Y'all are too funny. I guess I guilted you into commenting.

Queenie has been in rare form this week, as you can tell by the previous posts. Yesterday, she was complaining about another coworker that is always hobbling and talking about her ailments. We laughed and said, "That's you". When Queenie calls in sick, she has to explain each and every sympton of her ailment. The execs do not want to hear about it.

We think the girl that works at the store in the daytime might be stealing. She's work here for over 10 years, probably longer. She was always so good to my father. Before he died, he asked us to keep the store open as long as she would work. She is a great employee. She orders all the merchandise, negotiates prices with reps and keeps up with what's new out there. If she left, we'd be sunk. That's why it bothers us. We really can't operate without her. But...she's stealing money out of the register. We've caught her on tape. My mother doesn't know how to stop it. She wants her to get the message that we know, but doesn't want to come right out and tell her that she knows. It is worrying my mother, sister and I to death. We don't know what to do.

Today, when I got to work, what do you think Queenie had on her desk? A HUGE bottle of Pepto Bismol! Yeah, tell the world that you have digestive problems. She told me that she woke up with a stomach ache. Coworker said that she kept rubbing her stomach area. When I went up to the breakroom at lunch, I noticed that she had a big plate of food. On that plate, I saw some chicken fingers. One of the last things I would want to eat when I had stomach troubles would be chicken fingers.

Is anyone out there? I haven't had a comment in days. I'm beginning to get a complex.

I had a busy day today. First, I had to attend a meeting about our new telephone system. Queenie acted sort of miffed that she was not included in our group. Hello, she doesn't work in our department. I think after she found out how complicated my group's phones are, she had second thoughts. Later, I had to coordinate a meal for a lunch meeting that my bosses were having. I was tired when I got home.

When I got home, I was looking for something in my closet. I found a chocolate brown corduroy trouser skirt. I don't remember ever buying it, but apparently I did since it was in the closet. I tried it on and it fit perfect. Now to figure out what to wear with it. What do you suggest? The only thing I can think of is a oatmeal turtleneck and matching shetland cardigan. I may have other things but can't think of them right now.

When I'm on a diet, I have cravings for some of the strangest things. Things that I probably wouldn't think of eating even when I'm eating what I want. For the past couple of days, I've had a craving for Krystal. For those of you not from the South, Krystal is a chain of hamburger restaurants similar to White Castle. For dinner, I had 1/2 of a lean ground beef patty with low fat cheese. I had a side of dill pickles with it. It sort of satisfied my craving, but not quite. Do you ever have strange cravings like that? Krystal...you either love 'em or hate 'em.

It took me about 1 hour and 10 minutes to get home tonight. I left work at 5:20 and did not get home until 6:30. I only live 10 miles from work. Traffic was horrible.

After I got home, I had trouble getting on the internet. I don't know what was wrong. My computer was so slow. I finally gave up and watched a recording of Murder, She Wrote. I don't know why, but I have always loved that show. I think Jessica Fletcher should be listed as a Preppy Icon.

Queenie left work early today, because she didn't have anything to do. Her boss never gives her anything to do. My boss doesn't care if I don't have anything to do, but when he says "FROG!", I better start jumping (and asking how high). One of Queenie's problems is that she complains if she doesn't have anything to do and then if given a project, she tries to dump it off on somebody else. I am always looking for more responsibility.

It's getting late and I have a busy day tomorrow. Yes, my boss said "FROG!" today and tomorrow I have to start jumping.

I got several compliments on my attire today. It made me feel good. I wore a Pendleton navy pleated skirt and a Brooks Brothers light blue merino wool twin set. I wore my pearls and navy Ferragamo Veras, of course. I think it was the color that made it look good on me.

When I got home, I was so thirsty. I didn't want a soft drink, so I took a cue from Lisagh and fixed a pitcher of Kool-Aid. I made red instead of purple. Plus mine was sugar-free. It tasted so good. And I spilled it on my pajama pants. Oh well, it's not like I'm going to be seen in public in them.

I need to make an appointment with the eye doctor. I wear glasses for reading, but I think I want to get some wear all the time glasses. What do you think about these? Is it too Wendy Beamish (St. Elmo's Fire)? Everyone says that I remind them of her, but I don't think so. I guess it was all the Laura Ashley and preppy attire. I don't wear the Laura Ashley anymore, but I still wear the preppy attire.

AWARDS

I have recently received three awards from three great bloggers. First, I received the Lemonade Award from Preppy 101.

I received the award below from Grove Gals.

AND

I received the above Friendship award from Pink is My Signature Color.

The award states: "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Thank you so much for these awards. I apologize for being so late about passing them along. I pass these awards along to all the fabulous people who read my blog. If it weren't for you, there'd be no reason to post.

Shopping Update

After lunch, I went to Bessemer (that's pronounced Besmuhr) to the outlets. The only store I went in was RL/Polo. I bought a ladies pink/white striped OCBD, a boy's size 16 yellow OCBD (I have narrow shoulders and ribcage), a pair of navy/kelly green argyle socks, some hot pink sneaker socks, a pair of small goldtone ball earrings, and a strand of small goldtone beads. I used a coupon and got 20% off. On the way home I stopped at the WalMart Neighborhood Market. I'm glad that I did not have high expectations. It was like WalMart with just food, health and beauty aids and a pharmacy. It was sort of dissapointing. The selection was not any different than a normal WalMart. Then I went to Sephora. I bought a tube of Philosphy Red Velvet Cake lip balm and 3 tins of Dr. Pepper lip balm. The Red Velvet Cake lip balms smells so good. I may have to go back and get another tube.



The chicken I cooked today was really good. I may be eating this on a regular basis. The recipe is here. I'm glad that I found the recipe. It's gotten to where all my baked chicken dishes taste real blah.

I'm taking a break from my cleaning to check in. I haven't had much to say lately. I've got a lot done this morning, even though I got a late start. I went to bed at 10:00 so that I could get up about 6:00 or 6:30 and get to work. I didn't wake up until 7:40. I can't believe that I slept that long. My mother said that maybe I needed the rest.

For lunch, I'm broiling eggplant, squash and zuchini (in separate pans) and then I'm grilling some chicken. I saw a copycat recipe for Cracker Barrel's grilled chicken tenders on one of the blogs on al.com. I hope it turns out good.

I think after lunch, I'm going to go out to the outlets. The only one that I care about going to is RL/Polo. I'm going to look at their OCBD's. Then I'm going to hit the sale at Sephora. A friend was telling me about a place in Vestavia Hills called WalMart Neighborhood Market. It supposed to be an upscale grocery. WalMart - upscale? Don't mean to sound snobby, but... I may stop and check it out. Have any of you ever been to one of these stores? I don't have high expectations, so maybe it won't be a dissappointment. When I get back, I'm going to lay around and read and watch movies. I'll update you on my purchases...if they are worth updating.

Enjoy your weekend.

I thougt it was supposed to be in the upper 40's tonight, but it's going down to 24. So much for it warming up.

My cousin called me Sunday night wanting to know if my sister and I would help with a baby shower for her daughter-in-law. We immediately agreed because we like her and would do anything for her. Last night my cousin called to go over some details. Before she hung up, she told me that she felt like her daughter-in-law's family were just sitting around waiting on her to mess up. She said that DIL's family always treats her like a fifth wheel, and they go out of there way to make her fell inferior. She said that they are always bragging about their cruises and trips to Hawaii. I was enraged. My cousin is super sweet and would do anything for anybody. She always sees the good in all people. She used to always seem in control, but since her husband passed away about 10 years ago, she seems to have lost her self-esteem. I guess she wasn't ready to face the world alone. I decided that this shower is going to be THE shower. I am going to get revenge on the way they treat my cousin by having a great shower. I told my sister about how they treat our cousin. My sister can't stand to see anyone mistreated. I think we are going to serve cucumber sandwiches, cheese straws, mints, nuts, cake, punch, coffee and tea. Any suggestions for another sandwich or savory? I thought maybe a cheese ball. My cousin wants to keep it simple, but I want something good and fancy. I think chicken salad may be a lot of work. If my grandmother were still living, we would be having watercress sandwiches. She could make the best watercress sandwiches, but she didn't pass along her recipe (if she had one). I don't even know how to buy watercress. I've seen it at Publix, but don't know how big a "bunch" is. I have past issues of Tea Time magazine. I may consult them for ideas.

When I got home, I was going to watch the recording of Gossip Girl and walk on the treadmill. I have been trying to get my new VCR/DVR set up. It has taken me about 2 1/2 hours. I had to call the company. The customer service rep was very nice and very helpful. We finally got it going. I have set it to record Murder, She Wrote at 10:00. I guess I'll know if it works tomorrow. I never did walk on the treadmill. There's always tomorrow.

We finally got hot water. It was my fault. I got the pilot light lit, but forgot to turn on the gas. DUH! It was so nice to take a nice warm shower.

Sunday, my mother, sister and I went shopping in the Nashville area. We went to the outlets in Lebanon. At Polo, I bought socks and a henly pullover. At Brooks Brothers, I bought two merino wool shells (light blue and camel) to match a couple of cardigans that I already own. I plan to wear them as twin sets. We then went into Nashville to Green Hills. My sister bought some blue jeans at Macy's and I bought a dish brush at Restoration Hardware and some moisturizer at Kiehl's. That was the extent of our purchases. On the way back home, we stopped at Old Time Pottery in Murfreesboro for my mother to get some cemetary flowers and by Best Buy to exchange my VHR/DVR. I think I finally got what I want. We ate dinner in Murfreesboro at a place called Mimi's Cafe. It was better than I expected. No one could make up their mind where to eat, so my sister said to just go there. I will probably eat there again when I'm in the area.

We had a little bit of snow today, but it didn't stick. The weather was okay yesterday, but it was cold again today. We've had several mild winters lately and this sudden cold spell is about to kill everyone. We don't know how to prepare for it.

Bunny, Where Are You?

Does anyone know what happened to Bunny Tomerlin? She hasn't posted since November 24. If you are out there, Bunny, please check in.

We are still battling some cold weather down here. I know, I hate to whine since we don't have it near as bad as all of you up north. My mother has had it rough. She woke up yesterday to a house that was only about 50 degrees. There was no heat and it was 5 degrees outside. She called the man and he came out immediately. He said that her drain was frozen. He fixed it and she had heat. He also told her that he saw a leak and that she needed to call a plumber. The plumber came out and found something disconnected on her hot water heater. Reconnected and the leak was fixed. After she got to the store, someone told her that there was water in the back corner. She thought it was where ice from the ice machine had melted. No, the drain in the ice machine had frozen and it was flooding the store. My brother-in-law and his foster son came down there and cleaned up the mess and got it fixed. My mother said that they worked so hard and wouldn't let her pay them. Foster son wasn't thinking and poured the water from the shop vac out into the parking lot. It froze into a solid sheet of ice. He went to the dollar store and got some kitty litter to put on it. When we got home last night, we noticed that the plumber forgot to relight the pilot light in the hot water heater. We had no hot water. I tried to light it, but couldn't get it to stay lit. I had to boil water for a quick bath this morning. My hair is dirty but at least my body is semi-clean. To top it off, I weighed and I had gained 1 1/2 pounds.

Some of you have passed on awards to me in the past couple of weeks. To all of you, I appreciate it. I will forward them on soon. I've either been too busy or I forget. Don't worry, I am going to keep them going. Thanks again.

When I left work today, the wind chill was 22. I know that some of you are having wind chill of -22, but it's still cold. I was wearing my full length navy wool military style Burberry's coat (yes, Burberry's, not Burberry, it's that old), my navy plaid Burberry wool scarf, and gloves. The big boss laughed at me. I don't know why. I didn't look ridiculous. Now Queenie had on a microfiber car coat and her scarf tied around her head. He didn't laugh at her. I wasn't going to get cold. He should see me now. I have on flannel pink plaid pajama bottoms, long sleeve pink pajama top, a long flannel black watch plaid gown and pink and green polka dot socks. But I'm not cold.



Did you read on the news about the spin-off of Gossip Girl? It's going to be set in the 1980's and it's going to be about Lily van der Woodson when she was a teenager. I can't wait. It sounds like it will be good.

I guess everyone saw where they caught that guy that jumped out of a plane. It was on all the news channels and in the papers. What a crazy.

I hope the shopping trip to Lebanon and Nashville doesn't get called off. It is going to be cold. The outlets are not enclosed but the mall is. Maybe we can stand it enough to run into a couple of stores. Maybe it won't be as cold as they are predicting. Yeah, right. It will probably snow.

Only in Alabama

If you are not from Alabama, you probably wouldn't notice that anytime someone commits a crime or does something stupid, there's an Alabama connection. Jeffrey Dahmer was stationed in Alabama when he was in the Army. Thank goodness he didn't find his way back. There's always somebody from Alabama on Jerry Springer. Now that pilot that tried to fake his own death, jumped out of his plane about 15 miles south of where I live. Why can't they go to Georgia or Mississippi? We need to guard our borders better.

I went to Ruths' Chris with BFF for our Christmas dinner. The food was satisfactory. It was not as good as in the past. It wasn't bad, but yet it wasn't exceptionally good. I will say that the Baby Arugala salad was wonderful. I could have eaten two plates of that and forgotten the steak. The atmosphere and the service were excellent as usual. I gave her some Vera Wang powder and a Tervis Auburn mug. She gave me a mini Illuminations jar candle with shade, a teapot night light, a jewelry bag and a gift card for Z Gallerie. Can't wait to go to Z Gallerie.

It is supposed to get really cold here this week. It is supposed to go down to 9 degrees Friday night. I know you folks up North don't want to hear me whine, but we are not used to it. Just like you are not used to the 105 that we have in the summer. I know people from Chicago and Minnesota that say that they cannot stand the cold weather down here. They say it is a different kind of cold. The air will pierce you. We don't get snow, we get a layer of ice with snow packed down on top. It is hilly here, so that does not do well with snow and ice.

If you live somewhere where the weather is frightful, bundle up and stay warm.

I Hate My New DVR

As I may have posted, I received a DVR/VCR for Christmas. I have worked and worked trying to get this thing to record. Here are the problems that I am encountering:
1. In order to use the time recording function, I need either a cable box or satellite box. An old VCR will work. When my sister purchased it, the salesperson told her that nothing else would be needed.
2. In order to use the time recording function, I need to put the TV on the channel that I intend to record. I cannot watch one thing and record another at the same time.
3. If I use the time recording, I can only program it to record one show, because the channel does not change.

Does anyone else have a DVR/VCR like this? I asked the CSR at the manufacturer if anyone had ever complained about it and he said that he had no statistics to look at. He said that all VCR's are like that. I think (no, I know) I am going to take it back and see if I can exchange it for something that fits my needs, even if it is just a VCR/DVD combo. I'm tired of fooling with it. Since the salesperson mislead my sister and the box is misleading, I intend to receive full credit.

Now, I need to get in here and hook-up my old VCR. It's a dinosaur, but it works. My VCR/DVD combo does not record very well.

P.S. The VHR/DVR is all boxed up and ready to go back to Best Buy. Wish me luck.

I'm finally getting my hair cut today. It has been about 4 months since my last haircut. It is getting too long. Luckily that lady that cuts it could work me in. I called yesterday and she had a cancellation. If not, it would be a long time before she could cut it. I guess if she couldn't take me today, I could have just started pulling it back in a ponytail or something.

I have to keep the 3 year old nursery tomorrow. We go to a small church, about 300, and it seems like 10% of the congregants are 3 years old. There must have been a population boom about 3 - 3 1/2 years ago.

I hope everyone enjoys the remainder of their weekend.

Finally

Finally, I found out who sent me the invitation to the Christmas Party. Remember in a previous post that I got an invitation to a party and I had no clue who the host was? Tonight, I went to my women's club meeting and there she was. I didn't know her. When I was introduced to her, she acted like she didn't know me. Oh well. Let me tell you about her. She had a ring on every finger. I noticed one finger had 2 rings. She had 5 bracelets on her right arm and 2 bracelets and a watch on her left arm...and she had on a tie made from faux pearls. Oh, and I don't want to forget, her eyebrows were penciled on. But, she was very nice and eager to work. She's a member of an organization that I want to get involved in one day. Not now, but one day.

This morning I overslept by 20 minutes. I set my alarm for PM instead of AM. And I was early to work. I guess that shows how much I piddle in the mornings. I felt better today. Maybe I needed the extra 2o minutes of sleep.

Have a Happy Friday!

I Figured It Out

If you want to be included in the preppy dieters blog, email me at pinkcupcakesandtab@hotmail.com. I will need your email address to set you up as an author. If you are not interested in being an author, you can still read and comment. I don't think this should be private just yet. If we have some trolls that bother us, then we can decide if we want to go private.

I just wanted to pop in and say that I got the new diet blog up. It is called Slimmed Down Preppies. You can view it here. I may need some help. I want everyone that is interested to post comments. How do I add everyone? It is a work in progress.

GIVEAWAY!

jewelry without jewels is offering a giveaway and a winner will be picked on Friday, January 9th.

Go to the blog and and leave a post, and be sure to tell all of your friends.

It's still raining. The ground is so mushy. There were tornado warnings for the northern part of the county today. Luckily, we were not in the path.

A lot of the bloggers are starting Weight Watchers. Personally, I have always had good luck with South Beach. I signed up for Hungry Girl. Maybe it will keep me motivated. I was thinking today that we could set up a separate blog for us dieters. We could call it Preppy Dieters or something like that. We could post our diet secrets, our successes, etc. I guess since I brought it up, it is up to me to set it up. I'm not that good at setting up things. If anyone has a better idea, let me know.

Not much happened today. It was a quiet, dull day at work.

A Big Hole in My Head

That hole in my head is getting bigger. The other day I posted that I needed another sweater like I need a hole in the head and then ordered the birds eye cardigan from LL Bean. Today, I ordered not one, but two lambswool cardigans from Pendleton. I ordered a green one and a red one. They are the same style sweater. They never go on sale, and they were marked down from $88 to $39. I couldn't resist. I already have the same cardigan in 3 other colors: navy, black and yellow. If you haven't check them out yet, Pendleton is having a good sale.

My next project is sorting through a tote that has about 100 tubes of lipstick plus other cosmetic items that I got in Clinique gifts with purchase. I am going to start using all the little tubes and bottles of goo that are in there. Maybe I'll finds some products that I can't live without.

It's raining here tonight. They are expecting 3 inches of rain before tomorrow night. Huntsville is expecting 6 inches. The ground is so soggy right now. The rain is going to make it worse. I guess we should appreciate it. It beats that horrible drought that we have had for the past 2-3 years. Even though it is only 8:30, I may go ahead and go to bed so that I can take advantage of the rainy night.

My sister loaned me some of her Nancy Drew books. They were in a storage shed and smell musty. Does anyone know how to get rid of the smell? I put them in a box with a bowl of vinegar, but it hasn't gotten rid of the smell. I may try a bowl of baking soda.

I broke one of my resolutions today. I.went.to.WalMart. I only went because they had romaine lettuce, spring mix lettuce and V-8 juice on sale. I saw a lot of people there who would probably never set foot in WalMart. I didn't feel so bad.

I've gone one whole week on South Beach and I have stuck with it. I don't know how much weight I have lost, because I was scared to weigh before I started. I feel a lot better this week.

I talked to my mother about our shopping trip in two weeks. She brought it up. She said that she didn't care where we went, as long as we went somewhere. I told her that I wanted to go to the outlets in Lebonon, TN and she said that was good because she wants to go to a shoe store in Murphreesboro. It looks like we may go to Nashville. I hope we have time to hit Green Hills Mall. I told her that I didn't care if the only thing that I bought was a diet coke, I wanted to go shopping somewhere.

I hope everyone had a good New Years. I did. Thanks to all of you lurkers for identifying yourselves. I'll add you to my list as soon as I get a chance. I found several good blogs that I can read and then share with my readers.

Did any of you watch the Sugar Bowl last night? Even though I'm from Alabama, I was glad a non-major player like Utah could win. Utah came to play some football and they did. I think Alabama didn't know what hit them. IN MY OPINION, I think the players were over confident. They didn't think someone like Utah could stand a chance. But Utah was small and quick. Oh well, I'm sorry for all the Alabama fans. I hope the people who determine the polls take notice and let Utah have what they obviously deserve. Do I sound like a typical Auburn fan, or what?

My mother and I always get tickled at this one customer. He is a former mayor of a small town in the area. He calls her "Baby Doll" and me "Sweetie". I bet he spends an hour and a half on his hair every day. What really gets us is his jeans. They are so tight that he has a wedgie. I don't see how he wears them so tight. It seems like they would hurt...bad. My sister teaches in that town and says that he is a super nice guy and always looks out after the school and the students. They always knew that they could count on him. But, those jeans kill me; and I'm sure they are killing him.

My mother and I always take a short shopping trip the Sunday of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend. We usually go to Chattanooga, but I'm thinking that maybe we can make a trip to Nashville. Although Nashville is an hour further, it is in the same time zone. (Chattanooga is an hour ahead of us) Maybe if we go to Nashville, we can stop in Lebonon and go to the outlets for a few minutes. I may bring that up later today.

I weighed this morning and was sort of disappointed. I weighed about 4-5 pounds more than I thought I did. I thought I had gained about 7-8 pounds, but I gained 12. That means I'm going to have to work a little bit harder to get it off. My favorite skirts are a little snug.

Y'all are not going to believe this, but I have never read a Nancy Drew book. I love the old Nancy Drew movies with Bonita Granville. I can watch them over and over. I also like the newest Nancy Drew movie with Emma Thompson. My sister has all of the Nancy Drew books and is letting me read them. But, I have to give them back as soon as I finish. She is very protective of her books. She usually doesn't loan books...at all. I'm surprised that she doesn't dust her Sweet Valley High books for fingerprints periodically to make sure that no one has touched them. My mother let a girl borrow several of her Sweet Valley High books. The girl read them in a couple of days and immediately returned them. When my sister found out she exploded. She still hasn't gotten over it and it has been about 20 years ago. Don't get me wrong, my sister is a very sharing person. She'd give you the last bite of her candy bar, but she does not loan books. By the way, the girl that borrowed the books now has a PHd. We're proud of her. I wonder if my sister would let her borrow them now.

I hope everyone enjoys the remainder of their weekend.

Preppy Duds

Be honest, am I the only person that still dresses like this?
I'm almost like the girl in the bottom photo(photo courtesy of Heavy Tweed Jacket)

I have an outfit like the girl in the top left of this photo

(photo courtesy of Heavy Tweed Jacket)

I have been preppy most of my life and am comfortable dressing like the women/girls above.

Does anyone know what happened to Elizabeth at:

She was the original preppy blogger.

Does anyone besides me still wear oxford cloth button downs? If so, where do you buy them? Most of mine are from Brooks Brothers, but I would like some that are a little bit less expensive.

Y'all probably think that I have been so bored that I have blogged all day. Actually, I have gotten a lot of chores taken care of today.

Lurkers, Identify Yourself

I've been updating my blog today (instead of tackling chores). I know that there are several of you that lurk but never comment. Let me know who you are, so that I can read and add your blog. If you read my blog, the least I can do is read yours.

Thanks for stopping by.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope everyone is having a Happy New Year so far. I was going to lay around and watch TV today, but I haven't been in the mood. I have been reading blogs and starting projects. I finally gave in and ordered the navy birds eye cardigan from LL Bean. I had a coupon so I got $10 off. I also ordered a few gadgets from Crate & Barrel. I am trying to get away from plastic storage plus I wanted an oil mister.

My New Year's resolutions for 2009 are:

1. The usual self help resolutions: lose holiday weight, keep skin clear, dress better, eat more variety, get organized.

2. Make better choices: Target, Publix, The Fresh Market instead of WalMart. Panera, Newt's, McAlister's, Jason's Deli instead of McDonald's. Reusuable grocery bags instead of plastic. Quality over quantity.

3. Have a good attitude at work while everyone else is griping and complaining about the merger issues. I'm going to take lemons and make lemonade.

4. Be THE better person. For example, I am going to offer to go get lunch for my cousin who works by herself on Saturday even though she never offers to pick up lunch for my mother or me when we work on Saturday by ourself; speak to some of the snobby people at church even though they never speak to me. You never know, they may not be snobby, just shy.

5. Be a good blogger. There are many blogs that I read that are not on my blogroll. I'm going to put you there so you don't think that I don't like you.

6. Not be so boring. I get content with my boring life and don't try new things.

Maybe this year I will turn into a cool prepette.

Enjoy the rest of your day.