hubba bubba

bella learned to blow bubbles today. and in an 8 year olds eyes, this is like moving a mountain. a moment of silence, in respect.

when you're gone for awhile, whether it be physically or relatively, you suddenly find yourself with so much to say, yet no idea how to say it, no?

what i will say, is these days, your comments mean the world to me. time seems to fly by at breakneck speed and i'm always running to catch up. i don't seem to have enough time in the day or the privacy to enjoy the time i do. here's what i think.... realistically, domestic goddesses of the internet out there really don't exist. what with running a business and homeschooling 13 kids while nursing twins and growing organic vegetables and cattle wrangling and public speaking events and then finding the time to still look perky and post daily photos and write up-to-the-minute posts. its all a conspiracy to make moms like me, lets say, spontaneously combust.

in the words of ozzy, "i love you all. but you're all (insert expletive of your choice here) mad."

what i'd love, would be to go away for a romantic evening in a tent. on a mountain. by a stream. and sleep for 72 hours. but the forecast calls for rain and knowing my luck, the tent would have a pin-hole tear and i'd be drowned in my sleep or some rare black bear would smell my beef jerky and maul me while i'm trying to pee gracefully on a tree.

this week:

myrtle the turtle died. while we were watching "the bucket list", which, coincidentally, i bought for my dad as a fathers day present, that i have yet to send.

sigh.

and so jason stood awkwardly in the kitchen while i cried huge alligator tears over the meaning of life and her tiny dead shell and then the Irony Of It All.

i realized while swimming saturday afternoon, that i've been with jason for a decade. ten years. through his 20's. to me, this is monumental. jason, in turn, discovered i can't swim. that although mom tells me she put me in lessons as a child, its true what they say: if ya don't use it, ya lose it. and all this time, he just thought i liked to dog paddle.

my baby turned 8 years old. i cannot begin to tell you the emotion behind that.

our "joint session" in therapy never happened, and again, i find myself completely frustrated with this (stupid) agency. and the frustration is both merited and legitimate. i feel like the only good thing she's done for me besides help me cry, is loan me "for women only" by shaunti feldhahn. all that "what you need to know about the inner lives of men" type stuff.... and usually i don't go for that kind of thing, but its actually been a really insightful, fantastic little read. and its put some things in perspective in my marriage.

for example, i'd had a spectacularly craptastic day last wednesday. jason and i had talked about the *school thing* and the topic had been left at a "lets just wait and see"kind of place. which i hate, incidentally. wednesday, in my mind, had been a "lets DO this" goal. i was going to submit my application, get my school grant stuff taken care of, etc...and now, well now, i had nothin. so after a hideous day at work, i found myself driving to a hair salon that i'd heard was cheap and before you know it, i heard myself uttering the fatal words, "do me."

now, if you know me in real life, you know what a hilarious concept that is for me. i've actually had the conversation with God that i don't think "breast cancer is for me" cuz i have a deep affection for both my busomage and my hair. and its not even that my hair is super cool. its just that i like it. and i like it a certain way. even if that way means something along the lines of "stuck in the 80's." going to the hair salon, for me, is scarier and more dreaded than going to the gynocologist.

anyway. thank God my guardian fashion angel was on duty, or at least i like to think so. because the stylist was rockin and instead of rolling her eyes at what i can only imagine is the most dreaded thing a customer can say to you, she was excited at the opportunity and didn't even 2nd guess me, which was really great cuz i probably would've baled.

so i walked out 30 minutes later and $13 poorer with an awesome hair cut and let me tell you, i felt like some sexy stuff, ok? and then you know that look you get when you're smiling cuz you're in a totally awesome moment and then someone tells you they ran over your dog and your house accidentally exploded and you're over-drawn at the bank and by the way, you look fat in those jeans? yah, me neither, but i'm pretty sure i had the *look* nailed down by the end of the day after drama, drama, drama and nobody, NObody had noticed my hair. actually, my darling *flow* was the only one. i went to work totally defeated the next morning and i woke her up with a kiss like i always do, and she smiled and sat up and looked at me really hard and then felt my hair, chattering away, like she does. and i knew that she knew and i wanted to cry.

blargh.

so friday night, we're laying in bed, right. and we're talking about the week and some really big stuff going on in our lives and i was getting more and more frustrated by the minute,with jason, and finally i blurted out, "do you even like my hair?"

as they say in the south, "bless his heart". there was stunned silence for a moment before jason tentatively whispered, "i always like your hair?"

and drama queen that i am, burst into tears and had a massive melt-down, 2 year old style. rockin' it old school, kids. ohhhh yeah.

see.... i'd told myself it wasn't a big deal and he'd notice eventually or even if he didn't, it shouldn't matter. that i wasn't going to say anything because how stupid is that. and here i was, bawling that he "hadn't even noticed and i feel like people just look right through me. that they don't SEE me."

wow. harboring a little pity party, were we.

well he felt like crap and then i felt like crap and here's where the book helps me tell you why. i've always felt its wrong of women to put men in those situations. why didn't i just ask him on wednesday if he "liked my haircut". even if he hadn't noticed, he wouldn't have been left guessing or worse yet, feel like he let me down. he could've saved face without my even knowing and we'd both have been happy.

anyway. its totally God's fault that He made men so intricately complicated. i'm not even going there.

i love jason. but we've been thru some really really tough and trying times. and trust has been a very fragile thing. for me, trust is soooooo unbelievably hard. i've been burned,and burned bad.

so handing over the proverbial reigns and trusting? i'd rather birth a porcupine. in a vat of acid.

i feel like i bate jason unintentionally sometimes. i admit i don't always do such a great job at the trusting stuff. even over simple things, like dishes. he tells me he'll "wash the dishes if i put them away".

now, this is a good compromise in theory. but this plan has worked only twice. here's what happens: i get tired of waiting for him when his idea of washing the dishes is once a week. meanwhile, my ocd eyeballs are twitching and i finally just do it myself.

this largely represents our relationship, and is a source of great frustration for my husband. the thing is, i don't *think* my standards are too high. i have no problem communicating what i'd like. what i need. what i seriously must have to coexist successfully!! i could communicate enough for 10 of us.

he, however, does not. he has a severe allergic reaction to the term "lets talk" and becomes catatonic. maybe he drools. i don't know.

anyway, i can't imagine why, what with my sweet spirt and lovely ways, in just such circumstances. and surprisingly, the book is no help on this subject other than maybe i'm not "going about it the right way" or some such nonsense. but darlings, i'm in crisis mode right now, ok?

so if you'd like to pray or send me a hug-a-gram or light a candle or eat some rocky road for me right about now, i'd be much obliged.

i'll explain why, in my next post. stay tuned.

testify

i thought i had a whole gazoogle of things to share here last week, but again, with the forgetting to save files and such. such is me.

turns out, it wasn't that great of a read. mostly, i was gonna talk about my really super rotten horrible mood and the black cloud with the pull chain that i evidently jimmy-rigged with some chicken wire over-head, and carried around everywhere i went. that, and about my therapy session, whereupon i realized my really super rotten horrible mood wasn't invisible.

poop.

meanwhile, all that heat and yuck and sweaty filth of the last week was pleasantly cooled down and washed away by the rain we got over the weekend, which i find fabulous. i met some new friends ~ such a delightful mix of the south and across the pond, to boot. we grilled out early for fathers day and i'm working on some new aprons. i'm beyond excited.

and now, in the spirit of sharing, i'm going to let you in on a little secret.

jason threads my sewing machine.

i LOVE to craft. its just the *getting started* part that's a pain in my patoot. and after all my years in home-ec, and having the greatest teacher/example in my own mother, who would be embaressed to claim me right now, i have discovered i didn't retain a darn thing. nope. nothin in my noggin.

thankfully, my darling husband with the bulging biceps and his thick awkward fingers and his bull-in-a-china shop ways, is patient enough with me to take care of all the tiny little details for me in life.

things like threading my sewing machine.

which, for me, is a good thing. because without him, the greasy teenager forgetting to throw in my condiments at mcdees could totally set me off the edge. after all, its not every day i can afford the dollar menu, so no scrimping on the ketchup.

we finally saw *kung fu panda*, and let me just say, its an absolutely lovely film. so many great one-liners and life-lessons, such as "there IS not secret ingredient". we took bella to the drive in theatre as an early birthday surprise and she loved it. you will too.

i had plans for this weekend. big, big plans that included receiving a certain stimulus check and the myriad of glorious ways in which it could be used. i even had a somewhat ridiculously stupid wager with God on aforementioned check. turns out He wasn't overly amused, so decided not to meet me half-way on this one at ALL. which was sort of a bummer, seeing as how i was realllllly giving a half-hearted attempt at faith and all. He's a tough cookie some days, that Guy.

fathers day started out kinda dissapointing, but ended up being a really, really great day. I didn't have anything special for jason, which is silly to feel bad about in the big scheme of things, but i think its human nature to want that little extra special something, ya know? i think even men feel that. we were both kinda bummed after the week we'd had, so when bella snuck into bed with us yesterday morning with her homemade presents, jason teared up. my personal favorite was a large rock that bella had painted and glittered up & wrote "my dad rocks" on the top. heheh...she's awsome some days. which makes those terrible days easier to survive, when the evil comes out of those red roots.

a predominately large reason for my spectacularly bad mood last week had to do with lack of money or what i felt/anticipated/assumed to be a lack of money. the week was long and tedious with lots of rotten obstacles thrown in and each day was spent dreading coming home to a note or a phone call, cussing me out at either the bank or the landlords' office. but apparently, due to the change in ownership with our rental agency, they're not depositing rent checks til this week. i can't tell you how blown away i was and am by this. God absolutely provided for us, despite my tinier than a mustard seed amount of faith. not to mention that He sent our stimulus check in todays' mail too.

my God rocks your socks off.

sacred pathways

do you ever tire of this whole grown-up gig?

after our much needed and beautiful little vacation to the beach, from life, there are a myriad of things swirling around in my head this evening. i tell myself it is because now, in these quiet moments, when life is not full-throttle and lived to its fullest, when the air is still, and i breathe,
i have time to think on all these things.

all of a sudden i can't get enough of everything summer. warm breezes and sunshine and parched lips and cool dips in the creek. catching frogs and lightning bugs and picking fresh produce from farmers markets. smelling honeysuckles and lilacs and freshly mowed yards. .

all of a sudden, i want everyone in my life to know where i'm at, how i feel about them, how much they mean to me. and i don't have the words. all of a sudden, i wish i were a child again, if only for the day. i can't wait to go back home this summer for the reunion and the days don't seem to go fast enough.

my half-birthday is june 16th. mom started this tradition for my sister kim and i when we were young, both of us with december birthdays and inevitably getting shorted on the presents circuit during the holidays. so a *half birthday* in the middle of the year was a fun way of extending the festivities: one day out of the summer you got a do-over, of sorts. one or two fun little presents and you got to pick the meal of your choice. mom is and was and has always been, a great cook. i miss moms' cooking these days.

bella will be 8 on june 22nd. that doesn't seem possible.

i haven't had the money to get my NET book yet. which means i haven't studied yet for my test on the the 8th of july. which speaks volumes for how i still feel about my decision to go to school in the first place. i go back and forth so much on this subject, which goes much deeper than anything i could ever even begin to explain. people are full of encouragement and instead of accepting the praise genuinely, i want to shout, "but this isn't what i WANT"and somehow make them understand all the feeling that goes behind that.

in my down time when i'm not trying to think about these bigger things, these goals, i daydream of having my own little salon where people could come and have their "hair did", as they say. as i stand on the front porch after church, watching the wren build a nest in its tiny house and braid my mother in laws hair, running my fingers through, making curls out of bellas great grandmothers thin locks, i imagine it would be much like truvy's little shop in "steel magnolias". a gathering place. my home.

how silly and impractical.

money has been tight. so tight that sometimes i hold my breath so long from the frustration and the sheer immensity of the situation that i forget to breathe again at all.

we'll be in the red yet again, something i've grown accustomed to, by sometime this week when our rent check ever goes through. i can't help it and there's nothing i can do, but pray and trust that God will see us through or grant us mercy in the meantime. He always does. in ways i never fathom.

the only reason we were able to go to the beach was because of our yard sale. we had $80 to go on and linda slipped me some money in an envelope halfway into our trip down, at a rest stop. that money proved to be an absolute godsend and was stretched as far as we could possibly stretch it. we ate light during the day, on groceries we stocked in our motel room and had a few meals out, which linda refused to let me pay for. all of bella's what-nots were courtesy of *nana* too.

i don't think i could ever, ever thank her enough. sometimes, when i allow myself to ponder the immensity of our families' love, i feel incredibly guilty over all the times that both our parents have baled us out. i wish for us, it were as simple as learning from a mistake or "flying right." instead, circumstances and life spiraling out of our control have again and again, slapped us like so many waves against the rocks. without that unconditional love support, that seasoned "hand up", i don't know where we'd be. i hope, often, that one day, these moments will be our testimony. that one day, we can pay this, all of this, forward.

i'm so thankful for these blessings. and more so, on these days, when my heart is still but my mind races and hope is just a little hard to come by.

candace called last night. i saw her number on the caller id. and all of a sudden that number in black and white brought with it a flood of not-so-great emotion. i was at once, relieved that she at least still thought of me, this woman she called her best friend. and then disgusted, that she would even try to contact me after all this time. what's it been now, 2 months? since we spoke, and i made my feeble attempt at closure.

all of a sudden, this hollow aching hole, edged with hurt, emerged. and with it, contempt and anger, at the injustice. and i wonder some days, how long this will stay with me, this ache. how long will i have these moments, when i see a phone number or i bump into someone at the grocery store or some local event. how long will the unfairness burn a tangible hole in my heart, even spreading to my skin.. how long until my mourning is turned into dancing. how long before this, my testimony, can be used for good. for the purpose that i'm sure it is intended.

i don't think about the rape much anymore. but then, these small sharp reminders jab at me from unexpected corners and i'm forced to relive every insignificant detail in shadowed instances that find me unprepared. vulnerable. broken.

my therapy resumes this week, and perhaps this has me more insightful than anything,not knowing what to expect. what thoughts will surface. what things i must face.

in our short trips to the mountains and the forest this weekend, i've been thankful for the solace that east tennessee and north carolina offers, at times, and find the writing of annie dillard, encompassing:

" I think of this house as an anchor-hold. It holds me at anchor to the rock bottom of the creek itself and it keeps me steadied in the current, as a sea anchor does, facing the stream of light pouring down.

It's a good place to live; there's a lot to think about. First, the active mystery of creeks: Theirs is the mystery of the continuous creation and all that providence implies: the uncertainty of vision, the horror of the fixed, the dissolution of the presence, the intricacy of beauty, the nature of perfection.

And then the passive mystery of the mountains: Theirs is the one simple mystery of creation from nothing, of matter itself, anything at all, the given. Mountains are giant, restful, absorbent. You can heave your spirit into a mountain and the moutain will keep it, folded, and not throw it back as some creeks will. The creeks are the world with all its stimulus and beauty; I live there. But the mountains are home."

the message at church today was needed. we're starting a new series titled "sacred pathways" of our lives. how the bible talks about God in two major ways: his immensity and his intimacy. today, our pathway discussed was "secrecy".....our unconscious need for impression management, where we strive so hard to make these impressions in all aspects of our lives, donning a mask without even realizing it. all these parts we play, these roles we lead.

but our audience isn't dozens and hundreds and millions. its One.

taking advantage of these pathways, making our journey a deep one....this is something very much on my mind tonight.

summertime, and the livin' is easy

its amazing, how time has no bearing while you're on vacation...each night finds you reveling in the wonderfulness that is one more day as you're rocked to sleep by the lull of the waves in your back yard. ohhh how you hate to leave.

and then on the 6 1/2 hour drive back, packed up like sardines in your compact rent-a-car, in the blazing 90 degree sunshine, with your sunburns' peeling and the "you're touching me's!", and the balancing of newly acquired aquatic life and fresh produce from a roadside stand, all of a sudden, you can't get home FAST enough. to your space, your bed. your smells. your home.

its funny how that works.

ahhh my pets, vacation '08 was heavenly. i'll be good and won't torture you with a slide show. instead, i'll post most of my photos over on flickr, for your perusing pleasure. its good to be back in my comfy home, the smell of sand and chlorine and sun lotion still mixed in my hair and clothes. i found myself standing over the laundry this morning, breathing in the ocean smell one last time, before dropping them in the wash.



bella's reaction to the ocean was everything i'd anticipated and more, with her excited shrieks and pig-tails flying in the breeze. within the first 2 hours there, we were properly sunburned and well on our way to becoming beach bums.

we stayed here in a simple yet lovely room on the ground floor and a 2 minute walk into the waves. we swam like fish every day and the weather, tho the beginning of hurricane season, was beautiful. north side was almos a ghost town, still in its' slow season, the calm before the storm...the waves were ferocious but WARM and we had a wonderful time.

low points included tourist faux pas that we have now been properly seasoned in....

*sunburns. and how you get the worst ones on overcast days so yes, sunburns. and what NOT to put on them. vinegar baths, for example, not for the faint at heart. and that, strangely enough, a simple $2 jar of noxema works best.

*bella's hair wrap. word to the wise: they get ya on that one, already have your child in the chair, colors picked, first inch done before they casually mention its a $1.50/inch and there's no refund. lets just say bella's hair was our most expensive souvenir of the trip, at a whopping $24. jasons skin board didn't even cost that. {note to self: learn this sacred beach art and make big bucks @ the local festivals.} cha-ching.

*you may as well forget about affordable seafood until you go further out or you settle on a family style restaurant. jason & i wanted some good seafare at least once before we left. someone recommended the crab house and before i get to the bad part, let me just say, the restaurant and atmosphere itself is gorgeous. absolutely gorgeous. passing by the 5 ft buffet and the hostess casually mentioning $28.95 per person was NOT, however gorgeous, and once seated on the beautiful deck surrounded by lake, with our wallet hyperventilating, we made a quick getaway around the side.

meet myrtle. and yes, score one for originality. we got this cute red eared slider at one of the sea-side surf/tee shops, "jaws on land". great store, by the way, complete with sharks you can feed inside. anyway, turns out, its illegal to sell turtles smaller than 4 ". so hatchlings are a no-no and they actually had a huge sting operation last year, where they raided countless shops along the beach and *rescued* these little babies.

stores get AWAY with this, much in the same way that head-shops can still sell houka's and pipes under the guise of using them for *tobacco* purposes. these beach shops can advertise "live turtles" on their signs and have literally aquarium upon aquarium FULL inside. the trick is, they don't advertise they *sell* live turtles and once inside, they have no prices listed anywhere. to the ignorant tourist, you're drawn in by the cuteness factor. to the trained nature conservatist, your hands are tied because they've snuck around the system and unless you can catch them in an actual customer transaction, these stores get away with it.

i gotta admit to feeling a little bit bad on this one, but the damage is done. we've had turtles before and with proper handling, (i.e. your children are past the licking stage and can wash their hands) you couldn't ASK for better pets. the younger you get them, the more friendly and attached they get, as well. this little cutie, for instance, loves to be loved on, and stretches her neck out just like a cat, for a good rub-down. i remember dad finding a baby box turtle one summer and bringing her home. we named her tilly and she was the sweetest thing. so i got excited when i saw the sign and fell right for it. next time, we'll just catch one at the creek.

we managed to get jasons dad out on the town often, which is an enourmous feat. i'd hoped and prayed we could pry him out of his shell. he's been so depressed for so long, preferring to stay at home with his tv on and the curtains drawn. after losing his leg, it only seemed to get worse, only now affecting his PRIDE as well. often, jason is the only one that can pester him enough to get him going, and linda had worked so hard for this vacation. there were a few moments of grouchiness and protests but over all, i think we did very well. it helped that wheelchairs and w/c access were available everywhere and the state of sc doesn't require payment to park with a handicap placquard.



we found little tried-but-true cost-saving secrets from locals, like mammy's kitchen and friendly's . we went shopping at the gay dolphin and stores like beyond the wall, whose manager Marian was a delightful, energetic plethora of information on local info as well as (much to bella's delight) everything *wizard of oz*.

we got to pet sting rays at ripleys' aquarium and caught fish off 2nd Ave Pier. one fun evening was spent exploring broadway at the beach. we got sandwich fixin's at the piggly wiggly, ate ice cream at ben & jerry's and funnel cakes at "m/b's famous fries" on the strip. we enjoyed every last sunset on the beach and filled bellas bucket to the brim, with seashells.

jason and i managed to slip out our last night as everyone slept and laid on the beach for a long time listening to and watching the the moon reflected on the waves, with its brilliant colors dancing upon the crests.

in truth, we all hated to come home.

even more so, once faced with reality and bills back-to-work weeks. but once here, the adventure bug is sucessfully planted for the season.

friday, we drove out to horse creek, near greenville, and spent the afternoon playing in the clear (read: freezing) deep spring up on the mountain. catching lizards and crawfish and running through patches of butterflies.

we enjoyed the blue plum festival in town this weekend ~ jason was thrilled to listen to doc watson whom he hasn't heard since he was a child.

saturday, we took a drive up thru roan mountain and the rhododendron gardens. so beautiful this time of year. on the way back down, we stopped at a tiny little thai shop and had the most delicious pad see yew for $5

happy summer

i'm baaaaack

ohhhh its sad but true, crickets. we're back home.

but the best thing about being back home (besides the unpacking and the laundry) is waking up in your own comfy bed and sitting in your pj's til 11 in the morning. ahhhhh.

in effort to make you all insanely jealous, let me just say that we had the most wonderful fantastic marvelous time at the beach, and while i'm deciding on whether to go to the blue plum festival tonite or kung fu panda at the drive-in, while uploading 3 memory cards full of photos, i'll entertain you all with a post from the past.

turns out, what ya don't miss, (still) is your neighbors.