Dude... and not like Duuuuddddeee but like Dude.

Why are you laughing at me?? 1998

Today was supposed to be a post about a hawk but instead it is a very late birthday post for Dude the baby of the water people. Why so late.. cause I am a great mom like that.

Happy Birthday August 27th 2005

For 12 years this little person has been part of my life, oh pfffftt who am I kidding the kid has pretty much been my whole world and I his. As I look back over those years now there have been so many high spots and just as many low spots. I can only hope as his mother that I am doing the right thing in getting him through this rough rocky road called life, because as special as the kid is he did not come with a handbook either.

Out on the boat 2006

Out of the three waterkids he is the only one that actually looks anything like me, the other two not so much, I like to tell people that I kept trying until one finally showed some sort of resemblance to me and when they say "He doesn't look THAT much like you either." the reply simply is.. but he is weird like me so good enough.

November 2008 Christmas picture.

Six years ago in the first grade of school Dude was diagnosed with severe ADHD and we began working to control the symptoms enough to get him through school and activities. To say this diagnosis was shocking is putting it mildly because no one else in my family showed any such signs of not being able to sit still (comes back from getting spoon) or paying atten... LOOK AT THE KITTY!!!! Ok Ok.. it was me.. I did this to my child he resembles me in the brain area. To say this has been a rough road would be putting it mildly so I will not bore you with details of how we got to where we are today and how many teeth we had to pull to get here and what not, but six years ago his diagnosis was a bit off, and now today at the age of 12 we will be starting to learn new skills to deal with the trail ahead. Dude has Asperger's Syndrome and in case you can't say it like he couldn't... think of it like this Ass Burger and you got it. (I will not admit or deny actually telling that to my kid)

Asperger's is a mild for of Autism but this too... we will conquer.

Hanging with Mom August 2009 out taking pictures.

Happy Birthday my sweet boy.

Copycat in the making...

Ok that is a lie I am not in the making cause I actually already am by the time you read this. This morning as I looked through my photos wanting something to pop for me to blog about. I have done the sadness of graves twice this week even if half of mine are slightly funny so even though there were hundreds of them I passed straight by.

Then I had a GREAT idea and was going to do a fun Friday.. that was too much work.

I kept plowing through the multitudes of swimming images and finally saw this:

It lead me on my way and before I could blink twice I had copied these two lovely ladies Chesapeake Bay Woman and Daryl... but isn't Imitation the greatest form of flattery???

This picture was taking in Aldie, VA while giving instructions to cook Ravoli to a kid who was 200 miles away.

I wanted to open it just a tad and peek inside.

Why does this one seem so inviting to me.

On the way out..
Some doors aren't doors anymore... they are just ways.
Hanging on...

Last but not least... EEKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!! AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH RUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNN!

Thoughtless Thursday...

Why cause the one thought I had to post today was in one of the many brain cells I masacuered with obscene amounts of wine and cigarettes last night.

Sister, I love you but sometimes I could kill you... how dare you TWIST AND WRING on my arm like that, if I remember correctly one of the four parents we had taught us never to physically abuse each other. (explanation for you confused people out there: I very nicely requested we stop drinking after the first glass she woman handled me into helping her drink 4.... bottles)

Going to crawl under my desk for a nap now.

Wordless Wednesday???

Me Wordless?? Not really possible. Truth is I am in a hurry on my way out the door to visit my sister person over night and looking forward to TWO nights of adult conversation and good wine! Special Treat stopping by HERE on the way home... anyone know where that is?

Friends are the people who walk in when the rest of the world is walking out....

History...

A few days ago Dude and I went on a little adventure where we took some shots of old houses and went to local public cemeteries that required no fence climbing to get to. And quite frankly the sign did not say Keep Out or Posted or No Trespassing.. it SAID No Tres. Now I don't now much Spanish but I know a wee bit, enough to know that we were Tres but we were Dos so we were good to go.

The other day I posted some of the weird names that I found while on that excursion and This Lovely Lady thought it might be a good idea to tell me to dig for an obituary of one in particular. Little did the lovely lady know I would actually take the time yesterday to go to the local library and do just that.

Pocohontas Hudgins

A funeral Service was held at 2 pm Saturday in Bethel United Methodist Church for Miss Pocohontas Hudgins 80, of Onemo, who died on Thursday, March 10, 1977 in a Richmond hospital after a long illness.

Miss Hudgins was a member of Bethel Church.

Survivors include a sister Mrs. James T Davis of Onemo.

The Service was conducted by Rev. Ralph Rice and the Rev. William Hindman. Burial was at Pear Tree Cemetery.

So there you have it.. no nickname mentioned... she probably went by Po or something cute like that..

WARNING TISSUE ALERT!

Now that that mystery is solved I moved on to another one.

Do you notice anything unusual in this shot? It took me a minute to grasp the magnitude of what I was actually seeing and even then I looked AGAIN. My first thought was .. this is a carvers mistake (it happened a lot back then) and then I saw this

which confirmed that either

a) the carver was a COMPLETE idiot.

b) someone filled in the order form for this stone wrong

or

c) There were twin babies buried in that teeny tiny little plot.

So the research began... First to the Clerk of Court who had a very LARGE very OLD very STINKY book of death. It was all of the recorded deaths in the county from the late 1700s to roughly 1874. Which as you can see.. 1874 did not cover me. So then it was on to the Health Dept. to ask what they could do to help because apparently THEY are the peeps who are the holders of death now. Not sure how they got that lovely job but they do. HOWEVER, they only hold records as far back as 2007 THAT certainly was not going to help me. But the nice lady there directed me to Richmond .. 800 Broad St to be exact where I would have to GO to get what I was looking for.. OH PFFFFFT. I seriously did not have time to go running off to Richmond all willy nilly yesterday afternoon. So I packed that mystery back in it's pretty little box and tied it with a little light blue bow for the boys, realizing I may never know which option from above had occurred.

Then it was off to research an obit on Pocohantas which I knew I would find even if she did not make it easy on me. You see she died in March 1977 so if you are using Microfish you would start at the January paper and only have 12 papers to thumb through before getting to hers and waalaa all done. That would be if anyone other than ME were doing this... I put the film in the machine and what do I see.. END the mirror image of END. Ummm this isn't right... "Hey nice library dude... this isn't right is it?" Nope it isn't. "Well what do I do?" Nothing you can do it was put on backwards and upside down "WHAT??" You will have to research it that way "WHAT??? I am good but I do not want to attempt to read 52 papers upside down!" Oh I can fix that but you will have to start at Dec 31 issue. So you see.. to find her I had to read 40 papers! UGH.

During that time I got up and walked around the room a bit cause well.. my eyes were crossing and I found a Mathews County Record of Deaths book that ended in 1874. Nice I thought I could have come in here and not had to deal with the stinky book at the other office. I still couldn't figure out why death records stopped at that year but there was a fire of some sort and some records were destroyed I think. Then... peaking out from behind a book where it did not belong I found.. Mathews County Death Records though 1896!!!!!! WOOHOOO... I was going to be able to prove it was just some idiots mistake!!!

I didn't.

John Williams (wh) age: 10 mos Cause: Complication of Disease Place: Haven Recorded by: Thomas Williams Head of Family Parents Thomas and Betty Williams

Richard Williams (wh) age: 10 mos Cause: Complication of Disease Place: Haven Recorded by: Thomas Williams Head of Family Parents Thomas and Betty Williams

My heart broke in a million pieces at that moment. So all you moms out there.. go hug your kid or give them a call and tell them how much you love them, and be grateful that we do not live in a time or place where death is so rampant that it could take both of your boys in one fail swoop.

What's in a name...

Well apparently a lot more thought than what my parents put into mine. My name is a compound of my grandmother's middle names which I do like now that I am older (try growing up with my country bumpkin name for a day or two it was not fun) and I adore my nickname which all of you are welcome to call me. Re. Isn't that cute and short???

Anyhooo on with this story which has nothing to do with where I am going with this.. one day my son realizes that my great grandfathers boat had a name very close to mine and tells my father.. Hey My mom was named after a boat! My dad being the comic that he is agrees with him and now everyone that my son could get to listen thinks I was named after a boat. Nice.

Today as pay back of rendering my name nothing more than something my parents read off of the boat I woke said son up at 6 am and told him to get dressed in long pants and tennis shoes we were OFF to take pictures! (wow I managed to tie this all together... I am quite shocked.)

We visited a couple of local cemeteries that were not quite as local as driving down 14 and screaming.. LOOK there is a cemetery lets stop. One actually required texted directions from a BFF who is not even in the state and I still got it wrong and had to stop and ask and another required not one set of instructions from my dad but TWO when I made a left in stead of a right and ended up in a wooded lot that had no markers. But alas we found them... and I am really glad we did because I learned a couple of things.

1. I have no sense of direction (I knew this but it was just once again brought to my attention)

2. It is fun to drag a kid along while trespassing while visiting local public cemeteries

3. There are many people who were much more imaginative than my parents when it came to giving names.

4. I am thinking that I can not pronounce some of these as it appears phonics was not taken into consideration during spelling.

5. I think I am now in LOVE with my name...

and without further ado... I give to you some of my findings of the day.

Oh wait one more thing... if any of these people are your family.. I am not making fun of them I swear, I am empathizing with the suffering they had to so obviously deal with at roughly age 7, and just to prove that MY family was definitely not immune to the naming without thinking sickness of the day.. soon I will post their names.

Obed? I can't even give you anything on this one without getting really bad.. I will leave this guy in peace.

Elkanah? Ok where in the stick can line up do you think this poor kid got picked? I took this one before I even realized that he had such a fun name.

I really wanna know if they were related..... but he got picked last too I am sure of it.

Beuna .... do you think the V is for Vista?

Bet he got called Ru....

This one I got nothing but.. Dude looked at me and said.. Mom I didn't realize that Pocahontas was buried in Mathews... and for pay back of the boat thing I said.. Well... you see it with your own eyes don't ya?? Let's see him have THAT conversation with his History teacher this year.

Balta? I hope she went by Lela which is a beautiful name.

This poor girl had no fall back.. Effie AND Maude??

Ok.. the only way I can figure this is pronounced is.. Whore... Tense... Can you imagine that kids nickname?? Hey Hor... poor kid.

I really need to go back and look at this one.. cause it LOOKS like Columbia lived to be 150 which can't be right..

Is there even anything that can be said about this?

Jehu? I am not even sure ..

Zadoc? I kinda like that one.. Now I have a name when I get to the Z in the alphabet other than Zeb.

Just in case any of you wondering how Sheddy Hodg got his name... and just so you know it was spelt Shedrack on his wifes tombstone. I got to see Sheddy today on his yellow bike..

Zipokah.. I really think that this lady was tired of having babies and was trying desperately to let her husband no of this by naming her children things he should take as hints.. Zipokah... do I have to explain??

And finally she had had Enogha! Ok it really says Enoch A... but it was funny...

And this poor kid.. how confused was he growing up.. Can you imagine that first PTA meeting..

This is my Parent Frances and my Other Parent Francis.

I can hear it in my head.. Ora Bora Ora Bora...

Finally Friday....

I'm Free Again

I got my motor running for a wild weekend

It's finally Friday I'm out of control

Forget the working blues and let the good times roll!

Well everyone it is FRIDAY!!!! Yippie so for some fun I thought I would give you some songs... with visual effect brought to you by Pictures from Paris!

My oldest son went to Paris in June and brought me back something that he could never have purchased in a store or learned in book. My son.. my beautiful son.. has the gift of the EYE! Now these pictures I am going to post today really have no Super Eye going on.. they are just pictures that when I saw them I thought of lyrics to songs so I thought I would post them for some fun. Soon I will post some of the greats he did... not that these aren't.. ok.. I am babbling.

Closer I am to Fine- Indigo Girls

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains

I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains

Theres more than one answer to these questions Pointing me in a crooked line The less I seek my source for some definitive (the less I seek my source) The closer I am to fine

The End- The Doors

It hurts to set you free
But you'll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die

This is the end

Take me out to the ball Game- ?

Take me out to the ball game
Take me out to the crowd
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks
I don't care if I ever get back
And it's root, root, root
for the home team
If they don't win, it's a shame

Dark Castle-Thunder Rider

Dark castle on unholy ground

Evil forces want to pull you down
Fires burning bright throughout the night
If you want to live, fight with all
your might.

My Killer My Shadow- Golden Earring

Any where you go - I will follow - I will follow
Everytime you call - I can hear you
My killer my shadow - where ever I go, you follow
Through the busy street - straight and narrow - wide and shallow

Octopus's Garden- The Beatles

We would sing and dance around

Because we know we can't be found

I'd like to be under the sea

In an octopus garden in the shade

Celebration of the Lizard- The Doors

Some outlaws lived by the side of the lake

The minister's daughter's in love with the snake

Who lives in a well by the side of the road

Wake up girl! We're almost home

I am the lizard king

I can do anything

Yellow Submarine- The Beatles

In the town where I was born

Lived a man who sailed to sea

He told us of his life

In the and of submarines

So we sailed on to the sun

Til we found the sea green

and we lived beneath the waves

In our yellow submarine (I love you for this one dad..... )

I have no idea what this post is even about...

You know sometimes they say you should not actually give the book a title until it is done? Today is one of those blog post.. I probably should not give it a title until it is done.

I have no idea where I am going with this or what pictures I will be posting to give this post some sort of depth.

I am having one of those days... weeks... months.. years... shit. Lives.

Everything just goes along about it's merry way for a while and then BLAM... life smacks me right in the face and all I can do at that time is sit down and say.. What the HELL was THAT???

I am feeling that way today... so around here when you feel like that.. the only thing there is to do is grab life by the balls and scream.." i got you.. I GOT YOU.. I GOT YOU.." and then it whimpers a time or two and says ok you win.

Then you do the Hokey Pokey ...

"You put your right foot in..."

"You put your right foot out..."

"You put your right foot in and you shake it all about..."

See I knew I should have waited to name this post.. New Title .. "Life Management"

My title in life is the Wife of a Waterman...

however... MANY days that is rather misleading. I mean it makes it sound as if I get up at 3 am and fix a large breakfast for a man who does nothing but grunt for his food and smell of rotten fish. That I tell ya is far from the truth... he doesn't stink... THAT bad.

Ok in all fairness I don't get up when he does either, he gets up way too early for me and the best I can do at that time of morning is grumble and pull the blanket over my head. Then about 3 hours after he has left the house and pulled in probably 70 pots already I stumble out of bed turn on the coffee pot and go to work myself (after a nasty commute down the hall in my jammies). So even though I am his wife.. I don't LIVE HIS LIFE... most of the time.

Saturday I did.. I got up and went out the door with him (leaving the poor little dog very confused as I was not in the bed with her) This is the first thing I saw...

I am not used to seeing my yard in early morning darkness... it is a strange feeling. Even stranger yet is what I saw next.

Who knew that crab pots on a dock could actually be pretty this time of morning... or that the sky could look like this...

The actually photo of this is much more amazing than this turned out on my blog... I can't figure out what the heck is up with bloggers colors but sometimes it does not do my photos justice.. sigh.

This cute guy is my favorite nephew... he got a bit worn out.

I did take a couple of artsy shots that I liked...

Throughout the morning we had a couple of visitors stop by and say hello...

Ultimately this is what we were here for...

Out of all of the shots of the day... I have to say these two are my favorite... I wonder why?