My Pretty Flowers

I gave most of my flowers to Thing 1 and her husband when I moved last fall, and divided the ones I kept into window boxes to hang on the house. The window boxes are built and painted, but they aren't hung yet. It would be nice to get them hung yet this year, but who knows if that will happen! I'm at the mercy of others when it comes to hanging them because my house is brick. If I don't get them hung this year, I'm hoping I'll get them hung next spring. Until then, they are sitting on my patio table (and patio) ... and they are SO pretty! I can't wait to see them on the house!

Thing 2 Has Been Feeling Slighted

First, I didn't mention her in my blog post about Middle Child Day, then yesterday, I didn't give her credit for the smoothie recipe, and she called me out on it. I told her if she sent me a sad face using one of the silly SnapChat filters, I'd make it right. She kept her word, so I'm keeping mine:

1. Thing 2 is a middle child. But let's be honest here ... as a middle child, she's used to being forgotten and invisible, so just another day at the office, right?
2. Thing 2 told me how she makes a smoothie.

There ... the record is now formally set straight!

It Tastes Better Than it Looks

It's fruit, coconut water, and spinach, and it's surprisingly good! I fixed one this morning before work and drank it on the way in ... then I walked into this frigid building and realized I had made a mistake. From now on, I'll make my smoothie as a reward when I get home from work in the afternoon, when it's hot, and drinking a frozen drink doesn't send me into hypothermia!

Ice Cream for Breakfast!

Seven-year old Jackie would be so jealous!

Amazing Corn Maze

Photo courtesy of Corn Dawgs

Corn Dawgs, in Loganville, Georgia, creates an elaborate corn maze every year. Past years have included American Sniper Chris Kyle, Duck Dynasty, the band Florida Georgia Line, and Larry "Chipper" Jones (I have no idea who that is!). This years maze is a dedicated to police men and women. On their Facebook page, they stated, "A tribute to the men and women in uniform that risk their lives everyday to keep us safe. Thank you for all you do." I sincerely echo that sentiment.

View From One of the High Schools

It would be prettier if there were no parking lots and or industrial plants, but it's still pretty. You can see a little of the river in the second picture. From the cafeteria, the twin bridges are visible, but I didn't snap a picture of that.

TV and Childhood Obesity ... Bah Humbug!

There are a lot of articles about the link between watching television and childhood obesity. Most say just one hour of television a day doubles the rick of a child being overweight. I don't believe that.

When my kids were growing up, they would watch several hours of television every day, and they were all much closer to being underweight than overweight, and my son didn't have an ounce of fat on him! They'd watch tv after breakfast, then go play. When they got hot (or cold), they'd come inside and watched tv while they cooled down or warmed up. When it was too cold outside, they'd play inside.

I think there is more of a link between what a child does when not watching television and obesity rather than how much television they watch ... and the type of food and snacks they eat.

My weekly trips to the grocery store included buying chips and cookies. Once they were gone, the kids had to snack on real food, like cheese or yogurt or fruit. If they didn't want any of the nutritious snacks, they had to wait until I went to the store the next week.

I never limited their television or snacks. Food was neither a reward or punishment. They learned that if they ate the junky snacks too quickly, they'd have to eat the healthy ones. Despite their lack of junk food late in the week, they all survived childhood. When it came to playing, they had a lot of options. They had a big backyard with a basketball hoop, swings, trapeze, ladders, and a tree house. They had bikes, roller blades, sidewalk chalk, jump ropes, and hula-hoops. They had Lego's and blocks, baby dolls, board games stacked to the ceiling, and books from our frequent trips to the library. If they ever got bored, I tell them they could always clean their room, vacuum, mop, etc., and suddenly, they weren't bored anymore! At the very least, they quit complaining about it because I always had a ready-list of things for them to do.

Bottom line is, anything to excess is bad for you. Kids need a variety of foods (even junk food), and a variety of things to play with. Playing is how kids learn. It grows their imagination and spawns creativity. Unless a child has an illness or medication that makes them gain weight or prevents them from losing weight, it's a parent's fault if their child is obese. Snacking on junk food in moderation is fine. If you limit the amount of junk food in the house, the kids can't eat too much of it. If television or video games become a problem for your child, then you limit them. Take the kids for a walk or take them to the playground. Most kids will be thrilled to spend an afternoon at the park rather than watch cartoons.

I'm certainly no parenting expert, but some things are just common sense.

Scientists Discover Consuming Caffeine After a Concert Causes Hearing Loss

Greedy scientists pining for grant money for ridiculous studies, applied for ... and received ... money to study if drinking coffee after a concert damages your hearing. And guess what? That money wasn't wasted ... they discovered drinking coffee after a concert does damage your hearing! What are the chances, right?!!

To come to this ground-breaking discovery, they exposed a group of female albino guinea pigs to sound equivalent of a rock concert for one hour on two occasions. They gave half of the guinea pigs 25mg of caffeine for fifteen days. The other half received only water to drink. After eight days, the water-drinking guinea pigs hearing had recovered almost completely, while the caffeine-addicted guinea pigs still had difficulty.

I found the most interesting part of this article was when I was trying to figure out how they came to the conclusion at the caffeinated guinea pigs were having trouble hearing. I guess they're keeping that nugget of wisdom to themselves, so if you have a guinea pig and wonder if it is hearing okay, you're going to have to figure out a way to do that yourself!

They stated that avoiding coffee or soda after a concert or particularly noisy encounter, you could be doing a lot of damage to your ears. Honestly, I find this study hard to believe. I have three kids who produced more noise than a Rolling Stones concert ... every day. All. Day. Long. If that kind of noise coupled with caffeine consumption caused hearing loss, there wouldn't be a parent or teacher anywhere in the world who could hear!

Wearing High Heels Can Lead to Cancer? Bull!

I recently read an article that said wearing high heels every day can raise your risk of cancer. Poppycock! If high heels caused cancer, I would have died a long time ago ... along with Victoria Beckham! I don't wear high heels every day, but I wear them most days ... and I have since I was fourteen years old. The article listed a host of ailments high heels can cause (bunions, hammer toes, etc.), and I have none of those.

Helen Sewell, a communication coach in Britain said high heels are costing British businesses £260 million a year in sick leave. She said "Wearing heels has a serious impact on your ability to think properly, your ability to breathe properly and your ability to deliver an executive presence."

Oh, give me a break! The only time high heels have impacted my ability to think properly is when my feet hurt because there is no padding in that shoe for the ball of my feet, but a set of gel inserts solves that problem instantly. I've seen too many women in high heels deliver an "executive presence" to give her theory any credence. It sounds to me like Ms. Sewell either can't walk in high heels or she's tall and doesn't want anyone shorter to appear taller.

But it was Dr. David Agus, a professor of medicine at the University of Southern California that came up with the real malarkey ... that there may be a link between stiletto's and cancer. He did concede, however, that wearing heels doesn't cause cancer, but he did say they unwittingly hinder your bodies own natural cancer-fighting abilities by shutting down our "DNA repair shop" to concentrate on the inflammation caused by wearing heels.

Dr. Agus said, "If your heels hurt or limit your movement, if you find your feet ache or throb at the end of the day, then stop wearing those shoes."

Not wearing shoes that hurt your feet is good advice, but if your heels hurt, perhaps you should just buy shoes in the proper size (instead of stuffing your size 11 feet into a size 7 shoe), get a some gel inserts ... or ... if you can afford it, buy some really expensive designer shoes that cost more than your car. Me? I can't afford a pair of shoes that cost a couple thousand dollars, so I just buy the right size shoe and some gel inserts ... and my feet are as happy as can be ... and I get to wear pretty shoes!

Gorgeous Picture Frame

(Click on the image to enlarge.)

I was working at a local high school recently and had to use the restroom. The hall floors were being waxed, so the only bathroom accessible to my location was the staff bathroom on the first floor in the office by going down a back stairway. There was a picture on the wall in the restroom that caught my eye. While I liked the picture well enough, it was the frame that I was drawn to ... it was gorgeous. And, in my opinion, a little fancy for a bathroom!

Good For Them!!

A Catholic high school for boys in Arkansas posted a sign on their door advising parents that they do now allow them to bring forgotten items to their sons.

Good for them!

I can't count the number of times my kids called me because they forgot one thing or another ... lunch money, textbooks, musical instruments, a field trip permission slip, etc. I'd have to leave work, rush home, find the item (not always as easy as it sounds), and take it to their school. I remember one week, when Thing 1 was in high school, she forgot something three days in a row. Not to worry ... call mom! The first two times I brought her whatever it was she had forgotten. I drew the line on Wednesday.

When she realized I wasn't bringing her her flute, she panicked. "But, Mom, I'll get in trouble if I don't have my flute!!!"

To which I replied, "Then I guess you'll remember it next time, won't you?"

And she did.

That is a lesson I had to teach all three of my kids. I didn't mind bringing them something they forgot every great once in a while, but as the years went on, it seemed they were forgetting things more often. I was enabling their forgetfulness. They didn't have to remember! Letting them suffer the consequences of their absentmindedness taught them responsibility.

Schools (and society) seem to be catering more and more to children to alleviate any unpleasantness or feelings of anxiety. Everybody gets a trophy, even if you come in last place. Some schools are even doing away with valedictorians so that students don't have to feel bad about their own grades or offering to send home a fake report card with better grades to show Tommy and Susie so that they don't feel bad about their real grades.

I think it's better to teach children that if you don't want to feel bad about your grades, work harder. Do your homework. Pay attention in class. If you send home a fake report card to trick a child into thinking they are doing better than they actually are, what motivation do they have to get better grades? They think they already are getting better grades! And I say children should know from the get-go that if they want a trophy, they have to practice more and train harder. If you suck at basketball, you don't get rewarded. Find something you can excel in.

Kids today are so coddled they are sorely ill-prepared for life after high school. Colleges don't care if you turn in your homework. They don't even care if you come to class! And they don't call mommy and daddy to ask what they can do to help you. You paid for the class ... if you want to throw your money away, it's no skin off their teeth. They consider you an adult, and it's your prerogative to pass or fail.

As a kid, you get lots of do-overs. Adults? Not so much. So kudos to at least one school willing to teach their students to be responsible. If my kids' schools had done that, I would have saved a fortune in gas and got a lot more done at work!

Mushy Daughters

My daughters are sentimental and mushy ... and I'm glad! They seem see me through rose-colored glasses. I'm glad they see me in a good way, but I am no where near the woman they think I am. I wish I were, but I'm not. Anyway, I recently got texts from them both that make me smile every time I look at them.

From Thing 1:

The poem reads:

When my mother was pregnant with her second child, I was four. I pointed at her swollen belly, confused at how my mother had gotten so big in such little time. My father scooped me in his tree trunk arms and said the closest thing to God on this earth is a woman's body. It's where life comes from. And to have a grown man tell me something so powerful at such a young age changed me to see the entire universe rested at my mother's feet.

From Thing 2:

Yesterday was "Black Cat Appreciation Day"

And I missed it! To be fair, I don't have a black cat anymore. I used to have a little black kitty cat named Maggie. She was the sweetest little animal in the whole wide world, and her fur was as soft as silk. She would follow me around the house, waiting for me to sit down so that she could sit in my lap, and she'd sleep at the foot of my bed every night. The week I had the flu, she barely left my side. Oh, how I loved her! I guess I could go to Thing 1's and appreciate her black cat, but that actually seems a little creepy!

It's because of sweet, innocent Maggie and the wise Mr. Whiskers that don't want a pet. Well, I actually do want a pet ... I just don't want the pain of losing them. I may get a dog or cat again. Someday. Maybe. More like than not, however, I'll probably just keep debating it in my head and die without ever getting one!

Mr. Whiskers and Maggie

Best buddies napping in my bedroom.

The American Flag

I have read several articles lately about fire departments all over the country that were ordered to remove the American flag from their trucks for a variety of ludicrous reasons. Firefighters are told it breaks the states flag ordinances for mounting them on the wrong side of the vehicle, or that they post a threat to other drivers. I've been around the block for a few years now, and I've never heard of an accident associated with a flag on a firetruck.

There are also a plethora of articles about veterans who are sued, fined, and/or evicted for displaying the American flag because of some silly homeowners association ordinance. Any ordinance that bans the American flag ... IN AMERICA ... is, in my opinion, un-American and should be repealed. I think it's offensive to tell a veteran, who put his or her life on the line for that flag, that they cannot have a flag publicly displayed on their property. And what a slap in the face for the widow or children of fallen veterans to tell them the American flag in their yard is offensive!

On Cinco de Mayo in schools out west, American students are banned from wearing anything showing their allegiance to America ... only clothing with the Mexican flag and Mexican colors are allowed. I'm fine with anyone, regardless of their heritage, celebrating Cinco de Mayo with the flag and colors of Mexico, but at the same time, it is never offensive to show allegiance to America ... even on May 5th.

The fact that the American flag could offend anyone living in the United States is something that offends me! If you live in the United States, you should be surrounded by the American Flag. American flags should be everywhere!

Anyone who finds the American flag offensive, under any circumstance, is more than welcome to go live in a country where the American flag is only flown at the American Embassy ... or burned by anti-American protesters ... and there are plenty of those countries around the world. Pick one of those and you'll never have to be "offended" or "put in danger" by the American flag ever again ... and patriotic Americans will no longer be shamed for loving their country.

As for me, I love the American flag. I feel a surge of patriotism every time I see one. I stand with my hand on my heart, facing the flag, when the Pledge of Allegiance is said or the Star Spangled Banner is played. I often get choked up when I hear our National Anthem. I love driving around town and seeing flags proudly displayed at businesses and on porches. The flag and the song of our country mean something to me, and it makes me profoundly sad that the right to fly the Stars and Strips is being taken away.

Our founding father's must be rolling over in their graves at what this generation is doing to the country they fought so hard and sacrificed so much of their lives and fortunes to create. Shame on anyone who ever tries to ban flying the flag of our country.

It's like the frog that didn't realize he was being boiled to death because the temperature of the water rose so slowly ... until it was too late. Americans are giving up their rights, a little at a time, and don't even realize that the way of life we enjoy is slowly fading away ... and will one day be gone forever.

I See the Grinch Every Time I Look Out the Window

The dead tree across from my office looks like the Grinch's head!

A Day With the Grandbabies

When I picked up my grandson, his mother asked if I wanted to take baby girl for a few hours! Absolutely!!!!!! It's the first time I've had both of them at the same time. Fido is ten months and Fifi is one month. I'm a little out of practice, but I managed to feed, diaper, play and cuddle with them both, and return them to their mother safe and sound.

Fido was busy, as usual ... playing with his toys, pulling up, exploring, etc. He played with Ernie for quite a while. I'm so glad he loves his Ernie. It's the only stuffed animal he will play with.

Sweet, tiny Fifi is a dream come true! She a really good baby. I love holding her and watching her make silly faces. I tried ... and failed ... to get some good pictures of her in her swing. She would have a huge smile on her face, but when I snapped the picture, I got this ...

 

So I tried again and again and again.This is the best picture (below), but she's so much cuter that I've been able to capture on film, and she's even sweeter than she is cute.

 

I can't wait for these babies to get old enough to call me Grandma and run into my arms when I pick them up ... but I also don't want to give up the baby stage. Luckily for me, I have two other kids to make more grandbabies, so I should be in the baby stage for years!

Kind Neighbors

Cucumber Salad

When Thing 3 and I were trying to dig out a flowerbed in front of the house early in the summer, a neighbor took pity on us and tilled it up for us. I'm new in the neighborhood, and prior to that day, had only met two of my seven neighbors. I stood and talked to the man's wife while he worked on getting his tiller to start.

As a thank you, I made them some walnut brownies, along with a short note thanking them for their kindness. A few days later, the wife came over bearing gifts from their garden. What a treat! She listed off what all they had planted said they expect a bumper crop, and asked if I'd be interested in taking some of their excess. YES! Nothing tastes better than freshly picked vegetables, still wet with morning dew. A few nights later I made cole slaw with the cabbage and cucumber salad with the green onions. 

Most of my land is wooded, so there is no room for a garden. It's just as well ... I'm sure the deer, squirrels, and raccoons would eat anything I plant just like they did at my old house. When the squirrels see me out working in the yard, they put their bibs on, ready to devour whatever it is I'm planting! I know several people who have a problem with rabbits eating their flowers and vegetable gardens, but rabbits are about the only animal that don't bother my plants!

Happy Middle Child Day!

My family is divided into two sets of kids, four per set, with a six year gap between. I'm not only "one" of the middle children as a whole, I'm one of the middle children in the bottom set of kids. The "upper" set of kids, and my parents, always called us bottom four "the four little kids".

Being the oldest of the four little kids, my one sister never assumed the role of middle child. She went straight from being the pampered baby to the demanding oldest child the moment I was born. My next youngest sister was one of those nearly perfect children that siblings would have hated had she not been so darn sweet and genuinely kind. The youngest was not only the pampered, spoiled baby of the family ... she was also my pampered and spoiled baby.

So, where does that leave me? Square in the middle ... stuck between Attila the Hun and Jesus! To say I never received preferential treatment would be an understatement of monumental proportions.

I don't recall ever fighting with my two younger sisters, but my older sister and I had some real doozie's. When necessary, my parents stepped in to referee ... and sided with my sister. Every. Single. Time. My parents were always telling me to give in to my sister to "keep the peace." Screw peace ... I wanted justice! (I really wanted revenge, but I would have settled for justice!) But, I always caved to "keep the peace". Except once. When I was eighteen, I held my ground. I would not budge. I refused to "keep the peace". I'd been "keeping the peace" for almost nineteen years! And for the first time in my life, I got my way. As adults, we're friends, but as children, my sister and I were often mortal enemies.

To be fair, I was sometimes the instigator of our quarrels. I knew all the right buttons to push to get her to explode. Sometimes I would push them ... not because I was mad at her ... it just to see steam pour from her ears and fire shoot out of her eyes. As the middle child, I had a very limited arsenal, so I used what little I had to my best ability.

As the middle child, everything was my fault. My older sister would not admit guilt if her life depended on it. She would blame me and I would be grounded. If it was ever a question about which one of me or my little sisters did something, I was convicted. I accepted those sentences ... because if the three of us were ever the suspects, I probably was the guilty one!

So, for one day a year, I am the queen! I get my way! I don't have to keep the peace! Sounds pretty awesome ... except I'm the only one who knows what today is!

Heartbreaking ... Simply Heartbreaking

Jen Wilke, a Texas model who has been featured in Playboy, FHM, and Maxim, has set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise $10,000. She needs this money, she says, to allow her to attend showbiz parties and cover "basic expenses" like clothing, travel, and accommodations. Her crowdfund plea includes, "I know that I am almost at a point where I could support myself and once I am there, I intend on using my profile and my position for the good of society. I just need to get there first."

Ummmm ... a lot of people are worried about "other" basic expenses ... like buying food, keeping the electricity turned on, or a place to call home.

However, it is heartwarming to know that once she makes millions of dollars and can comfortably afford to live her desired lavish lifestyle, she plans to use her profile and position for the good of society.

And I'm sure she will ... just look at all the good Paris Hilton has done for society since she left jail vowing "to find a role for herself in helping people suffering from breast cancer or multiple sclerosis", and hoping "to work with children, envisioning a Paris Hilton Playhouse where sick children could come to play with donated toys." That was nine years ago, but I'm sure she's still working on making those dreams come true ... you know ... in between parties, premieres, and vacations.

Another Craiglist Find

This could have been a cool idea ... except it isn't! I think it would be very pleasurable to take a nap on an outdoor bed that hangs from above and swings freely in the breeze. But, this outdoor bed won't swing freely in the breeze ... it will bang against the frame! Good idea ... bad design! It's only $1,000, plus the cost of a mattress. I'm not sure how much an outdoor mattress costs, but it's likely eye-popping. Heck, decent cushions for a chair are pretty costly. If I had to guess, a comfortable outdoor mattress would run $500. That makes this outdoor bed, that whacks against it's frame a mere $1,500. I think I'll skip the outdoor bed, nap indoors ... and spend my $1,500 on dresses and shoes!

Happy 60th Birthday, Ski!!!

According to the Double Cola Company, Ski was released Aug. 10, 1956. 

Ski ... known around these parts as the "Unofficial Soda of the West Side" or "West Side Water" or ... as I like to call it ... "Nectar of the Gods" ... is 60 years old today! I have been addicted to Ski for as long as I can remember. With every single sip, every single time, my first thought is, "Mmmmm. Ski is so good!"

Those who haven't tasted Ski often ask if it tastes like Mt. Dew. (Them's fightin' words!!) Aside from being yellow, Ski is NOTHING like Mt. Dew. Ski is the most delicious drink on the face of the earth ... and I feel sorry for those who don't feel the same way ... because that's all they serve in heaven!!

I've been trying not to drink Ski, which is hard because I love Ski as much as I love breathing, but I'm going to have to make an exception today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SKI!

I LOVE YOU!!!!

Naked Ladies

A few years ago a co-worker bought his first home. Whoever had lived there before was an avid gardener, and he had new flowers and plants popping up all the time. He'd never gardened before and had no idea what most of these plants and flowers were, so he'd take a picture and show them to me. One time he brought in a picture of Belladonna Lilies. At the time, I didn't know their "scientific" name, I just knew them by their common name ... Naked Ladies.

We were still talking about these and other flowers in his yard when our boss came up and asked what we were talking about. I said, "Oh, we're just talking about all the Naked Ladies in his yard!"

Her eyes popped out of her head and her mouth fell open. Luckily, we were able to show her a picture before she had a chance to usher us into her office and fire us!

I only have a few Naked Ladies in my yard, but I'd love to plant more. I think they would look perfect in the above flower bed between the house and the hostas and lambs ear. Every fall I say I'm going to plant spring flowers, and every autumn has passed without me so much as buying the first bulb. This fall, however, I vow to plant to plant spring bulbs ... and a row of Naked Ladies!

Guess What My Sister-in-Law Saw at the Library?

My first book, Boomerang, on the end cap!!

That Was One LOOOOOOONG July!

Has anyone else noticed how many typographical and grammatical errors there are on stories posted on the internet? I know I'm hardly one to talk, as I've published more than one typo/grammatical error on this blog. But, I don't have a large staff of copywriters and editors at my disposal, whereas the news sites that I read online are news giants ... particularly the one I grabbed the above screenshot from. The site that provided that screenshot is a huge, multinational organization, and they have more errors than all of the other sites I frequent combined!

I know it's nit-picky, but if the draft of this story had been given to a competent editor to proof, I'm sure they would have suggested "...in July of 2010, she was sentenced to 90 days in jail for breaching her parole."

There were less errors when the pages were assembled by hand with individual letters!

Did You Know August is National Romance Awareness Month?

Neither did I ... nor do I care! This history of National Romance Awareness Month is unclear, but I have a few theories ...

Theory 1:

A woman decided only one society-mandated day (Valentine's Day) of spoiling and romancing her wasn't enough, so she created a whole month of it to torture her (probably already tortured) beau.

Theory 2:

It was created by a woman ... whose partnerless friends had no one to spoil and pamper them ... so she created a special month to rub their noses in the fact that she does. 

Theory 3:

It was created by a woman whose partnerless friends were constantly bragging about how much fun they have going out, dancing and flirting with handsome men, while she's at home watching her man fall asleep in the recliner, in his underwear, covered with chicken wings. She's also the woman who sends herself flowers all month in an effort to convince her friends how much romantic real love can be.

Fortunately for men, National Romance Awareness Month hasn't really caught on!

To me, romance isn't flowers on a special day ... it's flowers for no reason at all. It's him keeping your favorite beverage stocked in his refrigerator. It's him asking to be moved to a different table in a restaurant because the vent blowing right on you is making you cold. It's him spending his Saturday doing your honey-do's. It's him sending you funny jokes or links to articles he thinks you'll enjoy. Romance isn't the big things they do because they have to ... it's really the little, everyday things that say "I love you".

Oh, No!

Police were called by the manager at a hotel frequented by drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, and those down on their luck. The manager said she had gone to one of the rooms about a disturbance, asking the occupants to quiet down. The man renting the room threw a full bottle of Ski at her, injuring her neck. A full bottle of a perfectly good Ski!! I can only hope the bottle wasn't open.

When the police arrived, he resisted arrest and assaulted one of the officers. His sister was in the room with him and stated he had not taken his medication. I can only hope that had he been taking his medication, he would have known better than to ruin a perfectly good bottle of Ski!

He is currently in jail facing felony charges on battery causing injury to a public official and resisting law enforcement, and misdemeanor battery. Throwing that bottle of Ski is apparently only a misdemeanor. That should be a felony, too!

Craigslist

I've bought some really nice things from Craigslist. It's one of the first places I look when I'm searching for a unique pieces. There iare some very beautiful things on there, but there is also things like this ...

This is being advertised as a sofa, but it's not a sofa ... it's a bench with ugly, homemade cushions. They're asking $99 for it. It's been on the site for a while, so they may want to consider lowering the price ... and perhaps call it a bench rather than a sofa!

I Figured out Why the Hummingbirds Quit Eating at My Feeder

A spider built a gigantic web on it! I knocked the web down, then cleaned and refilled the feeder, and the hummingbirds are happy again. The feeder is one again as busy as ever ... until that stupid spider spun another web! I knocked it down ... again! I guess I'll just have to keep an eye out for spider webs so that the little hummingbirds can eat safely. I don't care where that spider spins her web ... as long as it's not by my hummingbird feeder! I'm hoping she'll get tired of building webs and move on, but I have a feeling spiders aren't that smart, and that I'll spend the rest of the summer and fall knocking down webs. I guess I need to get the Home Defense out and kill that spider. I'll put that on my list of things to do!

Baby girl's fever is gone, and all the tests they've ran so far have all came back normal. That's good, but it would be nice to know why she had such a high fever the other day. One of the things they tested her for was meningitis, and we're all very grateful that came back negative. I'm also very grateful I wasn't there when she had the spinal tap. I've had one before, and they're no fun.

I took big brother to the hospital to see his Mommy and little sister. He was so happy to see his Mama!

Both of these babies seem to have a pretty even temperament. Little girl is happy laying in her crib or snuggling in your arms. Now that big brother can crawl, he's harder to contain, but he's still an easy-going baby. We hit the jackpot with these sweet babies!

I plan on going to the hospital to visit the princess after work, and I'm really hoping her big brother is there, too. I miss those tiny angels!

Sick Granddaughter

My sweet little granddaughter is running a fever. She's only eight days old, so they've admitted her to the hospital for a couple of days to run tests, and I'm kept my grandson overnight. I took a picture of him when he was sound asleep now ... recharging for another busy day.

I got to spend the day with both of the grandbabies Saturday. These little ones fill my heart to overflowing! I'm sure baby girl will be fine, but a high fever in a newborn is concerning, and they err on the side of caution. I'll take my grandson to the hospital in a little bit to see his Mama and Nana, and I'll get to see my little princess.

This past week has been hard on my grandson. When his sister was born, he spent one night with an aunt and two nights with me. When he went back home, there was the new baby to contend with. He's so loved and spoiled that having another baby didn't really take anything away from him, but it's different and he's just too little to understand all the changes. My little grandson knows I love him and he loves me, but nothing can take the place of his Mama, and I can tell he misses her.