Welcome back for another addition of "As the Pendulum Swings".

Spent the morning with hubby...driving through some neighborhoods, checking out properties. Got another listing from our realtor that I just flipped over! So, now there are two houses to tour on Monday. One is way cheaper but not totally what I had in mind...but it is in a nice neighborhood and becuz it is so cheap, we could afford to add on and do 'stuff' with it. The second house is what I have always had in mind. We could stand the monthly payments...could. Can. But by the time we finish adding on to house #1 and putting so much time into fixing it up, would it end up being the same price as house #2 and still not anywhere near what I had in mind? But, hey...we haven't seen either one, yet. Right? I may not like them on personal inspection.

Then we stopped to pick out a b-day cake for Tommy. I have been making potato salad, and Troy has taken care of getting the grill ready. We decided to do a cook-out for Tommy's b-day instead. THEN Troy takes me aside and says that he doesn't know if Tommy is going to show up. He said that the place where he was supposed to start work called and wanted to know where Tommy was. He said he drove up that way and didnt' see Tommy's car anywhere. He also told me that the female meth maker that he was supposedly trying to escape called his (My husband's) phone Sunday (he's telling me NOW?). He told her that Tommy didn't live here. All I know is this...when that BOY finally shows up...WE are going to have a TALK and he just might be going begging to his grandmother to take him in. All I ask for is some honesty. Don't be putting me in the middle of some chit that I didn't even have a choice about! And THIS is why I was hesitant about taking him in in the first place.

My daughter calls to tell me that 'newspaper' got cancelled AND Kathryn missed her bus becuz she thot there was newspaper so... "yessssss...I'll take her home. It is a nice day...start walking, I'll meet ya." So when I saw them, I pulled over, slid the side door open and said, "Would you girls like a ride? I've got some CANNNNNNNNNnndyyyyy!" Kathryn laughed...Bethany said, "mom...dont' do that again...it's creepy." Kathryn started complaining about where she lived...that she wanted to live where Bethany lived cuz where she was was not close to ANYTHING! I told her that Bethany wanted to live in HER neighborhood. Kathryn says, "No! It's creepy! The lawns are all treated and kept the same level and ppl are always walking their dogs like Stepford ppl! And deer show up in your backyards for no reason all the time AND there was once a random duck that just sat in the middle of my road!" I yelled, "OOOOO! MY neighborhood!" Bethany says, "I am afraid my mother would be out in the middle of the road in her robe and slippers trying to talk to the duck like a psycho person." "Of course I would! Why shouldn't I share with the whole world the lovely psychosis of me?!" Kathryn was laughing and she said, "I LOVE your mom!" Kathryn has hissing spiders in a glass tank. I'm not sure HOW I feel about Kathryn loving ME! Bethany said, "She loves wild life. You just talked her into living there." "AND...I want to walk my horse...I mean hamster...I mean dog...just like a stepford ppl!"

By then we are at Kathryn's and she is laughing. She thanked me for the ride...and the laugh.

My work is done...food for a b-day celebration that doesn't look like it is going to happen...and picking up random young girls and taking them home while giving them something to smile about.

Time for...whatever I want...cuz...I can...and I'm a psychotic animal lover that knows how to converse in 'duck'.

Okay...SORRY!

The pinched nerve is gone...I'm fine! Thank heaven! Once the vertebra slipped back into place, the heart rate went back to normal and it was good. Me and my MP3 player went out for a walk to enjoy the neighborhood...and the earth smiled and all was well!

Sometime this weekend, the patio furniture is going to be put out and the grill is going to get cleaned up. I miss my back porch swing.

Scrawny was waiting at the door for me to give her the walnuts. She gets so excited! I hope she doesn't mind if I giggle at her. She knows by now she doesn't have to beg. Can you have a squirrel as a friend?

Tommy (the nephew) got a job. He starts tomorrow. YAY! And once he gets his first paycheck he will be looking to move out into an apartment of his own. JUST in time! I want to clean out my cupboards..I have extra cookware and plastic storage containers, sheets, towels...my mother sent some things too. AND he can take my old kitchen table. I am going to sell the antique diningroom table and buy a bigger kitchen table. The one we have now is just a round 4 person table and we always seem to have extras to seat.

Heard from our realtor today. She has been sending me new listings every day and I look at them and have not been interested. There was one that took my breath away...it was PERFECT...but it is in the wrong area. Today she sent one that is a definite possibility. It isn't quite as big as I would like BUT it has LAND! And it has so MANY things you can do to it/with it! My parents were ALWAYS changing and adding and rearranging things with our house. I told my mother that when they finally reach the point where the house is perfect, she will die.

The tulips are just about ready to pop open!!! YAY!!! I look so very forward to them opening every year. And the guy across the road has hyacinths and daffodils open and when the wind blows just right and you are in our front yard...mmmmmmmmm! It is the most wonderful perfume!

I think TJ's hamster Jacque is about to give it up. He barely moves anymore and last night he was making a funny noise. I really do not like the idea of burying another hamster. My brother buried Bethany's hamster for her...deep in mom's flower garden. Along side the dead doggies.

So...it is time to get back to things around here. Tomorrow is Tommy's 24th b-day and we are going to take him out to dinner. I have to get the cake...so I can take that picture! HEaven forbid I forget that!

Have a really great weekend everybody!

After midnight and I'm still wide awake. That pinched nerve is in a very weird spot...causing my heart to beat rapidly off and on...rev me up some more...I have had a total of one hour's sleep in the last 42 hours. Getting some shakes every now and then. Of course, that might have more to do with the 3 cups of coffee I decided to drink in the last 3 hours. Who knows.

I am going over my son's physical science lesson...still. I really hate that whole work=force x distance junkola. It isn't difficult but someone really should have made up their minds a LONG time ago whether it is Joules OR Newton meters. Come ON!

I have GOT to be one of the weirdest ppl on the face of the earth cuz math relaxes me. Am I related to Charles Epps? never mind.

Today the nephew (remember...he is 23) went out for two job interviews. One this morning and one this afternoon. The afternoon one was at 2. About 6 he wasn't home yet. I was kinda worried if he got lost. So...being the mom that I am (hey, he's staying with ME, I'm the mom in charge! ) I called him to see if everything was okay. He said he had to wait 2 1/2 hours for his interview. And now he was at Hobby Lobby. "Uncle Troy told me to drive around and get used to things." All righty then. I told him dinner was just about ready.

8 o'clock...its dark...still no Tommy. TJ said, "He's probably hooking up with some girl. He's been on the phone a lot." Oh come on! He's been here less than 2 weeks and he's hooking up with a girl already? So I make TJ call him. TJ says he is in the same place. "Just what is so freakin' interesting at Hobby Lobby for over 2 hours?" "I told ya mom...he's hooking up with a girl!" "Is Hobby Lobby the new code for hooking up?"

So, I call Troy...I had tried a bit earlier...he didn't answer his phone. That is THE single most aggravating thing to me! This time he answers and I asked him if he knew what Tommy was doing. "He's meeting some girl." Then WHY didnt' he tell me that? "Maybe he thought you would be annoyed." "He's 23 years old...but still! It's dark...he doesn't really know his way around...and he's meeting up with some girl that he met over the net!" Troy laughed. "Aw, isn't that cute? You are being his mom!" "Well...yeah! His mom wasn't a mom...someone has to be." "Calm down and give him his space." "Fine, but if he turns up knifed somewhere who do you think is going to take the blame?" Troy laughs again. What's so funny?

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At the dinner table last night I told TJ that the lawn will need mowed about Thursday. He said no problem. Tommy asked if we push mow the front lawn. I told him that since the morons dug a trench then left then, yes. I said I would probably do it. TJ said, "no I'll do it" Tommy said, "I'll do it." TJ said "okay you got it" Tommy cracked up and said,"you were pretty quick to give that up!" TJ just shrugged and said, "Unlike my mom, if someone makes an offer I let them do it. You offered...it's yours!" I guess I should take a lesson from my son...huh?

And now...speaking of 'son' and 'lesson'...I also have to study for a test for my computer class for...um...tonight? yep...wednesday night. how nice.

oh...and kudos to me...I didn't forget to pick my daughter up from school! WEEEEEE!

It is amazing the things a pinched nerve in your back can do to ya. My husband can usually apply pressure in just the right place and give me some relief...nudge the vertebra back in the right position. BUT..he's gone for the week. It is me, an ice pack and advil.

ANYHOW...

I was talking with someone last night about my grandmother...my mom's mom. How I wish she had lived a little longer so I could have REALLY gotten to know her. kkTaylor had her Mayberry post with a picture of Aunt Bea. My Grandmother Smith looked like AuntBea...hairdo, dress, apron...all of it. I still remember her sitting in my grandfather's red leather recliner by the window with a big round aluminum pan full of potatoes in her lap and watching her peel them. I was fascinated how she could peel a potato so neatly...one long strip.

My grandfather could talk for hours without taking a breath. My grandmother would get irritated when anyone came to visit and he would corner them and start yapping. She would walk over and swat him on the shoulder and yell, "SAY! They didn't come here to listen to all that stuff...now hush up!"

My grandfather was also hard of hearing (didn't have to listen to himself talk that way!). When he was out in the yard feeding the chickens or something and she wanted his attention she would get up on her tiptoes at the window in the backroom (that's what it was called...cuz it was a small room in the back of the farm house where he left his boots and coat..she got up on her tiptoes cuz she was shorter than I am now...I am 5 foot) and in a high pitched almost whistle of a voice she would yell.."WOOHOO! WOOHOO! SAY! SAY! CAN YOU HEAR ME? WOOHOO!" Us kids to this day will do that imitation of her and it will always send us into fits of laughter.

She was a no nonsense woman...hard working, nose to the grindstone, smart...Man...I would love to take after my grandma...WOOHOO and all.

I am REALLY scaring myself! Now...for you fellas this post might get a little too uncomfortable for ya in spots. I have warned you!

Hubby and TJ and I sat and watched 'Departed' last night. Can't say I cared for the outcome of it AND the whole movie kept me on the edge of my seat...feeling rather uncomfortable. Too many twists and spies, etc.

It was late when it ended and becuz the movie got me so 'anxious' I decided to do some reading to calm down before lights out. I got ready for bed and the next day's events were scrolling through my head (I do that at night...kinda like packing a suitcase...to make sure I will be ready when the alarm goes off) and I realized I never went to the drugstore for my daughter! You women know what I mean. I had to put my clothes back on and inform my husband that I had to go to the nearest 24 hour store...at midnight. Ordinarily he would be the one to go as he doesn't like me wandering around at night. He opened his mouth to say something and I said, "I can't send you...it's for you daughter." 'OOOOOOHHHHHHH! Gotcha...be careful!"

At least I remembered!

This morning I got up and was helping her get packed up for her day, was packing her lunch and making coffee for when hubby got up and I stood staring at the dishdrainer...full of clean dishes. 'Aw, that was nice of Troy to do the dishes! Wonder where I was when he did them?'

He got up and was rushing around to leave, I thanked him for doing the dishes. "I didn't do them! YOU did...are you okay?" I spent most of the morning going back and looking at them...trying to remember doing the dishes! It slowly started coming back to me. OMG! Okay...no huge deal. Right?

THEN, my phone goes off. I look to see who is calling and there's a picture of my daughter. "Just what is she doing calling me from school?" Then, as I flipped it open I looked at the time...2:40 p.m. She gets out of school as 2:30. "I'm SO sorry! I didn't realize what time it is!"
"Nice Mom...real nice. Thanks for thinking of me." Good thing the school is only about a 4 minute drive away.

She gets in the car and I said, "Well, I guess I won't be getting a Mother's Day present from YOU, huh?"

"I'll give you a napkin full of hamster poo."

"I'll regift it back to you and leave it in your bed. YOu know, I did dishes I didn't even remember doing."

"You need a psychological help...or psychiatric help. What's the difference?"

"Psychiatrist give drugs. Psychologists just yap."

"Okay...psychiatrist cuz you could use some drugs."

"What do they give Alzheimer's patients?"

"Cheese"

"Well, that would just cause other problems and then I would need a laxative."

"Exactly...you would have to keep coming back."

"AH...I see. And you would be the psychiatrist?"

"Why would you visit your daughter for psychiatric help?"

"Cuz I would figure you would not charge me so much but if you are going to keep me coming back to alternate cheese pills and laxative pills then I guess you would be taking all my money!"

"I would have to give you combination pills"

"Well, at least I'd be regular! Speaking of cheese, did you eat your yogurt today?"

"What does yogurt have to do with cheese? That's like saying 'speaking of cleaning the hamster cage, have you gone the bathroom today?' or 'Speaking of chicken, how was your day?'"

She got out of the car and went in the house. I was talking to someone on the phone and didn't get out of the car right away. While talking to that person, my phone beeped. It was my daughter, calling me from inside the house! I switched lines and she was crying and all I could hear was, "MOMMY!" Sob sob "TJ!" so I went running into the house...what the heck? I ran in and they are in each other's face...fighting. Now, remember back to the near beginning of this post...what I had to go to the store for my daughter for...and as for the son, he just doesn't know when to quit. He thinks everything is a joke and doesn't think it irritates anybody when he just keeps it up and keeps it up.

Nephew Tommy was standing there laughing. Yeah...funny. sheesh.

Anyone want two teenagers? I'll give them to ya cuz they have a lot of miles on them.

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Troy got a call yesterday from his sister Debbie...the mom that decided her life was boring, hubby wasn't exciting enuff, she hooked up with another guy at Line Dancing Lessons and ran off (the guy she ran off with used to be Amish but he left the community)...leaving hubby and her boys behind. They travel around the country doing house renovations. Debbie is also Tommy's mom.

Troy wasn't near his phone so she left a message. He found it later and listened to the message, then hit the button to replay it and made me listen to it. I made out something about Tommy's birthday, making or buying him a cake...taking it to him and taking a picture of him with his cake and sending it to her cuz she has pictures of all her boys with their birthday cakes and she would really like to have one of Tommy...and she would appreciate it if (ME) could bake him a cake or buy him one for his birthday and she would send money if we would take it to him and take a picture so she could have one of him with his birthday cake becuz she keeps pictures of all the boys with their birthday cakes every year ....(and she finally wound down).

I handed the phone back to Troy and said, "When's Tommy's birthday?"

"Friday"

"And she thought we would ignore it?" he shrugged. "She said something about 'taking it to him'...does your sister not know her son is HERE?" again..he shrugs. I turn to leave then stop. "um...was she...uh..." "yeah..I think so...you know when Norm left the Amish community, I think he went pretty FAR out of the Amish community." "Yeah, I was getting that whole slurring of the words...repeating herself. Kinda like listening to MY older sister." WHATeva!

Cake. Fine...just leave the frosting off my piece.

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OH! AND ONE MORE THING.....
I finally found the PERFECT house! I LOVE everything about it...it is EXACTLY what I have been carrying around in my head...a renovated farmhouse...with a front porch...a deck and pool...4 bedrooms and an office...HUGE kitchen...hardwood floors and beautiful oak banisters!

So...what is wrong with it? It is outside the city limits and princess would have to go to the country school (leave her friends) not to mention propane heat, a well, and septic system.