Three More Back-to-School Traditions

Good Wednesday morning!

Roxie and Mikie drove to Oneonta last night in search of a car for The Chick. Mike found a "possibility" on the Internet, contacted the owner to set up a test drive and the two of them hit the road.

Needless to say, I wasn't the least bit surprised when Roxie called me squealing and excited a couple of hours later.

"Mom! Guess what?"

"You loved the car!" I squealed back. I may be 50, but my "squealer" still works fine, thank you very much!

"No. I mean, YES. But we're behind a goat truck. It is hilarious!"

"Okay." First of all, I didn't know if "goat truck" was code for anything else. (IDK, LOL, VBFF, TGIF, etc.)

I waited for the laughter to stop on her end of the phone. It didn't.

"Wait a minute. You can hear them bleating," she said, and I guess she held the phone out the car window.

"Wow. That's pretty cool. It sounds like real goats," I responded.

It was obviously not the response she was expecting, but it was not the conversation I had been expecting, either.

"I'll just take a picture and show you when I get home," she said.

This made me happy. Whenever one of my kids says, "I'll just take a picture," I get a little shiver of delight down my spine.

"Okay. I can't wait to see it," and we said good-bye.

These are the pictures she took.

See. A "goat truck."

Live and learn.

CONTEST! CONTEST! CONTEST! - This is my 993rd post for A Simple Life. The countdown continues!

The Contest will be simple. The rules are as follows:

Beginning today, leave your NAME followed by the word "CONTEST" in the Comment Section of A Simple Life, e-mail me (mfaulkner1306@charter.net) or go to my Facebook page.

You can enter the Contest ONCE A DAY (each and every day including Saturdays AND Sundays) until Thursday, August 30 at midnight. (Your name could be put into the drawing bowl a total of 9 times between now and Thursday, August 30!)

I will write my 1,000th post Friday morning, August 31.

I will draw from a HUGE BOWL of names, and a winner will be announced the morning of Friday, August 31.

The winner will receive a $15 Gift Certificate to one of the following restaurants:

1. Another Broken Egg
2. Original Pancake House
3. Olexa's
4. Lucia's Italian Restaurant in Helena

It will be Winner's Choice!

If you win and you live somewhere other than Alabama, you will win a $15 VISA Gift Card!

"May the odds be ever in your favor!"

(I'm going to be saying that for the next 6 POSTS!)

NEW THING! NEW THING! NEW THING! - I'm going to post one of my favorite posts each day from the past four years until August 31.

RANDOMNESS - Originally Posted January, 2011

If you are a mother and you have a little girl (under 14 years of age), I want to give you a little warning.

1. Chances are, your chick will be wearing make-up around 14 years of age.

2. If (or when) your chick runs out of powder, blush, mascara, eye shadow, etc., she will naturally come to your bathroom and check out your make-up products.

3. If you have raised her right, she will politely ask if she can use your powder, blush, mascara, eye shadow, etc. And because she asked so sweetly, you will give your consent.

4. She will tell you she is going to take it to her bathroom and apply it in front of her uber-magnifying make-up mirror. Again, you give your consent, because several years ago you threw your uber-magnifying make-up mirror in the trash can because you noticed it caused severe depression. (NOTE - Only women with no pores, wrinkles, laugh lines, frown lines, etc. should ever use an uber-magnifying make-up mirror. Roxie will probably be throwing her mirror away in two to three years!)

5. You will take your perfectly coiffed and beautifully made-up daughter to school and drop her off for a day of learning and socializing with her friends.

6. You will drive home to get ready for a doctor's appointment, a haircut AND some shopping for the County Basketball Tournament.

7. You will discover after your shower you have NO powder, NO blush and NO mascara. You look pale, weepy and a little angry. (NOTE - The angry look doesn't come from lack of make-up. It comes from HAVING NO MAKE-UP AT ALL!)

8. You put on a really nice top, make your hair really big AND wear a lot of bright lipstick.

9. When you walk into the doctor's office, they ask if you are feeling okay when you sign in. (NOTE - You aren't even at YOUR doctor's office. You are with your son for his doctor's appointment.)

10. When you get your haircut, the beautician says, "Well, let's see if we can make this a better day." But she can't.

11. When you go to the different fast food restaurants to pick up food for the Hospitality Suite, the managers take one look at you and yell at the workers, "Hurry up with that order. She doesn't have much time left. I mean 'time.' She doesn't have much TIME!"

12. When you arrive at the school, your daughter comes running up to you. Her hair is glossy perfection. Her eyelashes are 12" long. Her blush has been expertly re-applied for the evening's festivities. She is beautiful. "Mom, are you feeling okay? You look rough. And why are your lips so bright?"

13. At home, you ask for your make-up to be returned. You hide all of your make-up products in five or six different places.

14. You wake up the next morning, take your perfectly coiffed and beautifully made-up daughter to school. (She has new make-up, you see.) When you arrive home, you hop in the shower to get ready for your day which includes running a few more errands and going to the bank.)

15. You can't remember where you hid ANY of your make-up products... except for the really, really bright lipstick.

I know you want to know the moral of this story. Sorry. There is no moral. This is the true story of life with a 14 year-old girl. The good (lots of good... really, really good), the bad (when she takes your make-up to school... really, really bad) and the ugly (how I look when she takes my make-up to school... really, really ugly)!

See what "coiffed" and "beautifully made-up" looks like on a 14 year-old girl?

I'm not going to show you a picture of me made that same day. Nope. Not gonna happen!

Wednesday Wisdom - In honor of the hilarious Phyllis Diller, she will be the source of our Wednesday Wisdom.

"They say housework can't kill you, but why take the chance?"

"Best way to get rid of kitchen odors: Eat out."

"We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and shut up."

"Never go to bed angry. Stay up and fight."

"Aim high, and you won't shoot your foot off."

"I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them."

"Most children threaten at times to run away from home. This is the only thing that keeps some parents going."

Phyllis Diller passed away this week at the age of 95 with a "smile on her face," according to her son, Perry.

Fun fact for you... She didn't start her career in comedy until she was 37 years-old and was a mother of five!

More Back-to-School Traditions

I went blog hopping this morning and found some unique (to me) traditions. I'm not looking to add more traditions to our back-to-school festivities at this late date, but some of these are pretty good.

Back in the day, I would have considered them!

1. Take an apple to the teacher. An old-fashioned tradition in a sometimes crazy, modern world!

On the second day of school, take a small bouquet of flowers in a mason jar.

Finally, on the last day of the first week of school, I send home a "THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS" List for the teacher to fill out. The List includes the following items (and more):

My Favorite Cookie is ________________.
My Favorite Body Lotion scent is ________________.
My Favorite Fast Food restaurant is ________________.

Throughout the year, I can pick up little gifts, trinkets and gift cards for my child to give her teacher to show our appreciation for all the hard work it takes to love and educate our kiddos!

This was taken from www.kueterfamilyblog.blogspot.com.

2. Wrap up the school supplies. In our home, a new workbook is welcomed with a lot more excitement when covered with fun wrapping paper and given as a gift.

This was taken from www.prayerofhannah.blogspot.com.

3. The morning of the first day of school when your children wake up, tell them excitedly the Back-to-School Fairy visited your home.

Watch as they race downstairs to find the breakfast table decorated with streamers, balloons, a special tablecloth and personalized place settings.

Put an emphasis on whatever grade your child is entering by cutting out giant numbers and hanging them on the wall or the back of the child's chair.

Don’t forget the homemade place-mats that read, “You’ve been visited by the Back-to- School Fairy! Have a great day in ________ grade!”

It’s also a great idea to include an encouraging Bible verse like Joshua 1:9, “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!”

This was taken from www.prayerofhannah.blogspot.com.

Have a fantastic Wednesday. I'll be back tomorrow with a Date idea, Blog Linkage, an oldie, pictures, etc. You know... a typical Thursday.

Take care, and I'll talk to you in the morning.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda