"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Poopie, age 51.

Sorry, I couldn't resist borrrowing four year old Billy's definition of love. Sucker will probably lawyer up and sue me for plagerizin' stealing his line. That would be just my luck.

Nice weekend here at Casa Poops. I did exactly what I wanted to do which was sleep in both days after piddling in the yard until dark and prowling afterwards. Last night's prowl was up to the Midnight Rodeo where this band leaped tall buildings in a single bound! Just kiddin'. They just played their little hearts out and had fun doing a show. They call it "stress relief" from the day job. Works for me.

Such a bad bad b**gger I am *sigh* Y'all forgive me for not coming around to visit? I knew you would.

Keep the faith.

^j^

Life is good on Pecan Lane. I've spent a whole bunch of time b**gging about it over the past three years which has been a gift in itself...the place that I vaguely knew as always being there for me has morphed into a treasure hunt of sorts. In the process of exploring I have come to understand how very fortunate I am to have spent all of my life here in some form or fashion. That makes me an oddity in today's fast paced cyber-kinetic world. My BabyGirl grew up knowing it as well. Doesn't get much more blessed than that, if you ask me.

My youngest brother has lived in the mountains of Virginia for close to three years after a courtship of five or more with the place he now calls home. As long as I live, I will never forget the day he and wifey left the farm with dogs roaming the vehicles and everything they owned loaded on trailers. They were my neighbors for quite some time, so it wasn't unusual for the UPS dude who did the pickups for their online business to make one last run and find them and the dogs in my yard saying our good-byes. Sort of an impromptu little going away bash :) He's been home for a visit this week and it makes me smile just knowing he's close by.
The evil credit card company hauled me back into court today after a three month continuance ran out. Luckily my good friend and counselor was not "out of the country" and he managed to get me some terms I can handle. I owe him and wifey some asparagus. Lots of it. For as many springs as the bed keeps on producing.

My BabyGirl has been as focused as a laser since last August, working 40 hours on the graveyard shift and commuting to school as a full-time student during the day. Thank Big Ernie she's got a few months off coming up to rest her brain and do the girl thing. All work and no play makes girls bitchy. Ditto for the hormones.

Since we can't drink or have orgies at work, we've celebrated lab week by eatin' free lunch every day provided by vendors because they love us and want us to buy their stuff *just kidding, Rock* One of the lab old-timers, Miss Anita, is piled up in the bed as an inpatient with a belly full of fibroids and five more pints of blood than she came in with. We miss her and worry about her. I wish y'all would pray for her. She's scared to death.....

The hunt for sugardaddy has turned into a mild amusement at men in general and the way that they think with their peckers mostly. Okay, so I'm a slow learner..sue me. At least I figured it out before I died. That'd be a bitch to have a tombstone saying "Here lies Poopsie. She thought it was about love."

More live music coming up this weekend at that place with the kitchen where I've spent hours on end elbow deep in grease. Shut your eyes, and you'd swear they're Journey. Cross my heart and hope to die..stick a needle..No, on second thought don't do that!

The big mystery around these parts is whether or not the crepe myrtles will make a comeback after the hard freeze that came on the heels of two weeks at 80+. Butterfly bushes are a close second on the casualty list. Time will tell.

Ya know how it is to find a book that you read a long time ago and absolutely loved and decide to feel the joy again? I'm doing that with The Floatplane Notebooks by Clyde Edgerton. BG's bf brought me this huge bookcase that he salvaged from a job for me to umm..consolidate all the volumes scattered hither and yon around Casa Poops. The really special ones have a bookplate on the inside cover that looks something like this I'm really sorry about answering questions posted in the comments. Lazy ass b**gger, if you will. Let me make amends, umkay?

The pecan crop was a loser this past fall, Hoss.

Yes, Jules. The one and only.

Kenju? Head cowboy definitely on the left.

As for the prom Jim, we didn't have one when I was in high school. So technically, that was my first :0

Y'all keep the faith.

^j^

Being a lab person, or any allied health professional is often a tough job. To the patient everybody's a nurse or a doctor, ya know? Only those of us in the trenches know what it's like to have everybody and their brother hollerin' about where those lab results are.

When you think about it, the people you work with see more of you and know just about as much of you as your family. I reckon that's what it's all about...lovin' the one you're with.

Y'all know where to find me..right here on Pecan Lane with the dawgs.

Keep the faith.

^j^

The WOO factor was runnin' high last night as Poops found herself in her element with live country music. Hey, it ain't the Ryman, but we had a good time! Besides the usual instrumentation there was a fiddle and a slide guitar to accompany some singers who are all headed for something big. The highlight of my night (besides dancing with the head cowboy) was meeting almost-four-year-old Joshua and watching him follow his Daddy around on the stage before the show. Later he and Mom moved up to the VIP room over the stage to catch Dad in action. Even got a t-shirt and a CD.

Sometimes it's good to be Poopie.

Poopie seriously needs to experience this tour.

Why is Butterbean smilin' so big? Top ten reasons, right here.

10. Sanjaya is still the worst.

9. She's getting a bellyrub.

8. Her mama has a coupla days off soon to play.

7. The menu consists of dry cat food and table scraps so she ain't dead.

6. There's lots of stuff to dig for out here on Pecan Lane. Perpetual dirty nose, lotsa fun.

5. Sleepin' next to Poopie's butt in that curve back of the knees.

4. Music calms the savage inner canine.

3. Tubes tied free due to adoption from the shelter. Sweet.

2. Lots of cats to mess with.

And the number one reason Butterbean is smiling?????

1. Because she can!

It's a tradition at my home church on the corner of Main and McGaughey. The kids cover it with chicken wire and magnolia leaves on Saturday and everybody brings their flowers from home to complete the masterpiece on Sunday. It was hard to find something that wasn't frozen solid on my way to work before dawn today, but my little pink dogwood branch was the first contribution. This is what it looked like on my way home!

My brother had the prom booked at his club last night and he had to work at the other job so guess who was his "representative" for the evening? Umm..you guessed it. I was staked out in the kitchen with my cellphone to call him if anything went wrong. His partner mingled with the parents who were runnin' the show and the whole deal went smooth as silk. I barely recognized the place with all the neon turned off and the tiny white lights and tulle everywhere. The dresses......OMG. There was probably a million bucks worth of satin and sequins out on that dance floor and up on the stage. Well behaved group, I must say. We expected the worst and were pleasantly surprised at a well planned evening with parents fully in control of the situation. After I left there I went to the kudzu bar straight into mass chaos and loved every minute of it. No place to stand, much less sit and karaoke going full speed. *sigh* I love that bar.

So has the Easter bunny showed up around your place yet? I'm afraid he'll have to find me at the hospital tomorrow because I'll be there slaving away. I was scheduled off but had to make some switches to get off next Sunday. Why in the world would I do that, you ask. Hmmmm....see below. I'll be putting on the feed for this bunch and their crew next Saturday night and I don't think I'll be in a blood and guts frame of mind the next day. Let's just say I don't plan on being in bed early that night.

Gah...I'm just kiddin' y'all. Get a grip ;) Truth be known, I'm covered in flannel again just like I was before last week. There's this old saying about the weather that goes something like "if you don't like it, wait a few hours and it'll change." That is especially true for the mid-south section of the country. My personal opinion is that it has something to do with the Mighty Mississippi and her tributaries with a dash of Al Gore inventing the internet and global warming. Plus grandma's apple pie, of course.

The day job continues to be a pain in the ass except for my friends. Most of mine are in very low places like sharing boiled eggs and woes with me at breakfast or listening to me fret and whine about how hard it is to be the Poopster. Mostly I just listen to their stories, tell mine and take the hugs as they come. Ain't that's what life is about when it comes right down to it?

The dogs are alive and well and making noise like they need to lay down for a nap. WorkGuy has a bunch of dogs but they live in a kennel until he feels like huntin' critters or some man thing like that. Sucker has this spoiled rotten lovely daughter and nameless wife who spend his money with wild and reckless abandon while I pine away for the chance to gaze into his baby blues as he tells a new skunk story tale. Yeah..duh. I know.

today's rant is the usual. WTF is all this $$$$$ and loss of human life about in iraq?
Bring it home Dubya. This one can't be "won" because this country won't stand for it. Our own elderly generation is dying out and you will be one of them very soon, just like me and Bill and Monica!too! Poops ain't ever been good in math BUT i think i figured this one out about the time i voted for kerry just to say no to the evil cheney/halliburton agenda and frist's grandstanding over the terry schiavo debacle in an attempt to save face for government fraud in his business dealings with hca. And, hell no, i don't have pms. haven't had a period for a couple of years.
faith is a funny thing
sometimes you don't know what or who to believe in. maybe you've got this idea stuck in a corner of the brain that says don't quit or something similar. "show me the money" turns into a mantra for the working class middle american and the starving child in darfur. i'm right there with ya and it pisses me off to no end to think of how the money is spent after the tax collectors gather it up in a big pile on the table in the temple. if i remember correctly, jesus kicked in over and had a hissy fit about the whole deal when he wasn't busy doin' miracles.
triumphal entry
gathering disciples is really easy. everybody is looking for something to believe in and the temptation to be that great IAM is tremendous for mortals. babygirl told me this afternoon about her dreams of little ET's in the basement next to her room who threw her into the fire when she was four. i must admit, it's a scary old house with a lot of history.
judas
when people start dissing him it's tempting to join in but then i remember that i've done just as much betrayal as he ever dreamed of. anytime i say no to an opportunity to make a little difference or to embrace the life i've been blessed with, i turn him over to the guards for the trek toward the cross.

Pardon me, but there's a foot washin' going on and I'm missin' it. I'll catch up with you on the hill.

^j^

No...wait. That's a post for another time. Today's b**g is about the joy of organic gardening, Poopie style. You see, back in the day when I was all about doing things the hard way I would go out and buy mulch and annuals and spend hours on end watering that shit with a hose just so I could go "aha..how lovely!" before August came and killed the whole deal deader than a doornail. August will always come and will be followed by the dry months of September and October when everything green and alive just turns into dust in the wind and fertilizes next years' growth.

So here's the deal. Instead of buying mulch by the scoop or bag, I just pick up the pine needle/dry leaves mix after the first mowing and spread it over the stuff that I've dug up out of other people's yards. As y'all know there are many kitties around here that no longer live in the house because they're smoking crack and get on my last nerve. Without a litter box the precious thangs just go diggin' through the organic mulch for a place to take a shit and VOILA! Natural fertilizer. They take care of the mice and the girly dogs do mole/vole/snake duty leaving Poops more time to frolic and play in the eternal quest for SugarDaddy.

Ain't life grand?

My old dear friend Gene has this habit of saying things about rabbits on the first of the month to bring good luck. It wasn't his idea..sucker stole it from the Pez family. If I were them, I'd be lawyerin' up on copyright infringement. Hey..even attorneys gotta make a living.

Anyhow, this is how the legend goes. On the first day of the month you blog about rabbits and you have great luck for that whole stretch. Lord knows Poops could use some good luck so here we go. Me and my brother starved our bunny to death because we failed to feed his little caged up self. Truth be told, I've hit several on the road to the day job in the trusty old Camry. Road kill, so to speak. Possums are notorious for sittin' out there blind as bats just begging to be smashed into the asphalt.

This particular rabbit day just so happens to be Palm Sunday for Christians. The first day of Holy Week is significant to us in a lot of ways. But then it's also April Fool's day too. Sounds like a day to be serious and whimsical all at the same time. I spent mine outside digging stuff up out of Yaya's yard and moving it to mine. I took her some of my stuff so I guess you could say we had a perennial exchange. It's so very cool how that happens between friends.

Now...go dye some eggs or something.

^j^