What up, dude?

I'm back in the land of the living. So to speak, anyway. I'm here, ain't I? Physically, at least.

So I s'pose ya'll wanna know what I did over the weekend. Hmmm...If I can remember it all, I'll tell ya.

Don't know what got into me but for some reason I started cleaning Thursday night. My bedroom had become a disaster area of magazines and shoes and junk and well, I'm not sixteen anymore. My bedroom should be clean, right? Besides, it's the only room in the house that's just for me. Okay, so yeah. I live alone. All the rooms are theoretically mine. But every other room in the house receives visitors. My bedroom, does not. (Save for those rare occasions that Emmy sleeps over and we share.) It's my sanctuary. So I got in there Thursday night and cleared out all the old magazines, bagged up all the shoes I don't wear or like, cleaned out the bottom of my closet and *gasp* organized it. Now all my shoes (what's left) sit perfectly aligned (or boxed) on my closet floor. I give it a month before it's a disaster area once more but hey. I can at least say that for a month, I had a neat, organized closet, right?

So Praise God we had Friday off for Good Friday. I should have used it to veg but I didn't. Sadly, whatever got into me Thursday night bled into Friday and I decided to get off my butt and get some stuff done around the house. Stuff I shoulda done MONTHS ago but never got around to. My main guest room (also known as Sis1's room or the Library) had some mold issues on the walls left over from last winter when my dehumidifier went out. I had pulled all the furniture away from the walls to keep the moisture from ruining it (and the mold spreading) and even after I got my new dehumidifier, I just never got around to cleaning the walls and pushing the furniture back in place. (and FYI, it wasn't toxic mold. Just mold brought on by extreme moisture in the house.) So anyway, I got in there Friday and bleached the affected areas (with the window open b/c bleach? Definitely causes lightheadedness. lol) and put all the furniture (bookcases, chest of drawers, nightstand) all back in place. Didn't stop there, though. I decided to dust and vacuum and then for kicks decided to clean that closet out. I now have a bag of clothes and two boxes of books for charity if I can ever get them to the drop off.

But I couldn't stop there. I got a bug up my butt to clean the dining room. I ran out of steam somewhere on the other side of 3:00, though and took a nap with the Devil Pup. She was a happy camper indeed, as I'd put her in her crate when the bleach came out earlier. The very last thing I needed from her was "help" aka bleached carpet. LOL I don't remember much after that except that Ghost Whisperer made me cry. Poor Malinda. It'd have taken me a bit longer to get over Deliah's remarks than it did Malinda. In fact, I'd be giving her the cold shoulder this time next year. That hurt.

Saturday I woke up with every intention of getting up and going out to breakfast. I'd began obsessing over the thought of eating actual food again. You know, when you exist on Slimfast bars and shakes and one real meal a day, food becomes this giant hole in your life and well, I'll admit that I periodically have long erotic daydreams about certain foods that I don't get to eat much anymore-breakfast being one of them. But my laziness was stronger than my obsession and I rollded over and went back to sleep. Only under extreme duress did I venture out a little after 8:00 to go obtain some grocery-like substances. Mostly I had to replenish my Slimfast and buy the ingredients for my Easter breakfast and lunch contributions. Oh, and Martina McBride has a new CD out and I had a fresh supply of birthday money burning a hole in my pocket. hehehehe

It's as I'm preparing the sausage balls for the church's Easter breakfast that my mother calls. My cousin and his wife were in town and my aunt had mentioned the possibility of meeting up with them somewhere. I haven't seen their son Jacob since he was three months old and have never seen their newest, Branson. So I was all excited. Several phone calls and some dissappointment later, we are told that my cousin's wife has decided to go to a neighboring town to return some stuff instead and we won't be seeing them. My opinion? She did that on purpose because she wants all of us to have to go to Birmingham to see them if we want to see the boys. She's said as much previously, point blank. So even though they were ALREADY IN TOWN, she didn't want to make it easy on us. Whatever. She won't see me in Birmingham anytime soon so she can just get over it. See if I care. (I swear, my cousins are the BEST at finding and marrying mental cases!)

All that out of the way, Mama decided that we would just go ahead and meet for lunch anyway. Sis1 and Emmy would be rolling into town by then so we would all just meet for lunch. Turns out Daddy joined us, too. He had something to celebrate. He got a new four wheeler. Yeah, my mom was just THRILLED over that one (a new bigass payment they don't need) but he'd been needing one for a while. His three wheeler (ancient!) had pretty much died a couple of years ago and he'd been having to use a loaner from a friend of his. And yeah, he needs one for hunting and stuff because he ain't a spring chicken anymore. And ever since his heart attack/bypass surgery in '04, he can't carry as much as he used to. Plus, his knees are getting bad and the four wheeler would supposedly help him in the maintenance of their property. Mostly, I think he just wanted one for fun. ;-)

At any rate, we celebrated by cleaning out the Chinese buffet. hehehehe

Then somehow after lunch, I got suckered into taking Emmy home with me for the afternoon while her mama and mine finished up their errands and crap. Not that I minded all that much. Since she's gotten older she's not nearly as difficult as she used to be. We've both grown up a lot in the past year so she and I don't argue and fuss nearly as much as we once did. I remember a time when we were like oil and water. Mostly because I'm as much of a kid as she is and she's spoiled rotten so we fussed like sisters. LOL I always told her that since I was the youngest and didn't have any little sisters to pick on growing up, she was it. But we had fun Saturday. She had a new Hannah Montana CD so we put that on and she sang for me, helped me fold towels out of the dryer and put them away. Chatted and watched me while I prepped the broccoli for the salad I was going to make for lunch Sunday. We dragged out some of her old toys and played with them and of course, we played with Libby and Emmy's dog, Scarlett. (Yeah, I got suckered into taking their dog home with me, too.)

Somewhere around five, we headed out to my folks' house where we all spent the night. (Easter sunrise service was at 6:45 and I just really didn't see me getting up at 5:00 to get ready and out there in time. They live like five minutes from the church. You do the math! lol) After supper (and Emmy's four wheeler rides with Bobo) she and I settled down to dye eggs while Mama started cooking for Easter breakfast and lunch. We had just started really having fun with it when we ran out of eggs. So we just started dunking them again. Came out with some really pretty eggs, as it were. hehehehehe Then we decorated the cookies Mama had baked while we dyed eggs. They were some of those prefab ones that came with edible stickers. So it wasn't like it was hard. But Emmy had a big time of it anyway. I think the only time she gets to do stuff like that is when she's at Nana's house. Her mama doesn't have the patience to let her help do stuff like that. Needless to say, Sis1 stayed her butt in the living room while Emmy and I worked. After we'd gotten 'em all done THEN she came in there wanting to eat them. We told her no. hehehehehe

Far, far too late we all hit they hay only to be up far far too early the next morning. I was up by 5:30 but was still pushing it getting out the door by 6:40. (Trying to get five people showered, blow-dryed, spackled and painted is not an easy feat in a one bathroom house!) In fact, I still had damp hair, a shoe half buckled and my slip straps weren't quite adjusted right as I hopped out to the truck (no pantyhose because I hadn't noticed when I packed them that they had a huge hole in the heel) in 30 degree temps. Yes, it was rather frosty for Easter. I stayed wrapped up in my wrap all through both services and breakfast. Partially because it was still chilly in the church but mostly because I hadn't realized that my dress was a little too low cut and the "twins" (small though they may be) kept wanting to come out and say "hey." Yeah, THAT'LL get the preacher's attention. Little Miss Hootchie Mama with the friendly boobs. ROFL

After we staggered home still half asleep, we did the whole picture thing (no, I don't have any. Mama's got 'em all) and waited for Sis2 and Goofus to arrive. While we waited, Daddy conned me outside to play with his new toy. Now, I'm a country girl born and raised. But. I've never driven a four wheeler or three wheeler or any kind of wheeler beyond the tricycle I had when I was five. My sisters have experience aplenty with ATV's. Sis2 because she hunted and tomboyed around with Daddy and his friends when we were kids. Sis1 because she played with all the fellas in the community when she was a teenager. Apparently that's a big date night thing around where we live--take your girl four-wheeling at the sandpits. Since I a.) am not a tomboy and didn't pal around with Daddy as a kid and b.) never dated in high school (or college or now!) I never got to drive an ATV. Only ever rode on once when I was about six. So picture me more than a little intimidated by driving one at all and doubly so at driving Daddy's new one because if anyone were to wreck it, it would be me. But surprise surprise, I didn't. I gave Daddy a good chuckle when I first started off because the accelerator on a four wheeler is way different from a car. It was really fun, though. Scary as all hell the first couple of rounds but exhilarating. It was totally cool. Unfortunately, I only got to drive it around in circles making loops around the circle driveway several times before I had to give it up so that Emmy could go for another ride. Sis1 took her out first and then Daddy took her out. She loves riding with Daddy because he goes faster. LOL

What was really weird, though, was when Sis2 and Goofus got there, Sis2 was scared to drive it. She rode with Daddy driving but was too scared to drive it herself. And she grew up driving the things. Go figure. Guess pregnancy puts a little extra caution on her. I just thought it was funny that I'd actually done something she wouldn't. Well, I've done a lot of things she was too cautious to do because I have a "stupid gene" I developed out of boredom.

Anyhow, we finally all made it to my grandparents' house where indeed, all my cousins and their crews came except for one. I discovered something else in the course of the day. Well, I already knew it but it really became apparent to me Sunday. Sis2's a snob. She was so antisocial with my aunt and uncle and the cousins. Like I've said numerous times, they're a little on the hick side (redneck but not THAT kind of redneck. lol) but I love that about them. I feel totally at ease letting my own redneck show and not having to try so hard to fit in with people who are out of my league like I do at work. Sis2 could hardly be bothered to speak to them. It really irritated me. She's always leaned toward that way but used to be down to earth enough to not let it show too much but I guess the Delta has gotten into her more than she'll ever admit. Well, the Delta and Goofus who's a major snob sometimes. Other than that, I had fun. The kids all hunted eggs twice and were loud and irritating and it was good.

I'll admit, though, once I finally made it home, I was sooooooo glad. Libby and I both were. She was worn slap out and so was I. We mostly just passed out on the couch after we unloaded the car and bless her little heart, she didn't even hesitate climbing into her crate when I asked her was she ready for bed.

Yesterday we did nothing. Slept in, watched a little TV, snacked on leftovers, took naps, listened to Martina McBride's new CD. I finally got to see the new version of Pride and Prejudice. It came on HBO and just so happens I caught it just before it came on and recorded it. It was really good. Much like Lizzy, I wasn't so fond of Mr. Darcy at first. (he wasn't very attractive at all) but the further along the film went, the more I liked him until it was almost physically painful to watch him pine for her. LOL I'm such a dope, yes, but do I care? No.

It was a perfect day. Well, almost. I had to pause the good stuff and go to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. I have a cavity. *pout*

But after that, the perfect day resumed and Libby and I had a great time napping. I love her best when she's all sleepy and sweet because not only is she calm and quiet and not into everything but also because she looks at me all sleepy-eyed with such adoration. Like she's completely content and thrilled to be in my lap. It's so sweet. Those are the moments I know exactly why she's in my life. That's the sort of unconditional love you just can't find in any human. You really know that dogs (or cats, if that's your pet of choice) come from God--they share His deep abiding capacity for love and forgive us all our trespasses, continuing to love us no matter what.

Okay, I've gone all sappy so I'll quit. But that's it. My weekend in review. Hope ya'll all had a great time, too.