Vested Interest

 All I can say is that I was in the mood to wear purple and grab whatever from the closet. It was just that kind of a day. We're within a day or 2 of completing the painting of our office and I'm beyond tired out. For some reason every day I have crushing fatigue. Could it be paint fumes? Or just being a contortionist all day? I really don't know.  Now that we're down 2 boys with 2 to go, I need to paint the downstairs, but it will be a while before I'm up for more painting. I know my blog has been suffering but, I'm soooooo tired. When I'm not painting and at home, I have been preparing our new flower bed and gathering firewood for this weekend's camping trip. Hmmm . . . I just can't figure out why I stay tired!

Messy Bun Day

I thought I wouldn't try the old sock bun way atop my head. Cute little young bloggers look cool and trendy. I know I would look nutty, or frumpy or just plain wrong. Mid-head bun like I used to do for ballet recitals, now that I think I can do. So I did a sock bun the night before. It was perfectly smooth and adorable. But this is how it turned out the next day when it counted and I would actually see other humans. Since it was a painting day, I decided to just go with it anyway.

Walking with my boys

Wowsers! I knew this was a wild print on this dress from Cato, but now I really see it in the photos. I have some kind of outfit blindness where mirrors just don't cut it for me. Nothing shows me reality like a photo. We took off after church for Chattanooga to look at a pop-up camper (yes, we bought it. Look for camping posts as summer continues).  I started out in the cutest gladiator sandals, but changed into my ugly blue sneakers. I've never been one to suffer for fashion to start with. Add RA to the mix and cute shoes move way down the priority list!

The hubster and I recently discovered the Riverwalk area and decided to try it out on the boys. I'm never sure if they will be all for a walk or whine the whole time. Fortunately, they are maturing and embraced the whole thing. We had a blast!

Backyard Blues

 It's really too warm for long sleeves at this point unless you're going to a restaurant with frosty air conditioning, and let's face it, all restaurants crank up the air. I'm running really short on inspiration right now, so I'll throw in a cute kitty pick of the ever-stylish Whiskas. While I'm finishing the painting of my office, my schedule will be full for a few more weeks.

My Back Yard

Something about the outfit seems to offend my dog. Padme looks like she's averting her eyes. It's more likely she was following me and then heard something interesting over there. On this particular day, I was attending a meeting where everyone is kind of conventional . . . or at least that's my excuse for wearing an outfit that's not terrible inspired.

Grey sweater-Thrifted
Black/White polka dot blouse-Walmart
Black jeans-Cato

And speaking of uninspired, here is a section of our yard that bugs me. It's under our very high back deck and it's a space just begging for landscaping. I can totally see a swing, maybe a hammock, a little table with chairs or bench. It gets morning sun and shade the rest of the day. This is exiting because almost everywhere else gets the full brunt of the Georgia harsh afternoon sun. I have a pot of tomatoes doing well and I'm thinking hostas in the more shady corners. I also purchased a hydrangea simply because it is named "Annabelle" just like my neice. Isn't she lovely?

A Weighty Subject and Middle School Boys

I was hanging with some middle school boys the other day.  After that experience I decided I have been wrong—men do grow up . . . somewhat.  If they stayed at middle school level completely, we would kill them! Men like my hubby maintain the enthusiasm for life and fun of kids while taking on adult responsibilities of job and family. When their hobbies include things that seem juvenile like paintball, we say they never grow up.  Some men do continue the emotional immaturity, but, wow, middle school boys can be quite surprising in packs! My boys can be such sweethearts, but I caught a glimpse of a "Lord of the Flies moment" recently.

Back to the middle schoolers I was hosting in my home. I was blogging silently and am sort of one of the boys because I fart and do tomboy stuff. So I was mostly invisible over here at the dining room table. Sometimes I think they forget I’m a woman and have certain things I don’t allow them to talk about.   They were talking smack about their classmates and the discussion almost exclusively focused on body weight for both boys and girls. Not that unusual unless you consider one of the kids talking smack would likely fall into the “morbidly obese” category and I know for a fact my own child falls into the “obese” category according to our teensy skinny pediatrician.  Ever the optimist, I had to speak up.  “Guys, can we focus our discussion on something other than peoples’ bodies for just one minute please?!”  Stunned, confused looks all around.   If you are “the fat kid” why would you join the madness by making fun other other kids for being overweight with your overweight friends? It just broke my heart for all kinds of reasons. First, that my kids and their friends were being callous.  Second, that this has to impact their self-esteem. And third, well . . . dang it, this just all seems so wrong somehow.  So I’m asking myself, how can we change society when I can’t seem to get through to my own kids and their friends about not judging people by their weight? But like I said, I'm an optimist and I keep trying 

Rainbow Bright

Tuesday was a rainy day, and you know I have to brighten the mood in my little part of the world. I was out in the yard dead-heading my roses when it started pouring rain. So I went to deliver my mom's Mother's Day planter since they were out of town Sunday. I looked like a drowned rat--a good bit more disheveled than when I took these photos early in the day! All the way I had glimpses of a double rainbow. By the time I got to their apartment and pulled out the camera, it was a single one but still very cool.
 

Gold blouse-Cato
Striped Tee-Walmart
Jeans-Cato
Sandals-Cato

You would never guess my small town offers about 2 places to buy new clothing--Walmart and Cato. Of course larger towns with better shopping are not far. I'm just lazy! There's a little consignment shop where I found lots of great pieces the first time I went in. Ever since then, I have not found one thing I like. I'm trying to save up and buy quality, but old habits die hard.