The Cascarone Story

There was a man in his chair

And he had a sneaky daughter

Who loved to surprise people with Cascarone eggs

which made everyone laugh and laugh. The end.

How Dare They!

If you've watched the new this morning, you might have seen a video in which some idiots in Washington attempted to educate the public on child abduction by staging a fake kidnapping.
I have serveral problems with this-first off, it makes it seem like parents can prevent all  abductions by being a little bit more careful. Some parents are so watchful it's to the point of being paranoid-and now you want to make it worse?
Secondly, I really hope they don't try this in the South. I'm not saying that in the South we love our children more. I'm really not. BUT, I know more women prepared to die for their kids or kids that they love and they happen to carry deadly weapons or can make a deadly weapon out of a hairbrush, purse, set of keys, or cell phone. There are more violent women in the South (blame it on the heat). There are more crazy people in the South-we send them to live in rural areas. Not a good combination for would-be child abductors. We speak slowly and act quickly-sometimes faster than we think. I can see it now:
I'm sorry officer, I didn't think this would be a STAGED KIDNAPPING, I was just shooting to stop him.

Circle of life...kiss my butt

The fact that I used butt instead of ass, means I'm calming down just a little bit. I get the whole idea of the "circle of life". I understand it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Not one bit. I know animals live and die just like people. I know this and I try not to get too attached. Really I do. But, I'm not successful at everything I try. Today, I came home and three of my six little ducklings have gone to the great blue yonder. I thought they were safe-they'd made it with me a whole month. I watched them swim. Made sure their shelter was secure. They had plenty to eat and drink. Their little white feathers were starting to show. Maybe it got a little cold last night(my neighbor was sunbathing this afternoon). Maybe I didn't talk to them enough? I really don't know what happened and I plan to eat chocolate for dinner.
Meanwhile, here's a picture of one this weekend.

The Magic Word

My kids grew up knowing the magic word. "Please" could get them iced sugar cookies from Community Bakery, Pizza, and snow cones. It even worked to get later bed times. Now I'm older and wiser and my views have changed. Don't get me wrong, I love well-mannered children. It gives me a thrill to listen to Hopper talk. I was washing dishes and felt someone tug on my leg. Xander was giving me the motion for up-you know outstretched arms raised as high as they would go. I told him to hang on just a minute, I had one more glass to rinse. As I was finishing the last glass, he tugged a little harder, looked straight at me, and said "Granny". Forget Please, I've waited an eternity for someone to call me Granny. I would have given him the moon, but he just wanted to be held.
His mom has her two grandmas and his dad has his. Add to that his mom's mother and his dad's mom and me-there are six of us. There's Grandma this and Grandma that, there's nana and memaw. But Granny does it for me.

A thousand miles

Not so long ago, I was talking to my son Paul on the phone. Out of nowhere, I realized  I missed him very, very much. So much so-there was a physical ache in my heart. Hearing his voice no longer filled the gap, and I asked him to meet me for breakfast when he got off work.  He agreed and we had a lovely breakfast together. His smile still makes me smile. What is it with him? I can't look at his smiling face and not smile myself. His laughter rings deep and true. His deep voice is as nice in person as it is on the phone, but somewhere in the back of my mind I can still hear his little boy voice. I miss my little boy, but I love the man he has become. Even after working a twelve hour shift, he still looks good and healthy and happy. We were joking around and he asked me when I was supposed to meet my sister. I told him that I didn't know, she was unaware I was in town, and I hadn't called her just yet. He was still laughing and asked me "Mom, did you just drive 3 hours to eat breakfast with me?" And we both had a good laugh. He knew the answer. I didn't tell him, I'd probably drive a thousand miles to know that he's alright, to feel his strong arms wrap me in a hug, and to have him endure a kiss from his mother in public. It's so nice that he doesn't wipe it off anymore.