Conventions

Have you been watching the Republican convention coverage?  Are you bored with the whole process?  As crazy as I may seem, I love watching the conventions, both Republican and Democratic.  It's on right now.  I can see you rolling your eyes right now.  I even like to hear the sometimes boring speeches whether I agree with the speaker or not.  I like watching the enthusiasm of the supporters for their candidates whether I am for their candidate or not.  I just like watching the election process.

But...........did you know at one time in the not so distant past, nobody knew who the candidate would be before the convention?  It was an exciting convention.  Usually there were a couple of candidates at the top of the heap, and the proponents of those candidates would seek out the delegates all week to try and sway votes for their candidate.  When the state roll call began, there was real excitement in the air.  One by one the states were called and then, only then, did we see the votes start piling up to put one candidate over the top. 

Now, don't you think that would be a more exciting convention than those today?  That is all I will have to say about any politics for the rest of the year.

I love you.  I will be back with a non-political post tomorrow. 

Dip Cones

I think now is the time for a confession.  We have been out of town for a couple of weeks and while we were away we had......count 'em......three dip cones.  Now before you think me a pig, please note that we were on vacation and vacations negates any calorie consumption during said vacation, but you knew that.  So what better way to make our drive home a little more fun than to have just one more dip cone, and you know what?  We found a double dipper.  Now this woman knew how to make a dip cone.  In fact she was showing the teenage boy how to do it.  These young kids have no idea that if you let the first dip of chocolate harden, then you can redip to make a harder shell. 

Since the hubby was driving, he made sure the top of his cone was consumed before we left the parking lot.  Wouldn't want chocolate dripping all over the car while trying to drive.  Not me.  I was making that baby last for as long as possible.........and I found a way.  At the very edge of the chocolate, where the chocolate meets the cone, a tiny hole had formed and was leaking cold cream faster than I could lick it off.  I had a remedy for this little dilemma....just suck the cream from the hole.  While I was over in the passenger seat making my cone last for miles, my hubby who had finished his cone 10 miles back, looks over at me and says straight-faced, "I learned something today."  Thinking I was about to hear something very profound, I asked him what he had learned.  He says, "I learned what a pig sounds like when it sucks slop from the trough through a 5/8 inch steel pipe."  That is when I almost choked with laughter. 

I am starving!  Yes, my stomach feels like it has collapsed so I must be starving.  I need a dip cone and a 5/8 inch steel pipe.  That man makes me laugh even after 40 years.

I love you guys.                                     

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Ladies, do your mirrors lie to you?  Mine lies to me like a rug!  I am telling you the thing out and out fibs.  (By the way, my mom did not like for any of us kids to use the word  "lie".  We used the word "fib".  Are you fibbing?  It does sound classier, doesn't it?  My mom was indeed a classy lady.) 

Every morning I put my makeup on setting in front of my vanity.  I am simply beautiful!  The mirror says so.  I am happy!  I leave that room and head for the bathroom.  That mirror says the same thing.  "Regina, honey, baby doll, you are one beautiful creature!"  I am happy!  Then I head down the hall and run face to face with another mirror, and by George, that mirror is in cahoots with those other mirrors.  "Regina, you are ready for the world."  These mirrors all live in the same house and somehow have become friends. 

I leave the house and head for a day of shopping.  I am not necessarily looking for anything special which makes the whole shopping experience even more enjoyable.............UNTIL...........I catch a casual glimpse of myself in the mirrors which are hanging all over the store.......mirrors everywhere you look........until you actually need a mirror and then they hide.  Wham........like a rock to the head, I see myself and it is not a pretty sight.  This mirror does not know the mirrors in my house.  They have not learned, as the mirrors in my house, to make the mistress of the house feel better.  

I just finished reading "Celebutantes" written by Amanda Goldberg & Ruthanna Khalighi Hopper.  It is one of those "fluff" book and I highly recommend it if you want to just veg out for a while and have a few laughs.  It is about Oscar week and if this book is only about a quarter accurate, then Hollywood is full of some very crazy, selfish people. 

There is one particular passage in the book that I just love and I quote:  "Here it is straight:  You never really know how you look until you see yourself in a photograph.  That's why you should always Polaroid your party dress before you walk out the front door.  You're in major denial if you think the mirror tells you the truth.  A mirror is like a bad relationship.  It reflects what it thinks you want in that moment, only to screw you with the truth later.  I know.  It hurts.  And it never hurts more than on Oscar night."

So ladies if you have ever run into yourself at the mall and wonder if you were drunk when you dressed or if you have seen pictures of yourself and wonder how your husband let you leave the house 1) looking like your mother, 2) looking like your daughter, 3) with toothpaste on your face, or 4) with your blouse on wrong side out, then I suggest a Polaroid or better yet, a digital photograph before you step out that door.  Believe me, I have been guilty of all four grievances. 

Remember the line above:  "A mirror is like a bad relationship.  It reflects what it thinks you want in the moment, only to screw you with the truth later."

Mirror, mirror on the wall.  

I will be away from the blog for a couple of weeks, but I will be back with all sorts of tales.

I love you all.

Watermelons

Gather 'round boys while Nana tells you a story.  In a time long ago, there were watermelons, some red, some yellow, with seeds.  I know, you are shaking your head in disbelief, but it is true.  I tell you, it is true.  This was a long, long time ago..........back when kids rode bikes without a care in the world, let alone wear a helmet.....back when our teacher knew our mother personally and knew us since we were born.....back in the day when the only stickers were stars and only on our very best papers....back when our teacher graded your papers in red pencil...but I digress (look it up).  Yes, watermelons had seeds and you are not going to believe this, our mother did not pick them out for you.  Nope we were on our own.  Now before you get all outraged that our mom was a hardball, it was not all that bad.  In fact, we thought it was kind of fun.  If one worked those seeds just right, seeds could fly out of ones mouth at lightening speed.  See, I told you it was fun. 

By the way, the watermelon in the picture is one we grew this year.  It is the first watermelon we have ever been able to grow to eat.  My grandson's picked it, but Grandpa had to carry it and then we had to weigh it - 21 pounds. 

Memory:  I remember the year when my grandpa Thompson raised watermelons; the little ice box size. I must have been about 11 or 12 because we were living on the north place.  We had all we could eat.  I remember getting home from school on a late summer day and having a whole half melon to myself.  So, so good.  Thank you, Grandpa.

I love you. 

   

Enjoy the Night Breeze

It was dark when I joined the hubby on the porch swing tonight.  Truth be told, I joined him to hear his conversation with his sister-in-law from California so he wouldn't have to repeat every word when he got off the phone.  I have a habit of hounding my husband to call his relatives and then I want to know every word said.  He has the habit of telling me if I wanted to know everything said, then I should be the one making the call. 
After the call (and by the way my sister-in-law experienced two earthquakes while on the phone -- thought you'd like to know that) we walked out to observe the night sky.  The stars were twinkling with soft wispy clouds floating between us and the heavens.  Memories came flooding back...memories I had all but forgotten.....watching TV outside.  I was probably six years old when TVs were a new invention and air conditioning was all but unheard of.  You can imagine how hot the house can get without air conditioning.  If you have had your air conditioner fail, then you sort of know what I am talking about, but only for the day it takes to fix.  Daddy's heat remedy:  turned the TV around and pushed in front of the open window.  We turned off the inside lights, spread our blanket on the lawn, and enjoyed wonderful evenings watching TV in the cool night air.  Once in a while neighbors would join us.  I have a very faint memory of Daddy turning the handle of the ice cream machine while watching TV.  That must have been a great night.  That same summer, I remember Daddy, my brother, and me sleeping under the stars on army cots.       

I hope you, too, got a chance to be outside tonight, and I hope you have memories of the summer nights of your youth.  I wonder if our children or grandchildren will have such memories for it seems the cool night breezes are not as important anymore.  Today we are blessed to have air conditioning, thank goodness, but it makes me think that maybe we have lost something.  I think that "something" might just be "appreciation". 

Enjoy the night breeze.

I love you. 


   

A Heart Lifting Day

Isn't it just amazing what a call or email from a friend can do to lift your spirits?  This morning I received an email from a friend that told me her worries about something specific had been lifted.  Things are going to work out for her and her family.  While my friend's problem didn't affect me specifically, my heart was immediately lifted.  Quite frankly, even though I had been praying, I did not know how much I had been concerned until I got this email.  If I felt this much elation, I can only imagine how much her heart has been lifted and how renewed she must be feeling tonight.

After reading the email, I suddenly had new energy.  I had to get busy.....to be productive.  So..............I painted some old, old outdoor furniture and immediately I received the gratification of watching that old brown wood turn into a glossy white.  In just a few strokes, something ugly and dingy is now pretty.....it was heart lifting.

Another heart lifting moment happened at 5:30 p.m., today, the 7th day of August, 2012.  Rain, oh blessed rain; thirty minutes of rain.  Did you see it?  Not all of Oklahoma did; however, our dear old five acres were soaking up blessed rain, and we gladly, greedily, took all 3/4 inch of it.  Every drop was precious.  It brought life back into the parched earth, but more importantly, it seemed to bring life back into our hearts.  The air is clean and cool tonight and brings back the assurance that eventually this too shall pass.  It is heart lifting.  And it makes me think of Daddy and how much rain at this time of year meant to the peanut crop.

I hope that your own heart has been lifted today; perhaps through an act of kindness, a friend's phone call, delight in the rain, a kiss of a child, or even watching the USA win a gold medal in the Olympics, or better yet, I hope that you were able to lift another's heart.     

I love you all.  Good night.



 

That's What Summer is Made Of

Little boys

 and popsicles

 and big boys with better popsicles

 and muddy water

 and just plain old mud

 and giggles

 and more giggles

and squirt guns full of muddy water

Yes, that's what summer is made of.

Remember the mud puddle that never seemed to drain at Grandma and Grandpa's house?  Remember being covered in that red mud?  Yep, you were all covered from head to toe and that is no exaggeration.  You were quite the sight!  That's what summer is made of.

None of these children will ever forget playing in the mud....neither will their mothers......and I know their grandmother never forgot.  I hope that my grandkids don't forget playing in the mud, I know their Nana sure won't.  That's what summer is made of. 

Another little memory is of my daughter and her cousin making mud pies and my sister discovering them in her refrigerator.  That's what summer is made of.

What can be more fun than mud?  Come on over and I will fill the little pool with mud and you can play all afternoon.  I won't charge you a dime.  That's what summer is made of.

My grandsons, my son, my daughter, and their cousins, thanks for knowing what summer is made of.   I love you ALL!