I'm afraid...very afraid.....

I have a fear of two major things.......





Water Moccasins and

Alligators

So why we live on a lake in Central Florida makes no sense at all.....

This may be our new home...we just have to sell our house first....
Can you believe this kitchen??It is GIGANTIC..BIGGER THAN BIG!!!
Master bedroom has it's own fireplace....
Covered screened patio overlooks pool
nice pool......

hope it happens....I like this house!Keep your fingers crossed!!!

I hope you had an awesome and productive weekend. I spent the last two days working on Tyler's high school football website.....and dreaming of our hopefully new home....

If it's meant to be it'll happen!

O-town Lunch, Mom's getting better!

Had to take a quick trip down to Orlando yesterday to take Mom to the Dr.. He said she is doing pretty good considering it's only been a few weeks since her heart attack. My sis , Cass from over at Mockingbird Hill met us for a quick lunch. We live about an hour North of Orlando and Cass lives in Orlando so whenever we go down we meet up. Never pass up a reason to eat right?!

Guilty Mama. Cool Aids Crab Shack

It's Spring break here in Central Florida and I have not spent ONE MINUTE of it with my child...I am feeling sooooooooooooo guilty. Let me fill you in on a little history first...I decided in May of 2006 to open my own real estate brokerage, sounds good right? Not really, the market promptly began to tank and well I am sure you all know the rest of the story. Leave it to me to do this at this time...like it isn't hard enough....anyway, though the office has steadily grown and I am thankful to have many wonderfual agents working for me. I am however working harder than I want to be. My health,family,finances, and sanity are all suffering and I am feeling so badly about it. I am too far in to quit and just have to keep going. But, during times like this when I would normally have planned a vacation or fun time with Tyler , I have had to work the entire week because my main employee had jury duty...another example of excellent timing!!! Well, I was feeling so bad about it all when I came home tonight I asked Big T where he would like to go, well, he loves garlic crabs...ew....so we went to this place called COOL AIDS CRAB SHACK......no kidding, that's the name...
He had a ball and ate sooooo much food, it was really good.
After that, off to the big ice cream cone...
Even Big B got in the act.....yum!
Big T was happy, I feel kinda sorta better but still guilty....
Hopefully this will all turn around soon....
Well, I am just Little Miss Happy aren't I????
Hormones or stress....you decide....
I am gonna go spread my sunshine somewhere else...

In the blink of an eye....

Everyone said "Enjoy every minute of it...time goes by really fast, it will be over before you know it." They weren't lying, it is like my child is growing up at the speed of light. He will be driving in a few months, he will be graduating before I know it. It's all making me a little melancholy!

I will be spending the afternoon today at his weightlifting meet in a town about an hour from here. I am riding over with two other Moms who have boys on the team. My sister reminded me to "BE NICE". I don't really play well with others....I will try and be good....have a fun filled day and kiss your kids if you got'm!

A Peaceful Easter

Best wishes to all for a beautiful Easter with those you hold dear....

Funny stuff

glitter-graphics.com

I was due for an appointment with the gynecologist later in the week. Early one morning, I received a call from the doctor's office to tell me that I had been rescheduled for that morning at 9:30 am. I had only just packed everyone off to work and school, and it was already around 8:45am. The trip to his office took about 35minutes, so I didn't have any time to spare. As most women do, I like to take extra time to ensure great hygiene When making such visits, but this time I wasn't going to be able to make the full effort. So, I rushed upstairs, threw off my pajamas, wet the washcloth that was sitting next to the sink, and gave myself a quick wash in that area to make sure I was at least presentable. I threw the washcloth in the clothes basket, donned on my clothes, hopped in the car and raced to my appointment. I was in the waiting room for only a few minutes when I was called in. Knowing the procedure, as I'm sure you do, I hopped up on thetable, looked over at the other side of the room and pretended that Iwas in Paris or some other place a million miles away. I was a little surprised when the doctor said, "My, we have made an extra effort this morning, haven't we?" I didn't respond. After the appointment, I heaved a sigh of relief and went home. The rest of the day was normal . Some shopping, cleaning,cooking. After school when my 6 year old daughter was playing, she called out from the bathroom, "Mommy, where's my washcloth?" I told her to get another one from the cupboard. She replied, "No, I need the one that was here by the sink, it had all my glitter and sparkles saved inside it." Never going back to that doctor. Ever.

Happy Easter Esther!!!

Are there times when you just say to yourself..."There is something sooooo wrong with me?? "When you just admit that you ARE really a fruitcake? Well this is just one of those times for me...since forever ago I cannot hear the words "Happy Easter" without saying to myself out loud in my head...

Happy Easter Esther

I do not know why I do it, I do not know where it came from but I can tell you this...

Springtime is hell for me.....

Happy Easter....Esther.

It must be Spring!

Every Spring Big B has to shave one of our four dogs...Hannah one of two Aussies that we have has the most massive coat of hair you have ever seen..we feel so sorry for her as it warms up that Big B gives her a shave.....it is our way of saying ,"Welcome Spring!"...sooooooooo gross, I can't tell you..........can you even believe that ALL of that hair came off of one stinkin' dog? We had already bagged up one whole grocery bag full before I took this pic......nasty, nasty, nasty...I hate loose hair...ew....ew...ew......better Big B than me......
At least he has a nice view while he does the dirty deed....the other Aussie in the pic, well, that's Luke, he is Hannah's brother...both are OLD, but quite sweet......
A little rosemary plant that I picked up at the flea market. I love to run my fingers over it, the scent is amazing! Don't you just love my little watermelon eatin' man?????
This is the view outside our back door....we are so lucky......we are so blessed.

Update on Mom...she is home under strict restrictions from her Dr. to stay calm, rest and chill out!!!!This has been a scarey time for us all, thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers, I appreciate it sooooooooooo much!

Jake is takin' over, Mom is doing good

As I posted yesterday, we are babysitting Jake while Mom is in the hospital. This is him last night on Big B's lap during American Idol...
Meanwhile,

our other four dogs are like "What the ?????"

Mom is doing better. Hopefully they will be able to give some new meds to stop this from happening again. She will be in the hospital at least through Friday. Thank you for your prayers for her.

SirJake wakes up....

Mom needs a prayer...

I'm babysitting Mom's new dog Jake....he is quite a handful....ha!

Unfortunately, sweet Mommy had a heart attack on Sunday...she is still in the hospital and will be there all week. Please send up some prayers for her and maybe a comment for her on her blog Pie in the sky Studio.
for when she gets home. Mom will have to SLOW DOWN!!!

Her art is doing well at local shows and one of her pieces was just named most popular by local artists...she is soooooooo excited. That's a pic of it at the top of the post.

My sister, Cass, over at MOCKINGBIRD HILL has been staying at the hospital alot with Mom as she is about an hour away from me and I have to keep Jake....

I will keep you posted......

Thyrogen, my butt and me

I have been debating for days about writing this post but decided if I am to be a good blogger I cannot be afraid to share. I hesitated because there are sooooo many courageous women on these blogs fighting cancer for their lives and for me to tell this story seems trivial in the face of what they are all dealing with....but I feel I need to share this so here goes....

In 1993 I was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer that not only involved my thyroid but also several lymph nodes. I had a total thyroidectomy, see the scar in the box above, then I was admitted to the hospital for about a month and given a gigantic dose of radiation. Apparently it was not enough becasue it came back in 1996.I went through the whole radiation thing again and still hope each day I never have to deal with it again.

Part of staying well includes taking a daily dose of Levoxyl since I have no thyroid and each year having a full body scan. In years past I used to have to go off my med and basically become a sloth prior to the scan but modern medicine prevails and now they give you an injection...well, two injections, one each day, one on each cheek...butt cheek that is....so my ass is achin' as this is day two. Tomorrow I have to be at the hospital at 8:00 to swallow a little radioactive pill and then I have Thursday off...I'm sure I will enjoy Thursday with my sore butt and glowing insides....anyway, Friday is the big day, scan at 8:00.

I am so thankful that this is all that I have to deal with...when I sit in the cancer center waiting to see the Dr. I feel so guilty, I'm not sick... and so many warriors are sitting around me, fighting so hard. I hate that the Dr. takes even a moment with me, he needs to help them. Maybe I am just there to pray for them and call the angels for those who can't ...I don't know I just wish they were all better .

Springtime Flowers

These are the sweetest pansies.! I have them in a wonderful old concrete urn by the front door...I love pulling up and seeing them there, it just makes me feel so "Springy"!

Bloggy Yard sale

My sis , Cass over at Mockingbird Hill is having a BLOGGY yard sale, neat vintage stuff. She has so much that she made a new blog just for stuff to sell...go here .

Holy Moly I'm Tired

This weekend is the last Renningers Antique Extravaganza for this year. They have three per year starting in November, then in January and the last one in February. It is an amazing gathering of dealers from all over the nation. You cannot finish it in one day and it is grueling...I am whipped

This is a pic of one of my favorite primitive booths, it belongs to Pam who had an awesome store in orlando known as Cranberry Corners.
Another Cranberry Corners display.
My friend Michael went with me and we were measuring this two sided sign for his kitchen...only $500!!!!!!right...don't think so....not today......
Here's my sis Cass from Mockingbird Hill and my friend Michael being wacky in front of some awesome old stained glass windows...they were huge and beautiful!
We had fun and we ate our way throught the market....I swear, way too much fun, food and cool stuff. I'm going to bed......

THE YARD SALE...OMG!!!

All hail the yard sale.... when we went out to set up the tables at 6:00 am for a sale that started at 8:00 am I SWEAR there were this many people waiting at the end of the driveway even though we clearly stated in all ads that there would be NO EARLY SALES...notice the raised glasses...I am sure they were drinking because they were the MOST obnoxious group of yard salers I have ever encountered......do I have stories to share. Cass and I were heckled while we were setting up...I am telling you it was unbelieveable! And once the clock struck 8:00 and we let them at the stuff, this is what ensued!
Friggin' animals...one guy actually knocked another guy to the ground and didn't even stop...I was like you have to be kidding me!!!!They were snatching and grabbing at things like it was gold or the answer to world peace.....completely nuts, it's just stuff......
But we had a blast my sis and me. I loved spending the day with her and my neice. Cass's friend Jill came and we all had a good time.
I definitely had my grumpy pants on, those people put me in a mood.....

Going to my Sissie's

This weekend I am going to stay at my sisters house to help her with an ENORMOUS estate sale. Two members of her husbands family passed this year and she has all of these wonderful antique things to decide what to do with...so they decided to keep what is most important and estate sale the rest...whew!! What a job...there is this one problem....when she posted pics on her blog, Mockingbird Hill this morning, I promptly decided I wanted it all....except for the gazillion glasses, don't need those....do you think she would be mad if I asked her just to keep it all in her garage for me until I can find a place for it and to hide it from my husband?? If she would do that for me then we could just go shopping Saturday instead of having to stand around and sell stuff....just a thought.
Go look at the pics...cool, shabby stuff.....I'll take more pics when I get there and throughout the day...should be fun.....

And the winner is.............

Ames over at We owe how much?.....congratulations!You are the winner of the Rock n Roll book in my bloggy giveaway. Thank you all for entering! What fun this has been!

Another Awesome Giveaway!!

Catherine Scanlon is offering this awesome book. All you have to do is go to her site and comment. Go for it!

Easter Basket Giveaway..So cute!

Visit Nancy's Blog to enter an awesome Easter Basket Giveaway featuring her incredible ,original work! Spring is on it's way...thank goodness ....this really puts you int he mood! Thanks Nancy!Go sign up...now!