Per Your Request

These recipes have been requested, so here they are:

Georgia Cracker Salad

1 Sleeve Saltine Crackers, crushed
1 Large Tomato, finely chopped
3 Green Onions, finely chopped
1 1/2 c. Mayonnaise
Lawry's Season Salt, to taste

Mix all ingredients together and serve immediately. Easy and very yummy!






Chocolate Eclair Cake

1 Box Graham Crackers
2 Small Boxed French Vanilla Instant Pudding
3 c. Milk
8 oz. Cool Whip
1 Tub Milk Chocolate Frosting

Mix together pudding and milk until thick, then fold in the Cool Whip. Line the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan with graham crackers. Top with a thick layer of pudding mixture. Continue to alternate layers, ending with graham crackers.

Remove lid from frosting and microwave at 30% power for 15 - 20 seconds. Remove and stir. Continue microwaving, if needed, until frosting is just thin enough to pour. Don't totally melt, you still want it a little thick. Pour frosting over top of the cake and spread to make it smooth. Put the cake in the refrigerator and leave overnight.

It's A Small World Afterall

And yesterday I found out just how small.

You see, Bub, Kaylea and I were invited to Meatfest '08 over at Overtly Trite's casa. ---If you will recall, I met Overtly Trite for the first time (so I thought) at our Bloggher Girl's lunch a few weeks back, which included ThiThi (missybw from The House of Flying Monkeys), Anna (from Life with the Retro Moderns) and Paula (from Overtly Trite).

After we arrived yesterday, we did the standard introductions and then I retreated to the kitchen to talk with Paula and sis. After a while another guest, Vic, arrived and he looked very familiar to me. Imagine my surprise when I recognized him as a long lost friend and co-worker from my United States Cellular "USC" days in the early 90's. Vic and I began to talk about the good 'ole days while Paula and sis were standing there amazed at the cowinkydinkyness of the whole situation. Vic was filling me in on the status of the people we used to work with, then I told him that the only person from USC that I had kept contact with was "Doug". At that point Paula about lost it. You see, Paula use to be Doug's roommate. After a lot of reminiscing we figured out that Paula and I had met back in the early 90's at a Halloween party at Doug's house. And, as a matter of fact, Paula's husband "D" had worked at USC with me and she had met D through Doug and Vic. Suddenly all the pieces to the puzzle fell into place. So here is a little chart showing how we all know each other:

So, yesterday I felt like two worlds were colliding. My past and my present slammed into each other and left my head spinning - in a cool way. The only thing that could have made the whole situation any better would have been for Doug to have walked through the door. Unfortunately, I found out that he has moved to Arizona, which would explain why my Christmas card was returned. Now, I just have to get his e-mail address from Paula and re-connect with him, also.

Weekend Update

1. The jury is still out on my new haircut. I will have to see how it looks after I style it. It might have to be cut again, just not sure, yet.
2. Cooking, cooking, cooking. I am getting ready for Meatfest 2008. My culinary contributions will be Hurry Curry Celery Sticks, Cracker Salad, Corn Pudding and Chocolate Eclair Cake. When I can't make up my mind, I just bring it all.
3. The shopping and gathering has began. I am starting to get the stuff together for the big beach trip. It is official, this time next week, we will be on HHI.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day weekend.

I Want My Mommy!!!!!!!!!!!

O.K. so here I go.
I can do this!
I shouldn't be so nervous.
Everyone does it.
Why am I so freaked out?
There's nothing to it.
It'll be o.k.
NO, I can't do it.
I'll just wait.
I know, I have to do it now!
But, what if it is terrible?
I'll be fine.
Oh, I'm so scared.
I don't want to look silly.


Yes, I am totally freaked out. Why, you ask? Well, because I am going to get my hair cut tomorrow. You're probably wondering why I would get so up tight about a haircut. Well, it's like this. My mom, my grandmother and my step-mom were all hairdressers and they were the only people that cut my hair up until I was in my mid-20s. Had it not been for logistical problems, I would have never changed our little arrangement.

All I can say is that in the past, for the most part, my experiences with non-relative hairstylists have gone really BAD. I will give credit where credit is due, though. When I lived in Nashville, I had a great stylist, but again, the whole logistics thing prevents me from continuing the love/love relationship we had.

Since moving back to East TN, I haven't been able to find a stylist that can work with my "challenging" head of hair. You see, I was cursed with the hair genes (or lack there of) of both my parents. Dad's been sporting a comb-over since he was in high school and Mom has the transparent variety of hair. We kindly refer to it as "frog fur". Our hair is VERY thin and VERY fine. If I don't go to someone that is acustomed to working with my type of hair, things go very wrong.

For the last 5 years, I have been trying to time my haircuts around my trips to Mom's in Georgia, or her trips to Tennessee. Or, I have used Mom's stylist in Macon; she is good and knows how to work with my hair-type, since she does my Mom's hair, also. Unfortunately, this time my (our) timing is a little off. Mom isn't coming up this way until the first week of June. AND, as you all know, I will be at the beach then. So, I am being forced to go to a complete stranger and entrust my unfortunate head of hair to him. The stylist does good work (on other people) so I am keeping my fingers crossed that he will do the same for me.

If everyone could just pause for a minute and say a little prayer for my new do and send me lots of good karma, I would be most appreciative.

P.S. If I am wearing a hat in, or missingfrom, all of the pictures that are taken at the beach, you will know that things didn't go well.

Ah, Where Did Dolly Go?

Well, I figured all of you were getting a little tired of listening to her every time you hit my Blog. (I could just see all 5 of you hitting the mute button on your computer at the same time.) So, I decided to give you a little variety. I linked up my entire play list to keep things interesting. If you don't like the particular song that is playing, instead of hitting mute just scroll through the list until you find a song you do like. Hopefully, I will have at least one song you like. If not then just go back to muting my Blog. Poor thing, it just wants a voice, too, ya know. It told me so.

I Have Found My New Career Choice

When I grow up I want to work for the county. Yes, I said the country. You see, I think it fits my job criteria to a tee:

1. Good Pay


2. Not too strenuous


3. Promotes social interaction


4. Encourages physical activity

I came to this conclusion after watching the paving crew that was working(?) in our neighborhood on Friday. Take a look for yourself:

As you can see from the gentlemen on the left, they are mastering the art of social interaction. Heck, I bet they were Employees of the Year because not only can they talk, but they can walk at the same time. Now that is muli-tasking at its finest.

Then, we have the two hunky fellas on the right. They are getting their physical activity while they are working (o.k. so maybe the word "working" is a little bit of a stretch. How about I say, while they are getting paid to work). You know they must have burned at least 50 calories walking behind that paver at less than 1 miler per hour.

Finally, we have the gentleman in the back of the paver. (Notice I am protecting his identity so his wife won't find out how hard his job REALLY is.) After observing him, I think I would be able to handle the stress level of the job.

I hope you all will be supportive of me as I transition into my new career. I just hope I am qualified for the job. hmmmmmmm??????????

Mother's Day: Part Deux

Here are a few pictures from Mother's Day. Enjoy!

Moi - I guess I was really enjoying that card!

Kaylea had to help me read that one!

Pappy must have been bored; I think he fell asleep. That's o.k., we'll remember this come Father's Day!

I don't even want to know what Grammy did to wake him up. It doesn't look too good.

I think she liked it. Thank goodness for Phaltzgraff. Too bad we all bought her new dishes before I started this TOHE stuff.

Thi-Thi opening her Mother's Day presents from Lulu and Mabel. They are such sweet dogs, but I'm quite sure Lulu was the designated driver when they went to the Mall. We all know she is the responsible one of the two.

I'm not sure what was so funny, but this is a frequent expression when we all are together. Belly laughs for everyone!

Where Have You Been All Of My Life????

OH MY GOODNESS, this stuff is sinful! I cannot believe that no one thought of this before. I am normally a creamer and 1 Sweet n Low and 1 Equal in my coffee girl, but not anymore. With the Coffee-mate Italian Sweet Creme Creamer everything is taken care of in this one little jug from heaven. Oh, and the best part is that it makes your coffee taste like it has melted whipped cream in it. YUMMO! I do believe that this is going to have to be added to The Ever Growing List of Things I Love! And, yes, Life is Good with my new found friend.

Oh, and by the way, when I dumped my photos from the camera I found lots of others that were suppose to be posted on Blog entries, long ago. So, today will be catch up day on both this blog and Curiously Kaylea. Sorry, I have been a slacker.

Drum Roll Please..........

I know everyone has been sitting on the edge of their seats to hear the outcome of my first party.......well............. it was a HUGE success. I am proud to say that with my first party I was able to make enough commission to pay for my start-up kit and still have a little somin somin in my pocket. Because I love to have my friends over and cook for them, this was me in my element. Miraculously, I wasn't even that nervous.

I still have so much to learn about the products, but luckily I had Lara here to guide me through, and take over the presentation when I needed her.

Thank you to everyone for their well wishes. It means a lot to me to know that I have so many family members and friends that are supporting my decision. I love you guys!

Happy Mother's Day

I just want to say Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers in my world. God has blessed me with not just one mother - but four.

First, I have my Mom. She gave birth to me and has loved me and watched me grown for 40 years now. She was a single hard working mom for many years. Looking back on those years, I see how Mom struggled to make ends meet. To put it very simply, we were poor. The amazing part, though, is that sis and I didn't know that we were. Mom made sure that we always had a comfortable home; had food on the table; and basically had most all things that we desired. Mom knew how to budget and stretch a dollar, which she inherently passed on to me. Thank you, mom, for all that you did, and continue to do, for me. I'm not quite sure how you did it. I love you, Mom!

Second, I have my Mom, Fris. God bless, Friss. She married Dad at such a young age and inherited his two kids, one twelve and one eight. I love Fris with all of my heart. She has been a role model to me in kindness, forgiving and acceptance. Fris instinctively knew not to try to be my "Mother". She felt her way around and found what was a comfortable balance for both of us. Through this respect for me and my feelings our relationship has grown through the years. Today, I am proud to say that she is one of my Mom's. I love you, Fris!

Third, I have my Mom, Wanda. This poem best describes our relationship:

You are the mother I received the day I wed your son.

And I just want to thank you, Mom, for all the things you've done.

You have given me a gracious man with whom I share my life.

You are his lovely mother and I his lucky wife.

You used to pat his little head and now I hold his hand.

You raised in love a little boy then gave to me a man.

Wanda has become another Mom in my life over the past 11+ years. I know that she is there for me anytime I want to talk or need advise. She is a blessing to me. I love you, Wanda!

Last, but certainly not least, I have my Mom, Sis. You see, my sister is a Mom to me. We are only separated by 4 years; however, she played the Mommy role to me most of my life. Because we were home alone while Mom was working, Sis was left in charge. She was responsible for keeping me safe; helping me with my homework; cooking my meals; and basically just being the boss of me. There were many things that I confided to my Sis that any other child would have shared with their Mom. Sissy gave me relationship advise; taught me how to cook; taught me how to drive and many other important things that kids learn as the grow into adulthood. I'm sure I was a huge burden to my sister when she was a teen and I don't know how she can help but resent me today. With all of this said, I hope you understand why I can't let Mother's Day pass without acknowledging my Sissy. I am doubly blessed that she is a Mom and Sister to me. I love you, Sissy!

Another Crazy Week

Wow, where has my week gone? So much to do, but so little time!

Monday, sis and I went to Dollywood so she could visit the International Festival. She had never been and wanted to see what all the hoopla was about. I tried to warn her that it wasn't the be-all end-all of International Festivals, but she wanted to take a looksee for herself. Well, needless to say, she was totally underwhelmed. For a girl that is a regular at Epcot's World Showcase, she had mighty high expectations. Upon leaving, she was quite sure that Disney was not worried about Dolly putting them out of business.

Tuesday, I subbed at Kaylea's school. I am certain that I chose the wrong major in college. Instead of Elementary Education, I should have majored in Physical Education. What a life! You get to play dodge ball or kickball all day and you get paid a pretty good salary. Once again in my adult life I find myself saying, "Hind sight is 20/20."

Wednesday, I had a blast. Sis and I met Paula from Overtly Trite and Anna from Life with the Retro Moderns for lunch. When I say, "met", I am speaking in the literal since of the word. We have been reading their blogs for awhile and thought it would be fun to finally meet face to face. We all shared stories, had many laughs, and got to know one another better. I'm quite sure this will become a regular lunch date for us.

Thursday, was just LONG. I subbed all day and then stayed after school to help hand out cookie dough with the Parent Support Group. Kaylea and I didn't get home until almost 7:00. WHEW!

Friday and today, I have working in the house and trying to get it ready for my launch party on Monday evening. I am still working on the laundry (is it any surprise that I have left that chore for last?)

Hopefully, I will be able to watch my training DVD and get the grocery shopping done, tomorrow. We'll just keep our fingers crossed on that one. Don't give up on me, hopefully I will be able to write a little more frequently once the whirlwind passes.

Let Me Entertain You

I want to share with everyone a decision I have made to better myself and my family. I have signed on as an Independent Consultant for Taste of Home Entertaining ("TOHE").

Last month, I attended a TOHE party at a friend's house and was blown away by the product offering. I love to cook, and I love to entertain friends and family in my home. This company offers products that cater to both. I am so excited and can't wait to serve as both hostess and consultant at my first party.

For a while now, I have been soul searching and trying to figure out what I want to do with all of my free time. I really think this is the answer for me. I will still be able to substitute teach; volunteer in Kaylea's classroom; and be home with Kaylea in the afternoon. All while making a little extra spending money.

Please keep me in your thoughts as I begin this new adventure. Also, if you would like to attend a party, just let me know. I will be having a couple of launch parties and I would love to have you attend :) Here is the link to my webpage.

Just A Question

Why do Schnoodles' breath smell like a**??????????????? No matter how many doggie mints or teeth cleaning chews Angel gnaws on, her breath still smells like she just got through eating a turd sandwich.

Now, Angel, don't get your feelings hurt. You know your Mommy loves you, but dang dog, layoff the skunk poopsicles.

It's All or Nothing

Do you ever feel like your life either runs at full speed or stays at a standstill? Well, that seems to be the norm for me lately. Most days, I have nothing much to do. Of course there is always housework, laundry and running Kaylea around, but I am talking about stuff that is majorly time consuming. Those type things just don't happen that often. However, when I have things to do, they all seem to come at once. This week has been one of those weeks.

A few weeks back, I decided to put my name on the sub list at Kaylea's school since I had requested that her old school remove me from their list for the remainder of the year (another story for another post). Well, apparently her school is in need of subs and appreciates my education and training, because they booked me for three days this past week. In addition to my sub days, I chaperoned Kaylea's class field trip on Tuesday and Barry was out of town on business Thursday and Friday. With all of this going on, I was also on the hunt for Bub and myself a new car.

Unfortunately, Bub's car, the Malibu (kindly referred to as the "Bubbabu") decided to get a little temperamental last week and we weren't sure just how much longer it was going to decide to play nice with us. We knew this day was coming, but had hoped that we could make it through the summer before having to put the Bubbabu out to pasture. Well, I guess the car had other plans. Every evening I was scouring the Internet looking for a decent used car that didn't have 100k+ miles on it AND was priced within our price range. This was not an easy task seeing as we weren't wanting to spend a ton of money on the car. Tuesday evening I thought I had found the perfect car, but when Bub called about it on Wednesday he was told that it was no longer available. DRATS!!!!! So the search continued. Eventually, we had to face the facts and admit that we were going to have to spend a little more money than we had originally anticipated.

After expanding our search, I located a few possibilities and we were off to the car dealership last night to look around and do some test driving. Lucky for us we liked the first car we drove and we were able to work out a deal that was agreeable to us and the dealership. So, as of 10:00 pm last night, we were the proud owners of a new car (well, new to us anyway).

So, for those of you that thought I had quit this whole blogging thing, have no fear. It just seems that life gets in the way of me being able to post sometimes.



P.S. Yea for me - I also have two days booked to sub this coming week. I love making extra money!!!!! Life is good :)