Be Still My Heart

Mom and I went to see "He's Just Not That Into You" tonight. As my friend Dodie would say, "oo la la, oooo la la". I could look at this handsome man for quite some time without getting bored. All I can do is ))))))sigh((((((

Photo Hunt

"Thankful"

The theme for Photo Hunt today is "Thankful". Not knowing if I will ever get to see the Caribbean in person again, I am so very thankful for those memories on those beautiful white sandy beaches 7 years ago. Only God could make these colors appear so beautiful together!!

Miracle Mole Getter???? We Hope!!

All week we have been working on photos for 2 retirements at work. I hope to post more on those later. In the mean time, the hubby talked to a retired guest at out last retirement shindig today. He remembered O.B. telling him a long time ago about how to get rid of moles. Fortunately, O.B. was there today to remind hubby of what to do. Anything is worth a try. Peppermint oil. Soak cotton balls in Peppermint Oil and place them in the mole runs. Sounds like a lot of Peppermint Oil and cotton balls to me, but like I said....

it's worth a try. It may be expensive considering all the runs we have, but hey...

I Drive a Hooptie or is it Hooptieeeyy?

Hmmm, I drive a Hooptie or is it Hooptee? I think I want a new car. Don't really need one, but I'd like to have one. In these trying times I'm quite pleased with my Hooptie or is it Hoopty? The paint is peeling off of my metallic silver Hooptiey. That doesn't stop 1992 Dodge Mini-vans from trying to beat me off the stop light line on Morley Street. I'm a little sentimental when it comes to personal items. My Hooptieeey is a personal item. It's mine, ALL mine. It's old with thousands of miles. If my car learned anything from my first Hooptie, it has at least 80,000 more to go. See I got 233,000 miles out of my first Hooptie. A 1992 Pontiac Grand Am. I loved that car. It took me everywhere I wanted to go. I gave it up 7 years ago to a new Hooptieee. Now I love my new, err old Hooptieee. Times are tough. I hate the thought of a car payment. I hate the thought of the ultimate decision. It would have to get great mileage, which automatically eliminates the vehicle in the first photo. I do really like this one.

None of them are superb vehicles. I hate the thought of breaking in a new Hooptieee. I know when mine is sick or needs something. I'd have to learn all over again. Window shopping is fun. Buying a car is stressful. hmmm, I think I'll keep driving my Hooptie.

Help, We Have UnWanted Company

Yes, you guessed it, we have moles. It started last summer in late July or August. Maybe due to all the rain? There's a few houses on our street that have a mole issue also. However, NOT like ours. We have a huge front yard and they are slowly making their way from the side yard to the front yard. We thought they took vacation in winter time. Unlikely we see now. After the first big snow melted after Christmas, we found new mole runs.

We have tried everything. Our nice neighbor Brent gave us a trap to use last summer. Hubby said the trap went off a few times, but there was no mole.

We've tried some toxic type peanuts from the local hardware store.

We've had professionals spray for grubs.

Is it dog pooh? Is it something other than grubs. The nice lady at the nursery where we hired professional help indicated if there are no grubs, the moles will eat other bugs.

Websites have offered all kinds of miracle cures. I'm not asking for a miracle really, I think God has more important things to do, but I do ask for any kind of advice that actually works. We are to a point we know we cannot even mow our side yard this spring when it's time. We are sad. Hubby worked his butt off taking care of the yard last summer. This is his reward?

This is the front yard where we did a lot of work last summer removing some old stuff.

Mole work has moved to the front of the house like you see here.

This is at the side of the yard. He's been busy. Or THEY have been busy.

The side yard moving to the front. You can start to see this area from the road.

My new landscaping. I have a new Weeping Cherry we planted last summer as well as the miniature lilac you see here. I hope this one makes it as well as the tree. I'm afraid we are S.O.L.

This is what the little bastard does every time we check out new runs he's made. We know he's doing this. He's having quite the time. We've tried to track him but can't.

Again, if anyone has any great advice, it's more than welcome here. Oh, yes I forgot one the neighbor man suggested, but it's illegal to do in town. That's get the rifle out and use it.

D.

Is there someone you know or someone you're around, no matter the circumstance, they make you laugh? If you don't, your really should. Fortunately, I have a someone like this in my life. We'll call him D. Maybe for David, Distant, Doofus, Dylan, Diaper Dan, Danger? Dangerous Diaper Dan?



He has a sense of humor that absolutely puts me on the floor. Sometimes he says stuff that goes completely over people's heads, but I get it. Probably ENTIRELY too much. I wish I had a picture of his wife. She's just as guilty. They should consider doing their own reality TV show. In fact, remember when naked Annie P. helped me do a post on Motorcycle Mama Maggie?

Annie
Maggie

Well this is Maggie's Motorcycle Ridin' Papa. We'll call him D.

D. is a HOOT. He's such a hoot in fact, this is what D. makes ME do---DAILY:

The other two? Well, I guess you could call them innocent bystanders. Bystanders anyway. The blonde in stripes won't sign his name to anything. The other is mute. Which is REALLY hard to believe. Notice D. He can't look innocent. He just can't. In all actuality, all three of them make me laugh. D. just has that really crazy sense of humor that makes me tilt my head back and want to pee my panties. (this photo, I was coming down from that initial throwback)

I truly only wish EVERYONE I know, including my blogging buddies, could have a co-worker like D.

KIA

I had a decent day today. My cold hasn't got the best of me so far and hopefully it will stay that way. Other than not being able to breath out of my nose for most of the day, it's been good. Hubby and I made good conversation on the way home. Met mom for supper at a local cafe. Came home to wash clothes. Then I saw it. I've never seen it before. Kia was scooting her butt across my carpet while hubby ate supper watching TV. Totally oblivious. "KIA", I scream reminding myself of the lady on the commercial when she see her dog scooting butt across her carpet. I guess it could have been worse. I guess it could have been hubby...

Call Me Weird But

My two cents: In the news everyday is that woman who had the octuplets.(Call me weird but I'm really not a multiple baby fanatic. If mothers and fathers have the where-with-all to care for babies, I'm a fanatic for them. Meaning physically AND financially.) I'm sick of the media giving her coverage. I don't want to look at her and I do not want to hear anymore about those babies. Multiples seem to get a lot of attention lately. The first big set I can recall has tuition already paid for at a Missouri college. They got their house paid for, diapers, a van, you name it they got it. Who are the parents here? Will these kids ever really know their parents. If people have to work in shifts to help care for them I'm not entirely sure the parents will be the parents. Look at the Duggers. Goodie they can financially afford all those children, but aren't their other children really raising them? I have a feeling the woman who recently birthed the octuplets will get her own tv show soon. Why not? At least if they choose to go to college it could be a means to pay for it. I just won't watch that channel...

hmmmm

Just Because You're Smart, Doesn't Mean YOU Know EVERYTHING!!

Photo Hunt

Photo Hunt Saturday: "Nautical"

My favorite Marine.

My Valentine

This is my Valentine. We'll call him Hubby. Isn't he cute in his new glasses? We will be celebrating out 9th Valentine's Day together this year. It's hard to believe. It all began one fateful day in April, 1999. Who would've thought we'd end up like this? Not me. Like I said in a previous post, I didn't think it was gonna be a date. I thought I was gonna watch him play darts. He tricked me and it's been nothing but fun and games since. Well sorta. Sometimes. Most days we drive each other crazy. It's our way of entertainment. I love him with all my heart. He tolerates me like no other. He has the patience of a saint. And I just figure, one of these days, he WILL win the lottery. We don't share a sappy little love story like so many of you out there in blogland. More like a take on The King of Queens. It was and still is a friendship which blossomed into something more. We don't live a day without sports or a week without pizza. I make fun of his lack of hearing, his love of 70s music and the way he mumbles incessantly. Oh and I have to tell you, when I ask him to hide sweets from me, how he forgets where he puts them. If I didn't have all those things in my life, I just wouldn't be complete. Happy Valentines Day to my own personal St. Louis Cardinal Loving Foot Warmer!!

Vintage Valentines

I Got You Babe

What's On?

What is it about cable-tv? We pay out the whazoo for it and there's never anything on. I have a book to read and a house to clean, but I'm in the mood to watch TV. Nothing on. There is NEVER anything on it seems.

Take the Christmas Holidays for instance. What a better time to watch holiday- fun/sad/sentimental movies. Not on our cable. Not on the movie channels. Horror movies. I've never been so disgusted as much as I was this Christmas. What is wrong with all those little people that work inside the cable box? Don't they know better?

For the past few weeks, movies from 20-25 years ago have been playing. I've seen those too, too many times already.

After my surgery, I laid around hoping to find something to watch. I finally got smart and thought, "Lisa you dummy, you have Pay Per View, see what you can find". Guess what? One decent movie advertised on Pay Per View, the rest of the 4 channels were porn. Yeah just what I want to see. Come on! Surely people don't watch soaps and porn all day? Well okay, I'm sure some of you are into that, heeheehee. Please don't volunteer to tell me about it. I'm a very, VERY visual person!!

I think it's time to give up cable. Hubby will blow both gaskets. Heaven forbid he not actually SEE a Cardinals game. If he can't he's got his earbuds in listening to the game on the radio. He'd prefer the tube.

So after this post, I will continue to channel surf. Or clean the bathroom...NOT!

Remember This Movie?

A muffin brain asked me the other day why I had the song "The Stroll" on my playlist. What is it that rednecks say? "heeeeere's your sign....". Duh, it was a part of my favorites of my 40 years.


Remember this movie?

Where were you in 1962? I wasn't even a glimmer of a thought. Hail American Graffiti? I LOVE this movie and all of the music in it. INCLUDING The Stroll. The movie has all of those fantastic stars, the geeky good boy, the sweet good girl, the goofy guy, the wanna be bad boy, the sexy blond in THAT T-Bird. Mackenzie Phillips played a great pain in the neck little sister too. Wow. I still love to watch this movie. I wish I had it on right now. I need to get this DVD come to think of it.

The soundtrack is awesome. (I know there is a lot of space between pictures. It's invisible, the frame I mean. It's like a huge white matte.) My bestfriend from childhood had this soundtrack. I begged my parents for this soundtrack. They hated this music and chose not to add it to our collection of records. So I went to my friend's house and begged her to play it for me. We danced and sang. We loved this music. Her dad played the guitar and we'd dance and sing some more.

As for The Stroll, just to be annoying to muffin brain, I'm again adding it to my playlist. I should do it over and over. (He hates this song like I hate the songs "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" and "Put a Ring on It". I really wish someone would give that girl a ring. I'm sick of that song.) Back to "The Stroll", there's something teasing about the wretched moan of the saxophone in this song. The sound reverberates in my brain over and over. I love it.

It should be noted when "The Stroll" is blowing out of my computer speakers, Reynaldo swings his ears back. He doesn't like it either.

Saturday Drive

Today I asked the hubby to do something with me since he decided not to go golfing. I wanted to find "huge" flea market south of Hannibal. It was a worthless trip. Hubby gave up after we got to Louisiana. He wasn't interested any longer. So we left. There looked like there was all kinds of cute shops in Louisiana and I told him we could go thru those as we were leaving town. He hadn't thought about it.

I did get a few pictures like the ones below. The first time we went by this house in the middle of no where, I told hubby I really wanted to get a picture of it. We whizzed by. So I quietly reminded him upon return a few short minutes later. He pulled over and told me what he thought the building was. I think it's an old home. He says it's an old school. I left it at that. Looks like a home to me.




One of these days Pat, I promise to learn photo editing I promise. My measly brain won't turn on when I try to improve the picture.

It sat all alone in a huge field. There were markers indicating, "NO TRESPASSING!"

Ice floating down the Mighty Mississippi. There was quite a lot of it. Here in Northeast Missouri it was 70 degrees today. The sun peaked out most of the day. It was a big tease I'm sure.

The hubby wanted me to take this picture. He really liked the railroad bridge.

I thought we might wrestle on top of Lover's Leap. We didn't. I didn't offer. I think I could have taken him. Instead I took this picture of Hannibal. I first noticed a church steeple standing out in the crowd. I think I've posted before about how I love how churches stand at attention in a big town or lonely city. It's soothing. Then I saw it.

Rockcliff Mansion. My grandmother took my cousin Amy and I to tour this big home many, many moons ago. I almost dared myself to ask the hubby to take me thru it again, but decided not too. I'm not sure he would have appreciated it as much as me. I remember the ballroom upstairs. The tour guide talked about how the fainting couches were so important especially during fancy balls and dinners. Ladies would pull their corsets so tight they would get faint throughout the evening and would need to lie down. Don't ask me why I remember that. It made an impression on me. Just imagine this grand old house during horse and buggy days. I wish I could be there just once.

We had a very long afternoon in the car. The weather was pretty. Once we returned home, hubby took me out for my birthday dinner. I didn't get ribeye, but the next best thing, Mexican. And a margarita. I hardly ever drink real alcoholic beverages. When I splurge I'm always disappointed. It was full of liquor. I could hardly taste the strawberries. It made my head swim I had to sit for a bit after we got home. As always, the meal was great. It's my favorite place to eat here in this town. Actually it's about the only place in town worthwhile anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

February 3rd, 2009

Every morning at work we have a morning meeting at 8:10am. Usually we get done at 9am. This is what I returned to: my office. A few kind souls decorated my office. No black balloons mind you, but plenty of constructive birthday wishes....or warnings.

The best part about all this, people would come by and visit, wish me well and share any 40th birthday experience they've ever had. Whether it was them or someone they know. It was fun to visit with so many people Some stuck their head in to say hello, others kindly told me it cannot be over the hill because that meant the it wasn't so good for themselves.

Some day I will explain the lamp sitting on my filing cabinet behind my desk. It has Mickey Mouse ears hanging on 3 goddess type women. Again, I'll save that for another post. Now I have to get a better picture. (The mouse ears were a gift from one of my workers who went to Disney World.)

My birthday roses. Aren't they pretty? It was a surprise. A bittersweet surprise. I got them at work. All 40 of them. As of today they are starting to die. I hate that. Hubby didn't understand why they weren't living very long. Since he doesn't ever do flowers I didn't bother with an explanation. I think he was a bit disappointed they are starting to droop. I did point out, out of all 40, one remained a bud. It was the first to droop. The rest have opened up beautifully. Notice Naldo snuck in the picture (he cannot keep his nose out of my business or the camera). I think I took these Wednesday or Thursday night after receiving them on Tuesday.

When people asked me what I wanted I couldn't tell them. I don't need anything and don't really want anything. Of course the things I want no one can afford. Trip to Italy, Greece. Diamond earrings. I did ask the hubby for a 40 minute massage courtesy of himself. He wouldn't have to fork out a penny. (He HATES to rub my back, HATES it!) He, hmmphed, then mumbled something I couldn't understand. SO, I got a spa package aside from the roses. I would much prefer a personal massage, but at this point in my marriage, I'll take whatever I can get. I do appreciate it!!! I will enjoy every minute of it too!

I did have surprises. Someone special sent me a huge box. I waited until my actual birthday to open it and boy am I happy I did. Since hubby won't give me a massage, I will enjoy the scent of Woods. This is the type of candle I gave away at my 100th post. To me it's awesome. There were some other goodies in there too, but I hit the Woods' jackpot. I didn't know they made so much stuff!! Notice Naldo again. I think he rubbed himself on some of those packages thinking he was going outside to swoon the neighborhood kitties. Wrong.

Beautiful pillowcases. That special someone sent them to me and explained why I got them made me appreciate them more. She even told me she knew I wasn't a "green" person, but wanted me to have them since I knew the ladies who made them. Ironically, I'm not a green person, but I plan to do my spare bedroom in a rich green later this spring. These will be perfect in there!!

More beautiful flowers. These really remind me of spring. I love them!! They were a total surprise. She knows she's special. Or she'd better...

The picture doesnt' do this necklace/locket justice. It's my biggest surprise. I sure didn't expect this special person to give this to me. I love it!! There is an floating amethyst stone inside with a floating L. She wanted to put a picture of me and the hubby in here, but I think I like this better. I may have to seek out the bracelet that matches.

Next is Naldo. He just can't mind his own business. So, after he put himself in the Wal-Mart bag, I thought I could take him to Wal-Mart to exchange him for one of these:

a Wii. They wouldn't take Naldo. But they gladly sold me a Wii. Mom gives me money every year. It's not a surprise, but she knows money will always work. So after I dug deep in the hubby's pockets not finding anything, I coughed up the rest of the money to purchase the Wii. Diamond earrings almost won out. I found a pair on sale and on sale again with a big discount, but decided against them. Maybe this is something hubby and I can do together. We've been wanting one for quite some time. My 40th is time. If hubby wins the lottery tonight I will go tomorrow and buy those earrings. If not, I will not hold my breath til next year, heeheehee....

Thanks to everyone for making my birthday special. I received so many cards, greetings and all of these gifts. I truly appreciate every part of it!!!

Thank YOU Tidymom!!

Thanks to Tidymom I finally, or she finally got that crazy glittery header removed. I told her I feel like I need to give her a new Camaro or something. Thanks so much, I appreciate it more than you will ever know!!!

Note to Self:

NEVER, EVER, use a sparkly header EVER again!! I am too stupid to actually follow the instructions in the blogger help feature. Dr. Blogger seems to know what he's talking about. However, when I go to the template to read the language I cannot find what he says to find. I believe I am stuck with this sparkly header forever. It's Ground Hog Day again Folks. I'll be 40 everyday!!!

Thank You Thank YOU!!

Sorry folks. I'm going to be 40 forever because I cannot remove the sparkly header above. Any suggestions? I want to put up Valentine decor but this stupid blue 40 is blinking forever. Is this what I get for using free clip art? Any ideas would be much appreciated!!

Thanks to everyone for making my 40th very, very special. If it weren't for you and a couple of aunts, and my step-daughter, this day would've been pretty darn poopy. It wasn't, it was pretty good. It's funny how you expect certain people to make your day better and they don't. It's always those you least suspect that make your day wonderful! For me that's always been true. I think the closest people in my life have no idea who I am. But here, you either like me or you don't, you can take me or leave me, you don't have to fake it. Thanks so much to all of you!! I wish I could tour the world and say a personal thank you, that's how happy you've made me.

So......

Who's next?

40? For Real

With all of this birthday garb I feel a bit conceded. Then I think this is probably the most fun I'll have all day. AND I only turn 40 once right? So bear with me. I'll take it down tomorrow night after work. I may even treat myself to a real frozen margarita!!

A Birthday Card Story

Men are lazy and careless. Well most of them anyway. I do believe there are a few exceptions. Just not many. I was looking for a birthday card in Wal-Mart a few weeks ago when this guy was complaining because he couldn't find THE card. (Keep in mind our local WalMart is extremely small.) I listened as he continued to rant about needing to get his wife a birthday card and they didn't have much. I said, "you surely have enough time to find the perfect card somewhere else. This selection isn't very good." (I have to admit it's not, but I love to write in cards so I don't really care what they say.)

He lit the bomb. "I have to find a card today. Her birthday is today."

The bomb's fuse began to smolder, I just had to, "OH NO!! YOU JUST FOUND OUT HER BIRTHDAY IS TODAY?"

He looked at me like I had two heads. I know he was wishing I would mind my own business. But he knew he started it. "NO!! I know when her birthday is." I thought he was going to cus me. "We've been married..." Then I got the look.

The bomb exploded. By the look on his face I knew HE knew exactly what I meant. He irritatedly shook his head and shut up. As my friend Gayla would say, "Dumb Bunny,not my fault, you started it." Things happen magically for this man at home. I could tell. His wife must be an angel...