Moving Day

I had to update you all and let you know I am coming to you live from the new house!!!

Of course, the only thing I have moved in is this darned computer and some Dr. Pepper. But really that's all a girl needs, isn't it?

Seriously, well I was being serious before but still- We're moving this week, weekend I don't know sometime. My updates will be sporadic for a couple days.

I'm off to clean floors.

Stranger in My House

I am afraid there's a stranger in our house. Actually, I am afraid there is a strange stranger in our house. Why? Well, I actually only have one sign of this. Whoever or whatever this person/thing is likes to eat these-Yes, hair elastics or pony tail holders as they are known around here. And someone/something has to be eating them. That's all that makes any sense. Because according to my ten year old- she would be the one in need of the hair elastics- she just doesn't know where they could be. She does know that they could not be any of the places I suggessted she look. So, I am certain that they are not, simply could not be, in her locker, her pencil bag, her coat pocket, her purse, under her bed, on her nightstand, or stashed somewhere in my car. She knows they could not be any of those places.

I offered her amnesty if she would just tell me what she does with them. She doesn't know. And that makes sense because I often take things off of my body and put them somewhere but I have no idea where that may be- don't you? Doesn't everyone??? I mean just last week I lost my favorite black sweater that way. No idea what happened to that thing.

And my wacky little brain needs to know what has happened to them. Not that they are expensive- around $3 a package. I just have this strange need to know things like this. When all of you are spending your time doing productive things with your minds like memorizing scripture or reading great literature- I am thinking about what in the heck has happened to all the pony tail holders. Nice, huh?

I begged her to tell me. Even told her she wouldn't be in trouble if she was throwing them away- which 2 sidenotes on this
1) I totally think that is what she is doing because it's easier to throw them away than put them away
2) Ordinarily, she would be in a lot of trouble for that but that shows how strong my desire to know what's happening to them is

She says she isn't throwing them away nor is she throwing them on the floor or giving them to someone else. She claims they are probably in a pocket. I asked if she had a pair of jeans somewhere with about 6,000,000 pony tail holders stuffed in the pocket. She rolled her eyes. Ordinarily, she would be in a lot of trouble for that as well but I kinda deserved it. I was being a smarty pants. Which, I like, totally never do that.

Christmas Donkey's and Such

I just have a random thought for you, which by the way, it seems that almost all of my thoughts are random. And from speaking with my children, I have passed this little trait down. Back to the random thought, though.

My son has a new Scooby Doo Movie, he loves Scooby. Anyway on this movie there are advertisements for other movies, perhaps you are familiar with this type of thing. If not you should probably find a doctor ASAP. Anywho, one of these ads is for a collection of Christmas DVD's one of which is actually named- Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey.

Okay- so I need to explore this for a moment- someone actually was paid money to make a "claymation" movie that they had the creative genius to name Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey?? Seriously?

So, if you own or have had the pleasure of viewing Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey I need to hear from you. I really have to know if this movie is even half as dumb as it sounds That's all. Out.

Good Fortune

Homemade fortune cookies were the treat-du-jour this Valentine's Day. Not quite as easy a task as I had anticipated. One would think I might anticipate that after all these years.

Hope you and your Valentine have a lovely day or evening or at least a stolen moment or two. I am going to bond with mine over laminate flooring and tile sealer. Sexy stuff, huh?

Fun Stuff

This is my latest obsession. I wear it quite frequently. This is the website where you can find these wonderful little addictive pieces of jewelry.

http://www.sallyjean.com/sallyjeanshop.htm

It won't let me copy any more pictures but the other side reads " I think I'll be an artist or something"

No special meaning to this post at all, just thought you might want to mosey on over there and check out her stuff.

Be forewarned that the tags like the one pictured above (you can get them with dozens and dozens of different sayings) are large. Much larger than I imagined. Those of you with a little more sense could probably read the measurements and understand that. I cannot. I understand numbers very well. I understand what measurements mean. But when you give me an estimatmation of something's measurement without a visual. Well, just understand that what I hear is "Wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah" Which is what the teacher on Charlie Brown sounds like. I simply cannot form an accurate guess of measure without a visual.

The one above is a "flashcard". I could buy them for days and days. It is so easy to find one to fit the personality of everyone you know- Chocolate with a reverse that says One a day keeps the Dr. away would be perfect for Caroline. I have a friend that needs the "she rearranged furniture recklessly".

And I am dying for the Doodle-O's. I want them all to make a bracelet out of- but my favorites are #3 Sometimes She Couldn't Help Herself, #7 Sometimes She Ate Dessert First, #10 Sometimes She Bit Off More Than She Could Chew, and #14 Sometimes She Made Lemons Out Of Lemonade. And out of respect for the family members that read here and don't need too much info about my personal life I'll just say #6 cracks me up. And it fits me just as well as all the others.

Just really cute stuff that you can tell is made by a woman for women- very fitting sayings I think. They make me laugh. And that's my policy. Laugh. Alot.

Wally World Update

Well, I promised an update on my Wal-Mart ban and I know you all are on pins and needles waiting for that. So here's the truth. I still go to the Wal-Mart.

It seems it is simply a part of the small town life that I cannot escape. But I have made huge improvements. I have also learned it's alot easier to stop spending money when you simply do not have it. But I digress. Actually, digressing is one of the things I am really good at. Ah nevermind........

Okay, back to Wally World. I have been there only a few times and only when that was the only option for the item I needed other than leaving town. And I have been in and purchased said item (s) and left....... with NO junk. Hooray!!

So, it seems part of living in Hill Billy Ville is visiting Wal-Mart on occassion. And I can live with that.

Shout Out To Papa!

This is a big Shout Out! to Papa for doing our backsplash for us! It turned out great and saved us tons and tons of money! Thanks Tony for giving of your time and talents to help us finish!

Popsicle Lady From a Man's View

I had to add an update of the I Spy post from earlier this week. I went out to the new house to work with my husband yesterday while the kidlets roamed around the neighborhood trying to find someone to feed them.

Just kidding, they were in school. Anyway, I was "helping" Casey and we'll use that term "helping" loosely. I sort-of just wandered around and picked things up. Whatever, not the point of the story.

So we're getting a chance to chat which we don't ever get anymore and I am telling him the Popsicle Lady story. And you want to hear something scary? No, he wasn't the popsicle lady. Or the man from the bike. THAT would be scary.

So I guess this story is more funny or ironic. His reaction was the exact same as mine before I said anything about where the popsicle came from he said," how much you wanna bet she stole that popsicle from the freezer case?" We were meant to be together, for sure.

However, when I said something about why was she in such a hurry- his response? "Maybe the popsicle was melting?" Yeah, um honey, pushing your grocery cart faster doesn't keep things from melting. What's the man logic there? The extra wind from speeding up cools down your groceries?

I Spy

Sometimes I wish I had a secret spy camera that I could carry around Hill Billy Ville and take pictures for you all without anyone knowing. Random thoughts, I know.

But seriously these are the type of pictures that I couldn't take overtly, because I would probably offend the people I was photographing. Intrigued? Or just bored so you're gonna keep reading?

This morning while I was walking down the aisle in the Wal-Mart (yes, I have given up my self-imposed ban but more on that later...) there was a large woman who almost mowed me down with her grocery cart. She was eating an ice cream man style popsicle, one of those really big ones that is striped all different colors. And she actually made the "beep beep" sound at me. Yes, like when you are 2 years old and playing hot wheel cars on the carpet, beep beep sound. Never mind that she almost ran over me. Um, and could we revisit the popsicle for a minute? First of all, it's cold here this morning. Like the digital read out in my car said ICE when I got back in after shopping at Wal-Mart. But even on the hottest day of July- and if you don't live out here in the dessert, it is HOT here folks- why in the name of all that is good and holy would you eat a popsicle in Wal-Mart? Where did she even get it? Do you think she opened a box in the freezer section and took it as a snack? Maybe she thought I'll grab a grape or two to snack on through the produce section, ah heck, if I am gonna steal grapes why not a giant popsicle?

People I have a wonderful imagination but I couldn't even make this stuff up. I really wished I had a secret camera so I could have snapped a shot of her and her huge, striped popsicle to show you all here. But the only reason I even had that thought is because of the man/woman? I saw yesterday on my way into the CVS parking lot.

I needed a camera at that moment because I really needed a second opinion on what I saw. I am still not sure. However, I am fairly certain it was a man, in his late sixties or early seventies, riding a bicycle with two wheels on the back to accomodate the large basket/trailer thingy. That's not the funny part. What he was wearing was the funny part. It was a Hannah Montana wig. Not even kidding.

I have no idea why people are out looking for UFO's. Whether or not there are aliens up there really isn't the point. There is much scarier (albeit funny as all get out) stuff walking around on the ground.

Go Fly A Kite

Today was a good day at the Cumby house. Duncan completed his second grade music program without incident. He had a very minor part, as did all the children. He did fine. It was wonderful and inspiring.

For you to understand that though, you would have had to have been at the first grade music program last year and later in our home for several hours into the night. It was, maybe, the worst day of my life. I am certain it was worse than that for Duncan.

Over Duncan's life I have been asked many questions, most of them have been stupid. They have been, I am not one to sugar coat. One of the dumbest, I carry with me in mind and recall it often- "Have you given any thought to what the future holds for Duncan?" The answer? I find little time to think of anything else.

How could I have NOT thought of his future? Equipment, accessibility, aides, communication devices, computers, therapists, grab bars, wheelchairs, and the list goes on and on and on. The logistics of accomplishing all that he wants to accomplish can be mind-boggling. But his Daddy and I are so unbelievabley proud of what he wants to do that we busy ourselves with figuring out the how.

And there it is- the major flaw- we busy ourselves. Oh yeah, I'll talk accessibility and ADA with you all day long. I'll go to ARD meetings and make phone calls and fight the good fight. But there is no way in hell that I will let my mind wander into those dark places where I have to think about the negative things that he will endure.

So, last year at the first grade music program I got smacked between the eyes with it. Duncan refused to go on stage, crying and throwing a big tantrum. Casey had to take him out of the auditorium and unfortunately, Caroline and I were trapped in the middle of an aisle and we were forced to sit through the entire program wondering what had happened. It was awful. What happened next was ten times worse.

As soon as the program ended we went directly to our car, which is a major feat here in HillBillyVille seeing as how you basically "know" everyone else in the whole auditorium. We drove home on silence and eventually I speak to Duncan on the couch about what had happened.

He said he didn't want to perform because he was "ugly". And not like all the other kids. Essentially, my six year old explained to me that he had no desire to be a side show circus freak for everyone to put on display. And that was exactly how he felt when he got on that stage.

We had many talks about this years program and I gave him my full and complete blessing if he chose to not participate. Singing songs about the weather and holding a cardboard kite are not big accomplishments for a kid like Duncan. However, standing up and being proud of who you are and not worrying about what everyone else around you thinks.... Well, that's pretty big stuff in my book.

Just trying to figure something out.......

Don't mind me.....