My kryptonite...............

I would categorize myself as a pretty tough chick. I handle physical pain very well. Emotional on the other hand...........well, that's a different story entirely. Anyway, I'm getting off track here. Maybe tough isn't the word I'm looking for here...............maybe it's lucky. I don't have seasonal allergies, asthma, depression, migraines, etc. I do however, produce kidney stones at a rapidly alarming rate! I have passed more stones than years I've been alive. But that, however is not what this is about. Besides kidney stones(which seems to be my only painful flaw) I am allergic to only one thing. It is not life threatening, but it has plagued me my entire life. It took years to figure out exactly what it was. It is my kryptonite. It hides in numerous foods that I unknowingly consume and now it appears that I am also susceptible if I touch it. Being such a shy girl in school, I can remember being mortified when someone would point out to me that my face was covered in splotches. But more often than not, I would be asked if someone had slapped me. Me? I hardly spoke a word in school to anyone. Why would anyone slap me? Anyway, my kryptonite just so happens to be red #40. This is in Cherry icees, orange flavored popsicles, liquid medicines, the list goes on and on. Well, I normally avoid these things at all costs, but last night I wasn't feeling well. Everyone here at my house has had a little bit of a sore throat this week, so I took some liquid cough medicine ran the bath and collapsed into the hot water. As soon as I opened my eyes I realized something was missing. I'd forgotten to add a scented bubble bath to the water. Feeling quite lazy and not wanting to move much at all............and instead of taking the two seconds it takes to stand up & reach into the cabinet for my bubble bath, I layed back and reached for Mag's blackberry scented shampoo and added a little of that to the running water. After my bath I felt much better. But, within the hour I'd started itching. Dry skin, I decided. So I added one more coat of lotion. Long story short, I woke up in the night covered from head to toe with hives. I'd not only ingested red #40 in my cough syrup, but soaked in it as well. Now that the kids are off to school and the house is quiet and no questions need to be answered.................I finally allowed myself to take a Benadryl and another bath(this time blackberry scent-free). So, if you ever want to embarrass me or just make fun of me................throw a little red #40 on me and sit back and enjoy the show.

Out of the mouth of a seven year old...............

My little Maggie never fails to amaze me. She is known for wanting to try things much earlier than the normal child. She feels there is nothing she can't do and this pleases me to no end. By the time she could walk, she could swim. And by the time she entered pre-k she was already head over heels in love with a boy. At first this was cute, but I now have to remind her on a daily basis that kissing boys is not acceptable for a 7 year old girl. Her latest obsession that she must defeat is shaving her legs. My 7 year old, 2nd grader is now insisting on shaving her legs. She cried about wearing shorts this morning because boys wouldn't like her hairy legs. I tried to assure her that boys are certainly NOT looking at her legs. But, that was apparently beside the point. "They might!", she said "and then what will they think? They'll think I'm a boy!!!", she accused. I told her that no one would ever mistake her for a boy, but what do I know? In her eyes I'm just a mom who was never a little girl and who couldn't possibly understand any of this. She was so upset that I almost considered allowing her to shave her legs. Crazy? Yea, I know. It passed pretty quick..........don't worry. My final answer was that she could shave her legs in the 5th grade. You should have seen the shocked look on her face. And then something happened and I could literally see the wheels turning in her mind. And here it comes, I thought. "Well, Ryley's in 5th grade and you don't let him shave.", she said. Really? This was how she was going to win me over? So I said, "Ryley will never shave his legs, no matter how old he gets.". "His face, MOM!", she barked back at me. "I hate to disappoint you honey, but Ryley is no where near needing to shave his face. He has to wait even longer than you do to start shaving.", I said. This was not working out for her. Would she quietly accept defeat? Absolutely! Defeated? Beaten? Not in her eyes. You see, right there in that last statement was all that mattered. She was going to beat Ryley. Life's just a big competition to my little Mag. And I know she will always come out on top. She would make a hell of a lawyer. Even at seven she can usually bring up valid points and work angles I'd never think of. So, today's battle is finished.......................but only until I pick them up from school which will most certainly involve another!!!

The Fart Fan Blues................

It seems that my life revolves around when and if I can sneak into the bathroom unnoticed. That's sad, isn't it? The kids..........or Kirk for that matter, will ignore me all day until I sneak into the restroom. Then, all of the sudden I am in high demand. I do not understand this. I'm so quiet........I tip toe all the way down the hall............silently close the bathroom door................turn on the sink to wet my tooth brush...........and let out a sigh. "I've made it!", I think as I smile into the mirror. As soon as the tooth brush enters my mouth the questions begin from the other side of the door. Or more often than not.............the accusations. My bathroom comes equipped with a "fart fan"(as Kirk so lovingly calls it) that turns on with the light. I cannot switch this off to listen to thousands of questions unless I want to be in total darkness. So, when I don't answer, they repeat everything a little louder. Then comes "MOM!!! Are you listening to me??????", followed by knocking.........and eventually pounding on the door. I am good at tuning out. It's a skill I've worked long and hard at perfecting. That's terrible to admit, isn't it? But for some reason, in this small, confined space..................I cannot! I have been cried to, yelled at and accused of things inside that little room that I honestly thought I had no control over. Clearly I am to blame for chipped fingernail polish, nose bleeds, the internet not working, the cable not working, thunderstorms, a cell phone being dead, an iPod being dead, Ryley yelling at Maggie, Maggie yelling at Ryley, Bailey hitting Ryley, Ryley hitting Bailey back..................the list goes on and on! I'm sure one of these days, not far from now...........I will miss this. But right now, that hardly seems possible!

Go Big or Go Home!



My life of healthy living is paved with good intentions......I have decided to embark on something completely new to me...........an elevated fall garden of proportionately SMALL size planted in ONLY composted material!

An elevated garden is something completely new to me. And I can honestly say that having a garden no bigger than a sheet of plywood is also new. I'm usually a "Go big or go home" kind of girl, so small is rather new to me. And using only compost to grow these vegetables in is also somewhat of a foreign concept to me. I, like most organic gardeners use it as an additive only. I am a BIG composter..........nothing goes to waste at my house........what doesn't go to the chickens can usually be used in the compost bin. Leftover food(as long as it is some type of plant life), shredded newspaper, grass clippings, leaves and chicken droppings(these are very beneficial for composting.......the bacteria helps speed up the composting) are all compostable at my house. But as I said, I am new to this. So, this time around we're going small. So far it seems to be working out very well. Weeding is a piece of cake, a sprinkler isn't necessary and the dogs will not dig holes next to my collards. It's a win/win situation...................so far!

Here's my baby collards. They are doing extremely well.

 

My butter crisp lettuce is the biggest of the bunch. It seems to LOVE it!

 

Buckle up...............

Having been in and lived through a horrific car accident seventeen years ago, I can't imagine EVER forgetting to wear my seatbelt. But more importantly, ever forgetting my children's seatbelt. More times than I can count, I have watched people drive by with no regard to seatbelt laws or safety. This morning as I was stopped at the red light at the intersection of Moseley and Reid, a car passed by with a woman driving holding a baby. She was smiling and she kissed the baby on the head as they passed. It was apparent that she loved this baby...................but doesn't driving HOLDING a baby contradict this? What if I hadn't been paying attention and ran through the red light? I just don't understand this. We, as a society know how dangerous driving can be. And I understand how hard it is to listen to your baby cry for you in their car seat. I understand sleepless nights. I understand being in a hurry.............I understand many things. But, this.........this one thing I do not understand. Does it really take a life changing car accident to make someone wear their seatbelt? Very few people know that because of my accident I have a piece of my life completely gone. It begins one day and then skips over a few weeks and begins again. On one hand, I know that I am lucky to not remember any of the accident or the recovery days that followed, but I can't tell you how hard I've tried to focus on it, to just remember one thing. Just one! I have numerous scars inside and out to keep my memory of that day alive, but only stories of the actual event and the days and weeks that followed it. To me, it is like a dream, because as hard as I try to find those memories............they're just not there. Sometimes when the family starts reliving "the accident" I think that I've remembered something. But, I've heard the stories so many times and pictured them in my head that I'm sure I'm just living it through them. That was the day, so they say, that the old Becky died...............and the meaner one took her place. I remember who I was and I remember many people. And over the years, my memory has gotten better. But for a long time after the accident people would speak to me when I'd be out shopping or at work.......................and I'd have no idea who they were. I remembered people who were my center, my heart. But even in the beginning it was apparent that I didn't even remember them. And I can't imagine how that must have felt to them. But those people were the first to come back to me. Kirk, Mama, Daddy, the boys, playing with Gabe when we were little, Melissa............but that was about it. I remember driving to the grocery in Welaka that day. I remember thinking what a cute, little store it was and what a small town Welaka really is. I remember thinking that I hoped Kirk remembered to use my id# at Scotty's to get a discount on the living room paint. I remember driving home. And then, it just stops. And I'm not exactly sure when it starts back up again. I drove the epitome of what people refer to as a "muscle car". It was built for speed. I loved my cutlass. I loved the color, I loved the sound of the motor when I revved it up and I loved the attention it gave such a shy girl. It was beautiful. It was royal blue and I'd give anything to still have it. Ryley would have loved it. I wish I'd been sane enough to ask Kirk or mom to save something from the car for me before it was hauled away to the junk yard. The one thing I'd want...................and this is going to sound really strange.....................is the driver side door lock. It was silver with a small point and unscrewed from the door. It was also the thing that gave me one of my numerous scars. As I was thrown from the car through my open window, I was pulled along that lock on my left side. And for some reason..............out of the whole car..................that is what I'd keep. And maybe the steering wheel. Is that weird? I felt so small, yet so big when I drove that car. Making myself drive again was hard after the accident. That was a huge step for me. I felt like I couldn't remember how to do anything. I couldn't remember people, I couldn't remember how to match my clothes...........I couldn't remember simple things. And then one day, it gradually started coming back. But that one small space in my life is still gone. I can't believe I've rambled on about this for so long. I hardly ever think about the accident any more. But today, seeing that.............for some reason, it brought it all back. If you've managed to make it through this whole blog...........please, please, please try to remember to wear your seatbelt. It is so important. I wasn't wearing mine on that day so long ago and I am still alive, but I firmly believe you're only allowed so many close calls. So take a few seconds and do something for yourself or for your family or for the stranger who's life may forever be changed because of you................and buckle up.

I love my handyman!

In case you are new to this blog.........................here at our house, we are engaged in an on-going battle with our air conditioner. This summer has been our most trying yet. It seems that every week something else needs to be repaired. In a perfect world we'd have just broken down and bought a new a./c. But, since my life is far from perfect & I am a stay at home mom with 3 kids and a husband to feed, we do what has to be done to make the old girl keep running. This weeks a/c fiasco started at the end of last week. Kirk and I were awakened to a terrible, loud sound coming from outside. We ran outside only to realize, yet again.........that it was our a/c making that noise. Since we live in the city, it wouldn't be fair to subject our neighbors to that horrible, loud, screeching sound. So, we turned it off and decided it could wait until morning. Bright and early Friday morning, Kirk disassembled the old girl and found the new problem. The fan blade itself needed to be replaced because in the center of the blade, the piece that holds it on to the shaft of the motor had literally disintegrated. Kirk looked up replacement blades, but I could tell that it all came back to his famous phrase of, "if it's made of metal, I can fix it". I could see his mind working this over, but he didn't share his idea with me until two days later. After suffering for days with no a/c, I finally agreed that since it was already broken, it wouldn't hurt to try and make the missing piece out of metal and then weld it to the blade. So, off he went to weld as happy as if I'd just told him I'd bought him a new truck. Nothing, absolutely nothing makes him happier than welding.

Look how happy he is holding the welding gun...................

Here he is welding the fabricated piece onto the blade...................

I don't know how many times I asked him, "do you think it will work?".

And finally........................the moment of truth. Was he really able to fabricate the missing piece out of metal and then weld it on????? Yep, that's exactly what he did! And it worked! The balance isn't quite right, but that seems to be his only complaint with his work. As for me, the fan is running, the a/c is working and I am one happy girl! Life is good.....................and nice and cool once again and it didn't cost us one penny!

Our day at Hanna Park.................



We had such a good time today visiting Grandma  Mary & Big Daddy at Hanna Park in Jacksonville......

My little Maggie-Moo has had her snack and is now ready to wear it down to the beach!

Aunt Marsha & Zoe having their snack.............

Uncle Joshie with his favorite little girl..........................

Grandma & Mama are ready!

Ryley is patiently waiting for the fun to begin.....................

This is a picture that Ryley took looking up from the camp site and I just loved it........

Daddy & Maggie using the outdoor shower to rinse off all the sand.....................

Maggie loves striking poses for us!

She's our little diva!

Mag & Grandma are completely worn out after spending time at the water park, beach & playground. It was a wonderful day for the whole family!