Honeymoon and Sponges?

Quiet time....... just for us.




While here at my FIL's I frequently leave the premises to go exploring. I can't stand to just sit in the house when there's so much I haven't seen (and there's also the frequent trips to Bealls).

Miss T and I took off for Honeymoon Island. Bethe couldn't meet up for lunch since she was expecting company and spring cleaning so it was just me and my baby.

After a lunch at Chick fil A (which I had to use my GPS on my phone to find) we were off to Honeymoon Island.



There are picnic areas and swings for cozy time. The kids that were there were enjoying running through the Crape Myrtles.



Very nice, quiet, secluded. But...the water's edge is loaded with rocks, so it's not like you can run out into the Gulf. That's ok, it actually helps protect the island. There are shells galore! It was such a peaceful trip.

Since Bethe is near, we drove up to her Abode for a chat and a tour. What a nice peaceful area she's in....sigh.......



Miss T walking Jasmine (Bethe's dog).

Too short of a visit, but Bethe had to get busy for her daughter's arrival and Miss T wanted me to take her back to Tarpon Springs to the Sponge Docks. "Sponge Capital of the World" and indeed it is...loofa's everywhere. It's a Greek area full of Greek goodies and pastries.....yes I did! Baklava Tiramisu...delish!!






These pelicans were aggressive .... feed me Seymore!

Safe & sound and having fun!

I am so very proud of Miss T.

She got on the plane! I didn't tell her she was flying until about 30 minutes before we were to leave for the airport. She cried alligator tears and said outloud her fears.....running out of gas, crashing etc.

My Mom was there to take us to the airport. Luckily she helped talk Miss T into the flight and I promised her if it was the absolute WORST thing she'd ever experienced that I would drive her home. My Mom also said that "45 years of her life was spent being afraid to fly" and she decided that she didn't want to live in that kind of fear, so she took a short flight. Miss T seemed to listen to our rationalle and walked, head high, fear still showing, but brave, into the airport and onto the plane.

She almost tore my arm off holding on when we took off and when we landed.
I was sitting on the wing window seat and was able to get some great pictures.




The pilot announced were were coming in over Daytona Beach to begin our decent to Orlando. I've been to Daytona several times and quickly recognized the bridge and the racetrack! It was awesome!



It was an hour and oh, 5-15 min flight. But it took us over and hour just to get OUT of Orlando and on our way to Nokomis. The rental car wasn't ready....and by the time it was we were heading out into 5pm traffic straight through I-4 and the Orlando hub-bub of theme park and after work traffic.

Finally reached our hotel at 8:30pm....ahhhhhhh.....

Merry Christmas to ALL!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Tom is watching his tradition of "A Christmas Carol" to help him get into the spirit of the holiday.



So far this has been an easy day. Miss T and I cut out cookies and baked them. I made a dressing for a mixed fruit dish that was a hit tonight at Nanny's. Also the sweet potato and apple casserole was deeeelish! 2 new recipe's I tried that turned out well!!

The sweet potato/apple was easy...sliced 1 large peeled sweet potato and 2 granny smith apples and layered them in a casserole dish. Sprinkled Allspice, Cinnamon and a bit of Nutmeg on them; sprinkled 1/2 cup of brown sugar over that; added dots of butter (1/4 c cut into small pieces) and a handful of Craisins. Baked at 350 for 30 minutes covered....nice! Bet it would be just as good in a pastry too!

The fruit was effortless too...blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple, grapes all mixed well. The dressing was a sugar/water/honey/lime juice/zest concoction that boiled for 1 minute then was cooled in the fridge for 1 hour. I poured it into the fruit. It called for individual fruit bowls and "add your own", but I figured let em marinate!

So I had enough of the juice leftover tonight and cut up 1 apple and 1 orange into it so that hubby and I can have that tomorrow night with our leftovers from Mom's.

I plan to tell Miss T about the plane ride tomorrow at Mom's. All those people can "help" convince her that it's OK. I hope and pray she doesn't panic. Sometimes it's hard enough to get her on an elevator! Imagine a PLANE!

Well, it's getting close to Santa time here on the East Coast...guess I'd better go to bed so the big guy can make a drop off.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a GOOD NIGHT!!

"Twas the day before Christmas Eve.....

Counting down the minutes until I leave work
Boss didn't come sign checks, the jerk;
So I did and that's that jack...
We'll all have a Merry Christmas till we get back!

Couldn't help myself. Sometimes you gotta poke fun at your self or your day to get through it. I'm pretty sure I'm ready (not) for Christmas (not) Eve dinner at Nanny's and (not) Christmas Day (not) at Mom's. Planning the dinner goes like this:
"What do you want?"
"I dunno, what do you want?"

"I dunno either....what do you want to fix"
(Doesn't this bring us back to the original question, but in a "back in your court" kind of effect?)

"Well, I'm cooking a ham and a turkey breast and your stepDad wants some kind of potato that we can top with cheese, so I'm suggesting Baked Potatoes....what else do you want?"

(Round 3)

Keep in mind, my family is used to the "old fashioned" way of cooking. Nothing fancy, we have field peas or collards with our meal; probably a sweet potato of some sort usually the casserole with the pecan topping; we don't get into the all day affair....that's kind of sad in a way. Plus now we have 2 under the age of 4 to feed and they won't want to eat brocolli ala anything.

My Tom is used to the Northern way...the Italian's cook all day and you eat all day. This Suthern stuff is, well, foreign to him. My mom always tries to have a dish that he would especially like or want to have to keep him "in tradition". I think that's neat.

My Dad called me today.....same old story with him, as usual. Funny, my Mom and I just mentioned that yesterday how there's always a story with him for the holidays.
Seems he is under the weather (and not drunk SURPRISE) and taking BP meds along with some lasix so he's afraid to travel far especially with traffic. He did seem genuine about meeting up maybe tonight or......

HEY!

I just had a thought!

Why not Christmas Day?

After lunch, there won't be anything else to do (but nap) and we can come into town to meet with him.

BINGO! Unless of course he is "celebrating" or "on vacation" as we've been known to call a drunk spell.

It's always sad for me at Christmas just for a bit, because of all the Christmas' past where he's promised to show up and didn't.

We'll see.

Have a Merry Christmas Y'all!!
Martha - Don't drink my Sundrop!!!!

Silent Night Tag

It's beginning to look a lot like....

My Tree....full of white lights and red decorations.
Red is the official color of Christmas, at least to me! Miss T fusses because there's "no other colors"...well when she has her own place........

I cannot believe it is this close to Christmas already. Ready? Sorta. I have the presents wrapped...the meals are in the planning stages.

We'll go to my Nanny's for Eve dinner and gifts and my Mom's on Christmas Day. Ham and Turkey for Christmas and stepDad said "fix baked potatoes"
HUH?
OK I guess that'll work.
I'm going to make a fruit dish (with honey, sugar and lime juice poured over berries and melons)--a new recipe I found. (Remember last year when I said new recipes shouldn't be tested at the holidays??) Maybe a chocolate pie and take some cookies I've baked....and whatever else Mom decides we need (sweet potatoes etc).

It's also going to be in the high 70's here! Chili today hot tamale...geeeesh.

Cross your fingers that bossman comes up with a good bonus on Monday. I'd sure love some traveling cash since we're on da plane to Florida day after Christmas! Pray for a safe trip....pray that me and Miss T will get on that plane -- our first! (I'm getting nervous - tell me I'm silly)

Pray that Martha's gang doesn't drink my SUNDROP that I mailed to her house!

I can hardly wait to be on Casey Key!

Christmas Card

http://www.dancingsantacard.com/?santa=64668

I guess since Unc Sam and Co won't bail out little ole me, you'll get THIS card for Christmas.

ROFL....Missie did hers and she Rocked! So....here's to you!

Hot Bird

This morning as I was sitting at my table enjoying my everything bagel with link sausage I looked out my back sliding door. The temps were in the high 20's so there was frost everywhere. A rather plump bird had perched on my deck rail and I thought "now that's a beautiful picture" and I pondered about getting my camera.

I said "If I move, he'll fly away...maybe...."
Then I remembered my stepDad was on his way over for some coffee, so I said "well, he'll be here soon and probably scare him off before I can get the shot".

Needless to say, I didn't move or get the camera or the shot.

But I watched this bird with the background of glistening beauty. Then I noticed "steam"....the kind like when you're out in the cold and you can "see" your breath. I thought this was odd....can the bird be breathing that heavily??

Too be sure not?
But what?

Then he turned a bit and ruffled his tail feathers my way.
NO FRIGGIN WAY!!

YEP....the bird was crapping on my deck rail and the steam was coming from "you know what/where"!

Just messed up that perfect picture for me right then and there, damn bird.

Thanks & Giving

Yeah the Turkey is finally outta here.....but I really like cold turkey especially the sandwiches. But only the white meat! I'll even eat cold dressing!

Miss T and myself joined the rest of the family at my Mom's house for the feast. My little brother had brought a girl-guest with him. Of course Tom is still in TX and was missed at the table.

Everyone has been sick....except my Nanny. But her heat system is broke and they are ordering the part. She cannot even run the emergency heat, so I am insisting that she stay with us at least at night...she goes home during the day to do her "busy work". She has to be doing something and at 86 I would hope I would be too.

Miss T was home from school all week with her cold/flu whatever it was...sore throat and cough/sneeze/snot etc. I only worked one day this week....and I'll get paid for Thursday. Whoooopie eh? That's ok.....I'm thankful I have a job and things will pick up soon for us. If not....I'll worry about that later.

While we were home this week Miss T put up our tree....I've never had it up this early before in my life! She did a great job - ran me out of the room until it was time to put on the lights.

What kind of lights do you have?
I insist on ALL WHITE and at least 1000 on my tree. Tom says planes have trouble landing because of it. It seriously troubles my eyes when I'm decorating it....and it is done in RED decorations too....

I use a big bow on top. No angel or star for me.

I've also been gathering the gifts and wrapping them. My Brother & SIL and I decided we'd do only for the kids this year....we're all watching the wallet. But I didn't exactly stick to the plan...I ordered a magazine and a cookbook for her. Shhhhhh don't tell. It will be ok...I'll just say it's from Miss T.

She and I spent about 5 hours today in the mall....just wandering around. Not in any hurry, just somewhere to be, had lunch there at Chick Fil A and got a Great American Cookie cookie....hers was Snickerdoodle and I got triple chocolate chunk.

Tonight I packed a box to send to the nephew's in TX...I'm getting into the spirit of giving this year. They're both big Carolina Panthers fans...go figure. The oldest was born here, so he has an excuse. The little one just wants to be like big brother. Tom's been having a blast playing with them....lots of testosterone in that house, unlike ours.

Christmas! Yikes......I'm getting my house decorated INSIDE. It was raining today, so nothing outside yet. I really dread doing that one by myself this year since Tom won't be home until late on the 10th.

Hey Martha, Shelly, Angie, Bethe & Rose....I'm heading SOUTH for the winter...well, at least a week of winter. Planning to FLY in on the 26th...drive to da beach for a circle of drums and beer for the weekend, then head up to the FIL's. He'll just have to live with the fact that we're not going straight to his house first. It's MY vacation.....

So Robin that means LUNCH OK????

How fast can you type?

71 words

Typingtest

This was the second try.
Funny test....it seemed to stall because I know I can type faster than that!

Anyway where have I been?

BUSY! With Tom gone I'm a "single mom" getting the kid off to school, packing lunches, being the Dance Taxi and chief cook and bottle washer! Whew!

Today is Miss T's 12th birthday. She said "this has been a weird birthday". First, I didn't have a cake, because she's getting the Cookie for her Ice Skating party Friday night. So.....I had those Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls and popped them in the oven this morning. I figure, that's cake enough. Hmmmmm now where's a candle?
Good Grief! Not one single birthday candle in this house. SO whatta ya do? You grab a votive!

She sat down and shook her head at the candle and roll. Hey, you do whatever you can to make the most of the moment. She made the wish and ate the roll.

What did I get her? HA! Nothing....yet. Well, that's not completely true. We had just gone shopping for some warm pants last night, and some shirts, and a new sleeping bag, and a movie, robe and socks, gloves, hat and scarf......oh yeah and a green fuzzy pillow and bath gel.

Once she said she'd like to have a Nintendo DS, but she has a Game Boy. Don't know if she really wants the DS....she even said so.

After school my Nanny met us at the house and gave her 2 gifts; a chair from American Girl Dolls and a long sleeve T-shirt with a monkey all tangled up in Christmas lights on the front of it.....and collards.

After dance we ran to a favorite hot dog place and had a load of fun. The owner (a friend) made a fuss over her princess hat and threatened to sing to her. I told him I'd pay him NOT TO!

Then it was off to my Mom's....card and cha-ching!

Oh? What's that? Where's Tom? He's in Texas. Helping his brother who is swamped with work after the hurricane in the Houston area. He calls at least twice a day and is in good spirits (and not the kind in the bottle).

My OCD's have not consumed me since he's been gone and that is a GREAT thing. (Knocking on wood)

I had a talk with "Santa" today and he concurred on some gifts for this year. He assured me they're "in the bag" and on the way. This kid has a list as long as your arm of nothing but American Girl Doll stuff.

Do you think one day I can sell all this stuff and get her a car?

Rake Mice & Sunglasses at Night

Wow time flies.........I've tried to post before, but blogger loves to upload about 425 of one picture, so I said "grrrr" and gave up.

So what's up along my Coast? Well.... let's see.

1) My bestestfriendinthewholewideworld was going to Illinios to see the estranged hubby BUT that got canned quickly when his parents said "If she came ...." well, you can imagine. So he's still letting the 'rents dictate his life. She may move to Raleigh.

2) The weather is nice.....65-70 daytime; about 40 at night. The leaves have really colored out nicely. I'm still running my AC from time to time.

3) My stepDad and baby bro are in CA visiting the middle movie star brother. Then off to Vegas for a day or two.

4) Tom is going to TX for about 3.5 weeks to help his brother with some overwhelming plumbing jobs........cha-ching.....let's hope he sends da money home!!

and the greatest news........

Miss T going to NC School of the Arts in February for 3 days of dance classess WOO HOO! Can you say Proud Momma!!!

She is so excited! Her ballet teacher chose some of the top dancers in her age group plus is taking all of the Seniors that can go. We'll go up on a Thursday afternoon, classes will be promptly at 8am on Fri & Sat with a show on one of those nights....there's also a class early Sunday too. That's gonna be one tired kid!

What will I do?????

Duh.........SHOP!

Now about my caption.....

Last weekend Tom and I picked Miss T up from my mom's and as we were driving down the road I noticed the lights on the truck were very dim (9pm). I mentioned it but TnT didn't notice a difference. Then I tried the High Beams and said "hmmm they look dim too". Then Miss T looks at me and says "MOM! You've got your sunglasses on" and I swear I don't remember clipping them on!

We had a good laugh on that one.

Then this past weekend I said to Miss T that it was time for her to learn some other cooking methods.....she is a rice and gravy lover, and that was her request for lunch. So I said to her, "Come over here and I'll teach you how to Rake Mice".......I never knew I said it till she started laughing and repeated it....."Did I really say 'rake mice'?".......

Someone send me a box of Calgon!

Changes!

Geeesh why does Blogger post 10 pics? I had to CHANGE this by deleting them .........

The weather here took a dip 2 nights ago....into the 30's. Our first frost. But that's OK, that means the collards will be much more delicious now that they've been nipped.

Which also has meant that our coastal climate is experiencing the change of colors in the foliage too....our leaves are turning and the wind picked up some this past weekend.

I did enjoy lunch this past Monday in the park - while I was there I tried out some photo shots, but the colors just aren't right yet. The dogwoods have berries now and the leaves are orange, red and yellows.

Miss T....ever changing. Growing into a young lady. She is a typical middle schooler, getting the attitude and the "teachers are mean" syndrome....she turns 12 next month. (I know I already posted her as 12 in my "all about me" section.) She wants to get some friends together and go ice skating for her birthday celebration.

When did my baby get this old?

When did I GET THIS OLD?

J-O-B....changes....3 day work weeks for me now. The economy is really hurting our business. I applied for some seasonal work, but I haven't heard anything yet. And wouldn't you know as soon as I started applying, Tom's brother called and said "come on to TX, I have a big job to do and need your help"...so he's thinking of going. To be gone, oh, 30 days or so. So that means no extra workie for me......gotta be home with Miss T.

I did look into some "at home" work - transcriptions. Digital of course and in the legal field. As a trained paralegal, I can transcribe dictation into documents and email or snail mail them to the customer. I just need the equipment i.e. transcriber and foot pedal. That's anywhere from $200-$500 depending on what you get.

Maybe after the holiday's I'll look into that harder. Right now, I have to focus on paying the piper, peter and paul and Santa. Kinda knocks out my wishes for a new sewing machine and camera for a while.

Changes.........I don't like changes.

What's up?

My computer troubles was more than just AOL....seems the automatic updates have been sneaking toolbars etc in the system and some of them were double firewalling me.....hence the reason I had such troubles.

Nevertheless, my xRoomie computer guru came over Sunday under the bribery of homemade Chicken Pot Pie and fixed my troubles.

YAY!!

The girls weekend was , well, ok...it rained ALL DAY Saturday so that put a damper on our outdoor activities. The Festival was just too wet to get out and walk through, so we tooled around in some of the local shops on the Island.

We hit the Libations store early enough to insure we'd have plenty of liquid entertainment if necessary. Then it was a stop for an early dinner at the favorite sub stop. A quick run through the grocery store and we were in for the night.

The blender whirled, corn popped and cards shuffled. Do you know how difficult it is to teach a drunk girl how to play Rummy? Poor Cindilouwho...said it was too much thinking for her.

Where was TnT you ask? Miss T was at my Mom's....Tom was, home. He had visited his friend "J", but come back home to hang out. Hmmmm, surprised here....

Miss T and I did a little shopping around on Sunday. I made the Chicken Pot Pie and put on a pot of Chili too. xRoomie came to fix my computer and had dinner with me.

Monday I stayed home....sort of. My Nanny found out I was home and wanted to go to Kohl's to shop for some "everyday clothes". We had lunch together and had a good time shopping.

Today I filed the "attached workers" benefit claim...since I'm still employed but working way less hours, I think it is a nice bonus.

Let's cross our fingers and say our prayers that it will pay off....literally. Since I do payroll, I am able to do some creative movements.............I can pay me "hourly" up to the point they will allow; anything over that I can add as "mileage reimbursement" or such. Every little bit helps.

Ya know, the Fed's bailed the big guys out, what about us little guys? Why not! And they want to "talk about" a second stimulous payment...wow, can ya spare it? http://voanews.com/english/2008-10-20-voa49.cfm I'd certainly take their money!

Gas us under $3 now....down to about $2.90 and dropping a little bit almost every day. That's GREAT news. Wonder how low it will go?

Back on track & Economy

It came to me that maybe, just maybe, McAfee was the culprit.

So I unplugged my modem; removed Mac and replugged the modem to restart AOL and viola! My AOL desktop icon worked! Then quickly reinstalled McAfee.

Now things are running much faster at the home 'puter. That IE and foxfire mess was suuhhhloooooow........and caused me to curse.

Whew! Now I can relax.

Back to "normal" if there is such a thing.

Back to the PSP group in full force. Back to "the Spot" and my friends.

It seems that we're all worrying about the same thing right now. The Election and the Economy. I gotta say, so am I. My Boss recently added another day off without pay of course to my schedule. I'm going to file the "attached claim" through ESC soon. Just had to make sure of the legistics now that my status has officially changed. Not too many people building custom homes right now or buying the stock we have.

Miss T's birthday is next month; then Christmas. A very tough time of the year for the economy to be biting us in the

Well you know.............

But, I'm not gonna let that get me down.

Thank GOD Mr Man's retirement and SS is in tact....for now...(knock on wood - hope I'm not jinxning myself)....did I already say that?

Tightening up the old purse strings........I'm going to suggest to my brother that we make Christmas about the KIDS this year...no sense in adding any stress to the already stressful situation....his business is slow (land clearing) and at least he has a full time job as a firefighter. His wife hasn't gone back to work yet after the baby....4 months old....and she's a mortgage officer. YIKES....not good. Just as well, daycare would take all her pay, so why shouldn't she stay home?

My little brother's job is up in the air too....the England based owners have come here to take over - question is will they keep running this business here? and keep the bro on at his requested salary? He's been there for, gosh, 7 years? or more basically running the joint, AR/AP, shipping etc.

I really want a new sewing machine. There is a sewing place just up the road from my office that offers classes and new machines for sale too. I figured I'd like to take the basics over again and buy a new machine....she suggested the Singer Curvy or one of the Vikings. Now I'd LOVE to have the Viking....but see the above entry about purse strings.

Lately it's been about going to work, T's dance, sleep, repeat. Time to get back into some ME things.

A little of this n that

I am having such a time at home with my computer! Grrrr comes to mind and out of my mouth often. I don't know what's going on. At first I thought it was my firewall...so I deleted it; deleted AOL and reinstalled it. BUT it still won't connect....

I hate going into AOL through IE or Firefox..but it seems that IE is treating me better than Fox. They're both very slow about AOL. There is still so much information in my AOL account....trying to get to it to archive it at home is a bear!!

Which is why I haven't been participating in many of my PSP quests. I think I posted about this earlier.

Anywho, different subject.

Girls weekend coming up!
Hopefully Friday night I'll be slumbering with my pal Cindilouwho and a couple of girlfriends at her home; we'll have breakfast on Saturday and head over to the Island for the annual Autumn with Topsail www.AutumnWithTopsail.com celebration. Bands, food, artwork and a nice stroll on the beach....who could ask for more?

I should have TnT stay at Mom's beachhouse then I could just head on over there later Saturday and Sunday......then I'd feel guilty because there is still so much to do at home. Still finding stuff for that Nov 1st yard sale; cleaning out Miss T's clothes etc.

Yesterday I was off from work (instead of Tuesday) to spend time with my nephew. He and my Mom came over about noon and we jumped on the trampoline and had a picnic under it.....yes, under it.

He suggested Chips N Grapes. I brought out a tray with 2 kinds of chips (cheddar/sour cream and barBque); goldfish; dried fruits via Welch's; Hershey's 100 calorie snack bag and a cinnimon granola mini snack. Then I went in and made him a turkey n cheese sandwich. We found 5 baby snails under the trampoline.

I could just imagine my Nanny calling asking what we were hiding from....and I would have had to say "obviously nothing if you can see us from your house".....rofl.

Tom's birthday was Tuesday (14th) - we gave him a Giants Jersey #27; a tshirt and hat; he said he didn't want a cake, then later mumbled "and I didn't even get a cake".....so he promptly bought himself one on Wednesday, chocolate chocolate chocolate.

He's thinking of going to TX to help his brother on a hotel plumbing project (due to the hurricane). That'd be nice for him and me....time alone, little extra mooola (hopefully).

In the meantime I'm on short time at work. 3 days.....sigh.......

Butt......Projects

Oh yeah....it's been crazy.

Friday was Tom's visit to the VA hospital for a colonoscopy...woo hoo. Yes he's been the "butt" of jokes all week. Going to see Dr Ben Dover and all.

I went to bed very late 2am friday morning only for him to have to wake up at 5am to drink more juice. Then a quick nap for me until about 7am when it was time to get up and get busy. It's a 2 hour ride to Fayet-nahm from here. Get Miss T on the bus and start out.

We were early....about 10:15 so we checked in and he was taken right on in the Daybed area. She said I had time to get a bite to eat but to be back in that waiting room until they called me.

At 1:30pm I decided I should find some lunch....but first I checked on him. He had just gone into a recovery area (geeesh - a 30 minute procedure????). In about 10 mins she called me back to the area....there he was sitting up fixing a sandwich....with his shirt on backwards!

One polyp removed.....eat more fiber and fruit!

Was a quiet ride home.....I made it just in time to get Tom to the potty and to turn around and head to town to see Miss T's last 10 minutes of her solo practice. Off to dinner with the 'rents for my baby brother's birthday celebration.

If that wasn't enough, one of Miss T's friends called "Let's go Ice Skatin"...so I took her and stayed with them till we left at 10pm.....

Whew! Finally home and bed!

Saturday was tough....I was so tired from the day before. I had also promised to go to the local Spot Pagaent to support a friend and her daughter. The kid was 1st runner up, but that's ok, she already holds a title (and has held many others). She was so sad because last year she was 1st runner up....she said "what am I doing wrong?" and of course we assured her it was NOTHING. The only difference I noticed was in the confidence level of the winner....she ACTED like she WAS very confident.

Today....Sunday....
Aye...Miss T and her school project. She and her BFF were going to do a Bake Sale and buy supplies for the animal shelter with the proceeds....only the BFF mother said at the last minute NO WAY when she found out the local grocery store was already booked for an event. Well, we COULD have gone to another venue.

Thanks.....so we took off to my office and snapped some pictures of her working...filing, answering phones etc...things she had done for me this past summer. Her project was based on "Service". She dolled up 8 pages with information and pictures. I hope it's acceptible...they said that helping parents wasn't allowed. But what do you do when your BFF bails on you at the last minute?

I think I'll turn in early tonight. ExCoworker is in town and we're supposed to meet tomorrow, early...it will be great to see her!

I Did It! I Moved EVERYTHING!

Whew! It was tough, sweatty and worth it.

I was able to IMPORT Coastal Comfort over here!

Same name....Coastal Comfort.

Hmmmm wonder if now that I "own" both, can I merge them together?

Until then..........

It's been a busy hump day. Loads of office mail to go through, bills to pay, tis the tenth soon ya know.

Miss T is having a bake sale this weekend with her friend "P" for a school service project. They plan to sell goodies and Miss T is making some refrigerator magnets ... we're devising a business plan; dividing costs with goods and determining a sales price.

I told her we should use some seashells and name them "Tshells".

Jury's still out on that one.

At home, my AOL icon STILL WON'T work. I've uninstalled / installed 3 times. Next plan of action? Kick the computer.

For now I'm accessing AOL through IE which isn't fun. Firefox is easier...but I liked having the option of AOL downloaded. I'll keep pressing forth!!

What's that???? The 5 o'clock whistle! I'm outta here...gotta go post a Bulletin to "return stolen money"......someone stole $22 from Miss T's wallet at dance last night. Gonna request they "leave it in this envelope anonymously"....we'll see.

Nite all!

Weird Horoscope

CANCER: "You are being pulled off course by strong feelings that you thought were processed a long time ago, but something has reactivated these ghosts from your past. It's challenging for you to reconcile your current situation with the preferences that arise from the depths of your imagination. Pay attention to your reactions to your memories, for you must learn how to move beyond your current habits if you are to make progress."

That is today's horrible scope for me.

I rarely read those things, but on AOL's homepage via Firefox they were up so I peeked.
Funny thing is I visited with my father and his Aunt yesterday and rehashed some of the past. I walked next door to where my Great Grandparents home used to be (their son & co had it burned down illegally for insurance money). I looked up at the old oak tree....I remembered fondly playing in this yard and not so fondly falling into the ditch. I rehashed stories with my hubby about events that happened as I was growing up....from being very scared one night when my father took off with his gun to "kill" his cousin (didn't happen), to how my Aunt shot her hubby - which is probably why yielding a gun is so easy for me ROFL.

"Move from beyond your current habits....to make progress" - this is a bone of contention with me. I like my safe place. I am not one to just pack up the house and move away from my family and dear friends. I depend on them emotionally too much especially with Mr Man's (DH) situation.

Funny thing is I was dreaming last night of agreeing to MOVING.....to Florida. Martha & Shelly you KNOW where I'd be heading if that were the case.

Hey Y'all

Did ya know it's Domestic Violence month? One of my favorites because I can get away with anything....it says so!

Therefore, I started cleaning out Miss T's room...whatta mess. Violence to ME I guess LOL.

The other Violent thing going on in my house is this possessed computer. It will NOT log into my separate AOL Icon...I'm having to do this through Firefox (which is a pain!) ... oh yeah, I've reset, restarted, rebooted and it REFUSED to cooperate.

(Now don't yell at me...I'm not making light of DV ....I've seen my fair share of it)

More violence was that today I made Miss T go to the airport (didn't tell her we were going)....I wanted her to ride in a real live airplane just to see that it's OK. My SIL's Dad has a lil plane and he was out there anyway and said we could go.

Once she figured it out she was ADAMANT about not getting in that plane. She got in.....buckled up....unbuckled and got out.
Nephew, his mom and her dad took off for about a 10 minute ride and came back. All the while I'm showing Miss T how well the plane is balanced and smooth and not sputtering etc....do you think she bought it? Well, yeah a little.

They got back and she got back in!! They taxi'd a bit and then they were done....they couldn't take off this time because they were having radio burps....he said once he got them fixed we were welcome to come try it again.

Miss T was so proud of herself! Kept repeating "I got in a plane" over and over.

24 Hr flu via AT&T

I called AT&T this morning saying WTH? and through a series of clicks and questions we found the trouble.

Thank you AT&T for redirecting my USER ID to some no name "attreg@" person.

That is why I couldn't log on. But how was I to know? I never log into the bellsouth.net site anyway.....I always go in directly through AOL or Firefox.

HA!

It wasn't my fault after all.

So after 24 hour bedrest Blueboy is up and running online just perfectly again.

Yes, his name is Blueboy because he has a flashing blue light.

Oreo is my other computer which sits in the room just behind this one.

Why Oreo you ask? (Let's hope and pray this doesn't offend anyone - it's certainly not meant to)

Well.....he's black and he was rebuilt and saved from a white computer. So he has the "white" filling....like an Oreo cookie.

With all this packing and moving here to "the Spot" I haven't made time to play in any of this week's PSP challenges, much less start anymore lessons.

Instead, I've started a BIG challenge..............

Miss T's room. (See my eyes rolling?)

After this quick update, I'm charging back into that room.

Wish me luck!

(PS Is anyone else experiencing multiple picture loads and large spacing?)

Home Computer has the flu!

Well, almost.

Last night as I was scanning and defraggin and de-everything else, my spybot popped up and said something then "do you want to" and do you think I read it?

Noooooooooo.

So now I've lost my ability to connect to the internet.

But my DSL says I'm connected, I just sorta kinda ooopsed and now I gotta go home and figure this out.

I've already tried all the "fix it" clicker things. Did the System Restore thing too.....notta! Time for xRoomie to come by and fix me.

I'm such a nut about this stuff....I wasn't reading what it said and was already having a hard time with some photo adjustments etc.

My second computer MAY be able to connect to my yahoo or aol accounts.....lets hope so because

HOW CAN I GO ALL WEEKEND WITHOUT MY CYBER FIX????

Well, I could go to our local RIVERFEST celebration. An arts, crafts, food, band display downtown by the river....could take some pictures. But I don't usually enjoy getting out there with those a$$'s to elbow crowds.

Maybe I'll finish the mess Miss T and I made while cleaning out her room. Can you believe she's actually getting rid of some TOYS!?!?

She IS becoming a pre-teen.................sigh.

Our New Adventure

What do you think was the first thing I did when I got up this morning?

No it wasn't Peee.

I turned on my computer. Checked a few emails, then I peeed. TMI I know.

Then I said "HEY make those screenshots and post them in AOL". At least there those who still have their alerts active can have a tutorial.

I'm lovingly refering to this place as "the Spot".

I must say, the thought of losing JLAND began to terrify me. Seriously. I was so grateful to have started my journal - it has taken me to places I never thought I'd be. It is great therepy. My dear friends have given me the courage and strength I knew I had deep down somewhere. Losing this emotional contact would have devastaed me.

We ARE JLAND........and will always be. That is ours alone and no one can strip that from us. When we say JLAND, only WE will know the true heartfelt meaning behind that.

But just like the great friends and family we are...we're here, struggling together, calling for that "cup of sugar". It's as if we've all been dumped on an Island together, we're rebuilding our "homes" and asking for decorating tips.

I love you all dearly.....

Getting Used To Changes

That's what life's all about anyway.

Changes

But I don't do changes well.

Boss still wants me to cut out a day a week.

Hmmmmmmmm.

I'm thinking about applying online to Toys R Us for part time seasonal work. That would give me a little (emphasis on little) extra. We'll see.

I'm still going to look into the unemployment availabilities. If I work less than 3 normal days (true) then BOSS can file me as a displaced type of employee - one who is still employed but on part time status because of economy or lack of business.

Hubby doesn't know yet what to do about the court decision.

Miss T is turning into a pre-teen complete with attitude, looks, thoughts, deeds and words. Can I survive raising a teenage girl?

Can I handle being on blogspot instead of in JLand where I'm comfy?

Where's my blankie?

Testing this out

Since AOL announces it's Journal Demise I thought I'd check this out. I am currently blogging through AOL at -http://journals.aol.com/tpiez4me/CoastalComfort/ just in case you may know me already. I have met many wonderful people through my AOL journal that I do not wish to lose. So here I am, trying this on for size.