Random Blog Entry

Today we have lots of random stuff to talk about…

We’ll start off with my Bible study. I just began going to a Bible study on the book of Esther. I am sure you are thinking the same thing I was; Esther… hmm not one you hear much about. It’s a Beth Moore study, part discussion and part video lecture. I went for the first time on Tuesday. Day one was like an intro as what is to come during the 9 week study. The title of the study is called “It’s Tough Being a Woman.” Beth Moore had participated in an online study about the top 3 most challenging things about being a woman. She read some of the answers the 400 women gave. These were some of the top answers, yielding (submitting to your husbands), balance, and hormones. Hot dog, I can relate to all three of those! She went on to say that women and their hormones can cause a lot of family problems. Such as… you will argue and fight with the ones you love the most, but cry during a commercial. I found that to be true as well. I don’t cry during many commercials. And this was the one she ended with that was knee slapping funny… It’s hard being a woman because: I have to wear panties and try to hide the fact that I do!! I just started thinking about all the things companies make to hide those lines in your pants... hence SPANX.

Okay moving right along because I am sure any guys reading this wishes they would have skipped paragraph 1 and I might be getting a call from my husband wondering what I was thinking and why in Sam Hill did I write that.

Lets do a recipe. I recently cooked dinner for a new mother and took her this particular dish. I am a picky eater and enjoy cooking things that aren’t hard and don’t take forever.

CHICKEN AND SUN DRIED TOMOATOE FETTUCCINI

4 chicken breasts
½ cup chopped onion
2 tbs olive oil (I add more)
¼ tsp pepper
1 7 oz. jar sun-dried tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp basil
8 oz. fettuccini
Optional capers and black olives .(I do not put them in mine)

Cut chicken into strips/pieces (set aside). Drain tomatoes chop and set aside. In a 12 inch skillet (with a top) heat 1 tablespoon oil from tomatoes over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook until tender. Add chicken and cook 8 min. Stir. Add basil and tomatoes… cook 1 minute. Stir in olive oil, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and rest of oil from tomatoes.
Heat thoroughly. Top with parmesan cheese

Okay wasn’t that fun! I want to know if you try my recipe. I have 2 more recipes I plan to share in later posts.

Lets throw in a little Ford... You can't have a post without him!!


So I went to Wal-Mart this week. That’s what I do… I go to Wal-Mart. There’s not a lot happening in Mayberry so I get fired up about a weekly grocery run. Well, when I was walking out of the store the other day I noticed this man looking oddly at a car as he was driving away. I checked out the situation and apparently it is acceptable to park your car in the middle of the AISLE. I mean come on people. I know you can see the lines in the parking lot and are aware that you may not park where people should be driving. Being the prepared person that I am, I grabbed my camera and took a picture of the goose who thought they could park wherever they wanted to???????!!!!!!!!


We have a big weekend… Trey is in his 347593475 wedding and it’s the big Magnolia Heights class is 1999 high school reunion. Don’t you worry one bit, I plan to document the 2 occasions and share a post with you all. Until then happy cooking and feel free to park your car wherever you want… it’s the thing to do!!!!

Dove Hunting, Ole Miss Rebels, and Carrot Sticks

As I discussed in the last blog, this was the big dove hunting weekend. Trey has been going with the same group of guys since we moved to Senatobia. He was up bright and early Saturday morning. I don’t think the sun was even out when he left. It amazes me how men can get up at the crack of dawn to go hunting but seem to have a hard time getting out of bed other times. They killed lots doves and Ford and I even had the pleasure of going to the dove field later that afternoon. I gave Trey some baby Carhart overalls last Christmas so Ford wore them out there. You have to dress the part you know! I guess he should have some camouflage, but he doesn’t. I will work on that.

Yesterday was the first football game...Ole Miss vs. Memphis. No, we didn’t go. Trey and I haven’t gone to the game in Memphis in 6 years. It’s too blasted hot. Instead we watched it on the large 48’’ TV that Trey thought he needed back at Christmas. Again, you must dress the part for such occasions so Ford had on his Ole Miss jersey. It was great. We had some friends to come over and watch the game. They brought some yummy snacks. Ford enjoyed chewing on a carrot stick. The little man is quite spoiled because he threw a fit if you took it away or if he dropped it on the floor. He gnawed off a small piece of it and we took his treasure away.

We have had a good weekend. I do love a Monday holiday!!!! Trey and Ford went to the grocery store for me so I have some time to catch up on my blogging!! I hope everyone had a great Labor Day!!!!!

A more interesting entry

I had a request tonight from the woman who drives the yellow car, that plowed over my mailbox this summer, to write a more interesting blog entry. I didn’t know germs and my dog were so bad!!!
I am kind of having the beach blues. We’re home, Labor Day is around the corner, summer is almost over, and I am back in school. YES, you read that correctly back in school. I didn’t say I was “teaching” school… nope I am a student. The husband convinced me that I should get my masters in Education while I am taking this “time off.” Honestly, that is the last thing I wanted to do. I am great at making excuses about why I shouldn’t do something and I had a whole list for him. Obviously he won. And to be quite honest I’m glad. I have been to 2 classes already and I think I may love it. I am still being true to my Rebels, just not driving all the way to Oxford; I am going to the De Soto Center. My class is small, with only 9 students and the professor. She is a funny lady and reminds me a lot of how I used to teach. You just never know what might come out of her mouth next. My class is only one night a week which allows for some good father/son bonding time!!!

As for that son of mine, Ford, he is growing up so fast. He was 4 months yesterday. I asked Trey the other night what I would be doing right now if we didn’t have Ford and I really didn’t know. I would probably have been watching TV while relaxing on the couch. Whatever does relaxing mean these days????!!!!!

He has moved on to bigger and better things from the rice cereal. We are now eating veggies!!!!! The child is definitely a Lamar and loves his food. Thus far we have had squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots. I personally think he is not a big fan of the carrots and I don’t blame him. They look nasty. He obviously isn’t crawling at 4 months, but he is on the move. If I take my eyes off of him he is off the rug and on his way to a more interesting place. Today I found him partially underneath the ottoman! I love this kid.

Dove season is the weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Trey is fired up… I am not. Remember I only hunt deer. I couldn’t shoot a dove if my life depended on it. Not that I wouldn’t, but I couldn’t… I have poor vision. I do better with larger targets. I have been dove hunting once… same weekend of Katrina… I nearly pinched my finger off putting bullets in the gun and decided NOT to go back. My screams scared off all the birds anyways. Maybe I will post some pictures from the big dove hunt this weekend. Until then I hope this blog entry is okay for you my mailbox hitting friend!!!!!!

Germs

I am always blogging about the baby or other things going on in our lives. Today we will talk about germs. Yes, germs. People who know me pretty well know that I can be OCD about certain things. Hand washing is one of them along with my chap stick obsession and planning ahead . I wash my hands so often that they crack from the dryness. As soon as I come in the door from anywhere :Wal-Mart, church, Trey’s office, or even my mail box I was my hands. It’s annoying to me that I am so hung up on germs that I can’t think straight until they are clean. Trey gets beyond annoyed when I am preaching to him to wash his hands before he touches Ford. I remind him of the “swine flu” going around. Ohhhhhh and I had this hang up on germs before this swine flu even came around and now I am even worse.

I don’t watch a lot of TV but occasionally I will turn Oprah on and I do watch the 5:00 news. The last several days they have been talking about germs and hand washing on there. I thought for the love of Pete my OCD problem is coming straight out of the TV now. Something came up about taking your shoes off when you walk in the door otherwise you are just tracking disease all over your house. So all day today I have been walking around my house barefoot thinking of all the times I walk around in my house with shoes on, and where my shoes have been. Now I feel like I need to wash my feet!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhh I think I need help. Obviously I don’t have enough to do since I can spend so much time concentrating on germs. Needless to say I have had the Clorox wipes out today and the washing machine hasn’t stopped going!!! One of the things being washed is Delta's bed. I am attching a few pictures of my neglected dog. She takes the back seat to Ford. Pray for me people. I need to be more relaxed.

Her sweater

Our old house in Jackson

Sleeping

Delta the day after we got her 4 years ago

Anthony Family Vacation

So, we just got back from the Anthony family vacay 2009. It has become a tradition for the past few years for my parents, Boompa and Gran, to take my brother and his family and me and my family to the beach for a week. As the years go on we seem to be adding more and more little ones to the mix. This year there was a total of 9 in attendance on vacation.

We left last weekend headed for Destin. Trey of course was in a wedding so he missed out on the fun adventure down south. He flew in a day later. I put of course next to his name since we had 19 guys in our wedding, he is getting paid back. I know…ridiculous… he just has a lot of friends. My parents and I left on Friday and stayed in Jackson for the night at Puddin’s (Trey’s mom) house. If anyone is confused his parents do live in Senatobia, his mom is a Supreme Court Justice and is in Jackson during the week. Okay… back to the story…My mom rode with me to Jackson and dad followed. Ford was great…not one tear was shed. The next day we got up and headed for Florida. We stopped in Hattiesburg (my old home) and saw Katie, her precious baby Josie, Stephanie, and her cutie Maddie. We actually only had one more stop before we got to Destin!!!!!!! And believe it or not Ford made it ALL the way without crying. We did have one bump in the road when he blew up his diaper on me at a gas station, but I had extra clothes.

The first night was great….we at Whataburger!! I do love that place. It’s kind of a tradition…don’t laugh. The weather wasn’t tip top until about Tuesday though. That was okay because we were able to hit up the outlet malls to check on all the bargains they had going on. And will you know that my husband was able to spend more money than me. I am a thrifty shopper my friends. He is another story. The night after Whataburger the fam decides to cook shrimp. GAG me please… nothing that swims goes in this mouth other than fried catfish. I am ashamed to say it, but I got KFC while at the beach!!

Tuesday was the first pretty day. I was so excited to go and lay on the beach and get a MUCH needed tan since I have been in hibernation with Ford all summer. But, it did not occur to me how little time I would get on the beach. Between feeding, burping, napping, bathing, and playing with Ford a lot of my day was used up. I can honestly say I “may” have spent about 5 hours total on the beach all week. I didn’t even have a raft to do my favorite thing which is jump the waves. Yes, I am 27 years old and too old to do that, but it’s just a thrill to me. Even though I was only out there a few hours I was able to score a killer sunburn which put a damper on things since Thursday was a beautiful day, and I couldn’t bare to think of going into the sun again. I shopped!!!

I did eat things other than Whataburger and KFC… we had Captain Dave’s, Lousianna Lagniappe, Acme Oyster Bar, Cheeseburger in Paradise.. just to name a few. It only took us 11 ½ hours to get home. Thank goodness Pop (Trey’s dad) let us borrow his van or we would never have gotten everything in my car. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. Ford did EXCELLENT until the last 80 miles and he let it all out. I figured the little man would cry himself to sleep but he is strong willed and needed us to know he hated his car seat. We got the point loud and clear. There were no major catastrophes and hopefully the parental units will invite us again next year. Thanks for a GREAT vacation Mom and Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rice Cereal

So, on my last blog entry I said that I had not cheated and given Ford any rice cereal. That was then… this is now. HE LOVED the rice cereal. Technically I wasn’t “supposed” to give him any cereal until his 16 week check up. He is 14 weeks and 5 days…close enough!! I just got this wild hair that it might be time to venture past the milk and explore bigger and better things.

I called Trey at work and told him he would need to come home and video this historic time in his son’s life. Being that I am rather impatient and Trey works 200 yards from our house, I called him back after 15 minutes and threatened to start without him. At first Ford slopped some up and it slowly came back out of his mouth. Since he is a smart boy and a fast learner he realized this new stuff could have some possibilities and opened up like a baby bird!!

As you can tell from the picture we only had a diaper and a bib on. That is how we will eat from here on out. It was up his nose, in his lap, all over his hands and arms, and even on me. I think he got some in his mouth. We bathed immediately after the feast and had some play time. Then had some milk and off to bed. Its 7:45 and he is snoozing…hopefully until LATE tomorrow morning. I am not going to get my hopes up because he is a Lamar boy and they like to eat.

100 Days Old!!!!!!

My little man is 100 days old!!! It’s hard to believe that I have been a mom for that long already. The time has flown by…but when he is screaming it seems to drag on forever! KIDDING!!! It’s amazing how much babies change in the first few months of their life. At first Ford just laid there and looked at me with a glazed stare. Now he laughs, talks, rolls over, holds his head up high, pays attention to his surroundings, and eats his hands non-stop.

The hand eating deal is a result of teething I am guessing. I sent Trey to the pharmacy to buy some Orajel to rub on Ford’s gums. Remember, up until this point the only thing that Ford has tasted has been milk…I have not cheated and given rice cereal for anyone who is wondering. Well, I squeezed a little Orajel on my finger and rubbed it on that baby’s gums and his face was priceless. I started laughing so hard at his expression that the little guy started crying. Not sure if I hurt his feelings or if it burned…. possibly a combination of both.

Last night Ford spent the night with Puddin and Pop. Yes, you read that correctly, I let my little baby spend the night out. I deserve an award for that. Actually, Trey and I were supposed to go back to Pickwick with some friends for the night, but I had serious anxiety about being 2 hours away the first time I left him, so I canceled. Sorry Scott and Meg. Instead we settled for a trip to Memphis for some ribs at the Rendezvous. They were delicious as always. Trey said that we could just go in there and eat a sausage and cheese plate and go somewhere else and grab something else. After walking in the door and being hit with the aroma of the juicy ribs we stayed and stuffed our faces. After the ribs we went to a roof top bar in Harbor Town. If you aren’t familiar with Memphis it’s right by the river. It was fun sitting out there until the mosquitoes attacked at dark. I have 9 bites on my right foot alone… have not counted the left one yet. After becoming dinner for the skeeters Trey and I left and came home. We were in bed by 10:30!!!!!! Party animals…I know! I think I got less sleep last night with Ford away than I do when he is home. Puddin sent me a text at 6:30 and said he was awake and I went and picked him up. Needless to say, Ford and I both survived the night and next time I think I will let him stay longer! We may even make that trip to Pickwick after all! Thanks for taking good care of my little man, Puddin and Pop!!!