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Friday, September 30, 2016

Awakened...



                                    And the sun took a step back,



                           the leaves lulled themselves to sleep



                                       and Autumn was awakened.





                                                       --Raquel Franco--





TLC is in HEAVEN. Autumn/Fall/Pumpkin HEAVEN.


Get ready, Y’all…tomorrow’s October 1st! 

WOW.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

The Flintstone...Hot Messes...Pretty? Nails...TuTu Cute

I spent the past three nights/four days at TLC’s. I was there to Grammy Nanny—help out with Little Leighton (LL) and Baby Elle while Mom ran some errands—Mom and Dad had an afternoon away—Mom did some cooking/cleaning. Etc. The Plan: Help Mom and Dad maybe even get a teeny bit more sleep that usual. If possible.

These little girls have my heart and soul wrapped around their tiny selves.


While Mom and Dad were having their “Day Date” Saturday afternoon, LL, Baby Elle and I spent some time out in the front yard/driveway. Getting some sun/Vitamin D. Watching for birds and cars to fly/drive by. LL decided to show Baby Elle what she’d be old enough to do in a year or so. She got into this “car” and pedaled around the driveway. I kept calling her LL Flintsone—since one pedals it with one’s feet. That, naturally, was meaningless to her. It will be interesting to see if she can truly share this qausi-vehicle with her sister someday. LL received it for her 1st birthday from her Mom and Dad. She’s getting clear about what SHE owns and what Baby Elle does or will own. This could be one of those things she decides she is NOT going to share. Even if she can’t fit into it. We’ll see…


This. Baby. Elle. She is the quintessential “HOT MESS.” She is either charming you with her precious smile and/or laughter and/or “stories”—or she is screaming her pretty head off because of hunger or exhaustion or…well, sometimes we simply aren’t sure what she’s decided to scream about. She makes her Mama T.I.R.E.D. She cracks her Grammy up.



We played “LL’s Beauty Salon” and I had my nails done by The Owner. (Yes. My hands are 62 years old. I wish they were prettier. They’re all I’ve got at this point. They mostly work. I cannot complain too much.) This was the “better” hand to share. LL prefers to paint with several colors. I cannot tell you how long TLC goes with nails like this. For days. And weeks. I’m extremely proud of her. We’ve had this conversation more than once in the past three months:

ELC: Do you think you might be able to take that polish off now? I mean, don’t you think LL would understand? Couldn’t you tell her you’d like to go a few days with no polish?


TLC: She’s smart, Mom. And sensitive. I’m afraid it’d hurt her feelings. I can’t do that. It so doesn’t matter to me what anyone thinks—if that’s what you’re worried about.

In all honestly, that semi-sort of was what I’m worried about. Yet I adore my daughter more every day for the kind of Mom she continues to become. (I took my polish off within an hour of getting home. Let’s face it: My hands need nothing else to draw attention to them. Right? Sheesh.)



This morning I had the honor of taking LL to her ballet/jazz lesson. I’d not seen her new tutu. Is she The Cutest Ballerina you’ve ever laid your eyes on? Or at least one of them? I watched her while they danced. She’s pretty dadgum good. If Her Grammy says so herself.

Weekends like this past one? THE BEST. I can’t wait to get to My Girls’ Casa. I cry when I have to leave. I thank My Good Lord God Almighty for every second I’m allowed to be with These Angels.

Gotta scoot…gotta go have a nice. LONG. SIT! Happy Tuesday!

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Six Hundred...

As of  September 19th, TLC and I have published 600 posts since we began this blog in January of 2011! Six hundred. It blows our minds.

Yes, we realize that not all 600 were fabulous. Earth-shattering. Thought-provoking. Even, maybe, to some of you, interesting.

But we made a commitment to each other—almost seven years ago—to do a project together—something that would help us stay connected as we lived apart from each other—and we’ve been determined to keep that commitment. We feel we’ve succeeded, in fact. Sometimes it's been iffy...whether or not we could keep it going. We've done it. Please allow us to shout: YIPPEE, US! We're proud of each other!

We’re also deeply grateful to all of you who read our thoughts and stories each week/month/year. Some of you have been with us since the beginning! That’s quite amazing/flattering to both of us. THANK YOU. From the bottom of our hearts. Thank you.

Here’s to 600 more!

And here’s to the upcoming weekend. May it be filled with safety, rest, peace, fun, wonder and magic for each of you…

Smooches and Hugs!

Monday, September 19, 2016

Ralph...not Marco...

I do all of our laundry. Always have. I don’t mind. I think I’ve confessed I’m not the best at getting it from the basket—once it’s clean and dried—to our drawers. Or taking the hanging clothes from the utility room to our closets. I’m a little slow-ish on both of those jobs!

I attempt to be more responsible and timely. In fact, now that I'm thinking about it—I’m probably 50% better than I used to be! Since My Sweet Hubby (MSH) retired 3 ½ years ago—and I did, too—I would say I’ve improved on this time-frame. Instead of taking 4 days to get it all where it should go—I can get it done in 2 days. Or less!

Socks drive me INSANE. As they do Y’all. As they do ALL of Y'all. We’re the same on this, right? No matter where we live. Where the heck do they go? MSH has two sock drawers in his closet (I have one—but I also have a hosiery/girdle/slip drawer. I suppose we’re basically even.). One drawer is for his “work/yardwork/tennis shoes/boot’” socks. The other for his “nicer” socks. He doesn’t wear “nice” socks all that often any more. Maybe once a week. Out to eat—mostly for dinner. Doctors’ appointments. Funerals. Etc.

TLC scolds MSH periodically when he attempts to wear loafers/boat shoes with those white tennis shoe socks. (Not knee—the shorter versions. Crew? And, hey, no black ones. That's a good thing.) She says: Do NOT wear socks with those shoes. Period.

He usually can’t stand it—to go without socks. However, he does try to comply with her fashion suggestions. He recently found some of those little half/golf socks that he likes and wears with his tennies or loafers. TLC doesn’t approve. She agrees their not as bad as the other/higher socks he longs to get away with. These he found are made by Ralph Lauren. They have the little “horse” on each side. (MSH’s horses are either maroon or navy. He says they’re brown and black. Trust me. They're not. Sigh.) You have to match them up—so the appropriate horse is on the appropriate foot. On the outside of said foot—to be specific.

Here was a conversation we had a few days ago…

MSH: Have you had a chance to check your sock drawer—to see if my missing Marco Polo sock is in it?

ELC: That would be your Ralph Lauren Polo sock.

MSH: My what? They’re not Marco Polo?

ELC: No. They’re Ralph Lauren. And, no. I haven’t had a chance.

(I truly believe said sock is gone. Forever. I don’t know where and I don’t know why. Sheesh.)

Sadly, I knew immediately what he meant. After over thirty-nine years together, I usually do.

Hope y’all have a Marvelous Monday and Wonderful Week—wherever in the World you are! (Please don't lose your socks…)

ta-ta for now…

Friday, September 16, 2016

LL

Little Leighton is a hoot, y'all! I have three (quick) stories to share.

First:

Last Saturday, LL discovered koozies for the first time. My Hubby had his beer in one. I had a La Croix in one. LL asked where she could find one for her water bottle. This is what she came back with:


Of course she would select the "King of Beers."

Throughout the rest of this week, I've periodically caught her with another koozie-clad bottle:



Second:

On Monday night, I was putting Baby Elle to bed, when I get a text from My Hubby (he and LL were in the living room watching an "Elena" episode). He said: LL switched the TV to QVC. And she loves it. He then quickly followed up with: She says, "I bet Mama would like this show."

They were selling clothes for women. Of course I would like it, LL! We sure love to shop.

Finally:

This morning, she handed me this squirt bottle from her little cleaning set. Our conversation is as follows:



Me: What's this for?
LL: It's your wine. It's actually Rosemary Wine.
Me: Oh, wow. Thank you.
LL: You can just squirt it in your mouth!

She then proceeded to squirt some "wine" into my mouth.

I think she's on to something!

Let's just hope the teachers at her Methodist Church Preschool thinks she's as funny as we do. Teeheehee.

TGIF!

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Where were you...

when the world stopped turning that September day?
                                                                                                Alan Jackson



We definitely know where we were…we still can’t comprehend this EVIL.


GOD BLESS AMERICA

God bless this broken World…

PLEASE.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

his and hers...

This post relates to the preceding post. About our 38th wedding anniversary.

First: My Sweet Hubby (MSH) has given me some of the BEST MOST AWESOME gifts in our over-39 years together. I mean AMAZING. Some I’d call expensive. (Anything over $100!) Never extravagant. Never anything we could NOT afford. Some small and sweet. (Many pieces of David Yurman jewelry. Bracelets. Three rings. A cross necklace I wear every day of my life. If you aren't familiar with Yurman jewelry and Google it? Don't even believe I have the pieces that only kazillionaires could afford. I'm talking the lovely, simple pieces.)

All thoughtful. All bought with his on-going fear that the gift-du-jour wasn’t going to be good enough. Wasn’t something I’d really want. Or would love. He was ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS wrong. I’ve loved everything. (Yes, I may have hinted at many. TLC may have helped him with a few. Yes,  in the past, I occasionally had to exchange some clothes’ items for a different size. Always up, bless his SMART heart. Twenty-ish years ago he quit buying clothes entirely. It was the right thing to do. Winky. Wink.)

Because I went East—to TLC’s casa—two days before our anniversary last week—and then, on our actual anniversary, we had overnight company, we decided to give our “cards” to each other this past Sunday. I say “cards” because, frankly, for the past five-ish years we’ve encouraged each other to NOT spend money on gifts. We truly are lucky to have everything we need. Or to be able to buy everything we need for ourselves. Couple that with the fact we’re trying to DOWNSIZE—aka GET RID OF STUFF—we’ve enjoyed our “card” surprises. A lot.  MSH’s are very VERY innerstin. FUNNY. Silly. TOUCHING. (He usually does 2-4!)

Second: As Y’all know, MSH has been reading The Bible. From cover to cover. (See my post entitled: From the Beginning to the End…on May 24, 2016.) He’d been saying—for weeks and weeks—that he wanted me to use his Bible to do the same thing. I said I would. When he was finished.

Now, PLEASE do NOT ask me why I thought I needed to wait. Why, you might ask, couldn’t you simply read it when he’s not? At a different time of the day? That’s a good question.

My (lame) answer/excuse: Both of us do the majority of our reading when we wake up each morning. Typically, most days start at 5:00 a.m. for us. MSH will admit to you he’s a slow reader. I’m fast. By the time he’s finished reading—some days he reads for 30 minutes—sometimes it’s an hour or more—I’ve gotten up and have begun my day.

Okay, so now you ask: Why couldn’t you read it in the evening? My answer: What few brain cells I have working after 4:00 p.m. are SLEEPY. When I try to read? I’m out. Like a light. Actually, I’m out if I sit very still. Y’all know I watch A LOT of TV. What you don’t know is I’m asleep through 75% of those shows!!! Not exaggerating much. Unfortunately.

Third: About three weeks ago, I tried to find, on Amazon, the exact Bible MSH reads. With no success. I could find "Revised" versions. MSH wanted me to have the EXACT one. I considered contacting the publisher. Never quite got around to it. I also told myself it was kind of silly—to have two copies of the same Bible.

When we woke up on Sunday morning, I could tell MSH was anxious to exchange our anniversary cards! He asked me three times in fifteen minutes if I was ready. (The truth was I hadn’t signed his card yet! It was on my desk in my old office/now-it’s-back-to-being-a-guest-room.)

Sheesh, I thought. He clearly needs to move on with his day. I drug myself out of bed—went to retrieve it—and met him back in our bedroom. When I got back into bed, he came in—with something behind his back. It was The Bible! He was beaming from ear-to-ear. I was crying. CRYING. I was borderline sobbing.

ELC: How did you find this?
MSH: TLC. When you told her you’d tried to find one and couldn’t, she went to work on it. She found it! She ordered it and I paid her back. Don't let her tell you I forgot. (Teeheehee.)
ELC: Bless her heart. I love you both with every fiber of my being!

Here’s a picture of Our Matching Bibles:



Yes, I’ve begun reading Genesis. MSH is quite proud of me, thank-you-very-much.

Hope Y’all have a Fabulous Friday! A Wonderful Weekend! Most of all, I truly TRULY hope someone surprises you with your BEST. GIFT. EVER.

Sunday, September 4, 2016

38...

My Sweet Hubby (MSH) and I celebrated 38 years of wedded bliss last week.

Here we are on our wedding day:



We had a small-ish (or intimate—the fancier word), but FUN, wedding. Our reception was at the small-ish (no other word can be substituted for this...it was SMALL!) home MSH had bought a few months before we were engaged. It was two-bedroom/one-bath. MSH had four children and, at the time, we hoped we'd have at least one more. We had to find a bigger home and did. Within a year. But that one will always have a special place in our hearts.

Here we are today:



We hope we’re wiser. We know I’m chubbier. (MSH is quite the Skinny Man. Two heart attacks will scare the calories right out of most of your meals and mouth.) We both have tons o’ wrinkles. Honestly? We don’t care. We’ve earned every single one.

We thank Our Lord God Almighty for His many blessings: our five children; seven grandchildren; families; and dear, DEAR friends.

Mostly, MSH and I are deeply grateful for God’s Amazing Grace. (And, occasionally, His sense of humour.)

We plan to celebrate like it’s l978! All the way to December 31, 2016.

Hope each of you has a Wonderful Week! (Don’t Labor too much.) Be loyal. Be hopeful. Laugh at yourself. Be kind. Be patient. If you’re married? Or in a committed relationship? Just love each other.

ta-ta for now…
ELC