Here I go again!

My timing is not always what it should be. I've decided to embark on a new home project. It's going to be one of those things that makes my husband shake his head and retreat to back of the house. My boys will also try to hide but because it requires some muscles they will be obliged to give me a hand. We will all be grumbling about the heat, the forecast is for above ninety degree temps all week. While we won't be working outside, we will be in the garage which is just as bad. Sorry guys, but it has to happen now before Ian heads to Seattle. We're just going to have to buck up and carry on.

I'm not going into details about my project other than to show you what has to be tackled prior to working on the project.

It starts here.  

Scary isn't it?! This is one wall of my garage. Believer or not, there's a window behind that mountain of crap stuff. If my husband is reading this he is cringing, embarrassed that I've posted this mess for all of internet-dom to see.

With that said, I feel compelled at this point to place a disclaimer here. This mess is not all mine! Believe me, the hubbs is just as responsible for it as I am.

 My mother thinks we should go on the Hoarders Show. Believe me if they'd come take away all this stuff I'd gladly let them as long as I didn't have to appear on TV. Somehow I think that defeats the whole purpose of the show though,  ... to publicly humiliate document  the poor slobs who live in such a mess.

I won't even go into how or why the garage got into this mess considering we did a major cleanup out here just about five years ago. It's amazing how quickly things like this can get out of hand.


I also have to admit that I am not tackling this job out of embarrassment or a need to make things right. The truth is, there is piece of furniture somewhere in all that mess that I want to get my hands on. That's why I'm tackling this mountain of junk!

Look close and see if you can find the piece of furniture covered and smothered in totes, boxes, fans, ice chests, etc. 

Keep your fingers crossed that I accomplish my goal, that no one disappears into the abyss, and that I will soon be updating you on a brand new look.

Rapture Time?

According to this guy  the world as we know it will change tomorrow, May 21, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. His claim is the Rapture will occur Saturday and then six months later on October 21st God will destroy the Earth and the Universe it is in. Ironically this is not his first prediction of the End Times. Initially he claimed the Rapture would occur in September 1994 ... obviously that prediction was incorrect.

To be honest I think he's coo coo for Cocoa Puffs. As a Believer in Christ and the Bible as the inherent Word of God. I do believe in the second coming of Christ. However I don't believe Harold Camping or anyone else knows what he's talking about when he starts making predictions. I base this on Scripture - Matthew 24:36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Basically Jesus is telling us "yep, gonna happen, you just don't know when. It's gonna be a suuuuurprise!"

There have been plenty of people throughout time that have made predictions about when the end will come. I found this interesting website End Time Predictions which lists over 200 predictions starting way back in the year 44. Obviously each one has been wrong. Because I believe the above Scripture I feel confident that Mr Coo-Coo Camping is just another name for the list (again).

From what I've seen and heard the majority of the world shares my opinion. Some agree because they are Christian and they believe The Word. Others agree because they simply view him as a crazy-pants-crackpot-religious-zealot that makes the rest of us look bad. If you want to know more about Camping himself, check out his link Harold_Camping on Wikipedia

There's been a lot of air time on TV and the Internet discussing Camping and his prediction. News stories, talk shows, and late night comedians are having a heyday talking about it. Even the CDC got in on the action by  releasing this statement that Americans should make efforts to be prepared (whether it be for the Rapture or a Zombie Apocalypse).  The world's going crazy I'm tellin' ya!

Anyway, I'm finally getting to the real point of this blog. Considering that the END might be near I thought it would be fun to make a top-ten list of things that I should have gotten around to but didn't:

1. I really should have de-cluttered my house, thrown out all the junk, and cleaned like a fiend. I hate the idea of strangers coming in and seeing my mess! 
2. I wish I had finished all those scrapbooks I started so all the left-behinders could remember me, at least for the five months they have left.
3. Instead of wasting all last week without my laptop, I should have gone out and splurged on that which I covet - an iPad. Just think I could have one whole week of technology bliss. 
4. And with said iPad, I would have downloaded all seven seasons of West Wing and re-watched the best TV series ever created. 
5. I should have skipped paying my May mortgage payment and probably all the monthly bills and spent it all on a week at the beach.
6. That haircut that I desperately need .... totally should have gotten around to it
7. I should have feasted on all my favorite foods one last time: Cheeseburger Bobbies' mushroom and swiss burger, prime rib from that steak house in Knoxville, Hunan Spicy Chicken from Golden Palace Express, deep dish pizza from the Mansion in Carrollton (do they even make it any more?), Benihana Japanese Steakhouse downtown ATL, Chick-fil-a Dwarf House breakfast buffet, and last but not least, clam chowder and fried shrimp from whatever that seafood restaurant was in Hilton Head. Oh my, I shouldn't have listed all this right here at dinner time! I'm so not going to be content with my dinner tonight. 
8. I should have gone out and adopted a momma cat with four kittens, played with them and loved on them, taken their pictures and posted them all over Facebook. And then I would have made arrangements for their care after I'm gone because according to my preacher - pets that die don't go to heaven, so I reckon they don't get raptured either. 
9. I would have finished all those half-done craft projects that I have sitting around. We won't talk about how old some of them are but I will admit that one is older than my children and my marriage.
10. and last but not least - I should have written one last blog, addressing it to all my family and friends telling them how much they mean to me. 

So, what do you think? Is tomorrow the big day? Do you have a list of shoulda, coulda, woulda's? If you're like me and believe this whole thing is a bunch of hooey think of it as an opportunity to look over your list and just maybe go for it, knock a few out. And while you're at it, start getting the most out of every minute of every day because truly .... no one knows when, we just know it will happen in the twinkling of an eye. 

@#$% Blogspot!

Apparently while I was experiencing my laptop demise Blogspot had a major meltdown. I kept seeing posts from fellow bloggers that they were unable to post their blogs. From what I gather now everything is back up but I wouldn't say back to normal. I just went to edit and post a blog I had sitting out there and was unable to add any photos to it. Now I've got to figure out what the heck is going on.

Boo hiss, ignore me while I have a tempter tantrum!

The blog post that almost wasn't

I originally wrote this blog on 5/10. It never got published because the power source to my laptop died. Yes, I was without my beloved laptop for over a week. Oh, the horrors of it all. I was able to post that one blog whining about my situation but wasn't able to publish this one until now. Even though it's old news I thought I'd go ahead and post it .... just because!

Busy, whirlwind weekend. Friday we drove to Knoxville for Sarah's graduation. Saturday we toured downtown K'ville with Ian and then returned home. Sunday we played hooky and recuperated from our trip. I guess we are getting old when it requires a day of rest after a two day road trip.

Speaking of age, Friday was another milestone. I had a birthday. We won't talk about the number, let's just say that it's one more than it was the year before. I received lots of birthday wishes from family and friends on Facebook and that's about it for celebrating. Don't feel bad for me because it's the way we roll around here, no big celebrations. I know that's alien to a lot of folks but for us it's normal.

When the boys were younger we did have parties for them, with cake and decorations, presents, and family and friends in attendance. But as they got older the celebrations took on a more sedate mode.Nowadays we usually go out to eat as a family, with the birthday boy or girl picking the location. It's pretty much the same for all the Hallmark holidays like Valentines Day, and Mother and Father's day.

Speaking of Mother's Day, that was this weekend too. I didn't get to see my boys on M'day as we had returned home and they were still at school preparing for finals week. I did get a sweet Facebook post from one and text message from the other. A lot of mom's might have been put out by not having their kids around for their day but for me the best part of being a mother is that I KNOW that my two boys love and appreciate me. They've both grown into fine young men and nothing is sweeter for a mama than knowing that her kids turned out ALL RIGHT! Besides, the best present they could have given me .... pass all those finals with flying colors!

Hubby and I did go out for lunch and then on to Home Depot to purchase a new weed-whacker-eater-thingy. I guess if I want to get technical I could say I got a gift this year. Albeit a practical one that my honey-bunny will use more than I will, it is definitely something I wanted/needed. Remember all that yard work I did a month or so ago? Well, guess what .... it all grew back! Apparently just cutting it back didn't kill it and barring chemical treatments, it will continue to grow back. Evidently if I am going to get the weed free yard I want there will have to be regular weed whacking.

Yay! for the new weed-eater but bummer on the ever-growing weeds. Have I mentioned lately that I despise yard work? Oh well, maybe I can bribe Andrew into doing some of it while he is home for the summer. Ian won't be here, he's going to Seattle, Washington for the summer to work at a camp....the things some guys will do to get away from doing chores!

Back to the weekend, the big event was not my birthday, nor was it Mother's Day. Nope, the BIG EVENT was Sarah's graduation. What an honor it was to watch her walk the procession, and then walk across the stage to get her diploma. She graduated with honors, Summa Cum Laude. Ian was so proud of her. Her parents were here, all the way from Japan, and her Grandma flew in from Florida. We were excited to be a part of the celebration and also to know that next year we will be back for Ian's graduation and then the following year for Andrew's. So proud of all the kids for their hard work and dedication, and most importantly for their commitment to careers that God has called them to.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.

It's a disaster!

My laptop isn't working and the only way to blog is on my phone. Do you have any idea how hard it is to write a blog on an iPhone????
I can't use our old desktop because it is 9000 years old and runs on windows ME and isn't supported or whatever by blogspot. (I can't even type in comments on Facebook on that silly computer, oh the horror) It makes me sad (picture me crying here) because I can't tell you all about my birthday/mothers day/graduation/trip to Knoxville that I had last weekend.
I can't tell you about my precious cat's escape from Alcatraz and her misadventure with ninja cat that resulted in a $200 vet bill. I can't post disgusting photos of her gnawed on neck or show you how sad and pitiful she looks now. I can't blog about my sons return from their year long year of school torture or tell how proud I am of their academic achievements.
I can't continue much longer because I'm running out of allowed characters. I'm dying here without my computer and I know you all are dying trying to read this without paragraphs and photo illustrations. Please pray that my new power source shows up soon. For all our sakes! And I'm not about to try and edit this thing so I hope it wasn't too painful to read.

A Little Bit of This and A Whole Lot of That AKA The Blog That Never Ends

Today is Saturday, three days after the storms that tore through the southeast. It was a beautiful day, brilliant blue skies, warm sunshine, and not a cloud to be found. We are still getting news of the historical weather event that spawned a record number of tornadoes and an astounding number of deaths and injuries. tornado outbreak The photos that come out of the ravaged areas are heartbreaking and I can't help but feel guilty that while I am enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon others are reeling in the aftermath, struggling to make sense of it all as they attempt to dig themselves out of the destruction. I thank God for my family, my home, and my safety, and ask for His mercy and grace upon all that are suffering physically and mentally.

You'd think that all that has happened in the last 72 hours would have spurred me on to doing something worthwhile. Unfortunately I'm still my usual half-baked self. For me it was just another Saturday.

My loving husband taunted me with just-baked cinnamon rolls first thing this morning. I'm not really one for sweets, I'd much prefer chips and salsa. However, I have a soft spot for these babies and he's not beyond using them to get me out of bed at a decent hour. So, we'll score one for Dale.

From there we went to "what's on the agenda for the day?"  Hmmmm. Let me think.

Well, I've got a birthday coming up next week and we know what that means. Yep, gotta get the van inspected so the new car tag can be purchased. I'm embarrassed to tell you that this simple act literally sends me into a panic attack every. single. year.

I know it sounds silly but believe me I've got good reason. What starts out as a $25 little inspection sometimes turns into a $300 nightmare. I know this because I've gotten the great big F for fail too many times to count. Unfortunately when one drives cars that are older than dirt they are frequent victims of the ol' catalytic converter belly-up.

I just can't handle the agonizing fifteen minutes or so that it takes for them to deliver the verdict - my heart beats like it's ready to jump out of my chest, my palms get clammy, and I find myself blabbering to anyone within listening distance. For me it's sheer (irrational though it may be) torture so I usually put it off until the very last minute. Sometimes I trick my husband or son into going for the inspection but this year I decided to put my big girl pants on and do it myself. Well, sorta ..... I drug my husband along for moral support, and hand holding. And guess what ...... we passed! Hallelujah, no new "cat" for the Jelly Bean this year.

After surviving the traumatic car inspection we decided to treat ourselves to some comfort food. Good ol' Krystal hamburgers for lunch. Yummy goodness. Some people don't like Krystals and for the life of me I can't figure out why. I grew up eating them.

Some of my favorite childhood memories are of going to spend the night at my grandmother's house. After a terrifying night of half-sleeping on her couch, watching the ominous shadows dance on the living room wall, she'd feed me Coke  (yes, Coke! Ice cold in the bottle, nothing like it) and cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Her cinnamon rolls weren't like the ones Dale baked this morning, hers were store bought and had thick white icing covering them, I'm getting all giddy just thinking about them. Later in the afternoon we'd head on down to Krystal for lunch...burgers, fries, and yes, another coke. And then she'd take me home and let my parents deal with the aftermath of all that sugar, caffeine, and sliders.  Ahhhhh, sweet memories.

I guess you could say that today I was just reliving my childhood.

After lunch we headed over to Hobby Lobby  I am officially two steps closer to getting back to scrapbooking. Thursday I picked up 75 prints of Ian's trip to Japan which will be my first project. Today I bought an album and some cardstock. It's official now. I've spent money so I have to scrapbook.

I figured that since I had been victorious in getting my inspection I should go ahead and get the tag today too. I dropped Dale off at home and headed over to the Tag Office. I'm not real sure why I thought it would be a good idea. It is, after all the last day of April. It was evident as soon as I pulled into the parking lot that there were a lot of April-birthday boys and girls who'd waited until the last minute to get their tag. The line of people spilled out of the building and there wasn't an available spot in the parking lot. I pulled a quick U-turn (oops, is that a police precinct right next to the tag office?) and high tailed it out of there. I can come back another day.

On the way home I discovered a new Tuesday Morning store  had opened near the mall. I decided to go in for a browse. An hour and two purchases later I really was on my way home. And for the record ... those purchases were NOT for me. Someone has a graduation coming up and she better not be reading this now!! Just in case she is reading, I won't post what I bought, just trust me when I say it's cute and useful.

Upon arriving home I discovered a bicycle parked in the garage . Apparently my husband is really trying to work at getting more fit. First he started lifting weights and now he's going for bike rides. I am NOT going to be happy when he starts losing weight and I'm still sitting here like a puff-a-lump. Remember those? They were really cute little stuffed animals. Andrew had one. It was a bunny, and next to his plug it was his favorite possession. Isn't this adorable?  So....maybe being a puff-a-lump isn't so bad, a long as one is loved and cherished.

Regardless, the hubs is beginning to make me look bad so maybe I need to check into something to do to make me more fit. I have a feeling that cinnamon rolls and Krystals aren't going to get the job done.

Sigh.

I cheered myself up by whipping up this little bag. Now isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen? I can't take credit for the idea. I saw it on one of the 674 blogs that I read daily.  I actually bought the fabric and ribbon months ago but haven't been motivated to do the work until now. I'm hoping some loving mommy will see it and snap it up.

Knock, knock, .... any buyer out there? This bag's dying to go home to a with an aspiring ballerina. Give me a call and it's yours!

Speaking of reading blogs - it leads me to the internet and a confession of yet another one of my vices. I spent well over an hour today "Stumbling" and "Pinning". Some of you won't have a clue what that is. It's a computer/internet thing and involves this site stumbleupon and this site pinterest. Just because I've given you the links doesn't mean you have to click on them, but if you do, let me warn you - both are highly addictive. Some may call them time-suckers. I call them INSPIRATION!

This evening as I was stumbling and pinning from the kitchen table I looked out the window to see this . She's trying to look nonchalant  but really she is in stalking mode. And yes these photos are blurry and I don't know why other than user error, so don't bother adjusting your monitor, it won't make a difference. Despite the bad photography you get the picture right? (hee, hee pun intended)

Anywho, I won't tell you who or what she is stalking but I will tell you that I've told my husband he needs to move the birdhouse becaue I'm tired of fretting over those silly birds.

Well, that's it for my exciting Saturday. I hope your's was equally so. Later.

ps. it's getting late and I'm too lazy to do any editing, so if you find any errors .... shhhh, keep it to yourself :)

Score: Birds 1 - Humans 0

The boys and Sarah have been here for a long weekend which explains my absence on the blog ... too many other things to do. We had a great visit with them and I have a funny story to tell about Sarah and the birds. Unfortunately I don't have photos to share, it happened all too fast.

We were on bird watching duty all weekend, waiting to see if the eggs would hatch. Sarah was especially enamored with the whole situation. From a distance she kept peering into the bird house trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on inside. At one point she was sure she saw baby birds but after a second look wasn't so sure.

Sarah decided it would be a good idea to take a photo and thus set out to wait for the perfect time. She watched from the kitchen window for her chance. Finally she saw the mama bird fly from the nest. Grabbing her camera she took off outside to grab a shot or two. Inching ever so close she exclaimed "there's still a bird in here, I guess that was the daddy bird."

I really don't have any idea how the whole bird family thing works. I guess we didn't cover that in our homeschooling days. Does daddy bird fly back and forth bringing food home while mama sits on the eggs? Or maybe it's a role reversal thing where mama brings home the worm while daddy tends the nest? Or maybe it's two mama birds, sister wives, taking turns caring for the brood?

While Sarah went about her quest of shooting the birds (oh, that sounds bad doesn't it?) the rest of us were sitting around the kitchen table watching the budding photographer set up for the perfect photo. I made a comment "wouldn't it be funny if that bird flew out at her?" Not two seconds later we heard a blood curdling scream and watched Sarah sprint for the back porch. It all played out exactly as I had predicted.

I guess the mama bird thought the crazy girl with the camera was getting way too close and set out to defend her nest. She flew straight at Sarah, prepared to peck her eyes out. Ok, I'm just kidding with that part. She did fly out but did not appear to have damage-to-the-human on her mind. Not to mention, if you could only see these birds, you'd doubt their ability to do much harm. They're itty-bitty birds.

Regardless of her intent, whether it be to simply warn off the human, or to maim the crazy girl with the camera, she got instant results. Sarah ran for the house, screaming something about having escaped death. The rest of us .... we were ROTFLOL (Mother - that means rolling-on-the-floor-laughing-out-loud). Tears were streaming down my face as I was kicking myself for not having my camera on hand to capture the priceless moment.

For the rest of the weekend Sarah continued to watch from the safety of the kitchen window. For awhile there wasn't much movement at Casa el Pajaro but eventually she saw mama/papa bird return to flying to and from the nest so I'm assuming they weren't totally freaked out by the screaming human.

As for Sarah, she was pretty traumatized by the whole event. Good thing I didn't tell her how much birds like human hair. All that long thick hair would be a nest building bird's dream!

Meanwhile I'll keep you updated as to what's going on here  I am now officially on bird watching duty.

Good News!

I was just outside sweeping the catkins.

If you can't remember, these are catkins . We're due for another round of storms this afternoon so I thought I'd sweep them off the patio ... so they can return during the storm.

Anyway, while sweeping near the birdhouse I just happened to peer inside and guess what ...

mama bird is sitting in there! She came back to her eggs. I would take her photo but I don't want to traumatize her more than I already have.

Oh my, how do I keep Spunky from figuring this out?


Great. Something else for me to fret over. Ain't life grand?

Confessions

Have you ever said something and later come to regret it? You know, one of those statements that you really mean but should probably keep to yourself because it really comes across bad? Admit it, tell me I'm not the only one so I can stop beating myself up now.

My incriminating statement was put on Facebook for all my family, friends, and casual acquaintances to see. It read something like this (I can't rewrite word for word because I've since gone back and removed it from my wall): "My husband told me tonight that I could have two more kitties once the dogs are gone. Could someone please come take them off my hands because I really need more cats!"

Why did I write this? Well the simple answer is I want more cats! I have one now and she is very lonely . She really needs the company and me, I love cats  and just don't think that one is enough. If you've read much of my blog or know me personally you will know that up until recently I had two kitties, current girl and my snuggle buddy, Tiger. Unfortunately Tiger died back in October and I have been devastated by the loss. He was the cat that didn't know he wasn't human. He thought and acted like he was a real baby. And it didn't help that we lost him almost exactly one year after our little guy Boo  disappeared. Losing Boo, then Tiger left a giant hole in my heart, one that has slowly started to mend.  It has come to the point now where I'm ready, not to replace them, but to replace them .... does that make sense?

The other reason I wrote the status is because ..... well, to put it bluntly ... I was never meant to be a dog owner. I just don't bond to dogs like I do to cats. We got dogs because the boys really wanted them but now they're away at college and my husband and I are left home holding the bag.  I've blogged about it before so I won't rehash it. Suffice it to say, I honestly believe the dogs would be better off if they lived in a home where they were loved and pampered instead of here where they pretty much just exist.

However.... I never, repeat - NEVER - wish any real harm to the dogs.

So, can you guess where this is going?

Saturday morning my husband woke me up saying there was something wrong with Holly, said she was laying on the back porch not moving. I got up and went with him to check while listening to him tell what had transpired earlier. He had gotten up early as usual. He and the dogs and the cat had done their usual Saturday morning routine of going out, sipping coffee and smoking (the husband, not the animals) and running around peeing, pooping, and inspecting all the fallen branches from the previous night's storm (the animals, not the husband). They all came back in, husband settled in to checking email and internet browsing. Holly went back outside. A little while later she came back and was, according to him, acting weird. She was panting heavily and sorta stumbling around. At one point her legs went out from under her but she got back up and asked to go back outside. After letting her out, hubby went to the living room to watch a little TV. About thirty minutes later he went back out to check on her and that's when he found her laying on the porch.

It was pretty evident to me when I got to her that she was dead. I am ashamed to admit my first thought was "oh my gosh, I can't believe this is happening less than twelve hours after posting that stupid status." My next thought was to console my husband, because even though she hounded him to death, she loved him dearly and they were companion whether he liked it or not (part of him did!) and, then ... oh no, we have to call Andrew and tell him.

We really don't know what happened. We can only speculate. We had really bad storms the night before and we wondered if a snake or something else displaced from the storms had come along and bitten her. There was also the fact that she was somewhat overweight and we wondered if maybe she had a heart problem, though she was only ten years old. Someone else suggested poisoning but I find that very unlikely. I guess we'll never know.

What I do know is that I felt horrible about it. I wanted her gone ... but just to another home, maybe one with kids who'd play with her and love on her. I did not want her dead.

We buried her in the back yard near the boy's tree house. And now, she's in doggie heaven being alpha dog to all the other dogs and maybe she's found her buddy Tiger. They did love to chase each other around the back yard.

As for me, I'll be more careful in the future how I word what I post!

R.I.P Holly Bear. 
    

Winners and Losers

I entered a contest today. Pioneer Woman is giving away this  set of pots and pans. I think I should win because .... well, to answer her question How would you rate the current state of your cookware? I replied something along the lines of "a big fat zero because I'm cooking with the same pots and pans I received when I got married twenty-four years ago." Not that it really matters how I  responded because her winners are picked randomly by some computer generated number picker-er. But, you'd think with that sad answer I should win.

Odds are against me winning because PW is so popular she has tens of thousands of people vying for her giveaways. And me, I never win anything. Unless you count the time my employer was raffling off a TV which I won. Well, technically I didn't win, my husband did. And it wasn't even a new TV but one that had been used for playing company videos. And did I mention that everyone accused me of rigging the raffle. Just because I was the one who organized the raffle doesn't mean I rigged the results. Besides, who cheats to win a used TV anyway??

But, I digress. Back to the pots and pans give away. Here's where I would normally post a photo of my current set and say "don't you agree that I deserve to win, after all these years of cooking with these pans?"  But frankly I'm too embarrassed to do so. The condition of my pans is so bad it's amazing that we haven't died from some sort of poisoning.

Yes, they're that bad.

We keep talking about buying a new set but can't seem to take the next step. Part of the problem is the money. OMGosh have you priced cookware lately? The set she's giving away retails for $765. That's close to a house payment for me.

The other side of the problem is I want stainless and my husband prefers teflon coated. I say since I'm the primary cook we should get what I want. However on those few occasions that he cooks his own grill-cheese sandwiches if he doesn't have a teflon coated pan that grill cheese sandwich becomes permanently stuck to my stainless steel pan. And my house reeks of burnt sandwich for days.

Of course since he brings home this bacon  and I only bring home this bacon  ... do you think one bacon trumps the other? Should the holder of the "right" bacon get to make the decision?

Oh well, maybe I will win the giveaway and this will be a moot point. I'll get a lovely set of stainless steel cookware and he can go buy his own teflon coated frying pan.

I'd give you the link to sign up for this giveaway but then that would just lessen my chances of winning. Because you know one more person added to the 15,000+ who've already signed up in just two hours really makes a difference.

Ok, I'll be a good sport, here's her link Pioneer Woman's giveaway but if you win you have to give me something in return. How about becoming a regular follower of my blog because I want to be like PW and have over a million followers. And to my already loyal handful of readers, thanks for reading and the comments you leave. It means a whole lot more to me than a $765 set of stainless pots and pans.

Really, it does.