159 - 25 Random Things

Okay, this is going around on Facebook and everywhere else, so I might as well do it, too. I have read everyone elses so it is only fair. If you can't figure it out ... you are supposed to "tag" people and then they are supposed to write 25 random things about themselves. Well, pretty much everyone I know has already done it, and if they have not already done it then they are not going to just because I tell them.

1. The person that everyone thought I was in high school, I was completely not.
2. I LOVE to read. I used to devour books constantly. I would walk home from elementary school with my head buried in a book, much to the horror of Mrs. Pinson who always thought I would fall or get hit by a car. (and considering that her street was at a 45 degree angle, falling was a distinct possibility)
3. I have never been out of the South. The farthest north I have been is Saint Louis, MO and the farthest west is Baton Rouge, LA (actually Baker, LA if you want to be technical)
4. I talk and laugh in my sleep, or so I have been told.
5. I do not make friends easily. I am very shy, though no one ever believes me when I say that.
6. I went off to college without a thought of homesickness, and now I miss being "home". I don't want to live in Atlanta, but I do want to be near my family.
7. I am a third child, and I have always wanted three children.
8. I am an artist. I never use that word because I don't take myself seriously, but yes, I am an artist. Mainly photography, but I also love to paint and work with fabric and yarn.
9. When I go "home" for a visit I spend a lot of time with my exes and/or their families.
10. My mind is usually in the gutter. I can't help it.
11. My freshman year of college we were all sitting around discussing what we wanted to be when we "grew up" and I answered right away "A Mom" and I love my career!
12. I picked out my china pattern when I was 11. We were at an antique mall and there was an entire set for sale, but my Mom told me that I would not like it in a year so we left it there. Here I am 20 years later, and I still love Old Country Roses!
13. I have been pregnant 5 times, but I only have 2 children. They are the most gorgeous children anywhere. I want 3 kids, but I can only take one more pregnancy.
14. I want to start my own photography business, but I am scared.
15. I kept diaries from my pre-teen years until I went to college. I threw them away when I read how terribly vacuous they sounded. Now I kind of wish I still had them. They would at least be good for a laugh.
16. My daughter is a mutant. She has a super rare form of diabetes called Monogenic Diabetes, which is caused by the mutation of a single gene. She was the 12th in the United States to be diagnosed with it, and as of now there are only 17. My husband is a geek, so this was quite fitting for him (think of X-men here)
17. When I met my husband, Chip, I would sit in his frat room and watch him play computer games until the sound of the computer fan would put me to sleep. Pathetic much??!!
18. A week after my grandmother passed away I had a dream about her coming out of a church and hugging me then disappearing. Ever since then I have felt that she is my guardian angel.
19. My parents divorced when I was two and my father was never around. I am fine with it, but now my daughter has started to ask when she will meet her "other grandfather." She just does not understand that all men really are NOT created equal. Chip's Father is wonderful and she thinks that all grandfathers are automatically great. I would hate for her to meet my father and realize that is not the case.
20. I insisted that I did not want a big wedding, just a justice of the peace. Good thing since we actually overslept on our "Wedding day" and had to reschedule for 2 days later. From our car, into the courthouse, through the ceremony, and back to the car took 13 minutes.
21. I cannot stand to be away from my children for even a few hours. I have been doing better lately about going out with some friends while Chip is in charge, but I am antsy the whole time.
22. I was incredibly unattractive when I was pregnant with my daughter, but I felt adorable when I was pregnant with Connor. At least my nose did not grow to be the size of Stone Mountain!!
23. My newest addiction is Rockband. It is great! I don't even mind singing if someone else doesn't want to. However, I feel sorry for anyone watching.
24. I hate "talking things out"!! I am more of a run and hide type person. This drives my husband insane, so I am trying to fix it.
25. I am so glad I have been able to reconnect with old friends and to make new friends through Facebook! Now if I can just convince all those people still on myspace to make the switch!!

So, there you go, 25 boring things about me :) If anyone else would like to participate, then please leave a link in the comments,

158 Things you find in a Mississippi Snow

Mom's with cameras! This is a major event that must receive proper documentation!Said Mom, taking macro shots of snow. To be fair, she just got her macro filter and she is trying it out. I kept meaning to go back and take this pic with the light on, so you could see the yellow snow. In Mississippi the deck lights must have Bug Bulbs!


You find, the grill bought to roast marshmallows that turned into Katie's play thing.Sunscreen waiting for its next round.
The toys you played with just a few days before, you know, when it was in the 60's!

And of course, patches of grass because our snow is SAD! You find kids eating the snow. We don't worry as much about "acid rain" as we used to, huh??!! And when they are tired of snow flavored snow, there is always the icee mix from the molten summers that we can't live without.SNOWBALL FIGHTS!! Babies finally experiencing their first snow. It snowed last year, but he was too little to enjoy it. Maybe next year he can make his first snowball.

157 Snow Day in Mississippi

I am stuck in my own little "Truman Show" apparently. We made plans to drive down to Cleveland to see the in-laws, and to say goodbye to my nephew and his family that are moving to Colorado... AND IT SNOWED!! Okay, so it did not really snow enough to keep us here, but the improbability that it would snow on the very day we decide to leave town!! The odds are enormous. Just like last year, we were going to leave for Atlanta for Katie's Spring Break and it SNOWED then, too. Her Spring Break is the earliest ever, this year March 16-20. And then, when we did make it to Atlanta there were tornadoes. So, next time I make travel plans I will be sure to send out a Significant Weather Watch. In the meantime, her are some pics of our "snow day" in Mississippi. Yes, it only snowed an inch and they cancelled school. And yes, you are allowed to laugh!

Connor toddled out the door while I was snapping pics and stuck his hand in the snow. Isn't it just the sweetest handprint EVER!Katie eating the first snowball of 2009.Jacob does not look happy about whatever he is saying to Katie!

Is it time to set the pool back up yet? No, we just never got around to putting it away ... sadPoor little man. I did bundle him up and take him outside, but he could not move, and I never set him down. He was miserable, so I took him back inside. Hopefully Candy will send me a pic of him all bundled for the snow.

156 Silver Linings In La-La Land

I have been feeling a bit loopy lately. I just can't seem to think about anything important. Or, the things I am finding important just really are not important to my life at all. Try to tell my brain that. You know you have a problem when you are playing Rockband, just ripping away at those imaginary cords, your mind completely somewhere else. But the good news is that it may be time for me to try the Hard setting. Hey, silver linings people, silver linings!!

You like Silver? We also discovered that Katie CAN survive without the TV on. She was grounded from the TV on Saturday night. She was so engrossed in it that she did not even hear her Dad yelling from the kitchen, trying to stop Connor from pouring out his drink on the floor. The mess, not a big deal. Our carpet is on its way to being completely destroyed, what is one more stain?? But she did not even HEAR him. She tuned everything out to the point that his BELLOWS could not penetrate into her TV trance. She has long had an unhealthy addiction to tv. And the horrible thing is, that even if she is playing something else she acts like she needs it to be on in the background. She has thrown fits when I change the channel she is not even watching. Last year she actually made herself so upset she threw up because I turned the tv off. I did let her have her sleepover, after warning Mia that there would be no television. They had a BLAST! They colored and played school. They ran around like wild things. I was helping my shutter buddy shoot some self portraits (she was shooting film and needed someone to focus) and when she left the girls wanted to take pictures of each other. So, I set up my camera on the tripod and let them shoot away. YAY DIGITAL! There are plenty of complete misses in the series, and random pictures of stuffed dolphins, but they didn't do too bad. I am all for encouraging my daughter to take pictures! So, even though it was a punishment we did learn a valuable lesson. And hopefully we can implement the NO TV time into a more regular practice!

Here they are making "scary faces".I had to take over the camera for a split second!

Connor has started babbling more and for longer periods of time. He is trying so hard to talk. He will stand in front of the refrigerator reaching and talking. I am not exactly sure what he is asking for, but it shouldn't surprise me that he is very vocal about his food. He does get VERY excited about popsicles (just like his sister). So, I have deemed it time to wean. (if you don't wanna hear about it, skip to the next paragraph!) The first day was yesterday and we made it most of the day. I did give in and nurse him before bedtime. I was in pain!! With Katie my milk supply kind of naturally petered off, but no such luck with Connor. With Katie I was working, so it was gradual. With Connor, it is cold turkey ... well, kinda :) He is doing good today. He doesn't seem to be phased by it. He took his sippy cup with his Strawberry Milk as soon as we came downstairs. Yes, he loves flavored milk. I guess it is the transition from breastmilk to cow milk, but he needs the extra sweet. Silver lining, I will finally be able to wear a bra without drop down paneling!

Some more silver linings without all the backstory:

Katie has been super sassy lately. Silver lining, I don't feel bad about packing her off to bed at a decent hour.

Brain feeling stupid. Silver lining, at least it is not thinking about food!

Gross, yucky, cold, wet day outside. Silver lining, I gots me a snuggly baby!!!

And on a totally different note. WHY IN THE WORLD DID THEY BOTHER TO DYE JOHN'S HAIR ON DAYS OF OUR LIVE'S IF THEY ARE JUST GOING TO LEAVE HIS RAMPANT CHEST HAIR SILVER???? YES, I SAID RAMPANT!!

---hey, not totally different. It does have the word silver in it!

155 Back to the Present

Just realized it has been a week since there was any kind of mention of present life in the Jackson household, so I thought I would give a little update and, of course, post some recent pictures.
Nothing much has been going on around here. Just same old stuff. Living, laughing, and Rockband. Connor has caught the Rockband addiction as well. If one of us is on the guitar he will either bang on the drums or blabber into the microphone. Katie and I have both bought our "mummy" clothes. I did mine in green and she did her's in pink. We are some seriously stylish mummies!! Rockin' mummies!!! I have yet to venture onto the "hard" setting, but Chip has managed to not get boo-ed out of a few songs. Our band is moving right along, ready to hit the big time any second!!



I actually got out of the house without the kiddos in tow last weekend! Charity, Toya, and I decided to roll up toward Memphis and hit The Big One! It was very sad. In my words from the day, it was not IMpressing me, it was DEpressing me! I had not been in years, and I did go when the weather was nicer, but I still expected to like more stuff. I was worried I would see something and not have the moolah to buy it, but I most certainly did not. I was amazed at the amount of drugstore items that were on sale. Who goes to a fleamarket to buy Immodium and Vagisil??? We looked at quite a few hairbows that day since Toya was searching for some for Jaclyn to wear for cheerleading. I was accosted by a lady trying to sell some kind of scrunchie with combs thing. I have a hard time saying no, so I ended up in a seat with a total stranger playing with my hair. Thankfully, Charity was there to laugh at me! There was only one booth that truly caught my eye. I could have spent hours looking at old postcards and reading the backs of them. I should have bought a stack, but we were getting tired of walking through the muck. Toya did get one of the coveted Jiffy Dogs. Footlong as you can see. We all would have gotten them, but we could not bring ourselves to pay $2.50 for a bottle of water, and if you got the Dog you need the water! Seriously, Nestle brand water ... $2.50!! Years from now, that may be the only thing I remember about this day, the grossly overpriced water! Even though the flea market was sad it was great to spend some time with the girls. See, I am branching out. Two days without kiddos in the past 3 months. It's a new record for me.

And Katie finally got her way. She was allowed to ride the bus home from school. I shouldn't say that she got her way though. She did not get to ride because she wanted to, though that did make it easier. She rode the bus because it was the simplest way to get her and the two boys across the street to my house at the same time. Two days a week their mom, my Shutter Buddy Candy, has class that runs just a little bit over time for them to get home, so Katie gets some built in playmates. Although this week Candy actually made it home in time, but Katie insisted that Travis and Jacob be allowed to come over. She had been looking forward to it, and they are sweet sweet boys, so of course they could come over!! All they did was sit on the couch and watch tv, then sit on the couch and play Nintendo DS, and then they actually got off the couch and played Wii Bowling for one game, and then it was up the stairs to play in Katie's mess ... I mean, her room. And the bus, SHE LOVES IT!! She has now ridden it 3 times, and as long as she is enjoying it she can continue to ride. Just means that I don't have to get Connor out in the cold! Although we tend to be waiting outside for her to arrive home anyway. I still have not gotten over the odd feeling of waiting on her instead of going to get her!

That is about it on the Jackson front. Nothing exciting. But we like it!

154 Old Pictures Part 4

 

My grandfather was in the 58th Field Artillery Armored Battalion during World War II. I would love to be able to tell you stories of his time in the military, but I heard very few growing up. I think like most, he made a conscious effort to put his time at war behind him. He died when I was in Fourth Grade, so I will never be able to ask him about these pictures. I do have a chronology of the 58th movements during the war that my brother found.
a summary from that chronology: "The 58th traveled in 12 countries with four armies, seven corps, 19 divisions and had 417 days of combat at close of hostilities in ETO and EMA. The 58th participated in eight campaigns, Algeria-French Morocco, Tunisia, Siciliy with 2 Arrowheads, Normandy with Arrowhead, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe. The Battalion lost 56 men killed in action, 143 wounded in action, 24 men missing in action and POW's 30 M-7's, the 105's (priests) and 6 forward observer tanks (Sherman's) were lost."
This also lists their landing at 0630 on Omaha "Red" Beach on June 6, 1944. If I remember what I have been told correctly, they were the 3rd wave on Normandy that day. My grandfather kept a one dollar bill and a two dollar bill on which he wrote down the dates and times of all landings. He also kept a small notebook in which he wrote to my grandmother most nights. I am a little scared to read his words. I am afraid that I will somehow ruin the book. I am afraid the papers will crumble in my hands. But, the next time I am home that is going to be one of my priorities. I want to hold tight to the pieces that are left.
I do remember one story. My grandfather was in charge of the radio. He was the one who had to climb trees and buildings in order to get a signal. One time, he had shimmied up a tree, and was braced there with his equipment by his leather strap, when "zing" he was under fire. Lucky for him, the shooter wasn't very good. His strap was shot, and he dropped to the ground. Lucky for him, and lucky for me!! I am sure there are all kind of parts I am missing to that story. Like what happened to the shooter??
And, like I said, he passed away when I was very young. I may have the story totally wrong. Mom, you need to write these things down for us!!!
That is one of the reasons I am keeping this blog, so that no one can ever say they did not know me. They may be bored senseless, but this is me. Hopefully my grandchildren, and great grandchildren will be able to find these words one day, and they will not only know more about me but more about the generations before me. That is one thing that has been impressed upon me so deeply by my grandfather's pictures, time passes too swiftly. Already there are names and dates lost to me, even though they are captured in a photo. As much as I love photography, I realize that more is required than an image. There needs to be facts and feelings associated with the pictures I take. I want the images I capture to be truly timeless!