Outhouses

My great Aunt Annie had an outhouse in her back yard. Fortunately, it was no longer in use as she also had indoor plumbing. We kids were not allowed to go near the outhouse because we were told there might be snakes in it. This was enough to make my brother steer well clear of the outhouse, but made me want to go into it even more. I wanted to see the snakes.

This is an appropriate picture for today, because it sort of symbolizes how I feel. Crappy. I'm going to go take a shower, feed the snakes, and try to get into bed early.

Old Barns

There is something very romantic about old barns. The bring back the days of a bygone era, a simpler time. Sunshine, new mown hay, kittens in the loft, fresh eggs, and the gentle lowing of milk cows.

Tonight was class night, and I think Sensei was trying to work off our holiday weight gain a bit early. My calves are still knotted from all that jumping we did. I did get to learn the last little bit of kusanku kata. I was almost done with it anyway, and I wanted to learn all of it before class let out for Christmas. Some dojos have class during the Christmas break, but we've always let out when school lets out. So few students show up that it isn't practical for sensei to open the dojo. However, THIS year, I have a key!
Speaking of Josh, he left his gi top at the dojo. James and I ran to the store and bought the brightest red lipstick we could find. Well, you can see from the picture what we did to Josh's gi. Now, I wouldn't do that to just anybody, but I knew Josh could take a joke. Even sensei was laughing about it. Or trying not to laugh...

As I was taking this picture, Josh asked, "Do I look violated?"

Birds and Trees

It was when I was trying to draw this bird from memory, that I realized that I don't know what anything really looks like. This looks more like one of those fake plastic parakeets that you put in a bird cage to keep your bird company.

And, of course, what a bird needs is a tree.


Now for an update on the bus saga. Here I was thinking Cody was being beaten by a bully, when I got the notice home from the school and Cody was BEING the bully. Yes, another kid was hitting him, but it was a kindergarten kid. Now I just have to think of a suitable punishment. He has already lost his computer for as long as he is off the bus, but that just doesn't seem enough.

What I need is a hot bubble bath and some egg nog...

Speaking of Christmas, in a recent poll, nearly twice as many Americans want to hear "Merry Christmas" than "Happy Holidays".

This is too cool: http://www.pelourinho.com/movies/c003702/ One day, I hope to be able to do that.

Meet Josh and James

This is Joshua (in white) and James (in yellow), two of my karate buddies. The third picture is them grappling. I think Josh is winning that round. Josh invited me to grapple with him Thursday night, but I didn't. Sigh. In tonight's class, we actually went through ALL our kata. Usually we just do seisan and seiuinchin. But this time we got to do upper rank kata as well. Sensei even got out and did Chinto and kusanku with us. Well, sort of a modified version, since he still has to be careful of his knee. He tore his ACL in May, and had surgery to repair it in August. He still has limited use of it. After that, we did some bag work, and Josh told me I needed to be dainty when I punched the bag. He is such a hoot!

THEY were there, as always. James was trying to tell them that next Tuesday's class had been cancelled. That is actually our Christmas party night. He doesn't want them to come.

Cody asked sensei to teach him some more of two man basics, as he said, "So mom can have someone to practice on." I replied, "That's practice with, dear."

And I learned a few more steps of kusanku. I ought to be getting close to the end. I'm going to go run through it once more, then I'm heading for bed. Four thirty comes awfully early.

Why they call them BALL pythons

Ball Pythons are called that because when they feel threatened, they curl up into a ball, like this. Cody worried all day about Monty, and when we got home, he was just fine. We did go to Wal-mart and get him a dimmer for his under tank heater. I also got a couple more thermometers. I'd swiped Onnie's to put into Monty's tank, so Onnie needed a new one. I also got one for Snow that has a hygrometer on it, and put her old one by the kitchen window for my own use. Now everybody's fat, dumb, and happy.

I decided to try a slightly more complicated sketch today, though I tried to remain within my 5 minute time limit. This is the sanctuary of my church.

Dana and Paxton were at it again this morning. They came into work absolutely screaming at each other. I could hear them halfway across the shop floor. I told Salena that they were at each other's throats again when I went to get my tools, so she went upstairs and told Ronnie and Charles. They went down and broke it up. Really, we could hear them all the way over in Salena's cage. I told her, "Oh great. I'm either going to catch an earful, or she'll be in a sulk and slam the units around all day." Sheesh. They need to leave their personal problems at home where they belong. Really, Dana needs to dump Paxton, and stop taking him back. Everybody in the plant knows he beats on her. She just keeps on taking him back.

I got Angie and the girls' Christmas presents mailed today, along with all my Christmas cards. We really need to all move closer together. It cost more to mail their gifts than to buy them! But I'm almost done. I still have to wrap and mail Dawn and Harold's, and buy and mail something for Denise L.

Cody was so excited this morning. It is his first day not riding the bus. You see, he got suspended for the rest of the year. He is thrilled. He got so tired of being bullied and tormented. Well, last week a kid kept trying to pick a fight, and Cody told him he didn't want to fight and for the kid to just leave him alone. Then the kid started hitting on Cody, so Cody shoved the kid's head through the bus window, breaking the window. I couldn't really punish him, because I had told him previously to do whatever he needed to to defend himself and we would deal with the consequences when they came. It really is survival of the fittest on those busses. The kids are completely out of control. Becky T. told me that one day when Mark was cleaning his bus after dropping all the kids off, he found a used condom in the back.

I know I should have been all strict and stern with Cody, but really I was thinking, "YEAH!!! That's my man!" Now maybe those kids will respect him a little more.

The life of a Dog

My son's half Dalmatian Katie lives a life of ease. I was comtemplating her as she napped on the love seat, which she is is not allowed to be on in the first place. She looked so relaxed I had to dash off this sketch. As I look at it, it appears that she doesn't have a front leg, but actually she was laying on it.

Larry called back today and we talked for about 45 minutes. I kind of told him I didn't want to talk to him anymore. It really bothered me that he was pushing me so hard to tell him where I live. He said it wasn't like he was going to come knocking on my door or anything. So I asked him why it was so important that I tell him, then. He didn't have an answer for that. Besides, I really don't like talking on the phone that much. It gives me a headache.

Monty Python

Say hello to Monty the ball python. This is part of Cody's Christmas and birthday presents. I was going to get him one for his birthday, but when we went up to the pet store in October, they didn't have any. Well, today we were busy doing our Christmas shopping, and we decided to go up to Horn Lake to the Target there. On the way, we stopped at the pet store in Olive Branch. Big mistake, because we never made it to Target. We did get all our shopping done, except for Aunt Denise L. Still have to get her something, then we'll be done, except for mailing it all.

Back to the pet store...I had not intended to get another snake today, but they had several balls there. Cody's been wanting one for a long time--about three years he's been begging for one. So I broke down and bought him the snake and setup. Cody named him Monty, but he doesn't have a clue as to who Monty Python is. He actually named him after Uncle Monty Montgomery, the herpetologist in the A Series of Unfortunate Events books. He looked healthy enough and no sign of mites. He did have a bit of retained shed, but I soaked him for about an hour, and rubbed him with a wet towel, and I think I got most of it off. I checked his eyes and tail, and they both looked ok.

They had some baby corns there, too. Two snow corns and an anerytheristic. I'd forgotten how tiny they are as hatchlings. They were so cute, and I was so tempted, but no--I'm holding out for a bloodred. They had a baby king snake in there too. It looked like an Eastern King. There was a man in the store that must have thought I was crazy because I was calling the snake "sweetie."

I just went to check on Monty, and he's happily curled up in his warm hide under his Habba Hut. He's going to be alright, I think.

Bowls and Candles

While trying to keep up with my daily sketches, I sometimes get desperate for ideas of what to draw. I found this wooden bowl on a website, and loved the shape. Naturally I had to draw it.

Back to getting ideas, it usually takes longer to decide what to draw than to actually sketch it. Perhaps I should try a random word generator or something.

This has been a really rough week for me. The highlight of the week was drawing this little candle in the margin of my paperwork that I'm supposed to turn in at work. He he. This one has a corner torn off of it. The week was so rough, I turned my form over and drew a heart, a bell, a mug, and a rock on the back. Unfortunately, those got turned in with the paperwork. Maybe the office personnel will enjoy them for a moment before filing the paperwork. I hope next week will be better.

A quickie

It is late tonight as I type this. I was late getting back from karate. Brian's parents didn't come to pick him up until nearly 9:00 PM. Since Sensei was at his daughter's play, it was up to me to lock up. Brian said I could go on home and he'd wait outside, but there was no way I was going to leave a 14 year old kid alone on the sidewalk in 30 something degree weather for who knows how long. So Josh and I waited with him. Speaking of Josh, he was acting like a crazy man in there tonight. So crazy, in fact, that I asked him what he'd been drinking. I'd never seen him like that before. Actually, my strongest impression was that he was acting like a man in love--totally bonkers. Yes, this is the same Josh who's MOM told me she wished he'd not be so serious all the time. Who's MOM told she wished he'd learn to relax and loosen up a bit. Well, she should have seen him tonight! Me and James weren't much better. We got the giggles, and I ended up laughing so much I cried and poor Josh was banging his head against the wall. I don't think there's a full moon tonight.
On a more serious note, I love old wrought iron fences with the fancy finials on the gate posts. They are beautiful, and a bit frightening as well. I guess because they always make me think of old cemetaries with big headstones and spooky shadows and such. I just had to try to sketch one. This quick sketching really makes me appreciate perspective lines and vanishing points and such.

Larry tried to call again last night, but I was already in bed. Which is where I'm heading right now. After I answer his e-mail, that is.

The Oddest Thing...

happened today. A guy called my cell phone, but it was the wrong number. The odd thing is that he was trying to call a friend of his who's name is also Becky. He thought I was her playing a trick on him, and I thought he was James trying to pull a prank phone call on me. We ended up talking for 20 minutes, and he asked if he could call me back. He lives in the Ann Arbor area of Michigan, judging by his area code. Yes, he gave me his phone number. His name is Larry Perkins, he is in his mid 40s, and he makes his living running a dance studio. He asked how he could get in touch with me again, and I said, "The same way you did this time."

Today was the Christmas parade, but we didn't go. I figured Cody'd pitch a fit wanting to go, but he didn't even ask. Our parade is kind of dumb anyway. Most of the entries are nothing but cars with a hand lettered "Eat at Joe's" sign taped to the sides and kids riding on the hood.

Attendance at karate class didn't seem to be down because of it either. However, Joshua wasn't there. He is in the band, so I kind of figured he wouldn't make it. Sensei is going to be out Thursday, so James and I will have to teach the 6 and 7 o'clock classes. We are just to lead basics and kata, and in the adult class two-man basics. I started learning the other side of two-man basics tonight. I'll have to get Mr Sullivan and Mr Eiffling to go over it with me. The good news is, Cody is learning the other side, too, so I'll have somebody to practice at home with. I didn't learn anything new of kusanku kata because Cody was being such a stinker after class that we just left. He seems to think that once we get into the dojo, he doesn't have to mind his mother any more. But we had a good long talk about his behavior on the way home. Plus he is grounded.

No pictures today...nor recipes either.

Gas Lamps and Hot Chocolate

Back when I was growing up, all the houses had a gas lamp similar to this one in the front yard. The real ones were not quite so lopsided, though. I always thought they gave a warm and welcoming feel to the neighborhoods. By the mid to late 70's though, they were all gone. I definitely remember what happened to ours...Tommy Burns and I were holding on to the pole and running around it when it all of the sudden fell over! I expected to get killed over that one, but Dad showed me where it was all rusted through at ground level. "It was bound to fall over sooner or later," he said. "I'm just glad you didn't hurt yourself." I was about 8 or 9 when that happened, and I never stopped missing that gas lamp.

I told you it would get cold again. It was 36' this morning when I left for work, and is supposed to get into the 20s tonight. Makes this mug of hot chocolate look better and better. I actually drew this sketch yesterday but didn't upload it until today.

Yes, I had to go back to work today, and I did not want to. I'd been off for 11 days vacation, and was getting rather used to it. Anyway, they chose today of all days to run humongous units all day long. I know I'm going to be sore tomorrow, so now I'm going to go soak in a hot bath.

The Rest of Us

I suppose it's time to introduce the other members of our family. This is Katie, our 10 year old mixed breed dog. I tell people she is half Dalmatian/ half ship that passed in the night. When I took this picture I thought she looked like she was dead, but she's not. She's just really relaxed.
Next up is Squeaky. I don't know how old she is because she was dumped in our front yard. She was in such poor health that I didn't think she'd live. I decided that if she was going to die, at least she'd die warm, safe, and well fed. Four years later, she is still with us, fat and sassy as can be.
The next three pictures are of my three snakes. The black and white one is Onyx. He is a California King snake, hatched July 24, 2004. He is the first snake we got when I decided to get back into snake keeping. The next one is Snow. She is a snow morph corn snake hatched July11, 2004. Finally, we have Sunset, an amelanistic corn snake. Amelanistic means she has no black pigment. She is an '05 hatchling, but I don't know the exact date. I got her at Petco in Horn Lake. She is definitely the shiest of my snakes, but she is also the prettiest.


The weather can be so screwy sometimes. Just a couple of days ago, it was in the 20s. Last night I had to turn the air conditioner on because it got into the upper 70s. It is supposed to be back into the 20s by tomorrow night. This afternoon, it is just chilly and damp.

I've got to go back to work tomorrow. I'm sure not looking forward to it. I've really enjoyed my week off.

Port Bolivar Lighthouse

I woke up this morning thinking about lighthouses. When I was a child, every year we would go to Galvestion Island, even if just for the day. Since my mother hated to travel, that was the closest thing to a vacation we usually got. It was about an 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive from our house to the ferry landing at Port Bolivar, and we had some traveling games to help keep us occupied. One of them was to try to be the first person to spot the ocean. Whoever did spot the ocean first had to call out, "I see the sea!". As soon the ocean was beside us--Old Highway 87 ran parallel to the coast--, the next point we looked for was Rollover Pass. Rollover Pass is the narrowest part of Bolivar Peninsula, and it got its name from the pirates and smugglers who would roll over their barrells of contraband from the ocean to Galveston Bay to avoid customs and searches. Despite this romantic history, Rollover Pass is best known today for its fishing. In fact, it is usually called Rollover Fish Pass or Flounder Pass by the non-locals.

Once we passed the Pass, all eyes were peeled and the excitement would build as we eagerly waited for that first glimpse of the Bolivar Lighthouse. This was the coupe de grace of the trip--next to the ferry ride of course--spotting the lighthouse as it stood seemingly out in the middle of the ocean due to the curve of the land. A tiny toothpick of a thing sticking up from the mists, we watched it grow bigger as we got closer to it, until finally we drove by it and only the one sitting by the window on that side of the car could see the top. Finally, we had arrived at the ferry, but I'll save that story for another day...

Back to my original idea, I wanted to sketch a lighthouse, but not just any lighthouse, the Bolivar lighthouse. While searching for images of it, I found this article. It is brief, but well worth the read: http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1523.htm. It kind of gives an insight as to why we are still so attracted to lighthouses, even though their era of usefullness has given way to modern technology. It's a sad thing, that.

The Ladies Christmas party was fun, even though attendance was down from the last few years. There were only 20 ladies. I still ate too much. This little santa is what I ended up with. He reminds me of the Ghost of Christmas Present from A Christmas Carol. We play the take-away game. How it goes, is we draw numbers according to how many people are present. Whoever has number 1 goes to the tree and opens a present. Whoever has number 2 can go to the tree and get a present, or she can take away the first person's present. And so on...now to make it a little more fair, there are a couple of other rules. You can only take away one time. So if number 2 takes number 1's present, then number 3 takes number 2's present, number 2 has to go to the tree to get a present. If someone takes your present, and you haven't taken away, you can't take your present right back. If your second present gets taken away later in the game, and you haven't taken away yet, you can go get your first present back. It is very fun, and can get quite ruthless at times.

Now, just so you won't think we never eat anything nutritious at Christmas, here is one of my favorite dinner casseroles. I got this recipe from Mrs Brimm, my cousin Judy's mother-in-law.

Squash Casserole

1 1/2 lbs yellow squash
1/2 c water
1 or 2 chicken bullion cubes
3/4 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 medium carrot--grated
1 small onion--chopped

Dissolve chicken bullion cube in about 1/2 cup of boiling water. Add squash and cook until tender. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Put into greased baking dish.

1 1/2 cup Pepperidge Farm Seasoned Stuffing Mix
1 stick(1/2 cup) butter or margarine

Melt butter and combine with stuffing mix. Spread over squash mixture. Bake at 350' for 35-40 minutes.

More healthy recipes coming later...

Band Concert

The band concert last night was incredible. Those kids played so well. I remember going to band concerts when I was in jr high, and it was not much more than a cacophony of noise. However, these kids were playing recognizable tunes, and playing them well, after only 7 weeks of having their instruments. (I think it took my sister that long just to get a real tone out of her coronet.) This is Cody with his practice instrument. They got their instruments October 4th, and I took this a week later. He would kill me if he knew I posted this picture because, as he says, that old dented up horn is embarrassing. That's why it took me a week just to get a picture! He's got a better instrument at school, but they gave the small bass players older horns to keep at home because these are too big and heavy to haul back and forth on the bus.

The Grenada band program has got to be about the best school band program I've ever seen. The high school band has won just about every award they have come up with, and has marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade twice, and the Rosebowl parade once. They were even featured in the September issue of Southern Living Magazine. Just to illustrate how good the band is, I'd been here in Grenada a while before I ever heard them play. I'd been working the 3-11 shift and missed out on just about everything social. After 4 years, I made it to day shift and finally got to go to the Christmas parade. (This silly town has the Christmas parade at 4:00 pm on a Tuesday. What's up with that?) Anyway, I'd heard about the band and how good it was and all, so I was looking forward to hearing them for the first time. I was watching the parade, and the band marched by playing, and I thought they were pretty good, but didn't see what all the fuss was about. They weren't any better than my old high school band....Then my cousin leaned over and said, "That's the jr high band." I was floored. "That' s the JUNIOR HIGH band!?!?!" They were as good as most HIGH SCHOOL bands. And then the Grenada High band did finally march by, I was blown away.

James did call me before the concert, wanting to know where I was. I guess he forgot that I wasn't going to be in karate, even though I'd told him so Tuesday night. "Oh, no!" he said, "You're not going to leave me alone with them!" I told him he'd live through it. He he he...I drove by the dojo after the concert, but didn't stop. Sure enough, it was just James, Brian and them. I'll have to rag him about it Tuesday.

Most of today has been spent baking for tonight's Ladies Christmas Party. I made snickerdoodles and touchdown cookie bars. Here is today's Holiday Recipe:

Touchdown Cookie Bars:

1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup cold butter
1 egg, beaten
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350'. Combine flour, sugar, and cocoa. Cut in butter until crumbly. Add egg and mix until well blended. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of mixture. Press the rest evenly in the bottom of a buttered 9 x 13" baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes. In a sauce pan or microwave safe bowl, combine the milk and 1 cup chocolate chips. Stir over low heat until smooth, or every 30 seconds if microwaving. Spread chocolate evenly over prepared crust. Add 1 cup chocolate chips to reserved crumb mixture. You may also add 1 cup chopped nuts if desires, but we don't. Mix well, and sprinkle evenly over chocolate. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Do not overcook. Cool and cut into bars. Try not to eat too many at once.

Fall Colors

We don't get too much fall color where I live. Everything goes from green straight to brown and dead. Just North of us in Tennessee, however, it is gorgeous in the fall. This blog, The Daily Rant has some of the most outstanding fall pictures I've seen in a long time.

Cody has a band concert tonight, so we won't be going to karate class.

I did finish the snowy scene I'm doing. I'll probably tweak the shading until I frame it, but it is mostly done.