I'm Ridin the Draggin Wagon!!!

Dear me--I forgot a person could be this tired!!! It's 130 in the afternoon, I've been cooking since 5:30 a.m. and am only on break!!! Delivered food for a business quarterly meeting at 7 this morning--Menu?? Lasagne, Chicken Fettucini Alfredo, Steamed Vegetable Medley, Green Beans Amandine, Spinach Salad w/Citrus Dressing, Cheesecake w/raspberry sauce & chocolate sheet cake. And, yes, everything is homemade & was for 50. Then began making potato salad for 200!!! I have a wedding tomorrow evening about 1 1/2 hours away, and again, it's a full meal, PLUS---I'm making the wedding & groom's cake. (No fool like an old fool!). I wish the catering business would allow me to quit the school job, but not so much right now!!
I'll post some pics of the wedding cake & see what you think. Needless to say, my puppies are barkin!!! Last night I actually broke out in hives! HIVES! I have never, ever had hives!! Can't believe they itch sooooo bad---- Whine, whine, whine -- I just had a cheese sandwich!!!! With my whine!!! How appropriate. Now I am going to sit on my fanny for 45 minutes, and then back to the kitchen.
I just wish I had time to comment on all the great blogs I've been reading!! Love Kari's at Just LIvin Large. Believe me sweetie--I have some pet peeves, and I'm going to share them as soon as this BIG EVENT is over!!! And Shabee Chick sent me back in time & wanting cinnamon toast. I hope you haven't all moved when I finally can spend 6 or 7 hours blogging!!! ha ha ha
This has been such a fun thing to enter my life. I feel like I have all these new friends, and we don't have to get dressed up, be on time, feel good, or anything to keep in touch!! It's better than therapy!!! But not better than anti depressants--give me time. Maybe it will be!!!
So, I'm heigh ho heigh ho ---- love the little guys Kari!!! I'm lookin like I belong to them!!!
Later friends!!!

What About These?????

Just got through reading the hilarious Just Living Large--oh Kari, you crack me up!!! I was thinking back to MY days in high school. I don't think we HAD clubs--small town, small school. I remember we had "thugs" "greasers" "soch's" and "cheerleaders"--maybe those were clubs. I didn't belong to any of them. I had the occasional crush on a "thug" but wouldn't have been caught with 'em! They were the guys who wore the "beatle boots" and "leather jackets" and had a cigarette hanging from their mouth. Oh, and in small towns, there is always a chance of "mixin it up" with the guys in the other towns--thugs always did this. Those that stayed in school usually came to school on Mondays hung over and with bruises!!
So, I was wondering what clubs there could be at the high school now--I work at the school and am not familiar with any clubs (remember, small town). Maybe I'm expecting them to have "club" in their name--could include FFA, Student Council, Cards In Action (aka CIA), Future Educators of America, etc. And this pushed the "crazy" button in my mind. I began to imagine what clubs could be found in this small town high school. From what I have observed, there could be:
Pierced To The Max Club--we have some of those members, they have
piercings in their noses, ears, eyebrows, tongues (I keep hearing that's a
"special" piercing????)

Duh Club--we have some of these too--they are the ones who, after you ask
them questions, look at you like you are speaking an alien lanugage! You know,
you ask, "What is your name?" and get a response like "uh, well, uh, I uh,"
Forget it!

Cow Poop Club--they are usually a part of the rodeo circuit. Alot of these here.
Now, granted, there are some lovely young ladies, and worthy guys who are
Mr & Mrs Rodeo, but come on--the trucks these kids drive haven't been
washed since the last cattle call!

The Fashion of Young Bellies Club--ALOT of these gals here. You know them-
their bellies are sticking out beyond their, hmmm, ta tas and should never see
the light of day. Now in all fairness, some of them DO cover their bellies, but
for crying out loud, is Saran Wrap a new fashion yes yes?

Ok that's just some of the craziness floating around in my head. It's all your fault Kari! You opened up that Pandora's Box!!!
Maybe I'm just toooo tired for words. Have been fighting a migraine the past 3 days---down the neck, up behind the eye, down the arm, good Lord, is there anyplace a migraine DOESN'T affect??? Then, after the migraine subsides, the effects of all the medication taken to rid yourself of it raises it's side effects--constipation, nausea, to say nothing of the migraine hangover. Wonderful---fuzzy head, zombie like days. Add these affects to Menopausal Symptoms 1-35 and I am just a delight to be around!! I hate everybody---I don't remember anybody----I don't know what I'm doing here---aarrgghhhh!!!
Thanks, Dad, for passing on that gene to me. Couldn't have been the mathematic intellect--had to be the migraine!!!
In spite of all that-----aren't you just panting to hear more------I have a business luncheon, a wedding, a reunion, two cakes, and a ladies meeting to cook for all before Monday!!!!! So my feet hurt, my mind hurts, but, hey, everyone likes my food!!!
I AM WOMAN HEAR ME ROAR!!!!~
Can you tell I'm rambling??? It's got to be the migraine hangover. So, I'll close for now. I hope to check back in before I leave for the wedding (an hour & one half drive) on Saturday. Just cross your fingers for me. I'll be sane again one day (Kick in Lexapro!!!!)

I Love Lucy!!!

So, I was watching "I Love Lucy" this morning--you DO understand it was a rerun, right??? Anyway, I was watching & it was the time they were in Paris, and she & Ethel wanted a new designer dress, and she was going on a food strike until she got the dress. Well, you know how it goes, she fools Ricky, Ricky finds out, Ricky fools Lucy, and on and on. AND she gets the dress--it's price? $500 Now, that was 55 years ago, and prices have skyrocketed to today, and it hit me----I STILL HAVEN'T SPENT $500 ON A DRESS!!!!! That just totally blew my mind--that still to this day, I think the most I have ever, ever spent on a dress is around the $200 mark. And I was so proud of that dress---now it seems rather tacky. OMG---I am a hillbilly!!! Maybe my aunt did marry my grandpa and my dad is my uncle!!! Maybe I have the fashion sense of Charlene Darlin (you have to have watched Mayberry). Maybe I should move to the wrong side of the track, down by the city lake, and consort with those living in vans!!! Next thing you know, I'll have "bend over people" in my flower bed!!! I don't even SHOP where $500 dresses are available. And I thought I the mall was my friend. I am soooo embarrassed! I am shamed!!!! I am humiliated!!!! And how in the heck do women pay for those $500 dresses? Maybe that's why Tulsa County is the "meth capitol" of Oklahoma---is that who is wearing those $500 dresses???? You would think I would have noticed the toothless, skinny, paranoid gals in those designer dresses! No, that can't be who are wearing them--they're passed out by sundown, and those dresses haven't been spotted at the Piggly Wiggly in town. And I know it's not school teachers--I've seen their paychecks! So, if regular band leader wives who lived in teensy apartments in NYC and played games with their budgets in 1952 were able to have ONE $500 dress in their lifetime, how did they do it---why can't I??? I don't even have a $500 car payment!!! I want to survey all who read this---how many $500 dresses do you have in your closets, and what do they look like? I do love Lucy, but I now realize she & I could not have been friends. How could I have hid this from her? And then, when she inevitably did find out, I would have been at the end of her nose--she would have dropped me like a hot tamale! Maybe I will go back to patterning fashion after Aunt Bea---I can say with authority that I believe she would have NEVER spent $500 on a dress!

I HAVE TO CLEAN HOUSE!!! YUCK!

It's Saturday--I want to play, I want to sleep, I want to watch TV, I want to blog---but I HAVE TO CLEAN HOUSE!!! I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to. Ok, I will.
Don't you just HATE days when you have all the energy & drive to have a fun day & the responsibilities of a house are evident all around???? I wouldn't clean, I would blow it off, but I have alot of catering to do next Thurs-Sat, a family reunion to cook for on Sun, a women's meeting at my house on Mon---I just can't let the house go. So, I'm going to send a "hey y'all" out to all my blogger friends and MAKE MYSELF get off my tush and CLEAN HOUSE.

I don't know if I shared this, I don't think I did, but my son-in-law was exempt from deployment to Iraq. We are celebrating quite joyously. Not that he doesn't intend to be patriotic & do his duty, it's just that this would be tour #3, he is in a competitive college program, they just sold their house and moved last weekend, he still has an injury from the last tour that hasn't been taken care of, and his son is 18 months old. That plus, he didn't make a career choice with the military, and had been discharged 1 1/2 years ago. I know it's never a "good" time for anyone, but we ducked the bullet this time and we are relieved. To all of you out there whose loved one is serving, we salute you, we thank you, we honor you, and we pray for you. It doesn't matter who is right or who is wrong at this point, we just need to make sure our support is for our troops. So God Bless You, you remain in our hearts.

Had dinner with my son this week, you may remember his wife left him in June after 15 months of marriage? He's still struggling, he's sad and lonely. And it's so difficult to watch a 28 year old have to deal with this. It was so much easier when he was 10 and I could do things to take his mind off his troubles. It just breaks my heart when he returns to an emplty house that they chose together. And it breaks my heart to see that he put his all into love and this gal, and it gets ripped in two. All I can do is pray for him. And believe that "this too shall pass".

Oh no, now the craft room is calling me--it heard me here on the computer, and all those unfinished items are wanting my attention. Dear me, this will make CLEANING HOUSE even harder!!! I just wish I could take a month of "time off" and get some things done around here. Anyone else struggle with that? I see all the pictures of your beautiful homes on the blog site, and I have all these ideas for my own place, and not the time to follow through. You won't be seeing my house on this site for a long, long time!!!! Unless you want to see "mission organization" before pictures!!!

Ok, ok house I hear you. You are dirty, messy, dusty,---I'm coming, I'm coming!!!

Well dears, as you can see, I'm being torn in different directions. Hopefully, I'll make some headway and can check back with you guys tonight---after a major purchasing trip for catering items!!!

Have a great Saturday.

Such A Dork!!!

Ever have one of those days when you look in the mirror and think you look pretty good, then get a picture of yourself back and wonder what the heck you were thinking??? Well, I'm going out on a real thin limb here and putting my face on my blog---if Penny can, so can I. She'll miss me if I disappear!!!

So, I got new glasses & contacts. But I really like the glasses, and they are comfortable, so I may wear them most of the time.

AND, this is my new "do" that I patterned after Posh--hmmmm looks a whole lot different on me. But hey, it's fun and hip so I'll keep it. The problem is, your hair can have all kinds of body in the bathroom and then when you step out into the Oklahoma humidity it falls like a bumped souffle!!! And I don't have much body anyway. So, I'll just be such a dork with faux Posh hair and red glasses!!!

Abby, the corgi, wanted in the picture too--she kept whining and whining so that's her. Boomer, the cat, not so much. You can tell he's not real thrilled about photo ops. You may notice a bit of "bare skin" on his tummy--that's left from his "pulling his hair out" problem. You see, we babysat a 9 month old corgi this summer, and then when the corgi left, we also left on vacation, leaving Boomer here alone! So, when we came home, we noticed he was pulling his hair out--belly, arms, tail & legs. You think that isn't attractive!!! He looked like he had mange!!! Luckily he's an indoor cat or someone would have probably hauled him off. After a couple of weeks of hair removal, I took him to his vet, who, after examining him thoroughly, announced it was an emotional problem. Dr. She said there were a couple of options in treatment--we could try a cortisone shot, or we could put him on "kitty prozac". Now, I love my cat, but the prozac was NOT an option. So, we chose the shot and after a week, he is looking much better and doesn't have a grooming fetish!!

It's so good that it's Friday--I am looking forward to a lazy (kind of) weekend, cause next weekend is a killer---too many catering jobs!!! What I won't do for money!!!

So, blog friends, now you know what a dork looks like!!! I'm signing off for now; have to go make cakes & sit on my fanny for a bit!

Fashion Disabled!

Have you ever gone to your closet and wondered why in the world someone would put those clothes on your hangers? Or gone to the mall and wondered where in the world they put the real clothes???
I am in a huff and it's fashion--or lack thereof. I love the fall and winter, look forward to getting out the comfy clothes that hide most of the epidermas, could live in sweatshirts and jeans, and yet, I feel the need to dress fashionable at work. So, as I looked in my closet over the week-end in preparation for fall & winter I was aghast at what was there! It looked like the series "What Not To Wear" had taken all the rejects and sent them to my house! Surely this is NOT what I had chosen to wear the past couple of years (ok, more like 5-10 years). Maybe I've been looking at too many magazines lately, or maybe looking for clothes in the mall with my sis jolted my fashion sense, but I am sorely lacking.
So I began to peruse the fashion magazines, and good lord, the fashions aren't for real people. First there is the "pencil" skirt--it only looks good on a pencil--face it gals, that's what the name really means. I thought I had found a pencil skirt in my things, but when I found the exact same skirt in the exact same material and pattern I realized they were LEG WARMERS!!!! Yes, that's how pencil skirts fit. The one thing they don't fit is a body in the real world. I kept looking and looking, but there are no "eraser" skirts. So, forget buying a new skirt. Until the "eraser" skirts come out, I'll pass. And it isn't just because of the look. I don't think I could walk across the living room in one of those!!
I also saw that "leggings" are back in style. Hey! They weren't good in the 80's and they aren't going to be good now! Remember the horror of seeing all those gals running around in leggings and over sized shirts? I say "those gals" and admit I was one. The look doesn't work! We all just look like work out failures in those get ups!
I am a petite sized gal--ever looked in the petite section??? It's full of elastic waisted "sets"--you know--plaid seersucker pants with jersey tops appliqued with plaid seersucker flowers!!!! When they designate a section "petite" it automatically becomes the geriatric section. No hip chick in her "over 45's" would buy anything in that section, let alone be caught carrying it around in the store. Yuck!
I have this vision of the top designers sitting around a table discussing new fashion for the season:
Designer #1: Hey, I have an idea--let's bring back the tightest, most form fitting clothing we can. Just throw a big top or poncho over the bottoms and they'll buy em! We'll just work as fashion directors on the next big movie Nicole Kidman is in--she can wear anything. And the gals will rush to the malls to get the newest Nicole clothes!!!
Designer #2: Yeah, that's an idea. After all, girls have been getting tired of the cropped tops and low rise pants. Too many bellies in public--they are actually starting to look at themselves in mirrors and are choosing things that cover a bit more.
Designer #3: How about ballet slippers, or ballerina shoes? They only look good on someone 7'6" who weighs 25 lbs. But, if we show it on Oprah, everyone will bite!
And about Oprah--checked out her magazine the other day, and in her "must have" section, she has a pair of shoes she "loves" that only cost $750! Sorry honey, I'm forgoing the mortgage payment this month--found a pair of shoes I can't live without!!
Even Oprah's shows on dressing on a budget don't come down far enough to what I have to spend! Am I the ONLY one who thinks $125 for an everyday blouse is a bit much?????
I guess I'll just stay in fashion la la land for this fall!! Please, please, someone, come to the rescue of the everyday lady--the one who works, not for spending money, but for braces, car payments, groceries, and the one who must have clothes that don't show too much, cling too tightly, and work for those under 70!!!

Halloween Madness!

OK--is it too much? I love Halloween, it's my favorite holiday, I think. That may sound odd coming from a Southern Baptist gal, but this is the only holiday that a grown up can still be a child. I love the idea of dressing up, decorating the house, passing out candy, carving pumpkins, parades through town, and, since I love cats (especially black ones), this holiday just screams my name.
I could wait no longer to decorate. Saturday I cleaned & decorated all morning. It never looks the same from year to year, but that's part of the fun--finding new theme decor!!
I tried to crop the photos & send closer images, but, technical wiz that I am, couldn't figure it out.
I especially like the cat skeleton that I got for my birthday last year. Oh, did I also tell you my birthday is in October--adds to the celebration!!
And, I'm not finished yet!! I still have the bathroom to decorate--my hubby just doesn't understand my need to decorate!! He stands at the foot of the attic ladder, and with each tub I hand down he says "Is this it?" knowing full well that drives me bonkers!!! He also adds (each year), "you need to weed some of this out". At which I respond--"which child would you weed out if someone asked? these are like my seasonal children, they have sentimental value, I love them". Hubby just rolls his eyes!
Well, dearies, this is my holiday and I'm sticking to it!!!