A Fun Day

Despite my earlier concerns about the weather, this morning dawned bright and clear, albeit windy.  I checked the forecast, and the storms weren't supposed to get here until late this evening, so Christi and I headed out for a fun filled day of shooting and shopping.

First stop was Mitch's Gun Shop in Hamilton-- just north of Columbus.  I love that place.  Such a nice man.  He told us stories of coming to Grenada when he was a kid to fish in the lake.  He admired my French braid in my hair.  Asked why I didn't put it into two.


Said, "Oh don't cut it all off" when I mentioned that sometimes I was tempted...


I liked him.

Christi told him I'd driven all the way from Grenada to come shoot with her, and he said, "Since you drove all that way, I'm going to let you shoot for free."  And he didn't charge me a range fee!  Granted, it wasn't very expensive to begin with, but it was so nice of him to do that. 

Christi and I went to the pistol range and we had the whole place to ourselves. 

Me and Buddy

Christi reloading

Christi and Cricket killing her target.

This is my target.  I killed him a lot.

Christi and I traded guns for a few shots.  She's got a Walther .22LR.  It was sure fun to shoot.  I want a little .22 for plinking.  She shot Buddy and said it's got some oomph to it.

After I shot up all my ammo (I only took two boxes-- I hope now that the gun control measures in the Senate have gone down in flames, people will stop hoarding and ammo will once again become available), we went to Tupelo.

We ate first, because by then I was hungry.  Then we went to JoAnn's.  I hadn't planned on buying any yarn, since I'm trying to save money.  But you know how that goes...

Christi enabled me. 

Christi enabled me a lot.

This yarn isn't superwash, so I'm thinking of trying to make some felted hats out of it.  I said, "I hate to donate hats to a charity only to have someone toss them into the washer and ruin them.  But I can make felted hats.  That way, they'll be pre-ruined." 

Then we walked around the mall for a bit, but the only store we actually went in to was the book store.

I came on home after that, because I wanted to beat the storms here, which I did.  

We had so much fun!  We are going to do it again sometime, and this time, we will be sure to include Amy. 

Who promptly chastised us for not inviting her this time. 

We won't make that mistake again. 

But alas, all good things must come to an end, so it's back to work tomorrow. I sure needed this break, though.  As I told Christi, "Sometimes you just need to take a day and shoot stuff." 

Sometime,  yeah, you need to do just that.

Updates

The second sock is coming along right nicely.

Of course, it might come along faster if I would stay off FB and work on it. 

I took tomorrow off of work.  The plan was to drive to Columbus and Christi and I would go shooting then shopping. 

Sounds like a great plan, doesn't it?  Yeah...

Well, it may be that the weather wreaks havoc on our plans.  They're predicting strong storms, hail, and tornadoes, but the guy on TV says they aren't expected to get here until 5 PM.  I'm going to check the weather in the morning, and decide then if I think I can get there, shoot, shop, and get back safely. 

If I decide it's too big of a risk, then I'll stay home, watch movies and knit.  

In the meantime, here are my plants.  And a bottle of nail polish. 

Aren't they getting big?  It's almost time to put them into the ground.  Won't be long now until I get my flower beds going again.

I can't wait!

Chats On The Farmhouse Porch

QUESTIONS

1. From Suzanne at p.s. Annie!: Are you part of the back to nature/ecological group or are you more of the mindset of "I'll do what I want and everything will work out in the end"?
   
   I'm sort of in the middle. I do believe that God has called us to be good stewards of this earth he has made, but in no way do I think snails, bugs, or weeds are more important than people are. I do common sense stuff, like not littering. I take my Wal-mart bags back to the store and keep lights off when I'm not using them. However, I'm totally not into this green nonsense, since much of it does more harm than good. Electric cars, for example. It takes MORE fossil fuels creating MORE carbon emissions to generate the electricity to charge one of the dumb things than it would if you just drove a gasoline powered car. And compact fluorescent light bulbs-- anything that requires a hazmat team for proper disposal is NOT good for the environment.
   
2. From Stacey at Happy Bride to be: What's a favorite dinner dish to make?
   
   I don't really have a favorite dish to make, since I'm not much of a cook. Well, I can cook, but since it's just me, I tend to eat simple stuff-- sandwiches, frozen dinners, and the like.
   
   
3. From Melanie at Melanie at A Year of Jubilee Reviews: What animals have you seen give live birth?
   
   I saw one of my uncle's goats give birth once, but that's the only one. I kept trying to catch the cats giving birth, but they always seemed to do it in the middle of the night.
   
4. From Anne at Homeschool on the Croft: If you had the opportunity to teach something, what would you teach?
   
   Nothing. I don't like to teach at all. People always told me I should have been a teacher, but no. If I had, I'd likely be in prison by now for killing someone's kid.
   
5. From Madonna at Butterfly Acres: What did you love most about school?
   
   My 5th grade teacher would read to us every day after lunch. She'd turn out the lights, let us put our heads down on our desks, and she'd read for about 30 minutes. After all these years, that's the one thing that stands out to me. I guess because I learned to read so young (I was reading at a first grade level by the time I was 4), my mother never felt the need to read to me. So, having that teacher read to us like that is something I'll always treasure.

Boston

My heart is sick and sad.

Prayers are going up for all those affected by this act of terror. 

A Letter To My Senator

Yesterday, my senator Roger Wicker voted to allow debate on gun control.  Today, I sent him this letter expressing how I feel about his decision

Dear Roger Wicker,

Words cannot begin to express how disappointed I am that in allowing gun control to be debated, you have chosen to betray the people of Mississippi and indeed all Americans everywhere. You claim you intend to vote NO on this bill, but this bill should have never even made it out of committee. Our Constitutional rights should not be up for debate. At all. EVER.

There is a line in one of our founding documents that reads "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their DUTY to throw off such government and provide new guards for their future security."

Sir, the American people are fed up with the encroaching tyranny coming from Washington. We are watching, and we have seen that the train of abuses and usurpations is getting mighty long indeed.

We will remember at the ballot box who has betrayed us and who hasn't. And if necessary, we will stand and fight for our freedoms.

I will be watching you very, very closely. Don't betray me further.

What Do People Talk About?

I'm not really a very good conversationalist.  I never know what to talk about.  I've asked some of my chatty friends what they talk to people about, and they tell me, "Oh, talk about anything.  Talk about the weather.  Talk about your kids.  Just talk about anything."

But I've found that you can only say, "Hot enough for you?" so many times before people start wanting to strangle you.  And the whole talking about your kids thing doesn't really work for me.  I find that most people would rather talk about their own kids than hear about mine.

So I stand there and watch people chatting away, talking to each other, while I retreat inside my head and tell myself

Dernt Blernk

and

That's what people CHEW!!

over and over and over...

Nobody gets it.  Nobody gets me. 

I was pondering this yesterday when the following words popped into my head.

My World

I live in a world inside my head
With many, many paths to tread
Twists and turns and winding roads.
At times I end up far from home.

If you love me; if you care
Help me find my way from here.
Better yet, come fly with me
For here, with you, I will be free.

Be my anchor, be my guide.
Believe in me and I will fly.
Be my courage, be my strength
And there's no limit to my reach.

Hold my hand, hold my heart
Promise me we'll never part.
Through twists, through turns, through winding roads
I'll finally find my way back home.



P.S. If it's dumb, don't tell me. I don't want to know.

Quick Post

We've got some severe weather headed into town, so this will be quick.

My little plants are doing well.  I've spread them out a little, so the smaller ones can get some more light and air.    I'm about to the point that I really don't like to think about.  I have to pinch some plants back so that there is only one per pellet. 

I don't like doing that.  I always feel just a little bit guilty for killing off the weaker plant.  But it's gotta be done. 

It looks like we are coming to the end of rainy season-- present weather notwithstanding-- I hope I can get out and work in my flower beds soon.

Next week, I'm going to see my pal Christi in Columbus.  I'm so excited!

Hey, I can't be a hermit all the time. 

Chats On The Farmhouse Porch

1.Are you enjoying spring?

Not really. It's rained an awful lot this year, and I'm impatient to get into my flower beds. I'm tired of waiting.

2.Where would you take Patrice for her birthday, if you could spend a day together. Wendell hopes you would bring her back!

Well, since Patrice seems to like animals so much, I think I'd take her to the Memphis Zoo. It's a great zoo.

3.What's your favorite spring flower?

Daffodils.

4.What do you do when you are going through a really stressful time?

I walk down the dirt road between the cotton fields near my house. The more stressful the day, the farther I walk.

5.What kind of birthday cake would you get for Patrice? And Wendell?

Whatever kind she wanted. And for Wendell, a carrot cake, of course!


Thank you for joining me for this week's chat.  Sorry to run you off so soon, but this crud has still got me down, though I am feeling a little better.

Still not even close to 100%.  More like 35%.

Maybe next week will be better.

Farewell, Iron Lady

And thank you. 

Cartoons

A couple of months ago, I started taking cartoons to work, and posting them in my work area.

I didn't mean for it to become a regular thing.  I just saw a few that were funny and wanted to share them.  Now, though, if I go too long without posting one, people start asking me about them. 

Where's the cartoon?  Why haven't you brought a cartoon?

Vanessa, the other brazer on my line, told me that people need that little pick me up.  So, I keep doing it.  If it makes someones day just a little less dreary, then I feel like I've done some good in this world. 

Buuuuut,

there are some people that --and I hate to be ugly-- but I really wish they wouldn't read them.  Reason?  I get tired of having to explain what the dadgum cartoon means! 

Take this one, for example:

And as a playful jab at my group leader, Fernando, I penned the following below it:

Of course, he got it right away.  Told me he was going to have to keep his good eye on me. 

But this other person..."What does that mean?  Who does she have in mind?"  Vanessa, because she has more patience with stupid people than I do, explained it to this other person,

Who then turned to me and asked, "Fernando is stubborn?"

Shocked and incredulous, I could only stare in disbelief and blurt out,

"Have you met the man?"

Now, don't get me wrong, Fernando is a good guy, and as far as group leaders go, he's probably the best one in the plant.  But he does have a tendency to be...shall we say, tenacious?.  Yeah, let's go with tenacious. 

It means stubborn, but sounds nicer.

He does have his weaknesses, though.  He was trying to get the higher ups to let Vanessa and me come in early all next week, but they told him that only one of us could come in.

Back in the day, we wouldn't have had to worry about that kind of nonsense.  We could get all the overtime we wanted and nobody said anything.  Not so much any more.  New management, you know.

So, he told me that we would alternate days.  He said he tried, but they just wouldn't give.

"You should have blue eyes, like me," I told him.  And I whipped off my brazing glasses and gave him The Look.

"Yeah," he said.  "That would do it." 

I know.  I get away with a lot out there...

But we can't do him like we used to do Greg.  He would tell us to come in at 6, and we would just keep on coming in at 6.  It would take him about three weeks to catch on.

"Who told you to come in at 6?"

"You did, Greg," I would say.

"That was just that one day!"  He'd say, and I'd respond, "Oh, we thought you meant until further notice", while giving him The Look.

A few days later,   "Greg, we're really behind.  We really need to come in at 6 in the morning", and same song, second verse.  We did him that way the whole summer that year. 

But Fernando is a little bit sharper than Greg was.  I don't think we could get away with something like that with him.

On the other hand...

The Look is a powerful weapon in the hands of the right woman. 

I should know.  

Mwahahahaha! 

Dear CoWorker

Since you are living in girlfriend #1's house, you might want to re-think that whole wearing matching outfits with girlfriend #2 thing, or you may just find yourself kicked to the curb-- especially since they

both

work

here

with us.  As does girlfriend # 2's husband.

Seriously, dude. 

Thank you.

That is all.

Rain Rain Rain

That's all it's done for the last two days.

Rain rain rain.

I'm about tired of rain, and even more so I am sick and tired of the mud.

There is mud everywhere.  And I do mean everywhere.

I was going to shampoo my carpet last weekend, but what was the point?

It rained all weekend.

Sigh...

The only bright spot is my little plants.  They seem to be doing very well.

If only the ground would dry out enough for me to get my flower beds ready.

Double sigh...

A Very Dull Post

I got this far into my sock foot, when I began to think that maybe I should rethink my 72 stitch cast on for a plain vanilla sock.

I'm not going to rip it, though.  I'll just have a couple of roomy socks. 

Next time, I'll try a 64 stitch cast on. 

That's about all I have for tonight. 

I've been taking stuff to try to help with my night sweats.  I've tried a couple of different products, including Natural Relief and i-Cool.  They help with the sweats and mood swings, but they make me very dull and stupid.  Which is why the blog has been very dull and stupid lately. 

I've also tried something called DHEA, but it made me very depressed.   I'm trying to find something that stops the sweats, but doesn't turn my brain off. 

I'm open to suggestions. 

Chats On The Farmhouse Porch

1. What did you do for Easter?

Well, I went to church, then went to Beverly and James' for a big family dinner.  After that, I came home and watched Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King, and knit on my sock.

2.  How bad were you with candy or treats?  (On a scale of 1-10.  1 being good, 10 being sugared up)

I'd say about a 3.  I only bought one pack of Cadbury's chocolate creme eggs, 2 packages of Peeps, and one hollow chocolate rabbit.  That's it.

3.  What's one of the first things you'd like to do when you have consistent spring temperatures?

Dig up the flower beds, of course!

4.  How are you at gift buying?

Terrible.  Seriously, terrible.

5.  Do you have any projects in mind for the month of April? 

Yes, get my flower beds going.   If only the rain would stop long enough for the ground to dry out. 

Sock Progress

In the end, I decided to just a plain vanilla sock*.

Do you know that as long as I have been knitting socks, this is the first time I've ever made a plain vanilla sock?   It is.

I kinda like it.  It knits up really quickly, not having to worry about a pattern and all.

I think I need to do some more of these. 

*For those of you not in the knitting know, a plain vanilla sock means one knit all in stockinette stitch, without a pattern.