He's Alive!

Happy Easter!

Thank you Sara Lee

As a nation, we mourned the demise of Twinkies and Hostess Cupcakes. We had to wipe our tears at the thought of no more Sweet 16 donuts and Ding Dongs. But through our despair, Sara Lee was quietly working in the background to bring us a new line of snack cake products. Imagine my excitement yesterday when I stumbled upon their new line. Cakes reminiscent of our beloved Hostess cupcakes.

Spongy goodness that rival that of our Twinkies. 

Donuts in chocolate or powdered sugar to tempt our taste buds. 

Cinnamon rolls and honey buns for glazed goodness. 

Then I spotted these that are like a rectangle Ding Dong instead of the traditional round. I thought those would be the ones I would try first. 

So I brought a box home with me. 

I took one out to sample it. 

Put it on a little plate.

And cut it in half to share with hubby. 

Was it good? Let's just say I decided hubby could get his own. I wasn't sharing. These were out of this world.

Thank you Sara Lee!

That plan didn't work out....

Well, things are falling apart on the Pyrex front. Hubby wanted to get me the Pyrex pink daisy casserole dish for my Easter basket this year. I saw it at a local antique store and he gave me money to get it when I was by that way again so he could make sure he was giving me the right one. The plan was that he would pay for it and I would pick it up and bring it home to him. Then he was going to put it in hiding until the Easter bunny comes to fill it with candy. 

So today, I decide to go pick it up while I was running errands. So I get there. They still have it. It is still the same price as before. Now I pick it up to look it over to make sure that it is what I want. And I gasped! Since the last time I was there, someone has dropped it or knocked it against something. There is a big chip in the top rim and one side has a deep gouge that has also scratched all the paint off. My beautiful soon-to-be Easter basket is no longer worth the price they were asking. And I don't want it if it has a chip in it and a chunk out of it because I wanted to bake casseroles in it. When I get one, I want it to be in good shape like this one, not broken. 

So I looked around and didn't see anything else I wanted. So I went home empty handed and told hubby to forget Pyrex for Easter. So he told me to take the money and get me a something I wanted. Well, I have had my eye on a pair of flip flops at Kohl's. They are the same price as the Pyrex bowl. So I just have to decide do I want the coral pair?

Or the turquoise pair?

So I went on line to look at them closer and try to decide and guess what? They are on sale for 1/2 off this weekend. So I can actually get BOTH pairs if I want. With my luck, they won't have my size now that I have finally decided to get them. Or I won't like the way they "feel". Then I had this big dilemma on what to wear for Easter. I finally made a decision to wear this coral sweater and white slacks that I already have. I have torn the house upside down looking for the sweater. I just saw it a couple of weeks ago and now it is nowhere to be seen. So I decided to wear a turquoise top and the white pants. But when I got out the pants to wash them up, there was a stain right below the knee that I didn't notice when I put them up for the winter. I did wash them and they did come clean. But I really don't want to wear the turquoise top so I have decided on a dress I have that I've only worn about 2 or 3 times. 

So my plan for my Easter Basket didn't work out the way I wanted and my plan for my Easter outfit was a flop as well. Oh, well, at least I will get chocolate from the Easter bunny ... unless he forgets where I live. 

What I ate...

I see a lot of posts titled what I wore. I love looking at the outfits and wish I had some kind of sense of style. But the older I get, the more I go for comfort than fashion. Don't get me wrong, I dress nice enough but I won't win any fashionista awards. So instead of posting what I wore, I thought I would post what I ate this week. This was Wednesday's lunch. I couldn't decide what to eat and was feeling to lazy to make anything so I figured you can't go wrong with ice cream. But there was not peanuts to go on so I tired M & M's. It was delicious. 

Last night I decided I hadn't use any of my Pyrex in awhile so I checked the cabinet and found that I had a chocolate chip cookie mix I had not made. So I got out my new Town and Country bowl and my favorite little pink bowl so I could get my butter to room temperature. 

It was a snack size package, one of those that are just $1.00 and it only makes 12 cookies. That is the perfect size for me and hubby. So I dropped them on the cookie sheet. I was out of parchment paper. I normally NEVER make cookies without using my parchment paper but I didn't feel like running out for just one thing. 

I sat the timer for the required 10 minutes. I always set it for the lowest time they recommend and usually always have to go 2-3 minutes longer. You would think I would just set it at the 12 minutes to begin with with but I'm always worried they will get done at 10, but they never do. 

So while they were baking, I heated up some Campbell's vegetarian vegetable soup and made a grilled cheese. If you look closely you will see there are not veggies in the soup. That is because I just like the flavor of the veggies in my broth, but I won't eat them. I'm a broth only soup gal. Even when I go out to eat, if I order veggie soup, I order it as "Vegetable soup with no vegetables." The waitress always scoops me out just broth. 

I got the cookies out to cool right as I sat down to eat. When I was finished eating, it was time for dessert. I am so addicted to Luigi's Sherbet. It is so delicious. It is like eating an orange Icee. It doesn't have that milky texture that other sherbets have. I did go on a rant the other day when I came home from the store. I usually eat two or three of these a week. Well, they are always 10 for $10 with my Food City Value card. It's been that way for over a year. But Food City has decided to take them off special and now they are $1.25 each. Yep, that's right. I got upset because they raised my price by .25 cents. But it is still the best Sherbet ever. 

So I fixed me a big bowl of sherbet and a little plate of cookies and had myself an awesome dessert. If you have never had chocolate with orange you do not know what you are missing. It is divine. 

Time to start my day with a healthy breakfast but all I hear are cookies and milk calling my name. Have a great day!

Happy Anniversary to the one I love.....

Thirty-two years ago today I married my best friend, the love of my life. 

We have had so many wonderful years and I love him more and more with every passing day. 

So many memories, so many moments. 

Two hearts beating as one. 

Together forever.

I love you Allen. I have from the first moment our eyes met and I will throughout eternity.

Happy anniversary, sweetheart.

Read all about it....

I love to read. I will read just about anything I can get my hands on, including the back of the cereal box. One of my favorite books since I was a little girl was Little Women. I have an old copy I found at an antique store that was from 1955 and I have a copy of it my son got me for my birthday in 1991. I even have two of the Ashton Drake collectible dolls....Beth and Jo. 

I need to find the Meg doll.

And the Amy one. 

Another old book I have belonged to my Mother. I'm not sure if she remembers she gave it to me or not, but I treasure it. 

It was given to her for Christmas in 1940 by the principal of the two room school she attended. When she told me that story, I wrote that in the front of the book so we would always remember it. 

I remember her getting it out and reading it to us and letting us look at it when we were little. The pages are brittle and I don't get it out much anymore, but I still remember it so well.  

I also have one of her old biology notebooks from high school. She was apparently very good at it. Look at her drawings how precise and her writing how neat. 

She also had some leaves pressed in from one of her projects or something. Best I can figure, these leaves are over 60 years old and still preserved very nicely between the pages of the books. 

In my spring cleaning, I also came across a teddy bear I got one year for my birthday. He's a little floppy and loved, but I still keep him on my bed. This was Herman. 

I love pulling out memories sometimes and just taking a look at them. 

Weekend wrap up

I had a great weekend. Garret came over to spend the night. I had gotten him a game for his birthday and we played it for about 4 hours Saturday evening. It is Axis and Allies, a World War II strategy game. We battled and I lost. I loved the tanks. I kept wanting to go after everything with my tanks. 

I had a hard time keeping the ships straight. I kept thinking a destroyer was more powerful than the battleships point wise simply because the destroyer was bigger. But in this game, bigger did not necessarily mean more powerful. 

He had to help me a lot because I kept making dumb moves and he would say, "Mamaw, are you sure you want to do that?" And I would say hmmm, I don't know. Then I would panic because I wasn't sure if I was making the right moves or not. I never did win, but I sure had fun playing. 

I did have time for a little project this weekend. It was basic and simple. I meant to take a before and after, but forgot. I had this vase that I wanted to put on a little shelf in the living room, but didn't want flowers on it. So I bought some rocks at Dollar Tree and a pretty vanilla candle and made a cute arrangement with the vase. 

The shelf has a little "outdoorsy" feel with the birds and wreaths on it. I think it needs a ribbon or jute or raffia around the rim. I'll have to try that out and see what I think.

I was very pleased with the final look and it added some height to the top of the shelf. 

Back when Hubby worked at Dollywood in the 1990's, their was a store that sold pictures and they would personalize a sign or a mailbox on the picture with your name. We are both train nuts (Daddy worked for the C & O Railroad) since we both grew up near the tracks and would hear the trains at night. So we fell in love with this picture and had to have it. You can see the little personalized mailbox on it. It hangs in the living room. 

When we put the bookshelf in the living room Friday night, I got two of hubbies trains (one is the C&O) and put them on top of the bookcase. He was so happy to have some of "his stuff" as decor in the living room. 

I had this braided rug in the bedroom by the bed, but decided to put it in front of the bookcase for a little extra "something". I love braided rugs and have a couple around the house.  

This past week, we switched from Comcast phone to AT&T land lines. I know it is a step backwards technology wise, but we have had some problems with Comcast these past few weeks and week before last was the straw that broke the camels back. Because Comcast ties into your internet and cable, any time one went down they all went down. Bottom line, I wanted a "regular" phone for my desk for my home office. So we switched back to AT&T for our land line. So I got a new phone for my desk and I'm loving it. 

I've got a busy week ahead of me so I'm going to run and get started on my "to-do" list. Have a great day. 

The Triumphal Entry

Luke 19:28-44

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Triumphal Entry
(From www.Biblegateway.com)

28 When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. 31 And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’”

32 So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. 33 But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?”

34 And they said, “The Lord has need of him.” 35 Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. 36 And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.

37 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, 38 saying: “ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Spring Cleaning Changes

I was sitting on the couch yesterday evening and I said to hubby "I was just thinking." He got that deer in the headlight look, the one that makes me tread carefully so he doesn't bolt. Then I proceeded to tell him I wanted to make some changes in the beach room. We have been here a year and I just haven't decided on how I want furniture in the room. We just have some assorted "stuff' in there right now. 

I want to put my spare chairs back at the kitchen table and put some kind of bed in the room, but there is't much room and day beds are so expensive. But I saw something yesterday that was cute. They just pushed the bed up against the wall and threw pillows on it to make a couch. 

This next one they mounted a queen headboard on the wall and then put the twin bed up against it. Again, some pillows and you have a comfy couch for the kids to set on to watch TV during the evening, but it makes a nice bed for one of them to sleep on. I will do the same thing on the spare wall in my office so that I have two guest beds. I can get a roll away bed to keep in the closet for when there are 3 of them staying.

It looks like this one just used a really high mattress and built a foundation for the mattress and created more storage at the same time. 

This one is probably my favorite one. I love the storage area.

Another one with a queen headboard used for the "back" of the couch. 

Then that discussion triggered the discussion that I thought the bookcase took up too much space in the kids room and wondered about trading my TV stand in our master bedroom for the bookcase/entertainment center for our TV. Hubby actually liked the idea so we started cleaning everything off  both areas so we could make the switch. We paused in the living room on the way to take the bookcase to the bedroom. While it was setting in the floor, we both looked at each other at the same time and realized the bookcase made a perfect entertainment center for the living room TV. So we nixed the bedroom switch and put the bookcase in the living room and the TV stand from the living room went in the kids room.  No picture to post of the kids room until I get it the way I want it, but here is the entertainment center in the living room. 

I especially love the fact that I had room for my blue pitcher and bowl to come back in the living room and that my favorite hardback books had a new home. 

Now time to hit the yard sales for a twin frame and a queen headboard. I can then get a new twin set of mattress and box spring and get the kids room the way I want it. Have a great Saturday!