Ragus Pug - Always a house full of pugs

Books read in 2012

2012-01-05T23:02:00.001-06:00

Here's my list of books that I've read this year.

1. Feast Day of Fools by James Lee Burke

December happenings around here

2011-12-30T22:40:00.006-06:00

I had planned on having someone come over today to learn about how I do my work because she is thinking about getting into doing what I do for a living. She had to cancel today, so Aunt Sue and I took off over to SanDestin to go to the new Sephora store. We had never been to one...let's just say it was FUN to be in there and see so much make up and other beauty items. Definitely somewhere we'll be going back to when it's not so crowded like it was today.

We ate lunch at Tommy Bahama Cafe. Always a good lunch there.

We ordered a crispy fish sandwich. This is what arrived. If we had known it was going to be so big, we would have shared it.

We had the crab bisque. It was so good.

I took my leftovers home, but Aunt Sue didn't want to take hers. She was able to eat more of her fish than I was.

I got a new tablecloth and placemats for Christmas day. I used my Christmas china. It was the first year I used the glasses. I bought them at a Gail Pittman outlet store a few years ago. For Christmas dinner, we had beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, cherry and coke congealed salad, sweet potato casserole, broccoli and cheese casserole, cornbread dressing, macaroni and cheese and rolls. For dessert we had praline pecan cake. It was a lot of food and so good. I sent leftovers home with everyone.

This is my daddy opening his gift from mama. It's a keyboard. He knows how to play the piano and organ. He grew up with those. But he wanted to practice, so mama got him this. This is the only picture I took of any of us opening gifts.

We babysat the neighbor's dog on Christmas day. Aunt Sue went over with me and the husband to check on them in the afternoon. I took her picture in their back yard. It's so nice back there.

Our nephew's doggy stayed with us for a week at Christmastime. He is a good boy, but he got into a few things while he was here.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T01:04:00.000-06:00

Lily and Emma wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve on Pensacola Beach

2011-12-24T23:25:00.006-06:00

The husband and I walked out on the beach near sunset today. It was a beautiful day today.

My Christmas present this year was a camera that I bought back in October. I took it to North Carolina. I have not been impressed with the pictures I'm taking and I'm hoping it's just me and not the camera. I have not read the instructions yet. I have not even made a video with it yet either. So I'm not going to give it a thumbs down yet until I see if it's me and not the camera.

Here is a picture of a condo. I was standing down near the water.

Here is the balcony on one of the units. I zoomed in. I really like how well it zooms in.

Annual Trip to Celebrations

2011-12-24T20:55:00.009-06:00

Aunt Sue and I took our annual trip to the gift shop/florist in Pensacola. I love seeing what they have every year. I did not buy anything this year. Here are lots of pictures of what we saw in the gift shop.

Aunt Sue in her kitchen!

Cookie Swap 2011

2011-12-24T20:34:00.002-06:00

Aunt Sue and I attended a cookie swap over at a friend's house on December 17th. It was fun. I made double chocolate peppermint cookies. Here is the recipe.

2011 Christmas cookie first attempt

2011-12-13T23:11:00.003-06:00

I've been seeing cookies on pinterest and thought I'd like to try making some. I jumped in and bought cookie cutters and some decorating tools. Aunt Sue and I made cookies and she decorated them mostly. My decorating skills need a lot of work. Her skills are much better. It will take many more practice runs before we're comfortable giving them to someone as a gift. I think we'll just send them to work with my husband until we get better at it. But I made some royal icing and it was a huge failure. I think I put too much egg white powder in it. It was BAD. And it was A LOT! Had to start over. So much to learn and the only way to learn is to jump in there and make all the mistakes and get it out of the way.

Here is our 2011 first attempt at cookie baking and decorating.

mama's big and little girls

2011-12-12T22:20:00.002-06:00

Just dropping in to show these two beauties in their Christmas dresses by Punchy. I got a picture to make Christmas cards with and will be sending them out soon. I'm late with everything this year. MIL has been here visiting and I was sick for a while. Having Christmas dinner for husband's family this Thursday evening. Looking forward to seeing the little ones. There are three now from our nephew and his wife. And our niece and her husband are expecting twins next year. Looking forward to finding out if it's girls or boys. They already know they are identical.

These two are my little loves. Emma is mama's big girl and Lily is mama's little girl. They are getting along so much better now. It just took a little time for Emma to come around. They like to sit in the same bed when it's cold. They are are snuggling in the bed at night, too. I miss having a good boy in the house, but also nobody is lifting their leg on the furniture. That's a good thing.

Last day in Blowing Rock

2011-11-18T00:08:00.005-06:00

Our last full day in Blowing Rock had us going over to Grandfather Mountain. I loved it. The elevation is high and the air was really cool. I never got hot, and I never felt real cold either. I would love to live up that high in the summertime.

There was an area for some animals to live that cannot be in the wild on their own. I liked the bears. I enjoyed seeing them close but not too close. The backdrop of the color of the trees was amazing. We later found out that it was peak leaf color that day at Grandfather Mountain.

This picture shows a lot of the pretty color.
Aunt Sue and I saw this little rabbit. Can you find it? It's on the edge of the walkway right in the middle of the picture.
We went to the top where the swinging bridge is located. I wasn't going to cross the bridge but decided I would. It wasn't so bad if you could keep walking and NOT LOOK DOWN. I did stop to take some pictures while I was on there. I didn't see the sign that said only 40 people on the bridge at a time. So I didn't know to count...but what can you do if you're on that bridge and more than 40 people are on it with you? On the way back across the bridge to get off, I was behind someone who was SO SLOW. I thought to myself that if this bridge snaps and we all fall, I could have been off of it if I not been behind this slow person.
Aunt Sue in the middle of the bridge. You can see the sign on the floor that says you're 1 mile up in the air.
We then left the top and drove just a little way and stopped for a picnic. Cheese, crackers, hummus, fruit, cookies and chocolate.

We went back to Kristie's house and did some more crafting. We then went to eat dinner at a BBQ restaurant. We drove back to Kristie's for a little bit and then left to go back to the Crippen. We didn't sleep too well and woke up real early. We were back up to Kristie's before the sun came up to pick up Julie. Then we drove to Atlanta to pick up Lily at the foster home. I always enjoy going to Atlanta. We stopped at Trader Joe's to get some things. Julie was so funny. She had her buggy filled in about 10 minutes. I was shocked at how fast she shopped. After we picked up Lily, we headed home. We got home right before dark. It is a long drive.

We had a wonderful time. I will always think of this trip and remember how much I enjoyed my friends and Blowing Rock. Thanks to Kristie and her husband for hosting this trip.

Day 3 in Blowing Rock

2011-11-15T22:10:00.009-06:00

I have been snowed under with work since I got back from Blowing Rock, so I haven't been updating the blog. I'm way behind. Of course, I find time to get on Pinterest and waste plenty of time.

I loved our trip to Blowing Rock and being able to visit with friends. I think I left my heart there. Do you ever feel like you belong somewhere else and it's just a dream...that's how I feel about the mountains. I want to be there all the time. I don't necessarily have to be in North Carolina, could be Georgia or Tennessee or Virginia. I do love the high elevation of Blowing Rock and the surrounding area. It makes the air so cool and I'd love that in the summertime and fall. What's funny is that I don't like driving in the mountains and I'm scared of fog (really scared to drive in fog.) And don't know how to drive in snow. So I'm probably better off where I am here in Florida where there is no snow and no mountain steep roads or driveways.

Kristie's driveway is steep and it's heading downhill to the house. Aunt Sue pulled in and decided she wanted to turn around and face the other way so it would be easier to get out going back up the steep hill. Well, there were a lot of cars parked already in the driveway so space was at a premium. Well, one of the wheels went off the pavement and did not touch the ground and there was no traction. The bigger problem was that Pam's car was right where we were heading since we didn't have traction and gravity was just going to win this problem. So Pam had to come move her car. But Kristie's husband saved the day by figuring out how to get us out of that mess. I'm so thankful no one's car got hit! Aunt Sue said she will not park in the driveway again.

This is Sunday morning. We all got together for a picture before setting out for the day.

Shanny, who was with us on the trip, is a regular visitor to Valle Crucis where her stepdad has an old family home. She took us to see it. It was amazing to be inside the home and see the old picture and the way the house was made. There is no heat or air conditioning. But the wood floors were so pretty. The home is really lovely. I liked how big the rooms were. There may or may not be a ghost there. I'm afraid I won't be able to spend the night in the house because of the ghost story...I'm telling you, I'm scared like that.
Sitting on the porch at Shanny's family house in Valle Crucis.

The porch in front of the house.

This is the original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis. It is something to see on the inside. So many old things and old pictures in there to see. And lots of really neat merchandise. There were a lot of cute cast iron cooking items in there. They had so many different things for sale in there. I guess back in the day before there was much transportation, this place was the place to go to for your needs. And the annex store down the street a little bit has barrels of candy and old fashioned toys. I would like to spend more time there if I ever make it back up to Valle Crucis.

This is Shanny's place. It's across the street from the Mast store. Her stepdad is part of the Mast family. I don't think the Mast family still owns the store.
When we left Valle Crucis, we came back to Kristie's and did some crafting or sitting on the deck. I made paninis for dinner with Kristie's help. I love her kitchen. I love the window in her kitchen that looks out at the pretty side yard and patio. I don't have any pictures of the paninis.

While we were cooking dinner, Kristie's hubby was building a fire. This was absolutely the best evening! I haven't had that much fun in along time. He had these buckets of sticks and little logs. He used the grill for a firepit. I thought it made a nice firepit.
Here he is cooking a smores over the fire. He had a wood plank (something that Kristie's granddad had made, I think.) He made the smores with ginger cookies and chocolate peanut butter candy and marshmallows. It was funny to see the marshmallows being cooking on these little sticks.
We all laughed and laughed this evening. We heard coyotes howling. It was cold out there, too.
Close up of the smores.
The wind was blowing and the smoke had to go somewhere. So Punchy was trying to keep it out of her eyes and nose.
The firepit/BBQ grill.
I really enjoyed this day so much. Going to Valle Crucis was something I have always wanted to do and the rest of the day with friends and evening out by the fire and the cool air was something I will always remember.

Scary Cemetery 2011

2011-10-31T12:59:00.001-05:00

Second day in Blowing Rock

2011-10-25T21:25:00.006-05:00

Here are some more pictures from our trip to Blowing Rock. Most of these are from Saturday...but they are not all in order. I'll put up Sunday's pictures in the next post.

Saturday we walked around the shopping are in Blowing Rock and had lunch. We all kind of split off to go in different directions and then met again around 2:00 near the cupcake shop. This is everyone except me and Shannon near the cupcake shop.

Aunt Sue and I and Julie and Shannon had lunch at this restaurant. The food was not so good, but it was a nice place to sit outside and enjoy the cool air and fall colors of the leaves.

Saturday morning we went to the Watauga County Farmers' Market. So many pretty things to see and good things to eat. On Kristie's advice, I bought some sour dough buns for the paninis and they were really good. Got some pumpkin butter and raspberry jam, too.

This is the entrance to the Tweetsie Railroad in Boone, NC. We could hear the whistle blow all the way up at Kristie's place. During the month of October, it turns into a Ghost Train at night. The whistle changes from sweet to scary...it really sounds creepy, too.

Saturday evening we went to Bistro Roca for dinner. It was good and a very happening place. It was crowded...but Kristie and her husband had gotten reservations so no problems for us.

These animals were at the farmers' market. I think their people were selling yarn.

My dream would be to have a place like Kristie's in the mountains. This just dreamy to me. This is the side deck. It's just perfect for staying out of the rain but also for watching the little birds and chipmunks that come to the feeder.
This is my favorite view...it's the back deck. This deck runs the length of the house. Just perfect! I think I could just stay out here all the time.

These beautiful hydrangeas were everywhere up there. These were in Kristie's yard.
Cute little bike/flower pot scene.
Pretty border made with wine bottles.
Pam and Julie and Chalica enjoying Saturday morning in the living room.
I'll be back with more pictures. I have to post about our new family member tomorrow.

lily goes to the vet

2011-10-25T00:22:00.003-05:00

I'm looking for a certain picture from the trip to North Carolina. So I'm going to share this picture of Lily and then get back to the North Carolina trip.

Here is Lily with the vet we use. She was biting her feet. I wasn't sure if she was having a reaction to the treats we gave her or if her butt needed expressing ... if you know what I mean. So doctor examined her and gave her some more of the annual shots she needed and took care of the butt problem. She was much better and no more biting her feet. I haven't tried another one of those treats with her, so don't know if that was part of the problem.

She is such a sweet girl. She insist on trying to wake me up at 3:10 every morning. And I've been trying to get her to wait a little bit. She seems to be getting the hint that I'm not going to get up and deal with her that early. But she still likes to get up early.

Blowing Rock Meetup 2011

2011-10-23T20:35:00.004-05:00

Two weeks ago, October 7, on a Friday, Aunt Sue and Magnolia Sun and I left about 6:00 in the morning to go to Blowing Rock, NC., for the bloggy meetup group of friends get-together. Girlville and her husband hosted it at their mountain house. They were great hosts and made us all feel welcome. It was truly was a great time with friends. It was so nice to have it at their house because you could spread out and be at the dinning room table or on the deck or in the kitchen or living room. Everyone stayed at the mountain house except Aunt Sue and I. We wanted to stay at a bed and breakfast because we were not sure if the house would be so crowded and we like to sleep with the light on and the TV on..and that sometimes doesn't work out for others.

Aunt Sue and Julie and I stopped in Atlanta for a chick-fil-A. We actually had a picnic on the back of the car in the parking lot. We were tired of sitting down. It felt good to stand up for a few minutes. We then headed on through South Carolina and then into North Carolina. We stopped at a CVS and got a few things. We found that gas was pretty good bit cheaper up in the Carolinas.

We finally made it to the Crippin Country Inn where Aunt Sue and I were staying. We checked in. The room was small. It was clean. It's an old house with guestrooms upstairs and a nice restaurant downstairs. The floors creaked a lot. That was only bad because we would come in late at night from being up at Girlville's place. I felt like our walking around that late would wake every else up. The Crippen has the good little chocolate covered dinner mints in a bowl upstairs for the guests and you could also have bottles of water and half cans of sodas...all you wanted. I put so many of those mints in my purse that I had some every day for a week after I got back home. The breakfast at Crippen was okay. It was grits and gravy and biscuits and bacon and scrabbled eggs. Orange juice, coffee. I never did see any fresh fruit or yogurt or anything like that. I didn't ask for it either. I do like biscuits and grits and bacon..so all was okay with me.

The weather was beautiful. We were there on what I believe was the best weekend for the fall colors of the leaves. I have never seen anything so pretty in the mountains as the leaves turning colors....so many different colors and then green grass just sets those colors off.

After checking in at Crippen, we went on to Girlville's. We had the GPS on the phone, which is pretty reliable. But the mountain that Girlville's house is on is ... it's a mountain and it's in a neighborhood that is curvy roads and it's pretty high up...so the GPS was not getting us to the address as easily as it should have. So we had to call...I heard that everyone had to call because they got lost around that area. Finding it in the daylight is one thing, but one night we left there to go back to the Crippen and it was dark. We didn't take the correct turn and ended up a ways down the road before we realized we didn't know where we were. So the GPS did get up back the right direction. But it's dark dark dark up in those mountains at night...my imaginations was really working overtime.

This is one of the roads near the Crippen in downtown Blowing Rock.

This is what we saw going up to Girlville's place. It was a pretty meadow with that tree.

This is the room at the Crippen. It was supposed to have twin beds...and this is twin beds but there is a mattress thing that covers both twin beds. If we ever stay there again, we'll know to tell them to move the beds apart or get a bigger room that has the beds separated.

When we got to Girlville's place, Punchy and Chalica and Courtney and Girlville and her husband were there. They had fixed chili and pumpkin cornbread for dinner. It was good!

Another picture of the room. You see that wall where the picture is hanging...there was a fireplace downstairs and that wall was the chimney going up. It was so hot...and it heated up the room. Even though it was cold outside, I still had to open the window to cool off.

Pam and Shanny showed up with the next hour while were eating dinner. Shanny sells Thirty-One products. It was really nice to see them in person. They are different bags and items to keep you organized. Shanny is so FUNNY. And Chalica was her right-hand saleswoman. I almost wondered if Chalica was a salesperson, too. I bought a thermal picnic tote and got another item for a discount. I got free monogramming on the picnic tote. I'll show a picture of it another day. And Aunt Sue got a wristlet.

My next post will be about what we did on Saturday!

I have to say I have good memories of this trip and will always think of it as a very special time.

Our new member of the family: LILY

2011-10-13T11:37:00.006-05:00

I just spent four lovely days up in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. It was so beautiful it's hard to describe the colors of the leaves changing on the trees. Thanks to girlville and her husband for having a lot of us up there for a meetup. I will be posting about that in my next few posts.

Right now I want to introduce Lily also known as Lily Bean. She is a little doll. I hope to hear from her former mother so that she can fill me in on any details that I don't know. Plus just so she can feel better about what Lily is up to and know that we will love her and take good care of her.

This is Lily on her way home from Atlanta on October 11, 2011. She rode in the back seat with me. We stopped at Home Goods and got a blanket for her to wrap up in. It's purple with paw prints. She came with a pretty collar an leash, a couple of toys and a bed and some food and treats.

Here is Emma and Lily enjoying the sunshine on the front courtyard area.

Here is Lily in the bed this morning. She loves to get up early and walk on top of you to get up. This is opposite of Emma. Emma loves to sleep until I get up.

Here is Lily wanting to get back inside. There was a noise going on that she didn't like so she was pretty insistent to get back in. Those are the new front doors that we FINALLY got. No glass in them...which I would have loved but the husband did not want anyone to see inside.

We got Lily from SEPRA. That's where we got Emma from back in 2008. Lily and Emma both were adopted out in 2008. They came from the same puppy mill situation. They look and act a lot alike. I think they may be related. I understand that Lily was very protective of her former mother and that her former mother had gotten married and is expecting a baby so she felt like the best thing to do was give Lily back to SEPRA for them to find her the right home. I know that must have been the hardest thing to do for her former mother. My heart goes out to her. I know when Chalica gave us Alfred and Holly, it was hard but I'm glad to know that Chalica trusted us to take care of them and love them. So Lily will be our new "baby" here.

She follows me and only wants to spend her time where I am. Hopefully, once she gets to know us, she will spend time with the husband. We've had so many pugs over the years, I know they get more into the routine around here after awhile. She ate dinner shortly after we got home from picking her up in Atlanta. I was afraid she wouldn't eat, but that has not been an issue. She eats at meal times and takes treats and is drinking water just fine. I'm already in love with her! I am going to dress her up in black and yellow knit dress from Punchy's Originals when it gets cooler outside. And Lily and Emma will be wearing the red and white Christmas dresses that belonged to Chichi and Tiny. Chalica, I wish you were here to take their Christmas portrait!

When we picked her up from the foster mom in Atlanta, it was so fun to see the other pugs that she was taking care of. She is a special needs foster mom. She tries to get the pugs back into good health. They were so sweet. She has a big black pug that is the most beautiful black pug I've ever seen. His name is Brick. He is up for adoption. But he will have to go to a home that is very calm. He is blind and you can read his story over HERE. His coat and skin are beautiful now. But he still will have to have more care because of his eyes. I wish the husband was with me, because I think he would have wanted to adopt him, too. We are so happy to have Lily with us now. We are so lucky that these little ones just want to be loved and taken care of and are always happy to see us. Plus they are never going to grow up and ask for the car keys! I hope every one who loves pugs can one day adopt at least one from a rescue group!

There will be more pictures and stories to come from Lily and Emma. And also pictures and stories of the trip to the mountains.

nice day for a beach wedding

2011-10-04T02:40:00.004-05:00

Saturday a couple from church were married at the beach. I've lived here 24 years and never attended a wedding on the beach. When I think about that, I'm surprised. It was a beautiful day. Not hot and no clouds and no waves. No waves means that we could actually hear them say their vows.

The bride asked Aunt Sue to do her cake. This is the third cake this year she has made and she's not even in the cake business.

Aunt Sue and a friend of ours from church. She is originally from the Philippines. When you get invited to lunch at her house...you are in for a treat. She cooks so good.

The couple saying their vows.

The day was perfect for a wedding. No waves crashing.

Aunt Sue and I and another lady from church worked on the cake. The other lady baked the cakes and Aunt Sue decorated. I made helped with the shells and pearls. The hardest part was the coral. Aunt Sue piped it out with royal icing. It was really fragile. We made a lot and most of it broke anyway.

Christmas Reindeer

2011-09-27T15:37:00.003-05:00

I love to decorate with glass reindeer. I saw this display in Hobby Lobby the other day. The was an acrylic standing reindeer and a sitting one reindeer. They were both $99. With a 40 percent off coupon, it would be a better price...but still too much for me to get both of them. I'm going to take my chances and see if there are any left later on in the year.

Winner of Halloween giveaway

2011-09-21T19:23:00.003-05:00

I want to thank everyone that wanted to participate in my annual Halloween giveaway. I do enjoy giving things away. I should do it more often. The winner is No. 8. That's Punchy! Hey Punchy...You won!!

Annual Halloween Giveaway

2011-09-15T08:59:00.002-05:00

It's time for the annual Halloween decoration giveaway. Girlville is having a giveaway, too. Please go over and leave a comment on her blog for a chance to win her Halloween goodie. I hope everyone who comes by here will leave a comment. The winner will be chosen next Wednesday. This is a tea light holder from Yankee Candle. I do not have a tea light to include, so this is just for the decoration. But do not use a voltive in this...only use a tea light.

I've been stopping by different cupcake stores when I see them and trying out the cupcakes. This was a cream cheese pound cake cupcake. Aunt Sue and I cut it in half and shared. I wonder how well the cupcake shops are doing. I think the cupcakes are expensive, but the shops all seem to have competitive prices.

old oak trees get cut down

2011-08-30T22:38:00.003-05:00

I want to thank everyone for the sweet comments about Alfred. We sure do miss him. The husband is doing okay, but I always make sure to put Emma with him when he's watching TV. She tends to stick with me all the time. Alfred ALWAYS hung out with the husband...so I know that's lonely for him.

Today the tree cutting service cut down trees between our neighbor's house and our house. They were between their driveway and ours. I was not all for them getting cut. I think it was done because the neighbor has a new boat that gets parked in his driveway and trees were dumping leaves and acorns on it. He asked the husband if he could cut them down and the husband told him he could if he got permission from the city to have them cut. The neighbor said he would pay for it. Can't cut big trees here in the city limits without permission. So they cut them today. I was sad to see them go. I think part of them may have been rotting, so that's the only way I feel okay about cutting trees down.

This tree's limbs were already cut before I took this picture.

I'll be calling the tree service tomorrow to get an estimate for some branches to be trimmed. We have a lot of trees and some dead branches need to be cut out. I'm always scared something is going to break the roof in a hurricane. We had several trees come down in Hurricane Ivan and had to have a crane take them off the house. They only broke the eave of the roof in one place. I dread it when there's hurricanes out there coming this way.

Alfred earned his angel wings

2011-08-27T19:54:00.004-05:00

Sweet Alfred earned his angel wings this morning. He had been diagnosed a while back with a collapsing trachea and had been taking medication to help keep him comfortable. This past week he had been showing more symptoms but never had a really bad episode with his breathing until last night. He started not being able to catch his breath and we took him to the emergency vet. They admitted him and gave him a sedative and x-rays and put him in an oxygen tent. Ed was able to pick him up this morning and he was not doing well at all and took him to our vet we use and they had to go ahead and let him go to the rainbow bridge. I like to think of Holly, his sister, and the other loved ones that have passed on being there to greet him and run and play.

Chalica was his first mom. He was her baby. She loved him so much and gave him a good home and he was in her wedding when she married her husband. She gave us the opportunity to take Alfred and Holly when they moved to Korea for her husband's job. Aunt Sue and I drove to Atlanta and met her and her friend and her sweet Jackson who was just about 8 months old. We met in a parking lot of a mall and she said goodbye to Alfred and Holly and we took them back to Florida with us. I still do not know what it feels like to have to give my doggies up because I can't take them, but I'm so happy that she chose us to give them to. That's got to be a hard thing to do, but I know she knew we'd love them and take care of them.

He was such a sweet and easy-going pug. He did not get upset with other doggies that came to visit. He loved people. We had workmen here this week working on our front door and he just sat there and watched them forever. He loved Tonia who comes over every couple of weeks to clean. He would follow her around while she's here. He loved to sit outside and sleep in the sun. He loved pot roast. I made that this past Monday and it has to cook for 4 to 5 hours. It started smelling up the house after an hour and he was just beside himself after about 3 hours. He was whining for me to get up and do something about it! I'm glad he got some pot roast this past week. Most of all he loved the husband here. He spent every moment with his daddy when his daddy was home. He sat by his chair or in the chair with him. He sat outside the bathroom door if he was in the bathroom. He waited at the front door when it was time for his daddy to get home. He loved to get a taste of our food at dinnertime. He would make a little grunty noise and just stare at us with those sweet eyes. He and Emma would get in the same little bed together most of the time. I rarely see the husband get upset but he was so upset about his buddy leaving today. He will miss him so much. Alfred could not hear so I used some hand motions to tell him to come on in or that there was no more food to eat or to go potty. I am going to miss all these things about him.

Emma did not know what to do this evening at dinnertime when her "Bubbie" was not here. She like to look in his bowl and then her bowl and see which one she wanted to eat. He would let her do whatever she wanted to do and then he would take whichever one she didn't want. Sometimes if she was taking too long to decide, he would just go ahead and start eating. Then she would butt in and he would just walk over to the other bowl and start eating. He just was so good not get upset.

This is the last picture that I took of Alfred and Emma a couple of weeks ago. They liked to sit in the same bed. We have two beds in three different places in the house.

Here they are just sitting on the couch.

I love this picture of them together outside in the sun. One of their favorite places to be.

Here is Alfred in a bed in the living room. There is another bed that stays by that one. This is where he will sit while his daddy is watching TV unless he is sitting beside his daddy in the chair.

This is Herbie, Emma and Alfred. They were all good buddies. Herbie enjoyed coming over. He would lick Alfred to death and sometime Alfred would look at us like "make him stop" but he never acted bad to Herbie.

Alfred out by the pool. He loved that sunshine and warm concrete in the wintertime.

He has this tent in the room where there is a treadmill. He would get in that tent when his daddy was on the treadmill. There's usually a lot of toys in the tent. Alfred loved to shake his monkey toy and his Santa toy. His santa toy was sent to him from his other mother, Chalica.

Here is how it all began. This is Chalica saying goodbye to Alfred in Atlanta. I captured the moment on the camera, but you can hardly capture what's in the heart in a picture. Those two loved each other.

Alfred will be cremated and he will be with the others here that have gone before him. Our plan is to not get anymore doggies but to get a cat whenever Emma grows her angle wings. Hopefully that will not happen for many years. We will probably bury all our pugs' ashes after Emma leaves us one day. But I say this and at the same time I cannot imagine not having a pug in my life....so you never know what lies ahead. Just know that we miss the ones we had and so glad we had them for the little time that we did. It's never long enough.

wedding cake decorating

2011-08-10T01:48:00.004-05:00

Last weekend Aunt Sue made a groom's cake and wedding cake for someone at church. I thought I'd share some pictures here of it. The cakes were baked by someone else at church and then she picked them up and brought them to my house for decorating. She does a wonderful job. The calla lilies were gum paste and bought from the local cake shop, but she did the rest of the decorating. I made up the cream cheese icing for the groom's cake. I think I sifted 6 or more pounds of sugar. I got had so much sugar everywhere in the kitchen. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot work!

The groom's mother brings her little doggy everywhere she goes. It was at the wedding reception.

The bride and groom and bride's daugther while the marriage license is signed by the preacher.

Aunt Sue decorating.

Trouble also known as Bobbie Lee and Emma sitting nicely while cakes are decorated. Alfred was somewhere close by....probably in the kitchen.

Fill in the Blank Friday and a pesty tale

2011-07-21T23:47:00.003-05:00

I've been bad about posting here. I really have not been doing much to tell about, but I thought I'd participate in Fill in a Blank Friday today. And after that, if you want to hang around a minute, I'll tell you a story about about devils and snakes that live in this area.

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This Fill in the Blank Friday is all about summer. You can find the main page at Lauren's blog at The Little Things We Do.

1. One of my happiest days ever was: I'm going to center this answer around summertime. When I think about happy and summertime, I think of the vacations we went on as a family when we were little. The parents would rent a beach house most of the time with our grandmother and aunt and uncle and cousins. So many good memories from those days. I can't think of a "day" that stands out for "happy."

2. Summer is wedding season and weddings are: They are sweet and fun usually. I love any chance to eat cake and other yummy things.

3. This summer: This summer seems to be moving along quickly. I hope it continues to move along quickly. It's been extremely hot with little rain.

4. My summer food of choice has been: Well, I consume too much sugar all the time...but watermelon is my absolute favorite summer food. It also has plenty of natural sugar in it.

5. My summer uniform has been: shorts, t-shirt, flip-flops or sandals.

6. If I could spend the entire summer in one location it would be: I think I would love to spend a summer in the Blue Ridge Mountains. But I want to be close to a town but still be in the woods. I just want to be in a cooler place than I am right now.

7. My summer anthem is: Anything by Jimmy Buffett. His music is just beachy and summery. I think Margaritaville is my favorite summer song. My grandmother loved that song. She didn't drink at all, but I think she liked the catchy tune.

Now, I have a short story to tell. One night Aunt Sue and I were at a church function. It was dark when we left there, and I took Aunt Sue home. We drove up in her driveway. She has a wooden gate into her patio that you have to go through to get to her front door. She also has a big old oak tree in her yard. Well, if you're from the South, you know where I'm going with this story. There was a big old devil on that gate, and it has wings and can fly and/or run fast. Plus there were some on the driveway, too. So we started an ambush campaign from the passenger seat of the car. She threw things at the devil on the gate and missed every single time. Here is a list of what she threw at the devil: Three or four 20 oz Sunkist bottles (empty), one Southern Living Magazine, a Triple A travel magazine, one Christmas gift bag, 1 trial size tube of toothpaste...by this time we were laughing so hard that she was afraid her neighbors might think we had been drinking. All these items had been riding in my car...now you know I'm not so neat. She had to call her husband to come out and open the gate so that the devil would move on. He came out and said, "What happened out here?" It really was funny. Looked like someone had dumped a lot of trash on her lawn.

Another day Aunt Sue saw a snake with a big frog in its mouth. She opened the door and the frog was crying...so she threw something at the snake and it dropped the frog and the frog got away. I'm glad I didn't see that.

That's enough excitement for now. It's so hot here that it's just crazy. We had one day this week that it rained all day...but we're still well below average for the year.

Emma and Alfred are doing well. Alfred was diagnosed (I don't know the proper name) but his trachea is collapsing or closing. He is on medication and seems to be doing pretty good. We make sure he doesn't stay outside but a few minutes at a time. No walks while it's hot or even warm. He loves the husband so much. The husband was out of town earlier this week and Alfred pouted the whole time. When he got back, Alfred was his happy self again. He is a good big boy. Emma went with my over to my parents' house for the Fourth of July and she would not sit down in the seat. She had to ride on top of me the whole time, and I was driving. I am not doing that again. She is going to have to get a seat belt or ride on top of someone who is not driving. Alfred stayed home with his daddy for the Fourth...I think they sat in the recliner and watched TV all day.

The twins have their fourth birthday party this Saturday. We are going to the party. The invitation says "No gifts please." What should I do? Any suggestions would be so welcome.

when birds make a nest in your tree

2011-07-07T05:00:00.005-05:00

Aunt Sue has a pretty oak tree in her yard that gives off good shade. Some green herons made a nest (right over her driveway where she parks.) Three babies hatched and she had fun watching the parents take care of them and finally seeing the babies when they were old enough to be seen. Aunt Sue lives near the water and she was finding small fish on the ground under the nest. She noticed that the parents had not been around for a day or two. Then she found one of the babies on the ground. It didn't seem to have much energy. She called the wildlife sanctuary and they told her to bring it in if it didn't start moving around trying to get back to the nest. She fixed a bucket with some paper towels in it and put the bird in the bucket.

We drove the bird over to the Northwest Florida Wildlife Sanctuary. The man that helped us was so very nice. Aunt Sue had to fill out a form. He took the bird in the bucket and gave the bucket back to Aunt Sue after he cleaned it up. After we got back home, the man called about an hour later and said the bird died. He said it was very undernourished and probably was sick.
The other two babies seemed to have been able to grow and leave the nest without problems.

I found this picture on the internet of a green heron.

Fourth of July

2011-07-04T09:52:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share this Fourth of July paper craft banner. I bought a banner kit from this store on esty. This lady makes beautiful cards and banners and other things. Her work is just always so nice. I sometimes buy cards that she makes so I'll have cards to send when I don't have a chance to make my own. This kit came with the materials and instructions. I only had to use some of my ink and a star stamp of my own. I added a few embellishments of my own, too. But I didn't need to. She included everything that you see except a couple of the little sparkly things. Her instructions were just right. She said she is going to try to make some other banner kits for her etsy shop. I hope she makes a Halloween one...I'll be getting that.

Girlville has very cute fabric banners in her esty store. She will custom make them for you, too. I recently purchased an apron from her. I let her pick the fabrics and she always does a wonderful job. They are so cute!

I will be back soon with more pictures!

gone too long so back with food pictures

2011-06-28T18:11:00.007-05:00

I have been gone too long from this blog. Nothing much to tell about. Went over to the parents house and cooked an onion pie with a saltine crust. It was pretty good. When I do that again, I'll take a picture and share the recipe. It's been so hot here and only had two rainfalls that combined made half an inch. So the back yard still is a mess. Just dirt. The patio builder is ordering the pavers so we can get that done sometime soon. I hear thunder now, so that's promising but not guaranteed that it will rain here. Lots of activities going on at church this summer, so hopefully I'll get some pictures of that. This time of year, I just like to stay inside because it's so hot.

Aunt Sue and I went to SanDestin yesterday to go to the Fresh Market for some ingredients that I needed to make a salad for the Fourth of July. Wish there was a FreshMarket here near us. While we were over that way, we ate lunch at Tommy Bahama restaurant. I have pictures to show.

This is the restaurant.

We shared this fried green tomato stack.

We both ordered this salad with green apples and blue cheese and corn and bacon. It was so good.

We shared this pina colada cake. It was cold and really good.

I'll be back soon to share a cupcake picture and books that I've read and a Fourth of July banner that I paper crafted (sort of).

Meet Me on Monday

2011-06-06T01:39:00.004-05:00

1. What is was the last piece of candy that you ate? A pecan praline from the local pecan store. I LOVE them.

2. Do you "read" in the bathroom? No.

3. I can't stand when someone _________? Takes the Lord's name in vain. Even using the "OMG" when writing or texting. If you're a Christian and you do this, you need to go study your Bible and see what it says about that.

4. Do you do daily, weekly or monthly grocery shopping? I go about every other day.

It's Friday and it's hot

2011-05-27T15:27:00.005-05:00

Hillary over at Feeling Beachie has a Friday Q&A every week.

This week’s statements:

1. I despise the expression_______
2. I put _____ on my burgers
3. If I could have any view out my kitchen window it would be ___________
4. If money were no object I would _____________________

My Answers:

1. I despise the expression C'est la vie or "such is life."

2. I put cheese on my hamburgers. I almost don't want a hamburger if it does not have cheese on it.

3. If I could have any view out my kitchen window, it would be a view of a green tropical lawn reaching down to the ocean in Hawaii. I have had a dream over and over again of this little house I live in in Hawaii. I'm standing in my kitchen washing dishes looking out the old jalousie windows at tropical flowers and trees and it's all shaded and goes to the ocean. It's a DREAM! This dream has something to do with my grandmother going to Hawaii back in the '70s. The kitchen in the dream is her kitchen but set in Hawaii instead of Alabama!

4. If money were no object I would open a fund for people who have animals and cannot afford the medical care for them.

I found these pictures on the internet. It's a beach house in Hawaii. This is the front yard. The house even has jalousie windows!

View of backyard.

beach day video

2011-05-25T09:01:00.002-05:00

I took this video last week at the beach. It really was a beautiful day.

Just a note FYI: Someone stole my credit card number and tried to charge $800 in Miami Heat tickets. Thankfully, the ticketmaster company saw it might be fraud and called me to verify. I had to cancel my credit card and get a new one.

cottage-style home

2011-05-22T22:47:00.009-05:00

Recently, there was a open house for a home that is a couple of blocks from where I live. Aunt Sue and I went. It's a cottage-style home. It was built by the same builder that built our first house. They do very nice, quality work.

This house deeper on the lot than it is wide. The way it lays out is the guest bedroom and office and master bedroom and both bathrooms are on the left side and the garage, laundry, kitchen, dining and living room and screen-in porch are on the right side. I didn't get pictures of all the details. I really like this house. It's 2100 square feet and sits on a cliff above the bay and shares a walk-out pier with the house that will be built next-door. This house was already sold but they have more lots available. I'll only be able to build one of these if I win the lottery...which I have not been playing.

Enjoy the tour!

Front of the cottage house.

Built-ins in the living room/dining room area.

View of the living room.

Looking back toward kitchen.

Wall seat in the dining room are between the kitchen and the living room.

The kitchen is at the front of the house. Window looks out to the driveway. Lots of cabinets and storage.
Island is long.
All appliances are on one wall. Kitchen is open to dining room and living room. Also have a view to the backyard.

Pantry in the kitchen. Was a bit on the small side but still very nice.

Laundry room with lots of built-in shelves.

Master bathroom was so nice. It had a nice tub but I didn't get a picture. Has a walk-in shower that was plenty big.

The master bedroom has a sitting room that has a view out to the backyard.

Master bedroom. Not a good picture. It was a nice-sized room.

Ironing board in the master closet.

Bathroom between the guest room and the office.

There is a murphy bed in the wall. Lots of built-in closet and shelves and drawers in these rooms if you prefer not to have furniture.

There is a built-in desk all the way across the wall. I would love to look out the window while working.

This is the guest bedroom. It has built-in closets and cabinets for TV and other things. I didn't get a picture of that wall.

View out the back of the hosue and every two houses share a pier.

View of the back of the house.

Thankful for days like this

2011-05-18T22:36:00.002-05:00

Today was one of those days at the beach when the water was flat and clear. There was not any humidity...I never broke a sweat today. Aunt Sue and I stayed out there about 4 hours. I'm so thankful for days like this.

We both took our Kindles and did some reading. I could read the Kindle great in that bright light. My new cell phone, I could not see what was on the screen unless I put a towel over my head and looked at it in the dark.

I really like it when the water is so clear.

Birthday 2011

2011-05-14T20:38:00.004-05:00

I had a good birthday today. Aunt Sue and I went to a restaurant at the beach. Nice views and food. The husband and I went to get my present. A new cell phone. I have a lot to learn about using it. I have not had a new phone since 2004. A lot of changes since then. Now I'll be able to text...see how far behind I am?
Aunt Sue's lunch.

My lunch.

View

New phone.

Birthday cake that we had over at parents' house last weekend. It sure was good.

Final picture on the pool fill-in

2011-05-11T16:16:00.000-05:00

The pool fill-in is complete. It's weird to walk out there and think about standing on top of the pool area. I could not find out much information on filling in a pool and the cost involved when I was researching it. I am going to tell what we paid for this. The total was $5,295. We're getting some bids on a patio. Maybe pavers or stamped concrete. The yard is going to be natural landscaping. A little at a time. We're not putting in any more irrigation than is already there. That's the plan for now. I'm getting bids on a privacy fence to replace the broken fence. So glad I can let the pugs out the door and not worry about them falling in the pool. Now, if there was a way to get rid of snakes...I'd be happy.

pool decommissioning day 4

2011-05-06T08:15:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, the new jackhammer that uses an air compressor did the job of getting the concrete broken up. The concrete was dumped into the ground. Dirt is being brought in and placed in the hole. They are to be wetting down the dirt every once in a while. I went out there after they left and really put a lot of water on the dirt. I'm a bit concerned about the dirt settling over time and the way the concrete was dumped in there and creating pockets where the dirt will settle later on. I'm going to have a talk with the supervisor today about that. I just don't want to have to bring in dirt every year to level it out after the dirt settles into crevices. But that may happen anyway.

Lots of dirt. I'm having to vacuum the floors every day because that dirt is everywhere outside.

Pool decommissioning days 2 and 3

2011-05-04T21:40:00.002-05:00

Day two a little more progress. They took the fence down in a section so they could drive the tractor thing back there.

The concrete in this area was coming up pretty easy. But the inspector still had not been here yet, so they could not continue until he approves.

DAY 3. The inspector came out in the morning and approved. I called the workmen and they came out in the afternoon and continued to jackhammer the concrete. A load of dirt was delivered and put at the end of the driveway near the sidewalk out front. They have discovered that a second slab of concrete is beneath the top one. Must have been a patio there before. They are going to need to rent a more powerful jackhammer and probably bring in more dirt. The bossman came to the door and said they would need more money for this. I'll let you all know what the final cost is after this is all finished.

I hope they get a lot accomplished tomorrow.

decommissioning the pool

2011-05-03T12:44:00.003-05:00

The pool is in the decommissioning process. About three weeks ago, we put down a deposit to have the pool taken out. They said they would get started in about four days, so we didn't clean it anymore...well, that turned into about two to three weeks...so the pool was quite green by the time they got here to take it apart.
The pool man yesterday said that it was probably best that we were taking the pool out now because if we had needed a new liner and they saw all this rust on the walls, they would have suggested we rewall the pool. I don't even want to think how much that would cost...probably as much as we're paying to take it out. He said they haven't made pools with these kind of walls since the early '80s. It really is an old pool. Probably built in earl '70s when the house was built.

Here is what happened yesterday. They pump the backwash pump on and started emptying the water. They poked holes somewhere also so it would drain.

Isn't this a pretty picture??? This is at 11:00 a.m.

3:00 p.m. it was almost drained.

They tore the liner out and some rubble is at the bottom.

Here is where a light was that shined in the pool at night. It was a problem because it would leak. A few years ago we had to drain the pool enough to get them to be able to fix it properly. You can tell it had really rusted out. On the greenish part there, you can see roots growing. They were underneath the liner, not in the actual pool part.

The pool is 10 feet deep. I can't even go near it while it's empty because it makes me feel funny because I'm afraid I'll fall in. Dogs are not allowed out there while it's in this state.

Now we're just waiting for an inspector to come by and look and give the go ahead to start filling it in. We had to get a permit from the city to fill it in, too. Pool man said they are filling in a lot of pools this year.

Meet me on Monday and baby shower

2011-05-02T16:33:00.002-05:00

1. What is your favorite kind of muffin?
Muffins are not my favorite pastry. I do like anything with chocolate.

2. What was the first car you ever owned?
My first car was a 1966 Mustang. My parents had it painted a sparkling blue. It ended up not being reliable enough so I had to get something else. It would be fun to have it now..of course, an air condition installed in it would be nice, too.

3. Which TV Show were you sad to see end?
I loved Magnum PI. I did not want to see it end. I wish there was another good-looking PI story set in Hawaii. But maybe it would never measure up to Magnum PI.

4. What is your lucky number?
I really don't have a lucky number.

5. Pretzels or Potato Chips?
I like potato chips, and I like dip. There used to be a clam dip that was sold in the grocery stores, but I have not found it in years.

There was a baby shower at church yesterday afternoon. It was decorated so pretty by the church secretary. Here's the food and gift table.

Here is the new big sister of the baby who will be born in June. She attended the shower and she had some gifts of her own to open. She reminds me so much of AM's Emma. Does anyone else see that?

cupcake pedestal with dome

2011-04-28T00:27:00.003-05:00

I saw Bakerella's post on this shop, Sweet and Saucy, and really liked these cake pedestals with domes. I bought the small one. I'll be happily findings sweets to put on here to photograph....and eat!

cousins

2011-04-26T21:52:00.002-05:00

Our cousin and her wife came to visit us last night. They were in town for a long weekend vacation. We went to our favorite restaurant and then when to Publix and got a key lime pie and came back to the house and ate and talked and talked and talked. We had a lot of fun. We haven't been in touch in a few years and hope it's not that long a time before we see each other again. They live in NYC and it was fun to hear about life up there.

Happy Easter 2011

2011-04-24T21:37:00.003-05:00

Happy Easter! Today was a really nice day. Today is about what is written in the Bible at John Chapter 20. The sermon at church today was on this chapter. I really like how the preacher breaks down the verses and helps us to understand. Today is important because of what Jesus did for us back then. He is still savings lives now.

If anything has turned you away from the Lord and studying his word and being a part of fellowship with other Christians, I hope you will give it another chance. I have and am so happy that I did. I let my feelings get hurt years ago by fellow church members who are just human and not perfect....along with hanging out with some people who were not believers. I stayed away from church for a long time. But I realized that I was wrong. God is perfect and is always there for us when we are ready to come back to Him.

Aunt Sue and I and the husband went to our parents' house today. We had a good time. We had a good lunch and the husband went to the outlet mall to get some things while Aunt Sue and I stayed and visited with the parents.

Here is little Mouse.... also known as Mouseman. He is going through the heartworm treatments. The shelter where they got him is paying for the treatments. He seems to be doing well.

Well, I finally joined Facebook. I missed too many of you guys who don't post much anymore, so I had to find a way to see what you all are doing. I learning how to work the things on facebook, so I don't now what I'm doing yet. But it's fun to look up people!

Finally a Winner

2011-04-22T12:14:00.003-05:00

Thanks to everyone for playing the guessing game. It was fun to read the guesses. I'll have to do another one of these soon. I really enjoy giving things away!

four generations and update on giveaway

2011-04-21T09:32:00.003-05:00

*** I'm going to go ahead and tell you what the answer is and announce a winner of the gift card tomorrow FRIDAY at noontime. I can't wait any longer. Your guesses have been fun to read.

My MIL was in town for a couple of weeks. While she was here she stayed with us a little bit. One evening we had BIL and SIL and nephew and his wife, the new baby and the twins over. The twins are growing up and their looks are changing so fast. New baby looks just like them. Twins Mom said the new baby and the twins' baby pictures do look very much alike.

This is the new baby who is 3 and half weeks old in this picture. My MIL is holding him. That's his grandmother beside her and his mother (who looks so good to have just had a baby.) Four generations there! My Brother-in-law in the blue shirt and the twins and their dad in the red shirt over by the pool. Twins were interested in the pool!

Guess what? Win a Starbucks gift card

2011-04-19T09:22:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday to Magnolia Sun today! I wished her happy birthday yesterday, and she reminded me that it was today! Every year I have a hard time remembering if her birthday is the 18th or 19th. It's one of those brain problems.

I want to giveaway a Starbucks gift card. So I have a little contest about something going on right now. If more than one person guesses correctly, I will put those names in a drawing. If no one guesses correctly, then everyone's name will go in the drawing. If you don't like coffee, go ahead and guess because you can always give the gift card to someone who does! Anwer to this will be coming this weekend.

Here's some clues.

1. Something I've wanted to do for a long time and husband just decided he really wanted to do it, too.
2. Husband's family was here last weekend and when told of this they didn't seem happy to hear it. But we're okay with that. Only MIL voiced her displeasure with it.
3. My family is okay with it.
4. It's something that is not done too often. I've tried to research it on the internet and didn't find much to go by.
5. Most people think you are crazy to do this. Mostly because it's cost prohibitive.
6. You do not have to leave town to do this.
7. I heard that older people do it more than younger.
8. I ask the husband every day if he's changed his mind. He says, Not at all. He's happy about it.

I hope you have fun guessing this. I hope the clues are not to hard or not too easy!

I'll post the answer and winner on Sunday!

Meet Me on Monday

2011-04-18T15:19:00.004-05:00

1. Caesar Salad or Garden Salad?
I'm not much of a salad eater, but I do like Caesar better than garden.

2. Will you be watching the Royal Wedding on April 29th?
You bet I'll be watching. I watched Diana's wedding and can't wait to see Kate's wedding.

3. Last thing you spent lots of money on?
We just put a deposit down on something today that would qualify for this category.

4. Window seat or aisle seat?
I don't ride on planes now, but I used to prefer a window seat. Then I realized that the aisle seat was better.

5. Do you know your blood type?
O negative.

If you want to be in a contest to win a Star Bucks Gift card, join me tomorrow.

colors of spring

2011-04-14T00:22:00.000-05:00

pretty boy

2011-04-12T21:35:00.001-05:00

Herbie stayed with us for a week recently. He's a bundle of energy for 10 years old.

decorating a wedding cake

2011-04-11T08:21:00.006-05:00

There was a belated wedding reception at church Sunday night. Aunt Sue decorated the cake on Saturday. It was fun to have a project to work on.

One of the friends at church baked the cakes. It took 7 boxes of cake mix. They did taste really good, too.

Here is how it looked after it was set up.

Fun Day with Ladies Group

2011-04-07T21:32:00.002-05:00

Today there was a luncheon at a fellow church member's home. It was so nice to get together with the ladies from church.

This is Lucy...

sunrise

2011-04-06T21:31:00.002-05:00

There was major lack of sleep in the house Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning. We decided to go to Waffle House around 5:15. I got the hashbrowns smothered and covered...that's onions and cheese. I forgot to take a picture.

When we left, the sun was coming up so we went to the boat ramp park area and got a picture.

Meet Me on Monday

2011-04-04T21:11:00.003-05:00

1. If you had to eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I would eat sweets all the time if I could!
2. Do you write your blog posts in advance or the day you post them?
I write them right before I post them.
3. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?
I rode from one hospital to another and back again.
4. What is your favorite candle scent?
I like the winter holiday scents like evergreen, peppermint. But I do like most any scent in the candles.
5. Coffee or tea?
I don't drink coffee or tea....diet and regular sodas or water or kool-aid or juice.

books read update

2011-04-03T08:09:00.001-05:00

Just updating the books I've read in the past two months.

I Still Dream about You by Fannie Flagg
Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul
Swan Peak by James Lee Burke
The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand
Stamped Out by Terri Thayer
Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
Buttercream Bump Off by Jenn McKinlay
Summer People: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand

Five Question Friday

2011-04-01T17:06:00.003-05:00

1. Have you ever had surgery? I've had a few. After the last surgery in 2009, I had a major complication. I had to have surgery 8 weeks later to correct it. Thank the Lord I'm healed and I'm back to normal.

2. Ever ride in an ambulance?

When I had the corrective surgery and was still in the hospital near my house, they had to take me by ambulance to another hospital to have a procedure done that could not be done at the hospital I was in. So I got to go in the ambulance and it was not an emergency ride....but it still cost $650.

3. How are you in a medical emergency? Panicked? Calm? I tend to be calm, but if someone is not breathing, I'm afraid I would FREAK OUT.

4. Do you have a garden? Flowers or veggies? I have a black thumb. I can kill a cactus...don't ask me how I know.

5. When did you move out of your parents house? The final time I moved out was in 1984. I'm so thankful my parents would always take me back when I needed to come back. I hate to hear parents talk about when their children get 18, they need to leave and get their own place. Of course, if the children are being b-a-d...they need to move on out.

chocolate and cheese

2011-03-31T07:52:00.002-05:00

Meet Texter...do you see the texting device in his hands? He did not last long because Aunt Sue and I cracked him open. He sure was a good bunny.

Aunt Sue and I have been making some cheese straws for an upcoming event. They freeze well and my freezer is holding some now...but I keep going in there and getting some out to taste. Another batch has to be made this weekend.

Today's esty shop find: Easter bunny centerpiece.

dogwoods and lunch

2011-03-29T20:40:00.002-05:00

The dogwoods are blooming everywhere. Today, I noticed the blooms are starting to fall off the tree. I wish they would stay on for two months instead of two weeks.

Last week Aunt Sue and I went to the parents and we went to a little place for lunch called Panini Pete's in Fairhope, Alabama. It's been on the Food Network show twice that I know of. It's a really small place but has outside tables and chairs. This is a glassed-in room that we sat in. It can heat up in there and the sun is no fun when it's on you. Daddy took the sunny seat the day we were there.

This is a mozerella and tomato panini.

Black and blue burger.

I wanted to share an esty store tonight: It's Magartspartycrafts. I think these bridal bouquets would be so nice at a beach wedding.

Meet Me on Monday

2011-03-28T23:47:00.005-05:00

1. Crunchy or soft tacos?

I really like a soft taco better than crunchy, but I'll eat either one.

2. Do you scrapbook?

My office looks like I do, but I only make cards. I have never wanted to scrapbook.

3. Do you take any daily medications?

Yes, I take two. And I feel much better because I do.

4. What is your favorite sound?

One of my favorite sounds is lying on the beach (under an umbrella) with my eyes closed and listening to the waves roll in.

5. Where were you born?

In the Heart of Dixie.

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-03-25T01:22:00.013-05:00

This week has gone by fast. The husband left Monday for Washington DC for work and came back today. He bought me a t-shirt, but it's too small. It's real cute and pink with cherry blossoms on it! It will now go to Aunt Sue. The husband said it was still cold in Washington. Sometimes it's so hard for me to believe it's cool up north when I'm running the air conditioner here.

Our nephew and his wife had their third baby boy on March 22nd! I wonder if he will look like his brothers...the twins.

Aunt Sue and I went over to our parents' house one day. Spring is in full swing here. So many pretty blooms and everything is green again.

It's time for Fill in the Blank Friday over at The Little Things We Do.

1. My most prized possession is ...this question made me really stop and think. I have a few things that I would say mean a lot to me: my grandmother's flour scoop, my wedding ring, a Tiffany glass bowl from Aunt Sue as a wedding gift. But I really don't like the thought of holding possessions too close.

2. If I could be one age for the rest of my life, I would want to be I think 40 was a great age but I hope there's more great ages to come.

3. The best way to spend a weekend is going somewhere fun like Atlanta for shopping at Trader Joe's and the mall or New Orleans for food and touring homes or a day trip down the beach road from here to Panama City or staying home and cooking good recipes.

4. My outlook on life is take it one day at a time.

5. If you want to annoy me, just complain a lot and talk a lot...it's just noise to my ears.

6. I am completely defenseless when it comes to Sugar in all forms. I eat a lot of it. I'd love to calculate how much I've eaten already this year. I truly have an addiction. I ~~might~~ need an intervention.

7. When dressing for the day one should: Put on your underwear if you're not already wearing it.

wordless Wednesday

2011-03-23T18:26:00.002-05:00

catching a cobia

2011-03-22T21:07:00.001-05:00

Aunt Sue's husband caught a fish Monday at the beach pier.

Meet Me on Monday

2011-03-14T17:58:00.003-05:00

I found a new questionnaire (Meet Me on Monday) to fill out here. It gives me something to post when I don't have any pictures or anything exciting to share. I found this one at Never Growing Old.

I don't have any pictures to share this time. But I plan to be better prepared for this next time.

1. Do you have a fireplace in your home?
Yes. We had a wood-burning fireplace and had it changed into a gas-burning fireplace. We forgot how to get it started this past winter and just had someone come over to show us how to work it. So we'll have to wait until winter to really use it.
2. Can you drive a stick shift?
No. The husband tried to show me when he had that type of transmission. I never got the hang of it.
3. How many computers are in your home?
Two. One I use every day for work. And we bought his mom a computer and she gave it back to us. He uses it to play solitare.
4. Are your taxes done yet? Do you do them yourself?
No. I started going through all that information today to get it ready for the accountant. We usually are right down to the last couple of weeks before tax day before we turn it in to the accountant.
5. What is your favorite meal of the day?
Lunch is my favorite because that's usually when Aunt Sue and I go out to eat. And prices in restaurants are usually better at lunch than dinner.

Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras King Cake

2011-03-08T00:41:00.004-06:00

Well, it's Fat Tuesday again! It's a fat day here at Ragus Pug every day...if you know what I mean.

Last week, over at the parents we stopped at bakery in Fairhope and got a King Cake. It was pretty good. It had a cream cheese raspberry filling that was okay. The cake and icing were really good. The baby was on the bottom of the cake and it was shiny metallic green!

This is the only picture I took this year of a Mardi Gras door decoration.

Today's etsy shop is: AsYallLikeIt. I like this mardi gras colored frame.

Fill in the Blank Friday

2011-03-04T12:20:00.004-06:00

I found this little Friday questionnaire that I'd like to do over at The Little Things We Do. Thought I would participate this week. I don't know how to underline my answers, so I bolded the beginning to separate my answers.

1. The phrase or punctuation I overuse most is the ellipsis when I'm writing on the blog.
2. Today I am thankful for my parents. They are always there for anything that I need or don't even know that I need.
3. My best friend is my sister. I want to also say that Julie at Magnolia Sun is my best friend, too. I'm thankful for both of them.
4. A quirky thing about me is I do not go barefoot at all. I always have on flip-flops or shoes.
5. This weekend I am working and going to church and having lunch at church after morning services.
6. Something that worries me is ... I try not to worry but I worry about my sister a lot. She has two mechanical valves and one of them is in a position that is rarely done. She has to take blood thinners and has to be careful of getting cut and what she eats because the blood has to be at a certain level...so complicated. But I think if you worry too much, you will be a miserable person, so prayer is wonderful! And leaving it with the Lord is what we should do.
7. On my nightstand you would find a lamp with a lampshade that was painted by me or my daddy...I can't remember, a phone, a clock radio/CD player, a coaster, a picture of the husband and I when we were dating (1992) and a little white shabby chic chair with a canvas painting by girlville sitting in it.

vintage button rings

2011-03-04T00:15:00.002-06:00

Aunt Sue and I went to lunch today. I didn't get a picture of it. Mexican food and it was good. We went into a store next to the restaurant. Here is what I found that I really liked. These are vintage buttons made into rings. I did not buy anything!

falling down on main street

2011-03-03T01:04:00.003-06:00

I've just been busy with work lately and not taking any pictures. But I did get out on Tuesday. Aunt Sue and I went over to our parents' and visited with the Mouse. He's so cute. I don't have my camera with me right now, so no pictures tonight.

We went to eat lunch while we were over at their house visiting. Daddy parked their van, I went to get out and stepped out with the wrong foot (long explanation) and lost my balance and fell in the street. Ouch. It hurt. It was on the main street in Fairhope, Alabama. The UPS man was unloading some packages in the middle lane of the street, and I fell right there by his truck. He said, "Are you okay?" I didn't even look at him...I just said, "Yeah." I got up quick and got back in the van. I bet I looked like a drunk person opening the van door and falling in the street and hopping back in the vehicle. I laugh just thinking about it. I was hurting but I was laughing. I think I was so shocked at falling in the street like that, that I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I only banged up my knee and elbow and my just about my whole right side is a bit achy but much better than that first day. It didn't slow me down any, though. I'll show pictures of our lunch when I get my camera unloaded.

toy tent

2011-02-16T22:25:00.003-06:00

These two were just hanging out in the toy tent for a few minutes.

I am really sad about this.

Today's etsy shop: ElisaLou Designs

Long Rant Ahead

2011-02-15T22:56:00.005-06:00

When I get to baby-sit this little girl named Trouble, (belongs to Aunt Sue) she likes to get up on my bed and cover up in the soft blankets. She will get all under the blankets and I can't even see her.

I just have a little bit of a rant today to share. I try not to rant on here because it's just hurts your ears to hear someone complain... but consider this a public service announcement.

Last year we had the kitchen remodeled. I had a problem with the new refrigerator freezer door staying sealed. I called the Sears people and they sent out a repairman from A&E, who is the designated repair service people for Sears around here. He fixed the problem and was on the phone for a while with the people he worked for while he was here. I didn't pay much attention to it. While he was here, he asked me did I want to buy a repair plan for those appliances. I decided to go ahead and do that for the dishwasher, cooktop and refrigerator. I paid $518 that day for a 3-year plan.

A month or so ago, my ice bin that slides in and out with the freezer when you open it, it got stuck. It got stuck to the point that I could not shut the freezer. I pulled on that thing until I popped it out. I could not get it to go back in. I didn't even ask the husband to fix it because I was afraid he would break something. So I called Sears Friday to have someone come out to repair it. They said I don't have any repair or maintenance with them. I do have the electric dryer maintenance with them...and they do know that now. So I told them I had paid for a 3-year plan last June. "We don't show that. Only show you have the dryer plan which is up in April." So I told them I'd call back.

I found my receipt from last year and I also found the canceled check from the bank. I then called A&E instead of Sears. They found my account but said there was a problem. I said, "What kind of problem?" They said, "I need to put you on hold." I said, "Wait, what kind of problem is there?" They told me that they didn't show that I had the coverage. I told them I did. They said they saw that I had the cooktop, dishwasher and refrigerator but that something had not gone through. They couldn't tell me what the "something" was. I told them they had cashed my check and I had the canceled check so "something" did go through. She put me on hold.

She came back and asked me to fax her the paperwork I had. I told her no, I didn't have a fax machine. (I do have a fax number but it receives faxes to my computer and I don't have a scanner or a way to send them out.) And I can't copy documents here. I have to go to the post office to do that unless they are in my computer already. Anyway, I told her I couldn't fax or copy the documents and that she could just go ahead a send a repair person to my house and he could verify the paperwork when he got here.

She told me there was no guarantee that I would not be charged for a service call. I told her I wasn't going to pay a dime for a service call. I had paid $518 last year and that I expected them to come out here and fix the freezer. This went on for a few more minutes. I told her to put her supervisor on. She didn't do that either. She made the appointment for Tuesday. (Today)

The repairman came this morning. Nice guy. I could tell he had been warned I was PO'd last week. I showed him what the problem was. I know he must have thought, what an idiot because it was such a simple problem He said, "You know I'll have to charge you $130 to put the ice bin back in the freezer?" I said, "No, I'm not paying anything for you to put the ice bin back in the freezer. I paid my money last year." I showed him the paperwork. He fixed the ice bin problem and did the maintenance on the dryer. He gave me receipts for the doing the work. He said he fixed the problem and I shouldn't have any problems in the future with the A&E company but to KEEP MY PAPERWORK.

Well, how about that? I am so glad I did keep my paperwork and that I knew where it was. I'm wondering how many people don't know where their paperwork is or didn't keep it and now end up paying AGAIN for a service they already paid for. I believe if I did not have that paperwork in my hands, they would have tried to charge me again. It's HIGHWAY ROBBERY.

The husband told me that if they told me I was going to have to pay them today, to tell them to send us a bill and we'd decide whether we were going to take them to court.

All right....enough of that. Just wanted to give you a public service announcement.

Looks like the next couple of weeks are going to be crunch time around here for my work. I hope to eeek out a card or tag in between the deadlines.

Today's etsy shop is: Sweetmelissamn's shop. Check out that candy corn fudge.

seems like I'm always eating

2011-02-10T00:26:00.003-06:00

It seems like I show a lot of food on here...especially eating at restaurants. I love to eat good food. When I plan to go out of town for the day or a few days or a real vacation, my biggest thing is what I'm going to eat or where I want to eat. There's not too much I won't eat. But I won't eat organ meat, some seafoods, mushrooms. But I live with the husband who is very picky...so that's why Aunt Sue and I eat out a lot and go places a lot together...because she likes to eat, too! Plus, the husband does not like to travel for fun. He will go places because he has to sometimes for work. Now, if golfing is involved, he will go anywhere.

Aunt Sue had a buy one entree and get one free offer at a local seafood restaurant. Last week we decided to use the coupon. She got the seafood gratin. I tried a taste and it was really good. She pulled some of the cheese off because she doesn't care for American cheese.

I got the Shrimp and grits. The grits had a lot of cheese in them. I have not been real impressed with the last couple of shrimp and grits I've had. I want to go to Charleston, South Carolina, and get their version.

I'm glad we had the buy one get one. One thing to remember when you have a buy one get one is to be sure and tip the waiter like you were paying for two dinners. I think if they are giving you good service, you should make sure they are taken care of as if it wasn't a buy one get one. Another thing I like to do when I can is if I'm eating somewhere that I know that I will eat there regularly, I try to tip more.

My daddy likes to order a water and bring his kool-aid drink packet to mix in the water. That's a good idea. I don't think anyone has said anything negative to him about it. It's a good way to save $3.

Today's etsy shop is: JasonTennant. Look at those amazing carvings.

Crafty Items

2011-02-08T13:31:00.003-06:00

These two are not crafty but do love to work on a good chew while I'm working on something. Alfred and Emma want to sit in the same bed! These two are so sweet.

I wanted Girlville Kristie to make me a pincushion to give to my BF Magnolia Sun! Hey, Julie, if you are reading this, this is your pin cushion that Kristie made for you from me! It's a surprise! We decided to make a trade. I made some Valentine tags for her and she made these things for me. That was so fun.

I got my box in the mail and she had made the cutest pin cushion and she made a broach for me! It's very pretty and good size so that it shows up well on your coat or jacket. I'll put it on my black dressy coat. It will show up really good on that coat. She also sent me some ink and a punch that she had and wasn't using. And those cute little felt trees, I had won those from her blogoversary contest. They are so cute. I can see all kinds of different holiday and seasons for those trees done in different colors.

Thank you, Kristie, I love them.

pumpkin pie white chocolate cups

2011-02-07T00:37:00.004-06:00

I made these white chocolate pumpkin cups this weekend. I was going to take them to church for our luncheon, but the husband loved them. So between me and Aunt Sue and the husband, we ate them all! I ordered the mini cupcake papers from an etsy shop. Cupcake Confessionals. Their shipping was pretty slow but it was coming from California. I recently saw really cute mini cupcake papers in Michael's.

Here is the recipe and blog where I found them. Healthy Food For Living

I've updated over at Just a Little Stamping.

Today's etsy shop is: Eastern Cookie. I want some of the macaroons...I would hope they are as good as they look.

Books Read in 2011

2011-02-04T21:02:00.011-06:00

This is my list of books read in 2011.

Photo Snap Shot by Joanna Campbell Slan
Maid to Match by Deanne Gist
Falling Home by Karen White
Hurricanes in Paradise by Denise Hildreth
I Still Dream about You by Fannie Flagg
Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul
Swan Peak by James Lee Burke
The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand
Stamped Out by Terri Thayer
Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
Buttercream Bump Off by Jenn McKinlay
Summer People: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand
Bake Until Golden by Eva Marie Everson and Linda Evans Shepherd
Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews
The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
Crunch Time by Diane Mott Davidson
Haywire by Brooke Hayward
Silent Mercy by Linda Fairstein
10th Anniversary by James Patterson
The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato
The Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke
Buried Alive: The True Story of Kidnapping, Captivity and a Dramatic Rescue by Roy Hallums
The Dressmaker by Posie Graeme-Evans
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
The Nine Lives of Christmas by Shelia Roberts
Folly Beach: A Lowcountry Tale by Dorthea Benton Frank
The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson
The Christmas Dog by Melody Carlson

Introducing "Mouse"

2011-02-02T22:29:00.003-06:00

My mama and daddy's Little Belle passed away in December. Then mama had surgery and has been recovering and doing much better. But she is lonely for a doggy. So they went to a shelter and got this little boy. The shelter had named him "mouse." That's what mama and daddy are calling him so far. I think they said he's two years old. He has heart worms, but they are going to get the treatment started soon. Hopefully all will go well with that.

Mama said she loves the little boy. Said he is real good and friendly and quiet. Here is mama and The Mouse.

The Mouse!

Today's etsy shop is: RETIREDLETSDOLUNCH. Look at those cute paper houses!

Emma Bee

2011-02-01T15:44:00.002-06:00

Emma put on her Punchy Original Bee dress today. She was ready to go...with nowhere to go!

Today's etsy shop is: Evamini. Look at these cute miniature things for dollhouses.

christmas cakes

2011-01-30T23:51:00.003-06:00

Other than picking up the husband at the airport Friday evening (he was in South Carolina all week) and going to church today, I worked all weekend and took a nap or two. I had no pictures loaded on the computer to share, so I found one from last December to show.

These are a couple of the praline cakes that Aunt Sue and I made to give to some friends. We made the little tags, too. Those little cakes are so good....and we will probably make them again next year.

Today etsy shop is: Sarandipity Sweets. I'm so hungry for some sugar right now.

Jimmy Buffet's hotel at the beach

2011-01-27T09:42:00.009-06:00

All you friends up north of Florida need a break from the snow...so come on down to see the white sand beaches here that you don't have shovel if you don't want to!

Yesterday Aunt Sue and I went to lunch at Margaritaville Hotel's restaurant, Frank and Lola's. The hotel is so so so pretty. Very clean and bright and lots of places to lounge around the lobby and outside on the terraces. I was really impressed. The food in the restaurant was just okay. But this was just our first visit so hopefully that will change as we try more things on the menu. I wish I could afford to get a room here during the Blue Angels show in the summer, but the rooms are "Xpensive."

Here is our view from our table.

My lunch was the special that day. Shrimp and grits. It was good, but I could have done without the gravy type stuff that surrounded the grits.

Aunt Sue had the "cheeseburger in paradise." This is not a good picture of it.

We shared a junior mint milkshake. It did not compare at all to the peppermint shake at Chick-Fil-A...and this one cost $6. I could get two of the Chick-fil-A's for the price of one here.

This lounge are is right outside the doors. The furniture is so nice.

I love the light fixtures above this table. I can just see friends and family around this table talking or playing cards.
Light fixtures up close.
They arranged furniture along the lobby facing the windows that look out to the gulf.
looking east down the beach
right out back of the hotel

Today's etsy shop is: String of Jewels. Looks like this shop has some cute items.

sunbeams

2011-01-25T21:09:00.003-06:00

I spent the weekend working. Whenever I get work on a Thursday or Friday, I'm almost always working over the weekend to get it back on Monday. But I'm glad to have the work!

These two love to lay in the sunbeam.
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Girlville and I are barting on some crafty items. Here is part of the mess I've made doing my thing.

Today's etsy shop is: Pugpossessed. You have got to check out Punchy's Originals. We own several of them and they are the best in doggy couture.

Alfred camps out in storage tent

2011-01-21T00:00:00.004-06:00

Alfred decided he would camp in the tent while his daddy walked on the treadmill. The tent is used for holding pug toys and the [bad news coney collar that only has to be worn in times of recovery for certain ailments.]

I'm trying to cut down on my craft purchases, so I thought I'd keep a record on my blog of what I purchase. I went over budget halfway through the month. Here is my crafting purchase from my favorite stamping online store. I went over budget by $30 on this purchase.

I needed some wire for a card I want to make. I stopped by Michael's to get it. I also left with Martha Stewart doilies. I got three packs. I usually have a coupon when I go here, but didn't have one on this day. And I also got 3 rolls of thin ribbon for $1. I spent $17.60 that day.

So I'm over budget by $47.60. If that's not bad enough, I already have items in my shopping cart from my favorite stamping store that total $100...and they will be releasing a bunch of new stuff next month. I'm addicted to sugar...but now looks like I have an expensive hoarding hobby of stamping/crafting items. I might need an intervention. No more purchase for the rest of the month.

Today's etsy shop is: Simple Joy Paperie. Love the book wreaths!

panini crazy

2011-01-19T23:10:00.002-06:00

Since I got the panini pan for Christmas, I have been making a panini once a week. It's so good. The husband does not like anything but wheat bread for a sandwich. When I make a panini, I use the Publix bread (sour dough) usually. Last week, I had them cut it really thick. I cooked the onions in butter and oil and balsamic vinegar until they were really cooked down. I put dijon mustard on the bread and the onion and ham and some smoked gruyere cheese. I melt butter and then spread it on the bread. Then put it on the panini pan and crush it! The husband really likes these. So Friday nights may just be panini night.

Here's how it goes...but I forgot to get a picture of the onion once they were cooked down.

I have not walked in a few days. I sure miss it. I plan on walking tomorrow. I do a lot of praying while I walk. I realized tonight that I have not prayed as much since I haven't walked these past few days. I sure do have lots of people to pray for, too.

I made a card and updated over at Just a Little Stamping...just in case you want to see.

Today's esty shop is: Noaki Jewelry. Take a look at the wedding bouquets with the jewelry on them....so very pretty.

sunbathing in an ashtray

2011-01-18T19:05:00.005-06:00

The husband here smokes cigarettes outside only. He puts them out underneath the palm tree. I guess when he gets ready, he cleans the butts up. But these two don't care if they lay down or sit in their daddy's ashtray.

Yesterday, I had a great visit with my friend I had not seen in a long time. We talked for four hours and a little longer. She has recently gotten two dogs and is in love with them. They came from a backyard breeder that is a big mess. The dogs were sick and it took her a lot of money and a trip to Auburn University for one of them to have treatment to get them well. The vet told her she basically rescued those two puppies.

We went to eat at this restaurant. I had the grouper sandwich and it was too good. She had a shrimp po' boy.

We went and sat on a bench out at the public beach and talked. It was a holiday and very nice day, so quite a few people were out enjoying the sunshine. We saw this crazy flying thing.

Today's etsy shop is: Andie's Specialty Sweets. The mushrooms and acorns and pumpkins...I just love. I have not ordered from here.

Halfway through January

2011-01-17T09:38:00.002-06:00

It was nice to hear from a couple of new people on the delurking day last week. And always nice to hear from everyone whenever they get a chance to comment. I look at a lot of blogs and don't comment on some. I look on a lot of blog friends' blogs and don't always comment. But I always enjoy stopping by and reading the posts.

Saturday, Aunt Sue and I went to get our hair cut. We use a lady in Navarre that works out of her house. She is the best. I introduced Julie to her and now Julie goes there for her haircuts. Well, Saturday we drove up and Aunt Sue said, "I bet that Julie's car." Julie is an Alabama football fan and she has a big "A" sticker on the back windshield and a tag on the front of her car. And she was there getting her hair cut before us. It was so funny to run into her. Her hair was looking good!

The husband and I watched Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and some scary movie. Wall Street was okay. Not as good as the first one. The scary movie is a waste of time. I used to like scary movies and now the husband can't remember that I don't like them anymore....so he'll come home from the video store with them. And I have to tell him AGAIN that I don't want to watch them. I do like the old scary movies that were made in the 40s and 50s that come on the old movie channel.

I went over to Aunt Sue's to walk one day last week. It was so pretty. I love the area where she lives. She walks between one and two hours every morning over there. She has several friends over there that she walks with.

Here are some scenes from our walk last week.

I am having lunch today with a friend I haven't seen in a long time. We have lots to catch up on. I have missed her so much over the past few years. I quit working at the courthouse and she moved to a new job for a judge in Alabama. And now she lives over there and we never are able to catch up. So she is off work today and is coming over this way!

Today's etsy shop is: Marsha's Panoply. Lot's of cute little items.

Staying Warm and delurking

2011-01-14T12:30:00.010-06:00

Today is national delurking day. I've met some very nice people from blogging. I've met several and keep in touch with many. I miss some that don't blog anymore. If you come by here regularly and don't comment, that's fine. But if you feel like saying hello, that'd be fine, too. I'd like to hear from you.

Little Emma and Big Alfred sometimes stay close when it's cold outside and cool inside. Emma is the one who mostly goes to get next to Alfred.

Yesterday, Aunt Sue and I went over to the parents' house to visit. Mama is doing much better and able to get around a little bit after her surgery in December. Several more weeks to go before she can really do much more.

We went to lunch at a restaurant over near where they live. This is the grouper Saint Ives. It was really good. There are fried eggplant medallions in this dish and shrimp and crabmeat and fried grouper. Wish I had some today.

I received a Williams Sonoma gift card for Christmas a year ago and also got one this year. I forgot about the one from the year before because it was left in purse that I had not used in a long time. I found it recently. So I was able to use both gift cards to get a new 12-inch saute/frying pan. I have a 10-inch pan but wanted the biggest one so that I could pan fry a whole chicken or several fillets of fish at once...plus I can put it in the oven, too. Normally, I would never pay this much for a pan, but this pan should last a lifetime. That's one reason I went with the all stainless instead of getting the nonstick. The nonstick pans usually wear out over 10 years or less.

The Williams Sonoma over near the parents' house.

The pan that I purchased. All-Clad D5 brushed stainless 12-inch pan.

It's really shiny and new now...hopefully, I can keep it looking good.

Today's etsy shop is: Laura Trevey Beautiful Watercolors. These are so pretty.

2011-01-12T23:57:00.002-06:00

Today was pretty cold. I walked on the treadmill but all that did was make me hungry. I think it's time to start drinking the green monster again...even though it's cold. It's a good way to get vegetables and fruit servings and dairy. I have bought some organic pears lately. They are so good right now. I give the boxes of Harry and David pears as Christmas gifts to my SIL and one of the ladies I do work for during the year. I've never had them myself but I hear they are good.

Aunt Sue and I went to lunch last Friday at our favorite restaurant near my house. It's always so good. We got our daddy a gift card to go eat there. Of course, he takes mama and the both of us...so we all benefit from that. Is that fair? Daddy doesn't care...I think he's just glad to go and not have to pay for the whole dinner! We've been going to the restaurant ever since it opened in the late '80s. The owner always ask about the family whenever one of us is in there without the others.

Here is the Lowcountry grits and seafood that Aunt Sue got. It looked so good. I tasted it, and it was good. She said it had too much butter in it for her. I think she really wanted the big hamburger that they make there. It's so big, you just cut it in two and make two meals out of it.

Here's my snapper. It comes with the topping of parsley and walnuts and feta and olive oil, but they put it on the side for me instead of on top. I think I could eat snapper every single day. I feel the same way about BBQ pork.

I finished the book called Maid to Match last night. It's about a maid that works at the Biltmore House in Asheville. It's fiction but the writer researched the Biltmore Estate information really well. It was to read it and know exactly what she was talking about when describing the rooms and furniture and lots of areas of the house and the long driveway and Asheville. I loved it. I wish there were more books like this.

Today's etsy shop is: Doodle Bird Imaginariums. Love the little miniatures this shop has for sale. Love the acorns with the red and white bottoms. And the little bitty squirrel.

The Patio Queen

2011-01-11T22:01:00.002-06:00

This is Trouble also know as other names...but my favorite right now is Patio Queen. She used to live with our parents, but now lives with Aunt Sue since she lost Jackson and Stevie D last year. She loves to sit out on the patio, so that's why I'm going to call her Patio Queen. There was a garden store over near where the parents live called Jiggity Jig and the Patio Queen, That's where I came up with the name. She can shake a toy like nobody's business, too.

Tomorrow is a new day. Maybe I'll drink some water...maybe not. I don't know yet. It's pretty cold so that doesn't help any.

I finished a book: Photo Snap Shot by Joanna Campbell Slan. She writes a series of mysteries that are related to a lady who works at a scrapbooking store. They are fun to read. I enjoy the ongoing story line of the characters.

I started reading another book that I really like. It's an easy read, too. Has to do with the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC.

Today's etsy shop is Petit Plat Food Art. Her work is just amazing. I don't know how she makes things look so real. Don't know how she can make those items so small. There are many times I've wanted to buy something from her, but I just don't know what I'd do with it. This would be great if you had a doll house or a collector's cabinet.

cute pin cushion

2011-01-11T00:01:00.004-06:00

Saturday I got a package in the mail from Girlville. It had the cute pin cushion she made for me. I love it. It's so bright and cheery. Kristie...it's just perfect! Thank you.

Girlville wraps her items, and they always look so pretty when you open them.

See how cute that pin cushion is! I have to go get my needles and thread and put them in the cushion.

Our next-door neighbor is a chef and restaurant owner. Oh my goodness...we love to go to his restaurant on occasions. He came over and picked some satsumas off our tree and left us some fig preserves and homemade sausage. So we cooked up this sausage on Saturday. It was good!

I was going through some old magazines today and also found a book I bought probably 10 years ago. It's Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres cookbook. Oh my goodness...it was published in 1984. I must not have looked at it when I bought it. There's not a thing in there that interest me. Well, the brie en croute looks pretty good.

Today's etsy shop is Stacey Winters. I love the acorn ornaments.

I updated Just a Little Stamping today.

Get In The Bowl!

2011-01-06T22:29:00.002-06:00

Have you seen this commercial where the M&Ms are throwing items at the man while he tells them to "Get in the bowl"? Oh my goodness...it's so cute. But I'm glad they don't make M&Ms with eyes and mouths. I don't think I could eat them.

I went for a walk today. I met a new neighbor recently. She walks sometimes, too. She recently had back surgery and walks pretty slow. We were talking about the street we live on and how it is a straightaway. Some people drive so fast because of how long and straight it is. There are no speed bumps, but I wish there were about five. New Neighbor told me that someone from another street, killed her next-door neighbor's cat. She was texting or reading a text when it happened. At least she came back and told on herself. How sad. We both have noticed that the big abusers of speeding on this street are teenagers and "parents." And by parents, you know who has kids and sometimes you see the kids in the car, too. I'm just saying....

Today I drank 20 ounces of water! I just couldn't write on here that I didn't drink any again, so I drank it while I was cooking dinner. Thanks for all the advise on drinking the water.

Today etsy store is our friend Kristie at Fait Pour Vous. Her sewing and painting talents are great. I really love my Christmas apron. I am going to be purchasing aprons for my nieces from her shop for next Christmas. Love those Christmas pillow cases, too. Her buntings are too cute.

Joys of the Peppermint Season

2011-01-05T22:44:00.002-06:00

Can you tell what Aunt Sue and I ordered at the drive-thru yesterday? Oh my...it was good. Wish I had one right now.

I made a card and posted it at my card blog. Just a Little Stamping. Check it out if you'd like.

I drank no water today! Yes, some days I go without water, only sodas. I didn't walk today because it rained all day long. Thank you for all your suggestions on drinking the water. I will try some of those. When I do drink water, it usually is so good. I wonder why I don't at least drink some every day.

I got in the bed last night all ready to read my Kindle and the battery needed charging...so I had to go on to sleep. So I have it all charged up for this evening.

Today's etsy shop is WoodlandBelle. Love the little hair pins! And check out those necklaces and rings with the little plants! Plus she is from the beautiful Asheville, NC area.

do you directv?

2011-01-04T22:05:00.004-06:00

When we bought a new TV last year, we decided to go with Directv instead of the local cable company. Our cable bill was pretty high and with DTV, it would be lower by about $50 for a year. But...they made us sign a 2-year contract. Our first year is up next month. So I bet the bill will be making me cringe when I get it. Lots of channels and still not much to watch. I do like the new Oprah Network that started this past week. One thing about the satellite tv is that when a storm comes up or when it's really cloudy, it interrupts the tv viewing. Some of our neighbors are switching to AT&T Universal, so I'm interested in seeing if they like that.

I did walk today...but I drank zero water...all sunkist all day except for a diet coke at lunch. I used the panini pan tonight to make sandwiches. I also went for a walk today. My work is going to start back tomorrow. I hope to keep blogging a lot even if I don't have much to say. Sometimes when I'm transcribing a lot, I just don't feel like saying much on the blog. I also like to have pictures to put up when I blog, but I run out of those, too. Anyway...we'll see.

Today's etsy shop is Skipping Skones. Their treats look so very good. I have not purchased from this shop.

lavender moon and vintage cream

2011-01-03T22:02:00.005-06:00

I came up with the title of the post because those are the names of colors of paper I used in these cards. I finally got some cards made. I knew I wanted to make some cards and I thought and thought about what I wanted to make. I took so much time thinking about it that I'm embarrassed to tell you how long it took me to get these made. I even copied them from other people who make cards. The cards with butterflies were copied from Poppy Paperie. She actually designed this stamp set. The other card with the lavender background was copied from Thinking Inking. Her cards are so pretty, too. She has great coloring with Copic marker abilities. I sure do enjoy making the cards...but I still struggle with making up my own designs and getting started.

I'm writing the following things just as a diary to myself...that's why you'll see it repeated here when I update. I did not have a soda until about 2:00 this afternoon. I finally got a bit of a headache that I attribute to having no soda! I'll try again tomorrow. I went for a walk today.

Today's etsy shop is Cupcake Confessionals. I have a recipe that I want to try out that calls for using mini cupcake papers. I made a purchase tonight from this shop. I'll show them when they come in...and then again when I make the goodies.

Be back tomorrow with more nonsense.

Alfred likes to avoid the camera

2011-01-02T23:12:00.004-06:00

I't so hard to get a good picture of Alfred. Today, I sat down outside and waited to get a picture of Alfred or Emma. I finally got this picture of Alfred. None of the pictures I took of Emma were good enough to post. Alfred is shedding quite a bit, but does not like the brush or comb...so I scratch him and rub on him. He gets real frisky and wants to run. He runs to the door and wants to go inside. Then he wants a treat..of course.

I saw this tree today on my walk. I liked the green color against the yellow and brown leaves. Seems like Christmas trees should stay up all of January. It's all over too soon...for the real trees.

Today's etsy shop is Upstyle Design. Little clutches and iPad cases and Kindle Keepers. Pretty fabrics.

I have QVC on right now. There is a new cosmetic company on called Josie Maran Argan Oil Cosmetics. I've never heard of this makeup before.

Had too many sodas today.

first day of the new year

2011-01-01T23:03:00.003-06:00

It's the first day of 2011. I slept late today. I did not follow through on my one soda today. I drank a bunch of Diet Sunkist. Maybe tomorrow?? Maybe I'll update every day and tell on myself??

I did begin to work on some cards today. I need to make some thank you cards. I am using a stamp set that I bought this past year and never put ink on it until today. I'll get these finished up tomorrow.

I went to the grocery store to get ingredients for an artichoke quiche that I like to make. I'm taking two of these to friends at church.

I think sometimes I'll share etsy shops on here that I like. I have not bought anything from this shop, but I do like the items I see here. Reyaveltman. Love the felted acorns.

wrapping up 2010

2010-12-31T15:50:00.011-06:00

2010 was a year of many blessings and some sadness. The biggest on my list of blessings are Aunt Sue's heart surgery being successful and my mama's recent surgery going well and my daddy not having any surgeries or ailments recently. We have been so blessed in many, many other ways, too. We've seen some sad losses this year with Jackson and Stevie and Belle passing away. They all had a good life and we were lucky to have them while we did. I'm so thankful to have my church family and glad to be able to go study God's word every weekend and during the week. Even though I grew up going to church, I have learned so much more now that I'm an old adult. I'm paying attention now...unlike I did when I was young. We are so blessed to have Alfred and Emma. We even thought about getting another pug that is blind that is the male version of Holly Dolly...but we have put it off for now. I worry so much about having the pool without a fence and a blind pug. I never let them out without watching them, but having a blind pug is a bit more challenging with a pool.

I sure to hate to make a resolution for the new year....but I really want to see if I can drink ONE soda a day instead of several. I'm talking diet sodas. I'll probably have a real Coke a few times during the year. So that will be what I'm focusing on now.

I'm also going to budget myself on my crafting items. My new budget will be $75.00 a month. I may put up my purchases and prices on the blog here to keep me aware of what I'm getting and spending. It would be wonderful if I'd sit down and actually use the craft items!

I want to make more list this year and mark things off.

I read 30 books this year.

Anyway, here is the last pictures I have to share from this year.

We went out to eat this evening at a Mexican restaurant in Navarre, Florida. That's about 15 miles down the road. Here is what it looked like as we were driving to dinner.

Back a month or so ago I bought an apron from Girlville. I love it. I did not get to wear it this year as I was at the hospital on Christmas Day and Aunt Sue actually cooked dinner this year. But it will be worn on future Christmas holidays and baking days. It's so festive.

Girlville also sent me this wonderful woodland ornament for the Christmas tree that I am going to have one day! I want to decorate it with lots of woodland ornaments and I'm starting to gather up some every year and friends also send them to me...Love it. And the other package is doggie cookies...the husband came home from work and saw them sitting there and thought they were human gingerbread cooks and was eating one when I caught him! I told him they were doggie treats...and he quickly put it down. I also had to take a little taste because they did smell so good.

Julie at Magnolia Sun and I exchanged gifts. We had a good day at her house visiting and seeing her Christmas decorations. She gave me a gift certificate to Amazon. I loved it. I used it to buy this book. It is a big coffee table type of book with beautiful pictures. It's titled Stealing Magnolias: Tales from a New Orleans Courtyard. I love looking at it.

Someone ran into a brick mailbox in the neighborhood. I'm glad I don't have one of those brick ones.

Christmastime at the hospital was pretty quiet. Christmas Day was the so quiet up there. I think they try to get everyone out of there before Christmas.

I wanted a good dessert for Christmas but knowing that we'd be tired from staying at the hospital, I decided not to bake a cake but order this Paula Deen Peppermint cake from QVC. I loved it. I don't know if anyone else like it as much as I did. There is a big chunk of it in the freezer at the parents' house that is MINE...ALL MINE...ALL MINE.

My mama still put up a couple of trees at her house. I really like this tree that has the miniature decorations.

Here are this year's Christmas cards I received. I got them all on one side of the double doors. I didn't get as many cards this year as in the past...but I sent out more than ever!

I love to collect Christmas china and this year Aunt Sue gave me a plate from the new collection by Lenox called Winter Song. It is so pretty.

My parents gave me this panini pan from Target. I've used it twice and love it. It's really heavy but I can heat it up on top of the stove or in the oven.

My sister in law gave me these beautiful towels that she embroidered.

Our nephew and his wife gave us this wonderful candle and someone I do work for gave me the soap and lotion. These all smell so good.

The husband gave me this bracelet. I really like this silver/gold jewelry. He did his shopping on Christmas Eve. Nothing like the last minute!

bye-bye 2010!

Christmas Greetings

2010-12-24T21:28:00.002-06:00

We want to wish everyone a merry Christmas! My mama has been in the hospital this week after having surgery on Tuesday. Aunt Sue and I and our daddy have been taking turns staying with her. She's getting better and should be going home Christmas morning...just in time for Christmas lunch.

Bourbon Street Wedding Party March

2010-12-23T07:24:00.003-06:00

We were out on the balcony of our room on Bourbon Street when this wedding party came by. Looks like fun. Can you imagine wearing your wedding dress dragging along nasty Bourbon Street? It's like Aunt Sue said, "I bet that girl has waited all her life to do this."

New Orleans Garden District Holiday Tour of Homes

2010-12-21T11:56:00.007-06:00

On Sunday we toured some homes in the Garden District of New Orleans. This is an event that happens every December. Here is the organization that arranges this every year.

These pictures are just in random order. No pictures were allowed inside the homes, so I only took outside. This is the second time we've been on this tour. I think we'll go again in a couple of years.

We passed by this old cemetery during the walk.

Day 2 of New Orleans

2010-12-19T22:48:00.015-06:00

Day 2 of New Orleans started with us going on a walking tour of Holiday Homes in the Garden District. We toured eight homes. I'll post pictures another day of that. It was fun and took 3 and half hours! Lots of walking on this day.

These pictures are not in good order...I skipped around some while loading them in this post.

This is what we did the rest of the day. After the walking tour, we drove over to the St. James Cheese company again and had lunch. I had a grilled cheese that had onion that were cooked down...that sandwich tasted like onion soup! It was the best grilled cheese I've ever had. Aunt Sue had a brie and ham sandwich.

Then we drove back to the hotel and walked around the streets for a little bit. We took these pictures around the hotel.

This is one of the courtyards at the Royal Sonesta.

Aunt Sue in the lobby of the Royal Sonesta.

Here I am... It was not dark out yet but it sure looked like it in this picture.

We took a taxi and had dinner at Emeril's restaurant. We have never been disappointed here. This is the BBQ shrimp. It was good...but not as good as my next-door neighbor makes at his restaurant. I told him when I saw him this week outside that his were better, in my opinion. He said he learned to make them when he worked at Commander's Palace in New Orleans and has tweaked them to his liking now. I cannot remember what Aunt Sue ordered before she ordered her dinner. I didn't take a picture of it.

We wanted to order the ribeye but they had sold out! So Aunt Sue ordered the scallops. They looked good.

I ordered the Cast Iron Roasted Filet of Beef
with BBQ Shortrib Shepherds Pie, Skillet Greens, Valdeon and Apple Walnut Salad. It was pretty good.

We walked over to the Canal Place Shops. Just cruised through Saks (did not buy anything.)

After we left Emeril's, we had the taxi driver drop us off at the Roosevelt Hotel to see the Christmas lights and decorations inside. Then we walked back to the French Quarter .. just across Canal Street.

I know this is hard to see. It was getting dark. After we left Canal Place shops, we were walking on Canal Street and this is up on the walls of the Sheraton hotel. (I think)...my memory is not as good now. It was so cold and the wind about knocked us down is about all I can remember. Blue Dog Art.
Inside the Roosevelt Hotel's cafe, there was a gingerbread display. Lot's of scenes in this display that relate to New Orleans.

The Roman Candy wagon...we saw this while we were there.

In the distance you can see the shadow of Jesus. This happens from spotlights that shine on a statue.
I've never gone inside this place...but it's there.

My Christmas present this year!

2010-12-14T08:25:00.017-06:00

I got my Christmas present a little early this year. A trip to New Orleans. Aunt Sue and I went over on Saturday and came back on Monday. We had a good time of touring some homes in the Garden District on the annual Holiday Home Tour and also ate a lot of good food. The last time we were in New Orleans was in 2003, I think. We stayed at the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street and had a room with a balcony so that we could stand out there and people watch. Aunt Sue stayed out there on that balcony most of the night! There was a New Orleans Saints game on Sunday and there were a lot of people in town. Lots of activity in the French quarter. I have more pictures tomorrow with what we did on Sunday. I have a couple of videos to show, too, that I'll post later in the week.

When we got into New Orleans we went straight over to the St. James Cheese Company. It was so good. So many cheese selections in there. It has a few tables inside but on Saturday we ate outside. We went back there for lunch on Sunday but ate inside that day because it was so cold.

We got the cheese board and the charcuterie board. Aunt Sue was in love with all this. I like the meat and some of the cheese. Aunt Sue's favorite was the blue cheese. We took about half of this back to the hotel room and she ate it for the next two days! We came back for lunch the next day and had sandwiches and they were good. We'll definitely go back to this place.

After we finished lunch, we went to the hotel, Royal Sonesta, and got the car parked and stuff up in the room. Our room had a balcony that was over Bourbon Street. This freak was standing across the street from the hotel.

We made our way down Royal Street to the Historic New Orleans Collection. This is something we like to see when in New Orleans.

Aunt Sue and I had dinner Friday night at Galatoire's. We enjoyed it. The restaurant is longer than it is wide and has really tall ceilings. It was so loud in there that we could not hear each other. We were ready to get out of there pretty quickly. I have a video of how loud it was that I'll upload later in the week. We enjoyed the food, but probably won't go back to this restaurant.

I ordered the duck crepe as an appetizer. It tasted so good. Just like Thanksgiving on a plate. I wish that I had used the flash when taking these pictures.

I ordered the stuff eggplant. It was stuff with seafood. So good.

Aunt Sue ordered her favorite foie gras.

This picture is so bad...but it was Aunt Sue's petite beef fillet at dinner.

The wonderful banana bread pudding from Galatoire's. I got it to go because I was so full at dinner.

There are some really disgusting things that you see on Bourbon Street, but this couple was dressed like something out of Christmas Vacation movie (I think).

We walked to Cafe du Monde for some beignets about 10:00 that evening. The later it gets, the more people are out and about.

The beignets we bought at Cafe du Monde.

One of the hallways at the Royal Sonesta. They have a Teddy Bear Tea on the weekends for children. The trees have teddy bears on them. It was nice to see the little children dressed up for the tea.

annual trip to the gift shop and florist

2010-12-10T11:19:00.005-06:00

Every year the local gift shop/florist decorates a lot of trees and fireplaces in their shop. They have really pretty things there. Here's this year's selection.

2010-12-09T07:51:00.001-06:00

This is how football is watched here at our house.

Belle Jeanie earned her angel wings today

2010-12-07T20:20:00.003-06:00

Little Belle earned her angel wings today, very early in the morning. She would have been 11 years old on Christmas Eve. She was having some heart trouble for a year or so and was on medications for a while.

She was such a good girl. She loved her mama and daddy. That would be my parents. She like to sit at my feet under the table whenever we ate dinner. She loved food and she like to sleep up in the bed with her parents. She didn't much care for children or other doggies...but she would tolerate other dogs...not so much children.

She like her little camper and she would go get in it sometimes. She loved toys a lot. She knew which one to get when you named it. She went by Belle, Belle Tails, Belle Rails, and Belle Jeanie or Belle Jeans.

Now my mama and daddy don't have a doggy and are saying they won't get another one. But you never know...whenever I say "never" about something, it usually happens anyway.

Aunt Sue's Christmas kitchen

2010-12-06T10:01:00.003-06:00

Aunt Sue and I took our annual trip to the florist/gift shop last week. I always get my sister-in-law a Christmas arrangement for her dining room table made here. I also got my nieces and their husbands a gift certificate here so they can find something fun in the next year to buy for their house.

Here's Aunt Sue in her annual pose in the kitchen of the holiday house. She looks so good after having major heart surgery back in September. We are so grateful to God that she is here with us now and doing so well. All the prayers and good wishes for her mean so much to us.

Aunt Sue and I went out to lunch last week. A cold front was moving through right at that time. I took a picture of the temp when we arrived at the restaurant.

A little over an hour later and the temps had dropped!

Tomorrow, I'll have a picture of how Alfred and Emma like to watch football.

Thanksgiving events

2010-11-29T18:21:00.005-06:00

Thanksgiving was yummy this year. We had it hear at the house and we had fried turkey and sweet potato casserole and green beans and cornbread dressing and giblet gravy and cranberry sauce. We had praline pecan pound cake for dessert. Aunt Sue and I made that the day before. We were testing a recipe for it in small pans so she can wrap them up and give them in gift baskets at Christmas to friends. We made the praline pecans..that was fun and yummy. I didn't get any pictures.

I have to say it was wonderful having the new kitchen to cook in this year. I remember for years at Thanksgiving or Christmas while cooking dinner I would be in half dark because I didn't have good lighting or enough room to spread out. Old appliances that leaned one way or the other and a small sink. It was so so nice to have all the space and light and decent appliances this year.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, the twins and their parents and grandparents came over for dinner. They have grown so much and are so cute and funny. It was fun to see them. I didn't get any pictures. Their dad and mom went here for the past few days while their dad competed in THIS. His time was a little over 11 hours. I cannot imagine what kind of hurt that feels like at the end of the day.

Here are the sweetest little puggies in their beds in front of the fireplace.

My big b-u-t-t finally broke my office chair after many days and hours and years of use. It was so funny that I'm still laughing about it. I knew that the chair was wobbly and getting close to the end of its life. I sat down and "boom" it the seat of the chair broke, tipped sideways and dumped me. I caught on my hands between the desk and the chair. Not hurt at all...just funny. I took this picture after I got up and went and got the camera. That is a beer commercial on the TV not a dirty movie. When I downloaded the picture I was thinking "What in the world was on the TV?"

I bought a new chair Friday. It was on sale and I had $15 off card. I am working for the first time tonight, so I'll see if it's comfortable for work.

Aunt Sue and I went to Michael's on Thanksgiving Day at 4:30 p.m. It was fun. There was a line and we were some of the first ones in. We stayed about 40 minutes and it was pretty crowded when we left. I had plans to go out on Friday early to look for some shoes, but I didn't. Still haven't been shoe shopping. Don't know if I will or if I can go one more winter season without new shoes...we'll see.

Loads of crafty goodness

2010-11-19T01:20:00.007-06:00

I bought this book/magazine recently. It has so many crafts that I'd like to try. Plus, it has such colorful, Christmasy pictures. There are some recipes in it that sound yummy and easy to make.

This is a craft I want to try. It's a wreath made with wooden circles and scrapbook papers and photographs...so pretty.

There are directions for making these ornaments. I can see these made in lots of different colors. Martha Stewart glitter, watch out!

This decoration is so cute. The little snowman are a craft that is shared in the magazine.

I like the idea of giving this is a gift to someone who love chocolate. M&Ms are expensive but they sure do look good in this clear bottle. And making those chocolate tree lollipops might be fun.

I really like this Christmas tree. This is the kind of tree that I am going to look for when I finally buy a fake tree. This one is probably a real tree. I want one that has the pine cones on it. I might just hot glue pine cones on a tree if I don't find one with cones already on it. I'm not getting a tree this year, but I'm still collecting the woodsy ornaments to decorate it.