Sunday, August 28, 2016

What's Making Me Happy These Days

Well, Connie started off my week with a burger from Sonic! I'd been craving a burger and you can't beat Sonic for a good one! Oh and the visit was great too!

This is the needlepoint that I'm working on now---the very last in my stash! My favorite thing about it is that I've been able to use fibers from my collection. The fibers alone for a project this size would have been over a hundred dollars.
Connie brought an article for my sister. Forget the article! How could she not complete the word puzzles!
Actually that turned out to be a bonus for me! I love jumbles. Now that Cryptique thing on the left is not my thing. I do not have the patience for that!
I still love getting first day of school pictures. I don't care how old they get. Elizabeth is starting 6th grade a her new middle school. Victoria is in her second year at Charlotte Catholic. She wasn't as excited about starting school.
Holy Trinity is Elizabeth's new school. She's ready and excited!

It also makes me happy to have long conversations with Sandy. Obviously, I have the time and it makes me so happy that she is making the time! 
Butch had to go tot he beach to oversee the laying of new floors in our Santa Rosa condo. So, I was left to fend for myself. Cottage cheese and fruit for lunch---I can handle it!
Karolyn spent 3 hours with me this week. She brought these beautiful tomatoes. She told me all about the fabulous trip we missed. I wanted to know all about it. She said that not only was it beautiful, the food was incredible. Butch and I are definitely re-scheduling this trip for ourselves for next year. I've been wanting to get to Germany for years now!
Karolyn also brought me a Starbucks. It had been awhile since I've had one. There's just something about a Starbucks tea. When I take that first sip, a feeling comes over me---like aaaahhhh! Then all is right with the world!

I have never had sushi before and the thought of it, frankly, grossed me out. But since the rest of the family loves it, I said that I was going to be open-minded about it. So, Stephanie brought lunch. When I found out it was sushi, I was disappointed. But then, as it turns out, I loved it!! I asked her to bring more since it would be an easy thing to have while I am fending for myself. I haven't actually tried any of the raw stuff yet. Sandy told me about a really good sushi place that they love. We've made plans to go when we are there for Thanksgiving.
 Oh, and this was in with the sushi. Who knew that Hello Kitty made soy sauce!
What could make me happier than the "kids" coming over, spending time with me AND cooking for me?!!  Not a great picture, but I took it from the other room after trying to enlarge the view. They not only cooked, they did total clean-up too.
Lastly, but certainly, not least---Paige, the daughter of my friend, Nancy sent me this cute card. It's always fun getting mail!

All is good here. I can't complain!


Thursday, August 25, 2016

A Few Layouts

It's been awhile since I've posted some layouts. These are from a Christmas album that I've planned out for my friends.
 I've used quite a few papers that are not traditionally Christmas colors. I love the blues and pinks.
 "All Wrapped Up"
"Fond memories"
"Trimming the tree"
 "Christmas in the Country"
"setting the Christmas table"
  "handing out the presents"

Monday, August 22, 2016

Meet Harper Monroe!

So, last Sunday, Harper Monroe made her grand entrance. My niece, Jessica was due this week, so she wasn't unexpected by any means. How she chose to arrive was! Babies are just so precious!

Jessica had decided she wanted to sleep in. It was around 9 a.m. Daddy, Mike decided to run to the store for a few things. Max was watching television. Jess was having a little cramping. Suddenly, she called Mike to come home--the baby was COMING!! He called 911, got home and wanted to drag Jess to the car. She said there wasn't time. They left Max watching cartoons and tried to be quiet and discreet. Three pushes and that little girl was born! Mike handled the delivery on his own! The EMT arrive just in time to cut the cord. The afterbirth was delivered at the hospital.

Now that's the way to have a baby!! Little to no pain, quick, easy, and no complications!
 Mike, Jessica and almost 8 year old Max.
 From a family of three to four!
                                                 Meet Harper---all 5 lbs 13 oz. of her!



 What a head of hair!

 The proud big brother!


I love this picture most of all. My mother made all of her grandchildren baby afghans. I'm not sure if this one is Jessica's or if this was one of the last ones mom made. My girls all have theirs and my grandchildren too. I think it's really something special to have a treasure that your great-grandmother made!

I say, let babies decide for themselves when they want to come. They'll do it right every time!! I can't wait to meet this little darling!




SaveSave

Sunday, August 21, 2016

45 Years and Counting...

Wow, 45 years. That's a lot! I'd do it all over again!
























August 21, 1971

 
Sometime in the 1980's.
 I actually loved the "big hair" 80's!
 1990's
 1990's
 1990's
 25 year anniversary
25th anniversary party--1996
2010
Today

Friday, August 19, 2016

Apparently It Runs in the Family!

Talk about sympathy injuries!
So Elizabeth stubbed her toe yesterday. Really bad! She's not happy that she cannot put weight on it. Then today, she finds out this:
 Yep, it's broken! I guess it does run in the family!!
She's still not happy because now she has to miss a yoga birthday party tonight. She already hates the boot!! Little does she know that this is the most comfortable one of all! So, I guess there will be a little more of this going on:

Luckily we girls have our hobbies to keep us busy! Nothing keeps us down for long!!

Okay, enough with the sympathy injuries already! Really!


Thursday, August 18, 2016

What I'm Up To...

Well, I don't have time to be laying around! Since that's all I can do right now, I'm trying to be as productive as I can.

*Sure, I'm watching a lot of tv and movies, but I'm stitching at the same time, so at least it's not wasted time. I've sent all of these for finishing:





They should easily be back by Halloween.

*Some of the shows I've enjoyed are:
Tab Hunter Confidential--I never knew much about Tab Hunter. He does the entire interview and discusses the difficulty of being a gay man during the 1950's.
The Grand (I'm really enjoying this series about a family owned hotel in England in the early 1900's).
Alfred Hitchcock (I remember that my parents watched this show in the 1950's. It's kind of quirky. I can't say I love it, but it is only 20 minutes long, so it's a good filler).
Gunpowder, Treason an Plot (this mini series is about Mary Queen of Scots. Not the greatest, but still entertaining).
Top of the Lake (another BBC production. Sort of weird and dark. It was 7 episodes long. I didn't totally love it).
Unsealed Alien Files (okay, now this one is really interesting. I'm really enjoying it).
Twilight Zone (I already have the entire series on dvd and have watched it in my scrapbook room. I  put it on my Netflix list because I don't mind watching it again).
The Wonder Years (I'm still working my way through this series. Another short filler).
Friday Night Lights (Still working my way through this series and enjoying it. A lot! I'm really learning a lot about football that I never knew before).
Atonement (Nancy and Connie came over yesterday to stitch and watch with me. I'd read the book and seen the movie years ago. I really liked it than and again this time).

*Shows I didn't like:
The Keeping Room (I watched about 45 minutes of this movie before turning it off. It was too dark for me).
Longmire (after watching about 3 episodes, I decided I didn't really want to watch another crime type show).
Murdock Mysteries (a period crime show. A little too hokey for me, so after 3 episodes, I called it quits).

*I've realized that when it comes to shows and series, I really like sagas---shows that focus on one family or time period. Those are my favorites. I like books like that too.

*I'm loving my Sonos sound system. I've really spent a lot of time developing my playlists for show tunes, opera music and classical music. I already have other great playlists that covers the "oldies", party time and classic rock. Everything is controlled by my iPhone. Love that. When the family is out at the pool, they can listen to whatever they want while I can listen to whatever I want inside.

*Speaking of the pool---Butch asked me if I wanted to go out last Saturday when the family was here. He helped me get up there. It was nice hanging out, but if you can't get in the pool, it's really HOT!! Still, it allows me to be part of the action, so I'll be doing that again. Plus it's nice to get a little fresh air. We had happy hour on the front porch one evening too:
Yeah, I'm cleared for a glass of wine!

*I'm currently reading David Baldacci's book The Last Mile for my book club. I'm thoroughly enjoying it. It has 4.5 stars with nearly 4000 reviews. This is my first David Baldacci book since I thought he wrote books for men. It's part of a series which I don't like. I have so many books on my list that I want to read. I'm obsessive about series. I'll have to read the whole thing. I don't really like to commit to that. Apparently, I've already started in the middle (or at least book 2) of this series. I'll need to read The Memory Man---soon.

*I've read a couple other books, but nothing I would rave about.

*I'm in the process of revising my "Making the Most of My Memories" workshop. Many of my friends have expressed an interest in re-organizing their photos again. I'll be sure to share my methods here.

*Speaking of photos, I organized my digitals this week too. Actually, I'm pretty good about keeping my photos organized. I uploaded 150 to Walgreens for printing. 

*I've downloaded about 100 new fonts. I LOVE fonts! Then, I went through and re-organized my entire font book. My fonts are all neatly placed in labeled folders. That makes it much easier for me to find what I'm looking for.

*I've spent a lot of time visiting with friends too. That's been fun catching up more on a one-on-one basis rather than just the larger group. In fact, a couple of my friends have suffered what I'm calling "sympathy falls" on my behalf. I'm not naming names so as not to embarrass anyone. 
Not the greatest picture, but I had to take it fast. You can see the massive bruise. This was due to a slip on a concrete floor at a sporting event. This particular friend tried to keep her granddaughter from being too embarrassed by hopping up right away. 

Another friend wiped out while carrying her groceries. Although it's somewhat comforting to know that I'm not the only one who falls---really girls---stop! I don't want anyone else getting hurt! We just need to slow down and be more careful. I agree with the friend who slipped---you just don't see that coming and there's nothing you can do. Before you know it, you're "down." 

Although it wasn't a recent fall, another friend reminded me of her fall down the stairs when we were scrapbooking. Now that could have been really bad. Luckily she came away with just a nasty bruise. So, let me leave you with this: slow down and be careful! We ain't spring chickens anymore. Oh, and be careful of those slipper flip flops!