A new day....

Today's good. Sun is out. Air is cool(ish). Plants survived the front(s) passing through. Not much to pick up in yard. Sparkly bits for the patio and yard arrived, have been assembled and are in place in the yard gathering sun so they can glow in the dark. (I hope.) J. at someone else's house playing war games. Dempsy's for supper last night. Canes tonight. Back on diet tomorrow. UNC doing well (so far), so my NC kids are happy. BAMA has the new basketball coach they wanted. Discovered the fact that Belgium makes some damn good beer. Amazing Race on tonight.

Today....all's well in the swamps. I hope the same is true for you all.

Crap!

Pardon my French but....it's been a hell of a day. Started a little after 1 am when a front blew through. And, from a little after 1 am until just before 3 pm, I was without power. Sheesh! Hurricane season's not even started. Ever since the trees fell on the house last hurricane season, I've become a first-class wimp when the wind picks up. I need to move. I really, really need to move.

So....all day I've been listening to updates on my C Crane radio (absolutely marvelous little radio. a life saver!). Here's what I heard:

Entergy says they expect to have everyone back online by noon.

Entergy says they expect to have everyone back online by six pm.

Entergy says they expect to have everyone back online by 10 pm.

The news is now saying to expect a repeat tonight. And tomorrow night. Crap.

I'm charging my phone and my (lovey, lovely) radio....

Coffee....

I have been consumed with a daunting task -- taste-testing coffee. A coffee sampler came with my new coffee maker, so I've been sipping them all -- Green Mountain, Coffee People, Gloria Jean's, Timothy's, Diedrich, Tully's, Van Houtte, Caribou.... did you know there was that much coffee out there? And....keep in mind that each brand offers several varieties. We won't even mention the teas and cocoa -- not yet. How do they expect you to choose? Keep buying and trying, I guess.

It wasn't long before my samples were running low and it was time to make a decision and order something, so I did. I decided on Green Mountain Sumatran Reserve Extra Bold (there's more descriptive words in the title but I can't think of them all). It's not the one I though I'd be ordering first but since J and I both like it, it'll work. I also got a variety box of flavored coffees and they threw in a variety box of tea and a box of cocoa. So, we should be set for a while.

This whole choice thing is new to me. I usually only have to decide between medium, between, or dark roast -- that's difficult enough for a person who's not known for her decisiveness.

How is it possible....

for two people who have been married forever more years than I care to count, can be so different?!? Just so everyone's on the same page....I'm talking about me and J. I won't go into detail but suffice it to say that today has been one of those hard days many marriages have. A very hard day.

We do things so differently it's not even funny. Here's an example that might explain how today's gone. We received a coupon from Lowe's for $10 off a $50 purchase and $25 off a $250 purchase. So....off to Lowe's we go. We get an umbrella for the outside (plus a stand), tomato plants, other veggie and herb plants, topsoil, and mulch. I wish I'd kept my mouth shut about the larger coupon, but I didn't. So....we get to the checkout and find our total to be a little over $200. I say, "Just use the $10 coupon." But....NooooooOOOOOoooo. J tells the checker to add as many bags of mulch as needed to bring the total up to $250. &%$@!

So, now, we have a shitpot amount of mulch and, what really bugs me, is that we spent our savings in mulch!

Somebody needs to stop me....

For a few days now I've been ordering, and ordering, and ordering stuff online. It's stuff I need and I've been lucky to find coupons for almost everything I've ordered on retailmenot's web site. Thank you, retailmenot!

So far I've ordered: sparklies for the patio, sparklies for the yard, a really kitchy wall clock for the new room, earrings for moi (Holly Yashi), purple rug and toilet seat cover for one bathroom (yes, purple -- don't ask), coffee and tea, son #3's birthday DVDs from Amazon, and a couple other odds and ends, I think. It all started when I ordered the shades. This is stuff we need and would have bought anyway, I just feel a bit out of control ordering it all at once.

Now I need to get bids on replacement windows for the windows that weren't replaced during the rebuild. I'm acting as if we have money! :/ Mark my words. Everytime I break down and order the things we've been needing for eons, word seems to spread in the ether, one of my kids picks up on it, thinks "Oh! Mom's got the checkbook open!" and calls with a request -- for money. Never fails. We'll see how long it takes this time....

As an aside....I watched Milk and Rachael Getting Married. Liked both of them -- especially Rachael Getting Married. I also watched Frozen River and, even tho it aggravated me to tears at one or two points, I liked it also.

Ordered shades!

Finally! I bit the bullet, decided on a color, and ordered. I just hope I measured all NINE! windows correctly. I measured, J. measured, I measured again (and again), so we should be okay. I don't know why I get so anxious -- oh, yes I do. You only get one chance in measuring. I've done it before (by myself) for windows in my bay and that worked out just fine. So, I'm sure this will, too. I'm sure this will, too. I'm sure this will, too. I'm sure....

The place I order from online had sent a coupon with free shipping, no sales tax, and 20% off on orders over a certain amount. I thought that was a good deal, until....I went to the web site today to order and there was free shipping, 25% off. And....the double cell shades I wanted were on sale. I liked that. Really liked that. Or course it didn't go smoothly because when I tried to checkout, the coupon didn't show up. So I had to call (I hate doing that because, believe it or not, many people seem to find living in Louisiana odd. I've actually had people ask what country Louisiana's in -- and they weren't kidding. It's not unusual for someone to ask if I have alligators in my yard. It goes on and on, so I like doing business online better.) :)

Everything worked out. The guy I talked to was super nice and efficient -- and I could understand him (as he was from the good old USA). I got a better price than I was counting on, so everything's good down here in the swamps. Oh, and my daughter just sent me more samples for my Keurig. A cup of Wild Mountain Blueberry, Golden French Toast, or Mocha Nut Fudge anyone? I even have more yummy sounding flavors if one of those don't make your mouth water.

Now....if I could only get used to this new bridge. I sound as if I'm lisping and it cracks me up hearing myself talk.

New teeth &....

a new coffee pot! I am a very contented person (a somewhat headachy-contented person because of holding my mouth open so long at the dentist yesterday and the pressing he did on the new teeth as he glued them on, but....).

So. Yesterday I finally had my new bridge and caps delivered. My persnickety dentist finally decreed them ready for my mouth. The real bummer was having to be at his office by 8 am. Trying to get anywhere in this town most times of day -- especially drive-times -- is a chore. But, I made it fine (even tho I have to drive down this blvd that is one continuous school zone at that time of morning. A long school zone.) I was scheduled for the entire morning -- 8 am - 12 pm -- and it could have taken that long, but luck was with me (and my mouth) and I was driving away (with new teeth) by 9:30.

I stopped by Lowes and Target to look for outdoor stuff to put on the patio. I didn't find anything I wanted so I came home and ordered the items I had waiting in my shopping cart at, atwestend's web site. Has anyone seen them? Some might consider what they offer tacky, but tacky seems to be right up my alley. I don't know how they are going to ship the things I order but I trust they do. I even thought to check and found a 10% off your first order coupon that really helped with the shipping. I'm anxious for the colorful do-dads I ordered to get here.

Here's the best part of yesterday. But let me explain first....when my 4 children were growing up, on each child's birthday the other three would get a token unbirthday gift. They thought it was because they were loved so much -- and it was (partly). Also, as any parent will know, it helped ease any jealousy on the part of those whose birthday it wasn't. I learned this little parenting technique from my mom. It made for more pleasant birthdays in our house.

So....getting to the point..Sunday was my daughter's birthday and she told me she had sent me and her dad an unbirthday gift from her. It was a Keurig single cup coffee brewing system -- I call it a coffee pot. But what a coffee pot! I love it. Really, really love it. A. also sent an assortment of K-cup samples -- which I've been busy sampling. I can't believe it's taken me so long to find this little gem. I gave it one try and it instantly changed the way I drink coffee. No more bad coffee that's been sitting in the pot for too long. My French press is nice but the Keurig is so much easier. So much easier!

Oh! I also discovered Abita's Strawberry beer at Target. Yum! Coffee and beer! What a day!

Now if I can just get those cellular shades ordered....

Blue Plate Mayonnaise....

My daughter in North Carolina has frantically been searching for Blue Plate Mayonnaise. She was able to find it when she first moved up there. Now....she can't locate it anywhere. She's tried several other brands but they can't replace Blue Plate. (I understand.) So....I get a frantic text asking me to please, please ship her four jars and she will reimburse me. (We'll see.) I figured it would be worth my time to just have Cajun Supermarket ship her some -- along with some Slap Ya Mama seasoning and Elmers Cheesey-things. No luck on Elmers chocolate tho. They'd probably melt before they got there anyway.

I hope she can survive until her care package arrives.

At least the Garrett's popcorn I had shipped to her for her birthday shipped for free.

Pollen....

This is the time of year that everything outside around here turns a distinctive shade of yellow. Yellow with pollen. There is a film of yellow dust on cars, outside furniture, your butt after sitting on outside furniture, etc, etc.... First the pollen, then the stinging caterpillars, then the no-see-ums. We can mark the season with our plagues. Oh! The lovebugs. Don't forget the lovebugs. At least we now have Bengal for the roaches. (Shudder. Shudder.)

Moving right along.... The temps are slowly but surely creeping up every week, so I decided if I was going to clean up the front flower beds without melting, I'd better do it pretty quickly. And, that's exactly what I did Wednesday. It was a pretty nice day -- weather wise. I went outside with the intention of cleaning off the patio and driveway and refilling the hummingbird feeder, and over four hours later, finally came inside. One thing led to another and by the time I was finished I had five full lawn-and-garden bags full of leaves and old pine straw. AND....front flower beds that looked much better. I still may call someone to come out and finish the job -- fertilizer, new pine straw, and whatever else needs doing.

By the end of the day Wednesday I had one of those nagging headaches -- you know the kind? Not quite a full-blown headache but one just waitin' to strike. I'm sure it was all the pollen and stuff I stirred up while working in the yard, so before bed I took two 8-hour Tylenol and then a Benedryl. Then....I couldn't sleep. I don't know why that happens sometimes. Instead of having a relaxing effect, whatever I take makes me antsy -- or something.

Now for the weekend: Whole Foods. Computer repair shop. Craigslist ad. Dealing with a son's request for money. Pizza. Beer.