We interrupt our regularly scheduled post

For a Concussion! See this? This light/chandelier/head crusher is hanging in my dining room! This horrid thing came with the house, and until recently it was starting to grow on me - not so much anymore!

I'm tall and I am constantly running into this thing! It hurts! It leaves a huge knot on my head, every time!! One might think that I would eventually learn to duck, but I guess not?

If our dining room was actually used for dining and the table was actually sitting under the light, I suppose we wouldn't have this nasty problem - but we don't have the table sitting in the middle of the room and we don't use it for dining! This room is basically our junk/computer/sewing/school project room - a huge mess that is on my agenda to 'get to' eventually!

In the meantime, I've gone to the Home Depot and purchased a shiny new fan and light kit. I am going to patiently wait an appropriate amount of time (to be determined by my mood) before I start nagging at my husband to switch and replace the offending fixture!

As it is, I'm still nursing a nasty bump on my head and each morning as I shower and shampoo and feel the painful knot on my head, I'm reminded of just how much I hate that light! I can assure you I will promptly forget about this issue as soon as the new fixture is installed and the head crusher is moved to an appropriate location, preferably into the attic and not just on the garage floor with all of the other 'get to' projects that abound in our home....

Oh... it's a continuing saga....

Not your mamma's girdle...

Well, my dear blogging friends - the time has come! I'm quickly approaching 40 and it's becoming ever so obvious that even though I can loose a few pounds here and there, I'm never going to get back to the once taught abs or buns of yesteryear! Oh, I'm sure that if I hired some hunky trainer and spent my days working out and eating tofu, I could regain those lost years of fit and thin, but seriously - who's gonna do carpool and laundry for me?

We all know that the possibility of anyone stepping in to take over my domestic duties, whilst I work out to obtain the body of a model, is absolutely NOT going to happen! So, with this said I've researched and discovered other methods that I'm pursuing to assist in obtaining a more defined figure and much less jiggly!

Oh I've not given up the diet, I'm just looking to other more obtainable methods... i.e.. the girdle! LOL Now let me clarify this - I CAN NOT and WILL NOT wear the old bone hard girdles that our mothers sported - it's just not happening! I enjoy breathing and I absolutely detest the feeling of having my insides bunched and punched up onto my diaphragm. Therefore I have recently discovered these lovely inventions.... SPANX!

These are a fabulous invention! This past weekend I made my first SPANX purchase and quickly realized that these little lovelies are worth their weight in gold - yahoo -- I'm no longer bulging in the wrong places!! LOL I highly recommend them for those unsightly little bulges, and you know you have them! If you don't have those obnoxious bulges, then we just can't be friends any longer - 'cause I can't deal with perfect people! :)

Seriously blog world, you must obtain a pair of these wonderfully hidden miracle girdle-pantie things! They are surprisingly comfortable and really do make those uncomfortable clothes fit and feel much nicer.

So there you have it - my product endorsement for the day!

We marry 'em off early in the South....

Well maybe not literally - LOL - but this was the play performed by the 2nd grade class, the play is a spin-off of a book the class has been reading, "The Prince Bubba Gets Married". I must admit, they were precious acting out their extra-twangy-country bumpkin parts! Briley was the bride, Mizz Lurleen -simply because she had the red boots to fit the part! Well?? What other reason is there? :)


All of the kids seemed to have a great time and we can finally stop practicing 'our' lines at home! I'm proud to say that the play went off without a hitch and Mizz Lurleen and Bubba sealed their marriage with a hand shake and lived happily every after!

If I didn't know better, I would swear that she was about to break out into a verse of "Love Story" by Taylor Swift -because I guarantee Briley knows every single word to the song.

Ahhhh... the life and times of 2nd grade!

For all of you Southern Divas.... or the wanna be's....

I have found the book for you! This little gem is easy light hearted reading and is absolutely hilarious! I'm so glad to know that so many of my 'hang ups' or 'issues' have a root - it's because I'm Southern and I was raised by a Southern Mama!

Finally, an answer to why I am the way I am!

You really should give yourself a treat and just sit back and laugh out loud as you read about your own childhood and learned behaviors. Who knew?

This book explains so much about strong southern influences that helped to shape and mold the Southern Divas we are today!

You can also check out other goodies on the author's website!

Check out my lastest find...

I'm not sure if I have shared with you my fetish... uh.. uh.. I mean passion for chickens and roosters? I can't quite explain it, but they just call out to me? I remember the YEARS of lying in the old rod-iron beds at my grandmother's house and listening through the open windows and hearing the sounds of life, just outside in her yard. She had a yard full of these little precious creatures. For me, the noise of the busy chickens takes me back to a time in my life when all was right and good - when I had no responsibility and life was easy!

Maybe I'm searching for that feeling of peace... or maybe I just like chickens? I really don't know? Basically, I'm just glad that roosters and chickens have found their way back to being popular and the latest fashion craze in kitchens!

I stumbled upon these goodies at my local Hancock's Store and it was meant to be.... why else would they have been 50% off? I mean - seriously - they called out to me!!

And of course I had to have the pair... DUH???

It was meant to be, I tell ya'.... FATE!

Fun under the Big Top!

And here are the pictures that I managed to take, before my camera battery died - wouldn't you know it? The girls also rode on an elephant, but by that time the camera battery was beyond dead and as usual, I didn't even think about taking pictures with my cell phone... oh well? I guess they will have a good excuse to ride an elephant some other time, so I can get pictures!


--- First up are the Tigers ---Not quite as impressive as the Vegas Circus acts, but good enough for our small town and I can assure you that I wouldn't get in the ring with these lovely creatures!


Next we have the clowns... they were actually quite funny and really interacted with the audience.

The Elephants are much larger in life and soooooo close up

Oh and here we have Bailey - being way tooooo cool to have her mom take a picture of her at the Circus - PULEEEZE!!! LOL


No circus is complete without the acrobats...this woman could hook her foot in that rope and swing for what seemed like forever - while hanging upside down. YIKES!!! I wonder if she suffers with migraines?

This guy was already on a stand that was a good 8 feet off of the ground and then he had the nerve to climb on top of these rolling coffee cans.... LOL ... better him than me!


And last but not least - we saw the hula-hoop lady - I don't think I've ever had body parts that moved in as many different directions as she had. I'm barely coordinated enough to keep one hula-hoop moving, much less 20 or more!

So there you have it - a brief glimpse at the circus that came to town! The girls and I really did have a fun time and it was great mid-week entertainment, even if a teeny tiny bag of cotton candy was a whopping $4..... oh well - it's all in the name of fun? Right? LOL

Wanna See What We did over Spring Break?

Hold on to your hats... 'cause the excitement is going to be more than you can handle ---

See I told you... Sheer excitement! Briley spent most of the week tumbling and flip flopping through our living room. On a rare occassion did I actually see her feet on the ground. She seems to prefer walking on her hands these days!

Next up is Bailey and the never ending pitching practice. (**Side Note - the house and yard in the picture are our junk yard neighbors - ugh)

Sorry these pictures are larger than life - I can't seem to make Photobucket cooperate?

Check back later after I've had a chance to resize and clean up my pictures from the circus!

It's a CIRCUS around here...

Literally - the circus came to town this morning and the Big Top is up.

I am taking the girls to this Circus Company's performance tonight, so hopefully I will have some cute pictures to share with you tomorrow.
I'm excited to just step out of our usual boring box of evening tv and dinner dishes - woo hoo - we're going to the Circus! LOL

Yes, I know what you're thinking --- and you're right -- We don't get out much and it really doesn't take much to entertain us!

Finally detoxing and it's time to go back to work~

Day 4 of being off with the girls and basically we haven't painted the town red, but we've just enjoyed taking it easy and doing nothing exciting!

Isn't this always the case - just as I have de-stressed from my job and have found a pretty decent routine to my day, it's time to go back to work! I have to go in and work on Wednesday and Thursday, but I'll be off again Friday through Saturday. I guess I should say that this was my choice - I could have taken off Wednesday too, but we all know that when I returned the work to catch up on would have been horrible. As it is, I'll have a full inbox of items that will of course need my immediate attention. Oh well? This too shall pass!

So today on our agenda is just running a few errands and picking up circus tickets. Yes, folks...the Circus is coming to our home town! Now I'm sure this isn't the big tent of years past, but it is a pretty decent size group that comes to town each year and they use the elephants to raise the big top -that was in their brochure? I guess that's a big thing? LOL

Just so happens that this year is the first time we've been able to attend or at least I don't think we have anything else scheduled. Anyway, I need to run to the local store and pick up our discounted tickets. Briley is completely pumped about seeing a circus. I guess this will be her first time to go to a circus? Hmmm?? I guess I really should get her out more? LOL

Well if any of you are following my boring Spring Break Chronicles... thanks...and maybe I'll come up with something more exciting to post about tomorrow? Who knows?

Wish I could say that I would see you all after a week of lounging on the beach and tanning my big white booty, but ......I am going to take a couple of days off of work to just hang out with my girls! I'm not sure what we will find to do and I especially enjoy not having anything scheduled.

As always, there are things that I would like to get organized and handled at home, but there's no pressure to do ANYTHING! The weather is supposed to be sunny and much warmer; you just never know what we will find to get into.

If we end up doing anything blog worthy, I will certainly take pictures and share them with you...my loyal readers... all 10 of you! And you know who you are.... wink... wink...!!!

Have a wonderful weekend! Let's all pray for warmer weather!

Let's Talk Dumplings

Now I'm a truly southern gal and I love me some dumplings! The love/addiction goes way, way back to my childhood when a dear older lady that was a close friend to my grandmother would cook a big pot of dumplings for my dad and me. Those were by far the best things that I thought would ever cross my lips!

This lady's name was Lois, and Ms.Lois would do those dumplins' up right - she started out boiling a whole chicken and deboning and the labor from there was just too intense for me to even entertain the idea that I could make them for myself. Fast-forward 30 years or so and dear Ms. Lois and gone on to meet her maker and I'm still loving me some dumplings, but the dilema was HOW could I make a pot that would be anywhere near the goodness of Ms. Lois' dumplings? I had never even asked for her recipe or much less, I've never cooked a whole chicken. Let's just say for the sake of argument, that I'm NOT EVER going to cook a whole chicken...so there's bound to be an easier way to make a pot of dumplings?

Well - low and behold - I've found it! (Okay, so maybe Paul Deen had a little influence on my recipe, but it worked - the taste was close enough to Ms. Lois' recipe that I've evolved it into a regular menu item in our house. I'm proud to say that it's a favorite of 2/3 of my girls! LOL

I'll share with you my treasured Chicken and Dumpling Recipe.... Shhhh.... Don't tell Paul Deen that I've changed her recipe up - just a tiny bit! So here it is....

Vintage Chicken's Chicken and Dumpling Recipe

4 Quarts of Water

2 10oz cans of mixed chicken (white and dark meet)

1 can cream of celery (the secret ingredient)

3 ribs of celery sliced

3 green onions chopped

1 clove garlic chopped

2 bay leaves

2 chicken bullion cubes

1 10oz can of chicken broth

1 tbl spoon of parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the above ingredients into a large stock pot and heat on high heat for 20 minutes or so... basically I just heat it long enough for me to get the dumplings made up and ready to throw in.

Dumplings:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup of ice water

Put flour in a mixing bowl. Beginning in center of flour, dribble small amount of ice water. Work mixture with fingers from center of bowl to sides of bowl, incorporating small amounts of water at a time. Continue until all flour is used up. Batter will feel as if it is going to be tough. Knead dough and form into ball.

Dust a good amount of flour onto dough board and rolling pin. Roll out dough, working from center. Dough will be firm. Roll to 1/8 inch thinness. Cut dumplings into 1-inch strips. Working with one strip at a time, hold strip over pot, pull it in half, and drop into the boiling stock. Remember, do not stir Mixtures after dumplings have been added to pot.

Cook until the dumplings float and are no longer doughy, 3 to 4 minutes.

**On a side note - I probably make double the amount of dumplings that the recipe calls for because my family LOVES the extra dumplings.

Now go hurry to the kitchen and make yourself a pot of these super easy and delicious dumplings - it's the ultimate comfort food that warms the body and the soul!

And YOU thought the preppy pink look was out of style?

Whew... it's so good to know that I'm not as 'out of style' as my children would have me to believe. For years now - well okay - for 20+ years- I have loved the preppy pink look, the green and pink plaids, the many styles of polka dots, traditional southern charm and the glamour of being a southern belle!

Well ya' know what? It's okay! I've found an entire group of ladies that feel the same way... Woo Hoo... I found my niche' ! (Don't burst my bubble.... I going to run with this as an excuse to bring back out my pink and green plaid Bermuda shorts!)

These are some great websites that will only feed my hunger for all things preppy... take a looksie and either have a great laugh at my expense or just enjoy the goodness of it all!
http://southernandpreppy.blogspot.com/
http://pinkpreppypartygirl.blogspot.com/
http://leahequalsawesome.blogspot.com/ - Always Pretty in Pink
http://savannahsouthernbelle.blogspot.com/ - Diary of a Southern Belle
http://gracioussouthernliving.blogspot.com/
http://hersoutherncharm.blogspot.com/
http://etiquettewithmissjanice.blogspot.com/ - Miss Janice

These ladies really understand what being 'southern' is all about - now all this time that my friends and family have told me I was living in a world all of my own; well here's what I have to say to you " Nuh uh!!! I'm not crazy - the old southern charm and preppy ways of life are still alive and well!"

Now if you will excuse me, I must go have a spot of tea in my pretty pink and white china cup with my little pinkie stuck up in the air!

The time change is kicking my butt! As soon as I can get my eyelids open, I'll be more production... I promise?!

Weight Loss Plateau

Well - three weeks into it and I'm still only down 7 lbs - I'm not complaining - really I'm not! However - I wanna loose a freakin' pound! Ya' know?

I guess I'm going to have to do the dreaded 'Exercise' - or maybe walk around the block a couple of times! I'm going to change up my food intake - meaning I'll eat the Dinner Entrees at Lunch and the Lunch Entrees as Dinner - I've been reading on the Nutrisystem Message Boards that sometimes the ole' switcheroo will do the trick!

I hope!

So here's my burning question - How is it possible that someone that still has some 50 pounds extra to loose can reach a plateau after only loosing 7 lbs? I mean - surely - my body realizes that it's got plenty of stored energy ..i.e.. fat stores... to use?

Towels !! Underwear!! Socks!!

I would really like to have some creative blogging topic, but I am currently buried under a pile of laundry - about 6 loads! UGH.
Sadly, I don't have the same enthusiasm that this lady does?

Welcome signs of SPRING!

Yes... Finally -- We've made it through January and February, in my opinion those are the hardest months to get through. Once March arrives, I always feel like the worst is behind me and I can again look forward to warmer weather, green grass, and sunshine! I would never survive the winter months if I had to endure snow and ice on a more regular basis...I just wouldn't! It's no exaggeration to say that men in white suits would come take me away - if I lived any further north! :)

On the way to work this morning I realized that the red bud trees were beginning to bloom and of course that means that warmer weather and the coming of SPRING!!!

(bootlegged photo from Google...so thanks to whomever?)

Next up I realized that in fact the pear trees were blooming - yippee....hooray.... woo hoo.... !!!!

The temperatures today are supposed to be in the 60's and we are anticipating warmer temps for the remainder of the week! YES!!!!!

Let's not forget how exciting it is that the TIME CHANGES this weekend.... I can not wait! I don't know why it is that as soon as it gets dark outside I think I'm supposed to be ready for bed? Needless to say, I've spent the past couple of months dressed and ready for bed before 7 pm!! UGH.... not anymore - I'm going to be able to play outside in the dirt or just sit on my porch and watch the kids ride their bikes up and down the road - ahhhhh - I really needed this change of season!

Oh I know what your thinking - we aren't through with Winter yet and we will probably get a cold snap before or around Easter - but that's okay - I can suffer through - I see sunshine, warm temps and cute new flip flops on the horizon!

Get out and enjoy the signs of SPRING!

Texas Independence Day!

Just incase you were ever wonding when Texas Independence day was...It was March 2, 1836.

This was the day that Texas declared their independence from the Mexican Government and before they became a member of the United States.



Yes, yes I know... I'm a big dork, but let me explain - when I was a child my dad was a history buff and he would always share with me whatever history making event that might have happened on whatever day. I grew up learning and appreciating History and for the most part I still do, especially when it's about Texas! Afterall, Texas is the greatest state in the Nation! Just ask any true Texan and they will agree.

So anyway, I'm passing along to my kids all of the various 'dorky' dates that I remember and they basically look at me like I've lost my mind, but that's okay - they will remember these little moments when they are older. This morning on the way to school we had quite an indepth discussion of the Alamo and the reasons behind the battle, well as much as can be discussed in 7 minutes of travel time! :) No Matter - it's History - it's important -and I am remembering it!