Happy Birthday to ME!!!

I know some ladies out there do not even want to acknowledge they have birthday's anymore much less celebrate them. Thank goodness I'm not one of them or else I would have missed an amazing birthday dinner. My birthday was November 18 so I'm a little late in posting this but at my age, better late than never.

Allen, Brittany, Paige and Colby decided to take me somewhere special for my 45th birthday. It was a surprise so I didn't know what to expect. I was told to dress casual and be ready by 3 p.m. We all loaded up in the car and headed east on I-20. At first I thought Allen was going to take me to a little Mexican restuarant that we found in Winnsboro, LA. Nothing fancy but GREAT food. Well, Winnsboro came and went and we were still driving. Then I thought maybe he was taking me to St. Francisville to the Ox Bow but then dismissed that idea because he said to dress casual. They like business casual not blue jean casual so I knew that was out.

As we kept driving I was racking by brain trying to figure out where he was taking me. Finally, a sign...Welcome to Mississippi. Then I knew....King's Tavern. I couldn't wait for the bread pudding. Paige even tried and liked it. She said she doesn't like bread pudding but really liked theirs.

I found this little place back in the summer when we took Brittany to look at old Antebellum/Colonial houses in Natchez, MS for her birthday. It is a little hole in the wall but the food is wonderful. You can go to your web browser and type in King's Tavern Natchez, MS and read about the history of this wonderful little restaurant. It was built in the 1700's and his been several things over the centuries. They found 3 skeletons in the fireplace back in the 1930's. One is believed to be the original owner's mistress. Suppossedly, his wife found out about the affair and stabbed her with a jeweled dagger. They think the other 2 people may have helped her hide the body and then she killed them.

After dinner Allen and the kids gave me my present. A kindle. I have really enjoyed it. My only problem is watching how much I spend in buying the books. I could go broke as I'm an avid reader.

Thanks Allen, girls, and Colby for a wonderful birthday!!!

It's Official....

Allen and I are alone in the house for the first time in 25 years. We have been alone a total of 10 months and 3 days in out entire marriage. Paige was born 10 months and 1 day after we were married.

Brittany and Scooter moved out Saturday. It was so nice to clean the house once and it stay clean all day long. I had heard of people doing this but didn't believe it until I saw it for myself Sunday. I half expect to come home this afternoon to find a shoe or a piece of dirty laundry in the living room. Scooter was notorious for bringing stuff in the living room while we were away at work.

After Brittany cleaned out her room and moved everything to her new house that she will be sharing with a friend in the GAP band, she helped me move Paige's bed and the baby bed into her old room. Now Paige and Ryker will have tons of room when they come to stay with us for the first 2 weeks of his life. As of this Thursday it will be 5 weeks and counting down. I'm a little excited if you couldn't tell.

By Sunday I was still so excited about having the house to ourselves that I went out to the shed to get the Christmas decortions. Allen helped me put out a few things and with a wave of my magic wand and help from my little elf, the house is ready for Chrismas this year. I have a few more things to get but basically I'm ready for Christmas.

Who knew moving your last child out would give someone this much energy!?!?! If I had known I would have this much energy I would have kicked her out years ago. Just kidding Britt.

Rita and Allen

Laugh of the Day

Just for the record I have my husband's permission to tell this story. Now you will have to use your imagination a little bit. For those of you that know Allen this is probably going to be so funny that you might fall out of your chair. For those of you that don't know Allen, imagine your own husband or male figure in your life.

Allen was standing before the throne (toilet) in our bathroom taking care of business with just his underwear on when Callie, our grandcat that we are keeping while Paige is pregnant, decided she wanted to get a better view of what Allen was doing. In our bathroom is a half wall that hides our throne.

Callie decided that she would jump up on the half wall to get a better view of what Allen was doing. Little did she realize that a towel was on the wall. Upon delicately landing on the wall Callie falls straight down into the trash can that is sitting beside the throne. It was almost like one of those Wyle E Coyote cartoons when he falls off a cliff. As soon as she falls into the trash can she springs out of it into the toilet. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire. ha ha.

Now I must remind you all of this has taken place in a matter of seconds and Allen is still standing in front of the toilet taking care of business in just his underwear when a cat is all of a sudden in his "stream". She is wet, she is NOT happy, and she has claws. He trys to take a step or two back but can't go to far back without peeing all over the floor and a big mad hairy cat with claws is coming straight for him.

Of course being the great wife that I am, I am about to fall to the floor and pee on myself because I'm laughing so hard. I can barely see because of the tears of laughter in my eyes. I must admit there is rarely a dull moment at our house.

I hope this at least made you smile today.

Yes, We're Still Here

Sorry it has been so long since our last blog. We have been really busy. I thought I would show you some pictures of our aquarium.

This is Cinnamon Stick. He is our clown fish. For those of you in the know, yes this is Nemo.
This is an anemone. The clown fish is suppose to love this thing but so far he hasn't gotten into it yet. If he doesn't get in it soon we will have to start feeding it ourselves. The clown fish is suppose to rub up against it so it can produce it's own food. Two weeks and no luck yet. The anemone can go inside itself and it can move all over the tank. Believe it or not it dug it's way under this rock. We had to move it to the other side of the tank because it got into the tube that carries the water up to the filter. It is amazing to watch.
I forget what this is but it is amazing to watch. It can go inside itself and it looks just like broccoli. But when it comes out it stretches it's limbs. Right now it is in a growing stage so it is smaller than normal. Can't wait to get some more coral in the tank. Everyday it's something different going on in there.

We helped mom move some of her things a few weeks ago. She has moved a lot of the basics but still needs to get stuff from the old house. I think she will like her new house once she gets to stay there more than a few hours. Mom works long hours and most of the time she works at least a 1/2 a day on Saturday's.

Paige is getting bigger and bigger. It is thrilling watching Ryker grow and feeling him kick. Paige has complete previa. If you don't know what this is you can look it up on the internet. I don't even won't to think about what can happen to her and baby Ryker. Basically, Paige gets to work and go bed. Nothing in between.

Paige and I went shopping for some clothes for Ryker today. I think I need to design boy clothes. Two thirds of the little boutique we went to had the cutest little girls clothing. There was a piece of a wall for boys clothing. I'm sorry but little boys just don't have the cute clothes like little girl's do. We were oohing and aahing over the cutest little girls clothing.

Believe it or not, I'm crocheting a blanket for my little doodle bug. I haven't crocheted since I was a little girl but I'm actually have a great time crocheting this blanket. I think it will be a tradition for me. I will crochet one for every grandchild. I'm not good enough to make little hats but I bet I could make a scarf or two.

I have 2 more weeks left on my Abundant, Faithful, and True Bible study. It has been a joy and a lot of fun leading this Bible study. It is by Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer, and Beth Moore. I highly recommend this study. I have to admit Kay's portion of the study was hard but I learned so much from her. Priscilla is very funny and a delight to watch. I have learned a lot from her too. Beth is our next segment. Beth is always a joy to watch and I always learn so much from her. All of these ladies are truly on a mission for God. Thank you God for sending these ladies to us through video.

Well, I hope this kind of catches you up on our lives at the moment. I will try not to wait so long before I post another blog.

What Do U Do When U Can't Go to the Beach...

You bring the beach to you. We have started a fish tank.

Not just any fish tank.
Can you guess what kind?

Figured it out yet?

You guessed it...It's a salt water tank. It is a work in progress.
We have a few rocks but will have to wait to put the coral, fish, crabs, and shrimp in here.
We will have to wait 30 days before we add anything else. We will mostly have living coral in here with just a couple of clown fish. I will keep everyone posted on our progress. Are we crazy or what?!?!?

Cake Divas

Brittany and I made a cake using fondant this weekend. It was for a friend's baby shower. We have the caked baked, iced with butter cream frosting and the fondant placed on it. Of course we rolled the fondant by hand. that took a little while but it really wasn't that hard.

We have started decorating the cake. I know it doesn't look like a lot but it took quite a while to get this little bit done.
As you can tell the baby is suppose to be a little girl. Her colors are pink, purple and yellow. By this time we had been working on the cake for approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours. It takes a long time to roll out all this balls individually and to tint all that fondant just the right color. The spokes on the wheel are individual pieces too.
Almost done. Not much left now. See if you can tell the difference between this photo and the next one.
Completely finished. Took us about 3 hours to get this little cake complete. Some of that time was coming up with the design and trying different things out. Sometime less is more. We had a great time but I definitely have a new appreciation for cake decorators. Doesn't look like it takes very long but it takes a little while if you don't have the gadgets they have. We had to roll all of our fondant out by hand. If I did very many of these I would definitely get a pasta machine that would flatten the fondant for me. I think I will try making a cake for Allen's birthday next month.

Melting in Louisiana

Allen and I have started walking again. We took about 3 weeks off just because it is too hot and we were getting little rain showers late in the afternoon but we knew we would have to get back out there soon. It was so hot and muggy last night that I had a little trouble catching my breath. It felt as if I was suffocating. I think I will take a wet towel tonight to help keep me cool and keep me from burning real bad. We walk about 3 miles a day. I know it doesn't sound like much but believe me it is plenty when you are out in the hot sun and you're so out of shape that you have trouble breathing.

I can't complain too much. I've gone from a tight 12 to a 6 in a little less than 6 months. I still need to lose another 5 pounds so my 6's will fit a little better. Other than that, I'm where I want to be. I don't have a flat stomach nor do I have a bikini body but I am a lot better than I was health wise. Clothes are easier to find too. Shoes are another story. Poor Allen went shoe shopping with me one night. We shopped for 3 hours and I still didn't find anything. Most stores around here don't carry wide width shoes and I can't wear shoes with heels. I sacrifice style for comfort.

I know I'm old but I'm at a time in my life where I really don't care anymore. It is so liberating. I can't wait until I'm that little old lady that can and will say whatever she feels like and everyone around her will just laugh, pat her hand and say bless her heart. Which is southern speak for forgive her she didn't mean it. But I probably will mean it.

I'm Still Here

Okay everyone, I know it has been a while since I last posted but I've been sick for several days. Nothing serious, just sinus/allergies/cold....take your pick. All I know is that I can't breathe and my throat has been hurting. Not sleeping much either. I'm in zombie mode right now.

Brittany is on vacation in South Carolina and Virginia with a friend so not only are we keeping Callie for Paige, we are also keeping Scooter for Brittany. We have become a boarding keenel with one small difference. Mom and Dad don't get paid. It's not so bad though. We have a fenced in back yard so all we have to do is get up let the dog out, then get up a few minutes later and let him back in. She is having a wonderful time visiting a part of the country that she has never been to. I think she is going to Busch Gardens today. That should be fun.

Paige is doing well. No morning sickness and so far her blood pressure is under control. I've been trying to find things for the baby which is a lot harder than it you would think. Everything is gender pacific. It's so hard to find things that are neutral. Now I know why everyone finds out the gender of their baby ahead of time. We have several consignment shops here with very good strollers, car seats, infant seats, etc. As soon as Paige finds out the gender of the baby we, meaning I, will start going to garage sales, and consignment shops. A few of my friends at church have given us a practically brand new high chair and play pen. Thank you Ann and Sharon. It is much appreciated. If anyone out there has anything, please let me know.

Cat Fight

While Paige is pregnant she isn't allowed to clean out Callie's litter box for health reasons. So, we will be grandcat sitting until after the baby is born. The problem is we have a cat named Sylvester. He is used to being the only cat in the house and getting all of our attention. Sylvester has pretty much grown up with Scooter, our other daughter's Shih-Poo (dog) so they get along pretty good. But you throw the 3rd one in there and things get out of balance.

We've had Callie for about a week to week and half and they are just now starting to tolerate each other. They have stare downs and Syl stalks Callie a lot. Last night Callie decided to get on Sylvester's perch. If looks could kill, Callie wouldn't be alive this morning. Syl just glared at her for about 15 minutes from his spot on the sofa. He never budged or took his eyes off of her. When she finally decided to get down Syl followed (stalked) her the rest of the night.

I guess Syl just couldn't let it go because this morning he decided to jump on Callie. She jumped right back on him and it sounded as if WW 3 started. It didn't last long but sounded as if they were killing each other.

I will post pictures of both cats soon. Callie is a beautiful and loving cat. I don't know if Allen will let Paige have her back after the baby is born. She gets in his lap all the time and purrs and licks him. Syl on the other hand, allows you to love on him when he's in the mood for it. Not the other way around.

Let's go racing boys and girls !

Well Father's Day weekend has been so awesome ! It all started with finding out that I was going to be a Grandpa...yikes...ha ha. And then came Saturday, I woke up early to get things ready for Saturday night at Adventure Speedway in Jackson, Mississippi. I broke out the race car and started prepping it and getting things organized and loaded in the trailer. I thought I would be going it alone but Brittany decided to be my crew chief for the night. That made me excited to have her coming to the races with me. Rita would have went too but she and Paige decided to go shopping for baby stuff...oooowwweee..haha. So everything is loaded and Brittany and I are on the way to the races. We got there about 4:30pm and boy was it hot! It was 98 degrees with a heat index of about 107. g We got everything setup for a night of exciting racing. Brittany took over the organization for the things that we would need to do to take the #45 to the front. We set the air pressure to get the correct stagger on the tires. And then we made a small chassis adjustment for the hot lap session.
I got out on the track for the hot laps, then the flag man drop the green flag. I got behind the #96 of Jerry Malone, he has been the track champion for the last 3 years..and has not lost a race in 2 1/2 yrs. I needed to gauge the adjustments that Brittany and I had made earlier. I stayed at a steady distant behind Jerry and he never pulled away from me. I knew we were on the right track with the adjustments.
Brittany and I decide to do one more small chassis adjustment for the NAPA DASH!! She prepped the tires, topped off the fuel and we were ready to make history. I would be starting in the 3rd spot right behind the #96 (Jerry) on the pole and the #83 (Danny) on outside pole and the #b52 (Bill) beside me on the outside. As we came around the curve to the green flag waving! I hit the gas and the race was on, as we came to turn 1 we were bunched up real tight! Jerry took the lead and I was right behind him in 2nd coming out of the turn and the battle was on. As I stayed right behind Jerry I noticed he was getting a little loose in the curves. As you are driving you have to pay attention to what is going on with who you are racing as well as what you are doing too. On lap 7 I sucked right up on the rear bumper of the#96 putting on the pressure! On lap 8 he slide a little wide coming out of turn 4 and I saw my chance, so I cut under him.Then it was a drag race down the back straightway. Coming in turn 1 I took over the lead all the way to the checker flag for my first WIN in my Super Champ! As I came up to the scales there was this little girl waiting for me holding out her hand to give a high five as I drove up on the scales.
As the night got later Brittany and I were excited and felt like we were on a roll! She prepped the tires again for the feature race of the night. No chassis adjustments this time we were dialed in ! Jerry could not believe he had just lost his first race in a long time but, he congratulated me and he said, I'll see you in the feature. And if you did not know, by me winning the NAPA DASH... that meant I had the pole for the feature race.
The feature race arrived and I was feeling a little nervous before we went onto the track. We lined up in our starting positions in a tight pack, the green flag dropped. I got to turn 1 and was in the lead and never looked back . I led the whole 15 laps and never was contested for the lead and the car handle like a dream on the track and was super fast! Brittany and I did not mind getting home at 2:30 am in the morning because we won!
Then came Father"s day, I could not wait for some Japanese food at Ronin Habachi. I also got a digital picture fame too. Yes, I have been wanting one for awhile. Its been a great weekend! The best and I hope that you have had the same. And all you other Fathers out there happy Father's Day!
Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you enjoyed it...Allen

The Last Couple of Weeks in Review

A lot has been going on the last couple of weeks. A couple of weekends ago Allen and I cleaned up the fence line and backyard. Little did we know that among the honeysuckle and vines lurked either poison ivy or oak. He has it on his arms, eyelid, stomach and the inside of his thighs. Poor thing. Look what he does just to make me happy.

Last Sunday we had a going away party for our preacher of 10 years. He has been moved to the Lake Charles area. In the Methodist church, the preachers are moved by the bishop not by choice. He is moving closer to his family and we wish him luck but he will be terribly missed. This Sunday is a welcome party for our new preacher and his wife. I am looking forward to getting to know them.

I've saved the best for last. Last night we found out that we are going to be grandparents for the very first time. So Robin, Fonda, and Stacy now I can be a REAL Grandma Gone Wild instead of an honorary one. The baby is due around January 25. I've been going over grandma names. I like grams but my mom is called grams by my nieces so I think that would be confusing. I also like Grandmom but Allen isn't crazy about Granddad. Then I thought of my nickname way back when I was a little girl. ReeRee. Allen said that for a little child ReeRee would probably come out WeeWee so I think I will settle with just Ree. I have a while before our little one can even talk so I don't have to rush the decision. Any suggestions out there?

Everyone Can Leave Comments Now

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Trying to figure it out !!!

Hello everyone, It's me Allen.....I am on tonight trying to improve the SMITHonian . There is alot to learn about this website. I've done one before but, this one is a little different. So if you have any suggestions please send them our way!!! I hope everyone is doing well and having a great week. It won't be long to we get to the weekend, I can't wait. Ha ha.....well I will talk to you all later...going to try some new things on here...yikes...Ha ha

Welcome.....

to the Smithonian..He said, she said. I hope between me and Allen we are able to keep this up as well as Fonda and Robin. I so enjoy reading their blogs. This past Saturday we went to Natchez, MS to see the antebellum homes and taste the local cuisine.

Our first stop was to the visitor's center where we got an overview of everything there is to see in Natchez. Next we purchased our tickets to the homes that we wanted to tour. It was a hard decision as we were only there for 1 day and most of the tours started around 10 a.m. and ended by 4:30 p.m.

We saw The Ellicott House first, which is a Federalist style house. It was built in the 1700's and believe it or not Mr. Ellicott never lived there. Go figure.


Next we went to Stanton Hall. What an elegant house this one was to see. For those of you old enough to remember the movie The North and the South, this is the house of Patrick Swayze's family. They actually filmed in the house.


Brittany said, she wants a house just like this one!
Then we were on our way to Longwood (no pictures). This house was never finished because of the War Between the States (aka Civil War). It would have been a breath taking house if it had been finished. Mr. Nutt died before the war was over and his wife ran out of money before it could be finished. It is a 6 story octagonal shaped house. Very unique to say the least.

Then we were on our way to the William Johnson house (no picture). This house was owned by a free man of color. His family was very educated. In fact, his daughters were one of the first black teachers in the state of Mississippi after the Civil War. He owned several barber shops around town and he also owned slaves.

Then we went to St. Mary's Basilica (no pictures). Talk about breathtaking. It has stained glass windows and the ceiling lights up. I wished I had a picture to show you but we didn't know if we could take pictures inside. I'm sure you can go on the web to see it.

Almost gave Allen a heartattack, this is the only ghost we saw! Ha Ha.

This a portrait of Madeline.

Dining room King's Tavern.

Last but not least......we went to the oldest building in Natchez, MS....The King's Tavern. It was built in the late 1700's so of course you know there is a ghost history here. Back in the 1930's part of the chimney collapsed, and what do you suppose they found.......3 skeletons. One with a jeweled dagger sticking out of her chest. Legend goes that the owner, Mr. King, was having an affair with Madeline. It doesn't say if she worked there or if she was just someone he knew. Anyway, his wife finds out about the mistress and stabs her in the chest and seals her up in the chimney. That's a lesson for all of you would be mistresses out there. BEWARE OF THE WIFE THAT HAS ACCESS TO KNIVES. ha ha... To this day they don't know who the other 2 people are that were sealed in the chimney with her. The food, service and atmosphere was wonderful. If you ever get a chance to go there, I highly recommend it.