Not So SAHM

Wild Life

As in, we have one. And as in, we saw lots of it while at the beach in Pensacola.

In all my times at the beach I’ve never run across the wildlife that we did in just one day this past Saturday. Here are some photos of what we saw. And I’m warning you, this is photo heavy. What’s the saying? “When you can’t say it with words, say it with pictures”? I think I just made that up. I’m going to go Wikipedia that or something.

Some type of leopard stingray:

Obviously we didn’t see this exact one. But thanks to Saurabh for getting such a good shot of this one. I’ve never seen a stingray in the open waters before and this trip we saw two different ones.

This one was in Perdido Bay, off the dock of my aunt and uncle.

We also saw these:

Yes, my squeamish friends, those are the largest jelly fish I’ve seen in the Gulf in my life. Not that that means anything. Fortunately most of the ones we saw were already baking on the sand. We only eyed a couple floating in the water.
While swimming in the water we also these:

Again, not my photo. It’s theirs, but you get the idea. There were packs, or schools, or whatever you call a group of dolphins or porpoises. They were having just as much fun playing as we were. The whole beach would gasp and thrill at the same time when Flipper’s buddies would jump out of the water.

Fortunately our wildlife didn’t look like this:

Thanks BBC for that photo.

No, our wildlife looked more like this:

No critiquing the stance please. How fun is that–to hit balls into the Bay!

And our wildlife looked more like this:

We all Wii.

And it looked more like this:

Hurricane? What hurricane? We brave the winds brought to us by Gustav to eat lunch outdoors on Sunday. This was my feeble attempt to keep my hair out of my face while eating.

And one last shot.

Who wouldn’t want to keep coming back to this? This is Heaven on Earth to me.

Sand, Surf and Sentiments

Pensacola. That name might not mean much to you. To me it means:

Beach
The most beautiful sand in the world
Fresh seafood
Fun
The Blue Angels
Mischief
FAMILY
a little midget house that will forever be a part of my childhood

I was born in Pensacola. What some may call Lower Alabama I call birthplace. And when I’m actually here I like to call it home. The familial waters run deep here, both maternal and paternal, and the mix is more sweet than salty.

We moved away from Pensacola when I was four. I don’t think you ever lose a love for your birthplace though. There’s some mysterious draw that connects me to this city…even though I couldn’t make my way around to save my life. I have little memories of living here, yet I consider it to be the one of my favorite places in the world.

Perhaps I love it so much because, even though I don’t remember living here I remember well enough visiting again and again throughout the years. I remember my grandmother, Mamaw, had interesting toys for us to play with. Toys like hair spray caps, and tupperware. Along with regular toys those stretched my imagination and forced me to be creative. I remember getting to sleep back to back with her.

I remember most coming down here to visit my cousins, all three around my age. There were crazy golf cart rides; impromptu baseball games where I’d slam the bat into a car (by accident); horribly gross liquid concoctions left out for the would be “bad guy” who would come by the house and take a drink because he just knew it was chocolate milk; a shaving cream balloon fight that left us completely covered and wandering the neighborhood asking for a razor; swimming in the gulf after a hurricane and stumbling across a filing cabinet and headlight in the shallow water; swimming in the gulf and watching the Blue Angels practice maneuvers overhead…

I get approximately two days to enjoy the sand, surf, food and family. And I’m going to be sentimental throughout it all. I wish desperately that I had pictures to show you of my childhood in Pensacola. I may just be able to get a picture of that midget house.

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Now that I have that out of my system. You must go to Blog Around the World and see who and what Debbie is talking about today! Best Posts of the Week is up today with 22 posts!! Thanks to all my regular readers who submitted posts. And those of you who didn’t…there’s always next weekend. It’s the best content in the blogosphere!

Friday 13: Thoughts

Don’t forget to send your Best Post of the Week to me! I’m pointing specifically to Tori and Leigh Anne who’ve told me they’ll play. I’m also pointing at those of you who have a blog and don’t think there’s a good post to submit. Best is relative, so pick the one that you like and send it to me!

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There’s a lot to do today and a little time to do it. I’m already behind. I have a couple of ideas for Friday 13s, but not enough time to prepare them right now. So today, for your reading pleasure, you’re going to get a sneak peek inside my brain…ready?

Friday 13: 13 Thoughts I’m Having

I’m excited for the weekend because we’re going to play at the beach. White sand. Sun. Heat.
I’m excited because we can eat fresh seafood. Straight from the water fresh, not “frozen immediately after catch and flown across country” fresh, which is what my grocery store likes to call fresh.
I’m a little unsure if we’ll get to even enjoy the white sand, sun and heat because there’s this big thing called a tropical storm (or is it a hurricane now?) coming in. What idiotsweather challenged people actually go south to vacation in the midst of a budding hurricane? We’re not thrill seekers.
I’m a little convicted after reading more of Respectable Sins. How ungodly are you? “…so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:10) Is everything I’m doing fully pleasing to Him? If not that’s ungodly. I’ve got some house cleaning to do and I ain’t speakin’ literally.
I’m excited with the overall progress of school this year. We’re already done with four weeks. And we’re both still enjoying it for the most part! Homeschoolers, can I get an amen for that?!?!
I need to become more creative during school, especially math time. I’m sure Reagan could enjoy math more. I just have to find some cool games to pay to help memorize addition and subtraction facts. Or songs to sing…
Du & I went to a marriage conference a couple of weekends ago. I can’t believe I haven’t blogged about this yet. If thee is married, get thee to a marriage conference and soon. We’re not even having problems, but do you know what a marriage conference can do?
I’m kind of wanting to listen to a little Southern gospel. Can’t imagine that will fly with Du. Maybe we can mix it with a little Skillet. What a combo. Wait, haven’t heard of Skillet? Get thee to this website then. And watch this: Yes, they’re a Christian band. On second thought, maybe we’ll just blast this on our trip.
I need to spend more one on one time with Ashlyn. A friend gave me a good idea last night. She has four children and gives each of them their own special day each week. She spends time alone with that child on his/her special day. I only have two so mind could have three special days each…
It’s come to that time of Summer when I still long for the hot days, yet I’m looking forward to the cooler weather that Fall brings. If only we could enjoy it in New England again. If you ever get the chance to drive through New England during the changing of the leaves you must do it. I called that trip our Fruity Pebble vacation. The hills were alive, not with music, but the with looks of a giant bowl of Fruity Pebbles. Like how my mind works?
I’ve made numerous friends here already. Usually it takes me a while to get into friendship mode. And then to make close friends takes a year…or two…and then it’s time to move again. So, I’m glad I’m connecting earlier.
I actually applauded Obama for one thing he said last night. I’m paraphrasing but he said that it’s not just the government’s responsibility to help families. Responsibility rests on the shoulders of parents. I disagree wholeheartedly that the government has any responsibility in my day to day life, but kudos to him for actually admitting and being willing to give parents some responsibility. It all starts at home. It doesn’t matter how sugar daddy the government is, if you’re not taking care of your own then they won’t flourish. Oh, I agreed with two things. He also said something about individual and mutual responsibility. Maybe they were in the same sentence, who knows. I agree with that sentiment, although I’m pretty sure by “mutual” we’d have different ideas of what that actually means.
My husband and kids got me flowers last night on their Daddy Date. Am I the most blessed wife/mother in the world or what?

Well, dear daughter just walked in and is hungry. And I must get this day started. Have a wonderful weekend. Get your posts submitted to me. And think about Who you’re glorifying in everything you do. It’s humbling.

Best Posts of the Week

Today’s Story Time, Interactive Style is going to take a leetle detour. I still want your comments, but for a different reason…

!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!

I’m starting a new blog! It may sound crazy, but I think it’s going to help a lot of people. I’m philanthropic like that…

I know! Doesn’t it just sound cool! And the blog is too cute. And there’s even a button you can snag and add to your sidebar!

Here’s the thought process behind Best Posts:

I’ve mentioned before how many blogs I’m subscribed to. It’s almost embarrassing, but not quite. I love reading stories about people’s lives. It’s so hard to find time to visit all of the blogs though everyday. To leave comments on a regular basis is even harder. Then when I add in all of things I’m supposed to be doing guilt sets in. Can I get an amen?

That got me thinking. What if there was a blog that consolidated the best posts each week?!?! Bloggers and readers would win. Readers would get the great content they desire–in one area. Like an über Google Reader. The bloggers get readers who are actually interested in reading the post for what it is, a great post–not just another post in their Reader that they almost “marked as read” without even reading it (guilty as charged).

Doesn’t that sound great!?! Don’t you (please won’t you) want to join in and help me out!?!

Here’s what I’m asking you, my wonderful, fabulous, amazing regular readers to do (and anyone else who stumbles upon this post):

On Friday (tomorrow) decide which post was your best post published during the week. Email me with the link to that post and the link to your blog. I’m going to consolidate all the posts I receive and put them in list form and publish the list Saturday morning.

My peeps, help me get this off the ground! Send me a link to the best post you’ve written this week by Friday afternoon! And if you really have pity on me like me, then grab the button and wear it with pride on your own blog! Thank you kindly!

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Now, for last week’s gem. This cat is one “special” cat. He and his brother are truly good cats. They just have little isms that we, as humans, can’t quite get used to. Like how Buzz, the one in the picture, likes to prop himself up against walls. Or like how both of them are wool suckers. Oh no, I’m not making that term up. They both like to “nurse” on fabric. It’s more than a little weird, but not all that uncommon from what I read. Apparently they were weaned too early from their mother. I took the picture just to document how Buzz likes to recline. Little did I know his inner self would shine through. I’m a proud mama…

Worst Mommy, Crybaby Mommy

I began this post yesterday by telling you about the majority of our visit to the pediatric dentist. Needless to say I was already a little tired and having my moon made me emotional as well.

After the girls were done we were ushered into one of the consultation rooms and left to wait for the hygienist. She came in and sat down across from us. “Let’s see,” she begins, “looking at R’s chart she has one, two, three…(silence while counting, because you can’t talk at the same time counting that high)…eight, nine cavities.” I couldn’t hold my tongue. “NINE!?!” Immediately Reagan buried her head in my arm. I wished I could have cut my tongue out of my mouth. I know how bad I feel when I have teeth issues, and I just reinforced those issues into my daughter. How horrible of a mother could I be? I held her tightly, as tightly as I could with Ashlyn squirming and whining on my left knee.

The hygienist then began to talk about treatment options. I was glazing over though thinking about how I just made my daughter cry. Just made her feel bad in front of me. Not for doing something wrong, but just for having teeth problems. The hygienist finally quit when the dentist came in to go over the xrays. She took her place across from us. “Hmm, I see a lot of crowding in there. There are a lot of teeth vying for their places.” “Yes, I had a lot of crowding too. Had to get a lot of teeth pulled because of that.” My mind begins to wonder if she’ll have to go through the trauma I went through. “Here,” the dentist begins, “are where the front four bottom teeth should be. I don’t really see any teeth down there though.” Wha? All I could manage to whisper was, “there might not be adult teeth down there?” She had the hygienist take Reagan back to the chair to get another xray of the front of her mouth. As soon as Reagan was out of the room I broke down. I couldn’t stand the thought of her having to go through teeth pulling after teeth pulling just to make room in her mouth, and then to have to be fitted for implants for four front teeth.

The dentist felt so bad for me she came around and gave me a hug. Then she got me tissues. I love the compassion of women. I couldn’t even express why I was upset. I knew I had to regain composure before Reagan came back in. And when she did I was composed, and the good news was that there are four adult teeth down there. She will have to see the orthodontist soon because one adult tooth isn’t where it should be and is covering up a six-year molar that should be pushing through the gum soon.

The Not So SAHM women are strong when we need to be (like during the moving process we just went through). But there are times (thank you moon) when we sob and bawl like the best of babies. Lord help Du.

Tornado at the Dentist’s Office, or…

How I’m the Worst Mother In The World
and the Females of the Not So SAHM Household are all crybabies….

This morning we awoke to the local tornado siren going off. We just moved from the Midwest–I thought we had escaped the tornadoes. Apparently not when there’s a tropical storm wreaking as much havoc as she can before dissipating somewhere over Canada or something. In reality, we flew over the bad storms that screamed through here in February (and I blogged a little about that), so I knew there was a possibility of funnels. The threats were just that, and we had prayed fervently that that’s all they would be. Not having a basement, and not having any room that is in the center of the house that can be closed off for safety, we felt like sitting ducks.

The real tornado hits while we are at the dentist office. This one isn’t a spinoff of Faye. It is a little spinoff called Ashlyn. Are you even surprised? As we pull into the parking lot of the dentist office we are immediately in awe. The front of the office is a caboose. This is strictly a child’s dentist office, see. Ashlyn is none the wiser that we are at a medical establishment. We are all happy (dare I say excited?) to walk inside.

Once we get inside Ashlyn sees that some people are dressed in funny outfits and becomes not so happy. It’s probably because, oh, I don’t know, she spent the last fall and winter in the doctor’s office for her ear infections? Who can blame her? We are ushered over to the caboose, which is the waiting area, and she loses all sense of fear (for the time being). Tornado Ashlyn takes over.

First, she’s at the tv.
Next, she’s at the tea sets.
Next, she’s at the kid-sized, plastic rocking horses, which she dragged over to the tv.
Next, she’s yelling because she can’t climb up a ladder to a chair that overlooks the parking lot, like Reagan was able to.
Next, she’s back over to the rocking horses.
Next, she has run out of the caboose room to another “big kid” room where she’s playing peek-a-boo with a mother waiting for her child.
This is when I Twitter: “title of my next post: Tornado at the Dentist Office” instead of corralling her.
Rocking horse, stairs, tea sets…
Rocking horse, stairs, tea sets…

I think we’re going to rename her “Taz”.

the stairs are out of the picture to the right

We do our time in the waiting room and are finally called back to…another smaller “consultation” room (where waiting is done as well). This is where the hygenist gets to test me and ask me if the girls have ever seen a dentist before?, how many times do they brush?, what do they drink?, do we floss?, Alabama or Auburn? It almost goes that far (and around here you are for one or the other…Roll Tide). During the interrogation litany of questions Ashlyn takes advantage of the fact that Mommy’s on the defensive answering questions and darts over to the other “consultation” room to play with one of those ‘beads on various wires’ toys (just like the one at home she never is interested in). I will never look cross at another mother who cannot control her kid out in public, because I just became her.

I’m going to gloss over the part where they try to take both girls back to the chairs without me and Ashlyn screams like she’s having her teeth pulled that very second, and get to the part where we’re all back there together and Ashlyn’s screaming like she’s having her teeth pulled. This office really is cool, and I almost wish I could be a patient myself. The back room is just a big play room with five or six dentist chairs and requisite equipment interspersed amongst the toys. They get to take the toys to the chairs with them and get to pick life-sized stuffed animals to sit with, but kids aren’t dummies and they know when they’re being worked on. I’m not even going to think about the sanitary issues with stuffed animals and toys…so please don’t you think about it either. K?

Reagan did very well and was a trooper. She had her teeth x-rayed and the dentist poked and prodded around in her mouth for a couple of minutes. Ashlyn, still in tornado mode, would have nothing of laying back in a reclined dentist chair all by herself. I’m sure she gave every kid there a case of hives. They’ll all need therapy after that scream. I ended up holding her arms while the dentist held her head. Just to stick a mirror in there and poke for a second.

Tomorrow I will finish the story, which makes the alternate title fully necessary and completely appropriate. My life is like a country song today: real storms and emotional storms wreaking havoc in my life. Prayers and pitty always accepted.

Right now Tornado Taz is sleeping off her torrential tirade. We all know though that tornadoes can touch down more than once…