Candle Craziness

I found these candles on a clearance shelf at WalMart in Myrtle Beach and thought they were so pretty, and such a bargain at $4 each, that I couldn't pass them up. The candle holders are another clearance find at $5 each. But I didn't really have anyplace to use them in my house. I thought of putting them away for a future gift or something, then I ran across these little square plates at Ross ($2 each). It was funny when I saw the first one because I was thinking that I could get 4 of them and use them on my table with the black & white candles, but I wasn't sure I would find 4 of them since the first one I found was sitting with some bath towels, not in an aisle with dishes. I searched high and low (one of my favorite things about shopping) and found 4 plates, but no two are alike!! I think I like it even better that they don't match each other. Anyway, the weather is so pretty today that I'm getting ready to change to a spring time look on the table, and I thought I'd take a picture of my black & white candles before I put them away.

Random Thoughts

Today was my mother's 83rd birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!! We all went out to eat at a local drive-in (Janet's) because she wanted chicken livers. The food was great and they always bring you more than you can eat. On the way home, we were talking about being thankful for all the blessings God has given us, so I thought I'd name a few. This is by no means a complete list, but I don't have enough space on the internet to name everything God has blessed me with.

First, my family (both immediate and extended). Kirby, my kids and grandkids, my sisters, my mom & step-dad, my in-laws, all my nieces and nephews and cousins, I am so glad all of them are part of my life.

My uncle has been in the hospital this week, so I am reminded everyday of how healthy my family has been. One of Todd's friends (Heath Gains) died from lukemia when they were both five years old. I spent many days at the hospital with Heath holding his feet in my hands so his legs wouldn't touch the bed because he had sores that hurt. For years, when I bought Todd his size 11 shoes I would think of those little feet and thank God for my beautiful, healthy children.

Speaking of my son, he just changed jobs and everything happened in such a way that he was blessed financially by the company that laid him off and the company that hired him. I pray all the time that God will bless my children spiritually, physically, financially, and emotionally. He just continues to amaze me with answers to this prayer.

As we drove along, we were talking about being thankful for having a decent car to drive (even though my sister and step-dad were complaining that the head rests were poking them in the back - this is the problem with seats that fold into the floor of the Dodge Caravan unless you raise the head rests before you sit down). I thought of the many times in my life when I wasn't sure my car would make it across town (in fact, there were times it didn't), but right now, we have two nice cars still under warranty.

I have a nice new roof over my head and too much food to eat. We have heat all winter and air conditioning all summer, cable TV, internet, and telephone. Yet, we still complain that there is nothing on TV or nothing to do.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Today is a good day to be thankful, so give praise to God who is worthy to receive all glory, honor and power. AMEN!!

Little Stowaway

When we left our terminal last week, Kirby opened the truck door and saw a little mouse run to the sleeper area of the truck. For a day or two, we thought he had gotten out of the truck, but then we started to notice tiny little bites taken out of our loaf of bread. I put the bread in the cooler, so he developed a taste for peanuts. I hid those, and he decided he liked Ritz crackers. We started calling him Rattatoui, even though we never actually saw him. Only the evidence he was still in the truck. Eventually, he got into the 100 calorie packs of Lorna Dunes and Kirby said "He's crossed the line now!! Nobody eats my shortbread cookies!!" We wanted to wait until we got back home and set a trap for him, but after a few days of trying to leave little bits of food out for him, we realized he liked the fresh food better that he could open for himself. So then I had to re-pack everything to make it smaller and stuff it into our cooler. In the middle of the night, we heard all kinds of scratching and crunching. The next morning, we realized he had found a bag of cough drops!!!

Luckily, we had a chance to stop at a Wal-Mart for a few supplies, and we picked up a humane mouse trap. I refused to get poison or a killer trap. After all, he was like a pet now that we had been traveling with him for over a week. That little mouse went from Charleston, WV to Houston, TX to Cincinnati, OH, to Chicago, IL, to Detroit, MI, back to Houston, to Parker, PA, then finally to Freeport, TX.

So, here is what we bought for him. We baited it with a little cheese and peanut butter, then we got in bed and waited. About 30 minutes later, we heard him frantically scratching to get out of the box.

We put the trap on the ground outside the truck and turned it over, which lets the door fall open and the mouse get out. He put his head out and sniffed at first, then he ran off into the grass. I kept saying that I thought he would like the weather better in Texas, but couldn't help but sing a few lines of "Somewhere Out There" as we drove off. "Even though I know how very far apart we are, it helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star. . . . ." I hope his little mouse mother reads my blog so she will know where he is and that he is safe and happy.

Texas is just too big!!!!!

I know they always talk about how everything is bigger in Texas, but today I'm sitting here thinking that I'm in Texas, and Todd is in Texas, and Jen is in Texas, and my grandboys are in Texas, but we couldn't get anywhere near each other even if we all left right now until sometime tomorrow!!! That's just too many miles for one state to have. We come to Houston twice a week most weeks, but hardly ever get anywhere near Austin or El Paso. But we do get to see my in-laws who live here in the Houston area. Today we all went to Red Lobster for lunch and had a great time, as usual. Right now, our two little boys (Kirby and his step-dad) are putting a lego race car together. We tried to get them to make a trip to Garden Ridge with us, but they both threatened to jump out of the car into traffic if we made them go there. So we took them to ToysRUs and now they are as happy as can be.

We are picking up a load tomorrow morning that goes to Ohio, so we'll get to relax for a few hours. Then it's - On the Road Again, as Willie would say.

You can never have too many shoes!!!

I went shopping yesterday (is anyone surprised?). I had a goal in mind and not much hope of success. A couple of years ago, I bought a pair of Easy Spirit slip on tennis shoes and I still love those shoes more than any other tennis shoes I have every owned. Unfortunately, since I shop at discount stores that carry overstock and discontinued items, Easy Spirit doesn't make that particular style anymore. I have looked in every outlet mall, discount store, EBay, internet store, etc. and haven't found that shoe (at least not at a price I was willing to pay). Last summer, while I was in Myrtle Beach with my mother, I found that shoe at Stein Mart, and I bought a pair for HER. I decided at the time it would be a waste of money to buy the same shoe I already had, so I got myself a diferent shoe. Bad idea!! I have regretted that decision every day since and couldn't wait to get back to the Stein Mart at Myrtle Beach in the hopes that they might still have my shoe. Telling myself the chance of them having that shoe after all this time was slim, I walked into Stein Mart yesterday and THERE IT WAS!!!! The Easy Spirit all leather Feelin' Good tennis shoe in my size. The only difference was that my old shoe was white and this one is tan. But I like that even better!!!

Easy Spirit makes several shoes similar to this style, but don't be fooled. They are not as comfortable as this shoe and they don't clean up as easily as leather. For some reason the strap in the back of the new style is shorter and just doesn't fit the same across the ankle. Trust me, I've tried all of them!!!

Then, a little while later, I walked into K-Mart and found the perfect sandal. I should have gone to Vegas I am on such a lucky streak!! This shoe is soft and comfy and only $15 (buy one - get one half off) so I got this color (which perfectly matches the outfit I bought for $15 at K-Mart) and I got a tan pair. Today, I'm shopping for a purse to match my two new pairs of tan shoes. I'd say wish me luck, but I can't afford to get lucky too many more times!! You should see how lucky I got at Hamricks.

This is the Life!!!

Here's some pictures of our condo in Myrtle Beach. Too bad it's only for the week. I'd love to live here full time.

This is the view from our balcony.

Winter Break

I can't believe that in two days my husband and I will be going on a vacation to Myrtle Beach all by ourselves. I'm not sure what we are going to do, since we have never been there by ourselves. Every time we go, my sister, my mom, my nephew, my daughter and grandsons, or somebody goes with us. Then we sort of plan our activities based on what everyone wants to do. We usually go in May for bike week, but this year we decided to take a little winter break and spend Valentine's day at the beach together. Sounds romantic, but we didn't even realize it was Valentine's day until after we booked the condo!! I'm not sure why we were talking about going, but we got on the internet and found a deal we couldn't refuse. One of the condo rental companies was having a $100 off sale, which made a 1 bedroom condo $150 for seven nights. If you have never rented a condo at North Myrtle Beach, I highly recommend it. You are close enough to Myrtle Beach for all the entertainment, but far enough from all the noise and traffic of downtown. Besides, North Myrtle Beach has plenty of shopping and entertainment of it's own. We love getting a condo, as opposed to a motel, because it feels like you live at the beach for a week, not like you are visiting. You have a living room and kitchen, private balcony overlooking the beach, and bedrooms with their own bathrooms (this is especially important when 3 or 4 people go together). We have used a company called Condo-World several times, but this time we are using CondoLux. I guess my next post will be from the beach. I'll be sure to post pictures of the condo.