No photos...and that's okay with me!

I have not one picture for y'all to see in this post.

Nope.

Not a one.

And I'm happy about that.

Ridiculously so, in fact.

Why?

One simply cannot get a camera near a pool filled with water.

Especially when one is in the pool splashing her boys and laughing in gleeful abandon.

Woohoo!

Meal time giggles...in pictures.

Play on, Playa'!

We've been laying low, so to speak, since Christmas. I haven't even downloaded pictures and videos (Hubs got me a camcorder!) from the day's events.

Instead we've played.

Played the Wii, played games, watched and laughed as E-man played with some new toys....just PLAYED. And laughed...a lot!

I think that we needed that after the hustle and bustle that preceded our Christmas celebrations.

I've even managed to get back into my studio and sling a paint brush or three. This is a minor miracle considering all the craziness that's been goin' on. I'll have pictures of the new creations up in a future post...

I hope y'all have enjoyed your Christmas and found a chance to enjoy a few moments with your family to PLAY!

Bubbles

Aunt D. (Mom's youngest sis) sent the Bubs a bubble blower. What she may not have realized, though, was that she sent us some joy and laughter at just the right time. You see, it arrived the day before Mom's birthday.

The package came Saturday and it was promptly ripped open and put to use. It was a beautiful afternoon and the Bubs and I ran around the front yard making gads of bubbles...well, the Bubs did the bubble thing and I snapped off pics left, right and center!

I didn't realize how much tension I had been carrying around until we started laughing together and just being silly in general. It was wonderful!

And the perfect way to celebrate Mom.

She loved to find the beauty in simple things and take notice of the wonder in the world around us that we can often miss as we go about our busy lives.

I have vivid memories of her exclaiming over the beauty of a sunset or saying, "Oh, look!" when she'd spot a cardinal (or a "red bird" as she called it) outside her window.

My Aunt C (Mom's oldest sis) reminded me Sunday that Mom remarked once that she loved the colors on a bubble. That sounds exactly like her.

So Aunt D, many thanks and a great big hug from us for sending us some joy in the form of that little bubble blower. Your note was precious. I put it up on the Bubs's memory board per his request as that's where he likes to put all of his favorite and most important things.

P.S. I know I'm late in getting this posted (Mom's b'day was Sept. 20th), but I wanted to go ahead and do it anyway. My apologies!!

It was either laugh or cry.......we laughed

Sooooooo.......the hubby and I were researching the area that we'll be moving to yesterday evening and ended up huddled together in a laughing heap. No matter what site we looked at for the local area there was no getting around the fact that it definitely had a, uh, rural focus. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the country and even here am used to regularly seeing the odd tractor here and there riding down the road, but this was just too funny. Every single page had the local fishing report very prominently displayed and under the list of local events there was the beginning of huntin' season in big, bold lettering. My personal favorite was the ATV Jamboree.

Yep. Nothin' but helpless laughter at this point. Especially when I slapped hubby on the arm and wailed, "You are movin' us to the boonies!!" (Sorry, Cuz.)

And then to top it off, I asked where the closest Wal-Mart is (because I don't know the names of grocery chains over there). Hubby snorted and showed me that the closest major shopping area is at least 100 miles away. I think Hubs was laughing more than I was at that point.....

So I'm not Hallmark, y'all....

Mom's in the hospital again. She has a bacterial infection that she was unable to fight off as a result of a chemo-ravaged immune system. I wanted to make her something to cheer her up.

Aha! A get well card!

So I hop on the computer and start looking up different quotes to include in a card.....nothing's really striking my fancy. I wanted to do something funny and Mom has an offbeat sense of humor. I begin to peruse humorous quotes and happened upon one by that well-known and prolific author, "Unknown". In a flurry of patterned paper, glue, pens and chalk color pads, this is what I came up with:

NO, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. It does say, "Love is like a booger..." I told you that I wanted it to be goofy!

The inside says, "..you keep picking at it until you get it, then you wonder what to do with it." I signed it from me and the Bubs, her two boogers. I wanted to give her a laugh and she got one. The quote may have been off the wall and the picture a little silly, but I'll gladly play the goofy fool if it will bring Mom some joy in the midst of her pain and battle to get well.





I think the process of making this for Mom was therapeutic for me as well. It helped to counteract the feeling of helplessness that tries to creep in and overwhelm me when my defenses are down after watching what she's going through. I also think that it gives someone a bit of power when they can laugh in spite of their pain and I wanted to give her the opportunity to do that. Because she was so often the one to do that for me when I was a little girl having to go through various surgeries and endless doctor's appointments. (I had bladder issues -no pun intended...I think- and endless ear infections)

So if you know someone who is going through a rough time, I would encourage you to give them the gift of laughter. It does good like a medicine.




Peace,