A Dark Cloud over Bloggerland

There seems to be a black cloud hanging over Blogger land this week.

Maybe it is just the smoke from the fires burning in CA. I'm not sure, but it seems that everywhere I visit this week, we have all been in a funk.

I can see the storm heading our way. It seems we are driving right into it's path. I've tried putting on the breaks, but I'm afraid my momentum is going to take us straight into the storms path. Yep, it's a down hill ride from here.

I know that we are all fighting some battle or another.

Suzanne has her health and animal cruelty, Bob and KookieBear have their depression,

MJ has her poofter porn addiction, I.V. has the Big Sur Fire (Man I hope God helps him fight that one because that is such a terrible disaster.) And the rest of us are just battling life in general. Like everyone else, I am struggling too. We learned this week that my sister's cancer has invaded her liver, and I have the symptoms and preliminary positive test signs of Lupus. I have to go to the Doctor later to get some further testing done. But that's not why I'm writing this post. I feel that so many of us are just needing some positive guiding light.

So I've done some searching.

I'm not sure I've found the light, but I have decided, things could be much worse.

I mean, look at Iraq. Are any of us living in fear of being blown to bits if we go to the grocery store tomorrow? I think of all of the parents and families and friends of the soldiers and civilians that have lost their lives to the war. I think of the grieving families of missing children.

I think of the paraplegics that cannot walk, or the mentally ill that are unable to think.

I think of the blind, and the deaf, and I think of myself.

I really have been blessed. I've been blessed by two of the most beautiful boys in the world.

They are funny, and smart, and so kind. (Yes, I realize they aren't mutant teenagers yet, but right now they are wonderful.)

I think about my husband. He is such a loyal, honest, and hardworking man. And I love him with all of my heart.

I'm blessed with such a wonderful family and I am thankful for each and every member.

I think about my parents. And although their health is ailing, they have lived such long and full and wonderful life and I have had good quality time to spend with them and really get to know them.

I think about my job, and my education, and my home, and my car. I have all that one could need. I have shelter, food, and transportation. I even have more than that. I have entertainment at my fingertips. With just the push of a button I am connected to people half the world away. I think of my friends and when I try to start to count them, I realize there are so many of them that it is difficult to count. I attempted to send out an email message the other day to everyone of my friends in my contact list, and it wouldn't send because there were more than 50 names on it. I guess Hotmail will not send to more than 50 recipients at a time.

You see, there is so much that we should all be grateful for. And yeah, we are going to have some bad times, but we really need to try and pick ourselves up and keep on trudging.

I sometimes look at my dog sometimes and I think, "God, she is so lucky."

I scratch her belly and her ears, I give her food, I give her shelter, I take care of her if she is sick, and she really has no worries. Or does she? She certainly stresses out when I am sick. She knows when I don't feel well. She is so excited when I get home from work. I can tell that she misses me when I'm gone. So does she worry that one day I won't return. When we have a thunderstorm, she is unhappy and upset if the entire family is not close together, so she worries and frets about us. We are her pack even though we aren't even the same species. We are her family and that is how she sees us. That is how I see each of you. You are part of my pack and I am worried about each and everyone of you this week. I hope that the Supreme Being, whomever you all call him/her is watching over you, and I hope that he/she is able to deliver you out of the storm that your life is weathering at the moment. I can feel the protective wings over me. I just pray that they are spreading out to cover you, my family and friends as well.

I want all of you to meet Apollo. Apollo used to be my Mother in Law's dog, but after her passing last summer, he went to live with my Brother in Law(BIL). We are keeping Apollo for a week while BIL is on vacation. Apollo was delivered to my house at 7:30 this morning. I had only been in bed for about 3 hours, so I was quite displeased to see BIL that early. I was even more displeased to see a very wet and hairy Apollo being released into my home. I promptly showed Apollo to the back yard and then returned to the front door in expectation to retrieve dog food and other doggie care items that would be needed. None were received. Instead, I was told that Apollo may have ticks, and needs to be given the heart worm medication that we give our dog. We weren't even given any food to feed the dog. But after watching Apollo and Javie play, and seeing how Apollo greeted my husband (husband and dog had bonded last summer as husband basically took care of dog while MIL was in hospital.) my angers about caring for Apollo faded. He is a wonderful, gentle giant of a dog. And we are happy to have him as a guest here at our home. And as you can see from the picture above. He is smiling, so I think he is happy to be here too.
I think Javie is happy to have a friend to play with, but I can see her getting a bit jealous if we dote too much of our attention on Apollo. But Javie Dog is a wonderful dog, so I'm sure she will be fine. Now, does anyone have some doggie shears I can borrow. Apollo is a shaggy mess and in dire need of a hair cut.

Our New Land

I finally got out and took some pictures of our new land on Sunday. We went out there and I mowed a little bit around the pond while the boys fed the fish and looked for frogs, and my husband kept vigil making sure no one grabbed a snake.

I'm standing near the pond, which is toward the bottom of our property and looking up. There are ares of trees and clear areas scattered across the acreage.
This is our pond
Part of the wooded area near the pond

Anyway, there really isn't any need to keep the entire 4.5 acres mowed, so I am just mowing a nice area in front of the pond so that we can get up close to feed the fish and not have to worry about getting snake bit. I found a really nice big patch of wild black berries on the levy behind the pond. Some of them are starting to get ripe, so you know the boys and I will be out there with a pail to pick those. There are morning glory vines all over the property, wild strawberry vines, and an assortment of weed flowers. I love this piece of land, and I cannot wait to get moved out there. HB and I keep brainstorming to come up with ways to get out there sooner. The boys are very excited to get out there too. And of course, everyone will be invited to the house warming party, just as long as they bring gifts.

Cloud 9?

I'm not sure if you all have figured this out about me yet or not, but I love clouds.
I find them extremely fascinating and beautiful. Clouds are what makes a sunset beautiful.
I could lie on the grass for hours and gaze at the clouds. I love to watch them drift across the sky constantly shifting and shape changing before my eyes. It is so much fun to watch the shapes transform into turtles, and rabbits, and objects that we see everyday. I've seen ancient dragons, and unicorns and armadillos in the clouds. Tonight we were blessed with some thundershowers around our state once again. I don't think we are in for anything severe, but we never really know what the weather will bring around here lately. But I was able to capture a couple of beautiful cloud pictures, and of course, I could think of no one better to share them with than all of you. Everyone have a wonderful weekend, and don't forget to watch the clouds for some fun and relaxing weekend entertainment.

It also appears that BOB has tagged me with a meme. The task is to write your memoir in six words: Well, I'm not so sure mine will be as eloquent as Bob's but I shall give it a try.

The Wholly Mother of Twin Terrors

Explanation?

Wholly means that I am still searching for things in life to fill the empty spaces in my soul. I've already mentioned a few times that due to unfortunate events last year, I have been struggling to make my way back to God. But I am wholly committed to find something to believe in and to make myself whole once more.

Mother is a no brainer. I am a mother as simple as that. I love being a mother although it is sometimes very exhausting. Like today for instance. I am the type of mother that gives every ounce of my heart to my children. When they feel pain, I hurt too. When they are sad, I want to cry. When they are happy, it warms my heart in a way that words cannot describe. Their smile and laughter is like music. The sweetest song in the world.

Twin Terrors would be my boys. You see they are identical twins, and although I love them with every fiber of my being, they can drive me to drink and very close to murder at times. They know all of the right buttons to push and which way all the switches should be turned. They love to terrorize the dog, and they enjoy chasing the neighbor girls with frogs. Yes, they truly are twin terrors of turbulence. But they are a lot like their mom, and more like their dad, so I can't help but love them.

But what about The and Of you ask? Give me a break, I'm a working mother of twin 6 year old boys. The and Of were filler words.

I almost forgot, I must now tag someone else.

Drum roll please, and no groans.........

Ramblings from Gigsville

PJ's Face

Leah

Kylie

54 Bomber

This is my Town.

I skipped out of work early yesterday to use up some comp time and went out with my family and my adopted mom. We decided to take a historical tour of Little rock. Our first stop was The Clinton Presidential Library.

I do believe this is the ugliest building in the entire city. It looks like a massive ugly mobile home. it is located right on the edge of The Arkansas River, next to an abandoned train bridge, hence the motto of "Building the bridge to the future." I really wish they could have hired a better architect for such wonderful landmark to honor our BEST PRESIDENT EVER.
Located next to the Presidential Library is the building pictured above. It is the old train station. Several years ago it was a spaghetti warehouse restaurant, and now it is the Clinton School of Business. I think it is a wonderfully designed building.
This is the old abandoned railroad bridge located next to the library.
This is a view of the river taken from the third floor balcony of the library.

This is the old Union Station building. It is now for lease, but the building is magnificent. It has a brick driveway that takes you back in time. Unfortunately the sun was positioned behind the building, therefore I could not get good photo of it. I'll have to go back in the morning time some day and try again. The homeless shelter is less than a block from the building, so I can't go there alone because it is too dangerous.

This is the old Station House.

Our last stop was the Capitol building. It was designed to look like our Nations Capitol building in Washington, and I think it is the most magnificent building in the city.

The grounds around the Capitol building are beautiful and very well maintained.

This is a monument for Confederate men of the civil war.

This is a photo of the monument to honor the Confederate Women of the Civil War.

There is also a memorial to honor the fallen Arkansas Soldiers of Vietnam.

And lastly, a monument to honor the Medal of Honor Recipients. (At least the ones from Arkansas). Most of the men honored fought in WWII. Some of the men honored were Pompey Factor, Footsie Britt, and Douglas MacArthur.

And littered all over the grounds are these magnificent ancient trees. All in all, my evening yesterday was wonderful. I really enjoyed myself and the company that I was with.

Longing for the ocean breeze

It's been a year now since my last visit the ocean. I miss it terribly. I have a deep seeded yearning to visit the ocean every year. It has been a yearly ritual of mine and my husbands for the past 12 years. This year we don't have a vacation to the ocean planned. Since I just recently started my new job, I really don't have enough time built up to take a trip that requires traveling that far from home. And since I hate to fly, flying there is out of the question. So I guess I will just have to gaze longingly at some of the pictures I have taken from my past trips to the ocean. Oh how I miss the smell of the sea. And the sound of the waves crashing to the shore. The musical squawk of the seagulls and the distance glimmer of dolphins breaching the surface of the water to frolic with each other. The ocean calls to me. It is almost as if it is beckoning me home. And oh how home sick am I. So come walk down memory lane with me. Hold my hand as we make footprints in the sand and scour the shore for treasure. Breath in the salty air with me and feel the gentle ocean breeze upon our faces. Close your eyes and imagine we are there. This is the underside of a saw shark. I took this photo in South Carolina at the Ripley's aquarium.
Can you find Nemo?
Stay away from the tentacles unless you enjoy pain and suffering.
Aw, precious moments to cherish forever.

The waves are beckoning to me. Inviting me in for a swim.
The beauty under the sea knows no boundaries.
He lurks in the shadow waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Modern architecture is amazing.
I wish I was on that boat.
Endlessly searching for a handout.
Paradise here on Earth.
The ocean shore is where I dream to be.

ARACHNOPHOBIA

As many of you know, I HATE SPIDERS. They give me the creeps. So you can imagine how I felt when I saw my kids washing their hands. I asked them, "Why are you washing your hands?" They replied, "Because we touched a spider." I quickly replied, "Where is the spider?"
My heart was filling with fear and dread. "It's O.K., MOM, the spider is outside." The next thing I know they have me by the hand and they are asking me to come look. I don't want to look. Spiders give me the creeps remember. But I went and looked anyway. Simply because we have had a small problem with black widows around here and I was hoping that it wasn't one of those. It was a HUGE wolf spider. These suckers are so scary looking. And they can be pretty aggressive. Hubby informs me that these spiders will not harm you and that they eat mosquitoes, which is a good thing, since we don't want malaria or heart worms. But I still don't want them close to me. In my opinion, a good spider is a dead spider. (but preferably not dead and framed and hanging in my bathroom as wall art.) Anyway, this is the spider the boys touched. They thought it was pretty. OMG, they are so not related to me. They will freak out over a grand daddy long leg, but they think this monster is pretty? Something is seriously wrong with these two freaks. Do you think it could be because I'm their mother?

Kick Ass Clouds.

We had a cold front roll through here tonight, and I got some pictures of these awesome Kick Ass clouds. These were so dark and ominous looking that I could not resist. The lightning shooting out of these suckers was fantastic. I felt like I was on acid at a Pink Floyd concert.
My better half informed me that I was crazy. He told me if I stayed outside much longer I would be electrocuted, but the breeze felt fantastic. I was also grateful for the little bit of rain that we got. It was just enough to water my one tomato plant. I planted three of them, but only one has survived the dog's girth. She would go a lay in my garden. She killed my zucchini, and one of my strawberry plants too, so I only had one tomato and one strawberry plant survive. What a Bitch she is.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my awesome clouds with everyone. If I had a kite with a key tied to a string, I think I would be outside flying it. Yep, I'm that much of a science geek.

Wow! Another one in the same week?

I went to a wedding today.
It was the first time I had been inside a church in several years.
I thought the architecture inside the worship hall was amazing.

It made me feel as if I had stepped inside of Noah's Ark, and then it capsized.

I found it hard to concentrate on the wedding procession. It lasted FOREVER. I wanted to scream, just get on with it already, but I am sure that my friend would never invite me to her next wedding if I had. (Oh that's right, this one is suppose to last forever.) But what really drew my attention was the arched window behind the pulpit. There was a beautiful view of the trees, and I was sort of mesmerized by the cloud formations that drifted by.
The boys enjoyed themselves. They behaved very well, which made me extremely proud of them. When the preacher began his little sermon, Forrest ask me if the preacher was God. I thought it was adorable, and several of the people sitting next to me chuckled. After the wedding was over we came home.

This is the boy's idea of a clean room. They informed me that their room was all clean now.
This is where they put everything. Yeah, that looks very clean indeed.
But we decided not to worry about that mess today. After all, it is Saturday. Saturday's are made for fun, not for cleaning house. We save the house cleaning for the most holy of all days. Sunday. So we ventured out to the back yard and decided to have a dip in the pool.
This in Nathan doing some heavy thinking.
Yes, my son is giving me the finger. No he doesn't realize he is doing something bad. This is his best guitar hero pose. He loves muzic (that's how he pronounces it.) I am considering guitar lessons for him.

I love this picture. The splash is just amazing.

Look at those cute little butts sticking up in the air. They look like a couple of drowned puppies.

Geronimo!