Is That Luke Bryan?

That dude is everywhere.
Turn on a country music radio station at any given moment, and every third song, whom will you hear?  Luke Bryan. 
Check out the host of the country music awards.  Is that Luke Bryan?  Check out the winner of the country music awards.  Is that Luke Bryan?
He gets around.  Last year I came face to face with a life-size cardboard cutout in Cabela's in Post Falls, and all I could say was, "Is that Luke Bryan?"

Whose kind of night is it?  Luke Bryan's.  Who's kicking up dust?  Luke Bryan.  Who's touring Europe?  Luke Bryan.
Recently my work took me to Las Vegas, and whose larger than life self was looking all awesome gazing down from a mural on the wall right there on the Las Vegas strip?  Jeremy Renner's.  AND...Luke Bryan's.

Changing of the Guard

This year I celebrated the twenty-first birthday of The Precious, I watched Angel Doll and my Treasure graduate high school, and I said goodbye to Grandpa.  The guard is changing.  Does anyone ever feel prepared for the future?
We've done our best to train up our children in the way they should go, and now we get to watch them live out what we have taught them.  But that doesn't mean our work is over, only that our job description has changed.  We get to be the support system as our children test their wings, celebrate their successes, and maybe even make their own mistakes.  We are qualified to help them recover from, and forgive themselves for, mistakes they may make, because we have modeled that in our own lives.  At least, we are trying to!
And if we are REALLY blessed, we, like Grandpa, will someday celebrate a fiftieth wedding anniversary (and then some), and see our grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even a great-great grandchild.
Ready or not, the future has come.  We have faith that God has prepared us to carry the torch.  We will continue to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them which despitefully use us and persecute us.  We will be mightier than Jeremy Renner.  The guard is changing, and whether we feel ready, we will trust that we ARE ready.  Our children are ready to be adults.  We are ready to witness our children becoming adults.  We will be ready if parents begin to need us more than we need them.  And we will hope to be as gracious as Grandma as she takes the helm without Grandpa.  Go in peace, Grandpa.  We will take it from here.

Not As Smart As My Phone

I'm finally moving into the twenty-first century with the rest of the world, though I've been so happy with my secondhand slide phone.  You've heard that ignorance is bliss?  Here's an example.  While society communicates primarily via emojis, all I receive on my secondhand slide phone are little squares.
Me: "You're invited to my party!  I'm inviting Jeremy Renner too!"
My sister-in-law Lovesme: "   ⃣    ⃣   "
My sister-in-law Hatesme: "   ⃣    ⃣   "
So I'm thinking, how sweet, they probably sent me heart emojis.  With a smiley face!  When in reality, I probably got a middle finger emoji, and a poop.
I lost my contacts in the move; even my children's numbers.  The only phone number I still have is Grandma's, because it's been the same my whole life and I had it memorized from back in the late 1900's when we still had to actually dial.
Text me your number at 509-398-5304.  For real.

Angel Spreads Its Wings

What kind of parent drops its child at an international airport and just walks away from it?  But we did.  Angel Doll has wanted to be an exchange student since she was only half a pint.  And I was like, "No!  You're only half a pint."  But now she's three quarters of a pint, and a well known fact about three-quarter pints is that they're unstoppable.
So I was trying to be all tough and cool about sending her off, but when we got to the airport security checkpoint and she turned to hug us all goodbye, and there might have been a little angel-tear in her little angel-eye, it was a real killer to keep my face from raining.  But I put on my Jeremy Renner pants, and Angel Doll did too (not the same pair; she has her own pair), and Europe gets to be her family for the rest of July.

Renner/Wilson 2016

Hillary Clinton?  Donald Trump?  I vote Jeremy Renner for president.  I'll be his veep.
Renner/Wilson 2016!

Hunneypunkin's Log

The plan: Pull out of Thunder Drive at 8:00 Friday night with Chevrolet Mama en route to our first camping destination in Winthrop, Washington, and make things up as we go from there until Tuesday.
What actually happened:
Day 1
8:00 P.M.: Leave Thunder Drive to fill up with gas.
8:20 P.M.: Angel Doll tows us back home with Lefty's truck from the gas station.
9:30 P.M.: Finally come in from the shop after draining the suburban's gas tank and dropping the fuel tank due to fuel pump failure.
Day 2
Awake at 5:00 A.M..
6:20 A.M.: At Napa.  Shout out to David at Quincy Auto Parts https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/wa/quincy/store/26342/ for being open early and having the right parts in stock.
8:00 A.M.  "Lefty, tell Mama to finish re-packing."  Fuel pump installed.  Take a shower.  On the road by 9:00 A.M.
Day 3
Say hello to the Pacific Ocean.
Day 4
Say goodbye to the Pacific Ocean.
Day 5
Tour the entire Pacific Northwest.
4:00 P.M. Return to Thunder Drive.
Not even Jeremy Renner could pull that off.

Family Loser

Every family needs a loser.  How else are we to gauge our progress in the world, if not by comparison to another product of our same bloodline in order to determine that I'm better than everyone else because my house has an attic, and no one else's does?
Rapunzel will be calling me any moment now saying, "You'd better not be referring to OUR family, young lady," which will balance out the fact that my children, the brats, address me as "old lady".
But it's true.  Why is it that families don't get along?  Because every member is secretly terrified, "What if the family loser is ME?" and they have to reveal to the rest of the clan the REAL loser before they themselves are cast in the role.
Seriously, you know there's a Renner out there going, "That Jeremy!  He needs to get a real job.  All he ever does is make a brizillion dollars pretending to be someone he's not!"
Face it.  At some point in your life, you're going to be the family loser, even if only for a moment.  My advice to you: embrace it!  Bask in it.  BE the loser you were born to be!  Revel in the glory of being the one everybody's talking about.  Just don't get too cocky, because you're not actually THAT special.  It happens to everyone.

Written Word

I like words.  So I had this fancy thought that I should list every positive adjective I could think of about my sons, and paint those words around the perimeter of the boys' bedroom walls.  Except for, that seemed like too much work until Bestie uttered the magic words, "paint pen".  Guess what?  I bought one.  And I did it.  How sweet is that??  I didn't JUST dream up a scheme, I actually carried it out.  Plus, I got the deluxe idea to incorporate words from their nicknames, and from the meanings of their actual names, into the lineup.  Magnificent, yesno?
able
abundant 
acclaimed

accomplished

admirable

admired

advanced

adventurous

affectionate

alert

alive

allegiant

angelic

ardent

artistic

appointed

assured

aware

balanced

beautiful

believing

blameless

blessed

bold

bright

brave

calm

capable

certain

cheerful

chivalrous
chosen

clean

clever

colorful

comforted

comforting

commendable

compassionate

confident

content

courageous

creative

daring

dauntless
dear

decisive

dedicated

defended
destined

determined

devoted

dignified
diligent

disciplined
durable

dutiful 
eager

earnest

empowered

encouraged

encouraging

energetic

energized

enduring

enthusiastic

established

exemplary

extraordinary

excellent

fair

faithful

favorable

favored

fearless
fine

flawless

focused

forthright

friendly

fruitful

forbearing
forgiven

forgiving

fortunate

free

fruitful

fulfilled

gallant
generous

genuine

gentle

gifted

godly

good

graceful

gracious

grateful

great

guided

handsome

hardy
happy

harmonious

healthy

helpful
heroic

holy

honest

honorable

honored

hopeful

hospitable

humble

important

imaginative

impassioned

influential

innocent

innovative

intelligent

intense

intent
intuitive
invincible

[Jeremy Renner didn't make the list]
joyful

joyous

judicious

just

justified
keen

kind

kindly

knowledgeable

liberated

lighthearted

lively

lovable

loved

loving

loyal

majestic

manly

marvelous

masculine

mature

merciful

mighty

moral

noble

obedient

open

outstanding

passionate

patient

peaceable

peaceful

perfect

persevering

pleasant

positive

powerful

precious

prepared

prosperous

protected

proud

pure

qualified

quick

radiant

ready

real

reasonable

redeemed

regal

regarded

reliable

remarkable
renowned

resolute
respectable

respected

respectful

resplendent

rewarded

reverent

righteous

robust
safe

satisfied

scholarly

selfless

serene

secure

sincere

skilled

skillful

splendid

spotless

stable

staid

strong

studious

successful

super

superb

superior

supreme

sure

sustained
sweet

swift

talented

thankful

thoughtful

thorough

tough

treasured

triumphant

true

truthful

trusting

trusty

trustworthy

unbreakable
united

unique

upright

valiant
valorous

valuable

valued

vibrant

victorious

vigilant
vigorous
vindicated

virtuous

warm

watchful

welcomed

welcoming

wild

wise

whole
wholesome 
wonderful

worthwhile

worthy

youthful
zealous
Now I want to repeat the process on the girls' bedroom walls, but I'll consider changing "masculine" and "manly" on that list first.