Hot then Not

That's what I'm gonna tell my doctor this afternoon. But unfortunately, they are NOT power surges at all.

Since my hysterectomy last October, it's been a little bit of a roller coaster ride. I knew it would be. I mean, he removed all my female parts and I'm trying to replace all the things they did with a patch. Getting it finely tuned is the problem.

So I'm going to the doctor this afternoon to get a tuneup. When I called yesterday to get the appointment, the nurse told me that I was past due for my tuneup. I should've come in sometime in June. That's nice. No one told ME that.

Hopefully, my visits to the tropics will be less frequent after today. It's all the sweat and none of the fun.

BTW, I made a pork chop dish last night that my men L-O-V-E-D. Yeah, that's right. I followed a recipe -- actually tweaked it up a notch -- and got compliments galore. I don't eat pork chops very often and I didn't eat them last night either. It's that whole raw meat thing for me. But anyway, if any of you out there are looking for a way to your man's heart, try this recipe.

This is my tweaked version.

YUMMY PORK CHOPS

6 pork chops (I used boneless, thick ones)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup ALL-PURPOSE flour
2 cups Italian-style seasoned bread crumbs
4 tablespoons olive oil (I used a little more because I actually had 8 chops and cooked them in two batches)
1 jar mushrooms, drained (could use fresh ones sauteed, but I didn't.)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can golden cream of mushroom soup
1 cup of milk (actually, I used a tad less)
2/3 cup white wine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season your chops with garlic powder and seasoning salt as your taste desires. Beat the eggs in a small bowl. Dredge the chops lightly in flour, dip in the egg and coat liberally with bread crumbs.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the chops 5 minutes per side or until the breading is nice and brown. Then put your chops in a lightly-sprayed-with-Pam 9x13 baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for one hour.

While the chops are baking, combine the mushrooms, soups, milk and wine in a bowl. After the chops have baked an hour, cover them with the soup mixture. Replace foil and bake another 30 minutes.

Sit back and enjoy the compliments!

Till tomorrow~ or the next day. . .

For the Love of Barbara

This was my aunt Barbo's house on Wednesday. Flooded. And this isn't even as high as it got. You can see from the brick that it got even higher than it was when this picture was made. It flooded in the front. It flooded in the back. It flooded on the sides. Literally, it looked like her house was sitting in the middle of the Yellow River. And for the past few days it was.



And here is her house yesterday, Thursday. The water was gone in the front. The sides went down gradually throughout the day. The back still looked like a rushing river.



Before this happened, I had never been inside a flooded house. I've seen images of such on TV lots of times. On TV you see things scattered about and think to yourself, wow, they sure did keep their things in strange places. But unfortunately now that I've become more familiar with flooding, I know that things float throughout the house. My uncle Jerry found a bag of onions in the laundry room. Guess they floated from the kitchen to the laundry room. Anything that wasn't held down by something heavy floated.

If y'all have read my blog long enough, you know that I'm a bit of a priss. I'd rather stay at a resort than camp. I'd rather pay someone to clean my house than clean it myself and Jeff and I work hard so that I can do that. I'd rather pay someone to wash and clean inside my car than do it myself. Thank goodness for $12 car washes. Basically, what it comes down to is I don't like to get my hands dirty. Who does, right? I think I'm just a little over the top in that aspect.
But. . . I can work like a dog when I have to.

(Photo courtesy of Auntie T)
(Suz, in her court reporting dress, chore
(boots, and me.)

And yesterday I did. We all did. Barbo's house had a layer of mud all over everything that was within reach of the water. It was a different kind of mud though. The kind that a simple rinse with the hose doesn't touch. No, after something has been touched by a flooding river, it's gonna need scrubbing with soap and water and a good-bristled brush. It's almost like a silt-like film. You can see in the picture above a vacuum cleaner and you can see the film I'm talking about. She had hardwood floors throughout her house. After they were cleaned of the mud, you'd go back a few hours later and they had dried with that darn dusty film on them.

We cleaned out her pantry. We cleaned out her bathroom cabinets. And by cleaned out, I mean threw away. She will have to start over fresh and clean. Nothing -- or very little -- left in the lower cabinets could be saved. She had a box of Minute Rice that got so wet that it looked like boiled rice. She enjoys making relishes and pickles and most any kind of canning. The sealed Mason jars with her precious relish and pickles were covered with that muddy film.

Her mattresses and box springs were ruined. As were the comforter and bedskirt that was on the bed. Clothes in the dresser are likely ruined. Things soaked from the bottom up. If it got wet on the bottom, it seeped to the top.

It washed her deck completely off the back of her house. It lies in ruins up against a fence past the gas grill that was on the deck. She had a swingset for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren to play on when they came for a visit. I didn't see it. I'm not sure where it ended up. Tomato plants battered and torn, but still holding on to their precious tomatoes. Outdoor potted plants that may never need watering again. A small pond in their front yard that held goldfish, now full of river water. The goldfish probably off to sea. Small fish in a big ocean. A yard that squishes when you walk in it. Pictures that are stuck together because they are so wet. A class of '58 yearbook saturated. A retirement certificate soaked.

So many things that may never be useful again. Things that she and Jerry had worked for. Worked hard for. The hot water heater. The furnace that is under the house likely in knee-deep water. The washer and dryer. The refrigerator.

My aunt is a simple thing. She doesn't ask for much, nothing really. She's healthy, except she doesn't have good use of her legs and feet. Her life's pleasure is her family. And her house. The house that is now covered in mud and water. To her a great day would be sitting at her kitchen table that she loved, coffee in hand and watching birds at the many feeders she had set up in her backyard. Thankfully, the table looks to be salvageable. The bird feeders not so much.

It is still early in the cleanup process. It will take weeks. Maybe months for the house to dry out completely. I'm praying for assistance to come her way. I've been hearing of businesses taking donations for flood victims. I hope she's not forgotten. She doesn't live in an area where there were masses of homes flooded. Hers sits alone near the banks of the Yellow River.

We, her family, will do all we can. We will work to exhaustion as we did yesterday. We will give money as we can. And we do it for our beloved aunt and sister who would gladly give you her only shirt and her very last dime if you needed it.

Only an aunt like her would hold onto these pictures for decades.

Top left is Crystal and me in 1971. In the middle is Auntie Theresa and Sonia, Barbo's oldest daughter. Top right is my baby sister, Suz. Bottom left Suz's birth picture. In the middle, mwah, in fifth grade. Bottom right, me again in about second grade. She gave me these pictures yesterday. They are still wet this morning.

Pray for my sweet aunt. Pray for us because the cleaning up is such hard, hard work. But we will do it. And we'll do it all for the love of Barbara.

Till tomorrow~ Live, love, laugh. And pray.

Soaking Wet Monday

Cam made it back home safely Sunday night about 7:30. I was so happy to see him. He was happy to see me and everyone else too. He brought back souvenirs for everyone at my mom and dad's to share and he brought Jeff, Ross and me a little something for ourselves. He really is a thoughtful boy. And he brought back $41 dollars! Of which he sent me a text from school yesterday asking if he could keep. HA! That's my boy. My house is back to normal. That is to say that yesterday I found the shower gel and his travel toothbrush on the kitchen floor. Shorts on the laundry room floor, two inches from the hamper, etc.

Yesterday was one heck of a rainy day. I didn't have to work, thank goodness, but I was bored out of my mind. I bought Eli the new Thomas DVD and there's a brand-new train in the DVD. His name is Hiro (like Hero). Of course, he wanted the train to go along with the hundred other ones he has. And, of course, I promised him that I would go out Monday and look for it and send it to him in the mail. Bless his little heart. He asked Suz yesterday if she would please go to the mailbox early in case his train came.

I went to three stores, one being Toys R Us. No one had Hiro. No sign of him anywhere. So when Toys R Us was a bust, I got on my Blackberry and searched for Hiro. Only to discover that he won't be out until October. :-( I knew that Eli would be broken hearted and I could hardly stand to think of him expecting his little train in the mail. Fortunately, they did have the Hero of the Rails book. I hope he'll understand. I mailed his book yesterday explaining that Hiro won't be out for three more weeks. (I gave a little extra because believe me, he'll be counting down the days.) I hope it's true that even rain can't slow down the U.S. Postal Service or Suz is going to have one irate five-year-old on her hands.

It has been raining here since last week. We got three inches Sunday alone. Then by 6 o'clock yesterday we had gotten another inch and a half. The kids across the street got their boogie boards out and had on their bathing suits and were surfing down the hill in their yard.

I dread to see how much mildew is going to be everywhere. My Mickey Mouse pressure washer will hopefully be rested up because I may have to have to bring him out soon. At least the leaves haven't fallen yet. Imagine how much worse it would be to have all those leaves under inches and inches of rain.

Off today and I don't plan on leaving the house. I think I'm going to get my favorite Snoopy blanket and watch the season premier of House from last night. I watched it last night, but there was so much going on around here I couldn't really follow it.

Till tomorrow.

Winning Weekend

Meet the new vice president of Harmony Elementary School's Student Council.


Alayna, Crystal and Suz worked on a couple of posters for Alayna's campaign last Sunday night. We helped her come up with some great ideas. Then, as is Alayna's character, she wanted to do all the work herself. They were, after all, her posters!

She gave her awesome speech on Friday and then the election was held. She ran against three other students. SHE WON! I am so proud of her and whatever her duties are as vice president, I'm sure she'll handle them above and beyond expectations.

Yesterday afternoon, Jeff's rec team, the Tigers, had a game at 2 o'clock. It was raining and has been raining for the past few days. It didn't let up for the game either. At North Henry, they play in the rain unless there's thunder and lightning. No thunder. No lightning. Just tons of rain.

The team they were playing was their biggest competitor, the Tucker Lions. Huge rivalry. Both were undefeated. Till yesterday. . . now only the NORTH HENRY TIGERS are undefeated! And being the sweet coach's wife that I am, I sat through the whole thing and filmed for my coach hubby. Fortunately, I was allowed to sit in the press box, which was covered. But it was oh, so humid.

After filming the game I came home and took a fat nap. I had to get my strength up to yell and scream for the Dawgs. They were playing the Hogs from Arkansas.
I love a couple of girls who blog from Arkansas. They are Razorback fans, so I was really excited about this game.

We went to $3 Cafe to watch the game. It was packed, but Ronnie and Nan got there about an hour and a half before gametime. They got awesome seats. It was mostly Georgia fans, but there were a few Gator fans who stuck around after their game just to pull for Arkansas and be obnoxious. You know Gators and Dawgs don't mix. It got kinda quiet for a while after that. The food there was really good, much better than I expected. It was a good time. After going back and forth with touchdowns, Georgia ended up winning. We were two happy Georgia Bulldog fans!

Ethan is having an exciting day today. His football team is going to the Atlanta Falcons game at the Dome. Then after the game, the little kids get to play a game there. How fun is that? We've got some work to do on Ethan. For some dumb reason, he's a Florida Gator. Yuck! We're working on a transformation, so far, with no luck.

I'm expecting Cam around 5 this afternoon. He kept me busy during the game last night. Every time something happened, I had to text him because they were traveling and he couldn't watch it. With the score 52-41, you can imagine that I was texting a bunch.

It was indeed a winning weekend!

Till tomorrow.

Missing My Mouseketeer

Eight days is a long time. I've never been away from either one of my boys for that long. I'm starting to really miss Cam. I've talked to him every day and I think he's beginning to miss home a little too. He'll be traveling today from Orlando to Perry, Georgia to stay the night with some of Drew's family. Pray for a safe journey.

In the meantime. . . thought it might be fun for me to name some things that I've noticed around here while he's been gone.

1. The laundry for our family of four has been cut more than half. Cam has a very bad habit of putting clothes in the dirty clothes when they've just been washed. He'd rather do that than put it away. Isn't that odd behavior for a teenage boy?
2. Random objects found lying around has nearly ceased. Ross does his fair share. They leave strange, unknown-to-me important things everywhere. I throw lots of them away. All of us around here assume if something is missing, then I've thrown it away.
3. The toothpaste splatters on the mirror in the boys' bathroom ceased.
4. I haven't found a single sock on the bookcase in eight days.
5. I've been able to find all my iPod cords.
6. I've managed to keep the same $40 dollars in my wallet the whole week.
7. There hasn't been one food wrapper in the sofa cushion.
8. I haven't searched for the remote to the TV all week. He likes to tuck it in cushions.
9. There haven't been any half-empty Diet Coke cans left on the counter.
10. Bandit has pooped in the house twice this week while he's been gone. Guess he took her out more than I thought.

The biggest thing, though, that I've noticed is that I miss all of those things more than I thought I would. It's time for him to come home.

Best Snack Ever

All you need is one of these.

A fresh big, juicy one of these.

And a cold cup of this.

Jell-O Sugar Free- 60 calorie Dulce de Leche pudding cups.

And you have a perfect fall snack. If you use your imagination a little, you can pretend to be eating a caramel apple. Without pulling your teeth out.

Till tomorrow :-)

Random Dozen

Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee is hosting this fun Random Dozen. Y'all go check out her blog.

1. Which is worse: a long, boring meeting or standing in a return/exchange line after Christmas?

Since I sit long, boring meetings (also known as depositions) at least three or four times a week, I think it's worse to stand in line to return or exchange something after Christmas. This is worse on SO many levels. First, the store looks like a tornado blew through it. If you need to exchange your gift for something else, you may as well forget it. Everything is broken and the only sizes left are Extra Extra Small. Second, the clerks who work in the store are sure not in a good mood that day. I mean, come on, would you be? Third. The whole receipt/no receipt thing. And you can refer back to the second reason on this one.


2. Except for maybe Rosie O'Donnell or Ann Coulter, nobody likes confrontation, yet we all have to deal with it. When you feel cornered and defensive, do you "bite back" or become passive aggressive?

I bite back with a vengeance. I'm willing to listen to anybody who's being polite, but if you're rude and you corner me or cause me to defend myself or ANY member of my family, my fangs come out big time.

3. Do you know anything about your genealogical background? (What country, culture, ties to prominent historical figures, or other stuff.)



Not too much, which is very odd for someone like me. I love to hear stories about my family's past. I've heard bits and pieces from both my mom and dad's side. Nothing too exciting. In fact, from research my cousin did, it's possible that my mother's family came to South Georgia from New York shortly after the Civil War. As carpetbaggers. Gasp. But that didn't last for long. They became hardworking farmers growing tobacco and cotton. As for the Howells, my dad's family, I only know that the surname is Welsh and it means prominent or eminent. And I know that it should also mean good cooks, hot tempers, and big hearts!

4. What is the quickest way a person can endear him/herself to you?



I like handwritten notes and cards.

5. Cake, pie, cookies, or ice cream? (Note there is no "all of the above" option. You must choose one. Feel free to elaborate on flavor or memories tied to this dessert.) If you'd like, you can share a recipe, but you certainly don't have to.

I'm a pie girl all the way. My mom makes me a birthday pie instead of a cake. Here's the recipe she makes for me:

MY MAMA'S SWEET POTATO PIE
Boil 3 sweet potatoes with a little salt. When they're done, mash them up and add 1/2 stick of butter. Add 2 eggs (beaten). Then add some sugar, evaporated milk and vanilla. This is all done to taste, she doesn't measure (naturally, what great cook does?) If you like other spices, add them in also to taste. I prefer it without all the spices, but lots and lots of vanilla.
Bake at 350 degrees until it's done.




6. Females: Do you regularly change your handbag to coordinate with your outfit?



No. I love purses, but I don't change to match my outfit. I seem to change more depending on my mood.


7. Are you task-oriented or relationship-oriented?



Hmmm. Not sure on this one. I am very good at multi-tasking, but when I'm heavily involved in something, I'm not in the mood for conversation. Ask Suz or Jeff. They've been cut off many times because I'm thinking and can't talk.


8. IHOP, Bob Evans or Cracker Barrel?



Cracker Barrel. But every time I go I tell myself I'm not going back. The store is better than the food, in my opinion. I eat IHOP once a year and that's the day after Thanksgiving when we're shopping and I'm starving.


9. Have you ever left a movie in progress in a theater? Why?

Yes, I have and I can't remember what the movie was. I have also slept through several movies. Have you? I have a touch of ADD to go along with my OCD. I sometimes have a hard time sitting through a whole movie. Unless. . . I have a really big bag of popcorn, a really big box of Milk Duds and a big ol' Diet Coke.



10. What is one area of life in which you would like to develop more discipline or organization?

I'd like to be more disciplined in our finances. But my desire to shop outweighs my desire to be disciplined every time.



11. Was middle school fun or painful?

No, it was not fun, but it was not painful either. Well, I guess it was sorta painful as I was painfully shy.

12. What is your favorite Fall beverage?

Don't have one. I like hot chocolate, but rarely make it.

So that's my Random Dozen. Don't forget to visit Linda and link up your Random Dozen.

I've been hearing from Cam every day. He's having fun. Today I got a picture message from Drew's mom of Cam petting the stingrays at Sea World. They've been really busy every day, going someplace different each day. I thought he might have spent all of his spending money last night when he text me that he had just left BassPro Shops. Luckily for him, he restrained himself and only bought one shirt. He now officially has 100 Guy Harvey T-shirts. Ha!

Jason had his knee surgery this morning and they're already on the way home. Everything went well and hopefully he'll be back to normal soon. A dad of three can't be down long.

I'm working this afternoon in Decatur. Hope it won't be pouring down rain like it has been. All the nut drivers really come out in the rain.

Till tomorrow.

I Hate Doing This

I love clothes. It's almost a little bit of a sickness really. Okay. Not almost. It IS a sickness. Every time I have plans to go anywhere out of the ordinary, I buy something new to wear rather than taking the time to go through my closet and find something that would work just as well.

I'm extremely OCD about most everything in my house. There are, however, exceptions. My closet is one big one. I won't allow a crumb on the kitchen counter, but I'll stack clothes to the ceiling in my closet.

Well, it had gotten out of hand. I mean, really, really out of hand. In fact, my closet situation had gotten so bad that it was running out of the closet into the bathroom. I had gotten to the point of not hanging clothes up because there simply was no space on the rack.

There are clothes in that stack that I either tried on and didn't like how they looked. Or clothes that I wore once and just threw on the pile. I told Jeff today that the clothes situation had gotten out of hand. He said he thought the same thing just the other day. That sealed the deal. My closet must be cleaned out.

Like most everyone, I have spring and summer clothes and fall and winter clothes. I really wasn't quite ready to do the full switch. It's gonna be warm here for several more weeks. But in order to hang the clothes up, I was going to have to do some rearranging. And I was getting tired of going to my closet and seeing the same old summer stuff. I'm tired of pink and aqua.

So I went ahead and switched the summer clothes.

I had white T-shirts with a crew neck. White T-shirts with a V-neck. Loose fitting white T-shirts. Tight fitting white T-shirts. Several. Of. Each. The same with black. And how many aqua blue shirts do I need? I am sick.

So I emptied most of the summer clothes out of this closet and Jeff will put them in the extra closet when he gets home. I left some short-sleeved shirts to wear while it's still warm.

I filled up my closet with the fall/winter clothes that were in the extra closet.
I also made a section for "occasion" shirts. That's where I filed my Georgia Bulldog T-shirts, my Halloween T-shirts and, of course, my complete line of Christmas shirts. See, I told you I'm sick

And this is what I had left over.

Now, I would feel very guilty about this obsession I have with clothes. But I don't. And here's why. I will give those bags of clothes to Suz first. She won't be able to wear much of it, but she always gets mad when I give them away before she has a chance to look through them. Then after that, I'll give them to Crystal who will take them to work and share them with the girls there. Crystal's coworkers always love it when I clean out my closet.

I still have to bring my shoes down from the attic. And, here's the really sick part. I have a tote of my winter PJs. And also an entire tote of gloves, scarves and hats that will have to be brought down. I'm waiting awhile on that, though. It's not going to be cold enough here for flannel PJs or gloves and scarves for a while yet.

The great news is now that I know what I have, I know what I need to still buy to make my fall wardrobe complete. And it's not another white, black or aqua blue shirt.

Till tomorrow.

When It's Over. . .

. . . it's over. I'm going to end the suffering for my summer annuals and for me this week. I'm going to pull them up. They've gotten so big and bushy -- and just downright ugly -- that I'm putting them out of their misery. They were beautiful in their day and they made me happy all summer. But when it's over, it's over.

I'm going to be planting pansies. Even though I've never had much -- ANY -- luck with pansies, I think they're pretty and I like the idea of keeping some color in the yard, even in the winter. I'm not going to go hog wild with it. I'm only going to plant a few pots.

Because I'm not stupid enough to think that my pansies will look like those above for very long. Oh, no. This is what my pansies end up looking like.

Back in March, I was complaining that Spring was coming to every yard except mine. I wrote about it here. In order to have a yard full of blooming flowers in the early Spring, you have to plant lots of these.

It's still too early to plant them around here, but I'm going to go on and buy them while there is such a good selection. I'll put them in the fridge for a few more weeks so they'll get a good chill on them before I plant them. And then come next March, I'll have a yard looking like this.

Cam's having a good time. Yesterday they were at Epcot. Epcot. And look what my son finds interesting.

Yes, that is a squirrel. I hope he doesn't bring it back home with him.

He also sent me this picture. It's blurry, but it tells me he's having fun.

Drew's mom sent me a message last night that he had gotten bit by something -- I don't think it was the squirrel -- and that it was red and hard, but not hot. Cam said it didn't itch, but it did hurt. His mom was so sweet to be concerned about it. She took him to the first aid station at the park. They put some ointment on it and a bandage. I'm sure, if I know Cam, he was mortified that he, the mighty warrior, had to have a bandage for a bug bite. I guess he's okay because I haven't heard from him since late last night. His dad and I had to give him a constant update on the UGA game. He was thinking about his team even while he was gone. That's my boy!

Ross is recovering from a nasty sinus infection that had him sick several days last week. I held my breath thinking he may have caught the flu from Ethan. I took him to the doctor because his temp was right at 102. He didn't have any of the symptoms of the flu, but had all the symptoms of a sinus infection. So that's what the doctor treated and he's feeling a lot better. I had to threaten to cancel his truck insurance and make him pay for it himself to get him to go. Hey, that's all the ammo I had. When your son is that age and size, it's not like I could pick him up and put him in the car. But I knew he was sick. That boy hates going to to the doctor. He thinks they're full of malarkey. But he's doing a lot better since going.

Gotta get ready for church. I'm late as it is.

Till tomorrow, have a good Sunday! And live, love, laugh with those you live, love and laugh with!

He Made It

Cam got off to a late start yesterday. They had planned on leaving at 6 o'clock, but it was really more like 8 o'clock by the time they got on the road. They got to the resort at 3:30 this morning. He sent me a text a little while ago and said they got in the bed at 5 o'clock a.m.

Of course, before he left I had to have my picture made with him. And, of course, he didn't want to. I made him feel guilty, though, so he gave in. I had just put perfume on and he said I smelled like an "old lady." That makes a girl feel good, huh? As they were driving out of the driveway, he yelled out the window, LOVE YOU! Now, that did make me feel good!


This is his buddy, Drew, whose Mom was sweet enough to take Cam along for the trip. He happened to like my perfume.


Drew's mom sent me this picture this morning on my phone. It's where they are staying. OMGosh! How gorgeous is that? I would so love to be there. I'm more excited about the fun he's going to have than he probably is. Although yesterday when he got home from school, he was bouncing off the walls he was so hyper and excited.

His tickets to go to all the parks are about the size of a credit card and he's got two of them. I also got him two prepaid Visa cards to use for his spending money. That's a lot of responsibility and I hope and pray that he keeps up with his things. Sometimes we don't have the best of luck in that respect.

Anyway, just wanted to post these pictures and let everyone know that he made it safely. I woke up every couple of hours and checked my phone to see if he had called or text me. I was so anxious and nervous for them to get there.

Till tomorrow, have a good Saturday.

P.S. GO DAWGS!

Why I Hate Laundry

We're a family of four. Only four. Yet we have no less than 10 loads of laundry every week. That seems like an awful lot for only four people. Especially when you consider that usually I'll wear my dresses and work clothes more than once. Unless I drip something on myself, which I seem to be doing more and more lately. I could never understand how my mom always managed to drip something on her shirt. I think it comes with age. I will be 44 soon, you know.

It's not the amount of laundry that I hate. It's not the scavenger hunt that I have to make to round up the laundry. Just yesterday, I found a pair of Cam's jeans, complete with belt still in them, in the driveway. Now, how in the world did that happen? Did he just drop his pants in the driveway? And what did he put on? It's not unusual to find Ross's dirty socks on the bookcase in the living room. In fact, I will make sure I check the bookcase before doing laundry.

In all fairness on the subject of laundry, Jeff does most all the laundry at our house. I know, I know, isn't that marvelous? And when I say "does" the laundry, I mean he does it all. Every step. He even knows that most of my clothes don't go in the dryer, so we always play what he calls, "Dry or No Dry". Just to be sure that he doesn't mess up royally.

It's not the folding of the laundry that I hate because I do love to fold laundry warm from the dryer. It's not putting the laundry away, because each of us puts away our own.

No, friends, this is what I HATE ABOUT LAUNDRY!

That darn, dirty, nasty, dusty lint filter. I hate cleaning it. I mean, I do clean it. I clean it almost every time before I put a load in the dryer. Our dryer is sorta old and if you don't clean the filter, your clothes take about 38 tries before they get dry.

When you pull it out, lint and dust go everywhere. When you put it back in, lint and dust go everywhere again!

I know that's probably a stupid reason to hate doing laundry when there are so many others that are more valid. But yep, that's why I hate it.

Do y'all hate that stupid lint thing too? Or are you like this little vintage housewife doing laundry with a big smile on her face?

Moving on. Cam's leaving tonight at 6 o'clock. I'm getting a little sad thinking about him being gone for 10 days. He's never been away from home that long. I'm gonna miss him!

Till tomorrow, HAPPY FRIDAY!

Odds and Ends

I'm posting today about a bunch of odds and ends. Nothing much going on around here. Works for me. If you read my Auntie Theresa's blog, you already know we had the most beautiful sunset around here last night. I can hardly let a sunset go by without snapping a picture. I think they're gorgeous.

We were on our way to Mellow Mushroom and this was the sunset we were driving into. It was so pretty it even made the power pole look nice.


Do any of you watch tennis? I don't. I don't know the first thing about it. I've always found it a bit confusing. Those squares on the court. Love? Deuce? What the heck does all that mean? Jeff and I always sit at the bar at Mellow Mushroom -- as we do most places when it's just us -- so that we can watch the TV. Last night was a poor TV night at the bar. There was nothing good on any of the four TVs they had. On one of them there was a soccer game. Jeff likes soccer, I hate it. Then the President's address was on one. That just kept making me mad. The mere sight of Nancy Pelosi makes me nauseous. Tennis was on the third one. A baseball game -- not a Braves game, not that I would've been super excited about that either -- was on the fourth TV.

The TV with the tennis caught my attention. And why? Because of the 17-year-old girl from Marietta, Georgia who has suddenly become the sweetheart of the tennis world. I enjoyed watching her play. But most of all, I enjoyed these.


Apparently, she's fond of pink tennis shoes. Aren't they adorable? If I played tennis, I would have to have a pair just like them. Her 17-year-old boyfriend came up with the "Believe" slogan that her fans wear on their T-shirts and she even has it on her shoes.

I think she lost the set or match or game or whatever it's called. But she sure looked cute!

Bow season opens this Saturday. Ross has been sharpening up his arrows and getting everything ready to go. He's torn between hunting on opening day and going to a diesel drag race somewhere in South Georgia. From the looks of all the hunting crap in my living room, I'd say the hunting may win out. My boys can turn my house into a hunting camp or a fishing camp or an automotive repair shop at any given moment. This week it's a hunting camp.

I have to say that I have no idea why either of them wants to shoot a deer. Our freezer in our garage is FULL of deer meat from last year.

If you're looking for anything else other than deer meat, this is the position you'll find yourself in. Oh, well. Whatever.

As I was browsing the Internet this morning, I came upon this picture.

Isn't it amazing how far technology has come? Can you imagine sitting your family down to watch a TV this size? Now wonder kids were more physically active back then. How enjoyable could it be watching a TV that small? And you would have had to sit on the floor to even see it.

I'm sure most of you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I hope everyone stays caught up on their mammograms. If not, do it. Make an appointment today. I had mine done several weeks ago.

It's really not that bad to me. It's a little uncomfortable -- kinda like having your boob smashed between concrete blocks -- but it's bearable. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Get your mammograms!

From the looks of things, I've been the last one in America to jump on the Facebook bandwagon. Well, I got on yesterday and found a whole bunch of people that I went to school with. Some all the way back to elementary school. It was so neat to see how people have changed. One person's photos included these pictures.

I'm thinking this was when I was in the sixth grade. Can you guess which one is me?

Yep, I'm the one that looks like a dwarf compared to the other girls. For some strange reason, my friends have always been tall. Still are. And I always feel like Tiny Tim.

This one is about eighth grade I think. We were playing in a powder puff football game.

I was so excited when I saw these pictures. The first one I had never seen before. Facebook is a neat way to find people you haven't seen in years. It was fun.

I'm off today and I've got to get some things for Cam to take on his Disney trip. He's leaving right after school tomorrow for ten days! Must be nice to have an all-expense paid trip to Orlando.

Ethan is back at school today. The swine flu wasn't that bad. I'm sure if you ask Crystal or Ethan, they'd have a different opinion. Once he stopped throwing up, I think it was better. He still ran a fever till yesterday morning and still has a cough. They say if you're 24 hours fever free, you're not contagious anymore. I took him some goodies yesterday and he was laying on the sofa watching TV. Looked like he was living the good life.

My typist's mother passed away yesterday morning. She had fought a long battle with liver cancer. Keep them in your prayers. Her dad isn't doing well as he's very confused about what has happened. She has her hands full and needs lots of prayers.

I told y'all this was an odds and ends post. Guess that's what happens when nothing's happening.

Till tomorrow.

Darts and the Swine Flu

Labor Day '09 is in the books. Summer's last roar was more like a soft purr. Everyone was mellow and lazy. Even though I had to get ready for everyone to come for lunch, I just felt so lazy and energyless. Jeff grilled hot dogs and everyone brought side dishes. We had plenty of food.

We grilled Nathan's hot dogs. I've never used that brand before and I thought they were much better than Ball Park or Bryan. I'm not a huge hot dog fan, but I like them hot off the grill.

Unless we get some very hot weather, that may have been the last time the kids get to swim this year. My water gets chilly quickly. They swam for a little while, but they didn't enjoy it like they usually do. Jeff and I got in Friday night for a little bit and it was cool, but not that bad. Yesterday it felt like it had dropped ten degrees.

So since they couldn't swim, they found something else to do. We drug out the dart board and let them play darts. Eli LOVED it. He played by himself throwing the darts for over an hour. All by himself. Some of the darts had a red, white and blue end and they said USA. He always wanted to use the American darts! Way to go, Eli!!

Cam and Reid took a short ride on the four-wheeler. No place to really ride around here.

This is Jeff's mom, Jean, and my dad. Jeff's dad was here too, but I think he was inside when I made this picture. She really enjoyed coming up and visiting. She's always so sweet to bring a little something, even when you tell her you don't need a thing. Yesterday she brought brownies.

Our moms chatting things over. Probably chatting about what great kids Jeff and I are. HA!

This is Joseph and his girlfriend, Kelsey. They've been "going out" for a pretty good while now. She's very, very cute. She didn't eat a thing yesterday. I guess that's probably how I was when I was dating. You never want to eat anything around your boyfriend's family. Maybe that's one reason you stay so thin when you're dating.

Later on in the afternoon, Jeff took care of making the homemade vanilla ice cream I had mixed up the night before.

It just wasn't as good as the last I made. I was disappointed. I think my vanilla wasn't very good quality. You have to use the good stuff. The expensive stuff. But. . . every drop was eaten. There was none left. Must've been better than I thought.

Ethan didn't eat any lunch, said he wasn't hungry. He played in the pool a little and threw darts a little. Then all of the sudden, he just crashed. He was on the swing wanting to cover up with a towel. Crystal checked his temp and it was almost 101. She found an after-hours clinic and took him. He's got the flu. And the doctor is 99 percent sure it's the swine flu. She told Crystal that of 100 swabs she's sent to the CDC, 98 have been positive for swine flu.

Pray for a quick recovery for him. He was very sick all night, throwing up and running a high fever. He stopped throwing up and managed to keep some soup down this afternoon. My mom went and picked up the Tamiflu the doctor prescribed. Crystal tried to get it last night, but every single pharmacy in town was out. She found it at this morning at one of the smaller pharmacies. I guess the chain ones can't keep it in stock.

So we went to court this morning for Cam's accident. We chose to take the first offender option, which basically means that the ticket won't go on his driving record at the DMV. Other than that, no benefit of taking it. I kinda wanted to ask for a trial, but I was also ready to get it over with. So that's what we did. We paid the fine and got the heck outta there. Hopefully, that chapter is closed. I hope so. It wasn't a very good book.

Till tomorrow family and friends, LLL.

It's Not Whether You Win or Lose

But how you play the game. Yeah, I know, I know. The Bulldogs didn't play "the game" very well yesterday. And, in fact, they lost. Not so much fun to watch them lose.

Despite my team losing the game, we still managed to have a good time. I didn't make a single picture. I don't know why. I just didn't pull my camera out. I'll try to give y'all a visual since I don't have any "real" pictures.

Corn dip, Mexican layered dip with fresh tomatoes and fresh homegrown jalapenos, chips and salsa, Cajun crab dip, peanuts and M&M's and magic bars. This was just the appetizer table. Where I proceeded to completely pig out. I was so full of the yummy snacks that I had no room for the main course, which we were going to eat at halftime. We bought four pounds of BBQ. I made the BEST baked beans and a pasta salad. We had three and a quarter pounds of BBQ left. Almost all of the baked beans and almost all of the pasta salad. Leftovers don't go to waste here, though. Cam's already had a sandwich from the BBQ this morning.

Okay. That's a visual of the food. Now for a visual of watching the game. Everyone in red and black. Imagine Jeff with an intense, concerned, grimaced look. Then picture that same look -- well, maybe not as intense or grimaced -- on everyone else's face. It was not good. Picture Nan yelling at the TV. Adults jumping and barking when the dawgs did something good, which was only once or twice. There you have the visuals of watching the game.

After the ugly loss was over, we went out and sat by the pool for a little bit. The mosquitoes ran us back inside. I cannot stress enough my hatred of bugs.

Once inside, what did we do? We ate some more. And some more. And some more. The guys watched the Alabama game and thank goodness, they won. Yay, for the SEC.

Finally, I crawled into bed around midnight. I was exhausted. I think I was exhausted from eating and watching all that football. Because that's basically all I did, but it wore me out. Does watching football make y'all tired?

Oh, and BTW, Reid's team finally got a win yesterday. Yay!!! They've been in a bit of a rut this season and had not won a single game. And guess what else? Reid scored a touchdown! Yay, Reid. Wish I could have been there.

Till tomorrow. Hope you're enjoying this Labor Day weekend!

I Said It's Great to Be a Georgia Bulldog

Twenty-two hours till kickoff. Go dawgs, sic em. Jeff and I used to go to every single home game Georgia played. We tailgated with his parents and friends. We always had THE best time, with the MOST food. Not store-bought junk either. Honey, when Georgia fans tailgate, they tailgate Bulldog style. That is to say that there is soooo much food and soooo much fun! Salads, wings, BBQ, Brunswick stew, pasta salads and fruit salads, brownies, cookies, you name it. We had it. One of my favorites was a little something my mother-in-law made. It was so simple, but yummy. It was just plain old M&M's and cocktail peanuts. The chocolate and salty nuts were to die for. So much better than regular peanut M&M's.

Since Jeff is a Georgia grad and comes from a Georgia-lovin' family, he's always gone to the games. I, on the other hand, had never experienced a Bulldog Saturday until we started dating. I'd buy a new outfit to wear to every game. I couldn't possibly wear the same one twice, don't ya know. When I first started going to the games with him, I was so thin I could use a red and black bandana as a belt! Boy, are those days long gone!!!!! And you ain't seen hot till you've sat in Sanford Stadium on a late August/early September afternoon screaming your heart out. Especially after eating all that food and having a pre-game drink or two.

Our tailgating area was at least a mile, if not more, from the stadium. Some of it was uphill. Or up steps. We'd get to the stadium, climb more steps because our seats were never that good. Who cares? We were there, baby, and it was awesome. All the people wearing red. UGA on the sidelines, Hairy Dawg parading around getting his picture made with the fans. Man, those Dawg Day Afternoons were some of my favorite.

Exhausted by the end of the game, we'd hike back to our cars and tailgate again. Yep. We'd drag out all the food and drink and do it again. We had to to let the traffic die down. Traffic in Athens on game day Saturday is horrible.

But even though we were exhausted from eating too much and sitting in the sun too long and screaming too much and just generally having TOO MUCH FUN, we still had to go to my mom and dad's and pick up our boys. They'd be energetic and ready to roll when we picked them up. We, on the other hand, were ready to hit the sack.

Those days are gone now. We stopped getting season tickets when the boys started playing sports. Nowadays a ticket can be hard to come by. The place where we made so many fun memories tailgating is now blocked and they don't allow you to tailgate there anymore. They've done that all over the campus. Parking spots are hard to come by, much less a place to spread out and tailgate like we did. It's just more enjoyable to watch from home.

Tomorrow we'll be watching our beloved Georgia Dawgs from the comfort of our living room. We're having a few people over and you can bet there will be plenty of food and fun. Just like the old days. Sort of.

Can you possibly watch football or tailgate without dip on the table? Uh, no, I don't think so. So if you're planning to watch your favorite team -- which I hope is an SEC team -- check out BooMama's blog. She's hosting Diptacular! You'll be able to get tons of dip recipes. You can make something to dazzle everyone at your tailgating party!

I don't make a dip that is Blogworthy, but my sister-in-law, Nan does! And she's bringing this tomorrow when watch the game. I call it Nan's Layered Mexican Dip. Here's the recipe.

Nan's Layered Mexican Dip

First layer: 1 can refried beans. Spread in dish.

Second layer: 1 small carton of sour cream mixed with taco seasoning. Spread on top of beans.

Third layer: 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes. Nan likes 'em hot! Drain and spread on top of second layer.

Fourth layer: Freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese -- none of the pre-shredded stuff. Go on and grate it yourself. You'll be glad you did. Maybe some Monterrey Jack too.

Fifth layer: sliced jalapenos.

Serve with Scoop tortilla chips.

It's as pretty as it it delicious! So go on and make it and share it with your favorite football friends.

Lastly, till tomorrow, GO DAWGS, SIC 'EM!