Lovebugs:Hated or Welcomed?

You may remember me talking about how I love what I call the markers of the seasons....those things that happen every year at the same time marking the beginning of a new season. Strangely enough, I even like the pesky markers! In our region of the United States, we have "lovebugs" show up every fall. These little bugs are interesting creatures that I had never seen or heard of before moving here. They are little black and orange bugs that are called lovebugs because

"upon reaching maturity the lovebug spends almost the entirety of its remaining life copulating with its mate... The male and female attach themselves at the rear of the abdomen and remain that way at all times, even in flight. In fact, after mating, the male dies and is dragged around by the female until she lays her eggs." -wikipedia

Its during the fall of the year that they begin to swarm (probably more accurately called flights). They seem to be attracted to light or white surfaces (like the columns on our back porch). They are most pesky to our vehicles. Driving, especially on highways, results in lots of lovebugs splattered all over the front of the car. If they are not washed off pretty quickly, the remains dry and are very hard to remove.

While these unique bugs ARE pesky and bothersome, to me they mark the beginning of the fall season. The fall season around here means slightly cooler weather and a lot less humidity. And a lot less humidity means we can breathe and quit sweating non-stop. We can open the windows and enjoy the outdoors. The kiddos can spend much more time outside, and everybody seems more relaxed and happy. So, anything (even pesky bugs) that signals milder weather is a welcome sight to me!

The Gift

Our son as been asking for a "real" bow and arrow for a long time now. Usually, when he asks for something, its a passing phase and he will quit asking after a while. That wasn't the case with this. The closer we got to his birthday, the more he talked about the bow and arrow he wanted. This last week, he kept telling me about how Daddy was going to go to the store and get him a bow and arrow for his birthday.

So, a couple of days ago, Daddy DID make a trek to the store and got our son this:


When he opened his gift yesterday, there was no surprise. He'd been telling me for days what he was going to get! There WAS a lot of excitement, though! And he was more than willing to try out his shooting skills in the back yard. Daddy had set up some "hay barrels" for target practice. It turns out that this model is too big (the pounds of pressure are too great for him to be able to shoot it by himself), so we will have to exchange it for a smaller one.

It doesn't matter, he got his real bow and arrow and the stories of shooting hay "barrels" and someday a moose have replaced stories of Daddy buying a bow and arrow.

My Baby....

...is not a baby anymore!



Happy fifth birthday, baby!

No Words Necessary!

Lovin' Where I Live

Top Ten Reasons I Love Where I Live (in no particular order):

1. The people - everyone is so friendly and nice. We speak to each other in the aisles of Walmart even if we don't know each other. You don't have to know someone to get a wave from them as they pass by on the road.

2. Our small town - We had only lived here a few months when my hubby and I remarked to each other how "at home" we already felt. The aura of a small town is so great. I love the activities like Patriotic Celebration on the square, High School Homecoming Parade, Harvest Day and so much more!

3.We have a town square. It's the place where many of our town events are held. I go there to meet some friends every morning to walk for exercise. Our children can play in the square while we walk around the outside.

4. The food - yum! I love the good ol' home cooking: lots of veggies and smoked meats. There's the bread, too. And scrumptious homemade desserts! Gotta watch out for those. Too much of a good thing adds pounds to the waistline!

5. Our church - what a loving group of people.

6. Our house - we are so blessed.

7. The beautiful plants and flowers that flourish in our warm, humid climate!

8. Our proximity to the beautiful gulf beaches.

9. Our friends - we have been blessed with many relationships that mean so much to us. We didn't grow up here, but have been welcomed and loved as if we did.

10. The pretty vistas that characterize a rural area.

11. (I know, I cheated. But, I couldn't leave off) SWEET TEA!

My thanks to my Colorado friend, Mer, for the idea. You can check out her list here.

So what about you? Why do you love (or for that matter, don't love) where you live?

A Soap Box

It a rare thing for me to write any kind of commentary on my blog. Don't get me wrong, I have lots of opinions and enjoy an occasional, intelligent, somewhat heated debate. In fact, those who know me well would probably tell you that I pretty much enjoy getting on my soapbox if the need arises.

Its just that I like to keep my blog as a place to report on my little family and keep friends and family all over the country updated. But tonight, I'm going to depart from the norm, go out on a limb and tell you my opinion about something.

I'm tired of men bashing!

That's right. I'm tired of hearing women (mostly on TV) talk about how stupid or childish their husbands are. I'm tired of seeing people around me treat their husbands with disrespect or insinuate that their husbands can't be trusted to do anything right.

I guess one of the things that prompted this post was an episode of "John and Kate Plus Eight." My children were watching this show yesterday when I walked into the room to hear Kate berating her husband and equating his maturity to that of a child. While her derogatory comments were bad enough in themselves, I was especially upset that she was saying them in front of her children. She might as well have sat her children down and told them: "Your dad is not real smart, and he can't be trusted to act like an adult."

I got on my soapbox in front of my children. I told them that Dads are smart people who know what they're doing and that I trust their Daddy to do what's right. I want to be careful that I don't do anything that might teach my children to disrespect or distrust their Dad.

OK. I could go on, but I'll spare you more soap box.

Another thing that prompted this post is the start of a new, special blog. My blog friend, Nan, started a blog entitled, Brag On Your Man. It is the answer to the man bashing trend in our culture. It is a place specifically designated to bragging on our men, to telling the world why we love our men...

Click on the icon above to go over there. Then, start doing the opposite of bashing.

A Funny Discovery

Today, I was searching for a document my hubby needed. I guess my filing system is lacking something, because I couldn't lay my hands on the document right away. I searched through several files until I found this:



This is the remote control to our tv. While it is very strange that I would find a tv remote in my files; what's more strange is that it has been missing for 3 years!

One day about three years ago, I reorganized, refiled, and culled our files. It was a huge project which included large bags of trash. I had the tv on, listening to a news channel and about mid-day, I realized I couldn't find the remote. I looked everywhere for it. I dug through the large trash bags of paper trash. I looked under and behind the furniture. I examined boxes and files, but could not find it anywhere. I finally gave up my search, and we concluded that it must have gotten thrown away in the mess somehow.

Now, years later, I came upon it randomly. I yelled and laughed and went looking for my hubby with the exciting news.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time something like this has happened to me. After I graduated from college, I packed up the things in my apartment to head home for the summer. I got everything squared away and was ready to head for the office to turn in my keys, but could not find them anywhere! I turned the place upside down to no avail. Fortunately, I had a spare car key and the apartment manager didn't charge me a fine.

Three years later, I had just gotten engaged and was moving to my parents house to plan my wedding. I was searching for something and decided to check the couch. Wouldn't you know it: I found those keys stuck way down in the sides of the couch! It had been so long since I lost them that I didn't recognize them at first!