There comes a time every year

I love my Moleskein datebooks. 

I have been using the Moleskein soft cover small pocket daily planner since sometime around 2008. 

And at the end of every year it is time to transfer all of the pertinent information from the year ending into the next year's book.

I flip through page by page and copy all the important details. Mainly birthdays but occasionally things I like to keep a yearly record of. 

As I was going through my 2014 datebook I found some really neat reminders. 

The day his sister and I had to take a 4 hour round trip to pick up the boys new truck while he was still in Afghanistan. The day the boy came home from Afghanistan, including the exact date that his boots touched American soil again. The day I spent a couple of hours looking for and purchasing our hotel rooms for our whirlwind Florida trip this summer. The day I weighed in at 128.08 lbs and freaked the hell out. The day my oldest finally started at a job that would mean she would finally become self sufficient and wouldn't never again have to rely on someone to help her through.The day we celebrated the pending wedding of Brat#4 to his girlfriend of almost 4 years. The date of the beautiful wedding they shared at Springhill College Chapel. The day we drove to Tennessee to visit the newlyweds in their new apartment, and then had a blast at the Bristol race.

Birthday parties I attended, anniversaries remembered.Planning for visits and get togethers and barbeques and taking and meeting old friends out for great food and lots of laughs and good times.

 

It's all in this little book that I throw in my purse everyday and jot stuff down to remind me what I always forget to do.

I can even look back through this little book and see what kind of weather we have had. How old my chickens are. How many eggs we are getting at certain times of the year. Who was sick and who had school functions, whether I went to them or not.

And every Alabama football game I watched. Most with the finishing scores.

This is the best part of the end of a year for me. Going through this little black book and looking back over a year that is always full of good times and bad, friends and family, smiles, laughter and tears. 

I've been doing it for quite a while now, you should too, you will thank me at the end of next year ;0)

A move from social media

I was driving into work this morning listening to Elvis Duran and The Morning Show and one of the guys on the show, Scary Jones, was talking about how obsessed he was with his social media apps. His point was that he was so obsessed with constantly checking Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and quite a few other social media apps that he had blown away most of his Sunday on his phone.
This got me to thinking. (now that's Scary)
As much as I love staying in touch with my friends and family that I don't get to see too much, I also spend way too much of my time surfing, posting and tweeting.
Too many selfies, too many bitches and whines on facebook. And trust me I am one of the world's worst. Like my opinion mattered so much that it was worth posting on a social media website, marking it public, to make sure everyone could see the wonderful and insightful thoughts bouncing around in my brain.
And the more people that 'like' my status, the more validated I felt, empowered, like maybe my opinion really does matter. I'm making a difference! Changing the world! Everyone is starting to realize how smart and witty I am! Pretty soon they will vote me President of the Social Media Network!!!
Yeah
NO
Stop it!

Some of the best days I have relaxing are when we go to the hunting camp.
No internet, no cable t.v. hell half the time you can't even get a signal to make a stupid phone call.
But it is awesome! Everyone knows I am where I can't be reached and besides the kids or my BFF that I talk to when I can get a signal, everyone else leaves me alone.
Because I can't post up there, there is no constant checking to see how many likes I have, or tags in a post, or comments on my status or updates or notifications or pictures.......
Though it is an obsession I created for myself, it is all very tiring.

You know that feeling when you comment along with ten other people on someone's post and they reply to everyone's comments but yours.
You're crushed, you feel left out, then you get mad, and yes sometimes go as far as, heaven forbid, unfriending them!
That's another thing about Facebook, jeeze louise, don't unfriend anyone, they have a beacon, an algorithm written that sends red flashing lights to them, and before you can surf to another page, THEY KNOW. They are pm'ing you mad at you, telling you how much they never really did like you anyway.
Honestly I think they just get mad because you did it first.

Don't get me wrong, I like Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. I just think I need to cut back. Look up more. Notice what's going on around me instead of around the twittersphere.

Maybe the blog will get a little much needed attention. ;0)

Note To Self

Years from now, when I go tripping through the blog to see where my head was at, what do I want to see?
What was going on? What was my frame of mind? Was I doing good? bad? whiny?
That's the kind of stuff I want to see on this blog. A Note To Self.

Unfortunately to make an exciting and awesome blog post, something exciting and awesome would have to happen.
Basically since the end of the Thanksgiving Holiday, life has become a tad boring.
Not that I'm complaining that much. We have had a whirlwind summer, what with the boat, the trips to Panama City, Naples, Ft. Lauderdale, Chatanooga, Bristol, foot ball games and camping twice on the island. It's been a whirlwind of good times and great friends.
Now the colder weather is here, I hardly ever sit out back anymore and spend most of my time knitting in front of the t.v. when I am not cleaning all the little things here and there that were neglected over the spring and summer months. You know, things like steam cleaning the carpet, scrubbing down the baseboards and toilets and floors.
I did finally get back into my knitting and once I did it was like, whoa! it's been a while.
My MIL asked me to make her some cloths one day about two months ago. Once I did, I was off and running with it again.
Almost everyone is getting something knitted for Christmas. Well, ok, the ones that I know and feel would appreciate it, or at least pretend to use what I make for them when I'm around.
I have only been up to the hunting camp once so far.
I love going up there, it's quiet with no cable or internet, fireplace to curl up in front of and a huge pond out back for catching dinner.
I could live up there! But it's just been one thing after another, mainly because PB hasn't been up there that much himself so far this year. The second time he went I couldn't go with him, work, kids, guests coming for the holidays. I'm sure once the Christmas holidays are over we will be headed back up there again. In fact, I am going to make sure we do ;0)
I guess I can sit back and enjoy the down time for a while. As long as it doesn't become too long.
I have already started planning our summer for 2015 though.
Friends coming to stay with us in Panama City in June, a whole week in Naples in July. Camping on the island in May, before it gets so hot that you can't sleep at night. (when I camp, I camp, nothing that uses electricity) except for phones, those have to go, how else could I take all of the pictures!
I think I always get like this around this time of year. We stay so busy that when it does come time to slow down, I get grumpy and bored and sick of the processed air from the a.c. unit.
I don't have any idea how people can live up north where the great outside time is limited to three or four months a year. (unless you can stand the cold, which I can not!) I much prefer our three months a year of inside time.
That's my whine for today. It's only December and I am already sick and tired of being stuck inside.
Hell I was just sweating my ass off last week cleaning all the oak leaves out of the front yard. Now, four days later I am tired of the cold wind blowing around my house!

It does make for some pretty cool pictures though ;0)

Thanksgiving Holiday Fun

We had a blast this last Thanksgiving.
We had company come in all the way from Miami the day before.
OMG the food we ate. Oysters on Wednesday and Friday. Of course the always awesome and overfilling turkey traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Football food for the Iron Bowl on Saturday.
I don't know how in the hell I lost down to 118 lbs. by today. I thought I would be fighting the 'holiday weight' battle until at least New Years.
But sure enough, I woke up this morning and 118.6 lbs! Don't ask me, I don't know how.

Friday night we took everyone,yes this whole awesome gang to

 Bellingrath Gardens Magic Christmas In Lights

We had a great time even though it was a tad chilly. And I am sure for our Miami guests it was downright freezing!

But you can never go wrong with a trip there to see the lights. Always beautiful! Plus they added a few new sections to see. I didn't get photos of those. For some reason (I can't imagine why) my phone kept dieing at the most inopportune times!

I think this picture will end up on the Christmas cards this year if I decide to send any out. 

A few years ago, I really got into sending out the cards, but my gosh! the expense and the time to hand write a note on every single one, it is just a lot and I haven't sent any out in the last couple of years.

But if I was going to, this picture would be on it. 

Us and all the kids save one, who was with his cousin that night and opted out, and all our grandbrats.

We definitely make a crowd just by ourselves!

All in all is was five days of great family fun. And with all the kids now grown up, dating, married, jobs and their own families, we were lucky to have all this time together.
And then there was IRON BOWL SATURDAY!
But that's for next time................