And then I thought.....

At 10 after 8 this morning, I was thinking. Dangerous, I know. Anyway, I was thinking about how tired I am of Pepsi (gasp!) Then I thought about how tired I am of sandwiches for lunch and how I have been craving some deviled eggs. Then I thought how much I love mashed potatoes when I have deviled eggs. Then I thought about how long it had been since I had some good old fashioned peanut butter fudge. 

Yeah, you guessed it. I got busy in the kitchen. First, I made a pitcher of grape Kool Aid and added lemons to it like Mom did when we were little. Then I made deviled eggs and mashed potatoes (even though I had to use instant because I only had one potato left.) Then I went ahead and made my peanut butter candy.

So my lunch is now packed with a quart jar of Kool Aid to put in the cooler at work for my drink today, some deviled eggs and some mashed potatoes. With a container of candy for dessert. I didn't do any meat because I didn't have anything that I really want or had time to fix. 

This is the first thing I saw when I signed into Facebook this morning. Guess I took it to heart because mediocre people don't do out that first thing in the morning. 

Have a great day!

Halloween memories

This is a re-post from 2010, but I have a lot more followers now than I did then so I wanted to share it again. 

I remember with fondness many years of dressing up and heading out for trick or treat. Back then, we didn't have a lot of money for extras like store bought costumes or trick-or-treat bags. We simply dressed in things Mom found around the house and we carried pillow cases for our treat bags.

Each year, I went as either a gypsy or a housewife. The gypsy always had big gold hoop earrings. We would take the rings from Ball or Mason jars and tie yarn on them. Then we would loop the yarn around our ears. Wah Lah....instant earrings. We would also wear extra jar lids as "jangle" bracelets on both arms. When we dressed like a housewife, we would wear one of Mom's house dresses and stick a pillow in the top to give us bosoms. We would put a belt under the pillow to hold it up. By the end of the evening, everything was slipping and we just sagged. We always put a head scarf on and tied it under the back of our hair. Either costume was so much fun because we got to wear rouge (never even hear that word anymore) and bright red lipstick. 

(Courtesy Pop Sugar)

Back in WV, late October was so cold, you usually had on layers of clothing under your costume to keep you warm. But by the end of the evening, you were so hot and sweaty, you couldn't wait to get home and out of the costume. We would have to wash and get our PJ's on when we got home. Then we were allowed to lay in the floor and dump our goodies out and "trade" with one another. Some things my siblings liked that I didn't so we would swap and deal. 

Those were some good times and some wonderful memories. Gladys and Walter across the road always gave apples and Orvel Marcum always gave the big size Snickers and Milky Ways. 

I polled some of my friends and the majority of them also grew up using homemade costumes. They went as ghosts, princesses, some of the boys I polled even dressed as women. What fond memories. Many of them remember their grandmothers always making popcorn balls for Halloween. Have things changed that much over the years or have we? Do we now take the easy way out because it is faster and we live life at a higher speed. I don't know, but I know I miss those simpler times. 

My daughter-in-law puts a lot of thought into the costumes she makes for her kids. The first time she decided to get creative, Garret was a boy in a cage carried by a gorilla. Jamie made the entire outfit. His legs are inside the gorilla suit and the top of the gorilla body is stuffed. I wish I had the year Alexis was a mermaid in a treasure chest. She is so talented. I was amazed at the ideas she came up with.

My daughter works at a company that all the departments dress up each year. Sometime it is a theme and sometimes it is just whatever you want. 

(My daughter is the 3rd from the left)

My cousin Connie said it best " I think our homemade ones were better and more creative than store bought ones. And we had just as much, if not more, fun with our costumes."

My obsession with Junior Mints...

For so long, I have been the Queen of Junior Mints. They are my go too candy for a quick snack. I have a candy dish on my home office desk, in my living room and by my bed....all for Junior Mints. I love nothing more than some Junior Mints, a Pepsi and a good while laying on the couch at night.

One Christmas, Edgar even got into my Junior Mints when I wasn't looking.  (Edgar is my version of Elf on the Shelf that Daddy bought me when I had my first place when I was 20.)

I just can't get enough of them. My friend bought me a big box to work one day recently and her husband, bought me a smaller box because he thought I needed more.

I have love them since I was a little girl. Mommy & Daddy would take us downtown on the bus since they didn't drive and we would always go to McCroy's. I would get a box of Junior Mints and a box of Pom Poms.

I never see Pom Pom's anymore, but I recently had a little box of Milk Duds from a Halloween Candy mix. It was enough to get me hooked. I forgot how much I like the chocolate caramel flavor.  

Since I rediscovered that chocolate caramel deliciousness I haven't bought any Junior Mints. But as I sit here tonight with a box of Milk Duds and no Junior Mints anywhere in the house, I think it is time to go back to the mints. 

Sunday Songs

I know I share this one a lot, but you can never say it enough, OH WHAT A SAVIOR!

My crazy Friday

Yesterday was a unique day to say the least. It started out being good when I found the add image button to look at some old photos that were from my phone. I was fascinated that the lights twinkled and the snow flakes fell. For those who use blogger, here is where I found it. Select add images, then on More click the down arrow and select from your phone. It was that simple. Then scroll through and select your photos and add them as you normally would.

Our weather has went nuts. I have been group greeter and work the last couple of days. Thursday, it was so hot that when we were outside with the groups we had in the mid to high 80 temps and we were about to sweat to death in the heat while we greeted them and took their group pictures. Then yesterday, we woke up to a day that didn't get out of the 50's and it was dreary and rainy.

While I was greeting one group, one of the umbrellas we use for days like today decided to collapse while I was standing under it so all the water on top of it had no where to go except down...on me. I did get my hair a little damp and fortunately had on a fleece jacket so I survived, but it was cold. Having natural curly hair, I just used my fingers to fluff it up and all was good (wasn't as disastrous as this picture, but it give you and idea.) We laughed about it all evening.

Then another lady at work was telling me about a new umbrellas that closes upside down or inside out or something like that. So when it closes, it holds the water and you can just turn it upside down and any excess water comes out as opposed to the way they are now where you shut them and the water on them goes everywhere.

I ended up getting off work around 7:30 and then had to stop at Walmart for some little sausages for a dinner today because Food City was out of them. Walmart. Friday night. In a tourist town. NEVER a good idea. You would have thought it was black Friday.

Then I met up with a friend to deliver an order to her. We had a lot to catch up on and stood in the cold at the gas station where we met up and talked forever. Bottom line is, getting off early at 7:30 did me know good because I got delayed everywhere I went. When I got home, it was too late to do anything but have a snack and go to bed. 

Hope everybody has a great day today.

Friday Foto Friends

 Hooking up for Friday Foto Friends. 

I  clicked on my blogger photo button and saw a button "Photos from your Camera". I have never used that and wondered how it would work. Here are a few that popped up from several winters ago and they sparkle with lights and snow. Now granted when I took these pics the lights were on on the tree and the snow was falling on the ground. However, they were still life photos so I'm not sure how Blogger added the movement. I will be curious to know if the lights twinkle and snow falls when you see them or is it just my computer. Please comment and let me know.

I been looking at artificial trees and trying to decide what to get. The last real tree I had was two Christmas's ago. And seeing this picture pop up of it, I am now rethinking that I may want another real tree. I'll just have to wait and see. But this was one of the more beautiful trees we had ever had.

I always take a picture in the dark of our tree every year with just the lights on when I first get up on Christmas morning. I love the way it looks in the dark.

This was several winters ago when we had our first snow of the year. It was snowing when I took the pictures so I guess whatever blogger does with the photos activated the snow moving instead of just a still life photo.

Thanks Ms. Debbie for letting me hook up with Friday Foto Friends. 

Happy birthday, Sis

Today is my sister's birthday. Words can't convey the love we share and the memories we have made over the years. From being little kids to having our own kids and now being grandmothers. But deep inside we are still those two little girls that drove our Mommy & Daddy crazy with our silliness. We can go months without being together and then when we are, we step right back into the silliness of our childhood. All it takes is one "Remember when...." and boom we break out into hysterical laughter and everybody looks at us like we are crazy. Memories of mud pies and lightning bugs. Badminton and Barbies. Swimming in our underwear in the little plastic pools in the summer. Watching TV in cardboard boxes on Thursday nights after they delivered the groceries. Walking up to Vickie & Teresa's to play for an hour and them coming back home with us for another hour. Singing along to The Supremes. Changing rooms with Mom and Dad so we could have the phone in our room and then changing back because Daddy didn't like us keeping that door shut. Me and my million stuffed animals I had to sleep with every night. Your neatness and my not so neatness when it came to the room we shared. Lady, the dog and the cat having kittens in the dog house. Trips to Gladys and Walter's to lay in the floor and read funny books and eat candy bars. Halloween. Christmas. Easter Sunday and the beautiful dresses Mom made us. The shorty pajama's she made us every summer. And probably one of our fondest, funniest memories.....those stupid green turtle pajamas that I wore and the fact that they were so comfortable I refused to wear panties with them. (I seriously cannot believe I am telling that, but hey, I was a little girl, don't judge me.) But above all the memories, all the stories, all the things that go with being sisters, is the love. 100% undying love that will never dim, never change and never leave. 

Happy birthday, Rachel. I love you.