Hint of Fall

It is absolutely a beautiful night tonight. I sat outside this evening reading a great book while enjoying the cool breeze. This weather is just a little hint of what is right around the corner. FALL...my favorite time of year. I love the cooler days and nights and being able to open all the windows and air out the house. I feel more energetic and alive in the fall, which motivates me to do things like clean the paneling in the den, clean windows, work in the yard, get in more walks. I tend to choose the outdoor projects this time of year and end up neglecting a lot of the indoor cleaning because I don't want to go inside. Richard and I were sitting outside tonight and looking up at the moon and thinking about our most favorite fall activity....camping. We hope to take a camping trip next month, I will be saying my prayers that things work out for us to do that and if we do, I will be keeping my fingers crossed that we get our favorite spot, #132 or is it 134?

It's late. I have been on the computer doing research, checking in with friends on facebook and trying to create a simple website. I always have good intentions about blogging, but my life is so hectic at times and there just aren't enough hours in the day. I have had the opportunity to finally enjoy some outings with my family and have enjoyed every moment. Richard and I have been taking an occasional Sunday drive with no particular destination in mind. We drove up to St. Simon's Island, Ga one Sunday, thinking it was such a beautiful day, although by the time we got there a front was blowing through and it was gray skies, windy and very chilly. We didn't let that spoil it for us though. We walked around for a bit and had lunch. It was good just to get out. Valentines Day this year was a day trip to St. Augustine where we had a great lunch, then spent the rest of the day walking around and doing a little shopping in some of the shops in the historic district. We finally got to take another camping trip to Salt Springs. We had a great time with the kids, just relaxing, enjoying the outdoors. I even saw a meteorite blazing across the sky one night! We roasted marshmallows, made s'mores and drank wine by a fire. How great is that! Then in April, Richard and I celebrated our 21st anniversary. He surprised me by reserving a room downtown at the Plaza Suites on the river. Now that was a nice weekend! We took a river taxi across to the Jacksonville Landing, where we had a wonderful dinner at Benny's Steak House. After dinner we went for a walk along the river, walked through the little landing mall where I spent a little time checking out a little book shop. We took the water taxi back to the hotel and sat on the balcony and had a drink and stared out at the beautiful skyline of downtown Jacksonville. The next morning after breakfast, we took off to the beach for the Beaches Opening and had lunch at Sneaker's and watched the Beaches Opening Parade. This week I had a reunion with a couple of friends, Mindy and Randy, from high school. We met at Olive Garden, had a great dinner and talked about our lives since school, about friends, kids, and had a great time. It was so hard to break away and say goodbye. Mindy lives in Norway, so thank heavens for facebook and e-mail! So, between our little adventures around the state and work and responsibilities at home, and a new Jack Russel puppy named Ziggy, we've been very busy. So now I am going to have to spend some weekend's at home catching up on a lot of chores here at home. I bought flowers to plant in the back yard, so tomorrow will be yard work and some house cleaning. I did of course visit one of my favorite spots today, Peb's Book Store & Paperback Exchange. I picked up a book for Matthew, Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card. It's part of the Ender's series that he loves. I purchased Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert because I have been hearing what a great book it is. I also ordered the latest Elizabeth Berg novel. She is my favorite author; I have read almost every book she has written. The latest is "Home Safe", and I am looking forward to starting it next week when it arrives.

The Flu Bug Has Invaded

Talk about bad timing. I had planned to go to The Great Jacksonville Book Sale today, but those plans had to be cancelled. I have come down with the flu which led to bronchitis and a horrible sinus infection. I hope to be able to get to the sale tomorrow afternoon to see what is left. That's it for today, just not feeling up to posting much right now.

WE LOVE OUR ALFREDO
My son Matthew and I love our Chicken Tortellini (or Fettucini) Alfredo. This is a perfect example of just how far Matthew will go to protect his leftovers for the next days lunch. A few weeks ago, we made some Chicken Tortellini Alfredo and there was some leftover, which I took to work with me the next day. Matthew was not happy about it. So, the next time we made some, he hid the leftovers from me and this is what I found in the refrigerator the next morning

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Happy New Year

Happy new year to everyone! We rang in the new year at home. We had a great dinner, watched Mama Mia, what a fun movie, had some wine and watched the fireworks set off by various neighbors. We watched the ball drop in Times Square and I personally went to bed shortly after. I had had a long day and was very tired. Today I am just relaxing, just sitting around the house in my flannel pj's, sipping hot chocolate, reading Marley and Me, checking e-mails, checking in on facebook to see what others are up to. My idea of a perfect day, well almost, perfect would be about 75 degrees outside and me sitting out on the back porch with my book. But this is close enough for now. Our new years dinner will be chicken wings, steamed squash and carrots and probably some rolls or bread sticks. Sorry folks, I'm just not one for the tradtional black eyed peas and ham, the ham is good, but I personally can't stand black eyed peas.

Best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy 2009!

The 12 Days of Christmas

A certain someone or someone's did a really nice thing for me this year. I was in a pretty grumpy mood and pretty depressed. Our family has been through a lot the last couple of years and I was not at all in the Christmas spirit. Then, one morning about 2 weeks ago, Richard opened the front door and found two gift bags sitting on the front porch. He brought them and and said they were for me. I was puzzled and a little curious. Each note had a little card, one said, "the 1st day of Christmas", and of course the other "the 2nd day of Christmas". The first had a silly ornament, a chubby mermaid in in sunglasses and holding a drink. The second gift was 2 pairs of thick fuzzy socks, the kind I like to wear around the house when it gets cold. I had no idea who could have left the gifts, I thought at first my daughter Sara, she swears she had nothing to do with it. The next night, Sara came home and brought in another gift bag, "Mom, this was on the front porch for you." Now I was very curious, who could this secret santa be? The 3rd gift was a large Princess House mug with a package of tea and a tea infuser. Well, now I'm beginning to have a few clues as to who the culprit is, I have a very good friend who happens to be a Princess House rep. Two days later, guess they got busy the previous night, but this would become the pattern now, every other night. This 4th package included, 4 candles and 4 candle holders. Whoever was doing this was really good at sneaking up on us without being caught, especially with someone almost constantly in the front living room. There is a large window in my front living room and right outside is a bench in plain view where most of the gifts were found. One was found just outside the garage, I suspect maybe they were afraid of being seen and dropped it and ran. I was amazed that this person was never caught in the act, they were very sneaky. My "secret stealth santa". The next 2 packages included a 2 liter Dr. Pepper and a hershey's cookies and cream candy bar, okay, now I think there are a couple of people in on this, certain people know I love my Dr. Pepper. Matthew of course also being a Dr. Pepper addict and having a sweet tooth said, "you are going to share, right?" The other gifts that night were a set of 4 books by Karen Kingsbury and a set of planters, as I love plants and gardening. A couple of nights later the next gifts arrived, a tin of cookies, potatoe chips, goldfish, some Peterbrook chocolates...yuuuuum, large box of raisins and an apple. We were beginning to have a lot of laughs over this, and really enjoying the goodies. A couple of nights later and my list of potential suspects grows based on the contents of the bags. A 5 lb bag of sugar, 5lb bag of flour, baking soda, baking powder, walnuts, a bag of chocolate chips, brown sugar and some gardening gloves? I'm thinking they were supposed to be in the bag with the planters. But suffice it to say, I'll be doing some baking very soon. A couple of days later and the final packages arrive, last night I received 4 movies, the book "The Love Dare", if you saw the movie Fireproof, you'd know what that is about, a journal and pen, (I used to journal on a regular basis and mentioned to someone that I'd gotten out of the habit. Along with those items was 4 bags of my favorite popcorn and 4 boxes of assorted chocolates and candies and some Lindor's chocolates. Looks like we're going to have a movie night. I can honestly say whoever was behind this scheme certainly brightened my holidays and brought me a lot of smiles, some laughs and probably a few extra pounds. I tried to get a few friends to fess up, but they all insist they know nothing and that maybe some things just aren't meant to be found out. So, I'll just say how greatful for the blessing of good friends and some wonderful gifts that I will certainly enjoy and share with others. And next year if I know someone who is facing a difficult time and needs a little cheering up, what a great idea this would be. Thank you, whoever you are, for blessing me with your friendship and your gifts. You made this a Christmas to remember.