Judi with an ‘I’ is my Momma! And she LIGHTS UP MY LIFE - and I just wanted to let her know that! Just like I did in the fourth grade when I sang that song to her. You see, in the fourth grade, we had a special Mother’s Day ‘thing’ - we had all our moms come into school, and I think we had drawn their pictures or something, and then we all sang ‘You Light Up My Life’ to them. And the whole freaking classroom FLOODED with tears!!! And ever since, that is mine and Momma’s song!

(And yes, that is me –> in the fourth grade! Aren’t I cute? I loved that shirt! It had one of those cute little wiggle worms on it! It was one of my favorites!)

I thought it would be really cool if I could sing it to her on video this year for Mother’s Day and post it on YouTube, and consequently, here on the blog. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Read the rest of this entry »

That’s right, folks! That’s what my brother’s getting. Man, he always gets all the cool stuff! I guess, though, I should really be jealous of his wife. I mean, really, take an old married man (meaning:married for some number of years) and jazz him up on Valentines Day with extra heartbeats - heck! It’ll be like they just fell in love again!

Ok, serious, my brother has a heart that just ain’t acting quite right these days. They did some testing on him at home, decided he needed to come in for inpatient testing, and decided my super-young, was-just-a-teenager-the-other-day-I-swear brother needed a ….
Read the rest of this entry »

My mom gets us these wonderful, personalized calendars every year for Christmas. It’s a wonderful tradition she’s started. She gets one for each of our families - so that is a lot of pictures to gather, because, each calendar has a different picture for every month.  I like to look at the pictures on Christmas day when we open it, and then I try not to look again until each month comes upon us. It makes for twelve sweet little surprises throughout the year. Last year’s calendar was a little hard to look at, as a lot of the pics were not only from Dallas, but, from the last few days before we actually moved 700+ miles away from home. Mom, Dad, Mic, Tracy, and DJ did a lot of stuff with the kids those last few days, squeezing in as much fun stuff as they could before we left. They had sleepovers and went to the zoo and all kinds of stuff.  One of the pictures was even of the moving truck. That one really tugged at my heart. It was so cute, though. All four kids - mine and DJ, my nephew - climbed up on the back of the truck when the big door was open, and I think DJ was even lying down ON the ramp, with his oh-so-precious pellow. (Not a misspelling, that is how his mom really says it. Cute, huh?) She’s from Illinois. I guess that is how they say ‘pillow’ in Illinois. Heh. That picture is so adorable - I’ll have to try to take a picture of it so I can show you!

What I can show you right now, though, is a picture of the January 2008 photo(s). It’s so cool, because, it matches so nicely with the walls in my kitchen. Whodathunkit?

And another thing that I think is really cool about this month’s picture(s) is that they were all taken at one of our three houses. Shawn is at Mic and Tracy’s house, Patrick is at Mom and Dad’s house, and Sammie is here at our house. I just really like that - kind of a symbolic ‘blending of the houses’, you know? The raising of my children has taken place in all three homes, and each home was/is very instrumental in their upbringing. Very cool.

I wonder if February will match the kitchen as well and be symbolically cool, too…hmm….

It’s Sunday night, and the kids go back to school on Tuesday, and we’re just having a nice, relaxing evening together. (And, well, I’m blogging it…uh, yeah…) It has been such a pretty day outside today, though, and this evening is more of the same. It’s been a perfectly moderate temperature, I think in the 60’s, and the gloomy clouds have left us for the time being. We have had some clouds, but, as Sammie described them, they are not the gray, icky, depressing clouds. They are the white, happy, fluffy, cozy clouds. Haha! Cute, huh?

Mark lit a fire in our firepit and the kids are swinging on the tree swing. We’ll have some grilled steaks in just a little while. And I’m blogging on the downstairs porch, listening to the kids singing, laughing, and playing on the swing. And Mark and I are relaxing on our new outdoor furniture. And Puppy is lying in the grass, sometimes getting up to bark at the injustices of the world.

Here are a couple of pics that I snapped:

In this one, you can see the kids a little bit, to the right there - and Brianna is pushing Patrick on the swing, and Patrick just happens to be upside down!

I lightened the pictures up as much as possible, that is why they are grainy.

Sammie just walked by and called me a ‘meanie’ - she’s mad at me for being on the computer.  This was just such a lovely evening, that I had to share it with ya’ll right quick!  It’s so nice out here at night.  When I walk out on the balcony at night, I love the way the sky looks out here.  It is definitely night time outdoors that makes me glad we are here.

In the morning, in the tepid shower, that’s another story.  Heh.

Now I must go spend time with my sweet girlie who thinks I’m a meanie.  Have a great night!

That’s right, folks! I’m free - free from the rotten, somber ickyness that is Seasonal Affective Disorder! And I have my sweet sister-in-law, Suzie, to thank for it! And she doesn’t even know it! She sent me some body spray from Bath and Body Works for Christmas and it is awesome! And - the scent lasts all day! Lasts all day? What? Are you crazy? No body spray scent lasts all day! Really - I swear, it does!

And would you like to guess what the magical, SAD-curing scent is?

It’s HONEYSUCKLE! Only one of my favorite things in the world! I love it when the honeysuckle blooms and I can go steal some of the yummy, delicious, sweet-smelling flowers and pull the doohickey out of the middle and suck the sweet nectar! I love it! Love it! It is summer, you know what I mean?

And now I have that scent - through the winter! Woohoo!

Thank you so much, Suzie - you completely ROCK!

My maternal grandmother was one of my dearest friends and one of my biggest fans. She was just the coolest. It was funny, because, we were so different, but, no matter what - she loved me fiercely. No matter what whacked out, goofy ideas I came up with - she loved me. Her acceptance of me was incredible. This is hard to write. I’ve been missing her like crazy lately. It’s not just that it’s been Christmas, because, every holiday season that she’s been gone hasn’t been like this. She did visit me in a dream lately and it was so intense. She was hugging me and she just would not let go. (There’s no crying in blogging, Lisa!) Yeah, ok - pulling myself together, really - I am. I’m cool.

369-6765 That was the first phone number I ever memorized, and the first phone number I ever called by myself. 369-6765 That number will be in my head (no crying!) forever.

I keep ‘pieces of Grandmamom’ all around me at all times, often even wearing her watch. Everywhere I look in my house, there is a part of Clare Mae. In my kitchen, I have her beautiful milk glass lamp. Isn’t it pretty? (I know, a lot of people really detest these - I don’t care.)

One of my favorite things of hers that I have is her train case. Such a lovely reminder of a different time, you know? I always think it’s a Samsonite, but, it’s an American Tourister. Isn’t it so pretty?

And you know what’s super cool? I just discovered, that, apparently - train cases are coming back in fashion! A girlfriend and I went into a little boutique here in town, and they had the cutest modern, but old-fashioned, train cases! It was really cool - it was the perfect mix of old and new. And I absolutely love that they are coming back in style!

Gawd, I miss her, though! Sometimes it feels as if she died this morning, it hurts so bad. She passed away, though, on December 9, 1996. Three weeks after my daughter, Sammie Clare Mae, was born.

I just can’t wait to get to Heaven so I can hug her again. I love life, I love being alive, but, I am so looking forward to seeing her again!

(And I’m not crying! I swear! There’s no crying in blogging!)

Check out our Christmas morning and our awesome musical surprises for the kids! We’re going to be the coolest, hippest family on the block! Come on over for a jam session any time!

Part Two:

“….so then we’ll have money, and Aunt Tracy can come here.” You know, like - we could send her money to travel here.

There are some moments when I regret with every fiber of my me-ness, moving out here. There are some moments when I just ask myself, “what in the hell were you thinking?!” And I physically ache to go home.

My brother and his wife, Tracy - were so involved in these kids’ lives. They were so much a part of their existence.

Am I nothing but pure evil to take them away - to separate them?

Oh gawd, I gotta think about something else - this hurts too much.

…’cause those two nieces of mine are just SO SWEET!!! Unbelievably sweet! I may have to hop a train and commit a niece-napping!

They are the two sweetest Spidey Girls that I’ve ever known!

See what I mean? See what my brother sent me last night:

Aren’t they adorable? And let me tell you - in ‘The Book of Aunt Lisa’ - these girls are scoring big time! Just check it out:

• See their little precious ‘tomboy’ ways, liking Spidey the way they do - SCORE!
• They love the computer - SCORE!
• One of the little monsters looks just like me - MAJOR SCORE!

It’s true, I’m not kidding - check her out:

That right there’s a ‘Little Lisa’ face, if I ever saw one - and I have, just this morning in my bathroom mirror! Well, it wasn’t exactly ‘little’, the one I saw, but….oh here, watch this - then you’ll really see what I mean!

And shhh! Don’t tell Miss Red Spidey, but, I’m going to reveal her true identity - shhhh! Top secret, classified information this is! I’m serious! Here she is:

Isn’t she completely gorgeous? Awww….I’m seriously gonna start crying again. Must talk about something else. Blog the weather. Blog a ball game. Yeah, that’s it. Blog the stock market - nah, scratch that, stocks can make ya cry, too, right?

Ugh - anyone got five tickets from BHM to DEN lying around? Purdy please?

The in-laws came over yesterday for none other than a fish fry! The food was absolutely delicious, but, there was so much of it! And most of it greasy! I got so incredibly full, that I was hurting long into the night and morning!

We had fried catfish, homemade hush puppies (YUMMM!), potato salad, macaroni, and gosh knows what else! All I know is there was a lot of food to pick from, and it is so hard when there are so many dishes, because, of course, you want to try them all! I’m telling you, eat some good Southern cookin’ too often, and you will not be fitting into any bustiers!

Here is a picture of one of our desserts - a chocolate merengue pie made by Aunt Lisa. (No, not me Aunt Lisa, the other Aunt Lisa. Heehee) Pretty, isn’t it? She wants me to help her do a portfolio of all of the wonderful, yummy things she makes. That should be fun!

Well, we had a fun afternoon, but, boy was it painful! We enjoyed just hanging around and talking with the family, though. And then later on in the evening, it was just a cousin left with her hubby and one of her sons, and we had a fire outside and all sat out there talking and laughing and cutting up. I learned some interesting new phrases that cracked me up! (That, no, I shall not repeat here on the blog!) LOL!