How do you define HOT ????

Friday ,Nesie was sharing the story of how a friend of hers had nominated her husband for Redbooks Hottest Husband 2009. And,of course as painful as it was, we all decided that we should pull him up on the website and see for our self's what this particular contestant looked like....Well, what stared back at us was nothing shy of a SMOKING HOT NAVY PILOT...I, for one felt very patriotic just looking at him.....He was perfection in a flight suit....Now, this got me thinking and I was almost ready to pack up and move to Pensacola, when I thought about what quality's in my own husband did I find SMOKIN HOT or at least Luke warm...After all, navy pilot man had fogged up my hormonal senses........I thought about this long and hard and decided that I would go back to when I had first meet my husband...

Opening doors and holding an umbrella over my head was major Hot, but then again
taking me out to eat at a place without a drive-thru window was Hot (I had made some poor choices before)
Our first Christmas dating, he bought tires for my car and Diamond Jewelry.That in my opinion was SMOKIN HOT
The first four years that we dated, I got jewelry, clothes, we vacationed together all of these were VERY HOT
But one of the greatest was when my daughter got married. Now, this man showed up at my house with a lot of the things that I wasn't going to able to buy for her wedding until my next pay check..TWO DAYS BEFORE HER WEDDING..And helped at the reception and the cleaning ( I was a single parent) THAT WAS EXTRA HOT

Things change when people get married,here are a few things that we as woman DON'T FIND HOT...AT ALL.....

Burping words...NOT HOT
Sagging Pants because you have scratched your butt off...NOT HOT
Hair in places it should not be...NOT HOT
Being in a store, restaurant,etc before I get out of car...NOT HOT
Loosing the ability to dress your self...NOT HOT
Loosing the ability to function in any normal way...NOT HOT
Feeling like you need to share how big your bowel movement was......I WONT GO THERE....

But then you have these....

Putting his hand on my lower back in a crowded room...HOT
Telling me I am beautiful when I weigh a trillion pounds...SMOKIN HOT
Excepting my family...HOT
Loving my daughter and Son-in-Law like they were your very own...UNBELIEVABLE HOT
The ability to make me laugh when no one else can...HOT
Loving me just the way I am, because I am totally screwed up...SMOKIN HOT

Who needs some ole navy pilot anyway???.........DID I JUST SAY THAT!.........

The Appalachia I Know

Hollywood's humanitarians are showing an interest, missionary's have been trekking along its hills and hollers for years. I was born and raised in the heart of it. I watched a 20/20 special the other night on the Appalachian mountains, this is a subject close to my heart. Diane Sawyer was correct when she said " When your born into these mountains,it's always in your blood".

No matter what television portrays the people of Appalachia to be,they will never zoom in on any of the good and hardworking people,instead they flock around looking for anybody with two first names (Jim Bob,Gerry Dale etc.) and at least six kids and they all live in a one bedroom makeshift trailer. And the mother of the family is thirty six with eight grand kids....To me, it's like when CNN goes straight to the trailer park after the tornado touches down and hopes they get a quality interview....
Ain't gonna work........

I know so many hard working people, people who have almost worked them self's into the grave,like my dad who started working in the coal mines at the age of twelve, and now only twenty nine percent of his lungs are functioning because of coal dust. Bodies so riddled with arthritis turning the pages of the bible are impossible. From years of hard work and long days where darkness falls early and the sun comes up late. Its a life that a lot of people can't comprehend,they just turn a blind eye at the ignorant backward mountain folk.. But not all these people are what they seem to the "out side world". Most Mountaineers are a stubborn and prideful people, taught to work hard and never look for a handout, people who start working when the sun comes up and stop when sun goes down.
Every time I go home to visit my family I pass by place after place of run down homes and closed store fronts, towns that once were but are just empty shells. Homes that should not be lived in but are...Children that have to learn early about how tough life can be...Some people don't take to kindly to those who move away...They see us as thinking we are better than them...we are not...Just looking for a better life for our children...Jobs are scarce and if coal mining isn't in your blood than your options are few. My brothers choose to follow my Dad's footsteps,one brother was injured and the other still crawls around underground to support his family. The life is hard and you can tell it on the faces of those who live it everyday. For everyone that works, there's one that is on welfare or drugs,and the children suffer greatly. No matter what television portrays Appalachia People to be,you can never appreciate the beauty of some of its people or the tranquility of the beautiful mountains.Besides,some of my favorite people are there.


One of my favorite things to do is to take a short ATV ride from my parents house to a place called High Knob...It's like traveling back in time... to a place that's magical...riding past remnants of what once was, you can see the fence rails from old home places,chimneys that still stand tall. When you get to the top you can see forever. breathe air so clean and crisp that you long for it when your gone. That's the Appalachia that stays in my heart...

OUR FAMILY PATRIARCH

There are only a few men that I have respect for. My Dad is number one, and then this man here follows suit.He is the leader of the Queen clan, my awesome 91 yr old father in law. Brick mason by trade,(who by the way still works)decorated WWII Veteran. This man still drives to town everyday for breakfast, chops his own wood, tills and plants his own garden...We celebrated his birthday this Sunday with his children, grandchildren,great grandchildren. What a wonderful way to end a week,surrounded by a remarkable family with a great history and a lot of love. Thanks for allowing me to be part of this great clan............. Happy Birthday Mr.PQ Queen