LAST FULL DAY :-(

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

Another exhausting full day with the grandchildren. Lots of time in the pool, Mexican for dinner and then, of course, ice cream and a golf cart ride tonight.

Tonight at Kilwins:

Sydney aka "Messy Face" loves the eyeballs they put on the kid's ice cream.

Kaley Grace is the reason we started the tradition of going every night they are here. This girl LOVES ice cream! She's tiny, but can eat lots of ice cream!

Landon discovered a new favorite...cake batter ice cream.

While George finished his root beer float, the kids decided to hop on the golf cart for some "pretend Landon is driving" fun.

Big sigh...Tomorrow I'm driving them half way home and Angela is meeting us to pick them up.

Time truly does fly when you're having fun.

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

MONDAY FUN!

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****
We took the kids to see the 3D Disney/Pixar movie UP this afternoon. What fun! Click here to watch a trailer. We had a great time.

The girls love to take "funny face" photos.

Every night we take a golf cart ride with Miss Daisy. The kids usually want to sing out loud as we ride but were exhausted tonight. We played in the pool all morning and then went for ice cream (of course) at Cold Stone Creamery before the movie. Sydney fell asleep on the golf cart ride and I had to carry her in and put her right into bed. Granddad and I are pretty tired too. LOL

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

ALOT OF FUN FOR $1.00

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****
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It's amazing, but true. A buck can still buy you some fun!

I picked up these silly stretchy balls at a $ store a few days ago along with some "noodle" floats.
I never dreamed how much fun $6.00 could give. We've had a ball (literally) playing in the pool with these...and a few other pool toys and floats.

Today's ice cream - Dippin' Dots!

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After my post yesterday, several of you asked for the recipe for Sherry's Marinated Cheese appetizer that our family loves, so here goes:

Sherry's Marinated Cheese
1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

1 (2 oz.) jar diced pimento, drained

3 tbsps. chopped fresh parsley

3 tbsps. minced green onions

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. sugar

3/4 tsp. dried whole basil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground pepper

Combine these 10 ingredients in a jar; cover tightly and shake vigorously. Set marinade mixture aside.

1 (8oz.) block sharp Ceddar cheese, chilled

1 (8oz.) package cream cheese, chilled

Cut the block of Cheddar cheese in half lengthwise. Cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices; set aside. Repeat procedure with cream cheese. Arrange cheese slices alternately in a shallow baking dish, standing slices on edge (see above photo). Pour marinade over cheese slices. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours.

Transfer cheese slices to a serving platter in the same alternating fashion and spoon the marinade over the cheese. Garnish with fresh parsley sprigs, if desired. Serve with assorted crackers.

(the marinade actually makes a yummy salad dressing and can be used to marinate chicken, etc. too)

Enjoy!

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

We're having fun!

I picked up 3 of our grandchildren this morning and we were home in time for lunch. We spent the afternoon in the pool, had spagetti for dinner and then took them for a golf cart ride to get ice cream tonight. It's a tradition for us...when the grandchildren are here, we go for ice cream every night.

Sydney always wants eyeballs and sprinkles on her chocolate ice cream
Kaley Grace wants her chocolate plain...just like her MeMe!

Landon is getting so tall!! His favorite...cookie dough.

We spent the afternoon in the pool.

After I watered plants this afternoon, they all wanted to play with the hose. The water was freezing compared to the pool water.

Granddad had a ball!

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Last night at Mom's was fun!

Sherry, Kim, Karen, Theresa, Me, Mom and Angela

Sherry made one of our family's favorite appetizers...marinated cheese! It's always a hit!

We played Mexican Train before dinner and planned to play more afterwards, but we had too much fun just talking, laughing and being together.

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

SO EXCITED

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****
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I'm not sure who is more excited...us or the kids!

Today I'm driving to my hometown to pick up three of our grandchildren. I can't wait! But first, I'm spending the night at my Mom's. My sisters, my aunt, my "Other Mother" (Mom's best friend) and one of my daughter-in-loves are all coming over for dinner, drinks and games. I'll pick the kids up on Saturday morning and come back home.

These photos were taken last summer. We'll be spending lots of time in our pool and on the beach again.

I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

MY PLANS FAILED, BUT....

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

IT'S OKAY...SHE'S WORTH IT!

I had BIG plans today...bike riding, tennis, some time in the pool and a lot of blog reading. Yep, I was gonna push everything else aside for one day and just play. See, I'm picking up three of my grandkids on Saturday so I thought I would play hard today, work hard all day tomorrow and then leave on Friday. Sounds good, right? I thought so. It just wasn't meant to be though.

I did ride my bike up to the courts and play tennis, but before I could even take off my shoes and get into the house my cell phone rang and it was my friend Beth calling. She was in so much back pain and needed to get to the hospital. So....I spent the day in the emergency room with her. I'm not complaining though because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would do anything for me. They ended up giving her pain meds in her chest port and then sent her home. I'm hoping when she sees the doctor tomorrow they will decide on surgery soon so she can get some relief. Please say some prayers for Beth. It breaks my heart to see what she's having to go through.

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I love giveaways, don't you?! I recently won a $tarbuck$ gift card from Andi at Fingerprints On The Glass . I stopped the other day and picked up a skinny vanilla frappuccino. Yum oh! Thanks Andi!

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My sweet friend Leigh at Tales from Bloggeritaville passed along this Friend Award a few days ago.

"This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers."

Thanks Leigh!


Hugs and kisses,
Kat

STRANGE, BUT IN A GOOD WAY

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

Here we are with Marilyn (a blog "lurker" from Indiana) and her husband, Tim

Okay, I had a weird/strange (but in a good way) experience last night. George and I and our friends, Kay and Larry, went out to dinner at one of our favorite spots, Fat Clemenza's. We had reservations for 7:15 and when we arrived the restaurant was PACKED. On a Monday night. Yep, summer is here! Anyway, it was no big deal for us and the owners, who happen to also be friends, brought us a glass of wine to enjoy while we waited for our table. No problem.

A customer gets up from her table and walks up to us and asked "are you Kat and George?". It turns out that she is one of my blog "lurkers" and is in town for a wedding. She and her husband and their friends actually came to the restaurant because she read about it on my blog. What a surprise! She looked up and there we were "in the flesh". LOL It was wonderful getting to meet her, although I must admit it felt a bit weird to meet someone who knew soooo much about me and yet I didn't even know she read my blog! I made her promise to leave me a comment sometime so I'll know she's been by.

I still find it hard to believe that anyone reads my blog although I learned recently when I decided to quit blogging, that a lot more people read it than I ever imagined. Thank goodness quite of few of them e-mailed me so I was able to contact them when I made the decision to begin blogging again.

So.....this experience has got me thinking. If you're a "lurker", please be sure and leave me a comment. Introduce your self and tell me a little bit about YOU. Pretty please! Don't be shy...we're all "lurkers" when we visit a blog until we leave a comment and introduce ourselves.

And...if you're coming this way, let me know 'cause I'd love to meet you too.

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

FEEL MY HEAD....

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

'cause I must have a fever!

It must be the heat or something, but lately I'm eating more fruit than chocolate!!!

I know...I'm shocked too. LOL

I haven't been too hungry lately (thank you Lord), but I'm craving fruit all the time. Peaches, blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, apples......

I was just sitting here at my computer doing some blog reading and munching on my blueberries, when I had to laugh since usually that cute little custard cup is filled with M&Ms!


Hugs and kisses,
Kat

(yep, my desk IS always that messy)

I MISS YOU DADDY

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

That's me standing between Mama and Daddy
( Mama is holding my sister Karen ...our sister Kim wasn't born yet)

This has been the hardest Father's Day for me since my Daddy died in 1978. I can't explain why? I just don't know. All I know is that I miss him so very much. I've had a lump in my throat all day and I've cried at the drop of a hat.

If you still have your Dad, make sure you let him know how much you love him.

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

HOW I SPENT MY SATURDAY

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

(taken with my cell phone...see why I think I live in Paradise?)

Ahhhhh! So nice!

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

BLUE BLAZES

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

Oh.My.Word! It's hot as "blue blazes" here! And that's VERY hot in case you've never heard that southern saying.

George and I rode our bikes to tennis this morning like dummies! It was so hot it was crazy to be out there running around for 2 hours, but we did like dummies! We were both drenched and weak. Luckily the village is close by, so we rode our bikes there and ate lunch at Cabos under an umbrella and drank lots of water. It was still hard pedaling back home. Before I could shower and rest, I still had to water my plants in planters and hanging baskets, plus I'm taking care of a neighbors.

George got in the shower first and then tried to shave, but his left hand kept cramping up and was pretty painful. Low potasium I'm sure, so I gave him some orange juice and that helped...I learned that from my Mom. The OJ thing is amazing. He gulped down half the glass and within 15 seconds the hand quit cramping...but then it tried to cramp up again. It was very painful. He hurried and drank the other half and the cramps never came back. Note to self: we really need to remember to eat a banana before we go out and play in this heat!

Our landscape crew comes by on Fridays and they were telling us this afternoon that they lost a few of their workers today from the heat...a couple of them ended up in the emergency room.

I saw on the local news last night where a reporter put some of those "slice and bake" type cookies on a cookie sheet and left it in a locked car. The darn things cooked perfectly like they would in an oven!! I pray no one leaves a child or animal in a locked car like I've seen on the news before!

I hope it's cool where you are! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

SHE'S A TROOPER AND I'M A WHINER

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

It's good to be home!

Beth was a real "trooper" throughout everything. Before we left town on Monday morning, she had a injection of steroids, etc. in her back at the surgery center. Don't worry...she okayed me taking this photo right before they wheeled her back for the procedure. That's her chest port you see. She'd had it for a few years now so they can access it to draw blood and to give her medication since her veins aren't good any more. And just look at that smile...Beth always amazes me with her attitude.

After the treatment, we began our 8 hour trip to Nashville, but stopped often for her to get out and walk around a bit. We had the scariest thing happen right as we were crossing the Tennessee River bridge. Oh.My.Word! Beth was sleeping and it began to rain BIG BIG, I mean BIG rain drops, and the sky darkened so FAST. It all happened in the blink of an eye, it seemed. I couldn't see a think. I woke her up and told her to help me. It was so dark and windy and it was raining so hard that I couldn't see a thing except the white dots faintly between the lanes. I put on my flashers and we crawled. I didn't want to stop on the bridge and yet it was scary moving forward. Beth practically had her nose up against the windshield guiding me by saying "move over to the right a little" or "you're okay just stay straight". We crawled across that LONG bridge. I can truthfully say I have never ever ever been as frightened as I was. My right foot was on the gas and my left leg was jerking. My heart was racing. My hands were like claws on the steering wheel. By the grace of God, we made it across and stopped at the first exit. By then, it was calming. The weather...not me. We got out of the car at a Krystal and went in for awhile. I hope I never go through something like that again.

The neurosurgeon at Vanderbilt we saw on Tuesday morning was very nice. He felt like the treatment she had on Monday was the right route and said she could have 3 of those within six months and with those and physical therapy she just might be able to avoid surgery. That was good news! But...in examining her, he found a problem with her hip that might be causing some of her leg pain and suggested an injection in her hip, similar to the one she had on Monday in her back. He referred us to Hillsboro Imaging and they got us in within two hours. So, bless her heart, she had two injections and a total of 7 sutures within 26 hours. Like I said, she's a "trooper".

Here we are at Brown's Diner. I'm not as pale as I look in this photo, it's just that Beth is THAT dark! But I'm definitely tired and it shows. I can't do those 8 hour trips and be peppy like I used to!

We didn't get to do much in Nashville, but we did go to the local "dump" (said fondly), Brown's Diner for a burger and fries. It's hard to describe the atmosphere. You gotta see it to believe it! It's made of two trailer homes and it's old and can be smelly. You definitely don't go there for the decor. LOL! And ya never know who you might see in Brown's Diner...a legendary artist, politician, or a homeless soul....or two old friends who want a taste of Nashville.
I went to my dentist Wednesday morning and got my teeth cleaned... yep, I still go to my dentist in Nashville any chance I get...because he's not only our dentist, but friend. And then nearly dropped my teeth when I found out I have a cavity. But not just a regular old cavity, but a cavity UNDER an old bridge. And what does that mean? Fun, fun, fun. He will have to destroy the bridge....to get to the tooth...to repair the cavity...and then make me another bridge. Yep, big bucks!!!
Yes, I'm whining! Big time. And that's sad folks...'cause at least my problem can be solved with a little $$$'s (or a lot) and Beth's MS is a whole 'nother problem.

Thanks for your prayers and well wishes.

Hugs and kisses,
Kat