Daisy May

Someone needs attention NOW!



This one....not so much....

Happy Belated Birthday, Kathy!!!!

I am like the worst friend ever! I totally blew it and let Kathy's birthday get by me yesterday. So I want to use this blog to say, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATHY!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!"



Also in this picture is The Original Boof's brother who I also consider my brother. Kathy I consider my sister and I love them both. I wish everyone would be able to know this couple. They are the sweetest and FUNNIEST people. I am so glad they are my friends! Hate it for the rest of you, but they are mine! LOVE YOU GUYS!

Outside

I know it is still winter.....well as winter as it can be in the South. The tree in front of my house has buds. I think it is confused!


And can this tree have any more branches?


This is the view from my bedroom window....

Happy 80th Birthday, Marie!!!!

Mrs. Marie turned 80 this past Sunday. She is my neighbor and I consider her also a dear friend. We have great conversations and she LOVES Lu and Daisy. Her son and daughter-in-law invited me, Mom and several other neighbors to go to The Club tonight to celebrate. We had a blast! Marie cried when the "band" played "Happy Birthday" to her. She just kept saying how much the Lord has blessed her. She is a sweetie and Happy Birthday!!!!

R.I.P. - Lorie Johnson

Lorie Johnson died tonight at 6:50. You can scroll down in the blog to see her story and I will include her web address that you have to copy and paste.

Today has been a day of polar opposites. You have Daniel who was so talented and the drugs got him, then you have the Mom who gets breast cancer when she is 6 months pregnant. BOTH are not fair. Daniel, through God and his brother wanted to change and he accepted Christ, then you have the Mom that had accepted Christ a long time ago and they are both dead. I am trying to find the fairness in both. I know God has our lives mapped out, but why didn't Daniel have a chance to continue to influence and inspire his cheering kids and why did Lorie have to die and leave her husband and kids?

But then I also know that in the death of both.....people will be changed. They were so loved and so cherished. Still not fair.

Please say prayers tonight for the Poteate and the Johnson families......they are the best representations of God's work on each end of the spectrum. Her website is below:

http://www.loriejohnsonfoundation.org/AboutUs/LoriesStory/tabid/60/Default.aspx

R.I.P. - Daniel Poteate

So all of the crew went to a Memorial Service for our friend's brother. Shane's little brother died at the age of 34 from a heroin overdose. It was the most moving incredible service. Daniel was a University of Alabama cheerleader at one time and continued coaching other cheerleaders. I learned a lot about Daniel today. I had never met him and he had demons BUT he was soooo loved. Listening to Shane speak today was so incredibly moving and funny and inspirational and I am so proud of him. He is a SOULdier for Christ. He related Daniel's last 6 weeks living with him. Shane was able to witness to him and through Daniel's time with Shane, he accepted Christ as his Saviour. Through Shane's walk with God, God was able to give Shane the patience and compassion to stick through with Daniel. God did that for both of them. It is an incredible story how God moved through both their lives in that 6 weeks.

I can't describe how brave Shane was talking about his brother. He held nothing back and didn't lie about Daniel's life. He was open and honest. He was also very funny at times as he told of his own walk and funny stories of brothers. I didn't get a chance to tell him, but he needs to be a minister. He would change lives AND he already did. Through God, he saved his brother.

I also want to mention their sisters. Mamie gave one of the most incredible prayers at the start of the service. She brought me to tears. She is so strong in her faith and I had not met her previously, but I was glad to talk to her for a sec at the end. I was crying and I could not get a lot of words out but I wanted to tell her, "Good Job!"

I also wanted to go talk to their other sister, Holly-Go (nickname)! WOW! Her story was powerful and she was the one that found Daniel. She did CPR for 30 minutes on him and there was nothing that could be done. She has her own struggles at this time, but I know she will make it. She kept mentioning what a rebellious person she has been......I believe that rebellion could be a strength in the long run. She can rebel against her demons and just put them to shame. Holly - I know you will probably never see this, but what I wanted to say to you was, "Be strong - don't give up! God does love you and you are worth every bit of it! The way you were able to get up and speak and tell your story and Daniel's....you have more strength than you can imagine! I love you for the words you spoke and you did good! You represented yourself and your family and your brother very well. He is proud of you!"

So....it was a sad day, but it was also a good day as Shane said...para-phrasing here.....Daniel accepted Christ and he is in Heaven and he is doing his back flips and cheer tricks with the Lord.

Here is a link to a tribute video. I haven't figured out how to hyperlink here so you will have to copy and past:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&channelID=439439297&searchid=b2911a07-8891-4607-bdbb-671042cd1959

Good job - Shane, Mamie and Holly! You guys are incredible!

Love you Shane!!!!

AAAARRRGHHHHH

I really wanted to hold my tongue in this blog, but dangit...I just need to vent a minute....how is it that Obama gets a do-over on his Oath of Office without a Bible? And "Hey Thanks Obama!" The first executive order you sign is to close Gitmo. Good job.....no other country wants them AND thanks Murtha for offering Pennsylvania as a place for them. WOW! Let's bring a group of terrorists to America. Thanks Idiot!

As this goes on....there may be more political comments, but I will try not unless I am too heated not to say it.

Come On

Everyone knows I love them and I know they are not human and I don't dress them up in little cute outfits but gosh darn they are cute and dangit I love them!! LulaBelle on the left and Daisy May on the right!

More from the UR

So Unky Rog and I have a definite difference of opinion on Will Ferrell movies. I find SOME of them absolutely fun and stupid and silly. His opinion of Will Ferrell....just stupid. I still pose the question to him.....let's debate Jim Carrey movies....especially "Dumb and Dumber". Curious his opinion on that type silliness. I think we have a bank of movie stars that you love or hate....I propose: Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller and again Jim Carrey. They all have some shining moments and those that just make you just cringe.

And UR....have you watched "Shaun of the Dead" or any Simon Pegg movie? I am a huge fan of his and I have seen Shaun probably 50 times. LOVE English humor and he is a cutie patootie!

AND for those out there - UR has the greatest kids! My Maggie had this comment:

Laura I'm sorry about my dad. He giggled as he typed that message about "ass clowns." And for the record Step Brothers and Zoolander were good movies!

He did say "ass clown" and that was funny! No apology necessary! Loved it! Thanks my Magpie for contributing to the blog! I have an entry coming dedicated to you and Zack Attack! AND you have good taste in movies!

Now here are his reviews of Will Ferrell movies, I will have my rebuttal in red:

ELF : A : it's christmas :let's be nice and besides it introduced the world to Zooey. I agree that Elf is such a fun movie. I also agree about Zooey....she is a hoot and I love her sister, Emily Deschanel on the show "Bones". Both are such beautiful quirky girls.

OLD SCHOOL: A : only because he's the third lead and Luke Wilson improves every film he's been in. Vince Vaughn at the top of his game. I would like to see Luke Wilson really make a great movie...he is such a side guy. Vince Vaughn - love him and always will. He is the ultimate fast talking sarcastic guy and so much like the UR! No wonder he likes him! But the scene when Will is streaking.....it totally owned me especially when his wife pulls up next to him. Overall I think this one is a guy movie but it did have some funny parts.

ZOOLANDER: F: possibly made for a chance to smoke pot with ben Stiller and finish the rest of the script : also for the check. I have seen this one time and it was a long time ago so I really don't have an opinion on it.

TALLADEGA NIGHTS : F : made to lure in the redneck crowd on opening weekend : Co-Star : John C. Reily ; the orginal ass clown. Living here in the South....it is very easy to stereotype and I am totally fine with it. It is funny! I am not a NASCAR fan but I don't begrudge those that like it. I can pretty much get the fact the Will Ferrell was spot on in this characature. I thought it was a hoot! I would love to see him do an SEC football movie! And by the way......here is a classic redneck stereotype pic:



YUP! If you don't get it....look closer and think Hanes!


STEPBROTHERS: F : did I mention John C. Reily is an ass clown. Okay....so I agree with the UR on this one. There were a couple of sight gags that made me laugh but overall....I agree F.

Anchorman: F; you know my opinion :total crap but introduced the world to Steve Carell ; so he could turn out 2nd rated crap in the name of comedy: ( please stick with TV ). Sorry....this one still owns me. There are so many wonderful and stupid things in the movie that, for some reason I got tickled and can still quote it. I agree with the UR about Steve Carrell. I love that man and he owned me through the whole movie. Maybe that is why I like it so much. Not too mention Paul Rudd!

AND for the 80's babies...Will Ferrell is shooting "Land of the Lost". I am so on that! I loved
"Land of the Lost" and the Sleestaks and Cha-Ka! Good stuff!

Work Over

This is on the main road to and from my office. I kept driving by and loved how the trees reflected in the water and how there was the little lonely dock. I took this shot as I left work today and the sun was obviously going down. I can't thank you enough, MOM, for this camera. I am always looking for the pic that interests me. I am now pulling over to the side of the roads when I see something I want to capture! If you had not given me this camera then there would be no blog!

LOVE YOU, MOM!!! And thank you my WB for helping her!

:O)

My Unky Rog

So I would like to officially post that me and Unky Rog are movie fans! I was so excited to see him comment to my movie review post. Please note the pic......we might have to go thumbs up or thumbs down! He already has the thumb up ready! In his comments he had movie reviews of movies that I have not seen yet but I have them in my Netflix queue.

He will be our go to guy of movie reviews if he is willing and we can debate. I will post all his reviews here and then he can come back on me in comments. He will never let me live down "Anchorman". Sorry that was ding dang funny - "I love lamp" - "I want to invite you to my pants party"! OK.....so maybe Steve Carrell made the movie for me, but Paul Rudd and the jazz flute....owned me! I wonder if he liked "Dumb and Dumber"? UR....opinion please. The people of "Asssssspen" would love to known (U had to see it to get that reference!). HA!

He will also be know as "UR" for typing purposes. I respect his opinion when it comes to movies except for the fact he did not like "Anchorman" and that is so sad. Also for those out there, he is a wonderful person and he is the heart cath specialist. He took care of my Mom and Grandma and pretty much everyone in Auburn. He has a special place in Heaven for the work he does and I respect him very much. Not to mention he instilled a wicked sense of humor in his kids from his own wicked sense of humor and sarcasm! Wouldn't trade him for the world! Love you, UR!!

So here we go on his opinions and mine! See Below:

7 pounds: Will Smith movie.....UR says: "depressing, rental". Everything I read about this movie...I have to agree. I will watch it, but not pay big theater money for it so the UR and Boof review are both I think a solid thumbs down.

Doubt: UR says: "excellent theme and acting : was he? / was she?" I am curious about this one because.....HELLO.....Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.....has to be good, but I will also wait for video. I am sure it is intense and with these actors opposing each other....rather see Meryl in this role that in the succubus that was "Mama Mia".

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: UR says: "a little long but well done : Brad Pitt is maturing as an actor". I want to see this one too. I had a new co-worker tell me it was a very "different movie" but he encouraged everyone at the table to go see it. I have been trying to think what Brad Pitt movies I like. I love "Legends of the Fall" and "Fight Club" and after that I kinda go blank. The Oceans movies I can take or leave....whatever. OOOOOOhhhhh, wait.....loved "7even" - "What's in the box?". That was good and again I go blank. Wait...let me check IMDB......BRB....ok...."A River Runs Through It" was great......wait.....and well...that is about it. I hope UR is right because when Brad does it right...he is very good.

So, UR, I hope you aren't upset that you are now all up in this blog including your pic! Keep the comments coming so we can debate! AND did you see "Ghost Town"? Waiting for your opinion on that........love ya' UR!

My Daddy

So I had this wallet size black and white picture of my Dad that I carried in my wallet for years. I made the dumbass mistake a few years ago to leave my wallet on top of my car during furious Christmas shopping and it was never to be found again. I went back and looked and looked. I wasn't upset about the contents of the wallet because that could be taken care of........I was very upset about losing that pic. Then....for some reason....Mom was looking for some paperwork in the "box of doom" in the downstairs closet. It is called this because when we moved to the house we put all our important paperwork in a big box and shoved it in the closet.

YEP! Don't be envious by our sense of organization. It is something that you could only hope to achieve. It is very tiring to take all that important paperwork and put it in a giant cardboard box in a closet. I am SURE it would be safe in case of a fire! No need for fireproof file cabinets or boxes....that is just silly! (BTW-I hope all are recognizing the sarcasm!)

Anyway.....we were digging through this box and I found one more of these wallet size pics of Dad and back in my wallet it went. I was sooooo happy to have Dad with me every day. Every time I opened my wallet there was his beautiful face. BUT then again....being the clumsy dork I am...I opened the wallet with a pen in my hand and put a nice ink swatch across his forehead. Totally pissed me off! I couldn't rub it off or clean it. My perfect Dad was just hanging out in my wallet with an ink tattoo across the head. Yeah me.....DUMB-ASS!

Mom remembered the pic I had and for some reason she maybe had dreams about him and she wanted one for her wallet. I wanted to make a copy but with the wonderful ink swatch I put on him, it wouldn't be right. I went to Wolf Camera and talked to a guy there about photo-shopping the ink out. They couldn't do it there, but they could send it off. Being the last pic I had of him - Mom thinks he was right at 30 and right before he got sick and she actually made the jacket he was wearing and he died about 2 years later - I asked the guy if I could be assured that I would get the pic back. He was not so confident in that. I just sat there and stared at Dad and decided I would not give the pic up. I couldn't take the chance of losing that one where he was so young and so beautiful and healthy.

He then said, "I am so stupid!" I will scan it and put it on a CD and send it off and we will keep the pic here but it would take a few weeks. I got the call yesterday and went to pick up the pictures. I just about lost my cookies when I saw the pictures. They were so beautiful and totally captured my Dad.

They were a 5 x 7 size but the head shot had a ton of space above his head so in a 5 x 7 frame it looked like he was sitting on his knees. I had them trimmed to a 4 x 6 and found the perfect frames.

Framed them right there in the store and brought them home. I knew Mom had forgotten about what I was doing. Had to wait at least a month to get them back. Anyway...brought the framed pic home...told Mom to close her eyes and hold out her hands. I put the framed pic in her hands with the picture face down. She opened her eyes and flipped the frame.

Her first reaction was to just grab it and hold it to her chest/heart. Then she cried then she just looked at it. Mom still loves Dad so much and I love him so much too and it just sucks that his time was so short BUT I will forever love Wolf Camera for fixing the picture. Mom put Daddy's pic in her room and she said tonight that she has felt so peaceful with him watching over her. Thank you Wolf Camera for giving my Mom so much joy and for giving me so much joy!

I also have the same pic of Dad in the same frame on my desk at work now. I can't tell you how awesome it is to look up and see him.

For those of you that have your Moms and Dads still with you.....you better relish it and love it and be thankful for it. Dad's death forever changed me and Mom. I think we have secluded ourselves to a point but we also have taken such good care of each other. I LOVE my Mom sooooooo much. She has been my rock and my friend and someone I respect and love. She made sure that I was taken care of while Dad was sick and I am not sure she had anyone taking care of her. I know the family was there but I just don't know how she did it. She watched the love of her life dying while she had her daughter 2 hours away being taken care of by relatives and she would come home on weekends to see me. I believe this went on for at least a year. She deserves so much respect and love because of how she handled Dad and she still was the most wonderful Mom to me in the chaos of Dad dying. LOVE YOU MOM!

I also know that God is great and he has protected me and Mom from a lot of the actual real life that happened. We have so many years that are blank but we also know and remember how incredible our lives were when Dad was alive. I want Dad back! I want Dad back for Mom! BUT......alas.......it will obviously never be.

My Daddy was the most handsome, kind. loving, volunteering for Vietnam Marine, talented, big hearted, able to build a swing set, take me camping, teach me how to shoot a gun, lay next to me in my trundle bed and count between lightening and thunder, not step on me when I would sneak out of my room and sneak into their room and sleep on the floor next to his side of the bed, bring a king snake home in a shoe box to show me (Mom loved that! HA!), wake me up in the middle of the night and take me out to the back seat of the Nova so he could let me listen to the speakers he had installed in the back of the car so I could hear the music when we were driving, setting me on top of the refrigerator and letting me jump into his arms, taking me to the Fair only after I ate the Chicken Chow Mein (never again will I eat that, but I did so I could go), he actually embroidered (sp?) a jean jacket for me, had the best Easter Egg hunts in the house, seeing him with the big bandage on his thumb when he sliced the tip of it off cutting diamonds (he was a jeweler), Deacon of the church, Disney World fun during a hurricane, the way he loved me so much and loved Mom even more, how brave he was when he got sick and how much I wish I was more like him.

I hate that all my cousins didn't get to know him. He left us way too early and it is not fair. I can't wait to see him again. His death has forged a bond between my Mom and I that will never be broken. We are our own family and we have the kids and it is a good life, but getting this pic has brought up so many memories and it still is a big part of us to this day. December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day) this past year was another anniversary of his death. He died in 1976.

I love you Daddy and Mom......thank you for your strength and your friendship and for taking such good care of me and not giving up! You are my rock and I love you!

Movie Reviews

Mama Mia: Okay, my neighbor, Laura, saw this in the theater and LOVED it. I like Abba as much as the next person and thought this would be a great movie. Needless to say.....I was sooooo wrong. The Boof and tried to watch it. We got about 30 minutes in and had to turn it off. It had so many good actors, but the material was awful. At the point that there were a bunch of men in swimming trunks high-stepping it in flippers down a dock to an Abba song......I was out! Not to mention that the whole time I was watching it I was in a hot flash of embarrassment for the actors in the movie. It is bad when you feel sorry for the actors and wonder why they chose this movie.

1408: I am actually watching this one right now. It has John Cusack so of course I am on it. He is a writer who goes to haunted places to debunk them. He is at the Dolphin Hotel in room 1408 where several peeps have died. I usually don't like these type movies, but I do love me some John Cusack....HELLO...Say Anything and the "In Your Eyes" scene. So far so good on this one. A little creepy and interested enough to stay with it.

Ghost Town: Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear and Tea Leoni......Two major thumbs up! Super cute and so fun. The Boof and WB watched it and we laughed out loud. We all wondered why it was not a huge hit. Highly recommend!!

Lorie Johnson

I just really had myself checked today. I was not happy about going to work and working a full day when no one else had to. Then I got a text from my co-worker, Amy, regarding Lorie Johnson. I have cried and been mad and frustrated and I don't understand God's work sometimes and I am not going to tell you anything about the phone call or message, but just go here and read her story. Pray for Lorie and her husband and her children and family and friends. You can copy and paste the website.

http://www.theloriejohnsonfoundation.org/AboutUs/LoriesStory/tabid/60/Default.aspx

I do not believe in resolutions because they always fail, but I do believe in trying to change and be better. I have a long way to go, but Lorie is so beautiful and strong and the infinite embodiment of how a human should live and love and deal with adversity. Lorie is the one person I would want to emulate in my life if faced with.......you fill in your answer after you read her story.....

Godspeed