he's so cute when he's clueless...

I have the most amazing boyfriend.  He's smart, funny, quick-witted (love that!), and HOT.  (and he smells good too)  Everyday I learn something new and amazing about this man. 

This weekend when J came over, I handed him a bag and told him, “take this home with you? It’s bathroom stuff I bought and I want to leave at your house” so he smiles, and says “cool”

The next day I talk to him and he says, “you know, I walked into your bathroom today (the guest bathroom) and it was really nice seeing your stuff in there”
I said, “what stuff?”
He said, “you know, the stuff you left and the stuff you gave me the other day… your face wash, your shampoo, the little pack of wipes… “
“Wipes?? Where did you put them?”
“on the counter. Why?”
“omg please tell me no one has used that bathroom”

lol here’s what he had proudly displayed in his guest bathroom...

I'm still here...

Well, so much for consistency… I revived my blogging last week and haven’t been back since. Typical me. This has been an emotional week for me; I think I’ve cried more than I haven’t. I miss my daddy and my heart is aching for what my beautiful daughter is going through. However, I DID make a commitment to keep it light – and so I’m going to share a story about my daughter, K. Hopefully, there’s at least ONE person reading this that hasn’t heard this one – but it’s one of my favorites.

K was about 16, and we were on our way to a family dinner and were stopped at a red light. In front of us was an old Ford Crown Victoria. The license plate was: CROWN V. We always liked trying to figure out unusual vanity plates, but this was obvious, so I didn’t comment on it.

After a few seconds, K said, “Crown V? What’s that supposed to mean?” I smiled, thinking she was thinking too hard and missing the obvious. “Crown Victoria?” I replied. She smiled and a wave of understanding washed over her face… “Ohhhh”, she said. “That’s those really smart people in school!”

Deep breath. Don’t laugh. “No baby. That’s a Valedictorian.”

Change in Direction

To all 2 of my followers (smile),

It's been awhile since I blogged. Every time I start to write I end up feeling sad which, to me, defeats the whole purpose of blog-therapy. I am still missing my dad terribly. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him a million times and every time I cry. Happy memory or not, my heart still aches for him.

On April 4, 2009, I had to say goodbye to my beloved Chevy. I held her in my arms and felt her last breath. She was 14. She was a great dog. My heart and my arms still ache for her.

This has been a difficult year for me and rather than spend the last part of 2009 wallowing in my sorrow, I decided to blog about mostly good or funny things. Now keep in mind, I'm not Ms. Sunshine, so there will be days that I'm just plain bitchy and absolutely nothing will make me happy, but hopefully those days will be few and far between.

As messed-up and seriously dysfunctional as my life is, I cannot deny that I have been blessed with awesome friends and family, dogs included. I hope you will enjoy my stories. If not, "whateva - I do what I want" 

Faith is just an expression

I was catching up on some blog-reading and started to respond to a blog and realized my response was long enough to be a blog itself... not surprising - I sometimes have a problem shutting up.

The blog was from my niece and she was commenting on my father's (her grandpa) death. Her comment was that she wasn't there when he died but heard that he was very much at peace with the idea of death... yet she had never seen any outward expression of his faith.

I thought about this and realized - neither have I. She continued on to say that she recently attended a church service and things like bible verses and sermons weren't what caught her attention - it was the "little things" that touched her. That's when I realized how my daddy expressed his faith every day that I knew him - by little things.

I grew up sitting in church between my mama and daddy. Same pew, same seat, for at least 17 years. My mama would hang on every word of the sermon, prayers, and hymns. She can quote any Bible verse, tell you any Bible story, and most of the hymns. She has many Bibles, most ragged and worn from daily use.

My daddy would sit and church and observe. I don't know that he heard all the sermons, maybe he even heard a "different version" than my mama. I never heard him quote any verses.

However, when I hear the term "good and faithful servant" - that's my daddy. He served God by serving his church, his country, and his family.

He was a song leader, he was a committee member, he paid more than his 'required 10%' tithes. He was a good and faithful servant to his church.

He was an air traffic controller in WW2. He was in Germany, France, and Belgium. He had stories of landing on beaches in Germany, touring the awful concentration camps with President Truman (i think that's who it was!) He was a good and faithful servant to his country.

Father's Day sermons are always fascinating to me. I never listened to them until after I was married and well on my way to divorce. I always wanted to bring my ex into church and say, "SEE?? THAT'S HOW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO IT!!!" My daddy? The PERFECT example of 'how you're supposed to do it'. He was a faithful husband, good provider, good counselor, good fishin' buddy, good at everything. Except discipline. He made my mama do that! He was a good and faithful servant to his family.

I guess my point is this: I see people who are obviously devoted to their faith - prayer, church, Bible studies, etc... but can be quick to judge other people and their actions. I see people like my daddy who weren't always hanging on every sermon, maybe didn't bless the food when mama wasn't around, but would never judge anyone without first judging himself, and would always help someone in need. Always. Now, of these two people, is there one less deserving of Heaven? I can't imagine the God I worship choosing between the two.

He wasn't perfect and he made mistakes (I never saw them, but I'm sure he did), but he was a good and faithful servant and I know God is pleased.

One more thing: one of my favorite quotes (by anonymous) is:
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.
Live you life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.

Early W. Roberts, Jr.

January 5, 1923 - January 22, 2009

Part 1

Just for the record, I starting writing this post at 10pm on Jan 10, 2009. I'm not really ready to deal with this post, so I will probably take me a few days to finish it.
This past week I went to DC for training for my new job. It was a awesome week. I spent a lot of time with my sister and nieces. I plan to move there after my daughter graduates from high school and goes off to college. Sometimes I get really scared and freaked out about moving - that's when I know it's time for a visit. This visit was right on time. My timeline for moving is the fall - just in time for the birth of my new great-niece or nephew. How cool is that?
During this same week, my father was admitted to the hospital - on his 86th birthday - for fluid in his lungs. Yesterday we were told he has stage 4 lung cancer. How uncool is that?
I remind myself everyday how blessed I am to be 44 and still have both my parents, still married to each other - 60 years in March. Ok...time to stop - hurts too much.