Another Day of Pictures

These are of our last night at the beach, the night Ben, Sarah and I walked forever and didn't go in until dark. None of us wanted to leave. We didn't talk much that night, just walked and enjoyed the beach. It was quite chilly that evening, but never chilly enough for Ben to stay out of the water. Here he is in his hoodie and jeans, but barefoot and in the water. I think he was meant to be a beach bum.

 

Along our walk we saw a momma sandpiper and six of her babies. We followed her up and down the beach. I got several pictures, but this one shows the whole brood, eating while the surf goes out.

 

This crab fooled us. We thought he was alive, until we got close. He wouldn't move. Either he is part possum, or he was just too cold to move! Ben wanted to bring him home, but we said NO! So I promised him a picture so he could show the guys in his Cub Scout Den.

 

Finally one of my favorite sunset shots. The brown pelicans were making their way home for the night too. Probably somewhere warm. The sky was turning wonderful shades of orange, magenta and pink. It is said that is why it's called Orange Beach. Because of how orange the sky gets there.

 

I guess that's it for the pictures. If you want to see more, email me and I'll send you the link to my web album. But I have to warn you, there's 300+ pictures! I love digital!
Our next vacation will be in July in the Wisconsin woods. Home, where our hearts are.

:J

Another Beach Day

Are you tired of pictures yet? Well only a few more and I promise not to bore you any more. Actually this is my favorite picture of my and hubby. Not the one I posted below. I like the one of me below, but I like this one of hubby better. Maybe I'll try my Photoshop finesse and merge the two. HaHa!

 

We all loved the hammock. I took several relaxing naps in it. I tried to get Anastasia, the youngest to nap one day, but she wouldn't have it. As soon as the book we were reading was done, she wanted out of the hammock. Silly girl, doesn't she know it's the best way to spend an afternoon. Some day she will wish she had that ole hammock to nap in. I know I do! Anyway here is the three of them, not napping.

 

Ben, in a reflective moment on the beach. He was probably trying to figure out a way to convince us to let him back in the water. This was the day we were all in sweatshirts, but Ben still swam. He wasn't in there long, but he swam! I took this while we were on a sunset walk. The last night we were there, Ben, Sarah and I walked long after sundown. We didn't want to leave that night, we wanted to cherish every last moment.

 

We saw many crabs at the beach and a thousand many more crab holes. On our last night's walk it was so cold, and we kept seeing very large blue crabs on the beach, dead. (which reminds me, there are still pictures in the camera, I took on of those crabs, we thought they were frozen) Anyway this crab wasn't dead or frozen. Aurora and I chased him a good 50 yards down the beach trying to get a picture of him. Those little buggers are fast! I finally wore him out and got a good picture. He's not really very big, about the size of a quarter.

 

Well I guess I will go down load some more pictures. Who knows what's there?

:J

Beach Days

There is nothing like the beach to make you forget there is a world going on without you. The beach makes you realize, reprioritize, and focus on what is most important. Especially when surrounded by family, you remember what it is all about!
We had another great time in our lives. More than the pictures will ever tell, the stories will be passed on, and this vacation is one we will all talk about for a long time. It was great having young kids around again. They enjoy the little things that as an adult I have lost focus of. They are so enthused by the smallest of things. I feel like a kid again after spending a week with the greats, as we call them.
The grands are no longer kids. They are adults now, parents to the greats. Adults with responsibilities, jobs, bills, and mortages. So much like us, they also enjoyed being reminded of how to be kids again.
As it is with all reunions, there was laughter and tears, hugs and kisses, good days and bad. But as it is whenever you are with family, there was unconditional love. We cooked too much, ate too much, laughed and lazed and played too much. But we were family, for all that it is and all that it will be, we are family.
These two are probably the closest thing I have to daughters right now. Rick's goddaughters, Sarah & Jenny. They are also his neices, but they hold a special place in his heart, as does he in theirs.

 

Ben, all boy and part fish, swam EVERY day. It was his goal from the minute we pulled up to the shore. He was going to swim every day! He swam even on the coldest day. Ben marched right down to the beach, shed his sweats, and jumped in. I give him the polar bear award for that! He thought the Blue Angels air show was most awesome, the USS Alabama really cool, and his own private dolphin show and an extra two days of private Blue Angels show the best! He brought back to us all those little boy memories, the amazement of finding "dead things" at the beach, thrills of finding the neatest shells and skeletons, and the ability to down a whole soda in a gulp. I'd forgotten those things about boys!
When Ben wasn't in the water, pretending he was a fish, he concentrated on his homework, reading, teasing his uncles, aunts and grandpa. He and Patrick bonded, I think because Patrick got to treat him like the little brother he never had. That or like the crazy uncle he's going to be. Ben, like all boys loves Nintendo. Here's a pic of all the kids playing PSP while the adults watched the Packer/Viking game.

 

Sarah captured this picture of me & hubby. I love this picture of us. It will go on my desk for sure!

 

Anastasia,the youngest was content to let everyone in the water. She played in the sand, digging, chattering to herself, happily entertaining herself while the other cousins acted like crazy people in the water. As much as Ben is all boy, she is all girl. So sweet, but like that little girl with the curl, she had her moments! But I love this pic of her the best.

 

So that's this installment. I love our family vacations, what it does to us, bringing us closer as a family. It makes you appreciate what truly is important. Not things, but people.

We're Home!

Has it been a week already?? I can't believe it's over! We had soo much fun and I'm missing everyone already!
I did minimal internet stuff even tho we had wireless at the beach. There was just too much else to do! I missed everyone and I promise to post pics tomorrow. Rick & I are just lounging around, watching college football and recovering!
Now let's see, when is my next vacation, where do I go next?

:J

Another Day at the Beach

First things first and the most important thing was FOOD! The girls headed to WM first thing this morning. We left the kids and the guys at home with cereal, milk, bananas and beer. Armed with a long list, in one hour we spent $467 on three carts full of food! There was only one thing we couldn't find, andouille sausage for the gumbo. But it's all good, we made a substitution. Honking the horn as we pulled up the driveway, the guys unloaded every bag and all that was left for the girls to do was to put it away!

 

It was a gorgeous day for the beach. A bit of a chill in the air, a nice breeze to keep the bugs away, and the kids were ready to hit the water! The great grands just couldn't keep out of it. We all thought it was cold, but they had sooooo much fun! Only little Anastasia was smart enough to stay up on the beach and play in the sand. The great grands were so good all day, no whining, no crying or arguing. They were actually glad to play together.

 

The Packer/Viking game did not get as heated as we all thought it would. Our lone Viking fan, Uncle Rick, took his harassment well, and still swears the game ended 34-33. Not 34-0! A shocking moment left Uncle Rick and my husband, Uncle Ricky, with their mouths hanging. What better day than a Packer Victory day!

 

Here are a few of the grands, playing lifeguard over the greats at the beach. It just seems like a short time ago that they were the little ones. Jenny & Sarah are the moms,on the left, and Kevin with his gf, Erica are on the right. Such a good day we had! I wonder if any cousin secrets were told? I just sat on the beach, watching everyone, taking pictures, letting them be themselves.

 

It was a long day with grocery shopping, football, beach time, more football, more football and more football! Family, food, fun at the beach, It's all good!
:J

Two Posts in One Evening!

My friend,Teri, posted this Thanksgiving tag and tagged me, so here it is!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Share:
1. A childhood Thanksgiving memory.
Having my brother's family over. We had a Kid's table, and my nephew getting in big trouble for showing us his mashed potatoes in his mouth.

2. A family Thanksgiving tradtion.
Real dressing, not that cornbread uck everyone down here in the south makes!
We also have to tell something we are thankful for during prayer.
3. Five things you're thankful for...besides family, friends and health. Give it some serious thought and be specific.
A week at the beach
A good job that I mostly love.
Scrapbooking
My Dog, Dakota
Being able to have fun, do pretty much anything I want, and to live in the USA!

I tag Kip, Susie and Zora!

:J

We've made it!!!

Finally! The air is fresh, the breeze is blowing and all the family is safely here. Loving life at the beach!
After a delicious lunch at Lambert's Cafe in Foley, home of the Throwed Rolls, we oset out for the short drive to the beach house. Sarah, Ben and I were the first to arrive and were just getting to the water when everyone else arrived. Ben was the first in the water. I'll post pictures tomorrow.
Just wanted to let everyone know we were here, and enjoying the beach!

:J

They're Sick!

I have a houseful of company coming, a wonderful week at the beach planned, and both my guys are sick. Yep, coughing, hacking, achy sick! I am pouring the meds down them. They have to get over this. We can't spread it! AND I don't want it!
Patrick started it this weekend. He was coughing all night Saturday night. He even stayed home Sunday and Monday. That in itself tells you he is sick! Rick started today when he got home. He said he was cold. Then he started coughing. I told him to take something right away. UGH! Bugs go away!
I think the family is bringing the cold weather with them. Tonite is down into the 40's and tomorrow night we have a freeze warning!!! Thank goodness Friday, Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be beautiful. Thank goodness! We have the Blue Angels air show one day. Not sure which we are going to Friday or Saturday. I probably won't go at all. I have seen them several times, and quite frankly, they scare me.
My MIL probably won't go either, so I'll beg out to keep her company.
Found my cinnamon roll recipe, so that's a relief. House is clean. Junk stashed. Yard looks pretty good for this time of year and the pool isn't green. So I guess we are ready for everyone. Now just where are we going to put them all on Friday night? We don't get the beachhouse til Saturday! Oh well, what fun.

:J

I'll Never be Ready!

I wonder is too late to call everyone and tell them not to come? I don't seem to make any headway, one step forward, two back.

Saturday, Felicia and I went shopping. I found some curtains and a rod that I thought would work perfectly in the living room. Rick had measured and told me to get a 120 inch rod. Makes sense since our window is 120 inches. So tonite, we decide, (okay, I decided, he wanted to watch football) that we need to put the curtains up. We unpacked the rod from it's vault packaging, put it together and he says, "It looks to short" So we hold it up to the window. It's too short. GRRRRR!

I don't want to keep these curtains up that I have now. They are the old country frilly, white with blue trim curtains. They looked good 13 years ago when I put them up. They looked good when we had a blue sofa. Now our sofa is a green plaid, our walls are yellowish gold, the curtains just don't go with anything.

So now I have unmatching curtains. But we do have a nice new queen size mattress in the spare bedroom. Ahhhhh! Now when he snores to load, I can retreat to sleep in peace! Oh I mean our company has a nice bed to sleep on.

I tried to find someone to take my place on the gates Friday night. No luck. Not many people know how to do the paperwork, and while it's not hard, it can be intimidating. Or they don't want to be responsible for that much money! Why not? There's a police officer with you the whole time. So, I'll make do. I'm also announcing the seniors and their parents at halftime. That is if I can get up that narrow stairway that goes up to the pressbox. Did I mention I am afraid of heights? Actually getting up there won't be as bad as coming down. It should be a fun night.

I just want the weekend to get here. Sometimes the anticipation is the worse part about it.

:J

Up Early and Freezing!

Since it's fall back and Sunday morning, you would think I could sleep in. Not so. I was awake extra early, and compound that with setting the clocks back, I am really up early. My nose was a little chilly this am, we went to bed with the windows open. The Thermometer says it's 44 degrees!
I'm up now, coffee brewing and I'm in sweats. I just hate shutting windows, I love fresh air!
Today we are going to hang new curtains in the living room. The boys gagged because I bought mossy green curtains. The walls are "Carribean Sunset" which is a goldish color. But they think I am going for the "green & gold" look" of the Green Bay Packers. Not my intention at all, but so what if it was? At least it's not the teal & orange of the Miami Dolphins!
Here in a bit, I'm going to make the MM sandwiches that I talked about yesterday. If you have never been to Pioneer Woman's site, you need to check her out. Fascinating life on the range, and yummy recipes!
We had a nice day with Dan & Felicia. Dan & Rick got tarps put on the shed roof. Dan did a few more odds and ends for me. Felicia and I went shopping. We bought curtains & lampshades. The lampshades are for a pair of cute blue bow lamps I found at a yard sale for $3. I'm putting them in the spare bedroom. Very vintage lamps, probably late 50's, early 60's. I'll post a pic of them later.
Speaking of pictures, no the man fishing is not my husband, or Brett Farve. He's just a random man who was fishing at a park down in St. Pete. I took that this past summer when I was there for a conference. One evening my travel mate, Becky and I went to this park that my friend Kip had shown me. Ft. Something I think. Anyway, we walked the beach for most of the evening and he was out fishing. I love the color of the sky, don't you?
It's time for me to get this show on the road. This is my last day to get things in order before the inlaws arrive on Thursday. Or Wednesday, or who knows when. I know my In laws are leaving to drive down on Monday night, early Tuesday Morning. I will just be glad when everyone is here safe and sound.
Coffee anyone?
:J

Lazy Saturday

Yep, I'm feeling lazy today. Very lazy, I just want to curl up with a good book and do nothing! But I can't do that! I've goofed all morning so now it's get busy time.

I off to WM & Mike's in a bit. I'm cooking for the coaches again tomorrow, and I'm trying out PW's MM sandwiches
on them. I think they will like them. Also going to make my famous potato salad. My friend Jo is going to make homemade Banana pudding to go with. Anyway, I need to pick up a few ingredients.

Dan & Felicia are on their way over. Dan's doing some odd jobs for me, and Felicia is going to tag along shopping. I want to find some new curtains for the living room, and a rug for my bedroom. We should have fun.

That is the extent of my fun weekend. I plan to scrap tomorrow, Rick will be gone most of the day. I want to work on a few projects. I've joined a challenge blog, Outlaw Paper Artists and Have an idea on what I want to do for that. I have a journal I need to make for a friend, he's paying me to make it for his wife. :)
I have a CJ to finish, Rolo cards to make, and another project on my desk. I guess I'd better get movin'

Make the most of what ya got, and the least of what you've not!

:J

Is it November Already?

My oh my, how time flies!
November 1st is my dear hubby's birthday, so let's start off with a Happy Birthday to him. He's older than me, but not as old as the much, much older sister. But he looks older. His JV boys won their game, and part of his Varsity D-line soaked him after the game. And he accused me of putting them up to it! Not me! I just told them it was his birthday! Our JV finished the season 6 wins and 1 loss. WOOHOOO!
Friday night is Homecoming. I hope Varsity can win.

November will be busy for us. We have all the inlaw relatives coming to visit next week, for a week. Then Thanksgiving will be here before we know it. WOW!
So much to do, so little time!

:J

Getting Ready

In one week my house will be full to the max with relatives. One week. I only have one week to get ready. One week to dust everything, every corner, every nook and crannie.
Normally I wouldn't panic, normally we go straight to the beach house. But this time everyone is coming in a bit early. Some of them want to go to the Blue Angels air show, and everyone wants to go watch Rick coach.
So this time I have to clean, clean really good. I know, my MIL tells me she isn't coming to see my house, she's coming to see us. I know she said we will take care of it when she gets here, but I still have to drive myself nuts cleaning.
So today while I was home on bed rest, I slept in, got up and cleaned out the pantry. After all, we don't want food leftover from the last beach house expedition in the pantry. So I cleaned the pantry, three bags full. Not just food, but tupperware, junk and more junk. After that I took a nap. I napped for 2 hours. Then at noon I got up and cleaned the fridge, inside and outside. I cleaned the cupboards, just wiped them down good. I also cleaned out my hutch. Then I napped again. After supper I cleaned some more. No cleaning tomorrow, I think I'm going back to work, and there's football tomorrow night.
So I will clean what I can and they can talk about the rest. I got to give them something to talk about don't I?
:J
btw, no ear infections, a little sinus stuff, we changed my medicine and I feel much better, just sleepy!

I'm up and ready to go to the Doctor. I've had all of this vertigo I can handle. Even tho it's not as bad as I have had it before as far as spinning goes, It's just enough to make me grouchy and irritated. I tried to get into the ENT but he can't see me until Monday, so I called my regular Doc. I get to see him at 8:45.
Yesterday I did something I've never done before. I feel asleep at work, while working on the computer. I knew I was getting sleepy, it was so warm in my office. Next thing I knew I was waking up and had no idea what I was doing. I finally put my head down on my desk to rest a few minutes. But that didn't help, so I went home. I slept a couple of hours. It felt so good but I am so drowsy still.
Good thing I had made chili for dinner. I left it cook again all day in the crockpot. OMG! It was so good. Don't ask me about a recipe, I did it all by a "little of this, a little of that." Rick & I each ate 3 bowls of it. Patrick even said it was good and he doesn't like chili all that much.
Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that the Packers would be 6-1? Okay, who besides me? LOL! It was good to see them win again. I'll admit, they did have me worried. Our niece and her son were at the game in Denver. I'm glad they got to see the Pack win. I think it was Ben's first Packer game. He'll be here in 8 days, I can't wait to hear all about it.
Well I better get moving. I hope all is well where you are.

:J

And Now the Weekend is Over!

But it was a good weekend! The fair was packed yesterday, today was tear down. In between I squeezed in a trip to WM, cooked chili, finished to scrap projects that I've had for months, and did 4 loads of laundry. I also took that all important nap!

I haven't had much hubby time. I was at the fair, he was home, I was home, he was at football meetings. btw, they reviewed the films of the game from Friday night. They are building a case to take to the FHSAA. A complaint was filed against our coaches by either a ref or another coach for being "unruly" on the sidelines. Funny there was never a flag thrown for that infraction. That would be the first step!
They are also going to show the spearing of our QB twice, very late hits 4 times, and finally, the elbow to the helmet of the young man who had to be life flighted. Playing like that is taught, it's a learned habit. I guess that doesn't say alot about their coaches. Andrew is doing better, he is home, sleeping alot with a heck of a headache, but he will be fine. He's only a sophomore, but a starter. He won't play this week, (homecoming) and probably not next week, which is our last game.

Tomorrow is another day, and it's a good day for several reasons. Green Bay Packer football on Monday night for one! Our niece Sarah, and her son, Ben, will be at the game in Denver. She will be the blonde trying to get on the field to Lambeau Leap Brett. She just doesn't listen when I tell her she is too young for him and that I had him first.
Tomorrow is the day we go into the single digit count for the beach house. I can't put into words how badly we all need this. It's the place where we will forget all the stresses and worries, and remember what's really important. US, our kids, our family and being all we are together.

It will be early mornings on the deck, with coffee, watching the dolphins with my BIL's, Moe & Bill. Kinda the "outlaw" bonding time. It will be hours on the beach with the kids, the grown ones & the babies. We'll walk and shell shop. Shell shopping satisfies the need to shop, get things and take them home to enjoy. We pile them on the deck and on the last day pick the best ones to take home. The rest we take back to the beach. We'll cook and eat too much, stay up to late and hug, and kiss, and laugh and cry. We will be family. It can't get here soon enough.

But tomorrow is work, another day, another dime, somedays it isn't worth it.

:J

It is the WEEKEND!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! of course that isn't as big an Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! as I will have next weekend, and definitely not as big an Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! as the following weekend. Those are relaxation sigh Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhs, not screaming Ahhhhhhhhhhs!
Today is the last day of the fair. It looks to be a gorgeous day for it too after all the rainy mess we have had most of the last ten days. In some ways I have felt every last bit of those ten days, and in others it's hard to believe the 10 days have already passed. Kelly Pickler performs tonite at the fair. While I didn't care for her at AI, I've grown to like her after seeing her with Brad Paisley's concert.My Ahhhhhhs will be big next weekend just because I have nothing, nothing on the agenda. Even bigger Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhs the following weekend because we will be at the beach house the following weekend for a week. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I found a ride to the game last night. Rick told me I couldn't drive that far alone because of the vertigo stuff I've been suffering with this week. Actually I think it's because he was afraid I'd stop at the LSS that has good bathrooms and is about half way in between here and the game. We lost again, 28 consecutive games now. I don't like to blame the refs, but when I see fouls, you know they are blatant. They weren't being called either. We had one kid who got late hit, no call, and they ended up lifeflighting him for head injuries. It's just wrong. If we don't get some decent refs in this area more kids will suffer like this.

Anyway, off to the fair! I hope all my fellow scrappers have fun at the online crops today. I'll miss them.

:Jayne

One More Day

My day sucked today, without going into huge details, because it makes me cry, my day sucked. I shouldn't take everything so personal, it is what it is. But today it was BS.
I have great friends, awesome family, and many blessings in my life. Some days just suck. When you don't want to talk about it, because it makes you cry, everyone wants to talk about it. It is what it is and tomorrow is another day.
In the midst of everything, in an email at work, I got this email with lots of interesting answers when I sent it out to my friends. Sooooo, this is my challenge today. Play the game. Post your answers, and post it on your blog, see what everyone says about you in a word.
Tomorrow is another day.
:J

The Game is on!!! And you're it!!

Describe ME in one word.... just one single word. Send it to me and to me
only.

Then send this message to all your friends and see how many strange &
interesting things they say about you. This is [supposed to be] really fun
- you decide.


Here's how to Play:

1. Hit the reply key and send me my one word.

2. Then return to this message, and forward it to your friends (including
me) and see what people say about you when limited to one word!!!

The Game is On!!!!!

Are You Cold Enough?

I sure am. It was 47 this am when I got in the car to go to work. Big difference from the 74 it was yesterday. I hope my South Florida friends are cooling off a bit more too.
Cooler weather means sweaters, so I wore a new one today and got lots of compliments. It's a grey shawl neck sweater. Soooo comfy! Comfy is what I needed today. My vertigo is in it's second day. It comes and goes, but if I stay pretty still, I feel okay. I was able to sit at my desk most of the day and do work. The big P kept me pretty busy with some reports and numbers he needed.
This afternoon he had me working on redoing a report that the district messed up, but I get to fix. It's pretty involved, and involves lots of numbers. I asked him why they couldn't just send us the reports from last year that were messed up, so I could make corrections and send it back. No, that would be to simple, as he thought of the same thing. No we have to redo, recount, look up SS#s, room footage etc etc. All to change three numbers for each teacher. I guess I could look at it as job security, keeps me busy, as long as they want to do it the hard way. GEEZ.
I also told him about my job offer last night. He said, "so you will be polishing up the old resume?" I said no, I already have a job if I want it. I would be polishing up the other R word, resignation. LOL! If only I could. But I do love my job!
Tonite hubby and I had a nice evening out since I didn't have to go to the fair. We had our birthday, anniversary, birthday dinner at Macaroni Grill. It was yummo! Nice to relax over dinner, quiet in the restaurant, great conversation. Just a great date.
Tomorrow is back to the fair, but I think he is coming out to the fair too. The coaches have told the boys no fair tomorrow night. So the coaches are going on patrol! They will hang out for awhile to make sure everyone is not out riding rides when they should be home resting for the game. I wonder if any will get caught?
Well the weather is on. I need to see if tomorrow is sweater weather or tank top weather. Gotta love Florida in the fall!

:J

Another day at the fair!

Ah! Fair weather is here! Here in NW FL, when the fair gets here, we know cooler weather isn't far behind. It was 52 degrees when I got in the car to come home tonite. WOOOHOOO! Of course it was 75 this am when I went to work, in my polo shirt, with no jacket. So I froze tonite!
Lots of people at the fair. LOTS! Lots of interest in classes, crops and next years fair. WOOOHOOO! It is so exciting to talk with others who love our habit. I did get to visit the cows tonite too. I love to see the cows at the fair.
Best part of tonite, one of the LSS owners was there to help out for a few hours. She asked me to seriously consider teaching for them! WOOOHOOOOO!
So other than a little vertigo all day, my day was awesome!

:J

Small, Small World

I had a night off from the fair tonite. It has been a nice break. Rick and I went to Michaels and then to Sam's. Afterwards we just chilled on the sofa and watched football.

I had a great night thanks to two sisters, Mary and Linda. They run a crop business here locally. Working the fair gives them an opportunity to get the word out about a their crops. Mary was thrilled with her second place ribbon for this picture of Linda's granddaughter.


It's funny how small a world it is. The Scrappy Sister's as they are called, are originally from Wisconsin. But at one time when Linda the older one was little, they lived in Dubuque Iowa. Dubuque is near where I grew up, the closest "big City".
Their mom went to Dubuque High, class of 40. Guess what? so did my mom. It was fun talking to them about Dubuque, and the possiblity of our moms actually knowing each other. I know my mom had a friend named Joan. Which was their mom's name. Wouldn't it just be a hoot if they were friends!
What a great couple of sisters they are. Linda is the much much older sister, by 13 years! Isn't that a hoot! We had so much in common it was eerie. I can't wait for my much much older sister to meet them. They are going to the same local beach crop as we are in January. I'm looking forward to it now!
Well, my relaxing evening has come to an end. I must go do dishes before I go to bed.
Have a wondermous day!
:J

Another Day at the Fair!

I’m actually typing this from the fair, onto word, so when I get home all I have to do is upload it. I am even going to download my pictures off my camera while I’m here. It rained earlier this evening and since then people have been few and far between. First off, here is my brealundinner. You can see why it's all I ate. It's HUGE!

 

The Art Study Club is across from us and what a great group of people they are!
Apparently some one has to die for you to be able to join. They were started after a group of them took a class together. When the class was over, they still wanted to meet so they formed the Art Study Club 40+ years ago.
They have been lots of fun this weekend. I’ve learned a bit about art composition that I didn’t know. They also taught me a bit about the “fair”. One of their rules is that if you enter a piece for judging, you have to volunteer a two hour shift. I like that rule!

We’ve had a lot of interest in scrapbooking. Quite a few have given me their emails so I can let them know about this next year. A few are not even aware of the scrapbooking store nearby. They loved our Circle Journal we did last year. Amazed at the concept, the work, and the trust we all had in each other.

I loved watching the people. The kids were the cutest. It’s interesting to watch families interact. Of course I can do that now that mine are grown. Some of the things I see, I wouldn’t have enjoyed as a parent. But now I know it’s just a stage, not to get so upset like I used to!

Some of the most touching moments came from the billboard they have posted on our front wall. It is pictures of the four men from our area who have given their all for our freedom. On the billboard are lots of space to sign memoriam, thanks, and messages.

 

 

At first I thought it would never fill up, but it has in the past two days. Teens sign it, old class mates sign, friends & strangers, sign. A few of the most touching are the older men who sign. The ones who write the most grateful thanks are those who truly know the sacrifice these young men have made.

 

The most touching moment that moved me to tears was when I realized that the people signing the space were the family of the young man killed barely a month ago. His young teenage brother wrote “A son, a brother, a soldier, a hero” as his mother held her hand on the picture of the young man. I couldn’t even take a picture, I was so shook up. The father stood in the back ground. I wonder if they knew the picture would be here. Did the make a trip to the fair just to see it? Or were they out for a day trying to find some thing nice to do to comfort their still grieving hearts. Oh but for the grace of God go I.

:J

 

GOOD MORNING!
I just a have a moment before I'm off to the fair again, but I wanted to share with you what the rain brought me!
My angel trumpet is blooming and has a total of 10 blooms! That's the most it's ever had! I've only had the plant 3 years. Each year it gets a bit taller and has a few more blooms.
Short post, so much to do before I head to the fair!

:J

First of all we overslept. We both ran out of here at 7:30 a.m.

It was raining but not really heavy. My office has windows on the south and west, so I can see most of the weather movement. About 8 a.m. it got pretty black and nasty looking. I was watching the weather and noticed the "funny looking" clouds and thought to myself, that looks like a funnel cloud with no funnel. If you saw it on TV, it never got the defined funnel, it was wide.

Anyway about that time our HS principal came into the main office and announced for everyone to move to the interior. Since I am on the "emergency team" I stayed up front for direction. It was still just really black and rainy outside.

I have to say here, that it is unbelievable to me the people who will get out in bad weather or send faxes, or call the school to get their children released to drive home alone in bad weather. It happens everytime we have a storm.

Anyway, we stayed in lockdown and heard about the tornado. It hit downtown. About a half mile from where my husband works and my friend Chris works right where it hit.

Thankfully no one was hurt. Cars were overturned at Target. Again no one hurt.

It was a scary, hectic day. Once we came off of weather alert, we fed 1300 kids in 55 minutes. It was one mass line constantly moving. They ate in the gym and lunchroom.

Our kids were so awesome, so well behaved, so understanding. We were blessed.

Our staff is awesome too. Everyone worked together. HS & Adult programs. I did everything from checkout to radio watch, to checking on our diabetic kids, to trash duty in the lunch room. Several of us just kept moving to where we were needed.

We've had a massive amount of rain, which we need. Everyone got home safe and sound. My son who lives in Ft. Walton came through okay too. Everything was cancelled tonite including the opening of the fair. Which I was glad of as I don't think I could do the fair tonite after today. We have more rain in store for tonite and tomorrow. We'll see what happens tomorrow. What a day! So glad it wasn't worse.

:J

It's Here!

Yesterday when I called the LSS to remind Sandra about judging at the fair, she told me, "Your ATG is here!" hmmmmm
I didn't order that did I? I knew my much older sister, Susie, had ordered one. So I thought hmmmmm, maybe it was a surprise. But she had told me she didn't get it. She thought my darling husband was getting it for me. So I called him. No he didn't order it. Hmmmmm. Okay! OMEN! Message from beyond! So anyway, since I was meant to have it, Sandra brought it to me last night when she came to judge.

Isn't it pretty? Just wait til I fix it up. Soon it will match my new Packer tool bag! But for right now I am loving it!
Sandra also brought me the new paper ribbon to match the new papers from Daisy Bucket. WOW! I love the feel of these new paper ribbons! They feel like the parchment papers Rick brought back from Egypt. You can curl them, tear them in half lengthwise, ink them, stamp them. Who knows what you can do with them. I can hardly wait to play! The scrappaper itself feels like wallpaper and it's double sided! I was the first one to get these papers from the store!

That in itself made my day complete. I just love these birthdays that go on for a week. I still haven't gotten my box from much older sister, Susie. And I have yet to hear from the middle child, the angel, as his brothers call him. He is so bad with dates. I don't know where he gets that!
I'm off, have a wondermous day!

:J

RAIN!

It's that kind of day, the rain is gently falling on the roof, trying to lure me back to sleep. The radio says that we'll have the rain most of the morning. I can't go back to bed, instead I have to be in a meeting all morning. As the rain tries to gently lure me to sleep.
My new blog head is courtesy of my oldest and youngest son, and the oldest's fiancee. Their hand made card greeted me on my scrap table. I'm sure Felicia was the artist.
It's good advice, "Bloom where you are planted". I've told the boys this all their lives, just in different words. "Deal with it" "Make the best of it" "Life isn't fair", okay maybe the last one isn't the same. But you get the drift.
Life is a choice. You can make the best of any situation, or you can choose to curl up and wilt away. I try to choose to make the best of any situation. My life seems better that way.
Bloom today.

:J

Happy Birthday to ME!

Still a few years off from 50, Some days I am feeling my age or older. My father-in-law asked me how I could feel older, since I've never been older to know what it feels like. I guess he has a point. I told him as long as he is around setting the pace, I'll never know old. He goes and goes and goes.
So here is the first birthday picture I could find. I was two.

 

And then my cuter stage. I thought I was a princess in this dress. It had black velvet bodice and white chiffon skirt, with a red flower on the belt.

 

Here's a more normal picture of me. By then I had learned about sweats and pants. No more dresses for me! But still a princess with my ballerina cake!

 

As long as birthday's keep coming, I'm a happy person. Not for the presents, because I'm spoiled everyday. But because as long as I have birthdays, I'm keeping pace. It sure beats the alternative!

:J

So it's Saturday!
Some fantastic things going on this day.

Sleeping with the windows open, airing out the house all day with breezes blowing. Does this mean summer is over?? It was chilly this morning. Sweatshirt chilly. Omy gosh let me get dressed quick chilly! I am loving it!!!

Playing silly with my son, darts of all things in his room. WE were supposed to be cleaning. But we played darts instead. He teased me about how bad I was (out of practice) until I hit the bulls eye and knocked the board off the wall. Hubby walked in just then as we were laughing so hard, he didn't know what to think.

My son has inherited the family disease. He is a pack rat. He admits it. "But what if I need it?" he whined. I heard that often. Old Nintendo accessories, GI Joe bodies, Legos, Legos, Legos. His "stash" never ends. I've got to break the cycle. Learn to buy new, do without, or just become depressed because you just threw that away last week and now you "need" it. I've got to break the cycle. Packratism is inherited from his mother's side, not to be confused with Packerfanism which is contagious on his father's side.

We were tempted, but didn't, read his brother's love notes from high school. Yes, seven years out of high school, they are still there, unread by us. Well, me at least, Patrick may have sneaked a peak or two sometime. We thought of disposing them, but didn't. We'll discretly (I empasized to Patrick what discretly meant) tell Kevin they are still here. He can take care of it when he's here sometime. I have visions of Kevin walking in the door with his girlfriend, not the one of the letters, and Patrick asking,in his oh so suttle way, why Kevin is still hoarding old love letters.

It was a few brief hours in the afternoon, but I enjoyed every minute. Maybe the kid doesn't despise me like I think he does. Maybe he really is listening and absorbing all the unsolicited advice I dispense at whim. Maybe he will be normal after all. Maybe.

:J

My friend, Jules tagged me and here is how this works.
The rules are as follows:
1) Link to the "tagger" & post the rules.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself- random / weird facts.
3) Tag 7 people & link to them.
4) Leave comments on their blogs, so they know they've been tagged.

So, if I tag you.....follow those rules!!!!!

1. http://postingfromparadise.blogspot.com/

1. Mushy bread type food makes my tongue hurt!

2. I have to drink milk when I eat spaghetti.

3. I won't wash my face with a washrag that's been used before. I'll use my hands instead!

4. Little dogs scare me.

5. I don't like roller coasters.

6. I love popcorn with M&Ms in it.

7. I married my exhusband's boss!

I tag Shar, Kath, Cindy, Di, Darla, Robin and Wendy! See their tags at right!

:J

Calgon, Please Take Me Away!

I need a long soak in a big tub. I need to destress and undepress. I need Calgon to take me away!

The past two weeks have been majorly busy, stressful, and I'm a bit depressed. I'm depressed because all my Hilltop friends are having major fun and I'm not there. This weekend is Creepover and I can't go. Last years Creepover was the first time I cropped with the girls. What fun I have had in the past year!

Lately I feel like all I do on here is complain. I have been so stressed at work. Major reports due at work. Trying to make do with data that IMHO is lacking. Why? Because so few see the importance of the data. I'm left to figure out what people mean when they submit things to me. Yes I could go back and ask, but that is a one time fix. Then I spend all my time running back and forth getting the data I need. UGH!

I am looking forward to one month from today. Can you say "Beach House"? For one week we will be at the beach with all the family. How fun. How relaxing. Can't it get here sooner?

Maybe I need a mental health day. Yeah, that's it. Hmmmm cough, cough, I feel something coming on. Gee I hope it doesn't hit me hard on Friday.

:J

Monday Musings

What is it about Mondays? I didn't want to get moving and I don't want to go to work. I always want one more day. Just one more. Tuesdays are always better. I need some down time after the weekend.

Great Friday night football game. We were actually in this one. The boys went to the locker room at halftime, tied 14-14. Even the final score was not a bad one, 28-21. It was the opposing team's Homecoming, and shouldn't the home team always win their homecoming game?

Saturday was a putzing day. We slept in til nine and I stayed in my jammies til noon. Late in the afternoon, I ran over to a local crop at one of the churches. It looked like everyone was having fun, of course not as much fun as the Hilltop girls. I dropped off some Fair books and recruited some entries and volunteers. I'll probably join them the next go round.

Saturday evening I worked on some more cards. Finishing up for MIL, same on Sunday, and everything is ready to go in the mail. I totally forgot until this morning that today is Columbus day and there is no mail. So I guess I will send them tomorrow!

Today I'm going in early, to get off early. We have a JV football game. Then we have no games until late next week. Rick was home all weekend this weekend as there were not Coaches' meetings. It was nice having him around.

I finished Tony Dungy's book Quiet Strength, last night. Pretty good read. I have always liked his style of coaching. I am glad to see his success in Indy. I wish he could have acheived it in Tampa tho.

That's my weekend in a nutshell. Such a boring life I lead. Now it's time to go to work and listen to all the Bears fans rant and rave about last night's game. Which is fine. They just can't blame Favre for this loss. I say it was the refs!

:J

Happy Birthday Kevin!

25 years ago today I spent all day in labor. Minor labor, but still, labor. I never found out the sex of my kids ahead of time. To me it's like knowing what you are getting for Christmas, and that takes away all the magic. So as I sat there in labor all day, I was kinda hoping it was a girl. Praying for a healthy baby, but still maybe a girl.
Not that it really mattered. In my heart I wanted 9 boys then a girl, but I knew that wasn't happening. So healthy baby was my prayer.
My mom was due in that evening. My due day was still a week off, so she was coming so we could spend some time together with my oldest, Daniel, before he had to share me with someone else. My husband at the time was overseas dealing with Iran. I was a bit scared, but with my mom, and my best friend, Lynn at my side, I knew it would be okay.
All went well until about the time it was to go get my mom. My contractions on the way to the bus station were 12 minutes apart. The bus station was 18 miles from the hospital. Lynn, who was driving, and I and 3 little boys were on our way to get my mom. I didn't tell Lynn how close the contractions were, but I think she knew. They were still mild, but constant.
Too make a long story short, we went from the bus station, dropped the kids off at a sitter's, to the hospital. We got to the hospital about 7 and Kevin was born a little before midnite. It was an easy labor and delivery, and my mom thought she got her girl, as the first time she saw him they had him all wrapped in pink. I later learned that they do that as babies look better in pink.
So now my baby is 25 years old. He's been a good kid, and is now a good man. He has a gentle soul and is a champion for the underdog. Kind and loving, good with people, understanding and faithful, that's my Kevin. Here'a a few pics of his adorable self.
This is one of a set of 5 pictures I took of him eating dandelions. This is the final one where he finally puts it in his mouth. I guess it wasn't too tasty!

 

Everyboy should ride a pony at least once. We had taken the kids to a deer park in Michigan, and they had pony rides. He loved it!

 

Middle school. He was big man on campus, all the girls loved him and he them. He loved baseball more and played every minute he could. That is when he wasn't driving me nuts creating havoc with his two siblings!

 

He and Erica last year at his birthday. He tells me "she's the one". I'm happy for him, he's a good guy and she's just right for him. No wedding date set, but she's the keeper.

 

It won't be long and he will probably look back on his child's 25th birthday. I know he'll be a good dad someday. He's a good man. Well worth every minute of labor, every second of prayer and worry, every grey hair he's given me. Happy Birthday Kevin!
love ya,
Mom

TGIF & Tidbits

In some ways this week has flown by and in others, it's like WOW is this week going to ever end? Really I've led a boring life this week, but here are my observations since I last blogged.

An OMG Moment! - I was driving down one of the backroads near school where a man raises horses. He was galloping one of them down the side of the road when a man coming out of the cross street, who apparently knew him, honked his horn. This spooked his horse, the horse reared up, tossed the man, throwing him onto the road.
The horse crossed traffic in front of us. Both man & horse were okay, but it scrared me for both of them. Idiot man who honked, drove away without even checking on them. I say they knew each other because he was waving and acting like he knew him.

Fall is coming moment - Cool mornings a few days this week reminded me that fall will soon be here. It will be nice to be able to walk in the afternoons again. We won't see the turn of leaves, but there are other signs of fall. The bazaars, the fair (always a cold night then) muscadine & scuppernong grapes, collards, football, and the end of hurricane season.

Who's counting? I am! 34 days til the beachhouse. I can hardly wait, as family rolls in from all parts of the country. The cousins gather for giggles in the night, and a few of us early birds gather on the deck for dolphin watching. 1 week of no school, no work and no worries. Ah Bliss! Not to mention a few margaritas and mojitos to melt away the stress. Or as I say it on a bad day, drinking often and heavily!

Encouraging - again someone tells me I am "wasting my talents without a degree." "YOU need to get that degree." But look at it this way, my perspective, money isn't everything, I do have a job I love, a job that allows me to do what I love to do off the job, a job that I do well, a job with just enough responsiblity, just enough money and yes, just enough stress. I know there are other things I could do, but I like where I am right now in my life as a whole. I know I am smart and talented, I don't need paper to tell me that.

Sleepless - I don't know why but I've been sleepless this week. My body is in this wake up at 2 a.m. mode. I'm up for a few hours, then right back to sleep. Get up go to work and I'm fine. Could be all that sleeping I did last weekend, my body is caught up. Who knows, but I'm sleepless.

Then there's that rollercoaster - life goes on. Putting out one fire after another, and I can't seem to get anyone else to take ahold of the hose. Problems here, problems there, and I come up with solutions. Some days you're the bug and some days you're the windsheild. Life goes on.

All in all life is good, that's what makes it all worth while, payment more than monetary.
Trust the process
:J

Cards!

Just some cards I made for the MIL's bazaar. I get to put it all in the mail this week. Then I'm free to scrap for me! I love making cards. FUN!
Thanks for looking, :J

 

 

 

Not Much of a Day

It was a gorgeous morning this morning. Cool weather, nil humidity, nice sunny breezes. I wanted to stay home. But I didn't I went to work. The longer I was there, my head started hurting. By lunchtime the lights were too bright. At 1 o'clock I told the Big P I was going home.
So I did, and straight to bed. Slept til 5:30. That's a long time for me. I'm a power napper. I'm thinking the it must be the pollen bothering me. We'll see how I feel in the am.
Oldest son and his fiancee made it back to Florida safe and sound. They came in about Midnite thirty on Saturday night. Sunday they got their apartment so youngest son helped them unload the van. I can wait to go see their apartment, it's on the water, should be beautiful!
I'm off to bed, Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

:Jayne

I've got it all in the BAG!

I was actually shopping for a birthday present for my son, but found this for me instead!

 

If you didn't know, I'm a huge Packers fan. Everyone has an AMM tote, and they are totally cool also. But as a Packer fan, this is the tote for me! It's actually bigger than my AMM tote, I can even fit my small AMM tote inside it.

 

Pockets line the entire edges of the inside. I didn't even fill them all. I also have room in the middle to stuff all my other stuff that doesn't need pockets. One side has pockets on the outside and pouches on the other. Each end has two pockets also. I've stuffed all my stamp bars in three of the pockets, one pocket has a bunch of little scrappin' doodads in it. One has Glue dots in it, one pocket is still empty.

 

The bag still fits on my little rotating stand, so I'm really loving it. Not really sure what I will do with my old AMM tote, but my new Packer tote is a keeper!

:J

Edited later: I got this cool bag at www.packerproshop.com unless you are a Green Bay Packer fan, you probably don't want it. But I bet if you search Lowe's, Home Depot or Menards, whatever your local homestore is, you can find one! It just won't be as pretty! LOL!

It's the Weekend!!!

I'm not even going to go into the details about the game last night. We lost. Nuff about that.
It was good to see a few of our alumni there. Alumni players, that is. They sat with me most of the game and I caught up on their lives and made sure that they could still lie to me about how well they are behaving, doing their bible study and still loving their mommas. I love those boys and miss them being around.
They were a part of our first two classes at school. Back when we knew every kid and most of their mommas. They even updated me on what my son has been up to that he doesn't tell me. Ya know, he's behaving too, doing his bible study and of course still loves his momma. Two of them live on their own, two still live at home. One has a baby and is a single father. If I had to pick one to be a single father, it would be him. So mature, responsible, polite, and level headed. His daughter at 18 months is just a doll baby. She is like her daddy, just as sweet and very polite, well behaved.
Of course now is when they are comfortable enough to start telling the stories of what they were doing in HS. Things I'm glad I didn't know then. Stuff we've all done at one time or another. They made me laugh all night long.
I will say that two of them have benefited greatly from being at our school. They have gone on to using what they learned at our school to get awesome jobs with the local power company and are doing quite well. Good thing for Thomas with a daughter to raise! Seeing them made my evening.
Today I'm cleaning and am going to go to the LSS. I may even cook dinner tonite! LOL! That's a sad statement isn't it. Well I'm off, Have a wondermous day!

:Jayne

Looking at the Downslide to the Weekend

What a day it has been!
I'm thankful that I wasn't on my cell phone or toying with the radio this am as I left my house driving to work. As I neared the local Tom Thumb to get gas, a gold Lincoln with a big African American woman almost hit my front end. She was tearing out of the Tom Thumb after driving off from stealing her gas. Had I not been aware, I would have been smashed in the ditch. Thank God I was aware.
So after I paid for my gas that I pumped I waited for traffic to slow down so I could get on my merry way. I watched a rather ragged looking couple cross the street and she had a bottle of water. She took her last swig, and yep, you guessed it, threw the bottle down. Maybe it was because my morning had already been not off to a great start, or maybe it just irritates me when people litter my neighborhood, But I just had to roll down my window. "Hey, you dropped something, you may want to pick that up." She glanced back, saw the bottle I was talking about, and gave me half a peace sign. I wanted to say "Bitch", but there was a break in traffic and I took advantage of that.
I couldn't wait to get to work and check the calendar. I think the whole school heard me whoop and holler when I found the spring break dates! WOOHOOO! I am going on another Hilltop cruise. This time I'm taking my much older sister to chaperone me!
Looking foward to the next few days. Tomorrow is JV football, hoping they stay undefeated. Friday is an away game for Varsity, not too far away tho. Hoping for their first win. Saturday DS1 and his fiancee should be back in town. She is being transferred to a town near here. She's a scrapbooker, so I'm glad to have company closer to scrap with. I'm glad they will be back this way.
I'm off to watch weather and see what's going on in the gulf. Who knows? I could be packing to run from the hurricane!

:J

Just a Happy Hump Day!

It is still cool in the mornings, but it doesn't last long once the sun comes up! The scoop is that it will be 50 on Saturday morning. I can hardly wait. I love cool mornings. Usually I take the first really cool morning of the fall off of work, a kind of mental health day. I like to take the first really warm day in spring off too. You need mental health days like that sometimes.
Speaking of mental health, Hilltop Memories has their cruise booked. I can hardly wait. 5 days!!!! WoooHOOOO! Just have to check the calendar at work and make sure nothing major is happening, dust off the passport and off I go!
I watched Boston Legal last night. To me it wasn't spectacular for a season kick off. Not sure if I even liked it. But I'll keep watching. Gives me something to talk with my brother about. He called me yesterday to remind me it was on. Usually I'm calling him.
I forgot to renew my arthritis medicine the other day. I haven't had it for 2 days and already I can tell. I hurt so bad. Of all the medicine I take, I am most thankful for that one. I feel 90 today without it. I'll call it in in just a few minutes.
Off to the big world of Data. I spent all day yesterday correcting classes for our big data submission. Seems the state didn't tell the district that they changed some codes. So we had to redo a bunch of stuff. UGH! But it's mostly done now.
May go to a crop this weekend here in town. Mostly CM scrappers, but hey, it's people. Not like the Hilltop girls tho, they're the BEST!
:J

Losing Sucks!

Losing is not reflective in how they play the game. It's really a shame that everyone focuses on the won-loss column, and not that the boys played their hearts out.
It's coming, that win. I can feel it every play I watch. They keep getting better, making more big plays and making less mistakes. It's coming.
It's a good thing we haven't hit district play yet. We can keep honing our skills on these schools that don't matter. It's practice. We want to hit district games with our mistakes corrected.
I want to hear Coach say, "well, we are playing good at a good time". That's when we get to playoffs. When we play good at a good time.
Yes losing sucks, but it's part of the process. Trust the process, we'll get there, playing good at a good time.

:J

My Bulletin Board

Halfway through my scrappy weekend!

This project has actually been on going the past few weeks. I'm not quite done with it, but I needed to get it hung and out of the scrap room. Elle from Hilltop Memories designed this project. She taught it as a class at one of the fabulous Hilltop Reteats. I didn't get to take the class, but bought the kit at a later retreat. Elle's a fabulous person, and this is one of my favorite designs by her.

First is the overall board. I soaked the metal corners in vinegar for a few days to turn them dark. They were really shiny when I got them. If you have something shiny metal that you would like to age, put your items in a glass bowl and cover them with vinegar. Any cheap vinegar works, you don't need expensive stuff. Unless you like the smell of vinegar, cover the bowl with a plate. Otherwise your whole house smells like vinegar for the entire time.
I did the crackle paint effect for the frame. I used a mix of blue and black for the undercoat, and of course red on top. I love barn red, it's my favorite color. I would love to have about 12 ft of old red barn wood to do a wall of my kitchen!
I also used the Chalkboard spray paint to spray the piece of sheet metal in the center. LOVE chalkboard spray paint. If I had untextured walls I think I would do a whole wall somewhere in the house. That stuff is soo cool!
Next is one of the bottle cap magnets in the kit. I used a picture of my 3 boys when they were younger. It was Patrick's birthday, he's in the middle, Kevin on the left and Daniel on the right.
The conglomeration of magnets. I used some quotes I loved on the sticker sheet from 7Gypsies. I love good inspirational quotes. I'm always giving the boys quotes. When they played sports in High School. I would give them a quote on game day morning. especially during football season. So that's my work in progress! I have some weekday magnets from the dollar spots at Jo's that I want to add to this. And I have to go buy some chalk for the chalkboard. I work at a school, you think I could find one piece of chalk there but I couldn't!
:J

Cancelled!

It has been gloomy all day. We know a Tropical Depression is sitting off the coast right now. It's just waiting to rain on our weekend. This morning all after school and football games were cancelled, due to the impending weather.
Now to tell the truth, I was not really badly disappointed in the cancellation. While I love football, I also love a good weekend in the house with no plans. Now that the game is cancelled, I can spend tonite cleaning house. That way my house will be clean and I can play without any guilt about what I should be doing. LOL! Not that I really have any guilt.
It rained about noonish pretty heavy. But now it's been stopped for a few hours. Just gloomy looking outside.
So I shall be delving into housework tonite. Tomorrow it's play, play, play! It can rain all it wants! Monday night we will make up the game we were supposed to play tonite. Which is okay, because I'll be done playing!

:J

UNDEFEATED!

Our little Jaguar JV team is undefeated, 3-0! WE are so proud of them. Tonite they won 34-24 over the local Catholic HS. Friday night our Varsity plays Catholic also. Let's hope they fare as well also.

Spent 90% of my day in meetings. UGH! This mornings 1 hour meeting turned into 3 1/2 hours and nothing was resolved. I guess we will have to have another 3 1/2 meeting to resolve any thing. This afternoon it was a one hour meeting that was supposed to start at 3, it started at 2 and ran 2 hours. At least it was a productive meeting, we got alot of issues resolved. But by then I had a raging headache and a football game to work.

Still have a headache, so I'm heading to bed.

:J

Humping Toward the Weekend

Yep we are half way through a boring week. TV sucks, unless you are a Big Brother fan, and I'm not. I got off work early yesterday, and got nothing accomplished as I took a nap. The nap resulted in me not being able to sleep last night. Which puts me in a daze as I write this. Do you feel like you gave the mouse a cookie? I do.
The next few days will be more exciting, I know.
Tomorrow is a big meeting with the big big powers that be. More decisions on Dual Enrollment, it's okay, we are halfway through the first grading period, let's get this settled!
Two home football games this week. Can the JV remain undefeated? Can the Varsity win their first game this year? I think both answers are yes. If my Packers can remain undefeated in regular season, so can my JV and yes Varsity can beat Catholic High. Both home games so no late night travel for me, but lots of work.
I look forward to scrappin all weekend! The way I look at it is, my house is mostly clean, so maybe 3 hours on that. 2 hours to grocery shop, and the rest of the weekend is mine! WOOOHOOOO!
On that happy note, I'm off to eat breakfast and go to work. Have a great day mateys!

:J

Many Names for My Many Personalities

Tagged by Kip, these are just too fun! Read mine and then I tag Cindy, Susie and Michelle

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Butterscotch Explorer

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Chocolate Marshmallow Tollhouse

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) JSen

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Green Dog

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Alison Savanna

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Senja

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The”) The Red Margarita

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Leroy Albert

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Obession Snickers

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Carroll Smith

Let me know when you post yours!
:J

Is the Weekend Over Already?

I need a day to play! It was one of those weekends where if I didn't have to be off doing something, I stayed home and cleaned house. It sure needed it! But I am resting easier now that it is clean.
I told you about the Stampin' Up workshop, so it wasn't all work. Off and on I worked on my Bulletin Board kit from Hilltop. I had painted it green and yellow, so that the green cracks would show through the yellow. But I just didn't fall in love with it that way. So today in between cleaning the bathroom, kitchen and hallway, I painted it again.
This time I painted it Blue Angel Blue first, then I streaked some Black over that. Then I applied the crackle stuff. On top of that went the Deep Burgandy Red. Now I think I'm really going to like it. I may still use it in the scrap room, but I've also thought about putting it in my front hall. I painted the metal with Chalkboard paint. That way, hopefully, we can write messages to each other. That's why I think the hallway by the kitchen will be a good place. It's convienent to the phone, above my desk and everyone has to pass it to leave the house. Can't wait to work on it tomorrow.
FCA banquet was awesome. The speaker was sooooo funny, a good ole Alabama boy. He told the parable from the bible where Jesus asks Peter to feed his people, to care for his flock after he is gone. His perspective on it tho was from a Coach's view. and how Jesus wants Coaches to take care of their Athletes. Not just as players, but as young men and women in Christ. It was a good story. Our school had two tables full of coaches. A nice showing.
It was a good weekend. Great weather, less humid, got alot done. My Packers won, my WFHS Jaguars showed promise, the Cubbies won and life is good. I hope your weekend was good too.
:J

So far this weekend

It's been a busy one! We woke up this morning to much cooler temps, even a chill in the air! I am loving that! Now if it could just hang on! I am so ready for cool weather.
Yesterday I cleaned my bedroom. It soo needed it. Complete deep cleaning, all the dust is gone. All I have left is the windows. Of course I should clean out my closet, but when I look in there I just don't see anything I can get rid of! I did pile up a stack of capris that have served me well, but are now going to make someone else happy.
My reward for spending all morning cleaning my room was going my first Stamping up party! It was such fun! We made 3 cards. I made a new friend, Molliry, who's four. Yes, that's how she spelled her name because she showed me. Molliry and Ashlan, who's 7, sat at the table with me and Ashlan's mom, Natalee. Molliry's mom sat at the newbie table, because she has never stamped before. Molliry and I made our cards together, she was quite the stamper! These are my cards.

 

After the party, DH and I had date night, and went to dinner at our favorite place right now, The Shrimp Basket. Yummy!
Tonite is a Coaches' Banquet for all the coaches in our area. It should be fun to see everyone off the football field.
Speaking of football fields, I have to commend the coaches & players of Chipley High School. They were our opponents in Friday nights game. They won, 47-35. The score could have been one touchdown higher, but they were good sports and kneeled down the last minute of play instead of driving in for another touchdown. We don't see that here in Pensacola very often. As a matter of fact, most of the schools here enjoy running the score up on us. I commend the Chipley Tigers for being great sports.
Time for me to make the coffee, get the paper and enjoy the morning. I hope you have a wonderful day.
:J

TGIS!

I'm so glad it's Saturday! I've a list a mile long of things I need to get done, followed by some play time this afternoon, and a relaxing evening with hubby.
I'm off to WM for pet food. Somehow I've let the catfood run low and now Boots is being overly affectionate, wondering when I'm going to feed him. He's turning up his nose at the dog food I put in his bowl.
I've got to get this house cleaned up. It's driving me crazy, crazy, crazy. I'm going to reverse my routine tho and START in my bedroom. It's pretty sad when the scraproom is the cleanest room in the house.
My friend Beth is back on the mend after having a pacemaker put in. You know you are getting old when your friends start having pacemakers. She is only in her early 50's. Her heart is made of gold, could be why she needs help with it beating. She says she will be back to work on Monday, I think she just needs some more rest!
Off to my first Stampin' Up party this afternoon. I'm looking forward to it, I just hope I can get away without spending tooooo much!
Well I had better get going before the lazy bug bites my butt. Have a wondermous day!
:J