Friday Fragments...

~We have arrived once again at that time of year when my life becomes consumed by all things baseball.  Even more so this year because not only do I have two boys playing as usual but Devin is playing on not just one but two teams this year. I spent five hours of my Saturday last weekend at two different ball fields in two different towns.  And this is just practice stuff.  The games have not even started yet. 


~Today is a teacher workday here which gave me some much needed extra sleep. I am one of those people (unlike my husband) who does not sleep deeply until just about time to wake up.  So while he goes right into deep, peaceful sleep as soon as his head hits the pillow and wakes up with a song and a smile, I don't get there until about 4 or 5 a.m. so when my alarm goes off at 6:15? Well, let's just say a song and a smile is not what you get out of me.  


~I have decided that parenting a twelve and a half year old middle school boy may quite possibly be the most challenging, difficult thing God has ever or will ever ask me to do.  I "lost it" yesterday afternoon.  I didn't hurt anybody but I had to pop an extra dose of my anti-anxiety herbs and practice my deep breathing exercises...In, two, three, four, five....Out, two, three, four, five...In, two, three, four, five...Out, two, three, four five. Lawd have mercy!  If that which does not kill us truly makes us stronger then I'm going to be one hurricane proof force to be reckoned with by the end of this thing.


~Have y'all seen pics of Jessica Simpson pregnant? I now love this girl!  She is the first celebrity I have seen who actually looks like a real-life pregnant woman and not some super skinny toothpick with a basketball attached to her middle. I looked exactly (well you know, minus the glamour) like this when I was pregnant.  Both times.  I.was.huge! One of these days I may drag out a picture to show y'all but I can't promise anything.

image

~Is anyone else as excited as I am that Mad Men is finally coming back on this Sunday?  About time, AMC!  


~Yesterday afternoon, after I lost it, I went out into the backyard with the camera again in an effort to calm myself down.  And Spring, once again, worked her beautiful magic on my soul because as I was standing underneath this cherry tree, surrounded by the buzzing of the pollinating bees, this little treasure fluttered right into my view...

And just before she showed up, I looked up and saw this big guy circling overhead...

And then I turned my attention to Brisco (Big Boy) Darling, who may just be the most photogenic dog on the face of the earth. Maybe I'm just biased but is that not one handsome faced boy?  Charlie calls him Fabio.  And believe it or not, he is adopted.  Someone dropped him and Charlene (my beautiful Dachsie girl) off at a shelter in Tennessee in 2009 before the Dachshund Rescue volunteers picked them up and posted their beautiful faces on their site...

Happy Friday, Y'all!


**For more Friday Fragments or to link up your own, go see Mrs. 4444 at Half Past Kissin' Time! 

Spring Makes Everything Better!

I found out yesterday morning, after two and a half hours in the dentist's chair, that the only thing worse than having a root canal on a tooth?  Is having the permanent crown removed from said tooth because although the x-ray showed no problem, it clearly just wasn't doing right by me or the poor gum tissue surrounding it.  


HOLY SMACK! 


I had no idea that "permanent" crown really does mean permanent, as in that sucker ain't coming out without a fight.  My dentist, agreeing that something just wasn't right with the way it was fitting, decided to replace it for me free of charge since I only got it a few months ago and when you fork over that kind of dough (no dental insurance here) for something, it darn well needs to be right!  


Seriously. I could have bought a new wardrobe for what I paid for that tiny little piece of porcelain.  That tiny little piece of porcelain that had to be cut in half with a jackhammer and a buzz saw before it finally came out of my mouth.  At least that's what it sounded like from where I was sitting.  It has now, once again, been replaced with a temporary crown as I await my next royal crowning ceremony next month when my new one is set to arrive.


And I won't even get into the situation with the neighboring tooth that had to have a filling taken out in order to fix a cavity that had developed underneath it. Yeah.  Fun times, y'all. Fun, fun times.  I was numb for a good four and a half hours yesterday afternoon and my gums around those teeth are pissed with a capital P.  


I spent today laying low around the house and doing a major purge of my drawers and closet.  I filled five trash bags with clothes that are now Salvation Army bound. I was beginning to feel a little hoarder-like when I tried to find something to wear or put away my laundry.  And I figured that if I hadn't worn it in five years?  It was pretty much dead to me.  


With the exception of my Guess jean jacket I got for Christmas in the tenth grade, 1986.  I'm not even sure what it is about that jacket exactly.  It's not like I wear it that much anymore, rarely ever really, but it is still in remarkable condition and the best thing is it still fits...something I wore in high school, besides earrings, still fits me and that my friends, is why that Guess jean jacket will have to be pried from my cold, dead fingers before it gets chunked into the Salvation Army bag.  


I did manage to mosey outside for a few minutes with Dracen and Li'l Bit this afternoon because the breathtaking beauty of the blooming trees and shrubs in the yard were summoning me in a powerful way and I know, what with the exceptionally warm temperatures we've been having, that they will be all bloomed out before I can blink twice.


Here's  a little sample of what I managed to capture...

Spring’s greatest joy beyond a doubt is when it brings the children out.

—Edgar Guest

 

It's spring fever.  

That is what the name of it is.

  And when you've got it, you want -

 Oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just

 fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!  ~Mark Twain 

Spring has returned.  The Earth is like a child that knows poems.  ~Rainer Maria Rilke 

Fame is a bee.

It has a song—

It has a sting—

Ah, too, it has a wing.

~Emily Dickinson

 

Everything is blooming most recklessly; 

if it were voices instead of colors, 

there would be 

an unbelievable shrieking 

into the heart of the night.

  ~Rainer Maria Rilke 

The force of Spring—

mysterious, 

fecund, 

powerful beyond measure.

~Michael Garofalo

The earth laughs in flowers. ~E.E. Cummings

I thank God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees & for the blue dreams of sky & for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.
 ~ E.E. Cummings 

Happy Spring!

Friday Fragments...

Praise the Lord, it is finally Friday!  Which also means it is time for Friday Framents with Mrs. 4444...

~I am going on a third grade field trip today...to the museum and then to the courthouse to watch a mock trial.   This should be fun. I actually majored in Criminal Justice but never worked in that field. I'm sure I've told this here before at some point but I laugh every time I recall it.  I said I wanted to be a police officer (I know...Me? Hilarious, right?).  My mother told Charlie once that she never worried about me following through with that one because she knew I'd never be caught dead in one of those uniforms.  Bwa Ha!  She does know her daughter.  


~Have y'all watched that new show GCB yet?  It comes on ABC at 10 eastern time on Sunday nights.  It is hilarious!  My new favorite. And do you know what GCB stands for? (I Googled it because I obsess over knowing details like that...I practically live at Google) It is based on a book, Good Christian Bitches although they say the show stands for Good Christian Belles.  Same thing, right?  I can say that because I'm from the south.  


~Dracen's Yukata came yesterday.  He asked if he could wear it to school.  I told him he couldn't wear it but that he could take it to show his class.  He was okay with that. I took a picture of him wearing it but he forbid me to put it on this blog.  Boo! 

~I booked our Spring Break trip this week. We have Spring Break here the week after Easter.  Dracen had the idea to tour the Hershey plant in Pennyslvania and we're also going to spend a couple of days in Gettysburg.  I'm excited since I've never stepped foot in that part of the country. And plus, it's a CHOCOLATE factory! 


~I'm still working on the bonus room decor.  The couch and chair haven't arrived yet.  It will be four weeks next Wednesday.  Several of the light bulbs were burned out up there so I bought some, climbed up there to change them only to realize that several of them still did not work.  Charlie said the fixtures had gone bad so I found and ordered two of these... Is it weird that I get really excited about things like new light fixtures?

   
~The most recent pins to my funny board on Pinterest...

Watching that show does have a way of making me feel better about my housekeeping skills.

This is so true.

Guilty!

I can relate to this one more than I wish I could!

Amen.

Happy Friday, Y'all!