The Crab Chronicles

Heavy Winds and Heavy Lifting

The past two days have just been beyond strange. Bad storms were predicted and there were no bad storms. Monday night and last night we had a bunch of rain and wind, but nothing to get excited about for our little family.

We've had some drama that had nothing to do with weather, though.

Certainly no tornadoes here, thanks be to God.

Michael got a new prosthetic hand this morning, but he doesn't like it. We may be seeing the end of him wearing a prosthesis. Most upper limb amputees choose to forego prosthetics because they can get along better without them. It's just a matter of not being self-conscious.

Sometimes I think my son is very mature, and sometimes he says stuff that makes me want to pull my hair out. He stays mad at the gym teacher because she insists the kids dress out. He considers golf shorts acceptable, since they are for a sport. She disagrees. I told him today, with great exasperation, "It's her class and her world. YOU have to conform." He was irritated.

Was I that opinionated and argumentative at 17?! Probably. I never would've bucked a teacher's edict like that, though. I've had a couple of calls with the teacher, apologizing and telling her I am not able to get him to conform. He'd rather take a zero than just take a pair of gym shorts and put them on!

I asked him to clean out a front flowerbed of English ivy this afternoon. The ivy is taking over. He did a sorry job and then took his pay from Mother and went to the mall while I was working. I called him and told him I want that ivy cleanout done asap.

I've had evening will signings for the past three days, so food around here has been not awesome. Leftovers and sandwiches. That's no excuse to be a butthead.

Tonight I made homemade spaghetti.

I cannot believe tomorrow is MAY. Wow.

Michael starts lifeguarding this weekend. That will be an interesting challenge for him. We are still working out his work schedule, and we had an interesting discussion today about the importance of being organized and using a paper calendar as well as an electronic one. I believe in backups.

I used to think that by the time my younger child was 17 I would be mostly done with the heavy lifting of parenthood.

Ha! Was I delusional or what!?

A Different Kind of Day

Some days are a gift. Today is one of those days. It has been a lovely, cool day and I got to spend part of the day with my son.

Last night we heard dire warnings of tornadoes in the area. There is a band of tornadoes moving across the south. After dinner last night Michael and I moved all my delicate potted plants back against the house.

Then this morning we wake up and... nothing. Storms last night but I didn't wake up. Lots of little branches down in yards, debris, but nothing huge.

Well, except at school. I was hollering at Michael to get going, get ready for school, and texted a friend, because Mike said there was no power at school and no point to him going. So my friend said her daughter heard there was no power and they were sending kids home. Bg tree down near the high school. So I told Michael unless I hear the power is restored, you can be home today. What point would there be for him to go and sit in the cafeteria doing nothing? I doubt they had even half the students there today.

So Michael and I went to Resurgens Bank and chatted with them this morning, and opened up a checking account for Michael. He starts work as a lifeguard soon. The people were SO nice. Everyone was nice - customers came in and were greeted by name. It's a small bank, only one location. My neighbor across the street had said "Tell them you know me!" and I did - and the officer we spoke to remembered her last name and her kids' names! Michael and I were both impressed with that. 

For people in my age group they offer:

• FREE Personalized Checks
• Competitive Interest
• No Minimum Balance
• No Monthly Service Charge
• No Per Check Charge

This bank clearly understands that personal service is paramount to customer loyalty. My dad was a banker for 35 years and he taught all his folks that lesson. I am going to go switch my acocunts next week. Wells Fargo is horrible. Loved Wachovia, but they are no more.

Mike and I did a lot of talking about the importance of a bank account and managing his money. I am not great at money stuff but I want him to do better.

Then we went to Goodwill and found some books for Mom and a silk tie for Michael - for a few dollars. Love shopping there. [Ha - I am actually better than I used to be about managing money. I never go to regular retail stores any more...]

The sun has been out now most of the day. The 100% rain prediction was... mistaken.

We came home and Mike had to pick up the baby. She weighs 50+ lbs. He weighs about 125. So it was quite a feat!

here's hoping the weather won't turn rotten again tonight...

Travel Memories

Pretty quiet day. Michael had a tennis lesson/babysitting job this morning. I worked on an article I am writing, and took care of getting Mother a prescription she needed. Late this afternoon I had a will signing.

I caught up yesterday by phone with an old friend I haven't seen in years. We were part of a group from UT who spent part of a summer studying in England in 1988. We had one free weekend. My friend Aurelia and I went to Scotland.

This was made when we were on a fast train going up to Edinburgh Scotland for the weekend. We both had green jackets and big 80's hair. (Ree's hair is much redder than mine though.) We loved walking the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and eating in a 400 year old restaurant, and seeing Mary Queen of Scots' house. Great fun.

I remember that train ride very well. Lovely train, very clean and fast.

I remember thinking I had never in my entire life seen so many SHEEP.

Of course, wool is important in a country where a day in JULY meant high temperatures in the 50's.

I wish I could go back to Scotland one day. Beautiful country.

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Nowadays, I don't get to travel but I get really excited over my garden.

I was delighted this afternoon to see even more beans coming up in my side garden!

The teepees in the middle are for the bean vines to climb on. I have tons of bamboo in my backyard. Hopefully I will be able to fix a mess of green beans SOON! Love them.

Dinner

After the will signing I fixed a quick dinner of leftovers.

I was telling Mother and Michael about the will signing, and I thought they were listening to me. I was concentrating on cutting up the potatoes in my beef stew, when suddenly Mother hollered "Fiddlesticks!" [well, that wasn't the exact word she used, but whatever...]

I looked at her and she was staring at my glasses in her hand.

I always take off my glasses when I eat. I don't need them and I get tired of wearing them. So usually I put them between my place and Michael's. Tonight, I put them on the table between my place and hers, and Mom picked them up thinking they were hers. She looked through them and everything was blurry. She cleaned them off and looked again.

Everything was still blurry.

She cleaned them off again. She looked through again.

Finally, she realized her mistake, and that's when she hollered.

Then she got tickled.

Mom keeps a pair of readers on the table and those are the right strength. My glasses are prescription and I am VERY nearsighted. Plus I have bifocals. So she couldn't see a thing out of mine.

She kept cleaning them though, hoping....

She and Michael and I had a good laugh over that.

All in all a good day. We got a great soaking rain this afternoon, too.

All About the Garden

I just realized that this week has been all about the gardening. Getting in the vegetables and flowers every spring is quite a job. It's healing, though. It takes my mind off my troubles and relaxes me.

Well, except for pulling weeds. That doesn't relax me.

Fortunately, I got Michael and one of his friends to help me yesterday, and they got a lot of planting and mulching done for me. Dirty job, mulching. We had to strike while the mulch was on sale though, you know?!

I was happy to find geraniums on sale at Home Depot for $2.50 each. They are decently large. Almost makes up for the fact I bought some cucumber seedlings a couple of weeks ago at Home Depot and they died within days of being put in the ground. Grrr...

Anyway, I feel pretty good about my gardens now.

Even though not all my seedlings have done anything...

So here are some shots of what has been happening around my house. You can click on the photos and make them bigger.

Didn't have enough mulch for this one so I just used pine straw. I love the pink geraniums...

Lola likes to check out all gardening projects... below, a shot I finally got, showing her cute face. She rarely stays still enough for a decent shot.

above, what I am calling "the tomato bed" although there are a few tiny pepper plants and 1 lonely zucchini plant - hopefully another zucchini will be ready to put in there soon...

I love this shot of my herb pots except for the glimpse of the white trash bag back there... [this is why my photography will always be sadly lacking...]

Then again, I really like this shot below because it shows that I totally failed to notice the rose bush branch poking through this old fence, and yet it persisted and it's got blooms on it. I wouldn't care if the whole fence was awah in rose bush branches. The roses on the other side are kind of running amuk anyway, but sometimes amuk is OK - well, until Mother notices and then she will say "Why on earth didn't you trim the rose bushes?!"

Highlights

The last few days have been pretty busy but nothing really huge. Here are the highlights:

• I am trying to get everything done so Michael is ready to go to work in May as a lifeguard.

• He got his work permit at school, which he has to have since he's 17. When I was a kid you just went to work. Period. Mike will be 18 in July so thankfully this permit only has to work for a few months.

• Had to buy Mike a guard uniform, too. That was pricey, but he has to have it.
• Sent off application materials for the Gateway to College program yesterday, so that ball is rolling.

• I had breakfast yesterday with an old friend I hadn't seen in a while. There's a job open at his company but I don't think I'm going to get it. Still, it was good seeing him and catching up.

• I went over to a place near here called Wilkes Meat Market the other day and was pleasantly surprised by how good the meat is. We've had some terrific pork chops and last night I made meatballs out of their ground beef. Their meat is bought from small farmers and not highly processed, like what you find in Kroger. They also have farm fresh eggs, real cokes, and some seafood.  I like to buy local food whenever possible.

• I bought Lola some chewies at Kroger that were supposed to "last for hours." She demolished the first one in 10 minutes.

New Growth

The past few days have been filled with flowers, the epitome of spring. I finally have my front patio and back patios awash with flowers and potted herbs and they are the peaceful areas I love to see outside my doors.

I lived in apartments and condos for 20 years, and it's such a joy to me to be able to plant gardens and have beauty all around. Even on a tight budget, one can find flats of begonias, vincas, and impatiens. I re-use pots every year and it takes time to clean them out and repurpose the soil with the organic fertilizer. It's a labor of love, though.

I also have 8 tomato plants, peppers, squash, zucchini, and some green bean plants pushing up out of the soil of my raised beds. I bought some cucumber seedlings at Home Depot and they are all withered, which is a disappointment. I can plant some others, though, just won't purchase them at HD.

Yes, Georgia is awash with pollen right now but we are also filled with flowers and new growth.

the front patio [what we call the lanai]

Michael and I took a ride over to Georgia Perimeter College yesterday to talk to the director of the Gateway to College program. I am working on the application process. If Michael is accepted, he can go ahead and start college next year at GPC, and take college classes that count towards his high school graduation AND give him college credits. It's a terrific program.

Alesia started the program in 2011 but dropped out. Ironically, we found a photo of her in the brochure about the program. She has always been very photogenic.

I explained to the director that Michael is a very different kid. He's getting bored and frustrated with high school, because he's nearly 18 and ready to move on, so he is a good candidate for Gateway.

The director told Michael that the students who are successful in the program are the ones who manage their time well and don't socialize too much.That made an impression on Michael, who told me later than he would be OK with spending some time on homework every day, and utilizing the tutoring services. He has been intimidated by the idea of college and this would be a way to ease into it with a lot of support, which is awesome.

The college tuition is paid, so it's a terrific value. Mike was also sold on the fact that he will only be in class a few hours a day. The Gateway folks also have tutors available to help the kids, which is a huge plus.

So, fingers cross on that. It would be a fresh start for him, a new beginning, and I know he would blossom in a college environment.

Open Concepts

We were blessed with a beautiful day yesterday [sunny, high 75] and I was able to get a lot of flowers planted, which is good for my soul. As soon as I get the front patio cleaned up I will post a photo.

Lola decided she wanted to stay with me and not go in the house. That would be fine except I can't hold the leash and plant flowers. As I was putting her inside the house, she bolted and went trotting straight for the road. ACK!!

I hollered at her, tried to stay calm, and finally just stopped. Lola looked back at me, tail wagging. By then she was in front of the neighbor's house.

I tried not to have a heart attack.

Finally grabbed her collar, and then I had to walk bent over all the way back to the house, holding her collar.

Whew.

As soon as we can afford it, we will be fencing the back yard.

I did so much yard work I was too exhausted to cook, so we ordered pizza. It's a bit extravagant, but then again we had half a pizza left over, and Mike will eat it for breakfast, for several days.

He ate a huge dinner, and fell asleep before 10. We just got a ton of clothes for him from my cousin, and I just had a thought: he may outgrow them soon.

Irony. Love it.

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I have become a bit of an HGTV junkie, and I watch Property Brothers and Love It Or List It a bit too much.

Just once, I'd like to see SOMEONE on HGTV tell a realtor "I HATE open concept kitchens. I want lots of small rooms, lots of walls. Oh, and I NEVER entertain."

I bet this bird is saying "I'm so over this whole Open Concept thing!"

[photo by Linda Hasty Harris]

Easter Food

Wow, Typepad was down all day today. We didn't have a rainy, windy day like yesterday, so I was ticked. They posted something explaining it, which was nice, but I just wanted to be able to blog.

We had a very nice, laid-back Easter. I talked to a couple of friends I hadn't spoken with in a while, and that was nice.

I made some deviled eggs early in the day.

Michael slept until 1 p.m. Lola was anxious and wanting to go to walk, so I finally hollered at him to get up. Then we ate out deviled eggs and looked at our Easter presents.

Never thought I'd get my SON earrings, but oh well. At least the ones I bought him are good quality and won't turn his ears green.

We all [me, Mother and Michael] got chocolate bunnies. What's Easter without a chocolate bunny?!

Anyway, here are the two recipes I made today. For our dinner, we also had ham, and broccoli, and apple pie for dessert.

Sometime, I am going to make hot cross buns. Yum.

Deviled Eggs

Hard boil your eggs. If you don't know how to do that, google it. Once they are cooled, peel them under running water, which lets the peel slide off easily. Carefully slice them in half. Pop out the yolks into a bowl, then put the whites into a special deviled egg plate, if possible. [I love deviled egg plates and I have several]. To the yolk mixture, mix in some mayonnaise, salt, pepper, dried mustard, and a pat of softened real butter. That was Mamaw's secret, the real butter. Mash everything with a fork. Taste the yolk mixture and make sure it tastes right to you. I don't put in pickles or anything weird. Then load the yolk mixture into the eggs. Sprinkle with paprika if you want them to look "party-fied" - a word I liked to use as a kid. In my house there were two kinds of food: regular and party-fied.

Mama's Macaroni & Cheese

I made homemade mac & cheese, which I've only made maybe one other time. It came out very tasty, but not like mama's or Mamaw's. Here's the secret: cook your pasta 3-4 times longer than the box says. Cook it until it's falling apart. Then make a white sauce and dump in TONS of cheese, a couple of beaten eggs, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper. Mix up the pasta and cheese in a 9x13 pan and sprinkle some more cheese over the top. Add enough whole milk to make it soupy. Bake about 30 minutes at 350.

 

It was a beautiful day outside and I was able to walk Lola out there several times.

My plan for this week is to finally finish getting my gardens spruced up, and flowers in pots. I like to see lots of flowers in the yard and on the patio.

This was posted on Facebook and I thought it was hysterical:

Poetry and Gump

Typepad was a mess yesterday, which was bad and good. Bad, because I didn't get a blog posted for a long time, good, because I played around a bit and was able to make the meme I posted yesterday. I thought about posting it on my poet blog, but it's my own poem and I didn't create The Word Ocean to showcase my stuff, I want it to feature a lot of poets.

[Hint: southern poets who want to get published, let me know.]

I was prompted to write "Good Friday" because as I was driving home from taking Michael to school yesterday I was just bowled over by the beauty of Atlanta in the spring. Everywhere you look, dogwoods, azaleas, wisteria, daffodils, tulips - just a riot of color and beauty. I have seen it every year for my entire life but it just bowled me over yesterday. I feel so blessed to live in a place where this beauty is everywhere.

There was a LOT of rain yesterday so I didn't feel like going anywhere. That's OK. I got stuff done around here.

I watched a Netflix movie, August: Osage County. Great performances by all the actors, but I didn't like the story AT ALL. There was no resolution. There was too much hysteria. I wanted Meryl Streep's character to die, she was so hateful.. Unless you like over the top drama, skip this one...

Michael and I watched Forrest Gump, last night. It's one of my all-time favorite movies. I can say all the lines. I own the DVD. I own the soundtrack. I can't believe it's been 20 years since it came out!

Today, book club and groceries. Woo hoo. What an exciting life I lead...

Azaleas!

photo by Linda Hasty Harris [my cousin]

Easter is Everywhere