Things I've Learned In The South

My mommy sent me this. I thought it was hilarious!!

Things I've Learned In The South A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in the South. There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in the South, plus a couple no one has seen before. If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite ya. "Onced" and "twiced" are words. It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy! (AMEN!!!) "Jaw-P?" means, "Did y'all go to the bathroom?" People actually grow and eat okra. "Fixinto" is one word. It means, "I'm fixing to do that." There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there is supper. Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar. "Backwards and forwards" means I know everything about you. The word "jeet" is actually a phrase meaning, "did you eat?". You don't have to wear a watch down here because it doesn't matter what time it is. You work until you're done or it's too dark to see. You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH 'em. "No, Jew?" is a common response to the question, "did you bring any beer?". You measure distance in minutes. You can switch from heat to A/C in the same day. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect or animal. (Or Act of God, like our FLOOD Festival in Montezuma!) You know what a DAWG is. You carry jumper cables in your car - for your OWN car. You only own five spices: salt, pepper, Tony's, tabasco and ketchup. The local papers cover national and international news on one page but require six pages for local high school sports and motor sports and gossip. You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday. You find 100 degrees Fahrenheit a bit warm. You know all four seasons: Almost summer, summer, still summer and Christmas. Going to Wal-Mart is a favorite pastime known as "goin' Wal-Martin'" or "off to Wally World". You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good vegetable soup weather. Fried catfish is the other white meat. We don't need no dang Driver's Ed. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive, dag-nabbit. You understand these jokes and forward them to your Southern friends and those who just wish they were from the SOUTH.

One More Thing That Makes Me Happy...

...year-round is Poppyseed Chicken! I love it. Cooking it, eating it, sharing it. A girl I used to work with just begged me to make it every time we had some kind of meal or party at work. It's always a hit. I haven't been making it since I've been doing South Beach because it requires Ritz crackers and crackers are a no-no on SB. BUT I found some All-Bran multi-grain crackers at Kroger when I was there today and they have 5g of fiber per serving! Awesome!! So I got 'em and tried them with my usual Poppyseed Chicken recipe and they worked great!! See??

I stopped by the farmer's market on my way home and picked up some things, too. They were just overrun with yellow squash and sweet onions and this is what I did with some of those tonight. Yum yum!! I added some bacon and cooked 'em in olive oil. Slap yo' grandma.

I've got about two weeks left in this first quarter of college. I finished up my online algebra class yesterday, praisesweetbabyjesus, and I'm getting out of there with a B+, I think. I'm not sure how to figure averages. They take 40% of this and 20% of that so I'm just not sure. It's a good B, though.

In other South Beach news, I've lost 45 pounds now. These past two pounds have been SO HARD to lose. It's taken me about two weeks. Larry told me that I'm digging into pounds that have been with me since high school now and they're not too happy to be leaving me. That makes perfect sense.

Oh, but they sho'nuff are leaving me. It's been 25 years since high school. I am so over them.

Summer Happies

Since this weekend is the official unofficial beginning of summer, I thought I'd list some summer things that make me happy.

My birthday

Flip flops

Lightning bugs

The beach

Daisies

Ice cream cones

My clothesline

Fresh fruits and veggies, specifically homegrown tomatoes and the Chases' sweet corn!

Going to the movies on a HOT HOT day

Sammy, this fat little lizard who lives under my front step.  I never see him 'til summer.

What are some of your summer happies?

It Knows My Name...

...and it's screamin' it right now.

As soon as this quarter's over, I'm there.

It Ain't Ogre...Til It's Ogre

I love that tagline!

I took a much-needed break away from quadratic equations and parallel circuits this afternoon and went to see the new Shrek movie, Forever After, in 3D. This is supposed to be the end of the Shrek story and if that's true, it was a great way to end it.  It was hilarious, heartwarming and downright ridonkulous!  I love these movies and the fairy tale feel they all have.  I love that true love's first kiss solves everything.

It really does.

By the way, I want these babies for my very own.

Felicia, Farkle and Fergus.

Nom nom nom.

Decisions...

We had lab tonight at school and we built parallel circuits. This little schematic looks exactly like the ones my instructor has been drawing on the board for us so I thought I'd show ya what I'm doing! It's really pretty simple, resistors in a circuit hooked up to a battery. We have to manually build the circuit on paper, figuring the resistance and current, and then build the same circuit with power, wires and actual resistors. It's a lot of fun and I am learning SO much!!

I'm also loving me some Sonic vanilla diet Cokes. I get one every night before class and they are sooooo yummy!! They keep me awake in class, too!

I've just about decided to split the rest of my required classes for co-op over the next two quarters instead of trying to take all four of them next quarter. I am burned plum OUT and I don't really like to think about my entire summer being like this. We register for summer quarter next Monday so I've got a little while to think about it. I can take trig and soldering in the summer and in the fall, take Alternating Current (AC) and this little online job skills class that the base wants you to take before you go work out there. It'll put me behind a couple of months but I don't think it'll make that much difference. I mean, 100 years from now it won't even matter, right? :)

The House That Built Me

I heard this song on the radio today and I just squalled!! I am such a sucker for songs that make you think.  This one reminds me so much of the house I grew up in.  I've never thought about that house building me but it sure did.  No matter where I go, where I live, how long I live, that little house will always be home.

'Taters And Onions From Scratch!

I found these little ones growing wild and free in my compost. They sprang from a red potato and a Vidalia onion that I had tossed in there.




I took them out, potted them in some good potting soil, a little fertilizer and loved on 'em a little bit and this is where they are now!







I'm so proud! I'll have 'taters and onions in no time!!

My Interview Meme

1 - Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 - I will respond; I'll ask you five questions.
3 - You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 - You'll include this explanation.
5 - You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.

My questions came from my friend, Brandy.

1. Why did you decide to go back to school and why did you choose electronics?

I've thought for several years that I'd like to go back to school and learn something totally new. I'd spent 20 years of my life working in the financial industry, in loan offices, and when I was laid off by Citigroup last year, I thought more and more about the school thing. I always said if I EVER got out of finance, I'd never go back. I really hated it. I hated charging people high interest rates, I hated calling them to collect payments, I hated the long month-end closeouts. There really was nothing I liked about the business. I'd just done it for so long, I felt stuck. I decided on electronics because (1) it was something totally new and (2) the school has an awesome co-op program with the Air Force base here. My plan is to get a job on base and be set for the next 25 years!

2. How on earth did you find my blog? (I know this one's weird but I can't for the life of me figure it out.)

I found you through good old Google. About five years ago, I started spending a lot of time online researching and learning about simple, organic living. I was just fed up with the fast-paced, wasteful, harmful way the world was living all around me and I wanted to separate myself from that. I learned how to make soap online and taught myself. I learned how to make chemical-free cleaning products to use in my house and I started recycling and composting. One day during my searching, I happened upon your blog. You tagged your blog with all the things I was looking for! And now we're friends. It was Divine Intervention! :)

3. Tell me about growing up in Georgia--your family, your neighborhood, etc.

I am the oldest child of three. I have a brother, Ricky, who is 15 months younger than me, and a sister, Ami, who is 9 years younger than me. I had a very, very happy childhood with a loving, hard-working daddy and a devoted, protective mama. I grew up in the country, on a dirt road, in a small house that to this day, I consider home. When I dream about home, I dream about that house. It's really weird. I've been gone from there longer than I lived there. My favorite memories are of the summers I spent there growing up, playing outside with my brother until 9:00 at night, catching lightning bugs and eating honeysuckle. I will still eat a honeysuckle bloom if I see it!

4. Tell me about the best day you've ever had, so far. ;-)

I have had SO MANY great days!! But I guess the best day I've had in my life so far would probably be my wedding day. Larry and I were so blessed to have all four of our parents there and it was just the sweetest, most romantic little wedding. He's the man I've wanted all of my life and it only took me 21 years to find him!

5. Do you feel like the South Beach Diet has changed the way you eat forever? Why or why not?

This is a definite YES! I've only been doing this for four months but I have already changed the way I think about food. I used to just drive through somewhere and get something and not think twice about what I was doing. I don't even want that stuff anymore. I'm not saying I won't get in a pinch and grab a cheeseburger from time to time, but this diet is the easiest one I've EVER tried and I have been on so many diets. It works!!

6. Just for fun, what does happen if you give a pig a pancake?

Ha!! She won't be satisfied. "If you give a pig a pancake, she'll want some syrup to go with it. You'll give her some of your favorite maple syrup. She'll probably get all sticky, so she'll want to take a bath." It's hilarious. You should read it to Fred.

Favorite Books

Today at Kelly's Korner, the Show Us Your Life topic is Favorite Books/Children's Books. There are SO many books that I love but I guess my favorite is this little one by Joshilyn Jackson (who is also my friend on Facebook, wooo hooo!!) called gods In Alabama.  It's about going home again and how insane we are to think we can.  It's funny, Southern and oh so good. I highly recommend it.  I read it a few years ago when I discovered Joshilyn.  She has several books so check them out!!  Literally.  Like go to the library.  Ha!

My favorite books as a child were Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books.  I was so fortunate to be a child when the TV show was a huge hit and I grew up with Laura and Mary and that bad little heifer, Nellie, and I got to read the books and watch the show at the same time.   

This little book is my new favorite!  I LOVE it.  It's about a little piglet who's never happy.  It is sooooo cute!!  I just wanna squeeze her.

Li'l Update

I've had a couple of nights off from class. My DC instructor had to go to Florida on business (yeah, right) and we didn't have class Wednesday or Thursday. I used that time to do my online algebra assignment for the week and now I'm FREE for the weekend and I am just beside myself with joy. :) I got off work today and went by the grocery store and got some stuff for our Mother's Day dinner for Mama Sunday. I'm making green beans and taking the fixin's for a big salad. I'm also going to make a grape salad and I'm thinking about getting up Sunday morning and frying some okra to take, too. I've been craving fried okra all of a sudden. That's the Southern girl in me missing some real food.

I've lost 42 pounds now and when I got dressed today, I put on my most favorite Old Navy jeans that I couldn't even get on past my hips Christmas and they were loose this morning. Those jeans hung in my closet for TWO YEARS 'cause I couldn't even get them on. On my best day, they've never been loose when I put them on. I weigh less now than I have in over 20 years. I met my husband weighing more than this. All of this is so exciting!! I wish I had time to exercise and walk more but I do what I can. School and work take up most of my time these days. We have started doing yoga at work a couple of days a week and that's so much fun and relaxing at the same time. Dr. P is an awesome instructor!

So I came home today, put my groceries up and went outside and enjoyed the sunshine and my first free afternoon in a month. I cut my grass (with scissors! I have very little grass. Ha!) and weeded my little flower beds. It was nice to get a few things done outside. I've been feeling a little overwhelmed not being able to get it all done.

We're halfway through the quarter now. June 15th is finals. The next week's my birthday and the week after that, my vacation. It'll be here before I know it. First quarter will be over and I'll be well on my way to doing whatever it is that I think I want to do when I grow up. I'll be glad when I figure it all out.

Mayday! May Day!

I feel like calling for some help today! Working full time and going to school full time is ROUGH. I don't know how people do it when they have a family to take care of. I do have a husband to take care of but I swear, I could not do this if I had children. There are girls in my class who do have children and work and go to ball games and stuff. I have SO MUCH respect for them! This course I'm taking is slap FULL OF MATH and I saw this page on Facebook the other day that cracked me up. It was "Dear Math, Grow Up And Solve Your Own Problems!" Now that's what I'm talking about. Gah!! Electronics is all math. Simple easy math but long, drawn-out equations. My brain hurts.

I don't have a lot of free time these days and I miss my blog and the ones I read. If I don't comment on your blog, it doesn't mean I'm not reading it. I still love you!!

The weight loss thing is coming along great. I've lost 40 whole pounds now!!! I think I've lost six pounds since I started going to school. No time to eat either. Ha! I've had to buy a few new clothes and retire (FOR GOOD!) some fat pants. My new goal is 50 by my birthday.

Spring quarter ends nine days before my birthday.

OHMYGOD, I am SO looking forward to turning 43!!