So Excited!

When I saw this for pre-order on Amazon.com yesterday I did a little jig! I immediately text my sister Mindy to share the excitement. See...we are hardcore fans...we get excited over these types of things...don't judge okay.

There is no description yet...I'm not even sure Charlaine Harris has completed the book at this point. The release date is May 3, 2011. I have my copy pre-ordered...I will have it on the day it is released...YES!

If you have never read the ever growing, "Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries" you should. They are wonderful. I also watch True Blood...I believe that I've mentioned that on here a few times. I will have to say that I love the show, but they do not touch the books! Charlaine Harris is my favorite mystery writer so far. I am asking for some of her earlier books for Christmas.

Here is the link to the book set on Amazon.com...you will not be sorry!

DO NOT FREAK OUT!

Listen up Mid-South viewing area!!!!! I know that The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for our area, but this in no way means that you are allowed to attack the area Wal-Marts and other local grocery stores. Please people...DO NOT FREAK OUT!

You do not have to buy up all the milk, eggs and bread. We are not waiting out a Nuclear Holocaust! So please be kind...there are some of us that are, just by chance, out of milk, bread and eggs. I am one of those people that will be Wal-Mart because I, by chance, ran out of Milk and some other items. I now ask that all of my readers, regardless of how few, please pray for my safe trip in and out of my local Wal-Mart....Thank you!

It's December!

I would like to start by apologizing...the pics are horrible. They are uploads from a phone.

Okay...so...where were we....ahhh yes...IT'S DECEMBER! You heard me people. I can't believe it. Where has the time gone? It seemed just like yesterday we were working really hard on our Halloween Haunted Trail. We have eaten the Turkey...done the Black Friday...now we're just waiting on the Fat Man to come to town. I just can't get over how fast it goes by...you know...it takes forever for December to get here and then in a blink of the eye..........it's gone!

We put up our tree the day after Thanksgiving...it took me from then until the next week to decorate it. We were busy. What can I say? This past Saturday we took the kids to see Santa at Bass Pro. They love going there. So do Josh and I. Mainly because it is not crazy like the mall Santa. We stood in line 5 minutes max and the kids got to do the other activities, paint a snowman, target practice, watch the train. Not a lot of hussell and bussell there. I love that.

Then Sunday they went to Gran's and got to hang the ornaments on her tree. They love doing this. If they wouldn't fight over who gets what ornaments it would be a lot merrier...lol

I let my Mom hand the ornaments out...I wasn't going to be in the middle of that war again. Maybe I will get to post more while I'm on Christmas Break...but don't hold your breath.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Fall Break

I know...I know. I am sooo behind. As I have said in previous posts, life just gets in the way. This was the first time in 3 years that we haven't had a camp out in the back yard during Fall Break. We sold our camper last year and I refuge to sleep in a tent when my bed is 50 feet away. I told Josh to go right ahead and camp out in a tent...without me. So, he didn't.



Like most people we were too broke to actually go on vacation somewhere. My thought on Fall Break is that it is too close to Christmas for me to go out and spend a whole lot of money on a vacation. My kids are fairly easy to entertain.



Case in point...our form of entertainment for Fall Break was saddling up 2 new horse that we got and trying them out...hahahahaha.



I got no pictures of all that action, but it was quite entertaining to watch Josh, Clint and Ronnie who in my opinion will ride any horse. Trust me people I know. I have seen them get on some very lively ones throughout the years. Me, on the other hand, am an admirer from afar. I have only ridden a handful of times. After witnessing what those beautiful massive creatures can do...it has hindered me from throwing my inhibition to the wind and just jumping on. I did however get on a 20 year old full blooded Arabian horse. Josh was leading her and we only went a total of 20 yards. Her name is Comet. She is very calm. We have Chance...he is not so calm.



My Father-In-Law...Ronnie...who I like to call the Horse Whisperer, came to my aid. Every time Josh would ride Comet out of view Chance would go nuts. I held him as long as I wanted to. He pulled my arm through the fence...so I surrendered. Ronnie held him for a bit and then looks over at me and says..."I dun got to old for this". This coming from the man that owns 9 horses and 1 mule!



Next came Chances turn to get saddled up. This was not to pleasant...neither was getting the bridle on him. After all the work getting the bridle and saddle on him Josh just looks at him and turns to his brother Clint and says..."I ain't gettin on him man...you do it." WAIT...WHAT?! This coming from the man that has broken horses for years..not afraid of them...shows them who's boss. Clint falls into that same category too. Clint says..."me either man". Okay...okay...am I missing something? I say Chance is acting nuts, but the whole time Josh is correcting me telling me that he just fells good. Finally they both are brave enough to go up to him...put one foot in the stirrup... then get down and say they don't want to get hurt riding that crazy joker. Huh? Okay I am lost. I don't argue....what can I say...I'm scared to death of him?!




The kids had a good time too. All of them took turns riding Comet. Then once they were finished they ran around playing. I got a few pictures of them...they are all so cute!

My Kalan with Nathan in the back round

Kendal Sue Diddle also with Nathan in the back round

Reagan

My Baby...Josh

My Goofy brother-in-law Clint

The Old Man...Duke!

So folks...that what broke people do on Fall Break!

Bible Bowl

On October the 9th our church youth, 1st-12th grade, competed in our 2nd Bible Bowl. In the first one our Senior group won their age division and the Over All. We were so proud of them for all the hard work.

But this time it was our Junior group that won their division! I am so proud of Andrew and Taylor. It was just those 2. I didn't take any pictures. I forgot my camera...we were in charge of the food that day and it was crazy! lol

I am going to get a picture of the 2 of them with the banner!

Our next Bible Bowl is November 12. I wish all of our youth luck...may a sweep is in our future!

These are some pictures I took with my phone of them studying...

Josh and our Elementary Group

Brother Tim and our Junior and Senior Groups together...there are 5 more...they all wouldn't fit in one pic.


I will let you know how we do!

Recent Cakes

Wow! Has it really been that long since my last post? I can't believe it. Time is rushing by. I have done a few cakes in the meantime. I enjoy doing them, but they are time consuming and with all the recent activities that I have going on I had to turn down one yesterday. I hate that, but I didn't want to disappoint them with an ugly cake...lol


This one is Sheri's birthday cake. She wanted a True Blood Cake that had "Bite Me" on it. I put some fang marks with blood coming out of them under her name. Her husband wanted it to bleed when they cut it. It stumped me, but I thinned out some strawberry preserves and put it in the middle. She said she didn't let it set out long enough for it to run, but she LOVED it.

I made Mindy a Twilight inspired cake for her birthday. If you know my sister then you know that she loves books...she loves to read. So I did all four of the books as her cake. The picture above are the book spines. I did have a little trouble with this cake. It cracked and I cried.

Here is the top...note the crack. She still loved it. Very fun to make, just wish it wouldn't have cracked...oh well...it tasted good.

She is Here!

Carlee-Kate Dell Johnson

September 18, 2010

at 12:09 p.m.

7lbs 15oz 20in

Let me just tell you...she is perfect! Congratulations to Kay-Anne and Destin! She is truly loved by us all! I can't wait to have stories that involve her!

It's a wrap...

That's right people...my show is over with for this season. The only bright spot is that we know they are already working on Season 4. I now must wait until NEXT SUMMER...to watch it again. Can you believe that? I can't. I am lost. Currently I have none of my obsessive TV shows to watch.

Check out what happened on the Finale here.

I am looking forward to next season. The things that I believe will happen are:

Amnesia Eric(PLEASE)

Tara is trying to run from her problems

Sam doesn't Kill Tommy

Jason will become a Werepanther (bitten not born)

Everything else is in the air. The way Allen Ball changes up things who knows what's going to happen. I just hope he doesn't tick me off by putting Sookie back with Bill.

Soccer

My Nathan...this is his first sport. I can not believe it! He did really good. I can't wait until his next game. He struck the pose above all by himself. I didn't tell him what to do. He had been at my office on Friday and seen a picture of Andrew when he played Upward Soccer. I guess he just thought this was the pose you had to do. I laughed so hard! Here is the picture of Andrew ...that picture is on my desk.

He was so happy that he was the one that got to kick in the first ball! Little did we all know...he had mistaken this for a full contact sport...lol He did clothesline a child, tripped and pushed some down. I do apologize to those children's parents.

Let me just tell you...all of the little bitty kids were so cute! This whole experience will help him when he starts baseball next Spring...please pray that it does.

Critters in my bed...

I LOVE my bed...I really love it on the weekends when I get to sleep past 6 am. My children love their beds too, most of them do anyway. There is one that does disturb my sleep from time to time. That is him...pictured below:


This was Saturday morning...he crawled in the bed and got behind me. I was trapped. I couldn't move. Soon after Josh rolled over on top of me and I couldn't breathe and thought I was going to pee in my panties. I jumped up from the middle of the bed...went to the bathroom and came back to see him sound asleep...in my spot. Needless to say I just stayed up. I couldn't bare to wake him up.

Then Monday(Labor Day Holiday) rolled around...this is what I found in my bed:

Reagan spent the night with us...her and Nathan were up at 7...yep...7. They were playing Kalan's keyboard as loud as it would go. So much for sleep. Nathan is pretending to be dead. Not real sure as to why...but he is. Reagan was "loven on her Untel Josh".

I wonder if Rid spray will get rid of these critters in my bed...

Seriously!

I mean come on HBO! Do you really have to be so cruel? I now have to go another whole week without my True Blood...and to top that off. Hold on...I'm getting a little Ver Clempt...give me just a second...
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..
...
Okay...
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..
...
I'm better now.

This is the season 3 finale...I know...I shouldn't cry. It is only a TV show...but I love it! I just hope that season 4 doesn't disappoint me in this area....

Yes...I know he is wonderful...a wonderful make-believe Viking Vampire...but he is still my favorite. I am TEAM ERIC all the way.

Football

So...yesterday was Andrew's first football game. No he didn't start and No they didn't win, but he had fun. He did get to play about 6 plays, which is good. He played on defense...don't ask me the exact position...I have no clue. I was told that he did his job. So I am proud! He is number 61...I know it's hard to see, I was in the stands and took it with my phone. He has his helmet off and is standing at an angle. I can't wait until the next game! I just pray for an injury free season...you know my children...they are accident pron! After we got home Nathan wanted to put on all of Andrew's gear. Isn't he cute...is that correct? Should I say doesn't he look tough? Either way he is cute to me.

Carlie's Cake

I know that I am always going on about time. How I can't believe how fast it goes by. Well, today is no exception. I really and truly can't believe that Carlie is 6. Where has the time gone? She is in the 1st grade too. Really! So Sheri asked me to make her cake for her. She is no different from any other girl. She couldn't make up her mind. She finally chose peace love and softball.


This is the peace sign. The colors are really bad, but I can't complain, I used my phone. The base cake was orange and the peace sign was blue on a purple cake.

Like I said, the color isn't great. The softball was the actual color of a fast pitch softball with the red stitches.

This one is better...color wise. I think it turned out really cute!

Sheri said she loved it. I couldn't be there because I had a Scentsy party. Sad I didn't get to see her face...it's the best part of making a cake.

A lot of cake! Still working on trimming skills. It's okay...the birthday girl loved it.

From this to that....

This is Nathan...all the time; morning, noon or night.



High strung...full on energy. This child should be the poster child for Ritalin. I am not kidding. I am already praying for his Kindergarten teacher. He is a mess...lol I tell people, often, that if he would have been my first child he would be an only child. He definitely marches to his own drum. There are good points...when he crashes, it's hard. So...he goes from this(above) to that(below) and is out cold....aaahhh I love nap time!

A new School Year!!

Scary I know...but it is so true. This time of year I am so busy I forget what day of the week it is. I have had dreams where I forget to get dressed in the morning and go to work in my underwear. Totally not cool!

My babies are growing up...I can't believe that Andrew is in the 7th grade and Kalan is in the 3rd. My my how time flies!

I will post some pics of them soon...for now I got work to do people!

Total Disappointment

I love my True Blood. I do...I really really do. When it comes time for it air on Sunday nights I get all giddy inside. I can't wait to see one of my favorite adult book series come life.

Sunday August 1, 2010 was a complete and total disappointment for me.

Really...I mean REALLY Alan Ball. Have you bumped your head? Did you like stop reading the books? I mean I am quite concerned. That's why I'm asking these questions.

I know...I know...it's creative change. Well, I honestly call it CRAZY! Most of the time they will change some minor details...generally they never ever complete change the plot line. The plot line is the reason that people like me are so crazy for the book series.

I don't understand how he's going to keep the show anywhere near the books' plot line...I don't. He has definitely upset me and Mindy. That is for sure!

Then...BAM! There is Claudine...I mean what the heck?! She isn't even mentioned anytime soon! Jason and Crystal was started to early too! Don't even get me started on the whole vamp wedding between MS and LA! Totally not even correct!

Are they going to have the bombing at the vamp hotel now? Is Sookie going to save Eric's life? Are we going to get to see the amnesia Eric...I really like the amnesia Eric.

I can't believe that he hasn't played out Sookie and Alcide's relationship...this is a building block for other major points in later books.

HBO...you have totally disappointed me...I mean REALLY!

Face Lift

So...my sister so graciously text me to let me know that all I had on my blog was a white background. Thanks for being there Mindy!

So after I stopped hyperventilating I decided today was the day....for a face lift.

Not for me...my blog.

I have decided that I have far too many pictures and I want to display them. So...I think I will change my heading picture Bi-weekly.

My blog title is Meredith Memories...so why not make them Polaroids with captions on them with the people and date.....

Good idea...right? Let me know what you think....please...someone...anyone.

I forget about....

I hate having to leave my children to go on a business trip. I would much rather be at home with them...most times. See...when we are at home they mostly fight and throw things at each other. It is never a dull moment at our house. But I love home. It makes me feel so warm and cozy!

But when we opened the door to our hotel room at the Embassy Suites...I had to pick up my jaw off of the floor....
Above is the sitting area.

Above is the TV in the sitting area looking into the bedroom.

Above is the mini kitchen and work station

And this is the KING size bed. I want this bed...the mattress anyway. Our mattress is horrible. For this reason...I forget about home. Just for a brief moment...What's that you say? I have children...3 of them. You must have me confused with someone else.

Really I do miss my kids...sort of.

No Place Like Home

I can not believe that I forgot to update my blog when my Dad came home from the hospital. It must have just slipped my mind. With a mind like mine...it's not hard.

Dad got home after 7pm Saturday July 10th. He is doing much better...you know that there is no Place like home. He makes small strides everyday. Continue to pray for his full recovery.

After I posted about Charlaine Harris...I remembered that the week before I got to meet someone from a show on TLC. While up at the hospital Josh, Andrew, Mama, Gaytha and I went to eat lunch at a Wendy's. While I was eating my burger, I stopped, mid bite...There she was;

Officer Joy Jefferson from the show "Police Women of Memphis". I have met 2 famous people. If she is considered famous...TLC is a big network.

It was Andrew that went up and asked her while she was eating her salad. She was very nice and spoke to all of us and we told her to be safe. I hope all is well with Officer Jefferson.

Charlaine Harris Book Signing

All I can say is WOW! This is the most famous person I have ever met. I know that may be sad...but it's true. This was also my first book signing, so I was excited and curious too. I didn't know what to expect. Josh dropped me off at the Hernando Public Library at 5. When he dropped me off, this is what I saw:

Yes...I know that I looked stupid taking a picture of a parking space...but whatev! I just thought it was so neat. They had the spider web and the picture on the sign was a coffin...very fitting to her writing style.



Josh said to me, "Are you sure you're not here too early...it doesn't start til 7. I hate for you to be there alone."



Silly...silly man. That place was PACKED! I have never seen that many people in the library before.



When I got there it may have been...10 people in the whole place. I walked around for about 5 minutes then decided I needed to find out if they were going to form a line. The lady at the desk pointed me over to the general area where she was going to be at. By that time there were at least 25 people. I took a seat by the security guard. I told him it was about to get crazy in here.



He said, "Were you at the Tunica Library last night?" I told him no and asked why.



He told me, "There was over 600 people at her signing last night."



At that point I just knew I was in trouble. It was 5:30 and they started to bring out chairs. I called Mindy, but no answer. I grab one chair and sat it down and before I could get another one they were gone! I had one seat between me and 3 very nice ladies.



I felt relieved once Mindy got there, but I only had one chair...not 2. So I asked the 3 very nice ladies if I added a chair at the end would they move down so we all could sit together. Like I said they were nice and said "sure". Shortly there after Mia got there and I felt better.



Unfortunately for Mia...she missed out on the fangs they were throwing out...it's okay...Mindy and I got some! SEE:

Okay...just so you understand...that place was crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did have to go stand in line at Square Books to buy a copy of "Sookie Stackhouse: The Complete Stories A Touch of Dead".

I had so much fun! She was great. Very open and honest and down to earth. I did find out that she was born and raised in Tunica, MS. Her mother was a Librarian at the Tunica Library. One of her cousins was at the signing. Very sweet moment...they hadn't seen each other in a while.

She did let us know that she had signed for 3 more Sookie books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY! She said she didn't know if that would be the end of Sookie...she would have to wait and see once she finished the 3 books. She does know what is going to happen to Sookie...very excited to know.

This is Mia and Me waiting patiently in line for our Autographs:

I can say I was star struck! I told her that I loved her work and to keep it up. She asked how many children I have and was so nice. I sure hope she wasn't there until 11 pm.

Charlaine Harris and ME!

Charlaine Harris signing one of my books:

Again signing my book, she said she gets names for characters this way...she commented on my name....maybe there will be an Amanda in one of the next books....one can dream right?

Charlaine Harris:

Such a Wonderful Women:

Charlaine Harris and Mindy:

Charlaine Harris and Mia:

One of my signed books:

If you ask me...there were at least 500-600 people here. Unbelievable! I know that must make her feel accomplished!

Bring on the next Sookie Stackhouse book!