Jealous Much?

Roxy was instantly jealous when Darby's questionnaire made it to the blog, so the Little Equalizer had to get a shot at it.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? doing gymnastics with my friends

What is your greatest fear? Scorpions, tarantulas, dogs, and snakes

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? I just love myself all over

What is the trait you most deplore in others? when my friends don't follow the rules

What is your greatest extravagance? stuffed animals

What is your current state of mind? I'M HAPPY!

On what occasion do you lie? when I don't want to get in trouble

What do you dislike most about your appearance? My scars from my dog bite

Which living person do you most despise? People that say mean things

What is the quality you most like in a man? when they hold me upside down

What is the quality you most like in a woman? When they are fun

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? "This is boring!"

Which talent would you most like to have? A professional gymnasticker

What do you consider your greatest achievement? climbing the rock wall

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be? a orange striped cat named Mittens

Where would you like to live? In Georgia

What is your most treasured possession? Baby Sarah

What do you most value in your friends? Nice friends that play

Who are your favorite writers? Mo Willems

Who is your favorite hero of fiction? Gerald and Piggy (from Mo Willem's beginning readers)

Which historical figure do you most identify with? Darby

What is it that you most dislike? Beans

What is your motto? I am an expert.

My Daughter the Enigma

I don't intend to focus solely on my children, but we have been together 24/7 this summer and I have passed my saturation point, so here's more dirt on my kids.

My oldest daughter Darby is showing an interest in my magazines. Not such a good thing sometimes, so I find ways to distract her. When she started looking at Vanity Fair this week, I had to act fast. So I gave her the Proust Questionnaire, a permanent feature of the magazine where someone notable reveals themselves through thought-provoking questions. Here is how Darby responded:

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Doing new, different things

What is your greatest fear? Too scary to go there

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Frizzy hair

What is the trait you most deplore in others? When people tell me I can't do something

What is your greatest extravagance? Limited Too clothes at full price

What is your current state of mind? Peaceful

On what occasion do you lie? When it is most necessary

What do you dislike most about your appearance? My chin

Which living person to you most despise? Control freaks

What is the quality you most like in a man? Laid-back-ness

What is the quality you most like in a woman? Bravery

Which words of phrases do you most overuse? Roxy, leave me alone!

Which talent would you most like to have? Being an actress

What do you consider your greatest achievement? My vocabulary

If you were to die and come back as a person of thing, what do you thing it would be? Tree

Where would you like to live? Montana

What is your most treasured possession? My large collection of books

What do you most value in your friends? Easy going, goofy, but intelligence

Who are your favorite writers? C.S. Lewis

Who is your favorite hero of fiction? Despereaux the mouse

Which historical figure do you most identify with? Lousia Mae Alcott, she loved books

What is it that you most dislike? Members of my family that annoy me

What is your motto? Be Good Have Fun

She's A Twisted Sister

Over the past few days I have read Twilight (which must be to teens like John Hughes was to me) and I have learned to use our scanner. I have this twisted treasure to share.

On our unnerving trip to the Health Department where Darby had to sit for hours, waiting for a shot, Roxy decided to taunt her with a creepy picture. Roxy was truly excited that her sister would have to experience some pain, so she just ran with it. Along the bottom of the picture is Darby's arm and hand. Roxy added all the drawings except for the stinging bumblebee and the electrocution piece. The creepy looking Igor guy was really a snapping turtle. I don't know where she gets this stuff, but her father certainly has something to do with it. Annoyed and ticked off is how Darby felt about this - just the way Roxy likes her.

Dining Room Upgrade

I am 37 years old and have never had a dining room. Not even growing up. I can now serve a meal for more than four people and everyone can sit comfortably and dine. I am quite excited about this milestone. This room would not have been possible with out the numerous members from the Memorial Road church. We had a hearfelt going-away party that included monetary gifts for us. Scott and I were humbled and we chose to do something special with the gifts, so here it is. I really love my sideboard cabinet. Soon the blue and white wedding dishes will fill it up, but I just couldn't face unpacking another box today.

My First Voodoo Doll

There must be a market for this item somewhere. Please view the astounding construction, the disturbing angle of the limbs, the multiple, designer-added orifaces, the addition of alopecia to the doll's head. I'm taking bids for this one of a kind designer doll made by Darby. Just don't tell Darby I'm trying to get rid of it - Roxy will sleep better with it out of here.

Club Penguin

My girls love to go to the Club Penguin website. Roxy is a pink penguin and Darby is a funky penguin. The site is fun, but very problematic if you are six and still cannot read. The penguins below are from the Georgia Aquarium, the world's largest aquarium. It is a real showplace and very interesting. My family plus my parents and sister went last week together and it was a great trip. We saw everything and touched everything including sting rays. I hope to return one day when the other 10,000 people are staying home. The crowds were truly nuts.

I Hope We Don't Get Hepatitis

We (all four Franks' members) went to the Health Department today so we could get all the petty little Georgia forms prepared so Darby and Roxy can attend school. This is what happened:

Shining plastic flashlight in each girl's mouth - $10 this is a "dental exam"
Taking hearing test with unsanitized headphones - $22
Taking a self-administered eye exam - $22
One chicken pox shot for Darby - $14 I did not get to verify the origin of the needle. It was given to her in an office space, not a medical space. I still feel ill.

Time it took to complete all of the above - 2.5 hours

God, thank you so much for my overpriced insurance. I will never go to the unHealth Department again.

I Remember It Well...

I recently filled up every inch of computer memory with family pictures. I happen to be 5+ years behind on getting the pictures in scrapbooks, and I will not be getting to it any time soon. So, looking at the old files, I decided to dial back three years to check out the maturization of my girls. I am always amazed at how closely Roxy resembles her sister Darby when comparing photos. They really are clones. I spend a lot of time concentrating on each of my girls, praying for their future and teaching them things. Three years ago I never imagined that I would be making sewing projects with Darby. I never thought I would be living in Georgia. I never imagined Roxy going to school all day long - that thought makes my heart ache. I wonder what I will feel when I look back on the pictures of Summer 2008. Probably something like: I was a true brunette back then.

Back to School Blues

Going back to school is a little dicey this year. We are in a new school, where we don't know the ropes, and transferring records is not exactly a piece of cake. For some reason, the state of Georgia requires forms signed by medical personnel that state that your child has had all of their shots, their hearing has been tested, their vision has been tested, and their teeth have been checked. I, being a good parent, have been doing all of these things for years, but I must have a particular form filled out by a certified medical professional stating all these things. Which now means that back to school includes a visit to the Georgia Health Department to get all of these things done. I have not been there before, but I know enough to know that this is not a pleasurable field trip. Think DMV with a creepy guy giving shots, all in a dubious part of town. I am dreading this...

To top it all off, my family left today to get back to OK. I miss them already.

Blog Vacation

I took a short blog vacation. I had to get the house ready for our first guests - my family from Oklahoma. They will be leaving tomorrow and I will truly miss them. We have had such a great time together. Our girls really need to be with them, because they just light up having them around. While on my blog vacation, I attempted to get up to speed on Facebook. How am I going to keep up with both? I don't know...

Morphine Made Me Wacky

So, the weekend of my birthday started so great - hot tub, pool table, beautiful scenery. Then I went home and fried my hand on one of my beautiful skillets. I put the beef tenderloin in the oven at 425 degrees to get the meat cooked in the middle, took it out with no problems, then became extremely distracted with dinner prep and grabbed the handle with no hand protection at all. I have never done this before and I blame it on the drama my daughter had created the entire day and the war she was waging with me. I ended up winning the war due to this injury. Lesson: mom wins, always. Even if she cooks her hand to do it.
It turns out I had second degree burns covering the perimeter of my hand around the palm, plus the undersides of each finger plus thumb. We have no doctor yet, so we went to Wal-Greens and asked the pharmacist where to go for an emergency. I froze my hand with ice, not feeling much yet, but at the ER center I started feeling it. I then received a shot of morphine and proceeded to freak out my husband. I remember pain, then warmth, then teeth chattering pain that I had only experienced during childbirth, then I slept (I think). Scott woke up several times in the night to make sure I was still alive, because it was a strange trip I was on. Today the hand is doing great and I can see everywhere that will start getting gross, probably tonight or tomorrow. I choose to never have this kind of adventure again.

Strike a Pose in Blue Ridge, GA

How I Spent My Birthday

My Kind of People

So I am getting to know some of the Greatest Generation at my church. I make it a point on Wednesday night to sit with or near them, simply to establish some contact and to have a friendly face greet me. These people are my kind of people. They have a very social agenda, including a group that knits items for the children's hospital, a group that goes on trips, groups that play games, and groups that make cards using the 1000+ stamps and die cuts at church. I like all of those things, but I'm not in AARP yet. We are having an ice cream social in a couple of weeks, just my family and the "prime timers" as they are known, and they had hand-made cards just for this event that were so adorable. It used to be that I was the only person I knew that liked to make cards, but no longer. These ladies and gentlemen are also avid gardeners. I have lined up some Hydrangea bush donations and hosta donations already. I can't wait.

My Daughter, My Rockstar

Roxy, or Rockstar as she is commonly known at home, is growing up and learning more every day. The reading - kind of; the vocabulary - creative; the joy - overflowing. Her favorite phrase is "the laughter of fun-ness", which is how you will often observe her: with laughter and fun. She tried to go home with some almost strangers at church on Sunday. She loves to call her friend (who has her own cell phone and is only seven!) She is ruling the remote now, and loves watching all those shows about rescuing dogs with mainge. And she is bound and determined to celebrate her birthday more than once a year. Roxy has decided to make a birthday cake for me, but to her specifications: chocolate cake with white frosting, with a row of Bottle Cap candy along the bottom, Sour Balls above that, Gummy Coke Bottles above that, Hot Tamales above that, then sprinkles on top. Now that's a diebetic nightmare...but kind of good at the same time.

A sparkling smile

we did sparklers on Friday night. They sell them everywhere, so it must be legal here. I taught Darby how to write her name in the air with a lit sparkler. Roxy was too nervous at first, but she finally learned to hold one.

My Personal Favorites

I always love finding Confererate soldiers, which is not hard to do down here. A couple of the men looked like they survived the Civil War.

Speaking of the War, there was a float advertising the Gone With the Wind museum here in Marietta, and the float included some of the original cast and crew members. They appeared to be having a ball, and they appeared to be alive as well.

Another favorite of mine was all of the 'Twilight Twirlers". These ladies were younger than the Gone With the Wind crew, and younger than some of the Confederates, but they were entirely to old to be showing their bloomers in these skimpy outfits. Note the boots: I had a handed-down Barbie doll with those same boots but in powder blue. Skipper wore them. You got to hand it to these ladies - they have a lot of guts and apparently a lot of fun with their little group.

 
The more people there are around us, the better - as far as Roxy is concerned. The parade was huge but very entertaining.

To Honor my Day of Birth:

The day of my birth, which should be celebrated as opposed to my age, is coming up and I feel the prudent thing to do (for those who are related to me and the one who is married to me) is to put out my wish list. I would be happy with a simple, no charge comment on my blog, but someone who is compelled to get me a gift may refer to this:

-an OU t-shirt, short sleeved, of an official-licensed nature and not some free blood drive shirt
-Wii Fit with the surfboard included
-a new tea kettle. Mine is from 1991 and I wish to see it no longer.
-season one of The Closer. She is from Atlanta, so now I like her quirks even more.
-season three of The Muppet Show. My favorite show is now a favorite of my girls as well.
-anything for the kitchen like table cloths, placemats, etc. A cool wall clock, plaques, etc. All would be good because my kitchen is pretty naked.

Where are the grits?

We found this funny, being from a place other than the South. The grits section at the grocery store is very large compared to, say, the section dedicated to Chinese food. I had no idea there were so many kinds of grits. And what are grits, you may ask? Grits are the squishy centers in a kernel of corn. They cook and serve them up as you would oatmeal, but you can improve on it with bacon drippings, cheddar cheese, green onions, butter, etc. Shrimp and grits is a common Southern dish.

Also on this trip to the grocery store, Roxy was pushing the cart and bumped into a cardboard display of Raid Ant Traps, knocking the entire rack all over the floor. The nicest lady stopped and helped pick up over a hundred ant traps, while I consoled my embarrassed daughter. In all my years of parenting (coming up on #10) this had never happened until today. I'm glad it happened with a sweet Southern lady nearby.

The Happy Couple

Darby our photographer does a pretty good job. We seem to be such a sweet couple. We are rarely together in a photo, so these are unique. I recall on our wedding day how Scott said he never wanted to be in another picture ever again. I'm glad we caught him at a weak moment!

Stone Mountain, Georgia

We had a great time at Stone Mountain. Here is a glimpse of the main attractions...the coolest being Darby on the sky high ropes course. Go, girl, go.

Who Needs Sleep?

I no longer want to go to sleep at night. It is just not worth it. Having been away from OK for four weeks, the separation anxiety has set in and is disrupting my REM moments. One solid week of bad dreams involving people I miss in OK has pushed me as far as I care to go. My children are having interesting sleep patterns as well. Darby is back to talking in her sleep a lot, Roxy is having fantastic dreams about being an only child, being a cat, but always being in OK, and Scott refuses to acknowledge any adjustment issues (which means he is for sure having them as well.) Hopefully, having stayed up to 2 am watching "About a Boy" will jolt my head out of Oklahoma. Ah, the joys of moving...