This Past Week

 

I am sorry I have been away once again, but Rhett had a project due this week and we spent a lot of time working on getting it ready to be presented on time. I did not take any photos of it, but it was colorful. It was about Garrett Morgan, who invented a form of the traffic light. We used baby blue colored poster board to symbolize the sky. We stenciled the title which was his name in red, yellow and green to represent the colors of the traffic light. There was empty space at the bottom and my paper cutter is not the industrial size to crop such a large piece. Then Rhett came up with the brilliant idea of cutting out red, yellow and green circles to place at the bottom. Cool. I thought it was an excellent idea. I'd bought shiney scrapbook papers for the traffic light anyway.

I was going to post for ABC Wednesday and use current photos of my father as Edgar and Rhett as Everett much like I did for the last go round, but did not find the time to post. My Word Perfect wasn't working at work either.

One day last week I printed the pictures from Valentine's at Walmart. But before I printed them, I checked to see if my sunglasses I lost there the previous week had been turned in and luckily they had! The clerk questioned me about my surity that they were mine so I pointed out a chip in one lense. I thought about painting them with stripes of red and hot pink nail polish to better identify them. I was so thankful to have found them because the fit perfectly over my regular glasses. When I got to my mom's, she pointed out that I'd cut off my Daddy's head in one of their photos I printed so they will have to be re-done. I was concentrating so hard on cropping the excess out of the picture that I didn't notice I'd cut Daddy's head off!

This project was due on Friday. That morning as we were walking out the door to school Rhett told me I had to take him to his gifted school so he could catch a bus to the local high school for an event. I'd signed permission slip for him to catch the bus, but had completely forgotten all about it. I was totally focused on the project.

So we arrive at his gifted school. There was a bus at the far end of the school yard. We head into the office because I am not just dropping my child off at a school without making sure he has transportation to where he is supposed to be which turned out to be a good thing since the bus had already left for the high school! I am mad at this point and fussing at Rhett. I told him it was a good thing I had gotten gas the night before. He had his head down like he was going to cry or either throw up.

Luckily I remembered how to get to the high school from the gifted school. I have only lived here almost 15 years now, but still don't know my way around. We arrive at the high school which doesn't have a easy parking lot as it is multi-leveled plus there was construction going on in places. There was no parking at the main entrance which I remembered from paying for Stephanie's senior pictures many moons ago. We found a numbered parking place, parked and walked to the nearest entrance. Signs inside said all visitors we were supposed to check in with the main office. We found a group of high schoolers at a table and asked where we were supposed to go. There was a mix-up about Rhett being an individual presenter rather than in a group. We were suposed to go upstairs. Now Rhett has a fear of heights. So here I am having to hold a 10 year old's hand in a high school to go up stairs.

We found two students from his gifted class. The boy who was supposed to be in charge of their group was not present. Their tri-board was still at the gifted school, but one of the teachers was willing to go get it. Only one boy wanted to go ahead and present. At this point Rhett was probably just willing to observe after all the drama/trama he'd been through. I waited for his gifted teacher to appear before I left him there.

I still had to take his poster to his regular school! Of course I'd already phoned work to tell them I would be late. Luckily Illy was off so I didn't have to hear her mouth. As I was signing in to take his poster back to his room, a lady I'd never seen at this school was behind the office. She said the poster was really good and asked me if I did it. I told her it was his idea. So I made it to work where there were some accounting problems that were done incorrectly on accounting's end.

Rhett said he had fun and his group came in fourth place which was last but still that is better than nothing. He seems to be on a winning streak. Maybe I should let him pick some lottery numbers for me! LOL

Later that evening we ate a Country's. I had a really good old fashioned hamburger. We came home to watch "Ghost Whisperer" then we went to the 10 o'clock showing of "Twilight" which we saw for my birthday, but it was now playing at the cheap movies. I was very strongly dying to see it again. I'd dressed in four layers as it was really cold, but the theatre was so warm I came out of those layers fast! Rhett went to sleep on me before the movie ended. He slept in the car on the way home. Then he was ill & whiney telling me we were not going to do that again unless it was summer! But I loved the spontenity of doing something like that on the spur of the moment.

Saturday, we'd said I'd take my folks to see her oldest living sister in Montgomery. Aunt Margareet was unable to attend Uncle Frank's funeral due to her health problems. She is on a breathing machine. It was a nice drive over. Hardly any traffic. Just a perfect day for it except it was still chilly outside and too warm in the car.

Two of my older cousins were there. Florence, who was named after my maternal grandmother, but we call her "Sister" and her older sister Jean. I used to call her "Jeanie-bug" when I was a little girl. Thankfully my cousin Randall had taken his big ole dog so we could have a nice visit. Sister was quieter, not demanding as she had been during our last phone conversation where she demanded that we stop my Uncle Frank from having his brain cancer surgery in Birmingham. That was not our place and I told her we could not do that. After she'd told me my mom would go crazy if my Uncle died, I set her straight about my mom; that she is one of the strongest women I know. She would not go crazy. She would survive. I did good and did not gloat because I did not bring up about her predictions that Uncle Frank would not last through Christmas. He proved her wrong because he last a month and a day longer than she predicted.

After awhile Sister got some fish pellets for Rhett to take out to their pond to feed the fish. I wasn't crazy about the idea due to the cold wind, but we put on jackets and went out to the pond. Last time we did this, Rhett was barely a talking baby. Jean held him as she feed the fish bread. It was like a parana frenzy that day! Rhett just giggled. I love his laugh. There wasn't as many fish yesterday but there was an old carp, at least three BIG catfish, brims and a turtle. Sister handed him one of her grandson Nathan's fishing poles baited with old bread. She told him not to catch the catfish which is hard for a kid to do. He caught a BIG cat, but she made him feel bad about it. She pulled it up onto the bank as her husband was returning to the dock. Bruce wasn't mad but they had to get the hook out. Sister talked to the fish like it was a baby. Later I told Rhett she was a "Fish Whisperer" or a "Fish Talker" and he thought that was really funny. As I was leaning over the rail, I had my refound sunglasses stuck inside the top button of my blouse. Now I had my digital camera strapped securely around my wrist. So in goes my glasses into 10 feet of cold water and I'd just gotten them back! Sister couldn't find a net anywhere. She said that maybe this summer when the water level goes down, they might can find them. This is a photo of Sister and Rhett fishing on her dock.

At this point I am so upset about the loss of my refound sunglasses that I go back in the house. My mom asked me about my youngun. I told her he was out there with Sister. Luckily the sun would be at my back going home and it was nearing sunset. Still I was ill about it. I was just thankful it wasn't my camera. I would have jumped in for it - cold or not!

Sister's grandson Nathan has a small treehouse that even has a heater, air conditioner, tv and vacuum cleaner in it! Talk about spoiled!

We ate at the Cracker Barrell on the way home. All the fish that day made us want to have fish. Only Rhett got fish then he said it didn't taste right, but it did. Both mom & I tasted it. He sent it back and got grilled chicken instead. We stayed a bit at mom's then came home.

I beat my highest score on BookWorm! My highest score is now 7,917,870! That will be even harder to beat now.

We agreed to eat at Red Lobster today after church. Rhett got his first Shirley Temple today. I took a picture of it for the scrapbook. It turned out well. I tasted of it to see what it tasted like, but I didn't care for it. I really don't think he liked it very much either because he didn't drink all of the first glass. I don't recall ever having one before, but my mom said I did. I don't like it because it reminds me of cherry flavored cough syrup. Ugh! As I shiver with the thought of it! Rhett said it is the after taste it leaves in your mouth. Not my cup of tea.

I got fried catfish, but should not have gotten it. I told mom if I ever wanted it again, to tell me NOT to get it! We just couldn't seem to get it right with the catfish this weekend. I was charged someone else's bill instead of Rhett's and mine, but I made sure I wasn't paying the wrong amount. Before leaving, Rhett spilled my purse underneath the table! My camera was one of the things that fell out! I checked twice to make sure I had everything, but if I had not.... I would have no camera.

I cut out coupons at mom's. We stayed there til time to go back to church. I should have taken a Pepsi with us. I was thirsty so we stopped at a gas station on the way. I went to use my debit card & was told it wasn't working. I had no cash on me. I'd already taken a sip of my drink. I was told by a male sales clerk that I could use the ATM machine. He and another clerk had been talking about a sign in blue letter on the door that stated their credit & debit was not working but I wasn't really paying attention to their conversation nor did I notice the sign on the door as we walked in. They needed a better sign! Not to nicely I informed him it would charge me a fee. A $2.50 fee at that! I was mad. It is ridiculous to have a fee against my hard earned money. So I fussed the rest of the way to church about it. Luckily we sang almost all the hymns I really like today.

It wasn't until later tonight, I discovered Rhett's game boy got damaged when my purse spilled onto Red Lobster's floor. I didn't think it was that far a fall since the floor is carpeted, but it did knock my BookWorm game completely out of it! Part of the hinge got broken where you open it up. Luckily and thankfully it still works. Rhett had to tell me to leave it alone as I was going to try to figure out if I could super glue it! I am the Queen of super glue. Most men use duct tape. I use super glue.

I loaded Word Perfect onto my computer at home so I now have Word Perfect again! Yeah! Rhett and I found a neat balloon type font but I forgot the name of it. Wonder if it would work here? LOL It was a good weekend despite the many ups and downs. We spent time with family. I took pictures. Some things worked. Others did not but that is our life.