TV Shows

I have thought of a TV show for both me and my buddy Susan!

My show would feature me learning to do a crafty/cooking/making something/home improvement project each episode with someone who is an expert in that area...Now this will not be your M. Stewart type show, this is for someone like me who is a dummy! I want the simple, watered down version of how to do something, for the average joe person with average joe resources! I get the M. Stewart magazine and I love looking through it, but most of the ideas just seem WAY beyond my skill level and WAY too expensive to actually complete...My show would be basic, everyday type things that I would like to know how to do...here are a few ideas....making homemade biscuits, canning, making pickles (my guest expert here would have to be Papaw Lewis, who would make an appearance from heaven--he made the best pickles ever in the whole world!), making big beautiful bows (like the kind people put on top of their Christmas trees), drying eucalyptus, sewing something basic like throw pillows....

And I can think of a gazillion other things that I would like to learn how to do if I only had someone to show me. I am one of those people that need someone to go step by step with me through something, I cannot just learn it by reading how to do it in a book. When I learned to knit from my friend Maryellen, I remember wanting her to actually put her hands over mine and show me the steps. But when someone takes the time and teaches me, I usually can learn how to do something..so that is my show...

Now for Susan...she will go travel each episode to a different city, country, etc...She will visit all the places such as restaurants, stores, coffee shops, and bars that are "off the radar"....Not the trendy, popular places that tourists go to, but local dives that people who actually live in these places go to on a daily basis and love. I am sure all of you have places like this in your town...places that you love to go, but they don't look so great and people that are visiting would probably not look at and think, hmmm...that looks like a great place to eat...For my town, that place would have to be Butcher Boys restaurant...It doesn't look very fancy at all and could use a bit of a "make-over"....but the food there is absolutely delish! Of course, once Susan has this show and features these places, they would probably not stay "off the radar"...so I guess that would be the problem with this show :) I love to go places with Susan. She is willing to try ANYTHING and gets me to do things I would never do alone (like getting the facial in the middle of Seph@ra and then walking around for the rest of the day at the mall with NO make up on! and really not caring at all how I looked!)...but I always have a BLAST with her and that is why I think this would be a great show for her!

Anyone have a show they would like to be on????

Its 3 AM...

And I am wide awake...Rocky got me up to go out to the bathroom and while he was out, I hopped on the computer and read a few blogs (My friend's MeMe and Susan's)...of course after reading them, my mind is wandering and I am WIDE awake...Meme, let me tell you, your blog is SOOO interesting and I swear if you would write a book you WOULD get a book deal, you are an amazing writer! Sus, I just love your blog too and reading it makes me so happy and makes you feel so close to me even though we are miles apart. I read your blog and I swear I usually laugh out loud! Here are some of my thoughts this early morning after reading "As My World Turns" and "Ay Que Vida":

1) People's lives usually seem much better on facebook, google, etc. People portray their lives as being much more happy, interesting, etc. than it probably is in reality...Mease, your old boyfriend is probably cheating on his wife or running up a gazillion dollars in on-line gambling debts! Sometimes fbook makes me sick because I read it and think there is no way people are as happy as the junk they write on there....and in reality they are probably not...but hey, if it makes them feel good to write that crap, so be it...I will probably just block them from my feeds so I don't have to read that junk :) For example, there is someone on there now writing all about how they lost all this weight and this new product for losing weight and everytime I read about it, I just want to barf...I need to lose some weight but don't want to be constantly reminded of that...I need to block this junk! Meme, I think the answer to your question is this...Yep, we all were probably a little happier before google, fbook, etc...you know the old saying, Ignorance is bliss! Sometimes it is just better NOT to know!

2) It is OK to feel sorry for yourself every now and then...Meme, you totally deserve to whine and feel sad and ask why the hell me? with regards to Pete. And the people that care about you do not mind at all hearing about this. And anyone that would snicker about what happened to you deserves a good ass kicking...you know I always have your back! The main thing I get down about is not having a house yet...I really thought by now I would be living in a house my daddy built and I am not...Ceddy lost his job a few years ago, went back to school, and things have just taken longer than we originally planned....and I get down about that at times and am jealous at times of what others have...but I have to keep reminding myself that it is just a house made of mortar, bricks, etc. It is not a living thing. I am so forunate to have a great hubby and kids, a wonderful family, friends, my health, a job, etc...And I will get that house someday (hopefully pretty soon, wink wink :)

3)I totally agree with my friend Susan, life is all about the people. Stay in touch with friends and make more of an effort to talk and see those that you care about as much as you can. I am so glad that I moved back to my hometown so that I and my kiddos can be around my mom and dad...I think it would be so sad if we only got to see each other a few times a year...Life is just too damn short to not be around the people that you love.....And I am SO happy when I get to see my friends. Spending the weekend with Meme and Susan in Chapel Hill in June just did my heart and soul good. I felt so like MYSELF being around them. Sometimes I am too much in the role of being a mommy and working that I lose myself and who I am...I need to find more ways to bring ME into my everyday life. I am SO looking forward to spending the weekend with my season's girls this weekend. I am sure I will laugh so much that I cry! And I know my liver is going to be aching from all the drinks I am going to drink--I went to the ABC store today :) And I already miss them! A few days is NEVER enough!

4) Never ever settle. Meme, you deserve someone as wonderful as Pete and as wonderful as you are. I believe with all my heart that Mr Right #2 is going to pop into your life when you are least expecting it! And I will be right there along side you, making sure he treats you like gold!!! Everyone deserves to be with someone they love, to have the job they want, etc. Don't settle for less than what you want and deserve. Marriage is tough...I love Ceddy with all my heart, but some days I want to claw his eyes out! I can't imagine living in a house with someone who I had "settled" for...it is hard enough living with someone I am most of the time crazy about :)

OK, I think I have got all that off my mind now, so I am heading back to bed! Thanks Sus and MeMe for getting me wide awake at 3! But hey, at least it gave me something good to blog about. I love you girls both very much!

4th of July Pics

Imagination Library

This is an AWESOME program! If you have children under 5, go and sign up for this if your county participates. Catawba County DOES participate, Mecklenburg does not. Those are the only ones I have checked. Gabriel and Elizabeth received their first books yesterday and they are beautiful hard back books! I was expecting flimsy paperbacks and was happily surprised :)



They will each receive 1 per month until they turn 5. FOR FREE! And you know how I love children's books! Please share this with anyone you know that has children. Teachers and others that work in schools, this is great information to share with folks at your school if your county participates! I already was a big Dolly fan, now I really love her! What a wonderful program!

http://imaginationlibrary.com

From the website:

"In 1996, Dolly Parton launched an exciting new effort to benefit the children of her home county in east Tennessee. Dolly wanted to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families. She wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could insure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income."

"So she decided to mail a brand new, age appropriate book each month to every child under 5 in Sevier County. With the arrival of every child’s first book, the classic The Little Engine That Could ™, every child could now experience the joy of finding their very own book in their mail box. These moments continue each month until the child turns 5—and in their very last month in the program they receive Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come."

Products I am Loving

Here are two products I am now a big fan of...I tried these because of coupons, I was able to get them for SUPER cheap and now I am sold on both of them. First is these eye make up remover pads from Alm@y. I don't know about you guys, but I never seem to be able to get my mascara off with just face wash alone, even though I do not use water-proof mascara. These pads are perfect. I use them to get my mascara and eye make up off, then wash my face with my regular wash. They are small, just for your eyes, and there are a ton of them in the container. And they do not irritate my skin at all. Try them!



Second is the Intuiti@n razor. I HATE shaving my legs and avoid it as much as possible. It is hard to do in a shower with shaving cream and I never have the time to do a bath. This razor is perfect for shower shaving. Around the blade portion is a built-in soap. You wet the razor, then it provides enough lather for you to shave with. It is awesome and eliminates the shaving cream. I have been shaving my legs like crazy and it is good for the underarm area as well. These are on sale frequently at the drug stores and there are usually coupons for them every 3 weeks or so...You can end up getting the razor and/or refills for 3 dollars or so. Mine usually lasts about 3-4 weeks before the soap is all gone and you have to replace it. For all you ladies out there who hate shaving, try this product!

TGIF

I am glad the weekend is here, even if it was only a 3 day work-week for me this week. I was off on Monday for the 4th, then off my normal Friday today. We had such a fun weekend celebrating the 4th. It really has become one of my most favorite holidays...just lots of good food and fun without a huge amount of prep. Very low key and you don't have to get dressed up. Now we all know that Christmas is my most favorite holiday, but it is so much WORK. We swam at the pool all day Saturday and Sunday. Gabriel is now swimming! By himself with no floatation! Guess the swimming lessons paid off, that and the fact that he will not quit something until he has mastered it. He practiced over and over with Ceddy one afternoon last week until he could do it..Sure hope he keeps up that determination!

Saturday night we headed down to the lake at Grandma Dot's for snacks and to watch the fireworks. Gaby was not all that impressed with them, at one point he said he just wanted to jump inside the basement...so we let him of course! And Elizabeth conked out before they even really got started. But it was still a lot of fun. I enjoyed having the fireworks a different day from the actual 4th, kind of made it into 2 holidays instead of one. And you know how I love an event! Monday we were back at the lake for a big cook out and lots of lake time. Gabriel LOVED everything about it. We swam, we played on the huge water trampoline thing, we went for a boat ride on Scott's boat, we TUBED (yes-me and Gabriel!) and Gabriel rowed around in his new raft which he calls his kayak and picked carrots with Uncle Mike and Peyton. We had cook out food for lunch then Uncle Mike's yummy barbecue for dinner. I think he should start a catering company (in addition to his regular job and lawn care business--I am sure he has plenty of extra time, haha) because his food is so darn good! Elizabeth loved getting to be around everyone and got in her baby pool with me and MeMe...She seems to love the water as much as Gaby did when he was a baby, she will probably end up being a water junkie just like he is...I will post pics later of our 4th of July fun :)

Cedric has finished up his last week of clinical...He has to do all that darn paperwork for this weeks' clinical and take an exam Monday and then has a final exam on Friday and this semester will be a wrap...Then only one more sememster to go and he will be an RN! After he finishes up next Friday, we will prep for vacation on Saturday and head to the beach on Sunday, I cannot wait!!!!!

Drinky Poo Review

Here is what I plan to be sippin' on this holiday weekend:



You really cannot go wrong with this beer...Now I like the darker beers too, don't get me wrong. And for those who know me well, Red O@k brewed in good ole Guilford County NC is my most favorite in the world and it is certainly not a light beer..But for drinking something by the pool, lake, etc. when it is SO stinkin hot, this is my choice. Ice cold with my new found friend Tw@ng sprinkled on the lip of the bottle:




We found this at the H@rris T#eter in Carrboro on our trip last weekend and I really love it on regular beer. Limey and salty and just darn good. I tried this "beer" a few weeks ago and it was just not my thing.



Sounds good in theory (beer with lime and salt) but tastes more like a wine cooler and not much at all like a beer. Don't get me wrong, I like a good wine cooler every now and then, but when I want a beer, I want a beer! But putting a little of this salt on my regular beer hits the spot! Happy 4th of July weekend to all my blogger buddies!!!!