Tuesday Thoughts about...

...being a picky eater.

I do not consider myself a picky eater. Actually, we were not "allowed" to be. When growing up, you ate what was put in front of you. You had no choice. If you didn't eat it then, it was pulled out again at the next meal until you ate it.

That doesn't mean that I don't have things I don't like. There are a few things I don't like. I don't like raisins, but I can eat them. Usually, I will just pick them out. But there is one thing that I actually HATE and will not eat for anything (okay, maybe a million bucks---but no less)!
Liver---it can actually make me barf! Ewww! You cannot get rid of that taste! On the other hand, I do like the smell of it cooking.

Coffee---I don't like it, but it doesn't make me sick. I don't like anything coffee flavored either. I do love the smell of that too.

Fruit flavored things---I like fruit---but I want the real thing. I don't want fruit flavored drinks or candy (and you know how much I LOVE candy). Well, unless it's green apple Jolly Ranchers---love those!

Mint---I'm not crazy about mint flavored drinks---unless it's hot chocolate---add Bailey's and it's even better. I like mint flavored desserts---Connie makes the creamiest mint brownies that are to die for. I like mint candies---especially Russell Stover French mints---divine! I don't want mojitos or mint in my tea either.

That's my short list of things I don't like. I'm sure there are a few others. I don't think that makes me a picky eater.

Still, I'm finding that I am a picky eater after all. It's not so much about the food itself---but how it's prepared. I'm definitely picky about that.

I want my bacon extra, extra, extra crispy---almost burnt---and that's exactly how I order it. 95% of the time, I have to send it back. Butch tells me to quit ordering it. But, I love bacon!

I want my steaks medium well---just barely pink in the middle. There better not be blood pooling on the plate---disgusting. And, I have to have some sort of steak sauce. A creamy horseradish is my favorite.

Eggs---Oh My Gosh! I really have picky eater tendencies when it comes to eggs. I do not like omelets because I do not want my eggs hard. Fried eggs are over easy with salt and pepper. Soft boiled eggs are with salt and pepper with a piece of toast on the side. Scrambled eggs are soft---still glisteny--with salt only (okay, you can add cheese, mushrooms, green peppers--my version of an omelet---all scrambled up---but still only salt). Hard boiled eggs are best at room temperature with only salt. I have no idea where these requirements came from. They just are.

Sandwiches---here, it's all about the condiments. I like mayo on ham, bologna and turkey. It's mustard on hot dogs and hamburgers (ketchup can be added to the burger too). I also like mayo on a burger IF it has lettuce and tomato---then you can skip the mustard and ketchup altogether. Peanut butter must have jelly. Grilled cheese must have real butter---plus pickles and chips on the side.

Oysters---I actually like oysters, but only if they are cooked. It doesn't matter how---Rockefeller, fried, Bienville---they just can't be raw. Raw is just plain disgusting. Probably my favorite way I've ever had oysters was the Fried Oysters Benedict at Stanley's on Jackson Square in New Orleans.

I'm sure this list could go on and on, but these few things came to mind quickly. I'm definitely open to trying new things, so I'm definitely not picky in that way. Just picky when it comes to food prep.

Oh, and I've already told you how I'm picky about plates and utensils! If you've forgotten, you can check it out here!

Monday Mystery

For the holiday weekend, Sandy and family were in town. We've been looking forward to it and had a jam packed itinerary. Morgan was supposed to be in Nicaragua to do some volunteer work for her nursing class. Since the state department had Nicaragua on the list of places NOT to visit, the trip was cancelled. We were glad of that as we had already decided that even if we lost the money, we didn't want her to go. The trip has been rescheduled for January---location TBD. That meant that she was going to be with us for the weekend. That definitely made Victoria happy!

So here's the mystery. Whenever Elizabeth is coming in town, she spends most of her time with Analise. This time, Analise moved in for the weekend. It's a mystery that "their" room could look like this in just a single day!

 You could hardly walk in the room!

Or the bathroom for that matter! I shouldn't be surprised. It's really no mystery. I lived exactly the same way when I was a teenager! Still, it really was a mystery to me at the time as to how it could get so messy so quick!

Analise graduated from the 8th grade. We decided to throw her a little party---any reason for a party in this family!

 We went to Stephanie's for happy hour and to open presents. A Kate Spade bag from the whole gang.

 A cute pair of hoop earrings from Elizabeth.

Of course, we had to have a cookie cake!

On Saturday, Analise left for a couple hours to go to a graduation party. When she got back, Merritt was with her. That little guy has been longing to hang out with the family and play a few games for a long time now. When Amanda was getting ready to leave, Merritt made the comment that he knew how to play 5 Card Draw. I looked at him---skeptically---grabbed ahold of him and said, "Okay Amanda, I'll bring him home later!" Anytime we have the change to relieve a kid of their money (in this case, his grandmother's money), we'll take it! Actually, the kid knows his stuff. Although he didn't win (he lost $3.50), he totally bid appropriately. We also taught them a new game---Liar's Poker. He did pretty well at that too. He was the last one with all of his quarters left. Then he got a little too cocky and said that he was going to win! Ultimately, he lost. Still, he had a good time. On the way home he kept saying how much fun it was. He kept saying his family was "boring." I know that's not true---we can't get enough of his family!

All the kids seem to think we have such a fun family. The truth is we do have fun. The main reason is that when we have the opportunity to be together---which isn't often enough---it's like one big party! There's no mystery to that!

Tuesday Thoughts on Thursday

This is a continuation of Tuesday's Thoughts about organization. I totally forgot to add this little tip for organizing those pesky containers and lids.

 I have tried every method---putting the lids on the containers and nesting them, but that still takes up too much room. I've tried putting the lids under the containers, but that didn't work either. I decided on this about 10 years ago and it works perfectly! I just nest the containers and stack the lids on the side. It's pretty easy to rifle through them.

 About once a year, I go through and match everything up to make sure there is a lid for every container. What doesn't match up, I get rid of.

I never really had a good idea for pan lids. When we re-did the kitchen, I decided on this container from the Container Store. It works perfect to hold all the lids.

And that wraps up my Tuesday thoughts on Thursday!

What I Buy Wednesday

I didn't buy much this week. I don't really shop every week anyway. This week, I bought a new "blow" brush to replace the one that the "odd" electrical in Ireland ruined. Not that exciting. But this is!!

I haven't owned a belt in probably 10 (or more) years. Well, lately, my pants have been about to fall off of me. I've always had the problem of a "smaller" (I know that's a bit of an oxymoron right now, but it is what it is) waist compared to my posterior. Anyway, rather than keep hiking my pants up, I decided I needed to get a belt.

Butch and I were running errands together. We were stopping at Walmart to get salt for the pool so I decided to check out their belts. Here's the exciting part!

I got both of these best for 8 bucks! It's a little hard to tell, but the woven one is silver. It doesn't really matter because these belts are meant to be functional. They are never going to show!!

So that's it for me this week. Did you buy anything exciting?

My cousin, Chrissy did. She found this unusual fern.

 I have no idea what type it is. I tried looking it up, but couldn't find it. I love the texture of it.

 Chrissy has lots of shade---perfect for ferns.

 She has quite a variety along with an assortment of hostas.

And while we're talking about plants, let's move right on to trees.

This is the tree my siblings and I bought as a memorial to my brother, Ronnie. I can't wait to see it in person. We wanted this so that his little grands, Evie and Josie would have a point of reference---grandpa's tree. Being 5 and 3, they will have few memories of him. Jackie's friends gave her this memorial stone bench. I'm told it's pretty nice looking and  decent size. Kind of hard to tell! When I bought it, I told the "people" that I wanted soil amendments added. They said they always do that when they plant trees. I hope so!

Well that's it for What I Buy Wednesdays this week.

Tuesday Thoughts About...

...organizing! I prefer a well organized home. A little over a year ago, I was pretty jealous of Stephanie and Nicky's move. Not only a new house, but the fact that everything was completely organized---all except her scrapbook stuff. It was a further 9 months before we got to that, but luckily, the boxes were stowed away in an empty closet.

In January (when I usually try to organize my own house) we set a date to get the scrapbook stuff organized. We did the entire thing in just a couple hours---which included going through the stuff we didn't have time for before the move. The results:

This closet goes all the way through to the other side. So with this, everything in her new home is perfectly organized. I'm double jealous this year because I still haven't gotten to all the closets and drawers in my own house! There's a lot to do!!

Still, little things do add up. Last week, I tackled my jewelry. I went through everything. I put aside what I plan to get rid of. The whole family will be here this weekend, so I let them know they would have the opportunity to go through what I'm getting rid of. I suggested they might want to do the same. We'll have a jewelry swap! Sounds like a plan.

So, here's what I have set up for myself. I decided that I wanted to sort everything by color---just like many of my scrapbook supplies.

I have this cute little jewelry armoir.

I decided that each drawer would hold a different color of jewels! The way it was before---it looked like a treasure chest full of jewels all mixed up! I couldn't find anything easily.

One drawer hold watches. Many of these need batteries. A couple are really old---and hard to get rid of even though I don't EVER wear them. There's my Gucci that I wore constantly in the 90's---maybe the entire decade. I just don't really wear watches much, but still, I'm reluctant to let them go.

 The top drawer of my chest contains assorted earrings, seasonal jewelry and "fancy" jewelry.

 Coral and orange mixed with aqua and green.

 Charm bracelets and my junk bracelets.

 All of my necklaces.

 Gold, silver, black and white.

Blues--all shades. The little pile in the lower left is exactly one pair of green fake emerald and diamond earrings and a real pearl ring with little emeralds--the only green I own!

Finally, I can see what I have. It's much more accessible. And yes, I do wear most of it. I've gotten rid of what I don't. A lot of it is cheap, costume jewelry. Some of it is "designer" like Kate Spade, Alex and Ani, Juicy, Brighton and Pandora. Some of it is vintage. Some of it is semi precious and a small amount is fine.

I'm all about being able to find things easily. Of all the things I almost don't wear, it would have to be the necklaces. I have a simple diamond that I never take off. As for the other necklaces, I feel like I never have the right blouses or shirts to wear with them. If I haven't worn them within the next year, I'll get rid of them too. I really am trying to simplify. I just want to be able to remember what I have and wear it!

And that's exactly why I want everything organized! Works for me!

Monday Mystery

I was at the beach last week.

This is our condo building. If you count the French doors on the bottom from the right, ours is #3&4. It's a pretty place for sure. This is there perfect time of year to go.

When I went out for my daily walk, I passed this. The enclosure is on the side of the building. If your air conditioning unit goes out, how in the world would they know which one it is?

Now that's a mystery I hope we never have to solve!

The Royal Watch

Well, today's the day!

I toyed with the idea of having a Royal Watch Party. I decided against it for a few reasons:
1. We had poker last night, so I knew I'd have prep work and then clean up to deal with.
2. Stephanie and Mindy didn't seem too keen on the idea.
3. Probably nobody wants to get up too early.

Personally, I have the coverage set to tape. But I had planned to get up at 4 a.m. When I was telling Butch about the idea of a watch party, he said he'd watch it with me. Then he found out about the 4 a.m. thing. I said that I'd wait until 6 a.m. if he wanted to do it.

I was really happy that he wanted to watch it with me. I hadn't planned to "blab" it all over in case he might be a bit embarrassed about it, but I heard him tell his poker buddies that he was going to be watching with me, so I figured it was public knowledge now!

I decided to go all out and have a royal tea party just for us!

I went to the stores---yes, 3 places---to get appropriate "tea" foods. Scones from Publix, Devonshire cream and zucchini bread from Fresh Market and a spinach and cheese quiche from Puffy Muffin. Also, I do not plan to serve the English muffins, but, English is in the name, so that seemed appropriate. I'm not even going to serve the zucchini bread because, well, how much food can two people eat!

 I pulled out my Downton Abbey teapot that I bought in England a few years ago. I also got out the commemorative plate from Kate and William's wedding that I bought on my first trip to England.

 AND---and this is BIG---I'll be serving the commemorative tea blend from Twinings I bought on my first visit. Twinings is a must for me whenever I go to London. In the background you can see my Downton Abbey tea cozy.

 It's the most unusual tea that I own.

It's all about them!! They are so cute together! I hope it lasts forever.

 For the Royal Wedding, it's all about the hats and fascinators. I think we would have fit right in, don't you?

 Even our news personnel have been wearing fascinators all week.

I loved every minute of the wedding coverage. Turns out, Butch---not so much. He never woke up! I gave him a 20 minute notice to the actual ceremony, but he fell back asleep. Oh well, he was about to miss an event of a lifetime! I guess he figures he's already been to the wedding of a lifetime. At least I hope that's it!

PS He did get up just in time!

PSS I'm so happy that my friend, Diane from England is thinking of me today! She sent me these photos!

A beautiful couple! I loved her dress, the simplicity of it. And the tiara is stunning. I've seen several at the Tower of London, but don't recall if this was one of them. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.