Critter Gitter

We have a critter in our attic. An unidentified critter - could be a raccoon or a possum or maybe a squirrel - but it's definitely up there because we hear it scratching around, and it has left some critter poop around in the attic. (I suspect it is a possum because we've had to get a possum out of our attic before - oh the critter stories I could tell!)

So we borrowed Bubba's Dad's trap - affectionately called the Critter Gitter. Bubba's Dad had a squirrel problem a few years back and trapped quite a few of them in his Critter Gitter, so we know it is an effective means of ridding our attic of critters. Brave Hubby set it all up this weekend, leaving a trail of dog food right into the trap, with a pile of dog food and a cinnamon roll at the back. Last night we checked it, and apparently we have a clever critter on our hands - he ate all the dog food all the way into the cage, up to the thing he has to step on to shut the door - but then backed out and left the rest, including the cinnamon roll! It's like he knew it was a trap! So we re-baited and will try again. In the meantime I hope he doesn't come crashing thru the ceiling and land in my bed with me - THAT would be bad.

Idol Gives Back

I cried my eyes out while watching American Idol tonight. No, not because my favorite contestant went home - in fact, no one went home tonight! Tonight was a special fund-raising event called Idol Gives Back, where they raised money for impoverished children in the USA and in Africa. It was quite the star-studded two-hour event, but the images they showed of the children in Africa who are orphaned by AIDS, some dying of AIDS or malaria themselves - children and families in Africa AND in our own United States who have NOTHING, who cannot read, who live in squalor and do not have enough to eat - it broke my heart. At times I couldn't bear to watch anymore. But I couldn't bear not to. Was this the emotional response they were going for? Absolutely. I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. But I hope everyone else that was watching did, too. We all know there are horrible conditions in this world, but to see them in front of your eyes that way - well, maybe we all need that kind of awareness every now and then. If that's what it takes to get people to open up their hearts and help (yes, that also means opening up their wallets), then it's a good thing. Millions of dollars were raised tonight to help these children. Will it save them all? No. But if you can help save ONE LIFE, then it is so worth it. While some have criticized American Idol for jumping on the philanthropy bandwagon, I applaud them. They have made a difference in this world, not just by giving us pop stars - but by giving people hope.

It's about time!

Last night on American Idol, Sanjaya finally went home. Even if you don't watch the show, you have surely heard the media hype over this strange 17-year-old with the wild hairstyles who over-stayed his welcome on the show. From an article on MSNBC:

Sanjaya Malakar had more admirers, or “admirers,” than would ordinarily surround someone of his caliber in a competition like this one. Some liked his personality, his constantly changing hairstyle, or the fact that he was an underdog. Some were rooting for him because they thought it would be funny to have a lesser talent win the whole thing. And some probably just liked the way he sang.

Whatever the motivation, the story of Sanjaya has eclipsed everything else in the “Idol” universe over the past month. He’s been mentioned on just about every entertainment program in the country, from talk-show television to satellite radio to the blogosphere. At 17, he’s a lock to have a shot at a career in entertainment if he wants it, since his name recognition alone will make him among the most sought-after TV guest stars over the next few months.

But this week he was so bad that it was almost as if he was trying to sing badly. America finally had enough. He's outta there.

So we're down to the Top Six - I'm sticking with my original prediction that Melinda will win it all, but I'm also rooting for Blake and Jordin. However it turns out, they have all launched music careers from the show. Which reminds me, I think I'll go buy Chris Daughtry's CD today....

I'm in love.

Today I officially met my new nephew, Drew Bear - the precious son of Bubba and Katie Lady. I have to say I am THE proudest aunt in the world! It has been so long since I have held a baby in my arms, smelled his sweet neck, and pressed my cheek to the top of his fuzzy head. I can't have any more babies of my own, but the baby of my brother is the next best thing! As my kids told me tonight, I "hogged the baby"! I just didn't want to let go of him! He loves me, too - we talked - he smiled and cooed at me - even laughed when I said things particularly funny. I told him all the fun things we would do together when he gets a little older. It's gonna be great. When he got tired I soothed him to sleep, and he took a nap lying on my chest. He is my new love.

Yeah, what Ken said.

So they fired Don Imus. While I agree that what he said was very ugly, I'm not sure he should have been fired (I think the 2-week suspension would have been enough). A letter in the Houston Chronicle expressed very well the way I feel about it.....

If the Rev. Al Sharpton is so offended by remarks made regarding some young black women by Don Imus, why isn't Sharpton out campaigning against rappers? On any given day, you can find a rapper referring to young black women in terms even worse than what Imus called them. Why doesn't Sharpton campaign against this violence against women? Why isn't he sticking his face in front of a TV camera, calling for them to lose their recording contracts and be punished?
Or is it only white people who are not allowed to make these kinds of remarks? Isn't that rather racist? If it is wrong for Imus to demean young black women, then it should be just as wrong for rappers to do it, as well. Where's Sharpton's fairness?
KEN DAVIS Houston

I don't want to come off as racist, because I'm not. But the guy's got a point!

Family Roots

It has been about 9 months or so since my grandmother passed away. Years before she died she started divvying up her things amongst the family members - most of it given away when she moved from her house to an apartment, a little more when she moved to an assisted-living facility, a little more when she went into the nursing home. I received the things that meant the most to me - her spoons collected from all her vacation destinations, the twin spindle beds that Bubba and I would sleep in when we went to visit her, the gumdrop tree she would always put out at Christmas, her Blue Danube dishes. Last weekend my parents took a visit to see my aunt - Dad's sister - and they took some time to sort thru more of Maw Maw's things (she never threw anything away!). It was mostly knick-knacks, old letters, and some great old pictures. To me they brought the most precious treasure of all -the family geneology, and memories hand-written by Maw Maw of her childhood and young adult life. I have pored over all of these papers for hours tonight. I am fascinated. From me, it is seven generations back that my family was in Ireland. I learned that from Ireland the family mostly settled in Mississippi and Tennessee before coming to Texas. There are fascinating stories within all these papers, and the OCD in me is coming out, wanting to organize it all and document everything in an orderly fashion. I want to do more research. It's a project I look forward to getting into!

But the most precious stories are the ones such as these, written in my grandmother's hand....

"I remember one time that Papa sent Jane and Clarice (Maw Maw's sisters) to bring some cows home to milk. They let me go along. Papa had told us not to ride the cows, but I am sure I begged to ride so they put me on one. We were going down the lane when the cow saw an open gate and bolted through the gate and I fell off. I was afraid Papa was going to whip me so I made a big deal of hurting and crying. I got by with it that time."

Happy Easter

Maundy Thursday

Bubba's Dad has a bit of a scheduling conflict tomorrow - his Baptist Sunday school class is having a special Maundy Thursday communion at one of the members' houses. It's also the meeting of the Keg of the Month Club that he's been enjoying the past few months. Oh, what to do?

I told him he should go to the Keg of the Month Club, leave a little early, and show up at his Sunday school class with beer on his breath, slurring, "Is it Maundy, or is it Thursday??"

Opening Day!

Baseball is back, and our Houston Astros played the Pittsburg Pirates tonight at Minute Maid Park. Unfortunately, they lost the opener - gotta do something about Lidge!! But that's OK - we've got the whole season ahead of us! Bring out the peanuts and Cracker Jacks - it's gonna be a great year!

I've done it again.

I don't know why I punish myself like this. But I do. While my house is on the market, I look at other houses that I want to buy - you know, so I won't be homeless when my house DOES sell. However, what happens is I find a house I love, only to have it bought out from under me before I can sell mine. It has happened three times. It is very frustrating. You'd think I'd learn. But no - today I went and looked at another house. And I'm in love with it. It is SUCH a great house! I could move right in and not have to change a thing! It's a great location, great size, great layout, great schools for the kids - basically, it's perfect. But because it is perfect, I know it will sell fast, and I do not have an offer on my very-nice-house-that-I'm-only-selling-because-we-want-to-downsize-and-live-closer-to-my-parents. I'm probably going to watch House #4 slip away like the others..........wah!

So, anyone out there wanna buy a house?????

**UPDATE - Sunday night - just as I predicted, it went fast. I checked on it tonight and it has a contract on it. Dammit. That's it. I'm not looking at ANY MORE HOUSES until I sell this one!

Transition

I know exactly where I was 13 years ago right now. I was at the hospital, getting an epidural (I distinctly remember telling the anesthesiologist that I loved him). Two hours later - at 1:16 a.m. on March 22, 1994 - my daughter was born. My first born. She was absolutely beautiful and perfect. She was born 1 week early, and she weighed 5 pounds and 13 ounces. She was a tiny thing. The most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I was in love.

That tiny little bundle of joy will be 13 years old in just a couple of hours. She will wake up in the morning a teenager. I can hardly believe it - where has the time gone? How could she have grown up so fast? Sometimes I just want to yell, "Wait! Wait! It's going too fast!" I want to slow life down and enjoy the beautiful moments more........the moments when my children were babies with curly blond hair and big blue eyes and toothless smiles that would melt your heart........the funny baby things they said and did.........even the middle-of-the-night feedings, when it was just the two of us in the darkness, bonding in love. Sometimes I'll tell Beautiful Daughter, "Can't you go back and be a baby again?" and she says to me, "Mom! I gotta live!" Yes. She's got to live. And I pray that it is a blessed life. She is entering into a difficult time in life......but also a time of fun and opportunity.......from here she steps into adulthood. I hope I am doing my job well. So far so good - I couldn't ask for a better daughter. She is still absolutely beautiful and perfect.

Happy Birthday, baby girl. I love you!

Dancing With the Amazing Idol Survivor (or, How I Became a Prime Time Couch Potato)

This is nothing to be proud of. Surely I have better things to do with my time than watch reality TV five nights a week. But I can't help it! I'm addicted! It just so happens that all my favorite shows are on at the same time right now. This makes for a busy week of TV watching. Thank goodness I have the DVR in case something really important comes up!

My week begins with Amazing Race on Sunday night. I missed the very first season of this show, but have been hooked ever since Season 2! This season is an "All Star" season; I pretty much like all of the teams, except Charla & Myrna. They have GOT to go! I'm rooting for the Beauty Queens, Dustin and Kandice.

On Monday nights it's Dancing With the Stars! I love love LOVE this show (probably because I love dancing so much)! Last season I was ga-ga over Mario and Emmitt. This season my early favorite is Joey Fatone, altho there were others that I thought did very well, too. We'll see how the season plays out - it has only just begun.

On Tuesdays it's American Idol! This is another one I have watched since Season 2 (where was I during Season 1???). I don't really have any favorites yet this season, but I think Sanjaya has outworn his welcome, and I think Melinda will win it all. Just my early opinion. There are several I like on there.

Tuesday nights will also be the results show for DWTS. I will likely DVR this and fast-forward thru the boring parts to the end when the announcement of who's going home is made.

Wednesday nights are Idol's results show. This is another good one to DVR and then skip to the end. No need to listen to 30 minutes of blah blah blah when all I want to know is a) who are the Bottom Three, and 2) who is going home.

Thursdays bring Survivor! I have watched this one from the beginning, and I still love it in its 14th season. This season has gotten off to a slow start for me, but it looks like they are going to mix things up this week, so it should get better. No favorites on this one so far for me, either, but there are a few I certainly dislike!

With all this going on, I barely have time for my other TV addictions......Lost and Desperate Housewives, to name a couple. Like I said, good thing I have that DVR!

Hello. My name is Bubba's Sis and I am a Prime Time Couch Potato.

To sleep, perchance to dream....

When I sleep, I dream. Vivid, sometimes crazy dreams that I can remember clearly, sometimes for years afterwards (like the one where I was going on a date with Vince Gill and we went ice skating and he had a pet monkey....). I even dream when I nap. I have recurring dreams and random dreams. Perhaps I shall post my dreams on this blog sometimes, both for your amusement and so maybe you psychotherapist-type readers can help me figure out what they mean!!!

But that's for another day.

There are some nights, like last night, when I don't sleep. I don't know why. Sometimes I don't sleep at all - just lightly doze here and there for 5-10 minutes at a time, then lie awake the rest of the time. Some nights I lie awake for hours, songs and thoughts whirling in my head, playing like a movie on the back of my eyelids, until I finally fall asleep just in time to be good and asleep when it's time to get up. Because I haven't done a good list here in a while, I figured this would be a good one -

Ten Things I Think About When I Can't Sleep

1. Things I need to do the next day
2. My next vacation
3. How I will arrange my furniture and things in the new house I want
4. Impacted ear wax (I think I have that right now and I'm somewhat concerned)
5. Whether the people I interact with on a regular basis really like me or are just pretending to
6. What I would do with the money if I won the lottery
7. What I would name another child if I were to miraculously have one
8. Hurtful things that have happened in the past, and why some of them I can let go of and others still kinda piss me off
9. Things to blog about
10. What time I have to get up and how little sleep I am getting.

Of course, there are a million other things that go thru my mind on nights like these, and they are always set to music. I'll get songs in my head that I have no idea how they got in there. I'm weird that way.

So what do you do when you can't sleep? Besides READ, which everyone tells me to do. Sometimes that works for me, sometimes it doesn't. What stuff do you think about?

Sad Sign of the Times

I know what fear is. All my life I have been afraid of things - some irrational, some not - but I know that feeling in the pit of your stomach, that pounding heart, that overwhelming sense of dread. But never in my life did I feel fear at school (except for a tornado drill in 2nd grade that freaked me out a little). I never felt unsafe at school, never worried that I would be harmed or, worse, killed.

Times are different now.

Yesterday Darling Daughter (who is in 7th grade) was absolutely terrified to go to school. It seems that rumors started swirling on Wednesday that gang members would come into the school on Thursday and shoot anyone that was wearing red or blue. EVERYONE was talking about it. The teachers had called a faculty meeting about it. The school officer was on high alert (we didn't even have a school officer when I was in school!).

My first thought was, "Well, just don't wear red or blue tomorrow!", but looking into her tear-filled eyes, I knew that this was very real to her. She was truly afraid.

Of course this was real to her. She has grown up hearing tales of Columbine and other school-shootings; along with tornado drills and fire drills, the schools now also have lock-down drills. More than once has an area school been sent into lock-down for various reasons. When Navy Son was in high school they went into lock-down for hours because of some shooting or knifing threat. She knows that these things do happen, and they can happen here in our suburbian bubble just as well as they can happen in the inner city. My daughter did not want to die at school.

After a phone call to the school I was assured by both the counselor and the principal that they were, indeed, aware of the rumors and they were just that: rumors. Nonetheless, the school security was prevalent on Thursday, and there were no incidents. Darling Daughter did not wear red or blue anyway, just in case. She was nervous all day. My heart ached for her.

No child should have to be afraid at school; no child should have to worry that they will be gunned down for wearing the wrong colors. What kind of society have we created??

Diagnosis

Got in to see my doctor today - after 4 days without a voice, the diagnosis was confirmed: I have laryngitis. I also have bronchitis. So now I'm on an antibiotic and some wicked cough syrup that makes me feel way drunk and sleepy. But I don't seem to be coughing as much, so that's good. Give me a few days and I'll be back to my good ol' self, voice and all.

In the meantime, I must sleep........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

My Happy Place

Just got home from spending a wonderful week in my Happy Place - Disney World. Yes, I know we go there a lot. This was Hubby's and my 6th trip; it was the kids' 5th. We love it there. Even after that many trips, we still did things we had never done before - rode new rides, saw new characters, ate at new restaurants, stayed at a new resort - every trip we take there is different. And every one is magical.

I came home sick this time - it hit me on our last day there - sore throat, bad cough, and no voice. I suspect I have strep throat, but maybe not. Definitely laryngitis. Maybe pneumonia for all I know. We got home at about 10:00 Friday night, so I can't see my doctor until Monday. I'm managing to suffer thru the weekend so far.

Welcome back to real life.

Movie Review

I don't go to the movies very much. It's not that I don't enjoy movies - I just don't usually enjoy the movie theater experience. The prices are too high, the people are annoying....I'd much rather watch from the comfort of my own couch. HOWEVER, I am occasionally persuaded to take in a movie on the big screen. This weekend it was Music and Lyrics, with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore.

I thought this was a great movie! Granted, it is a "chick flick" (altho Hubby enjoyed it, too - I caught him laughing several times!). But it was a good story, funny, and had great music. Anyone who remembers the 80's will get a kick out of how well the music of that time is portrayed. The video is hilarious, and I've been watching it on YouTube several times today! I definitely recommend this movie - and I think I'll even buy the soundtrack.

And now that Hubby has seen Music and Lyrics with me, he wants me to go see Ghost Rider with him. Ugh.

Things I'm Sick of Hearing About

Things I Can't Get Enough Of!

I Wanna Be a Bear

I don't know who authored this, but I like it! Because the Winter Doldrums have got me down....

In My Next Life, I Want to Be a Bear

In my next life, I want to be a bear.
If you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months.
I could deal with that.
Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid.
I could deal with that, too.
If you're a bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute cuddly cubs.
I could definitely deal with that.
If you're a Mama Bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too.
I could deal with that.
If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat. He KNOWS not to get between you and the food.

Yup..... Gonna be a bear.