Saturday, December 25, 2010

Wishing You All The Best Of This Wonderful Season...


What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace....

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Happiness Is..................


Happiness is.......

Buying a big box of candy at Christmas and sticking your finger in each piece until you find the one that makes you happy...

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Ten Little Fingers.........

Ten little fingers and ten little toes and one little....................You guessed it!!! It's a Boy!!
A beautiful strong heartbeat and a little boy that was kicking around and moving everywhere....I'm already in love with him.....He was beautiful!!!

Friday, December 3, 2010

California Dreamin.............

This past Summer when we went to California it was an awesome trip!!! Seeing family was the best part..........I'll have to admit, California isn't Georgia...I found that out when I had to explain the process of making sweet tea to a very nice young waitress , she just looked bewildered and offered me some kind of raspberry tea instead....I tried it and quickly changed my mind......Coke Please! ....

We also learned a few more important traveling details, things I'm sure will come in handy the next time we fly...Being parents of a son who works for Delta is awesome...We fly for free!!!! Coming home on a busy business day (Monday) isn't awesome....We didn't come home on Monday....But our luggage did..Sitting at a airport watching completely full planes take off one after another headed toward Atlanta...Was not fun...Neither was being stuck in one airport while your clean underwear was in another.......Next time we fly, our game plan will be a little different(I will keep clean undies in my purse)....I can't wait to go back and visit longer...Thought I would share a few pics of the trip with you...

We were treated like royalty....My Uncle and Aunt drove us around town and took us out to Supper in my Uncles baby....A 1932 Buick that he restored to it's original show room look...I felt like I was going to the prom...This car was beautiful!


The enormous mast on the Star of India at the Maritime Museum

Beautiful San Diego Bay

San Diego was beautiful!!!!! We could have stayed there longer.....


This water was 62 degrees, I looked around at the people in the water and the ones sitting on the beach wrapped up in blankets and thought to my self....This ain't the Gulf Coast...The dome shape in the background is where the Spruce Goose used to be stored.



Standing on top of Signal Hill.....The view was breathtaking!!!

Just one of the beautiful doors at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

An Amazing New Journey...............

As a single parent my daughter and I have been through a lot of journeys (as we call them ) together, I've always told her the things we went through would help "build her character", most of those trails made her the strong beautiful woman she is today..But nothing we every went through prepared her for this, and for once I have nothing to offer her but a shoulder to cry on and a heart full of support....

I remember when my daughter came home from her honeymoon and said, "Were not using birth control, so if God blesses us with ten kids we will love and provide for everyone of them". That was ten years ago and they are still waiting for that family to arrive...With a strong faith, they've never given up on the thought of a family, even with complications and infertility issues they've held strong to believing God will provide...A month ago, a young woman walked into their lives wanting to give her unborn baby to them...She had scheduled an abortion and couldn't go through with it....Her life was in turmoil and she knew she couldn't raise a baby in her world....This is a wonderful story! But.........The baby isn't due until April and their is still time for her to change her mind....

After meeting her I was saddened by her life and how she wanted to change things and start fresh...I drove home wondering how I should pray...


Of course the most important thing is a healthy Mother and baby, as well as a safe and easy delivery....


My heart wants to pray for her life to change and get on the track she wants....The selfish part of me is afraid that if it does before the baby is born that she will change her mind...And my baby won't be the Mother she yearns to be...


I've quickly realized that this isn't a Lifetime Movie...There are so many emotions and uncertainties involved in an adoption...The only thing that is certain is the Father has signed over his rights..My daughter and son-in-law still need to prepare for a baby that they may or may not get...The Mother is full of emotions, my daughter is full of emotions and I am overwhelmed with the thought of all this....
I will be keeping you posted because our journey has just began......
More to come...............

Sunday, November 28, 2010

It's Never To Late To Start A Great New Holiday Tradition.....

I spent the busiest traveling day of the year in traffic...I quickly realized why I don't travel outside of the state at Thanksgiving. Took my Dad to the hospital for his surgery Tuesday morning and they quickly postponed it....Possible Bicep tear and blood clot, so a few more tests for him and a lot more pain to endure until he sees his surgeon on the 2nd..

My daughter made the trip with me and we decided to come home so she could spend Thanksgiving with her husband (my hubby had already left for my in-laws Wednesday at lunch)...We will go back when they clear him for surgery.

Needing a little holiday spirit we decided to go to Atlanta for the lighting of Macy's Great Tree (which I still call Rich's Tree Lighting)...Every Thanksgiving they show it on television and we have always watched it....Never missed a show....But never went....And every year I cry when the special performer sings the high note on "OH Holy Night" and the lights come on the tree...
Crowds by the thousands filled the parking lot and lined the streets, the spirit of the season was electric...There was a 30 minute pre show followed by an hour of holiday singing ....AMAZING!!! Katherine Mcphee was one of the performers and did this years honors of "OH Holy Night", and seriously it gave me chills...



And just when you thought it was over...A 20 minute fireworks display synchronized to Christmas music...



AWESOME!!!!! We've decided this will be our new Thanksgiving tradition, complete with a stop by the Waffle House (we live in the South people, Waffle House is a tradition in it's self)........


Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Another Poem.........

I'm out of town for a few days for my Daddy's surgery, I thought I would post a few Thanksgiving quotes until I get back home...Here's hoping everyone has a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving...

"Thanksgiving day is a jewel, to set in the hearts
of honest men, but be careful that you do not take the day and leave out the gratitude."

Monday, November 22, 2010

A Week Of Thankful Quotes......

He who thanks with his lips
Thanks but in part;
The full, the true Thanksgiving
Comes from the heart....
~J.A Sheed

Monday, November 15, 2010

INSANE IN THE BRAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lately I have realized a few things, I have no earthly idea how to create a website... etsy.com is a 24 hour a day job and my dinning room has turned into a office/storage/distribution/creation catastrophe..............AND IT IS DRIVING ME INSANE!!!! I don't do clutter in my house and I don't do messy...But boy does my house smell good! Organically Yours (my little body products adventure) is keeping me on my toes and if that wasn't enough I shot my first wedding this weekend......And I realized why wedding photographer's make a lot of money..............OMG!!! It was a beautiful Fall day in Georgia and I actually shot the rehearsal so I could get my setting just the way I "thought" I wanted them..(key word being thought) the chapel wedding coordinator burst my little bubble when she told me no flash even with a diffuser and no tripod....We planned to start photos at 2:30 on Saturday so that would give me enough time and nobody would be rushed or stressed (the nobody I'm referring to would be me) sounds good right!.....The Bridal Party wasn't ready until 3:25.........The wedding was at 4:00.....I snapped what pics I could get in a short amount of time while guest filled the church...When the wedding started everything was a blur...I'm pretty sure I had a small stroke...Did I mention the bride is the daughter of one of my best friends....Out of 600 pics I'm hoping that 5 or so will turn out nice..........Hope, if your reading this...I'll sure miss your friendship if these don't turn out...

Thursday, November 11, 2010

If You Ever Said Something Stupid...........

If you ever said something stupid and you wished you could take it back.....Look at these and you'll feel better about yourself....

(On September 17, 1994 , Alabama's Heather Whitestone was selected as Miss America 1995.) Question: If you could live forever, would you and why? Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever," --Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest.

"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff." --Mariah Carey

"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life," -- Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign .

"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body," --Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward.

"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country," --Mayor Marion Barry, Washington , DC .

"That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I'm just the one to do it," --A congressional candidate in Texas .

"Half this game is ninety percent mental." --Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.." --Al Gore, Vice President

"I love California . I practically grew up in Phoenix ." -- Dan Quayle

"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?" --Lee Iacocca

"The word "genius" isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." -- Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst.

"We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people." -- Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor.

"Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances." --Department of Social Services, Greenville , South Carolina

"Traditionally, most of Australia 's imports come from overseas." --Keppel Enderbery

"If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there'll be a record." --Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman

Sunday, November 7, 2010

The Purse Snob Is Happy..........


The hunt is over....This patten leather beauty in Lipstick Red (of course I would choose this color) won my heart............And I stuck to the promise I made to my husband, to not go overboard on a purse.................I got it half off...

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Happy Halloween.......


When witches go riding,

and black cats are seen,

the moon laughs and whispers,

'tis near Halloween....


Have a Happy Halloween!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Fall Has Fell In Georgia.....

Winter is an etching,


Spring a watercolor,


Summer an oil painting and Autumn a mosiac of them all...


Wednesday, October 20, 2010

What Happens When Someone With OCD Makes A Bar Of Soap.....


That's just it...They don't make a bar of soap they make 100 bars of soap..In every scent shape and size, and when their happy with that, they make other things......

Because they can't sleep until they get it right...Or make a mess trying! Which makes them happy because they have something to clean....I started out trying to make the most natural and good for you bar of soap which turned into a little bit more.....Way more! I wasn't happy with that so I wanted to make lotion to go with the soap...Then when I did that,I wanted to make foaming body butter,body wash, body spray, bubble bath, bath salts, fizzing bath salts, chap stick........I'm sure by now you get the picture...
So, this is what I've been consumed by lately....And one reason I've not been blogging or stopping by everyone else's blogs....I'm covered in bubbles....


I'm officially selling these in a couple local shops..I've took the extra step and made Organically Yours a real company (Limited Liability Company) complete with insurance (the world is full of bad people).....Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

How To Kill A Dragon....Or At Least Relocate One...


A year or so ago I blogged about this beast of a cactus I have named Diablo (trust me, the name fits). I took a wee small sprout from it when some dear friends moved from one house to the next...My sign should have been when they left it alone...Seriously, what kind of person looks at a cactus and says, "OH I want that beauty in my yard"....What does that say about me.....But I have to learn things the hard way.....AND I HAVE!!!.. I had to relocate my beautiful roses because he had grown so huge, my goal that day was to chop that evil doer down with an axe until I saw these.......Cute, I know...
But these last for like a day......
But now Diablo is ten feet tall and bullet proof and just going near it requires some type of metal armour....My husband chopped a piece off that was hanging to far over in the yard and bit him every time he mowed the yard...He picked it up with a shovel and threw it on a tree stump........It is still growing...ON A TREE STUMP!!! My question to any of you is this....Has anyone successfully relocated a cactus and lived to talk about it....

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Confessions Of A Purse Snob............

It's no secret that I take comfort in a quality purse....I love the smell and feel of a great purse...The way it caresses your hip when your carrying it on your shoulder brings me great joy...I have the unique ability to spot a quality purse 100 yards away, I can also spot an impostor a 100 yards away...I call it a gift....My husband calls it pathetic...

It's been a year since I bought my last purse, and I have suffered greatly....You see, I am a purse connoisseur....I buy a new purse every season....I buy a good purse every season...

I am a purse snob.....(They say admitting the problem is the first step....Right!)

Now that it's time for a new Fall/Winter purse, I promised my husband I'd be smart and practical when buying this years beauty (neither one of the two have I ever been accused of ) so I drank three cappuccino's and had a long drawn out conversation with myself in the car and thought I had set some pretty solid ground rules......I was going in........My plan was simple,I would stand at the end of each isle and look at what got my attention and then check out the price tag...(You know, see if it was a mind over matter kind of thing)..........I walked in tall and tough and proud, ready for the new me................Well, all it took was one good whiff of leather and my eyes glazed over... I caved quicker than Imelda Marcos would at a Manolo Blahnik outlet mall....

I started running through row after row of soft leather, hard leather, patent leather, reds, blacks and browns, all the beautiful colors of Fall.......Just with buckles and straps....

After I noticed security starring at me (I'm sure I looked like a deranged lunatic on crack), I tried to gather my composure, all I could do was hear those stupid little words I said to my husband....Surely he knows me better than that......

Still, with tear filled eyes I walked away empty handed starring at the store through the rear view mirror....

I ran into Walmart for a few items and thought, just thought I would wonder by the purse section....I promise you know.....A Hannah Montana purse is not my idea of downsizing....

The hunt continues.............

Monday, September 27, 2010

A Night Of Celebration With A Wonderful View............

Saturday was a big night for Mr.Sexy Calves and myself....We had a hot date in downtown Atlanta..I picked up his suit from the cleaners, knocked the dust off up my black high heels and bought a new pair of Spanx for myself (Spanx is important when trying to look 50lbs thinner when your not)...We were going to a wedding...

Not just your average Southern Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian or even a Pentecostal run of the mill celebration...Nope, not even close....This one was my first....Your thinking same sex wedding aren't you.....Well your wrong!.....


This was a Southern Baptist/ Jewish wedding...And what a celebration it was....The ceremony started out as the sun was setting at beautiful Piedmont Park....The officiant was actually the one who introduced them and one of the brides best friends....He added humor and heartfelt tears to the ceremony and tried to interpret the Jewish customs that were intertwined throughout....There was a lot of Baptist in attendance....We needed the interpretation...


I know what 2-Corinthians says about being unequally yoked, but they have been together for 5 years and the love between them is so wonderful and obvious.....And I'm sure when this wedding was being planned both sets of parents was scratching their heads..

The bride and groom are huge sports fans so after the ceremony we headed over to Turner Field (Home of the Braves for those of you who don't know baseball) to the 755 club...All I can so was the views of Atlanta at night and Turner Field were awesome....

Once the wedding party arrived, the party started.....We feasted on filet mignon and chicken cordon bleu, caught up with old friends and made several new one....The band was incredible...If you could clone Frank Sinatra, Otis Redding and Van Morrison this is who you would come up with...We left the celebration before our arthritis took over and my Spanx gave out...I have decided that I'm going to become an official wedding crasher, if nothing else for the people watching....I promise you the crowd at this one didn't disappoint..

Friday, September 24, 2010

Fall

Is it Fall? That's what the calender says but the weather says different....It's still in the 90's and hot and humid....Dry with not much rain in sight...Not sure if it's my age or what but I am ready for some cooler weather....Remind me I said this in January...More to come...Lots going on around the palace...Have a great weekend my friends!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Thanks And Big Hugs................

Just wanted to say a "Big Thank You" for all of the sweet comments that I've had about my first trip to my old home place since it was dozed down...They were greatly appreciated...Hate to be a Debbie Downer but I had been putting that visit off for a while...I don't think it would be as hard for me if I didn't see the pain and hurt in my parents eyes...That's the hardest part....I don't think they will ever be happy anywhere they end up at...Maybe this next move, since it will be closer to the old place , will make them a little bit happier..Who knows...This past year was a hard year in many ways, and now it's time to hold up my head and let God lead me from here...
Thanks to you all....
Your the Best!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

You Can't Go Home Again.............

It's been ten months since my parents were forced to move from the home my Grandparents built because of a mudslide...Ten months of stress, aggravation and just plain miserable homesickness for them...Their not happy in the home their at right now and are looking for something closer to family....closer to home....Change has been very hard on them....I hadn't been back to what use to be my childhood home since the last truck load of furniture was moved back in December...We went to see them over Labor Day, and it was time to wonder back to the place that I've called home since I was three...A lot has changed in ten months....The gas company that was responsible for the mudslide, bulldozed the house down and took it to a bio-hazard waste dump because of the mold....There is no home place...I wonder if they knew all the memories they were tearing down, or even if they cared who's heart was breaking.....Most of the flowers my Mama planted along the edge of the yard are still blooming, they just look lonely and confused.....That gnarly old walnut tree we used to climb is full of walnuts...And so is the chestnut and the apple trees, but all you see is apples scattered on the ground, with no one to pick them...My brother says several deer and a bear are enjoying them....


Everything looked so much smaller to me this time....It looked so sad and lonely.....Time goes go on and so will life....But another Fall of packing boxes and moving furniture is in store for them.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Can You Say Anxiety.....................

We are planning a trip to the west coast... my husband's son ,my step son works for Delta Airlines and one of the perks is parents fly free........Can you say WOW!!!!! The only thing about that is...I'm a white knuckle butt tighter than a drum flyer....Now, I have flew several times and it doesn't get any easier for me, it's not the actual flying that bothers me it's the twisted metal and charred flesh at the crash site that worries me a little.......My first experience was a nightmare...I was stupid enough to think that it would take a long time for that big plane to take off the ground, I thought I would have enough time to prepare myself for the experience...When that big metal baby shoot up in the air I violated the man next to men.....I'm sure any ability for him to reproduce was lost after that flight....His name was Dave by the way..We were tight!! That's all I'm going say about Dave....It also took me about two weeks to have a bowel movement after that flight....I have since then fly to Canada, New York, Orlando, Arizona, Alaska and Charleston...The last time I stepped on a plane it was a life time movie in the making.... It was raining (of course), I set down at the concourse and threw up twice....when I looked out the window I saw what looked like a plane that a rich person would buy at a yard sale pulling up.....I called my husband and said please pray that this is not my plane....................IT WAS!!!!! We boarded and the flight attendant closed the door with a wheel like hatch that she had to have the pilot help her with.......There was a High School Band from Charleston WV on board that had just won a trophy for something and they were so happy......I WAS NOT HAPPY!!!! I was flying in a storm in a matchbox car..... We taxied down the runway and underneath the airplane there was a noise that sounded like a body was being dragged...The pilot came on the intercom (which was silly because he could have just turned around and yelled at us) and said, "Sorry folks we are experiencing a little mechanical difficulty so were just going pull over and have someone come out and give us a look".......All was not well in my world..............The flight attendant was smiling but nobody else was breathing......If I could have opened that hatch I would have exited the plane......An hour later after the pep boys did their work the pilot came on and said, " Ladies and Gentleman it was just a figment of our imagination...We are cleared to take off"...............And in my outside voice I said, " Oh no were not"........The flight attendant politely asked my to not upset the other passengers....But the man beside me looked at her and said, " Look mam we all heard the noise".......... And the whole plane chimed in......It was the quietest trip I've ever been on.....No one said a word....But I'm sure everyone prayed.I KNOW I DID..My anxiety could be caused from all the Discovery Channel shows like Terror in the Sky's or Flight Disasters that I'm glued to before I fly...It's my way of tormenting myself...So far it's working....Anyone else share my fears or are all of y'all normal...

Monday, August 9, 2010

Second Time Fireworks.............

OK, so I thought I would do another photo series...Fireworks!!! This I found wasn't easy... This is my second attempt at taking fireworks, the first was on the fourth, I was to far away, not the right zoom lens and most of them came out looking like unknown planets...

My second attempt was on the beach and I had a front roll seat..Some are a little out of frame but after my first planet blob like series...I couldn't have been happier if I'd been on safari taking shots of a pride of lions.....




Anyone got any tips on how-to as far as firework's go...I'd love to hear them...

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Just Photos Today...........

After a post of hormonal meltdowns and things that drive me nuts....Thought I would post a few of my recent pics.... Sweet and relaxing...At least to me

Our favorite tree for a pose....

Yes, I could eat this face up!!!!!


And a peaceful walk on the gulf

Friday, August 6, 2010

10 Things That Drive Me Nuts.............This Week

OK, I going blame my bad mood on the heat, there's no way getting around it because it's just plain HOT!!!! I know everyone is feeling the Summer heat but come on, Georgia is an oven this year and I've heard myself (self proclaimed Summer Girl) saying I can't wait for the weather to cool off...I'm not saying full blown Fall, there's nothing I love about dead crunchy leaves ,sorry all you Fall lovers but that's a fact...I've never been someone who loves the crisp fall air and the changing trees....Anyway......People are always posting things they love and with the mood I've been in lately I thought I would post a few that drive me crazy.....At least today....Tomorrow could be a different list...





1. People who pee on the commode seats in public bathrooms because they think sitting down on it is disgusting.....


2. Hair in a sink...Makes me feel weird but then again I am weird..


3. A dirty mirror...See comment from number 2


4.Insomnia


5.Actually going to sleep and waking up because you need to pee then laying back down wide awake because you, A. Have the theme song from i Carly stuck in your head (Yes, this is a Nickelodeon show and Yes, I have had my Granddaughter...)

And B. Getting that song out of your head only to replace it with Carrie Underwood's Undo It.


6.Hot flashes and mood swings.....These I count as one because one is closely followed by the other....At least at my house


7. Listening to your husband make new and strange noises with his mouth at 3:35am while having hot flashes and mood swings.....This is why some people never remarry.


8.Right now, I hate my pressure cooker and all the mason jars in the whole wide world.....



9. Body odor



10. Talking with a mouth full of food


Warning.....There could be a new list tomorrow it all depends on a good nights sleep...

Sunday, August 1, 2010

After Careful Consideration...............

After careful consideration (and a long glimpse at myself in the mirror), I have decided that next year's bathing suit will be this.........

It should give me everything I want in a bathing suit...Enough spandex to hold in all my flabby parts and hide cellulite nicely, draw plenty of attention on the beach or by the pool, and if my dieting fails over the holidays, I can always go for this flashy number...

Enjoy the rest of the Summer!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Friends.................

I have had the great pleasure of knowing some wonderful women in my life and calling them friends was an added bonus...But when you have a friend that knows most of your secrets and you know theirs.....Well, you better hold on to them for dear life (just so you can pick out who plays you in the lifetime movie, because I hang out with some funny people) and honest people....Just the other day my dear friend Hope told me that she described me to a co-worker as someone with more issues than a magazine.........When I told my dear friend Liz that...She agreed.....
Today is Lizzie's birthday, and I want to wish her a Happy Birthday.....Your still a hot mama even if you can't Salsa, Tap Dance, Tango or just squat down........

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Meet A Beautiful Miracle..................


I would like for you to meet a future Ultimate Fighting Champion if ever there was one (His Mama is a friend of mine).........This handsome little fella is Mr. Jackson Cash Harmon and he was born almost three months premature....He came into the world on July 7th weighing 1lb and 9oz, today he is 2lbs and 3oz and starting to take some of his Mama's milk....And she finally got to hold this tiny miracle yesterday....I believe in prayers and I thought I would pass this little fella and his tired Mama and Daddy along to you...He's doing great, but still has a long way to go...And I'll keep you posted

Friday, July 23, 2010

What Generation Gap.............

Our granddaughter is staying with us for her last week of Summer vacation.... you know, Wonka Land as her parents like to call it....Or the land that knows no No's....
Tonight the princess decided to take a leisurely bubble bath and I being her loyal servant obliged her.........
When she stepped into the tub she asked, "Gram, would you play one of those funny records you like to listen to while I'm in here".......I couldn't believe what I was hearing, someone who bops around the house singing Justin Bieber and The Jonas Brothers and shakes her tiny behind to Lady Gaga, was wanting to listen to Ella Fitzgerald.....Her Grammie's old Jazz tunes
I stood and watched as she lay in a bubble filled tub with her eyes closed and her head laid back, Lady Ella's magic spell was cast
It was beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I'll introduce her to a little Nina Simone the next bubble bath........

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Renewal..........

I ran away from home for a few days and it was awesome!!! I believe a person needs to do that sometimes, it keeps the neighbor's safe....And I told my husband I was going to leave him if he didn't get me away from that blasted pressure cooker for a few days....Beside, my soul was in need of renewal and there's only two places that do that for me...


One, is Cades Cove in Tennessee, it's in the Great Smokey Mountains and it's a place that transforms my spirit and soul every time I walk the path and trails of the old home places...I see jonquils and roses that are growing out in the middle of nowhere and think of the callused hands that lovingly planted them there many years ago....And in the breeze, I can almost hear a Mother calling her family in for supper....To me it's really magical..
(Corny, I know, but when your menopausal and you can find serenity, you milk it for all it's worth).....



The other is the Gulf Coast, which is where we went...I can set for hours watching the waves and listen to the water and think of nothing, I feel that with each wave my soul is renewed and refreshed, and I am part of Gods great plan again...

When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with it's great wide sounds, cleanses me with it's noise and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused....


~Rainer Maria Rilke

P.S.

The pressure cooker and the garden was still here when when we got home...I'm currently planning my next escape.........

Friday, July 9, 2010

Summer Time Around The Prison/Sweat Shop/Palace...........


Well folks, once again it's that time of year when I don my Caroline Ingles apron and curse the garden and the heat....You got it!! It's canning and preserving time.....I'm so excited, I just can't hide it......NO, I'M IN TORMENT!!!!! If I was born in the 1800's I'm pretty sure I would have been a prostitute, because if I'd had been a farmers wife I believe my husband would have gotten tired of my whining and took me out behind the barn and shot me........(Beside, my uterus would have had a cut-off valve anyway and I don't like body odor).......

Anyway, I need to keep my status as raining queen, so I pitch a fit and go on.........Trust me, it does no good, for this once red lipstick wearing, no such thing as to many sales in one day, and quality purse toting woman who use to get shinny gifts, only gets rewarded with 30lbs of South Georgia Peaches in need of preserving now......When my husband was a teenager he didn't have a poster of Rachel Welch on his wall, it was June Cleaver, I'm sure of it!!! Let's clarify something, I don't want to be June Cleaver, I'd rather be Holly Golightly (from Breakfast at Tiffany's).............
So I stay and work in the labor camp that I call home for mere pennies a day...........(Anyone feeling sorry for me yet)
And after removing 2,765 briers from different parts of my body I walked into the house with a bucket of these beauties...





Ripe and Juicy! They were growing wild on our property when we bought it and we have babied them ever since, this year they said, "Thank you for the love"... We've enjoyed cobbler from them and I can't wait to have some of these on a hot buttermilk biscuit.

During the winter my Father in law gave us some green beans for our garden that come from some ancestors during the 1800's. They came from some Cherokee Indians before the trail of tears . Each family has gotten seeds out of each crop for the next year and it's been going strong ever since.....Well, after spending three hours in 150 degree (I added in the humidity) heat picking these monster beans, and two days and nights picking and canning more.......I have decided that we need to give them back their beans......We have taken enough from them....And if they act now, they can take the garden too......

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Closet Twlight Fan............

Yes, I will admit that I'm a closet Twilight fan. I didn't start watching until the first one came out on DVD, I bought it just to see what the fuss was about....At least that's my story! I thought the acting was horrible but I was hooked and got my daughter hooked also....When the second one came out, my daughter and me went during the week to see it because neither one of us could stand the thought of all those screaming teenagers..What we found was a half empty theater full of middle aged women in dark sunglasses and hats, all of them acting like they wondered into the wrong room...But this time was different........BOY WAS IT DIFFERENT!!!! We walked into a theater full of mostly menopausal women who had no shame....And a few normal folks who wished they'd stayed home....Let me tell you about these two ladies who sat beside us, they were worth the price of admission....The two ladies (and I'm being nice) one said she had just turned 70 were loving every minute of this movie...As soon as it started they both said, "Bring on those boys". Every action scene they were down in their chairs, covering their eyes and punching back. At one point I looked over at the lady next to me and said, " Mam, are you sure you need to be in here without adult supervision", she looked over at me grabbed my arm and said, "This is just so hot and intense".....I laughed so hard I almost wet my pants........When a love scene came, on all I heard was, bring it on, that's what I'm talking about and at one point she said, "He wants her to straddle that".....These two ladies DID NOT have an inside voice and what ever club they belong to, I wish I was a member........What naughty spunk!!! Of course it made us think which group we will be safer with when the next one comes out. Teenage hormones or hormonal replacement therapy.......

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy 4th Everyone.........


May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country! ~ Daniel Webster

Saturday, June 26, 2010

What Exactly Does Our Dreams Means...........

What does our dreams mean? If you can figure this one out your a genius or as crazy as I am.......

Last night I dreamed my husband was trading me to another man.......My new home would be in a shack by the swamp near the Atlanta Airport......There is no swamp near the Atlanta Airport! My new husband was short, extremely overweight, bald and smelled of perforated bowel. My husband, being the thoughtful man he is, assured me he would talk to my new companion about his body odor....This did not comfort me.....In my dream, my husband allowed this man to sleep with us for one week..A good trial run he called it.......I woke up early to both men sleeping in brightly colored clothes on opposite sides of the bed and ran away....I wasn't living with a man that smells like rotting flesh..........I ran into a darkened tunnel that turned into a shopping center, there was store after store of beautiful purses and it wasn't long until I stole one........I was then a criminal running from mall security.....I found myself in the food court stuffing my beautiful purse with stolen food from the food court (apparently I was going to be on my own and needed nourishment). Not going to ruin the beautiful stolen purse, I had also confiscated some 100% Egyptian cotton sheets to line my purse with..(I may be a criminal, but I know how to care for quality). As I try to run out of the mall I find my self walking into the sunshine and into several family members both past and present, inviting me to a family reunion , after explaining to them that I can't go since my husband is selling me to another, they take the food from my purse and spread it on the table..

I turn around to see a beautiful fountain filled with children playing...They were mine....

Just another night in my head...........

Sleep well my friends.....


Tuesday, June 22, 2010

What's Been Going On ..........

I've tried for weeks to blog but have been unsuccessful, maybe it's the Georgia heat.... Maybe It's because I haven't been taking my hormones..Who knows....I don't know what's going on with any of y'all anymore...So sorry! I do hope to catch up soon, and I hope everyone is well and having a great Summer... Trust me, it's not because I've been on some tropical beach somewhere or even lounging by the pool. Nope, I have once again bitten off more than I can chew..I tend to do that from time to time......

My husband is convinced I am going through some kind of a midlife crisis, which he refers to as"heart dropsy".. I don't know why he calls it that, he just does....Of course this man still calls a bra a brazier..He's officially 110 years old.....I've tried to convince him that a quality purse could snap me out of it, but so far I'm not winning. I think his main concern is the fact that I've not dusted or vacuumed all week...(Now I'm worried)
He's convinced I'm looking for a young lover named Miguel or Armando
Yes! I tell him, men with names like these love middle age women with stretch marks and sagging breast, I have to run at least four of them away from the door a day.....Please understand. Mr. Sexy Calves has never been accused of being romantic or jealous, his new jealousy is almost comical....One Valentines Day, I lite candles around a bubble filled tub and his first response was, "Are you trying to burn down the house" It was then I realized I was married to my Grandfather........That has never happened again!!!!
He swears it all started when I got what he calls those "brown strips" in my hair, after that I started going to Photography School and gotten more interested in my Body Products business...The past two weeks I've been busy sanding sheet rock in our basement and trying to make room for all my products, my little soap business has gotten quite larger than I thought and I have ran out of space in my laundry room, so who knows where it will go from here but right know I'm looking at websites (which I know nothing about) and if any of y'all want any samples of anything I make, let me know, I'll be glad to send you some. They are all Natural and Organic...I'm also loving Photography, the world is so beautiful when your looking through a lens.. I have my first wedding shoot in November (I was forced into that, Thank you Hope)...As for Mr. Sexy Calves, I have no plans of trading him in for a younger model (he doesn't complain about my sagging breast).
And I hope to catch up with everyone real soon...Don't give up on me!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Happy Anniversary..............


I would like to say Happy Anniversary to Mr. Sexy Calves....The man who knows how to fix his own breakfast but forgets what drawer his under ware goes in....The man who makes the best Chocolate cake and Barbecued chicken, EVER!!!! But believes my name is Ma Walton every Summer and Fall...Meaning I must can, freeze or preserve everything from our garden ....And pretty much anything edible in the state of Georgia....But never complains when he comes home and the table is full of new soap, lotion, body wash or bubble bath......But not his Supper!!! He never complains when I can't sleep and get up at 2am to clean something....Or make bath products...He never complains when he comes home to a dinning room table full of photographs because I have been on a photo shoot.....He knew I had a few loose screws and married me anyway...He loves my family even though most of them are slightly dysfunctional....He loves me hair up or hair down, make-up on or off (though I believe he prefers it on).Did I mention his calves are really hot!!! I like him a lot...I still call him my boyfriend.......Most days!!!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

What's Not Working For Me Today............

This morning I woke up, looked in the mirror and said, "Today I will convince myself that gray hair is sexy". So far, it's not working......If every gray hair tells a story........Mine is writing a novel.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Remember Memorial Day...........


It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle...

Norman Schwarzkoph

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Farewell Old Friend...........

Jack Bauer has been on a 24 hour rampage...He's been shot, beaten (numerous times), stabbed, stopped a nuclear crisis, lost the love of his life and been betrayed by the President.....And once again he came out on top (hair in place and leather jacket looking great)


Yes, I cried when Jack told Chloe good-bye, because he was also telling me good-bye....

Good-bye to eight years of, on the edge of your seat entertainment.......Shoot first ask questions later....I've lived in a world of great Jack Bauer quotes for eight years, I mean don't every woman look at their husband and say, "You have no idea how far I'm willing to go to get your cooperation"....It's an everyday saying around here


What does this mean? 24 addicts everywhere are lost, confused and deeply saddened this morning. Who will save us now............Jack, don't go far!

Yes, I am fully aware that my life is a sad miserable mess, but this man has brought this middle aged woman a great deal of happiness and excitement over the years....Just look at that face!!!