Feeling Dizzy

Yesterday I was out and about for a little while. I went to Target to pick up some birthday cards and while I was there I started feeling just a little dizzy. Nothing bad, just a little woozy.
I've started exercising at the gym and I think my equilibrium has been thrown off a bit. By last night, this is how things were looking to me.

I've found some articles on the internet about exercise causing vertigo and I really think that's what happened to me. I just hope it doesn't last. I've got my mind made up to start exercising and I sure don't need anything to interfere with it. Sigh.

Have any of y'all seen the Statue of Liberty hanging out in your neighborhoods? She's EVERYWHERE I go lately. What is it with the income tax people dressing up as Lady Liberty? I really don't think I'd trust a nut dressed up in that hideous costume, waving down traffic to prepare my taxes. Just me.

We watched American Idol last night. I didn't think the ATL auditions brought in as much good talent as Boston did. We were glued to the TV though because a girl that Cam goes to school with made it to Hollywood. They didn't show her audition, but they showed a small clip of her at the end getting off the elevator with her gold ticket. So cool. We know their family because Jeff coached their son for a couple of years. Good, good people. I hope she does well in Hollywood!

We didn't watch Idol last year and I felt left out. When people were talking about this person or that person, I had no clue who they were talking about. I'm gonna watch it this year. I think that Kara is beautiful!!!!! I could watch it just to get a peek at her. Such a pretty girl.

While we were watching last night, one of the many awful people were singing and Bandit howled. It was so funny. I guess even dogs know bad singers when they hear them.

Working a little at home today, as long as I can type without feeling dizzy. I've only made about 38,000 typos on this post so far. Please pray that it goes away and doesn't come back. I've made my mind up to exercise!!!!! And we all know that when A Girl Named Kelly Kelly makes her mind up about anything, look out!

Have a happy Thursday!

It Went Down Like This

Jeff and Cam have put together three puzzles since Christmas. It's a new hobby. You know, something to do when there's nothing else to do. There's been a lot of that going on around here.

We did get a little snow. Not enough to build even a dwarf-size snowman, but it was enough to close the schools. It wasn't enough to cancel my job in Lawrenceville. I would post a picture of the snow at our house, but the ones I took Thursday night when the "dusting" started aren't good. I wanted Jeff to make a picture Friday while I was gone (he worked from home), but even though he can write computer programs and install computer programs for Emory Healthcare, he's afraid of cameras. Not kidding. So therefore, I have no pictures from Friday's "dusting" of snow.

We had been below freezing for several days on end. That doesn't happen here. I have been reminded that that's why I continue to live here. I don't know how people in states where this type of weather is an everyday thing stand it. I have been bored out of my mind.

Friday night we went to LaParilla with one of my favorite brothers-in-law, Ronnie, and his awesomely fun wife, Nan. We actually got there early enough to get the senior citizen early-bird special. If they had one. Which they don't. But they were all so ready to get out and go somewhere, so we took off and got there about 5:30. That's early for us. Or it used to be. Saturday night the same four of us, plus our friend Missy went to Longhorn for supper. We got there at 5:00. And much to our surprise, it was P-A-C-K-E-D! I think everyone in town was going out that night and they all wanted the senior citizen early-bird special. But Longhorn doesn't have one either, so we just had yummy appetizers and the best cheeseburger ever.

After we ate, we went back to Ronnie and Nan's to play cards. We played Spades and I played the worst game I have ever played. The only one to play worse than me was Nan.

I didn't go to church yesterday. My mom and I go as a tag team and when one or the other of us doesn't go, the other tends to stay home. Mom's having some problems with her foot, so we didn't go. I missed it. I know it was warm and cozy and I'm sure I missed a blessing by not going.

Suz and the kids came down early in the day. She and I went to the mall for just a snitch of retail therapy. The highlight of the day came at the MAC counter. I love that makeup. I'm addicted to it actually.

I read in one of the beauty blogs that you shouldn't wear mascara on your lower lashes when you're over 40, that it makes you look tired. So I tried that out yesterday. Hmmmm. I don't think it worked very well as I seem to be asleep sitting straight up.

If you know Suz and me, you know that we like to goof off with the camera. You know, try modeling poses and smiles and all that sort of stuff. Look at Ethan looking at her in this picture.

I'm pretty sure he thought we had lost it.

Alayna apparently doesn't want me to be a cover girl, because she kept getting in the background of my pictures making faces! This was one of her better ones.

Suz was teaching me how to hold your neck and your mouth and your tongue and your shoulders to pose for a picture so you wouldn't look like you have five chins. It's a lot of stuff to remember to do before having your picture made, but I think it works. I tried it and I only have two chins in this picture.

I played Trouble with these three characters.

It's kinda funny how games that you loved as a child just don't seem to spark that same excitement they did when you were a kid. And believe it or not, I came in dead last. In Trouble. That's sad.

So that's how my weekend went down. It was definitely a fun one and I was sad for it to end. The temps got into the 40s today. I think we're looking at 50s by the end of the week. I don't know about you, but I'm bringing out my flip flops. Hooray!

Till next time!

Snow For Sale

Honestly, can we not even buy snow in Georgia?

We've endured several days of below freezing temps. The ground freezes. We get a slight chance of snow and what happens? The temperature creeps up to around 40. So what do we get? Nada. Nothing. Not even a "dusting".

I know I could move to another part of the country and get so much snow that I'd be sick of it after about a day. But I live here. Is it too much to ask for a little snow once a year? This was the perfect opportunity and might be the only one we get this winter. And it's gone. Poof.

I'm ill about it. I'm mad and I'm not listening to any more weather forecasts until Spring. In fact, I just might go take a dip in my frozen pool to cool down my frustration. Grrrrr.

Nothing Much to Say

Except brrrrrrrrrrr! I had to get out this morning pretty early -- well, 8 o'clock -- and let me just tell you. IT WAS COLD. I got in my car to heat it up and saw my Diet Coke I had yesterday from Chick-fil-A. I picked it up to throw it away and there was still ice in it. It had been in my car since lunchtime yesterday. No wonder my cat wants to stay inside. I don't think it's very warm in my garage.

Every morning I always look out the bathroom window and take a peek at the pool. This morning the water was covered with a thin layer of ice.

We're running the pump 24/7, so the water is constantly moving, but it's still freezing. I just thought it was so pretty, so I made these pictures to remember this crazy weather.

I've been working all day on a calendar I'm ordering from Shutterfly. I've gone through hundreds of pictures on my computer. It's been fun looking back over all the fun times I had last year. Sometimes you forget what a good life you have. It's good to be reminded sometimes.

Ross was supposed to work in Blairsville today, but the temperatures kept him from going. He was going to stay the night since it's a couple hours' drive from here. I think they've rescheduled it for next week. The cold doesn't bother him too much. I'll never forget when we went skiing when he was 15. He walked right through the ski lodge wearing shorts.

Not much else going on around here. Jeff and I are going out to supper tonight. He's got a $75 gift card to P.F. Chang that he's had over a year. We're going to go there and finally use it. For $75 we ought to be able to get one of everything on the menu.

Cross your fingers, your toes and your eyes that we get at least a LITTLE snow. It sure does make pretty pictures.

Till next time.

When It's Cold in Georgia

You leave your nice warm house to go out at 9 o'clock in the freezing temperatures to get some of this.

Because you don't want her to have to hold her natural body functions. Or worse yet, to relieve herself in the house.

But this one here, you take her out and it still takes her 5 minutes to find just the perfect spot.

And it's always the spot she sniffed out first.

It's still too cold for us to let Smokey (the cat) outside. She's perfectly content to ball up in her towel in our laundry room/half bath. I'm not kidding, as soon as you open the door, you can her hear purring. So sweet. She'll be 16 in March or April. That's old for a kitty cat.

I'm not sure she knows what that litter box is for because she hasn't used it yet. I went down in the basement last night and found a big aluminum pan, bought some litter pan liners and some kitty litter. I hope she'll figure it out. Yesterday and the day before when we let her outside to go potty, she showed us. She pooped right in the middle of the garage. She wasn't about to go outside in the frigid weather. Smart cat; she takes good care of herself. I guess that's why she's so old.

Yesterday in the midst of my boredom, I went to the mall. It was the first time I had been since right before Christmas. And you know what I decided? I haven't missed it in the least. In fact, I couldn't wait to get in my car and go home.

What's the deal with the sales clerks? Most of them act ( hopefully, it's an act) like they're stupid. And most of them are rude as can be and clearly hate their job. I wish I never had to set foot in another mall again. But since I love to shop, that ain't happening. It just wasn't fun yesterday. Although I will say that there are lots of good deals out there. If you can handle the sales clerks acting stupid and being rude. Maybe they were cold, but I doubt that as it was 999 degrees in the stores.

And speaking of work, I'm back at it today. I'm working at 2 this afternoon in Decatur. It's the first time I've gone out for a job since the 21st of December. I hope I'm not too rusty. I'm going to go through all my equipment and change the batteries in everything and reacquaint myself. When I haven't worked in a while, I get as nervous as if it was my first depo. Hopefully, it won't be a stressful one. I'm not in the mood. And I hope I don't act stupid or be rude.

I think I'll make baked potato soup for supper tonight. I'll share the recipe later. It's one Nan gave me and it's sooo good. I add a little of this and that to it, so tonight when I make it I'll jot it down. Hopefully, it won't be like the spaghetti I was going to make last week. You remember, when the closest I got to actually cooking it was getting the jar of sauce out of the pantry. BTW, I actually did make it last night and it was very good.

Okay. Keeping it real here. Do any of you feel like the whole world wants you to feel bad about yourself and go on a diet? Seriously. Half of the commercials are about weight loss. Most magazine covers are about diets and stuff. I mean, I think it's awful. Especially because we all know that January is a depressing month anyway and there's not much else to do except watch TV, so they have the perfect opportunity to ram it down your throat and make you feel bad. I'm of the opinion that if I want to lose weight, I sure don't need 50 commercials an hour reminding me. I just think it's kinda sad. Not that I think we should just sit around and watch TV and eat DingDongs all night. I just don't believe in pouring salt in an open wound, you know. We're only human and we shouldn't try to take on everything at once. Right now we're dealing with the cold and being stuck inside, the letdown from all the fun of the holidays and everywhere we look, we're reminded that we need to lose weight. Ugh. And truly it's just about too cold to go outside and do any exercise. Jeff jogs several times a week. He went out yesterday afternoon and it was so cold he had to cut his jog way short, which he never ever does.

Okay. Off my soapbox. I'm really not in a bad mood, but you'd never know it from this post, huh? Sorry.

Till next time. Stay warm, be happy and Live, Love and Laugh!

Sunday

The first Sunday Night Supper of 2010 isn't going exactly as I would like. We didn't get together at my mom and dad's like we usually do. My dad isn't feeling well, so mom didn't cook. Instead I'm having one of these.

It's super cold here. Cold for Georgia. Very, very cold. The top of the pool has a think layer of ice on it. I don't remember that ever happening before. We're running the pump overnight, but now we're going to have to run it all day until this cold snap is over. We may even actually get some snow at the end of the week. I hate to mention it, because I don't want to jinx it. We rarely get snow, so it's a really big treat.

Jeff made a fire tonight. So we're by the fire watching a movie.

After I saw this picture, I made a mental note to myself to clean the glass tomorrow.

Bandit is balled up in her bed by the fireplace. She is one lazy dog.

The only time she has gotten up today is when the heat comes on. She'll get out of her bed and go sit by the heat vent. Smart dog. We've even brought Smokey inside. She is an outdoor cat because three of the four of us are allergic to her. Her favorite place to go is in Cam's room, on his bed, right by the heat vent. Not so good since Cam's one of the ones allergic to her. She's loving life right now.

Stay warm and keep your fingers crossed for snow! If it has to be wintertime, then I want snow!

Till next time.

Seven Out of Twelve

We had a great time at the Spades party last night. Jeff and I placed seventh out of twelve couples. Not so good. I was doing really well in the beginning. Toward the end of the night, I just lost concentration. The way we play is the first and last games are with your spouse. The other four are with different people. Sometimes men can get so competitive. I always worry that the guy that is my partner will be one of THOSE kind of men. You know THE kind. They HATE to lose. They HATE it when you lay down the wrong card. They give you THE LOOK that says what the crap are you doing.

Well, thankfully, I didn't have a partner like that the entire night. That is until the last game when I was paired with my LOVING HUSBAND. Jinkers. I honestly don't know how the coaches he works with in football do it. One wrong move and you fall from grace. That boy DOES NOT like to lose. Not even a little bit.

Everyone brought finger foods. There was SO much food. Too much really. In between games I kept finding a reason to go back here.



One of the best things there was a dip called Beer Dip. Have any of you ever made it? One sample and I was hooked. I'll put the recipe at the end of the post. Next time you need something for a party or something -- or heck, maybe just to make you feel better on a bad day, try it. It was very, very good and sounds so easy too.

Every time I try to sneak and make Jeff's picture, he always sees me. Every single time. Last night I had the perfect opportunity and snapped a picture of him without him seeing me. But as fate would have it, look how it turned out.

So as the clock struck 12, we all had a glass of champagne. I only took a sip of mine. I can't stand the stuff. Look at this picture I made of the two of us. Please tell me that when you make your own picture, it adds about three extra chins. Okay. Thanks. Plus we were smushed together on the sofa.

How can something so pretty to look at taste so bad? I don't think I could ever acquire a taste for it. Doubt I'll ever need to.

Today's a big food day for sure. Going to Ed and Jean's for lunch. She'll cook blackeyed peas, cabbage, pork, cornbread, mac cheese and no doubt a dessert. Then I plan to come home and have a nap. I didn't go to bed until 2:30 this morning and then I fell awake at 8. That's not enough sleep for A Girl Named Kelly Kelly.

Tonight my mom cooks her New Year's Day supper. She'll cook peas, collard greens, pork or meatloaf, cornbread, mac cheese and a dessert. Are you sensing a trend here? I'm gonna load up on the blackeyed peas for good luck. I'm gonna eat tons of greens for wealth in the New Year. Who knows, maybe I will need to acquire a taste for the bubbly after all.

Till next time. Eat your peas and greens!! It sure can't hurt!

CHEESE BEER DIP

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 can beer or nonalcoholic beer
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
Pretzels

Directions
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, beer and dressing mix until smooth. Stir in cheese. Serve with pretzels. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 3-1/2 cups.

ENJOY THE COMPLIMENTS. I PROMISE THEY WILL COME!