In Them old Cotton Fields Back Home........

We have lived in these them parts for almost five years now and NEVER have I noticed them cotton fields!!
And they are right there, we drive by them every gosh darn day!

Since I was getting curious about this crop that was growing everywhere, with the white stuff, I decided to take Boo-boo on a walk along the "river" We never made to the actual river, it would have been too long of a walk for her.
The weather was great though. Cool, a little overcast, about 63 degrees. Perfect for a little stroll.
We could have walked from home, but it's about a mile so that was too much for Oma. So we took the car instead of the stroller and parked it right next to the soccer fields.

The Hispanic community plays a bunch of games here on the weekends.
It was a great atmosphere, families all about, kids running around, parents on the sidelines while the daddies played soccer.

We checked out the field and low and behold, it IS cotton! most of it blooming. Amazing!
Boo was thrilled, even though she has no clue why I was so excited. Haha.
But she loved the soft tufts of cotton I had her touch, tried to explain that this stuff is used to make her T shirts and her pants.
Hmm.
It's amazing that this pure cotton actually SMELLS like cotton. Clean and fresh. The pods they pop out of are hard and pointy, and I had a tough time trying to pick a few twigs without pulling the entire plant out.

We walked for about 1/4 of a mile. Saw a bunny rabbit munch on some grass. She got to about ten feet of it before it scampered away.

There is a trail that runs along the river (left of those trees) and it wanders around for about 3 miles and comes back to the soccer fields.


After we visited them cotton fields, we watched the soccer match for a while, Boo wanted to "play" but I convinced her this was for the big guys, so we drove to the park. On the field inside the track the Catholic Church of St. Francis was having an open air mass. Our Catholic Church here, the only one for miles and miles, consists of about 95% Hispanic parishioners. There was quite a crowd. A Mariachi band, and lots of singing. On the playground some of the dads were letting the younger crowd play on the slides and jungle gym (Jim?)

It felt great there, the atmosphere was friendly, warm, people saying hello and good morning, everyone smiling. The men open and friendly, the women shy, tending to their flocks of kids. A different culture, for sure, but it felt good to be around.

After Mass was over the bleachers were put back outside the track, everyone helped clean up, and in about 15 minutes the field was empty. Everyone trucked over to the picnic grounds where the music started up again and the lunch was being served. Boo and I decided to walk around the track. We made it. 1/4 mile. She is the energy bunny.
After getting our toes tickled in the sand box, I had to drag her back to the car.

At home she ate her lunch, and took a decent nap.

It was a pretty nice day. If only I had the energy to take her out like that all the time. Lately though I am feeling it. My back, my hands. You want to be like you were when you were 30, or even 40, but it's just not possible, at least not for me. It's hard taking care of a little child.

Before we went out this morning she wanted to play the drums. I put my Tupperware bowls with lids on the coffee table and handed her a set of wooden spoons. She went nuts!

To think her uncle practiced on those same Tupperware bowls 25 years ago.

Her daddy played the drums too, as well as the guitar, he was actually pretty good. So we're hoping she's got some talent there as well.

She certainly knows her instruments. Even surprised me during a song on a CD I was playing in the car: there's that clarinet again!!!! (she was right!)

Amazing.

SGMKJ!

The wilderness and Uncle Bert

My uncle and me somewhere...I forget where....might have been Dorrington, California. Top photo might haven been Sequoia Park.

I clearly recall us walking along a road and being kind of lost, but happily singing:

Een vreemde arme snuiter was moede van het wandelen
Was moede moede van het wandelen
Hij was zijn fluit verloren uit zijne mantelzak zak
Uit zijne mantelzak
Dat is niets ik heb gevonden waar jij zo veel van hield tralalala hield tralalala
Waar jij zo veel van hield



We edited the lyrics and it became such a silly song, we both peed our pants laughing.

Ahhh...sometimes this old brain remembers stuff....

Margo...check this out: http://www.engelfriet.net/Alie/versjes.htm#lijstje

And again, Bert would have loved Ken Burns' National Parks program. The second part was as amazing as the first. Very educational and inspirational. Make ya want to go out and watch the buffalo and Old Faithful, live in a cabin in the snow.

This is an amazing country, nature wise. Teddy Roosevelt reminds me of Barack Obama. He also made some huge decisions for change that nobody wanted, but in hindsight, everyone agrees with.

It all takes time, folks, a lot of time and patience.

SGMKJ!

Cupcakes and early wake-up calls

We had Boo-boo all weekend. The weather was still a bit icky, especially in the afternoon, so I took a brave decision to make cupcakes with her.
She did pretty good! Even cracked an egg without much of a mess, stirred the batter and kept it in the bowl.
And then it was waiting in front of the oven.
Don't worry, I was right there behind her, and the oven doesn't get hot on the outside.




The result was a dozen utterly sweet little cakes with even worse frosting. The stuff that is so sweet it makes your eyes cross.





She looks rather "happy" here, a little high from the sugar rush.
But it was fun!

On Sunday morning at 6 am I sensed someone watching me. I opened my eyes and was nose to nose with a brightly awake toddler. "HI Oma!"
Argh!
I changed her and got her back in bed for another hour.

We colored, we read books, we watched Sharon, Lois and Bram a dozen times, and in the afternoon we played in our little playground, where she swinged (swung?) for about 15 minutes, urging me to push her higher and higher.
It made ME sick to my stomach. I never was one for swings and slides.
After the swinging we strolled along the neighborhood, discovering ant hills and other delightful treats.
At 2pm I dumped her in bed and we both took a good nap.

At 5 when Bugs came to pick her up I was ready to melt into mush.

After a long hot shower, Wheelie and I settled in front of the tube to watch Ken Burns' National Parks. What a great program, we can't wait to see the rest.

The part about Yosemite made me think of my uncle Bert (Iggy's father) who always loved the outdoors, and I recalled the trips to Sequoia and Yosemite Park back in 1968 and 1969.
He loved American history and nature, and he would have loved this program.

I wasn't much for camping, still am not, but he made me appreciate the American wilderness, the big trees, the waterfalls, the mountains.

Today was our day off. After a trip to the post office, I did my little Kohl's/Starbucks trip and then home to finish the ironing, changing the beds, doing the checkbook, paying some of the bills.

The weatherman promises temps in the 50s after tomorrow (nights) so it's almost time for my beloved flannel sheets again.


SGMKJ!

Our flood

Taken yesterday, Saturday. 9-26

My camera is going on the blink. Great timing!

Anyway. I took this picture at the height of "our" flood here the other day. It was still raining. This is at the back of my house. There is a runoff space, which I guess works well. But if you can see it, the water almost reached the back porches of the town homes behind us. The stream was about 25 feet wide at the worst time.
Since we're built on "fill" our house is about 6 feet above this, but the line of trees is right at the edge of the water, and I am afraid that if we have a few more floods like this, the earth will erode and the trees will topple, and we will go down the hill.

It was a scary day, Bugs went to work, it took her a while to get there since people were driving like morons driving too fast, spinning out creating chaos on I-75.

Her restaurant lost it's power; the University decided to close, so at least she had some customers, even though the TVs didn't work.

She worried about coming home, not knowing which roads were closed. It was difficult to get a good picture of it. We knew I-575 was closed (all 8 lanes of it) and I-20. Later the perimeter around Atlanta as closed on the southbound part as well. Many areas were flooded, as all those little and not so little (Chattahoochee) were cresting, and flooding roads and neighborhoods, rich ones and poor ones.

Here in Cartersville on a road not far from us, an entire mobile home park was under water.
We never did find out where that was.

I took Boo for a little drive yesterday, and the Etowah river, which meanders through our area, had flooded much of the meadows and fields, but the roads were good.

My little friend Wendy, 7 months pregnant and a 2 year old in tow, posted on Face book at 10:30pm that she was packing up and leaving. When they came back, they discovered that the water came within a foot of their floorboards, but their crawl space was flooded. Where the AC was located. Her backyard was inundated with dead salamanders, and she said everything stank of fish.

Wheelie wondered if I was planning on restocking another flooded Library again, like Bugs and I did 15 or so years ago.

God, I hope he was kidding!

We had our 15 minutes of fame in July of 1994 when I got the bright idea to start collecting children's books for the Rocky Creek library in Macon which flooded and lost a lot of their inventory. They lost all their Caldecott winners and other great children's books.

Somehow we were written up in the paper, and we even were on the evening news, film and all!
Bugs was in gymnastics those days and the owner of the club allowed us to use the facility for book drop off. They even awarded Bugs with a month "free" of gymnastics fees for her community service efforts.

It was a huge job! People gave us good stuff, but also a lot of crap. After we sorted all the books out, it took us three trips down to Macon (with a van, no less) to haul all those books down.

It was a wonderful experience for both of us.

God, where did all that energy go?

So...we're fine...as usual...*knock on wood*

We seem to be living in a small corner of Georgia where we don't get hit by bad weather too much.

Let's keep it that way.

And for those people who were not so lucky. I wish them well. I know there's a lot of help out there.

SGMKJ!

Damn shoes

The past few weeks I've been entertaining the thought that I should really get some plan going in case I have to travel home.
The checklist has been made. The appropriate clothing is clean and ready to pack.
However. I still need some black dress shoes.

HA!

Now, when you've been running around the for past few years in Converse tennies and flip flops, your feet will NOT like putting on shoes.

Needless to say, I am not built for 4 or 5 inch spikes. My feet are too small, I'd be better off buying ballet toe shoes.

No, 1 to 2 inches should do it.

You'd think!

I received my catalog from Belk's and saw some nice little shoes. So I decided to go and have a look.

Well.
These are the ones I tried on first. Size 7. ( My regular size is 7 1/2)
No go. Too BIG.
Tried a 6 1/2. They fit better, but my bunions and my big toes were going:

Ouch! Ouch!..argh! No-no-no-nooooo

I tried walking around a bit, realizing that I just had to get my feet used to them. But no go. Even the 2 inch heels are too high for me.

I found the ones in the top picture, but they didn't have my size. They seemed more comfortable, no seams on my bunions, and a lower heel, softer leather.

Oh well.

It'll probably come down to spending a few more bucks for some NICE soft ones. Problem is, I hardly ever wear dress shoes anymore, so I hate to spend a fortune.

Funny how things changes over the years. As a teenager, all I bought were shoes (and handbags) when I first started working. I couldn't get enough shoes. Of course back in those days and being in Europe, most shoes were made in Italy, and I had my favorite store (Dungelmans) which always had my favorite styles, always the latest styles, the softest shoes.

With my very first paycheck I bought a pair of black patent leather heels, very pointy toes, very slender 2 inch heels. I had those little metal thingies put on the bottom so I could hear myself click-clacking around. Mind you, I had the skinniest legs (still do) and in those days we wore nylons (time before pantyhose), worse yet, with SEAMS up the back.

My nylons always ballooned at the calf a little, and it must have been quite a sight to watch me walk around.
Us girls loved to wear our heels to church on Sundays. We'd sit all the way in the back so that for communion we would have to walk ALL the way to the front over the stone floor, making quite a ruckus.

When I came to the States, I wore mostly nurses shoes to work (yuck) and comfortable flats during my jobs in retail.

Then there came a time I wore nothing but Swedish clogs and Birkenstocks. Wore those for ages!

It wasn't until I became manager at Macy's I felt I deserved to look fancier, and I did wear heels then.

At one time, Bugs was about 4 or so, we were shopping the famous Macy's shoe sale. She came up to me 'presenting' a very pretty pointy pink/purple Via Spiga flat with a big round leather bow on top. She said: " mama, now - THESE ....... are - adorable!!!" (Imagine a 4 year old "presenting" a shoe and saying that!)
Of course I bought them, and they were the most comfortable shoes I had ever owned, to hell with the color. I actually wore those shoes out, even had them resoled a few times.

Since our retirement I've only had one pair of dress shoes, which I bought for my nephew's wedding. Wore them once. Gave them to Goodwill.

So it has been Reebocks, Flipflops, Converse (pink etc) and sandals for the past 10 years or so.

No wonder my feet are protesting confining shoes!

I won't give up though, GOTTA have some good shoes.

Just mailed my Publisher's Clearinghouse entry, perhaps I'll win a big prize. Than I can buy LOTS of shoes, expensive ones!

It's also kind of interesting that I now LOVE to buy shoes for Boo-boo. I have three brand new pairs for her, ready to grow into. Heck, I buy them when they first get on the shelves, otherwise they're gone when you need them

Make sense huh!

*lol*

SGMKJ!

It's raining........

The summer is coming to an end. It has been raining off and on for the past few weeks now, not a whole lot in this area, but enough.
As summers go here in Georgia, this one was mild. Either that or I just didn't notice.
In any event, I am glad fall is around the corner. I can't wait to go out and be able to suck up some cool air, wear warmies and long sleeves again, put the flannel sheets on the bed.

Forgive me for not writing these past few weeks. I have a sneaky suspicion that my lack of enthusiasm is due to my taking anti depressants. Seriously. They calm me down, they get my moods evened out, but on the other hand, well, quite frankly...it's frigging boring!
No uumpf to do much of anything, be creative, have energy. Oh, I have been productive, and calm...I get the dishes done every time, the laundry gets done, I even vacuum more often and clean up the toys every day. I even have more patience with Boo-boo, who, by the way, is developing quite an interesting personality.

2 1/2 years old, she is quickly learning how to wrap us around her little finger. The acoustics in this house (high ceilings) enable her to shriek very loud when things don't go her way. Sometimes at the point where I worry about my neighbors wondering if I'm squeezing her.

It's my own fault, I usually just cave in and do what she wants. Just to keep her quiet.
I know that's not a good thing and I am honestly trying to keep my foot down when I have to, but when you don't feel well, it just isn't worth the extra headache.

She does makes us laugh a lot though. The stuff that comes out of her mouth. To listen to her play, and make her little dolls and figurines act, it's hilarious.
So glad the library program started up again. She just loves being around other children and loves to sing and play.

The potty training is slow. We had two successful accomplishments last week, but those were accidents. I haven't been actively sitting her down on the toilet very hour on the hour. Do not have the patience for it.
How in the world did I ever train my own kids? I truly don't remember! I know my son ran around outside naked a lot, so that helped. Don't worry, we lived on a hill with no one around for hundreds or yards.
Bugs...I just don't remember. Neither does she (obviously, as she is not exactly trying either haha)

Bugs is doing remarkably well since she is on anti depressants. The difference is like night and day. All of a sudden we have our sparkly Bugs back again. Oh, her troubles aren't over, but she is looking great, hasn't come home crying for over a week now, and seems to be doing well at work.
She is gaining some weight, and seems to be getting a grasp on her world again.

I'm sure that the fact I am not pushing her anymore (which I was really doing without realizing it much), and the fact that things are beginning to fall into place for her.
First of all, her house is now really in foreclosure. Her current income is not sufficient to pay the mortgage, even if the payments were to be lowered. I know this is not a good thing, but something that is inevitable, might as well get it over with.

She got Boo enrolled in Medicaid, which is fabulous, she doesn't pay a dime for her care right now. Boo is still taking breathing treatments, but she is doing much better, no more coughing.
We're all lined up for our flu shots.

We are still waiting to see what's happening with Daddy's so called "work program". So far Bugs's hasn't seen the $200/a week she was promised. But government works slow, and since she had written him off all together anyway, any mullah that will come her way will be a gift from heaven.

I took my sorry butt to the doctor the other day. For a few weeks now I had noticed that something in the back of my throat seemed to spaz up. Like someone was pinching my esophagus. My stomach wasn't feeling all too happy either lately, and it always felt like I just swallowed a brick. Seems like stuff just didn't go down as fast as it should.
He diagnosed me with acid reflux.
More pills, blech.
We decided to slow down and stop the antidepressants, to see what would happen.
Just in time to see if I turn into a pumpkin for Halloween.
We also set up an appointment for extensive blood work and a complete physical.
Whoopee!

Right now both Wheelie and I are bit under the weather. He had one of his little episodes again yesterday, stayed in bed most of the morning. I was running around feeling crappy, stuff coming out both sides. Perhaps getting used to the new meds, who the hell knows.
I called Bugs and told her I couldn't keep Boo overnight. She cut her shift down and came home early.

Thank you!

We were able to go to bed and feel sorry for ourselves early last night.
Today PH is watching Boo, so we have another day to be pitiful.

Perfect!

So here we are. Nothing going on to write home about. Life is cruising along.

I'm sure more exciting stuff is on the way.

Until then

Keep yer chin up and wash your hands!

SGMKJ!

Boo is happy with her new "couch"

Which folds out to a bed, and even has a sleeping bag attached.

Hee Hawwwww!