Miss Marple

Note to self: You live in central Florida. If you wear a swim suit in the back yard while giving the dogs a bath, you will innocently scratch your back later that night, scream in pain, run to the mirror, and say "Ah. I guess I should have put on sun screen."


I have new role model. Miss Jane Marple. I would like to be friends with her. Then, we could have tea and she could tell me stories. And, we could lend each other sweaters - the long heavy kind that don't help your figure at all but are so wonderfully cozy to wear.

I shared my new role model with R and his response was that I have always wanted to be an old British lady. Which, is true of course, who wouldn't? Miss Marple has a lovely garden, reads fiction crime novels, has tea in the afternoon, gin in the evenings, and wears hats and long, bulky sweaters. Where is the drawback?

If you're not familiar with Agatha Christie novels or quality PBS programming I have added this link:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/marple/index.html
And I recommend watching, and reading, Miss Marple mysteries.

Debby

I require more attention than a newborn.

I am adorable. 

My breathe smells like fish. Dead fish.

Sweet Things

My husband is kind, considerate, a great father....and color blind. He gets up early before work to feed and spend time with Squirms - which also lets me sleep longer! 

One morning this week, this is how I found her dressed after her morning nap....please note that the yellow shorts also have tiny white polka dots....

My dad is color blind

I noticed we had three very ripe (so ripe I didn't want to eat them) bananas this morning. I took this as an opportunity to be adventurous and try something I've wanted to do for some time, but never actually done: Make Banana Bread. I went to my trusty Southern Sideboards cookbook from the ladies of the Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi.
I'll be honest. This bread is delicious. Thank you Mrs. John Gayden! Especially for the note that sour cream may be substituted for buttermilk - I debated using skim milk when I first read the recipe since I didn't have buttermilk, but am so glad I saw her note about sour cream instead. 

Ten Reasons....

....Tombstone (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108358/) is the greatest movie. ever.

1. Every line spoken by Doc Holliday.
2. It's a great movie to watch by yourself, or on girls night when you're the only one there.
3. Doc Holliday's character.
4. It distinguishes the difference between revenge (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/revenge) and reckoning (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reckoning).
5. Doc Holliday is the fastest and best gunfighter in the West. Which he hides by being wonderful at poker. And the piano.
6. One of the scenes includes a dialogue only in Latin. In wine is truth....
7. The main character's best friend, Doc Holliday, is awesome.
8. It is a beautiful portrayal of friendship.
9. It's just fun to repeat lines like I'm your huckleberry and Oh. Johnny, I apologize; I forgot you were there. You may go now. (Both of course by Doc Holliday) 
10. My sisters will even watch this with me.

Nicaragua - part of the journey

Good news, really, great news. We were awarded a small grant from Caring Connection for Squirmy's adoption! (I may try to post more about Caring Connections later) Part of completing the grant awarding process (term I just made up) is to submit our Adoption Journey Story, which I started writing tonight....then I got distracted by thinking about our trip to Nicaragua last summer right after we completed our adoption training class. And we have two wonderful friends about to travel to Nicaragua this month - so you should pray for them and the people they will be helping.


I wanted to share some photos from our trip last July and how the people we met are a part of our Adoption Journey Story.


Bethany (our adoption agency) holds two day training classes for prospective adoptive families. We finished the last day of adoption training (in Orlando) and went straight to our preparation meeting for Nicaragua (we were flying out the next day). We were a bit late and our pastor shared with the group why - of course we hadn't told anyone except our pastors, so we were a bit confused when everyone stared at us when we walked in, then starting offering congratulations! It was actually a relief and encouragement how excited everyone was for us.

Walking through the community to the church

The women from the local church who helped with Bible School were wonderful. All smiles, and very hard working. I will never forget helping them make treat bags, them teaching me to stretch the plastic on one edge of the opening so you could tie off the bag (it's more difficult than it sounds), and me answering their questions about children with news of infertility and hope of adoption - I had come from a much wealthier community to help their community, and they looked at me with such sympathy and compassion. Their reaction - immediate understanding of the pain - was very significant for me. 

The Church Building

I probably don't have to explain that I was tempted to sneak a small child or two back in my carry on luggage. Although, one child did bite R. Which was hilarious. 

Some homes near the Church Building

We did spend one day as tourists and got to see a very large lake (I'm sorry, I forgot the name of the lake). It was rather beautiful. And, there were homes on tiny islands.

Big Lake

One of the islands on the lake had monkeys! Sure, this is completely off topic of our adoption story, but it's a monkey. And now I can say I've become distracted from the distraction of my original task....

Monkey on an island

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

R got to take a nap - I promise he was actually sleeping here....even though Tanner was trying to convince him to come outside and play. It's hard to guess what Squirms is thinking here - Is Tanner going to try and lick my face again?

Why are both my hands in my mouth? 

What is that smell?  

And a fun fact about R as a father - he is already worried about Squirms wearing flashy stuff on her tush. Yes, I am actually serious - I had to convince him it was okay for a baby to wear tiny pants with cute animals on the bottom.

And Happy Father's Day to these guys

Dark Chocolate Raisinets

Did you know they make Dark Chocolate Raisinets? Now that I'm a trophy wife, a trip by myself to Target and enjoying raisinets and diet coke on the way home is one of the highlights of my week. I've also been consuming a lot, too much really, diet coke. The main character, Dr. Brennan, in the books I've been reading drinks diet coke ALL the time....and that has started to affect my diet.


I love three day weekends - R gets every other Friday off and it is awesome. This Friday we went to the local Social Security office to get Squirmy's retirement plan started (and her a social security card). It wasn't as bad as I was expecting - we came with all our forms and documents, and only waited about an hour and a half. Plus, the SS staff member we met was very friendly.

Squirms at the SS Office

We also got to visit a very sweet, very long, newborn baby boy (one of Squirms future buddies) Friday afternoon. This little guy lives on the beach! I'm excited that Squirms already has "friends".


This morning (I don't have any pictures) R went bike riding through a marsh! I slept in. We both had a great morning. I think the diet coke has accentuated my usage of exclamation points. Happy Three Day Weekend.   

Short Stories

Ten reasons I do not give health tips on this blog:
1. I make cookies for the purpose of eating cookie dough.
2. I had cookie dough for lunch. With a diet coke.
I don't think it's necessary to finish the list.


On another note, I wanted to share about a conversation that R and I had earlier this week. R was telling me about his day and I added a (hilarious) sarcastic comment, then laughed. R looked confused, then a little defensive. Then I looked confused. I re-explained my comment and he laughed and said: Oh, I misunderstood the placement of your modifier.
Then I started laughing for a different reason. Sometimes I'm startled by how intelligent my husband is, and how he thinks his intelligence is normal. He actually remembers and uses correct grammer. I probably should get him to proofread what I write.


We've also been experiencing Slobberfest 2012 at our house. Squirms is an excellent drooler now, and takes great joy in making spit bubbles and blowing raspberries. 
And tomorrow is Squirm's four month check up! I'm excited to see how much she weighs. Plus, I'm looking forward to how snuggly she will be after getting shots - I'm picturing spending the afternoon rocking her in our giant nursery chair.

Library and Roses

This week Squirms had her first visit to a library! She helped me pick out several mystery books and smiled when I told her that she had to be quiet in a library. She had such a great time, she feel asleep on the walk back home.

We visited the library because I've been on a kick to read all the Temperance Brennan books (by Kathy Reichs).  I've finished the first six and had to force myself to take a break from them yesterday....I have a problem putting books down. Possibly the only child whose parents had to tell her to stop reading and go outside and play. 

Awesome.

And, the 6th marked the anniversary of R and my first date. And he brought me roses.

Happy Anniversary R

I would try to push myself deep, dig my toes into the bottom, and bring up thick, smelly mud. We would jump from the top of the pontoon boat and splash into the dark water below. Learning to ski when I could barely ride a bike and competing with my cousin to see who would be the first to venture over the wake successfully. Trying to find a seat with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings all gathered on the screened in porch. The anticipation of waiting for the ice cream maker to finish.  

Sunday, May the 27th, R and I celebrated six years of marriage.  We spent the morning in Bear Creek, Alabama, and then the afternoon at Smith Lake.  It was one of the most romantic anniversaries we've shared. 

We went to a marriage conference at our church at the end of March.  I learned to never wear a flannel night gown.  I also really appreciated the way the speaker described romance:  Romance is a game.  She hides it.  The man has to find it.  Sometimes, she doesn't even know where she's hidden it.

In honor of our sixth anniversary as husband and wife, and my husband's ability to play the game, I compiled a list of romantic things he has done:
-We went hiking together before he asked me on a date.
-R took me to the Miracle Strip (theme park that used to be in Panama City that I visited as a kid) before it closed.
-He helped me get through Java lab II.
-He included hot cocoa in his proposal plans.
-R brought me bacon from a local meat market as a surprise gift.
-He surprised me with a weekend getaway to get me away from a stressful job.
-He gives me a piece of the bacon from any meal he orders that includes bacon as an ingredient.
-R often does the dishes.  Very often.
-He surprises me with books as gifts.
-He spent our sixth wedding anniversary (and the entire long weekend) with my extended family.  And was happy about it.

I am going to end this post before the discussion of why bacon was on the list twice comes up....

Weeding, Swinging, Hunting, and Fetch

All in our back yard today.
Squirms allowed me to pull some weeds during her early morning nap, and then in preparation for her afternoon nap she let me swing her to sleep.

This is the garden R planted this year

 and a lemon from the giant lemon tree.

We have two different types of tomatoes

 and R planted a crape myrtle for Squirms.

In the other back corner of the yard we have a banana tree.

Since I was outside I caught a glimpse of Shelby Ann hunting lizards....she keeps the canoe critter free

 and monitors the garden and fence line.

All while looking super cute (she is a girl).

Tanner played fetch.  Or, really, posed unknowingly for pictures while I held the bone hostage, promising to throw it....

 

 Why are you taking a picture and not throwing my bone?  I am handsome.  And disappointed.

Week in Review

The word of the week is Laundry.  And sinus and cold medicine.  And ice cream.


I waited until mid-week to remind R that we had ice cream in our freezer. I had been eating it as an afternoon snack while he was at work. Please understand that while I normally don't hide desserts so I can eat them all myself....wait....I actually do that quite often....in my defense, I don't usually get more than one bowl of ice cream at our house. Once R knows it's there, it doesn't stay around long. This week is an example - I told R about the rocky road on Wednesday night and it is now Friday morning.  And there is no more rocky road.


Also in the news (household news) Squirms sat in her bumbo seat for the first time yesterday, and Tanner has had a scary week due to afternoon thunderstorms.  Shelby Ann has no news to report, she is indifferent.