I Hate When That Happens

I think it was Saturday when Mike said that he thought the waterbed had a small leak in it. Something else must have come up because the subject was soon forgotten. So Monday evening Mike was in the bedroom changing into his fat boy pants when he mentioned the waterbed leak again. It was a leak alright. The carpet was soaked almost up to the door. Oh Great!
Mike said that he would drain it in the morning before he left for work. Then a little later he goes to bed....... in the leaky waterbed! Well there was no way I was gonna sleep in that bed. Flashbacks of my drunk late brother in law slashing his friends waterbed with a knife went racing through my mind. Water everywhere. (true story) Since I didn't have any scuba gear or a snorkel I slept on the couch.
Now we have to re-do the whole bedroom. The carpet has to be removed, the walls painted, the waterbed must be destroyed. I want to get a real bed. He's had this bed since the late 1970's and I think it's time to move forward to the 21st century.
Now I have to clean out the other bedroom so we can sleep in there until we get the other room fixed up. Which means I better get busy and wrap all these Christmas presents, coz that room is full of them.
This was a bad time for this to happen but I'll be glad to have a real bed to sleep on when this project is done.

Giving Thanks

I'll have to say that this Thanksgiving was one of the best I've had in a long time. Heather, the girls and I took a road trip to Virginia to Yvonne and Keith's new house for Thanksgiving. The drive there was not too bad considering that we have a 6 year old and a 5 year old along with us. Within about 15 minutes on the road it started,

" Are we at Leah's house yet?"

"I'm hungry"

"Can we go to McDonald's?"

"Shut up Bryanna"

"Are we at Leah's house yet"

"I want to watch Strawberry Shortcake"

Ok so we stop at McDonalds and after we ate I told Heather to set the DVD player up and put that damn Strawberry shortcake movie in. Bryanna could watch that movie all day and everyday if you let her. I am so glad I bought that DVD player because it was a life saver. After that the trip was smooth thanks to my nag-igator, Heather. who needs a Tom-Tom anyhow

We arrived at their house right before dark which is good coz I don't like driving in the dark in unfamiliar places. It was great to see Yvonne, Keith, and girls. I haven't seen my granddaughters since June and it seems they've grown a foot since then. Must be that good ol Virginia fresh air.

The new house is really cool, big but not too big. The kitchen-family room area is to die for. It's open, airy, with lots of windows to let in the morning light. aaahhh! The fireplace is adds a touch of coziness to the family room too. I think the finished basement started out to be Keith's "Man Cave" with the wide screen TV and the big comfy chair. It looks more like giant Princess play room if you ask me. Which is where all the girls spent most of their time when they weren't outside playing in the dirt pile in the backyard.

Yvonne prepared a wonderful feast of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, and so many other tasty treats. They invited some friends of theirs who brought some kind of garlic mozzarella salad, mmmm garlic. Oh, I can't forget the cranberry sauce. It was the best I've ever tasted. my mouth is watering just thinking about it

Best of all, I am very thankful that God has blessed me with my two daughters who gave me four precious grandaughters and also blessed me with loving family and lots good friends.

You Might Be A Dumb Ass If............

We all do stupid or funny things unintentionally now and then. What I did hasn't happened in a long time. Just about every night I'm on the computer playing online games and sometimes I stay up too late. Monday night, I knew I had to get up early Tuesday, so I set my alarm for 6 AM. I go to bed around 12:30 knowing I'm not going to get much sleep. It seemed like a few minutes later that stupid alarm goes off, ugh, bad memories of getting up for work flash through my mind. So I get my ass out of bed, go in the kitchen,turn the TV on and try to collect my thoughts. I don't know why, because, there were no thoughts at that time.

Mike gets up, which is not unusual since he always goes to bed real early. He looks at me with a funny look on his face, which is not unusual since he always has a funny look on his face and he says "You're up awful early this morning"

I say "Well yeah, I gotta take Granny shopping for windows in a couple hours"

Duh, everyone knows I have to sit and drink my coffee before I can even function for the day.



He still has that look on his face.



Finally he says "You know it's 3 o'clock in the morning?"



"What?!"



I turn around to look at the clock. Yup, he's right, it's 3 o'clock in the morning. Alrighty then maybe I'll go back to bed. Who in their right mind wants to be up earlier than you have to except Mike.

What happened was Mike has a new alarm clock and I'm not use to the sound of the new alarm. I use the alarm on my cell phone which I'm not use to either. So there you go. I don't plan on this ever happening again.

Things I Love

I love my Salad Spinner! One of my favorite dishes is my taco salad dip. It's something I've been making for well over 20 years now and everyone seems to love it. It's great for cookouts, holiday get togethers or whatever. The only thing I didn't like about making it was the lettuce. I would wash the lettuce in the colander and then pat it dry on paper towels. That was not only time consuming, but a real pain in the ass. You see if the lettuce is wet it makes the dip runny and we don't like that. A couple years ago I bought a salad spinner. Yay! Now when I make the taco salad dip I don't dread washing the lettuce. So here's to you Mr. or Ms. Salad Spinner Inventor for making my life in the kitchen easier.

Taco Salad Dip
This recipe I make in a 9x13 inch pan. If you want to make a smaller batch, you can cut the recipe in half.

1 large can refried beans
1-2 Tbsp taco seasoning
1 large container of sour cream
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing
1 cup of salsa or picante sauce
shredded lettuce
cheddar cheese
chopped green onions
shopped tomatoes
sliced black olives

tortilla chips (Tostito Scoops are really good to use)

Mix beans and taco seasoning. If the beans are too thick, add a little bit of salsa. Spread onto bottom of pan. Next spread the salsa over the bean layer. In a medium bowl, mix together sour cream and ranch dressing. Dollop the sour cream mixture evenly over bean and salsa layer and spread carefully so you don't have pink sour cream. If you don't care then go for it. Layer remaining ingredients except for the tortilla chips ( those are for scooping the dip.......duh) Refrigerate for several hours or until chilled. Then dig in.

Socks

I Love these socks! Heather made them for me back in the summer but I haven't worn them until it started to get chilly outside. The other day I thought I should take a picture of them to post so I could tell Heather how much I liked them. After several pictures trying to get evetything right it dawned on me that this would be a good subject for my photo assignment. I've been taking a digital photo class for SLR cameras since last june and I love it. Last weeks class was about depth of field, motion control, etc. One of the pictures for the depth of field was to have the foreground in focus and the background blurred and the other with the background in focus and the foreground blurred. I had to take at least 50 or so pictures just to get a few that turned out half way decent. That's the great thing about digital, no film to waste, and if you don't like the shot you can delete it.

Back to the socks. Today I'm wearing the pink and white ones she made for me. Very comfy. I'm thinking I might have to put in a few more sock orders since I threw out all my old work socks. Hmmm might be a good Christmas present for ol Mom, ya think?

Pretty Flowers

The garden is lookin pretty good now. Some of this stuff will come up next year, I hope. Eventually it'll have mostly perennials there.

About Time to Update

I know I haven't kept up on this blog, but here's my excuse: It's summer, it's nice out and I haven't spent much time on the computer. So here's the update. Of course there's the flowers and stuff we've been doing in the yard. Since we haven't had much rain around here, I have to water everyday. Yeah, like that takes up a lot of time. I like sitting out on the back porch in the morning and drink my coffee. That usually starts my day off well.
The cool thing that I'm doing now is taking a digital photography course so I can learn how to to use and shoot some decent pictures with this new stinkin camera I bought. There is so much for me to learn, but eventually it'll all come together and I'll get it right. Well one of my assignments was to shoot a picture of someone or something and stop the motion. All morning I was trying to figure out a subject for these pictures. Anyhow, Heather and the girls came over to visit. It was soo hot that I let them play with the garden hose to water my plants. After a while I hooked up the sprinkler so they could run through it. That's when it hit me. There's my subject. So I ran in the house, got my camera and fiddled around with some of the settings. Makayla is such a camera hog, she was more than willing to jump through the sprinkler so I could get a picture of her in mid-air. The pictures turned out better than I thought they would. So I guess I'm learning something after all.

Cookbook

It's been another busy week. Most of he week I've spent at the Eagles, oh no! A few months ago, Doris, a friend of mine, asked if I wanted to be on a cookbook committee. Hell why not? It sounded like a good idea. Besides that, it would be a good project to work on to raise money for the Ladies Auxiliary.
About 10 years ago I joined the Eagles and they had just come out with a cookbook with favorite recipe's from the members. Well I never got one.
A lot of times we'll be sitting around the bar and it seems like we're always talking about food. It's always who makes the best such and such. Where the best this and that is. Then there's "Oh,man you gotta try this". You know how that goes,it always ends up being just talk. So Doris thought it would be cool if we had another cookbook out. She went to one of the Auxiliary meetings to see about getting the cookbook started,but nobody seemed to be interested in it. They said the last one didn't do too well.(not too many people go to the meetings) Doris brought the subject up again and ended up being in charge of getting it going. Then she asked me if I would help out with getting this thing together. You know the best time to ask me to volunteer for something is after I've had a few drinks in me. Which is how I got involved in this. She also got Weezy,who still has all recipes and programs on her computer from the last book,to help out too.
We have a box set out in the club for people to turn in their recipes and so far we have good response. Way more than we thought we would get and they're still turning them in. Hopefully we can have everything done so the books will be available around Christmas time.

Rock Border

Rock Border
Originally uploaded by Photofreak57.

Mike got a truckload of topsoil and filled the garden up. Now it's ready for some plants. He found the rocks on a job he was on last year,but I think a few more wouldn't hurt. This is gonna turn out pretty good after all.

Garden Update

I'm making some progress in my garden. Not much. Right now I can't upload the picture I wanted to post. The plan was to have pictures of all the phases my little garden goes thru from Spring till Fall. I've spent the last hour trying to figure out this picture thing and all I get is stupid error numbers. Well anyhow picture this: the same little garden from a previous post except now it has more topsoil and a rock border around it.

Where Does the Time Go?

I thought keeping up with this blog would be no problem. Ha! Before I retired I would be a work and daydream about all the things I wanted to do. It's amazing how many chores you can do in your mind. Too bad it doesn't get done just by thinking about it. Like cleaning and rearranging the kitchen cabinets. The basement. In my mind, I had it all fixed up for play room for the grand kids and a work area for my so called projects. It's still a hell hole for junk and treasures. One of these days it might get done,but it still looks good the way I worked on it in my head.

When I was younger,working full time and raising kids,I never thought much about getting things done.It just got done because there wasn't time to think about getting it done. Funny how that works.

A few of my friends,who are senior citizens,complain about being bored and lonely.I suggest that they find something that they enjoy doing and go for it. Then I realize that they enjoy complaining about being bored and lonely. What a waste of time. It's just hard for me to understand how people can be live that. Then there's my senior friends and family that are in their 70's and 80's constantly doing something or going somewhere. Now I can't forget to mention some people I know that hang out in the bar day after day,drink after drink. That's all they do. Sure I like to go there to have a few cocktails a couple times a week. For me it's not going to be a daily habit. Well I haven't been to the Eagles in about a week and I know next time I go in there I'm gonna hear " Where have you been" and "Haven't seen you forever". I would like to reply "Duh,I have a life and have other things to do than to get stinkin drunk everyday". Being the nice person that I am I just tell them I've been busy.

I guess what I'm trying to say is if you think everyone and everything is against you,then it's up to you to get your mind right and move on to a more positive outlook. Hmmm,I think I might have been describing my ex-husband. Maybe I should thank him for being the way he was because it taught me that there was no way in hell I wanted to live such a pessimistic and miserable life. For my sake and my kids. He was dragging us down to a dark place. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do,but I kicked myself in the ass to get me to move on with a better life. I was soo glad I did. Life is much better now.

On the lighter side,I need to get off my butt and get on with my day.
That's all I got to say about that.

My Garden

I'm going to plant flowers this year. How about that? The last couple years I haven't planted hardly anything out in the flower bed. Last year Mike was painting the house and mangled a few plants that were coming up.I had a few things planted in half whiskey barrels on the porch that looked pretty cool. The year before the whole yard was tore up because of the garage and driveway we had under construction.

Sunday,I weeded which didn't take too long.Now all that's left to do is till it up and head down to the local nursery and pick out the plants. Can't wait to get started

Busy Week

It's been a busy week for me. Last Wednesday Makayla came to spend a few days with us. I'm tellin ya this kid never stops! You gotta make sure she has something to do all the time. The weather wasn't the greatest,cold and rainy,but we managed to get a few things done. We went to the store to get stuff to make smoothies. Mmmm they sure were tasty. Oh yeah, the stawberry shortcake was yummy too. Later on she helped me fill the bird feeders since we both like to watch the birds and those old pesky squirrels. I have a bird chart by the window so she can identify the different birds that come to feed.

Thursday was one of those days when it would rain on minute and then the sun would pop out. I did manage to get a picture of a rainbow. Makayla was so excited because it was the first time she ever saw a rainbow.

Friday turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun was out and it wasn't too cold out. It was the perfect day for me to try out my new camera lens. The camera is a Canon Rebel Xti. It rocks. The only problem is ,I gotta get smarter than the camera. I'm learning though.

I packed the camera up and we headed to Carraige Hill Farm to spend the afternoon. Makayla had a lot of fun looking at the farm animals and I had fun taking a bunch of pictures.

A Bryanna Funny

Tuesday I had to pick up a few things from the store. As I got into town , I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost time for Makayla to get on the bus for school. So I stopped by and we all walked to the bus stop together. After Makayla left I noticed my former neighbors, Mary and Barry outside. I talked with them for awhile and got caught up on all the neighborhood gossip (they know everything that goes on) In fact all of my former neighbors love to tell me the juicy stuff about the neighbors,including my daughter Heather. Ha Ha!

I get back to Heather's house and asked her if she wanted to go to the store with me since she had to get some stuff too. We're in Meijer going up the aisle, all of a sudden Bryanna,who is 4yrs old, puts her little hands on her cheeks and yells out

"Oh my gosh Mommy,look it' a Dora blah-blah-blah!" (can't remember what it was exactly)

"Oh my gosh Mommy,look at that!

You would think that this kid had never been in a store before.

"Oh Mommy we lost Grandma"

Sometimes I take off to browse down another aisle,but I'm usually not too far away.

"Oh Mommy we lost Grandma again,ugh!"

This kid is crackin me up.

We leave Meijer and go to Target. They didn't have what I was looking for so we end up looking at the childrens clothes. I told Heather to pick out a couple outfits for the girls,since I have no idea what size they wear anymore. Heather holds a shirt up to Bryanna to judge the size and Bryanna grabs it and says

" Mommy I'll hold it up to me myself."

She holds the shirt up to her chest,turns from side to side and says

"Oh I just love this!" and tosses it into the basket.

"No I don't like that one." hands it back to Mommy

This goes on for about 15 minutes or so with an occasional "We lost Grandma again." By this time we gotta get moving because Makayla will be out of school soon. As we were driving back to the house,I told Heather that Bryanna might be a future drama queen in the making. Where does she get this from? Ohh, duh, it's gotta be from Heather's daddy side of the family. No doubt about that.

I drop them off at the house,get home and decide it's time for Grandma to take a nap.

The Season Begins

Off to Work

Gotta Mow the Lawns

Ahhh, bright sunshine,warm weather,flowers and trees budding, makes you want to take a deep breath and welcome spring again. Now that you have that image in your mind, think about all the yard work that needs to be done. Yup, it's time to mow the lawn. I'm not particularly fond of mowing, but my Hubby Mike is. He started a lawn business a couple years ago and he really enjoys it. Me ,I'd rather be working in the garden planting flowers and veggies. Well anyhow, Mike's been liked a caged animal all winter waiting until he can pull that cord on the mower. Sunday was his first official job of the season. It reminded me of a child's first day of school. You know how that goes.

First you gotta figure out what to wear -
-Kids usually wear their cool new outfits
-Mike wore his green Mike's Lawn Service t-shirt, jeans, work boots,hat (all color co-ordinated)

Next you have to get all your supplies together
-Kids get their school supplies and put them in their book bags
-Mike got the mowers,trimmers,blowers,gas cans etc, and loaded them in the trailer

Some kids pack their lunch
I packed Mike a couple 24 oz bottles of water

Then you send them on their way.

Soaking Up The Sun

I wish I could've got this shot in the morning or late afternoon sun.

I Feel Like Chicken Tonight!

Talking About the Old Days

The older gentleman in this picture was a real nice guy. He was kind of following me around that day as I tried to find different things to shoot. He told me stuff about the type of chickens and the cows that were there. I just know that one of those chickens would've looked real good in a roasting pan. As I was leaving the park,I saw that he moved on and I couldn't resist taking this shot.

Spring is Here

The last few days have been beautiful. The temperatures have been in the mid 70's, so anyone who chose to stay inside is absolutely nuts! Mike got the patio table and chairs out and we've spent the late afternoons sitting around with our friend Bud Weiser. Ahh doesn't get any better than this.
Sunday I decided to get my new camera and try to take some cool pictures. I ended up at Carriage Hill Farm, which isn't too far from where I live. The horses,cows and chickens were all out and about,so was the sun. A couple hours later I got home,put the pics on the computer,and found out thes cool pictues weren't as good as I thought. Now I guess I got to get smarter than the camera.

Time To Get Started

Well I finally decided to make the time to get this blog rolling. After I retired from work back in July,I thought about starting a blog. Being retired natually you have plenty of time.Yeah right! Both of my daughters have blogs and I really enjoy reading their posts. My oldest daughter lives near DC, so it's nice to read all the things going on with my sweet little granddaughters and of course her and her husband as well. Even though my youngest daughter lives a few miles away,I still like to read what's going on in the old neighborhood. ( a story for a future post) Hmm, maybe my kids might want to know what's going on in my life or if someone who doesn't have a life wants to know, then they're more than welcome to stick around.