Over the Hump and Hitting the Road

It's Wednesday evening. It's been an uphill climb. But really life is good for me despite coming home with a raging headache on Tuesday. Weather fronts and rain, pollen, sinus...it all adds up. Headache. It was there again today, but it was a dull ache. Everyone was complaining.
Really I have no complaints. I have two friends with husbands battling cancer. A son with a boss who's dad is battling cancer, but it has Kevin upset too. A former colleague with a brain tumor...so really, my little headache is nothing.
I managed to get through a presentation I had to give at the faculty meeting. It was on the new race/ethnicity questions we have to ask students when they enroll. Please don't get me started. Let's just say I have job security for a few more months with over 700 forms to key in and file.
We had no students today, so that was nice. I got alot done. Big P wasn't there either. He had sinus surgery. So we took up a collection and got him all his favorite junk food and a singing, rapping bunny to cheer him up.
I came home tonite and packed for the crop this weekend. I am so ready to get there! I've never been this packed this early before. I leave tomorrow after work, usually I have to come home and pack the car, but hubby did that tonite! I so love him! WOO HOO!
Now if I could just snap my fingers and get that nine hour drive over. Maybe it won't seem so long if we make good potty breaks. If you know any good potty stops that I don't already know between here and Bonita Springs, let me know please. Good bathrooms are hard to find. There's one at Scrappy Papers in Lake City, Griffin's in Ocala is pretty clean, and then I forsee one somewhere between Ocala and Bonita, just don't know where. Coming back we are leaving Sunday night and spending the night somewhere along the way. So if you know any good sleep stops near scrap stores, that info would be good too. Scrappers just can't stay anywhere you know! I can't wait to see all the girls!
Okay, so tomorrow is an early get up day, get off day, I LOVE THOSE! off to bed!
See you soon!

Monday Blows By

I began the day by oversleeping about 20 minutes. Not a big deal usually, but it usually takes me a bit longer to get ready Monday morning. I hurried my way through, grabbed a quick lunch (like I get to eat lunch) and sped off to work. I got there just in time.
The day moved along rather quickly, before I knew it, it was 2:30. I was off work and onto bigger and better things. I fixed leftover burrito pie for dinner, (better the second day), chatted with my friend, Linda, while they picked up leaves. Then it was off to Beall's, Hobby Lobby and my friend, Sharon's, to pick up my Stampin' Up order that came in. Home again, home again, jiggity jig. Missions all accomplished!
With time to spare we watched DWTS, and I finished the invites for Felicia's bridal shower. Here they are. The wedding colors are red & ivory. Her flowers will be red & ivory roses. When I saw this embossing die, I knew that it would make beautiful shower invites!

 

Now it's off to bed. I'm wishing the week away so I can meet all the girls in Bonita Springs for the KnK Sock Hop Crop! Hurry Friday!

My Car Got Washed!

I've been begging my son for weeks to wash my car. I know, I know, I could run it through the car wash. Usually I do that, but it's been a time thing. I don't have time going to work, and until last week, it was dark coming home.
Saturday morning my car got washed. It seems that when Hubby went out to get the paper, someone had egged both of our cars. I blamed it on his senior football players, they do things like that ya know. He blamed it on Patrick's wild ATO buddies. Frat kids do things like that you know. But does it really matter? My car got washed!

TGIF!

We had a great evening last night with Dan & Felicia. We met at Macaroni Grill for dinner, and it was wonderful! Felicia and I talked about the upcoming wedding. The guys talked about cars and engines. Some things never change.
I'm going to make the invites for Felicia's bridal shower. I showed her and idea I had and she loved it! Very simple and elegant.
This morning I'm off to Adobe Photoshop training. I've got a coffee cake in the oven to share with the teachers (friends of mine). It smells so good!!! After the workshop I hope to get caught up on all the paperwork (finally) that's been clogging my desk all week. I think a good solid hour of uninterrupted work will knock it off.
It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend. I may hit the arts festival in Fairhope. Other than that, I'll find something to do!

Tomorrow is Friday!

The week is buzzing by. I've been very busy at work, catching up from last week's hiatus. I've decided I'm only working two days on spring break. So I want to be all caught up by then!
Last night I left the guys at home after dinner and ran an errand. When I came back into the neighborhood and around the curve to where I can see the house, my heart stopped! In front of my house was the big red fire truck. Panic! As I drove closer, I could see them walking around the house across the cul de sac. A bit of relief, but concern, as they have a family of 5 kids.
My worry was for naught. Rick said he thought they were burning leaves and someone called on them for leaving them unattended. We have someone in the neighborhood who does that. Which is odd because this neighbor is always outside, day and night.
Anyway, and exciting night somewhat in our quiet little neighborhood!
Can I just say I was surprised at the Idol results last night. I didnt' expect Alexis to go home this early in the competition.
Have a wondermous day!

Odds & Ends and In Betweens

I was a bad blogger I know. But hang with me, I'm getting back into the swing of it after being on another fantastic cruise with the Hilltop Girls. Many were missed, most were toasted and of course you know we talked about all of you! LOL!
We played a new game with Linda called Left, Center, Right. I came home and ordered 5 of them off the internet. It's a dice game, I can see many family gatherings spent playing this.
I was doing my lunchtime wellness walk yesterday, Monday, when my cell phone rang. It was my middle son, Kevin. He made idle chit chat, but something in his voice told me he was dying to tell me something. After answering his normal questions, I finally asked, "what's up with you?" He again tried to act normal but I was insistant that he was up to something. He kept asking me where I was. I'd answer, each time getting more specific. Finally he just said, "I know you aren't in our office because people are coming in here looking for you and leaving you messages and piling your desk with paperwork." I said, "Where are you??" and he then burst and told me, "your office".
I ran up the stairs to my office. Sure enough he was there with Erica. They were in town to see his friend John's new baby. Such a nice surprise! They wanted to take me to lunch, but I couldn't leave long enough to make it enjoyable. Next time!
Okay, not much of a blog today, but I'm sleepy. See you tomorrow!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

At our house, since we have a Patrick, St. Patrick's day is special. Patrick will decide what we'll eat for dinner. Patrick gets a present. It's Patrick's day, kind of like a birthday and Christmas. It's his day!
I've been busy getting back into the reality of life after a wonderful cruise with the Hilltop Girls. It should be against the law to have so much fun in so few days. I'll blog more about that later.
Til then, here's some St. Patrick day cards I've made the past few days. I will be a better blogger, I promise!

 

 

 

 

All My Bags Are Packed

I'm ready to go! The legs are shaved, the toes painted, the swimsuits packed, I'm outta here! See you in a week!
Yes, I'll be careful. Yes, I'll have fun! Yes, I wish you were going too! See ya! I'll toast you!

 

Winter Retreat Alabama Style Day Two

What a difference a day made! Saturday was warm and sunny. It was a perfect day to just laze around on the porch and watch the world go by. We were enthralled with the calves and the foal. I ran around the yard taking pictures of the wild daffodils growing all over the property. It was an exceptional last day of February.
Here are some daffodils on Saturday. Aren't they bright and sunny? Almost radiant!

 

What a difference a day makes! Here are some more daffodils in the same yard a day later. They say March that comes in like a lion will go out like a lamb. We awoke to blowing snow and I could hardly stand to stay outside to take a picture of the daffodils in the snow. The wind was blowing the snow sideways and it was bitter cold! Can you see the snow around the daffodils? While it blew hard, it didn't stay on the ground long.

 

I took this picture out of the kitchen window. Poor horse! All alone in the field in the snow, blowing cold. All of the other horses were huddled with the cows in the field across the street. This horse just kept eating away, as if nothing was bothering him. My brother in law said he was probably the second boy horse of the herd and that they would keep him away from the baby and it's father, as daddy may not like the other boy horse getting close. I know there was one horse that momma kept chasing away from her baby!

 

This tree was away from the house and more out in the open than some of the other trees, so it held onto some snow.

 

I know, I know, it's not much snow. But we enjoyed it while we watched "Mama Mia" again (Susie's first time, Rick's second, my third time) and also Appaloosa. Appaloosa was alright, but I won't go out and buy it! We loved Mama Mia tho! The cold and snow put a damper on our activities for the day, and the lack of heat in the house did too. So after the movies were over, we packed up and headed back home. It was 58 degrees when we arrived home and I had peeled of numerous jackets and long sleeves at various points in the drive.
As always, a great time at Grandma Jessie's old house. We love that place!

Winter Retreat Alabama Style Day One

While I still like to tent camp and would if the opportunity presented itself on a pretty weekend, our idea of camping is now visiting my sister and her husband at the house he grew up in. It's one of those old clapboard houses with a huge porch that sits out in the middle of no where on a country road. It's peaceful and relaxing and when my blood pressure gets up, it's a good place to go to get it back down.
Actually day one was Friday night when we arrived well past 8 p.m.. There wasn't much to do but unpack the car, get reaquainted with the place and watch a little tv. So that we did, until it was time to go to bed and get rested for the next day's adventure.
When I crawled out of bed, Susie was already in the kitchen, cooking sausage for her famous sausage gravy and biscuits. It is so yummy, I don't know why she doesn't cook more often, she's a good cook. We love using the old cast iron pots and pans that are up at the old homeplace.

 

Our adventures after breakfast included a trip to town to get something to cook for supper. We went to town with full intention of buying either steaks or pork chops, baked taters and other dinner things. While we were in Piggly Wiggly, I found my favorite red beans, Blue Runner Creamed Creole Red Beans. I bought out the store and volunteered to make red beans and rice for dinner. Susie, never one to turn down someone else cooking, agreed that it was a great idea!
During a drive through the town we discovered a little antique store that looked like it was just begging to be explored. So we did. We spent about an hour looking through the shelves and at the furniture. This shop was a true treasure as his prices seemed reasonable and he had some beautiful pieces. I wanted to take home a few of the dressers he had, but it wasn't in the budget this trip. He also had a great little piece of Roseville pottery that I loved, but I left it there and told myself if it was there next trip, it was mine! I did find a few dresser scarves, an old candy dish missing it's lid that would be good for pens and pencils in the scraproom, and a Dutch cook book I couldn't live without. I love all the detail work in the dresser scarves.

 

All that antiquing tired us out so it was home to sit on the front porch and enjoy the beautiful day. It was close to 70 degrees and a light breeze was blowing on the corner of the porch that always catches a great breeze, even in the summer. We watched the cows and calves make their way around the field eating as they went.
We also watched the baby foal on it's second day of life, prance around the field with momma close behind. The foal stuck pretty close to mama, except when he did get a rebellious whim and take off on a short gallop. Mama was quick to rein him in and keep him safe from the other horses and people(me) trying to get to close to her baby.

 

After a few hours of watching the animals, and a scrumptious meal of red beans, sausage and rice, on of the brothers in law arrived with his son and grandson to hunt some wild hogs. Wild hogs are quite troublesome in the farming community, tearing through and eating crops and gardens. His grandson was so excited about his first hog hunt. They settled in the shooting house in the field behind the house. We could watch from the porch down over the field so we did. The hogs came in just after dark and not long after we watched the shots ring out. We knew they had gotten at least one, and waited for some one to come up with the okay to go down and help. The grandson finally came up with the news that he'd gotten his first hog with his first shot! We all went down to see and also to help track on that got away. We looked for him til our spotlights went out but never did find him. All in all they got three pigs. Here's the grandson with his first one! The son got the second one and grandson got the third. Actually he got the first and second, all with one shot.
The days adventures had tired me out, and a cold windy night moved in. We settled in under the comforters for a winters nap in a house with no heat anxious for the next day's adventures!