Excuse me....I am having a rambling fest.

Lately, after dealing with the normal things in life that we deal with, I have asked myself "What are you supposed to be doing?" I immediately answered, hanging out around the house dreaming of the next wall color to paint and being a stay at home mom and wife. Then I woke up. I know that I am not a stay at home person. I say I am but I promise there is no way that I am going to hang out all day long and clean, cook and sew (I like doing two out of the three but you guess which ones) Besides, there is nothing but garbage on the TV during the day and Oprah, Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Jerry Springer, nor Wendy Williams have the interest of me 8 hours of the day. When I am sick, it is ok because my brians are not functioning but alas, I am better than that when I am healthy. Dreaming is good. Wishing is good. Winning the Lottery is good. Being a normal domestic goddess is better. Trust me and work with me here.

I long to stay home with the dogs (my two and Ashley's) and be their servants. Let me out, let me in. Fill my food and water bowl. Move over on the couch. Hurry and make my bed so I can snuggle in my favorite blanket. HEY! Did you just open the pantry and NOT get me out my treats? What are you cooking? Are you going to finish eating that? Would you please flush the toilet so I can have fresh cold water? Pet me. Pet me more. I will make you pet me.

I long to stay home with the cats. Oh the Cats the low maintenence (cough cough) cats. Their food dish better be full or they scream at you. Their water bowls better be fresh or they scream at you. Literally. You never get to take a shower alone because they wait at the door and make feel guilty because they are outside your bathroom door crying. You had better make sure that Little Gray gets her outside play time or, like this morning, she will start eating a very important piece of paper. It was almost like she was saying "Ha! Watch this you people who will not let me outside" Hilarious. Simon is a Siamese Himalayan kitty who we adopted many years ago and that boy is about 10 lbs. HUGE! He came that way and loves to knead on you while you are laying down with enough force that he can crack a rib. Then there is Buddy who is the turtle of the bunch. Old and slow and not a care in the world except for you to get out of bed in the morning so he can have your warm spot. Buddy is an in your face cat and if he cannot get into your face, he will lay down and push his face against your arm so you cannot move.

I am convinced that I will never be home alone BUT.....can someone please teach an animal to dust and vacuum as that would be the ultimate and life will be grand. OH! and please teach them to make a mean vodka tonic and serve it to me by the pool.

The "S" Word ......PANIC!

Before I start, I want all my friends from the north to imagine living here in the south, where the "S" word appears maybe, and I say maybe, two times in the winter. The "S" word is something that sends panic into all southerners driving them to run to the store and buy eggs, milk and bread. We affectionately call it French Toast Day. Why do people feel the need to get those three items? I would think that beer, potato chips and cokes would be more fitting but no........eggs, milk and bread are the ONLY things needed at the market. The mention of the"S" word and the shelves are bare. Not a loaf in sight, ziltch, nada, none.

Schools here close at the first sign of a cold front coming through. Nothing has to fall from the sky and schools are canceled. CLOSED because it MIGHT snow!! Mind you, my family in West Virginia have over 2 feet on the ground and school is delayed 1 hour and all the buses are running. WTH?

This year, after the first mention of the white fluffy stuff began, we went to home depot and bought some items to make sleds so we can zip down our hill. Nothing elaborate, just something that can accommodate Andrew and Alex (and Mike and I) when the precip appears. Marlite and good old fashioned rope. Forget the expensive discs, the slick sled did the job! Then........it happened! It snowed about 4 inches....woo hoo! School was closed, businesses were closed and we were out to play! The boys played for about an hour before they started to freeze. You see, here in the south, we do not have the heavy boots and down jackets so we have to layer jackets and put 3 pairs of socks on covered by a duct taped wrapped Ziploc bags. No lie......True Story.



The boys each built a snowman which was riddled with leaves, nasty dirty leaves. I call it a southern snowman as I tried to brush the leaves off so their snowmen would not look like a dalmatian puppy. Tsssk Tsssk.

Curse the "S" word they say! How can anyone hate snow? I am Southern by location but I am a Northerner at heart. I love snow, I love to be out in it, I love to stand out in the silence of the night and listen to the snow. I love when the meteorologists predict snow and this year, I MADE SNOW CREAM, something I was very proud ! Don't get me wrong, I still laugh at the southern folk who freak out and I love to pretend I am one of them.......its a good excuse to leave work early!

The next time you are in the middle of a snowfall, take a minute to go outside and listen. That "S" word is a gift from God.

Ashley and her New Nashville Adventure

How many of you have had children move away? How many of you wish you children would move away?

Ashley, our 27 year old daughter, has made a decision to and has moved east to Nashville to go to school and prayerfully, in a few years, begin a career in nursing. Nashville is not too far from us but in the eyes of a mother, it is a million miles away. I knew it was coming but if you know me and it is NOT in my face, it is not happening. Well, it happened all during the week of Christmas and New Years.

Now, who moves in the middle of a Holiday? Ashley does. There is shopping and wrapping and holiday parties to attend. But Ashley is moving. There is baking and cooking and hiding gifts and family visits and decoratingto do, but Ashley is moving. I can say that now since she is gone but I swear, I wanted to SCREAM! (As she more than likely did too) Bless their hearts, she recruited help from her friend Hope, her sister Natalie, Natalie's friend Lisa, myself and her Poppa, friends Jake and Chad and Andrew, who helped moved a washer and dryer (Andrew weighs 68 pounds soaking wet). At one point, her Untin John even showed up with a trailer! So even after all the fussing, she did have help. Please do not even let me forget her Aunt Victoria...the cleaning queen who was there with rags, cleaning supplies and the vacuum cleaner that Mike threatened to do bodily harm to her with. No one died in the process but the cats absolutely thought we were doing an reinactment of Hiroshima.

Mom and Dad and Andrew Waving Bye Bye to Ashley

After finishing the packing, Ash finally pulled down I-40 on Tuesday, the 4th of January. We met and cried and I made her promise to make all the right decisions and giving her the "I know this is the perfect opportunity" talk. I do know this is right for her, but I dont like her being three hours from her mom. As she left, she handed me a Jared's bag (SHE WENT TO JARED'S) with a charm called Lotsa Love which I think she just wanted me to cry more.

Luckily, both she and I have great friends in Nashville who sent their phone numbers to her "just in case" so she really does have a million eyes and helping hands in her new adventures. Her BFF Patty is 2 1/2 hours from her and her sister Kinsey will be attending MTSU in the fall which is 1 hour away.

The most important hands around her are the hands of our Lord and Shepherd and I ask that everyone continues to pray for her and her focus.

Be warned my friends..... your child will go from tiny to an adult with a HUGE Margarita in a blink of an eye.

Good Luck, Congratulations, God Speed and here's to you Baby Ashley!