In Loving Memory

July 1, 1961 - August 31, 1997

Friday's Feast #12

After two feast-less Fridays because of no Internet, I'm back! Dig in and enjoy today's Friday's Feast!

Appetizer

Who is the easiest person for you to talk to?

Definitely Bubba's Mom, and USO Girl - aka D - she's my BFF!

Soup

If you could live in any ancient city during the height of the quality of its society and culture, which one would you choose?

the Mayans of Central America

Salad

What is the most exciting event you’ve ever witnessed?
the birth of a child

Main Course

If you were a celebrity, what would you do for a publicity stunt?
be on Dancing With the Stars

Dessert

What do you consider the ideal age to have a first child?

I was 24 when Daughter was born and I thought it was ideal!

Viral Tag

USO Girl tagged me!

Rules:
1. Copy and paste the story below, and the rules, on your blog.
2. Find out who you're going to tag. (2-3 people, or more, if you wish)
3. Write one or two sentences to continue the story, and use the titles of the blogs you're tagging or any word(s) associated with them as keywords in the links you include in your part of the story.
4. Remember to tell your taggees that you've tagged them!
5. Feel free to use this and start your own viral link story. I'd very much appreciate a link back to Mother's Home if you do. (Or a tag, if you prefer!)

Once upon a time, after the evil stepmom had put up a Barbed wire fence around everything, the Empress came and shouted: "I've come to give you A little piece of me mind!" The evil stepmom, Shelby, came out to see what all the Rambling from this Crazy person was about. The cranky, evil stepmom watched in horror as the insane person began to parade around singing "A Boy Named Sue."It seemed like forever this insane person would sing and for miles he would parade, all the while twisting and dancing to the song.

It was nothing short of sheer brilliance, though, this Empress, dancing like a wild monkey in an accordian store, waving goodbye to the evil (and I mean very evil) stepmom and heading off to her job as a Kelly Girl on a military base in South Carolina. It was there she was swept off her feet by Officer Gorgeous and signed up to be part of the USO.

It was day by day living with Officer Gorgeous. They went to dances, watched movies, star-gazed, & drank their fountain drinks from the same glass. Then, her Mother, Sister, and Friend came along.....

She hadn't seen them for years, and couldn't wait to introduce her new love to them. "This is Officer Gorgeous," she said. "He's really a misplaced midwesterner. We're crazy in love!"

"You must come all the way home with us!" her family cried.....

I tag:
The Misplaced Midwesterner
Crazy Working Mom
Whee! All The Way Home

Dancing With WHO??

This morning on Good Morning America, last season's Dancing With the Stars winner Apolo Ohno announced the lineup for this fall's show. USO Girl and I think they could have done better, so we present:

Bubba's Sis and USO Girl's Improved Dancing With the Stars Lineup:

The seasoned performers:
Instead of Marie Osmond, we want DONNY OSMOND!
Instead of Wayne Newton, we'll take DOLLY PARTON.

The TV stars:
Instead of Jenny Garth, we want ELLEN DEGENERES.
Instead of Dr. Quinn lady we want MATTHEW FOX.

The Disney star:
Instead of the Cheetah Girl we want ZAC EFRON.

The music star:
Instead of Scary Spice we want QUEEN LATIFAH.

The sports stars:
Instead of Hélio Castroneves, Mark Cuban, and “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather, Jr., we'll take PEYTON MANNING, TOM BRADY, and DANICA PATRICK (since we need to throw in a girl there).

The soap star:
Instead of Cameron Mathison, we want JOHN TRAVOLTA (ok, he's not a soap star, but he used to be on TV and he's been on Oprah!).

The hotties:
Instead of supermodel Josie Maran and male model Albert Reed, we want...letsee, gotta be 2 girls here to make it even.....how about KAT VON D (from Miami Ink) and EVA LONGORIA?? They're pretty hot.

That makes 6 guys and 6 girls, right? (We had a much easier time picking the guys than the girls! Runners up included Will Smith and Josh Duhamel.)

The Men:

• Donny Osmond
• Matthew Fox
• Zac Efron
• Peyton Manning
• Tom Brady
• John Travolta

The Women:

• Dolly Parton
• Ellen DeGeneres
• Queen Latifah
• Danica Patrick
• Kat Von D
• Eva Longoria

Now THAT'S a show!

Wordless Wednesday - Sweet!

Ten Things About My Job

I missed last week's Ten on Tuesday list - Ten Things I Hate About My Job. This week's topic is Ten Things I Like About My Job. I only have a little part-time job anyway, so I decided to split the difference and do five of each so I'm all caught up! I can do that, right? Of course I can! It's MY blog!

Five Things I Hate About My Job:

1. My office is in a file room with no windows - kind-of like a cave.
2. The ladies' restroom is just outside my file room office - and every day the woman who works in the parts department takes a big poo in there and stinks up my office!!
3. When I'm not there, people take my stuff off my desk. Not my PERSONAL stuff, but my pens or my scissors or my stapler....ticks me off.
4. My computer at work does not have Internet access.
5. I am constantly fixing stupid mistakes that people who were there before me made.

Five Things I Like About My Job:

1. It's easy.
2. I set my own hours.
3. The pay is good.
4. I get to organize things - I like to organize things.
5. The guys in the parts department are funny and keep me entertained while I'm there.

Tagged - X4!!

While I was on my two-week hiatus from blogging, I was tagged FOUR TIMES! Being a good blogger girl, I did them all. Kinda.....


Jolene over at The Middling Monettes tagged me for the 8 Things Meme - since I've already done it, I decided to do another one I saw on her blog - the Middle Name Meme:

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here's mine:

D - Dog-lover
A - Anal (not a great word - I prefer "slightly obsessive/compulsive" - but no S, O, or C in my name!)
R - Religious
L - Loving
E - Easygoing
N - Nap-taker
E - Emotional

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Next, Crazy Working Mom tagged me for the 7 P's Meme - I think you're supposed to put something about yourself after each P-word:

1. Passion: Christ
2. Purpose: to raise happy, healthy children and be a good wife (OK, so that was also Tish's answer but it's a good one!)
3. Pursuit: inner peace - sounds hokey, but I want to get to a point where I really don't worry about things because I know that God is in control; I'm getting there!
4. Position: hmm - well, my favorite sleeping position is on my side
5. Pummeling: Would love to pummel smokers! And rude people!
6. Progress: see Pursuit
7. Personality: fun

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Skittles tagged me with the Image Meme - this one was fun! Here are the rules:

1) Go to Google.
2) Click on Google images.
3) Type in your name and search.
4) Re post (w/ a link) the picture of the oddest, craziest, strangest, coolest, oldest, etc. person that shares your name. Post multiples if you find a few you like.
5) Pass it on to at least 5 other people.

At first I typed in my first AND last names, and was shocked to see a picture of MYSELF come up! I forgot my teacher picture is still on the dance studio's website. So I went back and did just my first name and here is my favorite:

I really do feel like this some days.

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Finally, Michael-Lover-Of-Amy tagged me for the $50,000 Meme (I wish he'd just given me $50K, but I'll play along):

A philanthropist awards you $50,000 with the stipulation that you may use half of it for yourself and the other half you must use for the benefit of others. By "benefit of others" it can mean anything really, buying a gift for a family member or donating to a charity.

a. How do you spend the money on yourself? $25K would pay off some debt!

b. How do you use the money for others? Please be detailed, so if you say "give X dollars to charity, let us know what charity and why you select that one. There are several charities that I would split the money between - including breast cancer research, Habitat for Humanity, the SPCA, and a local women's shelter. Would also give a big chunk to my church.

c. If you were to spend part of your money to have a performer do a show for you, who would it be and why? Bon Jovi - because I love him.

d. If you were to use it on a new vehicle for yourself, what kind? probably a Chevy Tahoe, but $25K probably wouldn't buy the one I would want!

e. If you spent part of it to go to a "fantasy" camp, what type would you choose? baseball

f. If you were to use it to buy season tickets for a sports team, what team would it be? absolutely the Houston Astros!

g. If you were to use it to go on a cruise (assuming you like cruises) where would you cruise to? I do like to cruise and would gladly do the Caribbean again. An Alaskan cruise would be cool, too.

h. If you were to use it to go to NYC to see a show (or shows) what would you see? Phantom of the Opera, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Chicago

and i. Totally off subject (but since Fall is coming) what is your favorite carnival food (I was watching "Big" while writing this and saw them at the carnival)? funnel cakes!!

**Since I've just done FOUR memes, I'm not going to tag anyone specifically for these - but if you want to play along, feel free! Let me know if you do and I'll come check it out!

Happy New Year

I love this time of year. Back-to-school has always seemed like New Year's to me - this is when everything is fresh and new and you have a clean slate on the year ahead (Bubba's Mom did a great post on this - read it here). This year is especially full of fresh starts for the Bubba's Sis Family - we are emerging from a Season of Change that we never would have anticipated just a few months ago.

To begin with, we have the new house. You know about that. We love it here and we are so happy with how everything worked out. Life is good.

Tomorrow the kiddos go back to school. Daughter doesn't have to change schools since she is in a district-wide magnet program for gifted kids; tomorrow she starts 8th grade - her last year of junior high school. She is very excited. Little Son will be at a new school for 5th grade this year - his last year of elementary school - but he is looking upon it as a new adventure and an opportunity to make new friends. Coincidentally, one of his two teachers is a friend I went to junior high and high school with, and ran into at our reunion just last month - small world, isn't it? Navy Son is starting classes at the Naval Academy Prep School - he has a fresh buzz haircut and is ready to go! He even made the cross-country team at the school.

There are other changes for us as well. Daughter and I have decided to take a break from dancing. She took for 9 years at the studio where I danced growing up, the same studio I came back to to teach 5 years ago. But Daughter's passion is drama, not dance, and she has made the mature decision to focus her energy on what she loves: acting. My ankles have given me problems the past couple of years, and the fun of teaching dance was wearing thin, so Daughter's decision to move on made an easy transition for me to move on as well. I will continue to do some part-time warranty filing at Hubby's job while the kids are at school, and enjoy being home with them in the afternoons instead of running off to the dance studio four days a week. It's all good.

We celebrated a fresh start for another family today - a family from our small group at church who welcomed the Daddy home from Iraq this past week. This was his second tour of duty in Iraq, and boy are they glad to have him back home!! It was quite a celebration today, with lots of friends and family there to welcome him home. Home safe and alive. God is good.

So Happy New Year to you and yours! The best is yet to come!

Still alive!

Don't give up on me, Blogger Friends - I am still out here! Just no Internet at the new place yet (6 more days!) and very little time to get over to Bubba's Mom's house to check e-mail, pay bills, read blogs, etc. I am exhausted from the past couple of weeks, but it's a good exhausted. I love our new house. I love the location, the layout, the trees, the peacefulness of the neighborhood, my red front door, my own office, the paint that is already my colors so we don't have to paint at all, the super-great washer and dryer that came with the house and are oh-so-much better than my old ones, the gas stove (my other one was electric and I like gas better), the big bathtub, and lots more. We've lived there a week and it already feels like home.

I'll try to do better keeping up with blogs this week, but know that after August 25 I'll be back online and back in the blogosphere!

Frustration and Stupidity

That's what I'm feeling this week. Having no cable or Internet has really made me feel cut off from the world!!! How did I ever survive before I had it?!? So I can only check my e-mail and blogs and stuff at Bubba's Mom's house or - if I'm sneaky - Hubby's desk at work. And having only 2 channels to watch on the TV? Well that's just boring. Add to it that we had Tropical Storm Erin rains all day and my kids are climbing the walls.

Today during the torrential downpours I kept hearing a honking sound - like an alarm or something - coming from outside. Further investigation - and wading into the back corner of my back yard under a HUGE oleander bush - tracked the noise to the cable TV box in my yard. This has got to be bad. So I called The Cable Company - three different numbers - and finally got someone to come out and investigate this horrible honking noise. A couple of hours later - honking noise getting rather annoying now - Cable Guys show up. They slosh into my backyard in the pouring rain and tell me the source of the sound. A frog. Do I need to even say how stupid I felt???? So I batted my eyes at them and apologized profusely - then asked as long as they were here, could they just go ahead and turn on my cable?? We're not supposed to do that, ma'am. Oh pretty please (more eyelash batting)? OK. So they did it!!! I have no idea how to hook up the TV's and stuff inside but Hubby does, so - cross your fingers - tonight we may have our cable back working! If I can figure out how to get my Internet back, I'll feel connected once again! And I can do a Google search from my home on "HOW TO GET RID OF LOUD, HONKING FROGS". Oh, the shame.

No Ten on Tuesday...

No Ten on Tuesday list for me this week - I have been so busy with the move and everything, I haven't even had time to think about it. And! No Internet at my new house until Aug. 25! AAAAA! Good thing I can use Bubba's Mom's computer or I'd have SERIOUS withdrawal!!

The move went swimmingly - we still have a few things to move over, but for the most part we are "settled in". Of course we picked the hottest days of the year to move - no kidding, it was 107 degrees both days over the weekend. It was exhausting. Thank God for A/C.

More from me soon!

Moving!

I really can't believe it. After months and months of wanting to move, we FINALLY got the perfect house for us! Everything came together so smoothly, and we are moving this weekend! Not a far move - only about 10 miles. But if I don't blog for a few days, you'll know why - lots of packing, moving, unpacking, etc. to do, plus I'm not sure when my Internet will be hooked up at the new place. If I have to, I'll blog from Bubba's Mom's house - we'll only be living about 3 minutes from her now! We are all so excited!

Friday's Feast #11

Happy Friday and Happy Feasting!

Appetizer

What is your favorite kind of pie?

Oh it's hard to pick just one! I love chocolate pie, but I also love coconut!

Soup

Name something that made you smile this week.

FINALLY getting the house we want!

Salad

What do you do to cool off when the weather is hot and humid?
stay inside where it's air-conditioned

Main Course

You receive $1,000 in the mail with a letter that says you can only use the money to redecorate one room in your home. Which room do you pick, and what do you buy to spruce it up?
I would probably pick my bedroom and get new bedroom furniture and bedding; make it a peaceful, beautiful retreat!

Dessert

Fill in the blank: My _Chinese Zodiac sign (Rooster)___ says _I am an early riser and do my best work in the morning___, but I __DON'T!____.

Wordless Wednesday

Ten Things I'll Never Do Again

"Never say never" is a pretty good motto, but I did come up with a good list of Ten Things I'll Never Do Again:

1. wear a white bathing suit
2. get so drunk I puke
3. get an adjustable-rate-mortgage
4. get pregnant
5. smoke a cigarette (for the record, I only ever tried it ONE TIME)
6. evacuate Houston with millions of other people running from a hurricane
7. shave in the bikini area
8. work for a lawyer
9. buy fudge for Hubby (I did this several times before I remembered he doesn't like fudge!)
10. watch the Astros play in the Astrodome

Why I Love Country Music

Yeah, it's Monday - but this will make you laugh:

The Kiss

Drama Daughter has wrapped up her stint as Ariel in The Little Mermaid - it was four weeks of fun, frustration, fame, and, well, DRAMA - onstage and off. Drama Daughter and her BFF - who also played Ariel in a different cast - learned a lot of lessons in this past month. They learned about acting, projecting their voices, how to run the lights and sound and how to pull the curtain. They learned that some actors may not have as much devotion to their part as others, and that despite having missing cast-members, the show must go on. And they learned that sometimes it is difficult to stay in character - to pretend that you are hopelessly in love with someone that in real life, you can't stand.

This is where The Kiss became a problem.

As the story goes, Ariel falls in love with a human prince. She swoons over him and sings to him - none of which were a problem for the girls, despite the fact that they found their "princes" completely unattractive and rather obnoxious. But at the end, Ariel marries the prince, which means....a kiss. Now, these are kids putting on this production, so no real kissing was expected of them. The first plan was to have them lean in for a kiss, but have a blackout just before their lips met. But the lighting crew was a little slow with the blackout, and the leaning in but not connecting became awkward. Giggling ensued. Character broken. This was not going to work.

While driving the girls home one day, Daughter's BFF was explaining how they were instructed to try the "French kiss". Whoa! I almost drove off the road! French kissing?!?!? But what they meant was the European style of kissing each cheek. Whew! So they tried that. It was silly, too. No good.

The final plan worked wonderfully - Prince Eric would hold up his cape to cover their faces and they would lean in and pretend to kiss behind the cape. Very cute! Worked like a charm and went over well with the audience. Success! Until the final performance. It seems Drama Daughter's prince - who really seemed like a nice guy but she assured me was an obnoxious boor - decided to go for a REAL kiss on the last show. The cape went up, they leaned in, then Daughter's head jerked back quickly! Not exactly the reaction of a smitten bride, was it?

As infuriated as she was, she did not break character and all ended well. Bravo!

And the grand total is.......

$890! I would say my Big Fat Garage Sale was a fantabulistic success - not only did we make some money, but we got rid of a lot of JUNK! We still have a lot of junk, but none of it is big stuff we'll have to haul away. That is good, because we may be looking at a move here in the next month, and the less to move the better!

The Texas rains stayed away during my garage sale - for which I was thankful. It was damn hot, tho - hot and humid and not a breeze stirring. But I can't complain - the customers came and they bought stuff. The rain at least waited until afternoon!

Now to get what's left organized, packed up, and given away to someone who needs it more than I do.

Friday's Feast #10

Happy Friday everyone!

Appetizer

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how polite are you?

I would say a 9 - I'm not perfect, but I'm purty darn nice!

Soup

What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud?

probably something corny that I said myself - I often crack myself up; I love to laugh - it feels good!

Salad

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

Main Course

Tell about the funniest teacher you ever had.

The funniest teacher I ever had was not funny in the normal sense of the word - she had a dry wit that just cracked me up, tho. I was also scared to death of her. She never cracked a smile, even when she was saying something witty. Her name was Ms. Kevan and she taught Creative Writing my senior year. Now she is one of Hubby's customers, and she still remembers me!

Dessert

Complete this sentence: I strongly believe that __Jesus Christ is the Son of God and my personal Savior__.

My Big Fat Garage Sale

Tomorrow morning - and Saturday morning - I'll be up bright and early for My Big Fat Garage Sale. Everything must go. I have so much crap out there you wouldn't even believe it - clothes, shoes, jewelry, computer monitors, tv's, printers, toys, furniture, junk.....I'm hoping to make a ton of money in the next two days! I put an ad in the paper and have made several signs to stick out around the area. Hopefully it won't rain. I've always had good luck with garage sales in the past, so hopefully this one will be good, too. But I'm kinda scared no one is going to show up and then I'll have to figure out what to do with all this stuff. Hello, Goodwill???

My First Wordless Wednesday