Checking In...

I finally finished the kitchen remodel. But it has spread into the laundry room,  jumped to the old bathroom, and invaded every fingerprinted wall in need of fresh paint. Plus, before that is even finished, my husband decided the garage was next on the fix-it-up-till-it-hurts list and we worked from 8am till 6pm in 104 degree heat yesterday. Face it, folks. I'm too pooped to to blog!
But I feel bad about forsaking my writing- (and all of you). I do this every year, I think. Reach a point where I'm too busy with yard work and gardening and other things to even pause here to say hello.
Come autumn, I'll be writing steady again. I hope. I do have a new grand baby due in November. Looking forward to that.
And I have a fantastic family vacation in the works soon, also! Hopefully that trip will inspire me.
In fact, I may redesign this whole blog...kinda tired of it already. But- I'll let you know if I move.
For now, I'm stuck here with paint in my hair, garden dirt under my fingernails and a bank account that is getting drained by DIY projects.
If my internet didn't SUCK BIG TIME, I would post Before and After pics...But, no.
Hope you all had a great 4th. See you all soon, I hope!

I Shall Seek

My world is like a lighthouse.

Every morning I awake and look outside-
seeing an ocean of life that merely
touches the edges of my boundaries-
I, always fearful of wandering too far
and becoming lost.
Worried that I cannot swim as well as others...
Not knowing if there is anything beyond the rim of the sunset.

I watch from the window with binoculars,
sending out a beacon -
in hopes that Fate and Adventure will someday find me.


My world is like a forest.

I grow comfortable with the trees.
They hide the imperfections.
They camouflage my sadness and insecurities-
and they cushion me from the unknown.
Sometimes I wonder if I started walking
if I would find the sunshine-
or die from a lack of living in the shadows.

My world is like a mountain.

And I've never climbed it.

Content to remain at the bottom, looking up.
Sometimes I dream about the other side -
and imagine it as a wonderland
where I can run and fly
and bathe in joy.

My world is like a desert.

And it leaves me thirsty.
Yet, I always convince myself I don't need to drink-
that what I have
and what I do
is all that is expected of me.

But your love has made me want to open my eyes,
unfurl my wings,
break down the barriers of fear
and push through to something called living.

I'm stepping out-
swimming in that ocean,
exploring the forest,
climbing that mountain,
and crossing that desert.

Fate and Adventure is calling me
and this time-
I will go to them.

Kitchen Chaos

Right now I should be in my kitchen.
Not cooking.
Not making a fresh pot of coffee.
Not even trying to scrape the dried egg yolk from around the stove top.

I should be on my hands and knees gathering up every old bottle of Windex, crunchy lemon-scented SOS pads, dried up sponges, and a fragrant variety of household deodorizers guaranteed to perfume even a whale graveyard.

I should be tossing out cracked tea cups, bent silverware, stained Tupperware and a thousand plastic lids that fit absolutely nothing.

Why?
Because I'm getting a new kitchen!!!!

Forgive me, I hate to brag.
But it's not every day that a woman needs a kitchen as much as I do.

Mine sucks.

 I have two drawers.
One stuffed with dishcloths and over-plump pot holders- and another cramped with utensils that look as though someone set off a stick of dynamite in there.
I have dishes stacked on dishes and my pots and pans have had to find a home in the laundry room. (Now-no more having to move the 2-ton pressure cooker to fold towels!Yay!)

The kitchen is one room of the house that we never "got around to".
Somehow it got pushed to the Last Priority list.

Then it disappeared off the list completely.

I wouldn't go as far as to say it's because you can't work on a tractor here, store your guitars in the corner cabinet, or whip out your welder to mend a gate on the counter top...

No, wait.

Maybe I will go that far. There- I said it.

But, oh, how sweetly my husband has redeemed himself!

The only drawback from having a fantastical new kitchen is the fact that we are only doing it in order to better sell the house. Retirement is in the cards in 18 months...Yikes!

I will try to post before and after pictures when it's finished.
For now, I better get on my Latex rubber scrubbing gloves, the claw hammer(don't tell my husband), and a ginormous burst of energy. (Where that is gonna come from, I have no clue...)

But I'm armed for the challenge.

Coffee. check!
Inspiration. check!
Excitement. check!

Here I go!

The "I Do's" are Done!

As I'm sitting here eating a piece of cheesecake and wondering why my jeans fit a little too snugly, I also reflect on the past few months...

Erin and her bridesmaids (and my new granddaughter!)

My daughter's wedding went smoothly, and if I do say so myself, it was a success. The only thing that kept it from being perfect was the 90 degree + heat -and the venue had no air conditioning. But other than my dress sticking to my freshly spray-tanned legs and everyone's hair looking as though they had been caught in a sudden rain storm, I was happy with the way everything turned out.









My daughter was absolutely beautiful...

Mr. & Mrs.

The cake topper I made for the wedding

(I'll post more pics of the wedding as I get them).

Well, I suppose I have no excuses to ignore my blog any longer. I hope to be back on a regular basis and visit all my favorite blogs also.

But today is my birthday...and I'm doing whatever I want today!
See you tomorrow!

Bountiful Blessings

I've been so overwhelmed lately. ...
And not just with chores, but also with blessings.
Who can complain about that?

First off, my daughter's wedding is in 15 days. What?? Really? Only 15? That's less than I thought! Then why am I writing when I should be making table cards or a music schedule or choosing napkins or buying stuff?....
Because I need a mental break. I need to slow down. Breathe.......Enjoy the ride.
I am so happy for my daughter and I just pray her special day goes well and it all falls beautifully into place.

We love our son-in-law to be and he comes with a very special 5 year old bonus! And we love her, too!


Speaking of weddings, my other daughter just got engaged and is planning a wedding in March. (Thank the Lord, it's not another DIY!) We love her new man and welcome him with open arms into our crazy family!





And, to top that all off, my son that got married in September...

Isn't this the cutest announcement?

and my sweet daughter-in-law....


... just gave us another blessing!

I'm gonna be a Nana again in November!!!!

My three children Sept 2011

I am going to try to keep up my blog once all this excitement calms down.
Thanks for stopping in again and allowing me to share my blessings...
Have a wonderful day!

This DIY Wedding..

Been busy with the May Wedding...

I got this rusty chandelier at a yard sale a few years ago...for FREE

My husband has threatened to throw it away more than once...

A little Ballet Pink Krylon...and it's ready to hang from a tree with a pink ribbon and candles...

My To Do List continues....See you soon!

Wesley Byrd

(I've been trying to make myself sit down and write (rather than waste time on FB and Pinterest) and I am practicing on developing characters- something I don't have to do with a blog. My story is about a fictional town in Missouri called Rebel and the people who live there....



Wesley Byrd's mobile home sat a bit cockeyed. Its north end sagging slightly from an accident with Teddy Boswell's horse trailer. Teddy had misjudged his abilities to back up the fourteen foot rusty monster and chipped the cinder block that balanced the corner of Wesley's 1975 Flamingo double-wide. Luckily there were no horses involved, but only a weeks worth of their manure that Teddy was hauling to his garden spot. Why on earth Teddy stopped by to show Wesley his load of crap was unclear, but with the temps in the 90's and no trees in the entire yard, the stench of equine feces suffocated the countryside for three days.

To aggravate the situation further, Wesley's water bed added extra weight to the already compromised foundation. It was a 1968 model from the local Bed Giant that had seen its share of wild nights and mindless neglect. A few silver stripes of duct tape, a spot of Super Glue and a large plastic mattress pad struggled to keep the stagnant water contained. One more crazy date with Tawny Doggins- and Wesley imagined waking up in a bed of deflated rubber and puddles as big as his ex-wife.

But Wesley smiled to himself. By golly, it would be worth it! Tawny Doggins made a man forget about things. Like: how old his bed was, how he was down to his last two beers, and how there was a chance that Auto Credit of America might repo his old Chevy.

However, at the moment Tawny wasn't there. And furthermore, it was very unlikely that she would be visiting soon. Apparently she had gotten back together with Dick Hill, the owner of the local lawnmower repair shop. The guy only had seven fingers, but he was built like a hillbilly version of Arnold Schwarzenegger- with a tattoo of two dancing ladies on his chest that moved whenever he flexed his hormone-boosted muscles. What Tawny saw in him, Wesley never understood- other than perhaps the fact that the guy had a job, a real house and a good used car.

Wesley sat at the kitchen table alone- the gray Formica still dotted with traces of  pizza sauce and yesterday's pancake syrup.

Although it was barely 10 a.m., Wesley chugged one of his beers, barely taking a breath before sucking the last drop from the aluminum can. He had friends, he thought, surely he did.

Outside his mangy pit bull kicked up clouds of dust and rattled his chain against the barbeque grill, barking incessantly at an armadillo who had made a burrow in the nearby creek bed.  Inside, his balding parakeet, Crackers, made sick-sounding cheeps from her dirty cage- the poop at least a quarter inch thick and growing- on the nasty newspaper floor. His window air conditioner sputtered a moment and the power surged, leaving his microwave flashing zeros. Time seemed to freeze, too- surrounding him in slow motion, magnifying the sounds and sights and smells of his life.

He rose from the table and gathered the empty cans, crushing them in half with the others in the thirty gallon Rubbermaid trash bin, reserved solely for recycling. He was due for a trip to the salvage yard. He had just about enough cans to earn him another case of beer and a pack of cigarettes. Ahhh...life was pretty good.

Wesley stood over the toilet regretfully relieving  himself of his last beer when he heard his mother drive up. There was no mistaking the buzz of her Volkswagen bus, a vintage van still plastered with Grateful Dead bumper stickers and sporting a dusty dream catcher from the rear-view mirror. He smelled her fancy woman cigar before he even saw her.

Bertha Byrd was pushing sixty, but she still wore her bright red hair down the length of her back- a rude contrast to her frosty blue eyeshadow and circles of terracotta blush that stained her wrinkled cheeks. She only came to make sure Wesley had milk, bread, and eggs (as if that is all it took to survive), and to share all the latest gossip about Rebel, Hollywood, Nashville- and all points in between.

Wesley met her at the door and waited for her to finish her smoke. She flicked the cigar butt at the dog house and waved hello at Wesley.

"Ain't you got that weed whacker fixed yet?" she asked,"it looks like a jungle out here."

He ignored her and helped her up the rickety steps into the house, trying to avoid listening to her complaints about the yard, the dog, his clothes and the state of the bird cage.

"Guess what?" she said, clapping her hands together in obvious joy, "I think I got you a job! Talked to Gerty at the post office and she said they was hirin' at the new casino. You jus have ta go fill out an application by Wednesday.  I heard they pay real good."

Wesley's heart beat with excitement. A job. A real job? His unemployment benefits were due to expire in a few weeks and the thought of having another bowl of Ramen noodles for supper made his stomach growl.

"What would I do there. Ma?" he asked.

"Oh, they's all sorts of positions still open. Maybe you could bar tend. You like to drink, fer sure," she said, eying the bulging bag of empty beer cans. "Lawd knows ya ain't real good with a broom, but they will need janitors."

"Maintenance men, Ma. That's what they call them at fancy joints like that. And, I could do good at that, I'm sure."

Wesley began to daydream as his mother started in on some honky tonk country singer that showed too much cleavage and dyed her hair way too black.

...He figured with a job he might be able to replace the old water bed, the leaky faucet, the mildewed shower curtain, and pay off his truck. But more than all of that- maybe he could win back Tawny Doggins. Heck, he'd shovel Teddy Boswell's manure for another chance with sweet little Tawny...

TO BE CONTINUED....