Weekends are too short

The weekend went by so fast I can't even remember what I did yesterday other than alittle house work, and laundry of course!! But today I got in the garden pulled some weeds, cut back some plants that are done for the season and started to make mental notes on changes for next year.

Mike convinced me to leave the house and I took the opportunity to include my shopping in the day too. He wanted to replace his chair for tailgating(his list) -- so after two stores and alot of testing we found one that he could easily get in and out of and had the stability he required along with portability. Then we headed over to AC Moore (my list) and I got two new boxes for my scraproom-- on sale! They didn't have the black ones I wanted but the blue and green are mighty cute.

After a trip to the Ace Hardware store and the grocery store we finally made it home..

Then it was all about cooking-- we had green peppers from the garden that were begging to be used for something so we cooked a batch of stuffed green peppers and froze them to eat at a later date. And bonus !!the recipe called for tomato's and oregano.. both of which I have plenty growing out side... can't wait to eat these in the fall!

While I moved on to make some broccoli salad Mike set his sights on smoking some pork tenderloin and some ribs... we are set for the week! Then it was time to sit and enjoy-- I looked at Mike and he was glaring at something in the garden.. when questioned he responded with a "what kind of bug is that?" Pretty normal question at our house because we do have some unusual creatures... but then at closer look we decided that the bee looking creature could actually be a baby hummingbird!! Totally amazing.. we love to watch the hummingbirds in our yard but have never seen one this small-- I tried to get pictures.. but before I could get a zoom lens on the camera he was gone... maybe later this week he'll be back... and trust me I will be ready!



And while we were investigating flying things these two were pretending to be friends!

Speaking of animals now I remember yesterday... Maizy had a friend over to play... Foster came to play ball and grill with Uncle Mike... Maizy found yet another friend who likes to swim in my pond.. accidentally of course!!

One year ago

Amazing how so much can change in just one year... One year ago in August Mike was doing the happy dance when Amandas Dean list certificate came in the mail...

Furbie still lived with us and Maizy just really wanted her to play...

And Amanda and I took on NY City for the day and both realized how cool it was to go to the library!

more? you want more right?

Because I know you wanted to see more Nascar!! hmmm?? Rumor has it that my car the JAck Daniels 07 might be pulling the car and sending my driver out to pasture???? Waiting for Christopher to provide me more updates on that...

In the above picture you will notice no wrecks... my car must be on the other side of the track!

Fireworks at the end of an evening surely make you feel better about having to wait an hour to leave the parking lot.

Bristol TN=Nascar

This past weekend we went down--way down to Bristol TN. The saying "God's country" must have been talking about TN. Couldn't have been more beautiful. We stayed at Watuga Lake... The water was so clear it looked like the carribean. While driving to and from the track was a challenge to say the least-- during daylight hours it was hard to keep your eyes on the winding roads. I finally understand the word "hollow". The deep valleys nestled in the greenest mountains-- I loved seeing the little bridges that crossed the streams that allowed people into their driveways... And houses made out of wood--not necessarily pressure treated.. just sticks and logs---but we weren't there for sightseeing-- we were there for THUNDER IN THE VALLEY-- Nascar!!

And Bristol really knows how to put on a show! They had Pulled Pork BBQ contests in the trailer area as well as a few good bands playing. Inside the racetrack they celebrated Mark Martins 1000th start-- And like they do at all races they paid tribute to the armed forces--but this time they had a great speaker and a video that made you stand up to cheer!! They intersperced the video with shots of serviceman down on the track and each time the crowd roared with appreciation. Say what you want about the rednecks that go to races but where else in America do they still pray before the event? and show patriotism in such a grand scale?

I attempted to have Christopher take a picture of me but he doesn't know the rules of only taking flattering shots from the shoulders up-- ahh he will learn---

The funniest part of the race was that even though Kyle Busch won and Mark Martin came in second the crowd cheered wildly at the end for Mark!! Gotta love it!!

Maizy

Not everyone wants to get out of bed early!

So I am totally in love with this

And this makes me really smile too:
They come from Angelohome and I love just about all the pieces.
Wouldn't that one of those chairs be perfect for my Scraproom??? hmm I just need to add another foot to the room to make it fit!

oh yes she did

Got to play in my scraproom yesterday-- and this past week as part of the organizational challenge over at 2Peas we were organizing ribbons and fiber-- I haven't used any fiber on a layout in a long long time... but yesterday not only did I pull out a page kit from about 4 years ago-- I also used some fibers... no scanning just a quick picture.. It looks better in person (I hope)
And while I was playing I Also got a few more travel pages done--leftover pictures from last years trip to Vegas...

Early morning cooking

Today first thing on the list was making home made tomato sauce. The tomatoes are coming in fast and furious and we really can't eat them fast enough. So today we are trying our hand at making some fresh home made tomato sauce. Looks alittle pink to me--but hey its still got 4 hours of simmering to do sooo maybe it will darken up alittle?

The nice thing is all those ugly tomatoes -- once you de-skin them look lovely on the inside... just another case of inner beauty being more important than outer!
Now I just need to find something to do with ALL those cherry tomatoes!

Exhausted

Another great thing about visiting Amanda and Corey is that Maizy comes home totally exhausted. I wish I had thought to take more pictures-- She and Cooper run non stop the entire time they are together. And when they aren't running they are playing tug or chewing on a bone (together!)-- Maizy ltotally loves her visits with Madison and Cooper. They are two friends that she can be her puppy self with-- they share all of their bones and balls and wear her out!! Cooper has finally learned not eat out of anyones bowl but his own so the three of them even got to eat together which was amusing because both Madison and Maizy spit out the color of food they don't like on the floor!! And Coop waited paitently before sliding over to clean up after them.

I got a good laugh at seeing the dogs go up on this fort/swingset, sliding board thing on the side yard - while they don't have kids to play on it the dogs all go up to the top deck so that they can see over the fence!! None have willing gone down the slide... but we keep hoping!

Paint and pizza

Got to go see my Jersey Girls this weekend!! I brought my bathing suit so we could go to the "shore" but Amanda had other plans for us since the weather was overcast and calling for rain. Her house had some serious paint issues... As she put it the pink paint in her bedroom made her wake up angry every morning-- and if you saw it in person you would understand. So after a trip to the pond store that Mike and I saw on our way down we all headed over to the home depot --never a good idea for Mike and Corey to go to a Home Depot together!--as they put things in the cart Amanda and I took them out! But in the end we got a few gallons of paint and transformed her Angry Bedroom into a soothing restful spot.. She picked the nicest shade of blue-- almost a stormy, misty blue.. When all was said and done it was beautiful!!
We had alot of fun, got alot done and ate way too much... After a night of painting we ordered pizza--no easy feat as the kids have been on a search for "their pizza place" apparently they have been ordering from different places since they moved in looking for the perfect pizza... well Amanda hit gold this time... the pizza was PERFECT-- thin crusted cooked just right, alittle greasy, great sauce... and they even make Penne Vodka Pizza which if you ask me is probably the pizza they serve in Heaven because it is sooooo good. Yep the pizza was soo good the kids were high fiving over their find-- and now they have their "pizza place"... must be a jersey thing??

Wishing you a Happy Happy Birthday!!

Its my girls birthday!! And I am not there to sing in person--- But I know she knows I wish I was.... She's 23!!! Can you beleive it? I looked through pictures to make this post and I can remember each and every one of them like it was yesterday. I remember the little girl who refused to go to kindergarten because they wouldn't teach her to read... the little girl who had tea partys in the front yard with baby dolls, the little girl who had a shower curtain under her dinner seat practically til she started dating-- and the little girl who fell head over heals with a boy in her typing class --that same little girl who wanted to come home from college after just one day and the little girl who made me so proud when she graduated from college and got a job so far away... I remember it all and I hope she will remember just how much I love her...

Soap box for the day

When you don't know what to do,
do the work in front of you
Calvin Cooledge

I saw this somewhere on-line this morning.. and my first thought was how true-- there is always something that needs to be done no matter how big or small. Whether you are at work or at home.
Many times it seems those "things" are just not what we want to do.

Then I started to think about Calvin Cooledge, and the fact other than he was president I didn't know much about him.. A quick Google search brought up this where I read this:

The political genius of President Coolidge, Walter Lippmann pointed out in 1926, was his talent for effectively doing nothing: "This active inactivity suits the mood and certain of the needs of the country admirably. It suits all the business interests which want to be let alone.... And it suits all those who have become convinced that government in this country has become dangerously complicated and top-heavy...."

Very interesting huh? So now with that quote in mind it brought me full circle to our current president.. Its no secret that I think he is trying to tackle too much. So does this quote apply to him... does he not know what he should do so he is just jumping in everytime he has an opinion?? Certainly they gave him a manual when he was elected that told him that while the world around him was crumbling it wasn't his job to address EVERYTHING-- delegate --- Case in point-- should he really be discussing small town police departments? Isn't there something on a more global platform that needs his attention... Alittle too much BIG GOVERNMENT for me...

Maybe he should be working on explaining to us hard working Americans why we have to provide health insurance for people who CHOOSE not to work. Or worse yet those that are not citizens... I am all for shoring up the gaps in our health system-- people who get up every day and work to feed their families deserve good medical care at an affordable price. Seniors who put in their time and now get to enjoy retirement shouldn't have to worry about health insurance. But those who refuse to work--should not get the benefits --I mean really isn't their prime benefit the ability to sleep in everyday??? We all make choices

just alittle ribbon

Sometimes its just alittle ribbon that finishes off a package, a scrapbook page, even a basket--- Maizy might not agree though... I cleaned out a junk drawer that had some older ribbon in it and thought Maizy might like to be BEAUUUTIFULLLLL.. I was wrong... she wasn't happy at all about wearing a ribbon. Even though I thought it brought out all sorts of cuteness... She was so unhappy that she slept in her dog bed!!! ALL NIGHT--- my kind of unhappiness... Me thinks me gonna find just alittle more ribbon for her to wear if she it keeps her off my bed and in hers!

Are they red yet?

Its been all about reorganizing again this week.. one would think there is nothing left.. but taking babysteps seems to be working and it keeps me on track. I actually did a clean sweep of one side of the room and the desk just so I could figure it all out (thanks to my buddy Jo in TX for pushing me forward on that one) ... and today I finished up measuring furniture.. I know it would be a shocker if I actually bought a piece of furniture instead of repurposing-- who knows... stranger things have happened. Although I was informed this morning that tires are on the gotta buy list for this month....

Moving on, Kristy and Mike came over for dinner last night- Seems they too have been bite by the tomato bug and spend their evenings admiring their veggies growing in pots just like we do. I am thinking we all have too much time on our hands that we can admire veggies every night. We are finally getting some red tomato's slowly but surely. And we plucked our first green pepper this week....
And of course Maizy likes veggies... hahaha it wouldn't be a post without her right???

All American-Eagle weekend.

We scooted back down to the lake this weekend because Christopher overslept last weekend and didn't go and it seems it was on his mind all week.... Despite the fact that we went for him we really didn't see much of him or his buddy he brought... They got up to fish "second shift" as they called it--5:30am was too early when Mike went out..Came home and then hopped on Heathers boat for the rest of the day ....they did come home long enough to eat dinner, shower and change and then the girls came back for them... Mike and I picked them up Sunday morning when we took the boat to get gas...

I have noticed a trend-- when we are there by ourselves (which we essentially were this weekend) we spend more time on the boat then we do on land... Saturday and Sunday we spent most of the day trolling around visiting our favorite haunts on the lake. Enjoying the sun and jamming to our favorite radio station (ok the one and only good station down there!)

Saturday night before dinner we did get a nice surprise when we were sitting on the dock-- We saw an eagle swoop in with a fish in his claws. 45 minutes later and about 100 pictures he finally flew off. We see alot of eagles at the lake but never one perched in our cove-- great entertainment.

Of course Maizy wasn't entertained at all... she decided bird watching was best left to us and she snuck a nap in.

progress

Remember last week? The spray painting-- well thats how it turned out... Originally before the project I have always had the two bulletin boards together over my work space.. but now with the paint and new bold fabric it seemed a bit much... so I worked on changing it up a bit... moved one of the boards next to the desk and added a bit of ribbon to it... so now we have one plain and one with alittle bling...

Relaxed

Relaxing weekend.. We had spring like weather on Friday- Hot summer temps on Saturday and overcast and rain on Sunday---A perfect progression if you ask me. Lots of relaxing-- of course the boys had their projects... we have a new railing to keep the dogs from rolling off the deck, alittle chicken wire fence to keep the dogs from escaping through the pine trees and they did some sort of electrical project. >

We made it to the fireworks again this year-- the boat seemed surprisingly empty without the kids. We were happy that Brian and Krista arrived Saturday-- with engagement news no less! Its always nice to add new people to the weekend--keeps the conversation lively-- and Brian was great at telling us all sorts of funny stories from his time spent at Gitmo-

I did a poor job of taking pictures because the one picture that should be here was my fantastic pie-- (read: it looked good--but tasted bland) Toni had mentioned she had alot of Apples left from her mission trip and she was bringing them with strict orders that we would EAT them all-- I mistakenly mentioned a quick fix for that would be an apple pie--- shame on me... not only did Robin tease me all weekend until I finally broke down to make the darn thing-- but as it turns out we had no flour to make a crust.... (Cue Mike to volunteer a trip to the store!--always a bad idea)... once we had crust-- pie making was quick work-- too bad it they weren't pie baking apples--- oh well-- I was off the hook and bonus--ALL the apples are gone!

Mike actually fished twice this weekend... and Maizy got to kiss another fish... hmm there might have been an attempt to nibble... she will learn!

Back to reality tomorrow!