Once A Year I Clean My Pantry....Whether It Needs It Or Not!

I have taken the plunge and cleaned out my pantry. This is an annual event...but usually doesn't take place until Nicole is in town and trying to bake and is pulling out expired things from my pantry.  I am somewhat embarrassed to reveal my pantry to you but I am thinking that maybe it will make me more accountable in the future and let's face it...Nicole has her own life and rarely comes to town to use "mom's" kitchen anymore!

So let the humiliation begin : )

This pantry looks like a page from an I Spy book!  And yes, I spy many things that need to go such as the canned pumpkin and marshmallow creme from LAST fall's bake-fest, the three extra bottles of vegetable oil that have two inches left, enough powdered sugar to make icing and decorate the roof of my house, and the lemon curd from I don't know when...you get the idea!

...And the coconut and slivered almonds, old stale croutons, and who knew that tomato paste and stewed tomatoes expire?????

Looking at this you might get the idea that I love sauces from Williams and Sonoma...and you'd be right!!  You see once upon a time I worked and didn't have time to come home and pull out the Joy of Cooking and whip up from scratch anything...These are the best on the market...I like them, my family likes them and what can I say, old habits die hard!! Another plug for Williams and Sonoma...the Artichoke and Lemon Pasta Sauce is too good for words!!!

Multiple interruptions later...it is finished and bare!  I like it so much I open the doors just to look.  I had a trip to the grocery store scheduled for today but I really hate to clutter up the pantry!!! Food is overrated...there is a restaurant around the corner ; )

I'm feeling so accomplished I might just tackle the spice drawers tomorrow...next week...refrigerator...eventually...I WILL clean out the cabinet full of plastic storage containers!

My New Morning Routine

I am loving this cool Autumn weather...And in case you don't know this...Northwest Florida's best kept secret is October :-)

This is where I will take up residence in the mornings for the next few months.  It's cool enough for a blanket and a super hot cup of coffee...I have a great view (although those brown stalk things in my neighbor's yard...may have to go)!  I always have Gabby by my side and a good book or two.  This is also a great place to read my bible!

It IS officially Autumn!!

I saw this on one of my favorite "eye candy" blogs that I visit often just to revel in the beauty of the world.
Check out myblackbook.free.fr/  you won't be disappointed!

My favorite fall things are so numerous...the list could go on and on. But in looking through some pictures this morning I did find two things that are definitely in the top ten...boots and fall leaves! My hubby makes the list too...he loves fall as much as I and will hike down over a hill and yell back "this tree?"  just to get me leaves!

 

The "Necessary"

Yesterday was D-Day for me...I had the annual "necessary" follow-up to the annual "necessary" doctor's appointment which included mammogram, blood work, and for the first time (oh the joy of being over 50) a bone density scan.  Now while not a fan of being poked by needles and flattened by a machine...I will go on record right here and say that I believe in being proactive about this stuff...(this said, I'm still thinking about that baseline colonoscopy thing).  So, I go do it and hopefully these results will be the same as in the past...diagnosis...I am aging but fine.

That is not the story...the story is that when I went to have these three tests done I was told by the cheerful paperwork person (does she have a title...you know who she is...the one who takes all your identification, makes you fill out endless forms, and then wants all your money because of that high deductible that hasn't been met...).  Anyway, after all of this she asks me to take a seat and my tech, who will be doing ALL of the tests, will be out in a minute.  And then he came...yes I said HE.  We went back to get a bone scan and he looked me up and down and said is there any metal in those jeans cause if so they will mess up the scan...of course there is metal in the jeans.  "Go in there and undress and put on the gown opening to the back."  Returning, I lay down on the bed and he began asking me about my medical history...you know the one I just filled out on the endless forms out front!  Then he said "Does your bra have a metal hook?"   "No" I said, "it's plastic..."  "Okay, cool" he says (I swear he looked to be 22 years old).  So, he is playing around with settings on the machine when it crosses my mind that my plastic-hooked bra has an under wire that may be metal....it also crosses my mind that the paperwork lady said the tech would be doing all of my tests..."Wait a minute I say...I need to take off my bra."  He looks at me and then I stumble on..."because it has an under wire."  So he leaves the room and I undress some more.  He does the bone density scan and I lay there waiting for him to leave the room so I can at least partially dress.  I have decided that if he can be a professional about this so can I?????  But I'm thinking to myself, I'm not a professional anything here, and SERIOUSLY...is this kid going to do my mammogram?

Well, of course not ...they don't do that to women (however the lady tech who did mine did inform me that she did 3 mammograms on men in the last week)!  As she manipulated and flattened we had a good laugh about the whole thing.  By 8:15 am I had been poked, flattened and scanned...I needed the largest non-fat, no whip Pumpkin Spice Latte that Starbucks sold!

Happy Birthday Katelyn : )

Katelyn Dodd rocked into our world on September 19, 1992

She was a petite little angel...

She loved Disney World from the earliest age and yes...was a big fan of

 Disney movies as witnessed here with her choice of Halloween costume!

Although the youngest in the family she was not one to be left out of anything...so she took up dance at an early age, a good thing as we pretty much lived at Tonie's Dance Studio!

 

Ten was such a magical age...still a little girl (and I was still able to get her to wear her hair in a bob)...she was in fourth grade with one of her favorite teachers, Mrs. Street...it was a year of Florida history, St. Augustine, Space Bubble...dance classes, soccer...lots of fun!

Along with her friends she cheered on her school team...the Holy Nativity Lightning Bolts...or was it the Eagles...or was it the Tigers??? 
That's her flying high

Following that tradition...Kate cheered her first two years of high school...

Go Dolphins!

Kate's friends threw her a surprise Sweet 16 Birthday Party...she was happily surprised! These were the kids that she grew up with at HNES...high schoolers now, they still enjoy time together...Pterodactyl anyone?

Kate LOVES to travel (just like me)...here she is goofing around before a tour of the USS Missouri in Hawaii!

Most people would describe Katelyn as smart!!  True as that may be she is also one to try anything...at least once.  In Hawaii she took surfing lessons along with her sisters and after several successful rides she enjoyed the company of the instructor's dog while Chelsea and Nicole tried to "hang ten!"

We went to Vermont over Christmas break a couple of years ago.  Kate loved picking out her winter ensembles to wear out and about in the truly frosty air.  While there we enjoyed sledding, cross country skiing (did I say enjoy...ha ha), downhill skiing, and a lovely ride through the countryside in a one horse open sleigh!  She was a trooper, although not a particular fan of freezing cold weather...but she loved hot chocolate and a book by the roaring fire!

Last summer Katelyn went to a Leadership Summit at Columbia University in NYC so we took Chelsea's bf Ali with us for her first visit to the big Apple...this is Katelyn's absolute favorite place to go in the world!!  Here we are in Rockefeller Center...home of the largest Anthropologie store we have ever seen (and you thought I was going to say something about Top of The Rock or NBC Studios...didn't you)!  On another NYC visit Rich took Katelyn on a tour of the financial district...nothing like a good fiscally conservative talk while in the shopping mecca of the country!!

As the baby of the family, Kate had yet to visit Europe...but we remedied that this past summer with a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea!  She got her "feet wet" for world travel..."OH NO" says her dad!!!  In Rome she and Chelsea were accosted by parasol salesmen...they have such fair skin you know.  They wanted nothing to do with the umbrella...but honestly her dad couldn't enjoy the sites until they had one in their hand!

Katelyn loves being with the "sibs" whether it's in snowy Vermont or dressing up at a tea shop! She does have a not-so-serious-side...

This past year Katelyn has become an aunt!  She and Claire Elizabeth are big buddies and for the record Claire is Katelyn all over again!!! Just look at the first picture of this blog!

Katelyn and Chelsea have been closer than sisters forever...they tend to like the same music, movies, and clothes (hence the many disputes about wearing something without asking)...Chelsea is in hot pursuit of Katelyn coming to Auburn next year and the two of them making some new memories together...Kate has her eye on another school...so time will tell!

Happy 18th Birthday  Katelyn!

I Love You!

It's Thursday...But the Weekend's Coming!

We have a busy weekend coming up starting with a road trip to Auburn bright and early Saturday morning.  We are soooo excited to be going up to see Chlesea and we're going to the Auburn/Clemson game that night. Of course we have to figure out the wardrobe because it is Blue Out (or something like that) at the game on Saturday night and my ORANGE ruffled blouse might cause some to think I am cheering on Clemson which would be a mistake of huge proportions!  So,  while out perusing around for something blue for myself and Rich (cause yeah... he has an ORANGE shirt too) I ran across this really cute dress.  It is a classic Ralph Lauren...on sale...a no brainer, right?  Later when I told Kate, she did that "denim dress? Say-it-isn't-so" look!  Meanwhile she and Chelsea (who is up to her eyeballs this week with an Organic Chem test and an Anatomy test) will pull out all of those cute little Deja Vu mostly blue game day dresses and try to figure out which ones they should wear!!  Well I like my dress and it will look really good with my cowboy boots...which I might wear.

I did find Rich a mostly blue shirt

Totally an aside...but I also found some Alabama stuff for David and Nicole!

Okay, so back to the weekend...on Sunday Kate and I will head up to Birmingham to celebrate her 18th birthday at the Apple Store buying a laptop!

Can you believe this little "pumpkin" is 18!!  Check back on her birthday (19th)...I will be blogging about her and there will be lots of pictures : )

So after the birthday shopping at the Apple Store we will go to dinner and then back to Nicole's. Thank goodness Kate will be wrapped up with that new Mac cause that means I get Claire pretty much to myself!!  On Monday Katelyn and I will head up to Samford University for a day of touring and meetings...Monday night Chelsea will come to town and the kids will go to see Kings of Leon in Concert...another evening with Claire to myself!!

Tuesday we will all head back to where we belong...Chelsea to Auburn and Kate and I to Panama City!  Makes me tired thinking about it...but I can't wait!!

The bobbinbug Strikes Again

It has been awhile since I posted a picture of my sweet little Claire...Here she is in an adorable dress that Nicole (aka thebobbinbug) made!  I love those two Birmingham girls!

The TV Guide

Now that back-to-school has turned into how many days until Thanksgiving break...and football season is underway,  next up is the beginning of the new TV season.  So I am all conflicted...should I take the plunge and actually commit to a TV show on a weekly basis? Or should I continue on my present course of waiting till a show is in its third or fourth season and finally give in to pressure and "try it" only to be swept up in a frenzy of marathon sessions in which I complete an entire season in a few days...much to the demise of the rest of my life.  In my defense this habit started back when I worked.  I really didn't have time to come home at night and watch TV.  My girls were involved in everything...soccer, piano, dance, cheer leading...and I had to wait for summer to have enough down time to even think about TV!  It was actually during one summer long ago that I first found Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars.  The girls and I would schedule life around our marathon sessions! We loved the immediacy of the whole thing.  No commercials...no cliffhangers!

So let's recount the list of my favorite shows that I have watched (or am watching) well after the fact.

Gilmore Girls (Lorilei and Rory...grow up together...yep they are mother/daughter)

Veronica Mars (Nancy Drew with a twist...or two...or three)

Alias (Lots of good guys and bad guys sometimes a challenge to know who is who)

The Closer (I identify with Brenda Lee for some reason...possibly the cute sweaters she wears and the junkfood drawer!)

24 (Rich and I are still working on this one...7 seasons is a long time)

Glee (Season One...I now watch it weekly)

And just last week Kate and I started Friday Night Lights (have I mentioned that I like football?)

So...is there a show out there that you are rearranging your schedule to make time for?  If so (and assuming it's not in season 5) tell me...should I commit?  What is your favorite show? 

And to wrap this up...I am at this moment (by chance) watching Oprah's opening show for her 25th and final season and really...why didn't I become a fan of hers years ago?  I could be in that studio audience right now...and going to AUSTRALIA...