Pens and paper and glue. Oh my!

So maybe I'm a school supply stockpiler.
I refuse to use the word hoarder.
But, I buy lots and lots of school supplies when they are on sale.
I use the drawers in my china cabinet for storage.
Pens, markers, highlighters, folders, notebook paper, graph paper, erasers.
Stock. Piled.
Don't ask me why I use my china cabinet for this. The drawers were available. It's convenient for the kids to just grab something when they need it. So, china on top, supplies on the bottom. It works.
Sooooo when the supply list came in guess who had almost every item on Cooper's list?
Meeeee!
Well, I'm going to go ahead and say I did have every item. Because the only thing we had to get was a red pocket folder without prongs.
Now, I have tons of folders.  All colors. Pockets. Prongs. And every combination of those features. But I didn't have red, pockets, no prongs.
So that's the ONE thing I had to get.
Yay me!!
Jordan is going through her list today.
We will have to get binders for sure.
And a protractor for geometry.
But we should have everything else she needs.
I'm kind of happy and sad at the same time.
Happy that I don't have to go buy tons of school supplies.
Sad that I don't get to go pile my cart full of supplies.
But, I will grab some things while we are out to add to my cache.
Oh dear...
I just realized this is the last year that Cooper will have crayons on his supply list.
Waaahhhhhhhhhh.
I'm off work today and tomorrow. Spending a few days with my people.
And hitting the china cabinet to get their things together for school.

Commence

My sweet beautiful niece graduates tonight.
What an exciting time.
We celebrated her awesomeness yesterday.
It was a splendid day.
This passage of time is quite difficult to process.
Because one minute there are little people running around and the next minute they are driving and heading off to college.
Seriously how does this happen?
Growing up.
Seasons of life.
Not real sure I like it.
It has left nostalgic and slightly weepy.
But, regardless of all this sniffly stuff, I'm super duper excited for my niece.
And tonight we will have a little pomp and some circumstance
And a big HOORAY!

No words needed

Stupid hormones

Yesterday I just felt like I was about to cry.
Over nothing.
Over everything.
Happy news.
Sniff
Sweet story online about doggies.
Sniff
Thinking about kids growing up
Sniff
Disappointing news
Sniff
Missing my daddy
Sniff
Proud of my kids
Sniff
End of kids holiday break
Sniff
Plinky plinky piano music in orthodontist office
Sniff
It's Tuesday
Sniff

Stupid hormones

RIP Mr. Table



A sad thing has happened in our den...

Poor Mr. Table.

He broke his leg.

Sadly this is the end of the road for Mr. Table.

Because what you can't see, is a big bolt on the other side of this broken leg which repaired another fracture. 

The table is old.

It's seen a lot of life.

If you look closely you can see Gauge chew prints on the leg.

It's seen coloring.

Homework.

Action figures.

Nail painting.

Gift piling.

Food.

Food.

Food.

Feet propping.

Bootie sitting.

Laundry stacking.

A SWAT team party.  (It did sustain a slight injury following that event)

Life.

Lots of life.

He's not really a pretty table.  He's not a fancy table.

I think Connie and I bought this table maybe 20 years ago.  For probably $50... if that.

But Mr. Table has been a good table.

He's been the center of lots of living. 

Good times.

RIP Mr. Table.

You have served us well.

The GOOD thing

Went to the baseball game last night. It was a good night at the ballpark.  (Except for the humongous swarm of mosquitos that ate us alive.)

It's always fun to watch some good baseball.  And do some good people watching.  America's pasttimes....

There's a man that sits down in front of us - just a few rows up from the visitor dugout.   He's a little bit older and seems to be a little mentally challenged.  But appears very happy - enjoys the game, claps to the music and eats his popcorn.   He's cute. 

When the visiting team would head off the field to the dugout, the man always stood up at his seat and held out his hand asking for a ball.  He never really walked up there.  Just stood up and held out his hand.

Lots of other people are down there in the front, too, asking for balls.  One teenage boy a few rows over from us ran down there and got one of the balls.  I had been watching him and his group of friends.  Having fun.  Dancing to the music, eating, hollering at the umpires. 

Toward the end of the game, the teenager walked down and gave his ball - and a thumbs up - to the man.  Still makes me a little teary thinking about it.

So I marched my big fat mama bootie over to that boy and told him that was the sweetest thing ever and he had done a good thing and if his mother were at the game I'd tell her what he had done and how proud she would be of him.  That's when another boy in the group said, "I told him to do it."   

"Oh you did not."

"Yes, I did.  We're brothers."

OK, pat on the back for you, too.

Anyway, it just made my heart happy.

It wasn't that the boy did the right thing.  Because it wouldn't have been wrong to have kept the ball either. 

The boy did the GOOD thing.

Mehhhhhh.....

Feeling so meh this week. Mehhhhhhh.....

Life's sadness has brought me down.

Our current pace has worn me out.

These hormones have messed me up.

Is it wrong to just want to stay in my cozy bed with my iBaby and my kindle and my big fluffy pillows and a box of cheez-its?

Next week brings a few days of rest. Relief from the pace and the hormones.

The sadness? Not so much.

More coffee for me right now. That's a good place to start.

Cue the waterworks

"Cooper, I just wish you could be my little baby boy forever."

"I will, Mom. Just in a bigger size."

January 31, 2007

Daddy gone.
Five years.
Time passes.
Things change.
Stay same.
Not fair.
It's hard.
Heart hurts.
I'm sad.
Miss him.
Stupid leukemia.
Don't like.
DON'T LIKE.
Hate it.
HATE IT.
Weepy eyes.
Distracted soul.
Need him.
Miss him.
Wanna' talk.
Sad heart.
Life continues.

Conflict.

I'm kinda' all over the place today, people.

The Captain's sister is having a baby today. Remember when she got married? The huge road trip wedding weekend of puke, panties, and precipitation? Yeah, that one. Anyway, their first baby will arrive in the world today. And my heart is full of excitement and anticipation and love for them.

And, at the same time my heart it breaking. Remember our friend Nick who was diagnosed with a brain tumor last summer? They found out yesterday that the cancer has now spread to his spine. They begin radiation today. And my heart is full of sadness and brokenness and fear.

Conflict.

Happy.

Sad.

I just wanna' cry.

Life.

"When times are good, be happy.

When times are bad, consider this:

God has made the one as well as the other.

Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future."

Ecclesiastes 7:14

I'm a meanie.

Been a tough few days for me at work. Actually, it's the culmination of about ten months of work. I've rolled out a new logo for our company. A "rebranding" of sorts. Huge. Big. It's been a great project and I've loved doing it. Definitely one of the biggest things I'll ever do in my measly career. But, it makes me stressed. And apparently makes me kind of ... mean.

A coworker told me yesterday that he told the folks in his department to "stay away from Angie this week".

And the Captain said I "have not been very pleasant" on the homefront.

Connie says she is worried about me.

And poor Bingmama just tolerates me and my mood swings and listens to my rants about websites and signage and envelopes and tshirts and ID badges and embroidered lab coats and company vans and business cards and ....

I guess the stress of it all got to me. And the behavior of others got to me too. Which is stupid. Cause I know better. Then I let THAT get to me.

Throw some hormones in there and add about 2 months of insomnia, and you've got yourself a big ol' mess. Who is apparently a meanie.

I'm sorry, people.

I sure don't want to be a meanie.

OK, on to a big announcement:

Cooper learned to ride his bike yesterday!! WOOP WOOP!!

Yes, I know he's eight.

Who cares.

Man, was he ever proud.

I came home from a quick trip to the store to get some cheese -- came around that corner -- and saw him riding his bike down the street -- with a big ol' smile on his face. And I may or may not have hung up on Bingmama. Sorry, Bingmama.
This mama's heart was happy.

My baby riding his bike.

And *that*, my bloggy friends, turned my whole day around.

No likey.

He wants showers not baths.

Boxers not briefs.

He spits.

He eats a lot.

Did I mention that?

Seriously. Boy eats a lot.

He wants his blue room painted brown.

He took a silhouette of himself made at age three out of his room.

It was hanging IN HIS CLOSET.

"It's babyish."

He wears a you know what when he plays baseball.

He grows 2" a day.

He eats.

A lot.

He proudly showed me the hair that has grown on his legs.

Stop the time train.

I want off.

Powerful

Kelley being wheeled past Matt on her way to the O.R. where she will donate her kidney.

It's a big wow.

Bloggy friends...

I want to share an amazing story and a prayer request with you today.

Meet Matt.
Connie's "nephew-in-law".
He's 24 years old.
Newlywed.
Matt has had kidney damage since he was seven.
Has been on dialysis for four years.
Now going three times a week.
Needs a kidney to live.
To LIVE.
Enter Kelley.
Married to man that owns a cheer gym where Matt recently started coaching.
Kelly met Matt at a dinner party.
Just a few months ago.
Heard his story.
Had a feeling.
Knew she was a match.
Got tested.
One week after she met him.
But didn't tell Matt she was being tested.
Until she found out
That she is a perfect match.
Perfect. Match.
She is donating her kidney.
Did you hear me?
I said, she is donating her kidney.
To a "stranger".
The surgery is today.
In Nashville.
Kelley selflessly donates her kidney at 1:00.
Matt receives the life-saving kidney at 2:30.
God has worked in amazing ways through all of this.

Want more? Watch this...




There's also a Facebook group "Praying for Matt McCallum & Kelley Zeringue" with lots more info if that's what floats your boat.

Hope you'll pray for Kelley and Matt and their families and all the surgeons.

It's a neato story.

It's a big wow.

Peace out people.

Must see TV

Anybody else watching the miner rescues?

I admit I didn't stay awake last night. And the last thing I remember hearing last night was the Captain saying, "There he is" as the first guy came up...

But I turned on the TV as soon as I got up, and they had just pulled up #7.

Maybe I didn't realize it takes that long to get them up to the surface.

Have I missed how they decide what order they will be going up?

Rock paper scissors maybe?

I don't think I would want to be first. But I also know I wouldn't want to be last....

Guess there will be coverage of this all day.

It's all pretty wow I think.

*Flinch*

Yesterday, I was able to stay and watch Cooper's football practice for the first time.

And I found out...maybe I'm not cut out to be a football mom.

Cause they just hit so....hard.

And the coaches yell so....loud.

Coop caught a helmet to the ribs and the coach sent him over to me to catch his breath and get some water from his 96 gallon jug that is the size of a Grecian urn that I bought him to make sure he doesn't dehydrate but it's so big he can hardly lift it to his mouth and when he tilts it up to take a drink he tips over backwards.

I wanted to just put him in the car and drive him home after making a quick trip to the ER to get an x-ray because I was sure he had ruptured his spleen patted his sweaty little head and sent him back down to the field.

To the hitting and yelling.

And I made a note to check into the school's chess club the minute I got home.

And when we got home, Cooper was proud that grass fell out of his underwear when he was getting ready for a shower.

And the Captain laughed at me after I told him about practice and said "Yelling? You think Coach U yells?? Wait til high school."

Then Coop and the Captain practiced some kind of shoulder bump butt roll thing in the den and watched a re-run of an NFL preseason game. And talked football.

And I washed volleyball uniforms and was grateful that one of my kids participates in a sport that doesn't require a helmet.

The Drop Off

I dropped Cooper off at football practice yesterday.

(This was before I went to pick up Jordan, Nephew T and Niece M after *their* practices at another location, take T & M home, and go back to get Cooper. Seriously, my season right now is that of a taxi driver -- and an occasional appearance as an ATM....)

Cooper: You can just pull up and I'll go on.

Me: By yourself?

Cooper: Yeah - I can go by myself.

Me: You sure?

Cooper: Yes ma'am, I'm sure.

Me: I can park and walk you up there.

Cooper: No thanks. I'm fine.

Me: ......OK.....

Cooper grabbed his helmet, bag, water jug and got out of the car....

Me: Come here - give me a kiss goodbye.

Cooper: Mom, football players don't kiss.


Alrighty then.


P.S. -- If you need me this weekend, I'll be in Nashville for a volleyball tournament with Jordan, Connie & Niece M. Yep, you guessed it. Fourteen hours of volleyball tomorrow. I'm sure I'll have bleacher butt when it's all over. Ouch.

Daughter boarding. Mom bawling.

OK people. I'll just cut to the chase.

Yes, I cried.

Actually I cried before we even left the house.

I cried when Cooper was hugging Jordan goodbye and said, "I'm hugging the nervous out of you and hugging my love into you." Awwwwwww.....

Then we drove to Little Rock. We got her all checked in (a few extra hoops to jump through and fees to pay since she is an "unaccompanied minor".). We put her on the plane.

I held it together until she walked down the jetway. And she turned around and smiled and waved and said, "Bye! I love you!" And they shut the door.

And then I cried.

Then she was off.....

And I cried some more.

And I made the Captain walk down all the gates so we could watch her plane as it taxied down the runway. Allll the windows. At alllll the gates. We lost view of it right after it took off.

And I cried some more.

But I dried it up before we even made it to the parking lot.

Aren't you proud?

Then we started the drive home.

And I talked about how I'm apparently allergic to childhood physical, emotional, social and mental positive growth development.

It makes my eyes water immensely. And it makes my heart feel all funny.

I started talking about how old the kids are and how old my neice and nephew are and "soon they'll be in college and married and gone and...."

And the Captain started pointing out the pretty rice fields to try to shut me up and make me quit caterwauling take my mind off my unhealthy mommy hang-ups small moment of emotional weepiness.

And I know him well enough to know he was thinking, "Man, I wish I had never asked her out on that second date...."

But he is a sweet Captain. And instead he said, "That's a nice rice field. Hey look! Soybeans!"

On a lighter note, our road trip featured this....big matching set of all kinds of yellow motorcycle stuff.....
(I showed Cooper that picture when I got home and he said, "Oh cool. It's a motorcycle with a trunk attached.")

So back to the "Jordan on a Plane" story....Around the time she was expected to land, I checked the ol' iPhone to see what was going on.

It said her flight had "landed and was taxiing to terminal".

That's when I started saying over and over "Hooray! Hooray! Landed and taxiing! Landed and taxiing! Landed and taxiing".

The Captain kept driving. And really didn't turn his head toward me.

Then I realized I had looked at it wrong and it was her ORIGINATING flight that had landed and taxied.

Awwwww man.

"I must retract the landing and taxiing."

The Captain kept driving. And really didn't turn his head toward me.

He just pointed out a crop-duster plane.

But it wasn't long before she really did land. And taxi.

She actually landed in Houston before we even made it back to Memphis.

She is going to have a great time this weekend.

Her summer fun kind of goes down hill from here. She has daily volleyball practice, oral surgery to remove four teeth, summer reading, and braces to look forward to before school starts. Good thing she has lived it up so far.

So back to work for me today. Been a long week to only have to work three days. But now it's the weekend. HOLLA!

Peace out my people.

She's leaving...on a jet plane

Today Jordan is leaving on another trip.

Yes, her summer thus far has been wash, rinse, repeat repack.

She is going to Houston to see the Captain's sister.

Remember when she got married last year?

And all the preparation that went with that big event?

And then the tales of puke, panties, and precipitation?

Anyhoo, Jordan is flying to Houston today for a long weekend.

Did you hear what I said?

I said Jordan is FLYING to Houston today for a long weekend.

As in BY HERSELF.

As in I am putting her on an airplane all by herself and sending her to Houston.

And I may or may not be having a teeny tiny problem with it.

Not a problem with "the long weekend in Houston" part.

A problem with the "putting her on an airplane all by herself" part.

*sniff*

And since it saved $602,199 to fly her out of Little Rock, the Captain and I are taking a little road trip to Little Rock today.

And we'll like it so much, we'll drive back on Sunday to pick her up.

So, if you see a woman bawling her eyes out in the Little Rock airport, or somewhere on I-40, it might be me.

Maybe...

And I'm pretty sure the Captain will turn on Johnny Cash CD's to drown out my tears.

And we all know there is NOTHING about a Johnny Cash music marathon that calms me down.

It's gonna' be a rough day people.

heavy heart

The 18 year old son of our youth minister has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.

Please pray for Nick.

"And the prayer offered in faith

will make the sick person well...

pray for each other so that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

~ James 5:15-16