Oh What A Night!

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

This was my practice run for tonight. There's always one in the crowd giving orders.

This is suppose to read Hello My Name is Pearl, and I have a tendency to fly off the Handle!

Sorry but I could not resist this one! I mean I sometimes I am a little warped!

As you my faithful follower know Gary is going through Chemo and while his fiancee was flying on her broom last night I stayed with him in their little cabin in the woods. I do mean in the woods! SPOOKY place at night!

Sherry his fiancee is one of the good witches that works for Delta Airlines! Her and Gary are so in love and can not stand to be apart. I never had someone love me the way these two love each other.  If I did I did not know it. lol

Anyway they added an extra bed to their upstairs loft and so when she is out of town someone can stay with Gary. So that put us in the same bedroom. I warned him that sometimes I talk in my sleep. Well it seems I scared the beegeezz out of him during the night and when he got his early love call from Sherry he could not wait to tell her how I scared him. He told her he was sound a sleep when he hears this voice and he almost had a heart attack!

This conversation is happening while I am sound a sleep upstairs. I did not get a lovey dovey phone call to wake me up early. haha....So his sweet little witch tells him to go put a sheet over his head an tap on my shoulder and say "BOO!"  He told her he hated to do that because I might have a heart attack but being a baby brother he gave into the fun.

Yep my wake up was a 5'10" ghost saying "It's time for you........" believe me thats all I heard because I jumped up hit my head on the ceiling( because it is a loft type ceiling) trying to get my gun. It took me a while to realize where I was and my gun was not there. lol

Not my fault his sweet little witch has to change the sheets in that bed today!

Don't forget my giveaway ends tomorrow! If you do not enter I may fly over your house tonight!

Love to all

Maggie

Oven Fried Chicken!

Before I share the famous chicken recipe that is so good it will make Paula Dean slap that bearded husband of hers I thought I would show you some Halloween pieces I painted years ago when I owned a Ceramic Shop.  When I say years ago I mean years ago. lol

The one above is my favorite of a witch sitting on a pumpkin holding an apple.

A ghost holding a pumpkin!

A pumpkin candy holder or I guess you could use it for a candle too. Kaci loved this and I wanted to give it to her but I knew her dad would not like it so I kept my mouth shut.  I am trying my best to behave.

Now to the chicken recipe. I had several of you ask for it so hope you enjoy it. What's great it taste like Fried Chicken but oh so easy as One two three.

First honey  melt some butter in a big baking pan. While the butter is melting then get your flour out.

You will need enough flour to of course coat the chicken pieces your using. So don't be stingy pour you out some flour. Now when I say easy as One Two Three thats all you need to put in the flour just three things. Paprika, Salt and Pepper.

After you put the spices in the flour mix this up. Now your ready to coat your chicken pieces. Dip them in the flour mixture until their all white and no skin showing. Put your pieces in the melted butter and bake at 3:50. My sister-in-law Linda who gave me this recipe said she fixes a whole chicken cut up and bakes 30 minutes on one side turns it and bakes 30 minutes on that side.

So easy even I can do this. I wonder if Aqua Man tried it yet. lol

Thanks for all your fun comments about my pool romance or the almost pool romance. lol He got lucky that we had pool police monitering our every move.

Be sure and enter my giveaways I have on my side bar. They both end soon. You especially don't want to miss Susan's. Her giveaway is lovely.  Mine will end Sunday night so please enter them both.

Hope you have a fun spooky weekend. I am going to try my best too.  My grand babies are walking Saturday for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Walk for A Cure in Austin. I so wanted to do the walk with them but I knew I could not with my back. Maybe next year. I am so proud of them they have done a great job raising money for their this disease. Our prayers is one day soon there will be a cure. Also thank you so much for the donations you sent in to help them raise the money.

Darn I meant to tell you about the cooking class at Festival Hill. I will do it another day because it would be to long to go into now and it is way past my bed time.  lol

Your not going to believe it though the Chef's name was John....ha ha  Remember some of you said Johnny might be the Chef well it was not him but it was a John. Very interesting class.

Sweet dreams
Maggie

Part II Was He Looking At Me?

On my previous post I wrote about my experiences with a man in pool therapy and I promised after today's therapy that I would get back with all of you on how it went today.

I have to tell you first before I go any farther that you leave the best comments. If you have not had a chance to read the comments left on the previous post please do they are very entertaining.

Was I nervous wating on pool therapy? Very much so! Being nervous was of course silly. It was just pool therapy with a guy who happened to be not bad looking and I thought maybe he might be a little interested in me.

Today when he walked in I was not doing the funny things with my neck so I got to get a better look at him. He was not looking in my direction so no fireworks shooting to the ceiling like I thought I saw coming from him yesterday. He did swim directly over though to where I was and my heart was pitter patting like a school girl. Like yesterday he was not shy and said hello. I do remember this time telling him hello. hahaha

He then starts doing his warm ups right where I need to be doing my exercises so I move over a little trying to give him some room and then he says, "What did you have for dinner Tuesday night?" I gave him another one of those stupid kind of looks and he is smiling at me waiting on my answer and I am thinking did he say to me "What did you have for dinner Tuesday night?"

I think like a fool I repeated the question out loud. Because how many people ask you what you had for dinner two nights ago. At this point I guess he realizes I have no clue why he is asking me that and then he laughs and says Remember Tuesday we were all talking about what we were going to fix that night and I was wondering what you fixed. I sorta of laughed and said, "Oh I see, yes well let me think." I am thinking how in the heck do I know what I fixed or ate two days ago I have slept twice since then. I finally got out the words....chicken fettizzini! He looked at me like he was going to ask me to marry him then and all he replied was "Wow!"

Whats with this guy! Does he work for the Food Network? He is all about food. hahaha...I then told him I had remembered to get him the recipe for the fried chicken in the oven. It was so simple I just told him about it while I started doing some of the other exercises. He was happy I remembered it and he tried to just hang around and talk food but the instructors finally scooted him along because they could tell neither one of us was doing our exercises.

After about ten minutes or more he manages to slip back down to my end and starts asking me about why I was having to do pool therapy. I shyly told him about my fall at work and then he wanted to know where I worked. When I told him he made the regular law enforcements jokes I hear a lot. The usual things I get from people. He continues with how he admired me being in law enforcement and that ever since he was a kid that was his dream but he never fulfilled it. I told him it was probably best because a lot of people find it to stressful and they burn out easily. Then they seperate us again. I felt like I was doing something naughty the way the instructors kept moving him to the other side. lol....Just like a kid though he kept manuevering himself back to my side.

Since I had started my excersises a lot earlier than him I finished and said to the instructor loud enough for him to hear. "I think this is my last session!" I heard him say Oh No. Then one of the ladies that I know that was also taking classes ask me if it really was my last one and I said,"Yes unless they approve me for more!"

The instructor told me I was finished and that was my signal to exit the pool. I wanted to stay hidden under the water but knew that was not possible so I slowly exited for the showers.  Hoping and praying that no one especially Aqua Man was not watching my exit. lol

So it was a very brief encounter with the man that has a pretty smile and a womans name on his shoulder. Chances are Workers Comp may approve me for further therapy but what are the chances he will be there on the same day and time.

I have to admit that after he got in the pool and took over my space totally I could not for the life of me remember what I was suppose to be doing and how to do it. It was like duh! At some point toward the end I was doing like maybe three out of fifteen sets and then just stood and listened to him. Waiting on the instructor to yell at us and seperate us again. I kid you not it was too funny me not knowing what I was suppose to do next and totally not caring.

I would like to say now that before I left the water he rushed over and asked for my phone number but not to be. Who knows the man could be married!

Probably best that it did not happen because I was so nervous no telling what I would of done if he had of asked me for my number. Also I have so many mixed feelings about having someone in my life. I finally got to a good point in my life where I have decided to take some creative writing classes and to start writing again so not a good time for distractions.

Will I see the Aqua Man again who knows. I seriously have my doubts. One thing I do know there is a little girl inside of all us and you never know when she might appear. I just wish there was a way to bottle that feeling for all of us to feel it more often.

Tomorrow I am meeting a real Chef that cooks at Festival Hill in Round Top! He is having his very first cooking class at Festival Hill to see how it goes. He once was the personal executive chef for Spiro Agnew when he was Vice President. I will of course share anything I learn from him with you! Pork Loin is what he will be trying to teach me...now why did I not tell Aqua Man about what I was going to do. Flustered at the wrong time!

As always I appreciate all of you and your funny and loving comments! Hopefully I can catch up with all of your sites in the next few days.

Don't forget to leave a comment on the post about the giveaway I am having by November 1st.

Sweet Dreams

Maggie

Was He Looking At Me!

No Silly Not Tinkerbell shes a girl! Even though she is looking at me here... I needed my computer to do this post and look when I found it my fat little darling  was on top of it. Sorry Tink calling you fat is like the pot calling the kettle black or something like that!

OK enough about Tinkerbell lets get on to the reason I was looking for my computer. You know I am still going to pool therapy and having to parade around in a darn bathing suit which to say the least is like one of those horror movies showing now around Halloween.

Well I am in the pool doing some kind of neck exercise and in walks this guy who I had seen there a couple of weeks ago. He looks around the room and when he sees me he lit up like the fourth of July! I could of imagined this since I my head was leaning sideways and I had taken a pain pill not to long before this so it could of been my imagination.

Then he slides real sexy into the pool and swims over to me. Yeah to me the woman with her neck and chin doing things that are not pretty and he says, "Hi Maggie I am Johnny!"  Well I can not in all honesty tell you what I did next. I was so shocked that I don't remember if I straighted my head back up to the normal position or if I kept it tilted to one side. I don't even know if I said hello. Hahahaha

First of all I was thinking he called me Maggie. I mean yeah that's my name but how did he know it. Then he turns around to go over to the instructor and he has a woman's name tattooed on his not too bad looking shoulder. You know me working in Law Enforcement I have a thing about tattoo's. I immediately think of inmates. lol

In a few minutes he is back over not far from me doing his leg exercises so I guess he has had knee surgery or something and he starts talking to the instructor. He mentions he worked for the railroad for thirty years and was retired from there. But I think he might be still working because he looks to young to be retired. Then they start talking about meals and he tells her he cooks all the time. I should of told him about my giveaway but I was too busy trying to hurry up and get out of the pool. hahaha...

Then he turns to me and ask me if I know any good recipe's for cooking chicken in the oven. I am not lying to you I looked at him like what is a oven or what is chicken. I am sure it was one of my dumb looks that I can surprise people with.  I got over being shy when I worked for a men's prison for 15 years but all I could do was stutter...real slow well my sister-in-law fixes the best fried chicken in the oven. He waits on me to tell him how she does it and I am wishing that Scottie would beam me up out of that pool into the safety of my home. lol

Finally after staring into his pretty eyes for way to long I said, "For some reason I can not think of her recipe but if your going to be back here Thursday I will have it for you then." He smiled and said he was going to be there Thursday afternoon so now what?

I know you your laughing thinking how silly of me. First of all it is silly because I am sure the man did not light up like the fourth of July when he saw me. It has been too long since I have seen that look so I probably don't even know what it looks like anymore and he looks too young for me and I was in a bathing suit for gosh sake. No one in their right mind would look at me in a bathing suit. haha

Anyway I can not believe I act so silly when a nice looking man tries to talk to me. What am I in the 4th grade again. I guess it's because I know those days are behind me. I made up my mind several years ago no more dates or relationships with men other than friends. Now I will be nervous all day tomorrow thinking about going to the pool at 3:30....anyone want to take my place?

Hope you entered my giveaway! I am hoping one day that one of these sponsors ask me to give away a Kindle, Ipad or Lap Top...I bet I would not be shy then. Me being shy is just too funny when I think about it.

Here are some flowers that I wanted to show you. Can someone tell me what this big pink one is? I love it.

Hundreds of butterflys out today! I thought of Sherry over at Country Wings In Phoenix and her sweet story about her neice Amy who lost her battle to cancer! 

OK I know I should know what these purple balls are but can not think of their name.

The white ones below are White Lantana.

Our friend Marydon  had cancer removed yesterday off of her nose and I am asking for prayers for her. She is such a blessing to all that know her. Her site is Blushing Rose  so be sure and wish her well. Lot's of my sweet friends out here need your sweet prayers so click on my friends list and check and see how they are doing.

Gary has had his second round of Chemo. He told me over the phone last night that he faired pretty good this time. While riding in his girlfriends convertible his hair was blowing away. I guess that is one way to let it go. Bless his heart! He did not make our family reunion because of his treatments and I know that was one of my reasons for being sad.

Appreciate all the prayers you are sending to heaven for me and my brother Gary. I know he appreciates you too. I need prayers for getting closer to my kids. God I love them but I don't think they realize how much.

Well guess I should go and see if I can get something done. Just wanted to share my pool therapy adventure I had yesterday with you and these pretty flowers I am sitting in right now.

Love to all!

Maggie

Review and Giveaway!

 Once again I was lucky enough to be given a chance to review a product and also give it away along with a $30.00 gift card to one of my friends.

As you know Maggie is all about quick, easy and most of all yummy! These two dinners from Restaurant Favorites are just that plus most everything you need comes in the kit except for the chicken. After trying them both I honestly can not say which one is my favorite. The first one I made was the Wanchai Ferry Chinese Dinner Kit. I hate to admit it but I was sceptible about it tasting anything like the Orange Chicken you order at your favorite chinese restraurant but was I surprised that I was eating chinese this good cooked by me in my own little country kitchen. I felt guilty enjoying it all by myself that I had to take what was left to Gary's house for him to try and even though he is not a chinese fan he truly liked this dish.

A few days later I tried the Romano's Macaroni Grill Restaurant Favorites Kit. It was Creamy Basil Parmeasan Chicken and Pasta. I did manage to take a picture of it before I dug into it. This picture does not do it justice but you can get the idea. I tore some of my basil off of my plant in the window and tried to decorate it like a pro but not so good the way I laid them on there. I am not very good at displays. lol

The only thing you need extra with this kit is 3/4 cup of milk, 2 tablespoons of butter and a pound of chicken strips. This was so easy and fast that I had it ready in twenty minutes. I was not a bit sceptible about fixing it because I had already tried the Orange Chicken. Needless to say I loved it too.

Enjoy an Asian escape with Wanchai Ferry restaurant-inspired dishes by simply adding your own protien to delicious entrees like Cashew Chicken, Spicy Garlic Chicken, Orange Chicken, and Kung Pao Chicken. Or bring the romance of Italian cuisine to your kitchen with Macaroni Grill favorites such as Chicken Piccata and Angel Hair Pasta, Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken & Pasta, Chicken Alfredo with Linguine, Garlic & Herb Chicken Penne, and Chicken Marsala with Linguine.

So stay in and go all out!® Make your meal an experience by perhaps adding some ambiance with candles and flowers.
For more information and dinner tips, visit WanchaiFerryAtHome.com and MacaroniGrillAtHome.com.

I was going to share it with Gretchen but she left a day early for her trip to London. No doubt I will buy this and let her enjoy it when she gets back. Truly going to be strange her not in the little pink house for three weeks. I already miss her and she just left.

Okay if you would like to receive both of these Restaurant Favorites along with a $30.00 Gift Card to be used any where you choose then all you have to do is leave me a comment and be a follower of mine.

The last giveaway I forgot to mention you need to be a follower because it is only fair to all the ones that put up with my whinney ways all the time that are sweet followers.

So only comments on this post will be put in the Random Generator box and spun for the winner.

Holidays are coming up and hey any gift certificate comes in handy plus easy dinners too.

Thanks to Restaurant Favorites and My Blog Spark I was able to do this review and giveaway.  (Please note all the prize packs and information were all given to me from Restaurant Favorites through My Blog Spark.

Before I leave tonight I want to thank all of you who left me such sweet comments on the post before this about my expectations not being met last weekend. I still hate that I don't get to spend quality time with my kids but who knows I may take some of your advice and pack my bag and stay with them for weeks on end. lol Seriously thank you always for being You!

I did check into taking creative writing classes thanks to your kind words of encouragement. Picking the right one for me may be a challenge but I am excited about moving on to something positive in my life. It will help with focusing on something else beside my pain and other woes.

So very sorry I forgot to put a ending date for this Giveaway! Boy how do you put up with me. I will let this giveaway go through November 1, 2010 at midnight central standard time and announce a winner on November 2, 2010. Good luck and thanks for entering.

As always I love you and appreciate you!

Sweet Dreams,

Maggie

Longing For Something but What?

Good morning to all of you out here in the our world of blogging. I just could not sleep so instead I got up and sent the kids an email thanking them for coming to the reunion and to read your comments because I knew if I heard from you I would feel better and might could go back to sleep.

The ghost were not a hit like I had wanted them to be. Mainly because my babies did not get to my house until after the reunion and it was dark by then. They did say they got to see them going down the road on the way to my brothers house where we had the reunion.

Isn't it funny how we have such expectations of something and then when its all over it was nothing like you anticipated. Everyday since putting up those silly ghost I went out there morning and evening to repair them so they would look good for my grand babies. I do have a suggestion when you put yours up do it where the wind does not blow like your in West Texas. We have not had wind or rain in a month but build something outside and you will get both. lol...I think it was silly of me to get so excited about Kaci and Bailey seeing them. I guess I wanted to do something special since they have not been to my house since before my fall in April.  I miss them and being creative too.

Everything in fact I did for this weekend was a flop. I got up yesterday morning at 6am to put on scalloped potato's in the crock pot and instead of  putting them on high I was half a sleep and put them on warm instead. Needless to say no scalloped potato's went to the reunion. Thank goodness I made a Blue Berry Crunch Cake to take too. But I noticed when I left that only one person had tried it. :( 

I made chicken spaghetti and another Blue Berry Crunch for Sunday thinking they were going to spend the night but my Daughter in Law Andrea had a cold and said she wanted to sleep in her own bed and then at the reunion Clint said he had to work too. Then Chad was going to stay but he brought Christi with him and she had her dog at home so they had to go back too. So I told Gretchen she was eating Chicken Spaghetti until she leaves for London on Tuesday. She did meet the family when they stopped by here on their way home from the reunion. Of course, she fell in love with Kaci and Bailey because they did a dance for her to an Elvis song.

I also made something I had never tried before and of course I am left with them too. I may gain 500 hundred pounds this week. I did sneak a few of them to the kids to take home. They were simple but so good. Just buy one of those Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip ready to cook cookie mix and the bite size reese's peanut butter cups. (I used the sugar free because of Chad and Kaci) You just seperate the cookies roll them in small balls shape them in a tart pan and then bake them. Then place the reese's candy in the center and you have a little treat. So easy and good.

For some reason could not enjoy the reunion either. Except of course I loved seeing loved ones I have not seen in a long while. I kept finding myself in the bathroom wiping tears out of my eyes. Yep like a school girl. I guess because we all never get together any more and then when we do its not the same. Plus Gary was at MD Anderson until 3am that morning taking his chemo so he did not come. His only child was there and I kept finding myself sitting by him since he was alone too.

Kaci was bit by a furry insect and she cried and cried so that started by trips to the bathroom ....hahaha

Seriously I think the tears were silly because I know my kids love me. They give me so much but they are busy with their own lives now and so sometimes I get to thinking too much about the past when things were better between all of us and the tears flow. Like now sitting here at four in the morning when I should be in bed with Tinkerbell. Maybe thats my problem sleeping with a cat. hahahaha

One thing about this weekend. I changed sheets on four beds whether they needed it or not. I cooked for a change and my house is cleaner than it has been in a while. The ole porch even got washed down. Funny I don't think anyone noticed but thats okay because in a few hours when I sit out there thinking about how much I love all of you and my kids I will be glad it was finally cleaned.

Gretchen will be gone for the next three weeks seeing about school in London. She actually wants me to consider taking the courses with her in creative writing. Wow if I were only 20 years younger and knew what I knew now you bet I would take those classes.

Hope you enjoy your Sunday!

Love to all
Maggie

My Ghost!

Boo!

After many ant bites and a windy day Gretchen and I finally got our ghost up!

It was fun working with Gretchen but wind was a challenge and of course the ant bites.

What I did I use to make these! Well your not going to believe it! While at Lowes and discovered these fence post. Don't ask me what kind of fence people use them with but they worked great. Easy to put in the hard ground and their pretty secure.

Off to the dollar store and I bought 6 knight helmets that were broken on each end so they gave them to me for half off which was 50 cents a piece. I finished breaking off the front part of the helmet and threw those away and then with double sided tape I taped these helmets to the end of the fence post.

We then put different sizes of cheap fabric that I bought a Wal Mart and tied the material together to make it look like their holding hands.

That was what they looked like when I finished last night. This morning the wind had them where you could not tell which ghost was holding which hand. lol Pretty crazy looking when I found them this morning. So I got a bag of small safety pins and used the heck out of them. I then took little nails used for picture hanging and put the longest part of the material in the ground with a nail to hold it down while the wind blows out here on the north forty.

While doing this I kept being bit my ants but never could see a bed of the darn things.

Gretchen was busy writing so I did it alone today. They actually looked better after pinning and nailing but of course my bateries went bad in my camera. Never have I had so much darn trouble keeping batteries charged than I do for this camera.

I put batteries on my shoppping list for tomorrow because of course I have to take pictures of Kaci and Bailey when they come Saturday. But I will have to get permission from their mom and dad about using them on my site.

All of you sent me great suggestions and I appreciate you. I think all of them would of worked just as good as these helmets and maybe even better. I had it in my mind to use this shape of a head so when I spotted the helmets I knew thats what I wanted to use.

Now will they look good in the morning is another story!

Remember I told you this house was haunted! Well it has been acting up again and night which is driving Tinkerbell wild. She is not sleeping now at night and trying to keep me awake.

Pain has really been bad this week so off to bed early!

Sweet Dreams to you

Maggie

Heads Needed!

Boo!

Hello and welcome to another help me post! The other day while going to pool therapy I spotted these ghost and fell in love with them. I want to figure out how to do this and have them in my yard Saturday when the grandbabies drive up.  Purchased some neat material from Wal Mart but still trying to figure out the best thing for the heads. I bought several different things today at the dollar store but not sure I like what I bought. What would you use?

I talked Gretchen (my new friend/tenant) to run up and check them out. She is such a sweetheart and so much fun. Gretchen could not figure out what the heads were but thought they were plastic.

She is taking time off tomorrow from writing to help me make these so of course I thought of you and knew if anyone knows how to make these you do!

Thanks for your Help!!!

Sweet Dreams

Maggie

The Real Ms. Pearl and a Winner!

Ms. Pearl's latest picture!Hope you had a wonderful weekend. I did except this morning I feel like a backhoe or something about that size drove over me and then backed up and did it again.

I thought that after almost six months of recouping I would be able to volunteer to hand out programs for the Festival Hill Concert. It turns out my back is still not healed enough for me to stand for an hour in one spot. The sad part is workers comp is doing nothing but sending me to a pain management doctor and pool therapy. After months with them and no progress wouldn’t you try something different? My pain management doctor told me at my last visit that I should have had surgery but workers comp does not like dealing with back surgery so they avoid it at your expense.



Roger Wright an American classical concert pianist who also won the United States National scrabble Championship in 2004 was the solo performer at Festival Hill on Saturday afternoon. Hard to believe that such a young man like Mr. Wright could perform so well that he almost knocked our socks off when he ended with Islamey (by Mily Balakirev 1869) I could not take my eyes off his hands even though he was a very handsome man.



Two reasons this morning for posting the first to announce the winner of the Pillsbury Giveaway and to tell you the story of how Ms. Pearl came to life.

My lucky winner was chosen from using the faithful random generator that is so awesome for choosing your winner. It chose number 15 which just happened to be Nezzy of Cow Patty Surprise!

So happy Nezzy that you won one of my giveaways and if you will email me your address, I will send it to the little dough boy so he can send you your $15.00 gift certificate and other goodies. Remember share your biscuits with your cowhands too. Another company approached me too so I will be having another one soon.

Let me see if I can make this short telling you about the beginning of Ms. Pearl. Several years ago we had an inmate incarcerated in our jail for at least two years and during this time he was our chief cook and bottle washer. Without his help in the kitchen and other areas there would have been days his fellow inmates would have gotten by on some pretty sad meals. Kevin knew how to handle a grill and whipped up some meals that were pretty darn good even if it was in jail.

He not only worked in the kitchen but helped out with supplies and other things. One day I was having trouble with a rowdy female inmate who was refusing to cooperate with me locking her in her cell. Now I am from Texas and yes I do tend to exaggerate at times but this is not one of those times. This woman was every bit of 5’10” and weighed maybe 195 lbs. Ornery as hell and did I mention brought in for assault.

Well Ms. Ornery and I were down the female hall and I had opened the vault that gave me access to opening her door and as luck would always have it she started calling me a few choice names and refusing to go in the holding cell. I must have not had very much sleep the night before because she was getting on my last nerve. Thinking that she and I were alone in the hallway I like a fool slammed the vault door shut put the big heavy keys in my big pockets and told her if that was the way she felt about me to just come on with it.

Now in all honesty I grew up protecting myself against four brothers who liked to fight but never did I ever tell someone just to come on and get a piece of me. How darn foolish is that besides being stupid. Hahaha

She took a couple of steps toward me and then started talking about cameras and how much trouble she would be in for hitting an Officer. I assured her where we were there were no cameras and to come on or get in the cell. After a few more ugly names thrown my way she stepped inside the cell. Thankfully and nervously I reopened the vault and locked her down. Much to my surprise when I turned to go back the other direction Kevin was standing there with a mop in his hand. He had a look on his face that I will never forget and then totally out of place for an inmate he asks me if I had lost my mind. Lol

He then proceeded to tell me that this woman was known for assaulting and beating the living day lights out of people. I of course tried to act unconcerned all the while cussing at myself underneath my breath.

Turns out later that day I heard him in the kitchen with other inmates telling his version of the story. I have to tell you it was much funnier than the one I could ever tell. This man has a way with words. He has all of them laughing and then he tells them Ms. Maggie has a Ms. Pearl inside her that they should not ever bring to surface. From that day on if I ever raised my voice about anything Officers and Inmates would say oh hell Ms. Pearl is here today.

Now you know how I came to be called Ms. Pearl. Months after this I looked up the name Margaret and it means Pearl. Can you imagine my surprise? Then I realized my Mama named me and her twin sister was named Pearl and she was Ruby. After all these years of wondering why they picked Margaret I think I know the answer.

Enjoy your week! I have to get better because my kids are coming Saturday (can you tell grandmayellowhair is excited) and my house looks like Ms. Pearl lives here along with her friends.

We are going to my brothers for a small family reunion. Any suggestions on side dishes or desserts I could take. My brothers are fixing bar-b-que for the main dish.

Love to all

Maggie

An Email That I Needed To Share!

If you have a man at home let him know how you feel. I can only post pictures....no one to feel here. hahaha Sorry Tinkerbell but your a girl.

Sorry this picture has nothing to do with this email! Just thought it had to be shared.....

This email was forwarded to me by sister-in-law Linda who received it from a friend of ours from Colorado. The strange thing about this email besides the contents it was forwarded by a friend of mine Gene,who lives of all things half of a mile from me. His wife Barbara and I were best friends and lost her to Breast Cancer in Sept 2002. Strange how emails go all around the world and end back at your neighbors home.

I need to call Gene and find out when this was happened. He is retired from Nasa so I know if it were not true he never would of sent it out.

The email:
One week ago, I went to Ohio on business and to see my father. On Tuesday, November the 17th,


I returned home. If you read the papers the 18th you may have seen

a blurb where a AirTran flight was cancelled from Atlanta to Houston

due to a man who refused to get off of his cell phone before takeoff.



It was on Fox. This was NOT what happened.



I was in 1st class coming home. 11 Muslim men got on the plane in full attire.

2 sat in 1st class and the rest peppered themselves throughout

the plane all the way to the back. As the plane taxied to the

runway the stewardesses gave the safety spiel we are all so

Familiar with. At that time, one of the men got on his cell and called

one of his companions in the back and proceeded to talk on the

Phone in Arabic very loudly and very aggressively. This took the 1st

stewardess out of the picture for she repeatedly told the man

That cell phones were not permitted at the time. He ignored her as if

she was not there.



The 2nd man who answered the phone did the same

and this took out the 2nd stewardess. In the back of the plane

at this time, 2 younger Muslims, one in the back aisle, and one in

front of him, window, began to show footage of a porno they had

Taped the night before, and were very loud about it. Now..they are

only permitted to do this prior to Jihad. If a Muslim man goes

into a strip club, he has to view the woman via mirror with his

Back to her. (don't ask me..I don't make the rules, but I've

studied) The 3rd stewardess informed them that they were not to have

electronic devices on at this time. To which one of the men

Said "shut up infidel dog!" She went to take the camcorder and he

began to scream in her face in Arabic. At that exact moment, all

11 of them got up and started to walk the cabin. This is where I

had had enough! I got up and started to the back where I heard

A voice behind me from another Texan twice my size say "I got

Your back." I grabbed the man who had been on the phone by the arm

And said "you WILL go sit down or you Will be thrown from this plane!"

As I "led" him around me to take his seat, the fellow Texan

grabbed him by the back of his neck and his waist and headed

out with him. I then grabbed the 2nd man and said, "You WILL do the

same!" He protested but adrenaline was flowing now and he was

going to go. As I escorted him forward the plane doors open and

3 TSA agents and 4 police officers entered. Me and my new Texan

friend were told to cease and desist for they had this under control.

I was happy to oblige actually. There was some commotion

in the back, but within moments, all 11 were escorted off the plane.

They then unloaded their luggage.



We talked about the occurrence and were in disbelief that it had happen, when

suddenly, the door open again and on walked all 11!! Stone faced, eyes

front and robotic (the only way I can describe it). The stewardess from the

back had been in tears and when she saw this, she

was having NONE of it! Being that I was up front, I heard and

saw the whole ordeal. She told the TSA agent there was NO WAY

she was staying on the plane with these men. The agent told her

they had searched them and were going to go through their luggage with

a fine tooth comb and that they were allowed to proceed to Houston.



The captain and co-captain came out and told the agent "we and

our crew will not fly this plane!" After a word or two, the entire crew,

luggage in tow, left the plane. 5 minutes later, the cabin door opened

again and a whole new crew walked on.



Again...this is where I had had enough!!! I got up and asked "What

the hell is going on!? I was told to take my seat. They were sorry for

the delay and I would be home shortly. I said "I'm getting off this plane".

The stewardess sternly told me that she could not allow me to get off.

(now I'm mad!) I said "I am a grown man who bought this ticket, whose

time is mine with a family at home and I am going through that door,

or I'm going through that door with you under my arm!! But I

am going through that door!!" And I heard a voice behind me say

"so am I". Then everyone behind us started to get up and say the

same. Within 2 minutes, I was walking off that plane where I

Was met with more agents who asked me to write a statement. I had

5 hours to kill at this point so why the hell not. Due to the amount of

people who got off that flight, it was cancelled. I was supposed to be

in Houston at 6pm. I got here at 12:30am.



Look up the date. Flight #297 Atlanta to Houston.



If this wasn't a dry run, I don't know what one is. The

terrorists wanted to see how TSA would handle it, how the crew

Would handle it, and how the passengers would handle it.

I'm telling this to you because I want you to know..


The threat is real. I saw it with my own eyes..

-Tedd Petruna




My guess this happened a year ago or longer but still it reminds us to remember how we are not loved by others. Sad so Sad

I am getting ready for a concert at Festival Hill this afternoon. They have ask me to hand out Programs and I was glad to be included in this event. Hopefully I can sneak in a few pictures of inside the Concert Hall. I have posted the outside gardens and chapel but not the inside.

Wish I you were here to share this with me. The weather is beautiful and I pray it stays this way because we are having a small family reunion next weekend.  Oh boy grandbaby hugs and kisses coming soon.

Enjoy your weekend
Love to all
Maggie

A Review and Giveaway!

Great news for a change! I am too excited because I have been given the opportunity to do a Review and Giveaway for Pillsbury Grands Frozen Mini Biscuits. These are the new freezer-to-oven Mini biscuits that in just a few minutes you will have warm, fluffy and fresh biscuit from your oven.

You know me with all that is going on in my life I look for something easy and fast but yet yummy. This is what I found when I tried the Pillsbury Mini Biscuits. Let me tell you nothing beats a couple of these with butter and honey. Yep just heat your mini biscuits up dab some butter on them while their warm and pour the honey on....then sit back turn your computer on and pull up Just Between Me and You!...hahaha

Each 70-calorie biscuit is a delight when served hot from the oven, with a warm fluffy center and golden, flaky crust.

Whats really nice is these biscuits come in a frozen package where you only take out how many biscuits you want to fix. Not like the can where you have to fix them all. Just put the rest back in the freezer for the next time your hungry for something really good.
Since I had to fix breakfast for Gary the other morning before his treatment at MD Anderson I decided that he needed a little more than how I usually eat so I scrambled him some eggs, heated up some precooked ham slices, added some cheese and made him some little sliders to take with him on his trip. Talk about fast and easy yet so delicious. He loved them and told me I could make his breakfast anytime.

Now for the really great news you too can make someone special their breakfast by entering my giveaway. You will win a Pillsbury Grands! Mini Biscuits prize pack which includes a VIP coupon good for a free package of biscuits, a $15 gift card to purchase your whatever you want, a biscuit basket, a butter dish and spreader! How cool is that!

To enter leave me a comment on this post by midnight Sunday September  October 17th and tell me how your family would love to have their Pillsbury Grands Mini Biscuits served to them.

I will choose one lucky hungry winner by using the handy Random Generator.

Thanks to Pillsbury and My Blog Spark I was able to do this review and giveaway. For more information and recipes, visit http://www.pillsbury.com/. (Please note all the prize packs and information were all given to me from Pillsbury through My Blog Spark.)

Once again I can not tell you how much I appreciate all the comments about my concerns of my itching breast. This cream has helped stop the itching but I am still in search of a new doctor and another oppion. We must all take charge of our own bodies and needs when it comes to the getting the care we all need. Please read the my previous post about Inflammatory Breast Cancer it could save your life or someone you love.

I hope you are having a great week and let me know what you think of my first review. It was nice to be contacted about having this giveaway. If you win you will love the biscuits plus the the butter dish and knife are really nice. Your $15.00 gift card can be spent anyway you wish to spend it.

Love to all
Maggie

Who's The Idiot?

Good morning to you! The question I am asking myself today after my doctors visit yesterday. Who’s the Idiot?

Sit back and drink something soothing while I bore you with my version of my doctor’s appointment yesterday and show you more pictures of my place to meditate the Round Top Library. I somehow manage to get there fifteen minutes early which always seems to please them and find a seat close to the door. It was the only one far away from those that were coughing and looking like they needed to be in bed.
I sit there wanting to scratch my breast so bad that if I told you how close I came to being a redneck it would shock you. You see if you’re a faithful reader of mine you would know that I am there because of a rash on the left boob and I am concerned it could be something serious. Like Inflammatory Breast Cancer. (Please read post before this one to catch up) Seriously if you have not read it please do it could save someone’s life.

Turns out I sit there over an hour and I finally ask the young little receptionist why everyone and their brother keeps going in to see someone even when they came in thirty minutes after me. She of course looked like I had asked her if the doctor had herpes or something close and then says to me. “Well did you sign in today?” I said, “NO honey I signed last week about this time and am still sitting here itching like a have been rolling in the hay sack with your doctor whom I came here to see sometime before the sun goes down!” Well maybe I did not say all that but the little sweet thing goes and looks at the sign in sheet to check if I am lying. Does not even do it discretely…no checks it right in front of me. Satisfied I was not lying to her she starts looking for my folder. Finds it on her side of the counter where she had been playing for the last hour and explains to everyone I don’t know how this happened but here’s your folder. Sorry I will get you in as soon as possible.

I go back and sit down and came so close to scratching it right in front of everyone but thought no you can do this be strong...just wait until your by yourself.

Finally I am in the examining room and I grab my top button and jerk it nearly off trying to get to my poor breast and in walks the doctor. Fastest he has ever come in after I sit down. I explain to him why I am playing with myself and he pulls back the blouse just enough to see a half inch of my breast and says it’s only a rash I will give you some cream. I then tell him what I had read on the internet about Inflammatory Breast Cancer and he say’s “You need to stay off the internet it is just a rash!”

I could tell the man never heard of this type of Breast Cancer and further more did not want to learn about it either. He wants to know when I had my last mammogram and says he will schedule me another one. I explain to him that with this type of Breast Cancer it does not show up in a mammogram because the warning signs are itching and redness. Completely ignores me. I am desperately explaining to this man by now I am calling an idiot to myself that this was the breast I had cancer in years ago. He then asks if my cancer then was Inflammatory Breast Cancer and I said No it was a lump. He puts his hands on my knees and looks at me like the idiot he is and says “It is very unlikely that you could have in your life time two different kinds of breast cancer in the same area!”

Long story short it is time to find a new doctor. I am supposed to apply this cream twice a day and in three days I will see the rash going away. Also be sure and follow up with a mammogram.

So this morning I am sitting here with all kinds of thoughts running through my head and one of them is where have all the good doctors gone too. What has happened to our world? I think I could take a stranger off the street and give him ten dollars instead of twenty five and get a better diagnosis than I got yesterday. Give me a break! 


I even told him I had a cousin die of this kind of breast cancer and she was in her thirties.  Did not matter to him this is a RASH plain and simple. He had better hope for his sake that he is right!

Wish I could of wrote all the thoughts I had about this doctor on the way home yesterday but then they would of put my site in the X-rated blogs and you would never find me. Hahaha

Another beautiful day here so I am sharing some more pictures of the gardens at the Round Top Library which is about ten miles from where I live. Of course out here I am ten miles from everything in any direction.

Maybe I should go print me out a doctor’s certificate hang it on the porch and open for business. Who knows how many people would drive off with the same question Who’s the Idiot me or the doctor?

Guess I will give this cream a few days but I am still looking for a new doctor. Can not do pool therapy today so they told me to come in for land therapy. Good grief now what are they going to do with my old body. hahaha



Love to all
Maggie

I went wild the last time I sat outside in the Librarys gardens.

Itching Please Read and Share!

Oh my What a beautiful prefect fall day in my part of Texas. Right now I am sitting in the middle of a lovely flower garden wishing you were to here to share the beauty with me.

Not sure the exact week or day that I my left breast started itching. Living where I do I just figured some wild insect had taken liberties with parts of my body they should leave alone. Anyway the itching continued maybe more than two weeks or longer and sometimes I would be standing in line somewhere and it would call to me to scratch it or it would scream out neglect. So one of the attacks of itching came on last night while trying to sleep. It seems my brain thinks more in bed than anywhere else. While lying there scratching I remember hearing something about breast cancer sometimes itched. Being the breast that I had already had cancer in years ago I jumped out of bed and grabbed the ole lap top.

Opened up Google and put in Itching Breast. Naturally it was true. There is a breast cancer called Inflammatory Breast Cancer. This is one of the articles I read.

Itchy breasts can be a symptom of cancer.  Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) and Paget's disease of the breast are two forms of breast cancer that may include itching as a symptom.  However, itching can also be a symptom of dry skin, irritation, an allergy, and plenty of other problems that aren't dangerous.  IBC usually presents with a combination of symptoms like swelling, redness, dimpling, pain, and/or itching.  Most people have several symptoms that develop quickly.  Paget's usually has a scaly rash around the nipple.  If the only symptom you have is itching, and if you have checked with the doctor, I don't think you need to get another opinion.  If you do develop new symptoms, be assertive in getting your doctor to do some tests to find out exactly what is going on.

Another article:
Millions of people didn't know about a rare form of cancer called Inflammatory Breast Cancer -- IBC -- until Michelle Esteban from ABC's Seattle affiliate KOMO-TV shined a light on the difficulties of diagnosis.
"It's just so sad," she said. "Every woman that I've interviewed who has been diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer never heard of it until she got it."

Pain, Warmth, Itching

After running the story in May, KOMO's Web site was flooded with an overwhelming 14 million hits, the most in its history.
Viewers e-mailed their friends and family, urging them to watch the report and learn more about the little-known form of breast cancer that shows itself with nontraditional symptoms.
"There is no tumor. But there often is a red rash. There can be itching. The breast can swell. … It can be hot to the touch. There can be stabbing pain," Esteban said.
The redness and warmth are caused by cancer cells blocking the lymph vessels in the skin. The skin of the breast may also appear pink, reddish-purple, or bruised and appear pitted, like the skin of an orange.

Other symptoms include heaviness, burning, aching, increase in breast size, and tenderness.

These symptoms usually develop quickly, over a period of days or weeks. Swollen lymph nodes may also be present.
Because it lacks the typical telltale sign of a lump, mammograms and self-breast exams rarely detect this very aggressive form of cancer.

IBC catches victims off guard and in many cases, is a silent killer.
"If I had heard of it prior, I probably would have been more suspect that something was wrong rather than just young and dumb," said IBC victim Kristine Turck.

The thing to remember about this is there is no lump and it is a very very serious type of Breast Cancer.
I had not idea but not I know this is what my young cousin died of years ago when I was fighting my breast cancer. All I can remember her saying is she had a rash and the next thing we knew she lost her life to this horrible cancer. She was only in her thirties. I still think of her often and wish that they could of found hers in time. But like me I had no idea about this kind of cancer.

My worry of course is the left breast is where I had my first cancer which was a lump. Had my treatments and have had no other problems until about 5 months ago my doctor removed a spot between my arm and breast and said it was cancer but he got it all and I needed no treatments. The scary thing about this is he is the same doctor that treated Gary for months with his swollen lymph nodes in his throat and thought nothing of them and now Gary is in Stage 4 of Throat Cancer.

Gary is now starting to be sick from his Chemo and bless his heart his transmission went out in his truck and then the other day his fiancee was driving him to treatment two hours away and her car broke down. So knowing you way I do you will lift Gary up in prayer.

Loving you the way I do I wanted to warn you and your loved ones about this type of Breast Cancer.
October is the month for Breast Cancer Awareness and boy have I learned something new. I will of course the first thing Monday morning call my doctor and see if he can rush me an appointment. Then I will have to convince him to do a biopsy of the area because I am not going to let him send me home telling me it is just a rash. Not with my history. If need be Ms. Pearl will make an appearance in the Medical Center of College Station. hahaha

Sorry for a depressing post on a beautiful fall weekend but this info is something that needs to be told to everyone you know.

Love to all
Maggie

This the Round Top Library where I wrote this post in their garden!

You Ain't Woman Enough To Take My Man!

I hope you are having the weather that I am having here at the North forty.

The mornings have been so cool that I have to turn on the heat just to get the chill out of the ole farm house. It is actually colder inside than out. Not looking forward to another cold winter but who am I to complain I live in Texas not in our Northern States where you are hit really hard.

Loretta's Home

Speaking of other states I fell in love with Tennessee all over again and of course Arkansas and lets not forget Mississippi. When my friend/landlady was kind enough to take me to my cousin’s funeral we kept driving because she had tickets to see Loretta Lynn’s last concert at her ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. I got the okay from my pain management doctor and he agreed only because of us traveling in a RV. If I had not been able to lay down a lot I would of never been able to make the trip.

Betty Sue on left...Barb on right

It was a very fast trip up there and back since I have pool therapy twice a week and my pain management appointments.



Hurricane Mills is about sixty miles from Nashville and it is all about Loretta Lynn. In fact she owns the little town and there she has her home that sits on 3600 hundred acres and where she also has a RV camp and concert pavilion. My friend Barbara and Loretta’s daughter are friends so I took a great picture of the two of them at Betty’s shop.

I was actually quite surprised at how wonderful the concert was since Loretta is seventy five years old. She sang the first two songs standing up and after that she sat down and entertained the rest of the evening. Her voice is still awesome as ever and the crowd loved her. In between songs other family members would sing when Loretta was not telling us stories about her life.

This is a gift shop in the small town Loretta owns. It is an old mill that sits on the water running through her place.

One story in particular she told made me spit my Dr Pepper on the guy in front of me. The reason being is it showed me that she also has a Ms. Pearl inside of her and regardless if she is standing in front of thousands of people she still did not hold back not even a little bit. It was a story about a woman trying to steal her husband Mooney. Now Mooney has been dead over 14 years but when Loretta told this story you could see the facial features of her change to real anger. She told us that once upon a time a woman by the name of Ann Dunn was from that little town and while Loretta was out on the road this gal tried to take her man. Now let me tell you she did not mince any words when it came to this woman. She said she was a no good whore and was now living in Florida doing the same thing. What got me was the fact she repeated her name several times for the entire world to hear. Loretta then pointed to the audience and said, ”I know some of you out here know her and I know some of you in the audience are kin to her but makes no difference to me you all need to know what kind of woman she is.”



I was speechless and Barbara and I were looking at each other in disbelief. She certainly has a lot of anger and hate for this Ann Dunn. Then to top it off she sang her hit You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man. Hahaha Brought the house down and a standing ovation.



Her ranch is absolutely beautiful and the leaves were just starting to change colors. If only it could have been a week or two later I would have been in heaven seeing the leaves. If you ever in that part of the country you should stop by and tell her hello. Very down to earth and still a lovely woman. But be careful if your name happens to be Ann Dunn. Haha Seventy-five or not I have a feeling that woman could do some serious stomping on that other woman. It goes to show even the best of us have a Ms. Pearl hidden somewhere inside of us.

Back view of her ranch when your leaving Hurricane Mills.

My camera batteries died on me during the concert so I am waiting on pictures from Barbara of Loretta in her red evening dress looking so pretty.

I talked to my darling Kaci for five minutes last night and tonight we are going to try and use Skype so we can make faces at each other while we talk. I hope she does not forget to call me so we can catch up. Also I can visit with my little Bailey too and see what mischief he has been into at school. Kaci did tell me she had to get glasses now so she could see the black board. I told her to be sure and wear them for me when we Skype. If you have not tried Skype.com you really should. It is free and you can talk to your grandbabies while watching them dancing around the room entertaining their grandma. Kaci told me that she was excited that my oldest son Chad moved back to Austin this week and now everyone was in Austin except her Grandmayellowhair. She then told me that everytime she sees a house for sale she will tell me about it. Let me tell you I just wanted to cry because how I would love to live closer to that darling and help her with her diabetes. Knowing that I can not afford to live in Austin right now makes me want to do some good ole stomping myself on someone. Lol



Gary completed his first round of chemo and was sick on the way home last night from MD Anderson. He is going to be worn out traveling back and forth for 15 weeks but with all your prayers he will make it.



Things here on the ranch are crazy because everything is breaking down at the same time. I know you understand how that is because when it rains it pours.



Still no word from Alan! I guess the poor fool got his panties in a wad too. Your comments were again priceless and I love you and your comments.

Love to all
Maggie

One of her ducks walking around. I wanted to bring it back to the north forty.