Gratefulness

The thunder rolls, the wind blows, the rain is coming down. What lovely sights and sounds! Makes me want to curl up in bed, listening to the rain falling on the roof. The rain is very welcome and I hope it will help cool things off a bit. Makes me wish for the chill of an early fall.

And I have a mosquito in my house. He's not too bad though - just when I think the silence is deafening, I hear this buzzzzzz. He follows me around - just to let me know he's still here I guess. It's not so bad, unless you think it's strange that he doesn't bother me that much.

I'm learning to appreciate the quiet and dark. I used to want every light on. That way, everything was light and bright and cheery. And I had to have the radio on, listening to a favorite CD or Delilah. But I've grown accustomed to not turning the lights on as much, and to listening to the sounds I hear without the radio. This wasn't really by choice - my CD player/radio thingy is getting old, cranky, and tends to spout out this annoying racket after it's been on for about a minute. But now, I can hear the rain pounding the back porch, falling on the roof, what it sounds like hitting the driveway, the rolling thunder, the wind blowing through the trees. I can hear my mosquito, people as they walk or jog past the house, the people next door saying good night.

So I was thinking of things that I'm grateful for. Besides the obvious - My God & my faith, my family, my friends, my home, my job, etc. I'm grateful that I've had at least one good romantic evening.
Ahhh, I still feel the breeze over the water, through the trees. The evening was perfect, a bit cloudy, but good for a lovely sunset. The colors were beautiful - the sunset, the trees, the water as we floated over it. The feel of the breeze in my hair, on my face, was like a brush of the God's hand saying, "here I am." We anchored the boat and sat and talked and cuddled. We ate a dinner we had packed, and moved the boat to catch a better view of the sunset. I listened to the sweet sounds of the critters in the woods, the waves gently brushing the shore, the sounds the boat makes as it drifts ever so slightly. We watched the sunset, and cuddled some more. We stayed out on the lake until about 10:00 p.m. but it was an evening to remember for me. It was just being. No other people, no other distractions. Just us, enjoying the world and each other. A quiet time of reflection.
I'm grateful that I've learned valuable lessons. I've learned to watch what I say and how I say it. I'm grateful that I still have a job even when I messed up big time. I cringe whenever I think of that, and my red face shows my embarrassment at being such a stupid idiot. Letting my anger and dislike get the best of me. I should have taken someone's advice - to let myself get angry and stew. For one day. And then let it go. But I guess that is hard for me and something I need to work on! I can still remember people interpreting my message in the wrong way...and wondering how I could have done it better.
I'm grateful that I can write on my blog, and express myself here when I can't express myself any other way.

And I think to myself, it's a wonderful world.







How many songs titles/lines can you find in this post?

Decorating Project Report

Thanks to my "designer's challenge" consultant Elissa! She suggested cleaning up/de-cluttering, focusing on the black accent color, adding visual interest for little $ with the shelf, pillows, etc. All of my pictures frames are now black (but different sizes and textures). The shelf was painted black and I used black sheets (very easy - probably cheaper than black fabric and no hemming required!) to cover odd colored furniture. Thank you Elissa, not only for your expertise & imagination, but for your contributions to the look.
Here are the pix:

This first one is the view when you walk in the front door. I painted the shelf on the wall black. It has a history - Laura & I had it in our room growing up when it was not painted and it hung 90 degrees to the right (I think). I put one of my IKEA lamps on a stool behind the sewing machine cabinet, covered with a black sheet. I will eventually put more pictures on this wall.

The second picture is if you come in the front door and look right. I put larger IKEA lamp in the corner. I got two concrete blocks and put under the long shelf that is under the window. Then I covered that shelf with a black sheet. Note the new pillow look (new round black satiny pillow and new green fluffy square pillow, plus the odd number of pillows).

The third picture (looking towards the window) shows the shelt and the coffee table-scape.

The last photo is my new & improved guest room. Mom gave me the double mattress set to replace the old twin I had. I got a new comforter set from Walmart.com and used the site-to-store option (delivered to WM in Searcy - no shipping charge!). I haven't put the bedskirt on yet but it is the khaki color with a green grosgrain ribbon trim. The comforter is a paisley with khaki, green, and blue. I still have to get more pillows so I can put the shams on!

Hot Hot Hot

Ahhhh, August has arrived with all of the heat and humidity that usually accompanies such a distinguished month. Let's see, August is first day of school, hot days and nights, Laura & John's anniversary (Aug. 14 - #14), Laura's birthday (Aug. 27). It was also Pa-Pa Moss' birthday (Aug. 25) and Dad's birthday (Aug. 31). This time 14 years ago, we were hot on the trail of the perfect wedding (would we have gladiolis? would it be extremely hot (yes!)?). I can still remember how incredibly handsome Dad looked in his tux. I had never seen him in a tux before and thought he looked pretty distinguished.

I turned on the radio and heard Roxette's "Joy Ride." Anyone remember that one? It was the single cassette that I played in my blue '90 Ford Escort as I cruised around the big city of Ashdown when I started driving.

And for this week's medical update, no bladder infection!!!!!!!!! YEAH. The bad news? I have another kind of infection. But I think the antibiotics are really working this time and I'll be infection-free soon! I sure hope so anyway. I'm already feeling better and perkier.

Ellen Daniel and I decided that we needed to help people feel more welcome at church, so we committed to inviting new people over for lunch. Tomorrow is our first "welcome lunch" and we're excited! We got together today and got some things ready. I made a blackberry cobbler tonight - I think I had too many blackberries or too much liquid. The pan is really full (and I made the mistake of using a disposable pan!) and some of the liquid spilled out into my oven. Oh well. I'm sure it will still TASTE good.

The AWH Retreat at Eden Isle was great and I learned a lot. I got some good fundraising ideas, not only for AWH but also for Extension Homemakers. And, I got to know some people better and meet other neat people. It's really interesting to hear some of the more "mature" ladies talk about their lives. The restaurant at the Red Apple Inn was very good too - the food and the view!

I really need to clean house since Supper Club is here Thursday night, but I have not gotten motivated very much today. I did hang a new wall hanging up (got it last week-end at B. Jaxx). But now, I need to straighten, dust, clean my room & bathroom. I have one more decorating project to do also - clean up a dirty shelf and paint it! Elissa will be so proud when I post pictures of the projects she suggested. So, how do you get motivated - to clean, to exercise, to plan menus?

So instead of cleaning, I've read some this week-end. I checked out a few books from the library yesterday. I had read "White Chocolate Moments" by Lori Wick before, but wanted to read it again. The title caught my eye first, but the book was a good read. I finally got to read the sequel to Karen Kingsbury's "Even Now." The sequel is "Ever After." It was really good - but a real tearjerker. I have a hard time understanding when people cry all the time at meetings or church or whatever. I guess it's just that I hate crying in front of people (trust me, it's not a pretty sight!) but apparently, I can cry at home by myself. I had to stop reading and blow my red nose today. The big lump in my throat was killing me. But back to the book - it was a wonderful story of love, loss, and patriotism with some good insights into the war in Iraq. I also checked out "Dealbreakers" but just skimmed through it. It was some psychoanalyst's idea of relationships and the dealbreakers that can make or break a relationship. I could figure that one out all by my single self.

Amy - I'm glad you are feeling better!!!! Hope that trend continues instead of the whole being-sick-the-entire-pregnancy-thing. Thanks for your kind words. You are probably the friend I've had the longest - well, except for Laura! But there were times when she was all mean and devious (though hardly anyone believes that!) and you were nice and sweet (still are).

Elissa - hope you have a great week. Don't forget to let me know if y'all need help moving things around one week-end. Tell your family Hi. Thanks for the help, the advice, your friendship! I treasure it. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you as a friend. I'd sure be a lonely single and wouldn't have traveled as much! Take care and keep me posted. I figured since you couldn't email, and texting takes a while, that you'd eventually read my post!

Mom - glad you can now comment on our posts. Hope you had a great time with the munchkins while L&J were in Dallas.

Raindrops

Have you ever wondered why your mind will latch onto something and won't let go? Especially when it bugs you, like when you can't get "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" out of your mind. Or when you just can't remember that name no matter how hard you try. Or maybe it's when you hear something that, while not surprising, still manages to make you feel somewhat sad.

That's where I've been lately. I'm so impatient - and probably envious. Why are all my old boyfriends getting married and having kids? Why does it hurt to know that they have moved on and I'm still sitting here waiting for Mr. Right (not Mr. HurryUpIWanttoGetMarried, not Mr. Jerk, not Mr. TalkUpaStormAboutMe, not Mr. Psychobabbler, not Mr. Sloppy, not Mr. SillyKid, not Mr. GrowUp)? Why do I keep thinking of memories made that are meaningless now? And why am I always hearing stuff like, "I'm so old!" (and the person is younger than me), or "she waited so long for him" (and again, she's younger than me). I'm starting to second-guess my own decisions - where they the right ones?

The other thing I keep thinking - am I ever going to feel better and energetic? Is this medicine going to clear up the infection this time?

But even with my brain on overload at times, and dead at other times, I had a great week-end. I took off Thursday afternoon a little early, and Friday. I got my walking in Thursday night and Friday morning before heading to Mom's. I met Mom and Patti at Olive Garden in Texarkana for lunch (Mom's favorite place). We did a little shopping (a decorative accent and tennis shoes for me) before heading home. I made them risotto for dinner - and Mom fixed a yummy salad. Saturday, we all headed to Hot Springs. We met Laura for lunch at the San Francisco Bread Company, browsed at Good Earth, and then drove downtown for baths/massages! Laura just got a pedicure, but Mom, Patti, and I had the full treatment! ahhhhhhhh, I was warm!!! oh so warm and it was so nice. I almost went to sleep. By the time we were done, it was time to hit....Starbucks. We all got cold drinks and sat outside and talked.....and talked. Laura is so much like Mom sometimes. Of course, she is her mother's daughter! But it's so funny to see them together because they are just so similar. Makes me wonder if anyone ever thinks that about me. I know I've always heard that I was a lot like Dad. Anyway, we sat there talking long enough to think about eating dinner......so we headed to On the Border. No mango margaritas. I even tried the healthy option - soft chicken tacos. They were pretty good. Mom, Patti, and I drove home (I napped some - Patti drove!) through Prescott and visited with Uncle David, Aunt Jackie, and Alice Marie. It was a fun, relaxing way to celebrate Mom's birthday!

I got to catch up with Amy Silva at church on Sunday. She wasn't feeling too hot but we had a nice chat. She has a blog too so maybe we can stay updated that way too. Amy was always a good friend - from sharing fun times at Mrs. Ora Lee's house to driving me to/from school and lunch before I could drive in high school! And all those youth activities in between and the fun we had our last New Year's in Ashdown. Amy - hope you are feeling better. You are so beautiful - inside and out!

I was trying to come up with a catchy post....but since my mind is apparently a minefield for nothing right now, this will have to do since I haven't updated this week!

Accomplishments:

• Went to Lowe's and Wal-Mart on a Saturday afternoon and got home in about an hour. I had my list and stuck to it. I mostly got "home" stuff for my decorating projects.
• Emailed people I've been meaning to email (and if you haven't gotten one, well, sorry).
• Got my checkbook up to date. Paid bills. Watched the flow go in, and then right back out.
• Cleaned out most of the work stuff in my vehicle. Now, I only have my SW workout bag, SW class stuff, and lots of OrganWise Guys stuff.
• Putting together a bag of stuff to take to Mom's. Including home ideas for her new remodeling project, risotto stuff, pictures/frames.
• Went walking, even when I didn't feel like it. Even tried out a new workout DVD (core conditioning with the bellytwins).
• Made a good veggie dip/thick soup dish. Not quite as good as Mississippi Caviar but tasty nonetheless. And full of veggies.
• Down to one cup of coffee a day. As I told someone else today, I'm a water and cranberry juice girl now.
• Can now belt out Mary Chapin Carpenter's "Almost Home," Norah Jones' "Turn Me On," and Peter, Paul, & Mary's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (not that anyone would want to listen).
• Got to work early.
• Kept my plants alive. Even bought a short hose so I could water them easier and more often hopefully.
• Have taken all my medicine faithfully. Well, almost anyway.
• Got to help get the Fair Tabloid to print, hopefully as error-free as possible. Look for it in your Community Shopper next week.

No, I haven't saved the world, or anything earth shattering. I keep waking up and facing the day. I enjoy life. I look forward to time with family & friends. I wish I were a better person most days. But as Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is another day!"

Risotto, Redecorating, and Real Friends

Waaaaaaaaaay back in the fall of 1994, on the second floor of Cathcart Hall, a friendship began. Elissa was not on my wing (I was an RA, she was a freshman) but I saw her a lot during room checks. She was really nice to the RAs and since she went home a lot – she let us watch TV in her room! What a treat!! We had master keys, so we made ourselves at home in her room, always making sure we had blankets because she kept her room so COLD. I didn’t really get to know her that well during the year. But at the end of the semester, we knew she’d be coming back as an RA. I met her dad (Mr. George) when he came to get her. Elissa lived about an hour and a half from where my parents lived near Mobile, so during the summer I called her. We got together in Long Beach, MS (where she lives) and had a great time. When we got back to Harding in August 1995, we naturally hung out with all the RAs since no one else was around. And when school started, Elissa & I were still hanging out….and becoming good friends. We were blessed to become such good friends in college and after. Picture - RA Christmas Party 1995. We were RAs in 95-96 in Cathcart with Aunt B, and then in 96-97, Aunt B moved to the New dorm – Searcy Hall and we followed. We were apartment-mates for a semester before she left to go to HUF. Elissa even made it back to Harding for my graduation. Through the years, we’ve kept in touch and traveled together even though we’ve lived hours apart (from 3-8 hours). Our first big trip together was April 2002 – right before I moved to Searcy. We’ve enjoyed our travels together!
April 2002 – Williamsburg, Virginia
April 2003 – Asheville, NC
October 2003 – Hawaii (we got to stay with Aunt B) Picture - at a Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center
April 2004 – Savannah, Georgia with our moms
March 2005 – short trip to pre-Katrina New Orleans
May/June 2005 – Europe with my Mom
May 2006 – Alaskan cruise
September 2006 – Caribbean cruise
April 2007 – Washington, DC

Elissa arrived in Searcy at 2:00 a.m. Friday morning. What a drive!! We finally went to bed and slept late Friday morning. We messed around, ate breakfast, talked, drank coffee, and finally got dressed. We went to Little Rock to meet Mom, Patti, Laura, and the kids at Macaroni Grill for lunch. It was an enjoyable lunch catching up with each other, playing tic-tac-toe with Emily, watching Ethan, and eating yummy Italian!! Elissa and I went to Walgreens to stock up on poison oak remedies before heading to the nice west LR Kroger. We got Arborio rice among other things. We had to stop at Barnes & Noble – bathroom and coffee break. We were getting tired after the long night and the big pasta lunch! We got back to Searcy as the skies were turning an ominous gray…….and the rain came down just about the time I was going to the store to pick up a items for our risotto. I got wet, and then I couldn’t find dried tomatoes and fresh asparagus. So I improvised…..I just decided to try another recipe with ingredients I could find! We made risotto with blue cheese and bacon – it was delicious!!!!!!!!!!! But it’s not for the impatient or the short-on-time! We even had enough left over for Saturday lunch.

We got up Saturday morning, dressed, and picked blackberries at Anita’s. YUMMY!!! Elissa went to Heart & Soul to shop around while I ran a few errands. We finished off the risotto before heading back to LR, stopped in Jacksonville on the way at Starbucks! We went to Tuesday Morning, Garden Ridge, and some other shops. Elissa was helping me redecorate my living room a bit – just tweaking some. We didn’t buy much but had fun shopping til we dropped. By then, just driving around sounded good since we could just sit…….so we did a little of that and finally went to Murry’s Dinner Playhouse. We got there early and stood in line for a little while. But we got in, found our seats, stood in line some more to get food, and sat down! Ahhhhhh. We had plenty of time for more great conversation before the show began – Steel Magnolias. It was wonderful – funny, touching, sad, yet good. And the exciting thrills of conversation continued on the way home………..didn’t it Elissa?!?!

Sunday, we made it to worship service and then helped with the cradle roll class. Good thing Elissa was there to help corral the kiddos!! After a gas stop and another stop at Walgreen’s, we ate a good lunch at Los Montano (we’d already had enough Italian….). I napped for a while and Elissa took care of Gumbo (the cat got outside to run off the excess energy she’d been using to mess things up in my kitchen!). We got to church early so I could run the powerpoint and Elissa could check out our system for that. Noel had a great lesson on truth & lying. Thought-provoking. We went to Arby’s for a quick bite to eat before heading to the theatre to see “Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix.” It was pretty good, even though I’m not up on Harry Potter! Elissa had to leave Monday morning, but it was a wonderful visit – full of great conversation, laughs, fun, and togethertime.

Simple Pleasures

In an effort to be a bit more upbeat, here is a list of my simple pleasures. Maybe you'll be reminded of something good.....

• colorful sunsets
• hugs & kisses from Emily & Ethan
• getting cards in the mail, instead of just bills and junk mail
• fresh, clean sheets on my bed
• a massage
• hearing a favorite song on the radio and turning up the volume
• ice cream melting on warm blackberry cobbler
• the different colors of the world
• fresh pineapple
• daffodils, daisies, and tulips
• someone sending me flowers
• trying a new restaurant
• Italian food
• a good cup of coffee
• springtime rain
• the first cool days of fall
• falling leaves
• snow
• sunshine
• the wind blowing through my hair
• anticipation
• hanging out with Elissa
• hanging out with my sis
• going to Mom's for the week-end
• cute little pets
• Patsy Cline
• John Wayne movies
• that clean fresh feeling
• dressing up for something special
• hiking on a mountain
• watching the ocean waves
• traveling to a new place
• driving on a two-lane, exploring, & enjoying the scenery
• finding something good at a flea market
• a clean house
• leaving on a vacation
• coming home from a vacation to a nice, clean house
• Ella James singing "At Last"
• Harding basketball games
• Michael Buble & Frank Sinatra serenading on a romantic evening