My mom started working at a bank in downtown Richmond, VA when she was 17 in the early 60s. Check out the pale lips and dark eyes. Love it! She’s on the right in the top pic.

Hope you enjoy one our last weekends of summer!
No pics from mom’s albums this week. Things have been so hectic! Hope you enjoy these cute kiddies and have a great weekend!

February 1934, Elberton, Gloucestershire, England, UK – Pet donkey <Pat> peers over the shoulder of young Fiona MacDonald, the daughter of an Elberton farmer, as she reads from a storybook. England, 1934. Image by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS (via)



Sorry for the repeat post… my blog died and I had to get it restored to the last backup point. This post got lost so I’m doing it over again! (Some glitch with a code I installed.)
Here’s my grandmother and mom in 1950, hanging out while my grandfather worked on their new home in Mechanicsville, VA.
Have a wonderful weekend!



- I’m seriously thinking about buying a foreclosure home. Not now (maybe in a few years) but I’m researching FHA loans and the entire process. It’s a serious long-term goal I’m setting for myself. It’s too far off for the bf to panic but my parents are being super supportive. Considering my mom was a real estate agent & FHA inspector and my father owns a construction company, I have access to tools, discounted supplies, advice and help. We’re a land investment type of family. I’ve stepped up my game on saving up for a down payment. I’m getting my ducks in a row all Suze Orman style over here! Whether we’d like to live in the home or flip it after some fixing up, this will all be based on situation, location and the state of the property (and the economy) upon purchase. At this point, it’s all about patience, saving up and research. Scary exciting stuff!
- I finally went to the South of the James Farmer’s Market. I am in love with that place and so glad it’s going on until December 4th! I bought grass-fed beef from a local farmer for cheaper than at the grocery store. (It comes frozen and sealed so you can make it back home safely.) We bought beautiful heirloom cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, blackberries, and had tacos and breakfast burritos. I’m getting flowers, bread and more next time! Perfect way to throw together a special weekend dinner and get yourself out of the house on a Saturday morning. Here’s a Flickr pool of Richmond farmer’s market photos.
- This particular comic is wonderful! It compares Orwell and Huxley’s fears for our future. Yeah, we’re screwed.

- For all you suckers out there (I’m one of them), aren’t these lipsticks adorable? Of course, after a few uses, they’ve lost their charm but good grief! So cute! $25 each here. (via and all over the web now because us suckers for cute… we are legion)

- Oh hey! Did you notice I changed the look of my + & – posts? No big deal but I think it’s simple and cute!
- This post from DI$COUNT about what luxury is to them… yes.
- This entry from Postcards from Yo Mamma. Seriously, why? It happens to me all the time.

- The bf went out of town two weekends ago. While he was gone, I picked up a box of his favorite chocolates. He brought me back French tarts from a bakery we love in Maryland. This is why I have my next entry in the minuses…



- I don’t own a scale and judge my weight by my jeans. There’s no denying they’ve been a bit snug lately but the cold hard truth hurts. I went to the doctor 2 weeks ago and got weighed. I’m back to the most I ever weighed, about 2 years ago- 128lbs. Two years ago it was sitting on my ass drinking beer. This time, I barely drink, and it’s from sitting on my ass and bad food choices. This may not be a big deal to some of you but it’s kind of a big deal to me. I like the way I feel and look when I’m around 120. My body does not like this extra weight. My skin changes. I physically feel like yuck. I’m only 5’1″ and it means that if I don’t reign it in, I have to buy new clothes and I am NOT buying a new wardrobe because of laziness and shoving cheese in my face. Things have gotten real around here in the food department. It’s salad time but, I hate the gym. Hate it. I would rather all that sweat and effort have some instant results so, hard labor is more my style. Yard work, psychotic cleaning, etc. It’s on.
- We had a big rainstorm on Thursday and on the sofa, while I was being a dork on my laptop and the bf was being a dork on his Xbox, we heard a loud pop. The bf saw a flash of light and the TV cut off then back on. We sat stunned for a second wtf-ing a lot and then ran to check it out. Water. From the ceiling. Leaking. On the 50″ plasma TV the bf bought himself after his tax refund. His baby. Fuck. It’s still working but of course something has been fried. How crucial? No clue. Thank god for renter’s insurance. I’m gonna make a call on Monday and see what we need to do. Oh, and the landlord needs to fix that leak.
This is one of my mom’s boyfriends during the Vietnam era. I believe he even proposed. I figure you ladies wouldn’t mind checking him out!
Have a great weekend!

It’s almost midnight and I’m finally managing to squeeze in a pic for Friday. This week has just about ruined me. The weekend isn’t looking any better. Here’s to hoping you have a swell time! I want to walk a kitten on a leash.

source unknown
This is my mom at the Virginia State Fair, some time in the mid 1950s WITH A MONKEY!
Have a great weekend! It’s going to be hot!

This is my great grandmother May Belle Yoder Carneal. Horses were a big thing on my mom’s side of the family.

This is her daughter, my grandmother, Mary Warfield Carneal Eppers. The photo was taken at Layton’s Studio on 507 E. Broad Street in Richmond, VA. She was a little devil. She died shortly after I was born so I have no memories of her but, before I had ever seen any pictures of her, she came to me in a dream. Just sweetly checking in on me. Later, my mom got out all the pictures. When she showed me my grandmother I yelled, “I saw her! That lady was in a dream I had!” Of course my mom started crying. She always tells me how much we would’ve liked one another.

My mom has kept a ton of old pictures of herself and her side of the family. I’ll be sharing them with you!
Here she is at Richmond’s Byrd Park on May 30, 1948, dirty and grubby and chugging a soda. She’s almost 2 years old. Look at those cheeks!!!
Stay cool and have a great weekend!
