Friday Fives!!!

Come on and join in on my Friday Fives.....spill the beans, if you will......


1. What tells more about you...the contents of your purse OR the contents of your refrigerator?

2. When you visit someone's home, what are you most interested in looking at?

3. Do you look in other people's windows at night when you are on a walk? 

4. Have you ever spilled the beans on someone else's secret??? 


5. Have you ever kept a diary? If so, was it top secret?

In local news, our kids are coming home today for the first time since they moved to college!  They have birthdays next week, and this was the time they could BOTH come home at the same time!  I am excited to see them!  We will have a weekend of celebrating!
Our other news is the countdown of baby Catherine's arrival.....our first grandbaby!  Again, I am just so excited!  We will travel over there after the other Grammie gets her visit in.....oh, that will be a long week!
That is a mother's treasured time, though, don't you think.....the week after her daughter has her first baby and the first grand???  So we must wait......
So who wants to start a little guessing game on the exact day that Baby Catherine will come? The actual due date is 10/10/10, and the doctor says she will go no longer than the 17th...so what do you say??? Venture a guess???
Have a good weekend, y'all!!

Willow House Weekly.......

Willow House catalog fall 2010

I'm starting this feature as a mid-week diversion......It will be a touch of this and that, and will usually feature a Willow House product or two.  I'll try to often include recipes, because that's always fun.  So today, I'm going to tell you a few things going on with Willow House, starting on October 1st....which is Friday...how DID it get it here so fast??????
Starting October 1st, Willow House is starting the unveiling of some brand new things.....I think I told you already that we will have an assortment of videos available to watch.  I've shared some of those on Facebook....maybe you saw them over there. I'll feature those here from time to time, or at least the links to them.  What's new for Friday is that customers can now order products directly from the website, without having to attend a party.  Say your friend has a party, but you  cannot attend.  It's been a feature already that you could order online if someone was hosting a party. But now, if you missed that party, then three weeks later realize you need a gift, or really want a product you saw at a friend's house, or whatever scenario might be yours...you can go online and order and it will ship directly to you.....no problem!  You can shop anytime, 24/7.....also, you'll want to check out the eOutlet, where you will find "retired" items on sale! Yes, that's right.  Maybe you missed getting a product that you loved but is no longer available....check the eOutlet..it just might be there, on sale!  Lots of fun things coming in the future, so you'll want to bookmark my website to keep up with all the Willow House goodness going on...oh my goodness!!!
Look for those things to start on this Friday, Oct. 1st. by going to my website, which is southerninspiration.willowhouse.com.  Yes, I named my website after my blog!!  Hopefully, you can remember it that way, right??/

This week's feature will be the Galveston Hurricane.  There are two sizes, small and large.  The ideas I present can be translated to other containers, obviously, so feel free to take them and run with them.....put them in a mason jar, put them in a mayo jar, put them in a large brandy sniffer...what have you...you get the idea!  But let me just show you a few pics of ideas you could do...thanks to Chris Whitacre for sharing her pictures!  EDITED TO ADD: It was brought to my attention that many of these pictures  have been around the bloggy block a few times, and actually originated at Carmella's blog, Southern Fried Dreams...I am a firm believer that if you are going to use someone's pics or their words, that they be given credit for them.  So I apologize for inadvertantly misidentifying the source of them! Sorry, Carmella!  Go see her, she's got some GREAT ideas!  I am glad that we as Willow House Design Consultant sisters share the "spirit of generosity" together, but this NEVER means not giving someone credit for their work!

dressed up with red candle and greenery/berries

place a vase down inside the hurricane to make a lovely Spring arrangement of blooming branches!

Fall goodness w/acorns and eucalyptus

An orchid home

Halloween fun-black beans, candy corn and ghosts!

Notice how it's turned upside down and the glass is sitting on TOP of the frame!

Casual elegance to your mantle

A Thankfulness  tree for Thanksgiving

The possibilities are endless, right?  For a child's birthday, add colorful m&m's or skittles and a candle in the middle, or tapers sticking out of the top!  Better yet, fill it with colorful candies and have large colorful lollipops sticking out of the top! For the kitchen, add layers of dried beans (uncooked!)  such as black beans, pinto beans, white beans, green split peas, even popcorn for a striped look.....what about you....what ideas do YOU have?

So I will leave you with a recipe for today's Willow House Weekly.  The fall temps are teasing us, so that always conjures within me a desire to cook cooler weather food....How about some Cowboy Soup?  It's similar to Taco Soup, and it is easy, as it really is a bunch of cans!

Cowboy Soup
1.5 pounds of ground beef
1 c chopped onions
2 T. veg. oil
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
1 (14oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (10oz.) can tomatoes w/ green chilies, such as Rotel
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 (14oz.) can pinto beans
1 (14oz.) can red kidney beans
1 (14oz.) can whole kernel corn

Brown the ground beef w/ the onion in the oil in a skillet, stirring until the ground beef is crumbly, then drain.
Stir in the seasoning and salad dressing mixes.  Add the diced tomatoes, tomatoes w/ green chilies, tomato sauce, pinto beans, kidney beans, and corn, and mix well.  Cook over low heat for 1 hour.
Serve over rice, corn chips or tortilla chips if desired. Garnish with sour cream and shredded cheese.  Yield: 8 servings

Enjoy your Wednesday, wherever you are!  Thanks for stopping by, friends!

I have some deep thoughts to share, later, but for now...

I MUST finish this bathroom.....painting...not a lot of fun to me, but I will love it when it's all done!  Gone is the 1990's wallpaper...oh that is SO yesterday! :D
I am going for a soft blue.....brushed nickel fixtures and faucets and such.  Should I go for the spa feel and use white towels, or the tan towels....what do you think? 
So as I wield my paintbrush, I will be thinking about how to communicate deep thoughts about a topic that's been on my mind.  I know several who have family members dying, and my heart goes out to them.  My thoughts don't go deeply too often, but this has been rolling around in my head for a bit....so I'll share when the time is right.

Oh, and I've been thinking of having a Willow House Weekly on Wednesdays, sort of like a mini newspaper about Willow House and its happenings......rather than interjecting WH products and ideas randomly, I would have them on Wednesdays.  And depending on  your interest, you would either race over to see the post on Wednesdays, or you would just wait to read Thursdays......what do you think?

So I'm off to find those paintbrushes.......have a good day, y'all!

Isaiah 41:10, my favorite verse!

This is my ALL time favorite verse.....the rest of it says, "I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."  It is so encouraging, so comforting, such a wonderful promise from God.  Enjoy your day!

Friday Fives!!!!

Villa Footed Server

 1. If you owned this product, what would you put in it for your fall decorating?

    2.  If YOU had these shelves for YOUR  home, where would you put them, and what color would YOU paint the backwall of the shelves for YOUR house?

Napa Cookbook Holder

3. If this cookbook holder was in your kitchen, what cookbook, if any, might we find in it most regularly???

Heritage Hurricane Trio

4. The Heritage Hurricane Trio, shown here with scrapbooking paper dressing up the glass sides, holds any number of treats......with Halloween coming up, which three treats might we find in YOUR trio?  What are YOUR favs???

French Wire Tiered Stand

5.  If you were to decorate this wire stand, what would YOU add?  I'd love to hear YOUR ideas!

I thought it would be fun to mix things up a bit, and to do a Friday Fives in a Scavenger hunt style, only without the hunt!  I wanted to highlight some of my favorite Willow House products and ask some fun questions regarding these, while at the same time, learning more about you...what do you like, favorite candy, favorite cookbook, creative ideas, etc.  What do you think?  Wanna play along?  Have a Happy Friday!

Happy Fall, Y'all!!!

what's on your agenda for this first FALL day?  Is it cooler where you are? We are still in the nineties....I'm so looking forward to days in the 70's and 80's!!!  We may make that by November or December at this rate...so dream with me, won't you????

I'll be painting that bathroom for the rest of this week, so if I don't show up here, you'll know I am working on my Ta-Da list!!! Have fun!

For better or for worse.....

Today was a GREAT hair day....nothing like a good hair cut and a refreshment of the highlights that do indeed hide the (ahem) wayward coloration/pigment loss/GRAY hair.  It's all the children's fault.....they suck the brain cells that remember to keep the brown hair pigment coming, and now some of the hairs are lost and lonely, and yes ma'am....GRAY.  So now they are restored to the naturally colored highlight color....well you KNOW what I mean.  So a good hair day.  I do love a good hair day.  I love to blow dry my hair as well.  For years, my husband (who IS by the way half bald) has continued to tell me life would be so much simpler if I"d just let my hair dry naturally or at least just shake the blow dryer at it for a few minutes and be done.  Oh the travesty!

For Better or For Worse comic strip

So not long ago, I was drying my hair, and all of a sudden I gasped...when I have shoulder surgery, I am not going to be able to dry my hair with two hands.  I will not be able to lift and dry and prevent flatness in the areas of my hair that look so much better with a little lift and volume.  I KNOW you know what I mean!  Can I hear an "amen"?  Later that day when my husband came home, I began to bemoan my upcoming dire circumstances and lo and behold, he did NOT wax sympathetically.  He did not even seem sorry for me.  He just said, "I've been telling you how easy it would be to just towel dry your hair or just zoom, zoom a little with the blow dryer and you're done."  Girls, I  began to worry.  I don't have much of  a problem not styling my hair if I"m just hanging around home and getting things done around here.  However, I know that one day in November a dear friend from church is getting married!  I know that I'm going to do my best to be there, but I am not going with towel dried hair, thankyouverymuch.  So I did what I had to do...today at the hairdresser, I made myself an appt. for that day, just to be sure I'd be able to go to the wedding with nice hair! Is that terribly vain of me?  Probably.  But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.  And this girl likes clean, styled hair. For better or for worse.  But I'll keep the hubby after all.

Monday morning check up!!!

Hey, how's your Get It Done list coming??? Let's see, if we go back to this post, we can see where I started this business.......and then LOTS of other things jumped in the way of my progress! How about you?
Well, ONE major thing that I accomplished was, thanks my sweet neighbor, getting the wallpaper stripped off of the upstairs bathroom!  I thought that whole project would get shoved to the bottom of the priority list when I found out about my shoulder, but she was persistent and came and helped me steam off the wallpaper, so now it's ready for sanding, priming and painting.  And she's coming back Wed. morning to help me again.  So we're in business on that!  As for the kids' rooms, I did manage to get them cleaned, but the painting hasn't happened yet.  And I am making some slow progress on a few of the other items as well, although nothing is quite finished.  My hubby and I went to Home Depot the other night and picked out all new fixtures for the bathroom as well, so we are set on items to replace in that bathroom.  Goodbye ugly shiny fixtures, hello brushed nickle!  I have to go later today or tonight and get the primer and paint picked out.  I'm thinking bluish gray....won't that look good with the brushed nickel!!???  The kids will be so surprised.
Also, I am thinking of getting someone to come in and clean the a/c vents out....has anyone had that done before?  I am hoping it will help some allergic reactions my hubby seems to be having lately.
So once the bathroom is finished, hopefully the fall decorating will get accomplished.  I've already done a few small items, but nothing major.  I just love fall decorating and look forward to it; I know I'm behind compared to some other bloggers, but we just need to get out of the 90's to motivate me to feel like fall decorating!!
So how is YOUR list coming????

Happy Monday, y'all!

Psalm 34

Have a wonderful Sunday, y'all!!!

Swagbucks????

Do YOU Swagbucks?

Swagbucks is a fantastic way to stretch your budget! Use your earnings to treat yourself to little luxuries like Starbucks gift certificates, or save up your points to contribute towards your Christmas list.
:: What is Swagbucks?
Basically it’s a site that allows you to earn great prizes such as iPhones, iPods, concert tickets, gift cards, and more just for using them to search the Internet. For example, an Amazon.com eGift card is only 450 Swag Bucks!
:: How do I sign up for Swagbucks?
It’s super easy! Just go to Swagbucks and fill out your information. You'll receive 30 points just for registering to get you started. After you've registered, read on to maximize your earnings potential.
:: Tips for maximizing your Swagbucks earnings:
Once you've registered with Swag Bucks, earning SB is easy. Just follow the instructions below to earn!
Perform these tasks every day:

1. Install the Swagbucks toolbar. You'll earn points every day when you first open your browser just for having it installed!  Watch every day for ways to earn Swag Bucks. If you're on Facebook, SwagBucksTricks page will help you find clues to win Swagbucks, too.
2. Click through the No Obligation Offers and get an instant Swag Bucks credit. Just indicate "No" or "Skip" or "See Next Offer" to offers that don't interest you.
3. Take the Swagbucks daily poll to earn Swagbucks.
4. Perform Internet searches using the Swagbucks site or toolbar throughout the day. You have a chance to earn with each search. Advanced technique -- bookmark Swagbucks searches for your favorite sites instead of the direct URLs for additional chances to earn.

Mega Swagbucks Friday:

• Be sure to search on Fridays for the opportunity to win Swagbucks in larger-the-usual amounts. Win in amounts of 10, 20, 50 or even 100 Swagbucks!

Other ways to earn:

• Follow Swagbucks on Twitter, Facebook, and the Swagbucks blog. They regularly offer limited-time only Swag Codes on each of these sites.  Look for SwagBucks Tricks page, too, for extra help.
• Watch the "From TSG" spot on the toolbar for notifications of limited Swag Codes. They may direct you to one of the sites above or you may find a code right in the notification. These usually expire within a few hours.
• Invite your friends to join Swagbucks. You'll earn every time they search and win too!
• Recycle cell phones, MP3 players, video games, and gaming consoles.
• Shop through Swagbucks and earn SB on each purchase.
• Send photos or videos of prizes redeemed through Swagbucks and earn up to 20 SB.
• Contribute ideas for the daily poll and receive 100 SB if your poll is featured.

You can join here, and we BOTH win:

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/SuzanneJ

Friday Fives!

Friday Fives are so fun, because they tell us more about one another, or sometimes just assist us in goofing off to answer some silly questions!  Sometimes it's fun to be silly, and we all know that laughter is good medicine!! So let's have our Friday Fives again today!

1. If you could (budget not an issue!) whisk away for the weekend to anywhere in the world, where would you go?  You have to return by Sunday night so keep that in mind!

2. Do you handle changes with ease and flexibility or would you rather things stay simple and the same?

3. Do you have pets and what do you do with them when you travel?

4.  What is your favorite type of music, and do you listen to music regularly or just on occasion?

5. Let me fix you a drink...what will you have?

Enjoy the Friday Fives.......hope you'll participate!

Thursday thoughts -Real Simple

An older issue of Real Simple, not the current one

I have mentioned before that I am a fan of Real Simple; in fact, I just made sure I went over on Facebook and "liked" them.  Speaking of that, I have a page called Willow House-Simply Good Design by Suzanne, over on Facebook, and I would "LOVE" it if you would "LIKE" my page!! thanks!

So onto Thursday's thoughts.......I received my October issue of Real Simple magazine yesterday and started pouring over it.  Again and again, I am impressed by how they pull together the best combination of things in this magazine.  I still LOVE a paper magazine, no matter how many blogs I read.  I still prefer a paper catalog, no matter how many websites I can go to and look at products on a web page! What about you?  Something about the glossy paper, the styling, the whole experience about holding it in my hands.....does that make me odd?  Perhaps, because I really dislike the amazing way that paper can collect into piles in a nanosecond....but I do love a great magazine!

Anyway, I really enjoy getting Real Simple.....it is a great eclectic combination of facts and features that just seems to be simple enough to "get", appreciate and often implement.  I'm not paid to give these kudos to the magazine....I just appreciate it and wanted to pass it on. { In fact, that does bring to mind that fact that I DO have a special going on thru Willow House, for a gift card for only $20 that enables the recipient to choose one of 17 magazines. (One of them is a subscription to Real Simple.)  What a deal to have in your gift closet, for that special teacher, a hostess gift, even a bridal shower gift!}  You can email me or respond in the comments if you or interested...but that is a total aside, and a digression from my original topic....so back to the topic of Real Simple.
This month, they are featuring Secret Ways to save everyday! Who doesn't love that?  They also feature The Ultimate Closet Makeover ( I SO need this!) How to Sleep Better tonight (every menopausal woman will be reading this one! Ha!) and Easy Dinners for the Entire Month...so see, they have managed to cover topics that could be of interest to EVERYONE!  And they have tidbits in it that are always interesting, like "ten trends worth trying", some "reader uses for new ways to use old things"......such as storing barbecue utensils in a mitten style pot holder and hanging it on the grill.  You can go to realsimple.com/newuses for 700 double-duty household items, in case that whetted your appetite!

In this issue also, is a $5 coupon for a Merona purchase from Target...that is their brand of fashion clothing and accessories.  See, that would even pay for 1/4 of the subscription price!! Oh, and that closet makeover article??? Spectacular......I'm wondering how I can use some of these ideas to tackle my own closet, which is the "Black Hole" of my house, that houses everything that doesn't have a home.....know what I mean?  It SUCKS stuff in there faster than I can say PURGE.......
And let me just say I am ALL OVER that article entitled "The Insiders Guide to Everyday Deals"...I'm sure that is a post in itself, so I'll report back on that one!
Real Simple....it's definitely an investment that not only satisfies my desire to hold a magazine and be inspired by it, as well as meet the need I have to inspire me to clean out, to save and to get in the kitchen and fix meals! Ha......cooking for two is NOT THE SAME as cooking for four or five! Have you found that out? 
Included in this issue, within that everyday deals article, are discounts for the month of October on many online sites, simply by using some form of the name Real Simple in the code at checkout.  This is one you'll want to "CHECK OUT!!".
Well, enough of my Thursday thoughts...I've got some Willow House business to do...remember to go over to my Willow House, Simply Good Design by Suzanne Page and Like it!  I'd LOVE that!

A Slider Bar!!

Pic found at PlateandPattern.com

Think of the options for which  this kind of party would be perfect!!!  Whether it meets a need for tailgating, for the Pumpkin Carving party you may be planning, or simply a great Sunday night supper idea, consider what kind of toppings you might plan for your sliders!  The girls here give you several, but I am thinking of at least a few more, if not just the All American toppings that are "go-to's" for our burgers.  Down here in Texas, there would HAVE to be some jalapenos thrown in the mix somewhere, right?   I love that they've given the options on the Galveston Memo Board and even shown the different options by having them premade right there......um, at my house, they would totally scoop up the demo burgers and eat them on the spot! Ha!

Pic from Plateandpattern.com

Anyway, I loved this idea and thought it would fun to share it with you!  To see how the girls did the party, and the recipes for how they did their sliders,  go to PlateandPattern.com/index.php?postid=67.  Hope you'll enjoy this resource for your next festive occasion!

Linking up to Jenn's Beauty and Bedlam Tasty Tuesday Party!!! Go see all the yummy tastiness!

Willow House has good things to come!!!

Here's a preview of what you will be finding soon on our Willow House website.  We will soon be featuring internet "TV" clips like this fabulous one done by Melanie Grant from Willow House! Not only is Melanie adorable and fun, she is super talented and is a fabulous resource of great design and wonderful ideas!  Take a peek at just one of the short videos that will soon be available directly on my website, which you will find at southerninspiration.willowhouse.com .  There are many NEW things to come with our Willow House websites that are going to be SO MUCH Fun to introduce.  Another resource that is entertaining is PlateandPattern.com.  It's a blog that will give you some insight into what actually happens behind the scenes of putting together the Willow House catalogs and designs.  Hope you will enjoy these two new resources and that you'll be keeping your eyes open for new things I'll be sharing with you!  Embedding this video here seems to cut some of the picture off since it is so much smaller, so if you'd like to view it on YouTube, go here.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KksqqUEJA8E

Friday Fives!

I'm back with my Friday Fives, and I"m going to link up to The Girl Creative and her New Friend Friday party.......


it's always fun to see new blogs and see what people are doing....especially for inspiration in Fall Decorating!  I really haven't started, but I love the inspiration!
So I have some sort of random questions for our Friday Fives today, but some of them are related to topics I've covered of late!

1.  What smells do you bring into your home for the fall?  Do you have favorite candles, potpourri, or reeds/oils?

2.  Have you ever had any surgery?

3.  What food do you look forward to cooking with the coming of fall?

4.  What's one thing you'd like to do this fall that you've wanted to do for a while?  Apple Picking?  Hiking?  Trying a new recipe?

5. Finally, how many blogs do you read/follow and how often do you leave comments on them? 

I leave you with a favorite recipe that is a REALLY good one to try for the fall...it is SO YUMMY!!! 
Apple Cake w/ Caramel Sauce
Cake:
3/4 c. butter
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. ground cinnamon
2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 t. salt
4 c. peeled, finely chopped apples (Granny Smith or McIntosh)
1 t. vanilla

Sauce:
3/4 c. butter
3/4 c. granulated sugar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 t. vanilla

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 X 9 inch cake pan. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in eggs one at a time. Sift together dry ingredients and add to egg mixture alternately with apples. Stir in vanilla. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before cutting into squares. Serve warm.

Sauce: Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Immediately remove from heat and spoon over individual servings of warm cake.

More things happen, right?

Remember how I posted last week my goals and lists so that I could be accountable, helping us all stay accountable to our to do lists?  And then right after that, I posted that my eagerness to attack the list had been altered just a tad by an afternoon of hanging over the toilet???? So rightly so, I moved on and chalked it up as a fluke, and would  not be thwarted by the hiccups life seems to put into our lives, altering our day to day goals and to do lists....minor set backs.

Well, yesterday I was thrown another curve ball when I went to see my oh so nice (looking) doctor.  I've been dealing with some issues in my right shoulder/spine that have bothered me for some time, and yesterday was the culmination of a few appts, an MRI and some physical therapy.   I go in to see my shoulder doctor and he shows me on the MRI films a spot that reveals I have a tear on my rotator cuff.......um, not good.  If not fixed, he says, it can get larger and become irrepairable.  Worse than not good.

So all of this, not to gain your sympathies, but to say my TO DO list for the next six weeks has been drastically altered.  I will be doing NO painting or stripping of wallpaper, per doctors instructions to only do things that are waist or chest high....no heavy lifting or work that is over my head.  Bummer.......

Surgery, of course, will not be scheduled until AFTER I have had a chance to see/hold/cuddle, etc with the new grandbaby that is due in only four weeks!!! Excitement!!!!!!!!!!!  November sometime (don't have an exact date  yet) is going to be the shoulder surgery month.  And six months later, I"ll be good as new....sigh.
And through all of this, I KNOW that God has total control over the situation and that my agenda is not REALLY all that crucial......I will trust that HIS timing is perfect and the best for me.  So I've got some NEW marching orders.......My  to do list for the next six weeks or so is WAY DIFFERENT now.....I'll be posting it as soon as I've re-ordered my priorities....to waist high and chest high activities!!

Fall Nesting PARTEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, y'all know I love fall!  And what's more inspiring than a bunch of other bloggers who loooovvveeee Fall, too?  I haven't actually done much fall decorating here at the Southern Inspiration house, because I'm kind of waiting until the temperatures are below 90 degrees!!!!  But Melissa, from The Inspired Room,  who lives in the beautiful northwest, is already on it.  She is celebrating Fall --well at least she is celebrating all the nesting that goes on to prepare for Fall....I love that!  What good ideas we will find when we blog hop from all the other Inspired bloggers joining in on the fun.
For me, my plan is to show you what my plan is...are you with me?  I have pics from a few things I did last year, and will begin to do again this year.  So when the temps drop to 89 or less, I am ALL OVER IT!! Ha.

I made the fabric pumpkins last year that were OH SO easy and beautiful at the same time.....here take a look:

And here's a picture of an arrangement I pulled together for my foyer from stems I had found at Hobby Lobby for 90% off!! Gotta love those end of the season bargains, right?  It turned out full and luscious and brimming with fall goodness!

And lastly, I am very excited about this new beauty I get to use in my kitchen or wherever the notion strikes...I didn't have this last year, as it is a brand new Willow House product (the French Wire Tiered Basket....isn't she lovely? ok, do you have that song stuck in your head now??)........here she is all dressed up for fall!

Willow House French Wire Tiered Basket

So from here, you know you're going to hop on over to Melissa's and soak up some fall goodness.  Us Texans are just beginning to think about the wonders of fall, football, pumpkins, mums, and such. What about you...what are YOU doing?  Enjoy the party!

How did I do on the Get It Done Party I started last week?

Well, as I said before, I will be checking back in each week to let you know how I am doing on my goals, and to encourage you on yours. 
I mentioned last week that  after I posted on Monday, I spent the afternoon sick as a dog.....as a result of some medication I took.  I also did not factor into my to-dos the fact that I would spend some time doing physical therapy for my neck and shoulder.  So, while I did make SOME progress, I didn't make nearly the progress that I had intended.  I did manage to get those college rooms cleaner, but a few more hours in there are needed just to get them spotless......and a few boxes to box some things up will help, too.  I won't do much more in there until we make a plan for painting and for replacing the carpet.  I can possibly get the painting done in my daughter's room because the walls are not too tall.  In my son's room, though, the walls are a little taller on one side, and the ceiling needs some repair from a water leak, so I won't attempt that painting job myself.  However, we all know what happens to a list that is left unfinished, right?  It just rolls over to the next week!
I am changing up my list a little bit, because I not only have five or six hours of physical therapy scheduled already, and a doctor's appt (by the way, the doctor is pretty, pretty, pretty.......nice on the eyes!!! )
I plan to clean all the floors in my house this week, and finish cleaning my office that I started today.  I did get the laundry all done today, so won't have to do much of that this week until Thursday.  Sweetie pie is coming home from college this Friday (not because she misses her parents, but because many of her friends are coming home for a college soccer game, which some of them will participate in) but we will enjoy seeing her and having her home.

I get to play tomorrow, as well, with two girlfriends as we will meet for lunch and some shopping, to celebrate one of their birthdays.  We had to delay it from mid-August but we will celebrate, nonetheless.  So technically, this week will have fewer productive hours than last week.  So my expectations will be a lot lower this week, and yours should, too!  Enjoy your week.....and let me know how you did, on your list last week!