Barn

As I was riding around my neck of the woods yesterday, I spotted this lovely barn.  I was so inspired that I just HAD to stop, knock on the door of the house next door and ask about it.  As it turned out, the door I knocked on belonged to the owner of both the house and barn!!!  The house was also a work of art but I felt that the owner may have thought me a bit strange if I had just straight out asked for a tour.  Since a tour of the BARN is what I really wanted in the first place, I took my chances and asked about that.  The owner graciously accepted my request, put on her slippers and led the way.  She was excited to show me her "collection". 

I was busy looking around in awe and didn't really listen to all she was saying except to make a mental note of a fall party she hosts at this location every October!  Meanwhile, I was taking pics.  Enjoy!!!

 

 

 

 

 

First Fall weekend

First of all, please accept my apologies if this post sounds like I'm rambling. I haven't been feeling too well this weekend.

Fortunately, I got to sleep late this morning.  This morning we all got up with intentions of going to Home Depot to make a Rescue Helicopter, but I got there too late and they had already put everything away. My girls were a bit disappointed but the customer service rep gave them each a balloon to help them smile. Next weekend we'll head to Lowe's to build a Monster Machine and I'll make it on time!

After our HD visit, we headed over to the local antique district to look at the sights and people watch. It was certainly a gorgeous day to do that. My girls rode a couple of the little kiddie rides and then we treated ourselved to our first ever gelato. The Teen had a "tie - dye" flavor with blue raspberry, lemon, and lime all mixed together. Roo had just blue raspberry that turned her lips, teeth, and tongue bright blue. Birdie had Lemon and declared that it tasted just like lemonade! I stuck with strawberry. It was very good! I was really surprised at the texture. I guess I was expecting a sherbet type feel or taste but I think it was more like soft serve mixed with sherbet. But that's still not quite it.

Anyway, it was a great way to spend the day with the kids and avoid doing any mundane household tasks .... though my house is sorely in need of it. Maybe I'll do some chores on Monday.....IF I can talk myself into it.

On Sunday, we got up and went to church where I ALMOST missed my cue to play for the benediction/invitation (How embarrassing! The MD gave me the stinky eye!). Following that, I chauffered my older kids to visit their grandma (from my previous marriage). She's 82, has been ill and is now at home on hospice care. After that visit, I took DD and Monkey home and then came to my own home where I popped a movie in the tube for the girls. The Teen agreed to keep an eye on the girls for me while I indulged in a short cat nap for some headache relief.

FOUR HOURS LATER I woke up to discover they had watched ANOTHER movie and were finally hungry for dinner. I KNEW I shoulda put that chicken chili in the crockpot! Oh well, thank goodness it was already cooked and I had the microwave available to get it good and hot. It just didn't quite taste like it had stewed in it's seasonings long enough though. Bottom line is, the girls got fed. If only I had planned ahead, the Teen could've had it hot and ready to serve when I woke up! That sure woulda been nice. :D

After dinner, I directed the girls to prepare for bed, at which point Birdie requested rag curls for a curly ponytail tomorrow for school. After their baths, I sat down to comb out her hair and proceed with the rag curls. Forty five minutes after that began, she was finally ready for bed. That child has way too much hair! ..... but I don't want to get it cut ..... yet. (still thinking about it though).

NOW, I sit here at the computer, in the beginning stages of planning The Teens's Eagle Scout COH ceremony. I'm looking up ideas on the internet and brainstorming. I asked him this morning what he had in mind for it and he replied, "I'd rather not do anything. Especially if I have to make a speech." Well, I don't think that will be an option. I briefly spoke with another Eagle mom yesterday who told me that she won't be able to plan anything until next summer even though her son has met all requirements. Summer seems so far away, but I guess for a nice ceremony to go off without a hitch, 8 or 9 months of planning will be needed.

Do any of my readers have Eagle experience and could you give me some pointers?  And now I sign off to briefly browse for ideas, get the girl's school uniforms laid out, decide what to offer for breakfast, read a chapter or two of my Bible (or have it read to me via my Bible narration app), and hopefully doze off to begin again tomorrow. When I get to heaven, one of the first questions on my list for God will be, "Why not create 8 arms for the woman and 48 hours in a day?"

TGIF?

Okay, well, I know that I haven't posted anything again ..... in a long time ..... again.  But I woke up this morning and experienced some stuff that I just didn't want to forget.  So here I am.

I got up this a.m. and prepped to take my girls to school.   When I started my truck, my "dummy" oil light came on flashing, "Check Oil Level".  So, I checked the oil dipstick and saw this.....

Doesn't that look bad?  Now, tell me true, doesn't each little dot represent one quart of oil?  That's what I thought, too!!!  So, I got into my vehicle and proceeded to drive my girls to school 10 miles away.  The oil pressure gauge on the dashboard looked okay so I was thinking that if I didn't drive like crazy then I'd be all right. 

We arrived safely at the school without any mishap and I drove over to the little gas station where I purchased 3 quarts of oil  (at $6 per quart!).  I went out to my truck and dumped all 3 quarts in at once.  I mean, look at that dipstick!  Wouldn't you do the same thing?  Something within me urged a recheck of the dipstick.  To my horror, I discovered that 3 quarts MAY have been too much oil!!!

At this point, I decide the best thing to do is call the Dahlin' and relay my lesson. I also told him that I need to rewind my day and start over.  Doing this stuff on a Friday isn't supposed to happen to me.  A Monday perhaps, but I NEED my Fridays!!!  Therefore, TGIF?  Really?

Dahlin' bluntly advised me to gently drive my truck to the nearest oil changing place and have it serviced ... which I promptly did.  While at the oil changing place, I was gently reminded by the oil changer person that the oil in a vehicle needs to be changed every 3,000 miles.  I had neglected to service my trusty "steed" for 19,518 miles!!!  Well, heck, with all the running around I do, how am I supposed to remember how many miles I've traveled????!!!  I need an alarm on the truck to notify me that it's time for an oil change!  Not a little flashy light.  That does nothing for me.  An alarm bell or something would be more like it!

Lesson learned, for the time being, don't wait so long to get the oil changed.  I'm back running the roads singing my theme song (Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again"), and paying the bills.  I won't forget to change my oil again .... well, not any time soon.   

Summer 2011

Yup, I've taken an extended break .... again.  There's a whole lot going on in this household.  I'll try and make it brief in order to give you all a quick update.  Then, I plan to do a daily blog post or something.  Facebook has kind of ruined me in that area.

Since my last post, I have basically just done ... well, not much.  Just trying to keep the kids all together so I don't lose one here or there. 

Back in April, I completed the New Orleans Crescent City Classic.  In June, my niece and nephew came to join the family (24/7) for the summer.  After they came to us, we started trying to participate in a variety of music camps, VBS, and the Bass Pro Family Fun Camp.  We've also been hiking and enjoying mystery rides to places like the LSU Museum of Natural History and to see Mike the Tiger at his house near the stadium.  Other Mystery rides have included visits to the Louisiana Children's Discover Center and the Louisiana State Capital building. 

In the near future, I have more mystery rides planned as well as some craftsy stuff at home.  I have been inspired by a new blog I stumbled across where the writer posts different craftsy tutes etc.  I can't wait to try out some of the stuff I've seen on her site!

So, that's about it for now.  I plan to be back later this week with another post or two regarding what we've done this week.

Thank you for continuing to keep up with me.  I know I'm not the best bloggy author but I do appreciate your loyalty.

Crescent City Classic 2011 - I DID IT!!!

I DID IT! I participated in the Crescent City Classic 10K walk/run for the first time ever! My brother had been harrassing me for the past few years to share this experience with him. He had run it several times before. So, this year, I caved...I gave in and agreed to do this with him.
On Saturday morning I woke up early (5 a.m.) to hitch a ride with my sister who was supposed to be picking up myself and my step mom. At 5:30 she still hadn't arrived and I was beginning to think she'd forgotten me. So, I called her cell phone which she sleepily answered right away. She apparently had overslept and was quite upset with herself.

At 6 a.m. she FINALLY arrived and we were on our way. The plan was to meet my brother and then ride down to New Orleans with him. We got to N.O. at apx 8 a.m. The race was to start at 8:30. After parking, we huffed and puffed (endured a brisk walk for 1/2 a mile) our way through the 85% humidity to get to the start line.

We were there just long enough for a quick picture before the US Marine Color Guard posted the colors and fired the cannon signaling that the race was now on.

I began walking and promptly was bombarded from behind by many runner all itching to get first place or at least make better time than they did last year. It was unreal!! At a quarter mile, I saw my sister standing on the sidewalk patiently waiting for me to catch up to her. (She walks really fast! Either that or her legs are longer than mine.) She went on ahead and I started walking faster trying to keep up. Then it dawned on me that this was a 10K (6.2 miles) race. There was no way I could walk at that pace for that distance. So, I just decided to plug in my MP3 player with my Couch to 5K tunes on it (complete with a walk/run prompt). I figured I'd be better off by tuning out everthing around me as I attempted this first time feat.

Another quarter mile (and my 2nd 60 second run), I saw my sister again standing on the sidewalk. As I jogged past, I told her to "Jump in!" .... which she did. She took three steps and made a face plant right there on Poydras Avenue, badly injuring both of her knees. A lady stopped mid jog to help me and my sister hobble to the side of the road while the sea of athletes all passed us by.

We were only a few steps away from a police officer who offered to contact EMS, but stated that they could take a while getting to us. Sis decided that it wasn't an emergency, she just needed a first aid kit and a few moments to regather herself and then she would continue on. Would you believe this police officer did NOT have a first aid kit!? A kindly restaurant manager who was standing by watching the runners, entered his restaurant and returned with a dry towel, wet towel, ice packs, and bandaids in order to help patch up my sister. She then told me she was fine and waved me off to continue the endeavor alone. She said she'd catch up later.

And so I go, putting my earphones in once again to pick up where I left off. I kept running/walking along the way, in as much shade as I could find and was surprised .... I mean, REALLY SURPRISED! to find myself a short time later looking at the 5K mark painted on the pavement. I thought to myself, "I DID IT! And I feel REALLY good!!! This ain't so bad after all!" followed by, "Oh wait a minute. This is a 10K - I'm only halfway there!".

My sister did catch up to me a short time later and we spent the rest of the race fighting my "Defeatist Attitude" (as my brother called it). Two and a half hours later, I finished the Crescent City Classic! I was weak from having no breakfast and my feet (especially the top of my left foot) was killing me to the point that I was limping.

I'm pretty sure my stride was off a bit so that was why my foot hurt. I have been inspired, though, to get back to my Couch to 5K interval training program and then move on to the Bridge to 10K training program. I plan to RUN the 10K next year and shave off 1.5 hours! Meanwhile, I relish the fact that I DID IT!!!

Here I stand at the Crescent City Classic finish line with my time posted above my head.  I know, it's not a flattering picture but then again, who looks pretty immediately after a 6.2 mile run?

I'm Back with some Disney shortsets

Have I REALLY ignored my blog for 4 months?  Whoa!  I need to get on the ball!  Things have been pretty crazy around here with all the daily road running and chauffering the kiddos back and forth.  I really should get me an Iphone or notebook or Ipad so's I can keep up with the online duties while I'm sitting in a parking lot somewhere.

Another reason I haven't been on here much is because I've been on Facebook a whole lot more!  :D  I need to curb that addiciton as well.  And speaking of addicitons, I have been sooooooo busy sewing!  I'm just loving the feel of the thread and needle as it punctures the various fabrics I'm playing with.

In order to supplement the family income, I've decided to try my hand at custom sewing projects....focusing on Disney inspired short sets.  I have recently completed 3 outfits that I'm very proud of.  I think I'll go ahead and try to expand the collection with even more shortsets for boys AND girls.

Meanwhile, enjoy these pics of my latest creations!  Each shortset is ONLY $50.  Just comment if you're interested in one.  Then we'll exchange the needed info.

Cleaning House again

Last year, I started off with this grand plan to have a clean house within 30 days.  (See that meager beginning here.)  Now, it's the first Monday of 2011 and it's time to attack the house again.  I'm so glad I saved my cleaning schedule!!!  That'll help me stay on track once again as I purge the junk and clutter from the recesses of my closets! 

Pray for me please.  Pray that the Lord will help me to be ruthless as I toss out un-needed items and junk that I've hung on to for years because, "I'm gonna use that!"

Top 50 Comedy movies to see before you die

I have this list.  I don't know where it came from.  I just happend to be searching through my Documents folder on my computer and I stumbled up on this list of comedy movies to see before you die.  So, I started reading over the list and discovered that I have seen a lot of these titles already.  That's a good thing too because I just don't know if this coming new year will allow me time to sit and watch all 50 of these movies! 

I'm gonna post the list here so that I can delete it from my documents folder.   I'll also mark the ones I've already seen so that I won't watch them again.  Then I'll come back from time to time and update my list by marking the next one that I watched.  I don't know if I'll do a "movie review" yet, but I suppose I could squeeze in a sentence or too.

Here's the list:

1.        Super Troopers

2.       The Hangover (one of the stupidest waste of films I've ever seen)

3.       Road Trip

4.       Superbad

5.       National Lampoon’s Van Wilder

6.       Old School (Not a Will Ferrell fan, had a hard time watching this one.)

7.       American Pie

8.       Dumb and Dumber (Eh)

9.       40 Year Old Virgin

10.   There’s Something About Mary (Ugh)

11.   Happy Gilmore

12.   Meet the Parents (shrug)

13.   Harold and Kumar go to White Castle (Ugh)

14.   Scary Movie (What!?)

15.   Hot Tub Time Machine (right when I posted this list, this movie was on my TV, unedited.  This movie was cute and I liked it, except for all the language and some of the sex scenes.)

16.   Anchorman:  The Legend of Ron Burgandy

17.   Borat

18.   South Park:  Bigger, Longer, and Uncut

19.   Zoolander

20.   Clerks

21.   Shaun of the Dead

22.   Tropic Thunder

23.   Austin Powers:  International Man of Mystery

24.   Knocked Up (Ugh)

25.   A Christmas Story (I love this movie!!!)

26.   Forgetting Sarah Marshall

27.   The Replacements

28.   Team America World Police

29.   I Love You Man

30.   Dodge Ball

31.   Eurotrip

32.   Beerfest

33.   Rush Hour

34.   Animal House

35.   Sexdrive

36.   Trailer Park Boys

37.   Me Myself and Irene

38.   Police Academy

39.   Fight Club

40.   A Night at the Roxbury

41.   Napoleon Dynamite (this HAS to be the stupidest movie ever made!)    

42.   Step Brothers

43.   Liar Liar (Meh)

44.   Grown Ups (I'm not a big Adam Sandler fan, but this one was cute!)

45.   National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

46.   Ground Hog Day (It's been a while since I've seen this one, so I might watch it again)

47.   Chasing Amy (got only 1/3 of the way through this movie.  Couldn't handle the language and subject matter.  Ugh!)

48.   Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (LOVE this movie!)

49.   Coming to America (Haha)

50.   Grandma’s Boy

So, there ya have it.  A list of movies I plan to watch sometime this year.