Christmas Necklace

My sister Lynette gave me a necklace for Christmas. When I was little, I have no idea how old, I had an autograph book. My mom was the first to sign. Lynette took the page she signed and had it made into a necklace.  The front says "To a sweet little daughter. I love you very much". The back is signed "Mom".

Shop Vac

Lessons from a Shop Vac

Shop Vacs have input and output switches. If hooked to the wrong connection Shop Vacs will blow everything from the barn into your living room. Shop Vacs are extremely powerful to use for small areas but do not work well over an entire hardwood floor. Do not aimlessly throw hose around-pay attention-Shop Vacs cannot suck up anything in their path, such as Kleenex, curtains, socks, plastic bags, etc, even though they try and sneak the attempt by you. It's much less time consuming to use the Shop Vac on things it's supposed to clean than to have to slow down and dig out something stuck. (And who wants to waste more time cleaning than they have to?) When reaching into to corners to suck up things you cannot see you'll hear stuff going up the hose and might wonder if it was something you were missing and might need someday. Don't worry about it. Even though sneaky at times, the Shop Vac knows what to take in and what to leave behind. And if you didn't know what was in that dark corner then you didn't need it anyway. All in all cleaning with a Shop Vac is highly entertaining even if at times frustratingly slow. I highly recommend it....every four or five years. More than that and the love affair will end.

Whorls

Horses have whorls/cowlicks on their foreheads. Most horses also have cowlicks on their neck and hips.  Whorls are like fingerprints in people.  Each is unique and never changes. Some breed's require documentation of these "fingerprints" in order to register a horse with their association.

Some believe the shape and location of forehead whorls can lend a hand in knowing the temperament and trainability of a horse. 

These are a few I can think of:

• Right between and above the eyes is ideal.
• Whorls below the eyes mean a horse is very smart and can be a tricksters, learning to open gates, escaping their stall, etc.
• Whorls left of the face can mean a horse is sensitive but can be trusted.
• Horses with a whorl to the right aren't very cooperative.
• Long whorl line are usually horses that love people.
• Two whorls together equal a moody horse who is hard to handle and thus aren't good for newbie/beginner riders.
• Three whorls on the forehead are the least desirable.  Horses with three are often mean horses and can be "crazy" acting.

Many people will tell horse owners/breeders/trainers to walk through their barns.  The best horses in their barn will have center whorls on the forehead which are slightly above the eyes.  


(All in great fun. Also blog on color of horses, whorles, cowlicks on other parts of a horse's body.)

Above center  - toward right eye

Center - toward left eye

Center above eyes

Center- above eyes

Center

Slightly above eye toward left eye

Longer whorl toward right eye

Crochet

This is my niece Jessie and the blanket I had a lady at work crochet for Baby Mallie Belle's Christmas gift.  Mallie is Jessie's baby girl (my great niece).  The blanket turned out so beautiful; soft but the weight is heavy from good yarn crocheted together with firm, dedicated hands.  Reminds me of watching Jessie raising her two babies-Jack who will be 2 in 2013 and little Mallie Belle.  Such a good momma she is-raising her children with soft, but firm where needed, dedicated hands.  It's so surreal  think about Jessie being a woman with children.  But a wonder to watch how natural it's coming to her. She was made to be a momma and what a fine one she is indeed.    

Need Candles?

Chris and I could never be survivalist. I have some flameless candles which run off of batteries. The power was out and I was trying to put new batteries in one of the candles while Chris held the flashlight for me. The power came back on. I worked away..... Chris said, "Marna, the power is back on. I don't think you need the flashlight now to help you see to put in the batteries."

Re-Gift?

Hmmmmm.....I already used one of the presents I got Chris for Christmas. Wondering....
is it considered a re-gifted gift when he opens it in a couple of days? 

I like UFC but was not a Chael Sonnen fan. While flipping through the book on the way to wrapping I couldn't put it down. Pretty interesting read that I really enjoyed. I think I read the book in two days! Chris isn't a book type person. But I hope he enjoys his used gift.

Chris with his Christmas gifts. The Chael Sonnen is a re-gift or used.
However one want to look at it I guess.

Flip Phone

My wonderful niece Amber totally called me out at Embellished Elegance yesterday when I bought my leggings. The store runs your debit card and the receipt is sent to your phone (email). Amber said, "She doesn't have a Smart Phone. Will she still be able to get the receipt?" Five minutes later, text message pops up on the ole flip phone, receipt message that is. Thanks for looking out for me Ambie. 


(I'll keep using my flip phone, just like Kate, just in case that'll make me as cool as she is.)

The Hobbit

Chris and I watched "The Hobbit" last night. While watching I remembered the exact moment I crawled in my mom's lap while watching the cartoon version in the 70's, terrified out of my mind. I also realized that cartoon is probably the reason I hate scary movies to this day. Why didn't she turn the channel? (Actually, I think she did.) That cartoon was extremely traumatizing.....

Christmas Gifts 2012

This year Chris gave me a ‎"Painting with a Twist" gift certificate. I've always wanted to do that. Chris also gave me a Ipod dock for Christmas. He is a great gift giver, always surprising with things I've mentioned in the past or being creative with new things I'd like. (I'm thinking of two Big Cat series DVD's last year of which I haven't watched yet because no one will watch with me.)

Delayed Gratification

Do you know how frustrating it is for a kid to open a Christmas gift and realize that "batteries are not included"? To have a new toy on Christmas morn but can't play with it till Wal-Mart opens the next day? I know the feeling. The first time was a few years back when Chris surprised me with a Kindle. I hurriedly charged the battery only to find that our house in the sticks couldn't pick up any sort of 3g or WiFi....  This year it's an Ipod dock I'm surprised with as a gift.  The problem?  My pesky Ipod isn't working.

"Mankind: The Story of Us"

"Mankind: The Story of Us". Truly a great documentary on the History channel every Tuesday night. I believe there are only one or two more episodes. I highly recommend watching. What I've taken from the story (other than fascinating history facts) is the trend of having to defend what you have because someone else wants to take from you/your wealth. Greed and jealousy guide much of history. All the way back to Cain and Able. Wanting; always wanting something someone else has. Some are explorers and those who test boundaries are not necessarily in the thrill for monetary gain but just quest for knowledge born out of man being curious, wanting to push boundaries of knowledge. Once again not for monetary gain, but of intellectual gain.

More to come..........

Three Things Today

I learned three things today. 1. A new word, senescence. 2. Bleach doesn't override every scent. 3. Gerard Butler's best movie is "300". (Number 3 wasn't really, actually learned today. I've known this since I saw "300", just as I've always known Russell Crowe's best movie ever and will always be "The Gladiator".)

Momma's & Mother-In-Laws & Life Lessons

I went to eat with Chris's momma and some of her church gals today at Captain D's. What fun those ladies were!!!! I'm very thankful she has such good friends and it’s no wonder sometimes she shafts the family after church for Sunday dinner to eat with her friends. Today they asked me how I liked my mother-in-law, these close confidants of hers. One asked this with a smile and I had a feeling it was just a run of the mill, "how are you doing today" kind of question. I told them I loved her to death and blessed to have her. You see Chris and I had only been dating for five months when my momma died in 1990. Although she barely knew me, Chris's mother took me right under her wing. I think her buddies may have been surprised at the frankness of love I expressed and I had a feeling, suddenly, that perhaps the relationship they had with their daughter-in-laws was not quite the same, or the relationship with their own mother-in-law. Maybe they thought I’d just give a “pat” answer, but I fooled them. Fooled them with a truth. (I received a really warm, genuine smile from the ladies after.)

No one loves you like your mother. No one. And a daughter's love is one of the most prized possessions a mother can have. I loved my mother dearly. In fact I often say there was none like her and I mean it. I was very attached to her. My momma can never, ever, ever be replaced and I would give about anything to have her back, including my big toe. However, God had other plans for her life and mine, a life that has been tough at times. Being without your mother at important milestones in your life such as graduating college, that first job, your wedding, and a real hum-dinger you never see coming, the "Big C", can be almost unbearable.  

Momma and me 1985ish

The "Big C". A time of fear where you really, really want your mom. Like when you're little and have the flu (which luckily I never had). But at the same time you're really, really glad your mom is not there. To have seen Momma worry and fret would have been a bigger wound to bear than the "Big C" was for after she lost my brother, her first born and dear son, life would have been unfair for Momma to have bore watching my sickness as well.  

Reality is life is never fair. I think a reality show: "Reality is Life is Never Fair" would be great. Seems a lot of folks need to learn to cope with that concept.  The Anthony (Momma) and Maynard (Daddy) families are made from strong stuff. Momma would have bore both hardships with an iron will.  The iron will that my fortune cookie said I had last night. That Chris said was my stubbornness. (And I would have to agree.) There is a stubbornness my parents put into me through their example, their life. A different, selfless stubbornness. Not the selfish kind.

My parents lived through tough times. Tough times of poverty, of depression of a country, of WW II that took Daddy away from family and the communities of Soak/Corntassel/Hopewell for a while. The iron will they contained within their souls was to take your punches, put your nose to the grindstone and live through hard times, for you have to live. Really live even when you see life and the unfairness that is of it.  You bear it and you go on with no worries or fear of future unfairness that may roll your way. You go on because there are little eyes watching you. Learning to bear times that will break most. Learning to have an iron will to make it through the loss of losing parents, the pain of the "Big C". Learning to live life with a quiet grace.

Back to my mom-in-law….She is a special one she is. In many ways Chris’s mom reminds me of Momma. The two being similar may have helped bear the load of losing Momma so young. But they are not totally alike. Too alike and I may have felt reluctance to have gotten to emotionally close to Emma. Felt like I was betraying Momma and her memory as I was too young to have much experience to process a situation like that.

Things in life are pretty amazing to gaze back upon. God works all things out for His good. Momma could not have lived forever, would not have. The short time line between Chris and I beginning dating to losing Momma was of course Divine Will. Who knows what our relationship would have been like if the time frame of those two events had been longer? Shorter? As it played out according to His plan the timing was perfect. I didn’t know Chris’s mom very well. I don’t even remember how many times Emma and I had met before Momma died. Perhaps if we had known each other longer there may have been some sort of animosity that occasionly grows between mother and daughter-in law. But that was worked out for Someone upstairs knew I would need a "helper mom".  Not a replacement, not a fill in, not a pretend, but a helpmate kinda mom. 

I’m sad for some of my friends who do not have the relationship with their mother-in-laws as I do with Emma. With some people and circumstances I understand those situations are tough. But I hope all women will at least be aware of what a mother-in-law has meant to their husband. The man they love. That those daughter-in-laws will remember the love they have for their own mother, like that they see between husband and his mom, and want that love to not only exist between two who are married but instead a close bond between all three.

Life is tough. I’ve been blessed to not only have one mother, but two. The very beloved mother of youth who instilled how to live, believe, love, and the mother of womanhood, who instills the faith that I can love both. It took a number of years to see those two mothers, one of youth, one of womanhood, without feeling as if I was betraying Momma, having guilt for loving Emma. But with His help I’ve realized that it’s not betrayal. Momma was going to die when I was 18, no matter of my love for Emma. And someday, when Emma passes, the pain will be like losing a second mother. But the pain of losing each will be unique.  Just as the love and life I experienced with each is unique.

I’m not sure if anything of this note makes sense. But it’s just a reminder to myself of the love of two.  And that sure feels good….I'm one heck of a lucky girl....

Emma Lee & I 2014 

Stubborn

Chris and I ate Chinese tonight. My Fortune Cookie read "You have an iron will which helps you succeed in everything." Chris said there's never been a cookie's fortune truer than mine. My iron will = my stubbornness. I'll own it. I am stubborn.

Farsightedness

Age doesn't cause forehead wrinkles. Age causes farsightedness. As a result of treating farsightedness with Wal-Mart reading glasses, wrinkles on the forehead are created by having to bend chin down toward chest and peer over top of glasses, which sit awkwardly on the bridge of your nose, while crinkling forehead to look at things over an arm's length away.

"Serving Abroad..Through Their Eyes"

"Serving Abroad...Through Their Eyes". What amazing photos submitted to the "Art in Embassies" 50th anniversary photo contest. I don't know which would be my favorite, Dolphin with a camera it's fin, dog parachute, soldier breakdancing, American Flag in the wall of sandbags, soldiers grieving, soldiers in the sunset, soldiers in the rain, soldiers playing pool. They are all so moving. Please take a moment to look at what members of our military see. It's very worthwhile. Would love to go see the display at the Pentagon in person.

Link to Photos entered in the contest

"Serving Abroad...Through Their Eyes"

"Twilight"

"Twilight" movies: I loved the first one, which seems to be everyone's least favorite. The second, not so much. Part one of three-a definite not so much. Part two of three-loved the action. On the other hand, Chris loved all three-one, two and part one and two of three. Well, not part one of three but part two of three. Or.....was there four? Anyway, they're over. Or....are they.....