Saturday, October 31, 2009

Older and wiser? I wonder...

Is it just me, or am I getting dumber with age instead of wiser? I'm 40 years old, and I am constantly walking around looking for items that are already in my hand: car keys, cell phone, coffee cup! How does one forget they are holding a coffee cup?!

My 16 year old daughter asked me a few months ago, with great concern in her voice, if I had Alzheimers. This was after walking out of Steak & Shake, digging in my purse for my keys, which I was already holding. And forgetting where we'd parked. Umm, and forgetting to leave the waitress a tip. I chalked it up to a stressful back-to-school shopping day.

I used to say that my babies sucked my brain cells out in utero, which I still maintain is true to some extent. (after all, that would explain why they are exceptionally brilliant!) But the last was produced 16 years ago, so - like my "baby fat" excuse that I've been using ever since, that's getting a little old as well.

I can concentrate on a variety of things in my work life, carry on normal conversations, even study intense topics with perfect understanding. But I can't remember my lunch that's sitting beside my purse when I leave in the morning! My neighbors must get a kick out of the daily routine of me pulling out of the driveway, backing up, running back into the house for some forgotten item, then getting half-way down the road again before I have to turn around and come back for something else that I've missed.

Whenever I tell another woman about this - especially those a little older - they nod sympathetically and say "Oh honey, it's just the hormones. It'll get better." Hormones? Ok, I can live with that explanation - but WHEN will it get better?? My 99 year old grandmother still complains of hot flashes, for pete's sake! This is what I toiled my whole life (thus far) for - being senile at 40 and having hot flashes for the next 59 years?!

I think I'll go with Maxine's explanation...

Monday, October 26, 2009

Look who's in a skirt!



Skirt! Magazine


I noticed that my sister-in-law had become a "fan" of skirt! magazine on Facebook recently. I'd never heard of it, and didn't think much more about it. Until last week when I was at our local mall (aka "the hall" since it's now just about 5 stores and a big hall that old folks walk for exercise) and saw the display rack with the other newspaper racks outside. skirt! is free, btw, in case you didn't know - so I picked up a copy and brought it home to check it out.

Last night, I finally got the chance to pick it up and start reading. skirt! is a GREAT little mag just for women, by women, and about women. Imagine my surprise when I saw a full page with a huge picture of someone...

I couldn't quite place how I knew her....

then it hit me:



I already knew that Jen was a fellow Tarheel, but it was strange recognize someone that I "knew" - but only from an online blog that I just stumbled across a few months ago. Gotta love modern technology!

YES, Jen has a full-page feature about her frugal ways and fashion style in the current issue of skirt! Check it out online and share with your friends, or better yet - pick up a few print copies (they are even more fun!) at a location near you - remember, they are free!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Surprise Revealed!


Sooooo.... I finally got to give hubby his long-awaited 45th birthday surprise today!! It had been postponed twice already due to weather. I had prayed on Friday night (after the 2nd postponement) that if it was delayed again, I would take that as a sign from God that Hubby wasn't meant to do it. Luckily, God decided it was ok, and gave us PERFECT weather today!

My sweet hubs has always wanted to fly an airplane, so for his birthday I booked a Discovery Flight through the wonderful folks at Piedmont Flight Training
. They were super nice, and it was absolutely great!! I think it happened so fast once we got there that he really didn't know what had hit him. We walked in, and within 5 minutes he was on the plane putting on his headset and learning the controls.

I'll admit to being
just a little worried when we got there and this kid in an AC/DC hoodie told us that the original pilot scheduled had something else to come up, and that someone else would be taking my hubby up in the air.

Turns out - the
kid was taking him up!

Jason is only 19 years old, but has every flying certification you can think of - it was mind boggling! He told hubby that he's been flying longer than he's been driving a car, and is already licensed to fly solo, commercial, high altitude, instrument rating - you name it. Of course, I would have had no idea of all of this
(and didn't, until they came back to the ground!) by looking at him. He's younger than my oldest son, for pete's sake! He was AWESOME, though, and hubby really enjoyed getting to know him, and trusted him implicitly. By the way, he had his pilot's shirt on - with all his decorations - under the AC/DC hoodie. :) Ok, so it was a little chilly...

Here's my sweetie getting ready to head off into the wild blue yonder in his first (hopefully of many) flights! Of course, I've created a monster - he's now talking about selling his Harley to pay for his pilot's license... which I wouldn't mind at all! Who doesn't want to FLY on vacation instead of drive?? ;)

Oh, to round out the Perfect Man Day, as I'm calling it now,
we went to dinner at Outback then I dropped hubby off at the coliseum to see
AC/DC with his son and our daughter-in-law and her dad.
I'm so happy he had a great day!

I love you, honey!! And sorry it took so long for your surprise! :)

Friday, October 23, 2009

Friday Fill-Ins



1. The crickets sing, a happy song.

2. Share a smile wherever you are.

3. I want to get far away from the rat race!

4. To retire a millionaire at 30 ; this was a dream.

5. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

6. Where I come from, lotsa' front porch pickin'...

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hopefully giving hubby his long-awaited birthday gift (outside event, if not rained out AGAIN), tomorrow my plans include the Buckhead Betties purse warehouse sale (!!!) and Sunday, I want to rest - hopefully without this cough I've had for 2 weeks!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Thoughtful Thursday



Thanks to my
very thoughtful fellow MamaBzz-er, Sharon, I now have my very own Grab-My-Button button! Isn't this just precious??

frugal grace


Please grab-it, if you'd like, and share on your site. Leave a comment and let me know, and I'll come grab yours, as well! :)

Check out Sharon's blog, while you're at it -
she has a GREAT new Thursday meme herself!
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

My Heart Just Swells...

The Connection of 99 Years

On 10/10/10 my Nana was born.
We celebrated her 99th birthday this month, and my niece got this
amazing shot of Nana with
her brand new great-great-granddaughter, 4 month old Lacie.

Two beautiful ladies that I am so blessed to have in my life!
They definitely pick-me-up. :)

My heart just swells every time I look at this photo.
Just look at Lacie's eyes as she looks into Nana's...
the connection surpassing 99 years...

God is Good.




Need more pick-me-up for your Wednesday? Head over to MamaBzz!

Back to "normal" ?


Whatever that is! Boy, I wish I'd seen this picture a couple of weeks ago. We sure could have used it around my house! What a great idea!

Hubby got (what the doc is pretty sure was) H1N1 and was out of work all last week - just miserable, the poor dear. Then Saturday, I finally went down with some type of "cough due to cold" (as Forest Gump would say). Still have it, but you know us moms/wives don't have time to be sick - so I press on.

Thought I'd better post something here - so yeah, aren't you glad I did? :)

I hope the bug isn't spreading like wildfire wherever you live. It certainly is here in NC. Pray for all of those who are sick! God still heals!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

Photos by Seed Sowers Photography

My beautiful baby girl...


Sunday, October 11, 2009

I'm officially OBESE

According to my BMI, anyway - which is nearly 31. People looking at me may not think I'm as overweight as I am, due to the fact that I've made it a life-long goal to conceal my rolls at all cost.

Now, after seeing pictures of myself at my grandmother's 99th birthday party yesterday, I'm determined to get RID of the rolls. Honestly, I looked at the pictures and thought "Who is that fat lady??" - and realized it was me. :( I would post one of them here, but frankly - I'm too mortified, and would not subject you all to that on a beautiful Sunday morning.

Last week I started eating healthier, more often (every 2-3 hours, instead of coffee all day then munching all night), and lost a few pounds already. Today I start my exercise regimen of 30 minutes of walking per day and muscle building exercises at home.

I'm posting my ticker here at FrugalGrace so that I'll be more accountable - HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE!! Feel free to post comments saying "Did you drink lots of water today?" or "Did you do your 30 minutes of cardio today??" I need it!!

I'm also moving the tv out of the bedroom today (whenever my sick-with-the-flu hubby gets out of bed) so that I will - hopefully - get more sleep. Cuz my new pretend boyfriend, Dr. Oz, says that not sleeping makes you crave carbs and gain weight. And he knows EVERYTHING! (seriously, he does, have you watched his new show??)

So, here's the ticker:




I chose the Christmas theme because I want to meet my first goal (25 more pounds) by then. That little box is going to travel along until I get that gift to myself! Please pray for me - I need to do this for myself. Thanks y'all.

Friday, October 09, 2009

The BIG Bundle!

Check this out: The Big Bundle!

You get over $700 worth of goods/services for $29.99. And the best part, all the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

Sign up for a free 30 day trial of Blockbuster online and get $15.00 off (but more $$ goes to ACS from Blockbuster!)

Get yours! I just did! :)

Here's a complete list of what you get:


* Item 1 of 32: Restaurant.com: $25 Gift Certificate
* Item 2 of 32: Skype: 1 Month Unlimited* US & Canada Calling
* Item 3 of 32: Trend Micro: AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware 2010
* Item 4 of 32: PopCap Games: Bejeweled 2
* Item 5 of 32: Shoebuy: $10 Gift Certificate
* Item 6 of 32: TripIt: TripIt Pro
* Item 7 of 32: ZAGAT: 3 Month Subscription to ZAGAT.com
* Item 8 of 32: Corel: Photo Album 7
* Item 9 of 32: CyberLink: MediaShow 5
* Item 10 of 32: 1-800-Flowers.com: $20 Gift Card
* Item 11 of 32: Snapfish: Free 16x20 poster of any Photos
* Item 12 of 32: Hotels.com: $50 Off a 3 Night Stay
* Item 13 of 32: WinZip: Winzip 12.1 Standard
* Item 14 of 32: Threadless Tees: $5 Coupon
* Item 15 of 32: Collectorz: Movie Collector - Standard Edition
* Item 16 of 32: Nordstrom: $20 Rebate with a $100 Purchase
* Item 17 of 32: RoboForm Pro
* Item 18 of 32: Evernote: $25 off Evernote Premium
* Item 19 of 32: Mozy: 50% Off One Year of MozyHome Unlimited
* Item 20 of 32: Playfirst: Diner Dash
* Item 21 of 32: ImTOO/Xilisoft: 3GP Video Converter
* Item 22 of 32: Foxit: PDF Creator
* Item 23 of 32: Dropbox: 3 Months of Dropbox Pro (50GB)
* Item 24 of 32: Picnik: 6 Months of Picnik Premium
* Item 25 of 32: 23andMe: $50 Off the Full Edition
* Item 26 of 32: LancĂ´me: Free Shipping on ANY Order Plus Four Deluxe Samples
* Item 27 of 32: SmugMug: $25 Off a SmugMug Account
* Item 28 of 32: CircuitCity.com $10 off $100 purchase
* Item 29 of 32: Gap: $20 off $100 purchase at Gap.com
* Item 30 of 32: PETCO.com: $25 Coupon off $100 Purchase
* Item 31 of 32: GoDaddy: 1 Domain

Catching my breath!



Ok, so it's been a CRAZY couple of weeks for me, and I've fallen way behind on my blogging. My deepest apologies to my millions of.....uhh...3 or so regular readers. :)

Hubby and I took a trip to Gatlinburg last weekend to celebrate his 45th birthday. He is so great about traveling! He loves it, I do too, and with the new'ish Harley we are on the roads for new adventures all the time now. Fun, fun stuff.

His birthday surprise from me got rained out on Tuesday. I was CRUSHED! Since he doesn't know what it is, he wasn't so crushed, which is good. I rescheduled it for the 24th @ 10am. I refuse to tell ANYONE what it is, though, because - as I told him - "Next to [his] kids, it'll be the best gift he EVER got!" and I don't want it ruined by someone spilling the beans. Actually, I did tell one person, but I won't even tell you who that is, because then hubby would read it here, and the might be tempted to badger that person to find out what his gift is. He hates surprises, but this one is GREAT. I can't wait! :)

I am fighting off the flu that's spreading around my town like crazy. Had a sore throat yesterday, but with some Coricidin & lots of prayer, I'm feeling better today ~knock on wood~. I have to finish up on my grandmother's 99th birthday party, which is tomorrow afternoon. She was the rock, along with my grandfather, of our family. I can't imagine life without her around. Not to worry, she says she's living to be 110, so we still have some time. :) The picture here is the most recent, with her brand new great-great-granddaughter (my precious little first great-niece!) Have you EVER seen a more beautiful woman who's 99 years old??? This picture was just taken last week, btw.

I also have to get all the prep finished for our Annual Downtown Fall Festival, also tomorrow (all day). Our Servant Evangelism Team always sets up a booth and gives away popcorn, cotton candy, and temporary tattoos to the kiddies. It's SO much fun, but a little bit of work too. I love it, and look forward to it each year. Come on out if you're in the neighborhood! I think we're expecting around 20,000 or so folks this year. ~now thinking that 400 cotton candy bags is NOT going to be enough...decides to hit up Walmart for more today~

Oh, and there's the two websites I'm supposed to be finishing up for my niece and her step-sister, who both own their own businesses. I have a pretty smart family, huh? :) I promise I will finish them SOON, ladies!! Hey, ya get what ya pay for, right? ;)

Ok, my BIG news for today:
  • FINALLY calling Time Warner Cable and canceling our $45/month home phone service and going back to the MagicJack. I finally figured out how to keep it from messing up my sound card, and now all is right with the phone world @ my house! And we're saving $520 a year now!
  • Put a hold on my YMCA membership, since we haven't used it in about 3 weeks. Will save another $123 on that (going back in January).
  • Really want to cancel cable, too, but I don't think I can live without LifeTime (Army Wives) and Food Network. Not to mention CNN, Comedy Central, Fit TV, etc. None of which I actually watch, mind you, but I do DVR a *lot* in the hopes that one day I will be able to sit/lay down and enjoy the shows.
  • I rearranged my office so that I can leave the treadmill folded out 24/7 in hopes that it will motivate me to actually get ON it at some point. My goal is 30 minutes a day, no matter what. Barring death, swine flu, or fire - I will be exercising again!
  • Started eating healthy again a few days ago - and have dropped 4 lbs! (yes, I'm aware it's "water weight", I don't care. Don't harsh my mellow!!)
Ok, I'd better get off here now and stop boring you good folks. If you want to check out a totally new and uber-cool chick online, see Stesha's New Blog. It's brand-spanking new, and yesterday was her birthday. So...consider it your gift to her, and have a look!

Peace Out!
Wow, I think I've had too much coffee...sorry for the blabbering!

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Friday Fill-In


1. I have a history of being a tad bit controlling.

2. What really goes on in a man's head is something I wish I knew.

3. I'm eating (or recently ate) cheese, fruit, & fresh veggies w/the girls.

4. I will soon be on the road.

5. So that's it, that's amore'!

6. A little is better than nothing!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to bed, tomorrow my plans include Dixie Classic Fair and Sunday, I want to relax once we get to Gatlinburg!

Won't someone think of the children????


I am participating in a 24-hour gaming marathon to raise funds for Texas Children's Hospital Pediatric Cancer Research. What better excuse to play Mario Cart all day (and night!) ?!


Please give as you're led, or join my team! You can play any video game system/game that you want! And please feel free to forward or link up to this! :)

Melinda

Extra Life 2009 will take place on Saturday, October 17th, 2009 as gamers from all corners of the globe come together for a 24-hour video game marathon raising money to strike a blow against pediatric cancer. Last year, our first year, Extra Life raised more than $120,000 and was put together in just a couple of months. This year, we’re starting early and throwing open the doors of Extra Life to anyone who wants to have fun while making a difference.

Please make plans NOW to join us on October 17th, starting at 8:00am in your local time zone.