The Ball Team: July 2015

30 July 2015

Splash - July 2015

The splash picture for July was Samantha's idea. We had sparklers and at about dusk we lit them up and took a few pictures. I'm really pleased with how well you can still see these beautiful faces and the fire looks so much bigger and brighter in the picture than it did on our front walk. This summer has been really hot and really busy and my Ball Team is growing up so fast. Happy Birthday America. July 2015.

26 July 2015

Samantha's Sweet Sweet Sixteen

Samantha is sixteen. She didn't want a party. She doesn't want a driver's license. She doesn't even want to be sixteen. She wants to be 14 again. Sigh.

With a little help from Josephine, we got Samantha with her 16 fingers. The crown is courtesy of her friends who took her to Burger King. From us she will get what she does want - cash. Samantha says all I want is cash and three hours at the mall. Her grandparents all pitched in with cash and we will let that happen before school starts.

Samantha is a typical teenager some days - don't wake her up; don't talk to her. Just feed her fruit and send her back to her room. Other days she is all about the house - someone pick this mess up; Mom we have to do your eyebrows; JMichael, let's jump on the trampoline; Rachel take me out to Waffle House. All over the map.

She is slam the door one minute and what's for supper how was your day the next minute. She is kind, goal driven and zealous about what she holds dear. Otherwise, she can sleep until noon and watch Disney movies until she has them memorized. She loves to dance, be outside and play in the make up. I can't believe she is 16. She will be a junior in high school and has no idea what she wants to be when or if she grows up. All she has decided for certain is that she wants to travel to Australia. Go get 'em, Samantha.

Samantha has a running beef with us that she never gets a birthday present. It's really true, though. Some years are just super tight and we had no money for anything big - Samantha has big taste. So whenever she does get something big - and she does - we say, Happy Birthday, Sam. This year was her 16th and you might think that I would have something huge planned to make up for the lean years. I didn't. In fact, James and I were both out of town with Charlotte at her first State Swim Meet - another blog post. Anyway, JMichael spent Samantha's sweet 16 weekend with his friends - camping. Rachel was working all weekend and Josephine went to the meet with James and me. So where was Samantha on her sweet 16? Home. All alone. She took it all in stride and gave me a hard time about my great parenting skills. She's a jokester and lucky for us she can give as good as she gets. It's a sweet 16 only she could love! Happy Happy Birthday, Sambalam.

17 July 2015

Tasty Freeze

Rachel, at 17, has quit two jobs. She was working at Tropical Smoothie and was unhappy from the start. She liked the laid back customer atmosphere, but, she soon discovered that the employee situation was not so laid back. She was working the food line - making sandwiches and wraps - and using the skills she had honed from Subway. She liked the atmosphere at Subway with its friendly do it yourself vibe and fun people to work with. She thought the grass would be greener at Tropical Smoothie so she jumped ship. Within two months, she walked out of Tropical Smoothie - mid lunch rush - because she was being blamed for something she did not do and something she had put up with over and over again. They pushed her too far and she snapped at them and walked out. Another girl followed her. It was a very short and condensed movement, but, she made herself heard all right.

After a bit of job searching and taking a break by heading out on a road trip with Ma, she landed herself a new job - Tasty Freeze. She loves it. She gets to work the heavy equipment like the fryers and the grill. She makes ice cream cones for little kids and little league teams. She also makes something else she has quickly learned to like - TIPS.

And for those of you readers who are die hard Tastee Freeze fans, No; I am not spelling Johnson's Tasty Freeze wrong. The Johnson family used to own a franchise and it was Johnson's Tastee Freeze. They dissolved that business after a decade and kept their skills going by opening Johnson's Tasty Freeze. Same business, no pesky franchising. If you are in rural Arkansas come by for a Dixie Dog and sweet tea, served up with a smile.