40 turkeys in my backyard

A while back I posted about our Turkeys.  WELL.  Apparently wild turkeys LOVE snow.  b/c right now it’s coming down in droves, and there are (I kid you not) FORTY wild turkeys in our backyard.  How great is that?!

But here’s the trip.  John just went out and – as well as scattering seed, left a big bowl of food in the middle of the yard.  After all, these turkeys daily gorge themselves at our overflowing feeders.  You’d think they’d delve right into a bowl, right?  HAHAHHAHAHAHH!!

Going to the chapel and we’re gonna get married.

My sister has recently become engaged and I for one am getting WAY EXCITED.  Not only is this going to be great for her. but also for ME.

SISTER: We are getting married!

ME: WOW!  Congrats!!!

SISTERThanks!

ME:  SOOOooooooo…… Are you going to have a wedding party?  I mean, b/c if you ARE, then (ahem) you might like (cough) ME to be your (cough-cough) Maid of Honor, right>?  Seeing as I asked you to be mine. and ALL.  I MEAN, that’s only fair.  Right>? No pressure.  RIGGGHHT>>??

So after being asked so sweetly I of course agreed to be Maid of Honor.  Or, in my case (since I am already hitched) – MATRON of Honor.  I know what you’re thinking.  Matron of Honor sounds like an old prune face having trouble making number 2.  And I couldn’t agree more.  But I am going to put the FUN in Matro(FU)N of Honor!  YAY!

My first question though – what exactly does a Matro(fu)N of Honor DO?  Sure.  I get to stand up at the altar and look good. alongside my sister.  But.. what else?  My husband made a comment about the bachelor party a while back.  And that got me thinking..  Isn’t that my job?  Planning the bachelorette party>>?  If SO. I have a feeling this Matro(FU)n of Honor role is custom tailored to yours truly.  NOT that I am a pervy weirdo who likes baking penis shaped cookies or anything.  But still.  I think I could come up w/ some hooting fun for a group of intoxicated women.  If the need arose.

Unfortunately. I live 1200 miles away from my sister.  B.c of my freaky ear disease I don’t fly.  So I fear this is going to make fun a little difficult to come by.  I was going to suggest to my sister that she plan the party such that I can drive both ways out to Las Vegas (you know, like 2 weeks each way) but I think my kids might miss me a bit.  And my husband might not like it.  When he mentioned the bachelor party he had an impish little grin on his face, but then when I suggested I would be planning the bachelorette party, he looked a little surly.  And then said something about how people nowadays really should be classier.

Does that mean this isn’t the best choice for my gown?  They are getting married in HOTlanta, you know.

Guess it’s time to get the pumpkins off the porch.

We got our first real snow of the season yesterday.

Although it was just a couple inches, it transformed the landscape into a winter wonderland.  I LOVE MAINE!  Only 2 1/2 weeks until Christmas.  I need to bake, do cards, wrap (and BUY) presents – but all I can think of (apart from the pure evil that is _FACEBOOK_).. is DIY.  My family arrives Christmas Eve.  John & I intend to WOW them.  We’re full steam ahead, working on our soon-to-be dining room.  Yesterday we got the room completely sheet-rocked.  This week? finish the walls, clean the chimney, and more.  Next week’s word?  FLOOR.  It is amazing, each of these projects brings such joy & sense of accomplishment.  I’d love to share some pix – but like I tell my kids each day – THE FUN IS IN THE WAIT.  Happy Monday everyone!

I have SUCCUMBED.

Some of you already know what I am talking about.  But for those of you still thriving on your own, who haven’t been party to my day-long ramble of comments, pokes and pokings, I am hear to say.

I have LOST MY FREAKING MIND.

I have joined the Borg-like collective otherwise known as Facebook.  Unbelievable, I know.  I have resisted for SO LONG.  I hate Facebook.  Still do.  But when I googled my best friend from HS yesterday and saw she had joined, the urge was IRRESISTIBLE.  WHY???  I have no idea.  Perhaps the thought of interacting w/ her even marginally proved too enticing.  Our friendship has waned over the years, and we now live 5,000 miles apart.  But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my first 24 hours on Facebook, it’s that none of that matters.  It’s not how long since you last spoke or interacted, nor whether you’ve even actually met in real life.  Once a friend, always a friend.  At least on Facebook.

Unfortunately. one day on Facebook has taken 2 weeks off me in real life.  I stayed up till nearly one o’clock in the morning last night.  Facebook took control.  I was searching for names as fast as I could type.  Anyone and everyone I’ve ever known.  To see whether they too had joined the massing throng.  And many more of them were there, than weren’t.  Oh some I knew would be there.  Others I’d never have imagined.  After 5, 10, 20 years, some I wouldn’t recognize if we passed each other on the street.  Others – WOW.  Time has stood still.

In the past 24 hours I have reconnected with over 60 people.  I can hardly believe it.  From one to the next – reaching out to each other like we’ve never been apart.  Like a cyber-reunion on crystal meth, it’s been SPEEDY FUN.  But it’s also exhausting.  I haven’t thought about half of these people in years.  Many ask what I’ve been up to.  How do you summarize such enormous parts of your life w/out omitting crucial details & emotions?  I left a doctoral program.  I worked professionally.  I got pregnant, I got married.  I was consumed by motherhood.  I lost a child.  I have been plagued by a disease.  We’ve moved.  A lot has gone on.  And not just for me, but for ALL OF US.  Every person I’ve friended on Facebook has a dozen or more stories to tell, not of minutia but of monumental change.  Frankly, it’s a little hard to digest overnight.  Last evening, I went to bed late and I didn’t sleep well.  I found myself waking periodically, wanting to check my Facebook page.  I spent this morning half-awake, absorbed by the thought of him or her, and them.  The Collective.  Trying to wrap my head around the concept I had resisted for so long, and the reality that is Facebook.

And also wondering.. inevitably.  WHY?  Why has so-and-so NOT responded to my friend request.  Hmm.  Maybe they are not obsessive computer users?  In hospital?  Out of the country??  WHAT IS GOING ON?!  Am I not COOL?  Facebook.  Although it brings pleasure, all this reconnecting and reminiscing w/ old friends also makes you feel a little like that person back in high school.  Wondering whether you are popular.  Or popular enough.  Whether so-and-so is thinking bad thoughts about you.  Or, conversely, someone is thinking about you a bit too much.

Twenty-four hours in.  I am spent.  Too much time on the computer does that to me.  It’s why I don’t Tweet.  Why my blog posts are often few & far between.  I much prefer living my life outside. in the real world.  Where I have far fewer friends.  Till tomorrow, anyway.  When that urge to check my Facebook page rises up, and once again.  Our thoughts are one.  Linked together by a billion strands of interwoven cyber friendship stretching far, far into space.  That’s right.  I am now on Facebook.

Catching up.

Many, MANY thanks for all the well wishes.  I am finally feeling normal again, thank GOD.  This episode was particularly bad.  Normally the dizziness lasts about a week, this time it was more like 10-11 days.  Being me (read DAMN STUBBORN) I basically try to do everything I normally would.  Which – being home most of the time – is usually o-kay.  I can rest between laundry, kids, pets, chores, etc.  When the spins get overwhelming, I lay down.  But Thanksgiving on spin cycle…?  What a trip.  I spent the day in the kitchen, of course.  WELL – It was that or… what?  Try finding a low sodium holiday meal anywhere on a NORMAL day, let alone one when everything is closed.  SO I PERSEVERED.  Being (as I mentioned) stubborn as hell – as well as halfway insane, it didn’t much matter how sh*tty I felt.  I was going to conquer Thanksgiving or die trying.  The results were divine.  I tried several new recipes this year, including a low sodium cornbread stuffing, baked squash & apples, and whipped sweet potatoes.  Which, if I get my act together, I’ll post on my other DAILY DISH.  Stop laughing.

SO. Before the pity fest, I’d been discussing our latest home improvement project.  Re-tiling the upstairs bath.   Here’s the before shot.

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