-May 10-

Whew!  It's been awhile!  I don't know what I've even been doing to make me too busy to sit down and write on this, but I know that every time I think about it, I have 20 things I have to do before I can post!

I'm so sad you didn't get your sharpies and Phase 10 cards.  I saw your "Blue Like Jazz" t-shirt here and was kicking myself for not sending that too, but now I'm glad I didn't.  You're Mozambique-bound today.  I'll bet that's going to be a huge change in culture!  I can't wait to hear all about it!

One thing I wanted to let you know is that things have calmed down here and they're pretty much back to normal.  I'll fill you in on the details when I talk to you, but it's not something I want to air on the blogesphere.

I sent out Garrison's graduation announcements last week.  I can't believe we're finally here!  It really seems like the year just started, and now we're 2 weeks away from it being over.  The kids are out of their minds with excitement!  Garrison is just planning to work all summer, and Maddie is wanting to get a job, but I don't think many places hire kids under 16.  I think she's tired of being broke, but it would be nice for her to have something to occupy her time.  Ariel is going to be staying here for about three weeks when school is out (again, another story to be told in person), so she is SOOOO excited about that.  

Since baccalaureate is on Sunday, we're having Nina & Grandaddy and Geema and Keypa over for lunch to celebrate Mother's day. 



-June 3-

Got distracted and never quite finished that blog.  Haha!  Mother's Day went well.  I insisted on making roast since it's the easiest big meal we can have.  Dad wanted to grill shish-ka-bobs and have the kids and him prepare lunch for the mom's <- (kidding!!), but things are just too complicated when we're trying to get out the door on Sunday afternoon.  I got Nina and Geema a flower in a cute little flowerpot and Brooke and Maddie helped me get everything set up and looking pretty!  It was fun.  We went to Baccalaureate that afternoon.  It was as thrilling as usual.  Not really.  It was pretty good.  We had it at FBC, and had the reception among the masses in the fellowship hall.  I'll try to actually get some pictures up tomorrow while you have internet. 

There has been so much chaos and so much drama at home that we've all been barely able to function.  Chaos relating to graduation and drama around Maddie and Garrison making some really unfortunate choices with their lives, so the house has been pretty much on lockdown, and we've been round and round with both of them.  Dad and Garrison's relationship has struggled, struggled, struggled.  Dad and I need your prayers for wisdom.  We thought he was going to move out a few times.  It's still kind of out there, but for right now, I think he's staying home.

I think he's actually getting excited about starting college.  He is very determined to go to med school.  Maybe he finally has the motivation to give school all he's got!  I hope so.  I would love to see him really blow it out of the water.  He talked to Uncle Geoff for a long time at a reception we had for Kyle, James, and him at FBC the Sunday after graduation.  Now he's talking becoming an anesthesiologist. 

The reception was kind of funny.  Lots of people came for Kyle, a few (I think) for James, and for Garrison, it was Nina and Grandaddy, right on time, Ray and Robert Junior about 45 min after we started, Keron Showalter, Rusty Hill, Geema and Keypa about an hour after we started (so that Ray and Robert weren't quite sure what to do with themselves for about 30 min. after the initial introductions and salutations) and then Uncle Geoff and kids about 30 min before we wrapped up.  It was come and go, so I don't begrudge anyone for showing up late.  It was just REALLY hilariously awkward.  Garrison said he really didn't know anyone there, which was really funny.  I think everyone thought that this reception was for the whole senior class since it wasn't at our house.  Anyway, we survived it, and I told him he could have a friend party at our house when he wants to.

All for this second.  I'm going to try to write more before I leave work if I have time, but definitely more tomorrow if I can't.

Miss you soooo soooo, oh so very much!!!!!

I love you, Baby,

Mom

Prom, Easter, and other such things

 -Written April 10th-


 I'm sure you've see that last weekend was prom.  Garrison was surprisingly excited, even though NONE of his friends were going.  I'm glad he listened to Dad, when Dad told him he would regret not going to the prom.  I think he considered that somewhat, but more than anything, I think he wanted to do something special with Chloe, and possibly show her off.  He and Chloe went to pick out the tux without my even being aware of it, but he sure complained about the cost (shocker!!).  I did talk it over with Dad, and we decided we'd pay for the tux since we bought you girls a dress, shoes, hair, and all that. 

Anyway, the Wed before prom, I got this text from Garrison:

"Alright, two questions..
First, what is a corsage
(I think I have an idea on
what it is), and secondly,
where the heck do I get
it/one?"

Got me a good little mom chuckle on that.  I guess I never even thought about it!  I helped him out and Ann's Secret Garden did a really good job on it.  You've seen the pics on facebook, I'm sure. 

Chloe was grounded from her phone (something about texting Garrison that her mom said she looked fat in a dress or some such other drama and her mom seeing the text) which put a damper on the day, but once they were finally ready and got together for pictures, all was well.  They looked really great, and I think Garrison was very proud of himself.  I worried they wouldn't have fun since none of his friends would be there, but I shouldn't have.  He said on Sunday morning that they had a blast. 

I looked on facebook after I posted Garrison's pics and noticed that 99% of all the guys had black tuxes with black or grey ties.  I wondered if Garrison would be embarrassed of his HOT PINK tie AND vest.  He certainly would not have been missed.  I also noticed that while most of the other guys had on tennis shoes or very casual shoes, Garrison had patent leather black shoes with a high, high shine.  Again, I shouldn't have been worried.  He said, "I don't mean to brag, but I think I was the most dressed up guy there.  Everyone's tux looked exactly the same!"  I just love him.  He just doesn't care what other people think.  He did NOT get that from his mommy. 

All the kids broke out the boiled eggs and egg dye on Saturday morning and boiled 6 eggs apiece.  Even your brother.  He just said, "Might as well!"  I was glad he did.   Of course there was the obligatory Keep egg, and the flat smile egg, but miraculously no brown (dipped in every color) egg.  It was fun, but we sure missed having you there with us.  We had Nina and Grandaddy over for lunch, and no one would hide eggs with Brooke, so the festivities ended with lunch.  


We spent several nights leading up to Easter going through the Artist Bible daily Easter reading plan.  If it didn't touch the hearts of anyone else in the family, it sure did me. 

Sleep and guns

As you know, for a good long while, Dad and I have been in need of a new mattress.  Since I took the week off from work, we decided to shop around for a mattress yesterday.  We didn't have any intention of buying one, but thought we would just see what was out there.  We went to Penn Square into a store called "Mattress Firm".  They sell Tempur Pedic mattresses there.  Another name for Tempur Pedic mattress is "Heaven".  We tried them out and wanted to just lie there the rest of the day.  They even have adjustable beds that can raise the head and foot of the bed to take the strain off your back.  I used to mistakenly think these were for old farts, but they either aren't only for old farts, or I'm now an old fart.  We visited one other mattress store, but there was no comparison.  We started the day thinking that we were looking for a sleep number bed, where you adjust the firmness of the mattress, but after lying on the Tempur Pedic, the Sleep Number couldn't hold a candle.  

Needless to say the TP mattress is not cheap, but we knew we would be spending a pretty good bit to get a mattress as firm as we needed it to be.  Dad has to sleep on the floor most every night now because our mattress gives him a backache.  We have a lot of pretty big expenses right now, so we really didn't want to spend the money on the mattress just yet.  We tried to figure out how we could make it work as soon as possible, including looking on Craigslist to see if by some chance there might be one for sale on there.  Kinda grody, but we really want Dad to be able to get some relief, not to mention that I've really been wanting a bed that I could set my glass of wine on and not worry about it spilling while Dad jumps up and down on his side of the bed.  We were also needing a bed that is so comfortable that we don't even need sheets or covers while I'm trying to sleep and Dad sits up to read the newspaper.  See how happy we would be?

We couldn't find anything on Craigslist, so Dad tried rigging up his own adjustable bed with pillows last night.  He informed me this morning that the ghetto Tempur Pedic did not work at all.  We're convinced at this point that we will never sleep again until we have a TP mattress of our own.  

Today we took Garrison, Maddie, and Chloe out to Lexington, OK to a free gun range to shoot.  Dad has been begging me to come shoot with them, and I really just wanted to tag along and watch, so I went.  I'm not ashamed to say that guns scare me to death, and I have no desire whatsoever to shoot anything stronger than an BB gun, and I can take or leave that.  Anyway, he has a 9mm, a 45(?, I think, but don't hold me to it), and Garrison has a shotgun.  Dad finally coaxed me to come shoot with them.  I realized that I will never be much threat with a gun, because when I'm holding them and trying to pull the trigger, I close my eyes in anticipation of the loud "boom" the gun makes when it shoots.  Needless to say, I'm not a very good shot.  I'm glad I had on sunglasses so the other people there watching me shoot with my eyes closed wouldn't laugh at me.   Then I tried Garrison's shotgun.  I stood up held up the gun, ready to shoot.  Dad told me that if I shot it the way I was standing, the kick from the gun would push me over backwards.  I'm sure everyone there would have enjoyed seeing that, but thankfully I changed my position before I pulled the trigger.  I really enjoyed going, but am as convinced as ever that guns are not my forte.  I just hope that if someone ever breaks in that they are scared to just have a gun in front of them.  That's probably as scary as I'll ever be.  Or maybe Boomie's snoring will scare them off, or maybe they would trip over his sleeping body and hit their head and I could just roll them out the front door and call the police.  

After we got back we decided to get a quick dinner.  We initially planned to go to Bueno, but Dad has been wanting to try a new Mexican food restaurant nearby.  It's a little place, but he said it's always packed, and he wanted to see if it lived up to the hype. It's called Birrieria Don Arthur, Simplemente La Mejor.  Just kind of rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?  I should have known I was in trouble when we walked into the front door, and all the "No shirt, no shoes, no service"-like signs were in Spanish.  I couldn't find a word anywhere in English. 

 Those kind of places intimidate me, because I don't know what kind of food I'm ordering.  "Yes, I'll have the Coctel De Camaron Y Pulpo, Chico-sized, but would you please hold the cow tongue and the pork brain and add extra cheese?"  I did find tacos,  enchiladas and burritos, but had no idea what any of the ingredients were.  I decided to play it semi-safe and order a chicken enchilada.   I asked her what the other ingredients were, and the waitress told me "chicken, cheese, pork skins, lettuce, potatoes, and jalapeños."  I can make that work, but please leave out the pork skins and jalapeños, thanks.  It ended up being pretty good, but I took pictures of the menu so I could learn what the food was before I came back.  Of course it's Dad's new favorite place. Always the adventurer.

I need to be food brave like you, but I'm just a big fat food weiny.

Love you so much!!!

Mom

Pedi day

Today was the 2nd day of Spring break, and the first day of spring.  Yesterday was rainy, rainy, rainy, and I loved it!!!! Dark and thundery and a perfect day to veg at home.  That's what I did all day, except the obligatory daily (or what feels like daily) trip to Wal-Mart.  Today was lunch at Chick-Fil-A with girlies and pedicure day.  Here are my toes:

I enjoyed our time, but wished so bad you were with us.  It just isn't the same.  But I keep reminding myself that you guys can't live with me forever, no matter how much I wish you could.  I'm thinking we could all just become a big commune.  Wouldn't that be fun? You could even invite your friends to come live with us!


As you know, Sunday was Geema's birthday.  Things went really well.  I told Brooke that, surprisingly, lunch turned out perfectly.  The roast was big enough and still tender, we had enough mashed potatoes even for Keypa, the rolls rose nicely and cooked perfectly, and the pound cake was moist and didn't cave in when I pulled it out of the oven.  It was shocking.  I'm not taking the credit.  It was just a lucky day.  Geema seemed to really have a great time.  She showed up an hour early with Grayson, Garrett, and Emma.  I was still cooking, and not yet expecting company, and was slightly annoyed, especially when Grayson came in the kitchen with two huge grocery bags filled with ingredients, announcing that he was going to make chocolate chip cookies.  I told him, "We'll see! But the kitchen is really full and busy right now!" As you know, this means, "No freaking way you're going to get in the middle of everything and make an even bigger mess!".  I know.  I'm a terrible aunt.  Geema felt bad about showing up early and went in, even after I insisted that she relax, and cleaned the upstairs bathroom.  I felt really bad for being annoyed with her.   I think she enjoyed lunch though.  She acted like it, anyway.


Garrett spent the entire time announcing that he had a sore throat and didn't feel well.  I heard that approximately every five minutes, except when he stopped to tell me that he was now 5'10", and almost as tall as Garrison.


I took Garrison to a dermatologist today.  We went because his face has been really broken out, until about 2 days ago.  I haven't seen it this clear for about a year, so I think the dermatologist thought I was 1) Lying, or 2) incredibly vain, or maybe both.  When the nurse (or whoever it was that checked us in) asked if Garrison's current medicine was working, he just waved at his face, essentially saying, "Well, dumb butt, just see for yourself," and I had to say, "His face has looked like a pizza for about a year until about two days ago, and of course, since we had an appointment with a dermatologist, it completely cleared up and made his mom look like a total idiot."  Not really, but you get the gist. He pretty much acted like he couldn't have cared less about his complexion, even though he ALWAYS takes his pills and uses his acne cream and is quick to let me know when they're almost out.  We only went because the pediatrician, whom (who?) he hasn't seen about 2 years, stopped refilling his prescriptions.  While we were there, he remembered that he had some warts on his fingers, so he had those frozen off.  I watched her spray liquid nitrogen on his fingers and just about died watching his fingers turn a deathly white.  She looked over at me and said, "He didn't even flinch!"  I just had to laugh.  Of course I had to tell her how he didn't cry when he got immunizations as a baby, as if that made him super-brave or made me the best mom ever.  Sometimes (often) I have no idea why the words I say fly out of my mouth.  Anyway, it was a productive visit, and we're trying new creams.  We go back in 2 months, and if these don't work we'll try something new. She said one wart-freezing treatment doesn't usually do the trick, so we may be re-freezing the warts too, so Garrison can prove his bravery, thus confirming my amazing mom-qualifications.


So glad we got to see and talk to you Sunday!  I know everyone thought it was fun to have you a part of the day!  Keypa was sitting beside Geema the whole time she was Skyping with you. He acted like he was scared to talk to you.  It was so weird!


Love you!!


Mom

HELLFIRE

I found this on our front porch last night.  I thought about what an effective way this was to win people to Christ!  Scare the Hell out of them!!  I don't know why in the world Jesus himself didn't use this most effective method of bringing his disciples to Him!  What was He thinking??!!!

I started Searching for God Knows What last night.  I could barely get through it because I was laughing so much.  When it started with, "It was in a big hotel down South and hotels always make me uncomfortable because the bedding is so fluffy and the television swivels, and who makes coffee in the bathroom?", I knew I was going to love it.  If you want to buy other books on the Nook, go ahead, within reason of course.  :)

After I don't know how many years, I cleaned out my closet last week.  I was trying so hard to stick to the "if you haven't worn it in a year, get rid of it" rule, but I failed. I'm pretty sure that I only wear about 4 things, especially now that I don't wear dresses to church on Sunday anymore.  How depressing!  On the bright side, I filled up two huge Sam's bags with clothes that I can donate to the poor people who only have millions of others' discarded clothing items from which to choose their wardrobe.   Kinda makes me sick about all the waste in this country.  But that doesn't keep me from wanting to go pick up a few new items so maybe I'll have 5 or 6 things to wear instead of 4.  What is wrong with me???!!!

Just got finished Skyping with you for a whole hour!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!  That was fun! It was so nice seeing you and your long hair and your tan face and meeting your friends!! I loved your story about your new Turkish friends.  Please write that story down somewhere.  You can even put it on this blog if you want.  

Nina and Granddaddy are getting new phones soon.  Their contracts are up in April, and they've decided that they want a phone like one of their friends has.  It is a smart phone that has phone service and a great camera!  You don't have to have a data plan or messaging, but I think the phone has the capacity to have these things.  I just had to laugh when they were talking about it.  I guess I still have to be proud that they're in their 70's and use a cell phone and a computer.

Ok, I'd better go.  I still need to shower, and to start getting the house clean for the big Taylor sha-bang on Sunday.  I have no earthly idea what to get Geema for her birthday.  Maybe I'll get her a gift card.  She always says how she likes those.

Love you, Babe!

Mom

Fallopian tubes, laundry, rotten green beans, and other things

Boomer refused to stand up to have his picture made

In this picture, it looks like he's saying, "MOOOOOOM! Stop taking my picture!"

The motherlode of green beans for Boomie!

I was at work yesterday and was with a patient who was having a PET scan (a scan for people who have or had cancer), and was talking to another guy who was waiting to have his scan done.  He was telling me that he had lung cancer, but they couldn't remove it surgically because it was in his lung tubes.  "I can't remember what they're called.  Is it fallopian tubes?  Yeah, it was in my fallopian tubes."  I couldn't even correct him, because I was afraid I would laugh out loud instead of in my head.  I just bit my lip and nodded.

In trying to organize my life better, I'm considering having all the kids do their own laundry.  That will work great for Brooke and probably for Maddie, but I'm thinking not so much for Garrison.  I can't decide how much pain and suffering I want to cause myself.  As I thought through my great idea, I figured it would go something like this:  Brooke would wash her things about every other day, dry them, fold them, and put them in her room.  Maddie would wash her things about once a week (hopefully when they're dirty and have been worn once or twice, dry them the next day, and put them in her room).  Garrison would wear his clothes, throw them in the hamper, get them out of the hamper when he needed them and they weren't clean, listen to me fuss because his clothes are dirty and/or smelling, throw them in the washer after I nagged him about it for days, forget about them, throw them in the dryer after I fussed at him, forget about them, get them out piece by piece as he need them, no matter how wrinkled they are (embarrassing me because he's wearing horribly wrinkled pants to work), and finally taking the pile of wadded clothes in his room and putting them on his dresser.  I just don't know if the mental stress is worth saving the few minutes of physical work.  Probably not.

By the way, James is now working at Jersey Mike's with Garrison!  They are both "pumped" about it!  Garrison told me he has about $6000 in the bank right now.  He wants to have $10,000 in the bank before he starts college.  The boy has a plan.  I think he wants to be able to buy a house after college.  I don't know where he got his incredible saving skills.  Probably Granddaddy.

I walked in on Garrison getting CHEWED OUT by his girlfriend's (we'll call her CJ) mom the other night.  Dad and I were LIVID.  It ended up with Dad calling CJ's dad back and telling them not to interfere in our parenting our son, and if they have issue with something Garrison is doing, they need to take it up with Dad or me.  Dad and CJ's dad met at McDonalds in person on Monday and sort of smoothed things out, but Dad did not back down.  I'm glad.  He didn't need to.  We have told Garrison that it is never to happen again, and if it does, we'll be dealing directly with the mom.  It was really messy, but pretty much over for now.

Boomie continues to get skinnier (well, smaller.  I won't get ahead of myself).  I took a couple of pics that I'll upload later.  I'm at work now.  I was buying him Wal-Mart brand canned green beans, which I thought were the cheapest.  Then I found Green Giant green beans, which were 6 cents a can cheaper.  I was pumped!  He thinks he's getting fancy green beans now, and they're cheaper!  Dad said he found a can of Green Giant green beans at the office that expired a year ago.  He's going to bring them home to give to Boomie.  Nothing but the best for our dogs!

Gotta run!  I'll upload pics within the next couple of days, or tomorrow if I don't work.  I'm on call and figure I'll probably get called in.

Can't wait to hear about your Romania experiences!!

I love you!

Mom

Lent

I forgot to tell you on my post yesterday that I gave up "Friends" for Lent. Thought you'd get a kick out of that. Haha!