You're Not In Nashville Anymore

When we first moved to Texas, some friends came to visit us from Nashville, our former home. My husband and our friend were going to the store, and as they backed the car out of the driveway, they noticed a black thing on the driveway. Our friend said, "Is that a tarantula?" My husband said, "Well, it's either a tarantula or two black kittens standing back to back." And indeed it was a tarantula. Our first experience with these Texas spiders and certainly not our last.

We also found out that cental Texas has scorpians. Now I don't really mind the tarantulas, but I don't like the scorpians at all because they come into your home and sting you . That's when I called the exterminator. I've never been stung by a scorpian but I've heard stories about my friends getting stung. The scary part of their stories are that they all start out with, "Well I was lying in bed..."

And last, but not least, there is the fire ant. That tiny little creature who's sting hurts like ... well ... fire! All of my children have experienced a fire ant attack when they were two or three years old. I had to strip them down to their birthday suit to get all the ants off them.

But amongst all the tarantulas, scorpians and fire ants are the monarch butterflies. These beautiful, delicate creatures are migrating as I write this blog. They are all traveling to Mexico for the warmer temperatures. They have never traveled this route before because they have recently been born and they are doing this on pure instinct. So if you see a monarch butterfly pass by, you know it's headed for those sandy beaches, clear blue waters and drinks with umbreallas in them.

Too Many Pets

I am under the impression that my family has too many pets. The current count is big dog, little dog, four chickens, two doves and two fish. Now I don't feed all of them. That duty is spread out amongst the family. If you ask any of my children or husband if we have too many pets, they would say, "No, can we get a cat?"

Now, when I was growing up, we always had a dog. One dog at a time. Maybe I'm trying to make up for lost pet requests as a child. I think my reasoning behind accepting all these pets is because we have a big yard. But I'm putting my foot down. No more pets!

Some of the best pets we had were strays. It's almost like the stray pet picks you instead of you picking them. I remember my sisters and I found a lab mix puppy on the side of the road when we were teenagers. We brought her home, pulled all the ticks off her and named her Magnolia. Maggie for short. Now we begged and pleaded Mom to keep the dog. But she stood her ground. "No, we already have a dog", she said. So we proceeded to find a home for Maggie. She ended up going to a friend of ours. Just a few years ago, I was told by this friend that his father said Maggie was the best dog he ever had.

Yesterday I put the doves on Craigslist. Two Tangerine Doves with cage, $50. What a bargain! Anyone? Anyone? Believe me, if you hold out long enough, you will probably get them for free.

Terrible Three's

One of my sisters recently made a comment that the terrible two's were nothing compared to the three's. I agreed with her. I remember my kids acting the same way. And one of the first things that came to my mind was when my kids said, "I hate you!" Now I know they just said that because they were angry and that's the only way they could express their feelings at that moment. My response usually was, "Well, I don't particularly like you very much either at this moment!"

I can't remember if I ever told my mom that I hated her when I was young. I probably did. I remember my older sister was arguing with my sister and I about something and she called us the "b" word. Well, we were only about six or seven at the time, and we didn't have a clue what the word meant. So we went to look it up in the dictionary. The dictionary said it was a female wolf or dog. We just couldn't understand the context of that name calling, so we went and told mom that she called us the "b" word. Well mom got mad and punished her, so we ended up winning that argument (sorry R).

So, terrible three's, name calling, it's all a part of your child testing their boundaries, and developing their individuality. At the end of the day, they know that you still love them. We just take it day by day, one laundry load after another, one fabulous dinner after another, etc. A mother's work is never done!

Going Green

I don't usually get up on a soap box unless it's something that I feel is really important. So here it goes. Yep. I'm trying to go greener, much to my husband's chagrin. He doesn't think my little efforts make that much of a difference, but I do. I put out my recycle bin every Thursday morning. The only thing I didn't like about this is that they wouldn't collect cardboard, so I very dutifully took it to the local recycle center. Just recently, they changed their program and started collecting cardboard. Yea! The big thing I noticed when I started recycling all our cardboard was that it cut our trash in half. I was amazed at that.

Now I have recycled for years. But I was really moved by a show I saw on the National Geographic Channel called Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet. It was based on a book written by Mark Lynas. It told his version of how the earth would be impacted with every degree of increase in temperature. It was very interesting. All I could think about was what will our planet be like for my children and grandchildren. So I do my little part and hope to pass this good habit onto my children.

Another thing I have done is stopped buying disposable drinks for my kids lunches. I bought plastic drink containers and the small Koolaid packets that you just add sugar (except I don't add as much sugar as the directions say) and put that in their school lunches. Saves money - yes. Less trash - yes. Kids like it - yes! I also made reusable sandwich and snack bags. Now I don't have to keep buying those plastic bags that end up in land fills. (By the way, I'm selling these, more information to come later!)

Now, if any body else has a green tip, I want to hear about it. Tell me what you do to keep our planet clean.

How It All Started

I wrote this poem about six years ago and kept it on the shelf in my laundry room. Now it has come to the blog world. Just so you know, this is a true story!

Launderella

Well I’ve got three kids.
But no, it’s really four.
You have to count my husband
To even the score.

They come running through the house
Saying “Mama, where are you?
I’m hungry. I’m thirsty.
And I want some juice.”

I’m in the laundry room.
Where else would I be.
My name is Launderella.
This job’s killin’ me.
This laundry business
Ain’t for me.
I’m gonna get outta here
You wait and see.

I now know why
They only make
Little boy’s clothes
The color of chocolate cake.

It used to bother me
But I’m over that.
I’ve washed scorpions, rocks
But at least not the cat.

My poem’s almost done
But the laundry is not.
It’s a never ending pile
In cold, warm or hot.

It’s the job we all hate.
But it has to get done.
It will not defeat me.
I am the stronger one.

Rain Rain, Don't Go Away

When I first moved to Texas, I read an article in the newspaper about the seasons of Texas. Instead of Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter it was Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer and Deer Season. I laughed and thought, huh, that's funny. Then after experiencing the second "Still Summer", I would begin to wonder if a rain dance would really work or not. Now it doesn't rain much where we live. The rain just goes around us most times. But we have been blessed with much needed rain this past week. My children marvel at it while driving in the car as if it were snow. They go out and play in it. They come in soaked to the bone with a big smile on their face, and the little dog has gone from a small dog to a very skinny rat looking dog. Launderella just sighs and says, "Go put your wet clothes in the laundry room!"

I remember playing in the street after it had rained when I was a kid. My sisters and brother didn't care about dirt and germs. It was just good old fashioned fun. We would ride our bikes around the block, play in the creek and catch crawdads. I love to watch my children use their imaginations and play outside instead of sitting in front of the tv. I hope they pass this onto their children. What a joy that would be.