Just Keepin' it Real

Worry

2009-10-08T07:07:00.001-06:00

Is there an imaginary cut off period when offspring become accountable for their own actions? Is there some wonderful moment when parents can become detached spectators in the lives of their children and shrug, 'It's their life,' and feel nothing?

When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital corridor waiting for doctors to put a few stitches in my son's head and I asked, 'When do you stop worrying?' The nurse said, 'When they get out of the accident stage..' My parents just smiled faintly and said nothing.

When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little chair in a classroom and heard how one of my children talked incessantly, disrupted the class, and was headed for a career making license plates. As if to read my mind, a teacher said, 'Don't worry, they all go through this stage and then you can sit back, relax and enjoy them.' My parents just smiled faintly and said nothing.

When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime waiting for the phone to ring, the cars to come home, the front door to open. A friend said, 'They're trying to find themselves. 'Don't worry! In a few years, they'll be adults. 'They'll be off on their own, they'll be out of your hair'. My parents just smiled faintly and said nothing.

By the time I was 50, I was sick and tired of being vulnerable. I was still worrying over my children, but there was a new wrinkle. Even though they were on their own I continued to anguish over their failures, be tormented by their frustrations and absorbed in their disappointments..and there was nothing I could do about it. My parents just smiled faintly and said nothing.

My friends said that when my kids got married I could stop worrying and lead my own life. I wanted to believe that, but I was haunted by my parent's warm smiles and their occasional, 'You look pale. Are you all right' ? 'Call me the minute you get home'. Are you depressed about something?' My friends said that when I became a Grandparent that I would get to enjoy the happy little voices yelling "Grandma! Papa!", but now I find that I worry just as much about the little kids as the big ones.

How can anyone cope with all this worry? Can it be that parents are sentenced to a lifetime of worry? Is concern for one another handed down like a torch to blaze the trail of human frailties and the fears of the unknown? Is concern a curse or is it a virtue that elevates us to the highest form of earthly creation?

Recently, one of my own children became quite irritable saying to me, 'Where were you? I've been calling for 3 days, and no one answered I was worried.' I smiled a warm smile.

God Is Good.....

BUT, then there's the whole issue of reversing roles and raising your parents and worrying over them....but that's a different story for another day...

Be Quite House!

2009-10-06T07:30:00.000-06:00

This very well could be the most photo's ever in a blog for me... but this has been a "thorn in my side" so to speak lately.

I think I may have a problem....

My home seems to be speaking to me everywhere I look...

I've become so aware that I've actually picked up things to purchase and realized it was "speaking" to me and I didn't need anymore "talk" at my house so I put it back!

I became most aware of this problem in my 9x6 utility room...

Maxine sits on a shelf next to the dryer with a whole tablet of messages...(if you can't read this terrible shot, it says "when life hands you lemons ask for tequila and salt")

and just in case you weren't sure what room you were in or where to "drop your drawers"...

yet another reminder that also holds the laundry powders....

and also from the utility room, a sign my beloved hung over the entrance to the garage...

On to the kitchen...

a Caton find...

a BUNKO gift... (actually it's a box)

a flea market find...

a resale store bargain (in case you can't read it..."There's nothing like the pity patty of little feet....going home!")

Estate sale goodie...

thermometer collection with two little plaques I've had forever.

boy this one is right on...

a box from Ross....who couldn't pass up a box that said it was needful???

blocks on the mantle that let you say whatever you like in this verbal house....

another BUNKO win...in the guest room

this one was my Mother's and I ask her for it many, many years before her death, because it is one of the most profound statements in the good book...

Joshua 24:15

what can I say....I'm a real winner when it comes to BUNKO!

Maxine clock in the crafty room...just love her!

"If it is to be it is up to me" in my bath....

along with this one....kind of ironic...

I even have my babies labeled with their names....lest I forget

one of my favorite grouping in the hall...

with the appropriate wording for all the generations of parents before us.

But this one sums it all up~

($1.50 at Ross!!!!)

Allen Philharmonic Orchestra

2009-10-04T21:43:00.004-06:00

Saturday night we had a wonderful night listening to the Allen Philharmonic Orchestra. Which just so happens to have a very extinguished violinist... our daughter-in-law Heather!

It's hard to imagine that the little city of Allen has it's very own orchestra!! The music was wonderful with two guest artists.... A baritone Donnie Ray Albert and a beautiful harpist Yumiko Endo Schlaffer...both were excellent.

But not nearly as special as our Heather!

These are not the best photos but without embarrassing Heather and walking right up to the front, these are the best I could do...

Proud hubby and father-in-law~

Bravo Heather! We love you and the beautiful music you make!!

P.S.

Along with teaching and tutoring violin, Heather manages a very busy etsy business and keeps up with her own personal blog and is the perfect wife for that son of ours.

Voted Most Fun Couple on a trip to Seattle

2009-10-02T07:31:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it was two weeks ago today that we were departing on our trip to Alaska!

It was the wee hours of the morning and we were both giddy....the usual...hubby making wise cracks with the air staff and them having the utmost sympathy for me for putting up with it for HOW MANY YEARS!?

Well it finally paid off.......

Shortly before touch down the stewardess brought us a bottle of champagne.....

and snuck in some grub from first class to us.

All at no charge!

They said we won the prize for being the most fun couple on board!

I was so excited I ran up a few rows to where our traveling friends were to tell (BRAG) of our good fortune.

Only to find why we must have been voted the most fun!!!!

Scrappy Supper in a jiffy

2009-10-01T18:56:00.004-06:00

Take one pound of FREE Eckrich sausage (our customer who recently had a successful experience in our plant packaging their product...sent a pound of their sausage to each of our employees...aka "perk")

Scrounge through the semi empty pantry...find some spaghetti

boil and mix with a half empty jar of pesto in the frig....

Rummage through the freezer and find a hidden bag of yummy broccoli & carrots with garlic & herbs...(for real these are yummy, fast and only 40 calories a serving!)

Here's our cast of character's as all the food bloggers point out (usually at the beginning of their blog, not toward the end....oh, well)

Dressed up spaghetti with some pesto and parmesan cheese.

Browning up that free sausage...

Assemble nicely on a plate and devour.

This dinner was actually prepared faster than this blog was created. FOR REAL!!

Looking for motivation...

2009-09-30T21:45:00.005-06:00

OK lurker, are you happy? I'm making a lame attempt at returning to my blogging.

There's been a few obstacles

(A trip to the other side of the world,

impending grandchild, ladies retreat....just to name a few),

but I'm putting a clean card in the Kodak and setting my sails toward some new blogable material.

Wish me luck!

P.S. The dead wasp in the previous blog post, was mysteriously "swept" away a couple of days after the post.....

Rest in Peace....

2009-08-25T22:28:00.003-06:00

I'll probably lose my job over this one, but at least I will have made my point....

We have a very lame cleaning crew at my office. Things lay on the floor and they supposedly "vacuum" around them for days. Nothing ever gets wiped down including the window ledge in our mail room, where this lovely yellow jacket/wasp decide to expire.

I never get very far with calling the person in charge of building maintenance and usually get a reprimand for calling it to the attention of the cleaning company...so I decided to take a different approach.

I erected a simple tombstone with the date of the winged wonders expiration.

Really thinking that it would bring attention to the DEAD CARCASS and someone would dispose of it!

But no, it remains there for over a week now.

My next step is to fashion a tiny funeral wreath and lay it next to the deceased....if that doesn't work I'm going to cover the little guy with a ever so small mound of dirt and if THAT doesn't work I'm going to put out a tiny guest book for all mail room mourners to sign!! Stay tune...

Quick makeover

2009-08-06T11:16:00.010-06:00

My co-worker and friend recently brought this little topiary to me for a make over.

Along with a roll of black and white dotted ribbon.
I gave it a quick shot of compressed air and a little sponge bath...wrapped the ribbon around the trunk and put a nice bow on it's head.

Now, I'll tell you about the funny part.... it just looked a little plain, so I called my friend and asked if she would mind if a put a "B" on it. Mind you I didn't say the LETTER B, so her reply was: "Oh okay, like up on the top in the bare spot?" and I said: "No, I don't think we're on the same page...I was thinking on the front of the pot" and she said: "Oh, I was thinking about a 3 dimensional one" and I was scratching my head completely confused. Well, it hit me about the time I finished it that she thought I was referring to a yellow and black BEE!

I think she was quite pleased when she saw the finished product and it didn't have a big bumble bee on the front of it. I'm sure it will fit much better this way in her pink and black room than it would have with a BEE on it!

A Fun Saturday with the Grands!

2009-08-04T21:55:00.000-06:00

A couple of weekend's ago we had the younger three grands and we started off our Saturday with a trip to Farmer's Market..

They didn't even seem to mind that the temperature was climbing to three digits.

They were in hog heaven with all the free samples of melon, tomatoes, pineapple and the like. Of course it wouldn't be a trip to the market without stopping for a bag of peanuts!

And an ear of hot corn for the ride home!

It really was so hot you could hardly eat it!

But boy, was it yummy...

After our adventure to the market we headed home and put on our swimsuits and hit the pool...

But the party didn't end here...

Of course everyone was starving and Mom just happened to send along a coupon for....

So we loaded up Great Grannypa and spent the rest of the evening there.

This was the scene the next morning...I have NEVER had to wake these children up.

They are always early risers...but not this time!

The Simple Woman's Daybook Monday August 3, 2009

2009-08-03T06:23:00.003-06:00

For Today...

Outside my window... a rose bed trying to survive the heat

I am thankful for... health insurance.

From the kitchen... watermelons, Israel melons & a couple of fresh tomatoes.

I am wearing... turquoise pants set

I am reading... Alphabet Weekends by Elizabeth Noble

I am hoping... a cleaning fairy to stop by my house..

I am creating... a lot of trouble for myself

I am praying... for faithful friends and family.

Around the house... stuff!

One of my favorite things... a drive in the country.

A few plans for the rest of the week... paying bills, cleaning house, washing car....fun stuff.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

Just one of those interesting things we see on those drives in the country...

Our latest past time...

2009-07-30T23:25:00.000-06:00

Our city's Athletic Center...

is where you will find us nearly every afternoon during the week.

It's a great place to cool off and get a little water exercise.

This is a fun contraption in the kiddie area.

The buckets fill up and dump when they get full.

There's also this fun "mushroom" fountain, which you can stand under...

A big slide that I am going to attempt one day...

A life size water tower that over flows...

And of course our favorite the lazy river... (Skippy is right there in the middle)

Here he is vigorously exercising his legs....

And me? Well, I'm contemplating the need of a pedicure...

Tomato Pie

2009-07-28T06:00:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year....fresh homegrown tomatoes!!

And here's a great recipe to use them....

I didn't think about blogging this until I was almost done so there is no "cast of characters" and the recipe is completely blurry, but here we go...

Underneath all this lushness lies a bed of mozzarella cheese...

3/4 of a pound!!

Not 3/4 of a cup...

THREE FOURTHS OF A POUND!

IN EACH PIE!!

On top of a prebaked pie crust, the on top of the cheese is layered tomatoes, green onions, bacon pieces and herbs. Pop it in the oven and bake. Makes a really yummy lunch with a big glass of iced tea....

~PERFECTO~

Tractor Square Dance....

2009-07-27T06:56:00.000-06:00

Now the truth is out....I am a redneck. I got the biggest kick out of this video. What talent and skill this takes and it's so darn entertaining! Well at least to me.

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Have a great week!!

My New Dishwasher!

2009-07-23T21:56:00.004-06:00

(No, not Heather!)

It was another one of those evenings. An evening of celebration. Of daughter-in-law Heather's birthday. And of course Gerad & Heather brought over our granddog Zoey.

And like the true lady that she is she pitched in and did her part....

More computer humor

2009-07-17T07:25:00.000-06:00

A SPANISH Teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la casa.'

'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.'

A student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'?'

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun.

Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of the feminine gender ('la computadora'), because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;

2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;

2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The women won!!

Keepin' the kitchen cool...

2009-07-15T07:30:00.001-06:00

The largest window in our kitchen faces the west...which means in the summer afternoons it gets quite hot near this window.

Well, this year I tried something different...I planted some morning glories outside this window, strung some twine from the top of the window to the ground and the rest is a nice window treatment made of morning glories.

Here's the view from the inside of the kitchen...it just LOOKS cool and does actually make a difference. I saw one bloom several weeks ago, but none since...these were suppose to be annuals but they come back every year, but this is the first year I haven't had plants full of blooms. They've even been doctored with Miracle Grow and Super Bloom and still a big fat nothing in regards to blooms. Oh well, they do provide a cool shade!

So now here's where I went over the top of making it a redneck project....

I had tallest son (6ft 4 to be exact) cover the sky light in the kitchen with tin (if you're real country!) or aluminum (if you're city slick)foil the last time he made a visit.

WOW, what a difference shading the sources of the sun makes!

The Simple Woman's Daybook Monday July 13, 2009

2009-07-13T06:56:00.005-06:00

For Today...

Outside my window... the beginnings of another hot day :(

I am thankful for... air conditioning!

From the kitchen... squash & bbq pork roast...yum!

I am wearing... the same outfit I wore to church yesterday....black slacks and pink & black sheerish top...with new pink and silver necklace & earrings from Charming Charlies!

I am reading... Whatever my precious daughter tells me I need to be reading (ha, ha, ha!). The 3rd (?) in Adriana Trigiani's series "Home to Big Stone Gap"

I am hoping... for cooler weather?

I am creating... lots of things in my mind...just can't seem to put them in action.

I am praying... thankfulness for hubby's speedy recovery.

Around the house... little piles... here, there, and everywhere!

One of my favorite things... the laughter from my family.

A few plans for the rest of the week... shopping for just the right birthday gift for DIL, joining the local rec center and GOING EVERY day, Bunko, allergy shots & hair removal (TMA!!).

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

Roxy gets a bath yesterday and it tuckered her out!

P.S. And she had nothing to do with the "Around the house" statement....

Hamburgers????

2009-07-10T19:14:00.003-06:00

I seem to have a run on food blogs these days.....this is from the past holiday on the 4th.

Nice little burger sliders (you can order your own slider maker from Billy Mays <RIP> here).

Or NOT?? Look closer. These are cupcakes! For real! I got the idea from Bakerella and hers are much better than mine.

For the step by step instructions you can check her site out. The only difference in hers and mine was the "lettuce". She used green icing and I tinted coconut green and used it for the "lettuce".

Well, maybe there was more than ONE difference.....my kitchen afterwards?! Oh, and she served fries with hers....maybe next time...

Computer troubles

2009-07-09T14:10:00.004-06:00

I was having trouble with my computer. So I called my favorite son-in-law, and asked him to come over.

He clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem.

As he was walking away, I called after him, 'So, what was wrong?

He replied, 'It was an ID ten T error.'

I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless inquired, 'An, ID Ten T error? What's that?

In case I need to fix it again.'

He grinned. 'Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error Before?'

'No,' I replied.

'Write it down,' he said, 'and I think you'll figure it Out.'

*
*
*
*

So I wrote down:

I D 1 0 T

I used to like the little brat.

The 4th

2009-07-06T21:23:00.006-06:00

A band...

some shade...

a gathering...

of friends...

some GOOD food...

AND 105 degrees in the shade!!!

a 2 mile drive home that took 45 minutes that normally takes 5....

what a GREAT 4th!!

Take a break Miss Liberty!!

Whew! What a weekend~~

Late night project gone south...

2009-07-03T10:00:00.000-06:00

Due to a loooonnnnnnggggg evening nap, we (Skippy {hubby} & I) ventured into a project last night after MIDNIGHT.... This was the end result and thus the answer to last night's question. "What it is??"

Did you guess strawberry jam??

Well that is what it was... We had somewhat of a run away porridge experience with it as when it began to boil it began to LEAP out of the pan.

Oh, what a delicious mess~~~

What it is??

2009-07-03T00:11:00.003-06:00

Details at 10....

Equivalents

2009-07-01T08:51:00.009-06:00

A man climbs to the top of Mt. Sinai to get close enough to talk to God.

Looking up, he asks the Lord, “God, what does a million years mean to you?”

The Lord replies, “A minute.”

The man asks, “And what does a million dollars mean to you?”

The Lord replies, “A penny.”

The man asks, “Can I have a penny?”

The Lord replies, “In a minute.”

Upcycling?

2009-06-12T20:28:00.003-06:00

True Redneck Tube Top!!!! This was taken in front of the Gardendale, Alabama, Wal-Mart, where the young lady was shopping at the Flea market. This is hysterical! Look at it closely...

Now I ask you.....
Who stands and looks at a pair of men's briefs and says hummmm...I can make me a nice summer top from these!! On the other hand....$6 for a three pack is a good price!! But what if they weren't bought new? That's redneck recycling at its best.
Don't throw out yer feller's drawers when the skidmarks don't wash out no more.
Just cut the crotch out and wear'em. How very Green! Al Gore would be proud.

A nice drive

2009-06-08T05:45:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday hubby and I made a short road trip to Caddo Mills. It was past time for the old red truck to have some "under the hood"care. He has a friend that is a shady tree mechanic that we took the truck to.

I took the opportunity for a photo shoot. If you were driving behind me you would have never known that was what I was doing...

Shooting pictures of cows...

great homes out in the countryside (my dream!!)...

the great lake of Lavon...

and the crops of the country side.

And almost made toast of this little hummingbird as we were arriving the great city of Josephine! (not really on the bird toast...just a close up of my rearview mirror ornament)

Just past the city park in Josephine...

we left the old red truck and headed back home.

Nothing better than a drive into the country...LOVE IT!!

A shower for the Birds

2009-06-06T11:40:00.006-06:00

PART TWO...the rest of the Cake Ball story

Here they are amongst the rest of the bridal shower ingredients.

The other items I was responsible for at this shower were these cute little decorations of birds.

I discovered the idea for these over at Family Fun.
They did theirs with different colors of paper, since the wedding colors were black and white that is what I went with. The legs were made by bending paperclips into different shapes for legs. My favorite were the solid black birds. The paper had a texture similar to leather.

I glued on some rhinestone eyes and we punched holes in the tops of some to string...

...and hang on this little tree.

I was also responsible for the brides corsage. I whipped up a "flower"made from some of the same paper the birds were made from and also some black and white fabric. Some netting a big black pom pom and a couple of black birds and like magic....a funky corsage!

Cake balls!

2009-06-03T06:56:00.002-06:00

If you don't know what Cake Balls are you can find out more about them at this great blog called Bakerella. It's a clever concept...bake a cake, crumble it up, add a container of frosting, roll into balls, dip in chocolate and then any type of edible sprinkle you like.Easy enough? Right? These Cake Balls were for a bridal shower I was helping with and I was making Cake Balls to resemble the bride and groom. The brides turned out great...using a white cake and white frosting, dipped in white almond bark then sprinkled with white iridescent sugar sprinkles. Quite bridal if I may say so myself.

And then came the grooms....oh dear. They just didn't dip and come out correctly.

They came out HORRID!!! After several attempts and it being after midnight, I went to bed with thought of whipping up some cupcakes first thing the next morning...

I was so disappointed! I tossed and turned all night and gave thought to just how to decorate the cupcakes to look like little brides and grooms.

But sometime during this fitful night I came up with the idea of using a paint brush to apply the chocolate turning these little dudes into....

LITTLE ELVIS' or WEREWOLVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then the bow ties and buttons were added and they gradually began to transform into handsome little grooms.

Pairing them up with the brides...

and placing them on a nice serving dish...

brought the whole marital Cake Ball package together.

Stay tune for more ideas that were used at this shower...

Like mother like daughter

2009-06-01T07:00:00.001-06:00

Following the footsteps of my daughter (actually I did this first, but didn't complete it until recently) I pulled this chair out of someone's trash and refurbished it. Husband cut a new seat and I touched up the paint with a hit of black spray paint.

Added a healthy dose of batting for padding.

Pulled a scrap of fabric I have had for a while. Switched to a more powerful staple gun (per husband's advice) and went wild with the staples.

This is a simple, simple project and very low cost. You just have to be sure to secure the fabric tightly and you've got it made.

Here's the seat completed. Then commission (although I could have done this) husband to find a long screw to attach the seat to the chair frame.

A new chair for next to nothing!

Free to be you and me

2009-05-29T07:30:00.000-06:00

Not sure why but this is still fascinating me. Upon closer inspection I've discovered the passenger of this van is Danette.

These folks are into home schooling their children, do not believe in a good spanking, have their vehicle registered in Washington state.

They also warn you to "Just say no to Ritalin", "Question Authority" and "Honk if Pluto's a Planet". And I'm pretty sure they are not Republicans.

My all time favorite is "Caution! Eye Protection REQUIRED"

HAVE A GROOVY WEEKEND!!

A beautiful job perk.

2009-05-27T05:30:00.000-06:00

This is where I work... And this is what I see (usually in the winter when it gets darker earlier) when it's quiting time.

I truly believe that Frisco, Texas has some of the prettiest sunsets.

"There is a God, he is alive"

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T16:22:00.008-06:00

Today is Memorial Day and I was going to do this post because my sister told me to, but the more I thought about what to blog the more it came to light...

She said I should blog today because it's a holiday and I'm not certain what she meant...

1) I should have more time because it's a holiday or

2) It's a special holiday and I should blog about it. It could be some other reason, but the later reason has made me think.

Spending today doing chores that have needed to be done, running errands, catching those things on sale this weekend, picking up groceries that we were short on for the week.

But, everywhere you look there are the reminders of the holiday.

Memorial Day= to remember those who have sacrificed their life, their time, their love ones for the freedom of every American.

We even hung Old Glory out as a reminder of the day....never forget, never overlook the cost of that freedom.

The freedom of speech and life and all that goes with it.
And as I pulled into the local grocery store this was in the parking lot

It just seem so fitting to me that without the loss of those who have gone on before us this would not be possible...

Of course a lot of the words on this van are not a promotion of war but of peace and who doesn't want peace.

But as we continue on today and everyday, I hope we all are grateful for those who are making the sacrifice for our freedom.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T07:06:00.003-06:00

Sorry, I haven't taken the time or had the energy to put together a blog. But, since this morning I was awakened to the unfamiliar sound of rain and couldn't return to slumber...I decided to throw a blog together. Besides, the last blog I did was on Valentine's Day so how appropriate to blog on the next holiday? Unless, you count April Fool's day or my anniversary, then I slipped up.

In celebration of today's holiday I thought I'd show you a recent craft I put together....First you add some eggs of the plastic variety and a large sturdy piece of cardboard, lots and lots of hot glue and a 50 cent piece of thrifty Easter ribbon and a bag of Easter grass....and there you have it! One fancy smanzie Easter wreath~

This turned out rather large therefore I "loaned" it as decoration for the mail room at my office.

There are almost 200 eggs on this baby. Thus the reason it's all glued onto cardboard...to help with the weight of the eggs and cheapness factor.

Total cost breakdown...
4 bags of snap apart plastic eggs.............$8.00
1 bag of Easter grass................................. 1.50
Large cardboard (retrieved from trash). FREE
1 partial roll of Easter ribbon................... .50
glue sticks (maybe 6 or 7) ......................on hand
(and can't remember what they cost!)

Total cost 10 bucks, a Saturday afternoon, a blister from cutting out the circle from heavy duty cardboard and a couple of hot glue burns....PRICELESS?

A Trip to the Walmarts

2009-02-22T07:00:00.003-06:00

On the recent Valentine's weekend Hubby & I made a trip to the local Walmarts. I decided to stay in the car and read my book and let him run in and get the goods needed.

Well, my A.D.D. kicked in and I became distracted by all the shoppers coming and going.....so I dug into my purse and pulled out my camera and the rest is this blog....

Just a little glimpse of a valentine... although there was the guy with the huge box of RED cookware, which I'm sure wound up as some body's valentine! (darn the luck, I missed that shot!!)

This was the best.....don't you just love the kid who finds fun in everything???

Back and forth, back and forth, while the rest of the family had their own cart which they were unloading into their car, while Jr. played hot rod with the cart....

"Oooops! They're pulling out and going to leave me!"

People watching was far more fun than reading my book!

A Week of Wildlife

2009-02-21T20:12:00.004-06:00

Bet I had you going there for a minute....right? No, I'm not talking about my "wild life" but the real wildlife was right in our backyard a few weeks ago...

I came home for lunch one day early in the week and found this awesome falcon in a tree behind our house. He seems to feed on other birds and when he's in the neighborhood it is very quiet...no other birds are around to give him the opportunity of a meal.

And then a day or so later this Canadian goose flew in and took up residency in the backyard. After a while it was determined that he had an injury and couldn't fly, so we called the animal rescue and they came and took him.

This particular week was one that we had a couple of days of freezing weather and quiet a bit of ice. So after work as the sun was setting I decided to get some pictures of the ice. This field is directly (well, across and over the tollway) from my office. Just looking at this photo you can't really tell anything and it's really not even a good shot of the ice in the trees. But, as I enlarged it this is what I saw....

DEER!!! In the middle of Frisco, Texas!! This is not a good shot, but they were quiet a distance from me and I was stopping traffic trying to get a good photo. You can see the ice on the trees for sure!

Here's another....I know you almost have to use your imagination...but they are there!

Happy Birthday Honey!!

2009-02-20T06:00:00.002-06:00

Don't worry honey, women will still check you out....

Just don't bring a lot of coupons when you get in their line.....they hate that!

You know I love you....

Biggie Size

2009-02-19T07:42:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago I joined Weight Watchers. This isn't my first rodeo, but I sure hope it is the last! At least that's my goal. I think the biggest thing I learn from WW is awareness. It seems when I'm not focused on what goes in my mouth that's when things get out of control.....go figure. I've discovered I can settle for smaller portions and still feel satisfied. Just paying attention is the biggest obstacle. Seems everything is bigger and more when it comes to food. How did things get so out of control and how did I ever think that I didn't need control?? Taking one day, one step at a time is the best and only way it will work for me. So as I write this and sit here and watch "The Biggest Loser" and realize this isn't true reality either.....who loses 10 or more plus pounds a week every week? and who has the opportunity to workout for 8 plus hours a day? Slow and steady wins the race is my motto... and make the right choices...

Hummmmm, which taco is the better choice??

Henny Penny gets a make over....

2009-02-18T07:31:00.001-06:00

Meet Henny Penny....she's been enduring the great outdoors this past year and it hasn't been good for her. This would be proof of what the elements can do to you. So I graciously picked her up and brought her inside to give her a little make over... Wiped her down and cleaned her up again then broke out the paints and had my way with her.

There's a new chick in the neighborhood and she's sporting a new look.

I did not consult any farm books but I'm sure I have created some mix of breeds of chickens. She just needs a coat of gloss and she's be good to go. I think she shall be "steppin out" this spring.

Movie Reviews

2009-01-13T11:00:00.000-06:00

Since a big part of my weekend was filled with movies I will take this time to give my two cents on the ones we saw...

First was Gran Trino with Clint Eastwood....GREAT MOVIE....loved it! If you can handle the language, other than that it had a great message and hit home with us dealing with an aged parent and other sensitive topics. I would go see it again, that's how much I enjoyed it....

Second was The Horse Whisperer....HATED IT! It was almost THREE hours long and drug and drug and drug until I didn't think it was ever going to end. Lots of nice Montana footage, but the story just rambled and took forever to get any where and then it was painful and finally painfully over. I DO NOT RECOMMEND!

The Third and final movie was The Beverly Hills Chihuahua movie. We took all 4 grandkiddling and it was a good movie for adults and kids as well. Some sweet humor and very predictable but was worth the time and effort. We caught it at the Dollar movie so how much better could it be?

Reality

2009-01-12T10:16:00.000-06:00

Well, as you read this I will be facing the grim reality that I'm back in the saddle again (at work). I tried in vain this weekend to take my mind off of the upcoming inevitable. With a hair cut, helping DD paint a desk, shopping, seeing THREE movies, having lunch with my DS's and their families, attending Church twice on Sunday, having dinner with my DD and husband and last but not least spending a little quality time with my favorite grandmunchkinds!

Life doesn't get much sweeter than this!

A Trip to Johnson County

2009-01-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

Last week we made a road trip to Cleburne. This is where I was born! I only lived the first years of my life here but have made visits back many, many times to see family. The one thing in all those years that I don't think I have ever done is go inside the Court House on the Square.

Well we had business to do in the County Tax Office so we got to go inside.

And boy, was it beautiful.

I didn't take near enough pictures and even if I had I don't think it would have done it justice.

The inside has lots of marble with very beautiful markings.

Hubby said some of them look like ink blots.

The doors to each office look like vault doors (sorry no pics) and they even have the actual tellers cages in some offices.

Most of the flooring is little tiny octagon and square shaped tiles.

This one is at the entry.

Pretty cool huh?

I guess you could call this a mosaic?

The rotunda has a beautiful stain glass, with lots of blues, golds and greens.

They have painted most of the walls the colors in the stain glass and it really looks nice.

Also notice all the wood carvings leading up the the top.

I'm kicking myself for not taking more photos and at least one of the historical marker outside as it had all the dates and information on the building.

I believe it was built in the early 50's and refurbished in 1968.

I tell you what, I won't just drive by County Court Houses anymore....I'll try to get inside and see the rest of the beauty of them from now on.

Many, many thanks!!!

2009-01-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

While I've been on the mend these two wonderful ladies have taken over my job responsibilities.

There is no way I can ever thank them and I know it hasn't been easy. I just hope I can express how much I really do appreciate all they did for me while I was away.

I'm sure their help will make my return as easy as possible.

THANKS GALS!!!

It's time to go back to work...

2009-01-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

This is how I lure my new friends....with cracker crumbs.

And sometimes an occasional suet seed cake.

They are here every morning to greet me from my kitchen window.

Mostly just sparrows, but sometimes a dove, a cardinal or a finch.

And this is the thanks I get....

Bird Poo!!!!!

Luke 12:6-8 (New International Version)
6Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
8"I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God.

My Temp

2009-01-08T06:00:00.002-06:00

My sick leave is winding to a close. Next Monday I will return to work. I ran across these pictures that I intended to blog about but must have forgotten. These were the shoes of my temp. Seems she use to own a shoe store in Atlanta. Everyday that I trained her there was a new and more exciting pair of shoes, until finally I decided to bring my camera to work and get some footage (no pun intended). Enjoy....

I'll never be able to wear heels of this height again so I guess I am left to blog of those who can...

Happy 3rd Anniversary!!

2009-01-07T05:00:00.000-06:00

Our favorite son-in-law and our darling daughter celebrate their 3rd wedding anniversary today!

What a fun three years they have had!!

It doesn't seem like it's been 3 years!!

This year was probably their biggest test as they purchased their first home.....home project.

But they appear to be a perfect match for each other.

We love you guys!

The Most Important Meal of the Day

2009-01-06T08:11:00.000-06:00

This is my father-in-law. He is 90 years young. He comes to stay with us every third weekend. One of the things he loves is going out to eat breakfast and any other meal. Well, we had him for Christmas, which means on Christmas morning he had to eat breakfast at home.

Lucky for him his last born is a GREAT breakfast chef. (Just ask any of his children)
Check these biscuits out.....he has mastered the recipe from his mother. They are the BEST!

He fried each of us some eggs and fried up a lot of bacon and it was a good day.

Even the little varmints paced the floor waiting for a morsel of this goodness.

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

2009-01-05T19:31:00.003-06:00

What a GREAT movie! I've really been striking out with my picks on Netflix, but with this one I can honestly say I hit at least a run. Hubby and I both really enjoyed this one. When it first came out I wanted to take the grand kids to see it, but it never happened. And I really was thinking when I ordered this one it would arrive while the kids were here for Christmas, but I missed the mark and it came later.

Anyway, as my children all know watching a movie rental is a week long event for their aging parents. One or both of us tend to fall asleep before the end of the movie...thus the next day (or whenever we get around to it again) we fast forward looking for the last place we were conscious at. I've even been know to fall asleep in the theater before!

I wish I could tell you that I didn't fall asleep during this one, but I did. Not that it was boring or not entertaining, it's just what I do. So, this afternoon I did the fast forward routine and finished watching it and it really was good. I love Abigail Breslin who plays Margaret Mildred "Kit" Kittredge a young writer during the Depression that longs to get something she has written in print. Her father leaves to find work in the big city and her mother has to take in a variety of boarders to make ends meet. There is much more to the story, so if you haven't seen it you might give it a thought.

The Cattle Committee Meeting

2009-01-03T09:00:00.003-06:00

By the way I am known as the Cow Whisperer....

(it's rather loud so you may want to turn your volumn down a bit)

The first day of the New Year...

2009-01-02T21:13:00.007-06:00

involved these... and an argument about the distance of 100 yards....
and Hubby proving a point by walking it off....

Seems our first born had a scope put on his Dad's rifle and it need to be sited...

It was VERY windy and we were too lazy to go look at our target (a spray paint can and the bottom of an old blue guitar) at least 100 yards away...

Only one shot hit the guitar and no other holes were received in either the can or the guitar...

I'm quite certain it had to have been one of the shots I fired...but we will never know.I believe it was decided to let someone else "site" the gun as we didn't have much luck...

with the wind and everything else that deterred us.

But it was a nice relaxing way to spend the afternoon of the first day of this year.

By the way we were shooting with the dam to the lake as our backdrop.

I'm just wondering how long before it springs a leak??

Where is Hans Brinker when you need him? Never heard the story?

It's one from my childhood.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T03:51:00.005-06:00

This inspired me....hopefully it will inspire you too!

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;

Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes;

Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears;

Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full years instead of your lean;

Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth;

Count on God instead of yourself.

(Author Unknown)

Christmas House Decor

2008-12-31T07:00:00.001-06:00

There were several home tours on different blogs showing the Christmas decor of different homes. Well, this is mine.....if you were to come in our back patio door these two reindeer would gladly greet you. Inside the kitchen the kitchen window is decorated with holiday greeting cards from many of our friends....some we see everyday and some from years gone by. It's always fun to receive these cards each year and being the pack rat that I am I usually keep them from Christmas to Christmas.

This is a side table or actually a trunk that belonged to my grandfather. It has our collection of Christmas books.....something for everyone, from hard cardboard books for babies to the Politically correct version of Christmas stories book. I love flipping through them every year, but I have to keep my eyes on them as sometimes my children or siblings try to reclaim books from the past.

This year we put out three little trees (brand new in the box garage sale for $9!! woo hoo!!) I really didn't even miss the big tree as much as I thought I might. And when it packs up and away so much faster than the big one I may love it even more.

I should have taken a shot of the fireplace the night before as we had a nice roaring fire and it really was picture perfect.

Here's a little something I did with the letter "H"....just strung it up with some ribbon and added some red Christmas balls and there you have it.

This is new this year....I won this funky Santa Christmas Tree at a Bingo game. Thanks Susan!

Here a picture with all the Christmas loot! We must have really been nice this year!

Here's another shot of the fireplace that really needs a fire.

Now, it's time to start thinking about putting this all away...

Christmas Review

2008-12-31T04:30:00.003-06:00

MY SON IS A GENIUS!! He found, and tried to help me fix it to no avail....and then corrected the problem so that the correct photos are now here!!! Thanks Gerad!

December Roses

2008-12-30T05:46:00.002-06:00

Before the first frosty ice storm my little rose bed garden was in full bloom. These little yellow and orange sweetheart roses were given to me as a gift. They were put together in a double basket and were blooming gorgeously.

After they had completely bloomed out I cut them back and planted them directly into the rose bed. I believe this is their second bloom this year.

I've always wanted a rose bed and now I have a really great one. This one is really a tribute to my late mother-in-law and a beloved neighbor from years gone by who loved roses especially pink ones. This bed is filled with little momentos of times and people gone by. This little cerub was in my mother's back yard. She sits on a stone and keeps watch over the blooms. There is also a little rabbit from mom's yard and rusty milk can from my maternal grandfather.

My mother's favorite flowers were lilies so my next project is to create a lily bed on the opposite side of the house from the rose bed. My hope is to collect some bulbs from different sources with some history behind them.

My Christmas Grandgirls

2008-12-29T06:00:00.000-06:00

What a pretty, pretty girl!! She selected her outfits from top to bottom for each day of celebration this Christmas. She seems to have been bitten by the fashion bug. Her Auntie is all too happy to see this gal go foo foo for fashion.

And then there's this little girl (our granddogger) all decked out for Christmas too. And guess who's responsible for her new outfit? Her Auntie Fashion Queen

Christmas Lights PART II

2008-12-28T06:37:00.000-06:00

A week or so after Thanksgiving on a cold windy night.... My favorite son-in-law and second son let me treat them to dinner and then came over....
And put up our Christmas lights!!

What you can't see in these pictures (and no somehow I didn't catch it in photos) was their Dad /Dad-in-law running around below barking out instructions.

It seems year to year we forget how we put things up.....therefore dear ole Dad has each strand labeled....NW corner, SW corner, Front peak etc....

This year since we had limited help we just went with a simple strand of lights around the edge of the house.

I picked these candy canes up at a garage sale this year for a couple of dollars.

And hung my trusty reindeer on the front porch post....

So here are a few shots of the lights on the house....the ones below look as if they are on fire. Must be something with the camera or the operator..

These are not good photos but here's a shot of the neighbors down the street.

And then our neighbor's directly across the street really lit their house up nicely.

So until next year this is it for our Christmas lights outside.....until we find innocent soul to help take them down....how 'bout it boys??

Christmas Lights

2008-12-27T09:00:00.002-06:00

I took these photos so the next year when it was time to put up the Christmas lights we wouldn't forget how they were hung.
And a shot of the tree inside the house as if I'd ever forget how to put this one together. And yes, my darling daughter there are dozens of strings of lights to give this tree it's glowing charm.

And a good photo of the Christmas trees in the yard....(it took a certain someone a lot of time to figure out how to put these together and up!)
Here's a parting shot of the whole yard....and stay tune until tomorrow and you'll see what this year's decorations looked like. OH! you didn't think we did all of this this year with two knee replacements and a couple of extra hospital stays under our belt did you???

Catching up!

2008-12-26T16:04:00.006-06:00

Well, SURPRISE I'm back! Shout out to Mandi who has memorized the garland blog by now. I've missed it but just haven't had the energy to put anything together.

I'm not sure how good this will be but I'm going to give it a try. I have a month or more worth of blog information and my head is swimming with ideas so if I ramble please be patient.

I think I'll start with before Christmas and then bring things up to date....so this is a crazy idea I've done for my grand kids for the last couple of years. Similar to or as an advent calendar. I wrap a small gift for each child for each day before Christmas. Like a count down. Each gift has a number attached to match with the day they will be opening that gift. And YES, that is 25 gifts for each child (4) = 100 gifts...it was a lot easier than it sounds and fun too~

I lucked out last year and got most of this years gifts at clearance (75% off or more). This is the exact time you need to be out looking if you want to do one for next year. There were all types of gifts....pens, cups with candy, toys, hot cocoa mix, books, gum and about anything else you run across or can think of.

I made this contraption the year before out of wire coat hangers wrapped with ribbon. They made it through this year but I'm not certain they will hold up for next year.

It looks like a tangled mess doesn't it?? Some of the gifts were really too big and heavy for this....I kind of over did it...

Hear are the lovely little darlings with things from the 9th day...I believe these were magnets...the kind you can stick on your car, refrigerator or file cabinet. They don't looked too thrilled, maybe they were acting silly. It was sweet of their parents to seen me this photo.

THE Garland

2008-12-10T04:00:00.003-06:00

This is my attempt at the garland over at Nesting Place. I thought mine was pretty big but it almost looks wimpy in these photos. Pardon the blur....I'm still on pain medication and it looked fine to me.

I took two cheap ($2.98 then 60%off) Christmas garlands and added a small garland of English ivy, grape ivy and some other greenery. Then added some pine cones, ornaments of snowmen and reindeer's, a strand of rice lights and a little garland of wooden stars.

Whattayathunk? It may just have inspired me to finish decorating the house for Christmas!

I'm back

2008-12-09T22:33:00.005-06:00

It's been a wild two weeks, but I am doing as well as I should be at this point. I had my follow up post op visit on Friday and he said everything looked good. I got my staples out Monday and will continue on with physical therapy.

Now for the good part! NOT!!

Hubby also went in for his post month follow-up and has been having lots of problems with his calf in the leg that had surgery. They ruled out a blood clot and finally admitted him to the hospital on Friday afternoon. After spending the weekend there this is what they have discovered.... He has a hematoma in his calf which was determined by cat scans done this weekend. This is blood pooling outside of the vessels in his calf. They were hoping by elevating it and giving him antibiotics and blood plasma that it would take care of itself but that hasn't happened. So, they did an angiogram and then tried to "drain" it and sent him home today. He's getting around much better and not in near as much pain.

This was my room with the wonderful view.

Under the knife

2008-11-24T07:38:00.000-06:00

This posting will appear while I'm in the middle of knee replacement. I've been a very busy bee marking off as much as I could of my list. I'm happy to report that about 3/4 of the list got done. My kids have promised to put up Christmas decor while they are here for Thanksgiving and I have most of my shopping done, but just need to get everything wrapped. I figured wrapping could be done from a reclining position?

Now my biggest worry is what goes on at home while I am away....

I'm sure there will be some bending of the rules....
Some looking for Mommy...

And just general mischief..

So life will go on and I'll go with it...

35 and still alive!

2008-11-23T07:00:00.006-06:00

Yesterday, was No. 1 Son's 35th birthday....boy, does that make me feel old. But he wasn't dining on fine Mexican cuisine he was chasing down that one and only deer he is allowed to shoot. Seems he's already met his limit on a buck, a doe, a fawn (I kid!) and whatever the third one was. And now he is in search of a Spike.... I googled "Spike" and got not one picture of a deer...but I did get lots of this....

Anyway, back to the birthday. We celebrated his birthday last Tuesday and EVERYONE in the family was able to make it! It's always loud and fun when we all get together and that night was no different.

2008-11-19T04:00:00.000-06:00

I made it through allergy testing (so many allergies it's going to take 3 or 4 injections per visit, which are twice a week for a month and then once a week and spirals down for 5 years until my system is immune to the allergens....run on sentence?) and upper and lower GI with out any problems.

Now to change the mood and just because I'm feeling daring and my DD told me too, I proceed with a short commentary....

Exactly what other way would one want their condoms???

This has bugged me since the day these places went into business! First of all why did they ever move out of the pharmacy shelves (I'm sure they're still there but you know what I mean?) or men's restrooms at gas stations or wherever else they are or have been.

I guess it's just a nicer (did I really say that?) way to promote or name a sex shop? I've never actually been in one, but I assume they don't sell just condoms?

GIVE ME A BREAK~~

My heart goes out to the poor parents that have to explain these things to their children at way too young of an age.

Monday

2008-11-17T05:00:00.001-06:00

There is something about Monday mornings I just hate. I'm usually a Pollyanna, glass almost full kind of gal, but Monday's bum me out.

Well, it's really Sunday afternoon when it starts and it's been that way since school days when I was young. The routines of Sunday night as a child just put the dread in motion.

Now when the kids were young and I was a somewhat Stay at Home Mom it was a little different...."YEAH!!!!!!!!!, the kids are back in school." But considering the spacing of my children it was FIFTEEN years before they were all in school at the same time!

It's just hard to imagine a time of retirement of getting up when you want and doing what you want and not having the obligations I have now, or that dread that tomorrow is MONDaY!

But as time continues to go by it does seem that those obligations are less or I'm finally figuring out they aren't as crucial as I thought they were....all but that earning the almighty dollar part...

Well, this week is starting off with a BANG as this afternoon I have a full round of allergy testing and tomorrow I'm spending the day at the hospital having an upper and lower scopes done. (that's putting it nicely...not medically) Since both parents were taken by cancer and polyps seem to be a fad in my family I must surmise every 5th year to this joy. If I could just get my siblings to get their head out of the sand and take care of their medical business I would be a woman at peace. Oh well!

Have a happy week! and TGIM!

Garage Sale Saturday

2008-11-15T08:00:00.002-06:00

I made a vow (given my long list of things to do in 10 days list) to not attend, search out or go to any Garage Sales in the next few weeks. But here are some from weeks past.

It all started out innocent enough....I was going to drop off some of our junk at the local resale shop.

We seem to have an abundance of hospital drinking glasses...go figure!

Here are some things I stumbled upon...

Gonna spray paint that little pillar black and not sure about the frame...the tray or pan they are sitting on is going to become a mirrored mosaic.

I love these face wall sconces..should they remain the same or be painted??

Also some vintage dishes that will be worked into a mosaic birdhouse (stay tuned) and the "J" shaving mug goes to MFSIL for his toothbrushes...

I have a little collection of small interesting boxes and I picked up these two for 50 cents. The one I am holding has "Made in Italy" on the back and a handwritten price tag .

This is an old stamp holder for those rubberstamps that required a ink stamp pad....Only a DOLLAR!

This is a box of 3 tiered Christmas trees brand new in the box (regular price $39.99) I snagged for a mere $9

A wooden plate?

A travel size scrabble game with tiny little scrabble pieces...probably going to use these pieces in a creative way of some sort....

This past weekend DD and I went cross country (or maybe I should say cross cities) stopping in at random sales between Granddaughter's morning soccer game and making our way back home (about a 20 mile stretch). We found some bargains but not what we were in search of....she was looking for a desk and no one seemed to be selling them, but we found one at "the local resale store" this past Tuesday....I think her plans this weekend involved painting that desk.

Hope everyone is having a thrifty weekend...I'm keeping blinders on and only sticking to my list!

Knee Surgery

2008-11-14T05:00:00.003-06:00

In just 10 short days I will bite the bullet and go under the knife and have my other knee replaced. YIKES!!! After all the ridiculing and wise cracks I've punished my hubby with during his surgery now is going to be payback time.

I know what I face and have no regrets I'm just ready to get it done and get on with life.

What REALLY scares me is that Christmas is just 41 little days away which means I will be laid up during the later of those 41 days so in the next 10 I am trying hard to accomplish the following:

Christmas gifts for everyone.

Christmas cards done and sent.

Cleaning the house from top to bottom.

Granddaughter's birthday gift (Dec. 11th)

Oldest boy child's birthday gift (Nov. 22nd)

Several people's birthday cards sent.

Grocery's for a month (including Christmas).

House decorated for Christmas. (I may pull kids in on this at Thanksgiving...)

Outside lights put up.

Clean and wash all vehicles

Sell Jeep.

Put out pansies.

Train temp. employee at work

Get all paperwork turned in to HR department

Get all preop work done (labs, x-rays, pre-admit)

Turn loose of everything involving Thanksgiving to the girls

Bath dogs

Make a to-do list for hubby.

Turn in all paperwork for Aflac from hubby's surgery.

Kiss up to hubby for good measure of love during my recovery.

Well, if I do two of these a day I'll have them all done by the day of surgery. It doesn't count that at least half of them will take more than a day or two to complete and I've thought of a dozen more things since completing this list.....time will tell and life will go on and I'll go with it whether the list gets done or not.

Wish me well!!

Manicures

2008-11-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

If you need a laugh this should do it....I'm sure you may have seen it before, but I crack up everytime I see it....hummmm, maybe I do have too much time on my hands?!

We have a new nail place in town and I almost drove off the road when I saw it...

I'm sure they're raking in the money... I just wonder where you have to go to have the other eight fingers done???

Just Pitchin In

2008-11-12T07:00:00.005-06:00

I'm so behind on blogging... bear with me as I backtrack...

Every now and then we take time out and drop in on DD and MFSIL and pitch in to help. If you don't know they purchased their first home a few (well, several) months ago. It was a bank repo and they have completely restored it into great condition. There is still a list of little odds and ends that need to be done and she is over anxious (and rightly so) to get everything "put together"...

Hummmm, what's wrong with this picture??

On a recent visit I convinced her to not replace this lamp and let me see if I can bring it back to life...so here's the before picture and this is after it's been taken a part and washed.

This will hang in the entry hall. MFSIL has installed almost all of the lighting and replaced all of the light switches and other outlets. See, he just doesn't sit around all the time...

We hung a clock on this visit and...

put together her half bath. Now check this curtain out...she picked it up at Ross for a dollar!

Here is the hall bath all clean and ready for decoration.

And this is where MFSIL says I have too much time on my hands.... an idea for the office! Not too much time just a bad case of A.D.D.

This is the actual room, but before new carpet, a new ceiling fan and a fresh coat of paint. The lower half of the wall is a dark shade of beige and the upper section a lighter shade of beige. DD has some creative ideas for the furniture in this room.

Sometimes she has trouble thinking out of the box and that's where I come in....we seem to balance each other she pulls the reins in on me and I try to steer her out of the box when I can.

Boy, I'm I looking forward to her taking care of me in my old age....we've been making plans for that too!

Maybe this will be my room?!?

The Pink Shelf

2008-11-11T04:26:00.002-06:00

At least a year ago, and maybe even longer ago than that...a couple of girls that I work with and I were at the local resale store. One of them bought this pink shelf and ask me to paint it a lighter shade of pink. Well, she completely forgot about it and I completely took liberty with it, by covering it in broken glass, beads and other adornments.

I just wish I had taken a picture before I covered it, but I didn't...so imagine it without all this pink stuff glued to it.

I filled it in with a white grout and then sealed it.

I'm quite proud of how it came out. I think my co-worker liked it too, I just hope it didn't pull the sheetrock off the wall when she hung it.

Rodeo

2008-11-10T13:30:00.011-06:00

Darling daughter and my favorite son-in-law help me drag Mr. Gimpy leg out to the Stampede Rodeo this weekend.

I really think it was more than he should have been doing being only two weeks out on a total knee replacement, but I promise you he would give anyone willing, a race with his walker. We lucked out and only had ONE step down to our seats! We did have some walking, but not too far. I would have forgone the starched jeans but he insisted and claimed he was fine....so far be it from me to interfere....wink, wink!

There was a grand intro with a salute to the troops and our fine country....

And then it was ON WITH THE SHOW!!!

This was pretty amazing this guy rode standing up and they went pretty fast too!

This little guy really cracked us up. It's a small monkey dressed up like a cowboy riding the dog as his horse and he actually herded (is that a word?) sheep.

Of course, the mutton bustin was a hoot too...

Of course it wouldn't be a rodeo without the clowns.

Some calf roping.

Barrel racing...

Slobber slinging bull riding.

Then the final farewell from all the winners!

But that's not the end my friend this great rodeo was followed by a wonderful concert with Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.

It was a FUN Saturday night!

Coming Home

2008-11-02T20:51:00.002-06:00

Thursday was the day hubby got the go ahead to head home. I arrived to find this....

and our star patient sitting on READY...
Seems he was growing tired of the four walls at Presbyterian Hospital.

Lots of instructions...

And even some great love notes from his kiddos....always competition with those three.
He had a great room with a wonderful view of north Dallas. You can see 75 and 635 interchange in the distance.

Can you tell he's ready to go?? Man he really is doing much better than the first time he had this done.
And his chauffeur, chef and chief bottle washer awaits....

Trick or Treat??

2008-11-01T09:11:00.003-06:00

Did these folks Trick or Treat in your neighborhood last night? I know we've been seeing them around for quite awhile now.

Surgery Update

2008-10-28T11:52:00.004-06:00

For everyone that lifted up prayers on my behalf and my spouse's, they were obviously heard. He is doing very well. He came though surgery much better than the last last time. The physical terrorist has already paid him a visit this morning and had him walking the halls. He should be home on Thursday if things continue to go well. Thank you!

Another new knee

2008-10-27T05:00:00.000-06:00

Well, the day has come. Hubby gets his last and final new knee today. Remember the first one? I'm a little anxious as he's not the easiest patient....that's putting it nicely. So today I request you take a moment and remember both of us in prayer.

And don't forget to...

Your Civic Duty

2008-10-26T04:00:00.001-06:00

Today when you sit down to work on your calendar for this week....

Don't forget to set aside some time to do your "Civic Duty"

Funny thing. I voted on Friday on my lunch break and when I returned to work (with my Taco Bueno bag in hand), a co-worker said something to the effect of "where have you been" and I stated "doing my Civic Duty" and he said "Going to Taco Bueno???" rather confused. Upon further investigation it appears the phrase is unknown among the "younger" crowd.

Yes, I went around the office asking people what "Your Civic Duty" meant!

And it was about half and half as far as the answer of voting... a few said "Jury duty?" And some said some incredibly funny things...things I can't repeat!

(I just realized all the signs are pointing left except the last one...that in no way is a reflection on my vote... )

I honestly didn't even scratch the surface on photos of the the "VOTE" signs. None of the pictures are duplicates and I didn't take pictures of all of them.

And here I was worried I wouldn't be able to figure out where to place my vote, locate the poll, find the place to do my civic duty!

There really was a steady stream of people going in to vote....great turn out. Makes you wonder if there will be anyone left after the early voting...

Here I am standing (well, you can't see me I'm the one taking the picture! Wish you could I'm really decked out in my red, white and blue with all the bells and whistles. A jacket with Uncle Sam on the back and a shirt with a big American flag on the front. Oh, and don't forget my sparkly red shoes! DON'T WORRY I'm kidding!) Did you notice the woman behind the table her mouth is wide open. (it's hard to see since the photo is small) You'd think that was T.O. in front of me...but it wasn't....at least I don't think it was.

Well, that's it folks. My vote has been cast for another four years. May the best man win. And my hope is that people are voting not to make history....though it's going to be made anyway you look at it. It also seems that this election has brought people to the polls that have never voted before or cared to vote. And that I suppose would be a good thing?!

It takes a village of monkeys

2008-10-24T20:12:00.002-06:00

Once upon a time in a village in India , a man announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10.The villagers seeing there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them.

The man bought thousands at $10, but, as the supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their efforts. The man further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer rate increased to $25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it! The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now act as buyer, on his behalf.In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers: 'Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected.

I will sell them to you at $35 and when he returns from the city, you can sell them back to him for $50.'The villagers squeezed together their savings and bought all the monkeys.Then they never saw the man or his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere! Welcome to WALL STREET.

Halloween

2008-10-24T11:56:00.004-06:00

It's a week away! This is in Spanish but it doesn't really matter, you'll get the gist... this occurred just outside of a cementary. Have a great weekend!

Sincerely 'Fro Me to You

2008-10-23T07:00:00.002-06:00

From "We are THAT Family" The purpose of Sincerely 'Fro Me to You (every Thursday) is to link up a post about something from your past. You can reach back all the way to your childhood and bravely post pictures of your 'fro or post something from last year and tell about it.
Today I'm picking on my first born... and no Conan O'Brien isn't his Dad! I'm almost certain this was the longest his hair ever was as these days he keeps it very short and always neat. (bragging to redeem myself for using this picture!) Well, better yet let me just post some recent pictures for his defense.

Here he is with his first born and did I mention he's a great Daddy too?

King for a day! Always a king in my book.

Rough and tough exterior, but a sweetheart on the inside.

Almost got that 80's hair going on here, but not quite.

This is one of his prouder moments...bringing home dinner for the winter.
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And couldn't finish off the Fro Day without DD's cat with a Fro!

Bruce Woodard

2008-10-22T04:30:00.001-06:00

Woodard, Bruce Wayne Passed away on October 14, 2008 in McKinney, Texas. Bruce was a fun loving, nice person who loved his family, Baylor University, Baylor football. He made people laugh, and was great with one- liners. He was an avid golfer who achieved 2 holes-in-one. Bruce was an ethical business owner, and truly believed and lived the golden rule. He is preceded in death by his parents Cleo and Lanelle Woodard. Bruce is survived by his wife of 40 years, Dorothy Woodard of Fairview; son Bob Woodard and Nicole of Waco; daughter, Carly vanBeek and Phil of Allen; sister, Cynthia Perry of Waco; and grandchildren, Kade Woodard, Korbyn Woodard, Arden vanBeek and Joseph vanBeek. A Memorial Service will be held honoring Bruce on Friday, October 17, 2008 from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. at the Heritage Ranch Clubhouse, 465 Scenic Ranch Circle, Fairview, Texas 75069. Memorials may be made to: UT Southwestern Medical Center with notation: "Dr. Weiner's Alzheimer's Research", 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75390- 9129 (214) 648-9343.

A week ago my former employer passed away. Bruce was such a special person. He was a great storyteller and fantastic person to work with, generous to a fault and all around good person. He left this world way too early. He will be greatly missed. His family and friends held a memorial service last Friday and it was standing room only. Many great stories were told of Bruce and his wonderful life. About a year after I worked for him he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, but what took him was a bout with pneumonia.
Bruce you will be missed beyond measure.....

God bless you and your fine family.

My kids way back when...

2008-10-21T05:00:00.002-06:00

Found a great website awhile back just look what it can do....

Hope everyone gets a good laugh out of this, because I know I did.

You can choose from 1950 up until 2000. Pretty cool!

(for some reason my favorite son-in-law is fading on me)
And if you run out of kids to funk up their pictures you can always turn to their pets...

Check it out at http://yearbookyourself.com/

Don't miss Dancing with the Stars TONITE!

2008-10-20T10:35:00.001-06:00

Ha, Ha, Ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Diamond Luster

2008-10-19T06:00:00.002-06:00

What a wonderful, wonderful treat we had Thursday evening to attend the Neil Diamond concert when he was in town at the American Airlines Center.

Although the concert was at 8 and he didn't come on stage until almost 8:30, he put on an amazing show. Notice all the "white hairs" (and yes, I'm married to one!) in the crowd? There was a wide range of ages present I guess due to the fact that he's been making the music for almost 4 decades. Don't you just love the guy in the white hat....maybe he thought the Beach Boys were in town?
I gave up my Bunko night with the girls for this and nothing against fun with the girls, but I really had a great time at the concert. That is until the usherette tried to confiscate my camera....but I prevailed.

One of his newest songs is "Pretty Amazing Grace"
His band was quite large and also very good. For a New York singer or Jewish Elvis as he's sometimes called, nearly half of his band originated in Texas....Tyler, Beaumont, Dallas and other cities in the deep south.

Here's some Diamond trivia....Who is the song "Sweet Caroline" written about? give up?

Caroline Kennedy! And she didn't know it until he was asked to her 50th birthday celebration where he revealed that information to her. Isn't that neat?
He's also a very charitable guy. All the proceeds of merchandise from his concert are being matched by himself and the band and the funds will go to build 300 homes on Hope Island (near Galveston) that were lost in Hurricane Ike. His goal is to have those 300 families out of the government tents and in new homes by Christmas. So not only is he a great singer he's also a good person (unlike us who didn't purchase anything but our tickets).....and that's always nice (the part that he's a good person).

Welcome Party

2008-10-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

There was a nice welcome party down at the Farm and of course we weren't going to miss it....

These gals were the "greeters"

And of course there was some bull...
Well a whole lotta bull....

and evidentally no one wanted to miss this event.

Especially, the guest of honor....Little Mutt

Many well respected bovine attended...
Even a few of the "upper crust"....(hey, get your noses out of the air...you put your pants on just like everyone else... one leg at a time...oh, wait..you don't wear pants!)

Of course the wall flowers always have some good scuttle butt to go over.

There was plenty of grub for everyone

And my sweet Hubby even helped serve...

Fine punch was even brought in. Like the punch bowl?

Of course there were nice juicey horse apples for the offering...

And a few of us even got liquored up on pro-lix..

Boy, they sure make that look yummy!

Before we knew it the sun was setting and it was time to...

choose designated drivers

I think little Mutt was sad to see us go...but he's got plenty to do....those Thank You notes and all....

I Love RE-Sale!!! Friday Fav!

2008-10-17T05:00:00.000-06:00

Have I told you before that I love the Re-Sale Shop??? Well, I do and this is why....

I got this whole bag of fabric for $1.99. Some pieces are more than a yard!

Such a deal and just what I needed for the latest project I'm working on...

This is the fabric out of the bag that I chose to use for my idea.

Anyone that's eaten with me knows that I invariably get some of my meal on the front of whatever I'm wearing. So my project involves covering those stains that won't come out.

Hubby cut the Peace sign out for me and I stitched it over some small stains that were on this shirt and viola~

New threads!

Whattaya think??

(besides the blurry picture..)

I haven't worn it yet, but it does look a lot better than it did with the stains showing as they were before.

Here's another shirt I covered stains with iron-on jeweled birdies.

And here's a set of sweet little birds I picked up at the Re-sale shop for $3. They are cast iron and really cute. Just can't beat a good deal at the Re-sale shop!

Sincerely 'Fro me to You

2008-10-16T06:00:00.001-06:00

Well, here is my first entry.....this is a Fro and yes husband had a matching one. I can remember his perm vividly, because his hair was so short in the back they used toothpicks to curl it!

This was about 1985 with DD at my grandmother's birthday party. I could just eat up those little toes! This was a happy little girl (and still is most of the time!). Remember the twister bead necklaces? I'm sure that is what I have on in this picture....black and red as I recall. I would say those were the good ole days, but all I can recall is how hectic they were as my kids were 2, 6 and 12....busy, busy, busy. It makes me tired thinking about it!

A special thanks to my brother who dug through our parents photos to find a picture of me with a Fro. Enjoy!

Illegal Drag Racing

2008-10-15T06:00:00.000-06:00

Most of you know how I feel about Drag Racing, I find this very disturbing. A friend of mine who works for the Dallas Police Department received the attached photo of a drag race that went horribly bad. It's kind of disturbing to look at but it serves as a reminder of what can happen when drag races occur.

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Jiminy Cricket

2008-10-13T15:20:00.000-06:00

Jiminy may be small, but he's far from your average cricket. He can turn an umbrella into a parachute and looks great in a top hat and spats, and he carries a mean tune, as well as a nearly inexhaustible supply of home-brewed common sense. It's no wonder he is chosen by the Blue Fairy to be Pinocchio's "official" conscience. Unfortunately for Jiminy, it's only after he blushingly agrees to his appointment as "Lord High Keeper of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong, Counselor in Moments of Temptation, and Guide along the Straight and Narrow Path," that he realizes what a job he's gotten himself into. Like any conscience, Jiminy is occasionally late on the job, and frequently ignored even when he is around. Fortunately, Jiminy is nothing if not persistent, and he eventually succeeds in steering Pinocchio back to the right path.

Well, this little guy isn't even a cricket but that's who he reminded me of....Good ole Jiminy Cricket the one little Disney character that I learned the hideous facts of life from. Did anyone else WAY back in the 60's go through that horror?? It was at school in about the 4th or 5th grade and they took all the girls into the cafeteria and all the boys into the gym and showed us this cartoon (starring no less than Jiminy Cricket) telling us the basic facts of life. So that's what I think of when I think of poor Jiminy...

Not that he was the conscience for Pinocchio or had a lovely little two step. I think of the birds and the bees! Well, Jiminy Cricket here's to you and the grasshopper that reminded me of you riding on my side mirror at the farm the other day. Quite a handsome fellow and note the jack ass in the back ground. He's really making progress. Have a great week!

Fireproof

2008-10-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

Last night the hubby and I went to see Fireproof and really enjoyed it. Fireproof spotlights the disintegrating marriage of a young couple, Caleb (Kirk Cameron) and Catherine (Erin Bethea). Caleb is a control freak fireman hassling his fellow firefighters at work, and a grouch at home who complains that his working wife doesn't do the dinner and laundry. When Catherine gets fed up with Caleb's constant nagging, she files for divorce. But his dad insists that the distraught spouse hold up finalizing the breakup for forty days, during which time he is instructed to seek guidance from his Dad's religious diary, a blueprint for marriage mending.

The movie, which has a strong faith-based message and was made with a budget of just $500,000 and a volunteer cast. There was laughter and tears and a great feel good feeling that's not found in very many movies these days. Check it out you won't be sorry...

Random-ness a Fav

2008-10-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

Time for Friday Fav and this one is RANDOM! Going through my photos and looking at all the random (odd) ones! Which make me laugh, smile or ponder. So today I'll share them with you in no particular order (well, I guess that's what random is huh?)....

Just a couple of footnotes....the deer in the above photo has a hoof or foot growing out of his neck!! FOR REAL! The lovely bride and groom would be my beloved parents and that large dirty mouth was me proving to one stubborn grandson that his mouth was dirty...the signage I thought was a weird, but funny combination. The Amish we saw while on vacation ours and theirs apparently... The dirty pool would be at Daughter's new house (the before picture) and the man on the plane told me he was from Gilmer Texas so I took his picture so I could ask a friend of mine from there if she knew him. She didn't but her Mother did!

Moving slowly into fall

2008-10-09T02:00:00.000-06:00

After a recent blog on fake plants, flowers and things I realized I HAD to do something with the awful wreath on our front door..... Here are the cast of characters:(Same photo different lighting!)
I found this wooden wagon wheel at Michael's this weekend. Sorry about the blurred photo, but you get the general idea..
And a little birdie with eggs and nest safely in a blurry box.
I "set her free", but she was a protective Mom and stuck with her eggs and nest....I guess we can call her The Nester?!
A little bit of "gourds"....three,which I promptly pulled apart and used separately in the design.

Some lovely long stemy things.

And VIOLA! a new front door adornment!

And now a completely different wall...just trying to "Keep it Real" and show off the product in a another realm.

And some close up shots of our matronly little Nester.

Now I have to decide whether to tear this apart and do a re-creation for spring or ship the whole thing off as a donation to the resale shop?

I just know I'm happy to be able to replace it with a newer fall wreath.

Dragonfly's win again!

2008-10-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

Darling Granddaughter is playing soccer for the first time this fall. Her team is the dragonflies.

And so far they have won all of their games. They really look cute in their hot pink and black uniforms. Unless she is playing goalie and then she has to wear the yellow shirt over her uniform.
She has a super coach who seems to enjoy what she's doing and is very good with the girls.

Of course I do my part to cheer them on...

Then after the game if we're lucky we snag her and take her home with us to torture our dogs.

We found our Ass!

2008-10-07T10:34:00.000-06:00

Literally!

Remember a few post back and I spoke of the farm and the recent addition of a donkey? Well here he is in all his glory.
His name was Johnny, but FIL continues to call him Mutt, which was the first donkey hubby had for over 40 years. This little guy is relatively young so hopefully our children and grandchildren will all be able to enjoy him for awhile.
He's gotten over his shyness and I guess the life as a loner wasn't all it was cracked up to be for him and now he is hanging with the bovine.
He's even coming up the the truck and eating out of our hand now! And if he sees the truck coming he belts out a great big ole donkey bray to say "hello".

It's difficult to see in these photos but he has the traditional donkey markings with the cross on his back.

Legend says that donkeys didn't have these markings until one carried Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and followed him to Calvary. Distraught by the sight of Jesus on the cross, the donkey turned away but could not leave.

When the shadow of the cross fell on the donkey's back, it remained and has ever after been worn by all donkeys. Check the stories out here or here.
Well, now you've met our infamous donkey Mutt. I'm sure once word gets out our phone will be ringing off the wall. Scouts are always looking for a good donkey for a parade or nativity scene or Easter production...it's just a matter of time I'm sure. But until then, we better start working on his social skills....

P.S. I stumbled upon this little ornament and I'm sure you will agree that it's a "must have" for my tree this year with our newest addition and all!?!