My Kryptonite......

Some women fall for a pretty smile, nice hair or a great sense of humor.....Or maybe a large bank roll.....Not me...You see these.....This is my kryptonite....Muscular thighs and calf's....And when it's standing in front of my stove helping me cook... I'm a goner.....
Must be the whole Donna Summer thing........

I Hear The 70's Calling Me........

I have said many times that I would NEVER wear any of the clothes that I wore in the 70's....No more polyester for me again.....I HAVE ATE THOSE WORDS........ I have fallen prey to this years Maxi dress.....I love these things, theirs one to fit every figure and oh my goodness are they comfortable and cool......It's a summer must have........Put one of these fairly inexpensive little numbers on and I guarantee you will feel more feminine, a little sexy and maybe a little naughty......Anyone else hear Donna Summer besides me........

Love to love YA baby!!!!!

P.S. Keep the sexy and naughty out of the produce isle at Walmart....save it for home......

But that's another post....And No, I wasn't playing with the produce.......Someone else was......... IT WAS WAY WRONG..............

Friday's Mishaps and Putting Things Back Into Prospective.....

Friday morning I got up looked out the window at our pool (without my contacts in ) and thought "Wow it looks really clear", upon closer examination I had found my beautifully clear and wonderfully refreshing pool was.......EMPTY......Well, within a foot......at that time of panic, She-Ra Princes of Pain calls me...." Hey, what are you doing?"....Me, in a voice that I am sure sounded like I was being abducted by aliens said, "I cant talk now, I have a serious situation"......"Mom, is everything alright?"she said....I hurriedly tried to explain to her in five words or less while I was pacing around the pool in my nightgown trying to make since of what I thought was such a disaster....I have been working so hard to keep my pool clean and nice, and when it was all said and done I was to blame for the problem....I spent the biggest part of the morning wiping tears, not sure of the damage I have done to the motor and pump....I am a little of a compulsive cleaner with a touch of ADHD ......I had vacuumed the pool Thursday evening and left the vacuum hose lying on the deck, because I knew it would not be clean enough for me once the water settled (had to get every last drop of dirt ) once I came inside I got busy cleaning something else, the hose had dropped to the side and siphoned the water.....After the panic mode settled down (And the King of the Palace came home to access the damage) I called my daughter to apologize for being so spastic and to find out if she needed anything....Of course she wanted to see if we were working out (got out of that) and to tell me about a program she is going to do at the gym...It's called Sweating for a Well....Sessions with her to raise money to build a well in Africa.......She went on to tell me in her calming voice that children in Africa can't cry because they don't drink enough water and she wants to raise money for a well....Her program sounds awesome...And as she told me about it I stared out the window at the water running in my pool..The water I had been so depressed about losing....All of the sudden I felt small....When we hung up I cried for a different reason.....I had to Thank God that I have water to spare.....Leave it to her to put things back into prospective.......Sometimes my priorities aren't what they need to be, and I need to be reminded.......

By the way...The picture of my feet was taken on another day...I promise I didn't float around our pool in one foot of water even though it was in the 90's yesterday.

For the fun of it......

I saw this on someone else's blog and I thought it would be fun to put my own spin on it....You should give it a try and see what you come up with.......

If I could be a flower I would want to be Lilies...They're beautiful and they smell wonderful......
and they just happen to be my favorite.....

If I were a house I would want to be the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC.....it's beautiful all year round and other people do the the cleaning....plus the views are breathtaking......

If I were a drink it would be Sweet Tea....Not even a choice.......

If I were a peaceful place it would be (this was a tie) the Gulf Coast at Sunset.....

And Cades Cove Tennessee (I can clear my head when we walk the paths there)

If I were a purse it would be this Louis Vuiiton Surya....YES IT WOULD!!!! And not any knock off (it's my fantasy, I want the real deal.........Anyone have an extra $3,630.oo ....Anyone....

If I could revisit a time in my past it would be the day my grandmother gave me this quilt....It was for my eighth birthday and she was so proud of it....I can look at the squares and see so many pieces of material that my mother made an outfit for me from....I actually had this quilt on my bed until I married my husband seven years ago....It has wiped many tears.......

If I were a movie it would be Gone with the Wind....although Steel Magnolias and Fried Green Tomato's are my favorites for quoting.......

If I were a crayon I would want to be any pastel color....no one likes the other colors...you never hear people saw " Wow I think I will pick this lovely Burnt Orange, or maybe the Pea Green"..........No thank you... Pastel for me please......

And if I were to have lunch with someone important or famous I would pick my bloggy friends.....What a day that would be.....Septembermom could have a break from her bully situation(she could use one) Montantagirl and J'ellen could give us all photography lesson and talk about all the beauty they see everyday (what a treat!!!). LindainNCtoo could finally teach me how to make the perfect greeting card (she's awesome), Sue at Making a House a Home could give some wonderful gardening tips...What a green thumb she has.....And Jennifer over at Through the storms of Life is a kindred spirit....she just doesn't know it yet.........I have only named a few great people, what a lunch (and stories ) that would be if we could get together....And I am sure if Gerald Butler and Brad Pitt wanted to stop by y'all wouldn't mind if I offered them a glass of sweet tea (it's the proper thing to do)............

Have a Great Day!!!!

5 Things....

5 Things We'll Never Understand About Men.......

5. Why horror movies, wrestling and boxing are cool, but PMS and menopause are horrifying...

4. Why " I dare you " will get them to do anything...

3. Why his Mama Bear voice is way better than yours....

2. Why he'll give you the stars but not the remote.....

1. Why he can grill but not cook......

Note To Self....

Never blog about your personal trainer.....YOU WILL PAY DEARLY.........I legs feel like jello....

Shapen Up or Goin Down Tryin........

Don't be fooled by this angelic face.........my daughter is killing me and I have no one to blame but myself.... and maybe the two pieces of lemon meringue pie I had yesterday, but I ain't telling her that.......I thought I could handle her one on one personal training sessions, but I am sinking faster than the Titanic... I mean I am in a world of hurt.......Pain.......

You see, I had gotten tired of hearing my fitness fanatic princess talk about how so in so had lost so many inches and so many pounds after training with her in a few short weeks, and ever time I see her perfect tone and fit body compared to my jiggly wiggly one.....Well, I liked hers better....So I decided to see what my daughter was made of (in the world of personal training), That was my first mistake........I agreed to do three days a week of personal training with her and wanted her to treat me just like any other client....That was my second mistake.........When She-Ra princess of power showed up at my door on day one she had her game face on and it was a little scary....She immediately started to tell me what I was capable of doing.....not the other way around....I was told to engage my abs while breathing and tighten my butt while putting my poor body in positions it hasn't been in in a very long time...did I mention you have to keep focused....These things she did, and didn't break a sweat......Me, all I was trying to do was keep the muscle spasms to a minimum and not pass gas......These are not possible things when your middle age and out of shape.......It's not possible to breath and hold in your stomach while tightening your butt and every other muscle you forgot you had.... Way to much thought for my mind.....And this was all on day one, by Friday I couldn't raise my arms to wash my armpits....I just stood in the shower in tears and hoped for the best.....No worry about over eating....Cant raise the fork to my mouth.....By the end of the week the fruit of my loins didn't look as sweet and innocent to me as she does in the picture, as a matter of fact I am kinda afraid of her, and I cry when I hear her vehicle.....

My child, The Mistress of Burning Pain as I have come to call her has put me through a week of torment and tears and today another week of agony began.......We did our workout in the pool with something she called low impact aerobics....And when I can move again I will take twelve ibuprofen and go out to the pool and look for my spleen... because I am sure it is out there floating....

LOW IMPACT MY BUTT!!!!

I will keep you posted....If I survive........

Two Mighty Men....

These two men are very important too me, they have touched my life in many different ways.

This man is a brick mason by trade, wounded WWII Veteran who stormed the shores of Omaha beach, and says that he "crawled thur Europe on his hands and knees". At 91 he stills works when he has it and drives to town for breakfast, loves to hunt and work in his garden...And at times has been known to drive his wife a little crazy (as she says). He's very charming and always greets you with a hug...





Here is the cabin he was raised in, it is about 3 miles from his home now, and I am very proud to have Mr. Pearle Quince Queen as my father in law....




This man here had a different life than the one before, thou much younger than my father in law.My dad was raised in a very different and unforgiving environment than my father in law.... We didn't had indoor plumbing until I was almost a teenager(something my husband always had).


My father went to work in the coalmines at the age of 12...he has only a 6th grade education...But I have never meet anyone smarter than my daddy....Growing up as a little girl, I thought my daddy was a mountain with rough callused hands that I loved to touch..and still do...To me they meant strength..... So many sacrifices made for his family....I have always said that you could put my Dad on top of any mountain and he could find his way home.....I have my sense of humor from him and it gets both of us in trouble...If you need to find my dad he will most likely be in the mountains, fishing or watching a western....My Dad is paying dearly for all those years in the mines, his health is poor and his lungs are almost gone but there will never be anything as secure or as reassuring as having him put his arms around me, and I am proud to be the daughter of Bobby Iverson Walker...
I love you Daddy.......


HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO THESE GREAT MEN




and too all Fathers..........

Simple Things........

Sometimes simple things are the most cherished....The laughter of my family when they're all together....My grandmothers cast iron skillet's, and the memory of her perfume...The smell of the gulf and the summer nights on the beach...Friends you can laugh and be yourself with...

Our 170 year old white oak, it's one of the reasons we bought our property, and it's just as beautiful without leaves as it is with them...it's one of those great tree's that you wish could talk, and I hope nature is always kind to her....




Or the beauty of a rusty ole bird bath, the birds don't care what it looks like as long as there is fresh water for them to splash around in...



Or the way Carolina Jasmine starts to take over an old worn arbor, it somehow brings it back to life...


And the beauty of watching our garden grow...even if I know that a lot of canning and freezing lies in store for me...

Things to do......

Things to do when you're waiting for you re local DSL/Internet repairman to come (these people have no earthly clue nor do they care just how obsessed with your laptop you are)........Read a good book...What can I say....I was desperate.........

Paint your toenails every color polish you own...twice....Play every known game of solitaire just so you can be close to your computer....Admit you might be a little OCD with a twist of ADHD when it comes to your computer and just about anything else........But I'm O.K. with it............

Or do what I did....I cleaned out our basement, garage, attic and closets and had myself a Big Ole Yard Sale....One that I had been putting off for a long time because I hate doing them....My last yard sale I swore was going to be my last....so was the one before that and the one before that one.....And yet there I sat at my dining room table making those neon signs...This is the first yard sale that I have had to do without my yard sale diva friend Liz, she has the best motto ever, "Buy High Sell Low"....I used it a lot........Nothing sells Christmas like the June heat in Georgia



I had to talk my daughter into helping this time, she made a pretty good yard sell diva herself....The whole yard sale thing is a pain, but the benefits are very nice......

So is my clean basement and closets

BACK SOON....

Just experienced an 8 day DSL meltdown.....But I am up and running, so hold on...........

Hydrangeas....

I thought I would do something to take my mind off of Burt and his 1970 something nakedness, and show you my beautiful hydrangeas....I have a couple bushes in my yard and they are absolutely full, my second bush was a sprout from the first and it ended up being a totally different color, half the bush is blue and half is purple....Leave it to the Georgia clay.....

Retro-licious

I was doing some searching on the Internet the other night and came upon these ads from quite a few years ago, we all remember our mood rings ( I actually have both my mood and spoon ring from the 70's) I thought it would be interesting to see how many of you actually remember or used these products.....So here we go....


My first one is the priceless ad for Midol that ran in 1974, it simply said, Be the you he likes. Good to be around any day of the month..PLEASE....I'm not sure sure about you, but I don't remember this pill doing all of that...

I cried my eyes out watching this (and still would) my parents gave me a music box from the movie for Christmas the year this came out, they're standing at a tree with their initials on it... I still have it...and it still plays that same sad tune....




Now in mid-70's when Dorothy Hamill was heating things up, my Mother thought she could cut my hair just like hers...What I ended up with was the opposite, Dorothy had short and sassy, I had short,flat and stringy... However I was thrilled when my Mother brought home my little bottle of this..


Which I would soon give up for this....A shampoo with beer as the main ingredient... I thought I was going to hell just for using this (I thought I was going to hell for a lot of things when I was young).


and then this....Remember how good this stuff smelled???




My favorite shoes in the whole wide world...At least while I was in High School, were these babies..... Only mine were wine color and suede....Oh Yea!!!!



And I also remember these....David Cassidy and Donny Osmond Notebooks.....Come on, I know some of you do too.....



This stuff come out when Disco was Hot....Blue Jeans Cologne....I actually got some for Christmas one year....




And let's talk about feminine hygiene shall we.....This ad for Stay free MINI PADS was published in 1978 and if you notice the mini pad is as big and long as the box it's self.....(Seriously,You could wrap a small child in this).


And I have saved this for last...because I am still feeling the pain from this one (literally), the day I sneaked this Burt Reynolds spread from a Cosmopolitan magazine into my fathers house, was the first and last time I did anything like that...(That they know about)...That's all I can say about that..........

Burt was along way from David Cassidy and Donny Osmond and my teenage eyes were overjoyed.....And worth every lick from my fathers belt....That's all...I promise.....I will go and pray now.......

Organic Bonding.....

Friday morning bright and early my health food fitness loving daughter calls me, at first her overly cheerful voice frightens me, because I know whats coming next, she wants to spend some quality Mother/Daughter time together.....The conversation starts out like this, " Wakey, Wakey, sunshine, how about a day together". I thought it sounded great, but I was curious...."We could go get a bikini wax OR we could go to our local Whole Foods/ Farmers Market and you could buy some organic fruits and veggies". Wow, she had me at organic.....Not......My daughter has been trying to get me to go to this place with her for months, now grocery shopping for me at any store is painful much less organic grocery shopping....So I picked the bikini wax....I will let you guess where we ended up at......At first I went kicking and screaming but she assured me that she would talk me through it.....Whatever, give me processed, I grew up on lard for goodness sake.......

We started in the fruits and veggies and I will have to admit that I didn't know there were that many different variety's of pairs and apples (If it ain't sold at Walmart or Kroger then I'm not sure I need it ).

Her first stop was all the free juice samples (and they were plenty) she went straight for the watermelon, pineapple, lemon mixture with a smile on her face, " Oh let's try this", all I could think of was the damage that the Master Cleanse Juice mixture did to my intestines, I just looked at her and said, "Seriously".... My little princess was in her element......

Half way through the store I started to turn, I started to see things that I wanted to try and a whole lota of things I had no clue what to do with in my sheltered hillbilly mind and I liked it....I was getting the fever until we came upon a large shelf of organic maple syrup, then had a few master cleanse flash backs (not good, as a matter of fact I just threw up a little bit thinking about that...sorry) We turned around another isle and I was in HEAVEN.....Cheese Heaven that is.... I have never meet a cheese I didn't like, I could eat the stuff all day long, and this place has plenty and every kind imaginable....I just stood there staring, my daughter stood proud....she done good, mama was buying cheese...organic or not.

Another small section was a beautiful bakery with lots of cakes and cupcakes, tarts and a lot of things that didn't go with the natural and organic order she was pushing for....It quickly became my favorite part of the store......Along with the mini tart I purchased.........

We topped off our organic and natural days of shopping with a quick lunch at Wendy's...besides, nothing says all natural to me like 100% pure beef ....... My daughter just rolled her eyes like she always does......I just love mother/daughter bonding days.

Back Home Flooding.....

The media rushes to central Appalachia when theirs a story on poverty, or drug addicted and alcoholic parents living on welfare in make shift houses. But when recent flash flooding devastated the area, they were no where to be found. The governor declared it a disaster area...As many of you know this is where I was born and raised....Almost every member of my family was effected by this flood, many loosing everything they had....A lot of people didn't have a much to begin with.... Flash floods are more and more common...Most say the flooding in this area is due to mountain top mining (When a coal company cuts down the top of the mountain and blast down around 1000 feet for coal) this leaves the mountain weak and when the heavy rains come there is no protection from flash floods. This video was taken from someone who lives in the same area as my family...

Beauty among the thorns....

Three years ago I planted a piece of a cactus about 4 inches by 5 inches

on the south side of my house along with some rose bushes. Today the cactus has turned into a monster....it stands at about 4 feet by 20 feet and is taking over my beautiful roses....I had planed to cut the cactus down today, but when I went outside prepared to "Let the monster have it" with an axe, it was covered with these.....Now, I will have to come up with another plan...Something this fierce with this much beauty deserves to live........

Dearest Anonymous.....

Last week I had an comment from someone signed anonymous, and I guess they were trying hard to put me in my place....More than likely a previous co-worker...I thought long and hard about how to reply to this, than I went to church and the message was called "Love let's it go" and the teachings of Paul...So I let it go....Then my friend struck again....So, to my anonymous reader, I have never pretended to be something I am not... If you read my profile on the sidebar it plainly tells that I am trying to get my Masters in Nursing before I retire, Nowhere does it say I have one now....I will not now or ever post a rude comment from someone like you...And if you are so offended by my blog... simply turn off your computer.......

What was I thinking........

I have tried so many stupid diets in my life, slim fast shakes....at least slim fast has milk in it.....The cabbage soup diet....Again, this diet is called soup for a reason, and as bland as it my be, it has some vegetables in it.The grapefruit diet and the ever popular 48 hour Miracle diet...As you can see, I am a moron..... I was talked into what could be the worst diet in the entire world.........By none other than my health food, fitness freak, perfectly fit, personal trainer daughter......And I ask you, what part of lemon....maple syrup....and cayenne pepper, sound like something you want to jump into for 10 days..........Did I mention you couldn't have anything but the above mentioned products mixed together in a glass served hot or cold.........It's called the Master Cleanse Diet, and it's the most painful diet I have ever tried (In more that one way)..........She thought it would be great if WE tried this diet together...It offered great benefits for people with a lot of stress in their life and joint pain (I suffer from degenerative arthritis) it would help me sleep, detox my body(she's into that, just give me cake) wash all the evil out of your body and rejuvenate you.....and I would lose up to twenty pounds in ten days......THAT'S THE ONLY PART I NEEDED TO HEAR......BRING ON THE CAYENNE PEPPER.........Along with her husband and a couple of their friends we all started together, she brings me some herbal laxative tea to drink before going to bed that tasted like tar....But it was natural she insisted.....still, it tasted like tar......her thought was ....I work nights and I don't eat much at work and this would be a piece of cake.........Guess again.......The first drink of the Master Cleanse lemonade mixture and I thought I was going to hurl across the room....I kept thinking is this what I am giving up caffeine for.....after about eight hours into the master cleanse it finally dawned on me exactly how this is going to detox my body....The cold chills I had every time I took a drink immediately followed by the waves of nausea had to be doing the trick...plus, I have reflux....Do you know what cayenne pepper does to someone with reflux.... By 3am I was snorting fire.........and what maple syrup does with lemons and cayenne pepper when added together alone should be used in chemical warfare.....The people in Vermont would be appalled.....My daughter would text me to see if I was OK and how the diet was going, but I stopped talking to her and didn't return her text....All I wanted was a large glass of sweet tea....I had daydreams of my car breaking down in front of Chick-fil-la while I was at work......Let me tell you, the noise coming from my guts was scary....No bathroom was safe...

On day four we all were begging each other to eat something....ANYTHING....My daughter and her husband were madly texting their friends back and forth and decided that whoever could stay out of the bathroom the longest, could get to the restaurant and reserve a table at the barbecue place....Me, I was headed straight for a sweet tea overdose.......


The only thing I lost on the Master Cleanse Diet was four foot of small intestine.....it was charred from the cayenne pepper....if any of you out there have any success stories from this diet...keep them to your self...Because right now, I am going to make an enormously large pan of peanut butter brownies, go set on my porch, and eat every last one of them..........



P.S.

I know where you can get some organic maple syrup REALLY cheap.....

For my Daughter.........

Psalms 144: 12 says.......
That our Daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude or the palace.........



It's very simple, I thank God for the gift of being your Mother.....I hope I have never let you down..........





Wishing All My Bloggie Friends....

A Happy Mothers Day

That favorite childhood pastime........

Talked to Nesie the other morning coming home, I knew she would be up getting the kids off to school and I was in desperate need of a Sam fix. Well, my boy Sam did not disappoint...It would seem he has been up to his old tricks ...running the neighborhood...Remember the games we played as children growing up, jump rope, hide and seek, and cowboy and Indians to name a few....Well it would seem that over at the Tributary, they play a new game when Sam's outside.....Apparently, Carrot Wars is the latest thing........Yep Carrot Wars....That art of taking the carrots that your mother just brought you (with ranch dip) and slinging them at on coming traffic (whoever gets a bulls eye(head) wins). Nesie said she was inside thinking her children were eating a healthy snack when Maddy came in to tell her about the traffic jam that had formed in front of the house.....A woman in a shiny car was ready to strangle Sam when Nesie walked outside to the sea of orange spread out before her, trying hard to explain to Sam how wrong this was and how people in the neighborhood must think that her children were brats...Sam looked up at her with those adorable dimples and said "Whats the big deal mom, it's just a dumb game of carrot wars". Remember Sam is four.....Nesie has a long way to go with those dimples....She said she went grocery shopping and is looking at produce in a different light....


Good Luck Nesie

Your gonna need it!!!

R.O.T. Tankini

We have two season's in Georgia, winter and summer...this weekend it was in the mid to upper eighty's, so I thought I would do something very relaxing and sit by our pool today...I got all jacked up on Zyrtec and was ready to put on my bathing suit, standing in a darken closet half naked, I grabbed the first one I could find....looked good enough....I tried in vain to get the small about of spandex over my chest, but I am sure I ended up tearing my rotators cuff instead....Now, getting this off was much more of a challenge( I have seen my daddy skin squirrels quicker) When my ordeal was over I stood stunned and exhausted in my closet, I was sure this was a practical joke played by one of my niece's...Surely I HAVEN'T GAINED THIS MUCH WEIGHT since last summer.......Either way I spent my quiet relaxing day contemplating if I should call Jenny Craig or do the Master Cleanse for the rest of the spring...One thing I do know, is that little piece of black spandex will NEVER,EVER, EVER bother me again....It now resides in the bottom of the trash can....far,far away..................

Old South Beauty

This is the home of my sister-in-law and her husband, it was built in 1840 and was originally on what used to be the original site of Emory University....The house was supposed to be demolished and then was saved...........It's had several owners over the years, but they bought it and put a lot of love, time and money into it...Now every room looks like it should have in the 1840's...except with electricity and running water......down to the furniture and paintings....it's beautiful.......Scarlett herself couldn't have enjoyed a more beautiful home........We celebrated my mother-in-law's eighty first birthday there this weekend...What a beautiful place for a family gathering.....

Southern Weather

Spring Time! The smell of flowers blooming......fresh cut grass....going barefoot...



And also, pollen that hovers in the trillions....and tornado watches EVERY OTHER DAY.......



We had a storm this evening that left my porch and yard looking like this......



I love my basement in the spring........

What a difference a week makes......

Last Monday I posted a picture of the baby birds looking helpless...Today, one week later, they look like this...The nest is so full they move around together....Like little old people shuffling...They take turns sitting on top...usually two at a time....the ones on the bottom suffer a little........I know they will be gone soon, but I have enjoyed watching them.........

Baby Bird Update

All Five babies survived the cold weather we had and are growing strong...and pooping everywhere....they are keeping their mama busy trying to feed them , and I am pretty sure they have run her out of the nest because I don't know where she would fit....These started out looking like caterpillar's and now they are starting to squeak a little....every time we step near them about five heads pop up with their mouths open...sweet and adorable , but my door step is looking a little messy.......

All About The Easter Accessories

Even as a little hillbilly girl I had a purse fetish...."Gotta love my over size patent leather bag....... Even at three I had style and class.......and one BIG PURSE..........Happy Easter Every One

A new adventure

For those of you that have prayed or were curious about my job status, I thought I would let you know that I start a new job on Monday....One of the hospitals in our system offered me a job working in the Emergency Room.....Now, this is pretty exciting and intimidating for me, I have worked so long in the OR and only worked PRN in the ER...both places are a challenge, and I am not sure if I am young enough to learn new tricks...I am most defiantly a trauma junkie, but things ( and people ) can get a little scary the later the shift gets....I have been working on a new motto for myself, here is the first one: Helping save lives until 6:45, it's catchy.
But I am afraid mine will be closer to this one: ER Angie...Dying slowly, one hour at a time.....These are twelve hour shifts........
I will keep you posted if I'm able.......