Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
Devil Dog and Other Topics of Interest
Of course, I wasn’t able to get a photo… Amy, the one that is usually calm, gentle, and sweet, exhibited signs of being a Devil Dog a little bit ago!!! I heard some of the strangest sounds coming from my sweet girl and I looked over at her laying in the chair – sound asleep! She was curled up with her head on the arm of the chair – her eyes were open, but rolled back so that you could only see the white part and that was all blood shot – her face was twitching wildly and scrunching all up making her look down right evil – and she was making strange muffled, throaty growls! I thought that she was either having a bad dream or a seizure!!! I said her name to see if I got a reaction out of her and she lifted her head and rolled her eyes back to the normal position and she was my sweet little Amy, again!!! She came over and sat beside me, I put my arm around her, and she laid her head on my shoulder……Devil Dog Gone!!!
Megan has started this cute little thing in the mornings — she’s been doing it about a month now! When they try to wake me up and I try to ignore them and make them think I’m still asleep, she attempts to get at my face and I have my hands over it, so she gives up after a couple attempts. Then, she turns around and sits on my hip (I lay on my side and she is in front of me) – she just sits there with her butt on my hip like she’s standing guard or something! It is so cute I can barely keep from laughing – which would let them know I’m awake and that would be the end of trying to pretend I’m still sleeping! She’ll sit there like that for a while and then try again to see if she can get me to wake up – when the new attemps fail, she goes back to sitting on my hip to wait for another chance! She’s such a character!!!
I went to Cafe 121 for dinner tonight – first time in a couple weeks! I had the brown sugar glazed ham special with mashed potatoes and his signature fried green beans – YUM!!! But I made two really great discoveries while I was there!
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First – he will be open on Thanksgiving! Ronald, Lisa, and I were just talking this past weekend about seeing if anyone was going to be open for Thanksgiving cause neither of us want to cook – we usually have Thanksgiving together and one or the other of us cook! But, since one of the boys isn’t around here anymore and the other usually makes other plans, it ends up being just the three of us and not really worth the trouble (and we end up with WAY too many left overs)! So, we were thinking of going out for dinner, instead… We just might make a reservation for Cafe 121 – unless our plans change cause Lisa might have to work. Anyway – if anyone is interested, they will be open from 11:00 – 3:00 and are taking reservations for Thanksgiving dinner in the restaurant OR orders for taking an already cooked meal home for the family to reduce your time (and mess) in the kitchen!
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Second – Cinnamon Apple Cider!!! The paper table cloth covers had “Try our new cinnamon apple cider” written on them — when I got done with dinner, I asked if that was hot and found out it WAS — so I ordered one for dessert — then I was asked if I wanted it with or without the caramel — OMG — of course I wanted it WITH the caramel!!!! This was an AMAZING drink!!! It was too hot to drink right away, so I brought it home and sipped on it while I was checking emails and blogs….it was in a large coffee cup, so I got a lot, but was still so sorry I didn’t order TWO and wished I had MORE! It was scrumptious!!! You gotta try this — go by the coffee bar in Cafe 121 and get yourself one!!! It is like drinking a delicious, fresh out of the oven, homemade apple pie!!! YUM, YUM!!!
If you haven’t seen Footloose at the Temple, yet, you’d better hurry — this is the last weekend! Final shows are Friday at 8:00, Saturday at 2:00 and 8:00, and Sunday at 2:00 — then, it is done!
WOW – I just saw an interesting tip on Food Network — Alton Brown had a little snippet on there between commercials! It was about oatmeal – he said that he likes to have a bowl of oatmeal every day, but that isn’t easy when traveling – until now! He mentioned that most hotel rooms now have coffee makers in the rooms – he said you put two envelopes of instant oatmeal in the pot, add a individual packet of honey, add an individual packet of jam, put one herbal tea bag of choice (he suggested orange) in the part where you usually put the coffee pouch, and pour in 8-10 ounces of water (depending on the consistency you like) in the water resevoir and turn it on! When the water stops, you can stir it and eat it right out of the pot! AND – it stays hot on the heating pad until you are ready to eat it or if you want to eat a little now and a little later! hhhmmm — I just might take some instant oatmeal and the other ingredients with me the next time I travel so I can give it a try!!! (oh, wait, I don’t have to wait to travel to try it – I have a coffee maker at home that I rarely use…..not a coffee drinker)
Guess that’s it for now….
Thoughts for Thursday
I was reading Lindsay’s post about breakfast for dinner and it got me thinking and hungry for just that! I love breakfast at dinner time and am always so sad to find that there isn’t anywhere in Sanford to get breakfast whenever you want it (except the recent addition of the Waffle House, of course). My Mom used to fix breakfast for dinner every now and then — she did it because it was a cheap way to stretch the grocery budget, but she made such a big deal out of it that it made it super special to us and we would think we were getting away with something that just wasn’t supposed to happen! ha-ha She would fix eggs and fried potatoes and toast sometimes. But the one that we always begged for and loved was what she called “Corn Fritters”! She would make pancake batter and add a can of nibblets corn and a sprinkle of sugar. Then, she would fill a large iron skillet with the batter to make one HUGE pancake for each of us (we would have fun watching her try to flip a pancake that big, but she was a pro and always flipped it perfectly!) – then, when she served it, she would cut a small hole in the center! This was a the result of a genius at work because the pancake was so big it filled a plate and without the hole, the syrup and butter would run off the pancake onto the table! So we would spread the butter on the pancake and put the warm syrup in the center hole for dunking and it would also soak into the pancake from the center out! It was GREAT and we loved them!!! I’m thinking there is a dinner of Corn Fritters in my near future!
What a lovely Fall day this is going to be! I am sitting on my couch looking out the window to the back yard and marveling at the natural beauty that is spilling all over my neighborhood! The yard and deck are peppered with colorful leaves. I have a tree perfectly centered in my view that is almost completely yellow – there are a few remaining green leaves, but not many. My Weeping Japanese Maple and the bushes behind it have turned red. There is a totally red tree in my side yard that is positioned nicely right in front of a totally yellow tree to make for a breath taking blend of colors. And the sun is shining through an array of colorful limbs. It is cool now, but not cold, and is supposed to warm up into the low 70s. A perfect day to play hookie – but I won’t – well, I “would”, but I shouldn’t and can’t with what is on my plate today!
Here is a sample of the beauty in my yard this morning — it is too pretty to keep private — it begs to be shared:
What a great way to start the day — it promises to be a good one, for sure!
Speculation…
The results show for Dancing With The Stars usually runs on Tuesday, but due to the election coverage, it was postponed to tonight. I didn’t post my opinion of Monday night’s show cause I was tired after the show and then there were more important things to write about (i.e.: irritating political phone calls, etc.). So, before tonight’s show airs at 8:00, I’m gonna post my thoughts…I know you’re all hanging on the edge of your seats and just LOVE to read about this! (and if you’re not, oh well — check tomorrow for a different topic that might be more appealing to you)
I thought that Susan Lucci did an amazing job on her Paso Doble – she brought out her theatrical side and nailed it! She got a lot of praise from the judges, but they still only gave her a 24 (three 8s)! Her performance in the team dance didn’t help her, though — the team she was on didn’t do well at all (except for Lance Bass) and the 20 point score that her team earned is added to her individual score — OUCH!
Warren and Cody were at the bottom of the individual score leader board – 21 and 22 respectively! Warren was on the winning team dance team, so he’ll have 29 added to his 21, but Cody was on the losing team dance team and will have 20 added to his 22 – which lands him in the true bottom of last night’s leader board!
Brooke was at the top with a perfect 30! She’ll have the 29 from the winning team dance score to add to that and will be assured a chance to stay!
The one I disagreed with most, though, was the 25 that Maurice earned…not thinking Maurice should make it much longer! He was on the winning team dance team, so he faired well overall for his score! I didn’t think he deserved it – so there!
My prediction for tonight? I think Cody or Maurice should go and predict it will be Cody…but, unfortunately, there is strong chance the voters just might go with Susan!
Update: Susan went home (that was a shame, but understandable) and Cody was with her in the bottom two! We’ll see how he does next week…
It is over…
Dare I say it? It’s not like everyone doesn’t already know, afterall. It’s no secret. I really can’t say “you heard it here, first”. But, if I actually say it, maybe it will jinx something and I’ll have to retract my declaration. Should I chance it? Is it too soon to announce a victory on this?
Aahh shoot, here goes! THE FLOOD OF MESSAGES ON MY ANSWERING MACHINE AND LATE NIGHT POLITICAL CALLS ARE OVER!!! Yep, I said it! Tonight I will come home to a quiet answering machine and I won’t be irritated by the phone ringing off the hook all hours of the evening with calls from everyone from Kay Hagan assuring me that she DOES believe in God to someone warning me about the threat of unions in our workplace to Gretchen Wilson urging me to vote for McCain (well, actually, that one was kinda cool – it was the only one I listened to all the way through – I was impressed that Gretchen actually made a “personal” call and plea to little ole me like I was one of her BFFs or something – “Let me get a big ‘hell yeah’ from the redneck girls like me, hell yeah”)!
So, let’s all breathe a collective sigh of relief — and then hold our breath until they come and take down all those signs littering our landscapes!!! Well, maybe you’d better not actually hold your breath – that could get a tad unhealthy for you…it might be a while!
Election Day Activities
I got up early this morning to go in to vote before work — I had a 7:45 meeting to go to, so I had to get done early and I didn’t want to wait until after work cause I signed up for a 2 hour shift at the CIS Kid’s Voting Booth and didn’t want to get tied up in a long line and miss relieving the person before me!
So — I was at BT Bullock school to cast my vote right when the polls opened at 6:30 — I was voter # 12 by the time I signed in, filled in all my preferred circles, and scanned my ballot! I was in and out and sitting in my office at work by just about 7:00! Woo Hoo!
Between going in early and the company benefit of getting an hour off to vote, if needed, I was able to leave work early enough to go by the house and take care of the girls and throw a pork roast into the crock pot for supper (more on that later) and then I got to Bullock to do my shift for Communities In Schools’ Kids Voting Event by about 4:00 (I was supposed to get there at 4:30, so I was nice and early)….. It was so much fun watching the kids voting! The really young ones were so precious! Some of their comments were “oh, look, this one has the same name as Daddy – I’ll vote for him”, “I’m gonna vote for the one with the American Flag, he must be a good American” (btw – the kids voting ballots had photos for the national and most of the state races – one of the gentlemen had his picture taken with a flag in the background – I forget who), “Mommy told me to vote for all the Republicans, which ones are Republicans?” and so on…..I had a blast!!!
Then I came home to the most amazing smelling house!!! That pork roast was about an hour shy of being done and it was driving me crazy!!! I rubbed the roast with pepper and garlic powder, put small new potatoes, baby carrots, and onions in the bottom of the crock pot and then put the roast on top of the veggie – then, I made a mixture of onion soup mix, worstershire sauce, and water and poured it over everything — then put the crock pot on high to be sure it would be done before bed time! I just fixed myself a plate and it is INCREDIBLE!!!! Soooooooooooooooo tender and FULL of flavor!!! YUM YUM YUM!!!
I got on Facebook and was thrilled to find my favorite veterinarian and dear friend Dr. Cindy McNamarra is a new Facebook addict and sent me a friend request! WOO HOO!!!
Now I’m enjoying my wonderful dinner, checking blogs, and watching election results by flipping back and forth between WRAL and Sanford coverage by Woody and Wayne!!!!
It will all be over soon — one way or another!!!
Reflections
I didn’t have a lot to say this weekend because I did absolutely nothing this weekend — well, except, of course, going to the Temple Theater to see Footloose on Saturday evening. I had planned to go to the Brush and Palette Show – I didn’t – first time I’ve missed that show in years! I also planned to check out the open house at Floral Designs By Eddie – I didn’t – now I’ll have to wait until next year to find out what that was all about! I planned to start on my Christmas shopping – I didn’t – I did, however, go to Wal-Mart just to wander around Sunday morning after I met some friends for breakfast and bought myself some jeans, a couple tops, and a crock pot! So – the weekend was one of those “lounge around and watch LifeTime movies” weekends!
Some things I learned this past week:
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The West Wing is now being run on Bravo – I watched just about an entire season on Saturday as it ran in a marathon of West Wings! I loved that show and was so very disappointed when it was canceled!
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Caller screening is a very useful tool — I do not screen my calls! When the phone rings, I pick it up! Sometimes I’m sorry I picked it up, but I do pick it up! But — I have gotten so sick and tired of having my answering machine FULL of recorded messages from candidates trying to sway my vote and the quantity/frequency has increased substantially! After the first one that called me at 10:30 at night, I started screening my calls!!! I won’t pick up ANY call from ANY phone # that I don’t recognize until after the election is over! The phone rang FOUR times AFTER 9:00 last night – SUNDAY NIGHT – all were either 800 #s or local unrecognizable #s and all left (or attempted to leave – I hit delete as soon as they started) recorded political messages!!! Do they really think they are going to win people over by disturbing our quiet, family time?
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My bulk pick up day is WEDS, not THURS! I had a love seat in the garage that the girls had “eaten” and it also had a broken arm. I was keeping it in the garage until I could decide what to do with it — well, being in the garage was keeping me from being able to PARK in the garage and I was getting sick (already) of having to defrost my windows in the mornings! So, I decided to just put it out for pick up and called to find out what the rules were and when to set it out there. The girl asked me when my normal pick up day was and I said “Thursday”! Since I was calling on Weds, she said to put it out there that evening and it would be picked up the next day! Simple! I didn’t want to wait until I could get some help putting it out to the street, so I attempted to just “shove” it down the driveway to the street! Well — that was more of a challenge than I thought it would be — the legs were no longer on it, so the bottom scraped along the cement driveway to the point where I could only shove it a couple inches at a time! Some kids riding their bikes on my cul du sac saw me struggling and asked if I needed some help — the three of us struggled and got it to the street! Thursday came and went and it wasn’t picked up — Friday came and went and it wasn’t picked up! So – I called them back Friday evening and in the conversation discovered that when the other girl asked what my normal pick up day was, she was referring to the “bulk” pick up day — I didn’t know it was a different day from the “trash” pick up day — so, the love seat has been sitting out there all week and will sit out there until WEDS!!!! Apologies to my neighbors, but I was NOT about to attempt to shove it back UP the driveway to put it away and then struggle to get it back down the driveway on Tues evening!
I know there were more revelations this past week, but I can’t think of them off hand…
Footloose at the Temple
It is no secret that I LOVE Sanford’s Temple Theater! The only shows I miss are ones that fall when I am tied up to the point where I absolutely can’t get to go!! That said – I almost missed the Temple’s production of Footloose running from October 17th thru November 9th. After taking advantage of a last minute whim and going to see it tonight, I see that missing it would have been a terrible shame!!! The reason I almost missed it had nothing to do with not being able to go — I actually have been thinking about going and just kept deciding to wait! My reason for procrastination was the movie – you know, the one starring Kevin Bacon that everyone loves……except me! Yep, that’s right, I am likely the only person in the world that did not like the movie Footloose – not even a little bit!!! So, I found myself trying to convince myself of what I knew would be true — that this would be different and that it would be amazing — but I wasn’t listening! ha-ha
So, tonight I went to the Dairy Bar for dinner and drove by the Temple on my way home and just decided in that instant to park the car and go in to see the show! And I did! And I am soooooooooooo glad! It was WONDERFUL!!! I like all the Temple shows, but I mostly like the ones that have a lot of community players and especially the ones with local kids — this was one of those shows! We have some incredibly talented kids in our community!
You know the story, so I won’t go into that! What I want to highlight are the kids — not to slight the adults that were in the show – they were all amazing, too, but I was so very impressed with all the kids! The singing and dancing talents were inspirational!! Really — they did such a great job!
Alex Copas played Ren – the Kevin Bacon role. Alex is a sophomore at Southern Lee HS and was perfect as Ren! Jentry Womack played Ariel, the Preacher’s daughter. Jentry is a Moore County freshman and was absolutely adorable as Ariel. Both Alex and Jentry are naturals — they look totally at ease on stage and sing and dance like pros! They did a great job and have a bright future in the arts!
All the kids were incredible — whether they had a named role or were part of the ensemble cast, their hard work in preparing for their participation was impressively evident! I am not sure of the name of who portrayed the little nerdy kid – the one who was clumsy and got pushed around a lot – but it was an adorable role and stood out for me!
As amazing as they all were, though, I think the ones who really “stole the show” were Patrick Holt as Willard and Ravenne Escobar as Rusty! These two were bundles of extremely talented comic relief!!! Whenever they were in a large group of multiple people on stage, I found myself fixed on them – they were perfect for their roles and made me want to see more of them! And I bet we see LOTS from them!
The show was fun, energetic, and entertaining! I had a great time and am sooooooooooo glad I decided to go and didn’t procrastinate myself right into missing it! If you haven’t seen it, yet, you need to go — you don’t have much time left! The final shows are tomorrow (Sunday the 2nd) at 2:00, Thursday the 6th at 7:00, Friday the 7th at 8:00, Saturday the 8th at 2:00 and 8:00, and the last chance will be Sunday the 9th at 2:00!!!
Mass Last Minute Influence Attempts…
I have come home to messages on my answering machine every day this week – most days anywhere from 2-6 messages per day – with recorded messages from candidates hoping that their “personal” call will be a successful plea for my vote! I even got one at 10:30 PM one night this week — that candidate, who will remain nameless, DEFINITELY won’t get my vote cause he/she irritated me with a call that late at night! (OK – truth be told, I already wasn’t planning on voting for them, but this was the unnecessary nail in my vote’s coffin)
So – in the spirit of attempting to sway a few of you who may still be undecided in these final few hours before election day on Tuesday — here is a video with a very eloquent song from my candidate for President — Paris Hilton! Spread the word — let’s paint the white house PINK!
Whoever you plan to vote for — JUST GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!!!
What to do when you can’t sleep…
I get these bouts of insomnia every now and then! I can’t seem to sleep at night and it knocks my sleep patterns all out of whack! All this week, I have had a difficult time sleeping at night – then, I am exhausted all the next day – then, I come home from work and end up zonking out on the couch watching TV – then, I get up and try to sleep and (of course) I can’t because I just spent several hours sleeping on the couch!!! It turns into a vicious cycle!!!
Tonight was no different — I got home from work, took care of the girls, met Tina from CIS to give her some paperwork I owed her, went to Myra’s for supper, took the trash and the love seat the girls (actually, just Megan – not all of them) “ate” to the road for Thursday pick up, and by 6:30 I was trying my darnedest to not fall asleep too early!!! It didn’t work — about 7:00 was the last time I noticed the clock before the girls woke me up at 10:30 to go outside! I checked emails and thought about going in to bed, but was wide awake and not one bit tired!!!
So, what do I do when I can’t sleep and want to try to make myself tired? I get on the computer! I checked all the local blogs, checked emails, read some of the news teasers on Yahoo and AOL, played around with Facebook a little bit, and stuff like that! That took me to about 11:15 or so…..what now??? I realized it was Wednesday and I hadn’t listened to The Rant, so I did that……then, I checked emails, blogs, and Facebook again (must be I thought someone else might still be up and doing the same thing I was doing), but found nothing new to read! I did find out that the Phillys won the World Series tonight – WOO HOO!!! Not sure why that didn’t show up on the news feeds earlier, but was glad I found out before tomorrow’s news!
I was just about to give in and try to go to bed, but was still wide awake — it was 1:30 am and I had no hope of being able to fall asleep! I don’t know what made me think of it, but I decided to check to see if by some remote chance, the Thursday Sanford Herald on-line edition was posted and it WAS!!! I was impressed!!! So, I read the Herald and now I won’t have to do it when I get up in the morning before work — that is, if I ever get to sleep so that I CAN get up in the morning… This is so good to know — With the *old* web site for the Herald on line, I was lucky if it was available before 7:00 so I could read it before work! Since the new site, I have tried to access it as early as 5:00 and found it updated, but this is the first time I tried in the middle of the night!!! Now I know that when I can’t sleep, I just might be able to make myself sleepy with the Herald! ha-ha-ha
So — it is now 2:20 am and I’m still not tired……………..but, I AM going to go to bed and try to get some sleep before I have to get up for work! I’ll turn the TV on and find something really boring to watch — like CNN or something – they are sure to have some election coverage that will have a high potential to put me to sleep quickly!!! ha-ha
GOOD NIGHT!!!!
Finally!
OK — it finally happened — Cloris Leachman has been voted off Dancing With The Stars!!! This was the worst fiasco since Master P kept getting votes to stay on WAY past the time he should have gone in Season Two!
Susan Lucci was with Cloris in the bottom two — she’ll likely be the next one to go! That’s a shame cause I think she could have the potential if she would just cut loose!!! But — as it stands now, she’s probably the one that will be voted off next week…..
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