Happy 4th of July!

I hope your day is filled with Celebration and fireworks. I'll clean and bake this morning, pack this afternoon and then later this evening we will join some friends for a cookout.
We are lucky to live in the greatest nation in the world, able to celebrate the day any way we wish. I wonder if our Founding Fathers knew how great we would become when they started their rebellion 230 years ago. See a little rebelliousness can be a good thing!
Happy 4th!

:J

My Saturday Night with Big Joe

Yes, I think I have found love. Big Joe. He's on the Polka Show on the RFD channel. Yes it's Saturday night and Yes, I'm bored.
So Rick is sitting here flipping through the channels, he's bored too. He found Big Joe, and paused. Then flipped. "No!" I said "Turn it back!"
Do you know how long it's been since I've polka'd? I think I was 12. Before I found out it wasn't cool. Maybe Rick and I have polkaed once. Polka is big where he is from. They all polka there.
So here I sit, watching Big Joe and the old people in Minnesota polkaing? Am I even spelling that right? Old people in Minnesota aren't as good as polkaers as they once were.
They have a special TV offer from the "Polka Nuts" from Colorado. Two DVDs for $50! I wanted to order them. Rick said No with that look he gives me when he thinks I have absolutely lost my mind.
So then I'm sitting here listening and watching and surfing my blogs when I come across Kip's Blog and she has up this Lollapolooza head and it's dancing. The dancing is matching the music on the TV, the polka music, and I am dying laughing. So I show Rick. He's laughing. Then he gets serious and has second thoughts about my weeklong trip this week. HMMMMMM!
All this and no tequila. What a Saturday night!

:J

More Me

Just got back from a scrumptitous (sp) dinner with hubby. We hit our favorite local cheap seafood place, The Shrimp Basket. So yummy! I don't know why but we drove clear across town to go there. They have opened one closer to our house, but old habits are hard to break. We just went.
Worked out for me just fine tho, as it is next door to JoAnn's. I ran in there for a few sheets of patriotic paper for a project I'm working on. I thought I found some Jolee's embellies marked way down, but when I got home I saw that I paid $2.50 for them. I don't need them that bad, so I'm taking those back!
I have got to clean this house this weekend. It's picked up, but it needs cleaning! I think I just have toooo much stuff. I am way to attached to stuff. I'm sure I don't qualify as a pack rat, but a pack mouse, I may be. I'm ready to downsize. I started a bit in the scraproom today, cleaning out things that I don't use or have another machine that does the same thing. I'm going to give them to my son's fiancee, as she is a scrapper. They will be here from Louisiana next week, but I will be in St. Pete. Darn it! They hardly ever come home, and now I have to be gone!
No big plans for the weekend. I'm trying to win MontgomeryGentry tickets for Tuesday night. Not that I'm a huge fan, but it would be fun to go. They are giving them away every hour on the radio station. Cross your fingers!
Well I'm off!
Oh one last thing, CONGRATULATIONS TO WEST FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL for their 3RD CONSECUTIVE A in the School grade calculations. We got our grades today and another A! WFHS has only been in existence for 6 years. Not too shabby!
I think someone said we had the highest HS writing scores in the state! WOOHOO!
With that I'm done,
Happy day!

:J

Thoughts on the First Weekend of Summer!

Where do I start? Linda and her Hilltop Crew added another fantastic weekend to my memory! WOW! I just love them and wish we were soooo much closer in distance.

Linda never ceases to amaze me. She cooked us fabulous meals all weekend without a stove and sunday we got pancakes & sausage from her Tim Holtz kitchen! Just when I think she can't do anymore fantastic give aways, she piles the table. When I think I have seen all the best classes, Elle, Di and Jules come up with a few more! Michele & Dee are always the best customer service and friends a girl could have. And the table mates! OHHHH those BAD girls! I love them all!

It was so much fun having my sister, Susie with us. That would be "Jayne's Sister, Susie". All my life everyone has known me as Jayne, Susie's little sister. After this weekend she is now Susie, "Jayne's sister. Thanks Michele for the help on that!
But to me from this crop forward, Susie will be known to me as "frogbreath" LOL! She can explain that one!

One of my biggest thrills was having Michele's mom, Alice, tell me she reads my blog everyday! WOW! Really? I have such a boring life! Alice is a sweetie and I was glad to finally meet her. Michele is such a sweet person, now I know why!

It was such a great weekend all around. So much fun with such phenomenal women. They all continue to inspire me to be a better woman, each of them in their own way. I am so lucky to have such great people as friends!

I came home to more flowers blooming. Sorry no pictures as of yet, but maybe tomorrow. My pink hydrangea was blooming, as was the red hibiscus. The oleander is blooming for the first time in years. It's a beautiful red. Finally, my pink amarylis is also showing it's beautiful color.

I walked into work Tuesday morning to no air conditioning. Talk about hot! Even the fans didn't help. Thankfully, I was able to go to one of the other buildings to prepare for the retirement celebration and that building had air! Over the weekend a squirrel got caught in some wiring and burned out the chiller for our building. Poor Squirrel! But all is fixed now and the retirement celebration went off without a hitch. Our principal was surprised, and it was nice to see so many of his old friends show up to wish him well. I will sure miss him, and wish him many happy, safe roads to travel and hours of giggles as "Grandpy" becomes his main job.

So that should catch you up with little ole me. I need to get busy cleaning, unpacking and putting away all the "stuff" I brought home with me. Tons of cool scrap stuff, new stamps (I hit the sale bin at HL, got 6 new stamps!) and of course, more storage to put it in.

I'll try to be a better blogger this next week. That is until they send me to St. Pete for that conference that I really didn't want to go to, but they twisted my arm! The things I do for my job, seriously!
Have a wonderful summer day!

:J

Ah! The First Day of Summer!

The first day of summer! Who can believe how fast this year is flying by? The first day of summer signals fun, adventure and vacation. Which is exactly how I am going to celebrate it!

This morning I'm beginning an adventure with my sister. It's not our first, we've had many. But today we are packing up her camper and heading south. Our trip will include a few stops for bathroom breaks, and convienently the best bathrooms are located in scrapbooking stores! I'm so glad they keep such clean restrooms! LOL!

Our destination is Dover FL to meet up with the Hilltop girls at the birthday crop. It's my sister's first time meeting these wonderful ladies, and I hope she has as much fun as I do with them! Such a great group of women!

So I'm excited and nervous all at once. I'm driving and pulling the trailer. THAT should be fun. I just worry about parking it etc. and driving slow enough! I'm used to flying down the road.

Well it's time to get moving. I hope you find something special to do to celebrate your first day of summer today. Eat ice cream, drink lemonade, run through a sprinkler, pick flowers, have a picnic, go swimming, fishing or biking. Walk the beach, walk a trail or just walk your neighborhood and say hi to everyone! Celebrate your first day of summer!

:J

Humping Through the Week

I have stayed busy all week. Humping right along through work and here at home. I'll be gone all weekend, DS2 and FDIL will be here for the weekend for a friend's wedding. So I've been packing, cleaning and everything in between!
Tonite I leave for my sister's, and then tomorrow we head out to go to the Hilltop Birthday Crop. I'm all packed for that. I take kits to work on as there is so much going on that my ADD kicks in and my creativity kicks out! But it shall be fun no less. DH was so funny last night when I was packing. He said, "This is really more of a social thing right? Ya'll don't do much scrappin', one scraps and the others just socialize and say "Aw, that's purty!"" He's too funny. Of course we scrap dear. We are busy little scrappers the whole time!
And about that land I have for sale......
DH has assured me that the house will be clean when the kids get here Friday. As he says, "It will be so clean that Kevin will think you cleaned" Gee, if only it could be that way when I get home.
Last night I baked the Pioneer Woman's Texas Sheet Cake to take to today's Potluck Luncheon at work. I could hardly sleep in anticipation of eating it today! Yummy!
Well, speaking of that nasty four letter word, I must get going. The sooner I go, the sooner I can go, the sooner the party begins! I'll try to blog this weekend. We'll see!
Stay safe til I return.
:J

Another Wonderful Summer Weekend

 

Nothing says summer like an evening of balloons! This weekend was the Balloon Fest in Foley Alabama. Rick and I spent Saturday evening watching balloons take off and land. It was so relaxing watching these giants glide silently in to land.
These ballons are powered by propane. It was neat to watch them inflate the huge canopies. Each canopy costs 10 thousand dollars! Wow! The Baskets really are made of wicker too! We thought this one was going to hit the trees!

 

The balloon were from all over the south with most of them coming from Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. Now they didn't fly in from there, they took off and landed all in Alabama. But wouldn't it be cool to just get in your balloon and float a few states away! I wonder how far you could go in a half day?
Even tho the name of this one was Sunrise it sure looked pretty in the sunset!

 

We just stood and ate our fresh Kettle Popcorn and watched the balloons come in and out. Sooooo relaxing!

 

Sunday we had breakfast with friends, grocery shopped and then Rick mowed the lawn. Such is life when your boys are grown and living all over! Afterwards we imitated whales wallering in the pool for about an hour. Sooooo nice. I laid on my raft and watched a dragonfly perched high in a tree as he watched us! LOL!
Patrick came home in time for dinner and we grilled T-bones. I made mushrooms & onions for toppers, boiled some shrimp & corn for sides, and we were in heaven!
So my short week begins! 3 days of work and then I'm off to the "boonies" to camp and scrap!
Enjoy the day!

:J

Happy Father's Day Pa!

 

First of all I need to say no one will ever replace my Dad. No One. I miss him every day, every hour, Every minute. He is the mold for Dads that was broken the minute God was finished him. There will never be another like him. I love you Dad!

That said, now we'll talk about the man who runs a close second, my Pa, Wally. Wally is really my father in law, but in the past 15 years he has become my Pa. My husband says he was a tough dad. He didn't take any crap from anyone, from his kids, to city councilmen, to cops, or even the Priest at their local parish. Now he says his dad is just an old man trying to be nice and get into heaven.

I can't vouch for the time past the last 22 years I have known him. If he was as gruff as my hubby says, then I think he's wrong. Pa is a hard working, God loving, family first man. His love for his wife and family are undeniably one of his greatest characteristics. I know that part of the reason my husband dotes so much on me is because of the love Pa showed Ma all these 55+ years. Her and I both know we are Queens of the house, no matter how much we deny it!

Pa will give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. At 75 years old he delivers Meals on Wheels to the "old people". We call him the "Grand Poobah" as he is so involved with his church and the KCs that he has been honored many times by both. But he doesn't do all of this work for the accolades. He does it to be involved, to make the world a better place.

He loves all of his grandchildren from the littlest great grand to all the older grands. He has the patience of a saint, but when you've made him reach the end of that patience, he lets you know with his trademark "Enough Now!" I have learned to be a better parent from him.

Pa and I share a special banter. He loves to tease me, and I love to tease him back. Sometimes neither of us is sure the other isn't serious. But it's all in good fun and very much love! He always tells me, "If I didn't love you, I wouldn't tease you!" I love to rag him about the Packers, the Brewers and everything else in between. He teases me about still being a Bears fan after all these years I've been a Packer fan. But, I tell him right back "The only reason I became a Packer's fan, is to keep peace and harmony in the family and to stay in the will!"

I know he knows how much I love him and appreciate him. We talk on the phone at least once a week. I wish we were closer in mileage. I know we are close in heart.

So Happy Father's Day Pa!

Ahhhh! It's Friday!

Which means it's the weekend! The AP let me leave at 2:15 as it was only her and I left in the building other than the custodians. I had finshed my list of things to do, and cleaned my desk! "Go Home" she said. So I did!
I met Patrick pulling out of the neighborhood as I was pulling in, and signaled him to come back home. Today is Patrick's 20th Birthday! MY BABY is 20! His day didn't start so good, at 5:30ish a police officer knocked on the door to return his wallet to him. Apparently he had left it in the car and the car unlocked. They got all his tip money for the week, he wouldn't tell me how much, and his driver's license and military ID also a few gift cards he had in his wallet. The Military ID has his and hubby's ss# on it. So that has sent panic into our world. It's such a violating feeling. And a crappy way to begin your 20th birthday.
So when he came home I gave him a pair of new Reef Sandals and $50. I thought he was going to cry. Instead he told me what the metal piece in the bottom of my Reef Sandals is for, it's a bottle opener! I did not know that! I thought it was some kind of cool support for my arches. Dang, not only does my baby turning 20 make me feel old, but thinking that is cool support for my arches and not a bottle opener makes me feel real old and as my brother would say, "losing my cool". I just know my Reefs are comfy. Now I can open all the Coronas I want! He told me some pairs even have flasks in the heel. What will they think of next?
So Happiest of Birthdays to you my son, world-wise that you are!
:J

10 Things I Will Never

From Kip's Blog, another challenge. There are not too many things I won't do, so finding 10 may be hard!

1. I will never bungee jump.

2. I will never eat oatmeal.

3. I will never jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

4. I will never finish this list. Just can't think of anything else. What do you think I will never do?

:Jayne

Is It Thursday Already??

Wow! I do love these short work weeks! I can't believe that one week from today I am heading down to the Birthday Crop at Hilltop! I am a excited and also a bit nervous, as I'm taking my sister down to meet the girls! And I never know how either of them will behave! LOL!
It's been busy at work and lazy at home. I got my plane tickets etc for the Data Conference in St. Pete in July. I'm going down a few days early to hang with the girls before I have to learn all about Data. For the Hilltop girls reading this, I'll be there July 5th! WOOHOO!
Last night I watched "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" on HBO. Very good film! It is sad what our Government did to the Indians. That's fact, not a slanted film version. We took their lifestyle and heritage away from them, stripped them clean to adapt to our ways. Starved them to do it. Sad. If you get a chance to watch it, do. I remember reading the book in High School and liking it then.
No plans for tonite. Our welding teacher is bringing in more corn today! I'm getting half a bushel, so I know what we will eat for dinner! I could eat my weight in sweet corn!
Well that's my life!
Have a good day!
:J

My Weekend is Over! :(

Like all good things, my long luxurious weekend has come to an end. Tomorrow is back to work, back to putting out all those little fires that pop up when I'm gone (and when I'm there). But on the bright side, only 4 days to another weekend!
I spent the day finishing up odds and ends, laundry mostly. I even did Rick's laundry. For the record, we mostly do our own laundry. His is too nasty dirty to do with mine, he is afraid to wash some of my clothes, so we just do our own mostly. We're wierd, I know, but it works for us. I still need to iron the kitchen curtains and hang them back up. I guess I can still get that done.
Patrick was here for a few hours while I was home. So I baked a ham, cooked black-eyed peas and corn for dinner. I could have eaten my weight in the corn and peas! But I didn't. So that was good. Enough left to take some for lunch tomorrow. Yum! He stays so busy on the weekend with two jobs. I miss having him around so much. He said when school starts back he is getting an apartment with 3 other guys. I'm glad he has good friends, but I still worry!
I finished up a LO from the cruise pictures. I just noticed tho that the title looks crooked, so I guess I will have to fix that too. But here it is. It looks like we did everything on the cruise but scrapbook. But we did scrapbook, some.
When I got home Rick was surprised we even did scrapbook! Too funny!

 

Well let me go iron those curtains and clean the scraproom. It's amazing the work I can get done when there is nothing to watch on TV! Have a good week!

Your Weekend is Over, Not Mine!

Okay, I'm not trying to rub it in. But I am going to enjoy it! Just one more day. How many weekends have you had where you wished for one more day off? I know I have wanted many. I just wanted to stay home ONE more day. Well tomorrow is my day!
I worked last Monday which was supposed to be my first day off. But it was registration for summer school, so I went in like the dedicated person I am. After all, I put the schedules in the computer, so I have to be there! Since we work a 4 day, 10 hour day week, I got to take Friday off. Then tomorrow, Monday is my regular day off. Most everyone wanted Fridays off and the only way we could do the 4/10s is if someone wanted to work Friday. So let's think about this. Friday is normal go home early day, so if I take Monday off and work Friday, with hardly anyone there, I can get more done and get out early! Sign me up!
I got alot accomplished this weekend. Lots of much needed house cleaning. Of course I would need a month off and a gallon jar full of speed to get my house totally clean, like I would like to have it clean. But living with two guys, a long haired cat and a dog, my house will never stay clean. I love my dog, but I cuss his black hair everytime I clean! So in between goofing off a bit, I got most everything done, including the ceiling fans, windowsills and blinds. I cleaned the pantry a bit, throwing away microwave popcorn that was 2 years over date! I got ride of about 3 dozen magazines. Mostly Southern Living, I keep those for the recipes. So I tore out all the recipes I thought I might use and pitched the magazines. I'm sure my husband wishes I would get rid of some scrappin' magazines. Don't hold your breath dear!
After pitching, I scrubbed. My favorite thing to clean my floors with is this.
 
I discovered it my first trip to Key West. Alba was just finishing mopping her floors when we arrived. Her house smelled so good and fresh, I had to ask what she used. It was Mistolin, Gardenia scent. I usually don't like Gardenia scent, but now it's all I use on my floors! I guess when I go to South Florida in a few weeks I will have to look for some more. Usually I want to know here the scrap stores are, but this trip I need to know where to get Mistolin. This is my last bottle!
Yesterday while on a cleaning break, DH and I watched "A Night at the Museum" I really enjoyed it! Wouldn't it be awesome if that really did happen? I won't say what happened in case you have not seen the movie. If you haven't, you need too, it's good! Later I'm going to watch "Because I Said So" Rick didn't want to watch it, it's a chick flick.
And also in my spare time, I finished the mini book I made for FIL for Father's day. Since he doesn't read my blog, I can show you. Here's the cover,
 
and here is the rest of it! I sure hope he likes it! Not everyone in the family is in it. That kind of bothered me, but I don't have recent pictures of everyone because they haven't been able to come to the reunions. So maybe I'll have to do a second edition.
I think now I'm off to my movie, and to fold some clothes. Mostly towels, so that will be easy

TGIF!

And it's my four day weekend! WOOOHOOO!
I'm off this am to the LSS to see what they have new, and what's in the clearance room. Maybe a stop by Big Lots, Hobby Lobby and a few stores in between to see what inspires me.
I was showered with fresh veggies yesterday at work. Lori brought me fresh cucumbers and cherry tomatoes from her garden by the bay. Dale, our welding teacher, came 35 miles into town to bring me fresh sweet corn and black eyed peas from his farm. YUMMY! We had the corn last night for dinner! OMG GOOD! I could eat my weight in sweet corn. I think tonite I'll just make a huge salad, cook up the blackeyed peas, and some sweet corn and call it supper!
Well, I'm off to start my weekend! More later!

:J

Well Just a Few Things

My day was fairly uneventful really. I managed to keep my cool when I really wanted to strangle on old lady who came in my office with attitude first thing this morning. So maybe that was kinda eventful. Meanwhile, my friend who was standing beside me while all this was going on, yes my calm, cool, see the good in everyone, and save them all friend, was holding back even harder to not put her fist in the lady's face. Talk about a switching of personalities, we would have never thought I was the calm one and she the upset one. But it is done, and it is what is.
I want to welcome MARY to the blogging world. She is so hilarious, I love her perspective. She is a cropping buddy from the Hilltop Gang.
Another perspective I just love is THIS
Every month Mama writes a letter to her growing daughter. I love the way she writes, her view is not typical motherhood view. But I love that every month she shares her thoughts to her daughter, and us. I wish I had thought to do that with the boys. Oh well, maybe someday if there are ever grandchildren....
That's all I have today. Hopefully I will be back tomorrow, unless the big guy downtown calls me in to ask why I was the calm one and Becky was the upset one.

Tuesday Tithering

Not much going on in my household the past few days. We got some very much needed rain on Monday. Monday was also the first day of summer school so that kept me busy with registration. It went smoothly despite the retirement of my reliable guidance counselor.
I had prepared dinner on Sunday for Monday night. We came home warmed it in the microwave, and it was gone! I'll leave you the recipe, one of our electrician instructors gave it to me. He's an official coonass cajun, so I knew it would be good. oooooooeeeeeee!

Crawfish Casserole (I substituted shrimp)

3/4 stick of margarine
1 (10 ounce) can Rotel with chillies
1 (5 ounce) package saffron yellow rice
1/2 large green pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pound Crawfish tails (louisiana brand are best) but I substituted shrimp
1/2 c grated cheddar cheese
Tony Chachere's to taste

Cook rice to directions. Set aside. Saute onion & pepper in margarine, add tomatos and simmer 10 minutes. Add crawfish or shrimp and simmer 10 minutes. Take off heat and add soup, stir, add rice, stir, and add Tony Chachere's to taste. Put in a casserole dish, sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
OOOOOOOEEEEE!

I hope you enjoy this. Have a wonderful day!
:J

Happy 95th Dad!

Owen began life in a small farmhouse in rural Illinois. The third child born to Roy & Lula Moore. The Moore's were farmers, Roy was also a carpenter, a jack of all trades as most farm men were in the early 1900's. Dad was born before cars, indoor plumbing, telephone, tv and most other things I take for granted. He was educated through the 8th grade in a small one room school house where he had perfect attendance and Honor Roll grades.

 

Despite these humble beginnings, he was the smartest man I've ever known. He could conquer any project he started. He did with patience and precision, measure twice, cut once. He purchased his first car, a brand new Model A, with cash he had saved working at his Uncle's dairy. I still have his first "chauffer's license", which is where I got this picture. It lists his height at 6'1" and his weight at 165. He was long and lanky and his ability to run fast earned him the nickname "Spider" in school, as he was all legs when he ran. His athletic ability earned him recognition on the baseball field also. He was asked to join farm teams run by the Major leagues, but WWII came and he answered his call to duty. He joined the Navy and was sent to New Guinea for his stint in the war.

 

He was a father of 5, two sons and three daughters, grandfather to 18 and great grandfather to more than that. He was the type of father every child wishes for. He was 49 when I was born. His older age brought patience, kindness and love to my life. He taught us about animals, plants, trees and life. We always had a garden. He always had time for our questions and most of all, he played with us.
We could always talk him into pitching a ballgame for us, fishing with us, eating ice cream with us and he read books to us most every night before we went to bed. There were alot of nights he was away from us, working shift work at the nearby Army Depot, but we were always in his heart.

 

Today he would have been 95 years old. I've lost track of exactly how many years he's been gone. I'd say 15 if you made me guess, but it's not something I really like to think about. He did get to meet all of his grandchildren, some of his great grands and he was loved by them all. At his funeral, I didn't realize how many people's lives he touched by his selfless acts he performed without recognition. He was very active in his community but not like the guys you would see in the paper, on committees and doing fundraisers. He was quiet in his way of doing things whenever help was needed. Always a jokester, he loved to tease.
He expected Honesty, Hardwork and Fairness for everyone. The worse thing you could do to him is lie. He said if we told the truth he would always stand beside us, but if we lied, we would have to take our punishment alone.
Happy Birthday Dad, the world is better place because of you.

Pictures:
Top; Ned, age 2 and Owen age 4, 1915
Middle; Owen age 15 from his first "driver's license"
Bottom; Owen with 4 of his grandsons, clockwise from top, Danny, Kevin, Patrick and Kyle 1989

Shopped til I Dropped!

This morning my friend Chris and I ventured out on a semi annual shopping spree. While we had no particular plan, we knew a few stores we wanted to hit, with a few things in mind.

I was looking for some "professional" clothes with a tropical, relaxed look. We headed to Coldwater Creek as I had spied a few things in their latest catalog that I loved. Armed with a 40% off coupon I was in the mood to shop.

You can't begin shopping without a full stomach, so our first stop was Rousso's at Eastern Shore Plaza. Chris had the grouper po boy, I had the shrimp po boy. Not exactally breakfast, but it nourished us! Rousso's is an awesome seafood place, the food was delish! While we dined on the patio, we watched about 30 kids under the age of 6 play in the fountains in the plaza square. Oh to be six again, they were having such fun!

Coldwater Creek was our next stop, but I was disappointed they didn't have the outfit I wanted to particularly see. I tried on a few things, but nothing screamed buy me like it did in the catalog. The salelady was the nicest and told us about the CC outlet about 10 miles south of where we were. Best part? My 40% coupon was good there too! So off we were to Tanger Outlets in Foley. They didn't have my outfit either, but I did order it online from the store. Doing that saved me $50+! Shipping is free if you order from the store!

Of course we had to explore a few other stores and I scored a pair of Clark sandals in coral, Skeechers sandals to go with anything and a pair of Reef sandals to match my swimsuit. I also found bra and a pair of blue jean capri's at Lee outlet. My other jean capris are just too big! I found Patrick a pair of black Reef flip flops that I'm putting back for his birthday in a few weeks. Disney was having a great sale and I got 3 beach towels for the pool for $20! Nemo, Power Rangers and Pirates of Caribbean! My biggest score was in one of the gourmet food stores. I found Fireworks brand Savanna Gold popcorn. It's grown in my hometown!!! I can't wait to pop some! I'll try to take pictures of everything later!

Exhausted from shopping we called Rick to see if he wanted to meet us for dinner. It was after 5 p.m.! Time had flown! We met him at our favorite rib dive for dinner. It was yummy and I was so stuffed I was miserable! I sure hope those new capris still fit! LOL! btw, down from a size 22 to an 18!

Well, I'm worn out. More later!

My Very Own Weatherman

Actually he is so much more than that. He is my protector, my jokester, my companion. He is usually first to greet me when I come home from work in the afternoon. He needs me as much as I need him. He also has a gift for knowing bad weather.
Tuesday morning when DH got up to go to work, Dakota, like usual, jumped up in our bed. Instead of laying near the foot as he always does, he snuggled right up next to me. As next to me as he could get without being on top of me. Later after I got up and was ready to go to work, he refused to go outside like usual. The sky was darker, as if we were going to get some much needed rain that day. But it didn't rain.
Wednesday morning, the tv weatherman began talking about a tropical front down in the gulf. I did get Dakota to go outside that day, but when I came home he was by myside. Not lay at my feet like he always does by my side, I mean glued to my leg by my side. It had rained most of the day, but it was a gentle rain with no lightning or thunder. He had spent most of the day inside with Patrick. So his sticktomeness was troubling.
Thursday I tricked him into going out by grabbing a ball and heading out the door myself. I threw it a few times and then told him "enough, I have to get to work."
Again, when I got home he would not leave me alone. He was at my side everywhere. I was doing laundry and he stayed with me every step of the way.
So here it is Friday and TS Barry is in the Gulf. Where is Dakota? On my foot as I type this.
He senses weather. I think he knows as soon as a storm begins developing in the gulf. He evacuates with me every hurricane. He has his own storm mode. He is my weatherman,

Forcing Myself

It seems like lately if I have more than a few days off, I take off for parts unknown or known. My gypsy blood must be flowing freely, because I love to pack a bag and go.
It's probably the fact that the kids are on their own, or at least self sufficent. I have no practices to taxi to, no homework to help with, and no booster club meeting I am needed at. My husband and dog would love for me to stay put. We love each other's company. The dog always wants someone to throw his ball for him. But to me there is such a wonderful world out there yet to explore, places to go, people to see.
But I'm forcing myself. Beginning June 8th, I have four days off in a row. The itch to travel is burning. I even thought about traveling north to visit my brother. Even looked up flights and can get a pretty good deal. But then I stopped and thought about it.
I just got back from a cruise, and another weekend visiting Karen in Jax. I'm going for a girl's scrap weekend at the end of June, two weeks later I go to St. Pete for a conference for work, then the first of August I'm going to another scrap weekend.
So I'm forcing myself to ignore this gypsy blood in my soul. I'm staying home. As much as I want to see my brother, as much as I want to visit my hometown, the Mississippi River, black dirt, houses more than 25 yards apart and some gravel country roads, I have to stay home.
I can get alot done in 4 days at home. My house could get cleaned, I could get my flower beds cleaned out, more flowers planted. I could cook 4 meals in a row! I could scrap. I could go to the beach. I could clean closets. I could lay in the pool and read a book all day. So it would be good to stay home for 4 days.
But then I'll keep checking flights....just in case there is too good of a deal to pass up!
:J

What a Day!

What a day! We started with breakfast with the Career & Technical people from all over the county. Such a great group who are often overlooked for their contributions to educating our growing workforce. Awesome speaker from the Chamber of Commerce, he spoke on the trends in our area for demanding jobs, Nursing, Elder Care, Hospital care,(let's face it, the baby boomers are getting old!) and the other job? Computer languages! He spoke of a recent high school graduate from West Tech who was offered a 6 figure income straight out of HS! Computer related! So when is my West Tech grad with interest in both the medical field and computers going to get one of those jobs and support his mama??? LOL!
Our retirement luncheon afterward was a blast! Of course I saw all the little details that I thought were wrong, but everyone else didn't and had a wonderful time! Many great stories about the retirees where shared, tears shed and memories made. I will truly miss the both of them once the offical time comes, Jackie later this week and Mr. S later in June. Wonderful people, born leaders who loved what they did!
I am glad it's over, only one more luncheon to go at the end of June. WHEW! Afterwards I went back to work to finish some stuff up for the teachers and then I came home and took a long nap!
I leave you with a tag that is going around. I think Dee got me, I tag Cindy & Shar, Wendy & Ruth!

My Name: Jayne

1. Famous Singer/Band: Jackson 5
2. 4 letter word: Just
3. Street: Jump Street ( okay I know it was a TV show)
4. Color: Juniper
5. Gifts/Presents: Jewels!
6. Vehicle: Jeepney
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Junk!
8. Boy Name: Jason
9. Girl Name: Jelaney
10. Movie Title: Jericho
11.Drink: Jim Beam
12. Occupation: Justice of Supreme Court
13. Flower: Jonquil
14. Celebrity: Jim Belushi
15. Magazine: Jet!
16. U.S. City: Jacksonville
17. Pro Sports Teams: Jaguars
18. Fruit: Juicyfruit
19. Reason for Being Late for Work: JailTime!
20. Something You Throw Away: Junk!
21. Things You Shout: JEEZ!
22. Cartoon Character: Jiminy Cricket

I am Chocolate Cake

You Are a Chocolate Cake

Fun, comforting, and friendly. You are a true classic, and while you're not super cutting edge, you're high quality. People love your company - and have even been known to get addicted to you.

What Kind of Cake Are You?

Fun, comforting and friendly? Sure, must mean I bring home stray anything. True Classic, must mean I'm old and going to end up in the dollar bin soon. Hmmm, not super,cutting edge? That's depressing, I try to stay on top of things. High Quality? Was there any doubt? Love my company? Who doesn't? get addicted to me? Hmmmmm, kinda scary, stalker scary, tho it may explain the vultures circling. Don't you want to know what kind of cake you are?

Memorial Day Weekend

I would say Happy Memorial day weekend, but when you think about it, it's not really a happy occasion. The true meaning of this weekend is to honor those who have fought and died on fields near and far, for our freedom.
Those much younger than I, sons and daughters of our nation, gave their lives for our greatest gift, the freedom to be ourselves. I don't know if I could willingly give that gift. I don't know if I want my children to give that gift. I have been a Navy wife, and while I am appreciative of my husbands service to his country, he didn't give that ultimate sacrifice. He would of if he were asked, but thankfully he wasn't.
So as we settle down for a hotdog and a beer, shop our sales or just laze around and enjoy an extra day off of work, remember those who laid down their lives so that we could choose what we wanted to do this weekend.

:J

PS if you are in the Pensacola area this weekend, you may want to stay away from the beaches and the beach establishments this weekend. Not family atmosphere, but people exersizing their freedom of choice.
Which is why DH and I will be in Jacksonville.

Morning Coffee

 

Morning Coffee. It is as necessary to me as the blood that flows through my veins. Like friends. Occasionally, usually on Thursday and Friday mornings the two are brought together in one of the offices where I work. Over coffee we catch up on each other, solve the problems of our work world and encourage each other to keep going on.

Nothing like morning coffee and friends. We celebrate each others joys and commiserate each others woes. Today we will put another school year into the file cabinet over coffee. Another lesson learned, another year to plan. But this time as we sit down for a cup, it will be one of our last as our group. Next week at this time, Jackie will officially retire.
Some things will never be the same.

I learned alot over coffee with Jackie. I learned so much about my job, my place I work, and life itself from Jackie. We celebrated her becoming a mother in law over coffee, we celebrated her becoming a grandmother over coffee, we celebrated her teacher of the year award. We celebrated. And we cried. We cried over the misery of Ivan. We cried over office gossip. We cried when Tom, Jackie's husband died suddenly two New Year's Eves ago. We watched principal's come and go, cried over some and celebrated others.

We solved the problems of our workplace, tried to be a part of the solution instead of a part of the problem. A tradition I hope to continue once Jackie is retired. I tease her that she must pray for me every day extra hard, because without her and her wealth of knowledge my job will not be as easy.

So that she will always remember the morning coffee meetings of Jackie, Linda and Jayne. I bought us each a coffee mug. So now every time we pour a cup, we can think of each other, pray for each other and find a solution to what life hands us. It will be soothing to my soul to think of the three of us at morning coffee. Strong women, strong coffee.

:J

My thoughts on AI

Jourdin will win. She has the God given voice. Stage presence like Blake's can be taught. Either way, both are very talented, and will have huge successful careers.
Can't wait to see!

:J

Our Weekend in Pictures

It was such a weekend! We did so much and got soooo much done!
One is of dear hubby as he makes his coaching debut as Defensive Ends Coach at WFHS. He is part of the coaching staff working for the Coach who coached our two oldest boys. It was at a different HS, and Rick was Coach G's QB Club President then, but we had alot of great times. Rick is thrilled to be back with Coach G.
The boys before the game, united as a team. They looked so strong, so disciplined! They won! Our first win in two years!
Coach G's grandson lost a tooth midgame. Good thing we have a great Athletic Trainer, Miss M took care of that hole where the tooth was!
Rick repairing the deck. He figured if he held his tongue just right the nail would go in just where he wanted it to!
C'est Bon is my newest Cajun Hibiscus. It's beautiful orange and pink blends so perfectly together! I want a dress in these colors.
The red and white is another of my Cajun Hibiscus. I forget it's name right now.
Rick grilling brats. What a perfect summer meal. We watched the sun go down while we stuffed ourselves. The tree in the background is over 18 ft around and estimated to be over 250 years old! It provides us with perfect shade!
Boots the cat found a perfect place for a nap. He climbed our six foot plant holder and snoozed the evening away.
It was such a perfect weekend. Weather was just perfect. Not too hot, no humidity. I would take a hundred days like today.
I hope yours was just as good.

Okay I got this from Kip!

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

What do you think? Is this ME?

Midwest Summer Evenings

I need a Midwest summer evening. If you live or have lived in the Midwest, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's a soul calming, peaceful type of evening. Where you drive down the main road of a small town and everyone is resting on the front porch and everyone's front yards are perfectly manicured, flowers blooming in the gardens.

I grew up in one of those nondescript small towns in the Midwest. There was something about those evenings that put life all in perspective. Your belly was full from a homecooked dinner, your homework was done and the end of school was in sight. The lilacs were blooming in the park as the baseball teams began practice in anticipation of a full summer season.

I was free to ride my bike whereever I wanted in the evening. And I could ride anywhere, as traffic was minimal. It was one of those towns where they "rolled up the sidewalks" at six p.m. You didn't dare misbehave anywhere you went, as everyone knew your parents and your parents believed any reports of misbehavior reported to them.

On those rare nights when I wasn't kicked out of the house for a few last hours of outdoor play, I was put in the bathtub right after dinner. How refreshing it was to come out with all of the day's sweat and dirt scrubbed off! Into the jammies I went and then out to the front screen porch to sit with my family on the glider to watch the world slow down and settle in for the night. When darkness fell, it was time for bed, but not before a bowl of ice cream to keep my tummy full for the night.

I need a Midwest summer evening again. I think about it every day as I leave work, facing a traffic filled drive home. I wish for just a bit to go back home for one of those evenings. A quiet, soul calming, warm bath and cool breezy, summer evening.

No Smoke in Our Eyes

Since we have family all over the US, family who watches the news, everyone has been calling. "Are those fires anywhere near you?" I appreciate all the concern, but really people pull out a map!
When I tell people I am from Florida, the first thing they say is, "Oh we'll come visit when we go to Disney World!" The look of sadness on their face when I tell them it is 7 hours to Disney from my house, tells me it wasn't ME they wanted to visit, they were looking for a free bed while they visit Mickey!
So the answer is Yes, we are near the wildfires, there is one burning about 6 miles from where I am sitting right now. But it is not the wildly burning one that is blocking all the DISNEY traffic, or featured on the World News.
We are safe, no woods near us, occasionally there is smoke from the local wildfire but today it was clear.
Thanks for all the concern. If I need a water buffalo, you will be the first to know. And, if you want to see sugar white beaches, the Naval Aviation Museum, or just to see what how "the other Florida" lives, I have a spare room.
Too all my friends who live in the "real Florida" stay safe, I hope the winds blow the smoke away from all us.
:J

Wonderings & Ramblings on the Past 24/7

My gosh has it really been a whole week since I got home from the Cruise. Darn! I'm ready to go back!!! I can repack very quick and no one will miss me!
So on I go blubbering on random thoughts.
It's too hot already! I haven't finished planting flowers in the yard and now that it's hot I won't want too! We are in such need of rain that I will have to get out at least once a day to water everything also. But I love my flowers, it just calms me to walk out and be greeted by their beauty!
Mother's Day was quiet. Patrick had the day off, but he slept most of the day as he worked til 4:30 am. He did get me a cute card and spent the rest of the day after he got up with me. Kevin & Daniel called me. It's always nice to hear from them. Daniel & Felicia sent me two ecards that were Daniel to a T! I laughed so hard!
Rick spoiled me rotten as he always does. He cooked breakfast and then we went shopping for a pool float for me. The whole day he kept saying, "what do you want to do now, it's your day" like we don't do what I want everyday. He did take me to Steak N Shake for my favorite Chocolate malt. I wanted to just make up places to go and then change my mind once I got there, just to see how many places we could go!
After we got home we rearranged the scrap room and put my new (used) table in there. It gives me a ton more room to lay stuff, plus I kept my old table in there to use for sewing, painting and such. I got rid of the computer desk so now everything in the room is mine, cept for one file cabinet. Soon, if I have my way, that will go too!
I am so blessed with all I have. Independent kids, a great husband, nice house, good job and many, many inspiring women for friends. Gawd, I love this life!!!
:J

A Few More Things You need to Know about ME!

Two Names I Go by
1. Mom
2. Miss Jayne (what the coaches & kids call me)

Two Things I am Wearing Right Now:

1. my comfy yellow night gown (you asked!)
2. my anklet from the cruise

Two Things I Want (or have) in a Relationship:
1. Honesty
2. Laughter (Love is a given)

Two of My Favorite Things to do:
1. Travel
2. Spend time with my family

Things I Want Very Badly At The Moment:
1. A clean house
2. To find a million dollars in my bank account

Two pets I have:
1. Dakota, my very spoiled lachow or chowla (labchow mix)
2. Boots, the cat who drives me nuts

Two things I did last night:
1. Drank a few beers
2. Talked with friends

Two things I ate today:
1. Coffee
2. Nothing else yet

Two people I just talked to last:
1. Rick
2. Linda

Two Things I'm doing tomorrow:
1. putting on my swimsuit
2. floating in the pool

Two longest car rides:
1. Pensacola to Wautoma WI Christmas Eve 20 hours nonstop Christmas 05
2. Illinois to Pennsylvania in 1976 in the back of a Datsun 210 with my brother.

Two Favorite Holidays:
1. Thanksgiving
2. My Birthday!

Two favorite beverages:
1. Mojitos
2. Margaritas

Last but not least, two thoughts on American Idol:

1. It's great now that the Sanjaya fiasco is over

2. Iim picking Jordin to win!

Of Course WE Scrapped!

Well in between our other activities! Seriously, if you want to scrap go on a CKMB cruise or something. But if you want to have a wondermous time with a great group of women, come with us! WE even scrap! But first we had to make some memories to put in those pages!
The Lido deck was a great place for fun, excitement and dancing! We spent alot of time there, as you can see by our tower. But that was only because each of us sacrificed our souvenir glasses. Honest mom, we only had one!

 

And when you are young and cute, all the waiters want to dance the Macarena with you! Amy & Robin showed them how to do it! You go Girls!

 

I, of course, had to have a margarita at the world famous Senor Frogs! When in the Bahamas do as the bahamanians do! I also had my first Sex on a Beach there, but thankfully no pics of that! In the corner of the pic you can also see the awesome Prada bag Linda got! She scored a great price for that bag! We were all jealous!

 

I promise to show pictures of some scrappin' we actually did! We also got to meet the latest designer for Tiffany's! Yes the jewelry company! Pics to follow later! We were even presented with the creation Tiffany's did in honor of her joining the design team!
Another great time had by all!

:J

Yep! It was FUN!

I spent a few days this past week Cruisin' the Bahamas with some of the best women I know. Yep! We told them we were going to "scrapbook" but what we really did was make some great memories! Yes there was everything you would expect in a cruise, food, fun and ....liquids.
 
The entrance to the Midnite Buffet was enticing. The fruit was yummmy! I loved how they carved everything into tropical art. I took pictures because I know that I can recreate this at home in a few short hours with my classic kitchen knife. Yep, look for this at the next family breakfast. I bet that will impress the in-laws!
Equally impressive was the tower of our souvenir glasses from an afternoon on the Lido Deck. You never know when you will need to build a glass tower. I think we should have continued obtaining glasses until we could build a layer of pink, a layer of green and a layer of clear. But then who would build the tower? It was a fun afternoon, poolside,k with our own private dancer.
 
The highlight of my trip was supposed to be parasailing at Half Moon Cay. Well I didn't chicken out, but I (and Linda, the only other daredevil in the group) were unable to complete our fete. The wench that pulled in the sail broke on the excursion an hour before ours. We were so disappointed! But better then than when one of us were up there!
 
It was a great trip, one I will talk about for months! I'm already saving for next year's trip, and I have a few more pictures to show you, but I am going to enjoy a few more minutes of ME time. DH is off working on a car, and Patrick is off for guys night poker. He's wearing his surrender the booty Tshirt I got for him in Nassau. He's hoping it will bring him good luck!

:J

OHHHH What a Beautiful Mooorning!

It's absolutely gorgeous out here on my deck. The birds are singing, it's cool here in the shade and I am glad I have my laptop that goes anywhere. I've set here for the past hour, drinking my coffee, listening to the birds and catching up with everything I've missed since I was on the cruise.
I hate to quit all this and go to work, but I must. I have a few more things to catch up before I can take another day or two off for some more fun! I made alot of progress yesterday at work, now I need to make great progress here at the house! I've got a load of laundry in the washer, and one ready to go in when that one is done.
The guys survived the weekend without me. Although there is alot of frozen pizzas in the freezer. I think that is what they ate the whole time I was gone. Rick did say he cooked breakfast on Sunday morning.
My flowers all survived also and most are blooming beautifully. I wonder if I will every get this backyard looking like the haven I want it to be. HMMMMM! Maybe if I had a yard boy at my service for a few weeks. And probably about the time I get it the way I want, we will decide this place is just too much work and sell it for something smaller. LOL
I must go, Dakota is dropping his ball at my feet, a sign that he thinks we need to play. He keeps picking up his ball and dropping it, as if I don't hear it bouncing on the deck.
Enjoy the day!
:J

Yes, I'm alive!

I know most of you think I have forgotten how to blog. That is if anyone is still reading this. No, I haven't forgotten, just busy getting some adventures under my belt to tell you all about.
Just returned yesterday from 4 nights, 5 days in the Bahamas on a cruise. All I can say is OMG! IF you haven't treated yourself to this vacation, it is a must do! I had the best time, probably one of the best vacations I have ever had! Alot of it had to do with the women I was with, such totally awesome girls. Everyone should have friends like these, ones you can totally do anything with and as the saying goes, "What happens on vacation, stays on vacation!" We had such a time. It was so fun being footloose and fancy free! More about that later.
I've missed my blog and I promise to be a better blogger!
Pass the word, Bahama Mama is back! Rasta braids and all!

:J

What a Weekend!

I survived yet another year of Grad Night in Orlando with a Senior Class of WFHS! What a great group of kids! Funloving, well behaved, clean living, Party Animals! We had a blast on the bus and riding the rides at Univeral Studios/Islands of Adventure. They didn't even let a little rain dampen their spirits. Can't wait to party with them again on their real Grad Nite, Project Graduation!
That was how my weekend started, with a sleep deficit. Saturday I got home and DH met me at the bus with a delicious cup of hot coffee. I love that man! I came home to a hot shower and a soft, comfy bed. I slept til 2 p.m., only about 4 hours, which was perfect. I didn't want to sleep all day and then not be able to sleep at all at night. DH & DS3 and I snacked on the delicious Crawfish that DS3 brought home the night before from the Crawfish festival. YUMMMY! But that's alot of work for just a little bit of meat. And for those of you wondering, no I don't suck heads. We watched You, Me & Dupree. Cute movie! But the crawfish were just enough to kick in my hunger, so DH & I headed to Macaroni Grill for dinner followed by a stop at HL and BOM. A very relaxing end to a hectic trip to Orlando.
Yesterday was such a gorgeous day, we worked in the yard most of it, with a brief siesta in the afternoon. We finally took the cover off of the pool and by next weekend it should be warm enough to swim. WOOHOO! Summer is here!
I made Paula Deen's Cheesy Meatloaf for dinner, it was so delicious, although DS3 thought we wasted alot of bread. In her recipe, you set your meatloaf on 8-10 slices of bread while baking to absorb the grease. I thought it was a nifty idea, but he didn't see the reasoning.
So now it's back to work Monday Morning. We have the end of year/retirement luncheon to plan, scheduling for summer to do, and the usual upkeep of stuff that happens day. But first I hear HL calling my name, 50% off lots of scrap supplies. Isn't that a great way to start a week?
9 days til cruise time. WOOHOO!
:J

When I should be doing other things

I am going to blog.
I'm angry that our local newspaper gave half of the front page to the VT Tech lunatic's picture. Then put three other pictures of him elsewhere. That's it, encourage the next lunatic who wants to be notorius! Kids in our world do so many good things, okay, not just kids, PEOPLE do exemplary things everyday and they don't get half a front page! GRRRR!
I watched the parade of potential boss candidates arrive for their interviews today. Four of them. I think I could work for any of the four. I know I could work for 3 of them for sure. I know 3 of them would do an awesome job. I just don't know the fourth that well. We'll see what happens. I wish I could have been a mouse in the corner. So, do you think I should go to the new boss and say, hey! My psychic says you understand my need to travel and as long as you let me have a few days here and there I will work my ass off the rest of the time! LOL!
I should be packing. At 4:30 a.m., yes just 6 short hours away, I board a bus with 50 teenagers to make a 27 hour trip. We drive to Orlando, go to Universal Studios, get back on the bus and drive home. I am such a gluton for punishment, but it is such fun! I haven't missed a year yet! But I need to pack. My pillow, my blanket, my trail mix, beef jerky, magazines, toothpaste and brush, change of clothes, camera, G-rated movies, hairbrush.....socks.......ummmmmm, what else? It gets so cold on the bus coming back. One blanket, one pillow per person, NO sharing. This year they can't bring their own drinks as earlier in the year someone brought drinks with additional flavor. But I'm bringing my coffee. They can check that. And my bags. The drug dog will be there to see us off, just in case. But seriously, they are the best kids, we never had had a problem with them. but just in case, keep us in your prayers. Look out ORLANDO! WFHS 07 will be in the house!

:J

He's Gone!

And the world is almost right again. Finally we can watch AI and not be distracted from the real reason we watch the show. Sanjaya has left the building. Amen, there is a God!

:J

Yes I Know It's Been a Week!

I thought about blogging a few times this past week, but then thought who wants to read it, who cares? Not that my life is boring. Okay so it is, really. So what has happened in the past week.

Results are in! I am just a dizzy ole broad! After an MRI, Balance Test(ENG) and a hearing test, this is what I know. I have a 40% hearing loss in the higher tones in my left ear. I guess that could be from listening to too much RUSH (Geddy Lee) in my younger days. Do I need a hearing aid? No. Will I later down the road? Probably. I also have a weak inner ear on my right side which makes me dizzy. For this I will have some exercizes to do about 20 minutes each day. So I will learn to live with this. It could be worse!

I met a most awesome scrapbook designer Saturday. Her name is Rhonda and she designs for our LSS, A Scrap in Time. Her work is colorful, artistic and beautifully put together! I took her Boys book class Saturday and cannot tell you how pleased I am with the results. I still have a few finishing touches to put on the book and then I promise to post.

Afterward I drove home in torrential rain. A trip that normally takes 45 minutes took and hour and a half. I prayed the whole 47 miles I drove that the rain would stop before I reached our huge bridge. God answered prayer, it stopped about a half mile before the bridge. Thanks God!

Busy week ahead. Today I spoke to another scrapbooking class that was beginning for a 3 week stint at the HS. They were a very enthusiastic group, very attentive and curious. I see this hobby continuing to grow! I love being a part of it!
Tonite was a parent meeting for the senior trip to Grad Night at Universal Studios in Orlando. Forms to fill out, questions to answer. We board the bus at 5 am on Friday, arrive at US about 5 pm, and get back on the bus to come home at 2 am. It is usually the funnest 24 hours of the school year! Our kids have always had such a great time and have been well behaved. I hope it continues!

Also on tap is finalizing plans for the cruise. Hopefully soon we will be able to sign up for classes. I still need to figure out what I need to get to wear for dinner. Any Ideas?? I would love to see that passport show up in the mail soon! They cashed my check last week, so I would think it would be here NOW!

Terrible tragedy at Virginia Tech. Keep them in your prayers. Hug your kids extra tight, and if you can't hug them, call them, tell them you love them. School campus's should be safe for everyone. Why can political candidates raise millions in one quarter for election campaigns, but we can't provide our kids with a safe place to learn?
What is wrong with that picture?

:J

Backing up to the Weekend

Yes we are going to backtrack a bit. I have to tell you about the delicious, absolutely devinely wonderful strudel we had for snack all weekend. I thought I had gone to heaven.
It began with a coworker buying a new car. And I had to clarify some student paper work. These are related because Pat bought her car so the dealer had a strudel delivered to her as a thank you. I missed the strudel delivery, but because I was in Pat's office I saw the card from "Oma's Strudel Haus" laying on Pat's desk. Not having had a good strudel since Frederick's Bakery in Sheyboygan, WI closed I had to ask, "Where is Oma's Strudel Haus??" So Pat told me about her car, her strudel delivery and that she didn't know where Oma's was, but call the number and see. So I did.
What followed was a charming conversation with a little german Oma, who told me there was no "Strudel Haus" I could go to, but she did take orders and would deliver. O M G! Prayers ARE answered! Strudel was ordered and the next day I received this!

 

Yes, the sugar is as thick as it looks. It's an two inches deep with fresh apple filling and the rest is the flakiest, most devine, melt in your mouth pastry I have ever tasted! O M G! I can hardly wait to order the cherry or cream cheese filled.
As if studel wasn't enough of a culinary delight, a friend of my sister's invited us to dinner at this cozy little place.

 

Mossy Grove Schoolhouse is located on Hwy 167 just west of Hwy 321, in Troy, Alabama. It's the cutest place to just relax with friends, celebrate with family, or just enjoy good, southern, country cookin'! We had a great night. The food, seafood, steaks and chicken, accompanied by southern side dishes were awesome, and very reasonably priced. I can't wait to go back. It's the kind of place I want to take friends and family for a relaxing evening transporting us back 70 years to old one room school house and simplier times.
Anyone interested in dinner?

:J

Updates from Me

It was a busy weekend, we were gone to Alabama at my sister's for Easter. Friday night we ate at the cutest restaraunt. It was in an old, old 3 room school house. The school was actually closed in 1920. The food was delicious! I had the steak, but they also offer seafood & chicken. If you are ever in Troy, Alabama, check out the Mossy Grove Schoolhouse Restaraunt on Hwy 167. You won't be disappointed!
I made my plane reservations last night to get me to the cruise ship on time! WOOO HOOO! I can't wait! Only 24 more days!!!!
Well gotta run!

:J

What a Dizzy Broad Needs!

Yes I've had the test and what every one suspected is true. I am certified a dizzy broad.
My ENG test was today and of all things it made me dizzy! I followed the flashing lights with my eyes, endured the water torture (squirting cold, then warm water in my ears) and that did the trick! The Water Torture made me so dizzy that I am still basically dizzy. It took about an hour, now the neurologist reads it, send they report to my Dr., and next week, on Friday the 13th, I will know. Now we just have to wait for the brain scan to see if I really do have a brain.
On another note, as if I NEED a reason to revisit South Florida, I'm out of Chifles again!

 

To me, these are better than potato chips, tortilla chips, fritos, Doritos, pretzels, or any other chip. I don't know what it is about Plantain chips but they are yummy! The only place I can find these that I know of is South Florida. I discovered them in Key West. If you dip them in Cuban Garlic sauce, they are twice as good.
So I think the verdict is in, another trip to South Florida, more Chifles, maybe a good Cuban (sandwich that is) and a mojito. Then I can make it a few more months.
Til then,

:J

My Celebrity Look-alikes

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.



I think I am in good company. Kathy Bates & Meryl Streep. I'm not sure who the young orientals are. But they are young and fresh looking, happy. Thanks Jules for showing me this site!
Try your picture and post a link for me!

:J

Morning Everyone!

We finally got some much needed rain last night. A gentle, soaking rain that has hopefully cleansed the pollen from the air! Yesterday the pollen was like a fog everywhere, today the view is clear.
I didn't tell you about visiting the psychic while I was on spring break did I? My BFF, Karen arranged for a psychic visit for me and her sister, Diann while we were in Jax. The things she told me were amazing! With just my name and birthday, it was like she opened my head and read me to a T!
She told me I was born to travel. Traveling gives me balance in my life, and that I would be happiest if I found a job traveling. Hmmmm! She was right there! I love adventure, learning about new places & people. She also said that my husband (who she said is my soul mate) doesn't mind my traveling, and is okay staying at home and understands my need. She also said he is happiest when he knows he has made me happy! How cool is that!
She was also right on about all three of the boys & hubby. I could go into the details of what she said, but it's long. She did say they are all healthy, mentally strong & probably wouldn't marry until they were into their 30s and established in their careers. She said Kevin would be the first to marry.
She also said in my travels, I am always safe and protected by many angels, when I travel, even tho I am sometimes in dangerous places. She said my intuition aura was my strongest, so much so that I am psychic too. She said I need to start paying attention to these intuitions more than I do. I have always felt that, but have been afraid to say anything for fear of being laughed at.
She told me I have two spirits with me always, an older wise woman, who is not my grandmother, but like a grandmother, and an Indian, who passes her knowledge of the outdoors on to me.
The most amazing thing to me was when I asked about a friend of mine, She said that she saw a job change for my friend, that she was stagnant in the job she is in, and that she sees her doing something with land, changing jobs in the next six months. The amazing thing is, my friend just got her realtor's license!! WOW!
Well now that you have probably confirmed your thoughts that I am truly a nutcase, I need to get doing something around here. First will be the grocery store before it rains again!

:J

Flowers From My Yard

Unbelievable how much pollen and oak flowers have fallen the past few days! In addition to the leaves that fell last weekend now we have pollen & flowers! UCK!

But my yard flowers are blooming also, I hope you enjoy them all!

:J

3 Days, 3 More Pictures

Really we did do more than eat, but I'm not putting our sunbathing pics on my blog. Y'all just don't even need to be traumatized by that! We did do alot of eating, sunbathing, shopping and movie watching. Of course there was a few laughs to be shared, a little bit of harassment, and some talk about men. After all what are girlfriends for?

 

We couldn't bash Kinzo, our hibachi chef. He cooked up a fabulous dinner, complete with flaming volcano! He has been a chef for 30 years and has cooked for Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchett and Led Zepplin. How cool is that?
One of the fun things I did was the NE Florida Scrap Hop. You sign up and pay $5 for a passport, a bag and 15% discount at the 15 scrapstores that were participating. I only got to visit 5 stores. The event is week long. Your goal is to visit all 15 stores, get your passport stamped at all 15 and be entered in a drawing for $750 in gift certificates. That's one $50 certificate per store!!! At one store I saw a group of women who had rented a Hummer Limo for the evening to take them to all the stores! How fun!!!! My favorite store of the 5 was a place called Griffins in Ocala, FL. They were a locally owned Hobby Lobby type store. I only went in the Scrapbooking department. The girls there were so nice! I wish I were closer to take their classes as they looked awesome! While checking out the class samples I noticed part of their sign was blocked and told Linda, one of the hosts, that they may need to unblock it. She said I was the third person to mention it! She had done it on purpose to see what comments they would get. I said well I have to have a picture! So here's me! Do you see the booboo?

 

Griffin's was my bathroom break on my way to St. Pete/Tampa to crop with the Hilltop gals! It's always good to know where the clean bathrooms are when on a road trip (in the scrapshops!) I got a pick in the Hilltop store with Kip, Michelle, Dee and Linda. I bought the Cricut Messenger bag there to carry Lula in. She was so happy for her souvenier! Next will be the actual Cricut bag for my Cricut. These bags are just too cute, and smell so good!! Lots of storage room & pockets too!

 

I thought I had the perfect spring break til I talked to a coworker friend. He & his wife went to Vegas, toured the Hoover Dam & Grand Canyon, but the highlight of their trip was when she won $11,443.00 playing Quarter slots! WOW! But money isn't everything, and I had the best time! Just wish I could have come home $11,443.00 richer like they did!

:J

Oh!!! The Places I've Been!

It seems the older I get, the better my spring breaks get. Gone are the trips in the van with the baseball team, cross country jaunts to visit family, and days cleaning closets all week long. The past few years I've headed out in the spring with girlfriends, sometimes just one, but mostly with many! I do miss those baseball trips, I'll always miss family, and the closets will always need cleaning, but girlfriend roadtrips rejuvenate my soul.
My road trip this year did not disappoint. I drove to Jax to visit my bf, Karen. We had a houseful of Michiganders, Karen's sister, Diann, Diann's bf, Stacey and Karen's childhood bf, Pam. I was thrilled to be included in this bunch of women.
So what do women do when they get together? We laughed, we talked, we ate, we traveled, we stayed up late and slept in the next day. Most of all we shopped and traveled. We saw St. Augustine, FL, and Savannah, GA. We shopped in more stores than I can count. We ate Oriental, pizza, seafood and southern. We just indulged ourselves!
One of our "side trips" was to Savannah, GA. Our mission, to eat at the world famous "Lady & Sons" restaurant and catch a glimpse of Paula Deen or her gorgeous sons.
We started out at dawn for the two hour trip to Savannah. We wanted to be first in line at 9:30 to put our names on the reservation list. Once we arrived in Savannah, I hopped out of the car to stand in line in a misty rain to reserve our seats. I had a nice chat with an older lady from Texas who was there with 4 of her girlfriends on the same mission we were on! When it was my turn, I got our 11:00 reservation, instructions to stand across the street at 10:50 until they called our name. We still had about 2 hours to kill, and what do women do to kill time? SHOP! We hit several shops on the riverfront, watched some nice young men make taffy, and returned to "Lady & Sons" in time for our lunch appointment.

 

At 11:00, right on time, this young man came out into the street and asked, "Hey Y'all, are you ready to eat?" and after our very hungry crowd shouted "YES!", he rang the bell to begin lunch.

 

It wasn't long before we were seated and had the cutest waiter. We kept thinking he looked like someone, but couldn't quite figure out who. Suddenly he smiled and it hit me, Tim McGraw! While he wasn't the real Tim, Shane was a great waiter, flirting and entertaining us while giving excellent service. As you can see, the food was yumdelicious! Hidden in that pile of yums is a piece of Paula's Cheesy Meatloaf which is to die for! We chose the buffet, even tho everything on the menu sounded delish, we wanted it all!!!!
Here is our happy group, thanks to Shane's picture taking. From left to right, Me, Karen, Pam, Diane and Stacey.

 

The biggest thrill for Karen came as she waited in line at the gift shop. A young man scooted under the open counter and exclaimed "Hey Y'all!" He rubbed Karen's back as he said, "scuse me ma'am" to sneak behind her. It was none other than Bobby Deen!!!!! I was so sad to have missed that. I was in the other gift shop. I had even put on lipstick in hopes of seeing one of the boys. Paula had been in the restaruant the night before with a bunch of her girlfriends, so she was probably sleeping in.
It was a great day trip. I highly suggest if you are ever in the Savannah area, stop in for some yumdelish food and say hi to Shane for us.
That was such a great day! So fun!

A Theory

My husband and I have become American Idol fans. I knew it was coming when we became addicted to Dancing with the Stars last season. We had to have an excuse to watch Emmitt dance his way to the top. So now, to fill that void, we watch AI.
We are in shock each week when Sanjaya remains in the mix. HOW? The kid can't carry a tune in a bucket. Each week his hair screams to be cut. The boy just has too much hair.
Last night we developed a theory on what we think is how he remains on the show while singers with much more talent are heading home. Our theory is all those middle eastern call centers, you know the ones you get when you need someone who speaks english to explain why you will billed twice for that suishi on your charge card, yeah them. Well they have nothing to do at o dark thirty in India. So they get the show on satellite in the middle of the night and spend their work time calling in to keep him on the show. That's got to be it. It's the only way.

:J

What a Gorgeous Sunday!

Since the kids were home on Spring Break and it was such a gorgeous day, we decided to abandon the roast in the crockpot and head to Lulu's for a late lunch. Lulu's is a fabulous place owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister, Lulu. She started out in a hole in the wall place, but now has a fantastic restaurant on the intercoastal waterway. There people can drive their boats right up and dock for dinner.
Kevin & Erica were intrigued with the hook game she has to keep you entertained while waiting to be seated. After watching several people attempt, they decided to give it a try and Kevin hooked it on his 3rd try!
 
Our wait wasn't very long, we sat in the sun and enjoyed people watching. The kids decided to hold a best "stache" contest. I didn't get a pic, but the winner had a long handlebar mustache with curls that went almost to his chest. Here, Kevin, Patrick and Karen are judging.
 
Everytime I would get the camera out, Kevin told me to "quit acting like a tourist!" which egged me on more. Kevin was very uncooperative, but Erica said she wanted a pic even if he did look drunk! (he wasn't)
 
By then our food came, but sorry Kip & Jules, I didn't get any pics. We all had something different, and it was all very good. Kevin's cheeseburger in paradise crazy sista's way was huge! The girls had tuna wraps that were yummy and Patrick had blackened grouper. Rick had fish and shrimp, and I had fried shrimp.
Afterwards we checked out the gift shop. I was intrigued but a shirt with Peet's Philosophy on it. Peet was Jimmy & Lulu's mother. I leave you with her philosophy, I think it's a good one. If you are ever in the Orange Beach, AL area, stop by Lulu's, You won't be disappointed.

Peet's Philosophy
1. Read often, including the classics.
2. Accept everyone for who they are, not what they do.
3. Be well-traveled.
4. Learn to be a listener.
5. Live by the sea.
6. Listen to your spirit and find joy.
7. Education, like money, doesn't make you happy-but it sure helps.
8. Love and family are the best things we have.

have a wondermous day!

:J

Where Did the Week Go?

Wow! Can hardly believe the week is over and here I am at another weekend. My emotions have run full gamut this week. Let's see if I can remember.

Busy Between Jackie and I, working together, we boxed up two years of records and logged them all in.

Relief That job is done! No need for me to work spring break!

Panic To make a long story short, a student came in to ask about her certification. I went to pull her record, it wasn't there!!! I searched 6 years of files and almost opened those newly boxed up records to search them. I was worried! Records are only available to certain people and they MUST check them out. WELL, found out later that night that someone(who was allowed) had them to review. (she didn't check them out tho)

Stress A co-employee has been questioning my work at school. I don't do things the way that they have always been done. I make people accountable for the data they report. That and data reporting has changed the past few years. Anyway we had a meeting. I was stressed about it, but all for naught, my superiors backed me up.

GREAT RELIEF It was good to know that my superiors, the ones who matter, believe that I am doing a great job. Now that this person has been told what the procedures will be, he will lay off, and quit complaining.

Amazement Spring is here. Such an amazing time for me as everything comes back to life. Everyday a new flower starts to bloom, reminding me of God's hand in everything.

Anticipation Kevin & Erica coming home this weekend, my sister here the next, and then I leave for a spring break. Anticipation of good things to come, fun times, laughter and memories.

Thrilled! Tried on a pair of jeans while shopping yesterday. TWO sizes smaller than the last pair I bought! Not much farther, I can go back to shopping in the Ladies Dept!!!

Determination To keep up the good habits I am forming. Everything in moderation. Walking daily. Maybe find time to hit the gym and work on toning.

Gratitude every day, for all those little things we take for granted. I am so blessed.

:J