Confessions of a Misplaced Southern Belle

Not so misplaced anymore!

nablopomo

Weekending

We finally had a beautiful day here on the west coast of Florida yesterday.  Amanda and I took advantage and went to the local Dia de los Muertos Festival in the Village of the Arts.  Their huge shrine this year was dedicated to the the 2000 tons of sea life that has died along our coast due to red tide this year.  We also took a little tour of the galleries and in one area got mother/daughter henna, picked up some local honey from Myakka Gold Apiary (ooh, and sampled and purchased some creamed honey…so good!).

I have been itching to get to my ‘local’ yarn store, A Good Yarn, and by local, meaning a nearly 40 minutes drive in Sunday traffic.I did buy some pretty yarn for a scarf for my mother in law, but I’m not showing the yarn or the color, even though she knows I’m knitting her one, some yarn that reminded me of fall.  NO clue when or if I will get to knit it, but I liked it, so it came home with me.I then spent some time browsing Barnes and Noble, but shocker, didn’t buy a single thing! I did get some new ideas for magazines that I’d like to try.  I should have purchased them while I was there, but maybe that is the excuse I need to go back.  My nearest bookstore is a Books a Million and it just doesn’t have the same feel as a Barnes and Noble.  Is that weird? Does anyone else feel that way? Of course, my preferred bookstore would be an independent one, but those are few and far between here, which is just shocking to me.  I could go to Tampa, but that is just as far as driving into Sarasota!  While on my way home, I took a detour to St. Armands Circle and picked up hubby some macarons.  He loves them and it’s been months since I’ve picked him up any as I don’t get to our local mall to get any.  I’ve noticed that if I can’t get it delivered or I can just pick it up, I don’t get out much.  There are some benefits to that, but I think that I would risk missing out on some lovely local shops if I continue to do that

Oh! I’m knitting on the Weigh it Yowza 4 by Susan B. Anderson.  I’ve been knitting on this for over a year…well, actually, NOT knitting, but I’ve picked it back up and am determined to finish it up so I can wear it next month when we do get some cooler weather and I can wear it.  Tomorrow is back to work, but I also have a board meeting to attend in Orlando on Friday and puppy raiser day to photograph on Saturday.  Good thing we have the following Monday off in honor of Veteran’s Day.

How was your weekend?

 

Random thoughts on a Sunday (NaBloPoMo Day 6)

1)Sometimes I have too much to do and then I freeze and procrastinate and then panic to get everything done. I think maybe it has something to do with working under a deadline for so many years.

2) I used to hold my tongue and not speak up when I thought people were being ridiculous.  I’ve gotten over that.

3) Most of the time, I like my dogs better than people.

4) I’d love to experience a real Fall and a real winter so I don’t feel like me knitting stuff is an exercise in futility.

5) I would love to take a month off, go to the mountains with books, knitting, my camera and my writing.  (alone, well, maybe I’ll take Bacchus…Amanda wouldn’t let me take Idunn)

6)  Maybe for #5, I’ll go to Scotland instead.

7) Bacchus would need a sweater.  I’d have to knit him one or five.

8) And booties.

9) I miss my family in Louisiana.  All the time.

10) I watch too much Bravo Tv.

11) I wish I was still writing as much as I used to.

12) I’m really not liking my job this year. I loved it last year, and this year I feel so out of my element that I hate going to work some days.

13) The only thing getting me through this year is working with my TSA kids.

14) I’ll be 45 on my next birthday, and for some reason, that is starting to bother me.

15) I drink too much tea.  (well, how much is too much, really?)

16) I’m in desperate need of a manicure.

17) Mariah Carey is annoying.

18) I really need to more organized. I think it would help my feeling of always barely treading water.

19) I need to learn to say NO

20) My favorite meal is my mom’s roast, rice and gravy, blackeye peas and cornbread.

This was all train of thought, and that is a tad scary. lol  Feel free to share 20 random things in your post.

 

10 Things About Me

My lovely daughter, has a new blog over at Peonies and Paperclips and her post today was 10 Things about Me. I had done this years ago when I had my old blog, but haven’t updated it, so since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, here we go.

  1. I have lived in Florida for 14 years, but I still consider myself a Louisiana girl. The name of my blog truly describes who I am.  I am a Misplaced Southern Belle. Florida is not the South. It might be geographically Southern, but mentally, it is not…at least south of Tampa, where I reside.
  2. I have had this blog in some form of another since 2004. It started off as a knitting blog and evolved. It was even mentioned in Southern Living at one time because of knitting.   (I don’t knit that much at the moment. It’s hard to knit when it’s 90 degrees…in November.)
  3. I am a high school teacher and I teach English Language Learner students…and I don’t speak a foreign language. I joke that my students will speak English with a Southern accent.
  4. I own Kiki Mac Photography and I shoot part time. A lot of my photography evolves around working with Southeastern Guide Dogs where I photograph Guide Dog U when the raisers turn over their dogs for training and I photograph Puppy Raiser Day which is when the dog has been matched and the raiser gets a chance to meet the new handler.
  5. Speaking of Southeastern Guide Dogs, my family and I are puppy raisers. We raise puppies for SEGD and then turn them over after a year or so to be trained as guide dogs. We are on puppy number five. Yes it’s hard, but seeing what they do for people who need them is worth it.
  6. I have been married for twenty-three years and have one daughter and four dogs.
  7. I miss Louisiana and my family every single. day.
  8. I drink unsweetened iced tea every day. I think it’s an addiction.
  9. I used to write for travel magazines and got to travel the state and write about it. I miss that!
  10. I’m 44 years old and am a Leap Day Baby…yep, I’ve had 11 birthdays.

Ok, so that is the quick and dirty 10 things about me.  Feel free to share 10 things about you and leave a link to your post in the comments.