Grace

My mom doesn't call me Grace for no reason. I have always been pretty much a klutz. We have a joke in our family...we might be able to dance, but we can't walk. Even my daughter, who is a very talented dancer and yoga instructor is pretty clumsy. 

Last night, after I finished doing the dishes, I grabbed a spoon to take my liquid vitamins. I was not watching what I was doing, and sliced my thumb on the very sharp brand new Cutco knife we just bought. I can testify that these knives are VERY sharp. I bled all over the place and F-O-Rever!!!

Thirty minutes later, it occurred to me that I might have an oil for that. I rummaged around to see what oils I had, and I remember someone telling me that Lavender was good for cuts. I looked it up in my trusty book, and sure enough that's what it said in there too. I put some on, went to bed, and this morning, it looks like a little scratch. Amazing!

Yep, another success story with essential oils!

Tappingflamingo!

I love this video of a "Tappingflamingo!

A lot of people have asked me where in the world did I come up with Tappingflamingo. Well, first off, I love flamingos. I think they are so pretty, and pretty cool looking. The second reason, well, I love to dance, and as I have gotten older, have found that I can continue to tap dance, and have been involved with a few adult tapping groups. I know that the flamingo bird likes to stomp sometimes, and it makes me think he is trying to tap dance....hence....The Tappingflamingo!

Small Places

Living in a small apartment has its challenges! We STILL have not sold our home in Kentucky yet. The job market in that little town up there is really bad, and so very few newbies are moving in. That's too bad, because I love that place. It really is not that small, but it is not too big either. 

So, back to small apartments....

Laundry is a bear to do at the laundromat. Since we've been in temporary housing, we wash our clothes about every two weeks, so when we go we have a boatload. We usually use five or six machines. I am careful to sort everything, but some of my finer clothes I've had to throw in with the other stuff, and I have noticed my clothes are looking pretty raunchy. 

My husband and I are playing with the idea of bringing our washer and dryer down. The only thing is, I'm not sure we have the room. So...we have been rearranging the apartment to see if we do. Mind you, all thoughts of our place looking nice by doing ANY sort of decorating is out of the question. This place is totally for FUNCTION.

We moved half our kitchen into our tiny living room. Our poor son, who is home from college until January has to sleep on the couch, so the living room is his bedroom, part kitchen, part living room, part office...and it is a very tiny room.  I know I will look back on this time and laugh.

The kitchen is about 5 X 9. We have a small hot water heater in there, stove, fridge, and about two feet of counter top...no joke. Hey, at least we now have a stove/oven that works. When I came down to stay, I had a talk to the landlord. She is pretty nice, I like her. I guess my husband really did not need a workable stove/oven. When he did, he just got out his Coleman stove or used the small oven we have...men ARE from Mars, lol.

So, will our washer and dryer fit? I'm really not thinking they will, but we are going to try. Not only is it a hassle to go to the laundromat, but it is expensive too (and hard on your clothes). Tonight, we will do a little bit more rearranging and measuring. We are planning on taking a trip up to TN/KY to check on our house and for my husband to do some hunting, so we will make the decision after we measure the machines. Part of me want them to fit, another part does not, because it is pretty crowded in this tiny apartment. 

Hey! It is only temporary, and it will make me appreciate whatever house we do get, because most anything is going to be better than this roughly 230 square foot apartment. 

Ya know what?! There are a lot of people who live in small places in big cities such as New York, etc. If they can do, I can do it!!!!!

My Mountain Dulcimer

A Little Bit of Thunder for some ZZZZZZ's

It's a quiet late afternoon here in Louisiana, except for the rumbles of thunder in the background. Sometimes, I just love a good old thunderstorm, don't you?

Except when it gets wild, then I get a little nervous. I don't think we are suppose to get anything like that picture. That was taken when we lived in Kentucky. It almost looks like a sideways tornado. I will have to be honest, I was a little on the nervous side when I saw that.

Today, it is much calmer, just a good old fashion Southern drizzle and a little bit of thunder, you know the stuff that is nice to go to sleep to...

A Great Movie!!!!

Last night my husband and I went to the movies. We don't usually go, as I'd rather get in my jammies, curl up on the couch and watch any show at home.

This movie was different, though. Meet the Mormons is an inspirational movie about Mormons. One would think this movie was a preachy type of flick, but it was not. 

We were taken all over the world to meet six different families, all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or Mormons as many know us by. I loved hearing the stories of these individuals. We heard from the head football coach of the Navy football team, an African American bishop and his family in Atlanta, Georgia, a fighter from Costa Rica, a war hero--better known as the Candy Bomber from World War II, a family living in Napal, and finally a missionary mom. All these families had uplifting stories that many of us, Mormons and not, can relate too.

Meet the Mormons is playing in theaters throughout the next week. October 10 -- 16, 2014. So, why not go..."Meet the Mormons."

All proceeds go to the Red Cross

Fixer Upper, Anyone?

It's always hard to move....for many reasons. Leaving friends and having to make new ones is probably the hardest. Luckily for us, moving back to Monroe, we already know the area and have friends here. The hard part about this move has been selling our house. Ya, I know, I sound like a broken record...sorry.

It's been over two months since I left the house we are trying to sell. We have decided to just put everything in storage and wait to sell our house before we commit to another home. It has NOT been easy!

Living in a tiny apartment with a refrigerator that does not work, and a kitchen with literally no counter tops is very difficult for someone who likes to cook. Seems like we wind up at Taco Bell more and more these days. 

Since we lowered the price of our home by a TON last week, we have had more traffic. In fact we had another showing today. Hoping all goes well with that! Everyone seems to like it ok, but it's either too big or too small. 

In the meantime, I found a house, but not sure it is in an area we want. The neighborhood is nice, but we had our hearts on, well, not there. Also, this house needs some work. It was built in 1959, and the kitchen needs a lot of work. The carpet in the living room has been ripped out, so that needs to be replaced...AND...the heat and air are in horrible condition...as in; does not work. We don't know the age of the roof, and then there are all the hidden things. I'm not sure we are up for all the work, but we might be able to get something like this for a great price, and make it our own. There are a lot of pros and cons. 

As you have noticed, I have been on the internet here and there because, well, we have been trying to cut back and that was one thing we cut. Now that we have internet, I've been doing some more investigating on fixer uppers. It might be fun, but I don't know. I really hate making these type of decisions. 

Have any of you had experiences with fixer upper homes? I'd like to hear your story.

Yummy Vegan Recipes

Vegan Holiday Cooking

from Candle Cafe

by 

Joy Pierson, Angel Ramos, and Jorge Pineda

Since my daughter and her husband started eating Vegan a couple of years ago, I have been doing research on yummy recipes. Vegan Holiday Cooking from Candle Cafe has all kinds of easy fun holiday cooking ideas. Super Bowl, Lunar New Year, Valentines' Day, Passover Seder, Easter Brunch, Cinco de Mayo Fiesta, 4th of July Backyard Barbecue, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve are on the menu in this easy to follow cookbook.

I'm not Vegan, but there are a lot of recipes I want to try on our family. We love chili, and the Make Your Own Chili Bowl, in the Super Bowl chapter, looks like something all the men in my family will like. It looks and sounds like a very hearty meal. One other recipe we will be having for sure on New Years is the Vegetable Black-Eyed Pea Soup, in the New Years Eve chapter. As a Southerner, we have to have our black eyed peas on New Years, and I do believe this will be a hit for all the vegan and non vegans in our family. 

Whether you are one of those that like to entertain with lots of guests, or with just a few family members, this book is a good one to have on hand for delicious, good recipes from the Candle trio of restaurants, Candle Cafe, Candle 79, and Candle Cafe West all located in New York.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

I am Finally BACK!!!

Yes, I am finally back, on the internet that is. Since our house is still on the market after almost a year, and we are paying for two living places. We have been trying to cut back as much as possible. BUT!!! It has gotten to a point that one can hardly function without the internet...pretty sad, don't you think?

Every time I call a business I am told I "can do that on the net." Yes, I know this, people, the problem is I do not have access. Then they would pause, and then continue, "Well, you know it's much easier to use the internet." "Yes, I know this, the problem is I do not have it," I would replay, then they would go on as if that is impossible for anyone to not have.

Having a small business, one really needs to be able to get on to the world wide web. I have done ZERO business with my Thirtyone bags since the first of August because of no internet. This should be the time of year I do most of my business, but oh well.

Today, will be a day of cleaning out my almost 20,000 unread emails. Ya, I know :P right? I will be catching up on all the gossip on Facebook. And, I will be emailing people and trying to fix the mess the hackers made with my email. Another :P right?

Oh, and I am hoping today will be day of finding out we have a contract on our house. We lowered our price WAAAAAAYYYY down last week. Below what we needed to break even (ugh), and the next day we had two families come look. Yes, more than we have had in over a month, like two more than that. One decided they wanted a bigger house (really? 3100 is not big enough, most people think it's too big oh well). The other said they were going to let us know Monday. It's Tuesday. I have a call into the realtor. I'm guessing I probably already have my answer, but I'm not giving up hope....

Well, here's to life! I love life, even the ups and downs. I guess if it were not for the downs, the ups would not be as great.