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;)

Grey Haze

Well, this is my first blog post in a long time. It kind of feels like ripping through scars to do it, too much has changed since my last post. The person I most wanted to share these with is gone from this life. The person I spent almost every Monday with is also gone from this life...it's odd because I don't really remember grieving for Becky or Granny. I almost went numb. Mom and I have decided that we feel like we have misplaced Granny somewhere....still pick up the phone to call her..to tell her some little tidbit that might make her laugh. There was nothing better than the feeling I got when I made Granny laugh...it would explode from her as she threw her head back, the air in the room seemed to change from a grey haze to a white/blue, it was easier to breathe and I could see the youth in her that I never knew. Like I said, Nothing better than making Granny laugh. Becky's laugh, now that laugh was different. Becky's head usually went down and her whole upper body shook...it would come out without her even having to open her mouth..I just realized that. Becky was one of the few people that could show complete breakdown in laughter without having to open her mouth...I'm not sure that was normal. Her laugh was contagious. Once she started the whole room was laughing, sometimes we didn't know why we were laughing, but it always turned into that gasping for breath and holding your stomach while your jaws and cheeks ached from being stretched out into a smile for too long. Now how great is that? To be able to make a room full of people ache from happiness? That is a gift we should be praying for...the ability to make people around us ache from pure happiness. Just as I'm typing this, I realized I titled it Grey Haze because of the way I felt when I started...after reliving the laughter of two I dearly loved...the haze is no longer grey.

My trip to New York City...

Well...I made it to New York and back without dying. I feel that is a great accomplishment, although I had nothing to do with it, I'm sure God wanted to prove to me that he is quite capable of taking care of me, thank you very much. So, thank you God for keeping me from being hit by an irate taxi driver, who doesn't care that I am a tourist who doesn't walk at a brisk enough pace to cross the street before the little red hand pops up. Thank you God for giving me the patience to sleep in a room with 3 teenage girls and not ruin their fun. Thank you God for the porta pottie on the bus for when I consumed far too much coffee on the 13 hour drive....and only got 2 pit stops. Thank you God for the continental breakfast at the hotel, that provided eggs and sausage every morning at 6 am....Thank you God for Head-On, that not only works on foreheads but also on neck muscles after you have walked for 8 hours in the rain shopping....Thank you God for cell phones, so I could call my husband and kids and hear their voices every day, so I could text Amy, Leigh Anna, James and Roy non-stop to make me feel like I was still at home....Thank you God for McDonalds in New York where you always know they have a bathroom......Thank you God for keeping me, Sammi, Brooke and Les safe from the crazy man outside the pizza place who was ranting and raving at us because a woman poked him with her umbrella.....Thank you God for using me as comic relief for the travel weary in the group when I kept calling the Empire State Building the Eiffel Tower and for when I called the Brooklyn Bridge the Golden Gate Bridge.....Thank you God for giving me the strength to climb into that elevator at the Empire State Bldg. which makes it to the 80th floor in less than 45 seconds and for the strength to walk around the top taking pictures with the appearance that I didn't have a care in the world...Thank you God for the bathrooms in the Empire State Bldg.....Thank you God for seeing only 3 people donning masks against the swine flu....Thank you God for the intermission and the end of Phantom of the Opera....Thank you God for umbrellas and hoodies......Thank you God for not letting me be arrested when I smacked a NYPD officer in the chest while I was laughing and saying something stupid to him.....Thank you God for ponytail holders that is the only thing that saved me from looking like a freak at the end of the day......Thank you God for holding me back from jumping over the counter at a McDonalds in WV and beating up the little jerk behind the register, I only smarted off to him which is much better.......Thank you God for waking me up just in time when I almost fell out of my aisle seat on the bus......Thank you God for not letting it be a stomach virus that the child in my room had on Monday morning when she woke up and promptly threw up.....Thank you God that the stupid singing cows at Hershey's only sang a short song on the silly tour....Thank you God for the free chocolate at the end of the tour.....Thank you God for not letting me miss the ferry from Ellis Island...Thank you God for not letting me miss the bus when we had to find the street ourselves to board it.....Thank you God for check out time at the hotel...Thank you God for the secret bathroom in the hotel by the laundry room....Thank you God for letting me see ground zero 8 years later and for sparing me on the day that it took place....Thank you God for all the new friends I made and all the memories shared....Thank you God for the friends that texted me while I was there to only say "It's time to come home now"....Thank you God for letting me make it back and giving me the chance to go. I do appreciate it all.....