i just love...

...lazy Sundays!!

do unto others

Today was spent doing things for other people. My mother has broken her foot and I went to help her do some things. Mr. D. mowed her yard. I helped her by bringing her some things to do if she gets bored- magazines, books, crocheting. I also brought her in her groceries for the week. Of course I must report that I could not stick to her list and brought her more than she asked for. I took her to my Grandfather's house. I cleaned his apartment and did 4 loads of his laundry. We picked up Mr. D.'s favorite BBQ for dinner. Then I went for a visit with my Grandmother. I went to put a few little scarecrows on my Daddy's and other Grandfather's graves. We visited for a little while longer and then we drove home. I know I will sleep well tonight!

could it be???

The first sign of Fall at my house!

Thursday 13: thirteen text messages I received today

1) "Matt looks funny posing as Gramye"
2) "we have poo"
3) "now they want them so disregard"
4) "call me"
5) "I totally want a hedgehog"
6) "not yet- in a hefty negotiation"
7) "U guys can go without me and I can catch up"
8) "car in 20 secs- coz in 18 mins or home in 22"
9) "JB is so mean he will not let me turn on the gas logs- it is 61 outside"
10) "Aww that is so sad! She has lasted a good while"
11) "Where R U?"
12) " go to cuteoverload- you and XS are the otters"
13) ...Meghan said she sent, but since she has the world worst cell phone, I probably will not get it for 10 days.

guess what I have!!

I recently hosted a Pampered Chef Catalog Show. I sent out an email to a few friends and tonight I will reap the rewards. I will post pics of my goodies once I get into the boxes!!

Brady-inator

So, I have been wanting something for about 6 months now. It was kind of pricey so I have been hesitant. Then today, I just couldn't resist anymore. I bought this.

Now some of you are thinking- what is it? This is called a furminator- and in short it is a doggy miracle. It is a tool used to remove the loose undercoat of the dogs fur, thus helping with shedding. I came home and went to work on the unsuspecting Brady.

About 15 minutes later--- this is the scene from the porch....

Crazy HUH?? I know- It is a lot of hair! I continued on for a few more minutes and by the end I was able to 1/2 way fill a plastic grocery bag with hair. I then treated Brady to a doggy shower. We used a new shampoo and now Brady is not only clean- but smells clean as well. It turns out we really did have a 30 lb dog, and the extra 57 unexpected pounds were hair just waiting to be furminated. Just kidding!!

I just love love love my happy, clean, lovable, playful, silly, fun little (ok- big) puppy (ok-dog)!

tales from my weekend

I could give you 51 and a half reason not to go to the State Fair. I don't know why I thought it would be spectacular-- but it wasn't. We went with Kelly and Meghan. It was $5 to park. We each had to pay $8 to get in. This didn't include rides which would have been $20 each, but we passed on that. We looked at the animals, most of which were drastically underweight and miserable looking. We walked around. Meghan and Kelly each ate a hand-dipped corn dog at $3 each. Mr. D. had a funnel cake at $5. I had french fries at $3. Then for some reason Meghan and I each gave a quarter to a monkey. It was a pretty creepy experience. Pretty much we all spent the rest of the afternoon in shock at what a waste of our time and money it was. Thank goodness we had the Wii Fit to play to console us.

This morning I totally did something for myself. I made my favorite cookies. This is a rare event because I usually try to only make things that both Mr. D. and I eat. I have been wanting these cookies lately- so I just made some. Mr. D. tried them and reports "they are O.K.". They are super super yummy to me. Here is a picture and the recipe. The recipe made 35 cookies. I love how my kitchen bar looks like a little assembly line in this picture.

Boiled Cookies

Lay out waxed paper for the cookies before you begin.

In a saucepan combine 2 cups of sugar, 1/4 cup of cocoa, 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup of milk.

Stir constantly over high heat and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup peanut butter, and 2 tsp of vanilla.

Once peanut butter is melted, stir in 3 cups of quick oats. Stir and drop cookies on the waxed paper.

I like mine warm. Some people like pecans added- I don't. We plugged it into the weight watchers and it is 2 points per cookie. They are so yummy!!!

This afternoon, I went to a special little lady's birthday party.

Eden turned 7 with a "Luck of the Irish" party that looked like something straight out of Southern Living Magazine. I swear her mom should go into party planning. She thinks of a thousand little details that I would never even think of. The drink of choice was 7 up for the 7th birthday, there were Irish Dancers, Irish games and splashes of shamrocks everywhere. Oh- and for the Alice fans.....

She was spotted doing her favorite thing-- eating icing!!

I came home and Mr. D. cooked us dinner. We had pork tenderloin, mac and cheese and corn. I of course had cookies for dessert.

Mr. D. also washed, dried and folded all of the dirty laundry in the house today. He is such a great help around the house and I am so lucky to have him.

Now, if the Patriots could just get their act together....