Pics Explained

Hello. Thanks Amy and Mardi for the delightful comments. The memoirs of Amy shall be written - "On Greenish Pond". Mardi, there are no extra rooms in the barn, but there are plenty in the "big house". Me thinks we need to host a librarian week!

All the pics below in no particular order: Yesterday I mowed the grass and went to the beach to cool off and relax for a bit, thus the beach pics. The food item is of some fresh salsa I chopped up with mangoes to add on the side a few days ago. The odd pic of me was my failed attempt at taking a before-ish type pic of my girth, as I am eating better and exercising (have been for a week or so anyway). Mom called in mid camera timer which is why I am talking on the phone. And last but not least, my container garden of cherry tomatoes, basil, parsley, rosemary, eggplant, bell pepper, and lettuce. Michelle Obama, I'm following in your footsteps.

Peace!

Week in Pictures

Big Day Ahead

I love the barn kitchen at my parents'! See 3 pics below. My hope is that I can get it cleaned up and stock it with all my Mama Carmi's cookware (maternal grandmother RIP). She was a fantastic southern cook and cooked on green aluminum Club pots/pans -served it all up on crazy daisy spring blossom corningware dishes. No one wanted any of this every day stuff, so I have it all. It's my favorite!

Mom and I are heading down to Tampa on Friday so I can attend the 1 day boot camp cna class Saturday. It's called fast track cna or something to that effect. I'm really looking forward to this road trip with my mama. She has requested to eat in Ybor City which is the Spanish part of Tampa, celebrating it's 75th year I believe. I had never heard of it so googled it. Her dad (Daddy Mac RIP) was the high school band director in Chipley, FL in the 1950's and they used to go to Tampa for band contests, clinics and whatnot. She remembered having a big time in Ybor City.

Today or over the next couple of days I have to: thin my container garden, study the cna videos, clean out my car (milk from a problem milk jug spilled in it - yuck!), fold all of my laundry, call cleaning job folks to let them know I can't be there Sat, book hotel room in Tampa, exercise both days. Not too much. I'll fit it all in. The priority is the viewing of the cna videos!

Happy Memorial Day! Summer's here!

Barn Kitchen - View

random 024, originally uploaded by raejohn.

Barn Kitchen - Outside

random 023, originally uploaded by raejohn.

Barn Kitchen-Inside

random 021, originally uploaded by raejohn.

random 014

random 014, originally uploaded by raejohn.

Hello There. I took this picture of myself (read pathetic) one day after church, I think. It is meant to show off the new haircut I gave myself. I couldn't resist putting it on my blog. It has my somewhat-uncomfortable-having-my -picture-made, upside-down-smile, something-smells look. Typical.

Wellll, more on the job front: the work at home ad selling is not really working out. No, ok, I haven't giving it much time, but after making quite a few contacts, I haven't made one sale. Aint got that kind of time.

I did find a one day class for getting your Certified Nurses Assistant certification down in Tampa that I'm going to do. There are CNA jobs still in every paper in every town in the USA. At this point, I need a job, any job! It could lead to other things or get me through until other jobs are available. Regular money and benefits here I come!

Shout out to my pal Amy who I enjoyed a long convo with this eve and to Mardi and Joan who I hope are having a "high ho" time in NC this week!

One Shoe

Howdy!

I had a great time at my parents' in Chipley, FL and traveled back to Navarre, FL today. I spent most of my time with my Mom, as Dad was taking care of some "bidness". Mom and I went into Chipley one day (our family's old property is around 10 miles south of Chipley). We went to an antique store where Mom picked up a sweet "brown betty" aka every day teapot like the English use for tea. Mom is really into the proper way of making tea ever since a real live English lady threw a tea for the Chipley garden club. Mom now makes scones occasionally, drinks her tea from china, and only buys her tea at World Market. The "brown betty" was a dandy addition to tea time. PG Tips tea is delicious, I'll have to agree. We also ate at KC Pizza Grill in Chipley. The old Wells FRM store has been turned into a warehouse style restaurant. Excellent stromboli and calzone sampled. VERY good roasted tomato marinara sauce to boot.

Coming home today I was driving along I10 when my dome light came on, and the light on the dash signaled that one of my doors was open. Suspecting the famed ghostly man with the hook we all heard about at childhood campfires, I pulled off to get a good look. As it was daylight, he was not anywhere to be found, but my driver side, backseat door was ajar which I opened and slammed shut. While unloading my car I noted that one of my flip flops was missing, the ones I really like that sis Joy picked up for me in Hawaii. So, now I know how one shoe ends up on the road. Didn't y'all always wonder why there was only one shoe along the side of the road. The scary man with the hook hand takes them.

Lots of pictures to follow from visit to Granny's (old family property).

Pleasant night to all.

Correction

Hey all. Oops, apologies Mardi for the butchering of your site name. I'm not known for being a perfectionist. A new feature has been added, "Links Me Like", and I have added your site as the very first link. I've been meaning to add a link list and this change gave me a reason to get around to it.

In other news, I have now had 4-5 responses re. homeeddirectory.com. Cool, huh?

The Bonnie Hunt Show - Best Show on TV

I love the Bonnie Hunt show (someone has been watching too much TV).

There is a recurring segment where her Mom is on via Skype or something and they talk about random things. See clip above-hilarious!

...rrrarg, must turn channel, Matlock is coming on yuck, whew ok better, Holiday on Turner Classic movies...

Busy, Busy

This week I plan to go over to see my parents in Chipley. I cleaned three condos this past weekend at my BBCJ (Backbreaking Cleaning Job), went to Confession at St Mary's in Fort Walton Saturday, and Mass at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pensacola yesterday afternoon. Big Weekend.

I'm sort of taking today off because I had to clean yesterday. A super cool thing has occurred! I got 2 responses from my 40 or so contacts last week with work at home ad selling endeavor (www.homeeddirectory.com)! I like how the directory folks have the process organized. After someone expresses interest, I simply send them the info pack along with form letter that I personalize via email . It's all very organized, simple, and flexible. I was really encouraged to hear back from some folks and it motivates me to shoot for 40 contacts/day. I contacted 25 on Friday so I think it can be done. Most of all I like that I can go visit Mom and Dad, work from their house, and return to Navarre Friday to clean next Sat.

Well you are all (Amy, Mardi, and sometimes cousin Joan :))completely 100% up to speed. I'm sure you've been waiting with bated breath...

Funny Stuff

Tina Fey is so clever. I almost busted a gut when she said this on 30 Rock last night: "If I have learned anything from my Sims family, when a child doesn't see his father enough he starts to jump up and down, and then his mood level will drop until he pees himself." Jack was figuring out if he should meet his Dad or not.

Ok, Ace of Cakes is really fun on the Food Network. I was only vaguely aware of this show but was working and had it on in the background. It's really quirky and is like IT person meets bakery chef. I love it. Yesterday, this one guy was making a sky scraper cake for a company out of Center City, PA (Philly). It would show him working on it and muttering under his breath, "everything could go wrong with this cake". Then when stuff did start going wrong with it, he was fully able to problem solve and make it brilliant. I love this show! Here's a pic from photobucket.com.



The sky scraper guy is the one on the far left in black t-shirt.

Mockingbirds

The mockingbirds are starting to sing. We're already getting into the 80's. I don't miss the cold weather in WY one bit.

I talked to my team leader today with homeeddirectory.com and got some of my questions answered. I'm enjoying the research and process of selling, working from home, and getting organized.

Here's a mockingbird montage:







I've always thought this was a cool fact about the song of the mockingbird (from http://10000birds.com/mockingbirds.htm): The song of the mockingbird is actually a medley of the calls of many other birds. Each imitation is repeated two or three times before another song is initiated. A given bird may have 30, 40 or even 200 songs in its repertoire, including other bird songs, insect and amphibian sounds, and even the occasional mechanical noise.

Loretta Lynn to play the Saenger in Pensacola on 5/15/2009

Oh how I would love to see her in concert! Anyone available?

I'm working on selling ads for www.homeeddirectory.com and have been out of contact for a couple of days. Truthfully, we added some satellite channels, and I have also been mesmerized by the tube today. Surfing with 150 channels is spectacular.

More news: I have cut my own hair with Wahl brand clippers. My hair is now very short :/ !!!

There is officially NO good reason to ever leave the house.

Festus

Hello All! I FINALLY feel better today - two full weeks of feeling bad. I'm still congested but the antibiotic is kicking it. Props to a great PA that my sister uses, Jennifer Bisson, here in Navarre. I saw her last Friday. She's also a pharmacist so can answer a lot of medication questions. She prescribed the antibiotic and a new antidepressant, keeping them both in $4.00 Walmart list. Yipee.

The pic is of Festus, another of three dogs that live here. He was my brother Eddie's. Great name, huh? His lovely girlfriend, Olga, is not a dog person, so Festus lives with the animal colony here - three dogs and two cats.

Today I got to take care of lots of errands that were piling up. Made some changes to phone and tv service I've needed to do. Ended up adding more channels for the same price. Oh yeah, we got a big screen TV from one of Cheryl's friends. They updated to HD so we got their giant 4'x3' TV. Sense and Sensibility is playing at the moment. You can see every detail! Really cool!

To my two grand librarian followers: Mardi,there's an update:). I will add your blog so I can check it more often. Do you update it? Hey Amy, I missed your call and wasn't able to call back. I hope I can catch you tomorrow.

Peace

Coco

Coco is an 8 y/o Miniature Pincher. She is actually my sister Joy's dog, or her son Matt's. She has been living in FL, though, for most of her life because Wyoming was too cold.

I love this pic of her. It was taken the same time as the other close up picture posted on an earler day. She was really sleepy and here looks goofy with one eye half closed.

I have a sinus infection I think and still feel awful. Prayers please.

Peace