16 Years Later...........

It is the day before my 16th wedding anniversary. I can remember this day as well as the actual wedding day. I was sitting at KCC in the Lusby Lounge waiting for Casey to pick me up, so we could go get our wedding license  and some cheap wedding bands...Dad drove me in that morning because of the weather, and I skipped class because Casey was suppose to pick me up at 8am...SUPPOSE to is the key word here. I sat there, and sat there, and 1/2 hour went by, then an hour..I went to the payphone (no cell phones then;) and called his house for the first time ever. His sister Kara Zane answered, I asked for Casey and she said "Hold on, I'll get him, he is still asleep"...REALLY? He OVERSLEPT on the morning that we were going to sneak around and prepare for our enormous wedding the next day? *I say that sarcastically* So, he eventually makes it to pick me up and we head out....

For some odd reason, I remember what we ate for breakfast as we went through McDonald's drive thru...he ate a breakfast fajita and I ate an Egg McMuffin...odd that I remember that 16 yrs. later. We drove to Ashland to visit Leigh Anna at work so she would believe that we were actually getting married...she had set us up on a date at her house at the end of January..I think the 28th...it was 2 weeks later and we were getting married...she really didn't know what to say, but pretended to be happy;)

We then headed back to Grayson and stopped at Haney's Jewelry to pick out 2 plain gold wedding bands...I think they were maybe $30 a piece? Ran up to the courthouse to get our licence. The lady who gave it to us was kin to Casey's ex-wife, so I'm sure other people found out before our parent's did...(I was nervous because it was her, which is the reason I missed what his first name really was)

We then went and told both sets of parents, his mom first, then his dad (first time I met his dad) then my mom....dad was at work so we didn't get to tell him....the only one that seemed thrilled by the news was Sandy (Casey's mom). I can't blame the rest of them, I mean, I would be furious if one of my kids told me they were getting married after 2 weeks of dating...when I told Granny Brown the only thing she said was (and I quote) "Well, I hope this one works out!!" And she said it just like that, very grouchy like...LOLOLOL....I tried to explain that I had no control over the first marriage failing, but well, you understand if you knew my Granny;))

Fast forward to the wedding day (next day) Casey and I went to the courthouse in Grayson. Mom brought Sammi (she would turn 2, 10 days later) Dad couldn't miss work, Mike, Sandy, Chad and Kara were there. Our witnesses were Leigh Anna and Anthony....the little room could barely hold us all...Casey and I got out our rings, and the grouchy little man said "I don't do the ring thing"...Ooookkkk..we just handed them to each other and put them on our fingers ourselves. He started the whole, "Do you ____. take ____ to be your"....when he said "Robert" mom and I were very confused...in our minds we were thinking "Who is Robert"???? That was when we found out that Robert was Casey's first name....it was a 30 second ceremony. Sandy has always said that when she started to cry at the beginning, the tear only made it down to her nose before the ceremony was over....LMBO!!!!!!

Nonetheless, slipshod wedding, a wedding dress from JC Penney's, cheap rings, no ring exchange, learning your husbands real name during the wedding, parent's scared and doubtful, snow blowing as we took off for Gaitlinburg with a sign on our tailgate (compliments of his Uncle Tom) which had the wrong date on it , we beat the odds. We made it to our 1st anniversary, our 2nd, had another child to the family by our 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, another baby by our 7th, and on and on and on...until our 16th...

It has flown by...good times and bad. Laughter, tears, angry words and words of comfort. There is no one else I could imagine sharing my life with...no one else who would be so patient with me and loves me despite of all my faults...So, here is to another 16 years...and beyond...Love you Robert "Casey" Brammell

Here and Yonder

I have a sinus headache, Maggie is squeaking the new pup's toy and yelling "Banna" over and over, CJ wants his back rubbed, Sammi and Derek are making a mess in the kitchen (that I just cleaned)  and Casey is getting ready to go to the gym...Chaos is reigning around me so it is hard to think..therefore this blog will more than likely suck;)

As I just said, we have a new pup. Another Minature Schnauzer named Banna Claire (Our other one got loose and ran to the AA Highway, RIP Hamish). She is solid black, 8 weeks old and she loves her small pink elephant that squeaks.  So far everyone loves her; I give it about 2 weeks before the luster wears off and they are start declaring her "mom's dog"....that's usually what happens;)

The dreaded hotflashes still attack me. I can be standing outside in the freezing cold, my hands are icy, but my shirt will be soaked with sweat. I have turned into a walking sauna. The effect isn't really pleasant. Just as everyone was tired of me talking about my "surgery" (I always used quotations when talking about it;) they have also became desynthetised to my complaints of hotflashes. No one even responds anymore when I ask the expected question : "Is it HOT in here?" They don't even make eye contact anymore. I always follow up the question with a statement..."I'm burnin' slap up!"  *cricket..cricket..cricket...*  Nope, not a sound...silence. The only time I feel any sympathy is at church...where I sit with the other "mature ladies". We make our children go turn the ceiling fans on, and dare anyone (with the stink eye) to make a comment about the fans being on in the middle of winter. I am not embarrassed to use the paper fans donated by funeral homes and banks located in the back of the pews. I have learned not to try and hand these paper fans out to anyone else unless they have vocalized an actual need for said fan. It's rather embarrassing when they look at me with a little smirk and shake their head no to my offering. (*Cough....Leigh Anna...cough cough)

Well, as predicted, Maggie isn't going to let me finish this uninterrupted. She is riding her ripstick (skateboard like contraption) all around the house and begging me for something...I'm not sure what because I have been tuning her out. Guess I better be the good mother and go see what she needs...I'm positive it is something REALLY important like a new roll of toliet paper in the bathroom...

UAW

As I was talking to my friend Amy on the phone yesterday, she whispered a phrase that  has caused the same conversation to be repeated many times...goes something like this...


AMY: " Shelley, I think I was punched in the face last night"

Me:  "Again?! (insert snort of laughter here)

AMY: "I know! (still whispering and now chuckling) I don't know what to do! My jaw 
             REALLY hurts!

ME:  "Well, to make it all about me, Casey elbowed me in the jaw last night too! YOU know 
           how he "fights" in his sleep after he's been up for 30 some hours...aarrgghh...you need to 
          be like me and just yell at Derek when he does it...he probably won't remember, but you will 
          feel better!

AMY: " I know, I should totally do that...but we both know I won't. Thing is, I'm pretty sure he 
           knew that he did it...(insert an "ouch" here and she tells me that she thinks it's bruised) 
           (I mumble in sympathy) anyway, when I woke up this morning, he asked me if I had 
          nightmares last night..when I asked him why, he told me that I had "whimpered" a lot in  
         my sleep last night! 

ME AND AMY:   HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER FOR A WHILE


ME:  "AMY! You know what we are? We are Unaware Abused Women! We "suspect" that we 
           are abused in our sleep, but we have NO proof! 

AMY:  "Bwahahahahaha!!! That's totally true!!!! We are UAW! Bwahahahahaa!


ME:  "We are SOOOO funny!!!"


AMY: "I know! HAhahahahaha....you know no one else will find this funny at all..right?"


ME: "Oh, I know....but I'm going to blog about it!"

Now, the first part of that conversation is the one that we "rehash" every few months...Amy is always whispering because she is afraid to confront Derek about his "thrashing around" in the bed at night...the part where we make it our "own" and as ALWAYS take it too far is new...we think we are hilarious people..it makes us happy.  We can sit in her house and tell each other stories all day long and laugh...the sad thing is, we are always telling stories about things we have done or said together...and we still laugh like it's the first time we have heard it....actually the more I write, the more pathetic we look.

Yep, so I guess it's time to go ahead and wrap up this particular post...I  was actually smiling the whole time I typed it, because I really thought you all would find it as amusing as I did...now...not so much. But, I'm too lazy to erase this and start again on a new subject...have a good night;))

Just Close Your Eyes....

I have cleaned my house and was lying down determined to take a nap (Maggie "roamed" alot last night) I usually listen to 40's music, because I don't think that it could ever be depressing..

 Today, I decided to see what other music was offered on Dish Sirius Radio....I stumbled across Channel 6062...Classic Country....as I laid there and listened to Kenny Rogers, Conway and George Jones, I closed my eyes and I was a young child in her childhood home...

Hark, Do I Hear the Whining of Yonder School Bus Brakes??!!

My children went back to school today...they have had a total of 7 days spent in the classroom since 2011 began. I cannot explain my joy.
Maggie was the only one excited to board the bus, she has a 4-H project due today, and I am proud to say that she crocheted her very first scarf! It's gorgeous.
Samantha hates her last year of school. So she had her lower lip stuck out all morning in her gorgeous little pout trying to get sympathy. Didn't work. First of all, if God blesses you with beautiful full lips (which I do not have) then do not abuse this gift by using them for sympathy. I believe a constant smile is in order if you have naturally plump lips. Second of all, it's your last 4 months of high school...get over it.
CJ didn't want to go to school because...wait for it...we made him cut his hair. Yep. It's gone. I'm in high hopes that this will help his back/neck problems, in all seriousness...he spent most of his time hanging his head to the side so that he could see through the curtain of hair. I'm hoping this haircut draws forth a different variety of girls. We shall see.
So...I have the house to myself. After I get the chores started..mainly dishes and laundry...I shall treat myself to a cup of cappuccino ...finish the book I started last night..I'm going to get the bathroom floor mopped, wash the sheets and I might even...paint my toenails. I might paint them a bright red. A celebratory red for back to school day....Yay Me!!

My First Official Super Bowl

I have only been watching football for 2 seasons..I chose the Pittsburgh Steelers as my team in honor of Becky Brown who was an avid Steeler's fan. I have been cheering them on all season long..learning the players, their strengths and weaknesses...I learned how to pronounce Rothlensberger's name, I now know what a blitz is, how many tries they get for a first down, I can figure out if the offense is doing it's job and how good the defense it...I have learned football. And I love it!!! And the best thing, the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl! It has been great watching football with Casey all season, and it's something that I will look forward to every year;))))  Thank you Beck for the interest in this game and for the team to choose, I will stick with them through thick and thin, good years and bad years they will be my team....now as for Ohio State...I cannot leave UK or I will be alienated from the Brammell family;)

Old age and Books

I'm getting old. I use to hand mop my kitchen floor at least twice a week..I'm ashamed to say how long it has been in between moppings. I did it today, but I had to take 3 breaks (in my defense it is a huge area to mop). I have a wet jet swiffer, but frankly it doesn't do the job quite as well as when I'm on my hands and knees scrubbing, and you can't get the baseboards under th counters with the swiffer..(is it swiffer or swifter?) Either way, it's only good for a touch up. I had plans to scrub my bathtub too, but I guess I'm going to have to allot one day for each task because there is no way that I could accomplish both on the same day.

We were suppose to get a massive amount of snow last night, but it really wasn't the accumulation that they predicted. I guess it did it's job in that the kids missed yet another day of school. I've really had my fill of snow days, it's not as fun as it was in the beginning...the kids are taking up more space than they use to, not only with their bodies, but with their various possessions. Every morning I wake up and gather up iPods, an MP3, a stupid Ripstick (crazy kind of skateboard) camera's, cell phones, yarn, crochet hooks, pillows and blankets. I put them in their proper places...drawers, rooms, and dressers. Every day my children wake up and ask where their things are...we do this all the time. I always put it in their room, they are always one mass of confusion wandering around looking for these objects. I don't know if they are more stupid or I am.

I started reading a book yesterday called Fall of Giants. I loved it. I was really into it. It is over 1,000 pages long...it's about WWI following various people from each country involved. I'm over half way through and I can't make myself finish it. Not because it isn't good, but it is too real. I find myself getting very angry while I'm reading it because of whatever is going on at the time in the story. Maybe the author is too good. I get sucked in too easily and it overtakes my emotions, thereby affecting my life. Maybe I can finish it next week, as for now I'm going to re-read Agatha Christie, my stand-by for cozy feelings with a little murder thrown in for fun;))

Well, I guess I've rambled enough about nothing, love you Beck and Granny, think of you constantly....

No Excuses

Well, I decided to check and see if my Aunt Brenda had posted any new blogs..she has. I thought to myself, if she can go ahead and blog during the heartache she is enduring, I have no excuse.
My cousin Becky was the ultimate blogger, she new how to write everyday things in a way that we all understood and could relate to. I miss her blogs so much, wish she could send down blogs from Heaven. I'm going to set mom up a blog site, she would be wonderful at blogging and I think it would be a very theraputic way for us all to stay close, as we ususally only read each others:) Uncle Clyde, if you see this, I think you too need to start one. You go so many interesting places that you would add some "worldliness" to this site;)) See what you started Beck? I am going to force our family to become a family of bloggers...not a day goes by dear Becky that I don't think of you or Granny...I know it was you that opened my dryer door the other day, and frankly it wasn't very nice because I was waiting on a pair of jeans to dry so I could wear them. I know it was you, because you did the same thing to me at your very own house the morning of your funeral...twice you have made the Snoopy piano start playing for me as I walked into the kitchen, and you visit my dreams often. Thank you for it all . I know that you are telling Uncle Tommy, Papaw and Granny Brown all kinds of stories that keep them laughing, because that is what Heaven would be like once you got there...a place full of laughter. I have a little brother or sister up there (pretty sure a brother) hug him for mom, and tell him all kinds of stories so that he is up to date when Mom gets there;) Don't stop visiting me in my dreams or any other way, it doesn't sadden me, it brightens my day. Love you much;)