Prompt #14: Sneaky Snake Goes Dancin'

Okay I don't think the snake was dancing, but it was definitely being sneaky. My story is when a friend and I, we must have been 16 at the time, had been left to baby sit my brother, 3 years younger than me, and my two younger sisters and toddler brother. For some reason I didn't have on my glasses, and you have to realize that the last time a doctor told me my actual vision stats it was 20/200 and this was sometime around then, lol. So I was walking around the house blind, and my friend was getting my toddler brother to stop playing with the phone when she sees this snake right there by the phone! She scoops him up and shaking in her boots says, Miss Sunshine, " there is a snake over there by the phone!" In a very imperative whisper. I think she didn't want to upset the snake and I don't blame her, lol. So I, not believing her and thinking she saw the telephone cord or something, laughingly walk over to check it out. I'm blind, remember. So as I stick my head down to peer at the phone I came almost nose to nose with that snake! I really can't remember point A to point B at that point, lol. But somehow I got everybody screaming and hollering out the door and lickety split over to Grandma's house which was about a yard away. She gave us a stick or a shovel, can't remember which and told us to go back and kill it. So we took my 3 year younger brother and stood on the porch shouting encouragement and let him be the brave warrior, lol. He couldn't find it. I didn't think I'd ever sleep again. My Dad found it about a week later and according to my Mom grabbed the first thing he could get a hold of which was a spatula and kept stunning it while he yelled for her to get him a shovel or anything that would kill it. It turned out to be a copperhead! I've not seen any since moving to Houston, but I know there out there and hope they stay hidden!

Comment about Wonder Woman Bathing Suit

I just have to contradict Texasblu a little on her comments from last week. That wasn't it :P
That bathing suit, which I have VERY fond memories of never saw more than a sprinkler. The incidents I'm talking about were at the age of atleast 10 and that 4 year old swimsuit would have looked mighty funny at that point even without me swimming in it. lol.

Slice of Life: The Watering Hole

That last post looked way out of place on my summer blog background. LOL! This one should be much more appropriate ;)

I have had several thoughts on this meme. I have memories of going to the swim pool with my day care class and being very anxious to swim and be like the other kids my age, I would hold to the side of the pool till I got to the deep end and then push off a little bit and try to paddle back to the edge. Thank goodness the Daycare workers were keeping an eye on me b/c eventually I got to far off and started to drown. They then sent me back to the shallows. I remember saying, "I could to swim", to someone else and trying to prove it. I then proceeded to be laughed at b/c my bottom would go in the air and apparently I was trying to swim to the bottom of the pool to no avail. LOL. I was very embarassed as they showed me what I looked like. Soon there after my Mom put us in swim lessons and swim team. I can never thank her enough. I could spend all day in the water. I've always been jealous of those that have their own pools. I would go down to the one in my second apartment complex when the boys were at their Dad's and pretend I was a dolphin. I love how the water whites out all the noise and confusion. It's just you and the water. So peaceful. I love the ocean waves and the sound of kids laughing and sea gulls crying. It's the other place I run to when I'm under extreme stress. Even if it's just for a few hours. My older sister has explained to me why this is so important for my personality. I just hope someday soon we move closer because gas is getting way to expensive for a short trip. I think I'm trying to instill in my children a love for the beach. I took Lil Red at 6 months for his first trip. And now my little Pooh bear at 5 months. The post picture is of this last trip. This last trip actually came about because Lil Red had been asking to go to the beach. He'd been watching several cartoons about the beach and decided he wanted to go. He was so excited. I'd been assuring him for a week that we would go. On the way there, his excitement level was so high that he would cry and get touchy about anything. I think he was afraid he'd never make it. Then when we arrived we handed him his toy basket that I had bought specifically for the beach. (It was on clearance, a $1.50!What steal!) He stood there and clutched it to his chest as he just stared and took it all in. He probably would have stayed that way if I hadn't have told the older boys to take him and get him started digging. Here are some of my faves of the trip.

My muddy swamp monsters. They looked like ooey gooey after they got done slugging each other with the muddy beach sludge. lol

My little Pooh Bear playing with his toes and chilling out on he beach towel.

My skinny boy taking a break from the waves.

This is them looking at a hermit crab they dug up to show me.

Fire!!!: Slice of Life #12

My sister says she has lots of stories about fire, and here I am racking my brain for one good one. I have always enjoyed a good camp fire. My Dad always used to make jokes about how you could always find men gathered around a fire. Moths aren't the only ones drawn to a flame. It's the flickers of different colors dancing in the dark. Banishing nothingness into shadows and bringing warmth along with illumination. I remember once my neice, Athena, while at my house (my first house, when I was single)came to me and said, "Aunt Sunshine, the fireplace is like a rich persons house and then you open the refridgerator and your like a poor man." LOL! She was right. A fire in the hearth does make you feel like a rich man. I remember listening to my older sister talk about an apartment they were looking into renting and being so excited that it had a fireplace. We have a gas fireplace in the home that I share with Big Red and it has been the center of many a cold evening. We have had some romantic moments and I have had some alone moments there as well. One such night was almost two years ago. My husband was out on the roads after pulling a late night for his company that was going through some legalities. It had been an enchanted evening. I had attended a Relief Society Christmas party with the soft snowflakes coming down. Which by the way is unheard of in Texas! The feeling of wonderment at such a miracle and peace of the still night stayed with me after I put the kids to bed and grabbed a throw off the couch to wrap up in, turned on the fire and the Christmas lights and like a little kid stared off into their lights feeling like a child again as I waited to make sure that my husband came home safely. Now that two of my children are coming of age to drive, I wonder if so many more such nights are in my future. Maybe we will have some talks setting in front of the fire. That would be pleasant :)

The picture is of Lil Red warming up after being out in the snow this last year making snowmen, here in Houston. Again BEFORE Christmas :)

Slice of Life #11 Dancing

I have always loved dancing! From the time I was little and figured out how to spin around in circles till I was dizzy, or even before that when Daddy would grab me by the hands and spin me around and around as my feet left the ground. My favorite talent, twirling incorporates alot of dance and my favorite show right now is, "So You Think You Can Dance". I always have to watch movies with dancing in it. I can care less about the story line or the acting. I love watching the choreographed dances. I wanted to be a dancer when I was 12, but some thoughtless words from a young women's counselor crushed my dreams. It was no wonder that while I was single, I was always looking for someone to teach me a new lift or swing move. And that my eternal companion would be a wonderful ballroom and country dancer. I could talk about the dance that we finally had our first kiss at, but I have to say my most memorable dance will always be with my Dad at our wedding. Not because it was the sweetest moments of my life, but the most torturous. I believe it was for my Dad as well and we endured it together, so here is the story...

I decided that Dad should pick out the music for our dance b/c I wanted it to be meaningful for him as well as for me. He picked the song from his favorite musical, "Fiddler on the Roof". The song..."Sunrise, Sunset". Alright, slow song, so it should have been a fairly easy Daddy, daughter dance. Well to make it more special we decided to ask my Sister in law to play it on the grande piano in the ballroom. She was delighted to do so. Well first problem, we didn't specify how many verses she was to play. It has a couple. One would have been enough. Second problem, it is a waltz. My Dad took ballroom a long time ago and taught me how to waltz. But somehow over the years the knowledge of the steps left him. Apparently it's not like riding a bike. He warned me the week prior to the wedding and we tried practicing a couple of times in the office (I was working for him at the time). I thought he had the hang of it, but I guess we needed more practice. This was also right prior to him finding out that he had colon cancer and he was in alot of pain that evening. So we start dancing. After 10 seconds, we were both done. He couldn't get the rythm down right even with me smiling as I repeated it and I was laughing because I couldn't even match steps to his because he kept changing what he was doing. The music kept playing. Problem number three, my dress probably should have been taken up a little more. He kept stepping on my dress. No matter how hard I tried to keep my skirts out of the way. By the second verse one of my bridesmaids took pitty on us and came and grabbed my train to hold it out of the way. We were laughing and out of breath by this time and wishing that my Sister in law didn't have her backs to us, so that we could cut her off. And then it was over. I wouldn't have had it any other way. We must have looked so funny on the floor, and we had no time to reflect on the beauty or meaning of the song, but that's just like Dad and daughter relationships. Laughing and grumbling, dancing and stumbling, twirling and shuffling. And sometimes, to keep from killing each other, we need someone to step in and help.

Slice of Life #10 Friends

I think that one of the truest tests of friendships is to be able to stay friends no matter what life changes occur in either persons life and to be able to stay in touch. I have to say my friendship with Gardenia has truly stood the test of time. We were introduced by my parents. They were looking for friends for me to help me be stronger in the gospel of our Savior and they thought that I would be a good friend for her in return. I was a struggling single Mom at the time and constantly having issues with being lonely when my boys would go visit their Dad for the weekend. Our first meeting I believe was at the movies, our whole family met to watch one of the Lord of the Ring movies. Anyways after that we started getting together. I don't know who started our outings but my parents couldn't have been more right about such a postive friendship in my life. Gardenia, as she is known on line, and by the way happens to be my favorite flower, was always there for me when I needed help. Whether it was cleaning my house, a shoulder to cry on, or being up for one of my crazy expeditions. She quickly became Aunt Gardenia, well her real name plus Aunt, lol, but you get the picture. One of our favorite stories is how she decided we should go to a dance, she might say it was my idea, but I'm pretty sure it was hers. This was for 30 year olds and up and at the time I was slightly under age even though at times I felt older than all attending. Looking back now that is highly laughable, but I digress. So neither of us knew anyone else going to this church dance but I was always game for a dance and she thought that I being a highly outgoing person would be able to make us a friend or two right away. Well she learned something new about me that day. We walked in and looked inside at the dance and I turned and looked at her and said, "now what". She say, "your the outgoing one". I laughed and said, "only when I know everyone". Well I decided we hadn't come all that way for nothing, so I said,"Let's go to the food table. You can always find something to talk about around food." So we did and pretty soon we were chatting it up with a couple of people and dancing. So it was a sucess!The best thing about Gardenia is that she is always up for a lark. The top picture is of her in costume at Big Red's and my open house, halloween party, that we through right after we got together. Not everyone dressed up. But Gardenia is way to much fun to not to do so. Below are pictures of a pool party right before that. Where she provided the pool for my son to have his party and house. His birthday is always to hot and I'd wanted to do this for awhile but never had the ability. She and my husband (friend at the time) got into a hand standing competition at the pool. I have to say they both had such good form. I can't remember who won.

I remember going and buying this suit for her. Back then she was Wildwoman Gardenia. Still is truth be told :)

This was our first double date. My husband was taking the picture. And while things didn't work out with Mr. Tall in the picture it was a growing experience and we had fun saving her, lol. And she looked super pretty.

Once we even went to Mississippi on a rediscover Gardenia tour just to get out of Texas. We saw alligators, jelly fish, and snakes and she laid on her someday grave ( I know weird, lol). I have to note that we did that with another good friend. We've seen many a movie together infact with no girls amongst my children, I'm so happy to have someone to go see the Twilight movies with. Otherwise I'd have to do it when my little ones were taking a nap and my husband at work and my boys at school and it had come out on video and I'd probably get depressed instead of enjoying the movie b/c I have to hide out to do it, lol.

So we've been through some life changing experiences on both sides. Some good and some bad and some just stepping stones, but through it all we've been there for each other like good friends should.

Slice of Life #9 - Bugs

As a toddler I would chase the tree roaches that had gotten in the house and stomp on them in my bare feet. Needless to say I never had a love of bugs. Growing up in Texas the June bugs have long been my enemy. I remember watching a bug zapper that my Dad bought to hang up outside the front door to lower the amount coming inside. It was like 4th of July early, lol, 'Zap-Zap-ZZZ-Zap!'. I never got tired of hearing that noise. It meant one less icky sticky fingered bug to fly into my hair and freak me out. I'm sure my brother's and sister's have plenty of memories of me shrieking and shaking my hair or brushing off my clothes to get the things off of me. I'm sure I looked plenty silly too, but I just can't help it, June bugs are to me what snakes are to Indiana Jones. If I remember correctly he didn't like bugs either, lol, I think it's a big reason women love his character so much, they identify.
When I was a young woman, I attended our young women's youth camp at church. There was one year that stands out in my memory and I often tell this story when bugs come up. It had rained alot that year. Kind of like this year. And bugs were creeping and crawling from everywhere to get to high ground to survive. As we arrived near dark, I can remember going to our slabs to put up our cots and grossing out as we heard milipedes crunching under our shoes. Needless to say, no one went barefoot. There were two girls that were so full of themselves that they had mosquito nets and were teasing the fire out of the rest of us for not having one. It was sweet revenge the next morning when we woke up to screaming the next morning from the two. One had awakened to find one on the pillow next to her and they both had them climbing up the nets on the inside, so they were surrounded. Oh sweet justice! Okay so not very Christ like of me, but I was young ;)
So there's my bug memoirs. Hoped you enjoyed!