Wacky Wednesday~Who Froo Dat Ham In Da Vehicular Ride?

Yes, I have been neglecting our blog.

No, The Trip of Coexistence did not end on day two.

Yes, I will try my darndest to finish that tale before creating a new one.

For today, though, I feel a little wacky. And look--it's Wednesday! Since it's been awhile, let's do a Wacky Wednesday post!

Once upon a time, our crazy friend, Nick, shared a story about a woman and a ham. Some of you may have seen the dramatic reenactment by the Miss, but if not, here's the scoop behind the story Nick led us to believe was true.

Wild, far-fetched story.

Although we soon realized it was an urban legend, it was still quite funny to us. We weren't the only ones. To our delight, the day after celebrity chef Paula Deen was hit in the face with a flying ham while helping to pass them out for charity in Atlanta in late 2009, one of our favorite artists, Fred Schneider of The B-52s, released this single, "Who Threw That Ham At Me", as a part of The Superions, a side project of his. If you care to check out the video and song, here you go!

Strange, but hysterical video.

After many years, the Miss has invented her own version of what a 'Who Froo Dat Ham' face would look like. She uses it often in photographs, much to our delight.

Yes, we are bad parents to encourage her. You would, too, if you saw her in action!

She also encourages us to use it as well, as seen here in this Test Track photo.



What? You don't make funny faces while the camera captures the terror of your ride mates?

Death sucks for the living

Okay, maybe that title isn't the most ladylike that I've written, but today, that's just how I feel.

Last year, on this same day (February 20th), I wrote about my sister, Renee. It had been 15 years to the day since her death, and I finally felt as though I was in a better place with 'living' with that realization. I know that sounds totally dramalicious and all, but for a family who just lived in denial about it most of the time (how else do you survive?), it was a big thing!

Here we are again, one year later, 16 years since she left us, and I feel like I have taken about 10 steps backwards. Mom's death has a lot to do with that, I'm sure. It's been almost a month since we lost her. An important part of our support system is gone; we all leaned on each other and lifted one another up on the tough days.

The other day, I wrote to my friend, Lynne, about some recent 'Deep Thoughts by Mare'. Scary, yes, but most of my deep thoughts are emotionally charged ramblings that come from the heart. If those kinds of things freak you out, just close the page now. That's the only warning I am going to give you, so don't blame me later on! ;)

If you are still reading, here are some bits and pieces of what I shared with her. Today, they seem so relevant to me for some reason.



I've been thinking a lot about death, and it's strange how similar, yet different, it can be for each person in your life that you lose. When we lost my sister, Renee, almost 16 years ago, it was sudden and unexpected. She traveled often, so although there was such a void in our lives, our brains dealt with the loss by just pretending she was away again. That was all fine and good until the reality of it all set in during the most unexpected times. I remember sobbing in Mark's arms when we took a cruise we had planned to take with Renee. The smell of the ocean (she was a total beach bum) just hit me like a ton of bricks. It was reality smacking me right in the face!



I lost my Dad just a little over 3 years ago. Although my parents divorced when I was 5, I was very close to him. We shared a love of horses and guitars/music, both of which he did for a living. When we moved from New Jersey to New York, he would drive the 3 hours from Pennsylvania to come up and visit us. He loved little Renee so much, and there was nothing better in life to him than just being her Poppy. Then Mark got the job in Georgia. This was very hard on all of us, especially when Dad suffered a stroke and I couldn't be there to help and support him through his recovery. We spoke on the phone numerous times during those long weeks, but it wasn't the same for either of us. Dad died at the end of the year, and it wasn't a good type of closure for me. There was a huge amount of guilt on my part. Again, like with my sister, there were miles between us so it wasn't in my face 24/7. It gave me time to come to terms with the loss before I had to recognize that he was really gone.



With Mom, it feels different. Not only has she been with us since Mark and I got married (20 years ago this November!), but our lives have revolved around her cancers for the past two years. Everything that we did (Renee's homeschooling, shopping, vacations, what I was going to cook for dinner) was scheduled around Mom. It feels weird to just be able to pick up and go somewhere without having to make sure Mom is okay. It almost makes me feel guilty.



Mom and I would always joke about how I would deal with her being gone. Her favorite scenario was that Renee and I would make a life-sized cut-out of her and sit it in the glider in her room so that I could walk in there and talk to her...lol! It was something that we did everyday; I would make her coffee, walk it into her room, and we would chat about anything and everything. She thought the idea of me having conversations with a piece of cardboard after she was gone was hysterical!



Mom just had a fantastic sense of humor about it all, but we were very realistic about how our lives would eventually end up. She told me a long time ago that she had 70 wonderful years on this earth, and when God decided it was her time to go, she didn't have any choice in the matter anyway. How true that ended up being; she never did get to die at home with hospice and her family surrounding her with love. Instead, it was just the two of us in a hospital room. I am just so thankful that my stubborn side came out of hiding and I stayed with her, Lynne. I don't know how I would be dealing with the guilt of not being with her when she died.

Deep thoughts, indeed. Sometimes, I curse the fact that I am such a sensitive, feeling woman. On days like this, I wish that I wouldn't even think about the fact that it is a 'death anniversary'. How stupid is that? I know we all should be celebrating life, but my emotions are just too caught up in the reality of the moment. I'm sure if Mom's death wasn't so recent, it wouldn't be as raw to me today.

It also wouldn't be as obvious that three people who walked through this life with me aren't walking beside me any longer. That feels kind of weird.



But yet, here we are, Mark, Mare, and little Renee, three beings touched by the love of some amazing souls yet left without their presence on this earth. We all know they are in a better place, but our daily lives feel so empty without them. We are all so lucky to have each other, though. Maybe that is their gift to us?

As I sit here trying to find a way to end this post in a positive light, Renee just showed me a quote that popped up on a game she was playing on her computer.

"A well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death." ~Leonardo Da Vinci

Wow.

Are there angels watching while I vent here on our blog? Perhaps they feel as though I need some positive light sent my way via Renee's 'Virtual Families' game? If so, then many thanks, angels who watch over me.

And now that positive light is radiating from my soul, I can honestly say that no matter how many years they had on this earth, Mom, Dad, and Renee loved with all their hearts. If that isn't using life to the fullest, I don't know what is.

Maybe death doesn't have to suck for the living. Maybe death is a reminder to live and love and fight the sadness with all that you are.

Today, in honor of my sister, I am going to focus on the love that they all so selflessly gave to me. I doubt I would be the person I am today if I didn't experience that love.

And today, I am going to send love back to all who have stood by us during these sad days in our life. Words could never express how amazing you have all been. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Now that I have worked through all of that, what should I do about the title of this post? ;)

Look! He is making fun of me!

Can you tell he's saying, "Hmmmmmm"?

My dear, sweet husband seems to think that I have a little 'issue' with contemplating things. ;)

Tag...I'm it!

If you take a peek over to the left and scroll down a bit, you will see a little list known as my 'Daily Reads'. When I stop by these blogs, I really feel like I am being handed a gift. It's a gift of escape, and it's never disappointing. =)

One of my favorite reads is Tink's My Mobile Adventures. It doesn't matter whether she's mobile blogging from Disney World, shelling in Sanibel, or just staying close to home and sharing her innermost (hysterical!) thoughts. She always makes me laugh and smile, and I truly appreciate that!

Last week on her Blogless Thursday, she gave me (and the cat sleeping on my desk) the gift of shock when I clicked on a sound link on her page. Today, she surprised me again, but at least there wasn't any cat hair flying through the air.

I know you are sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to hear about the surprise, aren't you? Since you are sitting ever so patiently, I won't make you wait any longer. ;)

So...what did she do? She tagged me-twice! First time ever! I feel sort of silly being excited about that, but I'm not ashamed to admit it. Honestly, it's pretty cool!

The first meme was a Google game. Tink mentioned that it was optional, but I'm all about immersing myself in the moment. It's simple...just Google your first name with the word 'needs' after it, and then post the first ten results. If you like, grab the idea and tag away!

Here we go!

Mare needs....

1. Your help-Hmmmm. I usually like to take care of things on my own, but thank you anyway.

2. A name-If I didn't have one, silly, I wouldn't have been able to participate in this game!

3. A loving home-Mark sometimes calls me Suzy Homemaker; I'd like to think that I've got that covered.

4. To go now-Where? To WDW? Sure! Are you filling up the tank, too?

5. Man candy-Ummmm...Can't...stop...laughing!

6. A new rider-Oh, you must mean a new rider on my insurance policy. ;)

7. Good family-Yup, right here with me in my loving home. =)

8. A lift-Is this a premonition of vehicular difficulties?

9. Name-See #2 above.

10. A name-Aren't you paying attention? Even though you added an 'a' to it, we covered that twice already!

I regards to this search, did you know that a female horse is called a mare? I did, because in my past life, I was very 'horsie'. I got a huge kick out of the fact that each and every result had to do with horses. Even the 'Man Candy' one-LOL! It was either a sign, or just coincidence. ;)

Now that I am through sharing the first tag with you, would you like to see the second and even greater tag?

That, my friends, would be the BLOGGING FRIENDS FOREVER GOLD CARD, or just BFF Gold Card for short. Pretty impressive, huh? ;)

With this award comes some rules and regulations. Since I am a Mom and have to make a good impression, I will follow the rules. They are as follows...

1. You have to tag 5 people.
2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award.

Okay, this is a little hard for me because I am pretty new at blogging. Although I am sure that folks are visiting our blog, most are either very shy or just not into the whole commenting thing. Then I have a few dedicated readers who love to read and comment, but they don't have their own blogs. What to do? Rules are bendable, right?

Since I can't re-gift to Tink, here are my five. At this point, I don't know of any readers who live in another part of the world. How about if I start with the nearest reader and end at the furthest? Fair enough?

Talk about close, Christa actually lives in the same town that I do! She's married with a daughter heading into her senior year of high school, and Teetering on the Edge of the Empty Nest pretty much describes her life right now. If there is something going on in our town, I will usually find a photo of it on her blog. She always has the scoop-LOL!

Next up is Debbie. Like Tink, she doesn't have to shovel snow anymore. No matter what the weather, it always feels like summer when I visit her blog, Debbie in Paradise. I love her travel photos...from Jamaica to Walt Disney World, there's something for everyone. She also owns Tropical Travel and Adventures, and is always ready to answer questions and help me with any travel plans. How helpful is that?

Jody has been a little busy with her family this summer, but I really enjoy her posts on Time to Simplify-Jody's Journey. I love reading about her family; her love for them shines through! Oh, and her hints on organization are just awesome.

Glo has lots of travel plans this summer, and at Our Little Corner, they are all being documented for posterity. I love popping in to see where she is taking us next...what fun!

Last, but not least, is Mari. From flowers to fowl, there's lots of gorgeous eye candy at MariBy on the Learning Curve. Her enthusiasm and desire to improve her photography skills have really inspired me to pick up my camera more often!

So there you go! Tag...you're it! Enjoy your Gold Card, my friends, and have fun spreading the joy with others. Just make sure to follow the rules, okay? ;)