A House By The Sea, A Big Frog and A Week Full of Memories!

Well, we have been home for a few days and I must say...my sentiments are still the same...BOO!!!

To make myself feel a little better, I thought I would post a few pictures from the trip...good times, good times, good times...

Our house on the beach...just a stone's throw away from Heaven!!!
Well, might as well JUMP! Ah...now Van Halen will be coursing through your brain all day... but I couldn't resist! Hannah jumping in the waves...oh what fun!Now, who doesn't love this picture??? I was a sneaky photographer and snapped this one as Hannah and her daddy lounged by the sea one evening after dinner. I love this picture! And did I mention we went to Charleston and visited the SC Aquarium?
For those of you who know and love my mom and all her quirkiness...you will really appreciate this picture ---SHE IS SITTING BY A FROG, people! A FROG!!!!!And here we are on our last day...all in our Edisto shirts and trying to smile and not cry!

Edisto...we love you and we will see you next year!

Living Happily in the Moment!
Bev

The Countdown is On...Only 364 More Days

Oh...so much to tell about our trip.

It was paradise! Heavenly, hot, sandy, wet, interesting, funny, satisfying and not nearly long enough.

I will post details and more pictures later, but this one picture seems to sum up the feelings my daughter had as we left the beach house today and mine as I sit, once again, at home in my kitchen, the world suddenly swirling back into my head...

BOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are home again!

Oh well, only 364 days until we get to go again!

Living Happily in the Moment!
Bev

I See A Palm Tree In My Future!

Dear Bloggity Readers...

Your tired and cranky blog writer is going on sabbatical (uh..not really, just always wanted to be someone who goes on sabbatical!) and therefore this blog will be silent for seven days! I hope you can manage without the daily (or mostly daily!) dose of the insignificant that you find here.

I am not letting the screen door hit me on the way out...look out sand and waves, sea birds, shells and dolphins and my new beach chair that reclines...I am on the way to be a Carolina Girl for at least a week!

Catch ya on the flip side, where I will be rested and relaxed and hopefully full of inspiration for this little blog o' mine!

Living Happily in the Moment!
Bev

Time Is Marching On and DRAGGING Me Along With It (and I am kicking and screaming ALL the way!)

I am pretty sure this picture will say it all.
Do I really need to explain how this makes me feel? Nope, didn't think so! (And yes, those of you who get pictures...will get one of these!!)

Thursday is Kindergarten graduation day. I am not really certain I am ready to be the mom of a first grader...but alas, time marches on...and as of tomorrow, a mom of a first grader I will be.

Living Happily in the Moment!
Bev

Home, Home on the Range!

I'm not saying it has been a stressful week so far, but on the way home tonight, I actually got a little teary-eyed thinking about my home, my man and my sweet girl. It was such a great feeling to drive up in the driveway and leave all the chaos of the day behind me.

Home... it is truly where the heart is, and the hot bath and bed too!! I am off to indulge in all three...a hot bath, a cuddle or two with my favorite people on the couch and a bed that is calling my name.

Hope your week is not nearly as crazy as mine!

Living Happily in the Moment!
Bev

Hi...I'll Be Back...Soon!!!

Home after a long day's drive from the mountains of TN!

We had a great weekend away...part car show, part shopping trip, part 18th wedding anniversary trip. It was good to go...great to be home though!

This is a crazy, busy week...please forgive me for few and far between posts this week ...bear with me and I promise after this week and a vacation week to come...I will be back on a regular posting schedule. I, for one, can't wait to have a normal schedule of any kind...summer is coming!! YAY!

Living Happily in the Moment!
Beverly

Happy 18th...Where Does The Time Go?

On May 16, 1992...this girl looked in the mirror one last time before she left the house.


A few short hours later, that same girl looked into the camera, while sitting in a car with her newly acquired husband.

And life has never been the same again...

Happy 18th Anniversary to us! We have fought hard for every one of those years and so far, it has been worth it. ;-)

Living Happily in the Moment!!
Beverly

Sometimes She Drifts Away

Sometimes she finds herself gazing away from her laundry, searching the horizon almost believing she will see him walk toward her out of the brightness of the setting sun.

Sometimes she finds herself sitting at a table full of people in a busy restaurant where utensils clatter, tenors sing, waiters bustle, and conversation engulfs. Sipping her coffee she gazes into some portal of time and suddenly she is no longer there, but with him, talking, smiling and laughing, in a similar place on a cold, gray, long ago afternoon.

Sometimes she hears a song and her mind lets her drift where her heart never does to the few hours, those few happy moments when she was with him, and he was with her. She travels back to the place in time where they were finding eight hundred thirty one reasons to stay and trying to forget the one reason they had to go.

Sometimes she might seem far away, but if you could read her mind, you would find she is not really gone, just momentarily transported into a dream that became an extraordinary reality. And though it lasted but a short bit of this eternity the mark it left on her soul before it quickly disappeared back into her dreams, will never fade from her mind's eye.

As quickly as the extraordinary eluded her, you will find that she will drift back to the present, to the party, or the discussion, or the laundry or the television show or any other simple moment in her every day, ordinary life.


Living Happily in the Moment!
Bev
Writing Ex12, Writing the First Chapter

All The Gaps Are Filled In...

Being an only child I grew up with lots of attention from my parents...I never once felt unloved! I say that because I am about to say this.

All my life, even though I have felt loved and valued, in EVERY relationship I have ever had...parental, girlfriend, boyfriend, spousal...I have always felt like I was somehow lost in the shuffle. It is hard to put into words, but for some reason, I am not the person that people dote on, I am the one that remembers the tidbits of all the others, and no one ever really remembers stuff about me. I am not the one in the crowd that people fuss over, here is a for instance...I have been married to my husband for 18 years -- he just found out last night that I don't drink Pepsi and that I love Orange Crush. Seriously -- I have had Orange Crush in the pantry for at least 16 of those years...I wonder if he thinks it is the same box - who does he think drank it? See what I mean? And it is not just him...I am not hubby bashing... there are others around me - good friends, close friends, that have no idea I am scared of heights, or claustrophobic or that I like Sting...really? How can you miss these things? I think I am open and giving, but for some reason, I am always feeling like no one really knows me.

I say all of that for one reason and one reason only, I finally found have that person in my world. It has taken 44 years, but she finally arrived. Yesterday as we got home from school and I began the disassembling of my child's bookbag, I found a "book" she had written about me. It is a Mother's Day thang with questions and she filled in the blanks and then drew a picture...

Here is the transcript (her answers are in bold, my comments are in italic and parenthesis)

This is my Mom...

During the day she GOES TO WORK.
My mom is very good at WRITING (ah..sweet, but not really!)
The thing I love best about my mom is ALWAYS NICE TO ME
On the weekends, she LETS ME GO TO EDISTO BEACH (well, sure, if we could!)
(and here is the one that made me cry!!)
She doesn't like BIRDS!



The picture is illustrating me (note the sad face) and a bird that just flew past me!! FINALLY -- someone who really knows me!! Gosh, I love this kid!! And if you are wondering about me and the birds....just read this!

All this time I have been waiting for someone to know me and I never realized she was here, living in the house with me. I never knew how much she observes me and what I do and don't do and like and don't like. I thank God each day for giving me such a wonderful gift in this child. She made me a mom...and filled in ALL the gaps in my world.

Happy Mother's to My Mom, My Aunt Nell, My Mother in Law and all of you!

Living Happily in the MOMent!
Bev

An Ice Cream Sandwich Before Bed!

This is gonna be one of "those" posts...sorry!

I feel the need to write, but my writing muse is gone again and there is nothing coming to mind today except my daughter's obsession with smelly pencils and silly bandz!! The world of a five year old is a complicated, scary place. One minute you can be discussing the exquisite taste of boxed mac and cheese and the next minute might find you running outside because you thought you saw a roly poly and everyone knows that this is the season for roly polys and aren't they cute and hold on I think I saw a caterpillar, oh look its two of them, can we take them inside, I promise I will feed them and not let them die like the other ones!!! AGHHHHHHHH

Yes, that would be the way the afternoons and evenings happen for me now....non-stop chatter, laughter, joke telling and the occasional eye roll and foot stomp just to round out the day!!

It is a hectic month, tons of car shows, lots of events at work and at Hannah's school, a few out of town adventures, oh and don't forget Mother's Day thrown in for good measure along with our 18th wedding anniversary........I am exhausted with a healthy dose of tired on top of it and it is only the 5th of the month! There is nothing I want more to do than to sit and write a coherent post (of which I am certain this is NOT!) but for now, this will have to be enough.

I did write this yesterday though...

Ice cream sandwiches in the afternoon
chocolate
vanilla
mushy
sweet
sticky
round
fingers are messy and our teeth are too
An oozy, gooey mess shared between us two!


I am heading off to find another one of those and share it with my favorite girl before bedtime.
Hope you are having a great week!

Living Happily in the Moment!
Bev

Dos, Dos, Dos for the Price of Uno!

Happy day before Cinco de Mayo!! Uh....that would be May 5th for all us non-Spanish speaking peoples! I realize I should do some research and give you all a bit of history of the holiday and what not...but hey - I am lazy and tired and the mommy of a cinco year old girl and just not up to the googling tonight!

I did feel like passing on a few Mexican recipes that are oh so easy and good and will help you ring in the Cinco de Mayo at your casa.

First up, Margarita Chicken! I love this recipe. It is cooked in a crockpot, which makes it quick and easy!!

Margarita Chicken!!!
4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts. (I put mine in frozen!!)
1/4 cup honey
1 T soy sauce
minced garlic cloves (about two cloves worth)
3 T margarita mix


Stir together the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl. Place the chicken in the crockpot, cover with the sauce and cook on low, 8-10 hours or 4-6 hours on high.

Serve with rice, Mexican rice, or some some beans, a bowl of salsa and chips and you are on your way to a Cinco de Mayo celebration!

Next up...

A friend gave me this recipe last week...it has haunted me ever since. This is what I will be serving for the holiday!

Dorito Lasagna

1 bag of Doritos (the original ones, no Cool Ranch ones here!!) CRUSHED.
1 lb hamburger
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
1 can enchilada sauce
2 cups cheese
other fixings of your choosing...olives, diced tomatoes, sour cream, etc.

Brown the ground beef, drain and add in the taco seasoning packet, following the directions on the packet. Set aside. Combine the beans and enchilada sauce. Layer the ingredients in a 9x13 pan, starting with Doritos, meat, sauce cheese, continuing layering, ending with cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven, for about thirty minutes, or until cheese is bubbly. Top with tomatoes, olives, lettuce, sour cream etc. Serve as you would a lasagna, in other words, cut into squares!!
YUMMY! (you know, you could probably do this in a crock pot too...just layer and put it on for about three hours on high or 6 hours on low...but I would watch it really close!)

So, there you have it --- Cinco de Mayo recipes...a day early (so you can rush to the grocery store and still have a day to cook!!)

Living Happily in the Moment!
Bev

Oh What A Way To Start The Day...With A Laugh!

Feeling a little light hearted this morning....enjoy!!

No Room For Me

There's no room for me
here,
in the house
that we built

On the day we moved in
it was spacious and lofty
We would lose each other in the rooms
Calling out on the echoes of the walls

But Time has infiltrated our house
and with a nudge here
and there
It is quite clear there is

No room
for me
in this house
that we
built.

No where for me to grow
no where for me to breathe
no where for me to dream
no where for me to laugh

No room for me
anymore
in this house
that we
built.