Back to school season is one of my favorite times of year. Not only do I get to shop for new clothes, pens, and pencils, I get to watch my wonderful boys grow up. (I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that getting them out of the house after a long, hot summer is also a plus!) This year, Timothy, my youngest son, is taking a big step into middle school. In Alabama, middle school starts at 5th grade – which seems so young to me! Middle school means so many new things:
Read more →Archive for the Just Another Mary Monday Category
I went diamond mining. To answer your first questions, no, I did not find a Hope Diamond-sized rock. If I had, well…today’s blog may have been a little late while I extended my mini-vacation. Luckily, my favorite niece, my friend, and I didn’t have to go all the way to Africa to try our hand at diamond mining. Our adventure took us to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. The park is built on an old volcanic crater that produces actual diamonds. For only ten bucks, you get a day pass to
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Maybe it’s because my boys are all becoming young (nearly grown) men, but I’ve been wanting a new ‘baby’ around the house for a few years. When a friend recently sent me the link to a rescue facility seeking adoptive parents for a gorgeous, full-blooded Great Dane puppy, my maternal instincts kicked right in. It was love at first sight. And I became obsessed; I knew Carly belonged with us. Then, I almost got my heart broken. When I called to inquire, Two by Two Rescue informed me that Carly had just been claimed
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See that little girl down below? Her name is Hadley. And, although she may be cute, we’re going to have to disagree on a very important issue. You see, Hadley wouldn’t wish her Paw-Paw (grandfather) a Happy Father’s Day because “he wasn’t her daddy”. Her staunch refusal to recognize a very important male role model in her life landed her a guest appearance on the NBC show hosted by Steve Harvey, Little Big Shots. What little Hadley doesn’t yet understand is that biology has nothing to do with being a great dad. I didn’t
Read more →Ah, vacation. The very word inspires thoughts of hammocks on the beach, quiet days by the river, or the family fun of amusement parks. That is, when everything goes right. Maybe it’s all of those old TV commercials about traveler’s cheques, but vacation time also seems like prime time for something to go wrong. After all, the first part of vacation involves travel, and as we all know, travel often goes wrong. From missed flights to missing luggage to a flat tire on a road trip, travel doesn’t take prisoners when things go wrong.
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As you may know, I’m a highly competitive person. I love to win! And I’ll be the first to admit, I used to be the sort of competitive that was unhealthy and “un-fun”. Especially on pool league nights. When it came to frustrations and disappointment, I wore my heart on my sleeve – which can make lining up a shot rather difficult! After years of playing pool that way, I resolved to make a change. After all, this is a game I love, and yet every missed shot or lost match could put me
Read more →I had one of those rare, but wonderful days recently, where you finish your work and are still full of energy. So I decided to tackle one of the required beginning-of-summer tasks on my To Do list – cleaning the pool deck. Off I went, determined and focused, ready to get the pool deck clean for long summer days. And then I saw it. A snake. We’ve talked about snakes before, haven’t we? I don’t like them. They’re long, they’re creepy, they bite things to death, or worse, squeeze them – blegh. Admittedly, maybe
Read more →Spring has officially sprung, and for those of us with teenagers, that means milestone events like prom season and graduation. All of which require parties, and all of which – so I’m told – are much more fun when you can drive. My oldest son, Denver, wasn’t in a hurry to get his driver’s license. While some parents would be frustrated at having to drive their 18-year-old around, I was happy to do so. The time and gasoline it took to drive Denver from point A to point B was a mild sacrifice for
Read more →We’ve established before that I’m a cat person (and a dog person, too). Like most people with pets, Sir Sir, our twenty pound behemoth of a cat, is the center of our lives. He gets fed on schedule, gets treats and toys from the store, and gets all the belly rubs he can handle. It’s a pretty cushy life. Honestly, I don’t know how Sir Sir, would handle it if I told him to get a job. Not like this hardworking trucking cat, Percy. Percy is the traveling companion of Paul Robertson, a truck
Read more →It’s the Monday after Daylight Savings Time. Our clocks “sprung forward” (if you’ve actually gone to the trouble of changing your alarm clock, your car clock, your microwave clock, your answering machine clock, your oven clock, your coffee maker clock – you get the point..). And, we’re operating on even less sleep than usual. What’s up with that? Why does it take so long to recover from losing that one little hour? Heck, I’ve known people who’ve recovered from infectious diseases faster than I do from Daylight Savings Time! And why does it have
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