Author: Big Mama

  • For the least of these

    My friend A.J. returned home last week after spending the entire summer in Africa. She is an incredibly talented photographer and is using her gift to create a photography book to help the orphaned and vulnerable children in Zambia.

    A.J. has spent the last two years raising money for this project and all proceeds from “Lahema’s Legacy” will go directly to helping the Zambian children.

    Did I mention that she’s 25 years old?

    I won’t bore you with what I was doing at 25, but rest assured that it wasn’t something as unselfish as spending three months in a foreign country to benefit the less fortunate.

    You can read all about A.J.’s summer by visiting the Lahema’s Legacy blog. It starts with the most recent post, so you’ll want to scroll down to the bottom and read from there.

    Oh and here’s a picture of Caroline in a dress that A.J. brought her from Africa. I have a feeling it’s going to be worn to Kindergarten before it’s all said and done.

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    Anyway, the point is that A.J.’s dedication to telling these kid’s stories has inspired and challenged me.

    Last year, Compassion contacted me and asked if I would be interested in going to Uganda with a group of bloggers, including Shannon and Sophie.

    Obviously, I didn’t go. There were a lot of reasons why it just didn’t seem to be the right thing at that time.

    Then earlier this summer I received an email from Shaun Groves from Compassion asking if I’d be interested in going to the Dominican Republic in November.

    I said no.

    But then some cool things happened which made it clear I was supposed to go.

    So now I’m going.

    I’ll be in the Dominican Republic from November 2-7 to see what Compassion is doing there and how we can make a difference in these children’s lives.

    I’m excited. I’m nervous. I’m ready.

    And I can’t wait to tell y’all about every minute of it.

  • The eye of the tiger

    I woke up on Friday morning to begin a day of waiting on my new dryer to arrive. I was like a little kid at Christmas. Well, maybe more like a little kid who has already peeked at the presents and knows she’s getting something lame, like a pair of socks.

    Or a Kenmore dryer.

    The day before, Sears told me that they would call four hours in advance of the dryer delivery, which sounded kind of random but who am I to question the knowledgeable Sears staff? I waited all day for the big call, but it never came. So at 3:30, I called Sears to try figure out the whereabouts of my new dryer.

    They informed me that it had left the storeroom and I should call the delivery company. Apparently, Sears outsources. I called the delivery company and they had no record of me. Or my dryer.

    After several phone calls, it became apparent that Sears had lost my dryer. And, of course no one wanted to take responsibility so I got passed back and forth between several managers and assistant managers and assistants to the assistant manager. The only consistency was that they were all equally incompetent.

    Finally, after a million details that I will leave out to save you from boredom (TOO LATE), I was informed that they could deliver the dryer on Sunday afternoon. Which would have been great if I hadn’t run out of underwear on Thursday.

    Also, P and I had already carried the old dryer out to the porch. Where it sat for the next three days.

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    Oh yes. We do the neighborhood proud.

    But the new dryer finally made it and was immediately put to the test because I had about 862 loads of laundry to wash and dry.

    In other news from the weekend of the Labor Day, look who won first prize in the belly flop contest at the pool!

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    She wasn’t interested in entering until she saw that there would be actual medals awarded and then she couldn’t get in line fast enough. She had the eye of the tiger.

    And the only reason I thought of that reference is because they actually played it at the pool yesterday. It was inspiring. Especially to a few middle-age dads who have taken to wearing spandex swimwear and goggles ever since the Olympics.

    You know what they say, it’s never too late.

    Except they lied.

    It is too late.

    Anyway, Caroline marched right up to the diving board and did the best belly-flop I have ever seen. And then, in an incredible moment of drama, it was announced that they would need to have a belly-flop off to determine the winner.

    She didn’t let the pressure get to her. She kept her eye on that medal and did another spectacular belly-flop.

    Everyone cheered as she stood on the diving board and accepted her medal.

    Meanwhile, I sat and watched from the sidelines, thinking I know just how Debbie Phelps feels.

    Except it wasn’t Beijing. Or the Olympics. Or any kind of world record performance.

    But it was my baby sacrificing her belly to win the gold.

  • I blame the lint and the past decade of use

    Good news!

    The friendly Sears repairman showed up at exactly 8:10 a.m. yesterday morning. Clearly, I am living right.

    Bad news!

    The dryer is dead. There was talk of a resurrection but, considering the majority of parts needed are no longer in existence for our particular model, as far as resurrections go it would have ranked up there with raising Lazarus from the dead.

    Except it wouldn’t have been free, but rather $350.00 with parts and labor.

    On the bright side, Sears applies the repairman’s diagnostic fee towards the purchase of a new dryer so I headed to our brand new Sears Outlet store to purchase a dryer.

    I walked in, looked around and decided on some sort of Kenmore with limited bells and whistles. It was the dryer of choice for two reasons.

    1. It was big on the inside.

    2. It didn’t have a complicated control panel. I get stressed out with too many drying options. Life is hard enough without adding in PERMANENT PRESS/COTTON vs. LOW HEAT/DRY SENSOR.

    Several of you were concerned about my washing machine situation, so I feel the need to let you know that we purchased a brand new front loader washing machine about a year ago.

    I put a lot more thought into the washing machine purchase because a good washing machine is crucial whereas a dryer is just something I use to dry socks, sheets, pajamas and towels. Everything else gets hung to dry.

    Also, thank you for all the helpful suggestions. According to the comments, I should never buy a Maytag and only buy a Maytag. Whirlpools are terrible, but some of them last for twenty years. GE is horrific, but some people swear by them. Ugly washers and dryers last longer than pretty washers and dryers.

    The only real consensus was that those of you with LG washers and dryers adore them and, apparently, they sing a little song and make the universe a happier place. But here’s the thing, for me personally, spending money to buy an appliance is like spending money to rent a shovel or a paddleboat.

    If I’m going to shell out big money, it’s going to be for something meaningful, like shoes or a great pair of jeans. Things that can truly change your life.

    Anyway, while I was perusing the store for a dryer, I spent a lot of time opening and closing the doors of various dryers as if that would give me some insight into their drying capabilities. It seemed to give the illusion of KNOWLEDGEABLE CONSUMER.

    Everything was going really well until I shut my middle finger in one of the dryers.

    That was when I just picked one (not the one I slammed my finger in because clearly that dryer was a bad seed), made the purchase, scheduled delivery and walked out of the store with my dignity, if not my middle fingernail, in tact.

    Since I was right next door to Target, I decided it might soothe the pain of my ailing finger. But as I walked through the women’s clothing I realized I must be delirious from the pain because I thought I saw floral print leggings on display.

    And then I came to the horrifying realization that Target is, in fact, offering floral print leggings for purchase.

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    I haven’t thought about floral print leggings since the days I thought it would be awesome if everything I owned was by Adrienne Vittadini.

    In other words, EIGHTEEN YEARS.

    I smell a comeback.

    In which case I won’t need that dryer because everyone knows you have to hang those bright, floral knits to dry.

    Fashion Friday will return next week. I accidentally deleted my entire fashion email file, so if you’ve submitted a question it is floating around somewhere in internet space. However, next week I’ll discuss the top trends for fall.

    Only time will tell if floral leggings make the cut, but I’ll go ahead and say DOUBTFUL.

  • This is what happens when I’m behind on my sleep

    I’m going to be completely honest, Kindergarten is crushing my buzz.

    All summer long Caroline and I would lay in bed until 8 a.m. which is an hour I only dreamed of for the first four years of her life. I had finally trained her in the art of a leisurely morning only to see it destroyed by the educational system.

    So, my point is that I am tired. P has been waking us up awfully early but I think I’ve already figured out that we can sleep at least fifteen minutes later every morning. And those extra fifteen minutes will add up to an extra hour and fifteen minutes at the end of each week.

    I just did that math in my head.

    Who says you’ll never amount to anything if it took you two times to pass Algebra II?

    Anyway, I am totally going with a list format because I have several points I would like to make and no energy to voice them in a narrative form.

    1. Back-combing is just a fancy way of saying TEASING. If you were alive in the 80’s and older than six, then you’ve teased your hair.

    If you’re from Texas there is a good chance that you received a sterling silver teasing comb at birth.

    The one I bought is a fine-tooth comb that comes complete with a pick on the other end. It’s exactly like the comb I used in 1987-1989 to separate each curl of my spiral perm after I doused it in Aussie Sprunch Spray.

    2. Hot rollers are intended for use on dry hair only. You will immediately regret any attempt to use them on wet hair. To get an idea, imagine your hair after eighteen days in a tropical rain forest.

    Now multiply that by 150.

    It’s also important to note that some people will mock you for toting around hot rollers in 2008, but those people are called people with flat hair.

    3. I volunteered in the cafeteria at Caroline’s school today and let me assure you that nothing will make you lose your appetite like watching some kids use their straw to slurp up leftover juice from their pinto beans.

    Disgusting doesn’t begin to cover it.

    But it served as a great diet tool for the rest of the day.

    4. One kid actually brought sushi in her lunchbox. Girlfriend sat there and rolled her own sushi in some seaweed wraps.

    I just pray Caroline wants to buy her lunch for the rest of the year. I can’t take the pressure

    5. Our dryer is broken. I’m supposed to sit at home between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. for the Sears repairman to grace me with an appearance.

    It would be a great time to catch up on laundry, except for the fact that my dryer is broken.

    Truth be told, the dryer is eleven years old. I don’t have high hopes for a comeback. Do y’all have any dryer recommendations? Is one dryer really better than another? Should I just hang a clothesline across the backyard and go old school? (the neighbors would be so pleased)

    Any dryer wisdom would be appreciated.

    Y’all have a great day and I’ll try to be back with a coherent thought tomorrow.