Author: Big Mama

  • Because I know y’all enjoy the silliness

    This may become a new feature at Big Mama where I just randomly list whatever number of various things are currently on my mind. It will be like Thursday 13 except not. I could design a cute little graphic for it and call it Saturday 7 or Wednesday 4, except I have limited computer skills and don’t know how to create graphics. So here you go.

    1. P is still sleeping in his goggles that he’s been wearing since his Lasik. They are almost as big as the glasses he wore when we started dating.

    2. Caroline was wearing her new black boots with her Elmo underwear the other night and I told her they looked really good especially with the Elmo underwear and she said “Yes, especially since I just tee-teed in them.”

    3. While at my meetings this week, I discovered another problem with fall fashion. I saw a woman wearing skinny black pants with flats. Is she super trendy or has she been wearing that for the last 15 years and now it’s finally back in style? By the way, I won’t be purchasing any black skinny pants. I paid $44.00 for them back in 1991 and will NOT be giving Gap any more of my money to repeat this trend just because they put Audrey Hepburn on their commercials to try to convince us it’s okay. It’s not.

    4. P said that Caroline told someone “Adios” yesterday and then last night she counted to five in Spanish. She hasn’t learned that from me, so hats off to Dora the Explorer and her adventure loving cousin Diego.

    5. Grey’s Anatomy (and I can’t overstate this) was the best hour of T.V. this week beyond a shadow of a doubt, although Emmitt Smith and his smooth moves on Dancing with the Stars was a close second.

    6. Reason #4598 that I love my friends. After reading my post on Amy Grant, Gulley surprised me with this.

    It is great. If you have ever loved Amy Grant, I highly recommend it. Thanks Gulley for many things, but this was so sweet.

    7. Two weeks into Caroline’s school year, we already had homework. She came home with this in her backpack.

    It came with instructions attached that explained that “together” she and I were supposed to make it look like her and to reflect her interests. Seriously. Her teachers apparently completely underestimated that she might have a mother with a little bit of OCD who may or may not start to twitch a little bit when glue gets everywhere. I made the dress, the hair and the shoes, but I did let her put the red glitter on the shoes and glue on the hair and the eyes. She also told me what she wanted her person to wear, so that’s the outfit we (I) made. Here she is.

    Since it had to reflect not only her sense of style, but also her interests, notice that she is holding a bug in one hand and a piece of candy in the other. Hello, I am a mother who feeds my child a steady diet of candy while letting her play with bugs that may or may not be poisonous. Do y’all think they’re still going to let me help with the Halloween party? Debatable.

  • Home is where my heart is

    When my plane finally touched down late this afternoon, I had never been so glad to be home. I love my people and I don’t like being away from them, no matter how fun it may be to sit in a small, windowless room in a hotel for three days.

    I was waiting by the curb for P to pick me up and when I saw his truck come around the corner, my heart flipped just a little bit. I jumped in and there was Caroline sitting there holding a beautiful pot filled with snapdragons saying, “Here’s your treat, Mama. We missed you so much. Did you bring me some dubble bum (bubble gum)?” And at that moment my heart was so full that I’d have given her a 1,000 packs of Bubblicious if I’d had it. There is no place like home. There are no people like the people you love.

  • Oh wireless connection, how I’ve missed thee

    If y’all heard a huge sigh of relief about an hour and a half ago, it was the sound of me not only getting my laptop back but being able to connect to the wireless connection at the hotel. Y’all can’t imagine what I have been through.

    I arrived in the Dallas area yesterday at 4:00 pm and was told to turn my laptop in at the door on my way in so that they could add system “upgrades”. Umm, I’m sorry, did you say hand over my laptop?

    Yes, yes they did.

    So I sat laptopless (I just made that up) in my hotel room for 3 hours until finally Hite came and rescued me. We met our friend Jen at a great Mexican restaurant and were able to really catch up and laugh for a few hours. It is safe to say that was the highlight of this trip.

    I get back to my hotel room around 10:00 last night and that’s when I discovered the TV Internet. It is hands down the most inefficient way to be online that has ever existed, but I was desperate. After holding one arm out at a ninety degree angle to balance a keyboard on a chair with a pillow on it to hold the keyboard at the perfect range to actually work, I managed to type out my two previous posts as my cry for help. I wish I were kidding when I say it took me about 20 minutes to get each one written. It seems like you should get some sort of better quality for something that takes that much time.

    This morning I was reunited with my laptop for what could be the most mind numbing bit of computer system training in the history of the free world. They tried to spice it up with little games and riddles, but really? Really? Can you make sitting in a windowless room in the basement of a hotel for 8 1/2 hours fun? Because if you can, I’d like to meet you.

    We finally finished our long day and had to go straight to a mandatory dinner. I’m telling y’all these people have no sense of anything that is important. As if confiscating my laptop wasn’t enough, they caused me to miss the season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy. I can’t say any more about that or I may cry.

    Oh I know I’ll watch it tomorrow on my DVR but it’s not the same. If I had been home I could’ve opened up a bag of Sour Patch Kids and spent a little time with McDreamy, McVet, and the gang. It was truly painful to look at the time and know that there was no way I was going to be back to the hotel in time to watch and I KNOW pain because I currently have braces on my teeth.

    The only consolation is that when I finally got back to my room at 8:51 (oh cruel fate), I was able to get a wireless connection for the bargain basement price of $9.95 (I don’t even want to think about what I’d have been willing to pay) and here I am. The problem with corporate America is that they don’t always appreciate what is really important…like that I have a blog that maybe six people are waiting to read and Grey’s Anatomy.

  • They can take my laptop, but they’ll never take my freedom

    I am in day 2 of being under seige with no laptop. So here I am using the TV internet which requires me to hold the keyboard right in front of the TV while typing.

    Did I mention it’s worse than dial up?

    Hard to believe, but it is y’all, it is.

  • Put your hands together for modern technology

    Did y’all know that you can get internet access on your T.V. in hotel rooms? Neither did I until desperation drove me to find a way to get online.

    I’m out of town for ironically, some computer training and the first thing they did when I arrived was take my laptop from me. I immediately began to experience symptoms of withdrawal. Then I noticed that TV internet was listed under menu options and a chorus of angels began to sing.

    The COMPUTER on T.V.? That should be high tech, but sadly it may be worse than dial up. So with that sad realization, I’ll say Goodnight.

  • 100 things about Big Mama

    In blog tradition, this is my 100th post so here are 100 things about me otherwise known as maybe a great way to put yourself to sleep.

    1. I was born in Houston, TX

    2. The year was 1971

    3. My hair was so thick and long that it was down to the middle of my back at 2 years old

    4. I wish it was still that thick and long

    5. Sadly, pregnancy did some irreversible damage

    6. Talk about big hair, you should’ve seen me in the 80’s

    7. My first real memory is the day we brought my little sister home from the hospital

    8. She is 3 years and 9 months younger than me

    9. My parents divorced when I was 9

    10. My sister and I lived with my mom

    11. We moved to Beaumont when I was 12

    12. My dad drove to see us every other weekend

    13. Sometimes we rode a Greyhound bus to Houston to see him

    14. My Mema and Papa would take us to the bus station to catch the bus

    15. Mema always packed my sister and me a sack lunch

    16. There was always a can of Coke and some Nutter Butters in the lunch

    17. I loved going to the bus station because they had a Ms. Pacman game and Papa had an unlimited supply of quarters.

    18. I didn’t really like riding the bus

    19. One time I caused my little sister to wet her pants because I made her finish her Coke so that I wouldn’t have to hold it for her

    20. My dad called me on the phone every night of my life

    21. He still does

    22. I didn’t realize when I was younger what a rare man he is

    23. I do now

    24. After we moved to Beaumont we lived down the street from my grandparents

    25. When I was 11 my sister got the chicken pox and I purposely tried to get them too so that I could stay home from school

    26. It worked

    27. I was sorry about one day into my pox affliction

    28. My favorite subject in school was English

    29. I was in honors classes

    30. Except for any subject related to math

    31. I failed Algebra II my junior year in high school

    32. My senior year I had to take Geometry and Algebra II at the same time so that I could get into Texas A&M

    33. I still have nightmares about it

    34. I brought my teacher apple fritters every morning and I’m pretty sure that’s the only reason I passed the class.

    35. I chose my major based on what would require the least amount of math

    36. I took Business Math 141 and made a D

    37. I was thrilled to make a D

    38. I took two semesters of Japaneses in college

    39. The only thing I remember is “Hajimimoshte” which means how do you do?

    40. It took me 5 years to graduate from school

    41. Mainly because I wanted to stay for one more football season

    42. My last semester I only took 4 hours

    43. I had a lot of free time

    44. My dad bought me a briefcase for graduation which was his way of saying “I’m so proud of you but you have to go get a job”

    45. I got a job selling financial products and helping people invest for retirement

    46. Which was kind of ironic considering I’m not good at math and can’t really balance my checkbook (I didn’t mention that in my interview)

    47. I had that job for 2 years

    48. I wasn’t sad when it was over

    49. P and I got married August 16, 1997

    50. It was a noon wedding on the hottest day of the year

    51. I loved, loved, loved my wedding dress

    52. P and I waited 5 years to have a baby

    53. I love being a mom more than I can express

    54. It’s my favorite thing I’ve ever done

    55. It’s also the hardest thing I’ve ever done

    56. The first year after I had Caroline I self medicated with plain M&M’s

    57. I spent many nights praying she would sleep and bargaining with God

    58. I hold no nostalgia for those days

    59. Although I’d pay a million dollars to smell her little baby sweetness one more time

    60. My favorite movie ever is Gone with the Wind

    61. I’ve seen it more times than I can count

    62. I’ve probably got a little more Scarlett in me than Melanie

    63. If I love a book I’ll read it over again at least once a year

    64. I’ve read Lonesome Dove and Gone with the Wind several times

    65. I’ll also watch Lonesome Dove on DVD about once a year

    66. I may have a small crush on Robert Duvall as Gus McRae

    67. My favorite food is Mexican food

    68. I love chips, salsa and queso and could eat it everyday

    69. I also have a major weakness for chocolate chip cookies, especially the dough

    70. I’m not really a candy person but when I crave candy it’s always Sour Patch Kids

    71. I obviously have a very sophisticated palate

    72. I love getting pedicures but not necessarily manicures

    73. I have a stomach like cast iron and can truly have a stomach bug one day and eat a Frito pie later that night.

    74. I love watching sports

    75. Watching a team win a championship will make me cry 4 out of 5 times

    76. I myself am not an athlete

    77. I did play soccer in high school, but just because my best friend talked me into it.

    78. I was more of a cheerleader/dance team kind of girl

    79. It takes alot to make me mad

    80. I get my feelings hurt easier than most people would think because I tend to act a little thicker skinned than I am

    81. I’m usually quick to forgive because I don’t like feeling angry at someone

    82. I hate making decisions and would usually rather someone else make them

    83. I don’t have a large group of friends but the ones I have are friends for life

    84. I tend to seem a little quiet in groups of people I don’t know

    85. I am anything but quiet around my friends

    86. In fact, one time P came running into the house because I was cutting up and talking so loud to Gulley on the phone that he thought I was hurt

    87. My first car was a Honda CRX

    88. I drove it for 8 years and by the end it had duct tape on the front fender and you couldn’t open the doors from the inside, so you had to roll down (manually) the window from the inside and reach out to open the door.

    89. My dad never understood how I could run up a $100.00 a month gas bill with a Honda in a small town like College Station

    90. I admit I sometimes may have bought adult beverages for myself and my friends at the gas station

    91. One of the best experiences of my life was going to Sicily four years ago and getting to see the towns where my great grandparents were born

    92. It gave me a whole new appreciation for my family history and I didn’t understand the meaning of ancient until I saw the ruins of Greek temples

    93. We went to the Vatican and I started crying when I walked in St. Peter’s because my mind couldn’t wrap around the beauty

    94. Our camera got stolen the last night of the trip and it still makes me sick to think of the pictures that we’ll never have

    95. The memories of that trip will stay with me forever

    96. The thing I worry about the most is am I being the best mom I can be to Caroline

    97. Some days the answer is yes, but others it’s no

    98. The most important thing in the world to me is being a good wife and mother

    99. I want to live the life that God has intended for me to live

    100. I feel more blessed than I ever imagined and even during the struggles I know that I have been given much, and in return hope to give back just as much