Under the Influence

My brother, Don, had to have some medical tests run yesterday, during which time he was going to be anesthetized, so he needed me to be with him in order to take him home afterwards. (Everything was negative, which is good, and he’s going to be fine.) I adore both of my brothers and think they are hilarious, but I wasn’t prepared for just how hilarious Don could be while coming out of the anesthesia.

When I walked into his curtained-off section of recovery, he was lying on his side, and immediately arose when he saw me and asked, “Are we in heaven? Where are my glasses? If I need glasses, then this must not be heaven!!! ERGO, this MUST be HELL!!!” He was all crazy. I could hardly keep from falling on the floor from laughing. The nurse was laughing, too, and told me she hears some amazing things come out of the mouths of the most prim and proper people after they’ve been sedated. “It sure makes this job a lot of fun sometimes,” she said. She was a doll and took very good care of Don, which wasn’t easy.

For his next act, Don removed the heart monitor attached to his finger and started making it talk. I kept trying to tell him to put it back on his finger, but he was too busy with his One-Man Show, and so the monitor started beeping, which brought in the nurse, who gently asked him to keep the thing on his finger. As soon as she left, he started up again. Out of what little respect remains for my brother, I won’t tell you what the little finger-clip-turned-puppet said, but it was quite disgusting and I was crying from laughter.

When he seemed a little more coherent, the nurse asked him if he’d like some water. He looked at her and said, “you know what would really hit the spot? Some CREEEEAM SODA!!!” I don’t think he’s ever drunk cream soda in his life. When he realized he wasn’t getting any cream soda, he said he’d take some coffee. He got his coffee and marveled about how absolutely delicious it was and asked the nurse what brand it was. He had us in stitches, that boy.

I decided he was okay, so I went across the hall to the bathroom and when I returned, he was sitting up, slumped over and asleep, and his coffee was dripping out of the cup all over his blanket. I caught it in time to prevent it burning him, and when he felt me removing the cup from his hands he awoke and looked at the blanket and started laughing. “It’s not the drugs, Ness. I do this at home, too!!!” he said, “I’m-ready-to-go-home-want-to-go-get-some-lunch-I-have-a-bunch-of-movies-we-can-watch-what-time-is-it-that-was-a-piece-of-cake-lets-get-some-cream-soda-on-the-way-home!”

After sixty minutes of this, he was declared ready to go home and started putting on his shoes, all the while singing “It’s hard out here for a pimp!” Terrence Howard has nothing on my brother.

We made it back to his house and he was puttering around, making coffee, telling me he felt pretty normal, and he stopped and said, “Oh, I forgot! I had this great line I’ve always wanted to use when coming out of anesthesia and I forgot! It’s: ‘Is this heaven? If it is, then why do I need glasses?’ ” “You did say that, Bro,” I said. “Ooh, what else did I say?” he asked, rather sheepishly. “Oh, nothing,” I replied. I’m saving it for the family picnic.

What I'm Doing Instead of Working

My brother, Don, and I have been e-mailing each other all day. What could have been accomplished in twenty minutes over the phone takes all day via e-mail, but that's the way we like to do things. So, during this e-mail session we determined that he might have a staple gun that I could borrow to recover some dining room chair seats, after I find some fabric I like, and also that we want to have Mexican food together tonight at a place which neither of us can recall the name. We know it's on the busiest street in town, and it's next to the empty building that used to be a Lowe's, so we're meeting there tonight in hopes that it's still a Mexican restaurant. If it isn't, I hope it's at least some sort of place that serves food, because I really don't want to try to decide on another location. This one took all day to determine.

*****

What I've been reading lately:

Finished the Harry Potter series. Emily kept telling me how great the series were and I loved the movies, so I read them and she was right. They are great. I kept imagining I was twelve while reading them and it made the reading a lot more fun. I'm also amazed at Rowling's imagination and use of Celtic mythology. There's going to be one more novel in the series and I can't wait to read it.

Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking - best nonfiction I've read in a while.

Elizabeth Dewberry's His Lovely Wife - made me very sad because of the references to Princess Diana, but otherwise not really a good novel. I was very curious to read it, and my curiousity is satisfied. I think the best one-word description for it would be "cheesy."

Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude - Zzzzzzzzzz, I know, I have a master's degree in literature so I'm supposed to realize how great this novel is. Sorry, but I only made it through about a third of it and couldn't take it.

Stephen J. Carter's The Emperor of Ocean Park - my current read and I'm enjoying it. Should finish this weekend.

Up next: Freakanomics, then Wendy Wasserstien's novel of which I can't remember the name. It has a hot-pink cover and I think, oh, wait, it's The Elements of Style I think. After that, it's Faulkner's Light in August - maybe.

Anyone have any more recommendations? (As if I don't have at least twenty books piled on my nightstand already.)

A Couple of Drops of Brain Matter

If you ever call me at night, after I've been home for more than thirty minutes, and you want me to go someplace with you, the first question you need to ask is, "Do you still have on your bra?" Once that baby's in the clothes hamper, I'm not sticking my big toe out of the front door.

I have this really good idea for a short story and I've been outlining it for several days. I got the idea from watching a "South Park" episode. It's about a road trip, so in order to write it, I need an Atlas, and I can't find mine, which means I need to go to the store and get a new one, but, alas, the bra is no longer on, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

*****

Last week, when I had dinner with my fabulously funny cousins, we were drinking margaritas and talking about drinking. We all said that we loved gin and tonics, but we wanted our martinis made with vodka. And we liked them very dry. I said I had gotten lazy and usually just drank the vodka straight, since it was easier than pretending to add vermouth to the mix. Then Janet said, "just waive the vermouth fumes over the glass and it's dry enough for me." We all laughed at that one. THEN Lisa said, "just bring the bottle [of vermouth] in the room, and that'll be good enough for me." I adore my cousins.

My Nephew, Abe Lincoln

Guess which second-grader is my nephew? That's right, Reece, er, Abe Lincoln performed in a school program last night. He was so cute I wanted to put him between two slices of bread and just eat him up. (He loves it when I say that.)

Emily's playing in a softball tournament this weekend and the weather is perfect. It's actually cold at night, but during the day it's cool and humidity-free, so I'm looking forward to spending tomorrow outdoors!

Now, I must go pick up my Avon order at Auntie Linda's. I've started buying from her Avon woman since the one I was using at work is an idiot, and it's totally worth it to drive over to Linda's to pick up my order and not have to deal with the girl who's as dumb as a box of hair.

I was talking to Emily earlier today and she said, "If you don't want to blog anymore, just say so." I told her that, from now on, I am only going to blog when I have something interesting to say. Well, that didn't exactly work, now, did it? (Except for the part about Reece. He's always interesting!)

I know it's just two-fifty, but that's not the point...

Before I tell this story, you need to know a little about my hometown, where, minus a time away for college years ago, I’ve lived for forty-three years. You’ll ask yourself why after I tell you more.

I live in a “dry county.” What is that, you ask? It is a dreary, boring place where you cannot buy a bottle of wine around the corner, nor can you pick up a six-pack at the local Kroger. If you want hooch you must drive to the County Line, or “The Line,” as we say here in these parts.

There are ways around this, however, with the loophole called the Private Club. Private Clubs include a couple of country clubs and an Elk’s Lodge and up until a few years ago, a couple of really seedy joints north of town. Recently, however, we’ve been blessed to have five or six new places open that feel more like restaurants and less like clubs. These are actually places where normal folks want to go have a nice dinner and a glass of wine. You can even take the kids along!

Julio’s is one of these places, which is on Main Street, right across from an over-priced Italian restaurant that recently acquired its liquor license, too. In order to eat in such places, you must buy a membership, because they are still considered “Private Clubs.” There’s the loophole, I guess.

I went to Julio’s Monday night. My cousin, Luann, was in town from Austin, so she and her two fabulous sisters, Auntie Linda, my mom, and I met for dinner. When my mom and I walked in, the hostess told us the membership was $5.00. She said, “If you’re married, it’s just five dollars for both of you.” “What if you’re NOT married?” I asked. She said, “then it’s five dollars just for you.” “That’s discrimination,” I complained. She just looked at me. My mom gave a little nervous laugh, which she does when I have embarrassed her. But really, isn’t that unfair? Shouldn’t I have to only pay $2.50, since I’m a single person?

Just another thing that gripes me about the attitude towards single people.

How Do These People Get These Great Jobs?

This was on MSNBC this morning:

"During the first three months of the year, Bush has been the punch line of 307 monologue jokes by Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O'Brien, according to the Center for Media and Public affairs, which studies this sort of thing.

That compares to 197 jokes during the same period last year. For all of 2005, the center's statisticians counted 544 Bush jokes."

First of all, who cares? Secondly, I would LOVE to have that job! Imagine getting paid to watch Dave, Jay, and Conan! Gah, I definitely studied the wrong subject in college.

Further into the article is one of the jokes that made me laugh:

"Did you know former President James Garfield could write Latin with one hand and Greek with the other at the same time?" Leno said. "That was Garfield. When President Bush heard about it, he said, `We had a talking cat for president?'"


What's everyone doing this weekend? I'm having breakfast tomorrow with my brother, Don, and then I'm going to clean house and look for grad assistantships at the schools I'm considering, which will take most of a day to do, and then I'm going to get some reading done. I'll post the latest books I've read later. Abby and I are going to go walking at the park, too, unless it's raining. I'm skipping Emily's softball tournament. Bad Auntie. Did I tell you guys that the University of Oklahoma sent me an acceptance, too? Now I have three schools to consider and more chances of finding a job!

Later,
V

It's Official

While driving home from work today, I had my first Suntan-Hose-With-White-Sandals Sighting. Summer is here.

Softball Player Turns Debutante

Spring Cotillion was last night and this was my family's contribution to the big party. Not bad, eh? Hard to believe she was, only hours before, covered in mud on a wet, squishy softball field. More fabulous photos of Emily on my Flickr, so go take a look.

Funny story: Emily called me Friday afternoon, while I was at work, and she said she had good news. She'd broken up with Matt (her first boyfriend.) I asked her why it was good, and she said she'd found out that he had been lying to her. He'd been telling some other sixth-graders that he was going to break up with her, and she had been hearing these rumors. She said that Matt denied this, of course, but she said, "I decided to beat him to the punch, so I broke it off with him." Thirty minutes later, cute-guy Wes asked her out. She told him to give her a week, then she'd be his girlfriend. She told me that she really needed a week off from having a boyfriend. Lesson to all men: do not mess with Merrell women. We don't need you. You're just toys to us and if you don't behave yourselves, we'll replace you so quickly your heads will spin. We'll need a week off, of course, but then we'll be back with full force!!

Nothing Much

It was a busy weekend. Reece spent the night with me on Friday and we had a good time eating Subway sandwiches and chips and cookies and watching movies. Then Saturday morning we went for donuts. I don’t know who enjoys the sleep overs more: the child or the aunt. Saturday and Sunday I spent watching Emily play softball. Her team won first place in the tournament. Go, Emily!

I just received an acceptance letter from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. I’d received an e-mail from my new advisor at UT on Friday, but I didn’t get a letter until today. Now I’m actually going to have to decide the best place to go. Ultimately, however, it will be money that will be the deciding factor. I’ll go wherever I can go and work while studying for my masters. But, anyway, yeah! It’s good news that I sort of have a choice. It’s also stressing me out trying to keep all the e-mails straight, and trying to find a job and everything else that I can possibly worry about. I especially like to worry about all the things over which I have absolutely NO control.

It’s beginning to thunder and it looks like rain. I’m paranoid about being on the computer when it’s storming. Afraid the lightening might zap the life out of my laptop. So, on that note, I’d better turn this thing off and run for the covers!

Avon Calling? I'll call your Avon...

While in the casino hotel a couple of weeks ago, I tried some of Auntie Linda’s makeup that she has recently discovered. It’s Avon foundation, of which I wear very little, just enough to cover the really scary places on my face, but anyway, I was glad to get to try it, because I liked it, and I decided to order some. I found a girl at work who sells the stuff, so I e-mailed her that I wanted an Avon book, and within ten minutes I had the latest Avon book on my desk. “Wow,” I thought, “she’s going to be easy to deal with.” I’ve had a long, aggravating history with Avon people and that’s too bad, because they make the best hand cream and lip liners in the world. I know, because I’ve tried them all. You don’t get to be my age without some sort of useful knowledge, even if it is just about hand creams and lip liners. So, I placed an order with my new Avon representative, R.C., about fourteen days ago. Again, I know a little something about this process, and when I still didn’t have my products yesterday, I e-mailed her and very nicely asked her when she’d have my order for me. When I got to work this morning, there was an Avon bag on my desk. I should have known better than to get too excited. Inside the bad were three of the five products I had ordered and no receipt. I e-mailed R.C. and asked her how much I owed her, and that I didn’t receive the two lip liners I’d ordered, and would they be coming later. I was very nice and restrained in this e-mail, although I really wanted to let her have it = NO MEDS ANYMORE. She replied to me with three little words: “I have them.” I guess she meant she still had the lip liners. She didn’t indicate how much I owed her, or if she was holding the lip liners for ransom, or what. I didn’t reply, because I would have gotten fired for the nasty e-mail I would have sent. I also didn’t hear from her again today, so now I don’t know what to do. I do know, however, that from now on I’ll order the shit online and pay the extra postage. It will be far cheaper than getting a lawyer to defend me for what I’d really like to do.

Better Late Than Never

While cleaning out some old e-mails today, I found this joke that I'd saved to post on St. Patrick's Day. It's still funny, however, so enjoy and have a great weekend!



Jacques Chirac, The French President, is sitting in his office when his telephone rings.

"Hallo, Mr. Chirac!" a heavily accented voice said. "This is Paddy down at the Harp Pub in County Clare, Ireland. I am ringin' to inform ye that we are officially declaring war on ye!"

"Well, Paddy," Chirac replied, "this is indeed important news! How big is your army?"

"Right now," says Paddy, after a moment's calculation, "there is myself, me Cousin Sean, me next door neighbor Seamus, and the entire darts team from the pub. That makes eight!"

Chirac paused. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 100,000 men in my army waiting to move on my command."

"Begoora!" says Paddy. "I'll have to ring ye back."

Sure enough, the next day, Paddy calls again.

"Mr. Chirac, the war is still on. We have managed to get us some infantry equipment!"

"And what equipment would that be, Paddy?" Chirac asks.

"Well, we have two combines, a bulldozer, and Murphy's farm tractor!"

Chirac sighs, amused; "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 6,000 tanks and 5,000 armored personnel carriers. Also, I have increased my army to 150,000 since we last spoke."

"Saints preserve us!" says Paddy. "I'll have to get back to ye."

Sure enough, Paddy rings again the next day.

"Mr. Chirac, the war is still on! We have managed to get ourselves airborne! We have modified Jackie McLaughlin's ultra-light with a couple of shotguns in the cockpit, and four boys from the Shamrock Bar have joined us as well!"

Chirac was silent for a minute and then cleared his throat. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 100 bombers and 200 fighter planes. My military bases are surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air missile sites. And since we last spoke, I have increased my army to 200,000!"

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!" says Paddy, "I will have to ring ye back."

Sure enough, Paddy calls again the next day.

"Top o' the mornin', Mr. Chirac! I am sorry to inform ye that we have had to call off the war."

"Really? I am sorry to hear that," says Chirac. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Well," says Paddy, "we had a long chat over a few pints of Guinness, and decided there is no way we can feed 200,000 FRENCH prisoners!"

Holy Moses

I've watched the old "Ten Commandments" movie, the one with Charleton Heston, at least thirty times in my life. I just love it and can't NOT watch it whenever it's on TV. (Same goes for "The Godfather" and "Braveheart.") Last night, a new production of Commandments premiered on ABC. I was curious, so I watched. The second, and final, part is tonight. So, my big question is, What's up with the BRITISH ACCENTS??? It's terrible! These are desert-dwelling Hebrews and they all have British accents. I'm writing to ABC to complain. Plus, Moses has fair skin and blue eyes. And, Omar Sharif? Give me a break. Whenever there's an ethnic part to be played, they always call on him. Like they always used to cast Ricardo Montalban, remember?

Speaking of Moses, did you hear about Gwyneth's little baby Moses? Aside from being really, really funny to me, I just don't care. Nor do I care that he has a big sister named Apple. What is it with this fascination with celebrities and knowing all about their personal lives? Of course, the fact that I just wrote this paragraph perpetuates their fame, doesn't it?

I will say, in defense of the fascination with celebrities, I was glad to know one little tidbit when I was watching "How To Marry A Millionaire" the other night. I've seen the movie probably five times and never caught this line: When Lauren Bacall's character, who is twenty-five, is trying to convince her fifty-five-year-old suitor that she prefers older men, she says "the old guy in 'African Queen'? I love him!" (African Queen - Another superb movie, by the way.) Anyway, I thought that was cute and if I'd not known anything about Lauren Bacall's private life, I'd have not enjoyed that line in the movie. I just can't believe it took me that many viewings to catch that!

Here She Goes, Again

A major pity party has been going on in my house for several weeks now. I’ve written about my depression a time or two, so you know about it, but what I’ve not mentioned lately is that I am now off the meds. There’s no longer a milligram of a milligram of antidepressant in my body. Why would I go off the meds? I have my reasons. Those of you who are hounding me to take them, please find some other cause to devote your nagging to, because I’m sticking with my decision. The fact that I know why I’m so messed up right now is some consolation. Years ago, before therapy and drugs, I had no idea what was wrong with me. That was misery. This is just not a happy time, but not pure misery, since I’m aware of the problem and I’m also aware that I’m doing what I’m doing for a reason.

So, that’s why my blogging has suffered as of late, and why I might not be a regular blogger for a while. My brain is in a transition and I’m going to be “phoning it in” for a while. I'm also going to be writing a lot of awful poetry. I’m optimistic, however, that I’m going to get through this with a lot of insight which will help me deal with my dark side much better in the future. My very, very bright future.

The Grammar Police are on patrol and have found plenty more idiots to arrest. I'm just glad I'm not the only one who hates this stuff.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

I'm not sure if you've gotten your computer back from the computer fixer guy, yet, but if you have, I want to say Happy Birthday to you, my dear mamma. Can't wait to celebrate at Dave's tonight, even if you said you didn't want a cake. I'm bringing double-stuffed Oreos, which are so much healthier than cake, so you can indulge anyway! (Emily put in a request for those. I had nothing to do with it.) I'm really looking forward to our Casino Birthday Weekend Extravaganza with Auntie Linda, too. We are going to have so much fun bonding over wine, cigarettes, and slot machines. Kinda makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, I know. (That's Mom on the right in the photo, with Auntie Linda and their cousin, Ramona, whom they recently visited at her home in Florida.)

I love you, Mom!

Just Scratching The Surface

I've been looking at this blank page for five minutes and had to begin typing just because I was tired of looking at it all nekkid.

The new job is okay. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I will learn what I need to know. Oncology is new to me. I'm still freaking out every time I read a diagnosis, and every single patient has cancer. I know, duh, oncology is the cancer department, but I'm not used to it yet. The nurses and the doctor and, believe it or not, the patients are extremely upbeat, so it's not a depressing atmosphere at all.

I have a bit of dermatitis, a.k.a. itchy rash on my upper chest, neck, and shoulders. I get this every couple of years, but this time it's been hanging on for a month and getting worse. Benedryl's not helping. Any suggestions, other than seeing a doctor? I'm not going to be taking off work for anything no matter what for the next few months. I'm determined to keep this job until August if it kills me.

That's pathetically lame, I know.

She's All Riled Up After That Liberal Movie

I've gotten behind on my movies lately, so I decided to start playing catch-up this weekend. First I rented "Good Night, and Good Luck." Aside from the historical significance of the events that occurred, I thought it was boring. The acting was good, but nothing that special. It's a black and white film, which secured the feeling of authenticity, and, well George Clooney is just luscious no matter how nerdy he tries to look, so for those reasons it's worth renting. I'm somewhat familiar with the McCarthy era because I'm a huge fan of Lucille Ball, and after reading one of her biographies that explained how she was nearly black-listed from Hollywood due her membership in the Communist Party, I did some research. I doubt if anyone under the age of thirty, or even forty, would know much about the fears of the 1950's, since so little of it is taught in American History classes. For that reason, I felt the movie lacked some substance that it should have included. Gosh, am I sounding like I should be writing a school paper? Perhaps that's because I've been working on grad school crap this weekend.

I then cried my way through "Crash" today. I can certainly see why all the critics praised it and preferred it for Best Picture this year. It's quite a movie, and the best one I've seen this year. The characters' racist behaviors were quite different from what I see here in the South. We Southerners are so much more discreet about our prejudices. Those people in LA are in-your-face racists, unlike we polite Southern racists who only display our hideous prejudices in the presence of "our own kind." We're not any better than those people represented in the movie, but we think we are. Yes, we go to church every time the doors are open and then spew our racist remarks in the car on the way home. Of course, "Crash" never played at my local movie house. You can guess why.

Masterpiece Theatre is showing Trollope's adaptation of "Othello" tonight and next Sunday night. It's a repeat and I missed it last time it was on. Othello's one of my favorites of The Bard's and Trollope will put that Victorian twist to it. OH, and it's on after "Desperate Housewives," which I hate to admit I've been watching for the past few weeks. Ask me about it, however, and I'll deny I've ever watched it.

And I Still Have Two More Days Of Fun

Emily and Reece have been on their Spring Break this past week and I was off work yesterday, so I decided that would be a good day to spend hanging out with them. Dawn was working all day and although Emily’s old enough to babysit, I thought I would go over and spend a few hours with them as an unofficial babysitter. I called their house at 10:40 that morning and Reece answered. “I was just about to call you, Nessa,” he said, “Emily’s still in bed and when I tried to wake her up, she said she wanted to sleep for thirty more minutes and I’m really bored. Will you come over?” “I was calling to tell you I was coming over, Reece,” I said. “How long will it be?” Reece asked. “I’ll be there in ten minutes,” was my reply. “Good,” he said, “that will give me time to fold some clothes.” He is nothing like I am. Or his dad. Or his sister. We always wait until the last possible moment to undertake our household chores, but Reece was going to do his chores straightaway. I’m glad he didn’t inherit our procrastination gene.

When I arrived at their house, Emily greeted me at the door with her sleepy eyes and her cell phone in her hand. I think she sleeps with it. We spent the entire day, with the exception of lunchtime, when Dawn came home for a bit, watching movies. We snuggled on the sofa, covered in blankets and it was great fun trying to figure out the plot of “The Matrix.” They loved it. Emily recognized the Utopia v. Dystopia elements of the movie. How smart can a twelve-year-old be?! We also watched “Flight Plan” and we loved the suspense of the movie. It was my favorite kind of day, when I have both sweeties curled up with me and they are not fighting and everything is right with the world.

I awoke this morning to dog shit on every carpeted surface of my house. Roxy is staying with me while Auntie Linda is out of town. I’m not sure I will feed her another morsel while she is here. If it isn’t ingested, it can’t reappear on my carpet, right? Nothing like a diarrhea doggie to snap me back to reality and get me in a cleaning mood.

Oh! And, I filed my taxes today. March 24. That’s a new record. Usually I’m one of the idiots speeding to the post office at midnight on April 15. Maybe Reece’s good habits are rubbing off on me.

Whew

Three days at the new job and I've not been fired! The clinic where I'm now employed is going to be closed for the remainder of the week, so I have four days off. That's a good way to start a new job, just get my feet wet a little, then get a four-day weekend. I have a ton of paperwork to do in the next few days, so I'm happy to have the time off.

Mary and Stephanie are having a rough time right now, so if you pray, please do so for them. Otherwise, send them some loving thoughts. They are two amazing, articulate, sensitive women who don't deserve all the worries they're experiencing right now, so send 'em some love, okay?

Softball's Finally Here!!!!

Emily Up To Bat
Originally uploaded by Aunt Vanessa.

We, The Family, went to Dyersburg, TN yesterday to watch Emily's softball team play in their first tournament of the season. The weather was great; it was cool, a little windy, but very comfortable. I thought it was perfect. Reece had a great time playing with the kids at the park and we got to watch some good sport. We snacked and laughed and yelled for the team and simply had a wonderful time. The tournament is still on today, and I'm at home, so I'm not sure how her team's doing, but I'm pulling for you, Emily!

Oh, and when I arrived home late last night, I had an acceptance package in my mailbox from the University of Missouri for school this coming fall semester. Yeah, Saturday was a pretty good day.

It's My Island!!!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to my huge, loving, freckle-faced Irish family and my Irish-For-A-Day friends!

What Shall I Say About the Irish?

The utterly impractical, never predictable,
Sometimes irascible, quite inexplicable, Irish.Strange blend of shyness,
pride and conceit,
And stubborn refusal to bow in defeat.
He's spoiling and ready to argue and fight,
Yet the smile of a child
fills his soul with delight.
His eyes are the quickest to well up with tears,
Yet his strength is the strongest
to banish your fears.
His hate is as fierce as his devotion is grand,
And there is no middle ground
on which he will stand.
He's wild and he's gentle,
he's good and he's bad.
He's proud and he's humble,
he's happy and sad.
He's in love with the ocean,
the earth and the skies,
He's enamoured with beauty wherever it lies.
He's victor and victim, a star and a clod,
But mostly he's Irish—
in love with his God.

Smart Cookie

That's an award Reece is holding in his darling hands for making ALL A's. The awards ceremony was this afternoon at his school. After the ceremony, we were getting ready to leave and he asked me if I would take his picture with Matia. His girlfriend. She is this beautiful, blue-eyed, little second-grader with the color of blonde hair many women spend a fortune trying to emulate. She was standing across the room from us and as Reece approached her, he realized that she was standing with her dad. Reece hesitated for a couple of seconds and turned around and walked back to us. He lost his nerve. It was really, really beyond cute.

Adoration For The Young 'uns

The second job interview went well. I'll know tomorrow if I have the job.

I had lunch with Reece today at his school. Nothing could be more fun than eating pizza with a bunch of adorable second graders! I called Reece earlier tonight to tell him that I enjoyed having lunch with him and he said, "I can't wait to see you again, Nessa." aaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!! Talk about melting all over my sofa.

Last night I got a phone call from Emily and she was on her NEW CELLPHONE. David says she's the happiest preteen in the world right now. Of course, I wasn't the first person she called. Oh, yes, you can guess, mmm hmmm. The split second she had the contraption in her darling little hands she was sending a text message to MATT. Dawn said she sent him a message saying she had her own phone, and his reply, which was prompt to the point of being ridiculous (or a little bit in love) was, "Sweet!" Don't you just adore young love?

Weekend Update

Friday night the family celebrated Dawn's and Don's birthdays by going out to dinner. We had a good time, as usual, and ate some good food. Sadly, Emily had to leave the party early because she had a date, yes a date - I can hardly stand to even type the word - with Matt to go to the movie. As excited as I am for her, really and truly I am, I'm also so freaking sad I could cry. In fact, tears are trying to escape my eyes right this very second. I'm losing my little girl niece and she's being replaced by a preteen who would rather go out with her boyfriend than hang out with me. I'm taking it too personally, I know, but crap, I have the right to be irrational if I want! All I can add to this now is, thank God for softball! It's probably the only way I will get to see a lot of her this summer.

Reece, Abby, and I went to the park yesterday for a little playtime. I will, however, count it as exercise since I spent the entire time chasing after Reece and climbing hills and breathing the fresh, humid air. I had a great time with the boy. Look at my Flickr photos to see how cute Reece was yesterday. Afterwards, I went home determined to finish the fourth Harry Potter book, and I finally did, after a three-hour nap! It was cloudy and warm and the sofa was really inviting, and before I knew it, it was 6:00 p.m. Guess I needed the sleep.

Upon Angela's recommendation, I'm going to start reading Bob Dylan's latest bio today. I also have some Alice Munro short stories I want to read. Then, I'll tackle the remaining two Harry Potters in the next month.

This morning, Abby and I went to the YMCA park, which is very near my house, and we walked one mile around the track. That's 100% more walking than I've done in a long time, and I was actually sweating! Abby's now passed out on the floor. She couldn't even make it up onto her perch on the top of the sofa. She's as out-of-shape as I am. I feel better, however, mentally as well as physically and intend to walk every single day. It's not as if I have anything else to do right now.

Speaking of being out of work, I did substitute teach Friday for half of a day. Fourth graders. Eighteen of them. Piece o' cake, I thought. Until I actually started trying to be the teacher. (I don't know how you do it everyday, Mary.) It was a challenge trying to get them to stay in their seats and not all be in my face all the time. "Ms. Adams, I have a loose tooth...Ms. Adams, Justin took my book...Ms. Adams, I need to go to the bathroom...Ms. Adams, she can't go to the bathroom alone, I'll go with her!" It was like that all afternoon. I did, however, melt about eighteen times, everytime one of them smiled at me. They were great and I actually got some hugs when the day was over. I'm teaching high schoolers next Wednesday. That should be interesting.

As much as I don't want to start another real job, since I'm going to be leaving in August to return to school, I have to be realistic, and therefore I have a second interview with a doctor's office on Tuesday. This will be different from my last job, however, since I will be working for only one doctor and will be mostly filing insurance and will not have to deal with patients all day long. The pay is good and the office manager is an old friend of mine, whom I really like and so I actually hope I get the job. I can then begin to save some money for the big move = destination still unknown.

What's in store for the remainder of my weekend? I have got to wash dishes, wash clothes, give Abby a bath, and color my hair. Sounds like fun, I know! Think I need a little Van Morrison to get me going.

Yes, This Is Birthday Week!

When I was fifteen, I made my first trip to Europe and toured France and Switzerland. I made a scrapbook of the trip, carefully placing all the photos in order and labeling them so that I could remember everything about the experience. When I was about twenty-five, I found the scrapbook at my mom's and opened it and on about every other page there were pictures of dogs instead of my photos. These images were magazine cutouts of different breeds of dogs that had replaced my photos. "What IS this?" I wondered. Then I turned to the first page of the photo album and it had a title, written in what appeared to be a young boy's handwriting, "FRACE AND DOGGIE SCRAPBOOK" - yes, indeed, it was Frace without the "n" - written by my baby brother, presumably when I was away at college, when he had a little creative free time on his destructive little hands. One can imagine how many little family jokes we have about this incident, and we have used these jokes for the past fifteen years. You see, this ingenious redesign of my scrapbook was accomplished by my darling little brother, Don, who doesn't read my blog, so in my opinion is fair game. Have I ever mentioned that this brother, Frace-boy, has a PhD and is a university professor?

Should he get wind of this post, he will kill me, but it will be SO worth it!

Happy Birthday to you, my dear little brother. You are my very good friend and one of my favorite people on the planet. I love you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TY!!

This is the only photo I have of you, Ty, because you always run and hide whenever I start taking pictures. Happy Birthday to you, my dear friend! I just read your latest e-mail last night, since my computer has been away for a few days being repaired, and I'm going to call you later and hopefully we can get all caught up. Hope you have a great day! Do something for yourself, okay? Love to your girls!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAWN

To my sister-in-law, Dawn, the woman who not only gave birth to my niece and nephew and made my life complete, and puts up with my brother on a daily basis, but who also lost her name with the birth of my niece. She became "Emily's Mom" and "Dawn" went right out the window. So, sis-in-law, Emily's mom, Reece's mom, and finally, DAWN, I am hereby giving you back your name and promise only to refer to you as E's or R's mom, or SIL when I'm talking to someone who does not know you. I enjoyed having lunch with you today and talking about things other than our children. Oh, I mean your children. Looking forward to the family party on Friday night!

Now, back to me. My computer's been plagued with a plethora of paralyzing viruses and I had to take it to Dan The Computer Man to have it repaired. I just got it back about an hour ago, so I'm very behind on my blog reading and missing my friends.

Okay, so that's it for now. I need a little nap after all that Mexican food I had for lunch. Plus, I'm unemployed. I'm supposed to sleep more.

Saturday Morning

Happy Weekend! Good news: I'm going to begin substitute teaching next week. Surely, this will lead to some interesting blogs.

I'm off to see Reece play basketball. Everyone be sure and watch the Oscars tomorrow so that we can have some people to ridicule next week!!

It Only Takes A Minute

Everyone seems to have a cause these days. One.org is mine. Everytime I watch a movie like "The Constant Gardener," or "Hotel Rwanda," I'm reminded how apathetic this country is to the plight of Africa. While I'm in my unemployed, endless-free-time situation, I'm spending some time researching the current situation in Africa and I'm trying to figure out a way to help. One of the best ways to help, according to the folks at The One Campaign, is to get the message out there to everyone that they need your voice. They don't ask for money, just your participation, which is easy. If you'll CLICK HERE and take one minute to sign the petition, you'll be helping, and every click counts.

I have to go get ready for a job interview now. Wish me luck.

Perfect Post Award

One of my favorite bloggers, Lucinda, of "Suburban Turmoil" and MommaK, a blogger I've recently discovered, have come up with a great idea to acknowledge exceptional posts by many of the bloggers out there in our blogging community.

I'm happy to be one of the participants, and I'm recommending that you all read THIS POST written by Mary. Of all the posts I read in February, this one stuck with me and made me think more than any of the other wonderful posts I read all month. It's not a happy, funny post, so be prepared. You will, however, be touched not only by the subject matter, but also by Mary's writing ability and her huge heart.

I'm looking forward to reading many more wonderful posts that are being honored today. Thanks, Lucinda, for this great idea!

The Punctuation Soapbox

Since when has the *...* replaced the “...”? I’m seeing it a lot, so I suspect it’s some sort of trend, but it’s wrong! Not only is it wrong, but the context in which it is being used is often incorrect, also. I’m seeing statements such as, “What is *wrong* with people using stars instead of the real quote symbols?” It isn’t cute, so please stop doing it. If you see someone using such abominable punctuation, forward them a copy of this request. Maybe we can stamp out this bad practice before it gets too out of hand.

Now, on to the apostrophe. It’s really easy: possessive is not the same as plural. They have nothing to do with each other. They are not even in the same family. They never get together for dinner, they do not exchange gifts at the holidays, in fact, they don’t really even like each other, and would never agree to be substituted for one another. So, why do we see them taking each other’s places so often? Think about it!!!! Seen recently at a Bed and Bath Store: All Linen’s 25% Off. I really wanted to go in the store and ask the manager what is was that Linens owned that was on sale.

Unless you are e.e. cummings, use capital letters at the beginning of a sentence. Use them when you are supposed to use them. You know when and how, I just know you do. If it's some sort of trademark you think you’ve discovered, you haven't. You’re several years behind, so give it up and get with the program. It makes me want to scream when I see "i" instead of "I." In fact, when I was typing this on my WordPerfect program, it automatically corrected me when I left an "i" alone. You see? This is what I’m talking about.

I am not the only person who is irritated by this careless punctuation. There has recently been a bestseller about this very issue. There are other bloggers who complain about this, too. Of course, we all make mistakes when writing, and we don’t always have time to read for typos, but we can ALL pay a little more attention to what makes effective communication and what makes us look like big dummies.

That's all I'll say about this topic for now. Once in a while I simply have to get this off my chest. Do any of you feel this way about punctuation? Or anything? Is there one thing in particular that really sets your teeth on edge? Tell me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMILY!!

She was trying not to laugh.
Originally uploaded by Aunt Vanessa.

You, my precious niece, are an amazing girl. From the first moment I held you, I knew you were something really, really special. Your eyes seemed to be taking it all in, as calmly as you could, and you had an expression on your face that said, “Hey, world! I’m here and I’m not going to get in any hurry about anything. I’m just going to look around for a while, and when I’m able to talk, I’ll tell you what I think about everything I’ve learned, so far.” From that moment, Emily, you’ve been a sponge soaking up every drop of information your brain could hold. I am amazed at our conversations. You can discuss history, literature, and technology better than most adults, then you can get so excited about lipgloss and earrings, that I remember you’re a preteen. You can also catch a zooming softball better than anyone and throw it to second as smoothly and accurately as any coach could hope for and then step up to the plate and knock that ball into the grass. I love it when you’ve made it to home plate and you start running back to the dugout and look over at your family and give us a little grin and a wave. Yeah, you rock, Emily. Happy Birthday. Mmmmwwwwwaaaaah!

Love,
Vanessa

There Is No Mention Of Figure Skating In This Post

I’ve now been sick for almost an entire week. Laryngitis and snot and the worst rattling chest sounds make me think this is not just a little sinusitis. I coughed ALL NIGHT last night. I tried to sleep sitting up, since that (I thought) would keep the coughing to a minimum, but it didn’t work. I woke up every hour hacking up part of a lung. I should own stock in Puffs Tissues. I went to work on Monday feeling quite rotten and was given an antibiotic and some sinus/cough meds which have not done any good at all. I don’t like taking antibiotics, so I should have declined them, but I didn’t. I still had hope, then.

Now for the good news! Yesterday morning at 10:16 I received a phone call from my lovely boss in which she informed me that she was firing me. She couldn’t be a real woman and just tell me that she was firing me because she didn’t like me. No. She said she was firing me because I was taking too many days off. DAYS OFF because I am sick. Guess where I was infected? Is that irony? I get fired because I got sick. I got sick because I work in a medical clinic that is full of sick people all day and I have direct contact with them for eight solid hours. Well, bless her heart, the witch, she said she needed someone in my job whom she could depend on to be at work. If I’d gone to work sick, I guess I’d still have that sorry-ass job. This isn’t irony, this is a blessing. Truly a blessing. I could fight back, I know, but it would mean that I’d have to hire an attorney, eventually, because this is the largest medical clinic in this area and the Powerful People stick together. No way would they tell me they have a sorry manager who was wrong to fire someone because she missed work due to illness. It’s just not worth it to me to try to fight a battle I’d definitely lose. I think I will, however, apply for unemployment. I’ll have to fight for that, too, but that won’t be difficult. My coworker, the one who sits next to me, was out for an entire week with a migraine and no one said one word to her. Do you detect a little favoritism going on there? That type of treatment is frowned upon by the Employment Security Division and they will hear all about it if I have to use that to get what I deserve. It’s been this way ever since I started the job, and now I can forget about it and move on to something else. I feel better getting this off my rattling, fluid-filled chest.

On the bright side, this is going to be a fun weekend, in between naps. Emily’s birthday is Sunday and we’re celebrating all weekend. She’s having her friends over at her house tonight for a sleep over, so Reece is spending the night with me. He’s sick, too, so we’ll cough and snort together while we snuggle and eat pizza and cookies and watch movies. (Cute digression: Reece called me Wednesday night to tell me I needed to get better soon, and he said he wasn’t feeling so hot, either, and then he said, “This is funny that we’re sitting here talking about our illnesses.” I replied, “Yeah, Reece, we sound like a couple of old people.” He agreed. He’s eight years old and reminds me so much of his dad.) I’m looking forward to getting to spend some time with him.

Saturday night, Emily and I are going to see The Diary of Anne Frank at our local playhouse. We’re both looking forward to that.

Finally, on Sunday, Emily’s actual birthday, the whole extended family is going to dinner and we will shower our darling girl with gifts and have a good time watching her face light up until it is so bright we have to take out our sunglasses to cut the glare. Pictures will be posted.

So, in summary: sick...fired...Reece staying over...seeing a play with Emily...celebrating a birthday. Things are looking up!

Three Hundred Sixty-Five Days Later...

Much to my coworkers’ delight, I called in sick today. The sinus infection that refuses to die has migrated to my chest and I’m coughing and snorting and hacking and all that fun stuff. I got a whopping dose of antibiotics yesterday that is supposed to kick butt within a day or two, so in the meantime I’m wasting time doing very little. Daytime TV is the worst and I don’t feel like reading (except blogs) so I’m very, very bored. Tonight is the Ladies’ Short Program, so we finally get to see if Sasha can beat Irina. If I were to bet money, it would be on Sasha simply out of patriotism. Although she is grace personified, she tends to let us down when the competition is this great, and that’s when Irina swoops in and takes first place. I hope this doesn’t happen. We’ll see for sure after tonight and Thursday night.

This is, however, a Special Day:

One year ago today I launched this blogsite. My threshold for boredom is very low, so I’m extremely surprised that I have been able to stick with this blogging for an entire year. About two weeks before I began “Aunt Vanessa,” I read my first blog. Before that, I wasn’t sure what a blog actually was. I was finishing my master’s degree and had no free time to read for fun. I read a couple of well-known blogs and thought, “Hey, I can do that!” Mine, however, was simply intended to keep my family informed of each other’s activities. Much to my surprise and delight, however, I have readers who are not family and I’ve become extremely fond of these wonderful women. To you, my blogging friends, I thank you for letting me become part of your blogging family. My Daily Reads are the ones I read without fail. I have others I read, too, although with less frequency, but I love them, too. Some of them have won awards and some are quite obscure, which suits my eclectic tastes. Mine is not a blog that will win any awards, nor will it ever receive thousands of hits per day. I’m way too lazy to try to reach such lofty goals. I also don’t feel the need to please. Never cared if I was popular, and I still don’t. That being said, I do enjoy reading the comments left on my blog. One day you will walk into your favorite bookstore and find my novel on the shelf. Look under Adams, Vanessa. There it will be. And it will make you cry. And laugh. Especially if you love reading about crazy southern families. In this pursuit I’m not lazy, just very careful and believe that revision is the key to its success. That’s the only hint you’ll receive for now.

My wish for you all today is that you are happy and feeling better than I am. I wouldn’t wish this crap on anyone, except maybe my boss. Oh, what am I saying? OF COURSE I’d wish this on her. This is my blog and I’ll say what I want.

One more thing before I crawl back into bed: I love how indulgent you are of my constant bragging about Emily and Reece. I could go on and on about them, but I’ll save that for future entries, so get ready.

This Day Really Blows

You know how you feel when you've got one of those chest colds that make you cough so hard you think you might just have cracked a rib? And you know how calm you finally feel when the cough has subsided, even for fifteen minutes, and you can feel your brain settling back into place after being rattled for an hour? And, you know how you're not supposed to laugh when you have that cough just waiting to errupt and choke you to death? If so, and you share this affliction with me right now, then DO NOT read THIS post by Amanda, 'cause it's too funny for a sick person right now.

A Quiet Weekend Ahead

Well, if THIS isn't the funniest thing ever, then I don't know what is. I especially hope my Auntie Linda sees this. Auntie, I don't know why, but I thought of you the second I saw the photos.

Have a great weekend, everyone. We're expecting more snow down here in these parts, so I'm looking forward to a weekend snuggled up with Abby and a book and a couple of movies. Oh, and eight boxes of Girl Scout cookies, thanks to Emily!

Somewhere in my wicked childhood...I must have done something good

I went to Emily's and Reece's on Valentine's Day to give them their gifts. We were able to spend a little time together, and as I was leaving, Emily gave me an adorable Teddy Bear and Reece gave me a rose. I was touched, to say the least. Then, Emily gave me their card. She and Reece usually make their own cards, which are so much better than Hallmark's, especially the one I received on Tuesday. It stated: "You don't need a man to have a happy Valentine's Day! We'll be your Valentines! Love, Emily and Reece" What did I ever do to deserve such an awesome niece and nephew???

Young Love

A first for Emily. A big first. As of last Friday, she has a boyfriend. Or, as the kids say it now, she and Matt are “going out,” although they don’t actually go anywhere. She rolled her eyes and hit me on the arm when I asked her where they go. My reaction was the same when my mom once asked me that very question. That means I’m old. I’m not too old not to be excited for her, however. She’s all giddy and dreamy now. My straight-A, beautiful, athletic niece is having trouble concentrating on anything since Matt came along.

This is really cute, and shows just how smart this girl is: when one of her classmates, who is a friend of the new boyfriend, told her that Matt liked her, she said, “Well, I don’t really know you well enough to know if you’re telling me the truth. I’m going to need some proof.” “Okay,” the boy said, “I’ll get you some proof.” Later that day he produced a note to Emily from Matt stating that what the boy said was true, he did indeed like her! Don’t you just love it? She showed me the note yesterday. All of this occurred just as my brother was leaving for a three-week business trip, so I haven’t been able to ask him how he feels, but Emily said he almost had a heart attack when she told him. Emily will be twelve next week. This is only the beginning, my dear brother and sis-in-law.

Monday Tidbits

Check out my darling niece! She's a great basketball player and gorgeous, too. I love the red fingernail polish. She's the perfect combination of athlete and girly girl. I just love her!!

Our snow didn't last very long. Tomorrow it's supposed to be back up to sixty degrees.

I worked on graduate school applications all weekend. I'm still not finished. Tomorrow, I have to go by and pick up one of my letters of recommendation, then get to FedEx and overnight the letter and application in order for it to get to Texas Woman's University by the 15th. Oh, and I have to do this on my lunch hour. That'll be one application down and five more to go. I'm sick of this already. I just want to call these schools and say, "Just accept me and let me get on with it!" More on this subject as it unfolds.

I've been trying to go see "Brokeback Mountain" for weeks, now, and something always comes up. Is it worth the worry?

Michelle Kwan resigned from the Olympic team. I'm so sad for her. I'm now putting my money on Sasha Cohen. She's really the only one of the three U.S. skaters who is Olympic-quality. The other two are okay, but not good enough to win. If Sasha performs at her absolute best, she'll beat Irina Slutskya. Anyone else watch ice skating? I don't know a single soul who cares about it, so I only have Abby to talk with about it, and she only listens and never comments.

I talked to my grandmother Bera today and she talked for ten minutes about Roxy. Roxy and Auntie Linda have been staying with Bera while my mom's been in Mexico, and Bera's gotten attached to Roxy. I've always thought she needed a little lapdog, but she never has wanted one of her own. I'm glad she's gotten to know Roxy and understand how sweet she is. I really miss Roxy, even though I love Abby and it's better not having the two dogs together.

What's this about Dr. Phil working for Match.com now? What does he know? He is such a blowhard. I only like Oprah a teeny bit more than I do old Phil. And that's not much.

I read an interesting book last week, The Historian, and I'm surprised I liked it as much as I did. I hesitate to say that it was about a search for Dracula's tomb, because it wasn't a horror novel. It was full of Medieval history and often read like a travelogue of Eastern Europe, so read it if you like those two subjects. The "Vlad the Impaler" stuff isn't spooky, I promise. I'm starting The Glass Castle tonight. According to Mary it's a good one.

Now it's time to find something for dinner. Think I'll go make some pasta.

Abby wants in from the snow

Abby wants in from the snow
Originally uploaded by Aunt Vanessa.

Look at her! She's only seen snow a few times in her life, and she's eight years old. It didn't accumulate much, but she still hated it. She especially hated the fact that I wouldn't let her onto the covered front porch until I'd grabbed my camera and took a photo of her getting covered with the strange stuff.

View from my front porch

View from my front porch
Originally uploaded by Aunt Vanessa.

This was lunchtime yesterday. It's been sixy degrees almost every day this winter and then we get this! It's a huge deal when we get snow in Arkansas.

If I Were More Awake, I'd Call This Stream of Consciousness

It is now 6:14 am and I’m on my second cup of coffee. There are only two things that can get me out of bed this early (5:30 am.)

1. A plane to catch to some fabulous place: London.
2. Being so angry I want to hit something.

It’s the latter this time. Usually, when I awake at 5:30, I can stumble (literally, stumble, banging into walls and furniture) into the bathroom, take care of my immediate needs and go straight back to bed and fall asleep without a thought. But not when I’m furious, which I am right now. And guess why: job, again. I was treated so unfairly yesterday that I am actually going to write a letter to Human Resources and complain, which will then label me a Troublemaker, I’m sure, but I am still going to do it. (Yes, I’ve learned that if you complain about anything, ANYTHING, in the work world, you are forever deemed a Troublemaker.) Although I’m not going to go into detail, I’ll tell you that I am right to be so pissed off that I want to hit something. Last night while stuffing sushi into my mouth as fast as I could possibly chew, I told my brother, Don the Professor Who Has It Made With His University Teaching Job, that I hate working. Not entirely true. I just hate this dumb job. That’s the last I’ll say about it. For now. I told Don that I was going to devote the next few months to trying to find a way to support myself without having the displeasure of looking, every day, at a very ugly Nazi-freaking-boss who is an idiot without a college degree. Hello, Internet? I need you to help me find work. Anything that involves writing or editing in some capacity. And speaking of degrees, you’d think that an MA in English would get me someplace, wouldn’tcha? Well, y'all, it ain't helpin' me none. I guess I just haven’t looked into the subject extensively enough yet, but now I’m going to do just that.

Other things that are popping into my head right now:

It’s a crying shame when your imagination far exceeds your budget.

I want to learn how to sew and make pretty throw pillows to go with the bedspread for which I’m still searching.

My grandmother has a sewing machine she’s wanting to give me.

I need to get all of my photos into scrapbooks before August.

I am going to learn to refinish furniture this year.

Remind me to tell you what I did to my dog. That's a post unto its own.

That stack of books beside my bed only gets taller. The only way I’ll ever read every book I want to read is to live five hundred more years. Oh, and no more books will be written. Ever. And no new New Yorkers will ever be printed. Love those short stories, too.

I’m leaving for school in August. I just don’t know where I’m going, yet.

I could use some feedback on these cities, since they are the cities with schools to which I’m applying for Fall of this year:

Denton, TX
Knoxville, TN
Norman, OK
Columbia, MO
Lexington, KY

I think Amanda knows a little something about Denton. Tell me about it, Amanda, please! The rest of you guys, give me some input if you know anything about these places that I can’t find by Googling them. Pretty please with M&Ms on top.

A bag of M&Ms would be good with my coffee right now.

No Way Men Could Do This - NO Way

I started to e-mail this to some of my blogging buddies, but then I decided it was so funny I'd post it here so that everyone could read it. I love it:



THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.

There is no fast food.

Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of "pretend" bills with not enough money.

In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.

Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time.

Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment . He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care (weekend, evening, on a holiday or right when they're about to leave for vacation). He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.

There is only one TV between them, and a remote with dead batteries.

Each father will be required to know all of the words to every stupid song that comes on TV and the name of each and every character on cartoons.

The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, which they will apply to themselves either while driving or making three lunches.

Each man will have to make an Indian hut model with six toothpicks, a tortilla and one marker; and get a 4 year old to eat a serving of peas.

Each man must adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep their nails polished and eyebrows groomed. The men must try to get through each day without snot, spit-up or barf on their clothing.

During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties. They must try to explain what a tampon is for when the 6-yr old boy finds it in the purse.

They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.

He will need to read a book and then pray with the children each night without falling asleep, and then feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair each morning by 7:00. They must leave the home with no food on their face or clothes.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name. Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they
grow up.

They must clean up after their sick children at 2:00 a.m. and then spend the remainder of the day tending to that child and waiting on them hand and foot until they are better.

They must have a loving, age appropriate reply to, "You're not the boss of me".

The kids vote them off the island based on performance.
The last man wins only if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.

If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years...eventually earning the right to be called Mother!

BUSTED!!!!!!!

Yikes, I can't believe it's been a week since last I posted my thoughts! I've been busy with grad school applications and other junk, and kept procrastinating the week away. So, how is everyone? I've not even read all of my usual favorite blogsites in days. Ever feel as if you don't have enough time to do all you want to do? Of course you do. I'm not even a mom and I'm busy. Can't imagine how you super wonderful moms get everything done you need to do.

Back in July, I wrote about an old friend, CK, who now lives in Ohio, who I've avoided for the past couple of years. I said that she needed to move on and that I really didn't care to ever see her again. Well, danged if she didn't find me last week, and it was purely by accident. She'd been in town to help her mother sell her house and pack her things, in order to move her to Ohio, and she brought her mom to her doctor's appointment. Guess who the woman's doctor is? Yes, one of my doctors. When my old friend walked in, I nearly died. She nagged me and nagged me and then her mother nagged me about never returning her daughter's phone calls and I just looked at them adn didn't say anything. CK then made me "promise" to call her by the end of the week so we could get together because she's missed me so much! (Add a whiney tune to it and you now have the complete picture.) Arrrrgggggghhhh!!! Add this little experience to the list of the many, many, many reasons I hate my job.

This Thing Called LIFE

The family had such a fun time celebrating with Reece yesterday. He chose
IHOP as his place to dine on his birthday last night. Isn't that cute? I
love it that he gets to choose. Emily chooses on her birthday, as well, and
we always look forward to these celebrations. They have their parties with
their friends on the weekend after their birthdays, but the family always
celebrates on their actual birthdays. Reece loaded up on pancakes and we
knew it was a true party when the chocolate milk got spilled. (Remember
when it wasn't a party until the cops came? Yeah, times have changed.) We
all had a good time eating and watching him open his gifts. Everyone
enjoyed it, that is, except Emily. She's never been too thrilled to watch
her little brother open gifts without her participation. The older she
becomes, however, the easier it is for her. That's a sure sign she's
maturing, which is supposed to be good, but I don't want her to mature too
much. I want her to be eight years old just like Reece. It really gets on
their nerves when I tell them that, since they are kids who want to grow up
as quickly as I wanted to when I didn't know better either!! I couldn't
wait to grow up when I was a kid, as did everyone I knew. I think that's
the worst irony about being an adult: remembering how great it actually was
to be kid, but also remembering how much we wanted to be adults, because it
looked so great to be an adult. What a thing life is, huh?

Happy Birthday, Reece!

Happy Birthday, Reece!
Originally uploaded by Aunt Vanessa.

Reece, it’s hard to believe you are celebrating your eighth birthday today! I want to thank you for making the past eight years so exciting. I know I tell you, all the time, that you are the cutest boy in the world, and you ARE, but you are also very smart, funny, sensitive, kind-hearted, have great taste in clothes, and you’re a great basketball player! You also know more about cars and trucks than I will ever begin to know. You are extremely independent, too. You’ve always wanted to do things for yourself, and your opinions are your own, not someone else’s. You love life and get excited when you see a butterfly or a worm in the dirt. Your love for animals is boundless and it’s such a delight to see you playing with Dooley. Abby loves you, too, and leaps for joy when you walk in the room. Some of my favorite times with you are the Saturday mornings when we go to the Humane Society and you give treats to all the dogs. By the time we are ready to leave, you’ve fallen in love with at least two or three of the dogs and want to take them all home with you. They are also drawn to you like a magnet because they know that you are such a loving boy. I love you, my darling nephew, and hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Hugs and kisses forever!

Nessa

My New (Again) Obsession

How To Weigh Yourself Correctly
Originally uploaded by Aunt Vanessa.

Diet Rules for Cheaters

1. If you eat something and no one sees you eat it, it has no calories.

2. If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, the calories in the candy bar are cancelled out by the diet soda.

3. When you eat with someone else, calories don't count if you don't eat more than they do.

4. Food used for medicinal purposes NEVER count, such as hot chocolate, brandy, toast and Sara Lee Cheesecake.

5. If you fatten up everyone else around you, then you look thinner.

6. Movie related foods (Milk Duds, Buttered Popcorn, Junior Mints, Red Hots, Tootsie Rolls, etc.) do not have additional calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one's personal fuel.

7. Cookie pieces contain no fat-- the process of breaking causes fat leakage.

8. Things licked off knives and spoons have no calories if you are in the process of preparing something. Examples are peanut butter on a knife making a sandwich and ice cream on a spoon making a sundae.

9. Foods that have the same color have the same number of calories. Examples are: spinach and pistachio ice cream; mushrooms and white chocolate.

NOTE: Chocolate is a universal color and may be substituted for any other food color.

10. Foods that are frozen have no calories because calories are units of heat. Examples are ice cream, frozen pies, and Popsicles.

Appalling To The Masses

I've been shopping for a new bedspread, and since I don't enjoy actually getting off my rear end, driving to a store, parking my car, and walking across a parking lot, much less dealing with salespeople, I've been trying to find one online. I found this ad on my favorite site, you know: the one in which you place your bid and hope you've won, only at the very last second someone comes in and outbids you? That's beside the point, actually, of this here post, y'all. Just LOOK at the wording and the spelling. My God. Dude can't even spell chocolate. AND, Dude assumes we don't know what color "chocolote" is. Read the entire advertisement. What are "continuous" states? I'm still laughing and I've read it about fifteen times in hopes that I wasn't really seeing such a poorly-written, ignorant ad! (This is copied exactly as it was found:)


"CHOCOLOTE(BROWN) AND GREY sets ARE BRAND NEW
NO IRREGULARS
THESE ARE FIRST QUALITY SETS
WILL COME TO YOU IN ITS ORIGINAL PACKING
DIRECT FROM THE SUPPLIER
PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR BEDDING CAREFULLY
ALL SALES ARE FINAL- NO RETURNS –

EXCHANGES ONLY IF I HAVE MADE A MISTAKE IN THIS TRANSACTION
BY BIDDING ON THIS AUCTION YOU ARE AGREEING TO THIS
I DO GAURANTEE THAT THEY ARE BRAND NEW !!!!!
SHIPPING TO THE CONTINUOUS USA 48 STATES ONLY
NO PO BOXES ON RARE OCCATIONS , SUPPLIER INVOICES ARE NOT CORRECT
IF THIS SHOULD HAPPEN AND THIS PRODUCT SELLS OUT , I WILL IMMEDIATELY NOTIFY YOU AND RETURN YOUR MONEY IN THE MANNER IT WAS RECIEVED

It Felt Like A Burnin' Ring Of Fire

How y'all doin? I just watched "Walk The Line" and the Southern accents are racing through my head as I try to analyze the movie. I really loved it, but I do think it could have been a little shorter. I grew tired of watching "Johnny" stumble around. I kept wanting to shout, "Straighten up, boy!!" Everyone loves a reformed celebrity and this story is no different from many others, but it was the acting and the music that made it such an excellent movie. The love story was well-portrayed, too. Go and see it if you haven't already. Thanks for taking me, Mom. I needed a night out!

Gosh, I was nervous today, but I survived the GRE and I'm happy with my results. (My knees were actually shaking when I left the testing center.) I scored higher than the required numbers for the schools I'm considering, so I'm very, very relieved. Now I have to get busy with all of the applications. It will be May or June before I know exactly where I'm going to school in the Fall.

Now it's time to crash. My brain's had all it can take for one day.

In All Fairness...

It seems as if I've devoted a particularly greater amount of blog space to cats lately, thereby neglecting my other favorite animal. Yesterday's and today's posts, hopefully, will make up for it:


One afternoon, a woman was in her back yard hanging laundry when a tired-looking dog wandered into the yard. The woman could tell from the dog's collar and well-fed belly that he had a home. But when she walked into the house, the dog followed her, sauntered down the hall and fell asleep in a corner. An hour later, he went to the door, and the woman let him out.

The next day the dog was back. He resumed his position in the hallway and slept for an hour. This continued for several weeks. Curious, the woman finally pinned a note to his collar: "Every afternoon, your dog comes to my house for a nap."

The next day he arrived with a different note pinned to his collar: "We have six children. He's trying to catch up on his sleep."

A Couple Things Before The Weekend Really Gets Started

I cried a little when I read this.

This, however, made me laugh.

Have a good weekend and send me positive thoughts on Monday morning, please. I'll finally be taking the GRE and then I can move on with things.

Love,
Vanessa

Thirteen Things about VANESSA 1. I don't believe in ghosts. 2. I love to go to the movies. 3. I never wear pantyhose. 4. I get bored easily. 5. I love used bookstores. 6. Listening to someone use pitifully horrible grammar makes me want to scream. 7. I wash my car about once a year. 8. I really like picnics. 9. I don't like to cook meals. 10. I enjoy baking, however. 11. My Christmas tree is still in my living room. 12. I think I would die if I didn't have Internet. 13. I love my family. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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The Greatest Story Ever Told

Once upon a time, a girl asked a guy "Will you marry me?"
The guy said, "No."
And the girl lived happily ever after and went shopping,
dancing, camping, drank martinis, always had a clean house,
never had to cook and farted whenever she wanted.

~~~The End~~~


(Thanks, my friends, for the good words of encouragement!)

Stressed Aunt Vanessa

Stressed Kitty
Originally uploaded by Aunt Vanessa.

Okay, so I'm a little stressed right now. The GRE is on Monday at 11:00 and it's four hours long. So, I must study. That's what I'm busy doing and that's why my eyes are so yellow. Everytime I think about the test I have diarrhea.

Mom, It's just a break. I'll get back to my studying in a minute, I promise.

Saturday, early in the afternoon, and I've been studying all morning for the GRE, which I'm taking on the 23rd of this month. Hopefully, I'll do well on it and a good school will accept me for the program to which I'm applying. More about that later.

I simply had to take a break and I thought it would be fun to do a meme I read on Naomi's blog. She's quite an interesting character and I've been reading her blog for a few weeks. Go check her out and say hello from me. Anyway, here's my contribution to the meme. Writing it will be the only fun I have all weekend.



FOUR JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE:

1.- Ice Cream Dipper at Baskin-Robbins. My first job, when I was sixteen. It lasted about a month. Thirty-one flavors; thirty-one days in the month. You do the math.
2.- Travel Agent. This one lasted two weeks.
3.- Legal Secretary. Most boring job on the planet.
4.- Cosmetics Salesperson. I had to talk women into buying fifty-dollar eye cream on a daily basis. My sales were not good.


FOUR MOVIES I WOULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:

1.- "The Godfather" - Love both I and II and watch them every time they’re on TV.
2.- "Heat" - It must be the DeNiro thing.
3.- "Braveheart" - This one incorporates some of my favorite things: Medieval history, royalty, Medieval warfare, Mel Gibson, and MEN IN KILTS.
4.- "Love, Actually" - Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth...need I say more?

Runner up: "The English Patient"


FOUR TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH:

1.- "The Sopranos" - it’s those Italian men, again.
2.- "Seinfeld" - second-best show ever.
3.- "I Love Lucy" - best show ever. Always and forever. No debating this one with me.
4.- "Curb Your Enthusiasm" - Of course, since I love "Seinfeld" I’m going to love this. It's even more brilliant than "Seinfeld."

Two runners-up: "Commander In Chief," and "Trading Spaces."


FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN ON VACATION:

1.- London - I want to live there.
2.- Paris - haven’t been since I was a teen, and I need to go back.
3.- Dublin - I love Ireland and especially Dublin. It’s got all the history and beauty, plus the modernity I need, and Guinness.
4.- Key West, FL - haven’t been in such a long time, but would love to go back.


FOUR WEBSITES, EXCLUDING BLOGS, I VISIT DAILY:

1.- eBay, love finding a great bargain.
2.- Half.com, the best place to buy books!
3.- Rotten Tomatoes, at least three times per week for movie info.
4.- iTunes, for Virgin Radio UK, and all my iPod uses.


FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS:

1.- Peanut Butter; God’s finest food.
2.- Pizza with tons of vegetables and cheese. Stomach just growled.
3.- Maki dipped in a little Wasabi/Soy Sauce mixture.
4.- Tie: White Birthday Cake with all that sweet white frosting, and Glazed Donuts.


FOUR OF MY FAVORITE DRINKS:

1.- Coffee
2.- Diet Coke w/Splenda
3.- Vanilla Soy Milk
4.- Dark Beer


FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:

1.- London’s Theatre District buying tickets
2.- Dickson Street Bookstore in Fayetteville, AR
3.- Across the street from #2, at Common Grounds, drinking their wonderful latte
4.- Lying on the Beach covered in sunscreen and reading a fascinating novel while Colin Firth is at the bar buying me a Frozen Margarita


FOUR BLOGGERS I AM TAGGING:


EVERYONE. Come on, my blogging buddies, do it, it's fun!

Thank You, Kelly!

In honor of my approaching blog anniversary, I decided that I needed a new look for "Aunt Vanessa," so I began searching for a designer about a month ago. I looked at several sites and designers' sites and Nello Designs was the best. I contacted Kelly, aka Nello, and she understood what I wanted immediately! Isn't this cute??? I just love it. It symbolizes my role as Aunt: to always have candy ready when needed. That's the prime role of an aunt, and the rewards are love and admiration from the niece and nephew. It's a pretty easy price to pay for all the love I receive from Emily and Reece! Anyway, thanks ever so much, Kelly, for the wonderful new look, and I hope you continue to do what you do for a long time. You are very talented and a pleasure to work with!

Cats, Cats, and More Cats - Abby is Jealous!

I love my Arcamax daily joke e-mails. Today's is tailor-made for Aunt Vanessa, and in honor of Muki, here it is:

A man hated his wife's cat and he decided to get rid of it. He drove 20 blocks away from home and dropped the cat there. The cat was already walking up the driveway when he approached his home.

The next day, he decided to drop the cat 40 blocks away but the same thing happened.

He kept on increasing the number of blocks but the cat kept on coming home before him. At last he decided to drive a few miles away, turn right, then left, past the bridge, then right again and another right and so on until he reached what he thought was a perfect spot and dropped the cat there.

Hours later, the man calls his wife at home and asked her, "Lynn is the cat there?" "Yes, why do you ask?" answered the wife. Frustrated the man said, "Put that cat on the phone, I am lost and I need directions."

Go, kitties!!

Muki is asleep sitting up!

Muki is asleep sitting up!
Originally uploaded by Aunt Vanessa.

This is my brother Don's cat, Muki. He's about a hundred years old. He only has a few teeth, which are yellow, really bad breath, and no claws on any of his paws, done by a previous, unknown owner. He found my brother about six years ago and they've been best friends ever since. He sheds about a pound of cat fur every single day, yet has a full coat of pretty grey hair. Don took this photo while Muki was snoring and napping with his head straight up. He's quite the cool cat.

Emily's Ready For Winter Cotillion

She's adorable!
Originally uploaded by Aunt Vanessa.

Yes, she's beautiful, but you know what? She's even more beautiful on the inside.

For Emily and Reece

be sorted @ nimbo.net

It's Family, Bless Their Hearts

On Christmas day my extended family comes together for lunch. My mom is from a large family and there are usually about thirty of us who are able to make it for the holiday. That’s only about a third of the total number, but many of my cousins have other obligations that day. This past Christmas several cousins attended whom I rarely see. One of these cousins is Shannon. He’s a few years younger than I, and he’s our Rainman. He can remember someone’s telephone number if he only heard it once, twenty years ago, yet he cannot function in the adult world. His mental level is that of about a ten year old boy, and he is the sweetest guy in the world, as long as you don’t try to touch him. He’s not autistic in the sense that he is completely withdrawn, however. He was talking to my mom at the family Christmas lunch and something he said made my mom refer to me, and I was sitting on the other side of my mom, so she pointed at me and asked Shannon if he remembered me, Vanessa. He looked at me for a couple of seconds and said, “So, there are two Vanessas here today. There’s a skinny one and then there’s her,” pointing at me.

Of course, when he realized what he’d said, Shannon was really embarrassed. I actually thought it was funny and my very mature brothers were laughing their very mature heads off. Later I learned that Shannon was confusing our cousin, Luann, with me, and that was why he said what he did. And, Luann is definitely skinny, but I love her anyway. She also reads this blog, so, I hope you get a laugh out of this, Cousin Luann, you skinny bitch.

Those You-Know-What Resolutions

As we all prepare to start a new year, it is time again to make those ever so important New Year's Resolutions. Here is my boss’s list of recent years' resolutions and the revised ones for 2006.

Resolution #1
2003: I will try to be a better husband to Lisa.
2004: I will not leave Lisa.
2005: I will try for reconciliation with Lisa.
2006: I will try to be a better husband to Rachel.

Resolution #2
2003: I will stop looking at other women.
2004: I will not get involved with Rachel.
2005: I will not let Rachel pressure me into another marriage.
2006: I will stop looking at other women.

Resolution #3
2003: I will not let my boss push me around.
2004: I will not let my sadistic boss drive me to the point of suicide.
2005: I will stick up for my rights when my boss bullies me.
2006: I will tell Dr. Hodger and the group about my boss.

Resolution #4
2003: I will read at least 20 good books a year.
2004: I will read at least 10 books a year.
2005: I will read 5 books a year.
2006: I will finish last month’s Field and Stream.

Resolution #5
2003: I will not get upset when Bill and Roger make jokes about my baldness.
2004: I will not get annoyed when Bill and Roger kid me about my toupee.
2005: I will not lose my temper when they tell the guys I wear a girdle.
2006: I will not speak to Bill and Roger.

Resolution #6
2003: I will get my weight down below 180.
2004: I will watch my calories until I get below 190.
2005: I will follow my new diet religiously until I get below 200.
2006: I will try to develop a realistic attitude about my weight.

Resolution #7
2003: I will not take a drink before 5:00 p.m.
2004: I will not touch the bottle before noon.
2005: I will not become a "problem drinker".
2006: I will not miss any AA meetings.

Resolution #8
2003: I will not spend my money frivolously. 2004: I will pay off my bank loan promptly.
2005: I will pay off my bank loans promptly.
2006: I will begin making a strong effort to be out of debt by 2008.

Resolution #9
2003: I will see my dentist this year.
2004: I will have my cavities filled this year.
2005: I will have my root canal work done this year.
2006: I will get rid of my denture breath this year.

Resolution #10
2003: I will go to church every Sunday.
2004: I will go to church as often as possible.
2005: I will set aside time each day for prayer and meditation.
2006: I will try to catch the late night sermonette on TV.

(Kidding. I stole these from Arcamax, but they're a lot more funny than mine!)

Savoring What's Left Of The Holiday

I don’t know how I ever lived without an iPod. Not only can I have my favorite music with me all the time, I have photos! Whenever I start missing Emily or Reece, I just click around until I find their picture and just like that, I’m all happy again! Of course, I have no idea how to actually find the photos, I just move the wheel around and click a bunch of times and somehow get lucky and find a photo. Same goes with downloading the music. I’ve added about 200 songs to it this afternoon and by pure luck they got downloaded into the Nano. Read the instructions? What? That would take all the fun out of it!

And now for a recap of my three-day weekend, the last one I’m getting for a long time:

Auntie Linda was my date for New Year’s Eve. We ate sushi, then went for a latte and then went to see “Fun With Dick and Jane” and laughed our heads off. I’d read all the negative reviews, but I loved it. It’s one of those movies you have to decide you’re going to enjoy beforehand and then sit back and be entertained. Afterward, we ate caramel cheesecake then went to Wal-Mart and wandered around until about 2 a.m. Jealous? I thought you might be.

New Year’s Day was great. I had the family over for cake and ice cream and we had a fun afternoon. David connected Emily’s video camera to the TV and we watched all the videos she’d made over the holiday with her new camera. David took Reece and her to the Deer Camp** earlier in the week and she made a “documentary” about the outhouse. It was hilarious. I think she might want to think about film school.

Today, Dawn (sister-in-law) and I went to see “The Family Stone” but when we arrived the movie theater was closed. There were several other people there and they were trying to open the doors, also. It was advertised in the newspaper that they were open this afternoon but they lied. They’ll be hearing from Aunt Vanessa tomorrow. We licked our wounds and headed to Target for the 75% Off Leftover Christmas Crap Sale and spent two hours there filling our basket. I now have enough Christmas cocktail napkins to keep me in the drinking business until I’m eligible for Medicare.

Now, right this minute, I’m singing to the Beatles and Abby is wishing I’d shut up so she can finish her twenty-hour nap. After this post, I’m going to take down the Christmas tree. I don’t want to!

**Deer Camp = a rugged cabin in the hills of Arkansas where my dad and his old croanies have some land and go to “hunt” during the year. (I’ve spent one night there and will never return.) The cabin is really, really rugged. Full of bunk beds and all the manly stuff you could imagine. It also has a rickety front porch that is covered with chairs and the finest gas grill you’ve ever seen. They have their priorities straight, yes they do. The surrounding woods are beautiful, however, and it’s fun to go there and enjoy the scenery and complete silence. (And ride four-wheelers - you have to be Southern to appreciate this, I know.) Emily and Reece loved it. Well, Reece loved it, and Emily liked it. They were there for three days and I think Reece only brushed his teeth once in that time. It was paradise for a seven-year-old boy!

Happy New Year From Aunt Vanessa

Me In A Few Years
Originally uploaded by Aunt Vanessa.

I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, healthy year! I'm looking forward to living life to the fullest in the coming year and hoping that you do as well. Can't wait to read all about your lives as you write about them on your blogs.

Love to you all,
Vanessa