Five Minute Friday: Ordinary

Okay so I know it's not Friday anymore - but the rules say not to worry if it's just right or on time.  So here I am.  Ordinary for me has become overwhelming.  My life is crazy busy - which explains why Friday's post is being posted on Saturday!  Most of the time I like it that way.  However, lately it has really been too much.  Maybe it's because I am getting older, out of shape or just plain tired.  An ordinary day for me goes something like this:  get up and get a shower;  feed the dog and let him out; wake Shawn up;  iron whatever clothes I am going to wear; wake Shawn up again;  pack my lunch (unless Rodney beats me to it - love those days); rush to school; teach all day; attend meetings, run book clubs or help with Wyldlife; come home and help with homework; do college coarsework; decide if I have time to make dinner or if we will grab something on the road; go to church meetings, Boy Scouts, baseball or soccer (sometimes we do more than one in a night);  come home and make Shawn get ready for bed; check emails, mail and coupon websites; get snack prepared for somthing that will surely happen tomorrow (book clubs, wyldlife, my classes, Shawn's classes...whatever).  This list doesn't include laundry, grocery shopping, dishes, cleaning, fundraising, committee, or team mom duties - these will all get done at some point.  I enjoy being busy, but I think I am ready for a simple life.  I am ready for a new ordinary.  Stay tuned and I'll let you know how that works out for me!

Check out some other "ordinary" thoughts over at the gypsy mama.

Tatum

I had the pleasure of meeting Tatum this week.  I am smiling as I type this because she is a slice of heaven.  Tatum makes baby number 6 in her family.  I am sure she will have a strong personality...she will have to as she learns to stand her ground against her brothers and sisters!  Here's a quick peek...

I'll have the rest ready soon!


Check out some more beautiful moments at Simple as That

Incompetent, Crazy, Psychotic, Over-reactive

Personally, I prefer "prepared."  Especially since we're talking about me!  I mean really...

So here's the story:  It got a little chilly here this weekend.  Saturday evening Rodney turned the heat on just to take the chill out of the house.  We went to dinner and when we returned a wall of heat greeted us at the door.  It was so hot inside - like I-could-barely-breathe hot.  So Rodney turned the heat off and played with the thermostat a little.  He turned it all off and opened the windows.  On Sunday, he played with it again.  When he turned the heat on, it would not go off.  I was stripping my clothes off left and right (maybe that was his plan! Hmmmm???)  Then he would turn the air conditioner on (just to see if it worked) and it would not go off!  So I put my clothes back on and shivered.  This went on for several hours.  You know - because trying just once is never enough.  Finally he decided that it was the thermostat and we would need to replace it.  He turned the thermostat to the off position and headed out the door around 5:30 pm.  He had to go to work to help his guys. At 6:15 I noticed that it was getting really hot in the house again.  I checked the thermostat - it was off;  so I checked the vents and they were blowing hot air.  I called Rodney and he told me to turn off the breaker switches that are on the furnace. 

So I turned them off (this pictures was taken later so they are turned back on).  I then waited a little while but it was still hot and hot air was still coming out of the vents.  This didn't sound normal to me, but what do I know about furnaces.  I called my dad and he told me to find the main breaker box and turn the switch for the heater.

I was excited when I realized everything was labeled.  This should be an easy job.  I found one labeled heat pump, so I flipped that baby and felt very domestic.

The only problem was...the furnace was still humming a high pitch sound, the copper pipe going into the furnace was super hot and there was still hot air coming out of the vents.  It was like a very bad nightmare.  How could the furnace still be working after I turned it off at the main circuit?

I quickly called Rodney and told him everything.  He said he would call someone.  20 minutes later I called him back only to find out that he had not called anyone yet.  I yelled at him and accused him of not caring if our house burned down.  I think this is when he realized how psychotic worried I was.  So he made some phone calls while I sat on my steps and cried.  I prayed that we would be safe and that there wouldn't be an explosion.  I closed the doors downstairs, confident that the fire would start in the furnace and maybe I could contain it in the basement hallway.  I then packed up the things that I would definitely not want to be without.  Have you ever truly thought about this.  You should.  It's a very humbling experience, knowing that everything you own is going to be ash in a matter of time.  Here's what I packed:

Are you surprised that I only packed two backpacks?  If you really know me, you shouldn't be.  Here's what's inside:
My laptop with all my pictures on it.

My external hard drive with even more pictures saved on it.

My camera bag, because I would need to take pictures of my house as it burned.  My camera was in the bag, I just needed to take it out to take these pictures.

And my well-worn, much-loved scriptures.  I have nicer looking, newer ones, but these are the ones that I would miss the most, so I grabbed them and shoved them in my computer bag.  I received them for my 8th birthday from my parents and they are the ones I read the most.  I figured as I watched my house burn, I may need some comfort that I could only get from a few verses.  (Like Ephesians 5 where it says wives should love their husbands no matter what - even if they don't care if the house burns down).

Once I finished packing these few things, Shawn asked if he should pack his X-box.  I said "No honey, we won't have a TV to hook it to.  But I could take a picture of it for you to remember it."  He declined my offer and decided to just go play it until it burned up. 

At some point Rodney decided that he need to come home to help his hysterical very prepared wife.  I can't tell you how happy I was to hear the loud rumble of his diesel truck in the driveway.  He came in checked the furnace switches and walked over to the breaker box and flipped a switch.  The furnace stopped humming immediately.  I ran upstairs and there was no longer hot air coming from the vents.  I asked him which switch he flipped...because I knew I flipped the right one!  He showed me that there was another switch labeled "outside unit" that needed to be turned off as well.  WHY DIDN'T HE JUST TELL ME THAT EARLIER????

Today the HVAC man came to fix a relay switch and everything seems to be working just fine.  I guess I won't complain about the $250 bill...it could have been a lot worse!

Weather Forecast

Hurry!  Buy a snowblower and some heavy duty shovels!  Inspect your gloves and scarves.  Put the liner back in your winter coat.  Shake the stink bugs out of your boots.  What's that?  You're laughing?  Have you heard the weather forecast?  Let me share...

This weekend is going to be in the low 40s and it's still September!  What?  You're still laughing?  Isn't that cold enough for you? 

Well...I have the inside scoop.  I saw a Woolly Bear Caterpillar this week. You know - those fuzzy little bugs with big eyes that cover the roads every fall.  Some people  (like Elmer Fudd) call them Woolly Worms.  And I bet you didn't know that in North Carolina they hold an annual Woolly Worm Woad Wace!  Here's a picture of a cute little guy in case you think I have gone crazy and don't know what I am talking about:

These little fellas are well known for their weather predicting abilities.  The wider the middle brown section, the milder the coming winter will be.  Conversely, a narrow brown band is a predictor of a harsh winter.  Well, what happens when there is NO brown band?

This guy was lurking in my driveway when I got home from school Monday.  He definitely is not as cute as his brown striped brother.  If you ask me...he reminds me of the Snow Miser!

Oh so CORNY!

First of all...Where have you all been???  Oh wait...I am the missing one.  Well let me just say that the last two weeks have been overstuffed.  You know - like an overstuffed burrito, oozing with lots of extras and no room to fit it all in.  But you manage to shove it in and then you can't breathe.  That's my life:  I've been making salsa, freezing corn, camping, going to fall baseball games, soccer practice, Boy Scouts, college classes, family reunions, birthday parties, and oh-did-I-mention that school started?  I am hoping that things will soon slow.down.just.a.little.

Meanwhile, I will share a corny story.  I do not like vegetables.  I do not like them in a box.  I do not like them with a fox.  I do not like them here or there.  I do not like them anywhere. Except for corn, that is.  I love corn, especially fresh corn on the cob.  With gobs of real butter running all the way to my elbows.  Mmmm.  I can taste it now.  But what do you do in the dead of winter when there's absolutely no place to buy fresh corn?  I used to stock up on cans of corn, but there's just no comparison.

So...why not gather the family - the whole family - and freeze 400 ears of corn.

Why am I the only one that looks happy about this? 

Everyone pitched in and shared the work.  There is a special order in getting corn ready to freeze.
First - you send your sister to the farmer to pick up the corn and then send her to another farmer to have it all husked and silked.  It will be a good experience for her, trust me.
Second - you show up at your parents' house with baggies, bowls, knives, pots and corn (of course).
Third -   you tell the young children that their job is to cut the corn...they will be super excited and the other adults in the house will get extremely nervous so they will jump in to help out.
Fourth - You tell your dad that you're waiting for the corn to cool before putting it in the bag.  He will tell you that it's fine, and bag it all for you.

I don't know why more people don't freeze corn every year.  It's very simple - really!

I told you it was a corny story, but you kept reading anyway so don't blame me!

World Series

Have I told you that we are baseball fans?  As I sit here and think about it, it's strange how much I enjoy baseball.  I didn't grow up in a baseball family.  My brother didn't play baseball, we didn't watch it on TV, and I don't remember going to any baseball games (maybe I did and I just don't remember).  However, baseball has become my own family's niche.  That's who we are...as a family.  It's funny how that works.  Does your family have a niche...something that helps define who you are? 

Anyways...guess what we were doing this weekend? How'd you guess?  Watching baseball!  Every year we make the trek to the Little League World Series.  It's AMAZING! Watching 12 year old boys from around the world play together.  Of course they are playing against each other, while they are on the field.  But when they are not in uniform, they are running around the park.  It's really cool.  And as always, we had a super time! We couldn't decide if we were cheering for the Southeast team (Georgia) or the Mid Atlantic team (Pennsylvania).  We decided on Mid Atlantic...go Keystone!

We went with our friends: Becky, Gary, Cory, and Jack (Gary's dad).

My sister, Kerry, and her family met us there as well.  We all enjoyed several games, including a record attendance game Friday night.   This is what 42,000 people look like...

 

With this many people, there was an awesome "wave"

And we met "friends"...the people beside us were locals, and very interesting.  They had about a four foot square space and about 12 not-so-small people.  They oozed onto my blanket and treated me like family.  One of them had a teddy bear tattoo, one just bought a van that needed to be towed to their house, they all had potty mouths and an Uncle Bubba!  When I heard them talking about Uncle Bubba I.lost.it.  For all of you with an Uncle Bubba, I apologize, I just couldn't help myself!

Two things you should notice in this picture.  First...do you see that man's leg on my red blanket? Yeah...that was just part of the oozong.  Second...do you see that brown stuff on the back of my shorts?  Hmmm - that's a whole other story!  The short version is that there was a storm earlier in the day, the hill was wet and muddy, I was wearing flip flops - do you see where I'm going with this?  Yes, I fell.  How embarrassing!  There were people everywhere.  I was on the phone with Kerry trying to tell her what we were doing.  My phone went flying, my sunglasses flew off my head and my whole right side was covered in mud.  Go ahead...laugh...I'll wait.............are you done yet? I was not laughing at the time, but it is quite funny when I think about it now.  Glad I could make you smile today!
Moving on...At the local bakery we bought cookies for the boys. YUM-O!

We are blessed to be able to have opportunities like this.  Making memories is one of my favorite things to do!

 

Thanks for the memories!

Beach Diaries - Day 7

Okay...so I am a little late with this one! It's not my fault, really.  I was determined to enjoy every last minute of vacation - and I mean every. last. minute.  So there was no time for blogging Friday night and then I spent the entire day on Saturday in the truck.  But here I am on Sunday, with laundry up to my ears, mail out the ying-yang and an empty refrigerator.  But I am not going to let my readers down (all three of you).  You will get the final beach post.

Friday morning we headed to a flea market.  I was excited about finding some cool antiques or old furniture.  It wasn't meant to be.  This flea market was full of junk things other people might really like.  However, I did not come away empty handed.

Let me back up a few years...three years to be exact.  My mom, sisters and I went to a flea market.  There, my sisters and I all bought matching sunglasses.  Tammy got brown, Kerry got black and I got white. 

 Don't we look cute?  But this was three years ago, so needless to say, it was time for a new pair.  Luckily the flea market is just the place to find cheap sunglasses.

Tammy got brown, Kerry got black and I got white (sound familiar?).

Whew! Can you tell how bad the humidity was?  Just look at my hair - I can't believe I am putting this picture on my blog!  Maybe I should have bought a hat instead!

Stay tuned...in approximately 3 years we'll be back!

Did I tell you that Dakota loves the beach too?  Well, he does.  He has been to the ocean several times and just loves it.  We throw his football in the water and he chases it. It's fun to watch him with the waves.  He is very smart.  He watches the waves and has never been tumbled over. He brings his ball back and begs for more.

Shawn wanted to play one last time too.  It will be another year until we get to the beach :(

We had a fabulous week.  I love my family and the time we spend together.  Buddha once said, "A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another.  If these minds love one another, the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden.  But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden."  Here's to a beautiful flower garden!

Ya'll come back now, ya hear!