A Gobblie Green Kind of Day

Ah, the Winder, Georgia, super store. Seldom have I been that I have not witnessed some sort of bizarre event. I remember the shoplifting lady who had been chased from the store and was being detained in a buggy corral awaiting police, shouting and threatening people with a stick. I remember standing in the self-check line around Christmas and having a little boy no older than four come up and grab my rear end while snickering about my "booty." Like I said...it's always something. Today was no different.

On Charley's days off, I sometimes like to escape my house ALONE and clear my head, even if that means grocery shopping. As most of you know, I do not like grocery shopping. This is because I do not like cooking. The only part of this process that I like is the eating, and thankfully Charley is a wonderful and willing chef. So, an hour or so looking at groceries, while still time away from the grind, is still a little stressful. I finally made it to the checkout with a full buggy and waited in line nearly forever before it was my turn. The cashier, a girl of about 20 I'd guess, didn't greet me or say a word as she started unceremoniously dragging my items over the scanner. She got about halfway through my order when suddenly she looked up at me and said, "I'm not going to be able to finish." Concerned she might be ill, I asked her if she was okay. "I quit," she said. "Pardon me," I asked. "I quit. I'm not working here anymore." She turned around, put the last thing she scanned in a bag, and turned on her assistance light. I guess I should be thankful for that.

Was it something I had purchased? Had she just seen one too many gallons of milk or packs of toilet paper? Perhaps it was the stress of not knowing if it was red lettuce or romaine. I'm not sure. My order didn't have anything that wouldn't scan properly, I never argued a price, and compared to some customers I've seen in there I was probably the nicest she was likely to encounter. But still, she QUIT HER JOB right in the middle of scanning my groceries. So finally a customer service manager came over to investigate the blinking light. She looked at me and asked where the cashier had gone. "Home I guess," I said, "She told me she quit." "Dang!" said the CSM, "That's the second one today!"

Some of you know how much I love nail polish. I keep putting off a professional pedicure because I usually don't have much time without Harry in tow. So, I keep doing them myself and trying to schedule a professional one so that I can be comfortable in my sandals. Yesterday I sat down with my beautiful new Gargantuan Green Grape. This is a FUN color. It looks like mint ice cream with a hint of lime. It's fabulous. I sat in my bedroom floor while my polish dried and Harry ooohed and aaahed over my new toes. Suddenly he jumped up and ran off, coming back with something in his little hand.

Most of you who know Harry well know that he loves him some super heroes. Villains, too. He loves his Hulkie, his Orangie (Thing), his Surfie (Silver Surfer), his Man (Spider), but most of all he loves his Gobblie (Green Goblin). We have all kinds of Gobblie in our house, and his favorite is a Green Goblin stunt motorcycle. He plopped Gobblie down next to my foot and proudly said, "Gobblie Green." It was a perfect match. So, that color will be Gobblie Green from now on, and it inspired me to rewrite an older country song. Something about John Deere green...

Here it is...Gobblie Green!

"Both her girls said that she should've used red

but it looked good to Har-ry...

in Gobblie Green"

Finally, the kindergarten presentations of this week finished, I decided it was time to release some of my baby mantids into the yard. I still have more to hatch and I kept some of this batch to raise inside, but for the most part I let them go on the roses and hydrangeas. The roses are in bad need of a mantis family to come take care of the aphid population, as you'll see from the pictures. Harry was particularly fascinated with the mantis release. He doesn't remember this ceremony from last year. I took the container outside and carefully placed each little baby onto a flower or leaf.

I love this one...they look like little scientists discussing a big discovery.

You people thought I was joking!

"What mantis doing?"

"The mantis is going to eat bad bugs so Mama's flowers can be healthy."

"Oh, good mantis. Mantis eat Harry?"

"No, no, mantis won't eat Harry."

"Good. Mantis need to eat Chance."

So we released the little babies, me hoping they thrive and multiply and that I'll see them as the summer goes on, and Harry hoping they catch Chance outside, alone, unsuspecting...

The upcoming weekend and next week looks to be incredibly busy. I need to sit down with a calendar for May and make sure I don't have any overlapping commitments. Perhaps I'll hit Charley with this when he brings me home his elusive schedule tonight. Have a great Friday, everyone!

Insects and trees...Mother Nature at her finest

Long, long ago in a city not so far away, I had aspirations of becoming a teacher. I imagined passing on my love of literature to young people, or perhaps conducting science experiments in front of eager little eyes. As a matter of fact, when I applied to (all hail) The University of Georgia in the fall of my senior year, I even chose English education as my intended major.

The summer before I started college, my father scored for me Gwinnett County’s dream job for teenagers…a camp counselor with the Parks and Recreation Department. To make a long story short, it was during that summer that I realized I was not teacher material, and come fall, I couldn’t beat a path fast enough to my academic advisor to change my major. I was not meant to be a teacher.

I tell you all this to set the stage for what I did today. My daughter Maisy is in kindergarten at West Jackson Primary School, and has been pestering me for months to bring my praying mantids for show and tell. When I was contacted last week by her teacher and told it was “Insect Week,” I finally gave in and agreed. It was going to be a small little presentation, in front of Maisy, her 17 classmates and the Maisy heroines known as Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Chambers. Later last week, Mrs. Baker asked if I would mind if another class came to watch. By the end of last week, I was slated for a presentation in all six kindergarten classes.
So today was the day, and Maisy was beside herself with excitement. I arrived at 9:30 and the fun began. I have to hand it to the teachers…they have done a wonderful job with insect week. The kids knew all about molting and exoskeletons and incomplete metamorphosis. So I was able to use my big words and rest easy knowing they understood.

This is my mantis visual, and here I am getting crickets out to feed the hungry insect.

The kids were wonderful, asked good questions and were well behaved. By the time I left the first presentation, I felt confident although I was dripping sweat and losing my voice. The second one went even better than the first, with that particular teacher showing a real interest in the insects and even following me around sniffing my perfume. The last presentation, while still enjoyable, started going downhill. In a croaky voice I answered one question after another, not from the students, but from one of the teachers (I am not sure which one, as there were four in the room).
“I’ve always heard mantises (it’s mantids, lady) were poisonous. Is that true?”
“Aren’t they kind of creepy and weird?”
“Is it true if a mantis looks you in the eye that you’ll die?” (REALLY, TEACH?)
“I once saw a mantis that was three feet long. What kind was that?” And the final kicker…
“Aren’t you afraid you are going to run your husband off with all those bugs in the house?”

I have to credit the children in that class. They showed excitement and wonder in spite of their teacher (whoever she was) and I left there thinking I had added to their day. I hope so, anyway. But I am still glad I’m not a teacher.


Yesterday we had a wind storm in Hoschton that finally brought down the pine in the side yard. Well, I should say brought down half the pine in the side yard. Thankfully when the tree fell, it fell straight back toward the woods, missing the fence, the road and the neighbor’s yard. This is the same tree that has worried our across the street neighbor for four years. She was constantly “suggesting” we remove the tree, sending tree surgeons over to our house only to have them pronounce the tree healthy, and in general letting our tall Georgia pine ruin her life. While I know she is happy the tree is down, this opens up a whole new realm of worry for her…how long will it take us to remove the tree? Let’s see…with professional tree removal not part of our budget, I would say probably about six of Charley’s days off, spread over several weeks and assuming good weather on all those days and assuming that Charley doesn’t get fed up and decide to leave it where it is so that Good Neighbor can observe it every day as she drinks her morning coffee and gets indigestion from the sight of the tree. She came over and said, “Aren’t you glad one of your children wasn’t under it when it fell?” What kind of question is that? I can think of lots of things I prefer to be flattened by a tree, and my children aren’t even on the list. This is what remains of the bottom of the tree...
and this is the top of the tree.


In between the kindergarten presentation and the tree fiasco, I got the mail out of the box and was pleased to see an invitation to Honors Day at the high school. This means one thing…that Caitlyn is receiving at least one teacher’s yearly award for excellence. I could not be prouder. She has taken on a heavy schedule this year, with all the honors and AP classes she could possibly fit in, while also carrying a huge burden as stage manager for the winter play, Science Olympiad competitor and secretary, and all-around dependable student. The guessing will be fun to see which of her eight teachers chose her for their award. My bet is on the biology teacher, but Charley’s is on the government teacher. She doesn’t agree with him politically, but I think he respects her for speaking her mind and I think she’ll leave a lasting impression on him. Whatever it is, she has taken a delicious bite out of her first year of high school and has set the bar high for the rest of her years at JCCHS.

So we worked on the tree…all day long. Thanks to our good friend and Charley’s cousin Jeff for loaning us his chainsaw. We cleared all the fallen limbs and started on the large trunk of tree on the ground. As some of you may know, I am terribly allergic to pine and pine oil, a condition that makes things like Christmas and living in Georgia somewhat difficult. However, with the help of a good allergy pill I persevered. All was well until I stabbed myself with the largest pine needle ever observed by man. Within a minute I felt like I had been shot up with a crazy drug. I could literally feel the poison coursing through my veins.

Pine-induced hives. They will fade in a few hours with the help of some good old Uncle Ben(adryl).

That’s when we called it a day. Never fear, the pine will eventually be moved, but it is time to move on to more important things, like the grilled steak Charley promised me, and the tent he put on the deck for the kids to enjoy our stargazing adventures tonight. Who knows? The tent might even be visible from across the street, where it might distract Good Neighbor just long enough to forget the tree is still there.

Playing catch up...a few photos

I couldn't start this thing off without sharing a few photos. Most are random, just some things I thought I'd share. Keep in mind that while I enjoy taking pictures, photography is not one of my sharper skills.

My current favorite picture of us.

One of my favorite views...downtown Athens through the Arch.

One of my favorite new colors...Gargantuan Green Grape.



My prized line of orange and brown nail polish.

Another favorite view...a Friday, whenever in the week Friday happens to fall.

Chance playing quietly in the yard.

White roses by mailbox...future home of hundreds of Carolina mantids.

A rare sight...ALL the glass bowls clean at once.

Baby Carolina mantis, born 4/24/10

My newly decorated typeface bathroom.

I adore the insect bulldog.

Cait, Chance and Maisy

Harry in all his Harry-ness

Finally, a comparison in celebration of my weight loss. The picture on bottom was taken in June 2009. The picture on top was taken this month. Still not where I want to be, but I'm almost there!

Listen to The Soundtrack of Life

The Start of a New Adventure

Well, I finally gave in and created a blog. Many of you have told me how you enjoy my stories on Facebook and in emails, but those outlets are limiting. I do have a lot to say, and a lot of photos to share, and I sometimes shy away from posting too much on social networking sites because I don't want to take up the entire news feed with Harry stories, mantis pictures or news of the latest meal Charley whipped up on the grill when I thought the cupboard was bare.

But since you have to CHOOSE to come here, I'll assume you are at least somewhat interested in what I have to say. Most days I feel like the ringmaster of a six-ring circus, the four smaller rings bringing the most delight and chaos to my daily activities. But this won't all be family stories. There is more to me than my role as a wife and mother, although nothing comes close to measuring up in importance. Some days you'll read about my insect hobby, some days it will be about my television shows and which ones I have sworn off for the LAST time. Other times you are sure to get an earful (eyeful?) about education issues, news, music, fitness, and current events. I'll try to stay away from politics since I have friends all over the political spectrum, from preachers to gay rights activists, and even a few who are both. If you know me well, you know where I stand politically, so we'll leave it at that.

Most days I'm sure to entertain you with at least one child story and at least one mantis photograph. Even on my worst days I can usually manage at least one of each. There may be days, however, when there is nothing posted. This doesn't mean nothing is going on, it just means I am too busy to get online but am collecting material for the next time. With a toddler on one end and a high schooler on the other, with two in between, life gets crazy sometimes. But at the end of the day, I am incredibly thankful for who I am and for what I have. I look forward to sharing this journey with you.