Take Five for Friday

It's Friday! Woot! And it's time for the Friday Five hop over at Jesse's Spot! Now there are two really good things about Friday. First- it's FRIDAY! Second- Friday Five! 

To link up, just click on the cuppa!

Four more school days 'til SPRING BREAK. One of the things that makes spring worthy of my love. LOL

I was thinking that I might rather get paid for every time I have to say, "Use your brain/no talking/listen/follow directions/read the directions..." Not only am I having to use my stern voice lately, I'm even starting to talk that way to other adults at school. At home. In the grocery store. On the phone. Sheesh. I definitely NEED a break.

HEY! Guess what I heard on the national news last week? I heard that our weather prediction service is flawed. I was SHOCKED. Ha!

Actually, winter has decided to show up. Now that it's spring. If I had known that shaving my legs was the cause, I would have shaved them weeks ago!

I'll leave y'all with this...these guys were so hilarious--

Two Snaps for Friday Y'all!

Friday Five!

It's Friday! Woot! And it's time for the Friday Five hop over at Jesse's Spot! Now there are two really good things about Friday. First- it's FRIDAY! Second- Friday Five! 

To link up, just click on the cuppa!

Seems that our students have come down with some serious cases of spring fever these last couple of weeks. It also seems, that when this particular ailment hits, it hits hard with students' ability to listen and follow directions. Holy cow, I'm not even kidding. Now I know that some of you look forward to and even pray for spring to come quickly. I do the same thing with fall and winter. But if y'all will just come by school and observe---honestly, for no more than 10 minutes---I'm sure you'll soon change your minds about the arrival of spring. Sheesh.

Another thing about spring. If you think for one second that 4th and 5th graders smell good after recess in the spring time, you are sadly mistaken.

There is at least one really good thing about spring, however. Deanie's birthday! Woot!

Oh, and, this year, there's a wedding to attend in the spring. My bestie's daughter is getting married in April. That's going to be fun!

Wait! Wait! AND, DoodleBug will be graduating from college on Mother's Day weekend!

Ok, so there ARE good things about spring this year. I stand corrected.

I think I would appreciate spring much more if I had had a winter from which to recover. 

It's been a long week y'all. Really long. And spring break is still two weeks away. I hope I make it!

Meanwhile, I'm thrilled beyond belief that FRIDAY has finally arrived! 

Chit Chattin' Away

O, the weather outside is frightful---because it's 7-freaking-6 degrees out there. Sheesh. The bugs are going to be worse than they have been in YEARS if this keeps up.

Anyway, the good news is that today is Tuesday and we can take a break to do some chattin' on Patrice's porch. Plus, Wendell the best horse in the WORLD might join us for a carrot or 50.

Questions

1. Have you ever been on a boat? (Motor boat, sail boat, cruise ship, ark, or Good Ship Lollipop) Yes. We live at the coast so it's kind of hard NOT to get on a boat at some point. I've been on sailboats, shrimp boats, motor boats and fishing boats. I've also been on a cruise on a really big boat.
2. Do you need an alarm to wake up in the morning, or do you wake up naturally? If you have an alarm, tell us what type.I have the alarm set on the television and my cell just in case. But they rarely, if ever, wake up before me.
3. Have you ever had a yard sale? Yes. Loads of work for little money. But it does get the junk out of the house.
4. Do you like kitchen gadgets? What are some of your favorite? Sort of. I liked them a lot more before I took this job that zaps me of all my energy and robs me of my time so that I don't want to or can't spend time in the kitchen. I love my Kitchen Aid mixer and all of the attachments and my juicer. I really like my pastry cutter thingy and my apple corer--that's broken and I need another one-- and my paring knives. 
5. Do you read labels at the grocery store? I do if I'm buying something with a label. But nowadays, I'm only buying things from the perimeter of the grocery store so I don't really have to read much.

So, how's your day? What's on your mind? Let's chat!

Autumnal Listicles

It's Monday and time to join Stasha over at The Good Life for Monday Listicles! Each week Stasha gives us a theme for our lists. This week, we have the 10 AUTUMN MUST HAVES theme. All you have to do to join the fun is click on the link or the button!

10 THINGS THAT MAKE AUTUMN, AUTUMN

1. Sweaters. When I have to put on a sweater because the temps are chilly outside, I know it's autumn. I'm not wearing sweaters right now. Because, so far, autumn has eluded us. 
2. Long pants. I love putting away my capris for long pants when the cool temps of autumn arrive! I'm still wearing carpis every single freaking day. Because, so far, autumn has eluded us.
3. The changing of the leaves. One of my most favorite sights to see are the stunning colors that come along with autumn. Everything's green here. Because there aren't that many trees in the area that change color...most of them were knocked down by hurricane Hugo in 1989. They never made a come back.  Which is a moot point because, so far, autumn has eluded us.
4. My big floppy socks. These are big socks that used to belong to the husband. I love flopping around in those things when the weather gets cool. I am still walking around barefooted. Because, so far, autumn has eluded us. 
5. My favorite holidays. I love Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas! As far as I'm concerned, we could get rid of every other holiday. The autumn holidays improve my mood greatly and it's nice that they come when the temps are cool. Of course, my anticipation is quite low right now as autumn has, so far, eluded us. 
6. Baking. I bake like crazy nearly every day in the cool of autumn. When the temps cool down in autumn, the oven heats the house up just right and the smell of the breads, cakes, cookies, etc...fill the house nicely and take me back to my childhood when I spent autumn days in the kitchen with my grandmother as she baked. I've only baked cookies so far because the oven heats the house up too much still because the temps are still in the mid to upper 80s because, so far, autumn has eluded us.
7. Football. Even though it starts at the end of summer and runs through the beginning of winter, football is an autumn sport. It also happens to be my favorite sport. And, even though autumn has eluded us so far this year, football is here! Of course, the Panthers pulling it together and winning some games has eluded us again this season...so far. 
8. Pumpkins! I love seeing pumpkins everywhere- in the stores and on people's porches. I even have some really pretty fake ones that I use to decorate inside. I haven't bought any real pumpkins this year because the temps are so warm I'm afraid they'll rot quickly and I haven't put out my inside ones either because it doesn't feel like autumn because, so far, autumn has eluded us.
9. Gas logs. I would love to turn on the gas logs in autumn. But we don't have gas logs. And we would put a fire in the fireplace, but I'm allergic to the smoke from the fire. It's all moot (again) anyway because it's too hot for a fire of any kind because, so far, autumn has eluded us.
10. Flannel! I love flannel- flannel sheets, flannel shirts, flannel jackets, flannel ANYTHING! If I brought out anything flannel right now, we'd sweat to death because it's so hot out still because, so far---AUTUMN HAS ELUDED US.

Happy Monday y'all! Hope you enjoyed the autumnal listicles today! Want more? Head on over to Stasha's and join in the fun! 

A Little of This and Some of That

This week has been crazy because of Labor Day. Whenever the husband has a day off during the week, it throws me off kilter. I thought yesterday was Tuesday all day long. But, thanks to Mrs. 4444s and Friday Fragments, I know that today is Friday!

It's still so hot around here. Today, at noon my time (eastern standard time) several of us are going to stop what we're doing and pray for fall- of course I'll be focusing on begging for cooler temps--if anyone would like to join us please feel free to do so!

Birdie and I took the dogs to the county park yesterday. BIG mistake. HUGE error in judgement. And it was all heat related. As in- it was too freaking hot to be out at the county park with the dogs. Poor Tucker was so hot I had to pick him up and carry him. We stopped at shelters along the way and gave them water and 90% of the path we took was in the shade so it could have been worse. HOWEVER, the mosquitoes---there's no way they could have been worse! If we stopped for a nanosecond our legs looked like we were wearing black knee socks. Hate those things.

I'm just a few pages from being finished with the first book of THOSE BOOKS- I'll let you know what I think and whether or not I plan to continue through to the bitter end soon. I get a kick out of the fact that everyone knows exactly which books I'm taking about when I write 'THOSE BOOKS'.

DoodleBug went to her practicum school yesterday for the first time and she loved it! This semester the students have to spend an entire day at their assigned schools (every Thursday) and all of the schools are Title 1 schools. DoodleBug had a fantastic experience and said, "I never want to teach anywhere else!" I always knew that's where her heart was. Some of the girls didn't have such a good experience because of the classroom teacher---it wasn't pretty. And that's all I'll say about that. For now.

The mosquitoes were out in full force again this morning. The dogs look at me like I've lost my mind. But most people are used to what I call 'the low-country salute.' Which is the way we constantly slap our arms, legs and faces against the attack of the mosquitoes and gnats. It would be quite comical if it wasn't annoyingashell.

Sunday marks the end of Synergy, Week 3 and the beginning of Week 4. It's going well. If you're interested in finding out more or checking out my journal, click right here!

That's pretty much it y'all! Have a fantastic weekend!

Friday---Fragmented Style

Got sweltering heat like us? Humidity kicking your butt? Is the rain getting you down? No worries! Just head over to Half-Past Kissin' Time and join in the fun with Friday Fragments!

Whew! Is it just me or is summer flying by at warp speed? I hope it is anyway because I'm sure sick of the weather. But then, I'm sick of the weather every summer. Until August shows up and NFL Preseason begins! The first Carolina Panthers preseason game is on August 11- my dad and I were talking about how there would finally be something worth watching on TV once preseason starts. And then we both said, "Wait. We don't know if it'll be worth watching yet or not!" Come on Panthers. Y'all have been dragging your feet long enough! Let's have a winning season boys! (Otherwise, I'm going to have to watch football just because I love it and not have a team to pull for, SO--FIND YOUR GROOVE AND WIN SOME FREAKING GAMES ALREADY!).

Stifling weather and all, I was still able to get some running in this week without killing myself! YES! That's quite an accomplishment in this heat. I've tried three days of the Sprint 8 and that went well---although I did sweat about 10 buckets of water each time. And then came right home and stepped on the scale. LOL

We have had several storms that included thunder, lightning AND rain without any damage so that was WONDERFUL! The garden was particularly happy!

I've been working on throwing out a whole bunch of old stuff that hasn't been needed or used in about three years! I do love a good purge!

I'm vacuuming every single day at least once to keep up with Birdie's dog's (Strider's) shedding. I love Birdie and I love her doggie but I do not love the shedding. Tucker doesn't shed. And there's a reason I picked a dog that doesn't shed---I don't care for the shedding. There's dog hair EVERYWHERE. (Sheesh, how many times can you use shed or shedding in one sentence...)

Birdie and I attended a farewell gathering for a dear friend/teacher this week. I will post those pictures later. It was bittersweet but so good to see everyone.

Speaking of Birdie, she and the boytoy leave for London on Monday evening. Prayers for safe travels are welcome and greatly appreciated! I know they'll have a great time!

We have a 21st birthday coming up on the 24th of this month and all the lovelies will be HOME! WooHoo! It's not even MY 21st birthday but I feel as though I'm the one getting a gift. :)

Hope everyone has had a wonderful week and has an even better weekend!

Aging Bladder, Sagging Boobs and a Fat Shelf

Some days my second walk of the day (that 5 miles I do after the 1.5 I walk with Tucker) is just ok. Nothing much happens and there's not much to see--it's just a walk. Other days are exhausting--the ones when there are other walkers out there that I have to beat I listen to my fast walking music and end up practically running.

And then there are days like today.

When the temps are in the 60s (albeit high 60s); the sunrise decides to be stunning in nature (see it there on the left?); I turn a curve and an autumn breeze hits me and stays with me on that last .75 of a mile. All of that coupled with the fact that my ASICS have relieved my feet of all their pain!

It's hard to beat days like today. In fact, I would have easily been able to walk longer if it weren't for my aging bladder. There are pretty much only two things I envy about men and being able to whip it out and pee anywhere is one of them. (The other is their ability to pass blame off on others).

Anyway, I had a dream last night. I dreamed that I rested my hands on my sides on top of my hips and my fingers touched each other in front! Woot!

When I got up this morning I knew my fingers wouldn't touch but I tried anyway. Guess what? They will touch if I squeeze. So I started the day M.O.T.I.V.A.T.E.D.

Lately, I have noticed a few things about losing weight.

• My fat shelf is gone. Again. I remember now how stunned I was when I discovered it MIA the first time I lost it. Before I lost the weight I could carry 4 or 5 gallons of spring water with the help of the rolls in my midsection to keep them from falling. The jugs would rest on top of a roll creating a 'fat shelf' if you will, preventing the jugs from sliding down and hitting the ground. This is no longer available. Now, the jugs just hit the ground.  
• I have noticed that, while riding in the passenger seat of the car, that there is less of me jiggling around. I used to get so mad at Hubs for hitting any and all bumps in the road because it caused me to jiggle (and I'm NOT talking about a cute jiggle-this was more like a flopping) so much he probably thought something was wrong with the car. Now, not so much.
• Also in the car, I can put my seat belt on and STILL MOVE AROUND. That's right. Before I would fasten my seat belt and have ZERO space to move. I couldn't even lean forward an inch. Now? I can not only lean forward, but I can reach something on the floorboard.
• When I raise my arms, the flabby bat wings are no longer the envy of every bat in the neighborhood.
• I have noticed that, when I turn over in bed, I don't wake myself or Hubs up thinking we're having a significant earthquake.
• For a time I thought that my boobs had retained some of their youthful perkiness. False. They appeared that way because they were resting on my great middle expanse. Now that the middle expanse has decreased, the boobs are hanging lower than ever. I imagine they'll give the term 'knee length' a whole new meaning by the time I finish losing the weight. 

Yes ladies and gents, it seems that I am on my way to getting my fingers to touch when resting my hands on my hips--even if I do have to go under my sagging boobs to do it.  




 

The Week in the Proverbial Nutshel!

Another lazy summer week. With the exception of Dad's surgery and Mother going into AFib ON THE SAME DAY. Both are doing well. Dad has not eaten yet (just liquids) because he has to pass gas before they'll give him food. My stepmother says he has to, "Fart for food."

Again, thank you all so much for all your positive thoughts/vibes and prayers! 

AND NOW, here's my week in a:

We enjoyed decent--meaning tolerable--weather last week. The early mornings were as close to pleasant as one can get during a low-country summer. One afternoon I looked out the window and, while the sun was shining brightly, there was rain falling. It lasted for about 30 minutes. That was 30 minutes I spent doing nothing but looking out the window- time well spent.  I started going back out to the ponds after walking Tucker so I could do some serious walking and averaged 4.5 miles each morning. Next week, 5 miles. Maybe. Hopefully. We'll see. OH, have I told y'all about the website that suggests music based on how fast/slow you walk/run/jog? It's called jog.fm and it's FANTASTIC!

Tucker's favorite part of our morning walks.

One of our views this morning.

What Tucker does after our walks.

I talked with Birdie several times this week. She's feeling much better about being in Texas now. Which relieves my mind quite a lot. Her grad classes start on the 29th of this month so she's using her free time to continue teaching herself to sew. Oh, and it's HOT IN TEXAS.

This is Birdie's latest apron.

Here it is again.

Now she's decided to try her hand at a quilt with these pieces.

And here's her progress so far. This is only the third thing she's ever sewed...not to shabby, eh?

I was able to spend several days with DoodleBug this week. She came over and we did a bit of shopping. One day we went to Trader Joe's. It just opened in our area and it's a pretty cool store. The employees were quite friendly but not pushy. The customers, on the other hand, were- as a friend said- "rude and pushy." That's the main reason I hate going to Whole Foods too. The customers. Anyway, DoodleBug and I had some nice together time this week and that's all that matters!

This is what Tucker loves to do with DoodleBug.

I started a new journal this week. This is the fourth one since I started serious journaling in July 2010. I haven't missed on single day since July 19, 2010. Some entries are short and some are lengthy. I've discovered that journaling can be therapeutic.

Here are my journals- the fourth one is the one I just started. As you can see, I've already purchased number five! I told y'all the black and white marbled composition books had gotten prettier!

I found a vintage stocking hat knitting pattern so I'm trying to knit one. It's going ok so far, but I've only just begun so there's plenty of time to screw it up. I'm also still working on the market bag that Stephanie of Hookin', Knittin' & Livin' sent me. Honestly, if you've never seen her creations, go take a peek. She's one absolutely amazing knitter. She's the knitting QUEEN!

This is the base of the hat. See that cute pattern? That's about as complicated as it gets for me.

I've been journaling the 30 Days of Truth that I found on Beverly's blog, The Beverly Buzz, in my journal because I'm not brave enough to blog it like she is. I saw this today in my email and, since it was relevant to a couple of the truth days (about forgiveness), thought I'd share:

A few translations of the Syrian Aramaic version of the petition on forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer--


Loose the cords of mistakes binding us,
as we release the strands we hold of others’ guilt.

Lighten our load of secret debts
as we relieve others of their need to repay.

Forgive our hidden past, the secret shames,
as we consistently forgive what others hide.

That pretty much wraps it up for this week! Next week, FAMILY REUNION! 

Have a fantabulous week and remember to SMILE! It makes people wonder what you've been up to!