PRAYING FOR A CURE

I'm praying that a cure will be found soon so all the little girls will grow up not having to worry about breast cancer. Don't forget to click for free mammograms on my sidebar.

I LIKE THE WAY SHE THINKS

"My next house will have no kitchen - just vending machines and a large trash can."

MIXED FEELING

My Day ~
Flat Tire on the way to breakfast - so frustrating!
Breakfast with Mom and Sherry at our favorite bagel shop - yummy!
Shopping to help Sherry find something to wear to a wedding - yeah, success!
More games of Rummikub - yep, again!
Cocktails - red wine with vidalia onion dip and toasted asiago bread - soooo good!
Dinner - George grilled burgers and Sherry made her famous baked beans - delish!


I have mixed feeling tonight. Smiling and happy, but just a little teary.
I just said goodnight and goodbye to my Mom and Aunt a little while ago. The are leaving in the morning before we get home from church, so they went back to the condo to start their packing.

It's been a wonderful week. I miss them already and they haven't even left town, but it will also be nice to return to "my life"...I guess you know what I mean. I have lots of catching up to do. I haven't exercised in over a week. I've over eaten everyday. Etc. Etc.... But mostly I need to spend some quality time with George. He's so wonderful and understanding when the girls are here. He really, really is. I think he enjoys having some quiet time and he gets to meet friends for lunch, play lots of golf and tennis, etc., but after a full week, I'm sure he too is ready for things to get back to normal.

But...I'm still gonna miss Mom and Sherry.

YET ANOTHER DAY OF FOOD AND GAMES

Oh yes, more food, fun and games today. This morning Mom, Sherry and I met our friend, Pauline, for breakfast at Another Broken Egg. Pauline had heart surgery about six weeks ago and this was the first time Mom and Sherry have seen her since the surgery. We had a long breakfast and then we all went back to my house for a day of games. We taught Pauline how to play Ninety-nine or Bust and Rummikub. Then she taught us how to play Cranium. And last, but not least, we played Mexican Train dominos.

We stopped long enough for lunch. Mom made one of my favorites... a pot of Cream of Potato soup. Yum! We topped each bowl off with grated cheese and a dollop of sour cream and served it along with toasted asiago cheese bread and sweet ice tea. It was a fun day and I really think Pauline enjoyed getting out.

More excitement with Miss Daisy today ~ George took her for a golf cart ride this afternoon while we were playing games. He stopped at an Open House to speak with a Realtor friend and Daisy hopped off and was running around and ended up falling in the pond. He came home and put her in our fenced backyard and came in to let me know what had happened. I had to stop in the middle of a game and give her a bath and then take a shower myself and change clothes. What a mess she was...full of twigs, leaves and sandy dirt.... YUK!

Never dull around here....

And even though things are piling up and there's lots of other things I could be doing besides playing games, it's "time well wasted" as I wrote in this post back last December. I love this verse from the song "Time Well Wasted" by Brad Paisley:

It was time well wasted

And there's no way I'd trade a few more things that I could've crossed off my list

For a day I'll never forget

No, I didn't get a thing done

But I sure soaked up every minute of the memory we were makin'

And I count it all as time well wasted

ANOTHER BUSY DAY

Wow, the days are going by so fast. It seems like there's just not enough time in the day. Life is good though.

By the time, I made the bed and did a few chores around the house, including some laundry, it was time to shower and get dressed for yet another luncheon this week :-)

The first luncheon for a ladies fellowship group (to be named later) met today at Cowgirl Kitchen in Seagrove. This was an informal gathering to encourage the woman of our church and community to further grow in our Christian relationships together. We plan to meet once a month. It was a small group today, but we're hoping to grow as the word gets out.

After lunch, I went to the salon for a quick haircut and then an even quicker trip to the grocery store. By the time I got home and changed clothes, Mom and Sherry returned from shopping.

This afternoon, our game of choice was Sequence. Fun, fun, fun, even though I didn't win often.

Tonight, we had our friend, Jack, over for dinner since Linda is out of town. He and George grilled Italian sausages and we had Hogie sandwiches of sausage, peppers and onions covered with marinara sauce. Yum! Sandwiches, chips and pickles...an easy, but yummy dinner.

I'm way behind on my blog reading and commenting, but things will calm down soon! I appreciate all your comments and I miss visiting you, but I'll catch up soon.

CLEARING THINGS UP

LOL!

Oh my, I forget sometimes, that not everyone knows what hushpuppies are! I woke up this morning to find several e-mails wondering what a "hushpuppy" was after reading my post from last night.

Hushpuppies (or hush puppies) are distinctly Southern food. I've always heard the story that the American slaves used the scraps they were fed mixed with other ingredients to create hushpuppies so they could be fed to the dogs in order to get them to "hush".

Hushpuppies are small cornmeal breads that are deep fried in a round or oblong shape. In my family, we make them round. The usual ingredients are cornmeal, flour, eggs, salt, baking soda, milk, water. We love to add corn and onion in ours. Some southerners add peppers. The batter is mixed until it is thick and then it is dropped in hot vegetable oil. I can remember as a child watching my grandmother cook these. She would dip her spoon into a bowl of warm water, slide some mixture onto the spoon and gently drop it into the oil, then back into the water before making the next one. The water cleans the spoon and makes the next one easier to slide off and into the oil. It fascinated me to watch her cook these and then wait until one had cooled enough for me to eat. You can tell if the oil is hot enough when the hushpuppy floats to the surface. When they are golden brown, we drain them on a paper towel to absorb some of the oil. Yum-Oh! I love mine dipped in a little ketsup.

In my opinion, you can't sit down at a southern table and eat fried catfish or fried shrimp without having hushpuppies. No ma'am! Truth be told, the hushpuppies and fried catfish go together like soap and water.

ARTS AND CATFISH

Another busy day. I spent the morning catching up on things around the house and ended up having to rush to get out the door for the Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation luncheon. It was wonderful getting to see lots of friends and the food was very good. I can't believe I left the camera in the car.

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This afternoon Mom and Sherry and I played Rummikub. We haven't played this in awhile and really enjoyed it.




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Tonight we had a good old southern fish fry. Yum-oh! Fried catfish, coleslaw, french fries, hushpuppies, tarter sauce, pickles and onion, and, of course, sweet tea. Garrett and Jeanette joined us and Garrett (our South Carolina friend) made banana pudding.

FUN, FOOD, GAMES, FEAR, JOY AND DANCING

Barbara and Jeanette always come to play games with us when Mom and Sherry are visiting, but today they made it another day for celebrating my birthday.

Here we are loading up our plates....there was sooooo much food!
Playing Mexican Train. All aboard!

Yum!
I have the best friends!


It's hard to tell in this photo, but Jeanette and Barbara gave me a beautiful tennis skirt with matching jacket and shirt. I love the color. I was having a bit of trouble trying to hold up all three pieces.

George played golf, but enjoyed the food when he got home.

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Miss Daisy gave us a real scare tonight and it wasn't even her fault. After we walked everyone to their car tonight and came back into the house, we couldn't find Miss Daisy ANYWHERE. We called and went in every room. We were frantic, to say the least. I called the front gate and alerted security to help us look and told George to get on the golf cart and start riding around to look for her since Daisy LOVES the golf cart. I called friends to help us and then I got in my car and went out. It was so dark that it was hard to see. Something told me she just wouldn't have run out the door so I came home and starting looking again and calling her. Nothing. Then a lightbulb went off in my head. I opened the pantry door and there she was. In the dark, but waiting patiently for us. (Her food is kept in there and I guess when we were cleaning up the kitchen and putting things away, she went inside and the door got closed.) By this time, security, George and our friends were all pulling back up to the house. I was in tears...from the stress and the joy! We learned a valuable lesson though. She did not have her collar on. Never again.

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We used our Tivo and saved Dancing With The Stars until everyone left and the kitchen was back in order. Tonight was awesome! My personal favorite was Helio Castroneves and his partner Julianne Hough! Helio is a native of Brazil and is a two time Indianapolis 500 winner. I'm not a racing fan, so I didn't know who he was, but I was very impressed with him. Good looking, charming and very smooth on the floor. Julianne was the winner last session and she is incredible. I love this show!

What a great day!

50 PROMISES FOR MARRIAGE

50 Promises For Marriage
This was posted by Joan on her blog and I just had to post it too. I think it's a wonderful reminder for us all. Hope you enjoy it too.

1. Start each day with a kiss.

2. Wear your wedding ring at all times.

3. Date once a week.

4. Accept differences.

5. Be polite.

6. Be gentle.

7. Give gifts.

8. Smile often.

9. Touch.

10. Talk about dreams.

11. Select a song that can be "our song".

12. Give back rubs.

13. Laugh together.

14. Send a card for no reason.

15. do what the other person wants before he or she asks.

16. Listen.

17. Encourage.

18. Do it his or her way.

19. Know his or her needs.

20. Fix the other person's breakfast.

21. Compliment twice a day.

22. Call during the day.

23. Slow down.

24. Hold hands.

25. Cuddle.

26. Ask for each other's opinion.

27. Show respect.

28. Welcome the other person home.

29. Look your best.

30. Wink at each other.

31. Celebrate birthdays in a big way.

32. Apologize.

33. Forgive.

34. Set up a romantic getaway.

35. Ask, "What can I do to make you happier?".

36. Be positive.

37. Be kind.

38. Be vulnerable.

39. Respond quickly to the other person's request.

40. Talk about your love.

41. Reminisce about your favorite times together.

42. Treat each other's friends and relatives with courtesy.

43. Send flowers every Valentine's day and anniversary.

44. Admit when wrong.

45. Be sensitive to each other's sexual desires.

46. Pray for each other daily.

47. Watch sunsets together.

48. Say "I love you" frequently.

49. End the day with a hug.

50. Seek outside help when needed.

55 TODAY ~ YIKES!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes today! Wow...I got so many e-mails, comments, birthday cards, e-cards, phone calls (some with singing), gifts, etc. Thank you, thank you!

Yummy grilled grouper sandwiches! Sherry, Mom and I had lunch at The Back Porch right by the window so this was our view:
A gorgeous day and the beach wasn't crowded at all!

After lunch we went back to the condo and played lots of these games:

Tonight George grilled some delicious steaks and we watched the season premier of Dancing With The Stars. Love this show! My favorite so far is Jane Seymour! So beautiful, so classy and she's close to my age....LOL! We more mature ladies need to stick together!

SUNDAY

Yeah! My Mom and Aunt arrived today for the week. We played games all afternoon and then went to Dewey Destin Seafood tonight for fried shrimp baskets and ate right on the pier. Yummy! George and Miss Daisy stayed home and were slugs on the couch watching football. Yuk! Between a choice of shrimp or football, shrimp wins every time!
Mom and Sherry - Don't they look happy to be at the beach!? Or is it the fried shrimp...hmmmmm



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What's your sign?

I'm a Libra...The Scales

September 24 to October 23

Traditional Libra Traits:

Diplomaitic and urbane
Romantic and charming
Easygoing and sociable
Idealistic and peaceable

Sounds good, right? But we're also:

Indecisive and changeable
Gullible and easily infuenced
Flirtatious and self-indulgent

I have to admit, I'm a little of it all.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Okay, I decided my blog needed a new look for Fall. What do you think? Be honest...I can take it!

I'LL KEEP LOOKING UP

Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but FAITH looks up.

Okay, just when you're soaring and unbelievably happy, life sometimes throw you a curve. You get "sucker punched".

We were so happy because we finally got a contract on our condo on the beach that we have been trying to sell for over a year. They made an offer, we countered, they countered back, we agreed and the contract was signed. They were anxious to close right away and even scheduled the inspection and termite inspection the very next day. The results of the inspections are not even in yet. But we have received word that they are backing out. There is only one way legally that they can do this and they are doing it. The law states that you have 3 days from the time you receive the condo documents to read them and if you're not happy in any way then you can walk away from the table. And they are walking. And, legally they don't even have to explain. Our Realtor says she has never had this happen before.

We are devastated. It's hard not to ask "why?". It's hard not to worry. But, I have faith that God will take care of us. I have faith that there is a lesson He is teaching us. I have faith. But, we're hurting.

MY SIGN

This was fun. To make your own, click here.