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4.30.2010

But I DID use a level… AND a RULER!

I take lot of pictures. I mean LOTS of them and I never seem to print them off and actually do something with them.

That’s all changing though.

Recently when pilfering through some junk impeccably organized drawers, I happened upon some photo paper. Letter size, high gloss, Kodak photo paper to be exact.

I printed off about 10 photos I really liked. Bought some el’cheapo frames from the Dollar Tree and hung them up.

I must say I was VERY proud of myself. I snapped a quick picture with my cell and sent it to Chris. I just knew he would think it looked awesome.

It looks good for not using a level and a ruler” was his EXACT response.

I think a little piece of me died right there because you know what….

I DID use a level… AND a RULER!

See for yourself. The tops of each are level. I promise!



I think the reason they look a little wonky is because the red and black frames are slightly different. I think the red ones may be just a little smaller, hence the crooked look on the bottom.

But can you believe what he said!! Grrrr… the nerve!

I messaged him back.

Um… I did use a level and ruler

His response??

HA HA…. funny

I know! (I am imagining you with your jaw on the floor like mine was… just humor me, will ‘ya!)

So what do you think? Is it really that laughable?

I have more to hang up too. Maybe this time I won’t use a level and ruler just to see how they come out. I’ll keep you posted!



4.29.2010

And I am just finding out about this why?...

Shut the front door… you have got to be kidding me.

I just read on a blog about this nifty little thing called Windows Live Writer. Ummm… hello? Why hasn’t anyone told me of this thing before?

I LOVE IT!

Mainly because I love this font. Yes, this one. Don’t you like it so much better than that other font.

Bleh. It’s boring. Arial is and was BORING.

But I can insert stuff, link stuff, map stuff and um.. do more stuff….

Why this could change the whole way I blog!

Oh my goodness. I just saw where it imported all my categories! I am in hog heaven right now.

To show you how happy I am, I am including a picture of our new pet.




HA HA HA HA HA…. he’s not really our new pet. He/She is a coypu, or nutria if you wish. There are like a gazillion of them in our pond right now and they are eating all our grass in the backyard.

Don’t you just love his pearly whites oranges?

4.27.2010

Totally and utterly random

Do you ever just run out of stuff to say? I have sat here looking at this cursor blinking for over an hour.

Thinking of what to say...

I don't know what direction to take with this blog. A lot has changed over the year.

I do still pinch pennies, but it's in a totally different way.

I rarely clip coupons anymore.

I shop once, maybe twice a month, if at all.

I have such a good stockpile of food here, I only need to purchase milk, eggs and cheese.

and you know what... I love it!

With Chris being gone 5 to 6 weeks at a time, I don't get any alone time without the kids. I know that sounds like I am trying to pawn my kids off on someone, but taking kids to the grocery store is NOT my idea of fun.

2 buggies + 3 kids = no fun for mom. ( At least for me)

I am now going against everything I once did. My rules were no shopping on the weekends, don't buy it if I don't have a coupon, only buy if on sale, etc.

I ONLY shop on the weekends now. It's just easier to have Caitlin helping me and since she is in public school now, she isn't free during the week.

I don't even buy Sunday papers anymore. I used to buy at least 5. Too time consuming now for me.

I do still try to buy only if on sale, but I now buy what my kids will eat and if it's not on sale, oh well. Some thing else will get cut from the list.

I need to get back into the habit of menu planning. That really helped me out when I was doing it, especially on the weeks that Chris leaves. My brain turns to mush for about a week after he leaves. Just trying to get back into the swing of things wears me out. I mope around for a few days feeling sorry for myself and crying up a storm. But then I usually snap out of it and realize I have been feeding my children pure junk and I had better get my tail in gear and get with it!

My get with it day was yesterday and today.

Yesterday : Cleaned my kitchen. It was a mess. My hands are now a mess from all the dish washing! Also get meat from the freezer for this week.

Today : Caitlin was sick so she stayed home from school and helped me clean up a little and we started her science fair project. I made crock pot red beans and rice, 2 loaves of buttermilk bread, browned 6 lbs of ground beef, made a pot of tea, went to the bank, CVS to buy milk, swept, cleaned all the dishes from today and am now relaxing.

My neighbors were out walking their dog this afternoon and stopped to chat for a minute. They noticed our garden on the back porch. We live in a condo so there isn't room for an outside garden so we had to improvise.

We have big pots for our veggies this year and I couldn't be more excited!

We planted straight neck squash, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, heirloom tomatoes (in our topsy turvy), yellow tomatoes, basil, cilantro, culantro, and rosemary. I still have to plant the parsley. They couldn't believe we had all that growing on the back porch!

Back porch = screen lanai to y'all city folk. :)

I mentioned that a few weeks ago I bought a flat of strawberries from the farm stand and made strawberry jam. I offered them a jar and they were more than happy to take it. Y'all it's so good! So sweet and yummy! I also gave them a loaf of the buttermilk bread.

Gosh well, this post rambled on about nothing....

Sorry for being so random. My mind is just getting out of the mushy stage 'ya know!

So if you made it to the end.... here is a picture of the little ones pretending to be birds. The magnolia leaves are of course the wings. :)

4.21.2010

Wordless Wednesday

Never have I done a wordless Wednesday.

But today it seems to just fit.


My husband left to go back on the road on Monday. It'll take me a few days to get outta my "funk".

4.12.2010

Last Fridays' road trip

Last Friday I took the girls to a little honey stand on the side of the road out in the middle of the country.

Yes, we do have country places here in Florida.

LOTS of it too.

It's gorgeous land and I am totally jealous of everyone who lives out there.

I was browsing my April issue of Southern Living (how southern of me) and came across a section called "Florida Living".I figured since 1. I'm in Florida and 2. I'm living, maybe I should check it out.

The first picture really caught my eye. A rustic old road side stand filled to the brim with honey. I love honey. I grew up eating Tupelo honey and if you have never had it, you are really missing out.

Biggers Apiaries has other varieties of honey. Orange blossom, wildflower and gall berry. I have never had any of these and I was more then willing to drive the 60 or so miles just to try.

This little stand was just as charming in person as it was in the pictures.


The hot pink sign informs people that because of the unusually cold winter we had this year, the bees are a little slow making the honey. I didn't care. As you can see I had more than enough to choose from anyway.

I ended up getting orange blossom, gall berry, cinnamon and honey spread and sweet Cantonese style kumquats. We had a kumquat tree when I was a kid. Talk about a treat!

Isn't this just the most precious picture? You would NEVER see this in the city. It wouldn't last a day before someone drove off with the WHOLE thing. And probably take all the honey too.



I love the fact that they tell you "thank you" on the sign.

I love the county.

4.10.2010

Oh happy day!

My husband is on his way home!! I am so excited! 5 weeks is a LONG time to be away from your spouse and I can't wait to give him a big ol' hug.

His scheduled home time was for the 13th, which is this coming Tuesday, but he is coming home early and I am going to enjoy every second.

I leave you the many faces of Lillian.

"Thake a pithur ov mwe!"


She was mad about something...



so I started making silly faces...



and had her cracking up...



and then she was mad again... sort of.



Ahhh... the life of a 3 year old.

4.08.2010

Easter Weekend/Spring Break

Last Wednesday could not have soon enough! Caitlin was to start Spring Break the following day and I think I was more excited than she was.

I like my sleep. I REALLY like my sleep and with Chris' driving schedule lately, I hadn't been getting enough sleep.

I planned to sleep in a little on Thursday and then head to my dads' house for the Easter weekend.

Planned.

Of course it didn't work that way. Late Wednesday night my engine light came on. Ugh. I just had my car worked on the last time I visited Dad. At least I was headed that way and since he lives in a really small town, I know the people working on my car and completely trust them. Heck I went to school with them. :)

So I not only had to get up early on Thursday, I had to get up early on Friday too! My appointment was for 8am. The good news, is that my van is fixed and good as new. I even had it back before the end of the day. Can't beat that! Oh and I even caught a quick little nap in the afternoon. I needed that!

Dad has the most gorgeous yard. He takes extremely good care of his lawn, shrubs and all things landscaping. Here are some pictures of his Red Bud tree in full bloom. Talk about gorgeous.


I love the sky in this one. It's not the best shot, but the contrast of the bright blue sky and the pink flowers is gorgeous! This is a straight out of the camera shot. No editing other than resizing.


Here's Lilly showing me her weeds flowers.


Sophie just turns her head now when I try to take a picture. I sure hope it's just a phase.



She will let me take her picture while running and screaming around the yard.



Just some random shots from our visit.