How sweet it is, to be loved.

We had a beautiful and sick weekend. What? You CAN have both.  {I am feeling better. I think}
Well, wait a minute...what am I thinking? beautiful?
A semi-hurricane hit us Friday night. {hurricane Rina} Ok, maybe a tropical depression? It rained HARD for 12 straight hours. I should have known it was coming....if only I read the paper or watched the news.
But I prefer NOT to do either of those.
And really, I slept about 9 of those hours.

So, we had a little flood outside when I awoke Saturday morning. Cocoa was excited that we finally had waterfront property. That'll bring back the housing market. No?

This is a hazy shot at a little after 7am.

and a few minutes later, I realized my neighbor was also outside looking at his flooding.

and a second later, I remembered I was wearing leopard print boxers. 

No wonder he always smiles at me. I just thought he was a nice guy.

We are also dealing with a lil' leak inside our house....inside my our closet. Yucky. On the upside, we will get the roof leak repaired, and I am promised a new closet! Really, it is good to be me.

The beautiful part? My MIL came over Saturday and visited....and Lolo came home for the weekend. We attended a band show and watched all of our local bands including the MOST important band. our school band.
Lots and lots of fun.
Of course, we think our band is the best. We might be a little biased. Or as Coach says: "I am SO biased, that I don't even know it"
Honestly, they ARE the best.

And for a 'feel good' moment....Linds said earlier this week: "I am so lucky that I have so many people who come watch me when I perform. Some kids never have anyone come watch them, not even their parents"
I agreed.
It is one thing to know you are loved. And it is another thing to know you are loved and LUCKY too.

Anyhoo...today is Halloween. Did ya know? Are you giving or getting candy? We don't get any trick or treaters here. I wish we did. I miss seeing all the cute lil' boogers.

Linds is going T or T-ing with a few friends. Not sure of her attire....yesterday she walked around the house in a black tutu.....she was quite cute showing all her Toddlers In Tiaras poses for me.  Along with the fake/plastic smile. Scary.

BUT there will be blood. In her words: I've never been anything scary or bloody before.
So, I suppose we start now??


Gone are the days of me throwing a butterfly or a princess costume in her direction and her loving it.
Have a great {and not so scary} day!!!!

I'm a loser and so are plastic bags.

I have been fighting a cold 'tooth and nail' since Sunday and I've lost.
What the heck does tooth and nail mean anyway?? I dunno, but it has been rattling around in my head all week. And I am a loser.
*achhhhhooooo*
The cold won on Thursday morning.

*fists in the air*

Damn you cold!!!!!

I had been drinking tons of this vitamin C supplement:

And yes, I got the kind with joint juice in it. (I swear, my hostile knee feels better!)
I've also been diligent with my meds. AKA: childrens vitamins.
I 've got plenty of rest, drank NO wine and even worked out 3 days this week.
*achooooooo*


The lesson here: If a cold virus wants you, just give in and get it over with. Go ahead, lick the germy escalator handrails at the mall.  twice.

Now, after all that medical advice, please send me your insurance card and co-pay. I accept cash. dirty, germy cash.

****

And now for a lesson in environmental awareness.
You know how many times I have told you people to stop using plastic bags? tons and tons of times, I am sick of saying it really.
*achoooo*

See this pretty face? Notice the two pretty eyes?

Well, on Friday night of last week, one of those two pretty eyes were almost ruined by a plastic bag.
I swear.
During a band competition, Linds and her dance-mates were sitting in the stands waiting for their performance time. One of her friends (earth killer) was walking around with a plastic bag...all willy nilly and accidentally hit Linds in the eye with the corner of the bag.
It hurt her.
And several hours later... after she performed on the field, the pain really came to fruition.
Her eye was bloody red (broken blood vessels) and she was a'hurting. (scratched cornea)
After some meds and cold compresses, her eye was much better by Monday morning.

*Damn those plastic bags*

Blog friends have a special place in my heart....as do our 'real' friends. And I've lost one of each this past week.   RIP Lakeland Jo. 

A few of my blog friends are being challenged right now by health issues....and that weighs heavily on my heart as well. Oy. 

If only I could quiet my mind and tell my heart that everything will be ok.  Which, I probably could, but those other voices in my brain are so loud and annoying. 

Have a beautiful weekend doing something fun with those you love. And vow not to use plastic bags!!

 (or blind anyone accidentally on purpose) 

XOXOXOOXOXOXOOXOXOXOOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXO

Hey, I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer...but I'm all hopped up on Children's Dimetapp. 

Fighting over the silver.

When my brother and I were kids, we fought over silverware. I'm talking, tripping, wedgie giving, knock down, drag outs.
{Times were tough back in the 70's.}
Well, really we fought over one spoon in particular.

The Golf Spoon.

I don't really know the intended use for this type of spoon...but it looks like a golf club.

The golf spoon was located at Grandma’s house, so it was super duper special and she only had ONE...and it certainly would not work out for a 'lefty'.


In the mornings at G’ma’s house, Mark and I would race to shout out GOLF SPOON to use with our cereal. 
In the evenings, when G’ma would spoil us with a huge bowl of ice cream, we would shout GOLF SPOON!
It was our version of 'shot gun'.


Everything tasted better with the golf spoon.


My Grandma also had grapefruit spoons. Sadly, we never fought over those..for she had more than one. And frankly, they were a little sharp for my taste.

About 12 years ago G’ma transferred to me the golf spoon, with all of it's magical powers.
I was in silverware heaven.
I told the girls our golf spoon story...and they tried to reenact my childhood by shouting “golf spoon” in the mornings too…(minus wedgies and tripping) but it fizzled out shortly afterwards.


My kids are not diehard with the silverware like Mark and I were.  {Spoiled sissies with many silverware options}




Their favorite piece of silverware in our house?


The pickle fork. {And we have more than one}


Which is hardly ever used for actual pickles...it makes a great fork for applesauce and crushed ice....they are so weird. 


Do you have any special coveted silverware?

Lets take a walk, shall we???

It's been a while since I took you fine people around the yard for a lil' look-see.

And I am sure you have been dying to know what fall looks like in my neck of the woods. Well, die no further....

Oh, put some shoes on first. Do you remember as a kid stepping into dog poop and it squishes in between your toes? It does the same thing when you are full grown. 

The his-biscuts are always in bloom. (hibiscus for normal people)

Somebody has been snacking on my his-biscuits tree. Is it you?

I put in two new beds last year. (doing the ground cover was a mistake...it keeps growing UP the house) I put in two cute ornamental bushes, one in each bed...and for the life of me, I can never remember their REAL name.

So, every time I walk by it I think:

Oh joy,  my chlamydia is blooming!!!!       

I am pretty sure that is not the real name, but it is the only one I can remember. 

Oh, now I remember..... it is a Camelia!!! Same thing, right

One of my many orchids that I ignore and they still bloom. 

Lest you think I could walk anywhere without Ozzie...clearly I can still SEE you Ozzie. 

We have this HUGE old cypress tree....I love it. It actually thins out during the winter....it is starting to lose a bit of color too. Of course, it does not turn orange, yellow or red, so I am still ripped off when it comes to fall color. Spray paint would probably work.

I really don't know what to say about this. You can take the girl out of the trailer park, but you can't take the trailer park out of the girl. 

Fall crotons. Or just crotons. They look the same all year. 

The dogs love fall weather...makes them even spunkier.

Seriously Cocoa, get OFF of your brother....the neighbors are beginning to talk.
(can dogs have gender dysmorphia?)

Remember a few months ago when I almost died weeding this garden over a two day period?

Well, this makes me want to stick a large spoon in my eye. I gotta do it again...for the love of all things neat and tidy!!!!

Our honeybell orange tree has two baby oranges!!!!

Now, that brings our total of oranges from this tree to THREE. In 9 years...not very good huh?

Our key lime tree. It actually died last year in the frost and came back. from.the.dead. 

Why can't everything come back from the dead? except for spiders...never spiders!

Did I tell you that our cats live on the lanai now?? They do. Harley is oh so vocal and meowed at us the entire time we were in the back yard. 

meow. meow. meow. meow. times 500. I politely asked him to shut his face, but he politely said: meow 500 more times. He is pretty though....for an annoying cat who has an eating disorder. 

Speaking of miracles. The Grandma Tree. It died twice and came back again. 

It seems we live just a little too far in from the gulf and are hit with many frosts during the winter. 

I hope it makes it through this year...maybe one year it will be alive in the spring and bloom for me!

And again, Ozzie is at my side. Well, considering what Cocoa does to him, I can't hardly blame him. He needs a rape whistle. 

See that wire looking thing dangling down from the top of the lanai cage. That is supposed to be attached to the next cage area for hurricane type winds.  It is broke. That means, if we have a hurricane, then my neighbors will have our pool cage. I'll invoice them for it too. 

Ok, now take OFF your shoes and come inside and sit down, put your feet up...I'll fix you a glass of lemonade....now where did I leave that bottle of vodka?

Have a beautiful weekend!!!

Happy {fake} Birthday

Please don't call PETA or Family Services, but I almost forgot Ozzie's {fake} birthday yesterday.
I know, I am horrible. Still, I have a feeling he will forgive me, because he is easy like that. Easy like Sunday morning....

It was three years ago yesterday that we adopted him from the Boxer rescue group.
For his birthday? I sang to him a couple of times. He seems to be the only one in the house who tolerates my singing. Of course, after being on the streets and homeless/hungry, you will tolerate just about anything for a meal.



I also gave him a birthday banana. A birthday banana is exactly like similar to a regular banana, but it tastes different on your birthday. And he still has to share with Cocoa.
And to make his day just perfect, I gave both of them a bath. Ok, they would have loved to skip this part, but it was needed. At least, I gave them an inside bath...with warm water.

I'm a giver.

I really wish we knew his 'real' age....maybe 6? Or 8??? No one likes my idea of cutting off something and counting the rings to find his real age. Anyhoo...I should know "age is just a number"...he is young at heart!

if I had a dollar for every dollar we have spent on him healthwise, well, we would have more money in the bank right now.

What'cha gonna do?

I tried my darndest to add in a video of Ozzie and his vocal ways....every day at 4pm he starts 'talking' to me...but I was having issues loading it for ya. Next time.
Hey, go hug an animal...and if you don't have one at home, there are plenty that need YOU.
xoxox

Breakfast; It's what's for breakfast.

Did you know that I have my very own breakfast chef???

 He usually only works on Sundays, but considering what I am paying him, I don't complain. 

And cooking breakfast for me, really isn't a walk in the park.

• I can't even think about breakfast before I have my cup of coffee. Coffee for me is an appetizer and breakfast is my main course. The two can never be shared together. 

• I love eggs, but you'll never catch me eating a yolk. Nosirreebobcattail. 

My chef knows these important points. 

He knows just how I like my vittles, and this past sunday, he brought it up a notch with the 'presentation.'

Sliced 'maters, egg whites over-well, salsa and crispy bacon. He added some italian seasonings for the fun of it. 

Yes, I noticed the chef made a mess on the table, but I refrained from complaining, I know a good thing when I have it.

Do you do breakfast???

Weekend Smeekend.

Thank you all for the well wishes for the Coach this weekend. I think he had a good birthday....hard to tell with someone who really doesn't care for birthdays one way or the other. Me? You'd better fuss over me or expect a shanking, but he could really care less.

We were busy Friday and Saturday, and come Sunday, it was pretty mellow. It was actually a cloudy, gray, and dreary day. I liked it. How many sunny days can one endure???

Lo had a few games on Saturday and in her 'off time' we had a family lunch. Coach's Mom and Stepdad drove to our neck of the woods (2 1/2 hours) to watch a game and have buy lunch. I know. THEY Are AMAZING.

My MIL, The birthday boy and my FIL. {I love them more than words can express.}

My favorite children. So far. {Lo has to ice her shoulder after each game, attractive huh?}

 My MIL got her nails done in honor of LoLo.

She had her nails decorated few years ago in Lo's high school colors:

She is SO dedicated, I am waiting for her to mention a #99 tattoo.  I just don't want to think of where she might put it.

How was your weekend???

Frogs, bee's and a topless birthday boy.

Have you seen anything as cute and unique as this? 

I knew you didn't. 

Tres' cool??? Si. 

This outdoor piece of art was given to me by Coach's Mom and Stepdad and made by Coach's aunt. I know, a family full of cool peeps. 

I wanted to rip it apart and take the coffee mug off because of the bee's. But I resisted. The plates are pretty spectacular too...and a margarita glass and martinis....

I could not decide where to put this baby....I wanted to put it out by my feeders and put seed on it for the birdies. Then I remembered I had dogs. And squirrels. And crashes happen. 

 So it will reside on the lanai on our dining table. Have you seen a cuter frog surrounded by friendly bee's?? Of course NOT. 

Guess who has a birthday today???

Mr. Man himself; Da' Coach. 

I wish he still wore this outfit. 

Did you know, he actually did NOT wear a shirt until he was 35. Most of our old photos are of him topless. 

All my topless photos are missing. 

If someone had told me 20 years ago that I would be madly in love with a 46 year old man, I would have said: "Ewww....grody, I'm gonna barf!"

You'll be glad to know he never ever makes me want to barf. I'm no marriage counselor, but we'll  take that as a good sign.

Happy birthday Sweetheart...you are still the best boyfriend ever!!!

I hope everyone has a happy weekend. And if you are over the age of 4, keep your shirt on. 

The power of FOUR

Another one of those afternoons, making my way through the school pick up line, waiting for my baby. Oh, there she is, no longer a 'real' baby. She comes bouncing to the car with her loaded backpack and dance bag. "Do you want to drive today?" No, I'll let you do it today Mom.

We are off to the Dr's for a scheduled shot. Her day was great, as it usually is. Her car snack today? An almost brand new box of Cheese Its.

I look over and see that she has neatly stacked FOUR cheese-its and swiftly all four are plopped into her mouth.

I laugh...and notice that she again does the same thing. FOUR.

Four is her number.

I ask her about this and she says she must do all things so that they add up to four.

Again, she pulls out four cheese-its and silently counts as she puts one in her mouth...then two...then three...then four. Then she starts over again.

This brings me to giggles. I try to drive and still watch her work on those crackers.
I ask for some.
How many does she give me? FOUR.
NOT three. NOT five.
She tells me that "if I don't eat them in the correct way, then I can't partake because I will mess things up."

This gives me more than the giggles. I am in full on belly laugh while driving. and while eating my FOUR crackers.

I inquire further, because I must know the method to her madness.
"What if you have a partial cracker, a cracked cracker?"
"Well, it depends on how big it still is...and what my mood is too. Sometimes I just save those for last."
Again, I am laughing.

I reach over for the box of crackers, trying to get MY hand in there.
She pulls it back and states: "you won't do it right, let me"
again, I am given my FOUR crackers.

I know, this is some form of OCD. I know we all have 'our thing'....and I realize that this is something ELSE that she and I can laugh at.


I ask more questions. And get more silly answers that make perfect sense to her.
Pretty soon, we are both laughing.

But still, she is counting. One. Two. Three. Four....
and all is right in her world.

~On Slang~

I will never stop trying to 'make up' words while playing words with friends.

And this one, I am sure that I DID NOT MAKE UP!

 Someone else made it up before me. 

It may not be acceptable in this game, but it  is acceptable in certain circles. 

You might have heard my bubble burst when I was denied my 40+ points. 

*Snap*