Just a few things before I leave on Sat

-I found a Power Ranger Tshirt size 5T. It's a size too big but I had to go on a damn oddessy to find it so that baby is going to have to just wear it anyway. I got souvenir tees for the older two but the little one said he likes Power Rangers so I had no choice. I went everywhere. Two different Targets-no Power Rangers. Walmart-nothing. Bealls-nope. Kohl's-uh uh. Kmart-nyet. Finally I broke down and went to the mall. Luckily, I found a Disney store and they had some. Crisis avoided. Go Power Rangers!

-The Disney Store. Um. Yeah. If you haven't had kids yet and were even contemplating the idea of pushing one out, don't go there. And for the record I feel sorry for/hold the utmost admiration for anyone who is so cursed as to have to bring a child there and doesn't end up in a straight jacket. The employees seem to know the inner demons that will be unleashed in kids upon stepping foot into that store and take advantage of it. I saw one following a poor mother around making all kinds of suggestions while the woman, who BTW was clearly on the verge of some kind of emotional breakdown, just said, "yes yes we'll get those honey," just so her kid would calm down. Yep. It's not going to be a destination for the Pea Family when I push one out. I said it. Write it down.

-The baby birds are gone. Should I be worried about that? I mean they were getting bigger and all but I can't believe they would be big enough to just fly away. Is it possible that the mother moved them to a different nest? Does that happen? Please don't say a cat got them. I mean I know it's a possibility but it would be hard for me to believe since no one in my building owns a cat and I doubt any stray would have found them. Plus I'll be heartbroken so I'll have to pretend they didn't like the noise and just moved. The nest is still there in perfect condition. I'm going to have to investigate. Their location was at the LadyNextDoorWhoHatesMe's front doorway so it's going to be hard for me to get some answers from her. I better not find out that she did something like complain about them living in her wreath.

-My trip(s)! My trip(s)! My nephews don't even know I'm coming. I don't know how my sister and I kept this secret for 3 weeks without slipping, but we have. I think she's planning to load them into the car by saying, it's a nice day, let's go for a drive. Oh man, they're all going to get pinched on the belly. One by one. MrPea's and my trip South was postponed until my birthday so I'll be home Wednesday instead of next Monday. I was dying to look for shark teeth down there, but I guess I can wait. I'll try to post while I'm gone but if I don't I hope everyone has a Great Independence day and a safe week.

Random Pix I forgot to show ya'll

Actually I did already post my cellcam version of this one a while back ago but I'm thinking about making a drawing of it to go with my shell in the hand drawing.

It was alive so of course I put it back in the water that day. I even stayed watching it for a long to time to make sure it didn't get pushed back onto the sand by the tide. I couldn't let it go without pausing to snap a picture of it's blue and peach side. I'm sure I've looked up the name in my field guide and forgot it's name but my field guide happens to be in the other room and I happen to be too lazy to get it.

<

Look close.

Closer....see him now.

Yes it's a him, I checked. Unfortunately for him something had already made a meal out of his belly. His color pattern is really pretty and this will definitely make for a good drawing. I haven't decided to use pencils or watercolors for this one.

This is a Southern Toad that Peanut got into a fight with. I freaked out because he's ended up in the animal emergency hospital for getting into a fight with a poisonous toad in the past. So I took a picture of this one so I could identify it and make sure Peanut was not in any danger. He must have tasted really badly because Peanut spit him out right away and started shaking his mouth. Luckily for Peanut that was the only discomfort. MrPea was to blame since he was the one holding the leash(for both times.) His pattern is really pretty too but I'm not a big fan of bumps.

And, as promised here are the baby birds I have been admiring. As you can see the mother bird made a safe nest on a shell "welcome" wreathe. She was there all the time when the eggs were not hatched yet but now I never see her. I was beginning to worry but the chicks are getting bigger everyday so she must just be busy. Click for a closer look.

They are even bigger than this now- I checked on them this morning. I only counted 2 but I'm never close enough to really see because I don't want to scare them.

Last week while using a restaurant bathroom I noticed a very important communication. Take note of it peeps, you might need this information some day:"James is hot." "I agree." I'm not quite sure who this James is but if I find out, I'll let you guys know.

<

And last but not least this was taken last night at 8:30. This is not my beach, it's been too HOTDAMN for me because the wind is still coming from the west. I wanted to look for shark teeth over here but for some reason, there aren't really any here. If the wind doesn't change before I leave on Saturday then I won't be able to look for any shark teeth until next week when low tide is in the evening so it won't be any fun. But the midsummer evening sky is pretty don't you think?

I got something

Yes I did! Got it from Chani, who's blog I adore. And I'm supposed to pass it on but I'm not going to since only 3 people read my blog anymore. (That's all my fault) If you're still here, and you wanted that award for yourself, by all means honey take it. Because if you
are still around after my only posting about once a year then in my opinion, you ARE Lovely.

Now that I'm done bragging about that, I have to steal an idea from Chani. Well technically it's not really stealing since she got the post idea from someone else too right? It was 6 things that make me happy. At this very moment. Ya'll already know about Peanut, shark teeth, the beach,shoes, pinching earlobes, my nephews, pinching my nephews earlobes, ok just pinching in general- all that stuff. So I'll tell you about some different things that make me happy. Today.


1. And this is in no certain order. This is going to sound weird but Exercise makes me happy. Yeah. I can't believe I said that. But it's true. When I am exercising on a regular basis, which for me means 2 or 3 times a week, I'm in a better mood. I have more energy and I sleep better. I also don't have those "I hate my body" voices in my ear so much even if I don't notice a difference in the mirror. Because I feel like I'm actively doing something about it. Saying that I have to admit that the getting motivated to get up and go exercise is still hard for me. But once I'm in the middle of it, I do get that high everyone talks about. I used to run but now I just power walk about a mile and a half. I find my knees and ankles ache less since then.

2. There's a bird nest on a wreathe next to one of my neighbor's front door and I can't even tell you all how happy that makes me. I spotted it a couple weeks ago and at first I thought it was decoration. Upon closer inspection I saw a tiny bird in it that I still thought was fake. Until it flew out and freaked me out. So I try not to scare them but there's chicks in there and I make a point to pass by on my way to my work out to check on them, trying my best not to scare the mother. MrPea teases me about it and says if he saw a giant face in the window every afternoon, he'd probably want to relocate but I can't help it so I just peep quickly and then go. I'll post some pictures when I can of them.

3. ok I know I said I wasn't going to mention pinching since I already told you guys about that before but I can't take it anymore. I have to. Pinching makes me happy. Yes it does. I love to pinch my loved ones. I have to keep it to a minimum because most people don't like to be pinched but I can't help it, even Peanut gets it once in a while. And the fact that I'll be at my sister's house a week from Saturday...oh man. My fingers are already in a pinching position. My nephews are going to have their earlobes and bellies pinched and that's just the end of it. I'll probably pinch my sister's earlobes too. Because that's the way I roll.

4. Photos. Taking them and looking at them makes me happy. I really love taking pictures but I also really love looking at people's photo albums. I'm always the only one who says yes really enthusiastically when someone asks if I want to see the 500 photos of their kids. If they have 500 photos of their vacation that no one usually wants to see, I do. I think you can learn a lot about a person from the photos they take. So yeah, photos. And since I mentioned my nephews, we'll be taking a lot of pictures too. Too bad, they're just going to have to smile and say cheese whether they like it or not cuz Auntie likes to take pictures.


5. MrPea and I are planning a trip and I'm so excited about that. We haven't been away together in a long time so it will be fun. There's really no need to make plans to go vacation when you live in Florida, I know that. But ever since that winter I spent in Canada I've had separation anxiety. I spent such a long time away from home that I never wanted to leave home or go anywhere without Peanut. So now that the reservations are made I'm getting excited. It will be fun. I'll be taking lots of pictures then too.

6. Lastly, I mentioned this the other day but this really makes me happy and it's my damn blog so I can talk about it again. My doctor told me a year and a half ago not to have any babies for 2 years and I cried for days over it. But now that it's been a year and a half, I'm thankful that the time is passing by because January will be the last time I have to take radioiodine for at least five years(keeping my fingers crossed that the scan will be clean which is %99 likely) and it will be safe for me to have a baby. heeheehee I get all giggly just thinking about it. But ok like I said, I'm not to dwell on it anymore. That's the last you'll hear about it from me. For a while.


So there you go. Feel free to steal this post since it was never my original idea in the first place.

Still around

I had some routine bloodwork done last Friday and found out yesterday for sure that I am not anemic. For now. Which is good. I still haven't heard from my endocrinologist but I imagine things are going well because she's of the freakout variety so I would have heard something by now if there were anything to freak out about. I have yet another yearly appointment with my "girly" doctor today that I'm trying to get "mentally ready" for. Lately I've been having a lot of pregnant dreams and I think it's because I know I've hit my year and a half point into my 2 year "safety wait". Hopefully by next January, I'll know whether or not I can....ok I'm not even going to talk about it anymore.

In the meantime. I'm getting ready for my trip north to visit my sister and nephews and also MrPea and I are planning a trip to the Gulf Coast. I can't wait to find some shark teeth there and hopefully a megalodon tooth if I can get over my fear of diving! I haven't been out to the beach much because it is HOTDAMN and there has been no seabreeze in my parts so I'm waiting for the winds to change. It's been hard because low tide has been just right but ever since my thyroid was removed, even though I'm taking a hormone replacement, I can't handle the heat as well as I used to. Oh well. I don't mind so much that it's over 90 but when it's over 90 and no wind on the beach, I just can't. I don't leave until the 27th so I'll be around peeps.

Always be our Baby no matter what your age

Happy Birthday Little Jr! 20 years old and this is the way I will always think of you. Is it any surprise that I'm the one who took this picture? We were in my room I told you to make your best Teenage Mutant Ninja pose. I'm so proud of who you grew up to be. As long as I'm breathing, you will always have a cheerleader on your team. All 6 of the grandchildren in our family are loved. No more, no less than each other. But you were the first. And the special thing about being the first is that we loved you the longest. Keep on being who you are.

Tips from Pea. The beginning of a new era of knowledge from me to you.

Back when I actually posted more than once a month I had quite a few emails asking for beauty tips. This was pretty funny to me since I am 4'11" so I'm obviously not in the running to be America's Next Top Model. Also I didn't start wearing make up or really care about my hair until I was about 25 but, ok. I don't have very many beau-tay secrets but I do have a few misc. tips and product reviews I can pass on to anyone who might be of a mind to ,er,want to know. Feel free to add your own or shoot mine down but here are a few to tide you over until next time:

1. I hate bugspray. I hate the smell of bugspray. I live in Florida:mosquito breeding ground of the USA. Solution for this problem is Avon Skin So Soft bath oil. I buy it in a spray but the lotion works too. One squirt on my hands is enough to rub on my legs and arms without feeling like a greasy frenchfry. It smells good and for some reason mosquiters don't like it. Buy it. Try it. You won't regret it.

2. I have sensitive skin. I also break out easily. I usually hate most face products aimed at sensitive skin because for some reason everyone in the "skin" industry assumes that people with sensitive skin also have bone dry skin thus creating the heaviest, oiliest face creams that I would only buy if I somehow mutated into a lizardwoman and decided to live in Death Valley. Aveeno Clear Complexion is my go to. Now I've told you. Now you know. Rejoice in that knowledge and spread the word.

3. Ok the Baby Powder in the hair trick. I've heard of this before. Yeah it doesn't work. Don't do it. I tried it once because my hair was flat and oily and I didn't have enough time to rewash. Um. Yeah it just made me look like I had BABY POWDER IN MY HAIR. Maybe my hair is too dark for that trick but I'm not going to dye it just to find out.

4. I drink skim milk because I like to put half and half in my coffee. This isn't really a "tip" of any kind but it's something I do that makes me feel better about how heavy I like my coffee. I play several mind games with myself like this. I feel skinnier already just from telling ya'll.

5. Feet. I have to talk about them. Those of us who spend our lives in flipflops know the horror. Vitamin E. Not the gel that's sold in drugstores in the summer time-although that's pretty good for scars. The cream. Right now I have the BJs store brand and that seems to work well. Vaseline under your socks over night is a squishy thought but trust me, it works.

I have thousands more but I'll have to ration it out, peeps. All 3 of you that are left :O)

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime® 6.5 or higher is required.

Random blah blah blahg

-I read to my little kindergartners yesterday. I love how children's books are always about loving yourself just the way you are, believing in yourself, making new friends and listening to your parents. How old do we get when that stops being the important theme in literature? The book I'm currently reading for my book club is about murder, political intrigue, war atrocities, with a twist of psychotic love triangle. The last book we read was "Cry, The Beloved Country," and that book almost emotionally did me in. It thoroughly broke my heart. Our next book is one by Dostoevsky. I'm out of ideas for this paragraph so I'll have to end it with a request. Anybody have any good suggestions for a more lighter read? Something happy? I do love my book club but I need something less dark. Speaking of my book club, someone in mine has a Kindle. I'm so jealous I can't even concentrate. Why why why do they have to be so damn expensive? I'm either getting one or a better digital camera for my birthday. Which would you choose?


-I saw 'Star Trek' and 'Angels and Demons'. Both were very good. You don't have to be a Trekkie to dig 'Star Trek' and you don't need to have read the book to enjoy 'Angels and Demons.' 'Angels' did run a bit long but there's a lot of info to get in and you feel like you've been on a trip to Rome. The style of the movie was a bit less book report-ish than "The Da Vinci Code"(loved the book ,hated the movie) so it was smoother, to me.

-I found the Holy Grail of pants for petite women at Ann Taylor Loft yesterday: pants that don't need to be tailored. That fit. Yes. Life is good once more.

-I saw a picture of an old boyfreind the other day. One that was mean and cruel and horrible to me for three years. I have no malice towards him in any way, I'm the one who let someone like that in my life. After saying that, I have to admit something. It gave me just a tiny bit of happiness to see that he hasn't aged well. He's overweight and balding. Not that there's anyhing wrong with being overweight or bald. But he's the one who told me all the time that I was fat and ugly(at the time I weighed 95lbs). Karma. It's a good thing.



-So ok I've been posting less and less these days. I have no excuse. Last week it rained EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. So I can't say it's because I haven't been home. Laziness.

Kindergarten

My kindergarten teacher's name was Mrs. Fukumitzu. She was mean. Most people have fond memories of kindergarden. Holding hands in line, finger painting, singing abc's and I have a few too. Only a few though. Because I also have memories of Mrs. Fukumitzu screaming at us that if we didn't quiet down, she was going to turn herself into a wicked witch and boil us in her witch pot. Now call me dumb if you want to, but at five years old, I believed her. In fact I really did think she was a witch. The woman should not have ever gone into any career involving children because she obviously hated children. We were all too scared to even ask her if we could use the bathroom because she would roll her eyes and I had heard from my brother, who scared me with stories of The Exorcist movie, about how eye rolling is one of "the signs". I once got in trouble for jumping up onto a sink to hide from one of my little friends after lunch. When Mrs. Fukumitzu came into the bathroom and caught me, my punishment was to climb onto the wooden chest we kept our dress up clothes in over and over again because according to her,"Since [I] was so good at jumping and climbing, let's see [me] do it until [I got] tired of it and maybe then [I] would stop being such a bad girl whose parents are probably ashamed of." I'm not joking. That's what she said. Of course at first it was fun but then I got tired. After what seemed like an eternity I was so tired and I began to cry and beg Mrs. Fukumitzu if I could sit in my seat with promises to be good for the rest of my life. NO. She made me keep climbing up and down on that wooden chest until I said I felt like throwing up, which was not a lie because as I had mentioned, this happened right after lunch. This was not my only incident but you get the point. I used to always fake a stomach ache, hoping I would have temperature so the school would be forced to call my mom and I could go home. We lived on a military base and my dad was at sea for most of that year so I had no one to yell at Mrs. Fukumitzu for being so mean to me. My mom was always shy around my teachers.

But it wasn't just me. People in my extended family always seem to think that we were all raised spoiled but it's not true, we were raised in extreme strictness and that's putting it mildly. So I was a pretty good kid. And I wasn't the only one who feared that woman. Remember how I just told you we were all too scared to ask if we could use the bathroom? I overheard the teacher, who's class was next door to ours and shared our bathroom, comment one day that it seemed like an awful lot of children from our class got sent home for peeing in their pants. Yup.

Which brings me to one reason why I've been gone this week. I have a little volunteer thing going on at a local elementary school. I read books in the school library to kindergardners for about 20 minutes and then hang around to help them check out books for another 20. They are as squirmy as I imagine I was and there's a lot of giggling and poking and pinching and teasing and talking out going on. But at no point do I feel like scaring the bejeezuz out of any of them by threatening to turn into a witch and boiling them all in a pot. Of course I only spend about 45 minutes with them but thier teachers for the most part seem sane and thankful to me since my being there gives them a break. I get a lot of hugs and smiles and chubby fingered hand holding which, to me, is the key to all hapiness. I also get to be addressed as "Miss Angel" which for some reason makes me blush. And since everyone who knows about it has been asking me: yes, I do the voices when I read and no I'm not embarrassed to admit it. I would've made an awesome kindergarten teacher. Way better than Mrs. Fukumitzu.

This should explain my absence

Earth Day(and Thursday)

High tide has been in the afternoon this week so I've been trying to get there as early as I can. I can find shark teeth no matter what but when the tide is low, obviously there is more beach to work with. And I've always liked exploring the tidal pools. There are always some kind of fish or other animal that gets stuck and has to wait for the tide come back in to return to it's home in the waves. Wednesday I expected to run into all kinds of varmints since last weekend's shoreline was full of really deep tidal pools. For some reason the beach was flat that day. But I did find a few live things.

Since it was Earth Day, I have to bring attention to this plastic bag that was washed in. Apparently some anemones had attached themselves to it and were now stuck. I would have detached them from the plastic and given them a good throw back into the waves but unfortunately for them, they were all dead except for one.

This one. So I gave him a good throw and put the plastic full of dead anemones in the garbage. Hopefully this guy didn't get washed back in. I have to preach a sermon here so bear with me. People please do NOT bring plastic bags or plastic ANYTHING to the beach. Sea turtles, that are highly endangered mind you, mistake them for jellyfish and suffocate. So I get livid when I see plastic floating around. Or just plain throw your trash in the garbage. It can't be that hard, probably an extra few steps. I don't go to your yard/neighborhood and throw my trash there so kindly don't do it on the beach please..... or anywhere for that matter. How lazy does one need to be who can't clean up after themselves? This is disgusting. When I see people doing that, I can only imagine what their home looks like and whether or not they keep themselves clean. This really shouldn't be an issue. This is the only planet we have to live on. Remember that.

<

Ahem, ok moving on I found this shark egg case. And you know it made me really happy. It was empty so hopefully that means it hatched and will grow into a big shark whose teeth I will someday find...

Turning it over, I saw that it too had an anemone attached so, of course I threw it back into the water. Actually my day was full of that: finding stranded anemone and sea cucumbers, feeling sorry for them and throwing them into the ocean, hoping they they don't get washed back in before high tide. To do otherwise would have made me feel bad. What can I say, I'm a big softie for animals, even the ugly ones.

According to my field guide, this is Green Fleece algae which I had mistaken for Dead Man's Fingers. The latter name sounds more interesting doesn't it? But I like the shape even if it is a little slimy.


This looks like a pile of throw up. It is actually what's left of some kind of tube worms. That yellowish spiral shaped looking thing are egg cases-unhatched. It looks disgusting doesn't it? Yeah, I threw it back in the water too, gross. I had no choice. The tide was coming in at this hour but what if it didn't come in fast enough to keep the eggs alive? I would have felt responsible.

Another shark egg case or stingray egg case. And yes, I was happy about this one because it was empty too. I've heard them called Mermaid's Purse, which is a cute name. You can see dead tube worm remnants attached to it too. No anemone so I left this one alone.

These next few pics have an interesting story. As you can see in the first 2, this in an osprey that has caught himself a really big fish. He was having trouble holding on to it when I noticed and started taking pictures.

You can barely see in the one above but I used my computer to zoom. You can see how huge this fish it caught was.

Too bad, he dropped his big fish. Here he is looking for it. I love ospreys. The black stripe across their eyes make them look so badass. I imagine they work as sunglasses to help with the glare from the water while they are fishing. There's a pair who live in a pine tree across the lake from my building that I'm always watching. I wondered if this was one of them.

I was so busy admiring his beauty, as I always do, I almost didn't notice an even bigger fish or small dolphin jump out and I'm assuming grab MrOsprey's dropped fish.

I looked around to see if anyone was there so that I could say OMG!DID YOU SEE THAT!?? But, as always, there's never anyone there when stuff like that happens. I wrote later in my journal that every time I get a private glimpse of nature's beauty like the one I had Wednesday and I realize I am the only person on Earth who got to see that, how thankful and privileged I feel. Of course it would have been better had I been quick enough with my camera. dammit

< I stood there for a long time smiling, hoping that big fish, which was either a small shark or juvenile dolphin, would jump out and flip again but no luck. But the only ones who missed out were you guys because I left that beach with a huge smile on my face which lasted for hours.

These pics were taken Thursday. This is a juvenile Willet. My guide says they "probe for coquina clams and mole crabs" and there plenty of those around.

< It was as if she knew I was taking her picture because she turned around and stood up straight.

< Thursday's tide line was full of tide pools this time, which makes looking for shark teeth a bit less challenging because the water acts as a magnifying glass. I saw what would've been a really pretty snail shell(Lightning Whelk) to add to the collection on my window sill. But as you can see, it already had an owner.

< Another person would have simply detached this guy and took the shell home and I'm glad I didn't. Because I looked it up in my field guide and this is a hermit crab anemone. These 2 species live together in cooperation trading travel for sting protection. The hermit crabs they live with are known to take their anemones with them when they upgrade to bigger shells. They are total BFFs

< I didn't see any legs sticking out of this shell but it's highly likely there was a hermit crab in there so I'm glad I put them back in the tide pool. I took a pic in case no one believed me. It was a pretty shell but I'm not that selfish.

<

As you can see my shark teeth finds were not wonderful but so what?

Peanut is everyone's favorite nap partner

Speaking of naps. No nap for me today even though I only slept 3 hours last night(because I want to go to the beach). In fact for the past week or so I haven't been sleeping much either. I beg the heavens that I don't fall into the hell that is insomnia. I get a little neurotic when I know I'm not sleeping enough because I'm still a little traumatized from when I was 17 and was only able to sleep 3 or 4 hours a night. It lasted a few months and was only cured when we had to flee what we thought would be a head on hit from a really big hurricane. So we drove up to to West Virginia to visit my Grandparents for a few days. The hurricane ended up in the Carolinas, as most hurricanes did that year, unfortunately for them. And my insomnia went away, fortunately for me. Odd, you say? I had a similar experience the summer I turned 14. I. COULD. NOT. SLEEP. It lasted about 2 months. At the end of the summer just before school started, we went to visit my Grandparents and somehow it just went away. I was able to sleep again. Are you sensing a pattern? Obviously being around my Grandparents made me feel relaxed, peaceful and I just fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. But they are no longer in this world with me so I can't just buy a ticket to West Virginia and cure my insomnia as before. What should I do? I don't sleep well when I'm on vacation either, in case anyone was going to suggest a trip.(I would like to go on vacation though...there's a river in Central Fl where I can dig for megalodon teeth.) There is only one other place where I always sleep like an infant. That is in Canada, in my mother-in-law's guest room. BUT, my damn passport is expired and anyway, a ticket there costs a damn arm and leg because you have to catch the special plane from Montreal to get to MrPea's hometown whose airport is smaller than a 7-11(which, strangely, is why I love that place so much). You know the kind with the propellers that you can't bring heavy luggage on? Yeah that one. It adds about 4oo dollars to any cheap ticket anyone could find and I'm too scared to drive on the scary, bumpy mountain road. Sigh.


And I feel like I need to note that the 3 hours I did sleep last night were filled with horrible nightmares. I'm not stressed out, I don't think, so it can't be that? I don't eat at night so it can't be that? Maybe the beach will cure my problem.

Anyone have any ideas? The non medicated sort....what do you do, Internets, to help yourself sleep when you need the rest?

(Oh! And Happy Earth Day btw. Pictures of how I celebrate our Earth Home tomorow)

Take a nap!

'Yer Age

Whenever I catch myself doing or saying things that when I was a kid I swore I would never do, I feel like such an Old Hagggis. For example, my nephew is nearly 20 and I still treat him like a baby. Since I was the baby of the family I HATED being told I was too young for something or treated like I was a complete idiotic and naive child.(I'm still treated that way and I still hate it BTW) When my nephew was born, I was 12 and felt completely grown up so it seems that I would probably feel more sisterly towards him than like an Auntie but that's not the case. He is to me, the son I would have asked for if I had had the powers. I try very much to regard him as a grown up but it's impossible. Last week, he came over for lunch and I found myself reminding him 3 times not to touch the pan because it was still hot as if he were a total dumbass without the skills to notice that on his own. I still refer to him as "Little B--" which is what we called him as a baby since he shares his father's name and his father was then called "Big B--" Recently I asked him if it bothered him that we(meaning mostly me) still called him that and if he knew that we would most definitely be calling him "Little B--" even when he was 80. Didn't bother him and no, he said he likes it. This was funny for me because I've told my family several times if anyone tries to refer to me in one of the nicknames they came up with, no one would get an answer from me. I will only answer to the name I was baptised with thank you very much. But that's the difference between he and I. If he told me it bothered him, I would make a better effort to stop.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic-that's a post for another day. For sure, one of the things I SWORE, PROMISED, SET IN STONE FOR ALL TIME that I would NEVER do was utter any sentence that began with the words,"When I was your age......." Because when I was young enough to be so cursed as to have to listen to those kinds of sermons I still remember thinking how much I could give a flying rat's ass about "yer age," and what everyone did or didn't do at "yer age." Or what everyone had or didn't have at "yer age." I didn't give a featherweight's care about who had to walk to school, stay after school, clean the school, make dinner, couldn't wear their hair the way they wanted, got slapped if they talked back, got soap in the mouth, had to eat everything on their plate, never wasted anything, had to plow, had to finish chores on time, rode horses, never heard of computers nor needed them.....you get my point. Still, I have begun to catch myself saying those very words to my own beloved eldest nephew. As in, "When I was yer age, we didn't have ipods. Do you have any idea how lucky you are?" Just shoot me now.

Put your ear here

Hear anything?

I found this big whelk shell the other day and it was like Christmas for me. Not so much because of how huge it was but because I happened upon it whilst thinking of a drawing I've been working on but hadn't quite been persistent enough to finish. There it was rolling in the waves when I saw it and ran towards it before someone else saw. The barnacles are dead by the way, otherwise I would have given it a good throw back into the ocean so as not to commit "barnacide." And lucky for me. It's now gracing the tile floor next to our fire place.

My drawing was based on this photo I took back in September when I found this whelk shell in very much the same way I found BigMama up there.

I was so inspired, I finally finished it last night.

As you can see I took some licence in aligning the horizon because I felt like if I drew it as it is in the photo it would look, well, badly aligned. I couldn't fill in the rest of my hand because I'm not good enough at doing hands thus that triangle of empty space but it's my drawing so I don't really care. I also need to get a frame that covers up my thumb because I was told that it would look too much like a male naughty part to those with dirty minds....do you like?

Here's the rest of my find from that day in case anyone was full of suspense. That diamond shaped thing is actually a bone from the head of a Sheep's Head fish-I think. I'll have to look it up. And as you can see I found a Great White tooth so double happiness for that day.

I couldn't end this post without showing you peeps the dead jellyfish which is, by now, the tradition over here so here you are.

Still on the mend

I really was starting to feel better Saturday when I posted. Then Sunday I woke up and my throat felt swollen again. I thought it must be allergies but I just started to feel worse and worse. Finally last Tuesday I broke down and saw my doctor who told me I had a sinus infection and double ear infection. So I've been on antibiotics since then and I feel so much better this week. I can't go in the sun though so I haven't had any beach time but I've been too tired for all that anyway. Last night was the first night in about 2 weeks that I got a really decent sleep. So I'll be good to go in a couple days. I'm beginning to feel like an indoor cat though.



MrPea has been lucky enough to avoid catching my germs and getting sick(knock on wood!) himself. I only have two days left of antibiotics which is good because I keep forgetting to take them on time.


I'm thinking about changing pharmacies and I'll tell you why. One of the pharmacists who works there talks really loud about people's personal issues. Last month when I went in to pick up my birth control pills, he exclaimed upon printing out my receipt,"Look! You have a coupon for free pantyliners!" Then last week when I had my antibiotics filled, he told me,"You should go next door(grocery store) and pick up some yogurt. It may help you to avoid a yeast infection." Now mind you there are about 5 senior citizens standing behind me who, I'm sure, don't want to hear about my hypothetical yeast infection. Mistaking my wrinkled nose as a distaste for yogurt(which I do have but that's not what it was for) he said,"Oh well, if you don't like yogurt that's fine. You can always pick up a box of Monistat from right over there if you end up with a bad yeast infection. Oh and don't forget to put on sunscreen." Wonderful fun isn't it. I'm not sure if I should just put up with it because I like the Head Pharmacist or flee like my arse is on fire to another Drug Store next time. He does this to everyone and I can tell some folks like it as a lot of the seniors in my neighborhood will talk to me, a total stranger, for hours about the matters of their colon and hysterectomies and all kinds of personal health issues. I'm more of the variety that likes NOT to talk to people I've never seen in my life about regular bowel movements, fiber intake and vaginal health.


While I'm on the subject of yogurt, I took Mr.BigMouth's advice and bought some. It was my first time and ohmigosh ya'll, it's as disgusting as I had suspected all my life so much as to avoid it for 32 years. Gross! My husband loves the stuff which is surprising to me as usually I'm the healthy eater and he hates all things nutritious in our household. He told me since I love sour things such as lemons, Key Limes, tart mangoes and sour candies so much that I should love it. NO. I. DID. NOT! Here's why: those above mentioned fruits and candies are supposed to taste that way. Because they are fresh. Yogurt tastes sour because it is milk that has gone bad. Do I sound like an 8 year old who won't eat her corn? Well in so many ways my culinary tastes never evolved past that age and I'm not ashamed to admit it. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I would rather get a yeast infection than eat yogurt. Yep. Sorry Yogurt lovers, I couldn't get on that bus with you guys. I tried and it just didn't happen for me.

Now I laugh like a hyena everytime a yogurt commercial comes on tv. All those women look like me. I am their demographic. Well I can tell you, I was not making all kinds of orgasmic faces and giggling blissfully, spoon in hand. And have you noticed they are all usually doing yoga or wearing a yoga outfit? An advertising exec somewhere out there probably got promoted for coming up with that. "Yo-ga, Yo-gurt. Hey it's almost the same word! Women will be pushing down the doors for this stuff!"

I hate when people tell me,"Oh honey, you just need to get used to it." Why would I ever need to get "used" to something that tastes repulsive is beyond my intelligence level. Next time someone says that to me, I will ask if they could ever get used to being slapped in the face. No? I didn't think so.


BTW if this post sounds like a rerun, it pro'lly is. But as I've said, I am MsKitty looking out the window, not being allowed to go out into the wild like I so want to so creative thought has escaped me for now.

I've been in a drug induced haze

But not the fun kind you're probably thinking....I'm finally getting over a cold that started last weekend. Usually I don't like to take anything because cold medicine either knocks me out completely or makes me extremely nervy. But luckily this week I had nothing on my to do list so I wanted to get as much rest as possible. It wasn't that nasty of a cold but everytime I start to think I'm feeling better, get up and start to do something, I suddenly feel exhausted and weak so I've been trying to just do as much "nothing" as I can. Did you miss me? I thought so.


I got some more info on my new volunteer task. It's twice a month for one hour. I go in and read a couple books to a kindergarten class in the school library and then sort of hang out with my little kids helping them pick out books to take home. There's only a couple months left in the school year so if I decide I hate it I don't have to to it next year. But I'm sure I won't , I love reading to squirmy little ones. I even like doing the funny voices and sound effects. I'm waiting for my background check to be done. I've never committed bank robbery so I should be approved soon. I'm excited.


I was a little hurt because someone had made a comment about my volunteering at a school where the children already come from well to do situations. That I should be volunteering at a "worse off" place where more help is needed and implying that I was being a hypocrite for not doing so. But I don't feel the least bit guilty as I'm not quite sure that criticising a person's choice to volunteer at all is even called for. Sure a homeless shelter or food bank probably needs a lot more help than a well funded elementary school but location and transportation was the bigger issue. I could volunteer at a place that really needs an extra pair of hands and not really be able to commit because I can't be sure about whether or not I can really be there. Or I can volunteer at a school within biking distance and show up every single time they need me, giving an already overworked and underpaid teacher a small break. Does it really matter so long as I'm actually doing something? Or should I just say that I'm going to do something in front of everyone at a political meeting but do nothing but complain and criticise?! Who's the hypocrite?( and I know you're reading this even though you pretend that blogs are so beneath you....)

Ahem. Moving on, I'm feeling much better but I have that weird cough I always get after a cold/flu that takes forever to go away. I stopped taking cough medicine. I think it's messed up my thyroid hormone pills because I'm hot all the time. The only thing that seems to work is really strong Starbucks mints.

Outer Space Random

We watched the shuttle go up last night from our patio. I didn't think to get my camera until it was already gone but here you see the trail it left. I have to say last night's launch was the prettiest I've ever seen because the sun made the exhaust glow red. The screen is in the way but I was too lazy to walk downstairs. Enjoy.

I have been asked by some new friends at my new church to read stories to kindergartners for an hour twice a month. I said yes since the school year is almost over so if I end up hating it,which I'm sure I won't, I'll only have to do it a few times. I'm not sure why I'm feeling so shy about it but I am. I tried to talk myself out of it but everyone told me it would be a perfect volunteer opportunity for me and easy. I'm still waiting for the details but wish me luck in the meantime peeps.

The weather's been great so I have been at the beach every spare moment I have. It's not quite warm enough yet to just walk around in a bathing suit even though I do see some tourists swimming(!) in that cold water. But it's sunny enough to get a few more freckles if you're not careful. I've been using SPF85 but the freckles still come. Nothing wonderful report regarding my shark teeth finds, I loathe to admit. My finds have been meager. Yesterday MrPea and I went to the beach together. Normally this isn't something notable since we go all the time but we usually go to a different beach where we can park since MrPea doesn't have his own bike. We both went on my bike and I'm sure you're not wondering who was lucky enough to ride on the handle bars. It was cold so we had to huddle into the sand when the sun was behind a cloud and he made me promise not to go off and look for shark teeth just for that one day. I'm assuming he thought if I started looking while he waited, he'd be there 5 hours later watching the south horizon for me whilst freezing his behind off. He'd be right. I was dying though. There was a lady a few feet away from us digging around and I was pouting,"She's finding stuff, I know it. She better not find anything!" I'm selfish. When we left I walked past the hole she dug to see if there was anything of interest for me. Nothing. I'll probably be like this until the water is warm enough to wade in, this is how I find the good stuff. My friend Dee thinks I should seek some help.


I've started a new drawing. I'll show ya'll later.....


So what's new with you guys?