Adventures of Matt and Jack - Can I Have A Towel?

After several weeks of no rain, we were pelted with several really heavy storms last week. During one of the afternoon showers, we even had hail. Matt and his friend Jack were hanging around our house. When they heard the rain, it was if something went off inside of them.

“We’re going outside!!!!!”



It was seriously this heavy, folks. The water was gushing at the end of the driveway.

They played at the end of the driveway for a few minutes. Then they ran to Jack’s house.



Next thing I see is a lumpy tarp in the middle of our cul-de-sac.




“Get OUT of the road!!!”




Geez, it’s not like a car might come zooming into the street. Nah.

So the dynamic duo ran back to our house.




In the meantime, Mackenzie and her friend Meb decided to get in on the action.

“Hey, girls. Stand there for a minute so I can get a good picture.”





This is how we roll, folks. Anything and everything makes for an interesting day around here.

Do you let your kids play out in the rain? Do you take pictures of it (of COURSE you do!!)? Are you loving summer as much as we are?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Who’ll Stop The Rain” by CCR

Roughin’ It

It’s that time of year again. Matt left for Boy Scout camp on Sunday. He really enjoys going to camp. Hanging with the guys, swimming in the lake, getting the sunscreen spray taken away because boys think it is funny to spray it into the fire. Memories.

Matt is not a boy interested in packing. I am not a Mom interested in procrastinating. Our preferences don’t always mesh in this arena. I tried to get Matt to pack earlier on Saturday. Matt wanted to pack Sunday morning. No way. I left him with the list and told him to take care of it. He is 13 years old now, you know. I finally went to bed late on Saturday evening with Matt still in his room “packing.”

Last week I purchased new tennis shoes and t-shirts for Matt’s camping trip. When Matt was packing late Saturday, he realized he could not find his new t-shirts. After a few minutes of frantic searching, he discovered that he had thrown away the bag containing the shirts. Friday was trash day. Luckily, Matt threw his shirts away after the trash was taken away. No harm, no foul – kinda. At this point, I am getting a bit irritated.

Before the camping trip, Doug took Matt to purchase all the gear he needed to earn his Fishing Merit Badge while away at Scout Camp. Matt is so proud of his new fishing rod.

While going over the basics of fishing with Matt, Doug found a bunch of old gear he himself used, like, 19 years ago.

Unfortunately, Matt ended up leaving all of the gear at home except for the fishing rod. Oh well.

After confirming that Matt had all the stuff he needed packed into his trunk, I drove him to the drop off point on Sunday morning. This is when I started getting a little misty-eyed.

No matter how irritated I was at his nonchalant packing skills, all was forgiven. Look at this young man. I am so proud of him. He made Order of the Arrow this year. Pretty cool accomplishment.

Of course, we must have the obligatory Mother-Son shot. I think we really do look alike.

As I watched Matt line up with all the other guys, I glanced back at my van.

Uh oh! Matt almost left his trunk in the van. Yikes. That would have made for a very uncomfortable week. I’m sure he would have missed his deodorant. Not.

A group shot before the gang leaves.

The guy is ready for camp. I miss him already.

Have your kids gone to camp this summer, or are they going? Do you let them pack for themselves, or are you still in charge of that stuff?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley (Don’t worry about a thing, ‘cause every little thing’s gonna be alright)

Moments of Summer

Here’s a little more randomness that makes up my life. Went to Wendy’s for lunch with the kids last week. Matt wanted to eat outside. It was a sweltering 95˚. Kinda like being at the beach except there was no beach.

Mackenzie enjoys a Frosty float and Asian chicken. She said it was awesome.

Matt got a haircut after this lunch. It had been a few months.

I don’t even notice the camera. Autographs, anyone?

Matt had yet another orthodontist appointment this week. Don’t you know the kids totally hate that I have a teeny tiny camera in my purse at all times?

I am so proud that Matt is such an avid reader.

It rained here yesterday. First real rain in several weeks. It stormed this morning. Yeehaw!!! The grass was almost getting crunchy. That is not a good look in a grass.

My view out the front window.

Looks like somebody left a towel out by the pool after swimming. Um, I think that was me.

Looks like somebody else left the charcoal outside.

I think I will finally spread this pinestraw…after the monsoon is over, of course.

We really gotta get this gutter fixed.

Well, I’m off to work on my ½ BA. A little more joint compound, some sanding, then it’s time to paint. I got a great color for the walls…Mountain Sage. Doesn’t that sound so earthy? I am like that.

You gettin’ rain these days? Have you tried the Wendy’s Frosty float? How long do you go in between haircuts?

Random Musings

We are kicking into high gear summer-wise. Our heat wave is easing up just a bit – rain??? Matt returned from his ½ summer visitation with his dad. Yippee!!!! I don’t like it when he is gone. Mackenzie doesn’t go anymore. Her decision.

I went back to the foot doctor last week. Three long weeks of no walking. I got my new orthotics. Woohoo, I am one stylin’ chick. My dentures should be arriving any day now. That will complete my Hot Mama look. I cannot walk for another 1 ½ weeks. Geez. Maybe I should just buy one of those really cool Segues. No exercise, but wouldn’t I look awesome? Seriously.

The flowers are changing again. The lilies are just about done. Look at Mackenzie. Poor thing is shorter than the lilies. Come to think of it, so am I.




Went to the Braves v. Phillies game last week. They celebrated the 4th a little early with fireworks that night.

This is what the kids do on the way to the game while sitting in the back seat of the car during rush hour traffic.




This is what Doug and I do.




Matt returned from his ½ summer away with feet that only fit these flipflops.




Matt wanted to know what the Cheetah was. Um.




Play ball.




The obligatory “Hey, look at me!” shots.




I was surprised to learn that there are dressy Braves shirts for men.




I was even more surprised to learn that there seems to be more than one style.




We needed to end this thing, so Soriano came in to close. One, two, three – we win!




Swept the Phillies! Wheeeee!!!




Early 4th of July fireworks.




Fun times.

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Fun, Fun, Fun” by the Beach Boys (Isn’t this the ultimate summer song?”

Handy Woman To The Rescue

I am a woman with a really long project list. I break these projects down into smaller lists: Things to Do This Month, This Week, Tomorrow, While I Am Out Running Errands. I love me some lists.

Something that has been on my list for awhile is the downstairs ½ bath ceiling. Several years ago, while I was using those facilities, something made me look up. Much to my horror, I saw a rather largish circle of mildew. All I could think of was that my home would soon become engulfed with mildew thus rendering our abode unfit to inhabit. Well…thankfully, that was not the case. Doug cut out that spot to find that a copper pipe had a small drip. Whew. Disaster averted. Before he could complete his pipe repair (which involved a blow torch), all facility users had to dodge the drop of water that was now dropping straight down. Alas, this drip of water was HOT water. Ouch, especially at the moment when one is unable to leave their only choice of seating in said facility.

Okay, fast forward to this week. A rectangle hole in the ceiling of such a small room is sometimes easy to overlook. No one really notices it. But it was bugging me. I bought a 2x2 piece of drywall. I waited till no one was in the house to start my Handy Woman repair job. I soon realized that it was best that no one was in the house because I might have had to hurt them. Not because they did anything wrong but because I was getting so frustrated during my Handy Woman repair job. Holy Moly. **Trust me, that’s not the phrase I was using during this Handy Woman repair job. But you get the picture.

First, I made a drawing of the hole. I measured the hole at all the uneven spots and noted such on my drawing. I hope my hubby is proud of me at this point. I was surely acting like a total engineer here. Unfortunately, that is where those skills seemed to end.

Okay, so I have my measurements. I marked my drywall and cut it with a tiny little saw I found in the garage. Note – this is the first of about 25 visits I made to the garage during this first phase of my Handy Woman repair job. I went up my ladder in the ½ BA and proceeded to remeasure, trim off excess drywall, jiggle, trim off more excess, and jiggle some more. Aha, finally a good fit. Except that there seemed to be a barrier. I realized that there was a nail sticking out of a board that was hindering my success. Okay, back down the ladder, into the garage for the hammer, back up the ladder, pound, pound, pound, done. Yes, it fits.

This is where it gets embarrassing. I think that my brain was affected by all the blood that was rushing out of my arms during this next sequence. I held up the drywall while I used my other hand (without a putty knife – easier, I thought) to spread the compound into the cracks around the drywall piece. Oh, wait a minute, how is this thing going to stay up here until it dries so it won’t fall out of the ceiling onto someone’s head while they are using the facility?

#*%&@(# - thus starts the first of many unprintable tirades.

Again, embarrassing but here goes. “Hey, I’ll go back out into the garage and get some of that blue painter’s tape.” As I soon found out (and seriously, I already knew this), that #*%^@($! doesn’t hold anything. “Hey, I’ll go back into the garage and get some of that duct tape.” Guess what? That #(%&*$^@! doesn’t hold, either.




Ah, wait a minute. I think the blood is returning to my brain. You big boo boo head, there is a piece of wood underneath this drywall. Get the drill and some of those drywall nails from the garage.

I love this thing.




This is a very irritated Handy Woman. You may not want to hire her to work on your projects.




Voila! It worked.




Okay, I need just a bit more of that joint compound. Surely we have some in the garage. Yes, trip number 20 into the garage. Here we go.

$*(&#@&%! It’s all dried up.




Time to wash my hands, you know, the ones I used as tools?




I dusted off my clothes and hair. Quickly drove to Ace Hardware. Got what I needed. Back at it.

Look!!!!! I did it!!!!




I have another coat to put on and then it’s sanding time. I’m going to scrap the rest of the ceiling. Yucky popcorn ceiling – who ever thought this was attractive?

Anyway, here is Round 1 of the cleanup job for this Handy Woman repair job. Yeah, no one offered to help me clean this up.




Now I am inspired to go ahead and paint this bathroom next week. That will be TWO things off my really long project list. Woo hoo!

Are you working on a home project? Does it take you longer than it should? Don’t you feel great about your accomplishment?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy

I’m Baaaaaaack!

I returned from my excursion to Nebraska on Monday afternoon. Had fun with my sisters, brother-in-law, nephews and especially my sweetest, cutest, most beautifulest grandniece Scarlet.

My sisters and I took a trip to Nobbies, a local trinket (junk) store. There were all kinds of cool sunglasses to try on.









I thought we were just trying them on for fun, but Sheri actually bought this pair. Stylin’.







Hats galore.





Later in the day on Friday, I got to meet the sweetest little girl in the world (my nephew’s 19 month old daughter), Scarlet. She likes the ball I bought her.









And the Hannah Montana cell phone.







She loves her Bapaw (grandpa) Joel.







She loves her MeMe (grandma) CeCe.







She loves Dexter the Doggie. Um, eeeeew.







She obviously loves her Great Aunt Teri. See, that’s only 10 feet between us.







We went to the park on Saturday for a very quick portrait session with Scarlet and her Mommy and Daddy (Elizabeth and Marc).







(The one above is a little blown away, exposure wise. Still like it, though).









Scarlet loves to swing.







Scarlet is intrigued by the sand in her shoes.







Time to get back in the van. Pretty good light for a moving vehicle.











Scarlet’s blue toenails compliment Aunt Sheri’s pink fingernails.







Sheri got yet another nap.




CeCe guarded the remote as she herself got a nap.







Where’s my nap?

CeCe and Joel hosted an Oscar Mayer Hot Dog House Party. All this stuff was paid for by Oscar Mayer. Joel made a lovely cook.




Lots of adults and kids showed up. The kids enjoyed tackling Joel and nephew Adam.




Carl enjoyed wearing teeny hats.




We played cards. Adam’s girlfriend Rachel somehow zoomed from behind to beat us all in Phase 10. I would have won if I had tried harder. Yes, that's true.




Had Mexican food for Father’s Day. The chairs and benches were really cool, all carved and painted. The chairs seemed to weigh about 50 lbs. each. Not real easy to move…at all.




Sisters on a bench. Look at all those cheesy 10-year-old smiles. Priceless.




Had a really good time with the extended fam in Nebraska. Took close to 400 pictures. Of course, I did.

Whatcha been up to in the last few days? Ever been to Nebraska? Do you like hot dogs?

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves” by Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin

Flashback Friday – Space Cadet

Playing along with Candid Carrie today. Check out other bloggies’ photos after you relax here for a moment.

Look waaaaaay back to . . . yesterday. Got on a plane with my sister. We left really, really early. I didn’t sleep a whole lot. Sheri didn’t sleep at all.

Here we are before take off.




I am not a keen flyer. I can think of many other fun things to do. Like get a trigger point injection in my back, weed the garden for hours, eat cooked carrots. Okay, that last one is iffy. But this guy helped me out (with a little additional liquid, of course). Until the turbulence hit, and then I sobered up instantaneously.





Sheri is even less keen on flying than I am. She chose the medicinal route to pass her flying time. Add that with the no sleep thing and you have a day of Teri flying solo and hanging around all day without Sheri. At least when we got to Nebraska, my other sister was there.

Here is Sheri at our sister’s house, checking the backs of her eyelids.




Ground control to Major Sheri.

For a truly fictional account of our trip, check Sheri’s blog later today. I have to wake her up first. http://ohhownice.blogspot.com/

For another different slant, check out my other sister CeCe’s blog. After we have gone shopping. http://cecelia-mythreesons.blogspot.com/

Today’s Daily Blog Song – “Space Oddity” by David Bowie.