Not Opinionated at all...sort of...

My sourdough bread did not turn out well. I did not even bake it. It was awful. So...I am going to try again. This time with another sourdough starter recipe.

Peanut has another earache. I hold him as long as he wants me to. My poor little boy!!!

I wish that I was 50 pounds lighter (wow...I'd be riding in a booster seat according to the guy at Babies-R-Us...), 4 shades tanner, many IQ points smarter, $1,000,000 richer, at least 30 degrees warmer with a tractor and 10 feet of long luxurious hair - that was all my own and did not come from Natural Wig. Oh, yeah...just one more thing...a whole basketful of fresh, South Carolina grown peaches. And my little boy without any earaches so that he could feel back to his rowdy little self.

I want peaches. And I have been thinking about peaches all morning. So...here is a list of things that I would do for a basket containing 5 fresh peaches.

1.I would get in an airplane for a flight around Columbia - as long as the peaches were in the airplane.
2.I would run five miles...pushing the baby jogger.
3.I would give up chocolate for 5 months.
4.I would wear hair curlers and slippers to the store.
5.I would go on American Idol and sing "I can't dance and I really can't sing..."That's all the words I know.
6.I would - gulp- allow a magnetic soccer ball to be placed on the back of my car for 15 minutes.
7.I would camp in the woods for 2 nights with - get this - no hair dryer, or clean shower, or ...okay, I do have to put my foot down at some point.
8.I would watch a two hour marathon of Veggie Tales.
9.I would - maybe - touch a hamster with one finger for 2 seconds...if it was a very clean hamster.
10.I would stuff a whole bag of Fluffy Stuff in my mouth at once...okay, make that 2 bags.
11.I would agree to not wear pink for a month.
12.I would dress up like Ronald McDonald and go to McDonalds for lunch.
13.I would eat one mouthful of one menu item from Waffle House.
14.I would walk through a haunted house - a really haunted house...as long as Hubby or someone was with me.
15.I would tap dance to a Britney Spear's song on a street corner of a busy city.
16.I would eat an anchovie.
17.I would start "Operation:Make Clothes for Naked Statues" project where I would sew clothes to be placed on naked statues all across the world. But I feel like doing this one anyway.
18.I would read "Moby Dick" in its entirety - cover to cover.
19.I would wear Mom Jorts to the mall...complete with aplique vest and sequined teddy bear t-shirt. And decorated Keds with colored scrunch socks. Sexy. Oooo Lala!!! So sexy.
20.I would agree to not write another blog for 3 months.

Hubby, let's become peach farmers!!!! Yeah!!! Peaches and John Deer tractors! A match made in heaven if there ever was...

Biltmore is a wonderful, wonderful place.

The only thing that could have made this picture better is if I could have found a picture with a tractor in front of the house. With Hubby and my wonderfully cute little boy on the tractor.

Hubby and I went to Biltmore last Saturday. Can I just say that it was FANTASTIC?!!! I had an absolutely wonderful time. And I almost cried on the tour. And I almost hurt a Yankee woman, too. First of all...I almost cried - not at the beautifullness of the house...and it was beautiful...but when I heard the story of George and Edith...and how much they loved each other. Just to think that love like that transcends culture and time and monetary status...and becomes a universal common denominator among humans. Beautiful. And then I thought about how little time he had with his wife. And then I thought about her... she had to live for 30 or 40 years without him. And I felt such sadness for them that I had to really concentrate to keep from crying.

Now to my anger management issues...Hubby and I paid to get the audio sets when we toured the house. And we didn't get to go into the house until 6pm because of the crowds...So we were on a tight time table. So...we are meandering through the house with our little ear phones on. And there is this huge group of rednecks near us. From Lexington. Go figure. And they are talking so loudly that I can hear every word - even with my headset turned as loud as it will go. And then there is the Yankee woman. She catches up with us in one of the bedrooms. I must look nice. Too bad I am not nice. Dumb-dumb didn't have an audio set. So...she decides to start asking me questions. I do not work there! I did not take the tour so that I could tell her everyone in every painting in the room. But...Ms.Dummyhead starts asking me who one of the children in the painting was. Why that particular child in that particular painting I will never know. I am trying really hard to be polite. So, I tell her what I just heard on my set - no thanks to her big mouth. And then the bimbo starts yelling at me that the person that I just told her about was not the person that she wanted to know about. I then very curtly told her that I did not know - and made a show of trying to turn up the volume on the set.

To make things worse...she got on the shuttle bus with Hubby and I to go back to the parking lot. Let me just clarify...I HATE shuttle buses. They give me the willies. I think that it has something to do with the shuttlebus I was on in Vegas...with the guy very high on drugs...And then there was the shuttle bus in Memphis with all of the senior citizens singing along with Elvis...and the punky girls with blue hair and piercings going to the recording studio downtown. Let's just say that after that I felt like I needed a nice, hot shower with lots and lots of soap and 30 minutes of my life back. So this was another shuttle bus experience. Here is a list of things that will make that bus trip forever bring back thoughts of injuring Yankee woman with big mouths...
1.Yankee woman told her teenage granddaughter that she should keep her brochure for a school project. (The granddaughter was a little old to cut out pictures for a school project...) Get this - "If you ever need a project on the South...Biltmore is a great thing to write about in the South." It may be in the South, you Yankee, but it ain't Southern. I wanted to shove a sweet potato pie in her face.
2.Then Yankee woman tried to pick a fight with the bus driver over driving her closer to her car...which was only about 20 feet from the place where he stopped. And this is after she walked through a four story house with no complaint. She really needed the walk, anyway.

Even though I act really agravated...she really did provide entertainment. And the house was SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!I think that it was just what Hubby and I needed...a very nice date. If you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely go to Biltmore! I can't wait to take my little boy there when the roses are in bloom!!!

Just makes you want to dance...

Hey, Marie and Verne...
Don't hire a DJ for the reception...
Hubby and I have been preparing a wedding extravaganza celebration dance to entertain all of your guests. Enjoy a preview.

Very, very opinionated. Reader Beware.

After reading that link, I do have to be opinionated. Wow. First of all - Do people really do this? But then again...I thought that the first few people who told me to rub liquor on a baby's gums were only joking.

My first question is...So how do you know if you can't function well enough to drive...or take care of a child? I've often wondered this. And if someone can tell me, the concept has always fascinated me. Is there just completely sober ...and then suddenly drunk? It's something that I haven't experienced so maybe I'm not the best person to talk about it. If you would have a designated driver, shouldn't you have a designated parent?

Another thing that struck me as interesting is the writer's stance on not drinking around your children.(Actually, this was not the writer, but it was in one of the comments.)They almost make it seem like a detriment to children. I think that the point that was being made is something along the lines of if the children don't see parents drinking alcohol, then they will binge drink in an act of rebellion when they get to college. So...maybe that means that we should toke up around them, too. And get a stripper pole in the living room. Because, while it would break my heart for my son to party hard with alcohol, it would really kill me for him to engage in those other behaviors. So maybe I will just desensitize him to everything so that he won't really care about it all and I can hope that he doesn't use those things to rebel against me.

Seriously, just from my personal experience...When a child gets to a certain age, they will make their own decisions. I grew up in a home where alcohol was a taboo thing. My parents didn't drink - whether I was there or not. My parents didn't allow others to drink in our home. I was taught that alcohol can be the root of alot of negativity. And even at it's best, you can still live without it. It just doesn't add anything to your life...except maybe the potential for addiction. I don't drink now - or ever. Disclaimer here: I don't think that other people who drink should be condemned...and I don't think that everyone who drinks is an alcoholic. It's a choice that each individual should make for themselves. And I think that to stop a behavior that you do not feel a personal conviction over can very well be a step of hypocrisy...unless you listen to Paul in Corinthians where he says that if you believe an action is right, but your neighbor believes it is wrong and you are causing your neighbor to sin by judging you...then you should stop the behavior to keep your neighbor from sinning. But back to the point...I've seen far too many homes where alcohol is welcomed...and the parent's don't have a problem with addiction, but the children do.

Bottom line of the article does not deal with whether drinking in and of itself is right or wrong. The bottom line of the article is that children should not change your life at all. Can I just say, "WHAT?!!" I now pause to chuckle. Have you not heard of the phrase "a baby changes everything"? Yeah, I wasn't exactly in the habit of chugging down Brewskies and getting my groove thing on at KnockKnock before Peanut was born...But my life still changed drastically. In ways that I didn't think about until it happened. No more midnight runs. No more going out to dinner with friends at a restaurant. Why? My little boy has a bedtime...and somewhat of a routine. No more phone conversations where I can fully concentrate on what I am saying...unless Peanut is taking a nap. It's a good day when I find time to put on makeup. And this is coming from the girl who used to wear makeup to the gym and grocery store...once upon a time.

Here's the point - Life does change when you are a parent. You can't get around it. You can't only think about yourself...though there are many parents who do just that...And I'm not talking about thinking about yourself all the time. I'm talking about thinking about yourself any of the time. When you have a child you make sacrifices. You look out for their best interest 24/7/365.25. And that is the way it should be. And, yes, I am fighting the soccer mom image as much - or more- than anyone. I feel like vomitting when I think that I could one day be mistaken for a "soccer mom." Yuck. I would much prefer to be Lorelei Gilmore - only with a few more morals - or even June Cleaver. But I will not put myself and my individuality over the my child's best interest. I want Peanut to know that unless I am knocked over the head...Mommy will always be there to protect him while he can't protect himself...and maybe even after that, too. And I want him to know how much I love him. And I don't ever want those words to come out of my mouth while I'm under the influence of some substance that I need to drink so that I can prove that I am still the same person that I was before I had my child...I've had relatives who didn't mind getting a "buzz" around me. It's just kind of funny how they would choose those moments to tell me how much they loved me. I don't want my son to go through that. Kids are smarter than most adults give them credit for. I think that there are many things that help destroy parent-child relationships...and I think that a lack of trust is definitely one of those things. I want my son to be independent. But not too soon. I want him to be able to be a child and know that Mommy and Daddy will make things all right...so that he can just relax.

Here's another question I have - why does not drinking alcohol have to separate you from those who do drink? I have friends - very good, close friends - who drink. Some of them even drink around me.Thank God that they don't see me as hypocritical, judgmental, unsociable pariah. But I have had tons of friends who dropped me when they found out that I wouldn't drink with them when I turned 21. The closest thing to condemnation that I expressed to them is concern over them driving themselves home while drinking. Apparently, offerring to drive them home when they weren't speaking coherently was insulting. If drinking is the only thing that you can have in common with someone ...that is really sad.

And here comes the opinionated part - drinking around your children is bad parenting. It is as bad - or worse than - leaving them unsupervised. Those parents do a great job of shirking off responsibilty when being responsible isn't convenient.What an example. Frankly, maybe if they tried playing with their kids they wouldn't need the alcohol to feel good or enjoy life. Seeing my baby smile is the best mood-lifter I have ever known. And if you were offended...you shouldn't have read it. Or maybe you should. Maybe you should think about it.

On another note...and a very unrelated not at that...I am very, very close to actually being a Daughter of the Confederacy!! Woohoo!

This one is very opinionated.

I don't know how many people read CNN.com - but did you hear about the family that got kicked off of an airplane because their three year old daughter was crying too much? Apparently, as the child was being put on the plane, she started pitching a temper tantrum. And that's why the family was asked to get off of the plane. And told that they could not board another plane for at least 24 hours.

As a parent, I have mixed emotions about this. Just to clear things up - my son cries alot of the time when he is being put into his carseat...unless I do this nifty little trick where I give him my keys while he is being buckled in and then trade them out for puppy afterwards. But my little boy is only 7 months old. That's a big difference from being three years old.

I think that it is kind of funny that the parents are outraged over this. Okay, so you went on vacation to Florida...and you are trying to get back home. So maybe that would make me upset that I was delayed because my child didn't know how to behave. But do the other passengers really deserve to sit on a flight that lasts for more than five minutes with a screaming child?
I would go crazy.

I think that it is really funny that some parents think that their child shouldn't know how to behave until they are 25. Maybe I just haven't gotten there yet, but I think that a three year old should know that you don't scream and cry in a public place...among many other things that a three year old should know. You don't hit. You don't talk back to parents. You don't run inside. You say "ma'am" and "sir." You stop the first time that the word is said to you. When food is put in front of you, you may not have to eat the starch or the meat...but you better at least eat one mouthful of the vegetables. You don't touch things that are not yours. And, yes, there are times that children should be seen and not heard crying - such as on an airplane.

I just have to throw this out there...I like children. I would be thrilled to pieces to have 20 kids. My dream is to be the old woman in the shoe...who had so many kids that she didn't know what to do. Only maybe I would be the old woman in the farmhouse instead of the shoe...Just a thought. But sometimes I don't like parents. It's easier to not correct a child. It is easier to take away anything that might get broken than to chase after an infant and say "no." It's easier to blame bad behavior in public on the lack of a nap. And it's easier to do what you want to do without considering what would be best for your child. Example...boarding a flight with a three year old that doesn't know how to behave.

Here's where my other point of view comes in...Maybe the child was scared. I would be tempted to scream and cry on an airplane, too. But she did okay on the flight to Florida.

Yes, this is a very opinionated blog. But that is why I blog. Everyone has an opinion. The nice thing is...this is the only way that I will express this opinion - unless the conversation leads directly to the subject. If you don't like it, don't read it.

So - to finish this - while it is shocking that the family was thrown off the plane...Good for the pilot or flight attendant or whoever. And I wish that more restaurants would refuse to serve toddlers who scream and yell and throw food when they are big enough to know better. (You can tell that I am scarred from my waittressing days...)

Good Day for Gone With the Wind and Coffee...and Chocolate Icecream and Pickles

Check this out. Kind of sad, huh?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

That is why Peanut and I are going to celebrate Hubby's B-day and Peanut's UN-birthday. So put on your party hats, baby!!!! Wait a minute...is that sunshine I see trying to break through the clouds...And maybe Peanut and I can take a nice lunch to Hubby...then we will get to see him for 5 minutes during the daytime...And Peanut is definitely all smiles today. So cute. So maybe they are wrong. Sunshine, please come out!!!!!! I miss you and I love you and I miss you SO MUCH!!!!!!!

This one will make you smile...if you have a weird sense of humor like I do. Hahahahaha!!! Laughter makes the most depressing day of the year a little less depressing...Well, that article and this dream that I have. I would like to pretend to be insane for maybe a day or two...just long enough that I could call a bunch of people that...well, just say we don't always jive...and I would pretend that I have Tourrette's and I would just say a string of curse words the minute they said "hello." And then I would have to hang up before I burst out laughing. And I would go to the grocery store and pretend that I was an opera singer. But I haven't the courage or the self-hate to engage in these behaviors. Therefore, I will practice my wedding special extravaganza for a very special cousin of mine. I am going to perform a song called...."MrsPhreedom-ilicious." Complete with a dance.

It's Raining

Life is crazy. Rain is depressing. So sad. Rain, rain go away!!!! I want warm sunshine!!!!

Hubby's birthday extravaganza began yesterday. We went to the circus. And he didn't even know that was what I had planned until I told him yesterday!!!! I am so proud of myself - it's so hard to keep secrets from him. I talk too much for that. But I did it!!!!I tried to make him think that we were going to see Rent instead. That would have been hilarious.

I think that calling a steak "Black Angus" is disgusting. But then again ...I have a weird list of things that ruin my appetite. Picturing the fuzzy black hair and the cute little eyes of my steak is just one of the most sane things that ruins my appetite. Some of the other things are a little bizzarre. As is the spelling I chose for that word.

I didn't wash my hair today before I went out of the door. I scrubbed...and I mean scrubbed...my floor instead. And that made me feel weird. And old. Really old.

Sometimes I think that preparing for life is as pointless as preparing a gourmet meal that is going to be consumed in an hour at the longest. You can't help but enjoy it...but it sure is over fast. And that will probably make no sense to anyone but me. Life is not like a box of chocolates. Life is Christmas day. And every Christmas Day I sit and think that it will be over in 24 little hours. And alot of those will be spent sleeping. Kind of like a Sunday. The next day is Monday. And I think about that all day on Sunday. Sad isn't it?

I wish that I could smell a flower. A pink rose. On my farm. And I would let Peanut smell it, too. He has never smelled a pink rose before. And he has never smelled a pink rose on a farm...after a rain. I would not be surprised at all if Heaven wasn't filled with pink roses covered in raindrops. While I'm scared to death (ha ha) about the journey there...I think I'm going to like that place...