Get Your Frag On

Once again, I am EXTREMELY glad that it is Friday.  Like, so glad I could kiss the calendar.

School's out for Summer.  Happy about that as well!

We had a really good time on Thursday evening.  Byron and I and all of my kids went to my parents' house for dinner.  My son's friend Nic also came along.  AND...my Mother-in-Law came!  This was her first time visiting my parents' house.  We had BBQ ribs and baked potatoes (cooked by me), yellow and zucchini squash (cooked by Shelbie), and a delicious strawberry dessert (made by my Mama).
I love how my mom and MIL hit it off so well.  They are peas in a pod.  They even like the same BIZARRE snack - a banana sandwich.  WITH MAYONNAISE.  *GAG*

Tim's friend Nic and my parents' dog, Ace

I haven't been thrifting in FOREVER and we're planning on going tomorrow.  YAY!
Then I get to see my Hayleigh-girl, and Byron and my Dad are planning on going fishing.
That should be....interesting.

OK, sorry for the short frags but I'm dozing off and having dreams of monkeys in hospital beds.  I'm not even kidding.

Have a great weekend!

Keepin' It Weird ~SIMC

I worked last night and slept until 4pm today.  It is now 8:15 and let me tell you about what I have packed into the last 4 hours.

~ Byron and I went to dinner with my parents.  On the way there, on a busy street near UF and the big hospital, Shands, we saw several police cars on the side of the road near an apartment complex.  No big deal, they were just rounding up a HUGE, 8-10 foot alligator that was sitting on the sidewalk.  Go Gators!

~ We went to Cracker Barrel and I filled my belly with country fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, hash brown casserole and green beans.  Ok, about 1/3 of a serving of all of it, and the rest is in my refrigerator.  PLUS, a few bites of my Mama's dessert: blackberry cobbler and ice cream. OH MAHHH GAWWD.

~ Then we went to The Walmart.  We all know that's an adventure any time, but today really topped any prior visit.  All we bought was light bulbs and Rain-X, people!  This was like a 15 minute trip.  And this is what transpired.....

~First we went to the hunting section and saw this:

It was a Redneck Convention.  They were waiting for the Ammo shipment to come in.  I swear I'm not even kidding.  (In their defense, ammo is in very short supply around here. Because obviously, the zombies are coming. Duh.)

~ Then as we're getting into the truck, there was an old lady standing by her car across from us with what appeared to be her grandson.  He was kind of douchey, in a pants-on-the-ground kind of way.
The old lady started SOBBING, and we realized her hand was SHUT IN HER DOOR.  Before we could react, Douchey Grandson unlocked the door and got her hand out, and then said calmly WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE: "I think we need to go to the hospital, I can see your bone."

YA THINK?!

~ THEN - because it wasn't over yet - we were leaving and saw this guy standing at the intersection:

Skin-tight shorts and pink shoes.  He danced and waved and blew kisses.  Free entertainment!  Gotta love it.

~ And I haven't even mentioned hubby ALMOST getting a nother seatbelt ticket.
Click it or Ticket, friends, they ain't joking.

Never a dull moment!

Family, Friends and Frags

~ I worked a weird schedule this week.  A co-worker asked me to switch a day with her.  She is the same one who switched with me in March, enabling me and Byron to run off and get married last-minute, so I was happy to help her out.  I worked Monday and Tuesday, was off Wednesday and Thursday, and I work Friday night, then I'm off Saturday and Sunday.  It's like having two weekends in one week.  Kinda cool!

~ Dusty is Shelbie's boyfriend.  He has cancer.  His mom is Heather, my friend from high school.  I LOVE her.  She also drives me crazy.  BUT...when she calls and asks me if I can do her a favor and take Dusty to his chemo appointment?  I can't say no to that.
It is so surreal to hear her explaining that the length of the appointment depends on his blood counts and whether or not he needs a transfusion....sigh.
He's strong. He can fight this.  That's what I keep telling myself.

~ Tonight (Thursday night) we went to my parents' house for dinner.  Hayleigh was there and OMG.  She is at my FAVORITE AGE (between one and two).  She is SO funny, cute, adorable, etc......I just wanna freeze her!  She sings, dances, talks, plays,  And my kids adore her.

~ This weekend we're going to the Springs to celebrate a friend's birthday and Memorial Day.
I can't wait!  I love this time of year.


~ More and more every day, I realize that my husband is the perfect man FOR ME.

Hope y'all have a great weekend!! 

Sunday Funday ~~ SIMC

We had a super fun weekend.  

We went to my Mother-in-Law's house,
and went to church with her on Sunday,
and my Mama came over for a visit on Saturday.
It was a very productive weekend;
we got a lot done BUT had a lot of fun too.

I had my first fire in my new fire pit.  Loved it!

It is so relaxing to me to sit by a fire.

My MIL has flowers blooming all over her yard,
in pots and planted in the ground.
It's so pretty.

And these, of course, just pop up wherever they want.

Watch out for Gators!

Elayna has always been scared to go down the slide.
In this picture, she was contemplating the situation.....

And in this one....she finally did it!

This is Elayna with her friend, who spent the night with us Saturday night.
This is the only pic I took of them together.
Lovely shot, no?

I also didn't get any pics of the other kids, who were all there today.
Woops.

And this is our Bo.
I think he's awake but ignoring me.
We washed all of the dogs this weekend,
 so they're all fresh and sassy now.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Super Silly Sleepy Fragments

~~ I had a really great week at work.  The icing on the cake was, I got my first official written positive feedback from a patient.  She is a former ICU nurse from another local hospital.  I also happened to walk in and overhear her on the phone telling her husband how awesome I was (in fact, she threatened to fire him as her caretaker and replace him with ME).  Sometimes, I love my job!

~~ I worked Wednesday night and stayed up all day today (Thursday).  We had errands to run, then I just hung out with the hubby, MIL and the girls.  I got silly-tired in the evening.  We were all cracking up.  I even had my totally NON-giggly husband giggling.
{In fact, I have laughed a LOT this week.  I guess I'm just easily amused......}
On the way home, I was just bleary-eyed exhausted.
However, I am currently at the point of Past Tired.  I've been up for 31 hours now, and am sitting in my bed on the computer.  Please send Mr. Sandman my way.

~~ I am incredibly blessed, and was reminded of that today.  I had two people I love dearly, do something for me that showed me how very much they love ME.  It was overwhelming.  And wonderful.

~~ Y'all, this is dead-on accurate.

~~ And I just plain LOVE this.

~~ My Mama posted this on my Facebook.  It reminds me so much of our home.  I love it.

~~ My friend is pregnant with her first baby and this is how they announced it to her Mother-in-Law.  I LOVE it!!!

Wishing y'all a wonderful weekend!  

Mother's Day SIMC

We all gathered at my Mother-in-law's house 

to celebrate Mother's Day.

I made lasagna, and we had salad, texas toast 

and three yummy desserts; 

pineapple upside down cake and 

chocolate delight from my mom,

and Shelbie made monkey bread.

Heather & Hayleigh

Heather and Hayleigh,
and behind them,
my mom and sister.
4 generations!

My mom & me

After dinner was eaten and gifts were opened, 

we all headed out to the pool.

Hayleigh loved splashing in the water!

Elayna taking a break
(yes, those are my toes.
I mostly soaked up the sun.
The water is still a LITTLE chilly for me!)

Elayna cheesin'

Tim trickling water over Hay-bug's head.
It made her giggle!

The Mamas: mine on the left and Byron's on the right.

MIL has two armadillos living under her deck.
They came out to play today.

MIL's dogs let them know
that they were NOT welcome there.

We all had a lovely Mother's Day.  

The card my son gave me got me all choked up.  

The gift from my girls will be here later this month.
OH and my wonderful Mother-in-Law
 gave me a firepit like hers for my birthday!  I LOVE IT.
I was asking where she got hers
 and mentioned that I'd always wanted one,
and BAM now I have one!

I'm feeling very blessed!

Hope you all had a wonderful day too.

Pretty Much

** Thank you all for your comments on Shelbie's artwork!  I showed them to her and she loved it.  =)


** My sweet hubby is taking me away to the beach for my birthday!  Y'all - I turn 40 on Saturday!  WOOT WOOT It honestly doesn't bother me AT ALL.  We have a lot of fun plans and I'm excited!  St Augustine - my favorite place on the planet - I can't wait!

** I am so blessed with an AWESOME Mother-in-Law this time around.  Not only that, but my parents actually have a relationship with her- so much so, that we are all celebrating Mothers' Day at  MIL's house.  I'm cooking! This is so much nicer than dividing time or alternating years.  It's all one big, happy family!

** Also, I pretty much have the best son on the planet.  He is 20 years old but he still tells me he loves me every time we talk on the phone - even when he's at work, surrounded by guys.  And he says it FIRST.  He is also taking care of our pets while we're away this weekend.  He pretty much is awesome.  Proud Mama right here!

** So, that's pretty much all I've got.  I'm out for the weekend.  Wishing you all the best, and a wonderful Mother's Day!

Family Filled Weekend - Sundays in my City

Today we went to my parents' house for a visit.

Of course, Hayleigh was the Star Attraction.

Concentrating hard on that block.
Or, ignoring her crazy aunt.

She finally graced me with a look
AND an almost-smile.  

Hello, I'm just wearing my food.

She's growing up SO fast.

This is Dusty and Shelbie.

You may remember Dusty from previous posts.   He is the son of a good friend of my since high school. He and Shelbie dated, then broke up, and are now dating again. Dusty also has cancer.  The meds are the reason his cheeks are puffy. He is doing well; he has years of chemo ahead of him,  but he's young and strong and his prognosis is good. He did lose his hair,  but as you can see it's already grown back! He went to my parents' house with us today.   It was fun spending time with him again. Tomorrow, we are going to my Mother-in-Law's house to hang out with her!   I love these Family Filled Weekends.
Hope y'all are having a good weekend! I sure am!


Visit Unknown Mami for more Sundays in my City posts.

Home at Last

Since the weather warmed up, we have been planting. We planted pear trees, caladium bulbs, heather bushes, purple hearts, and most recently, a jasmine plant.

baby elephant ears
(a.k.a. caladium)
(a.k.a. chlamydia, if you are my husband.)

I still have a list as long as my arm of things I'd like to plant: a dogwood tree, a weeping willow, a gardenia bush, a camellia bush, azaleas, hydrangea, ranunculus....I could go on and on (and on and on.....).

there's no partridge in our pear tree.
to the best of my knowledge.

I love planting and gardening for all of the obvious reasons.  It's enjoyable.  I find it pretty amazing to plant a bulb in the ground and, just a short time later, have a beautiful plant growing there.  I guess I should've paid more attention in science; then maybe I'd understand how the bulb magically knows to start growing once you stick it in a hole and cover it with dirt.  Instead, I say "WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!" and just watch, awestruck at the whole process.

I love the beauty of the colorful plants.  I love the smell of fragrant flowers.  I love the deer that will eventually come and eat pears from the pear trees.

"Dude, are those pears on that tree?  SWEET!"

But there's another reason I love planting HERE, at our home.

It's because I know that I will be here forever to watch these plants grow and bloom, year after year.

I have only been a homeowner one other time in my life.  It was when I was a single mom the first time, and I ended up leaving that home after I married John.
With my first husband, we 'rented to own' a few times but never got to the 'own' part.

But now, I am home.  We are home.  It's not home 'for now', it's home forever.
It's an amazing feeling.

Five acres of creeks, rocks, trees, plants, wildlife, and woods.

Home.

One of my favorite places on this planet.

In the one home that I owned as a single mom, my youngest, Elayna and my Dad planted a cedar tree.  Obviously, we left it behind.  That was about 6 or 7 years ago, and Elayna still asks about that tree and wants to go by and see it when we're in the area.

Now, finally, we can plant a tree for her here, and know that she can watch it grow.  Forever.  

And that feels....indescribably good.  

P.S. I updated my About Me page.

Go look!  =)

Sundays in My City

my jasmine

We had a very nice day. This morning we took a trip to the flea market. No pics from there...trust me, you aren't missing much. But I did get a jasmine plant. If you have never had the pleasure of smelling the lovely scent of jasmine, I am so sorry. Please put "smelling jasmine" on your bucket list, stat. Now I will have some here at home, climbing up a tree near the house. Lovely! We also planted some purple heart that we dug up from my parents' house. Pics to come later when it doesn't look so pathetic.

Lizard hanging out with an angel.

After the flea market, we went to visit my Mother-in-Law.  She made baked potatoes and we grilled out steaks.  It was delicious!   

Can you find the lizard in this pic?

We built a fire in the fire pit and lounged by the pool.  

When we came home,
I was walking one of the dogs
 and I saw these pretty orange wildflowers.

I had to grab a couple to bring inside
& cheer up the kitchen window!

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more Sundays in my City
posts!