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anjabee

Whew...

anjabee
15 years ago

Hi Luvs....It's been a whirlwind this week with all our activities. I'm hoping DH can take the kids somewhere today for a few hours so I can do some cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping. I have company coming tomorrow and don't want my house to be a wreck. I did manage to get up early one morning and clean my carpets.

I don't know when the last time I posted was, but here's a rundown of what's been happening.

Monday: Movie-The Mummy then The Aviary (bird sanctuary) the kids had a blast and loved feeding the ducks and peacocks right from their hands. Ate supper at Spagetti Factory.(I saw on the placemat that they have one where you live too Luvs! Have you ever been? They have the best bread. mmmm)

Tuesday: Movie-Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D then to Thanksgiving Pointe which has a farm where the kids could feed the animals from their hands including our favorite....the alpaca. They had horse rides too. They have a huge garden area so we treked thru it to a waterfall. Everyone was hungry so we skipped the dinosaur museum and went to an ice creamery for supper and had blt's, burgers and cheesy fries with ice cream for dessert.

Wednesday: Antelope Island. Long drive, but we saw herds of buffalo and antelope. There is an old ranch there with lots of buildings full of antiques so you can see how it was in the 1800's. The kids were fascinated by the straw mattresses. It's very hands on so they were digging thru trunks and exploring cold cellers and the spring house and running the trails. They managed to scare up a little deer. They had fake steer there for them to try to learn to lasso. We had a good day.

Thursday? Lagoon (an amusement park) An all day affair with rides and food and fun. Everyone but me is still asleep. We were wiped out. ha

Today we were going to try to fly kites, but it's raining. Maybe DH can take the kids to the $1 movie to see Iron Man while I get some things done here. And we have a whole other week of fun planned! It might just kill us! ha

I see you have something pretty for me to look at over on the Gallery. I'm off to check it out. What have you been up to this week? I dreamed about you and your DH last night (tell him I said hi btw). We were all at a restaurant and we were eating alfresco on the porch at a long table with some other people. You were wearing those really dark glasses they give you at the eye dr, but I can't remember what you told me you'd done to your eyes. You were having me write your email addy on napkins to give out to the people at our table. ha Dreams are so funny.

I'm off to peek at your projects. ~Anj

Comments (6)

  • luvstocraft
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow! You have had a whirlwind of a week. So great that you are able to have this family time together making memories. All of the places you have gone sound so fun too!

    Haven't seen The Mummy yet, sort of waiting for the crowds to thin out first. I loved the first one so am eager to see this one too. I loved watching Journey to the center of the earth on television, so would love to see the movie version too.

    Yes, we do have a Spaghetti Factory close by--have been there a couple of times and also to the one in San Diego. I like the "variety" plate that lets me try three different sauces!

    I'll tell DH you said hello. He seems to be enjoying being retired. He's slept in a couple of mornings, but he got up this morning and decided to head over to the gym for some exercise. Hope he keeps it up--but we'll see. He's had a membership at Bally's for years that he has used off and on.

    I've been going over to feed my neighbor's dog and water plants, collect mail, etc. while they are on a trip. They are supposed to be back tomorrow afternoon. Had lunch today with a friend and made a quick stop at Michael's. They sure have some cute Halloween things out--lots of neat signs.

    Well, enjoy the weekend and another whole week of vacation with the family. You sure are a bundle of energy--no way I could keep up with you! LOL Have fun!

    Did I tell you our GD is taking ballet lessons? We didn't even know until she told us last weekend--guess they are almost over. That would have been fun to watch.

    I'd better get moving, I'll catch you later.

    Luvs

  • anjabee
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well, I thought I'd get to rest up a bit today since it rained, but no luck. Grocery shopping, laundry and housework....plus, DH and I decided to take out an old woodstove that's in our breakfast nook so we can have some built in cabinetry put in. Wow, don't ever try to move a 400lb woodstove with a strong man, but a puney wife helping. ha We got it out after a lot of work though.

    I did manage to sneak to the TS on my way to Walmart. I bought a few good things. One little item to go in my 12 days of Christmas, 4 bobbins!!, a stitchery that says Forever, For Always and No Matter What, 2 cookbooks, a large Christmas wood kit to paint, some wooden frames for some Christmas stitcheries I want to do, a paving brick to paint my Uncle Sam on (they've not had the right shape for them anywhere this year), a little ceramic snow couple, an old red crock with a blue stripe thru it, a glass jar (the tilted kind that the wood cutouts make lids for) and a couple of things for my brothers. It was a good haul!

    Since you've been painting your Christmas items it got me thinking. In 2 more weeks the kids go back to school and I'm really gonna start going to town on my painting. I'm sitting here now trying to figure out my 12 days of Christmas gifts plus I've got to get my ornaments cut out that I'm giving to the neighbors and get those painted. Plus I have a few Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas things for myself that I want to get cut and painted. So I'm trying to figure out a plan for myself. If I get the kids to school by 9am, clean until 12, then paint every day until it's time for them to get home from school and use the crockpot and rice cooker for suppers, I should be able to get quite a bit done. You know what they say about plans, but I think I can swing it. =)

    Good for you getting all organized. Wish I was. I'm feeling like I'm stretched pretty thin right now. I can look around right now and see at least 10 things that need doing. Sigh. I'm sure your neat working area will give you lots of good inspiration to create.

    I'm glad DH is enjoying his retirement. How are you enjoying his retirement? It's different when they are home all day, isn't it? It is for me anyway. And don't those children of yours know that you want to see GD do her ballet? ha Did they at least video any of it so you could see her? They usually do a end of year recital so hopefully you didn't miss that and you'll get to see her perform.

    Well, my DB is here tonight and we are gonna set up a game and play for a little while. You have a good one. I'm not sure what we have planned for tomorrow yet, but I do have company coming for supper at 5pm tomorrow night. We are gonna have jambalaya, salad, corn, fried down squash, rolls and apricot nectar cake and rice crispie treats for dessert. That should fill em up alright. ha I'll check in tomorrow sometime. ~Anj

  • luvstocraft
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Anj, your food all sounds yummy! I've had "gumbo" before but never had jambalaya. I did a search to see exactly what it is. Sounds good with the meats, rice and veggies. What is your "fried down squash"? I cook zuchinni in a skillet with a little melted butter and then add a dollop of sour cream after it has cooked and softened a bit. My DS loves it, but your dish might be a good one to try too. I am always looking for easy, quick things to cook. Sure wish my DH liked a wider variety of foods--I tend to only cook the veggie dishes when we have company over. I used to subscribe to Quick and Easy Cooking magazine--think the name then changed to Simple and Delicious or something like that. Anyway, I really liked it because they had lots of pictures, and the foods were things submitted by "real" people. I hate the recipes that list fifteen ingredients, none of which you ever have on hand! LOL

    You always have the best luck at your TS don't you? Wow! You got some great things this time. I love the words on the stitchery--so sweet. And those crocks and bobbins sound like a good find too.

    I thought about you always making or buying things for your brother the other day when I saw a neat fish shape about 14 inches long that held three small pictures. Then there was also a wooden plaque with a cutout boat and oar shape. They were both cute for someone who liked fishing stuff.

    I've not been finding allot of good stuff, but I sure enjoy looking. I usually tell myself that I will not buy anything that costs more than $3.00--but I did make an exception for a silver teapot the other day. I also bought a small overnight case for $3.99 that I want to paint roses on, and I picked up a nice round piece of wood that is going to be perfect for two patterns in the new Painting mag that I just got in the mail. I'm actually thinking about painting one design on one side and another design on the reverse side. Might just use a screw eye hook in the top to hang it by. Oh, I almost forgot, I also bought a fairly large pitcher with pretty vegetables on it.

    So are you going to plant flowers in your old wood stove? I'm pretty sure I've seen a pic of one over on the GJ forum. We just never have enough storage space do we? Even with just the two of us, we need more. And you have all kinds of kids items to store in addition to your own "goodies", huh?

    Your plan for getting some painting time in sounds good. Even if it only works out a couple days a week, you'll enjoy that. My routine is all out of whack with DH home now. I like to do my housework, laundry, yardwork, etc. in the early morning and then have the afternoons free. But if he wants to sleep in later or watch television when he gets up, it messes that all up because I have to keep the noise down. I'm just trying to "relax" and go with the flow. It really doesn't matter when it gets done, and it will always be waiting for me when I get to it! LOL

    I met the gals I used to work with for lunch today, then DH and I went over to the mall to try out the sleep number mattress again. Then we grabbed a bite to eat at a 50's diner and then went to see "Swing vote" with Kevin Costner at the movies. It was an okay show with some good laughs. I'll tell you the one I really want to see after seeing the previews tonight is "Hollywood Chihuahuas". We were laughing out loud just seeing the preview. ;o) I still want to see The Mummy, but DH says "not yet". Are you interested in Dark Knight? I'm not sure whether I want to see it or not--might just wait till it's out on video.

    Well, this is really a long post here, I'd better hit preview and move on. I'll talk to you again soon.

    Luvs

  • anjabee
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi~ I'm supposed to be getting ready for church right now, but I can't seem to wake up enough to get going yet.
    I wanted to tell you that we went to the Intellibed store and checked out their gel top mattresses. Oh my goodness. Found just the right one for us! I didn't want to get off of it! ha But....it's $3000 (king size) and DH's not going for it right now, but it's on our list after we take care of a few other things. Are you liking the sleep number?

    My fried down squash is not very healthy. ha First I cook up some bacon until it's crispy. Remove and take out most of the grease, leaving maybe a TBSP. Throw in some chopped onion and cook that for a few minutes then put in my sliced squash/zucchini and fry it down. Chip up the bacon and put it back in. Toward the end I add onion salt, pepper and Tony Chachere's cajun seasoning to give it a little kick. I cook mine in an iron skillet so it doesn't look that pretty when it comes out (kind of dark), but we sure like it. :) I'm gonna try it your way with the sour cream. Everything is better with sour cream! ha

    On the jambalaya, we do make it from scratch sometimes, but we really like the taste of the Zatarains Jambalaya mix you can buy at the store. It's usually in the rice section. It's so convenient we use it more than we make it from scratch. You just add Hillshire Farms link sausage (chop up and fry) and cooked chicken. It's not real spicy unless you add a spicier sausage and I think ya'll would like it. It calls for a lb of meat, but you could add more to satisfy DH. ha
    DH is giving the wood stove to a man to sell for us. He's not into garden junk....especially when there is money to be made instead. ha

    Every once in a while I really get a good haul at the TS. ha I really wanted to take you to a couple while you were here. Most things I buy are around $1, but the crock was $3. I'm excited to see your things painted up. Are you keeping the veggie pitcher or is that for your niece?

    I was wondering if your schedule had changed with DH being home. But I bet it's nice having him around. I'm more excited for school to get started now so I can put my plan in motion. My projects are in piles in my office and are threatening to come crashing down on me. I just want to get something finished and put away or given away and see some progress being made. I hate having them sitting here staring at me saying...when are you going to paint me??? ha

    You really want to see the chihuahua movie? ha DH said he thinks he got dumber just watching the preview. ha To each his own, right? I'm all for stupid funny, that's my kind of movie. Not really wanting to see Dark Night. May rent it on cable, but won't be upset if I don't. I really liked Heath Ledger, sad that he died and don't know if I want to see him in that. We just rented Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins and I laughed myself silly. I love black humor and Martin Lawrence always cracks me up.

    Well, I guess I better get going. Looks like I'm gonna be late as usual. ~Anj

  • luvstocraft
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Good Monday morning Anj, Hope you enjoyed your weekend, and your company. I'm sure you've got lots of fun stuff planned for this week with DH and the kiddos. Hard to believe they will be heading back to school already!

    Little GD was over yesterday as usual. We talked about having a "tea party" but I told her Gramma hadn't been to the store so I didn't know if I had any "goodies" to go with our tea. She asked "Don't you have cookies?" I told her "Nope, no cookies", then she said "How about muffins?" and I said "Let's go look, I just might have a box of muffin mix." So off we went to the pantry, found some muffin mix and she gave me a big smile and a "thumbs up". She pulled a chair up to the counter to help me make them, loved adding the ingredients and did a good job of stirring them up. We spread a cloth on the coffee table (kitchen table was full of DH's laptop and "stuff") and set out our dishes. She even had Grandpa come join us. Our "tea" was actually some Crystal Light orange drink, and she just loved asking us if we wanted more and pouring it for us. I get such a kick out of watching her act so grown up, and Grandpa is really good about bragging on how good her muffins were and all. Afterwards, I asked if she was going to wash the dishes for me. (She usually loves playing in the soapy water.) She said "Okay, Gramma, but you have to pretend I'm Cinderella and you're the mean Stepmother". Just cracked me up!

    I hope to get my housework done this morning, then spend a little time in the craft room. Think I'll paint the designs from my new Painting magazine, I thought two of them were really cute. One is Halloween and the other is Thanksgiving.

    Oh, I wanted to tell you that yes, the chihuahua movie does look pretty stupid, but sometimes we are just in the mood for something that makes us just laugh out loud. Mostly we see the action/adventure or Scifi ones with a few "chick flicks" thrown in once in awhile.

    I will look for the Zatarains at the store and give it a try to see if DH will like it. And I love fried foods, that's what I grew up with on the farm, lots of fried chicken, pork, potatoes, etc. Since I'm much heavier now and less active, I don't cook those things too often anymore, but sometimes I just crave the taste of them.

    Well, have fun, and make sure you squeeze in a little rest and relaxation time for yourself too, okay?

    TTYL

    Luvs


  • anjabee
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hey Luvs~ we spent today bowling, playing pool and video games with the kids. We even ate lunch at the little bowling alley cafe. We had a good time.

    I love the little GD story. She is something else. ha So did you play the evil stepmother for her?

    I totally understand on the movies. I would only watch comedies if it was up to me. ha

    I haven't seen any of the new painting mags yet. Was in a hurry last Walmart trip and forgot to look. I need to take some books back to the library so I will look there when I go. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

    Guess what? That pottery bean crock I got at the TS for $3......I looked it up tonight and it is probably worth a little more than that! It's Jerry Brown pottery located in Alabama and his work is in the American History Museum at the Smithsonian in Washington DC. Looking at the ones online it could be anywhere from $15-$100. I really liked it because it was red with blue stripes. Guess I don't have too bad of an eye for a bargain! ha

    Anyway, that's my big news for the day. I'll check back here tomorrow sometime. ~Anj

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