What's up with Katie!

Katie's off to Middle school now! Here she is getting her certificate.


Katie just went through 6th grade graduation. No more elementary school!

Katie just went to her first boy/girl dance the 5th and 6th grade fund raiser for next years Land Between the Lakes trip. The girl all bought the SAME dress individually, but they didn't care. They all wore it a little different. they reminding me of some girl singing group from the 50's ...LOL!

week in review

Well, Saturday at the yard sale I made $85. WOO HOO! I got rid of a TON of stuff. I'm quite pleased! I only wish I'd had the gumption to pull out more junk! There really was very little left. What was left is going to the consignment or Goodwill.

after the yard sale, I took Katie shopping for her go to the dance/graduation/ wedding dresses. We found two AWESOME dresses. She looks so grown up in them! They made her look so curvy. She looks absolutely stunning in them. It was one of those WOW moments even with hair not done and no make up. No more little girl...

The pool is all ready for swimming in! WOO HOO! It's perfect! well close... We have to clean up the furniture and the beds need a little TLC. But the water is swim-ready now if it would just get warm enough to do that we'll be all set. I need new floats and some new towels would be nice....


We went out to eat at Jim & Nicks Saturday night. RIBS! YUM! It's been a long while oh were they GOOD!

Jim and I went out for breakfast Sunday at IHOP then went to Home Depot for red mulch. We went to the grocery store for baking soda for the pool and bought some gorgeous bedding plants.

Jim got the mulching done in all the beds Saturday except the red stuff. We got the red mulch for the little pathway of grasses in. It looks really good! I trimmed all the bushes into shape. We put in a few purple flowers too! It needs more flowers. We'll probably go back and get some in a bit. I had to get a porch mat my Christmas one was still out there. I bought a fairly plain one at Wal-mart. But at least I'm season appropriate.


Jim and I are went out to dinner last night for our 18th anniversary at Ellendale's. I met him up in Nashville. I got to wear my killer dress! With even better underwear... We had a lovely meal. Came home and had a lovely rated X night..... Next year I'm planning something BIG well at least for 20th one... I want to go to Venice so bad!


Courtney doesn't have to take any finals because of her grades, so she is out of school now. Guess summer is here! I see running the vacuum in her future...{EVIL LAUGHTER}

Only 166 Days to Halloween!

OMG! I've got to get the planning started!

The FIX is in...

My pool is almost usable! The Polaris is finally up and running! the motor for the pump is replaced. I just need to put about 5 pounds of baking soda in the pool to get the pH up or down any RIGHT according to the strips.

Now all I need is for the invisible fence dude to get back here and put the new box up.

Tomorrow is the big neighborhood garage sale. Hopefully we'll get rid of a bunch of junk and make some CASH! I got half of my embarrassing closet dug out and part of the guest room. Hopefully by next week I'll have them all cleared.

I got a bunch out of my closet that is WAY too big for me. Room to buy more stuff! LOL!

Jim is mulching the front of the house beds. It starting to look really good! now to find the right stone for the back...

The Fix is on going....

Starting again!

I dug out my old manuscript. Boy does that sound pretentious! OK more like 14 pages I've written about two years ago as the start of a Romance novel. I wouldn't have done that without help. (Thank you Debra) I had to re-read it. It actually isn't too bad. Not good, but I've read worse published material. Guess I'll try following the story boarding, and see where it leads me... the worst thing that can happen is a I write a suckie book that can't get published or not finsih it, BEST is I get published and get PAID! I'm not holding my breath to be published but stranger things have happen. I never thought I'd get my scrapbok pages published either or start a business.... Here goes nothing!

Scray Trip! & Pain!

... to my wallet that is... I've got to go to the grocery store today, YUCK! I'm in sticker shock every time I walk out of the super market. It is totally depressing along with going to the gas pumps It is cutting seriously into my FUN money.

BUT

on the bright side my binge eating doesn't seem to have had any lasting effects I'm back to where I was and hopefully after the water weight is gone there will be less of me to love. (crossing my fingers) Here is the silver lining... The prices at the grocery store should stop me from binge eating in the future.

I got the Polaris back and it still isn't working properly. Something is screwed up with the system.. NOT GOOD. the vacuum isn't working properly that has nothing to do with the buggy, DRAT! I see money flying out of my wallet... and I still have a filthy pool!

I have a roaring headache this morning. I think we are getting storms. I can always tell because when the pressure drops or goes up I tend to get headaches. Thank goodness for ibuprofen! Imagine what life was like before pain killers! YIKES! I'm hoping mine will kick in soon, or the rain will start....either one brings relief. If not may just sit in a darkened room all day with heating pad on my head. this sucker is almost migrain material, BUT not quite. I'm not pucking my guts out, and I can still see properly no tunnel vision yet or blue dots.

I'm hoping to scrap more Halloween pages today...we'll see... Please headache go away!

testing out

testing the new email feature... can save my blog like a diary!

Improvement

Well, at least today I don't feel like killing any one yet... I did however make no bake chocolate cookies, ate a pint of Ben & Jerry's oatmeal cookie ice cream yesterday... I need to do an extra Zumba class... I bought the baked lays cheddar sour cream chips too... I really need an extra class or a hour on the arch... At least I didn't eat the chips...YET

I Hate hormones! I hate that I comfort eat. With stress I either eat or can't eat. It is usually really bad if I can't eat. So I should count my blessings???

Stupid stresses like the Polaris breaking, having to replace frost damaged trees & bushes, planning trips, camp, end of school, new phone, law suit, money crap, etc.... why is every big bill due at once?

Oh well, everyone has stress it is just on how you handle it. My coping mechanisms don't seem to be functioning at the optimum level and I seem to be falling back on bad habits. I need my jaw wired shut...

My new mantra: At least today I don't want to kill any one YET!

Gotta look on the bright side.

Expectations

I may blame this on PMS later, and it maybe true.


I'm really tired of expectations of others. Especially when they put little trouble into doing anything for you EVER. Not that every thing has to be a tit for tat thing. I really don't keep score. Just when you are expected to give, give, give, or do, do, do it gets really OLD. Sarcastic remarks, and zero support when you need it just add to the resentment on my part. I'm tired of being the punching bag. Things in my life aren't as easy as they may seem to people looking in on it. I'm sure the same is true for everyone. So before you judge or say something THINK! Gee, what Have I done for this person lately...if you haven't made the phone call or Emailed, sent the birthday card, visited.... done a freaking thing to show you even give a SHIT. Keep the nasty comments to yourself. Because all you are doing is hurting someone else. You are part of the problem ...not a solution.

The New Phone Smell

Yesterday I went to get a new cell phone. My old one had started to act up on me. The ringer would stick on and not stop ringing or go to silent mode on it's own. The poor thing was freaking out. It was a hand-me-down from my DH after I drowned my last one in pedicure water. Phones don't like water for some funny reason... That was over two years ago before that Jim used it hard. It truly time for a new phone. I qualified for an upgrade. I wanted all the bells and whistles!

This new phone does EVERYTHING almost. Email, Internet, camera, etc. It has a GPS so I should stop getting lost. No more charming side trips. Hey with the price of gas I need to get to point A to point B. It's GREEN aka good for my wallet! LOL! Any way I'll be studying the manual and down loading things to my phone today. When did phones get so complicated? I remember being amazed at camera phones. So I made the poor sales guy, John , go over everything twice that he could and sinc up the bluetooth. He was very gracious. I'm so not a techie. My brother Bruce would be so ashamed of me... well probably is. John showed me everything patiently. BLESS HIM!

John, had to have my license to finalize the paper work. He did double take, and said is that really you? The picture isn't all that flattering on my license to put it mildly. I look like a pig with lots of red hair. He said I looked awesome. He'd already made the sale, maybe hoping for add ons? LOL! He ask if I'd kept the license as a reminder. Reminded I looked like a pig in drag? YUCK! I guess I'm not vain enough to go sit at the DMV to get a new picture taken. That surely would be two hours of my life I'd never get back... To tell the truth It never really crossed my mind to do it till now. Sales people give me the double take every time if they really look at the picture, but yesterday was the first time someone said anything. I guess if someone says that isn't you and refuses to give me service I'll go get the license redone.

It was a lovely little pick me up to have someone notice all my hard work at improving my body and health that wasn't a family member or close friend. Hey, it is always nice to hear you look amazing! That AT&T sales person has my business for life! ROFL!

Strawberry/Pineapple Pretzel Salad

Ingredients
2 cups crushed pretzels
3/4 cup melted butter
3 tablespoons sugar, plus
3/4 cup sugar
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 (8 ounce) container whipped topping
2 (3 ounce) packages strawberry gelatin
2 cups boiling water
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen strawberries
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple
whipped topping or whipped cream, to garnish
Directions
1
Preheat oven to 400°.
2
For the crust, mix the pretzels, butter, and 3 tablespoons of sugar.
3
Press this mixture into a 9 by 13-inch pan and bake for 7 minutes.
4
Set aside and allow to cool.
5
In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and 3/4 cup of sugar.
6
Fold in the whipped topping, and spread over the cooled crust.
7
Refrigerate until well chilled.
8
In a small bowl, dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water, and allow to cool slightly.
9
Add the strawberries and pineapple, and pour over the cream cheese mixture.
10
Refrigerate until serving time.
11
To serve, cut slices and serve with a dollop of whipped toppin

You can lighten this recipe up
1 by using Splenda in place of sugar
2 Sugar free jello
3 Light whip cream
4 using a little less butter or butter light

This is really yummy! I think it was a Paula Dean recipe.

ENJOY!