Day 13: Laundry

Laundry, originally uploaded by tjkmfk.

This is what I've been up to all day. What super fun that was! I still don't understand how 2 people make all this laundry and 3 loads of towels and 2 of sheets, if I'm lucky.

Day 12: Reader

Reader, originally uploaded by tjkmfk.

My son read to me yesterday. I was moved to say the least. I really didn't realize that he could do that so well. He just picked up a Suess book and read it to me.
I am a proud Mama.

Day 11: Freezer

Freezer, originally uploaded by tjkmfk.

This is why I should always keep my freezer locked. His feet were at least 6 inches off the floor. Poor kiddo could end up a freezy pop.

Day 10: Serenity

IMG_0008, originally uploaded by tjkmfk.

This plant's colors are just perfect for my bedroom with the added benifit of being an air cleaner. I love plants. They add such a feeling of serenity to my home. That's what I need now. My bedroom is finished now, unless I happen across a wall paper boarder i like.

My son has spent the night in the country with his grandfather. He drives me nuts, but when he's gone. I miss him like crazy. Sometimes with me there seems to be no middle ground. It's either all or nothing.

Day 9: Bargin

Bargin, originally uploaded by tjkmfk.

I love to find a bargin... Got these two paintings for half price at walmart today. They match my bedroom colors. I finished my room today just have to pot the plant I bought and that's it. I even ironed and hung the curtains today!!!!

Day 8: Crabs?

Flower, originally uploaded by tjkmfk.

Mondays are the days I attempt to work in the yard. Last week I mowed this week I clipped the bushes in the corner that were getting too big to see down the street when you come to the corner by my house.
I gave these crabs to my son and said stick them in the garden somewhere they are cute, I, of course, didn't think I had to tell him to put them in different places and so they are together. I guess they are friends and couldn't bear to be separated.
Actually this morning as I worked and tried to get the child to do something, I started thinking about how different children are now from when I was a child. My son is 5 almost 6. When I was his age I had my own hoe and worked in the garden alongside the adults. Of course, times were different then, if we didn't have a good garden we didn't eat. We often would find food growing wild and gather it : muskadines, plums, blackberries and even polk salad. My father still gardens and he'll be 70 this year.
By the way, the flowers in the picture are black-eyed susans… I didn't plant them they just came up on their own. I grew up seeing them grow wild.

Day 7: Pout

Pout, originally uploaded by tjkmfk.

Now that's a face only a mother could love, isn't it? LOL Someone is not happy and it's his own fault. He made one of his mega messes in his playroom and is now on a week without TV. This is the face he made trying to persuade me to plug his television back in. Didn't work!
I think we're both having a few issues dealing with school being out for the summer. He apparently needs way more structure than I gave him last week so this week will be different. He will have lessons each morning and then in the afternoon we'll do something outside when it's not too hot.
I am almost done with unpacking, WOOT!!!!! Maybe I'll get some shots of the finished house online soon. LOL. I still have some curtains to iron and get up then once I finish the last few boxes , I'll be making curtains for my son's room and the kitchen. FUN FUN FUN

Day 6: The Kid

Chris, originally uploaded by tjkmfk.

Well here he is the light of my life. My son..... the little old man and the baby all wrapped up together. I don't know what I'd do without him. He is literally my rock. The one thing in this life of mine that keeps me reasonably sane.

I love to do this to his hair. He, of course, hates it to no end. Right after I snapped this picture he said, 'Oh, Mommy, now I have to comb my hair. You know I don't like it this way.'

By the way, that is his 'picture taking' smile.
What a nut!!

Day 5: Beads

Beads, originally uploaded by tjkmfk.

I look up and memories of the crowds, the music , and the food over come me. What a day!! It was packed wall to wall people. I had to force my way through to cross the street to make it to the party I was going to. I clung to my son's hand with a death grip. I knew I'd never find him again if I lost him in the crowd. Eager for a little enjoyment after a hard year I moved quickly down the block.

Now today, looking up into this tree, I feel sad. The street is so quiet. The people gone. No music…. and the beads---lost, forgotten, tattered…… Don't we all feel like that sometimes? Like no one loves us? or would even notice if we were gone? Like we are standing still as the world moves fast around us? I know I have and probably will again at sometime in the future. But just maybe, I will remember this picture and know that it is not permanent. There will be good times just as there well be another Mardi Gras.

Day 4: Spanish Moss

Moss, originally uploaded by tjkmfk.

I see this stuff everyday and don't usually think too much about it, but today for some reason I found myself thinking of the legend that goes along with the plant. As I was walking my son to school this morning I snapped a quick picture and thought I'd share the legend with you.

"As the story goes; there was once a traveler who came with his Spanish fiancée in the 1700s to start a plantation near the city of Charleston SC. She was a beautiful bride-to-be with long flowing raven hair. As the couple was walking over the plantation sight[sic] near the forest, and making plans for their future, they were suddenly attacked by a band of Cherokee who were not happy to share the land of their forefathers with strangers. As a final warning to stay away from the Cherokee nation, they cut off the long dark hair of the bride-to-be and threw it up in an old live oak tree. As the people came back day after day and week after week, they began to notice the hair had shriveled and turned grey and had begun spreading from tree to tree. Over the years the moss spread from South Carolina to Georgia and Florida. To this day, if one stands under a live oak tree, one will see the moss jump from tree to tree and defend itself with a large army of beetles."-- This is from Wiki.

So many things in our daily lives have symbolic meanings. Some are cultural and others are personal. They enrich our lives.
It's cool here today after the cold front passed through. My dad would call it 'blackberry winter.' The old saying is that blackberries require a lower temperature to bloom. It was rather refreshing to walk in the cool air this morning seeing the Spanish moss moving in the breeze.

Day 3: Mocking Bird

Bird day 3, originally uploaded by tjkmfk.

The bird was sitting on my fence singing away when he suddenly flew up to the sign and sat silently looking south towards the tracks. Was he waiting for a train? his mate, perhaps? or was he just saying a prayer of thanks for the rain? I'll never know, but he was so intently silent that I am sure he knew exactly what it was he wanted.

Aren't we all waiting on something? When does the waiting stop and the living begin?

Day 2: Rain

Rain, originally uploaded by tjkmfk.

After several days of thunder and rain clouds skirting around us, it finally rained. My poor grass sure needed that!! I hope it sucks up every drop. It sure was looking sad and dry this morning. With being sick (thanks to my kid and his kindergarten germs) and trying to unpack, I’ve not had much time to worry about the yard. I hope to be able to get some yard work done soon. There’s about 6 inches of leaves in the back yard…. No one raked any last year it seems. Well like it usually is here in the south in the summer, the rain has ended much too soon. Hope we get a few more of these showers today.

Day 1: Train

Train, originally uploaded by tjkmfk.

I took this snapshot sitting outside with my son as he played in his kiddy pool. Yes, I am that close to the tracks. Yes, the trains rock the house. No, they don't wake me up. They sound like home. See I recently moved into this house on a street I lived on many years ago. So all the sounds are familiar. But it goes beyond that. This house had the same floor plan as the one I lived in so many years ago. It has an addition added to it now but they started out the same. In so many ways I feel like I've come home.
This is a sanctuary for me as I begin my walk into my new single life.