Here are the rules. 1)Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. (2) People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (3) At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. (4) Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
1. I'm taller than my sister. We could wear the same size shoe for a few months back around 1985, but then I outgrew her. She hasn't tried to beat me up since.
2. If I pull my hair back and don't have my contacts in yet - when I glance in the mirror, I see a glimpse of my dad. Because I really look like him sometimes! It's weird.
3. I like Ikea. I guess my house is not as typical as most, or that's the impression I get from a lot of people. I do like to be different every once in a while. I really like my house.
4. My newest favorite food is risotto. I had my first taste of it in Como, Italy. Our first night in Italy, we ate at the hotel with our tour group. The first course was the yummy risotto. I don't remember much else, but after dinner we roamed around Como. Of course, on the way back, we had to find an ATM so we'd have euros to buy our first Italian GELATO!!! For my birthday, I got a cookbook called Risotto, so I've experimented with making it and I love it. Now if I could just find some gelato.....
5. If I could go anywhere for a vacation, I'd go to Lucerne, Switzerland. And then I'd go to Scotland and Ireland. And then, an Alaskan cruise with lots of expensive excursions (obviously I'm not paying for this!), and hop over to Hawaii. I'd get a convertible rental car and drive around the island, then fly over to all the other islands. I'd hike, sit on the beach and read, and just wonder at the beauty God created. And while I'm at it, I'd just fly to Iceland, wander around the Mediterrean, then take a trans-Atlantic cruise, end up in New York, where I'd spend a few weeks walking around, seeing the sights, before taking a train back home.
6. While I look like my Dad, I have my mother's feet. And at times, my Grandmother's temperment and bossiness. Other times, I have my Pa-Pa's quietness. And, Laura, Mom and I sound a lot alike on the phone. Just ask John.
7. I'm still wondering why Lara didn't tag me on the previous tag. Maybe it's because I'd have had to make up all the answers about my husband? Hmm. That might be interesting.....
8. And finally, if I could change one thing I'd done....I wouldn't have hit Laura with that baseball bat. Although I didn't get near as close to her head as she'd like you to believe!
I'm going to tag Lara, Bob, Elissa (I know you're reading).
Friday, October 26, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Day 1
I'm trying a little experiment - practicing what I preach! Last week in my Strong Women - Healthy Hearts class, we discussed meal planning. We even had worksheets to just fill in. So, I decided to give it a try - plan all of my meals and make them healthy. I'm trying to get all of my recommended foods. So I went to the store last night to stock up - I really did spend more time on the outer edges (produce department mostly).
This morning, I just had my standard cereal. I woke up late (I set the alarm but forgot to turn in on!) and didn't put any fruit with it. For lunch, I had a "make ahead lunch wrap" (got the recipe from Laura/allrecipes.com), 1/2 cup cottage cheese, and about a cup of grapes. And a big glass of water. During the afternoon, I had a handful of animal crackers. For dinner, I had a veggie burger on a whole wheat english muffin, corn on the cob, and salad.
I had a good week-end in Ashdown. Mom & I went to Texarkana Friday night - we picked up Aunt Chris and ate at Lee's Catfish. Saturday, we went shopping and found Mom several things. I got some warm socks. We picked up hamburgers for dinner. On Sunday, Bob Simmons met me at the door and asked me to run the powerpoint during the service. I did, and it went well. And I got to visit with some people at the church in Ashdown - which is always a good thing!
This morning, I just had my standard cereal. I woke up late (I set the alarm but forgot to turn in on!) and didn't put any fruit with it. For lunch, I had a "make ahead lunch wrap" (got the recipe from Laura/allrecipes.com), 1/2 cup cottage cheese, and about a cup of grapes. And a big glass of water. During the afternoon, I had a handful of animal crackers. For dinner, I had a veggie burger on a whole wheat english muffin, corn on the cob, and salad.
I had a good week-end in Ashdown. Mom & I went to Texarkana Friday night - we picked up Aunt Chris and ate at Lee's Catfish. Saturday, we went shopping and found Mom several things. I got some warm socks. We picked up hamburgers for dinner. On Sunday, Bob Simmons met me at the door and asked me to run the powerpoint during the service. I did, and it went well. And I got to visit with some people at the church in Ashdown - which is always a good thing!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Quick Post
I was glad to host some of the Simmons family Saturday evening for dinner. Bob, Susan, Amy, and Chloe were such fun to have - and they brought yummy ciabatta bread and dipping stuff (olive oil with Parmesan cheese)! I know they had a long day but I was honored to have them in my home. Bob posted a couple of pix on his blog.
I went to Hastings Sunday night after worship. I had a vanilla chai latte and looked at books.
Wednesday was the Extension Homemakers Fall Council Meeting. We tried something different this time - and it worked great! We had more members at this meeting than at any other meeting since I've been here - 77! We had the meeting at Harding in the Founders Room, had some great speakers including our new FCS state leader who did a tai chi demonstration, and we had a great lunch. The best part? NO COOKING, CLEANING UP, OR SETTING UP TABLES AND CHAIRS!!!! And they were all HAPPY! Oh my joy.
We had supper club at Doc's tonight. It was fun and I think it was good to spend time together especially for Kimberly. I know she's had a rough few months. But I always leave feeling like something is missing. I don't know what - maybe I feel like I just don't fit in most of the time. Who knows?
I've struggled this week with headaches and just generally not feeling well. I know I should take better care of myself. On Tuesdays & Thursdays, I do get exercise but not enough. I need to eat better too. So tonight in my Strong Women - Healthy Hearts class, we talked about menu planning. I think I'm really going to try to plan menus better, and eat healthier. And exercise more..... I don't like this tummy thing I have. I've done better today about drinking water so I need to keep that up.
I'm going to Ashdown for the week-end. I'm excited to see Mom again and spend time with her at home. Hopefully, we can see Aunt Chris, maybe shop some, just enjoy the week-end.
Hope you have a good week-end!
I went to Hastings Sunday night after worship. I had a vanilla chai latte and looked at books.
Wednesday was the Extension Homemakers Fall Council Meeting. We tried something different this time - and it worked great! We had more members at this meeting than at any other meeting since I've been here - 77! We had the meeting at Harding in the Founders Room, had some great speakers including our new FCS state leader who did a tai chi demonstration, and we had a great lunch. The best part? NO COOKING, CLEANING UP, OR SETTING UP TABLES AND CHAIRS!!!! And they were all HAPPY! Oh my joy.
We had supper club at Doc's tonight. It was fun and I think it was good to spend time together especially for Kimberly. I know she's had a rough few months. But I always leave feeling like something is missing. I don't know what - maybe I feel like I just don't fit in most of the time. Who knows?
I've struggled this week with headaches and just generally not feeling well. I know I should take better care of myself. On Tuesdays & Thursdays, I do get exercise but not enough. I need to eat better too. So tonight in my Strong Women - Healthy Hearts class, we talked about menu planning. I think I'm really going to try to plan menus better, and eat healthier. And exercise more..... I don't like this tummy thing I have. I've done better today about drinking water so I need to keep that up.
I'm going to Ashdown for the week-end. I'm excited to see Mom again and spend time with her at home. Hopefully, we can see Aunt Chris, maybe shop some, just enjoy the week-end.
Hope you have a good week-end!
Saturday, October 13, 2007
10 Years Today!
October 13, 1997 was a Monday - and it was the day that I started work with the Cooperative Extension Service in Pike County, AR (Murfreesboro). I wore a black & white houndstooth dress with heels, had my picture made for the local paper, the Murfreesboro Diamond, and generally wondered what in the world I was doing. I was supposed to be an Intern working with another agent. But after about 3 weeks, the agent I was working with (Jean) moved to the neighboring county. But she was only aboutg 15 minutes away, was on my speed dial, and was still very helpful to me. I became an actual agent October 1, 1998 I think. I was promoted to an Agent II in 2002. One of the reasons I'm going to work on my masters is that I can't promote again until I do - not to mention that we get a nice payraise when we get our masters!
For the first three weeks or so, I lived in Nashville in a one-room apartment. It did have cable though. The dorm-size refrigerator was by the bathroom, and the microwave was in the bathroom. I lived on slim-fast for breakfast, and frozen dinners for dinner. Then, I rented a cute little house in Murfreesboro and lived there about 6 months. It didn't have any furniture except for a little table in the kitchen and maybe a chair. I slept on the floor for a while - because I didn't have any furniture! My parents were bringing me some furniture, but Dad's cancer spread to his eye and they were unable to haul any furniture. So, my grandmother and uncle & aunt took pity on me. They loaded up furniture from their houses and brought to me! I had a chair for the living room and table with a lamp, a twin bed (Laura's old daybed), a nightstand, and maybe another table. Not much but enough! In March 1998, I moved again. The next apartment was a basement apartment - it was furnished, all the utilities even cable (except for the phone) were paid, it had a carport, and I guess I felt more comfortable knowing that there was someone else in the house. Really, I think I was so used to living in a dorm, hearing people above me, that living in a basement was very nice! I lived in that house until I moved here to Searcy in April 2002.
I've enjoyed my time with Extension. Wanda, Mike, & Avonne were great coworkers in Pike County. I still miss them. But Roberta, Anita, Brian, Sherri, Keith, Jamie, Amy are great. I've also worked with Dustin, Amber, Melanie, Rose Ann, and Tammy in White County. I've enjoyed getting to know the EH ladies, the 4-H kids, the people in the county, the county judges. I really do like my job - it's fun, I get to know neat people, and it's always different.
So, here's to another 10 years (I guess)!
For the first three weeks or so, I lived in Nashville in a one-room apartment. It did have cable though. The dorm-size refrigerator was by the bathroom, and the microwave was in the bathroom. I lived on slim-fast for breakfast, and frozen dinners for dinner. Then, I rented a cute little house in Murfreesboro and lived there about 6 months. It didn't have any furniture except for a little table in the kitchen and maybe a chair. I slept on the floor for a while - because I didn't have any furniture! My parents were bringing me some furniture, but Dad's cancer spread to his eye and they were unable to haul any furniture. So, my grandmother and uncle & aunt took pity on me. They loaded up furniture from their houses and brought to me! I had a chair for the living room and table with a lamp, a twin bed (Laura's old daybed), a nightstand, and maybe another table. Not much but enough! In March 1998, I moved again. The next apartment was a basement apartment - it was furnished, all the utilities even cable (except for the phone) were paid, it had a carport, and I guess I felt more comfortable knowing that there was someone else in the house. Really, I think I was so used to living in a dorm, hearing people above me, that living in a basement was very nice! I lived in that house until I moved here to Searcy in April 2002.
I've enjoyed my time with Extension. Wanda, Mike, & Avonne were great coworkers in Pike County. I still miss them. But Roberta, Anita, Brian, Sherri, Keith, Jamie, Amy are great. I've also worked with Dustin, Amber, Melanie, Rose Ann, and Tammy in White County. I've enjoyed getting to know the EH ladies, the 4-H kids, the people in the county, the county judges. I really do like my job - it's fun, I get to know neat people, and it's always different.
So, here's to another 10 years (I guess)!
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
week-end fun vs. dead animals?
What a week-end! Mom, Patti, Colbie, and Britton got here Friday afternoon....and then Charles, Mitzi, Sean, and Hershel arrived for dinner. I was a bit adventurous with dinner - which means I was a little nervous about how it would be received. But when Sean (sophomore in high school) went back for seconds and maybe thirds, I knew it was okay! We had make-your-own-grain-salads. I cooked some quinoa and bulgar, then had bowls of veggies (black beans, kidney beans, corn, red bell pepper, cucumber, green onions, almonds, carrots, etc.) and dressing. Everyone made their own. Mom brought some herb bread that was delish! With blackberry cobbler and ice cream for dessert...it was all good. Then the fun began.....Mom brought out her dulcimer and Hershel brought his guitar. We heard great music and stories. Hershel is so good - of course, he did have a record with his garage band!
Saturday morning, we got a tour of Harding from Morris Sewell (to help encourage Colbie & Britton to come to Harding!), then went to the BBQ Wars for lunch. We went to Midnight Oil (Mom needed a pick-me-up before shopping) and JCPenney before we ran out of steam. So we went back to the house for a quick nap, then hit Colony Shop & Kroger. Colbie & Britton helped me fix a quick dinner of spaghetti with smoky marinara, garlic bread, and a great salad with lots of veggies and a homemade vinaigrette. The girls were awesome! We ate quickly, then headed to the Acapella concert. It was pretty good - I especially enjoyed hearing the songs I knew from the Sweet Fellowship and Rescue tapes (I think those are the ones) - the ones I remember from high school anyway! Since it wasn't even 9:00 p.m. when we got out, we went by the Underground and treated ourselves to Italian Cream Sodas. Yummy! We made it to class (Mom, Patti, and I visited the Barnabas class) and worship at College before heading to Doc's for lunch. Everyone left pretty soon after that, so I got a nice nap in!
I don't think I want any chicken for a while. I had a meeting out at the fairgrounds yesterday and I noticed that one of the refrigerators was unplugged. I looked in the frig but it just had BBQ and drinks in it. No problem. Not so lucky with the freezer.....it had had frozen chicken....raw frozen chicken that had defrosted and was getting really....yucky and smelly! I had noticed an odor and now I knew what it was. So since I had another meeting out there today, I decided that someone had to clean the awful mess up. I got there early and let me tell you....it was so disgusting!!!!!! I gagged, sprayed air freshener, got out the cleaner with bleach, and it still smelled (I cleaned it all up, and took the trash out to the dumpster). So I found some cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and nutmeg and put them in some water on the stove. That did help! So did drinking coffee.....I kept smelling and drinking, smelling and drinking more than I needed. I had to go back to the office for ice, and I had been getting a headache. So I went home and took my migraine medicine and hoped that would help. But...it really didn't for a long time. It probably didn't help that when I got back to the fairgrounds, I made some little pizzas for my lunch contribution. Luckily, the dead chicken smell had mostly gone away. But in it's place was the dead mouse smell radiating from the oven when I turned it on. NOT a good thing. By then, I was really feeling awful - I didn't want to eat, I didn't even want to think about eating, my head was killing me, and I really thought I was going to throw up. I managed to eat a little bit - I was afraid I'd feel worse if I didn't eat something. But I had to leave early - I was just sick. I went home and napped on the couch for about 2 hours - I was feeling better - Not great, but enough to go back to work. Anyway, my head is finally starting to feel better.....even though my hands still smell like dead chicken (and I washed them repeatedly, and doused them in lemon juice).
Saturday morning, we got a tour of Harding from Morris Sewell (to help encourage Colbie & Britton to come to Harding!), then went to the BBQ Wars for lunch. We went to Midnight Oil (Mom needed a pick-me-up before shopping) and JCPenney before we ran out of steam. So we went back to the house for a quick nap, then hit Colony Shop & Kroger. Colbie & Britton helped me fix a quick dinner of spaghetti with smoky marinara, garlic bread, and a great salad with lots of veggies and a homemade vinaigrette. The girls were awesome! We ate quickly, then headed to the Acapella concert. It was pretty good - I especially enjoyed hearing the songs I knew from the Sweet Fellowship and Rescue tapes (I think those are the ones) - the ones I remember from high school anyway! Since it wasn't even 9:00 p.m. when we got out, we went by the Underground and treated ourselves to Italian Cream Sodas. Yummy! We made it to class (Mom, Patti, and I visited the Barnabas class) and worship at College before heading to Doc's for lunch. Everyone left pretty soon after that, so I got a nice nap in!
I don't think I want any chicken for a while. I had a meeting out at the fairgrounds yesterday and I noticed that one of the refrigerators was unplugged. I looked in the frig but it just had BBQ and drinks in it. No problem. Not so lucky with the freezer.....it had had frozen chicken....raw frozen chicken that had defrosted and was getting really....yucky and smelly! I had noticed an odor and now I knew what it was. So since I had another meeting out there today, I decided that someone had to clean the awful mess up. I got there early and let me tell you....it was so disgusting!!!!!! I gagged, sprayed air freshener, got out the cleaner with bleach, and it still smelled (I cleaned it all up, and took the trash out to the dumpster). So I found some cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and nutmeg and put them in some water on the stove. That did help! So did drinking coffee.....I kept smelling and drinking, smelling and drinking more than I needed. I had to go back to the office for ice, and I had been getting a headache. So I went home and took my migraine medicine and hoped that would help. But...it really didn't for a long time. It probably didn't help that when I got back to the fairgrounds, I made some little pizzas for my lunch contribution. Luckily, the dead chicken smell had mostly gone away. But in it's place was the dead mouse smell radiating from the oven when I turned it on. NOT a good thing. By then, I was really feeling awful - I didn't want to eat, I didn't even want to think about eating, my head was killing me, and I really thought I was going to throw up. I managed to eat a little bit - I was afraid I'd feel worse if I didn't eat something. But I had to leave early - I was just sick. I went home and napped on the couch for about 2 hours - I was feeling better - Not great, but enough to go back to work. Anyway, my head is finally starting to feel better.....even though my hands still smell like dead chicken (and I washed them repeatedly, and doused them in lemon juice).
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Autumn
ahh autumn!!!!!!!! The cool mornings, the colors changing, the longer nights.
It's been a pretty busy week! Monday was a really long day - it started with a breakfast meeting at 7:00 a.m. (I made swiss oatmeal with healthy trimmings), work, reports, the big 4-H Centennial Celebration, and Bunco. Whew. Tuesday was more of the same - early morning, work late. But I left work early today and I'm not working AT ALL tomorrow (at the office anyway). I'll be working at home - cleaning, straightening, preparing food. The house will be hopping by this time tomorrow. Mom, Patti, and Patti's two nieces Colbie and Britton will be here for the week-end. Add Charles, Mitzi, Sean, and Hershel for dinner tomorrow night. That equals fun!
Oh by the way, if you have never tried the peanut butter pie at Bobby's - you don't know what you are missing!!! I know, I know - it's not that healthy. Everything in moderation you know. Roberta's birthday (she's one of our secretaries) was yesterday and she loves that pie. And to make her happy (and us too), we celebrated her birthday with that yummy pie. I just happened to get a nice big piece and unfortunately I couldn't even finish it. It was rich, delicious, and peanutty with a huge merigue on top. I can't believe I just wrote an entire paragraph about a pie!!!!
It's been a pretty busy week! Monday was a really long day - it started with a breakfast meeting at 7:00 a.m. (I made swiss oatmeal with healthy trimmings), work, reports, the big 4-H Centennial Celebration, and Bunco. Whew. Tuesday was more of the same - early morning, work late. But I left work early today and I'm not working AT ALL tomorrow (at the office anyway). I'll be working at home - cleaning, straightening, preparing food. The house will be hopping by this time tomorrow. Mom, Patti, and Patti's two nieces Colbie and Britton will be here for the week-end. Add Charles, Mitzi, Sean, and Hershel for dinner tomorrow night. That equals fun!
Oh by the way, if you have never tried the peanut butter pie at Bobby's - you don't know what you are missing!!! I know, I know - it's not that healthy. Everything in moderation you know. Roberta's birthday (she's one of our secretaries) was yesterday and she loves that pie. And to make her happy (and us too), we celebrated her birthday with that yummy pie. I just happened to get a nice big piece and unfortunately I couldn't even finish it. It was rich, delicious, and peanutty with a huge merigue on top. I can't believe I just wrote an entire paragraph about a pie!!!!
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