Boys And Their Toys

I had just laid down for a long winter's nap .... or what I at least hoped would be an hour or so to rest my eyes .... when the phone rang and BoyChild said "what'cha doin'?"

And I replied "taking a nap?"

"Taking a nap?  Why?" he exclaimed.

"Because I'm old and if I'm going to ring in the new year with you I need a nap".  (I was dead serious.)

"Well, could you take us down to the Verizon store?  It's just down the road.  I just got off the phone with the guy and they have what I want and I can get a military discount."

I sighed.  "Sure.  Give me ten minutes."

He has been researching new phones and carriers for the last month and decided on the Droid from Verizon.  And he cant wait six more days til he gets home, he needs it NOW!

So we load up and head out to the Verizon store.  It took forever.  FOREVER!  Seriously, an hour and a half at least.  While he was getting all that taken care his buddy (my new son) Rick was being harassed (playfully) by a couple of the Verizon workers and in the end he got a new phone too.  However, he got a much 'lower end' phone and the process took much less time.

So now, two hours later, we are back at the room and I am about to get my nap.  The boys say we dont need to go out til about 9:00 so we can hang til the new year and have our champagne toast.

They are in their room trying to figure out how to store numbers in case they manage to coerce someone into giving them a phone number tonight.  They are probably also downloading apps like crazy.  And texting everyone they know.

Before I turn out the light and 'rest my eyes', I leave you with this picture of my boys, their new toys, and their new friends, David and Nico, from the Hattiesburg MS Verizon store.

Hattiesburg MS

Arrived in Hattiesburg MS just a little past noon today.  Met the boys at the hotel (they caught a ride off post earlier this morning).  The Army turned 'em loose a little earlier than we thought so they had a couple hours to kill before I got here.  They were in good shape though.

They got me settled into my room and we walked across the parking lot to the Longhorn and had a good lunch.  We're back at the room now, chillin' and hangin' out on facebook etc and taking it easy for a couple of hours.

We'll boot scoot our way on over to Roper's later and see what kind of party they got going on.  We called and their recording said they open at 5, have a complimentary buffet from 6-10, karaoke (BoyChild loves karaoke after he's had longneck or two) and champagne toast at midnight.

Not sure if this mom can hang with 'em til midnight, especially if we go over there at 6.  But then again, if these boys get started at 6, I dont imagine they'll hang til midnight either! LOL.

Meant to get a pic of them when I arrived before they changed into their civvies, but alas, I forgot!  Dang it!  I'll try to get some at Roper's later on.  Maybe even a little video clip of the karaoke!

Home Sweet USA!

After almost a year in Iraq, The 2101st Transportation Company has arrived in the great state of Mississippi!  They will be there until Thursday morning when they will be bussed to Demopolis, AL for their homecoming ceremonies.

An article in The Demopolis Times, give some details.

They will do some processing tonight and tomorrow morning, then will have a pass off-post for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings.  I am leaving tomorrow morning headed to Hattiesburg MS to, as Justin says, "chauffeur" him and his buddy around and keep them out of trouble.  I figure going now and keeping them out of trouble is a much better idea than having to go later and get them out of trouble.  I'm pretty sure they'd be in more trouble than a mom could get them out of.  ;-)

I'm not sure if they will be allowed to stay off-post for the weekend, or will have to report back each evening.  I'll post updates of our weekend along the way as time and internet allows.

I think more than anything, they are looking forward to some 'real' American food.  (And maybe a beer or two).

Warm and Snuggly

Both my girls got new blankies today.  BabyGurl has gone off in the rain and snow to be with her dad's family for today, but Natty has been curled up on her new blankie all day long.

Christmas Present (and presents)

Over at Ma and Pa's today for lunch.  Me and brother, niece and nephew, the Gabster, and BabyGurl. BoyChild was there via Skype.  The Gabster had a grand time talking to him.  She jabbered at him for close to an hour.  She'd talk, and look and point .... a couple of times she stood up in my lap so she could lean over and 'love' him.  There was a lot of slobber on my laptop today!  LOL.

She opened presents ..... then later my dad yelled from the living room (Ma and I were in the dining room having dessert) "if somebody had a camera, this sure would make a great picture!" I went in the LR and he had given The Gabster some styrofoam from one of the packages.  It was the kind that was the little bitty styrofoam balls pressed into blocks.  Well, she was 'unpressing' them.  Snow!  In my mom's living room!

Later, my dad was given the vacuum cleaner and instructions to 'shovel' the living room floor!

Her favorite two presents (though she seemed to like them all) were the fuzzy houseshoes and the purse (it came complete with keys and many other necessities).

Christmas Past

1984

1985

Big Kid, Little Kid ....

We had The Gabster back over for about three hours last night while her Mom was taking final exams.  BabyGurl was able to figure out how to put the play tunnels together, so she and The Gabster had a grand ol' time playing while I was cooking supper.  It's really hard to tell who was having more fun, the big kid or the little one! LOL.

'Twas Two Weeks Before Christmas ...

So I have The Gabster at my house this afternoon while my mom takes The Gabster's mom shopping.  So I went into 'her' room to get some of her toys out and I thought .... hmmmmm.... and yes, I opened her Christmas present (which wasn't really wrapped and in fact was still in the shipping box it arrived it).  I thought "ya know, she's gonna get so much stuff on Christmas she wont even know what hit her" so I gave her this one today.  But I had no idea how complicated it was going to be to put it together.  It was supposed to just "pop open".  And each part did just pop open, but then you have to velcro all the parts together!  Well, The Gabster enjoyed playing with all the parts as well as (or maybe better than) she would have if it were all put together.  And it was a lot bigger than I thought too, so I don't think there would've been room for it all put together in my living room anyway.  

Here are a few pics of her playing with the pieces and parts. 

Then I managed to get a few of her in a Santa hat.

No, we were not going anywhere, but she just loves to wear this fuzzy coat.

So when BoyChild gets home from Iraq next month, 

if he finds the  nose missing from his snow cowboy ....

(no she didnt really eat it, but she did leave a toothmark on it!)

Now she's trying to unbuckle his belt.  

And playing at Aunt Paula's always wears her out!

Twinkle Twinkle ....

I love sparkly clothes.  I love Ross' store.  Today I hit the jackpot and found four sparkly tops at Ross'.

These pictures dont do them justice.  They really sparkle.  A lot. 

This is my favorite of the four.  It's much bluer and much sparklier than this picture indicates.

This one is very Christmassy.  The red is truly red.

This was the first one I picked off the rack, and the first one I tried on.  The saleslady said I should get this one.  So I did.   Believe it or not, this one is actually slightly less sparkly than it appears in this picture.  The gold appears more 'threaded' in 'real life'. 

This one I tried on last.  It fits the least well of any of the four.  And it's a lot like the other one.   But it was only FOURTY-NINE CENTS!!  How could I not get it??

Now ... I must find me some new black dress slacks.  Do they even make ladies knit dress slacks any more?  I cannot find them anywhere.  Corduroy,  denim, jersey, and even a sort of dress-like cotton (cotton fades way too much), but no serious black dress pants.  I have found some occasionally at Goody's in the past, but they closed most of the Goody's last year and now there isn't one within about a seventy-five miles or so. 

If you have any suggestions where I might find reasonably priced  black dress pants, please let me know.

Too Much Food and Too Little Sleep

I'm about to become as rotund as the Jolly Ol' Man himself, but I'm far from jolly about it!

On Monday's, Wednesdays and Friday's for three weeks (last, this and next) our office is doing 'snacks'.  Well, 'snacks' carries different meanings according to which department is in charge that day.  Overall we've had everything from sausage/egg casserole, hashbrown casserole, pigs in a blanket, to cookies, candies, cakes, cinnamon rolls, and thankfully on two occasions, fruit!

Of course you can lull yourself into believing you are being 'good' when you eat fruit, but seriously, if you eat two or three apples (with caramel sauce), a bowlful of grapes, and enough pineapple to make you a citizen of Hawaii ... well, I dont think you've (I've) been very 'good' after all.

Add that to not enough sleep, due to 'event's in our neighborhood recently, and the nighttime serenades, and most recently (last night) a 1am phone call from the BoyChild in Iraq (yes, he did realize it was 1am here but apparently he had been forgetting for several days prior to get some information he needed from me to update his paperwork prior to returning to the US next month), and well, it makes for a grumpy, tired, and sometimes downright irritable Mom.

So, if by some chance you cross my path and I look less than 'bright eyed and bushy-tailed' .... I hope you'll understand.

Ready for Winter

No, no, no!  Not me!  I am never ready for winter!  I'm a summertime gal through and through.

But The Gabster is ready with her new mittens and 'boggan from her MawMaw.  A couple of weeks ago my mom bought her some fuzzy socks.  The Gabster wouldnt wear them on her feet, choosing instead to wear them on her hands like mittens.  So this past weekend my mom saw these mitten / hat sets and bought her two of them ... one to take home and one to keep at MawMaw's.

Here she is showing them off.  I'm so glad she likes the 'boggan because she has a lot of trouble with her ears and we need to keep them all warm and toasty and out of the wind as much as possible.

Grinch

I tried to get Natty in the Christmas spirit, but she was having no part of it.  I finally got her to leave the hat on and sit still but she refused to look at me.  If I moved where I would be in front of her she would turn so that I only had her profile again. 

She's really so much like a kid sometimes it is scary.  Grandma just about has her spoiled to the point that her Daddy is gonna have a hard time being tough with her when he gets home.  But hey, isnt' that what grandparents are supposed to do?  Spoil them and send them home? 

Not So Silent Night

Sometime in the middle of the night (3:51am to be more exact), I was awakened by Natty’s low-pitched, but determined, “woof-woof-woof”.  I lay there thinking “she cant need to go out, she was out at 11:30pm”.  Plus, she usually whines, not barks, when she needs to go out.

She got quiet for a minute or two then “woof-woof-woof” again.  Then, I heard “who-who-who-whoooooooo”.  Right outside Natty’s window of course.  So for several minutes it was “woof-woof-woof”, then “who-who-who”, then “woof-woof-woof”, then “who-who-who”. 

Finally it was enough to even wake BabyGurl up and she was about to let Natty out when I told her she was just barking at the hoot owl and didn’t need to go out.  So BabyGurl scolded her and put her back to bed. 

After that, all was quiet (until the garbage truck arrived at about 5:30am). 

Needless to say, I’m very tired today.

Drinking From My Saucer

This is something I've posted on more than one platform in the past .... and I wanted to post it here as well.

Drinking From My Saucer

Copyright © Jimmy Dean 

I've never made a fortune,
It's probably too late now.
Oh, but I don't worry about that much,
'Cause I'm happy anyhow.

As I go along life's journey,
I'm reaping better than I sowed.
I'm drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed.

Ain't got a lot of riches,
Sometimes the going's rough.
But I've got a friend in Jesus,
And that makes me rich enough.

I thank God for all His Blessings on me,
And the mercy that He's bestowed.
I'm drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed.

Oh sure, I've been thru some storms,
And yes, I'm sure there were times when my,
Well, my Faith must have got a little thin,
But you know what it seemed like?

One day all at once, those dark clouds broke,
And that old sun, she started shinin' again.

So Lord, help me not to grumble and complain,
About the tough rows I have hoed.
I'm drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed.

And if I should go on living,
If the way gets steep and rough.
I won't ask for other Blessings,
'Cause I'm already Blessed enough.

May I never be too busy,
To help another bear his load.
And I'll keep drinking from my saucer, Lord,
'Cause my cup has overflowed.

Yes, I'll keep drinkin' from my saucer, Lord,
'Cause my cup has overflowed.

My Cup Has Overflowed. 

Copyright © Jimmy Dean

Don't Come Sneakin' Around In Our 'Hood

I live in a rural area.  About a mile from (a very small) town.  But I'm just beyond the end of a dead end road.   I have five acres.  In front of me (to the west) are a few neighbors that all have two or more acres.  To the south is an 80 acre wooded tract.  To the north is a neighbor with about 20 acres.  And to the east (behind me and my northerly neighbor) is a couple thousand acres owned by a timber company.

It is not uncommon to hear gunfire (shotguns mostly) in  my neighborhood any time of year, but especially now during hunting season.  So this evening when I heard four blasts from a shotgun over a period of a couple minutes, I really thought nothing about it.

A few minutes later a neighbor called to tell me that the teenage son of the northern neighbor had seen some folks ramblin' around the yard messin' in things they didn't need to be messin' in so he fired a few rounds in their direction.

The police were called and they came riding through the neighborhood with blue lights and spotlights so hopefully the trespassers got the message and moved on.  I got my handy dandy .22 revolver here on the desk and the .12 gauge propped up against the wall on my other side.   Me and BabyGurl are both pretty good shots.  ;-)

Starting Anew

Ok, so I've had a blog before.  In fact, I've had two.  I abandoned my personal one in favor of one to keep family and close friends updated on my son while he was deployed to Iraq.  That adventure is about to end, so I've decided to start a new personal blog.  I enjoy reading other blogs and thought maybe, just maybe, one or two folks might get some enjoyment .... and a few chuckles along the way .... from mine.  Time will tell.

I plan to start posting 'in earnest' after the first of the year .... as I begin to make "lifestyle changes".  (No resolutions, no diets, but the 'forever' kind of changes that I can live with .... well .... forever!  Slow and steady she will go, but as long as she keeps going forward, the goal will be realized.

This is my first 'blogger' blog (the other was a 'tag-on' to a website I have, and not really set up for serious blogging).  So ... any tips and ideas on 'easy blogging' with blogger will be welcomed.

So ..... welcome (once again) to ...... Paula's Perils.