She cooks

OK. Normally, I am not a big food person. Let me correct that. I enjoy eating, but the cooking? Not so much. Anyway, my friend Andrea does Tuesdays at the Table and I actually have something EASY PEASY to contribute.

Diet Coke Chicken
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 can Diet Coke
1/2 cup ketchup or bar-b-que sauce

Put chicken in crock pot. Cover with Coke and sauce. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Done! Super tender and yummy chicken!

Feeling kinda blah this week. The weather has been mediocre. The sun finally came out, but it won't warm up. I have spring break next week if I can just make it through 2 more days of school. We're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel with the house, but we're still at least a month out. I'm not complaining...OK, yeah I am. I'll go eat some of that chicken and shut up now.

BOGOHO?

Steve and I had date night last night. Our friends' church does this once a month and you drop the kiddos of for 4 hours. Our friends and I decided to take turns on date nights and have the girls spend the night afterwards. Great timing since our friends got home from the hospital yesterday with new baby Charlie! So big sis Harper came home with us last night and spent the night. It took them a little bit to get settled, but they slept great and are playing in Savannah's room right now, knee-deep in princess clothes.
How did Steve and I spend our 4 hours? We went to a bar and then went to the mall. Exciting, I know. But they are both things that are much more feasible without Savannah, so that's what we did. We bought a few things, but I have to say, I didn't see as many fabulous deals as I was expecting. In fact, there is an advertising tactic out there that really annoys the crap out of me. And I completely blame Payless Shoes.
Once upon a time, if someone advertised "Buy One Get One" (now commonly referred to as BOGO), it meant just that. If you bought one item, you got one item, FREE! When the hell did BOGO start to mean "buy one, get one half off"??? Ugh, excuse me, that would be BOGOHO! Not quite as catchy, now is it? I guess if you put Payless and BOGOHO together it sounds more like a discount hooker and not about cheap footwear...
Still, you see BOGO all over the place now and rarely do they actually mean "get one free." It's false advertising, I tell ya. If they just marked everything 25% and left it at that, it doesn't sound as tempting, does it?

Party Animals

I never thought I would say this, but I've had enough cake and ice cream, thank you. We are birthday partied out! We went to 4 in the past week and that doesn't include my Daddy's birthday b/c technically we didn't have a party or a cake. Don't feel bad for him though. He got some presents and we went out to eat. That's how a 62 year old rolls.
The other parties were cousins (yes, one involved a coat of paint on the rock) and a friend. Savannah really enjoyed herself so it was all good. Steve went to a birthday party himself, except instead of cake, they had beer. Lots and lots of beer. Or I guess they did and that is why he was gone for over 24 hours yesterday!! What all started out as a ballgame and some tailgating with the guys ended up at the bars and him crashing at a friends house. He still wasn't home when I left for work this morning. That's alright. My turn is coming.
Overall, a great weekend. Oh- I got one more YAGBTS moment for you.... We officially put our current house on the market last week. Stuck a For Sale By Owner sign in the yard. We got a call and had our first showing on Saturday. The couple came to the door and I recognized the wife. Low and behold we are related. No shit. Second (Third?) cousins! Yep. That's country for you.

YAGBTS: Rock of Love

Go here for the full YAGBTS story.

The new house is coming along nicely. Everything has gone pretty well, just slow. We hope to be in sometime in May. Here’s a pic I took not too long ago. Nice, right? Steve and I have worked hard and SAVED a long time to be able to build the house we want. I could make your head spin by the amount of $ we’ve saved, but that’s not my point. The point is, we have this nice, new house out in the country and when people ask “Where at?” We usually start by suggesting the main highway that runs by our road, or the fact that were are X amount of miles from town. Nope? Ok…do you happen to know where that giant rock is with all the crap spray painted on it? Yes! Of course you do! Somehow, anybody within a 50 mile radius of our road knows about that darn rock. In college, I met a guy from the next county over and he knew about the rock. I guess it makes an impression on people. Here are some recent examples of its “beauty.” "Happy Turkey" I think it says

Congrats to the happy couple!

Oh, you can share your love publicly, but you're too embarrassed to say who it is?

Rebel Malians???

He forgot to buy a card, but luckily he had some spray paint...

I give them a 10 for originality

Wow! What will they do on her fiftieth?

And those were taken all within the last 4 months or so.

It all started back when I was in high school. They were adding lanes and doing major road construction there and turned up this giant rock. The way it was split, so evenly, was like it was meant to be a primitive road sign. My brother and cousin first painted the rock. For several years it donned the Rebel flag. Somebody would occasionally paint something else over it, but then it would get repainted with the Rebel flag again. A few more years and some utility work later, a smaller rock showed up on the scene. For a long time the big rock was painted as the American flag and the smaller rock was the Rebel flag. Over the past couple years, it seems, the rocks have been subject to any and every type of announcement.

Got an anniversary coming up? Paint the rock! Did your team just win the big game? Paint the rock! Turning the big 5-0? Paint the rock! Having a yard sale? Paint the rock! Celebrating the birth of your first born? Paint the rock! I am not kidding. Some of the aforementioned are (ahem) relatives who live on the road, but most of them are complete strangers. Just somebody who stopped off in the wee hours of the night to profess their love for Jessica or some other such act. It really is a billboard for rednecks.

So if you’re ever cruising along the mid-lands of South Carolina and you see the rock, you’ll know where I live. But don’t bother to paint me a message. It will probably get painted over by the next day.

A Warning

I see you, you little bitches. Yeah. I know you think I don’t but I do. Trying to hide like you’re so smart. Whatever. And where did you come from? Seriously, out of the blue you started showing up. And the worst part? Apparently you’ve been telling all your friends cuz now there are a bunch of you, pissing me off. Yeah, and I’m going to jerk your ass outta there like the rest of them until you get the message: go away! Leave me alone! I’m not even 34 yet. I don’t need this. You hear me? Maybe you got some deal going on with George Clooney and that chick on “What Not to Wear,”, but I don’t want what you’re selling. OK? I mean it this time: No more grey hairs!

Wanted: Man of the Cloth

You may or may not have attended church today. You may or may not be part of a church. It's a pretty big part of my life and as I sat there this morning, it just felt kinda off. Why? Our pastor is leaving and it makes me sad. I will try to give you the USA Today version:
It's a small, rural church that's been around over 200 years. My whole life, I've been a member of my church. Even when I was in college and we lived out of state, I never attended church regularly anywhere else. My church is my church and it's just "home" to me and so many people there are like (and some really are) family to me.
When Steve and I got married, our pastor had recently died so we had another pastor we kinda knew do the service. When Savannah was baptized (I'm Lutheran), our pastor had just retired. He retired b/c of lots of drama and issues within the church. So, when Pastor Todd walked into our lives 3 years ago, we were ecstatic! Here was this young, dynamic person to bring life and harmony to our congregation - for the most part. I won't say everyone loves him , but overall, he is very well-liked and has done a super job.
Pastor Todd is in his early 30's and he and his wife have a baby. He's completely rejuvinated our youth program and his sermons have been approved by some of my Baptist relatives! Our Sunday school lessons have included the TV shows Everybody Loves Raymond and The Andy Griffith Show. And don't be surprised if he throws in a Tanya Tucker or Dave Matthews Band song either. One of my favorites was seeing him get in the inflatable kiddie pool at the end of Vacation Bible School when he knew all the cameras had been put away.
He announced in a letter last week that he is leaving at the end of this month. He's leaving for various reasons, but they aren't worth re-hashing. Nothing bad or illicit happened or anything like that. I understand, even if I don't agree, that he feels he made his decision with everyone's best interested in mind, but I'm still upset.
I'm sad for my family to not have a pastor to be there for us in good times and bad. I'm worried for my church. Will lots of people suddenly not come anymore b/c Pastor Todd is gone? Will the few "negative Nancys" in the congregation continue to ruin it for the rest of us? I'm mad that now the Sunday school class I enjoyed so much will probably never be the same. I'm mad that now Steve wants to use this as an opportunity to go to other churches when I don't want to go to other churches. I'm worried that our church will never have a Pastor that will meet all our needs and be able to stay more than 3 years. I'm sad b/c I really liked Pastor Todd and his family and now they'll be gone.
I know...I just have to trust that things will work out. Thanks for letting me get that out. I promise: the high-jinks and hilarity will resume next time....

Friday the 13th?

Normally that means bad luck. Or at least an uber-cheesy horror tale at some summer camp for large-breasted girls.....
It's been a good day here. I got up this morning and volunteered for the big consignment sale. It's part of the agreement so I can get in early and buy up all the good stuff get the best deals. But I am so excited! I spent $76 and already I have made over $100. The sale has 2 more days left!
If any of you are confused, there is a big children's consignment sale in my area twice a year. I sell stuff and buy stuff. I always do well as far as the things I buy and things I sell. This year has just been great. I think part due to the economy, of course, but I also know I had my things priced well.
For example: I bought a beautiful smocked dress for $8 and another smocked dress for $14. Each of these would retail for $30-70. Most of my things sold were in the $6 range.
All that and Savannah is crashing with grandma tonight.

Old School

I consider myself to be "old school." You know, like that Will Ferrell movie about old farts who still think they have it...well, yea, I'm kinda like that. Except I've never gone streaking down the road nekid.

You see, I don't text, don't tweet, don't follow, don't technorati, and don't subscribe. I do use email, do send actual birthday cards, do return phone calls and do read magazines. I don't have a laptop or an iphone. I do own an ipod, but I hardly use it now that I stopped going to the gym. I've had my current cell phone for over 3 1/2 years and it serves the purpose.

I'm not necessarily saying all those things are bad. Just that I am clueless on most of them and that's fine with me. Some of you may be saying, "Enough already, grandma," but I'm trying to make a point and that is, despite all that, I actually won a prize!

The SITS Spring Fling (a.k.a giveaway-a-rama) was Tuesday and I parked my feverish hiney in front of the computer and entered away. "For extra entries," many bloggers touted, "follow me, post me, subscribe to me, etc..." As tempting as it was, I passed on everything but leaving a comment or answering a simple question.

Yes, my SITStas, all I did was leave one simple comment for Sweet Home Amy and random.org chose me to win the SUPER CUTE tote! Kinda made being stuck at home with the flu worth it!

Thanks, Amy! You rock, my Southern SITSta!

Spring Fling

While I myself am not participating (did I mention we have the flu? You don't want me to ship you something with our germies on it!) you have to check out all the other SITStas who are having giveaways today. That's right- about 200+ giveaways today! Go here for all the merriment.

Guess What?

It is gorgeous here today. Sunny, around 80 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, AND I have today and tomorrow off from work. How great, right? Wrong. I am home with the flu. Fabulous.

The iPod Game

Rules for The iPod Shuffle Meme*Using the shuffle feature on your iPod (or other MP3 player), write down the first 5 or 10 songs that play.*Justify, defend or explain why those songs are on your iPod.*Tag someone else to complete the meme.*Include these rules--and the phrase "The iPod Shuffle Meme was created by Jenners at Life with A Little One and More -- the greatest blog on the Planet Earth and perhaps the Universe" when you post your meme answers. ***Failure to follow these rules exactly will result in loss of Internet privileges for a month, small warts, and a plague of frogs in your immediate area.
If you don't have an iPod or similar device: Randomly pick some CDs from your collection and then have a CD player pick a song via random play.
If you don't CDs but have cassette tapes: Randomly pick some tapes from your collection and then just randomly pick a song from the tape. (But really, you should at least have CDs by this point.)
If you don't have an iPod, CDs or cassette tapes but have vinyl records: If this is the case, I'm really amazed you've found your way onto the Internet at all so, by all means, feel free to pick some random albums and some tracks from those albums.
If you don't have an iPod, CDs, cassette tapes or vinyl records, my guess is you might have 8-track tapes: No one wants to know what you have on your 8-track tapes so you should not participate in this meme. In fact, if your only source of music is 8-track tapes, perhaps you should get off the Internet now and watch some movies on your Betamax. You'll feel better. The world is probably moving too fast for you, and you should take a rest.

1. Beastie Boys- Fight for Your Right: Of course this album was killer and legendary and I always think of being in 5th grade and riding on the 4-wheeler with my BFF singing this song!

2. Thompson Twins- Hold Me Now : What can I say? I'm a child of the 80's and the 80's were totally awesome!

3. Harry Connick Jr.- Jambalaya: This is my boy! Should anything happen to Steve, God forbid, I'd be hot on the trail for some Harry!

4. REM- Losing My Religion: Another timeless group. Just a good song.

5. Harry Connick Jr. - Elijah Rock: Did I mention I like Harry?

6. Beastie Boys - Brass Monkey: I sense a pattern...play this song at any dance club for some funky, booty shakin'! I didn't mean funky booties, just that the moves will be...oh, nevermind.

7. Smashing Pumpkins- Tonight, tonight: The Pumpkins remind me of college and my old roommate Barbara.

8. Jane's Addiction- Been Caught Stealing: Another fun song with a funny video.

9. Deep Blue Something- Breakfast at Tiffany's: These people were a one-hit wonder, but I liked this song. And it reminds me of the last guy I dated before Steve.

10. Jump, Little Children -All Those Days are Gone: this is a now-defunct S.C. band that I really, really, loved. They were unique, and fun and mellow and happy... (sigh). Their front man, Jay Clifford, still performs some of the Jump tunes at his shows.

And there you have it! Consider yourself tagged!

P.S. As I was telling Savannah nite-nite she told me, "Sleep safe and be strong." ??? I guess she was concerned the boogie man might get me.

The cheese stands alone...

OK. At the risk of being stoned to death (whew! glad this is only bloggieland!), I have to say that I don't quite agree with all the shit being thrown at "The Bachelor" Jason, but apparently, I'm the only one.
Here's the recap in case you've been under a rock...Jason, father of 3 year-old Ty, is the Bachelor this season. It got down to the final 2 ladies, Melissa and Molly. He ends up proposing to Melissa and sending Molly home. Fast forward 3 months...he decides he messed up and wants to be with Molly. So, in front of cameras, he breaks up with Melissa and then asks Molly for a second chance. She is reluctant, but agrees.
Now, I do not like that it was all done on camera. That part I whole-heartedly disagree with. It was hard to watch and I can only imagine what it must have been like in that studio. I don't know if it was because of a contractual thing with Jason and ABC or what, but that was low. Other than that, I kinda understand where Jason was coming from.
Jason felt that he was making the right decision at the time. Haven't you ever been under pressure and HAD to make a decision or felt really conflicted about something? He gave it a shot with Melissa but then realized he made a mistake. Not that Melissa doesn't have a right to be mad, but I'd rather him ditch me now then after we were married and really attached to Ty, you know??? And you can't tell me she was surprised he broke it off. Did you see when she walked onto stage? They were obviously not in love and she was not thrilled to be there.
As for the idea of it all being faked. I don't believe it. That was pure shock on Molly's face when Jason told her he wanted another shot. She said she still had doubts and questions, but of course she wanted to try again. She loves him! He made a mistake. He's not an axe-murderer!! And if Jason was "faking it" the whole time in New Zealand, than he was pouring on the water-works like nobody's business! I say give the boy an Oscar and an agent, cuz he's got a career in acting.
Call me crazy, but that's my take on it all.

Photo Phun

So I was tagged to play the photo game by Carolina Girl.
The rules: open the 6th picture folder on your computer, open the 6th photo and blog it. Write something about it. Then tag 6 more people to do the same.
Savannah was about 4 mos. old here. She is wearing a hand-me-down shirt from her cousins and booties that my friend Heather gave us. Just chillin' in the pack n' play.
Play along, if you want. I know lots of you have done this one already.

P.S. I'm about 2/3 into The Bachelor. Did you see that puppy dog look on his face as he was trying to decide who to propose to? Awwww....still hoping the rumors aren't true...we'll see.

Bust a move!

I woke up this morning expecting to find a winter wonderland outside. After all, they had already cancelled school and much of the South had already been blanketed. What did we see out our window? Nada. Nothing. Zilch. All that fuss and no snow. Oh, well. I'm not turning down a free day off of work!

We had a great weekend. Friday night we took in the Playhouse Disney Live show featuring Mickey, Handy Manny, Pooh and the Little Einsteins. Pre-schooler heaven! The show was cute and we managed to escape buying any crap souvenirs.

Saturday night my cousin hosted a beer and wine tasting party at his house. Sounds classy, right? Initially it may have been, but add some country boys, one Yankee, some dance music and enough micro-brew beer and you get this:
A dance move gone wrong... It really was a lot of fun! We got to try some new beverages, catch up with old friends and get our groove on. We plan to make it a regular event.

Hope y'all had a great weekend, too.