Full Figure? WTHeck?

I'm just sitting here killing time before I go stuff myself silly with chips and salsa at LaParilla with Ronnie Nan and Missy. I got on the net and saw a posting about Nick Lachey defending his ex-wife's new "fuller figure". I thought, hmmm, I've got to check this out. I've always thought she was such a pretty girl. And when they had their Newlyweds show, well, I have to say that I loved it. I even bought the seasons on DVD. And her in Dukes of Hazzard, was she not gorgeous?

So I clicked the link and looked at her new fuller figure. Pleeeeeeeeeeease!!!!! Give me a break. Now, I must admit I don't care for those really bad Mom Jeans and I think she's a bit too top heavy for that tank top, but full figure???? Who says that stuff???? I'll take her full figure any day! What about you?

Swimming Pools, Movie Stars

Well, errr, maybe not movie stars, but swimming pools nonetheless. The photo to the left is what our swimming pool looks like today, January 31, 2009. The photo below is what it looked like July 4, 2008 when we had my family from South Georgia up for a 4th of July party. I guess you could say the people in the picture below are the movie stars.

Anyway, we've got to replace our pool liner this

season. We've had the pool since 1996, so it's been a good one. I'm anxious to get it replaced because I don't like looking out the window and seeing my beautiful pool looking like that. Don't know how much it'll cost, but I'm sure it won't be cheap. Nothing for a pool ever is. We replaced the diving board last year and it was $300. I've been teasing the kids that I'm taking donations for a new liner. Reid's PLEDGED $10, and Eli has PLEDGED $50. Now, keep in mind these are PLEDGES. Oh, well, that's a start, right.

When I went out to make a picture of the pool, guess what I noticed? Yep, if you look closely, you can see tulips coming up! Some varmit has been munching on them a little, but they're trying their darndest to come up. Yaaay! It's gonna get really cold the first of the week, so that will set them back some, but at least there's the promise that Spring is on its way.

I LOVE to read, but lately haven't been enjoying it at all. It seemed like the words in the books were just so small and I would have to struggle so much to concentrate and follow the writing. One of my great pleasures was taken from me. :-( Tears. So . . . last night Jeff and I went to the drugstore and bought me some reading glasses. They're not too cute, but man, they're like a miracle. I told Jeff and Suz I just really can't believe how much better I can see close up with those things. I WILL be able to read my beloved books again! And I WILL get me some cute ones! These make me look like a librarian don't you think?

If you wondered where I was yesterday, I had a busy day and didn't have a chance to post. I had a bit of a "nervous stomach". I've had a big decision to make careerwise and it had me all tore up inside. Then I went and got a haircut and got my blonde back. Thank goodness for whoever invented haircolor. That person really does deserve his/her proper place in history. A haircut and color is always good for a girl's mood, don't y'all agree? Then I went to the funeral home to visit with Suz and Jason and Jason's family. My goodness, there were so many people and so many beautiful flowers. What a loved man his Papa was! I saw lots of pictures of him and they had a DVD made of a whole bunch of pictures. I watched the whole thing and there was only ONE picture of him that he didn't have a big ol' smile on his face. What a man! I wish I could have known him more than just Jason's Papa. I know I would've loved him, too.

My Sugar had to work last night. They had a HUGE go live on computer software at Emory and he had to go in last night at 10:00. It's almost noon and he's still not home. He's gonna be worn out for sure. Thank goodness the boys aren't here. He can sleep to his heart's content. I'm gonna try and get a ton of work done (Yeah, right) while he's asleep.

Hope y'all have a blessed Saturday filled with lots of love and laughter with those you love to laugh with. Keep praying for those that need our prayers. I don't know about you, but every day my prayer list gets longer and longer. Maybe you've got some tulips peeking out, too!

Change is in the Air

I can just feel it. Change is in the air. It's the 29th day of January, so a new month is right around the corner. There are going to be changes coming. I can feel it. And I think they're gonna be good ones too!

My cousin, Regina, has found my blog. I'm so happy she has. It's almost like having a little visit with your friends and family, even friends that you've just recently met, but never actually met-met. I'm totally loving this! I also have met a new friend who somehow found my blog. She is fortunate enough to LIVE on my favorite place on earth, Tybee Island. Lucky duck! She left me a comment last night and I checked out her blog today. You can too, she's on my blog list to the right of my postings. She has Mermaid Cottages that she rents out for lucky people who visit Tybee. We're actually going down there next week to celebrate my Sugar's b'day and to celebrate one of Tybee's favorite characters, Ms. Sylvia's 100th birthday. And I CANNOT wait!!

Today's my nephew, Reid's 11th b'day! Happy b'day to my sweet Reido!! I love you bunches and bunches! He may be 11, but to me, he'll always be the 18-month-old little boy with Keds mocking his mom saying, oh, me, my nerves. His b'day party was scheduled for tomorrow night, but has to be postponed because sadly, Jason's granddaddy passed away yesterday afternoon after a long battle with congestive heart failure and some other problems. What a fine Christian man he was and what a fine Christian family he leaves behind, especially a loving, devoted wife who will miss him dearly! Reid's wise and mature beyond his 11 years, so he understands putting others before himself and will wait patiently on that b'day party that was going to be "small", but has now ended up with about 10 or 11 boys ranging from Reid's age to Cam's age. The plans are for the boys to bring their game systems and games have tournaments. Video game tournaments and spending the night. Yikes. I don't envy Suz or Jason. My advice to them is get plenty of food and plenty of drinks. And, oh, yeah, some padded walls and ear plugs wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Well, I'm back to Peachtree Street today for another depo. Ugh. And, yes, it's the same part as last week. I think I'm gonna stop by the bakery and take some cookies since it's scheduled right after lunch, maybe they'd like a little dessert. The deponent was so emotional last week, maybe a cookie will make her feel better.

Happy, Sunny Thursday to everyone!

Commercials and Kids

I was reading a post from a favorite blogger, Karla, and she was talking about the commercials on Nick and her daughter wanting to send her gold jewelery in and get the cash to do something nice for her family. It started me thinking about how seriously kids take commercials.

Now, why exactly would Nickelodeon show a commercial for a company trying to buy your old gold jewels when the shows they play are targeted to children? And why would they show ads for things they know kids are going to want and then put the phone number up and say, "you must be 18 to call"? Don't they know that their shows are used sometimes for babysitting purposes and that 18-year-olds are not usually watching Nickelodeon. Or do they think that the kids are sitting there watching TV with their notepads and pencils in hand ready to jot down the 1-800 number for dear mom or dad to order that must-have thing for them?

Then there's Eli, my four-year-old nephew. He's Suz's little boy. He takes commercials VERY serious. I mean, really, really, serious. He mostly watches kids' television. It's not like they let him sit around and watch adult TV or anything. He occasionally will watch football or baseball or some other sporting event, but mostly it's children's stuff. Well, when Suz had a bump on her face, he asked her if she needed some Pro Active. Dead serious. Mom, do you need some Pro-Active? A commercial for car insurance comes on. Eli: (who is serious and concerned about anything and everything:) Mom, do we have car insurance? Suz: Yes. Eli: What's car insurance? I just don't understand the thinking of the advertising companies or the TV companies either. I think that maybe we are supposed to get a subliminal message from them. You know, your child is watching Sponge Bob in the living room. You're in the bathroom cleaning toilets. You hear the Pro Active commercial. You have a zit. Subliminally, you think, wow, I've got to get some of that stuff. I guess that must be how it works. What do y'all think?

Tears and Laughter

Tears and Laughter, yes, indeed. There was a lot of both this day. We buried Jeff's brother, Mike today. Tears and laughter, I believe, are good for the soul. I'm reminded of the verse in the Bible that has brought comfort to me during dark times in my life. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22.

After the services, the family went back to Ed and Jean's house and enjoyed the best food in the world. We had a spread of roast beef, a couple of different chicken dishes, at least 10 pounds of potato salad, honey baked ham and turkey, yeast rolls, several different salads and the most delicious desserts imaginable. The most delicious one, of course, was the one that my mom made, which was a red velvet cake. It was deeeeelicious! We all ate to our heart's content. (Note to self: If at all possible, don't send potato salad to post-funeral dinner. While it's delicious and takes a lot of effort to make, at least 15 other people had the same idea.) And there just isn't that much to do with potato salad after dinner is over. I mean, you can't have a potato salad sandwich or anything. You hate to throw it away because it tasted good and you knew someone went through a lot of trouble cutting up all those potatoes. This is a note to self, unless self is my Aunt Brenda, who makes the BEST POTATO SALAD EVER!! I very possibly could eat a potato salad sandwich out of hers. I was happy that Suz stayed after the services and spent the afternoon with the Kelly Family. It was so nice to have her visit with my other family. After we ate, we sat around and looked at pictures and told silly stories about strange people Nan, Ronnie, Jeff and I have met lately. Then we went back to the cemetery to get the flowers that were houseplants and were left at the chapel. Nan, Jean and I got ourselves a few flowers from the graveside. I made myself a very nice bouquet. It's going to be quite cold here tonight, so Jean said they'd likely die if left in the cold. So I made me a big ol' bouquet and put them in a beautiful vase and they look so nice. I do love fresh flowers!

My hubby and my boys looked so handsome I could hardly stand it. I thought I would burst with pride! Them camouflage-wearing, big-truck driving, deer hunting, country boy sons of mine clean up dang nice, if I do say so myself! And my sugar, well, what can I say. Back in the day, if he would have had to wear a suit every day, we'd probably have us a house full of kids. I would have jumped his bones as soon as he walked in the door! I mean, really, y'all is there anything more handsome than a man in a suit? I think not.

I think we gave Mike a very beautiful send off. May he finally have the much deserved rest he deserves. Battle over. You won! REST IN PEACE. WE LOVE YOU AND WE'LL SEE YOU IN ETERNITY!

Monday, Monday

My desk is a wreck. I mean, a total wreck. I've got three depos I MUST get out today. One is proofed. The other two are not. I've got 100 pages to get proofed today. I've got to get to the store to get Cam something to wear tonight and tomorrow for the funeral. Jeff is working part of the day today because he is super busy at work too. My energy drink is in the fridge getting a nice chill, so hopefully, I'll be able to get it all done. The unfortunate thing is that energy drinks kinda upset me stomach so it's a win-lose situation, but today I've opted for the energy. I'll deal with the upset stomach later.

I'm SUPER disappointed with Mike's obituary. The man at the funeral home wrote it. Being the control freak that I am, I wanted to write it. Not wanting to look like the control freak that I am, I didn't push the issue and insist on writing it. Now the obituary reads like crap. When will I learn that it's better to be pushy and get things done right than sit back and know they're gonna be done wrong? You can tell a stranger wrote it. I'm so, so angry with myself for that. And that's never ever gonna happen again! I will never suppress the control freak in me again.

Thanks everyone for the kind words and prayers. I appreciate them so much. We go to the funeral home tonight at 5. The funeral is tomorrow at 11. Since he was a Vietnam vet, he'll have a beautiful flag-draped coffin. That'll look really nice. Mike would be proud of that.

Cloudy, yucky day here weatherwise. Time to turn on the fake sunlight lamp. Y'all enjoy your day, even if it is the dreaded Monday.

In Memory of Mike

Jeff's brother Mike passed away late yesterday afternoon. We all believe that he was hanging on until his mama and daddy and brothers got there to see him once more before he left his earth. I'm so thankful to God for allowing all of them the chance to hug Mike again, and especially for giving his sweet mother the chance to hold his hand one more time. He is at peace now. All the toils and troubles that have bothered him in this life for so many years are no more. The nurse at the hospital reassured his dad that he had a long talk with Mike on Thursday night and felt assured that Mike had accepted the Lord. We've been at the funeral home today and made the arrangements for his funeral on Tuesday and visitation tomorrow night. His son from New York will be here tomorrow.

Again, I ask for prayers of comfort for Jeff and his family. They have some tough days ahead.

Update on Mike

Jeff called me and they are on their way home from Augusta. Mike was out of it most of the visit, just mubling and flailing his arms. He said he knew they were there and called each of them by name. His abdomen and legs and feet and everything are very swollen because they can't drain him anymore because of the risk of infection. He said there were a couple of times he thought Mike not make it through the visit. Hopefully, we can bring him home Monday. I just don't know what we're going to do. My heart is broken for my sweet husband and his family.

These pictures are taken from Christmas 1964 and our wedding day, July 11, 1987. In the Christmas one, Mike is the boy in the blue shirt holding onto his little brother, Jeff. Don's behind Mike and Ronnie is the tall one beside Don. That cute one beside Mike is P-Nut and the the cute little cowboy is Jeff.

In the July picture, Mike is the very handsome one on the right end. Oh, those happy days.

Mike

Jeff and two of his brothers and mom and dad are on their way to Augusta to visit Mike, Jeff's brother, who is very sick with liver cirrhosis. Jeff's oldest brother died of liver cirrhosis in 2006. This is his third oldest brother. He's 57. He's a Vietnam vet and has had a lot of problems since returning from there. Please y'all keep our family in your prayers. Jeff's parents, as you know, are elderly and they are just the sweetest, dearest people on earth. They have always been devout, faithful Christians. Heaven knows they had to be to raise five boys. I just don't know if their hearts can stand the death of another son. They still call their sons their boys. And I think in their eyes they're still the boys of their youth. It's a heartbreaking situation and I don't think the news from Augusta is going to be very hopeful. I'm anxiously waiting for Jeff to call me after he sees Mike. I'll post again after I hear from him.


Now, for the movie. First, let me say that I love Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kathy Bates. I'd love the three of those together in any sort of movie. Second, let me say that I loved them together in Revolutionary Road. I must see the movie again. I totally loved it. It was a gripping, desperate love story. The son of Kathy Bates' character somewhat stole the show, although he played a relatively small role. It was AWESOME, in my opinion, of course. Even Jeff, who never gives a movie higher than a C, gave this movie a B! It was a movie to make you say hmmmm, and left you a tiny bit confused. But that just gives me a good reason to see it again, which I totally want to do. Nan wants to see it, so maybe she and I will check it out. You can never have too much popcorn and Milk Duds.


I'm still playing Catch-Up with my work. I've got the I-Don't-Want-To-Work-Blues. Since Jeff's going to be gone most of the day, probably till at least 5 or 6, I'm going to try and get a lot done. I don't know what the next few days will bring as far as bringing Mike home. The doctors mentioned yesterday hospice care for him. His parents will need all of us and I don't want to have to worry about work. So I've got to get busy. I MUST HAVE ENERGY! Will y'all please pray for me, too, that I will have energy and strength to do everything that I'm going to need to do in these upcoming days/weeks/months.

Popcorn and Milk Duds

Yippee! It's Friday, and although we don't have any great plans for the weekend, y'all know how I love Fridays. I think we're going to skip LaParilla tonight and go to the movies instead. The movie Revolutionary Road. I'm so excited to go see it! I get butterflies when I think about it! It stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio and is about a couple in the 1950s. Tonight's the first night it's open in theatres, so we better get there early to make sure we get a good seat, get my popcorn and Milk Duds and a big Diet Coke with plenty of ice. Can you tell I'm super excited? When I get better with this, I can put a link to things and you could just click and see the preview. But till then, go to RevolutionaryRoadMovie.com I'll bet you'll be dying to see it, too.


The banquet was nice. I must say, though, it's probably the first time I've ever left a steak and chicken dinner hungry :-( The banana pudding was fantastic, but I've never been a fan of the fake charcoal flavor. I did get a good chuckle when the little girl sitting across from me, who was using her best manners while cutting her steak, broke her plastic knife. It was a lot of work for the volunteers who put it on, and I appreciated it. It was long, which was necessary in order to give certificates to each player. They also got State playoff patches to go on their letterman jackets, which I thought was so nice. Cam doesn't have a jacket yet. He's only in 10th grade. Maybe next year he'll get one. I wanted him to get in a picture with me, but he didn't want to. It hurt my feelings and I wanted to go home. Jeff made me stay, which also hurt my feelings. We're back to the too much testosterone thing again. Anyway, I guess he would have been embarassed or something. Who knows what goes on in the mind of a 16-year-old.

Hope y'all are following Baby Harper. She's getting better every day. Wow, it's so amazing what God can do! And as you may know, Suz's hubby, Jason was laid off from his job last Friday. He's got an interview Tuesday at Emory Crawford Long. He's well qualified and such a great guy. Hopefully, they'll see that and give him the job. Emory's a great place to work and has been really good to us with Jeff's job. Definitely add him and Suz to your prayer list. She's been amazingly upbeat and positive. When she gets down, she dusts herself off and gets back up again. Tough cookie. I'd probably be running down the street yelling hysterically like the nuts I saw on Peachtree yesterday.

Got a depo at 12:30, and I've got a few things to do before then, so that's all for now. I'll fill y'all in tomorrow on the movie. Enjoy your day!

Thursday on Peachtree Street

I had a deposition downtown on Peachtree Street this morning. It's been a little while since I've been to the particular part of Peachtree where I had to go today, at least three months. The streets I had to travel on were so torn up with construction I wouldn't be surprised to have a flat when I go back out to my car. It was awful. During lunchtime on Peachtree, it's very busy with lots of foot traffic and auto traffic. You have to be paying close attention or you'll run over somebody. No talking on the cell phone. There was this man with a book of some sort in his hand shouting about something. He was yelling pretty loud, too, because even with my windows up, he got my attention. And, oh, yeah, there was a big group of construction workers on strike shouting about something else. They weren't with the man with the book though. It was just a loud, busy, torn up, messed up ride. But . . . then I looked out the window and saw this beautiful fountain and it was frozen! In Atlanta, a frozen fountain! In July, the fountains are often shut off because of drought, but this fountain said it runs on recycled water and today on January 23rd, it was frozen solid and it was beautiful! Thankfully, I had a camera and took a picture to share. Isn't it pretty? Then, on the way home I stopped at Checkers and got me a big ol' cheeseburger and fries and diet coke with lots of ice. Honey, I oinked. I ate that whole cheeseburger. Even the middle. Jeff was working from home today, so I brought him one too.

Tonight's Cam's football banquet at the high school. Seems kinda late, doesn't it? I mean, February 2nd they start working out for next football season. Anyway, we're having steak and chicken. Now, I wonder how good that will be . . . I'll make some pictures of my handsome boy.

Oh, and BTW, the "What Lady" is now the "Was Lady". Thanks to Jeff. I just couldn't do it. As mad as I was, I just didn't have the heart to tell her. But he did. I'm excited because my real "cleaning lady", who ALSO AND MORE IMPORTANTLY IS MY COUSIN, is in town and is coming to clean for me tomorrow. If she happens to read this, be forewarned. This house is dirty. She cleaned for me for a couple of years and then married the United States Marine of her dreams and moved to North Carolina to be his Marine Wife. I miss her. She always gave me a good laugh every week. And boy, could she clean. She knew where I was coming from! But she and her hubby are living happily ever after and I'm very, very happy for her! She's here helping a friend move. I hope I get to at least see her (Sonia that is). I have to work tomorrow. :-(

Y'all please keep in your prayers my dad's cousin's wife. She has Lou Gehrig's Disease, also known as ALS. It's a very debilitating and tragic disease. She was at our Howell family reunion in September and wasn't looking well. But she was standing on her feet. She is now in a bed with a feeding tube.

Guess that's it for now. What does one wear to a football banquet? Hmmmm.

(((Hugs)))

Why Don't My Shoes Fit?

And why is the grocery store suddenly out of everything I need? Two big problems in my life right now. Every winter my feet shrink. No other part of my body, just my feet. This year, they've shrunk about two sizes. Big, big problem. I'm usually a 5 1/2 in a ladies dress shoe. If I can find a 5, I'll take it, but stores never have it. So now, I'm about a 3. I put my dress shoes on this morning to go to work and they are falling off my feet. Now, my skirt's tight, but my shoes are loose. Go figure. I think I'll go get some of the patent leather Mary Janes we all wore as little girls in a size 3 and go on about my day.

I was going to have the potato soup I posted about yesterday. Went to Publix, which is the store I like to go to because they have a nice selection of produce and they have good meat and seafood and even have sushi, which I have occasionally bought from there. Well, they were out of everything I needed to make the darn soup. The Simply Potatoes, gone. The shredded cheese, gone. I was so mad. I just bought me some pink tulips, some golden delicious apples and left. We ended up eating Waffle House. Of course, I could've peeled the potatoes and shredded my own cheese, but after the big inauguration festivities, I wasn't in the mood for all that work.

Speaking of work, I've gotta run (well, not literally, remember my shoe problem). I've got a job at 10 and I hear traffic is awful all over town. Yippee! As usual.

Hugs to all! And as always, Happy Humpday!

What Was for Lunch?

Just in case any of you want to cook for your families recipes from the Inauguration Day Luncheon, Theresa sent me the link where you can get the menu and the recipes. The only thing on there that looked worth a darn were the molasses sweet potatoes and apple sponge cake. I bet President Obama's (there I said it for the first time) daughters were not very happy or very full afterwards.

http://inaugural.senate.gov/documents/doc-2009-recipes.pdf

Proud to be an American

It's Inauguration Day for us. Today we get our new president. And whether we voted for him or not, he's going to be OUR president. I didn't vote for him, didn't like him, didn't want him to win, couldn't even stand to hear him speak. But I will support him. I will respect him. And most of all, I WILL PRAY FOR HIM. He's coming into a tough situation. I'm sure that our country has been through worse economic times, but I can say that in my memory, I don't remember people losing their jobs at the rate they are now. I will admit that I am afraid. People that I love have lost their job. People that I love, that I've never even met, have lost their job. I'm working my butt off and not getting paid because attorneys are keeping their money. Have they never heard of the Golden Rule, "Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You"? Another thing that concerns me is that if our president takes his focus off those in the world that hate us to deal with all of our economic problems, will they use that as a good time to attack us again? Pray for our new President. One thing I didn't learn during the election was if he's a good multi-tasker or not. I sure hope so. I will watch at high noon when he takes the oath of office. And I will watch some of the inaugural balls tonight to see what Michelle is wearing. Shame on me.

Now, on with the day. Work? Not work? What to do? I know it's only January 20th, but I really want to put my Valentine decorations out. I don't have much, but they brighten the house up so much. All that pink and red is so cheerful. And who doesn't like to think about love? The only problem is that I'd have to go in the basement. Shudder. You risk life and limb to go down there. It's such a mess.

I haven't started my workout program yet. I think I'm gonna get the stuff out of the car because it has DVDs with each item and maybe I can go at it by myself till Nan and I can get together.

What's for supper tonight?

Creamy Potato Soup.

4 slices bacon

3 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 cup chopped celery

water to cover

2 cups milk

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons paprika

In large saucepan cook bacon until crisp. Set bacon aside, along with 3 tablespoons of bacon drippings.

Add potatoes, onion, carrot and celery to drippings. Add enough water to cover vegetables and cook over low heat until tender, stirring occasionally.

Stir in milk, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.

In a separate bowl, stir together sour cream, flour and paprika. Gradually stir 1 cup of hot soup mixture into sour crream mixture.

Pour sour cream mixture into soup mixture. Cook until good and bubbly hot. Top with chopped bacon pieces and shredded cheese.

I think that you could make this somewhat lower fat by using turkey bacon, 2 percent or even skim milk, fat-free sour cream, and low-fat cheese. Simply Potatoes makes great diced potatoes if you don't like to cut potatoes, which I don't, and they're not too pricey either.

BTW, my roast beef sandwiches that I made last week were out of this world YUMMY! We toasted the french bread just a little with a slice of swiss cheese on it, put the roast on them and dipped them in the aus jus. OMGoodness, so good! Hope you try it.

Praying for Harper

This is this precious little baby that I found through another blogger. She's in critical condition in another state. I know a lot of the people who read my blog are big-time praying people and so I wanted to ask y'all to send one up for this sweet little baby girl and her parents who, from reading her blog, have prayed for her birth for a long, long time. Click the Pray for Harper on the sidebar to the right and it'll take you to her blog. Which, by coincidence, is called "Kelly's Korner."

Playing Catch Up

I am soo far behind on my work. I'm spending the day playing catch up. So far, so good. I'm staying on task, believe it or not. I took a lunch break to blog and read Karla and Joyce's blogs. A few more hours of good, focused work and I should be good to go again.

My mom, my aunts and some of my cousins are having lunch together today since a lot of people are off work. I really wanted to go, but I didn't get enough done before it was time to leave. I had to miss it this time. I hate that.

I'm in Diet Coke heaven these days. Our fridge where we keep all our drinks is in the garage and in the winter it freezes the drinks a little. My Diet Cokes are like Icees. Yummy! I guess it really is the small pleasures in life, huh?

Not much else going on. There's an icky stomach virus going around, so if it's got you, hope you're better soon! Joseph had it last week and missed two days of school. Cam faked it Friday so he could have a four-day weekend. At least I think he was faking. Moms just kind of have a feel for these things, don't they? He's only missed like one day so far, so what the heck. It was really cold and he had his heart set on that four-day weekend. Bad mom.

Lunch break over. Back on task. Don't want to get behind again.

Retail Therapy. . . It's a Good Thing

Ahh. Yesterday was a good day. I spent the day with one of my favorite people in the whole world. My bestest friend, Suz. First, we had the most delicious lunch at the Atlanta Bread Company. I had chili in a bread bowl, yummy and a side salad, which was big enough to be a main dish. We ate our meals by the fireplace. It was just absolutely perfect. Who thought it could get any better? Until we went to Target. That has to be one of my very favorite stores. They have everything you could want for you, your family and your house all under one roof. I got a serious dose of much needed retail therapy. We were in that store for hours. We browsed almost every department. I think we skipped the electronics and CD and DVD departments. We're not too interested in either of those. Although I do need new cordless phones for my house. That will give me a good excuse to go back on another day.

So Nan and I are going to start this little workout program. Well, knowing Nan I don't think it's going to be so little. She does everything in a big way. She takes working out pretty seriously too. Suz helped me pick out the stuff I needed to get started yesterday because she's been on a workout program for a while now. She and a friend of hers get up at 5 in the morning and work out. I think Nan and I will be doing ours in the evening. Nan may teach me how to do everything and then let me do it on my own, I'm not sure. Our schedules are very different, so that may be what works best. She goes to a gym and enjoys that. I hope we can get started tomorrow. I can't believe how expensive workout stuff is.

Went to church today. That was also a good thing. I just love that old-time religion. My 19-year-old cousin Justin is a United States Marine (can you see me beaming with pride). He drove 450 miles using his 96 hours of time off this month to come home and go to church today. It is so amazing to see what the Marines has done to him. He went in last July as a boy. Today he stands proudly as a fine young man. We have a lot to be proud of in this country. Our military is definitely something for us to be proud of.

Going to my mom's for supper tonight. Luke and Libby from South Georgia are coming up to bring Reid his belated Christmas gift. Every year Luke gives the boys, in turn, a rattlesnake skin dried and mounted. The taxidermist didn't have Reid's ready in time for Christmas, so they're bringing it tonight and joining us for supper. They have HUGE rattlesnakes in South Georgia and he kills one every year. It's usually one that he stumbles upon while he's out in the field or in his yard or something. He said the one he's bringing for Reid was the meanest one he's ever seen and was completely standing up rattling at him when he killed it. Yikes!

Well, Crystal's pipes froze in her attic Friday night and flooded her kitchen. Did lots of damage to her kitchen floor. She's going to have to get her hardwood floor replaced. Also messed up the insulation in the attic too.

I've got to call the "What Lady" tonight. I don't want to either. Even though she did me dirty and I shouldn't have any problem whatsoever, I don't like doing that kind of thing. I just don't want to dread it all week, so I'm going to get it over with tonight. I'm going to tell her that I don't need her anymore. Which I most definitely, positively don't. I think I can find something better to do with my money. Like err... go get some more retail therapy.

Random Things About Me

Okay, folks. As I've found is customary and a heck of a lot of fun, I'm posting some random facts about me. I was going to do 100, then 50, then I decided to just go until I got tired. Here we go.

1. My name is Lisa Kelly Howell Kelly. Now I go by Kelly H. Kelly

2. My mom is June my dad is Marshall. They've been married 44 years.

3. I have two sisters.

4. My hubby's name is Jeff.

5. We have two sons. Ross and Cam. Ross is 20. Cam's 16.

6. My favorite thing about Jeff is that he's ALWAYS happy!

7. My favorite thing about Ross is that I can still see my sweet, adventurous little boy every time I look at him.

8. My favorite thing about Cam is his innocent, devilish smile. Some girl is in for a real treat one of these days!

9. I have four nephews on my side and one niece. I have two nephews and three nieces on Jeff's side.

10. My mother- and father-in-law are Jean and Ed.

11. Suzanne is my best friend.

12. Crystal is my secret body guard and also my best friend.

13. My sister-in-law, Nan, has become one of my best friends.

14. I graduated in 1983. I weighed 83 pounds in 1983.

15. I got my first job when I was 17.

16. I worked in the Rich's building in downtown Atlanta.

17. I had never driven more than 10 miles by myself until I was 18 years old.

18. I had a midnight curfew the night before my wedding. I WAS LATE!

19. My dad is my hero.

20. I love flowers. Especially tulips and hydrangeas.

21. I'm very sentimental.

22. I don't cry easily.

23. I yell very easily.

24. I love to shop.

25. I hate thrift stores.

26. I've had two C-sections.

27. I had a total hysterectomy in October 2008.

28. My abdomen has been cut three times in the exact same spot.

29. I love Jeff's grey hair and have never wanted him to color it.

30. When I first met him, I thought he had dyed his hair that color.

31. My eyebrows and lips are too thin.

32. I like to wash dishes.

33. I hate to load the dishwasher.

34. I like to eat Milk Duds and popcorn together at the movies.

35. I eat around a cheeseburger and let Jeff eat the middle.

36. I like to go to outdoor concerts.

37. I love to have a fire.

38. I'm terrified of fire.

39. I can't stand the smell of smoke from a fire.

40. I've never struck a match in my life. Ever.

41. I have two holes pierced in each ear. I only wear earrings in one hole in each ear.

42. I drink only Diet Coke. I don't like Pesi.

43. I'm a good judge of character.

44. I rarely give a person a second chance if they fool me on the character thing.

45. I like pampering.

46. I love to be pampered.

47. I like to be in control.

48. I don't like most of the music that Jeff likes.

49. I like to create memories for my family.

50. I think I'm right most of the time.

51. I'm right a lot of the time.

52. I'm a court reporter.

53. I didn't go to school to become a court reporter.

54. I know very little about computers.

55. I'm an avid reader.

56. My closet stays a mess.

57. I have a Blackberry. I'm slightly addicted to my Blackberry.

58. I like makeup.

59. I have a ton of makeup.

60. I miss my grandparents.

61. I love to fish.

62. I can bait my own hook and take my own fish off the hook.

63. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Halloween is second. Christmas is third.

64. Christmas kinda makes me sad. See # 21.

65. My dad almost died in 2003.

66. My favorite verse in the Bible is Proverbs 17:22. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

67. My mom is my spiritual and moral role model.

68. I wish I were more like my mom.

69. I am a lot like my dad.

70. My mom and mother-in-law are the best cooks I know. My aunts are the second best.

71. My Aunt Theresa is the most optimistic person I know.

72. I've been a nail biter my entire life.

73. I balance our checkbook and pay our bills. I hate math.

74. I have a cat named Smokey and a dog named Bandit. Not done on purpose either.

75. Smokey is black with a little white. Bandit's white with a little black.

76. I love fresh tomatoes from the garden.

77. I can ski a little.

78. I suck at every other sport I've ever tried.

79. I can play Spades a little.

80. I suck at every other card game I've ever tried. Except Old Maid.

81. I love football. Youth, high school and college. Pro is okay.

82. I like to eat out.

83. I like margaritas, but they give me a headache.

84. I drink them anyway.

85. The sunshine makes me happy.

86. We go to the same place for vacation every year.

87. I like sushi.

88. I hate pork chops.

89. If I misplace something, I just assume I threw it away. I keep looking for it anyway.

90. I have horrible teeth.

91. I don't like going to the dentist.

92. I have always had perfect vision until last year. I think I need reading glasses now.

93. I go to the church I grew up in.

94. I'm a Baptist.

95. I like old, old hyms.

96. I try not to judge others.

97. I don't like it when people judge others.

98. My family means the world to me.

99. I believe my help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

100. I am a Girl Named Kelly Kelly.

What Did I Ever Do?

To deserve only the best husband (aka SUGAR) in the world? He is too, too good to me. He worked from home yesterday. Well, in truth, he worked at home yesterday doing things around here most of the time.

He does most of the laundry, gathers it up, washes, dries, (if it can't be dried, he hangs it up to dry), folds and takes it to the room it belongs in. He probably does about 15 loads of laundry a week. He did about 5 loads yesterday. One of his goals during these long, boring winter nights was for us to get closets and cabinets cleaned out. He started on the extra bedroom yesterday. He was in there for a couple of hours working. I was in my office and I could hear him banging things around, then later on vacuuming. All the while still doing his actual work-work at Emory. We have a really big garden tub and I love to take a hot bubble bath. It's virtually impossible to fill that tub up before the hot water runs out, so what does he do? He boils water for me to pour in the tub. He makes our coffee every single day, freshly ground coffee no less. He makes sure Cam gets up and off to school if I don't have to get up for work. Most of all, he puts up with me and my craziness.

So tonight I'm gonna cook that sweet hunka man something good to eat. I'm making these roast beef sandwiches with au jus cooked in the crock pot. I've never made it before, but it sounds really good. Then there's a recipe for an apple pudding pie in this month's issue of Southern Living that also looks good. Jeff typically doesn't eat sweets, but he does like apple desserts, so I'm going to give this one a whirl.

Here's the recipe for the Roast Beef Au Jus Sandwiches

2-3 pound rump roast

1 can beef broth

1 can french onion soup

1 bottle beer

salt and pepper

Cook in your crock pot on high most of the day. Shred meat and place on toasted French bread. Serve with side of Au Jus, which will be the broth in the crock pot.

How good does that sound? I'll let you know tomorrow how good it was.

Live, love, laugh and enjoy your day!

Bored Outta My Gourd

Work, eat, sleep (or try to). Every day it seems like it's the same thing. I mean, the weekends are a little different, but the weekdays are just so boring. There's just nothing going on this time of year. Jeff's not coaching football right now, so he's probably bored, too. We're not big TV fans. We like to be outside doing stuff, but there's just not anything to do. I know I've said this a bunch already, but I'm really ready for spring and summer. I'm definitely a summertime kinda gal. I love the sun, the garden, the fresh veggies, the pool, staying outside till way after dark, all the great things that come with the summer. Heck, at this point, I'd even take the bugs.

Of course, there is something to be said for boredom, too. That means that everything in life is status quo. That's a good thing. I just need a little excitement, preferredly in a good way. A friend of mine just sent me an e-mail that she has a new granddaughter. Lucky her.

Shopping doesn't even excite me right now. I'm just bored. Any good ideas how to get un-bored? February will be better. Jeff's b'day is in February and we're going to Tybee for that. Then we're going to Jason's hunting land for our Annual Deer Land Camping Trip. Reid's b'day is in about a week, so I guess I can look forward to that. Other than that for January, that's it. January blows. Literally.

Mr. Sandman did pay me a nice visit last night. I had lunch with Suz at Cracker Barrel yesterday and bought this ointment that you rub on your temples and underneath your eyes and it was supposed to help you sleep. Well, I did sleep much better. I also took some of Theresa's relaxation tips. The only problem is that I want to sleep today, too. I've got so much work to catch up on, that's not gonna happen.

Happy Humpday!

Mr. Sandman, Where are You?

I seem to have lost my dear friend, Mr. Sandman. In the past, sleep could come to me in the daytime, nighttime or both in the same 24-hour period. Nowadays, sleep almost completely eludes me. How I miss my friend.


I had a total hysterectomy in October. Suz blames it on that. Before I had that done, I'd say it was hormones. If I drink a bit of caffeine in the evenings, I'll say it's that. If I take my meds later in the day, well, surely it was that. Folks, I think there is an intruder called Insomnia screwing up my relationship with the Sandman. Does he not know two's company, three's a crowd?


I want you all to know before you read further that this is a true story. Although, it seems like it must surely have been a cruel joke, although cruel, it was no joke. To set the stage for you, I'm finally asleep, very lightly, but asleep nonetheless. It's 3:30 a.m. My bed buddy has to get up and go to the restroom. My blankets are perfect. Pillow's just right. It's all good. I hear him get up, but am able to doze right back to sleep. Till he gets back in the bed and starts TUGGING on my blankets, that not more than 60 seconds ago were perfect for him, too! So I huff and puff and am now AWAKE! I lie there for about 15 minutes. Then I decide also to make a trip to the restroom. No TP. So I use Kleenex. Flush. Back to the bed. I'm lying there and it sounds as though the toilet is still running. I tell him. He, of course, and without a doubt, DOESN'T HEAR IT. So I get up and go in there. I tell him it is running. He says just jiggle the handle. I do. It doesn't work. I tell him it doesn't work. He says do it again. I do it again. It still doesn't work. I go back to the bed and tell he's going to have to go and fix it. He throws the blankets off, walks across the cold tile floor and by the time he gets to the toilet it's not running anymore. (He-he). Sorry, sugar. It's just so funny.


Back in the bed now. Covers adjusted for everyone. He's snoring in five minutes. I'm awake till 5:00 and I can take it no more. I decide I'll go in my office and try to sleep on the floor until time to get up. It's dark and quiet in there. I could go on the sofa, but I know Ross will be up in an hour and a half, so I want to sleep more than that. Grab my favorite Snoopy blanket and my pillow, head to my office. At least 10 dogs are having a barking contest across the street. So that's not gonna work. So off to the sofa I go. First I have to turn off the lights the boys left on throughout the house. Get on the sofa. I'm there about 5 minutes and hear something that sounds like a shower drip only it has a rythmn. It's not the shower, it's Cam's ceiling fan knocking. So I allow myself to get in the rythmn of the fan, then the fridge comes on. This ain't gonna work either. As I told Suz this morning, if I could've emptied out my the cabinets on my bookcase and crawled inside, I would have. I really would have liked a place to sleep. I bet it's dark and quiet in there.


Back to my bed. I get at the foot of my bed thinking that might help with my having to hear the snoring. I try to adjust the blankets without tugging on his. I get fairly comfortable, with the exclusion of my feet sticking out at the head of the bed. I couldn't seem to get them under the cover and I didn't want to kick him in the head. I did finally fall asleep somewhere between 5:30 and 6:00. Ross drives a diesel truck, so when he starts that up at 6:45, guess what? I wake up again.


Sometimes I take a Benadryl for this sleep problem. It's hit or miss with that. After my surgery, the doctor gave me a RX for Lunesta, which I hate and never take. Simply Sleep makes me feel hungover the next day. I'm basically screwed.


There's just nothing like good, natural sleep. When I sleep with the aid of medication, I have crazy dreams that stick in my head for days and days. Right now I'm dealing with a dream I had over the weekend, after taking a Benadryl, where I am living in a house that looks like a mushroom, but was on a body of water. I can't tell if it was a lake or a beach. I swear! It was a real dream and I keep getting visions of the house at various times during the day. I'm still trying to decipher what that means. It was a clean mushroom house though.


Working today at 11 and possibly at 4. Hope y'all have a good Tuesday!

Prayer List and To Do List

There are lots of people I know that are going through things right now and just need an extra prayer sent up for them. My sisters-in-law are both going through rough times. Nan's maw-maw is having colon cancer surgery today. I think she'll be 86 or 87 in February. Nan's a very funny person and so much fun to be around, but comes to tears at the mention of her maw-maw's cancer. Please pray for her.


Then there's my other sister-in-law, Sherry. Her mom is in the hospital with pneumonia. I'm not sure how old she is, but I think she must be in her 70s. Sherry's the only daughter in her family and so she's really carrying a heavy burden right now and needs lots of prayer too.


Jeff's brother, Mike, is in the hospital. Something's going on with his liver. He's not married and his son, Kyle and grandson, Jack, live in New York. Jeff's brother, Don, who passed away in 2006 died of liver problems, so naturally, Ed & Jean are really, really worried that the same thing is going on with Mike. Pray for Mike and Ed & Jean too.


People are losing their jobs left and right. Some who are able to keep their jobs are having their hours cut or losing their benefits or having to pay more for their benefits to keep them. These are tough times. My online friend, Joyce, whose blog you can follow from mine, is facing an interesting problem in May. Here in Georgia, especially where I live, we don't have issues with bridge closures causing us to temporarily relocate. I guess down on the coast, it's a possibility, But in the northwest, it seems they do. Read her blog and pray for a solution to her problem.


These are just a few things. I'm sure there are so many more. Just wanted to take the focus off me for a moment and ask y'all to pray for my family and friends.


Now, back to me. Just a regular Monday. I think I might fix supper tonight. (jaws drop). Don't know what to fix though. Maybe I'll check out Joyce's family recipes and see what looks good. I'm gonna have to go to the grocery store no matter what because I have no ingredients to make anything. We're even out of cereal.


Trying to get some work done today too. I've got quite a lot to do. I just have the hardest time focusing to get it done. Working at home is so hard. It's up and down, up and down to do this or that. This nap or that nap, eat this or eat that, you know what I mean. I've had the same To Do List hanging in my office since New Year's Eve. Nothing new has been crossed off of it either. I think I'm gonna snatch it down right now. Snatch. It's gone. That space sure looks empty. Guess I'll have to make another . . . Is it a bad thing when you use a To Do List as a wall decoration instead of the organizational tool it was designed to be???

82nd Birthday Party Recap

Last night was the big lasagna party. I didn't make it to church today because I was up and down all night with an upset stomach :-( Not from the food, but from an energy drink that I drank yesterday. Just as Theresa suspected would be the case, I don't think I want to smell any more Italian food for a while though. It was not a very comforting smell when I was getting up feeling sick.

Nan made the best lasagna ever. Mine, however, not so much. Stouffer's really let me down. I called mom this morning to tell her about the party and she said she could've told me it was no good. She said my dad won't touch that stuff. If I had asked her beforehand I would've known that if he didn't like it, I wouldn't like it. We're kinda picky like that. I did make homemade ravioli though, and it was very good. Sherry brought the b'day pies and we sang happy birthday to Mee-Maw.

If you read the post from last night, I hinted that something sorta happened to our TV. With wii you have these controllers and it's very interactive. You use the controllers in the bowling game as if they were your bowling ball. Only you don't throw the controller. Well . . . Jean (Mee-Maw), who is a very good bowler with a real bowling ball and who bowled in a senior citizen bowling league till a few months ago, was playing her very first wii bowling game. We were explaining everything very carefully and we were just nearly finished with the directions. In fact, the sentence coming out of Jeff's mouth was, don't throw the controller like you would a bowling ball. Simultaneously, she innocently, but very powerfully, throws the controller/bowling ball directly at our TV screen. We have a good-sized crack right down the left side of the TV now. I don't think she realized it actually cracked the screen,although everyone else knew exactly what had happened and was aghast. No one told her it cracked the TV and she doesn't have a computer, so it's something I'll never, ever tell her. If she knew she had messed up our TV, she'd be out this minute or either giving us the money to replace our TV. She's still a pretty strong lady at 82 years old! And not a bad wii bowler either.

Mee-Maw, the wii bowler!

I think Mom's gonna cook tonight. I just don't think I can smell my house up with any more food right now. My stomach can't take it. Cam's cooking a frozen pizza right now and the smell of it cooking is more than I can handle.

Joyce, if you're reading, the weatherman is saying we might get some snow by the end of the week. Only here in Georgia, we get a light dusting. Our kids (even at 20 and 16) get very excited and go out to play in the snow, which is mostly just mud. Cam's already planning his upcoming four-day weekend, thinking school will be out Friday and Monday is MLK day, so he's out of school for that. I'll keep you updated. Keep your fingers crossed that we might get a little snow! If it has to be winter, at least let it snow.

Here is a group picture from last night. It has almost all of the family in it. One of Jeff's brothers passed away in 2006 and one of his brothers couldn't make it. Hope everyone has a very good Sunday. We all know what tomorrow is . . . monday.

The What Lady?

I was so excited yesterday because I was having my house cleaned. I get it cleaned every two weeks. It's a luxury that I afford myself, and that Jeff lets me afford myself. I'd rather eat cereal every night for a week than have to give that up. And this week, we did eat cereal about three nights and one night we had sandwiches.

My deposition was long and grueling, just as I knew it would be. It went four-and-a-half hours, with only a very short break. It was awful. But I knew I was going to have a nice, clean house to come home to. That was kind of helping me get through the day. I mean, there is just something about a freshly cleaned house gives me an indescribable, insane sensation.

After sitting in rushhour Atlanta traffic, I had plans to get a few things done before Jeff and I were going out for our Friday night at LaParilla. All the while thinking I would open the door and the smell of my fresh and spotless house would be awaiting me. Now, you all know that with my OCD and being a major clean freak, I naturally know of every speck of dirt that's in my house. My house was very dirty this time, and I knew I was going to get my money's worth from my cleaning. I don't always feel like I do because it's not usually that dirty. I open the door, look down on the floor and I couldn't believe my eyes. The kitchen floor had not even been swept! Much less mopped. I'm pretty sure the so-called "cleaning lady" came and sprayed some smelly stuff, ran the vacuum and left. There were even some crumbs on the kitchen table! I went nuts. I was yelling so loud and so much that I got a headache and my eyes felt like they were bugging out of my head!

When Jeff got home, he started helping me clean the house, after we had paid a so-called "cleaning lady" to clean it. He was going to do Cam's room because I generally keep out of it and let the "cleaning lady" dust it and change his sheets. They don't make prescription drugs strong enough for me to clean his or Ross's room. Well, Jeff goes in there to dust it for me and starts cracking up. He brings out this black banana peeling that's hard as a brick and looks like the jaw of some wild animal. It was on his dresser. Obviously, the "cleaning lady" didn't even think about dusting in there. Not this time. And most likely, not last time either. Whiskers on Ross's bathroom sink. He hadn't been home to shave! Oh, my gosh, I was so mad. And I was hurt, too. I just couldn't believe that someone I paid my hard-earned CASH had come into my house and taken advantage of me. It made me cry.

My TGIF, favorite day of the week didn't turn out so good this week, huh? We did get it all cleaned up though. And we went out and had a good dinner, got home early and went to bed early. Had to get ready for the party, which was tonight. It was lots of fun. Mee-Maw really enjoyed it. I think it made her feel very special. She had five sons and no daughters, so she probably didn't get a lot of attention on her birthdays through the years. I'll fill y'all in with all the details of the party tomorrow.

I'll give ya a hint though. Our big-screen TV has a crack in it now. We played wii bowling, remember?

Lasagna and TGIF!

We're cooking for Jeff's mom (Jean's) birthday tomorrow night. We're having lasagna. It's no biggie though because everyone is bringing something. I'm excited to have it here. I think it'll be fun. I'm sure I'll have some good pictures to post Monday. We're going to play wii and they are a fun, spirited crowd. We'll have about 17 adults plus Drew and Kendal, if my math is right, which it might not be. I think we had 27 here for my dad's birthday. I'm getting the house cleaned today. Yippee!

With regard to yesterday's post on our purses... with exception of Karla and Theresa, WE ALL NEED PURSE THERAPY!! I thought I carried a lot of stuff. I cracked up at the things we carry. Yellow pages? THREE mirrors? Two months' worth of bills? And, of course, we all have a calendar we NEVER use. Yikes. I can see I'm not going to get much advice on downsizing from this blog. On the plus side of carrying a large purse, I saw my Aunt Cindy at the funeral home last night. A member of our church died suddenly Tuesday when a blood clot went to her brain. She was at the hospital with her Sunday night when she was still able to speak. She complained of chapped lips. Well, Cindy, being one of us, just so happened to have a tube of unopened Chap Stick in her purse, which I'm sure was ginormous. She was able to provide her dying friend comfort from her giant purse. There are upsides and downsides to everything I guess.

Here we are, TGIF. I have to work today. I have a deposition at 11 a.m. It's a translator depo. Now, let me set this up for you so you can appreciate what I have facing me this morning.

Attorney: Where do you work?

Translator: (In the language the deponent speaks translates the question, which takes about a minute to translate.)

Witness: (Gives his answer in his native language, which takes about a minute to say.)

Translator: (Gives the witness's answer back to the attorney in English) Macy's.

This goes on and on for a couple of hours. What would normally take 30 minutes takes hours. It's torture that's similar to having bleeding hangnails on all ten fingers. But it is Friday. That's the good thing.

Friday for me has always been more than just a day. It's a mood. I love Fridays. I usually go out on Friday night. Sometimes it's a payday (not this time though :-( ). When the kids were little, it meant no homework. Fridays are the day you just say ahhh. It's just a good kinda day. The only bad thing about Friday is that Monday is right around the corner.

P.S. Check yesterday's comments later for a surprise comment from a surprise purse carrier! If you don't know how to comment or get to the comments, just click comment down at the bottom. Or call Theresa if you're in the family. HeHe.

What's in Your Purse?

Yeah, that's right. What's in your purse? Or pocketbook or tote or whatever you call the thing that you lug around with you everywhere you go. I'm desperately trying to downsize my pocketbook, which is really more like a small suitcase. I have carpal tunnel in both wrists and I just need to carry a lighter purse. When I'm out somewhere and I ask Jeff to carry my purse, even he can't believe how heavy it is. I've got to do something.

I have a serious fear of needing something and not having it in my pocketbook. Therefore, I tend to put everything but the kitchen sink in it. If I could put the kitchen sink in it, I believe I would. At least then I could wash my hands whenever I wanted, which would be quite often. As it is, I just carry a bottle of hand sanitizer. Which that dries my hands out, which forces me to carry a bottle of lotion. It just goes on and on.

When I was growing up, my Aunt Barbara carried the largest, heaviest pocketbook I had ever seen. Until mine. She had any and everything you could imagine in her pocketbook. She always had at least 20 pens. She even carried around a Ziploc bag full of quarters in case anyone ever got put in the hospital and she needed them for vending machines, pay phones, etc. I'm pretty sure I inherited this pocketbook phobia from her.

A couple of days after Christmas, when the stores were practically giving things away, I bought a new pocketbook. For those who know me, that was probably the last thing I needed. I have a lot of pocketbooks! It's the pocketbook on the left in the picture. The real big one. That thing can hold a small child. And it can get very heavy when I put everything in it that I wanted to carry. I got tired of digging through it looking for stuff and just tired of lugging it around. It was just too big, but I needed a big one to carry everything I wanted/needed to carry. So I'm now on a mission to cut back. Can y'all help me out here? What do you carry in your purse? I'll tell you what I carry in mine on a daily basis. I have my checkbook, a small camera, calendar, Blackberry, comb, nail file, nail clippers, makeup bag with at least three lip glosses, a couple of lipsticks, a compact, a blush, eyelash curlers, mascara, two Chapsticks (one for Jeff and one for me), a notepad, a pen, a pencil, sunglasses, business card case, two small pill holders (one for my RX and one for over-the-counter such as Advil and Vanquish), hand sanitizer, hand lotion, mints, wet wipes, a small wristlet for my insurance cards and frequent shopper cards. I don't see anything in that list that I can take out without having a panic attack. Do you? I'm so envious when I see ladies with these cute little purses with just a few things in them. And here I am with my small duffel bag full of junk.

So what I did was I dumped the contents of the big purse out and put them into the small purse on the right in the picture. Now the small purse is overstuffed and fat and also heavy. But at least it's cute.

I think I'll give the big purse to my Aunt Barbara. I think she still carries a sackful of quarters.

Harriet Craig, Suz and Me

If any of you have someone in your life who knows you better than you know yourself, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about in today's post. If you don't, then I'll try to explain what it's like.

First of all, I have two sisters. Crystal is three years younger than me. Suzanne (or Suz as I affectionately call her) is eight years younger than me. I don't have any brothers. Let it be known to all that I love my sisters with all my heart and I love them equally. It's so cliche to say that I would do anything for either of them, but I truly would and they know that.

Anyway, the relationship that I have with Suz is and has always been different than the one I have with Crystal. I was old enough when she was born to be a helper to my mom, which I remember being. I remember giving her her bottle in the car when my mom was driving. Taking her outside to swing on our swingset and making up little songs to sing to her while I would hold her in the swing. And I remember carrying her and dropping her right on her head on our unfinished dining room floor! It had no carpet or anything. I remember the anguish I felt until we were completely sure she was all right.

When she became a teenager, NOBODY, and I do mean NOBODY, boy, girl, man or beast had better mess with her. If they dared, they had to deal with the rath of Kelly. And believe you me, it was a rath to be dealt with. She and I could write some pretty good stories about paybacks we gave girls when they'd be ugly to her, which did happen on occasion. She was a popular girl in high school, dated the quarterback, was a cheerleader, on the homecoming court. Yeah, you know the kind. She had lots of friends, but there would be the occasional *-%-#-c-h that didn't like her.

Then she grew up and got married to a guy who lived an hour (or actually, 50 minutes door to door) from Stockbridge, where we live. She lived here for a while. Had two of her three kids and I was able to see her and those precious babies every single day, which I did. Then she moved 50 minutes door to door away. Had another baby. Now I only get to see her and the kids I still adore and the husband, which I also adore, once or twice a week.

But... I talk to her on the phone at least 40 times a day. Sometimes more. If you looked at my caller ID, it would show her phone number at least 20 times. Then if you add the times I call her, which is at least that many, it's probably about 40 on any given day. That's not counting the cell phone calls. Heck, we probably talk on the phone about 50 times a day.

Suffice it to say that we know each other very, very well. I can tell the second I hear her utter the first syllable of the first word she speaks what kind of mood she's in. As she can with me. She gives me advice. Some I take. Most I should take. The rest, well ... She's smarter than me in some ways. I'm smarter than her in some. She's a court reporter too, so we help each other with work junk, which is great. My obsessive behavior fascinates her and drives her nuts at the same time. If there was one thing she could change about me, it would definitely be that. I think she'd change it for my sake, though, more than for those around me.

Anyway, to put this long post in a nutshell. This morning, I woke up at 7:30. I decided to do what my dad does and "ease into my day." This means sit around for a while and drink coffee, stretch, yawn and just do nothing for a little bit. So I turned on the TV. Now, I am a Waltons TV show fan. I usually watch that if I turn on the TV in the morning. (I told y'all I like corny family TV shows.) Well, the Hallmark channel has changed their lineup and I Love Lucy, which I also love, is on from 8 to 9 a.m. I wasn't in the mood for that today. Or perhaps it wasn't my destiny today. So I'm flipping channels. I never, and I mean never flip high up in the channels. I rarely go past the 70s. And never in the 100s. Well, today I did. I got to Turner Classic Movies. There was this movie on called Craig's Wife. I looked at the guide and it was about this controlling, obsessive, woman, Harriet Craig, who ran her husband, her family, her friends, her servants, everyone in her life off. It was made in 1936 and it was a great old movie. I watched the whole thing.

So as I do every morning, I called Suz. I say what are you doing. She says just watching Turner Classic Movies. Before I could say a word, she said, I think you're Harriet Craig. I nearly fainted. I told her I had just finished watching the very same movie. Then we both nearly fainted because neither of us ever, ever watch that channel. Ever. Ever. How cool is that? Conicidence? Destiny? Fate? Or just something really funny? Well, then, of course since I knew who Harriet Craig was and what a hag she was, she said I really didn't remind her of her. But remember, I know her just as well as she knows me...

Shall I change the name of my blog to a Girl Named Harriet Craig?

Happy Humpday!

Tuesday Triumph

After all the frustrations of the day, I did manage to do something I've wanted to do for a long, long time. I learned how to print an envelope on my printer! It looks so nice and professional. It took a couple of tries and I messed up an envelope or two, but I figured it out. Hip Hip Hooray for me! I've also closed the blinds in my office and turned on this cool lamp I have that puts out fake sunlight. I put some nice beach pictures in the window and am shining the lamp light on the pictures. They look better than outside does right now. The only problem is that whenever I hear something I want to peek out of the blinds to see what's going on outside. Guess I'm a nosey neighbor. How do y'all like my pictures? I made them myself at Tybee. I loooove them.

Carbon Copy Karla

For today's blog, I could just refer readers to Karla's Blog. It's funny that I've never met her, but she works at home as a medical transcriptionist. Through reading her blogs, I've found I have a lot of things in common with her. Her blog for today pretty much sums it all up for me! I'm working from home today and boy, has it been a challenge. Everything I've tried to do has been a disaster. It's just been one thing after another. Bunches and bunches of little frustrations from printer problems to scanner issues, even my stapler went on the fritz. I sent an e-mail to someone in Outlook Express, which I don't normally use for e-mail, but that was the window that popped up. I normally use BellSouth. Well, in so doing, it deleted EVERY SINGLE ONE of my e-mails in my BellSouth inbox. They're all still in Outlook Express, but I don't use Outlook Express. I use BellSouth. I can forward them from Outlook to BellSouth, but I'll have to do that one by one. That should only take about 72 straight hours since it's e-mails since 2006 that I've saved. Thank goodness Jeff's working from home today and he could help me before I threw the computer out the window. For my family who reads my blog and who knows my family's history of throwing things, you all know that's not completely out of the question. When you work outside of the home, you have a computer support system to help you out with your computer problems. When you work at home, you're on your own, baby. Then my printer decides it wants to eat up all the stationery I have onhand. Now, I have lots of other paper. Just not stationery. As Karla said, this will require putting on a bra, yet another monumental feat, and going to Office Depot and getting stationery. Isn't that nice? When you work at an office, you have unlimited supplies of stationery at your disposal. And when your printer eats paper, someone comes and fixes it for you. It's 1:20 p.m. here and I think I'm gonna take advantage of one of the good things about working from home and that is I'm going to go lay down. After all these little frustrations, I need to rest. As Darrin's mom on Bewitched used to say, I think I'm getting a "sick headache."

Just Another Manic Monday

I can understand why there are so many songs about Mondays. There just seems to be something icky about this day. Even if I don't have to work, it's a gorgeous 85-degree Georgia day, I'm laying on the beach with my sugar by my side, I DON'T LIKE MONDAYS!
I feel bloated from the weekend. I have bags under my eyes. My face is broken out. I can't find anything I want to wear. I feel disorganized if I have to work. My house seems dirty from the weekend. My car is full of junk from the weekend. Everything's just a disheveled mess. Plus, this Monday, my house smells like onion and brocolli from all the soup I cooked yesterday! GAG!

I worked this morning in Buckhead. Traffic wasn't too bad, considering it was raining and it was the first day back to school for lots of the metro counties. You'll all be glad to know, the information I gave you yesterday that was too much, well, it's not a problem for me anymore. Just let me have to go to a fancy attorney office, and those type problems are no more! :-)
Oh, boy. It was definitely Monday for a Girl Named Kelly Kelly!

Does anyone know where I can get some motivation? I'll pay top dollar for it.

Soupy Supper, Soupy Weather

We're having supper tonight at Crystal's house instead of my mom and dad's. I organized the whole thing. I decided we're going to try and give mom a break. Maybe we'll each take turns and that way she'll only have to cook once a month, but we can still have supper together every Sunday night. Suz did it last week, Crystal this week, then maybe me next week. Although Jeff's mom's b'day is next weekend and I probably should cook for her. I don't know though. We usually go out for her birthday someplace kinda nice. I guess we'll see what everyone else wants to do about that one. Anyway, we're having it at Crystal's house, but I offered to make soup. I'm making three different kinds. Broccoli, nacho potato and cream of potato. I also made a gorgeous salad. (If I do say so myself!)

Jeff's been outside working most of the day. I'm pretty sure we've been getting on each other's nerves. You know you can do that when you have too much togetherness. It's still gross out, but he's been out anyway. He's trimmed our hydrangea bushes and picked up all the pieces of our pool liner that have blown out. In case you don't know, our pool liner is going to have to be replaced this year. It made it through last summer, but we're going to have to buy a new one before we can swim this year. That'll probably set us back a couple of thousand dollars. I told Jeff last night we need to start playing the lottery or something. He didn't disagree.

Cam doesn't start back to school until Tuesday I think. It may even be Wednesday. I'm going to have to check on that. He's going to work with my dad tomorrow. I like it when he works because then he only needs about $20 to $30 a week for spending money/gas. I thought our kids were expensive when they were little. Boy was I wrong. They cost more now than ever.

I think I'm going to have to work tomorrow. The girl I work with is stuck in Turks and Caicos. She's been there since the day after Christmas. I bet she's got a great tan and so well rested. Boy, is she in for a rude awakening when she comes back to this yucky weather. Oh, well, at least she'll be tan.

Y'all, check out the other blogs I follow. I think you'll enjoy them. I discovered mam's recipes the other day. I think y'all would like them. They sound really good.

I'm taking my iron like the doctor told me to. It's not helping so much with my energy. I'm still really tired. And now I'm really constipated. I guess that was too much info, huh? Sorry.

Going to eat some soup now! And maybe some prunes. Oh, too much info again.

Too Much Testosterone at My House

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday. I came into my office and was going to clean out our family files. Well, four hours later -- yes, that's right -- four hours later, I was finished. I couldn't believe it when I saw the clock. I worked nonstop, but boy, are our files organized! In that time, I did sort through our tax papers for '08 and got those ready to go. OCD is in overdrive!

So that being said, today's blog is all over the place. As you can see from my title, I'm feeling a little too much testosterone at my house. I thought I'd post some pictures to give you guys

an idea of what I'm talking about. The first picture is a deer target. And no, he's not buried in the dirt. His legs are gone. As are his ears. He is in my front yard. I can look out my office window as I sit here typing this and see him with his sad, lonely eyes looking back at me. The boys have been taking shots at him with their bows. And as you can see, he's taken quite a few hits. The second picture is in my garage. I don't let the boys wear their shoes in the house, soooo let's just leave 6 pairs of boots at the door for someone to break their neck on when they come out of the

house. Probably me. And also, let it be known that their feet are not small. Oh, no, my boys are big. And so are their feet. The third picture is on the front porch. That is our bulldog that sits at the front door. Now, let me ask you. Did someone think that that cement bulldog was going to eat that french fry? I think not. No, that same person -- namely, Cam -- also left the fry container and several other fries scattered about the front porch for someone -- namely, me -- to sweep up. Now, you may ask yourself, why does she put up with all of this? Well, the answer is simple. I don't

know. I just always have. They're small things in the great scheme of things and there are so many things my boys could be doing that are so much worse than what they do. Yes, they're messy. Yes, they are argumentative. Yes, they can be ungrateful. But they are good boys. And boy, do I love 'em. Now, this last picture... I guess there's not TOO much testosterone at my house. That's my sugar and me doing our annual fake kiss beside the Christmas tree. We can't be too passionate when we get this picture made because Ross or Cam usually makes the picture for us.

I got up this morning and felt domestic. I know, I could hardly believe it myself. Cam has a friend over, so I feel bad to think that his friends think his mom can't/doesn't cook. Which I can/do. Just not very often. I made biscuits -- from a can -- and homemade sausage gravy. They were very appreciative and said it was really good. I can do some stuff. Jeff's in the kitchen cleaning up the greasy mess. YUCK!



As for the rest of my day, don't know what I'll be doing. We're stuck in yet another day of fog and dreary weather. I can't believe it's only January 3rd. It feels like we've been in this muck for at least two months. It seems like it should be late March already.



Suz just called and wants me to come up to Buford. Like I've said before, 50 minutes door to door. It's already noon. She said she won't be mad if I don't come, but I know the tone of voice she used when she said it, and she was already mad. There was nothing passive about her agression!! Oh, what to do. Now, that female hormone is the one you don't want to mess around with!



Y'all have a good Saturday! Enjoy whatever you do and enjoy the people you do it with. (Even if they have too much testosterone!)

A Motorcycle Jump, Bees and Tigers Brought in 2009 for the Kellys

We had dinner last night at Outback. Very good of course. At the very last minute, one of the couples that was to join us backed out. They thought it'd be too crowded and nobody would be able to conversate with each other while we waited for a table. Well, as a sign of the times I guess, Outback was pretty dead. Dead for New Year's Eve anyway. Jeff and I've been there before on New Year's Eve and it would be full of party-goers having pre-party dinner, people all dressed up to go out and families out for dinner too. Not last night. It was mostly lonely men looking for a place to watch the bowl games. And there wasn't even many of them. We had seven in our party and had no problem sitting at the bar and having our dinner and watching the games. Had myself a pear pomegranate martini. Well, maybe it was two that I had. Anyway, they sure were good. We left there and went back to Nan and Ronnie's for the main event of the night, the LSU/Georgia Tech game. Even though in real life, Jeff, Ronnie, Nan and I HATE Tech and don't care too much for LSU, sadly, it was the main event of our New Year's Eve. The other three people in our group like Tech, so it was a sad night for them as LSU whooped that yellow jacket butt! As always, Nan and Ronnie were hospitable and we had skittles and champagne to ring in the new year, which we all thought would never come. After the game was over, ESPN had this motorcycle jumper guy that was attempting this "amazing" jump. Well, after what seemed like two hours, he made his jump. They did at least flip over to Times Square at midnight. I've never spent my New Year's Eve watching a motorcycle jump before! Weird times. At any rate, it's not what you're doing, but who you're doing it with, right? And we were with good friends and family and it was fun.

I finally have gotten the cold that I've been fighting since October 21st. Suz, remember in the hospital when I kept telling the nurse I thought I had gotten a cold? Well, this time it's fo' real. It's gonna be one of those chest ones. I feel like someone's stepping on my chest. I got it when I worked the other day. The deponent sat across from me and he kept coughing and sneezing and even moaned a few times. I knew when I left I was gonna get that nasty thing from that nasty man. I won't gross y'all out with the details about the nasty man. Suffice it to say that I don't want to spread this cold to any of my loved ones. So I'm trying to go easy on the New Year's hugs. I must admit though that I did hug Kendal today at lunch at Jeff's mom and dad's. She was irresistibly cute and I don't get to be around little girls that often, so Kristi, if Kendal gets sick, I'm soooooo sorry. Everybody was watching the Georgia game there. I was feeling worse by the second, so I helped Jean clean up and then I had to get going. Didn't eat many peas there either. But I'll make up for it at my mom's. Don't know if that's just a southern thing or not. But I gotta eat some for good luck. Ross found the dime in the peas at MeeMaw's. He wasn't even looking for it. When the boys were little, they'd dig and dig looking for it. She puts a dime in the peas and the person who gets it is supposed to have extra luck. Hopefully, Ross will have extra luck in '09. Extra luck for Ross is extra luck for a Girl Named Kelly Kelly!

Today is the last day of deer season here in Georgia. Both boys killed bucks this year. Ross killed a buck and a doe. Cam just finished his last hunt of the year and he saw several deer, but none bigger than the one that he killed, so he let them live to see another day. They'll probably run out in front of me on my way to my mom and dad's and total out my car or something.

Almost time to head to mom and dad's. Get to see Ethan and Joseph for the first time since Christmas day. Hope I can resist hugging on Eli!

Enjoy the rest of this first day of 2009. And oh, yeah, HOW 'BOUT THEM DAWGS??? They didn't look too good, but a win is a win.

Life, love and laughter. Everything in between and what happens after! Hope your New Year is filled with much, much, life, love and laughter.