Sickness, Wardrobe Additions, Funny Story, and Books

I started coughing Friday night after a couple days of having a little bit of a sore throat. It wasn't too bad on Saturday (vacuumed the church) or Sunday (went to church), but by Monday it was getting bad. I'm assuming allergies/sinuses. By Tuesday, I was feeling pretty bad, but managed to make chili for supper. Wednesday was even worse. By yesterday, I'd coughed and sneezed so much (usually 4-6 big sneezes in a row) that my chest was hurting. Also, my eyes were swollen and it seemed like I couldn't get enough sleep no matter how much I slept.

I've been sleeping on the couch at night so that my coughing and sneezing and sniffling doesn't wake up my husband. He said I could sleep in the bed anyway, but he's a light sleeper and I don't want to disturb him. I'm hoping I can sleep in my bed soon. I'm feeling a little better today. Hopefully whatever this is will be gone enough for me to be able to vacuum the church and get groceries tomorrow and go to church on Sunday. I hate missing church.

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A few new items since my last entry:

I'd been looking for shoes like these (slides) for a few years. My old ones are chewed up pretty badly on the bottoms of the heels. These pictured above were about $50 at Stein Mart.

After much searching, I found this skirt to go with the black jacket I bought at Dress Barn. You can see it in my previous entry. I paid about $40 for this skirt at Stein Mart. I wore it with the black jacket and my new black heels to church on Sunday.

I got this skirt and the one below at Walmart for about $10.

Kelly got this skirt in gray with small, teal horizontal stripes. Really cute. There were others I liked, but they were out of  my size.

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In my last entry, I posted about something funny that happened at Food Lion. Last week, something funny happened at the gas station.

While I was pumping gas, a car pulled up to get gas behind me. Three people got out. I didn't look closely, but it appeared to be a man and woman in their 50s and a woman in her mid to late 20s. The younger woman went inside while the older one tried to get gas.

The older woman, with a deep Southern redneck accent said to the man, "I can't find the card thing." The man, also with a deep accent, asked her what she said. Older woman: "There's no card thing. Oh, there it is."

Then she got upset and said something like, "That's not the card thing. That's the place where the receipt comes out. It took my card."

I was biting my lip, trying not to laugh.

The younger woman came out and the older woman hollered, "This thing took my f--king card!" Then the man said, "It sucked it in just like ... orange juice." LOL

Kelly was sitting in the car and didn't hear them. I told her what they said, and how they said it, and we were both cracking up.

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One of the book pages I like on Facebook asked people to share their "shelfies" - pictures of their bookshelves. Here's what mine looks like at the moment and pictures of the books on and next to my nightstand. I'll be adding two more books this weekend - Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry and The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh.

This and That

Charlie had to go to Texas (again; he's been so many times) for work shortly after Sean's birthday (which was April 9th). He came home a week ago Saturday. It was looking like he might have to go to Charleston (that would at least be closer), but hasn't so far. Hopefully he'll be home for a month or more before he has to go anywhere again, but you can never count on that with his job.

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A mockingbird made a nest in one of our gardenia bushes a few weeks ago. The babies left this past Tuesday. They were so sweet. I kind of miss them.

Mama bird in our redbud tree, which is right next to the gardenia bushes, calling to her babies. I think she was trying to get them to fly.

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I've gotten rid of several articles of clothing over the past month or two. The main reason being they didn't really look good on me. Just because something is pretty doesn't mean I should wear it. lol I'm trying to be choosier when shopping and not just buy something because I like it. If it doesn't look good on me (not just "okay"), no matter how pretty it is, I don't buy it. Not anymore anyway. And, of course, I always look for sales. I don't like to pay full price. 40% off or more, in most cases.

Anyway, this is what I've bought over the past couple months:

I got this at Dress Barn. Just $44. It covers my kness. I wore a black shrug with it and black slide heels.

Dress Barn. Only $40.

 
I'd been looking for a green purse for a long time, a year or more, when I finally found this one at Macy's. Originally $149. I got it for about $78. I love this purse (green is my favorite color) and carry it a lot.

I got this at Stein Mart for about $20 or $25. I couldn't find it at their website or any pictures of it online.

I also got this at Stein Mart for about the same price as the shirt above. It's not the prettiest top, but it's very comfortable.

I got this top at Stein Mart for $35. It's by Democracy.

**All sleeveless items will be worn with a shrug to cover my arms and a cami or tank underneath, if necessary, to cover cleavage.** 

American Eagle Outfitters. I don't remember how much this was. $30? $35? Something like that.

Macy's for $10. I got this (and the white one below) to wear under other shirts.

Macy's. I wore a white shrug over this.

I got this at Cato for $20. It covers my knees.

Dress Barn. Just $28. It's not quite as bright/harsh as it looks in this picture. A reviewer gave it 2 stars, saying it runs very small. I disagree. I got my normal size and it fits perfectly.

I got the white shrug. Not the dress. $20 and change after coupon. Dress Barn.

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Mother's Day was May 10th. We got my mom some pretty purple flowers to plant in her yard and a card. Charlie got me flowers, a pink "Happy Mother's Day" balloon, and a read heart-shaped balloon that says "i Love You", and I bought some things for the kitchen - a big, new frying pan with lid, bamboo cooking utensils, a cutting board. Seems like there was something else, but I can't remember what.

We were going to go out to eat on Mother's Day, but all the restaurants were packed (no surprise). So we went on Monday instead. Mom wanted Olive Garden, so that's where we went.

Flowers from Charlie.

Sean got me the carnation at church.

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After church last night, I went to Food Lion to pick up a couple things. Something unexpected happened shortly after I walked in and I thought I was going to die laughing.

I walked in and got one of those little buggies. As I was going towards the check-out lanes (to pass them and get to the food aisles), I saw a roll of bubble wrap on the floor and part of it was unrolled. It was the kind with the big bubbles about the size of a 50-cent piece or bigger. I went to go around it, but ended up running over it instead.

Pop-pop-pop-pop! It sounded like firecrackers or something. This woman nearby spun around real fast, with fear on her face, and said, "What was that?!" ROFL!! Maybe she thought it was a gun, I don't know. lol 

I was laughing and had tears in my eyes. A man who works there was also laughing and told the woman that it was bubble wrap.

When I got to the aisle I needed to go to, I called Charlie to tell him about it and that's when I really lost it. I was laughing so hard, tears pouring down my face. I had to get a tissue out of my purse to wipe my face and eyes. I laughed most of the way home. Every time I thought of the popping or the look on that woman's face, I'd bust out laughing again.

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I finished reading Paper Towns a few days ago. I had seen the trailer for the movie and thought it looked good, so I read the book. It was okay. There were a few things I didn't like, especially since it's supposed to be written for teens/young adults - multiple uses of the F word (something that would get it an R rating as a movie - the kind of movies teens aren't supposed to watch), drunk teens, a male teen talking about something sexual that he'd like to do to a teen girl, multiple male genitalia mentions/"jokes". Most of these things aren't in the adult  books I read. :-/ So, all that took away from the book for me.

The part I liked best was the disappearance of Margo and the search for her. I thought that was very good. The mystery of where she went and what she was doing is what kept me reading. I wish the author had focused more on that. I understand other things were happening in the lives of the main male character (Quentin) and his friends, but it wasn't nearly as interesting. And I guess I just have little to no appreciation for stupidity and immaturity - drunk teens and sexual talk.

I'm now reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I've only read the first chapter so far, but I really like it and look forward to reading the rest of it.

Holidays, a Movie and a Funny Video

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had it at our house, as we do every year. Mom was off this year (she usually works) and cooked the turkey. She also brought corn, broccoli, apple pie, and chocolate pie. I did the stuffing, gravy, yeast rolls, rosemary red potatoes, black eyed peas, and cookies and cream pie.

My brother Del, his wife Jennifer, and their son Drake (who will be 2 next month) also came. We had a nice time.

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I was supposed to get my car inspected on Saturday and completely forgot. My brother was going to do it for me, free of charge. I'll try to get it done today.

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I've seen Breaking Dawn part two 4 times so far. The only other movie I saw that many times in theaters was Return of the King (my favorite movie). BD2 is the best of the Twilight movies and since it's the last of the Twilight movies I'll get to see in theaters, I figure I'll see it as much as I can. I don't know if I'll see it in theaters again or not. Kelly wants to (she's seen it 3 times; Sean's seen it once), but we'll see.

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How can it already be time for Christmas music and decorations? It just seems too soon this year even though it's almost December. As much as I love Christmas, I'm just not ready for it yet.

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And I leave you with this hilarious video: [Pause my music player at the bottom of the page first.]

This and That

I laughed so hard at Sean last night. He wanted to glue a handlebar back on a toy motorcyle and grabbed the Elmer's glue. I told him it wouldn't work, but he used it anyway. A while later, he came up to me with the motorcycle and said, "Remember how you said the glue wouldn't work? Look." He then grabbed the handlebar and it came right off. You should've seen the look on his face. It still makes me laugh when I think about it. He kept saying, "It's not that funny", which just made it funnier. I laughed for a long time.

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I was outside with the kids for a little while yesterday evening. We saw a large spider (orb weaver? something like that) making a web on the front of our house and watched "her" (I keep calling it a her for some reason) for several minutes. Kelly said to me, "How can you look? Don't you think it's creepy?" I said, "Yes, but it's also fascinating." And it was. Watching her go up and down as she created her web. Kelly threw a blade of grass into the web and we watched as the spider cut it from her web and then rebuilt it.

Click to enlarge.

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I have to take Sean to get a haircut today and get Kelly new church shoes. Hopefully I can find some for a good price. Preferably $20 or less.

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Those who believe in prayer, please pray for my pastor's 16 year old daughter, Savannah. (The older girl Sean has a crush on. He keeps asking questions about what a burst appendix is and so on. I think he's worried about her.) She went into the hospital Wednesday with what they believed was a burst appendix. There has been a "little complication" (don't know what) and the doctors say she could be in the hospital for 5 or 6 days. Pray God heals her and that she can leave the hospital sooner than that. She is a sweet girl who loves the Lord.

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Love is patient [suffers long] and is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres [endures all things].

Love never fails.

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"There are four things you can never recover: The stone after the throw. The word after it's said. The occasion after it's missed. The time after it's gone."

"What is a man profited if he gains the whole world but loses his family in the process?"

"Love is a house we enter and commit to never leave, so lock the door behind you and throw away the key."