acts of desperation...

Yes my friends, it has come to this.

I bought a tiny statue of St. Joseph to bury in my yard!

St. Joseph is the patron saint of real estate, and the story goes that if you

bury him near your "for sale" sign, head down, facing your house, that

you will soon sell your house! I also put a prayer card under my front door

mat and recited the Novena to St. Joseph while my husband was conducting

the burial. I wish I had taken a picture! If this works my husband has vowed

to recite the Novena and let me record it!

I hope this works, or my next step is VOODOO!!!

An open letter...

Dear economic recession,

I have tried to ignore you for a long time and go about my business...if you don't bother me, then I won't bother you. But now I have to address you face to face.

I need to sell my house and you are stopping me. I have taken a lot of leaps of faith that are all going to turn out great if you will just relent and let me sell my house. Come on now, give a girl a break.

Thanks for listening,

LBM

For the birds...

One of the big jobs at my Mother's

house is feeding the birds. When my Dad was

alive, he was basically a hummingbird whisperer.

He had about a dozen feeders with about 50 birds

a day. They were so used to him they would land

on the brim of his hat and on his shoulders when

he was filling the feeders. It was like a weird mix

of Snow White and Huckleberry Finn.

Anyway, after he died, my Mother was not interested

in spending her days filling feeders, but she could

not let go of Daddy's birds, so she only has about

6 feeders.

However, this did not seem to decrease the number

of birds. I filled the feeders everyday with over a

gallon of hummingbird food! That was of course,

after I made it :O)

Daddy's hummingbird food recipe:

4 cups of sugar

1 gallon of warm water

Stir until all of the sugar is incorporated and then

cool. Keep in the fridge...they like it cold :O)

On the last day I was filling the feeders, two birds

came and sat on my shoulder while I filled the

feeder. Love you, miss you Daddy.

All done :O)

Hey everybody! I am so happy

to be home!

I am thrilled to report that my Mom's knee surgery

went even better than I could have hoped for.

She was only in the hospital for 2 days and

could walk without support the very next day.

My Mom still lives on the farm and she

does not have internet and my cell does not

get a signal! I had to go to Piggly Wiggly in

order to use my phone and get on Facebook!

Needless to say I found a reason to go every day.

I also had some animal encounters and

exciting adventures but I will post about those

later...I have 1000+ items in my reader and I

am going to read every.single.one! I can't

wait to catch up with everybody...missed you!

I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

Well kids, I will be gone for 3 weeks.

My Mother is having her knee replaced and I have

been called in for some private duty nursing.

I am also sad to report that she lives in the last place

on earth that does not have a high-speed internet

connection or cell phone service! It is hard to

believe that such a place exists isn't it?

I might be able to sneak in a little Facebook or

Twitter if I am sent to Wal-mart or something, but

otherwise I am cut off from the outside world.

I will miss reading all the blogs, and I will be

looking forward to getting home and catching up!

love you, miss you!

Must love dogs...

My friend V. put a post on Facebook earlier today about the her husband and kids wanting a dog.

I, of course, had to throw my vote in for a Frenchie! You would have thought I had dropped a bomb on her wall! She got about 30 responses begging her to adopt from a shelter and not succomb to the pressure of "buying a designer dog." How dare I suggest buying a pure bred dog?!?

Now listen up...I would put myself at the top of the list when it comes to people who love dogs...all kinds!

It just seems weird to me that there is such a stigma against pure bred dogs! Am I supposed to be ashamed that I chose a breed that was suitable to my lifestyle, hopelessly cute and paid more than a shelter adoption fee for her? Yes, I support adopting shelter dogs! They are wonderful dogs...but not because they are from a shelter, BUT BECAUSE ALL DOGS ARE WONDERFUL AND DESERVE A HOME!

So yes V., get a dog...any dog...whatever kind you like!

I am a cutter...

I love tan feet with pretty

toenails, but I have a slight problem. I am a cutter.

I have a weird hang-up with nails that are long. This

"feeling" turned into a full-on phobia when I was in

nursing school and was introduced to the full array

of things that could get trapped under fingernails

and toenails...and how long they grow if neglected.

After a few run-ins with people who have not cut

their toenails for years, I began developing a strange

habit. I started cutting my fingernails and toenails

everyday. Not good. They are painfully short at

times but I find it hard to stop myself.

Anyway, I said all of that to say this...my friend Amy

asked me to go with her to get a pedicure this Friday

and I almost had a panic attack. I barely have enough

nails to paint, must less form into something attractive!

So I have not cut my toenails in a week. This is like

an alkie trying to give up the booze! I don't know if

I can make it until Friday!

I am trying not to think about it, but I can almost feel

the fungi multiplying and the nail beds thickening

even as we speak! So gross! Maybe Robert will

let me cut his toenails....