I just got the coolest email ever! I was so excited when I opened it - it really made my day! Hell - it made my year! It was just amazing, seriously….

You could maybe even say that my whole life is changed - from this one value-packed email….
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Expected arrival times of my monsters today. I’m a dork, and just think it’s interesting. I know, if we were still in Richardson, and they were at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels - one at each, it would be similar to that. I know that. I just go over it in my head, trying to figure out if I’ve accounted for the delivery of each child to my home. Being in a new town (hey! it’s still new to me! I didn’t leave Dallas for THIRTY-SIX years, you know!) and not having a car, I get a little nervous when their arrival times are approaching, worrying that maybe I haven’t arranged transport for each child.

So that’s that. I’m a weirdo, I just thought their *AT’s were interesting, and decided I better share it with you.

*How do you like that cool ‘airport speak’, eh? Pretty cool, huh? I told you I’m a weirdo….

I’m not kidding you, the mess of stuff on my dresser just shook. I think it was my giant lava lamp - whatever it was, it shook. Geez, louise!

The explosions have been happening for several months now, as they are exploding right through our lovely mountains (foothills, I know, they’re foothills) to build a friggin’ road. “Easier travel, blah, blah, blah….” So it’s been shaking the house for a good while now, but, these mini-earthquakes today - man, they’re much stronger!

It’s strange, because, they are annihilating precious Mother Earth building the road about ten miles from here, so the effects that we feel and hear are not that strong. So I wonder what the heck is going on today since they are so strong.

The first year we got out here, there were some really strong booms that went on throughout the day - always during the week, always during the school day - so Puppy and I were home alone and scared to pieces! Then my monstermother-in-law finally told us what the horrible disruptions to our sanity were! You see, back in 1986, Ronald Reagan (Ronald Reagan? Isn’t he in Heaven? Why yes, yes, he is….) signed into the law the destruction of some freaky weapons, chemical or some shit like that. Did you say 1986?! Yes, I did. Long time ago - that president just happens to no longer even be living anymore…yeah… So the Army Depot near us was in the process of destroying those weapons! In 2006?! Isn’t that TWENTY years later?! Why yes, yes it is.

So anyhoo - yeah, there were countless interruptions to the sanity of myself and my beast. We were quite disturbed by them. The windows would shake and everything. And then, not long after they friggin’ finally finished that up - did they decide to demolish our precious earth and build a friggin’ road, thereby once again, toying with our mental and emotional comfort. I’m serious - the dog and I may just need therapy.

And I sure would like to know why the BOOMS! are so much louder, stronger, and more powerful today if the damn road is TEN MILES AWAY!

I’m ornery - my neck is killing me, that damn ear infection is dripping its way down my friggin’ eustachian tubes, so if I write some bitchin’ and naggin’ posts, like this one - you’ll know why.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my grandmother, and what it was like for her when she lived in California. She was far away from home (Colorado) and didn’t know anyone. I’ve been thinking about her, and this time in her life, because, of my having moved to Alabama far from home (Texas). I often get so incredibly lonely that it just aches. It was during this time in my Grandmother’s life that she had her first child. The baby, Anne, died when she was five months old. It must have been so painful to be so far from home, going through something like that. I remember Grandmamom telling me that she was often at home alone, with Grandpa off working. And that is when her love for crocheting really blossomed. That may have been when she got into crosswords and jigsaw puzzles, too.

Anyway, I got really sad this morning, and I was feeling homesick ….and sorry for myself, and my thoughts wandered to Grandmamom, and how utterly painful it must’ve been when Anne died. I thought about how grateful I was to have three healthy children, and I had a good cry. I got up and I was feeling better - sort of refreshed - from just letting it all out. And then I walked into the kitchen and found a message on my phone from one of my very favorite people in the world - my sister-in-law-bestest-friend, Tracy. Now if that’s not God and Grandma reaching down from Heaven to hug me, pat me on the back, and tell me ‘everything is gonna be alright’, I don’t know what is!
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My mom and I both are so addicted to coffee, and buying mochas and espressos at that starry place! We both keep attempting to cut down, but, it is so hard! I know we’d both just love to have our own espresso machines! Even though we wouldn’t really be cutting back on the caffeine, at least we could cut down on the cost! And you know, owning our own might just make us cut back our consumption, too. I had a friend growing up who always had all the best junk at her house. I’m talking candy, chips, Strawberry Quik, biscuits, all the sugary cereals, soda - you name it, they usually had it! And you know what? She could totally take or leave all that stuff. I, on the other hand, went into sugarphoria every time I walked into her house! Haha! So maybe having something around all the time helps you not need/want it so much. Who knows - with my darn luck, I’d drink way more caffeine! Sheesh!

I feel so sorry for the poor girl that answered the phone at the Alabama Power Company the other day. A few things came together to make that phone call no fun for her!

• First of all, I used Skype to call her, and I wasn’t wearing my headphones - so she was basically on speaker phone.
• Next, my husband arrived home in the middle of the call.
• And then, she informed me that the information that had been given to me on my last call with the company was incorrect, and they actually needed more money from us to keep our electricity from being cut off.

I got so upset, and I finally realized that there was no way that the previous information was going to work for us. We were going to have to do what this lady was telling us - not what the last lady told us we would need to do.

So then I got a little frustrated…uh…yeah… And I began to question the validity of her information.

“How do I know what you are telling me is true, if the last lady got it wrong?!” I was kind of at the end of my rope. (I hate it when I get like that.)

So I was bickering back and forth with her and Mark steps in to join me. So now she had both of us hollering at her. It was rather comical - I felt like we were in some ‘watch the hillbilly’s freak out’ skit on SNL or something!

The only thing that I could think to protect myself (us) at the moment was to get all of this lady’s information. I asked for her name and she supplied her first name. I let her know I meant her full name and I also asked her in which office she was working. I figured if her information was wrong, at least I’d have knowledge of exactly who gave it to me. With my luck, I’d get, “We’re sorry, ma’m, that woman was fired last week. We’ll need $10,000 today to keep your electricity on and she should have told you that. There is nothing we can do.”

Well, anyway, while it was comical, I do feel badly for letting that poor woman have it like we did. None of what transpired was her fault - our being late, the other lady giving us wrong information…

And since I do know exactly who she is and where she works, I suppose I could do something about that, eh?