It's Almost Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The tree is up - white lights, red ornaments, white poinsettias sprinkled in and the LED Angel on top of the tree. Stockings hung on the entertainment center, table cloth on the dining room table, red bear in the chair and a Maxine pillow on the love seat.

Most presents have been bought and now need to be wrapped! Cards were mailed. Candle holders on the bar with the new LED tea lights.

Last night, a nice cup of Williams Sonoma "Real" Hot Chocolate. Yummo.

August 8th - Already August???

Whew - it has been a busy year already and now it is the second Saturday of August??? Where has the time gone? I have soooo many things to update everyone on - I think I will break them into sections.

I. Knitting - took another two classes. The Beyond Basics with one of the women from my Intro Class. We went over some of the more complicated increases and decreases and have learned how to cable. I also took a class for a shrug called a Mobius Wrap. I will let you know how that one comes out because it is taking a leap of faith to work on it.

II. School starts back soon! This is tax free weekend here so I will buy some supplies tomorrow to donate for the school drive. Also, time to find new lunch boxes or thermoses, etc. since the sales are on. :)

III. Social life - been very social lately. This week was quiet since I had to go out of town for work. I do think I am going to the B-52s this week and Michael Franti this month. I have a dinner penciled in for Wednesday, drinks with friends on Thursday and dancing on Saturday. Went to the Nickelback concert on July 31st - it was great but soggy.

IV. Work - went to Minneapolis this week. We had good weather and the hotel was two blocks from the Mississippi River. I know, I didn't realize the Minn was on the Mississippi.

V. Books - reading the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. The books are the jumping off point for the True Blood series on HBO.

VI. Vacation - need one. Will get one the first week of September.

VII. Family - had dinner with my twin nephews last week. They are being potty trained and I brought them bribery gifts which did not work! :) It was a nice dinner with drinks on the deck and the boys entertaining us and flirting with Miss Kim.

VIII. Award for the Most Thoughtful Man: Last Saturday, the Man ran errands for me. He found a case for the twins matchbox cars, the water filter for my fridge and bought me Knitting Needles in the right size!! I did not ask him to do that - he remembered and went to two different craft stores to find them. And took me to the airport at 6 AM this week!!!!

July 26th, Sunday Afternoon

Wow - I had an awesome time last night at a friend's house. We had planned to have dinner when we were out last Saturday. It all came together last night - we had 7 adults and 8 children (yes, we were outnumbered but we could bribe the 4-yr old!) We grilled filets, chicken thighs, asparagus, zucchini and yellow squash outside on the grill. The kids had hot dogs and made their own mini pizzas. Good friends, old and new, and lots of laughs.

Friday night I went to see "The Ugly Truth". Cute. Don't have to do much thinking. :)

Last week I went to see "My Sister's Keeper". Warning - it is a tear jerker and they changed the ending! Good movie but take lots of tissue.

Happy July 5th

Wow - it's the first Sunday morning of July and I am enjoying my second cup of coffee - Gevallia Breakfast Blend with Organic Half & Half. Life is good except that I still have one of those dull headaches that won't come on strong but it won't go away either. But enough bitching, let's get to the good stuff!

Friday night we went to Pops in the Park. Mom and Garry went along with Robin (from Jax), Rich (my neighbor) and 6 other single women with 4 children. May I say Rich is a lucky guy! Rich went out early (7:15 AM) to put out our tarp and he wasn't quite early enough! I guess with so many folks stay-cationing, you look for cheap entertainment. Anywho, Rich did get a spot that was absolutely awesome for the Fireworks Show. The weather had cooled off so it was pleasant all snuggled on the tarp and we had way tooooo much food and wine. My friend Debra brought home made sangria, Rich fixed guacamole, Colleen made brownies and I had gone to Price's Fried Chicken Coop. Life is Good! (We had 10 adults and 4 children on a 10' X 12' tarp!!!)

Last night, I went to our friend Pete's house for a nice cookout. I had gone to the farmer's market yesterday and went a little overboard. Fresh zucchini, asparagus, heirloom tomatoes and corn on the cob! Pete had two pork loins to grill, we marinated the zuchs and aspergrass in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, roasted potatoes with butter and sliced tomatoes. We ate on the deck - one of the last few evenings where you don't sweat at 9 PM!! I learned (again) how to play gin rummy.

And we had yellow cake with chocolate frosting - it was America's 233rd Birthday by the way (although she doesn't look a day over 150!)

I hope everyone had a pleasant and safe Holiday!

June is almost over!

Wow - it has been quite a month and quite a bit since I blogged. I have been busy at work and then busy at home! I finished my beginning knitting class and knitted a hat "in the round". I am working on another.

I have been the our symphony Pops in the Park two weekends in a row. Good friends, good music, good times. A friend from Jax who moved to W Va came into town to visit and I met her and some others out for dinner Thursday. Wednesday was my HOA board meeting. Tuesday was a massage. Sunday was Pops in the Park. Saturday night was dinner with The Boy and I had run a bunch of errands Saturday morning which started with meeting a new friend for Coffee. I seem to remember that the previous week was just as busy!!!

More later.

Practice Makes Me Crazy

Ok - so someone who shall remain nameless suggested that I post some of my yarn projects on my blog as I work on them. That said, I will post some of the ones I still have.

I am taking a knitting class because some things I just can't get from a book and my G-ma did not knit, she crocheted.

Here is the first official project from class. It is a dishcloth and the teacher and another student have been trying to convince me that once I use said dishcloth, I will never find a better dishcloth again. It is made from 100% cotton thread and can be tossed in the washer, it will hold up for years, it will scrub your dishes clean with the little nubbies, yada, yada, yada. Still not convinced since I have worked so hard on this thing, do I really want to clean my dishes with it? I will keep you posted.

This is a crocheted baby blanket that I finally finished last week. It already has a fraternal twin that has been gifted so this will go to the same home this year so that each boy has a blanket to snuggle with. It is warm and smaller than the first one but alas, I didn't take pictures of it but since I have access, I may still.

The last one is a star that I actually followed the pattern. I have since modified the pattern because I wanted a five point star instead of the 8 point. I may actually try this again with a 6 point star so that I can say I crocheted the Star of David for a friend. I am also planning a Prayer Shawl for a friend who seems to be having difficulties this year and needs a long distance hug.

Yoga Sisters Weekend

Whew - another busy weekend. Friday night I went with my neighbor to the Common Market which is in the neighborhood within walking distance. I met one of his friends from out of town and then some more friends from his high school. I left there with a bottle of wine in a brown paper bag. Consensus is that since the bottle was not open, I was more white trash than red neck. Good to know.

Saturday, I went to our Yoga Sisters Slumber Party. I spent the evening with two of my sisters from my yoga teacher training. We made Sangria , ate Doritos's and had a wonderful Greek Salad with Orzo and a Green Salad with strawberries and almonds. Yummy. Next morning we had good coffee and warm carrot bread with cream cheese.

Sunday, I went with my neighbors and his friends to Cabo Fish Tacos for a good dinner. Yum, again. We hung out there for awhile and then went to the Gin Mill. Cheap beer and good conversation - what could be better?

Oh yeah, around midnight, My Sweetie came by and we went to the 24 hour diner for breakfast and conversation. I had a good cup of coffee and pleasant conversation with a handsome man. What could be better?

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the lovely mothers out there.

This was another busy week. Busy at work, busy, busy, busy. Wednesday evening was my HOA board meeting and then Thursday I went with friends to a meet and greet for a group called CHOA - Charlotte Outdoor Activities. They are a social and activities club. My friend likes to go hiking, kayaking, etc. but hates to organize them. We joined CHOA and we'll see how it goes. After that we met another friend and went to dinner and then karaoke. Yes, you have all missed my one and only karaoke performance - "Something to Talk About."

Friday, one of my neighbors and I went to meet a girlfriend for drinks for her birthday. It was nice to have my neighbor join me to meet the other girls.

Saturday was fun! Mom wanted her MD dinner early so I went picked up dinner from her new favorite BBQ restaurant and drove out to her house. I was going to be out there anyway; a friend of mine was competing in a bodybuilding competition that was two miles from Mom's.

I took Mom dinner and had bought them new cell phones. So Mom and Step-father had fun playing with their new toys. Sf stayed home putting all of his numbers in the phone while Mom and I went to the competition. I think she really enjoyed the Men's Heavyweight competition.

My friend did not win her competition but she looked awesome! She is tall and lean with good definition.

I also cleaned house yesterday - I do miss having someone clean my house. Got a number from a friend of mine so I will give her woman a call. I had a great service in Jax but alas she won't move here. :)

Toodles!

It's May Already??

So, this was my 7th year volunteering at the Championship. This year the name was changed to the Quail Hollow Championship but it was just as well run as always. I worked the "thru board" on the 12th green and got to see some good golf up close and personal.

Saturday, I went with a group of girlfriends on a tour of the Yadkin Valley Wineries. We visited 4 wineries. http://www.swancreekvineyards.com/index.html We did not make it Buck Shoals There was a chocolate wine that is quite tasty. These vineyards do not distribute because they usually sell out every year at the vineyard.

On Sunday, we went back out to the Championship. We sat on the 10th green and watch the last half of the field come through. It was an amazing day, the weather was nice and the company enjoyable.

Toodles.

Busy Last Weekend of April

Wow - it was a busy, busy week and then a a fun weekend. First, work was hectic because we had folks in from across the country so I spent most of my time with them walking through our responsibilities and system needs.

For my personal life, I went to the Jimmy Buffet concert on Tuesday night. I went with some of neighbors and their friends. We took a party bus from Uptown out to the concert so there was no hassle with driving or parking. When we finally got to the lawn, we spread out our blankets and apologized ahead of time to the fans around us. We made friends with a girl who rode the bus with us especially since her friend wandered off with some boy before the music started. The concert was great!!!

The ride back on the party bus was not as much fun. One of our friends broke a bus rule and got sick on the bus. Not sure how he got so drunk in three hours. He told me today that his friend that went with us was sick until 4 PM the next day. I think it was probably something they ate or didn't before drinking.

Wednesday I accompanied some of the visitors to one of my favorite diners in Charlotte - Pike's Old Fashioned Soda Shop. Everyone seemed to be happy with their meal and enjoyed the atmosphere. They rode the Train back to Uptown.

Yesterday we went to the Queen's Cup Steeple Chase. Fun, fun, fun. It was warm (verging on hot) but low humidity and a nice breeze all day. We had food and drink to feed a small army. I went to Price's Chicken Coop on Friday and bought "three yard birds" to have for the picnic; do you know how good three fried chickens smell in the backseat of the car?? It almost did not survive the night. It was good cold the next day! http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2008/07/roadfood_nc_chicken Richard (one of my neighbors) had bought a complete outfit for the day and so he had a theme. His drink for the today was pink lemonade and vodka. He also made this dessert called Strawberry Pretzel Salad; pretzel crust with strawberry jello, whipped cream and strawberries. We also had ham and turkey from Honey Baked with croissants and fresh bread. Lots of cookies and fruit and cheese. You could tell it was a Southern Day... food is love and love is good.

We played a round of Boccie on part of the lawn, saw some beautiful horses race around the track and I seem to be the only one with a sunburn. Are we sure I grew up in Florida? I did apply the sunblock and reapplied the sunblock but alas, the backs of my arms are pink.

The Anniversary of my 22nd Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. Started off with a call from my Mom followed by calls and texts from friends throughout the day. My Brother even remembered it was my Birthday. Most of my entire department went out to lunch and John and his wife got me bottles of very nice tequila. After work I met friends for Alive After 5 and we then met some of my neighbors at Black Finns for drinks.

Birthday celebrations will continue tomorrow when I have lunch with my twin nephews and dinner with Mom and Garry.

Tuesday - I know how to start a day!

So, aside from reading an email the peeves me first thing, I was scheduled for my annual physical this morning. Let me tell you, I have the worst luck scheduling those things 14 months in advance. What should have been a good day for the Dr to go spelunking turned out to be the end of my cycle so I am sure I started his morning off right. AND after I get dressed, he remembered that he forgot to get a sample for a test I requested so I got to basically do it all over again. Naked with a man twice and he tells me to lose weight and lower my cholesterol. Oh well, you can't have everything.

At least he didn't tell me "well, you are getting to that age." :P

I think all of my annual maintenance is complete now. I have been to the Dentist, Mammogram, Ophthalmologist, Retinal Specialist and Family Doctor all before my birthday.

2009 is off with a bang - it can only get better from here.

Easter Weekend

So, this was a busy weekend. My friend Kim came to visit. She drove up on Friday and I meet her at the house. We stayed in Friday night and had chicken wings and tater tots. We watched bad TV and talked.

On Saturday, we got up and went S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G! We have quite a few consignment shops in the neighborhood and then we went to a cool bead store here in Charlotte. We talked to my Mom to tell her again that I was not cooking for Easter. Kim and I went to BJs to get a ham for Sunday. That night Kim took pictures of me for a project I am working on. Lots of scene changes and shirt changes! But we got some good pics of me.

Yesterday, we drove out to my house in the county. The boy refers to it as the Estate. We took some pictures of siding, gutters and the roof since Mom said they needed repaired. We tried to figure out what she was talking about - evidently someone pushed the siding back in. While we were outside Kim took a quick picture of me. I sent the pictures of the house and the side shot of me to the boy so that he could see what was wrong. The boy asked if the picture was the my "pensive wtf look? lol", I asked if he thought the picture was funny? He said the picture was nice, it was just juxtaposed against the others which made it funny. Oh well.

Mom and Garry came over with potato salad, green beans and banana pudding. What Southern meal is complete without these?? I had the ham, peas and macaroni and cheese. It was a good meal!

Btw, the picture is now on the blog -what do you think?

Toodles!

Why I love Yoga

Yoga - the union of the mind, body and spirit. It is the place in my life that belongs solely to me and my practice keeps me calm and centered. I have been taking hot yoga (the room is heated to 85 degrees or more at the start of class) for about a year. Now if you know me, you know how out of character it is for me to choose to be hot. The heat helps your body warm up quickly and allows you to get deeper into the pose. The class is also humid so my glasses come off at the start of class which instantly allows my focus to go inward since I can't really see what is going on around me. (I do not wear my contacts to class because of various reasons but the main one is that we have a five to ten minute savasana at the end of class.) At the end of the hour or so, the endorphins kick in and I have "yoga brain" for a good hour and sometimes the rest of the day. It is similar to the bliss of a good massage.

The poses or postures help work the stress out of your body which then allows for meditation and reflection. You have worked your physical body in such a way that you have a sense of accomplishment, whether it is you survived the hour or you achieved your best dancer yet!
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/936 I don't do this dancer but a one armed variation. This is my new favorite pose although I still love pigeon http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/863. It is believed that we carry our emotions in our hips (which explains mine!) and this is a hip opener to help release some of those stored or bottled up emotions.

Yoga is a practice where your progress is measured only by you. If you find a good teacher, you will have someone to help guide you on your journey but it is your journey.

While I was completing my teacher training, I made friends for life that I call my yoga sisters. We love each other and support each other. We are a group of women at various stages of love and life who find strength, support and humor in one another. We each have our own love of yoga with each of us having our specialties and gifts.

There is a yoga practice for everyone whether you focus on the physical, spiritual or mindfulness. Yoga helps you become fully in the moment; you shut out all of the "noise" in your head and life. It is an (half) hour (or half) that you dedicate to yourself and YOU are worth it.

Namaste, Namaskar

Beautiful Sunday in the City

Today was a beautiful spring day. The high was almost 80 with low humidity and a nice breeze. I woke up before the alarm (a by-product of the new bed! I actually sleep!) and got dressed for a hot yoga class at 9 AM. The class was good and seemed to fly by - it was over before I realized I had been there for an hour.

After a much needed shower, I met my friends Megan and Donna to hit a bucket of balls at the driving range. Megan is serious and has taken lessons at the Dana Rader school here in Charlotte. I need to practice more and we will play the Par 3 course one evening for more playing time. After golf we went to my favorite Mexican restaurant La Paz for chips and drinks. We sat out on the patio since the weather was sooooo nice today.

The weather will change overnight and we are forecasted to wake up to a thunderstorm and dropping temperature. The high tomorrow will be at 6 AM!!!

The "New" Bed

So, I bought a kit that converts a full sized bed to a Queen sized bed. I can still use my antique bed set and have the luxury of a queen sized bed. That 6" of width and 5" of legnth makes a difference I tell you. I bought a Simmons Beautyrest with the individual springs. Let me tell you, it is heaven. It has a nice pillow top. The bed is MUCH taller now. I have to crawl into bed at night and slide out in the morning but it is heaven.

I feel that I sleep better and now I don't sleep in the valley in the middle of the bed. Tee hee.

New sized mattress means new linens. Luckily when my Mom made my quilt twelve years ago, she sized it to fit full/queen mattress. Since it is now spring, the quilt will need to wait until next winter.

Helping Mom with her homework

Oh - have the times have changed. Remember when our parents helped us with our homework? Mom and Garry are here tonight. I have fed them a (relatively) balanced meal: rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and artisan bread with olive oil for dipping. Now I am helping Mom with her "homework". She is working on the Church books. The Church did buy a laptop and installed Microsoft Excel. That stuff I do by rote daily at work, I get to help her with as she builds complex spreadsheets and formulae.

Did I tell you, Mom and Garry are taking a PC class through the local community college? Garry and Mom have been using the laptop Cale, Nik, Shelby and I got them for Christmas. They now have high speed wireless Internet in the house so they can each be in separate rooms on the desk top and laptop. She is now emailing her sisters and tending to the animals.

And she is repeating an Intro to Yoga class? She seems to find the philosophy of yoga intriguing. She is learning to breathe and some of the names of the postures.

See - they do listen to us. I may introduce her to Facebook, and unleash her on the rest of you. Oh, but they still know how to torment us - Garry has the TV on American Idol and Mom is giving me the history on the performers.

Enough for now - going to send them home!

Welcome to My Blog

OK - welcome to my Blog. This will most likely be the place where I rant and rave about various and sundry life events. I could rant about men and how they drive me crazy - not knowing what they want until it leaves them or how clueless they seem to be. Or I could rant about how women never learn and don't want to give up the Snow White or Cinderella fantasy - someday our prince will come. Unfortunately we will probably miss the prince because he will look like the frog while we are distracted by the Pretty Boy looking at his reflection in his rearview mirror. I am definitely thinking about kissing a few frogs - I may have had my fill of the Pretties.



Relationships take WORK and not everyone wants to put the work into it. I am not talking just about romance but also friendship. I believe for any relationship to succeed, you have to tend to it. Whether is be your mother, father, daughter, sister, brother, son, niece, nephew or oldest friend, you have to work at the relationship. You have to communicate and let everyone know how you feel about them. You have to treat people as you would like to be treated and not settle for bad behavior. I don't believe in rewarding bad behavior but unless you call people on it, they will continue to behave the same way as they always did.



Why do we call getting married "settling down"? Settling for what? Does it mean stop being yourself, an individual? Do you become half of a couple? An incomplete entity? Or what do they mean by "completing me"? Am I not whole already? Can't I share my life without settling?



I have a friend who just found out her father is mortal. It is a sobering lesson that even in your 40s, you are just not ready to learn. This is a different lesson than when you learn your parents are people with desires and needs and feelings and foibles. I lost my father when I was 20 and not a day goes by that I don't miss him. He won't give me away, dance at my wedding (as was his favorite way of asking you do something for him - his "pretty please with a cherry on top"), help me buy my first house or see his grand children. I know he would be very proud of everything I have accomplished but I also know I wouldn't be here if things had been different. No regrets.