Wordy Wednesday

Sometime back in June while we were visiting my Mom, I snapped this picture at Jason's Deli with my phone camera. A sage palm was planted right beside the "sidewalk" and the parking lots. This little stupid dove was nesting in the palm. She had no fear. She actually raised some babies in this place practically in the middle of human and car traffic.

PS "Wordy Wednesday" is a ripoff of those who do "Wordless Wednesdays" on their blogs. I liked the concept of Wordless Wednesdays. The problem lies in the fact I almost always have to put in an explanation for this or that. Thus, I came up with "Wordy" instead of "Wordless". A Wordy-Wordless Wednesday post. Ha!

No Spending Month Begins

Hello, I'm back! Did you miss me?

We had a very good time at Garner. It was awfully quiet because we have never gone camping at Garner without some of the family before. We missed them. I especially missed seeing my parents. Times have changed. It's difficult to arrange a time where we all can meet at Garner these days.

Garner is way too popular. If you want to go camping at a certain date, you have to make reservation 333 days in advance and do it at midnight. Otherwise, you'd miss your opportunity.

Both Dan and I talked about going camping at Garner in the early part of Summer. It's too late to make reservations for next Summer (2011) unless you want to go in August. I am planning to look ahead to Summer of 2012 and then make reservations 333 days in advance. We thought the first week of June would be good.

Family and Friends: If any of you want to join us at Garner 2012 and have a preference for certain week(s), please let us know ASAP. We really missed y'all this year. And, I would really like to have a reunion of sorts. Fortunately, Dan and I could go at any time.

Anyway, on to another subject. We just started "No spending month". I've read about it elsewhere on various frugal blogs and I think it's a wonderful concept. Everyone takes it and modifies it to fit their own lifestyle.

Basically, the concept is to quit spending money on anything except on absolute essentials. Some go as far as challenging themselves to use up what they have in the freezer and fridge -- this won't work well for us because our pantry, freezer, and refrigerator is practically empty at the moment.

The "No Spending Month" in bloggy land tends to be during the month of February, the shortest month of the year. July is also another popular "no spending month". However, the concept can be used for any month. Granted, August is already underway; but, a month is four weeks or 30 days. So, it can start and end anytime. We started ours today and it will tentatively end September 6th. I said "tentatively" because we could very well extend it beyond this date.

We need to reign ourselves back. We've been spending more than usual the past eight or nine months. Some of it is understandable because of what happened to my Mom and the sacrifices Dan and I have made to be with her during this rough time. Also, we went on a couple of vacations recently. But still, we need to take back control of our money and spending habits. I desperately want to save money too, which we haven't been able to do for some time. There are a few "funds" that we need to build up. One of them is for a new car.

And oh, a new fund has also been created -- for a small camper. Our tent has about had it. We discovered that the rain shield has a tear. Thank goodness it didn't rain for our week at Garner! It has been a good tent. We've had it for probably 13 years now. We're going to patch it up and continue to use it for as long as we can. We hope to go camping in the Fall and Winter. However, we're getting a little too old for tent camping. So, instead of spending money for a new tent, we're going to get a new camper instead (I hope).

We should have been contributing something to the funds every month; but, we haven't been able to for quite some time now. Life has a tendency to cause a body to fall off track. But, I'm determined to get back on track again. So, our "no spending month" begins now. And hopefully, I'll get back on track with budgeting and whatnot. At least, this is a step in the right direction for us financially.

No Internet, No Cell Phones, No Television

Beginning tomorrow, we will be gone for a week, eight days, and

Doing what?

Camping

Where?

At my favoritest camping spot on the face of the earth

favoritest?

I know. I know. “favoritest” ain’t a word. Neither is “ain’t”; but, at this moment, I do not care. So there! Ha!

As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, we’ll be gone a week. We will be with no internet, no cell phones, and no TV. There

Say what? How will you ever survive?

Like I always have in the past… by swimming, by playing, by reading, by sleeping, by people watching, by hiking, by eating, by getting hurt… Scratch the last three words. There is always….

I hear a story in there somewhere

Let’s just say that I landed in the ER with a badly cut eye the last time we went. And, the time before that, I ended up spending most of the trip on the camp bed with a bad back and ended up in the ER with an infection of some kind and a reaction to Aleve, which I’ve never taken before.

As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted yet again, there is always something to do – even being bored is something to do. Ha! It’s going to be a bit of Heaven on earth – just pure relaxation in the middle of one of the earth’s beautiful spots.

There isn’t enough signal strength at this place for the internet or our cell phones. And, I have never believed in taking a TV along like some people do with their satellite dishes. This spot, on their website, does claim to have Wi-Fi; but, I highly doubt it. If they do, I will get on in case of emergencies. But, that is it. Nothing else. So, you’ll have to make do without any bloggy posts in bloggy land from me for a whole week. How will you survive?

By doing the some of the same things you will be doing, reading, eating, playing…

Awwww. Phooey. I was hoping you say you would miss me and will not be able to survive without me.

Ha!

Lee Ann and Dan will be at Garner from Sunday, August 1st, through Sunday, August 8th

The Road Trip Home

Since we had no obligations for Tuesday, we decided to leave early. We were out and about when we made this decision. So, we returned to the hotel arriving around 10:30am. We packed like maniacs. I now know I can pack up my crap in a hurry. We were out of there by 11:04am – a record breaking time. And oh, I think I got enough exercise for that day running to and from the vehicle at the hotel.

We decided to lunch at Lambert’s Cafe before leaving town.


The weather was horrid. But, that didn’t stop me from trying to take pictures of the place. It’s very interesting.



This place accepts cash and checks only. So, be prepared ahead of time. It is also very pricey. So, have a hearty appetite to make it your worthwhile. And, be prepared to wait awhile to be seated as it’s a VERY popular place.


Giant Checkers board game uses beat up lids from Thermos jugs. People could play this game while waiting in line to get in.

The walls are covered with pictures, license plates, and tin signs. There were flags of all kinds hanging from the ceiling. There will be people coming around with sides such as Fried Okra, Fried taters, Black Eye Peas, and Macaroni and sweet Tomatoes. And, there will be a person that tosses rolls to you from time to time if you desire one.

I had a hamburger, which wasn’t all that spectacular. Dan had a steak and he said it was very good.

And then we headed on out intentionally going through a funky interchange. We were inside Oklahoma within a hour.

Since it was a long drive, I was bored, and it was a gloomy day, I decided to challenge myself by taking pictures while we were on the move (mostly 70 miles per hour) to keep the boredom and doldrums away. It was a lot a fun not to mention a waste of time because the vast majority of the pictures were a total waste. Ha!

However, I did capture a few pictures that I liked while on the move.


We saw a lot of Hayfields in Oklahoma


I chased a lot of sun rays through the state. It’s not easy trying to capture a picture like this through a passenger window while on the move.


This was taken near the border of Texas while still in Oklahoma. The sun was setting.


We did stop once because I wanted to take pictures of a silo with a tree growing on top. I first saw this on the way to Missouri and wanted to take pictures; but, we didn’t stop. At the time, there were a bunch of goats taking refuge from the sun under the tree beside the silo. And, the weather was beautiful that day.

I now wish we had stopped back then because the weather was awful on our return trip home. And, there were no goats this time around. Oh well. Maybe another time I will capture a priceless image.

We arrived in Sherman, Texas around 9:00pm. We had the worst night in a hotel that we will never stay at again. We both ended up sick from the effects of lingering smoke.

We learned a valuable lesson – just because we had a wonderful stay in Missouri with a hotel by the same name (chain), it doesn’t mean another would be the same experience. We will now stick with our standby hotels and not deviate from them unless we’ve checked out hotel review sites beforehand.

One good thing that came out from this experience is that while rushing to get out of the place early the next morning, I spied this underneath a stairwell…


What the heck? I looked up. And, Lo and behold..


juvenile Barn Swallows


I couldn’t linger because the babies’ parents and older siblings (Dan said there were four of them) were beginning to make a racket and were pitching a fit concerning me. I didn’t want to trouble them too much. I felt blessed by this little discovery. Good things can happen in bad places.

We continued on down the road, grabbing some breakfast from a nearby gas station. I didn’t want take a chance at the hotel's free continental breakfast. I wanted out of there like a bat out of a cave.

While we continued our trek home, I spied a billboard ad for quilt store located in Waxahachie, TX. We decided to stop and explore.

It’s a very nice little “town” and the Square (downtown) is in good condition. I believe I would like to come back here and explore as it looks like it has plenty of antique stores and the “town” has character.


We eventually found the Common Threads Quilting store. I explored the store and didn’t see much I absolutely had to have. However, I thought the prices were reasonable in this little shop. I did make a couple of purchases.


Pillowcase kit & Apron Pattern

I am sorely in need of a new pillowcase for my extra pillow. My sister-in-law made and gave to me a Garfield pillowcase eons ago and it’s not going to last much longer. So, I decided to purchase this kit in hopes of learning how to make them. And, the price seemed reasonable.

As for the apron pattern, I’ve become such an Apron fanatic lately. However, I don’t like paying the high prices of the aprons I’ve seen for sale. I saw this pattern for sale in the Missouri Quilt stores; but, the prices were a little too high for me. However, it was under $10 at this quilt shop. So, I decided to get it.

I’m NOT a seamstress. I am amateur quilter. I don’t sew clothes nor do I know how. But, hopefully, I’ll be able to figure this one out when I’m ready to make one.

We both decided to linger and explore one antique store before moving on. I love rummaging. I love shops that sell “junk”. However, there are only a few things I will ever purchase and the price must be right for this thrifty gal. When I spied this…


Longaberger basket for $9.00, I had to get it!

I believe that the basket itself was once part of a retired 1999 item called “Santa’s Helper” – it looked like a sled. Somehow, the “runners” got lost. But, I didn’t care. The basket itself is still excellent shape not to mention serviceable. And, it’s Longaberger! Ha! The only thing this particular basket is lacking is a protector. Maybe I will find one off eBay someday.

You have to understand, I love the Longaberger baskets. The quality is outstanding. But, you often pay for what you get. And, forget about the retired baskets. Translation: prices are often sky high and out of my budget range.

Maybe I’ll show off my tiny collection of Longaberger baskets here someday.

And now, we return to our regular scheduled programming. (Enough with the babbling.)

We stopped to take pictures of a house I fell in love with on the way in downtown Waxahachie. These pictures do not do justice to the house itself.




We had lunch in Italy, Texas, which was just down the road aways from Waxahachie. We can now claim to have eaten in Italy. Ha! The place we chose was Grandy’s . We used to eat at Grandy’s when they had a few in Houston. But, they disappeared and we missed them. The sides are still the same – absolutely delicious. And, the chicken is still very good. To me, Grandy’s is better than KFC or Chick-fil-A – the food is good and the prices decent. I sure wish we had some where we live.

Then we continued on our merry journey, arrived home around 3:00pm and returned to life as we know it. In other words, we lived happily ever after! Ha!

Dan's Middle Brother and his Family

On the afternoon of the sixth day of vacation, we met up with another of Dan's brothers. He happens to be smack dab in the middle of all the siblings. They have a lively six year old son and just had twins, a boy and a girl, only several months old. We had a very relaxing time and I held the baby boy for awhile -- he was just too cute.

I personally think that Dan captured the best pictures in the entire vacation, and one of them was priceless in my humble opinion. He wasn't into taking a whole lot of pictures this time around. But, when he did, he took some good pictures. I think the best one is in this collection below. I'll let you be the judge. (His pictures are noted directly below each one he took.) Enjoy.

{Picture by Dan} This is Grandma (Dan's Mom) with the twin girl

{Picture by Dan} holding the twin boy

{Picture by Dan}

The look on this kid's face is priceless. He is a Star Wars fan and was messing around with a toy lightsaber.