Did I......

Fall off the face of the earth?
Climb in a hole and never come out?
Sneak away to an uncharted island?
Hole up in my room with beer and oreos?

No..................but as it is known to do, life got in the way. It is exponentially more difficult having two children in school instead of only one--twice the homework, twice the amount of papers to review and sign, twice the lunches to make and on and on and on. But we are starting to settle into a routine. I HOPE!!!

39

Thirty-nine is:

According to David Wells in The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers, 39 is the smallest mathematically uninteresting number.

The sum of five consecutive primes (3 + 5 + 7 + 11 + 13) and the sum of the first three powers of 3 (31 + 32 + 33).

The atomic number of yttrium

In the title of the John Buchan novel and subsequent films (one by Alfred Hitchcock), The Thirty-Nine Steps

The code for international direct-dialed phone calls to Italy

I-39 is the designation for a US interstate highway from Normal, Illinois to Wausau, Wisconsin.

I-39 is the 39th shortest of the primary "two digit" Interstates.

The eternal age of comedian Jack Benny, and many other people as they grow older

The traditional number of times citizens of Ancient Rome hit their slaves when beating them, referred to as "Forty save one"

Japanese Internet chat slang for "thank you" when written with numbers

"'39" is a track on Queen's album A Night At the Opera. If the tracks on Queen's original studio albums are numbered in sequential order starting with their first, "'39" does in fact fall in the thirty-ninth position

"39" is a song by The Cure on their album "Bloodflowers"

39 cents was the cost of First Class US postage stamps (first ounce) from Jan. 8, 2006 to May 14, 2007

The duration, in nanoseconds, of the nuclear reaction in the largest nuclear explosion ever performed (Tsar bomb)

The number of Scud missiles which Iraq fired at Israel during the Gulf War in 1991

World War II broke out in Europe on September 1, 1939

Pier 39 in San Francisco


At age 39:

Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong became the 1st person to set foot on the moon

Charles Goodyear led the way to the effective use of rubber

Jimmy Connors reached the U.S. Open semifinals

Joseph Smith Jr. and Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated

I wrote this blog entry.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

Where do the monsters live, Mommy?

The other night, we had been watching Godzilla. Scott was really enjoying it and wasn't scared at all. Well......not REALLY scared. This is how bedtime went:

(Tucking Scott into bed)

What was the monster's name, Mommy?
What monster?
On TV?
Oh, Godzilla.
Where does he live? Is he just in the city or does he come into the neighborhoods?
Oh, he just lives in the city.
Our city, Mommy?
Oh, no, just way up in New York. That's a long way away.
Just in New York?
Yes, just New York.
OK, goodnight, Mommy.
Goodnight sweetie.

Bringing the Cows Home

I grew up on a small farm in the Appalachian foothills. As the leaves changed to brilliant shades of red and orange and the days changed to crisp and cool, the farm also changed. The hay in the field had been cut, baled and put in the barn for the long winter. The tobacco was curing in the rafters making the whole barn smell of its sweet pungent scent. Daddy and PaPaw would put the electric fence around the field. It was time to bring the cows home.

The cows spent the summer at my Great Grandparents in a pasture further up the mountains. There was plenty of grass for them to eat there and we needed the time to work the garden, the tobacco and the hay without worrying about the cows. But once the crops petered out and the hay was up, it was time to bring them home. Daddy would take the old red truck up the mountain and bring them home a couple at a time. We didn’t have many, just 5 cows and sometimes a bull. There was Ol’ Red, Fanny, Bessie, my brother’s cow, Ginger and my cow, Blackie. They would saunter off the truck and go right back to grazing as though they’d never left.

Our house was surrounded by the field so we saw the cows all the time. I would wake in the mornings and look out my window to find Blackie. Cows are very calm creatures, walking around slowly, eating constantly taking the occasional break to scratch their back on a tree. They are also creatures of habit. They knew when the sun started to set low and Daddy or PaPaw headed to the barn, it was feeding time.

I liked to go with them to feed the cows but I had to stay out of sight so they wouldn’t spook as they came into the barn. Daddy let me put the sweet feed in the trough for them then I would rub their noses while they ate. Daddy climbed into the hayloft and dropped hay down for them. We’d tell them all goodnight and head back to the house just before dark for a hot supper of our own.

The time eventually came when Daddy and PaPaw weren’t able to care for the cows and we had to sell them all. It was hard for everyone. I miss them. Still to this day, a cow pasture or barn will send my thoughts rushing back home.

Please Help a Fellow Blogger

Kim is a fellow blogger at The Merits of the Case. She is working to complete her law degree and she has breast cancer. She's competing for a blogging scholarship to help pay for her law degree since breast cancer treatments have put a financial strain on the family. Please check out her post and help her out by voting for her. It's free. All it takes is a click and every click helps.

Get into the PINK!!!

5 Minutes for Mom is having another give-away. This time it's a pink Casio digital camera to help raise awareness for Breast Cancer. Go check them out! And don't forget to click at The Breast Cancer Site to help provide mammograms for women who can't afford them!!

Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?

How many times a day do you say the those three little words? I say them all the time to my family--when we leave each other, when we hang up the phone, when we go to bed, and on and on and on. But how many times a day do you hear them? I rarely hear them back. Hubby only tells me he loves me when we finish a phone call. And my children never say it. Recently, I even resorted to asking them if they loved me. They both said yes but when I asked them to tell me, they both refused. Should I be concerned or is it just the age? I mean, I know they love me. They give me hugs and kisses and are happy to see me. They enjoy being with me. But they still don't verbally express their love.

Now, I've read Dr. Chapman's The Five Love Languages (awesome book, btw!!) so I know that we all have different ways of expressing love. Sara loves quality time. She is always wanting to play a game together or read together or just hang out together. She craves being with you. Scott is my little cuddle bug so he's looking for physical touch. He loves to crawl into the rocker next to me and just curl up in my arms. He gives the most wonderful melty hugs. Hubby tends to see acts of service as tokens of love (which is why a messy house upsets him so much).

Me? I'm multi-lingual it seems. I look to validate myself through physical touch, quality time and acts of service so I can see that each family member can show me their love in one of those ways. But I also want words of affirmation. I want to hear the "I love you". Is that so much to ask?

Bring 'em on!!!

Thanks to Mama Zen at The Zen of Motherhood for letting me know that today is "The Great Delurk". I LOVE comments and they are very important to me as I wrote in this post. But I admit that I’m guilty of lurking, also—especially since I tend to check blogs while at work……ssshhh, don’t tell!!!

But I’m going to make a point of leaving more comments as I visit and I’d love to hear what YOU have to say!!!! So comment away!!!!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I’ll be posting lots of related things this month to help get the word out so please stop by often and spread the word. You’ll notice in my sidebar a button for The Breast Cancer Site. This site helps to fund free mammograms just by you visiting and clicking. Your click on the "Click Here to Give - it's FREE" button helps fund free mammograms for women in need — low-income, inner-city and minority women whose awareness of breast cancer and opportunity for help is often limited. Your click is paid for by site sponsors, and mammogram funding is provided to clinics throughout the U.S. through the efforts of the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

They also sell breast cancer related products and have information on diagnosis and treatment and stories of breast cancer patients and survivors. Please help out. All it takes is a click and clicks are free!!!! Then you can help another woman have a mammogram that could save her life.

Oh, yeah, it’s the first of the month, so don’t forget to check to the girls!!!!!

Blocked!

I’m so sorry for the recent lack of posts. I have had a sort of writers block these past few days. I think of things to write about all the time. Post ideas come to me while I’m driving, cooking, bathing the kids, showering, sitting in meetings, working at my “other” job. So you see, my problem is not a lack of topics but an inability to put them to “paper”. I have sat down with my computer on many occasions this past week with a desire to write and found myself with no drive to perform and the topics that spin in my head at the most inopportune times where no where to be found.

Should I blame it on the crazy week with school open houses, Pampered Chef parties, PTA meetings, homework, school projects and hockey practices? Could it be that with this crazy schedule, I’m too tired to type? Could be!!

But don’t give up on me, yet!!! I’ve still got those ideas swirling in my head, I just need to net a few and pen them to paper and we’ll be back on roll!!! So check back soon!!!