Five Things Thursday

The English might not be all that correct, but it sure looks like ti would be a fun experiment.

Something we should all keep in mind!

This was pretty amazing. A fisherman posted this. He said that he noticed the little frog inside when he was removing his lure. The little frog was unharmed.

This is the neated idea I've seen in, well, ever! I want to remember to tell all of the new moms in our family about this. 

I need to remember to try this idea. Flies are the reason I don't ever set up the food outside! I'm a little paranoid about it.

What I Buy Wednesday

I don't necessarily have anything to report this week. But, I made a discovery that might get me in trouble! Let me explain. 

I get on the treadmill every morning for about an hour. Years ago, Butch made me a treadmill desk. That's what enables me to pass the time on the, oh so boring, treadmill. I can check my emails, browse through my blogs, stop by Instagram, check out Facebook and read a few things from my reading list on Safari--if I have any extra time--which is not often. An hour zooms by like it's nothing.

Well, this week, I learned that I can also shop while I'm on the treadmill. I cannot type while walking, but, it seems, I can easily "click!" 

I got an email about a sale at "Scrapbooking.com." I had to check it out. That's when I realized how easy it is to "click!" So simple. I managed to purchase a few things--quite a few things. Since I have "Touch ID" enabled on my computer, there's no typing involved in the check-out process either. And PayPal? Just another "Touch ID" away! It was simple. 

The "things" I bought were some new papers. Michaels has discontinued their scrapbook paper--unless you want to get a big pad. JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby have the same old, tired stuff. I was thrilled to get some new papers. 

It was so easy. That could get me into trouble!!

Travel Tuesday

So. This "Travel Tuesday" post is about an upcoming trip. We are taking the family on an African safari in September. Well, most of the family (10 of us)--Sandy and her gang did a trip to Spain last month. 

Anyway, since most of us who are going on the safari were together this weekend, we decided to have a meeting. And boy did we need it! Everybody has been bombarding Butch--who is our family planner/point person--with questions. Definitley better they contact him rather than overwhelming our travel agent/friend, Mary! They are all panicking about what to wear and the vaccinations needed. 

Butch did a good job going over the basic "do's and don't" on a safari. The guys listened patiently without much in the way of comments. On the other hand, the girls were freaking out! "What do you mean we can't wear shorts, tank tops, flip flops, no dark, white or birght clothes, etc.?" 

Butch calmly told them the reasoning behind each recommendation--tse tse flies, dust, heat, cold, etc. 

I'll admit, I was a little panicked myself until I found linen pants on the Old Navy website. I brought the pants that I got so they could see them in person. They are even on a better sale than when I bought mine--$24.50. The ones I got are a little big, so I bought two more pairs in a smaller size. Believe me, I've never owned dark green or brown pants in my life. The girls were not really receptive to this style--nor am I, but I'm a rule follower. So, linen pants it is for me.

Butch tried in vain to remind them that it is NOT a fashion show! About that time, I did mention that I knew I would have the cutest safari hat---and I'm pretty sure I do! I'll share a picture when it comes in. 

When we got home, Mindy sent this picture...

..with this caption: "so I'm guessing these are a "no?" 

I responded to just change the laces. The girls are really freaking out for sure.

Later, Butch did a little more research and found pictures on Trip Advisor where people wore anything and everything on safaris. To ease the girls minds, he let the girls know. They were ecstatic! Mindy mentioned how "stressed" she was over the whole clothing "thing." Now maybe they can all relax and look forward to the trip!

Looks like the fashion show is back "on!" That's just how we roll!

Monday Mystery

Earlier in the week, I had an inner conversation with myself in the produce department of Publix when I was getting ready to buy a grapefruit. Should I just get one or two? Two is quite a commitment as that's 4 breakfasts--because, of course, you cut them in half and only eat one half at a time. I threw caution to the wind and just went ahead and bought two.

When I decided to have one for breakfast, I got to thinking. Why don't people peel grapefruit like they do an orange? Kind of a mystery for sure. I decided I was going to try it. So I did.

The first thing I noticed was that it was really easy to peel--easier than some oranges. Then I realized that once it's peeled, there's not really much there.

The actual flesh part is about the size of an orange. That leads me to--two more mysteries. Why have I only eaten one half at a time? That's like eating a half of an orange. I always eat a whole orange. I guess it's because that's how we did it growing up. Mom cut it in half and gave us one of those special grapefruit spoons with the serrated tip. That was way harder than just peeling it! 

The other mystery is why I even bothered doing this at all. Heck, I really like buying the sections in the plastic jar floating in that juice--I guess it's grapefruit juice. I should check on that. But that's by far the simplest way to eat grapefruit. 

Okay, mystery solved. I'll just by the pre-peeled from now on. When I think about how small it actually was, I feel a little cheated. It's so misleading. There's no mystery about that!

A Family Celebration

Yesterday was the day that we celebrated the graduation and licensing of our little "nurse practitioner." Morgan finished the program awhile ago, but this was the first time she's been in town. So, we did what this family does best---partied! Pool partied! Complete with games and party favors. 

We started with a brunch--quiches from Puffy Muffin, chicken salad from The Picnic, fresh fruit, scones and cranberry jello salad. 

Stephanie handled the napkins:

Pool time was next:

Morgan and Olly. 

The party favors! It's not a party without party favors!! I made the tags for Stephanie: "The future's is so bright, I gotta' wear shades!" Perfect for the pool! 

We played an impossible game. Stephanie had everyone put a cookie on their forehead. The object was to work it down to your mouth. No one was able to do it. Butch and I declined because, well, it was sort of stupid! I was more worried about drawing ants to the pool deck! Still, some things are "hits" and some are "misses." This was a miss. Even Steph said she thought it would be silly fun. Silly, yes. Still I love that she tried to find something new to try. You just never know.

Speaking of games, Mindy gave Butch a new one for Father's Day.

It's a game that dates back to Viking days. Mindy said it was one of the top games on Amazon. It's called "Kubb." We have no idea what that stands for. Butch, me, Stephanie and Nicky were on a team.

You play it with little blocks of wood and these throwing sticks. We had two teams. Olly, Morgan, Mitchell and Mindy were on the other team.

We each won a game, so we had a tie breaker. Our team lost. It was a lot of fun and something different than bocce or washers (that's a St. Louis game).

Don't you love it when you give a party for someone else and then you wind up getting gifts yourself? I sure do! Who doesn't love presents?

Morgan and Olly went to Bonnaroo last week and then on to the beach for a few days. They brought us treats to thank us. I love the vase of sunflowers. They are so bright and cheery. They also gave us a pot of "hens & chicks" and some local goodies: pecan maple butter and pepper jelly. The beach condo is for the family--we don't need thanks. But, I have to admit, I'm sure glad they did!

When Mindy left, she snapped this picture:

When Mitchell arrived, he said it looked like we had a Jeep dealership out front. We all got a kick out of that. We are a Jeep lovin' family for sure---as the four of these prove. Plus, my Jeep is in the back, so that's five! 

My very first SUV was a Jeep. I've had 4 of them myself since 1996. After 3, I switched to a Buick Enclave in solidarity with my brother, Matt, who spent his whole career with GM. That car was too big with way too many blind spots. I've always said, they need to let short people test drive cars! Anyway, I couldn't wait to go back to my Jeep! I love it. I'm probably good for one more!

Scrapbook Saturday

I have to admit, I love to make interactive scrapbook pages. It started when I decided that I did not want to have several pages about the same trip. So, I came up with the idea to add flip ups, pull outs, flaps and smaller inserts so that each trip is still just one layout. Once you open the page, you go from there.

This is how the layout looks when you open it up.

This is the front side of the smaller inserted page.

This is the fold out flap on the left side of the layout--the Portugal side.

On the left is the other side of the insert page. An entire trip within one double page spread! Of course, I can only put about 8 trips in one album, but that's okay with me!

I did this page for Nancy for our monthly "round robin."

This is the layout Nancy did for me last month. One thing you need to know about Nancy--she's a relatively new scrapbooker. It's amazing how she's progressed as an old pro with lots of cool ideas. For example, that large ornament actually is the journaling piece for the layout.

She just added a brad to the top so it can swivel to access the journaling. Clever!

And then on top of that, the part with the ornament is actually a fold out.

This is my AYM page for this month. It was my turn to pick the song. I chose "Forever Young" by Bob Dillon (Not Rob Stewart's version). I still can't believe I'm 70! I plan to stay "forever young" as long as I can!

Friday Frustrations

So you are getting two posts today. I'm aggravated and wanted to gripe for a bit!

I cannot tell you how frustrated I am with Bloglovin’. It’s my blog reader. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s a place where you list all the blogs you follow. It keeps track of any new posts and lists them for you. It’s much easier than having to check each blog you follow every day to see if there is a new post. So much easier. Especially when you follow around 200 blogs! 

It’s easy to keep up with said blogs this way. Until—it’s not working properly! Then it’s just plain frustrating. What I’ve learned is that I just have to wait out the message: “something went wrong” or “this link is broken.” 

At first, that sent me in to a panic. Checking over 200 blogs daily is just not practical—nor doable. When it first happened, I thought Bloglovin’ was “over.” I thought my convenient blog reader was no more, kaput, finished. Every few days, I checked it. Finally, it seemed to be working again. But now I realized that it’s down more often than I would like. Still, I just have to wait it out. Sometimes it takes over a week before it’s up again. Which means that I have about a hundred or more posts to go through. That’s not the end of the world except that it takes quite a while to do that. I don’t even read all the new posts right then. I just add them to my reading list to read later when I have the time. That list is growing longer and longer. But the biggest problem is that by not being able to comment on these posts in a timely manner, I have a hard time posting comments at all. I've learned a "work-around"--as they say, but it's a hassle for sure. 

Why can't things just work the way they are supposed to? Pools, phones, televisions, internet--every dang thing we've come to rely on!! I just want everything to work already! It's so darn frustrating!

Thanks for letting me get these first world problems off my chest!

Friday Funnies

I totally remember saying "aaaahhhhh" into the fan to hear the funny sound it made! I completely forgot about doing that as a kid until I saw this one!

Yep, it costs over $100 to fill up my tank these days. Yikes!

As seen in Mindy's kitchen!!

Five Things Thursday

1. What a clever idea! 

I would totally do this. But, wouldn't you know it---we had two old fans sitting in the garage for over a year! I think Butch finally took them to Goodwill less than a month ago! No wonder he saves things. This time he let them go just a little too soon!

2. Not sure if this is true

But if it is, pour me a glass!

3. Another clever idea.

I have a kazillion magnolia leaves if anybody needs some. Also let me say, I had about 5 people punching hearts from old books for Steph & Nicky's wedding about 7 or 8 years ago. It takes a really, really long time to get enough for confetti or table sprinkles. Maybe not so clever after all.

4. This is a great idea!! 

Great way to get those assault weapons off the streets!

5. This is a public service announcement. I had no idea! You're welcome!

Just in time for Morgan's "boys." 

Something tells me she already knows this. But seriously, how are you supposed to walk your dogs? I've never seen them wearing shoes or socks. Hmmm. Maybe doggie booties could be a good side hustle for someone. No, not me.

What I Buy Wednesday

A concert would not be complete without the purchase of a t-shirt.

That's my new philosophy. I regret that of all t-shirts I DID NOT get was the Rolling Stones last fall! Darn! Won't be making that mistake again.

I also did some internet shopping this week too. We are going on a safari in September with most of the family. I had no idea there would be so many clothing restrictions and suggestions!

1. You need to wear long pants—preferably loose for coolness. 

2. No dark colors—navy or black--becasue tse tse flies are drawn to dark colors. 

3. No white or light colors because it will A. get dirty B. can be seen by animals from a long way off. Khaki color would be ideal.

4. Jeans are not recommended because they are dark and hot.

5. Long sleeve shirts are also recommended due to insects. 

6. Absolutely no camo. It's a law.

7. Wide brimmed sun hat is recommended.

8. Lighweight jacket because it can be chilly in the morning and evening. 

9. Closed toed shoes—tennis, walking or hiking.

10. Lots of insect repellent. Yeah, we'll definitely be wearing that!

So, I need a lot of new clothes. I do not have any khaki colored clothing. I bought 4 pairs of linen pants from Old Navy. They had them on sale for $28. I got tan, khaki, olive green and paprika. They recommend 3 outfits (yeah, that's not going to happen) as they offer laundry service daily. You drop it off when you go out for the day and it will be ready when you get back. I'm brining 4 pairs of pants and at least 6 tops.

I haven't even started thinking about tops yet. I have time. I just hope the pants fit! I'm pretty certain I'm not going to like them. But as Butch says--and has been saying since the girls were little: "Ladies, it's not a fashion show!"

Uh, when is he going to learn. We girls want to look good! You would have thought he'd already learned that lesson the weekend we went to St. Louis in about 1990 when we 4 girls had 26 pairs of shoes amongst us!!

The Reboot Tour

To say you are retiring just means for a little while. I'm not surprised. It must be awfully hard to give up that nightly adulation and have to be just a regular person. Life must seem pretty boring after such a celebrated career. 

When I heard that Brooks & Dunn were doing a "reboot tour," I just had to go. Luckily, Mindy and Stephanie are up for anything. 

They put on a really good concert, so I was happy to get a chance to see them before they really retire. 

There was a newcomer that opened the show--Tyler Braden. He was really good. I recognized one of his songs. Then out came...

...Darius Rucker. I don't like his biggest hit because I feel like it was way overplayed. But I have to admit, hearing it in person was way more fun!                         
Prior to the show, a woman told us that Darius was at Ol' Red's (Blake Shelton's honky tonk). He signed autographs for everyone in the place!!

And then it was the headliners:

They were fabulous! 

And then this happened...

Miranda Lambert was in the audience. They called her onstage. She had her beer in hand and said she was just there to enjoy the show and drink! They got her to sing "Cowgirls Don't Cry" and "Neon Moon" with them. She quipped that if she'd known she'd be singin', she would have worn her Spanx! Her dress looked very much like Mindy's! 

I love Miranda Lambert, so that was a huge surprise! Only in Nashville! You just never know what's going to happen. No telling why she was in Nashville. I wonder if she made an appearance at her restaurant/bar, Casa Rosa. 

By the time the concert was over--11 p.m.--I couldn't get over how much was still happening! The traffic was insane--and we went several blocks out of our way to get out of it--but were still stuck in it. When we pulled up in front of Mindy's condo building, Stephanie couldn't believe how many people were lined up on the sidewalks waiting to get in to the places on Mindys street. She lives several blocks from Broadway--near Music Row. Of course, it is summer and the heighth of tourist season. It's great to see all those tourist dollars pouring in to the city! I think it's exciting. But then, I don't have to live amidst it! Still, I'll go down for a good concert! And this is our 4th in less than a year! 

Monday Mystery

Mystery solved!

Remember the guy at church last week that was barefooted? Well, while out on my walk this week, I found his shoes!

Seriously? On the side of the road...what? Or is it another mystery? How do you walk away from your shoes? I don't get it. Surely a mystery.

More Pictures

We spent a whole lot of time on the porch--a whole lot! We had happy hours and played a little trivia too. Lots of talking and just hanging out.

One day this turtle was right by our porch. It was laying eggs!

It made quite a mess of the yard. I looked it up and depending on the type of turtle, it takes 45-70 days for turtle eggs to hatch. We're going to be back in about 45 days, so just maybe we might get to see them.

Butch and Mindy went fishing every morning.

She caught a couple little ones--and threw them back. Butch is a "catch and release" fisherman.

I'm pretty sure that Mindy hasn't been fishing since she was a little girl. I'm pretty sure not much has changed. When daddy was helping Mindy fish, that meant that he didn't!

Taking care of business at the beach. The wifi is crappy in the condo. I cannot make or receive phone calls or texts. There is one little spot on the porch that works sometime. But it's not very reliable. So frustrating. We need to be connected these days!

On hold with Sprint about the phone bill. What a fiasco. I argued with them about what I thougth was a fraudulent internatinal call. Only to find out later--after they adjusted the bill--that it was legitimate after all. Now I have to call them back to have them put the charge back on! Sheesh!

While sitting on the porch one evening, we saw this big bird--I think it's a blue heron. It had swallowed a fish that was much to big for it. We watched as it had difficulty, but finally worked it down. We thougth we saw the fish moving in its neck, but then decided that was just the swallowing process. Pretty interesting. Remember the time that the blue heron ate all the fish in our pond?

Mindy wanted to go to Emeril's Coastal restaurant. She was hoping to see him since his main home is In the area now. She worked at Commander's Palace where Emeril got his start in the restaurant business. His personal assistant worked at Commander's also and had hired Mindy.

Unfortunately, he wasn't there. After all, it was a Wednesday night. Mindy surmised that if he did visit the restaurant, it would most likely be on the weekend. 

The food was delicious! Butch and I shared the squash flowers stuffed with crabmeat. I wanted to try it because my grandparents made fried zucchini flowers when I was a kid. They were so good. My grandfather taught me how to tell which blossoms were going to produce a zucchini and which ones would not. Those were the ones we picked to cook. The crab stuffed ones were good too. We also share the seafood platter. Mindy got a crab cake and decided she didn't like it. So the three of us ate this. The amount of food was crazy. We had no idea, as the menu never mentioned that it could feed more than one person. It was quite a bargain at $45.00! There were crab claws, shrimp, oysters, fish, French fries, tiny fried onion straws and crab stuffed hush puppies. So. Much. Food!

This is how much was left AFTER all 3 of us had our fill! We took the leftovers home and had it for lunch one day. It heated up in the oven quite nicely.

On the 3rd Thursday of the month, Gulf Place has a "wine walk." It's $25.00 per person and you go to 11 of the businesses on the property for a glass of wine and appetizers. You get your "card" signed at each stop and submit it for a drawing for prizes at the end. Our last stop was at one of the resort clothing stores. There was a lady there doing permanent jewelry. I had never heard of that before. 

They are 14K gold and diamonds. You pick out the chain and what charm you want. I got a "B" and Mindy got a compass. So cute. They are welded on. The chains are supposed to be pretty strong. The girl said that she hadn't ever broken one of hers and she had several! We'll see. I just hope if it does break, we don't lose it. Kind of a splurge for sure! They are so dainty and cute. They have anklets too. I might even do that sometime--well, if she's ever there again when we are. The gal lives in Chattanooga and takes her business on the road. She's been at Gulf Place twice and all along 30A at the different resorts.

Oh, and as it turned out, Mindy won one of the prizes from the raffle. Of course she did. She's very lucky girl! It was a cute, beautifully illustrated children's book signed by the author.Mindy had left it at the condo for everyone to enjoy. 

The whole week was a lot of fun. We can't wait to spoil Sandy and Stephanie too! There's something special about having them all to ourselves! 

When we got home, this arrived.

It's an edible arrangement. Mindy sent it as a "thank you" for the trip--and because I was lamenting the fact that I ate out way too much! We've never had one of these before. Since the family was coming over for a pool party/Father's Day celebration, I knew we'd be sharing it.

Fresh fruit is exactly what I need to get my act together now that we're home!!