Monday, June 25, 2012

brown cows

Thoughts passing through my mind as I lay sleepless last night:


1. Two Brown Cows will not cure the indigestion that woke me up at 3AM from the brownie I ate before bedtime.  Unlike hair of the dog, chocolate does not cure chocolate.
2. A 7 year old girl can sound strangely grown up on the phone, even with a slight lisp because she is missing several teeth.  (And what did you do last weekend Grammy?  You rested?  That's good, I am sure you needed it.")
3. It takes a 7 year old boy one try to get me kicked out of my own bed.  Dunc was firmly planted in my bed last night.  I told him he had to give it up tonight.  Stevie Wonder said he huffed when I left the room and said "she just thinks she's getting her bed back."
4. I thank God every day for my job.  Especially when the grandkids are spending the whole week, and my son tells me he is sure the 2 year old will want to join the 3 seven year olds.  Stevie Wonder may have second thoughts about retirement.
5. It takes exactly 7 seconds after the grandkids find out they are all staying for the arguments to begin.
6. Hot tubs make great babysitters.  They also make great bathtubs to wash the dust from the 4 wheelers off.
7. Grandkids can throw water out of the hot tub faster than we can pipe it back in.
8. Seven year olds will believe you when you tell them you put something in the hot tub water that will turn it orange if they pee in it.  A two year old won't care.
9. The sweetest thing in the world is my youngest grandchild running to me with his arms out hollering "hey Grammy!"
10. Every time I make a remark about something, it has the opposite effect.  Last week I bragged about the abundance of our garden, and even wrote a haiku about it.  This week it is turning into a wasteland, dying from the lack of rain.  Pitiful.
11. I will finally get sleepy enough to go back to sleep, five minutes before the alarm goes off.


but...life is good. ~cath
@jonesbabie on Twitter

Thursday, June 21, 2012

summer haiku


Summer is in full swing.  This is my favorite time of summer.  The days are bearably warm, the nights still cool down.  Mornings on the back porch with a cup of tea, and evenings in the hot tub with a glass of wine.  Who cares what comes in between?

...life is good. ~cath 
@jonesbabie on Twitter

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

it's a snap



Last weekend I spent about thirty minutes shooting photos of John Boy helping his Aunt Deba in the kitchen, breaking beans and putting them in the jars to can.  When I started looking through the photos to edit, I saw this one and remembered what he said as he helped.  He thought the beans were pickles.  The mind of a child is a wondrous thing.

...life is good. ~cath
 @jonesbabie on Twitter

Friday, June 15, 2012

i'll huff and i'll puff and...



 {this moment} - A Friday ritual.  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A moment in time I want to capture, to savor and remember.
“This Moment” is a ritual I found on Pamanner's Blog, via Life inspired by the Wee Man adopted from SouleMama.  Check out their blogs, and if you are moved too, please leave a link to your Moment in the comment box below.



...life is good. ~cath
@jonesbabie on Twitter

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

attack of the killer tomatoes

"some days you're the windshield, and some days you're the bug"
                                                                 ~common whine

Another few hundred dollars for another dog's ear surgery, and then this happened that evening...





...life really IS good. ~cath
@jonesbabie on Twitter

Saturday, June 9, 2012

love is a many splintered thing

This day, 42 years ago, it happened.  I began a journey down an unknown road.  I was nervous, excited, scared to death, and just young and stupid enough to take the plunge with blind faith in the person I chose to spend the rest of my life with.

I chose well.  It's been a wonderful life.  Ups, downs, and in betweens.  Laughter, tears, anger, joy, all the emotions a human being is capable of.  Three children, and four grandchildren.  What a legacy!

Last night we were sitting in the hot tub and right before I stepped over into the water, I grabbed my iPhone and took a photo of Stevie Wonder.  Instead of rolling his eyes, he graciously smiled for me.  As we sat there enjoying our drinks and talking, we reminisced a bit about the times past.  And for some reason my mum came up as the focal point.  I started it:

me: this is the anniversary of the last date we had as single people.
him: no, we didn't go out the night before we got married.  Your mom wouldn't let us.  She came over to the apartment and dumped out all our booze, because she didn't want me getting drunk the night before I had to drive to Reno.
me: she did that?  I didn't know she did that.  (I had never heard that part of the story.)
him: yep, she did.  You know, your mom and I get along great (he was already on his second Canadian Club and Coke, hence the mellowness).
me: that's because you live 2,000 miles from her.  If you had lived in the same town, she'd probably hate you. (I had just begun to sip my wine, hence the sarcasm.)  I remember a couple nights before we got married, and I figured there was no need for a curfew since I would be moving out in a couple days.  Mum met me at the door when I got in late from our date.  She got right in my face.  And told me I wasn't married yet, and as long as I lived under her roof, I'd abide by her rules.  (This was at about 1:30AM.)
him: (laughing)
me: yep, and I remember the pink champagne I just HAD to have for our wedding night.
him: yep.  You know, that stuff was $20 a bottle and in 1970, that wasn't cheap shit. (He drank the whole bottle and I didn't know until years later that he was up vomiting the rest of the night, in between bouts of romance.  Frankly, I don't know how he survived that much sex and puking.)
me: yep I hated that stuff.  One sip and I was done.  And I remember when we got back to the apartment, we had a wedding cake.  No one was there, but we had a cake on the table waiting for us.
him: yep and no booze.
me: yep and I climbed into bed that night and discovered mum had short sheeted the bed.  (Short sheeting lesson here.)
him: (laughing)
me: you know, it's no wonder I have a weird sense of humor.  I get it from mum.
him: (still laughing)

And I bet you thought this post was going to be all sentimental and smarmy, huh?

I hate smarm, but oh...ok...here's some mushy music by the Four Aces to finish up with...

PS...Thanks for a good 42 years Stevie Wonder, and here's to forty two more.


...life is good. ~cath
@jonesbabie on Twitter

Sunday, June 3, 2012

the twins are seven

seven years ago (!)
tiny faces and sweet smiles
now, oHO! they grin :D


life is good...
~cath
@jonesbabie on Twitter