Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone is having fun. Eat a lot of candy corn and enjoy the jack o' lanterns.......The Pea family is handing out chocolate. Stay safe everyone and have a good weekend.

Reunited and it feels so good

I finally got my haircut today. It's been since May but it really didn't count as a real haircut that time because I got this genius idea to try an $18 dollar place. Never again. My sister whose hair is the same length and texture as mine found a place where she lives that charges $18 without a wash and blow dry and she LOVED it, swore she'll never go anywhere else, told me I should try it out here where I live since it's a chain. I've been looking for a new place to go because I got really sick of paying $75 for someone to cut my long, straight, easy to cut hair because the girl I'd been going to for a long time ran off to Minnesota(of all places to run off to). I went to a spa place a few times and I really liked it, I even got a massage there last year while I was recovering from being off my meds for all that time and I was sore. Then another owner took over and turned the place into redneck heaven. Mind you, I love the south. I consider myself a southerner by preference and I can turn on/off my accent when need be. But when I get my haircut or any kind of beauty treatment, I don't want to feel like I'm in the middle of a HeeHaw rerun. I'm not exaggerating. They got some kind of 'company vehicle' , to advertise and impress the customers. Yeah. Hot Pink Hummers with sparkly rims don't appeal to me as a client whatsoever. If this makes me a snob, then I'm just a snob. The stylist I was used to just dissappeared one day and when I asked which salon she moved to they wouldn't tell me, I think because they were hoping I would just say ok, who else is avaliable. No thanks. I was only putting up with the hard core blue grass music and the yelling profanities back and forth between the mother and daughter owners because I liked the way she cut my hair and her price so this gave me an excuse to go somewhere else. Before that I was going to a woman who only charged me $25 and she was really good. I loved her but she decided to become a real estate agent(in this market when I have all this hair dammit!) so again I was a style orphan. Which brought me to the place my sister told me to try. Yeah. The guy they put me with was greasy, his nails were filthy and he smelled like an ash tray that hadn't been cleaned out since the days of Studio 54. And he barely cut anything and what was cut was lopsided. And he charged me $35, not the $18 my sister had me all excited about. So remember the stylist I "broke up with" that one time? In a moment of weakness I decided to go back. Best decision ever. I don't know why I ever fell out of love in the first place. Well ok I know why. It was expensive and I always felt pressured to buy ridiculously priced products when I was done. But oh man did I have beautiful hair once upon a time and it was because of her! So I had to go back. I had to. Why did I not see that before?! I mean, I get a haircut maybe 2-3 times a year. Why should I feel guilty about it? So maybe the shitty economy is actually good for something because it didn't cost me as much as before(although it was still a little pricey but I need to stay in this moment a bit longer). And all I did was say no thanks when a product was suggested for me to buy. Oh to have pretty hair again. It was beginning to look like I had just been kicked out of the Garden of Eden.


How much is too much to spend for a haircut to you guys?

Mr.Pea

I don't mention him much because, and this is a good thing but, I'm still one of those wives who, after 12+ years can still gush like an obnoxious teenager in love and it probably comes off as sappy if I really get started. I would just get on your nerves, trust me. But since I never post about him and I feel like posting a few things, so dammit I'm going to. In list form.

~Even though we got engaged in December and married in March, in my true heart I consider November 5th our real anniversary. Here's why-- he told me on November 5, 1996 to remember that day for the rest of my life even if I never saw him again and to remember this advice: "never let anyone take advantage, treat you badly, or take you for granted, even me- especially me, because you deserve happiness." You can imagine the kind of jerks I had dated up to that point because that was the first time a man other than my father had ever said that to me. I knew he was the one.

~ The summer before I met him I was severely under weight and constantly sick with sinus infections, brochitus, flus stuff like that. My doctor was concerned that I had an eating disorder and told me to gain 15 pounds and start eliminating whatever stress was in my life that was causing me to lose so much weight. So I did and I really did get better. Fast forward a few months of me being healthy again and in a serious relationship with my then future husband. I confided in him about how self conscience I was about my very necessary weight gain and he said(with his French accent mind you),"What are you talking about? I don't like a too skinny girrrl. I like belly on girrrl. Gain more weight then. Let's go eat right now." Why am giggling writing this? See I told you...sapsapsap (By the way I don't truly know if what I was going through was a "textbook" eating disorder because I did research and none of the symptoms really fit me except for the fact that I was severely underweight. To this day I don't know what that was. Stress maybe? Who knows! Once I gained the weight, I stopped getting all those sinus infections so I kept the weight on and decided to just be healthy.)

~ For about a year and half he worked in California during the week and flew home for the weekends. One day he called and pretended that, for some reason, just realised he didn't remember how small my feet were and was "just wondering what size they were" for no specific reason. You get where this is going? That's how bad of a liar he is. He brought home two pairs of shoes for me as a "just cuz" gift. This was almost 10 years ago and I still have them. His taste is that good. I mean he bought me these last Christmas. And you see, it's not like the gifts were just because we were still newlyweds, he's still like that.

~ When I was "fresh out of surgery" I was having a really hard time. I won't go into the details since over the past couple years I've talked about all the complications so blahblah I had a really horrible surgery to remove cancer with horrible complications blahblahblah. My heart rate was too high and I was in and out of conscience. The thing I remember the most was him holding on to one of my fingers. I was somewhat aware of it and in my drugged state, I felt that his holding onto my finger was the only thing that was keeping me from falling off the Earth. Obviously he didn't know it at the time but he told me later that he held on to my finger for so long because every time he let go, my heart rate would go back up.

~ He never acts jealous. PERIOD. This is such a PLUS because I hate people who act jealous and I would not be in a relationship with someone who didn't allow me to breathe. PERIOD. I could come home and say, "I'm sorry I'm so late but there was this monkey in the road who needed my help so I had to drive him to the store and buy him some Hershey's kisses for his friend the sea lion who lives in that purple shack downtown and we had to go pick him up too because the fish from Utah were in jail so naturally we had to go bail them out before we headed to the strawberry parade. " And he would say,"Omigosh are you ok? Sit down a bit then, you're probably tired."

~ This is going to sound silly for a second but go with me on this one. There's this line in a Al Pacino movie from a while back ago. It's a football movie, I think by Oliver Stone. It's not my favorite movie AT ALL, I'm not really a "football girl." But it's my favorite line because in the movie Al Pacino plays a football coach and he's trying to convince his quarterback, who's been injured and is now ok to play but is really scared to play again. The player says to him,"I'm scared coach." And Al Pacino says something like,"You can do it. Come on we can do it. Me and you. ME. AND. YOU." Anytime there's an uncertainty be it sickness, economic, anything, everything,whatever---that's what I think about when something comes up. That line.
ME. AND. YOU. And that's they way it will always be. Or I think it's You and me, but you get the point......

Random happenings

-"Mon Cheri Amour" was playing at Starbucks today when I went in to "sugar up" before my routine blood work(I have to do this because they sometimes take 4 vials,which really doesn't sound like much.But it's a lot when you're 4'11".). I forgot how much I liked that song. But I only like it when Stevie Wonder sings it. Everyone else just sounds like a cheap imitation.

-I have a bruise on my arm(again) from the bloodwork. Why is that? Some people just have the best hands and never even leave a mark on my arm. And then some people leave big purple dots on my inner elbow making me leave the band aid on for the rest of the day lest people at Target think I'm a drug addict or something.

-I got in touch with the very first girl who befriended me when I first moved here in the 3rd grade. We haven't talked in at least 13 years so it was refreshing to hear an old friendly voice. Don't you love old friends? Old friends just know things about you and you don't have to explain anything.

-I had to force myself to leave the tv off today. Bad news of that poor little girl who was murdered and thrown in the trash had me crying all night last night and I knew it would be all over the news again today. I pray for her mother and family who must be going through hell right now. THE STATE OF FLORIDA IS NOT DOING ENOUGH TO PROTECT INNOCENT CHILDREN FROM CHILD PREDATORS! What kind of....ok I was about to write the word animal would do something like this, but then I thought no that's an insult to animals. I can't use the word human because someone who woud do something like this is not human. Why did this happen?

I forgot to show you guys this

While I went Naples last month, we spent a day in on Marco Island and there were a lot of birds of prey. MrPea bought me a new camera for my birthday last July so it was a good opportunity to use it and I got these two great shots of this Bald Eagle. I am not very happy with her conduct, I have to say.....she was harrassing a pair of osprey's, trying to steal their fish, looking beautiful the whole time though. I think I'll get a good zoom lense this Christmas so I can get some more good shots like this. Click on them to make them bigger. I'm still learning how to use my new camera because it has a lot of bells and whistles but these two shots aren't bad for a beginner don't you think??

Me and Horses

This post was inspired by Des.


Growing up, like every little girl, I always wanted a pony of my own. I don't really need to point out why I never got one. It's the same reason 99% of little girls in America never got one. That didn't stop me from dreaming about it though. Looking back, it's probably a good thing considering one or two of my encounters with a horse. But before I tell all about it and you guys start thinking I should just stay away from all animals let me tell you a couple good things:

My Grandparents had this big beautiful magical farm with trees and hills and raspberry picking and catching fireflies and cookouts and loud crickets and everything great you could possibly imagine a kid would find amazing on a farm. I could fill a thousand pages with beautiful memories of that farm. My Uncle had some land adjoining and his cows and horses were sometimes close enough for us to see. We used to save our fruit and carrots and walk down to feed the horses in the evening. I was always a little scared so I would just hold on to my Grandma's arm when she fed them my carrots so that they would know it was "from me" even though I wasn't really feeding them. Ok, that's a good memory right?

The year I was 16 I went to live with my Grandparents on that very same form for a little while and everyday I had to walk down this rock road home from my bus stop. I would pass a field of the most beautiful brown horses I'd ever seen. I used to call out to them or sing to them, anything to get their attention but they always ignored me. Until one day I was walking by singing as usual and one beautiful mare with a white diamond on her face came up to me. She put her face as close as possible so I took it as an invitation to pet her. I stood there petting her a minute and then they all came to say hello. After that day I used to save the fruit from my lunch to feed them and they would walk next to me as far as the fence would allow. Another good one right? They liked me.


My first apartment was near a really big storybook looking church and there were a lot of weddings there. One particular day I looked out my window and there was a big majestic black Clydesdale horse with one of those Cinderella coach thingies. I went out to take a closer look and ask the driver(they're called drivers right?) if I could say hello. He said it was ok as long as I didn't make the horse excited because he was acting nervous that day. Just imagine my bragging voice," OMIGOSH OK? I have so much experience with horses don't worry." So I started to pet the horse and suddenly I feel a burn on my knee and realize I've just been stung by a bee. I started screaming, "OMIGOSH HURTS! HURTS! IT BURNS!!!" The driver got so mad at me. Luckily for me the horse didn't get upset but pretty much looked at me like I was complete idiot. (Yes horses make faces, ask anyone.)

A friend of mine, after high school graduation, moved out to the country with her boyfriend and bought a horse named Pixie. Pixie was a youngish, spoiled beautiful blonde mare and we liked her mane and tail braided with pink ribbons. My friend had this genius idea that she would teach me to ride since I had told her before how much I loved horses from afar and Pixie seemed to like me. Another genius idea she, well ok , WE had was that she would teach me English style riding and that since I was so small and light, I would learn how to jump fences and we would enter local amateur contests and just kick everyone's asses. Sounds real smart huh? We were serious. One winter day I put on some old jeans and dirty Keds and told her I was ready. Ok just for the record, even after falling off several times, I mastered the Trot and Canter and I looked cute when I tried on the outfit. Since we were feeling really cocky because I was really doing well, she decided it was ok to just let me practice on my own all the way back to Pixie's stall. Well Pixie decided not. She just up and decided to just start running like her ass was on fire and here I am clicking the Trot and Canter click, but it didn't work. She didn't want to Trot or Canter in the pretty way we showed her. She wanted to run. I had to let go of the reins and throw my arms around her neck. This seemed to make Pixie really happy because she started to run faster after that. I was begging her to slow down or stop but I'm telling you this horse was enjoying my horror. We got to really busy street and she decided to stop in the middle and kick her leg a few times and buck a little just to scare me some more. I was still holding on to her neck and asking her to stop. She decided to run like hell a little bit more. I saw a fence getting closer and closer and closed my eyes because I just knew we were going to go over whether I liked it or not. Instead of jumping over she decided to turn and run next to it instead. I said thank you for not jumping over Pixie and gave one last try to pull as close to her bit as I could to make her stop. Thankfully she did but not for long while. I slid off, and even though I was PISSED OFF at Pixie I needed to put my arms around someone and no one was there so I put my arms around her and started crying. I think she thought it was funny because she was acting really happy when we hosed her down. Bitch. I still brought her apples but we were never good friends again after that. My friend said not to hold a grudge since Pixie was so young and she probably really enjoyed my attentions because I was much lighter than the people she was used to carrying. Thanks but no thanks. Needless to say I never became a champion horse jumper, or whatever they are called. So much for our great idea.

I made friends with some horses in Canada but because of Pixie, I never got an a horse again. There's a local stable that rents out horses every summer and you can ride them on the beach. I keep thinking one year I'll do it. But then I'll change my mind. Pixie ruined any horse adventure I would ever have.

Fun at the Dentist

I had a filling replaced today. I had so much fun.

Kindergarten, church, and new friends

Today was my read-aloud-to-a-really-squirmy-kindergarten-class day. I mentioned last spring that I started covering for a person who for whatever reason couldn't do it anymore. It's only twice a month so I said yes when I was asked to do it again. The person in charge of coordinating the whole thing told me they always have a hard time finding people who are willing to read to the younger classes. I sort of expect kids to act squirmy so it's not a big deal for me to read for 20 minutes if it helps out the always thankful looking teacher and librarian. They call me Miss Angel, which I've told you guys, makes me blush. There's usually some one's shoes to retie, a lot of hands raised to use the bathroom, giggling, poking, pinching, and every once in while someone will yell back at one of the voices I'm using for the book characters.(Yes, I told you guys, I do the voices. They like it and it keeps their attention! I had to do mean pirate voices this time.) Today there was a lot of shushing but not on my part. Two boys had to be separated because they are BFF and get into trouble whenever they sit together. By the middle of the second book I noticed them inching towards each other and giggling. I know I'm supposed discourage them when they don't listen to the librarian, but I can't help it. They make me laugh. One girl in blond pigtails asked to use the bathroom. Suddenly the whole class had to use the bathroom. The librarian said no so I had to say no too. I felt a little bad about that. By the end of my last book one of my kids interrupted to ask me if I knew how to make puke noises. I said,"Of course." I did refuse to make fart noises.(I mean I have to draw the line somewhere.)This caused a huge ruckus of giggling and the librarian told them all we had to hurry up so that they would have time to check out their own books before their teacher came back. I really should be more strict with my kids because I can tell the librarian thinks we're too rambunctious but I like them that way. I want them to enjoy their time with me. I love reading and when I was kid I loved having books read to me. I hope that my being there, making it fun and not so structured for them will somehow teach them that books can be just as entertaining as video games and silly cartoons.


I got to be in a parade at my church. Well it wasn't really a parade, it was more of a procession. There were about 70 of us and we each had to to hold a sign of a particular ministry we were representing as we walked down the aisle to music for 2 different services. My sign was "weekend renewal." I'm glad no one asked me about it because I wouldn't have known a thing to say since I didn't know anything nor have I ever participated in the "weekend renewal" . Up until five minutes before I was assigned that particular sign I didn't even know we had a "weekend renewal". I only said yes I would do it because a new friend of mine was holding a sign too and we wanted to be in the parade together. And yes I did enjoy the attention. I tried to hold it "Price is Right" style. I'm expecting any day now to be told how my involvement was so impressive that thousands of people signed up for "weekend renewal" and that it was the largest fundraising in history. Yup.

Speaking of my new friend, don't you just love meeting a kindred spirit? I met a really funny woman who totally gets my silliness. I knew we would be friends when I saw her at my book club with her leg propped up on another chair because she had an ankle brace on. Over the ankle brace were some really cute high heels. She knows what's up. That is totally something I would do and you guys know how I feel about shoes. I said to myself, my kind of woman, we are totally going to be BFF.

I'm sorry guys! I should've said something sooner

I got a few emails asking if I was ok. Well yes I'm ok. I'm not going to say I've been too busy, I hate when people say that. I've just been having a summer: we went on vacation again and I got a couple sinus infections and doing my volunteering things and trying to work out more and my best friendforever came in town so we had to gallivant and I had to catch up reading for my book club and I started taking a class and also I was anxious about some Doc appointments that I had to get mentally prepared for with routine bloodwork and I've been trying to start painting again-that took up alot of mental energy and Peanut got sick so...it sounds like I've been too busy but I wasn't. I just took a break from the internets and the bloggings and all that stuffs. Sorry. I've missed you guys.

Oh I left out the shark teeth expeditions. Yeah. There haven't really been any big storms so I don't really have anything to gloat about but there's been a lot of that going on. The search is just as good as the find I think.

BUT! I do have something else I can gloat about. MY DOCTOR SAYS I CAN HAVE A BABY ANYTIME I WANT TO NOW! HA! Don't expect any announcements about it for a while. We have a few things to do before I can think about that. I can still tell you guys how ecstatic I am about that possibility though can't I? Why yes I can. I've been gone so long I forgot I can say whatever the hell I want to. And let me just say that was the best news ever. Usually I'm always getting crappy news from her so this time I was able to leave with happy tears not sad tears. I wasn't even expecting any kind of news since it was my routine visit. But things were looking so good, she said I don't have to do any body scans for a while and that all was safe. Ok I'll just admit right now that I've been sitting here trying to think of something more to say about this topic but I can't cuz all I can do when I think about is giggle.

OK!? Are we still friends then? Cuz I feel a little guilty that I've neglected my blogpeeps. Say yes or cuss me out. It's ok.