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Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Life's A Beach



Okay folks, not sure what happened to this earlier. But I will repost it! That a few weeks ago I had been busy remodeling one of my bathrooms! Which the above video will show you the end results of how it turned out...

Now believe me this was no easy thing to do! See I am one when it comes to remodeling that I just have a little bitty problem. It is what you call "Picking out the right paint color or colors!" Yep, seems that little old me knows exactly what I want when I decide to do a project. That I even go on-line and play around on the various name brand web-sites to see how the colors will look and all. But then come time to go buy the one or ones that I have choosen...and... Let me just say my dear husband Mike wishes I would just stick to my guns!!! LOL

Well, at first all I was going to do was paint this here bathroom. Nothing else. Just a fresh coat of paint and that was it! Little did we know that our recent trip to the Outer Banks for some much needed relaxation was going to turn this into a total "REDO PROJECT" from top to bottom! Yep, at first it started out just some small simple things got my attention. Things I noticed at the house we were staying at while on vacation. Seems I truly loved the decor there! Well, as we ventured out and checked things out I begin to get some ideas for my own house! That is when Mike realized his wallet might be in trouble!

Now, he is into remodeling and does a lot of this on the side. Plus takes great pride in his work. But of course bless his heart, he never knew what was fixing to happen! That is untill I started filling up the shopping carts, etc. with items for my "Life's A Beach" theme bathroom! Then he knew what was going on. Of course he caved in and off to the races we went.

We found all kinds of neat little things. Plus some other items we are going to use for our other remodeling projects in the house. Though he would not admit to it, he does love shopping! More so when it comes to remodeling the house we live in. Anyway, we certainly did save quite alot of money. Guess because I am one who will hunt for the best bargains! Plus compare prices. Still though I can see my hubby's face everytime he pulled out his wallet to pay! The expression is what you would call "Priceless!" Lord how I love this man!

All in all once we got back home it took me about a week to finish it up. Blame this on me and my deal about paints! Ya know pick it out, get to the store to buy it and Wham! So many to choose from, you get totally lost in it all....(I really need to work on that something bad) Still I am happy with the finished project. It is another item off of my "To Do List" completed for this year.

Of course Mike says he will either build us or buy us a new bathroom cabinet. Plus get us a new door and trim. But those will come once we finish up the other doors and trim in the rest of the house! YEAH.. I can not wait to get started.

Well here is my own little piece of the beach. I hope you all like it as much as we do. Plus maybe it will not disappear off of my blog this time! :0(

Monday, September 29, 2008

ON NO----Tell Me I Did Not Do That...........


On Saturday it seems that the weather got the best of me. Or I should say I let my mood swings! That out and about I went with a friend of mine to lunch. And of course we decided why not go into a few stores afterwards. Ya know just to see what was "On Sale," and to pass the time away. So here we go a looking around amongst the crowds. Man there were alot of people in the stores today! I really do not blame them. Cause it was the first day we had seen the sun in like "FOREVER!" But I should have know that was not going to last long... Amongst the crowd my friend Pam did find her some bargains. As for me, no go. I just was not in the mood for it! Now mind you I do love to go shopping! But this afternoon was not my day for it.

So later on when we got back to my place my hubby was home. He decided we all needed to go out to eat! UGH--I just wanted to stay home for a change! But him and Pam kept after me to go. Saying things like, "Aw come on you can pick out the restaurant, anywhere your heart desires, whatever you want to do we will do, etc.!" Hmm, how could I resist? Well needless to say I gave in and out the door we took off. Now for me all I really wanted to eat was a salad. So off to 'Texas" we headed. By the time we arrived I changed my mind and got a Baked Potato and that was it! Of course Mike and Pam got the full course meals! LOL By the time they were finished with their meals, seems Mike wanted to do some shopping! YEP----that is correct-----Shopping again.......

Ok, here I am, full mood swing in motion inside Target! Slowly but surely walking along, pushing the buggy, talking to myself! Or I should say mumbling under my breath things that I will not repeat on here! Then all of a sudden here comes Mike looking all excited like a kid turned loose for the first time in a candy store! Seems he has found the "Christmas Decorations" inside the store! Lord help me!!!!!!!! See you have to know my Mike, to understand how he is about the holiday Christmas. More so about the decorations and all. :0) That he wants me to go check them out with him. Telling me all about his discovery of the new LED ones! So there I go, buggy and all to explore these new items! Little did I know when I finally made it over there how much my mood was going to change.

My oh my, talk about new and different items to look at this year for Christmas Decor! There it all was laid out in front of me! Disney, Charlie Brown, Nascar, Angels, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Dora-The Explorer, Blues Clues, Taz, Tweety Bird, and all other kinds of Themed ones! Plus you had your wreaths, ornaments, lights, gift boxes, garland, houses, and the LED"S! I must let you know though that 'Target" still had tons of more Christmas things to get out!!!!!! Anyway, here we were looking at all of this, aisle, after aisle, after aisle. The whole time Mike was saying, "Look at what this one does," or " Do you like this," and "Hey, listen to what this one says and does!" I bet you can just imagine by now where my little mind is a going! Yes sirree, you are right. It appears that I spotted something that I had to have. Right there on the bottom shelf. Like a bolt of lightning from out of a clear blue sky it hit me! WHAM!!!!!!!!! The most beautiful thing I had ever seen to go with my collection of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" items!

Now remind you I kept telling myself that I would not buy any of this Christmas stuff before Halloween was over. But this I just had to get. There was only one of them. Plus I just knew if I did not get it now, there would not be anymore of them before Christmas. Or at least that is what I convinced myself of! So down on my knees I went and scooped that baby right up. But before I got back up, low and behold there was another totally different LED one to go with it! Being who I am and all, and collecting my Rudolph items for Christmas......Let's just say it went in the buggy too! After that this voice said to me, "Oh No, you did not do that!" To which I replied, "Yep, I sure did!"


Thursday, September 25, 2008

ATTN: Fellow Bloggers....... The Devil Meets Jesus







Oh my, what a way to start the day! A catchy little phrase don't you think? One that has been stuck in my mind every since yesterday! Why you might ask? Well because of mine and Mike's going out and about yesterday!



You see we went to go check out some supplies I needed for my remodeling of our Master Bedroom and Bathroom. Needless to say, it was quite an adventurous trip! That we were gone almost all day. Seems like (as I posted before) I just could not make up my mind about the various paint colors I wanted to use again. Yes, I started out with the one set of colors picked out. But once I got there.... well I started to see some other colors I liked. And off my mind went to racing about different color schemes! UGH!!!

Anyway, at first I did not notice things in the various stores we went to until we walked into Lowes. Then "BAM" it hit me. Like a ton of bricks falling onto my head! There right above me was "CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS!" Yes your read it right.......CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS!!! Right here almost at the end of September! Not even 2 days into Fall yet! Plus "Halloween" has not even arrived, nor "Thanksgiving!" I mean "What is up with that?" So I turned to Mike as I spotted the blowups, and said, "Look the Devil meets Jesus!" He looked at me dumbfounded and said "Huh?" Then I pointed upwards where he looked up and started laughing. Cause there it all was right across from the "Halloween Decor!"
Now, you know I just had to go and see if there was any other decor set up for Christmas. Which there was. It was all set up in the indoor Garden Center. Seems they were just getting most of it out. While looking around a sales associate said 'Hi" and asked "If we needed any assistance? " We said "No, thanks, "But asked was it not too soon for the Christmas stuff to be out?" She informed us that they were suppose to have had it out already "TWO WEEKS AGO!" Can you just imagine the look on my face when I heard that?

Well, to us we got a chuckle for the rest of the day. Cause every store we went into after that we started noticing they too had various "Christmas Decor" out. Or were in the process of putting it out! And were they side by side with the 'Halloween Decorations?" Yep, either that way or right down from it!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Just Thinking Out Loud


You know today is just one of them there days. The kind where all you do is get lost within yourself! Your thoughts are running rampant within your head and you realize that you are starting to "Think Out Loud!" Well that is what has been happening with me ever since late last night and all day today! Not sure if it has to do with the weather or what. But it appears that my friends seem to know when this is happening to me! Yep, cause my e-mail box is getting flooded with tons of e-mail! LOL


So I got these two e-mails that I wanted to share with everyone. It seems that these two really hit me hard when I read them. They set my mind to rocking and a rolling in every direction you can imagine.... That the first one brought tears a flowing that I have not cried in a very long time. It made me stop and realize just how true this is for so many people in our world today. Seems to me that we all should be able to learn a lesson from this one.





WHY ARE WE HERE?



When I drove up in my taxi cab at 2:30 a.m., the building was
dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.
Under these circumstances, many taxi drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, and then drive away.



But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on
taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of
danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself..



So I walked to the door and knocked. 'Just a
minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged
across the floor.



After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's
stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil
pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.



By her side was a small nylon
suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the
furniture was covered with sheets.



There were no clocks on the walls, no
knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box
filled with photos and glassware.



'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she
said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.



She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.



She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated'.



'Oh, you're such a good boy', she said. When we
got in the cab, she gave me an address, and then asked, 'Could you drive through
downtown?


''It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly.



'Oh, I don't mind,'
she said.



'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice'.



I looked in the
rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she
continued. 'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and
shut off the meter.



'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.



For the next
two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had
once worked as an elevator operator.



We drove through the neighborhood where she
and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone
dancing as a girl.



Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular
building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.



As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired.
Let's go now.



'We drove in silence to the address she had given me.It was a low
building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a
portico.



Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were
solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting
her.



I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was
already seated in a wheelchair.



'How much do I owe you?' she asked, reaching into
her purse.'Nothing,' I said



'You have to make a living,' she answered.



'There are other passengers,' I responded.



Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.



'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,'
she said.'Thank you.



'I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning
light. Behind me, a door shut.. It was the sound of the closing of a life.



I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in
thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had
gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift?



What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?



On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.



We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.



PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID,
~BUT~THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.



You won't get any big surprise in 10 days if you send this to ten people. But, you might help make the world a little kinder and more compassionate by sending it on.



Thank you, my friend...



Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might
as well dance.



Well, what do you think ? Sure is something powerful I will say! That for me personally I try to do more for others than for myself. Or at least that is what everyone tells me that I do.. That life is a journey to be treasured. It is one that we should all enjoy to the fullest. To make sure that we are not in a rush or hurry. In other words "SLOW DOWN!" Srop and smell the roses, breath in that fresh air! Notice the small things as well as the big ones too... Like the fresh grass that has just been cut, or a field of hay that has just been mowed, seeing the sun rise or watching it set across the land at night! Or better yet how the scent of "Midnight Blooming Jasmine" smells at night! My how I love that smell! :0) Plus the others fragrances of honeysuckle, roses, and any and all kind of flowers blooming! Really I truly love it! And let us not forget the smells that delight our noses when we walk into someones house and can smell food cooking!!!!!! Oh my the memories that flow through my mind of family get togethers at my Moms & Dads.... Plus my sister Brendas! What fun we all have had! I guess what I am trying to say is "Take Time" to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste all of the wonderous things that life has to offer you. Make memories that will forever be in your heart as well as the hearts of others!


Though these thoughts are still running like crazy through my mind. I mean like the question asked above, "Why are we here?" Does anyone truly know the correct answer to it? For me there is no right or wrong answer. Just that we are here to help one another in some small or big way. Be it through a random act of kindness, generousity, love, to comfort each other, lending a hand, listening or whatever ! We are here not to let time pass us by. Rather to use our time as best we can! And to use it up to the fullest! One day at a time. No more and no less!


So now on t the other e-mail I recieved. It too was from another friend. He seems to know just when I need a helping hand to guide me along. Especially when I feel life is getting me down. So here is what he sent to me.



The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Beers


When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.


A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.


The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.


The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous 'yes.'


The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.


'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.


The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.


The sand is everything else---the small stuff. 'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there IS no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.


'Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'


One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.'


The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.'


Please share this with someone you care about.. I JUST DID




In closing this out all I can say is that "Mama said that would be days like these!" And she sure was telling me the truth. That these two e-mails that my dearest of friends sent me, I will print and save in my book of memories that I have. It is one full of all kinds of things. I guess you could say it is something that I am leaving behind for my son to one day have. As well as my grandson and future grandkids to enjoy reading! Now you all go and have yourself a beautiful & fun filled, enjoyable day! Live your life to the fullest! And THANK YOU for stopping by to read this. Though it was awful long.....







.






Sunday, September 14, 2008

I'm Back......

Okay everyone I am going to try this again! That yes, I had a Blog before. But took it down due to personal reasons. Anyway, after giving it much thought and debate here I go again..... So hang on tight, this may get a little bit bumpy. LOL One thing is for sure.......I do have a lot going on in my brain 24 hours a day/7 days a week!

That the title of my blog is one that deals with life in general. Or I should say with "Checking Out Life" period. You will find me rambling on about a variety of subjects here. As well as telling you where you can find great deals on some freebies, coupons, ideas, recipes, and all kinds of fun and interesting things! Now Jeanne can tell ya about my home-made cooking from scratch recipes! Lord knows she loves to have me cook when I come home to visit. :0)

Another thing is that I may even blog about my family. Plus when I get mad too. All in all it is gonna be a mixture of everything and anything you can and cannot think of!

So there you have it. Hope to make some friends to while I am at this here blogging thing. Look forward to the comments too! Take care and enjoy the evening.