Friday; Drive-Day

 

 

The girls and I are heading north to see my Mom. And by north, I mean the {deep south}.

We are partly there…a mere 6 hours to go. ROAD TRIP!!!!

These three might are going to miss us terribly!!!

But then again, there is little room on THIS couch for us. :)

***

Something for you to ponder: 

My Nephew was reading random facts to me last night:

“Did you know your earlobes line up with your nipples.”

I know you did just what I did…you drew an imaginary line from your lobes to your ‘you know what's’. 

***

Have a great weekend!!!

Would you? Could you?

 

Cook food in this? 

Or how about this?

In a hole? with a mole?

me neither.

Perhaps I am just spoiled?

These do not reside in MY kitchen, but someone expected me to use them.

No thank you.

I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere.
I do not like a nasty pan,
I do not like them, Sam I am.

 

Grandma taught me determination…

 

…by almost letting me drown.

perhaps I am exaggerating.

She did teach me how to swim though.

She would throw money into her pool and tell me to go get it.

Possibly, I would do anything for some shiny coins back then.

{do you think this is how strippers get started?}

I had no issues going to the bottom of the pool at 4 years old.

I did have issues swimming across the top of the pool though.

So, she was determined to teach me.

I would hang onto the side. She would take a few steps out and say: Ok, come on Suzanne, swim to me, I will get you.

And do you know what that woman would do?

As I swam towards her, she would move further and further away from me.

I would say: “Gr and ma, paaal  llle  asss eee stoppp mo vvinng”

And with her little old lady poker face, she would keep moving while I was drowning.

She lied over and over again.

Until I could swim like a fishy.

I miss that liar liar pants on fire woman.

Friday~FryDay.

 

If I could get away with being nekkid 24/7, I would.  It is so darn hot.

I vote to change the state motto from The Sunshine State to The Fry your brain state. That would explain all the brain dead folks I enounter

We have had a great week with my Niece here.

We painted pottery.

We had a birthday dinner celebration. 

We went to the movies.

(I am totally on Team Jacob, I mean, he has actual blood and does not want to drink mine!)

The girls have shopped.

The girls have beached.

The girls have lounged.

Next week brings even more fun. Photos to come!!!

This entire week I have been dog sitting for the puggle puppy during the day.

   

I volunteered ‘cause I did not want her to be crated too long (work schedules changed.) That little girl has not only wiped out Cocoa and Ozzie, she has nearly wore me out too.

If we could bottle the energy of a puppy…we could be zillionaries!!!

Thank goodness our house is mostly tile and wood…just what is the world record for the most pooping and peeing in one day?  DING DING DING!  We might have a gold medal on our hands!!

What is on your itinerary for the weekend? I hope something fun that does not involve cleaning up critter fluids.

Bee Happy.

Bee Cool.

Bee DRY!!

Let the Hi-Jinks resume…

 

Our home is full of noise and moving bodies again.

I have my two girls back, plus another teenager, my Niece.

Next week, I will add my Nephew to the mix as well.  

***

The girls did miss each other.  So much so, that LoLo offered to make her little sister a PB&J Sammie.

Nice, right?

Linds requested LOTS of PB&J.

She got LOTS OF J.

 

Sisters are just the sweetest.

And she wore ate the mess.

Did you also notice how close that mess is to her laptop?

I wonder how Gateway treats a warranty issue if ‘J’ were found slathered across the keyboard. 

Gettin’ Squirrelly in the bathroom.

 

I spruced up the girls’ bathroom while they were away.

{I know what they like.}

Isn’t this shower curtain the cutest thing ever?

 

Squirrels, owls and trees oh my!

They love woodland critters. 

Come to think of it, they love all critters.

 

What did we ever do before Target?

Surely life was just miserable and lacking color.

Have a colorful Tuesday.

Grandma’s lap

A house needs a grandma in it.

~Louisa May Alcott

I miss my grandma so much. I still find myself talking to her each day.

As a little girl, I remember sitting on her lap, feeling like the most special girl in the world.. She would run her fingers through my hair, and I would just melt.

She would always point out the mole on the back of my neck, she called it my ‘sweet spot.’ Frankly, I think it is quite ugly, and un-sweet.

Life was good while sitting on Grandma’s lap.

There is a good possibility that my love for ‘As The World Turns’ started while sitting on her lap. Grandma usually stopped everything to watch ‘her stories.’

(I gave up my love for ATWT about 15 yrs ago, approx the same time as her; she said all the men and women on soap operas turned into sluts, because they all slept around. I could not argue)

Back to the lap story…

Going through photos recently, I am not the only one who loved Grandma’s lap.

Little LoLo

The girls and I. Could this be lap squared?’

It seems we were never too big for her lap. Here I am around 13. (my Dad on the left)

Even the Coach got in on the lap action. It looks as though she is asking him what he wants for Christmas.

My girls used to sit on my lap…but that has been a while.

I might be lap lonely.

Were you lucky enough to have a grandparent with an open lap?

The drama of the *cleaning*

 

Two of us had our teeth cleaned on Wednesday.

One of us liked it.

One of us did not.

*

One of us has dental insurance.

One of us does not.

*

One of us asks for sedation, but is always denied.

One of us has to be completely sedated.

*

One of us had to pay $136.

One of us had to pay more.

*

One of us had some minor plaque.

One of us had some major plaque and even gums packed with hair.

*

One of us had a nice lunch with someone special just after the cleaning.

One of us stood swayed in the kitchen for an hour when they got home and did not want dinner.

*

One of us loves the feel of clean teeth.

One of us loves the feel of a leather sectional under our butt.

*

One of us fell out of the car when we got home.

One of us had horrible wharf breath.

One of us won’t remember the day ever happened.

One of us can’t take a picture without having 14 chins to save her life, but she loves how pretty her teeth look today.

  

I hope you realize that it was Ozzie who had hair stuck in his gums and the wharf breath.

FYI, It has been a while since I fell out of a car.

And it was all worth it for the wharf breath seems to have dissipated. I’ve saved $$ on gas masks.

Home makeover; of the un-extreme kind.

 

I did a little sprucing up of the family room this past weekend while the family was away. That’ll teach them to leave me alone.

before; blah.

I have been looking for a better rug for several months. I knew just what I wanted, a large pattern, with some soft reds, gold and green. I do love the fall colors; year round.

I finally found the perfect rug. And it was on clearance, plus a few washable pillow covers for comfort.

After:

By the way, this rug is approved by both Cocoa and Ozzie.

 

Raise your hand if you noticed the dust on the bottom of the coffee table in the first photo.

**GASP**

I almost threw up when I saw it, but I could not stand to stain my  pretty rug with my lunch.  

 

I made her from Scratch.

Seventeen years ago my life was forever changed.

I had no idea I could love someone so much. So deeply.

Especially someone who never liked to sit down, or stop moving. Ever.

Ok, I take it back. You stopped moving.

Once.

LoLo=wiggle worm.

You were and still are just the sweetest and brightest bundle of energy.

Not only do I love you, I also like you mucho grande.

I am proud to be your Mama!

When it came to the awkward years, I was the perfect role model.

It was going to be a big day. My graduation from 7th grade. Next year, I would be in high school. With the big fish.

I was done with my awkwardness, I was going to emerge a beautiful butterfly.

I decided to take my time and beautify myself before the graduation.

I ran the bath…I even added some of the Jean Nate’ bath oil that my Grandma loved so much.

I soaked. I soaked. And then I soaked some more.

Finally, it was time to dress and dry my hair. No time to lose now.

I dressed in my new terry cloth striped dress. It was so pretty.

A few spritzes of my Loves Baby Soft…I am really something.

I got out the blow dryer and my round brush. Watch out Farah Fawcett.

I dried.

I dried.

I dried.

My hair was not really drying.

So then I got out my fancy dancy curling iron.

My hair still seemed kind of wet. Oily.

What could I do? It was time to go.

Apparently you should not soak your hair in Jean Nate’ bath oil. Lesson learned.

greasy gross mess.

And for me, this really was just the beginning of my awkward years…things would get much worse before they got better.

I see your true colors.

 

Why, HELLO there beautiful!

yes, I am talking to you.

Tis’ Friday again. The summer is flying by me so fast, I can’t get a handle on it.

And I feel dizzy too. But maybe that is just me, the dizzy part anyway.

LoLo has gone to spend a week with her Grandparents at their lake house.

That was a warning for all you fish. SWIM AWAY NOW!!!!

She is supposed to turn 17 while she is there.  I told her, “if she ain’t here, then it ain’t gonna happen.”

(yes, I get a little bit ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ when bossing around)

But I suppose she will grow up whether I keep my eyes open, or closed. We will celebrate next week when she is home and her sister will be back from camp.

I swear, this was her just last week.

On the top of her birthday list: shoes, sharpies and some violent movies.

Remind me to buy stock in sharpies, ok? She loves them.

She and a friend purchased this t-shirt…it comes black and white and you color in with your sharpies.

 

They are going to make it the T-shirt of the traveling sisters. (Like the movie: traveling pants)

My weekend? cleaning/organizing, ironing, laundry, maybe even starting a new book?

Tis’ but a dream. 

Pleas tell me you are doing something exciting and fun while I am slaving lounging away.

Bee sweet!

Bee colorful!

Bee organized!

Funny thing is, we never asked for a parrot.

 

 

Cocoa’s sissiness during rain storms is getting to be ridiculous. Now, she gets kooky as soon the sky clouds up.  Thunder? Lighting? Fuuuuggget about it.

Coach was home during the day this weekend and was able to witness it first hand.

Did I say ‘witness’?? He had no choice, she was practically sitting on his shoulder.

You can see Ozzie on the couch doing his ‘stressed out storm’ panting pose.

They both do this daily…sunshine state? yep, but it rains most every afternoon in the summer.

Believe it or not, up until we adopted Ozzie, Cocoa never had an issue with weather.  He did and still does.  She caught it from him.

Now though, she has surpassed him by leaps and bounds, it is so annoying.

The constant panting. The shaking. The following. It is like having a 6th grade boyfriend again.

I am over it.

I don’t know what will happen when/if we have a hurricane…there will be some drugs involved.   Either for her or US.

Once I grow a mango tree, the Food Network will be calling.

I have bragged before about my amazing salsa making talents.. surprise, it does not end there.

I am also a semi-professional mango salsa maker. 

Never mind the fact that both of these dishes do not require measuring or cooking of any kind. That should not stop Food TV from producing a show based on my two supreme recipes. 

Of course, it would be a two show deal.

I would require a contract and payment up front. Surely they may not like how condescending I am once I have my own show.

Back to the mango salsa.

And to think about 6 years ago, I did not even like mangos. Ok, I still don’t really like mangos, but I love mango salsa.

Don’t ask.

If you have never tried it, you must. I insist. And if you don’t, well this friendship of ours will never last.

For this smallish batch I used:

4 mangos. (not too soft, not too hard; Just right said Goldilocks.)

1/2 an onion. (I prefer red, but I only had white)

A bunch of fresh cilantro. (I love this herb so much I might just marry it)

Juice of one lime

2 smallish jalapenos.

(I have heard that pineapple adds a sweet twist to this as well)

And now for the bestest kitchen hint I could ever share with you. If you already knew this, please don't bruise my ego…keep it to yourselves.

ok, to peel a mango, all you have to do is score the skin in quarters and then…guess what?

The skin comes off in quarters. (see above)

I know, it is crazy cool.

Seriously. It took me years to figure this out.

All those times I peeled a slippery mango only to lose most of the mango meat in the peel…..proves I should watch the food network even more! Well, I will after I get my own show.

 

   

This salsa is awesome on top of a nice fresh piece of fish too. Or old fish, in case you live in Nebraska. 

You can thank me now.

 Next week tune in and I will show you how to open a can of creamed corn.

I give so much, it is exhausting.