Belles do NOT get overwhelmed...

So, as I was coming off of working this past week of three days of meetings and putting out fires...the week before my teacher retreat next Monday and student orientations on Tuesday and Wednesday...all for the brand spanking new school I'm opening, a veteran co-worker asked me, "So, Belle....are you feeling a little overwhelmed?" 

My immediate response was, "Now what in this WORLD would make you think that I am overwhelmed???"  To which he replied, "It's in your eyes...I know the look...I've looked that way MANY times myself.

Hank apparently told our friend Ted that, "It's starting to get to her."  Ted apparently agreed.

What is WRONG with them?  Belles do NOT get overwhelmed.  Belles always have everything under very tight control.

For pete's sake, I am a ESTJ on the Myers-Briggs Personality Test...

I am a LION...

I am a FOX (not to be confused with foxy, which I may ALSO be if I might say so myself).

I AM WOMAN....HEAR ME ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't just do my best...I do WHATEVER IT TAKES.

When I walked in the back gate last night Hank asked, "So, do you feel caught up?"  (That might very well be the stupidest question anybody ever asked  me and if I recall correctly, I told him so.)

Fox...Lion...best...WOMAN....ROAR  ROAR  ROAR.

Good heavens...my eye is starting to TWITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK...maybe Belles do get a little overwhelmed......

I know...I can't believe it either...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Look at what I got...

No...not a boat.  We did look and think we've zeroed in on what we eventually want, but won't be making a purchase until next spring.

I've been looking for a long time for the right thing to go on my dining room table.  I played around with putting this or that in vases that I had and even bought an arrangement once that was OK, but just OK.  In the Land of Belle, "OK" is not good enough.  In case you wonder...we found the oyster shell container about three weeks ago at Southern Accent Designer Showcase, then took it to Buy the Bunch (both in Mt. Pleasant) for them to create the arrangement. I was finally able to pick it up yesterday and believe the end result to be absolutely perfect for a lowcountry home.

On my way home, I stopped at one of my favorite little shops at Belle Hall Shopping Center....Zinnia.  LOVE IT!  Found this cute as a bug insulated lunch tote.  Since principals do NOT get to go out for lunch, I figured I need something stylish to carry my mundane little ham sandwiches in.  Zinnia has this and other similar items in LOTS of patterns.  

I surely do enjoy retail therapy.  How about you?

Last Week in the Land of Belle

I spent two days in Columbia this week in the state Principal Induction workshop.  I learned some good things.  For instance...my general way of coping with life in the workplace when I am not feeling stressed is that of a lion.  When I experience stress in the workplace, I tend to become more of a fox. The third option was to be a Saint Bernard.  My personality type according to Myers-Briggs is ESTJ.  And apparently, side effects of being a principal include but are not limited to heart attacks, strokes, mental and physical exhaustion, and walking pneumonia. The guy who facilitated the whole thing was hilarious.  Oddly, and even though what I just wrote is likely coming across sarcastic, it was actually reasonably interesting.  Except for the side effects part...I found that troubling, as did a number of my fellow new principals. So much for being uplifting...let's move on.

Monday is Lorelai's 20th birthday. MY BABY IS 20!!!! Can't tell you what we have for her I'll have photos on Monday.  She left this afternoon for Clemson to move her things from the old apartment to the new one.  She talked three guy friends into going with her and clearly, she intends to be queen for the weekend while THEY move her things. Last I heard, she had Alex driving and she was in the back seat taking a nap. Bless you, Alex, Cody, and Roy...bless you!!

Hank and I are going to look at boats in the morning.  When we bought our last boat eight years ago, we had visions of taking weekend trips up and down the intracoastal.  Guess how many times we did that in seven years.  Yes indeed...a grand total of NEVER. Our trips were limited to trips out to Edisto, over to Dataw, and down to Hilton Head. So, we sold it last summer.  But we miss it. So...we're going to start looking but we are NOT buying.  Next spring perhaps.  With school starting before you know it and football season on the horizon (GO TIGERS!!!!) we won't be doing much boating in the immediate future. 

Whew...time for bed.  Nighty night....Hope you're weekend is fabulous.

Let's Stir Things Up a Little Bit

So, the other day when I was catching up on blog reading, I came across a post in which the blogger raised questions about "the blogger's voice."  Her questions and remarks, then the onslaught on subsequent comments (some of them NOT so nice) caused me to think a little about my "voice."  I think that people who read my blog and know me personally would say that what you read is all me...pure and simple.  I'm not putting on airs or creating some kind of fantasy world.  I like what I like....don't like what I don't like...and don't much care if people agree with me or not, although I believe that most of my blog friends DO agree (or at least amused) or they wouldn't be reading.  In turn, I tend to read those with which I identify the most.  


I also enjoy "style" blogs and a few off the wall ones.  Awkward Family Photos never ceases to amuse me.  I like recipe blogs.  I like design blogs.  I'm not opposed to some gossip thrown in here or there.  I like blogs that inspire.  It's hunky dory if the blogger has created some kind of fantasy world as long as I like what I read.


I don't like blogs where there is a lot of profanity.  I might throw out a "hells bells" or a "tinkers damn" once in a blue moon, but that's where I draw the line.  I dropped several blogs from my reader back during the 2008 election when uninformed people from BOTH parties started slinging a bunch of baloney around and about.  I'm a respecter of opinions, but not if the other person doesn't respect mine as well.


I don't like blogs that are routinely negative...we all have bad days now and then, but some people seem to have ALL bad days.  I read a quote the other day...can't remember who it was but it might have been Abraham Lincoln..."Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."  Ain't that the truth?


In short...my opinion is that everybody has a right to blog what they want to blog the way they want to blog it and I have a right to choose whether or not I want to read it.  Neither party owes the other any apologies.


SO...at the risk of opening up a can or worms...what do you think?  What are your favorite kinds of blogs?  Do certain catch phrases that bloggers might take on as a gimmick bug you?


Let's also declare this a "de-lurker" post.  Humor me please....reveal yourselves and SHARE!

Weekend Wrap Up...and a Recipe

Tomorrow this time I'll be back in the thick of things from a "busy" perspective, but this weekend....this weekend has been glorious. I never did get to the Piggly Wiggly yesterday, but talked Hank into stopping for me when he ran to town to share some of the bounty from our fig tree with Tom and Ann. I did a little recipe experimentation last night...pan fried tilapia with squash salsa. It's a keeper.

Just dice up a couple of squash, a couple of zucchini, a purple onion, a large bell pepper, and sautee' it in olive oil and some Cavender's seasoning for three or four minutes. Let it cool, then mix in about two tablespoons of chopped basil and four or five tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Dredge the fish (you can also use catfish or trout) in Martha White cornbread mix (the one in the tradition of the old Ballard cornbread mix) and pan fry in olive oil. Put the salsa over the fish to serve. I think that stone ground grits...lots of butter and cheese if you want...are the way to go as a side. YUM!

Here are a few photos of what others at our house were doing on Saturday afternoon...

Lazy, Crazy, Hazy Days

Don't you love the feeling of being "caught up?" Hank and I were talking last night and lately, we both feel like we get up early, rush to work, stay late, come home, and collapse. The house is always clean (thank goodness for Daisy) and the yard is always cut (thank goodness for Hank) but we get behind on other things.

For instance (and of utmost importance), when I logged onto my Google Reader yesterday, it indicated that there were 1000+ unread posts. It took me two hours before the number went BELOW 1000+. I'm pleased to say that I'm caught up...a product of not so much as stepping one foot out of the door of the house yesterday. I read blogs (sorry for lack of comments...) and washed a mountain of sheets, bath towels, beach towels, and clothes.

It was a nice day, but I'm still feeling at loose ends just a bit. Today, I need to run to the Piggly Wiggly but honestly, I just don't feel like going anywhere. Wonder if I can cobble together something for supper without having to shop? Perhaps I should just go lie down and read. Yes...that sounds good. The Piggly Wiggly will still be there in a few hours.

So, it is decided. I'm going to attempt to forgo the crazy and hazy, opting instead for pure LAZY! By the way, if you don't have an Original Pawley's Island Rope Hammock, you really ought to be ordering yourself one! In our 27 years of marriage, we've never been without one...sometimes two!!

Rising Stars....Competitive Much????

While I know you're thinking that I've become a boring blogger, life is anything BUT! The days of the week FLY by in a blur. We're in the new office and nearly all set up. We got telephones last Monday and computers Wednesday and desks for the computers yesterday. You should have seen me working with the monitor sitting on the box the computer came in and the keyboard in my lap. I had to sit on the floor to talk on the telephone. Everyday is an adventure!

Yesterday afternoon, Hank came by and helped hang pictures. The mission of our school district references "lowcountry traditions" and I found some very reasonable photographs of lowcountry landmarks at the farmer's market last weekend. It all looks marvelous if I do say so myself.

I didn't think I could ever find another administrative assistant as marvelous as Lilly but I must say that my new assistant Trina is working out beautifully. Her middle name must be "efficient" because she is getting everything organized and has already figured out how I want things done. The most wonderful thing, after six months of working virtually alone at every task related to opening a new school, is having someone answer the telephone. Some days all I DID was talk on the telephone. Don't get me wrong...I WANT to talk with the parents and students. I do NOT want to talk to every Tom, Dick, and Harry VENDOR trying to hawk the product that is going to save all of society.

We're almost exactly one month away from the students walking into our doors for the first time. That's a little nerve wracking; however, I haven't been this excited about my professional life in many many moons. Our school is going to ROCK!! This week I spend two days in Columbia at the state Principal Induction conference.

At our district new principals' orientation last week, the superintendent told the six of us that we got our jobs because we are "rising stars." Good heavens, I'd sooner throw myself in front of a BUS than let that man down. He has a way of inspiring a person to be the best they can be. SO, since I REALLY would rather NOT throw myself in front of a bus, I suppose I'm just going to have to SHINE!!! You know me...I have just a teeny tiny competitive streak.

I wonder if I could get a tiara instead of a trophy?

The Mini Honeymoon

Hank and I had a marvelous time last night. We always enjoy our little getaways right here close to home and dinner at the Peninsula Grill never disappoints. For Hank...seared scallops with a hot potato salad, a trigger fish entree', and a banana pudding-type dessert. For me...lump crab and tomato salad, a melt in your mouth fillet mignon, and milk chocolate creme brulee'.

We get the biggest kick out of people watching. We arrived about half an hour early and enjoyed a libation in the bar. One fellow, 55-ish, not too tall, arrived with a fairly large party and he thought he was SOMETHING...nice enough looking white linen shorts and a navy blue and white checked starched shirt...sleeves rolled up...loafers...no socks. Bless his heart, the hem was completely out of one of the legs of the shorts and he was sporting a toupee that was just awful. Either a toupee or he desperately needs a new barber.

Then there were the three guys at the bar. One was dressed "Charleston normal." One had on a sport coat that looked much like the one Hank wore when we departed our wedding reception in 1983. The other one...two words...Miami Vice. It was unfortunate.

Of course Hank and I looked perfect. Sorry...no pictures...I didn't feel like fooling with the camera.

We're back home. Not sure what Legare is doing today. Lorelai is with a group of friends floating down the Edisto River. Hank is cutting grass and I'm getting ready to finish writing my faculty handbook so it can get to the printer.

It was a perfect anniversary...off we go into year number 28!

Happy Anniversary...to US!

That's US as in Hank and me. Not the country, but I guess you knew that.

At right around 7:22 PM this evening, we will have been married 27 years. That's a pretty long time. I used to thing that people who had a 25th anniversary were old. I'm not old....Hank is older than I am but he's not that old either. We're going to celebrate tonight so I'll share details about that tomorrow.

As far as the week in review...I've been a bad blogger and a bad housekeeper and not much of a cook, but I've been an EXCELLENT high school principal, if I do say so myself. We're in the home stretch...by next month this time I will have held the staff retreat AND the student orientation.

Hank is going to Hometown on Sunday to tell his mother that she is moving to Green Grove next weekend whether she likes it or not. It ain't gonna be pretty...BUT, considering that she is not taking her medicine and is going to cause some kind of awful car accident because she insists on driving, it's got to happen. His uncle has her at the doctor this morning...the doctor who told her two weeks ago, "Oh don't worry about what the NEUROLOGIST told you...you can drive." Guess he's going to be feeling pretty stupid this morning when he says, "Oh well...by the way...not only can you not drive but you also have to MOVE to assisted living." He thought he was SO smart two weeks ago...he did WAY more harm than good, let me tell you. WAY more!!!

On the family front...Legare is working hard in Charlotte for three more weeks before heading back to Chapel Hill to finish his final year of law school. Lorelai thinks herself a great financial mind as she continues for another few weeks at the bank before heading back to Clemson to be a Welcome Ambassador for the freshman class. I created a Facebook page last weekend for Ned. He misses Hometown so badly so I had the idea that he could reconnect. Sure enough, a week later, he has 22 friends. Cool!

Have a great weekend!!

Driving Mr. Ned

So, as it turns out, my cousin Nancy called this morning and collected Mother at 11 AM for a day at the lake, so Ned and I skipped brunch and came straight home. As Nancy got in her car with mother and my aunt, who isn't too far from being in about the same fix, I said, "Go with God" and I meant it. She'll be slap worn out by the time she goes to bed tonight. Ned only asked about the cat and dog twice and then let it go. He didn't even talk to himself about it as we made the hour drive down the country road. I was amazed...

He IS a bit fixated on the selling of the house in Hometown...he and Hank are out in the pool and I'm pretty sure that's what they're discussing for the umpteenth time. He says he'd like to go back and "rake the yard one more time" and "take sleeping bags and spend the night." Considering he's never raked a day in his life, much less slept on anything other than a Serta Perfect Sleeper or some such mattress, he must REALLY want to go. We're playing it down...I don't think it would be a good idea.

I've fixed one of Ned's favorite meals for supper. BBQ chicken, rice, butter beans, and potato salad, with chocolate ice cream for desert. I'm using my grandmother's chicken recipe, which is really more of a smothered chicken cooked in the oven but she always called it BBQ chicken. It isn't Hank's favorite as he's more of a grill it kind of guy, so I only fix it when we're feeding Ned. The men (yes, Hank and Ned) are going to eat an early lunch here tomorrow (Grandmama's spaghetti sauce recipe...nothing Italian about it) then they're going over to the farm for the afternoon. I'm staying home. YAY!

I do want to tell you about the potato salad. My aunt Zoie made the best and I've tried to replicate it for years...just can do it, even though I know exactly what's in it. Potatoes, mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper, onion and bell pepper. Today I did a switch up and the end result is DELICIOUS! I caramelized the onion, and threw in the diced pepper for the last five minutes. OH MY GOSH...I wish you could taste it.

Ta ta for now!

Got to Love a Holiday Weekend

I've made some lovely new blog friends from over at WOW. Ain't life grand?

Moved into my new office suite today. Today was also my administrative assistant's first day and she is FABULOUS. Keeping me organized and on the straight and narrow is NOT for the faint of heart. She has her work cut out for her.

Lorelai returned from Florida and within two hours was sick as a dog. That child just goes and goes and goes until she slap wears herself out. After two days of sleeping and a good start on an antibiotic, she's feeling quite a bit better. SO much so that she's ready to pack up and go to the beach for the holiday weekend. I don't know about that...

Ned is coming to see us over the holiday weekend. The other boys are going away and the staff deserves a day off. It will be interesting...he is not at all wild about Precious, the dog OR Boo, the cat. He'll talk to himself all the way from Green Grove here...trying to convince himself that neither animal will bother him. What's so funny is that they WON'T bother him....never have, never will. It's nuts! We aren't telling mother that he's coming home with us....she'll work herself all up into a dither. I don't feel like dealing with a dither this weekend.

For those of us working four ten hour days this summer (or four twelve to fourteen hour days as the case may be) today is FRIDAY! YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY

It's shaping up to be a quiet holiday weekend here in the Land of Belle. What are YOU doing this weekend? You never know...I might show up....with Ned....and Mother. (I don't blame you. I wouldn't tell me either...)