An Old Farmer's Advice

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong.

* Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.

* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.

* Meanness don't jus' happen overnight.

* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.

* Every path has a few puddles.

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain 't never gonna happen, anyway.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

* Live a good, honorable life.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

*The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with,
watches you from the mirror every mornin'."

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

*Leave the rest to God.

Christmas, Cousins and Twilight

On Wednesday night Manda and I are going to treat ourselves to seeing Twilight again! We are both so excited. We are going with Jessica and Casey after I get off of work.

It's nice to have the cousins interacting together again. Jessica is 9 years older than Manda, so it has been awhile since they have "hung out" together. Manda has always looked up to Jessica.

On Christmas Day after we opened presents at my mother - in - law's house we all went to Bob and Suzette's to enjoy family time and so that we could share the work and fun of getting the turkey in the oven. (Nothing says family like sharing the kitchen!)

Jessica and Casey had gotten their Wii for Christmas, and they invited Manda to join in the fun. Manda was thrilled to be included with them. She adores Jessica and Casey is a nice guy, with a warm and friendly personality (shhh... don't tell Jessica, but we think she and Casey are adorable together and hope he'll become an official part of the family in the not too distant future!)

Jessica had not had the time or energy to read Twilight yet. She received the entire series for Christmas and has been reading avidly trying to get through Twilight so she could see the epic theater release. So - she finished over the weekend, and we are all going to the movies.

I can't wait to see it again. Manda and I loved it the first time.

Here is a fun article I found about Twilight:

'Twilight': How Do You Like the Cast?

See the work that led Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, and the others bringing Stephenie Meyer's characters to life to these roles; are they your choices?

I think this might make a few people laugh

One of the guys I work with knows I am a blogger. He saw this clip and knew I'd have to have it on my blog today.

I'll admit, I found it very funny. There are some who probably won't:

Hope you got a Tuesday morning chuckle!

Pitter Patter ....

I was woken by the pitter patter of tiny feet racing across the bed this morning ....

.... the cats were wide awake, bright eyed & ready for cat playtime well before the alarm went off at 5:00 a. m.

It's a good thing they are cute. Harvest is the 6 month old kitten, and she is an instigator. She loves to chase Harley and will do anything she can to get his full attention. This morning she was launching her little adorable torti self off of anything higher than Harley, and was attempting to land on top of him.

Harley (being the much older, more mature cat that he is) tried to ignore Harvest's somewhat annoying antics, but he finally had to admit defeat and engage in playtime with her. The two of them were racing throughout the house at full speed, pausing only long enough to shift their direction of travel, or play hide and seek - and then of course they would to pounce upon each other in a hilarious version of cat WWF.

I usually have to intervene when Harley makes Harvest cry out. But, honestly, Princess PITA - Lil Miss Harvest is THE instigator and she deserves to have Harley put her in her place. Harley is just so much bigger than her, I worry about Harley hurting her. However, when Harvest sneaks up on him, grabs his long black tail with both of her tiny front paws and bites him as hard as she can, she is on her own.

Happy Monday!

Yes, today is Monday and I can not help but be a bit excited. Why? Because Manda goes back to school today.

No - I don't hate my child and wish to see less of her. Quite the opposite. I love our teenager. She is pretty darn well rounded, has a great sense of humor and is very loving. But - she is a "routine" kid and being off of her normal routine puts the whole house is chaos.

So the alarm went off at 5:00 am, and normalcy prevails!

Happy 2009. Better go do my hair and get ready for work.

Have a great day.