Wednesday

Today was pretty lame. We took inventory of our entire food supply. LOL I am trying to utilize what we have as we have a tendancy to buy what we want and just keep the rest stored for later. With what we had on hand we have planned 35 meals and still had plenty to keep going, but I got tired. Of course we did have to get a few things, but that was only a total of $50.00 worth. With cleaning products, it came to close to 90.00. Still not bad. So, we went to church tonight. I missed my brother there tonight. Then we went to get groceries. I love my s'mores set that Gigi got me for Christmas. It is quite handy. However, once I gain 30 pounds from eating marshmallows each night until I get the perfectly toasted layers, I might not think so. Now keep in mind, I have a gas stove and so in the past when I have had a desire for roasted marshmallows, I wouild roast them on that. It wasn't often, but enough to hold me over until fall. Great, perfect, wonderful! That is until now. I think I have to have them every few days. So... what else is going on? Nothing really. The job serch continues. I am shooting some basketball teams this weekend. That should be a good gig. The photos have been shipped from the pageant so I am excited to see how they turn out. I also stress about them until they get here and I can look over them. I am just always so nervous and frantic. I guess that about sums it up for now. I need to go as it is almost midnight. Maybe I can write more tomorrow. See ya later!

Well, it's finally over.

The big shoot,, that is. I just got home and I am exhausted. I had a great crew helping me today. Things went very smoothly and that is owed only to God. We prayed and prayed and prayed and so far so good. I briefly proofed each photo when I shot them, so they look good I suppose. As always, some I love and some will do. I shot a great group of kids today and the parents weren't so bad either. I was going to bed because I said no work tonight, after working a 9 hour day today... but... I couldn't resist, so I am now going to look through the pics again. ;) I can't do it long though we have church tomorrow and we are in charge of children's church. Night.

Today is the BIG day!

I hav eto shoot the Miss Handleyan Pageant. I am scared to death and nervous. I am waiting for the girls to show up to have their photos made at this very moment. I cannot beleive I agree'd to this, however my family has become accustomed to eating, so I guess I should just suck it up and be done. That does not help my nerves one bit though. I know it will go over great, but that doesn't change the way I feel. Everyone has been so good about helping me lately. This morning I was allowed to sleep in and was served breakfast in bed. So, I guess I should close for me moment, I just thought I would ask for a little prayer. ;) Love you bunches!!!

A house full of girls.

I have a house full of girls. 5 to be exact. Courtney was with us, but she is sickly and we hope she feels better soon. We have had fun I guess. Played wth dogs and games and pool. We even took some pictures. I have a shoot enxt week for a pageant, so we had to practice. HEre is a sample
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/luv2crop/cassidream.jpg[/IMG]

I have a bulging disc, so actually I have done a lot of lying around the past few days, per Dr. Steele's orders of course. Robbie has made breakfast for everyone. He is still out of work, but is looking. As soon as my back is better, I will get back on the looking trail. Well I guess I better go for now, the girls are eating and I hear the salt chat starting. I will be back later. Bye for now.

Some people live in a soap opera...

I live in a drama. Robbie went back to work on Monday. Guess what. He had been repalced. Even though I had called them at least twice a week and everyday when he was in the hosptial. They told me the documentation to get and I had everything. You would think they would have told me on Friday when I called them a million times trying to make sure everything was in order, but noooo. They wait for him to come in at 4 am Monday morning. Then his boss wasn't even there to tell him. Oh the nerve of some people. the worst aprt is, not one single person asked about him from there. That sucks majorly. I guess people are just losing their compassion. Oh well. All's well that ends well and I guess that ended well because it is part of God's perfect plan. Now I myself am a planer and I know God gets the biggest kick out of me making my plans, but I can't help it. At least I provide him some good entertainment because He has let me know more than once that my plans don't always go with what He has in mind. I am trying to make sure that I listen so that He will maybe let me have a little say in the plans he has in store. If ntohing else, maybe he could give a me a clue on the route to take. I tell you this choosing the wrong road stuff is hard work. Oh why oh why doesn't he just call me up on the phone or send me an email? It would be so much easier. He doesn't though and He certainly didn't promise that things would be easy. I know the reason that He doesn't is because my faith doesn't grow if I get the easy answers. Just like in school, when you are given the answers you don't learn anything, but when you are forced to trial and error or finding the answers for yourself, you get so much more out of the deal. I must not be a fast learner, or I probably don't listen. LOL Whatever the case- I am sure he gets frustrated with me from time to time... and that is an understatement to say the elast. Now, that I have given the moral lesson for today on gaining wisdom and faith I guess I should continue to give me blog update.

Cassi got her report card. She made some improvements and some things came down, but not too bad. Robbie is looking for work, as I am looking to go back to work full time until we can get worked out again. Robbie is worried that my health will decline again, but I told him I have to do what I have to do. I think the problem in the past has been that is has been physically exausting and too harsh on my body. I am looking for something a little more calm this go round. Robbie and I have been playing family games each night to relax. We are addicted. I slaughtered him yesterday in Monopoly and then again last night in Phase 10. He was not a happy camper and we ended up ending the game early. I told him he was a sore loser and he agreed. LOL It was funny seeing him act like that, because it is totally not like him. I guess that is why he loves his X-Box so much. He doesn't have to play with anyone but the computer. lol

I am shooting a pageant next week at Handley. THat makes me very nervous because that is my Alma Mater. Talk about being put under pressure.I am sure it will be fun and a learning experience. hopefully it will get me some senior jobs. If I could get more business then I wouldn't have to go back to work. I just balanced my checkbook and somewhere there is 4.66 missing and it is driving me crazy. I don't know where it went, so I just entered it and figured it would even things out. I am not in the mood to do it now. It is too depressing. My brother's birthday is Saturday. Tomorrow I am being treated to lunch by friends. I guess they pity my life drama. lol It always is good to have people cheer you up, especially friends like mine. It is a shame when some of the people you need most aren't there for you. Some people can be very selfish and self centered at times... no matter the expense to others. I guess we all can be though. That's just part of life.

On a happy note... I have THE BEST Aunt Nancy ever. She was awesome when Robbie was in the hosptial. I had a home cooked meal every night (even when it was horribly late) and a nice cozy bed waiting for me. Then in the morning, I had wonderful fellowship with her and a yummy breakfast of homemade oatmeal with all sorts of healthy goodies. Just the way I like it. I always have loved to stay there and this was the first time in my "grown up years" that I have been able to do so. I have always strived to be just like her and want my nieces to feel the same way about me and my house. She is the best! I think she could be a Stepford wife. LOL I have been craving some more of that oatmeal, but I doubt mine will be made homemade. I will probably just add the healthy goodies to the not so healthy instant pack variety. lol

Courtney is on the task of setting Mama up with someone. She is trying to recruit people for the cause. She is hilarious about the whole deal. She knows exactly what she wants her grandpa to have. This girl means business. I haven't been able to see or talk to Brook and Bree for a few weeks, but I imagine they are just as cute as ever. Courtney is local and calls daily to check on Mama so I get filled in that way. I have learned that if I want business taken care of to get Courtney on the task. Her next assignment is to get Mama to go to the dr about her arm. The grandpa idea was all her own.

Daddy is trying to keep Casey and Michael from killing each other. Chris went back to Mobile. We miss him soooo much. I wish he and Justin both would move up here. Justin is currently on my list- he hasn't replied to my myspace messages. lol I should know that a big sister is not top priority to a 19 year old boy with cute girls on his friend list. I am sure that would cramp his style.

The whole family is addicted to Mama's Wheel of Fortune game that we got her for Chrsitmas and Courtney loved it so much that she bought one for herself. Brook, Courtney and Bree are all wonderful at this game. They are so smart. It is amazing at how intelligent they are to be their ages. It is a blessing to say the least.

Yesterday was my Garden Club meeting.It was very enjoyable. Our topic was The Healthy Gardener. We learned some stretches that you could do before working in the yard. The stretches felt really good and was actually very relaxing. We all looked silly stretching in nice clothes and heels, but it just added to the fun.

I guess I need to be going now. I don't want to wear out my welcome. ;) I was waiting for Mama to get home from work, but it looks like that won't be happening anytime soon, so I will head home. I have to go get my meds from Wal-Mart before they close and make it back in time for Grey's Anatomy.
I will try and post some photos soon.
Talk to you guys later- Ciao!

Happy New Year!

It has been a LONNNNG time since I last posted. Life has been happeneing. ;) Robert was in the hospital, but he is a lot better. He had viral meningitis. Still not perfect, but way better than he has been lately. He planss to go back to work next week. 4 weeks is too long without a pay check, but there was no way that he could have worked. He goes to get a release from the dr today I think.
Today is a wonderfully rainy day with thunder so loud is shakes the whole house. Very cool! It does seem to have calmed down a lot though.
I have a gripe today, actually I have several, but I will keep those to myself. The one I must vent about is UPS. In October I had received some lights, backdrop stands and other items for my photography business. This was stuff that I needed very bad. WHen I received the items, some of the bulbs were broken. The bulbs are very expensive, so I filed a claim with UPS. FIne, they sent money for the bulbs to be replace, but have not yet sent the package. Everyday we have been on the phone with people all over the US and finally yesterday we got an actual answer. UPS destroyed the package as it was not repairable. Ummmm, yes it was!!!! I am so livid. I had already paid for these things and now they won't ay for them because they were only insured to cover the repairs and that won't cover everything. I have a big job coming up that I needed those for and now I can't do it. I cannot believe this. BTW, if anyone from UPS ever tells you they will call you back- they are LYING!!!! Vent over...
Ok, trying to remain calm, so I guess I will be getting off of here for now. Hopefully it won't be so long between posts next time.

Fill in the blank

1. My current favorite song is: Too many to name, but I love Rock Star

2. The last book I read was: the Bible

3. The last book I bought was: a collect of Dr. Seuss' classics and some cook books

4. The last cd I bought was: for a gift

5. Another CD I wanted but didn't buy is: Nickleback

6. Right now, I'm wearing: Jeans and a long sleeve purple shirt

7. The last gift I bought was: for my secret pal

8. The last time I laughed heartily and loudly: when I was in Mobile

9. My favorite holiday ornament is: the white doves that are in memory of my Nanny Brown and my Aunt Gwen

10. My house smells like: Pears... which smells wonderful!!!

11. The first thing on my to-do list tomorrow is: Garden club meeting and silent auction.

12. If I could sit on Santa's lap and believe that he'd bring me whatever toy I wished for, I'd ask for: Goodies for my camera or my laptop fixed

13. If I could holiday shop in ONE store, all expenses paid, I'd shop at: Crate and Barrell or Lowe's.

14. If an angel alighted on my doorstep today and said, "I'm here to grant a Christmas wish," I'd wish for: salvzation for those that are lost

15. When I see a bell ringer while out shopping, I: put in what cash I have.

Trying to stay awake

It's Monday, today is my laundry day. While waiting on a laundry rotation, I decided to watch a bit of tv. The side lights from the foyer were kind of bright, so I decided to lie down on the couch to block the view with my arm. BIG MISTAKE! I am so sleepy now. I can hardley see. The bad thing about it is is it 1:44 in the afternoon. I need to be wrapping gifts or something productive, but I have been meaning to blog for a wekk now, so I figured there was no bettter time than the present. I have Jr. Service League tonight. We are having our Christmas party at Kim's. I already have my dessert made. Whoo hoo for me! I even broke out the santa platter that I LOVE, but always forget about. My house is decorated as much as it is going to get this year I suppose. I couldn't put out the china or dining room decorations because we have a wall to mud and the dust would be yucky on my table scape! So I figured that I would skip this year... unless my wall gets mudded soon. I doubt that will happen though. The floor for the kitchen is still waiting patiently in the foyer. It looks nice in it's boxes. I bet it would look even better on the kitchen floor. Oh well, good things come to those who wait.

My Christmas shopping is done with the exception of a few gifts. I have managed not to go overboard this year on my nieces. They gave me only one request, so that is what I got them. It was all in the same price range too, so that took care of the fairness. What else is new? We had a wonderful time at church Friday night. Saturday we shopped and last night we had the church Christmas play and gift exchange. I got some wonderfully awesome gifts and one of my all time favorites. Popcorn! That reminds me, I should crack that can open and have a nice nutritious snack. I also need to work on my Christmas cards, you know the ones that never got sent last year. Last year was especially crazy as we were not home except on weekends in December. It has been nice to do things gradually and not have to haul gifts to Charlotte to wrap. I do miss that place though. I loved staying across from Paramount because it was all lit up and the way I would find my way "home" away form home each Sunday night was via the big Christmas tree that you could see for miles. We had developed a small family there in Charlotte. At night, one of our favortie clerks would bake us cookies and deliver fresh hot chocolate chip cookies and cold glasses of milk to our room. Now that is what I call service!!! Anyway, I guess I am done reminisincg for now. I shall return later. Merry Christmas everyone!

3rd times a charm

It has been said that all things come in 3's... It has been several weeks since I have blogged. Life is great... busy, but great. Lately my life has been consumed with kitchen remodeling. It all started with the new fridge. We needed more clearance, so we trimmed the counter, great it fit. It did not have enough "breathing room" though, so we were going to trim the cabinet. No biggy there. We decided to go ahead with the partial closing of the large opening overlooking the dining room since we had the power tools readily in use. So off I go to buy the material for that project. On one of those trips I saw a pantry cabinet a little less wider than the current cabinet, with much more room. I bought it. Then I had to get something to hang our microwave with. Check.... all that led to new floor, new cabinet color and new wall color. The reason I said things come in three's is because I made 3 trips for screws, 3 trips for studs,3 trips for brackets, 3 trips for flooring, 3 trips for cabinet hinges and 3 trips for curtains. Obviously 3rd time's a charm because thankfully everything worked.... well the flooring isn't in yet, but I am sure it will be fine. I love it. I couldn't wait to get the curtains hung, and accessorize my tiny space. I wanted to wait until the floor was in, but I could not stand it any longer. So last night I tried the last 2 sets of curtains. Thankfully the 3rd set worked perfectly. It was as if it had just appeared on my thrid trip because I had obviously not paid attention to them on all the other trips. I will post a finished picture when it is totally complete. Everyone loves it so far, except mama and daddy. lol Daddy says it's too dark, but he is color blind so it just looks grey to him and mama said it looked good, but she didn't love the colors. That's ok though, I like it! It looks like a totally different kitchen. It isn't but it is just amazing the transformation it has made. I took some pictures last night, but had to force myself to delete them becasue I was so tempted to email them to everyone. I realize that a lot of people think I am a freak b/c I thrive on projects like this. If you know me, you know that I can't do anything small or halfway. Needless to say my little project has leaked into the hallway and the dining room. lol Right now there are paint sample stuck on the wall. We like them all, but it changes throughout the day. Our kitchen is tiny, so I figured that walling it up and painting it dark would make it appear smaller, but so far so good. I have to concentrate on the guest bath as that has been a project goal for over a year now. We have nice slate sitting in our dining room just waiting to be put down in there. The hold up- the sink faucet and deciding if we just want a shower or if we want a combo. Oh and the money is also a slight detail that is missing. ;)

I couldn't shop this Friday for gifts without loooking for curtains and wall art for the kitchen. I was very surprised as I did not buy anything from Home Depot or Lowe's on Black Friday. My friend Jenn says that I have to go to those places to regroup and have my therapy. I drug my poor little sister all over those stores last week. To which she replied- we are so different. lol I remember when I was her age and younger, I hated, no let me restate that, I HATED Lowe's. (there were no HD's around then) It seemed like my dad would be in there for hours and it was BORING!!! Now, I am loving it and can't wait until LaGrange gets their Lowe's back again. It will be 2008, but it is still fun to look forward to. I have banana nut bread in the oven right now, so I should probably go and check it. I just wanted to take a moment to say hi. I will check back in more often now that life isn't consuming me. Ciao!

Random ramblings

I don't have much time, but I am going to try and bring everyone up to speed. OK, first off, my sister had her surgery and she did great. She is at home recovering. My brother is still working on my new website. The hold up isn't his problem, it's mine. I have to get him the requested info. So... sorry about that. Hmm, I took care of the girls while my sister was in the hospital, which also entailed taking care of the animals. I succeeded in caring for the girls- the animals, not so sure. Biscuit, Cocoa, Brook, Bree and myself all shared the bed. Cocoa had most of it.

The progress on my wall is coming along nicely. We are actually getting the cabinets in there today. Hooray! Robert's mom is coming this weekend. She will be here for a week. His birthday is Monday. He will be 33. We have tickets to go see air supply on Tuesday. I also have a service league meeting and Sis meeting. I will not be attending those I suppose. Tammy G. gave us the tickets and so I promised her that we would go. I offered to let Robert and his Mom go. He says he will see. lol I guess that is about it for now. I am exciting about the holiday season coming up. I have a few bookings that I am especially excited about and I just finished placing a senior portrait order. I cannot wait to get those back next week. The daycare order is completed and they were very pleased. The director called me to tell me that the center in Lineville was mad and wanted to know why their pictures didn't look like the Roanoke centers. Bill Miller did the Lineville centers. That was an especially good compliment. It made my day.
Oh, I had Garden club yesterday. We made Holiday make and take decorations. We were each on a team and we didn't finish ours. I did however manage to glue my thumb and pointer finger together. As did most on my team. The funny thing about that is that we didn't even use any glue!!! I really should go and help with the wall now. I can't wait until it is finished. Talk soon. ciao!

Oh, I almost forgot, Cassi won class beauty and 1st runner up in Miss Panacea. She did GREAT!

Good Monday Morning to Ya!

Today is a Bea-utiful day!!! Ahhh, I love Autumn. This reminds me of a Barney song, but I will spare you the performance. I will save that for Friday when my sister is recovering at home from her surgery and she will be in the bed and forced to lie there and listen to me cheer, dance, sing, etc... Why would I do this you might ask? Well, because it's fun to torture and give flashbacks, especially when there isn't a thing she can do about it. Isn't that what litle sisters are for? Hey, my brother will be there too, wonder if I could trap him into watching. Muhahahahah! It will just like the good ol' days. My sister will just shake her head and scream, "Make it stop!" and my brother will make fun of me. Ahh, I can't wait! How exciting!!!
Now, as I sit here eating my nutrious bowl of macaroni and cheese, you might realize that we were out of milk. No big deal, as I don't really enjoy milk like most americans. If you know me at all, you would probably know that I would take mac and cheese any time - any place. So I am not too sad about not eating "breakfast" at breakfast. Besides I have to clean out my fridge so that I can put everything into my new one.
Speaking of new fridge (this is too cool, it requires a paragraph of its own) I have the coolest freaking fridge EVER!!!! I have drank exactly 1 1/2 cups of water this morning. You know how I know? My fridge told me I did!!! It measures water in pints, cups and liters. How awesome is that!! Me, being as obsessive as I am, started my fridge journey on the internet. Then I went to Auburn and went to every. single. store. that. sells. appliances. The first store was REX, I was looking at some of their clearance items. There were some nice items and they had a fridge that was even stainless on the sides. Cool. Then I saw it. The fridge with all the gadgets. The customer rep proceeded to show me all the other cool features, and I asked him not to do that because I was a gadget person and then I would have to have that fridge. I was there for function not fun. I checked out all the others refrigerators and nothing caught my fancy, so I jotted down the information for the gadget fridge and was on my merry way. I get in the car, make a phone call to have my sister do a price check and tell her about the coolest fridge ever!! I then journeyed over to Sears, found the exact fridge, only twice the price. Great! lol They price matched for me and gave me an additional 10% off. Excellent. I jotted down that info and finally proceeded to the remaining stores. Finally, I found my fridge at Lowe's. I could just hear the chorus singing, *hallelujah, hallelujah* It was there, and it was less, but even better was they had the previous model, so it was a bit less. Then above the fridge was a big sign that had the words SOLD. So I get a worker to see if they can check another store. Guess what? They have another one in the back, untouched by grubby fingerprints. Hooray! Happy BIrthday to me! I quickly paid for my purchase, opted for the extended warranty and delivery. It would be here Wednesday. Which fridge did I get? You guessed it. The gadget fridge.
Now mind you I just HAD to have that fridge installed before my birthday. Check! Ummm, then why is the old fridge sitting in my dining room? Because I have yet to move the food. You see, I decided since I had a new fridge, I really needed to get back to work on my kitchen. So I decided I wanted to paint it. Again! Ok, no biggie. Then why did I purchase floor tile? Which then led to me getting trim for my cabinets and of course a new paint color for them. Well, one cannot have new paint on every surface and not paint the walls. So I did that too. Now, who wants to come help? Tomorrow, I will have had the floor tile for 1 week. It sits nice in the boxes by the ac return. It looks real nice! I hope it will look even better installed.
This week has a glorious outlook. Last week was kind of crazy, did everything get fixed that was going wrong? Let's take a look.
Monday- Purchase a refrigerator. Check!
Tuesday- Cassi and Casey had a wreck. Spend all day at ER. Check!
Wednesday- Ignore harrassing calls from the other family involved in the wreck. Check!
Wednesday- Johnny Carino's taking care of the big bad mistake. Check!
Wednesday- Chop up kitchen cabint to get fridge to fit. Check1
Wednesday- Put fire out that got on porch. Check!
Thursday- Go to lunch with friends for my birthday. Their treat. Good thing 'cause Johnny Carino's has MESSED me up! Check!
Thursday- Ignore harrassing calls from the other family involved in the wreck. Check!
Friday- Beg bank to take care of the portion of the mistake that Johnny Carino's did not take care of. Check!
Friday- Inform Johnny's that their money has not came through yet.- Check!
Oh the list goes on, but thankfully alls well that ends well. And well, it's just ended and I'm glad of that.
Now for the list of this week... this will be a pleasant week according to the outlook forecast.
Monday- Laundry rotations and straighting up from Sunday.
Tuesday- Painting and trick or treating with my brother and Courtney.
Wednesday- Court aginst Dan (sorry contractor who if he would have done his job, I would NOT have all this crap to do in my kitchen because my kitchen would be my sewing room.) Trick or treating with Courtney and my brother.
Thursday- Surgery with sister. Pick up Cassi's pageant dress.
Friday- Take care of sister and do last minute prep for Cassi's pageant.
Saturday- Doll Cassi up for pageant. Take pictures of her being crowned. (hey wishful thinking, but I did say the forecast looked bright) Go to the fall festival and show off Cassi's crown. (again wishful thinking, but optimisim is way more attractive than pessimisim)

Oh and I am LOVING the new time. I have to go now and work on my chores for the day and then get to work on website. First, I must call my mother. Talk soon. Love.

Today is Saturday

Well, the steak supper is over for Junior Service League. We had a good turn out. After the dinner, we went to Wadley to pick up Major. It was so funny. We busted up a party. Me, Jenn and Lori laughed about the old folks breaking up the party. The cops were called and then they blocked the road. It was too funny. So anyway, we have the fish fry at church tonight. I am trying to talk Mama into going. Mama and Courtney are entertaining me. Courtney has been practicing the piano and is getting really good at Silent Night. They all do so well. So, I guess I will go for now.

Time has flown since I last blogged.

Today is a dreary cold and rainy day, but I love it! I have a nice cup of cocoa and am just feeling good. I want to do alot of things around the house, but then I think that it could wait until tomorrow. I should enjoy th rainy weather. Ahhhh, I love fall. Let's see what all has happened since I blogged last.

My spider bite is almost gone. We (my mother, sister and younger nieces) went to Babyland General in Cleaveland. The girls adopted babies. After Baby Land General, we went to Helen for a kraut dog and german potato salad. It was Oktoberfest and we wanted to see all they had to offer for the celebration. It was very fun, a bunch of people drinking, but still fun. Surpringly, the do NOT serve kraut dogs after 5:00 in Helen. LOL Why? We have no idea!
We were going to North Carolina, but decided not to. Instead we went to a corn maze and hayride. We were able to go hay bale jumping, which to our surprise wqas VERY fun! Our car wouldn't start after we left though, so it was a good thing that we didn't go to North Carolina. We had a wonderful time, but next time we would love for the ENTIRE family to go on our adventure with us. We had fun!

I am now a member of the Roanoke Garden Club, which if you have seen my plants, then you would think that was hilarious. And it is... BUT... I will learn a lot being in the club and really enjoyed my first meeting. The topic was Landscaping 101 and that was right up my alley.

My hot cocoa is not so hot anymore, so I guess I should go and drink that. I promise it won't be as long as it was this time before I blog again. I know I have loyal fans. ;) Thanks for being patient.

Been really busy

but I thought I would take a minute to write a few lines for me fans. LOL!

So my brother bought a new truck. It's pretty sharp.
My sister is having a hysterectomy. I am worried that she isn't letting her true feelings show and I keep trying to tell her that it is ok to be confused, happy and sad all at the same time. I told her to go to www.hystersisters.com
That is a great site! When I was going through the same feelings last year it really helped me deal. If any of you guys are faced with that decision or possibility, check it out. It's wonderful!

Spider bite is healing, well I guess it is anyway. The redness seems more concentrated now rather than all spread out as before. Been taking the antibiotics like crazy. I do NOT want this thing to get infected! Out insurance runs out next week, so anything crazy that is going to happen, needs to go ahead and happen.
Not sure if I blogged since the LaGrange ER gave me sulfa drugs- which I am allergic to!!!! It is scary how incompetant people are these days, especially those which we trust our lives.

Robbie has a job interview tomorrow. This is his second interview with a marketing company. They called him back on Monday after his frist interview. He would be handling the marketing for Bell South and Quill.

Mama is sick. She has the flu or something. Her fever was 104!!! No there is not supposed to be a decimal there. Thankfully she seems to be getting a little better.

Photography is going pretty good. I delivered football shots today. I am delivering daycare proofs tomorrow and meeting about a pageant at the high school. I need the jobs right now and I figure that this is God's way of kicking me in the butt to get my business rolling. Robbie's company made huge cutbacks and so this kick in the butt couldn't have come at a better time.

Mrs. Bonnie and I started walking today. We were going to start off slow and build up to 3 miles, but we walked the whole 3 miles today. It was very nice out and the fellowship was fantastic. We hope to get some more people walking with us.

I guess that it about it for now. I shall go and try to rest. Oh!
My mama is going to try and convince my entire family to go on a day trip this weekend to Baby Land General. It is where the Cabbage Patch Kids are born. I love that place! I do hope that everyone will say, "Yes!" It will be great quality family time! Courtney's birthday wish was that she would be able to spend more time with her family, so this would be a great way to grant that wish! I just hope everyone else thinks it is a fun idea. Anyway, good night. I will blog more tomorrow.

Oh visit my new website- www.creativeimpressionsphotography.com
It is still under contruction, but it is going to be so awesome when it is finished!
Good night everyone. Love you all!!

Just got home from the ER

Apparently I have been bit by a spider of some sort. All I know is today I was at the computer and my arm was hurting when I touch the armrest. I looked, nothing there, just figured my arm was sensitive to the leather.

So we go to the grocery store and my arm hurts when it touches something, no biggie. Then I put my arm on the arm rest and man did that hurt! I looked and there is a huge area with an obvious bite of some sort. When we got home I put some cortisone with pain reliever on it hoping it would ease the pain. Nothing.

My dad came over for hamburgers for my 14 year old brothers birthday, he looked at it and everyone else spotted it across the room, in the dark!

He said it was a bite, probably a spider bite. It was warm, hard and big.

By this time it is pretty much hurting all the time and then my arm starts to tingle and kind of go numb around my fingers. So I try to pop it with a needle, nothing. So I move it and keep my fingers moving and it continues to hurt and tingle. By this time the pain is shooting up and down my arm. We decide to go on to the little incompetant emergency room here in town.

When we arrived, I got checked in. Then I sat and sat and sat and watched the nurse walk all around me. Finally the doctor walks over and takes a look. THen he asks what the scars are on my arms and legs. Then he asked if I was on any meds and listened to my breathing. Asked if I has asthma. He wanted to know what meds I was on and I told him. THen he asked how many children I had. I said, "None." He said the bite was probably pushing on a nerve and that was the reason for the tingly. Keep in mind I am still waiting in the waiting area. I have no idea why the number of children I had was significant, but he asked nonetheless. So, an hour later, the nurse finally comes and take my blood pressure and oxygen level. Then I wait and wait and wait and wait. Still in the waiting area in front of God an everybody. Finally the nurse decides to give me a shot. She takes me to a room, gives me a shot. Then tells me I have to wait 15 minutes. Over an hour later my husband goes to see what the problem is. He waits for at least 15 minutes while she is talking on the phone to a friend of hers. THen she says, "I have to go let someone go." Never asking what he needed.

She comes in and apologizes for it taking so long, then she asked if something was wrong. I had a water bottle tapping it and I had been wandering the halls. lol I said, "OH no. I'm OCD and can't be still." SHe tells me to clean the area with saline and soak it. Then my discharge papers say to do the same and cover it with gauze bandage.

Now, I am a little perturbed by this point. One- because I am restless. Two- because it is 1:00 in the morning and I have to teach Sunday school in a few hours. Three- because they gave me meds and never asked if I was allergic to any, which indeed I am! Four- I never saw the doctor except in the waiting room and for what that's worth I think it was a little inconsiderate to do all of this in the waiting area, which was more of a chair in front of the desk clerk with a screen so that people couldn't see coming in the door, but left you wide open to everyone else. Five- If they wanted me to clean and soak and wrap with gauze, why the heck didn't they do that while I was there. And Six- The did not take my discharge BP or Temp. lol (silly I know) And the big thing- I bought a water out of the machine and then I noticed on it it said NOT FOR INDIVIDUAL SALE. lol I don't know why but that just buttered my toast. Come to find out it was part of a twelve pack.

Anyway, so I am home now and my arm still hurts. All they gave me was a steroid shot with anti-inflammatory. The dr informed my dh that I would still have pain and swelling for several days.(This was told while I was in the abck and my husband was out front) Thanks for nothing! So, again I have no faith in our health system and they wonder why we want to close the hospital! I was there a few weeks ago for a broken finger, which they did nothing for, except some drugs and now my finger will not straighten all the way and hurts like the dickens. Ok, off my soap box.

Have a good night.

Wednesday

Where shall I begin? Warning- I am going to ramble, but I have NOT ingested any medicine. lol

First of all- Today. Today was a beautiful day. It is starting to feel like autumn. I spent the early part of morning hours on my friend, Jen's porch, cuddled up in a blanket. Now, my windows are open and I can hear the sounds of nature. Ahhh, it is amazing. Such soothing choruses interrupted by the occasional car. It feels great!

We finally started the hunt for a new fridge. Ours will NOT die! lol It is old, and we figured it would kick the bucket at any moment, but nope! Instead, I think our dryer is on it's last leg. I have not been able to justify buying a new fridge when ours was perfectly fine, but I have decided that it will help our power bill and it is better to replace it before it dies so our food won't be ruined. Plus those things always happen as the most inopportune time. If you know me, you know that I could not look at appliances without checking out the furniture too. I found some comfy sofas and sitting on them confirmed just how worn out mine was. So, what shall I choose? Sofa or Fridge? Being that I am supposed to be a grown up and make responsible and well thought out decisions, I am choosing the fridge.

We had a good service at church. We with to eat with our Pastor and his family. Lauren rode with us. She made Robert ride in the back with her. When we left she was ready to come with us again. Precious! They are going to hang with us Friday night, so that will be a blast! We always enjoy Lauren and Parker.

Tomorrow- I have a football team to shoot. Tiger White 11&12 year olds will have their photos made tomorrow afternoon. I always love taking photos and tomorrow is no exception. However, I think my favorite will be Friday morning. I am shooting 37 preschoolers! It is going to be a fall background and I think I am just as excited about setting up the background as I am the shooting. Other than that I guess my day will be pretty calm. I have to pick out a paint color for my dining room. We are going to use it as a dining/living combo again. I had been thinking about it and Robert mentioned it so of course that was all the confirmation I needed. He says that we are going to turn the entire great room into my studio, but I want it to be a game room. I figure until we have the funds to do what want in there it will be a great studio. ;)

Well I just had a yummy smoothie and so now I think I am going to go to bed. Yes, this early! hehe Good night all!!

Bloginality

My Bloginality is INFJ!!!

All caked out

So my mom turned 60 on Thursday. My niece turned 6. I made pancakes from scratch and some sausage for her to share with all of her friends. I had 60 balloons in her office and decorated it with streamers and little saying about getting older. Some were sweet and some were not so much. ;) She was NOT happy about those. She had gotten kind of down about turning 60 and I wanted to help make her day a little brighter.

Friday I got in a picture order. I ALWAYS love when that happens. I know it's silly, but I love seeing my work in print. Today I spent time with my middle niece Courtney. She is hilarious! We baked the cakes for Bree's party tomorrow and she did a great job! She isn't really a cake person as she informed me today, but after licking the bowl of all three cakes, she ended up being a cake person.

She informed me that she was depressed right now. I tried to hold back my chuckle but it just sounded so growny. Then she continued to tell me why she was depressed. "There was a dog and it was pitiful at Granny's and it was gaining weight and then she was pregnant and then a car hit her and she died." I was sad for the dog of course, but was releived that it wasn't anything serious as far as Courtney was concerned.

A little while passed and out of the blue she said,"Do you like Dora the Explorer?"
I said, "Yeah, I guess."
She said, "I don't. I think she has a big head. It is way bigger than ours. Why does she have a big head?"

Then she said, "You can dress up like Dog The Bounty Hunter. I would, but it's more for adults." I told her that I wans't dressing up for halloween. We then started talking about him getting arressted and she could not beleive it. I had to tell her everything exactly and even had to show her where I got the information.

All of my nieces are so adorable when they talk. They just amaze me at the things they say. I keep saying that I am going to start a page in each of their scrapbooks so that I can jot down all the cute stuff they say. I have yet to do and it of course I have forgotten it all. :(

So I make the hamburger cake and get ready to start decorating it. Bree calls to tell me that she wanted eyes on it. then she tells me War Eagle and says, "Can you do an Auburn cake?" WHAT?!?!?!?! I told her I coudl, but I had already started on the burger, would it be ok and she said it would. Whew! Now it is time for a bath. I am covered with sugar from head to toe and I am already sweet enough. Night.

Sleepy head

I finally was able to go to sleep around 4:30 this morning. This junk sucks. I have no clue what to do about it. The night before I went to bed early, btu I laid there a long time. Then I was up by 8:00. I just knew I was going to be able to sleep last night. Nope! So anyway, I had a Junior Service League meeting last night. I had to skip it though. I'm still sickly. My voice now sounds like a man. lol Robert came in from work on Monday and said, "How you feeling?" I said, "Fine." Then he said,"I hate to say it, but you look horrible." I laughed. He said, "Really, you do." So how is that for kicking you while you're down? lol I had decided to go to my meeting regardless last night, then when I started getting ready I looked in the mirror and all decisions become null and void. I looked like death. hehe Not really, but I did look pretty ugly. So I thought my coughing and sniffing we about gone, unfortunately they're not. My mom's birthday is tomorrow, as well as my youngest niece. We were going to have my mom a party, but she said she didn't want people to know how old she was going to be. So now we have no plans really. She wants us all to go out to dinner together, so I guess we will have to plan on that one day. Bree's party is Sunday. She has placed and order for a hamburger cake. It will be cute. It is one of my favorites to do.

Let's see, what else? Oh yes, photography business is looking good for next week. I have 3 shoots. Oner family, one team and one preschool. That should be interesting. I have to get started on the background setting for the preschool. Team pics will be simple and the family session will be on the rocks at the creek. Those are always fun. Now, ask me about the preschoolers next week. There will be 37 of them!!! Oh why do I get myself into these things? hehe Of course I am kidding. I LOVE it!

So, now I just need to get pics of my niece Courtney, and my niece file will be complete. She has a hard time fitting me in. When I asked her last when she wanted to do them, her reply was, "How about Labor Day?" Umm, the child is 7 what does she know about Labor Day!?!?!?!?! Unfortunately, I was out of town on Labor Day, so we had to put it off. Maybe we should plan on it for next week. If she can pencil me in. I just love my growny girls. [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/luv2crop/photobar.jpg[/IMG]

I guess I should get off of here for now. I need a bath extremly bad, so I guess I better start my water. Then I have to get some things ready for the post office. I guess that's it for now. Talk to you all later.

Countdown...

10 Things I Wanna Do Before I Die
1. Visit all 50 states
2. Wear a size 10
3. Get all the schooling I can
4. Have a successful photography business
5. Go to Europe
6. Learn to make biscuits
7. Learn to Can
8. Tell my family how much they mean to me
9. See my grandnieces
10. Have a white Christmas

9 Places I Last Spent Money
1. Online paying bills
2. Telephone company
3. Exxon (fuel)
4. Spectrum (milk)
5. Race Trac (fuel)
6. Walmart (groceries)
7. Starbucks at the Airport (Strawberries and Cream Frap)
8. ProLabs (client photo order)
9. Farmers and Merchants Bank (Cassi's school tuition)

8 Sounds I Routinely Hear Around My House
1. Computer keyboard
2. Braves game
3. Cassi singing
4. Sounds from the x-box (usually a car race)
5. Ringing phone
6. Pecans hitting out tin roof and rolling onto the porch
7. Chickens from the neighbor
8. The fan

7 Real Restaurants Where I Last Ate Out (Sonic doesn't count! lol)
1. Applebee's in Dothan
2. Cracker Barrell in Newnan
3. Replay's in Mississippi (had a Philly Cheese Steak)
4. Replay's in Mississippi (had a delicious Reuben, Yummm)
5. The Market Buffet in Mississippi
6. IHOP on the way to the airpot
7. Jon Boy's after a ball game

6 Things I Scratched Off My To-Do List Recently
1. Finished a proposal for a daycare shoot
2. Started a RAK box for unneed scrapbooking items
3. Got my hair cut
4. Embroidered a towel for Cassi's football player
5. Burned all photos to disc
6. Set out ant poison

5 People I Don't Know who I'd Like to Hang Out With
1. Some of my SS friends (but I guess I do "know" them)
2. My ancestors
3. Max Lucado (Christian Author)
4. Scott Kelby (Photo Shop guru)
5. Dr. Seuss

4 Songs That Make Me Happy
1. What a Wonderful World
2. Zippety Do Dah
3. Calvary's the Reason Why or Jump, Jump, Jump
4. Buttermilk Biscuits

3 Things I Hate To Do
1. Take medicine
2. Put away laundry
3. Put gas in my car

2 Things I'm Really Good At
1. Photography
2. Organizing

1 Really Bad Habit
1. Trying to do it all