NUGGETS AND TIDBITS #1 - Melia and Austin came over for hamburgers last Thursday night and brought a new game... Battle of the Sexes.
We played three entire games (Mike and Austin vs. Belinda and Melia), and the guys won all three games.
Other than the losing "thing," I highly recommend this game. Lots of fun, and it would be great with even a few more players.
NUGGETS AND TIDBITS #2 - In case you haven't heard, Roxie "allowed" me to be on Instagram a few months ago. She even set up my account.
I have been doing a "Picture a Day" for 296 days so far, and I love it.
If you don't have anything to do, FOLLOW ME at @enchantingb!
53 Year-Old Woman Probs
In recent years, I have become a huge fan of the pedicure. It is one of life's most satisfying little pleasures.
And the massage chair...
Oh... my... goodness.
Do NOT get me started on the massage chair.
Except the massage chair is kinda my focus problem today.
At 53 years of age, I wear the appropriate amount of flowy clothes AND fitted clothes at the same time which, when worn the correct way, can trick the human eye into thinking I may or may not have any jiggling going on.
Another way I fend off jiggling is by avoiding sitting in, standing on or being near any and all paraphernalia which might move me and/or my body suddenly and without warning.
For example, a roller coaster is something I avoid at this particular time in my life.
And a water slide.
And standing outside in a pre-tornado weather pattern.
And bumpy roads.
I think you get the idea.
Back to the massage chair.
The pedicure is beyond wonderful, but if you put it WITH the massage chair...
Well, words fail me.
But I cannot figure out how to fix the jiggle.
I wear the appropriate foundational garments and flowy tops so no torso jiggling is evident.
I also wear flowy tops with three-quarter length sleeves to hide any upper arm jiggle.
I wear skinny-for-me jeans, and thanks to a perfect ratio of denim AND spandex, my legs north of my knees stay pretty still, too.
I guess my main problem lies in the above-the-neck portion of my body.
Even in my uber-skinny days of yesteryear, I had a pretty full face. Now that all collagen has apparently "left the building," my cheeks, chin, neck...
And dare I say my nose and ears...
Cannot hold it together for just a few seconds in the massage chair.
Other than holding my face with both hands and/or wearing an attractive ski mask during my pedicure/massage chair ritual, I am at a loss as to what to do.
I know. I know.
As far as problems go for 53 year-old women, this is probably one of the more major ones.
Heavy, heavy, jiggly sigh.
I suppose I will continue to suffer in silence, and if you ever come upon me in the massage chair while I am getting a pedicure, my only advice to you would be to simply LOOK AWAY!
Quickly, and quietly...
LOOK AWAY!
RANDOMNESS #1 - I know this will surprise you, but Josh is still living in his apartment in Hartselle.
That's right.
He has not returned to live in The Dale.
Also, he is still working at the jail, finishing his degree in Criminal Justice AND for all intents and purposes, just being a grown man living on his own.
Heavy sigh.
And me...
Well, I am holding up splendidly, I think.
Just ask Roxie...
Or Mike...
Or maybe just take my word for it.
Actually, I'm spending a lot of time ruminating on what I'll be doing after August 7 when Roxie moves to Auburn...
And I'm coming up with a lot of interesting possibilities.
At least they are interesting to me!
But more about that at a much later date.
I'll share August 8, I am sure.
RANDOMNESS #2 - It's Spring Break in The Dale this week...
And we have no major plans to speak of at the moment.
Roxie and I shopped a little this morning...
And she is working a lot the rest of the week...
And spending time with a few friends here and there.
Depending on the weather toward the end of the week, I think Mike and Josh might try the fishing thing.
And good weather or bad, Roxie, Mike and I will be headed to Auburn Friday to sign a lease which states in part my youngest child will be living in that fair city starting sometime in August.
Our lack of Spring Break plans would be a little depressing if Mike and I had not driven to a nearby lake Saturday morning to check out (in person) my Week-at-the-Lake Vacation Rental Choice for July.
This bad boy is going to be lowered our first few minutes at the Lake, and it will be used around the clock by me (or someone I birthed) for the entire week. The Faulkners love a good hammock.
I did really, really good picking it out this year, didn't I?
Restaurant Review - Chicken Salad Chick - I went with some friends this past week to Chicken Salad Chick in Homewood, and can I just say, "Yum!"
They have all kinds of chicken salad varieties (Cranberry Kelli, Fancy Nancy, Luau Lydia, etc.), specialty salads (grape, pasta, etc.) and more.
I have already picked out which chicken salad "flavor" I'm going to try for my next FOUR visits.
Absolutely delicious.
Also, while Mike and I were in Pell City Saturday morning, we stopped by a little place in a strip mall Melia and Austin found for us last year.
The inside is quaint and calming and light and airy.
I had a raspberry/white chocolate scone which was ever-so-slightly warm, and it was SO good.
I think most, if not all of us, will be visiting this little coffee shop one or more times when we are at the Lake this summer.
Pinterest Stuff
Remember...
All of these ideas came straight from other people's Pinterest Boards!
Glow-in-the-Dark Easter Egg Hunt
The concept is extremely simple... glow sticks inside of eggs. I think I underestimated the amount of prep work involved. If you’re considering a night-time Easter egg hunt, here are a few tips to keep in mind...
1. Proportion - Consider the size of your glow sticks in relation to the size of your plastic eggs. I purchased bracelet-sized glow sticks and tried to use the mix of small and large plastic eggs I had on hand. The sticks were nearly impossible to cram into the 2" eggs, but fit easily into the larger 3" eggs. I recommend using all large eggs or purchasing "mini" glow sticks. As a last resort, tape is your friend.
2. Material - Similar to the size issue, I had a mix of transparent/textured eggs and the more traditional solid color eggs. Not surprisingly, the solid color eggs were better at giving off a “glow” in the landscape than the transparent eggs.
3. Timing - Since you have to “turn on” the glow sticks, there isn’t a lot of opportunity to prep this activity in advance. It took my husband and me almost an hour to place glow sticks into approximately 36 eggs and hide them in the backyard. I had planned on having our hunt just after dusk so that there would still be a bit of natural light for photos. However, the prep took longer than expected, and we ended up taking the kids out just past their usual bedtime... in full-on darkness.
If you’re going for optimum glow effect, however, this is the perfect time for your egg hunt. Seeing the eggs glowing around the yard was definitely a very cool sight!
You can also hide them in the house and turn off the lights for the hunt.
Easter Basket Ideas for Teen Guys
There was a list of 50, but these were a few of the more "different" ideas.
Laser Pointer
Cash (in a plastic egg)
Sunglasses
Wallet
Gift Certificate to local car wash
Car Washing Kit
Gift Certificate to Pep Boys or Auto Zone
Different Things to Put in a Plastic Easter Egg
1. Buy a puzzle and simply hide the different pieces in different eggs. When everyone opens the eggs they will have to gather all the pieces and put the puzzle together.
2. Put the names (or pictures) of all the people at the egg hunt in eggs. When your children get an egg with a name or picture, they have to read it and go find that person. The person can then either give them a small gift OR a clue to follow to another egg. This keeps everyone involved.
3. If you want bigger items in the eggs that will not fit, put a picture of the item (or the name of the item) on a piece of paper in the egg. For example, our kids love new pencils. Put a picture of a pencil in the egg and when the hunt is over, your kids get to redeem their picture for the real thing.
Other simple ideas besides candy...
Seeds (plant them together when Easter is over)
Character Band-aids
Tattoos
Chap Stick
Bunny Trail Mix
You will need the following:
1 jar peanuts
1 bag Easter M & Ms
1 bag white chocolate chips
1 bag spring candy corn
Mix and sweetly enjoy!
Have a great rest of the day.
Take care, and I will talk to you later.
Sincerely,
The Enchanting Belinda
