Ok, now I will start my Tuesday rant by saying, I am not a prude! That being said, we (as in the entire family), were recently exposed - well, maybe "exposed" isn't the correct word here...oh, well, maybe it is - to a little too much PDA (public display of affection)! On Sunday we went to the beach for the afternoon and we went to the very same FAMILY oriented beach we always go to. Seems like a safe bet, right? Well, unfortunately there was a family just down the beach from us (next to us) that included 2 youngish (???maybe early 20s) couples. This family did have young children with them, though I don't really know who the parents might have been because the "Grandma" of the group was the only one who seemed to care whether they survived their beach experience (another post, of course). Anyway, these two couples both laid in the edge of the surf a couple of feet from each other and spent the afternoon basically, as my kids said, making out...like for real making out!
Yes, right out there for God and everyone to see! It was really over the top. I am not talking about even snuggling up close with an occasional kiss...I am talking "I am glad they had swimsuits on, otherwise Grandma would probably be on her way to having another grandchild!". I guess I don't get out much, because I was just shocked. We were in a really family type area (heck, they were with their family!) and generally we haven't seen such behavior there before.
Now, my DH and I are pretty affectionate and we hold hands and walk arm in arm pretty much all the time and occasionally will kiss in public so I am - in general - not a freaker-outer about PDAs, but his was just over the top. I felt like the church lady wondering how the what appeared to be parents of these two couples could tolerate it and where has a simple sense of propriety gone? Tsk! Tsk! Honestly, if it were one of my children (even in their 20s) I would smack them "upside the head"!
I eventually turned our beach chairs at an angle that I couldn't even see this family as I was afraid my eyes were going to bleed....it was just TMI!
I have been kinda, sorta, looking towards fall a bit, in regards to fashion and though I am not giving up summer quite yet, I have found a couple of trendy things that I may have to add to my closet. The first 
Now, this is a long awaited book for me. Charles Martin is currently my favorite author. I read this in the two days that our movers were at our house in Georgia packing up. It was a wonderful escape and I actually left it as a "parting gift" for my dear neighbor, Susan. We are kindred souls when it comes to reading, so I knew she had to share this book with me. The only sad part is that I won't be there to sit beside her on our front porch rockers and talk about it when she finishes! Trust me, Charles Martin doesn't disappoint with his latest release! 
I also just finished up The Help. When I first picked this up, I wasn't really feeling it would be all that great, but isn't that just the most wonderful thing about books....surprises lie between the covers. The Help turned out to be one of the best books I have read in a really long time. 
I also recently read Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt and, though it was a much lighter read than The Help or The Mountain Between Us, it was a good book! I look forward to seeing more from this writer.
After many months of not really having a typical schedule and lots of eating out and on the run, I have found myself at a loss at how to get back in the groove with cooking at home. Yes, I desperately want to cook at home every night (really) and I want my family to have healthy, made from scratch food regularly - not to mention being easier on the family budget. But here is where I am struggling. I used to sit down and make a menu for 10 days or so, and then a grocery list to go along with it and we were able to pretty much stick to that and it worked great. Now when I sit down with just that intent, I am just blank...what to fill those days with??? What can I plan for that is healthy, reasonably cheap and works with my time frame? What did we used to eat? Gosh, I am just lost. Tonight I sat down and went through a couple of cookbooks trying to get some inspiration and organization, but didn't come away with much. I also used to think I was a pretty descent cook but now I don't know, maybe just being really, really out of practice is showing? 
Yep the new house also has a new Yard Man! Anyone thinking Patrick Dempsey in "Can't Buy Me Love"? All he needs is the cowboy hat and boots!
