Keep Calm and Frag On!

~I am seriously hurting over the passing of country music legend George Jones.  There has never been, nor will there ever be, anyone like the Possum.  May he RIP.  I wish I'd seen him live just one time.
One of the things I love about him, besides his amazing voice and talents, is that he totally owned the negative things he did in his past, and could laugh at himself about them.  When he was badly addicted to alcohol and drugs he got the nickname "No-Show Jones" after missing many performances.  Instead of giving up or crying about it, he wrote a a song called "No-Show Jones" and opened most of his concerts with it!
He also was notorious for jumping on his lawn mower to get where he needed to go after one of his four wives would hide his car keys.  He appears in a few different videos riding around on a mower!  I love that attitude.  It's like, Eff y'all, this is me whether you like it or not!

~ We had a good Friday.  Slept WAY in as usual, then we ran a few errands including taming my unruly eyebrows!  YIKES!
Then we ate at Red Robin.  We just got a Red Robin in our town a month ago and it was our first time going.  The food AND drinks were amazing!  YUM!
We both got the Bacon Cheeseburger. I got Pepper Jack Cheese on mine.  It was seriously one of the best burgers I've ever had.  And my drink I think was called Freckled Strawberry Lemonade.  It had fresh strawberries, vodka and lemonade.  Again- YUM!
P.S. I am not being paid for this at all.  
I just love food and want everyone to know how good it was!

~ This week was one of the best I've had at my job.  Part of it was, I had several patients who really touched my heart and I truly enjoyed taking care of them.  But I think another part of it is that I'm really getting into the groove of the job.  I know what I'm doing and what's expected of me and I can do it all with  relative ease now.

~ Oh, I almost forgot!  I am kicking the diet soda habit.  For real.  I did it once before for my gastric bypass surgery, and was supposed to never start again post-op....ooops!  I lasted for quite a while without it...at least a year, I think.  But then I started back.  I've read for years about how horrible aspartame is for your body, but I ignored it.  I buried my head in the sand.  But no more.  I am done poisoning myself.



PS - I HAVE Fibromyalgia, as well as several of the other things on this list.  Scary stuff.  And of course you can find denials about all of this on Aspartame's website as well as the FDA's site, but I'm not buying it.

~ Hope y'all have a good weekend!  I'm off to do a quick clean up of the house so I can relax all weekend.  =)

 

  ~ This song will always & forever give me chills.

WWTK Wednesdays - The Noms Edition

I love me some Mamarazzi, she has so many fun blog memes and I enjoy it when I get to join in.


Crazymama went to the grocery store hungry and came back with these questions:

{1} walking down the cookie aisle at the store, what do you pick?
I truly enjoy the Snackwells vanilla sandwich cookies and they are probably my most frequent cookie purchase.  I also love EL Fudge and Oreos!!

{2} would you rather eat chips or crackers? which kind?
I am addicted to chips.  I love Baked Lay's Sour Cream & Onion, Baked Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream, and any kind of kettle cooked chips.  I am a SUCKER for chips & dip, I could live off of that!  But I do love cheese & crackers too.

{3} what kind of pickles do you like?

Claussen Kosher Dill Spears.  They are THE BOMB.  I looove them!  Dill only for me, I can't stand sweet pickles.
One of my ultimate comfort meals is a grilled cheese sandwich (2 Kraft Single slices) and a pickle.  YUMMMY!


{4} what is your favorite candy? 
anything that involves chocolate.  I really like the Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters. Also Skittles - but only the red ones.  I know....I'm not well.  My kids always give me almost all of their red ones.  They love me!

{5} marycate @ http://marycateutah.blogspot.com wants to know about your beverage preference.
Coke....Or Pepsi? Diet Drinkers? 
Diet Dr Pepper.  It's a sick, sad addiction.  It is my crack.  Is there a 12-step program?  If I must, I will drink Diet Coke, but only in a dire emergency.

Visit the Lovely Ladies Below for more WWTK posts!

What I'm Loving Right Now

*** pale lavender flat nail polish....I don't usually paint my fingernails (toes only) but I will with this. LOVE it.



***Adele. I know, I'm late to the game. But I play her CD's CONSTANTLY.

*** baby snuggles....can't get enough.



*** Draw Something. Enough said.

*** Kettle Cooked Potato Chips. This is not a new love for me, but I can't eat any other chips any more. LOVE them.

*** Three day weekends. WOOHOO!!

*** My life. It's good. That is all. :o)

WWTKW ~ Nom nom nom!

Y'all already know that I LOVE to cook. So I was happy to see that today's "We Want to Know Wednesday"'s theme was FOOD! (Even though I'm late...as always!)

1} What is one thing (food or drink) that you MUST have everyday?
Diet Dr Pepper. It's my crack!

{2} What is your "go to" food when you don't feel well/need comfort?
I love salty comfort foods, like chips & dip. Or pizza. Or chocolate.

{3} Is there a dish that you make that people request when they visit your home/a family favorite?
Chicken & dumplings is number one. My potato salad is also in high demand, as well as my lasagna.

{4} What are 3 foods you have TRIED, do not like and will NEVER eat again?
brussels sprouts, parsnips, & venison.

and our final question comes from Dee@ HomesickCajun:

{5} What's one thing that you love to eat that most people would think is weird and/or gross??
I like to eat sour dill pickles with peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. I don't really eat weird stuff, just some weird combinations.

Visit Mamarazzi & Queso for more delicious WWTKs!

the Happy in my City

We

had

a

pretty

great

day.

Fun, Food, Friends, & Family.

It all started with monkey bread, made by Shelbie and her friend Kacey (my "3rd daughter").

My parents came over, and we picked muscadine grapes from our vines.

{and maybe I drank some wine, to take the edge off the parental-visit-induced crazy. Maybe.}

{Someone was hiding under the grape vines....}

We all walked around the yard, looking at the garden and the rose bushes.

I made two huge pots of chicken & dumplings,

to feed my family, two of the kids' friends, and my parents.

And now, my teenagers are at the movies;

Shelbie, Tim, and Kacey, the 3rd daughter.

As for me, I am full of The Happy.

I hope you had a wonderful Sunday in Your City!

Getcha Some Southern Loving

Nothing to see here today.

It's Monday, and I got nothin'.

BUT- head over to Southern Loving to see what I cooked this weekend! Yum-yum!

Brain Blurbs

Linking up with Post It Note Tuesdays,

because brief random thoughts are all I seem capable of at the moment!

Visit That One Mom for more PINT Fun.

P.S. If you want to learn how to mobilize your blog, visit Jules Out Loud!

Tea Time!

I have mentioned here before that birthdays are a big deal at the Dysfunction Junction. The celebration usually lasts for around a week. My kids celebrate with their dad, as well as here at home. Andrew celebrates with his grandma and then here at home. Since their birthdays usually fall during the week, we celebrate as a family on that day. Then on the weekend, we have the 'friend' party. We usually get together on yet another day with my family. Sometimes we also send treats in to school, although they're starting to outgrow that.

Anyway.

This time around it was Elayna's turn to celebrate; she turned the big 1-0. It started on Saturday the 22nd at her Dad's house. She came home early on Sunday the 23rd, her actual birthday, and we gave her most of her gifts and had her dinner of choice: cheeseburgers, macaroni & cheese, and asparagus. (Yes, I'm serious.) We had brownies for dessert, with 10 candles stuck in them.

Saturday was the friend party. We have been planning it forEVER. We had a tea party. I posted about the food over at my food blog, Southern Loving, so that this post is not ridiculously long!

There was only one rule: NO boys allowed. John and the boys headed to the arcade in the mall, only to find that it was closed. Permanently. But they found other things to do.

We had real china tea cups & saucers. The girls were asked to come dressed up, and they all did. They all put makeup on each other, and then we had tea. Afterwards Elayna opened gifts, one of which was Just Dance for the Wii. So of course, they played with that until the party was over.

Tea Time!

Cake Time!

Bow Time!

*Cheese!*

Just Dance!

And now for the finale....my family will be coming over today to give her presents and have (yet another) cake & ice cream.

And then maybe I can get to bed early! Birthdays are exhausting.

Oh wait I forgot.....she requested Sausage & Rice casserole for dinner tonight, and of course, I am complying....so it's time to start chopping veggies. *Yawn*

The Buddhas

Yesterday, John and I had lunch at a little cafe that we had been wanting to visit forever.

The food was delicious. The staff was friendly.

But I fell in love with the bathroom signs.

{Tasty Buddha. Not a compensated posted. Just for fun.}

Now go check out:

&

&

Time for Fragging Again!

SMP Update: The Snail Mail Project is going strong! I have officially deemed it a success; I have 30 participants so far. You're still welcome to join in!
My 14 year old daughter acquired a pen pal from England through the SMP, and now my 9 year old daughter has requested a pen pal. So if anyone has a daughter around 9 years old who would like to pen pal with Elayna, please let me know!


I'm really appreciating blogger's auto-save feature tonight; I've accidentally closed blogger out twice while typing this post up! I don't know what's wrong with me tonight!

Recently I've started to like or even love foods that I previously didn't like at all. I don't know if it's because of my surgery, getting older or what. Case in point: salted almonds, which are healthy. Pancakes, which are NOT.
Mmmm, pancakes........


I don't play Farmville, or YoVille, or HoVille, or whatever the other Facebook games are.
But I'm slightly addicted to Family Feud on Facebook, and have many of my co-workers addicted too. It's SO much fun!

Have you read any good memoirs lately? Or ever? I love them and am looking for some really good ones to read. I've already read all of Augusten Burroughs', by the way.
I recently read "Her Mother's Daughter" by Linda Carroll, the mother of Courtney Love. It was very good!


OK, I'm out! Hope y'all have a great weekend, and visit Mrs 4444's for more Friday Fragment Fun!

Weekend WrapUp

We planned a great weekend for the kids, and I have to say it went off almost without a hitch!

Saturday we took The Littles to our local Medieval Faire. They had a blast, the weather was nice, and the food was delicious.

Elayna got the Princess Eye

Andrew is not so big on face painting, so he chose to have his arm painted instead.

Elayna petting a "Baby Dragon" (ordinary lizard, lol)

Andrew & Elayna playing with Crystal Sticks

They enjoyed this maze, and I thought the sign was cute!

...and speaking of cute signs, I really loved this one!

this beautiful little bird is a European Kestrel.

After the Medieval Faire, we picked Shelbie up from a church trip and dropped Elayna off at a sleepover party. Then we went to the mall. Shelbie wanted to look for a dress for her 8th Grade Social, which is over two months away, but I said sure, let's just look. We ended up finding a gorgeous dress on a GREAT sale, so we got it! Happy teenager, happy mama.
The day was capped off with a late-night Krispy Kreme run, and really, does it get any better than that??

Sunday started with picking Elayna up from her sleepover party, then we went to church. Afterwards we took the kids for their surprise: lunch at a Japanese Steak House! I mentioned over at Southern Loving, my food blog, that I am trying to introduce more foods from other cultures to the kids, and I'd been wanting to take them to a Japanese Steak House for a while. They LOVED it, and we all had a really great time. I posted more pictures of this adventure at Southern Loving, but here are a couple:




And the last fun activity was on Sunday night. We had a Superbowl Family Fun Night at church. Everyone brought food, there was child care for the kids, and we all just hung out and had a good time. They had a drawing to give away two football jerseys, and John won one of them! We left at halftime to get the kids to bed, but we watched the rest at home and were happy to see the Saints win.

Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend too!
Link up if you wanna!