Friday Fragments...Around the house

~It is supposed to be over 100 degrees here for several days straight, starting today.  I am not pleased about this in the least. It is just not right to have those kinds of temperatures AND humidity both in one place. Where can I file a complaint?  

 *****

~I completed the painting of the deck rails yesterday morning after working on them for two days straight.  But only the first coat.  I may get around to the second coat sometime before Christmas.  

*****

~Now I want new deck furniture since mine was purchased when Devin was in the womb and he's turning 13 in a couple of weeks.  I tried spray painting the chairs tan last year but ran out of paint after two chairs and now the two that I painted have green showing through on the arms and legs.  It ain't pretty.

*****

~Charlie and I celebrated our four year wedding anniversary yesterday.  We decided to go out for dinner Wednesday night though since the boys had cooked up a plan to spend the night with Momaw and Popaw that night so they could take them to the flea market yesterday morning. 

*****

~Yesterday evening I was out back watering my plants when I thought I saw the front of Charlie's truck in the driveway so I went up there and stuck my head over the fence to see him fluffing out a big yellow bow on a giant Magnolia tree he had on the back of the trailer. I LOVE Magnolia trees and last year the boys bought me one of the small ones that we planted in the front yard. But this one is the full-sized kind that gets ginormous.  

We always try to stick with either the traditional or modern anniversary gifts and for four years the traditional is linen or flowers so I got a Magnolia tree and he got an Irish Linen shirt along with something else I ordered that didn't come in yet.  I can't wait to get my tree planted.  The root ball is so big though that it will take a tractor to plant it.  Our next door neighbor graciously offered to bring his tractor over when we get ready to plant it when he saw Charlie removing the trailer from the truck this morning.  


I'll post some pics when we get it planted...

*****

~I had two old antique oil heaters in the basement at the old house for years and then they'd been sitting in the basement here since we moved into this house over two years ago.  Darin had come home with them from somewhere one day and had planned to eventually do something with them.  He was always finding stuff like that.  Anyway, I had to go down to the basement the other day (You have to go around to get in there since there are no steps into the house so I don't go in there much) when I saw them and decided it was high time I did something with them.  

One of them, that was all rusted out, I simply spray painted with some paint I had on hand and since I messed the paint up in a couple of places, just decided to go ahead and distress it a little.  I may decide to change it up a little later but here it is in the sunroom holding up a couple of books and my new rosemary plant.  

The other one was black and since I kind of like the look of it just the way it is, I sat it on the deck as a plant stand.  I just love old stuff!  

*****

~I think I mentioned my Plumeria a couple of weeks ago and said I was going to post some pics of it soon.  This was another thing Darin bought back when I was pregnant with Devin.  We went to the Southern Spring Show in Charlotte and he bought this and another tropical plant (that one never grew very big) as nothing more than single stems/sticks.  I thought he was nuts but this Plumeria really took off.  

After Darin died, it sat in the basement where if it was lucky I'd pull it outside during the summer and then back in the basement in the winter.  I am pretty sure it has not bloomed in over nine years.  Until this year.  Since we moved here, I'd pull it in the sunroom in the winter and back out on the deck in the spring but this year I just never got around to moving it back out.  And wouldn't you know it?  It bloomed!  And it just keeps blooming.  I'm never moving it again. I only wish you could smell the sweet blooms through your screen...

*****

I saw this pin the other day and thought it pretty much summed me up perfectly...

 Bwa Hahahaa!

Happy Friday! 

A pain in the deck...

Last summer I got on a big furniture painting/distressing kick and painted the heck out of some old furniture (and other things) around here.  This year, ever since I got the idea to spruce up the shady area of the backyard, I've gone a little gung ho crazy about beautifying the rest of the yard too.  


My current project is the deck.  


The weekend before last we made a trip to Lowe's that took three shopping carts, a forklift, and the truck and trailer to get it all home. I was making a planter all along one side of the fence where I had planted my Black-eyed Susans and Butterfly bushes.  Mission accomplished. 


But more on that later.


That day we also bought two four gallon buckets of Restore deck paint along with a gallon of matching Restore stain because the lady working there told us it was the straight up bomb as far as deck paint goes.  And our deck was in serious need of a little TLC.  But little did I know just how much painstaking labor that would require on my part...  


Back the first of last week I got out there one morning and began trying to clean the dang thing with some "green" cleaner I'd ordered that was supposed to clean that deck wood like nobody's business without harming any living being or plant in the process.  Hmph.  


I scrubbed and sprayed and scrubbed and sprayed and swore and cursed my day away but as hard as my stubborn self tried I could not, for the life of me, get all that algae gunk off that deck. Even after I broke out the bleach.  About the time Charlie pulled up that afternoon I was fed up and half past my wit's end so I whined a little, threw down the hose and scrub brush and said, "I'm done."  


So being the gentleman  (and super smart husband) that he is, he hopped in his truck after a long day of work and headed to the Home Depot to rent an industrial pressure washer and then came back and pressure washed the smack out of that deck.  It didn't get finished that night but after he stayed home to work on it the next day, that stubborn arse algae was no more...  

Yesterday morning I finally got around to the paint.  This substance is like painting with a whipped frosting with sand in it.  It was weird.  It was messy.  It was labor intensive and it did not go nearly as far as I expected it too.  Yesterday afternoon I was just about finished with the first coat when I ran out of paint.  It requires two coats.


Back to Lowe's I went, complete with the fighting boys, where I bought two more four gallon buckets of the sandy batter and another gallon of the stain for the rails, convinced now that I would not have near enough of that either.  


Do you have any idea how much a four gallon bucket of that stuff weighs?  Me neither.  But it's a lot.  A whole lot!  I know because I drug four of those bad boys around yesterday. 


I won't go into all the fiascos I encountered right now or the soreness of my right hand and other parts of my body but it was 8:00 before I finished up last night. And that was only the floor  and steps of the deck.  I still have to paint the rails and the trim with the stain.  


And seeing as how it is supposed to be well over one hundred humid degrees for a few days straight after today, I better go find my paint brush...

I tried to run but...

I just had the oddest dream.  I was carrying two humongous bags of dog food in a strange neighborhood when I saw a Doberman in a yard up ahead.  I realized, after it was too late, that he was on a very long chain that could reach across the road so I threw the bags of dog food down and began to run but it was difficult to run seeing as how I had wheels on the bottom of my shoes.  He was just about to attack me when I realized I was having a dream and had the power to wake myself up.  So I woke up before I was mauled.  


I don't know what to make of it.  First of all, there is no way on earth I could hoist one, much less two, ginormous bags of dog food over my shoulders. Where in the h.e. double hockey sticks was I and where was I going?  And why didn't I just skate away instead of trying to run since I had wheels and all? Weird. 


My best guess is that the dream was triggered by the two Who Dunnit? documentaries I watched just before bedtime, along with the fact that our new, and third, four-legged family member loves his vittles more than life itself and the watching of The Dog Whisperer a little too much. Because I do recall asking myself what Caesar Milan would do just before I ran which I immediately realized was a terrible idea, partly because Caesar would be horribly disappointed with me but mainly because of the stupid wheels on my shoes.


Maybe this is my new anxiety dream.  As a kid, I used to have this reoccurring dream that I was in a car all alone that was speeding out of control and I, being a child, did not know how to operate the car in order to stop it.  I would alternate that dream with the ol' dreaded falling one.  You know, the one where you always wake up before you hit the bottom of the giant hole of emptiness in which you're falling. 


Or maybe, just maybe, it's telling me I need to brush up on my skating skills since I seemed to have forgotten that one skates rather than runs when one is wearing wheels and being chased by an angry Doberman. A couple of days ago I got on the trampoline to get a little cardio in and HOLY HECK I did not remember it being that exhausting!


Anyway, it was clearly an anxiety-ridden dream and I did have to practice the deep breathing techniques I learned in yoga when the boys would not stop fighting yesterday afternoon. Not much stresses me out more than conflict and those two most definitely have a way of bringing it out in each other.  Lawd have mercy! It's a wonder I don't drink. 


And that reminded me of these pins I found on Pinterest this week...

And this one has nothing to do with parenting but since I also sometimes have to practice my deep breathing techniques while driving...

Now that's funny.  I don't care who you are.  


Happy Friday, Y'all!  

Things They Said About Me...

I have a yearbook from every single one of the twelve years I attended public school although three of them seem to have gone AWOL at the present moment. Inspired by one of Mama Kat's writing prompts for the week, I broke out the nine I knew the whereabouts of and began reading some of the words my classmates had written. 

Here are a few that stood out (Some names have been omitted to protect the innocent.  And the guilty.)...

2nd Grade, 1979

To the sweetest girl in the world.  I Love You very much.


                                                              Mommy


To my favorite little girl. I love you.


                                                    Daddy 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5th Grade, 1982

Dianne, (only ever used one 'n', Dora.  One N!)

I hope you keep bing nice and I hope you pass the 6th Grade 

                                             

                                                                               Dora 

(I don't remember Dora at all but good to know she was concerned about my academic career way back in the 5th grade. I hope she was proud of me for passing the 6th grade.) 

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6th Grade, 1983

Dear,

     Diane you are a very nice friend. Roses are red violets are blue apples are rotten and so are you.  No I'm just kidding.  I hope your life is like a roll of toilet paper long and useful.  Your very shy at school a little bit.  You take off and leave me when we're getting instruments but your still a very, very good friend and very best.  It's fun when you ride the bus with me and Kim and I'm sorry I didn't get a yearbook to let you sign if I did I'd let you sign a whole page like you did me.  

                                                      Your friend

                                                       Jennifer

F/F/F  (Freaky Friends Forever?)

     R/M/A   (Remember Me Always?)  

Jennifer, if you are reading this I apologize but this one had to be shared. And I am happy to report to everyone else that Jennifer's ability to punctuate correctly has improved by leaps and bounds since the sixth grade.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7th Grade, 1984

Diane,

       Your (for the love of God, it's you're!) a very pretty girl.  And I like you very much.  And I loved your hair, why did you get it cut? Well stay the way you are and you will go far in life.  

                                                                             Love,

                                                                               Michelle  

(I'm not positive but I think she was trying to tell me I messed up big time by cutting my hair that apparently now looked like a smoking hot pile of horse manure.)

Diane,

Hi, It has been nice year you have been a crazy gal. at the end.  So keep up the good work.  Talk alot in Mrs. Free room.

                                                                          Your friend,

                                                                            Ann M.

F/F  

R/M/A

Kiss Sherry's butt

(For the record, I have no idea who Sherry is and don't remember Ann much either. Nor do I recall ever acting like a crazy gal at school in the 7th grade.  Even "at the end".)   

Diane,

    You are truly my best and favorite student.  If I had a hundred students like you I could move mountains.  I hope you have a great summer and tons of success in the eighth grade.

                                                                                Mr. H

I did not remember this one.  At all.  In fact, I had to look up his pic to see who Mr. H even was.  Then I remembered. He was the young teacher who had little control over his class and I was the little quiet-natured introvert who didn't disrupt the class and since we went to lunch during this period, he always embarrassed me by calling me out and saying, "Diane L. is the ONLY student who can buy an ice cream at lunch today!"  I didn't appreciate the attention. But I still bought my ice cream.  

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10th Grade, 1987

Hey, it's been a great year.  I'm so glad that I moved down here now...You have to admit with us two together nothing and nobody can stand in our way.  We are in charge.  You will always be my best friend...You never walked away when I needed you...We are two crazy people but hey, we have had fun, right.  Don't ever forget me...

                                                                                 Love ya,

                                                                                     Michelle A.

Diane,

I must say, I don't know you that well, but from what I can tell, you appear extremely attractive and smart! I hope we become better friends in our future years, until then, "sa la vie"
                             
                                                                                        Friends,

                                                                                    K

(I think what K meant to say was "C'est la vie" but I appreciate his compliments all the same.)  

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 11th Grade, 1988

Diane,

I must say that it has been loads of fun for me and others ("Others"?) to have you in our band class, and I'm just honored to get to eat lunch with you.  Oh, well since your standing over me just dying to have your annual back I'll quit.

Oh yeh,

Thanks for the 15 cents

                                                                        Later,

                                                                                    R

Diane,

It has really been fun having you ride with us to school. We have had several laughs together.  I'll never forget the time you had two different shoes on.  That was so funny...Thank you for being such a good friend...

                                                                                Love ya alot!

                                                                                    Christine 

 (Yes, I got in the car for school one morning wearing two different shoes. And I didn't even dye my hair back then. In my defense, the shoes were both red!)                                                                            

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 12th Grade, 1989

Hello,

  Yes, I'm here for one day.  I've been gone for months. Oh well I'm sorry.  My senior year has been really fun despite the absence of my school friends.  I didn't see you much this year but I hope while I did I was entertaining.  I love to talk to you because I get a real insight to how stupid I am.  Please let's keep up with each other after public school.  You hold a big memory in a part of my life.  Thank you.

                                                               Love,

                                                                                 J

(This one still cracks me up the most after all these years.  I always did have a bad habit of rolling my eyes which explains the "I get a real insight to how stupid I am" comment.)

Diane,

Hey well it has been fun (and hard) getting to know you.  I enjoyed eating lunch with you every day and I hope you get everything you'll ever want.  Stay the way you are and you'll go far.

                                                              Love ya always, later, 

                                                                         B

                                                                    #5  "89"

                                                                      

(This one reminds me how some things never change because I've heard how hard I can be to get to know a few more times since 1989!)

Diane (Miss Love),

     ....Well, graduation '89 is about here... Friends like you make school worth the time...Just because we are getting "old" doesn't mean we still can't party together... 

                                                                      Love,

                                                                               Jeannie 

(Because everyone knows 18 is so far over the hill of life!)


So what did they say about you? Because I know you want to dig yours out now too.  

                           

                                              

Friday Fragments...First Week of Summer

~Have you ever accidentally ended up with three of your favorite foods in the house at the same time?  That happened to me this week which is why I have hardly eaten anything for the past two days aside from Garden Salsa Sun Chips, banana pudding and watermelon.  


The banana pudding and watermelon were Dracen's ideas.  He went grocery shopping with me Tuesday where he begged me to buy a watermelon and the stuff to make banana pudding.  The Sun Chips, however, I have no excuse for.  I simply experienced a moment of weakness when that pretty orange bag practically did a nosedive into my cart from the top shelf of the chip aisle.  What?  It happens.

***

~Dracen has been going to baseball camp three hours each morning  with the exception of Wednesday and Devin seems to be going for some sort of record on how late he can sleep in.  I finally went into his room at 1 pm yesterday afternoon, opened his curtains, fed the chirping guinea pig in his room and made three attempts to wake him.  


He slept for another hour. I keep hoping that he will eventually sleep his grumpy adolescent attitude away but no luck on that yet. If I was a tattoo-getting kind of person, I think I'd get this too shall pass tattooed on both my wrists because I find myself banking on that one a lot here lately. 

***

~Lucky the Dog is still recovering and making himself right at home. He felt good enough to chase Li'l Bit's toy squeaky squirrel the other day and promptly received a little nip on the nose for his actions.  Big Boy could not care less about balls and toys and Li'l Bit (although she has several) only wants to play with THE Squeaky Squirrel. 


I had warned the boys against throwing it for him but they went ahead and did it anyway while I was taking a bath the other night.  But since she is only about a quarter of his size, his pride was the only thing she hurt. Bless his heart.  

***

I dropped the good camera over Spring Break and it hasn't been the same since.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't so I figured it was high past time to invest in a new one. I went for a Nikon this time and while I should be reading the manual while the battery is charging, I'll fuddle my way through it like I do everything else.  

It's been my experience that manuals were not written in the same way in which my brain works and I typically only resort to them in last ditch efforts.  

So hopefully, if all goes well, and I can stop stuffing my face with banana pudding, I'll soon be posting some photos of my beautiful blooming Plumeria that hasn't bloomed in a good nine years!  I give full credit to the sunroom and the fact that I was lazy about moving it back outside this summer.  What can I say?  Fuddling through works for me.


Happy Friday, Y'all!

Friday Fragments...Last Day of School

~The third grade awards ceremony is this morning at 9 and then school gets out early today for the summer, or at least until the first week in August since our county's summer is getting cut short this year.  I will try not to dwell on that though.

***

~I found this hammock on etsy.  I REALLY want this for my shade garden.

***

~I was at the Home Depot yesterday where I had just loaded down the back of my SUV with two giant bags of potting soil and MORE plants, some for my new front porch planters and some Blackeyed Susans for along the fence in the backyard when I realized I had no flippin' clue where my keys were.  


I had obviously just had them since I unlocked the car but they were no dang where!  I was frantically taking all the plants back out of the car, digging around in the backseat, pretty much on the verge of a major freak out because it was getting dangerously close to pick up time at the elementary school. And apparently I was looking a little like a crazy person because a kind older gentleman offered to take my cart and put it up for me.  When I thanked him profusely and told him my predicament he said, "yeah, I thought you looked like you were having a hard time there" and hightailed it away from me real quick.  


Just before I completely went into full blown panic mode, I opened the driver's side door and there they were, right there on my seat. Then I remembered I put them there for "safekeeping". Duh! Maybe I need to lay off the blonde highlights for awhile. 

***

~We have a new dog.  A shotgun victim who showed up at hour house Sunday night and collapsed in the driveway.  He's not a Dachshund but he is the sweetest thing. We got him vet care and looks like he's going to make it.  I guess he's our "Honorary Dachshund".   When Charlie told his sister about it she replied, "I wouldn't put anything past a redneck with a shotgun".  Ain't it the truth!  

***

~I found the best housekeeping advice on Pinterest this week and just had to share it with y'all... I don't know how I never thought of this myself...  

Happy Friday!  

10 To Do-Not's for June

I've never been much of a to-do list maker so I'm going rogue today and making a list of ten things that I will NOT do for the rest of  the month of June (one more day of school!) in response to Mama Kat's writing prompt...Ten To-Dos in June.  

1. Get up before the butt crack of dawn.  Nope.  Ain't happenin'.  My old friend, Sleep, and I are going to have us one heck of a good time reunion.   


2. Feel like a complete imbecile because I can't figure out the 7th grade math homework and be forced to say, "You're going to have to wait until Charlie gets home.  I've got a splitting headache"!  


3. Make breakfast and pack a lunch while it's still dark outside, before my eyes are completely open and before I've even had so much as a whiff of coffee.


4. See the middle school's number on caller id.  Not.even.once. Ahh...Sweet bliss.  


5. Make two separate trips daily to pick up kids at two separate schools who inconsiderately insist on a 55 minute difference in their release times.  


6. Lose any sense of sanity I had left before 7:00 a.m. because THEY WON'T STOP FIGHTING OVER THE BATHROOM SINK! 


7. Be forced to crack my whip and lose my temper in order to get  homework done. Never mind that I'll still have to do that to get the daily chores done.  Positive thoughts...positive thoughts....


8. Feel like the heel on a piece of burnt toast all day long because the first morning hour went so many different kinds of wrong.  


9. Enforce early bedtimes for the night owls.  Myself included.  What can I say?  They get it honest.  


10. Hurry the days away.  Nope.  I'm gonna soak up every last drop of each and every structure-free minute.  




Now come on, June 8th!  

Wordless Wiener Wednesday...Party time!

 North Carolina Annual Wiener Roast

 (Cinco de Doxie...May 5, 2012) 

Starring: 

Brisco and Charlene Darling

Some Things I'm Loving Right Now...

Since I am itching to write a post but seem to be fresh out of words today, I thought I'd make a list of some of the things I'm currently loving.


I am a semi creature of habit.  I will go for months needing a daily fix of something and then one day, I'm just done and move onto something else for awhile.  I mean, you know, I'm not talking about the really important things like my people or my dogs.  I'm talking more along the lines of things like a certain shade of nail polish or a blueberry yogurt parfait.  


Anyway, you get the idea.  So here are a few of the things I'm digging right now (And why do I often write words that I never actually speak, like "digging"? I have no idea.)...


Reef Flip Flops I practically live in flip flops during the summer months (next best thing to barefoot) but in the past I've usually just gone for a few of the inexpensive pairs in assorted colors from Old Navy or Target.  But this year I decided to upgrade and after reading several reviews online, ordered a pair by Reef.  I have not regretted my decision yet because oh.my.word. at the comfort!  It's even better than barefoot!  


I got them in this metallic color but they come in a couple of others too...

Caramel Frappes from McDonalds. I've never been one to drink chilled coffee.  I mean I can't even stand it lukewarm (ick) but awhile back I tasted a caramel frappe and I was sold.  I was having a hard time driving past the Mickey D's without getting my frappe fix on until I went and rained on my own dang parade by looking up the calories online.  Trust me, you don't even want to know and I don't really want to talk about it.  


I'm now trying to stick to weekends only. Sigh...

Dry Roasted Almonds in 100 Calorie Packs by Emerald I've been writing down my calories for the past two months again (ever since I reacquainted myself with the scales) and it has worked for me since I can once again button up all my pants and still breathe at the same time. These almonds are one of my favorite snacks but they are even better with a piece of string cheese which, in case you were wondering, has 80 calories per slice or umm...string.  

Neutrogena Build-a-Tan I've been using Jergens daily moisturizing self-tanner for the past three years or so but decided to break out and try something different and was pleasantly surprised with this one.  I haven't had this much of a tan since...well since I quit tanning.  

Pinterest.  I know, I know...Surprise!  But this seems to be an addiction that is not going anywhere any time soon. Where else can I go (without ever leaving the house) and find a kick arse recipe, advice on what to plant where in the yard, a laugh, an inspiring quote, a great new shade of nail polish, and a tutorial on how to make a laptop using nothing more than a mason jar, an old picture frame and a pack of batteries? And all in under five minutes? 

Plants and Flowers As in the kind you plant in the ground and in pots and keep alive for extended periods of time.  I've never really thought of myself as having a green thumb, rather a more yellowish brown shade.  


I don't know what has gotten into me but all of a sudden (ever since I had the idea to make the shade garden in what used to be the armpit and eyesore of the backyard) I just cannot get enough of them.  I'm like a drunk in a liquor store now every time I go into the Lowes or Home Depot, or anywhere else that sells plants and flowers.  I just planted a guaranteed-to-get-giant butterfly bush and an elephants ear for crying out loud.  

Via Dutch Gardens

Who am I?  


And then the other day I suddenly had a flashback of a comment I made to Darin once, years ago.  I told him I thought I'd probably find myself really getting into gardening when I got...old.  


Maybe I thought forty-one was old back then? 


Or maybe I'm just getting an early start on things? 


Yeah, that's it. I like that one better. 


Tomorrow I'm starting something I plan to do weekly (or at least until I'm bored with it...it's that whole semi creature of habit thing , ya know?) called Wordless Wiener Wednesday where I will post ridiculous photos of the Darlings each Wednesday.  The one I have prepared for tomorrow even cracked me up so yeah, stay tuned for that little bit of insanity quirkiness..