2 be Bliss, as I dance along the road to Nirvana...

hey y'all. i'm working on one of my many sewing projects. this latest will be the easiest if i get 'er done. over the past few days i've been surfing the web for economically priced sarongs. i like sarongs because they're easy to wear and can be dressed up or down with the proper accessories. also the older i get, the more i like simple clothing. things that are easy to put on and take off, don't need to be ironed, don't need any special cleaning processes... i found a website called Turtle Island Imports has beautiful sarongs. lovely designs and colors, larger sizes than the other sarong sites, and the best prices too. they also have free shipping on all orders of at least $50. after spending several days dreaming of myself strolling on various white sand beaches wearing my favorite sarongs, i realized i'd better not spend that money before i earn it. yes we do have a vacation coming up but there are still bills to pay, breakfasts/lunches...

hey y'all. i've been doing some research into the twisting gnarly branches of our family tree. it's part of a project i started some years ago for baby bliss. i figured she would appreciate having as much information as possible about our family members. two months ago i sent away for a copy of the social security application of a man with the same name as one of my great-grandfathers. before i paid my monies for this particular item, i checked and double checked my information with my grandma. so the information came the other day. and wouldn't y'all know that grandma is saying all the information on the form is wrong. that means i might have to pay more money to get information on the other man who has the same name as my great-grandfather. some of the information seems to match but my mother swears the birth date would make him too old to be grandma's father. we'll be going to a family reunion soon. it's for my mother's father's side...

hey y'all. what's been shaking round these parts? i have been swimming in the murky waters of real life for the past few weeks. so much so that i've been sinking to the bottom of the pool every night, unable to rise to the surface long enough to write a word of personal detail. baby bliss is done with school now so that's a relief. she's now free to "play Barbies" until her fingers are numb. but mother nature, she do abhor a vacuum. my school-day time slot has been filled already. barbarians at the gate and all. well y'all, today is friday and i still have errands to run. my to-do list looks like this: bank - deposit. post office - mail birthday cards to G____. don't forget to check the PO box! Goodwill - browse for dresses, bottoms, fabric for me. library - return and pick up. Trader Joe's - almonds, eggs, sweet potatoes, veggie sausage patties, black beans, tortilla wrappers, cheese, strawberries, grapes, Luna bars, samosas...

hey y'all. although i usually blog the movie after (i think), this one needs to be done now. we started watching 15 or 20 minutes ago but it's already funny. Keeping the Faith - Jenna Elfman, Edward Norton, Ben Stiller Stiller and Norton were childhood friends in NYC who grew up to be a Rabbi and Catholic priest respectively. Elfman's the girl who was their best friend. her family moved to the west coast when they were all young. she's back in town and here comes trouble. i didn't know Ed Norton spoke Spanish. LOL

hey y'all. we've been watching movies this week too. 1. Shut Up and Sing - the Dixie Chicks and folks who work to produce their concerts a documentary of how the Dixie Chicks fared during the fallout behind Natalie's anti-Bush statement. baby bliss and i both loved this one. Natalie, you rock! 2. Cold Creek Manor - Sharon Stone, Dennis Quaid a sinister but forgettable scary drama about a New York family that buys a foreclosed home in the country, not knowing that the former owner has a deadly secret. i say forgettable because the movie was similar to others in the same genre. it was interesting though. 3. Miss Potter - Renee Zelwegger story of the life of the woman who wrote of the "Beatrix Potter" books. i think it was good but need to watch it again. we were very busy today and i was multi-tasking while watching.

hey y'all. we've been watching a lot of movies in the past weeks. in between bouts of cleaning and party planning. let me see if i can remember what we watched... 1. Inventing the Abbotts - Joaquin Phoenix, Billy Crudup, Liv Tyler a dramatic romance that detailed how two brothers living in a small town are entangled with the daughters of a wealthy family. this movie moved kind of slowly for me but i liked it. some intrique, teen age angst and rebellion. 2. Running with Scissors - Gwenyth Paltrow, Annette Bening, Alec Baldwin, Jill Clayburgh, Gabrielle Union a funny/sad/scary movie about a young man who's momma was a nut. she left him with her equally nutty shrink (and his family) after she and her husband split. based on the real life story of the young man. i liked this one and didn't feel scared until i found out at the end that it was reality-based. 3. Shaun of the Dead - Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Nick Frost, Lucy Davis simply hilar...

hey y'all. it was a long weekend and i need more recovery time! two days is not enough. but it's time to get back to my to-do list. i tried to do some stuff yesterday but both baby bliss and i were moving in slo-mo so we stayed in and worked on low-key things. which means i have a full platter for the rest of the day and not much time left before i turn into mama pumpkin head. with no further ado, here is the to-do for the remainder of today. bank #1 - get $$ for baby bliss. (#1 auntie gave me $$ to give to baby bliss and wouldn't you know i put it in the basket at church sunday.) bank #2 - baby bliss needs to deposit birthday funds. library - return and pick up. walmart - return a few items baby bliss got with birthday gift card. (why in the world does clear lip gloss need red dye #s 40 and #33, violet #2, blue #1, and yellow #5? rolling my eyes at the picture of mr. bliss on the shelf.) grocery store - get sale items. there's a good 10 for $10 sale at bloom and some o...

hey y'all. baby bliss and i saw mariah carey on ellen. of course the chile was full of smiles and what not on account of her recent nuptials with nick cannon . i won't say what baby bliss said about mizz mariah except to say it was of the "if you can't say anything nice" variety. and she missed the tight shot of mizz mariah's bling bling ring . baby bliss had left the room and tho i screamed and yelled for her to come back (she loves the color pink), she did not. having heard all over the media about the cost of said ring, baby bliss had a very pointed question for me upon her return. she said, "so was it a well-spent $3 million mommy?" i laughed and said she would have to see it and judge for herself. and i thought hmmm... i bet mariah will be asking herself that question one of these days . .

hey y'all. the party was a resounding success ! everyone had a great time including baby bliss who said it was her best birthday party ever . for several reasons, mommie agrees. but one very important reason i say this was the best party: a very nice lady took a photo of me and baby bliss at the party. her dad and i are usually the only two at her parties who take pictures. between duties (greeting guests, refreshing plates/cups/bowls, checking the toilet paper, etc.) i'm always snapping away and never being photographed . here's the photo:

hey y'all. baby bliss and her cousin were having a "difference of opinion". baby bliss wanted to clean her room (i should have had the smelling salts ready right then) but cousin said no, she wanted to dress the dolls. being the loving tattle tale that she is, baby bliss came out to complain to moi. i smoothed it over with a loudly voiced directive projected in the direction of baby bliss's inner sanctum: tell your cousin i said help you clean that room! good enough cuz they got 'er done. then baby bliss comes out into the living room once more. she stopped beside the couch and gave me a round-the-way-girl look and said: now i know how you feel when i act like that. me (all innocent and stooopid): act like what? baby bliss: a little hussy. that's when i passed out y'all.

yep, i meant to say "branch. cuz we're a living family tree. grandma's house is the trunk and we (her children and grandchildren) form the limbs. our growth starts a few blocks from her house and spans a distance of several hundred miles. any way, i finally made it back home after gallivanting all over creation for most of the day with grandma. she had me going hither and yon, getting stuff for the tomorrow's party. sam's, walmart, lowe's foods... then the bank, post office, home, and back to grandma's. but i'm still not done. here is tomorrow's to-do list: pray that this "get the key from #1 auntie" plan goes off without a hitch at 9 am or earlier return call to would-be party guest who needs the address and directions (um, you got an e-vite on this one lady!) 10 a.m. - pick up the cake later - get fruit (grapes, watermelon, strawberries), a few cans of dr. pepper don't forget - pasta salad, pineapples are at our house; at grandma...

hey y'all. they came and they went. i'm still at grandma's. the six (6) of us (me, my momma, aunties numbers 1 and 3, my grandma, and my step dad) are watching judge mathis the sliding glass door is open and a cool breeze is slidin' between the screen holes. niiiiiice cuz today was warm enough. i'm blogging (what else?); grandma is chilling in a deck chair (that she brought inside and put beside the couch); my momma is making a huge salad (she's a veggie-ma-tar-ri-mum); #1 auntie has disappeared to look at the new do i stirred up in her locs; #3 auntie is finishing up a business call (she's a real estate maven); and step dad is quiet (for a change) and intently watching the judge. i'm about to get some crocheting done, now that i have some free time. i need to make some straps for baby bliss's party dress. :-) ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. peace in the land of bliss. .

hey y'all. the ex is in town. he called about an hour ago to say he'd like to take baby bliss to dinner in an hour. because she has a weekend guest, i had to broker a tag-along deal . now, i don't want no crap outta him and his wife this weekend. we agreed in mediation that he is supposed to call me to make any requests to see baby bliss, so she doesn't get emotionally involved before i let him know if his request fits our pre-planned schedule. but wouldn't you know he called baby bliss today and asked her to go to dinner. she then called to relay the message to me. then my momma got involved and asked what she should do and reminded me that baby bliss has company this weekend. i told my momma to let the ex call me, as he should have done in the first place. when he called, he wanted to hem and haw instead of getting straight to the point . whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?! and nowwwwwwwwwww, the hour has arrived and neither of them is here. my momma took baby bliss, her siste...

hey y'all. the folks got here yesterday around 5. ole lead foot lucy (my momma) must have been flying on a golden carpet all the way down the road. it's a 6 hour drive without stopping and she made it down here on the minute. she left home after 10 a.m. and was ringing my phone at 10 minutes to 5, talking bout "i'm at your door." the 4 of them (my momma, step dad, aunt, and cousin) came in and had a sit down. my cousin is baby bliss's age so they are both bunking at our place. my momma and the rest are staying at grandma's. we all came over here later and that's when the trouble started. we don't wear street shoes in our homes. not at my house, grandma's house, or my momma's house either. my step dad has dementia so his routine has to be pretty consistent in order for my mom to be able to manage him. he's not totally out of it though. sometimes he's really funny and sometimes a bit annoying. (but not annoying to us, just my mom. she...

hey y'all. i did a bad, bad thing the other night: another all-nighter. but this time it wasn't by choice. baby bliss talked in her sleep most of the night and was just all around restless. because madame cleo is my cousin and our family tree has psychics swinging from every other branch, i already knew it would happen. so lest i wake mr. bliss while wearing out the carpet along the path from our bedroom to her's, baby bliss and i camped in the living room. i was the night duty nurse until day light, when she fell into a deep, restful slumber. i had hour upon hour of giving her water, tending to her eyes, and making sure she took her meds. my own shut-eye was about 4 hours worth of ZZZZZZZs. mr. bliss woke me up just as i'd asked him to and he stayed in with baby bliss while i ran household errands. i was tired and i usually do my errands at the end of the week which is how i think i went out without me to-do list. it took me two hours to make a big ...

hey y'all. saturday i was more than a little tired. allergies have kicked baby bliss and i around this season and i've been coughing a lot. that in addition to my itching ears and sore throat. i used to have bad allergies before baby bliss was born (ears/nose/throat itching, nose and eyes running all over the place). the worst of it was the 2 or 3 day i had a cutting feeling in one side of my throat. even with that it's been manageable for me because i've had practice. but poor Baby Bliss hasn't experienced anything like this. and now, on top of the problems she's been having, she has pink eye. on the way home from church last sunday, baby bliss said, "mommy, ____ said she thinks she has pink eye but she wasn't sure because she has allergies too." the child in mention has had allergies since we've known her. but i'd never seen her eyes red, as i noticed they were on sunday. what i'm wondering is why the child thought she ha...

we are running wayyyyyyyyyyyy behind on our to-do list today. today's list: rinse baby bliss with the neti pot. (it really did help yesterday.) continue end-of-year review items with baby bliss. library: return and pick up. bank: deposit. post office: mail documents to daddy, birthday pkg to baby bliss's friend back home; check my p.o. box. Trader Joe's: honey, lemons, samosas, bananas, strawberries, veggie sausage, frozen fruit, tuna, maple syrup order baby bliss's end-of-grade tests. complete last month's invoice; e-mail to client. print and revise lists for baby bliss's upcoming b'day party. start lists for impending trip home for family reunion. start lists for our soon-to-be-upcoming vacation. i'll get to it later this week (still on my list from days/weeks/months ago): need to pay #1 auntie for location rental. post video of ducks in the pool on the blog. finish G___'s scarf; mail to her. file the papers on my office ...

in the wee hours, i had ... an interesting dream. it was a mixture of sci-fi/harry potter/drama/romance. thank goodness i can't remember all the details because i felt weirded out pretty bad when i woke up. my dream sweetie and i (probably not mr. bliss; maybe it was Obama? LOL) were trapped underground, in a cement-lined facility used for storing gigantic plastic vats. i don't know what was in the vats but they were being monitored by some unknown agency. we weren't supposed to be there so i gather there was something Top Secret going on. he and i narrowly escaped being killed as we made our way out of the storage place. bullets flew, doors slammed, and voices yelled in alien tones as we beat our feet towards safety. we emerged into a familiar-but-strange location but got separated. i spent the rest of the dream trying to find my way back to my sweetie while dodging the death dealers sent to take my life. some of them were human-seemings and others were obvio...