Outside My Window

Happy Fall, y'all! I made some pictures of the views outside my window a couple of days ago and tried for the longest time to post them. Blogger was having one of its fits and wouldn't let me. I decided I'd share them today because they're just too darned pretty not to remember.

The dogwood. Can you believe the color of those leaves? As I've said so many times about other colors in nature, you just don't find those colors in the box. Those come directly from God's hand.
Don't want to forget what my scarecrow looked like this year. Thank heaven Halloween is this weekend, although I could leave her up longer I guess. Her pom pom has fallen out and she looks like she'd like a break from the weather.

Speaking of the weather. This fall has had the weirdest weather I can remember. It seems like it's never going to get cool. Yesterday according to my car it was 87 degrees outside. That's too hot for fall. When it's over, it's over. Summer 2010 is over, so it's time she move on and let Autumn 2010 move in.

I don't know what kind of tree this beauty is, but it's one of my favorites. I can see it out of my bathroom window and I always look forward to its color every year.

And with the warm temps, even some of my summer flowers are hanging on to their beauty. This hibiscus out by the pool braved the scorching summer and continues to hang on, still bringing on new blooms.

I made this wreath out of some of my hydrangeas. I think dried hydrangeas are so pretty. And they are so durable too. The flowers on the wreath have not dropped their petals and still look so pretty to me.

This is outside the door coming into my house. And I mean it, too!

With two boys and a hubby who just won't take his shoes off before coming inside, I have to be witchy sometimes.

Hope you've got lots of fall beauty outside your window, too!

Till next time...

Mountain Girl or Beach Babe

Which one are you? Do you like the mountains or the beach better? I don't wanna hear that you like the beach in summer, the mountains in fall! That answer is way too easy.

Jeff and I are here in the mountains and it seriously feels springtime outside. Last night we had pizza and we ordered enough for the entire town of Blue Ridge, Georgia to eat. Blue Jeans Pizza is very, very generous with their pizza. And oh, BTW, did I mention that it was awesome too? Leftovers are gonna be lunch today and maybe tonight we'll try another place for dinner.

I ate like a pig yesterday. Hands down. Suz had left some of her World's Best Cupcakes -- don't y'all wish I'd post the
recipe -- at my house after the wienie roast. I brought them along and yesterday, I think I ate four.

Speaking of recipes, because I love all of you so much, I'm posting my Mom's Pumpkin Bread recipe. And honestly, I can't wait to get home to make it myself!

MY MOM'S GLAZED PUMPKIN BREAD
Makes two loaves

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
1 (15 ounce) canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon of each of these spices:
Ginger
Cinnamon
Allspice
Clove
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking SODA
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking POWDER

Mix the wet ingredients, then slowly add the dry. Pour into loaf pans and bake it 350 degree oven for one hour. Let the bread cool to warm, then drizzle with this wonderful glaze:

1 cup milk mixed with 1 cup sugar. Thicken to desired consistency, then slowly drizzle over the warm bread.

Do you have a pumpkin recipe to share? I'd LOVE to hear about them. I want to make some different things over the holidays.

Till next time...

The Wienee Roast

Last Tuesday was my 45th birthday. Around here, we celebrate birthdays for at least a week. In some cases, maybe even a little longer.

Sunday night supper was at my house and we had my annual birthday wienie roast. My birthday wienie roast has a long history. Mama used to have one for me every year as my birthday party. We'd invite my grandparents, all my aunts and uncles and cousins. I remember them like yesterday. Mama always did us girls big birthday parties. She made them special, that's for sure.

Now that I'm all grown up, Mama just comes as a guest. Someone else does all the work. This is the someone else who did all the work.

My sweet, sweet hubby worked so hard to make everything perfect. And it was.

You know you're loved when you have three birthday cakes. You also realize that there was a little lack of communication because you have three birthday cakes. But really, can you ever have too many?

Suz made me the world's best cupcakes. My Mama made pumpkin bread with the sweetest glaze. And Jeff bought me a pretty birthday cake, complete with a 4 and a 5!

These are the world's best cupcakes that Suz made. She found these cute ghost tins at Target and they worked perfectly because the icing for the cupcake is white and the cupcake is the most wonderful chocolate! I will get the recipe for y'all because they are definitely the world's best.

I wanted to post a few random pictures of the night. As I was posting these, I realized that hardly anyone was smiling. What's up with that? It looked like everyone was having fun. Guess everyone just left their smiles at home.

Except me. I was opening my gifts, so naturally I had a big smile on my face. We've been doing some redecorating and most of my gifts were for my house. My family was so sweet and gave me WAY too much! But I loved all of it and before the night was over, I had found places for everything.

Here's me and the wonderful woman who gave me life. Love her so much.

And my dear daddy, who also had a hand in giving me life. Thanks mom and pop! I really love my life!!!!

Here's my boy Ross. He has such a great sense of humor and rarely has his picture made without making some sort of face. With that beard, he looks so intelligent in this picture, don't you think? Sweet thing. Oh, and did I mention that this handsome thing gave his mama Coco Chanel body cream for her birthday? Yes, he did! He went to the store and bought it himself. As I found out later, he got to enjoy a little eye candy himself while he was there, as the girl working the counter was, as he put it, hot.

I always make goodie bags for birthday parties, even my own. After 10 months without any bubble gum, he put five big gumballs in his mouth.

Also put some funny teeth in the bags. Here's Ethan with his teeth.

Reid being serious. He hurt his hand playing football Saturday. If you look closely, you can see his left hand is swollen and bruised. He's on his way to the orthopedist right now to see if it's broken. Joseph and Kelsey looking like Joseph's truck broke down on the way to my house. I guess they're looking like that because it really did happen. Poor thing has had the hardest time with his truck.
Alayna was in charge of the hot chocolate. We didn't drink nearly as much this year because it wasn't as cold as last year. But she stirred and stirred and stirred. Then she drank so much she got a tummy ache!

When you're around a campfire and you don't like smoke, you must have safety goggles. So here's Eli with his hot dog roasting and goggles accounted for.

The campfire. It was perfect weather for a campfire. No wind, so therefore not much smoke.

And here I am blowing out my 45 candles and making a wish. What could I possibly wish for when I have everything I need. And on this night, I had most all of it in one place.

Till next time when I'll share with you about my birthday trip to the North Georgia mountains, have a lovely Tuesday!

Some Things Change; Some Don't

Last week I was lucky enough to go to the Henry County Fair with one of my favorite nephews for his birthday.

Ethan turned 11 and instead of going out for his birthday supper somewhere like Outback or Longhorn, he wanted to go to the fair.

Ethan and Nick October 6, 2010

I don't know how long it's been since any of you have been to a county fair. My sweet friend, Dena, in Iowa goes every year. I haven't been in many, many years. And after reading all about the fun that Dena and her family have at their fairs, I wanted to go check my local one out.

After going to the fair, I realized that some things change and some things definitely don't. That was especially true for the fair!

When we were kids, every October the fair came to McDonough. We'd always beg mom to take us and most of the time she did. Back in those days, the fairgrounds were dirt. Now, the fair is held on nice -- although busted up in places -- pavement.

Ethan and Nick on the slide

They still have some of the same rides. Like the slide. I think that fair rides are mostly for young folks. I mean, if I come flying down that slide on a tow sack like the boys did, as soon as my bootie hits that last bump, I'm heading to my local medical center. But not kids. They ride and ride and ride.

Ahhhhh, the funnel cake. Who knows what it is or how to make them. And more importantly, who even cares. Crystal said she saw a funnel cake maker at some store that you could take home and make your own. For me, that would be a very bad idea. I would probably eat them every single meal. That greasy, sweet, powdery sugar goodness would clog my arteries and probably send me to an early grave. But wow, would it be a heck of a way to go.

Crystal bought the boys $20 armbands, which allowed them to ride as many rides as many times as they wanted to. It allowed them to play the games exactly zero times. What was the thing they wanted to do first? Play the games.

The games were pretty much the same. Fill your balloon up with water first, win a prize. Shoot a basketball so filled with air it's most likely gonna bounce off the rim, win a prize. Pick a duck out of the water, you know, all the same ones.

But the thing that was different was the prizes. Sure you could always win a Teddy Bear, BUT not one with a Department of Corrections jumpsuit on. Is this supposed to be endearing? I guess if you had a loved one locked up, you could snuggle up with your DOC Teddy Bear and feel closer to that person.

Another all-time favorite of mine. The sticky, gooey, delicious caramel apple. But with these teeth of mine, if I had even one bite every tooth in my mouth would likely be crunched up with the apple. Sadly, I had to pass on that one.

Crystal and James have been working out really hard. Don't they look great?

Maybe fairs are in cahoots with cardiologists because some of the things they have to eat there are crazy. Deep fried candy bars! That's scary!

Gone are the days of thinking ahead and getting your cash before you go to the fair. Now, if you don't have cash or if you spend all you brought and you just can't resist that deep friend candy bar, just walk over to the ATM.

I love Ferris wheels. I love Nicholas Sparks, who also loves Ferris wheels. I think they are so pretty with the lights against the night sky. Haven't ridden one in years.

I have to be honest here. I love corndogs. Love them. So of course, no trip to the fair would have been complete without one. Nowadays in America, we have supersized everything. Including the corn dog.

Also keeping it real, I tried something called chicken on a stick.

And honestly, it was the best chicken tender I've ever eaten. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can fry food like the fair people can.

We took a look at the animals. Unfortunately, it was a Wednesday when we went and the only ones left were the cows. They had been shown the day before and the day we went was the day of the sale.

I've been around cows plenty of times. My PaPa Kimball raised them and we saw them lots of times. They used to mess up our fishing in PaPa's pond by taking a swim in it. But PaPa's cows were just cows. They weren't brushed and petted and massaged.

The ones at the fair were so pretty. Their hair was nicely combed and they didn't have any slime hanging out of their mouths or flies flying around their eyes like the ones I had seen in South Georgia at PaPa's farm.

I pet one and fell in love. He was so soft and warm. I decided then and there that I wouldn't be eating any more beef. Alas, though, it was not to be. I have craved nothing but a steak and roast beef since that moment.

So for the best fried food around, people watching at its absolute best, may I suggest your county or state fair. It was the most fun I had had in a while. To be there with my sweet nephew celebrating his 11th birthday was just the powdered sugar on the funnel cake.

Till next time...

The Birthday Fairy

The birthday fairy stopped by and gave me another birthday. This one is the 45th one she's given me. Wow, 45. How blessed I've been in my 45 years of living.

Every October 12th, I feel so melancholy. I know some people feel nothing but joy on their birthday, but I'm not that type person. I start feeling all nostalgic and sentimental and then before you know it, I'm downright sad.

I don't mind getting older. I mean, I'd be lying if I said it doesn't bother me even one little bit because it does. I have wrinkles around my eyes. Wrinkles around my mouth. My back hurts. My legs and feet hurt. Sometimes my mind doesn't feel as sharp as it once did. But for the most part, my body has been better to me than I've been to it.

It's not the wrinkles or the aches that I don't like about getting older. It's that all of the people around me are getting older, too. My grandparents did. My parents are. My sisters are. My niece and nephews are. My aunts and uncles, who were -- and will always be -- in my mind's eye, young and lively! It seems like they should be 45, not me! Jeff's getting older, my kids are getting older. We're all getting older and it makes me blue. Can't time just slow down a little bit, please.

Sometimes just for kicks and giggles I stand in front of the mirror and pull my face this way and that, gently tugging on the wrinkles. And sometimes, just for a minute, I see a way younger Girl Named Kelly Kelly. All the face cream in the world just can't stop what age and gravity does to you.

Today I'm celebrating another trip around the sun, and I'm thankful the birthday fairy stopped by once again. I'll look forward to seeing her next year.

Till next time...

Just a Gliding

Tonight Nan and I took a new class at the gym. It's called Gliding.



To give you an idea what it was like... imagine standing on a Frisbee on an ice skating rink. It was pretty tricky. I felt like I was going to be forced into doing the only split I've ever done in my entire life. I'm definitely going to give it another try because I think it's a great concept and it's supposed to be a great workout for your thighs and bum. Lord knows, I need all the help I can get with mine.


I had lunch today with a friend that I have not seen or spoken to in over 14 years. I worked with her when I worked for an eye doctor in Snellville. I left there to begin my court reporting career. She's still there and will be celebrating 25 years there in February. She was like a big sister to me, partly because she's 10 years older than me, but mostly because she was just that kind of friend. In fact, she was a bridesmaid in my wedding.


Somehow, we lost touch. I never called her and she never called me. I thought of her often and wondered if she still worked in the same office. Monday, while I wasn't laboring, I thought of her and decided to track her down. After looking at about 100 girls with her same name, I realized she wasn't on Facebook. So I decided to Google the doctor we worked for and see if he perhaps had a web page. Lucky for me he did. And even luckier for me, she still works there and her e-mail address was on the site.


I e-mailed her that minute and she replied to me first thing Tuesday morning. We scheduled lunch and went to have Chinese. That was always our favorite lunch. I can't tell you how good it was to see her. So much had changed in her life since I had last talked with her. She got divorced, became a grandmother and lost her parents. It was if we just picked up where we left off in our friendship. I'm so excited to have reconnected to such a special friend. This time I'm not going to lose touch with her. She's a keeper.


Eli had his first ever cavity filled this morning. Suz sent me this picture of him. Look at that preciousness sitting so still and straight while getting his little cavity filled. It's so sweet that I can hardly stand it!



And tonight, she sent me this picture. I think it might be Eli's first ever love note.



All I can say about that is that Becca is one lucky little girl!

Hope everyone had a great day! I sure did.

Till next time.

Laborless Labor Day Weekend

We took it easy over the Labor Day Weekend. I really can't say that I took a lick at a snake. It was wonderful.

Friday night, Jeff and I went to our new favorite Mexican cantina.

We got there about 8:45 and it was still crowded, with lots of people still coming. It's a small place and the bar only seats about eight. If you have to wait, you have to wait outside. It was a lovely night and we waited on the patio for about 45 minutes. The people watching was great, so the time passed quickly. The food, as always, was the best. Since it was such a nice night, we took the top down on the convertible. The lights through downtown were so pretty. It was a great night!

Saturday morning, I got up bright and early and went to spin class at the gym. I've gotten totally addicted to that class. The feeling of pouring sweat and working so hard feels wonderful. I got home and showered and got ready to watch the bulldogs whoop up on the Ragin' Cajuns from Louisiana.

Jeff is coaching football again this year. He's coaching 11-year-old boys. His second game of the season was on Saturday night.

So because, I'm such a good wife, and because it wasn't 9 million degrees outside, I went to his game. It wasn't much of a game, as they won 60-0. Crazy.

Ronnie, Nan and some other friends were all at Three Dollar Cafe to watch the rest of the college football games, so we headed there after Jeff's game.

Went to a wonderful Sunday morning church service with my mom, my aunts and some other family members. Sunday night, Nan had several folks over for a little cookout. She made some roasted vegetables that were out of this world delish. That girl can cook!

Suz and I are going to a cocktail party for one of our coworkers this Friday night. I've got a few things to choose from to wear, but I need a new top to wear with one of the things. So surprisingly, Jeff agreed to go with me to do a little shopping yesterday. I bought exactly nothing. It wasn't because he was with me either. He found a nice little sofa and rested his yes a bit while I was browsing around Macy's. There just isn't much to choose from right now.

After leaving the mall, we went here.

And it was a wonderful visit!

It was the best Laborless weekend I've had in a while. I hope yours was too!

Till next time.