fascination

WARNING- grossness alert!
if you have a weak stomach or are not used to small children, STOP reading now!!

t.willie and i were on our way to cookeville this morning. it takes about 25 minutes through rural hills and curves and is not a bad ride at all. well, as i like to keep an eye on what the lad is doing during a drive, i have my rear view mirror aimed at him. so, he is reading his books and chatting away, but then he gets kinda quiet.

i look up to see him pulling a juicy booger-snot out of his nose, and as usual, i reached back to hand him a tissue. now, he is a bright boy and usually neatly wipes the results of his nose-mining into the tissue. not this time. he held the tissue in the one hand but was fixated on the slimey thing on his finger in the other hand. and, as i watched, he put his finger and thumb together and watched as the booger-snot stretched as he pulled the fingers apart!

i chuckled a little as i told him to put it in his tissue, but he ignored me. open, close, open, close- he couldn't get enough of the stretching snot! no matter how many times i pleaded for him to wipe it in his tissue, he ignored me...it was just TOO FASCINATING!! oy! two year olds!!!

you forget after your children are grown, about all the disgusting or embarrassing things they do. now, as a grandma, i get to relive all the fun!!



have a great weekend......

i'm grateful today:
1. that the above incident happened in the privacy of my car
2. that we got to have lunch with bilbo
3. that t.w. reminds me to not sweat the small (or gross) stuff

i'm gonna wash that washer right outta my hair

yay!
the old washing machine is breathing its last breaths! i noticed a couple days ago that the agitator is not agitating and bilbo doesn't know how to fix it, soooooooo..... that means we are getting a new one! i know, it's weird to be excited about a washing machine but hey, you know the history! so, we took a field trip to lowe's tonight to check out the contenders.

basically, this is the dream
and this is the reality
and that's ok, cuz i know they both basically do the same things, only one is prettier! it could be worse, i could be squatting down at the creek with a board and a rock!

so, this weekend, i guess we will be hauling home a new friend to help me with the laundry...and to that i say "YAY!"

grateful for:
1. modern technology
2. a hubby who takes care of my needs... (i'm talking about the appliances!!....wink wink)
3. everything i have...and don't have

i enjoy "joy the baker"

i recently discovered "foodie" blogs. they are blogs all about the cooking and baking, the tasting and eating and the LOVE of food.

i, myself mostly enjoy cooking and baking. but i definitely LOVE the tasting and eating of food! so i have really been enjoying the discovery of these blogs, which started with "the pioneer woman" about a year or so ago.

one such blog i find really amusing is "joy the baker." she is a young gal living in los angeles who loves to bake and write about it in a very humorous way. her april 1st post, titled "how to impress a boy by baking", really cracked me up!
she takes all her own photos and they are awesome.

check out this picture of a cake:


as a lover of all things blueberry, i MUST try this recipe for poppy seed cake with blueberry glaze!
mmmmm, and it's purple, my favorite color!!


she has a recipe for avocado pound cake that has me quite intrigued!

today's post, "what to do with all that buttermilk", has several yummy looking suggestions. until recently, i had never bought buttermilk, but i may be buying it more often, now!!!!

so , please check out joy's blog, she is one cool babe! and tell her aurorafedora sent ya!

grateful for:
1. my dog's big warm head under my desk
2. a little free time to myself
3. fun with t.willie

something to sneeze at

i love the spring time, but, oh, i HATE the allergies! i have been sneezing my head off for the last three days, despite taking a daily allergy pill. so i decided to go online and look up some other solutions. here are a few of my favorites:

"lime- lime is considered an effective remedy for allergies. half a lime squeezed in a glass of lukewarm water and sweetened with a bit of honey may be taken first thing in the morning. it flushes the system of toxins and acts as an anti-allergic agent." ( add a shot or two of vodka and you won't care whether you have allergies or not!)

"garlic- eat a few garlic cloves a day to help clear the nasal passages and boost the immune system." (yeah, ok, one dose of this and i will claim my allergies are cured!)

"castor oil- five drops of castor oil in a glass of fruit juice is beneficial for allergies of the nasal passages. (again, i will announce i am miraculously cured after a dose of this!)

"avoid stress, do meditation, exercise, and mind control"- ok, avoid stress-check, meditate- check, exercise- check, mind control?? um, if i could do mind control, i would make my neighbor gag his damn yappy dog and get my daughters to clean my house every day! mind control, my ass!



"isolate your pets"- now this just sounds plain mean! punishing my animals by keeping them from each other is just inhumane!! what do i do, create little solitary confinement quarters for them? i will NOT do that!

"wear a face mask"- um...yeah, i'm thinking "no". not even on my worst allergic, swollen eyes, running nose day! unless, i also plan on robbing a bank......

"hire help, get someone else to do the household chores that stir up the most dust." (yeah, ok, that's where the mind control comes into play, right?)


then there are the extreme remedies:

"seal your bedding in plastic- if dust mites are the cause of your sneezing, sealing you mattress and pillow in plastic will bring relief." (yeah, it might, but the crunching and noise from the plastic will keep me awake and probably chase my hubby from the bed!)

"throw out your carpeting and rugs"- all i can say is, NOT gonna happen!

so, in the end, i am still at the mercy of the pollen and the drug industry.
maybe i will try that lime cure...wink wink!!



grateful:
1. for the spring breeze
2. for a good book
3. for long naps, i can't say this enough!

dog gone it!!!

mmmmm!
buster loves him some peanut butter!!







it helps to have a looooong tongue for this job!








oh, this is so good.....








ok, bus, now you're just being a pig!








that's right, get a good grip on it!








because, when it comes to peanut butter,
choosy dogs choose JIF!!








grateful for the redbud trees
grateful for the buzzing bees
grateful for little boy knees

a little egg-citement!

we dyed our easter eggs a couple nights ago, and i gotta tell ya, t.willie is not big on waiting.

like waiting for the eggs to actually get some color! his motto is "get em in, get em out!"

as a result, it was a very speedy process. it doesn't take long to dye 11 eggs with t.w's method. (one exploded its guts in the boiling water!)

but we had a nice time and t.w is getting some practice in counting. and maybe, we won't even wait til easter to dye eggs again!

**********************************************************************************

in other news--

i was bitten by a neighbor's dog last night. yeah, i hate when that happens...but i'm ok. i have a quarter-sized bruise on the upper part of my leg, just under my "right rear tire". it scared me something fierce, though, since i had t.willie in the stroller! bilbo called the sheriff's dept. after trying, unsuccessfully, to alert the dog's owner. he said they will be cited for "violating the leash law." yeah, i must say, i felt violated!! anyhoo, in tribute to the event, i have written a poem.
(oh, you can't wait, can you?!)

bad black dog bit me by aurorafedora
(alternate title: goddamn dog!)

oh doggy, black doggy
please do not bite me
i'm kind and i'm gentle
i will not hurt thee

your bark and your growl
raise the hair on my skin
i'm just gonna ignore you
and hope you go in

now here you come
but don't come near my kid
you're breath on my hind quarters
has me almost undid!

oh doggy, black doggy
i'm freakin' inside
you're spittin' out death
and i've no where to hide

ah, there you go
back to your yard
we move a bit further
my breathing is hard

my kid, he is waving
and saying "here doggy, here"
i try to be calm
and tell him we don't want it near!

oh doggy, black doggy
here you come again
you aim right for me
i'm crawling outta my skin!

where are my neighbors
who've known me for years
the dog nips my sneaker
i'm almost in tears

he bites me real quick
on the back of my leg
my scream is panicked
in my mind, i beg

oh doggy, black doggy
you scare the crap outta me
now, go away, git!
i'm upset as can be

if you ever should venture
out from beneath
don't you dare come near me
i'll kick you square in the teeth!

grateful that:
1. the dog didn't bite t.w.
2. he didn't hurt me too bad
3. kids are clueless to our weaknesses

a SMASHING good time!

i had my yearly mammogram this morning. now, that is a fun way to spend 20 minutes! yeah, it's unpleasant but, thank goddess, it doesn't take long.
in order to commemorate the event, i have a bit of mammogram humor for you.

first, a couple favorite quotes:

"whoever thought up the word mammogram? every time i hear it, i think i'm supposed to put my breast in an envelope and send it to someone." jan king

"a few weeks after my surgery, i went out to play catch with my golden retriever. when i bent over to pick up the ball, my prosthesis fell out. the dog snatched it, and i found myself chasing him down the road yelling, 'hey, come back here with my breast!' " linda ellerbee

and now, a poem:

just between us girls
*author unknown

For years and years they told me,
" Be careful of your breasts.
Don't ever squeeze or bruise them
And give them monthly tests."

So I heeded all their warnings
and protected them by law.
Guarded them very carefully
And always wore a bra.

After 40 years of careful care
The doctor found a lump.
He ordered up a mammogram
To look inside that clump.

"Stand up very close," she said,
as she got my breast in line.
" And tell me when it hurts," she said
" Ah, yes! There! That's just fine."

She stepped upon a pedal,
I could not believe my eyes!
A plastic plate was pressing down,
My boob was in a vise!

My skin was stretched and stretched
From way up by my chin.
My poor breast was being squashed
To Swedish Pancake thin!

Excruciating pain I felt,
within its viselike grip.
A prisoner in this vicious thing,
My poor defenseless tit."

Take a deep breath," she said to me.
Who does she think she's kidding?
My chest is smashed in her machine,
I can't breath and weary I am getting.

"There, that was good," I heard her say,
as the room was swaying.
" Now let's get the other one".
" Lord have mercy," I was praying.

I had no problem when I came in,
I surely have one now.
If there had been a cyst in there,
It would have popped by now.

This machine was made by man,
Of this I have no doubt!
I'd like to get his balls in there
And listen to him shout !!!

hahaha funny, yes, but breast cancer prevention is a serious issue. please get your mammograms, and tell them aurorafedora sent ya!

click on image to go to the breast cancer site and donate a click and please join your local relay-for-life

grateful that:
1. my mom survived breast cancer
2. the trees are budding and blooming
3. t.willie bounces back from minor injuries quickly...and often