Through The Tulips Words of 'Wiz'dom

December 26, 2010

Vacation to Recover from the Vacation

Filed under: Gratitude,Holidays,Home,Travel — gardener @ 7:18 pm

Even though we still have 26 days left in our trip (longer than many people’s entire vacations), I can tell that people are noticing that we are on the downhill slope of the trip. They are trying to squeeze in get together’s and I’ve been thinking about how grateful I am that so many people want to spend time with us. I’m trying my best to see everyone, but I know at the end of the trip there will be those that I never were able to get a chance to see in spite of really wanting to.

I mentioned to someone a few days ago that when I get home, I’m going to need a week to rest after all the going and doing. I guess a vacation to recover from the vaction if you will.

December 12, 2010

Tis The Season for Giving

Filed under: Food,Gratitude,Holidays,Things I Love — gardener @ 1:49 pm

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. When I was younger- I am sure I loved it because of the gift receiving aspects, but now as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that I receive much more joy from giving than I do from receiving. Don’t get me wrong- I love gifts; after all, who doesn’t, but it’s nothing like surprising people randomly and adding a smile to their face.

Today while running around, I stopped in at our local Krispy Kreme shop and picked up some gift certificates good for a dozen original glazed doughnuts. If you buy them- the price is close to $8.00 per dozen, but if you buy the gift certificates they end up costing about 2.75 each dozen. It was a pretty big chunk of change that I had to pay to get them, but I wanted to be able to give them to family and friends- plus pass them out to random strangers. Tis the season- and hopefully it will brighten someones day.

I challenge you to do the same- in any way you can.

Good Eats

Filed under: Food,Health/ Fitness,Holidays — gardener @ 1:39 pm

Up until now, this has been a vacation of indulgence when it comes to eating. I did pretty well up until the cruise, but the dessert choices were amazing. There wasn’t just ‘one’ great dessert, but many. Of course, I had to try them all. haha The last day of the cruise they had a chocolate extravaganza during lunch and I REALLY indulged then.

Even though we’ve been home a few days- I’ve still found myself on the indulgence side and know that if I am ever going to shed any pounds while I’m here- I’d better start making healthier choices. I stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies today and plan to start doing my best- including adding more exercise to the mix.

I have a 5k to do on December 31st and I’d better start training if I’m planning to make it.

December 11, 2010

G-U-M-B-O

Filed under: Food,Holidays,Home — gardener @ 9:09 am

Mom is making gumbo today and I can’t wait. In fact – she’s making two pots of gumbo- seafood and chicken. Marcel is not a fan of seafood (other than fish), so the shrimp and crabs will be for us and the chicken for him. I was trying to remember the last time I had gumbo and I think it was probably 4 years ago. I don’t remember eating any last time I was home, and I never make it myself. I am so ready. I plan to make some potato salad to go along with it, and all I can say is YUM! To make things extra sweet- my brother and nephew will be here to eat with us. I heart family time!

December 1, 2010

Let the Fun Begin

Filed under: Holidays,Home,Shop til ya Drop,Things I Love,Travel — gardener @ 2:36 pm

Desere is in Atlanta waiting for her flight to Mobile (or I assume she is- since I haven’t talked to her) and I’ve been getting a few things done around here in anticipation of her arrival.

She’ll be here 10 days, but our time will be spent constantly on the go- so it’s safe to say that this definitely will not be a vacation of rest for her. In fact, it’s one of those trips where you’ll probably have to go home and get some rest to recover from the vacation that you just took.

Tomorrow we’re headed out to New Orleans. Friday, she and I plan to spend the entire day out shopping between the outlets and Malbis and then Saturday is our cruise. We get back on Thursday- and she leaves again on Friday. I’m looking forward to taking plenty of pictures and having many adventures to share- including our swim with the dolphins.

I miss reading blogs- but I just haven’t had the time. Maybe after she leaves and heads back home- I’ll have a little more time.

November 29, 2010

Christmas Cards

Filed under: Holidays,Seasons,Shop til ya Drop — gardener @ 6:00 pm

I pulled out my Christmas cards this morning with the thought that I may possibly start working on them. The key word there would be ‘thought’, because it didn’t take long for me to get distracted with other things. My brother called on his way to the doctor, so we talked for a while. Looks like he’s got a lighter version of whatever it was that I had last week. He left work after being there a couple of hours and after a visit to the doc for antibiotics, he went home and spent the rest of the day in bed.

I attempted to organize my very disorganized bedroom, plus printed out all the cruise documents that we need for this coming weekend. I also talked to Desere via Whats App for a while and then it was time to head to town with mom and diddy to pick up a few things. By the time we got home- it was time to get dinner going, and now- here I sit. The Christmas cards became a fleeting thought.

It looks like I won’t get started on them until we get back from the cruise. With Desere coming in Wednesday- it looks like I’m going to be busy for a while.

Fun with Friends

Filed under: Food,Health/ Fitness,Holidays,Home — gardener @ 5:00 pm

I messaged Samantha this morning to see if they made it back from their trip to the mountains for Thanksgiving. They had. I sent her a message asking if I could come over tomorrow night since I woudn’t get to see her before Desere arrived otherwise. She said I was welcome to come over but asked if I’d rather go out and get sushi tomorrow night. Since I have been craving Chef Scotts- my respose was a big YES, YES, YES!

I told her that I’d be skipping lunch tomorrow, but that was before my friend Debbie messaged me and asked if I wanted to go to a great restaurant in Ocean Springs that serves great hummus. I can’t wait to spend some time with her, so obviously, I said YES!

Looks like it will be breakfast I’m skipping tomorrow and if I don’t watch it I’ll be asking what are the best diet pills because I’m hoping to ‘lose’ weight this trip and not gain. I’m sure I can swing it though. Now that I’m feeling much better, I can get back to exercising.

November 28, 2010

Gratitude

Filed under: Food for Thought,Gratitude,Holidays — gardener @ 4:17 pm

I was listening to Oasis online this morning and they are starting a Christmas series called “Live, Love, Laugh”. I was hoping to be able to make it to the service, but I wasn’t so I decided to do the next best thing and that’s watch it online. Pastor Camp talked about how we really shouldn’t be focusing too much on what’s going on all around us, because those are things we can’t control. Instead, we should be focusing on what’s happening inside of us and making sure that we are cultivating the ‘good’ things.

I think that’s part of my problem for this entire year- There was SO much going on around me that I had no control over that it overwhelmed me. There was a lot of drama and negativity- and rather than focusing on the ‘inside’ I allowed some of that ‘junk’ to creep in. Now- I need to fix it. There isn’t a magic wand, but a little at a time I know I can get ‘me’ back and for that- I’m grateful.

November 14, 2010

Moments

Filed under: Holidays,Travel — gardener @ 7:56 am

It’s a rainy Sunday here in the land of never and I find myself sitting here with a Starbucks mug from Germany filled to the brim with none other than Illy espresso. I take my coffee with a dash of milk, since I like a little creamy flavor when I drink it. I also love Coffee-Mate, but I don’t use all the time, although I plan to buy some Pumpkin Spice this coming week.

Marcel’s family has stopped in today to say their goodbye’s to me. He’ll see them a little later on today for dinner, but I won’t. We had a nice visit, and it was nice that they wanted to wish me a good trip.

In a little while, I’ll print out all the flight information and tuck it away neatly in my purse. My camera batteries have been charged and are waiting in their bags for Tuesday to arrive. I have a few last minute things to do, but the most has been done. Now all we have to do is wait.

November 13, 2010

Rolling Calorie Explosion

Filed under: Food,Holidays,Home,Shop til ya Drop,Travel — gardener @ 4:51 am

This morning I finished packing my carry on and I have to say that if you could see the inside that most people would probably gasp. It’s filled with specialty chocolates and cookies- all things that everyone back home love about the area in which we live. Mom said that we’d need to know what is three best diet pill on the market if we ate all the goodies in that carry on, and she’s right. It’s literally a rolling carry on of about 30,000 calories, which is about 8 1/2 pounds. It’s a good thing it’s not all going to one person.

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