Week of W's

WHY~ Is Reeses (my chihuahua) all of a sudden chasing the neighbors as they walk or jog past my house. I'm talking chasing them and biting at their heels. This makes me so angry. I'm trying to figure out how to stop this behavior!


WHOO-HOO~I got into my size 6 Victoria Secret Khaki pants Sunday and they were loose!!! I snapped a picture to send to John. I wasn't gonna share 'cause I'm such a dork but heck...that's me, a dork...so here is the picture!! (hopefully I can get into my someday jeans soon)

WEAKNESS~ Good & Plenty candy....I bought a box and ate half of it on the way home.

WISH~ That John & the girls didn't have to work on the 4th.

WEIRD~ Reeses has this new thing where he sits on the back of the couch and puts his head on top of mine and takes a nap.

Baby Blush

My neighbor had a baby girl 6 weeks ago. I crocheted her an afghan. The colors are baby blush with a border of mint.

This particular afghan took longer than usual(3 weeks). Not only did it require a smaller hook than I like to use but it's summer time.....I'm usually out enjoying the day!

I finished it and went over to her house yesterday to give it to her. She loved it!!

It's weird for me for awhile after I give someone an afghan that I have spent so many hours working on. I was trying to explain this to John. First, I decided on a pattern....then it's off to the store to find the perfect yarn. I spend countless hours tediously working on the afghan. I am very meticulous about it and don't hesitate to rip out and start over if needed. The afghan becomes a part of me as I crochet and see it grow and it starts to warm me the longer it gets. It makes me happy to make something so special for someone.....but I always get a tad sad when I don't have it to pick up and work on anymore.

RIP

They say it happens in three's.

Ed McMahon

I loved him on the show, Star Search and as the announcer on the Tonight Show.





Farrah Fawcett

Beautiful woman till the end. She was amazing in the movie, The Burning Bed and of course who can forget, Charlie's Angels!




Micheal Jackson

This just shocked me as I'm sure it did all of you. He has been in my life since the day I was born. His music is what I listened to growing up. He was an amazing artist with so much talent.


My condolences go out to each of their families.

Rest in Peace.

Wednesday

Wednesday started out with me in prayer worried sick over my friend, Dala.

Robbie & I drove up to the hospital because we couldn't stand being home any longer. John stayed in town to take care of Dala's boys. He had to take one to the orthodontist and he feed them all pizza.

After 4 hours of radiation and a surgery to remove 1 cm in her left arm....I am SO Happy to announce that the lymph nodes were negative for melanoma!!! Praising God!!!

So Wednesday was turning out to be an awesome day!!!
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We (all 3 couples and children) went to see Transformers. It was awesome! We got there an hour early to save seats and it was already filling up. It ended up selling out. Dala was in major pain by time we left....she pushed herself too far!
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The first cherry tomatoes of the season. I have to go pick some every other day now. The plant is full of them. They are delicious!!!
My herb garden that Natalie and Tori bought me is doing lovely.
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It's been 3 weeks since school let out. I have worked out with John 6 days a week. In those 3 weeks with him as my personal trainer, having NO mercy on me, walking 2-3 miles per day and lifting weights.....I have lost 3.5 pounds, 1 inch in my chest area, a little over 1 inch in my waist, 1 1/2 inches in my hips and 1/2 in my thighs. (I've also been doing Hot Yoga 3 days a week). YAY! I look forward to our workouts everyday! We get to carry on conversation while doing cardio and giggle and kid around.....of course, we get serious when lifting the weight.
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Have you noticed my countdown clock at the top right of my blog?? In September, I'm going on a 5 day "GIRLFRIENDS CRUISE"!!!!!
I'm so friggin excited about this!!! There are 23 of us going!!! Our ports are Cozumel and Playa del Carmen!!! This has been a huge motivation for me to portion control and hit that gym hard! I have never been on a cruise before and I feel a little guilty going without John or the girls. I have never done anything like this for just "me". My life has always been about my husband and daughter's....always doing for them and last for me. I wasn't going to go at first but John and the girls said I deserved it and that I should go. So after thinking about it for a week I finally said YES! Now, my goal is to lose 4 more pounds and a few more inches before I go bathing suit shopping. YIKES!

Dad

This Father's Day John requested that I make, "Spaghetti & Turkey Meatballs...a Salad...and homemade French Bread."

Tori made her daddy his favorite, Oatmeal and Raisin cookies....some had chocolate and walnuts in them. SO GOOD!!!

John, Meg & Tori all had to work that day and were off by 3:30.

So I had the day (after church) to prepare everything.

John came home and relaxed on the couch for awhile....the girls came home shortly after him.

Meg bought him a souvenir glass that says, Flying Saucer, 2009 Father's Day on one side and DAD on the other. It's double insulated....really nice! (fyi...she waitresses at the Flying Saucer)
Tori & Meg both chipped him and gave him $$$ for a new pair of tennis shoes he has been wanting. They put the money in Tori's shoebox that her work shoes came in.
Daddy hugged his girls and got all emotional on us....he is not afraid to show his emotions! I love that about this man!!! He told his girls how proud he was of them and he couldn't have asked for better daughter's!!

They love their Daddy.

I'm lucky to have such a wonderful husband, who is an awesome father, who helped me raise two wonderful daughter's, who LOVE their Daddy, to the moon and back!

Pineapple Pepper Burgers

My hubs loves to cook-last month I bought him a cookbook that has loads of grilling, barbecue and summer salad recipes in it.

Last week he was thumbing through it and decided Wednesday night we would try one of the burger recipes.

Pineapple Pepper Burgers

The taste of sweet red peppers and honeyed pineapple rings sets this burger apart. It was so good I wanted to share the recipe with you all.

3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
3/4 cup chopped red pepper
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
6 pineapple slices
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. liquid honey
6 Kaiser buns, split
6 Leaf lettuce leaves

Combine first 9 ingredients in a large bowl.
Add beef. Mix well. Divide and shape into 6 patties. Preheat grill. Cook patties on a greased grill for about 6 minutes per side until no longer pink inside.

Combine soy sauce and honey in a small dish. Brush sauce on both sides of pineapple slice. Cook pineapple slice on grill for 2-3 minutes per side until grill marks appear.

Toast buns on grill till light brown.

Build your burger and enjoy!!!

Binky

John has a "Binky".

It's blue and you never see him without it.



It's always filled with "Sweet Ice Tea"

He left it at work Tuesday....but no worries...he has 3 back-ups.




He really does call it his "Binky". Our friend, Ron, was teasing him one night about it....he said that cup is stuck to you like a baby and it's binky!! From that day on we have all called it his binky.

Allergic Reaction

Reeses (along with my mom's 2 dogs and Megs dog, Dinosaur) went for their yearly check-up to the Vet yesterday.

They had their blood drawn for a heart worm test, full body check, and 3 shots.

All was good!

Back home and about 2 hours after shots were administered Reeses comes to my side looking just pitiful....like if he could talk he would have said, "Momma, I don't feel so good..somethings wrong with me"

I bend over to pick him up and I freak out. I run downstairs and show him to Meg.

She says, Mom, he has hives everywhere....his face looks like it's getting droopy and his eyes are almost swollen shut!

You know how a boxer looks after a really good fight...That's how my baby looked!!!

(wish I would have thought about taken a picture but I was in panic mode)

So Meg calls my mom to get the number to the Vet clinic (we go on the airbase) while I call John. The Vet has already closed so I call the Vet directly (who happens to be one of my best friends, Dala) she doesn't answer. Arg...I panic even more----Meg stays calm. Meg calls another Vet office and they said to get him in somewhere to get a cortisone shot. So we hop in the car and drive to town.

We go into this one Vet clinic which smells horrible....is dirty....no one asks us what we need...I'm thinking my dogs gonna die....I try Dala again and she answers.....I explain whats going on(Meg said I was talking LOUD) and she said she has the shot come to her house....So we got up and left that clinic...they all looked at us funny. Hmmm...crazy lady walks in with swollen dog--talks loud on phone---leaves through wrong exit between secretary desk----hahaha

So Dala shoots him up with his 4th shot of the day. She said it happens but it is rare that dogs have allergic reactions like that. From now on she will pre-med him before he gets any shots.

John got home and just loved on Reeses! He told me he didn't want Reeses getting anymore shots!! That he didn't know what he would do if something happen to him.

I gave him some benedryl about 2 hours later and he slept well. All the hives are gone and the swelling is down this morning.

Crazy how attached we get to our animals. They are like our children.

Sawing Logs

For over 21 years I have been sharing a bed with John. I am totally use to his snoring. There have been many times where he has fallen asleep before me and started snoring and I was able to drift into sleep no problem.

Last night-not so much!

We turned the TV off at 11:00 pm. John falls asleep in a matter of minutes.

I can feel my body start to relax and then I jump....his snoring was so loud it scared the bejeezus out of me.

I give it a few minutes....I carefully tap him on the butt and quietly say, "Honey, turn over". He does and I try to relax again.


That's how the entire night went. "Honey, Babe...turn over!!!!!!"

"YOU ARE SNORING!!!!" He had the whole bed vibrating....it was the worse I have ever heard him snore.

He was happy in la la land; meanwhile I'm over on the other side debating on whether or not to go get in another bed. I chose not to because my bed is so comfy.

I laid there wide awake thinking I need to go to Kohls and buy a full size pillow top mattress (like the one we have on our bed) for the spare room so I'd at least be comfortable if I needed to switch beds.

By 3 am I am quite tired of hearing him snore. I'm afraid to startle him....(I've done this in the past and ended up with a fat lip..accident of course.... he felt horrible about it) but I just needed to...I. Needed. Sleep!

So I sit up and very loudly say, JOHN ASHLEY, YOU ARE SNORING LIKE A BEAR.....TURN OVER SO I CAN GET SOME SLEEP!!!!!

It worked! He mumbled a few words that sounded like...whabet oh I hushfiek....

I'm still thinking about investing in that pillow top mattress though!


Some of you asked what a Fat Quarter was-----it is a quarter of a yard of fabric that measures 18"x 22".....I use them to make my skirts and quilts.

Fat Quarters

We finally got to have a family date!! It has been awhile. John & I drove up to Conway and ate lunch with Meg & Tori at the Whole Hog Cafe.


The girls were making fun of me because I was talking about going to the fabric store to buy some "fat quarters"....they laughed every time I said it. Apparently, it sounded like I was going to buy some pot. As in marijuana!! We were laughing pretty hard about this....we are loud talkers so I can only imagine what people think of us!!




John & I couldn't stop laughing when we were talking about the movie The Hangover. It was hilarious!! Tori has seen it but Meg hasn't....but she wants to now!

When we got back to their home Daddy of course had to do the "Daddy-do-list". He connected the converter box to their TV so they can get a clear channel since it all changes to digital today! They have a clearer picture now than they did before.

They both took Thursday off work so we can continue having our family dates. Next week we are having a Bar-B-Que at our home!

2 years ago today

June 11, 2007

John & I had just arrived in Georgia to pick up some antiques and visit with his family. Tori was at Governor's school(in Conway) and Meg was in Conway having just finished her freshman year in college and had been shopping for her first house she moved into that May. Meg called me to talk about the baby shower we were throwing for her cousin in August....we chit chatted and were coming up with several ideas. We were going to have it at her house, she was telling me about the food she would prepare and then all of a sudden all I heard was.....


...her take a deep breath and say...."Oh" and then this LOUD crash and then all I could hear was the horn blowing......

.....I started screaming her name....Meg, MEGAN....MEGAN!!!!! I didn't know if she could hear me or not....I kept saying how much I loved her and to hang on everything would be OK. God be with her I prayed!

.....I could hear people talking but it was faint. The sound of the horn was drowning everything out. It sounded like a lot of people.

.....I was helpless....all I could think about was I was listening to my child die and there was nothing I could do about it.

After 5 minutes the connection went dead. I was devastated...I couldn't hear anymore and my heart just sank deeper. I just held John and cried. Praying to God that my little girl would be alright.

My phone rang a few minutes later, I answered it and it was a man who had witnessed the accident. He said, Meg was alright, banged up and bloody but the paramedics were there and they were working on her. He told me that despite everyone saying stay put...she climbed her little body out of the car and said, My Mom...I was on the phone with my mom....please call her. That's when the man stepped in and called. He also said when she was half way out...she climbed back in to get her purse.

I could hear Meg in the background yelling, "Don't shave my head....please don't cut my hair.....the paramedic was telling her to calm down it was all going to alright. I'm freaking out...wondering what is wrong with her head!!!?

The next 1/2 hour or so John was on his phone with the police officer and I was on mine with the paramedic....they both told us that it is a miracle she is alive...

Meg failed to stop at a 4 way stop and was hit on the drivers side by a 2002 Ford F 250 that was going 40 mph.



When he hit her it pushed the car 30 feet and it hit a tree on the passenger side.

Here is the tree.

Although Meg was the only person in the car she DEFINITELY had a heavenly passenger with her. I believe it was my dad that was there and pulled her out of that seat belt. See, Meg was buckled up but somehow ended up out of the belt and wedged between the two front seats!! The seat belt was still buckled! The police officers told us they had no explanation for it.



Both Meg's car and the truck were totaled!! While she was at the hospital her friend, Jody, stayed on the phone with me the entire time. Her roommate, Marianne was by her side. Jody told me what they were doing, x-rays, pulling glass out of her hair, Meg yelling "don't shave my head", etc. I heard the doctor come in and say "good news nothing is broken...you are one lucky young lady". I remember just crying again. John and I packed up and drove the 10 hours back home to be with Meg. All I wanted was to hold my daughter and see for myself that she was OK.

We had left our house at 5:45 am on June 11th....we returned home on June 12th at 5:45 am....it was a LONG night.

Gathering all her belongings from the car.

She was extremely sore the next day. She could barely walk. She received 6 staples in her head....she had chemical burn on her nose (which took some of the skin off) from the air bag...and she had over 50 small cuts on her face and arms from the windshield shattering.

One Lucky Girl

I thank God for keeping her safe and for having a guardian angel in the car with her that day. It has been two years and I still think of it often. I have a very hard time talking on the phone with her and her sister while they are driving. I have actually cried the entire time I have written this post. All those memories flooding back have been hard to relive.

Only little once

They are only little once!

This was taken in February 1990. Meg just turned 2 and Tori was 4 months old.

Tori was being a wiggle worm wanting out of my arms. The guy taken the photo was playing peek-a-boo with puppets and she loved it.

Meg didn't like it as much. She was pinching my back...you know the ones with those tiny little fingers that hurt....saying "done now momma".

Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days and just love on them more....cherish every moment more....yes, even the bad ones....cause they grow up so fast!!

Now, I walk around my house dusting...picking up old photos, wiping them down, cry a spell, and try to remember what was going on when the picture was taken.

Cherish your babies......
they are only little once!

Morning Walk

Today during my morning walk I decided to have a little fun with it. I started taking photos of things (with my phone) and since I didn't have anything to blog about today I decided this would be better then nothing!

My Shadow

My knee brace....I recently was diagnosed with Patello Femoral Syndrome....so I have to wear this to keep the knee cap in place. Jeez, I also need to shave my legs!!!



This speed sign and slow children at play sign....I've never noticed it before. You think it's because the trees are covering it?!!! I think the trees need to be cut down!!!



Baby horses with their mommas. My house is in the background, it's the tall one with the lightning bolt pointed at it.

Country roads are so peaceful in the morning.

This horse is very friendly...he moved away as soon as I took the picture.


My photos stopped here because I called my baby sister in New Hampshire. We talked for over an hour while I walked and she cleaned house and made spaghetti sauce. My block is 1 1/4 mile around and I went 3 times...I had to stop because I was getting hot with the sun beating down on me.

It was a wonderful morning walk.

Happiness

Happiness~ state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.

Summer=Happiness!!!

I realized today that I missed my 1 year blogiversary...it was on June 3rd. I'll think of something to make and have a giveaway to celebrate! I love giveaways; they make me happy!

I got to thinking about other things that have made me happy this past week since school ended on June 3rd for the summer!

John being my personal trainer at the gym and having NO mercy on me!!! Yes, this makes me happy because he knows how bad I want to lose these stubborn few inches.

Doing my Hot Yoga in the hot garage....it's really hot and summer isn't even officially here yet.

Meg came home and spent a few days....very rare! That made me happy!

Getting to have Tori as our waitress at Boscos and boasting that she is my baby girl. Knowing she is happy with her job makes me happy!!

Making this skirt without a pattern and it actually coming out cute!!!
This is me wearing it after it had been washed(per request from some of you). My hair looked horrible so I chopped my head off....trust me, you didn't want to see it. Frizz city!


Moving some of the house plants on the porch for the summer....it makes me happy to see them thrive outside.

Discovering several more blackberry bushes in the backyard!! I'm so excited to eat these delicious berries with my granola.

The first green beans of the season from my patio garden!


Watching Reeses as he spies a dragonfly.....and then watching him try to catch it.

A night out at the piano bar with a group of friends. LAUGHTER!!!!

Making plans with these ladies for a girlfriends cruise!!!

Fresh cut daisies from my garden & a bowl of cherries on my kitchen table.

Discovering a tomato plant growing out of my compost bin....I'm gonna leave it and see what it produces.



Finally putting the dresser in the room where it belongs...I finally have my foyer back!


Sleeping in as late as I want to in my cozy bed!!! Actually, sleeping in for me is no later than 6:30 am. But it's better than 4 am and I wake up on my own NOT by an alarm clock!

Getting to spend the ENTIRE day with John on his days off equals extreme happiness!!!

What has made you happy this past week?