Yellow snow?! Ewwww! Ok, so it’s not exactly snow, but, that is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of trying to describe what’s floating around in our air and blanketing our cars right now!
It’s pollen! Massive, massive amounts of pollen! It’s allergy central around here! It’s unbelievable!

I have never seen anything like this in my life! And since we are new to Alabama, I don’t know if this is typical, or some new weather issue. Things have been a little strange around the earth here lately!

And my brother back home in Texas said that the allergies are worse than ever this year, but, he said this long before the yellow snow arrived, so I don’t know if they are getting it, too – or not.

I am telling you, it is crazy!! Mark is washing the car every day! And even for his Type A, let’s-keep-everything-clean-all-the-time personality – that’s bad! He’s never washed a vehicle on a daily basis before!

I was driving around town the other day and I saw one car, that apparently hadn’t been driven in a couple of days, and it was completely COVERED in yellow!

My dog actually slipped on the porch, because the yellow powder was so thick!

This is weird, ya’ll! I want to know if ya’ll are experiencing any of the ‘yellow powder phenomenon’, and if you are, is it typical?

Sound off – please!!

That is one very impressive thing about my husband – he is prepared for just about anything! I’ll never forget when my sweet and young and dumb self first saw his ‘never get locked out plan’ – I thought he was pure genius! He has the truck key in one of those key hider things – under the hood, no less! I’d never seen anyone put one there! And then inside that is the key to the truck – and inside the truck, hidden, of course – is the key to the house! I was 22, and a bit unworldly, ok, I still am that – but, I was just floored!

And he is that way about everything. Well, he is getting older, so that ‘losing things’ and ‘forgetting things’ is starting to set in a bit. (If that was there when I was young, what happens to me when I get older? Hmm…) He is, however, prepared for all kinds of things. We have an emergency kits for just about everything! Several for the house, one for each of our vehicles (when we still had two), and he is an avid outdoorsman and loves to camp, so, of course, there are several for that. You have your main one that you keep at camp with you. Then you need a mini one for dayhikes. He also has a watertight one for any canoing he might do.

I hate to admit it, (and ya’ll better not tell him, either!) but, I have learned a lot from him!

…is by doing market research. The kids and I have really had fun with this over the last few years. I haven’t really done any in several months, I’ve been too busy blogging, but, I am still getting emails every day from various companies.

And I haven’t signed the kids back up to the kids one since we moved out here to Alabama, but, with summer coming up, it would be a good idea to get them signed back up. They were making more money than I was – getting $10 checks in the mail right and left!

We got all kinds of cool stuff when doing surveys, too! A few times they wanted us to try new cereal before it was released to the market, and so they sent us whole boxes of cereal. I’ve gotten free razors, toothbrushes, cosmetics, you name it! If you have a little time for it, it really is fun!

They’ve stolen all of my ink pens! All but one, that is! I found these really great pens one year, I think when we were school supply shopping. They are just so nice and smooth and I really like how it feels writing with them. So I asked Mark to get me some for Christmas. He looked at me a little sideways – “You want pens for Christmas?” And I told him, “Yes! I want pens for Christmas – I found these really great pens that feel great and write wonderfully, and I want some for my own, to be all my own, and to be owned by me!”

See? See how that works? I don’t want them in the kitchen drawer to be carted off by little scalliwags, I don’t want them to be among the vast array of pens in the big bucket on my desk to be absconded by little villains – I want them to be mine, and mine alone!

So – he bought me some pens for Christmas. And this was Christmas before last – and up until now, I’ve done a really good job guarding them. The guys at Fort Knox would be proud! Until now, that is…

See, there is a big bucket in my office, that used to be on my desk, which holds all sorts of writing utensils and various other office/school supplies, upon which anyone may lay their grubby, little hands. And then – on my desk, is my sweet George! George Strait! I have a big George Strait cup that holds all of the highlighters, pens, scissors, letter openers — that nobody is supposed to even take two steps away from my desk if they have any of these items on their person!

And it would seem that Fort Momma has been breeched. The security system that was…

So sad.

When that school bell rings, there will be inquistions!!

Mark my words!!

I know, I’ve been working at it for several years now. People who have never dealt with obesity often have simplistic ideas about what they see as a simple task. And maybe for some people it is simple – simple, but, not easy. Just like we say in AA. And sticking to something that is hard to do, but, simple – can be, well, hard. Especially when life throws its little curve balls at you. And then you don’t feel so great, and who the hell cares about eating carrots anymore – gimme a KitKat! You know?

There are, however, certain factors that can actually have a profound effect on the ’simpleness’ of losing weight. Did you know, for instance, that women often go through a pre-menopause state called perimenopause for up to 10 years, before they ever actually hit that cursed change? We’re talking about like 20 years of hormone havoc! And then there can be basic age issues, there could be thyroid issues, or many other reasons that this losing weight thing just is not working for some of us.

A lot of people address the issue with their doctors, and enlist their help, as well. And, although it is not as common as it was twenty years ago, doctors do still prescribe diet pills for some people. One of those is Ionamin, whose common name is phentermine. Pills like that really scare me. There’s even a warning on the Medbroadcast website in bold lettering, to not stop taking the medicine without first consulting your doctor. I wonder what it could do to you if you stopped taking it suddenly. A very long time ago, when I was young and stupid (Now – ya’ll be nice!) I stopped taking a medication suddenly that I was supposed to taper off of under doctor supervision, and I broke out in a rash ALL over my body! I am not kidding you or exxagerating – it was even on the palms of my hands and INSIDE my ears!! It was crazy!

I am just going to keep working at rearranging my lifestyle choices, and hope that I don’t ever need to have a prescription from my doctor to help me lose weight!

I have got to get my act together on my gardening plans! I always plan to start in March, but then, somehow, March turns into April, and well – you know how it goes.

And this year, with funding low, and with no car – it’s even harder! I have, however, found some great online deals that might just help me out!

There is this awesome online coupon from Spring Hill Nursery for $25 off a $50 order! That is totally amazing! That is such a great deal, I bet it won’t last very long!

And there is another good deal from Henry Fields Seed and Nursery Company for $10 off a $30 order! These deals are unbelievable – I always wonder how companies can run such big promotions.

Oh my gosh – Home Depot has some patio furniture 40-50% off!! That is a deal I would expect to find in August or something. And I have been wanting new patio furniture for a couple of years now! I would love to have a beautifully colorful garden blooming and sit with friends and family in the backyard, just enjoying a lazy summer day!

Ahh…one day…