Complaint Department

Shall I whine? Just a bit, I promise.

• I don't like it when my shoes eat my socks. By the end of the day, if I haven't been diligent in pulling them back up, I am about an inch taller from the socks bunched underneath my heel.
• I am tired of my dry hacking cough. Slept on the futon last night (for head elevation & to spare Dr. M – especially since he slept on there all last week when he was sick). I'll be there again tonight. I'm determined to not take anything for it because I'm tired of being a zombie the next day (don't worry Daddy – if it's midnight & I can't stop coughing I'll take the dratted cough syrup).
• There is something wrong with leaving the house in 27 degree weather & returning in 60 degree weather. I need to tote a suitcase to carry back all the layers I peel off during the day. Actually, I'm not really complaining about this. I just think it's funny to be lugging my winter coat home at the end of the day.
• I don't know why I had to wear pants that have two buckles, two fasteners & a zipper on a day when I had to go to the bathroom at least once per hour. That added an extra 2 minutes to each trip. Sheesh.
• That's it. I've been sitting here for 10 minutes trying to think of a 5^th thing to complain about, but I got nothing.

I'll leave you with something lovely to counteract the whine. Ahhh…

Magpie Tales - Week Seven

It's time again for Willow's Magpie Tales. Each week she posts a prompt around which a tale should be formed. Click the link above to see other offerings.

Girl With a Yellow Flower

Standing on the corner

Knots ravel & unravel

Frayed twine twisting

I am a hot mess

Everyone who passes

Could be or not be

Endless and final stop

That sly sideways glance

No one approaches

And, weary,

I drop the daffodil

From my fingers

Project 365 - Week Thirteen

Sunday, March 21^st

When I was at church on Sunday I noticed these lovely crocuses (crocusii?) in the back garden.

Monday, March 22^nd

On Monday my NCAA basketball bracket was totally busted when Northern Iowa defeated Kansas. I only do the bracket to make the tournament more interesting to me, so I didn't have a problem with an underdog winning. In fact, I change my loyalties game by game depending on which team has the saddest story to tell. I'm such a sucker!

Tuesday, March 23^rd

Dr. M & I don't have children or pets. What we do have is all of these little critters that make us smile. And don't require rearing or caring for. This year we decided that we needed to be fashionable and have a sock monkey. His name is Zeke

Wednesday, March 24^th
On Wednesday I wandered around the neighborhood a bit to see what might be blooming. I didn't get close enough to this neighbor's house to tell if the flowers are real or not (I'm guessing not), but I think they're fun, regardless!

Thursday, March 25^th

On Thursday Dr. M took pictures of daffodils – but I'm more intrigued by the tree sculpture!

He also saw a seagull. We're only 125 miles from Lake Erie, so it wasn't that far from home.

Friday, March 26^th

Friday morning I woke up to this (the picture was taken around 7:00 a.m.):

And then on his way home, Dr. M found spring again.

Saturday, March 27^th

Today I took a picture of a couple of the blossoms on our Kalanchoe plant.

And then we took a drive, and because I knew you'd be missing them, we took a picture of sheep. Doesn't it look like the sheep is wearing leg warmers? Is it going to start flash dancing on me?

Go here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants.

One Year of the Bug, or Hasn’t Someone Called the Exterminator Yet?

I don't know if you noticed that I changed my look. It's all Jayne's fault. I spent two hours piddling around Wednesday night until I came up with something I liked. Mostly. There are a couple of things I don't like, but it was 11:00 and the Dayton basketball game was going off and I was done. I decided to make the change in honor of spring and my blogoversary!

Yes, I created my blog one year ago today. I had been wandering around the blogosphere reading and commenting and suddenly I was hit with an irresistible urge to join the fray. I think there might have been a virus going around.

At the time I thought that I would be totally anonymous so I could say what I thought. But as I may have mentioned in this post, I over-share. Couldn't keep it to myself. Next thing I knew I was emailing my blog to my dad, my sister-in-law, a cousin and four aunts. So, yes, there are now things that I wouldn't want to write on here. And that's ok. That's what therapy is for. If I were in therapy. Which maybe I should be.

Anyway, another goal besides emptying the contents of my head onto the World Wide Web was to have an outlet for my writing. You know, that stuff I did from the time I knew what a poem was (5^th grade. My first effort was Sally Jo's Curtains. If you make me mad I'll share it with you.) until . . . I don't know exactly what happened. Actually I do know what happened. I wasn't in school anymore & there was no one telling me, "WRITE!" So I didn't.

I don't know what I think about what I've written in the last year. We're our own worst critics, aren't we? And just because I love it doesn't make it good. But I am so happy (this should be said the way Maid Marian says it in Robin Hood, Men in Tights) to be back in the mode of seeing life through my fingertips.

Now I have to go write a poem about a yellow flower.

The road is no longer snowy, but shall we travel down it together a while?

Random Dozen Meme

I decided to participate in the Wednesday Random Dozen again. This week it's being hosted by Southlakesmom at I Didn't Know THAT!. Go to her site to check out the other folks who are participating.

1. What is your favorite sign of Spring?

2. Did you remember to spring forward on March 14?  If not, how did it impact your day? We did remember – although we were at my dad's house & traveled back to Ohio that day, so it wouldn't have mattered that much if we'd forgotten. Monday was the tough day. Who knew that my body would know what time it was? I thought I was in charge here!

3. If soil, time, talent and climate were no problem, what vegetable would you plant in a garden this year? Just one? Hmmm. Cabbage! I'm TOTALLY kidding. I hate cabbage. I think I'd grow lettuce. If I had more choices, then I'd add tomatoes, peppers, cheese (what, that doesn't grow in a garden?). I'd basically like to walk out my door & have instant salad!

4. If soil, time, talent and climate were no problem, what fruit would you plant? Blueberries! For my salad.

5. What is your least favorite insect? I'm going to say slugs. Are they in the insect family? I refuse to go find out! Blech!

6. March 22 was World Water Day. To celebrate, here are some water questions. Do you drink bottled water? If so, what brand? I used to buy fairly cheap bottled water & then just wash & refill the bottles with water from my Brita pitcher. Now I use a metal water bottle (Flylady brand, if you're interested – if you put ice in it at night the ice is still there in the morning!).

7. Have you ever been somewhere that it was not safe to drink the local water? If so, how did you handle that? No, even in Zambia the water was fine (for me anyway – I think some missionaries had problems). I do remember being at Girl Scout camp one year – we were tasting foods from around the world & I couldn't find a single thing to drink! So I just kept eating the pineapple from the Hawaii table.

8. How many glasses of water do you drink per day? Sadly, since we were told that soft drinks can count as our liquid for the day I've decreased my water consumption. Even though I know that it's better for me. I probably drink about five glasses (40 oz.) a day on a regular basis.

9. March 24 is the birthday of Harry Houdini.  Have you ever watched a professional magic show? Share. No. I don't think my nephew B1 counts, although he did like to show us his card tricks.

10. Have you ever been a participant in a professional magic show (up on stage!)? Nope – and I don't think it's happening at this late date!

11. March 24 is also the birthday of Steve McQueen and Clyde Barrow. Do you like Westerns or gangster movies?  If so, what is your favorite? It probably depends on the director – I like some of each. I generally like westerns better than gangster movies, but I think it's the scenery more than anything. I did really like The Untouchables (the baby carriage scene is pretty amazing).

12. (Really random)  What U.S. state that you've never visited would you like to visit someday? This is TOUGH. There are so many I've never visited. I haven't been to New England, or the west coast. In fact the farthest west I've been is Kentucky (with a teensy little foray into Missouri when we drove across a bridge & then back again). But I think at the top of my list would be northern California to visit the redwood forest.

In summary, I need to keep looking out for flowers, drink more water, stock up on salad items, and plan a trip to California!

Uh Oh Spaghetti-O

Last night during a reprieve from coughing and blowing my nose, I dreamed that I was eating spaghetti. I took a big bite, and chomped down on a cough drop. Ewww! For the rest of the night I dreamed or thought about how disgusting that would be. Tomato sauce with a hint of "Vapor Action." Even now I shudder in revulsion.

And of course I had to share my revulsion with all my readers because that's me. If you met me in person you would quickly realize that not only do I not have a filter for things I say, but that I think that all the things I'm thinking about are fascinating. I over share. Just a tad.

Once, when I was doing the sermon on Youth Sunday (boy those folks LOVED me - I was the soul of brevity, so no problem at all with getting out of church in time to beat the lunch crowd), I may have mentioned that our family sometimes skipped church because we were tired. And that on those days my parents had us read a story out of the Children's Bible. Afterward, my dad said that people liked a woman of mystery. That I did not need to share everything that was in my head. Really.

And now I feel like I've shared that story on here already. But my cold is keeping me from caring enough to go back and look.

Anyway, the point is that I had to tell you the spaghetti and cough drop story. Because, Woman of Mystery? Is not me.

Hmmm - you know what I'm really craving for dinner tonight?

Magpie Tales, Week 6

It's time again for Willow's Magpie Tales. Each week she posts a prompt around which a tale should be formed. Click the link above to see other offerings.

The sun wanders down the pavement
all southern & slow -
not a care in the world,
indifferent to any urgency
I may feel.
Deflated, like that damned tire,
I amble down the dappled street.
I think I'll have a mint julep
when I get home.

Remembering Mom

I'm watching the NCAA tournament as I'm preparing to write this (St. Mary's upsets Villanova & busts my bracket!) I realize that my mother could have cared less about basketball. Unless my brother was playing – then it was the most important game in town.

Sunday is the 5^th anniversary of her death from kidney cancer. Her tumor was found in early 2004. She had a kidney removed in April, and then the cancer showed up in her liver in November. She was gone the following March.

We had a pretty typical mother/daughter relationship. Love, hate, & all those other lovely messy emotions in between. She was my best friend and, quite simply, the center of our family's universe. Even after Dr. M & I married we merely orbited around the sun that was her. Her death sent all of us reeling, trying to find something to grab hold of. I think we've settled back down again, five years later. But there's a loss there. There always will be.

4th grade - one of the first of many perms in her life!

Vamping it up

High School Prom

I think she looks very Jackie O in this picture. That's me & my little brother with her.

Reading Good Housekeeping magazine - there was always an issue in our house!

This is "The Look." She hated getting her picture made (get over it Mom!). This one makes me cry every time I see it because it's just her. That look is my mother.

Here we are on a cruise just before she was diagnosed. She was a nut.

A memorial birdbath at my dad's house.

Jeanine Wallace

June 19, 1942 - March 21, 2005

Love you Mom

Project 365 – Week Twelve

Wow, what a difference a week makes! When we left Ohio to head south on the 6^th there was snow on the ground. When we came back last Sunday it was all gone and the grass was green! We've still had cold mornings, but the weather has been so nice that I almost believe that it's really spring. Once again I find myself apologizing for the pictures. I was playing around with my Corel Photo Album program & went just a tad completely crazy. Fun with frames! I would like to promise to control myself in future, but it's just not truthful to make such a promise.

Sunday, March 14^th
We drove back from NC on Sunday. This is a picture of the flooding in the Kanawa River Valley in West Virginia. I think these folks are used to it, but it was pretty scary to me!

  

Monday, March 15^th
Monday I decided at the last minute to participate in Willow's Magpie Tales meme because the photo prompt reminded me of a poem I wrote in college. So that necessitated a dive into my old poetry journal. I really should transcribe all of these before the journal falls apart!

Tuesday, March 16^th
Dr. M got the mower out today to make sure it will crank. Hard to believe that we'll need to start mowing in the near future. I'm excited because I should be able to help a little more this year.

While we were out getting a picture of the mower I decided that the sky needed a shout out too!

Wednesday, March 17^th
So I wore green for St. Patrick's Day, but did I get a photo of the green? No. It was late in the day & the only thing I could think about was eating pierogies for dinner. So that's what I took a picture of. Eating potatoes is Irish – right?

Thursday, March 18^th
I wore my "tall girl shoes" on Thursday. My mom bought me these shoes years ago & I think they're the cutest things, but a) I don't really do very well in shoes with heels (Klutz, Party of 1 – that's me) and b) oh the pain in the balls of my feet after wearing them all day! So Thursday night I bagged them up to give them to my friend A. And I took pictures to commemorate them.

  

Friday, March 19^th
Signs of spring – the Good Humor ice cream truck, and The Bug finally pulling the penguin luminaries up.

Saturday, March 20^th
Today I decided to roam about the yard looking for signs of new growth. Our spring shoots are more modest than the ones we saw in NC last week, but they're there!

Go here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants.

For the Birds

Warning - this post has a lot of pictures!

If you are a bird, you could find no better neighborhood than my father's yard. He and Amy work hard to make everyone welcome. There are a wide variety of accommodations. For example, here is a lovely arts & crafts style home.

Or, if you prefer, a couple of more rustic abodes (although the top one may already have a resident - see the small bird at the top of the picture).

Here are some other examples - just look at the fun artwork on the one on the top!

You could just do it yourself (there's a nest in there somewhere!)

Or choose this fixer-upper. Yes, it's upside down. I don't know why.

If you're feeling really adventurous you could choose to live in the bat neighborhood!

Of  course, one of the first things you check out in a new neighborhood are the eating & entertainment options. Below are examples of the restaurants and pools in the area.