I have a really cute giveaway going on over at FabGrandma Reviews right now thru 4/4/2011! If you have a granddaughter age 2-5, you gotta go take a look!
Adorable!
Fun Stuff
31 Day Challenge: Your Day
Today I went to the doctor again. It is an hour’s drive to Marion, Alabama, down the Coretta Scott King Highway. A nice drive through the country to a very small town. I saw Dr. Lee today. This was just a follow-up to my appointment from last week–he wanted to look at my face and see how the medicine worked for me. He told me that Rosacea is a recurring condition, but it can be controlled with medication. He wrote me a prescription for doxycyl and told me I should take it about three times a week. I should also be wearing at least a SPF 40 sunscreen when I am outside in the sun.
Dr. Lee also discussed the fungus infection that I just can’t seem to kick. Last week he wrote a prescription for the anti-fungal cream that works the best (it does go away for about a month then comes right back). He also gave a prescription for a medicated powder to use in warmer weather that should help squelch the itching. We’ll see. At least he is being pro-active after all this time.
After I was finished at the doctor, we went to a new cafe in town. They didn’t have much on the menu that could be gluten free, so I ordered a chef’s salad with a scoop of egg salad on it. I also had my first glass of sweet tea in about 10 years. I stopped drinking sweet tea when I was diagnosed with type II diabetes back in 2001. But, since I stopped drinking diet sodas, I wanted something other than water today. It tasted TOO sweet to me, just like I remember my mother’s iced tea tasting.
When lunch was over, we headed over to Greensboro, twenty miles away. It is the closest town with a grocery store and I needed some potatoes. Last week when I didn’t feel good, we had to go to town three times for various reasons, and found ourselves in Wal-Mart all three times, and somehow I would get home with no potatoes. Today, however, I was managed to get those potatoes in the cart. I also got a large container of plain yogurt. I don’t like plain yogurt but that was all they had, so I bought some honey to mix in with it. Dr. Lee told me the yogurt would help my stomach feel better after taking the antibiotics for a week. Sigh. Fix one thing, mess up another.
We finally got home around 3:00 p.m. Belinda, the other camphost here at Payne Lake, stopped in for a minute, and we had a little taste test of the Chocolate Covered Bacon I made yesterday. She gave it a thumbs up! which I knew she would. That stuff is de-lish-ous! Then we went over to the campground to help the guys clean up a travel trailer that the forest service parked there for some volunteers who are coming in at the end of the week. It was a mess! It had a leak and when it rained on Saturday, the whole thing was sopping wet. Rob had to use his pocket knife to punch some holes in the underbelly so the water could drain out. We left some fans and the heat running so hopefully it will dry out.
Around 4:30, I came home and cooked some dinner–pork chops and mashed potatoes. IÂ thought about making some brussells sprouts, but I was just tired, so I didn’t. It was enough. And that was my day today.
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31 Day Challenge Day 4
The challenge for today is to post an experience that made me what I am today. Just like with anyone else, I have lots of life changing events I could share, and it is very hard to choose just one.
Having my children was one of the most life changing, and one of the biggest challenges I have ever had is being their mother. It isn’t easy knowing just the right thing to do or say, but I gave it my best shot from the beginning.
These three people have made me laugh, cry, love harder than any other people in my life. They have been a constant source of entertainment, pride, grief, tears, laughter, worry, and joy for more than 39 years. They will forever be “my babies”. They have made me who I am today more than anything else I could think of.
Because you asked, here they are today:
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The Tote Bag Project Is Finished
A while back, my daughter in law asked me if I could make a tote bag for her out my son’s old Air Force uniform. I told her I would certainly try. She left the design and colors up to me. This turned out really cute! I had wanted to use the waistband from the pants around the top of the bag, and put an orange grosgrain ribbon through it, but I couldn’t figure out how to add it without messing up the handles. Oh well, it’s still cute!
When I received the old uniform, I cut off the pockets and the various patches, and reused them on the outside of the bag. My son’s last name on the pocket makes this a really personalized bag for Sarah. The pattern I had did not have that fabric stripe near the bottom, but once I got the pieces cut out, it looked like it could use a touch of color, so I added it in.
The bag has lots of pockets on the inside, too. And believe it or not, the whole thing is reversible, so Sarah can have two looks out of this bag if she wants to.
The finished bag is very big! She will be able to carry everything she needs for her two little ones in it. The straps are long enough to wear over the body, or on the shoulder. I am really pleased with the way this turned out. And yes, if anyone wants one, you have to send me an old uniform, and we can discuss what type of bag you want made. Price depends on what you want done.
A New Month, A New Challenge
One of my blog friends, Whitney from It’s Gravy Baby, has issued a 31 Day Challenge. The challenge is to basically write a post each day from the list of prompts given, to let your readers get to know you better. While I think most of my readers know me pretty well, because, well, I tell you so much about ME all the time, I am going to take her up on this mostly because I think it will be fun. So, the prompt for today is to post a photo of myself with 10 facts about me.
This is me at about 4 years old. I vaguely remember this dress and in my head, I had always thought it was brown. A couple of years ago, my mother told me it was burgundy. I guess that my little girl self had no word for burgundy so my brain stored the information as brown.
I have two older brothers, two younger brothers, and one younger sister. My youngest brother was killed in an accident in 1979. I still miss him.
I have three children. My son will be 40 this year! In this photo, that is me on the left holding Becca. She was 17 months old. Seth, who was 3, is sitting on the car. My friend, Biba, holding Emily, who was 1 month old.
I also have a step-daughter, Becky. This is what she looked like when we first met. I love her just as much as I love my own children. She just got married last week and is so happy.
I worked for a large corporation for twenty years. I got dressed up and went to an office, and pushed paper around on a desk for much of that time. While it was a good job, had great benefits, and for the first seven years I could switch my schedule around so I could be with my children, I really hated that job. Being laid off, or SIPP”d as they called it, was the best thing that ever happened to me.
I was a Girl Scout leader for eight years when my girls were growing up. We did a lot of things, from camping four times a year; going on a 10 day trip on Amtrak to Washington, DC, Boston, and New York; to serving as pages at the Georgia State capitol. That’s me in the back row, far right next to the Georgia State Flag.
I bought a house in 1984. It was a good house, with room for me and the children to grow up in. It had a lovely fireplace, and almost an acre of yard. My husband and I sold it in 2000 and bought an RV to live in. I don’t miss that house.
This is my home now. We have lived fulltime in an RV since August of 2000. We worked in resorts and privately owned campgrounds in Georgia, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kansas until 2008. That year, we were hired by the National Park Service at the Grand Canyon. To say I love my life would be such an understatement, but I really don’t know how else to say it.
I have five grandchildren. This photo was taken before Amelia was born, so she gets one photo all by herself. But just to set the record straight–I love them all equally. And I think they are ALL the cutest grandchildren, ever!
Here I am standing on top of the world at Cape Final on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a four mile round trip hike to get there. I am proud to say that I have hiked on every trail at the North Rim, although I only went to the first bend in the North Kaibab Trail. I know my limitations.
So, although the challenge was for 1 photo of myself, and I gave you, um, 11, that’s just how I roll. If you’d like to play along, you can click on the button to get to the linky:
I Have A New Review Up I Want Y’all To Go Look At
If you are like me and use zip lock bags for EVERYTHING in your kitchen, you will appreciate The Bag Holder. Just go over to my review blog and take a look. Please. I don’t ask y’all to go look at everything I talk about over there, but I like this product, and think it is so simple it’s a wonder no one thought of it before now.
The Flower Girl Dress Is Powerless Over Me!
After months of it watching me cower in the corner, I finally made my move, and have emerged victorious over the Flower Girl Dress. While it thought it would leave me in a huddled mess, I stood up to the challenge of it’s incredible super powers. The Slick Fabric:
The dastardly Invisible Zipper:
The Stiff Fabric Sash:
The Full Lining:
The defeated enemy:
And again:
I am glad I took the challenge of making this dress. I learned some new techniques, and figured out how to put a lining in a dress when none is called for in the pattern. It was interesting, and fun. I still have some “finger work” left to do, but it is basically finished. I can’t hem it because the Flower Girl lives 250 miles from me, but I hate hemming anyway. We’ll have to wait until June to see a picture of Adayla wearing it. Stefanie and Adam are getting married on June 18. Next, I get to make the Sash For The Bride.
Ever Felt Like A Fembot?
My new long line undergarment contraption arrived in today’s mail. I could hardly wait to try it on, to see if it fit. After shopping all over Tuscaloosa and online, I finally found one in my size. It does fit, so I am so relieved! I now have everything I need for the wedding. 
What? You thought I was going to model it? Honestly, when I put it on, I sort of felt like one of those Fembots from the Austin Powers movie:
All I need is the bullets!
