Sarah cooks!
Well, what a morning we had. Bob left for a trip on business and Mom left for Florida to visit my brothers and I was left having to cook. Or, wait a minute - I can teach Sarah how to ...
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Well, what a morning we had. Bob left for a trip on business and Mom left for Florida to visit my brothers and I was left having to cook. Or, wait a minute - I can teach Sarah how to ...
Continue Reading in What's Cookin...
It is so hard to say "goodbye" to someone you love. This morning, my mother left for an extended visit with my brothers in Florida. She plans on staying several months and spending time with them. I think it is a good thing, but something made me break down this morning in her bedroom and I had the most awful feeling that this was the last time I would see my mother. I pray that isn't true. I don't know what I would do without her. She has lived with us for 10 years, and although we disagree at times, 95% of the time it is calm and normal and happy around here.
I just finished watching "The Bucket List" with my children. What a wonderful movie. With Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two terminally ill men who meet in a hospital. They become fast friends and Morgan and Jack decide to write down the things that they want to do before they die, especially since they both are given 6 months to a year to live. In that year, they both travel the world together - an awesome experience, even to watch.
Well, goodness sakes, Bob made the Charlotte Observer again today. This must have been an entire weekend feature. No more pictures, though, in the paper. They did quote him, however, which is nice. He's famous! Just kidding, of course. Bob's quote is at the end of the article, and I italicized it and colored it blue. Oh, and to make this more interesting, I have put several pictures of Bob working in this story:
Wait a minute! I don't have a picture of him working in his recliner! As soon as I get that picture, I'll add it. Promise.
Susan
And shouldn't the title be: Lazyboy Recliner or cubicle? Here is the story below:
Charlotte Observer
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Where do you work: Couch or cubicle?
Exploring the good and bad of telecommuting
By Christopher D. Kirkpatrick
ckirkpatrick@charlotteobserver.com
Click on the image below to read the article at www.charlotte.com
Most telecommuters cite the positives, but there is a dark side to working from home, some research suggests. Some colleagues can be jealous, especially if they are refused the chance to telework. And:
About 61 percent of 1,320 executives surveyed believe telecommuters are less likely to be promoted compared with employees in traditional office settings, according to survey results released last year by Trends@Work.
On the positive side, the survey also found:
48% said they would consider a job that involved telecommuting on a regular basis
78% said teleworkers are equally or more productive than office workers.
46% prefer telecommuting to flexible hours.
Working from home might seem appealing – lounging in shorts, eating lunch with the family, saving on gas.
But as telecommuting today is on the rise, experts and some people who do it say there are potential pitfalls to consider and that it's not for everybody.
National survey results released in November from a firm called the polling company and sponsored by Citrix Online, a software company that promotes Web-based communications, found 62 percent who don't work from home wish they could.
More Charlotte companies are embracing and encouraging work from outside the office, according to the Employers Association of Charlotte.
I've got to admit, it is a bit strange going to www.charlotte.com and seeing my husband's face on the front page of the website. I wasn't expecting that. I mean, it was interesting enough being in the paper and all, but of all the people they obviously interviewed for ...
Yesterday, Bob and I and little Glen went to Southpark Mall to get some
clothes for our growing daughter, Sarah, who is 14. She didn't know we
were going there and actually, neither did we, but since we were in the
area after taking Glen to a doctor appointment, we thought we would
save gas and stop in to get her what she needs. I swear she is going
to be seriously tall in the next few years. Sarah is already 5'5" and
in a size 8 shoe. Slender and so pretty. And smart too! Anyway, we
were out and about at the mall - something that I rarely do, by the
way, because personally, I hate going to the mall. But, Sarah's jeans
and shorts were getting a bit too tight, and her shirts were too small,
and she was beginning to look like a homeless child. I resigned myself
to having to take a trip to Limited Too to appease her need for
clothes. Fortunately, they were having a sale, so that surely helped.
400 dollars later, she is looking pretty cute in all her new clothes.
We decided to spend this afternoon having some fun with the kids, so we
all packed into our Suburban and headed to the Regal movies at
Stonecrest on Rea Road in Charlotte. I particularly like this theater
because it is clean and the seating is very comfortable and more
spacious than a lot of other theaters. Also, you have a place to put
your drink and the armrests are cushioned too. There is also knee room
so if anyone has to get by you to go to the restroom, you don't have to
stand up or turn sideways. I really hate having to do that. Also, the
seating is at a distinct angle so that you don't have to watch the
movie over someone's head, making it comfortable to sit anywhere and
not feel like you are compromising your view of the movie. So, if you
come to Charlotte, or you live here, check out the Regal theater
sometime in the Stonecrest Shopping Center, you'll enjoy it.
Below is the Charlotte Observer Story that we were interviewed for yesterday. It was fun hanging out for several hours with Ortega, the Observer photographer. Bob's quote is in blue below (or in the continued part if you read the article) Glen was totally mesmerized by Ortega's camera. Naturally, we all look bad in the picture, but hey, how often do you get your picture in the paper, right? my gray hair looks - well - gray. My double chin looks - well - double. Sarah's big feet look - well - big. Bob's frustrations with a Windows laptop look - well - frustrating. My love for my Apple laptop looks - well - like love for my Apple laptop. I even dressed in red, white, and blue for all those patriotic readers out there.
We are proud to announce that our first winner of our first contest is Lisa! We put all 3 of our contest entries (lots of readers don't you think?) into a hat and had our son pick a name from the hat. All your answers were right on. I know you are all good friends and we ladies need to stick together.
Lisa, I hope you enjoy your new book. You'll have to let me know how you like it when you've read it. I will be offering little prizes from time to time to my readers as a way to say "thank you." It makes my day to see comments on my stories. Thank you all.
I'll be giving away another book soon, so please drop back by when you can and say hello!
Susan
In addition to having a 2 hour fire drill here at home and having to go from pajamas to civilized and clean and have an immaculate house (for the most part), we are going to be on the front page of the Charlotte Observer tomorrow (Saturday). I'm thinkin' "what the heck did I do?" Nothin. Bob wrote the Observer or something answering some question about local families that work from home. Yeap, we work from home alright. Bob is always here, I'm always here bloggin' and paintin' and hollarin' at someone. The kids are doing their schoolwork ...
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Husbands and laundry don't mix. Bob tried to help me with the 200 loads of laundry we had piling up. Unfortunately, when he does the laundry, he shoves so much into our front-loading washer that ...
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What is it about kids these days that they have to do stupid things to the neighbors? Just now (it is 10:30pm) someone rang our doorbell. Adolf goes nuts and is barking his head off. Bob is upstairs working in his office and I'm downstairs in the kitchen. We all go to the door and ask who it is. Nobody. We turn on the lights and there is nobody there. Naturally, we let Adolf out the front door. I was hoping he'd find them and take a bite out of their butt and bring it back to me so that I could roast it on an open fire.
I'm jumping on this bandwagon and offering up a good read. That's because I love to read and I really appreciate my readers and your comments. The book I am offering up is: Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith. A great read especially if you like to curl up in your favorite chair with a cup of hot tea and read right before you go to bed. I know I do because it helps me to sleep better if I don't have the responsibilities of the day on my brain. I will even pay for the shipping.
Here is what you need to do:
Tell me in the comments section what makes you a "good friend." I love to read these things.
That's it! I will choose a winner on Friday. The book is brand-spankin' new and is a softcover. It retails for 12.95 for the softcover and 21.95 for the hardcover. It is a National Bestseller. When you look thru the "reader" below, you do not need to hit the buy button because this is my giveaway. I appreciate my readers and I appreciate your comments. This is my way to get to know you. I thought you would enjoy the reader below to see what's in the book. Hey it's free!
A bit about the book below. You can even scroll thru the book (I think the first 28 pages) in this reader...
About this book
In this delightful second installment in Alexander McCall Smith’s best-selling new detective series, the irrepressibly curious Isabel Dalhousie, editor of the Review of Applied Ethics, gets caught up in an affair of the heart—this one a transplant.
When Isabel’s niece, Cat, asks Isabel to run her delicatessen while she attends a wedding in Italy, Isabel meets a man with a most interesting problem. He recently had a heart transplant and is suddenly plagued with memories of events that never happened to him. The situation appeals to Isabel as a philosophical question: Is the heart truly the seat of the soul? And it piques her insatiable curiosity: Could the memories be connected with the donor’s demise? Of course, Grace—Isabel’s no-nonsense housekeeper—and Isabel’s friend Jamie think it is none of Isabel’s business. Meanwhile, Cat brings home an Italian lothario, who, in accordance with all that Isabel knows about Italian lotharios, shouldn’t be trusted . . . but, goodness, he is charming.
That makes two mysteries of the heart to be solved—just the thing for Isabel Dalhousie.
About the author
Alexander McCall Smith is the author of more than 50 books, including the delightful 6-volume No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. Born in what is now Zimbabwe, McCall Smith was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He now lives in Scotland.
Banners below (if you are on the front page of my site, click on "Continue Reading" to see my Raisin Toast banners and also to comment for a chance to win this great book!
This is tough. Still, this is something that I have wanted to do
for some time now - journal my life. I think it is important as we get
older, to journal our life in stages so that our children can visit our
journey when and if they desire to discover our passage, our
discoveries, our frustrations, our difficult lessons throughout ...
It should come as no surprise to anyone that my all time favorite ...
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Have you ever thought about just how many appliances you own that talk back? Well, I'm thinkin' about it now. I went to my kitchen to find something to eat. I opened the Refrigerator and after 5 seconds I hear "beep - beep - beep" I want to tell it to "Shut up for goodness sakes! I'm not done lookin" I find my leftovers, put them in a dish and nuke it in the microwave. While it is cooking every nutritious organism out of existence, and I am pouring a glass of iced tea, I hear "beeeeeep - beeeeeep" I knew the fridge wasn't still open, and then I heard "bleep-bleep-bleep-bleep" I'm lookin' around the kitchen, scratching my head, trying to ignore it, scratching my head some more. "bleep-bleep-bleep-bleep" "beeeeeep - beeeeeep" I find the source of the annoyance - the dishwasher that won't shut up unless you open the stinkin' thing and then close it. It will beep every 5 minutes till the cows come home if you don't open the door. The other beepin' was my microwave letting me know my meal was nuked to death.
This ain't no painting, but it has been the creative project from hell. It is also a "Story from my Kitchen" rather than a "Story from my studio," so bear with me here as I desperately need help finishing a project that I started 2 years ago, put off till 6 weeks ago, and have been in the midst of every day since.
How can you not love a dog that wants nothing more than to sit in your lap? Well, when he's bigger than you, or in this case, as big as my Big Bear, that can be a problem. But isn't he adorable?
I love to see my kids happy, and playing sports has that affect on them for sure. Today there was a picnic at our church for the soccer team that Sarah participated in this season. The parents, coaches, and kids all played a game of soccer after we chowed down on good food. It was awfully hot outside, but the kids had a blast. Glen came home and immediately crashed. I think he is out for the night. We took 407 pictures - most of them were bad - really bad. These are just a few of them that came out tolerable to look at.
My husband's cousin David sent these pics to us courtesy of Texas Jim. Thanks Texas Jim. He's got connections at NASA and wanted to share these pictures from the recent NASA mission. Great pics! My son, Matthew's eyes were buggin' out so I better print them off for him. He's my Space and Science child. He loves everything Space, and everything (almost everything) Science. He did say ...
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Bob and I enjoy going out for lunch now and then. This happens to
be a "now" day. We went to Sugar Magnolia for lunch and it was great.
From the service to the food, you can't go wrong at Sugar Magnolia,
especially if you love good Southern cookin'.
Nothing will screw up an otherwise good batch of left-over spaghetti like taco sauce. I love spaghetti. And I love tacos. We've had both this week. I like leftovers and I usually opt for the spaghetti if there is any. I like the way it makes ...
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For any of you who know me personally, you know that I'm clumsy. So
clumsy of recent, in fact, that I fell about 3 weeks ago and did a real
number on my right knee. I ripped that baby open all the way down to
the knee cap, which on me isn't a far journey. I spent about 8 hours
in the Emergency Room whining and maneuvering myself around in a wheel
chair with my right leg extended out past the reasonable. I did try to
stay entertained by offering to race a few other patients in
wheelchairs across the room, but they were obviously not in the mood. "Get lost lady, this ain't Nascar." (Nice picture of my racked up knee, don't you think?)
I love the fact that my hubby, Bob, is the cook and I just have to do the cleanin' up afterwards. I can cook, I just don't like too. Fortunately, my Big Bear does.
Today is Father's Day, and - well - Big Bear is cooking dinner for the family. But, he'll get his head rub promptly thereafter as we sit and ...
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You know you've been married a long time when you go out on a date with your husband - dinner and a movie - and the conversation at dinner is why the shower has no water pressure if the sprinklers are on and the conversation in the car coming home is about psi and water pressure being too low off of our well.
What is it about getting older that makes us so dang clumsy? For an
entire week I have been walking (or I should say scooting) around my
home with 2 injured knees, and one so injured as to require 5
stitches. At least I am walking, although barely.
Did I mention that when you get married, you need to teach your husband to make the spaghetti just the way you like it or you are doomed for disaster? My husband, Bob, and I have this agreement - He'll do most of the cooking and I do most of the cleaning, mostly because I hate to cook and he hates to clean. Still, in 16 years of marriage, my husband has yet to learn how to cook a decent batch ...
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