Quinlynne-isms

Here's a few things Quinlynne says that I wanted to share.

1) Long Sleeves Up- this means short sleeves. Long Sleeves Down means- long sleeves.

2) This weekend I was sitting on the couch and Quinlynne was standing up playing something at the trunk. I felt a sneeze coming on, so I just turned my head and sneezed (I know- it's disgusting. But, my hands were doing something else.) Quinlynne looked at me and said "Momma, your Bless You got on my arm." Isn't that too cute? Apparently it's not a sneeze- it's a Bless You.

3) Momma does not go to work. If I say I'm going to work, this greatly upsets Quinlynne. Case in point, Friday we were all getting ready to leave the house. Quinlynne asked me where I was going and I told her I was going to work. Quinlynne started crying and said "No momma! You go to school like me!" So, in Quinlynne's world- I don't work, I just go to school.

And- there was another cute one, but I can't think of it right now. Maybe that's because I'm really concentrating on an Abdominal Assessment I need to be writing. It's never ending!!

SNOW

Craziness, I tell you- we had at least 6 inches of snow on Saturday. This is SPRING!!!! We are supposed to be having sunshine, I'm supposed to be able to tell Quinlynne she can wear her "long sleeves up" (short sleeves) and "jean shorahts". Instead, we had crazy cabin fever. It was wretched. I usually don't let Quinlynne get out and play in the snow- mainly because I don't want to go, too. My excuse has been "You have a runny nose". I decided, however, that just wasn't very fair to a kid. I sucked it up, told her to put on her snow boots, and out we went.

This was good packing snow. I taught her how to throw a snowball. She had fun throwing snowballs at the house, at the old car parked in the yard (yes, we're classy all the way), and in the "pond", which is the drainage ditch.

I pulled her around on a sled. I felt like a mule. Then Quinlynne decided she was going to pull the sled.

We found bunny rabbit rails all over the yard in the snow. I saw like 5 of them out hopping all around last night. Quinlynne thought that was super cool. Then, I've saved the best pictures for last.....I pushed her down in the snow to show her how to make a snow angel, and she did not like that. She started crying and saying it was way too cold. Then, she went inside to tell Grandi on me!

Culture?

Warning: this post could be construed as racist. So, if you're easily offended- read no further and come back and visit me at a later time.

Not too long ago, Quinlynne's genetic materials donor told me that she needed to be exposed to "Black Culture". What the crap? Is that stupid or what? The first thing that went through my head after he said that was, "We eat beans and cornbread at our house." But, I kept my mouth shut. You know, if he wants her exposed to this "Black culture", he needs to be the one to "expose" her to it. I, am not Black. I know- you're all in shock at this revelation, right? The simple truth is- I am not Black. Quinlynne, on the other hand, is half Black. Donor- is Black. (Now granted, we all have quit a bit of Native American in us....but let's talk about the obvious.) If I want her exposed to ballet, I take her to the ballet, or take her to ballet classes. If I want her exposed to swimming, I take her to the pool. Are you seeing how this works? This is not a difficult concept. So, I had told my friend Melanie about this conversation. Over Spring Break we went to Texas and Melanie gave Quinlynne a bit of "ghetto" culture. The girl got herself a silver grill!

Poppa's Girl

I was going to try and look for a comparison picture to post along with this picture. However, I decided to just go ahead and post it. For those of you who know my dad.....need I say more?? It just "cracks" me up!

Rain rain go away

One day last week it was raining. Quinlynne tries to sing "Rain rain go away- come again some other day"; but it doesn't really come out that way. "Rain rain come see us later" is more like what comes out. She was all excited to get to use her Little Mermaid umbrella. I was excited for her to wear her ever so cute pink raincoat. She looked so cute I had to take her picture. For some odd reason, she would not open her eyes. I asked her to open her eyes and she told me "No, take the picture". She even looked cute and posed- so I took the picture. I figured I could have stories for her kids some day. That seems to be something I have to tell myself often.....

Little Old Lady from Pasadena

Quinlynne has been driving. Seriously- her Uncle Charlie lets her "drive" his truck by sitting on his lap and steering. I remember being so excited when my dad let me drive like that. My Grandpa Jim also used to let me drive when I was Quinlynne's age. (He was not my grandpa by blood- he lived across the highway from me. By the time I was born both of my parents' fathers were deceased, and Grandpa Jim's daughter was not able to have children. A match made in heaven for the two of us, huh?)

Quinlynne and I went to Texas last week for part of my Spring Break. We stopped at a convenient store. Quinlynne decided she needed some lip gloss, so this is her putting it on in the vanity mirror. What else does a girl do while driving?

Now she's checking herself out in the rearview mirror. (I swear- you'd think she'd seen someone else do this.... not me, never me!)

Finally, this is her cheesy grin while driving. I hope she pays a bit more attention when the vehicle is in gear.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone! The above picture is the good picture I got of Quinlynne. The one I'll post a little bit further down...that's one I took for her prosperity. You know, when she some day comes to me saying that her kids won't cooperate and they tell her "I don't want to" about everything.....

I don't ever do anything really special for this day. Even though I do have Irish blood running through me. (My maternal great-grandmother is a McCain.) You'd think I'd do something neat like make green pancakes or color milk green....I'm never quite that on top of it. In college, at OU, there is a local pub right off campus called O'Connell's. Many a student get up early and go eat green eggs & ham there, along with the green beer. I can't tell you how many drunk students show up for class, then walk right back on over to O'Connell's. (Sometimes the teachers gave extra credit for coming to class on St. Patrick's Day.) Once night falls at this little Pub, the real excitement begins. The party mainly takes place in the parking lot, people have their steins, the green beer runs out and normal kegs are tapped, and the sea of partiers is so thick you can't stir them with a spoon. I was the designated driver more than once for this little party. I didn't mind- at least my friends were not walking around all drunk, or even worse- driving.

Now I dress my kid up in green, take her picture, and I must say- I MUCH prefer celebrating St. Patrick's Day this way!!!

I hope you all have a GREAT St. Patrick's Day! May the Luck 'o the Irish be with ya!

This is for all the married ladies

This post is for all the married ladies out there. I just want all of you to know this is what you miss out on by NOT being in the singles scene. I know you probably get totally frustrated with your husbands and the things they do or do not do. But- consider the alternative. I have one example for you.

I met a guy on some website (don't judge) a long time ago. I recently began chatting with him, and we have spoken over the phone. I was thinking good things about him for a while. He is 37, has been married once, is educated, has custody of his daughter, uses proper grammar, does not curse, somewhat intellectual, is a veteran. He fought for custody of his daughter because the mom and her boyfriend were "disciplining" her in a cruel way. There were a few red flags I noticed- but we won't go into those. Let's jump right to the biggie. I was talking to him and he said that he was going through his paperwork and putting statements into the correct folders, etc. He told me that he has insurance on his daughter through CHAMPVA, so it pays 75% on medical bills and he pays 25%, after the $50 yearly deductible. He said he always keeps her statements and bills in a folder. He said he was toying around with the idea of keeping track of his out of pocket expenses for medical bills and was going to add them up when she got to 18, or 21 or whatever it was....the age when she gets her trust, and making her pay him back. My mouth dropped open. I said "I hope you're kidding here." He was not. He asked me if I thought that was a good idea. Most certainly I do not!!! He said "Well, why should I have to pay for her stupid mistakes? Like, when she gets into poison ivy, or she has to go to the doctor because she was playing outside without shoes on when it's cold." I told him that was what he was there for- to teach her to not do those things. He kept saying "Well, how is that fair to me???" I asked him if he came out of his mother's womb knowing everything to do in order to stay healthy. He just kept saying that it wasn't fair to him that he should have to pay for these things. I said "Well, I hate to break it to ya, but being a parent isn't fair. When you take on the responsibility to be a parent, you agree to take on these costs and take care of your child." He said "Well, how is that fair? I mean, is it fair that her mom doesn't pay any child support and I have to do it all on my own? I'm the one that set up this trust for her anyhow." I just couldn't believe I was hearing all of this. I told him it wasn't fair that he did it all on his own, but lots of people do. I don't get child support for my daughter, and I don't get any help from him for anything. However, I'm not planning on keeping track of my expenses in order to make Quinlynne pay me back.

Can you believe it??? What kind of person even has anything like that go through their mind?? Loser, selfish, etc.

He text messaged me today and asked when we could meet. I just told him that after our conversation yesterday I could not find it in myself to be attracted to him and perhaps we should not meet.

Ladies, do you see the kind of men that are out there for the taking? I'm assuming these are the reasons they are available! Too bad for me. Please let me hear your remarks and thoughts on this. I begin to think no one is moved enough by anything I post that they want to comment! Let me hear it!

My mom's granddaughters

My mom has two grandchildren thus far. Both of them happen to be of the female persuasion. Quinlynne is my mom's first granddaughter, she is 3 1/2. Abby is my mom's second granddaughter, she is 7 1/2. Getting pictures of them together can sometimes be difficult. Abby lives in Kansas now, and that makes my little QuinQuin sad. She sometimes cries because she wants to see "Aawon an Mahndee an my Abby". If we tell her they are coming here to visit, she gets so excited and starts planning the things she wants Abby to play with while Abby is here. Here are some pictures of the last time they were able to play together. Quinlynne insisted on wearing pink, just like Abby.

This is the girls playing store. Quinlynne is very concentrated on making the correct change, I guess.

This is the two of them riding on the rocking horse. They are almost too big to fit on the horse together, although they insist on trying.

The girls reading together. Quinlynne loves it now that Abby can read.

shower pics

I had a request to repost the pictures. I don't know what I've done wrong....but let me try again.
Quinlynne was watching me make this bubble bath punch (sherbet and Sprite). She asked me if it was for the baby shower. I told her it was. She said "OOOOh, Momma, the baby gonna be coooold!" I had to laugh, and explain to her that this concoction in the bathtub was not for the baby to bathe, or shower in!


Also, Angela- I WAS getting my CPR cert that day! I was listing all the stuff I had to do this week. You know darn good and well if I'd had a hot date I could not keep my mouth shut about it!!! Also- Hell has not frozen over, to my knowledge.

Stories from a Trucker's daughter

Isn't it crazy how so many of our dads have/had such different occupations. I don't know of very many other trucker's daughters. I am very proud to be a truck driver's daughter (every time I say this that song "Proud to be a Coal Miner's Daughter" goes through my head- dang that Loretta Lynn!) I learned a lot from my dad.

I have a friend whose husband was killed due to some moronic guy who was driving a truck and fell asleep, and used extremely poor driving skills once he realized he had fallen asleep behind the wheel. My friend admitted to be that since the accident, she had a really hard time thinking of my dad as a truck driver. My heart totally went out to her. I explained to her that anyone can get a CDL and crawl behind the wheel of a truck. But, unfortunately, there are very few true truckers out there. You know the ones, they help people who are stranded on the side of the road, they keep their log books up to date, they know all the 2 lane highways in the United States, they refer to police as "smokies", they flash their headlights slowly to let you know it's safe to pull back in front of them, twice quickly to say "thanks", they flash their headlights to let you know there are cops sitting with their radar on, etc. The safety of others and themselves is foremost on their minds. Those are a few things that describe a true trucker, my friends. But, like anything else, it's those bad eggs that spoil the whole darn bunch...and in the process destroy the lives of others.

After the baby shower this weekend, we were sitting around chatting. My cousin CJ brought his girlfriend to meet the family. I was a bit skeptical at first. The others he has brought to meet us....have not been of the highest caliber....that's a polite way to say it. This little girl was adorable. She was intelligent, nice, calm, warm, and seemed normal. Thank goodness! She even sat around to hear stories! We talked about funny things my Granny did with her White Liniment and warm towels, having to lie completely still when we slept with Granny "so we'd grow straight", not being able to talk more than 1 minute after we got in bed with our aunt, Charlsie, etc.

One thing led to another and we told some stories about my dad. I decided to blog about funny stories being a trucker's daughter.

One day a few years ago I was driving home and I saw my dad's truck and trailer sitting loaded in the Atwood's parking lot. It had been quite a while since I'd seen my dad, so I decided to pull over and surprise my dad. Knowing that truckers rarely ever lock the doors on the cab- I got out and opened the driver's door. My dad wasn't sitting there. So, I climbed up to the first step and still didn't see my dad. So, I got in the cab and looked in the sleeper. No dad. I was backing out and I hear foot steps coming up. This man's voice said "Can I help you with something?" It was not my dad's voice. I stammered around and said "Um...I thought this was my dad's truck. I'm so sorry." This man continued to look at me and said "Well, it's not." Dead-pan face. I again apologized and was beginning to sweat. I must have looked on the verge of panic because the guy said "You're Lester's daughter?" I said "Yes. I sure am." He died laughing and told me I was in the right truck. He'd just had to take dad's load someplace because Dad had been asked to take another one of his trucks someplace real quick. Boy! I was relieved. Can you imagine how embarrassing that would have been had it truly been someone else's truck and I totally had climbed on up??

I gave a Baby Shower

I am sure I may have mentioned this previously- but my brother and his wife are expecting their first baby together. I'm SOOO excited to meet my new niece (or nephew). They say this baby is a girl, but I just have this feeling that it is going to come out with a penis. I am not the only one who has this feeling. The due date is not until April 18, but apparently my SIL's OB said she should not travel after March 1. I know, I think 6 weeks of not traveling at all is a bit extreme. But, whatever. I'm still so excited to have a new little baby in the family.

My brother is a big fisherman. In fact, he is a charter member if the Bass Masters fishing club at Oklahoma State University. He's even been on ESPN for some fishing tournaments. He's all into the catch-and-release Bass fishing. (I ask you- what's the point of catching the fish if you're not going to keep them and eat them? I love a good fish fry!) My SIL has even been in some couple's tournaments with him. They do enjoy going out on the boat and spending some time on the water.

In addition to getting all of my stuff ready for the Just Between Friends sale this weekend, I was planning my brother's baby shower, and renewing my certification for CPR (if I let that expire I get kicked out of nursing school), and writing assessments and process recordings and getting my taxes done......it was crazy and continues to be. I made the baby shower invitations myself (if I knew how to get pictures from my Blackberry onto the computer I would download the picture onto this blog). They said "Come help us celebrate Aaron & Mandy's latest catch"......vital time and place info.....and then "the Small Mouth Hoffman is registered at Target".

Saturday came and Mom & I were mad shoppers at Just Between Friends. We literally stood in line an hour and a half before it was time for us to get in as consignors, and I ran up stairs to get to the strollers and car seats....and scored a brand new Chicco travel system with an extra base for less than half of what it costs retail. I know, I'm amazing. We waited for Aaron & Mandy to get in to the sale at 3:00, and we showed them all the stuff we had picked. We made them pick a few things out themselves. When it was time to check out I left them all in line and boogied on over to Sam's to pick up the cake. I came back and picked them up, along with the goods, and we headed to the homestead for the shower. Aaron & Mandy were 30 minutes late to their own shower. Isn't that lovely?

Not counting mom & I, or Aaron & Mandy, there were 20 or 22 people in our living room for the shower. Isn't that a great turnout? I have placed pictures throughout the post here for you to enjoy. Please feel free to tell me what a good job I did!

So happy Aaron & Mandy were blessed with so many gifts! Before the shower all they had was a crib...no mattress....but a crib. That is no longer the case! Come on Baby Hoffman!

Daddy Daughter Dance

This past Saturday (the 21st), Quinlynne went with her Uncle Charlie to the stake Daddy Daughter dance. We had told her the night before about the dance. She got all excited, ran into her room and I heard drawers opening and closing. I was nervous. She came out with her purple leotard with the attached skirt, saying that was what she was going to wear to the dance. I had to stifle laughter and tell her that she was going to a dance, not dance class. She looked at me like I had 2 heads. I had to explain to her that when you go to a dance, you dress up and look pretty. I told her the dress she was going to wear. She was not pleased.

The following day we had quite the busy day. But, we got home and I showered her and did her hair, and got her ready for her big date with Uncle Charlie. She looked so pretty. She was not very cooperative with the pre-dance pictures. I hope she does not act this way when I go to take pre-prom pictures.

After the dance, Uncle Charlie brought her home by curfew. (tee hee) Quinlynne was way more cooperative with the post-dance pictures. She apparently did not dance at the dance. (She told me later that it was because she was watching everyone else dance. She wanted to see how to do it.)

She liked the craft projects there. She even painted Uncle Charlie's hand for him. So thoughtful. I'm so glad that my Precious has Uncle Charlie is here and willing to be such an active participant in Quinlynne's life. I worried when I was pregnant that Quinlynne missed out on daddy-daughter activities. (I missed out on the majority of them too, since my dad was an over-the-road trucker and was gone- and I turned out okay and I'm not scarred by the lack of attendance in these activities. But still- you want more for your own daughter.) Thank you Uncle Charlie!!!