Rice and Beans and Other Fine Things

The Great Frost Bridge Flood Of Spring '09. A Little Late.

I had this post prepared back in the spring, but life got in the way and I put it on the back burner.  There is a reason I'm still posting it, though.  Someday, someone who knows all about Frost Bridge is going to Google it and this post is going to come up and then they're going to call to their wife  and say "Honey, remember that camp meeting we went to in '98?  Well your not going to believe these pictures..."

And I am making that search result possible.

 

It's that time of the decade again in Wayne County, Mississippi.  Yep, Buckatunna Creek has risen beyond it's banks and flooded the Frost Bridge area.  This is the most exciting thing to happen in these parts since...

since....

...since it happened ten or so years ago. 

And I have the full story with pictures.  Right here.  Right below.

When we arrived at Frost Bridge around 4:00 PM, the water level was here. 

This is the view from Frost Bridge looking down the Mathersville-Frost Bridge  Road.  This is not the creek.  This is a road covered in creek.

 

This is what should be worn to any good flood.  Rubber boots.  Preferably with a camouflage pattern.   

What we like to do when there is a flood is to get in our canoe and put my son-in-law and daughter in a john boat with their dog and paddle to the Frost Bridge camp ground.  Talk about fun!  Woo-hoo!

 

This is the outdoor tabernacle at the camp.

 

We paddled up and down the aisles.  It was a lot like being on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, except not.  There were no pirates or fireflies or talking skulls.

 

Tadpole foraging is a sport everyone enjoys when it floods.

As you can see from the building in the background, everything is built on stilts at the campground.

 

That is, almost everything.  This building is going to be in bad shape when the waters recede.

 

When we got back to the bridge about two hours later, the water had risen even more...

 

...and a crowd of people had gathered. 

 

The sheriff's department, the Wayne County Emergency Management Homeland Security Director, and the Supervisor of Beat 2 all came.  Some other bystanders were there, too.  And a couple of dogs.

There were a few people that live at the campground, however, that didn't want to leave their home.  The sheriff's's department wouldn't hear of it, though, so they launched a rescue mission to bring those people to dry land. It's their duty, you know, to go in and save people from flood waters.  It also gives them an excuse to use that super official sheriff's's rescue boat.  I wonder if they'll turn the siren on?

 

"Watch the current, Men!  Stay towards the middle!"  Since we had already paddled down there once, we knew that those trees to the left side can be kind of tang-ly.

"Towards the middle, I say!"

Oops. 

 

My husband helped out in the rescue and landed on page 6A of the Wayne County News.

 

He also gave free canoe rides the rest of the evening, because that's just the kind of person he is. 

Everybody likes to see a flooded tabernacle.

PAPM. It's Closer Than I Thought.

It's been a tough couple of weeks for me.  I haven't been feeling all that hot and I'm starting to think the reason is ...

...is...

...it's really hard to talk about...

...but I must face the truth...

... I think I might be Pre-Ante-Peri-Menopausal.

Now looky here, that is COMPLETELY different from menopausal or even peri-menopausal, okay? 

Just say yes and no one will get hurt. 

I'm not anywhere near the M word yet.  In fact I'm several prefixes away.  Geesh.  I'm only thirty-nine.  Everyone knows that you have to be at LEAST forty-seven and a half before it even starts. 

Everyone knows that.

But I'm just saying I'm not feeling too hot.

Or maybe the problem is that I AM feeling hot.  Not severe/red-faced/beads of sweat flashes, but I seem to be a bit warm at times.  That's not my norm.

But that could be the weather.  It's an uncharacteristically humid, hot, and rainy September.  You should see my hair.  It's awful. 

But my skin is weird, too.

And I'm having trouble focusing.  And staying on task. 

And let's not talk about my mood.  Or my other mood.  Or the mood I had yesterday.

I'll just sum it up as... intense.

My husband just said that that would be a good word.  Thanks, babe,  for your input.

He's so sweet.

I love him so much. 

I can't imagine my life without him.

.....

.....

.....

......

......

I just imagined my life without him....

.....

......

I think I'm gonna cry .....

......

....

I'm sorry, honey.  I'm sorry for everything.  I'm not a good wife.

.....

.....

Okay.  I love you, too.

....

.....

I'm just saying I don't feel so hot.  And the hotness and my hair may be due to the weather, but my skin is weird and I'm having trouble focusing, and staying on task.  And I sometimes have intense mood swings. 

OH!  And trouble remembering.  That's the other one! 

I KNEW there was another one.

And talking in full sentences.  And calling things by their proper name.

Like the other day when I called a tractor....

...I don't remember what I called it.  But it wasn't the right name. 

I'm just saying...

They Don't Make Them Like They Used To.

My Professional Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, my beautiful friend that is only two years old, is in the shop being fixed.  I am seriously sick about this, because Mr. Mixer-Fixer tells me it may cost around $150.00 to get it running again.  Something about a mother board?  Or am I thinking of a past computer issue?   Do mixers have mother boards?   Of course, the warranty ran out after a year.

Anyway, I thought I was buying the BEST when I purchased it, something that would last generations like my grandmother's and my mother-in-law's has, but apparently they don't make 'em like they used to. 

I'm sorry, but to spend $400 on a mixer and have it break in the first two years?  The first year I didn't even use it that much.  The second year, yes, I used it more, but still...it's a mixer for crying out loud.  Mixing is what it does.  I SHOULD be able to use it...often.  At least once a day and three times a day during the holidays.   Grrrrr....

Oh, I remember that bright summer day.  It had been in a rocky period in my life; I had gone  through four stand mixers of inferior quality.  I was down and out.  I was beat up and defeated.  Then suddenly, a $500.00 gift certificate entered my life and even though I could have used it to really beef up my kitchen gadget collection, I used almost all of it on the mixer.   

I breathed a sigh of relief when my beloved arrived in a big cardboard box from www.cooking.com.   Nickel pearl finish.  Professional model.  It was beautiful.  My twirly-whirly breakdowns were a thing of the past, or so I naively thought.  

But now...I'm back where I started.  I have no mixer for my frosting.  No, really.  I was making frosting yesterday and wouldn't you know it, my hand mixer quit, too.  Have you ever tried to whip buttercream by hand?  It's not easy. 

Kitchen Aid, redeem yourself.  When Mr. Mixer-Fixer calls you this week, please send him the part on your dime or...

or...

or...

...you will be dead to me.

That's all.  Just had to vent.

I'll be back soon...

Life has gotten in the way of all things bloggy.  I hope to be back real soon.

Lorie

More Spider Drama...This Time From Missouri

Who would have guessed that just a few hours after my spider post yesterday, my sister would send me an email detailing her own terrifying spider encounter, and without having looked at my blog post. 

Seems another large, yellowish arachnid spun a huge web directly in front of her front door yesterday, barricading her and my two-year old niece in their home until her husband arrived to save them both.  Imagine their horror!

The two spiders bear a striking resemblance to each other, although both reside in different states. 

This is her spider:

And this was the spider that almost ate me:

I'm thinking plague of biblical proportions.

Or maybe a script for a really bad science fiction movie inspired by true life events.

In any case, people, watch what you're walking in to.  Seems large, yellow spiders are taking over the country.

Thirty-Something Housewife Survives Attack By Giant Killer Skull Spider!

Did you hear it this morning?

It was really loud. 

You mean you didn't hear my blood curdling scream?  It happened about 11:30 AM central time.

I was on the lawn mower, trying to get the mowing done before the rain came.  Before I knew it I came face to face with one of the deadliest spiders in Mississippi:   The Man-Eating Skull Spider.

Unbeknown to me, he had strung his treacherous web between two trees.  Two trees that I had to pass  between to get the mowing done. 

He was in the middle of the web, of course, chomping a small bird  that had the sad misfortune of flying into his evil trap. 

I first felt the sticky web on my bare shoulder.  Then, as it hit my face, that's when the scream started.  It came from the bottom of my toes and with rapid momentum and unbridled force, moved through my entire being until it exploded out of my mouth and pierced the atmosphere.  It was so loud the local volunteer fire department responded immediately, along with several sheriff's deputies.

No, just kidding, but it WAS really loud.

As I came to my senses, I violently waved my arms to try and fling this monster off of me. 

Fortunately, I was able to keep the lawn mower in control through the whole ordeal.

This is what he looked like:

 

This arachnid looks like he should live in a jungle in Africa, not in my backyard.

I know it's scary, but come closer.  I want you to see something.

Is it just me or does his head look like a skull?

But this isn't the one that attacked me.  The one that attacked me is dead.

He died of an acute myocardial infarction when I scared him to death.

Unfortunately, we have a lot of bugs in Mississippi.

Hurricane Check-Off List

As Hurricane Gustav swirls around out there in the ocean, many of us here in my home county are making some preparations.  After living through Katrina, I personally take hurricanes MUCH, MUCH more seriously.  My husband is formulating a list, although it's not a REAL list because it hasn't been WRITTEN down.  Any REAL list maker knows that!  Anyway, he's mentioned a few things that we need to do, such as:

-get the generator out of the shed and make sure it's working in case the power goes out.  Hmmmm.....you do that, Sweetie, because I don't want to be without the internet for one milli-second.  I'm gonna need my morning coffee, too, and that will require electricity.  And, Babe... one more thing.  I don't want that bloody deer hide thawing out and leaking all over the bottom of my freezer.  You remember what happened last time, Sweetie, even though you said you double bagged it?

-make sure we have plenty of candles.  Candles?  Did he just mention candles?  I LOVE candles!  Yes, I definitely think I need to get some candles.  Vanilla-Lime scented Yankee candles.  Uh, hull-ohhh!  We can't live without light!  Besides, the scent from the candles will help mask the stench from our sweaty armpits.  When the power goes out, so goeth the air conditioner.  UGH!   

-stock up on some groceries.  Indeed!  I just LOVE to BAKE when it rains!  Let's see here...I need butter...sugar... uh, both light brown and regular... chocolate chips...let me check my pecan supply...

-buy some batteries.  Good thinking!  I need some double "A" lithium batteries for my camera. I've got to have pictures to put on my blog next week.  What better pictures to take than of thirty hot, sweaty family members crammed into my mother-in-law's basement, fearing for their very lives.  That'll make for a really good and humorous post.  Can't wait.

One day I'm going to have a big, sturdy house, able to sustain 100 mile per hour winds, with a huge basement and an industrial strength generator, so we won't have to evacuate when the hurricane comes.

Hopefully this Gustav guy will blow over.  That's what I'm praying for.  As of this writing though, it's not looking good.

My Dark, Dark Cloud

I know I'll probably lose readers over what I'm about to admit. 

Oh, wait.  I don't have any readers.  Except my mom.  And Shelly.  And my sister.

Never mind, I can say what I want.  They'll hang with me no matter what I confess.

There is a dark, dark cloud hanging over my head this weekend.  I just have to tell someone and get it off my chest.

I got a speeding ticket on Friday afternoon.  There, I said it.

Fifty in a thirty-five.  Speeding right by the mayor's house in Millry, Alabama, on my way to pick up my husband who was stranded at school because his truck had broken down.

It's not the the fact that this ticket will probably cost me a $100.00 that bothers me, although I won't say that doesn't cause me some pain. 

It's not the fact that it will be an ugly scar on my driving record, which is a pretty good one, by the way.  I don't think I have had a ticket since my early twenties.

What bothers me most is that the sheriff's deputy (or whatever type of law official he was) that stopped me probably thinks I am a FLIGHTY, BRAINLESS, FAST DRIVER that doesn't care about anyone but herself.  It's just not true, I tell you!

I am a VERY good driver.  You can ask my husband this because I let him know ALL the time. 

AND, the ironic thing is that I am a slow driver.  Five miles per hour over the speed limit is all the speeding I ever do, and usually not even that.

And, I PROMISE that although the officer said that at the point  he saw me speeding I had already passed three, count them, THREE 35-mile per hour speed limit signs, I swear that I was not ignoring them.  I simply do not remember seeing them.  As a matter of fact, I knew that I would be coming to a speed zone soon.  I just didn't realize I was in it.  Obviously my mind was elsewhere.  And, yes, elsewhere is a dangerous place to have your mind when your driving.  I tell my teenage daughter this ALL the time.

I will not go into the fact that I was having a bad day and had a lot on my mind.  That is NOT an acceptable excuse.

Mr.  Law Official Sir, if you are reading this, and I know that there is about a 294 ka-billion to one chance that you are NOT reading this, but just in case you are, I really am a slow and cautious driver and I really do care about your opinion of me.  I just wanted you to know that.

I feel somewhat better.  Thanks for listening.