Play it Again!

And you though I would never tell. But I couldn’t leave you all hanging on just waiting to hear about my first Copperhead experience at our home (note I didn’t say my first experience with a snake, just my first time at our home.) Here goes…

Cue up the beautiful spring day, just perfect as I remember it. I decided I would clean up the back yard. See back then we had lots of trees out there, about 30 or so. The lady that lived in the house before us had some brick stacked out in the middle of the yard. I think she was planning on making a b-b-que pit with it or something.

I did some raking and some mowing and was determined to move all those bricks behind the shed where they were out of my eye site and not in my way. I got the wheelbarrow and with my dainty little girl gloved hands begin moving the bricks. I laid them out flat behind the shed in a pretty little brick pattern. Well what did you expect, I didn’t want to see them stacked up so I sure wasn’t going to stack them back up.

I was working away and found some ants, horrible little things. Once they settled down I was back at it only from the other side of the stack; the side that had already fallen, who knows when, and they were just laying in a jumbled pile. I moved one brick and got movement. Eww gross, must have been a worm or one of those slugs. You know the kind you put salt on and watch ‘em melt into goo or til you get totally grossed out or bored. I went in the house to get the salt, cause that is what we do to slugs in Texas. Slugs are not pets PETA!

So I’m out there by the pile of bricks fixing to pour out some salt and Whaoo! That’s not a slug. Crap it’s not even a worm. Oh super double crap it’s a snake. Let me rephrase that. It was not just a snake but a whole den of baby copperheads (greenish tails) and the devoted mother was there too. Ah how sweet. NOT! Well I very cautiously backed up. Because that is what my daddy always told me to do every time I found a snake, and I sure hopped it was true for a crap load of 'em too.

Once I felt pretty sure I was backed up far enough I ran in the house, never to return to the back yard again. Well at least that is what I proclaimed when my beloved got home from work.

At first he thought they were most likely little garden snakes but I assured him I had plenty of experience in finding snakes on accident and that was a den of copperheads. I was sure of it. NO I was more then sure I was totally positive.

Snake lovers are hereby advised to stop reading and PETA people eaters leave me alone already! We get a can of gasoline, hey it was cheap then, what maybe a dollar fifteen a gallon. Anyway my Beloved had the can I had a shovel we mosey over to the pile he kicked the bricks and there they were. A giante snake bed, he poured some gas and grabbed the shovel from me, and choppy, choppy there goes mamma’s head. Then the flame popped up and I think some of those babies got away. Dangit

Which is probably where the one at our back door came from and the grand child was at our front door. Or I guess they all could’ve been Corn Snakes like Karen thinks, but still not wanted in my yard!

And next time I want to talk snakes I’ll tell you about the time... well I have lots more snake finding stories. But I only have the nerve to re-tale them one at a time and this is enough for now. You know it almost seems like just when I get over my last snake incident a new one pops up.

Well whata ya know

I have been given an award, which is most awesome, from one of my Girlz—Linda of LeftBrainWrite. I am flattered to be named a part of this awesome group of ladies, who I respect and whose great work I enjoy, not to mention their fun blogs that decorate the blogospher so beautifully.

In no particular order will the following...

Karen- TSSO

KimmyK- I have no name

Susan- Susan's Snippets

Melissa- Melissa's Manic Musings

Jannie- Jannie Funster

Shay- Word Garden

Please accept this small token of my appreciation for the kindness and inspiration you have given me.

Gosh I feel so bad for not giving this to all of you my dear Internet…What ta heck … Y’all ALL deserve this, in my small humble opinion, as YOU ALL have given me enjoyment, inspiration, hugs and tugs, laughter and tears and yes even the willpower to just keep plugging along.

Yay for All of y’all

TaDah

And here for your reading OUT-LOUD pleasure one last Pitiful Post. A Pitiful Poem part of my Poetry a Day for the year pulled out of my Prompt jar, for the month of March.

CHRISTMAS SURPRISE

Ready to play a game?
Everyone keep it a secret,
Don’t tell. Here’s what we’re

Gonna do. Take one pen with
Red ink or a maker
Evenly write out the first letter of
Each line in this acrostic poem
Nice and slow now.

Can you guess the
Answer
To this special riddle?

Pretty pitiful huh? Go ahead say it
Out loud…I dare you
Oh my, Gummy Butt, it is the
Prompt for red-green cat poop!


And thanks again Sandy

Going Home

This is the door that we endlessly ran in and out of, the screen door is gone now, it has been replaced with a burglar bar door. But the old wooden one is still the same and believe it or not the glass is the same that was there when my parents bought the place. The door has pealing white paint and the original rusty barn red shows through. I can remember when it was that color all over, well except the brick cause we don’t’ believe in painting brick. {not that there is anything wrong in painting brick if you like that sort of thing}

This is the window where my mother would watch us play in the backyard, as she washed dishes in the double sink. The sink is the same but the faucets have changed a few if not several times. There used to be trees, the clothesline {solar dryer} was tied to them. My sisters and I would make tents over the line with blankets and have tea parties with our dolls or picnics. The one really big oak tree I would climb and sit on this one special branch that was just right for a little girl needing to sit. All the trees are gone having been fell by one hurricane or another through the years. My tree had to be cut down a few years after My limb fell and hit the power and phone lines coming into the house. Which caused a chain reaction; house caught on fire making the transformer on the power pole blow and that affects the pocket book. Because everyone knows, or at least should know, that between the pole and your home is your problem.

Why the walk down memory lane? We went to my parents recently so I could cut my daddy’s toenails, cause I do that {back-story in a few}. And when I was emptying the foot thingy out the back door, cause a good Earth friendly citizen should not pour good water down the bad drain when it can be used on something in the yard, I noticed the pealing paint and thought of how many times I must have gone in and out that very same door ~a hundred Gazillion at least. And yes I bet at least a third, ok maybe half of those times (could be more) was followed by the phrase “Don’t slam the screen door!”

*here’s that back story of sorts. When I was little and we would pack up in the unair-conditioned car to head up north to Indiana {home} my daddy would always cut my great-grandfather’s toenails when we got to the farm. When my dad was in the hospital several years ago I noticed how long and knarly his talons were and I was honestly a little surprised they were that bad. It was just pitiful (dapoppins Pity Party) I mean EE-U! I sure hope, IF / when I can’t do my own, someone will do it for me.

Such are the little things we don’t think about and take for granted~~sometimes.

Oh by the way I won a prize and y'all are so jealous. I just know it. This is getting posted from the Gage Hotel in Marathon Texas. As I am on vacation in the Big Bend National Park area. Which is MOST AWESOME y'all gotta come here one of these days! We will be there tomorrow and thru the remainder of the week. Any one feeling HOT HOT HOT

Co-Worker trouble

It was not so good a month of January for one of my co-workers who I shall call Terry, cause that’s her name and she doesn’t read my blog. {I think} Anywho, they (who ever they are) say truth is stranger then fiction and I say if this story is not pitiful I don’t know what is…

Terry had been feeling bad for some time and for a month or better I would follow her up the stairs in the parking garage. The elevator has been broken since Ike. Well she would have to pause on the landing of each set of stairs to catch her breath. Now Terry is no smoker and never has but she had been coughing for some time…I had also been worried about it and started telling her to go to the doctor. Which she had been to more than once already. First it was a cold then it was bronchitis then she thought maybe it was pneumonia or bronchitis again. I told her she needed an x-ray. I don’t’ think she reailized how long this had been going on till I kept telling her, “you have been coughing and being short winded for a long time.”

And here we were in January already and going home on a that first Friday of the year and month and she had to stop and rest for a couple of minutes before going up the next half flight of stairs. And again I stressed that I really thought she needed a chest x-ray, but didn’t say why on accounta she is normally smart and I knew she knew what I meant. I feared lung cancer.

And on Saturday morning she got up called her mom and said come take me to the ER. She told them what had been going on. She asked for and got the chest X-ray-NO Cancer. They ultra sounded her belly and found a tumor, blood test revealed her iron level was lower than a dead person. Did you hear what I typed-Dead People have higher Iron than Terry did. She was given 6 pints of whole blood over Saturday and Sunday~ People! There are only about 10 pints in the normal adult to begin with.

Ladies take a little Iron tablet every now and again will ya.

With her Iron fixed they did surgery to remove the tumor, it was Fibroid. She had already scheduled her vacation and what better time to rest and relax then after all this trama drama. Feeling young and fit, now being full of iron, dare-devil blood and not worried about lung cancer or tumors. What a great vacation! She, mom, sister and brother went to Colorado.

Now I know you see this one coming and Yes you are right. Ms Terry donned a set of skis and took a lesson or two. What fun she had, but her calves sure did hurt especially after the little spill she took. No big deal just a sprain…so she thought. When they got home and the calve and ankle still sorta hurt and were still swollen she made a visit to her doctor. And Yes indeedy people she had a broken leg.

To me this is a pitful story and ya just gotta feel bad for Terry. But know this my friends she Feels Marvelous and grateful because she has gotten her three for the year out of the way and she's waiting to chuckle at the rest of us when our three come.

We at the office now wander if She get Frequent Patient Smiles

I know I don’t have to, but I will explain the “three thang” cause it would just be pitiful if you didn’t know or understand what that is. All bad things, including illness, death, breaking glasses, cutting yourself, etc come in threes. Yes it is an old wives tale and a superstitious type thing. But hey it happens however pitiful as it may be.

Join in the PP {pity posting} and let dapoppings know you are a guest at her month long Pity Party. At one time I heard she was offering Free Prizes.

Car trouble...

Yesterday I had a flat tire on the interstate. So I eased my car over to the shoulder of the road, carefully got out of the car and opened the trunk. I took out 2 cardboard men, unfolded them and stood them at the rear of my car facing oncoming traffic. They looked so life like you wouldn’t believe it! They were in trench coats exposing their nude bodies and private parts to the approaching drivers. To my surprise, cars started slowing down looking at my lifelike men. And of course, traffic started backing up. Everybody was tooting their horns and waving like crazy. It wasn’t long before a state trooper pulled up behind me. He got out of his car and started walking toward me. I could tell he was not a happy camper!
“What’s going on here?” he said
My car has a flat tire, I said calmly.
“Well, what the hell are those obscene cardboard men doing here by the road?” he questioned.
I could not believe that he didn’t know. So I told him, ‘Helloooo, those are my emergency flashers?’


I did not write this, nor was there an author's name on it, but I thought it was hilarious and had to share it with you my dear internet.

Party Time ???

Here's a little something for dapoppins from me worthy of a full wallowing in a pity party pit…

Beloved and I used to work out, really, exercise at the Y every day, serious. Well one thing led to another and we started missing and it totally went down hill. After that I seemed to have gained a little weight all of a sudden. It was weird! I tell you one day everything was fine and then the next day I could not stand it anymore, my stupid pants must have shrank like 2 sizes instantaneously-for real. I had to leave work in the middle of the day and go to the walsmart across the street and buy a new pair of britches. What ta hell was that all about?

Then it got worse, I started craving candy bars in the afternoon, and the deli in my building was just so very handy and I’d just pop on down and come back eating and being the natural smart a$$ that I am I would say, “I’m not near fat enough yet.”

And now a couple few years later I have found out that I am plenty fat enough. But no matter how many times I say, “I’m not near skinny enough, yet” nothing happens. Now I refuse to go and buy any "big" clothes and one day I will be naked at work and then everyone else will know I’m not near skinny enough, either.

I should get some sort of badge for this~~don’t chya think?

Tag it and bag it and ....

tagged for 20 random songs on my Ipod by Melissa…

Shoot to Thrill- AC/DC
Black Bird - Sarah McLachlan
Traveling Band - CCR (Credence Clearwater Revival)
Oh! What a Night - Syl & the family Stone
Tush - ZZ top
Time In A Bottle - Jim Croce
Solitary Man - Neil Diamond
Most Beautiful Girl - Charlie Rich
Do You Think I’m Sexy? - Rod Stewart
Black Horse - KT Tunstall
Delayed Devotion - Duffy
White Flag - Dido
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
First Love - Adele
Stupid Girls - Pink
Touch My Body - Mariah Carey
Your Embrace - Shakira
Going under - Evanescence
Cat Scratch Fever - Ted Nugent
Happy - Natasha Bedingfield

and this is in now way random enough, there is not even a Brahm's listed here. I guess you can't have 'em all.

or can you? What's on you IPOD?

Hello I’m Announcing Here…

DAPoppins is having a party and she has invited everyone. It is scheduled for the entire month of March. Yes you heard that right a whole month of partying and its free and she is gonna have prizes. Now this is no ordinary get to together and not a frilly tea party although you may have a cup or glass pending on how you like it. Whine is always a cheerful pick you up, if you prefer that instead of Long Island Iced Tea.

It is not gonna be a costume party but you are free to wear one or tell us about the time you did. This is a special party and I’m not so sure everyone will want to attend on accounta it being so special and all, but I suppose, okay I’m pretty sure that everyone has at least one story to tell or not and if you are just curious enough you can read and laugh or cry at other’s expense or even your own.

What? Ya wanta know what kind of party it is… A PITY PARTY


Ok, now that you know you should just March on over there (get it) and throw some pity her way, your way or heck mine if it’s necessary.

So what about you? Have pitiful things you wanta share or are you just up to trying to grab a prize of two? Here’s what ya need to do either way Post your story and link to DAPoppins and then let her know you are joining the Pity Party. Feel free to tell her you heard about the party from me because that would make me smile.

If you don’t want to do neither and you just want to read some pitiful stuff drop on by over there for a little bit of other people’s PP ~~(pun was SO intended)