Follow By E-Mail Now!

Didja see it?  You can now follow my blog by e-mail!  Blogger added a new gadget to do so!  

You can find the place to enter your e-mail under my picture on the left.  Just letting you know if you would like to do so.

Today is another not so good day for me, so I think I will pause blogging for one more day.  I need to work on getting my spirits up.  I also have to go do oodles of laundry.  Fun stuffs.

See you tomorrow!  I promise to find a picture or two and something fun to blog about... please bear with me... these times are difficult for me to even find anything wonderful to yap about but I promise to put on my happy face tomorrow.  Going to dig it out now.  

Well, maybe after laundry. :-)

No Pictures Today :-(

Just a quick update about where we are right now - I keep getting lots of questions about it.

The news is we are still here in Mississippi, and he is till working on his job.  The good news is he is actually WORKING on this job.  The shipyard drug their feet and were not ready on him even though they told him they were.  When he got here with his crew to work, they had to do some busy work while they waited on the shipyard to prepare the space for the unit.

The job actually started last Monday, so we are a bit over a week into it.  He should be finished in the next two weeks - he hopes.  Remember I said he had to go after that to Louisiana to tie up the loose ends of this job?  He does... still... but the job he is leaving (the Singapore job) has asked him to do something else for them.  They want him to go to Venezuela to do a survey for them.  Soooo that means, he will still have to go back to Louisiana for a couple weeks and he now has to go to Venezuela for a couple of days to do the survey.

In the meantime, I am going freaking crazy.  I am fine, just bored out of my mind and cannot for the life of me make myself go on an adventure by myself.  It is not fun doing that.  This has been a real challenge for me.  Me?  Sitting still?  God is certainly testing my patience.

Finally, we have started working with a new real estate agent in Tulsa.  We will see how that works.  It is so difficult reading who someone is through e-mails and websites.  Her website is written third person:  The website has "My Bio" with lots of she's and her's - not me and I's.  It is really odd after looking at other agents who boast what is important to them and for their customers.  I am trying to be optimistic but feeling a bit apprehensive.  

The first e-mail had warm fuzzies - the rest have been cut and dried and I find maybe a bit... well they lack warmth.  There is very little interaction, and what we have had has seemed very rushed and... cut and dried.  She did tell me she has "been a full time mulit-million dollar producing agent for 7 years"  but no sweet "you will be looking real soon!"  "how is it going?"  "Are we getting close yet?"  "have you found a house/property you love?"  "looking forward to working with you"...

  

.... nothing.  She sent us 4 listings to begin with.  We went to her site, entered the same criteria we gave her and got dozens of listings.  Steve talked to her that day and commented on the fact she only sent 4 and her own site gave us dozens.  The next day she sent dozens of listings from where we wanted to live to over a hundred miles away with a snarky (?) remark that in order to get what we want, we might have to travel over an hour away and another pointing out that the properties with land had significant price increases... k... like we wouldn't know that... ?

I then sent her an e-mail asking how I would find out when new listings as they came out and it was then she told me that if I would send the cities we would consider she would add us to an auto mail that would update us daily.  Did I really have to *ask* for that?  I mean, the other real estate agent we had worked with seemed excited to help us.  This one... she just seems like we are a *chore* and it seems like I 'feel' the eye rolls.  Not sure what is up with that.  To be honest, I wish we could continue with the other agent - we at least felt like we were worth the effort of working with.  But as I said earlier, maybe it is just because we are working through e-mail.

Am I expecting too much?  *shrug*  I don't know.  I am a bit bummed on this.  Maybe it is just my state of mind, but I think not so much.

Today is one of those days I just want to scream at the top of my lungs, cry and stomp my feet.  I am having a crappy day; I want this part to be behind us and am damned ready to move on.  I have been patient (how long?) and am so OVER it.  He got transferred in January and we still have not even gone to his new job site yet.  While he is working, I am sitting, getting lazy, gaining weight (yes I said it) and I feel horrible physically and mentally.  I hate being alone, hate being out in the middle of nowhere, I am not a shopper and don't like enjoying doing adventures by myself.  This is the pits.  

I am off my soapbox now.  Yes this sounds like a broken record, yes I feel like one.  ;-)

But I keep gazing at the light at the end of the tunnel.  Quit moving it!!!  

Or are you stretching the tunnel?

Fairy Furniture

Bored?  Collect... Leaves and sticks and acorns and pinecones... collect anything natural that is not attached to anything alive.  Dead leaves.  Dead sticks.  Dead acorns and dead pinecones.   If you can find some vines, collect them too.  Toss them into a bowl.  My bowl got pretty darned big.  Keep on collecting then...

Let me go back... WAY back.

When our kids were little, I always asked them to keep an eye out for gorgeous God given natural objects.  If they found one, they were to place it on a plate in the center of our picnic table.  The collection of treasures collected over the length of the vacation.  As it grew, one of us would arrange it every day so we could enjoy the myriad of treasures to make a centerpiece for our picnic table.  

I am not sure when I took a picture of one of the centerpieces we made, but it is scrapbooked, and I have not scrapped for at least 4 years - and I am sure it was WAY before that.  Anyway, here is my layout (scrapbook page) of one of our collections:

So fast forward to this last summer while we were in Hawaii.  When our cousin Lisa LaRaine was young, Lisa LaRaine (and her mom ?) used to make fairy furniture - and that was many, many years ago.  A nature lover that I am, I was dumbstruck at the beauty of what they had made.  I vaguely remember seeing all the furniture years ago and it has always been in the back of my mind.  While in Hawaii this last summer, I was browsing around the house, and what did I see?

Lisa LaRaine's Fairy Furniture!

Now fast forward to the present.  I have had lots of time on my hands.  LOTS of time.  So one day I was browsing around and when I looked down, I saw nature... natural treasures!  Oh, there weren't many where I was standing - in fact in our camp ground - but old habits die hard and I picked them up and brought them to our table outside.  Over the next few days, I kept tossing a few more things up there... then... I looked...

And I walked away.

I looked again later... 

But again, I walked away.

I get so darned bored here in the camper waiting on hubby... well, I was re-reading my daughter's blog and I came across THIS LINK

So my thinking cap started working...

I got out my trusty Elmer's glue...

Then I started gluing pieces...

And I made this for punkin's fairy garden:

Complete with reading chair - I am still looking out for a 'book':

And every fairy needs a baby in a cradle:

All built with these for tools:

A *very* inexpensive hobby, isn't it?

So, how is that for entertainment while being bored?  As I said, my natural supplies are very limited, but I am enjoying creating - and as I venture out, I will keep my eyes open for other 'building supplies'.  Thanks Lisa LaRaine for the idea!  Love ya!

It is indeed "A Fairy Good Place To Be"!

This Little Box...

... took an awfully long time to get here.  But I am happy to announce, thanks to Mike (his picture?) that our crate has arrived - and our friend is in possession of it!  

Steve got this picture of our crate yesterday!  

Just as a reiminder - it was supposedly shipped (haha) over 5 months ago!  Now, we will hope our loot from Singapore is in it.  Will we be that lucky?  As someone said, do I trust the foreign and domestic teamsters that handled it?  The very ones that made it take nearly half of a year to make it to us?  Do I?

Here is a reminder of what we are supposed to have there:  

Did each of our treasures make it?

Better yet...

Did Steve's mystery items make it? 

 What are they?

 

They are heavy, that's what!  

Sorry, you will have to wait until the official unveiling... to be continued.  

When?  When he finishes this job.  After he goes to Venezuela.  When we finally get to Oklahoma, when we buy a house, when we get our loot shipped from Louisiana and when we finally get to uncrate it all.   Then I will let you in on the very special, searched high and low for... exquisite... treasures.  Especially Steve's treasures.

Of course, Steph wants to know if her Christmas presents are in the crate.  We shall see... someday.

And now you know... our crate has arrived!

That first picture?  Well, that little box contains every 'material' memory of our overseas Asian adventure.  It had better be all there - I would hate to have to have to request a redo - or better yet, an extended shopping trip to replace what didn't make it!

Now ask when we get to check it all out...  ??  

I surely don't see that in our near future.  Wonder if there is an infinity date to make claims on the shipment?  lol... 

Thanks Mike for being the receiver, holder and guard of our little Asian treasures!  We will see you... sometime.

Gulf Coast Exploreum

Remember me telling you that Steph and Raelee came over to go to Mobile?  Well, supposedly they came over to go to the Exploreum, but I think they really came over for the crawfish.  Heck, would you expect Steph to make a 3 hour trip for bugs or mudbugs?  Lol... 

We did take punkin' to the science center because of the bug display.  I had seen billboards all over advertising it, and we all know how much Raelee loves bugs, so when the girls got here, off to Mobile we went:

Quite honestly we were disappointed in the bug display.  The only thing great about it, was a half dozen HUGE bugs:

You know, speaking of the caterpillars that I said nothing about, be sure and check out what has happened in Steph and Raelee's yard!

The big bug heads were interesting to say the least:

A bee head:

A dragon fly head:

And a mosquito head:

Did I get those right?  I think so...

Raelee had fun playing with this grass hopper.  She squatted down:

And when it hopped she did to!

She did lots of fun experiments there, but I won't show them all to you. I think you can see she had a great 'school' day:

We went home that night, completely beat by an exciting 2 days, but punkin' had to take care of her turtle.  We tried to figure out what kind of turtle it was, and I actually remembered to take a picture of it to the exploreum.  I asked the girl there if she knew.  Of course she did - she politely looked at it and exclaimed it was a... water turtle.  

Well DUH!  So much for scientific names... lol... 

So I am challenging you, can you tell me what kind it is?  And don't tell me an aluminum pan turtle either!  Lol...

Raelee has since let it go in the bayou behind Mr Jude's house.  I am sure she will watch for it to come back and thank her for saving its life and not allowing it to become Turtle Sauce Picante!  Until then, she will just have to wonder if snapper made it in the wild murky yonder!

Finally, the morning they left, we made a mad dash to the beach to build a sand castle; but first the girls fed the birds:

Played in the sand:

And then we built a sand castle:

Everyone will be happy to know we did not see even one oil blob on the beach!  It is ready for visitors; pristine as a gulf coast beach can be, silky soft sand and wide open spaces - Mississippi is ready for visitors. Please come back to the beaches.  We had a great time!

And finally, all too soon it was time to leave; time for us to leave the beach, and time for them to head home.  Punkin' had dance class later that day.  Sunning on the beach to dance.  Crawfish and critters, science and bugs... We had a great two days with the girls.  

Thanks for coming - it sure made for an easy few days.  Loved having you!

What am I doing now to fill my time?  Just wait and see.  I promise this will be a real eye roller... lol... desperate times call for desperate measures.  Lisa... errr... LaRaine, this next post will be for you  :-)

I will tell you more, but first you must promise not to laugh...  Promise??

Farm Life - Part 2

It took us about 2.4 nano seconds to confirm this is what we want;  LOTS of land with all the trimmings.  We love being out in the country.  Steph and punkin' did too.  Neither one seemed bored at all.  In fact, they both stayed busy.  

Steph found the barn with the 4 wheeler in it, the girls hopped on and off they went:

They just mighta had fun  ;-)

Punkin' found a swing and was justa swingin':

The swing motor kinda lolligagged though:

But soon he was working and she had a great time.

We watched the critters way more than most farmers would watch them:
 

I think they even gotten a little irritated:
 

Raelee ate what she claimed to be the yummiest cake ever:

We stared endlessly out into the wild blue yonder:

We decided we could never get tired of looking at this sight.


But all too soon the day was done.  Great location, great friends, great company & great food.  What more could you ask for?

A great ending to a perfect day:

Thanks again to our friends David and Lorraine.  We had a wonderful day and it was even more special because we spent it with you.  We love ya!

Life on the Farm - Thanks David and Lorraine!

We called David's friend and asked if he would like us to bring crawfish to boil this past weekend.  The answer of course was "YES!"

I was going back to  Baton Rouge to go with the girls to see Momma Mia! the Broadway play.  Steve took me to Baton Rough and we met them for lunch, then he left me with them and he went back to Morgan City and scrounged around for two sacks of crawfish.  He finally found them in Houma, went over and got them, went back to Morgan City to get all the fixins and then to storage to get the boiling gear.  By the time we got back to MC, he had been on fast forward for hours - but the mission was accomplished, he was ready to boil. We only had to make the trip back to Mississippi.

We slept at Holiday Inn.  Oh my gosh, was it heaven to have a real bed!!  I slept like a rock!

Sunday morning, he got up early, loaded the loot and went ahead of us to David's.  We followed shortly and when we got there, Steph was in heaven! 

What she didn't realize was that we were going to a FARM!  Lol... 

She was so excited, all she could do was stare at the critters:

When Steve dumped out the bag of crawfish, guess what he found?  A turtle!  

He was a bit unhappy, but he was alive.  Guess who latched onto him?  She took darned good care of him too  :-)  2 days later she took him back to Louisiana and released him in the bayou.  She is such a good care giver of nature:

We got down to business, Steve and David boiled the crawfish and we sat down to eat.  Everyone seemed to love them.  

One of the guys pulled up the trash can.  It was quite awesome.  He even hauled the trash away when we finished eating.

Back to the critters:

Raelee had a great time watching them:
 

 Granny loves this critter!

I hope we find a shed like this one.  I think Steph did too - Todd could put all his car toys in it:

I could look out of my kitchen window at this scene every day and be quite happy:

They had a bluebird house near the garden:
 

Complete with eggs.  Steph found out quite by accident.  No, we didn't touch them.

Yes, life in the country is nice.  Looking forward to finding our place soon.  

Steve's job has finally kicked off good and he is getting the unit in place.  We may get to Oklahoma yet.  He comes in felling quite accomplished every day.

Guess what?  I had so many pictures to post, I will have to post more tomorrow.  Gives me something to blog about though doesn't it?  

See you then!