So I broke down and bought a new computer. Whee! Is this thing ever fast! No more continuous spontaneous rebooting while in the middle of something. All my memory slots and USB slots actually WORK. I can now actually upload pictures again!! **The heavens open and angels sing** It’s stunning really for someone who is so used to taking a bunch of crap from a machine, it always calling the shots, letting me know what it would and would not do for me, mocking me the entire time knowing that I’m a computer person with too much pride to let a machine win. The bastard had to GO!

That’s right. Tossed. Kaput! Bye Bye!!! Now maybe I can start posting to my site again. I’ve got recipes to share (I made the BEST Peanut Butter Pie recently that actually made me moan in delight), photos that I’ve taken (I’m actually learning how to use this danged old camera) and stories to tell (so much to catch up on). And even though it’s Summertime and I spend an obscene amount of time at my pool and/or at the beach, I plan to spend at least a little time uploading pictures and catching my site up to date.

I feel so alive and so free! Amazing what a new start can do for a person.

This crazy group of women all met in Gulf Shores, Alabama to attend Momma’s graduation from Nursing school.  Neither of us had ever even MET Momma, but we all knew her as if she were our own family.  [Left to right: Momma, Me, Demery, Martha, Mo]

We’ve been talking to her via blogs, emails, texts, phone, etc for over four years.  We’ve come to know and love her as our very dear friend.  (She’s actually my long lost Southern Soul Sista)  We encouraged her and supported her in this leap of faith into the Nursing world (We KNEW she was one smart cookie).  And we all promised her 2 1/2 years ago that we’d be there the day she graduated.  And we were.  We had no choice.  She did her part.  She stuck to it even when things got rough. 

So we all hopped on planes and went to beautiful South Alabama.Three of them came from Seattle.  I flew in from Virginia Beach.  One of her dearest lifelong friends flew in from Vancouver.  So it was a full-fledged celebration!  Hats off to Momma!

But boy that was a short trip!  I can’t wait to go back!!!  When I can stay for more than a minute.  My dear friends from Seattle had apparently never been south of the Mason Dixon line before and had no idea of the beauty and charm of the Southern beaches AND our Southern men.  Yes, Mo was CHARMED.  Our Cabanna Boy called her “Darlin’” and I believe she went into a daze.

By the time we left, the girls were all shouting, “WE LOVE ALABAMA!!”  I tend to agree, but that’s just the “Southern” coming out in me.  What can I say?  I’m partial to the Southern Drawl, Darlin’, and sugar white beaches. 

I’m thinking RETIREMENT location.

If you haven’t seen the commericial, it’s worth a gander. Here it is:

So WHO IS this guy in the Old Spice commercial? His name is Isaiah Mustafa, an actor and a former wide receiver for the NFL who signed as a rookie with the Seattle Seahawks in 2000. He used to be a middle school math teacher too.

All I have to say to that is. . . MY middle school math teacher never looked like THAT!

What a winter we’ve all had this year!! (Let’s hope it’s close to over) Typically this area around Virginia Beach rarely sees much really cold weather during the winter. Snow is something kids dream of. But this winter has been different. We’ve seen snow. . . several times. In fact, it was snowing here once while I was texting my friends in Seattle, Washington where it was 60 degrees and sunny there. Talk about opposite weather forecasts.

I saw the predictions for the week and I saw 60 degree plus temps forecasted and I thought that was great. What I didn’t fully appreciate was exactly HOW WARM 67 degrees feels after you’ve been freezing your tush off for months. It feels like Summer!!!!! Woohooo!! Talk about a difference in my disposition. I broke out the t-shirt and shorts and felt like MYSELF again. . . only much, much whiter. (I’ll have to work on that)

My boss, the one I like, was in a really bad mood today. Something that usually really bothers me. (I take everything personally) (And well, it bothered me a little) But today, it didn’t bother me as much as usual. It’s something about warm weather that lightens up my day. No matter who’s grouchy. No matter how much stress I’m under. Sunshine and warm temps are the ANSWER!! My cure-all to what ails me.

BRING ON THE WARM SUNSHINE!!!! I’M READY FOR YA!!!

I’m ready for my flowers!! They’re coming soon!!!!!

It’s so tiny (8 weeks and 5 days) that we can’t tell if it’s a boy or a girl, but so far, baby is doing well.

Back in the day when my boys were born, sonograms weren’t done on a routine basis. Back then, they only did them if they suspected something was wrong. Heck, I didn’t even know that you could see the little nugget when it was this tiny! So needless to say, I never saw my babies in pictures before they were born. And their gender was still a mystery until the minute they popped out. The wonders of modern medicine.

I’m mixed on whether I’d have wanted to know the sex of the baby when they were born. On one hand, it’s great to be able to plan ahead, colors, names, etc. But then I did like that element of surprise the minute they were born. I guess it doesn’t matter what I’d have done because my daughter-in-law WANTS TO KNOW! And I do toooooo! I can’t wait to know now. They’ve already got names picked out and everything. So once we know, I’ll be able to refer to the baby by name instead of “it”. (I’ve never liked “it”)

I mean, honestly, it’s winter. I wear pants or skirts with boots to work. I wear sweats at home, pajamas to bed. Even I don’t see my legs till the sun comes out! Well, a neurologist DOES make you put on the paper gown and there my Mo’nique legs were in all their glory. (I do NOT know how that woman does it!)

Of course, since I was mortified, I commented on how if I’d have known, I’d have shaved the legs. In his driest sense of humor, he said, “I don’t care. I don’t shave my legs either.” Haha!

Suffice it to say. . . I shaved the monsters this morning. A day late and a dollar short. Just thought everyone should be kept aprized of the national event.

Another nagging little thought. . . Why do I have a zit at nearly 50 years old? I thought wrinkles were the trade-off for those nasty, little buggars.

Just saying’.

This past weekend, same youngest son purchased his very first car. For years, he’d been driving the car his dad gave him in high school (it eventually crapped out), then an old car that a friend of mine gave him (same story), then my oldest boy’s old Explorer that his dad gave him in high school. That one has about petered out too regardless of how many parts we’ve been throwing at it. It’s down to the transmission now and his patience had run OUT! So off he and his dad went car shopping.

And he did good. It’s not really what he wanted, but it was the best car that he could find in his price range. I think he did good. It’s nice, very low miles and four-door. . . perfect for the carseat that will need to be installed in seven months.

That’s right! I’m going to become a grandma in October! The had their first doctor’s visit this morning and everything is perfect. Adam called me so excited having heard the little heartbeat. He’s already saying that he “just knows” that it’s a girl. I tend to believe his gut instinct (although if I actually had a choice in the matter, I’d choose a boy – it’s all I know). You see, I KNEW that my oldest was going to be a boy without question. My second pregnancy was SO completely different from my first that I was certain that it would be a girl just for that reason. Turns out that he was just upside down, henceforth the difference I reckon. Anyway, now my baby is having a baby, and he is so happy!

This past Saturday was my little sister’s birthday. We spent many hours on the phone. We can’t believe the numbers that show up on our birthday cakes lately. When did we blink and become our mother’s age? We still feel the exact same as we did when we were girls. But the numbers don’t lie. Well, hers lie (MINE don’t) because she REALLY looks 20 years younger.

See! Happy Birthday Sister!!!

It boils down to this: I have no tolerance for bullshit anymore. I have no tolerance for people that don’t do their jobs. I have no tolerance for whiners. I have no tolerance for ignorant people who spew at the mouth like rabid raccoons. I have no tolerance for condescension. I have no tolerance for liars, snakes in the grass, and shady behavior. I have no tolerance for backstabbers. I have no tolerance for bullies, mean people, and assholes. I have no tolerance for people who mistake my gender, my Southern accent, my blonde hair, and my over-sized boobs as weakness or lack of intelligence. (Actually, I pity THAT fool.) Yet, they’re all around me! Everywhere I turn lately on a daily basis. I can’t get away from them.

The problem comes in whereas I LIKE to be a sweet person. I have great intentions every morning when I wake up to be nothing but sweet and kind and to have a fabulous day. But then I run into one or more of these intolerable behaviors and my head bursts into flames. It’s been happening for the past year.

I blame it on menopause, but it truly could be that I’m just sick and tired of being taken advantage of, walked on, and made to look like something I’m not and I’ve finally started standing up for myself. It’s hard work, but dangit, somebody’s gotta do it!

[All of this is purely a big, fat, totally generic vent-fest. It was one of those days.]

So in honor of National Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day, I’m going to repost my favorite Peanut Butter Cornflake Bar. (I gain 3 pounds every time I make a batch) They’re so easy and so so good.

PEANUT BUTTER CORNFLAKE BARS

2 cups Sugar
1 1/2 cups Karo syrup
2 cups Peanut Butter
12 oz box Cornflakes

Put sugar and Karo into a large pot, mix and let come to a boil on the stovetop. Remove from heat immediently. Add peanut butter and stir until smooth. Pour box of Cornflakes into the mixture. Mix very rapidly until Cornflakes are coated.
Spread into a 12 x 16 greased cookie sheet.
Cut into bars while warm.

NOTE: The “cut into bars while warm” is no joke. If you wait until these puppies have cooled, you’ll need to bring some serious muscle with you.

These things are the bomb-diggity! A huge family favorite.