Monday, September 17, 2012

just changes...

you know that spot
on your dresser
or nightstand
or bathroom sink
where you empty the contents of your pockets every day???
everybody has one...
some are the same spot every day,
some are through the entire house...
i can usually follow a trail of
heather's things through the house
to find her at the end of the day...
i usually make a few bucks along the way...
she leaves money
i find money
finder's keepers i say...
anyway
just last year,
on a monday morning
my spot would have had
miller lite bottlecaps
and
cigarette butts...
and the usual monday morning conversations would have been
"how was your weekend???"
"oh my god,
i got so hammered saturday night!!!"
but today,

my spot had:
my blue pen (always)
chapstick (always)
hair tie (always)
change (sometimes)
the wrapper from gerber blueberry puffs (never)
string that was used to tie jelly worms to sticks for a 6 year old's fishing themed birthday party (never)
and my monday morning conversations sounded more like this
"went to B's first fall t-ball game saturday and he hit a home run!!!"
"saw coleson jay saturday night...  of course i have a picture!!!"
"went to B's 6th birthday party sunday at the park...  it was fishing themed and it was awesome!!!  all the kids had a blast fishing in the lake!!!"
"the twins are walking!!!  took them a while to warm up to me, but by the time we all left, they were smiling and laughing with me..."
what a difference a year makes...
and you won't hear me complaining one bit...

Friday, August 31, 2012

just babies...

my dad was the only one
in the room when my mom died
she would do this thing
where she would inhale
then stop
and everyone in the room
would hold their breath with her
(you are doing it right now aren't you?)
and a few seconds later
after what felt like an eternity
she would exhale
well
this one last time
she inhaled
and nothing
no exhale
but dad said
while waiting for that exhale
he heard a baby cry down the hall
it was just after midnight
in hospice at st joe
not a lot of babies up and about
but he heard this one loud and clear
just as mom left this world...
dad always said they should put
the oldest
sickest patients
on the same floor as the newborn babies
nothing like a
fresh
brand new
no hate
no prejudices
little thing
to put things into perspective...
i have been blessed to have 8
yes eight
8
OCHO
of these little things come into my life
in just the past year
admittedly
i don't get to see all of them
as much as i'd like
and one
one who was just born a few days ago
he'll be seeing a lot of his aunt Bee
but no matter where they fall
in big Rhonda's life
they are all loved
and precious
and i look forward to watching them
all grow up
i look forward to high school graduation announcements
and standing in my kitchen
after opening it
saying to heather
can you believe this
how old are we???

ian and hudson
ian and huddy
heather's my friends were blessed with not only one but two
beautiful boys
which is great because when we visit
heather and i don't fight over getting to hold/play with the baby
you know you want to chew on those cheeks...

cameron
cameron
i work with his dad
used to work with his mom
don't get to see him in person very much
but see pics and hear stories from his dad all the time
he's gonna be a heartbreaker...

london
london
i work with his mom
this pic was taken about a month ago
he has grown so much in just a month
he still doesn't know what to make of me
laugh or cry...

zane
zane
big Z
his dad is a server at the pub
his mom is a bartender at the pub
so of course
he's family
beautiful blonde Blonde BLONDE hair
and he loves lemons
keeps him from getting too fussy...

owen
owen
my cousin's little boy
still can't believe that she's old enough
to have one of these
but here he is
strutting his stuff
hello ladies...

mia
mia
i work with mia's mom
she's just a month old
she's already got her dukes up
she's ready to grow up surrounded
by these boys...

coleson jay
coleson jay
i will admit
i am a little biased on this guy
he's the brand new baby boy
of two of my very best friends
and i love them both so much
and now
there's this little guy
and
O
M
G
look at those lips...

me
me
i was little
and cute
once...

something about the fresh start
these little things
don't know anything
but what we teach them
and i'm happy to know
there are 8 new little humans
in big Rhonda's world
that are being taught
nothing but love...

i'll be waiting for my graduation invitation...


Monday, August 27, 2012

just coleson jay hawkins...

i never
really
truly
believed
in love at first sight...
sure, sometimes there's an instant
connection...
but love???
no way...
but then i got this pic from madison...
the first time i would really see coleson jay...
looking up at scotty as if to say
"and who might you be?"
and i was in love...
laying in bed at 12:something(ish)
crying...
he was the most beautiful thing i had ever seen...
and i thought to myself -
this is as much as i could possibly love
another human being...
but then...
then i met coleson jay...
i held him in my arms...
i watched his little lips move...
i felt his body rise and fall with each breath...
i felt my own heart skip a few beats when i looked down at him...
and i fell even deeper and deeper in love...

coleson jay hawkins -
you aren't my kid...
you aren't even blood to me...
but you might as well be...
i love you oh so very much...
it's been just over 12 hours
that you've been on this earth
and already you have changed my life...

Friday, August 17, 2012

just my imagination...

most of my drive home yesterday
was filled with npr
reporting on julian assange
in the ecuador embassy...

picture it:
london 2012
ecuador embassy
diplomats doing diplomat stuff
which i imagine
is parking in no parking zones
and
laughing maniacally while
tearing up parking tickets
and julian assange strolls by in the background
big fuzzy slippers
green plaid joe boxer  pants
shirtless
towel thrown over shoulder
hair in shower cap
toothbrush hanging out of his mouth
shampoo and conditioner in his hand
on his way to the shower...

it's a long drive folks...

Saturday, August 11, 2012

just saturday...



tried all morning to pull pull up this telespar
there was a trellis attached
got that out no problem
but this telespar
is apparently attached to a 500 pound
slab of concrete
in china
i tired
gramps tried
brady tried
nada
it would move just enough to make you think
you were making progress
but could never get it
so now we have tiki torch holders
to help light the way...


flipped over this rock
wasp nest
wasps everywhere
i screamed like a big fat black lady
ran to the garage
found my new best friend
gave the wasps a little shower
and decided to go work someplace else
just for a bit
when i came back about
an hour later
one wasp came up to me
and in his little waspy voice said
"hello...  my name is inigo montoya...  you killed my father...  prepare to die..."
so i turned my attention to

mom's birdbath
obviously it had seen better days
time to put the old girl down
just about fell apart in my hands

in between all of these
there was
pulling up landscaping timbers
pulling up rebar
pulling up bricks
pulling up weeds
pulling up my pants
and
cutting the grass

been busy today
and now
now i relax
the best way i know how
the american way

black lab by my side
hand down my pants
cold pbr
olympics



U
S
A

Friday, July 27, 2012

just a house...

i believe that every house has a soul
a purpose
it needs love
and care
and attention
just the way we do
this past weekend
my house got just what it's soul needed
chaos
sisters were in town
two sisters
three kids
this house hasn't experienced this since
danny and emily helped mom plant flowers in the rock garden
robert was heard numerous times saying "throw me again" to anyone that would listen
nicole was perfecting her "i'm a pre-teen and you're an idiot" look on dad
not ten minutes after they walked in the door
crash
and
uh-oh
were heard
in that order from hk's bathroom
just a mirror
we've got more
and so it began

it's not easy being so cute...

one of sister's favs...  so much going on in one little pic...

future heartbreaker...

chalk outlines...
more people came out on saturday
i was called a
poo poo head
a doody poo poo head
and
irene

another kid
another dog
more chaos
more broken things
more love
more food for the soul of this house
and me...

Thursday, July 19, 2012

hints from big Rhonda...(office addition)

be very careful when writing
hard lock
that's lock with an L
might end up looking like something completely different

you are welcome...