Catch Up!

I've got a lot of explaining to do. It has been a while. First of all, I have lost the distinquished title of Word Girl. Currently, Ryan has no super-hero name for me. I like to call myself back to work girl though. Bummer. Darryl put my booty back to work. I have been off for 2 weeks and it is un understatement to say that I have been having a lot of fun. (Will write about that later.) As for this week....I'm back to work. I am really liking this part-time gig though. 20 Hours a week in the same job I left in June. It is wonderful. I will be at home with the boys tomorrow. Yipee! No more word up. I gotta come up with a new salutation.

As to all my new/old friends on Facebook, howdy and welcome to my blog. Facebook has been tearing me away from my blog. It is both addictive and fun. However, I am ready to get back to blogging. Stay tuned....

The Big D's Surprise 40th Birthday

Darryl cleaning up from doing yard work for his own surprise Birthday party that he thought was a party for Jimmy whose Birthday is also this week. Poor guy.


Chasey chowing down at the party. He only lasted about an hour and then he snoozed through the rest of the party.


The really old geezers.


The Darryl roast.


Ryan and Evan laughing because everyone else was. ha


The poo-poo cake that Ryan and I made Dad. Caption read "Happy Birthday You Ole' Turd". He loved it! All of the little boys were mesmerized by it's loveliness.


The Premier Party Planners!!! Thanks so much. I could not have pulled it off without you!!


Darryl had several friends from college, some co-workers, some family, and a few new friends at the party. Overall I think he was surprised and had a good time. My only regret was that we forgot to ask a blessing when it was time to eat. The Lord has blessed me with an amazing husband and father to our kids. He also blessed us with amazing weather that I had been praying for all week and I should have acknowledged HIM. I'll probably have to go to study hall for that when I get to heaven. Anyway, I also wish I had taken some photos after dark because Jimmy and I had strung up colored lights and lanterns across the backyard and around the porch, and it looked great. (Actually we are going to leave them up until Labor Day...redneck, I know, but I don't care. They are bootiful.) The kids really enjoyed lighting sparklers which also added to the fun. Thanks to everyone who was able to come. The people really made it special. Here is story that Darryl's brother wrote about him and it is absolutely hilarious. It really sums up Darryl as a child.

"Many of you may be surprised to learn that Darryl Martin wasn’t always the caring, responsible, upstanding man that we’ve all come to know. In fact, as a child, Darryl was nothing like that description.

Believe it or not, the following words and phrases were often used by others in reference my little brother:

Problem-child, mean-as-a-rattlesnake, rotten-to-the-core, spawn of satan, hell-on-wheels, future inmate and devil-boy.

It’s a well-known fact in Piedmont, Alabama that Darryl single-handedly accounted for the early retirements of seven Piedmont City schoolteachers, three counselors, two principals, one Superintendent, four janitors and a lunch-lady.

The following incident is a prime example of the type of kid Darryl Martin was. It occurred during the fall of 1979, when I was a Senior in high school and Darryl was about 10-years-old.

One Sunday, he invited two of his best friends — of similar low character — to spend the day messing around the woods outside our parent’s house. They were twin hellions, named Ricky and Randy — or as I called them — “Dickie and Dandy.”

The boys had entertained themselves Piedmont-style that afternoon, mostly in Charlie Miller’s pasture, pouring salt on slugs, catching black widow spiders in Mom’s good Mason jars, shooting lizards and torturing snakes, when a sudden thunderstorm drove them inside.

Normally, Dickie and Dandy weren’t even allowed indoors, but since there was a strong chance they’d be struck by lightning, Mom reluctantly unlocked the door and let them in.

They remained suspiciously quiet for the rest of the afternoon, leaving me with an uneasy feeling. But since they’d been relegated to one back-bedroom, no fires had been set and the cat was still alive at the time Mom took Dickie and Dandy home, I figured that maybe they were too worn out to have done evil. Oh, how wrong I was.

As I was showering and shampooing for school the next morning, I was still scratching my head about the lack of destruction from the previous day.

Then I began to notice that no matter how hard I scrubbed, or how much I used, the shampoo just wasn’t lathering very well.

That’s when the odor hit me. To this day, I still remember my thought process as reality set in. It went something like this: “Man, what is wrong with this shampoo? … Gee, something smells like pee ... … oh no … NO … it can’t be … DARRYL!!!!”

After sterilizing my whiz-ridden hair with scalding water for the next 30 minutes, I rushed from the bathroom and scoured the house for Darryl. But he had mysteriously disappeared. In fact, I think he vanished for the next four days.

Years later, after I cooled off, he offered an explanation. It seems that during the storm, he, Dickie and Dandy all needed to go to the bathroom simultaneously, but were afraid that lightning would strike the house, run through the toilet, shoot up their tee tee streams and into their goo goos.

So logically, they found an alternate vessel — Mom’s shampoo bottle — to relieve themselves. Somehow, they’d forgot to mention it to anyone.

To this day, I’ve never fully forgiven my youngest brother, but I must admit that several girls commented on how shiny my hair looked that day.

And — although I can’t prove it — I have reason to believe that Darryl is at least partially responsible for the hairline that I have today.

Happy Birthday D!"

Tomorrow, the 19th is the big day!!!

Guntersville, Alabama 2008

We went to Guntersville, Alabama the weekend of Jun 1st. My family goes every year for a week of fishing and sunning. Oh, and eating! The boys were excited and Darryl was ecstatic. The drive over there is really nice. Lake Guntersville is absolutely huge and incredibly beautiful. I have often said that I am bummed that we really don't have any family in town near us, however when we do get together we always have some nice quality time and this weekend was no exception. Time I think we may take for granted if we did live closer. We ate my grandmother's homemade lasagna, apple dumplins, fresh fried fish, blackberry clobbler, just to name a few of the mouth-watering, delish meals we had. We won't even talk about the breakfasts, umm. We caught lots of fish and lots of rays. LB and I, I mean the boys had fun playing out on the dock in there inflatable turtle swimming pool. But mostly I just loved hanging out on the screened-in back porch with the fam.

One thing I took great notice of over the course of the weekend is how relaxed everyone seemed compared to me. Everyone seemed to know how to laugh at themselves and at each other. My grandmother is the quintessential fun maker. And who ever thought that blowing up an air mattress with a car battery at midnight could be so hilarious? I suppose that my revelation should come as no surprise given that I have had chronic hives now for about 2 months. But it was just nice to be around people that aren't so serious all the time. I don't know if it is city life or work life or what, but it so easy to be serious about something all the time. I am serious about my schedule, my work, my commute, I can even make a trip to the grocery store an intensely serious affair with lists, coupons, have the route planned out at the optimal time of day, etc. etc. People say that with kids you must be more structured and with that comes some level of seriousness. But seriously, have I gone overboard and totally lost sight of how to have fun? Occasionally. Something I am going to be working on in my near retirement. 12 days and counting. Here's some pics.... more to come later. Check out those white legs!! That 45 SPF really works.

Cabin Fever

I can't remember ever having it before, however I have a confirmed case of cabin fever now. We have had such a wonderful spring. It seems the last few years the weather went from 40 to 90 in a matter of 2 or 3 days, but this year it seems we have had a nice long spring with few days over 80. I am sure it won’t last but it has really fueled my illness of cabin fever. I just want to be outside all the time. I think that having infants and toddlers over the last 3 years has kept us (unnecessarily) home-bound and indoors. But after completing the fence in our yard, we have made more of an effort to be outside and love it. Last week we spent hours out there. After Dad put in a sandbox, we have to beg Ryan to come in for dinner, bath, etc. ( I will add a picture when I have time to upload.) We also spent most of the Memorial Day weekend outdoors in Piedmont. Next weekend we are going to Lake Guntersville with my family and we are sure to be outdoors there too. It's the only remedy. It's hard though, reversing the need to gravitate indoors. Yippee.

Happy Post-Memorial Day

Boy, did we have a blast in Piedmont this past weekend. All of the Martins congregated in Piedmont for the holiday weekend. It was a beautiful weekend and we all had a great time. Darryl and the boys did some fishing down at Uncle Stan's pond. Darrly was most excited over catching "Gus", Uncle Stan's prized bassy fish. Uncle Stan was not thrilled. He threw Gus back though. Ryan loves fishing. Chase went too and was not a bit squeamish about grabbing the fish. We also spent some time down at the creek. Ryan and cousin Graham got soaked and had oh so much fun. Saturday night, Uncle Tim and Philip had a fish fry with cheesy grits, yummy! Sunday we all loaded up to go to trade day. Darryl carried Chase in the baby back pack and he was happy as a clam underneath his little fishing hat. I wish I had taken my camera. Ryan, the high maintenance one, was tired of all the walking until he found a booth with nothing but toys. We had put some change in his pocket and he could afford to purchase a few race cars. It was a beautiful weekend and I loved just hanging out, catching up and spending time with the family.

I Volunteer.

Word up. It has been quite some time since I last wrote. My head has literally been swimming in decision-making and planning. I have wonderful and exciting things to report. First and foremost, I have elected to take a package from my company voluntarily severing our working relationship. Yep. I quit. With the increase in oil prices, Delta wanted rid of 10% and I said "pick me, pick me". They had no choice. I really have not gotten use to the idea yet. I am still experiencing intermittent, small panic attacks. You know the kind where you can't breath for a minute and you look up to the heaven's saying "What have I done?". However, I know without a doubt it is the right and most wonderful thing to do. Darryl has been the most wonderful, supportive husband in all this. Thank you, thank you, for letting us "try this out".
The little guys have been completely oblivious to all of the late night number crunching and option-weighing going on, seemingly not involved in the decision-making process. However, they have also played a critical part. Every time I thought of them, looked at their smiling faces, hugged and kissed them, I realized how I needed to be with them MORE. (It has brought me out of the small panic attacks.) I hope they are going to benefit most. Hopefully, 8 weeks from now they won't be saying, "send me back to daycare, mommy's crazy". And, hopefully, I will have stopped saying "what have I done?"
So, what comes next. That is still a bit unknown. Still waiting on an exit date and I am in pursuit of part-time work. So, stay tuned for details.

Compassion

From Family Christian Stores, daily devotion...
A mom who loves Jesus and you is one of the best things you have going for you. She never forgets her baby. She is always there for you, just like your Savior and friend Jesus. Your heavenly Father birthed you into His forever family. Because you are His child, His compassions excel, “Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail” (Lamentations 3:22). Therefore, receive His compassion and be healed. Receive His compassion, so you in turn can extend it to others. The most effective givers of compassion are receivers of compassion. Moreover, model what your mom has done for you all these years and follow what your heavenly Father has done since the beginning of time. Compassion facilitates intimacy and forgiveness. It builds robust relationships that resonate with grace. Never forget that God doesn’t forget you. His compassion is constantly ‘on ready’ to respond to your hurt and discouragement. Compassion is not free to forget those it loves, so be a receiver and giver of compassion!

Pretty good little reminder?