Nov 23, 2010

My Christmas Wish List

Every year, beginning in July, while my kids are camped out in front of the squawk box, there will be an interruption of their enterainting little cartoon or whatever for the marketing geniuses to bombard the viewers with commercials of neat gadgets and toys.  Every year, each commercial is then followed by a chorus of, "Mommy!  I want that!"  repeated until they are certain that I have heard and understood.

Well, this year, there are some things that Mommy wants!  I'm listing them here so my older kiddos can browse and purchase these items for me.  If they feel they should.  I guarantee they should be feeling that they should make such purchases.....if they know what's good for them!

Hand Warmers for those cold Sunday mornings when I have to play the piano.  I no longer need these since a friend gave me some this week!!  Yippee!!!
  

A Brother 3034 D 3&4 Thread Overlock Serger - for all those sewing projects
 in my head that I just can't get started until I have this beautiful contraption.



A digital recorder so that I can record my piano stuff right into my computer and sing alongs too!!!  I can also check this item off my list.  I played piano for a group of choirs this week and this was given to me as an appreciation gift!  Woo Hoo!!!  I play for the coolest people!



A decent sized family cabin tent for all the family weekend campouts
that I'm craving without the hassle of towing the travel trailer.

I need 2 of these XL camping cots to go inside that Cabin tent for comfortable sleeping.  I'm getting too old to sleep on the ground.  However, the kids would be happily comfy on the ground so they don't need much of anything.  Maybe an air mattress for them.  Oh, but this isn't about them is it!?

Now, is that too much to ask for?  I hope not.  Santa - and my kids - do you hear me!?

Nov 22, 2010

August Postcards

Here are the postcards I received in August.


LeeWade from China says, "Hi America!  I like!  This cummer is very hot in Wenzhou, my hometown.  I like drinking the photo's water every day."
 
Piet of Belgium says, "Hey, Best regards of Belgium.  I live near the town Antwerpen, a very historical city in North Belgium with a very important European harbour."

Nina from Finland says, "Hello, I hope this card find you well and happy.  I'm very much addicted to this Post Crossing, it has been far most nicest hobby I hever had and my daughter has participated this too.  I'm also active on Form, so most of my free-time goes to this.  This is my last week of summer-holidays, next week kids go to school and summer will be over, too bad :(

Claudia tells me, "Sunny greetings from the north part of Germany.  I'm living in Hamburg but Bielefeld was my city were I grow up."


Anastasiya from Siberia Russia sent this lovely card.  The description on the back reads, "The manors of Zaistochie:  the late nineteenth-century manor built by architects P.F. Fedorovsky and S.V. Khomich in Ulitsa Tatarskaya, 44."
 
Stephanie says, "Hello, Many Greetings from Germany.  Here you see a famous town near my hometown.  Noted for his bear and castle.   Happy Postcrossing, Mausbaer YA"

This one arrived from China with no name!  Only a handwritten note on the back that says, "Always keep the Faith.  Best Wishes."

Anne, I think from Germany says, "Hello!  At 1st we have the same interests!  I'm also a geocacher.  I love to see places which I would not see without Geocaching.  Especially, I like lost places caches.  It's very interesting.  Next year, I travel to Australia.  There we will buy a van or a 4wd and we will travel and camp with hit.  In Australia are many caches!!"

This very interesting and peaceful looking card comes from Holland.  "My name is Jolanda and I'm 28 years old.  I live in Holland in a small place south from Utrecht.  I'm a teacher in primary school in the 4th class.  In my spare time I love to travel also to countrys outside Europe (India, Afrika, Cuba).  Greetz!"


Fourth Grade Writings - The Headless Rider


The Headless Rider in the City
On halloween I will a headless rider. I will run around a subdavison and shout "I am the headless rider of Denham Springs." Everyone will come out and get so frightend they'll run back in a jump under the T.V., Their beds, couchs, hide in their gun cases and all that, when they come out on the porch they will run back in and start all over again. My Daddy will race after me on his mule, but he'll never catch up. But I know one thing, I'll stop at people's houses and get some candy and run as fast as I can. Oh, I forgot to tell you I'll be riding my horse. So long!

Nov 21, 2010

Fourth Grade Writings - The Haunted House

The hauted house that had a Ghost.
One night I went to an old, old, old house. behind it was a cematary. I had a freind with me. It was very haunted. My freind's name is Penny Ann Ballard. Well lets get out of that part. That night we were walking in the cematary. The wind was blowing, "Whoosh" the wolves were howling, "A-r-r-r-r-r-r-r". As we walked we saw a knife glittering in the moon-light. I thought we should go and see what it was. Then I said, "No we'd better not go, unless we want our heads choped off". In an hour my freind wanted to go over and see what it was. so I had to say "Alright, you go and I'll stay here". She wnet and looked she hollard, "Ra-Ra-Ra". The knife swung at her and chopped her head off.

I ran to get her mother, but the man got me and tied me up. Then he put me in the haunted house and when Goofus saw me he untied me and saved me. Thank to Goofus Ghost. Three cheer for Goofus, "Haray, Haray, Haray for Goofus".

The End

Postcards from July

Card #1 - "Hello all, I send you this card which shows Turku Cathedral in southern Finland. Turku is the oldest town in Finland, founded in the 8th (?) century. The oldest part of the cathedral is also from the same century. My name is Bror, means 'brother' in English, and I live about 25 kilometers outside Turku in the beautiful archipelago."
Card #2 - From Astrid in Nederland








Card #3 -"Hi Everyone! Greetings from the Czech Republic. I live 6 KM from this beautiful castle called Krivoklat. I hope you like it. Enjoy the summer. Michaela"



Card #4 - Them Imperial Palace in Shen Yang







Card #5 - "Hello! Greetings from Finland's beautiful summer! I've got a busy day today as I've reserved the laundry room and will wash the rugs, blankets, curtains, and other big stuff. I also have an appointment at my hairdresser's today. I didn't remember it when I booked the laundry room, so it's quite inconvenient. I'll ride my bicycle to my haridresser's. It's about 10 miles one way, so good excercise as well as a pleasure. These flowers grow in a small swap (swamp?) near where I live. They are called suspursu in Finnish. Regards Sini/Saint"

Card #6 - "Hello and Greetings from Germany. My name is Betty. I live together with my husband, three children, and two cats in a little village not far away from the beautiful castle shown on the postcard. I enjoy hiking and geocaching. There are some wonderful caches around that castle. Happy postcrossing!~"








Card #7 - "Hello! The Spirit of Finland. I live Finland city of Helsinki. I am a grandpapa of Topi boy. Topi is now 5. Helsinki is small but nice summer city. Greetings from Helsinki. Jussi"







Nov 20, 2010

KA-RAY-ZEE Day!

I'm just feeling the need to vent a little and to share with you what happened to me today.  I also want to write it down so I don't forget.  Because it was, to me anyway, just that crazy!

First of all, I woke up.  Actually got out of the bed and placed my feet on the floor at approximately 8:30 a.m.  By 10:30 a.m. my dad had come over to stick his nose into whatever I have going on check on me.  He lives next door to me (about an acre or so away) and when he gets bored he comes over to bug the tar outta me see his grandbabies, tickle them, and give them treats. By noon, he stated he had things to do and he left. 

Lemme back up a little bit, 2 1/2 weeks ago, my doc and I made the decision for me to begin weaning off of the 50 mg of Zoloft that I have been taking for 5 years.  Just a few days after that decision, I fell and hit the back of my head, giving myself a concussion.  With these two things combined, I have set myself up for a great amount of stress....and that's if everything was running like a well oiled machine!

Anyway, as a result of weaning off the Zoloft, I have been very emotional.  I know that it's because my doc and I are experimenting.  I have been attempting to use other ways to control my feelings and for the most part, it's been working.  However, by the time my dad left today, I was a wreck.  I managed to hold it in and stay in control until he was out of the house but after that, I caved....just a little...not entirely a melt down...just a few tears.

I began to hyperventilate and my sweet husband came over to me and helped me to think of more positive things.  He helped me to visualize peaceful, tranquil settings to calm me down.  He was awesome!  After that episode, I fed the kids, had some lunch myself, and then laid down for a power nap.  Thank God I did too because just 30 minutes after I woke up it seems that all hell broke loose!

I had planned to run some errands in town, taking my 23 y.o. DQ, her infant son, and my Little Bird and Kangaroo along for the ride in order to free up Dahlin' so he could enjoy the local college football game in peace.  I had the girls all loaded in the SUV, completely buckled in, when I remembered that I had forgotten my cell phone in the house.  I returned to get it, and my dad walked over as well.  

This was right at the end of the 1st quarter of Dahlin's football game.  Dad and I both entered the house and as we did so our very ADHD beagle puppy flew out the door.  Any other time, that might not have bothered me.  Let the dog run around....he'll come back.  But this time, he went straight for the neighbor's (and my dad's) free range chickens giving every available hen a run for her money. 

I have to admit that the sight of him flying through the air, the sun shining off his coat as he jumped a ditch while trying to bring down a hen in flight, was quite a beautiful sight.  If only I'd had the camera....but I didn't. 

Dahlin' paused his football game (Thank heaven for DVR!) and for the next hour he, my dad, and myself all chased that damn stupid dog around the neighborhood....eventually catching him and saving a few hens; although, they may not be laying eggs for the next week.

Meanwhile, back at the SUV, my daughters were patiently waiting for my return so that we could resume our afternoon plans.  My 23 y.o. had been entertaining the younger ones with the portable DVD player plugged in and powered through the in vehicle power port.  She thoughtfully had turned the vehicle off in order to save fuel.  Unfortunately, it never occurred to her that by doing so AND using the power port for an extended length of time would result in low truck battery.

I took my place behind the wheel of the SUV, turned the key, and heard....."Click-clik-clik-clik".   I banged rested my head on the steering wheel before getting out and heading BACK into the house where my Dahlin' had resumed position in the recliner in front of the squawk box TV to finish watching his game.   

I sat down in MY reliner, took a deep breath, and calmly said, "The truck won't start".  He not so very calmly replied, "JUST GIVE ME 10 MINUTES!"  and I replied.....well, I didn't reply.  I waited.  The girls waited.  Buddy the Beagle waited....and wagged his tail.

Ten minutes later, Dahlin' rose and proceeded to the SUV where he connected jumper cables to the battery to get us going.  Ten minutes after that, me and my girls were on the road.  Ten minutes after that, I hear a "Ding-Ding-Ding" and a flashing light on my dashboard informing me that I now need to put fuel into the vehicle if I plan to go any further.

Next stop, the gas station!  I filled up the tank, started the truck, put it in gear, only to hear "Ding-Ding-Ding" and see a message flashing "Check Tire Pressure".  By this time, I'm ready to explode!  But I didn't.  I stayed calm, and drove over to the air tank to plug 4 quarters into it for 15 pounds of air pressure. 

Got that done and I'm back on the road. 

I was able to run my errands and make the purchases I needed before returning home to vent through the blog world and to all my bloggy friends (all 5 of the them) so that I may cool off and calm down before running myself a bubbly bath and turning in.

Thank you all for reading, enduring, and listening to my rant.   How would you handle such a day?  Please comment below and give me some new coping ideas!

Fourth Grade Writings - Honk! Honk!

Honk! Honk!

Hi! My name Cynthia Twenty-two, my freinds names are Sonya Eighty-four and Carolyn Ninty-three. We each live in the country. One day they came to spend the night with me. When we went to the living room to watch "Spiderman" we had to turn it off the very minute we turned it on. We went to bed about an hour later. The next morning we made a plan to go hiking. We packed our stuff and started out the door. We didn't know it but we found out the street we lived on turned into a super highway. We went back in then we came back out and we were in the country again. I was glad to.

The End

Date Night, Pt. 2: Bookstore Fun!

Lately, I have been searching for different things to do on Date Night with my Dahlin'.  Frankly, I was getting bored with the standard dinner and a movie.  I want to do other things.  So, I've subscribed to different websites, such as The Romantic and Loving You, that directly email me ideas.  Some of them get my creativity going...others...well, they go to File 13.  

But there was this one idea that I came across that I thought was just so cute!  So, tonight, I decided to spring it on the Dahlin'.  I decided to surprise him with the Bookstore Date idea.  After our dinner at Charlie's, we loaded up in the SUV and headed out to the nearest Barnes and Noble.  Of course, Dahlin' had no idea where we were going.  He was just the lowly driver turning left and right as I directed him.  He's such a good chauffer!

We got parked right in front of Barnes and Noble and exited the SUV.  We entered the store and then I sprung it on him.  I handed him a list and promptly endured a look from him that said, "What are you up to?"  I smiled and told him to complete set one and meet me over in the lounging area in 15 minutes with the books he had chosen.

At our first meeting, we discovered that we had picked up the same book!!!  :D

He found a recipe for a baby goat stew!  Eww!  I found one for Cornbread Sausage Pecan Dressing.  Hmmm.
 
Ummm, I'm not telling!
 



For the last challenge, we were s'posed to
  1. Find a book that you once read in high school (for me that was White Fang).
  2. Find a book that has the words "Happily Ever After" in it (for me that was Snow White).
  3. Find a self help book that applies to you.  (for me - well see the pic below).

 HIS answer for all three requirements of the challenge?


He says he read it in high school....he swears it has the words "Happily Ever After" in it (though he couldn't show me)...and he claims it's his "self help" book.  **rolling eyes**  But I love him anyway!  :D

Date Night, Pt 1: Charlie's

For our Date Night tonight, we decided to try out a local little hole in the wall place that we've know was there but we just haven't taken the time to experience.  So....off we went to dine at Charlie's over in Springfield, LA.   If there was a website for this little gem of a place, I would link it.  But they don't have a website.  They DO, however, have many reviews if you only Google it.


Charlie's seems to be quite the popular little place.  When we arrived, there was a waiting line!  We put our names on the list and were told it would be about 10 minutes or so before we could be seated.  Once our waitress got us settled and returned to take our drink order, she was also kind enough to snap a little picture of us to document our first visit to their establishment.

Me and my Dahlin'

The dining room
I was absolutely flabbergasted with our waitress' speed upon her return with our drinks.  When she set them down on the table, we told her we were ready to order.  She whipped out that little notepad that waitresses use and stood at the ready with her pencil in the air.  Once she got our order down, she disappeared again and before I could turn to say something to my husband, she was back with our salads.  Doesn't this one look yummy?


While we had both ordered salads, I wanted to try a cup of seafood gumbo.  What a treat!  I ended up giving the last half of it to Dahlin' because I wanted to save room for the entree.

Seafood Gumbo
After we enjoyed our salads and my gumbo, we were left to sit for a bit.  I fully expected the waitress to return with our plates of steaming seafood in the same quick manner she had previously served us, but that didn't happen.  Dahlin' and I conversed about the different plates we saw passing us by....humongous plates of stuff mushrooms, fried fish platters piled so high on the plate that it looked as if the tower of fish would topple right off and onto the floor.  We were salivating for what was to come.   

While we waited, we noticed a row of lights above the doors leading to the kitchen.  Each light was a different color....red, yellow, green, and white.  We also observed the waitresses who seemed to be assigned a particular light color.  When the green light would shine, a waitress practically ran to the kitchen and came out with her arms piled high with food.  It took a few moments before I realized that OUR waitress was apparently assigned to the red light.   It lit up twice more before she came to our table with our dinner.   I thought to myself, "What efficiency!"

Dahlin' order Charlie's Seafood Platter and as you can see from the pic, it was LOADED!  I should've gotten a shot from the side so you could get the perspective of just how tall this was!

Charlie's Seafood Platter
I played it safe with four grilled catfish fillets, six grilled shrimp, two hush puppies, bread, and fries.  I also immediately asked for a "to-go" box because I knew there was no way I was gonna make a happy plate.

Grilled Catfish and Grilled Shrimp dinner
In the end, this entire meal costs $48 and some change (minus the $6 tip we left).  I would venture to say that given today's restaurant prices combined with efficient wait staff, our meal at Charlie's was worth every penny.  They serve generous portions as well as tasty entrees and appetizer's.  Compared to Baton Rouge's Brunet's Restaurant, they seem to be just as good (minus the atmosphere) and in a safer urban location (see my post on Date Night: Robbery Excitement).  We will DEFINITELY be going back to try out some of their newer additions to the menu.

Nov 19, 2010

June Postcards

Here are some more postcards. I modified the sizes so these are a little smaller than the others. I haven't formed an opinion on this particular look, so ya'll please let me know what you think.

Now to share the info on the postcards. #1 - features a sculpture "The sorrow of a mother". The composition conveys the sorrow of mothers who lost their sons during the war. A small pool near the downhill of the sculpture group is a symbol of a mother's tears. The writer, Elena, tells me there are lots of sculptures in her city of Volgograd, Russia.

Postcard #2 was sent from Georgina of Taipei City, Taiwan. She tells me that the bridge lights change at night and it's very amazing and breathtaking to see.


Postcard #3 - is from Tvee, Russia. Natalya says, "Hello! Hope this card acrossed the ocean and met with you. You see the bridge here. It's sight of my town. Som buildings, churches, were destroyed in 1941-45 during the war. There are another buildings on those places now. This is card of series where picture joins remote past and present of my town." The card description on the back reads: View of Vozneseniya Church. Zavolzhskaya embankment. I might have to look that one up and see if I can locate the other cards in the series.
Card #4 from Irkutskayaoff, Russia is the first handmade card that I've recieved. Asya responds to the news of number of family members in my family by saying she was amazed! "I think that's great and respect you for this very much. In Russian families there is one or two children usually."




Card #5 - "Hi! I'm Kate, 18, from New Zealand. Lake Tekapo is just one of NZ's beautiful lakes. It is very cold, as the lake is full of glacial melt water. The building in the photo is an old church."



Card #6 - "Hi there! Lots of greetings from Holland. This card shows some things that are typical for my country. The picture on the motorbike is an example of our "Delfts Blauw" It is used a lot on China. The cookies are called "Stroopwafels" and are great! We also have ice cream with this taste. Very popular here. Bicycles are a big part of our culture, I have 2 myself but use only one. I live in the capitol city of our youngest province. It only exist for 43 years! No old buildings here! All the best! ~Lottie~"






Card #7 - Jorga from Lithuania says, "Sveiki". The card description reads, "Where fairytale comes from Autorius: Jevgenija Ovsianikova"





Card #8 - "You are getting this card from Nokia in Finland. The card shows a typical lake-view, we have lots of lakes around here. Finland is famos for lakes and forests. Well, Nokia is a famos Finnish brand and this is the city where the company started, but cell phones have never been made here. Regards, Taru"




Card #9 - "Greetings from Frankfurt am Main, Germany. My name is Susanne, I'm 26 years and work in the childcare (1-3 years old). That's a nice job. "


Card #10 - also from Germany - "I study in the town you can see on the card. In the centre of the market is the market church and the so called "Red Towers" (which isn't really red, it's the one with the clock). I study history and work as an author of novells. Bernhard"



Card #11 - "Those architectures have a very long history from China! Happy everyday! Wishes from Jiang Yan"
There is no other description on the back of the card. I'm wishing I had some CSI software that would match up the image to something else and give me some more info!
Well, that's it for the June postcards. I'll have to attempt another upload tomorrow. I still have the July, August, September, and October cards to get through. When November is finished, then I'll have to wait for each month end to post them.