The Price of Children

Mother's Day passed in rather a blur this year...from The State Newspaper I am sharing excerpts from a Mother's Day article that was funny, sweet and in honor of Mom's and "mom-like" women everywhere...to those with their own children I honor you, to those without I honor you (most of you are "moms" anyway)

the following comments are from a group of second graders:

Why did God Make Mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is

2. Mostly to clean the house.

3. To help us out of there when we were getting born

What ingredients are Mothers made of?

1. God makes Mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world - one dab of mean.

2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

What kind of little girl was your Mom?

1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.

2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.

3. They say she used to be nice.

What's the difference between moms and dads/

1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work

2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.

3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.

4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your Mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time

2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.

2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it, not me.

The Price of Children:

"The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. That doesn't even touch college tuition...(skipping some)

It breaks down to about $24.24 a day, just over a dollar an hour...What do you get for your $160,140?

Glimpses of God every day. Giggles under the covers every night. More love than your heart can hold. Butterfly kisses and velcro hugs. Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds and warm cookies. A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kits. Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you have an excuse to: Keep reading "the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh". Watch Saturday morning cartoons. Go to Disney movies. And wish on stars. You get to frame rainbows, hearts and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day. For a mere $24.24 a day you get to be a hero for: Retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof. Taking the training wheels off a bike. Removing a splinter. Filling a wading pool. Coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs. In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power - to heal a boo-boo, scare aways the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is a quite a deal for the price." (May5, 2009 The State)

ALL THAT AND SO MUCH MORE AND IF YOU ARE REALLY LUCKY YOU MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOUR GROWN CHILDREN! YOU HAVE GRANDCHILDREN AND GET TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN (except for the yucky parts and we let THEIR Moms and Dads handle that stuff)

I am thankful for ALL the women that have impacted my life and those that continue to do so...Thanks Mom! We all nuture each other in so many ways. I hope each of you has a glorious weekend!!!

I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues

Queen of procrastination that I am...Pippa over at her porch had a game of capturing "the blues" last week...I am finally posting my finds...it has also gotten the song "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" by Elton John etched in my brain!

Seems like I can ALWAYS find a way to get the grandchildren into any project...I must confess these were not taken last week! (but...they capture blue)

Packed and ready to GO!!! Anyone still want to go on a road trip with me? I promise I'll use a map!

In the kitchen blues, a spot of herbal tea anyone? Or shall I cook something...hmmm...the recipe is here somewhere...

"Swiped" the lucky elephant from my Mom, she has "its" four brothers and sisters...I told her I would give it back after I took a picture and she said I could have her! Mom decided to decorate her bare tulip tree with a drawer full of Mardi Gras beads.

So, that's it for this past week's game of the blues! I guess that's why they call it the blues...friend that I am I did not put the song in the background of this post...because I am nice that way... anyone have any suggestions for getting it "unstuck" ?

Lessons from the Diva

Happy Birthday to the Diva...September 7...no current pictures from recent celebration as the floozies are being slackers and have not sent them to me! Love Ya'll anyway! We celebrated the Diva's birthday at Travinia's in true floozie fashion. A fun time was had by all. I have known Paula, aka as "The Diva" aka as my evil twin (some days I am the evil twin) The evil twin misnomer came by way of the Diva's students thinking we were sisters...we are sisters in spirit! I have known Paula approximately fifteen years...our daughters are the same age and quite frequently could be seen together. We have experienced grief, tragedy, divorces, joy, laughter, a series of adventures, workouts and everything in between! Paula came by the nickname Diva for a number of reasons, the main one being a mutual friend had a sign made for Paula referring to the Diva and the rest as they say is history or herstory! Paula has always been a swan, it took her a few years to totally embrace her beautiful persona. This is the woman my husband would leave me for if she were to have him, just kidding. Carl loves being around Paula but so do alot of other men, sorry Tom! In honor of this zany, crazy beautiful friend I have compiled a list of lessons learned from the Diva:

• You don't have to have a beautiful solo voice to sing in a choir, it's fun and it takes many voices to create a beautiful sound.
• Birthdays are too special to celebrate for just one day.
• Feathers and sparkles are a good thing.
• You can never have enough feathers, sparkles, black pants and tops.
• A little jewelry is great, more jewelry is better
• More is more!
• The joy of jacuzzi ownership
• Shopping is a good thing... it stimulates the economy
• Sometimes you have to let go of "friends" that drag you down or require more than you are willing or able to give or "cost" your well being in some way
• To enjoy excellent meals with good friends
• How to be a great hostess
• You can never have too many flamingos (that is a story for another day, while Kendall is responsible for the Diva thing alas I am responsible for the beginning of the Flamingo epidemic
• It's okay to be forked (not what you think, again a story for another post)
• Be Yourself and true to yourself, if someone doesn't like it...they are missing out
• Everyone is a potential friend
• The higher the hair the better

I could mention a few more things however the Diva is already very comfortable being fabulous...we wouldn't want her to get a "big head" The best lesson of all LIVE BIG OR GO HOME!!! So, again wishing the Diva a wonderful Birthday Month and then some. Much love from all your floozie friends!

And The Award for the Ugliest Hat Goes To....

Apparently this is the ugliest hat in existence. If you do not believe me, just ask my mother-in-law. She did not mention this once but approximately five times. She just didn't like this hat.

It felt wrong, the color was wrong and on and on. She hated for me to take it back but she JUST DID NOT LIKE IT! Said chapeau was her Mother's Day gift along with a lovely scarf with muted tones of blue, chocolate brown, off white. She generally wears extremely neutral colors. As to the scarf, her first response was " I have tons of scarves", however, she did like the scarf and kept it. Whether or not she will wear it would be a blog post for another day! I take great pleasure and a ridiculous amount of time and effort selecting just the right gift for someone. I only select items that I myself would wear or enjoy. Most of my friends appear to be thrilled with their gifts. I put together really nice baskets. I have people ask me to do gift shopping for them. At one point in time, had she expressed displeasure with a gift I would have to leave the room or go home and cry! I have toughened up some. I guess this comes from eleven years of really bad gifts. How in the world can I get this wrong every time for every occasion? My mother-in-law is a kind and loving person, truly she is, to be fair she is recovering from cancer and her hair has not returned from the chemotherapy treatments. Once seeing the hat on her, I realized her head is a lot smaller than I thought, as she always had a permed, curled & teased hairdo. I can deal with the size being wrong. Could we just leave it at that? OH NO! I was out to dinner with friends, Jayne and Cindy and told the story of the hat. Jayne said, "Why don't you blog about it" I really thought that none of this bothered me, but I realized I have been on a slow simmering, stew on the back burner. Yes, my feelings are hurt. Can you just say thank you for your thoughtfulness??? So anyway, I have NO idea where the receipt or tags are for the awful hat so I will keep it for myself! It is waterproof, I LIKE the color, it has a soft cotton lining and is adjustable. It is perfect for hiking, rainy weather and keeping the sun off my very fair complexion! Her birthday is next week..........

Yard Shenanigans

Coming out of the fog of pain that was in my brain! Flowers and herbs were planted, children were enchanted. Finally, feeling sociable after a week of intense headaches. A delightful weekend was spent with family. On Saturday morning we attended a swap and social. Continetal breakfast was served and everyone brought stuff to trade. I mostly brought stuff to send to a new home. I did find some fabric to make a curtain for the hallway door and some craft stuff to add to my burgeoning supply. I am unable or unwilling to part with anything remotely crafty or artsy! One never knows when inspiration will strike and supplies must be on hand. I was able to start the herb garden. I am so excited. Please Grow!!! Sunday afternoon was spent admiring the flowers and herbs. The wee darlings decided they needed to rake and dig a bit. Everyone also thought it would be a great idea to roll down the sloping yard. Of course I landed in the swamp at the bottom, dizzy as heck. Yoga was demonstrated and practiced. Children played and romped and jumped as children are wont to do, reminding the "grown ups" of the sheer joy of sunshine, laughter and playing really hard! Oldest daughter said she was being artsy fartsy with her photographs! I think the pictures are some of my favorites to date. I am once again reminded to live every moment to the fullest and that LIFE IS SO GOOD!!!