KRISTEN!

2009-01-03T19:34:00.000-08:00

My friend Robert tagged me (sorry, no link, don't know how to do that). Todd is always after me to blog more. This counts, right?

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car):
Sparkle Liberty

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie):
Double Dark Chocolate Sugar

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal):
Blue Gorilla (mine was really blue dog but I didn't want to copy robert)

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born):
Michelle Lufkin

5. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink):
The Pink Pepper

6. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers):
Buck Howard

7. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ):
Ann Troy

8. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter):
Tareilo Tacoma

9. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower):
Autumn Daffodil

10. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + ie or y):
Apple Gownie

11. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree):
Pigs in a Blanket Mimosa

12. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”):The Crazy Quilting Wind Tour

I'm tagging:

Jason
Rachel
Lance
Amy
(again, no links. sorry.)

2008-12-29T21:43:00.000-08:00

What I Did on My Christmas Vacation

I had myself totally prepared to have the best Christmas ever. New town, new job, new friends...plus, old friends and family, trips back home, etc. Todd and I were both prepared for a phenomenal holiday season. And for the most part, I wasn't disappointed. In the three weeks before Christmas, I put up the tree and decorated the house, made cookies, and went to look at lights with the kids...Finley sang, all decked out in a Christmas dress, in a program at church and she stole the show. By December 23, the gifts were wrapped, and I spent the day baking and getting last minute things done.

Then, finally, the day arrived. Christmas Eve. Big deal at our house. That's when we celebrate with Todd's family. And, for the first time ever, we were having dinner at our house instead of Gigi's. That morning, Pop, Nonna, Papa and Gigi arrived with tons of gifts and lots of food. Just as we were about to sit down to dinner, the phone rang...

My dad was in the ER...he was disoriented and confused. He had the symptoms of a stroke. But the doctors didn't think it was a stroke.

I'll cut to the chase here. My dad had AMNESIA. Yes, that's right. AMNESIA. Transient Global Amnesia, to be exact. But we didn't find that out until 2 long, worry filled days later.

I'd never known anyone who actually had amnesia. Alzheimer's? Sure. Senility? Sure. And those things are awful. I don't mean to minimize the seriousness of those, by any means. But AMNESIA? That's the kind of thing you see on Murder She Wrote or One Life to Live! (Ok, I don't think I've seen it much on One Life to Live, but plenty on Days of Our Lives. Marlena is positively plagued with amnesia.)

Now, my dad's case wasn't as severe as Marlena's usually is. He knew who he was, and who we were, but he couldn't remember what was going on or where he was. Then, we'd tell him, and he'd forget. Almost instantly. Then he'd ask again. He did that over and over, all day long. He thought it was 2005. He couldn't remember where he worked. And he said his mom was 1,000 years old.

This was all preceded by his taking a trip to Wal-Mart to do some last minute Christmas shopping. And we all know, somewhere deep inside us, that as soon as we walk thru the doors of a crowded Wal-Mart, we could lose our grip on reality at any point. That's why I avoid Wal-Mart. I already walk a thin line between sanity and losin' it. I can't afford to push it.

By Christmas Eve night, he was back to normal. The doctors ran all kinds of test on him, but didn't find anything serious. (Thank You, Jesus)

He got back home late on December 26. Then we celebrated Christmas with my family. It was nice. And a little weird. Considering we had an amnesiac wearing a Santa hat sitting there in the recliner.

Can you belive that?

It's all true.

No one I know has ever heard of Transient Global Amnesia. Except for my friend Becky, who saw it on an episode of NCIS.

And THAT is what I did on my Christmas vacation.

2008-11-25T06:25:00.001-08:00

My dad showed me this cool video of a "magnapinna" (or bigfin) squid.

We couldn't post the video, but I thought I could show you a picture of it.

JONAH.

2008-11-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

OK, here are some long overdue pics of the family in October...

Here are the kids, trick-or-treating in Lufkin the weekend before Halloween.

At Moore Farms pumpkin patch in Bullard with the Straders.

At the Halloween party we threw with the Watsons and the Straders.

2008-10-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

Downtown Tyler and Restaurant Review... from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

2008-08-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

Blogging from my iPod touch....thank you Todd!

2008-08-08T08:05:00.000-07:00

First of all, at about 4:30 Friday morning, I had a terrible nightmare. There was a little girl who kept pointing at my wedding ring, shaking her head. Because of this, I leaned over to the nun and whispered, "Sister, this child is of the devil." The nun freaked out. Then, I started talking in a really deep, scary, and comical voice (think "redrum"). Then I woke up, but had a really hard time going back to sleep.

I woke up for real at 7:45. We all started getting ready, because Todd had to work ON HIS DAY OFF. Todd's dad called and asked if we had been to the "donut parlor" and since we hadn't, he offered to bring the kids some donuts.
Once the kids had finished the donuts, we got our shoes on to leave. I spent a good 15 minutes looking for my keys, only to finally find them in my purse.
We headed out to see my mom and dad. My mom had made sausage jambalaya and it was GOOD. I mean, IT WAS GOOD, y'all.

My parents watched Finley while I took Jonah to get his hair cut. The lady who cut it kept calling him Joshua. That's a new one. People usually call him Noah. Actually most people call him Jonah. But if they're going to get it wrong, they say Noah.

We went and picked up Todd and headed up to the mall to play some "Lunar Mini Golf." I have to say, I was astounded by the price. Granted, I haven't played much mini golf (or putt putt, as I like to call it) since they closed down King Putt about 18 years ago. So I was expecting to pay around $2 per person. Nope. It was $8 per person. For an extra dollar, they threw in some glow-in-the-dark necklaces. Todd wore his as a headband.

Turns out, mini golf is a lot sweatier that I remember. It was hot in there, y'all. And another thing...I assumed with a name like Lunar Mini Golf, there would be some space ships and stuff in there. Again, nope. One side of the room had sea creatures, and the other had jungle animal. Go figure.

After golf, we headed home. Finley fell asleep in the car, and I was looking forward to a little nap myself. But when we got home, our power was out. So we laid Finley down, called in the power outage, and tried to decide if it was too hot to stay home. I suggested Todd go get us some ice cream, to help "beat the heat." Finley then revealed to us that she wasn't really sleeping, just cat napping. So she went with Todd to get ice cream, even though by then, the power was back on.

I ate my ice cream, then I ate my dinner. We fed the kids, then Jonah enjoyed a root beer float while he watched Garfield. I personally can't believe they even still make Garfield movies. In my mind, it's along the same lines as Alf. That boat has sailed, y'all.

Todd bathed the kids (thank you dear) and then we put them to bed. I was going to read but I couldn't find my book. So I went to bed.

2008-07-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

Under tremendous pressure from my husband, here I am. I've been gone long enough, I suppose. One reason I haven't blogged in a while is that my precious, adorable, sweet Finley has recently become HELL ON WHEELS.

Okay, okay. Maybe not hell. A great big bundle of curiosity and mayhem might be a more accurate description. But I ain't kiddin' about the wheels. There's no way she could move that fast on two feet.

Here's just a sampling of her most recent...activities.

...she applied anti-wrinkle cream to her face, legs, hands, overalls, and our bathroom wall.

...she was caught eating peanut butter out of the jar with an ink pen.

...she dumped out an entire, brand new box of Cheese Nips onto the couch.

...she drew on her eyelids, legs, the bottom of her feet and all over her toes with blue marker. The she strolled up, put her little chin on her hand, and said, "Wook at me, Mommy," with a big ol' smile.

...she was caught trying her best to dip peanut butter out of the jar with a pop tart.

...she poured a box of baking soda all over the kitchen counter.

...she was found stirring her bath water with the toilet brush.

...she walked through the living room carrying two big handfulls of peanut butter. (Heck, who can blame her? She's seen me do that exact same thing often enough.)

...she poured out a carton of strawberry yogurt on the counter, then I found her rubbing it all over her torso.

So there you go. I've been busy.

But here's the other reason...ok, the real reason I don't blog much.

I just don't get it.

When I started this blog a couple of years ago, I did it as a way of staying in touch with my out of town friends. But it seems like blogging has taken on a whole new meaning since then.

Now, it's a way to showcase your sparkling wit. Or share your deep, theological musings. Or bring a tear to the eye with your emotional transparency. Or crack your readers up with your clever comedy. Or amaze people with your command of the English language.

I've pretty much got none of that. I don't have much to say really, and I can't imagine anyone wanting to read what I do have to say.

I can't imagine that anyone would be interested in the fact that today, I did laundry, took the car to the shop, came home and put Finley down for a nap, then ate a bowl of Blue Bell ice cream and watched Jon & Kate Plus 8 while Jonah played a game on the computer.

Or that Jonah and I got really excited when our favorite episode of SpongeBob Squarepants came on. (Band Geeks, in case you're wondering.)

Or that one of the highlights of my day was when I got to hold the new cat. (A new cat wandered up about 2 months ago. He's best friends with our old cat, Henry, but he won't let us go near him. He's really small, and I think he's a wild cat. I gave him a pound of ground beef that I thawed but never cooked, and while he was eating I picked him up. He looked down his nose at me then hopped down. But still, that's progress, right?)

Or that Finley lamented all afternoon that the two turtles Todd found in the driveway yesterday have now gone home. (I don't mean dead...just left.)

That's my life. Not theology. Not sparkling wit. Not comedy (although I am quite clever.) The exciting things that happen around here wouldn't excite anyone else. But I wouldn't trade it for anything I read on other blogs. I love it.

I just don't love to blog about it.

However, I have to do something to make up for the fact that I didn't participate in the groundbreaking "My Friday" movement. Which I was repeatedly asked to do. Even on Saturday. So, here I am.

2008-05-30T21:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to Me

Yesterday was our ten year anniversary. I always imagined that we'd take a romantic getaway on our ten year anniversary, and Todd would surprise me with some fabulous piece of jewelry. Well...not quite. We "got away" to Logan's Roadhouse for a steak, and then to Target. And Todd didn't surprise me with jewelry, but he did buy me something I can wear. Sort of.

I wanted to do something really special and significant to celebrate our 10 years together. Something you don't do everyday. And, I've know for a while exactly what I wanted to do. So, without further ado, here it is.

2008-05-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

A happy Memorial Day to one and all...we had a great one! The day started for me at 7:15, when Finley woke up. I wish I could tell y'all I'm one of those moms (like my own mom) who are dressed, with a full face of makeup and perfect hair, and who have done a load of laundry, cleaned the bathroom, and done their Bible study by the time their kids wake up. Nope. Not me. Sometimes I haven't even done that stuff by lunchtime.

So Finley and I get up, and I take off her WET pajamas, as I do every morning. Every. Morning. Her diaper leaks every night. But do I switch to a different brand of diapers? NO. Because, I think, she will be potty trained any day now. Then it won't matter. Me? Delusional?

I get her changed and dressed, and she begs to watch Milo and Otis. Remember that one, with the cat and the dog? Finley is a notorious movie starter. Meaning, she starts the movie, then gets up and leaves after the opening credits. An hour later, she asks to watch it again.

I then went to wake up Todd and Jonah around 8:00. Jonah is FINALLY to the age that he wants to sleep late. Hallelujah! For almost 6 years he got up every morning by 6:00. In fact, this past Saturday, the whole family slept until 9:00. A first. In 6 1/2 years. Literally.

We all got dressed and headed over to my parents' house for breakfast. Bacon, eggs and buttermilk pancakes. Then, because we couldn't hold them back for one more second, the kids went swimming. OK, really they just splashed because it's a small inflatable pool, but they called it swimming. (Actually, we did have to hold Finley back. Her swimsuit was too small so I had to run to Target and get a new one. While I was gone, she peed on the floor and slipped down in her own pee. But she eventually did get to the pool.)

We headed home around lunchtime. I didn't even have to fix lunch for them because my mom had stuffed them full of Indiana Jones Pop Tarts (yep!) while they were swimming. I don't really remember much after that, because once we got home, Finley and I took naps. I think at some point, Jonah left with Todd's mom, and I remember something about Todd eating chips.

We headed back to town at 4:00 for a birthday party/Memorial Day celebration. If y'all didn't know, my family LOVES a good party. Heck, they love a bad party. Just give them some BlueBell ice cream and they'll call it a success. But today, my family hit the jackpot. My uncle accidentally left his freezer door open last night, and when he got up today, he found all the meat thawed. We went over expecting grilled hamburgers, but what we got was grilled chicken, baby back ribs, steaks and even peach cobbler. Let's just say: a good time was had by all.

We had stop at Brookshire Bros. on our way home to pick up some milk. I also was lucky enough to pick up the last pint of BlueBell Moooo Tracks ice cream.

Now we're home, and my kids are asleep. I officially declare this day a success.

2008-05-21T16:47:00.000-07:00

GAME!

Staci King tagged me in one of these cool survey games.

Here are the rules:
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read the player's blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

What were you doing 5 years ago?
1. Moving in to our new house on Brenda Street
2. Putting Jonah in a big boy bed after he took a flying leap out of his crib.
3. Hanging out with the Bluebirds (miss you guys!)
4. Looking forward to a summer of NO camps (Todd had just taken a full-time job with the County Clerk)
5. Celebrating 5 years of marriage

What are 5 things on your to-do list today (not in any particular order)?
1. Take Finley to get a haircut.
2. Open the boxes of new homeschool curriculum that arrived today.
3. Try a new crock pot chicken recipe (done...it was delicious, and dare I say, nutritious.)
4. Pick up a prescription at Sam's
5. Catch up on the laundy (let's not kid ourselves...this one probably won't get done)

What are 5 snacks you enjoy?
1. Fritos
2. Dr. Pepper
3. Cheese Nips
4. Popcorn w/M&Ms sprinkled in it
5. Fruit roll ups
I know, I know...I need to eat healthier snacks.

What 5 things would you do if you were a billionaire?
1. Pay off all our debts
2. Build Bluebird Farms
3. Give lots of money to lots of charities, missionaries, orphanages, etc.
4. Buy Todd an SUV so he would stop talking about "needing" one for gigs
5. Build a Rainforest Cafe in Lufkin, just because Finley loves it.

What are 5 of your bad habits?
1. Letting Jonah watch Sponge Bob
2. Thawing meat then never cooking it
3. letting the laundry and dishes pile up
4. Overplanning things that don't really matter, and under planning on things that do
5. Dr. Pepper

What are 5 places you have lived?
1. Lufkin, TX (mama's house)
2. Lufkin, TX (our first house)
3. Lufkin, TX (our second house)
4. Lufkin, TX (our third house)
5. Bryan/College Station, TX (one year)
Yes, I know, this part is boring. It's actually been kind of boring living it, too.

What are 5 jobs you've had?
1. Teacher
2. Grocery checker at Randall's
3. Filing clerk at insurance company
4. Sales girl at Brooks Fashion
5. Lufkin Mall Customer Service Manager

What 5 people do you want to tag?
1. Lance, Amy, Jason, Rachel, and Robert. All the Bluebirds in one fell swoop. (Shelly was already tagged by Staci.)
2. My husband.

2008-05-06T06:30:00.001-07:00

Son, What Exactly Are You Planning?

I can't be absolutely sure, but I think I'm pretty safe in saying that I'm one of the only moms in America who was asked this by her six year old:

"Mom, can you get me some gold-titanium alloy?"

2008-05-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

You Absolutely Must Try This

I think I've found one of the neatest things ever on the worldwide web (not counting my own blog.) I won't even go into how I found it, because 1) it's too stupid, and 2) it's really too stupid.

It's called the Face of the Future face transformer. And I'd never heard of it before...so I'm assuming you haven't either. If you already know all about it, then see you later.

You upload a photo (of yourself, your kids, whoever...) and then you can choose what you want it to be "transformed" into. You can see what you'd look like as a baby, a child, a teenager, young adult, old adult, Afro-Caribean, Caucasian, East Asian, and West Asian. You can also see what you'd look like as the opposite sex.

I uploaded my own picture and tried it out. I wasn't too impressed with the baby and child options, but the teenager one was really pretty accurate. The old one was disturbing, and probably also pretty accurate. I LOVED seeing what I'd look like if I were a different race. Turns out I'd still be gorgeous.

What really truly freaked me out was when I uploaded Jonah's picture. Seeing what he might look like as a teenager or an old man? Totally weird. But also neat. I showed it to my mom and she hated it.

Here are some pics of Jonah. The first one is him now, then as a teenager, then as an adult.

WEIRD, huh?! What's funny is to think of him wearing those football pajamas as a 30 year old man. I'll post some more of my family, "transformed," later this week. Here's the link if you want to check it out for yourself:

http://morph.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Transformer/index.html

2008-04-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

Surprise!

Ya' know, if you know me at all, and even if you don't and just happen to glance in my direction, you'll know I'm not exactly the athletic type. I never have been.

I'm the girl who got hit smack in the face by the ball the very first time I stepped on a volleyball court. I'm the girl who kicked her own legs out from under her when I tried to play soccer with my cousins. I'm the girl who hit the ball twice, only twice, in two whole years of girls' softball. (Granted, I got two triples, being very large, and incidentally, quite busty, for an 11 year old.) I'm the girl who had to be physically picked up and thrown into the deep end of the pool by my swim instructor because I refused to jump in. The year was 1984, and the instuctor, named Drake, was a dead ringer for Magnum P.I. The moms, every mom, stayed right beside the pool to watch him teach their dear children to do the dead man's float. Don't you know that they were all dying for him to physically pick them up and throw them in the deep end? But no. I was the lucky girl he chose.

So it should come as no surpise that secretly, I've hoped, and maybe even prayed a little, that Jonah wouldn't like sports...wouldn't even want to try sports. I'm ashamed of it. I'm even more ashamed to say...it didn't work.

So here we are, in the middle of t-ball season. Jonah is a proud member of the Pirates. And guess who the proud Pirate dugout mom is? That's right...the girl who swore she would never enter a dugout again. Now, no one could keep me away! And guess who's out in the front yard playing catch with Jonah every evening? That's right..the girl who got hit squarely in the face, HARD, when she was playing catch in the front yard with her dad. And guess who got hit squarely in the face by that same man, in that same front yard, this past weekend. Wrong...not me this time. It was poor little Jonah.

And so it begins...

2008-04-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

NEW STUFF!

I got a new template!

2008-03-04T23:39:00.000-08:00

Kristen's Favorite Things

Oprah has hers, and so do I.

Here, in no particular order, are some things I've recently come to love, and I am wholeheartedly recommending them to you.

1. The CHI flat iron.

Never underestimate the power of the CHI. I am convinced that somehow, this product could rule the free world.

2. The PedEgg

I think I laughed at this product the first time I saw it advertised on TV. Hm. Who's laughing now? Still me, cause my feet look great. Get it at http://www.pedegg.com/

3. Cubeicals

This is a storage system I got for Finley's room, and I ended up getting one for my living room too. It has cubby holes with fabric drawers. They hold lots of toys. Lots. And they look cute. This is some of the best money I've ever spent.

4. Blue Bell Centennial Cupcake Ice Cream

Cake batter flavored ice cream with cake bits, chocolate icing and sprinkles. Yes...you read that right. Mama!

5. Sabatier Cook's Knife

My brother got me this for my birthday and I love it! I never knew what crappy knives I had been using all these years. When Jonah saw it he asked if it could slice a pineapple in mid-air.

6. Eve's Addiction

This is a website that specializes in sterling silver jewelry and their stuff is fabulous and...yeah, I'll say it...cheap! Check it out at http://www.evesaddiction.com/

7. The Sun Jar

I got this for Christmas from my mom. It's a frosted mason jar with a solar cell, rechargeable battery and LED light inside. It charges during the day and lights up at night. It's so cozy. Get one at http://www.elsewares.com/commerce/Sun-Jar_MPD841.html

8. All The Freed

It's good. Really good. I can't even explain how proud I am that that's my husband. Check it out at http://www.independentbands.com/cd/toddwright/allthefreed.html

9. Bare Escentuals Brow Kit

I LOVE this! It comes with an angled brush and a powder (dark blond/medium brown for me). It relieves my fears that I'll look like my great-aunt Ruby, whose eyebrows appear to be applied daily. Check it out at http://store.bareescentuals.com/brows/BE_SUB_BROWS,default,sc.html

10. Three Bin Laundry Sorter

I've always believed that my family has more dirty laundry than a small country. I can't tell you how much easier my day is since I bought this item. Go get it at http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=12413602

There you have it. Go shopping!

2008-02-29T19:06:00.000-08:00

I don't understand myself. I really don't. There are times (and I think we all have these times if we're honest) that I am just absolutely drawn to something that I don't want and don't need to be drawn to. There's chocolate, of course. And Dr. Pepper. And, sometimes, All My Children. If I were being really honest with you, I'd tell you that General Hospital is on my TV right now. (I can only watch it at night so the kids won't catch me. Jonah always says soaps are "violent.") I'm only tuning in right now to find out about that Text Message Killer.

But this time, I'm not talking about those things. This time, something much more sinister has trapped me in its web. This time, we're talking two things: the internet, and real life crime stories.

Years ago, I went to church with a lady who supposedly lived in "The Town that Dreaded Sundown" around the time that it...you know...dreaded sundown. See, it was all based on a true story. So I just had to look it up. And it was all about the Phantom Killer who killed a bunch of teenagers in Texarkana in the 40's. Very upsetting. I wanted to stop reading it, because it was really disturbing, but I READ THE WHOLE THING.

A couple of months ago, I remembered watching that made for TV movie, "Murder in a Small Town." It had Barbara Hershey in a bad wig and thick glasses. She played Candy Morrison, who murdered her friend from church with a hatchet. Turns out, this is a TRUE STORY. So, I start reading about it on the web. It happened in Dallas in the early 80's. The lady's real name was Candy Montgomery. I read graphic details of this story and also saw some gruesome type photos. (Nothing too bad, just some blood, but still...it was real blood.) And the whole time I'm reading this stuff I'm thinking, "I really need to stop this. This is really upsetting me." BUT I DID NOT STOP. I read the whole thing.

Then, just last week, I was flipping through channels on the TV and I saw that "The Amityville Horror" was on. Not the old one, the new one with that cute Ryan Reynolds. I stopped for a minute to check it out. Please note: I am a life long fraidy-cat and have a life long HORROR OF THIS MOVIE. I remember my dad watching it when I was little. Remember how creepy James Brolin looked? My gosh, I was scared of that movie! And I didn't even watch it! I mostly just heard kids talking about it at the lunch table. Plus, everyone has always said it's all true.

So anyway, it was on, and I thought, "I'm grown. Let me just see if I'm still scared of it." Well, guess what. I was.

Later on, I decided to check it out on the web. I don't know why! I think somewhere in the back of my mind, I think I'll find some sort of information or proof that will make me feel better about the whole thing. That almost never happens. And, I think maybe it won't be so scary to read it instead of watch it. Again, I'm usually wrong.

So I read the story of how these folks bought the house even though a horrible murder was committed there, and soon after, strange things start happening. And Todd saw me reading it, and said, "Kristen, you'd better not! You'll be sorry later!" I rolled my eyes and kept reading, of course. I even got to the part where it lists off every scary incident that happened in the house. Again, please note: I am a life long fraidy-cat and have a life long HORROR OF THIS MOVIE. I told myself to stop reading, but I couldn't stop. I READ IT ALL!

So, a lot of weirdo stuff went down at that house. But what bothered me the most was that their little girl got a new imaginary friend right after they moved in. And get this...the friend was an extra large pig with glowing red eyes...and it's name was Jodie. For some reason this really upset me. And they also found extra large hoof prints in the snow outside (courtesy of Jodie, I suppose) and the dad once saw red glowing eyes looking at him from the kid's bedroom window.

Well, after I read all that, I was kind of upset. But I went on with my day. Then, that night, I could not stop thinking about that darn JODIE. I just had a horrible night. And I couldn't even tell Todd how scared I was of Jodie because I had rolled my eyes and kept on reading when he told me to stop.

Y'all know what? I had to take a break from writing this post because I started getting scared of Jodie again. I'm not kidding. (I'm home by myself in this big old house tonight, and some cats were fighting outside, so it's creepier than usual here.) So I better quit now before I get scared again.

2008-02-11T12:06:00.000-08:00

This is the coversation that took place between Jonah and me this afternoon, when we were sitting at a stoplight beside an iridescent purple Lincoln Towncar with a gigantic (and perhaps vulgar, I'm not sure) hood ornament.

Jonah: Look! That car looks like a Hot Wheels.
Me: Yeah, it does.
Jonah: That looks cool.
Me: Yeah.
Jonah: Did our car used to look cool?
Me: No, our car has pretty much always looked kind of plain.
Jonah: Before you had me, were you and Daddy cool?
Me: What do you mean?
Jonah: Well, were you cool and had a cool car, or were you lame and had a lame car?
Me: What do you think?
Jonah: I think you were cool.
Me: What do you think we are now?
Jonah: You're lame!
Me: Well, give me an example of someone you know or someone you've seen that you think is cool.
Jonah: I saw this guy, and he had a really cool hat, and cool clothes and glasses, and he had some of that needle ink all over him.
Me: You mean a tattoo?
Jonah: Yeah!

This child is 6 years old. Heaven help us.

2008-01-29T18:22:00.000-08:00

I'm sick. I've got a cold. Maybe. I don't really know what it is. I'm keeping hope alive that it's not the flu. Most people have a comfort food they want when they're sick. So do I. I also have a comfort drink, a comfort nightgown, a comfort blanket and a comfort movie.

My comfort food is mashed potatoes. Right at this moment I'm sending telepathic messages to Todd in hopes that he'll come back from guitar lessons with some Cotton Patch mashed potatoes. Macaroni and cheese will also do if no mashed potatoes are available.

My comfort drink is a mixed strawberry and Coke Icee. My mom used to bring these to me when I was sick as a kid. They're the perfect (temporary) cure for a sore throat. When I'm sick, I prefer for Icees to be brought to me without me having to ask for them. This almost never happens.

My comfort nightgown is an old, faded red knit gown. It's long sleeved and comes down to my ankles. On the front, it has a little picture of a Scottie dog wearing a plaid vest. I've had it for at least 10 years. It's not a pretty sight, folks. But it's a dear friend.

My comfort blanket is a patchwork quilt we got at a wedding shower. Several of the patches are coming apart at the seams. But it's the perfect weight for a sick person. You know how when you're sick, you're cold, then you're hot, and a heavy blanket is just too much? This one is just right.

My comfort movie is "The First Wives Club." Not exactly a classic, I know. But it's funny every time I watch it, and it reminds me of my best friends. I have it on VHS, and our VCR isn't hooked up, so I guess this time I'll have to forego this comfort. Oh well. Guess that means I get a double batch of mashed potatoes instead.

So, am I the only one? Or does anyone else have a list like this?

2008-01-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

My daughter is a complete animal lover. She's not the least bit afraid of cats or dogs and will usually try to hug or kiss any animal she gets close to. We have a cat who lives outside, but he sneaks in at least once a day. I can usually find the two of them somewhere in the house together, sometimes curled up on her bed. So, part of me would really love to have an animal in the house, just for Finley's sake. But I just don't understand how to have an animal in the house. We used to have cats in the house before we had kids and it was a big disaster. (Shelly can attest to this, because she once sat right in a puddle of cat pee at my house. Plus, after we put the cats out of the house, my mom told me my house smelled like cats when they were inside. That info would have been more useful earlier.) All I can think of is chewed up furniture, ruined carpet, and...you know...the smell. So, pet lovers, how do you do it? How is it possible to have an animal in the house without a huge mess?

2008-01-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

Here he is, folks. Six years ago, I met this little guy. I knew when I saw his face, I was in for an adventure, but I really had no idea what that meant. To be honest, I was terrified at the idea of having a little boy. I had no idea what being a mother to a little boy would be like. Well, six years later, I can honestly say...

I have a more extensive knowledge of superheroes than any other woman I know.

I have a jar in my cabinet with holes punched in the lid in
case a four legged or six legged or eight legged critter wanders by.

I got more bloody noses and busted lips in the first 3 years of his life than in my whole life up to that point.

I know the life cycles of caterpillars, flies, spiders, beetles,

fleas, frogs and jellyfish.

I have learned to never, ever say the words, "You're bleeding."

I have been asked to sing the theme from "SpongeBob Square

Pants" as a bedtime song.

I've made enough capes and masks to last a lifetime.

I have memorized the words of the The Big Red Barn and

Where the Wild Things Are.

I've wondered how I ever lived without all the kisses and hugs

I get from him every day.

I've marveled at the way his eyes crinkle up when he laughs.

I've asked myself, "What did I do all day long before I had him?"

Here's the thing I've learned about little boys...they grow on you. So here's to you, Jonah, my love. Thank you for all you've taught me, and continue to teach me every day.

You are human boy, my young friend.

A human boy.

O glorious to be a human boy!...

O running stream of sparkling joy

To be a soaring human boy!

-Charles Dickens

2007-12-13T07:55:00.001-08:00

Right now my baby girl is sitting in front of the TV drinking an IBC root beer from the bottle and watching "Cool Hand Luke."

2007-10-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the last night I'll spend in this house. We're moving tomorrow! Actually, we're only moving out tomorrow. Our "new" house won't be ready for another week. So we'll be staying with my mom until then.

Moving has brought me low in some ways...tonight, while cleaning out my pantry, I found a Reese's Peanut Butter Egg (as in Easter egg) way back in the corner of the top shelf. I assume it was from last Easter, but it could have been from the Easter before that. I debated for about 5 seconds, then opened it. I looked it over and broke it open. (I did this because one of my best friends swears that her mother broke open a Butterfinger once and it was full of maggots.) It looked OK. I found out seconds later that it most definitely was not OK.

I also found in the back of my freezer a popsicle wrapper that had not been opened and yet contained no popsicle. Only some gummy stains on one side. Like the Shroud of Turin.

I wonder if I'll be homesick when we move. I wasn't homesick when we moved from our first home to this one. But it seems to me that a house is consecrated by the life you live in it.

To this house, we brought Jonah when he was 15 months old, and put him in a big boy bed because he had leaped from his crib right before we moved. In this house, he learned the alphabet, and "The Night Before Christmas," and all the words to "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." In this house, he learned to pray, and on our front porch he would go alone if he needed some quiet time with God. In this house, every morning, every morning for 3 whole years he awoke and said, "I want to drink hot milk and lay on the couch with Mommy, " and we did. In this house, he loved Spiderman and Batman and Superman. In this house, he was Spiderman and Batman and Superman. In this house, he grew tall and thin, and went from being a baby to a boy.

In this house, I sat on the bathroom floor and wept when I found out I was pregnant with the baby who would be Finley. In this house, I prayed for her before she was ever born. And to this house we brought her after she arrived. And when she got sick at 7 days old, and she had to be put in the hospital, and we almost lost her, it was back to this house I longed to bring her. In this house, she crawled, and then walked, and then ran. In this house she lisped her first words. In this house, she fell in love with Ernie from Sesame Street. And in this house, she gave her first hugs and first kisses.

In this house, I fought with my husband and made up with him. In this house, I laughed with him, and I laughed at him. In this house, I cried with him and prayed with him, and burned his toast, and many times forgot to do his laundry. I stood with him in our living room and said goodbye to our best friends. In this house, I saw him do things that no one, not even Todd himself, ever would have guessed he could do, like hang a ceiling fan, or tile the floor, or fix the toilet. In this house, I've watched him become the best father I've ever known.

I've loved the life we've lived in this house. I'm about to spend my last night here. So, good night!

2007-10-13T05:42:00.000-07:00

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT

FINLEY WHEN SHE IS 1

...the little rolls just above her knees.

...the way she jumps without her feet ever leaving the floor.

...the way her hair looks all puffy when she wakes up.

...the dimples in the backs of her hands.

...the way she wants to do everything herself.

...her profile. It's perfect.

...the was she says, "aahhh" and rubs

her feet when she takes off her shoes.

...that her love of clothes and shoes is matched only by her love of cookies and ice cream.

...that she belly laughs at peek-a-boo.

...the way she gives kisses with her bottom lip sticking out.

...that sometimes, when I put her in bed at night, she says, "Love you..." before I do.

2007-10-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some things that have happened in the past few days:

I fell down in the kitchen. It was one of those falls where you're walking, then you think, "Hey! I'm on the floor!"

Finley has started stripping her diaper off at every opportunity. Yesterday I found "number 2" in various spots all over the living room. This set Jonah off, who repeatedly screamed, "I see poop!"

Finley refused to nap today (one of the only times ever) and during the whole brouhaha, pulled every toy off her shelf, to the point that could hardly walk in there. I went in to check on her to find her diaper leaking "number 2" which got all over my arm. Later, I went to check on her again and stepped on pee.

This evening I had to wake Todd up to go to guitar lessons, and he talked gibberish, and told me he had to put on his "belter."

Jonah has his first loose tooth.

We sold our house today. We'll close on Oct. 29.

We called my mother-in-law tonight, and could hear her shouting, "A.W., you need Febreeze, you need Febreeze!"

Today at Sonic, a girl named "NewNew" brought us our drinks.

Jonah asked me if people would have skin in Hell.

2007-09-19T06:59:00.001-07:00

Well, I've been busy lately. Finley got sick last Thursday night. She ran low grade fever and threw up, then she was fine for the rest of the weekend. Then on Sunday night she started running fever again, (she still is today) and threw up Tuesday. You know, I don't know very many people who aren't shaken up by vomiting. Whether you are the victim or an innocent bystander, it's an unnerving experience. But Finley is an exception to this rule. She throws up and then just walks away like it never happened. When she threw up and then just walked right into the kitchen and got into her booster seat, apparently ready for a snack. Geez!

After much deliberation and prayer, we've decided to home-school Jonah. We explained to him what we'd be doing and he's been really excited. We ordered our curriculum on Monday. Then today, when we picked him up from school, and he'd said goodbye to all his classmates, he said, "Call the school and tell them it was all a BIG MISTAKE!"

Today, I was playing with Finley and was chomping my teeth. (Don't ask me why...if you have kids, you won't even ask why.) Anyway, without warning she stuck her finger in my mouth and I chomped it HARD! I mean, hard. And she cried hard! Can you imagine how I would explain that to a doctor if she had needed stitches or something?

2007-09-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

2007-08-31T10:59:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd be able to keep it together a little better than I have this week. You know, anytime it would come up in conversation that Jonah was starting Kindergarten this year, people would give me this knowing, pitying look. But I thought it would really be no big deal since he's been in Mother's Day Out for a couple of years. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Sunday night, I was a little weepy when we put him to bed. I just kept thinking, "Are we here already?" I kept thinking of him as a baby, or a toddler, or anything but a kindergartener. But I thought that would be it for the tears once we put him to bed. Wrong.
Todd was watching Saving Private Ryan and I just happened to be in the room during a particularly moving scene where a dying soldier calls out for his mama. That's all it took. I boo-hooed. I mean, sobbed, y'all. And pretty soon, Todd was sitting right beside me crying, too!
I was fine on Monday morning. After all, it was the "big event" we had been waiting on for weeks. Jonah was nervous, but shed no tears, so neither did I. We did drive past the school twice that day to try to see him, though.
Then, Tuesday morning, things weren't so great. I was really grouchy, got into a fight with Todd, and went and spied on Jonah at recess, only to see him sitting out because he was in some sort of trouble. More tears from Mommy.
Today is Friday, and I'm looking forward to having Jonah home for the weekend. I really don't think I was prepared for the emptiness of the day without Jonah around. If you know Jonah at all, you know he's a ball of energy, full of questions and plans and hugs and fun. It feels so weird for all that to be gone for 7 whole hours every day. I'm ready for Christmas holidays already.

2007-08-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

I've been sick, y'all. I mean, really sick. First I thought it was a virus, then gall stones, but it turned out to be a severe urinary tract infection. (Sorry to say the word urinary on the blog.) You know, it's weird how incapacitating nausea and vomiting can be. It just completely takes away my powers of mobility. I was sitting there on my couch, throwing up right onto my living room floor, thinking, "I should probably try and walk to the bathroom" but knowing that there was absolutely no way I was going to move off that couch.

I remember the first time I got sick after I was married. All my life, my mom has brought me a cool washcloth and a cup of crushed ice when I was sick. I thought this was the universal treatment for nausea and vomiting. Imagine my surprise when I had to ASK my new husband for the washcloth and the ice. Imagine my even bigger surprise when he brought me a warm washcloth and 3 large cubes of ice (not even in a cup, he just put all three cubes right into my hand!)

So, my mom was at my house the other night, when I was sitting on the couch throwing up. And like magic, within mere seconds, she has the cool washcloth. It was almost like she already had it in her pocket, it was so fast. So, Mom, if you read this, thank you. Todd, if you read this, thank you too, for all the extra work you've done while I've been sick. Jesus, if you read this, thank you for answering my prayers that I wouldn't have to have gall bladder surgery.

2007-08-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

Well, Jonah's debut as a ringbearer went off without a hitch (almost). I was a little worried..be-ing a ringbearer is a lot of pressure (for the mom.) I guess this really hit me when we went to try on and pick up his tux Thursday. I was really nervous he would get the tux dirty or wrinkled before the wedding. Then, right as we were about to take his tux off, he said, "I just peed a little bit." Great... I figured I'd have to have it dry cleaned before the wedding...but no damage was done.

On the way home from the tux store, Jonah told us his plan to "bow" once he got to the front of the church. I tried to talk him out of it as gently as possible. We went to the rehearsal the next night, and he did fine. The plan was that he and the flower girl would walk down the aisle and straight to their moms, who were sitting on the second row. He was cool with that, but he did express some concern that there weren't any rings on the little pillow he was carrying. I tried to explain why but he couldn't seem to understand.

The next day, we went an hour and a half early to the wedding, and he did really well (meaning he didn't destroy anything or sully his tux before the wedding.) They gave him his little pillow, and he was excited to see 2 silver ornamental rings tied onto the pillow. The wedding started, and he looked so cute walking down the aisle! He was so serious! I sat on the second row, relieved that the hard part was almost over. Then he stopped right in front of the groom and just stood there. The groomsmen tried to silently direct him to me, but he seemed confused. He looked around with this bewildered look on his face. He finally threw back his head and gave a little (but audible) exasperated sigh. I whispered his name 3 times before he finally headed to his seat beside me.

When he got there, he said, "How am I supposed to be the ringbearer if I don't give them the rings?!" He had stopped in front of the groom so he could give him the ornamental rings! I felt so bad I hadn't realized he thought those were the real rings... I tried to tell him those weren't the real rings and that the the best man had the real one...I told him he had done his job perfectly and he shouldn't be upset...he said, "Well, is this the wedding?" I said yes, it was. "Well, then I didn't do my job!!!," he said.

For a few tense seconds, I was afraid we were headed for a meltdown. I mean, he had that look. But he settled into his seat without much more grumbling. For the rest of the wedding, he wiggled and whispered, then made his exit beautifully with the flower girl (who had cried for most of the ceremony) at his side.

He posed for a few pics after the wedding, and he acted like a little grown up for all of that. Then we went to the reception where he promptly guzzled 3 cups of punch. All in all, I think the day was a success.

2007-07-27T17:51:00.001-07:00

Well, I just got back from my first ever real recording session. (I'm so important!) It was great. I had a really good time, and enjoyed hanging out with Todd's man crush, Ross, and his beautiful family. It was a really neat experience all around. One of the highlights was getting to sleep 10 hours straight last night. Another was going to Freebirds for lunch. I'm glad Todd talked me into making this trip.

We bought "prizes" for the kids (the babysitters are really the ones who deserved prizes.) We got Jonah a little Transformer and Finley got a phone pull toy. At the check out they had little Venus Flytraps for $4.00. I've never seen a real one. Plus I imagined them way bigger. I thought Jonah might like one, because he's asked us about them before. He went nuts over it. But I could tell from his face that at first he was a little worried it might bite him. Hope it doesn't, cause I told him they don't bite people.

We were worried that Jonah's new frog didn't survive our trip. (We forgot to arrange for someone to feed him. Plus we don't even really know what or how often to feed him...or her.) Anyway, I was kind of afraid to go look, but he was still alive.

While we were gone my mom tried to clean out our fridge and clogged up our disposal with broccoli. You know, broccoli at its best doesn't smell so great, but broccoli sitting overnight in the kitchen sink is just...real real bad. When we ran the disposal, it took a while but it finally came unclogged and pureed broccoli shot straight up out of the sink and got all over the kitchen cabinets. No thank you.

My mom also messed up the dead bolt on our side door last night. It was already broken but she didn't know it, so it got stuck in a locked position. She called to ask us what we thought she should do, and someone gave us advice to have her hit it with a rubber mallet. Looking back, that seems like something they would do on Looney Toons if their lock was stuck. I can just picture Foghorn Leghorn with a big rubber mallet. Anyway, that didn't work, so we had to take the whole thing apart when we got home tonight.

At bedtime tonight we realized Jonah had left Snorey Bear (his "lovey") at my mom's house, so Todd had to go get him before Jonah could go to sleep. Jonah has had Snorey Bear since he was one and is very attached to him. Finley doesn't have a regular lovey, but goes to bed most nights holding the remote control for the fan. I've tried to get her attached to a stuffed animal, but she prefers the remote.

All in all, I'm glad to be home with my kiddos. Plus my mom mopped the floor. Who could ask for anything more?

2007-07-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by my husband. Here are my seven facts. Unfortunately, all my friends with blogs have already been tagged too, so there may be some repeats in my tag-ees.

The rules: each player should list seven random facts about themselves on their blog as well as the rules to this little game. At the end of their post, they need to tag seven people. Let those folks know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I have a pair of what I call my bad luck pajamas. I was wearing them on 9/11 and when I had an eclamptic seizure on Jan. 1, 2002. I still have them but haven't worn them since.

2. When I was 16, I hit a parked car in the mall parking lot and took off.

3. I was a twirler in Jr. High. I also played French Horn.

4. When I was 17, I went to a New Kids on the Block concert and got to stay at their hotel. We snuck onto their floor and stole a used glass off a room service tray that we truly believed had been used by Joe McIntyre. When they left the hotel there was a huge stampede around them, and my hand got cut somehow.

5. In third grade I won a school essay contest called, "What the School Lunch Means to Me." I got to write the essay on posterboard and it was hung up in the cafeteria.

6. I used the be obsessed with The Monkees. I knew all their songs, had posters of them, and my friends mom had some shirts made for us that said "The Monkees." They were black and had the words written diagonally on the front in white block iron on letters. Then she had our names written on them in red paint pen on the shoulder. I was a big nerd, and even I thought those shirts were nerdy. But I had to wear it anyway.

7. To this day, a 64-count box of Crayola crayons thrills me. When I was a kid my favorites were "Sea Foam Green" and "Sky Blue."

My tags are:
Susie
Forrest
Rachel
Amy
Lance
Jason
Robert

Sorry if there are some repeats.

2007-07-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

Well, this week has been interesting, as usual. I ran over our cat's tail on Friday. He's 8 years old and has always been a slow mover anyway. I was driving into the carport and he just didn't get out of the way in time. I felt so bad about it. I called the vet and they said he would probably be fine. So far so good.
Jonah told me this week I was turning into a man. Don't you just love hearing that kind of thing from your kid? So touching. He said it because for the past 2 years I've been shaving my arms (which breaks one of my mom's cardinal rules..."Never start shaving your arms. You'll regret it." Another one I sometimes break is, "Don't ever look at truck drivers. You may see something you don't want to see." Anyway, I decided to stop shaving my arms about a month ago. Jonah apparently noticed this week.
Jonah and Finley took a big spill in the buggy at Big Lots (really that was last week, but I think it bears telling). Finley was in the front seat of the buggy and Jonah was walking. I let go and turned away for about 10 seconds...then I heard a huge crash. Jonah had tried to coast while holding on the the handle. It flipped right over, and he landed on his back with the buggy on top of him, and Finley still in the seat. It scared me so much I sat right down and cried in Big Lots. This guy with a mullet (very puffy mullet, I might add) came over while I was crying and showed me a bunk bed. I think the sight of his hair helped me pull myself together. Thank the Lord, the kids were fine.
Finley has learned to climb up on the table. Jonah never even attemped this. (He's not exactly a risk taker. Too much like me.) Finley not only climbed on our table, but also Gigi's and MawMaw's. My PawPaw loved this because my mom used to climb on the table to eat out of the sugar bowl when she was a baby.
Here is a confession. I play Webkinz every night after my kids go to bed. Jonah has adopted 2 Webkinz (a dog named Redman and a bunny named Sallie) and I'm just addicted to playing Webkinz. If you don't know what it is, don't find out. You'll get addicted, too. Let's just say I'm about 25 years too old to be playing it.

2007-07-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

I sang "a solo" in worship today for the first time in about 3 years. I've refused to sing for a long time now because I just couldn't handle the anxiety that came with it. That's something that's been hard for Todd to understand. I know it sounds strange, but I would literally be swept away by a feeling of panic when I had to sing (and at lots of other times too). It was uncontrollable. It really got to the point that my anxiety was almost unbearable and was affecting my life in a major way. I finally started dealing with it about 6 months ago, and to be honest, I feel really great that I was able to do this today. I had to work really hard to control my anxiety over the past 48 hours or so. (I know that sounds so crazy, but it's true!) I mean, I had to REALLY WORK at it. But, I made it through the song, and Todd said I did a great job. That's all, folks!

2007-07-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping that Todd isn't reading this.

I have to share this with you all. I've been thinking this for quite some time, but have finally decided to say it out loud.

MY HUSBAND'S SONGS ARE HORRIBLE.

There! I said it. Who's with me?

2007-06-08T18:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back. I've had an exciting couple of weeks. We got back from vacation exactly one week ago. This was our first real family vacation. We had a really really good time. Jonah, in particular, had the time of his life. We went to the zoo, then Sea World...he rode his first roller coaster, ate his first giant sucker, and did his first cannonball into a pool...we went to the Magic Time Machine and our waiter was HAN SOLO! Jonah got his autograph...We went to the Rainforest Cafe, and Jonah spent most of his time hiding in the bathroom because he was afraid of the thunder...but all was redeemed for him when he bought an electronic voice changer at the gift shop before we left...and he didn't stop talking in that thing until we got back to Lufkin. Amazingly, Finley slept all the way home.

On Sunday, we moved Finley to a toddler bed. I had an unspoken plan of keeping her in her crib until she was at least 2, and maybe even longer if she'd let me. (We had to move Jonah out of his crib at 15 months old when he took a flying leap out of it in the middle of the night.) Finley hasn't shown any desire to climb out, but she kept getting her legs caught between the slats of the crib. Anyway, we moved her crib out and her new bed in. She liked it, and did great that first night, except for when I caught her walking down the hall at 5 a.m. The week has gotting progressively worse, though. Last night she got up 5 or 6 different times, starting at 2 a.m. and finally going back to sleep at 4 a.m. But on the plus side, she looks REALLY cute sleeping in that bed.

On Monday, I sent Jonah to VBS at my cousin's church. Within 2 1/2 days, they had moved him to 3 different classes. When I took him on Wednesday morning, they had him in a class with 3 year olds! (3's, 4's and 5's in a class together...) He didn't want to stay, and I really couldn't blame him. I tried to talk it over with a lady who seemed to be in charge, and she really didn't want to budge on the matter. (Not that I was trying to make her, but she was kind of bossy. And it was "crazy hair day" so she had her hair in a sort of pink mohawk...I just don't think you should try to be bossy with a person when you have a pink mohawk.) Anyway, we left. And later, I called the church and complained. It's not like this week was going on his permanent record, right? What would it have hurt to keep him in the Kindergarten class ( he is 5 after all) for 2 more day? I told them we were part of a church, but that if we had been looking for a church, we wouldn't have come back there. So...BOO YA!

Today, my sweet son conspired with his daddy and bought me A DIAMOND NECKLACE! Yes, folks, a real diamond necklace. This was Jonah's own idea. He picked it out by himself. He's the sweetest kid in the world! It's from a real jewelry store and everything. And when he presented it to me, he told me how much he loves me and what a sweet mommy I am. Honestly, it was one of the best moments of my whole life. Wow...

Later, we took Finley to get her ears pierced. She did really well, with no more than the expected amount of crying. She looks too cute.

Tonight, we rented Night at the Museum to watch with Jonah. I know the whole world except for me has already seen. Well, now I have too. Good movie. But even better, Todd got some M&M's for us to put into our popcorn...YUM! You do not like it, so you say...Try it, try it, and you may!

2007-05-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

The other day, Todd and I took the kids to the library. The book I wanted wasn't there (The Key Lime Pie Murder, which is the latest in a series books involving Hannah Swensen, a slightly overweight, curly haired 30-something who owns a bakery called the Cookie Jar. She always gets involved in a murder mystery in her small community of Lake Eden. Why so many people get murdered in Lake Eden I don't know. She's also trying to decide between 2 guys, the hot police detective, Mike, and the lovable and funny dentist Norman. I'm pulling for Norman. These books will never be classics, but hey, they're completely stress free entertainment. Anyway, they didn't have it.)
So I'm over in the section by the computers looking for the book, and as I head back to the children's section, a young blond woman watches me leave. I smile at her, and she says, loudly, "I notice when I pause, everyone around me pauses..." I beg your pardon? I said, "Hm. You mean on the computer?" She said, "No, it's just when I pause, everyone else pauses..." I just walked away. I had Finley with me, so I didn't want any trouble. Mental illness? Weed? I don't know. But I reported her to the lady at the front desk. Weird-o-rama...really.

2007-05-01T05:43:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I'm going with my cousin Stephanie to see the 20th anniversary re-release of Dirty Dancing. I can't imagine that I watched this movie when I was 13, but I distinctly remember going to the theater to watch it with a bunch of other girls for Amy Cryer's 14th birthday party. My mom was very opposed to my going, but for some reason she let me. Then, a few months later, Stephanie and I rented it, and Mom was still didn't want us to watch it, but she let us again! She got mad that we were watching it and went to bed. But she came out after a few minutes and said, "Y'all know that you are NEVER to dance with ANYONE like that!" My friend Martha watched the movie almost every day one summer. She even sat at her computer and typed out every word while she watched it. I always wondered if she typed out what was happening during parts where there was no talking, like the dancing scenes and...other...scenes...if you know what I mean. I don't know why she did it. I just know I loved that movie. I've probably seen it at least once a year since I first saw it 20 years ago. I leave you with this final thought...NOBODY PUTS BABY IN A CORNER!

2007-04-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we went to dinner at Logan's Roadhouse. Jonah had never been there before, and he loved that they had a bucket of peanuts on every table, and you could put the shells right on the floor. He didn't eat a lot of peanuts, but he did put a lot of shells on the floor. Imagine that. Then, when Todd took him to wash his hands before we left, on the way back to the table, he grabbed peanuts out of the buckets on every table that they passed. I think Todd was walking in front so he didn't notice until it was too late. I'm just glad he didn't grab food off other people's plates.

Today, Finley walked down the hall to Jonah's room. Up till now, she's taken maybe 5 steps at once, so it really surprised Todd and me. Then, when Todd went into Jonah's room to get her, he found her eating a piece of an old tortilla. I don't know how old it was, but it was old enough to be about as hard as a saltine cracker. How did she find it? I never even saw it in there. I guess I would have noticed it if I was 2 1/2 feet tall.

Yesterday was field day at Jonah's school. He had a great time. They had a big inflatable slide, face painting, sno cones, bubbles, play doh, sidewalk chalk, etc. (I was expecting a 100 yard dash or softball throw like we had at field day when I was a kid. But I guess preschoolers don't do that.)

The funniest part of field day was when, after everyone else had gone inside, Todd went down the big inflatable slide. He shouted, "Woooo! Yeah!" as he was going down, and then he tried to get off the slide. I think he was going to do one big bounce then pop up on his feet, but I heard him go, "WUH" and when I looked he had landed right on his rear. I don't think I've ever seen him look more surprised.

2007-04-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

This morning, in the span of about 1 hour, Finley broke a glass jar, a cereal bowl, and pulled a lamp off the end table. She's just gotten to the stage where she's getting into everything. It may seem like we weren't watching her, but we really were, except for one time when Todd and I were playing each other on Gamecube Marvel Nemesis. All the rest of the time we really were watching her. And the other day, she crawled out from under the table with a SPIDER on the end of her NOSE! At first I thought it was dead, because it was kind of rolled up into a ball, but when I flicked it off it started uncurling and moving around. Plus, it was my worst kind, those crabby looking ones with the set of long legs that look kind of like pinchers. I bet she tried to put it in her mouth, but it crawled right up onto her nose instead. Can you imagine?

We've had a bad turn of events on the whole house situation. The VERY DAY we finally signed a contract on the house we're supposed to buy, we found out our buyers want us to come down off the price of the house because of some things on the home inspection. Like $3000. We just couldn't do it. So we called our realtor and told her that, and when she relayed the message to their realtor, she said, "Well, can't they come down even $500?" The realty game is just beyond me. Honestly. So we said we could come down $500, but we haven't heard if they still want the house or not. The drama of all this is too much for poor little Todd. He doesn't like the wheeling and dealing of it all. He didn't even want to be in the room while I was on the phone talking about it.

Yesterday we went to Maw Maw's for dinner and the big easter egg hunt. Jonah is so funny hunting eggs. He is so busy talking he can't hunt eggs. And yesterday for some reason he wanted to hunt eggs in a cape. Later, I asked him why and he said, "Because I wanted to have a real live super hero easter egg...Um...I just wanted to look cool." Finley didn't really know what was going on, but we posed her and took her picture as if she was really hunting eggs. Every year I help hide the eggs and every year I hide them in the same place. Guess the kids will catch on eventually.

It snowed like crazy today. I mean, really really snowed (for Lufkin.) Jonah and I even had a little snowball fight. Jonah took complete credit for the snow. He said, "HA HA! My genius plan worked!" We let him play out there for quite a while, because he'll probably have kids of his own before it snows like that around here again. He stayed out too long, in fact. He knocked on the door (who knows why he doesn't just come right in, but he never does) and when I opened the door, he gave a little shriek and said, "I just peed my pants!" I think all the playing in the snow tired him out, because it's 7:00, and both the kids are in bed. (Ha ha...MY genius plan worked!)

2007-04-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

Well, we sold our house. Almost. We have a signed contract and earnest money on it, and if they don't back out within the next 9 days it's a done deal. By the way, it's a CASH deal. Wow. I hope someday I'm able to pay CASH for a HOUSE. The house has been on the market for a month, and so for a month I have been racing around the house all day, inside and out, trying to keep it looking great. Not that easy with a 5 year old.

Jonah, on Sunday afternoon, came inside and told me he needed to potty. He has to have an escort to any part of the house that's not the living room. So I say let's go, but he wants to go outside. OK, just don't let anyone see you, I say. He comes back in to say there are people outside next door, and he just can seem to find a hidden spot. Can he go close to the carport, he asks. Yes, just don't get it on the car, I say. In a few minutes, he reports that the deed is done. He had, of course, peed right inside the carport, leaving a nice sized puddle right next to the doormat.

On an unrelated note, just a few minutes ago I took the trash out to the can and when I put the bag into the can some drops of moisture flew up and landed on my face. And in my hair. Not good. I'm sure my friend Lance would appreciate that story.

Another unrelated note: the other day my mom told me that a lady she works with admitted that every so often, she has to eat dirt. Literally. She gets a craving for it. But it has to be this specific dirt from Nacogdoches. Mom said she didn't remember that I used to eat paper as a child. She says she never knew. How could she not? Maybe I only did it at school. But I ate probably several packages of notebook paper as a child. (Not all at once, over several years.) If I ate a sucker, I would also eat the stick afterward. I didn't like the paper off of crayons. It had a weird taste. I found out my dad also ate paper. I hope I didn't give myself some disease that will show up later.

2007-03-31T11:17:00.000-07:00

Finley ate a bug yesterday. She didn't swallow it, just chewed it. Usually I keep the floor bug free, but we've been having tons of "gal-nippers" (yes, that's what we call them) in the house. They fly in and then die behind the furniture and I never know they were here. Finley found one and ate it. Taking a bug out of her mouth was just about too much for me.

Jonah is a bug mad man. He catches them to put inside his "bug habitat." Yesterday, he caught 2 gal-nippers, a caterpillar, a june bug and 2 identical beatles with orange stripes. They were apparently husband and wife, because I "walked in on them" last night. You know, that's the kind of thing you see on nature shows, but it's just not something you want to see up close, in your own house. No thank you, bugs.

Then, this morning, we found a dead bunny on or door mat, compliments of our cat Henry. I just switched his food last week to a "senior" formula (he's 8 years old) and I guess he really likes his new food so he brought me a dead bunny as a thank you. Either that, or I'm not feeding him enough. It was raining, so Todd left the bunny there until he could dispose of it. We went out later, and all that was left was a BUNNY HEAD and a few tufts of fur.

Finley ate a clump of dirt off the floor today. I know it sounds like my floor is dirty but it's really not. We had JUST walked in the house and the dirt must have come off Jonah's shoes. Finley found it almost immediately, before I had a chance to pick it up. I don't think she liked it.

Jonah said "dammit" yesterday. He heard it on a Spiderman cartoon! He had no idea what it meant. He thought it was a beam at a construction site. He said, "Daddy, Spiderman thought that dammit was about to fall and hurt those people." So Todd had to tell him it was a bad word. Later, he said to me, "Mommy, did you know dammit was a bad word?" Then, "They said dammit on Spiderman." Then, "I know some words that rhyme with dammit....jammit, blammit, dammit!"

Can you believe they still show "McGee and Me?" Jonah's watching it right now. Maybe he won't learn any more dirty words from that.

2007-03-22T19:08:00.001-07:00

Today was a LONG day.
Jonah started waking up at about 5:30 am. Probably because he was really excited about his school field trip to Brookshire Brothers Fresh Market today.
Todd was out the door by 7:00 and on his way to College Station to meet with Ross King.
I dropped Jonah off at school, where I talked to Mrs. Mary Jane about his trip to the office. Apparently he's been pushing and yelling at the other kids. Yikes.
Finley and I went to Target to get her a replacement shirt for the one that got mildew on it in the laundry a couple of days ago. My mom bought the original shirt and I didn't want her to know it got mildewed, so I bought a secret replacement.
While we were there, Finley got her arm caught in the buggy. I couldn't get it out! And I couldn't take her out of the buggy because she was stuck. I actually felt a little panicky. I had to get a Target worker to help me get her arm out. She was fine.
When I got home, I had a message on my machine from the realtor, saying they wanted to show my house today at 5:00. I've let the house slide just a little because we haven't had a showing in a week and a half. So I had to do some super fast cleaning to get it all ship-shape for the realtor. I always think really irrational things while I'm cleaning for a showing..."Maybe I could paint those baseboards in Jonah's room real quick," or,"Maybe I could replace that bathroom faucet with the new one we bought 4 years ago but never installed." Idiot!
I picked Jonah up from school and we all went to Sonic. I got to hear all about his trip to the grocery store, the highlight of which was a lesson about sea food. Someone named Pat showed them an "octopus just laying there, for eating." I never knew our local Brookshire's carried octopus... but then I've never been in the market for one. He also saw lobster tails, shrimp and a giant black fish with 2 eyes.
Since we couldn't be home while the house was being shown (twice, it turns out) we went to my mom's to wait for Todd to get home. This took FOREVER! Finally he got there and delivered a FreeBird's burrito to me. (Special ordered by me 3 hours earlier.)
After we got home, Jonah brought me a little bouquet he picked. SWEET! I truly think he is the most gorgeous little boy I've ever seen.
See how long this blog is, and I've left out most of the day! That just shows what a long day it really was. Finally the kids are asleep, and Todd is out for a walk, which is really just a cover for calling all his friends to give them a recap of his day with Ross.
I'm so tired. And it's not even 9:30 yet.
But Todd's day off is tomorrow! And he's taking 2 days off next week! (Or so he says. I'll believe when I see it.)
My final thought: Why is Dr. Pepper so good?

2007-03-21T20:38:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the highlights of my day:

Todd told Jonah this morning that he was going to whip him so hard he would cry all night.

I went to the bank to withdraw the THOUSANDS of dollars I got from my tax refund. And it really was thousands. Usually we have to pay in. I'm thrilled!

I took my car to get it washed and vacuumed (not by me, by a professional.) They found an OLD sippy cup of chocolate milk under the seat. I mean really OLD. Like maybe a year. Maybe more. It was a Chuck-E-Cheese cup.

I decided to get a tattoo. I think. I looked and looked online for one I liked but couldn't find one. I've always wanted one. I used to be too scared of the pain, but after you have kids, nothing seems quite as painful as it used to. My plan is to reward myself with a tattoo when I reach my weight loss goal. Like that will ever happen. I guess I need to think more positively. It WILL happen! And SOON! (I just mentally added, Yeah, right, to that. Oops.)

I picked Jonah up from school only to learn he had been sent TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE! For cutting in line! That doesn't seem that bad to me, but probably he's not telling me everything. He told me "all the words had gone out of his mind" when I tried to get some more info.

For the first time ever, Finley went to bed without taking a bottle. She did drink milk from a sippy cup (or, as she would say, a bup) , but NO bottle. I was secretly really sad about it.

I watched LOST, where I saw the terrible truth about John Locke.

I read the plot outline of the movie DEAD SILENCE. I was terrified by the commercial, and the plot outline is just as terrifiying. I mean, it's got possessed ventriloquist dummies in it. THERE IS NOTHING SCARIER TO ME! Plus people with their tongues cut out. When I saw the commercial for the first time, I almost cried. I hate those little dummies! I think one of the worst ones is that Charlie McCarthy doll, the one with the little monacle on his eye and the top hat. Once I saw a Fantasy Island episode where one came to life. No thank you.

And now here I am, blogging away. I'm pretty sure no one but Todd reads this, so I've decided this blog is just for me. Nothing thought provoking or philosophical, no trying to be cute or clever. Just me. Todd, hello. You don't have to comment. You can just tell me your comment in person.

2007-03-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

I've been having some really weird and vivid dreams lately. Let me share... (by the way, I was made fun of a lot when I was younger for making my family sit and listen to VERY LONG and VERY DETAILED accounts of my dreams.) Night before last I dreamed I got into a really big fight with my sister-in-law because she made fun of me for wearing capri pants with mary jane style pumps and no socks. I said, "Rudeness!" to her and she stuck her tongue out at me. Last night I dreamed that I was chosen to be the personal assistant of some TV executive (played by that guy on Studio 60, one of the head guys but not Chandler, the other one) and he picked me up every day at my mom's house and she was very suspicious of his motives. My dreams always seem to be a pretty much real world situations. I hardly ever have fantastical type dreams, like my dad. He dreams stuff like, he sees an old lady in a bad wig and a red dress, and she walks like a marionette puppet. She's telekenetic and she sends a machete flying at him. Or once he dreamed that a giant turtle came up on the porch and ate his brother and both of his grandparents. He hit it with a switch and the turtle spit them all out, unharmed.
My husband, Todd, frequently dreams about crimes being committed. My son, Jonah, dreams a lot about turning into animals, or about inanimate objects talking. My question to you: what are frequent themes of your dreams, or what "type" of dreams do you frequently have? Share one, or many, with us.

2007-03-02T19:16:00.000-08:00

I'm having the worst time remembering my username and password for the new blogger. I keep trying to post comments and then after I get them all typed, I can't post them because I can't remember my sign in stuff. Pathetic. Obviously I remembered them just moments ago.
Well, we've put a contract on another house, so we're getting ready to sell ours. Lots of menial type work involved. I'm sure you can all guess how thrilled Todd is about that part of it. We burned leaves outside today and someone called the cops on us. (Turns out we were irritating the asthma of one of our neighbors.) While the cop was there I tried to block his view of the expired tags on our car. Hope no cops are reading this.
Speaking of cops, I was witness to a shoplifting incident today. I went into the Dollar Store at Chestnut Village for some Clorox Bleach. I was about to pay when the clerk asked the lady two behind me in line what was under her jacket. It turned out to be her purse. Now, I'll admit that it's odd to wear a jacket over your purse. The clerk then said she'd have to see what was in the lady's purse. A heated argument followed. I was tempted to take my bleach and run. The lady in question, plus her accomplice who was right behind me, took off. The clerk took off after them. Anyway, she didn't catch them but they called 911. I was scared, man!

2007-02-19T14:13:00.000-08:00

Well, first let me apologize for my long absence. I have my reasons, too numerous to list, for being gone...but now I'm back and better than ever. Today is President's Day, which I celebrated by eating a Reese's Crispy Crunchy Bar (delicious, by the way) and getting a new card table. Jonah celebrated by getting a new Power Rangers Decoder Phone, which he is playing with at this second, peeking around the corner and whispering, "Believe me when I tell you I DON'T HAVE IT!!" This was followed by a dive across the kitchen floor. Finley celebrated by getting stuck under the dining room table, eating an unidentified item off the kitchen floor, and taking a 3 hour nap.

The pictures are from our trip to the park last week.

2006-12-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

Right now there's a tiny stormtrooper helmet tucked into the corner of our little nativity scene. Bet you've never noticed that in there before!

2006-12-19T13:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my son caught me in a disciplinary "faux pas." He had his Sit-n-Spin (are you familiar? did you have one too? I did.) upside down on the tile floor rolling it around. Loudly. I was, at that moment, on mommy auto-pilot (are you familiar? do you have one too? ) , so I told him if he didn't stop it I would confiscate the Sit-n-Spin and put it up in the cabinet. A person would have to have a mighty big cabinet to fit a Sit-n-Spin inside it. Jonah pointed this out to me. Am I the only one who has mommy auto-pilot? I think not. I once witnessed our own Shelly cut the crust off her own toast then cut the toast into tiny, bite sized squares while she was on mommy auto-pilot. This is not to be confused with "mommy reflex," which causes a mommy to do things like put her hands directly into the flow when her child throws up, as if she could somehow catch it. Strange, but, I believe, almost universally true. Also universally gross.

2006-12-13T08:21:00.000-08:00

I'll go once more:
1. Did you know that until I was an adult I thought ranch style beans were called "Cowboy Beans" because that's what my mom told my brother and me so that we would eat them?

2. Did you know that I'm very uncomfortable around any animal that's paid a visit to the taxidermist, and, in fact, have trouble turning my back on them?

3. Did you know that as children my cousin and I put mud on our fingertips, stood on a picnic table and tried to conjure up some "spirits" and for years after that I believed I had committed blasphemy?

2006-12-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

I've decided to adopt a, "Did You Know?" format for the time being. I'd like any readers of this blog (all 1 of you) to join in please. The rule is you have to list the "Did you know"s in threes. They can involve past and present items of trivia about yourself, your family, your life, blah blah blah. At least ONE of the items must involve a personal idiosyncrasy or neurosis. Why? I don't know. Why not? I'll start.
Did you know...I had to reprimand my son twice yesterday for licking the bottom of his shoe?
Did you know... I am really germophobic, which, ironically, causes me to struggle to clean toilets, do laundry, etc.? Sad but true.
Did you know...I had a ladies' style mullet in 6th grade?
Your turn...

2006-12-10T07:30:00.000-08:00

I just saw a commercial that literally made me clutch my throat and, for lack of a better word, gulp. I saw a naked, plastic baby sitting in an empty room. Creepy. Then it started moving and little tears came out of its eyes. Yikes! That's when I clutched my throat. Then I think it said "Mama." Gulp! Turns out, the robotic baby was looking at a TV with a Playstation 3.

2006-12-02T12:11:00.000-08:00

Todd pointed out today that if we're ever channel surfing and come across a Harry Hamlin made for tv movie, I always stop and watch it. At first I was offended...then I was just ashamed. How I wish I could say he was wrong. Curse your cleft chin, Harry Hamlin!

2006-11-27T20:51:00.000-08:00

Well, our new floor is done. Not by us, though. On Friday morning, we ripped up the carpet and were ready to start laying the laminate by around lunchtime. We cut 2 boards and the saw literally burst into flames. So we get another saw, work till about 5, and get only about 50 square feet done. The next morning, the saw stops working. It was not too funny. But one funny thing was that I sat down on a bench on our front porch to have a little cry, and while I was sitting there crying the bench broke. We were pretty much displaced from our house for 3 days.
We ended up having "paid professionals" install the floor this morning. They were done in about 5 hours. It looks great and I really really like it.

2006-11-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

I'm going to attempt to make 2 dishes for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I didn't even try last year, being great with child, and also disheartened by my past failures. There was the big flop with sweet potato pies 2 years ago (they flopped right out onto my oven door as I was getting them out) and of course, what I like to call "The Chocolate Pie Incident." (Some of you were unfortunate enough to partake of what was left of that chocolate pie, most of which had spilled in the back seat of the Mallard. That was at Christmas, but it still counts against me.)
This year, I'm making sweet potato casserole and the old stand by, green bean casserole (not a stand by to me, I've never made it.) Why, why, why do I always volunteer to make a dish I've never tried to make before? Wish me luck!

2006-11-18T20:06:00.000-08:00

It isn't often that I'm seized by an impulse. But occasionally, I become a woman possessed (so to speak.) This time, I was seized by the impulse to...paint. And get a new floor in my living room. So I did. I thought it all up on Monday night, and today I spent the day painting my living room, kitchen and hallway. Somehow, in my mind, it all seems quick and simple. I literally think it won't take over 3 hours. Ha.
I also bought laminate flooring for my living room and hallway. I'm planning on us installing it ourselves. The only problem is, it has to be cut.. with a saw...and we don't have a saw...or know how to work a saw. Oh well. I never did mind about the little things...
Jonah and Todd went to a birthday party at the bowling alley today...(Jonah's plan before they went: "I'm gonna get a lot of bowls!") Just before they left, Jonah leaned against the WET PAINT on the wall wearing a brand new shirt. Sheesh.
Tonight we went to the lighting of Rudolph the Red Nosed Pumping Unit. I know all you former Lufkinites are missing that big old reindeer. Don't try and deny it.
There was a huge crowd there tonight, and when it was time to light him up, the whole crowd did a countdown from 10. Just picture it...5...4...3...2...1... ... ...nothing.
We all just stood there...except for the band and singers, who gave us a rousing rendition of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and never missed a beat, unlike Rudolph himself.
Suddenly, the lights flickered on...the crowd began to cheer...then ...nothing again.
We waited..
Flicker...nothing...flicker...nothing.
Those poor kids.
Finally, and somewhat anticlimactically, Rudolph came to life.
We went into the mall to see Santa, and for the first time ever, Jonah sat in Santa's lap and had his picture made. He was absolutely beaming, and they talked like old friends. Finley screamed, so we whisked her away before they took the picture.

2006-11-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

I got back last week from my annual "reunion" with 3 of my best girlfriends. This year, we went to Nashville. The trip began with an airplane ride, which is something I haven't done in 15 years and I was straight up terrified. But, obviously I lived thru it (and the return flight.) On our first night, we took "The NashTrash Tour," where we boarded a bright pink bus and were shown the sights of Music City USA by "The Jug Sisters." They had appetizers (Ritz crackers with EZ cheese) and drinks (when we stopped and everyone got off the bus and bought booze, even the Jug sisters... but not me, of course...seriously, I didn't). They even sang and danced a little, right there at the front of the bus.
One night we saw a production of "Cabaret." Wow...it actually made me blush. Has anyone else ever seen this musical in person? Somehow it seems much racier when it's live scantily clad people instead of just on a movie screen. Also two guys kissed in the play. The playbill said that one of the "kissers" sings in a gospel trio when he's not...you know.
Well, as some of you know, I'm not a good closer. So, that's all.

2006-11-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is. My first blog. So much to say...where do I begin? Well, I'm really just doing this one to see if my blog works. So here goes.
I took Finley to have her picture made at Sears a couple of weeks ago. All in all, I wasn't too pleased with the whole experience. But luckily she's so cute that the pics turned out pretty good, despite the photographer. Here are two of my favorites. The one I actually bought was cute but when we got it back she wasn't even centered in the picture, plus she had drool all over her chin.
Shame on you, Sears Portait Studio. Shame on you.