Just Call Me Carrie

Long time no inspiration, seriously though, having a 21 year old in college without a driver's license has been a challenge.  The fact is that said 21 year old still does not get up easily and battling his sleep predilections drains me. Truly. Physically and mentally it just wears me out but only one more week and he can get the license back. I am hoping for complete sanity restoration.

So.... onto the near death experience that inspired me to share again.

We traveled  from Georgia to Alabama for the Thanksgiving holiday on a very cold wet day,  The six of us went in two vehicles because I had to return home earlier than everyone else.  Sparta

 was in the lead with our two youngest and I followed with the older two. We were in the home stretch, at about  the fourth hour of a five hour trip when I lost control of the car. I was on an off ramp and picking up speed in the curve of a pretty steep hill, so I braked not realizing how very wet the roads were.   At this point it all became quite surreal, it felt like we were no longer touching pavement. I could hear Ben and Allison yelling  as we spun completely around, I could see the four cars that had been directly behind us, now in front of us for a split second and we continued to spin. I was trying to recall my driver's ed from thirty years back and remembered "don't press the brake while hydroplaning" but could not recall whether to turn into or out of the spin.......that is when I had a Carrie Underwood moment. No I didn't sing but I did lift my feet from the pedals and my hands from the steering wheel, it was a "Jesus Take the Wheel" kind of reaction and it worked. We stopped in the mud, on the shoulder, facing oncoming traffic about ten feet from a pretty steep drop off (from 9th grade Alabama history I recall the northwest area of the state being called the foothills of the Smokies although at that point in time it looked more like a full fledged mountain).

Allison and Ben had life flash experiences, Allison told me she thought about jumping out of the car because she KNEW we were going to die if we went over the edge.  Ben was pretty much speechless and I was laughing hysterically.  For me it's either laugh or fall apart and I choose to laugh, no doubt if I should run across a dead body someday I'll be suspect for my inappropriate response.

Do I really believe Jesus took control of my car? Well, prior to road trips we typically have a prayer in the car, for this particular trip I prayed specifically for a double hedge of protection as we traveled since there were going to be two automobiles on the road and I have to tell you I don't think one hedge could have kept us from continuing to slide right through that red mud and rolling right on down to the bottom of the hill. I am pretty sure taking one's hands off the steering wheel is not the recommended way to respond either. So, yes, yes I do believe that a higher power was in control.

Where was the second car in all this you might be asking? I did too.  They didn't have a clue what had happened,  About five miles down the road,  my hubby called to say he'd lost us. He had no idea how very close to actually being lost we  were.  

For Mothers of Almost Teenage Daughters...

my girls changing hair color
 

Things I have learned as my girls have gotten older

1.  If I buy them clothes without their input they will hate it...whatever it is.
2.  If I buy clothes for myself, they will take them.
3.  You can never have enough hairspray.
4.  You can never have too many bobby pins.
5.  Any toiletry item (razor, shampoo, shower gel etc.) you won't get to keep for long so get extra.
6.  Blowdryers, curling irons and straighteners are practically disposable. Buy the cheapest you can find
7. If you buy toothpaste for those over age 55, no one will take it.
8. Cute jewelry will not be yours long , buy cheap or hide it. This is also true of purses.
9.  Moods change in a breath.
10. Although said girls will look and smell fabulous (probably wearing your cashmere sweater, dangly earrings, chunky necklace and best fragrance) where ever they were while making themselves so lovely is probably now unsafe to enter.

A Hot Mess

My oldest daughter has a job therefore she has her own spending money and as any trend following teenage girl should, she spends it all on new clothes. She spends so much that she has no gas money to get to and from said job, but I digress.

A few days ago she asked me to iron one of her most recent acquisitions. I don't how we have lived together for almost 17 years without her realizing that I do not iron.  In fact,  I go to great lengths to avoid using that evil device.  I buy specially made spray to remove the rumples, the crinkles and unwanted creases. I'll run the dryer if needed. I will even turn on the shower to steam unsightly wrinkles away.  Mostly though, I carefully avoid buying wrinkle prone items.  I am a tag reader.  Seeing perma press or wrinkle free on a tag leaves me positively giddy.

I haven't always been this way.  There was a time I bought anything that looked pretty on the hanger(unfortunately this was during linen and raw silk's prime).There was a time I  worked in an office where the professional dress code was enforced. There was also a time I was running late for work and attempted to iron a wrinkled shirt while it was on my person. I still have the faint scar along my collar bone as proof that this was not one of my better ideas. However, the experience did teach me to read clothing labels :)

Usually, one time is all it takes for me to learn some of life's more valuable lessons. There's an old proverb that says "a fool learns from his own mistakes but a wise man learns from the mistakes of others".  Although sometimes foolish, I'm no fool.

When a friend recently commented that a story of personal hygiene gone wrong made her think of me, I wasn't offended in the least because she was right it does sound like something I might do.  I wouldn't recommend hot beverages while you read the following as there is a strong possibility you will be wearing a bit by the time you finish but here is a version of the tale  http://justmejulie.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/funny-waxing-story/   FYI, I won't be waxing ANYTHING at anytime.

2013

New set
 

New bedding, meatless Mondays and fish on Fridays, these are the big changes happening around here this first month of  2013.


The new comforter set and lamps in my bedroom, really weren't supposed to be a "big" change, however, the ten year old nearly had what's known as a conniption fit when he saw me replacing my eight year old comforter. He said, clearly I didn't understand the sentimental value in the picked and faded one. I apparently also missed the value he found in the decorative pillows that are now most certainly NOT decorative, after years of actual use . No matter how hard I tried, I was unable to convince that dear husband of mine they were to be seen and not thrust between his legs  as he slept nor were they for him to hug close to his chest all through the night. Even though I bought, and we keep, seven pillows on our bed for just such purpose. Ahhh but I digress.... back to the obviously distraught boy, W. rescued as many pillows as he could and they now fail to decorate his bed.

the old pillows


I didn't run the purchase by Sparta so his was ,in fact, the reaction which worried me a little. He took the change in stride and as an added bonus, he didn't ask me how much it ( or the matching lamps) cost.   I kind of wish that he would ask, if he knew how much a pillow cost it might encourage him to look and not touch the new ones.

I also intend for us to eat a bit healthier in the coming year. We shall call ourselves "flexatarians" ( love, finding new terms and the "flex" one means eating both meats and vegetables but I didn't realize it needed a special word). We will have one meatless dinner and one fish dinner per week plus I will introduce some less kid friendly vegetables.  So far, so good and yes, I realize it's only the second week. We like broccoli soup. We are not fans of asparagus, but will keep having it anyway.  Eggplants and beets, ummmm maybe but I'm not sure they're even adult friendly. Wish me luck on our quest of healthier eating.

Parental Guidance Suggested

Well, Christmas has come and gone and I am thankful for the new laptop my dear husband gave me.  It means I can blog again. It does wonders for my psyche to be able to vent my frustrations for the world to see (or maybe just my 50 or so friends and followers). 

Christmas day the weather here was miserable, it was so bad in fact that we opted out of our traditional trip to the theater.  I really wanted to see "Parental Guidance", it looked pretty cute and I like Billy Crystal.  I also am strangely addicted to all things Bette Midler primarily because a bar fight once ensued over my being told I looked kind of like her and the person I was with found that rather offensive, although I don't know why, I think she's attractive enough.

Anyway, I've been thinking about the term "parental guidance" and am wondering what might constitute "unparental guidance".  I imagine it must be things like telling the kids to run with scissors or not to bother with chewing food well before swallowing.  How about telling them not to change underwear or brush their teeth?

Those are some pretty silly examples, what's not so silly is the have breakdown of morality and  the complete disregard for human life that so many in today's world seem to have. I believe there must be some serious long term  unparental guidance for which we as a nation are now paying a price. I'll spare you the sermon but suffice to say the absence of God as a real presence in the lives of many leaves them with no higher moral authority, no true accountability.  People are not by nature good, we are selfish and sinful and in desperate need of some guidance from our earthly parents and our heavenly father.