NANA NOTES

Girlfriends Week!

Three weeks ago five of us escaped to the beach. There were three conditions for going--you could only take pajamas and movies and one outfit to wear out to eat for a celebration! The weather kept changing so we didn't know what to take anyway. Piper went with us an we loaded up to go. We left at 10:00 AM and got there in time for the AL/LSU game! Did I mention stopping at every Michaels and Hobby Lobby on the way? It rained all day Tuesday--very hard and then the cold came in. Not a problem for us--remember--pjs and movies! We had wonderful homemade bread, soups and salads--every meal a gourmets delight. In all we watched 12 movies, stayed up late, laughed until we cried and celebrated a birthday. Four of the five are cancer survivors, two have lost their husbands and we are all Christian ladies. Three of us go to the same church and are related (by marriage or by blood); the other two go to church together. Two of us have the same mother--we just don't know which one (figure that one out!!) we are all sisters in love and have a great time together. Until I find my camera I can't show you the girls but I can show you some of the food.  We bought cupcakes on the way down to have for dessert that night for the game.  I will entice you with the names--top to bottom, left to right:  lemon cream, strawberry, red velvet with vanilla buttercream, chocolate with salted caramel, carrot with cream cheese, and pound cake with vanilla buttercream. Good doesn't even begin to describe them!!     This is the wonderful tomato bisque that Pat makes.  The salad is my baby greens with pears, caramalized nuts and sweet tea vinagrette.  We enjoyed turnip green soup and corn bread one night. On Charlotte's birthday we went out to eat and I had Fried Green Tomatoes with crawfish sauce!!   They were better than delicious.  The movie "Joyful Noise" followed that meal and we ended with salad and baked potatoes for dinner.  I will not mention the Black Jack Cherry Frozen Yogurt we had several times during the week!!  Piper took good care of us during the week.  She loved posing in her new PINK halter.  She loves the beach because she gets to ride the elevator.  I still haven't found my camera.  I haven't been back to the beach and have attended two weekend scrapbook events. Talk about moaning!  I really hope it's at the condo!!

The girls had a great time and look forward to going back again soon. I look forward to blogging about my LAST weekly chemo treatment tomorrow!!  Talk to you soon.

 

TIME GOES BY SO FAST!

Here it is almost September and I've only blogged once in August.  That's terrible.  Surely I've done something worthy of posting. The time seems to get by me so fast these days.  Having a new puppy and raising two deer take a lot of my time.

Lulu (aka Morgan) is on the left; Lacy is in the house.  They have grown considerably since this picture was taken. 

Ms Piper has learned to climb the stairs and today she climbed down them--with a little coaxing from Graham and me. She will be 3 months old on the 30th.

We took a few days off to the beach and had a good time doing almost nothing.  We did take the boat out one day; first time in a long time. Had a good time and went to LULU's for appetizers.

Ed was our Captain!!  Deb, Libby and I enjoyed the trip.  Good food and great atmosphere!

I have been doing some things for the Toad House. Really need to get busy but my "idea well" is a little dry.  I have these note pads in there now. They are inexpensive and make a cute happy for someone.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an apron I finished for Jennifer today. I learned that I don't do ruffles!!  Hope she likes it! The picture was made with my phone . 

SADIE GETS A BURGER!

After having spent a relaxing weekend at the beach Ed, Libby, Sadie and I were traveling home today. We had a very good "beach breakfast" and left the beautiful beach headed home.  I drove while Ed and Sadie held down the back seats. Libby sat up front with me and finished her book.  We usually stop in Hattiesburg at Back Yard Burger cause we're ready for "junk food" (and I really love BYB's!). We walked Sadie and watered her.  We all went in for our food and as we finished Ed said he thought he would get Sadie a burger. She has strange travel habits--she doesn't eat or drink much when she travels.  We went on to the car (which had been left running and locked so she wouldn't get overheated!!)and out Ed comes with her bag. He starts breaking off pieces of burger feeding it to her piece at a time.  My camera was in the back of the car but my phone would work.  Here is Sadie with her burger!! 

She loved her burger and slept all the way home.  And for the record--BYB is NOT "junk food"!!

BEACH SCENES 2010

Well, I can honestly say that we've done very little while at the beach-or should I say condo. The most sand I've seen has been between here and Cobalt where we've had dinner twice. If I had a job to go back to, I would be so rested and ready to get back to it!!  These pictures are just some I've taken without a reason really.  Ed and I have a game of making up stories.  There was a beautiful HUGE motor home parked at the condo.  As the people were leaving I snapped some shots--there was a driver, a man with two boys, a man and a woman with a baby.  Here's my version--the guy in the blue plaid shirt is a rock star and the woman with the baby is his wife.  The other guy plays backup and the guy with the two boys was the busy driver. The fact that he's the busy driver is real.

 
 
  Ok, we have bus, backup, wife and child, bus driver and now rock star! 

 As hard as I tried I could not get a shot of his face.  That was my story; Ed just said "megabucks"!!

Breakfast for Papa and me--our favoritebeach thing--bagles, bacon, fresh fruit, and homemade blackberry jam and homemade peach jam! 

 
Have to get Papa walking Sadie for one of her "daily's"!!  She really just likes to ride the elevator!!

  Always weddings on the beach. This was one of three this afternoon.  Gotta go take Sadie out. It's about time to come back to good ole Franklin County too!

 

 

FUN AT THE BEACH!!

 This is what greeted us as we crossed the bridge on Monday afternoon.  It's anchored at the GS airport.  Don't know what it's doing here. A fun sight to see though.

Didn't make it to the beach today but it was a beautiful day! Looking forward to going tomorrow.

Vin and Cathleen are here visiting and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Gulf Shores Steamer at San Roc. Tiffany will flip when she sees this!!  We loved it!  A freezer of Nadene's Homemade Lemon Ice Cream was waiting on us when we got back to the condo. We had a great day in heaven!! 



  
 
  

 

GIRLS BEACH TRIP

 
The girls left for the beach on Wednesday. Josh was kind enough to take our picture. A couple of them couldn't go and we're missing them but we're having a great time. Fun, sun, food, more fun, a little shopping and lots more sun. And did I mention food!!

Some teacher friends from Natchez were there having fun in the pool. They were practicing their synchronized skills!
   Deb and Libby relaxing in the pool!  Of course, there had to be "retail therapy"! Deb brought beautiful things for the new baby that's coming soon.   Today we spent some quality time at the beach.  We saw very little yucky oil but there were lots of people working to keep it clean.  This is one of the oil booms stretched out on the water.  One of the cranes out behind the condo used to lift the loads of oil that are collected.  The people are working 24/7 to keep the beaches clean.  So far we haven't noticed any less people here.
 
 
 
 

PATIO FURNITURE

 

  This is awesome furniture.  I went to purchase a grill today and found this cool and very colorful adirondack furniture.  You know that I love funky and fun and this definitely fits the bill for that.  The colors I've picked out are pink lemonade, lilac, seafoam and lemon. What else could you want to go with a pink house?  The umbrellas will be green and blue. I think it's going to be fun.  Let's see what Ed will think about it!!
 

THE LAST TRIP HAS BEEN THE BEST!

This weekend has been the most fun.  I finished up my dental work--Thursday was the worst, then checkups on Friday and Saturday.  Now my teeth look wonderful and I'm glad it's finished.  Ed and Dennis went fishing and had had a great time. 

Alma and I toodled around Boca Grand and did a little shopping.  I even found a couple of Christmas presents.  We went out to eat on the boat and saw some beautiful homes.  

The colors are so beautiful and the homes are HUGE!!  

Nothing like living on the point and having water all around! 

This one is awesome. It has a screened in porch that coveres two floors and the pool.  Loved it!

Naomi, Dennis and Alma as we were loading onto the boat to go to a restaurant to eat dinner on Friday. Aren't they a lovely family?

Ed and me on the boat ride to the restaurant--wind blown hair and all! But don't we have beautiful teeth??? :)

We ate bananas off the trees in their yard and I learned about "sea grapes".  I bought a jar of Sea grape jelly to benefit Relay for Life.

  

 

    This picture shows the sea grapes when they are green.  They ripen to a purple red and are wonderful. My plan is to get some to see if they will grow in MS.

We fly out tomorrow and life will get back to normal.  What's normal?????

A COMBINATION OF EVENTS THIS WEEKEND

Ed is having some dental work done by a friend of his who is a dentist in South Florida. He somehow talked me into going along to see if I wanted to be checked out. Sounds good--a little beach trip with some friends and good food.  We called Josh and Cagney got us a room at the St. James Hotel. We went down on Wednesday night and had dinner with them at a lovely place called Irene's. Talk about awesome food. 

Of course I pulled out the camera--you can see our desserts: bread pudding, strawberry cheese cake, creme brule and tiramisu for me. That's after we had eaten some tremendous entrees!

  My salad was sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and red onions with balsamic vinegar dressing.  And for someone who doesn't eat pork chops, this was terrific!!  It was a double cut pork chop filled with granny smith apples slices and walnuts with a sweet potato and apple gratin on top of the most delicious turnip greens I have ever had.

Cagney, Josh and Ed had a beautiful steak. I tasted Ed's and it was delicious too.  We were stuffed when we finished. They took us to see their house and then we went to the hotel.  We had an early flight.

 

 

After an uneventful flight to St. Myers, FL we visited with friends and went out to dinner at the "Temptations Restaurant" in Boca Grande. The movie Deja Vu was filmed there with Denzel Washington.  Another awesome meal and an early bedtime because of Ed's all day dental appointment.  This picture was made with my Blackberry because I forgot my camera.

 

 Dennis and Ed relaxing at their indoor pool while Alma, Naomi and I rode around on the golf cart taking flower pictures.

This is Naomi--Ed's little honey.  She will be three soon and she really took to Ed. She calls me Nana and that's just fine too.

We look forward to going back soon.

 

A flight for Ed and me wouldn't be complete without an hour on the runway without A/C and a return to the terminal for a change of planes.  Better safe than sorry and I am not a great fan of flying anyway.  We made it to New Orleans only two hours late but still in time for a great dinner at Middendorf's.  We met a nice couple who knew some people we knew and had a nice visit.  Every day we find out that the world is getting smaller.

After proofing this post I guess I should have called it "How We Ate Our Way To Florida and Back"!

SEQUENCE OF EVENTS. . .

I woke up a little late this morning and heard my phone beep.  It was Jennifer with this "tweet":@nananotes: Go to the Orange Beach Welcome Center and say "GS/OB makes me flip" and win a flip video camera. I read it to Libby and we laughed.  I said, 'what the heck, let's go' and we did. Before that I twittered Jennifer and asked, "Will I be entered in a drawing or win it right then?"  I got a twitter back that said: "The first (non-res) to reach the location and say the right phrase will win a Flip Video camera.  Just show them your drivers license to prove you are a non-resident.  They don't have a winner yet." Then: @Nananotes: THEY DON'T HAVE A WINNER YET!  HURRY!  The first twitter was at 9:07 am and at 10:13 am I was the proud winner of a gorgeous little flip video camera!   

This was me looking up on the phone what I was supposed to say when I got to the Welcome Center.  The people there were very nice. 

I got a bag of goodies (shirt, hat, and pen) and was interviewed for the newspaper and also had my picture taken.  If I had known that I would have put on some make up.  What a nice way to wake up on a beautiful day at the beach.  Thanks, @AlabamaBeaches for a great morning! You now have a new follower!!

2009 BEACH SCRAPBOOK RETREAT WEEKEND MARATHON

This was our second year to attend the Scrappin' at the Beach Retreat. Pat, Libby and I left on Thursday loaded down with (most) of the materials we needed for a fun weekend of scrapping.

 

You can't see all the stuff because we deliberately sat in front of it.  :)  The first afternoon we got unloaded and settled down to "getting ready". That night was "PJ Night" and everyone came back from dinner dressed in their pajamas ready to scrap for the long haul.  We stayed until midnight.  I overslept the next morning and Libby got up to see the sun come up. 

  What part of God's creation isn't beautiful?  Just look at this gorgeous blue water and white sand!

We scrapped all day and went to dinner about 5:30. We were told by Gina to be sure to be back by at least 7:30 or 7:45 because it was a theme night [40's, 50's, 60's, etc.] and there was a special surprise.  I told her to please just don't resurrect Elvis!!  They told me there would be a cardboard cutout but not to worry!  Well, guess who just told me a fat fib??!! After the "Hippie Chicks" (employees of GiGi's) performed--yes, Elvis showed up!!  This guy is the Assistant Principal of the Foley High School who does this as a hobby--he was ok, but he definitely needs to keep his day job. We kept on scrapping as he performed and all of a sudden I looked up and this is what I saw--

He snuck up on Libby and I grabbed my camera.  BTW, he has a surger and makes his own scarves! We thought that was funny! The "Hippie Chick" in the white glasses is Gina who owns Gigi's Scrapbook Store in Foley and the girl in the pink hat is Jamie. They are both sweet, precious ladies. They were dressed up for the 60's night.  We only stayed till 11:00 PM that night!!

 

This is a painted canvas class we did today.  It's 16 x 16 with a red heart, ribbons, silk flowers and tags. The only thing left to do is use black marker and go around the green.  We did this on a lark and it was fun.  We also did an altered HUGE clothes pin with beach paper and shells.

Each of us did page layouts--some more than others--but we enjoyed it tremendously.  We're thankful to have family that will allow us to get away together for fellowship and girl time.  Our tablemates took this picture.

This afternoon (Saturday) we left Pat to take the last class and Libby and I went to the grocery store. We bought steaks, asparagus, salad stuff and ice cream for supper. After a wonderful dinner we watched "Mama Mia" and sang and laughed along with it.  What a great way to end a weekend.

WIND IN YOUR HAIR. . .

Dooley came with Libby and me to the beach.  He didn't like riding in the back seat of her new convertible.  He did however, love riding between the front seats with his hair blowing in the breeze!   If he wasn't sitting there, he was in my lap sleeping. Talk about one spoiled dog.  We have already walked by every lamp post on the property and left our mark! :)  Have I mentioned that Dooley loves the beach?  I think that he just loves riding the elevator to go outside! 

HAPPY HOLIDAY

FREEDOM ROCKS!!!

HAPPY

JULY 4th!!!

 

PICTURES OF SCRAP RETREAT. . .

Scrapbooker's Dream--three days--nonstop scrapbooking!!  Was it a dream or a nightmare?  I've never seen so much "stuff" in my life---and I thought I had a room full. You can see that the "stuff" is packed to the top of the car when we got Terri loaded. And you know that someone was going to buy something at the retreat!!  It's pack up and go at the end and I let them do it.  Five chiefs don't do a good job so Libby and I were the photographers.  It was all packed up and in and no one got hurt.  We all had a great time and look forward to getting another chance to "scrap till we drop"!

SCRAPBOOKING BEACH RETREAT...

Look forward to a report on this wonderful weekend.  Five fabulous friends have been here at the beach--three scrapping 24/7--two beading and reading.  What fun we're having.  I'll post pictures later.  Gotta go for now.

R and R

Oh, sweet rest!  Late sleep in and doing just what we want to.  The traditional "beach breakfast" of homemade bread, fresh fruit and bacon and then just being lazy.  About 2:30 PM the guilt set in and we walked down 7 flights of stairs and walked for 45 minutes and then back up the 7 flights of stairs.  A little scrapbooking and a wonderful supper with what we thought would be a good movie. :(  I bombed on the movies for this trip.  Don't bother with "Knocked Up" and "Georgia Rule".  We turned the first one off after about 10 minutes and let the other one play.  We wished we hadn't.  We checked out the election results and it looks like reading will take the place of another movie.  It's been an exhausting day!  :)

SWEET SUN AT LAST!

Due to the fact that we all cleaned up a pint each of Haagen Dazs, Debra, Terri and I got up and walked for an hour this morning.  (They've been good girls and done it every day--but not me!)  The sun was beautiful; the sky was gorgeous and I decided we needed some beach time since we hadn't had any. We walked back to the condo, put our suits on, got Amanda up, packed up the beach "stuff" and took off.  We were there by 9:00 or a little after and left about 1:00.  It was Perfect!!  Amanda has the picture on her camera so I'll get it later.  We shopped our way home and arrived here about 11:00 pm.  It was totally a fun trip.  Now it's back to real life--Jennifer's surgery, getting the boys ready for school, hosting the DOT/Lake group for lunch and waiting for Ed to get home.  I can't wait to hear about his trip.

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH. . .

the tough go shopping! After waking up to thunderstorms for the third straight day, we decided to get out for a while. We hit Tootie Green's and GiGi's and then found a Yellow Box store.  We couldn't miss the photo opportunity to show off our flip flops.  Then it was off to Sunplace Else for a very late lunch or very early dinner and back to the condo for ice cream and movies.  Tomorrow is go home day and we will shop our way home.

Ed has called three times from Argentina on Charlie's Blackberry!!  Now I wish I had gotten one.  They are having a ball.  I hope someone is taking pictures.

DAY TWO--WHO LET THE RAIN OUT?

Well remember yesterday when I said there is no bad day at the beach.  There isn't but---we really wish the rain would stop. The rain came and then stopped and the rainbow came out. I almost didn't catch it.  We've watched movies until our seats are tired and then we brought out the crafts.  The busy bees are sorting beads to make crosses. We all made one and I think they are beautiful. Just what I need--more stuff to collect and use. Debra did mention the church bazaar was coming up soon.

We're holding out for tomorrow.  The map doesn't look that good but I still have Stampin' Up in the bag!  We're having a great time no matter what.

EVEN A BAD DAY. . .

at the beach isn't a bad one!  This is what it looked like today--our first day at beautiful sunshiney Orange Beach.  We listened to thunder and watched the rain fall.  During this time we watched (I've lost count!) lots of movies and I've almost finished an 8 x 8 scrapbook for a friend.  We had a delicious breakfast, lots of snacks and a terrific dinner of steaks, baked potatoes and salad.  The Haagen Dazs for dessert was to die for!  Tomorrow is another day and we're looking forward to going to the beach.  Positive thinking will get you everywhere!!