Introducing... Southern Gal's Crochet!

So I have been debating this for some time now and have finally went through with it. As most of you know..here lately if and when I do blog, I blog about my crocheting. I'm sure some of you have been seriously tired of this convo and wish I would get back to the regular topics of animal antics and the hubs humor or maybe even my ponderings.

So in light of my realization, I have created a new blog just for all my crochet talk and creations. www.southerngalscrochet.blogspot.com

If you happen to enjoy all my crochet talk, then please feel free to come on over and join me. I will be posting about what I am making, where I got the pattern, what issues I might have had and also will be introducing fellow crocheters, their lovely work and links to free patterns I find across the web that interest me.

This will not only be for the benefit of you my readers and other crocheters but will also allow me to have all my saved patterns all in one place..LOVE that!!

My Week

Where is she? The girl don't write or visit anymore. Your thoughts, perhaps?
Yeah mine too. LOL!

I have been here hiding in the shadows. I've been in a funk. Ever since my back went nuts and decided to make me walk hunchback, I've had good days and rotten days. Having a good day seems to cause a rotten one and so one and so on. Round after round we go, I sure wish this merry-go-round would let me off. Not just the physical aspect of it, but the emotional one too. I don't feel depressed or have any reason to be, but yet I sit here day after day not wanting to do anything or wanting to do everything. My happy medium has gone haywire.
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Well enough about that crap. Lets move on to the two good days I did have this week.

Monday:
The pictures that I sent off to be blown up and walletted, arrived! Hubby walked through the door with them and we briefly played "Catch me if you can". He was soo excited and in turn got me all excited. We spent a blissful evening going through them and sorting and cutting.

The next day I went shopping for picture frames. Since I was out and my back was feeling okay, I went to the hardware store for gardening supplies. Big mistake, but I didn't feel it at the time. I came home and got all the pitures ready to get mailed off or hand delivered. I was so happy with the end result, I went about repotting some of my newer plants. They look great and are reponding well to the transfers, but I really over did it.

Thursday:
I had an appointment with my parents. It is rare that all things fall into place to get to see them. They live just over an hour away, to some that might not be far, but for my pocket book and truck it is. Vise-versa for my parents too. So I was pretty staoked at getting to see them and spend time with them. We did our trade offs (all the things we save for each other) and then went to see my sister on her break at the bus barn. She was super happy to see me, she screamed and come a running. All I saw was this bright yellow mass blurring it's way right into my chest! I just thought for sure she was going to bounce right into me and we would both go crashing to the floor! Thankfully I was having a fairly good balance day.

We (Mom and I)went back and got the old man, then we went shopping. We had a blast even though we mostly were browsing! Dad can be pretty funny at times. He was going around and picking up things that were the most rediculous, like a pair of super-duper high heels (ankle twisters) or a garden statue of singing frogs. He kept me and mom laughing (even when he didn't know it). We ate out, my first time eating outside the house in a super long time.

We then headed back to the house to do some computer work. I have tried all I know to get my mom on her computer to no avail. I hound her, I beg her and still she never gets online. Sometimes I think the only butts that have sat in front of her computer is us kids. Her excuse this time was the fact that her anti-virus had expired. So naturally I fixed that for her, so fingers crossed that mom will actually sit down and push the "on" button! LOL!

It was a long day but a really good one. The longest I have spent with my parents on a day that wasn't a holiday or birthday. Sad..I know.
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I promise (hand held to chest) I will be around to everyone's blogs this weekend! I swear! All 62 of ya! Yikes, that's 20 hours! Wait for me, I'll get there!

My first blog post... OMG!!

This weeks SITS project is to get back to blogging.
Re-post your first blog post.

Here it is:
Dated: Saturday, September 26, 2009
Titled: Small progress in the house.

I have had the hubby home all week due to the rainy weather.

I have only managed to get one project done this week.

I tore out one side of my closet, then put in a new floor and 3 bookshelves.

I spent the rest of the evening filling up all those bookshelves.

That was 2 days ago and I still have some muscles hurting.

I have been trying to get my bedroom cleaned out of storage boxes and junk, so I can lay down new floor and fix the ceiling.

I am still hoping to get more of the house done before Thanksgiving.

Most of my family is coming to my house this year.

I volunteered us for it last year, thinking I would be done with the renovations.

Money, man power and the weather have held back a lot of the progress.

If I am lucky I will not lose my gusto.

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Let me just say... OMG! I have to be the laziest person EVER!!!

Nearly one year later and guess what I have been going for the last month...go ahead guess...MOVING OUT THOSE BOXES!!! Looks like I wasn't so lucky and lost, walked away from and ignored my gusto! When I did have the gusto, I used it on other projects and put my room on the back burner. Funny how things have changed in the past year and yet stayed the same too.

Well you will be glad to know that all boxes and junk has been moved out of the room and put into storage (that happened just this last Saturday) and the ceiling has been Kilz'ed but not fixed though. The floor and painting is next, I did start the wall cleaning yesterday. Gawd I hope it doesn't take me another year to finish, that would just be too embarrassing!!

I must go and crawl in a corner and hang my head in shame and give myself a good lashing...GET YOUR LAZY BIG FAT BUTT OUT OF THE CHAIR AND GET BACK TO WORK!!!

Come on folks, yell at me! I need it!

I want to shut down. Walk away from the boxes that are looking at me.

Have ya sat back and wondered "what in the world has happened to Heather"? That girl used to blog everyday, then down to five days, then 4, now we're lucky to get 3 a week from her. What the heck is going on? She worked tirelessly to get to every one's blog. She was dedicated and reliable. What happened to that?

Well folks, I just don't know. Maybe I have hit a slump or maybe I haven't had that much going on lately. Okay that last part is soo wrong. I have been soo busy, I nearly can't think straight. This is a busy I have brought on myself, by the end of the day I just want to vegg out in front of the tv. My poor followers are suffering from my neglect.

I am working on trying to find a balance, it is not easy. I have dove into trying to get my bedroom floor done, before the kids and grand kids get here next month. This requires me to take all my junk and more junk (I'm talking boxes of stuff that I have no place for. A storage shed is needed)out of the room, go through it, weed stuff out and stack it in my kitchen. Just walking around my kitchen to my office is such a maze, it'll make ya dizzy.

Every time I look at the stacks, I sigh and turn away in disgust. The project is soo overwhelming, 60% of the time I don't even want to think about it. These boxes have been in my room for the last two years, cause I knew it was a huge task that I wasn't looking forward to doing. As long as I didn't think about it or have to look at them, everything was hunky dory. I just kept putting it off cause I was waiting for the money for materials to do the floor. Excuses, I know. I could come up with more, but I better stop while I am already digging.

My kitchen bathrooms and living room are always clean, but now you know my dirty little secret. I put things off, if I can hide them from view. LOL!

I thought maybe I could just shove the boxes in hubby's shed. Well..I guess he's as bad as I am, cause I can't even walk into the shed!! He has just as much junk as I do! Although he claims all of his stuff has a purpose, they can all be used at some time or another. Blah blah blah.

Another reason I have been missing in action, is that I have been going out in the evenings (when it is a degree cooler) and walking. On the one day hubby has off, I have been trying to spend with him. You know instead of sitting here in a different room and ignoring him. Okay not ignoring him, but not really being there with him or for him. Not that he complains, I just get conscious of it and feel bad.

On a good day my computer gets too about 20 blogs in 5 hours. Just knowing that and opening my reader, seeing the numbers up in the 50's or even the 70's, makes me sigh and get discouraged. Soo I am back to the same old thing, too much to do and not enough time in the day to do it.

Solution? I don't know if there is one. Sigh.

Overwhelmed, stressed out and way too much on my plate. BLAH! The kids are coming, ALL of them and now my bff is planning to come. The house looks like a storage unit and I am out of ideas, woman power and space. Oh yeah and get up and go! You know I just realized I am putting all these boxes in the wrong place. When I get the wood to do the floor, I'll never be able to get it into the room. SIGH...Bang head on desk!

Why is it the more you have to do, the less you want to do it? AND how do you cut corners to get it all done?

Bad morning for me and the Pets.

I read so many blog posts last night, I didn't even get to do one for myself.
I still had eleven left to read after 5 hours of reading, needless to say I gave up and went to bed.

Woke up in a fowl mood from Taco's constant sneezing for me to let him out. Another morning of throwing back the covers and grumbling. Yes I am still peeved at him!

The kicker to my morning was to find my little hibiscus plant that I keep on the window sill above the sink, all over the floor! Potting soil everywhere! The monster Whiskers was apperently after something in the window and knocked all that was up there down into the sink or on the floor.

Still waiting for the coffee to get done, so maybe I can find the funnier side to it all!

Well just incase you hadn't noticed...I have a new Blogger page called Nana's Nature , it is a place where I have been posting one photo everyday. Do me a favor and check it out!

AND now for some coffee and to tackle the 20 blog post on my Reader's list.

Milestone and Awards

Time sure is flying by. 200th post and I haven't a clue what they were all about. Some were stupid, some were silly and then there were the occasional serious ones. I wish I could write deep, profound and meaningful posts for ya, but hey what ya see is what ya get! I'm brash, hard, silly, goofy and nuts! AND in all of that I am a big procrastinator (or maybe a FREE SPIRIT, yeah I like that better)!

My dear and precious friends have bleed their hearts and have tagged and awarded me. What do I do? I keep the pic in my little awards folder and let it sit there. I'm no good folks! I love the fact that I even cross yall's mind and yet I let you sit there and leave ya hanging. The guilt has been tormenting, but not enough to dig them out. Yes, I do need a kick in the pants! Thanks for asking.

Every time I see that awards folder, I reproached myself for not having done some of them yet. Two days ago I realized I was approaching this 200th post milestone and I had to yell at myself. No more excuse Heather, now is the time! Get'er done!

First up we have this kicking award of friendship given to me by Spot:


The rules are that I have to list 6 things I'm a master at and then pass the prize to six other bloggers. Here goes:
Master at:
1) wishing I could do this or that, go here or there, have this or that.

2) making my sister laugh so hard she gets hiccups, brother laugh so hard he can't breathe and crumbles to the floor. They find my snarky humor funny.

3) hurting myself! I can trip on nothing, fall onto things, swing my hands into things, bump my head on trees....

4) annoying my pets with the flash of my camera. Gezz, you would think they would be used to it by now!

5) Forgetfulness. I forget nearly everything. Like..stopping at the post office for stamps, doing my awards, watering my plants (the poor things) and sometimes even making hubby's lunch! But yet ask me where something is at inside my house and I know.

6) My money. I know where every dime went and if for some unknown reason I don't, dang it I will find it!! I have many accounting methods of keeping track of the money. Checkbook register, (actual real)folders for each household bill, receipt box divided into sections, Monthly bills chart created with Word Document and checking the bank website. Every penny is important in this house.

Now everyone yell "Pick Me" and hopefully I heard you!

1) Tinkerschitzel at Zommbie Mommy. She is an aspiring artist and crafter. She dapples in painting, drawing, ceramics and she even does reupholstering! She loves to go camping! She also shares stories of her little family and the joys and trials of her job in her posts.

2) Eric at Bored Neoclassical Guy. He always manages to make me laugh or learn something. He is an artist with stone, he also intrigues me with history and takes me to other countries.

3) Maureen at Islandroar. Seriously if you don't know her, where the heck have you been hiding?! She is one of the sweetest ladies ever! She will draw you into her life as a mother of grown children. She will also take you to the beautiful island of Martha's Vineyard, the beauty of it, the history of it and the daily life of it.

4) Jen at Starting Over. This girl just amazes me all the time! She is an outdoorsy kinda girl. She hikes through the state parks, kayaks rapid waters, marathon bicycle rider, marathon runner, camper. Plus she has a daughter and she is doing college courses. Her adventures are amazing!

5) Kathryn at From the Inside...Out. She is just so funny, it seems like she doesn't even have to work at, it's just natural. I love going to her blog, she is sweet, funny (yeah I mentioned that already, but gawd it is soo true), witty and a mom to teen aged boys!

6) Ocean Girl at Live High. She shares her love of the Isles of Malaysia with stories of life and culture. She also shares beautiful photos of the area. I seriously am soo jealous, she lives in paradise!

Now if you are saying "But I didn't say "Pick Me"" Well let me wag my finger at you and tell you "You weren't playing the game right"



Then we have this Panda award for super comments given to me by Jimmy:


The rules for this award are to answer the following questions:

1) Why do you blog?
To have a record of things for when I go senile.

2) What was your favorite age to be and why?
Can't say I ever really had a favorite age, maybe I just haven't reached it yet.

3) What's your favorite sport to play?
Chase the dog. Is that a sport? I also like to walk.

4) What's your favorite sport to watch, and who's your favorite team?
Nascar baby!! Mark Martin and Michael Waltrip, hubby likes E.jr and Mark Martin. At least we have one in common.

5) If you could pick your perfect career (and money doesn't matter/the kids are out of the house) what would it be?
Travel the world and take lots of pics. Well that would make money matter, cause someone would have to pay my expenses for a while. Money don't matter...work at a nursery and be someones apprentice.


6) Do you ever feel guilty for blogging?
Yes and no. I don't feel guilty for blogging, but with blogging comes responsibility to your readers and I feel guilty for not keeping up my part as I should.

7) What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas! Not for the presents, I prefer a present less Christmas. I like the decorating, gathering, feasting and the music.

8) What's your favorite kind of music?
Just about anything, except for rap. I really haven't paid much attention to current music, but I do have some music that is only 8-10 years old.

9) Do you consider yourself a good driver or bad driver?
I am a good driver, never had a ticket or accident. The fence might call me a liar, but never had on with another vehicle. So don't listen to the fence!

10) What's the farthest away place you have visited?
Not really a fair question. I have been to all 48 states, Mexico and Canada.

Now for the hard part I have to pick some of you excellent commenter's to pass this one along to:

1) Mrsbear at Outmunbered Two to One. Has her hands full with the daily life of a house full of kids, but yet she always manages to make me smile or laugh.

2) Peg at Square peg in a round hole. I'm still getting to know her, but so far I have found her to be down to earth and very friendly. Hey she is Suzicate's sister, what more needs to be said!

3) Gerardine at My Walking Path. She will take you into her little family and make you feel at home. She writes about her hubby, her pets and the beautiful nature around her.

4) E.D. at Eternally Distracted. Ohhh what can I say! This girl is hilarious! She writes about her life in a country that she has to remain anonymous. She most common subjects are Mec (her other half) and Max (her cockatoo).

5) Lucy at What is left of a whole new life. She is 80 years old and blogs. To me that is amazing! I hope to be still blogging when I'm that age. Heck I hope to still be around! She writes about daily life with hubby Joe and dog Spunky.

I also did another awards show a month ago, but for some reason nobody got there awards (except for South Dakota Cowgirl). It might have something to do with the fact that I forgot to personally inform them about it. Go here to check if one of those was yours!

Creating New Tabs For your Blogger Page

I have been wanting to address a question in my head.

Well as most of you know I am using dial up as my Internet connection. I know it is ancient technology, but it is all I can get in my area and surely I am not the only person left on the planet with dial up (Gawd I hope not).

The more pictures you have on your main page the longer it takes for dial up to load and sometimes it wont at all. Now yes I know it is my problem and why should you change your place to accommodate one person. By NO means is that my intention here. Everyone has the right to have their page as they see fit, heck it IS your page. I'm not complaining, not really. I visit your pages no matter how difficult because I find yall to be fabulous people. Lets just say my curiosity has been peaked and puzzlement has taken over.

I was just talking to a fellow blogger about this, that is why it is so fresh on my brain.

I know a few of the folks I follow have added new tabs to their page, so I guess this wouldn't apply to you.
This also only applies to folks who are using Blogger as their blog source.

My question is...Do you know how easy it is to add a tab?
If not I will tell you. (If you know this part, skip to the bottom)

Step 1) Go to "New Post"
Step 2) Go to "Edit Pages"
Step 3) Click on "New Page" or "Create Page"
Step 4) Name your new page, like... Awards, Buttons, Poems or Recipes. Whatever you feel like.
Step 5) Hit "Publish"

Voila! You have now created a new page. It takes all of 3 minutes at the most. High speed folks, probably less than 3 minutes! Easy Peesy!!
You don't have to fill it in all in one shot, a little here and a little there. And you can even change the name of each tab later on. It lets you have up to 10 tabs!
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Now for those of you who did know and still have opted to not go with it.

I was wondering if you could tell me... Why?
I am very curious and interested in what the answers are going to be.

It's not that I am trying to influence you (Okay maybe I am), I was just wondering why everybody isn't on board to all the features blogger offers.

If you are worried about messing up your existing template, like ones specially made. Then just copy and paste it into a word document or click on the "Download Full Template" before you start.

I have only had a computer for two years! If I can do it, I know yall can!

For those of you are bored by this or already know it:
Please feel free to view what I have written in the About Me tab above.

Enter At Your Own Risk~~Rant!

Right now I am very unhappy with the company that I had fix my computer last month. From what they explained to me was that they had to wipe out all the programs that were on it and reinstall them. Well, let me tell you they really messed me up!

I admit when it comes to computers and programs I am not all that smart, but I was learning the programs I had and many I used often. When I got my computer back from these folks, I just assumed all the original programs would still be there along with the new ones that they put on. NOT!

I tried to put in a dvd to watch and this new program came up and was requesting me to register for the free trial and then pay a fee every month. The Windows Media I had was free! I then tried to get Windows Media back and the computer says something about code not supporting it. I tried to find my Microsoft Works and it is also gone.

These were programs that were original to the computer when I bought it and free, all the new stuff they put on here are trials and pay programs. I tried calling them to see what we could do about the missing programs and get rid of the pay programs and all I got was "I'll have my boss call you". That was last week and still nothing! I called the geek squad and they said it would cost me about a hundred and a half just to TRY to fix it. Of course they can't help me over the phone, I have to bring it in.

IF I was to take it in and try to get it repaired and the money I spent a month ago, I would have put out just about the same amount of money as I did buying the computer in the first place. This aggravates me very much!!

I bought myself a mp3 player last week when they were on sale and opened it this evening to set it up and try to download music on to it. I just wanted to load one song to make sure I got the "know how" down and also to check to see how long my slow dinosaur dial up was going to take with just one song.

I got it set up and ready for download and I should have gotten the "open, save, cancel" page. Instead I got an "find, save, cancel". I hit find and it takes me to a Microsoft page giving me suggestions of programs to download.

Soo..I can't watch a dvd, I can't download music and some of my favorite programs are gone and some are not retrievable. If it wasn't for my love of blogland and facebook, I would quit this computer business completely! It is just so darn expensive and frustrating. It really tries my patience nearly everyday.



I feel so limited in the things I can do, that everyone else can do so easily.

Like Utube is all over the place and I can't watch them.
People have music attached to their pages and that makes their page not work for me at all.
For some unknown reason comment areas on some pages won't open at all, I get a Windows can not find or open.
I have to sit and wait for the little pictures of all the followers to finish loading, before I can close out any blog page. For some blog pages that is easy cause they either don't have that feature or they have it condensed down to just a few that show. Others well..lets just say it takes a good while to finish loading, I can do the dishes while waiting.
I only average 4 or 5 blogs an hour, which let me just say..I follow 50 blogs and on the average 30 will post a day, so that will take me six or more hours a day!
As most of you have noticed I might not get to your post for that day cause A- I fell asleep at the computer waiting and waiting or B- I ran out of time.


What do I mean that I ran out of time? Well the dial up company charges me for the connection, but the phone company charges me for going over my minutes for the month. These minutes average out to be only five hours a day.

Is this post still on topic? Probably not! I'm just frustrated and you poor souls are being subjected to my rant. Sorry!

In other computer/blog related news...
I did manage to figure out how to get a new tab on my page. It has all the lovely awards that yall have been so generous to give me in it. And I can add up to ten tabs, this was a great find for me.

I also finally signed up with Networked Blogs on Facebook. I mostly did this so that my friends and family on Facebook will have privy knowledge that I have posted something and also a lot of them were having difficulties commenting on my blog posts.

Just in writing my two accomplishments, has made me feel some what better. I just have to learn the hard way what my limitations are, no matter how aggravating, frustrating and depressing they are. LOL!

Lucy has the perfect word for the computer...CONFUSER! Love it!

Randomness

I was going through one of my favorite websites and ran across the little tiny town of Abbott, Texas. It is just a little below Hillsboro, Texas, which is about an hour south of Dallas.

It was always a small town, but at its peak it had about 700 people. At the onset off WWII it diminished down to about 250 and has continued to maintain that number.

Here's what had hubby and I rolling in laughter:

It is against the law in Texas to mention Abbott without declaring that Willie Nelson is from Abbott.

Makes ya wonder who came up with that law! LOL!

There ya have it, I broke no laws. Love ya Willie!
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I then went to the next town on the list Abernathy, Texas. No pics and not much of a story. I decided to google it for some pics. I ran across this pic:


(Painting done by B.B.Barrick)
I clicked it and it took me to another blogger. I read a few of her posts and really liked them. Just everyday stuff in the life of an older woman. I left a few comments.

It just amazes me how one thing can lead to another and so on and so on...

The next day I open my emails and to my amazement Dee had written me a lenghty page. Telling me a little about herself and her blog.

I knew it from the first post I read, that she was a great lady and I was going to enjoy reading her. Her email confirmed it!

It just amazes me that I now have another blogger friend out of looking for pics!
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I was not able to get High speed Internet. The fellas come out yesterday morning and played around with their antenna on a pole out in the driveway. Sadly there was no connection to the tower. Apparently, if I move my house about a mile and a half down the road, I would be all set up.

I vow that if I ever move again, it had better be in a high speed zone. I love living in the sticks, but it is preventing progress!
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Yall's comments on yesterday's post cracked me up! Several sounded out that I could get a steak for myself. If you only knew how funny hubby found that to be.
Here's the thing...I don't do red meat! It is very rare for me to eat red meat and when I do...it had better be extra well done, no blood, pinkness or fat! More like jerky!.
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I also got a comment yesterday from one of my brothers. I'm going to take a leap and guess that it was brother D. Since brother J has my posts read to him by sister J and brother I doesn't read me at all.

Well brother D, I am glad you finally got to comment! He has been having trouble with my page as it seems so do others. He tried to comment on the post I did about him, but his dial-up is just as bad as mine.

I would gladly give you the steak that I won't eat! LOL!

Life in the slow lane

I would like to take today off from talking about me.

I would like to draw your attention to a young lady Kendrasue over at Life in the slow lane, who today is celebrating her 200th post!

What an amazing achievement!

So..If I can implore you to check this lovely girl out, I really don't think you will be sorry.

She is a working mother and wife. She has one of the cutest little guys, I ever did see. I love reading her and I don't see why you wouldn't also.

I was gone from her page for almost two weeks and I must say I was disappointed to see that only a couple of her posts had other folks commenting, like 5 out of 10.

It makes me sad and baffles me that I am the only one leaving comments on half of her posts.

Please folks, lets fix this injustice.

200 posts! That's big and deserves recognition.

I'm back!!

The longest friggin 10 days ever!

I thought for sure I was going to have to get a new computer. I practically did. They had to wipe out everything and start over with everything fresh. I'm still trying to figure out what some of this new stuff is and how to get back some of my other stuff. All in all it wasn't too bad, I only paid a hundred for a complete over haul and got some cool upgrades and extra virus protection. So that was pretty cool.

I lost alot of stuff, but hey at least I am back. This is the first day so hopefully it is completely fixed. Only time will tell.

Here's the thing..Don't ever install IE8 and then try to uninstall it. It will corrupt the exsisting IE7.

I know I have a lot of catching up to do, so please bear with me. I still have to try to get most of my stuff back so that will take up most of my time for a few days. I promise I will be around to your pages as fast as I can.

I want to thank all of yall for the well wishes and I'm blushing that yall missed me so much. Shucks and golly gee!

I'm so happy to be back!

Tagged

I was tagged by Suzicate (months ago)to tell you ten things about me that you don’t already know. I bet you thought I missed that or forgot about it. NOT, just lazy.

1) I am a stocker. I stock up on household items. A habit that was formed when hubby started hauling locally. The job is weather based and the winter months checks can be very small. So I stock up for us to make it through the winter. I sound like a chipmunk! LOL!

2) I love any candy that involves chocolate and peanut butter. Reese's are my weakness! I have to stay away from the candy isle at the store!

3) I have awful feet. Some people are so blessed to have beautiful and/or pain free feet. I am not one of them! My toes never grew right cause my shoes were too small as a child, they curled. The bones are not straight, they give me hot burning pain from time to time and I have one toe that loses feeling. I also have a friggin bunion!!

4) I eat Tums like crazy. I have heartburn all the time.

5) I am hooked on Jewel Quest Solitaire!

6) I am obsessed with the silverware drawer being perfect. Everything must be in its proper slot. Hubby messes with me all the time, by throwing the silverware in the drawer! Even stuff that don't belong in that drawer!

7) My Dictionary and my Atlas are the most frequently opened books in my house. The dictionary...cause YALL USE A LOT OF BIG WORDS!!

8) If the phone rings in this house it is 98% of the time someone in my family. Mom, Dad, sister, brothers, SIL's, niece and even MIL's!

9) I must have a night light on. Not that I am afraid of the dark, but this is more for the reason that I am a clutz!

10) I love to watch birds. Hummingbirds are my favorite. I put out two hummingbird feeders and sit on the patio with my coffee and just watch.

Now, who to pass this on to?

The Locals Love It
Starting Over
RockyCat
Pines Lake Redhead
out of the boondocks and into the burbs...
Morgan Madness
Life in the slow lane
Here is what I think...
Gently Said
Day to Day Life

Okay folks, I'm done! That took up so much brain power, I'm going to have to go take a nap to reboot!

You Lift My Spirits

This week has been a rough one.

My father went to his usual Dr's appointment Monday and they admitted him. He has Emphysema real bad. While waiting for my mother to call me back, one of my bfs calls. Her hubby has been in the hospital for two months now (heart troubles and strokes) and it doesn't look good. She went to the hospital herself three weeks ago and they found something. After further tests, it has been confirmed as lung cancer. My other bf is watching her beloved dog of 15+years very closely, he's not doing good either. Mother finally gets to call me back and she's not doing so great, her asthma has been kicking her butt. Plus she has to try to help my sis with the new baby and deal with her husband in the hospital in a different county with no wheels to get to see him.

I feel like walking away from this week or at least the phone.
Yeah, I've been in a funk.

BUT, there is a bright side...
Everyday (sometimes twice a day), I open my email to see my comments.

Yall just have this way about getting me to laugh, in spite of my worries or funk.

This week alone I have been tagged, received an award and won a key chain!

Some of those comments yesterday had me roaring a good belly laugh. The idea that there is no sex..OMG how can that be? The world has stopped turning!!! LMAO!!!

I have also meet some new bloggers that I have decided to follow. I know I shouldn't be adding more to my list, cause I can barely keep up with all of yall but I couldn't help myself.

Here are some of my new peeps:
Gently Said
Here is what I think...
I AM OTTER
My Walking Path
Starting Over
RockyCat

The tagging, I'm still working on that. It is really long.

The award..just so wonderful and beautiful..The Sunshine Award given to me by My Walking Path.



The rules are to give this to 12 peeps, let them know about it in their comments and link the giver.

I am such a break the rules kinda girl. I say it goes to all of you, cause yall are my sunshine on these cloudy days. Take it, enjoy it and pass it on if ya want.

You all make my day, every day!

Things I reveal about myself in comments.

I remember reading one time a while back, that So & So (cant for the life of me remember who) tends to reveal more about themselves in comments, then they do in their posts. I have found this statement to be soo true and thought I would share these little tidbits.

Tinkerschnitzel might recognise these things about me, they are all the comments I have left with her. Sept 09' to now.
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I am doing two blankets at once. I use a skein for 8 rolls on one blanket and then finished the skein in a granny square 8 wide. One of these yrs I'll finish them! LOL
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I did the same thing, made a bunch of baby blankets in the hope of... I ended up giving them to my best friend.
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Oh my goodness! I did have to stubble across THIS post. I have my own horror story on my myspace blog. Same company! I messed with them for five months (this year) to get my bill straightened out and it was THEIR fault. They put up a good fight but lost in the end and even sent me a refund!

After good service with them for 18yrs, we moved and from that moment we had nothing but a huge headache. They were charging us for unlimited long distance, but yet still charging for every call. every month the said it was straightened out but then the bill would come in even higher still, it got up in the $600's. I can't even count how many different ppl I was passed off to. It got to where I couldn't even stand to here the name AT&T. I forgot to mention: we are no longer with them, we switched over to Sage Telecom
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Oh, how I wish I had a dentist appointment! Maybe Tuesday.
I know what you mean about feeling like a kid in the presence of the grandparents. I always feel that way, no matter how old I get.
$20 a yard, holy cow! I don't think I have ever seen material that high.
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The rain! We have had rain for the most part of a month, just when it seems like it is drying up here it comes again. I tend to stay indoors on rainy days, if I can.
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$200 for a sewing class! That's what I should be doing, teaching a class! I didn't know there was that kind of money in it. Wow!
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Ottoman, interesting. I've never thought about doing one. I tried my chair once, not so good, disaster really. I had to get my mother in law to fix it. LOL.
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Smoking..nasty habit, but somebody's gotta do it..I'm right there with ya. I started ..umm 31 years ago and no I'm not going to quit until I just can't afford to anymore
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Tim Curry, haven't heard that name in awhile. I like him too.
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It is sad that people can't at least turn off their light. Very rude!
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Chili and spaghetti, we can eat on for days. Never learned to make smaller pots.
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We are in San Antonio, were mostly Air Force here. I was glued to the tv all day. Still hard to conceive that someone could do that. To have so little care for others and their families, beyond my comprehension. Very sad day for the country.
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I got my eye on a ottoman, thought about trying my hand at making one but I just don't have the upholstery gene.
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Thanks for the tips. I haven't tried the Mr.Clean Eraser, I was waiting to see if anyone else had any luck with them. I hate buying things and then find out they are worthless. I will be trying those diapers too. Thanks
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Goodness! That sounds horrible. I had one of those times back in 05'. Grandparents sick or dying and 2 good friends too. Very horrible
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I was informed yesterday that I need to keep a tight lid on the money this year. How tight, he never did say. I need to know numbers!!
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Weatherman says we will have a 70% chance of snow Friday, it's like the whole state of Texas comes to a screeching halt. Too funny!
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All of my plants died in the heat wave!
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At least your hubby knows something about computers. If mine was to break down, I am on my own or begging brother to come and fix it.
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I would have thought that working in a church would be nice and calm. I am rethinking this conclusion.
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I have managed to let things go for the last two days and oh boy it is noticeable!
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I am so glad we are not buying for the grand kids till after the actual Christmas day. We get to wait till they come back from the in-laws.
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I too remember the feeling of having a Christmas delivered to our house. Our local truancy officer and his family adopted us one year. It was wonderful!
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I remember the snow that Waxahachie got in 84'. I blew my mind that it snowed in Texas. My dad had said that when we moved from Maine, we would never see snow again. I believed him till 84'. LOL
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My goal for this year is to get my bedroom finished this year! That is all I can think about, right now. I want it so badly!
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That is the first thing I ask, before going to see the grand kids "Is anyone sick?"
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I HATE shopping for bras!
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Funny, I was just telling my mom this very thing. She needs some down time away from the grand kids!
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I too give kudos to the stay at home moms. My daughter is one of them and I marvel at her sanity.
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Your dog likes coffee too! I can't take my eyes off my cup for a second!
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I loved Anne Rice's older books. My favorite is "The Witching Hour" series.
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I know that feeling. I once got bit by a scorpion in my sleep and for days afterward I would be scared of everything. I shook by bed every night!
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I haven't put any thought into the menu for this week.
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Last night was leftover chicken cut up with brown gravy and sauteed mushrooms, poured over a baked potato.
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Mexican food sounds really good right now.
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One of these days I'm going to find something fun to do
A pottery or ceramics class sounds interesting.
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Weird, who is out and about at four in the morning. I'm still up but not out and about.
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Nothing is better with tomato soup, than grilled cheese
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I like to go through things every once in a while to get some giggles, but not for work.

Heck, this post resembles my brain! A jumbled mess of crazy information! LOL!

Google Reader, Lost, American Pickers

Last night I pulled up my blogger dashboard and waited for the page to load. I scrolled down and waited for more things to load, this is how far behind I am. Again I scroll down and waited, get coffee, still not done, go watch a little of a old movie, come back, still not done. I could have taken a full hours nap, just waiting for the spot I last left off with in my reader's list.

I then saw this link for the Google Reader, I guess I never had noticed it before or just ignored it. I had heard of folks using this and thought I would check it out.

Holy crap, why wasn't I informed about this long ago. I can view all the posts I had missed in half the time. I think yall were holding out on me!

I took me awhile to figure the page out, but once I did..Woohoo! I did come across some issues..like not being able to do comments directly from the Google Reader, some blogs not showing a comment box (sorry Kaylen and Grace). Kathryn's page, the comment area gave me a Internet Explorer could not display (sorry Kathryn). Other than those issues, this new (new to me)way is proving to be sooo much faster.

Hopefully, I will now be able to get caught up.

Just goes to prove that there is still soo much I am still ignorant about. Without knowing about things, I tend to stay away from them. Sometimes you just got to take a risk and learn things on your own. Thankfully, it turned out to be a good thing!

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I'm guessing that at least a few of yall watched Lost last night. I was surprised when hubby decided to watch it. We quit watching two seasons ago.

Well, the whole entire time that it was on, hubby was having acid flashbacks or something along those lines.

Hubby...those writers must be doing some really good drugs, maaan.
Yeah, yeah, that sounds gooood.
Lets throw that in to confuse them some more, maaan.
Pass that hit maaan! This is totally grooovy!
It don't matter if it all don't make sense, whooo cares!
Just leave them all guesssing!
Hit me up one more time, maaan!
Oh, yeah that's kicking it.

He went on and on...I can't remember it all, cause I was LMAO!!
He was so animated with his gestures and drawing out the words. Like I was watching Sean Penn in Fast times at Ridgemont High!
The hippie in him, came out..Big time!

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You all know how much I like finding things. The other night we watched this new show American Pickers. Oh, yeah! I like that show a lot. They go to peoples houses and try to buy junk from them. They get to rummage threw peoples junk and try to find treasures.

I once, volunteered to help this old man clean out his shop. He had boxes and boxes of stuff that people just dropped off and he was too old and disabled to keep up with it all. The best job, I ever had! I loved it!

Cottage cheese and Lovely Art.

Excuse me while I sit here and eat cottage cheese from the container (it's all mine, hubby hates the stuff) and think on what brilliant post I am going to come up with.

I feel so brain dead today.
I read some of yalls posts, it seemed like it took FOREVER.
Four hours later and still not done, I took a nap.
Did laundry and dusted.
I briefly thought about mowing the yard, naw I don't have the energy, besides it is still a little muddy.
Watched Color Splash, Spice up my Kitchen and Holmes on homes.
Talked politics with brother and mother (an hour each).
Cooked supper.
Watched NCIS.
Went to Facebook and farted around (searched and friend requested cousins)for about an hour.
Played with the dogs and cleaned up the kitchen.
I literally did nothing today.

Now here I am with nothing on my mind. It is actually kind of refreshing. Not just peace in the house but of mind too. Lovely!

Why ruin a good thing!

Here is some lovely art for yall to look at..

Award Time

100th post! I am still amazed that I actually have gotten this far. I started blogging on Myspace and I got to where I really didn't like going to myspace anymore. The advertisements were I guess too advanced for dial up, my page would freeze on me.

My daughter has a blogger page and I really liked the idea of meeting a larger and more diverse group of bloggers. So last September, I finally took the leap. Best decision I have made in a while.

I have been very lucky to have meet some really great people and I feel blessed that you all have chosen to keep me around. I know I can be a little flaky and inconsistent at times, but you still keep coming back. Blowing me away!

I received several awards lately and have been holding them for this 100th post. Not really sure why 100 is any more glamorous than any other number, maybe it's all them zero's that I wish I saw more often.

This has been a very difficult , mind wracking task. I don't have a huge list of folks to pass these awards on to. If for any reason you recieve an award you already have, I do NOT apoligize! I give them because I truly believe the are all well deserved. So get your Girl scout sash or Boy scout vest out and wear your earnt badges proudly!

I know some of yall don't have a large follow list, you don't have to pass these on if you don't want to.

Spot over at "What passes for sane on a crazy day" gave me this most delicous award!


The fine print for keeping the Happy torch lit:

A. List 10 things that make you happy.
B. Try to do at least one of them today.
C. Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day. (Tag!! You're it!)
D. For those 10 bloggers who get the award, you then link back to my blog and create your own "makes you happy" list.


10 things that make me happy...the top 10 on my mind this morning, it has been a great weekend!
1)Coffee already made on sunday mornings, when I get up. Hubby makes coffee on sunday mornings.
2)Getting out of the house, for any reason. Spent the whole day saturday out of the house.
3)Getting my truck back! Woohoo!!! Hubby and his bf fixed hubby's truck Saturday!
4)Finally getting to purchases something, I've been saving for. In just a few minutes, I will be going to get that dresser I have been pining for.
5)Nice peaceful mornings. This is pretty much every day, I love just sitting in silence and drinking my coffee.
6)Hubby laughing his butt of at either reading the comics or watching old cartoons. This is happenning right now, he is making me laugh. I rented the old Johnny Quest cartoon for him. He's loving it!
7)Visiting with my bf! I miss that gal. We spent the whole day together, crocheting, knitting, watching tv, talking non stop, playing a game of sequence, clipping dogs nails, shopping and preparing supper. Faboulous day!
8)after being gone 11 hrs, finding no puppy accidents. Good Puterheadz!!!
9)Old movies. This is all the time, anytime. I love them old movies.
10)Having bills be less than what I budgeted them for. Getting hubbies truck fixed was half the cost we had budgeted it for. Double Woohoo!!

I'm going to use this oppertunity to introduce some of the new people I have recently discovered, plus some not so recent.
And the award goes to:

1) Lucy, she is 80 yrs old and still manages to blog about the past and present times of her life.
2) Eternally Distracted , her posts on Lost in Translation, about her man Mec, are hilarious. Then there is the star Max, her cockatoo.
3) Kaylen, she's a single mom with a teenage boy, always good times.
4) Only a Movie, She's a teacher and I really like her humor.
5) Ocean Girl, She takes you to another culture and I find that very interesting.
6) Mrsbear, I love hearing about her adventures of raising kids.
7) South Dakota Cowgirl, I really like how she blogs about her experiences on a ranch, with horses, cows, and chickens.
8) Rabbit, he is truly random, you never know what he will come up with to post.
9) Bored Neoclassical Guy, I really like how he tends to throw in some history and/or science to his posts, plus he is very crafty.
10) Living, Loving, Laughing , she's just so down to earth, I relate with her a lot.



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The Best Blog Award given to me twice by Living, Loving, Laughing and by The Suburban Life !



The rules are to pass on to 15 people.

1) Zombie Mommy
2) Smart Mouthed Brod
3) What passes for sane on a crazy day
4) The Water Witch's Daughhter
5) The tired one
6) The technical Parent
7) Steph in the City
8) Sprite's Keeper
9) Ride My Mind
10) Pseudonymous High School Teacher11)
12) Menopausal New Mom
13) Life in the Slow Lane
14) Joanie's Random Ramblings
15) Islandroar

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Then another from Mindy..The Suburban Life , the Lemonade Stand.



The rules are:
- Put the Lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.
- Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.
- Link the nominees within your post.
- Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
- Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

The winners are:

1) A Valdese Blog
2) Everything is better on a stick
3) F8hasit
4) From the inside...out
5) Hugz Before You Go
6) Not Just Yer Momma
7) Redhead Ranting
8) Rockycat
9) Sas' Magical Mystery Tour
10) The Gert & Hildi Cronicles


I want to thank Spot, Mindy and Angelia for giving me these awards.

Well that's all Folks, have fun with your awards!

MY Processes of Blogging-Undecided

I was going to commit myself to "Spread the Word, Thursday" I had every intention of doing this and I did for three weeks (I think). I write my post the night before, so Wednesday evening I am sitting here and it never crosses my mind that it will post Thursday. Just a little dense that way. About halfway through my Thursday's, I will remember, proceed to feel bad, shoot myself a bad word and quickly think about going in and adding it to my post . Five minutes later, I am struggling to remember "What was it I was going to do?" If it doesn't come to me within a minute (which it doesn't), my brain moves on to something else.

I have stuff floating around in my brain all the time, either from reading other blogs, from something on the tv or happenings around me. At first when I started this blog, I would write down all these random things and most of the time I wouldn't use them anyways. So I eventually stopped doing that.

Your probably wondering "Just what is this post about?"
My answer...ummm..I'm not sure really! Maybe it is just about MY processes of blogging. Boring, I know.

I wanted to start a weekly post of random pics of things around the house, but the camera's batteries are dead and I only have one battery left, it needs three.

I thought about showing yall the wallpaper I look at everyday, I thought it was a neat idea. Till I thought "How legal is that?", Can't you get in trouble for putting someone elses work on your site, without their permission?" So, alas I won't be showing you it, until I get confirmation that it is not breaking some kind of rule/law. Not sure how to get the permission, since I can't even remember where I got it.

Then there was the fleeting idea of writing about the weather, but seriously it's pretty much cold everywhere. If not, please don't tell me! I already have huge envy for those with central heat, right now! I don't need to add to the envy, people with natural heat.

I also thought about Stephanie's post about "Getting More Blog Readers" (if you haven't had the luxury of reading her blog, treat yourself on my dime, I'll still be here when you get back).

I thought it was an interesting assignment, but I don't think my dial-up would be able to handle a huge readership like hers. So, I shot that idea down. It's a miracle I manage as many blogs as I do. BTW..did ya notice I'm up to 20 followers. That just happened today, thank you Suzicate! She's another one you should take the time to visit.

Well, since I have put you through the post about indecision of what to post, I will leave you with this:


One of the presents I got from MIL, at Christmas. Check out those eyes! Yup, that's me!

Belated Thursday

Since I forgot yesterday was Thursday, I will pretend it is today.

My Spread the Word Thursday..persons of the week are..

Stephanie! When I was over at Myspace, she was the most popular blogger I had the privilege of following and enjoying. I was checking out Funny is the New Young and saw her pic in the comments. I had to check to be sure and sure enough it was her. I was surprised and happy to had found her here in blogland. It was like finding an old friend! I think her writing always has a tinge of thought provoking, witty and sincere. Not the greatest description, I'm not too good with my adjectives.

Check her out! I think you will like her.

She surprised me last night, I was playing catch up with everybodies blogs (I missed 2 days worth). She had linked me because of one of my comments and created a post out of it. I was in shock and excited, the blood rushed to my face! I was so childishly giddy! I'm pretty sure that if I had been taped, I would have won on Funniest Videos. Hubby was looking at me like I had lost it! I still get freakishly giddy when little old me gets linked, silly I know but I can't help myself!

I was over at Technical Parent's blog and was directed over to Crown of Thistles. He has a thing going on, on Thursday's called "TMI Thursday", it is a day to write your embarrassing things. Technical Parent has decided to give it a whirl, very funny! Crown of Thistles has done a lot of them and they are also very funny!

Well, I guess that is it, for this belated Thursday.

Now go check these people out!