The Fuzzball Chronicles: the Life and Times of Curly Mommy

A little over a week ago I went to a Vacation Bible School Leadership meeting at church (I am the Preschool Crafts Director). We were served a very nice dinner of bread and olive oil, Caesar salad, chicken casserole, brownies, and tea. After dinner we served each other Holy Communion. I left the meeting feeling rejuvenated, but that is not the point of this post. Before the meeting I met with the Children's Minister and we discussed decorating the four preschool craft rooms. She said that we aren't allowed to hang anything from the ceiling, due to fire codes. That comment triggered a memory that I shared with her. In March 1982, my kindergarten year, our class made umbrellas cutouts from old wallpaper samples. I remember being amazed by the huge books full of florals, stripes, and plaids. I don't remember exactly what color I picked out, but I do remember that is was a hideous floral circa some time in the 1970's. I liked it! The teacher's aid (her name escapes me) ...

The computer crashed. Then, we went out of town for several days. Then, I helped my dear friend make a wedding cake. Then, date night with Yardboy. Then, Father's Day celebrating. Yardboy has the computer up and running again. We are back home. The cake has been eaten. The date is over. Father's Day is past. In short, I'm back. Did you miss me?

My Celebrate Recovery Sponsor came over for lunch yesterday. It was really nice to get to know her a little better. After lunch, I opened the pantry to put something away. This is what it looked like: I told my sponsor that my pantry was a metaphor for my life, or for me. My pantry held many really healthy foods, some that are good only in moderation, some things that are tasty, but harmful to my health, and some that are just plain rotten. This afternoon I showed the pantry to another friend in Recovery. After she went home, I cleaned and organized it. I even vacuumed and mopped the floor. In the past, I wouldn't have worried about the floor. Nobody else ever sees it and it is just going to have stuff piled on it again. Why bother? I bothered this afternoon because of the parallel I saw between the pantry and my recovery. I'm still working on Step Four, the Inventory. It has proven to be a much more difficult task than I thought it would be. I want to do a complete, honest inv...

I used this song to teach Tater to count. I told her that it was a Sesame Street song from when I was a little girl. I haven't seen the entire video since I was a child. She and I were so excited to see it this morning!

For the last two years we have paid ten dollars a month for "limited basic cable" and we were very happy with it. Yesterday we learned that the cable company took The Food Network off of our package. I'm so sad! I am already missing Alton Brown. I guess I will have to rely on my DVDs and books. Sniff sniff.

It has been so dry. This Spring our area only received 2.24 inches of rain. We usually gets about 15.1 inches from March 1 to May 31. A few weeks ago I heard a local meteorologist say that dry weather breeds dry weather and not to expect rain any time soon. She turned out to be right. This drought really dug in it's heels. Wildfires seem to burn all over the place. Most lawns look and feel like ours--brown and crunchy. Lakes and rivers are lower than they have been in years. Farmers that don't have irrigation systems are losing crops. A sign in front of a church down the road from our house reads, "Have you prayed for rain?" Many people are praying for a hurricane. I'm praying for a tropical storm. This afternoon was overcast and I didn't think anything about it. It has been cloudy for days with no rain. Dry weather breeds dry weather. This afternoon turned out to be different. Tater asked, "Mommy, why is it so dark?" We looked out and saw rain. Yea ...

Cheri at Northwoods Ramblings held a contest in the Month of May to celebrate her one thousandth post. I won! Woo Hoo! Thanks Cheri and congratulations on 1,000 posts!