Andy’s and Fairies

I met some friends at Andy’s to take advantage of winning the business card drawing! We had a lot of fun — Andy’s has an enjoyable atmosphere, good music, and good food — and they always make you feel like they are so very happy to see you! We ate our meal and got up to the register to pay (not for mine – that was free – hehehe) and Ashley (the girl who called to tell me I won) asked which one of us was “Kim”. I waved at her and she gave me a huge smile and turned to the crew on the grill and said “hey, everybody, this is Kim and she’s our business card winner” — they all smiled and waved and said “Hi, Kim!” —- it was a HOOT!!!!! I told her that her call really made my day yesterday! I felt really special and had a great time!!! Go enjoy a meal at Andy’s and put your business card in their bucket! You just might win the next drawing and get to feel special, too…….

On the way home, I decided to pop in at the Shops at Steele Street to look around. I love that place!!! I found that Marty has her stock of Mark Roberts Fairies on a 20% off sale!!! Woo Hoo!!! I started collecting them last Christmas with 2 and got a couple more this year and received a couple for Christmas gifts — so, I had to pick one up at the sale price — I got the “Make A Wish” Fairy – he is stunning!!!

Saturday Morning Ramblings

The girls have really enjoyed being outside this morning! It is cold, but pleasant out and the sun is shining pretty bright. They participated in a nice mix of running, playing, rolling around, and bathing in the sun! They wore each other out and are now laying around my feet snoring!!!

I spent a lot of time this morning composing a blog post about all the dogs I have loved in my life time! I was thinking about some of them yesterday and thought it would make a wonderful way to document and pay tribute to them all. But — there were so many and each had some great stories about them that it soon became a BOOK instead of a blog post (I know – what’s new?)! So, I deleted it (I should have just saved it and left it in draft, but I didn’t think about that until it was deleted and too late!) and decided to use the stories in shorter blog posts off and on for a while. I kick myself for deleting what I wrote, though, cause now I have to recreate the award-winning stories I had already put into words!

I’m giving some more thought to a suggestion my Mom made when she was here for something to set my kitchen off and make the table area more of a focal point. The kitchen/living room area is all open and like one big room. The separators are the bar type counter that goes along a section between the kitchen and living room and that the living room floor is laminate wood and the kitchen floor is dura-ceramic tile. I also positioned the living room furniture so that it makes a cozy seating area that distinguishes the living room from the kitchen without losing that open floor plan I love! But – she suggested that I take the two walls of the kitchen that don’t have any appliances or cabinets on and put wainscoting and a chair rail up about waist level to set off the breakfast nook area where my table and chairs are. I didn’t think I liked that idea much at the time, but the more I think about it, the more I think I just might do it! I think it would look nice — so, add it to the renovation plans for this year!

I like watching HGTV on Saturday mornings – they usually have back to back gardening and landscaping design shows. I enjoy getting ideas from those shows or just like seeing what other people do with their trouble areas! Don’t get me wrong – I’m not a gardener or landscaper!!! But, I do like my yard to look nice and have a GREAT landscaper who keeps it up for me and does a wonderful job of making my ideas a reality (or talking me out of what wouldn’t work and giving me fantastic alternative ideas)…………..Harrington’s Lawn Care and Landscaping – Chris and Brandon Harrington are brothers and the owners of the business! They’re great! I’m so glad I found them – I was looking for someone who would plant a couple trees for me when I first moved here and they came highly recommended and the rest is history!!!

That’s enough thoughts for now — time to get on with enjoying the weekend!

Hey, I won something…….

When my Mom was here, we went to Andy’s to check it out. I hadn’t had a chance to see what it was like, so thought we would share the first visit together! We had a fun experience and really enjoyed the burgers and milkshakes we had.

As I was paying the bill and getting ready to head out, I noticed the jar on the counter with a sign that said to drop in your business card for a chance to win a free meal. So, I got a card out of my purse and dropped it in the jar — I always do that when I see those types of things, but never hear anything from them!

Well – today, I was out of my office for a little while and when I returned, I had a message on my voice mail. I listened to the message and got all excited!!!! The lady on the message said she was from Andy’s and that my business card was drawn for the prize!!!! I can go whenever I want and my meal is free and I can bring up to 3 friends with me and they get 10% off their bill…….woo hoo!!!!

Note to Jon Owens: Na-na-na – I got a free meal at Andy’s and I didn’t have to eat till I burst to get it!!!! hehehehehe

Movie Choices This Weekend

I just looked at the line up at the Spring Lane Cinemas for this weekend……looks like a trip to the theater won’t be high on my priority list!

There are 3 new ones listed – none of which spark my interest:

  • How She Move (haven’t seen anything on this one – doesn’t sound that intriguing)
  • Meet The Spartans (same comment)
  • Rambo (YUCK – who wants to see an old man trying to relive a part he did 50 years ago?)

(yeah, I know 50 years is an exaggeration – it was only 45 years ago!)

I still haven’t seen Alvin and The Chipmunks, though — which I find VERY hard to believe — I ADORE Alvin!!!!! Hhhmmm – will I go to the theater after all or will I wait for the DVD????

The pressure is on…..

Billy Liggett, Sanford Herald Editor, wrote about my blog (and other great local bloggers) on his blog (http://billyliggett.wordpress.com/) today. His kind comments prompted a lot of visitors and gave me a lot to live up to! Hhhmmm – I love a good challenge!!!!

I gotta say, I love blogging and I really enjoy reading what others have to say in their blogs and leaving comments for them from time to time! It is a lot of fun and I look forward to finding other Sanford bloggers!

If you’re a Sanford blogger, leave me a comment and let me know you’re out there! I’d love to add you to the list I have in my favorites that I read every day!

Happy Blogging!

Aahh – Sleep!

The hiccups finally stopped just before 1:00 am and I was able to fall asleep! Then, the alarm started going off at 5:30………..needless to say, the snooze button got a lot of use this morning!

Hiccups – Uugghh!!!

I get the hiccups a lot — the deep, hard, painful kind!!!! They come on suddenly and always at the worst times!!!! Here it is bed time and I’ve got a nasty case of hiccups nagging at me……

I have a fool proof cure, but it’s not working!!!!

My hiccup cure:

  • Get a glass of water
  • Take a deep breath and hold it
  • Take at least seven (7) sips of water, swallow between each sip, hold your breath all the time (sip, swallow, sip, swallow, sip, swallow, etc…)
  • Continue past seven sips, if you can hold your breath that long — I take as many sips as I can before I have to breathe again
  • Sometimes, for tough hiccups, it takes a second round

Dang – four rounds and they are still there!!!!! I’m doomed!!!! Any suggestions?????

Wednesday

What is special about Wednesday?

  • Hump Day – half way to the much anticipated weekend days
  • The day I gather all the trash and take it to the street for Thursday pick up
  • I was born on a Wednesday – October 24, 1956
  • Project Runway is on Bravo at 10:00 pm
  • It is spelled funny – why is there a “d” and “e”? Why not spell it “Wensday”?
  • Wednesday’s Child is Full of Woe
  • Ash Wednesday – first day of Lent – Catholics apply ashes to their foreheads as a sign of Penance
  • The daughter on the Addams Family was named Wednesday

If Wednesday’s have special meaning to you, leave a comment to tell me about it!

For more interesting tidbits about Wednesday, click on this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wednesday

Katie Holmes In Mad Money

I just read on AOL that the critics are SLAMMING Katie Holmes’ performance in Mad Money!

First, I rarely agree with the critics – I read their opinions for entertainment, but don’t listen to them. If a movie peaks my interest and is the type of movie I enjoy seeing, I go see it and form my own opinion! I never understood why some people stay away from a movie just because the critics say it isn’t worth their time!!! It is a shame that critics have the power to kill a movie before the vast majority have a chance to prove them wrong! There are a lot of movies that end up being huge hits on video after they were declared duds and dropped at the theater because of bad reviews and subsequent low box office turn out!

Now – about my opinion of Katie’s performance in Mad Money: I think she was adorable and was perfect in her role as the hippie-ish cart girl. The critics thought her dancing made her character look childish and unbelievable. Quite the contrary — I think her dancing was charming and put the cherry on top of her character – it made the character! AND made her ability to pull off her part of the plan go unnoticed by the security cameras. I think she looked like she was having fun — not only was her character having fun, but SHE was having fun playing the character!

BRAVO, Katie — job well done!!!

Get a grip, critics — not all movies have to live up to A Streetcar Named Desire; not all characters have to be as deep as Blanche DuBois or Stanley Kowalski; not all actors have to be as powerful as Vivian Leigh or Marlon Brando……………..I absolutely agree that Streetcar was an amazing film and the characters/actors deserve their spot of honor in classic movie history – BUT – some movies/characters/actors are just plain entertaining and give us something to smile about!!! And that’s OK, too!!!

Snow In Sanford

We had our first snow of the season here in Sanford yesterday – well, second, if you count the faint, 2 second showing of snow that you had to squint to see a couple weeks ago – I am not counting that day – yesterday was the REAL first snow!!

This is what I saw looking out to my back yard this morning….

JUST KIDDING – this isn’t my yard and not even in Sanford and not even this year — it is a photo my brother sent me of HIS back yard after a nasty storm they had in my home town last year. THIS is what I saw looking out of my den window this morning – there was a little more of an accumulation late last night, but not much more than this!
The weather reports called it a “winter storm” and predicted 1-3 inches for our area. Now, remember, I grew up in the Buffalo snow belt on Lake Ontario in Western New York — in my books, 1-3 inches is a minor annoyance – not a winter storm!!! Tell me you are predicting a foot or more in a 24 hour period and I’ll start paying attention!!!

Yes, despite my history with snow, I DO get a little giddy about seeing the first (and usually the only) snow that Sanford gets each year, but I don’t tend to get too excited about it. I get a real kick out of everything shutting down and people rushing out to the grocery stores to “stock up” in case they get “snowed in”…….in the 20+ years I’ve lived here, there have only been two times that I can remember not being unable to get out for more than a day – once due to snow and once due to ice – both were pretty nasty storms and ones that created a lot of real havoc! I do get a little nervous when they predict a wintry mix, though – to be fair to the reason the town shuts down, we aren’t equipped here to handle any accumulation of snow and the problem here is usually caused by ICE, which is far worse than snow!

So – back to yesterday’s snow fall…….it started about 2:00 or so, I guess, as a mix of rain and sleet. It soon turned to huge, white, wet, flakes of snow! It came down pretty hard and lasted for several hours and at times was snowing hard enough to impair visibility a little!!! So, it was a pretty significant down fall…………….unfortunately, it didn’t stick much!!! The ground still wasn’t terribly cold and the flakes were so wet, they mostly melted into the ground until later in the evening. When it finally started to accumulate, it pretty much stopped and returned to a fine, sleety type snow. So — what ended up being visible on the ground was little more than a dusting – nothing that we could have made angels in or made snowballs with or built a snowman with…….the girls barely noticed it – even when I let them out while it was coming down nice and hard – so I don’t have any photos of them acting crazy in the snow!!! But — it came down pretty good for quite a while – if the ground conditions had been more receptive, we just might have had a nice accumulation!!!

It is all gone now — all except a crusty coating on my back deck where the sun doesn’t really shine directly enough to melt it and a patch or two on some of my neighbor’s yards. But – it created some excitement around here and was really pretty while it was coming down!!!