Matter-ers

It has come to my attention that I need to reminisce over what matters to me. So would you go on a trip with me? May be boring. But ya just  never know. My kids say I take the scenic route when ever I leave the house. So come on and let's go for a ride. Broom is awaitin'.

My kids matter to me. Who else would abuse me to no end? When I die, the instructions are: Cremate me! Do not cry! Have a get together and tell StuPid Mom stories! And when you are done then go scatter my ashes somewhere! There are many stories!!

Here's one. We now have two Main Streets in town. I did this! All on my own! No help from anyone. I had picked up my oldest from work  one day and he had asked me to run by a store so he could get  something. I say SURE! No problem! I need to go down Main Street to get to this store. I then proceed to go the usual way to his house. I realize when I was almost at his house that I was not on the  right  street! I was looking for this little store and nothing looked right! I looked over at him and said: 'We're not on Main Street!' His response: 'Yes, we're on the OTHER Main Street and no, this Other Main Street doesn't have the same stores as the  ORIGINAL Main Street. But since we are on The Other Main Street, could we stop and pick up some chicken?' I can not remember all he was smart mouthing about but he had me laughing so hard that I was talking in a squeaky voice, with tears running down my face , can't get my breath! I think I was laughing so hard I snorted a couple of times. Which of course set us both off all over again. Then kid taking the order had to lean down and look at my son, in the passenger seat, to figure out what I was trying to say. My son of course had control of his face. The kid and my son exchanged THE look. Ya know the one I'm talking about. The look all kids have when their parent is acting a fool. Just to let you know this fool was having a blast!

I also taught my three youngest kids to drive. By the time it was the youngest one's turn, I knew what to do: I would just buy some adult beverages, grab the cd's and give him the keys. We would listen to Toby Keith, Trace Adkins or some other hunka hunka burning love of mine and off he would drive.

I remember one time he took me on a bumpy, windy road (Ya know the kind that is really just oiled not paved) about 9 pm in the winter time, so it was dark. In the  country, to boot. No lights. I swear to you he  was going 60, he was slinging me all over the car. YES! I had my seat belt on. I'm not yelling, I'm SCREAMIN' at him. He, on the other hand, is laughin' and is swearin' he is only doing 30! WHATever. To this day, I STILL DO NOT THINK SO. I can't even FIND this road now! He  knew this  road waaaay too well to have just been on it for the first time that night, me thinks. He still laughs over this ride.

Last year at Christmas, or maybe New Year's, the kids and I were sitting at the table discussing food we did not like. Mine was chitlins and octopus, had both and never, ever, want them again. I don't want anything slimy or anything that grows in my mouth. THAT set them off real good. I just don't understand. .

Oh, there are more, but let's not go down memory lane any farther.

The GRANDS. .Truly awesome matterers. .Nuff said.


What else matters? My pups, well, most of the time they are my favs. Some days, nights, rather, I WOULD love to sleep in my bed in a normal position. Like head on the pillow and feet at the foot  of the  bed. Instead, I wake up parallel to the pillows. Dogs under covers and  on my pillow. Me outside the covers and off my pillow. Grrrrrrrrr. Maybe I really need to put a door up to my bedroom instead of just a curtain, what ya think?

My friends matter. My friends are my family. I am closer to them than I am my blood family. Friends are the family you pick. And since you pick each other, they probably have to put up with more than a blood  family puts up with! You know they will love you anway. My friend, GiGi, and I get together and we can giggle like little girls. We took a weekend  trip this summer and just as we are almost to the motel, I open a bottle of  water and  yep, you guess it, it ended up in my lap. Well, not EXACTLY! More like the seat. It looked like I had missed the last rest stop. You should have seen me jumping up and  outta that seat belt, screamin' and screechin'! That water was COLD!! She can't drive down the road for laughing so hard. We get to the motel and I refuse to get out until we can get close to the door to go in. Of course, we were on the top floor. She is laughin' her butt off because I have a HUGE wet spot on my backside. And she thought I was nuts for packing a week's worth of clothes. Not anymore.

Then there's the time when I was out with several friends and Tom, being the nice (HAHAHA, the word is ONERY) man he is, asks if he can get a piece of bread and would I like him to butter it for me? (We were at Outback and  had ordered Prime Rib, ya know, with horseradish). Beginning to get  the picture here? Of course, I am NOT paying attention. I took a big bite and proclaimed very loudly that his mother was a dog. My eyes were watering, he had put that much horseradish on it. TURD! I still love him but he NEVER, EVER, butters my bread anymore.

What else matters to me? My Boss. Bossman has actually made me believe in MANkind again. He makes me laugh and he has given me so many chances in the working world. When I first came to work, I had been let go because the previous business had closed their doors and there was no room for me to move with the rest of the crew. I was feeling pretty down to say the least. Bossman must have seen something there because he hired me. I do think there were times in those first few years he may have regretted it but he never gave up on me. When I did something wrong or screwed up (which I NEVER do a screw up halfway, IT IS ALWAYS A FULL BLOWN SCREWUP.) He would bring me and do a little chewing. Firmly. Ask what I needed to do to NOT do this again and we would form a plan. I would leave in tears, not because he was uglywith me, but because I felt I had let him down. So the next time I screwed up, (and I did this often, but maybe not QUITE so big nowdays) I had already figured it out, had a solution to fix it and a solution to never do it again. By the time I came down to tell him about my booboo, I had already cried and whipped myself with the cat-o-nine tails. So it became this: "KaLynn, KaLynn, Kalynn, what am I gonna do with you?" as he shakes his head. So we would talk about it and on we went. Now the joke around here is: If he calls you by your name 3 times, you are in DEEP trouble!

He is also the one that inspired me to go back to school.The inspiration behind the blog of "Cubbies, Boxes with Lids and TVs" came from a conversation with him also. He is truly awesome.

Other things that matter: my creativity, flowers, trees, blue sky, (These remind me daily how Great God is) freedom, (where would we be without this?) school, laughter, hugs and kisses, cars with gasoline, (I started to just say cars but without gas, they aren't much use, right?), a house with a fenced in yard (a prayer for several years that has been answered), music and books. There are more but I will stop for now.

Things that are cool but matter not so much: butter and sugar sandwiches, mashed potato sandwiches, snickerdoodle cookie dough, pb&j sandwiches without the pb, coffee (I started to put this higher on the list but i COULD live without it, wouldn't be pretty, but I could. .), email and IM, cell phones, cable tv and dvd's.

Lastly and most importantly: The Good Lord. He has been with me through thick and thin and all my rants and raves. He loves me anyway.

I know this ended on a serious note but this week I have found out that a friend of mine has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. It made me stop and think, What if it was me? Do I appreciate all the good things and people in my life? What can I do to make his life, and his family's life, any easier?

I want to them keep kacklin' through thick and thin.

Love you, all my friends! New and Old.

Hope you kackled today.