Exceedingly Mundane

We had a good time over the weekend, getting to visit with my sister Gail, her husband and their youngest son who leaves soon on a long summer adventure. My dad drove up for the day on Saturday, so we could celebrate his birthday with him. Today is his actual birthday, and he turns 85 years old! Happy Birthday Dad!

We asked my dad what he wanted to eat for his birthday, and he said it didn’t matter to him. I suggested crawfish, and he jumped on that! So, we went and got 15 pounds of crawfish from a place we really like, and the corn and potatoes that usually come with them. Crawfish is an “outdoor” food to me. We had to dodge the raindrops since it rained on and off all day Saturday, but the weather cooperated brilliantly, and we were able to eat out on the deck for lunch. I don’t ever like to have crawfish inside, at the kitchen table, because they are just so messy!

They were really good – here’s a picture of our crawfish in the bag before we all dived in. I should have taken a photo of them after we were through!

And the crew getting ready, that’s Gail pointing her camera at me!

Hope you all had a great weekend, too! 😀

I played along for the first time last week, and thought I would again this week. I actually don’t have a new photo to post, but I do have one I took a couple of weeks ago that I have not yet posted. If you’d like to play, go here to check out all of the details!

Beau was playing behind the fence a couple of weeks ago, near the ditch. Tim was out hitting his golf balls and reported that Beau started barking incessantly. When he finally went to check out what he was upset about, he found him barking at a turtle. Tim brought the turtle back near our house, and said I should get my camera. Beau was really quite unsure about the turtle, and he “played” with it and barked at it for a long, long time 🙂

So, I guess you get two critters for the price of one this week! Have a great day

Feast One Hundred & Eighty Eight
April 25, 2008

Appetizer
Name something you would categorize as weird. I don’t know about weird, but I don’t like it – I don’t like body piercings or tattoos. I don’t understand why people want to desecrate their body like that. Tim and I were almost relieved to see Carly Smithson leave American Idol this week. We don’t like her tattoo, but I absolutely could not look at the TV when they showed her husband in the audience. That grosses me out.

Soup
What color was the last piece of food you ate? Orange (orange juice) and white/beige (Cheerios)!

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy being alone? Oh wow, an 8 or 9 probably. I tend to be a very solitary person.

Main Course
Fill in the blank: I will _________ vote for ___________ in _______. I will probably vote for McCain in the presidential election.

Dessert
Describe your sleeping habits. When I was younger, I had no problems sleeping. When I laid my head down, I went to sleep and would not wake up all night long. As I have gotten older, this has changed. I sometimes have trouble falling asleep, and I almost always wake up at least once during the night, sometimes more. I don’t feel as rested this way, so I’m not happy about it. I cut out caffeine after mid-afternoon a couple of years ago, and that helps, as does exercise. If I mess up and have a glass of tea at supper or a coffee in the late afternoon, I will be up half the night 🙁

This week’s topic: Springing

Well, here where I live, Spring is sprung–weeks early, even. Our lilac bush looks like it will have flowers by this time next week instead of in the middle of May as usual. The dogwood trees, the magnolia trees–all the flowering trees are flowering. The daffodils and crocuses are, if anything, starting to fade. It may only be April 24th but it is very definitely Spring and, allergies notwithstanding, I’m happy to welcome the change of season. What I want to know, is:

Do your reading habits change in the Spring? Do you read gardening books? Even if you don’t have a garden? More light fiction than during the Winter? Less? Travel books? Light paperbacks you can stick in a knapsack?

Or do you pretty much read the same kinds of things in the Spring as you do the rest of the year?

Good question this week! I wish I had an interesting answer 🙂 While I do read some seasonal stuff, I don’t read gardening books, and I don’t really read travel books. I like light, fluffy books year round! I don’t really change what I read from month to month, with the exception, maybe, at Christmas. I do like reading some Christmas-themed books or short novels around the holidays. It always helps me get more into the spirit!

Happy Reading!

I have read several books lately that I have not blogged about. The last one I finished is also a book I included on Annie’s “What’s In a Name Challenge” that I joined in January. This book qualified for a plant in the title, as sweetgrass is a coastal grass that grows in the Lowcountry of the Carolinas. I’ve now read four out of the six books I chose for this challenge.

I liked “Sweetgrass” – it’s what I term good “women’s fiction”. About a family, relationships, the trials and tribulations, along with a secret from the past that is revealed and everyone has to deal with. It was a good read, and reminiscent, for me, to other books I have read by Dorothea Benton Frank. They are all set in the Carolinas, in the Lowcountry, and have that slow, easy Southern feel to them that I really enjoy.

I’ve also completed several other books lately. I’ve been reading almost exclusively from my TBR pile, which is good for me. I did go to the library today, to pick up some new books, but the majority of what I’ve read this year are books from my own, overflowing bookshelves. I finished up the 7th and then 8th (and last) book in the “Southern Sisters Murder Mysteries” by Anne George. I really hated to see the end of these southern cozies. I loved the characters and her writing. I hate that the author has passed away and there are no more of these delightful books for me to look forward to.

I also finished my third Jodi Picoult book, “The Pact“, which I picked up last year at a library sale. I really enjoyed this book, and it was very engrossing, as her other two books that I’ve read have been. I definitely plan to read more of her stuff in the future, but I have to space it out with lighter, fluffy kind of books.

I’ve read the first two books in the Hannah Swenson murder series, “Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder” and “Strawberry Shortcake Murder.”. A good cozy series that I’m really enjoying so far and plan to read all of them, eventually. I like the characters, I like the setting and the writing, and I love that the author includes baking recipes in each book! 🙂

In January of this year, I went to the library and got 3 books, a trilogy by Tracie Peterson. I read them all in the first couple of weeks in January and had not been to the library since. I put some newer books on reserve at the library though, and two of them came in. I went today and picked them up, along with one by Deeanne Gist, a new-to-me Christian author that is on my to-read list. So, up next for me is the latest by Barbara Delinsky, “The Secret Between Us“. I’ve enjoyed her books in the past, although I haven’t read many lately. The other book I picked up is the latest in Alexander McCall Smith’s series, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. I’ve read all of the other ones in this series, and enjoyed them, so I am sure I will like this one, too.

For the record, I’ve read 27 books so far this year, for a total of 9,020 pages. Happy Reading!!!

My sister Gail was cleaning out some stuff at her house recently and ran across two books that had my name on them. I think they were in her girls room, so I probably loaned them to her daughters to read when they were younger. One of them wasn’t as familiar, but when I saw this one, I immediately remembered this book!

I even found a link to it, here at Amazon.com. I would have thought this thing was out of print or unavailable, as it says in the front that it is part of the “Weekly Reader Children’s Book Club.”

Anyway, seeing this book and remembering I liked it is really a feat in and of itself. My memory is atrocious, especially in regards to anything from my childhood, even through high school. I don’t remember people, places, things I did, places I went, etc. So for me to remember this book means something 🙂 I’m going to reread it soon and see if I enjoy as much as a forty-something year old as I did a whatever-year old. The book is dated 1971, but I’m not sure when I read it. I hope it’s good 🙂

How about you – do you have a favorite book from childhood? One you remember reading and loving as a child, or one you read to your own kids? That’s today’s Question of the Day, so leave me a comment and let me know 🙂

I took a bunch of photos on Saturday, so I thought I’d post a few more 🙂

The shrub roses in our backyard are starting to bloom, and they look so pretty. Both of these are yellow, but for some odd reason, the last two years, one of them blooms red for a while, then switches to yellow blooms. But they were both yellow when we bought and planted them!

My mother-in-law gave us some irises several years ago, but we haven’t taken care of them like we should have. I think they’re supposed to be divided every couple of years in the fall, which we have never done. Also, I think with flowers like this, you’re supposed to have part of the root bulb exposed, which we never do. Very few of them bloomed last year, and so far this year, only one single flower has bloomed. It is pretty though!

Tim and Beau resting outside on a beautiful April day:

I saw this meme last week, and again today, at Vader’s Mom‘s blog. Since I’m always taking photos of Beau, I thought I might play along this week.

I took tons of photos of Beau today, outside playing. I had a hard time narrowing it down, but decided to post one of him with Tim’s hat on; I thought it was cute 🙂

Feast One Hundred & Eighty Seven
April 18, 2008

Appetizer
Name a color you find soothing. a soft, buttery yellow

Soup
Using 20 or less words, describe your first driving experience. I don’t remember! I remember being nervous about taking my drivers test, and I remember backing over the garbage can a few weeks after I got my license. But the actual first time I drove, I don’t remember!

Salad
What material is your favorite item of clothing made out of? My favorite thing to wear are my Life is Good t-shirts, made out of good old soft cotton. These are the most comfortable t-shirts I’ve ever had. I love them and wish I could wear them every day 🙂

Main Course
Who is a great singer or musician who, if they were to come to your town for a concert, you would spend the night outside waiting for tickets to see? Good grief, I am too old to do that now! Back in the 80’s, I might have done that for a favorite band like Journey or Def Leppard, but even then, I doubt I would have done it. Concerts and music just do NOT mean that much to me. My sleep and my comfy bed are much more important to me!

Dessert
What is the most frequent letter of the alphabet in your whole name (first, middle, maiden, last, etc.)? If you include my maiden name, then the letter ‘e’. If you use my “regular name” that I go by, then it’s a 3-way tie (between the letters s, a and m).

Well, I’m not sure I’m really back in the saddle, but I am trying. Back in the scrapbooking saddle, that is.

I basically gave up scrapping over three years ago when I started blogging. Scrapbooking, although it is something that I love and goes hand in hand with my love of taking photos, is a very time-intensive endeavor for me. I’m not very creative and not very good at choosing and mixing mixing colors, papers, embellishments, etc. I think my problem lies in the fact that I have too many supplies, too much paper, too many choices. I’m not very decisive when I’ve literally got hundreds of options to wade through. But, I am trying. I went through a lot of my paper and stuff, and weeded some of it out and gave it to my mother-in-law for her and her sisters to use in their scrapping. I threw out some really old stuff, and have moved some of my less-than-favorite stuff to a different “pile”. That, at least, narrows down my choices. Or so I hope 🙂

I actually chose something really difficult for me to start back scrapping with. Tim sort of understood when I explained it to him. The layout I was trying to work on when I quit three years ago was the one of my mom on her last Christmas. I just didn’t feel like I could do it justice, or do it “right”. I chose that one to start back with, which was probably not smart, but I thought if I could get past that one, I could probably get back to scrapping most anything. I decided to take the Nike approach, and just do it. Nothing fancy, nothing special, just simple and plain. And it is very plain, but it’s done.

Here’s an idea of how it turned out – my poor mom will probably turn over in her grave to know that these less-than-flattering photos of her are out here for all the world to see 🙂 She didn’t like having her photo taken on a good day, much less when she was sick and not at her best. You might not can see, but I did include it in the journaling – she never once looked at the camera when I was taking photos this Christmas morning. The one that turned out to be her last, and these are most of the last photos I have of her before she died.

Anyway, I hope I’m over the hump and can get back into my scrapping somewhat. I don’t have a lot of newer photos printed out, but I have tons of older ones. And goodness knows, I have enough supplies to do hundreds of pages. They are not the latest and greatest embellishments and paper. Most of them are 6-8 years old, although some of the newer stuff is 3-4 years old. I very wisely stopped buying scrapping supplies since I actually wasn’t doing any layouts. And I hope to continue that, although the urge to buy something “new” and “cute” is always with me. Sort of like that little voice that is always telling me to “eat some chocolate. Right Now!”

Our clematis is growing and growing, but no blooms yet. We went to Tim’s parent’s house this past weekend, and all of their clematis have beautiful blooms on them, though. His brother has a purple one at his house, and his mom has a maroon one… aren’t they pretty?!

Mine won’t be long, it has got blooms on it and has really grown exponentially the last couple of weeks. Ours is not a pretty color though, just a white one. Since we planted it against the house, which has red brick, I wanted something that would show up against the brick. More pictures when it starts blooming 😀

I haven’t felt great this week. Nothing really hurts and I don’t have a fever or infection, but I just generally don’t feel good. The blah’s mostly. I don’t seem to have a lot of energy and I do NOT want to get anywhere near the treadmill. That treadmill is evil (more on that later).

So when you have a sweet husband like mine, one who offers to go get me Chinese one night for supper, you take him up on it (that way, I don’t have to cook!) He knows Chinese food is my favorite. 😀

He also came in with this:

It’s from Snow Biz and it’s a strawberry shortcake snow cone. Yummy! He said he thought it would make me feel better! And he was right, it really did!

I saw this over at Marianne’s blog yesterday, and swiped it! Thanks Marianne 🙂

Have you ever…

(x) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped School
( ) Watched someone die
( ) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico
(x) Been to Florida
(x) Been on a plane
(x) Been lost
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country
(x) Gone to Washington , DC
( ) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
( ) Played cops and robbers
(x) Recently colored with crayons
( ) Sang Karaoke ….
( ) Paid for a meal with coins only?
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t?
(x) Made prank phone calls
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose – or other places!
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) Danced in the rain
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(x) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about
(x) Blown bubbles
( ) Gone ice-skating
( ) Been skinny dipping outdoors

Let me know if you decide to play along at your blog; I’d love to come by and read your answers!

Today’s “Question of the Day” is short and sweet – how many DVD players do you have in your house? The reason that I ask is that mine just broke. Wah! We actually have two in our den, one is a multi-disc player and the other is a combo that includes a DVD recorder. But, we did have a small, cheap one in our bedroom. That way, if I wanted to watch a “girl movie” and Tim was watching something in the den, I could just go in our room. Also, when we have football parties and stuff, it lets us put the kiddos in our room with a Disney movie. That doesn’t happen very often though, so we are considering not replacing the one in our room.

How many DVD players do you have, and in which rooms? How often are they used? We use our den one a lot, because we rent movies from Netflix, so we watch a lot of movies in the den.

Leave me a comment and let me know! And have a wonderful day 🙂

Well, I was sorry to see that there was no new Friday Feast today. I probably could have surfed around and found a substitute, or even tried to recycle an old one, but instead, I thought I’d ask a “Question of the Day“. I haven’t done one of these in a while. I actually sort of ran out of interesting ideas. Maybe, since my blog is over 3 years old, I’ll have to go back and recycle some of the more popular ones that I’ve asked before 🙂

In the mean time, here’s one that I’ve been meaning to ask:

Have you ever read the ending of a book before you actually got to the end?

This is not something I have ever done. I always, always flip ahead though and see what page number is the last page. I have this thing about knowing how many pages are in the book, and at any given point, how far I am into a book and how much left I have to go. But, I never read the ending. I don’t like knowing how it will turn out. That sort of makes reading the book totally useless to me!

So, how about you? Have you ever flipped to the end to read how it’s going to turn out?