Happy Halloween III

I posted all these pictures to show everyone how my daughter has progressed from fairy tales to gothic horror over the years in her taste for Halloween costumes. She inherited her love of dress up on Halloween from me as you can see from the pictures.

The vampires are my daughter Shannon and her boyfriend Will. Then you can see pictures of me in costume as "Miss Piggy," and her side-kick "Kermit," "Cleopatra," "Witchy Poo," "Homey, the Clown," and "Mimi," from the Drew Carey Show. One of the pictures of Mimi was taken with "Rick and Bubba," the radio talk show hosts. The other pictures of Mimi are with my "ex" dressed as Drew Carey of course, and one with a host of goblins from work. Other costumes that I don't have pictures of, I dressed up as, "The Court Jester," "Dinner for Two," and "Scarlett O'Horror." Hope you like looking at all the pics.

Trick or Treat y'all...

Happy Halloween II (You must have known there would be a sequel)

Happy Halloween!

How did you spend your day today?

I spent my day picking up, cracking, and shelling pecans. Most of the pecans have not even fallen off the trees yet, and we have fifteen trees. I have picked up two 5 gallon buckets full under just two of the trees.

I understand that this is a good year for our pecan trees. I am going to try and keep up with how many buckets we pick up. There is a company nearby which put up signs at the end of the road noting that they would buy pecans. We may check into how much they will pay. A guy at the co-op told me that you can get up to 70 cents per pound unshelled/cracked. I think that would mean a good windfall, but I like to keep them. Good for cooking (especially fudge and divinity).

We are going to watch "Million Dollar Baby" tonight. We joined Netflix. I like it so far. For $9.99/month we get one movie at a time and we can keep the movie as long as we want with no late fee. Then when we send it back we get another movie from our queue. I have 48 movies in our queue. We try to watch the movie as soon as possible so we can see as many movies in the month as possible to get our money's worth. We are ordering pizza pie.

So here's pie in your eye...(pecan pie or pizza pie, take your choice)

Putting in a fireplace

Eddie is taking the vinyl siding off the front porch. He decided since natural gas prices were gonna be so high this winter, he was going to add a fireplace to our living room. So he's just outside prepping. We ordered a pre-fab and it came in this week.

Now a reminder, he still hasn't finished with the foundation for the shop or the gazebo. So I guess the old addage that says the carpenter's house is always the one that needs the most work is true. That's not totally the truth. He just needs to finish what he has started. I do agree with him that the fireplace should usurp the other two for priority since the temps are reaching down into the low 30's at night.

He promised me he would build me a beautiful mantle to go over the fireplace. I can't wait to see what he makes. He is very talented. The pictures of the mantle above is of one that he made for another couple's fireplace. I am very lucky to be married to my good 'ole country boy. He is my Superman, he can do anything. As Hank, Jr. sings "A Country Boy Can Survive," that fits Eddie to a tee. Yeah...

Lizard in the laundry room

I found a lizard in the laundry room or maybe I should say it found me. I can't decide who froze in one position for the longest amount of time, me or the lizard. It finally twitched it's tail, which threw me into high gear. Clothes went up in the air as I went flying out of the room, yelling for Eddie to come get the lizard. He leisurely walked in and picked it up by it's tail and took it outside. He said that he would not kill it because lizards kill bugs and that is a pet peeve of his, bugs!

I don't know why such a small scaly-skinned reptile can reek such havoc in my heart, but I somehow inevitably let the critters get to me. I am so glad Eddie was able to catch it, so now I can go wash the clothes. If he had not caught it, I might have had to start wearing dirty clothes. LOL (just kidding).

Another little drama in the life of...this 'ole country girl.

Hope you have a good evening.

It was chilly today and I think I might make some chili for supper

I think I will make some chili, it's that time of year for some good homemade chili. I like to pour my chili over some mashed potatoes and then top it off with cheddar cheese and oyster crackers.

I also like to pour my chili over Tostito chips with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cheese to make a taco salad, but I like to have that in the warmer months.

It was 31 degrees this morning at my house and only got up to about 66 today. So I have on my warm fuzzy house slippers, flannel pajama pants and long sleeved flannel pajama top. My pajamas have a snowmen print on them. And if you know me, you know how much I love snowmen.

I think I will go for now, because I have to go start making the chili. See all of you tomorrow.

Today is my dear hubby's birthday (55 years)

Eddie's daughter, her husband and son, my daughter, Eddie and I went to Longhorn's Steak House on Friday, October 21st, to celebrate his 55th birthday. We had a great time. Eddie got the Flo's Filet and Lobster Tail. He enjoyed his birthday, although he said this was the last one he was going to celebrate. Over the weekend, my daughter visited and we enjoyed her being here. I also had a flare-up of my back problems and was not really up to blogging. So this blog is to catch you up on the events of my life since last Wednesday. Hope all of you have had a good week. I'll blog again tomorrow.

Stuck in the middle with you

Here it is right smack dab in the middle of the week and I am stuck in the middle of it with you.

Maybe not stuck, but we can't do a thing to change it.

I guess right now I am counting my blessings that I will not be in South Florida come this Saturday when Hurricane Wilma comes through.

I wish I could have gone somewhere and bought some powerball tickets for the $340 million. I can't imagine what I would possibly do with $340 million, but I sure know what I wouldn't do. I wouldn't have to work anymore. I wouldn't have to worry about paying bills. I wouldn't have to cook/clean house, because I would hire a full-time chef and maid.

I think Eddie and I would go on a honeymoon vacation. If I could get him to go, we might even go to Australia.

Oh well, I will try to wake up from this pipe dream.

I'll just stay stuck in the middle with you...

Not Feeling Well

I am not feeling so good today. I either have a stomach bug or a touch of food poisoning. I hope it goes away soon.

Because of feeling like this, I really don't have much to say.

Eddie is installing the cabinets he built at the customer's house this week. He is also involved in getting the foundation and slab done for the shop. So he is busy. He is still outside with the guy who hauled in a load of dirt for him. Eddie really knows how to barter and trade. I like his style.

I will go for now, keep me in your thoughts and prayers that I quickly get over this temporary illness.

See ya...

Monday! Monday!

Well, I am not the Mama's and the Papa's, but I am a momma. I guess that is my claim to fame.

Today was an ordinary work day. After I finished working, I went to Wal-Mart. I got back just in time to watch Surface, my current favorite TV show. It was really good tonight, but the previews for next week were awesome.

I am gonna go for now, because my supper is ready and after that, Eddie and I are going to go gaze at the full moon.

Until Tuesday...

Just Chillin'

Today was a very laid back day. I spent the day reading a book, watching television, washing some clothes and taking a nap.

Eddie and I are watching The Food Network. It seems to be our favorite at the moment.

We plan to make some chicken for supper. I like it that he can cook and helps me prepare our meals. Our kitchen is very small, we hope to expand soon, but right now we work well together in our small kitchen. It is very cozy for the two of us.

I commented to a couple of posts on my daughter's MySpace.com blog today and also commented on her boyfriend's blog as well, so now I have a new way of contacting them.

My daughter is supposed to be visiting Eddie and I this coming up weekend. This is a reminder hint for her. She is supposed to take care of work so they will let her have this weekend off. She is coming down to help me celebrate Eddie's birthday. His birthday is not until October 25th, but this is the weekend before, so that is the best we can do. I hope to get him to go out to dinner with his daughter and her family, Shannon and I. I also hope to get some good pictures to post.

Well it is getting dark down here, so I need to go get the dogs in. It's time to start on supper as well.

So, this is one day in the life of...

I am actually scrappin'!!!!

Above is the scrap-page I have completed so far. I am not gonna post too much, because I want to get back in my scrap room while I have the creative juices flowing. I just wanted you to see what I had accomplished so far. A friend of mine would say that my MOJO is back. I really didn't know I had lost it, but the way I feel right now, I guess I had misplaced it. LOL Boy howdy, it is back with a vengeance!

The pic above is of my sweet baby girl. She won the pink panther in a raffle when we lived out in San Antonio, Texas. The girl is the apple of my eye. I love her so and yes she is the most beautiful girl in all the world. She is my beautiful little sweetie pea. However, she is not that little anymore. Sigh! She is all grown up.

P.S. (ROLLLLLLLL TIDE!)

TGIF! Thank goodness it's Friday

HeHeHe! Oh joy, it's another weekend. I get to sleep in. I can do what I want to for a couple of days or I don't have to do anything at all. La-Di-Da (or LahDeeDah, if your from the south!)

I am happy, can you tell? I am at home with my hubby and we are watching Emeril Live. He is making Nacho's, but kicking it up a notch, as he puts it. Usually that means more spicy than normal.

I am trying to talk Eddie into going out to eat tonight. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

The dogs have been fed and the chickens have gone to roost, so now Momma can play. I would say daughter is taken care of too, but how would I know, she's 120 miles away and I haven't talked to her for a couple of days. Anyways I'm sure she is fine, if she wasn't I would have heard about it by now.

So back to what's going on tonight. If I can't get him to go out to eat, we will make something quick and easy and watch the new The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler. We watched the old one with Burt Reynolds the other night. So I want to see the suttle differences from one to the next.

I had a really good day at work. My supervisor gave me my appraisal and noted that I was doing good work. She said that the judges had complimented my work. I am very pleased.

So I will go for now, Ciao!

Johnsonville Brats are the best!

First, I just want to apologize that I did not get up early this morning to get any photos of the foggy hayfield. I slept late, sorry. Now that I have groveled for your forgiveness, I will get to the purpose of my post.

If you have never tasted a Johnsonville Brat, you need to go to the grocery store right now and pick up a pack. I like the Beer-N-Bratwurst best, but the Italian style are good too!

You can grill them outside on the grill with peppers/onions/tomatoes and serve them over rice, or you can brown them in a skillet inside and make sausage dogs with onions and mustard on a hot dog bun. Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmmmm, Mmmmm, Mm! I'm sure there are other ways to prepare them too!

We had some sausage dogs last night and then I had leftovers today for lunch. I just love 'em. Eddie likes the sausage over rice better than the dogs, and if truth be known he would rather have fish anyway. It's a wonder he doesn't have a set of gills after eating as much fish as he does. But that is another story altogether.

Gotta love them dawgs (Johnsonville Brats, that is!), but being such a Bama fan I don't mean the Georgia bulldogs.

See ya'll soon...

Fog is what I woke up to this morning

The past two mornings it has been very foggy. I guess that's appropriate since I live near a swamp. Looking out my back window, I could not see the hayfield for all the fog. The weatherman says it is to be foggy again tomorrow morning. I hope to wake up early and go take some pictures to post.

I think that the fog has also creeped in to my brain. I feel quite foggy, or as my daughter used to say, "froggy." I am sitting here, not reading, not watching the television, just vegging out. I feel just like I am in a fog.

In a minute, when I get through with my post, I have to go write bills, maybe that is what has put me in such a blah mood. I am still waiting on the weather to cool off. We have been having mid 80's, that's just too warm for mid October. Maybe when it finally cools off, I will then get more energetic and less "froggy."

When will someone come up with a use for used cardboard boxes and all those Styrofoam peanuts?

Every time we receive something we have ordered by mail, we have left over cardboard boxes full of those Styrofoam peanuts. I know everyone else at some point has had to deal with all those peanuts and the extra cardboard boxes, too.

We burn ours, unless we decide to save some of the smaller ones to wrap up our personal Christmas presents to each other, but those that we decide to keep seem to take up a lot of space. Also, the ones we burn cannot be burnt on windy days or days that there is a no-burn order. So they just seem to multiply. If there is a no-burn order, we try to tear them down flat, and throw them away. And everybody knows how hard it is to throw away Styrofoam peanuts. The garbage man opens the garbage can and out flies all the Styrofoam pieces all over the yard. Sigh! I hate picking up Styrofoam peanuts.

It seems that my mind is cluttered with problems concerning all these cardboard boxes. Some of my friends and family might say my mind is full of cardboard and/or Styrofoam anyway, unless they still stress that it is just full of cobwebs or air. LOL

It's just perplexing, though. We should be able to use the cardboard and/or Styrofoam for some purpose, like insulation or (if the peanuts would hold water) maybe use them for filler combined with soil for your garden to help keep your plants moistened. Maybe we could start making cardboard clothes, but we couldn't wear them if it was raining.

Please tell me that somebody is on this problem and trying to come up with a solution. Or if there already is a solution would somebody please clue me in.

This problem seems to have me boxed in...

A Good Holiday!

Today was a good day.

I went to see my dear daughter and meet her boyfriend, Will. I had a really nice time. She gave me the video camera back and I took her some Halloween decorating stuff because she and her friend April are planning a party.

I took her a few Dean Koontz books too! She has finally found out that his books are great. She cannot read enough of his books. It's just a lucky thing that I have almost every book he has ever written. I think there may be just a few that I don't have.

I forget how much traffic there is in the big city, living in the country as I do now. It was kinda hairy coming back home after dark. My sweet hubby didn't want me driving after dark and I can understand why.

I truly enjoyed my day, hope you enjoyed yours.

Any given Sunday!

Isn't that the name of a movie? Well I have to say my life is nothing like a movie, but it might make a good book. I have always wanted to write a book, but I just never felt like I had what it took to write one.

It is Sunday and Eddie and I worked on the foundation for the shop again today. Well mostly Eddie, I just moved a little dirt back up against the concrete blocks. A lot more dirt needs to be moved. Eddie can hardly move and he needs to go take a hot shower so he will feel better.

The weatherman was wrong again today, he said it was going up to 79 degrees and because the clouds did not move out today as he predicted, the temperature did not reach but 65 at the most. It was very overcast and damp. Don't get me wrong I am not complaining, I love this kind of weather, but when will the meterologists realize that they cannot predict something as unpredictable as the weather. It's somewhat funny to me how they don't have a clue about what the weather is going to do and I still am crazy enough to believe them and I will go somewhere and not take an umbrella or a sweater because I had listened to them. You'd think I would have learned by now.

I'm gonna go watch some television with my hubby. I hope you guys have a wonderful Sundae, I mean Sunday.

Gone shopping...

Eddie needed some bags of pre-mix mortar for the foundation of the shop. We are 30 miles from the nearest "Cash & Carry," so I had to go, because he was laying more block. There is a Super Wal-Mart in the same area as the C & C, so I forced myself to go shopping. LOL! I bought a blouse, some scrapbooking supplies, and a movie.

Oh yeah, I bought some paper plates too! I don't like to wash dishes and even though we have a dishwasher, it does a crummy job and we end up washing the dishes to get them clean. So I compromised! I wash the glasses and pots and pans, but I make Eddie wash the silverware, then neither of us has to wash plates because we use paper and throw them away.

I looked through some old pictures this afternoon, some made me laugh and some made me sad. The pictures that made me sad were of Mother, Daddy, Chester, Toto, and Pixie. I found a few that I want to make into a scrapbook page. I might try doing a page tomorrow.

I guess I will sign off for another day.

Gone to the dogs!

I decided my post would include a picture of my puppies. From L to R, their names are Potter, Coconut, and Peanut. My two yorkshire terriers and my maltese. In this photo, I had taken them to get a free bath sponsored by the local Humane Society at the Pet Supplies Plus and found out they were taking pictures at the back of the store. I loved the way they posed for the photo.

It rained all day today and it has turned cool tonight with the rain stopping about an hour or so ago. We turned off the air conditioners and opened the windows to let in some fresh cool air. It really feels good.

Isn't it great to get to Friday night, the end of the workweek, and realize that the following Monday is a holiday (Columbus day). Thank you Christopher Columbus.

I hope everyone is having a fine Friday night. I am gonna go watch a movie.

So until tomorrow...

Karen Carpenter said it all, "Rainy Days and Thursdays always get me down."

Well, that's not all true, she actually said, "Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down." And anyways I'm not really down, just today was so dreary and I had to be at the office inside four walls all day. Whew! I am glad to be home.

We are making a vegetable plate for supper tonight. Fresh corn on the cob, collards, lima beans, sliced tomatoes/onions and cornbread. Doesn't that sound yummy? Guess what, I didn't have to cook it either. My wonderful hubby cooked for me tonight. He made my day, but then again he makes my day everyday.

Hopefully this weekend it will quit raining and we will get a little chill from the cold front moving in. Then it will truly feel like fall and that it is truly October. I can't wait. I love this kind of weather. I can finally start rummaging around outside again.

I hope to take advantage of the cooler weather and take some good pictures. It may even inspire me to write a poem. Maybe I will even share. Who knows? It depends on how the mood hits me.

So until next time...That's all folks!

My crazy free-range chicken, Henny Penny!

I have approximately 24 laying chickens. Very early on one of the chickens was being pecked by some of the other chickens in the pen and I decided to let her run free, so they would not peck her to death, as chickens will do.

I named the crazy chicken, Henny Penny. She wanders all around the yard and roosts at night on top of the chicken pen. She likes to eat dog food and is not scared of my three dogs in the least. She sticks her head in their pen trying to eat their food. She actually likes to harass the dogs as much as she can.

One day, I could not locate Henny Penny. I called and called and I could not find her anywhere. I assumed the worst that a dog, fox, or hawk had gotten her. I was walking back up to the house when I saw the chicken feed sack we had sitting on the front porch wiggle. I was first mindful that it might be a chicken snake, but then thought better of it, because if it had been a chicken snake it would have been in the chicken house eating eggs, not rummaging around in the feed sack. So I looked inside and there sat Henny Penny. I could not fathom why she would be sitting in the feed sack. Later that day, my husband, Eddie went out to the front porch and looked in the sack and found an egg.

My crazy free-range chicken has started laying her eggs in the chicken feed sack. She sits in the sack and pecks at the food while she lays her eggs. Don't that just beat all. I thought ya'll would not believe me, so I took a picture. Above is a picture of my crazy chicken in the feed sack.

So don't count your chickens, until you look in the feed sack...

As the saying goes, "No News is Good News!"

Today was such a mild, bland day in the life of this country girl that I don't really have anything to post.

Alright, I know all of you are disappointed, but some days it's just gonna happen.

I worked from home today and other than a package being delivered by DHL, the garbage being picked up, the mail being delivered and a ton of telemarketer calls, it was a very bland, vanilla kind of day. I fed the chickens and the puppies and that was about it.

So until tomorrow...

Journaling!

I have just figured out that my daily blog (the bits that I write about my day to day existence) are actual attempts at journaling. My daughter has journaled for years and I have always been envious. Now here I am actually journaling myself.

Today, I feel a little bit melancholy. Don't get me wrong, my life is filled with happiness. It's just this time of year is hard on me because I miss my mother so much. I wish I had her to talk to. I would love to tell her of all the things that have happened since she had to leave.

I have been having dreams about her lately and I have been thinking about her a lot. A long ago memory surfaced in my recollection and I would like to share it with you. I believe this memory occurred when I was approximately five or six years old.

I remember lying on one of the bleachers at Wahoma Ball Park while my two older brothers were playing Little League (my daddy was one of the coaches). It was a warm summer night and the field lights were glaring down on the baseball diamond. I was getting a little sleepy and I had sprawled out on the wooden bleacher with my head lying on my mother's thigh. She was wearing shorts and I lazily ran my hand up around under the bleachers seat, rubbing the palm of my hand up and down against the back of her leg. I could feel the soft prickle of fine stubble which had grown since she had last shaved her legs. It wasn't real prickly, more like soft fuzz. I had closed my eyes to lessen the glare of the field lights from across the other side of the ball field and in doing so, my sense of hearing, smell, and touch had become much more acute. I remember her thigh was soft and cool against the hot skin of my cheek and the scent of her, soft and sweet, just like perfume, engulfed me, lulling me into a sweet dream. I heard the summer night sounds in the background, the wind soughing through the trees, the music of the crickets and cicadas chirping, somewhat muting the louder noises coming from the players chattering on the field and the voices of the crowd rooting them on in the stands. I was so young, happy, innocent, unafraid, and carefree. I remember nothing else mattered to me other than I had my head lying in the lap of the most important person in the world to me. No one on earth has ever made me feel more special than my mother made me feel. She was the dearest person to me.

That moment in time is etched in my brain more than some 40 years later, and I remember it as if it happened yesterday. I wish I had my Momma here with me today, but she is gone and all I have are my memories. I bring them out from time to time, just to feel the aura of her presence surround me. Thoughts and memories of her are with me everyday and I miss her. I miss the friendship and companionship we shared.

Now that I have totally bored you with my reminiscing, I will sign off. I wish all of you a very wonderful weekend, what there is left of it.

Starting work on the shop

Here is a pic of Eddie at the site of his soon-to-be workshop. He started working on the foundation, laying block.

Before the games start today, he is out in the side yard right now laying some block. He mixed up some ready-made mortar mix with water. I went out and helped him move some block into place.

We should be finished with the foundation by the end of October, so we can then start on the building.

As we go I will take pic's to post to let you see how it is going. It is still really warm outside and I told him not to get too hot.

Until next time. See ya!