PENSIEVE

Sursee? Cercie? Surcie?? Circi?? Sirsee??? Surcy???? No matter how you spell it...

1)  It IS a word, and 2) if you receive one, it most definitely brings with it a smile.

For example, recently my friend Karmyn asked me to guest blog for her while her family was on a Griswald vacation in California.  I was quite surprised and delighted upon returning home from our trip out West the week following hers, to receive this in the mail as a "thank you" for writing in her stead.  Totally unexpected, this package of treats was a perfect example of a surcee (notice the chocolate, it's waiting patiently to be eaten).

"Surcee" is a word introduced to me in college by my then new-found best friend in crime, Cassie.  Cassie was from the Charleston, S.C. area and I was instantly drawn to her interesting, almost geechie, Low Country accent.  In spite of what those who live outside the American South may think, all Southernese is NOT the same, not even within the same state.  Hollywood usually butchers the endearing Southern drawl, but the girlie-Qs at Designing Women got it right (even Jean Smart, the only non-Southern born main character) (which reminds me, it still makes me grin remembering that Willowtree envisioned me resembling Delta Burke  before seeing a Lucy-esque smoking hot picture of me...I guess he could "hear" my Southern accent :) ).

Cassie was great about giving me little, inexpensive "thought gifts".  A batch of cookies, a box of Kleenex when your broke roommate with a raging cold was using scratchy, rough dorm toilet paper to blow her nose, a can of "good" hairspray because this was the 80's and big hair was in (Cassie swears I used to roll my hair three times before going out, but I think am sure she was exaggerating...). 

Surcees are ALWAYS about the thought, never expected, and are usually met with squeals of delight and gushes of gratitude. Are you beginning to get a picture?  This is a good word--it's an IMPORTANT word--and I think I shall make it my business to expand its use beyond a few Southern states*.

To give further illustration, consider Exhibit B:

Can you tell what this is?

What about now?

You've just GOT to supersize the second picture to read the postcard--it's just as much a part of the surcee as the beverage cuff itself.  For absolutely, positively NO reason, Erin (They Hang Like Paper Lanterns) saw this, thought of me and had to send it.  How sweet is that?!  Opening that padded mailer changed the course of my day and gave me fresh reason to smile. 

It doesn't take much, folks...forget apples, I think "A surcee a day" might just "keep the doctor away" :).

Thanks, Karmyn and Erin......y'all are surcelicious!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Surcee cercie surcy sercie surcie sirsee is an elusive term.  Although it was a reach to find anything on it, this source was pretty funny (associated with white gloves and a quiet, genteel nature? 
Y e a h, that's me).  Hmmm, maybe I should draft a Wikipedia for it (ha!).

* scroll down to Sussy Q, Part II.
And one last link from Word Dectective, the only other one I found.

Fun Monday ~ Chillin'

Before I get to Amy's request for Fun Monday--

("We saw everyone's kitchen one&  week (just can't remember which week). Now I want to see INSIDE your refrigerator. And DO.NOT.CLEAN.IT.OUT. We want to see it in all its glory. However empty or full. And if you don't have a refrigerator? Show me your cooler, or whatever container you use to keep things nice and cool.")

--I had a thought.  Have y'all heard that "Studies show the most common time for a heart attack to occur is Monday morning"?  I'm not sure if that's the case for men as well as women, both of these links are from websites speaking to women's health.  It's a unsubstantiated? fact I've heard often through the years.

Anyway...by my count, we've been Fun Mondaying for six months now...can you believe it?  This was my first post, initiated when Vicki the Spy Queen asked to see views from our front door; she's nosy curious that way.  From there, "Fun Mondays" was born and it has been growing ever since.

My point is with apparently MUCH wayward digression, with all this first-day-of-the-week fun, maybe we're decreasing those instances of Monday morning heart attacks.  It's possible, right?  So, next time your friends IRL look at you with a squenched up nose and question "How in the world do you have time to BLAWG?", you can tell 'em it's GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH...adding freakin' years to your life!

I'm just saying....it's possible.

Now...on to Fun Monday. 

I appreciated Amy's assignment for one reason and one reason only.  Our fridge is reasonably clean right now--WAHHOOO!   Since we were going out of town for a week, before we left, it seemed like a good idea to eliminate those science experiments that had rendered our refrigerator an oversized petri dish throw out the leftovers and half dozen open jars of salsa. 

These might well be the most boring pictures I've ever posted; please note, however, in spite of the emptier than typical contents, a few NECESSARY items are present--bottled water (can't believe we've fallen into THAT trap:/), Redi-Whip ('cause a blast of whipped cream ALWAYS "does a body good" ;) ), and ice cream.  Everything else is gravy (except it's really not gravy, it might be yet another jar of salsa or ketchup or jelly...there seems to be lots of jelly).

Thanks for popping in and be sure to visit Amy at A Family Story for the rest of these yumalicious fridge links :).

Hmmm, I just remembered our "beverage" refrigerator...it was moved into the garage during our kitchen renovation and I forgot to photograph it.  Feel free to use your imagination on that one..."beverage" can mean all kinds of wonderful things to drink...;).


 

Tell the truth--how many blog mates of mine thought a) it was impossible for me not to blog OR comment, or b) I must've died?

Before when I posted this about a year ago):

After:

 

Wanna make your own map?  Click here.

 

Is it obvious where we were?  Details on the "what we were doing" to come...for now, it's been a long...long travel day...16 hours to get home (which is ever so sweet right now).  No trains, but plenty of planes and automobiles, and my bone-weary body is at odds with my Mountain-time-back-to-Eastern internal clock.

Thanks to those of you who kept my blog company WITHOUT a contest...:).  Can't wait to see what the blogosphere's been up to while I've been gone ANYTHING to avoid the avalanching MOUNTAIN of laundry that awaits.

You'll always be my best friend...you know too much ;) (Fun Monday...early)

Friendship is born at that moment
when one person says to another,
"What! You too? I thought I was the only one."
~ C.S. Lewis

This blog title is a sentiment on a tea towel of my sweet mother-in-law's, that hangs to the right of her kitchen sink.  It was given to her by her long-time best friend, and every time I see it, I smile. 

Since I'm "disconnecting" from the blogosphere this week, I really can't write this post the way I'd like to (that time thing that keeps dogging me and so many others).  Willowtree is hosting the next Fun Monday, and this is what he asked of participants:

"Tell us about your best friend. Particularly things like: where you first met, how long you've been friends and why you think you are best friends"

There are a few friends who mark eras of my life, and I could write volumes on how each one has affected and influenced me...sometimes good, sometimes bad...and sometimes even ugly (and visa versa), but I cannot imagine my life apart from them and our shared memories.

Kimberly was my first best friend (from second grade on...), and she was the one who encouraged me to see the moments of beauty during my father's illness...

Mandy came along in sixth grade, and she was the friend who discovered boys with me, who fought over the song "Weekend in New England" as OUR song, who, although she has lived in California forEVAH now, still encouraged me the most when my dad passed away.

Cassie and I bonded shortly after pledging our college sorority...we both hated the one we chose (initially).  She can out-talk me and she taught me to drink beer.  Interestingly, she has one of the most beautiful, real faiths I've ever witness...she's Jesus with skin on to many.  She lives near Kiawah, so every year (at least) we still get to see each other :).

Christi and Frankie are probably the one couple-friend we've had that is perfectly matched to both me and Tad.  We all love each other about as evenly as possible.  We met them the day after we moved in our SC apartment 18 years ago (yikes!), and our friendship has never wavered.  They're the perfect double date--Christi and Tad always like the same things, and Frankie and I don't like the same things :).  Our children stair-step each other and play great together; this is the family we travel to Hilton Head with every year over Memorial weekend.  They're the steadiest and most thoughtful, most loyal and dependable, g o o d people you could ever meet.

Erin (who I've written about before) happened by accident, almost.  We weren't naturally drawn to each other, but circumstance placed us working beside each other and one day we realized we were friends.  She has loved me through some difficult times in my life, sometimes because of and sometimes in spite of.

All these friends deserve words of praise beyond these brief thoughts I share now; I'm forever thankful they're all still a part of my life...in spite of the distance that separates us.  Nothing can separate the kindred hearts we've shared, though, and I'm thankful our stories continue to be written.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Stick with this video...it's a beautiful thought on friendship...the forever kind :).

Have a great week, y'all....I'll see you soon....:).

Note to self: Don't drink caramel macchiatos at midnight :/

Scenes from some Potter parties in the Tennessee Valley last night...

We had to park at the opposite end of the Barnes & Noble parking lot.  I haven't seen this strip center this crowded since last CHRISTMAS!

This is a perfect display that has been taunting Harry fans for weeks now at B&N.  Thing is, rabid readers haven't read 3,440 pages...that's just silly!  I wouldn't call myself a rabid fan and I've read 6,880 pages (at least each book twice).  Rachel?  Now SHE'S a rabid fan....it wouldn't surprise me if she's read over 15,000 Potter pages...

We didn't stay at B&L long, it was uncomfortably hot and crowded...and the strangest costumed people I've ever seen NOT at Halloween--not even (all) Harry Potter-ish.  I mean, I saw a GROWN MAN (gray goatee) wearing a FULL Batman jumpsuit!  If that wasn't odd enough, he had a DIAPER on on the outside of it!  No...I didn't ask if I could photograph him...I was too creeped out.

Before moving on to our REAL Potter party where we pre-bought our copy Books a Million, we stopped at Starbucks for some caffeine to keep me up until the bewitching hour a tall caramel machiatto breve.  Mmmmmm. 

We saw some interesting people at BAM...the stars came out (the B ones, not the A list...no Harry, Ron or Hermione :( ).

A young Draco Malfoy...

Professor Trelawney...

And lovable Hagrid

Here we are waiting in line...a picture we took to text to my niece who was at a party in Florida.

This was the scene 12 seconds after we had our book in hand (I'm using the term "we" here VERY loosely...I haven't touched it yet).

It's 8:00 in the morning...while I was typing this, Rachel came out of her room dazed and confused.  I asked her if she had slept.  Somewhat off balance she said "No."  "Are you done?"  "No, but I think I'm gonna sleep a few hours...you can start reading if you want."

So...with that I'll bring this post to an end :). 

But not before sharing what my daughter said, the purist who thought Rowling should stop writing (publicly) as monument to this series (because all future writing of hers would be compared against it), who thinks Harper Lee is wonderful because she had one shabang with "To Kill a Mockingbird".

With a glazed look of adoration,

"I've changed my mind...J.K. Rowling NEEDS to keep writing.  She's genius!"

Priorities...and the Tyranny of the Urgent

1)  Blogging has been next to impossible
2)  Think I'll give it up for a week or so
3)  .... after tomorrow...;)
4)  Cause I'm sure I gotta get one more in after tonight
5)  A night that will end in magic
6)  With the next day that begins much the same
7)  Lemme help out the "Pensieve" google and yahoo searches....CLICK HERE to find what you're looking for.
8)  Hopefully prizes get mailed tomorrow...small towns have post offices that close too early :/.
9) In spite of the gazillion bugs that wanted to eat me, or have me eat them (yes, at least one flew in my mouth), or fly up my nose Beautiful sunset tonight...hope you saw--and savored--yours, too.
10)  I lost my cell phone today.
11)  After looking EVERYWHERE AT LEAST FIVE TIMES, I found it in a place I hadn't looked. 
12)  Note to self:  STOP LEAVING YOUR PHONE ON VIBRATE MANNERS MODE SO YOU CAN HEAR THE BLASTED THING WHEN YOU CALL!!!
13)  My less-than-a-year-old laptop is broken...at the manufacturer's (see #1 above).  I could SMACK MYSELF SILLY for not uploading my squillions of photographs to Flicker yet.  Tears :(.
14)  I hate PCs...I want a MAC.
15)  Cause I like their commercials.   
16)  I like Yellowcard's new release "Light Up the Sky"...strange video but I like the song...
17)  Perhaps the strangest post I've ever written...title comes from this.
18)  At a gathering earlier tonight with a bunch of friends...they asked if I was gonna blog about our night.  I said no.
19)  I didn't mean to lie.
20)  All I have time for...off to party with Harry and friends :).

...but I wanted to be HERMIONE!!

Find out your Harry Potter personality at LiquidGeneration!

I noticed Desert Flutie, a first-time visitor to PENSIEVE, had this blog quiz up on her page when I popped in to thank her for her kind words.  Since I'm a slightly (a h e m) rabid Potter fan (for goodness sakes, my BLOG is named after a VERY crucial element in the series...especially in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)...and yes, I will be at a party Friday night at midnight, daughter in tow, to celebrate (and mourn) the arrival of HP & the Deathly Hallows...the end of a magical-in-every-sense-of-the- word series.../

In any event, I couldn't help myself...I had to take the test.  Had.To.!  If you choose to take it, I'll tell you in advance, though, it is the single most LAME quiz I've ever taken.  1)  It's too long, and 2) it's offensive.  It's doubtful the creator is a much of a fan.  Of course, that being said, I still took it and posted the results ;).


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In other PENSIEVE news, apparently blackmail works  whining is effective I R.A.W.K. after all.  In addition to being WITCHED in the past week, the Swampwitch didn't think I had enough bling....  So, she talked about me behind my back again and surprised me with this.   God bless that woman...if it wasn't for her, my sidebar would be nekkid wouldn't be nearly as much fun.  (Thanks, sweets!)  :)

Prizes and Princesses

Do you remember my kinda-sorta contest, held to keep my blog company while I was "away"?  The one where all it took to win was an interesting comment?  Well, what it may have lacked in quantity, it more than made up for in quality.   Because of a rainy start to our vacation, I was able to read most of these while we were at the beach; because you can feel the vacation-condo walls crushing in the harder it rains (thereby causing five people to go "bump" in the DAY and the night), I was most thankful to have a wi-fi blogging spot to escape to until the sun decided to shine. 

Without further ado, here are the runner-ups (in order of their winning comments):

Mindy

She wrote an original joke.  The punchline made me giggle:  ""The Ring Man always posts twice!"   Read the original post for the rest of it.

Carol

Oooooooo, what a poet!

Because she's so kind hearted,
E'er she even parted,
Robin left us with the task of commenting in her blog.
And whilst enjoying her vacation,
She shared the situation
Of a giant alley-gator from the bog.

And so I think I'll nerve it,
Even though I don't deserve it,
And hope to win whate'er the prize may be.
Perhaps she will take pity
On my silly little ditty
While I'm busy building my Texas-sized ark, you see.

Karmyn

She resorted to bribery AND flattery.  I like her style...automatic finalist.

Pamela

She's a fellow limerick-cist and that always deserves a prize.

And the winner?  Oh....my....no competition...both quality AND quantity (in his words, "stuffing the ballot box"):  Steve at Counting on Whales, one of the most brilliant albeit tortured writers in the blogosphere.  The first post of his I came across, In the Land of Women, was a result of blog hopping after being tagged by Rachelle and then posting my morning face challenge (yikes!), originated by Lisa Samson of Author Intrusion.  That post earned him an "add" in my bloglines...and I imagine any? every? woman would swoon after reading that post.   

Steve limericked, haikued, and self-talked himself into the winner's circle.  With comments like this:

"And so, in the (mostly) anapestic tetrameter (thank you Wikipedia) style of the inimitable (yet here I am imitating him) Theodor Seuss Geisel, I present this..."

and the poem that followed:

To win a good prize is a challenging test
It requires special skills (or just being a pest)
So I offer this poem to go with the rest
And I hope it’s just right, that it’s one of the best

But if not I will comfort my soul with this truth
Rediscovering the meter of Seuss from my youth
Was enjoyment enough (I liked being a sleuth)      
...Or perhaps I’ll just mix up some gin and vermouth

...I had a new blush.  Check out the post for the rest of his shenanigans and what the others had to say.

** ALL Y'ALL SEND ME YOUR SNAIL MAILS QUICKLY so I can get your as promised lame, cheap but symbolic GREAT p r i z e s (the word "prize" being used rather loosely...)  in the mail (cause I'm headed out of town again...).


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Yesterday I was suckered into had the honor of pinch hitting for  Karmyn while she's vacationing with her family in California.  It was my first opportunity to guest blog for a bluddy who's too daggum lazy to write her own scheduled posts who's brilliant enough to plan ahead, and if I wasn't such a disorganized procrastinator fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants girl, I might ask others to do the same for me.   Instead, I either a) blog when I said I wasn't going to, or b) go eerily and uncharacteristically silent. 

Before losing too much sleep over what to write for Karmyn, I came across this at My Splatter Painted Life.  Since one of Karmyn's stops is at the at Magic Kingdom of Princesses, and for all the reasons I mentioned in my post at Dreaming What Ifs, I had to crown Karmyn princess. 

She's not the only bluddy I think is a royal something or another, there are a few more tiaras I wanted to hand out.  In addition to their comments at Robin's Pensieve, I'm crowning these princesses for their emails of encouragement to me.  Without elaborating on my affections for these chickaritas, rest assured they're all fantastic bloggers and regular (whatever "regular" may mean these days....:/) reads of mine:  Claudia, Pamela, Kathy, Kristy, Mindy, Carol, Laurel and E-mom .  And although she's never emailed me, I think Little Miss Moi reeks of princessness because she begins every comment with "Dear...".  Charming, yes?

 (A bonus paragraph that reeks of my sometimes- inability to make a decision and stick with it):  Crapola!  I forgot Susan!  Guess it has something to do with that not-blogging thing, but she's still a princess--email & comment-style--to me...  And Erin, it's her birthday for heaven's sake!  Isn't everyone of the female persuasion a princess on her birthday?!  (And speaking of birthdays, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JANICE!!  An awesome non-blogger whom I LOVE TO PIECES!) 

Now, my new little Royals, go forth and crown some princesses of your own!

More awards & memes coming tomorrow....

But for now...WHEW!  That's all folks...that's ENOUGH! :)

When a little project exceeds expectations...

We have a small bathroom downstairs that has always been rather nondescript and utilitarian--sink, toilet, shower, not enough room for two people (unless you're up to some close-quarters monkey business, but I wouldn't recommend it...!).  The vertically-striped, beige and vanilla wallpaper has practically been SCREAMING for us to rip it off the wall as a service to the living; simple and plain has its place, drab and dull never does. 

Today, its nondescript, utilitarian status changed.  For the better.  I now love it, and if I didn't already have a shower I have a crush on, I'd move downstairs to the guest bedroom that adjoins it (only if Tad joined me, 'cause we are hardly "Lucy and Ricky"--no twin beds with one foot on the floor for us...).

I gotta tell you, this was easy...there was no discombobulation involved...I've become accustomed to something going wrong...and this was just too easy. 

I wish we had before pictures, but you'd fall asleep looking at them anyway.  Instead, look at my little happy dancers.  I think the pattern is called "Jazz" and maybe one of my favorite reasons for liking it so m uch is I've never seen it before.  And I like to dance.  And I like jazz.  And lots of color.   Okay, so that was more than one reason I've never been known for my math skills.  I took the shots before we re-hung the mirror, but this angle shows the most complete repeat we've got (remember, the
bathroom is tiny).   The lamp isn't usually in there, either, but it helped give more light during hanging; after seeing how cozy it makes the room, I'm gonna look for a small one to put in there.

 

Fun Monday - Vrrroooom, Vrrooooom!

Tiggerlane is in charge of this week's Fun Monday, and here was her assignment:

I wanna see your CAR! It can be your current car, the first car you ever had, maybe your first new car with that new-car smell, a car you wrecked once, or even the dream car you would drive - given all the money in the world! Oh - and if you have a truck, SUV, lawnmower, whatever the local authorities allow you to drive, let's see it!

I told her I didn't like this theme, but when all was said and done, I had fun with it in spite of my camera battery dying RIGHT when I tried to take the first photograph and the longer-than-I-would've- liked-it time frame it took me to locate an old photo!

This is my current car v a n.  Sexy isn't it? 

Here's an inside shot...at least I'm past the stage of ground-in Cheerios....

On the console between the seats, you will always find a "car" book, waterbottle...and usually receipts or trash.  Sometimes change.  On happy days, chocolate :) (on the happiest of days, UNMELTED chocolate).  Underneath, is where I USED to "h i d e" my pocketbook before my car was broken into :/.  Now, I'm a stinkin' slave to my purse and I have to carry it everywhere.  The thieves stole more than my purse....

B u t........if I could have a car that was just my own without regard for kids or practicality, what would it be?  I wouldn't want extravagant...or even brand new...

Okay, not able to TOTALLY divorce myself from practicality and my concern for all things green, I might get one of these.  This commercial was totally offbeat to me, but Kermit makes me smile and with the price of gas these days, seems like a good choice.   

Of course, then there's the sportier side of me--the wildchild wannabe--and these fun little rides would do the trick...

 

Okay, so they aren't so wild, but I'll NEVER be a biker chick...it's just not how I'm wired (I saw a guy get hit on a motorcycle when I was a teen, he flew over a windshield :/...enough to seal the deal for me).

One of my best friend's dad back in highschool had one of these...the nostalgia in me would love to have one to re-live those glory days....  "....that's when a smoke was a smoke/and groovin was groovin/and dancin was everything/we were young and we were improving/laughin laughin with our friends/holdin hands meant somethin, baby..."  ** sigh **
 

The more (ahem) adult version of me would want one of these...I guess it's the "safety girl" in me...closest I'd ever get to driving an armored vehicle...

Which reminds me, here's a vehicle I will N.E.V.E.R. own (never) (nope, never, not even if I won one on a game show)....it just r e e k s of "overcompensation" for some kind of "inadequacies"...that's all I'm sayin'...you're welcome to infer whatever you'd like...:

Last, after looking through a mile-high stack of old pictures that have yet to be sorted, I found this in a whole 'nother stack (hehe).  It's a picture of me washing my first car, a 1981 (?) Cutlass Supreme...I LOVED that car, she served me well through college, working in Atlanta, and shortly into marriage a few years later.  I'm not sure if I was doing this in the picture, but for a while I would wash it with a TOOTHBRUSH!  Not all over, but to get those places and spots that wouldn't come off easily with a chamois.  This is a perfect example of "take a picture, it'll last longer" because I promise you this, THAT was VERY short-lived!

Be sure to visit Tiggerlane to see everyone else's rides du jour :).