A giveaway

Hope on over to Twinkle's page for a chance at her giveaway of a fabulous diaper cake! I am not in need of one, so I am happy to share the chance with others! hehe

Tiny Task Tuesday

Today for T.T.T. I would like to offer my daughter, Holly, as a fabulous example. She is ALWAYS coming to ask me how she can help me or Larry. Getting her to do her daily chores is a major fight, but she is so willing to come and help with anything else. She is always offering a friendly smile to ANYONE. And if you don't make her let go, she will stand forever holding the door for a stream of people coming in or out of a place. If you are sad and crying, she will be right with you making just as big of a puddle even when she has absolutely no clue why you are so upset.
This weekend my sister-in-law, nephew, nieces, and one of their friends came into town to look for a prom dress for my oldest niece. They had to go some where special for it and be there early Saturday morning. So they came and spent the night with us. Holly was more than willing to offer over her bed and sleep on the floor.
I am very proud of the generosity Holly gives each and every day! I often look to her as an example of what I can do to help or cheer up another person!

6 Years Ago Today

I can make the easiest thing hard!

So this afternoon I tried making Christy's super easy lemon cookies that she mentions here at the end of her post. Yeah, take one...not so good! I think I put down too big of spoonfuls this time. The cookies were mostly dough when I pulled them out of the oven. So to the store tomorrow for trial number two. At least I didn't frost them! No added waste! And I definately did enjoy sampling the dough as I mixed them. I agree. I will not be making these often either...to much potential for more weight gain. And that won't help since I'm trying for the other direction.

I did get my fluffy lime pie made the other day. Very yummy and super easy. I made it from a Bisquick recipe where it had me make the crust. But I almost think a graham crust would be better.

Beat 1 can (14oz.) sweetened condensed milk with 1/2 cup lime or key lime juice in large bowl with electric mixer on medium until smooth and thickened. Fold in 1 container (8oz.) whipped topping and 1 TBSP grated lime peel. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or until set. Garnish with lime slices if like.

Tiny Task Tuesday

So today is starting (or should I say continuing) to be a rough one. Starting last night all three of us have upset stomachs. Nothing super bad, but definitely not fun! You would think then it would be due to dinner, but no. So what then?

Sorry I missed T.T.T. last week. Again I had some I have forgotten, guess I need to keep a notebook handy.

-My brother took HUGELY appreciated time out of his schedule to help with rescuing pictures off of my crashed computer before we cleared it out. THANK YOU CLINT!!!!!!
-My parents stopped by Sunday night and my mom figured out what I had missed on my sewing project to fix the problems. A couple snips and I'm back in business! She saved me from pulling the whole thing apart! Yay! So as soon as I have time I will finish it up and post picks. THANK YOU MOM!!!
-Yesterday Larry and I went to the library to find books and information for each of our tests we will be taking. I have never seen the line to reserve a computer that long! My turn came and when I went to get on mine, there was someone else trying to long onto it. When I politely told him that was reserved for me and explained what he needed to do, he got pretty nasty with me. I am proud to say I stayed calm and polite!

Ok, that's what I can remember. Back to resting...stomach is really yucky!

Treats and Seats

Treats that were bought and seats that I sat in!
Tuesday my mom and I were going to treat ourselves to a movie. I hadn't seen Bedtime Stories yet, so we decided to go to the dollar theater (which is actually the dollar fifty or two dollar theater!) and watch. Well it's Spring Break and Tuesday is true dollar day. All this added up to a massive line at the theater and us deciding we would skip the movie. So instead we went to Joann's where I found tons of fabric and ribbon that I will have to go back and stock up on. Fabulous stuff for my chew and tag blankets. We found a fun book on Peeps that we HAD to have. So fun! We then went over to Ross to wonder around. We both got a few treats from there. My mom got some wall sconces she had been wanting and a really cool napkin holder. I got some super cute boxes for stashing some of my fabric scraps or whatever I decide. I also found a super cute egg timer for super cheap. I've seen them plenty of places, but this price was just too good to pass up.

Today the tire shop called me a few minutes before noon to tell me they had the part they needed and to see what time I wold like to come in. I said I would be there in 20. When I got there they had a bay open for me and pulled me right in. I stayed at the window to watch. I saw him pull out the plastic ring again and then was on the phone, uh-oh. He came in told me the plate they got was slightly off so he was sending another guy to another shop 10 miles away to get the right one. So I sat. Time passed and he came and got me. Some reason it still wasn't working so he was going to call the Jeep dealer to figure it out. Turns out there is one more part needed to do the balance...a $300 part. Yuck! Glad I don't pay for it though. The fabulous guy helping me didn't want me to wait ANOTHER day so he found out what it costs at the dealer to have it done and gave me the money to pay for it. He promised though that he would be ordering the part and they would have it all ready for me when I was due for my next rotation. So off I went to the dealer about an hour and a half after I arrived. I then sat in the dealer that was a ways away for another hour. So 3 hours after the call I was finally balanced! I definitely give huge compliments to the staff at the Discount Tires in Mansfield off of 287. They go above and beyond to make sure you are taken care of. We have been going to this store since we moved here and have been pleased. But this was really great customer service. I received an apology from every worker I came in contact with. And since this was their first time dealing with my kind of wheels, I really didn't feel they needed to apologize. They made sure I was taken care of even if that meant paying someone else to do the job. And if they hadn't needed another part I would have been out of there in 10 minutes. Also one last thing, not one of them treated me like a dumb girl who didn't know anything. They explained things clearly where I understood what I didn't know, but made me feel knowledgeable too. Especially good since I grew up learning about cars from my dad and continue to learn from him, my brother, my husband, my brother-in-law, and my father-in-law.
Treats and Seats!

Ugha!

So I've been working really hard when I can on a cute little handbag I found in a book. Now I have been doing other activities and am a fairly slow sewer, so it's been a bit of a slow process. But I was so excited because I was sure today I would finish it. I was to leave sometime today to stay with Larry for a couple of days. So my chores I needed to get done made it look like I wouldn't finish. But one chore changed all my plans.
The Jeep is over due for having its tires rotated, so I HAD to do that before any more trips farther than 10 miles. I was super excited when they had me finished in about 30 minutes. But as I pick up speed on the highway back home, my truck starts going a bit crazy with vibrating and the steering wheel jerking. I go down this section of highway often, so I know this isn't due to a bumpy road. So I pull over check all the lugs, all tight, and then return to the tire shop. The wonderful guys put my truck right back up even though the store now had a few customers, and proceeded to work very hard for an hour to fix the problem. Turns out the wheels I have have to have a custom plate put on the machine when they balance them. The guy was super apologetic that they didn't have the part. He said he would get it here by tomorrow and contact me. And as soon as I get there my truck goes straight up no matter how busy. He apologized a number of times, but I felt it was unneeded since he said my truck was the first he had had with these new style wheels.
So anyway, back to my point. With this occurrence it is not possible to drive my truck anywhere but home from the tire shop and then back when they tell me the part is in. So it is keeping me from going to see Larry, boo, but it will allow me to finish my sewing, yay!
So as I am working on it the past couple of days, I've had to make a few adjustments to make it work right for me. I had a worry about the handle being too short, but that was the last thing to do and figured it would be an easy fix if I had to. So I sew all the layers of the bag together and turn it right side out before I close the turning hole and finish with the handle. Excitedly I get it all pushed out the right way to find that for some reason ,that I at the moment am not sure why, the bag is all bunched up at the turns and I can't get the fabric to line up properly at the turning hole. I'm almost positive I could fix it by just taking out a layer in the middle, but to do that I have to pull apart the WHOLE bag!!!
So obviously I'm frustrated. I was so excited to get some sewing done this week during my time alone and now I only have one messed up project to show for it...UGHA! I should have stuck with the bag I was originally going to work on. But this one is out of a library book, so I wanted to get it done first. Again, UGHA! Maybe the other one will be super easy and I can get it done all in one day before I leave tomorrow...YEAH, RIGHT! Especially since I wanted to work on the horrible weeds tomorrow morning that seem to be taking over my yard. Oh well...live and learn, right?
Thanks for letting me vent.

Yummy in the Tummy!

Oh boy, what a yummy day! First off I tried a new drink recipe this morning. The other day I found a recipe for a pumpkin latte. I'm not a big coffee drinker, but I do like various coffee drinks especially when I have a craving. One of my favorites that I always have a craving for is Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte. But is only available for about 3 months of the year. So I found this recipe and had to try it. I don't think I explained I LOVE PUMPKIN! I even love pumpkin spice candles! I got the recipe here. It's not too bad. I need to do a little tweaking. And if you are a sipper like me, you may have some problems. As it cools, it has a tendency to separate. So you will need to either drink faster than me, keep a spoon handy, or put it in the microwave and heat it up again and stir. All in all though I'm pleased.

Second I got to meet up with my friend Tina for dinner. We have been trying to get together for quite some time but it just hasn't happened. She suggested Logan's, one of my favorite restaurants. I enjoyed a really good meal, a strawberry margarita, and most importantly a really really good visit with my friend!! She was super sweet and bought dinner. So I get the next one, Tina. I also think she lead me to a job decision. No, a career decision! I'm very excited! I won't get into it until I've researched it. But boy am I excited and I'm so ready to do it all again!

Tomorrow I plan to finally make the spinach chips Charisse told me to make and to make a lime pie or another pumpkin recipe.

Oh Yeah, that's why!

That seemed to be my main thought for the day. It started this morning when I got up. Since I planned to change the sheets on my bed today, I decided to let my dogs sleep with me in bed last night. I ended up sleeping on a portion of my queen sized bed that is much smaller than a twin. The dogs like to sleep RIGHT next to you and become the heaviest boulders when you try to move them. I woke up this morning VERY stiff...Oh Yeah, that's why! They never normally sleep with me that is.

I spent the morning and afternoon talking on the phone to my mom, watching a little t.v., washing some clothes, and playing on the computer. I needed to go to the library and grocery store, but was waiting for my book I had reserved to switch from shipped to held so I could pick it up. I finally decided at 3 to go so I could do what I wanted to there. I got there and the library was fairly crowded. Oh yeah, that's why! I usually go earlier on Saturdays or closer to closing to skip the crowd. Of course I'm sure it was worse than normal due to the wet and cold weather.

Afterwards I stopped at the Neighborhood Walmart about a block away to get stuff for my meals for the week and for baking a few goodies. Oh Yeah, that's why! I almost never do grocery shopping on the weekend except for items for A special meal we suddenly decide to have. The crowds are a bit much for me to handle.

As I finished shopping I noticed my basket had a number more items than the number of items on my list. Oh Yeah, that's why! I try not to shop when I'm hungry. I actually didn't realize I was hungry till I looked in the basket. I wasn't in there during a time when I normally eat a meal, but it was at a time I often have a snack. I can normally easily skip that snack if I'm busy, but I guess not today.

Then, even though I had a number of items I still went to the self check out. Oh Yeah, that's why! I normally go to a checker when I have that many. I had to unload everything to be able to load it back as I'm bagging. The self check outs always have the shorter conveyor belt so I couldn't fit all my stuff on it. And then I spent so much time unloading it still took a lot of time because I still had to scan, bag, and load everything back in the cart.

So tonight I will sleep alone, I will stick to my normal library hours, and I will start remembering to pack a snack in my purse again!

Here are a few pictures I went out and took after I noticed a little moss growing on one of the trees after all this rain.

On a mission to find a new drink

With having also given up sodas for Lent, I have been working to find a healthy drink to replace my soda addiction. I have tried to like green tea, but just haven't had a lot of luck. I do not like tea much in the first place. Yes, how can I be a born and raised Texan and not like iced tea? But I don't! Now if it's super week and loaded with some kind of sweetener, it's tolerable. I thought when they came out with this citrus green tea I would like it. I LOVE citrus. No such luck though.

Recently I stumbled upon in the soda isle of all places the Arizona green tea with Ginseng. It was only $1 for a 42oz. bottle. So I thought I would try...not too bad, tolerable. But then Larry found it and drank it all. So went back to buy more when I noticed the same bottle shape but instead of a green label it had a dark pink label. Hmm, must look at why this is pink! Green tea with pomegranate. Hmm, pomegranate-one of Charisse's favorite things. Guess I'll give it a shot. Not tolerable, but LIKEABLE! Success!!!!

Finally a little bit of an explination

of what has been going on to turn things upside down. Larry is no longer working in downtown Dallas as of last Wednesday. We knew it was coming, but it wasn't suppose to happen for a few more weeks. Thankfully the line of work he is in is constantly in demand, it's just finding one that will work for us. He has had interviews with a few companies and two with one company. They want him, but just don't have it in the budget to give him the minimal we need. So the lady who he met with today wants him badly and is going to go to lengths to get the right people to get the budget to work for him.
In these times, this is all very stressful. But some good is coming out of it. We are finally really pushing to get Larry his HVAC contractors license. Something that could get him where he truly wants to be. We are also looking into other opportunities he's always wanted to pursue. This is also finally forcing me to get out and job hunt. Something I've been wanting to do, but we just haven't pushed for me to do it in the past due to at first the need for me to stay home, and then the convenience of it.
What is most sad is he left about an hour ago to go stay with his brother for a while. He has been struggling finding work too, but God was looking out for us and sent him a large job. So Larry is going to spend around a week working with him. It has been hard getting my normal daily chores done with him at home, but I didn't want him gone all the time.
We were also suppose to have both the girls this weekend before they went to spend their Spring Break with their mom. Unfortunately Haylee isn't feeling well, so we had to move our visit again. Holly's been on antibiotics this week due to a mild stomach bug earlier in the week, so she will be ok to go ahead and go. They don't think Haylee has anything serious, but she just isn't up to a long ride and being away from her current norm. (Don't blame her there. I'm the same way). So this will put me home alone for a week . Well not exactly alone. I do have the zoo here to protect me and keep me company. Most of my chores are already caught up, and since I took out T.V. from 10-5 I should be able to be very busy and creative this week. Yea.! I will also have plenty of time to job hunt. And a full week of eating things I like without worrying no one else will. Again Yea!!
So probably lots of blogging this next week hopefully full of pictures of completed projects. Which reminds me. In addition...my dang computer completely crashed, and Larry didn't have time to fix it before he left. But he left me his laptop while he's gone. And if you knew how he is with his laptop, you would know that is BIG!
Ok, that's all for now. Goodnight!

In need of pictures

My blog that is. It's been a while, so here are some.

Sorry if these first few aren't fun, but I don't do well in cemeteries normally, and this is one of the few times I'm OK. So I thought I would take a few pics of head stones of interest and share them.

My Grandparents

This one is hard to see but if you look under James, my great uncle, you will see we shared our birthday.

This is the temporary marker for my uncle LeRoy.

My mom and the rest of her siblings. (Kind of hard to get them to all look at the camera at once.) From Left to right: Willie (#7 the youngest), Ada (#4), My mom, Ruby "Cindy" (#6), Minnie (#3), Harry "Herky" (#2), and Bonnie (#1).

And here is a picture of my first Tulip to bloom. I planted them last spring. But this being my first time to plant tulips, I didn't hold my breath for them to come...actually I pretty much forgot about them till I saw some green poking up around my tree a few weeks ago.

As you can see most of my other ones have emerged too, but none of them have any blooms. I hope this freeze over the next few days doesn't kill them. I hope it does put a stunt on my rapidly growing yard of weeds that I haven't been able to get to work on killing. My luck it will do just what I'm hoping it won't.

Anyway, hope these liven up my blog a bit.

T.T.T.

It's that time of week again. Again this idea was started by my good friend Twinkle. Hop on over to check it all out.
So I had a few good ones, but for the life of me I can't remember them! So instead here are a couple other ones.

• Friday Larry took his mom back home and stayed the night to spend some time with his nephew and go to a swap meet the next day with his brother. I was a bit pooped of traveling after going to northern OK and back in two days and having gone to East TX both weekends for the two before. So I stayed behind and spent the evening with Holly. We had dinner at home then went to the movies and to Chili's after for dessert. Going to Chili's for desert was something I did a few times with my family growing up and it was one of the most fun things. You are getting to go out to eat but you get to order desert no matter what, and for the one paying it's a very nice bill. I guess not many people do this 'cause the waiter seemed shocked that's all we were ordering even though it was 9:30pm. Anyway the kindness that happened: even though we only ordered desert and the waiter knew it would be a tiny bill, he still gave us some of the best service. So in turn he received a generous tip.
• Over the weekend Holly was fighting a VERY mild stomach bug. She seemed to have gotten over it on Sunday, but yesterday morning was at her worst. So a bit aggravated, I kept her home and took her to the doctor. He in turn was very kind. A bit on the worry some side in my opinion and I really didn't need him to explain certain signs to watch out for if it gets worse. I already know them, know it's not going to lead to that by how she feels now, and didn't need him putting thoughts in my kid's head. But he was very nice. He got into talking about having kids and not wanting to be much older. I was pretty sure he was fairly young due to his doctoring manor and his looks, so I commented on how we would like one before we get much older but are thinking it's probably not in the cards for us. I mentioned my husband's age. Turns out he's 3 years older...oops. So I told him the age my grandfather was when my mom was born and how old Larry's was when he married his wife. So he is definitely no where near too old to start a family. Our other concern is how old the girls are. It all made him quite happy and he was calling me a cool lady for feeling that way.

So those aren't the one's I was wanting to write on, and if they come back to me I"ll post them. But hopefully that works for now.

As I wait...

for the tile in the living room to dry so I can move the chairs, Wii rock band accessories, and dog kennel back in and move the table, chairs, dog bowls, and plant stand out of the way to do the rest of the floors, I though I would do a post. I sadly admit, I can't remember when I last did a through mop and not a quick wipe down. It's just been hard to plan it all out and not have people walking in on my wet floors. I think I'm finally at the right time, but I finally just can't stand it and will take the chance of yelling for someone to FREEZE!
So for the season of Lent, one of the things I gave up is T.V. on weekdays between the hours of 10am and 5pm. I picked 10am because have a workout show that I work with that comes on at 9:30am. I've been DVRing that though and doing it the next day at an earlier time, so I often have the T.V. off by 9am. I gave it up because I keep the T.V. on for company and background noise, but often end up sitting and watching. I am pleased with it so far. I am back to listening to books on CD while I do my chores and am waaay more productive.
So with not watching T.V. I don't pull up a T.V. tray and eat my lunch in the living room, I sit at the dinning room table. As I was eating today, I noticed my large stash of cookbooks. And I became sad at thinking of how many I have and how little I use them. My family is a bit of picky eaters, causing me to not be willing to try new things too often. But with this lack of T.V. I came up with a fantastic idea. I'm sure many already do this, but it's still fantastic and new to me even if it is a "DUH" occurrence too.
Every week (or two weeks at least) I will designate either Wednesday or Thursday new recipe night. On these nights I will make sure I am stocked with the back up supplies for spaghetti, chili, or some other quick fix we haven't had recently so if I declare the dish a total bomb I can quickly make a meal. I will also make sure there is lunch meat and bread for the one or two who insist they can't eat this new thing. This will help me put the books to use and who knows what we will learn we like.
With he upturn of life events around here it may be a while before this new idea starts, but until then I'm happy with it.
OK back to the floors. I think the living room is definitely dry by now!

Photo 3/3

Finally got the chance and remembered the March photo.

This is a picture of the burp cloths I made as one of the gifts for Lori's baby shower.

T.T.T. time

So with all going on, the tasks that popped into my head are all that my husband and his family (of course that's my family now too, but so you understand who I'm talking about) are doing for me and my family:
First my mother volunteered Larry for a Paul bearer (sp?), but instantly worried that may make him uncomfortable since he will be around a lot of people he hasn't met yet. Larry being fabulous said "What ever you need me to do I'll do." If you knew him like we do (he's super friendly and can charm just about anyone, but a bit on the shy side at times) you'd know that's big in our hearts.
Second my MIL is here to watch Holly while we are gone and allow me to get ready to leave town without having to worry about fitting it all in around Holly's schedule. It's not often I hear of in-laws stepping up to help the other in-laws at a moments notice.
Third we went to E. TX to pick up my MIL this weekend and stayed the whole weekend. I originally didn't want to, but it turned out good for me. Larry's grandmother got right to work on making some pies she knows I like...he he love grandmother cooking! My brother-in-law's family just kept me happily entertained. No one pushed when I wanted alone time, and no one gushed over me.
For me none of that feels tiny, but for the title of the day...

Happy Birthdays!

First to my dad who is 60 today! Unfortunately with all that is happening, we will be celebrating his birthday a little later, but Happy Birthday anyway Daddy/Grandpa!! We love you!!!!
Second to Larry's grandmother who is 85 today! We love you too, and are so glad you are doing well since surgery. Hope all went fabulously with renewing your drivers license (yes she still drives, and isn't one of those old people drivers you want off the road. She is still a great driver!) and hope you had a fabulous day all around!
Third to my friend Alyssa who is 32 today. Happy Birthday and hope to finally get to see you again soon!
(Sorry no pictures of anyone. My computer mysteriously crashed after the internet guy came and had to work on it trying to figure out what was wrong with our contection...hmm.)

I'm sorry, but again...

my family is in need of prayers. This has been one super rough year for us. This past Friday one of my uncles died. This death is unexpected and very, very difficult for my family. He is one of my mom's brothers. He was number 5 of the 7 siblings (my mom is number 6), and he is the first to move on. We all know that he is in a better place, but being human it is still hard.
I have asked often for prayers, but I truly believe in their power. This has been the most difficult year yet. We have not figured out the direction we are suppose to be taking yet since the last time I asked for your prayers. But even with this added in, I believe what we are taught: God never gives us more than we can handle. We may not handle it well, but handling it we are. Please pray, they are felt and heard! Thank you, and know my prayers are sent out for you all too.