Blog-vacation

Wow.. it's been a while since I've done any blogging. I've had some comments wondering if I'm taking a break like my husband is, and well, apparantly I am. It wasn't really intentional, but we've been soo busy with all our "construction" projects around the house, and my back went out again and I was down almost two weeks, mix those in with our upcoming beach vacation, and church camp, and you can see we've been some busy folks around here. That being said, I wish you all a pleasant summer and hopefully I'll be back to regular blogging after things around here settle down.

Take care, y'all!

Temporarirly Insane!

I feel like I should apply for Law School. I've been helping our daughter with a school project. Shelby's Social Studies class participates in something called a simulation. She's done different "Sims" for different projects, this time it's a mock trial. Shelby was selected as the lead defense attorney (wonder why? Cuz she likes to argue, just like her Daddy ;)) and her client allegedly stabbed his father. As she/we gathered all the evidence from the witnesses, i.e. other classmates, we started talking and decided that since her client had been abused by his father, the only defense she could pursue and possibly win would be an insanity defense. So, we've spent hours wikipediaing forensic psychiatry, child abuse, trial procedures, and criminal law. She knows this case inside and out, she's fully prepared. She and her co-counsel decided that they should project a professional appearance and have even coordinated their clothing, makeup, and hair. They've even gone so far as to borrow an old briefcase of mine to use for all their materials. Shelby has done an excellent job. I might've messed up when I told her I'd be pissed if she didn't win. She thought I meant I'd be pissed at her, I reassured her that I wouldn't be mad at her, but at the stupid people on the jury. Maybe that was wrong of me, but I can't help it, I'm a wee bit competitive. Well, She's done all she can and has worked really hard, I'm sure she'll make a good grade, as usual.

EDIT: Shelby lost her case because those idiots in her class were too stupid to comprehend the insanity defense. That and because the judge in the case was buddies with the prosecutor. Typical, well at least she got an acutal portrait of our justice system!

Great News!

I have great news! My brother has become a grandfather, again. So, yes, that means I'm a great aunt, again! This time we have a baby girl. My great niece, Kileigh Marie was born early this morning at 12:03am. weighing 6lbs, 10oz and 20" long. Kileigh was diagnosed in-utero with a kidney disorder and she may have to have surgery later, but there's nothing life threatening at this time. Praise God for this tiny miracle.

Music Education 101: Ray Charles

We are serious music lovers in our house. If you're a regular visitor here or at my husband's blog, you're very aware of this. We are very eclectic in our musical tastes. I was raised on good ole fashioned Country and Western music, in addition to Southern Gospel and Elvis Presley. As a teen, I delved into the music of the 60's, particularly the Beatles and the Beach Boys, in between staying in touch with what was going on on the current Top 40. Then I met a wonderful man who introduced me to things like punk, heavy metal, rockabilly, and the blues. Music has played a pivotal role in our lives and we've made a conscience effort to expose our children to all types of music. Currently, one of our favorites is Ray Charles. The kids just love his music, and being a pianist, I'm envious of his talents on the piano.

Here's a little background on Ray Charles.

Ray Charles Robinson was born in September 1930 in Albany, Georgia to Aretha Williams and Bailey Robinson. The family moved to Greenville, Florida soon after Ray's birth. Aretha and Bailey never married and he went on to have 3 other families, thereby leaving Aretha to raise Ray and his younger brother, George, on her own. George drowned in a laundry tub when Ray was five. Ray witnessed this incident and it had a profound effect upon him. Sometime after, Ray started to lose his vision and was completely blind by the age of seven. There was never a definitive reason for his loss of sight, however some sources attribute it to glaucoma. Aretha sent Ray away to a school for the blind and deaf in St. Augustine, Florida where he learned to play various musical instruments as well as compose music. At the age of seventeen, he moved to Seattle, Washington and signed his first record deal with Swingtime Records and had his first hit four years later with "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand". A year after Ray's hit, he signed with well known Atlantic Records. Ray had many hit songs during his middle years of success, becoming one of the first artists to "crossover" from Top 40 to jazz. Ray's foray into Country and Western helped bring prominence to the genre. Later on in his career, he made cameo appearances in films and on television. He has performed for presidents, campaigned for peace, and supported the American Civil Rights Movement. Aside from the dozens of Grammy's he's won, he's accumulated many other awards including being among the first set of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Jazz Hall of Fame, and the Kennedy Center Honors just to name a very few. Much deserved tributes to him include a bronze sculpture of him in Albany, Georgia and a post office named after him in Los Angeles. At the end of his life, Ray was significantly involved in the making of the biopic, Ray going so far as to hand select the actor who eventually played him in the film. Unfortunately, Ray passed away before the film opened. Lucky for us, he lives on through his music. Here's but a taste of his abundant talent.

The song that brought him national attention: "I Got a Woman"


A song that my children go nuts for: "Hallelujah I Love Her So"

Man of the House

I am not sexist. What I mean is that I don't believe that men and women have defined roles in a relationship. It was wonderful last week to come home each day after a hard days work to a home cooked meal prepared by my adoring husband during his vacation, but I did not expect him to cook a meal every night, nor do I expect him to do the laundry or mop the floors because he's home during the day. Now, if he feels moved to do so, I'm very much appreciative, but it's not something I expect him to do, nor do I expect him to take care of the yard. I know of a lot of couples where the female takes care of the "inside" of the house, while their husbands take care of the "outside". I feel that a relationship is give/take, an equal partnership. I may mow the yard, you can dust my piano, as long as the jobs get done, it's irrelevant who does them. There are no "male" jobs or "female" jobs. That being said, I do believe that there are certain things that men should do within the home. In specifics, two things. One, they should kill any and all sorts of insects and rodents, disposing of their remains. And secondly, they should empty the garbage. Now, honestly, I could do both of those things, if I absolutely had to, but I don't, so I won't. I can proudly report that tonight, my son, became the man of the house. Some sort of red waspy thing got into our home, no doubt because the boy left the stinking door open, but I digress. Anyhoo, as I am short of stature, it's hard for me to reach up to the ceiling to kill the nasty things, but tonight I managed to put the thing out of my misery. It fell to the countertops, and I covered it with a folded paper towel. I called the boy, he came, smashed his hand down on top of the paper towel making sure it was really dead, and he faithfully obeyed as I told him to dispose of the waspy thing. He complied so nonchalantly as if it was expected of him. And it's to the point where I don't even have to tell him to empty the garbage, it gets full, he empties it. Ahhh, he's been taught well. (By me of course :), only kidding, I know full well, his Dad has taught him, and very well I must add!)

Vacation... Sort of

For the next week or so, I'll be mostly offline because my dear, sweet husband is on vacation. So, I'll be hanging out with him instead of you, my peeps. We don't have as much time together as other couples do, so I'm gonna enjoy having him home with me every night. Woohoo! So, behave, talk amongst yourselves, and I'll see ya in a week or so....

Update

Many of you have asked how my back is doing and I can happily report that I'm almost back to normal. I say almost cuz my husband would be the first to tell ya that there's nothing "normal" about me, so I should say that I'm about 90-95% better. I'm still sleeping on the couch, but I'm also sleeping in the bed now and my pain has diminished greatly. So, many many thanks to all of you who asked about me, I truly appreciate your concern. Thanks!