Tyler's prom picture

I just realized that, even though I said I was going to post it, I never did. Here is Tyler - Jr./Sr. Prom 2009. What a hunk!!! His date is a very cute, sweet, little hispanic cheerleader/Madrigal/show choir girl whose mom teaches him Spanish. :

Mid-May

I think I'm really hoping this weekend will hurry up and end before anything else bad happens. So far, nothing totally close to me. But Friday night a young family here in town had their mobile home catch on fire. The father broke his leg kicking out an a/c unit to get his wife out. But he could not get to the children. He was a firefighter himself, and suffered all kinds of burns trying to save his children. But they lost their 2 year old and 4 year old boys. Maybe I'm just PMS'ing but that so totally hit me hard......I can't fathom that kind of pain. Then, late last night a friend of ours who is a policeman had a wreck on 61 South while on duty and died. It's kind of like......I don't even wanna go to sleep tonight! Very sad, sad stuff. The policeman was a guy I was in high school band with and went to USM with. I used to come in so late on Sunday evenings to USM that I'd have to park far, far away from my dorm. He was on the campus security force and he'd always be driving around. He'd pick me up and drive me to my dorm safely. One of the finest you'd ever meet. Had a wife and two kids. Gotta wonder sometimes why life and death can't be fair about things. It's got me rather depressed today!


Anyway. We have exactly 2 weeks of school left. This is the first year EVER that I have not been counting down the weeks until now. Usually I start counting down at 8 or 6 weeks and I have a calendar on my chart that I mark off the days as we go. I even count down the DAYS sometimes. But this year has been so pleasant (or busy??) for me that I'm only now starting to look at the end. My final concert is Tuesday, 2 days from now. My choirs are ready but I'm not. I gotta figure out stuff to SAY and get awards ready to give and get the sound system going and I have some painting to do of props for show choir, etc. But after that night that's pretty much it for me. We will spend the remainder of the week watching ourselves on video and having an end of the year party on Friday. The final week is exam week. I don't give exams in choir so they don't even have to be at school for my class. But some will be there anyway, if they don't drive. We will figure out something to do.


We've spent a lot of time in the last week or two watching movies. Lots of old B horror flicks. But some new stuff too. I've rediscovered Netflix. I had the SAME 3 Netflix movies in my possession from August until April lol. What a waste of money huh? But we're making up for it now. Out of our recent movie watching I have to HIGHLY recommend:


~TAKEN - awesome movie. I like the fact that he wastes NO time with ethical issues. He just gets the friggin job done, to hell with everybody but his daughter. Go Liam Neeson!


~7 POUNDS - awesome chick flick, but most guys would like it too. It's a MUST see. But you gotta watch and listen to everything....


Brooke has spent the weekend with us. Tanner has been happy as can be. Last night Tyler went home with Sean over at Ken's house and I guess they played video games all night. Get this - Sean is like 22 now? Something like that. Hardly seems possible! I know he's at least bar-going and tattoo-getting age. So we were kinda nervous about it all. But Sean has really grown up lately. We've been hearing about it from Ken and Aunt Joni and everyone. And he sat and visited with us a long time last night and I really think the kid has finally gotten enough doses of reality that he is on a good road. I'm SO glad to see that. I think he's gonna be alright.


Tanner had his end of the year piano recital today. He did SO well. It's funny how you can sit and listen to so many beginner players - all of whom are playing pretty close to the same level, same kinds of songs, very similar in every way. But every single one of them has a totally different touch. A totally different "inner" level of musicianship. And I"m proud to say that it's just oh so obvious that MY little boy has it on the inside! Even though he's playing beginner level stuff you can just see and hear that he FEELS an inner beat, rhythm, and overall feel for the music. (And I really don't think I'm being prejudiced!) I was beaming! Tyler is still taking piano lessons and doing well. He opted out of the recital though. Mrs. Leese is so good with him. She and he have a really good relationship going. They carry on with one another and enjoy working together. She takes him at his pace and encourages him to play for things, but does not push too hard. She is so good at being able to sense his needs. Tyler doesn't want to do a recital until he is at a level that he considers to be "good". So she is going to work with him on that. She also understands that he may have some self-conscious issues stemming from his narcolepsy/cataplexy. Which, by the way, is still doing much better. I believe that God put me in this job this year, if for no other reason than for Mrs. Leese to be in our lives.
She is something else!


Anyway, I've put a video at the bottom that has Tanner's portion of today's recital.


Gardner Farm is starting to flourish. I have some little green tomatoes and some little things that I've been able to identify as bell peppers! My very own bell peppers! My dream is that every time I have a craving for a bell pepper (which is quite often) I'll just be able to walk outside and pick one. From now on. Forever. I've got some pics of the fruits of mine and TAnner's labor at the bottom also.

Rusty is doing well. He's back at work, but not quite as spiffy as he thinks. He picked up some heavy stuff the other day and realized that he'd better back off. I told him he's gonna get a hernia out of this deal if he doesn't stop. So I think he's slowed back down a bit. I think it really takes 6 weeks or so to get over any kind of intrusive surgery. Even though his incisions are small, there are 4 of them and they are still holes in your body!


WE've been seeing a lot of Keith, Clay, and STeve lately. Usually in reference to our B horror movie nights. But we've had a lot of fun. Which reminds me.....the cruise will consist of me, Rusty, Keith, and Clay. I'll be the only girl. But it's gonna be fun!!!

My 20th class reunion is this coming weekend. And even though I've looked forward to it all year, I'm not going. I'm at peace with it. But I really can not afford it. I had to pay a huge doctor bill last week of Tyler's (one of those "pay now or we're going to court" deals). And I owe mom some money already. And we had to make our final payment on the cruise this week. And all that combined with daily and weekly expenses.....going to my reunion is just NOT in the budget. So I guess I'll just continue to catch up with folks over the internet. When it comes down to it........a cruise is more important to me than seeing people that I've already caught up with on facebook in the past few months lol. It's all about ME ME ME I guess.


All I know is I want the summer of 09 to be better than that dark, dark, summer of 08. Last summer SUCKED. Not totally. But I spent so much time stressing over my new job, and stressing over Tyler and stuff he was doing, that I really didn't get much of a break. I'm OWED a double good summer this year! And what better way than spending time with family in Bama and going on a cruise right before it's time to go back to work.


Speaking of family in Bama, I've been wondering this week just how people survive without living in the same city as their mom? lol. It will be weird with Mom and Pat living in Alabama now. It really will. I don't think I've ever spent much time living in a different city than my parents since the couple of years I spent at USM. I guess I'll learn to get by.


I guess just within the past few days I've started to get a glimpse of a light at the end of the year long tunnel. I've been so submerged in my busy job this year, but now I can finally see some sort of closure in the near future. It's been an awesome year. It's like I'm just about to surface for a breath now........and I can't wait to feel the oxygen! And be a person again. For a short time. My challenge for myself next year is to figure out a way to continue being successful but to still have time to be a person also. Having had a successful first year will be a total building block in that direction. I know I will find the balance.


Until next week!

My front flower bed........which has no flowers or bushes or hedges. So I figured I might as well put my tomato and bell pepper growing efforts in that spot. Not the prettiest site on the street. But functional......
Caladiums. I figured I'd grow some while I was being a farmer. I've always been able to grow things from bulbs, if nothing else...
This is what watermelon seeds REALLY look like when you plant them. So, according to Papa Jr., this is what would have grown out of our ears if we had actually been bad enough to have to sit UNDER the picnic table and let the juice and seeds run off on top of our heads. We are going to have to transplant these real soon, to a hillside in the backyard so that watermelons will form. Not looking forward to that job actually.
My first tomato! It's already nearly twice that size. I can't wait!

The first bell pepper!!!!!! Pea sized, but growing steady!

wedding, appendectomy, jousting, and the beach!

It seems I could label every post as "catching up on the blog" lately. I can't seem to do it every week or even every 2 weeks. But I expect to get better some time. A lot has happened since my last post. So much that I'm sure I will leave some of it out. But here goes....

We went to the wedding and had a blast! It was a gorgeous wedding. The kids even enjoyed it and they aren't all into the wedding thing. Everything was really nice. And we had a great time visiting with family and watching Emma dance! The only thing is I didn't take a ton of pictures. I was having too much fun watching the ceremony and I didn't want to be a distraction up towards the front with my camera. Mom took several though. And I'm waiting around to see some of the professional pics get posted. We went shopping at a really huge mall while we were in Texas for the wedding. The kids all thought it was the greatest place EVER. It really was a nice mall, but it made me wonder about our kids.....have they really NOT been places like that before?? lol. And I guess they probably haven't. I know I have several kids in choir at school who stay in choir simply because we go to Northpark Mall in Jackson after choir contest each year. One day a year, to Northpark Mall, and it's like the highlight of their entire life. Tyler, Tanner, Blake, and Brooke were acting very similar about that Texas Mall. They want to go all the way back to Texas again just to go to that mall lol.

It sucked having to go back to work after that spring break. The kids are pretty much finished working for me and ready to get out of school. I"m pretty much ready to get out too. But we still have one last concert to go on the 19th then I"ll be officially finished with it all. Two MOndays ago Rusty came home from work with stomach pains and thought he had eaten something bad at KFC. I had to go to a concert that night but he stayed home and laid down. By the time I got back he was still laying down hurting but we went on to bed. At 11:30 he woke up hollering and I took him to the hospital. After a few hours of tests they determined he had appendicitis and said he had to have surgery. I was awake that entire night and the whole next day lol. THey were dosing him up pretty good for pain throughout that night so he at least finally got some rest and relief and they did surgery about 9:00 that next morning. He came through it just fine but had to stay in the hospital 2 days. He didn't smoke that entire time either, but he lit up immediately once he got in the car lol. He was aggravated at having to sit in bed and be still all that time, and a little grumpy along the way. But he made it through and got to come home. He couldn't go back to work for 2 weeks though, so he will be going back to work this coming Monday. I think he's kind of enjoyed his time off. But I know he's been aggravated at being in pain, sore, and so tired all the time. I think he's getting better now though.

Last weekend I took the Madrigal choir on a field trip to a Renaissance Faire in Ocean Springs, MS. We dressed in costume and so did most everyone there. It was really cool. They had professional jousters and sword fighters there to put on shows and they had lots of vendors selling things like clothing and jewelry and food. We got to sing on the stage once, and then sing all around the fair, just anywhere we felt like it. The thing was, it was extremely HOT that day and we were all in Renaissance clothing. So my kids didn't make it long in costume. They were miserable. So we got back on the bus to go down the road a piece and change into some cooler clothes. And by accident, or by fate, we drove straight up on a public beach area. I told the bus driver to stop. We got out and spent about 20 minutes on the beach just to say we had been there, then we went back to the fair. We spent some more time at the fair and by 3:30 we were just TIRED, but still had to wait around to see a 7:00 concert we had bought tickets for. So - back to the beach!!!!! We spent about a couple more hours on the beach then went to eat. Mississippi beaches are certainly nothing in comparison to Florida or Gulf Shores. But this one was kinda nice, for MS. It was out of the way with not a lot of people and the water was not just filthy. 3 of the boys went completely swimming in it in their clothes. The rest of us just waded and splashed around. Next year we will know to bring swimsuits. And SUNSCREEN. My poor white children have been sore and peeling all week lol. But we had an absolute BLAST. Rusty was supposed to go with us til he ended up having surgery, and Tanner decided to stay home and hang out with Brooke. But I know they are going to go next year for sure. I think I"ll have plenty of offers for chaperones because the jousting was SO cool. The whole thing is put on by an Episcopal Church, so the kids got a real kick out of the fact that beer and margaritas were being sold lol. And thankfully none of my troop tried to sneak any. Those people there were REALLY into the medieval thing though. Apparently they all have some sort of make believe medieval society role playing type thing that they do as a hobby. I asked one lady if she had bought her headpiece there at the fair and she got a little offended. She said, "NO! You can't BUY these! It took me 8 years to earn this, and I worked extremely hard to earn it. Wearing this shows that I have the distinction and the right to mingle with royalty!" A little STRANGE if you ask me.........but we still had a good time with our part of it.

Here is me with my dozen kids in front of the fair sign

This guy was a really good impersonator of Captain Jack Sparrow.

He talked and walked like him too. He carried a silver mug around with him everywhere that we decided must have had some real rum in it lol.

Lots of people acted out skits and scenes in their tents and booths. It was neat.

It was extremely hot. And they did not do a very good job of ACTING. They looked miserable the whole time they were singing lol. But we got through it and had a good time.

Posing with Cap'n Jack

The Joust!!!!

I bet this kid $5 he wouldn't go out and dance with the Celtic scarf dancer. That's the 2nd bet I've lost to him this year. He'll do ANYTHING.

Sword fighters!

The girls with their "artsy" pose. Took them 15 minutes to get it how they wanted it.




My wacky bunch of Madrigals

I realized this week that mom is actually retiring next week. I thought it was going to be the end of June lol. Seems kinda sudden now, even though I've known she was retiring for the last 2 or 3 years because she is always counting down the months, days, hours lol. I think we've finally got it figured out who is going on the cruise with us - Clay and Keith. I will be the only girl, but it's totally cool. I'm as comfortable hanging with them as I am with the girls lol. I believe we will all have a blast. I'm ready to go.

The kids are doing well. Tyler's medicines are still working for now. The doctor decided to take off in May so they've put our appointment off until June. They did this same thing back in December. I'm getting tired of it but what else is there to do. Both boys are still taking piano lessons and doing well at it. Tyler's prom pictures came in, adding that on here also. None of us are able to keep up with our house anymore. The yard is awful, the house is a wreck. There is nothing I can do about it. We inherited a pool table from Keith since he's moved out of his house. I have no idea where we are going to put it lol. But we've gotta figure that out this coming week. My tomato plants are growing pretty tall, still in the buckets. I will probably have to transplant them but I'm not looking forward to it. But hopefully this much catches us up to date on the main events of the last 3 weeks or so. I hope to post again sooner.