A Chris moment :)

It's funny how I will be watching TV with Chris sitting there playing on the computer and he will just say something that will throw me into fits of laughter.  I was watching The Doctors Monday evening while flipping through a magazine.  Chris had Greyson in his lap while playing on FB.  There was a woman on the show that had gotten hair extensions to help her round face appear slimmer.  Chris pondered aloud, "Maybe I should grow my hair long?"  I look over at his dead serious face....and busted out laughing.  Ahhhh....how I love him for making life humorous.

A Perfect Walk with Greyson

This evening I decided to take Greyson for a walk.  Just him and I.  Greyson loves loves loves to go for walks.  His Mimi, Granddaddy, and Nanny take him for walks.  Chris and I take him for walks.  He just enjoys it so much it has become a daily ritual now.  I strapped him into his carrier facing out so he could see everything that I could see.  This simple walk, which lasted a little over 20 minutes, was so peaceful, joyful, relaxing, and brought to me a new appreciation of the outside world.  It is fun walking with Greyson- I catch myself wondering what he sees, smells, feels, hears, and thinks.  We looked and talked about the trees, leaves, clouds, sky, etc.  Greyson and I watched a beautiful butterfly tease and flirt with us as we walked.  We could hear the birds singing us an evening song.  The sounds of a faraway train, the crickets, frogs, other critters, a curious dog nearby, cars and trucks out on the main road, children playing in a neighbor's backyard, and the nice, cool breeze blowing through the leaves filled our ears.  We soaked up the last bit of sun as it was setting behind the trees.  We passed by the buckeye tree near our house, and I thought of the buckeye Greyson's Granddaddy gave me (which I keep on my jewelry box).  I will save it for Greyson.  A busy little bee rushed by my face, but I do not yell out as I normally would.  I was enjoying this walk with my son too much to interrupt or ruin it with a nonsense scream.  Tonight was a great time for a walk- it felt splendid outside.  Some moments of this walk were spent in silence- just us- taking in all the beauty.  Other moments I would describe all that we were experiencing.  As we walked back up to our home, Greyson let out a big sigh.  Relieved the walk was over?  No, I think not.  Tired from the walk?  Maybe so.  A little sad that the walk was over?  Definitely.

Horrible Boss

After seeing the preview for the movie Horrible Bosses it got me thinking about my former bosses I have had over the years.  I had one particular "horrible boss."  I worked at a local mini golf course during a few of my college years.  The owner's son (my manager) was there every day doing his normal duties, which included blowing the leaves and other debris off the two courses, keeping the grounds clean and nice, working on the games, stocking the coke machines, etc.  One of my main responsibilities was to open up shop in the mornings and count the cash drawer and the money in the safe before opening the doors to the public.  One morning I arrived 15 minutes earlier than I was scheduled for.  I remember that morning very clearly.  I walked in to find the manager counting all the money- you would think this would be normal, but it wasn't.  He was not usually the one to do this.  Only the owners (his parents) or the opening clerk (me on this particular day) did this.  He looked at me like I was crazy and asked why I was already at work.  I looked at the clock which revealed that time was 9:15am.  I was scheduled for 9:30am.  I explained that I was supposed to be there at 9:30am, but traffic was light that morning so I arrived early.  (Why was I even having to defend myself on this matter???)  He then proceeded to scold me for getting to work early.  Seriously?!?!?  I was getting in trouble for arriving 15 minutes EARLY for work.  Yeah- this is the kind of person I had to deal with on a daily basis.  There were many more incidents I had to put up with while working with this company, but that specific time just blew my mind.  And I won't get into it, but there were reasons he was not supposed to be counting the money.  Maybe I should have scolded him for doing MY job...grrrrr...

"If you think your boss is stupid, remember: you wouldn't have a job if he was any smarter."
- John Gotti    --->  ha ha- just realized this is a quote by John Gotti....bet he was a better boss than the above mentioned.

"Freedom is never free." ~Author Unknown

Thank you to all those who serve in our military so that we may be free!  Here is one veteran's memory from service:

"I was in the Navy SeaBee's during the Viet Nam Conflict. They did not call It a War...LOL. War makes You Grow up Quicker. I was 19 when I arrived in Viet Nam and about 40 maturity wise when I left. You read the Bible more and Pray more in a War Zone. I was too Young and Invincible to be afraid......I'll never forget when we had a new Commanding Officer that had never been in a War Zone. He had us fall out for Dress Inspection at 0730 every morning. The VC watched this and Hit Us with Mortars one morning. I'll never forget how hard I laughed when He went  went spread eagle into a mud hole; also a mortar hit on each side of me and both were duds; what were the chances that both would be duds??? The Lord was looking after Me....  We never had a dress inspection the rest of His Command... Also, I'll never forget being Tower Captain on Christmas Eve Nite....I learned that God will help You through anything. Also, that different cultures do not value Life the way We do as Americans..."  By:  David Keene (my father-in-law)

"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude."  ~Cynthia Ozick

Did you say Swine Flu?

In March 2010, while living in Pine Mountain, I found myself very sick one Monday morning.  I had a fever, the chills, aches and pains, a nasty cough, nauseated...you get the point- I was miserable.  I remember laying in bed wrapped in blankets crying all day.  I called Chris to see if he could come home from work- he couldn't.  I started feeling a little better after taking some OTC pain medicine.  It seemed to break my fever and also subsided the aches and pains.  I was hoping to wake up the next morning all fresh and new like the spring day ahead of me.  Fat chance.  I woke up worse than the day before- all the same symptoms, but I felt on the edge of death.  I called Chris crying again- begging him to come home to take me to the doctor.  This time he took me seriously and came straight home.  We drove to the local doctor office in town and of course they were going to lunch and would not be back for over an hour.  I told Chris I could not wait that long.  We drove to the next closest doctor office in a nearby town, but guess what?  That doctor office too had closed for lunch.  I felt so sorry for Chris because by this point I was a crying, moaning and groaning mess.  My memory recalls this Tuesday as a beautiful, sunny, birds chirping kind of day.  And here I was feeling like I was one step from the grave.  Chris took me back home, gave me some more OTC pain medicine and a snack.  He took me back to the first doctor office, which by now had a line waiting outside for them to open back up from their lunch break.  We got out and waited in line- this was pure agony because by now it hurt like crazy just to stand up.  After what seemed like an hour wait outside and inside, it was my turn to see the doctor.  They did all the normal stuff- took my temperature, listened to my lungs, looked in my ears, did a strep throat test, and also swabbed me for a flu test.  The doctor came back in and stated in her very serious tone, "You have type A flu.  Do you know what that is?"  I just looked her.  I assumed it was just the normal flu, but obviously it wasn't or she would not be asking me this like I was 5 years old.  I shook my head no.  "Honey, you have the swine flu,"  she explained- peering at me over her glasses.  "Oh.  Can I go get my husband?"  She said yes and out the door I went.  And I must admit I opened the door to the waiting room with a smug look on my face and announced proudly (yes, I said proudly) to Chris that I had the swine flu.  I did not realize he was not alone in the waiting room so I had a few strange and scared looks shot my way.  The reason I was so proud, you wonder?  Well, I was under the impression Chris did not believe I was that sick so this was my badge of honor...errrr....proof.  To wrap this story up- I had to get a painful shot in the hiney, we were both given Tamiflu, along with other medicines, to treat the swine flu.  We were also to stay quarantined at home for 5 days- that was the best part. 
“Being ill is one of the greatest pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work until one is better.” Samuel Butler

Guest Writer- "The Frog Story"

The Frog Story

By: Chris Keene

"There was this one time when I had the black camaro; we were driving back to Lawrenceville on I-75. I had been washing it at my parent's house. It was dark, and I had shorts on. Something was tickling my leg. I was trying to hide it from Amber. I turned on the dome light, and it was a cute little rain frog. Well, driving down the interstate at 70+ mph is not a good time to find a frog or another "critter" in my car, especially with Amber in there. Of course, Amber screams bloody murder, so I had to teach the frog how to fly going down the highway. Poor frog..."

*Poor frog?!?!?  Poor me!!!  This "cute little" frog was actually huge and stuck to my window...an inch from my face!!! 

Terrifying at the time, but funny story to share now.

Baseball Boy

One of the bonuses from majoring in criminal justice in college was the field trips.  The most memorable field trip I went on was to Arrendale State Prison (aka Alto).  Before it was a women's prison it was considered one of the most violent male prisons in Georgia.  Yes, our professor deemed this a safe and appropriate trip for first year criminal justice students.  When we all showed up for the van ride to the prison one of my fellow classmates ( a male) had on baseball pants.  Tight baseball pants....on a trip to a male prison which housed some of the most violent men in our state.  You should have seen our professor's face when he saw him.  He stated, "Please tell me you have something else to put on before we leave."  The kid just looked down at his pants and shook his head no.  He also seemed confused as to what was wrong with his attire.  Well, he found out about an hour later when our tour of the maximum security prison began.  The hoots and hollers were to be expected, but the men who were housed in this prison had absolutely no interest in us college girls.  Instead they gave 100% of their attention to "baseball boy."  I won't go into details,  but lets just say that there was a lot of inappropriate touching of body parts of the inmates while they yelled obscenities to this poor kid.  We all laughed...nervously because we were honestly scared to death.  I am guessing "baseball boy" changed his possibly soiled pants and his college major after we arrived safely back to the school's parking lot.