Brooklyn and I had a fun day today... which we were in desperate need of after being cooped up like hens in a chicken truck on the way to get cooked ALL day yesterday. Well- the night time anyway. And time always seems to drag when Starling isn't home. He drove to Laurel through all the tornadoes and flash floods to bring back his DEAR and BELOVED Bronco. (OH you BET I'm just so thrilled I've no WORDS... our driveway looks like a used car lot/junk yard. What more could a girl want?) And of course the rain POUNDING down, the thunder cracking like a rifle at the ear, and the streaking lightning was no deterent for my child who kept whining, "Mommee... want go outside and pway! Want ride in wagdon." to which I kept reminding her... "its dark! AND we'd have to swim through our yard to even GET to the road for me to push you in your wagon.. which by the way is ALSO filled up with water."

Finally I let her go outside. I put her on a swimsuit and said, "have fun. daddy will let you in when he gets home." And I went to bed.

No. That really didn't happen... though the thought DID cross my mind. What I REALLY did was open the front door and let her stand on the front porch and WATCH the rain... and then she kind of played in it a bit and I tried to take pics.

(Which didn't work for some reason... for one she would NOT look at ME. and I got so frustrated with her lack of cooperation I gave up entirely, made her come in which BROKE her heart, threw her and Charkley in the tub, and MADE her bathe).

But ANYWAY- today was much better. We woke up and ate blueberry pancakes prepared by Daddy (and yes... i ate a couple bites even though I haven't exactly been CRAVING them since I threw them all up just last SATURDAY...) but it was a very nice gesture and I didn't want to hurt my Love's feelings. AND Starling made platenos (which is a Honduran food that Starling LOVES from his mission). Its almost just like bananas that are fried and dipped in salty sour cream. And usually they are served over Honduran red beans, but we just ate them and they were VERY yummy!

Starling and I BOTH had places to be at 11:00 a.m. so we were fighting over the bathroom. (Our master bath is still being remodeled so we have ALL of our stuff in Brooklyn's bathroom). He of course decided to CUT his hair (which is about the MESSIEST thing a person can do just shy of ripping a dirty diaper into a hundred pieces and strowing it all over the house.- which CHANCE did... how we miss that little rascal!) SOOO one glance at the tiny black curly hairs spread ALL over the floor, ALL over the shower, ALL over the sink, AND even on our TOOTHBRUSHES, and I lost all drive to enter that bathroom. I just flipped my hair into a ponytail, slipped on my pj pants and a sweatshirt, and said, "NO shower for ME. NO make-up, and NO worries." I did however pick two hundred and ten pieces of hair off my toothbrush because my morning breath was THAT bad and it was WORTH it. And Brooklyn brushed her teeth.

Starling went to show a house. I went to a play date at Jessie's. Emily joined us with her little one and once the girls, Brooklyn and Layla, caught sight of Preston, they were glued to him like ants on a juicy foot. They kissed him and hugged him and gave and stole toys from him. It was sweet... although I don't think he was so keen on it. We girls got our gab on, which is ALWAYS a much needed release of carbon dioxide. We laughed. We griped. We ate. It was pretty much a perfect get together. (AND we'll be doing it weekly if any ladies would like to JOIN us).

I finally left with Brooklyn rubbing her tired eyes. I thought, "oh, good.. we'll finally take a nap and we'll both be rejuvinated..." but, NO, the door sounded. I knew it was the neighbor kids and I didn't answer the knock. (bc i didn't WANT to, that's WHY). I whispered, "Brooklyn! Come here lets go take a nap!" my eyes were silently PLEADING with her to follow my lead. FAT chance of THAT happening. Her droopy eyes POPPED open and she yelled, "TUM IN!!!!" And IN walks my neighbor kids. NO NAP for us. Blast my childs over developed LUNGS!

So.. I decided I could do one of two things. Get peeved and start plucking out my hair and eyelashes, OR just take the party OUTSIDE so at least my house wouldn't get ramshackled during the visit. I decided on the latter idea. I got in a swim top, shirt, and shorts, put Brooklyn in some play clothes and said, "LETS go outside and play in the mud!" My neighbor kids were thrilled as was Brooklyn.

We strolled down to the dead end road where loggers have been cutting timber and set up shop. There was TONS of MUD. I carried along Brooklyn's sand pail and some toys so that she could really DIG in. But of course, the older kids played with the toys and Brooklyn giggled at them getting their legs stuck in mud.

I took my camera to get some pics and of course when "I" stand in the mud to get a PIC of Brooklyn watching them... she goes BIZERK that my FEET have gotten dirty. And trying to get HER feet in the mud? "NOOOOOOO!!! Don't WANT it! Dirty!"

I couldn't believe it. Who's kid IS she?? One of Starling and my favorite types of dates is seeing who can throw the other down in the mud and get the other the dirtiest or gross it each other out... kind of tie between the two...

Brooklyn would only stand on the EDGE of the mud and use her scoop to gently scrape mud into her bucket. But she didn't even want her HAND touching it. And we play outside EVERYDAY... its not like its her first encounter with the outdoors. She loves water. Not dirt. OH WELL... maybe Brighton will have mud wars with me... sigh...

Brooklyn HAD to wash her feet and HANDS NOW and I could tell that she REALLY needed to take a nap, so we headed back towards the house, which is not even half a mile, but since you have to climb a mountain to get there... its basically like a ran a marathon. The lower part of my stomach was KILLING me. The pain is only comparable to taking a large boulder, tying a rope around it, and carrying it with your teeth. That tugging feeling of your jaw yelling at your brain, "THIS is NOT NORMAL and should NOT BE HAPPENING" is the same tugging that was going on in my gut. BUT I couldn't just tell the kids, "Ya'll go ahead... I'm going to lie here in the road until a crane gets her to lift me up and haul me home." So I pushed along. (Its a daily occurence... You'd think I'd be used to it or quit walking down that dang ROAD). And of course, in my ghetto/red neck outfit, walking barefoot with mud up to my knees, I see some people from church. (ALWAYS great to have witnesses to your horrific appearance). And then Starling and Matt drive up... only TWO more witnesses... and then a truck load of missionaries.... well the world has seen it now. Don't JUDGE ME! I got weighed at the doctor and am a whopping 139. The first time I was weighed? 108. TRY THAT ON FOR SIZE. (You'll need that boulder you've been carrying around with your teeth).

And Starling surprised me with two palm trees and two yuccu plants. Woo HOO! Landscaping... here we come! Except for one little minor detail. We planted the two trees on the side of our house and the little label definitely claims that the trees get 40 feet tall and like 10 feet FAT so... Our driveway will probably get destroyed along with our house. Oh well... Starling said when they get too big we'll just transplant them. (RI-I-Ight.. We'll chain saw them down and say we learned our lesson and plant some shrubs).

We're going to get some more for our backyard since THAT is where "I" Wanted THOSE palm trees... (They look SO nice with our GIANT magnolia tree in the front yard... like they belong in our little MS village...)... But the yuccu plants looks awesome on my porch! Much better than the dying little twigs that were there. (We discovered inside plants actually HAVE to be kept inside. So we moved our twigs back to their posts in Starling's living room).

Then I asked Starling what he wanted for dinner. As usual, "You don't have to cook. I ate a late lunch. I'm not hungry." As usual I thought, "MUST be nice to EAT out everyday. ERR." So I asked Brooklyn what she wanted (praying she didn't say GRITS again bc I always end up eating them bc she decides she wants spagetti loos and beatballs afterall). She said "want spify jumliya!" (translated spicy jumbalaya). SOOOOOOOO I COOKED! I made us jumbalaya, corn, AND green beans. (the jumbalaya tasted good since its Zatarans out of a box... the other two things... both out of a can- not so good. BUT i did HEAT them in pots on the stove so that counts for SOMETHING). Brooklyn ate a couple green beans. She ate TONS of rice and sausage... but that child literally GAGGED on the corn. AGAIN- WHO's KID iS SHE?? Corn is my FAVORITE food on earth. I can eat it straight out of a can cold... She wouldn't even eat it mixed in with the rice! She'd eat around it and spit the corn out like a watermellon seed. I was mortified. MY child not eating corn... that's like finding out your child hates basketball and being Michael Jordan. Like being Starling and finding out your kid hates chocolate... UnHeArD of! But whatever... at least she likes green beans...

Brooklyn, who STILL hadn't taken a nap, started sleep eating. She'd open her mouth for a bite and start air chewing before I'd put anything in. She'd groan, "es... yum...mee...mo...mee..." while her eyes are rolling back in her head. It was too precious AND too time consuming... so I put her in bed.

Then I heard a yowling racket outside. Charkley lifted his head, snorted, and flopped back on the couch, too tired to investigate after playing so hard in the mud. I walked outside to see that my Jewels, our white cat that I sheered like a sheep, had two friends over and they were begging her to feed them. One was very small and they both looked half starved so I did what any insane person would do. I dipped out two piles of cat food and plopped it on the concrete and sat back and watched them hungrily devour it. Then I put some more out. And then, and only then, did I think to myself, "Hmmm... if I feed these cats they may hang around and I'll be feeding THREE cats instead of one. DANG IT!" But mostly I love that we live in a neighborhood where Charkley has two best friends, Sampson and Eli, and Brooklyn has two best friends (that are ten and 8) Mike Mike and Franja, Starling has two best friends- the missionaries, and now my Jewels has two best friends... so what if they are strays... Yep. I love it. Well, when I am not busy hating it. I just get annoyed when I'm sleeping and two dogs start clawing at the sliding glass door and barking to get Charkley or RUNNING into my house and peeing, or the kids knock and when I don't answer come in ANYWAY, and that goes for the missionaries, too. BUT I'm trying to remember the days that I love it. And not dwell on the days when I hate it.

But Starling is finally home at 9:00 and Brooklyn is sleeping so we are going to spend some TLC together... AFTER Starling submits an offer for one of his clients... the man's work is never done... sigh...