Lessons Learned

I am linking up with Celebrate Life to look  back at what I have learned over the past week.  If you have never been to her site, check it out.  I became hooked reading about her recent adoption and her beautiful daughter!

We needed a last hurrah for the summer.  So, Wade, my mom and I decided to go to the Gulf Shores, Alabama for a little fun in the sun.  Now, I am not a beach girl - give me mountains and cold any day, but Wade loves the water.  So, I packed up my sunscreen and off we went!

Here is what I learned:

- Wade can (and will) chat up any females he can find.  He picked up two 7th grade girls on the first day and met up with them every day after that.

- When you take a child to the beach, they will invariably want to swim in the pool.

- Taking a nap while said child is wanting to go to the beach is a near impossible feat.

- Sand, salt water and my beloved Kindle do not mix.  (RIP, dear Kindle.)

- Only I can go to the beach to relax and come back with a crick in my neck.

- Swimmer's Ear will invariably wait to show up until you drop your child off for the weekend with his dad.

-Wade thinks that next year he "can maybe" take a GIRLfriend with him! (He's 10...t-e-n.)

Come to think of it...maybe I learned more than I want to know!

Commitment

Nope, not THAT kind of commitment...the other kind.  I rarely get involved with TV shows because they are too much commitment.  I have to be in a certain place at a certain time, and, if I miss a show, I can't stand the feeling of failure.  Strange, I know.                                  

In the interest of knocking items off my summer to-do list, however, I rented the first season of the series Justified.  In short, this series is set in Kentucky and is about Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant. 

That was my first mistake.  I loved, loved, loved it!  It had enough action to keep my ADHD self occupied, and did I mention Timothy Olyphant?  That boy is too cute for words!  Speaking of words, one of my favorite parts about the show is that they portray Southern characters with realistic accents.  I am a Texan, born and bred, and I have a strong accent.  BUT it is not the syrupy, sugary drawn-out drawl that Hollywood seems to think all Southerners have.  (Hello! Kyra Sedgewick in The Closer...Love you, but not the drawl!) 

On the other hand, poor ol' Raylan has shot so many people in the first season that I am not sure how he still has his badge.  Now, I know lots of law enforcement officers - sheriff's deputies, city p.d. officers, DPS troopers - and not a one of them has EVER killed anyone...and they sure haven't killed multiple people in the same week!  I guess they have to do that to keep it exciting.

Unbelievable aspects aside, though, I highly recommend it.  I can't wait for the second season to be released on DVD, and I will be watching the new season when it comes on.

Just one more commitment in my over-committed life. :)

As if...

I needed one more thing to take up my time this summer!  I have been making my way through my to-do list:

Take trips with Wade...check
Watch the first season of Justified...check
Read tons of books...check (thanks to my new Kindle!)

Then I found a new addiction.

"Hi, my name is Angie, and I'm addicted to Pinterest."

Ahhhh, Pinterest...This site is horrible is an oh-so-wonderful way!  I can find anything.  It's like getting tons of magazines and being able to tear out everything that you see...and all of those clippings are kept neatly organized!  I am in Heaven!!

So, as a result, I haven't done one particular thing on my to-do list which was blog twice a week.  I am going to try to remedy that.  I  am sure that my loyal followers (all two of you) will be thrilled! ;)

Busy, Busy Summer

I have been so busy knocking out my summer to-do list that I have forgotten to blog about it!  So, I am catching up on some of the fun things that my family and I have been up to since we got out of school for the summer.

Two weeks ago, my mom, dad, Wade and I took a short road trip from our home here in East Texas to Louisiana. We are all into history so we included a little history in this trip.  Our first stop was at Fort Jesup State Historic Site outside of Many, Louisiana.  This fort served as a border outpost on the edge of the frontier.  On this day, we were the only visitors there at the time.  The docent was a young man who took his job very seriously!  He was a font of information when it came to the fort and life during that time period.  He spent quite a bit of time with us and even showed Wade how they made the shingles that covered the roofs of the buildings.

Our next stop took us to the Bayou Pierre Alligator Park outside of Natchitoches.  What a site!  We got to feed and observe several types of animals, including alligators.  Then it was lunch time for the 'gators.  All I can say is "Wow!"  Watching them eat was unbelievable, and I was really glad that they weren't after me!

While at the park, we had appetizers of fried alligator and fried boudin balls, but we were hungry and ready for lunch when we left.  We headed into Natchitoches for lunch.  If you have never been to Natchitoches, it is worth the trip.  The historic downtown area is situated along the Cane River and has numerous shops and restaurants.  Our destination was Lasyone's Meat Pie Kitchen.  We have been coming here since I was little...probably at least 30 years at this point!  We come here to eat meat pies, dirty rice, and (my favorite!) bread pudding with rum sauce.  It was wonderful, as usual!

With our appetites satisfied, we hit the road again heading back to East Texas.  On the way, we made a stop outside of Mansfield, Louisiana at the Mansfield State Historic Site.  This battlefield was the site of a major Civil War battle.  Wade and my dad are very interested in anything related to the Civil War so they were excited to get to roam through the small museum.  It had many first hand accounts in letters and diaries of battle participants.  This was especially interesting to me because, according to anecdotal evidence, a great-great-something-or-other grandpa of mine supposedly fought in this battle.

All in all, it was a great trip, and we were only gone approximately 12 hours.  I'm glad that I decided to take some short, local trips this summer.  You never know what you might be missing close to home.  But remember...

Don't feed the 'gators! ;)

Summer Vacation is Here!

Today is the second day of summer vacation (Yippee!!), but it is already super hot and humid...it's 11:30 and already in the upper nineties!  Looks like a good day to take advantage of the air conditioning...


                                                   

                                                

On the up side, staying indoors will give me a chance to get started on my list of summer goals.  Actually, I am already off to a pretty good start...I read a book!  Yay, me!  I got in late Friday night, but I just wasn't ready to go to sleep.  So, I picked up a book off my nightstand and finished it a couple of hours later!  It was for work - Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.  It's a very interesting story about the yellow fever epidemic that took place in Philadelphia in, you guessed it, 1793 and how one young girl and the people close to her dealt with the devastation.  Loved it!  I had this one on my "to-read" list because I wanted to make sure that it was appropriate for my kiddos.  One of the great things about being a librarian is getting to read good books and call it work! LOL  Next on my list, an adult book...

I have big plans for the coming week.  Wade, Gran-Gran (my mom) and I are hoping to take a little road trip on Wednesday to have a little fun. 

My Summer List

Those who know me well know that I am a list maker.  To-do lists, need-to-buy lists, lists of goals...you name it, and I will make a list for it.

Now, I made a list of some goals back at the beginning of the year.  (I don't like to make "resolutions".  To me, they are too vague and unmeasurable.)  Unfortunately, I must have lost that list because none of those goals have been accomplished! ;)  So, I am now making a list of things that I would like to accomplish this summer (which starts in 19 school days, but who's counting?)  Hopefully, sharing them here will keep me accountable because, if there is one thing that I hate, it is admitting that I failed!

Here they are:

• Finish redoing my house so we can move in.
• Read at least one adult book (not THAT kind!  I mean a book written for people over the age of 18) and one book for work per week.
• Try at least one new recipe per week.
• Watch the first season of Justified.
• Blog at least twice a week.
• Participate in some form of exercise daily.
• Improve my eating habits.

Hey, I didn't say that I was setting out to change the world, did I?  Just change my world...one to-do list at a time! :)

Feeling Crafty

So I was feeling a little crafty this weekend.  Now, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, I am a procrastinator.  This idea has been ruminating in my head for quite some time.  The materials have sat on my dining table for a couple of weeks.  Yesterday, I decided that I could spare the whole half hour that these treat/cake plates took to make!

Materials needed:

1 bowl
1 plate
E 6000 adhesive
Hot glue

I started with this:

First, I turned the bowls over, placed a glob of hot glue in the center, and lined the bottom rim with E 6000 adhesive.  Then, I turned the plate over and placed the bowl, adhesive side down, on the bottom of the plate.  Finally, I placed some heavy books on the bowl to weigh it down and let it set for 24 hours.  Viola!  I now have three very cute treat/cake plates!

These are so super easy! You could make these out of any kind of plates and bowls.  I think the summery patterned melamine plates would be really cute!   I can definitely see making these to take places as a hostess gift...possibly with a yummy treat on them!

I am linking up with Making the World Cuter for Making the World Cuter Monday.  Check it out...so many cute ideas over there!  Now if I can just figure out how to put a linky button on here...