grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

WANTED: My very own Geek.

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Yesterday, if I’d stumbled upon a genie bottle with a real live genie inside, I’d have rubbed it, as one does, and when the genie floated out in a stream of purple vapor, I would have wished for only one thing.

My very own Geek.

Wanted: my very own geek!

Oh, what I would have given for the Geek Squad to pull up to my curb and spend a few hours with me and my slowing dying MacBook. I had almost reached the point of hurling it into the back yard, but I couldn’t because it contains so much of my life.

And how pitiful does that sound?Continue Reading

You know what’s fun? New mascara, book clubs, deodorant, Peyton Manning… I could go on.

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Know what's fun?

You know what’s fun? Being invited to attend a book club when your own book is the book of the month. Know what’s even funner (besides saying funner)? Arriving the night before only to discover you left all your makeup at home. Cue sarcasm. First world problem, I know, I know, but still…

Here’s the thing. Once you start wearing makeup in the ninth grade, it becomes a slight addiction, a minor vice. There’s always that next pot of magical cream that will make you look a wee bit more youthful/taller/thinner/smarter/funner/whatever… And when you don’t wear it people say, “Oh honey, you look so tired. Are you okay?”

Honey my foot.

So you keep wearing it.

This is how it all went down (lest you think being a writer is all glamour and glitter)…
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I had a Frog and Toad moment.

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It seems like only yesterday when my sister, cousin Lesa, and I entertained ourselves for hours on end acting out stories from Frog and Toad. If you don’t know what on earth I’m talking about, well I’m sorry. Frog and Toad Together was Newbery Honor book two in a four part series written by Arnold Lobel.

Greatness.

What can I say, we were farm girls with fantastic imaginations and oh so much talent.

Trust me.

Frog and Toad and Chocolate

There’s a particular story in Frog and Toad Together that goes something like this…

Toad bakes cookies. Frog, knowing they have no will power, places the cookies in a box, ties up the box with string, and puts the box on a high shelf. Toad, being the realist, points out how easy it would be to climb the ladder and get the box and eat the cookies. Frog and Toad ended up giving their cookies to the birds. As a kid I remember thinking just eat the cookies if you want them. Today I think all that sugar and chocolate probably killed the poor little birds…

I can’t tell you how many times we acted out that story in our bedroom. We had high bookcases that worked perfectly for hiding the cookies. Lesa, the best actress in our threesome, played Frog.

A few days ago, I had my own Frog and Toad moment. Continue Reading

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!