South Carolina Calling

My Blog has Magic Powers

2009-11-15T15:28:00.002-05:00

Since my last post I have realized that my blog has magic powers. You see, shortly after reading my post my husband did two things: first, he took all the clothes he wears and moved them into the guest room closet. Second, he then put the toilet paper back on the holder and he hasn't removed it yet.

Now, before you go feeling all sorry for him, he goes into the guest room everyday anyway because that is where his dresser is since all out bedroom furniture wouldn't fit into our room here. And I know that was a nice gesture, but it was not the purpose of my post. I wasn't trying to get him to move out of the closet, I was just telling it like it is. And I admitted that I have faults too. As Wesley quickly pointed out, I have an overnight bag that still has stuff in it from 2 weeks ago. And he's right, no one is perfect. I told him to move his stuff back in the closet, as the guest room closet is for guests, and storage, but he hasn't yet.

Once it was brought to my attention that whatever I complain about in my blog gets resolved, my wheels started turning. I thought about making a list of all the things I would like to have done, or would like changed. I figured that I would just write a post listing them and sit back and watch all the things I don't like change. But then I realized that if everything was how I wanted it, what would I have to write about?

So ultimately I decided that I would just let everyone know that my blog has magic powers. Oh, and complain that now i have to go from room to room to gather the laundry and hope that someone reads this and decides to put his clothes back where they belong.

Monday Randomness

2009-11-10T00:27:00.003-05:00

Okay, so technically it is early Tuesday morning, but since I haven't been to sleep yet, we will consider this Monday. I am having some crazy insomnia tonight. It is about 12:30, I am not the least bit tired, and Chance keeps coming into the living room and trying to get up on the couch and lay on my pillow. When I block him he doesn't even bother to get up and lay down on the other side of Daisy. He just goes back and gets up on the bed. Then in a few minutes he will sit up, scratch his ear, shake his head, and start the cycle all over again.

I do have to say that when I have these nights of no sleep, I am especially thankful for the Sleuth channel. Where else can you watch episodes of Law and Order SVU until 2 in the morning? The one thing I don't like is that on every commercial break they are showing the commercial for the SPCA. I totally support adopting animals over buying them from a breeder or pet store. And I am all about doing whatever I can to help out whether it be donating money, or blankets, or towels, or food, or treats, but that darn commercial just make me so sad. When I hear the music I look away, but I always get sucked back in just as they are pulling away from a close up into the eyes of a sad dog. Man, it gets me every time.

So, on a completely different subject, last night I was folding and hanging up all the laundry that I did over the weekend when I had an epiphany. There are two very important things that every couple needs to ensure a happy marriage. Separate closets, and separate sinks in the bathroom. Preferably separate vanities, or better yet, separate bathrooms completely. Before me moved here we had separate closets and that was really nice. Wesley never had any reason to go into my closet and better yet, I never had any reason to go into his. Now we share a closet and it is kind of driving me crazy. I mean, any one who knows me will tell you that I am not one of those people who have to have everything in its place. So there are probably some shoes just thrown in the bottom of the closet and not on the rack. And maybe there is the sporadic shirt that has fallen of the hanger and hasn't been hung back up yet, so you would think that I should be able to look past all of Wesleys closet faults. But I can't. It really burns my nerves that there are at least 3 laundry baskets in various states of fullness with clean socks and tshirts and basketball shorts in them just laying there. They have been accumulating for who knows how long. And it also annoys me that I have to step over his shoes to get to the dirty laundry basket so I can do laundry. And I also have to pick up all the clothes that were tossed in the basket but didn't make it. But I bite my tongue because I really don't want to hear about all my bad habits.

I will spare you the complaints about all the bathroom bad habits. Let just say they are numerous and annoying. But probably my number one is the toilet paper. I like the toilet paper on the holder. Wes prefers it free and perched on top of the holder. Guess he has a thing about holding it in his hands or something. Our entire married lives we have always had a small bathroom with only one sink and only room for one person to get ready at the time. So I can't say from experience that the spacious bathroom with dual sinks is a key to a happy marriage, but I can sure dream about it!

Who says you can't go home

2009-11-03T08:55:00.003-05:00

This past Friday my parents came to visit. I drove up to Columbia to pick them up since they couldn't get a flight into Savannah. After I picked them up at the airport and we had a quick lunch, we drove to Sumter, my hometown. We drove around the town for a little bit and of course we had to drive past my childhood home. Every time I go past it, I want to go ring the doorbell and ask if I can walk around.

We were in Sumter for the evening attending a surprise 50th birthday dinner for my moms sister, Linda. I think the party was a success, she looked surprised when she came in. After the party we drove back down to my house. We were all exhausted since we didn't get here until about 12:30. When we finally got up and ready the next day, we went and had lunch at Hudson's before my parents had to be back to the airport. Lunch was great with the exception of the appetizer. We ordered a half bucket of oysters. I am not a huge fan of oysters anyway, but I think every other one we opened had little baby crabs in them. I was so grossed out I could not eat them. I don't think I would do well on one of those reality shows where you have to eat something gross.

Here are my parents at lunch.

Here is a picture of a baby crab in my oyster.

And here is my mom holding up a baby crab covered in mud.

I don't think that I will be eating oysters anytime soon!

Warning - Creepy Alert

2009-10-23T20:34:00.004-04:00

Okay, this has got to be one of the creepiest things I have ever seen!! I think that I might have nightmares about this tonight. **Shudder** Look what I stumbled across today:

It is soap molded after dolls hands. Who would want something like that? No, I think the right question is who thinks to make something like that? Talk about a sick mind.

The Fair

2009-10-16T11:14:00.004-04:00

So, while I was in Sumter a couple of weeks ago visiting my family, we went to the county fair. Who doesn't like a fair? Where else can you get delicious, if not nutritious, food and grade A people watching? I do have to say that I was completely appalled by one, okay one of many, things while I was there. After the sun went down the temperature probably dropped to I'm guessing 68 degrees. I was wearing capri pants, a short sleeve t-shirt and flip-flops. I was very comfortable walking around. And then I saw it, someone had on a down-filled coat that had fur around the collar. I was shocked! Then the next person had on a zip up fleece jacket! I stood confused for a few minutes. Then I wanted to scream "Who wears fleece when it is almost 70 outside??!!" I guess those brutal Missouri winters have given me a whole new perspective on what is cold and what is comfortable!

Here are some pictures of the fair.

Here is a picture of my cousins and uncle walking around the fair.

Look, an iced tea tent! Have you ever seen such a thing? How cool is that?!

And hellooooo, who doesn't love fried dough??!! Mmmm, you can have a heart attack any way you like it.

And here it is, the only real reason to go to the fair and fight the multitudes of creepy people, the Potato House.

Oh yes folks, we went to the fair two nights in a row, and stopped by the potato house both times. You just cant find french fries like it any where else. Yummy!

Here is a picture of Ashley enjoying her fries.

Just look at all that yummy goodness!! Wow, I just can't wait for next year so I can get some more!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-07T17:37:00.003-04:00

Well, almost wordless. Doesn't this look like fun?

It's this big arts and crafts show in Savannah in November that has all handmade Christmas stuff. I am so going and I can't wait!

Working for the Man

2009-09-24T09:42:00.002-04:00

I have decided that I don't want to work for "the man" anymore. I have been on an extended vacation for the last 4 1/2 months and I really don't want to go back to cubicle hell any time soon. If you can't tell, I had an interview yesterday. I have decided that I would rather go to the dentist and have him fill a cavity without Novocaine rather than go to another interview. It is not like this interview was particularly painful, in fact she was really nice, I just don't like interviews in general. I hate being focused on and nitpicked and all that. It just really makes me feel uncomfortable.

I think during this time I have had off I realized how much I want to start my own business. I know that having your own business is very time consuming and extremely exhausting but I also think it would be really gratifying and fun. I want to do what I want to do, I want to work hard for ME because I know that I will appreciate my hard work, and I want to be able to make the decisions that need to be made instead of shaking my head about the decisions that someone else made, but that I have to implement.

So, you ask, what kind of business do I want to have? Well, I. DON"T. KNOW.

For the last several years I really thought that I wanted to open a little bakery that just specialized in cupcakes and had some light sandwiches and salads and such for lunch. But now I am second guessing myself. I have questions like: Is this even a viable business plan? Should I offer cakes? What about other desserts like pies, brownies, cookies? Don't you need a variety? How many choices is too many? Where do I open the business? Where will I get the most traffic? My head is spinning!

Last week I thought that I would look into taking a cake decorating class to prepare for my future business venture. I noticed that the local technical college was offering classes so I quickly went to their website to check it out. It sounded like a great class because they are supposed to teach you everything from what type of cake pan to use for certain cakes to what type of decorating tip to use when frosting those cakes. Then I saw that they wanted $320!! That wouldn't be too bad, but you also had to make and bring in your own cakes and frosting. For $320 don't you think they could provide something???

Killer

2009-09-21T16:13:00.004-04:00

That's right, I am a certified killer now. I killed my first copperhead snake yesterday. It went a little something like this:

I woke up to the sound of the closet door opening and Wes putting on his tennis shoes. I was thinking to myself "What the heck is going on and what time is it?" I guess I made a somewhat coherent noise because Wes then tells me that there is a snake in the yard and he is going to kill it. I asked if the snake had bothered him or the dogs and he told me no, so I rolled over to go back to sleep. Unfortunately he let the dogs in the room and they had other plans that did not involve sleeping. So I laid in the bed with them for what felt like forever and I never heard Wes come back in.

So I got up, got dressed and went outside to see how the progress was going. Well, it wasn't going. He was still standing on the porch looking at the spot he said the snake went into. After some internal (and maybe a little external) head shaking I got some pine cones and threw them at the area to see if I could get the snake to surface. It didn't. So I was convinced that it had escaped back into the woods. Well, there was this rope that was hooked to one of the trees behind our house and I was tired of looking at it. I guess the people before us used it to tie their dog up or something. I decided I was going to unhook it from the tree and get rid of it. Most of the rope was covered up under some pine straw and dirt since it had been out there so long. To unhook it I had to take a few steps into the woods right about where Wes swore this snake was. I told him to watch out for me and proceeded to walk in there against his advice. I figured that since I had thrown stuff and also poked around with the garden hoe that the snake was long gone.

I got the rope unhooked and walked back out and started pulling to rope out. I am glad that Wes was being brave and standing close by because after about 3 pulls he said "There it is". And sure enough the snake had come out with the rope. I didn't see it at first and probably would have kept pulling and ended up pulling the snake right up into my hand if it hadn't been for Wes. So I grabbed the hoe and started whacking the snake. After just a couple of whacks I thought I had cut the thing in half, but Wes informed me that what I thought was the snakes insides was really just his tail. I didn't realize that young copperheads have a greenish-yellow tail, but they do. So I gave it a couple of more good whacks and even Wes got in on the fun.

So the moral of the story is that not all snakes run away when you start poking the pine straw and you always need to wear your glasses outside so you can see snakes when you are pulling ropes out of the ground. Oh, and I probably shouldn't have been wearing flip flops to go snake hunting!

Here are a couple of pictures. They are a little out of focus (Wes took the pictures, mine would have been tons better! Just kidding) but you can see the head of the snake on the left and half the body on the right.

Same Thing, Different Day

2009-09-15T20:40:00.000-04:00

So, not too much going on around here these days. We are slowly getting back into a routine now that school is back in session. I do have to say that I am really glad that the tourist season is pretty much over and things are a lot quieter around here. I’m still doing the whole job search thing without much luck. But you never know, my dream job may be just around the corner. Of course that dream job would consist of making a LOT of money, not working many hours, getting to wear whatever I want, and not having to deal with anyone. What? You don’t think there is a job like that out there? Well I am sure there is, I just have to look really hard!

I was watching the VMA’s the other night and I have to say that Lady GaGa frightens me. I first saw/heard of her last November at the New Kids On The Block concert (don’t judge, NKOTB still RULES!). She scared me then, but now I am just totally frightened. I mean, who rolls around on the floor with fake blood coming out of their outfit? If you could even call that an outfit! And what about Kanye? His little stunt confirmed what a jerk he is! And last but not least on the entertainment front, can you believe that Patrick Swayze died? How sad. I know he has been really sick, but I still think it was a shocker. And what post would be complete without the obligatory Dirty Dancing quote? “Nobody puts Baby in a corner”.

Crab Legs

2009-09-12T09:19:00.002-04:00

Just look at them. I mean, who doesn't like the deliciousness of crab legs? They, when cooked properly, are sweet, tender, juicy, one of the best foods I can imagine. And then there is the butter. Melted butter just seals the deal! It is like a little pot of melted gold. It is full of goodness and without it, crab legs are just, well, crab legs.

I am sure you are wondering why I would devote a blog to all that is good and right with the world, or in other words, crab legs. Well I have started something new, I won't call it a diet, I will call it a lifestyle change. And that doesn't mean that I will never have crab legs again, because trust me you wouldn't wont to be around me if I found out I had to give them up forever. But just knowing that I shouldn't necessarily eat them today makes me nostalgic for them. *sigh*

Camaraderie

2009-09-10T13:55:00.002-04:00

So I know that I have completely neglected this blog lately. But in my defense Wes has been on break from school and we have had lots of visitors. So I guess I was taking a little break too. But school started back up yesterday so we are back to our normal routine. I am kind of enjoying the quiet. It is nice to be able to watch what I want on TV and do what I want when I want. Of course this semester we are going to have to get used to a new routine. Now instead of Saturday and Sunday being Wes’s days off, this semester Sunday and Monday will be Wes’s days off from golfing since the school no longer allows free practice on Mondays.

But since we are getting back into the swing of things I am going to try to be more faithful to the blog. I know that you are all just dying to know what is going on around here and you go through withdrawal when you don’t get your daily read from the low country.

Now what post would be complete without a picture of the dogs?

Isn’t this just the perfect picture of camaraderie? I had to put Daisy in her house because I was doing something in the other room and she cannot be trusted. When I came back in Chance had voluntarily gone into his house as a show of support for Daisy. Just warms your heart doesn’t it?

Lazy Tuesday

2009-08-25T08:04:00.002-04:00

There really isn't too much going on here right now. Last Thursday night Wesley's brother and his wife came to visit and they stayed until Monday morning. Luckily the weather pretty much cooperated the whole time they were here. The boys got to play golf everyday and only one night was a complete washout. I think that they had a good visit, and it is always nice to see family members.

Now we are gearing up for Wesley's parents and grandmother. They are supposed to be here on Monday and I believe that they are staying the week. It will be nice to see them and I am glad that they can come for a leisurely visit. I think a couple of days after they leave Wes goes back to school. Then it will be back to the normal grind. But until then, and before I wash sheets and towels, I think will go lay by the pool. I deserve a lazy day!

I'm calling Animal Planet

2009-08-21T14:28:00.004-04:00

So I am totally calling Animal Planet or the Discovery Channel. I figure since we have so many visitors from nature coming to our yard, I might as well get paid to document them. Couldn’t you just see me on TV?

As you might guess, we have had yet another visitor. This time it was a snake *shudder, twitch*!! I was on the phone with Sprint talking to them about our bill, yet again (for the third month in a row), when Wes came in saying that we had a snake in the yard. So of course my first reaction is to grab the camera and go running outside. Isn’t that what everyone would do?

When I got outside the snake was slithering into the bushes. I don’t think that he liked me taking his picture. Well, Wesley decided that he was going to throw pine cones at it (from the porch mind you) to get it to go away. It took several pine cones and a few pieces of mulch, but finally the snake started going back to the woods. I was following him around taking pictures when I thought perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea, I mean he could have turned around and bit me! But right about that time my camera battery died and the snake finally made it into the woods.

Here is the snake in the bushes:

And here is Wes standing safely on the porch:

And here is the snake starting its retreat:

And here is the snake making its way into the bush closest to the woods:

And then my camera died! So I came back in and decided that I would make a great host on a nature TV show. Can't you just see me in woods in the hideous tan on khaki outfit trying to find critters? Or not!

Another Visitor

2009-08-17T09:30:00.004-04:00

I guess our house is very popular with the animal kingdom. We had yet another visitor in our yard this morning. When I took the dogs out at about 7 this morning there was nothing, but when Wes got up, around 8:30 the slacker, he was there. Here's a picture:

Wes was content just to leave our little visitor there until I inquired about how I was supposed to walk the dogs while he was gone playing golf since the turtle was just a few steps off of the porch. So I guess the wheels started turning (dangerous, I know) and Wes decided that he would get the turtle to bite on to the end of a little rake and he would haul him off. Sounds like a good plan huh? Well, not when the turtle refused to bite the rake.

So the next logical step (or not) according to Wes is to put the rake under the turtle, flip it on its back, and then... I'm not sure what the next step was going to be. I'm not sure if Wes knew what the next step was. But the turtle was not having any part of that. Wes said that once he slid the rake under the side of the turtle it got so mad that you could feel its anger and power. HA! So needless to say the turtle didn't get flipped on its back. Wes ended up just throwing the rake at the turtle and came inside. Eventually the turtle gave up and retreated to the woods.

I have decided that I don't really care for turtles. Especially the big turtles like this. The little ones are okay, but these big ones are almost just as bad as frogs *shudder* just not as slimy.

Mississippi Mud and Meteor Showers

2009-08-15T11:54:00.005-04:00

While my mom was visiting she said she would make Wes a Mississippi Mud cake which is his favorite dessert. So on our way back to my house from Sumter we stopped by the grocery store to pick up the ingredients that I was missing. But instead of making it for him, she ended up supervising his making it. I guess the purpose of this was so Wes would know how to make it in the future, but I doubt that will ever happen. Every time I turned around there was more licking the beaters than actual working going on. Here’s the evidence:

But in the end it turned out really well and tasted fabulous. Here is a picture of the end result:

A few nights ago you were supposed to be able to see the Perseids meteor shower. But this is what we saw instead:

Rain and lots of it. But this is the rainy month here in the low country. It has been very overcast here the last few days but strangely enough, it is still really hot!! I can’t imagine what it would be feeling like out there if the sun was shining full blast. But it is mid August and soon enough the days will start cooling off. I just can’t wait!

Fast forward to last night and this is what I saw as I was coming out of the bedroom at 11:13pm to get a drink of water:

Ofcourse this is a recreation of what I saw. As soon as I saw him and the I-totally-just-got-caught look on his face I ran for the camera. Then I had to get him to recreat the look. It is not quite as good as the original, but it was still funny!!

And what post would be complete without a picture of Daisy Mae? She is just so photogenic! Here she is in her I-am-a-princess-on-my-throne pose.

Which is quickly followed by her acrobatic death-defying feates pose:

I think instead of getting a job I am going to take her on the road. I mean who wouldn't pay money to see the amazing acrobatic basset hound?

Work Week

2009-08-10T08:17:00.005-04:00

So, last Tuesday my mother came to town. I picked her up at the airport and we drove up to Sumter to her mothers house to do some work around there. Once we arrived in Sumter Tuesday evening we went to Lowes to get some supplies for our projects. This was trip number one to the store.

Wednesday morning we started working in the yard. We didn't get as early a start as we would have liked since we sat up until about 12:30 the night before. But once we got started we got some good work done. I have to say that at my Me-Me's house it is not just her yard that you have to worry about. Behind her house is another lot that she owns that is fenced in. My Pa-Pa used to have a huge garden back there with just about every vegetable you could imagine and tons of grape vines. My cousin Taylor mowed the lawn, my momma, Aunt Linda and I trimmed trees, bushes, pulled vines off of the fence, weed eated, mowed the tall grass by the fence and hauled all of our clippings to the road. It was HOT and we were tired. After we finished in the yard for the day, we went to Lowes and Wal-Mart for supplies. Trips number two and three to the store.

Thursday morning we started working in the yard again. Finally my mom and aunt listened to me and went to the rental store to get one of those walk behind bush whackers. While they went to the store, I trimmed bushes. One bush at the corner of the house had a spider web attached to it. I guess while I was trimming the web was moving and all of a sudden this ginormous spider came down and tried to eat me!! When my mom and Linda returned from the rental store I was sorely disappointed. They let the guy talk them into renting basically a weed eater with a metal blade instead of the walk behind bush whacker. Well that might have worked for some people but he didn't know what we had to deal with! The first third of the yard by the road was mostly just grass and vines growing up the fence. The next third was really tall weeds and vines and the last third was trees, grape vines, and these weeds or something that had grown about 8 feet tall and were about and inch or so around with bases like trees. It was almost impossible to get them down! My mom was using the weed whacker thing and it kept getting clogged every few minutes with weeds and vines because it really wasn't meant to be used like that. Basically it was miserable. But we did get a lot accomplished. It is not perfectly clear, but we got a good start on it and we have a plan of attack to get it finished.

Here is a before pictures looking at the two thirds of the yard that were the worst:

And here is an after picture:

You can see to the fence which is a huge improvement. You can see the grape vines to the right of the picture and towards the left the gray concrete thing is a bbq smoker. My Pa-Pa used to cook the best hogs in that thing. My moms family always had a big pig picken for family gatherings. Mmmm, I can taste it now!

Here is a before picture looking from the back of my Me-Me's house to the fence. Behind the fence is the lot you saw in the previous pictures:

Here is the after:

The vines still on the fence are blueberry bushes and grape vines.

Here is the spider that tried to kill me:

Our next project was to paint the kitchen cabinets. My Me-Me still has the original cabinets in her kitchen. You can tell they were custom made for the house because the bases are all one piece and all of the doors are different sizes, cut to fit the space.

On Thursday after lunch while my mom and Linda were finishing up some stuff in the yard, I took the hardware and doors off of the kitchen cabinets. I washed the hardware and spray painted it flat black. Then we got cleaned up and relaxed for a bit. Then my mom and I started sanding the cabinets. Well, we didn't last long with just sandpaper in our hands and soon we were on our way to Wal-Mart. I am loosing track at this point as to how many trips we have made to the store. We came back with an electric sander and some more sandpaper. Linda came over and we got all of the cabinet doors and bases sanded and the bases primed. I think we were up until about 1 that night.

Then Friday morning we painted the first coat of paint on the bases and primed all of the doors. It took a while to prime all the doors because we had limited space outside to paint and ended up having to paint the doors in shifts. But we managed to get all the doors primed front and back. We also got the first coat of paint on the fronts of the doors. And I am sure we ended up going to the store that day too! Then that evening we had a girls night at Logans Roadhouse. It was my mom, Me-Me, Linda, my cousin Ashley and me. We had a nice dinner and then we went home and relaxed.

That brings us to Saturday morning. We put the second coat of paint on the bases, and on the door fronts. Then we took a break and went shopping for a bit and grabbed some lunch. Then we came back and took a little rest. Then that evening we reattached all the hardware and hung the doors back up. After we hung them all we painted the first coat of paint on the backs of the doors. Once we finished we (mom, Linda and I) decided to go to Wal-Mart (imagine that). We had some things to return and since I didn't bring anything to wear to church because I thought we would be back at my house by that time, I needed to look for a skirt to wear. Well, apparently Sumter County has blue laws that go into effect on Saturday night at midnight and last until Sunday at 1:30 in the afternoon. According to these blue laws, you can not return anything and also you can not buy clothing. They actually rope off there clothing sections!! I guess they are only open to sell groceries. So we gave up and went home.

So Sunday morning mom, Me-Me and I went to Hardees for breakfast. When we got back we packed our bags and cleaned the house. Then my uncles, Ronnie and Johnnie, came over and we visited with them for a bit then my mom and I drove to my house.

Here is a before picture of the cabinets:

Here is a picture of our one major accident. We all had some battle wounds from the yard, sore muscles, bruises, cuts and scrapes, but Linda had the only major accident while painting cabinets. She was trying to get in the corner up top and decided that the little step stool wasn't good enough. She put one foot on the dryer and then tried to put one foot on the microwave. Well as you are probably guessing, that wasn't such a good idea. The dryer started to tip over and she went flying. Luckily, or maybe not, I was sitting right next to her. I tried my best to catch her, but her foot still went through the two steps in the stool and her neck hit the side of the table. She ended up with a huge knot on each side of her foot and a pretty nasty cut between her toes. We had a good laugh afterwards once we knew she was okay. I kept joking that all I saw was a watermelon coming at me because she was wearing green shorts and a red shirt!!

Here are the after pictures of the cabinets:

Don't they look great??!! Well, mom and I are off to enjoy our one day here before I have to take her to the airport in the morning.

Busy Day

2009-08-04T09:15:00.002-04:00

Today is a busy day. Well, at least for me who considers going to the grocery store and the post office a busy day!! It is going to be busy because: my mom is coming to visit!! I wish that her visit (which is supposed to be longer than her last visit) was one of relaxing on the beach and bumming around doing what ever we want to, but this is a working trip. Hopefully we have a couple of days on the end of the trip to do some fun things, but first things first, we have work to do.

Once I pick her up from the airport we are going to drive up to Sumter to her mother's (Me-Me) house. I thought we were just going up to clear out her back yard. Behind her house there is a whole other lot that my mom's father (Pa-Pa) used as his garden. He always had the best garden with grape vines, blueberry bushes and just about every vegetable that you can imagine. He was a fantastic gardener. Since he passed away, the back has become a bit unruly to say the least. So we are going to clear everything out back there so it looks a little better.

Then I found out yesterday that my mom also thinks we are going to paint Me-Me's kitchen cabinets while we are there. I personally think that she doesn't realize what she is talking about! Plus my Me-Me doesn't like anything to be changed in her house. She actually had to go lay down on her bed last time we were there and my mom and aunt Linda decided to hang pictures on her walls. She told me later that she doesn't like holes in her walls!

So this trip ought to be interesting to say the least. I will take some before and after pictures. But before I go to pick up my momma, I have to finish laundry, go to the store to pick up some things for Wes, vacuum, and pack. So I better be getting off here and actually getting some things marked off my list.

End of Days?

2009-07-31T11:19:00.000-04:00

From the book of Exodus Chapter 8:

8:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
8:2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: 8:3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: 8:4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.
8:5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.
8:6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

And this is what we saw on our door last night. It was raining so hard that it literally rained frogs! Okay, it didn't literally rain frogs, but it sure felt like it. At one point we counted 16 frogs on the door at one time! I was sure that the frogs were going to start coming in the air vents like the spiders did in the movie Arachnophobia! Have I told you that I hate frogs? They are just so creepy looking. And the way their legs move as they are climbing on the door (shudder). Gross!

From the book of Genesis Chapter 6:

17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall die.

After we noticed all the frogs, we looked out into the yard and it was like a river out there. It rained hard for what felt like hours. So, with the frogs and the rain it sure felt like the end of days to me!

Thankfully today it is mostly sunny so hopefully we will survive for another day!

Kimmie

Stir Fry and the Shred

2009-07-27T21:33:00.001-04:00

So on Sunday I made my first attempt at stir fry. I have to say, it turned out great! I did a beef stir fry with veggies over rice. Here is a picture of the veggies as they were cooking.

YUM! I will definitely be making stir fry again, and soon. It is a great quick, low-cost, healthy meal. I am really trying to branch out on the cooking front, but of course, doing it on a budget. So there will probably be plenty more posts on my new cooking attempts in the future.

Today I started Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I have to say that she kicked my butt worse then I thought she would. I was pretty confident that I would have no problem doing the level 1 workout. Well, about 5 minutes into it I was gasping for breath! She made my thighs hurt so bad I am having trouble walking. I really hope that I will be able to pull myself out of bed tomorrow morning so I can do it all over again. I hope the next 29 days fly by and are worth the pain!!

How could I not post a picture of this little cutie??!! Daisy Mae, out little half-cat princess! She lounges with the best of them.

Kimmie

Ladies Who Lunch

2009-07-23T08:52:00.000-04:00

What do ladies who lunch do before lunch? Why go to the spa of course! Michelle, Hannah and I went to the spa at the Savannah Athletic Club for the morning. Then we went and had lunch at a little place a few stores down.

After lunch we drove back to Bluffton to watch Wes play in his first school tournament. Man was it hot out there! After we suffered in the heat for 8 holes, we left and got some birthday ice cream.

Then we went out and had a really nice seafood dinner outside. Once the sun went down it was really nice outside and we were right on the water so there was a nice breeze. We had a really great time!

Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes. I really appreciate it.

Well today we are off to Tybee Island. I will post later about what we did.

Kimmie

Saturday in the Lowcountry

2009-07-18T20:22:00.001-04:00

So, I know it has been a while since my last post. But in my defense, I have been busy. My mother, sister, niece and nephew came to visit for a few days. I drove up to my grandmothers house and met them and spent a couple of days up there. Then we drove back here and spent last Saturday at the beach. It was great! I love spending time with my family and I appreciate it even more now that I live so far away from them.

I have to say, my niece, Peyton, is just hilarious! She just turned 4 and is at that age where everything out of her mouth is so funny. When we were at the beach she wanted to be buried in the sand. Well we were sitting within the high tide range so the sand was pretty hard. Also she is only 4 so every time I would get a good covering on her legs she would move them and the sand would fall through. As you can see by this picture we didn't get very far. Luckily she was so excited to be at the beach for the first time she quickly moved on to something else.

And I couldn't leave out a cute picture of Brady. He didn't quite enjoy the beach as much as Pate, but he had some fun moments. He especially enjoyed playing right at the edge of the tide where the waves just barely washed over the sand.

So, fast forward one week and here we are today. We had a lazy Saturday around here. Wes got up really early and started smoking a boston butt. I went to the grocery store and picked up a few things and a couple of movies. Then we pretty much vegged on the couch until the BBQ was done. I did, however, manage to whip up a made-from-scratch cake with chocolate frosting. Of course I ran into a couple of hiccups. I didn't take the base of the frosting out of the hot pan and I just added the powdered sugar to the hot pot and then the frosting didn't want to thicken up. But with a couple of tweaks, it turned out edible.

Here are a couple of pictures of Wes's BBQ and my cake.

Well, my very good friend Michelle and her daughter Hannah are coming to visit me next week. They should be here Tuesday morning. So I am sure I will have lots to post about then. And I will try to post nightly instead of every two weeks!!

Kimmie

Let's Take a Walk

2009-07-03T18:24:00.001-04:00

Here is what the babies look like getting ready for one of their favorite things: a family walk.

Chance never misses an opportunity to ham it up for the camera, but Daisy is too busy trying to pull me out the door to be bothered with posing for a picture. Those two couldn't be more different when it comes to personality on walks. Chance is pretty laid back and keeps a near constant pace during the walks. Unless he sees a squirrel climb up a tree he keeps moving steady.

Daisy on the other hand pulls so hard on the leash for the first half of the walk that she chokes herself to the point that I am afraid that she is going to pass out. Then for the second half of the walk she is so exhausted we almost have to carry her home. Next time I will get a picture of them once we get back to the house. They can hardly get up off the cold tile floor to get a drink of water.

These two are a constant source of entertainment!

Kimmie

Ahhh, The Life of Leisure

2009-07-02T21:20:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wondered what a life of leisure looks like? Here it is...

This pretty much sums up the afternoons at our house. But don't let those cute faces fool you. Once they are all rested up the living room turns into wrestle mania!

The dogs are pretty good during the day while I am enjoying my leisure time (i.e. doing laundry, doing dishes, cooking dinner, etc.) Don't get me wrong, I am totally enjoying my time off and I know that I am really blessed to be able to take this time. I am not totally naive, I know that the day is going to come when I have to try to find a job (or try harder), but I am hoping to not have to until after the summer. It is such a great feeling to be able to do housework during the day and not have to work 9 hours then come home after a 45 minute commute and realize that I don't have anything to wear to work the next day unless I do laundry.

Oh well, I am off to start the dishwasher and then hit the bed. Goodnight!

Kimmie

Hot Days and Sunburns

2009-06-28T16:30:00.000-04:00

So yesterday Wesley and I went to the beach with my cousins Ashley and Taylor who came down to visit the night before. We were only out there about 2 hours, but we all managed to get sunburned. I was the only one who didn't put sunblock on and though I know that I should, I just love the sun and getting tan and I can just never bring myself to put any on.

Well last night my shoulders and back and even the top of my feet were bright red, but this morning they were a much nicer shade, a little closer to pink. But the pain is still there. It is a little overcast here today, but still really hot and the heat makes my skin burn!! Even though I am complaining now, I know that I wouldn't do anything differently.

So, after a few days when the pain goes away I going to either find the pool that our subdivision is supposed to have but I have yet to see, or I am going to go back to the beach. I want to be a nice shade of brown by the end of the summer. I need to get all of the burning out of the way before my family comes to visit so I am not laying around complaining while they are here, if they ever come.

Well, now I must move on the the inevitable 5 loads of laundry that always come with having visitors. ;-)

Kimmie

More Pictures

2009-06-22T08:09:00.001-04:00

Okay, here are a few more pictures.

This is what Wes found out in the yard when he finally got up on Saturday. We have seen a couple of deer out there before but that morning there was 4 of them.

Here are a couple of pictures of the kitchen table. I know, kind of bland, but I am not sure what to do with it. I know that some curtians or at least some toppers would bring some color to the room, but I don't want to spend a lot of money on curtains and curtain rods when we are only going to be here a short time.

Well, that's all for now. The new camera only holds 19 pictures at a time until I buy a memory card for it. So I had to stop and upload these pictures and I figured I might as well go ahead and post.

I am getting ready to rearrange the living room furniture since I hate the way it is laid out now. I will put some picutres up once I get done. I will also try to include pictures of the guest room and the guest bathroom.

Kimmie

Drumroll Please

2009-06-18T21:03:00.001-04:00

And now it's time for the much anticipated (at least by me) picture post!!

Out new camera was finally delivered today and I couldn't be more excited! It is a Kodak so I am trying to figure out how to use Kodak Easy Share. Since I am completely lost right now, this is going to be a short post.

This is a picture of the front of the house.

And here is a picture of our doormat. My mother-in-law gave this to us as a moving present. I just love, love, love anything with initials or monograms!

Well, that is all for tonight. I will spend some time tomorrow learning how to use the camera and I will post more pictures. Goodnight!

Kimmie

The Great Flood of 09

2009-06-02T10:22:00.000-04:00

I realize that it has been a very long time since I have posted, but I have good reasons. First of all I promised last time that I would post some pictures and since we haven't been able to find a new usb cord for the camera I have been delaying my posting. But good news, we bought one for our camera off of ebay a couple of days ago so I will be posting pictures soon. Also, I was out of town for a week and decided to not post during that time since it was a "vacation". I went back to MO to visit my family but now I am back.

On to the great flood part: On Sunday our landlord came over because the washing machine was not level and that was causing it to get off balance with every load. So the landlord and his buddy decided to put some pieces of carpet under the back legs to get the washer level. Once they were satisfied it was fixed, they left and Wes started a load of towels. Well, Wes went into the office to get some stuff done and I was in the bedroom organizing some stuff. All of a sudden I hear him yelling for me. I cam running to find the washer never stopped filling up and had flooded the kitchen. The water also started pouring out into the garage so we had to run and move all of our moving boxes from one side of the garage to the other in order to salvage them for our next move. As bad as I wanted to run grab the camera and take pictures of the whole mess, I knew Wes would just die if I stopped grabbing towels and started snapping pictures. A repair guy came by today and fixed the washer and now I am washing all the towels that we had to use. I have 3 loads worth!! I am just glad he made it out today otherwise I would have been heading to the laundry mat!

Our other bit of excitement on Sunday came later that day. We had just finished dinner and were watching a movie when Chance started going crazy barking looking out the windows by the door. When Wes went to check it out he discovered a snapping turtle in the rocks by the front door. I went out the back door around to the front to take some pictures. I will post those as soon as I get that cord in the mail. Eventually the turtle came up to the front door as if to tell the dogs that he wasn't scared. He made a bed behind a plant and stayed the night, but was gone when Wes got up Monday morning. Just one more thing I have to look out for when walking the dogs!

Well, I am going to finish up laundry and do some dusting while Wes is at school and the dogs are sleeping.

Kimmie

Another One Bites the Dust

2009-05-12T22:35:00.000-04:00

Well, one more day down, too many more to go! I have added a countdown ticker so we can all see how many more days before I am coming back to MO for good!!

I actually got a few things accomplished today. Went to the grocery store and stocked up on some things, then I headed over to the Wal-Mart. I found a few things there that I needed. Probably my most prized possession of the day was the toilet seat for just less than $6. I just LOVE Wal-Mart!! The house has two bathrooms and both had those wood grain toilet seats in them. No matter how much they may have been scrubbed, they just would have never felt clean to me. So now we have a nice new toilet seat in the master bath. Since it was so cheap and easy to change out, I will be heading back to the local Wal-Mart for another one for the hall bath. I know, I know...it's the simple things in life!

Now it is time to ask you for some prayer again: A very dear friend of mine had surgery today. Since I didn't ask if I could use her first name in my post, I am going to make this an anonymous prayer request. Just know that she has some recovery time ahead of her and once she is healed enough, she has some more treatment. It is going to be a long road, but I know with all of us praying she will be just fine! I truly believe that she was lead to the right doctors, and the best physician of all is our God!!

Okay, okay, tomorrow I will dig out the camera and see what I can do about posting some pictures. I know, promises, promises, but I am really going to try this time. :-)

Kimmie

Sleepy Time

2009-05-11T11:47:00.000-04:00

Well, I have finally gotten around to posting since I have been in the SC. The only reason I have a few minutes to do this is because my dogs are sleeping right now. They are constantly into everything so when they are awake I am usually chasing them around taking things from them that they shouldn't have. But boy, are they precious when they are sleeping.

So far I can't say that I am digging Bluffton. The town looks nice enough and the neighborhood is really quiet. But just knowing that I can't stop by my parents or sisters house when I get off of work is killing me. I didn't think I would be so homesick so soon. But I am pretty much miserable. Hopefully I will get things settled around the house soon so I can get out and do some exploring. Maybe that will help things.

I promise later I will get around to posting some pictures. I have to find the camera first! Once I find it I will have to make a point of carrying it with me so I can take pictures for you all.

Kimmie

T -6 Hours

2009-05-09T10:47:00.000-04:00

Well, today is the day. I am leaving for South Carolina. Wow, where did the last two weeks go? It feels like so long since I have seen Wes and Daisy and Chance, but it doesn't feel like I have spent two weeks here with my family. I am sad to be going, but happy to see my family there. I will be back in about a week and a half for my niece and nephews birthdays, so I wont be gone that long.

So my mother, sister and I are going to get mani's and pedi's for mothers day before I leave. This will be my first mothers day without my mom. It's going to be sad for me so I am glad that we have today to go spend some quality bonding time together.

Well, I better finish getting all my stuff together. Say a prayer that my bag will not be over the weight limit, it is packed to the gills!

Kimmie

Sunday School

2009-05-03T21:22:00.000-04:00

Well, this was my last official Sunday at my church as a resident of Missouri. I imagine I will be back from time to time visiting before we move back, but since I leave on Saturday, today was it. I am really sad about not being able to still attend my church. I have gone to this church since we moved out here 14 years ago.

I love my Sunday School class. Our "facilitator" (he doesn't like to be called teacher) and his wife have been friends of my family for years and I just adore them both. (I'm not using names here because I haven't asked if it would be okay) We call our class the "Fundies" because we believe the fundamentals of the Bible, nothing more, nothing less. The nice thing about our class is that anything goes. You can ask any questions that you have and you can feel comfortable having a different opinion than someone else.

I am also going to miss listening to our pastor every week. He is a great Southern Baptist preacher. If nothing else you can tell he loves the Lord. He is so down to earth it keeps your attention and makes you feel like he is speaking right to you. If any of you have had to move churches before you know that a good pastor is hard to come by.

I hope that when I get to Bluffton and get settled, I can find a good church. I remember seeing two Baptist churches while we were there looking at houses, but one was scary looking. Oh well, I guess church hunting will be just one more of the great adventures in store for us!

Kimmie

Clean House

2009-05-02T22:25:00.001-04:00

So, who says you can't go home?

Even though I officially moved out last Friday, I still had to go back to "clean house". I had a few things to box up to store, a few more things to take to my sisters house for a garage sale, and plenty more to clean. My wonderful mother went with me to help, she is always willing to lend a helping hand. I can not even begin to describe how grateful I am that she came with me. I really underestimated how much there was to do and we ended up spending most of the day there. But now the house is "show ready" and we just need some people to show it to!!

So my hubby went to the movies tonight in our new neighborhood and called to give me the low down. Bad news: Apparently in South Carolina they don't care if you bring small children into a PG13 movie after 7pm. They also don't mind if said small children talk during the whole show, and babies cry. No biggie! Good news: The popcorn is good!! Can I get an AMEN?! I know you were so worried that I may be stuck with sub-par popcorn. Wesley says it is comparable to the movie theater out here that we go to, so I can live with that.

I can't believe that another Saturday has come and gone. The weekend is already half way over and it will be Monday again before we know it. Wow, I just depressed myself. Well, at least it was a decent day today outside. This spring time rain has really been getting on my nerves so a little break was much appreciated.

Kimmie

TGIF

2009-05-01T22:14:00.000-04:00

I am so glad that it is Friday!! This day just crawled by while I was at work. I know that it probably has a lot to do with the fact that I only have a week left there. I have worked at the same place for the last 5 1/2 years and wouldn't be leaving now if we weren't moving. I have such a hard time leaving a place. I have some really good friends there so that makes it even harder to leave. I know this move isn't permanent, but it is still hard to say goodbye.

And now I am constantly dreading having to find a new job. I absolutely loath interviewing. I always think I am answering the questions all wrong. And then when/if you don't bomb the interview and they actually hire you, you have the uncomfortable settling in period. You don't know what is acceptable and what isn't. You haven't made any friends yet so all the conversations are uncomfortable. UGH!! I am so not looking forward to that part. I wish I could find something where I could just work from home. Hmmm, working in pajamas and no traffic... I could get used to that!

Oh well, maybe I will meet some really nice people along the way and find my dream job. Who knows, stranger things have happened.

Kimmie

Lights, Camera, Action!!

2009-04-29T18:05:00.000-04:00

I love to go to the movies. Tonight I am going to the movies with my mother, grandmother, and possibly my father. My mom and grandma go to the movies every Wednesday. As much as I love the movies I'm not sure I could handle going every week. But I sure love teasing them about going as much as they do! I really hate it when you are trying to enjoy the movie and concessions that you just about had to mortgage your house to pay for, and then the teeny-boppers come waltzing in. As soon as I see them I just know that I am in for a long evening of silently seething in my chair while I watch them texting, talking on their cell phones, getting up and down to change seats and walk in and out about 50 times.

My favorite part of the movies has to be ....dom dom dom.... the popcorn!! I just love movie popcorn. I have to make my husband take me to the movies every so often because I start to go into withdrawal from not having it. It is a fine art to get the salt and butter combination just right, but when you do, oh boy it's magic! Out here Wehrenberg theaters have the best popcorn. I know that in Bluffton there is a movie theater not far from our house, I hope their popcorn is just as good.

Before I go I do have one prayer request: This is National Infertility Awareness Week. Please pray for all those out there who want nothing more than to have a family of their own.

Good night all!

Kimmie

Monday, Monday, Monday

2009-04-27T22:38:00.001-04:00

Monday has to be the worst day of the week. It's like you just get into your weekend routine, and then it is all ripped away and you have to get back to reality. Boo! Today was a rainy Monday. I am not sure what is worse: A bright sunny Monday when you are so busy day-dreaming about being anywhere but but work that nothing gets done, or a rainy Monday when you are so busy day-dreaming about curling up under the covers in your bed that nothing gets done. I guess it is a catch 22. I think we should just do away with Monday's and have only 4 day work weeks. But then I guess then Tuesday's would be just as bad. Do you hate Monday's too?

Well, Wesley and I had a video conversation through skype tonight. He showed me the house, or should I say the stacks of boxes inside the house. Wow. I am completely stressed and I am 850 miles away!! His mother is flying out tomorrow to spend a few days there and help him with everything. Bless her heart. That makes me feel like I wont be stepping into such a quagmire when I get there. (I totally stole that word from my wonderful sister, Leslie. Now there is no need to post a comment saying I stole your word sis!) But, according to her no one is going to read my "gay" blog anyway. :-)

Kimmie

Goodbye House

2009-04-26T22:46:00.000-04:00

Well, it's official...I'm homeless. Well not technically homeless, I still own a house and am renting a house so really I have two homes, but I am not currently living in either. Friday my husband, Wesley, and his father left our house in Troy MO with our two dogs and all of our possessions and headed for our new rental in Bluffton SC. I am staying between my parents house and my sisters house for the next two weeks while I finish some stuff up at work. I feel like a gypsy, traveling from place to place and living out of a suitcase.

We are moving to SC so Wes can attend the Professional Golfers Career College. This is going to be a huge change for us. I am originally from SC, Sumter actually, but have lived in MO for the last 14 years. So I know what it is like to move half way across the country from your home, family and friends. Wesley on the other hand has lived on the same street his whole life, with the exception of a short stint at Lindenwood University. But temporarily moving 30 minutes from home isn't that big of a deal. Not only is he moving away from all his family, he hasn't gone to school in close to 10 years! This should be interesting.

I will eventually have pictures on my blog, but right now my camera is in Bluffton and I am in Lake St. Louis.

That is all for tonight. I will try to update tomorrow.

Kimmie