spring ,heroes, pigs and shotgun

Spring always makes me happy....

I feel like a pioneer

I have made it through another winter!

Now, it's Spring Break

JazzFest

Camping

Beachtime

We are happy here on the Porch.

My friend, Stacey, BIL Patrick  and SIL Eileen , Karen and Victoria came to help us dye eggs.

Some background here...

Stacey is one of the infamous Lagoonatics from Bay St Louis, MS.

Patrick is the man you want on your side, (also known as Bianca if you read the strange tale of Bianca Patrick)

 He has been flying back and forth to Dallas at least once a month to care for an old friend who is dying with cancer.

He also cared for his dad in his last days, helped take care ofTom's sister before she passed, and was his mom's caregiver until her death.

He is ever cheerful, always joking, always comes when I call.

He is one of my heroes.

Eileen is one of the bonus gifts I got when I married Tom.

She is the go-to person for the whole family.

Need a baby-sitter?

Aunt Eileen

Need sugarless gum for your husbands Easter basket?

Eileen.

And it's a BIG family!

This is the way Karen came into my life...

Caitlin put up a sign at a local store, advertising that she would babysit.

Victoria came to our house.

It had been so long since I had a 7 year old to play with, that I quite took over Caitlin's job.

Tom and I became her grandparents.

Boy, Mariah is relieved now that the pressure is off of her!

We soon brought her mom Karen into  our circle.

She is my ally and partner in good times and bad, but the bad is never too bad when you have a  friend right up the road.

Karen is from Brazil and speaks excellent English with a beautiful accent.

Sometimes slang and "southernisms" confuse her.

For months, when she and Tori would come to pick me up Tori would be in the front seat and I would say,"I call Shotgun!" and Tori would get in the back.

Finally, Karen said"WHAT does that mean?"

I was astounded, "Some person gets into your car yelling shotgun at you for months and you are just now asking?What ,did you think I'd shoot out your tires?"

So I had to explain the wild west movies when the cowboys are riding on the top of the stagecoach, one drives and one rides next to him to shoot the bad guys.

Hence, riding next to the driver is the shotgun position....

Guess it didn't translate well!

We use a lot of weird sayings on the Porch.

We have these ancient home movies (the kind made with a big projector that are jerky and a little too fast) of little 4 year old Tom in his suspenders riding a pig

yes, a pig

why would anyone do that to a baby?

well, he is on the pig, the pig runs real fast and he is in the mud

here they come again

run run run splat...

in the mud

Aghast, I said,"did you like it?"

"Hell,no, I didn't like it. The pig didnt' like it, the farmer didn't like it, the farmer's wife didn't like it, nobody liked it!"

So a particularly bad night is one when we all" rode the pig."

there's another one....

Jack, our giant black dog, sleeps with us.

We cuddle him

One night, Tom sleepily looks over and says,"I think we got the wrong end of the dog this time."

So here's a happy spring to all of you from the people of the Porch,

wishing you call shotgun all the way home,

 hoping you dont have to ride the pig

and never get the wrong end of the dog.

 

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