Long Long Time No Blog!

Oops, I ment to post response to Meredith's RAK with my professional blog, it's Cracker Scraps !

What does smart mean anyuway?

I must confess, this has been on my mind all night and it wasn't very nice to say!~ I guess I don't think that I am smarter than DH it's just that maybe I have a wee bit more common sense! He got home and sat at the counter crunching numbers for next years benefits package while I finished cooking supper. I just love it when we do this. We take turns cooking and the other one sits and talks to them.

I won't ever know if I could excel in physics or math because I have no desire to try! On the other hand DH worked at awful subjects like all of those weird organic/inorganic chemistry, and who knows what all. He is an excellent writer and I can take some lessons from him. I think my writing is about a 5th grade level, so no, I'm not smarter than a 5th grader!

I'm good at trivia, so I score points when I help him get some medical question right on his triva game and I'm pretty good at Bible questions too!

Everyone is different, I guess that's what makes life interesting. After hauling in a terribly heavy K & Company display rack from the garage, I planned to put the thing together. I must digress and wait for my man to get home and put it together for me. I feel certain that I could do it if I had the right tools and I were a little stronger BUT I can't find my hammer! For now, I'll not blame him for taking it and not putting it back as it is probably under the heap pile of stuff in my scrap room. Off to the shower, dress for the day and tackle this room. There's plenty for me to do without having that cabinet put together, although it would be more fun if I could organize it rather than just delegate items to a bin that will go in it once it's together!

Off to the shower!

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Alicia
Here are the rules which must be posted on your blog if you are tagged:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

My random things...



1. I took my first commercial airline flight alone with my little sister when I was in the sixth grade. I've been flying alone and with others ever since. It's one of my favorite things to do.

2. I wish Walt Disney had never built Disney World!

3. Being over 50 isn't bad at all!

4. I drive my car fast when my husband isn't in the car with me.

5. I was made in Germany.

6. I like my new friends better than my old friends.

7. Secretly I think that I am smarter than my husband even though he was valedictorian of his class and has a degree in engineering!~

I tag: Jennifer, Amy, Jana, Dana, Meredith, Bev because she needs to play this again, Denise, and You (because everyone should get to play!!!).

Wow, looks as if I have really neglected my blog! It's a good thing though! I've been spending much less time online and more time living life.In the past few months much has happened.

DD has graduated from nursing school and passed her boards. She is now an RN!

DS is living with his girlfriend and she is wearing a diamond ring. The date for their wedding is set for April 26, 2008. I'm also becoming a grandmother as future DIL has a sweet little 3 y/o.

Spent the month of October entertaining friends and attending CKU in Orlando. We went to the beach from there to enjoy a few more days!

I spent a lot of time in "therapy" trying to get out of this mess my life up to now has put my into. Learning how I got where I am. Also had marriage counseling with DH. We found that we really are on the same page but just needed a little professional help to get the conversation going properly. Things are better.

I've begun my Christmas shopping and have it mostly completed. Transitioned my scrap room back from the dining room to the little bed room so I can have formal dinners again. It's a good thing to see the family growing again. My DS and her family are actually coming for Christmas. They will stay next door with mom. I can only take so much!~ KWIM!

The wedding upcoming in April is bringing a secondary problem in that my DMIL will be coming to pay us a visit! After three weeks of togetherness with her in July of 2006, I have been up to my eyeballs with MIL! I'm so thankful she lives so far away. My SIL and BIL are also coming. They will be visiting their son at Patrick AFB where he is stationed. Then they will come over to join us for the wedding festivities! I plan to put them up in a nice hotel and call it good! Last time DMIL stayed at our house she slept on the living room sofa the whole time and would come into DH and my bedroom at night with a flashlight to use the bathroom. Geeze, I know she is antisex but DH certainly is not. What is she thinking?

Do you see how my mind and thoughts wander? That's how my brain is. My new BFF gets a kick out of it as I hop from one topic to the next! I'll try to do better about blogging. Maybe less time posting on the MB's and more time posting on the blog!

Love the way Alicia always ends with lights out! Can't really say that now. It's lights on for me! The only thing constructive that I have done today is to make my bed. That's progress! Off to the shower, dress, make chili for supper and the day is mine!

Dangit, just remembered I have to go talk to Maybell at 2:00 PM. Crap!

It's a New Day!

After practically an entire summer off I have decided to pick up my blog again and get rolling. The fact that my isp changed didn't help! But that's taken care of now.

Without spending literally hours of time doing so, perhaps I can update and make my blog a place you want to visit.

At risk of baring myself too much I am going to approach the subject that is heavy on my heart!

My weight! For quite a while I kept the same weight and although it wasn't as low as I would like it to be I had nice clothes and felt good about myself. When my father died I packed on 10 pounds which has turned into 25 pounds. Yes, some of it has to do with my medications but mostly it has to do with me! I just feel as if I can't address my weight along with all the other issues in my life!

Well, I am wrong! I am a packaged deal and it all works together. I have decided to try to Scrap the Fat!

This summer I have been swimming a lot. Haven't lost any weight but it makes my head so much more clear. It makes me happy to be in the sunshine as hot as it may be, I love the sun.

I got my heel spur treated in January before my trip out West and now on July 4 it started giving me fits again. I've gotten two more shots and am improving but I must be able to walk when the weather cools down a bit. I need to burn some calories.

I've really tried to control what is available to eat in the house and to eat healthy foods in proper portions.

I've been off Lunesta for more than a month and beside being able to sleep just as well and wake up easier in the AM I have stopped binge eating late at night. I never have been one to eat in the night but for some reason I would be so hungry on this medication that I would get up and just pig out! I've even woken up in the morning with a slice of bread and butter in the bed with me.

I didn't say this was going to be all pretty. I feel like I'm really putting myself out for ridicule in some way. I'm sure no one would ridicule me to my face and really doubt that my dear friends would discuss this amongst themselves except perhaps in a caring way.

I have found out that Lunesta does have this side effect after learning it on a TV advertisement. I will say as much as I hate advertising pharmaceuticals this was a relief for me to find out and my primary reason for stopping the medication! I was too ashamed to even talk to my physician about this as I am so embarrassed!

That's enough for now, talk to ya later!

Cagon, take me away!

I'm so disappointed. Yes, I am. Maybe it's a good thing~I can concentrate on my own projects! I learned a lot and I think that Bev and I nailed Stacey Julian. Stacey is so much more of a philosophy than someone you can "lift"! Where's the critique? How do I know why and how to improve. Yes, I am disappointed!

Cut the Strawberries into Squares!

here is a reason for my BLOG name! The beach isn't just sun, surf, and sand! There are sandspurs and if you don't know where they are you'll get them in your feet. I know where they grow but once in a while one gets into my foot and it hurts!

This is not going to be a pretty BLOG so bear with me or skip it if you prefer!

While on my trip to Seattle and Texas my DH was roped into planning a 50th birthday party for one of his best friends who also happens to be one of his inspectors. I'm going to call him Bert. Bert has a girlfriend who lives in Orlando where we all used to live before they sent us to this Podunk part of the state to begin paving the planet here. Warning I ramble!

Bert has never been married and for that fact I have never known him to have a steady girlfriend. He is not gay but chose to be unmarried because he has neurofibromatosis which is a genetically linked condition, some know it as elephant man's disease...At any rate. Bert has been dating Dora for about five years now.

Friday AM I had to drive back up to Orlando to "help" prepare for the party! This woman had planned for 50 people. She had already baked brownies, cookies, and ordered a birthday cake.

She had platters of fruit and veggies. Chocolate and Cheese fondue, olives, pickles, crackers, cheese, M$M's, liquor filled chocolates, mints, potato salad, Cole slaw, rolls, baked beans, BBQ chicken she bought at Sonny's and a huge beef smoked brisket that my DH not only bought and paid for but smoked. She got all freaky when I was putting the brisket into the crock pot and using the BBQ sauce I bought and brought for the beef! I said, "don't worry, I'm not using it all, just enough so the brisket won't dry out!

Anyone who knows me knows that I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON! She knows that at chose to get up at 6:30 AM and head out to the grocery store to pick up the cake and whatever! She came home with I swear 10 packages of potato rolls! We already had white and wheat rolls from Sam's club but that was to cut up for the fondue! She looks me straight in the eye and says, "See, this is why I get up early!" I looked her straight in the eye and said, "Dora, I can not get up this early!. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth!

I throw on my jeans and T-Shirt, no shower, no make up, no hair and we jump in the car. We have to haul her two cats in my Lincoln, that I DON'T EVEN LET MY DOGS RIDE IN to a friends house to get them away during the party! Then we go to P/U the chicken, buy about ten16 pound bags of ice, that I get to load into the car b/c she is having a pain! Then we bring them home.

Now we get to the cutting of the strawberries!~ Not only did I sit and cut every known veggie up but got to learn how to entertain! LOL! Where does she think I was raised, on a farm? OK, she runs the fork the length of the cucumber and says, "I'm going to show you how to make cucumbers decorative", biting my tongue at this point, slicing the cukes as ordered, my tongue is dripping blood.

Now, the strawberries. "Cut them in quarters, they're big!" OK, so I cut the first quart into quarters. NOT LIKE THAT SQUARES!' Well, I still don't quite know how you make squares out of strawberries but I guess she got the picture or I did it right because it's quiet now.

The time is pushing 3:00 PM and I'm still cutting bread and pound cake and angel food cake....I said, "Dora, when do I get some primp time?" She said, I could be excused! I am not a fast primper either!

I iron my skirt and shower, shave, blow my hair dry, curl it... you know the drill and dress for the pretense that we are going to RUTH CHRIS to celebrate not only Bert's 50th birthday but DH and my 16th wedding anniversary! All this for a party that reminds me of a half breed poodle mixed with a pit bull!

Oh, I'm not sorry that I've vented this fiasco, I've left out many details that just basicly fried my ass to get done with this. This is the land of the free and the home of free speech and I don't mean to offend anyone. To my knowledge neither of these parties knows what a blog is or even cares about the internet! Except Bert does like porn! I also won't go into the details about Dora complaining that Bert has been with the company longer than others yet gets paid less because he is not a good test taker and has street knowledge that should be recognized. Doesn't she have the sense to know that we can't put people on jobs that require certifications that they don't have because they aren't good "test takers"! I shut my bosses wife mouth up!

This is my last remark, for this post, I promise! The thing that hurt me the most was finding "A Year in Review" Scrapbook with a custom cover that I made Dora for Christmas stuck on the top shelf in the bedroom where DH and I stayed. That is the last thing I will ever make her. From now on I think I'll regift the dollar store special's she gives me!

TACKY~TACKY~TACKY!

The rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

ONE: I hate dial up and all problems related to computers. I want my computer to work perfectly and I want a laptop that no one else monkeys with!

TWO: I was once a very good musician. I played the piano and the French horn. I was paid to play for different churches and was able to travel to Jamaica to perform. I used my piano playing as a cathartic means and wish with all my might that I could have a decent sounding piano and begin to plan again!

THREE: I worked as a registered nurse for almost 30 years in the operating room before I allowed myself to quit working, well, DH did have some say in the matter!

FOUR: I love to design scrapbook pages and do paper crafts. I would love to have enough work to support my love of travel and numbers one and two!

FIVE: I am thankful for having lived more than 52 years and thankful that my two children love me. I am thankful for a wonderful mother and last but not least my husband who puts up with me.

SIX: I eat cheerios and skim milk for breakfast almost every day.

SEVEN: The internet has changed my life and opened up so many doors. I am thankful for the many many girlfriends that it has put me in touch with!

I'm tagging Jennifer, Julianna, Dana, Molly Brown, Meredith, Jana, Julie!

This may take a few days to get the word out!

Now We Can Celebrate!

Yesterday was a day that every parent waits for. Kind of bitter sweet, naw, it was SWEET! I'm so proud of my girl! She has worked so hard and only three more months until she takes boards and becomes an RN!

She gets her wisdom teeth out Wednesday so mama get's to play nurse again! I dread it for her but I know she'll survive! Good thing they took all four of mine at the same time or I wouldn't have gone back! I'm not telling her that, though!