A Particularly Special Kind of Stupid...

...was exhibited today in our neighborhood.

Three delinquents strolled casually around town with BB guns, shooting birds.

Um, excuse me?
I don't care if it's a BB gun and technically won't kill anyone! It is a weapon and you DO NOT walk around playing with it, shooting harmless birds FOR FUN, in people's yards!

Oh, dude, the ASPCA would have had SUCH a field day with those three.

My mother, sister, and I were just ticked. We wanted to go out and yell at them, knock their heads together, and call the police. And according to this, what they were doing wasn't even LEGAL. Not only were they walking around town, those kids SO were not 16!

Seriously, who thinks that's a good idea!? What parent considers random acts of animal cruelty wholesome fun!? And I don't even LIKE birds!! But there's just something about boys shooting them 'till they're pretty much dead, and than picking them up and carrying them off. Any time anyone is deliberately cruel to someone totally at a disadvantage, it REALLY gets under my skin.

Poor little birds!

And my little brother was cranky because, since there were kids with guns (BB guns, yes, but still) being morons outside our door, our mother wouldn't let him go out and play.

If I was a foot taller, and actually looked my age, I probably would have gone out and given them a piece of my mind.

That is really a very special kind of stupid. Also, a very INFURIATING kind of stupid.


Ok. Rant over. I'm done now.

Thank you.

I Forgot To Dance

(Picture)

You know that uber-cheesy and cliche saying:

'Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning how to dance in the rain.' ??

Awww! How sickeningly motivational!

And yet...kind of true.

Don't you hate that?

Isn't it just outside of enough that life would actually FIT one of those overused stereotypes?

*dies of shame*

But, anyway, there you go.

To put it in plain language and without any pussyfooting around, today really sucked.

A list. Because lists are fun.

1. I need summer shoes.

2. I need shorts.

3. I've gone to town TWICE this week already.

4. I got nothing.

5. I need a job.

6. I CAN'T FIND A JOB!!!

7. I want to go to Rome with my youth group in the winter, yet I'm really anxious about it...

8. ...because I'm short $1600+.

9. Emotional hysteria/breakdown.

10. SAVE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And yet, I can't help but think right now, "Man. What if I had just let it all go, sobbed hysterically, and danced atrociously around the house, or even the store, just because I was feeling bad and deserve a little insanity???"

What if I had let myself trust and hope and not let these petty things get me so upset?

What if I had prayed instead of pouted?

What if I had counted my blessings rather than my needs?

What if I had written myself a sticky note that said in bold, red letters: RELAX!!!!!!

Worth pondering.

So I'll tie a figurative string around my finger, in hopes that the next time the torrential downpours of life decides to hover right over me, I'll remember to dance.

Or at least take pictures.

Changing Seasons...

My big sister, Catherine, is home from her incredible journey on NET!!!!

I have missed her so much, and now she's back with us.

SO MUCH has changed since she left for NET 9 months ago.

We moved. That was the big one.

Our little baby brothers have gotten SO big!

We met new, crazy people and did new, crazy things!

Things change, sometimes for the better.

CATHERINE has changed.

She now loves hot sauce and spicy food.

She says "Yeah we did!" ALLL the time.

She says "Sick" where we used to say "cool"

She plays that guitar like NOBODY'S business!

And most of all, she's grown even more beautiful, faithful and amazing than she was before.

Welcome home, Catherine.

I love you : ).

The Glorious Wonder of Sidewalk Chalk

Yesterday, I reverted about ten years and poured my heart out on a sidewalk.

It was beautiful.

Aw, sidewalk chalk. I must admit, it had been a really, really long time since I plopped down on the sidewalk and doodled with a colored powdery stick.

My three youngest siblings were outside with a big old box of chalk...and, well...let's just say, we all went a little nuts.

We've lived on farmsteads with little to no sidewalk most of our lives...can you really blame us?

Mm hm...lyrics to Taylor Swift's 'Mine'.

Eloise!

I named this cat Puss. My younger sister renamed him Mr. Pretty Ferkins. Huh.

I hate cats. Why did we draw cats? Why??

Lips, eyes, nose...boredom.

Meg is awesome.

Yes. Those are my pants after all this. My little brother was only too happy to take a picture for posterity.

The chalk-ness was fully embraced by myself. I added the heart and sun on the top...the rest just happened because I knelt out on the sidewalk for like, 45 minutes having the time of my life.

Oh...just never grow up! : )

To Mothers...

Things Moms do that no one else can:

* Naturally, have kids. That's what makes them mothers.

* Wear spit up, drool, snot, baby food, Biter Biscut, milk, and muck like a fashion statement.

* Look a snotty, screaming toddler in the mouth and calmly pick it up and go on with life.

* Go shopping with their children, including the 2 year olds who want everything they see and scream when they don't get it.

* March tall and proud into church and sit in the front row with all 2, 5, 7, 9, 14 of their children, helpfully ignoring the 'RESERVED FOR FAMILIES WITH SMALL CHILDREN' pews in the very back.

* Homeschool their children from kindergarten to senior year.

* Deal with their hormonal teenagers and love them all even when they're being total brats.

* Love. Nobody can love like a Mom.

My Mom has done all this and more. I love her. Happy Mother's Day!

The Masked Offender Strikes Again!

I wish everyone could be familiar with The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Dude, I was RAISED on that show. Its corny, unintelligent, ridiculous, and absolutely wonderful.

Anyway, in the fourteenth episode in these series, Tigger decides to dress up as a super hero called The Masked Offender. Basically, he goes around irritating people and destroying property. You know. What Tiggers normally do.

Anyway, today, my little sister Ella must have been finally feeling better from the allergies she's been suffering from, because she put on a cape and ran around the house yelling, "MASKED OFFENDER, AWAY!!!"

She took it slower farther and farther, being particular torturous to my sister Meg and I, until we were locking our doors to keep her out and finish our schoolwork. Unfortunately, the Masked Offender knows how to get doors open using only a spoon.

Finally, we figured, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

And that was before Ella completed her costume!

Oh yes she did.

She also very kindly distributed autographs and provided us all with a phone number so that she could be reached in emergencies. How very sweet.



Continuous adorable hi jinks ensued. She would throw something into my room from the bathroom door, and come in a short while later to collect it. Getting somewhat tired of this, I hid the card with a horse picture on it in my desk before she came back.

She came in, looked around, and said, "Have you seen that...thingy?"

I decided to be witty and use Tangled references. "I've hidden it. Somewhere you will never find it."

She grinned, looking around very carefully and thoroughly for a long time. Finally, she said, "Its in that pot, isn't it!?"

"Nope."

She found it pretty quickly after that, so the next time she threw something in (that amusing toy phone she's holding in the pictures above), I hid it BEHIND my desk.

She came back in.

"Ok...where is it now?"

"Now it is hidden somewhere you will never find it."

She looked around for a long time, and than said, "You finally got good at hiding stuff. That's good and bad!"

Ah, little children. How I love them.

Rock on Ella and Winnie the Pooh!

Sharing is Caring

Or something like that.

No, no, I do think sharing is important! I share most of my own belongings, from clothes to gum to erasers. And STORIES. Oh yes. Stories should be shared.

Someone shared this story/blog with me, and I wanted to keep the sharing going and get these three really cool ladies some followers.

This blog, The Lost Scribes, looks amazingly cool, and I can't wait to read the story!

Onward...live, laugh, love, and write.