Dun-Dun and Papaw Bob

So I know everyone says that they have the best grandma in the world, but prepare to be blown away.

Because I do, in fact, have THE MOST AMAZING, WONDERFUL, AWESOME, INCREDIBLE, (INSERT INFINITE OTHER SUPERLATIVES) GRANDMA EVER!!!!!

And she is called...  DUN-DUN!!


Sunday, my Dun (we call her that for short) came over to my parents' house (we usually visit on Sundays) and was telling me that she had heard a rumor about me.  Of course, it was about the motorcycle.

They say that 99% of the things you worry about never come true.  I guess my grandma's job is to worry so much that nothing bad ever happens to one of us.

Instead of receiving the usual chiding and hearing about how much she was going to be worrying about me and how I should never get on one of those death machines, my grandmother proceeded to tell me about how she learned to ride a motorcycle.

That's right.  My grandmother can ride a motorcycle.

In fact, she used to ride her little motorcycle to town all the time.  She had to get a helmet that had the shield that covered her face because she didn't want people to say, "Look at that little old lady riding to town."  She's so funny.

Let me just tell you some stories about this lady...

Going to Dun's house was always an adventure.  The very best part about her house was not the amazing food...  Not the way you could wiggle your cup around on the counter so it made noise and she would come running with a refill (can we say spoiled?!?!?!?!?!?)...  Not even the slip-n-slides that she would create in the bathtub with shaving cream (and let me tell you, if I could still fit in a bathtub with a little bit of wiggle room.....)...  It was...  THE BUBBLEGUM DRAWER!!!!!

That's right, folks.  An entire drawer in her bedroom was devoted to holding the most deliciously sweet (and sour) versions of bubblegum ever made...  Bubblicious.  And boy was it awesome.  I'd say that I averaged ten pieces per visit (don't judge...  You know that stuff is only good for about 30 seconds before it becomes a flavorless lump of sticky icky).

But that is not the only reason my grandmother is better than yours.  The adventures we had at her house are endless...  Like the time I married my brother to my cousin (awkward...).  Or the time one of us kids "died" and we hosted the entire funeral in the backyard (complete with the "woe is me, woe is me...").  Or even the time that her dog had puppies and we took little baby doll dresses and dressed them up (so pretty).  I could probably write a novel about the things that lady let us do.

As I've aged over the years (but not necessarily grown up), I've become to realize that my "Dun in the sun" is not just an amazing grandma...  She's an extremely interesting woman.  To hear her stories about growing up with her family and the trials and tribulations they went through (from outsmarting her brothers to get her bubblegum to recalling her own brother's suicide)...  To hear her stories about working at Oak Ridge at the same time they were developing the atomic bomb...  To hear her stories about trying to have children, wanting four (perhaps six, I can't remember) but only ending up with two...  To hear her stories about raising my "faja" (as I call him) and his nonsense...

Words cannot even describe how precious my grandmother is to me.  In many ways, she is my role model.

And that brings me to my Papaw Bob.  Boy was that man a hoot.  I can remember watching COPS (filmed on location with the men and women of law enforcement) every night before bedtime.  Many of those nights, my Papaw Bob and I would both have us a big ol' bowl of the best cereal there was (whatever it may have been at the time).  I remember how he played chopsticks on my keyboard.  He might as well have been Mozart.  And I remember how every time we would try to run past him into the kitchen, he would swoop us up and hold us for forever.  Oh, we'd fight and squirm and squiggle and try our best to get away, but secretly, we loved every minute of it.  It was one of our most favorite games.

I will also never forget the time he was taking a nap and Leslie and I painted his fingernails.  Now this was not unusual (we also liked to put makeup on him), but on this occasion, he had an appointment to get his hair cut.  And Dun didn't know we had painted his nails until he arrived at the barber shop...  I can understand now why she wanted him to just cancel his appointment and go home!!

Those two, I swear to you, were the light of my life when I was just a little girl.  And to think that my Papaw was worried I wouldn't remember him...

To make a long story short, I'll get to the end.  The moral of this story is that the next time you see two motorcycles cruising down the highway...

It may just be my Dun in the sun and her Jade in the shade.

Welcome, Willow Grace

Introducing the newest Delta Zeta legacy...

Miss Willow Grace!!!

I am happy to report that mom (Emily Tilson) and baby are doing fine.  Yes, I am a bit late on this, as Willow was born last Monday night, April 9, 2012, but today is Miss Emily's birthday!  I am very excited about the opportunity to spoil my little DZ niece!  Congrats Emily and Luke on your beautiful baby girl!!

In other news, I am getting ready to mark a big to-do off my bucket list.  Yes, I have a bucket list.  I have had one since I was probably between 11 and 13 (I'm pretty sure I created it somewhere in that range), and  it has quite a few things on it.  I've already marked some off, like...

Buy a house

Learn to ride a horse

Take a cruise

There are more things that I've done on my bucket list, but I can't quite remember them right now (huh, imagine that...  I can't remember anything...).  It's kinda hard to remember unimportant things when your head is full of bugs and drugs.....

Anyway, my next adventure on the list??  Learning to ride a motorcycle!!  You heard me right.  I am taking my basic rider's course next weekend (the 27th, 28th, and 29th), and after that, I will be the proud owner of a motorcycle license.  I'm too excited.

And for my bike...

*sigh*

I wish...

That's it for now.  Please continue to send me alternate names for my blog, as a new poll will go soon.

Happy Tuesday!!

Spray Paint, My New Best Friend

To put it simply, life has been hectic the past few weeks.  I made my first F ever (and yes, I mean a bona fide F...), and so that took me a while to get over.  There's nothing like failing for the first time.

Anyway, we've moved, had two tests since the last time I blogged, and my best friend Sara came down over my spring break.  The house is coming along nicely (and by that, I mean that everything is unpacked, it just needs to be cleaned right now).  There are a few things that still need to be hung on the walls, but the blinds are all up and I'm starting to think about throw pillows and drapes.  Perhaps I will get around to taking some pictures of the inside of our house a bit later this week.

Okay, so on to better news.  I have discovered spray paint.  And I have fallen madly, truly, deeply in love.  Spray paint is my new best friend.  The love of my life.  My soulmate!  With a can of spray paint, the possibilities are endless!!  No, seriously...  A few of the projects I've been working on lately:

A simple glass vase from the dollar store and some small rubber bands...

Plus some glass frosting from Hobby Lobby...

Ta-da!!  A beautiful custom vase (that only cost a couple of bucks, might I add!!).

Add that to my mantle, and I'd say it's just about perfect!

I've also been working on the exterior of my house.  It desperately needed some work.  My mom and dad came over and helped me do a couple of things around the outside (such as trim the out-of-control bushes out front), and my awesome husband took me to Home Depot and let me buy some impatients (on clearance, of course) to hang on the front porch.  Now for some tables...

My big, tan, bland table

And the other table

Add some spray paint...

And voila!  Blue tables!!

 While I LOVE my blue tables, I decided that something else needed to change about my front porch...  I mean, look at that poop brown door!

Yuck!

 So I painted it red today!!

Because of the shade, you can't really tell that it's changed...

But now you can tell!  And NO, this was not spray paint.

And let me just tell you, when I started to paint the door, it was pink.  I don't mean that it was red with a hint of pink.  It was hot pink with a hint of fuchsia.  It was bad.  I panicked.  Called my mom and John.  Almost cried because I just knew all my neighbors were thinking I was a loon for painting my door pink.  But alas, it turned out gorgeous!

Now my next project was kinda a spur-of-the-moment project.  I found some shoes a while back at Goodwill, and I'm honestly not really sure why I bought them.  But I cleaned them, and they have been sitting in my closet ever since.  Now you also need to know that I have been desperately wanting some bright blue shoes for months.  I have been looking and looking, but I can't seem to find any that aren't stripper shoes.  And Lord knows I probably should not been traipsing around in stripper shoes when I'm doing a rectal exam next week...

...

So, I realized that I had some (*gasp*) bright blue (the perfect color) spray paint left over from painting my tables.  So I taped up those shoes and spray painted them!!

Ugly but cheap shoes from Goodwill and left over blue spray paint

A work in progress

Success!!!  LOVE my new blue shoes!

A few more notes...  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GREATEST MOTHER-IN-LAW EVER!!!  I think she turns about 35 today.  :)

Also, I am considering changing the name of my blog.  I will be putting it up to a vote, but I need some suggestions.  If you are one of the two people that read this lousy blog, please give me some suggestions.  I am counting on both of you!!!  lol

Happy Good Friday!!!