Oh what a night!!

BUT NOT in that Frankie Valli seventies song way-- if anyone is now humming that old tune to themselves and imagining circling the skating rinks in their minds like I am.  Perhaps you don't think in song.  Anyway, the particular night I'm speaking of was last night, and now that you mention it, it did seem to be cruising along like a well oiled wheel on a skate. R.E.M. sleep was fully in place with all the cartoon peaceful sounds of sleep going on around us. Honk-shoo. Honk-shoo.  Delightful.

Then, at 3:00am.  Violent muffled screams went off in my head.  I proceeded to apply them to my dream and continue sleeping.  But wait, I know that voice.  It is the something's-not -right-in- my-life banshee call of the 6 year old.   Ok. So I folded myself like a rusty arm chair and started the getting out of bed process.  I shuffled along resembling Tim Conway doing his old Mrs. HaWiggins bit and began closing in on the door at the end of our small bedroom. 

Suddenly, and it always is, WHOOSH! Jamey is up in his wild check the house frenzy, racing past me headed for the stairs.  "Oh." I thought to myself. "(yawn)He's on the case."  There I wisely froze out of his way for the instant that he'd be brushing by.  Then, he reaches the stairs mumbling something about tripping the alarm.  "Alarm? I wonder what that is?" I began thinking to myself with incredible precision.  We don't have any sort of alarm, so I make a mental note to ask Jamey about this later when down he goes into a ninja crouch at the foot of the stairs.  I continued to stare at him fully trusting he knew something I didn't as he ducked and stepped in slow motion over and around the space in front of him on the first three steps of the empty staircase.  Meanwhile, the screaming continues overhead.  Now Ratchet is awake and calling down to us dutifully from the landing above.  "Dad? Dandy needs something." He states, trying not to sound annoyed.  

At this point Jamey has only made it a few more steps up because he is having to climb through all kinds of invisible laser beam trip wires to get to his son-who's clearly in danger.  Instead of blazing past him to the bellowing child or asking what the heck he's doing, somewhere inside me I start to suspect something funny is going on.  Much too tired for such things now, I make a note to laugh hysterically about it in the morning, and head to the restroom.  

Once Jamey finally realizes he's not on a mission impossible, and finally makes it upstairs to trouble shoot, he manages to handle the situation ,which was of course not a situation at all.  Dandy, in his own convoluted dream sequence, thought there was no light on in the upstairs bathroom or anywhere else (though there were) and had begun his own not so silent alarm process.  So many alarms, so little wakefulness between them.  Poor chaps.

Bad sitcom completed, to bed we headed to resume the blissful descent into nigh nigh.  Wait, no.  Is that another murderous scream?  I'm afraid so.  This time Dandy was violently complaining that the air vent was too loud in his room and he couldn't hear his cd properly.  Really? Wow. Good times.

Next it's the chihuahua's turn to shine.  Tulip, who is now awake and curious in her room, suddenly needs to see her mommy and begins feverishly trying to claw the door down between us crying loudly.  I get back up, this time feeling jittery and weak from low blood sugar.  I go for my glucose tabs beside the bed, but in my loosey goosey state I dropped and clumsily lunged at the huge bottle causing a loud maraca sound to scatter across the room as I caught them again.  Jamey did no leaping this time but no doubt would have if I'd waited until he'd drifted off just a little further.  I went in and shushed the dog once, but a half an hour later she was back at it begging to come in the rest of the house.  This time I just opened the door and she shot straight to the warm spot between us in the bed-the very reason why both dogs get shut in another room at night in the first place.  But, you know, because it's THAT kind of night, instead of nestling down to sleep, Tulie begins an elaborate self cleaning process with all kinds of smacking and kicking about, shaking the bed with each move.  OH MERCIFUL NOT QUITE DAY it was annoying!  

So the dog was sent packing back to her assigned room where she chose to save her own life by shutting it until morning. Bless her little tan hide.

This morning after waking to an even worse blood sugar spell and resting it off, I finally managed to pull it together and work in one huge chortle over Jamey's nocturnal stair maneuvers.  Sadly, he was in no mood to fully enjoy his own antics, so I am forced to share my sighting with you to get it all properly off my chest.  Whew!

 Oh, and just in case you're wondering, I did get J's permission to make this report. You see, when it comes to my amusement (or taking on imaginary intricate security devices to save a child in crises), my hubby is always there for me!  

Life is goood. Dreams are better. :D

  

*Had to rush this to post to remain timely and fit in a quick trip out of town.  Please forgive blatant errors in writing tenses and such.  !SKNAHT

IT'S THE HUBBY'S BIRTHDAY!!

In case you didn't know it, I have the sweetest, kindest, most clever ninja husband one could possibly ask for!  Please join me in wishing him a veeeery happy birthday while I go off and try to forage for party supplies.  Here he is with young Ratchet in an extremely manly video they made over the weekend:  

Pumpkins + Sword = Fun



p.s. He made the music too. :D

LOVE YOU SWEETHEART!!! XOXOXO

RICK ROLLin' and written hurl!

I don't know who you're voting for ( I'll not be voting for this particular candidate though I imagine you care not to hear political stances from moi) but, either way this video is a crackup! 

You see, I'm an eighties girl.  So, naturally, I love the Rick Roll phenomenon that has made its way through Youtube!  If you don't know what I'm talking about then you probably have an actual life outside your computer. K-kee-kee.  

Apparantly, what's happened is people have been listing links to things that sound really interesting or "alluring" ,  and then when someone else clicks on the link, they instead find  Rick Astley or some form of him singing 'Never gonna give you up' in all his one-hit-wonder glory.  And then, of course, the pranks have developed from there.

 Actually I usually only know about stuff like this because Jamey is a big time tech-know kinda guy who works best while being constantly inundated with entertaining youtube clips or web finds, all the while doing his job and watching a movie, composing a song or listening to music on the side. Whew!  This is a fine piece of writing I'm doing here folks.  Do not look away now or you will be dizzy! ;) 

That multi-tastic style Jamey tends to thrive on would give me a huge case of  Stimulus Overload Majoras!! For I am the type that must take on absolutely one thing at a time if I am to be able to apply my brain properly to it.  Unless... I'm on the phone. While on the phone, I could probably parasail while having an uninterrupted convo if I had a hankerin'.  Does anyone share this ability?  I love it when a friend of mine-who I often find myself having long phone conversations with-says "Well, I guess I'll let you go so you can get that dessert made for the blippity blank."  and I say "Oh, I finished that and already ran it up to the school.  Now, I'm home again and about to start the mower so I guess I should get off this phone now or we won't be able to hear each other."  

And it's the same when I'm listening to an audiobook.  I know I've talked about this before but it still amazes me what menial tasks I surely could accomplish if I just didn't think about them too long.  "Hey, look everyone!  I just refinished all of my floors and I don't remember a lick of it!  Isn't that great?!!"
I think I'm meant to be a drone.

But for reals.  When I have to listen to more than a couple voices at a time (i.e. music and a human talking to me) and actually make sense of what I'm hearing , I get nothing but static.  I can be quite the textbook case of A.D.D. on most days to be honest.  I tend to fail at receptionist catchall types of jobs that most mother types would have a natural affinity for. 

 

I'm also the ding bat who starts cooking hamburger meat and then decides to change out the seasons in one of my kid's dressers upstairs.  "Ooh, someone's grilling!  Wait a minute, that's me!" And when there's lots of stuff coming at me at one time, typical family style, I tend to start shaking my head like I have a flea in my ear and then my arms immediately want to start flapping myself out-a there!  This (and the fact that I am mental) is why I will never be a kindergarten teacher, or say, a stockbroker.  I'd be running for the emergency exits after the first couple of days of either job, and they'd find me hours later in a field chewing on grass or worse- Lord preserve me!!!

I don't know why you've allowed me to go on this way when I only meant to post that video and give a brief explanation of the Rick Roll.  You'd think I had all the time in the world and might as well go ahead and post some pictures of our weekend at Red Rock Canyon while I'm sitting here blithering.  Nope, I'd like to share those, but I've taken up enough of your time.  I will instead leave you with this one... parting... thought .

  

I'll choose Places you find terrorists for $500, please Alex

Well, just when I thought I might never post again....I did something blogworthy!!  Yes!  And it was smack in the middle of the week to boot!  I might even do you dear blog friends the favor of skipping all the warm up material and getting right into the photos of my trip DOWN UNDER!!  

What?  did you think that I, the two-state traveler, actually managed Australia?  No, no, no, that kinda thing would take much more than a mental whim and a Wednesday to pull off.  (And yes Mme B. I would definitely have mentioned such a thing to you ;)

This was the sort of down under that you read about (or let's face it, see, in the movie theater) in Journey to the Center of the Earth .  Ok, nope.  I just watched the trailer and remembered that the movie had WAY more dinosaurs, special effects, and appearances by Brendan Frasier than this place did so I can't totally go there with my analogy without feeling just a wee exaggeratory (Wow, I didn't make that word up like I thought I might have).

So even though we didn't get anywhere near the center of the earth, we did go to this really fabulous cave in Eureka Springs!!!  It was such a last minute plan in our otherwise busy outing but it was one of the coolest (exactly 58 degrees year round-I listened) places I've seen in quite a while. 

I took tons of pictures of stalactites and stalagmites along the way but what I couldn't capture was the awesome old fashioned feel this whole place had.  We were each handed gigantic headphones upon entering the Onyx Cave and were instructed to line up carefully along the yellow lines at each listening station so we could hear the commentary after pushing a tall flashing button straight out of a Dharma training video from an episode of LOST (sorry if I actually lost you non LOST watchers there).  The recorded voice playing on the headphones was so dated, he actually reminded us not to leave anything but our camera "flash cubes" behind in the trash receptacles provided along the way.  Remember those?  haha.

Welcome to the 60's dear children.  It's not quite an i-pod but these things get the job done when you need to know what to do when in an underground poorly lit natural dwelling!  

Ok, that's all for now.  But, that's only because it is getting quite late and I've got a pumpkin patch requiring my presence in the morning plus a hugely busy weekend ahead.  I just wanted to share a tiny bit of our day today and hopefully I'll get to more of it in the next couple days- barring a total blog rebellion- as lately I've been prone to pulling.  

Please take care all.  I'm thinking of a special few of you tonight as you are dealing with especially difficult times in your lives.  You know who you are and if you are reading, know that I am praying for you all along the way dear friends.  Much love. 

OH MY MAMA!!

I've got lots of packing to do today as we are heading out at noon for OKC.  I just wanted to quickly point out my friend Trish's blog so that you could have a little laugh (or sympathetic groan) in Pierce Brosnan's general direction.  She's got a little snippet of him singing with Meryl Streep in Mama Mia that just says it all! 

 This movie was EXTREMELY entertaining but mostly because Meryl and her man crew seemed to be trying way too hard at different points to be "musical".  Meryl sang fine but tended to gesticulate wildly throughout the movie like an overly dramatic teen and it was too much even to be considered "campy".  Oh, she WAS a trooper though.  

I don't even want to get into the others.   You'll see the awkwardness if you want to and hopefully you'll enjoy it to the fullest.  I certainly did!

Speaking of uncomfortable performances, I'm racing out of town to make it to a rehearsal dinner of a friend of mine from the city.  She asked me to SING at her wedding and my heart is beating faster just typing that.  Yikes.  Where did this stage fright come from?  I'm dragging Jamey along to play guitar and sing with me to make it easier, but I'm getting Pierces bulging neck veins already and I haven't even gotten there yet!  It's goint to take some prayer, and then I  need to keep chanting  " It's not about me. It's not about me...." to work out the nerves.  That oughta do 'er!  Now if I can just remember the words....

Ok then, just wanted to check in and say "HI!"  since I haven't been making my rounds very well lately.  Have a great weekend everyone!!  

T.G.I.F.P.: Slogan petitions for additional letter for "photo" ending.

Because not all Fridays bring humor and smiles, I thought a few unfortunate facial disturbances would help.  I love how the baby in the top pic is even preparing for the bat's impact.  YEOW! Oh, the beauty of a captured expression. Bahha.  Enjoy the holiday weekend everyone!  Wear protective headgear if you have to. 

My week in a pistacio shell

I don't really know how to organize my thoughts today- or ever perhaps.   Probably because I have half my brain candied and on a stick like cheap fair food, from the danged ole diabetes and the other half is beautifully preserved in Nutrasweet and on display in the What's left of Shan museum nestled in a thicket of dense trees somewhere in an undisclosed location. 

Don't worry, that didn't make a lick of sense to me either so let's just move on.   

Boy howdy did this week ever fly by in a hurry!  Oh yes it did.  I can't really remember everything that happened because, let's face it, that would almost be a week of recall and I believe I might have mentioned the condition my recaller is in.  

I just know it started with a whole bunch of kids and didn't seem to lighten up much after that.  And then there was that throat slashing movie Friday night!  Have you guys seen Sweeney Todd?  EEYIE!  I was really looking forward to watching Jonny Depp, Sasha Baron Cohen and one of my faves Alan Rickman full on singing their hearts out.  But when the blood started gushing with every downbeat, I was feeling ready for that music to end!  It REALLY was less than cheery, which is fine I guess, but I suppose I like my musicals a bit.... brighter.  I don't think I'm a fan of Mr. Sondheim.  And as long as I'm sounding so grouchy, I may even be tired of Helena Bohnam Carter always playing dead white and craaazy.  Can we see the lady with some normal skin tones and teeth for once?  

 Saturday morning I DID go with little Trisha to the Farmer's Market in Fayetteville which was a delight  even perhaps a deliciary of greenery if I dare say so!  The veggies weren't hugely plentiful yet but they did have plants galore and many entertaining sights to be seen and heard.

One of the things I loved about this market was all the little doggies walking around with vests on saying ADOPT ME.  I thought I'd include their pictures for my Mo-inlaw who is shopping for a nice medium sized pooch.  I think Lucy on the top is a great option for you Jane.  She's a good size and is fully house-trained.  She's a beaut coming in fixed and shot filled at the user friendly price of $60.  And she may be wearing that much in her apron!  Why am I always selling things on here?!  

After a morning of dog petting and baby cooing(Yes,they were popping out all over as well but strangely none were wearing ADOPT ME vests-harumph!), I came home and scraped paint off our shed to the tune of PERFECT spring weather outside. LOVE IT!

Today we went to church and then to a picnic with our Churchesians out at Lake Wedington where we lived it up like the Outdoorbergs we always knew we could be canoeing around and soaking up the sun all afternoon.  And instead of a picture, because I didn't want to hike over to the van and get my camera, I'll give you this easy yummy salad recipe I found online and have now taken to two separate food events because it's a warm weather refresher:

Butter lettuce Boomshakalaka(I don't know the real name)

Butter lettuce(duh)

1/4 cup olive oil 

juice from 1 lemon

Mix the olive oil and juice and a dash of salt and pepper and toss onto lettuce. 

Then top with the following:

2 diced avocados

1 container of feta cheese(6oz.?)

2 oranges peeled and chopped

1 small pkg pistacio nuts(probably 3/4 Cup)

It's fresh.  It's delicious. It's a casserole pan of healthy eats. Enjoy.

THEN....We rushed home and got Jamey's music gear all loaded up and went an hour away to a town where he was asked to play for an outdoor youth group gathering at our friends church at 6:00pm. 

 OY and OH MY that could have been exhausting...But it really wasn't.   Though I'm slightly coated in an entire days sweaty grunge,  I'm strangely awake and alert at midnight.  Wait a minute!  Midnight?!  I gotta get in the shower.  Here's a few more pics from our day.  This is Dave M. on the left who came to play with JameyClay.com on the right.  

And here are my tired boys lounging and listening after a long fun day of play.

 Thanks  Jenna and Jason for a great evening dear ones!  And g'night to the rest of you.  I'm kissing the palm of my filthy hand and waving myself away from the glowing screen now.   

The Answering machine song

I'm busy with kids and cousins right now, so in the meantime here's a little bit of real audio from my college days at O.U. (Circa-1991).
A few years back Jamey found a tiny old answering machine tape- I think I had saved for its sheer cuteness alone-and he wandered through it Homeland Security Style finding this little batch of messages. I had perhaps been staying with my parents in the city(40 min away from my apartment) when this guy was trying to reach me. I swore he was always just a friend, but I did realize much later that he had a "thing" for me all along. I guess it was that When Harry Met Sally kind of thing about how guys can't just be friends. I don't know.
ANYWAY, this was on J's blog so I thought I'd share it wicha. He put music to the audio because it's joyously uncomfortable for men to hear. And of course, it's great fun for me as well. TEE HEE! Sorry John. We all had our embarrassing times from those dating or not-so-much dating days. Have a listen!

"The Machine (Blow Things Up)" download