Melissa's Idea Garden

My husband has a thing for monkeys...a few years ago, one mysteriously appeared on his desk at work and ever since then we have added to his interesting monkey collection. He has office monkeys, a monkey in a banana that I won at a carnival, and a set of office monkeys.

This year for Christmas, Katrina and I were wandering around Target and we saw it...the perfect gift for Daniel: Sock Monkey!

Sock Monkey was an instant hit with the family. He is always into some kind of mischief. Sometimes he helps Daniel with his work.

Stay tuned for the Adventures of Sock Monkey... As you can see...he's very photogenic!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First, none of these things have to do with one another, but they are all on my mind. And rather than write three short posts, I thought I would put it all here.

The number one news is that Tess is much improved and will be going home tomorrow with 24/7 care (a combo of hospice and nurses aides). Her brother, Paul, and sister-in-law, Faye, are down visiting right now. Her niece and daugther are trying to work out a visit next week. We are so excited that she gets to go home tomorrow. And so grateful since last week, we didn't think she would be leaving the hospital alive.

The second news story is the incoming storm. The weather people are really uncertain about this one. Predictions for us range from 7" to 18". I predict that on Sunday morning, we will know how much snow we have received!

Lastly, I am not sure if you are aware, but we are experiencing an Eggo Waffle shortage. Flooding at an Atlanta bakery during heavy rains in October forced Kellogg, which makes Eggo products, to shut down production temporarily, said company spokesman Kris Charles. Plus, equipment at Kellogg's largest waffle facility, based in Rossville, Tenn., needs extensive repairs.

Food Lion ran out first, then last month, Sam's ran out of Eggos. This morning, Jack ate the last Eggos in the house. This shortage gives a whole new meaning to the term "Leggo my Eggo!!" What I have read indicates that the shortage may last until mid-2010...I may actually have to ...GASP... invest in a waffle maker!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What I didn't include in my last post (which was supposed to publish yesterday, but I hit the wrong button) was how we got to this spot with Tess.

Dr. Franco is Tess' oncologist. He told her at some time in the past that chemo was not an option for her. Her age, the three major surgeries she has undergone the last two years and the fact that she only has one functioning kidney (and due to her age, it is only functioning at 50% or less). So he sent her to a surgeon who might be able to help. That surgeon, Dr. T, was the one who took care of the previously mentioned surgeries. Dr. T. looked at the CAT scan and told Tess that because the liposarcoma was located on her liver he could not operate.

Dr. T. then made a referral to another surgeon at a cutting edge institute. The referral was to see if there was anything new that he wasn't aware of. The note he put on the file was 'Research.' Well apparently, the surgeon didn't read the file. He walked into the room, asked Tess why she was there. She told him about her tumor (not really understanding the research bit probably) and he told her he couldn't operate on her and sent her to an oncologist. This surgeon dropped the ball as far as we are concerned. She went to this oncologist...no idea whether this person paid any attention to the file and why Tess was there or not. Our feeling is that the oncologist probably thought that Tess, like many, was looking for the glimmer of hope (we were told that chemo had a 15%-20% chance of helping).

So that's how we ended up with Tess in the hospital fighting for her life against infections that she shouldn't have been vulnerable to. We are glad it turned out as well as it did.

Again, this is just a bit more information that may help you in a similar situation.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We got up yesterday morning, got all of our belongings together, checked out and headed to the hospital. Daniel still wasn't sure what he was going to do, but Bruce, Jack, Katrina and I were going to head for home after lunch.

I left the kids and my stuff in the waiting room, then headed towards Tess room and immediately knew something had changed. Her door was closed and the nurse getting ready to go into her room was suited up in a blue gown and gloves. The head nurse approached me and told me that Tess had been diagnosed with MRSA. My heart sank to my toes.

Sharon came out of the room and filled me in. The news was not as bad as my first thoughts. Turns out the ER doctor was on the ball. When he saw the blisters on Tess, he felt MRSA was a very real possibility and put her on triple antibiotics that would help her other infections as well as the MRSA. So, by the time we found out she had MRSA, she was on her way to recovery. I wish we had known that they were thinking MRSA was a possibility. We were all good about washing hands when we entered the room, but didn't know we needed to wash them when we left. None of us have open wounds, so hopefully we will all be okay.

Her doctor came in and was much more positive today. He said she will need another 7 - 10 days of strong antibiotics and she would be receiving 2 pints of blood later in the day. He said her white blood cell count is coming back up, her color is good, her vitals are good. He told us she could go home with hospice (we are also setting up round the clock nursing for when hospice isn't there). Tess applauded when she found out she could go home. We were told that radiation is not an option (Tess wanted to know). The tumor is so deep inside of her that the rads needed to reach it would destroy her bowel in the process. There will be no more CAT scans or horrible gook that she had to drink before them. Dr. Franco told us he didn't do tests for the sake of curiosity. There is nothing else that can be done for the cancer, but we still have time with Tess and for that we are so very grateful. Our goal is for her to be as comfortable as she can be and to have the best quality of life she can during her time remaining.

Tess has survived against amazing odds. She was admitted barely alive. She had a fever of 103, her blood pressure was 220/130, one 50% functioning kidney (she lost one years ago), pneumonia, a urinary tract infection, MRSA and liposarcoma of the liver with no white blood cells or platelets because of recent chemotherapy. We left her with the infections under control and the hope that she will be able to go home with Johnny (their greatest wish) in a week with hospice and 24 hour nurses.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you for giving us some more precious time with Tess. Thank you for the possibility that she and Johnny can be at home together as they wish. Thank you for Sharon. If not for her, Tess wouldn't be here today. And we are so grateful that she is on the same page as we are as how we want to see all this played out and that she is so willing to help since she lives here.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The middle of December, Tess called to tell us that they had found another tumor in her body. Over the last three years, Tess has had 4 surgeries to remove tumors that are growing within. She has liposarcoma. She had one 24 years ago that when they removed it was 35 pounds and she lost one kidney. She went another 20 years without problem, but in then there was an 18 pound one and since then they have kept close eye on her so they could perform surgery as soon as possible.

She told us her doctor was going to do another CAT scan in March to see what the growth was before they did another surgery. Then she called back and said that the doctor had called again saying she needed chemo because the tumor was on her liver and couldn't be operated on. And she had an appointment the end of the month. Still, she was saying this was non-cancerous...

Tess does not hear well nor does Johnny. Both come from an age when you didn't ask questions of the physicians and that the physician knew best. We are not sure what when on during an appointment with an oncologist the end of December or how their options were explained to them, but Tess called us and told us they would be installing a port in her chest and that they would be giving her chemotherapy which would involve her being in the hospital for four days at a time and then home between sessions.

Continue reading "It's All Happening So Quickly..." »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My daughter is a pack rat. And I say that with deep love, affection and more than a touch of annoyance...She keeps everything! She has toys that belonged to her when she was two that she doesn't want to get rid of (fortunately my mom has storage space for them). She can't pass a yard sale or thrift shop without rescuing some poor stuffed animal from it's unloved, unwanted status. Toy breaks? You would think we could throw it away...only if I can prove the broken bits are dangerous. Otherwise they must be kept in case the parts can at some point be used in some other fashion...say building a clubhouse. I guess I should be glad that my daughter is the consummate recycler! If only we had the space...

She can't keep her room clean. Part of it is her nature...she has a tendency to get stuff out and leave it out when she is done (an ongoing battle as I am the exact opposite - but she gets both the clutter tendency and the pack rat habits from her father). The other reason she can't keep her room clean is there isn't enough for all of her stuff! She finally got tired of the stuffed animals covering her bunk beds, but she wasn't willing to let them go...so, we have two big plastic tubs and three garbage bags in her closet full of stuffed animals. There are two other plastic tubs - one holds dress up items and one holds blankets. Then there is a dresser for clothes, a dresser for hair stuff and other small stuff/souvenirs. She has a book shelf filled with books, a hamster cage, and other odds and ends. She has another book shelf with LPS items and another hamster cage and two jewelry boxes she has been given. And in the middle of the floor, there is a box of more odds and ends...pokemon cards, hairdresser play stuff, papers....so today, we picked up some clear shoeboxes from Walmart for 94 cents each. We will sort the odds and ends and put the boxes neatly on the book shelf. Hoping that for awhile...she will be able to keep her room clean.

However, I am afraid the 9' x 10' room is going to explode!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When I first started going to Bethlehem Baptist Church 2 1/2 years ago, I was impressed that they had a minister who had been there for 16 years. I had been in several churches where ministers moved on after two or three years and I was excited to find a church whose Pastor had been with for so long. Last June, our pastor announced his resignation. This was a shock to many of us in the congregation. He and his wife were well loved by the congregation and many of the younger people had known them all their lives. But he said God had called him to go elsewhere.

So, the search for a new minister began. We found an interim pastor fairly quickly. Pastor Crewe and his wife have served our church for about 5 months. They are lovely people and have done a good job of helping us to move on from our grief and have kept us from chaos.

Tonight we got to meet our potential new pastor at a meal at the church. Our pulpit committee has spent the last several months reading resumes, listening to sermons, interviewing candiates. They felt like Darren Miller and his family would be a good match for our church. Tonight we got to meet Darren and Catherine and their children Jesse and Katie. We enjoyed a fine meal that only a group of church women can put together. Then Darren told us about himself and his family. He answered our questions with openness and sincerity.

I know it had to be a bit nerve-wracking for him and his family. How many jobs does a whole family go along for the interview? But, he handled it well and shared some funny stories with us about his growing up. Tomorrow, he will preach for us and then we will vote. Another nerve-wracking experience for him and his family to be sure.

I hope God will guide all of us to create the outcome he wants so we can go in the direction he would have us go.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have often heard it said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We see this when people imitate celebrity hairstyles and fashions. We see this when our children latch onto an older friend or a popular child and begin to imitate them. It is their way of being accepted, being part of the pack, fitting in. And it is their way of telling the person they are looking up to that 'Hey, I think your style rocks.'

I have also said 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' when my children get on one another's nerves. You know...the big brother sits around copying everything the little sister is saying... or vice versa? Or a child is copying a teenager's words or actions and it is driving the teenager crazy. This statement is a two-edged sword in this case. If it is the older one 'mocking' the younger one or trying to annoy them by copying what they say, they shut up pretty quickly...after all, they aren't actually trying to flatter the younger child. Not at all, they are trying to annoy the younger child! In the case of the younger imitating the teen, it helps the teen take a deep breath and think...'okay, this little kid thinks I am cool...guess I can live with it.'

But there is another side of imitation that we tend to not think about. That is our child imitating us. How many times have you heard your child say a scathing remark to someone, only to realize they heard it from you? Much like Ralphie in A Christmas Story the child knows where they heard the scathing remark (or bad word or saw the bad habit), but if asked, they might not want to tell.

However to the honest parent, we know. We are looking at the mirror of ourselves. Sometimes that image is flattering and sometimes....well sometimes, it is enough to make us want to hang our heads in shame.

What got me thinking about this is that I often underestimate how my own energy and inclinations can affect others in the house. If I am upbeat, it tends to ripple through the family. If I am snarly, well, guess what, snarly comes back to me. Last week, I was all a bustle. I was up on time, took time for my devotions, exercised, got lots of stuff done here at home...was a whirlwind of activity. And what I saw was my children exercising, reading their bibles, and getting their school work done in a timely manner.

This week...well, this week has been much less energetic and as rats followed the Pied Piper out of town, my children have followed me into my 'not getting much done' mode.

So, when we see our children behaving in ways we wish they wouldn't, it is best to look at ourselves, because in all likelihood, they are just being our living mirror. On the bright side, when they do something that makes us want to beam from ear to ear, we should pat ourselves on the back...because we probably did it first.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last year I made a list of 100 things I would like to do before I die. I published it on December 31, 2008. In the last year I have accomplished some things. I would like to have accomplished more, but I hit a couple of biggies! And there are wonderful things we did this last year that weren't on my list.

Added awesomeness:

1. Going to the beach with someone who had never ever been before.
2. Going to Sea World for the first time.
3. Petting a koala bear.
4. Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef.
5. Petting a kangaroo and a wombat.
6. Watching my daughter hold a python without fear.
7. Having my first born son turn into a teenager.
8. Watching my daughter start her first business.

1. Visit Hawaii


2. Visit the Pyramids


3. Visit Greece


4. Visit Australia - Completed September 2009


5. Visit Disney World


6. Visit The British Isles


7. Visit Germany


8. Visit Switzerland


9. Take a cruise to Alaska


10. Take a cruise on a paddleboat


11. Spend a romantic weekend at The Poconos with Daniel


12. Take some art classes


13. Learn how to play the piano


14. Exercise regularly


15. Visit the Statue of Liberty


16. Take a train trip across the country.


17. Learn how to quilt


18. Play with my grandchildren (when I have them)


19. Go on a camping trip


20. See a play on Broadway


21. Go on a safari


22. Learn how to snorkle - Completed September 2009


23. Play a marathon game of monopoly


24. Go skinny dipping


25. Meet a President of the United States


26. Ride in a gondola in Venice


27. See a total eclipse


28. Get a lottery ticket that wins more than $50


29. Visit Yellowstone


30. Spend a night in a museum


31. Volunteer at the library


32. Go to a Pow-Wow


33. Become a certified Paralegal


34. Go Deep Sea fishing


35. Participate in an archaeology dig


36. Go to space camp


37. Ride through the snow in a horse drawn sleigh


38. Hit a Jackpot in Vegas


39. See a ghost


40. Spend a weekend on a sail boat


41. Buy a stranger a meal at a restaurant


42. Spend a week on a houseboat


43. Walk on a beach by moonlight


44. Get a makeover and have a photoshoot


45. Have my portrait painted


46. Spend a week at a secluded beach


47. Find a hidden treasure


48. Drive a Lambroghini


49. Spend a winter weekend at a ski resort


50. Attend a grand ball


51. Visit the White House


52. Go to a drive-in theater with my kids


53. Act in a play


54. Visit the Aquarium in Atlanta


55. Live in a Victorian House


56. Take a ballroom dance class


57. Join a book discussion group


58. Serve at a soup kitchen - Completed April 2009


59. Learn how to Square Dance


60. Whale Watching


61. Get flowers for no reason


62. Eat a meal prepared by a world class chef


63. Build a snow fort with my kids


64. Ride on a motorcycle


65. Spend a week working in a planetarium


66. Have a white Christmas


67. Fly in a helicopter


68. Meet Johnny Depp


69. Sing a solo in front of an audience


70. Renew my wedding vows


71. Eat a dish that involves truffles (you know the really expensive truffles) - Completed September 2009


72. Purchase and restore a 1975 Monte Carlo


73. Purchase and restore a 1984 Monte Carlo SS


74. Learn to play handbells


75. See the Changing of the Guards in London


76. See the Northern Lights


77. Visit Antarctica


78. Visit islands in the Carribbean


79. Be Queen for a day - not with the decisions, but with the trappings


80. Make a really good snowman - Completed March 2, 2009 12 inches of snow storm


81. Fly in a private jet


82. Go to Oktoberfest in Germany


83. Go to a big New Year's Eve Party


84. Go to an adult Halloween party


85. Visit the White House


86. Live in a penthouse suite for a week


87. Ride first class on a trip overseas


88. Save someone's life


89. Sit on a jury


90. Visit Hershey, PA


91. Meet Stephen King


92. Go to a mystery dinner theater


93. Go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras


94. Visit a Presidential library


95. Go to a Christmas Eve Midnight Mass


96. Spend a night in a haunted house


97. Visit the Ozarks


98. Take a year travel trip across the U.S. in a RV


99. Have a surprise birthday party


100. Publish a book

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday was a Red Letter day for Katrina. But first let me back up a bit.

For years, my daughter has been hounding me with ideas for her own business. She wanted to build a lemonade stand here in the neighborhood (understand, we have only a few neighbors, not really enough to make that endeavor worthwhile.)

She gives concerts and sells us tickets to come see them. She offers to do extra chores for cash. She will make handmade items and then try to sell them to us. She has talked about setting up a website and selling stuff through it. The problem with her selling us stuff is that...well, we aren't repeat customers. We each buy one of her items, but then we don't want to buy anymore and then she is left with unsold stock.

Last spring we suggested she try a bubblegum machine. I owned 8 vending machines back in the mid 90s. I made some money off of them, but once I had children, the time and money spent seemed less worth it. Places went out of business and I was looking to make way more money than what I was making. But what I was making would be more than enough for a 9 year old girl.

So, Katrina asked our hairdresser if she could put a bubblegum machine in her shop. Mandy gave her permission, but then the whole idea was put on hold. For those of you who are here with any regularity, you know we have been traveling a lot this year. We didn't want to be gone and abandon her machine for weeks on end. So we waited.

She didn't say anymore about it, but when I was thinking about what to get her for Christmas, I thought the bubblegum machine would be a perfect gift. It would get her started on her first real business adventure and it was a way better gift than the same amount of money spent on Littlest Pet Shop. I was thrilled with The Gumball Machine Factory. Their prices were good, their product (once it arrived) is well made and I was able to have them put a decal on the front of her bubblegum machine. She was so excited to get this gift. And for the few days it was in our house, she did a good business from visitors!

So, back to yesterday. We took the vending machine to Lakestyles and she watched with pride as Mandy was her first non-family customer. Here is a photo of Katrina and Mandy with the bubblegum machine in place.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December has been a busy month. We had a Christmas Cookie Party, 4-H Christmas party, gatherings with family and friends, shopping, cooking, decorating, and playing in the awesome snow. Since pictures are better than words, here are some at my Flickr account for you to peruse at your leisure!

I have a brief video, but it was too big for our poor Hughes Net Connection to handle. I'll try to upload it next time I am somewhere with a better connection!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As you may or may not know, Daniel's contract with State Farm ended the end of July. We had orginally anticipated that it would last until the end of December. We probably would have gone out this last week to pack up his stuff and bring it home today.

Well, here's what we missed out on by his contract ending early:

This is the building he was staying in. On the bottom floor. We are glad no one was hurt and we are glad that we weren't there for that.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 2:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow...I can't believe I haven't been by here for about 6 weeks. First it was getting back being at home after having been gone for so long. And then there was the fact that after all the blogging while we were gone, I was pretty tired of blogging. Once we got resettled in from our trip, it was right back into life...school work, piano lessons, church, and 4-H... Daniel has been home since the end of July and that always keeps life busier too. And then there have been my commitments to 4-H and the youth group fundraising team. Just seems like there is always more than enough to do and never enough time to do it all in.

Add a newly found love of Farmville, Fishville, Cafe World and Country Life into the mix, plus reading, plus doing some work for Daniel, plus getting the house ready for Christmas and the family gatherings and there just hasn't been much time to turn around.

But, I thought I should stick my head up, write a few words and say Merry Christmas to anyone who might drop by!

And, just to make up for lost time, I am going to post some recipes you might enjoy! But that's the next post!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yep, here we are, getting down to the wire. In about 39 hours, we will begin our flight which will take us from Lynchburg, VA to Atlanta, GA to Los Angeles, CA and then to Sydney Australia. When we arrive in Sydney, it will be Saturday morning there and Friday evening here on the East Coast.

Tomorrow, our calendar is cleared so that we can pack. I don't think we will need the whole day to pack, but it is good to have that time for the unexpected...hopefully there will be less of the unexpected tomorrow than there was today.

We were up and left here at 8 am as Jack had an orthodontist appointment. On the way there, we dropped trash at the dumpster. Jack's appointment took a little longer because one of his brackets had come loose last week and so that had to be replaced. Then we headed to Lowe's to return some of the things I had purchased that we ended up not needing (extra floor tile, unopened box of nails, one piece of quarter round). Meanwhile, Daniel was at home in case the plumbers came to finish the work we had originally called them about (air in the lines - they are waiting for parts to arrive). Next we went to Joann's as I needed more green felt for the napkin rings the youth group is making for a craft sale. I was very pleased to find it was 50% off!

Continue reading "The Day Before We Pack for Australia" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The last ten days have been busy as we have been tying up loose ends to get ready to go to Australia. The plumbing disaster was threw a bit of a monkey wrench into things as it added a bit more stress (house rearranged due to stuff having to be moved out of bathroom and laundry room, having to be here to meet the people coming to do the work, the five day of having machines here to dry everything out. Four people and only one bathroom, but as all things, it really wasn't that horrible and we muddled through. We even managed to pull off a successful family cookout on the 6th of September with one bathroom and one of the exits to our home blocked.

But, here we are, three days before we head out, and most things are back to normal. We have new tile in the bathroom and laundry room. The machines are gone. There is quarter round in both rooms that makes it look very nice, The washer and dryer are hooked back up and I am knee deep in laundry now. The leak has been fixed. Jack and Katrina's shower, which hasn't worked for years, has been repaired. The plumbers still have a couple of things to do (the reason we called them to begin with before we realized we had a leak), we have problems with air in our water and they have ordered parts to fix that, but they are slow in coming. The insulation hasn't been returned under the house either. The friend that was going to do it, decided he really didn't want to crawl around in the crawl space with insulation. I can't blame him, but I don't think we are going to be able to have that dealt with now before we leave. Hope the insurance people are going to be okay with that.

Continue reading "10 More Days in Review" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the not so distant past, whenever Jack and Katrina would take a shower, our bathroom floor would resemble a big puddle. Water would be splashed about and the bathmat would be soaked. But finally they got the hang of drying off inside the shower/tub before stepping out and the wet floors dried up. Thank goodness!

Well, then about a month ago, the wet mats started again. This was right after Daniel had come back from Bloomington and I thought maybe he had gotten out of the habit of drying off in the shower. I didn't say anything for awhile (contrary to popular belief, fussing at hubby is not a favorite pastime for me). So...I didn't say anything, just kept changing the mats out and fussing under my breath.

Then we went to Chicago and when we came back, the first person to take a shower was Daniel and the rug was soaking wet. So I confronted him. Turns out, he had dried off in the shower and was surprised when he stepped out on damp floor...the plot thickens...he had been the only one in there. So then we got to poking around and come to realize that the water was coming up under our floor boards! There was a leak under there! Uh oh....

Continue reading "That Wet Bath Mat Could Be Telling You Something!" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 4:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, this past week was another busy one, but busy at home getting odds and ends done.

Things like mowing the lawn. I actually really enjoyed that. There are benefits to only mowing once a month. My grass is greener than most of my neighbors. Also, when I mow, I can really tell that the yard looks mowed and it looks sooooo nice! That's because some of the weeds were two and three feet tall, then in other places were only a few inches tall. That's because our yard is a hodgepodge of really good grass and some really happy weeds!

I also managed to finish making signs for the youth group bake sale we are having on September 5th from 7-12 at Lancer Mart at the corner of 24 and 122. Come by and get some yummy goods and say hi!

I am up to my final year in my video to DVD project. I am glad to see the light at the end of that tunnel. It has been fun watching the videos, but it has also been very time consuming.

Continue reading "Week of August 17th in Review" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, time has sped by again and I have been busy filling every minute of it. When last I left you, gentle reader (I have been reading Stephen King's newest endeavor: UR)... I had spent the first Friday evening of August with Charles, and later Bruce and Ryan as a celebration of my birthday. Things have continued to move along since.

I have spent pretty much every spare minute working on my video copying project. Last week I finished transferring the home movies on VHS to DVDs. Now I am transferring video from DVD RAM camcorder that we had from 2002-2006. Then I will still have 7 disks to copy that I have made in the last year on our DVD camcorder. While the VHS copying was time consuming, I am having to teach myself a whole new skill set so I can set up segments, chapters, whatever you want to call them of these videos. It has definitely been an experience.

The weekend of the 8th and 9th were pretty quiet. We did some more work on Daniel's office. And I took care of some Youth Fundraising and 4-H items that I needed to work on. I also read some, watched some movies and went to church. These are the things I remember...of course it was a whole week ago, so what do you expect?????

Continue reading "Eight Days in Review" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The last week has flown by.

My 43rd birthday was last Friday. My hubby and children sang Happy Birthday to You at midnight while we were driving from Illinois to Virginia. I slept for a couple of hours that morning, but there were birthday calls to attend to and I have a hard time sleeping during the day. So I opened loads of lovely cards that had come in the mail, enjoyed reading birthday messages on Facebook, and began the unpacking process. Katrina and I got most of the stuff unloaded from the truck, but the lock on the u-haul had become jammed during the drive here. We ended up having to get bolt cutters to deal with that particular situation.

Jack and Katrina each had a gift for me that they had sneakily won at the fair. Jack presented me with a Wonder Woman doll and Katrina gave me a cute stuffed bunny and dog. Katrina also presented me with breakfast in bed and made some toll house cookies and put a candle in one for my birthday.

Friday night, we were in bed pretty early...all tuckered out!

Saturday was movie watching day. We began watching the miniseries Taken. This is the Spielberg extravaganza from about 7 years ago. I didn't get to watch all of it when it first came out because I was too dang busy with a 6 year old and a 2 year old. So, we bought it on disk and started watching. There are 10 2-hour episodes. We finally finished watching it today. I found it very intriguing but the ending left me unsatisfied. I wanted answers. Ironically the point of the whole thing was that we are all searching for answers and that is part of life.

Sunday, we attended church in the morning, did some unpacking in the afternoon, then headed to Roanoke to meet Bruce, Ryan, Charles and Joann. Daniel took us all to the Outback Steak House in honor of my birthday. It was most yummy and Bruce gave me the beginnings of a trollbead bracelet. I hadn't heard of troll beads, but Bruce said they are the big thing in jewelry right now. If you haven't heard from them, think a new take on charm bracelets. I like these a little better though as the charms don't hang down and get caught on things. He bought me a bracelet and a two beads - one a blue bead with a gold stripe in it and the other is a lion (I am a Leo). I spent about an hour yesterday perusing their site and making a wish list of the other beads I would like to have. The guys are happy to have this help when it come to gift time!)

After we ate dinner, Charles told me he wanted to take me to see a movie on Friday and we would talk later in the week about it.

Continue reading "Week of Birthday and Busy Days" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have to say that moving is way down on my list of things to do. I think I would much rather have a tooth drilled than move, really! After we left the fair on Wednesday, we headed to the U-Haul place, content that we had filled in all the info on line and it would be a snap. Well, it took about 20 minutes to do the paperwork at the store...get this... even though we filled out information on line about the kind of vehicle we were driving and all, I had to do it ALL AGAIN! Grr.... Then we went out to hook up. Based on when we reserved the u-haul, we thought they would be providing us with a ball. Nope...we had to have one...so the gal suggested going to a nearby automotive sales/repair place.

First I went to the Jeep place, he refused to work on my Nissan, but gave me directions to the Nissan place. They said they would be happy to put it in, but they don't carry balls in stock. So, then I had to drive to the automotive store (right next door to the place where I was to get the u-haul). First we had some miscommunication and he thought I wanted the receiver which he didn't have in stock, but then when we figured out what I was talking about, he had plenty balls in stock for minimal money. Back to the Nissan place and the kind guy there installed it. He had mentioned a bolt, so I figured tools would be involved...there was a pin and a cotter pin....I could have done that. I spent about an hour doing what I could have done in about 5 minutes had I known the proper place to go and how easy it would be to install...LET THAT BE A LESSON TO ALL WHO READ THIS.

Continue reading "Moving is a Pain!!!!" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, July 20th, we were up at 5:30 a.m. We got ready to go and left Virginia around 6:30. Before we left, Daniel told me to drive safely...and what did I do, when backing out of the drive way, I backed into his car and knocked out his parking light (good thing I wasn't going fast)...geez!!!! I almost decided to stay at home at that point as it didn't seem like a good start to me.

As we headed towards Roanoke, I was dismayed to see ominous skies up ahead. By the time we reached Roanoke, we were in the midst of a good old-fashioned gullywasher during rush hour traffic. The rain was pouring down and up (the roads were flooded in places and when we drove through the enormous puddles, the rain came up as well as down). Had the windshield wipers on full blast and everyone was going 10-20 mph under the normal speed limit. Boy, was I glad when we drove out of that...and I was still debating the wisdom of this trip.

The rest of the drive was beautiful. We drove across West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and into Illinois without incident. We stopped every couple of hours either to eat or get gasoline or just to stretch our legs. We arrived in Bloomington at 9:30 EST. We got unloaded and of course Jack was busy trying to get his piece of home here...computer on, XBox working....you know the important things!

Continue reading "Day 1 and Day 2 of Illinois Trip" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On July 19th, 2009, we had an amazing day of sadness and joy. Our pastor, who has pastored our church for 18 years, was giving his last sermon at our church. Pastor Tim also teaches my Sunday School class. We were able to get through the class without anyone being sad.

The service however, was a bit more difficult. Deanna presented Pastor Tim with a plaque for 18 years of service and they were both a bit wet-eyed. Then our choir director had handed out the words to the song Friends by Michael W. Smith.

The congregation sang this song for Pastor Tim and his wife Ruby while different members took the opportunity to walk up to them and give them a hug. This was a very teary and special moment.

After Tim's sermon (1 Corinthians 13) which was full of our love for one another and reminiscences, we had a baptism. There were 5 children baptized. One young man, had been baptized when he was younger, but he told Tim that he didn't really feel like he knew what he was doing at the time and he wanted to be baptized again. The other four children, including Jack, had at some point or another asked Jesus into their hearts, but for one reason or another had not gotten baptized yet.

Jack receives his bible and certificate.
Jack gets baptized.

After the service, we had a farewell meal for Ruby and Tim. They will be sorely missed. We are all looking forward to seeing what God has in store next for us and for them.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No lazy summer days here...though we are fitting in tons of summer fun:) Since coming back from the beach, we have been doing school work (trying to get ahead to make up for when we go to Australia in the fall).

Jack spent five days at Go Tell Camp with other youth from church. He came back happy, tired, and full of stories about the inspirational messages he heard while he was there.

While Jack was at camp, Katrina's friend, Kaley, spent most of that time with us (and many days thereafter). The girls have been taking full advantage of summer and enjoying being able to visit and play as much as they want to. One day while Jack was at camp, we met some 4-H friends and went swimming at Miller Park Pool.

For the 4th of July, we planned to go on a cool hike that is held every year here in Bedford County. It is a sunset hike up to the top of Sharp Top Mountain. . Normally there are two ways to get to the top of Sharp Top. Ride a bus that lets you off near the top or hike up from the bottom. I have never ridden the bus, we have always hiked. On the 4th of July, they let people walk up the road to the top. Once at the top, you can see fireworks displays from a multitude of surrounding communities. However, the weather deterioriated and we weren't looking forward to driving an hour only to be told the hike was cancelled or worse, get on the top of the mountain in a Thunderstorm...so we stayed home and lit up our own fireworks. We did fireworks for an hour and had a blast. One of the benefits of living on a country road!

Continue reading "Busy At the Markhams" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Summer has always been a time of mystery to me. I remember the old Country Time commercials where they showed people sitting on front porches enjoying a cold glass of lemonade or children playing in the local swimming hole or father and son fishing from a bridge. My summers were never like that.

When I was five my mother went to work and I spent summers with babysitters. The sitters were only watching me and didn't have other children. I enjoyed reading and playing in the fields, but overall, summers were lonely times for me. I longed for school to be back in session so I could see my friends. When I was about 12, I started staying home alone. The upside of that was that I was in my own house and had more access to things that kept me occupied. Plus a couple of years, my parents got us a membership at a pool. They would come home at lunch and take me there for the afternoon. I loved those days spent swimming and among other kids.

We didn't take vacations when I was a child. I can remember a couple of short trips, but overall summers were just months to be endured until school began again.

Continue reading "Summer is Flying By" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First the shameless plug. I mentioned awhile back that Daniel and I are working on a new business venture. I am learning a lot in the process. Have you ever heard of neuropathy?

Neuropathy is simply described as nerve damage. Nerve damage can result from a lot of different things such as trauma, injury, diabetes, toxins. Diabetes is the leading cause. The nerve damage means that people either experience feelings that aren't there (like you feel pains when nothing is wrong). You can also feel numbness - lack of feeling in your extremities. This can be particularly dangerous. You could injure your foot for example and not even know you have done it. So, if you have problems with numbness or tingling, you might want to check out the website for more information.

Now, there is a beach story that I forgot to share. Our last morning there, we got up to take an early walk on the beach. We wanted to take pictures of the sunrise and enjoy a last quiet walk in the surf. Then we planned to get all of our stuff packed into the car early to avoid the inevitable rush of people leaving and people coming in.

Continue reading "Another Shameless Plug and a Story of Teens Run Amok" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the spring of 2000 we were looking to move. We had been looking at West Virginia. Great real estate prices, more snow, and an airport nearby so Daniel could get out to travel for work. I was also very pregnant. Katrina was born in April. Around that time, Daniel stumbled on a beautiful 200 year old, 16,000 sq foot plus home, Willow Wall, which was up for sale.

Over a 4-6 week period, Daniel made three trips to Willow Wall. Once on his own with Bruce, once with my father and Uncle Jimmy and lastly with me. This home was beautiful. And the history. We have pictures and videos that we took and made during our forays there. My father told me yesterday that when he and Uncle Jimmy met with Colonel Ivan Harris at 10 a.m., they broke briefly for lunch, then the tour continued on until 3 p.m. Not only was the current owner, Colonel Ivan, in love with this house and its history, he passed that on to my husband. Daniel became driven by his desire to own this house. He read about McNeill's Rangers, and he dreamed of what it would be like to live in this beautiful home with all of its history.

Continue reading "Willow Wall - A Place of History" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We had fun last week. On Wednesday, we met with some homeschool friends at a nearby park. The kids never get tired of running about or riding their scooters around. Afterwards, one of the homeschool families had invited us to their home for snacks and a tie dye shirt/sock session. I have always wanted to do tie dye, so I was tickled to get to go! All we had to bring were shirts.

We arrived at their home and immediately got to work. First, Ginger told us how to tie up our shirts with rubber bands to get different designs. I chose a polka dot design. Jack, Katrina and Katrina's friend, Kaley, all chose the swirl design. So after we put on the rubber bands, then we put the shirts in a soda ash solution. Ginger didn't say, but I think that was to help the material take the dye better. While the shirts soaked for about 30 minutes, we enjoyed a hotdog, chips and cookies.

Then it was back to shirt making. after the solution had been squeezed out, we began putting dye on. After we had dyed them to our satisfaction, we put them in ziploc bags to bring home. Then Thursday morning, we rinsed them off with the hose, and put them in the wash. They turned our beautifully. I'll have to get my hubby to take a photo of me and the kids this coming weekend so I can show you what it looks like.

Continue reading "Tie Dye, Visiting, and Friends" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 2:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We had a lovely visit with Daniel's family this weekend. His mom and stepfather are up from Florida visiting and we had a cookout so everyone could get together and visit. Our guests included my sister-in-law and her family, our two oldest sons and their significant others, Daniel's uncle and aunt, and our next door neighbor. Everyone began arriving around 1 and some stayed as late as 9.

We always are happy when we get to spend these times with Tess and Johnny. None of us are getting any younger and we count each time we are able to see them, a blessing. Their age makes us more aware of their mortality, but you know the same is true for anyone of us that was there. It is so important for us to appreciated the moments we have with those we love, because there are no guarantees that there will be another. Just think how different the world would be if we all thought about that when we were dealing with family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. I think the world would be a nicer place.

My husband and I are looking into other routes to income to support our family. He has been away for the last 18 months. We do see him every other weekend and we did spend a good part of the summer with him last year, but it is just not enough. We want to find someway that he can make a decent income and do it from home. So we have started creating microsites. I will be sharing links to them from time to time here. Stop by, or not, it is up to you. We are trying to choose topics where we can provide useful information to others and possibly pick up some of the advertising dollars that are floating around out there at the same time.

One of the sites we have created is What is Diabetes?. This one held a lot of appeal to me because it is something I needed to learn more about. My great-grandmother had diabetes and one of my father's brothers has diabetes. I have the additional risk factor of being overweight and I have a sweet tooth that won't shut up. So researching the information for the What is Diabetes website made me feel more informed and is prodding me to do something about those pesky risk factors. Stop by if you are so inclined to see why I haven't had as much time to blog as I used to.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yep, it's been a couple of months since the last good clean and as I looked around at the buildup of stuff in the kids rooms and the dirt in the corners, the mood struck last night. It was all I could do to keep myself from starting cleaing right then and there, but I have learned that the rest of the family doesn't appreciate it when I am vacuuming and cleaning under furtniture at 2 in the morning.

So I...what? What did you say? You are still trying to cope with the fact that I only clean once every couple of months? Well, let me tell you, it has taken me my life time and a total of 3 generations for me to get to this point.

My grandmother was a neat freak. The woman literally cleaned (or had my mom clean) up their house every day. Mopping the floors, vacuuming, etc. This was in a house with three people where two worked and one went to school every day. Gee...how dirty could it get? And grandma never stopped. My grandfather passed away on my mother's 20th birthday. I was born a month later and my grandma was alone in her home. Yet, she still cleaned daily.

Continue reading "The Cleaning Mood Struck!" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I know that I haven't been around much lately. I haven't been blogging or reading blogs. I have been feeling very anti computer in 2009 and not interested in being online more than I have to. I was on Facebook for awhile and it was fun for awhile, now I don't want to go there either. Other things are much more interesting to me these days. So, if you are reading this, I hope you are well. We are well, busy and I'm sure at some point, I'll be back on here more regularly.

I do want to share an experience we recently had. Our youth group has been raising funds so they can go to Go Tell Camp this summer. It is a weeklong bible camp and it costs $250.00 for the week. Throughout the year, we have been raising funds. We sold baked goods at Centerfest in September. Took candle orders in November. Had a chili dinner at the church in February and in April, we did a mission/fundraising project. The youth took one day of their spring break and spent 5 hours working at The Daily Bread.

The Daily Bread is a place in Lynchburg which provides one balanced meal a day for anyone who needs it. People come in and are served. They can eat as much as they want. They can also take breads, rolls and cakes home with them when they leave. There is also a phone where they can make calls from and free books to borrow and clothes and a place to get cleaned up. For the fundraiser, the children asked people to sponsor them for the time worked there. It is one of our most successful fundraisers and it is the one that has the most meaning for the children.

We arrived at 9 am. During our time there, we folded napkins around utensils. Unloaded donated bread and drinks. Set up the tables with condiments and napkins. Swept and vacuumed and got ready for the guests to arrive. Once everyone was seated, it was the children's job to serve them. We took the guests plates. We took their drink orders. We refilled plates and drinks as needed and we carried about a dessert tray for them to choose from. The children did such an awesome job. It was a wonderful reminder to me of how when we give them true responsibility, they will rise to the occasion. I worked at a table with a young man. I was being vigilant, but he always seemed to be a step ahead of me. I would see a new guest had come in and I would turn to get a plate to serve them and see that N would already be on his way with the food. At the table next to them, I beamed as the lady in charge complimented the boys on their clean work station (my son was on that team). I watched girls who might complain about doing dishes at home, clean up after complete strangers to make room for another guest. For an hour and a half, these children worked hard and they each came away feeling like for a little while they had been able to make a difference in someone's life.

I had a special moment as well. There was a guest who didn't have arms. He ate by putting his head to his plate and picking up his food with his mouth. He was very self-sufficient, but I kept an eye on him to see if he needed anything. At one point, I noted that he seemed to be having trouble with his drink. I went to ask if I could help and he said he was trying to knock some food off of his face (rice was part of the meal for the day). I told him I would be happy to wipe his mouth for him, if he would like and he let me. As I did this, I asked if he was a veteran and he told me he had fought in Vietnam. I thanked him for his service to our country, and his response was, "You do what you have to". As I looked into this kind man's face, I couldn't help but think about my own father who also was in the service during the Vietnam War. Dad never got sent overseas due to a clerical error, but this man sitting here relying on the kindness of others could just as easily have been my dad. It broke my heart and it made me glad that I was able to be there and provide some assistance to this man.

I know we all live busy lives, but if we all just did one volunteer thing each month, think of the differences would could make in this world.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well, we are busy, busy, busy today (of course that isn't too unusual in the Markham household), but today we are extra busy. You see, Katrina is turning 9 next Wednesday. Last year for her birthday, we had a great day out shopping, but this year she wanted to have a party. Not just a party, but a big party. And not just a big party, but a party with a sleepover.... So we started making plans back in January. First the guest list...it ended up with 25 names! Then we looked for a venue. We didn't expect all of those girls to come, but we needed to be prepared and our house was not big enough. So we lined up the fellowship hall at our church.

Then we made up invitations and sent them out. Of 25 people, we heard back from 20 (I was pleased with that) and of 20, 15 were coming! Yikes! So the last few weeks we have been busy getting party items and food and planning activities. So, here's the list of anticipated events.

Continue reading "Big Happenings in Huddleston" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I don't know if it is because warmer temperatures are in the air or if it all started with a lucky find at the local Goodwill, but the kids and I have been busy this last week.

The carpet in our den is old and frayed. It is a main thoroughfare for the house, it is 15 1/2 years old, and quite honestly it is threadbare:) But the den is one of our fullest rooms. There are four filled floor to ceiling bookshelves, three desks (one for me and one for each of the kids), a piano, a printer tower, a recumbent bike, and a couple of other smaller shelves. And since our domicile is overall on the small side, the thought of where we were going to put all of that stuff while new carpet was put down was a bit overwhelming and then of course there was the whole moving of the stuff. So, I found an area rug that covered the worst of the bare spots for 20.00! And now I can look at my den floor without cringing.

Well, once something like that happens other things start happening. I picked up a new chair for Katrina at the Goodwill. Then when we went to my dad's this weekend, we came home with a desk with 7 drawers for Katrina...7 drawers, people! My daughter, who loves to keep everything is sooooo happy! The problem was that where we wanted to put her desk was a horizontal filing cabinet that was no longer in use and a small white telephone type shelf that holds our telephone books and other asundry items. Well, we found new homes for those items, one in the den, and one as a replacement to an old tv cart that sits between our living room and dining room. Now all of our karaoke stuff fits inside the old filing cabinet and it won't be dusty anymore either:) And the tv cart, which still had some life in it was wheeled into Jack's room to help organize a pile of stuff.

So then the outside shots...some cleaning of the sidewalk needed to be done (I should have taken before pictures, but so often I don't think of that until I am taking the after pictures). So the kids went out and picked up dozens of sticks that the dogs had left laying on the sidewalk, and they picked up the remnants of some doggie toys, and they pushed rocks back to where they were supposed to be. Doesn't it look grand (see shots above).

So, now things will settle down for a bit, though I am looking for more area rugs and bookshelves for Jack and Katrina's rooms....

Posted by Melissa Markham at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Ginger got neutered last week and after a very long 10 days of having her under our feet, she is now back outside with Plato (thank goodness!)

I took my first Family Law test Wednesday. I was worried about it, but I am pretty sure I got an A.

The kids got all of their school work done this week.

We are making good progress with their science projects, Art Show projects and 4H Photo Projects.

I took the Xterra today for its yearly inspection and there was nothing wrong with it (hey, it doesn't get much better than that!)

Battlestar Glactica is awesome.

Last week I signed up for Facebook after several of my highschool classmates invited me. Since then, I have reconnected with about 3 dozen high school classmates, a dozen college friends, a babysitter from when I was a youngster, and a couple of co-workers.

Tonight I finished a 5 1/2 hour game of Civilization with Jack. Jack loves playing Civilization. And he knows all the tricks. His strategy is pretty much to rule the world. My strategy is to build all I can and be friends with everyone and win a diplomatic victory. So tonight, I was ahead by about 500 points. I was getting all the wonders built, some just turns before Jack, so he started sending in spies to infiltrate my cities and destroy my advances. Then, he got really frustrated and just decided to bomb me. And since each of my cities only had a couple of military personnel in them, I was falling quickly. So I did the only thing I could in such a situation. I gave all of my cities to Frederick of the Germans....(showed him, didn't I)? LOL!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I am a task oriented person and I am also the type of person who can always think of things that I would like to do or need to do. I haven't been bored since I was in high school and shake my head in wonder when anyone says they are bored...

So this week, I took one more week off from homeschooling, because last week, I spent the week catching up on things I hadn't done all fall. My desk got cleared off and rearranged. I emptied out a file cabinet because we aren't using it anymore and we will be putting a desk there for Katrina. I took down the Christmas decorations and did a bunch of other stuff that I can't even remember now. So I decided this week, I would finish up the few things I had left, then I would spend the rest of the time playing with the kids and my new Christmas presents.

Well, the first snag in that theory was this week, we had somewhere to go every afternoon! Monday afternoon was piano. Tuesday afternoon we had to take Plato to the vet and I had to take care of some business at the bank. Wednesday afternoon, we went to a homeschool game time and we went shopping for groceries and so forth. Today, we had our 4H meeting and tomorrow we are going to visit other friends and have supper with Bruce and Ryan and visit with them some.

Continue reading "Ripping Good Fun...sort of!" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I didn't blog much last month. I was so busy with normal holiday stuff and extra stuff going on (like travelling to Illinois), that there just wasn't time left to blog. So I figure pictures are worth a thousand words and I found a bunch of photos on my camera. I uploaded them to Flickr if you care to go and take a peek.

From a family gathering at Thanksgiving (where we enjoyed the hot tub, the fire pit, good food and Rock Band) to Katrina's first cookie exchange to a week long trip to Illinois to not one, not two but four different Christmas celebrations....you will see we were busy, but having a blast! Things not pictured include two recitals and a Christmas program and a 4-H Christmas party.... And I didn't take any photos of my final two paralegal classes...

But for those of you who want to see the photos, go check out my flickr account. I labeled the pictures to help you know what was what...

There were days where I met myself coming in as I was going out and I was thinking that I might lose my mind, but all in all, while this past fall has been one of the busiest I have lived through, it has also been one of the best with lots of time with family, meeting new friends and realizing that my 'old brain' still could learn.

I am looking forward to busy times ahead and will try to touch base from time to time so you will know that I am still alive and well! Already, I am looking at next week...Sunday night Awanas starts back up, Monday piano starts back up, Tuesday Plato has to go for his rabies shot, Wednesday we have homeschool game day, Thursday we have 4-H and Friday we have plans to get together with friends.....yikes!!!!!! so much for starting back slowly!

Blessings and Happy New YEar!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, we spent our New Year's Eve evening playing Electronic Monopoly (way fun!), Hangman, Halo, and coloring. We toasted in the New Year with sparkling grape juice (and then I stayed awake until 3:30 working on my Viva Pinata Garden!) Don't tell the kids, I made them go to bed at 1:00!

My New Year's Resolution is:

Not to have any New Year's Resolutions this year.

Phew! I have already accomplished it! Yeah me!!!!!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The end of the year is always a time for introspecition and retrospection. When I was a teenager growing up, I would read through all of my previous diaries and remind myself of events that had come and gone. I would also sit and look through photo albums. I don't do that anymore, mainly because it would take days to go through 42 years of memories like that. And because my life always seems so full, I would rather be looking forward than backward. But as I was visiting bloggy friends last week, I stopped by Israeli Mom and that led to the post that I am also posting today, the last day of 2008. That was a list of 100 things I want to do in my lifetime. I used her hubby's list to get started with. She had also used that list and had marked through things she had already done. I decided to create two lists. One of things I have done and one of things I still would like to do.

In 42 1/2 years of life, I have been very blessed and have done a lot of things. This list is of the things I have already done. Just in case someday, my kids are interested in knowing.

1. Visited Paris and other parts of France


2. Spent my 30th birthday in Las Vegas


3. Have flown in a private plane


4. Been to the top of the Eiffel tower


5. Been to the top of the Champs D'lysees


6. Been to the top of the Sears Tower


7. Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch


8. Visited Hilton Head Island


9. Visited Mrytle Beach


10. Visited Charleston, SC


11. Visited Savannah, GA


12. Been to Bush Gardens, Williamsburg


13. Been to Kings Dominion


14. Been to Cypress Gardens (both old and new) in Florida


15. Held a baby crocodile


16. Visited Bangor, Maine and Acadia National Park


17. Visited Winnipeg, Canada


18. Visited Washington, DC


19. Explored Colonial Williamsburg


20. Explored Jamestown and Yorktown, VA


21. Saw the Chincoteague, VA pony swim


22. Saw the Lippizaner Stallions perform


23. Attended and graduated from The College of William and Mary
    
24. Visited Tallahasee, Daytona, Fort Lauderdale, and Bowling Green, FL


25. Spent a weekend in Orlando, FL at the Swan hotel at a conference


26. Visited Alburquerque, New Mexico


27. Visited Boulder, Durango, Estes Park, and Denver, Colarado


28. Visited the Grand Canyon


29. Visited Flagstaff, AZ


30. Visited the Lowell Observatory


31. Have visited every cavern in the state of Virginia


32. Visited Lake Tahoe, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Napa Valley, CA


33. Visited Lake Powell


34. Visited Monument Valley


35. Visited Crater Lake


36. Visited Sunset Crater


37. Visited the Painted Desert


38. Visited the Petrified Forest


39. Visited Chicago


40. Visited St. Louis


41. Spent a week on the shores of Lake Michigan


42. Visited Springfield, IL and the Abraham Lincoln Museum


43. Lived in Connecticut


44. Saw the Rockettes perform the Christmas Spectacular at Radio Music Hall


45. Visited the World Trade Center


46. Toured New York City


47. Visited Boston, MA


48. Visited Newport, Rhode Island


49. Visited Ben and Jerry factory


50. Rode the tram to Sandea Peak, NM


51. Visited Ocean City, MD


52. Visited Cape Canaveral, FL


53. Rode across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel


54. Got married - twice


55. Gave birth to a son and daughter


56. Have seen two feet of snow at once


57. Been flying in a single engine plane - with my hubby as pilot


58. Have visited numerous zoos and aquariums


59. Have had articles I have written published


60. Have ridden a ferry


61. Have had my own business (everything from selling tupperware to having bubblegum machines to selling on ebay


62. Met Mike Huckabee


63. Met Glenn Close


64. Met Jerry Baliles


65. Met Kenny Rogers' cousin


66. Met Mark Warner


67. Have owned my own home


68. Have received a speeding ticket


69. Have had to testify in court


70. Have seen CATS performed live


71. Have seen Les Miserables performed live


72. Have owned a Monte Carlo SS


73. Have been robbed


74. Have been in a car accident


75. Have seen Billy Idol, Chicago, Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, John Mellancamp, Shaun Cassidy, Charlie Rich, and Journey in concert


76. Have owned a brand new car: 1989 Mitsubishi Precis


77. Wild Side Tour in Cave of the Winds in Colorado


78. Got married in the Wren Building


79. Got married in a little church on the side of the Peaks of Otter


80. Have climbed Sharp Top and watched the sun come up


81. Have walked the the beach at sunrise and sunset


82. Have hiked along the Appalachain trail


83. Have been to the top of Pikes Peak


84. Have sang in talent shows


85. Have had my picture in the newspaper


86. Have had my picture (along with Jack and Katrina) in a museum brochure


87. Have been quoted in the newspaper


88. Started a Freecycle List


89. Planned a surprise birthday party


90. Have had broken bones (finger and two toes)


91. Have had surgery


92. Have gone to a drive-in theater


93. Have stayed at a Bed and Breakfast (more than one, actually)


94. Have eaten in a 5 star restaurant (Inn at Little Washington)


95. Have eaten escargot, ostrich, and bison


96. Have cut down my own Christmas tree


97. Have worked as a telemarketer


98. Have worked as a manager


99. Have worked as a Child Development Instructor


100. Have driven a boat on a local lake

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I ran into a fun post at Israeli Mom. She has a list of 100 things that a fellow blogger did and she marked through the things she had done and bolded the things she wants to do. I thought it would be fun to make a list of my own...so here goes. 100 things I would like to do before I die.

1. Visit Hawaii


2. Visit the Pyramids


3. Visit Greece


4. Visit Australia


5. Visit Disney World


6. Visit The British Isles


7. Visit Germany


8. Visit Switzerland


9. Take a cruise to Alaska


10. Take a cruise on a paddleboat


11. Spend a romantic weekend at The Poconos with Daniel


12. Take some art classes


13. Learn how to play the piano


14. Exercise regularly


15. Visit the Statue of Liberty


16. Take a train trip across the country.


17. Learn how to quilt


18. Play with my grandchildren (when I have them)


19. Go on a camping trip


20. See a play on Broadway


21. Go on a safari


22. Learn how to snorkle


23. Play a marathon game of monopoly


24. Go skinny dipping


25. Meet a President of the United States


26. Ride in a gondola in Venice


27. See a total eclipse


28. Get a lottery ticket that wins more than $50


29. Visit Yellowstone


30. Spend a night in a museum


31. Volunteer at the library


32. Go to a Pow-Wow


33. Become a certified Paralegal


34. Go Deep Sea fishing


35. Participate in an archaeology dig


36. Go to space camp


37. Ride through the snow in a horse drawn sleigh


38. Hit a Jackpot in Vegas


39. See a ghost


40. Spend a weekend on a sail boat


41. Buy a stranger a meal at a restaurant


42. Spend a week on a houseboat


43. Walk on a beach by moonlight


44. Get a makeover and have a photoshoot


45. Have my portrait painted


46. Spend a week at a secluded beach


47. Find a hidden treasure


48. Drive a Lambroghini


49. Spend a winter weekend at a ski resort


50. Attend a grand ball


51. Visit the White House


52. Go to a drive-in theater with my kids


53. Act in a play


54. Visit the Aquarium in Atlanta


55. Live in a Victorian House


56. Take a ballroom dance class


57. Join a book discussion group


58. Serve at a soup kitchen


59. Learn how to Square Dance


60. Whale Watching


61. Get flowers for no reason


62. Eat a meal prepared by a world class chef


63. Build a snow fort with my kids


64. Ride on a motorcycle


65. Spend a week working in a planetarium


66. Have a white Christmas


67. Fly in a helicopter


68. Meet Johnny Depp


69. Sing a solo in front of an audience


70. Renew my wedding vows


71. Eat a dish that involves truffles (you know the really expensive truffles)


72. Purchase and restore a 1975 Monte Carlo


73. Purchase and restore a 1984 Monte Carlo SS


74. Learn to play handbells


75. See the Changing of the Guards in London


76. See the Northern Lights


77. Visit Antarctica


78. Visit islands in the Carribbean


79. Be Queen for a day - not with the decisions, but with the trappings


80. Make a really good snowman


81. Fly in a private jet


82. Go to Oktoberfest in Germany


83. Go to a big New Year's Eve Party


84. Go to an adult Halloween party


85. Visit the White House


86. Live in a penthouse suite for a week


87. Ride first class on a trip overseas


88. Save someone’s life


89. Sit on a jury


90. Visit Hershey, PA


91. Meet Stephen King


92. Go to a mystery dinner theater


93. Go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras


94. Visit a Presidential library


95. Go to a Christmas Eve Midnight Mass


96. Spend a night in a haunted house


97. Visit the Ozarks


98. Take a year travel trip across the U.S. in a RV


99. Have a surprise birthday party


100. Publish a book

Posted by Melissa Markham at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

We all have traditions of various kinds this time of year.

Today the kids and I have cleaned up their rooms (got to get them ready for the influx of new gifts). Katrina and I went out for a few last minute items at Krogers and enjoyed being in the hustle and bustle of the day.

We came home and watched Die Hard (one of hubby's favorite Christmas movies). We have watched Polar Express and before the evening is out, we will watch A Christmas Story and The Grinch Stole Christmas. We will read Luke 2, Twas the Night before Christmas, and Santa and The Christ Child. We will listen to a CD of Christmas carols that we have and marvel over songs from centuries past. We will hope the children will go to sleep quickly so we can put the presents under the trees.

This year we are having our neighbors over for present exchange and some Christmas goodies.

Whatever your Christmas Eve traditions are, I hope you are having a blessed and wonderful day with your family and friends!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You know, these flat states are very, very windy!!!! Doesn't matter what time of year it is, there always seems to be a nice breeze, or a steady wind blowing. Today in Bloomington, the winds are roaring through with gusts up to 40 mph! Katrina and I went out for a bit and a gust just about ripped the truck door out of my hands! We are expecting a wintry mix tonight (hey, we can get that at home in Virginia!), but they are calling for an inch of snow and maybe a couple of inches of snow on Tuesday. We head home on Thursday. I have asked Daniel to drive back with us. It is just such a long drive and I don't like driving in this wintery weather.

I am feeling better, though not 100%, but at least I do feel better. Almost human again! Must say the mochas from Starbucks really make my throat feel better!

Today, Katrina and I went out to get a few things. She was looking around on the internet and found a recipe for making some pet treats. So we picked up the ingredients for that. We also picked up her present for Santa as we had forgotten to get that when I took the kids Christmas shopping last week. She has bought a present each year for Santa for several years. An extra Santa hat and various Christmas ornaments. This year, she got five small ornaments that are from the characters in Rudolph-the Red Nosed Reindeer. Santa always leaves her a thank you note. The other thing we were looking for was a winter coat.

I was looking in Lynchburg before we came here to Bloomington. We didn't get a lot of time to look and only made it to Walmart. They had one, yes, one winter coat for girls!!!!! IOt was pink with "Virginia Tech" written on it! What in the world????? There were plenty of coats for young men and I had no problem getting a nice one for Jack. So Katrina and I figured there would be a better selection here in Illinois...and guess what!? We were right, there were rows and rows of coats and she found a very cute pink one that came with a brown scarf and mittens.

This afternoon we are going to go see Madagascar 2. I really want to go to see Australia, maybe sometime over the holidays when Daniel is home.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Well, the Xterra finally seems to be better. First they took it and called me to tell me the head gasket was blown, which as I posted previously, was covered under the generous warranty my mom and stepfather provided. Mom came and picked me up to go get my truck on Friday (yes, I spent a whole week driving the 1988 Suburban...affectionally known as The Tank). We keep it around for snowy weather, hauling big stuff and because it is green and gold (William and Mary colors). But I digress. We got there, the Xterra was ready to go. Thanked Mom for the lift (a big deal, she lives 30 minutes from me and then it was another 40 minutes to the car dealer).

First stop was the bank. I noticed while I was in drivethru that the car was idling rough. Since they had replaced the timing belt, I figured the timing was off and thought I would call them when I got home. As I had a busy day. I needed to get home and make cookies for a cookie exchange that Katrina and I were going to. I continued homeward, but within 10 minutes, it was obvious something was wrong. Different Idiot Lights started flashing, then the ABS light came on and stayed on, but when dim whenever I used the brakes. I pulled into a parking lot and called the garage. After not being able to get anyone in service to take my call. I called my mom back and asked her to come meet us back at the Xterra place (fortunately, she wasn't all the way home yet). We turned around and went back. I pulled into the garage, turned off the vehicle and went to complain...loudly, all the while thinking about the cookies I needed to make. The technician went out to take the Xterra for a drive (so he could see what I was seeing) and the battery was dead! They jump started it and drove it into the garage. Turns out, they had not tightened a bolt in the alternator when putting everything back and it drained the battery. EGADS!

It was almost one o'clock when we got home, and then I had to work on those cookies (we were leaving at 3). Turns out, one should read the complete recipe before actually making the cookies. The dough had to be made, then chilled for two to three hours before the next step! I quickly looked through my Christmas cookie recipes, found one I had the ingredients for, then called the hostess to make sure that no one else was making them (as she wanted no duplicate recipes), no one was, so we were in business. The last cookies came out of the oven at 2:55 pm and we had a great time at the cookie exchange!!!!

Continue reading "Vehicle Repairs, Travelling and Sickness - A Meandering Post" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, technically out of 1015. What the heck am I talking about, you are wondering? Well, on Wednesday night, I received my final scores for my paralegal class. For the semester, we had ten tests/assignments. Each counted as 10% of our grade. On three of the tests, our teacher gave us 5 bonus questions, so the real possible score for the semester was 1015. But for the purpose of the office book keeping records, I got 999 right out of 1000 for the semester! WOW! That grade sure has set a high bar for me for my future classes!

I had the highest grade in the class. I know this because our lovely teacher (I really do like her a lot) gave me a gift and told the rest of the class how well I had done. The next highest score was 975 out of 1000. Then she told the class that my score was why she wouldn't be offering bonus questions next semester...oh dear...that certainly won't go far to make me popular, now will it?

Still I was very pleased and I am looking forward to taking Family Law next semester.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I don't know if you remember, but last year about this time, my beloved Chevy Caprice, that had been a gift from my mom and stepfather, became inflicted with a cracked head gasket. I was limping along, hoping to get the car to hang on until in February when Daniel got paid, so we would buy me a new car. But my mother and Jim blessed us again with another vehicle. This time a 2003 Nissan Xterra. Jim further decided to purchase a 4 year/48,000 mile warranty. I hated him doing that as it added more expense, but it was also nice to have that umbrella.

Fast forward to yesterday. I noticed a burning antifreeze kind of smell when I was coming home from church. But I thought I was imagining it. Then after taking the kids to Awanas, I came home and the smell was stronger, then when I arrived home, I realized that smoke was rolling out under my hood. I figured that I had a busted heater hose or a hole in my radiator. I tried looking around with a flashlight, but in these new cars, everything is stuffed on top of each other and you can't see much of anything!

Today I called the BP Amoco motor club to get the Xterra towed to the Nissan dealer. They couldn't find a local participating tow person. So they gave me permission to have the vehicle towed and they would repay me when I submitted the invoice. Then I called Nissan, got set up with a tow truck and within 45 minutes was waving sadly as I watched my vehicle leave.

This afternoon, I got a call from Nissan....you aren't going to believe this, but I have a busted head gasket!!!!!!!!!!! What are the odds?????? Fortunately, it is covered by the warranty, so we don't have to foot the bill. I called Mom and Jim and thanked thim again for their kindness and generosity last year.

Just so you know, this is the way our vehicles have always done. One year, we had two vehicles that needed new transmissions and then two of them, plus a third, ended up needing a new engine! Do you know what it is like to go through three engines in one year????? Hopefully, we won't end up with anymore broken head gaskets!!!!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Wow! Here it is December! Only 24 days left until Christmas and November went by in the blink of an eye. This month looks to be busy as well with Christmas performances, a week-long trip to Illinois, shopping, baking, a cookie exchange party.... Never a dull moment this time of year!

I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving. We did. My mother-in-law, Tess, arrived Monday from Florida. Thursday, she was here, my sister-in-law, Joy, and her hubby and two sons. Also Bruce,Ryan, Charles and Joann. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese (Joy's specialty), a veggie tray (tossed vegetable tray from Food Lion - awesome), a cheese tray, biscuits, green beans, gravy, yummy sweet potatoes (cooked by Bruce), pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pound cake, and chocolate pie. Our next door neighbor, Ashley popped in for a bit as did Daniel's Aunt and Uncle, Faye and Paul. We ate, we enjoyed the hot tub and our fire bowl and we played Rock Band. It just doesn't get any better than that!

Friday morning, I was up at 3:30. I picked up my neighbors, Ashley and Therese, and we headed to town. By 8, we were done. I got some wonderful deals and this was the first time I had ever gone Black Friday shopping with friends, so that was a lot of fun!

Continue reading "Happy First Day of December!!!" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My children have gone to Awanas for several years now and it is a highlight of their life. Not only do they learn a lot of bible verses and ways to get along with others, but they play fun games and enjoy crafts and they spend time with Christian adults who are kind enough to volunteer their time every week to spend with them.

Tonight, there was a special event at Awanas. We had a Fall Festival. The weather was perfect and we all had fun. We are very blessed to attend a church that has members with such a heart for children.

So without further ado...some photos...

Continue reading "Awanas Fall Festival" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last Christmas, my husband surprised us with Guitar Hero. I tried it a couple of times, but just didn't get it. The kids and Daniel enjoyed it though and played it from time to time.

Well, last night, Daniel surprised us with Rock Band 2. We like to sing Karoake as a family, but it can get a little old, so Daniel thought this would be a great way to spiff up our fun family time. Of course, my first concern was...where the heck is this stuff going to sit when not in use...we literally have no room for it. My second thought was...oh geez...I couldn't play the guitar in guitar hero, how will I ever manage this....

I have to tell you that after about 4 hours of singing and playing last night, I love this game! We had so much fun!!!!!! My favorites were playing the bass guitar and singing. I am awful at the drums. Jack and Daniel and Katrina are great with everything...I think it is because of their piano training.

I am already thinking how much fun it is going to be to play this at Thanksgiving when all of our family is here! Still don't know where I am putting the band stuff when not in use...perhaps it is time to try hanging stuff from the ceiling!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Last Saturday afternoon the kids and I went Five Blessings Farm for their Farm Fall Festival. It was fun. There was an inflatable bouncy thing. We got to feed goats from our hands and we got to see Tickles and Billy (they are doing great in their new home and they are getting to see lots of children).

We enjoyed a hayride and pony rides (Katrina went three times). And there were pumpkins to paint. Katrina decided that the Jekyll and Hyde approach was good. We put out Jekyll during the day, but then turn it around for Hyde in the evening!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Wow...another 10 days have sped by, and I have barely had time to post. So for those who have inquiring minds as to what we are up to, here goes.... (For those of you who could care less, feel free to move on in your Internet surfing).

September 19th-20th - Katrina had a friend come over and spend the night. My neighbors came over and we watched Stephen King's The Shining (the one made for television that is actually way better than the Jack Nicholson one). On Saturday afternoon, Katrina went to FunQuest to skate with her friends. I worked on my paralegal homework.

September 21st - We went to my mom and stepfather's church as he was going to be preaching. Afterwards, they had a birthday lunch. It was very neat, instead of sitting with your family or maybe the friends you always hang out with, you sat with other people who had a birthday the same month you do. Each table was decorated based on the month (red, white and blue for July for instance). I had a lovely talk with a young man named Spencer who regaled me with fishing stories. Then the kids had Awanas in the evening and I did more class work for my class.

September 22nd - school in the morning, group piano lessons in the afternoon.

Continue reading "10 Days in Review" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I am an only child and I often played card games and board games with 'ghost' players when I was growing up.

My daughter sometimes plays by herself too. This morning she was playing Uno...but her opposing partner was the 'computer'! She exclaimed "Man, the computer beat me! I can't believe it!"

Ahhh...the difference of a few generations and lots of technology.

She also came to me yesterday with a form for me to fill out. Katrina is always making up clubs for people to join. Well, this time I had a three page form to fill out. On the last page....there was a security box where some letters appeared with a bunch of criss crosses over them and I had to write down what I saw in order for my application to be accepted....

Hee hee!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last night was a great class. And not just because I got a 98 on the first test I have taken in 20 years... But I was pretty happy about that!

I think I mentioned about the fact that my teacher we started off with, who was a 25 year veteran of paralegal work, had been diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks into our class. We were told her replacement would be a young woman fresh out of law school. Well, our first teacher taught the first four weeks and the thing I liked most about her were her stories that she could share from her many years of experience. Everything else was in the book and she didn't add a lot to that, but I knew the new gal wouldn't have that kind of experience behind her.

Well, let me tell you that last night's class was awesome! Turns out that our new teacher started working in law offices as a teenager. She said she had always wanted to be a lawyer. And when she was a teen, she called around law offices until she found one willing to take her on and let her learn some of the inner workings of a law office. She offered to work for free, but ended up getting paid. She graduated from college 10 years ago. Met her husband, married. Has two children, one 6 and one 5. And just graduated from law school.

She started out our class by introducing herself. Telling us a few minor changes she planned to make to our class. Then she shared a really interesting case that got into a huge ethics dilemma back in the late 70's. Our class last night was about ethics. We were all on the edge of our seats and very involved in asking questions and responding. It was great! We were there the whole class time and while I heard one student grumble about that as we walked out the door 2 hours and 40 minutes later, everyone else seemed pleased. (Our previous teacher vowed to have us out by 9 each night and most weeks we were done between 8 and 8:30 because she needed to spend time with Ms. Moore, our new teacher).

And one more thing...as a paralegal, I have three very important rules to follow(there are more, but these three are big). One of them is that I cannot give out legal advice...not to anyone, friends, family, acquaintances, stangers. But I will share a general something I just learned. Be careful using legal software for legal documents. They tend to be one size fits all and each state has different rules. So do some research in your state before using those documents.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Today was a busy one. One of the things we had to do was load up Billy and Tickles, the bunnies, to take to Five Blessings Farm. We got the bunnies a little over a year ago, but they weren't the pet that Katrina envisioned. They are beautiful and cuddly, but mostly they just eat and sleep and poop. She would try to play with them, but would often end up scratched. And cleaning up a litter box full of poop everyday became very old (as did me having to remind her to do it and coax her to do it and yell at her to do it).

What we learned that Katrina really wanted was a dog. Something that will interact with her and play with her and be more responsive than a rabbit. She has been begging for a dog for awhile, so we told her she could choose. She could find a new home for the rabbits and then get a dog or she could keep the rabbits and wait on the dogs. It was a hard decision for her. Katrina wants to bring home every creature she sees. She loves animals, is tender hearted and wants to take care of them all. So she started picking people that we knew to ask. The first family already had a bunny and we thought they might like to have two more. While they weren't interested, she did give me the name of the lady who runs Five Blessings Farm. After a few conversations, the owner decided she would like to add them to her farm. Katrina was very pleased with this as the bunnies will be part of classroom presentations and field trips and they will get lots of time around people.

So today, before we left, we gathered the bunnies for a photo shoot and thought we would share.

Tune in tomorrow to see what Jack was doing today! And be sure to keep tuned in for more news about upcoming additions to our menagerie.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

There were several reasons for my silence yesterday.

1. We were up at 5 and did all of our pre-school activities.
2. We had school from 9-12.
3. About 9:30, the duct people arrived to assess our air flow, then they said that they would be back tomorrow. I said 'what?' You were supposed to be installing today. After some discussion, we all got our ducks lined up and more people showed up at about 11:00. (And we still managed to get our work done even with the distractions.
4. Spent the afternoon studying for my paralegal class tomorrow night, finishing reading the book Secret, watching the people working on the Heat Pump, and watching the movie Halloweentown High.
5. Last night I watched the movie Gone, Baby, Gone, based on my friend Nikowa's recommendation (more on the later).
6. And my final reason was that Monday night, I was watching an episode from Season 4 of LOST and exceeded our fair use thingy with Hughes Net and they cut my internet down to worse than dial up for 24 hours...

So now you know what I was doing yesterday. And now you get to see some pictures:)

Continue reading "We're Chillin With Our New Frigidaire Heat Pump" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

It has been a busy week here this week. School has gone very well as has our schedule for getting up early and taking care of business before school starts. Well, at least Jack and I are on board. Katrina is resisting the whole thing and we may have to reevaluate her schedule. It doesn’t seem to matter when she goes to bed, getting up early just doesn’t agree with her.

Continue reading "I'm Melting" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Breast cancer is something that all women worry about. We gripe about having to have Mammograms done. We set up pals to help us remember to do self-breast exams. We check our family tree. But when most of us think about breast cancer, we think the sign to look for is a lump. Most of us aren't aware that there is another type of breast cancer that we should be on the look out for. It is called Inflammatory Breast Cancer (or IBC).

What makes IBC so dangerous is a combination of things

1. people, including doctors and cancer research facilities, not really having it on the top of their mind when they are asked about breast issues.
2. IBC is often misdiagnosed when first seen as a bug bite.
3. IBC is very, very aggressive.

I had never heard of IBC until today when a friend sent me an email with a link to a video about it.

Please take a few minutes to watch the video and here are some other links you can check out as well. Being informed is half the battle when it comes to our health. Please share this information with other women you know.

National Cancer Institute IBC Fact Page

Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Mayo Clinic IBC Fact Page

Inflammatory Breast Cancer Foundation

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Back in the late 1970s, a friend and co-worker of my fathers purchased land in northern Bedford County. At first he went in on the property with another gentleman, but eventually, Bob Donovan purchased the complete property for a total of 51 acres backed up to National Forest.

Bob and Dad frequently went hunting together and Bob and his family enjoyed times spent at the cabin. Bob was eventually transferred first to Ohio, then to Canada and then to ABB in Connecticut. In 1994 he was named President of ABB. During this time, Bob still found time to come back and visit his land in Sedalia to hunt. Sometimes alone, sometimes with his family, because even though he left the area, that land meant a lot to him.

Continue reading "A Visit With My Dad and Dianne" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Pictures are truly worth a thousand words, aren't they?

Continue reading "Smith Mountain Lake Photos Part 3" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The first two photos will show you the contrast of the views around the lake. Because I was busy piloting, I didn't get the opportunity to take pictures of some of the beautiful homes there, but every year, there is a home tour where several of the lovely homes are opened up by their owners for tours and the money raised goes to fight Multiple Sclerosis.

Continue reading "Smith Mountain Lake Photos Part 2" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, my internet connection seems to be better today...so I will share some more pictures from our day yesterday.

Continue reading "Smith Mountain Lake Photos Part 1" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, today was the big day...I went to meet with Dr. Diminick to get more information about my knee and try to figure out what we could do to help me rejoin the human race...the moving human race that is!

He spoke with me to get the history, then he read the report I had brought him and viewed the CD of my MRI. He said that there is thinning cartilage between my bones which at times causes the bones to just about rub together. Then there is the torn meniscus.

His recommendations were as follows:

Continue reading "Knee News" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

We had several things going on last week. Rather than do a day by day, I'm just going to share the events of the week.

All week long (Sunday until Friday night) I was working on reformatting my computer, wiping it, reinstalling programs and files and getting everything working again. I did this in my spare moments. It was mostly easy, except for the fact that it took me four times to get Norton working.

Monday morning, Jack began his week long adventure at Central Virginia Community College. They run a week long program in the summer for rising 6th and up students. Jack chose to participate in the Information Technogolies class. Other classes were Nuclear Engineering, Cooking, CSI, Engineering, Medical...all together, about 20 classes. You chose a class and it was 35.00 for the entire week. Jack learned so much and had such a good time and we look forward to participating again next year. He participated in 2 field trips, learned about MP3 files, Adobe photoshop, movies, blogs, searching the web and computer history. Each day I drove 1/2 hour to town and dropped him off, 1/2 hour home, then went back again at 1:00.

Continue reading "Last Week's Events" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yep, some of the days were dim...there were moments of panic and shakiness...periods of hair pulling and screaming...times when I was sure that I would never manage to get this all up and running, but in the end, my genius prevailed!

Really, it wasn't that bad...It is a bit scary pushing the button that wipes out your hard drive, but I had all of my files saved on Carbonite and had all my software piled up to load and all I needed was patience and time.

Unfortunately, this week I was short on time because of plenty of other things on the agenda. What took me two days to do when I got my computer a few months ago, took me a week to accomplish this time.

But now the programs are installed, the files are reinstalled, the emails are answered and the blog comments are answered. And it didn't even require a lightning strike!

The only thing I lost was all of my RSS feeds. But I will build them back up...one cool website at a time!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

First of all, I want to thank all of my bloggy friends who are still stopping by regularly to say hello. With all of our traveling, and now that we are back home, I have so much to do to get ready for our homeschooling to start back up and just getting the house in order and so forth, that I haven't had time to visit blogs like I would like. But my feeds are still reading and I think things will calm down in another week or so and I can go back to be a more regular visitor. Just don't give up on me!

For the next few days, I will be offline. My computer has never been 'right' since I got it. A bad initial install, I guess. Jack and I got the exact same computers at the exact same time with the exact same programs. I loaded on programs and updates at the same time on both computers. His always went well, mine often ran into glitches (remember my hours with Norton?) As time has passed, things have just gotten worse. I lost my cute little sidebar on my Vista desktop where I had rotating photos and the time of day and a little notepad. I have it set up on my computer so everyone in the family can sign in as themselves...all of those users have stopped working, no one else can log in but me. My sound has stopped working. So, I am going to wipe my computer clean. My files are saved at Carbonite and Plaxo, my install disks are lined up and I am ready to do the dirty deed.

So wish me luck. When I am all settled back in, you will be some of the first to know!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

The rest of my birthday went very well yesterday. I received phone calls from my father and my other stepson, Charles. The kids and I dined on ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery for lunch (not a better meal for a birthday!) And I treated myself to a coffee crunch heath cake. Yummy! Daniel arrived about 6:30. The kids and I watched a couple of movies in the afternoon (Sinbad Voyage on the Seven Seas and Opal Dreams). I n the evening we sang Karaoke. All in all a lovely day!

BTW, I can't get to my website right now. I keep getting a message that the internet cannot display my webpage. This is the second time I tried posting this. I am not sure if my web hosting service is having a problem or if it is something else. Let me know, please if you can see my site! Thanks!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

In an army hospital at Fort Gordon, Georgia, at 9:17 pm, I came kicking and screaming into the world.

For the next year and a half, my parents lived in Georgia, then Texas, before moving to Lynchburg, VA when my Dad finished his time in the Army. I have been in the Lynchburg, Va area pretty much ever since. We lived in a trailer, and then a house in Forest, VA until I was 9. The trailer is now gone with a huge subdivision in the fields behind where it used to sit. The little brick house still stands. Then we moved to a ranch style home in Lynchburg, but still on the Forest side of town and in Bedford County (though we had a Lynchburg address). We lived there for until I was 15, when we moved about a mile across the road to a home that we had built. When I was 18, I went to the College of William and Mary and spent my summers at home, except for the summer between my junior and senior year when I lived in Williamsburg with a college friend.

I was married 6 days after graduation.We were college sweethearts, but the marriage only lasted a little over a year. Then I returned home to Mom and Dad's. A year later, I met Daniel and moved in with him in a trailer in Moneta. A year after that his kids came to live with us and we moved to a bigger trailer in Body Camp (both of these places still in Bedford County. A year later, we purchased 5 acres of land for 100.00 down and monthly payments in Huddleston (southeastern Bedford County). A year later (after we had chopped down a kazillion trees), we moved into our current home and come this October we will have lived here for 15 years.

Continue reading "42 Years Ago Today...." »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Sorry that I haven't been around for a few days. I did get in on the bloggy giveaways carnival with some help from my friend Laura, at Laura Williams' Musings.

We spent most of the weekend enjoying our last weekend in Bloomington and getting packed to come back to Virginia. Daniel says the apartment is really lonely without us there. I can tell you that it was a whole lot emptier after packed our stuff up. I didn't think it was all going into the Xterra, but it did...well, most of it - we will be getting the rest when we go back when Daniel's gig is done. We loaded up Sunday, but unlike when we came home the end of June, we weren't chomping at the bit to get back to Virginia this time.

We didn't leave Bloomington until around 9:30. And we spent the night in West Virginia. When we got to WV, we started running into traffic due to road work that was being done at night. After my third 15 minute wait, I decided we were done and we checked into a Wingate outside of Charleston.

The Wingate was very nice. Those puffy bedspreads must be all the rage these days in newer hotels. I want one for my bed...light, but very warm and comfy. We had a good night's sleep and went downstairs for our complimentary breakfast.

Continue reading "Ramblings of a Traveling Mom" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I have heard people talk about Lost and how they can't wait to see the next episode. I never watched the program, though I was intrigued by it. So a couple of weeks ago, when I was at the store looking for movies for us to watch, and realizing there wasn't anything new out that we wanted to see that we hadn't seen already, I spied the first season of Lost.

I thought...what the heck...

Monday, I finally got around to watching the first episode and I am now half way through the first season(12 episodes). What a story! Saeid (no idea how to spell his name) is so cute...and so is Sawyer (love those dimples) and is Kate the lucky one with all these fellows drooling over her. The fourth episode when we find out about Lock's physical problems before the crash, blew me away! And when I thought Charlie was dead, I was not a happy camper as he is one of my favorite characters.

So...here I am...joining the hordes that are addicted to this show....well, at least I am in good company:)

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I haven't just been sitting by the pool and lounging on the beach during this trip...I have been busy reading, watching movies and playing video games, but I have also been thinking about returning to the work force. I want to continue homeschooling my children, but I also want to pursue more education for myself with the plan of going back to work, not only to add to our financial solvency, but to broaden my horizons. The kids aren't going to be home forever.

So I have been reading books and perusing websites and talking to people about job possibilities. The tests I have taken point to the following types of careers for me:

Editing (this is a top choice for me, but all indications are that the job market in this area is shrinking)

Nursing (I used to want to be a nurse, but I am not sure I could handle the bodily fluids aspect and I was not very good with remembering things like anatomy when I was in school).

Continue reading "Pinning Down Career Options - Useful links" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When he returned from Go Tell Camp with his bible under his arm.

Jack had a wonderful time and is already excited about going next year.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have a bloggy friend, named Nikowa, who writes on her blog, Knowledge House Academy. She is suffering from the untimely loss of her 46 year old mother. This is a situation where like Heath Ledger and Anna Nicole.

Her mother was prescribed too many medications by the same doctor that had interactions and led her mother to take her own life. This is not just something that can happen to celebrities, it can happen to our moms, dads, brothers, sisters, brothers, friends, us.

Please stop by and visit Nikowa. Offer your words of comfort and support. And maybe, her situation can help you or someone you love before it is too late.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Two years ago, I signed up for Netflix. DH prefers to own the movies he watches, but there are lots of movies out there that you don't find at the local stores. Plus the whole idea of having movies arrive at my home in my mailbox and being able to choose from thousands of titles was very enticing to me. I have to say, I am enjoying Netflix, even though Daniel refuses to watch any movie with me that I get from there. It goes against his principle...though he will watch movies I borrow from the library, go figure!

Anyway, we have gotten lots of use out of Netflix. The kids and I have found tons of documentaries that we have used in our homeschool studies. I have introduced them to some of my favorite television shows from when I was a kid (Wonder Woman and Star Trek). I have watched movies I have never heard of and shared some Disney classics with them - The Love Bug, The Cat from Outer Space, The Shaggy Dog (the first one) and more. About 6 months ago, I learned about profiles. I set the kids each up a profile and now they go in and pick the movies they want to watch. I get to set the ratings limits. It's awesome. Now when a movie under my profile goes back to Netflix, it picks the next one in line from my profile. If Jack's movie goes back, then he gets sent the next under his profile. This is awesome and a great time saver. I was going in and having to manipulate my list based on whether I had a movie lined up for me or for the kids and manually move things around. I was soooo happy to find the profiles feature.

Continue reading "Netflix Rocks (because they listen)" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Well, I took Kayley and Katrina to Kayley's house about 7 pm last night. Katrina wasn't thrilled about going. She was having a missing mom moment, but I told her she really needed to go because I had a long day ahead on Thursday and that she wouldn't want to be tagging along with me. She called about nine o'clock and said her ankle hurt and that Kayley wanted Katrina to give away one of her Care Bears to her sisters baby and Katrina didn't want to do that. After I talked to her a few moments, she said goodnight and went about her business. Between 7 and 9:30, I did dishes, made a list of things I needed to do, got the trash and recycling together, answered emails and watched a little television. I went to bed about (9:30 and read a book until about 11.

Today I was up at 6. I took Katrina's goggles to her at Kayley's house before driving to Bedford for my knee MRI. I was quickly checked in and after filling out questions about metal in my body and past surgeries, I was ushered back to the MRI trailer. I thought I would have to put on a hospital robe, but I guess because it was my knee, I got to lay down in my street clothes. My knee was placed on a padded thing. I was given headphones that were tuned to the radio station of my choice and was told it would take 25 minutes for the MRI to be complete. During that time I was not to move. I was also given a little bulb thing that I could squeeze if I needed to be brought out of the 'tunnel'. I didn't have to go all the way in, which I was grateful for. I can see how it would be very hard for a claustrophobic person. I listened to the songs and tried to ingore the itch under my nose and the fact that I felt like I was going to sneeze and the fact that my right arm was falling asleep on me.

Continue reading "My 21 Hours Alone and 'Knee Knews'" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Katrina and Kayley are busy enjoying their girlfriend time this week. Yesterday we went to the community pool in Lynchburg. They spent three hours having loads of fun. Then we played at the playground in the park for awhile before spending a couple of hours at McDonald's playground. Since pictures are worth a thousand words... I'll show you how much fun they were having (yep, I'm still loving my camera).

Continue reading "Fun at the Pool" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I just realized I haven't blogged in two days! What the heck is up with that???? Where has the time gone? Well, mostly I have been enjoying being at home.

Sunday, we went to church and it was lovely seeing all of our friends that we hadn't seen for a month. It was a special service as we ordained two deacons. There was a meal afterward and we were torn between staying for it and heading home to do some things before going to Roanoke to see Bruce. We ended up coming home.

We drove to Roanoke to see Bruce and Ryan's new place. It is a very nice townhouse with more space than their last apartment. There is a nice little patio, the neighborhood is quiet, and being the computer guys that they are, they both have their computer desks set up so they can work and watch TV at the same time.

Bruce and Ryan had just adopted two kittens, they are real cuties. Rhonda and Abe were adopted from St. Francis of Assisi. They are full of fun. Here are some pictures:

Continue reading "Where Did the Time Go?" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

You may have noticed that I didn't blog yesterday.....Well, I want to assure you there is a perfectly good reason for that.

Yesterday, I arose early. I had a lot of paperwork to do as two weeks worth of mail had arrived on Friday from Virginia. There were bills to pay, check books to balance (business and personal) and things to review. After I completed that, I spent time catching up on my blog visiting. Then it was time to head to the movies.

Jack and Katrina went to see Kung Fu Panda, while Daniel and I went to see The Happening...more on that later.

After the movies, we came home and watched Surfs Up. It was one Katrina had been wanting to see and I had been dragging my feet on because it didn't very good...I should have dug my feet in, but I will talk more about that later too.

Continue reading "Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho...it's Off to the E.R. we go...." »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

As I told you this morning, we headed north to visit two bloggers that I have known for a couple of years....but only via reading their blog posts, their comments on my posts and a few emails sent back and forth. We had a lovely visit with Momanna98 and Abiga.

It was like meeting old friends and getting to know new ones all at the same time. One of the things that was really neat is the fact that we read some of the same blogs! We enjoyed several hours of conversation, a yummy lunch, and watching the children play before we headed back down the road. But don't take my word for it, check out these pictures!

Continue reading "Meeting Old Friends...Face to Face" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Today I was reading an article in Good Housekeeping about a mom whose son was constantly encouraging her to decrease their families carbon footprint. This mom drives a VW bug and keeps her house at a chilly 62 degrees in the winter time. She recycles. She turns off lights when she leaves the room. But when she went to the carbon calculator it informed her that she was using 12 tons more carbon a year than the average family in the United States.

I wanted to get my own number. I have to say, I was surprised. As you know I was gifted with a SUV this year, not exactly friendly to the environment, but it was a most wonderful gift. My number showed that we are only 6 tons over the national average.

Now, my gripe with this little calculator is this....

Continue reading "ClimateCrisis.net Needs A Better Carbon Calculator" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday was a busy weather day here and at our home back in Virginia. We woke up to tornado watches and grey skies. I watched the radar which was showing a line of severe weather headed our way. I took some precautions...I showered, dressed and we each put on our shoes in case we had to head to the shelter. I kept watching the line of storms as they headed towards us. As they hit Bloomington, the reds began to fade into yellows and while we had some rain and thunder, it wasn't bad at all. I felt a little silly about being prepared, but I figure, better to feel a little silly and have nothing happen, than the opposite.

Since the weather was not cooperating for swimming, we decided to go see Prince Caspian. I just want to say the movie was well done and we all really enjoyed it! I wonder which movie they will do next.

Continue reading "Prince Caspian, Tornados and Lightning Shows" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I was up at 5:15 this morning. What the heck is wrong with me? It is bright here very early and I don't sleep well once the sun comes up. And I didn't sleep well last night which didn't help either. It was one of those nights for restless tossing and turning. Hate that!

So anyway, got up, answered some emails, took a shower, and got the kids up. We left the apartment around 7:30. We wanted to be gone when the maids got here (they arrived at 8:30 last week). We planned to go to McDonald's for breakfast and play in the play place (Katrina picked it out as her choice for our breakfast out). Daniel called when we were there and told me Bloomington had been put under a tornado watch and for me to keep a lookout. He also said, I should try to get my running around done by 11-11:30.

We left McDonald's at 8:30 and drove to State Farm to meet Daniel for a tour. We toured around from about 8:45 to 10:00. The place is huge.

If you go to Google Maps, type in Ireland Grove, Bloomington, IL. You will see the number 28 and to the left of that you will see a body of water. That is the pond next to the State Farm complex. All the buildings to the left of the lake are part of the complex (there is another huge building a couple of miles down the road). Each building is four or five stories tall and several have a floor underground as well. NW, you will see Angler's lake. The apartments we are staying in are south of the lake. And you can zoom in for better views. Google maps is cool.

Continue reading "Tornados, State Farm, and Errands" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday was a hodgepodge of activity. I started out the day by watching Mary, Queen of the Scots. I have been enjoying watching a variety of movies about that time period in English history. The movie had lovely costumes and was well done. After that, the kids and I piddled around for awhile and they took care of their piano/typing practice and did their math. We went up to the Dollar Store and picked up goggles and pool toys.

Word of Advice...the goggles at the Dollar Tree are not worth the 1.00 that the Dollar Tree charges for them. I get lots of great stuff there, but the goggles were not great!

Then we headed to the pool for the afternoon. There's nothing better than getting into an 85 degree pool...until you step out into the 74 degree busy day! Something I thought really cool was the music they were playing at the pool. They were playing country music. People here are laid back, don't seem to be in a hurry, and are very friendly.

Still, we enjoyed our time at the pool and ran into our new friends from the previous day. We found out that it was going to storm on Friday. (BTW, I started this post early this morning, but things got in the way, so here it is 7:16 pm CST and I am finishing that post). Did I mention the pool is only a mile from our apartment? I soooo love that! I have to drive a mile to get to the hard surfaced road!

Continue reading "I Could Get Used to This" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday was a quiet day for us. We watched some videos the kids had borrowed from the library. The kids practiced piano and touch typing. We all read some. Katrina worked on her multiplication tables while Jack did a few math problems. Then we played a game of Monopoly.

Jack's strategy is to buy the side of the board with the most expensive properties. My main strategy is to buy the side of the board with the cheapest properties. But I also buy anything else I step on for trading purposes. I am not sure what strategy Katrina has. Jack was out of the game first. He could have one, but he made one mistake. Instead of putting houses on his blue properties the minute he had both of them, he held off, trying to wait until he had enough money to put on hotels. He could have wiped Katrina and I out early on... he says he didn't want the game to end too quickly.

So, after Jack was knocked out, it was between me and Katrina. I probably would have won, though she did have some good properties that she had hotels on. She didn't have as many as me, until she landed on free parking which had grown to over 2500! That and her shrewd purchases led her to the winner's circle.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

No, I am not referring to the group, Rolling Thunder, whose major function is educating Americans about MIA-POW issues. This group is also dedicated to helping all American war veterans. I am thankful that this group exists though.

And I am not referring to Garth Brooks' song Thunder Rolls.

But, I did think of Garth Brooks' song last night when I was awakened at 3 a.m. by the flash of lightning and the roar of thunder. I have always liked that song, but never understood how long thunder can roll until last night. At home, in our hilly world, thunder will rumble sometimes for 20 seconds. But last night, the roar of thunder lasted for a minute, I bet. I was pretty sleepy, so I wasn't actually counting. My hypothesis is because the land is flat here that the sound can travel longer without bumping into stuff and diminishing.

I admit to being a tad spooked. While I am not sitting around dwelling on it, the signs for tornado shelters abound here in Bloomington, and one cannot help but be aware.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Last night the children participated in their end of the year piano recital. It is a big deal and we were there for about two hours. I am disappointed because while there, my digital camera slid off of my lap and the batteries popped out. I put them in and took several photos. What I didn't realize is the memory card popped out, so they were taken on the internal memory of the camera. So I have a few pictures (all of Katrina), and the ones of Jack are trapped on my camera. I tried to download and install the driver today, but was unsuccessful. I will try again so you can see the rest of the pictures.

Before we left, my neighbor was visiting and she did a wonderful job with Katrina's hair.

Here she is from the front. And if you look closely, you will see Jack at the piano practicing and talking with their music teacher, Mrs. Booth.

Continue reading "Piano Recital: Awards and Photos" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Have you ever noticed how as the day goes along, your hearing seems to get worse?

For example, you watch a movie before going to bed, then you get up in the morning to watch another movie or to watch the news and the volume blasts you out of the house! Is that because over night your hearing gets a break and 'repairs' itself a bit? Or is it because by the end of the day the volume in the house is so loud, you have to turn up the television volume to compensate, but in the morning it is nice, quiet and calm and the volume on the television can also be quiet and calm?

Inquiring minds want to know....

And then there is the whole hearing and aging mystery. When I was younger, I could hear a device my parents had installed in their chimney that emitted high pitched whistles to keep birds away. Now I have a hard time hearing a person talking on my cell phone....

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I hope all of you moms are having a wonderful holiday! I hope that your families are giving you a day of pedastel treatment. Fixing your meals, letting you choose what you want to do, rubbing your feet and showering you with flowers.

Yesterday, I received these lovely flowers from my hubby and children. They have a lovely balloon connected.

Today, my children woke up and told me I had to stay in my room with the air filter running to block out sound. About an hour later, they appeared with breakfast and a recording they had made. For breakfast, there were waffles, a cup of chocolate pudding and a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie (which Jack made yesterday and they are awesome!).

The recording was Katrina singing a song she had made up for me telling me how much she loved me and how she would do things for me and how we would always be together. Jack periodically chimed in. Jack played a couple of songs on the piano too.

We went to my mother's church and surprised her for Mother's Day. After church, they had cake and punch to celebrate the day and to show their appreciation of a leaving pastor (from a nearby church). They also gave the mom's tons of roses.

Now I am here with my kiddies watching movies and enjoying a specatularly Happy Mother's Day.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 4:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am very bad about getting people to do what they promised to do. I don't like confrontation.

A couple of weeks ago, we hired a fellow to powerwash our deck and restain it. He came that day and got started. The next day he did the staining and then he was done. I wasn't totally pleased with how it looked. There were these splotches. And the best we can figure is that it is from the paint stripper that he used to take up the old paint - there are these splatter marks, like it was thicker in some places and took away more of the paint than in others. He also wanted to get it done right away and didn't pay any attention to the weather. Even though the stain was dry that afternoon, that night it started raining and rained for the better part of the week. I think it washed some of the stain away.

So we were just going to redo it ourselves, but when I was at Lowe's looking at stain and such, the guy there told me that I should just call the guy and tell him. So I screwed up my courage and did it. I mean afterall, we didn't get what we paid for. So I called him and told him I was unhappy with the way the deck looked and would he please come by so we could figure out what to do. I didn't make any threats or anything. He said he would be by in two days (he was busy with other work right then).

Yesterday he came by as promised and he couldn't believe the way the deck looked. He said he had never seen anything like it and if it had been him, he would have called and said something too. He said he wanted me to be happy with the work he did and he will make it right. We are going to pay for more stain, but he will apply it for no additional charge.

Asking to receive the service you paid for is okay. That is my motto for today.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday, Nibbles, brother to Ella, beloved hamster of Jack, passed on peacefully yesterday. Now Nibbles is scampering about in hamster heaven, young, happy and whole...chasing little girl hamsters and checking out every hamster wheel he passes.

Nibbles will be placed to rest later today in our pet graveyard. We will find him a lovely box, line it with soft material, give him a few snacks for the journey and say our last good-byes.

Jack loved Nibbles, but says he doesn't want another hamster.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today, I took Jack and Katrina to the dentist. With Daniel working, we are trying to get all of that normal healt care stuff done. It had been three years since the kids had been to the dentist. We were a bit concerned about Jack's teeth as he has a large gap between his two front teeth.

Well, the good news is that their teeth are in excellent condition. They were both complimented on what a good job they are doing taking care of their teeth. Then I was told that Jack's bite was of concern and that he probably has too much space in his mouth, so on Monday we get to go to the dentist. Several of Jack's friends have braces (is it just me or do more kids seem to have them these days than when we were growing up?). Jack is already listing the things he won't be able to eat if he gets braces....

We are already thinking about the bill...

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hey out there, internets! I have been doing Fabulous Freebies for a couple of weeks. And while it is way fun, I am in a readjustment period. I am spending way too much time blogging and reading RSS feeds. Last week when I was working on the computers and not blogging much, I felt like I was really accomplishing something. The time I spend on the computer doesn't make me feel like that. It does make me feel like I am in connection with the rest of the world. But is virtual connection in my best interest? I am not sure.

When I first returned to bloggy world, my sole purpose was to leave a record for my children and to keep track of stories that I found to be of interest. Then I was involved in a couple of things that increased my readership and that was very exciting. Then I used my blog for money until Google pulled the plug on that and that helped keep us solvent in the fall. Now I find myself spending too much time worrying about how many people are coming by and making sure I go by and visit people's blogs every day and I need to re-evaluate.

If I had been able to continue making money writing posts I would not feel like my obsession with my blog was a bad thing, I would be working. But now that I am not making money with my blog, it needs to be pushed back into its proper spot and I need to spend more time on figuring out a part time job I can take on and still homeschool. Sooooo...I am rambling along to say that while I will be blogging, it will be back to my original intent and while I will visit others, it won't be on a daily basis.

If any of you are still with me and you would like to take over doing the Fabulous Freebies post (either daily or once a week), let me know and I will send you the links and give you the format and a couple of hints.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A few years ago we stocked up on five freezer bags from Sam's. The good insulated ones, not the ones that are more flimsy. These bags cost about 7.00 each and they are a real life saver. When we go to the store, we can use them to keep our groceries cold and frozen while we drive the 30 minutes home (great for hot summer months). These things are awesome! And here's an example of why...

Yesterday was a busy day. In the morning we homeschooled. Then from 12-1 was lunch time. During that time, the mail lady came by with a certified letter pertaining to a matter of our subdivision which led to me having to call an attorney. Also during that time, our new Orkin guy arrived and I had to show him around. Then at 1:00 we left to head into town. I had a mammogram scheduled at 1:45 (fun, fun). When they were done torturing me with what is obviously a MANmade device, we dropped some books off by the library and ran into Walmart. I needed to pick up some ice cream for Katrina's small party tomorrow.

I put the ice cream in one of our handy dandy freezer bags for the 30 minute drive home. I thought about putting it in the front seat because we had been so rushed, and we were in a hurry to get home because my sister-in-law would be arriving in less than an hour and my husband shortly after that, but I thought ....nahhh, I'll remember! (foreshadowing)

So we drove home, listening to Peter Pan in Scarlet on audio CD and me thinking of what I still had to do. We got home, grabbed the mail and hustled inside. It was 3:30 and we had about 1/2 hour before people began to arrive.

Continue reading "The Miracle of Freezer Bags" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today was my daughter's golden birthday. A term I had never heard until recently. She is 8 and today is April 8th. And it was golden indeed.

We have had the best day and the memory of it will long outlast any of the material aspects of the day. My mom had given Katrina money for her birthday and while we had purchased her some gifts, what she wanted didn't use up all of her birthday budget, so I gave her the rest in cash. Plus she got some other money for her birthday, so she had $133.00 in her pocket and was very excited to spend the day with me shopping.

We were all up by 7:30. I let her open a couple of her gifts today. The rest we are saving until her dad is home this weekend and her friend is over to spend the night. That is when we will have cake and ice cream. She received two autographed books and a lovely pendant made by Zuda Gay We read the two books (watch for reviews in the next day or two). No More Yawing by Paeony Lewis and The Fat Stock Stampede at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo by Dotti Enderle.

Once we got some breakfast and got all of our stuff together, we headed out. Jack decided shopping wasn't what he wanted to do for the day, so he stayed here, did his math, practiced piano and played Civilization.

Here is a picture of Katrina with her present pile.

Here are some photos of Katrina with her two new books:

Continue reading "Happy 8th Birthday, My Sweet Katrina" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Well, I had planned to have Freebies up for today, but Hughes Net had other plans for me. Last night, one of the many programs I have had to install on the new computers decided to do some major updating. Hughes Net has a policy that if you exceed their predetermined amount of bandwidth, it is called exceeding fair use or some such. Anyway, when I exceed the limit, they slow down my internet connection to the point where using dial up looks like being on a NASCAR speedway in comparison!

So I can't go out and visit dozens of sites looking for Freebies. Sorry. Tomorrow is my dear daughter's 8th birthday and we are looking forward to a day of shopping and fun. She will be getting her ears pierced and then she has birthday money from us and her grandparents that she will be spending on clothes. She is very excited and wants to go to bed early tonight so tomorrow will hurry up and get here.

For all of you whom have commented I will be in touch once Hughes Net lets me back into the world of Internet! And for those of you I regularly visit, I'm sorry, this madness should ease soon! And for those of you looking for Freebies, I am sorry. I really hope to have some up Wednesday.

Blessings!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last weekend, we had Daniel home with us. That is always a happy time. We also had a belated Easter dinner with my stepsons, Bruce and Charles, my sister-in-laws family, and Bruce's roommate, Ryan. We had a good time visiting. We were disappointed that the weather was wet and cold and we couldn't eat outside, but we made the best of it.

Wednesday, my mom came and stayed with the kids while I went for my yearly physical. I got to meet a new doctor and we had a good chat. I asked her about weight loss plans and she told me about a weight loss program at the doctor's office called Cornerstone. I made an appointment for Friday. Once I got home, we were putting out some mulch and the UPS guy came and delivered our two laptops. I began working on getting them set up for use. The kids and I enjoyed some of the Toshiba games that came with the laptop...unfortunately, they have to be purchased after one free trial. Not fair!!!!

Thursday, we had a long 4-H meeting as the officers met early and they continue to try to get our by-laws worked out. Who know that such a thing could be so difficult!

Friday, I met Kevin, my Cornerstone guide/coach. He used this cool thing to determine my lean body mass and my body fat. We talked some and he presented me with my diet plan which includes shakes and supplements and emphasis on proteins and low glycemic index carbs. I am in day two....I am sleepy, tired, have a killer headache, and adjusting as I go through sugar withdrawal...but this too shall pass. If anyone ever tells you that you can't be addicted to sugar, they are so lying through their teeth!

Yesterday was the big computer push and I got a lot done. I still have a few more odds and ends to work out, but the two laptops are mostly functional. I need to set up Money and Quickbooks (personal and business), but I am having a hard time focusing....heck, I'm having a hard time focusing on posting. Hopefully, I have made some sense:)

Posted by Melissa Markham at 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just a note to say hello. This week, two new laptops arrived at our home. We are very excited as my 3 1/2 year old laptop was not doing very well and Jack and Katrina's 5 year old desk top was getting so slow as to me exceedingly fretful!

So I spent yesterday evening and I am spending today getting these two computers up and running. You know...file transfers, setting up Outlook, installing things like Quickbooks and Office, gathering updates. So There will be no freebies for today. And a good chance there won't be any for tomorrow either. But they should be back on Monday.

I have to tell you I love my new Toshiba. The DVD drive is built in (I hate external drives...one more thing to keep up with). The plugins are on the sides and front of the computer instead of the back. The screen is larger than my other one and I can read this so much better than my old laptop. The colors are great....I am in love;)

I also have a built in web camera as does Jack. Our computers are exactly the same. His camera is working and mine is not. That is on my list of things to fix, but right now I am downloading huge amounts of updates...fun, fun, fun:) Thank goodness I am not having to do it on dialup!

Blessings!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When I was a child, I felt sorry for my best friend. Christie's mom was a firm believer in vitamins and natural foods. While I thought Mrs. Jones made the absolute best bread in the world, I was bummed that we never got to eat things like Doritos. Plus Christie had to take vitamins. She was the only girl I knew who did have to take vitamins and it seemed weird. And I am sure Christie felt a bit weird about it when she had visitors over. Now Christie is in great shape and she is a nurse. Her hubby is a pharmacist and they are probably still taking vitamins.

In the last 15 years, I have learned more about vitamins. My dear hubby is a firm believer in vitamins and can really tell a difference in how he feels. As I have done some reading and listened to him, I have added some vitamins to my daily regimen. I take an aspirin everyday. Heart attacks and blood clots run in my family. I figure it's a good idea to take the aspirin! I take flax seed oil, fish oil, a multivitamin, a calcium/magnesium combo (the calcium doesn't work without the magnesium), and Biotivia Bio Quench. Bio Quench is a super antioxidant supplement. It contains tras-resveratrol, apple extract, Goji Berry Extract, Pomegranate Extract, Mangosteen Extract, Grape Seed Extract, and Alpha Lipoic Acid. Antioxidants are designed to slow signs of aging and reduce free radicals.

When I went for my yearly check-up today, I shared with my doctor the vitamins and supplements I was taking. She said I was making some good choices. It's funny that 30 years ago, I thought my best friend's mother was a bit odd. Now I am making the same choices for myself. She was ahead of her time!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Jack is growing up. He likes it when he gets to stay at home for a few hours by himself. He offers to help with things like bringing in the groceries. The other day he went outside and did five loads of mulch on his own while I was inside watching a movie.

Today he wanted to stay home while we went to town. He asked if he did his chores if it would be okay for him to watch television while I was gone(usually there is no television during the week before 5:00 I told him that if he did five loads of mulch and played the piano, then he could watch his Stargate Atlantis Netflix movie that arrived today. Then I went to take my shower so Katrina and I could scoot.

When we came out, he said the wheel had fallen off of the wheelbarrow on his very first load and so he went and took on another task I had talked about a few days ago He dug a hole in the ground so we could relocate a bird feeder to a new home, then he put the pole into the hole and got it all standing up for me. This is the kind of initiative I love to see in my children and I hope to see more of it as my son grows older.

Now if we could only figure out which of the acne treatments out there would be best for him, and what he should do about the hints of facial hair growing on his lip, and how I am supposed to correct my 11 year old son who is now a tad above eye-to eye with me... They grow up so quickly, don't they?

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

What a day....actually, what a couple of days. I have been hard at work at my blog. On Thursday, I upgraded to the newest version of Moveable Type. At one point I was in tears because I thought when it upgraded, I would see everything and then have a reference point to work from as far as where to put things. But it didn't work that way. However, once Daniel reassured me my stuff was all safe and sound (remember the copies I was busy making?), then I just bit the bullet and got to work. By the end of the first day, I had worked out several things on my own, but my sidebars weren't showing up, my captcha wasn't working and my picture wasn't showing up in my header of my individual posts.

Yesterday we sat around and just enjoyed having Daniel home. He did help me figure out the fifty million steps I needed to go through in order to get my captcha working. You should have heard me whooping and hollering when it was working! But then I found out it was so hard to read, that regular commenters were running into problems. I ran tests and I could get the comments to go through, but that was no good if others couldn't. I wanted to stop spammers, but didn't want to stop my friends!

Continue reading "Moveable Type, Plugins, Sidbars, reCaptcha, and Burning Popcorn" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's been a pretty quiet week, well for us, it has. It was spring break for two of Jack and Katrina's friends, so even though our intention was to do school work in the morning, since we are ahead of schedule for finishing, the only work we really did this week was watch some animated Shakespeare and Jack did math every day.

Monday

No piano this week because of spring break. So Monday afternoon, we took Brandon and Kaylie with us to see the Veggie Tales Pirates movie and National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I enjoyed both movies very much, as did the children (and in between the movies, we ate dinner at Sam's). I love 50 cent Monday at the movies and dinner at Sams. We saw 2 movies for a grand total of 5.00 and our dinner, for the five of us was 19.00 (that was a drink, huge slice of pizza and a cup of ice cream). The kids liked both movies too. My only problem with National Treasure was the whole kidnap issue... I mean why didn't the President just tell them it was a misunderstanding to keep the FBI out of it to begin with...

Tuesday

We had to run to the library and grocery store in the afternoon. I had told Kaylie's mom that perhaps she could come over in the afternoon when we returned. Well, Kaylie's older sister had an ultrasound that morning and her amniotic fluid was low, so they decided to induce. I offered for Kaylie to come spend the night so Cindy could concentrate on her older daugher having a baby. Kaylie, Katrina and I went to the library and ran some errands. I was tickled because I borrowed I Robot. I had never seen it and I enjoyed it.

Kaylie and Katrina had the best time. They ran a cafe. They put on a concert and just played. The day was so beautiful that I read some outside and Jack played outside.

Continue reading "Friday Week in Review" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week, Katrina opened a French cafe. She played a CD I had purchased that was of Parisian music. She set up her cafe and played her music and she felt like a little black paint would complete the scene for us...

I think she looks more like Jack Sparrow instead of a Parisian garcon...what do you think?

Continue reading "Mustaches, Performances, and Easter Egg Hunts" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Another busy week has come and gone.

Monday

Some school work, some other odds and ends that needed taking care of, then we took Daniel to pick up his Cougar from the shop. He hit a deer back in October and it had an oil leak, but it is all fine and dandy now. After we dropped him off, it was two hours of piano lessons, then a trip to Sam's and a trip to Food Lion.

Tuesday

Tuesday, we did our school work, got piano practice completed and then headed for Bedford. We met some friends at a park there (unfortunately, it was freezing) and we hung out for a bit while Jessie reviewed some sefl-defense moves with the kids. Jessie will be getting her black belt last week and she is very good with children, and we really appreciate her doing this. She teaches the children a few simple things and it makes me feel better. Afterwards, we went to a new Chinese restaurant for dinner. Then we went to the Bedford library to pick up some books. The kids watched the movie, The Bee, while I perused the library book sale.

Continue reading "Recapping the Week" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I overslept a bit. The kids and I got ready and off to church we went. After Sunday School, I went around and gave all of the kids a Children's Bulletin that I had made and told them to be looking for them on the table coming in starting next week. They seemed to like them. After church, I spoke with the pastor's wife, Ruby, about next week's Easter Egg hunt. I am in charge this year, but feel a bit funny because I don't know what they have done in the past so I don't want to do anything 'wrong'.

Came home, got Daniel, said hi to Ashley, the sitter, then Daniel and I left. Since Daniel is only home every other weekend right now, and since holidays such as Easter and Katrina's birthday are fast approaching, it was necessary for he and I to go see what we could find in the stores. We had a nice lunch at Olive Garden and successful shopping at Toys 'R Us.

Daniel wanted to stop by Best Buy and check out movies. So we did. On our way there, I told him I had figured out what I wanted for Mother's Day this year. Last year I saved up my money and bought myself a Nintendo DS Lite. I loved playing with it, but when my nephew was very ill back in the fall, I loaned it to him (his family doesn't have much money and he didn't own one). He liked it so much, that my husband's uncle wanted to buy him mine so that Jonathon would have one (but Paul didn't want to have to go to the store looking for one). It worked out well for us because we needed the money at the time and Jonathan needed some entertainment.

Anyway, I have missed my DS, so I told Daniel I wanted a new one for Mother's Day. Usually I don't ask for anything for Mother's Day except for them to do nice things for me and maybe take me out to eat. Well, when we went in to Best Buy, he purchased a DS for me (the red and black one) and a game (Brain Age). I couldn't believe it. He said he didn't want to forget. I told him he should wrap it up and give it to me on Mother's Day, but he told me to go ahead and enjoy it now.

We got home a little after 4. I wrapped birthday presents, then went online to purchase a couple of other things I wanted for Katrina. Then it was time to go to Awanas. We arrived back home around 8:30. I did laundry, washed dishes and now, now, I am going to go play my game Night!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yep, folks, the weather is warming up here in the foothills of Virginia. Not that it was ever that cold this past winter, not that we saw more than 3 inches of snow this past winter...but now that spring is springing about us, we are all happy to get back outside. We are enjoying sitting out on our deck doing school work. We love the warmth of the sun as we sit on the deck reading a good book. The birds are fill the air with their lovely song and the yard beckons us to pick up last winter's debris.

How can one step outside on a sunny 70 degree day filled with a cavorting breeze and happy birds and not want to just sit out there forever and enjoy the blessing of this beautiful and amazing world we live in? Why am I in here typing when I could be out there? It is because of you, gentle reader, that I have taken a brief detour indoors to let you know what's going on in my neck of the woods.

Saturday, March 8th. The children had friends over Friday night. Saturday morning, everyone was up early because Katrina and Jack had to be in Lynchburg at the Gold Cup Competition. 40 minutes to get there, 40 minutes to come home and 20 minutes there... The kids spent the rest of the afternoon playing while I watched Madame Bovary in my room and worked on my granny afghan. After the children had been returned to their families, we did a quick clean up of the house because we were hosting the Subdivision meeting where we would be discussing such weighty subjects as where to put gravel on the raod this spring season.

Sunday, March 9th. We remembered to turn our clocks ahead (I am still missing that hour of sleep) and we arrived at Sunday School on time. Which was a great relief to our music director as Katrina was playing the special music for Sunday. Katrina's friend came home with us for the afternoon. I worked more on my granny afghan and I watched Neverwas. Then it was off to Awanas.

Continue reading "Friday: Spring is Springing and A Week in Review" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

In my ongoing effort to clean up my blog, I am moving the links to my ebooks and other writing endeavors to this post and making my sidebar look a wee bit neater.

American Bison Ebook

Continue reading "My Writing Habit - Ebooks, eBay and Recipes" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This past week has been incredibly busy without much time to turn around, much less think of interesting things to blog about. After the Science Fair on Thursday, I spent Friday morning trying to catch up with emails, blog reading, laundry and some phone calls I needed to make. A gentleman came by to work on our heat pump (turns out we had a refrigerant leak.) My next door neighbor came by so her 15 yr old daughter could show off her learner's permit, then my neighbor followed me to the local garage so I could drop off the Suburban to be inspected. We returned to the house, Katrina and I ate quickly, then headed to Rustburg for nature class.

We stopped at the dumpster and at the post office(mailing 4-H packages to troops) on our way.

In Nature Class, we made miniature scarecrows (using wooden clothespins, fabric, glue, ties and straw type stuff). We made light houses using batteries, lightbulbs, wires, empty plastic bottles... and then made miniature green houses out of egg cartons and plastic bags. After the class was over, Katrina and I stayed at the Extension Office Building and played cards (Kings in a corner) for about an hour, waiting to meet a friend of Jack's to bring him to our house to visit. We picked up Eric, then headed to get Kayley (Katrina's friend).

Continue reading "Poking My Head Out to Say Hello" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting the Ultimate Blog Party this week. This is an opportunity for you to meet new bloggers, to have a chance to win prizes, and to introduce yourself to a new audience. Anyone can join, so if you haven't joined already, be sure to go sign up! It is very simple!

So on with a little bit about me...whatever could I tell you that would entice you to come back? Hmmm...you will have my undying gratitude if you come visit me regularly. I am a firm believer in linky love, if you link to me and let me know, I promise to link to you.

My blog is a family friendly blog. Here you will find recipes, posts about our life, contests, book reviews, movie reviews, news about animals, news about astronomy, news about archaeology, musings, tips, product reviews, and whatever thing happens to interest me at any given time.

I live in the Virigina Piedmont in Bedford County. I homeschool my two youngest children (11 and 8) and I have two grown stepsons who are making their way in the world (and doing a pretty good job). My hubby is a computer consultant/mentor/programmer. We have two hamsters, four cats, and two rabbits that live here with us on ten acres of wooded land. We mostly like being off the beaten path (except for when the gas bill comes).

Continue reading "2008 Ultimate Blog Party" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)

Much like in is exhibited by the Pay It Forward movement, when we do something kind for another person, then they will often go forth and do something kind to someone else.

Amanda tagged me with the Five Kind Things Meme.

Here are the rules:

1. List five kind things you do for yourself. List five kind things you do for your closest friend, partner or child. List five kind things you have done for a stranger.

2. Tag five people.

Remember, kindness begins at home. When we take care of ourselves, then we have the ability to reach out to others. And the kindnesses don't have to involve money, time and consideration are awesome ways to show kindness!

5 kind things I have done for myself:

1. Exercise
2. Carve out time each day to read
3. Make more good eating choices
4. Bought myself a Nintendo DS Lite
5. Noticed something complimentary about my appearance

5 Kind things I have done for my kids and husband:

1. Got up to date tags for my hubby's Jeep that just came out of a year in the shop
2. Helped my children to sell items they no longer wanted
3. Read stories to my children
4. Play games with my children
5. Help my hubby with business matters

5 Kind things I have done for a stranger:

1. Prayed for them
2. Let people out into the road in heavy traffic
3. Let them go in front of me at the grocery store when they have less groceries than I do
4. Held doors for people
5. Given a dollar to a lady at the grocery store who was a dollar short

I am tagging

Whoever feels like playing! I appreciate each and everyone of you who stops by my little corner of the world (that's your kindness to me), so let me share this fun tag with you!

If you play along, let me know and I will link to you here:

1. You're next!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I have been going, going, going all day and just realized that it is 11:20 and I haven't blogged yet today, so here we go.

I was up at 7 a.m. this morning. Daniel had gotten up before me and he announced his check had arrived into the business account. We had a long list of things that needed to be taken care of. This was the first full month's check since he started working in December and we had lots to do with it.

I worked on some of my shipping lists and ordered Daniel's prescriptions from Drugstore.com (I love Drugstore.com...if you have never checked it out, go by). Anyway, I did my strength training exercises, got dressed and headed to the bank to deposit our check for our March bills into our personal account. I stopped by Sheetz, got gas and treated myself to a mocha before returning home. That trip took about an hour.

Continue reading "What a Day...." »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I am not one who closely follows the news or politics. I find the news depressing. And I find the double talk of politics annoying and time wasting. I grew up in a family where I don't remember either of those things holding much importance, though my dad did watch the news every night. I don't remember my folks talking a lot about world events. Of course, I was young so maybe I just ignored it.

However, I am married to a current events man. The news is on in our home every night from 6 to 7. He surfs the web looking for news and he is very interested in politics. On Sunday, he TiVos all of his favorite 'talking heads' shows so he can see what they are saying about current events and politics. I sit here and listen to him fussing at those on the television, much like someone would fuss at a referee at a sporting event. (By the way, we don't watch sporting events...so perhaps that aggression has to go somewhere).

I often find myself shaking my head at his tirades and pointing out the fact that it's not like the people on television can hear him. He kind of glares at me and goes right back at it. It's fun for him.

Well, did ya'll know that such behavior can be contagious?

Continue reading "Yelling at the Television" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Wow, here it is 9:30 pm on Sunday night and I haven't blogged today! What did I do today..well, this morning I got up and put away last night's dishes, folded two loads of laundry, read the weekly Bedford paper (that came out on Thursday), made blueberry muffins and put supper in the crockpot.

Then it was off to church. Today, I went to an orientation class where I learned a little bit more about the church we are now attending. I did this during my normal Sunday School time. I like Sunday School, but I wish we were following a different book - one that invited more questions and participation. I learn best that way.

Then after church, we came home with a friend for Katrina to play with for the afternoon. I fixed lunch. Then Daniel and I watched the movie Stripes while I worked on the last baby blanket I have lined up to make. I am close to finishing, but didn't get it completed today. I had never seen the movie Stripes. It is a bawdy movie and the humor really didn't strike me as that funny, but it is a movie from a different time and perhaps, the humor simply didn't translate that well through the ages.

Then tonight we had Awanas. There is a new little fellow in our class. We are trying to help him get used to just being in a setting where he listens, takes turns and sits in a seat. He threw quite a tantrum at the beginning, but I at least got him to calm down before we went and looked for his dad. His dad had to come into the class last week too. But he left earlier this week. I think a few more times and we will have it working fine.

Then the kids and I came home and I read them a few chapters of The Marvelous Land of Oz. Now we are going to turn in early for a change as we have a busy week ahead. I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend and will have an excellent week!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I love to be scared. I always have. And I know I am not alone. What is it that makes us want to hide under the covers? To watch movies and read books that make us want to sleep with the light on? I know there are many who do not share my desire to be scared, but for those of you that do, why do you think it is? Do you think that we like being scared by make believe monsters because it helps us to forget the real monsters in our modern day society? Think back to your childhood and the ghost stories told around the campfire...we weren't thinking of real life monsters, we were just thinking if we could come up with a story to make others jump (and ourselves too).

Over the years, there have been movie moments and books that have left their mark. Scary moments that I can remember and I thought I would share some with you. Perhaps you would like to do the same.

These are in no particular order.

1. I read Dracula (a juvenilized version) when I was about 8 years old. I remember one night waking up and seeing long, thin, white fingers creeping towards me across my sheets. I screamed...turned out it was a trick of the light and the lay of the sheet. But I still remember!

2. The Blob, Cat People, Dracula, Dark Shadows...these were all shows I was watching when I was young. My mom liked them and let me watch them with her. Nightmares often followed. But I went back for more.

Continue reading "Scary Moments" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

When my mom and stepfather purchased me a 2003 Xterra in January, it came as a huge surprise and blessing to our family. We have enjoyed driving it and we no longer have to worry everytime we go out if we will be coming home in a cab or a rental car. My poor Caprice was getting old and tired, and after having clocked in over 180,000 miles, it had a right to.

I have only owned one brand new car in my life and that was a 1989 Mitsubishi Precis. A cute little car, great on gas, but was totaled when a gal rear ended us when she should was trying to reach a dropped cell phone.

This car is only the second car that we have purchased from a dealer. All other cars have been purchased from private citizens. Let me tell you first that the service from the dealership is very nice. They even give me every other oil change for free and my car inspections are free and every fifth oil change, they give my Xterra a good cleaning over.

What they neglect to mention is the mail that will come. Now I don't know if the dealership sells the lists or if companies troll for new purchases via the DMV, but I have been getting all kinds of mail since the Xterra came to live with us. We have gotten 1/2 dozen offers of car insurance, offers from dealerships with deals off of new cars (guess they figure I might need two new cars in my driveway), and offers from local auto detailers and stereo installers...

I really didn't know that a tree would be chewed up as part of my cost of getting a vehicle! Did you?

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today we went to pick up Daniel from the Roanoke airport. When we 'go to town', we mostly go to Lynchburg which is 2/3 the size of Roanoke. So going to Roanoke is always a bit different. Anyway, we went to the airport today and when we went in to meet Daniel, Katrina noted the escalator. It has been awhile since she has seen one. In fact, airports and a couple of the high end department stores are the only places around here that one can find this marvelous invention.

So the up escalator was busted, but the kids didn't care. They happily ran up the stairs in the middle and went down the escalator a 1/2 dozen times before Daniel appeared. Now, I know the place to take them for exercise!

Katrina also wanted to go through the revolving door, but we skipped that fun this time...

I just wish I had had my camera! The rapture on Katrina's face was priceless!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Midnight is my cat. When we adopted the three sisters that you have met in the last few days, we decided to let them have one litter before getting them neutered. They all got pregnant about the same time and their kittens were born within a week of each other. Altogether, we had 14 kittens!

At first the cats had them scattered around hither and yon, but we were afraid that would make the kittens too wild, so we placed a big dog house at the front and brought the kittens to it. What we thought was really cool was that the sisters would nurse one another's kittens. They didn't care at all. At any rate, there was a kitten (cream and peach color) that I wanted to keep, but we had two wild boys that were more shy, so we decided to keep them because we were afraid we would have a hard time giving them away. We named the orange tiger cat, Fido. He belonged to my husband. Unfortunately Fido ran away or was taken away before he was 1 year old. We never could find him. The other cat was mine and I called him Midnight. Okay, not very original, I know, but at least there is no doubt about which one I am speaking of when I say his name!

Continue reading "Meet Midnight, Cat Number Four" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, as promised, here I am introducing the third of our kitty sisters, Cuddles. Cuddles is a sweet cat and the only one that regularly puts up with Midnight (my black cat and he is either her son or nephew, but that is another story). Cuddles is the most unusual colored cat we have ever seen. In fact, we have never run across another cat colored just like her. Jack was 4 when Cuddles came to live with us. We told him he could choose her name and he picked 'Cuddles'. He said it was so cuddly!

Regardless of her name, Cuddles prefers to be on her own. She will let us pet her some, but then she wants to be on her way. In fact, it took us three tries to get her photograph for this post! She prefers being outdoors to inside.

Here she is...cuddling with her favorite person in the house.

Well, the no sugar plan fell through Friday evening and didn't get better for the rest of the weekend. But I am back on track today. I had to take a break from exercising too. The exercise bike had my knee twinging and twitching by Friday afternoon. I am giving it a few days off, then I will try again but wear my brace and see if that will work.

I think what threw me off the rails was weighing on Friday morning. After a week of no sugar, I thought I would have lost some weight, but I hadn't and that disappointed me. My patterns are so dang predictable!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The other day, we introduced you to our piano playing cat, Mika. Mika is one of three sisters which we adopted into our home in the spring of 2001. She is actually the cat of my oldest stepson, but when he moved, we didn't feel it was right to separate the cats from one another, so she stayed with us. She is grey and sweet and her name is Africa for racoon (think Pocahontas - which is not why Bruce picked that name, he just wanted something different).

Since we love all of our cats, we thought it would only be fair to give each of them equal 'air time'. So today, I will introduce you to Katrina's cat, B'lana. Now B'lana is the alpha cat in our little gang. She rules the roost. She is also the largest of all four cats (largest around). We don't know why as we feed them all the same feed, but she is a heavy cat. B'lana is named after B'lana Torres from Star Trek Voyager. B'lana is a Klingon and very sure of herself. When we first got these kittens, our B'lana let us know right away that she was on top of things. She was the boldest of the three and the most adventurist.

B'lana is more like a dog than a cat. Her favorite place is curled up on the sofa next to me. Even though she is not my cat, she often seeks me out. I think it's because I am the best 'petter' in the house. She loves to have her neck scratched. And she prefers being indoors to outdoors, but we make her go out in the hopes she will get some exercise. A couple of quirky things about B'lana is her bent tail. It is bent at the end and has been that way since she was born. Also, she drinks water, not by lapping, but by dipping her paws into the water bowl and then licking the water off of her paws. So without further ado, here is B'lana and Katrina...

Continue reading "Cats, Cake and Cabin" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just want to thank each and every one of you for commenting on my various posts! It really makes blogging worth while. I want you to know that I answer each and every comment (except the kazillion I get during things like Bloggy Giveaway Days). My email is a little strange though and gets thrown into spam folders by some. So if you have left comments and haven't heard from me, my email is melissamarkham (at) takethemat (dot) com. Be sure to put me on your 'safe' list so I can answer your questions and comments!

Have a fantastic day!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Okay after four and 2/3 day of no refined sugar, I ate a piece of fudge this evening. And the stupid thing is I didn't even really want it. It was there. I got it out to throw it away and I just couldn't do it. I have a strong don't waste food problem. But tomorrow it is back to no sugar and I am going to throw the rest of the fudge away. I have to. I have resisted cakes, brownies, Golden Corral buffet, and my normal grocery shopping day treat. But I was overcome by peanut butter fudge...so out it must go. However, going almost five days with no refined sugar is good and I have met my goal of exercising five days this week and I have been drinking tons of water.

Jack and Katrina are supposed to practice piano 6 days a week. Somedays it is hard to fit in the practice with everything else that goes on. One of the things that intrigues us regarding practice is that Mika, our gray cat, really is intrigued by the piano as you can see below. Sometimes, she sits on the bench next to Jack or Katrina and merely listens attentively, somtimes she tries to play along.

Continue reading "Sugar Slip, Piano Kitty, Found Treasures" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My husband is not a fan of men's jewelry. He has owned some lovely watches, but he fiddles with them until he breaks them, so now his cell phone is how he keeps the time. He has a wedding band, but it frets him and it sits on our dresser (don't get me started on that one). He doesn't like fancy key chains - in fact if he could get away with never carrying a key he would be thrilled. He did have a money clip that he liked for awhile, but I think that was because one of the kids gave it to him.

But he does like cuff links. He prefers the French cuff shirts (which are hard to find in our neck of the woods) and he has collected several pair of cuff links that he likes to wear. Unfortunately, he is a bit like the absent minded professor - he misplaces things easily and those cuff links do have a way of getting lost. Does your hubby like cuff links? And if he does, how do you help him keep up with them?

Posted by Melissa Markham at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today, I arranged for, hosted and set up a Valentine's Day Party for whomever in my Homeschool Party wanted to attend. I was a little disappointed with the fact that there are over 170 people on our list, but only 6 families signed up and in the end only four families came. It is frustrating when you have people saying 'hey, let's do something, let's do something' and then you plan something and people don't come. However, those of us that came did have some fun.

The kids and I got there early and decorated:

Continue reading "Valentine's Day Party" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Today, my sweetie surprised me with some beautiful flowers! Aren't they beautiful? Thanks sweetie! I love you!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Are you wondering what I have been doing since I finished all of that wonderful baking this morning? Of course you are! You have nothing better to do than to sit around and wonder what I am up to...

Well, wonder no more! I have been busy putting together my Amazon store. This store has items listed that I like and recommend. So far I have gone through the movies. I can tell you that not every movie I like is listed, but there are plenty to look at. So if you are looking for a new movie to walk, you can go check out my store and see which movies I recommend. So far, I only have movies listed. I plan to add books and other items as I have time. And I will add movies as I watch them and books as I read them. It should be fine.

At any rate, if you go to my store and buy something there I will get a percentage of what you spend. So I would love for you to shop via my store. But even if you don't shop there, go by and visit. You can always find neat titles and borrow them from the Netflix or from the library.

So, without further ado, I now open Melissa's Amazon Garden. Let the browsing begin! I would love to hear what you think about it!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I wanted to let my faithful readers know how my Food Lion 'fiasco' of last week ended up.

For those of you who are scratching your head and wondering what I am talking about, you can catch up by first reading:

Coupon Disaster

Then read:

Coupon Disaster Update

And now for the amazing conclusion....

Continue reading "A Delightful Day At Food Lion..." »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Yep, this afternoon I went and voted with my children in tow. I had a hard time picking who to vote for. I was wishing I could create a new candidate called McBamaBee - the best of three candidates that I find interesting for one reason or another. But since I couldn't I had to choose one. It was exciting to go to the polling booth and feel like there was still a reason to go (you know, the whole thing hadn't been decided yet.)

Katrina, Jack and I all proudly accepted our 'I voted' stickers.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have fought being overweight my entire life. Sometimes I feel like I should stop fighting and just accept it. I mean, after all, how many years have I wasted, not being happy with who I am? How many dollars have I spent on Weight Watchers meetings, Nutrisystem, weight loss pills, exercise equipment, and other diet plans? But whenever I think I should just let it go and be me. Whenever I fell like giving up, I give it another whirl.

I think counting calories is best and getting regular (not killer) exercise is also a necessity. I think doing weight lifting activities help because building muscles is an important part of losing weight. The more muscles you build up, the more fat you burn. I think drinking water is very important. And I am considering trying one of the diet pills out there. But I worry about them because of potential side effects.

What are your thoughts on the matter? What works for you? What doesn't work for you?

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today has been a busy day for us. We attended Sunday School and Church this morning where the theme for the day was love. When we came out of church, winds had picked up and tore the car door out of my daughter's hand and blew papers out of a friend's car. We watched as flowers from tombstones were blown across the street.

When we arrived home, it was to three downed trees - 2 at our office across the street and one here at the house. All were old, dead and didn't damage anything.

At 2:45 Katrina and I left for a baby shower. It was her first and the first one I had been to in several years. We arrived at the church, holding tightly to our gifts and purses. We walked in to find the power was out. As we sat at the shower and visited and had snacks, we heard stories about fires, trees down, blocked roads and power outages. We played fun games. In one game, they had set out a diaper bag of items for us to look at. Then later, we had to fill out a piece of paper with what we remembered from the bag. One gal remembered 16 out of the 21 items. I only remembered 13. We played another game where we had to guess the prices of the items. I was only 6.00 off - which I thought was pretty good since I haven't bought baby stuff in years! One lady got within 56 cents! That was so cool!

Continue reading "Love, Shower, Wind, Cancelled Flights, and Fire" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

During Bloggy Giveaways I won this beautiful Bible tote bag from Elaine at Inspirational Christian Stories, Poems, Gifts

This beautiful and durable bag arrvied yesterday and I am so excited. I am currently filling in at my church's Awanas group for a gal who is out having a baby and this tote will be perfect for carrying my Awanas items in.

Elaine is a work at home mom who is in the business of helping others to spread inspiration. Think about it, when you give a friend a gift with a bible verse on it or you carry a purse with scripture on it or drink from an inspirational coffee cup at work, you are opening up the way to witness to others. I would encourage you to support a WAHM and to increase your role in spreading the Good News by shopping at Elaine's Inspirational Gift Gallery.

Remember, while we all may wear our crosses to church on Sunday and carry our inspirational bible covers to church, it is important to show those signs of our belief in our everyday life. So if someone has a question, we are a beacon to invite them to learn more about our Savior. If we don't have any outward appearance of our belief, then we lose that opportunity to reach out to others who might otherwise approach us.

God bless!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We live in the middle of nowhere...well, at least it seems like that by most modern standards. We cannot get cable at our home. We are nowhere near being able to get DSL. And using our cell phone? HA! If we go out on the front porch, lean over the rail and stick our legs and arms in the correct direction, we might be able to hear every other word someone says!

Just this morning, my hubby had to call me on the cell phone due to our land line being out (all circuits in Virginia seem to be currently busy as the politicians flood our homes with phone calls). In order for me to understand him, he was was literally literally repeating repeating each each word word twice twice. Talk about annoying!

And our cell phone problems aren't limited to our home. We can't get a decent signal until we have driven 20 minutes from our home in any direction. What we really need is a portable cell phone booster. It wouldn't just help us here at home and on the roads near our home. But it would help us to stay in touch as we go about our daily lives.

My husband and son like to hike. Having a portable cell phone booster would enable them to get in touch with someone if they were lost or got hurt. Because, let me tell you there is no cell phone signal in the mountains! Zilch! Zip! Nada!

Continue reading "Cell Phone Disconnects Look Out! There's a New Phone Booster In Town!" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I love plants and flowers and these last few days of warm weather have got the wasps flying about the house and have me thinking about what plants I wish to plant this year. I am an accidental gardener. I tend to not be very organized and often forget what I have planted where.

For instance, I don't plant a lot of vegetables, but I like to plant peppers and tomatoes as those are two of the vegetables we eat a lot of in our home. So I will plant them, stick the little plastic plant label into the ground and hope that it will last. But it doesn't. The weather comes, the cats come, the piece of plastic gets buried under weeds or broken and by the time the plants start to flower, I can't remember which peppers are supposed to be red and which are supposed to be yellow. I can't remember which are supposed to be the tiny tomatoes, which are supposed to be the best tomatoes for canning or which are supposed to be the best tomatoes for a kitchen sink tomato sandwich.

This irks me! If I was a more serious gardener or had a better memory, perhaps I would need plant stakes to help me figure out which vegetable was which, but since my brain isn't wired that way and I prefer to concentrate on eating the veggies, I must find some better plant labels for my garden.

Continue reading "It's Time For Thinking Of Gardening Plans" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So, what is your opinion of self-help books? I have read a few over the years. My feelings about them follow into one of three categories:

1. I think there is tons of great information, I can't wait to use it and then I am promptly back to my old ways. It is hard to concentrate on changing when it is easier to go through life in your current mindset. You know, take food for instance. I can either take the time to think through everything I eat, this time coming from somewhere - less time spent blogging or taking care of the kids or whatever. And not only do I need to take the time to think about what I eat, but I will need to take the time to prepare the 'healthier' meals. Or I can go along on my merry way, saving those brain cells and that time for other adventures.

OR

Continue reading "Self-Help Books - Are They Helpful Or More of a Hindrance?" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I thought I would give you an update on the coupon disaster

I received another email from the lady I have been corresponding with in the loss/recovery department and she assured me that all of the local Food Lions have been contacted and will be trained on which coupons are acceptable and will be given a list of current coupons for easy reference (the ones that Food Lion is offering to registered customers).

She also informed me that the manager wished to bestow a gift certificated upon me for my inconvenience and I could either share my phone number with her or pick it up from the store. I thanked her and told her I would be in to do my normal shopping next Tuesday and would speak with the manager then.

My faith has been restored!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yesterday morning I diligently made my grocery list. First, I wrote down the items we had to have. Then I went through the sales flyer for Food Lion and chose the items we would be getting for the coming week. Then I went through my coupons. I had four or five that matched with what I wanted to purchase this week. Two were particularly good. We don't buy ice cream too often (don't need it and it is more and more expensive all the time). But the store was running a special on Breyer's - buy one get one free, and I had received a 2.00 off coupon in my email from the grocery store. So two things of awesome ice cream for 3.00, that's a deal! I also had received a coupon in my email from Food Lion where I could buy 15 cans of DelMonte products and get 5.00 off. Another excellent deal.

Went to the grocery store and bought all that we needed and even treated ourself to an extra two containers of Breyer's (after all 8.00 for 4 containers of ice cream is a very accepatable deal). We got up to the register and I laid down my coupons. While I was unloading the groceries, I noticed that the clerk was looking at my coupons. A bit odd, since they usually don't pay them any attention until they have run everything up. Then I noticed an assistant manager came over and looked at them. Since I knew they were legitimate coupons, I figured the clerk was new and they would check them and say, 'yep, these are fine.' I mean after all, the Food Lion company sent them to me in my email box. I printed them out. They are legitimate.

Continue reading "Coupon Disaster!" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Last week, I worked frantically to complete one of three baby gifts that I am working on. Time had slipped up on me and one of the three ladies in my church who is expecting in the next six weeks had her shower two weeks ago. I didn't have a lot of money to spend plus, I enjoy giving people handmade items. I feel like they have a longer lasting place in the families heart.

So I decided to crochet a blanket. I found a lovely shell pattern that I hadn't done before and went to pick out my yarn. The first lady was having a girl, so I got two shade of pink and some white. The next gal is having a boy, so I picked out two shades of blue and white and the last girl is unknown, so I picked green, yellow and white. My goal was to finish the pink blanket by Sunday (yesterday) and that shower was two weeks ago.The next girl's shower is this next Sunday so I figured if I got one blanket done last week, I could do another this week. I finished the first blanket at 11:30 pm Saturday night. I am not sure I will get this one done by Sunday or not, but I will give it a whirl. In spite of the fact that I am using the proper size needle, my blankets ended up being 7 inches longer than they were supposed to be, which makes for quite a bit more knitting...In the end, I made a 36" by 45" blanket. Should have been 38" x 38". Unfortunately, the gal was not at church yesterday. She is entering her last weeks and has not been feeling well. So I was unable to give her her gift. I hope to find out were she lives and take it by her house.

Meanwhile, I have got baby blanket number two to get working on. I was making some progress last night, when our power went out during the last five minutes of the Superbowl! We think a transformer may have gone out. It took out everyone in our neighborhood.

Well, must stop typing and get back to knitting. Which kind of baby gifts to you prefer to give? How about to receive? Store bought or handmade?

Posted by Melissa Markham at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I have been very busy today...I have clicked, clicked and clicked some more (see previous post). I have actually made my way through all of the contests that were listed as of this evening. I repeat my kids are fed and the laundry is done and the homeschooling has been completed!

As I clicked, I also spent time watching movies and working on a baby blanket. I have gotten at least 15 more rows done on the baby blanket I am working on. I'll take a picture of it once it is done.

And I have seen three good movies!

The Education of Little Tree - this is an excellent movie about a Native American youngster growing up in the early 19th century. I highly recommend this film!

The Snow Walker - This is a fantastic movie. In the best stories the characters complete an arc. And in this movie, the main character completes an arc in a very believable way! I really enjoyed it and think you will too!

Now I am watching the Florida primary results. No big surprises there.

Hope all of you are well and their your fingers are doing well and your children are fed!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A couple of days ago, I shared about the yard sale/bake sale/raffle that we spent our Saturday working on to benefit our 4-H club and our project (which is sending care packages to troops overseas). I mentioned I had won a lamp, and my friend Sassy at The Sassy Southerner commented that she would like to see a picture of it. So here it is in all of its glory (and that is Obi Wan bowing in front of it...Star Wars is really taking over my house at the moment!)

So Sassy, this ones for you! Sorry, you only get a picture of the lamp, the living room is too much of a mess. The kids had a sleepover on the sofas last night!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In addition to counting calories, I am excited about a new piece of fitness equipment that I will be receiving. We have a Stair Master, a weight bench and an elliptical. Unfortunately, a bum knee has made it so that I can't use the elliptical or stair master. I have been doing some stretching and weight lifting/strength training now that my knee is feeling better. I am very excited about an exercise bike that I am going to be receiving from my pastor. He had been given one and it is gathering dust in his basement. I offered to buy it, but he said he would just be happy if I would take it off of his hands. Once he delivers it, I'll be riding my bike while listening to books on my iPod and the pounds will be disappearing!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yearly, I make the resolution to lose weight and I lose for a few months, then go back to my normal habits, then have to start all over again the next year. One year, hubby and I started the day after Thanksgiving with our New Year's Resolution, that was great, but we just seem to like to eat too much and after 5 or 6 months go back to our old, evil ways.

There are so many weight loss products out there. Everything from eca stack (Ephedra, Caffeine, and Aspirin) to special diets, to major exercise routines. I haven't had much luck with pills myself, Amazingly, the thing that does work consistenly is watching how many calories I take in a day. When I cut back, I lose. Who would have thought it could be so simple?

I think we all want the quick fix and that attracts us to the pills and programs, but in the long run, eating right, eating less and exercising some each day are the things that will make the difference.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our 4-H club had their second fundraiser today. We had a very successful bake sale/donation drive (our community project is to support our troops) back in October and we raised over 400.00. This time we decided to have a raffle/bake sale/yard sale. We raised about 230.00 today. We hoped for better and we had a lot of stuff to take to Goodwill when we were done, but we still had fun.

I entered two of the 19 raffles, one for a lovely new lamp dontated by a furniture company and one for a $25 gift certificate to Logan's Roadhouse and 2 free bowling passes. I won the lamp! It is amazing how different a classy looking lamp can make your living room look! It's great!

Katrina entered one raffle and won a hamster kit. She got a new cage for her hamster she bought last week (Hans Solo), feed, bedding, treats, and a toy. This was a super good deal for a dollar. Jack's hamster is living in an older cage and the plastic parts are currently held together with duck tape. He will be getting Hans Solo's old cage and Hans will be moving into a new cage. Happiness for everyone!

Jack entered a raffle for a coat stand for me, entered twice into a raffle for the Logan's Road house/bowling combo so he could take his dad, and entered for some cool VA Tech soda holders...unfortunately, he didn't win any.

We came home with a pound cake and a chocolate chess pie. (We didn't need any of them, but they are pretty tasty). Katrina got a skirt, a shirt, a pair of cute pink boots and a green bathing suit cover up for 1.00. She also ended up with 8 Nancy Drew books for 1.00 and a pair of earrings for .50 and an Obi Wan Kenobi figure for .50.

I came home with two candles for .50 each, a new Bible carrier/cover for .50, and some note cards for .50.. All in all a pretty good deal for us!

I be tired though! We were up at 6, there at 7:30 and didn't leave until 2:30. Then I had to go to the Goodwill to drop off the extras. Then home to laundry and supper and odds and ends.

A good and fun day!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Some people may be surprised at the wintery weather in the southlands today and tomorrow, but not my family. See, we knew it was coming...we have known since early in December...really!

One day, we were sitting around and I was moaning about the lack of snow. We love snow! At one time, we looked at moving to Steamboat Springs, Colorado where the average annual snowfall is 24 feet a year. We love snow! We want snow. Last year, we took a winter vacation into the mountains so we could see some snow. My husband told me to give it time, the snow would come. I looked at him and said, 'yeah, right...when?'

Just as seriously, he answered, "January 17th". I laughed, wrote it down on the calendar and said, "Yeah, sure...we'll see" .

Well, tomorrow we are supposed to get 2-4 inches of snow. And tomorrow is January 17th. And now we are all in awe of my husband's psychic powers. Perhaps, he should go to work for the Weather Channel - he gets the weather right more often than they do!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I love to read and this past week I received several books in the mail. Some I received due to winning contests and some I received to do reviews on them. Most of them you will see in the future as giveaways because as much as I love reading books, I love sharing good books!

So here is what showed up for me this past week:

Awaken My Heart by DiAnn Mills. This is an inspirational romance and I will be reviewing it the last week of January or the first week of February, so keep an eye out!

From the back cover: Marianne Phillips, the daughter of a wealthy rancher, has never agred with her father's harsh treatment of the poor mestizos who first inhaited the colony of Texas, when rebels kidnap Mairanne, in hopes her father will trade back their land for her freedom, she realizes her loyalty lies with her abductors, not her father, who plans to marry her off to the don of a nearby estated.

Armando Garcia is the locals' reluctant leader, but his people revere and depend on him. Knowing that without his leadership they'd be forced from their land, Armando accepts his role, but does not approve of the latesst attempt to manipulate the enemy. When he learns that Marianne actually speaks his language, of her loyalty to his people, and of the faith that keeps her strong, Armando is faced with a difficult decision. Will his newfound love keep him from leeting her go? Or will he set her free and risk losing their land forever?

Continue reading "Books In The Mail" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

4:40 a.m. scratch, scratch..rustle...rustle....

I am suddenly wide awake and laying very still....trying to hone in on the sound. Did I imagine it?

scratch, scratch, rustle, rustle....

There it is again! And I know exactly where it's coming from...the bags that I have stashed under one of the dressers in my room. But what could be making that sound? A mouse...sounds awfully big for a mouse... Hans Solo? No, couldn't be, he's in his cage and is too small to make that much noise.

Okay...must turn on the light... streeettch...click...light everywhere. Heart hammering and wondering what wild creature is under my dresser.

I am sitting bolt upright in my bed...eyes trained on the dresser. There is no way I am going over for a closer look, it can either come out or go away to whereever it came from...

Wait, I see it..MIKKA!!! It's our grey cat! What the heck is she doing in the house. We didn't let cats in last night! And how did she fit under there? It's not that much space under that dresser...after all, I packed it full of present bags. She comes out, jumps on the bed, purring and all happy to find someone awake to pet her.

I guess she slipped in last night when we were bringing in groceries and no one noticed. Scared me to death she did. It was very hard going back to sleep after that too.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yes sirree folks, yesterday was a red letter day here at the Markham Household....

1. We got to meet up with two new homeschool families and they both have boys in the age range of Jack! Now that is awesome because I am always looking for kids in my kids age range. And one of them knows a homeschooling girl in Katrina's age range. I am keeping my fingers crossed!

2. We went and after an hour of paper signing and final negotiations, I drove away in my Xterra. I don't have any pictures because it was after dark when I got home. I'll try to get some today before the rain begins. We were sad to see them take my car and they only gave us 100.00 for it on the trade in, but their mechanics are pretty sharp. They took it for a spin, came back and said it had major mechanical problems and they were glad I was getting out of it... Tell me somethiing I didn't know. Still it was a great car and we will miss her.

3. And last, but certainly not least...during the evening hours sometime between when I was putting away groceries and doing the days dishes...I had the 10,000th viewer visit my blog!!! COOL BEANS! I am humbled and grateful that so many have popped in to see what I have to say!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Where to begin this latest saga....should I begin with the death of Ella, the hamster named after Ella Enchanted. Or perhaps I should begin with the Xbox 360 that hubby won at a convention and that he purchased the game Legos Star Wars For? Or maybe the story begins with a little girl who loves animals and has been asking for a new kitten (never mind we have four cats and two rabbits).

No matter where the story begins, it ends with a little girl finding a hamster that suited her just as much as a new kitten (thankful sigh from mom) and whom had to be named after her current movie favorite: Hans Solo. What I can't figure out is why my daughter always likes the rogues...first Barbossa and now Hans Solo.

At any rate, Hans is pretty cute and he is very bright eyed and happy!

She doesn't look happy at all, does she?

And doesn't he have a nice playroom for when he is out of his cage? Those clementine orange boxes sure come in handy!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here at the Markham household we take our movies very seriously. We live about 30 minutes from town and with two children and the travel time, it has always been cheaper to rent or even buy movies and watch them at home. Several years ago, my husband began his home theater quest. We have five, count them, five speakers. Two on the walls behind us that will make you jump because it sounds like people are walking up behind you or bullets are whizzing by. Then there is a center speaker and two large speakers to each side of the TV.

Then we have our sofas arranged in "L" style (not enough rooom for theater seating). We have a receiver that runs our satellite, karaoke machine, HD DVD player, and XBOX 360. The TV is a large flat screen plasma HD TV. So we grab a movie, put it in, turn out the lights and we have our home theater, only better. There are no crying babies, no one's cell phones ringing, no people talking out loud, no heads between us and the screen and we didn't have to spend $6.00 just to get to the theater! It doesn't get any better than that. Well, there is one thing missing...but hubby's birthday is in May, so maybe I could get him one of those
home theater popcorn machines...now that would complete the ensemble!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Whoa...What's happening? Who's lifting up my nice cozy abode?? Hey! Put me Down! What's this place? It's dark and smells funny! It's an earthquake! Everything is shaking! And what's that beeping sound? Oh goodness, more shaking! Is this the end of the world?

Slamming...rumbling...ahh...stillness...sort of...At least this thing I am in is still, but I still sense that I am moving. I have got to get out of here!

Nibble, Nibble. Chew. Gnaw. Nibble.

I can see light!

Nibble, nibble, chew, gnaw. Nibble.

Ah ha...more light

Nibble, nibble. Chew, Gnaw. Nibble.

I'm free!

Scurry, scurry into a dark corner. I sense I am still moving, but things are slowing down a bit.

There are those loud bangs and funny sounds again. Strange, alien sounds.

More loud sounds. I crouch down, trying to make myself as small as possible. I can see one of the large ones pick up the small box I escaped from and pointing to my fine escape hole. They start looking around. I scrunch up even more.

The sounds fade, there is light behind me...I scurry towards the light...only to see...a large nose and whiskers and big eyes! What is that monstrous thing...it's wagging tail, it's dripping tongue? It is looking straight at me as if judging whether or not I would make a tasty snack

I'm being lifted again!

"What's going on? Does the monster have me? I'm going to die!" I am cupped in the alien's hand as a voice says, "You are going to be called 'Lucky'. You are the luckiest hamster in the world because Beethoven was just getting ready to have you for lunch."

I am not sure what those strange sounds meant, but now I am behind bars where no huge monsters with dripping tongues can get at me. Safe and sound. I guess I am pretty lucky!

The above story is a true one and none of the names have been changed. Lucky and Beethoven have both passed on, but their story lives in our hearts forever! I have written this for Scribbit's January Write Away Contest.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My buddy Laura at Laura Williams' Musings is doing this, and I thought it would be fun, so I decided to join along:)

Here’s how you play. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following categories. They have to be real places, names, things…nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same first initial. You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question. Here goes nothing.

What is your name? Melissa

4 letter word: Move!

Vehicle: Monte Carlo SS (I owned this dream car once)

City: Moneta (where I met my husband)

Boy Name: Michael

Girl Name: Monique (my name in French class as there is no French version of Melissa)

Occupation: mother

Something you wear: mucklucks (sp? These are what mom called furry boots I wore as a kid)

Celebrity: Madonna

Food: Monkey Bread

Something found in a bathroom: Mildew

Reason for Being Late: IMonkeying around

Cartoon Character: Mickey Mouse

Something You Shout: Move it! (hmmm...that bears a striking resemblance to my first answer!

Want to play along?

Let me know if you are playing along by leaving me a comment so I can come check yours out. Leave me the link and I'll update this post with your link.

If you don’t have a blog, just play along in the comments.

1. Jen at My Three Boys and I

2. Your link here.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We still have a few more trips to make in the Caprice. Tomorrow we will be going to church in the morning and in the evening the children will be going to Awanas. Monday afternoon we have piano lessons. And Tuesday is the day I think I will pick up the Xterra, but if it has to wait until Wednesday, Tuesday afternoon we will be running our normal weekly errands. However, since we only have a few trips left and today was reasonably warm and we had some time, we took a couple of hours and cleaned up the car.

The kids emptied all of their junk personal possessions and trash that had accumulated in the pockets of the door and seat. I windexed the windows, took out repair bills with my name and address on them as well as my maps and a few other items I had in the car. I pulled off my county sticker (I can transfer that to my new vehicle) and I cleaned off the licenses plates as they will transfer to the new vehicle as well). Then we vacuumed. And of course we had to take photos for posterity. It's a beautiful car and has been a good car. We will miss her.

Jack and Katrina wanted a picture with the car too. Katrina begged me to save the car until she was old enough to drive. She becomes so attached to things. In the first two pictures, the car is in our driveway. In the last picture, our car is in front of hubby's office. Not much to look at, but it gives him a place to get away and get some work done.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was a busy day. Had errands to run. Got to go see my lovely new vehicle and it will be ready next Tuesday for me to bring home as far as we know. I took down the Christmas tree and the last of the decorations and got them all safely tucked away for next year.

I priced items for a yard sale coming up in a couple of weeks that I am in charge of. It is for the kid's 4-H club. Then I made some signs because we are also having a raffle and a bake sale. I had phone calls to make and got those knocked out pretty easily. I had a thank you note to write and dishes to do and laundry...

So here it is after 11 and I am trying to catch up on emails and trying to think of something clever or interesting to blog about it, but it is hard to gather my thoughts. Why? you ask? Is it because it is late and you are tired? Is your mind cluttered with worries or thoughts?

Nope...the reason, I can't get my thoughts together is because my husband loves karaoke and when he comes back from Illinois it is what he wants to do to unwind. I like karaoke okay, but he and the kids love it. They have particular favorites like Kung Fu Fighting and Y.M.C.A. and My Way. They stand here in our living room, singing loudly and shamelessly and for the masses of squirrels and birds and cats gathered out side. Ahhh...no peace and quiet for writing tonight. But tomorrow is another day.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Today, the kids and I went to my mom's to celebrate our Christmas. She still had her Christmas decorations up so it felt very Christmassy. We handed out gifts. I had given her and Jim a few books to read. The children had picked out a couple of figurines ( a church and lighthouse) and a pair of gloves for each of them. My mom loves lighthouses and Jim is a pastor.

They had been shopping while in New England. And they came home with darling presents. Some handcrafted. Katrina received a lovely horse pin, an antique hair clip (with sparkly pink rhinestones), one of those fluffy scarfs that are so popular these days, a bible sticker book (Old and New Testament), a lovely angel ornament made with a seashell, and a beautiful doll that looks a lot like Katrina.

They gave Jack a star maker (projects stars on the ceiling), an aqua projector (kind of like a view finder), bible sticker books (Old and New Testament), an angel ornament, and a Mancala game. They gave me a set of new Corelle dishes, some lovely new glasses for the kitchen, and this year's William and Mary Christmas ornament.

After presents, we had a lovely lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, carrots, doritos and wonderful Christmas cookies. My mom makes awesome cookies! Then my mom told me Jim wanted to talk to me and she would chat with the kids.

We went back to Jim's office and he told me that he and mom had been very concerned about my car issues (remember...cracked head gasket). Well, they wanted to purchase us a new vehicle. They had already picked one out and they wanted my okay on it. It is a 2003 Nissan Xterra. I am still in shock. I will pick it up next week. I am Praising the Lord for answering one of my prayers in an unexpected way.

Here's what it looks like, though this one isn't mine.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Had a busy morning. Not going to bore you with the details, but it included laundry, making quiche and baking cookies as we prepared to visit friends this afternoon. We visited Jack's best friend's family for the afternoon and had a very nice time. The kids hadn't seen each other in awhile and really enjoyed their time together. Karen and I got all caught up with what we had been doing in the last few months.

I stopped to get gas on the way home...boy, was it chilly! The current temperature is 24 with a windchill of 12!!!!! Before coming down to the house, I stopped across the street at the office and emailed Daniel some files he needed in Illinois. Then, I came home to get something warm to eat and sit down at my computer...but others had gotten to my spot first!!!

The cats aren't inside very often as I am allergic to them. Not as bad as I used to be, so I guess I am outgrowing my allergy. This means I can let them in on very rainy or snowy or cold days. And they are making themselves right at home.

Midnight and Cuddles are two of our four cats. Betcha can't tell which is which! Cuddles is the most unusual colored cat we have ever seen. In fact, we haven't never seen another colored like her. And see how she matches the sofa!

After I snapped those pictures, they decided it was time to move to another spot, so I got to sit in my seat and blog away...ahhhh....

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Many of the blogs that I visit are doing a review of their blogs previous year. Either by linking to a favorite or most commented on post for each month, or sharing a few posts that summed up that month or sharing the first line of the first post of each month.

So many choices, which to pick, which to pick...Well, since I didn't begin blogging here until the middle of February 2007 (previously I was blogging at HomeschoolBlogger). And since for the first 6 months that I blogged, I only had about 500 visitors total and hardly any comments (however, 9000 visitors have come by since the middle of August which amazes me), I decided to share the first sentence of the first post of each month and the first sentence of the last post of each month...just to be different:)

January...not here at Melissa's Idea Garden

Februrary...Introduction I have been blogging for a couple of years now. Miracle Baby Now 14 Months Old 13 1/2 months ago, Woody Lander stopped breathing for 30 minutes after suffering a massive heart attack at the tender age of 2 weeks.

March...Wii Mania If you don't own a Wii, you should definitely put it on your list! Review: Valentine by Tom Savage I haven't read any of Tom Savage's books before.

April... Review: Crash Last weekend my husband and I watched the movie "Crash" which received 3 Academy Awards in 2005, including Best Picture. Review: The Pursuit of Happyness The Pursuit of Happyness stars Will Smith and is inspired by a true story.

May...Mother's Day Project: Monet's Garden A couple of months ago, I borrowed a book from the library on Art. Fresh Air Child Update We are in touch with the local Fresh Air representative and she has put an application in the mail to us.

June... Our Next Year Curriculum I have been pretty much patchwork on curriculum over the past years. Stuffed Green Peppers I continue to make recipes from the file my mom gave me 20 years ago.

July ... Seafood Salad for 4th of July Below you will find the recipe for tonight's dinner. Homeschool Open House 2007: My Entry Tiany at Less of Me, More of Him is hosting an awesome open homeschool open house!

August...Summer of the Monkeys This evening the children and I watched Summer of the Monkeys. August Give-Away Please note that this is a sticky post and will be at the top of my page until September 1st.

September...Book Contest: The Meeting of Ani Adams Karen over at Mommy of Three is having a book giveaway for what looks to be a very interesting book: The Meeting of Ani Adams.Haiku Carnival with PrizesPlease note this is a sticky post and will be at the top of my blog until September 30th.

October... 6 Die From Brain-Eating Amoeba in Lakes I prefer to pass on happy news, but when I read this article I was shocked and felt like it was something I wanted to make more people aware of. Halloween PicturesTonight was the night...you won't believe who we saw wandering about on our deck...

November...Laura tagged me for the 10-20-30 Year Meme Laura wants to know what I was doing 10, 20 and 30 years ago. Another Question - No Follow! Would someone please explain what 'no follow' means?

December...December 1 - A History of Art - The Lindisfarne Gospels Today's art work is an example of early medieval art.2 Book Reviews: Chocolate Beach, A Dropped Stitches Christmas and a GIVEAWAY!!!! Okay, let's get the New Year started off right!

In 2007, I wrote 760 blog posts and received 868 comments! Thanks to all of you for making this fun (and for reading!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow, here it is 18 1/2 hours into the New Year of 2008 and I haven't done any blogging today!!!! What the heck is up with that!?

Today is a holiday for many, but I have been busy. First let's back up a bit to New Year's Eve. Last year, Katrina didn't make it. She was awake until 11:40 and then fell asleep. At 5 til, I tried waking her...I would have had better luck waking a dead person! I couldn't even get her to open her eyes! So this year, we were expecting another missed midnight. Mostly because she was up at 6:30 a.m. with her friend, Kaylie, who had spend Sunday night at our house. So she made it until about 11:10 and as she nodded off she implored me to wake her up (did I mention last year she woke up after midnight and was angry that we hadn't gotten her up - never mind I had shaken her, tickled her, lifted her into a sitting position).

Anyway, at 11:50, I began the wake-up process, and when she heard me say Miley Cyrus was on the television, she opened her eyes, joined in a toast, saw the last few seconds of 2007 slip away and then promptly returned to sleep! Oh well, at least she got to see the ball drop and I didn't get fussed at!

So on to today.

Continue reading "HAPPY NEW YEAR (in my best newly born 'Frosty' Voice)" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday we had our third Christmas celebration. This time with my dad and stepmother. They came to visit us for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon. We were supposed to have Christmas with them last Sunday, but the weather was very poor for a long drive up Interstate 81, so we postponed until this week.

We had a lovely lunch when they arrived. While I was making some sandwiches, the children showed Dad and Dianne their Guitar Hero game and Katrina played on the piano some. After good food and conversation, Katrina was ready to open presents.

Jack got his belated birthday present: a large pack of Pokemon cards...you can never have enough of those things! And then it was all about Pirates. He got a cool action stage that he can use his POTC figures with. Will comes out of the vat of water, Elizabeth swings on a moving beam, and Jack Sparrow can blow up the hut with fireworks. Okay, Jack was there at the beginning of the POTC 3 movie, but it's our house, so we can play the way we want to. He also got the Chinese guys pirate ship, a POTC jigsaw puzzle, pencils and candy. Katrina's theme was Hannah Montana and she was thrilled! A Hannah Montana doll and Hannah Montana's backstage closet...what more could a 7 year old want? She also got a Shrek coloring book, pencils and candy.

Continue reading "Christmas #3 with Family And Friends Come to Visit" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When I was growing up, we watched Hee Haw every Saturday night. Roy Rogers, Buck Owens, Grandpa Jones, Lily Tomlin...they all entertained us for an hour each week. They had several regular skits each week including when several of them are sitting out on the front porch of a shack singing

Gloom, despair and agony on me...
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery.
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair and agony on me!

Now as I was growing up, when we had a bad day, Mom and I would sing this song ina pick me up kind of way. Today, I am trying to use that age old remedy to pick myself up a bit.

Continue reading "Gloom, Despair and Agony On Me..." »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When I was a kid, I loved the fact that holidays never ended on the particular holiday. They often stretched out for a couple of weeks or more. My grandparents lived about 3 hours away, so we would have our Christmas or birthday at home and then there was always more Christmas or birthday when we went to see them. So, even though the day of Christmas is over, I still have to get together with my mom and stepdad and my dad and stepmom for our Christmas celebrations...so there are still fun gift giving times ahead.

We had a lovely Christmas yesterday. The kiddies were up at 6 and I couldn't get them to go back to sleep (can you believe I even tried?) Well, we all got up and by 6:30 were ready to open presents. Katrina's favorite gifts were a really cute purple dress and purse from her grandmother, boots and a guitar from Santa. She strongly resembles Hannah Montana now! Jack got Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii which is a favorite gift for him and Daniel, Jack and Katrina are loving Guitar Hero III. I got some very cute and much needed pajamas and sweat pants. One pair of pajamas has sock monkeys on it and another pair has pandas on it. I love my warm, cozy pajamas.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Laura at Laura Williams' Musings tagged me for this Carded Meme. I am always looking for fun blogging material and with the extra twist on this, I couldn't resist. I strongly believe in the power of prayer and I think this is a wonderful way we can support one another.

Ronie Kendig altered this CARDED meme to include a Spiritual Wish list so we can know how to pray for each other, both spiritually and physically. Isn’t that a great idea?

THE RULES:

1. Each player starts with 5 gifts that they would want for Christmas.
2. People who are "CARDED" need to write their own Blog about their 5 things & post these rules.
3. At the end of your Blog, you need to choose 5 people to get "CARDED" and list their names.
4. Don't forget to leave them a COMMENT telling them they're "CARDED", and to read your Blog.

My Materialistic Gift/Wish List:

1. A new used car to replace mine since it has 180,000 miles and it needs a new engine.
2. Carpet for my den/dining room/living room area
3. New windows that insulate better (we live in a doublewide...bad windows)
4. An exercise bike so I can exercise without hurting my knee
5. To pay off our mortgage

My Spiritual Gift/Wish List:
1. Discipline to maintain a prayer journal and Bible reading time.
2. To stop worrying so much and trust God more.
3. To put God first and seek his will for my life
4. To show my love for my family and friends better and not get so wrapped up in my own problems.
5. More "bravery" to testify about what God had done for me. I get nervous.

I am supposed to tag five others, but most of my bloggy friends are taking off for the holidays and I don't want to add a burden. So if you have read this and feel like sharing your wish lists, please let me know. I will pray that God will work in your life and I appreciate your prayers on my behalf.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have never ever been camping before in my life. My husband and I almost went once back in the mid 1990s. We borrowed a tent, but in the end, we ended up spending one night in a lovely bed and breakfast and one night in a Holiday Inn. A couple of years later, we made preparations for camping out. We bought a tent, sleeping bags, those egg crate things for under the sleeping bags. We put the tent up in the back yard...it was a really nice one. The kids had fun playing in it. But we didn't realize that we should do something to it to protect it from the elements. It was nylon and one day during a storm, the tent was torn to pieces by the wind.

This year my daughter spent some money she had saved up on a tent. Foolishly we got the nylon kind again. It wasn't up long, but there was a lot of work going on in our yard and we had to keep moving it around and then we got it set up where we wanted it and a terrific windstorm came through and broke the poles that held it up! She wants another tent, next time we will go for a canvas tent with stronger poles and we will find out what we need to do to the material to protect it.

Who knows, maybe once we get the tent thing figured out, we will actually go camping!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here we are...the final day before the big day! The kids are getting very anxious about the thought of getting up tomorrow morning and filling our home with wrapping paper!

Yesterday we were supposed to go to have Christmas with my Dad and stepmother and then enjoy a meal with my dad's family. But the weather was very bad...heavy rain and fog and the trip is 3 hours each way, part of which takes us over Interstate 81 which is a mess these days. With my car confined to local trips until we work out it's engine problems and Daniel's car confined to mostly daylight driving due to the headlight that got knocked out by a deer and we haven't had the money to have fixed yet, we had to stay home.

I will get to see my dad next weekend when he and Dianne come down to the cabin he owns in Bedford County. So we prolonged Christmas a bit. That's okay! While we were home, the kids and I played Mario Party 8 on the Wii I read a very good book (that I will be reviewing and giving away soon). Daniel and I watched the Bourne Identity and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. And Daniel made chex mix for us all to enjoy. A nice relaxing day.

Today will be more of the same. Right now Daniel and I are watching a movie called The Sentinnel with Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland. Other movies on our agenda today are A Christmas Story, The Grinch, and The Year Without a Santa Claus. And maybe the Bourne Supremacy. I am going to cook our ham today and make our Christmas Quiche for tomorrow. I don't want to cook early in the morning, so I will fix it today and heat it up tomorrow.

I look ahead at our calendar and it is a beautiful sight! The only thing between now and January 1st is a birthday sleepover for Katrina on Friday night and Jack will be working at the Daily Bread with the youth group on Friday morning. And of course we will see Dad and Dianne on Saturday.

Days here without running...without things to do...ahhh...more books in my future!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Daniel and the children left about 3 hours ago to brave the holiday throng of last minute shoppers so they could purchase some gifts for their favorite person...ME!

So, you may be wondering what I have been doing with my solitude. Reading a good book? Watching a chick flick? Staring misty-eyed at the Christmas tree? HA! I wish!

I have been up since 7:30. I spent a couple of hours reading the news, catching up with some emails and doing some 'internal' work on my blog. Then after a yummy egg and tomato sandwich, I set to work on the cookies that I have been putting off doing...my grandma's molasses cookies! I love these cookies. They are one of my favorite Christmas cookies, but they take hours to make. The mixing alone can take an hour (for an old slow person like me) because you mix up the liquid ingredients and then you add up to five pounds of flour until the dough is the right consistency (not too sticky to work with, not too stiff so the cookies will e dry). Then there is the rolling and cutting out of the cookies...and with 5 pounds of flour, you know there are a lot of cookies to make! I started on the cookies about 9:30 and finished at 2. But they are soooo yummy!

Continue reading "Three More Days to Go...What Are You Doing?" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In 1971, Sean Connery played James Bond in the film Diamonds Are Forever, and when filming was done, he said he would never play the character of James Bond again. But in 1983, he took on the role again in the film, Never Say Never, Again. It is said the title of the movie resulted from Sean's previous statement that he would never act the character of James Bond again.

Seems like I could take my knowledge of his mistake and not make the same mistake again. And if Sean's example wasn't enough, perhaps, the fact that every year I fall into this same trap, seems like it would clue me in. But nope...I am a very slow learner!

Last weekend, I went shopping with Daniel for the kids. Then on Tuesday I went to the grocery store and I shopped with the plan of not setting food inside of a store again before the first of the year...Hey! What are you laughing at? I really meant it...I was done with the crowds, the driving to town...all of it! I was going to enjoy the holidays and stay far, far away from the others!

And Wednesday, I was home...watching movies, knitting, blogging...ahhhhh, the holidays had arrived...

Continue reading "Never Say Never...The Lesson I DIDN'T Learn from Sean Connery" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

11 years ago today my firstborn, Jack, came a bit reluctantly into the world. You can read about my most special Christmas gift in my previous post as part of the Holiday Bundle Giveaway.

For his whole 11 years on this planet, my son has been a blessing to all who have known him. He is sensitive to the needs and feelings of others. He is great at playing with, watching over and entertaining younger children. Though he and his sister squabble from time to time, her best interests is often on his mind. He worries about her when we lose sight of her at the store for instance. And when I was Christmas shopping, he was pointing out things to me that he thought she would really enjoy.

Continue reading "Happy Birthday, Jack!" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Today, I ended up unraveling Katrina's scarf. I had knitted quite a bit on it, but as I feared yesterday, it was twice as wide as it should be and i was afraid I was going to run out of yarn before it was long enough. I have always had a tendency to make scarves too wide, but it had been so long since I had made one, I couldn't rememer what size to make. I tried 40 stitches, but 20 is much better. Oh well, now that I have restarted, it is going very quickly.

We have been enjoying a nice quiet day. Jack woke up saying his throat hurt. Well, mine hurt too and I told him it was probably because of the dry air. I told him to drink some water. The day passed, we watched movies (The Miracle on 24th Street, Dino Autopsy, and the first part of The Tin Man) and he just laid around. By 3, he was telling me that it hurt to swallow. His forehead felt hot and yep, the flashlight revealed some white spots in his throat....lovely! So I called and made an appointment in the morning for him to see the doctor. For tonight, I will give him ibuprofen and tylenol. Hopefully, no one else will get it...Christmas is only a few days away...

Poor Jack...tomorrow is his 11th birthday. We were alos supposed to be going to a 4-H meeting and I had made cupcakes and a sheet cake to take with us so his friends could sing Happy Birthday...that combined with a 1/2 of a sheet cake left over from our family party Sunday nightmeans we have plenty of cake! \

Cake anyone?

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You know the old saying that you never forget how to ride a bike? It is true. A couple of years ago, I received a bike through freecycle and though I was a bit wobbly for the first couple of minutes, I was soon soaring down hills as the wind swept my hair back behind me...love that feeling! Of course then there is the going back up the hills, but no need to discuss that now...

Anyway, last week when we were getting Wolfman Jack's haircut, my daughter saw some scarves on the shelf. There are local craftspeople who bring things to our local hair dresser and sell them. Katrina wanted to get one, but they were more money than she had with her, plus they were dressy scarves and she really wants a warm scarf. So Mandy and I suggested we get some yarn and I make her a scarf. So that's what we did yesterday. Now, I had in mind that I would crochet the scarf. Once I learned crocheting as a teenager, I left knitting behind. I just liked it better. So I have knitted in over 20 years. But when we were looking at yarn samples yesterday, I liked the way the knitting looked.

I thought about buying some knitting needles, but didn't want to spend the 5.00 and I thought I might have some buried at home or maybe my mom would. So I came home. Sure enough, I have knitting needles. They are ones the kids made during a homeschool project a couple of years ago. Now the real test...could I remember how to knit. I picked up the needles...and my fingers remembered what to do. In no time I was knitting away. So, knitting is like riding a bike. Once you know how to do it, you just don't forget!

Whew...one of the great mysteries in life solved! ( I must admit, I didn't try the purling thing...I didn't like doing that when I could knit, so I probably don't remember it).

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

In November, I won a $150 dollar shopping spree to In the Pink Designs from Classy Mommy. A lot of the neat gifts I have won the last few months have been turned into gifts for loved ones because we were low on funds and that enabled me to give a little something to those I love. But this particular gift, I am keeping just for me. I sent Hethre Smith some photos of my children when they were babies (1996 and 2000). They worked with those pictures and made me the beautiful bracelet you see below. I will treasure this always!

If you are looking for a very special gift for yourself or for a grandparent, I highly recommend checking out the products that In the Pink Designs offers. They have wonderful customer service and create beautiful jewelry that you will treasure forever.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A few years ago we did some remodeling. First we redid my daughter's room. We changed the carpet, had wallpaper put up over the wallboard and had a lovely border put up. I had so much fun watching these changes take place, I wanted a new look for the kids' bathroom too. So I got some paint and a few ocean related items and redid my bathroom decor in just a few hours.

The bottom 2/3 of the wall is an ocean blue and the top 1/3 of the wall and the ceiling are sky blue. I made waves along the top of the ocean. There are fish pasties in the ocean and cloud pasties in the sky. I picked up a fish toothbrush holder and soap dispenser. A fish shower curtain and bathroom mat and viola...a lovely new bathroom. It is in some ways my favorite room!

One of these days I want to redo the master bathroom. I want to make it look like a flower garden.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This coming summer, Jack is looking forward to going to bible camp. I just found out a great site that I will be sharing with his camp leaders. It is a site they can go to in order to create custom christian t-shirts. There are several basic styles of shirts: hoodies, v-neck style, round neck style, different colors, and different sleeve lengths.

You can start with one of their design ideas and customize it to suit your needs or you can completely make up your own design. It is soooo easy and fun! I thought I would try one out and see. I started with the Mountain Camp shirt because we live in the piedmont of Virginia and can see the mountains! I could choose the color, upload my own graphics, and type in my own text. I can add clipart, shapes and personalize the shirts and add numbers. And the company offers free standard shipping in the U.S. The site is easy to use and help is always just a click away!

Go ahead and design shirts for your youth group, church sport team or bible camp. You are sure to have fun and to be pleased with the results

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday morning we were up early and on our way to town. Jack and Katrina had a piano Christmas recital to perform in. It is always so much fun to go and see the children ages 7-17 dressed in their Christmas finery and playing their holiday music. When the songs were done, Mrs. Booth, the teacher, handed out a paper with four Christmas songs on it for us all to sing together. That was fun for all of us. Nothing better to get one in the holiday frame of mind.

Next she gave each of the children a small gift bag that contained a musical note ornament, a candy cane, a mint, and a postcard from a trip she had made to Williamsburg. Then there was the reception. We ate a bit, chatted and visited with the other parents. I enjoyed watching Katrina sit and chat with the other girls and I overheard them complimenting one another on their clothes and shoes.

After the recital, we headed home and met the kidsitter from next door. We took care of a couple of things here at the house, then Daniel and I headed out into the nightmare that is known as last minute holiday shoppers...But first, Daniel surprised me with lunch at Panera bread. I love Panera bread and rarely get to eat there. I had a sourdough bowl filled with cheese and broccoli soup...and a mocha. I was warmed from the tip of my toes to the tip of my nose. Ahhhh....

Then it was out into the thick of things...bumper to bumper traffic. Aisles stuffed with people. First stop was Toys R Us. I was able to find the items Jack wanted easily. Two of the things I was looking for there for Katrina were sold out.... So then it was time to make some substitutions

Continue reading "Catching Up... A Busy and Fun-filled Weekend" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back in the summer of 2005, I was the owner, instigator and moderator of the Lynchburg Freecycle list. It was a lot of fun and I met some lovely people. One person on my Freecycle list had started a blog dedicated to Lynchburg and the surrounding areas. He invited me to join his writing team and so I did. It was a blast and the Lynchburg, VA blog rose high in the ranks. We had a huge following and got lots of comments and had lots of fun. I decided I wanted to start my own blog and the other writers turned to other interests, but I the Lynchburg, VA blog still gets a lot of hits even though it is mostly inactive these days.

Anyway, Bob, the fellow who had the vision for the Lynchburg blog discovered he had a truly amazing talent. The man takes awesome photos. And I do mean awesome! I knew that over the past 18 months, Bob's photos have won awards and contests. He is a favorite over at flickr. He has had photos in Lynchburg Life Magazine and photos that were exhibited in the Musée de l'Elysée, Lausanne in Switzerland,(a museum for photography).

What I didn't know was that Bob has put together a book title Blue Ridge Parkway and Beyond that is chock full of his amazing photos. If you or someone you know enjoys beautiful photography and/or pictures from the Blue Ridge, this book would make an awesome gift! Bob is an interesting man who has experienced a lot of interesting adventures during his lifetime. I am pleased to have been around at the beginning of this latest adventure! Way to go, Bob!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Katrina liked my house so well, she had to make one of her own! She would love it if you would tell her your thoughts.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Kailani made a lovely virtual gingerbread house! She shared the link and her lovely house! Since I have never in my life made a gingerbread house, I had to give it a try! It was so much fun! Here's what mine looks like...

So go ahead...create the gingerbread house of your dreams! And then come share it with me! Have a wonderful day!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today the kiddies were feeling better as was I. No more rushing to the bathroom! Yippee!

So what did we do now that we are all feeling better? Well, this morning I did some blogging work, shipped a dress to Hawaii that I sold on eBay, I started a big pot of spaghetti sauce for tonight's supper, did some laundry and that's about it...gee, that doesn't sound like much does it?

Jack got his haircut at 1:00 (he was starting to resemble Wolf Man Jack so this was a very important part of our day!).On the way home, we dropped off some homemade cookies with a neighbor. She was tickled.

Then we came back by the house and picked up Daniel and headed for the garage where my car has been getting a new heater hose and oil change. My car may be entering the death throws of it's life...or at least of it's engine life. I drive a 1992 Chevy Caprice which I dearly love. My mom and stepfather gave it to me three years ago. About 6 months later I was rear ended by an equipment truck and it was only the supreme condition of the car that made it viable to replace the trunk. The insurance company totalled the car, but the value was so close to what the damage was going to cost to repair, we went on and paid the difference.

About 2 months ago, my car started smoking (no not cigarettes!). I would pull into a parking lot and smoke/steam would be escaping around the hood. At first I thought it was transmission fluid 'burning off'. DH had filled up my transmission fluid and had spilled a bit. But after a week of this, I realized it should have burnt off by then. I popped the hood and realized that a hose that was supposed to be inserted into the valve cover had popped out (I later learned this is called a PVC valve). Anyway, I couldn't get it to stay in. So oil was bubbling up occasionally and leaking down the manifold and smoking as it burned off.

Continue reading "Feeling Better and Having Fun" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The magic of Santa is a delightful part of childhood. But even Santa can use a helping hand from time to time. It is hard for him to answer all the letters he receives. After all, if he sat around answering letters, he would never get any toys made or lists completed. However, as a parent, we know the joy a child feels when they open up the mailbox and there is mail for them inside.

Letters From Santa is a company that is here to help. You can order a personalized letter from Santa to be sent to your child. And yes, there is still time! I don't know about you, but when my children write their Santa letter, I keep a copy of what they want from Santa, helps me with my shopping. You can incorporate that information, along with your child's gender, age, up to 3 of their accomplishments of the past year, and the name of the city you will be in for Christmas into a letter that will be sent to them on gorgeous Santa stationery. The envelope also has a Santa picture on it along with a postmark from Santa's Post Office.

And right now can you get this wonderful letter that your child will always treasure, but you can also get a follow-up post card that shows Santa on the beach and a door hanger for your child. Add a little more magic to your child's life this year! Merry Christmas!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday, my mother-in-law was supposed to arrived around10:30. She was flying in from Florida. We were going to meet her at the airport, help her do a little shopping, then she was going to take us to the Golden Corral for lunch. Afterward, she was going to go see my SIL and the I was going to take the kids to do their Christmas shopping. About 8:30 she called and said her flight had been cancelled and she was still in Florida and would call us back. Turns out that the cargo door on the plane wouldn't close. They discovered this after the plane was loaded and the passengers sat on the plane for an hour while they tried to fix the door. Once they realized they couldn't fix the plane, they unloaded the passengers and rebooked all of them.

Of course, the passengers had to have their luggage checked again. And during the checking of the bags, she ended up having her hairspray, lotion and toothpaste confiscated because the containers were too large to go on the plane in her luggage (why they didn't tell her she could put it in her suitcases she was checking, I am not sure). Anyway, the plane she was rescheduled on didn't arrive until 4 pm. And then it was 30 minutes late, so it was actually 4:30. So she just followed us home and spent the night here.

Continue reading "A Busy 36 hours...warning sickness ahead" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I love flowers. One of my favorite flowers is the carnation because it comes in so many lovely colors, smells beautiful and has a long life. I am not hugely crazy on roses. They are beautiful and their scent is heavenly, but I obviously don't know how to care for the cut roses very well because they rarely last more than a few days for me.

Several years ago, my husband gave me a wonderful gift, actually two wonderful gifts. He purchased me a year of flowers and a year of plants. Every other week, the FedEx man would arrive with the flower or plant of the month. They were all beautiful and brightened up our home. And it was neat because I knew there would be a flower delivery every couple of weeks! And it was a great plan for my husband because his memory isn't very long and he would forget to get flowers for me, but he knew how much I loved them. So he ordered once and then it was taken care of for a year!

I know flowers aren't necessarily a practical gift...after all, they aren't something you can use again and again. But women all over the world love receiving flowers. My husband's grandmother who passed away a couple of years ago told us she wanted flowers when she was living, not on her grave. So we always got her flowers. One of her grandaughters bought her 90 roses on her 90th birthday! She was thrilled!

Continue reading "Visions of Sugar Plums and Carnations are Dancing Through My Head!" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Last spring, we did two wonderful things. One we paid off a piece of property we owned. It was wonderful to know that that 5 acres of land was ours...free and clear! The other thing we did was have a large deck built on the back of our home. It is 18' by 36'. We also had a lovely sidewalk poured from the deck to the driveway (great for visitors who had a hard time walking on our gravel sidewalk) and we had French doors put into our dining room which open onto the deck and make our home feel larger.

The deck addition is awesome and we have really enjoyed having it! We have done school work out there, had plays, had cook-outs, family gatherings, and pirate battles. But this is all just stage one of the plan we have in mind. Before the deck was built, we had a concrete slab poured under one corner. Our next goal is to purchase a hot tub and have it placed in the deck over that concrete slab. Whenever we go on vacation we are always on the lookout for hot tubs as we all enjoy them so much. When we went to WV last year, we loved sitting in the hottub on the deck while it snowed over top of us.

After the hot tub, we plan to enclose 1/2 of the deck and turn the hot tub area into a room. We look forward to having our very own hot tub outside to enjoy when we want and I think it would be great therapy for my aging knees. I don't know when we will start on the next phase of our construction plan, but when we do, you are all welcome to come visit!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From time to time, I have read about great deals at the grocery store...you know the really great deals where someone actually got money back from the store for items they purchased? Or they paid pennies for a product? Well, since we have been forced to cut back drastically (like reduce our grocery bill by virtually half in the last few months, I have been looking extra hard for specials and coupons and preferably the coupon/sale combination. One thing I have decided is that even once I have more money to spend in the food arena, I am going to keep up with these new habits. I would like to get more fresh fruits and veggies (which seem to fall off the list when you are trying to save money), and I have missed having a diet soda each day, but I am not going to go back to doing a lot of shopping at Sam's.

I had gotten in the habit of going there and feeling like I was saving money, but in reality, I don't think that was necessarily true. There are some things that I can definitely get cheaper there, but many things are better price or at least comparable at Food Lion and what I have discovered at Food Lion is that I buy less, because it is just a grocery store...there aren't all the other things to attract my attention that have nothing to do with groceries. I don't have a total amount of what I have saved, but I average 40.00 a week with coupons and MVP sales at Food Lion. Some weeks dip down to $26.00 and some weeks the amount saved goes as high as $75.00. I love it!

Continue reading "Great Grocery Shopping Day" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 5:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Right now, I, along with most of the people I know are busy dreaming of a White Christmas. We are looking for, praying for and hoping to have some of the white stuff float down from the sky so we can have our Norman Rockwell Christmas. I know there are some who are already dreading the first falling flake and are dreaming about sunny warm days to come in the months ahead. But for right now, I think most people are dreaming of snow.

However, human nature is a twisted thing. We want what we can't have. When it is summer, we dream of cooler days. When it is cold we long for sun and surf. So by January or February, many of those who were dreaming of snowy days in December will be turning their thoughts to summer vacations. Why wait until summer? Why not enjoy a lovely getaway this winter and take advantage of Amelia Island's Lodging Special. Currently, they are running a special at 12 participating hotels, bed and breakfasts and inns where if you purchase a two night stay, you can get a third night free. Reservations are required and black out dates apply, but you can only find those by checking out the lodging that appeals to you. This promotion is good from now until February 29, 2008.