Wordless Wednesday

Gratitude List~~~ Week 3

We've had such a busy week here that it's nice to finally have a chance to sit down this evening, and to get to spend it on thinking of the blessings we've had I might have overlooked or not appreciated as I should have.

1. This lovely fall weather we are having that is giving us extra time to enjoy the outdoors without being totally bundled up.

2. A wonderful online community of people who inspire me to follow my dreams...and to dream new dreams I never thought of that fit in perfectly with what I wish for our lives to be.

3. A "little" girl snuggling under my arm as I type, LOL

4.Good friends who we spent some time with this weekend, enjoying conversation and a good movie.

5. Having a clean house "left over" from having cleaned it to have friends over..made for a very relaxing day today in a house that was a pleasure to wander around in.

6. A terrific day on Saturday for the guys to have their firefighter games, in which we took 2nd place, coming in one second behind the first place time in a tie-breaker.

7. My favorite books on the bookshelf in my room that are handy to pick up and read thru when I do have a few free moments to sit and read.

8. Hubby having a weekday off so that we were able to run up to the school and eat lunch with our little girl, who was tickled to death to have us there.

9. A wonderful hubby who shows his love for me each and every day, and every day I learn more and more how lucky and blessed I was to find him when I did.

10. All of the knowledge I've been working on gleaning about herbs and all the amazing things they can do.

Hoping everyone has had a wonderful past week and an even better week ahead!

Wordless Wednesday

Gratitude List ~Week 2~

1. Terrific Summer memories now that fall is here!

2. A wonderful Halloween weekend with family and friends.

3. The fact that I made tonight's dinner yesterday so I can relax and enjoy my guy when he gets home from work.

4. An extra hour today to enjoy.

5. A woodstove set and ready to lite for the evening for warmth and pleasure.

6. A nice purring cat wandering thru the house.

7. My girls relaxing and watching movies with me in the living room.

8. My guys work schedule that gives us 3 days a week together instead of 2!

9. My oldest son doing great at GJC and getting ready to join the Navy.

10. DSL, hehehe

A good haul

Happy Halloween Everyone...Hope you all had a safe and wonderful time no matter how you chose to spend this day! Pixie Stick got dressed up and raided the Trick or Trucks at the area churches.

An Update...of sorts

THAT CAT, that one of the boy's friends saved from death (the boy actually shelled out his hard earned money to buy it, though he knew he couldn't keep it) and brought over to us to beg to keep has officially started to earn its keep!! Her name is Saban..I refused to call her by her name until she earned her keep, though she really is a fairly loving cat. She basically lives in my bathroom cabinets and doesn't want to come out unless SHE wants to come out. And on that note, don't you just LOVE the lovely little spot she has decided to claim as her own...a basin from the hospital that's been, for some reason, sitting in there since they removed my "oven" 2 years ago...at least it finally came in handy for something.

Anyway, as I mentioned, I had a mouse (mice) issue the other day while cleaning the floor. Well, apparently Saban went stalking the house while we were asleep last night. This morning I'm sitting all cozy in the living room with computer in hand, happily reading blogs when I hear one of the girls start getting up...then I hear this really strange sound that can only be made by a 14 year old teenage girl in complete disgust mode... "ohhhhhhhhhhewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww". So, of course, being the great mom I am, I bellow thru the house asking what in the world is grossing her out this time. Right in the middle of the back living room lies a little dead mouse.....

Only took her an hour to realize she should have grabbed a paper towel and got the little nasty up before the little 9 year old came trooping through, sigh.

A Wonderful Give-Away!!

Oh I love it, being the southern gal I am!!! You need to stroll on over and see CrossView's lovely Down a Red Dirt Lanes blog and entire to win an awesome Redneck Romance package... I promise it will give you a good giggle and a serious desire for some "down home" food, Southern style!!

Cute giveaway

over at Prairie Flowers Farm..



You should pop over there and check it out...she is so talented!!

Late Wordless Wednesday (since i was gone all evening)

Losing myself..

in blogs, that is..LOL

I really really meant to post, but I've been reading and reading and reading some more, hehe. First I got lost over here at Maple Valley and loved reading about their lifestyle because it is similar to what we want to do at some point in the future. Then, Tuesday morning, I wandered over to Like Mother, Like Daughter and have been lost there for the last two days LOL...I want Leila to be my mom and be a sister to that wonderful pack of hers! ;~)

Since I'm still fairly new to blogger, even though I posted once or twice a year, I never really looked around and found all the amazing women that are out there sharing about their lives. I had been thinking for a week now about writing up a post pondering on thoughts I have about the book Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, since I've been re-reading it. That kind of friendship has been a lack all my life. I had friends in school, of course...but never that kind of a connection. Despite growing up in a small town (moving to a large town in high school) I never found people who I "clicked" with..certainly not like that. All of my adult life has revolved around my kids and my husband, whom I couldn't imagine being without...but it took me a long while now to realize "something" was missing. In general, as I've mentioned before, I like people...on my terms...and yet I feel this lack of sharing with other like-minded WOMEN (anyone know what I mean??).My guy Eric is the best friend I could ever have, but, as a man, he doesn't always "get" the things that excite or interest me.

Well, some people might not consider having online friends as "real" friends...but they don't know what they are missing!! To me, it has the best of both worlds. I'm not lucky enough to have the advantage of people I feel I click with around me locally. I have a bad habit of going into what the family calls "hermit-mode" and don't really want to leave the house for any kind of social thing for weeks/months at a time. Not exactly conductive for the traditional types of friendships, as most people tend to get offended if you don't go hang out with them once a week and such. Me, however, am always up for a chat online, on the phone, whatever...I get to be HOME to do it! Even the better if it is with people who I have something in common with and share interests with. I'm looking forward to perhaps connecting with some of the awesome women I've been finding daily here and discovering what we might be able to bring to each other's lives. (you should really see my blogroll..and I've only been at it a few weeks now, hehe)

Isn't it terrific to stumble across the very thing you have been looking for! One of life's many small and big blessings!

Why I now HATE Mop-n-Glo and other unpleasant discoveries..

Why oh why did noone ever tell me that gook builds up on your floor..and that if you happen to notice that your 9 year old child dropped waffle batter on the floor and let it dry and you try to scrub it up that it will "roll" off in big globby grey pieces...oh ICK. So, what does that leave a gal to do but have to get down on her hands and knees with a bucket of soapy degreasing water with a brillo pad to try to get it off. You might think,hhmmm, just mop over it..but then, could you bring yourself to walk across the floor knowing there is this layer of grey ick just hiding on the floor (that is NOW noticiable because you just had to scrub up that dried batter) and maybe THAT is the reason the floor constantly looks so dull???

THEN, as the proverbial icing on the cake, you keep noticing this strange little squeeky noise whist you are down on the aforementioned hands and knees that suddenly keeps escalating into some sort of frenzy...and then it hits you...there is a MOUSE trapped in the inner workings of your chest freezer that is a few scant feet away from you..

ACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

Only then does it hit you that the reason for the strange sounding frenzy is because there is not one..but AT LEAST TWO...little furry critters apparently fighting over something in the guts of your freezer

At this point in time, and even though your spouse is a firefighter, you seriously start considering burning down the house...cause it will most definately fix both the mouse and the gook problem.

So, here I am, scrubbing the floor 5 minutes at a time..while stopping to do the billion other things that we stay at home moms get to deal with on a daily basis..and I freely admit that I yanked the freezer away from the wall and duct taped the entry point shut so hubby can deal with the mouse when he gets home and I can scrub the floor without worrying about a mouse scurrying across my knuckles (insert a mad crazy laugh here LOL)

A beautiful widget

Romantic Snow Globes by WiddlyTinks.com

Gratitude List~ My first week

In my quest to help myself reach my goals, I'm going to follow the lead of several ladies whos blogs I adore and keep a weekly gratitude list. Here are mine for this week....

1. The fire burning in the woodstove.

2. My hubby starting the 2nd week on his new job.

3. The scent of the pot of coffee I just brewed.

4. My little girl curled up on the couch watching Mickey and Co.

5. God for taking care of us even when I haven't been the best in showing that I trusted Him to do that very thing.

6. My 3 chicken ladies running around the yard providing all kinds of entertainment.

7. Having had our 11th anniversary this past week and knowing that I love him more every single day.

8. The oil lamps that are filled and will be giving off beautiful light and warmth this evening when my guy gets home.

9. Sunday phone calls from loved ones who live far away.

10. That large garden tub that will be filled with hot water and bubble bath this afternoon ;~)

Thoughts of today

I was sitting here today pondering over what to write, aside from posting some pics of the fun costume party we went to last night. We have alot of stress on our plate these days on the financial front and it's been dragging me down a bit. I didn't want a depressing post at all, so I decided it might be better for me to just wander in space and read some other blogs instead. The first one I come across and read is from Tracy In The Pines , who, it turns out, is facing alot of the same things I am. Her post was an awesome reminder of what my job, as the mom in residence here, is all about. I am a worrywart, I know this and accept this (to some degree, LOL). I know in my heart that God will provide our needs but that never seems to stop me from worrying and stressing over difficult situations. Apparently I am such an obvious worrier (is that a word?) that my children had once bought me a button to put on my purse that states "I worry, therefore I am"...sigh...that's probably not a good thing. Seems I have alot of things I need to be working on...hmmm, that might make a good list for "to do" for 2010, hehehe. Seriously though, I really want to change this. I know when I look back with that wonderful 20/20 hindsight that we are all blessed with, I notice that all those things that I have worried and stressed over in the past worked themselves out just fine and that not one single ounce of my worry made a single bit of difference. So, how do I change a 38 year habit, because that is what it is...a habit! I think I've made the first step in acknowledging it and wanting to change it. I know what I want, I know what my God given role in this house is...I imagine my next step is to make a concious effort to stop myself when I feel the worry/stress creep up on me...to go about my task of creating a peaceful and restful home for my family in positive and meanful steps (hmm, that kind falls in line with my other goal of stopping living for when we get to build our "real" house and focus on the home we have now...ponder ponder ponder). It's time to stop focusing on worrying about that ugly electric bill with the cut off date this week and start focusing on being aware of the blessings in my life and showering my family with love, peace, simple abundance of the blessings we do have and a cozy warm and welcoming home. It's time for me to visibly SHOW that I trust in God to take care of our needs and that I understand His clear directive of what I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to be doing, instead of just "knowing it" and continuing to worry my life away anyway.
And on a side note..I finally learned out to link other sites in my posts WOOHOO, hehehehe...a small blessing I am tickled to death over!

Halloween Party

Getting ready to head out..

They did an awesome job at the party...I'll try to get some of the pictures posted tomorrow!

Hoping everyone had a wonderful evening!

A little meme

That I picked up from Stars In Her Fingernails blog..


1. Where is your mobile phone? haven't used it in months
2. Your hair? is finally getting long enough
3. Your mother? probably at work
4. Your father? 5 hours away in the woods (he's a Forest Ranger)
5. Your favourite food? shrimp
6. Your dream last night? Active and vivid
7. Your favourite drink? Tea.
8. Your dream/goal? build our dream strawbale house
9. What room are you in? Living room next to the woodstove
10. Your hobby? Reading.
11. Your fear? Wasps and losing a loved one
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? in the strawbale house with my guy
13. Where were you last night? at the softball field
14. Something that you aren’t? curvy
15. Muffins? blueberry and blackberry!
16. Wish list item? a soapstone woodstove
17. Where did you grow up? backwoods Georgia
18. Last thing you did? Read a blog ;~)
19. What are you wearing? jeans and sweatshirt
20. Your TV? gets on my nerves
21. Your pet? are all outside, except the cat sleeping in the bathroom cabinet
22. Friends? are few but precious
23. Your life? is what I never knew I always dreamed of.
24. Your mood? relaxed until noon (the baby has to go to the dentist)
25. Missing someone? My guy
26. Vehicle? I got my car back finally
27. Something you’re not wearing? bra LOL
28. Your favorite store? Thrift store
29. Your favorite color? Blue and brown
30. When was the last time you laughed? yesterday
31. Last time you cried? yesterday
32. Your best friend? Eric
33. One place that you go to over and over? a nook in the trees
34. One person who emails you regularly? Mendy
35. Favorite place to eat? at Home!!

11 Years

Yesterday was my dear hubby's and my anniversary, which we will celebrate this weekend. Time flies so fast when you are having fun with the love of your life. On the one hand, 11 years seems like alot...and yet we both still feel a little shock that it has "only" been 11 years. It's hard at times to realize we both had so much "other life" before we met and married. I know, logically, that I had 27 years before I met him, but at times it seems so hard to recall a time I didn't know and love him! Just feels like we have always been there for each other...he was telling me last night that he swears it should be more like 20 years togeather, in a good way LOL. I'm looking forward to 11 more years..and 11 more, and 11 more..etc ;~)

Hope everyone else is having a wonderful week..and counting the big and small blessings that we have every single day!

I'm such a grandma's girl!!!

Weather changes

Fall has arrived here in Alabama...finally..it decided overnight to take a drop into cooler temps. There is that serious nip in the air that just invites a fire in the woodstove...which I get to pass on this morning since I'm getting ready to head out the door to our local "big city" area (a 30 minute drive) so that my oldest boy can be there for his final interview with Job Corp. My poor hubby has already gone out the door in a suit bound for Atlanta for a funeral for a distant relative, having to go the long way so he can stop in Rome for a drug test he has to take for a new job. He's so cute in a suit (hehe) and he just can't stand wearing them...and give me that 'look' cause I giggle at how cute he is tugging on the collar after he has gotten me to button him up...(what would he do without me, can't ever get that top button or the sleeves done himself). Some guys wear suits like second nature but I really prefer my guy looking a little uncomfy in his...and love him in his jeans and cowboy boots ;~)
Hope everyone is having a warm and wonderful day!!

Wordless Wednesday

Rainy days and the pantry

Ah, more rain falling here in the south...that pale grey drizzly stuff that makes the whole world seem to be hovering in mist. Seems like a perfect day to cozy up in a chair with a good book...but not me, of course! In my quest to turn things back to the path we want to follow, I pick today to be working on cleaning out and painting my pantry. Leaving the walls white and painting the shelves the strangest seafoam green, hehe...well, I had two colors of paint here besides white..and didn't want the pantry the same color as my bedroom...so seafoam green it is. Can't wait to see how it turns out ;~)

Simple things..

are always the most magical to kids. (taken at the Tennessee Aquarium in the butterfly garden).

Time for Change..again?

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who gets these "moods", for lack of a better word. I start off with the best of intentions to start making the changes needed to create the life we dream of living..and then get sidetracked by the daily ins and outs of life. Months (and on some occasions, years) later I will suddenly "wake up" and wonder "what in the world am I do???". THAT will be when this mood strikes to change back to our original intent. Eight years now we have lived here after our big escape from 'burbs of a big city life to the country we both adore...Hubby was raised in that big city and I was a small town gal who got moved to the city right in the middle of 10th grade. In raising 5 kids, it makes sense that some dreams get sidetracked along the way...but, on the flip side of that, it would seem that SOME progress would be made towards what we want. I know I had my total "hermit mode" flip out thing and we put the kids back in public school a year after we got here...probably the best thing for them at the time, but, in hindsight, probably not such a good idea. We "intended" to be in this mobile home for a max of 5 years as we built our strawbale home (complete with solar power, etc....)..and yet 8 years later we are still sitting here with not even a foundation ready for our house. We have a bad habit of dreaming "big" (funny to say big when our wishes are really so simple...a simple life and home) and then...what?? What happens to us to keep us from moving forward and attaining our dreams and goals? Sure, money is a big factor..but from hundreds of stories, articles and such I have read..it certainly doesn't stop other people that live paycheck to paycheck as we do. I admit, sometimes all the things I want to accomplish are so overwhelming that I just get bogged down and stressed and eventually "give up" and slide back into the "just existing" mode simply because I can't figure out even where to begin.
So, I'm ready to get out of the existing mode! I didn't intend to write such a depressing sounding blog...but it needed out. Sometimes just getting it written down works better than anything else in the world..it clears out the debris of the soul and provides a font for motivation (not to mention the fact that if you post it out there for EVERYBODY to see, you might want to back it up cause people will be looking to see if you slide back into the pit LOL)
Now, I'm asking myself "Where do I start"? In this house, in this moment! I know our dream house isn't going to appear overnight, but I do know we have to live in THIS house during that time. I've always love the phrase "Bloom where you are planted"...well, expecting it or not, I'm planted right here right now and I just need to care for this little plot (home) while I am in it..and, on the bright side, when that dream home becomes a reality, it is right here in my own yard ;~)...I mean, I keep my house (fairly) clean..but, to be honest, there isn't alot of outward signs of what we love adorning it. I've had, in those previous moods, done a bit here and there (painted bedrooms, living room and such)...but I haven't invested my heart into this house..mainly because I never liked it and always just saw it as a temp spot to rest our heads while pursuing the "REAL" dream....I'm amazed at how much sheer time I have lost while holding that thought in my head!
So, here is my thought...I'm going to invest my time in this house (with time, of course on the property, which will enhance it even when another home if finally built), using what I have or can get VERY cheaply or making, or..(you get the idea)...that will have me creating THIS home, since it is the one we have! While I will never be able to stop dreaming of what we want...I WILL stop making it my main focus and letting it cause me to sit in this waiting it out mode and start living for the moment now!
Hmm, I think I'm off my personal crisis now...time to go do something about it!

What dreams are holding you back from living in the present or causing you to keep putting things off because they aren't what you were waiting for/dreaming of?

Contest I ran across

I adore Ugg boots! Who wouldn't love to win a pair of these!

Today's ramblings...

Whew!! What a warm and humid day here in the southern half of the US. Guess I'm going to remember to NOT take the air conditioners out at the first of October simply because it is tempting fate to give us a whammy in the form of 80+ degree days with 100% humidity.

On the brighter side, it's been a deliciously lazy day of kicking back on the loveseat reading blogs (grin). As previously mentioned, I'm a tad late jumping on the blogger bandwagon, but I'm loving it very much. Mixed in with that is heart-deep happiness to find there are other women like me out there in the world...we basically hermit-type souls who do long for connection on our own terms... http://holisticmum.blogspot.com/ has a wonderful post today in regard to that hermit state of mind that inspired me with several comments so far that reveal that there are more of us out there! Not to say that I don't like people, I just like them in limited doses of my own choosing...which can make it difficult to maintain relationships sometimes.

And along those same lines, it's time for me to go get a bath to head out to one of my "limited time of my own choosing" friendships...it's just one of those days that I'm actually happy to get out and have dinner at a friends home and curl up on one of thier couches to watch movies...and a blessing, cause if it had not been one of those days for me, it wouldn't have caused any offense since they are a couple that are of the hermit-ty type homebodies that we are.

Wishing everyone a wonderful evening!

Stocked and Rambling

Well, the monthly grocery thing is done....and I now have a full freezer and pantry ready to make all kinds of yummies and comforts. Nothing feels quite as satisfying as the cabinets bulging and letting you know you can provide for the family. I have my $50 left over to pick up the occasional milk and such throughout the month, as needed...wonderful feeling!
At this moment I can smell the rich pot of Irish Stew (the hubby's fav) simmering on the stove. I would bake, but those brownies in there will cover dessert for tonight. That leaves me free to head out to the Hubby's double-header softball game tonight YEAH...girlies are on Fall Break, so we can go cheer our guy on.
Hopefully, even though I am rather late hopping on the "blogger bandwagon", I can figure this stuff out and get all the nifty doo-dads and pictures and such going on here. Maybe I can get some pointers from all these lovely ladies out here in bloggyland ;~)

Grocery shopping day

(note: liberal sarcasm sprinkled throughout)

Time for the monthly shopping trip, and since I procrastinated (of course)...here I am trying to tear thru cleaning out the frig and pantry (as I sit here typing on the computer LOL) and making a grocery list so I don't forget anything I need for the month. My dear hubby's solution was to make a list of 5 meals and just plan to make them 6 times, sigh....quite sure he didn't think of the boredom and sickness of eating the same 5 meals for an entire month! I really wonder how it is that I can think of 20 thousand meals during the month, but when it is time to sit and make a menu of healthy and economical dinnersI draw a total blank. One of the few things that makes me thankful it is hunting season though, potential for lots of meat in the freezer..which frees up money to buy other kinds of meat to expand the menu a bit!
But, on the other side, I would MUCH rather do this than have to go into the local Wallyworld every week and figure out what we need! Other than this bit of stress on the "day of..." trying to get organized, it is wonderfully freeing to have this all over and done with in one day as opposed to having to deal with it on a slightly smaller scale weekly....not to say I don't have to drop into a store to pick up more milk, bread or lettuce....but that is a heck of alot easier than plotting weekly how to survive the local chaos of Wallyworld.
So, guess it is time to get back to the world and get this list made!
Hope everyone is having a great day!!

Random things

I think I'm going stir crazy..no, honestly, seriously. Is there some genetic thing I am unaware of that when the spouse is home it is physically impossible to get anything done around the house?? Now, I really really do love having my guy at home....but when we have LLLLOOONNNGGG stretches between stucco jobs (we are going into week 6 here)...nothing, nada, zilch, zero..that is what I've gotten done around the house, sigh. A pig sty would be prettier than our house if he wasn't a volunteer firefighter as well...so, while he is out doing that work I buzz thru the house getting as much done as I can. I just cannot, and I mean CANNOT, just walk by him sitting in the living room (he always gives that sweet little puppy dog "will you pet me" loving look) and not just feel like I should be sitting there with him LOL