A New Decade Begins

Tuesday, June 5, I crossed over into my third decade. Although I don't feel any older, it still catches my breath to say my new age out loud. I really had a wonderful day. My good friend Charlie took me out to lunch where I enjoyed some very tasty wings. Then for dinner, Dave took Mom and me to The Melting Pot for some fondue fun. It was my first trip there and I enjoyed every minute (and every morsel). The cheese course was naturally my favorite as I am addicted to cheese. Mom gave me 4 really adorable monogrammed/embroidered aprons and a framed print called "Palmetto Trio." Dave gave me the bread machine I mentioned earlier which has been well-used already, 2 pair of shoes that I wanted, and money to pick out a new Vera Bradley set. He even went with me a few days later to pick out said Vera Bradley. Mom made a delicious chocolate cheesecake to celebrate. I felt very special on my big day and received calls, cards, and blog acknowledgments from my wonderful friends and family.

I thought it would be a neat thing to do (as I have seen a few other folks do) to share 30 things about myself to commemorate this cross-over. So here goes...

1. I have the kindest, most generous boyfriend imaginable. We met through friends almost 3 years ago.
2. I love to read cookbooks and recipes on the Internet. It's one of my favorite things to do.
3. I then love to try out the recipes I find on willing volunteers.
4. I practice my handwriting.
5. I am a list-maker. I have made lists since I was a young child.
6. Making lists makes me feel calm. My dear friend Dree once told me when I was traveling with her that my list-making made her feel calm and relaxed also.
7. I really love cheese. I think cheese should be its own food group.
8. I was a mean, bossy child. Ask Melissa if you want examples.
9. I love the Harry Potter books and movies. I have read each book 3 times and don't even want to guess how many times I've seen each movie.
10. I love to paint. Trim work is my favorite part.
11. I am a cat person. I love my dogs very much, but I am obsessed with my cats. Dave is too.
12. I once walked 26.2 miles in Bermuda for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
13. I have made more than 15 wedding cakes.
14. I would love to have a catering business one day. I have worked for two caterers to learn as much as I can about the business.
15. I've had braces twice. Ceramic and Invisalign. I still am not happy with my teeth.
16. I am a night owl and a miserable person in the mornings. It's 2:40 am and I just finished making a pot of chili.
17. I am a homebody.
18. I have only a few really close friends and my mom is one of them.
19. I cannot sit still and just do nothing. I feel like I have to be productive at all times. This feeling can be overwhelming at times.
20. I once had a wedding at my house and catered the whole thing by myself including the cake.
21. I hate to sew.
22. I have to work at being patient.
23. I don't delegate well.
24. Mosquitoes love me. So much so, in fact, that I avoid going outside at certain times of day.
25. I fall asleep almost every day at around 6:00 pm for a short nap. This is because I stay up way to late at night and have to catch up that sleep sometime.
26. I have a crease in my brow line from constantly furrowing my brow for the past 30 years. This crease bothers me a lot.
27. I was in nursing school for 3 years then changed my major to business management. I remember lots of things from nursing school which impresses Dave.
28. I play Power Ball on a regular basis.
29. I love office supplies, new pens, and new notebooks for making lists.
30. I am a blessed, happy person and I am looking forward to what my 3rd decade will bring.

Day with Granny & Grandpa

Earlier this week Dave headed down to his grandparents' house to help his grandpa with some fencing. I wasn't able to take the day off, so he went by himself. Just a few weeks ago we both went down and spent the day and had a great time. I spent the day visiting with Granny while Dave and Granpa worked on putting up a new fence. We always have a good time so I hated to miss it.


Dave and Grandpa finished their project pretty early leaving plenty of time for visiting and fishing.

He caught 6 bass, but he threw them all back to get bigger for next time. He caught up on his tan, too.

I missed him and I missed seeing Granny and Grandpa. Of course he would have had a better time if I had been there (wink, wink), but he had a wonderful day. Hopefully we'll get to visit again soon. Granny has a birthday coming up this month so I'm sure we'll arrange to drop off one of her favorite pound cakes for her special day.

There is not much better...

Than enjoying fresh home-grown vegetables from your garden grilled to perfection and warm homemade bread from your brand new bread machine topped with fresh homemade pesto! YUM!

Dave gave in to my puppy dog eyes last night and let me open my birthday present early - a bread machine! He's the best. He always gets me exactly what I want. Thankfully Elliott had researched them several months ago so he could get Melissa one for HER birthday. So now Melissa and I have matching bread machines. I cranked it up today for the first time. We are vowing to only eat healthy, high-fiber bread so the first loaf was made with whole wheat and spelt flour with flax seed, yogurt, olive oil and pesto. It turned out pretty good, but the crust was a bit thick and hard. So now I'm working on the second trial loaf with a few minor adjustments and using a different setting on the machine. Exciting times! I'm working on some loaves to take to the beach next weekend.

The garden is flourishing even though I'm having to water almost daily because of the severe draught. Birds have been pecking at the tomatoes and squash so we're having to set out some flashy objects to try to keep them away. Dave made a neat pinwheel out of pie plate. I've also hung CD's and pie plates. I think I may still have to pick up some scare items like rubber snakes, fake owls, etc. Like Sandra said, though, it's so dry that the birds are looking for water anywhere so I'm going to the bird bath filled with fresh water as well.

I clipped some basil last night and whipped up some pesto. It was so delicious! I can't wait to make more. I think I'm going to have to plant basil everywhere so I can always have fresh pesto. The tomatoes will be turning red soon and I can't wait! Then I can have a tomato sandwich on homemade bread with fresh pesto - Oh my goodness!

Hair Today...Gone Tomorrow

Well, I finally did it.
I got sick and tired of combing out knots and tangles every morning. So I called my trusted hair stylist the other day and made an appointment to get 10" cut off to send to Locks of Love.

Last night we took some final pictures of the long hair since it may not (probably won't) be that long again.

And today I went and got the pony tail chopped off and I'm now sporting a new, cooler, summer-friendly style.

Feels much better!

STOP, THIEF!

I have become the person that you get those questionable emails about.

You know the ones that say that some particular crime is taking place in YOUR back yard and to exercise extra caution when, say, driving on the interstate for fear of being pushed off the road by someone with Georgia tags who is driving very fast while flashing their headlights at you, or to watch out for the muggers in the Walmart parking lot that have been bopping holiday shoppers over the head to snatch their wallets/purses, or to NEVER give your credit/debit card to the waiter when dining at a restaurant, especially Eric's San Jose on Garners Ferry, because said waiter may be stealing your card information and selling it to someone back in Mexico. You've gotten some of these emails, right?

And because there are so many urban legends out there you never know which ones of these stories to believe until you hear confirmation on the local news. Well, Mom sent me the email about San Jose just the other day and I have to admit that I dismissed it as urban legend and figured if this story was true I would see it on the news.

Well, then I got a call this morning from the Star network. These are the folks who monitor debit card activity and make it possible for you to use your debit card as a credit card. They left me an urgent message at work asking me to call them immediately. As I was dialing the number, I was pulling up my checking account info online and my heart plummeted into my toes when I saw two charges totaling more than $520 from some Mexican medial supply company.

The very nice young lady on the phone asked me if I'd been to Mexico which I assured her I had not. She then informed me that my card information had apparently been stolen and someone had not only succeeded in the above mentioned transactions but had also purchased some electronics online to "test out" the card information (I had also learned this bit about card thieves watching Dateline a few weeks back). The thief also attempted to make a sizable purchase at a Mexican department store. Luckily the card had been blocked by that point.

Ironic, I thought to myself. Sounds exactly like the email Mom sent me. But I haven't been to San Jose in over 2 months. So I started thinking that maybe someone at BiLo, Piggly Wiggly, or D's Wings had somehow gotten my card information since those were the only places I'd been in the past several days.

I then contacted my bank to find out the procedure for clearing up this type of situation and learned that I would have to obtain a police report and fill out some additional forms. So my next call was the police department. They promptly sent over a very nice young officer to take my information. I told the officer that I still had the card in my possession and quite frankly I wasn't sure where the breach had occurred. I jokingly mentioned the San Jose email to her and she said she'd heard the same thing. She had to call her Sargent for more instructions since I wasn't sure where the card info was stolen. He told her to ask me if I'd been to San Jose in the past couple of months. HA! The stinking email was TRUE after all!

Yes, I told her I was there on March 10 and I did use my debit card. The evidence was logged in my check register. I remember the waiter I had and would gladly pick him out of a lineup if asked.

I'm not sure where this will go from here, but I assure you I'll be checking up on the progress of the case. Vigilante justice crossed my mind. I briefly considered taking my walking stick (axe handle) down there to knock some people over the head! Their timing couldn't have been worse! I just got paid and all my bills are due next week. Who knows how long it will take to get my money refunded to me from the bank.

So tell everyone you know to be cautious of handing your card over to ANYBODY ANYWHERE! And stay away from San Jose on Garners Ferry!

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary...

Well, we don't have silver bells or cochel shells or pretty maids in a row, but we do have squash and tomatoes and bell peppers and zucchini and okra....

We have about 6 or 7 tiny squash already growing.

And today I spotted the first four tiny tomatoes!

We'll be eating tomato sandwiches and grilled squash in no time flat. And since I'm hopefully getting a bread machine for my big birthday that's coming up in a few weeks, we'll be eating those tomato sandwiches on yummy homemade bread. Is there anything better?

Weekend Cake

Here's a picture of a cake I finished up a little while ago for a little girl's birthday party. The color ideas came from a pinata they will have at the party. She wanted a horse, but instead of doing a brown horse I decided to do a more cartoon-like, My Little Ponies horse with a pink mane.

I think I would have thought this cake was pretty cool as a little girl. What do you think?