Author: Big Mama

We’ve been to there and back

Well when I said I might not be posting every day this summer I certainly didn’t realize it was a cue for my whole blog to crash and become forbidden on the internet. But it kind of worked out because our week last week ended up being busier than normal.

And by busier than normal I don’t mean the usual kind of busy where I realize we’re out of dog food and have to rush to the store to buy more.

(Is it just me or is busier a weird word to see spelled out?)

Anyway, Caroline and I ended up driving to Bryan on Wednesday morning because it was Honey’s sixtieth birthday. Gulley and the boys had already been there since Monday and I really wanted to make the trip but was in the middle of my brilliant plan to redo the walls in the guest room and needed to finish.

Normally I would have felt like the walls could wait, but since I have actual guests coming to stay in our house this week it seemed imperative to finish the walls because I may not be Emily Post but I know proper etiquette probably involves providing walls for a guest in your home.

But when P and I plowed through and finished the walls on Tuesday afternoon, I felt like it freed me up to hit the road. And I really wanted to get to Bryan for two reasons. One, I was at Honey’s fortieth birthday party and felt like I should be at her sixtieth. Two, Nena isn’t doing that great right now.

In fact, when we got there on Wednesday afternoon we went straight to the hospital to see Nena. Her heart surgery in the spring didn’t really fix the issues with her heart and she is continuing to have problems. As we walked into the hospital room I prepared myself to see her lying there in a weakened state but instead she waved from her bed like she was the Rose Queen in the Tournament of Roses Parade as she said “HELLLOOOOO!! MELANIE, WHERE DID YOU GET THAT PURSE?”

In other words, she is totally herself.

(Does anyone else think of Donna Martin anytime they hear about the Tournament of Roses parade or are you all normal?)

We spent some time visiting at the hospital and then headed home before Honey’s party that night. The whole family was meeting at Longhorn Tavern because birthdays are meant to be celebrated with chicken fried steak.

Everyone had a great time and then it was time to go back to the house. On the way there Caroline kept tooting in the back seat where she was sitting with the boys and I finally said, “Caroline! You need to stop! A day is going to come where boys won’t think it’s attractive or funny for a girl to toot in the back seat!”

And Jackson dryly replied, “Yes. That day is now.”

I’d planned for us to drive back to San Antonio on Thursday morning, but then Nena called to inform Honey that her doctor was discharging her from the hospital in a few hours. Which would be great except they had no idea where Nena was going to go since she needed more care than where she’d been living.

So Gulley and Honey drove to the hospital to figure out that situation while I took the kids to go swimming. At least I tried to take the kids swimming until we got to the pool and found out it didn’t open until 1:00. And that left us with an hour and a half to kill.

The park clearly wasn’t an option because it was hotter than the surface of the sun. I brainstormed and decided it was a great opportunity to take the kids on a little tour of their moms’ college years. The G rated version.

We drove by the duplex where we lived our last year of school and then got a drink from the Sonic that we singlehandedly kept in business from 1991-1994 with our love of Route 44 Cherry Vanilla Cokes. Since College Station is a small town this only took about fifteen minutes. And so I drove toward campus because they never get tired of seeing Blue Bell Park and Kyle Field.

Then I saw this and a tear came to my eye.

The future is now, my friends.

And then we saw the new baseballs they’ve put in front of Blue Bell Park.

Finally, we stopped by the gigantic Aggie ring for a photo op.

They’re all pretending that they’re putting the ring on their fingers because they’re at that age where they’re goofy as heck.

At last it was 1:00 and the pool was open. They spent the rest of the day swimming while I sat in the shade since I hadn’t thought to pack a bathing suit because I didn’t imagine my twenty-four hours in Bryan would include swimming. However, I used the time to beat my high score on Bookworm and even had a conference call with Tyndale because all true professionals conduct business while their children come up and beg them for giant pickles and snow cones from the snack bar.

By the way, I feel like I need to confess that I ate nachos from the snack bar in a weak moment. The kind with the cheese that pumps out of a spigot.

It was a low.

We left the pool at the end of the afternoon and met Gulley and Honey back at the house where they reported they’d gotten Nena settled for the time being. But when Honey called to check on her later and to tell her she’d bring more of her clothes over tomorrow, Nena said, “Oh, don’t bother. I’m not staying here.”

Then Honey called the next morning in the hopes the night had changed Nena’s mind and Nena told her, “This place is like an old folk’s home.”

Yes. Because it’s an old folk’s home.

Needless to say, Nena is going to be moving again soon.

Friday morning Caroline and I packed up to leave. We got in the car, waved goodbye and she cried all the way to Caldwell where we stopped to get her a BLT from Subway because that’s her love language. I kind of want to judge her for it but I eat nachos from a public pool snack bar. Her love of low rent foods is genetic.

The Subway happened to have a drive-through window which felt like the hand of God in my life at that moment. Until they told us to pull around and wait for our BLT sandwich.

We waited.

And then we waited some more.

And then we waited some more.

Twenty minutes later they arrived with the sandwich and apologies because they’d forgotten about it. I was annoyed but let it go in my anxiousness to just get on the road and get home. Which was a great plan until Caroline unwrapped her sandwich about ten minutes later to discover they’d given us a bacon and mayonnaise sandwich.

No L.

No T.

Who wants just a bacon and mayo sandwich? Besides someone I don’t want to know?

And isn’t the L and T implied when you order a BLT? Am I right?

The bacon sandwich pushed Caroline off her already perilous edge and she wailed, “I WAS ALREADY DEVASTATED TO LEAVE BRYAN AND NOW THIS.”

At least she’s not dramatic.

The rest of the weekend was a blur. We had Caroline’s last swim meet and I cannot express how overjoyed I am at the prospect of no longer having to set an alarm for 6:00 a.m. on Saturday mornings.

I plan to watch the Summer Olympics in August with a whole new respect for all those swimmer’s mothers.

And that’s what we’ve been up to.

(Lamest ending ever but I have no idea how to wrap this up and I’m at 1325 words which is just obnoxious.)
Fashion Friday: Edition I’ve been forbidden

Y’all have no idea about the technological challenges I have faced over the last twenty-four hours. My server crashed and so if you tried to visit the blog you saw a page that said FORBIDDEN. Which makes the whole thing sound so much more exciting than it really was.

Long story short, I had to get on a new server. And by I had to, I meant that I frantically emailed Cathy at Desperately Seeking WordPress who is my angel/hero/woman with the patience of Job who helps me with all tech related issues and said, “HELP. MY BLOG HAS FALLEN AND IT CAN’T GET UP.”

And she made some calls and sprinkled some fairy dust and I think it’s all going to be okay. In fact, I’m feeling so optimistic that I decided to go ahead with Fashion Friday.

Here are a few cute things for the week:

1. don’t tribe me dress

I like this because it looks like something you could just throw on and still look like you put some effort into it.

2. resort ready

I am always resort ready. Which in my case means I am always ready to go to a resort. Preferably one that serves Pina Coladas poolside with those little umbrellas in them.

3. clockwork pullover

Please don’t let the fact the model is wearing lavender jeans throw you off. I love this pullover even though I would die if I wore it in this Texas heat.

4. irina top

This is the perfect summer top and it comes in so many fun colors and patterns that I can’t choose.

5. pure enlightenment top

Love this top to throw on with shorts.

6. henley tank dress

I’m not sure about this but I’m a sucker for a green and navy striped item. Maybe a swimsuit coverup?

7. printed twill shorts

It’s too bad those model’s legs aren’t for sale. But I do like those shorts.

8. majestic sunsets tunic

Love this. And love that it could transition perfectly into fall with some skinny jeans and cowboy boots.

9. gimme a tint top

Perfect top to just throw on.

10. simply put coral top

I love coral. Thus, I love this top.

That’s it for today.

Y’all have a great Friday.
The love of the big screen and $150 Target gift card giveaway

When I was little, my Pa-Pa had one of those old-fashioned movie cameras where the big bright light would shine in your face the entire time he was filming you. And one of our favorite activities was to get together with our cousins and watch all those old home movies projected on a big screen in my grandparents’ living room. It didn’t matter that there wasn’t any sound or that we were all constantly squinting, thanks to the big camera light, there wasn’t anything better than watching these little pieces of memories. And that’s why I’ve always taken so many videos of Caroline.

There are all these moments that you think you’ll remember forever, but they have a way of slipping away with time and the busy-ness of life. I’ve always thought it’s not quite as much fun to gather around the computer or TV to watch our videos. It lacks the special-occasion feel of the big screen that had a way of making me feel like a movie star when I was little. And I’ve secretly always lamented that Caroline hasn’t had the same experience.

Not that she’s much of a ham or anything.

But all that has changed with the new 3Mô Mobile Projector. It’s a small mobile projector that allows big-screen viewing of your content just about anywhere. It projects onto walls, ceilings, anything you can turn into a big screen. You can watch YouTube videos, slideshow photos, TV content and movies via iTunes.

I can’t wait to use it all summer long for slumber parties and outdoor campouts. The kids can all get in their sleeping bags and I can project a movie right on the side of our house. Or they can make their own home movies and have fun watching themselves. There are so many great uses.The 3M Projector easily connects to your iPhone or iPad or to your PC with an additional cable sold separately. When I got mine in the mail I was able to figure it out without even reading the directions. And if you know me then you know this means that a monkey could do it. It’s super easy.

It’s sold at Target (click here to learn more and find special offers) and, to celebrate the 3M projector, you’ll have a chance to win a $150 gift card to Target. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me your favorite way to do family movie night.

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/21/12 ñ 6/29/12.

Be sure to visit the 3M mobile projector brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggersí reviews and find more chances to win!
This old house and my arthritic fingers

Yes. So I didn’t post anything yesterday. And I didn’t think that much about it because I thought I’d already written at some point that I wasn’t going to stress myself out with pressure to write every day this summer so I can take time to smell the roses and the sunscreen and the chlorine.

But then I woke up yesterday morning and P asked, “Did you decide not to write anything last night?” And I realized I’d only had that conversation, like so many others, with myself inside my head.

So here’s where I’m writing the disclaimer that I may not write every day this summer. Or I might. I don’t know and I can’t commit one way or the other. We’ll just see how it goes and every now and then I may take a little break so I don’t miss out on all the fun to be had.

Truthfully, sometimes writing in summer is easier because I stay up way late after everyone else goes to bed, knowing I can sleep late the next morning. But swim team has currently shot that plan to heck and I have to be up with the chickens and the swimmers.

And now I’ve gone on way too long about why I may or may not write and why anyone may or may not care. This is the blog equivalent of contemplating my navel. Which is a phrase I’ve never really cared for.

Anyway, the main reason I didn’t write yesterday (There I go again. Blah, blah, blah.) was because I had to watch The Bachelorette to find out if Emily finally got rid of Ryan. Oh, and also because we’d worked on the guest room all day and I could no longer feel my fingers.

Why couldn’t I feel my fingers? Well because the people who owned this house back in 1930 or 1940 or sometime before wallpaper was applied with glue, decided that they wanted wallpaper. And apparently this was achieved by nailing a bunch of mesh into the wall every 1/4 centimeter. Except they wouldn’t have used centimeters because that’s before the Europeans tried to brainwash American children with the metric system.

(Does anyone else remember that mammoth VCR/TV combo being wheeled into your math classroom and watching some show about Metric Man?)

P and one of his employees came in last Thursday and pulled out the rest of the sheetrock in a matter of a few hours. Which was significantly faster than the eighteen years it would have taken me to do it by myself. And most of the old wallpaper ripped away from the wall fairly easily. But little bits of this cotton mesh stuff was embedded behind little tiny nails. It was too short to really cut it away but too long to leave it.

So we burned a lot of it with a lighter. Kids, do not try this at home. This was attempted by professionals. Professional what? I do not know.

The irony is I was really concerned about those pieces of string making the room look bad and never stopped to consider how bad it would look if we burned the whole thing down.

After three days and a countless number of those Bic lighters, I had finally gotten rid of most of the mesh while P scraped off layers of old paint and wallpaper on all the trim. Then I finally busted out my tweezers and tweezed out the rest of the string pieces. I’m pretty sure this is part of the job description for hell. My fingers will never be the same. Nor will my tweezers.

At a real low point on Sunday afternoon I was ready to just paint it and be done with it. Just paint over the old chunks of wallpaper and mesh and what have you. But this is where P and I differ. He is a perfectionist. Sadly, he is married to a “EH, THAT LOOKS CLOSE ENOUGH AND THE BED WILL COVER THAT UP ANYWAY” kind of girl.

So he pushed us through. We adapted and overcame. And by the time Sunday night came, we were a step closer to actually being able to paint even though we’d digressed from a Saturday night high of “WE SHOULD DO THIS TO EVERY ROOM IN THE HOUSE” to “AS GOD IS MY WITNESS I WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN”. I never would have finished it without him. It would have all ended with me putting a for sale sign in the front yard and that lady that thought I was Taylor could come and show our house.

On Monday we finally moved on to painting the ceiling and priming the walls. Which is when we discovered that old wood soaks up a lot of paint. Like three coats worth of paint. Like four trips to Home Depot later worth of paint.

We finally decided it was as covered as it was going to get and moved on to painting it the actual color we’d chosen, Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter.

And by Monday night the walls looked beautiful. Now we just had to touch up the trim with fresh paint. I figured it would just be a matter of a few brush strokes here and there where the sheetrock had pulled away paint or we’d gotten fresh paint on the baseboards.

Yes. But that’s working under the assumption that our trim was a glossy ultra white color as opposed to the fact that it was actually more of a glossy off white. A fact I failed to notice until I’d painted enough of the trim to realize the frame around the closet door no longer matched the closet door.

And that’s when I headed for the bottle of tequila.

Not really. Everyone knows you don’t drink tequila while you’re painting. You drink vodka.

I began the arduous task of painting every piece of trim work in that room while I sang old spirituals. Every now and then Caroline would join me long enough to slap on enough paint to produce drip marks, get a little paint on her feet for good measure and walk back out of the room leaving a trail of white footprints down the hallway. And then she got her feelings hurt because she said all I was doing was yelling at her.

First of all, I wasn’t yelling. I didn’t have the strength. Secondly, why did I think summer time was a good time for this project?

Fortunately P walked in about that time and helped me finish the rest of the trim and touch up all the areas we’d missed or messed up. And then it was mercifully done.

I picked up one of Caroline’s friends and we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. The glorious pool. Where there was no paint or mourning or sadness. Just ice cream and sunshine and the book I’m currently reading.

By the time I got home with the girls, P had cleaned up the entire room. Swept it and everything. I wanted to weep with joy and thankfulness.

And, lo, the room is complete.

(It looks a lot darker in the the bottom picture. I’m not sure why but I’m sure it’s not related to my stellar iPhone photography skills.)

Well, not really complete. We’re talking about putting a twin bed in there instead of a queen. And moving out some of Caroline’s toys to make room for a homework/craft table. And I’d like to get some fun pillows and make it into a great place for her to hang out with her friends.

But then, THEN, it will be finished.

Check back with me in early 2015.
The battle hymn of a daddy

Two weeks ago Caroline spent the night with a friend. And when I picked her up the next day she mentioned that she’d fallen on her arm while they were playing soccer in the front yard and it kind of hurt. I said we could just keep an eye on it and see how it felt in a day or two which is code for I don’t really think anything is wrong except that you stayed up too late last night and are tired and I don’t want to waste a $50 co-pay on a fake injury.

Over the next several days she’d complain about it every now and then but it seemed like it was always worse at bedtime or when I asked her to do something else she didn’t want to do. Like pick up her dirty clothes off the floor and put them in the hamper because I am the meanest mom ever with my unreasonable requests that she practice hygiene and clean up after herself and she’s just going to use that towel again tomorrow so why does it need to be hung up?

But then on Thursday afternoon P and I were working on the guest room wall (That’s an entirely different post at this point. A post where I may rewrite the lyrics to Miranda Lambert’s song The House That Built Me to The House That Killed Me.) and Caroline walked in and said, “I really think I need to go to the doctor. My wrist hurts.”

And it all seemed legitimate since I hadn’t asked her to do anything and it wasn’t time for bed. So I loaded her up in the car and we drove to the medical clinic. They did x-rays and the doctor announced it looked like a tear in her tendon or possibly even a fracture.

That’s when Caroline beamed at me like she’d just won first prize at the County Fair.

Not that we’ve ever been to a County Fair but I hear the kids smile big when they win so I’m going with that analogy since it’s late and I can’t come up with anything else.

They gave her a brace to wear and a referral to go see the Orthopedist Pediatric guy the next day. Here’s Caroline in her brace.

You can see she’s all torn up about it.

And for the next few hours I was treated to running monologue about how she knew something was wrong and I just thought it was nothing and wasn’t I glad that she knew she needed to go to the doctor and see how she was right and I was wrong. I listened as she called Mimi and Bops to give them the news recited a list of people she’d like me to text with a report of her injury and how she was right and I was wrong. Apparently LETTING IT GO isn’t part of her current skill set. But she has got ENJOYING HER ILL HEALTH down to a science.

The next morning we went to see the other doctor. By this time the novelty of that brace had worn off because it was “HOT” and “UGLY” and “I CAN’T USE MY THUMB”. And so I was ready to cry at the thought of facing weeks with her in a cast or in that brace. One of us wouldn’t survive it and I had a feeling it was me.

He looked at the x-rays we brought in and agreed that it was a tear in the tendon and the wrist needed to be immobilized for the next three weeks. Then he offered us the choice of a cast or a waterproof splint. I’m no doctor and I’ve never even played one on T.V. but I knew the waterproof splint was the way to go.

And when the tech walked in with a neon pink, waterproof splint, I knew we were solid gold. Caroline was thrilled with her new fancy bright accessory and that she wouldn’t have to forgo any time in the pool due to her injury. They fitted her arm for the splint, put it on, made a few adjustments and said she needed to wear it 99% of the time.

As a bonus, it’s also anti-microbial which means it won’t smell like a baboon at the end of three weeks. Or at least that’s what they told us. I’ll let you know on July 6th.

After we left the office she called Mimi and Bops to give them the full update from the new doctor and told them all about her hot pink splint. And she was most excited to announce that it wouldn’t interfere with her ability to swim in her swim meet the next day.

Which is why I was so surprised when we woke her up for the meet on Saturday morning and she started to cry and said she didn’t want to go and it was going to be terrible and please don’t make her go and OH THE HUMANITY OF SWIM MEETS.

Have I ever mentioned that 6:00 a.m. isn’t my most coherent time? So I handled this crisis by walking in the kitchen and telling P there was drama brewing in the next room. And P was on the case. He told her she needed to get up and eat her breakfast and that her team was counting on her. In our family we follow through on commitments. In our family we persevere. He even pulled out a quote from a Navy Seal and told her that in life when challenges come we ADAPT AND OVERCOME.

It was like being in the kitchen with General Patton.

I kind of wanted to salute.

Or maybe hum of few bars of The Battle Hymn of The Republic.

And it’s times like this that I’m so glad he takes charge because I’m not so much an ADAPT AND OVERCOME type person as a CRY AND BE DRAMATIC AND OH MY POOR BABY HAS A HURT ARM type person. Especially at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday.

So she dried her tears, put on her swimsuit and we headed to the swim meet. Where she ended up winning three first place ribbons and two second place ribbons.

Because she adapted and overcame.

It helped that everyone told her how awesome her hot pink waterproof splint was and how tough she was to still be competing. “EVEN SOME TEENAGERS”.

On the way home from the meet she was tired but glowing. She was thrilled with her success and that she didn’t give up. And it was a reminder to me, on the eve of Father’s Day, how much I need to P to help me with this whole parenting thing.

Honestly, I would have been tempted to let her stay home and skip the meet. And she wouldn’t have learned anything or won any ribbons or experienced the feeling of accomplishment. The right thing was to make her go and to follow through with her commitment. It’s a lesson I’m still learning because I’ve always been tempted to quit when things get hard or to take the easy way out. It’s one of the things I hate about myself.

I think that’s why it meant so much to me to see her learn such a valuable life lesson on Saturday. And it made me thankful that not only was I raised by a great dad who has taught me all kinds of important things over the past forty years, but that I’m married to a great dad who is doing the same for Caroline.

And I’m more than happy to hum a few bars of inspirational music while he does it.
Fashion Friday: Edition this has been a day

This is going to be quick because I spent most of the day helping P tear the rest of the sheetrock of the wall. Please note that I said helping P because he pretty much took over the project to my great relief and now I just need to do some clean up and prep the walls before I paint them.

I also ended up taking Caroline to the doctor where we discovered that she may have torn a tendon or have a stress fracture in her wrist. She fell at a friend’s house about a week ago and had complained about it on and off but I thought she was being dramatic since the bulk of the complaints seemed to crop up around bedtime.

Apparently I was wrong.

So we’re going to see another doctor in the morning to find out more.

And there goes my dream of being voted mother of the year.

Anyway, here are a few cute things. I think. This is a weird time of year for clothes because it’s so dang hot and I pretty much live in running shorts and a t-shirt.

1. encourage top

I think this would be so cute with white jeans. Or white shorts. Either way.

2. sweet summer afternoon flats

Have I mentioned that I really don’t like to wear flats unless they’re sandals? My foot doesn’t like to be fenced in. It likes to be free to move around.

But these are cute if you’re a fan of flats.

3. gauze skirts

I’m such a fan of the summer skirt. Throw on a t-shirt or a tank top and you’re good to go.

Or you could be like me and just wear running shorts.

4. me and my honey bag

This is a really fun bag for summer.

5. eyelet shell tank

I love this.

6. crochet wedges

These are perfect for summer and they come in black too.

7. daisy of the week top

This is the perfect top to throw on all summer long.

8. pink ankle jeans

I really want some pink jeans. And these are on sale.

9. ruffle tank

Love this. Think I might have put it on Fashion Friday before but I can’t remember because my brain is tired.

10. striped tank dress

I tried this on in Gap the other day and really liked it. It’s the perfect dress to throw on all summer and it would make a cute coverup.

And that’s it for today.

Y’all have a great Friday.