December 31, 2009

2009 Get the Hell Outta Dodge Already!

I was reading a Plainsville newspaper article highlighting the decade's highs and lows a couple days ago.
I realized a few things:

* There are always going to be highs and lows...it matters how you face them.

* Love, family and true friends are truly the only things that matter in life.

* 10 years goes a whole heckuva lot slower when you're younger...


In the past decade, Big Shooter and I have been blessed with:

Healthy, growing Spawn. (Well, except for the nasty, old man horn that grew out of Boy
Child's ....nose a couple years ago... and the fact that he's allergic to everything not grown in an organic garden and raised on a local farm which of course puts a little damper on my lifestyle.  But hey, it's all in the way we face it right?)

* A marriage thankfully made of Silly Putty.  It has been flatten and stretched by the Wringer of Life and been re-inflated through the Bringer of Life these past years.

* And True Friendships that have kept us buoyed in the past few years of sickness and life altering changes...

 We've most definitely molted many times over and we have become very comfortable in our new skins.

Before I receive a bajillion emails and texts asking if this is really us...have we gone off the deep end?  Let me answer, "Yes, that's really us...at a goth themed wedding reception.  And yes, we've most definitely gone waaay off the deep end...but we're still the same ole, same ole Shooters just the same."


Love Note to Big Shooter: Wow it's been waaay too long since I've sat down and wrote you a stinkin' Love Note!  Let's see...How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.  And the ways.  And the wa...heh, heh. 

October 19, 2009

What in the HECK??

If ya'll know what happened here...Puh-Leeze give me the inside scoop!

July 27, 2009

R.I.P. Straight Shooter

Good Morning World from my hospital bed in Plainsville!

Long time no hear from I know. Here's why:
  • Had a hysterectomy. (don't need any more Sweet and Loving Spawn)

  • Had major bladder repair. (hopefully, no more spontaneous piddling on the floor)

  • Big Shooter took aforementioned Sweet Spawn to Idaho to hang with their beloved Grammie while I recuperated...

  • While BS was 5 states away, I threw a couple pulmonary embolisms.

  • Started to bleed to death.

  • Crashed.

  • Went to ICU.

  • Got stabilized.

  • Started to bleed to death.

  • Crashed.

  • Stopped breathing.

  • Went to ICU.

  • Crashed.

  • Stayed in ICU.

  • Now stable on blood thinners.

  • Third week in hospital.
Nothing new and exciting going on here. How about you?
Love Note to my Other Spouse: Saucy Sashi, how to thank you for never letting my hand go during the first scare? Keeping me calm, lifting me up in prayer, being my spouse until BS could return? You literally saved my life. You're a hero.
Love Note to Big Shooter: Where to begin? Thank you for rushing back to be by my side? Thank you for never stop talking so I could hear your voice in those scary, scary times? Thank you for sleeping on a rock hard sofa(ish) for weeks and never uttering a complaint just so your presence can be a comfort to me? Thank you for being a rock? An anchor? My life preserver?

June 20, 2009

Happy Father's Day Grandpa!

From all your kiddos...




Even the 4-legged ones...





We so hope your day is abundantly filled with love.




June 9, 2009

Life Lessons...just keep comin'

Remember when I introduced our great neighbor The Recluse Artist? I mentioned then how I wanted to have the whole thing all thought out and go in order down my street and how that never seems to be how things work out in the Shooter house.

Well, I actually had a post ready to go to introduce you to Fruitcake Mary this week. Instead, you're going to meet the newest additions ~ Bugsy & Precious.
Before I formally introduce them, I need to explain the change up...
Y'all know our precious Sweet Girl, our Eula Mae.
Girl Child's buddy. Her confidant. Her playmate.
Her friend that she misses more than words can explain.
(It's a whole other post. Maybe for tomorrow in fact, cause I need some Momma advice.)
Well, things are happening over at our Sweet Girl's house that are turning out to be very difficult to watch.
First, Harley Momma (I'm tellin' ya, I have great neighbors!) and I had to find a home for Miss Daisy the shitzu. That about killed us all from the git-go.
Then, the lady-who-we-all-trusted-with-our-Eula Mae, and her son backed a truck up to the door and proceeded to steal several very large items. We all watched. We thought she was taking them to our Sweet Girl in the nursing home.
Next have been the countless, daily prospective home buyers. I don't know why it's so hard to watch strangers go in and out...but, it is. My protectiveness of Eula Mae is overwhelming. I don't want people looking at her stuff. Touching her things. My littlest Crumb Snatcher is not dealing with it pleasantly. She starts a fight with her brother and acts hideously if she's outside at the time of the showing. I finally figured this out the other day when I witnessed the whole thing from start to finish. My heart hurt for her. I guess she figures if she makes a big enough scene, the people looking will not want to live near her.
Girl Child came in yesterday with a stricken look and that precious chin quivering. Because now there's a trailer parked in the drive-way for the auction house...
It's tough being 40 and watching all this going on. I get it. I don't like it, but I understand it.
Crumb #2 is 9. She doesn't get. She doesn't understand it. She doesn't like it. And she's struggling.
I've been having a long conversation with God about this whole thing.
His answer couldn't have been more perfect.
And here they are...



That's Bugsy with The Belly. And Precious, her finance'.
Why those names?
Since I've only lived next to them for two months I haven't come up with any permanent names yet. The Recluse Artist, Harley Momma, Sweet Girl, The Newlyweds, Hot Head Tom, Crazy Larry and Fruitcake Mary are all appropriate because I've lived with them for a long time! Know what I mean?
So Bugsy is Bugsy because that's her real nickname. I can't call her it. I don't know why. I call her by her beautiful given name. It fits her. She's beautiful. Inside and out.
The beautiful artwork on her chest? It is a tribute to her momma. She died at 36. It's literally a piece of art. She's a trained classical musician. She rides a unicycle. She knows more about cars than Big Shooter. (I know. He has a big crush on her.) She used to make reeds for Yamaha. She paints. And she's about to bless The Neighborhood with June Bug. (Girl Child and I have a big crush on her too. I think Crumb #1 does too. But I think it for reasons this momma doesn't want to contemplate at the present. Thankyouverymuch.)
Precious will roll his eyes when I tell him that's what his name is...for now. I tried a bunch. Tat Boy (he has a bunch you can't see in the pictures). Dreadlock Dude. Bugsy's Boy. Cool Cat. They all work. But none fit. He is, by far, the most thoughtful, hardworking, responsible and loving 21 yo I have met in a loooong time. So what does a over bearing, compulsive momma call that? Why, Precious, of course.
And he is.
And they are.

Love Note to my Big Shooter: It's been a while since you've experienced the Compulsive Nurturer. I must first give you my condolences and second, my gratitude because you are handling it beautifully! Thank you, Love.

June 5, 2009

What's Your Signature Saying?

Are you known for anything you say often?

Do your family or friends ever give you that knowing glance and say it before you do in that "gottcha" kind of way?



One of my aunts, who lives in Utah, says, "Oh my heck."



My granddad had a very...shall we say, colorful expression he used frequently.



Big Shooter says, "Life is good" quite frequently.



And apparently, I say, "Oh my word" in between every sentence.



In fact, I've been told I have so many different ways of saying this phrase that I have one for every kind of situation.



  • In response to Girl Child telling me she's finished yet another chapter book in a single evening: (said with the Momma Wow voice), " Oh my worrrd!"



  • After Boy Child tells me, in agonizingly great detail, the many life-sustaining battles on a video game: (said with as much fake momma wow as I can muster), "Oh...my word."



  • Tasting some divine culinary treat: (said slowly with a throaty voice), "Oh...my....worrrrd...".



  • After Saucy Sashi gives me some unbelievable news: (each word is said separately and slowly with my eyebrows up as far as they can go), "Oh. My. Word. "
  • Screeching at the top of my lungs when seeing a scary jumping bug, "Ohmyword! Ohmyword! OhmyWORD!!"
I'm dying to know if y'all have a signature saying of your own? Please share it with us. What is it? Where'd you first hear it? What does it mean to you and how often do you express it?

Love Note to my Big Shooter: I should have said your Signature Saying is, "Zzzzzzzz. snort. Zzzzzzzz."