Husband Tag

I stole this from Suz over at Day by Day, and thought since it was close to Valentine's Day, it would be a good time to share.....

You are supposed to tag 4 people, but I'm going to leave it up to all of you if you want to participate or not (not everyone loves their husbands- haha)

1)Husbands Name: The Salesman.

2)How long have you been married? It will be 11 years in May- feels like forever.

3)How long did you date? Not quite a year- it was love at first sight!

4)How old is he? 38 Next week!

5)Who eats more sweets? Definitely me. He requires less sugar to keep his sweetness level up. I, however, require lots and lots.

6)Who is the better singer? The radio for sure.... it beats us both out on any given day :)

7)Who is smarter? Me of course, just ask me. Naww, just kidding, he is defintely smarter about some things (ahem, saving money- I mean not spending money)

8)Who does the laundry? Usually me, but he helps out... a lot. At least when he is in town.

9)Who pays the bills? Definitely him! I usually get the - "excuse me, could you STOP shopping!!" line.

10)Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does, although sometimes he gets up on the "wrong" side... oh wait, that's me.

11)Who mows the lawn? Bud, haha.

12)Who cooks dinner? Whatever chef is working at our favorite restaurant. Just kidding, I'd say its a 50/50 thing when he is in town. But he is the grill master for sure!

13)Who drives? Him !! I hate to drive. I would much rather ride. It allows me to do what I want and give driving advice at the same time.

14)Who is the first to say they are wrong? Well since I am never wrong, that would be him.

15)Who kissed who first? Um, not really sure, I think it just happened.

16)Who asked who out first? He couldn't resist me, so he asked me out first for sure.

17)Who wears the pants? Well him of course. He would look pretty funny in a dress. I would seriously have to start questioning how well I really knew The Salesman ;)

He's a keeper !!!!

Honest Scrap

Guess what!! Guess what!! Guess what!! I won my very first Award. Yea for me!! I never win anything! But thanks to my friend Noe Noe Girl I won the

She seems to think I love living life… well of course I do, cuz it dang sure beats the alternative! Thanks Noe Noe Girl! I LOVE my new award ! Now if she could just help me win the lottery :)

The rules for this award are: First, choose a minimum of seven blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Secondly, show the seven winners' names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Scrap". Another award to add to your list of awards. Lastly, list at least ten honest things about yourself.

There are so many people deserving of this award it was hard to pick only 7.

1. Big Hair Envy- She is my reason for doing this blog thing. If it wasn’t for her, I never would have gotten into this.
2. Cool Breeze Musings- Because he is married to BHE and because I know him, it is hard to believe he has a blog :)
3. Suz over at Busy as a Bee - I love her desire to save the world. And her sarcasm makes me laugh.
4. The Keeper- Because she is a fellow cheer mom and I love to hear about her adventures -
5. CBW at Life in Matthews- I love her pics and her hilarious stories.
6. Mental P Mama- Because she had a birthday this week J
7. Noe Noe Girl- Even though she has already received this award, I felt like I should mention her again since she ALWAYS brings a smile to my face when I read her posts.

So, enough about them, let’s talk about me- just kidding. Here are 10 things about me you might not know or care to know J But they are true none the less.

1-When I can find time, I watch “The Hills”, “The City” and the new 90210 (have I mentioned before I just love my DVR and OnDemand) I know, it’s juvenile, but what can I say. I am living vicariously through Lauren and Whitney and for heavens sake, Kelly and Brenda are both back in the 90210.

2-I read all 4 books in the Twilight Series in less than a week.

3-I love the beach, but hate the sand.

4-I have 2 sisters and 3 brothers, yet I am an only child, and no I wasn’t adopted (at least I don’t think so. Am I adopted mom?).

5-I have a FaceBook and I am not ashamed to admit it. Addicted yes, but not ashamed.

6-I have been to 13 different countries (14 including the US), swam in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico, but have never been to the Grand Canyon. Venice, Italy and Dubrovnik, Croatia are my two favorite places I have been

7-I love “24” It’s probably my most favorite show on television!

8-I despise doing laundry. I’m pretty sure the laundry baskets in my house have no bottoms to them. And if they do, the laundry in them is like the Gremlins and multiplies after midnight. They are NEVER empty. If I could afford it, I would take it to the little Chinese lady every week and PAY her to do it. (That’s a post for another day- the laundry, not the Chinese lady)

9-I won 1st place for my chili in a chili cook-off at work. I didn’t think it was all that, but apparently it was the hit of the day. I was asked to make it again this year. Bet it’s not as good as BHE’s.

10-I am thankful for my wonderful husband and love him with all my heart. He is my best friend!


Happy Friday everyone! I will be spending my weekend at a Cheerleading Competition! Hope everyone’s weekend is filled with tons of fun!

4 X 4 Meme

I was tagged for this by my good friend BHE . This one was easy, and required very little thinking (which is a really good thing)

Here are the rules:
1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer.
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same.

This was the house we stayed at in Kona, Hawaii. It is right across from Lyman's Bay, which is a big local surf spot in Kailau-Kona. It had a little place next door that the locals would park their cars and when that was full, they would pull up and park on the ocean side of the road. It was really cool to get up in the morning and have a cup of Kona coffee and watch the surfers- old and young alike.

I'm not sure who to tag, but how about.....

Kristin

Grandma J

Pleasing Procrastinator

SSG

I don't know if they'll do them or not, but I'll give it a shot!

Alphabet Meme

While visiting Suz's I read about her Alphabet Meme. I'm new to this whole Meme thing, but it looked like fun, so I decided to play along.

Here's the deal:

Leave a comment on this post and I will assign you a letter. Write about ten things you love that begin with said letter. Post the list on your blog. When people comment on your list, you assign a letter, and the game continues.

I'm not pushy, so if you leave a comment, but don't want a letter, that's okay too.

My letter was "M"

1) Money - Duh! Who doesn't love money?

2) Milk Chocolate - The really creamy kind

3) Milk & Cookies - Oreos especically, but I'm not real picky

4) Milkshakes - Chocolate of course

5) Malted Milk Balls - Anyone finding a pattern here- it's all about the food!

6) Machine Washable Stuff - I love it when I buy something that looks like it should be dry cleaned, but doesn't need to be.

7) Massages - I'm sure I will need one after my ski trip this weekend. My husband gives the best ones though!

8) Meeting new people

9) Mark Wahlberg - Well DUH!

10) Mom - I saved the best for last! She beats out all the other "M's" - even Money and Milk Chocolate!

99 things

I stole this from The Incredible Woody. It's long, but I realized how many things I have and have not done and how many things I still have left to do in my life.... You're supposed to put the things you've done in BOLD, and I put the things I want to do in green.

1. Started your own blog - Well I mean, sorta

2. Slept under the stars - I haven't done it in awhile, but sure do miss those days- haha or nights.

3. Played in a band - I was 1st chair Flute all through middle school. And I play a mean bass on Guitar Hero

4. Visited Hawaii - My brother lived there for a bit.... I Loved it.... but it sure is far away and really really expensive.

5. Watched a meteor shower -

6. Given more than you can afford to charity - We've given more than I felt we could afford but apparently we could afford it because we never went hungry. Or maybe we were rewarded for trusting! ( I stole this too..... I have to agree )

7. Been to Disneyland - and DisneyWorld

8. Climbed a mountain - If climbing back up the ski slope to retrieve the dang ski that just popped off my boot when I tumbled down the same slope counts.... then yes! Several times ;)

9. Held a praying mantis- not a bug fan... not even the cool ones.

10. Sang a solo - I was in the Peanuts musical in high school.!!

11. Bungee jumped- not sure I really want to. Must be my age.

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea - On a cruise.... coolest thing!

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch - Heck no! Unless you count stick people.

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning - Yea, no fun!!

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty- Just rode around it on the boat ;)

18. Grown your own vegetables -

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train - I want to do this when I travel to Europe. Maybe I could do Paris and the Mona Lisa then too!

21. Had a pillow fight -

22. Hitch hiked -

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - Well duh! Haven't we all??

24. Built a snow fort - Not lately....Sure would like to see some real snow!

25. Held a lamb -

26. Gone skinny dipping - Hope my kids don't read this!

27. Run a Marathon - Only reason to run is if you are being chased.

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice- Totally cool!!

29. Seen a total eclipse - lunar and solar

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset - At the beach is the best!

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise - To the Mediterranean! Cool Trip!

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person -

35. Seen an Amish community - in Pennsylvania

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied - Is this really possible?

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing -

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David -

41. Sung karaoke - If you want to call it singing :(

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt -

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight -

46. Been transported by ambulance - Scariest thing ever... hope to never be again!

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling - In Hawaii, Cancun, St. Thomas, Jamaica, and I'm sure there are more... but those were the coolest places!

52. Kissed in the rain -

53. Played in the mud -

54. Gone to a drive-in theater -Wish they were still around

55. Been in a movie - do home movies count?

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business -

58. Taken a martial arts class but I didn't last very long :( I'm such a wimp!

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies - bought plenty too!

62. Gone whale watching - So wanna go

63. Got flowers for no reason - One of the secrets to a great marriage!

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma - Wish I could... I'm enemic :(

65. Gone sky diving- Why jump out of a perfectly good airplane.... VOLUNTARILY?

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp -

67. Bounced a check - before I learned that just because you have checks doesn't mean you have money.

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy - Well Barbies.

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial -

71. Eaten Caviar - And have no desire to eat it again.

72. Pieced a quilt -

73. Stood in Times Square - Stayed there too!

74. Toured the Everglades -

75. Been fired from a job - Thank goodness no, at least not yet.

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone - Hence the trip in the ambulance. Car accident, 8 months pregnant with my son, broke both wrists and my left arm. NOT a fun time!

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle -

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person - Unless you count from an airplane

80. Published a book -

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car - hate the payment :(

83. Walked in Jerusalem -

84. Had your picture in the newspaper -

85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve - Not that I remember.

86. Visited the White House - Never been inside though

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating -

88. Had chickenpox - 2nd grade

89. Saved someone’s life -

90. Sat on a jury -

91. Met someone famous -

92. Joined a book club- bad idea... but I just LOVE to read!

93. Lost a loved one - unfortunately

94. Had a baby - 2!

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake -

97. Been involved in a law suit - Does a divorce count?

98. Owned a cell phone - Definitely ! Couldn't go with out it!

99. Been stung by a bee - in Hawaii... how is it I was in an SUV with the windows down and my brother was in a covertible with the damn top down and I GET STUNG!!!! Not fair... of course he thought it was better me than him :)

Where or where are the Boating Gods when you need them?

AHHHHHHHHHH !!! I wonder sometimes why I have cool toys when all they do is break! Why of why can’t the Boating Gods shine upon me? I just don’t understand!

We have had our boat only 4 years- and it was BRAND new when we bought it! We live in a state in which the weather is only cooperative to boaters (unless you fish or wear wetsuits) from around May-September. I work, my husband works, my daughter works, my son does not, but whatever. That only leaves weekends- so not a lot of boating time. This summer due to various reasons, we put our boat in for the first time 2 weeks ago, and then for a second time this past weekend.

We got up early on Saturday morning- what the heck that is about I’m not sure. Whatever happened to the days of sleeping late? Loaded up the boat with wakeboards and life jackets and headed out the door.

First stop- the grocery store. Gotta eat on the water. Why is that anyway? I am always twice as hungry on the water. Probably explains why Michael Phelps eats 4000 calories for breakfast. We loaded up on chips, cookies, fruit, Uncrustables (yes, we all eat them, it saves time and they’re easy to pack) soda, water and Gatorade.

Next stop- gas. Although much better than our last trip, I still ask the question. Why does gas have to be so darn expensive?

Finally, it’s off to the river! The river is much closer than the lake, so on those days when we need to be home for other commitments, ie teenage work schedules, its better to go there. Sucks when the tide is out because it makes for a much more difficult launch, but we deal okay.

With the boat launched – at low tide- we head on down the river to check out the “wakeboard run.” It’s a safety thing for me, especially when the river is low. Although my 2 teens (and Cheerleader Girl’s boyfriend) have driven me to drink on many occasions, I don’t want to deal with an accidental drowning, or big emergency room bills. That makes for a really crappy day on the river. ;) So, now we are way down river (only about 15 minutes or so). The water looks clear, no logs or stumps sticking up, water is like glass.

First up- Bud. He struggles with his wakeboard, my-oh-my how his feet have grown. Finally gets it on, jumps in the water and off we go- DOWN RIVER. Only a few minutes later the boat bogs down. My husband cuts the engine, looks at me, then says “Wonder what that was about.” Bud is pissed because he just missed his wake to wake jump only to find he is floating further DOWN RIVER. We bring him the rope, tell him oops sorry, lets try again. This time we head UP RIVER! This means the boat is going <--- this way, and the river is going ---> this way. Well, whata ya know- the freaking boat bogs down. AGAIN! GRRRRRRR!!! Now Bud is floating AWAY from the boat ---> this way!!!! And we need to go <--- this way. Fortunately the boat starts, we pick up Bud and head back UP RIVER! Unfortunately, the freaking piece of @#$%^&* boat we have used TWO @#$%^&* times this year decides to cut off every few hundred feet! So the next hour and a half consisted of travel up river, engine dies, float down river, engine starts, travel a little up river, engine dies, float some down river, engine starts, travel a little up river, repeat, we finally make it back to the dock. Loaded the boat back on the trailer, which is a huge deal if you have to CRANK it up cuz you can’t DRIVE it up. I have to give a shout out to the nice man who helped my husband! Thank you kind stranger :)

Now- every boat owner knows that your time will come when you have a “boat failure.” Its to be expected! But Helllloooo! My husband is kind of obsessive about maintenance, so we take extremely good care of this darn thing! And we have been out on our boat TWICE this year! This should just not happen!

Whoever said “A bad day on the river is better than a good day at work” is full of @#$%^&* !! They obviously have never had their boat break down! I did feel better after many Hillbilly Surprises! Hope everyone else’s weekend was a good one!

Can you say Balance?

Happy Friday!!

So my daughter turned 16 this year and has started driving. (ahhhh that's a story for another day) My husband and I decided this would be the best time to open up her own checking account and make her keep track of her money. She's working so she is getting a regular paycheck (at least for now). She has gas, car payments, and spending money she needs to keep up with.

I took her to the bank with money from her savings account and she and I sat down, talked to the banker and set up her new account. We all decided checks- the paper kind- were not such a good idea, so she only has her "check card." She can use it for cash at the ATM or to pay for gas, or whatever else she needs. We talked about how to keep track of her transactions in her check register, including deposits. We're fortunate that she's pretty organized, so she has done a good job so far.

This is where the funny part comes in..... A couple nights ago, we sat down to balance her check book. I was showing her what she needed to do, and noticed her registered NEVER had any cents. It always balanced to $ .00. For example, an even $400.00, or $372.00. Not $400.56 or $375.23. At first I thought, okay, maybe she is rounding. Some people do that and then just fix it when they balance their checkbook. But hello... she's never balanced one- how would she even know to do that. Nope, not the case.

When we actually started checking off the transactions in her register, I noticed she would have a deposit for $125.44, description, babysitting and $125.87, description babysitting. Now I know her fee for babysitting(that's her regular "fulltime" job) is $125.00, so I asked her "What in the world are you doing? You can't just make up the cents? You have to write down ONLY what you deposited." Her response was... "Duh!" Come to find out, she was depositing her CHECK of $125 and the CHANGE to make it a whole number. So her deposit slip said checks= $125.00, cash = .44! What a novel idea!!! We laughed so hard we cried, not at her, but I would have never thought of that. After we caught our breath, she looked at me and said, "Is that wrong? Should I not do that?" I told her of course not, but it makes me realize how innocent and naive they really are, even when they want to be all grown up.

Needless to say her check register balanced and all is well in the life of teenage spending habits :)

My Historic Adventure

Isn’t it interesting how you can live in a state or city with so much history and not ever visit any of the historic monuments that surround you? I have lived in Virginia for 35 years and until last Saturday had never been to a plantation!

The Salesman, Cheerleader Girl and I (Bud was busy) set out on our Historic Adventure on Saturday afternoon to tour the plantations on the road from Richmond to Williamsburg. We actually had intentions of touring several, but because of our complete indecisiveness about how we were going to spend our day, we got kind of a late start. Although we saw the outside of many, the only one we actually saw the inside of was Shirley Plantation.

It is the oldest plantation in Virginia, built in 1613 and has been remained after 11 generations in the same family. It’s still a working plantation today. I was amazed that it managed to survive, still in tact through the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and the Great Depression and the family actually still lives there today. Something weird about having total strangers parade through the 1st floor of your house 7 days a week. I guess after that many generations, you get used to it : ).

It was amazing to me how it must have been back then. I would have been a Scarlet O’Hara of sorts because I don’t want to think of myself as anything other, at least not today ;) I can see myself riding in the most grand of carriages, in the most grand of dresses, on a cool day to enjoy tea and biscuits on the veranda overlooking the James River. (Gotta be a cool day cuz I don’t want to be sweating in my day dream). I, of course, would have been greeted by Mrs. Elizabeth Hill Carter, or which ever of the Elizabeths, or Hills, or Carters lived there at the time of my fantasy (the guide lost me after the 2nd or 3rd Elizabeth, Hill, or Carter. Did everyone name there kid after someone else in the family back then, geez, how did they ever keep up?) What a grand day it would have been…………………..

Pop- day dream over :( Back to reality!

Although I didn’t have tea and cookies on the veranda, we did manage to make it to a great restaurant in Williamsburg for dinner, Second Street Café. They have the best dang cookies in all of Virginia. Although not close to home, I will be visiting there again. Their casual atmosphere, but high class service to match the delicious food is well worth the drive.

I am not sure where my next historic adventure might take my family, but I'll be sure to share it with you.