Posts Tagged nose piercing

A little of this & that

December 19, 2008 at 3:30 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

This will be a journal entry of sorts… just recording what’s been going on:

Gary the Gallbladder’s eviction has been scheduled for Dec 31st. How’s that for squeezing it in before the end of the year?! Bobby, in all his infinite wisdom, originally scheduled his surgery for this coming Tues, Dec 23rd. I was incredulous – why would he CHOOSE to be in recovery on Christmas Eve & Christmas? So we rescheduled it yesterday for New Years Eve… Gary’s really been acting up lately, so we’re definitely not going to miss his sorry ass. Does a gallbladder have an ass?

I assisted Sue with removing her nose piercing last night (insert shudder here). That’s some funky crap – all this time, I’ve been thinking that a nose stud was like an earring, with a back that could be removed. Yeah, not so much. It’s a little twirly hook that has to be twisted and turned while being pulled until it finally pops out. Are you cringing? Yes, that’s exactly what I did last night. She replaced her little diamond with a clear “space-holder” in honor of holiday visits with the grandparents. You can still tell that she has her nose pierced though… she really might have to just buck up and bravely own her facial modification. That should be fun to witness.

We’re heading to Virginia to visit Mama’s family this evening. Staying until Sunday. I’m not dreading it for the first time since Mama died – each visit with her family has been a little easier, a little less tense, and the last one was truly nice. So I think we’re going to have a nice time. I’m not, not, NOT looking forward to seeing my pregnant cousin. The baby’s due in 2 or 3 weeks… she and I got pregnant at the same time (mine ended in miscarriage #1, hers kept going), so every time I see her, it’s a reminder of how close we would be right now to having a new little family member. Bleh. Jennifer was struck with this horrible feeling today that pregnant cousin is going to name her baby after Mama. I’m really hoping that Jen’s just being paranoid, cuz’ that’s not gonna roll.

Bobby and I are hosting a little Christmas Eve drop-in this year… it’s going to mostly be just family, but I’m kinda excited about having something for our first Christmas in this house. I had a sudden realization the other day – when Mama died, our holiday traditions died with her. It just became too painful to keep doing the same things, pretending that things are the same, yet NOTHING’s the same. Last Christmas was just a blur, so it really doesn’t count. But this year, I realized something… the lack of our old traditions leaves room for all new traditions. We basically have a blank slate to create whatever we want for our children… and Maggie (and hopefully my babies too) will grow up with traditions that we created for them. So that’s what we’re doing this year… creating new traditions. It’s sad – I would never have chosen to nix the old ones – but it’s also kind of exciting to realize that we’re making something that our children will hopefully treasure for years to come, just like we treasure our childhood Christmases.

So the schedule is as follows:
Today we’re going to Virginia to visit Mama’s family, and coming home Sunday afternoon. Sunday night, we’re going to a Christmas church service. Monday, Jen, Tom & Maggie are heading to Charlotte to visit Tom’s mom & sister. Wed (Christmas Eve) Bobby & I are spending the day with his family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) and then hosting a family drop-in that evening for parents, siblings, close friends, etc. Christmas morning, we’re getting up and hauling all of Maggie’s gifts to Jen & Tom’s house, then after present-opening, Jennifer’s going to fix a giant Christmas morning breakfast like we used to have at our Grandma’s house. Christmas afternoon, we’re heading to Ellijay, GA to our “Christmas cabin,” where we’ll stay for 5 days, until Dec 29th. We did the cabin thing for the first time last year to escape from all the holiday madness, and loved it – so we’re doing it again.

Everything is different, but it’s still good. I feel almost guilty being excited about Christmas without Mama… but she wouldn’t have it any other way. I know.

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Two little girlies

November 9, 2008 at 7:44 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , ,

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On Friday afternoon, we took pictures of Maggie in our front yard… she’s such a little ham. We took 150+ pictures, but this one is my favorite, I think. It’s the facial expression and her little rotund belly poking out… just makes me laugh.

Saturday, friends Marlena & Tim came over to watch our beloved Clemson Tigers. Their little girl Emma is a charming little munchkin – only 2yo, but she is seems verynov8-003 advanced (of course, my experience with 2-yr-olds is limited, but still). When meeting Sue, she immediately zeroed in on her nose piercing and said “Did dat hurt?” Just funny… she misses nothing, and is amazingly cognizant. She had a grand time running through the leaves in the front yard, and racing around with Oscar & Coby. Then after dinner, she and Sue disappeared into the back of the house, and THIS reemerged a while later. Check out these accessories…  the giant sunglasses, double strand of pearls, tiara, and snake-skin purse. I think it’s safe to say that Susanna’s room is an optimal place for little (and big) divas to play “dress up”?! I missed a prime picture opportunity when she had Sue’s sparkly Converse sneakers on as well… completed the ensemble perfectly :)

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Sue’s "body modification"

October 27, 2008 at 2:54 am · Filed under weight loss ·Tagged , , , , , , , ,

For all you fellow roasters out there, I picked all my green tomatoes and roasted them for dinner last night. YUM!! Roasting things is my new favorite pastime – I tried chickpeas too (thanks, Holly!), and they were fabulous.

WeightWatchers update: Bobby and I maintained this week – no loss, no gain – which was kind of disheartening. I know that I didn’t try as hard as I could have though, so I guess it’s not as discouraging as if I had actually followed all the guidelines to the letter. I’m not drinking my 64 oz. of water per day, and there was some illicit late-night snacking. Not conducive to fast weight loss, apparently.

This weekend, Sue drank absinthe (anyone seen “Moulin Rouge”? Think Green Fairy) and got her nose pierced… good times! It’s still a bit tender in the pic to the left – apparently this was taken immediately afterward. To put this “body modification” (yes, this is how it was described by Darby the piercing ninja) into perspective, my family pierces NOTHING. Like, we’re talking crazy conservative. Like, I didn’t get my ears pierced until last fall in a show of rebellion. Like, Jennifer & Sue STILL don’t have their ears pierced. But hell, Susanna has her nose pierced, so I guess that trumps the ears, right? She has a snazzy little diamond stud… Her head has definitely gotten more interesting during the last few months. First the hair got chopped, now the nose got pierced. And she has sequined All-Star tennis shoes. Oh my.

I’ve been realizing… Sue’s moving out. I’ve known it for a while – after all, her acceptance to the College of Charleston was official on September 17th. But I’m really just realizing the implications for our home. It’s going to be so. f-ing. quiet. I mean, wow. Sue and I were ranting at CNN the other night and I realized…. I’m gonna be ranting to myself in just two months. Two months. I cook dinner, and I know that there are two more people I’m cooking for. I justify fixing things that Bobby doesn’t like because I know that Sue & I have the same taste (in food, at least). I’ve gotten accustomed to the sound of thumping music and slamming doors and random conversational tidbits thrown at me from the hallway door. There’s life beyond Bobby and me. There’s always a little scuffle of some sort happening in her end of the house. It’s gonna be weird without her here. Weird and lonely. She’s lived with us for almost a year now… it’ll be a year on Thanksgiving. There were times I thought Bobby was gonna string her up by her sparkly All-Stars. But we’re both gonna miss her. It’s been almost like having a kid, except we skipped all the cute, cuddly stages and went straight to post-adolescent/pre-adulthood angst. But it’s also been nice having a friend. A sister nearby. Yep, I’m gonna miss her.

There’s been a huge family drama that I haven’t written about, and now it’s pretty much resolved… but ripple effects are ongoing and probably will be for a while (think “nose piercing”). Daddy seemed to totally support Sue going back to school. That is, right up until it was time to pony up and sign her student loan paperwork, and then he refused. Just plain, point-blank said “no.” There have been many reasons listed – he doesn’t think she’ll pay it back and he’ll be saddled with it. He hates debt and feels that he would be doing Sue a disservice by signing for her. He thinks that she should work until she can pay for college in cash (um, yeah, that’s the voice of guy who had his parents writing a check for his college education). And last but definitely not least, he just doesn’t want her to move to Charleston. He wants her to stay local, he doesn’t think she’ll make it down there by herself (it’s approximately a 4-hr drive from here), and ultimately, he just likes knowing that she’s close by.

But she’s going. I’m co-signing for her. I’m not letting student loans – which, although it IS debt, is the cheapest money you’ll ever borrow – stand between her and her next step. Mama wanted her in college. When Mama died, all of our lives were disrupted, but Sue’s was probably the most outward disruption. She cracked, fell apart, withdrew from school, withdrew from everything. I think we would be exacerbating the tragedy of Mama’s death if we stood by and allowed that horrible, shattering event to define Susanna’s path from here. I think Mama would be totally with me on this.

But shitdamnhell, I’m gonna miss her.

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