Sufferin' Succotash!

Things are shaky at the moment for my family and me. Sorry I've neglected my blog. My nephew had a bad car accident Friday, May 29. All 4 kids are expected to be ok and I am so thankful for that. One is still undergoing major surgeries, however. The pic is from the Star Valley Independent in Wyoming.

My patron saint is St Catherine of Siena. Here's a prayer for the gifts of St. Catherine of Siena from http://www.st-catherine-medal.com/:

God of wisdom you made our sister Catherine burn with divine love in contemplating the Lord's passion and in serving your church. With the help of her prayers may your people, united in the mystery of Christ, rejoice forever in the revelation of his glory, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

And, as always, "Jesus I trust in you".

Hi!

I can't believe I have another cold! It's only been a month since I had my last one. I was closed up in the truck, handing my dad water bottles while working, etc, last Thursday and caught his cold. Bummer!

Mom and I had a nice time "down state" and I took the one day CNA class in Tampa on Saturday (fasttrackcna.com). Now I will call for a date to take the test and study, study, study. I've been mostly sleeping since we got back Sunday and returned to Navarre today. Here's a short video taken last Thursday on Lake Eufaula.

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.