Still learning how to use the video on my cell phone. Since I can't use the phone to make calls, I might as well use it for a great camera and recorder.
I didn't know that I was doing that at the time, but oh well.

The Ten Commandments of Christmas

The Ten Commandments of Christmas

Debra Oaks Coe © all rights reserved

1.   1   Thou shalt not put any other holiday traditions or celebrations (not even Santa Claus) above the celebrations of our Savior’s birth and the deep meaning of His life, teachings, and sacrifices.

2.    2  Thou shalt look at thy life and make at least one positive change as your gift to the Savior at His birthday celebration.

3.    3   Thou shalt have many traditions, especially those types of traditions that remind you of the Savior, give service to others, and bring your family closer together.

4.    4   Thou shalt remember those who are alone and help them to have a “Merry Christmas” also.

5.   5   Thou shalt give gifts of worth and not merely add to another’s collection of clutter simply for the sake of “giving a gift”. Give of yourself which is the way the Savior gave.

6.   6   Thou shalt value the effort and thought put into gifts received. Just as with widow’s mite, it is the meaning that gives a gift value not the dollar amount paid.

7.    7  Thou shalt give no gift grudgingly or because you have to. This does not mean to not give the gift to someone, but work until you have changed your own attitude.

8.    8   Thou shalt not become so busy that you don’t have time to really enjoy the season.

9.    9  Thou shalt remember that of all the beautiful and expensive gifts, what children want and need most is honor, respect, love, and your time.

1010.  Above all, thou shalt find a way to keep the spirit of the Christmas season and of giving all through the year.

Our Christmas tree and fireplace.

Our Christmas tree looks pink, but it is really white with pink lights.  I have one more to put up.  I can't put up all 7 this year because of lack of room on the truck when we were moving here we had to leave a lot of things behind but unfortunately Christmas items were some of the things we left behind.

Yum, yum, yum!

Decided to finally make something sweet for after diner, and it was real easy to make - just a little time consuming.

Spice Orange Cake w/ Caramel Glaze (or Dulce de Leche)

For the cake:
All I did was add 1 tsp. Japanese Five Spice to a Duncan Hines orange cake mix and followed the directions on the cake mix box. For this recipe, I used a Bundt(r) pan.

For the Caramel Glaze:
Take one 12oz can sweetened condensed milk, and remove the top. Place in small sauce pan; fill with water to about 3/4 way up the can; bring water to boil and let milk sit, stirring occasionally. Maintain doing this until milk turns caramel in color and thickens. This can take upwards of 1 hour.

** Caution** make sure there is water in the pan at all times. And, make sure NO water gets into the milk.

Cake should be done way before the sauce is. So, when you are ready just drizzle the sauce on the cake, and serve. You can heat up the sauce in a separate bowl to keep it fluid and warm. YUM!!

**Note**
This is how Dulce de Leche is made.

Gas Radiator - Resonator

This beautiful thing is called a resonator - a gas radiator, I guess. I'd love to know if anyone can help me find out what this really is called. The inserts are ceramic on most of them. I happen to have a few of these here in our home, and I will take pictures of those to share later.

Well, we are hitting below the freezing point here in Aberdeen, and I am still without heat. We are now going on week 5, and now have to wait until 2 more weeks because the money I had saved up to get the guy out here to pressure test our gas line, has yet to show up. Now, please keep in mind that I have called other plumbers to do this, but I am still waiting for Santa to bring me my Rolls Royce Silver Phantom.

Major flaw here is that it takes too long for someone to get a hold of you. Bad business, people, bad business.

YAY! Another Siren.

Again with the Tornado warnings. Sirens blasting, PA system calling out, people across the street burying their cat, yeah, just the normal stuff during tornado warnings. It was pretty neat just the same. One day Dorothy is going to come flying at me, and I am telling you now, she hits us with her house, I'm going DC in her Kansas butt.

Sirens Sounding

Well, we were interrupted this evening/morning. A tornado warning was placed for the Aberdeen area due to cloud circulations. Thankfully, it moved very quick, and to the N.E. But, it was neat to run outside to see the clouds light up with the lightening - very ominous. The rain was much needed since we are way under for the water table.
Unfortunately, no Dorothy, or little farm houses. DANG!!

Cool thing is, that when the sirens are sounded, they do a PA of the warning. NEAT!!

Friends!!

Are friend Kevin, and his wife Vicky, live in Collinsville, MS. His mom and dad live just down the road. And across the street from their current home, is the house that Kevin grew up in - I'll get that picture later. His parents are beautiful people. We felt very welcomed when we came over to visit. Had goobers for the first time - those are boiled peanuts for those of you not familiar - and they were real good. Mrs. Chesney is amazing, she has the most beautiful voice, so calming and reassuring.

This is Kevin's home:

It has a nice new front porch. I am going to steal it on of these days.

And this is the view across the street:

and this is my new friend-----DEMON COW!!!!!

She was the only one that actually came up to the fence to meet us. She sniffed my hand, and then sneezed on it. Oh well, another dairy product. She was a beauty though.

**Believe it or not, this is the actual size of our baby. Just 2" tall.

Wilson's Restaurant

Went to a new place to eat in Amory, MS, which is about 15 minutes away. Well, at first glance, Wilson's doesn't offer much in the decor category, but the food more than makes up for that. Even though the menu is light on items, it is not light on portions, or service.
Glenda got the hamburger plate with crinkle fries, salad bar, and drink for $6.95, and I got the BLT with spicy fries, salad bar, and drink for $6.75. Glenda's burger was awesome. It was handmade, not a frozen heap of stamped out meat. And my BLT sandwiches were great, too - crispy and not burnt.
They made a homemade Mustard salad dressing that was real good. I am not a big fan of honey mustard in any way, but this stuff changed my mind on that. It was made by our server, who is a friend of the owner. She helps her out when the owner has to go out and do personal errands. Wow, I'd like friends like that.
This is definitely a do over in my book. I would love to share this place with my family and friends. HINT HINT.

All the antiques in the restaurant are family items. They were the owners grandparents and parents items that are used to decorate the place. I thought it was kind of neat. 

The New Addition!!

Well, as you all know, I am the shopper in this household. God forbid I have a check card, or cash for that matter, in my pocket.

As Glenda and I were riding around in West Point, MS, I saw the shop - Mawmaw's Antiques - and asked - well OK I begged - for Glenda to stop by there. First thing out of her mouth was, "Don't buy anything", so of course I had NO intentions. But, there it was, an orphan lamp, all alone in a corner. Tears of heart wrenching love poured over me as I looked at the little fella. He was dusty, and need someone to lighten his little heart, so of course I "forced" myself to pull out the check card, and purchase his freedom. We hugged and cried because we both knew that life would be all the brighter in our little world on top of the piano. And here he sits to day, a little lamp with such a great future. Makes me want to cry, again. Sniff, sniff, sniff. (Is this just a little over dramatic?)

NAAAAAWWWW!!

Out and About!!

OK, Glenda and I decided to go and hunt for Beek's Cemetery late in the afternoon. Google maps is not alway correct, so this is just a fair warning. Well, after missing our turn off the first time, we headed back and turned down Beek's Road, not Burn's Cemetery Road as Google suggested - jerks! To say it was a narrow winding road would be an understatement, but it was. 
As we were head to the cemetery, we came across an abandoned house:

I so want to go inside and see what it looks like, but that will have to be on a nice early day, and it would have to  be Tommy and me.
On the other side of the road there were 3 smaller building. On of the buildings looked like this:

And, the other two looked about the same. 

As we were taking these pictures, Glenda and I heard rustling in the trees, and she started calling me to get back to the car. Well, as I was coming around to the back, I was about to take a picture of the other shed, and 3 young guys came up from behind this particular building. I said, "Hi guys, how are you doing"? They were very nice and said, "We are going to kill you!", and they pulled out there hunting knives and killed both of us. No, actually, they were very nice, but it unsettled Glenda pretty much, LOL!

Aberdeen BBQ and other BBQ places.

Well, I have to admit that the BBQ here in MS is wonderful, thus far. But, I have to admit, not everyones is that great.

Hank's

We ate the food from here for the first time today. As you can see, it is a neat place on the side of 45S heading towards Columbus, MS, just past Columbus AFB. I really liked the the place itself, but not too impressed with the food.

We got the BBQ Brisket and Pulled Pork BBQ with baked potato salad and cole slaw. We all agreed that the meats were pretty bland and the cole slaw was, too. We did enjoy the baked potato salad; it had a sour cream base and bacon bits, yum! We also got the peach cobbler, and that left little to the palette. It was soggy, and tasted like canned peaches and bread, yuck!

Over all, we really weren't that impressed with the food, but I was with the service. They were great.

Topp's

Now, if you wanna talk seriously awesome BBQ, well look no further. This is located just at the corner of Matubba and Commerce. It is a BBQ shack. They do all the BBQing in the front of the place, that way the smell will stop you in your tracks. We have gotten the Rib Tips, Ribs, Pulled Pork, and Catfish; the baked beans - not so great, Mustard Potato Salad, and cole slaw; not to mention the Topp's Dog - has cole slaw, mustard, ketchup, and who knows what else. But, Tommy said that he really like them and that we should all try them the next time around. When any of you get up here, we'll definitely take you here for some good eatin'.

Starting to Lighten Up

Hey everybody! AS some of you know, I love putting things together and creating lamp fixtures out of them. In the first picture, I ma showing you all a lamp shade that I had hand sewn from an old shade frame, scrap fabric, and crystals that had came from the World Bank in NY City - loooong story. It took me over 2 weeks to complete, along with many sore and bleeding fingers, but I think the beauty of it speaks for itself, something like labor, but I didn't have to raise it. Good thing.

The second one is a hanging lantern that Glenda and I bought from a flea market in DC, not to far from the stadium. It was a beautiful day, and as usual, you never have enough money to get all the things that you know you can use. Well, after too many years, I have finally created a hanging lantern out of the hanging lantern. What pure genius I am, bwahahahahahahaha!

I have starting taking the initiative in getting the lighting situation taken care of upstairs. I just took out the ceiling fixtures, and will be putting up at least one ceiling fan that I had redesigned, and will be creating the others as I go along. That project will be posted later - can we say WEEEEEEEE!!!

And here they are:

I love doing this stuff regardless of how aggravated I get. When all is said and done, I get to look at these. Any suggestions would be appreciated for projects that you think I could do and enjoy.

Could Someone, anyone, please explain to me, WHY??!!

I am going to send Tommy this picture of a footed tub. It is only 40" long, and the only people I can think of the would fit in this thing would be Rebecca, Mom, and Cindy. LOL!! I think it was made specifically for a shower, and I am kicking myself in the rear because it would have worked beautifully in our bathroom down stairs. Now I know better, and will keep my eye out for another one.

Happy Birthday Poppa Kines

Happy Birthday to a wonderful man, my Father-N-Law, Ronald Kines that is no longer with us in the flesh.  I have been a member of the Kines family for almost 26 years, and would like to think many years before I even married Thom.  He would always greet me with a hug when I came to their home in New Carrollton, Maryland. My maiden name was Wood, so he being the teaser that he was, loved my last name.  He would say "What is your name?".  I would say, "Glenda Wood".  He would say, "Wood what?".  Well being a very shy 17 year old,(man things sure do change) I would get embarrassed and of course blush.  Well as time rolled on, as it always does, I again went to their home, he asked me my name, I proceeded as usual, answering "Glenda Wood", he followed our same routine "Wood what?"  I still blushed, but instead of saying "I dunno", I said "Anything you need me too".  Oh my gosh, he started laughing, and HE actually blushed! LOL   Thanks for loving me Poppa, I love and miss you.

Another exciting night!!

Well, here we go again, another exciting night at work. I am sitting here, and listening to the neighborhood dogs bark at who knows what, Ludo is snoring, and Glenda is teaching me how to do this blogging thing.
As many of you will see, small things will get done around here, and eventually, this place will be ready for the big time fixing up.
Like Glenda said, "We'll keep you posted on our progress", or at least that what I think she said? Any-who's, with all this so to be exciting work, Who knows when I'll be able to get back on here.
Thank you all in advance for taking the time to share in our new lives. We look forward to hearing from you, and please, don't forget to send us personal notes as well.

Love to all,
Thom

You were there

Aberdeen Cemetery

Well today we went to one of the oldest cemeteries in Aberdeen.  It is a beautiful place, not real big but, big enough which I like.  

One of my favorite items there is the weeping angel.  I think she is so very beautiful, and would love to have her in my yard, or even my house if I could fit it.  I think that tells the whole story of the way we feel when someone we love goes on without us.   Also in this section is a grave of a person that was born December 10, 1886 exactly 100 years to the day before our Son, Tommy was born.  

We also visited the grave of Mary, who died because her skirt caught fire.  I just thought it was crazy that her tomb stone has the engraving of a woman with flames on her skirt.  I just hope that the people who knew and loved Mary remember her for something other than this.

Next we visited the tomb of Alice, who was buried sitting upright in her favorite rocking chair.  Next to her is her loving husband.  Notice the beautiful fence that surrounds their graves, It is beautiful.

Onward we traveled to the section of the CONFEDERATE DEAD.  Through out the cemetery there are other graves that are actually marked with the names of Confederate Soldiers but the one's inside the gate that says CONFEDERATE DEAD either the names have worn off or they were not named.  On the tops of the 10" by 12" markers are the initials CSA.

This is the sign as you come into Aberdeen Cemetery.

We will be visiting other cemeteries in the Aberdeen, as well as surrounding areas.  Will post as we come across the neat, and wonderful things of Mississippi.

Aberdeen Beach

September 26, 2010

Oh My Gosh!  My Darling Husband found Aberdeen beach, and took me there. We had been looking for the beach since moving to Aberdeen about a month ago.  He found it on one of his early morning excursions  going to Lann's hardward shop in town.  It is such a beautiful place.  When we went swimming a fish jumped out of the water and bounced off my chest!  At first I thought it went down my swim suit but after pulling out my suit, I discovered that I was safe.  LOL  Praise the Lord there were no other people there.  I could see the headline now.
     Maryland Woman Flashes the People of Aberdeen!  LOL

Anyway we had a lovely day :)

We are officially Mississippi Rednecks!! LOL

It's official we got our tags today, so we are now Mississippi Rednecks.  LOL  In Mississippi the charge for tags and taxes are based on the age of your vehicle.  Our van will be 10 years old in January, so instead of City Hall charging us the full price for the tag, they gave it to us at the 10 year old price which saved us about $150.00 :)