435: My name is not Oprah.

And no, I don't play her on t.v.

But like Oprah, I also have a list of favorite things.

Some of them are new things, some are old favorites. All are good and wonderful. :o)

My current favorite things are:

1. my glass teapot - How did I ever get along without it?
2. my toasty warm and super soft knit slipper socks from WalMart.com - Mmm... like walking on cashmere.
3. glass fish bowls in varying sizes from the dollar store - I'm using mine to re-pot all my plants.
4. Tazo's "Passion" tea.
5. body butter in "Ginger & White Tea" and "Ginger Lime" by Habeebah's Herbals - This woman has managed to put magical bliss in a jar! The scent is divine and the creamy texture of the butter banishes the driest of dry skin. (Mine!)
6. yarn: Bernat Baby, TLC Amore - Ahhhhh... Soooooo soft.
7. Baby Bee Dusting Powder by Burt's Bees - Silky soft and yummy smelling too.
8. two black, semi-sexy, "maternity" dresses I bought at Goodwill - I absolutely love them. They're wash-and-wear, air dry over night, and can be accessorized for day or evening events. Wish I had several in a few shades.
9. sweet potato chips - I have no need for chips from white potatoes ever again.
10. lemon-flavored Perrier - Always on my list.

What about you? What are some of your favorite things? I'd love to know. :o)


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411: today's to-do list

hey y'all.

lawd, if my to-do list ain't a long one, i must not be breathing!

today's list (not necessarily in order of importance):

1. girl scout's store - baby bliss needs her stuff!
2. healthy foods store: coconut oil, eucalyptus oil (2), sesame oil,
3. a movie - maybe
   
4. switch baby bliss's recurring monthly expenses to her account
5. check balances on accounts
   
6. post office: mail grandma's rebate form, McD's monopoly requests
7. e-mail A___
8. find coupon for FREE brake check!
   
9. write thank you card - library photog
10. write commendation letter - Ms. S____
11. feed my NeoPet
12. print crochet patterns, proof of payment for medical expenses
13. call ins. co. for info re submitting proof of payment for medical expenses
14. work on kitty's basket
15. work on baskets for K's baby
16. work on new bracelet designs
17. try on show ensemble w/jewelry
18. post photos of new jewelry on blog
19. post on Craig's request for cardboard
20. post on blog request for ideas for cardboard sources
21. decide: am i making a wrap for the show?
22. edit shorts for subs: TMB, GNO, the other one (?)
23. where are my silver hoops, 2 Smart 4 U ring???
    

371: i'm already late!

today's list:

1. baby patel here
2. get grandma (leave recycle-plastics at her house)
   
3. goodwill (baby bliss needs shorts!)
4. bank
5. $$ store: "congrats" card for i_____, water,
   
6. post office: f's b'day card, my sister's b'day card, i's congrats card
   
7. find a good watermelon
   
8. drop grandma @ home
9. back to the branch
10. type up lists for travel
11. log into good reads and post about that yucky math book
12. need to make jewelry: #1 auntie's earrings, #3 auntie's rings, my mom's rings
13. can i finish my clothing projects before i go? (burgundy skirt, gold/black skirt, etc.)
14. call s___ re tonite's needlework group
    
15. needlework group @ the l: 6-8 p.m
16. home again

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173: Meme me a.k.a. Five Things...

I snagged this one from Miz Susan over at Our Little Corner of the Upstate. Thanks Susan! :-)


5 things in your refrigerator:

1. rice milk
2. sour cream
3. Odwalla's pomegranate-lemonade juice
4. apple juice (which might sit awhile; we got it for our visiting cousin who said she loved apple juice. funny how she drank half a cup out of 32 ounces)
5. a bowl of basmati rice that's been in there for too long to remember (is it time to toss it?)


5 things in your closet (bedroom for me):

1. too many wire hangers!
2. off season clothes/shoes - on the shelves
3. seasonal wear - hanging
4. the linen shelves and clean linens
5. hubby's junk, waiting to be unpacked


5 things in your purse or backpack (in my case, it's the rolling laptop bag/backpack):

1. an orange mesh bag that i using as a small purse/large wallet
2. a 2-inch thick folder and a 1-inch thick folder, both holding notes from the novel i'm currently working on
3. a pack of wide-ruled notebook paper (unopened)
4. sunglasses i look at more than wear (in a cool case i found at the $ store)
5. a bunch of pens (half are red, half are black)


5 things in your car:

1. baby wipes
2. my P.E.C.K.
3. the owner's manual for my car
4. bubbles (we blow them out the window at stop lights/in traffic jams, to lighten the tension)
5. stuff that needs to be vacuumed from the flooooooooooor


5 things in the world you want to see before you die:

1. baby bliss take her first trip to Paris (she really wants to go)
2. my first novel, in print
3. any of my novels on the bestseller list
4. more of the world's beautiful beaches
5. kosen rufu! (world peace)
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167: iiiiiiiiiice creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeam

this week's Crazy Hip Blog Mama Collaboration (formerly the Crazy Hip Blog Mama Carnival) is ice cream.

they said we could be creative and do something other than write about it. that would be cool 'cept i don' t have any pics of ice cream, people eating ice cream, the ice cream man, or any other ice cream stuff.

i don't have any funny ice cream stories either. or none that i can think of right off the top of my head any way.

so i'll just say i loooooooooooooooooove ice cream. but not all ice cream and not any ice cream.

and i'm a fan of banana splits. or just ice cream with bananas. i also like ice cream with nuts. or ice cream with nuts and cherries, hold the whipped cream, hold the sauces.

hey, i know! i'll just do an ice cream list.

here are my faves, in order from "most fave" to "i dig it".

1. cherry vanilla (but not the kind with the real cherries)
   
2. cookies and cream
3. banana split ice cream
4. orange and white something or other (a hold-over childhood favorite)
   
5. birthday cake

i'll eat ice cream from a bowl, a cup, a cone, a waffle cone or bowl, even the tub it comes in.

i also like sorbet, sherbet, gelatto (every so often), and Tofutti's frozen desserts.

i don't eat ice cream too often. not cuz i don't like it. mostly cuz it's dairy and sometimes gives me a headache.

now i'm gonna scoop my way over to see what my sister Crazy Hip Blog Mama's had to say about ice cream. join me y'all!

122: i've been tagged!

alllll rightie now!

i've been dying to be tagged since i started blogging. and now that its happened, i'm scared witless. i can only think of two people to tag and one of them is the person who tagged me!

thanks Mama Zen for fulfilling what was once my wildest dream. :-)

hopefully by the time i'm done filling in the blanks, i'll think of two other people i can tag.

1. Were you named after anyone? my daddy

2. When was the last time you cried? yesterday in church

3. Do you like your handwriting? sometimes

4. What is your favorite lunch meat? i can't eat lunch meat any more.  :-( the nitrates give me a horrible headache.

5. Do you have kids? yes. she's a mermaid.

6. If you were another person would you be friends with you? ummm... well... that would depend on several factors. i don't have many friends in real time.

7. Do you use sarcasm a lot? yes and very effectively.

8. Do you still have your tonsils? nope. i donated them to science when i was in grade school.

9. Would you bungee jump? hell no!

10. What is your favorite cereal? it's something with vanilla by Peace Cereal

11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? i usually wear flip flops.

12. Do you think you are strong? physically, not very. mentally/emotionally/psychologically, yep.

13. What is your favorite ice cream? i love oreo cookie and cherry vanilla with the fake cherries. banana split is good too. :-)

14. What is the first thing you notice about people? their teeth

15. Red or Pink? red.

16. What is the least favorite thing about yourself? i can't play the piano.

17. Who do you miss the most? my grandma.

18. Do you want everyone to send this back to you? ummm... not really.

19. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? a pair of comfy black pants; no shoes.

20. What was the last thing that you ate? jerk chicken (too spicy), peas and rice (just right), fried plantain, coco bread, greens.

21. What are you listening to right now? my daughter complain about my mother...

22. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? royal blue

23. Favorite smells? lemon essential oil, oceanus (oil i got from the body shop), auromere soap, burt's bees baby bee dusting powder

24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? mr. bliss

25. Do you like the person who sent this to you? i think so... '-)

26. Favorite sports to watch? is latin dancing a sport?

27: Hair color? mostly black.

28. Eye Color? mostly dark brown.

29. Do you wear contacts? almost daily.

30. Favorite Food? watermelon, key lime pie, shrimp (fried or steamed), orzo with salted organic butter, ranier cherries, sweet peaches

31. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? happy endings. the news is scary enough.

32. Last movie you watched? claudine with dianne carroll and james earl jones.

33. What color shirt are you wearing? black. oh, wait. it's kinda faded so darkish gray.

34. Summer or winter? summer.

35. Hugs or Kisses? both

36. Favorite Dessert? key lime pie

37. Most likely to respond? some of the people.

38. Least likely to respond? the rest of them.

39. What book are you reading right now? Gettin' Merry; two about Edgar Cayce; one about turning your passion into a business

40. What is on your mouse pad? nothing. it's that ugly little square built into the laptop.

41. What did you watch on TV last night? 24 (re-run), Alias (re-run), CSI Miami (re-run)

42. Favorite Sound? my music, birds singing, my daughter's voice when she calls me on the phone

43. Rolling Stones or Beatles? the Stones bay-beeeeee!

44. What is the furthest you have been from home? does astral projection count??

45. Do you have a special talent?  mmm... many. '-)

46. Where were you born? in a city far far from this place!

47. What superpower would you like? x-ray vision. would have saved me a lot of time on dates back in tha day...

okay, i'm tagging:

1. Aly Cat
2. ~Terra Satirize~

114: my 10 favorite beverages

it's summer here and it sho is hot y'all. not that i don't love the heat. it's the humidity i could do without. probably means i'll be moving back to the desert some day. yep, some day...

i'm really bad about drinking enough water and i once read that a high percentage of women are dehydrated and don't know it. i'm in the top 1%, surely.

even in summer, i don't drink as much water as i should. but i do drink other stuff. some of it is stuff with water in it so maybe that counts?

any way, here are my 10 favorite drinks (in exact order):

1. hot tea - tazo's passion
2. cold bellini peach tea
3. odwalla's pomegranate lemonade (with a bit of extra water cuz it's a little too sweet)
4. cold tea sweetened with lemon and sugar
5. almost-tart lemonade
6. dr. pepper
7. virgin pina colada
8. shirley temple with extra cherries
9. a cup of hot water with half a lemon squeezed in
10. an ice cold heineken

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103: happy birthday to me (read this AFTER breakfast)

it's the over-the-hill birthday y'all.

funny, cuz i don't feel a day over 20 and i don't look a day over 30. '-)

maybe i was asleep all that time and there was some alien life force living in my body and it just decided to leave last night, leaving me feeling young and carefree.

but that must have been wishful thinking cuz when i opened my eyes i had a "tween" daughter and a husband and i was living in a messy but beautiful apartment in a place not my hometown. hmmm...

why do the alien invasion thing, mr. or ms. alien, if you're gonna drop the person off with no warning?

any way, back to my real-time life.

i woke up shortly before dawn to see that my daughter and i had both fallen asleep in the living room, me on the couch and she on the floor. we both had blankets (cuz my hubby needs it cool so he can sleep well) but neither of us was covered.

it was all so surreal and dreamy but i know it really happened...

my hubby leaned over the couch, saying happy birthday and some other words, smiling as usual. then he disappeared. i must have dozed off cuz when i opened my eyes again, there was light at yon window.

i roused the critter and helped her to her bed. thinking i could kill two birds with one stone, i grabbed my current read and headed to the potty in my daughter's suite. i guess we both had a lil too much to drink last nite cuz she was right on my heels. so i ceded the throne and headed for the potty in my own suite.

i met my hubby along the way. he was sitting on the corner of the bed and looked like a rabbit gone tharn when i opened the bedroom door. then his familiar grin appeared and i guessed i'd caught him off guard.

i don't know why i didn't want to read on MY potty this morning... maybe cuz i knew hubby was getting ready for work and i didn't want to hog any of his bathroom time. i'm a social pooper so i don't care who marches thru when i'm on the throne. nothing stops me from going. my hubby is the opposite. his bowels work best in private. and even tho i'll bust in on him from time to time, i usually leave him be when he's in the loo, especially if he's headed for the job.

we had a bit of discussion about the baby (that's what he calls her) sleeping on the floor (as if the floor is concrete covered in spikes). not a row really, just a friendly accusation from him and a rebut from me. it all ended with a birthday hug, several gropes, a few tickles, and a promising leer as i escaped the bedroom. '-)

i heard the husband bumbling around in the kitchen as i snuggled in with the munchkin for a few minutes. it sounded like he was clanging pots and pans but i knew better. no one cooks anything in this house at that time of morning on a week day. eventually i heard him open and close the front door then lock it.

about 10 minutes later, i heard the front door being unlocked and opened. what the--? i called out but got no response. super momma that i am, i ran to assess the sitch-a-shun.

it was just hubby, trying to sneak back in to leave my birthday gifts. :-)

awwwwwwww, ain't he sweet y'all? yes he is. at least for another day or so.

that's a joke folks. despite our differences, i gotta admit that my hubby is pretty cool. and even tho i took an extended vacation from him last year so he could deal with some "family matters", things are okay now.

sometimes people (me) need a break from other people's drama (his family's). i think more marriages would last longer if folk took "me time" when necessary. '-) we also did couples therapy and that helped too.

now back to the birthday stuff.

i am happy to say that this birthday, hubby got me gifts that totally suit me. i have to thank the universe for showing him the way cuz i forgot to print and post the list i typed the other day. as soon as i finish loading and editing the pics, i'll put some up. these will be my first blog photos y'all so bear with me please. :o)

on another note, i woke up with a sour stomach. i was gonna drink some hot water with lemon but just so happened that i had a conversation with a good friend who convinced me otherwise. s/he said: take if from a former crackhead. a lil bit of baking soda in a small cup of warm water is all you need.

well hallelujah for reformed junkies y'all. it worked.

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102: my top 10 birthday gift wish list

at the suggestion of a fellow blogger (thanks shoush!), this year i'm making a list of welcome birthday gifts. i'm sure someone out there will be kind enough to pass it on to him cuz i'm not kidding when i say he knows about a third of the people on the planet by direct association and the rest thru six degrees of separation.

i'm just joking y'all. no, not about how many people my hubby knows. i'm kidding about the pass it on part. those who know me in real time know i am anything but shy. i'll tape the list on the bathroom mirror where he'll be sure to see it. (if i give it to him in his hand, he'll lose it.)

my birthday is this week so i'll have to print it tonight. :-)

and if any among you is so inclined, please feel free to purchase anything from the list and mail to me at my PO Box, with the birthday card of your choice. you can e-mail me for the address. -:) there are links are for those of you who want to see what i'm talking about. and don't worry. i'm a cheap date. most of the time...

here's my list:

1. essential oils: peppermint, lavendar, rose absolute, lemon, geranium (one or more of any/all and i prefer the aura cacia brand please honey http://www.frontiercoop.com/auracacia/acproducts.html)
2. memory wire (so i can make more ringsssssssssss); Fire Mountain Gems (i'll give you the catalog honey) http://www.firemountaingems.com/details.asp?PN=H202001BS
3. herbal/medicinal teas: eyebright, Passion (Tazo), peppermint (they should have these at Loew's Foods)
4. portable storage for the 'puter; BestBuy baby! i need at least 10 gigs
5. comfy, cozy, and/or crazy socks (you know i love unusual socks honey!); try the thrift store first (remember that time if found the brand new yellow cashmere pair?); here's an example: The R From Large
6. saline for mine eyes; please please please get the kind for sensitive eyes
7. a spa day (or half day); you know that place we talked about downtown? that one will do.
8. a mostly tart key lime pie and a can of whipped cream (graham cracker crust only)
9. a cute pair of platform flip flops (you know what size) in navy blue or golden yellow
10. a whole day (10 or 12 hours) to myself; you take the chap and hit the road or stay here and i'll go. '-)

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100: it's official

hey folks.

i've been up for too long. i did have a few dozes between 9 p.m. friday night and now, but not many and certainly not enough.

but i've been doing this off and on for years. the funny part is that once i get past the reallyreally sleepy nod, i can stay up for almost another 12 hours or so. weird.

today's bliss list:

1. return the non-working curling iron to TJ Maxx (shudda never got it any way; we don't DO curling irons round here)
2. return webcams, mics, and vacuum bags to WalMart (just bought the webcams and mics yesterday. tested last nite. the cam wasn't too bad but the headset/microphone all-in-one sucked. hubby bought the vacuum bags about a month ago. of course there's no trace of a receipt so they'll hopefully just load up the refund on my gift card.)
3. get my food from my grannie's; left it there yesterday in anticipation of a guest who likes to eat a lil too much of my hard-earned produce and other assorted organic goodies
4. call to arrange the 1st service on my car (it took 6,000 miles to get to it. i thought about 2morrow then decided no. i want to go to church and relax 2morrow. which brings me to
5. get my chap's music lesson CD and a copy of last sunday's service on CD at church 2morrow

93: my top 10 favorite fruits

1. watermelon
2. watermelon
3. watermelon
4. white or green seedless grapes
5. peaches
6. cherries
7. strawberries (which i'm not supposed to eat any more)
8. grapefruit
9. lemons
10. limes

okay so it's really only 7 fruits, but i really really really love watermelon. '-)

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85: apple fast - day 1

you might wanna read yesterday's "oh what a beautiful morning..." before you read this one, so you can see the to-do list.

but here's what really happened on day 1:

1. woke up before 8; thought i heard someone banging at my front door! there was no one there so maybe it was my imagination or someone was banging at someone else's front door?
2. i had me hot water and lemon (yummy!)
3. did some blogging
4. tried to order someting online and my laptop went to a blue screen then shut off (hmmm... i think that was a sign from the universe that i wasn't supposed to be ordering anything online yesterday.)
5. got the little person out of bed and made sure she was showered and dressed before i got showered and dressed
6. grabbed an apple for the road then got an extra cuz the little person said she wanted one too
7. tried to leave but kept having "i forgot the..." moments
8. left around 11:10
9. ate my apple and started a small bottle of water as i drove to the little one's noon lesson; we arrived early (11:40) and the person from the 11 appt. was still there
10. while the little one had her lesson, i talked to R__, a regular at the center (our "church") who i'd seen several times and always thought he was mean (LOL); yesterday i saw that he is NOT mean, maybe just a little shy and reserved but a cool guy. i crocheted while we talked and we discussed the piece i was working on (a tank top). he actually gave me some wonderful ideas on how to make the piece more interesting and marketable. the marketing part wasn't his intent but it was the result and something i needed. :-)
11. before we got in the car to leave, we spotted a small black animal in the grass on the other side of the parking lot. my daughter and i went to check it out and saw that it was some kind of bird that neither one of us had seen before. it just sat there in the drizzle, with it's head turned up to the sky, waiting. we checked it out for a while then ran laughing back to the car.
12. the kid ate her apple as we headed to...
13. the first phone place: we decided not to get them there
14. we stopped to get new phones... again
15. the kid was starving so i let her get chinese food while we waited to be called at the phone place; i was determined to stick to the apple fast so i watched her eat.
16. after waiting much too long, we talked to the rep and decided to leave. without getting new phones
17. library - our favorite place; i finished the secret life of bees, my daughter played games online on my laptop; we stayed several hours.
18. home!
19. my 2nd apple of the day; i was so tired and hungry, i ate the sticker.
20. my daughter and hubby watched a few DVDs that my daughter got from the library. i sat in front of the couch and read another edgar cayce book. by the 2nd DVD, i was laying on the floor with the book. next thing i knew, i was wiping slobber from the side of my face.

i woke up this morning, on the living room floor, fully dressed under a throw cover. the living room lamp was still on, it was dark out and my husband was on his way to work. he looked over the couch at me and said, "you slept out here all night?"

i said, "turn out the light" and rolled back over.


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83: oh, what a beautiful morning...

it started out kinda rough but now it's fine.

i was awakened by what i thought was the sound of someone banging at my front door. i'm not sure if it was real or not but there was no one at the door when i got there. *shrug*

it wasn't yet 8 and i'd gone to bed late -- see last post -- but i was already up so no point in lying back down was there?

i did a few wake-up thingies then lay back across the bed with the secret life of bees. the birds were singing sweetly and i was having a good cry cuz that lily is so funny and silly and just plain young.

then i heard voices outside. i knew it was the indian family below us. they have quite an active life outside on their patio and the grassy area surrounding it. i like to listen to the lilt of their words. for me it's like listening to music. i don't have to know the language or the words being said if i like the other components of the song.

then the male voice actually began to sing and it was wonderful. y'all know i couldn't resist taking a peek out to see what else they were doing. it wasn't anything spectacular. just two people sitting and talking/singing while sipping what i thought might be coffee. :-)

i have longed to put a table and a few chairs on our patio. but our's is made of wooden slats and i don't think it's a good idea to be worried that the table and/or chair legs would get caught in between the slats somehow. we currently have two outdoor chaises and a few outdoor rugs occupying most of the space.

it's sad that i haven't been out there in a few weeks. the fear of mosquitoes is a big deterrent. i just recently acquired a bite of some sort below my right knee. it doesn't itch but there's a small pus bump on top of a hard red mound. it's possibly a spider bite and i'm watching it carefully. i'm gonna put some tea tree oil on it just to be sure it doesn't get infected if/when that bump bursts.

so what's on your to-do list for today? mine looks like this:

1. get up by 10
2. baby bliss needs to read at least 15 minutes today
   
3. out by 11
4. appt @ the church @ 12 ($55)
5. bank - deposit
6. library - return movies, book; pick up reserved items; hang out for a while
   
7. walmart - dish detergent
8. order new phones
9. need to research insurance info re. M____
   
10. find the CD info; notes on where to put $ when the term is up (investigate ING, some others)
    
11. get some of my crap off the living room floor!
12. crochet and read
13. what the heck am i gonna do with all these CDs after i burn them to my l.t.?

thanks God for helping me create this wonderful life. i really appreciate it! :-)


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9: to-do lists

originally posted Sun., Oct. 16, 2005; 11:27 p.m.

11:21 p.m.

how many of you use them?

i do. often. almost every day. i try not to use them for random notes but find that i'm doing it more. if i don't, i'll forget something. (or some things)

i've been keeping to do-lists for a long time. maybe 20 years. i do have them going back to the 80s. that's a lotta paper to be clogging up muh crib, i know. but it's an obsession i have, being able to look back in time to see what i did on a particular day.

that's also why i have journals going back to grade school. really and truly. i was journaling before oprah made it famous. (that's not a crack on my sista. just a fact.)

i wish my daughter shared this interest but she didn't inherit the writer gene. she's the other kind of artist. she likes to dance, sing, act, draw... i love to dance and sing too but writing is muh fust luv.

uh-ohhhhhhhhhhhh. gotta go to bed. i have to get up roundabout 5:30 in the a.m. and it's almost 11:30 in the p.m.

a sista cain't drive while sleep deprived.

who am i kidding? i've been subsisting on sleep deprivation for too many years to count. i expect to drop from over-exhaustion at any moment.

yeah right. i've been wishing that very thing would happen since i can remember. hoping it would earn me a solo vacation.

hahaha.

the universe is a trickster! it ain't happened yet.

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