HGTV & the World's Longest Yard Sale!

It's almost that time of year again when our little pocket of the world turns into slow-moving tourist after slow-moving tourist! But with the excitement in the air of a steal here or there, who cares?!? For it's the "World's Longest Yardsale"! Hereafter referred to as WLY for short!

I'm not a yard-saler (don't have the patience or the personality to walk away empty-handed from a hopeful seller...I don't want to hurt their feelings!), but I do like to take one of the days of the WLY with friends/family to get in the congested traffic and hope that you are the one to walk up and get a treasure for a steal! I know..it's a gamble, but I think I'm ready! I just checked the WLY dates, and they're August 6-9, 2009! And while I was on their website, I came across this little bulletin...pretty fun! Just thought someone here might be interested!

HGTV is Looking For Outgoing Yard Sale Shoppers attending the World's
Longest Yard Sale!!

HGTV's "Endless Yard Sale" will be back filming this
year's special and we're looking for fun, energetic shoppers to feature on the
show.

Specifically, we're on the hunt for teams of neighbors, friends
and co-workers (must live in the same town) who'd be willing to compete against
each other in a yard selling competition. Each team will be given a budget to
makeover a room in their home.

If you'll be shopping 'til you drop
between Chattanooga, TN and Jamestown, KY on August 6-8, 2009, and you (and your
friends) think you have enough personality to share with the nation, e-mail us
the details. We want to know your mission and what you love about the "World's
Longest Yard Sale"! Please include a photo of yourself.

We are casting
NOW, so please don't wait!!

Send your email to: eys09@live.com

Favorite Quote of the Week

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor in the morning the devil says “Oh, crap! She’s up again!”

*Taken from SouthernPlate.com, a blog that I've
really enjoyed lately. She offers great recipes and tips on how to serve yummy
meals, inexpensively and quickly!

Savory Summertime Snacks

In my continuing attempt to "be a better mom this summer," here's a list of some yummy snacks that I thought I'd share. I found them at SparkPeople, and I'm really hoping to be more consistent this summer in serving snack-time treats to my fam....in hopes that my new 'habits' will contiunue into the new school year...and beyond!

On a side note: these 10 savory snacks are all under 250 calories (not that we all need it! I do!)

Mini Chicken Fiesta
Fill 1 small corn tortilla with 3 oz chicken. Sprinkle on 2 Tbsp cheddar cheese and top with 2 Tbsp salsa. Warm in microwave if desired.

Better than Wings
Dunk 2 celery stalks in 2 Tbsp light bleu cheese dressing. Drizzle with hot sauce to taste.

Creamy, Crunchy, and TangyToast
1 slice multigrain bread. Spread with 1 Tbsp goat cheese then cover with 1 sliced tomato. Add plenty of black pepper and a pinch of dried thyme.

What a Pita!
Fill a 6-inch whole wheat pita with 2 Tbsp hummus. Squeeze with lemon juice and sprinkle with paprika.

Cheesy Dunker
Dunk 1 piece of mozzarella string cheese into 1/4 cup warm marinara sauce.

No-Cheat Chips and Salsa
Drag 15 baked tortilla chips through 1/2 cup salsa. Try raspberry-chipotle, tomatillo, or spicy mango varieties.

Punched-Up Popcorn
Pop 1 bag of 100-calorie popcorn. Season with 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp chili powder.

Filling Carbs-n-Protein
Eat 1 hardboiled egg with 3 pretzel rods.

Bean-n-Guac Rollup
Fill one small corn tortilla with 1/4 cup mashed black beans. Top with 1/4 avocado (diced) and add 2 Tbsp salsa.

Lett-uce Eat Tuna
Mix 3 oz tuna with 1 tsp lemon juice and 1 Tbsp light mayo. Season with black pepper to taste. Place mixture in 1 cup of lettuce leaves.

Oh! To be a better mom this summer was just recently finalized and posted.

Poll results for indoor/outdoor pool

Thanks, y'all, for the help! The poll results are in for the indoor/outdoor pool question about which you think is more sanitary.

25% say indoor pools are more sanitary, and 75% say outdoor pools are more sanitary!

Hmmm....I have a few of you that I'd like to talk to...indoor pools; really?!? I'm still convinced that outdoor pools are more sanitary, and the joy that my grandmother has while watching all of the great-grandkids' playing in the hotel pool is priceless! Thanks for the responses!

Help Wanted

Poll: Indoor vs. Outdoor pools!

Okay, y'all! You've gotta help me out here! I've set up a poll on the right sidebar, for Ricci and I need your help settling a "spirited discussion" regarding indoor/outdoor swimming pools!

One of us firmly believes that one over the other is healthier, for when we visit my grandparents, we stay in one of two hotels...both nice hotels, but one has an indoor pool, and one has an outdoor pool! If it were you (just judging on the pool situation!), which hotel swimming pool would you prefer? Indoor or Outdoor?!?

Are we rednecks or what?!?

Sitting in the front yard this evening, it occurred to me that we couldn't look more like a redneck family if we tried to this evening! And if I had the ability to capture time in a bottle, surely I would have chosen to do it this evening!

We've had such a busy week, so today we purposely made an effort to stay at home, and it has been sooo very nice! Surprisingly, none of us slept in this morning...I guess we were eager to just have a day at home! And I know that we've all been busy doing this or that around the house, but I'm surprised to say that the house doesn't show for it! Oh well! Tomorrow's another day! Right?!?

This week while L and I were out gallivanting around town while the girls were at music camp, we caught a great sale on meats at Sams, and yesterday we enjoyed picking up some fresh veggies and fruits at Linda's Produce. So today Ricci made an incredible spice rub, and we were all looking forward to ending our day with a yummy cookout!

But this evening if you had driven by, you would have thought we were such happy rednecks! You would have seen Ricci diligently watching over his grill, my sitting beside him (in my newly white painted Adirondack chairs!) snapping beans while we were watching Lovey ride her bike with training wheels up and down the driveway while AngelWings was manning the 'boom box' (her mp3 player attached to some speakers was sitting atop the back of Ricci's car) for Cricket who was proudly singing "Ready to Run"! Yes, the girls were puttin' on a "Creekbend" (instead of Riverbend) show for us. There was Cricket singing, standing atop my gardening bench and singing with all of her might...

"Oh yeah!
Ready, ready, ready, ready....ready to run!
All I'm ready to do is have some fuuu-uuuun!
What's all this talk about looo-vvvve!"

Such fun, blessed days! The joyful sounds of the children's voices, the smell of Ricci's grill, Sir-Barks-a-lot sitting at my feet, plenty of fresh air, our health (nothing more than tiny scratches and bruises from various bike falls), and the excitement of eating our yummy dinner! Yes, if I could capture time in a bottle, surely I would have chosen to do it this evening!

"That's the news from Lookout Mountain, where all the women are strong,

all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average!"

"Father Knows Best!"

I have to say that I do think "Father Knows Best" in so many ways! My Heavenly Father! My earthly father! And of course, who doesn't have a glimpse of a smile come to their face when they see Jim Anderson and how he loved his family?!?

Most afternoons after school, Jen and I would watch every episode that we could of "Father Knows Best," one of our favorite childhood shows from the 50's. (I feel that I should clarify...the show was from the 50's; this childhood memory was from the 80's.) I guess a local TV station was re-airing them.

And just like Betty, Bud and Kathy, I still like to think "Father Knows Best." I have an amazing daddy; my girls have an amazing daddy... and we all have an amazing Father.

This week, I just knew that it was going to be rough to accomplish all that was going to be on our plates and we all know that humorous saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." I had Him laughing hysterically this week....

Sunday night we laid our clothes out and went to bed early (well, early to us!), and we all awoke bright and early to get out the door at 8AM! That's WAY early for us! The girls were participating in a Music Camp this week...on the other side of town!

Daddy set out the Starbucks card and made sure we had everything and headed off to work. So we finished getting ready and headed out the door on time...shockingly, I know! While paying for my 'skinny, iced coffee...two pumps of mocha...hold the whip' (160 calories...yum!), I got the phone call for which we'd been waiting...we needed to make the decision as to when to return to Louisiana for a family funeral. It's a sad time, but it will be nice to see the family out there...if we go now or later!

Then we continued on to Music Camp where I dropped off the girls...oh, it's so cute to see an assembly of children excited about a new adventure! And then you should have seen the moms...excited for the same reason! After we got the kiddos settled, L and I took off for a play day just for us. All along, we kept mentioning more fun things we could do that week while the kids were busy at Camp, and I kept telling her, "Oh! I haven't even told you about Tuesday! I don't know how I'll get everything done!" So after we went back to pick up the kids, we all ran over to Taco Roc (hmmm!) for a late lunch, and she helped me create a way to accomplish 'most' of what was on my plate the following day. (Music Camp 8-12/board meeting 12-1/ setting up an event at Riverbend for Bethany 1:30-5/ helping host the event 5 'til / book club 7:30-9ish...all or most with chauffeuring...you know the type of day where you can mentally figure out how you can do it all, but if you write it down, you'd know immediately that it will never work!) Then we had to segregate the Chans from the Champs (very difficult to do!) so that we could get our girls up to their swim lessons.

And whew...it's been SO hot and humid this week! And swim lessons weren't any different! While we were there, I was fine one second, and then the next I thought I was going to pass out! Needless to say, I think I may have gotten some heat exhaustion (at least that's what I'd like to think!), for after I managed to get us all back to the car and back at home, I started to feel better after showers, some fruits and plenty of fluids! The next mornin'...not so much! I woke up not feeling too great and was "ill" for most of the day!

Yep...Father knows best! He completely took care of my to-do list...wiped it clean, in fact! And my more-than-wonderful husband picked up where I had left off! He took the girls to camp, delivered the 1000 balloon ribbons that we had cut (yes, that's another story in itself!), took care of me, made some returns for me, picked the girls back up, made supper...all the while he worked from home. The next day was more of the same while I recovered. Thank you, my love!

Thankfully, the rest of the week has gone very smoothly! We have loved every minute of Music Camp (the girls' learning all of the new songs, games and friends AND the moms' child-free shopping and lunch dates)!

Do you see what I see? Um...gum behind the ear? This child is so 'function before fashion'...and WHO ON EARTH taught her that?!?

Thank you, love, for loving me and helping me as you did this week!
Thank you, daddy, for loving us and sharing your wisdom with us!
Thank you, Father, for loving us and knowing what is best for us!

"Mice-Babies!"

This spring we read the unabridged story of The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo before seeing the greatly anticipated film (book was WAY better than the movie!), and we also enjoyed listening to the audio book narrated by Graeme Malcolm...who's voice and accent(s) was absolutely perfect to a 'T'!

If you have a chance, we HIGHLY recommend your listening to this audio book this summer! Get to know Despereaux, the Princess Pea, Chiaroscuro (cripes!), and Miggery Sow (“Gor, ain't it pretty? Gor, ain't it something?!”) as you will quickly get wrapped up in the sweet story filled with humor, sadness, hope, revenge, forgiveness...it's truly incredible!

***NOTE: All PETA members, please stop reading now!***

"I will have no more mice babies! They are such the disappointment!" says Despereaux's mother!

"I will have no more mice babies! They are such the disappointment!" screamed ME!

If my ribs weren't sore enough already from two days of my "being sick as a dog," then they are plenty sore from my girly shrieks this evening!

After two days of my not feeling so great, this evening I thought it'd be nice to sit outside with sweet hubby and take in a few (albeit shallow...sore ribs!) breaths of fresh air! Ahhh! It was nice!

Then we turned to walk inside, and Ricci (being the gentleman that he is) opened the door for me to walk inside first, and my radar eyes saw Despereaux run across the kitchen floor! Now of course, I was two rooms away, but I saw him! With both hands clasped tightly over my mouth..."Shriek! A mouse!" And other evenings, my Wonder Woman supersonic ears have heard him as well! And each time I've awoken Ricci to "What's that sound!?!?" And he's sleepily rolled over and said, "I don't hear anything!"

"Aha! Now I have proof!"

"Well, I didn't see anything! It was probably just a roach!"

"It was tiny, but it was too fast and too big to be a roach! Please stand right there while I go and Google 'how...many...babies...mice'!"

"Whatcha not doin' at your post?!? You're looking over my shoulder!!! Then you can clearly see what I'm reading on UGA's Co-op Ext. Serv. for Agricultural and Environmental Sciences....

"They usually have about 8-12 babies in one litter, but can have as few as 1 and
as many as 20 babies at a time." "Rats and mice breed fast."

"Mice can get through any hole that will admit the tip of your little finger. Seal small holes and cracks by stuffing them with stainless steel scouring pads, then caulk over them."

"Mice like peanut butter."

and my personal favorite...although I don't completely agree....

"Shooting is not generally effective for controlling rats and may be hazardous."

Tiny marital squabble...followed by "Yes, dear; I'll get dressed and go to the store at this late hour and buy some traps!"

***

Sweet fella returned home safely with four mouse traps...and more stories than I needed to hear of how the his fellow, late-night shoppers and grocery clerks have gotten rid of their mice and/or rats...dare we say that word out loud!

The dog and I greeted him at the door; I already had the suggested peanut butter waiting! So like a good, supportive wife, I helped him bait the traps. (Oh...who am I kidding...it was all for my pleasure! I wanted proof...once and for all...that Despereaux was indeed living in our home! And after I had returned him to the library!)

So 'we' baited one trap and set it gently to the side (not on the floor...we have children and a dog, ya know!); 'we' baited the second...it didn't work; (oops! I dropped a dab of peanut butter on the kitchen floor); 'we' baited the third and fourth. Sir-Barks-a-lot came in to see what we were doing; we praised him for cleaning up the peanut butter I had dropped; 'we' turned around to repair the final trap, and...

Click!

Clap!

Bam!

Snap!

Sir-Barks-a-lot thought he'd check out the rest of the peanut butter that we'd set out; after all, we had praised him for cleaning up the other! Poor thing was looking at us like..."WHAT THE HECK was all of that?!?!? I promise I will NEVER try to sneak food again that's not on the floor!"

Oh! The poor, terrified animal...thankfully was unhurt! Yes, if he were 'on guard' all of the time, we probably wouldn't be having this problem, but oh...my poor boy! His look was simply pathetic!

So after more of my screaming like a little girl and a few of Ricci's 'choice' words followed by our doubling over from so much laughter (again...sore ribs!), 'we' finished baiting the last mouse trap, and Ricci pulled the stove out...that's the only place where we can figure they're getting into this 'ole house! And I have to say that I'm not a morning person, but I will be wide awake to hear the results!

Thank you, Ricci, for being the most wonderful husband and father! I rest knowing that God gave me you and that you're protecting us!

Will Blog for Food, I mean... Comments!

Blogging for Food Comments:

Okay... some of you gals (and you know who you are!) crack me up by emailing me your comments instead of posting them! I really do blog just to keep up with our own day-to-day life and help myself remember little things (since I don't scrapbook anymore!), and I also blog for those friends and family that live far away! But I have to say that a blogger doesn't know if one has stopped by for a visit, unless one leaves a comment!

And who doesn't want to know if they've had a visitor?!? I certainly do!

Has Peggy Post written a book yet on Bloggers'/Readers' Etiquette? I'm sure that there's one written by someone out there!

Defending my pals that have leaving-a-comment fears, I will say that Blogger isn't the easiest blog publisher to use when it comes to finding where to place a comment, so until I find another way to enable a "click here to leave a comment button," please say hello when you drop by...it's not scary! I promise!

So for those of you who have asked (Jen, Carolyn, Mimi, Bonnie)... here's how to leave your comments...

at the bottom of each posting there's a posting-time-stamp with a link for comments next to it. Click on that, and then one can write their comment and choose how to sign it by either leaving a link back to your blog if you have one or by just signing your name or by just signing it "anonymously."

I do love your emails, but I'd also like to have your comments!

Hope that helps!