Simple Pleasures

Today as I was driving across town, I noticed I was happy and grinning from ear to ear. Mindless thinking you ask...NOPE. I was thinking about my sweet grand babies. A song that brings one of them to life no matter what she is doing or where she is...bring on the Backyardigans. A four and a half year old grand daughter that thinks her Grammy has a "magic car". A little boy that idolizes Mickey Mouse and is a fan of the Mickey Mouse club. Another one that roars every time anything dinosaur is said or seen. Many wonderful and beautiful thoughts. I would like to take this time to thank my beautiful daughters that have made wonderful mothers and given me such GREAT GRAND BABIES!

Problem Child

putting off the inevitable.....that is what I seem to want to do lately. I was talking to a friend and she said we should find us a job where we could get paid to sit and get paid well. I think that will be my next job. I'm blogging tonight to avoid going into the sewing room to work.
...and what is with not spending money at Christmas, to be more careful and not spend...... it's not my nature....I'm a problem child? Every time I go into a store I drop a hundred dollars, oops! The plan was to stay home and not spend, I'm failing miserably. My kids and grand kids should like that. OOOOOO!

Mirror mirror on the wall...

I don't have a mirror yet but my new bathroom is looking pretty spiffy. I always had plenty of mirrors with four daughters that was a necessity (especially the vain ones, you know who you are). As I age, I find the mirrors especially the magnifiers are not my friend. Even though, it will be nice to have one in the bathroom. Now .....what is the next project? After this season of sewing I think I'll build a playground with my old deck.....Yes, me. I've got tons of ideas and want to build something. That way the house won't get torn up. Positives on both counts, even though my kids are all gone.

I have indoor plumbing!

The bathroom is done except for a mirror (necessity for vanity) and a TP holder. Now to get all the towels out of the crib and all of the sheet rock dust out and I should be in working order for the houseful of Christmas elves that will be dropping by. It is Pretty! and it Plushes!

friendship

How to make a friend. That is what I've been thinking about lately. To make a really good friend takes lots of time and effort, which is always in short supply. A few cinnamon rolls, cookies and any other treats also help. I've been making a new friend. She is stuck in bed so at least one of us is captive, makes the friendship process a little easier. My bestest friend ever was made years ago when we both had young families. A stay at home mom, new to the area needs a good friend. You have a lot of time on your hands and kids that need distraction. Those friends that end up being your bestest friends feel like kindred spirits. This friend was sent to me when we moved so far away from family, because that was hard. Thought for today...make a friend.

1,2,3,4,5,...

Have you ever counted how many different products you use on yourself when you shower? Face cleanser, shampoo, conditioner, soap, shave gel(for rare occasion), then moisturizer, face moisture, eye drops, toothpaste, extra moisture (aging takes more) hair products (that may consist of 2-3). Then when you move to the makeup level, makes the head swim! On a regular day I've counted about 10 products(chemicals) and makeup days I loose count. Makes me think of that movie the Incredible Shrinking Woman with Lilly Tomlin and Steve Martin. It's to bad rubbing creams and moisturizers on doesn't make you shrink, I could use some of that.

There's a stranger in my house...

That's what happens to the computer when working like a dog kicks in.
The only computer time I 've had lately was to find out which song was playing on the CVS commercial. Ordinary Miracle by Sara Mclaughlin. It is BEAUtiful. Ballerinas are dressed! Cloggers are dressed! Cheerleaders are dressed! Chorus members are dressed! NOW...the rest of the world. All the other few hundred dancers in multiple costumes. Lots of work to do. I love it! It pays the bills. I'm going to acquaint myself with the stranger mentioned before. Ideas for Christmas?

chitty chitty bang bang

I've got new wheels!... and all the other things that come with a car payment. It's fun to drive if I don't think about the payment.

to work or not to work...

When you say working like a dog, what does that mean? My dog sleeps on the sofa til noon then moves to where I am, stretches a little then goes into the second napping phase. If someone drops by she musters up the energy for company, then falls into a heap after the visit. Where does the work part come in? When I work, well lets just say it doesn't involve napping. It involves work and a lot of it!

"Big Toe Blues"

Do you work for a living? Well we have lately hired men to do jobs that only need to work occasionally, I guess. In that whole process the furniture has been moved out of the room everyday this week. The first day the workmen were to come and work and didn't show up, I was moving the table back into the kitchen. I pulled it rapidly and the leg of the table facing me jammed my big toe so hard it popped! I then proceeded to DANCE! and SING! My daughter referred to it as the "Big Toe Blues". Speaking of blue.....well maybe it looks more black and purple. Yes it is broken and I've got drugs (Rx of course). Last night it was rivaling the Goodyear blimp in size. Shoes? not for awhile. Darn it exercise on hold again. Looks like I'll miss the next marathon as well. Anybody got a footstool?

what is it?

Did you ever have a day where you felt like you were forgetting something really important and can't think of it? I feel like my shoe is untied or something and I'm barefooted.

CHANGE

This post has pending for several days in my head. How to deal with change that you aren't really in favor of. Some change is good...like changing your underwear, changing your sheets, and changing your toothbrush. However the things in life that you get used to, when forced to change cause internal stress. We are faced with choices daily that force us to change. How do you get rid of that T-shirt that is full of holes and feels so comfy? How do you get rid of your favorite car that is not as dependable as it used to be? How do you go to church the same as last week when half of your friends are gone? I remember getting new and updated sewing equipment and resist using it because it was different than what I was used to. I find myself thinking and doing things to laugh off change until I can find a way to deal with it. Usually it isn't as bad as I thought it would be, that of course is after the adjustment period. They say change is good...but I say a big OUCH! So every time you change your underwear ..... well keep doing that.

just another day...

Have you ever called someone knowing you were to leave a message and identified yourself as your dog??? If that isn't bad enough, it was the dog groomer so she knows you represented yourself as your pet. What a way to start a Monday!

Pretty is as pretty does.

Well it is back to that time of year - dressing the neighborhood. Cheerleaders, chorus singers and dancers.. no one has earned a pin in the crotch yet. I know be nice. Which brings to mind, how do you handle someone who just really gets under your skin and secretly you'd like to put a bag over them , smack them and shove them down. But instead you smile sweetly and pray under your breath they will leave quickly or come and finish remodeling your bathroom. A true test of whether or not you are a nice person. I've taken all of K2 tests and I rate PG, 1980's girl next door, and back in black is my theme song. However I think there is a little not so nice girl next door hanging around the corner.

Can you smell that?..be careful what you eat.

Today I was standing in my kitchen and I smelled, yes you guessed it BO. I did a quick armpit sniff check. No, not me. So I was trying to figure out what reeked. I remembered yesterday my friend brought me a sandwich we split. I removed the onions from my half, of course, and tossed the napkin in the trash. Onions=BO. Why would you want to eat anything that smells like BO? Before and after eating are both negative experiences. If you like to eat BO maybe you should learn to lick your armpits!

Holding my breath...

An obstacle course is what my house looks like. You enter the front door and there is a large pile to go to Goodwill, car is in the shop so that won't happen for a few days. As you enter the kitchen past the toilet, a set of two islands fill the center of the room, one beautiful the other beat up. Then into the sewing room, the UPS man has been stopping by everyday. In one of the guest rooms(the bathroom annex) you have to step over wood trim and bathroom accessories. The other guest room is the hospital wing for the baby dolls and empty suitcases. What am I doing about it? Absolutely nothing. Sitting on my touche in front of the laptop. (In my defense I'm taking a short break from cutting cheerleader skirts.) UPDATE: I finally got a hold of Todd and he says he will be here Monday or Tuesday, I'm holding my breath!

Six weeks

6 weeks to a better butt! That is the title of an email I just received. Is that an ad for appearance or behavior? Either way how can it be anything other than an insult? ....but (hehe) since I'm not thin skinned, I look at it, of course my appearance. If I walk and drink lots of water and exercise, I will be thin and beautiful...humhumhum. Hasn't worked yet, but hey I'll give it "6 weeks".

Home again, home again jiggety jig...

When ever you get home from vacation there is always so much to do. So then why do I just sit on my ____ and do as little as possible?

Have a good day!

Last night I was listening to a tele-evangelist. He had some good points. He was talking about letting go and not holding grudges, or even just getting upset with people. By doing that, you don't allow them to determine the kind of day you are having or going to have. People are a result of their experiences, if they weren't, we'd all be the same. I like having good days and sometimes that means accomplishing something and sometimes it means I just enjoyed myself. I like people and I like doing things for people (4 daughters and 10,000 costumes later). Does that mean I'm a slow learner? .....yes I think it does! "I am the creator of my own destiny."

Shopping for Mom

I spent a couple of hours this morning with two special kids. We were in the dressing room at Kohl's calling each other on the cell phone from booth to booth, crawling under doors, eating goldfish, climbing out of the buggies, getting run over by carts and just total and general chaos. Should be good until Mom's birthday shopping next year. Just kidding!

Every convenience!

A toilet in the kitchen you say? How long is it appropriate for the receptacle to sit next to the kitchen table? ... I say today is long enough. My grandson lifted the seat, pulled off his shorts and was working on his diaper as he said poop! I believe in potty training but keeping it this handy is ridiculous!

to work or not to work

When you have to rely on others to finish things so the next thing can get done - irritating. Especially when they don't get things done on time. Remodeling a bathroom, lets just say -no more large jobs for a while I can't deal with the mess for extended periods of time. I've stumbled into the dusty empty bathroom several times in the past few days, especially in the middle of the night, only to find dust, tools, and a light bulb hanging on a wire. I think I've found the paint color. I still need to find the perfect faucet! Humpf! Let's see who shows up tomorrow. Right now all three workman are supposed to be here. The room isn't that big, but I refuse to say no. Guess they will just have to work around each other.

How to eat an elephant

Did you ever have a day, well two or three days in a row where everything seems to go not quite right? Then they pile on top of each other and everything else seems to overwhelm until you seem to be buried by a mountain of rubble. True most of it is of your own creation and response to things that are happening around you. My advice to others and I should listen to myself is to take small bites and eat slow. That is how to eat an elephant, one bite at a time. Hard to remember that tip when you are surrounded by a buffet of issues.

Past time

Hey I just tried something new. I was introduced to Family Search Indexing by my visiting teacher. Curious, I decided to check into it. I got all signed up, did the tutorials (I didn't print off my certificate of completion, where would I put it?) then I did my first set of names. Can I just tell you - addicting! Now for some reason I can't get back in there, I'm waiting for my resident (well closest living) computer expert to show up today and help me figure it out. They have scan documents that are on the millions of rolls of microfilm and people are entering the info online for ease in genealogy work. I guess I can work on my genealogy! Then by going to familysearch.org, you can research ancestors. A whole new past time when TV sucks as it so usually does as of late.

Fashion plate?

What is a fashion plate? Is it a plate that is fashionable? I've heard this term used many times to describe someone who dresses well. Is it good to be a "fashion plate"? Aspiration or no no?

Extreme Home Makeover!

Extreme home makeover....when they demo the house on TV that has to be pretty emotional. I had my bathroom gutted this week. My stomach has been weird ever since Sunday night when I had the realization the workman was coming the next day. He threw a board over the joists so you couldn't see the ground under the house. I'm experiencing some trauma over this. What if I stumble into the bathroom in the middle of the night? The four foot drop would definitely wake me up. How about turning on the light switch hanging on a bare wire? Whew! Like I said it makes for some internal turmoil. I shut the door when he leaves so I can pretend it doesn't look so bad. He made two trips to the dump yesterday, I guess it is too late to change my mind. OOPS!

Gumm or ice cream?

I love my grandbabies! The stuff life is made of: their energy, imagination, unconditional love and their unending zest for life. That jabbering in the other end of the phone line...precious. Cute pictures and videos of stuffing things in their faces, noses, ears; jumping up and down and spinning around and around until they fall down; climbing, throwing, screaming, whining; yes all of it is precious. Who would of thought I would have answered to being called "Gumm"? The day you can sit down with a toy and pretend it is driving the house is truly amazing, of course all of the balls have to stay in it or you stop. It's kind of like making ice cream on the wheel of a hot cycle with a stick????

Chill pill......

I've never had so much time on my hands and accomplished so little. I'm used to being busy and accomplished. Surgery recovery is not my choice of vacation. I was talking to someone today that actually gets to take vacations. What a life! My advice to my kids is take them once in awhile, it is bonding and a lot of fun. We did different things than costly vacations: visited family, joined the pool and swam a lot and everyday. We had good and fun times just not "vacations". I don't mind that we didn't, I just find it hard to relax, chill and do nothing. Time for a chill pill.................

Home cookin'

Beware of restaurant food. Tonight my sweet husband and I headed to our favorite restaurant for a luscious chicken salad, O'Charley's (we have a gift certificate, thank you kids). Much to our dismay, there was a very large red C on the door. We did a 180 and headed for the car. We headed for a much healthier A type restaurant. Did you ever think what might be in the local restaurant you frequent, other than the food? EW, yuck! The options are endless and awful. We'll give O'Charley's a chance to clean up the place. Until then I think we'll eat some home cooking. Time to break out some healthy recipes and start eating things we know the contents of. My kitchen isn't grade C for sure!

DC

Why do Diet Cokes taste different? Isn't diet coke, diet coke? I find myself driving out of my way to find a diet coke that tastes good. My favorite Diet Coke comes from Sonic, the ice is pretty good too. However, some fountain diet cokes taste like something they should have drained out of the machine before filling it. Do other fountain drinks have such inconsistant flavors? I know, I know...stop drinking it.

Give a Hoot!

How much nature is too much nature? A couple of nights ago we were considering letting our small dog out in the backyard, the sun was going down but it was not dark. I was standing in front of the sliding door looking out and an owl swoops down and rests on the rail of the deck. Ok, is he looking for a friend or food? My daughter has already nicknamed our dog "Owl Bait". Just as another owl was ready to join the first, we made motions to discourage them both. We are not Steve Irwin so why all the attention from the owl kingdom? I believe they may have gotten the squirrel population under control however, do you know another wizard like Harry Potter that might need his mail delivered?

Lounging is a state of mind

Good day for lounging. Yeah I decided not to fight it. Today instead of not being able to do much, I'm lounging. Then when people say I'm looking good, I can answer I'm working at it. "Goal accomplished." When the six week recovery is over, everyone is going to expect me to jump up and get to work so for now I'm trying to be content. I think when 6 weeks gets here I'll feel better but not 100% and that is the part I won't like. Some things people take for granted like good health, comfortable living situation, friends and yummy treats; well lets say, you don't necessary appreciate them until they are gone. Enjoy each day like it was your last. Last what? Good question!

Go for the goal!@#*!?

I feel a little blue today! I was feeling quite perky recovering and yesterday I took a few steps back. I am one that likes forward progress, others slip and it's OK, but not for me. Goal oriented and hard worker, I consider myself one of the worker bees, work hard so the queens (in this case the divas) look good. Guess I'm going to have to make some blogger friends, I've finished reading all of the Harry Potter books and find myself twiddling my thumbs. I want to get back to sewing but don't feel quite up to it yet. I'm at the point in my life when I need to realize some new goals! I know how to make them and accomplish them, just not sure the direction I want to go. Guess I'll wait until I feel better.

4 weeks out

Hey it has been four weeks since my surgery. Do I feel better you ask? Well most of the time, which makes things frustrating. Feeling good enough to go shopping only to find out when you get there you really need a place to sit down. I guess working at home will be the perfect answer-sitting and being close to the bed. I finished reading all of the Harry Potter books, couldn't put them down towards the end. Now what to do? What do you do when you feel fairly good but not really? Don't feel like eating, cooking,exercising, and pretty much anything else I can think of.

Post Op

Well here it is almost two in the morning. This surgery has messed up my sleep patterns somewhat, come to think of it they weren't that great to start with. When I planned activities while sitting around, I set up smocking, crocheting, reading Harry Potter books and a bunch of other things. After I got home from the hospital, nothing seemed to occupy me for too long. Then I started on the Harry Potter book, can I just say I'm hooked. I just finished #5 a few minutes ago. Let me explain with the last 100 pages to go I could hardly read through the tears. Now I'm not so sure I want to go see the movie that was recently released. I'm starting #6 in the morning and will probably read all day it makes the time go by and I don't miss all the other things I used to do: Sew, shop, see people, walk and whatever I wanted.

Christmas in July

Is it every too early to start decorating for Christmas? I had a stack of HO,HO,HO door knob hangers with bells on them sitting in my sewing room. They fell off the shelf and were sitting on the floor. Since I'm not supposed to pick things up they sat on the floor. Leave it to my grand daughter to take care of them (she occasionally tells me my house is messy). GUILTY!

Well her mom pointed out the fact my house was in early stages of Christmas decoration. Every door knob in my house dons a HO,HO,HO door knob decoration. Then I remember the angel is still in the tree in the front yard. If I don't turn on that light switch you can't see her, the leaves are out. (Whew)

Hey by time I can do something about it, it is almost time to start decorating for the holiday season.

Life through the eyes of a child--life is always interesting! I love my grandchildren.

Life is a process

I thought I would try to make another entry. I've been watching my daughter's blogs; music, pictures, all kinds of pretty formats and layouts. Boy I've got a long way to go and a lot to learn. Gotta get it done before the busy season kicks in.
When my friend gets home I'm going to start playing with the embroidery software and my computerized sewing machine. Boy, my daughters made fun of me when I brought that one home. They said you don't even know how to use the computer how are you going to sew on a machine that runs by computer. It's a process and one that is aiding computer use.
Everything is a process, life is about learning and growing, they never said we had to get it right. You learn just as much if not more from a good failure as you do from success. The fact is that you try and try and try again.
The thing I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around right now is....when you walk into the hospital feeling fine and knowing what is going to happen, then 3 days later leave feeling less than A-OK with a life changing list of things you can and can't do. The mind is willing but getting the body to cooperate is another story.

Embryo blogger!

One of my daughters suggested I start a blog. I laughed. You see I bought the first computer for this house when my four daughters were still in school and lived at home. I realized they would need computer proficiency the way things were going. I was never allowed to get near the monster in the corner. The few moments I did well.....let's just say the girls mocked me. First I didn't know where to go or how to start and my typing skills learned in high school on a manual typewriter. You ask what is that? That is something you have to pound the keys on really hard to get the key to strike the paper listen for the ding to push the return arm on the left and return the carriage. Sounds like the dark ages! Well that is where I got my typing skills the dark ages. Pounding keys hard and watching for the end of a sentence to hit the return. The popular electrics had this feature but you still had to listen for the ding to hit it so you didn't type off of the page requiring - yes- a "start over". Do overs today consist resting your finger on the backspace. And mistakes, well you didn 't want those because, correction fluids and tapes well, let's just say I don't think they exist any more.
Now I'm trying to keep the same font and color I started with it keeps changing on me.
My favorite color is pink and I tried typing in pink but that even makes me sick and it is hard to read. With my recent surgery, I've been forced to checking out and trying to overcome the "dark ages".
And for the title....only 24 hours in a day....well, what works for Jack Bauer and his crew I find I want more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!