Table Treasure

This is the interesting table I found at the antique mall to use in Harry's room as a bedside table.  It is some kind of metal game table that is very unique and the perfect size for the spot I want to use it. 

You can see in the picture it is a little dinged up on top with some rust marks, but I had an idea of how to deal with that. I ordered a handy dandy cheap silicone dish drying mat off of Amazon and it arrived this afternoon!  I flipped the mat upside down so the smooth surface was facing up!  I didn't have to glue it or anything!  I think it looks great! 

With the silicone mat on the table his phone, computer and/or a drink will stay put and won't have to sit directly on the metal.   BONUS....the mat covers up the rust spots! 

Here is a picture of it in Harry's room! 

I used a binder clip to hold an iPhone charger in place on top of the table so you don't have to dig around for it all the time.  I am super pleased with this treasure!

Now about that ottoman!   

I Can't Breathe

 I can't breathe inside my house because of this....

Why is the self cleaning function on an oven so dang stinky!  Could it be because I let about two years worth of spilled and burnt food build up in there before I hit the clean button!  Am I the only one who does that?  

You guys made me feel better about getting into my pajamas early, so reach out and let me know how often you clean your oven?  Unless, you clean your oven every month or so then I do not want to hear from you. 

I spent a good amount of time outside Sunday afternoon, giving all the front yard things a good haircut and picking up more damn leaves!  My word, the leaves!  So many little tiny oak leaves.  

Loads and loads of leaves, branches and weeds picked up in the front yard.  Looks nice and tidy, although I do feel like those two big pots are screaming for some color.  I have no luck with live flowering plants in these pots so I am seriously going to look at some fake flowers!  You just wait and see!  

Also, great news....I did NOT cut the extension cord in half!  There is always next weekend when I tackle the backyard! 

Now, let's address the breathing outside situation with all this pollen!  This is a side view of my car door.  Do you see all the yellow stripes?  That is pollen. 

The pollen is a really pretty shade of yellow and it is on everything!  We have several days of rain in the forecast this week and that will help tremendously in washing this stuff away.  Then I will be able to wash all the back patio furniture and my car and maybe it will stay clean for a while!  

Finally, here are some pretty lovely meals I made this weekend. 

Potatoes, onions, red and yellow pepper, jalapeños all fried up on a cast iron skillet and topped with an egg.  Felt like I was camping - and I don't even camp!  Delicious. 

Sunday sandwich.  Have you tried Dave's Killer Bread?  If not, you must.  It is so good. It has big seeds in it that fall out when you take a bite.  Really, really seriously good.  And the bread comes with a great story of restoration and hope.  Dave came out of a 15 year prison sentence, re-joined his family bakery business and worked his butt off to come up with this new bread recipe that is a huge hit.  It is the number one organic bread in America.  Now about a third of their employees have a prior criminal background and the bakery gives them a second chance by employing them and they are slaying it!  Dave gives them a chance and they are helping him right back by working hard to make the business grow.  I enjoy a story like that....but mostly I really like the bread!  

Add in some pickles and it is lunch time perfection! 

Hope your weekend was spectacular and you are able to breathe inside and outside!

Ten Random Tidbits

It has been a great weekend so far!  I have a ton of yard work to get to today, but just thought I would touch base with a few random tidbits.  Basically, I am going to quickly fire out what is rolling around in this old noggin of mine and then go fire up my electric hedge clippers!

• I volunteered at HopeAustin yesterday and helped bag up 2,100 bags of food for at risk children in our school district. It is hard work - hauling cases of cans and macaroni and cheese and oatmeal, setting up assembly lines, filling the bags, tying the bags, hauling the filled bags back inside for storage.  It is also rewarding work.  Young people turn out to help, along with lots of moms.  The ladies who run the organization are exceptional. So invested in children and making the world a better place. I leave there a sweaty mess, but profoundly grateful that services like this exists to get food to children who need it and that I get to be a small part of it.  Good stuff! 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Harry graduates from college on May 8th.  Wow.  That four years went fast.  No job yet, but if you have any connections in the sports world he is looking for a job in communications or media relations!  College level, minor leagues, just anywhere he can put his sports journalism skills to use! 

• The Austin bomber was caught last week. Thank God. And yet, I received a box from Walmart yesterday and hesitated before opening it.  

• Cooper is doing so great on his medication. I took him (and Martha) on an hour and a half walk  Friday night and then he slept from 11:00 pm until 10:00 am Saturday morning!  He is sleeping upstairs with me now most nights and he curls up at the end of the bed and doesn't move.  Way different than before medication when he was banned from upstairs because he would frantically attack every pillow in sight and systematically carry any shoe, sock, pillow, towel, piece of dirty clothes downstairs to the landing.  He also would try to bite your feet when you tried to go up or down the stairs.  Now he just lets you walk like a normal person and he ambles along beside you like a regular dog.  It is quite a revelation. 

• Super Random.  On our daily short drive to school or home from school, Chip hits me with some weird random facts.  This one stuck with me....when a male bee has sex with a queen bee his testicles explode and he dies.  Ouch.

• I went antiquing yesterday afternoon with a couple of my friends and it was so fun!  I haven't been in an antique store in a long time and the minute I stepped through the door and smelled that antique smell I had a rush of happiness!  I was on the hunt for an interesting side table for Harry's bedroom and we scoured every nook and cranny of the place and found one!  It is the neatest little metal game table that has two sides that can be raised or lowered. One side has green felt on it.  I am going to make a few modifications to it, and will post pictures soon!  I also found a cute Easter sign and a white coffee cup straight out of a diner.  I love drinking coffee at a diner and I don't know why it has never occurred to me to get a similar coffee cup for home.  Now I have one and I am already enjoying it this morning!   I am still on the hunt for an old ottoman I can recover for my living room, so more antiquing/junking/yard sale hunting to come! 

• Martha took me to see I Can Only Imagine last night!  It was so, so good!  It is a movie about the story behind Mercy Me's breakout single "I Can Only Imagine".  It was painful and beautiful and I cried and was furious.  People are so broken.  God is so good.  Go see it. 

• I am thinking about getting some fake flowers to put in my big outdoor flower pots.  Does that mean I am officially an old lady?  Do I care?  

• This tweet is hilarious!  My friend Sheri sent this to me and I have laughed over and over at it.  Super funny because I have a hydration pack and hiking sticks!  Also, it makes me want to plan another hiking expedition with my girls. 

• I have three friends who have kids who are getting married and two that are going to be first time grandma's!  I can't wait for wedding shower/baby showers to start happening!  Is there anything better than celebrating young love and new life?  The best! 

That is it!  My brain is empty.  Time for breakfast and yard work....and maybe one more cup of coffee in my new cup!  Need lots of caffeine so hopefully I don't cut the extension cord in half with my clippers!  I speak from personal experience! 

Hope the rest of your weekend is lovely! 

Dental Emergency

I wish I could go to the dentist and visit the lovely people that work there and not have them ruin our afternoon by looking in my mouth!  I mean, the people at my dentist office are so nice and fun and interesting and caring that you want to hang out with them, but I need them to put away all the drilling things and the pokey things.  I don't have a great history with dentists which means I am a scaredy cat pain in the neck when I go there.

Tuesday night, I was minding my own business chewing on a caramel when all the sudden there was a rock in my caramel.  I pulled it out of my mouth to investigate and saw lots of silver gravel.  Uh Oh!  That sticky caramel had pulled out one of my ancient silver fillings.  Immediately, my tongue started darting around my mouth to see where the hole was. I found it. It felt HUGE!  It didn't seem like I had any tooth left.  I was afraid to breathe for fear that my nerve was exposed and it would hurt like hell.  Thankfully, it did not.

I immediately sent a text to my sweet friend Pam, who is also my dental hygienist.  She is from Tennessee and we never have a visit where we do not talk about biscuits and gravy at some point.  I love her.

So, I give her the low down on what happened and this is how our conversation went:

Me:  OMG, I was eating a caramel and a giant old filling came out of my tooth!
Pam:  Lower Left?
Me:  Yes.  What is happening right now?  How did you know that?
Pam:  I don't know.  I remember people's teeth better than their names.
Me:  Are you kidding me right now?  Is that a Super Power?
Pam:  Why in the world were you eating a caramel?  They are good for nothing!
Me:  Who wants to live in a world without caramels?
Pam:  Come in tomorrow and we will fix it.
Me:  Okay. Why can't I keep my tongue out of it?  Why is that a thing?
Pam:  Tongues are nosy.

I called the next morning and they were going to try to work me in.  They had a late cancellation and called at 11:15 to see if I could be there at 11:30.  The office is so close to my house that I made it with four minutes to spare!

They are so patient with me and told me what was going to be needed to get that tooth repaired. We agreed on a plan and they asked if I wanted the nitrous oxide to help me relax.  I have only had it one other time, but remembered it being awesome so I gave a big thumbs up to that!  They hooked me up to the gas, put some headphones on with some music and it was AWESOME!   They could have literally pulled every tooth in my head and I would not have cared one little bit!

I am now sporting a temporary crown that will be replaced with a permanent crown in a few weeks. Hats off to Dr. Friedrich and his team for making a bad situation, not just bearable, but downright pleasant!  They are the best!

Birthday Box

My Harry is having a birthday soon, so we put together a little birthday box to send him.  It won't be as good as celebrating in person, but hopefully it will show him how much he is loved and celebrated!  I saw this cute idea on Pinterest to line the inside of the box with festive wrapping paper and thought it was great.  

We included a pizza made of money in the box, because cash is where it is at for college kids! 

Zoom in on this picture and look at Harry when he dressed up like a slice of pizza for Halloween.  I think he was six or seven years old.  I want to kiss his face.  HARD.

ADORABLE! 

We added in a few other goodies and snacks and shipped it off to him today!  

It should arrive in plenty of time for his birthday.  

I sure wish I could pack a hug and a kiss from his mom in that box!  

I guess socks and underwear will have to do! 

Pretty Food

Nothing like going to the beach (even when you wear long tights and sweatshirts the whole time) that makes you want to eat a little better!  I have been cooking with lots of seafood and trying to spend a little time making pretty food.  Also, OBSESSED with marinated onions on EVERYTHING!  I need an intervention! 

I was super proud of this salad. It was delicious. 

Leftovers for lunch the next day. 

Shrimp Tacos - spicy, tasty, delicious!  Where are the onions?  

Steak and eggs, along with more marinated onions!  

I need to clean out the fridge today and make some kind of hodge podge frittata to use up the veggies!  Plus, get some more marinated onions going!  I am already looking forward to it! 

Pray With Me....

I am going to take a few minutes in the middle of this day to share a few things I am praying about.  If you would like to join me that would be most excellent.

• There was a tornado in Jacksonville Alabama last night that hit the Jacksonville State University campus.  My nephew goes to college at JSU.  I texted him to make sure he was okay and he said he was in a cellar with his baseball teammates and they were okay.  So grateful he is okay, but wonder how it felt to walk out of the cellar and see that devastation.  Love and light going out to him today and all those folks that have to pick up the pieces and figure out what is what.  My aunt is also in Jacksonville and she escaped with no damage or injury.  So thankful. 

• My fabulous sister-in-law had a hysterectomy this morning.  Waiting on news that the surgery went well was hard, and when the text came in that it was over I was very grateful. She will heal but I am praying her recovery goes exceptionally well and she is not in much pain. 

• Bombs in Austin are on my last nerve.  Cut the crap, whoever is setting them off.  Seriously.  Enough.  That seems more like a rant than a prayer, but sometimes that is just how it comes out. They keep saying to be careful, but I have no training on how to avoid tripwires or teach my children how to avoid them!  Praying they catch the bomber quickly. 

• Another school shooting.  UGH!  Jesus, make it stop. 

In search of some good news, I don't have to look very far.  It is a gorgeous day today. Chip was up and out early this morning for football camp. I had a quick but lovely visit to the park to let Cooper and Tibi romp around early this morning. I felt the sun on my face. Everything is blooming. Work is going smoothly. Coffee. Homemade bread is rising on the stove.  My dog is sprawled out in the backyard just loving life.  I have a walk with friends to look forward to tonight.  I am choosing to focus on the little moments of loveliness in my day so I don't get bogged down in the sad and scary.  Sad and scary blows.  Choose Joy!

How's Cooper?

While I was at the beach, Cooper had his best stay ever at the kennel where I board him!  They were just pleased as punch with Prozac Cooper!  

What I realized since having him home is that three Prozac a day really make him a little too lethargic and he sleeps a ton.  Make no mistake, I have enjoyed drugged up Cooper and it has been a very pleasant couple of weeks since he started his medication.  But in addition to sleeping a lot he also isn't eating that much.  I have decided to knock down his Prozac to two pills a day and see how that works for him.  Hopefully, it will give him some emotional balance, but not kill his appetite. 

I woke up sleeping beauty today to take him to the dog park.  He was raring to go when he got in the car!  He did not chew up the new mat or bark the entire way to the park.  Both improvements! 

It was a bit muddy at the dog park because it rained last night and this morning.  

Cooper did not care one little bit. 

He was kind enough to take several baths in the water troughs to wash himself off!  Muddy mess!  I blame Tibi for his love of sitting in the water trough.  She taught him that! 

Then he met a new friend Bo and they chased and chased and chased each other for a long time. 

Then they did this even longer.  

Good times!  

All in all, things are improving with Cooper and I am hopeful that by tweaking his medication we can find a sweet spot to keep him balanced and happy!   This morning I woke up and found him sleeping on the landing of the stairs, just like his predecessor Astro used to do.  It made me smile. 

Olive Oil Tour

This past Saturday, me and some of my girls took a trip to the Texas Hill Country to visit an Olive Oil  Company.  We were going to take a tour of the facility, learn a lot about olive oil and then enjoy lunch in their fabulous little bistro!  What a fantastic day we had! 

Clearly, I need to keep my sunglasses handy or learn how not to take a picture staring into the sun.  I have a big time squinting problem - but don't Sheri, Sandy and Lori look precious?  Why wasn't the sun in their eyes?  I do not know. 

We arrived in plenty of time before our tour and got to browse through the very cute store!  

They had so many really unique items and great gifts! 

I LOVED this pitcher!  

Is that great, or what?  

They also had tons of balsamic vinegars you could taste!  I love vinegar and so I parked myself in front of this station and tasted to my hearts content!  My top favorites - Red Apple, Blackberry, Raspberry and Wild Cherry!  At one point, I told Sheri I was going to be licking the little tiny sample cups to get all the vinegar out that the bread didn't soak up!  I did, too!  I'm super classy! 

There was also time for a beautiful cup of coffee.  Why is coffee so good out of a little white cup?  Something about it just makes it better!  This was a VERY good cup coffee! 

The bistro was prepping pizza crusts in the back kitchen where we waited for the tour to start.  

The smell was amazing!  Lunch was going to be good! 

We were so lucky to have our tour done by the owner.  He was fascinating and taught us so much about olive oil!  We had a little history lesson and back ground information on the back patio and then got to walk out to the olive trees!  John said they had been really worried about how the trees would respond to the super cold weather we had in January, and that very Saturday morning he saw the first signs of new blooms!  He was relieved and so happy that they were going to get some olives this year!  After that we got to go see the equipment that mills the olives into oil and learned so much about that process!  What a labor of love it is!  

Harry called about five minutes after I walked in the house from our adventure and I blabbed on and on for about ten minutes about olive oil and all I learned.  He was cracking up when I finally took a breath and said "Wow, that was some intense information about a topic I never thought I cared about or ever wanted to know."  But it was really quite interesting, so I just had to share! 

After the tour we grabbed a seat in the bistro and ordered lunch! 

Doesn't that look fantastic?  It was! 

We did more shopping and stocked up on really good olive oil and balsamic vinegar!  

I have been cooking hard with it since yesterday!  I also picked up this darling car freshener with a stellar message! 

It was a great way to spend an afternoon and I would definitely go back!  

Sister's Beach Trip

I hope you already read my previous post "Amazing Race - New Orleans Wedding Edition" for the travel summary of our Sister's Beach Trip weekend.  It was a whirlwind of adventure!  Here is the rest of our beach trip!

We arrived (without incident or delay) to Gulf Shores on Sunday afternoon and it was pretty windy and overcast, but oh the absolute joy of seeing and hearing the ocean!   Medicine for my soul!

Beth's condo was gorgeous and we unpacked and got settled while we waited on my sister, The Nice One to arrive!  She rolled in about an hour later.  Happy, happy, joy, joy! 

We couldn't wait to get our feet in the sand and headed down to the beach to take a stroll. 

We ended up strolling about three miles down to the state pier.  Rut Roh!  Now we have to go back! 

Guess who had to pee on the way back?  Yep, it was me. There was NO WHERE to go because we were down by the desolate state park area so I had no choice but to climb into the protected sand dunes and go out in the wilderness.  My sister was kind enough to make sure I went far enough to not been seen from the beach (never mind, I was probably seen from the road!) and she acted really preoccupied with searching for shells while I took care of business!  I told you she was The Nice One!  

We solved all the worlds problems and caught up on every single thing we could think of!  It was a long six mile walk on the sand, but we could not have been happier!  

The sun set on this gorgeous beach as we made it back to the condo!  We all shared a big spread of bread, cheese, crackers, salami, fruit and yogurt!  It was a light, delicious and perfect dinner!  No dishes and barely any clean-up.  Heck yea! 

Then we got into some beauty products and had a little spa evening.  Look at these masks!  

Have you ever seen anything like this?  We laughed so much that we could hardly keep them on our face!  Mine was a detox max!  I am about 99.5% sure it was unsuccessful!  

We hit the bed about 9:30 p.m.  My kinda night! 

The next morning dawned and with the early bedtime and time change, we were all on the balcony for the sunrise.  Please note, there are no longer any waves in the ocean.  It was more like a lake for the rest of our stay.  So calm and peaceful and extraordinary for dolphin watching! 

Let's capture this sunrise! 

Woah.

Thanks God.  We see you!  You are pretty spectacular!

It looked beautiful, but still a bit chilly and a lot windy!  Winds were whipping at 20 mph...at the beach that seems like a hurricane!   Good thing I had my big, blue fleece robe and trusty slippers to cozy up in on the balcony! 

If you stepped around the corner of the building, the wind would knock you down!  We had to run to the car to get something and ran into a couple in the elevator coming from the beach.  We asked them if it was calmer down on the beach and they laughed and said they had just taken a blast of sand to the face and called it quits.  Yikes!  That sounds painful.  We decided to do some inland activities instead and wait for the wind to die down later in the afternoon.  

This picture does not demonstrate how hard we laughed at the hand washing station we used.  The wind was blowing so hard that you could hardly rinse your hands.  It was coming out and blowing sideways.  Hilarious! 

We visited this cute little brewery that Beth and Karen had been to before. 

We shared a sample of all nine of their beers!  I bolded the word "shared" for a reason so you would not think I drank all of these myself, but also for events to come!  I was not surprised that I liked the darker ones best!  My very favorite was the one in the middle!

We grabbed lunch at Fish River Grill!  We all tried their swamp soup which was this amazing concoction of collards and beans and deliciousness!  We split some Shrimp Po'boys that had a crawfish remoulade sauce on them.  Yummy!  And they bring you a little slice of cake after your meal, just because! 

I was feeling so tired when we got back to the condo that I immediately laid down to take a nap!  

Later in the afternoon, we all four went on a stroll down on the beach. 

The wind had died down and it was lovely.   

Beaches are the best.  

We had another quiet night with a light dinner and I talked the girls into playing a couple games of Yahtzee!  You know I loved that!  

The next morning, I woke up with a scathing sore throat and a painful right ear.  I knew without much doubt that I had strep throat, which would explain my extreme tiredness from the day before.  Also, remember the beers we shared.  Everyone was so happy to know I was sick!  Whoops! 

The Nice One loaded me up and we headed to The Doc in the Box to get me diagnosed and medicated.  If you have been reading this blog for any number of years, you know my family rarely takes a vacation without someone visiting an urgent care.  This year I guess it was my turn! 

Diagnosis confirmed...strep throat along with an ear infection.  Doctor gave me a shot of antibiotics and a prescription for a ZPack.  It took most of the morning to get in with the doctor and pick up meds, but we made the most of it. 

While we were at the doctor, Beth and Karen made a trip over to Sassy Donuts and picked up some donuts!  They were awesome good!  Bacon on a donut should be a regular thing!   

This was our last full day and getting down to the beach was a must!  We took some chairs and sat close enough that occasionally a wave would wash up to our feet. The best!  You remember Ellie, my new best friend?  Almost every single picture on her Facebook page she throws her arms up in the air in celebration!  That's what we decided to do!  Be more like Ellie! 

We went to an early dinner where I finally got hold of the steamed seafood I was craving!  I really wanted blue crabs, but there were just none to be had this time of the year.  These royal reds were a lovely second choice!  So good! 

One final night watching the sun go down on this little piece of paradise!

It was a great trip with awesome people and I would go back in a red hot second!