Thankgiving Blessings

This is my post Thanksgiving entry. The days are getting colder and the nights are getting longer and Christmas is going in full swing at my house. But I wanted to take a couple of minutes to write about what I am thankful for this year.

1. I am thankful for working for my dad. Therefore I can take the Wednesday off before Thanksgiving and have a nice 5 day weekend.

2. I am thankful for the bountiful meals that we ate.

3. I am thankful for the good cooks that make those bountiful meals.

4. I am thankful that both of my desserts looked and tasted beautifully.

5. I am thankful for this lady. She is my grandma and I think a lot of her. She is a very Godly woman and lives each day working for him.

6. I am thankful for the Thanksgiving Day parade. I love a parade.

7. I am thankful for my church and all the opportunities that it has given me.

8. I am thankful for the sound of laughter that comes from my family.

9. I am thankful for the way boys can be mischievous and still be so darn cute! (this is a bag that they found to slide down the stairs in, did I stop them? Nope! but I took a picture)

10. I am thankful for those experiences that you share with one or two other people that you can still laugh about.

11. I am thankful for this guy and the dog he is holding and the fact that he can be in public holding the fluff and not be a bit embarrassed by it :)

12. I am thankful for my book club and the books that I have read because of them that I probably wouldn't have read on my own.

13. Last but not least I am thankful for this chica for she lost a whole night of sleep to go Black Friday shopping with me and then went to work the next day. I on the other hand came back home and slept which brings me back to number one on my thankful list.

There are many, many, many more items that I am thankful for. If your picture did not make the list this year, then next year you know to be better to me. Happy Thanksgiving

 

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The Farmboy and The Corn

Because it is the 19th day of November and because the sun is shining here in my neck of the woods and because in less than a week I will be devouring my second Thanksgiving Dinner on a day which forecasters predict the high will be 37 degrees. I thought I would reminisce about much sunnier happier day. Here is a ode to the Farmboy and The Corn

 

This is Farmboy.

This is the cornfield that Farmboy took me to.

This is an ear of corn that is in the cornfield that Farmboy took me to. 

This is the dog that tried to eat the ear of corn in the cornfield that Farmboy took me to.

This is the chainsaw that is going to cut down the stalks of corn that is made up of many ears of corn that the dog tried to eat in the cornfield that Farmboy took me to.

 

 This is a pile of cornstalks that the chainsaw cut down that is made up of many ears of corn that the dog tried to eat in the cornfield that Farmboy took me to.

 

 

This is the trailer that is hauling the pile of cornstalks that the chainsaw cut down that is made up of many ears of corn that the dog tried to eat in the cornfield that Farmboy took me to.

This is the truck that is going to pull the trailer that is hauling the pile of cornstalks that the chainsaw cut down that is made up of many ears of corn that the dog  tried to eat in the cornfield that Farmboy took me to.

This is the disgruntled Farmboy that drove the truck that is going to pull the trailer that is hauling the pile of cornstalks that the chainsaw cut down that is made up of many ears of corn that the dog tried to eat in the cornfield that Farmboy took me to.

This is the world's cutest dog (in his Halloween costume) with the display that features the cornstalks that the disgruntled Farmboy that drove the truck that is going to pull the trailer that is hauling the pile of cornstalks that the chainsaw cut down that is made up of many ears of corn that the dog tried to eat in the cornfield that Farmboy took me to.  

Happy Fall Y'all!

 







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Lessons Learned....Women's Weekend

Well  it hasn't quite been a month since my last post so I figured I better get on the ball. Gosh this posting once a week has gotten out of control. Ha! So third in my series of lessons learned is a weekend getaway with my mom and sister. We traveled to Woman of Faith in Kansas City this past weekend and had a blast! But every good trip has lessons that you learn.

1. A girl has GOT to have her coffee at 5:30 in the morning when you are venturing out on an adventure.

2. It stinks to be the driver, driving in the dark with everyone in your vehicle asleep.

3. The vehicle on Garmin is not necessarily going the same speed as you are in real life, therefore makes it easy to miss a turn.

4. I do believe one way streets were thought up by men so they can sit back and watch a woman drive on them and laugh and laugh and laugh at them.

5. Garmin does not pick up the satellite reception inside a parking garage and therefore can not tell you which way to turn out of it to make it back to the motel and you will turn the wrong direction every time.

5a. Don't expect the co-pilot to be able to help you with directions when they get lost trying find the elevator at the hotel.

5b. You do lose all sense of direction while going around in circles in a parking garage.

6. NEVER EVER listen to your mother when she says she see no harm in parking behind a blue taxi van. You will regret it later.

7. Vans in general are evil and deserve not to be on the road at all. ( I apologize to all moms out there rocking out in their vans) After being cut off by 3, and hit by one they are just generally wrote off in my book.

8. I know people MEAN well when they volunteer to take your picture. It is the thought that counts. But come on..nobody is even looking at them and half of me is cut off!

9. Waiting in line at Cheesecake Factory for 40 minutes and missing the Friday night session is soooo worth it for a piece of Dulce De Leche Carmel Cheesecake.

10. A woman who is in bed by 9:00 at home expects to be in bed by 9:00 while traveling as well.

11. It is a breakthrough when you figure out that the woman who gave you birth travels with a bag just for shoes as well.

12. Being in a room with 5,000 women praising God is such an amazing experience.

13. Natalie Grant can rock out with being 8 months pregnant and wearing 4 inch heels.

14. Luci Swindoll can "swagger" and often misuses the word dope.

15. You can shop at Marshall's and Target both within an hour. Both  stores will be pushing you out the door because they are closing but I refused to be moved.

16. Leaving your vehicle in your father's hands while running to the bathroom can result in being locked out of it with it running.

By far these are two of my favorite people in the whole wide world. It was a fantastic weekend with many laughs, many tears, and many memories made.

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Lessons Learned.....Tractor Pulling

You know the saying: You can't teach an old dog new tricks? Well I would like to welcome you to a new segment on my blog. It will be "Lessons Learned" and I will be teaching the average folk about something. Today it will be about Lawn and Garden Tractor Pulling. This is a recent hobby of my family and is consuming all their Saturday nights (and all the days between). I recently went to my second pull this past Saturday. First and foremost the kids absolutely love this! It is super cute to see them pulling and it makes this Aunt proud to be part of the action.

1. This IS the normal kid to tractor size ratio.  

2. There is a lot of down time between pulls. Kids have to find something to occupy their time. This kids likes to play in the dirt with cars. 

This kids likes more modernized games to play with. 

3. Safety is first and foremost. 



4. Cleanliness is next to tractor pulliness. He is part of the pit crew.

4. The pullers can not drive themselves to the weigh-in station, so you have to pull not only one...



Not two.....

But all three pullers to go weigh in.

5. The drivers can be distracted and not look at the track when there is someone taking pictures of them.

6. Yes on October 9th it can be so hot that you need an umbrella for shade so that you do not get sunburned. 

7. That umbrella also adds as a protection away from dust that lingers around the track. 

8. Need an exercise program? Hook yourself up to a puller and run along side of it. 

9.  Determination WILL win everything. 

 10. Boys will be boys.

 11. And the most important lesson to learn; have fun!

 

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When I grow up

I was going to post this before we left on vacation but I got too busy packing my 30 outfits, 15 pairs of shoes, and 3 purses. So now that I am about done washing and putting away all those clothes I have time to post a classic Farm Boy story. The weekend before we left on vacation I was spending the Saturday at my in-laws home having a yard sale. My husband on the other hand had brush piles to burn. So he took his might green tractor out and away he went with propane torch in hand. You know this is going to be good, don't you.

So we sat there praying for customers to come to our yard sale and my sister in law received a phone call from Farm Boy to bring the truck. The propane torch was not doing its job to satisfy Farm Boy's desire of a fire so he needed a little extra juice in the form of diesel. Since I was not being of any help bringing in the customers for the yard sale I thought I would go along for the ride of it (and also to make sure Farm Boy didn't blow himself up).



This is the scene we came up. The brush is not burning and Farm Boy is examining the torch. 

Mighty brush fire, little torch. 

Let me interpret Farm Boy's thoughts here "This isn't doing the job, if I tweak the propane a little more then maybe I will get the flame I want"

Farm Boy thoughts continue... "Let's give er a try"

 Farm Boy thoughts continue... "While that flame is nice, not quite what I am going for"

This just isn't cutting it in Farm Boy's mind. He wants a big fire and wants a big fire now! So he shall spray the brush with a little diesel just to get the brush fire started.

 

Now this flame is exactly what he wanted. Notice the bright orange flame, and the thick black smoke. The perfect combination. This is what makes a fireman out of a Farm Boy.

The end of the story goes like this: Two hours later the fire and smoke was out with no injuries and the brush piles are still sitting in the field.

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Lessons Learned

As experienced on every trip there are many lessons that we have come to realize are true. Unplanned events some might say. Here are a few of ours:

Good: Packing a suitcase filled with 30 outfits just because you are not sure what you might want to wear.
Bad: Having to do laundry mid week because you are out of t-shirts.

Good: Being told that you aren't that bad at reading a map
Bad: Getting turned around in a restaurant and not knowing how to get out.

Good: Having Garmin GPS with you so that you will know where to go.
Bad: Thinking you know more than Garmin and choose your own path to then have to have Garmin to get you back on track.

Good: Taking a tour on a bus of the city.
Bad: Being stuck with a bunch of *ahem cough cough* older women that won't quit talking and don't know how to answer their phones and have no phone etiquette. 

Good: Collecting your room key from the lost and found on a boat.
Bad: Getting back to the motel only to figure out that neither one of the keys work to let you in your room.

Good: Having sandals that match your outfits so that your look is complete.
Bad: Being told constantly to "Kick it out of granny low and into first gear"

Good: Cloudy and Rainy to keep the temperatures in the 70's
Bad: Cloudy and Rainy

Good: Shell Gas station being the choice gas station down here so that you can use your Shell Credit Card
Bad: Your vehicle not clicking the gas nozzle off so that gas splashes out every time you fill up.

Good: All the delicious food in the South
Bad: Being constantly full so you can't enjoy or finish the food.

Good: Having a cooler to put drinks in and snacks such as cheese.
Bad: Not keeping the cooler cool so you have to throw your cheese away.

Good: Enjoying all you can drink Peach Tree from the American Classic Tea Plantation.
Bad: Heading home and having to stop every hour to go to the bathroom.

Good: Having a marvelous trip and many wonderful memories to take home with you.
Bad: Dragging those memories and suitcases in at 4:00 in the morning when you finally get home.

So here is to the historic towns of the South, the home cooked food of the South, the sweet tea of the South, the 178 steps up to the top of the lighthouse in the South, the history of the South, the many miles we walked around the South, the 1,000 miles we traveled in 14 hours to get home from the South, the knowledge we gained about the South, the laughs we had, and the upsets we shared. Here is to The Southern Vacation of 2010!

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