A Time For Thanks

For those of you who don't already know, my husband's oldest son, Capt. Brant McMullan, had a horrific accident on the afternoon of July 24th.  While installing a new billboard wrap with his brother, he fell about 45 feet from the top of the billboard down to a cement pad.  He was badly injured but survived the fall, which broke multiple bones and scraped off a lot of skin - but thankfully did not result in injuries to his internal organs.

He has already undergone a long surgery by the meticulous Dr. Neil MacIntyre to rebuild his crushed hip socket and pelvic damage, and tomorrow will undergo surgery to put his arm back together properly.  He delighted us all by moving his toes on command yesterday morning, so he WILL walk again.  He may not run marathons, but he'll be back on that boat and Tournament Fishing before too long.  He and the rest of  Team OIFC have their SKA reputation to defend, after all!

Brant is very strong, and very determined to make the fastest recovery possible and resume his position at the helm of the Ocean Isle Fishing Center.  He doesn't "sit" very well, and although he is in terrific pain, he is already planning how to get himself up 12 feet of stairs so he can get back to work.

For all of you who have sent messages of support and love during these past three days,

 Brant and all of our Family cannot Thank You enough.

Your prayers, emails, and phone calls are a fountain of strength; a sweet net of support for Brant and all of us, and helps so much to hold him and all of us up through this time.

Updates on his recovery will be posted on the Fishing Center site under the Fishing Reports.

Please keep those positive thoughts and prayers coming!

I would be remiss if I did not send a huge Thanks to The Big Guy up above,  who undoubtedly (as a family member suggested) provided Brant with a Guardian Angel who took the fall barely ahead of him and cushioned it enough to save his life.

It is truly a Time For Thanks. 

A Villa on the Mediterranean Coast...

Doesn't that sound fabulous?  Thought so.

This is Sasso By the Sea - soon to be Palazzo Avino, on the Amalfi Coast of Italy, and I've had it on my bucket list of go-to spots since 2010.

I have pined over this photo so long that when I started working on one of my latest collections, I turned back to it for color confirmation.  I'm not a real "Follow the Trends" sort of person as far as color palettes; I tend to just work in the colors that I love.
And I love these!


The shifting Turquoise colors of the sea, the saturated Plums of the Bougainvillea, the Earthy Greens and Saffrons are so Happy together.  So, I named the collection "Mediterranean Villa".

These are my test swatches from Spoonflower Fabrics, and I'm so happy with the fabric at the top of the picture...a lovely Cotton/Linen blend that just presents the colors beautifully.  

Makes me want to do some Parson's Chairs...

And some soft pillows out of the lustrous Cotton Silk - third fabric down on the picture...

Photo: Concierge.com

Now I just need to get those chairs into a room in a villa on the Mediterranean.  That is painted Saffron Yellow, and has Bougainvillea trailing over the walls...

Back to Weight Loss After Vacation

We've been on the road for a week, which really Got My Attention on how hard it is to eat sensibly while traveling...or working.

On the Interstate, Husband insists on "Grab and Go" dining, 

which precludes a salad or anything with a fork.  

That means this:

or this:

and God Help You if you suggest anything different - it simply doesn't fly with a

 goal-oriented driver like my Husband.  You can toss the buns, but after about the third meal of this, you realize you are only saving about 200 calories.  One gets discouraged...

We visited his uncle, (who owns Andy Griffith's boyhood home in Mount Airy!) who loves Thai food, and there was nothing for it but to order up...there are no photos of that meal, but suffice to say that oil was a HUGE ingredient.

Once you get to the Beach, the Sunset Ceremony is a very special tradition that we cherish, whether with a house full of friends and family or just the two of us.

Which requires drinks to toast the sunset with.  Which puts dinner later than usual, and means you go to bed on a full tummy.  Lovely tradition, but honestly, a Diet Disaster!

We're back home in Atlanta now, and I'm getting some ribbing about serving "Roughage", but we are seeing instant results.  The extra pounds are slipping off.

Which means this:

Never give up on your new eating plan...even after a week of really bad food and sitting in a car for days, which will put a couple or three pounds back on you - never give up on your new body.  Just resume your sensible eating plan, and the pounds start melting off again.  

I promise.

Calories in, Calories out.  Don't eat more than you can burn off in a day.

Drink a lot of water.

Get back on your walking or workout plan.

Step on that scale religiously, morning and night, to track your weight.  If you have to, get extreme for a day to dump those regained pounds.

After this trip, I am seriously thinking about developing a line of Yummy, Fresh, and Convenient fast foods that could be stocked in the bigger Gas Station chains.

Like this:

Image from Live In The Now

Image from Neat Pins

  

Now.  Doesn't this look more appetizing than fried potatoes served in a cardboard box??

  Anyone want to go into business with me??

Oh, yes... this means Husband has to drive, so I can properly use my fork....

The Beauty of One

It is amazing to think that a whole year has passed since Baby Girl Blakely was born.  So tiny, so helpless, and so loved.  Just look at our little beauty now:

Her Aunt Amy laid bets that she would take her first steps at her Birthday Party, just like her cousin Brayden did, but she was waaaay too busy for that.  Maybe next week.  Meantime, I'll let her tell you about her Big Party...

 Look at all this STUFF!  

And it was 

All for Me!  

                    WOW.   

Can you believe this?

And it just kept coming and coming.

Sure would like to have 

gotten my hands

 on THAT food...

Tons of people came...everybody was talking and talking!

And then, everybody stood around me and sang.  

Loud.

  It got away with me so bad that 

I had to put my head down for a minute.

Then my Mom put this Cake 

Right in Front of Me

 and stood back.  

What?

It sure didn't look like Green Beans...or Pears...

Heh.

It WASN'T!

Mom never said, "No, no".  Not once.  What??

So I'm telling you,

 I Took The High Dive, right into that cake!  Wow!!

After a Sink Bath, it was time to open presents.

I got lots of Toys, Clothes, Books, a Teddy Bear,

 and my own Beach Chair.

Great STUFF.

But the best part was, 

My Daddy gave me a Sterling Silver Bracelet with a Heart Charm on it.  I simply Love It.  Love it.

I'm real big now...I'm One.

Love you all, and Thanks for coming to my Big Party!

Be Careful What You Wish For...

This past weekend, it was around 105 degrees in Atlanta, Georgia. It was Stupid Hot.

Husband decided that the only thing to do was blow out of town up into the mountains of North Carolina - to one of our favorite places, Pisgah Inn.   I strenuously objected, because the forecast for the Pisgah Inn called for unusually high temperatures - 83 degrees during the day, and 77 degrees at night.  Pisgah Inn has NO AIR CONDITIONING 

because normally, you don't need it.

The discussion took an ugly turn when he informed me with a cheesy grin 

that he had booked a room.  Period.

I was furious.  I was not nice to him for two days.  But I packed my bags and got in the truck.

As we neared Asheville, the thermometer in the truck registered the outside temperatures at 107...104...102 degrees.  Too hot, too hot.

Around 4,000 feet of elevation, the temperature was at 83 degrees.  Husband pleaded with me to enjoy the scenery and be happy for that 20 degree drop.  I informed him that to make me happy, he had to get it another 20 degrees lower - to around 63 degrees.   So he announced:  "I can do that!  Just watch!"  He hates for us to argue, so I grudgingly rolled my eyes and played the game.  "Sure, honey!  I believe in you!"

At 5000 feet, the Pisgah Inn came into sight.  We pulled in to register and pick up our room key.  It was 81 degrees, a hot blue sky, with a fitful breeze.  I was dismayed - the room was like an oven when we walked in.  

Photo of room at Pisgah Inn

Husband pulled on his sneakers and sped out the door to go hike one of the forest trails...anything to get out of my range.

He'd been gone about 30 minutes when I heard the first rumble of thunder.  I had the door open so that the little breeze could sweep some of the heat out of the room, and suddenly the sky got dark, the wind started gusting through the room, and big rain drops started to spatter down. Before I could make it to the door to check the sky, I heard what sounded like rocks hitting the front of the hotel and my jaw dropped when an ice pellet the size of a plum whizzed through the room and disappeared over the balcony, followed by a half dozen others.  

I struggled with the door against the wind and slammed it closed.  Peering through the tiny window, I saw shredded foliage, small limbs and ICE raining down on the lawn and parking lot.  Big ice.  Big hail.  The wind was howling, it was pouring rain and lightening was crackling down all over the place.  Followed by ear-splitting thunder.  

And my husband was out in this maelstrom - bare headed, with only a T Shirt and Shorts on, and out of cell phone range.

The storm raged for about 20 minutes, and finally started to slack off.  This is what it looked like after it finally stopped:

The grass was completely covered with hail!

  

The parking lot was littered with foliage and ice and damaged cars.

After about 30 minutes, I walked toward the office to see about sending someone to look for my Husband - I was frantic with worry by now.   And suddenly, there he was, pulling into the parking lot.  He got out of his truck, and I started toward him.  He looked like a drowned rat, but he had a BIG SMILE on his face.  "Come here, come here!" he was saying.  When I got to the truck, he said, "Look!" and pointed to the thermometer.

It said 61 degrees.  He said, "I told you I could do it!"

Be careful what you wish for.

Just for the record, he was protected by the slope of the hill he was on...the storm approached from the back side, so he was in the lee and thankfully, didn't get the full force of it.   But he did say that hail pounding on your bare head HURTS!  He makes me crazy.