I've been following the blog of Jennifer McKinney for a while now. She has a segment on Monday called Not me! Monday that I am going to try to incorporate just for the fun of it. I might not do a Not Me! Monday every week. It will depend on how the week goes and if I have something embarrassing to share. This week I do. I'll start off with her instructions.

Are you feeling guilty for pretending not to notice as your child sucked toothpaste out of the tube? Feel like a slouch for wearing your husband's big, baggy t-shirts all day? We'll don't! Not Me! Monday was born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I'd rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing!

When I was practicing for our annual production of I Hear America Singing, I most certainly did not read my line about Benjamin Franklin negotiating treaties with Great Britain, Spain, and Francis. Nope! Not Me! That would be stupid! And after I didn't do that, I definitely did not blush to the roots of my hair. I really didn't!

See, wasn't that fun? Don't you want to do it, too?

Just click on the link above, read all about it, blog your own Not Me! Monday, and sign in on Jennifer's Mr. Linky.

Grilling Goodness (short and sweet)

1. When you were growing up dreaming of having children...dreaming of what their names would be...did you stick with those names?

I don't remember having baby names picked out.

2. Are you affected by the death of Michael Jackson?

I didn't feel the need to call my sister that MJ had passed, nor that Farrah had passed. But when I heard that Willie Herenton had resigned being Memphis mayor, I picked up the phone.

3. Do you use your dishwasher and your fireplace?

Yes on both. I love that my electric fireplace can be used anytime, because it can be just a fire without heat.

4. Have you ever been on a mission trip?

Not out of the country, but I have participated in backyard Bible clubs downtown in Memphis. Does that count?

5. Will your kids participate in a Vacation Bible school this summer?

Already have.

6. What about the economy is affecting you the worst?

Mostly just the money part.

7. Do your kids do chores?

When they are awake, they do.

8. Do you use energy efficient light bulbs?

Only when I want to see in the dark.

Lost and Found

On our gorgeous 2.25 acres of wooded land, we have lots of trees.

Obviously.

It is quite overgrown, and slowly, but surely we are reclaiming it, and attempting to restore it to its former glory.

Last time Shawn mowed in the back, he cleared out a bit more undergrowth, and made it possible for me to mow around some more trees.

So today, as I was mowing, I found a fully grown, if not a bit straggly-looking tree full of....

...
...

wait for it...

...
...

almost ripe apples!

Grilling Goodness

I'm on the laptop, so I don't have the little grilling picture. But here's the scoop...

1. What do you like most about your skin?
Hmm, I love that it's on the outside of my body, effectively holding my organs together. I also love that I have a nice complection, and my skin on my face is soft.

2. Does your spouse mind grocery shopping for you or with you?
No, he actually likes to go with me, and if I give him a detailed list including brand names, package sizes and quantity desired, he's fine with going for me. But he's a weird sort who also likes to go to the mall or hang out at Best Buy or Sam's, too.

3. Do you have access to a pool for the summer?
Oh, yes! My sister has a delicious pool in her back yard, complete with diving board, slide, and water!

4. Do you have plans for Father's Day?
I figure we'll take Daddy out to lunch after church, and he might get lucky, too. (a foot massage, guys! I was talking about a foot massage!)

5. Is there anything that terrified you as a child that you find .... now?
I was always a little afraid of the dark, and storms still make me very nervous. I think the storm fear might have started when I was young and a tornado was coming, we jumped in the car and went to the hospital to bunker down in the basement.

6. If you could do something instantly, what would it be?
Uh, I would heal Zacchie from his surgery, and drop 5 or 100 pounds.

7. What would you do to entertain visitors from out of town?
I could dance a little jig and sing a ditty. Or I could feed them well, take them to my sister's place and hang at the pool with them. Or we could go camping together.

8. If your best friend owes you money, do you bug them until you get it?
No, I usually forget to get it back until she remembers to give it to me. We don't ever let money come between us.

Sum, Sum, Summertime

Well, the summer's finally getting into swing around here. It feels like I've been on overdrive for a few weeks. I'm not sure where the exhaustion is coming from. I feel like I could sleep for a week.



Thanks to an adequate disbursement from our friendly insurance company, we are slowly replacing all things stolen from the cars. I received my shiny new red GPS today, and should get my new Zune in the next week, or so. Of course, I had to order it online, to get the best deal, but I can be patient... It is also red. Any guesses what my favorite color is?




We are frantically working on our patriotic-type Fourth of July musical program we do every year at church. It's only a week and a half away, so we don't have much time left. But I'm certain that it will be as great as it always has been. We fill the house to overflowing every year. The year before last, our group sang the National Anthem at the Memphis Redbirds stadium, and last year we sang a couple of songs on our local news morning show to promote the program. This year we haven't done anything special, but with the pastor's retirement a few weeks ago, and VBS last week, we were all pretty busy.

You can't see me, because I'm obscured by the really tall dude with his back to you. I was standing next to the blonde lady. But here's proof that I was actually there that evening...


Just before the picture was shot, Rocky said something funny, and I was laughing. That's why my eyes look all squinty.


Zaccheus is recovering from his leg surgery, which he had on Tuesday. He is in quite a bit of pain, but once he's better, he should go on to lead a fairly normal life. (That is, as normal as he can have with a cleft palate, a rectum that was once sewn shut, and a piece of bone missing from his femur that fits into his hip socket.) I'm thinking of changing his name to Lucky.



Shawn and the kids ship off to camp on Monday. I would have gone too, but it always falls on the week before our program, and we have crunch practices. So I'll have the house to myself. You'd think I'd spend the time sleeping in and lounging by the pool, but NOooooo, I've signed up to help decorate and set the stage for said program. What was I thinking? I could so use a day at the spa or something!

A bit ago, a question on my friend's Grilling Goodness meme was anwered thusly:

1. If you had 10 hours at home alone, what would you do?
Laundry, facebook, nap, facebook, catch up on stuff on the DVR, facebook...

I was wrong. Apparently, given time alone, I will schedule myself to donate every. waking. hour. to prepare for upcoming events...



**sigh**

Grilling Goodness

Okay, it's Friday again. You all know what Friday means, right? Yep, another delicious, nutricious, 0 points, fat-free, calorie-free Grilling Goodness. Play along, if you like. Just check in with Tina, at Golden Goodness, sign in with Mr. Linky, copy and paste the questions to your own blog, and voila! You're Grillin'!

1. Do you like a scent that others might find strange?

I love the smell of the concrete when the rain just starts to fall.

2. Are you a pack rat or do you purge regularly?

My theory is that if I don't need it in a year, I don't need it for any season, and it goes.

3. What is your favorite thing to do in the summer that keeps you out of the heat?

I don't mind the heat, if I'm sitting by the pool. (no pressure, Chris!)

4. What is your favorite number? Why?

My sister buys everything in pairs, and it has totally rubbed off on me. Two loaves of bread, two gallons of milk, two boxes of Velveeta. (it doesn't apply to big things, like cars or houses, though.)

5. What color do you choose most when painting your nails?

I like bright colors in the warm weather. I have a neon pink that will hurt your eyes if you look at it too long.

6. Have you done anything abnormal this week?
Who you callin' abnormal? Eh, I'm pretty fly-by-the-seat-of-my britches, so it's all a bit abnormal.

7. What's the best thing happening this weekend?
Maybe taking the kids to see the movie Up. I heard it was really good, and KLOVE actually reported that it had underlying tones of good morals, like loyalty and trustworthiness. Sounds like a plan.

8. Did you have to dissect anything when you were in school?

Nope. Being homeschooled, we just skipped that one. Boo-hoo.

I think she hates me

There is a woman in my life who hates me.

At least, that's my impression, anyway.

Once, when I was newly married, she asked me what my favorite fruit was. I said "strawberries." Then, for the next eight years, she proceded to buy me all manner of kitchen accessories that had anything to do with strawberries. Strawberry plates, strawberry towels, strawberry tea pot, strawberry egg timer, a giant strawberry cookie jar, it went on and on for years, until I finally told her that I was out of the strawberry phase.

Last year, out of the blue, she sent me a little comb with a miniature tiara. It was really pretty.

For a four-year-old.

Then, for Christmas, she sent me a real life-size tiara.

I wore it a few times as a joke.

It actually has been used in real situations twice, by my daughter and niece, who had reason to get gussied up, and needed a tiara. I was all like, hey, I have one of those! You can borrow mine! Ooo, ooo! Pick me!

For my birthday this year, I got a box full of random items. There were some clothes (which don't fit either my body, nor my style), some body lotions that smell really yucky, some cute Pier One bath gel doo-dads that come in plastic packages that look like frogs or something, a baseball cap, and a tea for two set. (that looks like a rose)

Ummm, okayden.

Yesterday UPS called in the morning, and asked for my daughter. I told them she was a child, and could I, her mother, help them. They had a package to deliver to a Hailey Thomas, but the address was wrong. What was our street number?

When it showed up, it was bedding, ordered by HER, (the one who hates me) and shipped directly to my child.

It is hideous.

While we were looking at the catalog that came with it (to see what we can exchange for the hideousness), Hailey pipes up with, "that's the one Caleb's getting." She's pointing at a set with zebras running across the bottom of it.

Oh, no, she di-n't! It was even worse than the one Hailey got.

Okay, so I lost it. To Shawn, I wailed, "Why is she DOING this to me!!!???"
He SO doesn't get it.

Is it too much to ask that I be allowed to decorate my OWN HOME???!!!

I know I should be thankful that she is thinking of us.

I know I should see it all as love.

I know I am whining, and she doesn't really hate me. (so refrain from stories about how your sombody or other hates you)

But......

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!