A woman is like a TEA BAG - you never know how strong she is until she gets into HOT WATER. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Sunday, July 31

New fave jeans ...

This girl (that would be me) had to go to Wisconsin to discover Buckle Jeans.  Imagine my surprise when Jaime texted me that we have a Buckle store right here in the Oglethorpe Mall.  What a goober I am! 

Anyway, this is how it works - I go to Wisconsin and hang with the Hanuses, who are a very stylish bunch, and I come home bringing a lil' bit of their style with me.  It works well.  I like it.  And I LOVE my new jeans! 

Here they are ...

Drying Laundry Like My Grandma Did...

It is so hot in Georgia.  Today, Jim and I shared a lightbulb moment ... why turn on the dryer, which will only heat the house even more ... when we could hang the laundry out to dry instead?  (By the way, this load dried on the line in less time than it would have in the dryer!)  We are brilliant!


P.S.  A typical load of laundry costs .60 cents to dry.  Today, I saved $1.20 - cha ching!

By the way, if you don't live here and you'd like to experience the heat we have down South, I have a mini experiment for you that will give you a good idea of the heat and humidity.  Here is what you do ... Fill up a huge pot of water and put it on the stove to boil. Once boiling, grab a handy dandy dish towel - walk to the pot. Put the dish towel over your head and put your head (very carefully - adults only please) over the pot. Do you feel the heat - the steam? This is how hot it is in Georgia today.  

Now go out and enjoy your own weather!

Sunday, July 17

Best ever kid's thermos...


If you have kids - and picky ones at that - you might be a lunch maker supreme like me.  Thermos brand's Funtainer Thermos is the absolute top of tops for keeping the liquid inside the container without leaking - and keeping that liquid ice cold until that evening!  The tag says 12 hours - and I would have to agree.  A few times we've left Owen's thermos in his lunchbox until nighttime and one shake revealed clinking ice cubes inside!  You can buy your own from Walmart or Target, but for the best selection, try this link ...  Very worth the $14 price tag.

http://www.thermos.com/SearchResults.aspx?q=Funtainer

Cucumber Slices by the Pound!

If you are a huge cucumber sandwich fan like me - you might need one of these handy slicers.  This one came from Pampered Chef and would normally be used for crudites and such.  I use it to quickly slice a cucumber for my sammies.  Get yourself one and save loads of time!  

Water with lemon is sooo yesterday!

The last couple of weeks, I've been using up my frozen strawberries from Ottawa Farms.  Throw a couple in your water bottle with a slice o' lime for a super healthy strawberry limemade minus the sugar and calories.  Yum!


My Owen...

Both of my boys are regular flower pickers for their mama.  A few weeks ago, I was blessed by this little bouquet when I came home from work. 


Let me tell you - life cannot get better than this.

Nourish is a little sweet spot on Broughton Street...


I recently discovered a little slice of sweetness on Broughton Street called Nourish.

http://www.nourishsavannah.com/

The store is set up with farm house appeal (and you know this girl loves a farm house!)  Creamy white bowls and plates overflowing with bars of soap - and in a corner, an old-fashioned sink set up to test their salt and sugar scrubs.  How cute!  Where else can you walk up to a counter with a decadent display of soaps by the slice?  This go round I picked Vanilla Walnut ...


Oh my... yummy!

Last time I bought the Coconut Lime - which wasn't such a good idea.  Besides swooning with divine thoughts of Key Lime Pie - it whisked me off to Hawaii everytime I got in the shower and a few minutes later, I was still stuck in Africa-hot Georgia (and no pie!)

Besides Soaps by the Slice, they offer a huge selection of other natural soaps and bath products - like this lovely little soap bag that works just like a loofah, except that it holds the soap for you - for a very efficient shower experience.
But who really wants efficiency when the soap smells like Key Lime Pie?

I recommend going - and quickly!  You just don't know what you are missing!

Saturday, July 9

Wrap Master!

My mom is such a good girl! (That is Candace-speak for "my mom is wonderful.") She recently bought these two little gems for me. One is for tin foil and the other is for plastic wrap.


Here is how they work:

First you click the middle button by pushing in and up...


Once open, you gently pull out the tin foil (or plastic wrap), depending on which one you have, until you have the right amount ...


Then you press the top down near the middle ...


Which cuts the section off quite neatly....


Easy peasy!  Now you can store your Wrap Master on your counter (I keep my plastic wrap one on the counter sometimes.)  It makes quick work of wrapping up the boys' sandwiches for school...



Or if you can handle clutter better than I can, you could stack them ...


You can have your very own pair from QVC for $27.30.  If white isn't your favorite, they also come in royal blue and a cherryish shade of red.

It's or Its - Does Its need an apostrophe?

Like me, it seems that many people aren't quite sure when to use "its" or "it's".  Quite frankly, when one is zipping along on the keyboard, blogging or typing a letter, it's very easy to become confused!

It's with an apostrophe:
The only time "it's" (with an apostrophe) is needed is when the words "it" and "is" (or "has") are being contracted. ("It's" = "It is" or "It has.")

Its without an apostrophe:
The word "its" signifies possession, and needs no apostrophe. (Nor do these words need one: yours, his, hers, theirs, and ours.) Perhaps the confusion stems from the fact that the apostrophe is used to show possession by a noun, as in "the flower's petals."

There ya go!  If you ever become confused again, simply type "does it's need an apostrophe" in your google toolbar! 

Great Grandma's Laundry Basket

I pined over Great Grandma's laundry basket for years, but it wasn't quite my turn to be blessed with its worn smooth edges.  


As Great Grandma grew older, her daughter (my Grandma Louise) would come from Claxton to wash and fold the laundry.  Still I waited.  Now the laundry basket is mine.  Odd what a girl like me falls in love with - I guess that explains why I have her buttons, tea pitchers and now her laundry basket. 

Remember this one?

Raw and ragged - I love this song.  Simple and just a little bit sweet ... you have to wear cowboy boots for this song.  Happy Girl.

Lovin' this song...

Keith Urban's "Without You"

Friday, July 8

Just finished...

Excellent book - couldn't put it down!  Written by Jeanette Walls and based on her adventurously disfunctional life, she sheds light on the ins and outs of growing up with an alcoholic father and excitement-addicted mother.  Each person will take what they will from the book.  Personally, I couldn't help but think that maybe a modern life, with all of it's shiny and sparkly trappings, isn't entirely necessary afterall.   


Currently reading to Owen & Miles ...


Next on my list ...

Wednesday, July 6

Ebb and Flow Documentary on East Savannah

Below are the early film cuts of a documentary on East Savannah presented by AWOL, Inc. (All Walks of Life), a non-profit organization with a mission of providing youth with safe and free after-school and evening arts-based educational programs.




The documentary was later entitled Ebb and Flow and was presented to a group of several hundred college students, media and local historians at the Jepson Museum in April.  The documentary will hopefully be featured on GPTV very soon. 

My grandfather, David Durden, was interviewed and filmed several times during the process and is featured here (click link above) in the early clips, recalling memories of families watching out for each other during this era.

It was an honor to attend the viewing of Ebb and Flow, with my grandparents.  Granddaddy has always been a big part of my life.  We share a love for silliness, brought out best by our regular renditions of our alter egos, Roberta (me) and Leroy (him.)   By many accounts, he is a phenomenal speaker and story-teller, and I have been blessed over the years to hear him tell stories from his childhood.  I am happy that he was able to share some of those stories here.

Sunday, July 3

Good men cook...

Recently, I've been unsuccessfully trying to kill myself three times a week at Rice Hope's boot camp class.  It has become an addiction - the not knowing whether or not I'll make it out alive.  Jim, seeing the results from my arm muscles firming up - and maybe growing a little scared for his own life, has started cooking a lot - and cleaning up afterwards.  

This is one of his recent meals ...


Sauteed vidalia onions & sausage, corn & honeywheat baguettes. I was so proud of him, that I thought it my duty to inform the public of this wonderful man.   He's all mine!    

Fast forward to the 'tween-age years...

Here is my oldest.  I love him to pieces. 


Wednesday, he got braces...


They make him look ... older. 


He looks like a mini 'tweenager, don't you think?  That makes me a little bit sad, but yet I love braces - perhaps because my teeth were never crooked enough to have them myself.  Some of you who have known me for a very long and ancient time know that I was smitten by one Jim Murphy way back in 1998 when he had a mouthful of these things.  Loved those braces on him!

So, now my child has braces, and I have to admit - they are kinda cute. 

Bobby pins...

For those of us out there who wear bobby pins, I thought I'd take a moment to introduce you to the good brand and the bad & ugly brand. 

Meet the Good. 



They do cost a bit more - and if you are like me and shop at the Mega (Steal-All-Your-Money) Store, it is hard to add $3 more to your shopping cart  of $179.99, stacked to overflowing.  It is worth it though.  These will hold your hair in a tornado and that is, afterall, what us girls need - something to depend upon.  These also come in hair color shades.  Mine are blonde - because that is what I pretend to be - blonde.  Right now, my blonde is sort of "Trailer Park" blonde - the roots are peaking out and screaming "hey fellas - look over here at us - gigs up!  She's not really blonde!"  

These are the bad & ugly brand... They will set you back about $1.29, but will take years off your life in the form of stress and frustration as they slip, bink and bonk onto the floor because they are made of some second-rate metal.  Do not do this to yourself.  Buy the better brand.