Engagement party was at hit!

Daughter, five of her friends and myself gave another one of Daughter's friends an engagement party this past weekend and it was LOTS of work. Daughter and I did all the work so we could keep costs down and do it like we wanted it done. I took off work Friday to do a few things for the party and ended up spending the entire day and part of the evening working on this event. Daughter also took off and it took both of us working all day to get everything done that could be done on Friday, and then we still had things to do that could only be done on Saturday. And, did I mention it was H.O.T? The temp was 97 and the heat index was 104, and the party was OUTSIDE... Who knew 6 weeks ago when we planned this event that it would be this hot in June? Apparently not me. I don't recall it ever being this hot in June.. in July and August, yes, but not June. But, we dealt with it as well as we could. We had fans set up in strategic spots, and Daughter does have a great backyard with great trees which at least kept the sun off our backs, but it was still warm. We didn't put the food and flowers out until 10 minutes before the guests arrived. We didn't want the flowers to wilt and we surely didn't want the guest to eat bad food.

We had a wine bar set up and I was the bartender. I am not really a bartender, but I do know the difference between red and white wine so I was more than qualified for the job. Although I was sure it WOULD happen, Daughter was even more sure it would NOT happen.... BUT, some people brought their own coolers... with beer! Daughter did not handle this well at all. I didn't care. It meant more wine for me. Some people came, realized we were not serving beer (it clearly said on the invitation, "wine" would be served) and then left to make a beer run. Now, if I were going to do that, I would at least be discreet about it, and not bring my beer in a really nasty red insulated bag that hangs on one's shoulder, and haul it through the house past 20 other people. That is NOT being discreet people! I would at least put it in a cute little monogramed insulated bag that could almost pass for a purse, or a cute beach bag. Yep, that is what I would do, IF I were going to bring beer to a WINE party. And, I would probably pour it in a cup.. but that is just me.

In spite of people making beer runs, the party was a success and everyone had fun. Kim and Bryan were pleased with everything, and if we made them happy, then it was a huge success in my opinion.

I LOVE my ALONE time!

When I left work yesterday, I had a mental list of things I wanted to do when I got home, but wasn't sure I would get them done because I never know what Man has planned. The first thing I wanted to do when I got home was Shred, and I did, and I was feeling very energetic when I was done. So I continued to work on the laundry, I baked a cake that BT has declared is the best cake ever, and I baked a fresh squash casserole that was to die for. I was actually baking this stuff for dinner tonight, but I did take a little taste of the casserole since I had never baked it before. TO DIE FOR!!! By the time I was done with the baking, I had not heard from Man yet, so I texted him and he told me he was going to be late. He was already "late" and I thanked him for letting me know. If I haven't heard from him by 5:30 as to what his plans are, the kitchen stays closed. I had to implement this rule because he thinks ALL I do when I get home from working all day is prepare his dinner, and my day is complete. WRONG!!!! And, on top of that, he will call late and tell me he has to go out to dinner with various people, and I have already cooked! Not a happy ending to my day at all when I have cooked for nothing. I don't cook for me. I cook for him. So, if he has not called me by 5:30, he gets to cook, if he wants to eat, and when he cooks, we go out to eat since Man does NOT cook. My kitchen, MY rules. Last night he had a dinner, and I had not started cooking when I got the news, so I was going to get some ALONE TIME!!! So, I finished the laundry, cleaned up the kitchen from all the baking I had done, mopped the kitchen floor, ran to Lowe's and bought some plants to replace the plants the heat had all but killed, planted the new plants, watered the existing plants, as well as the new plants, dusted the den, took a shower and sat down to watch Arkansas beat Virginia in the College World Series. When Man got home, I had not eaten dinner, intentionally. He brought me his doggie bag from Ruth Chris. It was lobster! It was good stuff!

Last Weekend

The grandkids are getting ready to go spend a week with their dad... and I am sad!!! I am going to miss them so much.! I am working on a list of things to do while they are gone so I can keep myself occupied.

Since the kids are going to be gone for a week, we told them we would do fun stuff a couple of nights this week. They wanted to go back to the pool Tuesday afternoon and order pizza for dinner, to be delivered to the pool, and we did. We invited the friends to come back, and it was a great evening, except BK stepped off the bottom step into the 3 feet of water, but she was ok with it, and BT was walking around the edge of the pool and slipped and fell in head first in 4 feet of water. He can stand up in 3 feet, but 4 feet is just over his head. Since we know he doesn't handle things like this very well, Daughter and I were in the water before his feet went under. He immediately said he was going back to the baby pool, and he did for about 2 minutes. He didn't walk around the edge of the pool anymore, but he did get back in the 3 feet section and was fine.

Today I am picking them up from school and going to get snowcones. They don't just want to get a snowcone, they want to sit outside where it is 95 degrees in the shade and eat the snowcone and people watch. And yes, I do it. Then we are going back my house to cookout, and play in the little pool I keep for them on my deck. BK loves to do the cannonball in this pool. She also loves to take her clothes off and swim. She is very comfortable with her figure right now. I hope she always feels this comfortable in her skin..

And, I baked them a cake. BT says it is the best cake he has ever had. Not sure that is a compliment since I don't recall him eating a lot of cake in his lifetime, but I will take it as a compliment.

Grandkids, again...

Daughter and I took the kids to the pool Sunday and met a friend of her's that had brought his two kids that are the same age as the grandkids. Babysitters!!!! Ages 2 and 5.. Yippee!!! Actually I watched all four of them, a lot.. And, I am very grateful I was paying attention. The visiting 5 year old got in water over her head and was struggling to keep her head above water. Not one to freak out since I know I can get to her in just seconds (and I don't want to scare the kids), and never having been around her in the pool before, I asked her dad was she ok, and he immediately knew she was NOT, and he and Daughter both dove in the pool simultaneously and her dad grabbed her within 5 seconds of me noticing her struggling. She was scared but ok, and having just completed a week of swim lessons, she was able to keep herself above water until the adults noticed her struggle. She was back in the pool shortly thereafter and didn't get in water over her head again. Lesson learned for sure.

BK was watching all the activity in the big pool and would go stand at the side and count to 3 and say Cannonball!!! and then run to the steps and hop down to the first one. She did this countless times throughout the day and I told Daugther that at some point she was going to forget to run to the steps, and actually jump into 3 feet of water, which is over her head by about 10 inches. Sure enough, she counted to 3, squatted down in a jumping position, shouted Cannonball at the top of her little lungs and jumped into 3 feet of water, and much to our amazement, came back to the top and grabbed the side of the pool as Daughter was reaching for her. Daughter pulled her out, BK wiped her hair out of her eyes and headed back to the baby pool where she needed to be, and continued to dive for the toys she had thrown in earlier. Another lesson learned.

Never one to put himself in danger, BT advised us we needed to make sure we were watching them because they are, afterall, just kids. Thanks BT!

I just don't get it....

Daughter, several of her friends and myself are giving an engagement shower for one of their friends next weekend. Daughter and I are in charge of getting everything together since we think we are way thriftier than everyone else, and we can do whatever we want if we are "in charge." I went to Sam's today to get the majority of the food for the party, and I was making really good time until I got to the checkout line. Sam's is a lot like Walmart, tons of registers, very few people working them. Lines were long, people were mumbling (not me) and I was texting Daughter about the lines. Texting Daughter doesn't count as mumbling. Finally a new register opened and I was third in line behind a lady who had only clothes, and another lady who had gone to Sam's to buy two bags of cheese cubes. Not sure I would do that, BUT whatever floats your boat. Maybe she didn't have anything else to do. I just don' t know. Anyway, it was looking like moving to the new shorter line was a smart choice, but not always the case, and in this instance, it turned out NOT to be!!! I should have stayed in the line behind the two ladies that had two flatbed carts loaded to the gills. They could hardly push them, they had so much stuff on them. They left before I did. The lady in my line with the clothes, was hoping that everything she had was on "sale." There is no "sale" at Sam's. There is sometimes a "CLEARANCE," at Sam's but no "sale." She had several articles of clothing, which she had the cashier scan, tell her the price, and then she talked over with her two friends whether or not to get each item. She did this on E-V-E-R-Y piece of clothing. It was unreal. I wanted to tell her she was shopping at SAM'S, NOT NEIMAN MARCUS!!! I was glad I was not with Daughter or Man. They would have made a scene. Not me though. I just blog about it.

Grandkids, again...

The other night Daughter and the kids came over to eat (shocker huh!). I was grilling hamburgers because BK wanted a "big bugga." I love, love Fresh Market and ran in there to get the supplies we needed for "big buggas" and I also picked up a carton of sushi... California Roll. Daughter and I started eating the sushi while the burgers were cooking and of course BK wanted to try it. She will try absolutely anything, especially if it is served with a condiment, or as she calls it, a "dip." So I gave her a piece of sushi, let her dip it in the soy sauce and she loved it. BT on the other hand looked at us like we were eating roadkill. BK also ate cucumbers and tomatoes after dipping them in ranch dressing, a plum, and her big bugga. BT ate a CHEESE sandwich. Not grilled cheese, but two pieces of bread and one piece of American cheese. He ate the whole thing and declared it was very good. Hard to believe they are related at times.

And, it's too late to do anything about it.... Sigh..

The other night I was doing a few things around the house while Man was checking his email, and surfing the internet. All of a sudden I realized he was no longer on the computer or in his regular spot (the sofa) when he is not on the computer. I assumed he went to the bathroom and didn't give it much more thought. A little while later I made a pass by the bedroom and he was in bed watching The Andy Griffith Show (his favorite show of all times). I guess he was exhausted from checking his email and all that channel flipping he does on a regular basis. I asked him if something was wrong and he said no, he was just ready for bed, and to bed he went, at 8:20 P.M. He did not do one single thing either before he went to bed. He didn't put the trash out, I did. He didn't close the garage, I did. He didn't let the dogs out, I did. He didn't re-fill their water bowls, I did. He didn't turn off one single solitary light, not even the ones in the bedroom that were on. I guess he intended to sleep with the lights on. He didn't even lock the doors to secure the house for the night, I did. I also made a pass with the swiffer vaccum, straightend the den, picked up his shoes from under the coffee table, unloaded the dishwasher, put up some laundry, checked the outside fountains to make sure they had plenty of water, and turned off all the lights that were on, incide and out. Then I went to the bedroom and told him I wanted to trade places with him for a day. He thought that was funny. He would be unable to function. I have learned to pick my battles. He has ALWAYS been this way, and I am pretty sure it's too late to do anything about it.