Life thus far

Summer is almost over. Well, for all intents and purposes in the Turner household, it IS over, and HAS BEEN over for weeks now - we started school on August 4.



Totally, completely ridiculous.

I don't know if it's getting older, or our recent move, but I've become such a homebody lately. Seriously. Right now, if I could have a couple of days where I didn't have to leave the house at all, that would be just about the best thing ever.

Yeah, I know. Not gonna happen.

I have been busy this summer, so here's a slight recap of the shenanigans and goings-on around here.



* Did I mention we moved? Because I can't remember if I ever did, and it's not even 6 a.m. yet and I don't feel like going back through my blog to check. We bought a house from my aunt that's next door to my parents (Gramma next door? Can I get a "WHAT WHAT!"). It's really a blessing that we did when we did, because two weeks after we moved my dad had emergency quintuple (that's FIVE to you non-math folks) bypass surgery and it's been great to be right next door during his recovery.

* This house has inspired me to go a completely different direction in my decorating. It's laid out differently than my last home,and we're in the woods (quite literally) so it's gaining more of a cottage vibe. I've become OBSESSED with home decor blogs and Pinterest, and probably need a second Google Reader account just to keep up.



The great thing about this style is, it can be VERY inexpensive. Many of the things I've gotten have been from Goodwill, or repainting/altering things I already had. It looks like things were gathered instead of just gone out and shopped. And that's a good thing, for my budget and my decorating!





* I started a Life Group (what we call our small groups) at church called Deal Seeking Divas! We have a Facebook group where we share deals back and forth, and I've set up a coupon exchange folder in my office at church. In the coming months, we're going to be using our frugality to help those who are in need, and I can't wait!

* I joined another Life Group, a book club for readers of inspirational fiction. My friend (and a FABULOUS writer) Jesse is heading it up, and I have a feeling it's going to be great! I've already read some thought-provoking stuff. Our discussions should be very interesting!

Ahh, summer. I'm going to miss you, 100 degrees and all. Promise you won't be gone long?

So, that's what's up with me. What's been up with y'all?

Really? Over a month?

It seems my writer's block can only be broken by some sort of crisis.

Although, once we got the mice gone, I then had to deal with (all by myself, because Jason was out of town and unreachable) an infestation of ants. IN MY ROOM. What the heck? Contrary to popular myth, this fat kid does NOT hide Twinkies and Ho Ho's in her nightstand, so I don't know what they were after.

(That reminds me of a joke my dad used to tell - maybe a Flip Wilson gag? - "Do you believe in the hereafter? Good. Because I'm here after your money.)

(HAHAHA. You've missed my razor-sharp wit, haven't you?)

Once I got shed of the ants, via two applications of Terro, the best ant-killer ever invented, it was FLIES.

We have never, in the six years we've lived at our present address, had an issue with flies. Ever. It started out being a couple, which we chalked up to Anna Marie not closing the back door properly. And then one day I get a phone call from Jason, asking em to go to the store (THWACK!) and pick up (THWACK!) some flying insect spray (TWACK!).

Yes, he was calling me with one hand, and slaughtering flies with the other. Because he's a great multitasker that way.

They were all congregating around one of the windows in the kitchen, and were apparently quite dumb. Because even though they saw the rolled up newspaper sending their insect brethren to that big manure pile in the sky, they didn't move, and consequently suffered the same fate.

Thankfully, the flies seem to be gone. We're hoping for a nice, cold winter to kill them and all their mosquito cousins who live in the drainage ditch at the back of our yard, and attack us when we go out there to spend time with the dogs.

I don't know anyone named Moses, I haven't been to Egypt lately, and I'm not expecting frogs to show up in my kitchen any time soon.

And no, I'm not going to rename this blog "Plagues I have known." Just so you know.

Contrary to popular belief

We did not blow or wash away this weekend.

Although, at times it felt like we could have.

Really, we didn't get nearly the bad weather that those around us did. There were lots of bleary-eyed folks at church today because the tornado sirens were going off all night Friday and Saturday in the county where the church is (and where most of the folks live). They didn't go off down here at all - we just got tons and tons and TONS of rain.

(We were bleary-eyed this morning too, but because we had an eight-year-old climb into bed with us during the thunderstorm last night!)

There are stories of horrible flooding not far from here, and a couple of tornadoes touched down - and some lost their lives. Add that to the tornadoes in south Mississippi last weekend, and that oil spill making its way towards shore, and we have a lot of praying to do in the next few days, my homies.

I hope that wherever you are out there in blogland, you are safe, and DRY!

Exciting times

Isn't coffee a wonderful thing? I can go from drowsy and unproductive to up and at 'em in just a few sips. Brilliant!

(I fear I have become way too dependent on caffeine. Oh, well. I won't be weaning myself off today!)

Exciting things are happening in Melz World.

First, I'm halfway through the second season of Lost! I took a couple days break, but now I'm back at it.

Also, I'm on week five of Couch to 5K! I know! I can't believe I've stuck with it this long either!

Also, Jason and I volunteered at (and got free tickets to) a concert on Friday night. And not just any concert - The Gaithers.

You know the ones - infomercials full of old-time Gospel singers, sitting around in various venues singing songs that are even older than they are.

Now, Jason and I aren't huge fans of this genre of music, but it was to help a friend, and have something to do on a Friday night, and, well, these folks are talented.

We were originally supposed to work one of the merchandise tables, but we actually got a better job - handing out keychain lights and postcard advertisements at the furthest (and last to fill up) door.

While the other workers had to leave the concert and work during intermission and after the show, once we ran out - about the time the show started - we were free to enjoy ourselves.

In the hallway before the show, we saw several artists, walking around like normal folks.

We saw this guy:



(That's Michael English.)

And we saw this guy, hanging out at his merchandise table as the volunteers were being doled out:



(That's Russ Taff.)

And then, right before the show started, I saw the woman who had taken the volunteers around. She was walking really quickly and talking on a radio, and there were about five big, burly guys behind her. And in the midst of the group was this guy:



(That would be Bill Gaither.)

I grabbed Jason and was all, "Jason! Bill Gaither travels with bodyguards!" And he was all "He's probably sued so many people [for copyright infringement] that he never knows who he's going to run into."

The first segment of the concert had each of the different groups singing a set of songs. It lasted about two hours, and after intermission, the last hour was more on the lines of their "Homecoming" series - everyone onstage, singing really old songs.

Like I said, we aren't huge Southern Gospel fans, but they put on a good show. I haven't heard Jason laugh so much in a long time. Plus, did I mention we got in free?

Free is (almost) always good.

Friday was also the day that a very exciting project was born, one that I can't tell you about now but one that I PROMISE I'll tell you all about soon.

Very soon.

(No, I'm not pregnant.)

Perhaps the MOST exciting news of all - it's finally time for us to have a yard sale, so that means I get my dining room back this weekend! My darling husband got the bug to clean out the closet WEEKS ago, and the stuff has just been piled there ever since. I've even heard a rumor that he's getting Anna Marie to clean out a load of toys, and that makes this mom's heart want to SING!

Exciting times at Melz World. You better believe it, folks.

Official "Thursday" Weigh-In, et al

It's three, three, THREE blog posts in one!

First, the one where I tell you that my two red heads left for their annual South Carolina trip at 6:30 a.m. yesterday. Which is also the one where I tell you that Jason found out last night that his Jeep will need an alternator, and sooner, rather than later.

Thankfully, he brought his whole tool box, and he can do the work himself. He's at the campgrounds now, and if he needs someone to take him to a parts store there will be staff there until about noon. After that, he'll have to call his sister who lives in the next town over. I just hate the thought of spending the money!

Then, comes the one where I tell you what I weigh this week.

148, or back down to 89 pounds lost. That's a pound lost this week.

It's good, but I was hoping to be down to 137 by today, because it's my 10th anniversary, and some silly part of me wanted to be able to say, "Hey, I weigh 100 pounds less than I did on my wedding day!"

Silly girl.

I could try on my wedding dress, but I can tell you right now, it's a size 22 and would completely swallow me. Plus, it's off-the-shoulder, and I doubt the contraption I had to buy to hold me in/push me up/support my major boobage would do anything right now.

(Oh, that was the third post, by the way - telling you that it's my anniversary.)

Ten years. Oh my gracious. Has it really been that long?

And has it really been five years since I've actually been in the same state as my husband on July 11?

He called me at 6:00 a.m. He knew I'd be up anyway. Actually, that's usually the time that the lady from our press facility calls me if there's a problem with a page, so for a half second I thought it might be her. But a glance at the caller ID confirmed it was Jason.

He said he thought about saying, "Uh, Melissa?" like she does when he answers the phone at that hour, but thought about the whole caller ID ruining the joke.

Cheeky monkey.

And how will I celebrate today? Well, I've been invited to the local Rotary meeting at noon, to do a story on their speaker, and they'll buy my lunch. And tonight for dinner, I'll likely feast on a Boca burger and oven potatoes.

And watch I Am Legend, if Netflix is kind enough to ship it to me today.

I was going to treat myself to one of those PediEgg contraptions, but on the news that Jason is having to buy an alternator I decided that was $10 I might not need to spend right now.

Once again, Jason has absconded with both of our computers, so if I want real internet access (not just checking my email on my phone, which is pitifully slow in the absence of a true 3G network down here) I'll have to come to work.

Which is what I end up doing every year this time, anyway.

So, in short - the red heads left, I weigh 148, it's my anniversary.

I guess that'll do for now!

Just checking in . , ,

Who knew getting three folks ready to go to the beach for three days could be so difficult?

Not me.

I haven't had to pack for a trip with this bunch since Thanksgiving. And this time, we'll have four people in our four-seater car (instead of three) so I have to be extra special careful about using our space wisely.

Jason used to have a rule that before we left on a trip, the house had to be clean.

I say "used to," because somehow, that rule has flown out the window - maybe one day soon, it'll take the "clean the car out every time you get out of it" rule with it. I really hate that one.

Did I mention - both Tom Jones and Usher are performing at the hotel on Thursday night! Not that I have tickets for either, but the potential for random meetings is there, all the same.

(And did you know - someone tell me if this is true or not - I heard today that Tom Jones insured his chest hair, like with Lloyds of London or something?)

Well, break time is over - back to packing.

I am a lazy lima bean.

Well, no, actually, I'm a busy lima bean.

I have a few pictures (and a video!) from Saturday's recital, 'tis true. Except, I can't find my camera right at the moment. I think it may be in Jason's Jeep, but we've been like two ships passing in the night for most of this week and I keep forgetting to go out there and look.

So, for now, you'll have to visit Amanda's blog. You can see her take on the recital (and a few pics from afterward) here and see a day in the life of Anna Marie's summer job at the auction here.

Fear not, bloggy friends - I have not abandoned you. I'll be back to my regular verbose self in a few days!

So I've been asked for a hair dryer review

And I'm throwing in this picture, gratis. You're welcome.

It was taken at Relay for Life on Friday, and Anna Marie posed for it - as in, she saw me with my camera, and held that exact position, and I said, "Oh, you're waiting for me to take a picture, aren't you?"

She is her Aunt Manda's niece.



Oh, the hair dryer is fine. Not too big, not too small. And, let me tell you what a ginormous dork I am. (Like you needed me to reiterate that!) Usually, I stand in the (small, not-well-ventilated) bathroom, in front of the mirror, and dry my hair. I dry it most of the way, and then use a big round brush with the dryer to smooth it out and give it "bounce," "volume," and, hopefully, "a semblance of style."

Today, I was at home alone (Jason was at the auction, and Anna Marie was with mom) and I was having Golden Girls withdrawals. And they're recorded on the DVR in our bedroom. So I decided to take my dryer in there (where, by the way, there is no mirror) and watch TV while I did my hair.

What? You never did that? OF COURSE YOU HAVE.

Except, I couldn't figure out how to turn the closed captioning on, so I missed part of the dialogue while the dryer was running!

Anyway, because I didn't have the mirror, I just flipped my head upside down, and dried it, and used the brush to give it a little shape as I did. When I was finished, I went into the bathroom (during a commercial break, of course) and flipped my hair back over, and used the brush to smooth it out.

Guess what - I've gotten lots of compliments on my hair today. So, apparently, I do better not being able to see what I'm doing.

(What's that? Yes, I know I can pause stuff with the DVR, but I had exactly enough time to watch one episode before I had to leave for work. I had my plan all worked out, and nothing was going to interrupt that.)

So, I can recommend the dryer. I noticed after I got home that it was also dual-voltage, so if I have need to go to Europe I can take it along!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to mosey back to the Conair site, where I "borrowed" this picture, and enter to win some money by submitting a review. It could happen!

What does vanity get you?

A hair dryer that catches on fire when you turn it on, that's what.

I had to resort to the wee tiny travel dryer, and up next to my super-charged ionic model, it was hardly a match.

Guess I'll be stopping in at Target tonight after church to spy out new models.

In other, more interesting news, read about Anna Marie's latest adventures with her Aunt Manda here.

Everyone needs an Aunt Manda!

I did it!

I made myself exercise tonight! Outside! In the heat!

I just did it because I told you I needed to, you know. Accountability rocks!

I hate to post this and run, but I'm watching Ocean's Twelve and they're just in a commercial break.

Is it wrong to say movies like this make me want to be a master thief?

A pre-weigh-in check-in

Lots of hyphens in that title, huh?

Ever need a day off to recover from your day off? I usually do! I guess because I don't get to take a day off very often, I have to try to cram as much into them as possible.

Tuesday morning, Anna Marie mercifully didn't wake me up until 7:30 a.m. (Later would've been better, but I'm not going to split hairs here.)

Speaking of hair - we both got ours cut Tuesday. Well, she's still trying to grow hers out, so it just got shaped up a bit, but I probably lost like half a pound of hair. Sharon is so good with that thinning-out tool thingy!

We went to vote, and then took a trip 15 miles north to the nearest Kroger to get in on their awesome sale on chicken.

(Man, you know you're a mom when a sale on chicken gets you stoked!)

We also stopped at Subway for a sandwich. Never go to the grocery store hungry!

When we got home, it was such a nice day (as opposed to the six inches of snow on the ground over the weekend) that she played in the backyard whilst I put a roast in the crock pot and deboned chicken breasts to go in the freezer. After half an hour of that (including cleaning up) she beckoned me outside, where she'd set up a circuit of activities.

She'd make a great personal trainer.

We hit a baseball. We played catch. We kicked soccer balls into her goal. We threw wee tiny footballs. We played basketball. And we played field hockey, using a small fabric ball and some sticks.

Whew!

Add to that the two loads of laundry I put up, and I was done. I mean, stick a fork in me if you'd like - I was too pooped to go on. I just kind of lay around until Jason got home and it was time for dinner. Thank God for the crock pot!

I was still pretty exhausted yesterday, but I managed to make it through. And then, Jason brought me this, courtesy of Amanda:



Bet you can't guess who that is. Or who this is:



That's right! It's AM!

I had no clue about this, and truthfully, if I hadn't been told the cover photo was of her, I never would've guessed. The interior shot, of the polka-dot dress, was easier.

A friend of Amanda's was designing the cover for this album by JT Page, saw the pictures on her Flickr page, and asked to use them. They're perfect, especially since the album is called "Olivia's Dance." The title track was written in honor of the artist's granddaughter.

I'm listening to the album now - it's sort of jazz-meets-church music. Not bad - I don't know anything about the artist, except that he attends a Presbyterian church in Memphis and dropped a couple of copies of this album by Amanda's house last week in the middle of a blizzard.

The picture on the cover was taken the weekend we moved into our house, when AM was just about to turn 3. Once Jason told me who it was, I immediately remembered the outfit and the photos Amanda took that day. The inside image was taken not too long after that, because I think that dress was a size 3T.

I can't even explain the sense of pride I felt when I saw this, because really, what did I have to do with it? Amanda took the picture. Her friend saw it and designed the cover. And this Page fella recorded the music.

But, it's my child, all the same, and I guess its that connection I feel with her, that makes me happy when something like this happens to her.

(By the way - she didn't seem too impressed. Maybe when she's older she'll appreciate it!)

Now, I have a full day of work to look forward to before weigh-in tonight. I really wish there was some other time, besides the end of a deadline day, that I could do this!

Check in #1

Because the second time, I'll bring you the latest in the Battle of the Bulge.

Oh, thank God, the trial is over! After three half-days of testimony (starting after lunch on Monday, just before lunch on Tuesday, and ending just before lunch yesterday) the jury was handed the case at 1:40 p.m. yesterday.

At 2:25 p.m., they had a verdict for Bailiff Bob.

And yes, even the judge calls him that.

Guilty of capital murder. Life in prison, with no possibilty of parole.

(Did you know that in Mississippi at least, it doesn't matter if you robbed the person before or after they died, it's still capital murder? I didn't.)

(There was no death penalty on the table. I think because he's a citizen of our neighbor to the south, and he's not exactly supposed to be here, and they don't exactly like the death penalty down there.)

(Something like that.)

No big show of emotion from the family - I think they're just glad to be done with this.

This has been a very topsy-turvy week. When I got downstairs to my car to check my phone for messages on Tuesday (because I couldn't take it or my purse into the courtroom) there was a missed call from work. The weather was getting bad, Travis said, and school had let out early.

Great. I'm in court, can't be reached, can't leave. Jason's in Memphis. Along with my mom and Amanda.

No worries - Travis said Ms. Faye had already gone to the school to pick her up.

I was a bit concerned that the school had let my daughter go with someone that I hadn't told them would be coming, but Faye had talked to the teacher when she called and let her know the situation. When Faye finally got to where AM was (poor thing had no idea where to go, and the whole setup is pretty complicated) they asked AM if she knew the lady in the white truck.

She said she did, and the folks said, "You must be her grandmother!"

(Faye was not offended - she does have red hair, and she is old enough to be AM's grandmother.)

The two red-heads pulled up at the courthouse about the time I got off the phone with Jason. I was going to take the kid home while I had my lunch break and leave her at the paper with Faye, but then I remembered my dad hadn't gone back to work yet so I took her over there until Jason could get home.

Problem solved.

(By the way, AM did know that I was in court, and Ms. Shirley was supposed to get her from choir practice after school, but she was at the doctor with her husband when the teacher called. So I guess she figured Ms. Faye was a stand-in for Ms. Shirley.)

I am typing this on our new - I mean, Jason's new laptop. It also came in Tuesday whilst I was in court. It's an Acer, and I'm not thrilled with the keyboard. For some reason, every few keystrokes, the cursor jumps back a few spaces and starts typing in the middle of another word. My mom has an Acer, and it does the same thing. If anyone out there has had this problem, and knows what I'm doing wrong, I'd appreciate some tips.

The jury, while dismissed in the murder trial, is still out on Vista.

And now, gentle reader, I must go finally start my day. I'm thankful we're all safe after Tuesday's storms, that I didn't have to see any crime-scene photos this week, and that the trial is over and justice, hopefully, is served.

And that I work with such a great group of folks that they're willing to all pull together to help me be a mom so I can do what I do.

Everyone knows it's Wendy

No, I didn't misspell that title - and you're welcome for the ear worm.

As I type this, the wind is howling - HOWLING - outside. It's been just awful outside today. While it wasn't the bitter cold of the last few days (or the sleet and frozen fog of late last week) the weather's been bad all the same.

It was windy yesterday, but really kicked up today. It rained, and it rained, and it rained, all day long. Our back room at work flooded all of a sudden this afternoon, and the doors have been blowing open all on their own.

In Anna Marie's words, it's pretty creepy.

Turns out, it gets worse than flooded rooms and auto-opening doors.

My mom was driving up to her house this afternoon, talking on the phone, and just as she got home (and was getting off the phone) her friend said, "Be careful - it's supposed to be windy."

"Yeah, I know, it already is," she said. To which her friend replied, "No, I mean dangerously windy."

Cue a tree falling onto the mailboxes at the end of the driveway and blocking her route.

(One mailbox belongs to my mom and the other to her sister who lives next door, by the way.)

So, since she couldn't go any further, she got out and went to my aunt's house. My dad was already over there, because a tree branch was thrust into the bathroom, landing just above the shower curtain rod.

In her house, which is less than a year old. There is a tree branch in the bathroom. Lodged into the wall.

My aunt was sitting on her bed, talking on the phone with one of the other sisters (what is it with these two and phones?) and saw it happen.

Jeebus.

So, my dad was going to try to get some sort of tarp over the branch, in case it started raining. My aunt, meantime, was finding her homeowner's policy.

There is no telling what I'm going to see when I get up in the morning. There were already random tree branches and other debris scattered around the neighborhood when I was on my way home. Tomorrow may well look like a war zone.

As long as it isn't as bad as a summer day a few years ago - straight line winds caused enormous damage in the Mid-South.

And what was this weather event dubbed by the local media?

Hurricane Elvis.

In other news . . .

I know y'all have been just in fits to know what else I've been doing this week - besides gaining more weight.

On Monday, I worked a mere half day. I didn't even drive my car - there was a thick layer of frost on it, and I figured that by the time I got it scraped I could just walk to work, so I did. It was cold, yes, but I had longjohns and a warm coat.

My mom came by my office and picked me up, we came home and got Jason and AM, and headed to see Amanda. Moe's for lunch, then a trip to Super Target(75% off Christmas ornaments!0 and the mall. What could be better?

Monday night for dinner, we opted for a "take and bake" pizza from Walmart, trying to save time, money, and aggrivation by not ordering our usual Pizza Hut on New Years Eve. We doctored it up with slices of Canadian bacon and olives, but it just wasn't very good. The cheese, was, I don't know, kinda weird. None of us ate much of it.

Little AM stayed up until 10 p.m., but Jason and I made it all the way to midnight -mostly watching the Big Medicine marathon on Discovery Health. I thought "Oh, Anna Marie will sleep late because she stayed up late."

Boy, was I wrong. At 7:30 a.m., there she was at the side of my bed, imploring me to get up and help her figure out why the TV was all snowy.

Since she'd gotten a McDonald's card from the church for Christmas, we decided to take her for lunch. Shortly after we got ordered, a large group of kids came in. Obviously traveling from some convention or something, because they were wearing matching shirts. And I promise before God, one of the ladies with them looked just like a girl Jason and I went to college with, but both of us were too chicken to go ask if it was her.

Wednesday morning, I got a very disturbing call from my mom. She said that my parents best friends oldest son had been found dead that morning. I'm still in shock - he was 35, just older than I am. Their other son is the same age as I am. I've known these boys all their lives - they were like cousins to me when we were growing up.

They don't really know what happened - he was found in bed. An autopsy was performed, but of course it will be a while before we know anything. The visitation is tomorrow night, and the funeral is Sunday. I know I need to go, but I just don't know if I can face his family right now. It's just all so sad.

On another, (maybe lighter) note, I've just finished another side-project with one of Jason's web clients. Here's a word of advice: please, don't call up someone on Wednesday, and tell them that you need your 10-year-old brochure updated, by the next day, but you don't have any of your original artwork, so they've got to build it from scratch. And make it look as much like the old one as possible.

I told Jason that he'd better get enough out of this job to buy me a nice Japanese dinner for Valentine's Day.

Or at least a copy of for-real Photoshop, which, unlike Elements, can handly CMYK color.

So good to be home

By the way, it's only my dedication to NaBloPoMo - and, of course, you - that's got me posting right now.

Exhausted is not the word.

The election did go the way I hoped last night - right down to getting the results at 10 p.m., not midnight. I had a hard time getting to sleep, though, because I was so wound up. Guess we had a little bit too much fun on the front row - Shirley from work, LaJuan formerly of work, and the former police chief.

At one point the resolution committee "chastised" us for being too loud - jokingly, of course.

At any rate, we all survived. And then I took AM to her first Nutcracker performance today. And left to walk around the mall for two hours, because apparently, they didn't need my help backstage.

Fine. Their loss.

We're home now, and I was in my jammies ready to watch Pushing Daisies in real time - as opposed to on my screen at work the next day - when, lo and behold, it isn't there.

Pre-empted! And in the midst of a strike which could pre-empt it indefinitely!

So not fair!

I agree with Valerie, by the way - we are all fabulous writers, we blog-folks. We could be SCABS! We could write episodes of our favorite shows! I'd love to see The Office feature that girl from Valerie's job who asked to peel her sunburned skin off.

I'm not making this up!

In the absence of my "stories," I guess I'll put AM to bed and crawl under the covers myself.

With a good Oriental Trading Company catalogue.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig . . .

Between a rock and a hard place

Or,

Between the Devil and the deep blue sea, or

How long do you halt between two opinions? or

I'm just checking in between gigs.

Anna Marie had practice for The Nutcracker tonight. Or, should I say, A Very Brady Nutcracker.

Yes, those Bradys.

The choreographers at her dance studio have put a funky 70's twist on the classic holiday ballet.

The Rat King is Darth Vader. The Nutcracker is Luke Skywalker.

There are light sabers!

And Anna Marie is a mouse. Who gets to help Darth Vader up after the battle. How cool is that?

And, in a few minutes, I'll be headed down to our county courthouse to await the results of today's election.

I'm as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, as the saying goes. We have a pretty hotly contested Sheriff's race, and dealing law enforcement is a pretty important part of my job.

There's really not much use in me getting down there before about 9 p.m. We'll probably be there until midnight anyway.

And then tomorrow, I get to finish a special section, before lunch, and then after lunch Anna Marie has her first real live performance. With makeup. And a costume. And fake cheese.

And an Elvis impersonator.

Sounds pretty groovy, huh?

Checking in before weighing in

Hey all, this is Kermit D. Frog!

Wait, wait, that's not right.

Do you remember that opening line? From Kermit's news cast on Sesame Street, with the logo that, if I remember correctly, looked like a thundercloud? And that music, that's even now running through my head?

No? Sorry, it's been a long week.

I finally, FINALLY got the magazine uploaded last night. Nearly two weeks behind the original schedule. I haven't heard back from the printer yet, but I'm crossing my fingers AND my toes.

I also put together a special section in about 2.5 seconds and sent it to our presses yesterday morning. God only knows what that's going to come out looking like.

And this morning, it's raining. Jason lies at home, probably still in bed, and here I sit, typing away.

Man, I need a day off! These past few weeks have almost been more than a girl like me can handle.

At least I have my Rosebud Salve to help me make it through.

Happy anniversary

To us!

That was Jason and me, nine years ago today.

Dumb, I mean, young and in love, as the saying goes.

We haven't been in the same vicinity on July 11 for four years now. He's always in South Carolina working. He called me early this morning to wish me a happy anniversary.

Interesting fact: the church where we were married doesn't exist anymore. It was a brand spankin' new building (just opened the week before) when we got hitched. A year or two later, it was falling down around the congregation and the powers-that-be ended up condemning it.

So, they sold the land and built another building a few miles away. I haven't been there, but I hear that they saved that gorgeous stained glass window you see in our picture. It was just installed the day before our wedding. Handmade by two little old ladies.

My mother and I spent a couple of (really, really) hot days seeding the grounds around the church, because the city wouldn't clear it to open unless it was "landscaped." My dad borrowed a tractor to till the ground to get it ready.

And why, you may ask, was the church so poorly constructed?

Ah, the beauty of church politics.

There was an older man who was a contractor. He was also one of the main contributors to the church. So, when the time came to build, they let him have the job.

The congregation had plenty of money to build with, from the sale of their previous property. But, this guy messed so much up, they had to borrow nearly $100,000 from their denomination to finish the work. And, it took twice as long, because this guy basically did all the work himself. He didn't trust anyone else, and he was an EXTREME racist. So even if he did trust someone, unless the person "looked like him" he wouldn't hire them.

And did the church get to sue him for his shoddy workmanship? No, because by that point he was dead.

Anyway, I guess the church served its purpose, for us anyway. It's funny to think that even at nine years, our marriage has outlasted this structure. We drive down the road it was on now, still a vacant lot standing there, and tell Anna Marie that was the spot where it all began.

An overgrown concrete slab and what's left of a parking lot.

You gotta have friends

Man, I have the best blogging friends in the whole wide world.

In fact, one of them sent me this nifty gift today. Even the envelope was fancy schmancy!

It now occupies a place of honor in my office, on my windowsill.

(Yes, I have a windowsill in my office. My publisher's father, the elder Mr. Lee, used to use this room as his office. He died of a heart attack at his desk, and no one found him for several hours because the door was closed. Now, this office and the one next to it that used to be for our editor both have windows. Can't take a chance like that again, now can we?)

I could only hope to be so creative. And good thing it came today, because tomorrow I'm pretending to be Jason and working at the auction.

Beginning at 5:00 a.m., which means I have to leave my house about 4:00 a.m. or so.

Which also means I'd best be getting to bed.

Computer withdrawals

I'm going through the DTs. For my computer.

(Yes, I'm online now, but it's just because my sister came over to borrow our high-speed and left my mom's laptop here until tomorrow. Awfully nice, since she does have a desktop at home.)

Jason and Anna Marie are at South Carolina. And along with half our towels, he took both our computers!

And Scrapbookpalooza, this weekend has not been.

They left Thursday morning. Thursday night, Amanda came over and spent the night, and we watched Love, Actually. There were some, um, unexpected scenes in there.

Yeah.

Friday night I had to work, because the city school board didn't have enough members to meet Thursday night. We were out of there after about 30 minutes, but I was a bit peeved to have another couple of hours of my weekend whittled away.

I came home and ate dinner while watching The Royal Tennenbaums. Excellent movie.

(Yeah, I'm way behind in my movie viewing. It gets hard to find something that doesn't involve computer animation or talking animals when the other two are around.)

I hadn't planned on going to the family reunion yesterday, but I did. And I had to get up at 6:00 a.m. to do it, so I could ride in the same convoy as the Aunt Who Is In Charge Of All Things Familial.

Which also meant I had to help set up and take down the food. And that I was exhausted when I got home last night, and only had enough energy to make a couple of fat free Ball Park franks on the George Foreman and veg out.

And I took pictures, but Jason also took the card reader. I'll have to wait until I get back to work. The horror!

More vegging today, too, as Amanda came over after church and made us Sushi and we watched a Mystery Science Theater 3000 from Netflix. Giant Spider Invasion. Pretty horrific - horrifically bad.

I have barely moved off the couch all day. And now, I finally have computer access to catch up on teh intarwebs.

At least until I go to work tomorrow.