Thursday, October 25, 2007

Howdy! How Are YOU?


I'm fine, thanks for asking! All of you who've wondered by email and by comments, that is.

First of all, THANKS TO ALL OF YOU who've commented, emailed and posted on your blog to wish me a Happy Birthday and to wish me and Lamar a Happy Anniversary. I am so thankful for my bloggy friends and my dear family. Y'all are the best!You may have gathered by my absence here in Bloggityville that I've been busy, and you'd be correct. Lamar and I have been celebrating my birthday and our anniversary as well as just living life and getting a bit of business done.

If it helps my regular readers understand how busy I've been, I haven't cooked a meal since last Saturday. Yeah, I know! That's unprecedented for the originator of the Sunday Dinner meme, isn't it?Let's see...If memory serves correctly, Sunday Dinner was Mexican, eaten at a restaurant in my hometown of Trumann, Arkansas where I still go to church and where my sisters Sue and Cecil live. I went with my sisters Ducky and Cecil and several of our friends from church, including our pastor and his family. I had the soft tacos and refried beans, along with the complimentary salsa and hot tortilla chips. It was very good.

Monday lunch....Cecil and Sue brought pork barbecue and chicken strips for lunch. We had the barbecue on buns with slaw. Pretty good, although they forgot to have them leave the sauce off the meat so we could have it on the side. We prefer to add sauce or not as we make our sandwiches.

Monday supper....Lamar made arrangements with a dear friend of ours and took me to one of our favorite catfish/seafood places in Jonesboro for my birthday. It was good, and another meal that I didn't have to cook!

Tuesday lunch....Lamar and I had made plans to take a trip with some good friends to Hardy, Arkansas in my beloved Ozark Mountains to view the changing leaves, but the trip turned out to be a bust. It was pouring down rain and blowing a slight gale so we instead went to Jonesboro and ate at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants for lunch.

It was delicious, but I ate just a little more than I really needed, especially since we went to the new mall afterwards. I got as far as the Star*bucks in Barnes*&*Noble and settled into a comfortable chair with a venti coffee of the day and a good cookbook to peruse. Good times for sure! My kind of outing.

Lamar and I still weren't hungry enough to eat a meal for supper so we just snacked a little instead of me cooking a meal.

Wednesday lunch....Lamar and I rode the Sr. Citizen's van to Jonesboro and did some shopping at Wal*mart. While we were there, we grabbed an early lunch at McDon*ald's, then had the van drop us off at the mall again. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the mall.

Guess where I was the entire time? Yup, you guessed it! Barnes*&*Noble with a cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other. Good think they have a bathroom handy on the premises, LOL! ;o)

Wednesday supper....Jessica, Jason and Emmy picked me and Lamar up after Jessica got off work and we all went to Ta*Molly's Mexican restaurant for supper. It's one of my favorite places to eat and we had a great time.

Afterwards we stopped to tour the house Jessica and Jason are fixing up to move into. It needs painting and some other work, but I've lived in a lot worse places in my time.

One thing --- the entire house, every room is painted....Are you ready? Battleship gray. My word, what were those people thinking? Who gets up one morning and decides that battleship gray is a great color to paint every room in the house? Including ceilings, baseboards, facing, trim, and in the living room they painted over wood paneling. Words fail me, y'all.

Which brings us to Thursday....Lamar and I rode the van back to Wal*mart to do a little shopping and then to another catfish restaurant for lunch. We went to Ron's Catfish and it was delicious! It's my favorite catfish place in Jonesboro and a little pricier than most places for lunch, but totally worth it in my opinion. It cost us $9.25 for the all-you-can-eat buffet and drink and it was money well spent.

And YES, I realize we've had catfish twice in 4 days time, but if you've been reading my blog any amount of time you should realize that when I say I love catfish and seafood, I really mean it!

It's now almost 9 pm and I'm still not hungry for a meal. A small snack later before bed, but not a meal.This has been a great week. I haven't had to cook a single meal so far and I've spent time with my sweet hubby and some of my favorite people in the world. (Okay, family, I'll be listening for audible "thunks" when you read that I called Lamar "sweet" and fall off your chairs.)

A sweet bloggy friend who prefers to remain anonymous, even to me, has sent me another lovely gift for my birthday. Dear Anonymous Benefactor, Thank You so much for the Wal*mart gift card with a generous amount on it and the lovely birthday card. I used some of the gift card funds to buy a couple of shirts (on clearance!) and some pants and matching jacket for myself. I also got Emmy some baby cereal and some diapers which she needed desperately. That's part of the shopping at Wal*mart I mentioned. And I still have a little bit left on the card.

Thanks again, Anonymous Benefactor. Thanks for blessing me, and I'll try my best to be a blessing to someone else as you've been to me. :-)Poor Jason, he's still searching for a job. When he's not job searching he's working on their house, getting it ready for them to moving into in a couple of weeks. Praise God for Jessica's job and the house they've found, now we need to focus our prayers on getting Jason a good job.

You might say this is a coincidence, but just as I typed the sentence above, a new email popped up and I clicked over to see who it was from. It's from a dear church friend, and the title of the email is, "Have Faith!"

I don't believe in coincidence. I believe in God's will, and I'm claiming His will for Jason's job search. I have faith that God is going to give Jason a good job, and soon.

Some of you have asked if Emmy is better. She is, but her runny nose and cough is still lingering. I have some pictures that were taken last Saturday that I want to share with you this evening. You can tell that Emmy's feeling better, thank the good Lord.
Emmy hugs and sugars all around for those who need their fix! (GREENEYES and others....you know who you are!)

I've recently made a new blogging friend who lives in my area. KAREN @ KAREN'S CORNER is new to blogging and is excited about making some new blogging friends. She's already been visiting some of my friends and family on my blogroll and would like to get acquainted with more of you. If you'd be so inclined, please drop by KAREN'S BLOG and leave her an encouraging comment.

Thanks in advance for making Karen feel welcome, y'all. :-)Yay!! Blogger let me post pictures!! I don't know if they got it fixed or if I just happened to try to post at a good time.

I think that's all for this post. And if you've read all this post, you're thinking, "Praise the Lord, the old heifer finally run out of steam!" ;o)

God bless you all is my prayer.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

sounds like a good week

continueing to pray for Jason

Praying that Emmy gets back to 100% full health

have a good weekend my friend

Greeneyes said...

Thank God Emmy is feeling better ,she is so adorable and the pictures warms the heart , I could snuggle the cheeks right off her !LOL
My Dear you have been very busy running around , HAHA good for you , and no cooking means no dishes ,well almost none ,couldnt ask for more .
I hope to chat soon and thank you for resending that info !SIGHHHHHHHHHH I am going to have to do a new book , sniff sniff
:-(, it is no where to be found , BUT C'est la vive !

Anyway , heaps and barrells full of BSH and a plantation full of sugar for Emmy, wish I could have spent your B day with you but you were in my heart and thoughts .
love you Sister friend


Greeneyes

Granny said...

You ran a marathon visiting all those restaurants.

Catfish. One of the things I miss. It's very expensive here and only one restaurant seems to serve it. I think they blacken it though and it's not the same thing at all.

Guess I'll have to bite the bullet when the weather cools a little more and make some catfish and hushpuppies myself.

Susie said...

So glad you've had some fun time with your hubby! I've been reading you for quite some time now and can't recall you ever posting about eating out quite so often! What a treat for you!!
(and well deserved too!)
A belated Happy Anniversary to both of you.
Battleship gray sounds a bit, well, gloomy.. I'm sure some brighter colors will brighten things up.
Emmy is cute as a button. Glad she's feeling better.
Keeping Jason in my prayers.
xoxo

Sister said...

Dear Diane,
Happy, happy belated wishes to both you and (sweet) Lamar!
xo

Lucy Stern said...

Diane, Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary! You have had a busy week and I'm jealous that you have been able to eat out all week long...I put a chicken in the crock pot for dinner tonight and it was great.

I'm so glad that Jessica has found a new job and I'm keepin' my fingers crossed for Jason. I am glad that Emily is feeling better. I have been think about her and I am wonder if she has allergies...My grandson, who is five years old, seems to be constantly congested...It pops up in the early fall and in the spring. I watched my two little grandchildren for four days, while their parents were out of town for a wedding, and I had to give JJ benehryl at night so he could sleep. I feel sorry for the little guy.

I am trying to imagine that battleship grey all over the house and all I can think is that they found that color on the clearence rack.

Dawn said...

Battleship gray on every wall and ceiling - how depressing!! I hope they get it fixed up in nice cheerful colors soon!

Eating out every meal for a week sounds like being on vacation. What fun!!

I wonder if Emmy's runny nose is connected to teething??

Lyndy said...

Hi Diane,

Been so busy at work, I haven’t been blogging this week, so I missed your birthday and anniversary. I hope both were blessed days for you.

Still praying for Jason to find a job. I know that has to be frustrating for him. I can’t believe anyone would paint a room battleship gray, how depressing can you get. I bet the house will be beautiful when they are done. I hope one of you will share pictures.

Sounds like you have had some good eats this week.
Have a blessed weekend.

Love and hugs, Lyndy

Tammy said...

I'm just tard hearing all the food you 'et!

I wish I could find a good catfish place and bbq too...like ya'll I like my sauce on the side ;)

I went and visited your friend...she seems like a sweetie!

*Smooches* to Miz Emmy!

Love YOU!

Carole Burant said...

Now that's my kind of week...no cooking! lol Happy belated Anniversary wishes to you and Lamar!! You certainly have been busy going here and there but sounds like all fun stuff:-) I so love these pics of Miss Emmy...little sweetheart that she is...just want to eat her all up...I always say I want some baby backribs while I nuzzle their sides! hehe Still keeping Jason in my prayers and hoping he finds a job soon. Love ya my friend! xoxo

Barb said...

A belated happy birthday, Diane. I'm not sure what day it was but I do remember that your birthday and your anniversary are only a couple of days apart.

Gray? Good grief. How depressing. Hopefully some of the painting they're doing will change the interior colors.

And hopefully Jason will find something soon. Believe me, I know how stressful the job search can be.

Anonymous said...

Ive tagged U
http://my3boysandi.wordpress.com/2007/10/27/work-work-work-we-all-do-it-so-whats-your-story

Anonymous said...

Belated happy birthday Diane. We all will pray for you. Jason, we all are known with the situation, how tough your job is? Just try to keep the faith to the loving good, try to pray to him. Think for the positive always. One more thing your article was very touchy and Thank you for the given photos.

someone else said...

Well, here I am a few days behind in blog reading and I come back and find I've missed the party. I hope you had a wonderful birthday and anniversary celebration!

Emmy gets cuter all the time!

Mary said...

I'm so glad that you and Lamar enjoyed your birthday and your anniversary. Congratulations!

Not cooking for a week sounds fabulous. I'm glad you enjoyed every minute of it.

Beautiful photos of the baby. She's so adorable. I'm happy that she's feeling better.

Take care, my friend. Enjoy a safe and happy weekend. It was nice stopping by for a visit.

Susie Q said...

Thank you so much for stopping by to say Happy Birthday dear Diane! I am so glad you went with us to NYC!! *grin*
Battleship gray huh? My husband was in the Navy for 27 years and he would hate everything battleship gray!! *laugh*
Oooh. Seafood..catfish...now I am hungry!!

Have a sweet weekend...give sweet Emmy a hug and kiss!! Get well little one! Prayers still going on for Jason too!

Love and hugs,
Sue

Anonymous said...

What a lovely autumn post - you know I love the colorful golden fall season and your post with the pics and all was so wonderful - your so artistic Diane!

The pics of Emmy was breath taking as always - she's such a cute little girl!

I don't know what I will eat this weekend but know it will be good. You see Tor and his wife has invited me over to a Halloween Party in Oslo and you are welcome to join us later on tonight if you like to hoop over :-)

Love and hugs from me, Diane and the children!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you totally did the week up right to celebrate your Birthday and Anniversary. I send you belated hugs and good wishes.

It is nice to hear the baby is feeling better. You always seem to get a smile out of her. Such a doll.

Take care,
Connie

Diane Viere said...

Diane,

I knew we'd be great friends! I often describe our vacations, our weekends, or really, just about any day....by the great food I've eaten!!!!!! LOVE going out to a great restaurant. I'm so glad you had a beautiful week with your loved ones.

I loved your catch-up post! Isn't it great to enjoy life!

And little Miss Emmy is just adorable--runny nose and all. Can you even imagine your life before her?????

Have a great weekend!

Diane

mer@lifeat7000feet said...

Happy Belated Birthday, Diane!

Girl, you've been doing some serious eating out! You made me smile when you mention bbq sandwiches with slaw on them. People think I'm weird when I make my sandwiches that way, but it is THE best. And oh my word, fried catfish (and hushpuppies) sounds so good right now. And so does Ta Molly's.

I laughed when I read about the gray walls. When we bought our house in Arkadelphia, the entire house was pained raspberry sherbet pink. EVEN the wood trim. It was crazy. We did a TON of painting before we moved in because there was no way my husband was living in a punch bowl. LOL!

Sounds like you've had a great week! So glad for you!

Cecil said...

Hey Joe...I've been busy all day..been at the clinic on and off all day...will explain later... glad to see the Munchkin pics! See you in church tomorrow, Lord willing.... I'm ready for food now... we have several kinds of lunchmeat and dinners in the freezer so I will probably eat something here tonight... right now, I am tired so I don't really care... Love ya more... Cecil

Dawn said...

YOu must have been really busy this week! Hope to year from you on the week-end. Hope the munchkin is better and that you're okay!

Diane @ A Watered Garden said...

Good "catch-up" post. Belated Happy Birthday and Anniversary!! Sounds like life is full and busy on your end! Blessings!