Pink and Green Fairies

My niece is 4 years old. Whats awesome about that? When we were on vacation we had Rosey Maple Moths on the side of the cabin and she insisted that they were not bugs but rather Pink Fairies!!

She also said that the Luna Moths were Green Fairies. The magic of being 4!!

Stuck In the Mud

We got 4 wheelers - I got stuck in the mud...

Really Businessweek? Really?

The cover of last week's Businessweek...Hmmm...Whacha sayin' there Businessweek? Do hedge funds cause erectile dysfunction?

I'm generally not a prude but I find this to be vulgar. And I'm ok with vulgarity for the most part. However, this offers no added value. It's not even particularly funny. Or witty. Or creative. In my mind a couple of 12 year olds playing with clip art and sounding like Beavis and Butthead designed it in about 5 min.

Yet, based on info presented at http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-11/cover-trail-the-hedge-fund-myth this was all completely intentional and most likely thought up by a group of adults, assumably with degrees of some sort. Which alone is a scary thought.

I think it's in poor taste.  Perhaps my problem with the cover does not lie in the vulgarity of it, but in what appears to be the general lack of effort involved in coming up with the idea.

At least I now know why my mail lady looked at me funny when she handed me the mail. Having it on my desk makes me feel a bit dirty, like I had to go behind a corporate black curtain in the back room of a creepy old warehouse filled with rats to get my copy.


Another thing, the title of the article is "Hedge Funds Are for Suckers". Seriously???  What did this poor guy do to you Businessweek? Either way (perception or reality) it would seem to me that the guy on the cover is a bit...ummm... fortunate? One would think that his problem could simply be fixed with a little magic pill. Is there a pill to make hedge funds better?

I must disclose that I personally do not have a hedge fund, perhaps that's a good thing...

Memorable? Yes.
Good? Ehh - nope.
My advice? Subtlety goes a long way.

Waterfalls and friends

Summer 2013 is almost over! So far it's been pretty wild. One of those 'thankful you're alive' kinda summers!!

The boys and I went camping last week with an dear old friend and her son. She has been asking us to go for a few years and I have always said no, because honestly hanging out in the wilderness with 3 kids staring at one another never really appealed to me. Don't get me wrong, I love the outdoors! I love hiking and fishing, and being one with nature. However, I also like sleeping in a bed, showering, and not listening to kids complain that they are bored. That's when she explained that she has a camper (with a shower, kitchen, air conditioning, and TV) and that she stays at a campground that has 2 pools, tennis court, basketball court, an arcade, and wifi - OK we're in!

I'm so glad we went - We had a blast!

There were a ton of geese there and the boys had fun feeding and bonding with them. There were 2 geese in particular that seemed to gravitate towards the kids the most and they were always together, it was cute!

Fave goose - He/She/It's a hybrid goose....

And then there was the sunset.

And the waterfalls



Yep - It was so much fun and totally worth "roughin' it"!

Dear McDonalds

Hello McDonalds,

I recently read an article in Bloomberg Businessweek about the new McDonalds McWrap which inspired me to write to you. I have eaten this product a few times and have to say that it is a nice change once in a while. 

However, I am wondering why you chose to call it " McWrap". To be honest, that is perhaps one of the worst names for a food product that I have ever heard. I know MANY people, children (as young as 8) and adults, who have a hard time saying it with a straight face. It has even become a standing, albeit crude, joke among young boys. To put it bluntly, it sounds like "MyCrap" or "M'Crap".

"Do you want McDonalds?" " Ok, but I'm not eating MyCrap!"
Or, " Where exactly did they get the "Premium" ingredients for M'Crap?"
Or,  " How's M'Crap taste?"

I don't mean to be rude, but its hard to order something to eat when the visual image it inspires is that of fecal matter.

Since this is a form for questions my question is, " Did no one recognize this pronunciation delimma before launching the product?"

Thank you.

Did I send this to McDonalds? Yes I did!

What gets you through?

I was recently chatting with someone and the topic of my new favorite song came up - Thistle and Weeds by Mumford & Sons. It became my favorite during my whole ‘You have cancer’ ‘No you don’t’ roller coaster. The last part of the song’s chorus repeats “I will hold on”. If you don’t know the song you should look it up – quite powerful indeed! Like trying to maintain sanity in chaos. Imagine driving down the interstate in the rain, volume up, playing that part over and over, after contemplating whether or not the next few years may be your last. That was my emergence from the depths of self pity.


I don’t think this is something that's cancer specific. Everyone has or needs that "something" to pull them through the rough spots.

So I was wondering… What gets you through? Many say Faith and/or Family, but what else? What do you hold onto when times are tough?

My list:

1) Song: Thistle and Weeds by Mumford & Sons

2) My happy place – The Lake

3) My grandmother’s necklace

4) Movie: Fried Green Tomatoes

5) My wedding band – This, and my grandmother's necklace, may count as family but I often find myself playing with them when I need strength

6) Storms

7) My 4 legged baby – He is the world’s best Great Pyrenees!!

What's on your list?

Me and DIY

Need information on something? I'm your girl!
Looking for a researcher, organizer, writer, or dog sitter? You've come to the right place!

Want a handmade re- purposed fancy shmancy dodad? Ummm...no can do buck-a-roo

I've never been very creatively crafty. I can sew a button on and fix the tear in Mr. Tiger's leg, but I am certainly nowhere near as awesome as Leigh Anne. The whole reason I haven't joined Pinterest is because even though all that stuff is cool, there is no way I could pull any of it off. I've looked at some of those things and my brain goes from, "Oh neat!" to, "Whaat????" in about 5.67 seconds.

That's why my recent trip into DIY Land is so impressive, if only to myself.

The cushions on the kitchen table chairs were looking a little shabby and not in the chic sorta way. More of the 'been sat on by 2 kids for 5 years' sorta way.

So I bought some fabric

Gathered a few tools

And recovered the cushions

Me thinks me didn't do too bad for my first solo DIY project.

Home Grown Tomatoes

A few years ago I attempted container gardening. I'm not sure what inspired me to take on that particular challenge especially given that I am not known for my green thumb, quite the opposite in fact. Nevertheless, I had fanciful visions of being the perfect southern woman: wearing funny hats, growing vegetables in the dirt, and sipping lemonade on my front porch. I was going to provide my family with wholesome fresh vegetables that I would expertly prepare and offer at the dinner table; thus proving my love and worth to the world. Surely, I had some untapped inherent talent that would allow me to simply will life to spring forth and ripen into sweet deliciousness. I am from the South after all.

Thank goodness mothers aren't measured by their vegetable growing abilities.  If memory serves, we ended up with 3 or 4 tiny tomatoes, a couple of eggplants, and a handful of peppers. Sadly, my delusions of grandeur had dissolved and harsh reality took hold - my thumbs are all black - gardening is work. Hard work.

This week the boys and I are vacationing at Grandma's house. Grandma is not like me. Grandma does have super powers. She doesn't garden -  she grows. Seriously, plants just grow at her house. By the time others are contemplating planting, she is making sandwiches with her very own ripe and juicy tomatoes. As Boy 1 put it last night, "I think she is Mother Nature in disguise."

Today, I had had my first home grown tomato of the season and all is right with the world.

Thank you Grandma!

You have cancer - Just kidding!

Long story short:

On Easter of 2013 I went into the hospital with severe left flank pain and blood in my urine. A week later I had an MRI that revealed an 8.5 cm mass in my left kidney. I was told I had cancer and a radical nephrectomy was scheduled. I had my left kidney removed via hand assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy on May 9th and was released from the hospital on Mothers Day. When it was all said and done the tumor was actually over 10 cm. and it wasn't cancer after all. I had a rare (only ~ 200 cases worldwide)  benign tumor -mixed epithelial and stromal tumor(MEST) of the kidney. I also have 2 small masses in my remaining kidney that will be watched closely. That's it, the end. Ultrasounds yearly. I don't fit the  "typical" profile of a person with MEST and the docs have no idea how/why I got it! Will the spots in my other kidney be the same thing? Maybe. Maybe not. That's why we will check every year for the rest of forever...

It was the craziest emotional roller coaster I have ever been on! A month before school was out I was told, "You have cancer" and I lived with that. WE lived with that! Because a cancer diagnosis doesn't affect just you, it affects the whole family. Then the day after my last final for the semester I had surgery. Then, "Oops! That's rare, you don't have cancer. Have a nice day." It was the best news I've ever gotten!

I have the best family! We are strong, we are supportive, together we can conquer anything! My guys are amazing! And I have awesome friends, who I know I can count on!

Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot out there about MEST. For instance there are no % or statistics on whether or not it could show up in my other kidney . And given that it is so rare there really isn't anyone to talk to that has had it. So, if  you have had MEST please don't hesitate to contact me!

Think I'll start blogging again aka Reasons and/or excuses for why I haven't blogged in forever

Here goes it:

My last blog was in August of 2011 after that....

• School started
• I got busy...really busy
• Stuff happened
• More stuff happened
• Caffeinated Opinions - My best friend ,other than The Brain, and the whole reason I started blogging in the first place - died unexpectedly.

That last one is what really got me... that was a year ago this Sunday... The crazy boy either up and died or thinks he's Huck Finn.

I couldn't say this then because it would have been in poor taste, so Ill say it now, “DON'T THINK OF IT AS DYING, said Death. JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.” -Terry Pratchett, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

I hope you beat the traffic Ben - We miss you!

I think I'm going to start blogging again...It's been a crazy year!