Ode To Billy Collins

Billy Collins was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. I discovered him on Prairie Home Companion recently and love his style of poems written with wit and interesting perspectives.


I started a poem last night
about my head being in the clouds.

I couldn't seem to get beyond that.


I thought about you and
your columns of artfully arranged words.
The same words I use, but not nearly so well.

I wondered how you write a poem.

Do the words flow easily or
exit your head in faltering stutters?

Do you write down fragments of phrases
that occasionally come to mind
praying that one day
they will compose themselves into a cohesive bunch?

With all the words in the English language at our disposal,
you would think that
we could pluck and choose with abandon.
Finding the right words would be
effortless.

I don't know how you do it
Billy Collins.

But I wish I could do it too.

On the Homey Front

Spending a relaxing and satisfying morning catching up with some of my favorite bloggers.
Sipping coffee while watching the light slowly sneaking into my kitchen window bathing everything with a golden glow.
Learning how to make my own bathing products--naturally.
Got the idea from angry chicken. Love her posts.

Have resurrected the fine art of hand washing my dishes since the dishwasher tripped the circuit breaker and neither is budging, I was wondering if I should just dispense with the dishwasher altogether. The expense of a new one, the electricity used...then I read this article.

I've also been researching aromatherapy. Look at all the things natural essential oils help! I've been building my stash from the local health food store and checked out a couple of books from the library. Did you know that chamomile is a muscle relaxer?

Along with my now beloved protein shakes for breakfast, (may I recommend chocolate with frozen cherries?) I also discovered these uncommon English muffins. Toasted with a little apple butter? YUM. I've also branched out into using stevia to sweeten my coffee. I feel so much better knowing that it's natural and I'm not putting chemicals into my body. (Or fewer, anyway, I'm no purist.)

I'm feeling so much better since I began eating better. I'm eating loads of vegetables, but am getting a little bored. I've eaten squash, zucchini, broccoli and mixed greens for two solid weeks! Anybody have any good ideas? I'm starting to feel like an inadvertent vegetarian!

What Kind of Mom Am I Anyway?

It rained all afternoon. I wasn't too keen on a certain someone indoors watching videos for hours on end, so I suggested we move the cars out of the carport so she could ride her tricycle. That was a Great! Idea! (Said with all the enthusiasm of Steve or --what's the new guy's name?--on Blue's Clues).

Well, as you can see, we decided to take a stroll in the rain. Using our umbrella, of course.
Which lead to this...notice that we've changed our pants at this point...they were a little wet.I'm not quite sure how it happened, but THOSE pants got wet, but we ended up looking like this!

Now, on our third costume change of the day, we dispense with the umbrella altogether and reap the benefits of the rain in our favorite digging spot.

We ended up staying outside for about 3 or 4 hours, playing all sorts of games in and out of the rain.

I'm so happy to see her exercise her imagination and tactile ablilities. I think you should not leave childhood without several good romps in the mud. If you've never done it...bless your heart, honey. You sure have missed out on one of life's greatest moments!

Sidelined...Again

Ow.

Double Ow.

So, the good news is, I've been very faithful in writing down what I am eating. I'm eating the way I'm supposed to with lots of brightly colored veggies. I'm exercising, not that I can tell anything yet, but hope springs eternal.

So, I've been trying to incorporate more cardio into my routine. This morning, I went to Body Jam, which is a fun dance/cardio class at the gym. I've only been once before and really enjoyed the fact that I'm distracted by the fact that I'm actually exercising!

Today, I'm bouncing, jumping-really doing all sorts of moves that don't come naturally to me. After one particular jump, I landed on my foot sideways which landed me on the ground in one short second. After waiting for the initial ouch to wear off, I tenderly finished the class.
Three hours later....it hurts trememdously if I walk on it and slightly less so if I'm off it.

So, my dear ones. I'm off to gulp some ibuprofen, soak in a bath of lavender and epsom salts and ice this baby.

Crap. It's always something.

Ahem....Introducing...(cue the trumpets)

I stood to the side, hands clasped over my heart, waiting to hear her first words...

Would they be profound or provoking? Winsome or witty?

I wait patiently while she finds her voice.

She does not dissapoint as she releases her verbal volley.

Go see what she said...

She's my sister!


Please do this big sis a favor and go show some bloggy love!
I'm poppin' with pride!

I'm Going Buggy

As promised, pics from the weekend. These are random and journalistic.

This is a moth we found at our back door under the light. We get some interesting looking ones sometimes. I wish I knew what kind this one is. This bud has been lassoed.

Another visitor...same day.

O.k. I'm pretty used to seeing interesting bugs visit the yard, but this was a little much for me. Especially when it seemed I saw this sight here and there all over the back yard. It's like they used my back yard as a giant bedroom!

They grow up to be big and ugly and harder to kill.


So I decided to nip it in the bud, so to speak.

This job calls for a highly skilled professional, so I pulled out the big guns.

HIYAH! DIE SUCKERS!

What? you don't have a precious four year old masquerading as a pest control agent?

Talent. Comes in all shapes and sizes.

Odd Monday

Um, Yeah.

I had a post all lined up this morning complete with a few photos, but when I got back from the gym this morning, (remember the personal trainer, dahling?) my sweet man was up and at 'em. After he got involved with helping me with figuring out Picasa...well, the fact that I'm posting at work at 4:30 in the afternoon should say a little something. I'm only posting now because I had a color who didn't show up, so I have a moment.

It was a nice, random weekend. Our town hosted a farmer's market Saturday. I was so excited! It was quite small, but the people there had the best stuff! I found homemade cheese which is delicious and some local honey which I've heard will help you deal with allergies from local flora. I'm willing to try anything at this point. Our area has pollen production that is off the charts. If you've never had allergies, when you move here to south Georgia, you will.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, so I took advantage of that over the weekend by working in the yard. I'll have to show you what my girl helped me do. It was a bit unusual, not your usual yard work. Hopefully, I'll have those pics tomorrow.

Welcome to Odd Monday where half the salon takes the day off, people come in one after another to buy makeup and there's no one else to help them because everyone's doing hair, clients pull the "I want something completely different today" in their normally scheduled time frame and random people walk in to sell you cancer coverage.

On the bright side, I ate lunch somewhere in the middle of all that mayhem.

I ain't going hungry, man. Not for anybody.