I think I am very impatient

I just wish that this cottage was done already!! The plumber has been here this week and this is what he has accomplished. This is what will eventually be my kitchen sink! In the back you can see what will be the bathroom. The toilet pipe is sticking up. The electrician should be coming in next week. Then windows and doors, floors and walls!!!! Can you tell I'm excited? LOL
But as exciting as all this is, and after waiting for so long to get this done, Mike and I may not even be able to live in it. Right now we're kind of like so many other people. Living paycheck to paycheck, hoping and praying that the car doesn't break down, or the animals don't need to go to the vet, etc., etc. So Mike has been trying to find a better job and he has found one that would be absolutely amazing, only it would require us to relocate to Louisiana because it would be insanely ridiculous to travel that distance every day. He's already taken a test (this is an experience that I MUST blog about when I get a chance, btw) and found out that he meets the requirements for the position. Now, we're just waiting for him to get called in to interview. We have been praying that he gets this job, but also praying that we'll be able to keep on keepin' on if he doesn't. So if y'all would throw some prayers out for us too, or if any of you might know anyone with Shell Oil maybe put a little bug in their ear, it'd be awesome!!

Calmer days

The kids went back home Sunday and it has been so quiet around here (which I LOVE!!) and things are getting back to normal. Life becomes a little too hectic for me when they are with us, and I'll just leave it at that to keep from sounding like a complete witch. Everyone tells me that it's difficult for all step parents, but it's hard for me to believe that it's THIS HARD for everyone. I had to pray for patience all the time to keep from slapping one of them for their language and attitudes! And I finally realized that if I do ever have kids, I'll probably be one of those mamas that gets locked up for "child abuse" cause they got caught spankin their youngun in the grocery store! (OK, I know that child abuse is a very serious thing, and I hope none of you are offended by that, but when you spank a kid that's throwing a temper tantrum cause they aren't getting their way it is NOT child abuse) Yep, I'll be like those old ladies carrying their switches around with them!! LOL But until then I am quite satisfied with my "baby". Here's some pictures of her most recent trip to the beach. She actually got out in the water this time!!

So, I'm not exactly a 365er anymore...

...but I've decided that it's quite alright. The world did not end. LOL

It is still extremely hectic in our little household. The kids are still here and I do believe that the cousins have decided to just live here as well. Construction (well, deconstruction, actually) has officially started on the cottage. They are tearing out ceilings and insulation that was still inside, and replacing windows and doors. I have one pic of the outside now, but I want to wait until the new windows and doors go in to start doing some before/after posts. So exciting!!

This past weekend, it was Mike's daughter's choice of "family activity". She decided to do 4-wheeling. Mike's sister and her husband loaded all the "toys" up and hauled them out to their land for our day of fun. My fun was actually at the end of the day when all the kids actually wanted to go to bed instead of the usual staying up all night!

Mike, his son, his sister, and her two boys (the cousins).
This is his youngest daughter. She doesn't like being photographed and would probably die if she knew I had this one!
And finally, his son again. He had an absolute blast driving us around on the golf cart.

I don't know what day I should be on...

so I thought I'd post a few of what's been going on the past few days. While I have some spare time (aka: not doing laundry, dishes, cooking or picking up after younguns!)

These are Mike's nephews on the lovely Spiderman slip-n-slide. It wasn't slippery enough so the kids put dish liquid on it to make them slide faster! And I've been wondering what ever happened to the plain old yellow slip-n-slide. Can you even buy those any more?

This is what we did on Saturday. Or attempted to do anyway. The fish weren't biting, the crabs didn't want anything to do with our delicious chicken necks we were trying to feed them, and Mike couldn't even manage to catch any bait fish. And it was so stinkin hot we just decided to pack it all up and come on home.

And today, I made this blueberry pound cake. It was absolutely wonderful!! And so simple to make!! For any of you that might like to try it here's the recipe:


1 yellow cake mix
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
2 cups blueberries


Mix first four ingredients. Coat berries in flour and fold into cake mixture. Bake in a well greased bundt pan at 325 for one hour or until done. For glaze, mix 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla (or 1 to 2 tsp lemon juice) and 1/2 cup hot water.


I made the entire amount of glaze using lemon juice and it was very good, but it makes a lot of it. I think the next time I will only make half of the glaze.

So, I found my camera...

This is my brother's little girl. The pic is from the fourth, and I've been trying to upload it since Monday, but haven't been able to cause our internet goes all screwy! But isn't she just adorable!! On our beaches we don't really have pretty shells, but after digging around for a while she did find this piece of one. She was so excited to find it! We had a great Fourth of July. Did some cooking on the grill and had homemade ice cream!!

For an update on the cottage, it's being rebuilt on a very SMALL budget, but I got an exciting little tidbit of info yesterday. We may be getting solid cherry cabinetry and granite counter tops!!!! The contractor is a friend of ours and her brother is friends with a guy that does cabinets and counter tops. So keep your fingers crossed!! I was just excited that I would finally have my own kitchen and would have been happy with plain old laminate, so needless to say, I am just beyond excited about this little possibility!! We've also decided to acid stain the concrete floor in the kitchen and living room so I can't wait to see how that turns out.

Also, the kids are here and their cousins have also been staying with us. So we now have 3 adults, 2 teenagers, 2 children, and 2 dogs living in this house. There hasn't been one dull moment all week, but it has also gone much more smoothly than the previous summers. I am so relieved about that and hope it stays that way!!

Busy, busy days

I haven't quit! I promise!! I have just been unbelievably insanely busy for the past few days. To make a long story short, after two long years of paperwork, inspections, and more inspections, it looks like we will finally be able to actually repair/rebuild the cottage Mike lived in "pre Katrina"!!! I am super super SUPER duper excited about getting this project going! I've been gathering paint, cabinet/counter top, flooring samples, and picking out the stuff for the bathroom and kitchen. But I must say, I am enjoying every minute of it.

I've also been getting things ready and sort of cleaned up for this weekend. We have my brother and his wife and daughter coming down for the weekend, Mike's aunt coming in to spend the week, and his kids coming in for the rest of their summer. I'm really stressing that one, because by the end of August my nerves are always shot and every one's attitude is soured. But that is a story all in itself, and I'm sure many of you will see it unfold!

But anyhow, I just wanted to jump on here and let y'all know what's been going on and I promise I haven't quit! I will start posting again just as soon as I remember where I put my camera. Yep, that's right. I have no clue where the last place I had it is!!

Day 156

It's been another scorching hot day today. And no sign of any rain to help cool things off either. I went out to spray everything down and thought this would be a good pic for today. I just love love LOVE drops of water on flowers and plants!

Day 155

This, for me, is one of the best parts of summer. A good ol homegrown tomato sandwich. They bring back so many good memories of my childhood. Of the summers spent at my mamaw and papaw's house with cousins. These are what we practically lived off of. All the time I spent there I rarely ever remember trips to the grocery store. My grandparents always had a huge garden and practically everything we ate came out of it. I remember going through entire loaves of bread at one meal eating tomato sandwiches! For a plain tomato sandwich, you would need a really fresh loaf of "good" white bread. A loaf so fresh that it wants to stick to the top of your mouth. No store brand would do because they usually weren't soft enough. And it would just be bread (untoasted), mayonnaise (Blue Plate only), tomato, and salt&pepper. Simple as that. We would only have BLTs for supper though. And they were always made with toasted wheat bread. Mamaw would have fried squash or okra and usually butter beans to go with it. And sweet tea. Now, I know I sorta started rambling there, but for me, that was just a little piece of heaven!!

Day 154

On our trip up to North Carolina we went out to Kings Mountain and walked the trail with the monuments and grave. These are a few of the pictures from our afternoon there.

Day 153

It's freakin HOT!!

Inside and out! It is 5:12 pm and it's 95 outside (I really think it's hotter than that) and about 81 here in the computer room. With the air running. And a box fan blowing in here too.

Day 152

Another flower...

...because I didn't think y'all would want to see the only other thing I've been looking at today. Laundry, laundry and more laundry!

Also, maybe it's just me but it seems like the more I look at the word laundry, the more it looks like it isn't spelled correctly.

Day 151

My sister and her husband decided to come down here for a little mini family vacation instead of doing the whole honeymoon thing. Mike and I drove over to where they are staying last night and we all went out on the beach so the kids could chase crabs.
They were so excited about catching crabs and the baby fish.

WARNING!!

The following two pictures are just a tad bit disgusting. The first is some dead fish that none of us knew what it was and the second is a sting ray that looked like it had been attacked by some crabs.

All those missed days...

It has been one crazy hectic week! We got home only a few hours ago and I am dog tired. Of course the first thing I had to do was get on here!!! LOL This is only a few of the pics and I think I might wait until later this week to post a few others.

this is Mike's oldest daugter (you can see the middle daughter's elbow in the back. she doesn't like being photographed although she is an absolutely gorgeous girl!)

Mike and his son

my cute little nieces

wedding cake topper (i thought it was just too cute)

my parents and all their young'uns

this is our entire family

and finally Mike and me!

Day 142

More pink flowers

I've been getting things ready to go to North Carolina for Mike's oldest daughter's high school graduation. Then we will be going back to my parent's house for my sister's wedding next weekend. That means lots and lots of driving. Ughh. And since we don't have a laptop and my parents still have that awful, horrible dial-up I won't be able to get online to do any posts for at least a week. But at least I should have something besides flowers to take pictures of all week!!

Please keep us in y'alls thoughts and prayers while we're doing all this traveling.

Day 141

What a spoiled dog we have!

This is about the only time I'm able to get a picture of Kimbo. (or when she's sitting for a treat) Her bed is in the same room we have the computer. It's an actual twin bed with covers and a pillow! And she is very, VERY picky about it. Like last night, she kept wandering in and out of our bedroom. Then I remembered I left a basket of clothes sitting on it earlier in the day. She doesn't like anything on it that isn't supposed to be when she goes to sleep. The stinker wanted it OFF of her bed so she could snuggle in her covers!

Day 140

I just love this picture! I think it's probably one of the top ten favorites of the pics I have taken. This is the same type of flower from yesterday's post. I'm not exactly sure what it is but they are lovely. We got a packet of mixed flower seeds in the mail and decided to do a little row of them out by our mini vegetable garden. Now they are all starting to get flowers on them so it should be interesting to see what all they look like.

Also, I found this little bit of funniness. It's Jeanne Robertson's Left Brain's grocery list bit and let me just tell y'all, it had me about to wet myself!!

Day 139

I just love when I have a day to myself and can do whatever I want to!

(like play around on the computer editing pics!!)

Day 138

Made a butter cake today. With BUTTER. Not margarine. And TWO tubs of chocolate icing. Oh yeah...it's been one of those days!!

Day 137

Suntan Season

"Suntan lotion is good for me. You protect me, hee hee hee."

-Adam Sandler as Billy Madison

After work this afternoon, I went out and worked on my tan. I should have remembered to take my camera because I could have got some better pics there on the beach. There was an adorable little boy who kept yelling "Biscuit!!" for no apparent reason and wandered over my way to tell me I had a strange suit. Then there was the flock of seagulls that I was almost devoured by when I got out of my car. But it was a beautiful day!!

Day 136

A few (about 60) members of the choir from North Ridge Church in Plymouth, Michigan came down and did a little volunteer work and then had what we called when I was little a "singin" today. It was such a blessing to hear them sing. We had a pot luck lunch after the service and I made this banana pudding to take. I forgot to get the whipped cream for the top but I hope anyone who ate it enjoyed it anyway!

Award's Day!!

I was given an award today and also one weeks ago that I want to pass along to some of my blogger buddies and to those who entertain and inspire me!

This is the first one which was given to me by Vicki M. at My 2009 Project 365. For any of you that don't follow her blog, I highly recommend it. The things she can do with just her camera (she doesn't do any type of editing) never cease to amaze me!

The Renee Award was created by two women, Bella and Ces, to honor their friend Renee.

My eight nominees are:
365 Days
Picture This
Oz Girl's Photo Spot
Digital Detours Photography
heARTshare
keli takes pictures: project 365
Picture a Day Project
2009 Photo Project

This award was given to me by Vicki at Another Day...Another Rambling . The rules for this award are as follows:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

My nominees are:

mcdougall photography: the blog
My 2009 Project 365
A Snapshot of Her Life
Tina's 365 Project
Christina Photo
Andy C-Project 365-2009
Bloomingdale 365
A 365 Project: Photography in Image
A Photo A Day
Dot's Photoaday Spot
Nikon Sniper
Project 365
One photo a day for a year (2009)
RALLENHILL Project 365
Mari's Recipe Blog

Day 135

Pickin blueberries...

We got up at the butt crack of dawn to go and pick blueberries at a nearby farm today. I had so much fun!! I've never been picking like that before and it was a new experience for me. They don't use any pesticides so you can just eat and pick and eat some more until your bucket (or belly) is full. Needless to say, I did the pickin and Mike did the eatin!! We did wind up with two gallons of berries for only $14 which I thought was a GREAT deal!!

Day 134

Day 133

Pigs in a blanket

The nephew is here tonight so we had fun food for supper.

Day 132

This picture didn't turn out too great. I tried to take another one but the lizard wasn't having any of that. He ran away and hid under the front porch.

Day 131

Day 130

Mike and I went to visit my family this weekend. When we were leaving today, I made him stop so I could get a picture of the road my parents live on. Their land is surrounded by the Bienville National Forest. This is where I grew up and have always loved this road in the spring and summer. Even though it's been years since I've lived there, every time I get to our road I really start to feel like I'm back home.

I'm also posting another pic from yesterday of my nieces. I can't even describe how much I love these girls!! Right now, the red headed one is going through a stage where she absolutely will NOT smile to take a picture. She either makes a goofy face or frowns! I think it's because she has recently lost her two front teeth!! Or maybe she's just starting to act like her daddy, my brother (in the background)! LOL

Day 129

After church on Sunday, my soon to be brother-in-law decided we should all go for a ride. I snapped this picture while they were getting everything gathered for our little trail ride. That's my daddy and his wagon/mule team. His gear was all hand made by an Amish gentleman in Tennessee.

Day 128

Eco friendly lawn mower

My parents have been having so much rain over the last few weeks, it's been impossible for them to use the mowers or tractor to cut the grass. This is their solution for keeping it from getting knee deep. The horses have been let out of the pastures and now they just wander all over!

Day 127

black eyed susan

Day 126

We finally got some rain today. I can't even remember the last time it did rain. Honestly, I wouldn't mind a few DAYS of rain just to get rid of some of this dust and dryness that is killing everybody's sinuses!!

Day 125

Who'd a thunk it!! Sugar free candy that's got energy boosting stuff that's kosher and still tastes good! It's been two months without smoking now and I'm still eating candy and gum like crazy. The past few days have been harder than before cause all I can seem to think about is how bad I want a cigarette!!