Finally got my beach fix.....and another addition to the family

I went to Orange Beach, Alabama last week and had a great time. Lots of walking, lots of ocean, lots of seafood and beer, and lots of relaxing. We also watched fishing from the pier and went to Pensacola to the Naval Base. I saw dolphins and lots of sting rays.

So before I leave for my trip, my daughter's car starts making a horrific noise. Sounded like a belt issue. I drop it at a shop known for their honesty, but the guy is on holiday. AAGGGH. So I take the car to NTB as I'm hoping to get it fixed before I leave for my trip.  NTB tells me it will be $1600. I  need an idle pully, a/c condenser and compressor, power steering belt and some other belts. Oh and we have no problems with the a/c so I was shocked by all of the a/c equipment we needed.  

Well this is a 12-year old Nissan with dings, dents, chipped window, and ugly as Pelosi. Long story short, I left my 17-year old daughter my BMW to drive while I went on vacation. Needless to say, I was a little worried about that all week long. Oh, and by the way, I took her car to the honest mechanic when I got home. A bolt holding a bracket for a belt had fallen into the engine. They took out the loose bolt and put a new one in and charged me $75. The car is quiet again.

To top it off, the day I leave a big storm hits Frisco. That morning I had a tree service out trimming my huge tree in the backyard because it is close to my house. Thank goodness for the timing on that. Anyway, that night, a huge limb breaks off of a tree in the front yard (not close to the house), but obviously close to the cable....I have had no cable or Internet for a week now.  The guys came out and said they need the big boys in a bucket truck.I'm hoping they arrive today. I'm reading library books and using RedBox.

So I had a great trip. I come home and meet my kids at their work. They ask me if I have been home yet and I say no. They start grinning. I keep asking them what they did to my house while I was gone and they keep saying nothing. My boyfriend, who is obviously smarter than me and  knows my daughter better, says "What kind of animal did you bring home?" Well, I have a new kitty. She is so cute. She was born under a neighbor's house and covered in fleas.

There is something so cathartic about sitting on the back patio in the shade with my daughter, listening to music, me having a glass of wine, while both of us are pulling fleas off the kitty. Fortunately, Zena and Billie Jean seem okay with the new addition.

Golf and gardening

Me and the girls at the Old Course on the right.

My daughter always has her eyes closed or is making a face in all photos. Ugh. This is us on our way to the Byron Nelson last Friday and her holding my pink flamingo birthday present.



















I am loving my garden. Last night I grilled up squash, broccoli, and tomatoes straight from my garden. This morning I picked jalapenos and had stuffed jalapenos for breakfast with a fresh tomato.

Moms

My kids both had to work on Mother's Day. They had left  me chocolate covered strawberries in the fridge from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Yum!!!

I drove to Ft. Worth to take my mom out to lunch. We went to Joe's Crab Shack and had a steampot of goodies on the patio. Lovely day. My mom finished radiation treatments a few weeks ago and she said that she is feeling so good. She said her energy is back and she's raring to go.

After my long drive home, I was ready to relax and just watch some TV. My kids were home from work and they forced me to go out for my mother's day dinner to Olive Garden. They are on a budget so they had the meal picked out before we got there: bruschetta, bread sticks, pizza, salad, and chocolate cheesecake....I had to pay for my own wine because they didn't include it in the budget :) I love that they can plan things out like that. We had a great time. I will post pictures of our dinner out once I upload them from my camera.

So everyone has heard the story about the big fish that got away. Well it is true. I threw a Senko worm in at a point on Saturday morning. Never felt a nudge or nibble. Went to reel it in and thought I was stuck on a log. My line wasn't moving....and then all the sudden it was swimming off. I reeled and reeled and my pole was in a complete circle with the tip right over the edge of the boat. This fish was so big I thought my pole was going to snap. The fish went under the boat and I managed to pull it away and then it took off to the motor and snapped my line. Darn it.

So later, I'm waiting for my boyfriend to bring the boat up to the parking area and some guys ask me if I had caught anything....(oh and I did catch fish Saturday). It was my day for catching them for a change. I told them about the big one. My boyfriend comes up and says to them. "Did she try to tell you about the big one that got away? She tells that story every week."

Canned Escargot

I love me some Texas sun. Golf has been great, the convertible top is down every day. Wish it would stay like this.

I bought canned escargot (last year) with a lot of other good French items when Hayley barely passed advanced placement French. She only took AP because a boy talked her into it so they'd be in the same class.....and then his family moved out of state before school started. Sigh. So tonight, I'm going to cook those bad boys up, and see if the kids will try them. I'm sure my son would for cash. I'm also making stuffed jalapenos on the grill. I guess its a no-meat kind of night...unless snail is considered meat?????

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-garlic-escargots/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=escargot&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

So I decided I need to start walking/jogging to the park again. I took Zena (Ryan's Rottweiler) with me. I tried to jog and I jog slow. I was dragging her. Seriously, on the back half I thought she was going to just stop, lie down, and have a heart attack. I didn't bring my cell and I was way back in the park trails. All I could think was what do I do? She weighs 92 lbs.  So the good news is that at least I'm in better shape than the dog. My goal is to get us both in even better shape.

So my garden is awesome. I have made it a personal vendetta to pull every green caterpillar off my broccoli plants on a daily basis. Oh, and my mystery plant is broccoli.

At Home Gel Nail Review and Ramblings

All my stocks are down today except DEO. Hmmmmm. They sell Bailey's Irish Cream, Guiness Beer, tequila, scotch, etc. Love me some DEO.

Okayl so it costs about $30 for gel nails at the salon. The polish looks good for about 2 weeks. In fact, the reason I took mine off was because my nails had grown out so much. But let me tell you, when I decided one evening at home to take off the gel nails.....Holy Moly. It is impossible to get off with nail polish remover. At that point, it was a challenge. I was not going to let that gel nail stuff get the best of me, but I did almost cry trying to get it off.

Yesterday, I'm at the drugstore and I see do-it-yourself gel nails for only $15. I'm thinking awesome. Half price and it'll last two weeks. Boy did I mess up.

If I had read the directions, I would have never purchased. You apply applicator solution, the gel nail polish,then clean the brush in brush cleaner, and repeat. This is only one hand. Now you do the same for the other hand.

I'm horrible at painting my nails, so after all of that, I have nail polish that will last two weeks and it looks horrible. Next time, back to the spa for a glass of wine, a massage chair, a hand massage and nice nails.

I need someone with a farm to adopt my daughter or maybe in a few years marry her. She has some affliction that makes her bring home animals and/or beg for more animals. Today, it was begging for German Shepherd puppies. If I lived on land, I would probably do it myself.

Well off to golf tonight. Lovely evening in Texas!!!!

Jump Starting a Car

So Hayley's car wouldn't start yesterday. I found jumper cables. Good. I got her hood open. Excellent. Uh oh. Took me a while to figure out how to open my hood. When I did....Wow. I have a beautiful engine. So anyway, I spend 15 minutes looking for my battery. NOTHING under my hood looks like a battery. Very strange, so I pull out the manual. 


Seriously, I don't have a battery under my hood. I have a battery terminal. My battery must be hidden somewhere else in my car. Anyway, got her car jumped, bought Hayley a new battery, and she is back in business.


So golf score has been going down since week one. I haven't practiced, but my chipping and putting was pretty decent last week which is unusual for me.

On another note, I planted a garden and I planted things and can't remember what they are. The only things really growing so far are tomatoes, bell peppers and blackberries. I have strawberries, but they just lay in the dirt and fall off. Think I'll pass on strawberries in the future and buy them at the store. So there is something unidentified. I thought it might be carrots, but I looked online and that's not it. Clueless. It kind of looks like cabbage up top, but I know I wouldn't buy cabbage.


Good news. I got a French manicure last weekend. It lasted 10 days. That is a personal best. Typically, I mess it up before I get to my car.

Been a While

Well the baby chickens went to live on a farm. http://www.cathys-critters.com/. There was an Easter festival with a petting zoo the week before Easter and our baby chickens were there for the kids to play with, and they had a little yellow buddy the same age. So glad the chickens found a home....besides my house.

So I dug a big hole in my backyard so I can build a flagstone patio. Not so sure rainy season is the best time of year to do it. Now I have a mud pit right outside my back door. I just got so gung ho about this project that I couldn't wait any longer to finish my prep work. Now, I just need to spend the money for the flagstone and crushed granite and have a long weekend with sun and nothing to do. I'm thinking I might need to hire some help since 3+ tons of stuff will be dumped in my driveway.

I probably shouldn't say this out loud, but my golf game has gotten better each week. I shaved off 4 strokes  from week one and another 4 last week. At this rate, I'll be on the LPGA soon....:)