Day 5 and I'm mad!

I tried writing all day and this ding-dang thing wasn't working. I finally got a suggestion to switch back to the old editor setting and for now it seems to be working. Too bad I didn't find that out sooner because now, only five days in, I've missed a day of posting. Oh well, I guess I will just have to blog twice on the sixth.

It rained today. And with the rain came something unwanted.

That lovely spot is on my living room ceiling. We've had problems with it in the past but thought it had been fixed. Obviously not!

It's always something around here.

I guess it's just another honey-do to add to the list.

I'd try to fix it myself but that fear of heights is keeping me off the ladder and the roof.

And that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Meanwhile I want to give a shout-out to my son's girlfriend, Sarah. She helped me out tonight and saved the lives of six little rugrats. Due to sickness and a death in a family there was no one to teach the toddler class at church tonight. I jumped at the chance to help out ....

not really, that is NOT my idea of good time, but I do like to help out occasionally when someone twists my arm asks for my help. Had Sarah not stepped in and offered her assistance I would have been all alone, surrounded by little muchkins whose goal it is to see who can make the most noise and the biggest mess.

But lucky for me (and them!) she was there to help maintain order and sanity. Thanks Sarah, I owe you one!

Day 4 - Collage-ing

I was looking through some photos and found these shots of a collage book I have. It was a project I was working on, just for fun.

Look how it started out.... a new year, thinking about the future, making resolutions, love the quote: "I learned that change is not easy, but it is possible"

Our lives are filled with windows, windows to the souls, the heart, the mind ....again with the quotes: "every time I close the door on reality it comes in through the windows"

 how's this one:  "my life is like a woven basket, I see it in pieces, all entwined, and just when I think I have the "picture' figured out the pattern is altered"

 brought to you from the letter "C"

 the story of life - love and marriage

another letter page - the letter "T"  - i love the word "trust" seen in the path of a tornado, isn't that life ???!

I had forgotten all about my book.
I think I need to go back and finish it, ....or at least work on it .

home

Today we helped friends move to a new house. It's gorgeous, humongous,  and totally brand new. I cannot lie, I'm envious....green with envy. But I'm also happy for them. They have found their dream home and it's fun to watch them settle in.

Meanwhile, I drove home to this.

 This is my home.

We have lived here for twenty years; raised two kids, five cats, and two dogs here. It's not much, but it's home.

These photos were taken the day after Christmas. For the first time since 1882 there was a white Christmas in Atlanta, Georgia. How cool is that? I'm hoping it's a sign that the new year coming in will brings us all kinds of wonderful surprises, maybe even a miracle or two.

Meanwhile, I am thankful for my home, my family, and the many blessings God has and will bestow on us. And starting tomorrow I'm going to get to work on sprucing up this home!

Day 2 - Yoohoo, I'm gonna be organized in 2011!!

I found a new website and app for my phone called Evernote that is going to help organize and make my life so much easier. I've been playing around with it for hours and unfortunately didn't get around to taking a photo today. So, for today's entry I'm posting a webshot of the website
  and a link for anyone interested.
 Remember Everything
Updates to follow on how well it is working towards helping me to get my act together!

365 or 1

I can't decide if I should count forward or backwards? 365 or 1? How should I start?

Today is the first day of 2011. We welcomed the new year with a typical southern new year's meal. Honey baked ham, collard greens, black eye (or is it eyed?) peas, rolls and of course, sweeeeeet tea. We munched on spinach dip and chips before the meal, just something I whipped up. It was yummy!

Ok, I've got to stop watching food network and reading food blogs. I'm focusing way too much on food! I guess it's a good thing I didn't make any silly resolution about loosing weight. Unfortunately I don't think that's a resolution that I can keep.

After our delicious meal, that promises to bring us good luck and riches over the new year, we all retired to our respective rooms.

Dale pushed Max off the big couch and settled in to watch football on the *good* tv. I guarantee that after Tuesday night, Sugar Bowl - Ohio State vs Arkansas - Go Buckeyes!, he will finally admit that he's had enough football for awhile. Too bad, honey, there's still the NFL and playoffs, Go Falcons!

Andrew retired to his room to watch tv (the same football games that dad is watching in the living room) and catch up on the sleep he lost last night due to the lock-in. I figure maybe by next year he will realize that it's really not all that fun staying up all night. Anyway, he was NOT receptive to having his picture taken. I have to get him on board as far as helping mom achieve her 365 project.

Ian and Sarah were off to his room to watch a movie, a little football, and Skype with Sarah's family in Japan. They're being very cooperative about the picture taking. It almost makes me feel guilty that I declined watching the movie with them but, hey, I gotta work on my blog. I can't mess up on day one, can I?

Prior to blogging I took a little nap, something I rarely do anymore. And then settled in to start the documentation of  the year 2011. Here I am, typing away......

you didn't really think I'd include a photo of myself did you?

New Years Resolutions

It's here - 2011! Another new year, a fresh start, an opportunity to resolve to do ... something... This year my resolution is to document the year 2011 by daily posting a photo to my blog.

Now, stop laughing! Yes, I know that I've made claim before that I am going to blog daily and well, ---------- it never happened. But this time is different. I'm really going to make it happen.

I promise, really. Now stop laughing.

December 31, 2010
January 1, 2011

I wonder how long it will take to get used to writing 2011 instead of 2010? The other question would be how do you say it? Two thousand eleven? Twenty-eleven? Not that it matters, it's just one of the things that makes you me wonder.

Celebrating the New Year was different and yet the same this year. Andrew went to the annual lock-in at Mount Carmel with the youth group from HMCC, except this year he was a sponsor not a participant. Our boy is growing up!

The rest of us originally planned to ring in the new year at Pat's but due to our Christmas snow the party was cancelled. Dale and I decided to do what we normally do, stay at home and avoid all the crazies ringing in the new year. We usually go out for dinner and then come home and watch tv, eat snacks, countdown the peach-drop, drink a toast at midnight, and then off to bed - are we party animals or what?!

This year we were joined by Ian and his girlfriend Sarah. We went to Taco Mac for dinner (yuck, we won't go back there again. The queso was good but that was about it). Next year we'll go back to our old standby, Chinese.....can't go wrong at the Golden Palace. Sports bars aren't really my favorite place to go to anyway - they're too loud! But, what do you expect when there are 574957947 widescreen tvs, beer flowing, and cheering fans?

Back at home snack we munched on cheeseball and crackers, something I whipped up earlier in the day. TV viewing was a mix of football and new years celebration coverage on the networks. When you watch tv with my husband it's a challenge. Being the typical male he clicks the remote back and forth between stations. It drives me nuts and normally we watch tv in separate rooms. But on NYE I can suffer through it for a couple of hours. :-)

Watching New York's Time Square NYE celebration was entertaining. We learned a couple of things. One, Dick Clark REALLY needs to retire...I mean really, is that man actually alive? He's hard to look at, it's almost like looking at a wax figure. Second, Back Street Boys and New Kids on the Block --- dudes, you're OLD too! It couldn't help but make me wonder, how could all these people age so much and yet I am still my youthful self?

Other than the above mentioned,I have no idea who all the people were. Thankfully Sarah and Ian were around to put names to faces, not that I'm going to remember any of them. Except one - her name was Keisha, and OH MY! That's one trashy looking girl!! Ok, now I guess I'm sounding like the old woman that I really am. Can't help it. There's just some people that shouldn't be allowed out of the house.

Midnight, a quick toast (Spumate for me and Dale, sparkling grape juice for our youngin's, both of legal age but good little Bible college students), a kiss on the lips, and then off to bed, dreaming of my new year's resolution - starting January 1, twenty-eleven.

oh, yeah, the photos start on the next blog, I forgot to take photos of us ringing in the new year.

Sigh......I hope that it's not a sign of what's to come!

Aramaic and How to Fail at Dating

Friday night Hubby and I went out to eat. It's a regular thing for us to NOT eat at home on a Friday night. It's our little treat for ourselves at the end of a long week.

Sometimes we play the "where do you want to go? I don't know, where do you want to go?" game. But this week I knew exactly what I wanted, I was craving Chinese and when that's the case, there's only one place to go. For the last four or so years we've been going to the same little place in Hamilton Mill, Golden Palace Express.http://www.goldenpalaceexpress.com/aboutus.php  It's a small restaurant (only six tables) that does the majority of their business through takeout and delivery. We've tried a lot of different Chinese restaurants and this place, by far, is THE best Chinese food in town. Obviously we're not the only ones that think so because the restaurant is always busy and we often see the same faces each time we go.

My only complaint about eating there is, due to the small size, it's hard to maintain a sense of privacy. It never fails that while there we run into some annoying and obnoxious person. Sometimes it's someone talking on a cell phone, you know that person, the one who yells so loud you wonder why they're even bothering to use a phone. Other times it's the woman with the high pitched voice that makes you want to poke yourself in the eye with your fork chopstick. Or the man who reeks of self importance and appears to be strutting his stuff for everyone around him. And don't the forget the person who tells bad jokes and then laughs like a hyena. Ay yi yi, all I want is a nice dinner and pleasant conversation with my husband. Is that too much to ask for?

Anyway, back to our latest night out. We ordered our usual: one bowl of egg drop soup, one bowl of won ton soup,

one eggroll, one spring roll, fried rice and an entree of Hunan Chicken to share.

YUMMY! Along with our order came the couple who sat next to us. The guy seemed normal enough and didn't fall into any of the categories mentioned above. The woman, however, was another story. As soon as they sat down my annoyance radar went off.

She talked LOUD and was exuding an air of superiority. You know the person I'm talking about, it's not just the words being spoken (practically every sentence out of her mouth contained the words I, me, or mine) but also the tone in which they are relayed. Heck I wasn't even sitting at her table but was afraid to open my mouth for fear of being reprimanded. Consequently, Dale and I didn't talk much during our meal. Instead we resorted to listening in to their conversation and ..... making judgments observations.

My take: this was a date. She was trying to impress and he was just trying to get through it.

Dale's take: this was a father/daughter dinner. She was trying to impress and he was just trying to get through it.

I won't bore you with the details except one .... the talk turned to religion and Bible reading. Somewhere in the conversation he mentioned the word - Aramaic...and she corrected him, saying the correct pronunciation is ar-a-mic. And then she continued to spout some literature jargon which I assume was to make him believe she knew more than he did. He pulled out his smart phone and looked it up in the dictionary, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aramaic which clearly shows the pronunciation as "ar.a.ma.ic" . (on my link here you can even listen to the correct pronunciation) And you know what....that wasn't good enough for her! No, that's not right, it's "ar-a-mic" She repeated this to him two or three more times!

At this point it was all I could do to not jump in the conversation. But then, that wouldn't be very pc of me would it? I also thought about writing her a note on my napkin but I knew my husband would die if I did. So instead I'm coming on my blog to leave her this advice:

Dear Girl at the Golden Palace Express, 

An important life lesson can be learned from tonight. First, if he's a date, he's way to old for you. Second, if he's your father, you need to learn a little respect. Third, it's never in your best interest to claim to be smarter than your companion, especially after he pulls out irrefutable evidence. Fourth, learning a little humility and knowing when to admit you're wrong is a sign of maturity not a weakness. And, fifth and final point, learn to use an inside voice when eating in a restaurant, because really....the people around you don't care or want to hear your crap!" 

Sincerely,

 the Woman at the table next to you that really wanted a quiet dinner, not a lesson in how to be annoying!

It's Fall, Even Though....

It's cold and wet outside....I do believe that Fall really is here. 

 Even though the leaves have not changed much around the house ...

the pine straw is rapidly falling. You can hardly see the driveway. 

When it's wet, like today, it is treacherous to walk on. 

Even though there's still some green grass in the backyard....

 there's lot's of pine straw there too. Of course the pine straw has been falling for months now...

... ever since lightening struck this tree in the backyard ... 

  I think it's dead, how about you?  

  

 Even though it's cold and rainy,  the dogs are out.

Usually Miss Priss, won't go out in the rain ... maybe she thinks her cone is an umbrella?

Whatever. 

I'm just glad summer is gone. It is my least favorite season. 

I love Fall, I just hope Winter doesn't push her way in too soon. Now is the time to think about turkeys, stuffing, and pumpkin pies. Leaves falling.  Bright reds, yellows, orange - everywhere you look. Warm days and cool nights. Blankets on the bed. Fires in the fireplace. Jeans and sweatshirts. Socks and Crocs. 

Yes, I love this time of year!

Cats and Dogs and Getting Comfy

Why is it that cats think people go around making comfortable spots for them to sleep? That blanket is dirty laundry and is on floor prior to being tossed in the washing machine. It's not a bed!

How is it that dogs can find comfort regardless of their position. Holly, have you no shame?

And yes, right now Holly is a cone head....

Why must kitties insist on cramming themselves into every little box, basket, drawer, etc. that they find available?

 Yes Spunky, you are a cute LITTLE kitty, but sweety.....

that basket is way too small for you!

Now that's more like it!

Fall Is In The Air

It is finally beginning to feel like Fall around here. The last couple of weeks have been cool enough to turn off the air conditioning (though the last two days contradict that, 85* yesterday!) and the beautiful colors of autumn are showing up everywhere.

I always like to dress up the front porch even though, as Sam puts it, no one sees it but me and him! That's ok, you never know who might surprise us, so it's better to be prepared.

If you look real close, on the shutter is an original cobweb. Everyone else goes out and buys the fake stuff. 

I have the real thing and it's totally free!

Inside are a few decorations that make me smile.

Ian and Sarah were here a couple of weeks ago. And even though Halloween was several weeks away they bought pumpkins and carved them up.

Pumpkin carving is so much more fun when they're old enough to 

clean up their own mess and not leave it for mom!

Aren't they cute little pumpkin heads!

They took them out front and insisted on putting candles in them. 

ohhhhh, scary!

Sarah's pumpkin

Ian's pumpkin

Alas, these works of art have already hit the trash bin, but they sure were cute while they lasted!

All of these thoughts of Fall and Halloween made me feel rather nostalgic. Time to bring out the photo boxes and scrapbooks. Rummaging through them I came up with a few photos that are calling out to be shared.

Halloween 1993 - our little Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

"Jason" and his sons "Dracula" and "Mr Policeman" 1995 

(note the TV on in the background. I don't think we have many photos and videos that don't have the tv blaring in the background. We love our tv!) 

   

love the painting in the background. He's praying over our little hooligans!

1999 Jamal Anderson and Goku

I made Andrew's costume and though it looked a lot like a prison uniform, he was happy with it! Both of these tough guys look pretty intimidating, don't you think?

Where we live isn't really conducive to Trick or Treating. Fortunately we had friends that invited us over to ToT in their neighborhoods. This year we were with the Johns and the Denneys 

for a little apple bobbing 

before heading out to gather our goodies. 

This group of kids were the best of buddies. Lot's of fun and great memories of growing up together. 

Ahhhhh, FALL. Colored leaves, cooler weather, pumpkins, apple cider, silly/scary costumes, lots of candy and ...... never forget.....pilgrims, turkeys, and INDIANS! 

I love this season!