Finished

I finished the baby blanket that I made using Deneen's pattern. I added a bit of a edge to it and I think it turned out pretty well but am anxious to hear Deneen's opinion.

Day 8

I know what the heck is day 8? Well today is day 8, the eighth day that I have been doing weight watchers again. I'm attempting to do it on my own because I just can't afford to go back to the meetings right now. So far so good. I was about starving by the time I got home this evening. Tori was trying out for another band at church and we didn't get finished to around 8pm then I drove her and her friend to the friends house for the night, (no school tomorrow for election day, makes no sense to me but thats what they do down here). I did good, for all the hunger pains that I was feeling I didn't stop at any of the fast food places that surround the area. One would think that since I was able to stop smoking with minimal effort that loosing some weight wouldn't be that hard. But it is.

I told you guys a couple of days ago that I would post some pictures of the Cairo that sunk during the Civil war. So here ya go:

The outer view.

Inside the Cairo

A view of the cannons facing the battleground.

I told you guys that I would post a couple of pictures of Vicksburg Military Park so here is a few.

As you can tell we had a beautiful day there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

This is the entrance to the park. A very impressive site upon entering.

This is the monument to the Illinois troops. The park was celebrating it's 100th anniversary and had re-en actors there. They fired off a cannon that about scared the crap out of us, the ground rocked. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see it because we were around the corner at the battlefield.

A picture of one of the monument from across one of the fields.

This the monument of Grant. It is positioned way up on a hill looking down on the road.

These are just a few I will post more tomorrow. I have some really good ones of one of the iron clad boats that carried cannons. It's called the Cairo.

Today has been the longest day in court I have ever sat thru. Not so much the hours of court but the fact that it has been a cluster f***. From the moment we stepped in the door of the court room anything that could go wrong did. To the point one of the defendants threw up all over the third and fourth rows of the court room. The paramedics got called in and checked him out. The worst of it is this happened around 1:30 and it is now after 3:00 and no one has come to clean it up. This is stupid. This guy probably has a stomach flu and now everyone in the court room has come down with it too. We probably will not get out of court till 6 or 7 tonight and Shelby has soccer practice. That reminds me I need to call Gary and see if he can take him tonight. I won't be out of here to do it. Last night was Cody's last football practice for the season till spring and Tori's soccer is only on Saturdays and Tuesdays weather permitting. I am so glad that it is slowing down some, it is time for a break.

I want to stay home and knit, crochet or play on my computer, I'm tired of running kids all over the state for right now. I haven't gotten any Christmas projects done, last year at this time I had about all of them done. I'm still working on the baby blanket of Deneen's design and hope to finish it soon. Deneen it is turning out so very cute!! It would be so cute with the baby pompadour yarn also. The whole time I have been working on this I was wishing that I had that type of yarn. I think I am going to make another one for "in case" and I'm going to use that type.
*As of the time I left work 6:00pm it still hadn't been cleaned up, talk about bio hazard*

Who'd a thunk it....

I am from the South, born and bred Southern belle, the only good reason I can think that I would have a Midland accent would be that I was a vocal major who had to learn diction, enunciation and pronunciation correctly. I love these quizzes they are fun. Thanks Deneen for finding this one.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The Inland North
The South
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Great Big Thank You

A great big thank you to Kari for designing my blog for me. It is beautiful and I love it. She does wonderful work!!

Back from Vicksburg

Holy cow we had a great time. The girl and her mom that we roomed with were a hoot and we all enjoyed our time. Friday we arrived at the hotel around 3:30pm so we checked in and freshed up a bit. We all decided to go downtown and do some window shopping. The downtown area is sooo cute. Lots of old shops and resturants with the Mississippi river as a back drop. The streets are all bricked and best of all the parking was free. The lady in one of the stores told me of a tornado that hit in 1953 and ripped thru her (wasn't hers then) store. She then showed me a picture of the damage it had done to the store itself. It seems that the tornado just sat down right in the center of this shop and tore the inside of it up.

This is just an alley way next to the stores. If you were to keep walking down this alley and a bit further down you would run smack dab into Ole Man River.

We then decided to go to a haunted tour of an old antebellium home. The house was built in 1863 and the couple that lived there had 11 children of which only 6 saw adult hood. The man who owned the home was a lawyer and a jeweler. At the time of the seige of Vicksburg Gen. Grant slept in the home and the original furniture is still in the room. Also there is a place in the floor where a cannon ball went thru the floor in one of the parlors.

After the tour was over we went back to the hotel room and got ready for bed. The girls had a 10:00 game and a 2:00 game and they needed their rest. Saturday all we did was soccer and went out to eat as a team. Sunday we had a very early game at 8 in the am. After that game we went to the Military park. I will post some pictures of that tomorrow to show some of what we saw. If you are ever in or around Vicksburg, MS take time to see the sights it is well worth it.

Another Soccer filled weekend....

We are off for another one of those soccer filled weekends. Hopefully this one is the last for a few months. I know in the Spring we will be going all over the place but I need a break. Don't get me wrong I love watching the girls play but you know this has been non-stop since last February. I think we have had 2 weekends off with no practice or games in that time. We are going to be in Vicksburg, MS for the weekend and I'm hoping to have time to visit the military park there and take some pictures.
See you guys sometime Sunday or Monday.

Laundry

A simple enough title one would think, however if you dig a bit more you would find that laundry is not such a simple subject at all. There are 5 people in our family not including the 3 dogs and 2 cats. The 5 humans have the capability of creating mounds of laundry even as the wash lady finishes what she thinks is the last bit of dirty clothes in the house. I do not think these kids wear these clothes what I think happens is the clothes gnomes go thru the closest and decide that this looks like it was washed yesterday lets throw it on the pile in the floor so we can give that lady something to do she looks like she might have gotten a bit to comfortable. It's either that or these kids are wearing entirely to many clothes at once. My daughter and I are getting ready to go out of town this weekend for.... you guessed it soccer, and I have to get all the dang laundry done. I know that I could probably make the kids get it done but it wouldn't get done right or they would mess something up and that something would end up being something of mine. For all my complaining it is worth me doing the laundry. So tonight its laundry and packing for tomorrow. Then I have to get up with the chickens in the morning and get my oil changed, gas up the truck, go get drinks to fill the cooler and get snack type food for the road. And make sure I have plenty of yarn to keep me busy this weekend after games. We are going to do some sight seeing and maybe find a yarn shop if there is one around.

On another note, I bought the cutest cable sweater last night at JC Penney's. I sure with I could knit me one like this or some of the other ones that I saw. I have been looking at the different stitches and cabling trying to figure it out. I know it can be done but don't know if I'm able to do it or not. I might just try.

Better today

I'm better today, still a bit on the queasy side but better. I have come to the conclusion that I will live from what ever malady hit my stomach regions yesterday. Thanks again for all the well wishers I very much appreciate it.

One of my cats seem to think that my side of the bed on the pillow is a fabulous place to take a bath. Last evening I went into my room hoping to sit on the bed a crochet for a bit before anyone else in the house hollered for me to do something for them. Entering the room I immediately saw that it was apparent that I would not be getting on the bed at that particular moment. Scarlett was up on my pillow sitting on her butt with her back legs forward, here see for yourself:


It just isn't right I tell you. So I tell her to get down that I'm tired (yes I explained myself to my cat) and this is the look I get from her,

Looks at me like I can just wait.

The cat is crazy. I promise it about took an act of congress to get her off my side of the bed. Then she got mad and started pestering the dog who is scared of her. Miss Katie Scarlett is a fussy kitty cat but we love her anyway.

Thanks all you guys for the well wishes. I will be ok but getting thru today is been fun...not. I have been about frozen all day long. I couldn't turn the heat on because we have never lit the pilot in this house and I don't know how to do it. So I have sat here all day in socks I knitted out of thick wool (ugly but warm) my PJs and a jacket that came with some PJs I have. I kinda feel bad about not being at work only because I hate to push my work on someone else but sometimes you get sick.

Another one of those days....

I feel like crap. I stayed home from work today because my stomach decided to act a fool last night and this morning. The youngest is suffering from the same ailment. However, my gall bladder has been bothering the heck out of me. I haven't gone to a doctor about it yet and I know that I should but I haven't. It has been hurting me for about 2 weeks now and today is no different. I really hate feeling like this and I hate even more leaving work for others to do. That's not me. I have a desk full of work to do but I can't go in feeling like this. Heck I can't stay away from the potty room long enough. I know TMI for this morning.

I'm going to go get into bed and crochet today. Maybe I can get the baby blanket done or even most of the way done. That would be good. Then I can start on a baby hat and maybe a sweater if I can find one that I can do.

Of Blankets and Spiders

I know that was a really weird title but there is a reason, of sorts.
I'm making the beautiful baby blanket that Deneen created. I love it and it is so easy. Thanks Deneen. I will post a picture of it when I'm done I only hope I do it justice.

On to the other subject of spiders, we have a wonderful garden spider out the front door. She/He has spun a web across part of the flower bed. The kids and I have been watching her for the last week hoping to see her build her web and catch some dinner. I took a picture of the spider today for my youngest son thought it would be cool to take to school. His science teacher would appreciate it.

Long day

Today has been a long day for me. I took off a half day to take my daughter back to the doctor. She had been coughing for a couple of days before the tournament this past weekend and I had been treating the drip and the cough but by Sunday after the first game she had to be picked up and carried off the field. She got to where she couldn't breath and was getting dizzy. Monday morning I let her stay home from school because she was feeling so bad so my mom took her to the doctor for me. Well, I thought she just had bronchitis but noooo she has pneumonia. She hasn't felt any better and was just laying around not wanting to eat or anything else for that matter so today I decided that I was leaving early and taking her back. We get to the doctors office today and they refuse to see her because they say I owe (get this) $44.00 that the insurance didn't pay. I told them I couldn't pay that today but I would in two weeks so they told me they wouldn't see her. I asked them why they didn't tell my mom Monday and saw her anyway then told me to bring her back today for a recheck. They told me that they were sorry that no one told me that but they weren't seeing her. OK by this time my blood is boiling. I said to them, 'Are you telling me that 44.00 is more important than the health of a child and you won't see her because the insurance wouldn't pay for a wrist splint?' They told me yes. So I told them OK, since the doctor told me to bring her back today if she became more ill and ended up in the hospital or worse I would be hiring an attorney and suing the office for hospital bills and what the insurance wouldn't pay. I left at this point before I absolutely lost it. By the time I get home the office is calling me back to bring her back in to be checked. Jeez, I had to get mad, get my blood pressure up just to get my daughter seen. They took another x-ray today and there is no change matter of fact they said she sounded worse. She will bounce back soon but she is missing a bunch of school.

I had started working on a sweater but I got a call from a friend last night asking me to make a baby blanket for her daughter. I guess I can do both but it won't take me long to make a blanket. Might add a little hat and sweater if possible.

Monday's

I swear if I could have stayed in bed this morning I would have. This weekend has worn me out with all the soccer that was played. Now mind you my fat tail didn't play any soccer but I did take a butt load of pictures from the side line and I expended a bunch on energy on hollering at the girls to get with it. Outside of that, getting up before the dogs do is just to much for me. I was so tired by the time I got into the bed last night that I fell right out. Plus I'm getting all stuffy thanks to my coughing daughter. Oh well I guess that's the way the ball bounces.
My eldest was so good to me while we were gone all weekend, he did all do you hear me ALL the laundry, vacuumed, did dishes and took care of the dogs. I was so thankful that I didn't have to do all that. I didn't get the bathrooms cleaned but I'm going to get that done this evening.

On a good note, I was able to finish the socks I was making. I wasn't able to take a picture to post because as soon as I finished them my daughter took them and put them on her cold feet. She is going to love them. Maybe she will let me photograph her feet wearing them.
I'm going to start a sweater. Wish me luck because boy I'm going to need it. I found a pattern that didn't look to hard to do and I think I have enough yarn to actually make this one. The one I want to make is going to cost me an arm and a leg to make, right now I just don't have the money to buy the yarn to make it. I haven't gotten to buy yarn in a couple of months. And I'm beginning to have withdrawals. Our local Michael's is having a yarn sale and everything is marked down a bit but still I can't get what I want. They have it but I just can't. I keep entering the months drawing at Knit Picks hoping to win one day. I'm not that lucky and I'm sure that 15 million others are entering too. Maybe for Christmas some nice relative will look upon me with pity and give me a gift certificate to buy the yarn I want. LOL.

Soccer filled day

Today was nothing but soccer. From 7:30 this morning to about 2:00 this afternoon we played soccer. We didn't win either game but they played hard. The team has a ways to go to get to the level of some of the other teams. Anyway I'm to tried to write to much so I'm going to go but here is a picture of them playing well its my daughter stopping a ball.

Felted purse

I have been meaning to post the pictures of the purse I knitted a few months back. It turned out pretty good but after I felted it, it shrunk unmercifully. I could not believe it shrunk so much. But anyway here are a couple of pictures of it:

Busy, Busy

I'm going to be beyond busy this weekend and I'm not looking forward to it at all. Lets see....Tonight my family and I are going to my MIL' s birthday party. She orchestrated this entire event and it looks to be a bunch of fun. Then tomorrow morning Tori and I have to be up before the rooster crows to be on the soccer field in Memphis at 7:30am. My mother will be taking the youngest to his soccer game in Mississippi at 8:30 then she and he will be meeting me at the Memphis field after his game. Tori plays again at 12:45 then I will leave with the youngest to back to Mississippi for him to play another game at 3:00pm. We will make it home somewhere around 5:00 that evening. But wait folks that's not all... Sunday again we have to get up before the rooster crows and this time be on the field at 7:00am in Memphis then she plays again I think at 3:00. It's nothing but soccer this weekend. I love going to the games but I hate when they are back to back like this. Sundays are not to bad at least the girls can get a bit of rest in between. Fortunately we only have one more tournament this month in Vicksburg then no more soccer this season till Spring. I really could use the break. Tori is going to be lost without it because that's all she does besides school.

Braces no Braces

My daughter saw my new blog tonight and asked me why her picture wasn't on here. So instead of just showing her I thought I would show the difference between the brace and no brace. She just got them off about 2 weeks ago and is very proud.

Socks

I took a picture of the socks that I have in the works. I think they are funny looking but hey I made socks. This is the second pair I have made using this pattern and I think I'm about ready to move on to a new pattern. I want to learn how to do cables, for sweaters and socks. I found a pattern for a scarf that is in cables and it says that its the fun way to learn how to cable. Well we will see. I can see me getting frustrated with all that fun. Once I get the hang of it, it will all be OK but until then.. I like making socks. Especially these wool socks. They are so warm. You know

.now that I look at these socks they looks different from each other. I made them from the same pattern and followed it the same and look at the difference. Strange if you ask me. One looks like an elephant sock and the other looks well.... normal.

I have made up my mind and I'm going to start a sweater next. I'm going to conquer my fears and just dive head first into it. Well, maybe not my head you have to be careful of the needles they can be sharp. As the little engine said, I think I can , I think I can, I think I can. I will post pictures as I go. Woowoo!!

Wow its been a bit since I posted last. I'm a bad girl for not keeping up with this but I'm not to sure anyone reads it anyway. Well I know my mom does, HEY MOM!!!!! My house is so busy right now. Tori is playing competitive soccer and practices 2 evenings and 2 afternoons a week plus the tournaments that come up. For instance she has a tournament this weekend and one in 2 weeks out of town. Cody plays football so there is football practice everyday after school and he plays Jr. varsity and varsity so he has games on Monday and Friday nights. And last but not least Shelby plays rec soccer so there is 2 practices a week plus game on Saturdays except for this Saturday he has 2 games. My daughter plays in the forward position and my son plays goalie or as I call him 'The Keeper' sounds good anyway.

Mom this picture is for you. There is your boy.

The only time I have to knit anymore is either at the practices or before I go to bed. I don't get much done which is driving me nuts. I have been working on this same pair of socks for a couple of months. I should have been finished a long time ago. They are so cute and turned out a bunch better than the first ones I ever tried to make. I think for my next project I'm going to attempt to make this sweater . I have never made a sweater before and I know this one is probably way above my head but the pattern itself after reading thru it doesn't seem as hard as it looks. So, I'm going to give it a shot.

On the crocheting front, I haven't had time to ever begin to work on the sweater I was going to attempt. Right now I'm stuck on knitting. You know just not enough time in the day for a working working mom.

Buon appetito!!! Gratzie!!!

I cooked tonight! Haven't really cooked in a long time. We are usually so busy that I don't have the time to actually cook something that is this time extensive. I found a Italian recipe that I had to try and oh my it is soooo delicious. The 11 year old loved it and ate about half of it I think.

It is called Chicken with roasted tomato's and olives and this will become one of my favorite recipes. You can see the wine I love to drink a really good Merlot that is also imported from Italy. As you can see I have a thing for Italy, one of these days I will get to travel there. We are actually looking at possibly going in 2008 with Gary's niece and her husband. I don't know if I could contain myself if that were to come true.

Well, it is late and I want to go knit some before I have to go pick up my son from the school. His football team played at Ole Miss today for the kick off to the football season here.

Ciao!

A Rose is a Rose

This is a rose off of my 'Blue Girl' rose bush. I thought that I had lost her when we moved the bush from the old house. She lost all her leaves and really looked dead but I couldn't have been more wrong. She is now covered in new leaves with buds coming out all over. I couldn't help but share.

New Toy

I got a new toy. I finally broke down and bought myself a decent digital camera. There was really nothing wrong with my old camera except that it had out lived its time and I wanted to be able to take it with me in my purse instead of carrying around a suitcase every time I wanted to take pictures. So, I splurged and bought myself a Nikon CoolPics P4. For me and what I do this is great. I also bought myself a Nikon N65 SLR also. Don't know what got in to me but I have always wanted a more professional camera. Here are a couple of pictures I took with the new digital of course they are of two of our dogs, Indigo and Dakota. I got on the floor with them to take pictures on their level. Dakota has a place under his eye where one of the cats smacked him and it has caused a skin tag of sorts. Weird!! The vet doesn't seem to think its anything worth worrying over. I can't wait to try out the SLR on the kids and see the cool things I can do with it. I love taking pictures and have always wanted to be better at it. I work with a girl who is really good at it and I wish she would use the talent. She says she is going to teach me!!!
WooHoo!!

On the knitting and crochet front, I'm working on 3 different projects. I'm knitting a pink and black purse for the daughter of a girl that works here. She saw the last one I made for my daughter and wanted on for herself. Her favorite colors were pink and black so that's what I picked out for her. I'm using Lamb's Pride worsted in RPM Pink and Black. On my hooks I have a shrug and a tank top I'm working on. When I finish I will post pictures of those later.

Mom Help!

Sunday after the truck was towed over to the house, Cody was out working on it. I say working because the poor boy doesn't know anything about cars and when I mean nothing I mean absolutely nothing. I took him to buy a manual for that model vehicle so he could get an idea on how it works. It won't take him long to figure it out. Anyway, the door handles on the inside wont open the truck so he has to roll the windows down to open the doors. I'm in the house cooking dinner, fried chicken, broccoli rice Au gratin, spinach, with biscuits with gravy, and my cell phone rings. Its Cody calling from the back yard. I say hello and he is yelling in the phone Mom help me! I'm thinking oh good grief the truck has fallen on him or hes got him hand caught. So I go out the back door quickly kinda of worried and what do I see:

















The dogs have climbed in the truck and he can't get them out. I am laughing so hard at this point that I can't get them out. They thought they were going to go for a ride. Poor babies. I finally got them out for him and made them come in the house but now they think the truck is theirs.

Well its Monday morning already, dang the weekends fly by. Things just start to get interesting and *poof* it's time to go to work again. Oh how I wish I didn't have to work, just imagine all the stuff I could do. I tell you, I really would like to hang out with my mom a lot more than I get to. I really enjoy being around her and talking, we still argue but that's never going to end. And I would love to be home with my kids. Boy could I get some knitting and crocheting done. It's all wishful thinking but I still day dream about it. I don't mind working and I love getting a paycheck but I would love to be able to work at home.

More Pictures of the House

OK as promised here are a few more.

Like I said there is a lot to be done but you know we have the rest of our lives to do it. I have a couple of pieces of furniture that I plan to re finish in the fall and spring to match the rest of what I have, the stuff I'm going to keep that is. I have several antique pieces that need to find the right place in the house. For instance, I have a very old china cabinet but I do not have a space in the eat in kitchen to put it so it is going to have to go in the living area. So, I'm looking for the right place to put it. The Gary has a 100 year old trunk that was his grandfathers, we are not real sure where to put it. We used to use it as a coffee table but now we are using for the t.v. stand. Anyway you guys get the point. Anyway I'm looking forward to getting it all together I'm just not going to kill myself doing it. Besides I'm really looking forward to cooler weather so I can work in my flower beds and start my gardens in the back.

New House Pictures

Here are a few pictures of our new house. From the inside out its a nice house. Please excuse the pictures and such sitting in boxes and on the floor I haven't been able to buy a new entertainment center yet so I'm not sure this is where everything is staying and we are going to get new furniture in the next few months because what we have is about ugly and I think I would rather sit on the floor but the rest of the family won't let me get rid of it yet until we have something new. It will happen but probably not till after Christmas. We have other priorities to pay before we can add on another bill somewhere. Anyway here it is:































This is the outside and the living room I will post more of the rest of the house in a few.

Oh No!!!!!

Oh no....... it can not be time already for the eldest to be able to drive!! Cody is 15 and has bought and paid for his own truck. He actually bought it from a neighbor about 3 months ago but we couldn't get it moved because the fuel pump needs to be replaced. Finally today Cody and some of his friends got the truck moved to our house. He has to get some stuff fixed on it and get the tags and finally get his insurance before he starts to drive. I'm so proud of him he worked and paid for this truck all on his own. He is so giddy right now I don't know if any of us can bring him down of his cloud. I remember my first car, a 1977 Camero. Of course I didn't work to pay for it my parents bought it for me. I loved that car and was always working on it. I had friends that were mechanics and we always were doing something to my car or someone Else's car. It was cheaper that way. I couldn't work on a car now for nothing, however I do still know some of the basic stuff and am trying to teach Cody some stuff. Hehe like hes going to listen to me, mom doesn't know anything right now, LOL.

On the crochet and knit front, I have started my first graph gahn and its going ok for the first one but I'm not sure it is right but its the first. The back is looking a bit like when I do cross stitch but I'm not sure how else it could look. I suppose I will figure it out. I think it looks rather cool except for the back of it.

It's longer than what I took the picture of. I hope it turns out because it is for my youngest child, he has a thing for Elvis.

Very Interesting..

Today was an interesting day. I didn't go to court today my co-worker did because she needs to learn the ropes in the court room. Besides I needed a break from it for a change. It was nice to be in the office alone without all the lies. I do not want to stay in the office and will always go on Tuesdays to court, I love Tuesday court. I was suppose to go to the doctor tomorrow for a nerve conductor test but they called and canceled it till next Wednesday. Probably for the better because my co-worker will be out and there is a lot of work to do.

Soccer practice went well. The girls are getting much better and we were told tonight that colleges will begin looking at these girls soon. Yes I know they are still only like 13 - 15 I think but now is the time for the coachs from the colleges start letting them know what they are looking for in players.

The booga bag I'm working on is coming along well. Probably wont be finished for a couple of weeks simply because I don't have a lot of time to work on it. Maybe this weekend it will rain and I can sit in the house and knit.

The Joys of .......

I am back to knitting. I have begun another booga bag for my daughter and it is looking rather good if you ask me. I am enjoying being back at my craft and relieving some of that pent up stress I have going on. I'm dying to buy more yarn, not that I don't have an entire closet devoted to storing all my wonderful yarn. I have several of those extra large ziploc bags full of yarn then I have a plastic storage thing that has 3 drawers and on wheels that is full of yarn. That is for my cotton and wool yarns the bags are all the acrylic that I have accumulated over the years. Anyway back to the dying to buy more wool thing I'm going thru. I can't right now buy anything. All the bills are coming in that are the transferred amounts from the old house (utility and cable that is) and the new bills for the new house. Let me tell you, two of these are astronomical so I am unable to spend anything at the moment. I have been perusing KnitPicks for the last two days dreaming of new yarn and what I could be doing with new yarn. I want to make socks. I have sock yarn but I want MORE sock yarn. Sad but true!!! I know that in a few years I will be able to buy yarn again ( that was a joke only a few months but seems like years).

Boy its hot!!

Good grief its hot!! It is 99 degrees here right now with a heat index of 101. Tomorrow the temp is suppose to be 101 who knows what the heat index is going to be. I hate the heat, it is to hot to do anything. I will be so glad when some cooler temps come around.

I haven't written in so long, well since we bought the house and got moved in to it. But outside of moving into the new house and cleaning the old house and going to work, nothing really has gone on. I hadn't been able to do much knitting or crocheting because of my hands. They are getting worse all the time. I'm going to have a nerve conductor test done on Friday for my hands to see if it is the carpal tunnel then I get to make the decision to have the surgery or not. Also, because I have rheumatoid arthritis and it is starting to flair and really hurt my hands I have to go to a rheumatologist (I know I spelled it wrong) in September. I don't really know what a rheu.... whatever it is, does or what he is going to do to me but I sure hope it helps my hands. I would really like to be able to crochet and knit again like I did. I miss it. This all started with me going to the doctor about my huge swollen feet. My co workers ganged up on me and made me go to the doctor. I told them that it wasn't nothing that loosing some weight wouldn't take care of but no they thought it was something else. Ok so I went. I do not have diabetes, my heart is fine, my kidneys are fuctioning just the way they should, my liver is fine and all my blood work is fine except for I have rheumatoid arthritis and the conective tissues and joints are inflammed and hurt like hell. After I quit smoking I gained about 50 lbs give or take some. I hate it and I have been trying to get it off but nothing is working because I'm not exercising. I am running up and down the stairs but outside of that not much else. I'm not lazy I'm tired and its to dang hot to do anything outside. Gary and I are going to start walking in the evenings when it starts to cool off some. And I will be going back to working in my flower beds when it cools off. Whatever it takes. I wish we had access to a pool I would swim laps. I love to swim I think thats my favorite form of exercise.

Its up to 100 degrees again with a heat index of 105. Geez its hot.


Carol L.
The Mississippi Hooker

Hmmmm....Just say the word....

Deneen had this great idea to use one word to describe her then ask us copy and paste her request to our blogs.

Friday, June 16, 2006

One Word is All I Ask
Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me--it can only be one word long. Then copy and paste this into your blog so I may leave a comment about you.This is not so much about fishing for compliments as it is an exercise showing how hard it is to use just one word to describe someone! When I try, I keep thinking up phrases or at the least, two words. Give it a try & I'll do the same for you if you're so inclined. :)

It's to hot outside for a Husky

As opposed to it being "To Hard out there for a Pimp", LOL. Ok well it was suppose to be funny. Drum roll please................We bought a house!! We closed last Thursday and I began moving us in last weekend. We love our new house and we have more room than we have ever had in our lives. I still haven't unpacked everything and am really sick of seeing all the stuff to be honest. I am really weeding a lot out because I don't want all the junk around and I know in a couple of years I will have more junk. As I said this house is huge compared to what we are use to. The house we were renting was about 1100 sq ft and this one is about 1740 sq feet. It is two stories. The kids rooms are upstairs, they have a full bath and there are three huge cloests in my oldest sons room 2 I use for storage. The linen closet is upstairs also. Down stairs is the large living room with a gas fireplace, behind the living room is the eat in kitchen. There is a large bay window where the table is. The kitchen has one large pantry and one large coat closet. Between the closets is a hallway that has a half bath then further down the hall is the masterbedroom. The master bed room is HUGE. The bath "suite" has a double vanity, a toliet closet and a jacuzzi bath. Also the massive walk in closet is in there also. Back to the kitchen if you go to your left after leaving the master bedroom there is a mud room then out the door to the garage with automatic door. The back yard is fully fenced and it boast a very large storage building. The dogs love being able to go out without the lead. They are so funny to watch playing in the morning, jumping and running all over the back yard. They have never been able to do with before. However, they do not like the heat. Husky's and heat do not mix. Dakota who is the largest and the oldest just wants to go potty and come back in. He could care less about staying out there any longer than he has too. London and Indigo love it. The romp and run and have the best time. They really surprized me they come back in when I call them to come in. I'm just so proud!!! I am so proud of our new home and the eldest finally has his own room!! Whoo hoo!!

I haven't done much in the way of crocheting and knitting latley. I have tried but I have been so dang tired from all the moving and such. It's been rather hectic and soccer will be starting again soon. Tori is trying out for the competitive team this evening and hopefully she will make it. That could lead to a scholarship to college for her. She loves soccer and I hope for her that she will make it. Speaking of soccer Saturday the USA team is playing Italy in one of the World Cup matches. I intend on parking my large rear end on the carpet with my daughter and the dogs to watch the match. After that I'm going outside and pull up bushes and work on a flower beds. I can't wait. One of the only things I miss about my old house is my beautiful flower beds. I really miss them. I am going to be digging up some of my plants and flowers and moving them to the new house. I hope they will live and not go into to complete shock and die. I have to go and buy dirt because the dirt that is at this house sucks. It's going to be so much fun!!

Three words I longed to hear

Whoo Hoo Yipee!!! I finally heard the words that I have always wanted to hear!!! You are approved!!!! Not only approved but preapproved!! WhooHoo!!! We are going to buy a house. The very first time for both of us!! We have started looking and think we have found what we want, and we are going to look at it Thursday. We live in an 1100 sq ft house and the one we are looking to move into is 1592 sq foot. Plus lots of floored attic space and a storage building in the back yard. The yard is landscaped and has a garden swing and the most important thing is the back yard is fenced in and the dogs can go out back during the day. Whoo Hoo Yipee!!! We have worked so hard to get to this point were we can own and not rent any more. It's taken 6 years to get our credit cleaned up and get things back in order since all the loss of jobs and what not. Did I mention WhooHoo Yipee!!!! Oh yea I suppose that I did. I am trying very hard to keep it real and know that we should look at more than one. But, well here look for yourself

*The link that I had put in here before won't work because I got word today that someone put a contract on the house. We are still going to put a back up offer on it just in case that the first one falls thru**

Wish us luck and those that pray, pray that all will go smoothly.

Thanks,
Carol L.
Mississippi Hooker

As the time flies on by

As I watched my daughter last night riding Tara, the horse, at her horseback riding lessons, I noticed that she is becoming a young woman. Yes I'm aware that she is only 13, but she was only 3 yesterday, right? Or so it seems. She has picked up riding the horses so well and it just surprises me to no end. She loves to lope and canter with the horses and Tara is just right for that. Tara is a 20 year old Arabian. She is a beautiful horse who even at 20 is still just as full of spirit. Tori was afraid of her the first few times because she is so full of herself but now she is the only one she wants to ride. The had a English saddle on Tara and was teaching Tori how to post. For the first time posting, Tori just about nailed it. But today she is sooo sore. Now she has ridden western and English. I can see her riding in shows before long. I guess we are going to have to look into investing in a horse for that. After her riding lesson, she had to go for practice with her band at church. She sings in a band on Sunday mornings for kids service. But this Wednesday she is singing as the lead singer in the big church. I can not get over how well she sings. Again, holy cow she is growing up. I have forgotten my camera everytime she has a lesson. I am going to make a concerted effort to remember the camera on Monday for her next lesson. My luck it will be raining and she won't be riding.

Back to growing up to fast. My eldest is going to be driving soon. He is 15 and I have purposely held off on him getting his permit because I didn't feel like he was mature enough to even learn to drive. I believe now that he is about ready, so I think next week on my birthday I'm going to take him to get the permit. He is working on the weekends and paying for a truck that my neighbor is selling. Granted it is not much but he is buying it and will be working when he turns 16 to pay for his insurance. Cody has come such a long way. Just 3 years ago I thought I was going to loose him. I'm so glad that I have him safe and happy.

Shelby is 10, soon to be 11. He is driving me nuts acting like a nut at school. He has been in trouble so many times at school that I'm ready to skin him alive. Friday he got wrote up and put in ALC plus lost his field trip and then got suspended off the bus for 3 days. I swear he's going to drive me to drinking. I had been telling him I was going to take him to get his hair cut. His hair grows like crazy and had become to long to deal with. However, he told me no he wasn't getting it cut (BIG mistake on his part) so on Friday when he came home with all these problems I sent him to the back yard told the oldest to go and get my clippers and shaved that boys head. I thought he was going to cry but instead he looked at me and said,"Wow this feels better". Ugggggg!! He is the sweetest boy ever, big heart, loves to be held and kissed on but dang if he don't drive me nuts. I'm really hoping that he is going to mature some over the summer.

They are just growing up to fast. It seems like yesterday that they were just little guys and I'm just getting older. My birthday is next week and I will be 41. I remember when Cody was born and I was only 25, gosh doesn't seem like that much time has passed.

Carol L
Mississippi Hooker

Oh Happy Day!!!

The day has finally come that I will be free of the person I work with forever. She has found another job and is moving on. I wish her well and hope that she will do well in her new job, so well in fact that she never looks back and wants to come back to this office ever again.
My boss has surprised me and is looking at my feelings as well as what is best for the office when hiring someone. We, all three of us, want someone in here that we all get along with and will actually do some work as opposed to playing or doing someone elses work. This office has not been the same since this woman got here but that is all going to change come tomorrow morning. It will be mine for the next two weeks at least. Yes it will be very busy and I will not have much time to do anything but answer the phone and work on dockets and such plus I'm fixing the office back the way I want it. I am senior clerk hear me roar!!!! The title doesn't mean much at all except that I get the priviledge of training the new girl on day to day operations. Oh Happy Day!! I never thought this day would come!!!

On to some knitting or crocheting, I haven't done to much in the way of either. I did finish the scarf for the swap but I haven't shipped it primarly because its been rainy and I didn't want to go to the Post Office. I want to knit a bowl. A bowl to hold more yarn. Oh and speaking of yarn I am dying do you hear me o' husband of mine, I'm dying to buy some yarn. I haven't been able to buy yarn for awhile now and I'm suffering from withdrawels. If you love me you will help me out with this one. Your proceeds this weekend from your guns should really be turned over to me so that I can feed my need. You know my dear one that I have a yarn monkey on my back and there is no cure for the disease I have. Only to buy more yarn will give me my fix. That was a bit corny started sounding like a song for a second there. Hehe a song about being a yarn junkie!! Really I'm a yarn whore, Hey baby want a sock for that foot?? LOL. I think thats what I will be doing this evening I think I will knit. It's a thunderus night some good ole knitting just might do the trick.

See ya'll later
Carol L.
Mississippi Hooker

Foodie Friday

Carol's Chilli

2lbs ground beef
2 large green peppers, diced
2 large yellow onions, diced

1 can diced tomatos, drained

2 cans tomato paste

2 cans tomato sauce (if needed)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1 large pkg of red kidney beans, soaked and cooked
or you can use Bush's Chillie Hot Beans (for my family I use about 4 large cans)
chilli powder
cumin
pinch cayenne pepper


Brown ground beef, drain. Put ground beef back on heat and add the chilli pepper, cumin, and cayenne mix well. (I do not know how much of these I use and I think there is one other spice but I'm at work and will have to look when I get home, but I will add it.) In small saute pan, heat olive oil saute peppers, onions and garlic until soft. Add vegetables to the meat and mix together. Add the cans or cooked beans and mix together. I usually add more spices until I get it the way my family likes it. I also usually fix a pan of cornbread to go with the chilli. Think I might make chilli this evening its a damp rainy day that might be good for a change.

Mississipi Hooker
Carol L.