It's Friday Friday!

Has anyone else heard that stupid song?? It gets in your head & not in a good way. Everytime I hear someone say Friday I think of it. UGH! It's been a rather dull week. I guess in some ways that's good. Dull means nothing bad happened. 

I done my 3 Yogalates classes this week. Monday I was really excited because the teacher has been cracking the back door & I managed to grab a spot right in front of it. SO AWESOME because of the fabulous breeze. For those of you that don't know, they like it to be around 90 degrees for these classes. Something about less risk of injury to your muscles. I'm waiting for the day someone passes out & I just hope it's not me! I have a fainting history but that's another story.  So Tuesday, I grabbed my spot again but it was only 86 in class so she didn't open the door. Bummer.  Yesterday, we had a fill in teacher. I had this chick for the first time last week. She's not my favorite. She talks A LOT. So much so that sometimes she loses count. Well, yesterday was "cooler" outside than it's been lately. It was in the low 80's I think. Inside it was only 84 so not only did she not crack the door, she TURNED THE HEAT ON! Throughout the workout she kept asking how everyone was doing & then telling us how great she felt.  I'm glad she's not the regular teacher.

I really wanted to take today off & get up early & watch all the Royal Wedding festivities but my co-worker was off & one of us needs to be in the office. I'm not having a good hair day due to the fact that I kept turning off the blow dryer to watch & hear what was going on. My hair dried kinda funky. Then I was almost late. Anyway, I thought Kate was gorgeous. I loved her dress & really loved Pippa's dress. I've been looking at all sorts of pics on the internet today.

Tonight, we'll be going to the LSU Baseball game. They've actually won twice this week. I wasn't at either game & I fully expect them to go back to their losing ways tonight. We'll see.

Tomorrow is our annual "Boil on the Bend". It's a neighborhood crawfish boil. We live in a big subdivision but we're in the very back & our street along with another street, Morgan Bend, meet in a cul de sac which is where the crawfish eating happens. Hence the name "Boil on the Bend".  This is just something that a few of the neighbors put together for our area of the subd. There's a space walk for the kids & lots of food. It's always a lot of fun. These will be my first crawfish of the season.

Allison, Wendy & I plan to walk the lakes in the morning too. On that note, I lost another 2 lbs. I weigh myself on Wednesdays. My thought is that I usually do really good during the week but we generally go out to eat at least once a weekend so if I mess up a little I have a couple of days to get back on track so I don't get discouraged when I get on the scale. So far so good.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Any fun plans?

Toodles!

Happy Easter!

We had a great weekend. I hope everyone else did too. I was one of the few people that actually had to work Friday. To reward myself for that I stopped & got my nails done on the way home. HAHA!! That place was packed. We didn't do anything Friday night but stay home & listen to the LSU game. What a waste of 3 hours. They lost AGAIN. 

Saturday morning Allison, Wendy, Emily & I went & walked the lakes again.

Isn't Emily adorable? I just love her pink jellies!! She just chilled during the walk & snacked on puffs & yogurt bites. Once our walk was over I headed to Walmart. I RARELY shop at Super Walmart but I had a big list & it was easier. Surprisingly, it wasn't as packed as I expected. The one thing that was on the top of my list & the most important purchase was sold out. CADBURY EGGS!! I gave up sweets for Lent. I didn't buy any before because I didn't want to tempt myself. Besides, I usually stock up after Easter when it's all marked down. They had the caramel eggs & nothing against caramel, I happen to really like it, it's not the same as regular Cadbury eggs. I did end Lent with a cheeseburger & chocolate shake from Sonic. It was SOOOOO GOOD!!! 

I then spent several  hours in the pool. I floated & read & floated & napped. It was delightful. For some absurd reason I decided to get out of the pool & go inside to watch the LSU Baseball game. They lost AGAIN. 3 more hours that I'll never get back. Then Dean & I got in the pool & the neighbors came over.

Dean & I went to Mass Easter Sunday & then came home to start getting everything ready. My parents, Dean's parents, Dean's mawmaw, my brother Scott, his wife, Lydia & Logan were coming over. We spent the day in the backyard.

I took this picture before everyone got there. When Logan got there all the noodles went into the pool. He had so much fun!

We brought him to my neighbors for an Easter egg hunt & he wouldn't take his floaties off. I guess he knew, no floaties, no pool.

My parents got him this little chair. He doesn't sit often but I think he liked that it was his size. He's very excited in this picture because he found a leaf floating by. It was so little I'm not sure how he even saw it.

Dean & Logan chilling. All the swimming made Logan thirsty. Apparently, the flies were bothering Dean. I didn't notice the fly swatter until I saw this picture. They were listening/watching the LSU game. I learned from the previous 2 days that it wasn't worth getting out the pool to watch. They lost AGAIN.

This morning on my way to work I stopped at CVS to get my Cadbury Eggs. I only wanted 1 pack. I'm  not going overboard. As of last Wed. I've lost 12 lbs. I don't want to undo that. Well, no need to worry, there wasn't the first Cadbury Egg in the store. I was about to cry.

Toodles!

Here we go again.....

Last night while I was cooking Dean was watering all the new stuff that we've planted. Once I had the lasagna in the oven I sat down to watch the news. Well, we have windows across the back of our living room & I see Dean standing on the rocks around the pool with a shovel & rake in his hand & he's poking around in the pine straw by the new bamboo. Sadly, I know what that means. We have a visitor. Yes, one of the slithery persuasion. Lovely. So what do I do? Grab my camera & go outside. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of a dead snake because he got away. That's what all the poking was about. Dean thought he had him but he slithered off. Great. He said he looked to be the same kind as last year & about the same size. Of course I'm bothered by this but what REALLY bothers me is that this creature was in one of our palm trees. Not the tall one but one that's about 4 or 5 ft. tall. It's bad enough I have to watch every step I take but now I have to look in the trees too??? Yeh, I'm not real happy about this development.

Moving on. Melissa at Love and Pancakes awarded me with a Versatile Blogger Award! Woo Hoo! Thanks Melissa!!

The rules to getting this award are pretty simple:  Thank and link back to the person who awarded you the award.  Share 7 things about yourself. Award 5 other bloggers. Contact those bloggers and tell them about the award.

Here are 7 things about me:

1. My favorite movies are Clueless & How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days

2. I'm a bit obsessed with reality TV - not the stuff like Idol & Survivor - stuff like the Kardashians, Pregnant in Heels, the Housewives of OC, NY, NJ & BH & Bethenny. Just complete mindless TV.

3.I love Disney World.

4. I'm counting down the days until Lent is over & I can have a  Sonic chocolate shake, a Chick-fil-a chocolate shake & a Cadbury egg. (I gave up sweets for Lent)

5. I want a puppy but I haven't been able to convince Dean that he wants one too.

6. I love to read.

7. Just about my favorite thing to do is go out to eat.

So now I'm supposed to pick 7 bloggers but that's too hard for me because I read a lot of blogs & love them all so if you're reading, accept the award!

Toodles!

I Cooked!!

Yes, I did & it was edible. Not only was it edible it was really good! I know, I'm surprised myself. I made Mexican Lasagna. I wasn't able to go to Yogalates today because I wasn't able to leave work early. So, I came home & cooked. Mexican Lasagna is real cooking too. I used a recipe, a pot & a skillet, my Pampered Chef 9x12 stoneware baking pan & several different ingredients. It's a fairly easy recipe if you cook a lot. I don't & when I do I tend to make mistakes. Dean reminded me of my 2 oz. of milk banana pudding mistake today. It wasn't my finest moment. I thought I'd share the recipe in case anyone's looking for something different to cook. I for one get so tired of eating the same stuff all the time. Also, we tried ground turkey for the first time. It was good. I like that it's not all bloody. That always grosses me out.

Ingredients:

• Tortilla's - You can use whatever size you want. I use the larger ones & I used whole wheat to try & make it somewhat healthier
• (1) 10 oz. can of Rotel
• (1) 10 oz. can of Enchilada Sauce
• 2 lbs. of Ground Meat or Turkey
• Taco Seasoning
• 8 oz. of Mexican blend grated cheese
• 1 lb. of Mexican Velveeta

So, you start by browning the meat. Once that's done follow the directions on the taco seasoning & mix with the meat. Then add the Enchilada Sauce.

In a skillet melt the Velveeta then add the rotel.

Use a 9x12 pan & put some of the cheese mixture on the bottom, then layer the tortillas. Just cover the bottom with them. I used 3 on this layer. Then pour some of the cheese mixture on top of the tortillas. Then pour some of the meat, layer more tortillas & repeat with the cheese mixture & the meat. I did 3 layers of tortillas & then put the last of the cheese & meat mixtures on top & covered that with the grated cheese. Then you bake it at 350 for 30 mins. Pretty simple huh??

We had a pretty laid back weekend. Aside from breakfast after Mass with friends & dinner with friends at Fuzzy's Taco Shop Sunday evening we didn't do much. We worked in the yard Saturday. Everything is trimmed & weeded. Sunday, Allison & I walked the lakes again. Another 3.5 miles down, along with another pound last week. Woo Hoo!!!

Toodles!

Intervention??

I've said before I think I may have a problem. I love to go to the Nursery. I would love to have plants everywhere! Of course I'm not thrilled about the weeding aspect. Saturday, while we were out getting the plants for our other project I picked up some Verbena for hanging pots.

I haven't had the best luck with hanging plants so I decided to spend less money & buy the little plants rather than spend $20 for a big hanging plant that might not live. The Verbena's were on sale so I got some to put in this pot that I already had.

I also bought a new pot Saturday. Somehow I managed to not buy anything to put in this pot. After work today I stopped at Louisiana Nursery to get something for it. I've said before how much I dislike this store because their customer service is AWFUL! I've said time & again that I wouldn't go back but it's less than 5 mins. from work & it's on the way home so I end up there more often than I'd like. Well, I have to compliment them because I had a much better experience today than I've ever had. They're giving out what they call "Nursery Bucks". It's a little punch card based on how much you spend. Normally, I forget to ask for them & they're not very forthcoming with them. The cashier not only gave them to me without me asking but when I commented that I was there a couple of weeks ago & didn't get any she gave me those too. There are several dates that the bucks can be redeemed.  Anyway, I bought some Celosia, Vinca & Dianthus. I have a bit of a problem determining how many plants I need. I either end up with not enough or too many. This time? Too many.

I put the pink Celosia & the Mediterranean White Broadeye Vinca in this pot. The Vinca is white flowers with a pink center. I ended up with a few extra Verbena Saturday so I bought a pot today too. They were 40% off so I got this one for $12.

I have it sitting on our new patio table. So, I ended up with 2 Dianthus plants left. I was out of pots so I planted them in the rock garden.

The darker pink flowers on the left are Raspberry Super Parfait & the other one is Strawberry Super Parfait. Hopefully, I can take pictures in a couple of weeks & everything will be much bigger! See why I think I may need an intervention? I'm going to try my best not to go back to the nursery until I can use my "Nursery Bucks"!!

I'm linking to A Southern Daydreamer

and Elements Interiors

Toodles!

Sunday Funday

Sunday, Dean & I got to spend the day with Logan. We picked him up bright & early Sunday morning. We stopped at LSU on the way to our house. We wanted to see if that lazy tiger might be awake. We were in luck! I was so excited to see him pacing along the fence.

The first thing Logan said was "Water!" He loves water & saw the waterfall in Mike's habitat before he saw Mike.

Once he spotted him he was in a trance!

I was very excited when he headed in for a swim. I've wanted to see him swim forever.

The sun was so bright it was causing a glare & it was really hard to see what I was taking pictures of. That would be why fence is in the way.

He came right up to the wall where all the kids were.

Logan stood there & watched & then immediately turned around with his arms up for Dean to pick him up. He didn't cry but I think Mike's size & the fact that he was nose to nose with him at one point freaked him out a bit.

He didn't swim long. I guess he just wanted to cool off.

Logan with his Nonk (Dean). Who, by the way, he refers to as Tante (me) yet when you say "Where's Nonk?" he points at Dean. Too funny!

I think if Dean would've let go he would've climbed the fence. After that Mike went to nap in the shade & we went home. We played outside for awhile & Logan had a snack. Apparently, the snack wasn't enough because he went back to the pantry & started pulling things out. We fed him lunch & played some more. Later, Logan & I went & met my friends Vicki & Allison to walk the lakes again. I knew Logan would enjoy it because he loves to be outside & we always see ducks. As usual he was very excited to see the water & a boat. We walked awhile & saw these little guys.

We finished the 3.5 mi. walk, which by the way is hard when  pushing a 30+ lb. kid in a stroller! We loaded up to go home & I wanted to take a picture. Well, when Logan saw me pull the camera out & I turned to him he said "NO" & covered his face with his hands. WHAT?? Isn't he too young for that? I managed to get this one which I thought was really funny!

We were both hot. The temp was 86 or 87 Sunday with a heat index of 91. You should've seen me. I was a hot mess if I ever saw one. YUCK! We drank plenty of water as we walked though. We were almost home & I looked back & saw this.

About 30 seconds later this happened.

He must have really been exhausted because I was able to take him out of the car seat & lay him down in the house without disturbing him. We had such a good time with him. I can't wait to do it again.

Toodles!

Another project

About 3 years ago we got our pool. Dean & I did all of the landscaping ourselves. There was one area in the yard where we couldn't get anything to grow. Including banana plants, which I thought were really easy to grow. Dean figured out it was because our water leveler drained into this area & the salt water was killing everything. A few weeks ago he did some drainage work so that the leveler drains into the canal/ditch in the very back of our lot. Here's a before picture of part of our yard.

The things in the pool are solar rings & they help warm up the pool water. The area along the fence is what we were working on. Here's a close up.

Grass didn't even  grow right.

Thursday, Dean had 6 yards of dirt delivered. The guy that we get dirt from works with Dean & he always throws in a little extra. This time he threw in a lot extra. The pile of dirt that's left looks as big as when we started.

Dean built a brick wall to keep the dirt from washing under the fence into our neighbors driveway. He got the bricks at Lowe's. We bought rock like the kind that's around the pool  to put on this end of  the bed.  I just realized I don't have a picture after we put the rock down. Dean spent his day off Friday building the wall & shoveling dirt.

After much research we decided that we wanted Bamboo in this area. Not the kind that goes crazy & runs all over the place. We got what they call a "clumping" bamboo. There are several different kinds. We bought "Golden Goddess". The trunks are a pretty golden color. Here they are planted.

Another angle. The bamboo is supposed to grow fairly fast so it'll fill in & cover the fence.

This is what it looks like mature.

We have a ways to go! We also bought 2 "Frost proof" Gardenias. These are planted in the bed in front of the bamboo.

That's how we spent out Saturday! I'm so happy to have this done. We just have to add pine straw.

I'm linking to Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday.

Toodles!