Po' Man's Lemonade....

Coming from a family of 8 kids we NEVER ate out (which is one of the reasons we were able to go to Disney World so often) and when we did, we only ordered water. We would never dream of ordering anything but water. As a matter of fact, when the server came to our table, my mom would just say "we'll have 10 waters". I don't even know if the little ones know that restaurants serve anything BUT water. And IF by chance my mom buys a case of coke at home, it is gone within the hour and then, that's it, no more, you won't see it again until she has a coupon.

This frugal tactic has been extremely effective because the kids will choose water over soda 9 times out of 10 (it would be me or my brother Sammy who would choose a coke), and because I married El Cheapo, we have adopted the same rule. And since this has been a way of life for almost 26 years, I have found a yummy way jazz up my ice cold glass of FREE water!

The Rookie's Po' Mans Lemonade:
ask for a glass of ice cold (FREE) water
ask for lemon
look on the table for some splenda (not sweet-n-low...blah. and not real sugar, because it won't dissolve)
and VOILA!

Kidd-O wishes you a Happy Friday!

My Monday Mind Dump...

1. I betchya thought I forgot all about My Monday Mind Dumps, but I didn't....ok, maybe I did.

2. This past weekend was filled to the rim with awesomeness! Complete with fake lashes and some major chops!3. We celebrated my sister and her 21st birthday!4. We celebrated my sweet cousins 50th birthday with a totally righteous 70's party! My dad and I impersonated Sonny and Cher, which almost didn't happen because after preparing all week and about 3 1/2 min. before we were to "go on" I realized I forgot my wig at home! Can you believe it?! Well you should. Mr. Clean was the bomb and went and fetched it for me and was only a little frustrated with me.5. But the BEST thing that happened this past weekend and pretty much the coolest thing to happen EVER was going with my mom to see Stevie Nicks and Rod Stewart in concert. But wait, it gets better (which if you don't like either of those people you are hoping it does gets better)! She was given free tickets, but the stinky part was that they were nose bleed seats, and pretty much couldn't be farther from the stage, BUT as we were walking to our seats this British guy asked if we wanted closer seats, and if front row was close enough...he then asked us not to scream!! Turns out, Rod buys out the front row and gives them to ladies on the night of the concert! IT WAS AWESOME! Of course, I forgot my camera, but the sweet ladies behind us snapped a couple on her iphone and emailed them to me.
6. I asked Mr. Clean to repeat something he had said earlier in the day, but the poor guy said he didn't want to because he was afraid I would blog about it. He should have just told me because look what just happened.

7. The ONLY thing "diet" that tastes good is Diet Dr. Pepper. The rest is garbage. I vow to only buy real butter, real mayo, real sugar, real salt, real yogurt, real sour cream and nothing that says "lite" on it lest I gag. All things in moderation, including moderation at times, is what I say!

8. My 5th phone of the year died this morning, and I've been downgraded again by Mr. Clean. That iphone is just moving farther and farther out of reach.

9. I went for my annual eye exam today and the Dr. discovered 4 tiny infected sores on my eyeball...no wonder it's been killing me lately!

10. Ya know what? I've had my blog for almost a year now and I still haven't reached 100 followers, but I know you're out there because I can see you...ok, not really, but I can see how many people read my posts and it's well over 100! So, c'mon and follow already! I'm dying to see who you are! It's not hard, I promise! All you have to have is an email address...actually, I don't even think you need that! No pressure. Ok, maybe a little pressure. Just think of it as an early one year blog anniversary present...or my 26th birthday present (which is sometime next week). But seriously, no pressure.

Have a fabulous week, my friends!

Andie Shea!

I had a friend growing up that had the BEST big sister EVER! She was so nice, she would drive us to the mall, take us to eat, chat with us and she just loved her little sister. I always looked up to her and hoped that I could be a big sister like that. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case...I was the complete opposite.

I was almost 5 when I got my first sister. Andie Shea was and is everything I'm not. She is generous, kind, selfless, she prefers others more than herself, and she can be pretty shy. And boy, was she the most beautiful baby too! WAY cuter than yours truly (it's true, just ask my mom)! All of those great qualities really "cramped my style" when we were younger.I don't have many regrets, but the ones I have are because of the way I treated my little sister. If I could go back in time, I would most certainly change how I treated her. I cringe when I think back on those times, when I think about my selfishness and impatience. Thankfully, I believe I was more like the sister I wanted to be to my other 6 siblings, and that's only by the Grace of God.

Andie is 21 today. A real adult. It is hard for me to accept that she is a grown-up, because I still think of her as that little girl who LOVED The Wizard of Oz, and would dress up as Dorothy DAILY, complete with ruby slippers and a basket for ToTo!It has taken a while for our relationship to mend, but I think it's healing quite nicely. She is a GREAT aunt to Kidd-O, and in true "Andie form", she has selflessly given of her time to watch Kidd-O whenever I've been in a jam. I'm so thankful to have her in my life and I'm proud to have her as a sister and now, a friend. The world definitely needs more Andie Sheas!
Happy Birthday, Andie Shea! Enjoy your day!

Hot, Ready and Run!

Spring is finally here and that means a couple things!

#1: You don't have to hear me whine anymore about wishing it were spring...at least until October!

#2: Break out those Ray-Bans, because the sun is here to stay!#3: De-crustify those toenails. dust-off your sandals, and let those piggies BREATHE!#4: Play outside!

But DON'T eat the grass because that's yucky!#5: Polish off the last of those girl scout cookies, but savor them, because you won't see 'em again until NEXT spring.
#6: It's time to register for the Peachtree Road Race! And that also means I need to get my butt in gear! But a 10k aint no thang! My momma worked her booty off all winter, and it paid off! She completed her very first half marathon this morning! Way to go Momma!


And while she was running her 13.1, we supported her buy eating Krispy Kreme's!
And ya know what? There aint' nothin' better than a "Hot-and-Ready" doughnut (or 2...or 12) from Krispy Kreme! All I could hear in my brain was the P90x dude yelling at me for eating one (I can't stand that guy)...but ya know what? FORGET HIM!
Hooray for Spring! I'm so excited about it I can hardly stand it! What does Spring mean to you, dear reader?

I didn't find a four leaf clover...

But I did find a heart shaped chip!
And boy do I love some chips!
But not just any chips.
potato chips!
I typically like plain old LAYS.
Not ruffles, not doritos, definitely not pringles, not sams club, nor any other brand. Not sour cream and onion, not sour cream and cheddar, not bbq, but sometimes salt-n-vinegar.
I like PLAIN, "bet-ya-can't eat-just-one," LAYS!
I like to see the bag being opened with my own 2 eyeballs, and usually won't eat from a bag that is more than a week old.
They are best with PB&J's...and a cold glass of milk.
However, I have been mackin' on some kettle cooked, sea salt and cracked black pepper chips.
yum.
With an ice cold coca-cola classic (never pepsi, or big K, or sams club, or diet anything).
Even more yum.
Love 'em,
and they love me too!

Oh, and no one is paying me to say these things...although that would be cool if they did.

A Hot Mess...

I'm a mess. A hot mess. Pretty much anything I touch will break or stain, and will eventually be lost or ruined. I average several "Oops, did I do that?" incidents per week, and it has just become a way of life. Mr. Clean has come to expect and accept my clumsiness.

And when Mr. Clean fails...it's epic. His "Oops, did I do that?" incidents are far and few between, but boy are they doozies! Like buying a car on Ebay, sending the seller 3,000 dollars, never to see the car or his money ever again. Or like asking the "one armed ninja" at Halloween if a Samurai chopped his arm off, only to have the kid reply: It's a birth defect.

Unfortunately, both of us surpassed our weekly "Oops!" quota this weekend. And they were some for the books...or my blog.

Even Kidd-O agrees...his parents were big fat dummy's this weekend...

I had the opportunity to meet The Pioneer Woman (a very famous lady in the blog-o-sphere...check her out, she's pretty darn cool) on Friday. I bought her new book for her to sign, waited in a very long line for a ticket, and then waited in an even longer line with a sweet friend from church to meet PW, had her sign my book in like 1.2 seconds, and we went on our merry way....The next morning I needed to run an errand, when a gentleman who pulled up next to me was waving at me....I waved back(??)...he asked me to roll my window down...so I did. He then informed me that something that resembled a book had flown off the top of my car....of course it did...That's just what happens in my world.

Mr. Clean helped me fetch it, and this is what I got:
It's not too bad...it's definitely readable still. Oh but WAIT, it gets better!!!

The next "Fail" happened within minutes of the recovery of my book, when Mr. Clean thought it would be a good idea to fix the leak that has been coming from our ceiling. My husband is great at anything he does...just about. However, he's not the most handy man in town, but not because he doesn't know how to be handy, he just lacks experience. That is exactly why I heard what sounded like Niagara Falls coming from my dining room... My husband, bless his heart, had cut the water line to our house...without turning the water off first. My dining room was under water. Gallons upon gallons of water came out of those pipes. My antique china cabinet, antique table and chairs, all of the walls, and every inch of carpet received a nice and loooong spring shower. When I stepped on the carpet a nice puddle of water would rise and envelope my toes. And what was a 1x1 ft. repair, is now a MUCH larger area. I wish I had gotten a picture, but Mr. Clean is glad I didn't. He's still kicking himself and isn't really in the mood to talk or laugh about it yet.

I wish that was the end of it...unfortunately it wasn't.On Sunday, I went to edit some photo's from a maternity photo shoot I did recently, only to find that all of my photo's were gone and the recycling bin was empty. They were gone...all of them. I called everyone I could, and googled for help...nothin'... my pits were dripping with sweat...it actually rivaled our Niagara Falls incident...

So late last night, while drenched with sweat, and blubbering like an idiot, I had to make the dreaded phone call to one of my very first clients and inform her that her pictures were gone... with the exception of one.

Luckily, she was so kind and gracious and I'll be re-doing the photoshoot this week...that is if she's still pregnant by Thursday.

Lessons Learned: NEVER put anything on top of my car, DEFINITELY hire a plumber, and ALWAYS back-up important pictures or documents and find a better antiperspirant!!!

Have a great week and let's keep those "Oops" moments at a minimum!

Stop This Train....

I mentioned in a previous Monday Mind Dump that sometimes I worry about life going too well. Ya know, wondering when all the "stuff" is gonna hit the fan, because surely life can't be this good all the time? My mind has been consumed with worry about what might happen to thwart all of this goodness. I am amazed at how the Lord has blessed my little family, but what's more amazing is how the Lord blesses us even when I am so unfaithful...so undeserving. Knowing how incredibly undeserving and sometimes, I shutter to say, ungrateful I am of all of His gifts, makes me think even more...Lord, what kind of lesson are you about to teach me? I am sitting on pins and needles wondering when and if He's going to teach me a "Job-like-lesson" and let my house burn down, allow my new, way-too-beautiful-for-me car to be stolen, or heaven forbid, letting a terrible illness creep into our lives....Yikes! I just want to press the "pause" button on life. Stop this train.
I know this way of thinking is not healthy. Not only is it not healthy, it's wrong. I should not worry about what could happen in the future (matt 6:24), I ultimately have no control over what happens tomorrow! Instead, I need to dwell only on things that are true, right, pure, and lovely (phil 4:8). And that's what I will aim to do! Because Life is oh-so-lovely right now.I want to be thankful for everything I have been given! I want to soak up every bit of the goodness...just sop it up like a hunk of bread in my Mema's sauce. I want to gather all of the little yummy bits, and save them in my pocket in case those storms do come. And if those storms do come, I know that I can rest on the fact that I will not be tested with more than I can handle (1 Cor. 10:13). It is well with my soul.

30 Day Challenge: Day 3...

Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show
(or in my case, showS)

Even if you don't know much about me, chances are good you do know what my 2 favorite shows are and if you talk to me for any length of time I will most certainly find some comparison of real life to one of these two shows. It's kind of funny...or maybe sad? I try not to make these comparisons out loud in conversation, but more often than not, it comes out anyway.

I Love Lucy, seriously, I do! I think Lucille Ball is a comedic genius and I have loved her from a very young age.Some of my earliest memories of watching tv are of watching Lucy. I have seen every.single. episode...more times than is healthy. And if I am lucky enough to see it on tv (as opposed to dvd), then don't expect anything to get done that day, because I am glued. They don't make tv like that anymore. Good, clean, funny tv like that is worth its weight in gold.

My extremely close, second favorite tv show is Friends. I wasn't allowed to watch this show when it was first on tv, so I was late in discovering it. This show has a special place in my heart now, because for the first 2 1/2 years of my marriage, my husband-El Cheapo, wouldn't let us get cable. Not even basic cable, I'm talking rabbit ears, nothing-comes-out-of-the-tv type of no cable. But my grandmother so kindly let me borrow the entire series of Friends to watch. And boy did I watch. I started with season one and went through the entire 10 seasons fairly quickly, and when I was done we still had no cable....so I popped season one back and started all over again. Repeat that cycle several times, add in all of the directors commentary, directors cuts, special features, and Voila! You have my second favorite show. I know you must think I'm crazy, but desperate times call for desperate measures! At that time in out lives, my husband was working two jobs, so I was home alone....A LOT. I did read A TON (over 30 books in one summer, thank you very much), but sometimes you just want something mindless to do do. I had yet to discover online shows, and I HATE silence, so Friends was what was on. I still love it, but now we have cable, so my Friends have been put away for the time being, but they do find their way out from time-to-time.

30 Day Challenge: Day 2...

A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest

My mom had me when she was 17, she was just a kid. I have been with her for more than half of her life, and she's been with me for all of mine (duh), so I believe that constitutes as being the person I have been closest with the longest. I could write a novel about our relationship, about the love I have for her, about everything we have laughed about, fought about, cried about. I've always loved her, but since I've had a baby of my own, I have a new respect for her...a deeper love... I have a deeper understanding of a mother's love for her child, and I could not be more grateful for the selfless love she has shown me and my seven siblings...even though everyone knows I'm the favorite. I'm telling you, I could write forever, but I don't want to get too mushy...I don't want to cry and I will if I continue....