Money Pits

Why does everyhing have to break or need repair at the same time, or around the same time? Money pits...money pits...money pits. I know this title usually goes to a house or something that people buy and have to fix up, but when cars and houses start needing repairs at the same time, I think we can call those money pits. In a matter of a few weeks, I have had air conditioner repairs at the house, car repairs for an overheated car, more repairs today on the tail lights and brake lights on the car, with an expensive part to be ordered for next week...and so it goes......

The summer weather has been nice, and the sunshine is wonderful.  I am enjoying vacation. I had planned on going to the beach again this week, but I haven't made it there. Too many things are happening around here to take a drive down to the beach.

We celebrated my nephew's 16th birthday on Wednesday. We went to lunch at Five Guys Burgers. The burgers are really good, like homemade hamburgers.

Then, we went to Logan's Roadhouse that night. We had a nice time. I ordered a barbecue plate. The chicken and ribs were good, but the pulled pork wasn't so good. Around Savannah, pulled pork barbecue is a staple, and we have some good local barbecue.

I made a cake for him, confetti cake, and iced it. Then, I used some long sour candy things to make a 16 and put sour patch candies around as a border. They liked the candy better than the cake, I think.

My niece put i her order for a sour mountain cake! She wants a mountain cake with a trail made out of the long candy and sour patch soldiers marching down it! ha! She will be 12 in July. For my other niece, I am going to try to make a high school cake, since she will be in the 9th grade this coming year. I may add some softball things, too, because she loves softball and is on the team now.

I have an "order" from my soon to be six year old niece for a Tangled Cake, in August. I have been googling Tangled cakes for a while now, and I think I have an idea on how to make one. I just hope it doesn't topple over!! I found this one online. It is actually from someone's blog about their cakes! She made the tower and house out of rice krispie treats. The rest is actual cake. I do not think mine will be this tall. She says it was over four feet high. I will make mine much shorter.

Later in August, I will post pictures of my Tangled cake. I hope it looks good!

Gotta go for now. Have a great day!!

Ah, Summer

So... what kind of productive things have I done so far this summer? Well...let me see...We all went to the beach Friday...I bought some more cross stich patterns and books that I have no idea WHEN I will get around to using...I took my first Cholesterol pill last night. I have been avoiding that pill for almost 15 years, so I finally caved in, since I have more bad cholesterol than good cholesterol, and I do have a couple of heart conditions, so I thought it might be in my best interest to cave in, since I am not being successful with the diet and exercise thing!...I went to see the musical, The Music Man, at the Children's Theatre with my good friend Cathy Solomons and enjoyed it very much...I went to supper with my sister and brother in law, and Daddy, at Love's Seafood, and they treated us to dinner, after waiting for TWO hours for a table! There was a party of 100 people in the back who had been there since 3 pm and stayed until after 8 pm!! Can you imagine letting people do that to your business on one of your busiest nights - SATURDAY!! There were a LOT of dissatisfied customers that evening...I have been spoiling my Golden Retriever, Page, by allowing her to be a house dog now, rather than an outdoor/indoor dog. She really misses our Lady, and she smells the yard and surroundings all the time looking for her. Page also follows me foot to foot in the house, afraid that I might go away, too, I suppose...I finally figured out how to pin a website on Pinterest without too much hassle. You have to download the PinIt button, first! I have never really been a peruser of Pinterest,  but I do go on there occassionally to see what my daughter, family, and friends have pinned...I have been contemplating my trip to Milwaukee for my Bitburg, Germany High School Reunion and what it is going to be like to see people that I haven't seen or heard of in over FORTY years!!!!...I bought some Cake decorating things from Michael's and A.C. Moore...I bought birthday candle numbers from 0 to 9, so that we will not be without a candle for anyone anymore...I have been anxiously awaiting my order from 31 bags (it will be delivered tomorrow)...I FINALLY found a wagon that I can take to the beach or wherever I need to go and bought it!...I bought two new beach umbrellas and towels, also...I have been trying to 'catch' my soap opera on real-time television, rather than watching it on the computer at night, but I haven't managed to do that yet - maybe it will work out today - Young and the Restless...I have also been trying to blog regularly, rather than once or twice a year!! haha....SO, there is my summer vacation so far. Have a great day!!

The BEACH~~

We took Dora on her first trip to the beach yesterday. She really loved the wind blowing on her face! She smiled, and laughed, and kicked her feet constantly! We know when she is trying to talk, because her legs go round and round, and her arms go flailing around! She is one sweet little girlie! I have two small beach umbrellas that we set up, so that she did not get any sunburns! Rachel laid a towel down in the sand and put Dora on it. She loved the feel of the sand on her back! I have lots of pictures to post, so I will let the pictures tell the story!
  Today has been a do-nothing day so far. I have enjoyed just sitting around, messing on the computer, doing nothing, putting up dishes from the kitchen sink that desperately needed to find their home, etc. I made some chicken salad and poured a gingerale. This afternoon, I am going to see the Children's Theatre production of "The Music Man". My friend, Cathy, asked me to go with her. I'm sure it will be fun. I like that musical.
Well, let me get started loading the beach pictures. Have a great Saturday!!

Dora in Grandma's Carseat!

Dora is reading the sunscreen label!

She is such a good baby!

Let's go already!

Squeezing into her bathing suit!

Rachel and Dora ready to go, with the Tybee Lighthouse in the background.

Almost there!

Mamma Rachel fussing with my hat!

Grandma's new wagon! I've been looking for one for a couple of years. I saw this at Sam's, and I just HAD to buy it!

Sunbathing at the beach!

Giggling away!

I'm such a happy baby! I LOVE the beach!

Sweet Girl!

I love to kick my legs up into the air!

Lounging in the chair...

It's been a fun day!!

Summertime

Today is the first Monday of summer vacation. We were out Thursday and Friday, but those two days did not feel like summer. This week will be my first full week of vacation...YEA!!
How did I start out the day? I went to school, of course. HA! We had a walkthrough of our new school building. All of it is not yet ready, but we went through the whole building and saw all of its wonders. Since our other school was way over 50 years old, like me, there were many things that were not up to par. Now, we will have all of the same things as other schools. We are all looking forward to the newness of our site. I have been at this school for 20 years, and for 20 years we have been told that we were getting a new school. Well folks, it is finally HERE! I know that when school starts in August, everything is going to be wonderful, fresh, and new. That thought alone will help us all to be able to go back to work, after a summer break, with a renewed strength and power to begin helping to build little lives into productive and accomplished citizens.
Wish us luck!

Lady

My Lady went to heaven today. Lady was an Old English Sheepdog that I adopted from a rescue center. She had been rescued from a puppy mill. Lady was one of the sweetest dogs that I have ever had. My Golden Retriever is very sweet and good natured, and Lady was very even tempered and sweet. She just wanted love all the time. I will miss her very much, and I know that my Page will miss her buddy, too!

Goin' to the Movies

I don't usually write a post about a movie, but this one has stayed in my mind all day. My cousin Mina called to ask Rachel and I to go to the movie today. Sally was with us, so she went, too. Susan, Amy, and Kate were with Mina already, and they went, too. We went to see something called "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel". I didn't know what it was going to be about, but I heard it was a comedy, so I went. I only like to watch comedies. I do not like dramas anymore. I like funny, lighthearted stuff. Anyway, Rachel and I went to meet them all at the movie. We got there after it started, but we didn't miss much.  I really liked the movie, and I recommend it to anyone out there in blogland who might accidentally be reading this :)  The movie is about a group of people who meet when they are on a trip to India. They are all moving to a big fancy hotel to live, instead of living in an old folks home in America. Their adventures are often funny, sometimes dramatic, but altogether interesting to watch and enjoy. There were many funny lines, all delivered with grace, as always done by REAL actors and actresses. I say 'real' actors, because so many times nowadays we see "comedians" attempting to be actors, and they just shout out punchlines and accentuate them when they want to show the audience when it is time to laugh. I enjoy watching real actors, not stand up comedians trying to make a big buck off of a movie. So, there is my rant.Anyway, the movie was good. I don't go to the movie theatre very often, the prices are moving on up there, so this trip was a treat.  If you get to see this movie, I hope you enjoy it! This picture is kind of small, but it only gets fuzzy when I try to make it bigger. Dame Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are in the movie. All of the characters are great. The young man who runs the hotel is terrific. I hope you get to see this movie!!

Peanuts

The candied peanuts did not turn out as expected. I have something to show for it, though...A big mess in the oven!! Most of the brown sugar and margerine went down into the bottom of the oven leaving a big, smoky mess in the kitchen!  I was in such a hurry that I did not clean it right away. Silly me forgot all about it, and I put a cake in the oven this morning. MORE SMOKE!!  I quickly tried to scrape the sugar and stuff off of the bottom and continued to bake. I will have to make sure to clean it really good when the cake is finished. Maybe I should actually LOOK at a recipe next time before I try to make something new! HA!HA!
The Thirty-One party was a success, and all of the other goodies were tremendous. Actually, the peanuts taste great, but they just aren't individually candied!  Next time, I will not be in such a hurry and maybe the nuts will be better!

Experimenting

I am trying something today. In Savannah, people make candied pecans. There are so many pecan trees around here that people make candied pecans. So, I got this great idea. If you can make candied pecans, then you can make candied peanuts! My idea came to me, because I bought UNsalted peanuts the other day, quite by accident. Publix grocery store has buy one get one free items all the time. I was rushing through there the other day and saw the dry roasted peanuts in that category. I grabbed up two of them and went about my business. After I got home, I realized the peanuts had no salt. SO, the idea hit me to make candied peanuts. I am hosting a Thirty-One Party today, and one of my treats will be the peanuts! I just put them in the oven, and I hope they turn out okay. I put lots of margerine and brown sugar in them and popped them into the oven. I will let you know how they turned out. I also made a cake, tuna salad, chicken salad, deviled eggs, and veggie dip. I baked a chicken yesterday and pulled it apart for the salad. Since I am the only one in my house, I do not need to eat an entire chicken!!
I hope you all have a great Saturday. I smell the peanuts, so I better go for now!!