Last night in the west. Until we meet again

Last sunset.
Very big diesel truck.
Ava me and Alan
Pookie dog tired from napping.
And Ava me and my new friend Kathleen.

See you from the road my friends!!!

Last Buca dinner

Last chicken marsalla from Buca's for awhile and next to the last sunset. And my barren patio !

Pookie

Amy says he looks homeless

homeless Pookie

He really wasn't as sad as he looks!

He's not homeless.  he just wanted to go home and chill.

oh dear

photo shoot of Maroon 5's lead singer

campaign for testicular cancer

i'm feeling faint

four days and a wake up

and we're almost DONE!!!!!  Seriously, we are down to the wire and i think all my lists have paid off.  I will be so happy when we get there but i think i am finally starting to look forward to the driving adventure of this trip.  


Phoenix, El Paso, Austin, New Orleans, Tallahassee, Savannah and then Wilmington NC.  Whew!!!!

and on a lighter note, i am going to make these for Christmas gifts:

keepsake journals for active lives

tuck away memories to look back at and remember

smiles

and look at how cute these are!

definitely making these when i get settled in!!!!

Nicotine and caffeine.

And boxes. Lots of boxes.

i think i posted this before but...

it's worth a second hit

so i remember

HOME TIPS

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic, and at the end of the recipe if you want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.

Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy.

Easy Deviled Eggs: Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting: When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread: To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away: Plant your plants in the ground, work the nutrients in your soil. Then wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go, cover with mulch, and forget about weeds.

Broken Glass: Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

No More Mosquitoes: Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Flexible vacuum: To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip to eliminate static cling. It works; you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks.

Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

De-fog your windshield: Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser.

Re-opening envelopes: If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. It unseals easily.

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

Goodbye Fruit Flies: To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. flies are drawn to the cup and gone forever.

Wash your dryer filter: dryer sheets cause a film over filter that will burn out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. The best way to keep your dryer working for a long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take the filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush at least every six months.

Ava! Alan! Kathleen!

i can only say that my heart is so full and warm and fuzzy after seeing Alan and his family.  Kathleen is exactly how i expected and i knew that i would love her.  Alan is a sweet man, if you believe that men are "sweet".  He has the cutest grin and his eyes are warm like his dad's.  i did real good and didn't cry... okay, i teared up once or twice but i was a big girl.  And there's the new babygirl in my life, AVA!!!

Alan reminds of Don.  They look alike obviously but there's a warm kindness in his eyes that is just like Don's.

She gave me kisses, and we danced in our chairs together and waved "hi" to each other within the first 30 minutes.  I think she likes me!!!

She sat on my lap immediately.  well it was after she bumped her noggin on the table (i hope she doesn't get too much of a goose-egg).  we talked and smiled and giggled so much that I forgot to eat my dinner but it was soooo worth it.

and here are my handsome boys waiting for Ava's arrival.  Pookie didn't like that he could see me but those darn iron bars were keeping him away.

We had a wonderful time!  I wish it could have been longer but I am so happy that I got to see them before we left the state.  I love them very much.

And here's my Pookie in his new car seat and ready for our long haul in the big truck.   He sat in the back seat all the way to Anaheim and never made a sound, but on the way home, I couldn't resist letting him sleep on my lap.  he's so warm and cuddly when he's sleeping.

ALERT ALERT

Hair Color is not a good thing

what the hell am i going to do now?

go grey?  I don't freakin' think so

going to check the label on my hair dye RIGHT NOW!!!

Studies show that at least 75% of American women color (lighten or darken) their hair. Way more than the 7% that colored their hair in the 1950's. And it's not just women, last year men's at-home hair color sales reached over 113.5 million dollars! But what isn't being shown on any commercials for hair color is the fact that one of the main ingredients in 2/3 of hair color is hospitalizing and even killing people. The FDA does not approve it to touch your scalp...but it does and not many people know about it. AND YOU CAN HAVE A REACTION ON YOUR 1ST  HAIR COLOR APPLICATION OR YOUR 37TH!

And no the patch test will not guarantee anything- they said you can have a reaction to the PPD even after you've used the same product safely for years.

WHAT TO  LOOK OUT FOR:

The bad ingredient responsible for many people who are suffering near death experiences from hair dye is: Phenylenediamine (PPD) its present in over 2/3 of chemical hair dyes, and is known to be toxic to the immune system, skin, nervous system, respiratory system, liver and kidneys. It is the most toxic chemical in hair dyes. It is a substance used in rubber chemicals, photodeveloper, oil, gasoline, ink, textile dyes, dark cosmetics and hair dye. The European Union classifies it as a toxin and irritant that is dangerous in the environment. In Canada, its use in cosmetics is restricted and it was banned in France, Germany and Sweden. 

PPD is a neurotoxin and is even used in anti-freeze.

PPD might also be called any of these names:

Paraphenylenediamine	Para-aminoaniline (p-aminoaniline)
PPD	PPDA
1,4-Benzenediamine	Orsin™
1,4-Penylenediamine	Ursol™ D
Rodol™ D	Paradiaminobenzene

****this is not just for store bought boxed color, this is in certain salon brand hair color as well! And it causes Cancer: Laboratory experiments have shown that PPD damages the DNA of human cells. Accumulated DNA damage leads to cancer.

Monday Monday

Well 2 weeks from today we will be on our roadtrip. Hard to believe it's really happening. I guess I'm ready. Just lots of little details to wrap up. Nervous, scared, and excited all rolled into one jumbled stomach ache.

Biggest project left are ally plants and patio stuff. Waiting for the last days to do that.

I am SO happy Amy came down this past weekend. Such a heavy heart when I hugged her goodbye.

New adventures are good right? I think I'm getting too old for this.

BFF

then we had dinner at Tora's, formerly known as Onami's

very very full tummies

cleaning the bottom of your feet in six easy STEPS

1. Put shaving cream on your feet.
2. In a bucket or sink, combine equal parts warm water and Listerine.
3. Soak a small hand towel in the solution of water and Listerine.
4. While the shaving cream is still on your feet wrap the wet hand towel around your feet and let it sit for 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes, use the towel to rub your feet. Some of the calloused and discolored skin will rub off.
6. Apply a healthy amount of lotion to your feet.

After your foot bath, is it a good idea to spend at least 5 minutes drying your feet. You want to make sure you do not put your socks and shoes on with your feet

found here

and my next project will be....

here's a link to a video with Martha Stewart. the creator is an editorial assistant for Martha and this is her "side" job

and here is the link to her website with sooooo many different kinds of flowers, and brooches and hair pieces

LARGE crepe paper roses, and i mean large

pending projects

these are some projects i'm finishing up while i'm packing and stuff

the purple and red binders are for my new tenant

one for me and one for her

these are little pots for "anything"

i'm thinking in the bathroom

pink and metallic brown

and i couldn't resist buying this high heel tape dispenser

it's too damn cute and it was 40% off

and this is going to be a jewelry holder when i'm finished

but here's what i have to do next

it will stand on a candlestick holder

and have some sort of knob on top and yes, those are boobs.  i stole a page from Jamie's Playboy!!!!

photo to follow......

hi there

well it must be real

we rented a huge freakin' truck yesterday

Jeff's got his "to-do-before-SHE-arrives-in Wilmington" list going and actually working on some of it!  wahoo Jeffy!

Our tenant, Judy will be here monday to sign the lease and hand over a deposit check.  Then closer to when we actually leave, she'll give me first months' rent and i'll give her the keys and the cute little binder i've put together with all the "must know" stuff.

i am going to be the best landlord EVER.

stuff

i send Mom flowers every morning to her phone

and this is Don's grand daughter and her morning bed head.

isn't she the cutest??

Pookie Update

His days are, well, how should i put it..... lazy

napping with his favorite pig

watching Jme paint

another nap with his pig

more watching of the painting

this is what a dog's life is like

i am definitely doing this

and here's where you can buy it or steal it's design

gardeningwithkids

i need more scarves...........

video showing 25 ways to wear a scarf

check out this scarf tutorial. you won't believe how easy it is to wear a scarf