Over the weekend Karen from Over the Backyard Fence bestowed this little blog award on me, she’s so sweet! And she’s one of my favorite people to read so I could give this right back to her. I’m supposed to pass it on to 7 people I think it said…..I’m not sure who all has been tagged but here’s a few I’ll list now:
1. Stacy, my sis.. and I think Karen gave this to her as well but I sorta wouldn’t exist in this blog world if it wasn’t for Stacy so she gets it again! My sisters were the only people that visited me for almost 9 months when I first started blogging and Stacy still does a lot of upkeep on the blog for me and I appreciate that.
2. Jen, A Good Cup of Coffee
3. Lauren, at Baseballs and Bows
4. Tammy, at Lattes and Lollypops
5. Annie, My Life as Annie…she’s so sweet to play Scramble with me on Facebook!
6. Robin, at Robinznest…she has a new grandbaby!
7. Sonya, My Thousand Loves
I know some of you stay much busier than I do with work, school, kids, etc. or might be taking a break right now, so don’t feel any pressure to play… but pass it along if you want! I enjoy all of you out there!
“turn your love around, I will show you how”
Friday again, so soon? I’m playing along this week with fave five for Friday, hosted by the lovely Susanne. Check out her post to find out more details… etter yet, join in and play along!
Here are a few things I liked this week:
1. Getting a Karen Kingsbury book in the mail that I won from another blog! That’s always fun….it’ll go in my pile for later.
2. Getting my air conditioning fixed, a necessity in the south even now! It was out for four days last weekend and the first of this week. It was getting hot so I’m happy it’s working now.
3. Lemon hand soap….I like to keep it at my kitchen sink and I got a new bottle this week.
4. Survivor starting back up! And several other shows that I watch…I think I was tired of reruns.
AND, I saved the best for last!
5. This candy corn I bought this week…..can you see the bag?
It’s chocolate! Chocolate caramel candy corn, I didn’t know there was such a thing. Liz still likes the regular kind so guess we’ll be buying another bag of the orange stuff soon! But it’s kinda fun to have something different.
What have you liked this week?
Or if you play along be sure to let me know so I can visit you. 🙂
Why is it that once you start using something and like it, they go and change it on you? It doesn’t have to be just products either. Apparently according to sis Stacy, I used old facebook too long because I do NOT like the new facebook. I must not be the only one because I keep seeing other people complain about it too. Then my computer upgraded to a new firefox, nope I don’t like it either! Don’t even get me started on products I buy because they seem to change frequently, or my store will just quit carrying the brand I buy. I have an ongoing love/hate affair with detergents for my front load machine. I gave in a few weeks ago and bought one of the new big containers of All, it wasn’t the free and clear like I’d like it to be but it is one for my kind of washer. But at my house, I think this container is just a disaster waiting to happen!
The directions say to turn the bottle on the side so you can press the blue button to dispense detergent into the plastic cup….it seems like a good idea but it leaks and drips and the cap stays messy. And I can guarantee that not everyone here that uses it will be careful with it! I think I’m going to save one of my old small bottles to refill from this big jug; and I won’t be buying this one again.
So you won’t think I’m a complete fuddy duddy that doesn’t like anything new, here’s some things that are newer that I DO like!
1. iPods, they are SO much better than the old walkman things
2. I love my new car with gps in it!
3. cell phones, what would we do without them……and texting, it’s so easy for quick messages or for my kids that don’t want to talk all the time!
4. my shampoo bottles have a new design that’s easier to pick up and hold, that’s a good thing
5. Kraft mayo bottles, the new rectangular ones that fit in the fridge better
6. paper towels with the select a size so you don’t have to pull off a whole sheet, brilliant!
See, I can like some new things!
What about you? Do you ever like a product and then they go and change it up on you?
“dreams can come true again, when everything old is new again“
I couldn’t decide about doing the nightstand carnival over at 5 minutes for books this month. Since I just posted about the fall reading challenge yesterday I thought I might should skip this month but have decided to play along anyway. This is what my nightstand looks like this morning……
So the quick and easy answer to that question is, junk, too much junk is on my nightstand! Oh, but you meant books and what I’m reading? Besides the magazines, papers, eye medicine, sudoku books and water bottle I do have books….I actually finished several in the last few weeks but just haven’t bothered to move yet. Talk of the Town and Her Daddy’s Eyes need to be returned to my church library, thank goodness they don’t fine me or come looking for me if I’ve kept them too long. There’s always at least one sudoku book by my bed and no exception to that this month. The book on top is We Have This Moment by Diann Hunt and I just started it last night. It’s one I’m reading for the fall reading challenge and I did my list/post on it yesterday. The book in the middle is one I borrowed from sis Stacy, ditto on the great return policy! Good thing since I probably have at least 12 of her books right now. I finished that book over the weekend, On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah. It is probably a typical women’s fiction book and not christian at all. I do think I can do without the language that goes with these at times so that’s why I don’t read them as frequently as I might have in the past. I sort of enjoyed the book but am left sad or melancholy I think at the world view that can be in them. I’m pretty conservative about lots of things, that’s just me! I think mostly it left me feeling flat because of some other things that have happened, I can be a moody reader at times depending on what’s going on around me!
Now I need to get some of these returned so I can work on my stack a little bit…..well, I really need to work on that junk first!
It’s time for Katrina’s Fall into Reading challenge again which is always fun to do! I love to visit around and see what other people are reading and finding good ideas for future reads for me. I can usually find a book or 10 that catches my attention, and many times it’s something I might not have run across otherwise. The last couple of times I’ve done the challenge I’ve kept my list relatively simple so I don’t get overwhelmed during the fall with holidays fast approaching. Here’s what I think I’ll read this fall:
1. Miss Match by Erynn Mangum
2. The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society by Beth Pattillo
3. We Have This Moment by Diann Hunt
4. Murder Carries a Torch by Anne George
5. Murder Boogies With Elvis by Anne George
6. Love Starts With Elle by Rachel Hauck
7. Marley and Me by John Grogan
The first 5 I have are books I borrowed from my sis Stacy, along with maybe a dozen more! I keep them for too long sometimes so maybe this will help me work through my stack and return them to her; she has the best return policy of any library I know! The last 2 are from my church library and town library. I think I saw that Marley and Me is a movie coming out this year and I usually like to read any book first before seeing the movie. I’ve heard it’s a pretty good book! If all goes well, I might even get a few more read along the way.
Be sure to go visit Katrina to find out more about the challenge and to see a list of who’s participating….you’re sure to find some good books and blogs to read! Let me know if you join in….what are you reading this fall?
Friday again and time to list some favorite things from the week…….check out Susanne’s post; she has more explanations there and a mr. linky if you want to play along! I’m tempted at times to change mine to four things if my week has been uneventful so I might be stretching it with some of these. Some of my favorite things this week:
1. Several cool mornings this week…it was so nice and actually made me think that fall could come to us soon in the deep south! Today I could tell that it’s warming back up and we still have some hot days ahead of us yet but the cooler mornings were fun.
2. A spicy smelling candle that Liz gave me. It’s the first time in a while I’ve had a candle burning and it smells all fall and harvesty.
3. Walking every day this week. Well, I don’t actually love the walking much at all but I do like the fact that it makes me feel better afterwards! I think I’ve slept better plus it gets me out of the house and into the fresh air.
4. Blueberry banana muffins I made one morning; they tasted good and we even had some left for today!
5. Egg in a hole, or egg in toast………I used to make these for the kids when they were little! I made them one morning before hubby left and Liz was going off to school to sub, we ate them all up! Or maybe it was because I never cook eggs anymore and we’ve just forgotten how good they are. I did these in the skillet…cut a hole in the bread, butter in skillet, put bread in first and after it’s cooked a bit break the egg into the hole. Cook and then carefully flip to the other side, just like cooking eggs but with bread surrounding it! I put the cut out pieces in the skillet too. It was probably more fun for me to make than it was for the family to eat! Forgot to take pictures but you can find just about anything online nowadays….
What’s been one of your favorite things this week?
We had a good time with Katelyn but she’s gone home now and we’re trying to get back into a routine here! She’s very active, always on the go or wants to play and I’ve forgotten how to manage toddlers and housework. Just let some of it slide and enjoy the rest, right?!!
There was also some other excitement and thrills going on in the Mississippi delta this weekend…..BB King was in the state for the opening of a new museum in his honor; there was lots of music, food and a ribbon cutting. We ventured out to see some of the museum but it was a bit crowded so we didn’t see everything. I even heard at church yesterday that Eric Clapton had played at King’s club this weekend but we missed all the celebrities and I’m guessing they didn’t stay in Mississippi long!
We also got a pretty good bit of rain and wind from some of the outer bands of Ike that passed through. Most of that seems to be gone now and we’ll actually get to enjoy a couple of days of lower temps.
Update: Our kids in Houston are doing ok, they have power, not too much damage and are out of school for another few days. They might have roof damage and I hope they get everything worked out soon! I think the kids are restless and ready to get out of the house.
I’ve walked today, done a load of laundry, and daughter Liz has even gone to sub at school but got through early! I’ll put a few pictures of our recent activities on the extended page…..
Read the rest of this entry »
Time for Susanne’s fave five for Friday…..she’ll have details and a Mr. Linky so anyone can participate.
Let me see what I can come up with for this week!
1. New music I downloaded from itunes this week…….soundtrack from Mamma Mia! Fun to listen to and daughter Elizabeth was excited because she’ll get a cd out of the deal.
2. The sun! After raining for a while it’s been pretty and sunny here this week and I’ve enjoyed that. I get tired of the rain really quickly.
3. This blog by Meghan McClain has been fun for me to follow. She’s on the road with her dad and doing some stuff for her new book too I think. I’ve been liking Sarah Palin too!
4. Katelyn has stayed with me for a few days this week. It’s exhausting but enjoyable at the same time. I can tell it’s been a while since I’ve had a 2 1/2 year old around the house, she wakes up very chipper around 6 in the morning! She will say, “I wake up” and be very happy about it……I have never been quite that happy so early in the morning!
5. Getting a free sample of my prescription eye drops from the eye doctor…..that sounds silly but the bottle lasts me a month and saves me $70! So I like it when they give me a bottle.
Join in at Susanne’s place and link up! Or tell me what’s been your favorite thing this week!
A few years ago I was lucky enough to get a new washer and dryer but not just any kind, the fancy front loading high efficiency kind! Overall I’ve been pretty pleased with it….it holds a lot, seems to wash way better than my old machine and uses less water I believe. Recently though the washer just quit working. I could push the start button but it only clicked and showed an error code. This machine happens to be a kenmore so I called sears right away but since I seem to live about 90 miles from nowhere, they told me it would be one week before the service tech could get here. ONE week with no clean clothes! Hubby called a local repairman, who came to check it out and he was pretty sure it needed a new microprocessor. He said if it was any other machine besides a kenmore he could work on them; I think sears has it rigged where you’re kind of stuck using their service! So I waited a week, the sears man came but he only reset the microprocessor and sold us an extended warranty. It washed exactly 2 loads and then went back to clicking again. Hubby called sears the next day but got the same routine, repairman was booked and it would be one week before he could come. Only now we’d be 2 weeks without any clean clothes! After being transferred around several times, asking to speak to numerous people in charge and then getting another number to call in Arkansas, we finally got someone to say they’d get the same repairman to come back. And then he said, “he has 4 service calls today and he’s on his 2nd one now.” That was at 10:30 in the morning….4 calls means booked solid for a week! I guess because it was a Friday they wanted to be through early! I am grateful that he was able to come back the day after supposedly fixing it the first time. And I’m very grateful the 2nd service call didn’t cost us but I’m really not liking sears service at the moment. I think I may have very well bought my last kenmore product! We know now the local guy can work on most any brand and next time I don’t want to wait a week for service. Maybe you’ve not had as much problem with sears as I’ve had…I’m sure where I live is most of the problem, but I think I’m done with them! I hope my machine works for a long time, then maybe I’ll replace it with another brand.
They do look kinda nifty and nice though!
My other ongoing annoyance with the washer; you’re supposed to use HE detergents in them only and that is getting increasingly harder and harder to find! Well, I can get tide but I don’t like that brand. If they are going to sell these machines, it looks like some store would sell the detergent to go in them!
It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve learned to like coffee, although it’s usually what I put in the coffee that I truly like more! However the coffee doesn’t always love me back because the caffeine, it’s just something I do so much better without. Several family members give me a hard time about decaf, telling me what’s the point! But I can drink it more often if I have decaf so that’s usually the way I go. I like cream and sugar or flavored creamers so making a cold drink with it during hot weather is something I’ve been doing recently. I use a blender………cold brewed coffee, milk or cream, a few ice cubes and usually some other flavoring like chocolate or caramel syrup! I like to use vanilla soymilk but if you use regular milk or cream you can add a bit of vanilla. If it’s in my freezer I might add some vanilla frozen yogurt or a scoop of ice cream! Or be crafty and freeze coffee ice cubes so it doesn’t water your drink down. Add some kind of sweetener if you need it, but I don’t always feel like I need it if I’ve used vanilla soymilk, flavored syrup or ice cream. Blend it all up until the ice is crushed and enjoy. It’s a nice afternoon treat for me. And I think you could get very creative and come up with your own combinations. I searched around online for suggestions and found you can use a can of sweetened condensed milk, that sounds yummy but I haven’t tried that yet. I have made it using a flavored coffee to start with or a general foods international coffee. I don’t live anywhere near a coffee shop or a st*rbucks, they are like 90 miles away, so this is the next best thing for me: I can control the caffeine, sugar, etc. and still get something that’s fun for me. Let me know if you’ve tried this in another combo that’s good; I might make them a few more times since it’ll be hot here just a little while longer. Eventually it won’t be 90 something degrees anymore and hot coffee might sound ok in the afternoon!
I wasn’t familiar with the line from a country song I’m using today but sorta liked it! Stacy will probably know it since it’s more in one of her genres of music. A list is what I need today…..
1. Need to put sheets on the beds upstairs so Katelyn will have someplace to sleep. Kathryn has to do some recruiting for work at nights this week so I’ll keep Katelyn 2 days. 🙂
2. Will need “kid” food from the store! Milk that’s not skim plus m&m’s or something she can get as a prize for going to the potty, oh the joys of potty training!
3. The washer appears to be fixed finally so I need to catch up on laundry. The washer, oh my what an ordeal, a post in itself!
4. I had a bad bout with my mouth/jaw and tmj last week but it’s so much better now. I asked the dentist about it a few months ago and he said that’s what I probably have but not bad enough to do anything…it usually only flares up once or twice a year but if I knew some way to keep it from happening again, I’d be good with that!
4. We don’t need another hurricane in our gulf coast states but it looks like Ike might be tracking for somewhere there again. Ugh.
5. I finally ordered another slow cooker, broke the lid a couple of months ago to the one I use most often. It came in today but I’m a little conflicted about what to do. It said white when I ordered it, but this one is sort of silver or grayish in color; I think I can live with that. But the lid has a small dent in the metal frame around the inside! I wasn’t happy to see that but it does however appear to fit onto the pot ok. I’m frustrated to pay 40 bucks for something and have it come in with a dent; not sure whether trying to send it back will accomplish anything or be worth it in the long run. Guess I’ll show hubby tonight and ask his opinion. Not sure you can see it or it shows up good but here’s the dent (maybe too small to worry over?)
6. I was glad the sun was out today so that I could get out to walk! It’s a little hot here but it felt good to walk.
What’s on your list today?
“go for a walk, say a little prayer
take a deep breath of mountain air“
…a thousand words.
I hope so because I’m not coming up with much else; here’s a few pictures from our labor day fun! We took the day off and drove to sis Stacy’s house where her hubby Tim grilled and they fed us too much food. I’ll put the shots on the extended page, click through if you like…..
Read the rest of this entry »
How can it be that I have grown kids, when did that happen? The time has gone by way too fast. And oh my goodness, how is it that a couple of my kids have babies? The oldest child of my oldest son started kindergarten last week; it seems like just last year that he was a baby. Last week he started kindergarten and yesterday Grayson turned six! SIX! It sounds different somehow, like you’ve turned a corner and are no longer in that baby/toddler stage.
Here’s Grayson on his first day of kindergarten, with my pretty daughter in law!
“sunrise, sunset, swiftly fly the years”
The last couple of weeks I’ve noticed that Susanne has done a Friday post, all about favorite things. Sounded like fun and I need to focus on something positive right now! Just list 5 favorite things from your week…….I’m jumping in and here are mine:
1. Onstar and the gps system in my car! Just tell them where I want to go and I get turn by turn directions……very handy for traveling to new places and for getting me to the New Orleans airport in the middle of the night, almost a 5 hour drive from my house! That’s been a handy perk in my car.
2. Young son being back home after working in Alaska for 4 months! (Hence the trip to the airport at midnight!) He’s started back with classes this week and we won’t see him too much more than we did when he was gone, but he’s back in state and his cell phone works here so we can talk or text.
3. Favorite book I finished this past week, Uncharted by Angela Hunt. Wow! That is one of the best, most thought provoking books I’ve read in a while. A really good read for me.
4. Iced coffee drinks I’ve been making at home in my blender. A nice afternoon treat, don’t have to get out to spend money for them, and I can control what goes in it!
5. BLT sandwiches for supper one night, yum with real tomatoes! A favorite summer time sandwich for me and I’ve been lucky that some friends have shared their home grown tomatoes with us….I might have used the last one and will have to beg for more.
So there you have it; no pictures for me this week but maybe next time. To see who else is participating, head over to visit Susanne and join in if you want!
What are some of your favorite things this week?
There is a series of books written by Anne George called the Southern Sisters…..maybe 8 different books about 2 sixty something year old sisters that live in Birmingham and just happen upon murders from time to time! They are light and funny and very southern for the most part. I’ve been lucky enough to borrow them from my sis Stacy so I can keep them for a while and not have to read them all back to back. One I read a few weeks ago (Murder Makes Waves I think it was) had a small paragraph in it I really liked and was sort of struck by:
“We Southerners do this, try to make connections. It’s as inborn as the color of our eyes or our hair. Introduce two Southerners and they never lack for something to talk about. And it’s not the weather. It’s the search for connections. We do love to connect the dots.”
Oh that’s so true, we SO do this! I’ve lived in Mississippi all my life so I don’t know how to be anything but a southern girl. But I find myself doing this when meeting someone or talking to a friend……try to find out who they are related to or who they might know in the town they live in, because if we find some common acquaintance we are connected somehow! I’ve seen friends, relatives, even my kids do this also so I don’t think it’s just me.
Have you ever done the same? Do you try to connect the dots, find some common thread to other people and see how far apart you’re separated? Or is it truly just a Southern thing!
