The Tartus (Backwards)

Samantha finished the last word with a flourish of her pen immensely pleased with her creation. The azure blue sky stretched on for miles with delightful seagulls passing unseen across her field of view. She smiled setting the pen and paper to her side and scanning the shore line for her husband. Two days ago he had unknowingly hurled the insult again, but now he would change his tune.
“Mark!, Oh Mark!” She almost sang it out.
Mark appeared from behind a sand dune several yards away, a look of hope on his face. Two days ago she had suddenly taken to writing non-stop and had refused to even acknowledge his presence. It was not the way he had intended to spend his all too brief vacation. “Yes dear?”
“Come, read this.” Samantha responded holding out a thick stack of papers.
With a bound and a leap he reached her side and eagerly began to read.
Samantha hugged her knees imagining the praise and astonishment he would express upon finishing her first novel. Of course it wasn’t prefect but she had always known she was more than just a short story writer no matter what others said. She frowned, with that many pages she would need to give him time. She looked over at him his eyes hastily running across the pages. She had thought it would be interesting but his eyes seemed to fly at an astonishing rate. She smiled and looked back out at the sea, it was even better than she had thought.
She stood up and dusted off the back of her dress just as he burst out in laughter. She turned excitedly wondering where he was and what he had found so funny. Only to see he was closing the last page.
“That was your best story so far Love!” He said with a grin and a chuckle.
“You’ve already finished?” She asked in horror.
He starred warily at her unsure of where her mood was turning or what he was doing to turn it. “Yes,” he said finally, “It was very good though.”
Samantha snatched the pile of papers from him. “Not even you can read a whole novel that fast.”
“A novel?” Mark grabbed the papers back before she could tighten her grip. He flipped quickly through the pages again, his frown deepening. “I’ll grant it’s longer than usual but it’s no novel. Maybe five pages.”
Samantha felt like ripping the pages up and throwing them in his face.
“I can count as well as you can and even a blind man from the top of that cliff can see that there are much more than five pages there!”
“Yes,” he acknowledged slowly looking up at his wife. She glared back and he almost didn’t dare the reply but like a seagull on attack the words slipped out carrying a grin to tug at the corners of his mouth. “But usually you don’t want me to read the parts you’ve crossed out.”

TOO MANY PUPPIES!

(Well it didn't do the pictures but you get the idea)

“It is time for bed” Mommy said.


Tori said, “Puppy!”


“How many puppies?”


“One red puppy.”


“It is time for bed,” Mommy said.

Emma said, “Puppy!”

“How many puppies?”


“Two pink puppies.”

“It is time for bed,” Mommy said.

Ryn said, “Puppy!”

“How many puppies?”


“Three brown puppies.”

“It is time for bed,” Mommy said.

Tori said, “Puppy!”

“How many puppies?”

“Four black and white puppies.”

“It is time for bed,” Mommy said.

Emma said, “Puppy!”

“How many puppies?”


“Five yellow puppies.”

“It is time for bed,” Mommy said.

Ryn said, “Puppy!”

“TOO MANY PUPPIES! “

My first kiss

I know sappy but here goes…
I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t kiss until I was engaged. I didn’t watch kissing on movies or anything. I was saving that part of my life for my chosen. Not that I didn’t have some request and even try to coerce me into kissing them first but it never felt right! Until one night, in cousin Carl’s basement, I was sitting with my boyfriend and I decided it felt right. I brushed my lips against his to let him know I was ready. And you know what… it was worth the wait. I never know kisses could be sweet but they can. We weren’t engaged yet so I didn’t quiet keep my goal (but he refused to propose until we had the rings which didn’t show up until a week before the wedding). But he was my chosen and his kisses have only gotten better with time.

Mrs. Anderson’s Welcoming Party

It’s hard to say, unless you’re one of those who can say anything, just what Tabitha meant by walking in and taking tea out from under everyone's noses but the result was something of an exaggerated mess. Mrs. Tallborn stood up immediately and walked out, sniffing as though her feelings had been so hurt that tears were already brimming. Miss. Talous, always seeking her next charity, leaned over and set her cake back on the table. “My dear, if you are in any way in need,”
But I was saved having to answer such an obserd question in a delicate way by Mrs. Smith laughing loudly, “If I had known that is all it takes to get rid of that priss, I’d have told my maid to start taking the tea out early years ago!”
Poor Mrs. Anderson, who had just moved to the area as a new bride, still sat staring blankly at her empty cup obviously unsure of what to do with it or herself.
“Now Mrs. Anderson,” Mrs. Smith called across the table as though she were on the other side of a foot ball field, what can you expect when the woman lives with her practically deaf mother? “You drink right up! No one is as well to do as Mrs. Gifford here. Not in the whole state!”
I’m afraid to say I began to blush, my husband’s wealth is something we try very hard not to broadcast, but Mrs. Smith’s husband is our accountant and a much less discreet person. I sputtered a few words trying to think of a way to go find out what Tabitha had done with the tea tray.
However that’s when Miss Talous added her sniff to the scene. “Well, I guess if you are unwilling to share with even your friends, why should you be expected to share with those who are in need?” And with that she got up and left the room. It all went back to last month when she asked for a contribution and I had only promised to discuss it with my husband.
Mrs. Smith laughed again, “Two down! Now this is company.” She looked at poor Mrs. Anderson who seemed to be perpetually mute and frozen staring at an empty tea cup. “Now don’t believe a word of it my dear. That woman wouldn’t have one of her charities if it weren't for Mrs. Gifford’s anonymous donations.”
“Mrs. Smith that is enough!” It came out of my mouth before I could catch it but REALLY she was going to lose her husband a client if this kept up.
That’s when Mrs. Smith got up. “Well, it’s the truth and I won’t be chastised for telling the truth.” She turned and slipped profanities all the way down the hall.
I turned to my last and most important guest. She was not only new to the area but also married to a man that traveled much for his work leaving her alone months at a time. I had hoped to introduce her to her neighbors and the most influential of women in the neighborhood. Now each had made something of a fool of themselves over a little bit of tea, how was she to trust them?
She still looked down at her tea cup as though it might hold the answers to the universes toughest questions. I leaned forward to touch her shoulder and make sure the scene hadn’t disturbed her too much when Mrs. Tallborn soared back into the room followed by Miss Talous and Mrs. Smith. They all stood indignantly at their tallest and Mrs. Tallborn spoke for them all, "Mrs. Anderson would you kindly move your car so that we may all depart this unhospitible home?”
I looked up trying to think of a way to sooth feelings and still wondering what had gotten into Tabitha when the aged maid sontered back into the room carrying the roast beef I had intended for dinner along with several plates. “Here you are Mam.” She smiled as though doing exactly what she had been told. I made a mental note to have her see a doctor.
The three women looked at me dumb founded and I just looked back at them, as silent as our new friend. It didn’t take Mrs. Smith long to recover. “Why Anibell, why didn’t you say this was a luncheon!” She sat right down placing her discarded napkin right back over her ample lap. “It would have saved a whole lot of fuss.”
Mrs. Tallborn took one last sniff and sat down to murmuring something that sounded a bit like ‘I’m terribly sorry.’
Miss. Talous hesitated a bit longer till I waved her with a smile back to the seat in which I had slipped, before the meeting began, a little envelope of money for her charity. She caught up the envelope and gave a wan smile of thanks.
“Ladies, I’m so,” I began only to be cut off.
“Now what must our Dear Mrs. Anderson think of us?! Here we come to show her what great friends we’ll be and instead we show ourselves to be petty little…” She paused and looked at the girl who seemed to prefer her empty tea cup to the roast beef. “My dear, can you ever forgive us?” She reached out a sympathetic hand and touched the girl’s shoulder.
The blond head jerked up with a snort. She blinked rapidly and looked slightly shocked, “I’m awake.” She looked down at the beef in confusion “Did I miss something?”

LEt's see if this works.

And then it finally Happens!

Our little Wren arrived after a month of being told "any minute". Yes, we were told she would probably come early... Nope. But she was worth the wait. She came out screaming but once the nurses handed her over she had nothing but beautiful smiles for us.
Big sisters got to hold her on the second day even though they were both sick. But they were so happy to see little Wren and hold her. (We knew it was a bacterial infection for both of them and not contagious.)


I have to share this picture. With each of our babies Yrgysh has held them on his chest like this early on. He decided that new borns were his little tree frogs so he had me make a froggy hat. So this is Daddy and his little tree frog.

An Expectant Mother's Rant

Have you ever noticed
1) that when your due date aproches every little action is measured as to how it will encourage or discourage labor? (Not helpful)
2) that relaxation becomes esentail yet unatainable? (What's up with that? I'm seriously considering tylonol PM)
3) That the baby starts to try to get out on their own... unfortunatly it's though your rib cage? (I need to make a light and stick it down there to lead the way out... then she can enter and exit this existence by going down a tunnel toward a bright light.)
4) That it feels like someone has the gag button pressed? ("Labor's starting... no itisn't HA!" An hour later "This could be it... NOPE! I can't believe you fell for it again!")
5) That waiting for labor seems like a great test of your santity? (You must pass this if you're going to be worthy of raising this child.)
6) And finally... that while waiting your brain can come up with some of the stupidest things to do to 'prepare'? (Like chop your hair off, buy lots of stuff, watch old movies you can't stand anymore, watch bad humor in an effort to make yourself laugh, go on hikes, jump on trampolines (no I have not nor will ever jump on a trampoline while pregnant), clean the whole house.... again, and one of my favorites... allow some Dr. to stick their hands up inside of you to tell you how far along you are (not that it will change how long you have to wait) and possibly "help the processes along"? Are you nuts?! You want to do WHAT to my WHAT?!
I hope you've laughed. :)