T-minus 21 hours

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My flight leaves bright and early tomorrow morning. Of course, I checked the weather and it looks like it’s supposed to rain every day I’m in FL…but as long as it only rains for a little bit, I’ll be good.

Sockmonkey and I packed last night. I’m trying to do carry-on only, which is a difficulty for me. I am bad about over packing. Very bad. But I know that I really don’t need anything but a couple of bathing suits a cover up and something to wear if we go out to eat. But once I start packing, it’s hard for me to remember that. I only packed 2 pair of shoes. Proud? I’ll wear my Adidas flipflops on the plane. I packed my sneakers to walk in, and I packed my nice fliplops for goin’ out. These will dress up any outfit, don’t you agree?
I managed one suitcase. It wasn’t easy, which is why Sockmonkey looks so spent here:


Packing lightly is hard work. She deserved that beer.

The moment I pulled out the suitcase, the animals realized something was afoot. Well, Gizzard and Ruby did. Pete could care less because it’s me. If it were Fishdog, Pete would be panting and pacing and going all kinds of crazy.

Pete: Whatever Mom. I like Dad better. Begone, already.

Gizzard: Are we going somewhere? Cuz I wanna go. Please take me!

Ruby: You’re leaving me, aren’t you? Abandoning me. You’re going to take that damn monkey on a trip and leave me with the boys. I thought you loved me. I can see now I was wrong.

And then she pouted the rest of the night and went downstairs to hang out in the Penis Cave with the boys to punish me.

I plan to blog while I’m there. Not sure if they’ll be full blown blogs, but there will be content. And some pictures. Maybe. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to post those. Depends on how incriminating they are…

Prelude to a car…

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You may recall the slight break down I had when the transmission on our van went out. It’s a a 10 year old van and we had really hoped it would last us until the end of the year.

But it had other ideas.

Fine. We had to decide what we were going to do. Fixing the van was going to cost us almost $3K and honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend that kind of cash on that vehicle. We are still carrying two mortgages and now that it’s August, we have tuition for two kids, so buying a new car just wouldn’t be smart.

But we need two cars. Not everyday, but at least two days a week we find ourselves in a bind.

We went to Oxford a couple of weeks ago to check on the house and list it FSBO. (anyone want a GREAT deal on a house in Oxford, MS? I can hook you up.) We got there to discover or friend and neighbor had put his house on the market as well.

He was also selling a car. A car I’ve been coveting since he drove it home.

He made us a deal. And we drove it home. It’s an old car and it needs some work, but we knew that buying the car and having the work done would more than likely cost us less than fixing the van. And if it cost us the same, so be it. This car is a collector’s item. Or it will be when I’m finished with it.

What did we buy?

A 1990 Honda Prelude.

Oh yeah. I’m going to rock out with my cock out in this baby. Can’t you picture it now? Windows down, sunroof open, and the 1990s hair band playlist on volume 10? I can see it now.

Anyway, my new Prelude is now in the shop getting tweaked and I’m hoping that by the time Sockmonkey and I return from our trip, my new ride will be ready for me.

The real question is: Will Little Rock be ready for me and my Prelude? We shall see.

I need your suggestions for my Prelude playlist. Here are some givens:

  1. Cinderella
  2. Whitesnake
  3. Ozzy
  4. Queensryche

Who else should I add?

meet sockmonkey and the new digs

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Sockmonkey is my BFF. (okay, she’s my only QUIET BFF)

Fishdog bought me Sockmonkey on a date night. We were living in Oxtopia (aka Oxford, MS) and it was one of the first real date nights we’d had since we’d moved there.

So we’re walking around after dinner and go into on of our favorite weird little stores, AS SEEN ON TV. It was a video rental store that also has loads of toys and gadgets from the 60s and 70s. And then some other fun stuff that you can also find at Archie McPhee. You could also buy beer there and they had a great selection. (No Bud Light to be found…)

Anyway, that’s where I saw her. Sockmonkey called to me and I had to beg Fishdog to buy her for me.

He did. And she’s been watching me work ever since.

Well, Sockmonkey has saved all her hard earned money and is getting ready to go on her first girl’s getaway. I have decided to document her trip and plan to blog about it while we’re gone. She’s asked me if her good ‘friend’ Gnomeboy can come along…but I’m not sure. This is a girl’s getaway. There might will be excessive drinking. What if Sockmonkey lets loose? What if she and Gnomeboy take their friendship to a whole nubba lebel? I’m not sure if she’s ready for that…and I know I’m not.

What do you think? Should Gnomeboy be allowed to go?

And on another topic all together–welcome to my new site! What do you think?

stay tuned

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I’m cleaning today. It’s not pretty.

If things go right, tomorrow this blog will be pointing to the new website. Keep your fingers crossed.

Here’s a teaser for ya:

what you think? Are you intrigued?

thank you Chrissy for all your amazing and very fast work. You are a bucket of awesome.

8/15/05–another big day

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My sweet little Tree Frog is a high school Freshman as of today.

Really.

When I woke up this morning, I was flooded with memories.

The day he was born, when I had to have an emergency C-section because my blood pressure was stroke level. I was awake but high as a kite. I thought I was talking non-stop, but apparently the conversations were all in my head. However, when they pulled him out and showed him to me, I did manage to say, “He looks like a grape.”

His first Christmas that I missed because I had to work. He was 9 months old and trying to walk. He was still bald but he had a mouthful of teeth. I treasured the pictures from that year for a long time. He didn’t know I wasn’t there, but I knew it and it broke my heart.

His first REAL Halloween costume. He went to Daycare as a Fisherman. He wore overalls and a matching plaid shirt and hat that I got from BabyGap. We tied a fish potholder to a string and a stick and he drug that around with him for a week.

I remembered his first real projectile vomit. He wasn’t quite 2 years old. I was taking him to daycare. We were at a stop light, I turned around to admire him (as I always did) he smiled and flooded the car with his breakfast. It was horrifying and funny all at the same time.

The cowboy boots he wore EVERYWHERE with EVERYTHING.

How much he loved playing in the ‘sock basket’ and playing inside boxes or baskets in general.

After his brother was born, he named my breasts ‘Milk and Lunch’.

Of course, there are other memories, but for some reason, the baby years are the ones I’m holding on to the most today. Maybe because now he’s only 1/2 inch shorter than me when we’re barefooted. Maybe because his voice is deep and scratchy now. Or it could be the fact that he has to shave sometimes. I dunno. He’s growing up and I want to remember the 5 lb. 6 oz Tree Frog who was born almost 4 weeks early and looked like a grape. I wish I could hold his tiny little naked bottom in the palm of my hand again. I want to feel his long , flexible fingers wrap around mine and see his tiny, dark blue eyes stare at me with love and adoration.

Cuz I promise, when they stare at me now, there is nothing even close to adoration in there. Love, yes–irritation, yes–adoration? Hah.

the countdown begins

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This time next week, I’ll be packing for my trip to Tallahassee. Maria, Louisa, and I are getting together for our yearly critique partner gathering. We’re picking Louisa up in Pensacola and heading to Destin for a few days, then on to another fabulous destination where we’ll be able to soak up lots of sun, sand, and surf.

a pic from last year’s trip

I can’t wait.

I’ll try blogging next week, but I’m afraid I’ll be having too much fun. We’ll be plotting out our next books, writing, and generally having a really good time. This will be especially awesome since Maria and I missed RWA this year.

I’m head down in my revisions right now. Trying to perfect this story and send it off by the weekend. I need this vacation. I’m sad that Fishdog and I didn’t get to do our San Francisco/Sonoma trip like we had planned. But we’ll get a vacay together. Maybe in October.

In other news…my interim website is almost complete…so stay tuned for a really cool change very soon. Thanks to the lovely Chrissy Olinger at Websong Designs for all her hard work. She designed a gorgeous template (that of course, my webby hubby had to tweak, cuz God love him, that’s in his nature). I can’t wait to unveil the new site. I think you’ll love it.

Okay, done for now. I’ll leave you with the final picture from last year’s beach extravaganza…

glorious rain and 14 year old boys

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We haven’t had rain in probably two months here at Chez Francis. But for the last two and a half days, that has changed.

It’s been raining a steady amount. And the temps are amazingly fantastic. Fall temperatures in the morning. Like right now, it’s in the 60s! I mean, WOW! The high is supposed to be 80 today. That’s the normal sunrise temperature for August so this is a blessed relief.

This is the last official week of summer. The boys had their long hairs cut off the other day. Now they are both back to their good Catholic school boy look. Though there is nothing ‘good’ about either one of those boys.

For example.

Yesterday I was teasing the boys about my upcoming week at the beach. I showed them the house I would be staying in and this is the conversation that followed:

Ian says: Take me. Pleeeease.
Me: No. It’s just me and 12 other women.
Ian: oOh women. How old?
Me: 29 and up
Ian: (eyes and smile get wide) 29 huh? perfect.
Me: Ian! Don’t be a pig!
Ian: I’m not a pig, I use a Trojan brand condom.

Yes, that’s what he said. It’s from a commercial…see below for the hilarious TV version. The radio one ends with “Don’t be a pig. Use a Trojan brand condom.”

Oh what have I created?