Thursday 13

13 Things I've "Inherited" from My mom.

As yall know, I lost my mom recently. I use lost as it infers that I will one day find her again...and i will...not in this world, but in the next. So, one of the many tasks we've had (my brother, husband and i ) is to clean out her stuff and for us to divy it up. Here are the top 13 things I'm now the proud new owner of.

13. The yellow mixing bowl. It's nothing fancy...it's just soooo handy. It's a thick plastic, a good size and has a handle. We've used it for as long as we can remember for so many different projects from cake batters to popcorn.



12. The GREEN mixing bowl. LOL. But it's totally different from the aforementioned yellow one. First, this one is much older and it's metal. And we used it alllll the time. Most memorable was for shelling peas or snapping green beans. Steven (my brother ) and i both wanted it...but i got it...afterall, he got her car.

11. ANGELS. glory goodness that woman loved angels...and many of these i'd given her. I'm looking at a pretty one right now...it's got no face and has moss hair and a vine for a halo. They're all over the house now...watching over us.



10. Dolphin stained glass. She was a huge collector of all things dolphins. Me? not so much. But she did have one beautiful stained glass that was in her front window at the little cottage (what she called her house...along with the Briarpatch cottage).



9. Jewelry! so much jewelry. She loved gemstones and had a huge collection that i couldnt begin to appreciate. (There's a REASON she wanted her friend Bill to have it!) But i went thru her jewelry and picked out a few pieces that weren't so big...i'm not into big jewelry. I gave some to my cousin Kim and some to my Aunt and Grandmother.

8. A really cool night stand. it's got tons of drawers and it's pretty. Now, knowing my mom, she probably got it at a thrift store, but who cares? It's really neat. I'm "letting" Dale use it for his night stand...but it looks good over on his side of the room and it's perfect for my organized husband.



7. FOOD. Steven and I felt like little scavengers going thru her pantry...but I now have more chocolate than i could dream of buying, canned foods that would do a food pantry proud. Every meal, we comment, "another one down..." meaning the cans.

6. A Canon Printer/fax/scanner. Dale's had one for several years now but since the move, I've been deprived of it since we're not in the same room anymore. But thanks to Mom, I have my own now. It's older and takes 5 cartridges instead of 2, but hey, it works.

5. 3 HUGE framed (expensively i might add) prints/paintings of dolphins. I have NO IDEA where there're going to go, but they were too nice to donate to charity.



4. An old timey radio from my great Aunt Mary Alice's home that my mom had gotten. It's one of those large rounded ones that probably announced the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It's still got the vacumn tubes in the back.

3. A king size bed. We havn't brought it down to the house yet, but will. It'll be the first time I've ever owned a King!! What an up grade from Queen.

2. 2 new computers...but I'm giving one to my cousin Kim. Both are Dell's and faster than my current one that is circa first marriage.

1. Every card or picture or letter that my kids, my brother or I ever sent her. She kept them all. God I miss her.

Happy Easter 2008

Ok...we did it. We broke the terrible news to the kids about the existence of the Easter Bunny or lack thereof. It came up because we bought Sheena an Easter gift and John could not stop arguing and complaining that SHE got a gift from us and he didn't. It didn't matter that he'd gotten something from the Easter Bunny...he hadn't received anything from US. So we told them. Very bluntly I might add. And of course the inevitable came up from Josh, " Does this mean that Santa isn't real either???" I couldnt do it. I broke down and lied. NO...That's a totally different thing. Santa's real...but a hopping bunny bringing easter gifts? come on now.

So with all that said, here are some pics from the Easter Egg Gettogether we had ysterday at Dale's sister Amy's home. Dont think these are the best I can do...i forgot my camera and had to use my cell phone!



and here are all the grandkids....

Thursday 13 Today In History

I'm a history buff...I admit it freely and w/o shame. Yes, when I was in highschool, I was even on the Social Studies Team (today you'd probably call it a Trivia Team). so call me a nerd if you like. But today I decided to make a today in history...Just because I can. So in Chronilogical order from oldest to most recent...

13. 1790 John Martin, 1st American-born actor, performs in Philadelphia. Now, I don't know what play...but we can be guaranteed he wasn't swarmed by papperazzi and he didn't make a pre-play appearance on THE VIEW.

12. 1852 Uncle Sam cartoon figure made its debut in the New York Lantern weekly. And from here we get the Uncle Sam figure of Americana.

11. 1861 Jefferson Davis signs bill authorizing use of slaves as soldiers. So kind of him dont you think?

10. 1868 Senate begins President Andrew Johnson impeachment trial. He apparently irked a lot of the radical republicans after the Civil War by trying to follow Abe Lincoln's more lenient plan for reconstruction. But the straw that broke the camel's back was when he removed Stanton as Secty of War in violation of an act that had passed saying the President had to have the consent of Congress to remove appointed officials. Turns out, Senate voted to acquit Andrew Johnson by a margin of 35 guilty to 19 not guilty - one vote short of the two-thirds needed to convict. I wonder who was that swing vote and why he voted the way he did??? Guess I have something to look up.

9. 1915 Dodgers manager Wilbert Robinson tries to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane, but the pilot substituted a grapefruit. UGH. how messy could that be? wonder if he caught it? Info doesn't say.

8. 1921 Mongolia declares independence from China. And yet, we still find mongolian bbq on most chinese buffets. Get it right folks.!

7. 1922 WRR-AM in Dallas TX begins radio transmissions It became the first broadcast radio station in the state of Texas, and the 2nd in the nation

6. 1936 Clarence Nash birthday. Now who is that you may be asking yourself? He was the voice of Donald Duck.

5. 1939 Neil Sedaka's birthday. I used to love him when I was a kid. Still think it's odd for ANY man to sing that high tho! He had some great songs. Happy Birthday Sweet 16, Calendar Girl, Next Door To An Angel, Breaking Up is Hard to Do, & Laughter In the Rain. And trivia for the day, did you know he helped write, Captain & Tennille's Love Will Keep Us Together?

4. 1947 19th Academy Awards (for the year 1946) "Best Years of Our Lives",(Really great movie if you've never seen it!) Frederic March won for Best actor from that movie and so did Harold Russell for best supporting actor. Olivia de Havilland won also but for a movie I'm not familiar with "To Each His Own".

3. 1954 Braves' Bobby Thomson breaks his ankle, he is replaced by Hank Aaron. Poor Bobby set into action the most valuable Brave ever. And the rest is history.

2. 1988 14th People's Choice Awards: Fatal Attraction, Bill Cosby win. Now these are not even my favorite awards shows. But it's a good indication of what was popular at the time. Bill Cosby was on the Tonight Show last night...20 years after this award and still as funny as ever.

1. 1993 Blizzard of '93 hits north-east US. I sooo remember that storm as it hit Atlanta, GA too. I still have pictures of it.

In My Life..

Remember that song by the Beatles? I love it. Well anyway...things going on in my life right now....

Working at West At Home...it's a home based customer service company. I get to stay at home and I take calls from people who're ordering things from infomercials. I'd just gotten the position when Mom got so sick...I'd only worked like 2 shifts. So then after she passed away, I started back to work with them. It's a job just getting shifts! I think they've over hired and we're all scrambling to get the few coveted shifts. I've also applied with another company called Live Ops...I'm hoping that with the two jobs I'll be able to get some decent shifts and bring home some extra income. I'm only wanting to work 15-20 hours each week and that would bring us in enough income to live comfortably. We'd like to use my income for entertainment portion of our budget.

Started back to Weight Watchers. I haven't been since Jan 28th...(Mom died on Feb 9th) and are you ready for this? My weight stayed EXACTLY the same over that time. 279.8. I was shocked...not that I thought I'd gained that much weight but that the numbers were exactly the same. So, I need to get back on the wagon. Christine almost quit this week and I would have hated for her to do that. She's at a comfortable weight even tho she has put back on 10 pounds. And she feels that other things are more important in her life right now that she wants to concentrate her efforts on. I can understand it fully...but none the less, I hope she continues. And I want to do my part to help her feel that she has a worthwhile partner in this.

Cleaning out Mom's house. God how depressing. Sheena went with me today (she's out on spring break) and she was able to get a lot of mom's clothes. That made me feel good that she could get some use out of them. We've still got to get a lot of her furniture out. I feel a bit of pressure to hurry it up because Aunt Marilyn needs to re-rent her home and can't do that til Steven and i get it emptied. The other thing that's pressing us is the need to find a home for those pooches of mom's. They're chiauauas (or rat dogs) and just not my kind of dog. And I know that's bad of me to say since I claim to be a dog lover. So that means I should love all breeds right? but i dont.

So that's about it...Until we chat again.

Thursday 13 Shows On My Tivo

Tivo is wonderful...I can't say that enough. The ability to zip past comericials in mere seconds. The ability to set a program to record just by the name. Not having to worry that it may come on a different night than originally planned. Able to watch boys/girls & results in one fail swoop of American Idol. What more could we ask for? How bout the ability to freeze life action football games to run down for chinese food?

Today's Thursday 13 are 13 programs I have currently on my List to Be Watched soon.

13. SUPERNANNY. Love that Jo. I have 3 episodes to watch at my leisure.

12. AMERICAN IDOL. I have last night's and i'll have tonight's result show to watch tonight. What I'm sure I'll do is start watching the girls and by the time I'm finished, the results show will be finished recording so that I can watch it too. The key is to not "catch up" with the live show so that you are forced to watched commercials. You always want to be able to zoom thru them.

11. MY FIRST PLACE. An HGTV show about homebuyers first experiences with buying their homes. I have a week's worth to watch.

10. OPRAH. I have 2 episodes available to watch. Just watched Valerie Bertinelli on there from earlier this week.

9. A RAISIN IN THE SUN. It was a movie on the other night. Looked good. I remember watching the original.

8. Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles (this is a Dale show...one that he watches when I'm ready to go to sleep)

7. BACK TO YOU. I think this is the Kelsey Grammer series on Fox that looked sorta cute. Jury is still out as I've yet to watch it.

6. MEDIUM. LOVE LOVE LOVE this show.

5. CSI...still in re-runs but fun to watch in case everything is not appealing at the time

4. Holiday. It's a movie we got off HBO. Just waiting to put it on DVD to keep

3. SAW 3. I taped it for Dale. Definitely not a Gina movie.

2. FLIP THIS HOUSE. Another HGTV show. All about buying and re-selling houses for a profit.

1. THE BIGGEST LOSER. I'm addicted to that show!!

So pop up a bowl of popcorn and settle in for some mindless entertainment with me.

Going thru stuff

So as most of you know, my mom passed away 2 weeks ago. She had been living down at my Aunt's 2nd home on the back of her property. She had it fixed up really cute...and then she got sick and had to quit work and my Aunt let her live there at no charge...Now that mom is gone, we need to clean out the cottage and get it back to normal so that my Aunt can re-rent it again. So, tonight, I've been down there going thru some of Mom's things to see what I can use, what I want etc. What an awful feeling! I felt like I was a scavenger of some sort! I even took a bag of napkins my mom had in her pantry because I was out!! I've got all her jewelry too...but to anyone that knows me, I'm not a jewelry person! I wear my wedding ring...a necklace that Dale gave me when we got engaged that means the world to me...and the occassional bracelet or anklet...that's it. But she has TONS of it. I guess i should offer some to some of the family...I dont know what's worth what! I dont know what most of the gems even are!

And logic tells me if i dont take it and Steven (my brother) doesn't ...what are we to do with it then?? I've given some things to my Aunt...I'm giving a computer to my cousin...some other cousins have requested some of her dolphin stuff (Mom has a HUGE collection of dolphin things..but I prefer her collection of Angels.)

We're also planning a garage sale on March 8 to get rid of the stuff that doesn't get a home with us. That should be equally morbid.

13 Things I love about My new Home

So, I suppose it's cheating since I've already done a post on what I'd like in a house, but I'm doing another one just cause i can! Grins.

13. The sitting room. It's off the bedroom and it's so nice and big...we wander in there and just try to think about what we're going to do in there.

12. My closet...aka the Bowling Alley. It's huge. I'm going to be using it for both clothes and a gift wrapping arena. (Have I mentioned how much i like to wrap gifts?)

11. The Garden Tub & Separate Shower Stall. No longer do we have to traipse across the house to take a shower. Or, Dale & I can shower & bathe at same time (if i dont use all the hotwater!)

10. Dale has his own office down stairs. I hope to have french doors put in down there...eventually.

9. A real laundry ROOM. not a closet. not a part of the kitchen...but a real live room.

8. All the kids have their own bedrooms and they seem to love them. Can't wait to get them all decorated. We bought Elizabeth a bed at IKEA the other day but can't give it to her til we get Josh's since we promised he could have the first set. But her's was only $39!!! Marked down from 99.


7. A huge garage with plenty of room left over. It will be possible soon for me to actually pull my car INTO the garage. A Dream come true for sure.

6. A Pantry. A good sized one at that! Not a separate room, but a nice sized pantry with an oversized door on it. At the old house, had to put all the food in the various cabinets...

5. What will be a formal dining room. Before, we didnt have an eat in kitchen but did have a "dining area" ...now we have both. I can't wait to get furniture for all these things.

4. Faux Wood Blinds. Silly I know, but this house will have the faux wood blinds instead of those vinyl ones that I've had most of my adult life.

3. a Bar. Not for drinking...but separating the kitchen from eating area and from living room. I'm "inheriting" my mom's very cool bar stools and can't wait to see how they fit.

2. A Front Porch. At first I thought I wanted to put the swing on it..but now i'm seeing rocking chairs and the swing out in an arbor in the back yard.

1. Dale has his own large closet!! Before he had to use the hall coat closet for his clothes! Now he can actually organize things.

This list is not in order of importance as any one of these things is a favorite at any given time.

All Moved In

Can you believe I didnt take any pictures today? Too busy I guess. But we're now all moved in..well to tell the truth there are a few things still left there that need to be picked up but we're lucky that we still have until the end of the month to get everything. Jeff & Christine, Gregg, Steven(BIL...not brother) & a friend of theirs all helped us move. Now granted Dale has been moving things since last Friday when we closed...but the big stuff came tonight and we'll spend our first night here.

Funny thing happened tonight..we were driving in the car and the radio station was doing a special thingy on The Carpenters...one of my all-time favorite groups. I mention to Elizabeth..and the boys who were listening too how she was one of the most beautiful voices in all of music (just my humble opinion) and John pipes up, "You Don't Say!" I about died!! To the unknowledgeable ear that may have been nothing...but that saying was my grandfather King's trademark saying. It was like he was saying, "i'm here with you" ...maybe I was reading too much into it...but maybe not.

Stay tuned for pictures....

Sad Mad

Today, we had the memorial service for my mom. She passed away Saturday morning from cancer. Well technically, she contracted an infection while in the hospital that her immune system couldn't beat because she was no longer producing white blood cells due to the chemo. To complicated an answer tho.

I'm just so sad. That's the only word i know that sums up how i feel. Synonyms of the word include unhappy, despondent, disconsolate, discouraged, gloomy, downcast, downhearted, depressed, dejected, melancholy. And to some extent, I'm all of those at different times. But sad just seems to cover it all.

And I get mad some too. Not at God like I hear some people do. Just mad that she's gone. Mad that she was so young (61) to be taken. Mad at the whole situation.

One lesson my mom tried to teach me more than just about any was independence. To be my own person. To not be dependent on her or others for my happiness. To stand on my own two feet and not Need Her...just love her. But I look out at the big blue sky and I wonder what life is going to be like without her in it. And I find myself forgeting the lessons of independence she taught me. I find myself needing her to make my life whole. The last three years she'd been back in Stone Mountain were a wonderful time. A time when she and I grew closer as she did with my children. I'm missing her so much....and she's only been gone 2 days. We'd go longer than that w/o talking on the phone...but just knowing I can't breaks my heart.

Here's a picture of her that i really like....it's not the one we used at the ceremony but a good one none the less.

Thursday 13...Places to Go, People to See, Things to Do

Here it is the last day of January and the house is abuzz with all the things we have to get done. So, somehow, I'm going to work it into a Thursday 13.

13. Secure House Insurance for the new home. Closing is tentively set for Feb 8 and we need Home Insurance. So far, the 3 cheapest are Safeco, MetLife (Go Snoopy) and Allstate (You're in Good hands!) I'll let Dale make the final decision, I'm just helping him get quotes.

12. PACK. Golly...we've not started yet. Dale wants to clean the whole house first...I just want to pack! We'll clean as we go along.

11. Eat everything in the outside freezer so that it can be defrosted...or at the least get it down to a manageable level so that it can be put into the refridgerator freezer.

10. Plan something for Valentine's Day for husband. We'll have just moved into our new house and I'd like to do something for him there. I am thinking about a picnic in the floor of the new house. Heart shaped cookies, that sort of thing. We'll see.

9. Work. I've taken a part time position with West At Home. It's a customer service company where the calls come to my home and I do my best to help them. I'm still navigating thru the screens, but I suppose I'll pick up on it. Any extra money is a good thing.

8. Ebay. I've got a few things on there I'm watching. Selling a couple of my old cookbooks. One's an Amish cookbook I bought when I was on my honeymoon up in Pennsylvania with my ex. Who needs another memory of him? not i said the fly.

7. Get Groceries...just not lots of frozen foods. (See #9) I try to do that on Fridays...I need to make a dessert & a an appetizer. I think I'm making fudge and then I dont know what...maybe the spinach artichoke dip ...with crackers ( i like to make fried bowties, but dont see that happening Saturday)

6. Sunday School Party on Saturday. I'm looking forward to it as it's the first thing we've gone to as members of this class. We've been going to Hebron Baptist for a while now but had put off joining because we thought we'd be moving too far away to keep attending. Now that's not going to be the case, we're looking forward to making it our church home. It's the largest church I've ever been a part of. But the Sunday School people are very nice...I hope they have kids that ours will get along with.

5. SUPERBOWL SUNDAY!! I love football, but the team I was pulling for (Brett Farve & the GreenBay Packers) didnt make it to the big one...so I really dont care who wins. Well that's not true. I guess I'm pulling for New England to have their "perfect" season.

4. Send back this shirt I bought for Christine's birthday party from Jessica London. It looked so good in the catalog but then when I got it...well I thought it looked like a maternity shirt. And that's the LAST thing I need.

3. Monitor the kids reading. See, they're all trying to earn Six Flags tickets by reading 6 hours worth of books. Now with John especially, this is hard because I have to do all that reading to him. But I refuse to just sign off on these things that they read it when in fact they didnt. Additionally, I'm big on encouraging Josh & Elizabeth to get those AR points (Advanced Reading) They each have goals at schools and if they make them, they get medals at the end of the year. Elizabeth cried last year cause she didnt get one and I'm trying to make sure she earns it this year. I've been checking out books for her left and right that I know are on the list. It's up to her to read them tho.

2. MOVE. Supposedly we're moving next Saturday...golly can you believe it??? I can't wait. Wish us luck.

1. Visit Mom in hospital. She's back in again and things aren't looking good. She had a bone marrow test today to see why she's not producing white blood cells. I'm scared to be perfectly honest. Please keep her in your prayers.

What a waste

It's not often that I read the news and get incensed about something. And it's even more rare that I'd write about in my blog...I leave that to Cindi. But this story just grated my last nerve.

Mother Charged With Infant's Death

Reported by: Duffie Dixon

An Atlanta mother is headed to jail, charged with the death of her infant.

Police said the woman was driving on Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway with the child in her lap when she got into an accident Sunday morning. The infant was killed.

The death could have been avoided, had the infant been in a car seat, police said.

Lytanza Robinson is facing charges of vehicular homicide, reckless driving, seatbelt violations and driving with a suspended license. She faced a judge for her first court appearance Monday morning.

Police said Robinson lost control of her car and hit a pole. On impact, the airbag deployed, striking and killing the infant.

Robinson was transported to the hospital but was booked in the jail sometime Sunday night.

Does that not boil your blood??? That woman was driving with NO CARSEAT and the baby in her LAP. She deserves to have the book thrown at her. I keep trying to see her side of it...that maybe she couldnt afford a car seat. But dont they give them away at various places for the people out of money? Or couldnt she have picked up one at Goodwill or a garage sale? Oh my god...I just can't imagine.

Grocery Shopping Saturday

i went grocery shopping today also...made my daughter write a note for me...NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT SHOP AT WALMART ON SATURDAYS!!!!

But. I found several good things... I LOVE the turkey tenderloin chops by Butterball. Use em just like pork chops and they taste delicious. I don't really know that they're that fewer points than pork chops...I just assume they are. I found fat free evaporated milk so I can make some of my Yellow Daisy Festival soups....I found "diet" swiss cake rolls (but didn't buy them cause I don't trust myself)....Picked up a few paninis from Lean Cuisine ...and some of the Lean Pockets...Got hubby some of the 1 point ice cream bars from Blue Bunny...Bought me some of the apple cinnamon rice cakes that to me taste like Apple Jacks. Of course I bought other things....but those are some of the highlights. Just trying to make it from one week to the next.

I'm much more inspired these days....I even took my own snacks with me to the movies yesterday (27 Dresses) because I was encouraged that I got in my Size 26 jeans (vs the 28s I normally wear : ( )

When I gained all my WW weight back...I had to bring back out the fatter jeans. That was really demoralizing for me. So, I literally started over at WW...even though I'd never officially quit. I had them start me up a new card and list me as a new member. I had gained 36 of the 40 pounds back at that point. UGH. The weight loss has been very slow going since then.. It's been almost 4 months since then...and I've only lost 11.8 pounds. But my attitude is much better. I'm posting losses most every week now (since the holidays are over that is)

The hard thing for me is at the weight watchers meetings...and they go "has anyone here lost an additional five"....well last week I had...and they gave me a star....but all i felt was failure because I knew how much I had gained back.

Ramblings on a Cold Sunday

Well, it did snow all day yesterday...unfortunately, the temp hovered around 34 degrees so it didnt accumulate much. But that's ok...we still got out there and made snowballs and ganged up on one another and downright had a great time.

Today is football Sunday...conference championships. I'm pulling for Green Bay...and I guess the Patriots. Would love to see Brett beat Tom Brady but doubt it will happen. Anyway...now the imps are doing reading time in their rooms (except for Josh...who is once again writing sentences)

I made a DELICIOUS Hashbrown soup today that was nice and Weight Watchers Friendly. Here's the recipe if you're interested.

3 Cans FF Chicken Broth
1 chopped onion
1 Bag of plain shredded frozen hashbrowns
1 t salt
1 t pepper
6 oz Lite Velveeta

Mix together in a large pot and simmer for 20 minutes. 1 Cup = 2 points

It's cold cold cold today...It was 16 degrees when we woke up this morning and is now at a roasty 28. The kids are out of school tomorrow for the King Holiday and then again on Tuesday for Teacher Workday. Elizabeth has been sick with sore throat so I'm hoping she'll get better soon so that I can take them all to the jumpy place or something like that. Otherwise, maybe we'll find a dollar movie or something to go do. John has been begging to paint his ceramic frog so maybe we'll make tomorrow a painting day.

So I guess that's all for today...I'll try to remember to post again tomorrow after weigh in.

13 Observations at a Southern Funeral

I had an uncle to die this week and this was the first death to hit what I call the inner circle...the generation above me. But since I was not particularly close to this uncle, I was able to watch the proceedings with a bit of a detached eye. Now I dont necessarily claim that the following 13 things happen at all southern funerals or that they dont happen up north...but they do almost always happen in many of the funerals I go to.

13. The Viewing. I think this is the most barbaric custom in the world. To put the body on display at said funeral home for family and friends to come and gawk at while muttering amongst themselves, "doesn't he look natural" NO HE DOESN'T!!! He looks pasty and white. He's been sick for years and nothing an embalmer can do can change that. And the custom is that the family has to sit up at the funeral home for like TWO of the hardest days talking to people at a time you really just feel like being a lone for a bit. UGH.

12. Funeral Processions. There's usually about 20 cars in it and we all have special tags in our windows. As we go down the usually busy roads, cars pull over to the side out of respect and wait for us all to pass. I think this is a good thing. It causes us to stop in our busy world and think for a few seconds, "there, but for the grace of god go I"

11. Graveside services. You sit there huddled under a tent, the casket poised for lowering. Then the Masons step up and do their little ritual. I don't mean to poke fun of them, but they do look rather silly in their aprons and their hind jive motions they do once, twice thrice.

10. Clothing. Now i was brought up that you wear skirts to the funeral home and funeral. But by golly it was cold this week. So I put on my panty hose and walked in only to see 2 very well respected cousins of mine in SLACKS!! Now they looked perfectly acceptable...and I was left thinking I SHOULD HAVE DONE IT.

9. The Songs. Of course you should always have the standard classic Amazing Grace. but this was the first time I'd been to a funeral where Vince Gill sang Go Rest High on The Mountain. Granted it was a perfectly acceptable song, the lyrics were perfect. I'd just never heard it played at the funeral it's self.

8. Eulogies. I think they're cool. You always see on movies or TV where the funeral has a eulogy..but I'd never been to a funeral where there actually was one. This one did. It was light hearted and gave a more personal approach to the person who'd died. Usually it seems, the preacher knows nothing about the person they're preaching over. They'll make comments like, " the family tells me..." or they'll refer to the deceased by a name that noone calls him by. But this wasn't the case. The preacher may or may not have known him well...but he blended his talk well with the person giving the eulogy who obviously DID know him well.

7. Comin' to Jesus. The sermon the preacher preached at the service could have almost have been heard any Sunday. It featured the standard invitation to accept Jesus as your savior. Kind of an awake call for anyone who might not have....

6. Duration. This funeral episode lasted longer than most have. Usually, it's about a 2 day turn around. The person dies on Saturday...funeral on Mon or Tue. This one didnt happen til Wednesday. Didn't matter really. Just an observation.

5. Flowers. Apparently because my uncle was a vetern they had the flag on his coffin. Therefore, no flower spray could be put on top of the casket. So there were a couple of those big ole sprays on either side of the casket. We personally sent a flower basket that hopefully someone took home with them and will continue to live for a while. I also like to send plants. Something that wont die at the cemetery.

4. The funeral home it's self. I personally dont like this particular one...for one very vital reason. It only has one bathroom stall in the entire home!! Goodness! and a narrow one at that. There's just times when the emotions have started to run too deep in the designated room and you need to get away for a bit. The funeral home in Stone Mountain has pretty old antiques you can walk around and look at. This funeral home had nothing! And only one stall. Can't even sit in there and compose yourself w/o a crowd forming.

3. The comments. "Doesn't he look natural?" "You look nice Gina, You've always had such a pretty face." "Look at all the flowers" " I wonder if so& so will come?" (Or a variation of) "Has so and so been by yet? (Check the book) "Did you sign the book?" "What type of work are you doing now?" "When was the last time you saw him?" "He's at peace now" "At least he's not suffering anymore"

2. The Book. Ever notice how everyone wants to make sure they sign the visitor's book? Like they want to make sure they get credit for having shown up. Wonder if anyone ever looks thru it?

1. THE FOOD!!! I saved the best part for last. Where after someone dies, the food starts pouring in. There's sandwich fixins, sweets, fried chicken, devilled eggs, potato salad, etc. And if you're a family member, you know just who fixed what so you know to either gravitate towards it or avoid it!

Fat Issues

I'm tired! But proud of myself for getting up this morning and taking the imps to school then heading down to the gym. Today, I walked just over 2 miles in 47 minutes and burned about 300 calories (according to the treadmill) So that's the first step in accomplishing one of my New Year's resolutions. For me tho, it's a matter of consistency. I give up too easily. Today it would have been so easy to jump back in bed with hubby (who's sick and didn't go with me to the gym) after taking the kids to school.

I like the treadmill for the most part. I have my mp3 player and headphones. I can drift off into my own little world filled with music that inspires me and lyrics that uplift me and varying tempos. I made the mistake one time of actually closing my eyes and walking but that didn't work out too well. There are so many reasons I want to be healthy and of a normal weight. First being that I've never done it before! I've been "overweight" since the 1st grade!! When I was a young teen, my biggest dream was to go off to a fat camp over the summer and come back thin the following school year. I wanted that dramatic revelation. I wanted people not to recognize me. I have similar fantasies now even. To go off to some sort of resort spa/weight loss center and come back stunningly healthy.

Notice that, as an adult I never wish to be thin. I just want to be healthy...and average size. I want to fit into all the rides at Six Flags. I don't want my knees to hurt. I want to shop at Casual Corner or Victoria's Secret. I want to dive off the diving board without people staring and commenting on my splash. (I do it anyway...but I would like to squash the onlookers) I want to buy a regular sized necklace at a craft sale and know it will fit me. I want to sit at the movie theater and not feel the urge to lift the middle arm. I want to ride in an airline seat and not worry that I'm crowding the person next to me. And not worry if the seat belt is going to fit. I want to get out of the tub and wrap up in a towel that is not supersized. Sooo many things.

So, Back to Weight Watchers tonight after a 3 week absence. They were closed Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve...and to be honest, I didn't make the effort to go to a different meeting. If I DON'T gain more than 2-3 pounds, I'll consider it a successful holiday season. Wish me luck.

Happy New Year

So, this is my first post of the new year. Whatever shall I talk about? The excitement I feel over us buying a new house? The joy Christmas brought? How good it is that the imps are back in school? My New Year's Resolutions? Let's start there.

1) To lose below 250 pounds
2) To See all the Best Picture Nominees
.... to be added to as i see fit.

So yes, we're buying a house and i absolutely can't wait. Here's a picture of it.


We SHOULD finally have enough room. It's a 5 BR/3 Bath in Winder. We decided not to move to Florida at this time...To costly.

Christmas was awesome. But as usual, the imps got toooo many gifts. Was good to see the family of course and we even had the opportunity to show Dad, Lynne & GMS the house. The imps started back to school yesterday so that continuity is good.

All for now.

How Bold Are You?

I saw this on Cindi's blog and decided to follow suit.

The idea is to copy and paste to your own blog and bold or underline the things you have done.
01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73 Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (in the process)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Para sailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read them
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (do fish count?)
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

If you do it I would love a link to your post.

Twas the Day before Thanksgiving...

And all thru the house...all the creatures are stirring but please, NO MOUSE.

The kids are home from school and we had what I consider a pretty good day. We got up leisurely and had breakfast and the kids played while i grabbed a bath. Dale went to the gym and the imps and i headed up to Publix to pick up a few last minute items. We came home and made Turkey Treats (see picture below) I found the idea in some kiddie cookbook i picked up at the Reader's Digest warehouse sale. I was amazed at how much fun the kids had doing it. I thought they'd grow bored quickly but they really stayed focused on it.



Then we had lunch and teamed up with Christine, AJ and Nana to take all the kids to see ENCHANTED. (an adorable movie in my humble opinion) Came home...kids played outside for a bit and then we did dinner and now John is in the bathtub and Josh & Ebeth are watching THE GOONIES on the couch (A film I liked a lot when i was a young teen.)

Tomorrow afternoon will be busier than a one armed paperhanger, but should still be fun. I have to admit I'm bribing the imps into good behavior. Not a good thing, but I'm soooo tired of threatening with punishments if they MISBEHAVE. And the day is usually so long and boring to them with no other cousins to play with. Cross your fingers for us.

Thanksgiving Preparation

Today is Tuesday...big push to get things done today because tomorrow the imps will be home from school. Hard to go shopping when they're with me. Plus the grocery stores are always so crowded on Wednesdays. My big thing I'm in charge of this year is Macaroni & Cheeses. Finally an excuse to use my Paula Deene Celebrations cookbook that Christine & Jeff gave me last year for Christmas. (autographed no less!) One for Thanksgiving at Grandmother Siler's. One for Thanksgiving w/Dale's family. For the King Thanksgiving dinner which will be all seafood (we figure that's more of what the 1st Thanksgiving was like) I'm supposed to bring some sort of Seafood salad. Thinking I may cheat on this one and buy it at the grocery store and put it in a pretty bowl. Bad Gina. Need to pick up some of those heavy duty compartmentalized paper plates. That's for the Simpson party. See, if i were hosting it...in my imaginary huge dining room, I'd get out my nice china and crystal. Alas...it's Solo & Chinnette for us.

Here's hoping everything goes smooth for your family.

13 Things I want my new home to have

My husband Dale and i are hoping to buy a new home relatively soon. We currently live in a small 3BR/2Ba home in Auburn...Who knows where we'll live next, but of this I'm certain..it MUST have the following 13 features.

13. GARDEN TUB. Actually, I should have put this as number one on my list...but it came to mind first. I'm a soaker. I love nothing more than kicking back in the bathtub with candles lit and a good book. Oblivious to the rest of the world. That's living I say!

12. 4 Bedrooms and room for an office. That office can be another bedroom or it can be a living room...whatever. We have just got to get our office out of our immediate bedroom. Dale works from home and it's just too much to have him in here.

11. Dale a closet. Poor man is using the coat closet in miniscule hallway that we currently have. The man needs space in his own bedroom to get dressed.

10. A Master Shower. In our current bedroom, we have a garden tub...but it's still the world's smallest master bath! There's no room for a shower in there and we must use the kids bathroom and then traipse across the house to get dressed.

9. A large backyard..preferably fenced so that we can get a pooch. And so the kids can play ball etc. I dont want a postage stamp back yard.

8. A Pantry. I'm so tired of having to use my cabinets for food when i have so much other STUFF that could go in there.

7. A LARGE linen closet. We will have 3-4 beds...with 2-3 sets of sheets each....Then add towels for the 5-6 of us. I need SPACE.

6. At least 1800sf. I want it large enough that anyone can have some quiet time. I want space to turn around in without bumping into someone.

5. I want it to have a good school district that is NOT Title 1. Call me a snob. I dont care. When it comes to the kids schooling, I just feel they would get better educations at a school that has more money.

4. A room for laundry...not just a closet. Room to put the baskets down and still be able to shut the door to company.

3. Either a front porch or a back deck. Or Both. Currently I really dont have either. We sorta have a front porch, but it's hardly big enough for a bench. I want a place to relax and watch the kids.

2. A Rhompus Room. Did i spell that right? i dont know. But you know what i mean. A kid's play room where they can have the majority of their toys and shelves of their own and tv and bean bags chairs and I'll decorate it with framed game boards.

1. Room for all of us..for the kids to each have their own room and at least one extra room for company/friends/foster kids.

Am I asking for too much?