100th post ... hurrah for me!!!

Not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that this here is my 100th post since starting this lovely blogaroo... Am I overblogging? Underblogging? Or is my bloggy just right, like Baby Bear's porridge, chair and bed?


Well, lemme tell ya a quick story. I never watched the Wizard of Oz as a kid. Not sure why. Just didn't. Well, many moons ago I hung out a whole bunch with some distant cousins of mine (and their uber cool parents) and the little gal was just straight hung up on Oz. Watched it almost every day I think. Her name's Bridgett and yeah, I've mentioned her on this blog before. She's like 23 now, but still seems like a kid sis to me. We hang out cuz she's cool (like me). Anyway, I was in 9th grade I think and one day they threw the ole VHS tape in (or maybe it was on tv like it always was every year) of Oz. Well, when it came on it was in black & white. I thought this is lame and got up off the couch. I remember it like it was yesterday. Bridgett's dad ("Uncle Dave" is what I call him) snapped his fingers at me and said sit down, you're gonna watch this. I complied. Out.of.fear. ;-P So I watched it. And I loved it. When it turned to color, I was amaaaaazed. The story was wonderful. The music was great. And I wanted to be Dorothy. Cuz there's really no place like home.


Fast forward to today, June 23rd, in the year of our Lord 2011... me and Bridge decided we're gonna go see Wicked when it comes to town in a few months so today we bought us some sweet seats and that showtime ....
can't get here soon enough.

A recap of Father's Day weekend

Go see this. We did. It was GREAT.

We went to O'chucks for Joey's (belated) birthday...
it mighta been his celebration, but I had some dessert to celebrate. he he he Those mini donuts are R-I-G-H-T! I mighta used my phalange to get every last drop o' that icing, but I'll never tell.

 And then there's the Father's Day stuff..

Anthony usually gets Terry a thing (?) of Copenhagen, but this year he threw in a can of peanuts. If you're a girl, you might be thinkin' to yourself, what a weird (or bad) gift. Terry's reaction? MY TWO FAVORITE THINGS!!!

I gave my daddy a goody basket bowl of coffee and stuff that goes with it like a Crossword puzzle book, some sugar free coffee cakes, his fave creamer (thanks Karen!) and a mug in his fave color ... I think he liked it, as much as you can like a sorta impersonal gifto... I'll do better next year Daddy. You rock! I just stink at creative gift giving. My card was real sweet - told him how even though I'm not a little girl any more, I'll always be his little girl. Mushy stuff like that. Cuz I love him and all...

We took a day off...

First stop... 

Doesn't everyone start their vacation day with breakfast at the Barrel? The tough choice is whether to have eggs and biscuits or sweet delish ooey gooey pancakeys?! It was eggs for us. Pancakes'll be there next time.

Then...

We squeezed on a little newborn cousin... him's little and cute and smelled sweet like a baby should. (Little is a relative term... he was little bitty compared to Anth, who commented that he didn't mind holdin' him cuz he wasn't so tiny and fragile like most newborns...and I think there was a comment about holding him like a football, but I can't be sure...he's only the second newborn Anth has ever held, but doesn't he look like a pro?!)

Then...

 Cannon baaaaalllllll

Cappin' it off with a swim (with Anthony's mom and nephew)
ahhh, love them vacay days.

CMA Music Fest 2011

We have never ever ever been to CMA Music Fest (formerly known as Fan Fair, idk why they changed the name, Fan Fair has a nice ring to it, but whatev). So we decided to go this year, but just one night. Thursday night was our pick because of one reason and one reason only. The Zac Brown Band fan club "eat & greet" was that night. They call their fans the ZAMILY, how cool is that?! Well, we goofed and missed the ticket sale online. Riley was over and we were playing in the yard with him because we're good babysitters. I'll have a post on that play date soon. So Anthony, being heartbroken persistent, emailed Tbird (fan club prez) and gave her our sob story situation and she said if they had any no shows, they'd let us in. At the very least, we'd get our fan club tshirts. Cool.

I was determined I was wearin' me a sundress and cowboy boots. It was 90freakin5 but I didn't care. I wanted to be cute. (Anthony said comfort was more important than cute when it's this hot, but I ignored him.)

Boots were a freebie from my bud Brandi (she outgrew 'em post-baby)

and the dress was an el-cheapo from Rugged Wearhouse!

So traffic was worse than a tangled strand of 20,000 Christmas lights. We showed up late to the eat & greet, but they let us in (FO FREE) and we got to eat (yum!) and hear the ZBB boys play. Anth chatted with Jimmy (the cool cat on violin) but we didn't push our way through to talk to Zac. We were just glad to be there. Next year we'll get on the computer early and be ready! The tix sold out in 5 minutes. Yikes!
(Anth also talked to the chef who is the master mind behind all the tasty vittles...he was cool.)

We walked down the street and across the bridge. We walked across the street. We walked through the stadium, across the concourse (whatever that is) and then there was the ramp. The lovely humongo treacherous long ramp. Did I mention the ramp was forever long? I felt like I was walkin' up the stairway to Heaven. My feet were burning, but alas, we finally found our seats. So what if we were up in the heavens with the birds, helicopters and clouds? We were sitting. Ahhhh. Second guessing my foot attire....

This is a look of relief. So nice to be sitting. Don't even mind the sweat that was rollin' down my back. I was sitting. (Anth was strugglin' for a bit with how high up our seats were... but he managed.)

Zac & the boys opened the show. Big shock! But awesome! They played for an hour. Songs (in order performed): Toes, Free, Devil Went Down to Georgia, Colder Weather (with Amos Lee, who was super cool at the eat & greet and chatted with Anth), Knee Deep, Money (Sonya Leigh wrote it and did lead vocals), No Hurry, Forever & Ever Amen (with Randy Travis), Keep Me in Mind, Walkin' Away (with Alan Jackson), Chicken Fried. 

A girl next to me had her boots kicked off and I told her she had the right idea and I became a copy cat. She said she thought she had blisters and I said yeah, me too!

After ZBB, Easton Corbin sang a few. He was okay. Sara Evans came next. She did: As If, Born to Fly, Stronger (everybody in the place was singing along with her...she said Hillary Scott of Lady A wrote that song and I was surprised they didn't keep it for themselves but anyhoo), My Heart Can't Tell You No (Rod Stewart penned this one and SE is about to release her version), and Real Fine Place to Start. She sounded reeeeal good.
Casey James (of American Idol fame) played an acoustic set between acts. He sounded good, but may have been a milli-tad nervous. Bless his heart.
When Jason Aldean came out, as they say, the crowd went wild. Up on their feet screamin' wild. He did Crazy Town, My Kind of Party, Big Green Tractor, Don't You Wanna Stay (WITH KELLY CLARKSON AND IT WAS AWWWESOMMMMME do you hear me?), Dirt Road Anthem, Johnny Cash, Hick Town, and She's Country. Brought down the house.
Ricky Skaggs came out and did an acoustic set while Brad Paisley's entourage crew set up for his closer of the night set. (yawn)
Brad Paisley got a bigger reaction than Aldean when he took the stage. We listened to a few, but headed on out. Part of our motivation was the traffic. We got out lickety split. I might have walked in my sock feet from the outside of the stadium back to the car. You'll never know... We heard that Alabama showed up to sing with BP. Oh well... we didn't have to sit in hours of gridlock.

Out late? Tastes great!

Memorial Day 2011

It was Memorial Day...

 and it was fun....

There was a buncha burgers, dogs, ribs and chicken (yo!) along with some smackin' sides and delish desserts. It was HOTTT! There was corn hole, the washer game, yard darts, badminton (less the net), and good ole frisbee.  And of course talkin' and laughin' and lovin' (the fam)...

The fellas played HORSE and boy, did they get skweaty (that's real sweaty). . . there are three artificial knees out there and one knee that's gone under the knife. <sigh> Boys will be boys.

These three cutie patooties are my nephewwwwws. Some gals are sure gonna be lucky one day... Camden is 10, Cullen is 13 and Caleb is 19. Lady killuhs. Yeeah.

To recap this week...if ya start with Sunday

Sun - My mom & dad took us to lunch. Had a ham & cheese omelet the size of my head. No need for dinner. Ran 5 miles. Gotta try to work off somathat om.

 

Mon - Ran 2 miles with Bridgett after work. If I ever had a kid sister, she'd be what I'd order up. Cool cat.

 

Tues - Had dinner with Charles & Annette. He can sho tell some sto-ries!

 

Weds - Lovin' my toes today. I think they're pretty, especially in french mani. Sue me. I like my toes.

 

Thurs - Lunch with a new (coworker) friend. Found out she loves cats as much as I do. We already share a love for photography.

 

Fri - Weekend here I come! Found some red sandals for a b/w dress (with a narrow red belt) I bought last weekend that was just screamin' for red shoes. (maybe if I look as cute as I think I'm gonna look I'll post a pic) Ran 3.2 after work cuz the weather was perfectomundo fer it.

 

Sat - Busy, busy! Started the morning with a 3.2 mile run (before it gets blazin' 106). Riley came over. We played hard but he had to go home with his (lucky) parents! Pulled weeds. Washed the car. Ate Chinese with hubby for dinner & did a smidge o' shopping. Lovin' General's chicken yo!

 

And a side note for the week - I've been struggling with my hair lately (trying to grow out layers just to switch up my look a bit) and this week 2 or 3 people, including one random stranger, complimented it highly. Guess it ain't as bad as I thought, huh? :-P

Lyndy's list of favorite things...

Things that are thebomb.com to me right now - 

• Loreal Voluminous mascara
• Avon ultra color rich lipstick in sparkling nude (wear it - you will get compliments)
• Running & volleyball  
• Pretzel M&Ms (these may stay on my permanent Things I Love list)
• These

• The Band Perry's self-titled CD (every track is good yall.. trust me, they're no one-hit wonder.. and me and Kimberly, we basically sound just alike)
• I LOVE spring

We planted this dogwood in the fall of 2009. It didn't bloom last spring, so I was super pumped that it was so pretty this year. The pink one only had one bloom (poor thing, I'm sure the white one has taunted it since like March), but I hear they're not as hearty as the white ones. Now ya tell me, gee thanks.

When we built our house, the builder told us a Japanese maple was "a must" for this spot so after thinking it over (and the in-laws springin' for the tree as a housewarming gift) we gave in. Well it was 'spensive and it bit the dust the first year...soooo in the fall of 2009 we planted another one (that came from el-cheapo flea market-o) and lookie how she's blossomed with some TLC...

• Game night with my bro & fam...

Cam was at a birthday campout sleepover.
• Going shopping with my mom today (can I getta hoo-rahh, looked forward to this all week, yo)

Exercise freak?

Last weekend was the beginning of an exercise freak-tified week for me. I'm trying to help my young friend Bridgett get going on her exercise regimen so we ran all weekend. The temps were perfect-o do you hear me?! Anyway, this is how today went - I had to work of course. On my lunch hour I went to butts & guts class. In this class we did this stuff: crunches, push ups, flies, more crunches (a different kind), skull crushers, overhead raises, tricep dips, bicep curls. 3 sets each circuit. OUCH! Went back to work. After work, went to the park and ran three miles in 29 minutos (numero uno was in 9 minutes y'all), then walked a mile to cool down and enjoy the scenery a bit. Then, I discovered I kinda stunk so I went back to the gym to shower and change clothes before my volleyball game. I'm playing in a co-ed league at work. We have a 100+acre campus that rivals most college campuses, no foolin' and we have a sand volleyball court that's pretty sweet. I played last year and had a blast. Summer temps get hot, but I love some bump.set.spike action. Yeeeah. Our team name is BOOMshakalaka. Oh and I should mention that in tonight's first game, which we won 15-3, I served up like 10 consecutive points and in the second game, which we won 15-2, I served up 12 or 13 in a row. Hope my serve sticks around all season. That will be hot!

So was I an exercise freak today? Maybe. But some people think nuthin of exercisin' more than two hours in a single day. They proly don't have real jobs though, yo.

Pleasing your wife *by Lyndy

Lyndy's guide to pleasing your wife....

 

I think we can all agree that boys and girls men and women are different... my friend Brandi says it's that Y chromosome the fellas have :-P Well, here I'm gonna give you my take on how to please your wife (or girlfriend if the shoe fits)

 

1.    Don't be predictable with flowers

Yeah, it's nice to send us roses on V-day, our birthday or anniversary. But it's more special (and thoughtful) if you know we're havin' a crappy day or week and you send 'em to us with a note that says "hope this makes your day better" and of course an "I love ya" would be nice. Oh, and don't break the bank. Six flowers or less will do. No need to send so many that everyone within a 2 mile radius is sneezing.

 

2.    Be supportive and don't try to be a problem solver

We know you can't read our minds. But once in a while if we're venting or grumpy, we need you to just listen and be on our side. Don't try to solve the problem. We hate when you get analytical. Just say yeah, I know honey, that stinks, maybe give us a peck on the cheek or a squeeze and love us. But most importantly: LISTEN. It's okay to turn away from your precious ESPN or Weather channel once in a while. It will still be there when we finish our sob story.

 

3.    Think before taking the last one

This is mostly related to food... but it can also apply to the last clean washcloth, the last roll of TP, etc. There's nothing worse than going to the fridge or pantry with that certain edible yummy in mind to find that someone took the last one and didn't bother to mention it. Really becomes a prob if you're going "number 2" and you turn to find the basket of TP is EMPTY-O. Grrr not cool.

 

4.    Surprise us with small things

Sometimes we get busy (or lazy) and the dishes may sit in the sink a couple days or the clean laundry may grow roots in the laundry basket or nearest empty chair... surprise us and take care of it without us havin' to ask. It may sound weird, but this is kinda romantic to us. A man who vacuums and cleans toilets without being asked is a hot commodity.

 

5.    Introduce us to people in a sweet way

Don't refer to us as "the old lady" or "my woman" because we consider this borderline disrespectful.

One of the absolute COOLEST things my hubby has done lately happened a week or so ago when we ran into a childhood friend of his. They hadn't seen each other since they were kids and Anthony introduced me as his "high school sweetheart." I nearly melted into a puddle. I had never heard him refer to me as that. I always refer to him that way when introducing him, but hearing him say it pretty much made me feel like I was floating. I told him later and he rolled his eyes at me and this is why I put this on the list... you guys just don't really get it.

 

************************

I think now you get it - less is more... it doesn't have to be extravagant or require tons of $$$ or planning. Just let us know you care and move your butt once in a while. :-P Oh, and if you're really wanting to get in our good graces, hand us the remote once a year wouldja?!

 

I should end this blog entry with a statement about my beloved. Anthony is wonderful and I'm blessed to have such a sweetie to share my life with. He rarely irritates me or makes me mad. I probably don't deserve him, but sure am glad he's ALL MIIIIIINE!

Thank God for moms

Happy Mother's Day to you Mom!

It was a busy weekend, but such is life these days. When we went by Mom and Dad's Saturday evening to give her all her M-day goodies she ended up grilling out for us. Awww. That was special (and tasty)! Since it was unexpected I didn't have my cam, so no pics of that. We took this pic at church of course :-)

And to you, too Ma Ma!

This is my only living grandparent. We call her Ma Ma (say it: maa maa). She's a spry 89 and all of 4 feet somethin. I was so glad to see her at church this mornin!
She's my daddy's momma. Here they are -  

My brothers stayed with Ma Ma a lot when they were little, but when I came along my mom quit working and was a full-time stay home mom. All that to say, I don't have as many cool memories with Ma Ma as they do, but every summer I'd go over there for a week while my parents went to the annual General Baptist Association meeting. We'd do puzzles, watch tv, play outside and I'd "help" her in the garden. I remember one (unpleasant) time we picked blackberries. And we always went to her sister's house at some point during the week.

Happy Mother's Day to my mother-in-law, too!

After church Sunday we headed to Anthony's mom's to deliver her M-day goodies. Anthony's sis and her little boy were there so of course Anthony had to throw a little baseball (uncle duties)...

We first tried taking the pic by the little fish pond, but 'tween the big tree nearby and the sun it was just not a prime photo spot... Anthony HATES pics anyway and I had moved him around about three times and by the time he was nestled on top of a planter box, I decided the sun was casting weird enough shadows that we should move. Anthony said he felt like he was on the toilet so I quickly snapped a pic. LOL This shot may end up in Janice's calendar for next year. he he he

TO SUM IT UP  - -

Thanks to Mom for birthin' lil ole 7 pound 11 ounce me.

And thanks to Ma Ma for birthin' Dad because without him there'd be no me. And thanks to Janice for birthin' Anthony because he's pretty much perfect and I love him a bunch!

Moms rock! Right?!