Weird? Maybe...But Definitely Blog-Worthy!

I know, some of you will find this strange, and that's ok. I'm posting it anyway. Do you know what this is a picture of?



It's the one thing that I could not find here. I looked and looked and looked. All I found were places that you had to have someone give you full service for it. I don't want that! Yes, it could be about the cost, but it really isn't. So, what is it about? It's about doing it yourself! Not having to clean up before you go out! You know, like when the cleaning lady comes (I don't have one, but I've heard about it)...you have to pick everything up before she comes. I hate that! Anyway...I looked and looked and, I already said that, so Kelsie and I were driving to check out the Georgia Mall this weekend and we found IT! Not only did we find it, THEY HAVE FREE VACUUMS!!!!! You can get your car washed for $4 (there are more expensive plans too, but the $4 one is perfectly fine w/me)...they will HAND DRY IT for $3 extra AND THEN...if you're too cheap to pay for them to vacuum your car OR you're too cheap and you didn't want to clean your car out before you left your house...FREE FREE DO IT YOURSELF VACUUMS! It was a thing of beauty. And who said I was high maintenance? (Connie?) :) LOL.


It's the simple things in life! Here are 2 pics of the Mall of Georgia -- you cannot even imagine how huge this place is. Kelsie and I stayed for about 30 mins, it was overwhelming, we didn't see 1/16th of it. There are stores inside and stores outside, it was crazy!

I wanted to post some pix of our trip to the lake with the Klaus' but guess those pix are on the other computer -- that will be for another day. So now, my car is "clean" (my standard of clean) for a few days. But at $7 and FREE VACUUMS, they will be seeing me often!

Am I up to the Challenge?

Uh, the answer is no, I am not up to it. I was going to try and totally update my blog tonight with our adventures, but I already pooped out. So, I decided tonight to stick to Kelsie's horse camp adventure from last week. She had a really good time and learned a lot. Cam & I got to go watch her on Friday afternoon which was very fun. Kelsie started out on Scotch, but he was the most spirited horse. She did well with him, but got nervous during cantering, so she switched to Nightcap for the cantering. Hmmm, it just dawned on me: Scotch and Nightcap. Did we send her to horse camp or bar tending school? Strange. Anyway, she did great cantering on Nightcap -- you can see how much more comfortable she looks after she made the change. After the riding, she took her horse back to the stable, cleaned it up and put it away in its own area. She really did a professional job :)

Updates are coming!

I have so many pictures from our adventures that I want to share, but other things have taken first place. I have even "cooked" a few times!!! You know what? I may even post a recipe! Yikes, can you imagine?!??! It will be one of my mom's recipes, but it's REALLY easy (of course for me it has to be) and it's very tasty!

But for now, Kelsie and I are going exploring. Ken & Cam are in NY for the week having fun, so I think Kelsie and I should do the same here. We already started out our day fun -- friends the Tracy's from STL stopped on their way home from FL to see our house & go to IHOP with us -- so bummed that Ken & Cam weren't here -- Bill is one of Cam's baseball coaches and Grant plays ball with Cam. We love Kim & Jackson too, so even though it was a short visit, Kelsie & I loved seeing them and hope they (& you too) will come for more visits.

So, I hope to update with several pix yet this weekend...I hope you will stay tuned!

50% of the Voters Knew...

Yes, 50% of the voters knew (or guessed right) that KEITH HERNANDEZ certainly was "ONE TRADE TOO MANY"! Number 37!!!

BEVERLY!

Reminder: Only approximately 22 hours left to vote on the poll at the right -- number 37 -- who was it?

We visited the World of Coke downtown this past week with the Klaus'. It was our 1st trip downtown. We got down there w/o incident if I remember correctly. It was a beautiful weather day too!



Before I left STL, I went thru some of my pictures. I realized that I don't have many pix taken of myself, which is not a problem, but I had very few of me taken with my family or friends. So, I am going to try and rectify that now. When Mother's or Father's Day rolls around, for example, I want to have some pix of my parents and me, etc. So, here's my 1st attempt at changing my picture-taking habits -- here's Vicky & me. See the giant coke bottle?




Nice pic of Kelsie and Hannah above. Notice the pic below? It's all of the different products Coca-Cola has made over the years -- shocking! Who knew? Now, anyone remember these?


Mother -- didn't we used to have these big cans of Hi-C when I was growing up? This looked so familiar to me. Why don't they make these now?

Complete "yuk" on Fresca and Tab -- Tab I remember more than Fresca anyway -- Mom, didn't you try and drink that Tab gunk? BUT...as HORRIBLE as Tab was....here's BEVERLY!

Oh my! Beverly is from Italy. After the self-guided tour, they let you into the tasting area where you can taste Coke products from all over the world. Well, let's just say, there is something highly suspect about Italians if they actually drink this stuff?!!?!?!?! No idea?!?!? We heard about Beverly at the beginning of the tour, so we had to try it. Well, not "we". I think maybe Ken, Ron and I were the only ones who actually tasted it. If you count Kelsie putting her finger in it and then barely touching her finger to her tongue, then kelsie too. In this case, however, it's SO BAD that I do almost count that as tasting it!

Ron's cringing as Kenny takes a drink! I didn't get a pic of Kenny's face afterward b/c I was scrambling to get him something else to wash it down with, I was all out of sorts. :)

Here's Ron after Beverly:

Even worse was about 20 minutes after drinking Beverly, your mouth and body still hadn't recovered from it -- EEK!!!! But, if you ever go to the World of Coke, you gotta take the Beverly challenge -- are you up for it????

Hodge Podge...

First things first: GO NATIONAL LEAGUE!!! Come on, let's win ONE!

2nd things 2nd: Here are some miscellaneous pictures. For the 1st picture, please see the poll on the right hand side. Enquiring minds want to know: How many years did it take for JD Drew to make it to the All Star Game???


Our friends the Klaus family (well, 2/3's of them -- we miss you Danny and Sarah) are here for a visit -- we are so happy they made the trip -- here are a few pix:

SING STARS? Hummmm......

Oh, here is what the outside of the house looks like now with all of the massive trees and bushes ripped out. Stay tuned for what transpires...

Kelsie and Hannah cooked a very nice breakfast for us this morning -- If I eat like this everyday...well, let's just say the doors may not be wide enough!

This is only a small part of what they made.

Is this cute or what? Andrew and Cam enjoying the deck :)

Ok, more advice taken -- I really think this is a cute ottoman -- you might not be able to tell :) but it is :) Kenny wants another one, but I got this at Stein Mart and they only had one of course.

That's it for tonight -- we are going to the World of Coke (I think that's what it's called) tomorrow. Can't wait for that!!!

What a Week Brings...And...Jewel Freaking Me Out!

HI! Thanks to all of you for your ideas, we are working hard on implementing them...we still have a ways to go, but progress is being made! Huge thanks to my parents...you'll see below just a teeny bit of what they have been doing around here.

Here's my office -- YES -- it IS messy, probably the part of the house that needs the most attention -- hopefully this weekend I will be able to focus some time on it. However, I have been able to work successfully several days, so I'm thankful for that. I have some awesome and freaky pictures that my friends at work gave me -- those shall be up soon; Warning: you look at those pix at your own risk :)

Ok, so, the goal, based on input from several people, is to get the tv installed over the fireplace. I am still not sure how that's all going to happen; for now, it's sitting in front of the fireplace and we are watching tv successfully (when there's time). I should say, Kelsie and Cam are watching tv successfully.

Based on suggestions again, I purchased a sofa table -- I haven't found some of my pictures that I want to put on this. Plus, I am missing my Isabel Bloom "Sisters" statue that I want to put here -- where is that box?????????? It's stressing me out. But, I like the table. Guess I will buy another one for behind the couch, that is sitting away from the long wall. That still needs attention.

My folks tending to just one of their jobs...

WHO SAID this woman could take a break???????? :)

OK...Jewel is taunting me. I think she misses Spike and needs some adventure in her life (see posting down below). We have a loft and it looks down over technically 3 levels. There is a ledge that is about an inch and a half wide outside the spindles....check this out:

When she did this at first, I about had a heart attack! It still makes me crazy. I guess people say that cats see so well that an inch to us is way wider to a cat. I don't know, I still don't like it!

That's it for now -- more later. Hope all of you are great out there!!! Thanks for checking in!!!

Help, Nita!!!

Here's my first video on the blog!!! It's very exciting for me!

My friend Nita is an expert at decorating, even if she won't admit it :) I've got a living room that desperately needs her touch! Kenny took this video of the living room -- I just don't know what exactly to do with the furniture -- the tv is probably going to have to go against the wall on the right. We thought about mounting it over the fireplace, but that's just too much of a hassle. So, all of you are invited to take a look -- if you have any ideas, they would be welcome :) Do the couch and love seat have to be "squared off" like that????

Day 1 -- The First Full Day

Pool time...

Throwing the football -- see it up there in the air?

Ok, yes, there was work to be done and we did get back at it. Did I mention Kenny's "REINFORCEMENTS" arrived this afternoon? He says he underestimated the actual "move" -- My parents should make this process go a lot faster!

Cam's baseball collection is in place (in the black cabinet on his desk). That's about the only thing that had found its place at the time of this photo shoot :) Stay tuned, though. Oh, fyi...Jewel the cat has totally FREAKED out! We have hardly seen her. I have finally verified, however, that she is eating at least a little bit and using the litter box -- must be during the night, b/c during the day, she is hiding mostly under our bed! Tonight she has ventured out a little bit, but???? Kip, you were right! Cats don't like change!

Thanks to all of our family and friends for your prayers & other support.

Cumming, GA

Hey -- only 2 mins til library closes -- will write more soon, hopefully tomorrow our internet will be set up. Kelsie and I arrived late last night -- the house is great, but we are calling in reinforcements to help w/unpacking, etc...my parents are on their way down! Gotta run -- library is closed!!!