Can you say "GOURMET"?!

This weekend was full of incredible food & outstanding fellowship! Saturday, after working in the yard... oh it was so good to be out there... Rhonda amd Macey came for dinner. Lee marinated & grilled steaks. They were sooo yummy!

Sunday was another extrodinary sermon by Chip on the purpose & plan God has for each and every one of us. We were so glad to have Macey & Betsy join us down-by-the-water!

After church we went to the Bond's for lunch & who would join us but Robert & Beverly, and Chip & Christy... now that's bein' in some good company! And let me tell you, that Cherie Bond is a Gourmet cook! We had Shrimp pasta salad, marinated chicken & pork tenderloin on the grill, caesar salad & UNBELIEVABLE petit caramel tarts...oh, my, they were good!

And, if that wasn't enough good eatin' for the weekend, Sunday night Kim prepared authentic Chinese dishes for our small group. One of her dear friends is Asian & he helped her prepare it for us! I'm thinking more & more that Lee is right...40 lbs in 40 days...but I will enjoy EVERY single bite!

Lovin' that Football!!!

Thursday morning I told myself that IF I would clean up, THEN I could reward myself by going out and catching a few "rays"! So, I did just that and just as I had settled in outside, the phone rang. On the other end was a voice I am always so excited to hear! It was Ron Lambert from BrookHAVEN. You see, Ron knows everything going on in the big "B" town! It was "his day" & I'm so glad he took time out to spend with me. He really tries to keep us all connected & I just love him for that!

Then it was off to Parklane Academy in McComb for a Prep JV Football game...Sam is #27 (stretching). We won 49-6...much like last night's game. Prep Varsity played Parklane & won 49-0. I've posted some pics of some of my "favs"! The cheerleader is Tay Tay Caton!!!

Friday I got to spend with my friend Brittany's youngest...her son Aden who is 2. Aden has a virus & was unable to go to daycare, so we spent the day...mostly on the couch "cuddling". My dear friend Ginger came over to visit & brought me a "happy"...a basket of "goodies"...one for each day until my big 40! YUM!!!

This morning I received a package in the mail from my precious nieces from BrookHAVEN! It is a collage of my life through the years! My it has brought back so many memories-most with smiles! I can tell they really worked hard on it & I just LOVE it!

Today is so BEAUTIFUL! I'm planning to work in the yard a bit, go to the softball tourney & come home for some grillin'. Sam says that because Josh (#56 for varsity football-crazy pic above) said he needs to start eating steak, that he will have his first steak with us tonight! Oh the influence these older guys have on the younger ones! I do hope they realize it & consider their actions in light of that!

Crazy Cats!!!

Have YOU been to Crazy Cat's Bakery in Highland Village? It was my first time and it was fabulous! Or maybe it was who I was with that made it so good:) I had the privilege of eating and visiting with Melissa Abraham and Janet House.

Then it was off to Freedom Ridge Park in Ridgeland to watch my dear friend CoCo (Coach Caton) and the Lady Patriot fast-pitch softball team play. They advanced to Saturday's semi-finals...YAAAAAY! CoCo's parent's are here from Canada, so I got to hang out with them and TayTay during the games.

Tonight's Prep JV football at Parklane Academy in McComb...I'm hoping I'll get to take a little detour to BrookHAVEN!!!

Yaaaay, Fall Is Here!

Don't you just love this weather!! At night it's just awesome

This week started with a Bang...I received a phone call from one of my very favorite people on this planet... Donna Nations Clayton from Tupelo. I enjoyed catching up with her, she always knows the best "scoop"! Also on Monday I had lunch with Betsy @ Aladdin... as you can see, Aladdin has become my favorite "hang-out"!

Yesterday was John Mark Darden Baird's birthday! We celebrated by going to the Prep vs JA 8th Grade football game. It was a "nail biter"-HA! The final score was a tie...0-0! No braggin' rights for 8th grade this year! What made it GREAT was that my parents came...it always makes my day to get to see them! Just before we left for the game I had a surprise...my sweet niece Jamie came by to see me with a delicious-looking Creme Cake in hand & balloons. Lee said with all the cakes, he and I are going to GAIN 40 lbs before my birthday:) It will be a delicious 40 lbs, though!

What a Weekend!

My Friday started with Bon Ami...my sis-in-laws Cheryl and Gloria were taking our cousin Em (from Austin, TX) to lunch. Since I had plans to have a picnic with my precious neice Betsy at Prep, I just popped in and enjoyed a glass of delicious raspberry tea!

Then it was off to Prep where I had the best picnic ever with Betsy and a crew of her friends. It was so fun to be with all of them. Friday was "Super Hero" day, so they were all dressed up...I asked BB why she didn't dress up like me?! HA!

Friday night I had the pleasure of being with my boys! Lee, Sam & I had dinner at Aladdin...I love their yummy Gyros and Hummus!

Saturday Lee & I had planned to work in the yard, but, due to the rain, we opted to go to a couple of nurseries & pick out trees for our yard. My sweet niece Macey called me several times & sent me an e-card. I'm sooo excited that she's coming home this weekend! It seems like forever since I've gotten to see her!

Saturday night the Ozier clan met @ Charles & Linda's for dinner to celebrated our beloved Aunt Sarah's 90th Birthday! She came to visit this weekend from Austin. We had 26 family members there! It was so good to be with her. She has always been so fun! We also found out that our precious niece Stephanie is engaged!!!

Sunday was another great sermon @ Pinelake. Chip talked about how God is "looking to & fro" for His children to obey Him so that He can bless them...just like we earthy parents do for our children. It's so easy to go through day after day not thinking about our responsibilities as Christians. We are to be "in this world but not of it"...we are supposed to be different!

Sunday night we had our small group @ Tara & Keys's. That "Sugar Sweet" Joyce Miskelly baked an incredible chocolate chip cake that I got to bring home half!! You comin' Bev...it sho was good for breakfast this mornin'!

Let's Get Ready for Some Football!

Last night was a perfect football night! Prep JV played Lamar and won 35-7...wooooohooooo!!! And the weather was so nice. It was just the thing I needed to lift my spirits...you see, developers have been cutting down all of the trees behind our house to prepare for building:( So sad! So, yesterday I spent much of the day watching the trees fall and invisioning what I can do to create a barrier...any ideas are welcomed! I did call Lee and warn him before he came home.

Sweet Mary Daniels was another bright spot in my day:) along with the humming birds and butterflies that visited me!

The Days are Flyin'

The Chocolate cake is officially gone...and I can tell you that it was definitely good to the last crumb! Now I know when I want my friends to come see me, all I need to do is bake a cake!

This week has already been full of phone calls. Monday was from "My Best Friend" in BrookHAVEN!

I picked up the phone yesterday to her my sweet 96 year old grandmother's voice!!! Now that just made my day! It was my daddy's birthday, so she reminisced about how she delivered him in the home where she still lives! "I remember that day...right there in that bedroom." She tells how she cried the day she found out she was pregnant with him because she already had 4 children, but goes on to say, "but he has been such a blessing from the moment he was born!" AMEN SISTA!

Finally, my precious niece Betsy called and invited me to have a "picnic" with her at Prep on Friday...awwww!

Days 37 and 36

Yesterday, day 37 was a really good day. Sunday is absolutely my favorite day of the week! This Sunday was even more special because Caleb Miskelly was baptized! I am so proud of him and excited for him. Please join me in praying for all of our kids, and especially for Caleb this week. Those teenage years almost did me in, so I really feel for our kids today and what they are facing.
Chip preached about being discouraged and how to continue to press on. As usual, he got so much out of the OLD testament! I feel so blessed to be under his leadership right now. God has truly anointed him for this time.

Sunday afternoons are usually "nap time" for me. I dozed in and out while watching the football games with my "boys". And woke up just in time to get ready to go to small group at Marty and Shannon Mays. Since our group is made up of mostly "Dawgs", you can imagine what some of our conversations were about! We did, however, discuss the chaplain of our beloved bulldogs and things that he is doing to reach our guys for Christ. He is a very positive influence and seems to also be very effective. So, we find comfort in knowing that victories are great, but the real victory is the "end game"!
After we got home, Lee gave me an envelope that my sister Robyn had given him. So sweet! She found 40 promises of God and printed them out for me.

Today, my sister Rhonda's mother-in-love, Mama Jane came over and gave me a sweet book about sisters and a beautiful chocolate cake! She said that it freezes well and I said, "I don't think we're going to have to worry about it being frozen!" You coming over Bev?!
My precious friend Brittany and her family are giving each other a "bug"... YUCK. Please pray for them to be healed quickly!!!
Oh, and I talked to my sweet niece Jamie and we are going to get together Wednesday morning...I'm so excited...we hardly ever get to spend time together.

I'm thinking I may go into withdrawals after these 40 days:)

More Memories

More of the Kickoff

Now, Mona. I thought I had given you ALL the information you need for this little bloggy here. I didn't think I was going to have to come over and give you instructions on how to get your pictures on your computer. tsk, tsk, tsk.

So in the absence of You posting any pictures, I thought I'd put up a close up of Sustah Rhonda decked out in all her finery. I'm thinking that she just might look good up in Oxpatch for Homecoming. Whatcha you think? I'm sure Macey would not mind seeing Mama all decked out for the tailgating.

Now, get after it, gurl. Get up outta that bed in the morning and figure out that camera thing.

Memories

Turning 40 ain't no big THANG!!! It just means that you have more great memories than people in their 30's!! I say we make more great memories and take another trip...even if it is only to Gulf Shores!!! Just say when and I am there!!!You are truely a very sweet and special person!! I hope your 40th is all that and a bag of chips!! XOXOXOXOXO Beth

To Happy Land, Betty Ann's & Biaggi's!

Oops...I missed posting yesterday! It's because yesterday I had a double dose of being with family and friends!

My day started by going to "Happy Land" (known to most of you as brookHAVEN) to celebrate my daddy's birthday. Everyone was there except my bro-in-law Mark, who, coincidently was in the other place called "Happy Land" (aka: Starkville)...although yesterday was not so "happy"; and my dear neice Macey, who was trying to be "a light in the darkness" at that other school in Oxford! JK!!! We had a GREAT lunch and enjoyed just being with each other at my sister Robyn's house. Then, it was off to Betty Ann's! Lee said, "The quickest way to clear a house full of girls is to say, "Let's go to Betty Ann's". My sweet mom had already picked out some things for me, so I didn't even need to shop...after all these years, she still knows me best!

Last night Karyn and Michael Thornhill invited us to go to Biaggi's...and, oh, it was soooo good. Karyn and I had decided that we were going to drill Michael and Lee about why they didn't like The Shack. We have decided that if they thought the book was shallow, maybe it's THEM who are shallow!!! And what made the night even better was that Beverly joined us! I'll have to say that since Cherie wasn't there, Beverly used her own version of, "Whatcha haulin'?" to get to know our waitress (Quanda) and she was great! We learned that her mom is a nurse and has been conducting her own study with Ginko Baloba. She has given her children GB since they were about 12 and Quanda is a big believer! She is starting law school at Mississippi College next year. Quanda even took a pic of us with my camera, but I don't know how to get it onto my computer...that's for another day.

39 Days and Counting!

Today I had a wonderful lunch with my sweet (oldest!) sister Rhonda. She was modestly dressed, so we didn't get as many "looks" today as yesterday! She took me to Aladdin...if only my friend John Arledge would have come with us!!! It was great being with her and catching up on her world.

Next I went to ECT Framing to see my friend Mary Daniels...I just love her!

Then it was off to get my sunshine...that would be Sam...from school and home to watch Fox News and the developments of the day with hurricane Ike and a little on McCain/Obama (although I'm seriously trying to limit my exposure to the election process this time). Some of you may remember it was 4 years ago this October 23...at the height of the 2004 election that I had a mild cardio infarction...aka-heart attack:) Docs never have found a reason for it; who knows, it could have been the stress of Kerry saying awful things about "W"!

Anyway, it's been a great day!

If it was the Sweet Potato Sister yesterday...what will she be wearing (or not wearing) today??? She might raid your closet for those Mexican socks and Alligator boots. Go look and see if they are missing. :)

39 more days! And its GOOOOOOD BYE 30's!!!!!! And its ABOUT TIME, I might add. Your husbands gonna be collect social security before you ever turn 40!!!

It's Just the Beginning - Day 40

Join us as we celebrate 40 days of Ramona, counting down to the Big 4-0.



Cherie, Laura, Mona, Rhonda and Baquita (Beverly)

Since Miss Ramona had made it clear she does NOT want a surprise party for her 40th birthday, her sister Rhonda decided to have Ramona celebrate for 40 days before the big day. Today kicked off the countdown.

Lala, Cherie, R and Bev had plans for lunch today when Rhonda decided to make a grand entrance. She had first dressed up in her Mother Goose dress and bonnet and found a cane - to remind Ramona that she was getting old. Then... she thought, no, life BEGINS at 40 so she dressed accordingly - Ramona style. High heels, black pants with a slit up to her thigh, sequined top - you get the picture. You've seen it before, only not on Rhonda!!

When Rhonda walked past the glass windows of Majestic Burger, Ramona leaned over to Beverly and said, "Good Lord, there comes one of those Sweet Potato Queens." Then she looked up and recognized her sister. Rhonda bedazzled the birthday girl with a sparkling tiara and boa. We made quite a scene at lunch.

So now if we can teach the Sweet R to learn how to blog, we can keep up with what happens for the next 40 days and beyond.

Happy Birthday, MRS. OZIER