Monday, January 31, 2011

Every so often I venture into my daughters' room, usually to fish something out of one of the closets that we now use for storage since the daughters are away at school. Yesterday in all of our fishing, we left a few things out, and somebody got thrown on the top bunk.


Tigger was Abbie's all-time favorite character. We once stood in line for several hours so she could have her picture taken with him at Disney World, only Pooh was there too, and Abbie didn't want to insult him by telling him to get out of the picture, so it's a picture with Tigger and Pooh. Life doesn't always work out the way you want it to.



Today I was cleaning stuff up and stacking folded blankets on the top bed, so Tigger had to move.


But I had forgotten a crucial piece of information about Tigger: when you squeeze his belly, he says, "Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoooo!" and scares the bejeebers out of you. Don't let him fool you. He's not as innocent as he looks.

Be thankful ~

Karen

A belated happy birthday post for Ben.

In all my busyness over the weekend, I neglected my dear man's birthday post, and that just won't do. After all, he cleans my ceiling fans and there's no quicker way to my heart than to clean up the grime left behind by heating the house with wood. He's a keeper, for sure.

He is a cutter of huge trees. This just impresses the daylights out of me. Years ago he was getting ready to cut down a dead pine tree in our backyard when I asked him, "What if it falls the wrong way?" He said, "It won't." I further questioned, "How do you know?" to which he replied, "Where do you want it to fall?"

I looked around and said, "Right across that chunk of pampas grass," pointing to it.

He proceeded to cut the tree and lay it right down the middle of the pampas grass, which I never liked anyway. I never questioned again.


Not only does he deep-fry the turkeys at Thanksgiving, he carves them beautifully. It's like watching a surgeon.


AND he does the dishes.


We already know he cleans the ceiling fans, and like I said before, if you want to make the wife happy (and keep from having broken fan blades), clean the ceiling fans.


He fixes my van. I bought this van 11 years ago when Ben was in Bahrain on active duty. It now has 258,000 miles on it and still runs great. We have trouble with the door handles, but that's okay, because Ben can FIX ANYTHING and he's not afraid to tear something apart trying.


He's a tiller of the ground. Just like Cain only without the murder. He loves to haul in truckloads of horse manure so we can grow an organic garden. It gets bigger every year. Look at that awesome black dirt!


He has internal Jersey Mike's radar. No matter where we are he can find one, and if you don't think that's a big deal, try going to the beach and not having a sub from Mike's. This one is in Destin, Florida.


He's a painter. When he was in the Navy and we were trying to raise five children on Navy pay, he did a lot of painting to pay for big things like braces and vacations to Disney World. He actually painted the orthodontist's office in exchange for braces on one of the kids. Now he just paints to make my sunroom a happy place.

Remember when I said he wasn't afraid to tear anything apart trying to fix it? Here's the window in the kids' bathroom that was shot out by soccer-star Man-boy.


And for those of you who are new here, this video (produced by Abbie for our 25th anniversary two years ago) will introduce you to the birthday boy.


25th anniversary from Karen Sargent on Vimeo.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Thursday, January 27, 2011

When husbands have the day off.

Virginia got another 3 inches of snow last night. Schools are closed, we didn't make it to church, and now we have the fun of dealing with melty, drippy slush. Oh joy.

Ben made the command decision (a Navy term) to take the day off rather than slog through the nastiness and stand in the cold on the train platform trying to get to work, so he's using the time to study for his two classes. In case I haven't shared this piece of data before, he is working on his second master's degree (they're like purses—you can never have too many), taking two classes this term. He has tons of reading to do, and takes every opportunity to get in a few pages.

What with all the reading, he's become pretty efficient. He doesn't even have to hold the book open anymore.


In other news, Ben's been having a facebook conversation with a girl he knows from high school. Somehow they got on the subject of cleaning ceiling fans. Who ever thinks about cleaning the ceiling fan? Certainly not me. But Ben was giving her a hard time about it until he looked up and saw the 1/4 inch of grime caked on the leading edge of our living room fan, and he sprang into action.

Ladder. Bucket. Rag.

When he took the glass shade off, this is what we found. (I can't believe I'm putting this out on the Internet for all the world to see.)


After the initial wave of nausea passed, I remarked that I was glad he didn't think I was a horrible housekeeper because I never cleaned the fan.

He said, "What are you talking about? This is MY job."


I love that man.

And one more thing: Ben is always using phrases he picked up in the Navy. I pretty much know what they all mean, but have no idea why they mean that. All of our family members have been known to add "aye" to the end of a repeated request, as in "Will you hand me a spoon?" "Spoon, aye.") So when he made some comment about "gun decking" some paperwork, I knew what he meant, but wondered why they called it that. So what do we do when we need to know something? Google to the rescue. Here's what Wikipedia had to say:

The term "gun deck" is also navy slang for fabricating or falsifying something. The origin of the term dates to the practice of painting the image of cannon ports on the side of one's ship in order to present the appearance of having more guns than a ship actually does, and thereby convincing any adversary that they were outgunned, forgoing engagement.

(Let it be known that the word "navy" in the first sentence should be capitalized. We're talking about one of the U.S. armed services, not a color.)

Now go forth and use "gun deck" in a sentence today.

Gun deck, aye.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

I'm always learning.

1. I just looked through almost a thousand pictures and I learned one thing: it takes that many tries for me to get three really good shots. I have so much to learn.

2. So far in the last two days we've gone from 9 degrees to 51, sunshine to rain, sleet, and hail, and we're awaiting another snow. I hate winter. This is not something I just learned today; I've known it since my growing-up years on the beach. I just had to throw it in because I feel like complaining about it.

3. This morning I decided to step it up a notch on the elliptical and wound up doing 2 miles in 20 minutes. I did that by starting at level 6 and going up a level every minute. Then when you get to 10, you go back down to 7 and move up one level every minute until you get to 11. Then back down to 8 and so on until you get to 20 minutes or fall out on the floor. I'm happy to report that I did not fall out on the floor.

4. I also learned that you have to be careful when you move your hand up to wipe the sweat out of your eyes. My finger caught the earbud wire on the way back down and electronics went flying in all directions. Kind of freaked the guy next to me out.

5. When you are young and deciding to have lots of children, be sure to consider the fact that they will all need braces, will need to have their wisdom teeth taken out, will drive, and will go to college. Consider this: Five children means five vehicles (or in our case, seven), which translates to 20 (or 28) tires. Tires are now well over $100 each. Add gas and oil changes and the occasional transmission rebuild and you are in the poor house. Just so you know.

6. On the other hand, lots of children have the potential to provide you with lots of grandbabies. There's always an upside.


Especially when they're this cute.


No one can resist them!


Be thankful ~

Karen

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Typo on wheels.

It's not even safe on the highway:


Because we all want our indepence.

Thanks to Noelle (she of the beautiful brown eyes) for this catch.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Monday, January 24, 2011

More on the girl with the magic tears.

Last night while I was supposed to be sleeping I was thinking of all the great pictures I didn't include in Abbie's birthday post that show more things she is. So since I have nothing to tell you today other than the fact that I did 22 minutes of intervals on the elliptical this morning (before the hour of Strive) and only went 2.4 miles and I might be just a little bitter about that, I'll share more photos.

But first, about the magic tears. Leah says Abbie can get whatever she wants from her daddy—all she has to do is cry her magic tears. Abbie vehemently denies this, and Ben does as well. It's a point of contention around here. And that's all I'm going to say about THAT.

Abbie has been a model for American Life League.


She is a world traveler, having been to Romania, England, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand, and lots of airports in between.


Yes, this is my daughter touring Italy with a HUGE hole in the knee of her jeans. She left her fashion sense in America.


She is a Liberty flame, and apparently proud of it.



She is a great friend. And she has never picked a friend I didn't like.

With Kelce


and Boo (who is getting married in June) (and a cow skull . . . don't ask.)


and Noelle (she of the beautiful brown eyes)


With Kelce, Joy, Kori, Hope, and Leah


With her LU friends in Richmond for her 21st birthday.


Okay, I think I've exhausted my thoughts about Abbie. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Saturday, January 22, 2011

PhotoHunt: Hands

I love fat little baby hands, especially this one on Sticky Bean.


For more PhotoHunt hand photos, go here.

Be thankful ~

Karen

I am now the mother of four children over the age of 21.

In celebration of Abbie's 21st birthday today, I thought I'd share with you all the wonderful things she is (in no particular order, because I don't really feel like moving all these photos around).

1. She's a big sister (in age, obviously not in size) to Man-boy.


2. She's a babysitter and buddy to Bailor. She says he is her favorite little kid (other than her nephew, of course) EVER.


3. She's an artist. We knew this about her when she was just a little girl. She and Leah would write books together—Leah wrote the stories and Abbie did the illustrations. They even wrote a series once, about a mouse family, and made a little box for the books (I think there were four of them). And weren't the mice's names Ethel and Herman? (Leah? Abbie?)


4. She is a forward-thinking style maven. Here she has snagged her big brother Mike's hat.


5. She is a very positive person. Even when Man-boy's team was losing by 7, Abbie was there cheering them on.  (Note joe-cool sunglasses. See #4.)


6. She is the life of the party. Here she is asleep in the booth at Bonefish Grill after a day at the beach. I believe this was taken about 6:30 p.m.


7. She's an aunt—the one who will always be known for making funny faces.


8. She's not a quitter. Here she is trying to get in my car in a parking lot in Richmond, far from home. The doors are locked and we can see the keys on the front seat—the only set of keys we have for this car. We are waiting for the locksmith.


9. See #3. Her artistic abilities never stop amazing us. This is her first acrylic painting, which perfectly reflects so much of her personality.


10. She is a cousin. Here she is feeding ducks in South Carolina with her cousins G and H. Little children have always flocked to her like ducks to stale bread.


11. She is a sister to Leah



and Deborah. Three closer sisters have never existed in spite of how different they are from each other. I'm jealous of their incredible bond.


12. She is a hiker. She's always loved to be outside, and even now is always game for a good hike in the woods or up a mountain.


13. She is a precious daughter. She makes me laugh and keeps me looking on the bright side. And she made me get rid of my mom jeans.


14. She is a hater of snow, but allows her little brother to throw snow in her face and get away with it. She's such a good sport!


15. She is a snuggler of babies. It's that thing with little children.


I hope she gets to have a house full of them.


Happy birthday, Abbie. You are a precious gift from God and a shining light in a dark world.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Friday, January 21, 2011

Someday I'll get it.



In addition to being wildly entertaining when studying Shakespeare, Man-boy has always been good at math, but being very right-brained, he likes to do a lot of it in his head. He's always been that way. And it has always amazed me just how much he can do in his head and still get the answer right, even when doing algebra. And he's fast. He has mad math skillz.

Today while doing some problems with him, I remarked, "I can't believe you do this stuff in your head. You don't even know how you get the answer, you just know it."

He replied, "I do too know how I get the answer. Here (turning the paper toward me), I'll teach you."

I'm hoping to earn my math-skillz diploma in May.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Thursday, January 20, 2011

The editor never sleeps.

Remember when I said Ben and I went out to eat Tuesday? It's okay if you don't. I'm here to bore you with the details all over again.

So Tuesday all our kids were gone and we took that golden opportunity to go out for dinner. I was in the mood for a big hunk of beef, so we went to a steakhouse we'd never been to and which I had scored a $25 gift card for months ago and never used. How else would we wind up at Rodango's, home of the 6-foot bar and eight tables and I'm not even exaggerating about its smallness?

As soon as we stepped in we looked at each other over the rims of our no-line bifocals and wondered what we were doing there. If it weren't for that $25 gift card we would have walked out, but thankfully we're made of hardier stock than that.

We were shown to one of the eight tables (we had our choice—the place was empty except for the owner's extended family at the bar, which included a really cute 2-year-old and what appeared to be his 17-year-old mother) and given menus. Before the waitress left, she asked if we'd like anything to drink. It was a cold, dreary night so Ben said, "I'd like hot tea." She apologized and said they didn't have hot tea. Ben asked, "How about unleaded coffee?" to which she sadly shook her head. We decided on water.

When she left, I opened my menu and my eyes were drawn like a magnet to the North Pole to this:


Yes, indeed. Served with the following 2 (two) sides. All 16 of them. Just once I'd like to be able to go out and turn the whole editor thing off, but I fear that's never to be.

To make a long story mercifully short, the food was much better than we expected, and the steak was actually very good. My 2 (two) sides were delicious.

If they stick to cooking they'll be okay.

Be thankful ~

Karen

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

It was time.

Woohoooo! This is better than moving the furniture! At least when I walk through the blog I don't smash my toes on the table I forgot was there. Even though I don't actually see my own blog very often, every once in a while I feel the need to change things up, know what I mean? And since it's so cold and rainy and dreary here in Virginia, I thought I'd cheer myself up with a photo of my favorite place on earth, Destin. And maybe this will help me get back on a daily-posting roll.

This afternoon I was writing a post and tried to upload some photos, only to be told I had reached my limit. Who knew there even was such a thing? So I bought enough storage space to last me at least a year and then starting moving things around and this is what happens. Once I start I just can't stop.

All the kids have gone back to school except Man-boy, who left for the day to go with a friend down to Lynchburg to see Abbie and some other friends, so Ben and I took advantage of the opportunity to go out for dinner. I've had a hankering for a big piece of BEEF, so that's what I ate. A filet with hollandaise and a big sweet potato, and it was pure heaven! It makes me wish I could cook a decent steak at home but I've never been able to, so I don't even bother trying anymore. When I want steak, we go out. If you have any great steak-cooking suggestions, feel free to share them. I need help.

So now that I have all this storage space, here are a few shots I took of the icy outdoors today. I'm still having trouble getting the focus right, but I have figured out how to switch from 18 focus points to one, so I'm thinking that's a little progress. I also think it has something to do with my diopter, but I haven't quite figured that all out yet.


This one would have been better with a smaller aperture/less blur.


Mr. Grill is looking forward to spring. Doesn't he look miserable?


The arm of my Adirondack chair. Someday soon I'll be sitting in it soaking up the sun.


Until then I'll sit by the fire.

Be thankful ~

Karen